The Helljumper *Objective Updated*

by Addunexus

Rating: teen
Tags: Random, Shining Armor, Princess Celestia, Crossover, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Princess Cadance, Dark, Princess Luna, Comedy, Tragedy
Length: 14661

ODSTs, the second proudest unit in the UNSC. They volunteered to be shot from space onto the planets below to fight Humanitie' enemies. These soldiers are respected, feared, and avoided by most.

Corporal Andrew White has served as an ODST for longer than thought possible, and he has seen things that would drive any normal man to insanity. Hours after returning to his platoon after recovering from an injury on the planet Reach, he is thrust into combat yet again for humanity. Will he make it through the last hours humanity seems to have, or will he be killed in action in a valiant last stand?

(be gentle it is my first story)

Edited by : ZamboniPony, and M1_A4_Abrams they have been a big help

Published 2014-04-01 06:20:02 UTC
Last updated 2015-02-05 07:01:30 UTC

Prologue: The Battle of Earth

Prologue: The Battle for Earth

Red light washed over everything in the Delta 193's pelican bay. It covered the faces of all the men and women present, making them look as if they were covered in blood. They did not seem to notice, as they kept up the conversations they had been having. As they talked, I was leaned against the bulkhead next to the door leading to the cockpit. I paid them no attention as they talked about all the ways they could drink the other under the table and other random topics. The only thing that stopped everyone from talking was the pilot coming on over the intercom speaker.

"This is your pilot speaking; we are making our final decent. Please remember to check your overhead compartments for any luggage that may have shifted during flight. Thank you for flying Air Delta 193 Airlines, and have a nice day."

The other soldiers in the bay decided it was time to get their gear that rested under the seats they were using. Next I heard the engines spin down, and all the soldiers between the rear door and me stood up. With a hiss the door slowly began to open, letting in a bright light. As the door hit the ground with a loud thud all of the other bodies in the bird filed meandered their way down the ramp and into the surrounding cargo bay of the frigate we landed in. I however stayed behind. I pounded my hand on the door to show thanks for the ride to the pilot. Then walked out of the pelican, and onto the deck.

I looked around and took in the familiar hustle and bustle of the UNSC Pony Express's starboard cargo bay. It was good to be ‘home’, but a voice from behind caught my attention.

"Corporal! Wait up!" shouted the pilot of Delta 193.

"Sir," I replied as I noticed the rank on his uniform signifying Lieutenant, "what do you need?"

"I knew your name looked familiar on the pickup roster," he said obviously bothered by something, "I’ve seen it before. You really need to stop showing up on the Hopeful. Not to sound rude or anything, but we need everyone like you out there to kick the Covenant back into the hole they came from."

"What do you mean?"

"What I mean is," he started, “I have seen your name three times coming out of the Hopeful. You NEED to watch your back out there, keep your head down."

"El Tee, I think the hinge heads are just getting lucky," I said "I really haven't tried to get myself killed."

"Alright Corporal, take care out there," he said as he reached his hand out.

I shook it and gave him a nod, and then he spun and walked back up the drop door and into the bay of the pelican as I walked to the exit of the bay to avoid the decompression that was needed to get the pelican back to the Hopeful. Upon entering the corridor on the other side of the door, I saw two figures standing there. I smiled and shifted my bag around my shoulder plate of my armor and walked over to them. One figure was Lieutenant Jennifer Marie Taylor, and the other was Sergeant Nicholas 'Sarge' Daniel Smith. Sarge looked happy to see me and smiled back, but Jenn looked she was mad about something.

"Hey Jenn, Sa-" I started, and then Jenn punched me in the face.

"You son of a bitch! I should kick your ass from New Jersey to New Llanelli for that stunt you pulled on Reach!" she shouted raising her right arm to punch me again.

She threw another punch at me; I brought my left arm up and blocked with my gauntlet. It hit with a smack and I saw her arm shake with the impact, forcing her to pull her hand away and baby it with her other. I instantly dropped my kit and helmet worrying she broke her hand, and I looked at Sarge. He looked at me with a worried expression, but he was as confused as I was. She then ran off to her normal spot she used when thinking about things.

"Corporal, let her go," Sarge started, "she needs to cool off before anything. Let’s get you settled in again."

I agreed with him and we began the walk to the barracks. As we went we made small talk, mostly about how everyone was doing and what happened after Reach. We picked up the pace as we neared the office of Major Toshenko, where to my dismay he was standing outside. We saluted him when he took notice of us. He looked me up and down noting the brand new set of armor I was sporting.

"Good to have you back, Corporal," the Major said with a smile.

"It is good to be back, Sir," I replied.

"Well, get settled in," he ordered, "then find Taylor and make sure she’s okay; she hasn't lost anyone under her command yet so she has a right to be bothered by what landed you on the Hopeful."

After replying with a 'Sir Yes Sir!’ Sarge and I went back to the barracks whereupon reaching the door the sensor detected us and opened silently. We crossed the threshold and I saw faces I knew and faces I didn't. Two of those faces I knew were Private Derric "Dez" Demerov, and Lance Corporal Alyssa "Vence" Vencer. They looked up from whatever they were doing when Sarge called out at them.

"Look who I found trying to climb inside the airlock!"

"I’m surprised Jenn didn't meet you as you came back," Vence said as she grabbed my kit bag from Sarge.

"She did," I said, "then she punched me in the face and yelled at me."

"I don’t get her," Dez said.

"Well I'll get her, it is kinda my fault," I said.

Changing the subject, "Hey is that new armor?" asked Vence.

"Yeah I think it is," Dez said as he sniffed the air around me, "It even has the new armor smell."

We laughed for a bit at Dez's antics, and got me settled back into my old bunk that still had my poster of the Reach skyline taped on the bulkhead. I missed my old home and I knew I was never going back, especially since the Covenant glassed the planet. But I pushed those thoughts to the back of my mind and worried about now. I had to find Jenn and get her to forgive me. That was easier said than done, she was more stubborn than I was when we had to leave Reach. I got out of my bunk and announced my departure to embark on the mission to find her and get her to come back. They all wished me luck that I would certainly need as I headed to the one spot I knew she would be.

Upon arriving on the port observation deck I saw her leaning against the railing while staring out the window towards Earth. I slowly made my way over to her, wary of the fact she might turn around and punch me again. As I approached I noticed a small piece of paper in her hand, I recognized it as a photo of her husband and two sons. I finally reached her and looked out the window with her. A few minutes later she took notice of me, and turned towards me with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Andrew," she began to say, "I am so-"

"Don't worry Jenn," I interrupted, "I deserved it. I shouldn't have run into that building in New Alexandria. The only reason I did it was because I saw a group of civvies from a window and didn't want to have them get murdered by the Covenant."

"That still didn't give me a right to do that," she stated.

"Jenn, something else is wrong, what is it?" I asked.

"So close Andrew," she began, "so close to home and I even can't visit my family."

"Well you and Sarge are on the same page," I stated, "I know for a fact he is thinking about his family in London."

"Andrew do you really think we will see the end of this war? I mean all of us not just our families." she asked.

"Jenn," I grabbed her by the shoulders and turned her to face me, "You and Sarge, will make it through this war I will make sure of that."

She stared at me for a few seconds, "You mean all of us are going to make it, right?"

"Yeah Jenn," I lied, "we will all make it."

She smiled and we began to walk back to the barracks. During the walk back, my mind began to wander back to the past, starting with that last day at my parent’s home, then to fighting the Insurrection, and then Sigma Octanus IV. The walk seemed to take only half the time while I was lost in my thoughts, fortunately Sarge was there to bring me back.

"Hey you two, glad you came back before we had to send a whole squad after you two."

Before we got the opportunity to respond there was a loud blaring noise from the speakers in the corner of the room, then the ships A.I. spoke.

"All hands man your battle stations, this is not a drill!"

I looked at both Jenn and Sarge; their faces were plastered with a confused look. I grabbed my helmet and waited for everyone else to get suited up. Mere moments later everyone was ready and we all hurried to the briefing room, where Toshenko would be waiting for us. When we got there, Toshenko was surprisingly absent. After a few seconds of waiting he walked in the door hands balled into tight fists.

"Everyone," he said as he turned in the center of the room, "we have a big purple loving problem. The Covenant has found Earth."

There was a dead silence in the room as he let it sink in. After two minutes of silence he began to brief us on what our mission was going to consist of. Attacking a ship was one thing, but when the Major told us we were dropping onto the hull and breaching the vessel, we thought he’d lost his mind. Then he told us it came straight from Lord Hood and that as Helljumpers we were the only ones that could pull it off. After he dismissed us we ran to our lockers near our drop pods, and started kitting up; Sarge and I grabbed our battle rifles and sidearms while Jenn grabbed her assault rifle and pistol.

"Jenn, Sarge," I said as we stood next to each other as we grabbed our ammunition,” we are not losing here today, don't worry they are okay."

They gave me a thumbs up, then turned and headed to their pods. I grabbed a few extra magazines for both my rifle and sidearm. I knew I would not let my friends suffer the pain I had already gone through. I walked over to my pod after I 'stole' munitions. I set my rifle into the slot on the side of the seat in the pod and I took a seat and strapped in.

"Corporal," I heard Jenn say over the comm, "Don’t do anything stupid just for us this time."

"Yeah," Sarge agreed, "we’re going to kick those alien bastards back past Harvest, and I want to see you there!"

I chuckled, and smiled to myself. I hoped that I could get out of this alive, but I was ready to die if need be. Before I could think about anything more our pods shot out of the hull and into the inky blackness. Upon seeing the havoc around the UNSC forces, my heart sunk. The Covenant was too far in system, and the Pony Express was towards the nose of the carrier we were tasked to take.

Then everything went sideways faster than I could blink.

Anti-air fire shot towards our pods as we were picked up on the ship's sensors. Pods nearby began taking fire. I saw Vence's pod become the center of a tiny sun. I heard a scream from her end of the comm and then static.

There was a loud bang as a pod hit mine, causing me to tumble towards the nose of the alien ship. Moments later I had a view of the pod that hit me, it was Dez's. He was shouting curses in Russian as he spun and flipped. And as soon as I saw it, it was gone and my view was a snapshot of the purple abomination. I saw a field around the nose of the ship, which I realized was a slipspace field, then I saw a flash of the pods behind me as I flipped again. I heard someone scream my name over the comm. The voice was washed over by static as I felt a creeping sensation of dread in my mind.

Upon flipping a few more times, I saw I was dangerously close to the bow of the ship.

Which meant way to close to the portal.

I yelled as loud as I could, hoping that I would miss and not die from the radiation that was bound to be pouring from the poratl. As I got closer I began to lose consciousness, from the pod's tumble or the sheer amount of pressure exerted along with it, I don't know. But a moment later I was entering the portal and flying through the slipstream then I saw the Covenant ship fly past me and send me flying in another direction. Finally I conceded to the forced rest of unconsciousness that had been held off.

Author's Note

Okay, so this is the prologue, and anyone who actually likes my story thank you all for the this and the first official chapter when it comes.
any helpful comments will be welcome. I want this to be the best it can.

Chapter 1: Jump Happy

Jump Happy

My eyes fluttered open, and then widened. I had to move, I had to find my unit and fight the Covenant. I hit the emergency release bolts on the door, and hit the emergency release harness on my chest. Seconds later the door of the pod flew away from me, like I had verbally assaulted its mother. Then quickly smashed into a tree and snapped it in half. Upon seeing the tree beginning to fall, I grabbed my rifle and moved forward and to the left to avoid being crushed by the decently sized tree. After avoiding being flattened, I took in my surroundings.

I was in a forest with birds chirping and flying around the trees overhead. My pod had landed near the edge of a clearing and in a big patch of blue flowers. What immediately got my attention was a pile of downed trees on the other side of the clearing. Then my mind switched to combat mode and prioritized my thought process. I had to take cover then see if I could find any Covenant threat nearby. I covered the length of the clearing and reached the section of downed trees. Then promptly ran right into a giant metal object obscured by the downed foliage.

When I recovered from the impact and staggered back, shaking my head. I looked at the point I impacted on the metal, and I saw a white capital letter 'I'. It was at a forty five degree angle, and at about head height. I placed my hands on each side of the letter and pulled the tree branches out of the way. My eyes widened as I revealed the word 'MARINES' stenciled on an olive drab plate. I instantly recognized it as half of a Pelican’s rear landing gear. I quickly moved to my left, towards the tail of the downed bird. When I reached the rear hatch I found the drop door was too high for me to climb up to. Then it hit me, I needed to see if there was anyone still alive inside.

Then another realization hit me: the soldiers inside would not open the door just hearing a banging on the hull. Then the rational part of me began to think of my options, I had to try the comm. I began to flip through the frequencies, until I heard a rapid beep on the UNSC E Band. I quickly moved behind a still standing tree to the rear of the bird and pressed my chin against the pad in my helmet that activated my transmitter.

"Any UNSC personnel," I stated over the channel, "please respond."

After I released the chin pad, the beeping stopped and I heard absolutely nothing. After what seemed like hours but what was really seconds, there was a hiss of hydraulics. Upon hearing the hiss, I ran around to the rear bay door and waited for it to finish opening. When it did, there was a woman standing there in a standard UNSC flight suit. What caused me to stop was the fact her outfit was covered in blood. She leaned against the wall and stared at me one hand covering her side, and she chuckled.

"Well," she started, "looks like the UNSC finally found me."

"Captain," I said after her rank popped up on my HUD, "who are you and where are we?"

She winced from her injuries as I climbed up the drop door and into the bay. Once I got inside, she closed the door and slid down the wall to the floor. I rushed over as she moved her hand for me to inspect the wound on her side. There was a medium length piece of the flight stick from the Pelican piercing her side. I looked around the bay for an emergency medical kit; unfortunately it was missing, so I had to use the bio-foam in my personal medical kit to seal her wound after removing the yoke of the bird.

"Trooper," she said after I put the canister away, "where did you come from?"

"Ma'am, I am from the Pony Express."

"Well, I’m from the Pillar of Autumn," she began, "the name’s Rawley."

"Wait," my face got a puzzled look as I took my helmet off, "didn't the Autumn go missing back in September?"

She nodded, and then told me the rest of the tale. She told me of the crew that died on the ship when the Covenant boarded, the ODST's victory taking the so called 'Alpha Base'.

Then she told the part that made me shiver, the Flood.

When she told me how the Master Chief planned to stop the Flood, I went wide eyed. Her tale came to an end when she told me she was shot down by two Banshees, and was about to land on a small platform when there was a bright light. Then she was over a forest, and crashed here.

"Ma'am," I said as she grimaced at the cold of the bio-foam, "have you had any contact with the UNSC, besides me?"

"No."

"Damn," I cursed under my breath, "well from what I can tell, Captain, we aren't going to be in contact with them again anytime soon."

Her face went an even lighter shade of white. Then she looked across the bay at the other body I failed to notice. She told me it was her tech chief, and he was killed hours ago from the extremely large glass shard sticking out of his chest. The wounded pilot's head shifted down to look under the bench behind the body. There was a shotgun under it with four full boxed of shells, she told me to take it and all of the ammo. I asked why she had it in her bird, she replied with one word, Flood.

"Hey," she asked, "did the Chief make it out?"

"Yeah he did," I said, "he made it to Earth, but the Covenant followed."

"Son of a bitch," she spat as she was hit with another wave of pain.

I looked at her wound again, "Captain, we have to get you better medical attention than I can provide."

"When I crashed," she stated while gesturing with her head, "there was a settlement to the northwest, get there.” As I started to get up, she stopped me, “Corporal, there’s one intact ANVIL launcher, fully loaded, and a crate of C-12.”

She wasn’t kidding when I saw the crate of C-12, but when I opened it; it was full to the brim with the stuff! When I looked behind the crate I saw two LOTUS anti-tank mines, and there was a rocket launcher with three spare loads. My inner maniac let out a happy laugh as Rawley told me to go. After I opened the rear door, I looked back at her and tilted my head, and was about to ask something but she cut me off.

"When you need the tools, save the shotgun," she said as I picked it up by the sling and slung it, "they will be here. The console in the front is still functional; you can hit the button to open the rear door from there. Don't let the Covenant get in this bird."

I saluted knowing this could be the last time I would speak to her. After having it returned, and putting my helmet back on my head, I grabbed the shotgun, jumped out of the Pelican, and went off to the northwest. As I went across the field, I saw my pod and walked over to it. I took everything else I could spare off of it and hid it next to the Pelican, leaving the gutted pod to sit in the open. Once the last thing was moved I loaded the shotgun and began my long hike.

The hike took longer than I expected; mainly due to the fact that I had three weapons on my person. The only other reason was because I stayed off all of the paths that I was paralleling to avoid being detected. I finally found an edge to the forest three hours later, just as the sun finished setting. Before I could activate my night vision, I saw an animal pulling a cart in the distance. I shouted, thinking that there was someone nearby but the animal turned its head toward me. Then it instantly ran off into the town, making noises I couldn’t hear from this distance. Confused, I walked further towards the town until I saw a cottage. It had a bridge that spanned a stream and small animals running around. I approached the building slowly, and looked to see if there was any signs of life besides the animals.

I took notice of the window to my right and saw that there was someone home. So I decided to knock, and when I did there was a barely noticeable squeak from inside, then nothing, absolute silence. I knocked again and again, making sure I was heard but nobody came to the door. I waited for five minutes before leaving the house behind me and headed into the town. When I got close to the outermost structures, I ran to the shadow of the nearest building. Upon reaching the wall I made haste to the corner of the building. I looked around the corner and saw something that made me switch off the safety on the shotgun.

There was nothing but small, bright colored horses wandering the street; no people from what I could tell at this distance.

Suddenly, I heard a voice from behind me that made me spin around and level the shotgun.

"Who are ya?" asked the voice.

I was looking where a human's head would be located. But there was nothing there. Then I looked down. I saw one of the horses there right in front of me, and she was wearing a hat. Before my brain could register that she spoke, she said something again.

"Ah saw ya comin' out of the Everfree," the horse began angrily, "and if ya try'n hurt mah friends Ah won’t let ya inta town."

Then I realized what this small horse and all its "friends" were: ponies. Next I realized it just threatened me. I moved the shotgun barrel to point at the pony. The pony's eyes widened and it moved almost as fast as a Jackal, and it closed the distance and pivoted on her forelegs and brought its rear legs in to try to kick me. Instantly I moved the shotgun to a position to block both of her legs.

The pony's legs shot out and impacted the shotgun as my hands tightened on the weapon. I was expecting a very hard impact, but not that hard. My shotgun was pushed into my abdomen as I was pushed back against the wall. The animal lashed out again, and this time I had a plan. When the piston like legs shot out I used the weapon in my hands as a hook. The butt hooked the legs and forced them to the right, sending the being sideways taking the shotgun with it. Both impacted a trash can a mere two feet away causing a loud crash.

I laughed, "I’ve fought things twice my size and won, you don't scare me."

I watched the pony stagger to its feet with an angry look forming on its face. It roared in anger as it charged again, but it stopped as I noticed a smirk form on its face. Then I noticed the area was brighter than it was a few seconds ago. My eyes shot around the near area and saw I was glowing in a light purple aura. My mind instantly thought Covenant and their obsession with the color, but I was wrong. I tried to move but something was holding me in place. Slowly a white figure walked to my left and stopped in front of me. It was another pony, yet somehow this one had a horn. I blinked a few times to confirm what I was seeing; a unicorn was standing less than a foot away from me!

"What are you and what are you doing in Ponyville?" the white unicorn asked in the same tone my commanders use.

I stared at the creature in front of me, before I realized it was talking to me. I just stared in silence at it for what felt like five minutes. Finally it sighed and walked over to the orange one and made sure it was not hurt.

"Ms. Applejack," it started, "are you alright?

'Applejack' nodded and replied with a simple yes sir, then stared at me with anger again. She told the other pony that I came from a so called 'Everfree Forest'. Before the 'unicorn' could respond there was a distinct female voice behind me.

"Shining," it said, "let it go."

'Shining' looked past me and saw the owner of the voice. He started to object but was cut off by something I couldn't see. Then before I could blink, the aura holding me vanished and my right hand brought up my pistol from its holster. I aimed it right at 'Shining'. His eyes went wide and he brought up some kind of energy barrier around me. I rolled my eyes and holstered my sidearm.

"Okay," I said as loud as I could through my helmet’s speakers, "you got me, now what happens next all depends on you."

Author's Note

Okay so I know there is not much on the lines of meeting ponies till the end of the chapter. Next chapter on the other hand will be different. Maybe White will meet somepony who will be more reasonable than AJ.

Oh and to say about Captain Rawley, yes it is Echo 419. She showed up because there was no explosion heard when her bird crashed, so maybe she did not explode.

Chapter 2: Diplomacy's Sake

Diplomacy's Sake

I stood there, staring at 'Shining' waiting for a response, while the pony stood there staring at my visor trying to see through the impenetrable reflective plate. After five minutes I pulled my battle rifle from my back and stood, holding it by the carry handle. The two sets of eyes in front of me grew wide as I held it. 'Shining's' instantly narrowed and I moved the rifle to rest against my shoulder, muzzle pointed at the ground. His mouth opened but before he could say anything, there was the same female voice behind me that caught me off guard for the second time.

"Shining," the voice snapped, "I said to let him go, and I meant right now."

The ice blue eyes flashed a look of worry before he let out a sigh. Once the noise was finished I spun and took a good look of the owner of the mysterious voice. My hopes were high wanting it to be another human being, but were quickly dashed when there was nothing there. Then I decided to look down. The rifle in my hands almost fell to the ground, standing there was another pony. This one had wings and a horn, and its hair had streaks of purple, pink, and yellow. Even its coat was a pale pink, which managed to put a small sense of finality to the fact that I was not getting back to the UNSC. As I was standing there like an idiot, the pink female pony spoke.

"What are you," it began in a soft yet firm voice, "and what are you doing here?"

I was about to reply, but something in my mind made me decide otherwise. The bubble around me had vanished, and the two ponies behind me were walking around to stand next to the pink one. As the two made it to their destinations I took a few steps back. The odd colored pony between them opened her mouth to say something, which I cut off with my index finger pointed up. That signaled for her to wait, and she did. I turned around to grab the discarded shotgun that lay in the pile of trashcans; upon picking it up I looped the weapon's sling around my arm and brought it to a rest on my shoulder.

"Alright," I began, "let’s get this over with."

Two of the three stood there with an angry look on their faces, the pink one however stared unblinking at me. Assuming this pony was female, she was about to say something when the sounds of children laughing and heading this way interrupted her. The ponies’ eyes went as wide as Warthog tires, and they motioned for me to follow them quickly. I stood there for a few seconds not knowing what to do, and then the laughter came again but closer. Not wanting to cause mass hysteria, I quickly ran to the shadows and made my way to the ponies I was being interrogated by moments before.

I trailed them for fifteen minutes. Those fifteen minutes were some of the most insane minutes of my life. As I made my way through the so called "Ponyville", I saw no other life besides ponies. When I looked back towards the three that I was following my mouth almost dropped out of my helmet. There was a tree before me. It had a sign hanging off of one branch with a book drawn on it. Noticing the other three waiting for me by the door that was in the trunk, I moved to the bushes to the right. I even crouched as low as I could manage to avoid being seen. After Shining looked at me to make sure I was hidden, he did one final check of the area around us to make sure I wasn't spotted. Once done, he let out a sigh and knocked on the door.

Another female voice came shouting from within, "We are closed for the evening, please come back tomorrow!"

"Twilight, now is not the time," he responded, "can we come in?"

There was the sound of hooves on wood as yet another pony came running to the door. When I heard the tumblers on the door unlock I tried to move further into the bush. When the door fully opened another unicorn was behind it, except this one was lavender, with a darker purple mane and tail. She had a look of confusion on her face until she saw the pink pony, then her eyes lit up and they began some sort of dance, giggling all the way.

"Sunshine sunshine lady bugs awake," they said in unison as they moved around, "clap your hooves and do a little shake!"

Shining and Applejack decided that the front door was not a good place for the topic of the upcoming conversation, and they pushed the new unicorn named Twilight into the tree building. While the other pony waited outside with me. I could only wait in silence as the three talked.

"So," the one standing next to the door asked, "are you going to answer my question?"

"What question?"

"What are you," she asked again.

"For diplomacy's sake," I replied, "I’m a Orbital Drop Shock Trooper of the UNSC."

She stared at me confused as to what that was, but before she could ask my attention was brought back to the inside of the house. There was a loud crash as what I could only assume were books reverberated in the area. Upon hearing that I decided to move from a near prone position to a half crouched stance, but doing so, I became eye level with a window, and I saw something that bugged me. Shining was trying to find something by tearing apart the room he while the one called Twilight stood by him cowering in fear from how frantic he was throwing things.

"Alright," I sighed as I stood up to full height, "I’m stopping this."

My conversation partner began to voice her worries, but I wasn't having any of that. I walked into the room and Twilight turned and saw me. Her eyes went wide and she was about to make a sound, but I moved my index finger over where my mouth would be. She obviously knew I meant for her to stay quiet and she did just so. Sadly her way of being quiet in this situation was to shrink to the floor and try to hide her head. I shook my head in frustration as I realized how stupid this was, standing in a room with talking ponies. Shining's commotion was not helping this fact. I looked over to him and one thing came to mind. I tapped him on the "shoulder" and waited for him to stop throwing books.

"Hey buddy do you mind?" I said with an annoyed tone, "You’re scaring the others."

He spun to face me, but only coming face to face with the center of my abdominal plate. His mouth could only open and close as I stood towering over the being. Moments that felt like days passed as I stared into his eyes trying to see what he was doing. I could only see pride and a sense of duty to protect all who can’t protect themselves. He took a chance to get me away from him. His horn began to glow with a light purple aura. As the glow became brighter, my hands tensed on my shotgun and began to swing for his head. But before I could bring my rifle butt into his chin I was sent flying across the room.

"Son of a-" was all that escaped my mouth before I smashed into the wall with a loud thud.

"How DARE you," he shouted, "You come into my country and terrorize the ponies I protect! You faceless creature, entering this town and scaring its inhabitants! Let’s see how the big monster likes this!"

The pink pony that was in the doorway galloped over to put an end to all of this, but she was tackled out of the way by Twilight, and they rolled across the floor. I on the other hand turned back to Shining, but when I did he was mere inches away from my head. His horn was glowing again and eyes full of anger. I could feel my helmet being pulled off of my head! I tried to bring my hand up to hold it on, but he removed it faster than I could react. Then my helmet was carelessly thrown across the room.

Shining's whole demeanor changed when he saw my face. Whether it was from the scar on my face, my buzz cut hair, or the death glare I was giving him, Shining paused and his eyes went wide. Before he could do anything more I brought my gun butt into his chin and snapped his head back. As his head came back down to its original position I smashed the shotgun into his snout, hit him with a one-two punch to knock him out. His body crumpled to the floor, and I slowly began to get on my feet. Upon reaching full height I noticed a darker purple glow around me, and again I could not move.

"Alright," I began in my best Irish leprechaun voice, "now you got me, do you want me pot of gold?"

"What are you going on about," asked the purple unicorn as she came around to be in my field of view.

I continued in my incredibly stereotyped voice, "You caught me, now are you going to take me pot-o-gold or will we stay here and hold me in place all day?"

"Do you want to be serious or stand there and make jokes?" asked the pink one that I deemed one of the sanest here.

"Alright fine," I said in my normal voice, "so where do we go from here? At least you two seem to be the least crazy."

"Hey! Ah take offense to that!" cried Applejack, who I had forgotten she was even here.

"Anyway," said the pink one, "since Twilight and I are not trying to harm you, I am going to ask you one thing: Can we trust you enough to let you wander this room freely?"

"Yes," I replied curtly and hoping to get the ability to move again.

As I finished speaking I felt the ability to move return to me. I then walked over to my discarded helmet, and picked it up. Holding it under my arm I turned to the ponies standing there, and sat down. Upon getting comfortable, Twilight went over to Shining and tried to wake him up, but when he didn’t respond she stopped shouting and her horn started to glow.

"Okay," I said catching her attention, "let him be, I don't really want to deal with him again."

She looked at me with a worried look and mumbled something about her 'big brother best friend forever'. I just sat there staring at the pink one waiting for her to respond. For a few minutes she didn't say anything, just stared at me with an uneasy look on her face, until I slowly began to smile.

"Now that we are getting along," I said, "let’s get started with this first contact scenario."

"So," began the pink pony,” I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, and I want to know just who and what you are."

I looked at the Princess and sighed, "Is there something that isn't a mouthful I can call you?"

"Yes, Cadence will be fine."

"Well Cadence, Twilight, and Applejack, correct?" they all nodded, “I am a Helljumper, the only human being here apparently."

"Helljumper?" Twilight asked, "That sounds like a job title, or a nickname."

"Yes it is," I shot back, "a nickname I am happy to hold."

Cadence cut in with a quick question, "Formalities aside, could you tell us how you got here and what your intentions are?"

"First off, you will not get anything that I would deem classified," I said with a serious, determined look, "and second, I truly have no idea how I got here.”

"How do you not know?" asked Twilight.

"When you’re in combat," I deadpanned, "you don't care about anything but keeping your friends, and yourself, alive."

The three in front of me frowned, and Twilight began to form a questioning look in her eyes, but she stopped and excused herself to head upstairs. Upon her leaving I sat there with an uneasy silence between me and the remaining ponies. Ten minutes passed before I could think of anything to say. Then, I heard a sound that caused me to throw my helmet back on. The sound came from the mass of pony on the floor that was Shining. It was a low groan that meant he was waking up, but before he could rise there was a bright flash to my left which my helmet thankfully prevented from blinding me. When I turned that direction I saw two tall regal ponies. One was white with a horn and wings, and the other was a dark blue with a horn and wings.

Upon noticing me the white one spoke, "I am Princess Celestia, and you are not from here, and I plan to make sure you mean no harm to my little ponies. I hope we can come to terms for a peaceful dialogue."

I mumbled as I stood up, "Fuck, so much for a quick diplomatic solution."

Author's Note

Okay everyone, I have uploaded the second chapter. Sorry it took way too long to upload. Okay I know that it was also a bit rushed at the end too.
I hope you people like my story, and enjoy.

Chapter 3: Diplomatic "Solutions"

Chapter 3: Diplomatic "Solutions"

Diplomatic "Solutions"

I stood to my full height of six feet tall, and looked straight at the tall, regal, white pony before me. She had a pastel blue, green, and pink mane and when I got a look at her eyes, they seemed to be cutting through my visor and staring into mine. Her gaze unnerved me, which I fixed by looking at the other regal pony next to her. This other pony was also tall, but she was not as tall as the white one she had arrived with. She was a dark blue, with a mane and tail that was almost navy blue surrounded by what looked like a light blue glow. As if I didn't have a helmet on she also caught my gaze and gave me a look to pay attention to the one next her.

Moving my gaze back to Celestia, I saw her waiting for me to say something to her. Upon realizing this fact I decided to make a motion towards my helmet which she somehow understood as asking if I could remove it, which was my intent. She nodded, even though I could sense some reluctance behind it. Once permission was granted I set the shotgun in my hands on the ground at my feet, then stood back up to full height and brought my hands up to my helmet. I pulled the helmet off slowly, and as I put the helmet under my arm my eyes scanned the ponies before me. Their mouths were agape, for reasons I did not know.

"Is my face that bad?" I asked slowly, "Cause I knew I was never pretty to look at before."

Celestia was first to speak, "I was expecting something a lot more, terrifying."

"I’m not terrifying?" I asked shocked, "Because last time I checked I was pretty damn scary, especially since I’ve been fighting for the last thirty-two years in two different wars..."

"What do you mean by that?" asked the dark blue pony next to Celestia.

"Exactly what I said."

They all just stared at me, save for Shining who was still passed out on the floor, which caused an awkward silence to fall on the room. Before three minutes passed there was the sound of a door opening. All of our heads turned to find the source, which turned out to be the door Twilight was just closing. She turned her head at us when she heard the conversation we were having stop. Her eyes went wider than I thought possible for a creature with eyes as big as hers. Then she slowly made her way down the stairs as we all watched, I was holding back a smirk.

"Sorry," she sheepishly said under all of our gazes.

When Twilight got closer to the group Cadence moved over to make room next to Celestia, where she took her place. I had decided to stop staring and find a chair. I found a small stool, and after making myself comfortable, I then placed my helmet on the floor, and got back to the situation at hand, but only to be derailed again when there was a loud groan from the lump the floor to my right. The group, save me, then moved to his side to try to resuscitate him.

"What did you do?" asked dark blue pony.

"I defended myself," I began, "after he threw me against a wall."

"You still didn't need to hit him with whatever you hit him with!" yelled Twilight.

"Don’t tell me I should have just let him kick the crap out of me after I stopped him fr-" I began to shoot back before I got interrupted.

"Twilight," Cadence said, "He did have Shining in his personal space. Plus he was screaming at him, so he felt threatened."

While Twilight and Cadence were talking my eyes were focused on Shining. As I watched he was slowly being helped to his hooves by Applejack and Celestia. From what I could tell, I had given him a concussion. Celestia was giving him a quick medical diagnosis as he stared at her, not even turning to look over at me and the others. After two more minutes of medical examination Shining finally noticed me again. His face instantly went sour, and he took a fighting stance.

"Shining," Cadence shouted, "leave him alone! He isn't going to hurt anyone, so just stop."

"Bu-" he began but was cut off by Celestia.

"Captain, listen to your wife and stand down!"

He gave them both a look saying he didn’t believe that I wouldn’t hurt anything. Then as I thought he was going to go against the others insistence, he relaxed and went back to laying on the floor. Which made everyone turn back to look at me, as I tried to rack my brain for how UNSC first contact procedure worked. Upon feeling all eyes in the room on me, I met their gaze. This time I didn't let any stare unnerve me. I bent down and picked up the shotgun. When I looked back up, the group was glaring at me.

"Now hold on," I quickly blurted as I slung the weapon over my shoulder, "I’m just picking it up, no need to worry."

"After what’s already happened," said Applejack, "Ah don' trust ya."

"Before we all get too far off topic, I’m starting a new one. So on that note, I want to let you know that I don't remember the UNSC first contact procedures in any way." As I said this, I reached into the small pocket in my chest piece and pulled out a cigarette and popped it in my mouth. "And sadly since I don't remember them, we are just going to have to wing it."

"You are not lighting that in here," snapped Twilight, “you could light the books on fire."

"Hey, since I gave up drinking I’m allowed to smoke, and you aren't my superior officer so I don't have to listen to you."

"Twilight let’s not bicker anymore and get back to the situation at hoof," said Celestia as she kept her gaze focused at me. "Do you mind telling us who you are?"

"I’m a Helljumper, and I am here because I need help." They all stared at me with a look of confusion as I continued trying to explain the situation I was in. "I honestly have no idea how I arrived at my drop site in the woods. But I got lucky enough to land next to a downed Pelican dropship, which I guess showed up here the same way I did."

My mind did an instant shift into reverse as I remembered Rawley needed medical attention, when the dark blue pony spoke. "So you have comrades in the vicinity? Did they arrive with you, or did they arrive before you?"

"The ship was here before me, but I found the Pelican's pilot. She had a piece of shrapnel in her side; I did what I could for medical treatment, but I came here to find her proper treatment. So since I have no idea on how to deal diplomatic situations, can I ask for your help trying to save her life before I dig myself into a diplomatic hole?"

Celestia looked at me in shock, almost like she didn't believe a word I said. But surprisingly enough Applejack came to my rescue.

"Fer the first time today Ah actually believe him," she said as she tapped Celestia on the leg.

"Applej-" began Twilight before the pony cut her off.

"Twi, Ah’m the Element of Honesty," she began as I tried to think of what she meant, "so you know I know when somepony is being dishonest and he ain't."

"Can I interrupt here, there is a woman dying in a dropship in a pool of her own blood, we need to hurry up here."

The silence that fell on the room was so quiet I could have heard a suppressed M7 from a mile away. Then the entire group shuffled away from me and began whispering to each other. I was unable to pick up a single word they were saying, which gave me a chance to think of my current situation.

I was in some strange place, surrounded by strange talking ponies! And even worse I was asking them for help to save a soldiers life, which meant I was relying on them to say yes. I couldn't believe this insanity! I picked up my helmet and put it back on before getting up and making my way over to the wall to my right. I had flown a bookshelf when I was thrown, and I had knocked a few books off of the wall and broke a shelf. 'How hard was I thrown? I should have a few broken ribs if not more.' After a few seconds more of mindless pondering, I decided I’d had enough. I spun on my heel and walked right up to Celestia and tapped her on the base of her neck.

"Alright, I’m done with this mindless talking. Which one of you is good with medicine?" Celestia, Twilight, and the dark blue pony all raised their hooves. "Alright good, you three are coming with me, we’re saving the Captain's life right now."

Shining spoke up as the three ponies that ‘volunteered’ began to follow me to the door, "I‘m going with you, I still don't trust this creature. Applejack, you and Cadence stay here and get the rest of the Elements before we get back."

They were about to object but the look that Celestia gave them said 'don't argue and don't follow'. As I came up to the door I removed the shotgun from my back and set it by the door in a corner. When I finally opened the door I saw that the once lively town was absolutely desolate. I looked up at my HUD and noticed the time said 21:20, which did explain why nobody came searching for the source of the noise that I made when I hit the wall.

When the ponies and I left the library, I drew the pistol on my leg and held it at my side, then we began out hike back to the crash site. Walking through town I kept to the shadows while everyone else calmly walked down the street. When we reached the outskirts of the town, I saw the cottage I knocked at on the way in.

"Does anybody even live there," I asked as we walked past.

"Yes," said Celestia, "the Element of Kindness lives there, Applejack and Cadence should be by shortly to get her."

"Well I should probably tell you all two things before we get there. This is going to be a long trip, because when I left the Pelican it was about fourteen hundred hours," I said as we entered the forest. "And the second thing is that when I left her, her technical chief was laying in the bay with her. And before you ask, he was already dead when I arrived. So if any of you aren't comfortable with seeing a dead body, I suggest you wait outside in the clearing."

"Since we agreed to help you," began Celestia after thirty minutes. "Can you give us some other information about yourself? Where came from, and what you can remember from before you got here?"

"I'll tell you," I said as I made sure my weapon was loaded, "when we save Captain Rawley."

We walked the still familiar trail back to the clearing where I had woken up. I kept silent, occasionally looking back at the group following me. They kept up with me and the white and dark blue one kept trying to make me talk. After a half an hour we arrived at the clearing, I made my way over to where my pod sat. When I came close to it I rested my hand on the side, then I noticed the group kept their distance from me.

"Why are you standing all the way over there," I asked turning my helmeted head towards the group.

"You’re standing in Poison Joke," Twilight stated, "We would have to be insane to walk in there."

"Okay," I sighed as I walked out of the blue flowers that surrounded me. "Back to the reason we’re here, who here is the best at medical treatment?" Celestia and the blue pony stepped forward. "Good I’m going to ask you two to come with me. And before you two get angry with me," I said as I pointed at Twilight and Shining, "I need you two to dig two rectangular holes. They need to be eight feet long by two and a half feet wide, and eight feet deep."

"Why are w-," Twilight began before she was cut off by the blue pony.

"Just in case we don't accomplish our task."

As Shining and Twilight bickered on where to put the graves I asked them to dig, I walked with Celestia and the blue one to the where I remember the Pelican sat. When I uncovered the rear landing gear of the bird I heard a gasp from the two behind me. Motioning for them to follow me though the brush I pushed through.

"Wait here," I mumbled, "I’m going to open the rear door."

I left the two ponies at the rear door and made my way around to the nose. I ignored Twilight and Shining's calls of where the graves should be and pushed through the tree limbs to reach my destination. When I saw the nose, I could understand the wounds on Rawley and her tech chief. The nose was crumpled in and the canopy was shattered, and when I climbed inside I saw what was left of the flight stick coated in blood. Scanning the display around the broken flight stick, I saw the entire ship was still operational save for the engines. I used what little knowledge of UNSC aircraft to find the rear door release, and I pressed it. Upon hearing the hiss of the hydraulics I hurried out of the cockpit and went around to the rear door where Celestia stood.

"What did you do?" she asked starring at the slowly lowering ramp.

Not giving her a reply, I waited for the door to reach a height I could climb. When it finally reached the point where I wanted it, it stopped leaving a five foot gap from the ground and the end of the ramp. I took the first jump and managed to get up on the ramp, while the two ponies with me watched. I then turned around and holstered my sidearm with one fluid motion, followed by extending my hand to Celestia. She put her hoof in my gloved hand and used her wings to help herself up into the troop bay. I helped the other up as well then turned to look for the woman we came to help. My eyes fell on the tech chief first as I scanned the bay, then went over to look behind the crate of C-12 and other supplies but I still didn’t see the one person I was looking for.

Finally I saw her sitting right in front of the door slumped to one side, pale and lifeless. I crossed the bay faster than the regal ponies beside me, and tore my helmet off and checked for a pulse. I couldn't find one as I heard the hoof steps on the metal floor come closer.

"I am sorry Helljumper," Celestia said as I turned to her, "I am so sorry we didn't make it in time. We sho-"

"M-marine," I heard a raspy voice say, "What the hell did you bring in my bird?"

"Ma'am, I brought someone to help you," I started before she interrupted me.

"You can't save me, I’ve lost too much blood and I told you to only come back here when you need the gear."

I turned to Celestia as she closed her eyes, and gave her a look asking for help. She sighed and her horn glowed as she walked closer to her and bent her head to the sitting figure next to me. I took a moment to step back from Celestia as she did her thing and I turned to the other pony in the bay.

"Help me find a pair of blankets," I said rather coldly.

"Very well," she replied quietly, “and We didn't have a moment for an introduction earlier, We are Princess Luna and you have our condolences for your loss."

"Thanks Luna," I replied completely confused on why she used the word 'We'.

I eventually took my helmet off and set it on the crate of C-12 and continued my search for a blanket. Five minutes into our search Luna found two sitting underneath one of the seats. I then took one of them and walked over to the one body. I laid out the blanket and made sure it was nice and flat, then set him on top of it. I pulled his dog tags off his neck and looped the chain around my belt. I then proceeded to remove the glass shard from his chest, but before I did I motioned for Luna to turn around. When she did I placed both hands on the chunk and pulled. It came out with a sickening pop and I winced as the end I was holding slit my hand when it finally gave from the man’s chest.

"Damn that hurt," I mumbled.

"Here," Luna said, "We can help."

Her horn began to glow and my hand enveloped in a dark blue glow, as the slice began to heal. I looked at her in shock as she smiled back at me. My expression slowly turned to one ofworry as Celestia tapped my shoulder.

"I did everything I could," she said almost at a whisper.

I looked past her at the pilot. She motioned for me to come over to her.

"Ma'am?"

"Thank you," she said with a small smile on her face, "for trying to save me. Now just be careful and if you do get in contact with the UNSC make sure you tell them that we’re here."

I stood to my full height and saluted, and she weakly returned it then went limp. I turned around and looked at Celestia and Luna. They nodded and laid out the second blanket, then I gently moved Captain Rawley's body to the blanket and removed her dog tags. After tying the tags around my belt, I wrapped the bodies up and picked up the blanketed form that was once the Captain.

"Can you two get the chief," I asked without looking back.

When I heard the sound of hooves on the metal again I walked to the edge of the ramp. I hopped off and landed on a small pile of twigs, which snapped as my feet crushed them. Celestia and Luna then joined me on the ground by gracefully gliding down with their wings. I looked to make sure they had the other body, and sure enough they it floating in the air between them, surrounded in the yellow glow that I could only assume belonged to Celestia. We then made our way out from under the Pelican's rear thrusters and into the clearing again.

As we emerged, Shining and Twilight turned their heads and saw me holding the wrapped body. They instantly knew what was going on as I walked over to the two holes I asked them to dig. I set her down gently next to the grave as Celestia set the other body in the other grave. Once they set the Captain's body in, I found two large rocks and placed them at the heads of each grave. When I turned around I saw the holes were filled with dirt and the ponies standing at the feet of the newly filled in graves, and I reached into my kit bag and pulled out a small roll of the always useful duct tape. I then untied each dog tag from my belt and taped each to the respective grave.

"These two died trying to evac a man who saved the universe," I began as I turned back to the group, "and they faced the worst thing I can possibly imagine while trying to do it."

"Well they sound like two of the greatest people I can imagine," said Twilight.

After a moment of silence Luna floated my helmet towards me with a smile. I decided to keep it off, after I went to the front of the Pelican and shut the rear door.

Upon returning to the group I looked at them all and said one thing, ""Let’s get back to the tree house thing and I will tell you whatever you want to know."

Then we set off.

Author's Note

Alright so this has been a long time coming sorry it took so long. But I finally have some help on this story and more motivation to get it done faster.
Now it is 3 am and i am going to bed. goodnight everyone and may the Immortal Emperor watch over you.

Chapter 4: Section 8

Chapter 4: Section 8

As we made our way back towards town, I could tell Twilight wanted to ask as many questions as ONI did after a failed mission. Before she could ask anything we broke through the forest into the clearing near the small house that belonged to the 'Element of Kindness' as Celestia had put it. I came to a sudden stop and let the others walk past me. When they noticed I wasn't ahead of them they turned around to look at me. I let myself lock gazes with everyone's questioning look before I looked at the ground. All I heard was a few nervous hoof steps and someone say a name, I didn't pay attention to it I continued to stare at the ground. Suddenly my vision was filled with purple, and I felt Twilight wrap her hooves around my torso as best as she could.

"It will be okay," Twilight softly said, "there is no reason to be mad at yourself,"

Bringing my free arm up, I wrapped it around her and half returned the hug, "I just wish I cou-"

"Stop blaming yourself," Luna interrupted, "she may not have been able to show it that well, that pilot was thankful you tried to save her."

Before I could say anything back to the Princess, her and Celestia came over and suggested we should get back to the library before it gets even later than it is. Which caused me and Twilight to stop hugging one another and begin walking yet again. This time I could sense Shining's anger, and his eyes glued to the back of my head. Pushing that out of my mind, and I noticed that Celestia and Luna had taken the lead as we entered town. As we began again, I decided that sneaking would make me look like I was trying to break into someone's home, and stayed in the middle of the group.

"I am surprised, a voice said from the white pony in front of me, "you didn't stay to the shadows this time. I wasn't expecting that."

I simply stayed quiet as we continued walking, keeping myself in thought as my mind slowly began to kick into gear. 'How am I taking this so well? Being stuck on a planet with no war, but colorful talking ponies that will help when asked! I should be back on Earth, with Jenn and Sarge, and Dez fighting the Covenant! I hope those three are alright, I don't want them to lose everything like I have. Upon my thoughts bringing up the others I felt wetness begin to form in my eyes. 'I already lost Anne, the Captain, Reach, and now Vence and the others. Poor Vence, she didn't deserve that, her son doesn't deserve it either. I really hope they are alright, and held those bastards off. Before I could go down an all to familiar road of depression and sadness I bumped into Celestia and Luna before they opened the door to the library.

Upon my unexpected collision the Princesses turned their heads back to look at me, then looked at one another and back to the door. Luna moved to open it, but as she did it burst inward with a bang and something that had no right to be that pink jumped the two large ponies in front of me and tackled me. As I started falling back I felt another being behind me that I could only guess was Shining.

"HII'MPINKIEPIEANDWELCOMETOPONYVILLE," the loud pink pony said as she was muzzle to nose with me.

The shock wore off almost instantly, and I managed to toss the surprisingly light pony off of me. As I heard the rest of the world slowly turn to try and follow where the pink blur went, but I had already jumped up to my feet and pulled a knife out from under my chest plate. The ponies all around me stared as I drew a knife on the ball of energy that was staring me in the face, with a puzzled look.

"What the HELL," I shouted, knife still pointing towards the pony my eyes were fixed on, "was that for?!"

Shining didn't even let an explanation out of my attacker's mouth, he instantly threw me into the library, where I met the same wall I crashed into from earlier. As I looked up to see the angry stallion stomping across the room, angry look plastered on his face, a light yellow pony with a lighter pink mane and tail landed in front of him. From being near Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all night I could tell that this pony was a female. Her landing stopped the angry being that stood before her, he then tried to go around her, but then the pink pony who I now noticed was a as well female appeared out of nowhere.

"No need to hurt the party pony," said she giggled, "well he isn't really a pony."

"Pinkie," he shouted back, "he had a k-"

A stern voice cut him off almost instantly, "Shining! He was surprised, and Pinkie, you shouldn't have tackled him," she said as she turned to the one named Pinkie. She then turned to me, and I saw her face somehow go from as stern as a drill instructor shouting his lungs out at a raw recruit who has been sick on his hat, to a caring mother speaking to her newborn child. "Are you okay, did you get hurt from being thrown or jumped on?"

"I hit the same wall as last time," I started, keeping my gaze glued to Shining, knife still gripped in my left hand, "but I swear to God if you throw me ever again, I will plant this knife just as deep as it has been in a brute's neck, in yours."

The yellow mare's eyes went wide as I slid my knife back in its sheath under my chest plate. As he stood there with his mouth practically on the floor, I took note in the new ponies in the room. To my left there was Applejack, standing next to a blue mare with a rainbow mane and wings. Next to her, unsurprisingly enough another mare, who was as white as a marshmallow with a curly purple mane and just like Twilight she had a white horn sticking from her head in the exact same spot.

They were all staring at me with mouths agape as well, then the white mare put her hoof to her head and pulled a couch from across the room and daintily fell upon it. 'Alright, I can already tell I wont like that pony very much' I thought to myself. Before my brain could make any more comments, Twilight spoke up.

"Helljumper," she asked trying to make everyone less nervous, "if you are okay with us calling you that, can you explain how you got here?"

"Yeah," I said quite cheekily, "I was thrown through the door."

"That is not what I meant."

"Okay, out of all seriousness," I stated as I wondered around the room looking for a chair, "I have no idea how I got here,"

"How do you not know," she asked sounding a little annoyed.

"Twilight, calm down," Celestia said as she rested a wing over Twilight as if to calm her. She then turned to me, "Can you tell us what you do remember? And what do you want us to call you?"

"Well," I mumbled as I located a chair, "I am used to being called Helljumper by Navy officers, so that works. And the last thing I remember before waking up in my pod in that clearing was..."

I fell silent as I remembered Earth, then I wondered about my bothers and sisters in arms once more. 'I wonder if the fighting has ended, and we managed to keep the planet safe. I hope Jenn and Sarge kept their families safe, and I hope Vence's son is alright and is proud she died for the whole of humanity. This time I was unable to keep up my hardened facade as I realized I lost all of the people I considered my family. My head fell and the tears began to fall from my eyes.

Shakily, I began to tell the ponies anything that was not considered 'classified', "B-b-before I woke up in that clearing, my unit and I were going to take a Covenant battle cruiser." I feel the puzzled looks that were plastered to their faces, "We then, were dropped out of the P.E. and into space, where everything went pear shaped faster than anyone could imagine. My pod was hit by one of my squad mates and I was sent into an uncontrollable tumble. Which would have been fine if the stupid cruiser hadn't initiated a slipspace jump after we began out decent. But, the tumble I was in sent me unluckily into, and since slipspace is an alternate dimension I somehow wound up in the field that we buried Rawley in."

When I looked up from the floor, the faces of the ponies (that were not out like lights) and some were giving me puzzled looks, still. Celestia and Luna however were impassive to my story and I could see in Shining's face that he would still rather throw me in a cell. When my eyes saw the yellow pony, I was surprised, she was no longer horrified. She was actually starting to tear up! Twilight went over to her and pulled her into a reassuring hug.

"Fluttershy," she said quietly, "I-"

"Twilight perhaps I should take her home?" asked the blue pony.

Twilight just nodded and released the frightened Fluttershy. What happened next made my jaw drop, the blue one flew over to Fluttershy and picked her up and flew out of the room! When the door closed the room practically exploded with a question from Shining.

"Are you happy," he asked angrily at me, "you scared the most innocent of all ponies for life."

"Well," I shot back," excuse me, I didn't mean it. And I am pretty sure from all of the shit 'I' have seen, I have been scarred a lot worse than her."

"What do you mean?" came Celestia's voice from somewhere to my right.

"Being in a twenty seven year long war of attrition against an enemy," I began throwing some venom into my voice, "that is a sore loser and burns a world after they manage to fail at a ground assault. Tell me that isn't going to send you into a terrible case of PTSD."

The faces of the ponies in front of me looked like they were going to be sick. Shining looked like he was slapped, and all I could do was keep my eyes locked with Celestia. Before she could speak I beat her to the point.

"Yeah," I said quickly, "and I can't forget about the Innies before hand, they also did a good number on my mental profile as well."

"How can you be so okay with that!" came Twilight's voice from next to Cadence.

All I did was shrug, and lean back in my seat. All I could think of was how I could be sitting here and not in a padded room in Sidney with a mark in my medical records saying 'Section 8'. And before anyone could tell me otherwise I got up and asked where I could find a place to sleep for the night. Twilight and Celestia were suddenly taken aback from my sudden change of pace. Twilight just simply pointed to the door to my right, and I retrieved my shotgun from near the door I left it by when I left and made my way downstairs. Soon enough I made myself comfy on the floor and fell asleep.

Author's Note

Okay so not that this chapter is done, I can hopefully get the next one started soon. Oh and before I forget, I apologize yet again for how long I take to update this ramshackle story. I just get distracted by other things like Top Gear, and stuff like that. And I still am looking for any and all helpful comments would be welcome.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter everyone, it is 2 am and I am going to go pass out now... bye!

Chapter 5: Reoccurring Nightmares Part 1

Chapter 5: Reoccurring Nightmares Part 1

Chapter 5: Reoccurring Nightmare

My eyes shot open and I didn't see the basement I had fallen asleep in. Before me was a two story building, a building I knew all too well. I was standing in the outskirts of Casbah, the colony Tribute's capital city. Hearing the sound of boots on pavement, I spun around and saw an almost complete squad of Marines running towards me. Two of my friends were in the lead; one was Platoon Commander Lieutenant Anne Miller. The man on her heels, and the center of one of my many reoccurring nightmares, Captain Jeremiah Stewart, the commanding officer of the ODSTs stationed aboard the UNSC Weeping Willows.

I stood there in shock as he ran up to me.

"Come on Corporal," he whispered to me, "Second, Third, and Fourth Squads have the escape routes out of this building secured; we have to get into position."

"Yes sir!"

I spun as he started moving again and ran after the rest of the squad. Upon reaching the building the Captain motioned for me to move up front. As I did I took a glance to the side to see Anne nod, she must have known what I was ordered to do. I reached the door as I my eyes moved front, and my hand shot from the suppressed assault rifle I was somehow carrying and grabbed the handle. I motioned for the unit to move after I cleared the first room.

I then turned the handle and quietly opened the door. When it was open far enough I moved in with my rifle leveled, checking everywhere for a target, fortunately the room was empty. After a second quick check of the room, I pressed the plate on the inside of my helmet causing the comm to click and signaling the rest of the squad that they could move in and start clearing the rest of the building. As my fellow soldiers began their work, Stewart waved me over to him at the bottom of the stairs.

"You and I," he whispered over the comm, "we’re going to start clearing the second floor."

I just nodded and took my position ahead of him, and began my way up the stairs. Half way up I saw someone start to turn around the corner ahead of me. Purely out of instinct, I pointed the rifle at the figure and let it finish its turn. When completed, I saw a woman wielding an M90 shotgun. My finger squeezed the trigger and I heard three muffled shots, which were followed by her beginning a tumble down the stairs.

"Tango down," I said into the mic in my helmet, "proceeding to the second floor."

When I reached the second floor I turned left, and began searching for the rest of her terrorist friends. When the Captain cleared the landing I moved forward down the hall. I saw four rooms and one closet. The layout was two doors, a closet on the right, then the final two doors. As I reared the final set of rooms, I heard the hinges of a door squeak, and I spun around leveling my rifle. I looked at the man behind me as he began to move forward. The next thing I knew I was thrown into a room, and I came to a stop against the opposite wall. When I made it to my feet there was the muffled thump of a grenade. Rushing back into the hall, I saw the closet was still closed, but Captain Stewart was face down on the ground.

As I realized what had happened, I keyed the comm and told everyone that we had a man down. When the mic clicked off, I let my anger take a hold of my mind. I aimed my rifle at the closet door and sprayed the lower half until the magazine was empty. The adrenaline was flowing through my body, but I couldn't ignore the searing pain that cut through the left side of my chest as I began to swap out my empty mag.

I heard boots thundering up the stairs as I fell towards the closet door.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

My eyes snapped open and I immediately reached for my battle rifle at my side. Bringing it up I scanned the area around me, I was back in the dimly lit basement. I checked the clock on my HUD and saw it read 07:50. 'Four hours of terrible sleep, can this get any worse?' Looking to the right I noticed that there was a figure standing at the bottom of the stairs. I instantly brought the rifle to bear on it. When the figure didn't flinch I switched on my night vision, and saw Luna standing there, eyes locked on me

"Don't you know it is creepy to watch someone sleep?" I asked as I lowered my weapon, "I mean, even though I am from some other planet, that doesn’t change anything."

She shuffled forward a few steps and sat down; worry slowly coming across her face.

"I saw you were having a nightmare-"

Wait," I interrupted, "how did you know I was having a nightmare?"

"Well," she sheepishly began, "as Princess of the Night, I watch over ponies dreams." Luna's voice then shifted to sadness," I usually keep young ones from having nightmares. But this time I saw yours during my flight through the dream realm. I tried to help and stop it, but every time I tried to enter I found myself unable to do so."

“First off," I said after I stood up with a grunt, “I’m not a pony, so that’s your first issue. And second, that one is just one of the many reoccurring nightmares I’ve had over the years. Nothing and nobody can stop them. Finally, don't try to do that dream seeing crap with me again."

Luna stared at me for a moment, with her ears flattened back before she spoke, "I apologize, I was just trying to help. Do you wish to at least talk about it? I have found over my life talking about it helps, it is better than keeping it bottled up inside."

"No, I won't talk about it, and do not ask about it again. It is in my past, and I want it to stay there. I have already dealt with it and I don't plan to re-open old wounds."

Before she could reply I walked past her and began to make my way up the stairs. Half way up I could barely make out four muffled voices having a very heated argument.

"Twi- on't- re!"

"Shinni- stop, he- wo- anyp-"

Upon reaching the door, I placed the rifle on my back and opened it, the voices I had heard previously stopped as I entered. In my haste I forgot to turn off my night vision and I tore my helmet from my head. I kept my eyes closed tight and shook my head to try and rid them of the pain, a futile attempt but I tried.

When I finally opened my eyes I saw the library was cleaned from Shining's attempt to use me as a rag doll, but I also noticed that there were four sets of eyes focused on me. I took note that Luna had come up from the basement behind me but didn't turn to look at her. Instead, I moved to the chair I sat in last night, which was thankfully were I left it. As I sat down and began rummaging in my kit bag for an MRE, I heard someone clear their throat.

"I hope my sister did not wake you," said a voice from my left.

I kept rummaging as I looked up and saw Celestia staring at me. The only response I gave her was a simple shake of the head, and finally found one of the corners of the brown prize. Upon freeing the package from its dark prison I noticed happily that I retrieved a spaghetti entree, which was always my favorite. Looking up from my prize I saw Celestia was joined by Twilight, Cadence, and Luna, and they were all looking at me.

"What are you all staring at?" I asked, "I’m just getting some breakfast."

"My sister told me you had a nigh-" Celestia began before I cut her off.

"Like I told her downstairs," I said as I met her gaze and continued searching my bags for the ration heater, “The fact she tried to look into my dreams is creepy, and I want my past to be in the past, I got over it once and I do not want to get over it again. That nightmare was one of many, many that I want to forget and never have again but I’m unable to because it’s my fault that the events those portray happened in the first place."

Two of the ponies in front of me looked horrified from what I had just admitted, but the other two had no emotion on their faces. But when I looked into their eyes I saw pain. The pain of those who know the feeling of having someone's death laid squarely on your shoulders. I finally pulled the heater out and set it on the floor, and I then went through the process of heating up my breakfast. Upon opening the entree package, took a whiff causing a large smile on to spread across my face

"Nothing like a good spaghetti MRE to start the day!" I say with gusto.

"Why are you making that for breakfast?" asked Twilight.

I looked at her like she had just offended my mother. I gestured for her and the rest of the ponies in the room to take a seat, and when they did I ate faster. But not fast enough to squander my favorite meal.

After I finished my last bite and released a rather large and rude belch I began to speak, "This MRE just so happens to be my one of my favorite types, well besides the milkshake ones but those are harder to get. And I will try my best to eat them when I can because they don't taste like dirt."

"Wait you’re given food that tastes like dirt?" asked Twilight.

"No, the other MREs I have taste like cardboard," I clarified, "the makers of these things didn't particularly care much about flavor, just how healthy they are."

She finally got what I was saying and lost the puzzled look on her face, but before she could ask anything else I stood up.

"Alright, I need to go out to the Pelican and get a few things I left out there. Is there any way we could get there without causing a problem?"

Celestia spoke up first, "Yes there is, but I do not know if it will work with you."

I made a gesture for her to try it anyway, and the ponies before me rose and were joined by Shining. I had no idea where he went while I told them about why I liked my food. When my eyes went back to Celestia I saw her horn was glowing and suddenly heard a loud pop, and I felt like my stomach lurch like it was left in orbit when I drop. When I realized where we were I stared at Celestia with a look of confusion.

"How did we get here so fast?"

"We teleported," Shining said like I should have known that was usual.

"Okay you lost me at teleported, does that mean what I think it means?"

"Yes, yes it does," Celestia's voice came from my right.

"Okay," I said bringing my hand to my face, "talking ponies is one thing but teleporting is another ball game."

Author's Note

Okay I apologize for this taking so long to come out..... yeah my bad. But I will get one a month schedule soon! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter.