005

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Chapter 1

“I am James… Spartan 005, rank: Petty Officer Second Class…”

It was all I could think. Flying through the cold blackness of space, surrounded by debris and plasma fire; damn Covenant.

“I am James… Spartan 005, rank: Petty Officer Second class…”

The comms in my Mark V Mjolnir battle armor had long since gone dead; besides, talking to nobody would only deplete my already limited oxygen reserve even more. This was the kind of death CPO Mendez had never prepared me for… Us for… At least the Covenant we can fight. I chuckled… The damn Covenant, fucking reason we were sent here in the first place.

“I am James… Spartan 005, rank: Petty Officer Second Class…”

I looked through my gold-tinted MARK V helmet’s visor, happy for once that I could enjoy the luxury of a somewhat wider field of vision than the standard-issue ODST trooper helmets; in a non-tactical situation… Might as well enjoy the view before I died.

“I am James… Spartan 005, rank: Petty Officer Second Class…”

I’ve always been calm and collected, the kinda guy who becomes a rock under fire, and you know what? I think I’m okay with this… I die so that others may live, as is my mission.

“I am James… Spartan 005, rank: Petty Officer Second Class…”

Deep breaths… The air is hardly breathable now, the stale taste of the recycled oxygen mixing with the ripe tang of the sweat dripping down my nose, caused by the boiling globs of plasma passing me by on all sides.

“I am James… Spartan 005, rank: Petty Officer Second Class…”

Fuck that… I’ve always also been the persistent one, haven’t I? The one who ALWAYS got the mission done, no matter the cost; there has to be a way for me to get outta this mess… Join John and Linda again, fuck up those Covvies who put me in this mess…

“I am James… Spartan 005, rank: Petty Officer Second Class…”

It’s easy… Just raise my right arm, the one blown off years ago in that skirmish with those hunters; flesh replaced by a shiny titanium robotic prosthetic. That was the first time humanity had ever seen a hunter pair… They had given me this, and while it increased my already inhuman strength and response times, and I could still ‘feel’ it, and the things I manipulated with it; it just wasn’t the same. Before I could thumb the emergency release valve for the tank the Covvies didn’t manage to hit, I’m thrown forwards by something… I look up, and smirk. At least I didn’t have to wait much longer to die now…

A slipspace window was opening up right on top of me, pulling me towards the event horizon. I craned my neck around, and watched as an old Halcyon-class cruiser made the jump – outer hull rocketing by inches from my faceplate.

A wave of nausea hits me, and I resist the urge to vomit inside my helmet as I’m pulled in through the event horizon; eyes involuntarily flicking upwards to the top left hand corner of my HUD, as I wait for my shields to drain, and my molecules to be ripped apart from the transition…

But it doesn’t happen. Instead, I begin to hear the telltale beeping that indicates my armor’s shields are at half strength, and feel my stomach lurch as I’m transitioned back into normal space. My stomach lurches, and I can’t help but cough up a little bile; immediately and grimly swallowing it back down again; the taste coating the back of my mouth and throat, making me want to throw up more.

My eyes shifted around, taking in my surroundings. Where was I? Instead of being surrounded by globules of plasma, and molten titanium, I was now in clean-space; the glare of the new system’s only sun beaming in through my visor as it rose over a foreign planet’s outer edge. Single moon, single planet, single sun… Oh boy.

Shields slowly charging, I glanced down at the unfamiliar green and brown continents below, noting that it faintly reminded me of the somewhat familiar blocky shapes of Earth’s continents. The only memory I have being holo stills our old teacher, Déjà the AI, had shown to my fellow Spartan IIs and I during our training at CASTLE base, Reach. I activated the 5x zoom on my visor, astonished to be able to make out the shapes of small towns and cities; which were quickly becoming obscured by a faint reddish glow, and the sparking of my energy shields as I entered the atmosphere. Whatever this place was, it definitely wasn’t one of the many UNSC outposts, or even human colony worlds.

No time to admire the planet, gotta act if I want to save my skin. I chinned the small set of controls in my helmet, showing me the status of the thruster pack still strapped to my back. No reading for tank two - no surprises there though, seeing as that was the tank hit by the needler fire. Tank one showed 25% full, enough to angle my descent so I wouldn’t be burned up. Plus I still had the two reserve tanks, not enough to stop me before I hit the ground; but enough to slow me down enough for the absorbent gel-layer in my suit to take most of the impact. I chinned another control, diverting maximum energy field strength around my bottom half, while at the same time altering my position so I was dropping in feet first. I’d have to alter trajectory again once I reached the lower atmosphere, but for now this would prevent me from burning up in the atmosphere. Jumping feet first into hell had taken on a whole new meaning.

My teeth rattled and I almost blacked out as I entered the upper atmosphere and hit the sound barrier, cirrus clouds whipping past my helmet, still encased in a red-hot ball of fire as the friction from my entry burned the atmosphere around me. Warning alarms went off in my helmet, as my shields dropped lower… 25%... 15%... 10%... Then another warning light and alarm started blaring, and I grunted as the valve popped on the primary tank, sending me spinning out of control and onto my back; the heat penetrating the hard Titanium-A casing and causing my back to blister. I fired the first emergency thruster canister, the shock jolting me with enough force to break the spine, or at least fracture the ribs on any normal human. I was lucky I survived the augmentation process; my carbide-ceramic coated bones would survive… Just.

A little altimeter popped up on my HUD as I began decelerating slightly thanks to my first emergency canister; It read 10,000 feet, and I sighed to myself. This canister, I knew, would only last until I was approximately 6,000 feet above the ground, then my second would only last until I was approximately 500 feet above ground; leaving me 500 feet of freefall to contend with. Enough for my gel-layer to absorb, but it was about to get very bumpy.

At 6,000 feet the second canister fired automatically, jolting me back across the sound barrier so I was again travelling subsonic. I slowly braced myself as the altimeter clocked downwards; first at 5,000, 4,000, 3,000 ft… Then as I reached 500ft, my stomach rose as I began accelerating again; the second canister had cut out. I closed my eyes; awaiting the eventual jarring thud that would put me out; hopefully not for good. But it came sooner than I expected.

With a deafening roar, and a series of sickening crunches and snaps, my armored body slammed through concrete and stone before plunging into a pool of water; which vaporized as the white hot titanium came in contact with it. I had one good look at a pile of rubble, which was spread around me; in and around the 10 ft crater I had created. It looked like the remains of a large ornate fountain and cobblestone surrounds, which was all I could discern before darkness rolled over my vision and I blacked out.

James awoke, feeling the slight chill of a morning air fill his lungs. He sighed in relief, at least the suit hadn’t been damaged; it had probably recognized an oxygen-nitrogen atmosphere and opened the external breathing filters on the sides of his helmet. He sucked in the chilling air, and winced as he experienced a stabbing sensation in his left side. Bruised ribs, great.

He moved slowly at first, just his eyes, reading the multiple damage reports being displayed on his HUD. Miraculously, James’ shield generator was still functional, although to his dismay the rest of the suit was unresponsive, having begun diagnostics- meaning he couldn’t move for another five minutes. James mentally kicked himself, realizing that he should’ve realized this sooner; considering he could feel both his arms stuck outwards, fingers splayed in what could only be called a comical fashion. His facelate hadn’t depolarized either, stuck at maximum after his hot entry. Other than that though, the only things damaged were his motion tracker and thruster pack… But the thruster pack was already shot to hell before he landed. Damn Covenant.

James chinned another control, manually toggling the visor’s polarization down to a more manageable level; what he saw at the edge of the crater astounded him. Hordes of multicolored… Horses? Were they horses? No… smaller than horses, ponies… But their faces were too short, too round. They each stood about three feet tall, differently styled multicolored manes flapping in a slight breeze. Almost all of them had a set of strange tattoos on their flanks, each one seemingly unique. Steam still hissed off James’ Mark V Mjolnir armor, trails of it lazily floating into the crowd of equines as they gazed baffled down at him. He smiled slightly inside his visor… What a sight he must be, nine-foot-tall metal man as heavy as maybe 20 of them combined; one night he drops from the sky into their midst.

“No, fuck. I must be dreaming… No, I can’t be dreaming.”

James tried activating the comms again, but was greeted only by static. Figures. Wherever he was, he wasn’t in UNSC controlled space anymore… Perhaps not even Covenant territory either? He hadn’t seen any ships as he had entered the planet’s gravity well… So whatever these things were, they probably weren’t a threat; otherwise they’d have already neutralized him by now.

A low beep, followed by a loud thud as his heavy arms fell to the floor; prosthetic jerking around like a fish out of water before it lay still.

“Must be more damaged than I thought.”

James started by moving my head slightly; muttering to himself inside the soundproof helmet:

“Take it slow, James… Just like when you first got it. Don’t want to break yourself.”

Slowly, he got up; shrugging off the burnt out and bulky thruster pack as he did. The - what did Déjà call them? ponies? - all stepped back, and a few even bolted as he rose to his full armored height of almost nine feet, prosthetic hanging limply to one side; unresponsive to his commands. Subconsciously, James had to stop himself from reaching for his MA5B Assault rifle, knowing it had been lost when that Covvie landed a lucky shot on his thruster pack; James could’ve reached for the M6D strapped to his leg, which had miraculously survived the fall but he didn’t want to piss them off. Small as they were, there was only one of him and hundreds of them. If they were anything like the grunts of the Covenant as well; James didn't stand a chance; sure, he’d probably take out most of them, but eventually numbers would win out.

They all stood there, staring at each other; unsure of what to do, before a little yellow pony with a red mane stepped forward. Large orange eyes stared into James’ faceplate, and he noticed a ridiculous pink bow tying up its mane, which bobbed with it as it fearlessly walked up to him. It slowly extended a hoof, jabbing the top of his helmet, as one would if they were testing the water of a bath or spa before jumping in. James stood there, letting it run a hoof over the still slightly steaming alloy that made up his helmet’s visor. It overbalanced, and almost toppled head over heels into the crater James had made, but he shot out his left hand; enhanced reflexes allowing him to save the little horse from toppling into the crater below. The ponies gasped at that one, how his hand had been able to move so quickly; seemingly by James’ side one second and immediately occupying the space in front of the smaller pony (which he assumed to be one of their young) in less time that it took to blink.

“Uhh… Thanks… Mister?”

James blinked, then chuckled; gesture unnoticeable inside the soundproof helmet and behind his gold visor. He really shouldn’t be surprised that the ponies could speak, they had after all created an entire town, not to mention all the cities he’d noticed in orbit. Still, they could speak English? It couldn’t be a coincidence; then again it was a small universe.

James gently pushed the filly (he had devoted some of his brain to remembering Déjà’s lessons on earth animals, plus he had concluded from her voice that this one was female) back up onto the ledge, before slowly grabbing the still jerking right arm and chinning on his external speakers.

“Hang on a sec.”

He was startled by the loudness of his own voice, having just spent the past six or seven hours floating through space; nothing but his own thoughts to accompany him. Apparently a few of the other ponies were spooked, as more bolted when they heard him speak. What he did next sent the rest of them running. He tapped a few controls on the malfunctioning arm, and yanked it free from the socket; needles that stuck into his arm, keeping it attached to and working with his nervous system rapidly shrinking back into their individual housings like the legs of a dying spider. All but the little filly, and three fully grown ponies – two were pegasi; one was grey with a blonde mane and golden eyes (which were pointing in different directions), the other cyan-blue with a mane all the colors of the rainbow. The last one was like the ponies on earth, the ones that Déjà had familiarized him with the most; this one was orange with a blonde mane and tail both done up in a functional ponytail. He was pretty sure pegasi were mythological beasts… Then again, small universe.

James pulled the serrated combat knife from his chest sheath, working the tip into the screw holding shut the maintenance panel; a quick manual reset should solve the problem. He flicked open the panel, touched a few buttons with his massive gauntleted fingers and closed it back up again, satisfied as the arm began flexing seemingly on its own. After about a minute of this, he re-attached the limb to himself, not even twitching as the eight needles slid back into the stump where his real arm used to be, locking the titanium limb in place. He flexed it experimentally and wiggled his fingers about, digits moving faster than the naked eye could capture.

“Spartan 005 – James, Rank: Petty Officer Second class, UNSC Navy.”

“Beggin your pardon?” questioned the orange mare, who was quivering slightly where she stood.

James pulled his massive bulk out of the crater one-handed, bringing his full armored nine-foot height to ground level, towering over the ponies. Maybe a bit more menacingly than he intended, after all; he didn’t want this first contact to go as badly as did on Harvest. He kneeled, and even though he still loomed over the equines by at least two feet, it was better than five.

“My designation, Spartan 005: Rank Petty Officer Second Class of the United Nations Space Command Navy. My name is James, pleased to meet you.”

For good measure, he held out another massive gauntleted hand towards the orange pony, who backed away even farther. He held the hand out for a few seconds longer, before dropping it with a slight sigh.

James thought about it, and even though it broke every reg in the book, it would go a long way to smooth the situation. He slowly twisted the MARK V helmet and pulled it free from his head, before transferring it to his left hand letting it and the helmet drop to his side. The sun played across his pale skin, a byproduct of being in the odd green Mjolnir battle armor for the greater part of the last ten years. His M6 pistol had survived the fall, as it had been strapped to his hip and therefore protected from most of the entry by his energy shields. He unholstered it and unsheathed the large bowie knife on his chest, laying them slowly at his feet along with the helmet.

“I am unarmed,” he calmly stated, holding his gauntleted hand out again to the orange one. Before she could shake it however, the rainbow one came to her senses.

“WHAT IN THE HAY ARE YOU!?” it screamed and flew at him, hooves outstretched.

James threw back on the helmet, energy shield blazing to life over his translucent green Mjolnir armor as the helmet sealed with the rest of his suit. His training kicked in, and he braced himself for a blow, whipping up his knife at the same time… The blow never came.

“Hol’ on there sugarcube!” the orange pony exclaimed, slightly muffled due to the rainbow-maned one’s tail filling her mouth. “Let’s hear him out ‘afore we jump to conclusions.”

James stood there, still braced for a second, before dropping his left arm and again peeling the helmet from his head and re-sheathing his knife. This time, the orange mare (again, he assumed mare because of her voice) held out a hoof to shake. He took it as lightly as he could with his right hand, seeing her wince slightly as metal met velvet-soft fur; not to mention that ‘lightly’ for a Spartan was still enough to make powder of something delicate.

“Ahm Applejack… You shure are a big fellar ain’t ya?”

“What she’s TRYING to say is, who… WHAT are you, and WHY did you destroy half our town square?!”

James turned his head slightly, surveying the crater he had left; it looked as though a giant had gouged out the town square. He hadn’t hit the ground straight on, instead at an angle to dissipate the force; where he had first made contact with the ground, the crater was only about a foot deep, quickly becoming deeper until the ruins of what was a town fountain. At that point where he had ended up the crater was 10ft deep, concrete and cobblestone strewn messily all over the place…

This is where he noticed it. A midnight black tail, streak of purple running through it and covered in dust was poking slightly out from underneath a large slab of concrete slab; the size of a Warthog LRV. The slab was surrounded in a lavender aura of light, and he could see the tail still moving slightly; accompanied by a soft groaning and ragged breathing. James took one massive stride over to the Warthog-sized block, throwing both hands underneath the thing and flipping it out of the way with as little effort as one would a pillow or sack of feathers. Underneath, he beheld a barely conscious lavender unicorn looking up at him, disheveled and fear in her eyes. She was bleeding from a large puncture in her flank, presumably where a smaller piece of concrete had impacted and buried itself deep inside her flesh. She had obviously been trying somehow to keep the large slab from crushing her throughout the night, unnoticed by anyone until now.

James pulled open the med kit on his other hip and yanked out a can of biofoam. He ripped his knife free and plunged it into the wound, digging the small fractured pieces of concrete free from the pony with blinding speed and precision. At the same time he pulled the pin from the biofoam canister and flicked the spoon, inserting the nozzle into the now shrapnel-free wound before the spoon clattered to the ground. The unicorn cried out weakly as the stinging antiseptic self-sealing biofoam poured into the wound, setting into a hard sort of cast as it did. The canister expended, he crushed the steel and threw it to the ground with a metallic protest, before gently picking up the quivering unicorn and turning to the others. Cradling her near-unconscious form in his massive arms, he looked up at the other ponies, who were all staring at him, mouths open.

“She needs a surgeon, the biofoam won’t hold forever,” he stated calmly, being careful not to crush the smaller body against his massive chest.

He knew for a fact that this one was a she, having had to glimpse over ‘that area’ in his damage assessment. An old lesson of Déjà’s on animal physiology had begun playing in his head, and he was pretty sure that the other ponies by the crater, mythological or not, were also female; he could tell by the slimmer body type.

“This way!” the orange one who had identified herself as ‘Applejack’ shouted, before galloping off towards a small building with a medical cross on the front, about 500 meters away. The Spartan pulled his helmet back on with his robotic arm, being careful to adjust the lighter animal’s weight into the crook of his left before sprinting full pelt after the orange one; easily outstripping her at his top speed of 105 km/h, a speed usually only reserved for emergency situations. This was due to the huge chance he would tear his Achilles tendon if maintained for more than 30 seconds. He came to a sliding stop a few inches from the door, being careful to keep the pony still cradled in his arms perfectly still relative to the ground. Kicking the door open, he winced slightly as the heavy oak door flew off its hinges and embedded itself in a wall five meters away.

James squeezed inside and into a back room, where he was immediately accosted by another female pony wearing a nurse’s hat and a male unicorn wearing a set of round reading glasses and a necktie around his neck. The marks on their flanks were something to do with medicine, the female’s a simple cross, and the male’s a red caduceus; he reasoned he was in the right place as he lay the gasping unicorn down on a medical bed, moving aside at the two ponies rushed to her side.

“Shrapnel wound, left flank; removed the shrapnel with my knife, then cleaned and bandaged the wound,” James said calmly as the male unicorn looked at him, a mix of fear, intrigue and confusion in his eyes.

The nurse looked fearfully at the nine-foot metal man, before shrugging it off then looking at the doctor questioningly; after all, strange WAS in her job description.

“Wh-what happens now?”

The doctor pulled on a ridiculous set of red rubber gloves and donned a lab coat.

“Now?” he asked back in a ridiculous German accent, chuckled and continued, “Let’s go practice medicine…”

The doctor’s horn glowed red, and James watched in astonishment as the hard biofoam cast levitated out of the wound, the purple unicorn’s flesh knitting back together until it was as if she had never been injured. The paste made up of fur, concrete dust and blood covering her quickly vanished and she was left sitting there, sparkling clean and breathing returning to normal.

“Ughhhh, wha? Whahappa?” she tried to say, before the nurse shoved a small glass of water in her face; the doctor trotted into the front office, whistling happily as he did so.

James took this as his chance to leave; judging by the mixed reaction to his presence, maybe it was best to make himself scarce for now. While he would’ve preferred it if he hadn’t been spotted by half the residents of the town, his best tactical option now WAS a swift retreat.

Slinking out of the room, he located the back door, unnoticed by the occupied nurse and heavy armored feet somehow barely making a sound on the smooth wooden floor. The door creaked open at his touch, revealing a small fenced off area behind the clinic, a meadow with a forest bordering it behind that. Crossing open ground while trying to slink away quietly - not exactly a wonderful idea.

James sighed, hopped the fence and sprinted, knowing full well that his body would pay dearly for the motion, though he held back from his top speed of 105 km/h; again, he didn’t want to tear an Achilles tendon. He probably should’ve gone back and destroyed the t-pack, but he reasoned that it was pretty thoroughly damaged as it was.

The huge armored Spartan tore up the soft ground as he ran, kicking up a spray of turf and grass, the detritus flying out behind him and the ground reverberating with his thundering footfalls. He turned his head slightly and looked back as he heard a faint voice shouting at him, too far to make out anything coherent. He engaged the 5x zoom on his visor, watching as the orange pony from before began chasing him down determined to catch him, despite his extreme lead and speed. Smiling as he turned his head back to the path ahead, his eyes widened and he jumped without thinking, barely clearing a small cottage that had seemingly appeared out of nowhere. His shields flared, and he winced as he fell on top of a table, his just over half-ton weight easily demolishing the small piece of furniture with a loud cracking and flurry of splinters. He rolled to disperse the impact, jumping back to his feet and almost plowing into a small chicken coop. Darting around it, he plunged into the thick leafy trees beyond and slowed to a quick walk, keeping his pace light and stealthy as he melded into the strange forest.

Chapter 2

“Damnit!” Applejack swore, as she slowed out of her futile gallop after the metal creature; she watched, slightly amazed, as it vaulted over Fluttershy’s cottage and disappeared into the Everfree.

“What in the hay was that?!” A voice came from the doorway, where a weak Twilight stood, her knees shaking, her normally strong confident voice reduced to a hoarse whisper barely heard by Applejack, who was only 20 meters away.

“Ah don’ rightly know… But Ah’m sure as sugar going ta find out. Y’all better rest for the time being…”

Applejack trotted back into the infirmary, and back out the front door, a weak Twilight in tow.

“Ah said rest up! Ah’ll take care of this, sugarcube.”

“And miss a research opportunity? Not a chance, whatever that… thing was, it needs to be captured, analyzed and…”

Applejack whirled around, anger boiling up inside her as she addressed the purple pony. “Tha’ ‘thing’ jus’ saved your life! Tha’ ‘thing’ can talk, walk an’ make conversation. Ya know Twi, they’d put rainbows in zoos if they could.”

The lavender unicorn drew back at the venom in her friend’s voice. “I… I know… All I meant was that it needs to be… studied, before we can really let anypony outside of Ponyville know it’s here. What if it’s dangerous!”

“Twilight, for a bookworm ya sure can be thick at times. Why in the hay would something dangerous save your life like tha’? Moreover, if it was dangerous, why din’ it jus’ take us out when it had the chance? You saw tha’ thing… Could probably take on an Ursa hoof-to-paw and win, easy. B’sides, while you were bein’ almost crushed ta’ death, everypony saw it come in.”

“I couldn’t help it! I was just going on a walk, I heard a loud BOOM! And before I knew it, concrete paving slabs were flying at me!”

“You was goin’ for a walk… at three in the morning…?” Applejack asked incredulously, one eyebrow slightly raised.

“I was stargazing,” Twilight said matter of factly, seemingly regaining some of her energy as they slowly strolled back to the impact crater, hooves clopping softly on the slightly charred ground as they got nearer, kicking up small piles of black ash as they did so.

The two walked in silence as they made their way to the crater, now deserted. Most everypony wanted nothing to do with the metal giant, even if that meant shunning the areas where it had walked. As well as steering clear of anypony it had had contact with.

Applejack paused as they reached the crater, noticing the strange L-shaped hunk of silver metal it had dropped hanging out of a saddlebag strapped to her little sister, Apple Bloom. The yellow filly turned and began to walk slowly in the direction of the Everfree Forest.

“Now where in tarnation d’ya think you’re headed, missy?!” Applejack forcefully inquired, reaching out a hoof and spinning the small yellow filly to face her before she could get away.

“Ah was goin’ ta find him! He dropped part of tha’ suit thing he were wearin’!”

“Oh no you ain’t, missy! Wha’ kind of a big sis would Ah be if Ah let you jus’ waltz into the Everfree Forest, alone?! Home, now!”

“Wait a second Applejack…” Twilight intervened, “Apple Bloom was the first pony to make contact with the thing, maybe it would be good to have a familiar face come with us?”

“Twilight, Ah’ll say it again, y’all can barely walk…”

“I’m fine, really,” Twilight interrupted, a faint purple aura of magic forming around the unicorn as she spoke, the bags under her eyes and saggy stance becoming less pronounced the longer the aura was around her. “I’m the Element of Magic, remember? Just a quick rejuvenation spell to keep me going,” she added at the two earth pony’s confused glances.

Applejack turned back to her sister. “Well… all right… but you stick behind me an’ Twilight, ya hear?”

The yellow filly beamed. “O’course, big sis! Maybe we should go see Zecora about all this too, if anypony would know how ta track it, it would be her!”

“The thing is so big though, it can’t be that difficult!” Twilight added, a slight tone of indignation creeping into her voice near the end of her sentence.

Famous last words.

James lay in the underbrush peering out at the small town, mentally kicking himself. He had left his sidearm in the possession of a potentially hostile civilization, a massive violation of the Cole Protocol, punishable by death or life imprisonment. Though while he was sure that it wouldn’t come to that, as being a Spartan II he was too valuable to the war with the Covenant, it could still be a problem for him in the future. He didn’t know how long he would be stuck on this planet and if the miniature horse-things he had met were as intelligent as they seemed, he had just given them a massive tactical advantage.

He shifted his weight slightly, pushing the zoom on his visor to maximum setting as he watched the conversation between the two mares and the filly. He was able to lip read a few words, such as “everfree,” “giant,” and “scary.” What he couldn’t lip read, he just managed to make out, his augmented hearing straining slightly to make out each word.

“Well, don’t that just take the cake...” he muttered within the confines of the helmet.

James slowly crawled backwards as the three horses neared his position, still chattering about his arrival. It was easy now to follow their conversation as they reached the edge of the massive forest, pausing for a moment to stare upwards at the huge trees before the little yellow filly plunged on ahead down the path.

James killed the various external status lights on his suit and buried his reflective golden faceplate in the mossy ground as the three trotted quickly past him and rounded a bend in the path, the smaller yellow one keeping up a constant dialogue as they did.

He stood slowly, making hardly any noise, a feat astonishing for something his size and weight, and followed the trio deeper into the forest. If what he understood so far was true, the three were searching for him. The purple one to study, orange to keep an eye on, and smaller yellow one to return something he had dropped. While he was sure their intentions were harmless he might as well track them deeper into the forest; the farther away from civilization they were, the better.

“Ah told you we should’ve taken a left at that last fork!” Applejack complained as they reached a large clearing. “The way ta Zecora’s is left, left, right, left, right, left!”

“Oh lighten up big sis, It’s an adventure!” Apple Bloom called excitedly, darting out into the clearing and pausing to experimentally prod, sniff and generally play with every rock, stump and other piece of scenery available.

“She’s right, Applejack; maybe we can take this opportunity to rest for a while,” Twilight chimed in while examining a particularly oddly-shaped bush covered in bright red flowers.

“Aw hay, why not,” Applejack muttered and opened her single saddlebag, pulling out blanket and two large apple pies.

She spread the blanket on the soft, somewhat moist ground before laying the two golden brown pastries on the top of it.

“B’sides AJ, the Everfree Forest really isn’t that scary in the daylight!”

“Now, that’s what we want you to think…” came a gruff voice from just beyond the bushes in front of the lavender unicorn.

The two mares and the filly jumped backwards in surprise, as four dark heavily scarred earth ponies and an axe-wielding minotaur jumped out from behind the foliage. The one who spoke first turned to the minotaur and asked:

“How much ya think we’ll get for these two, Bill?”

“I don’t know, maybe 20,000 bits apiece? Strong earth pony, good-looking unicorn…” The minotaur looked them over, smiling slightly, before turning his gaze to Apple Bloom and hefting his axe. “The filly probably nothing, just as well; I was beginning to feel a bit peckish…”

Applejack lowered into a fighting stance, and Twilight’s horn glowed a bright purple as the five strangers began advancing on them.

“Slave runners… Y’all are the scum o’ the earth, ya know that?” Applejack shouted as she spun to kick a dirty brown colt in the face, who neatly sidestepped and grabbed the mare, forcing her to the ground.

“Oohoo! Boss, we ‘got a live one here… Maybe we can have a little ‘fun’ with them before the sale?”

Twilight’s horn glowed and the black colt advancing on her flew backwards and slammed into a tree. While Apple Bloom rushed over to the minotaur, bucking him as hard as she could in the shins, causing the creature to grunt slightly with pain before grabbing a fistful of the small filly’s tail and lifting her to eye level.

“I don’t see why not…” he replied in a deep voice, before turning and whipping Apple Bloom with all his strength in the direction of a large boulder - but she was softly intercepted by a silvery metal hand, attached to a huge translucent green metal golem, a single golden eye reflecting the minotaur’s shocked expression and a mean-looking serrated blade clasped in its left hand.

James caught the little yellow filly deftly, moving his arm backward slowly with the motion in order to better disperse her momentum. While keeping his faceplate locked on the eight-foot-tall Minotaur, he turned his eyes to the small yellow filly, who looked up at him with huge pleading orange eyes.

With a quick flick of his wrist he sent the bowie knife flying, burying itself handle-deep into the neck of the dirty brown colt who was attempting to mount the orange mare, sending the colt’s lifeless body tumbling backwards in a spray of blood and gore. At the same time, he pulled the M6 from the filly’s saddlebag, flicking the safety off and firing three shots into the faces of the remaining colts as a targeting reticule flickered into life on his HUD.

The minotaur bellowed and lunged at him, axe raised for a brutal downward sweep. Dropping the smaller filly softly into a small bush, he discarded the M6 and rushed to meet the beast, grabbing and ripping the battle axe’s shaft out of the thing’s hands with his robotic hand, at the same time driving a powerful kick into the thing’s chest. He felt the ribcage give way under his boot as he sent the minotaur flying; it landed about 10 meters distant with a sickening crunch against the same tree trunk Twilight had sent the first colt flying into. Somehow the thing managed to raise itself to its knees, but James was already behind it and had grasped its head by the chin and back of its skull, quickly twisting it 360 degrees with a wet snap.

The minotaur crumpled to the ground with a sigh, all the life gone from its broken body as James walked slowly over to the dirty brown colt. He plunged his right robotic hand into the wound, grasping the handle of his serrated combat knife and fully decapitating the dead colt as he pulled it free, before kicking the carcass and the head into a nearby ditch. He cleaned the black hardened blade on the grass next to him before sheathing it and recovering his pistol, attaching that to the magnetic holster on his hip.

As he turned to face the other three ponies, he almost tripped over the small yellow filly, who had materialized at his legs and was attempting to wrap her hooves around his thick metal-plated right calf.

“Tha’s the second time you’ve saved mah hide t’day, mister!”

“Uhhh….” he tried; Spartans were rarely thanked for their aid and he wasn’t sure how exactly to reply to this.

“See Twilight!” the yellow filly shouted in the direction of the other two ponies. “He’s saved all three of us, for two of us it’s the second time today! An’ he don’ even know us or nuttin’!” She stared up at him again. “How could somethin’ willin’ ta risk his life for a couple o’ ponies he barely met be bad?”

James rolled his eyes behind the visor; he would’ve saved the lives of anything sentient in that position, except any of Covenant of course. It was his job. He silently pulled off the yellow filly, carrying her over to the other two ponies and depositing her in their awestruck stead, before making his way to each of the bodies, picking them up two at a time and throwing them all into the same ditch as before, their crimson blood rolling off his invisible energy shields, leaving a crimson trail on the ground behind him.

Turning, he made his way back to the large rock the yellow filly had almost been dashed against, picking it up and carrying it on his back to the ditch, looking like a modern-day Atlas carrying the Earth on his back. Throwing the boulder into the large ditch after the bodies, he smiled as he heard a sickening squelch, accompanied by several crunches as the huge stone monolith buried the bodies of the unlucky highway ponies and the minotaur.

He struck something metallic with his boot as he turned around to face the three ponies. Looking down he discovered the object to be the battleaxe he had stripped from the minotaur, during the brief albeit bloody fight. Picking the weapon up, he twirled it experimentally in his grip, reminded slightly of the massive stone hammers the Brute Chieftains of the Covenant carried. Placing the massive weapon on the magnetic holster on his back, he restarted his journey towards the three ponies; it would probably come in handy somewhere.

“S-stay back!” the purple one shouted nervously, her horn beginning to glow as his energy shields sparked slightly, the status bar on his HUD draining a fraction of a millimeter.

“Twilight!” The small yellow filly shouted, but was interrupted by the orange one.

“Twi, he’s not gonna hurt us. As Apple Bloom jus’ said, he’s saved our lives… Ain’t twice enough for ya?”

The unicorn sighed, the odd purple glow around her horn fading to nothing as his shields stabilized, then sparked slightly again as they quickly recharged.

“Y’all must be hungry, sugarcube, why don’ ya join us?” the orange one asked, gesturing to the still amazingly untouched picnic blanket.

James glanced between the three and the food, before making up his mind and pulling off his helmet. He couldn’t last on wakeup and nutrition stims forever.

Princess Luna watched the armored giant from her lofty perch on top of the stratocumulus. Clearly Celestia had underestimated him, thinking that this was just another simple human. She narrowed her eyes, pouting her lip; what made it worse was that it had already made contact with her subjects. Getting rid of this thing was going to be more difficult than it originally seemed.

“Oh well, never send mercenaries to do an alicorn’s job!” she muttered to herself, spreading her wings and diving off the cloud. Her horn charged with magical energy as she approached the thing, like a midnight blue MAC round.

James saw the last pony just in time. Shoving on his helmet he diverted his entire shield’s energy to those covering the back of him and his head, before jumping on top of the three startled ponies, both locking up and overcharging his shields and armor, able to contort his body into a sort of protective shell, not unlike a turtle’s. It still wasn’t enough.

The midnight blue projectile slammed into him, the sharp point of a long, ferocious looking horn driving through his shields and glancing off his green armor, propelling him 20 meters off the three stricken ponies and into a tree. The pony stayed with him, intent upon finishing the job when he came to a stop. Dazed, he reached up with his right hand, clasping his titanium grip around the pony’s neck, intent on ending it quickly. To his surprise, the pony merely stared at him, astonished as he squeezed; feeling about as much resistance as she wore armor not unlike his. It felt like he was trying to one-handedly crush one of the large Fuel Rod Guns the covenant hunters carried on their arms; difficult, but not impossible for a Spartan.

“Princess! NO!” the purple unicorn shouted, her own horn glowing bright, throwing the midnight blue pony off of him.

He shot up, ears ringing and aching all over – a good sign, it meant he didn’t have any crippling injuries. Throwing himself at the midnight blue pony, he dropped his entire half-ton weight on top of her before she could rise, grabbing the sharp horn before she could use it against him, causing a pained expression to come over her face and her to go limp; apparently this was a severe pressure point. She wasn’t unconscious, but was obviously incapacitated.

Chinning on his helmet’s external speakers, he stated, “Ma’am, to be frank, I come in peace.”

She sneered up at him, then winced in pain again as he squeezed the horn slightly harder. “We’ve already told your ‘prophets’ that we don’t want any part of your Covenant… I’m not letting you back to your superiors with knowledge of how to get inside our Dyson Sphere.”

“Covenant?!” He exclaimed. “Ma’am, do I look like one of those split-jawed Elites to you?” Unclasping her horn, he got up off of her, holding his palms towards the pony at chest height in what he hoped came off as a peaceful gesture. “Us humans are at war with the Covenant, have been ever since they glassed our colony on Harvest.”

She jumped to her hooves, eyes narrowed suspiciously and lips slightly pouted. “Prove it…”

Chinning a few controls, he tapped the side of his helmet and nodded to the pony, whom he finally noticed possessed both a unicorn’s horn and a set of wings. “Can you project video with that magical horn of yours?”

The pegasus-unicorn screwed up her eyes, a blue aura forming around his head and a miniature holo screen appeared in midair, depicting images of his brief firefight on the hull plating of the Circumference. The stills clearly detailed the faces of the vac-suited Jackals and Elites, before the images began spinning as the needle that had hit his thruster pack detonated. As the images stabilized, the helmet cam panned to take a good look at Reach, surrounded by Covenant corvettes and one massive Carrier, all raining plasma fire down on the surface and into nearby human ships, trying desperately to defend the only ‘home’ he ever really knew. The screen crackled and went deep red as a bolt of plasma cracked by the helmet cam, it panning to the source: a large Cruiser bearing down on top of him.

“I think that’s enough,” he calmly muttered, flicking the helmet’s player off with a quick thrust of his chin.

She stared at him, still slightly suspicious. “How do I know you didn’t fabricate this? That you aren’t some sort of spy?”

He flexed his robotic arm, wiggling the fingers. “Got this compliments of the first Hunter pair we ever encountered. Plasma blast boiled away the original. I have video of that too, if you must see it?”

She recoiled slightly. “No… That should be fine…” Then pawed at the ground slightly menacingly, “Okay, you aren’t Covenant… But that still doesn’t explain why you’re here… or what you are!”

“Human. I’m human. Thought I made that clear. As to why I’m here, your guess is as good as mine. One minute I was floating in space near Reach, next I got sucked into a slipspace field and was here…”

She laughed. “Ha! Since when is a human nine feet tall?! Nice try!”

“It’s a long story…” he said, pulling off his helmet so she could get a good look at his pale face. “I’d be glad to share… so long as you promise not to try killing me again?”

“We’ll see…” the midnight blue pony stated, grinning slightly and trotting over to him, stretching out a hoof for him to shake. “I’m Luna, by the way.”

Bending low to take the hoof, he replied, “James – Spartan 005, Petty Officer Second Class, UNSC Navy. At your service.”

High above the planet, a small purple shape flared into existence over the inky blackness of space. It was a small craft, no larger than a small house; a two-crew fighter most likely. It looked almost like a big purple horseshoe crab, tumbling end over end and trailing blue plasma fire as it approached the small moon near the planet’s gravity well. It managed to right itself just before impact, streaking upwards and entering a low orbit around the natural satellite, slingshotting itself around it and descending down into the planet’s atmosphere; just as the sun peered over the horizon. It’s rays reaching out as if it had detected the intrusion and was searching for the small fighter…

Chapter 3

Heavier Than Most probed through the wreckage of the craft, searching for something, anything that would help he and his friend in this situation. Bleating triumphantly, he pulled a small still intact syringe from a box inside the wreckage of the craft. Turning it, he pressed the small needle into a crack in the Sangheili’s armor on his neck just below his split mandibles. Depressing the plunger, he watched anxiously as his friend stirred slightly, eyes flickering open.

“You are alright?” Heavier Than Most signed quickly, expelling gas from one of his flotation sacs, slowly coasting lower to the Sangheili’s head.

Blearily, Tsuka ‘Zhaad shook his head, replying in his own language: “I am bleeding… It is dishonorable to bleed…”

“I need you alive, friend…”

“No… I have dishonored… honor… dis…” The purple armored elite tried to speak, but instead could only manage a few strained words before his body was racked with a series of deep, throaty coughs.

Heavier Than Most sadly bleated again as he watched his friend descend back into unconsciousness, all the while frantically attempted to suppress the still-oozing wounds. Unless their carrier, The Long Night of Solace, picked up on their distress beacon… well, he didn’t want to think about it.

“So, as you can see,” James began, slowly bending the large steel beam the Lunar Princess had conjured for him, “the armor does most of the work… Though, I wouldn’t be able to even use this armor if it weren’t for my physical augments.”

“Physical augments… Such as?” the princess questioned, a sly look coming over her face.

“Classified,” he shortly replied. Even though he’d been unclassified since 2547, he wasn’t going to share the secrets of his augmentations with a still potentially hostile race. Besides, he didn’t really want to foul their innocent persona with his war.

Luna rolled her eyes. “You’re aware you’re stuck in what you humans call a micro-Dyson sphere, aren’t you? No chance of escape back to the UNSC. Furthermore, it’s not like us ponies would even need the same enhancements you do… One, we’re ponies, not humans. Two, we have magic, you humans do not. Three, even if somepony did wish to copy these augmentations, I would deal with them… Personally.” Her eyes flashed as she directed her third point towards the lavender unicorn, who had pulled a small blue notebook and quill from seemingly nowhere.

“My orders are clear. Despite the… circumstances.”

Silence fell over the small clearing. James could clearly see the princess was not happy with this, but she would deal with it. Orders were orders.

“So, uh, lemme get this straight... They took ya when y’all were little… An’ trained ya up real good ta fight? Now tha’ don’ make a lick ‘o sense ta me…”

“They made us weapons. Weapons to fight the Covenant.” He turned to the Princess again, noting she was still pouting over his refusal to share information. “You know what they’re like…” He chuckled. “…preach first, then kill everything in sight.”

The princess attempted a quick smile, which failed to hide her annoyance with him. Though it was still somewhat reassuring.

“Awh shoot. It doesn’t matter anyways. What matters is how in the hay are we going ta keep y’all from bein’ scrutinized by the public! Ah mean, most of Ponyville saw y’all smoking in that crater, but Ah reckon it’d be a bad idea for ya to be makin’ another appearance.”

“I got this,” the princess responded before James could, tossing him a small hunk of metal, made of the same purple alloy favored by the Covenant; a faint blue light pulsated near the center. James immediately recognized it as a stealth field, or ‘active camouflage’ as ONI called it, primarily used by higher ranking elites on recon or assassination missions.

Clipping the small device to his lower back, he quickly pulled his helmet back on, and was pleased to see a small ring flickering into life on his HUD showing how much power the tiny device had. “Now, how did you…” he began, before twisting the helmet back off his head.

“Not important,” the Princess cut in. “What is important, is that you find somewhere to lay low for a while.” She trotted up to him, placing both her front hooves on his shoulders and staring into his eyes. “Whatever you do though, don’t allow yourself to be seen.” Her eyes flashed pure white and James got the distinct impression she was staring deep into his soul; then she looked down at the pistol holstered at his hip. “Or any of your… belongings.”

He simply stared back at her, fighting her stern gaze with a blank yet equally fierce stare of his own. The moment lasted several seconds before the lavender unicorn spoke for the first time since the princess had mistakenly attacked him.

“I think I can help with that!” She beamed. “My basement has plenty of room, and I assume you’re going to want to take off that armor at some point… I have all the necessary heavy-lift gear down there!”

The princess nodded slightly before hopping off of him. “That would be fine, Twilight, I’m sure though he could be put to use somewhere around the village though. Sweet Apple Acres perhaps?”

James raised his eyebrows. “And what makes you think that I’m going back to that village? I’ve probably exposed myself, however indirectly, to too many of your subjects as it is.”

“It’s either the village, or the Canterlot dungeon,” the princess stated matter-of-factly. “Or, I could dispose of you here and now, if that’s what you’d prefer?”

“Woah now, ma’am. Don’t be starting something you can’t finish…” he joked as he brought himself to his feet. “The Library is fine…”

“Awh! But Ah wanted him ta stay with us!” came Apple Bloom’s voice as she, and the rest of the ponies, rose to their hooves.

“Now now, Bloom,” the orange one began. “James here will need his rest, an’…”

“Spartans don’t sleep,” James interrupted with a small smile. “At least, that’s what we want you to think. I’m sure Apple Bloom won’t cause too much trouble if she hangs around the library for a bit.”

Squeals of joy began to pierce the sharp air, as both Apple Bloom and Twilight began jumping about, Twilight presumably because she had another fascinating something to study in her hooves, and Apple Bloom because she could spend time with her new ‘friend’ once more.

“Clearly y’all have never met mah sister…” Applejack mused, raising her eyebrow and cocking her head at the display. “Well, if y’all wan’ ta be useful, there’s a position open on the farm... Normally Ah’d hire a few ponies every year for this but y’all look like ya coul’ take care of it real easy.”

“I’m not sure how much help I’d be… I’m a weapon, not a farm tool…” he cautiously replied. “I’d be happy to try of course…”

“A knife is still a tool, young one, it has many uses other than to kill. You’ll be fine,” the princess sagely added, before getting to her feet. “I must go now, the moon will need to be raised in a few hours…”

“I should be getting back to my research anyways…” Twilight began. “I’m starting to feel kind of sore anyways from this morning…”

James pulled his helmet back on, energy shields flickering to life as he rose to his feet and held out one massive hand to the lavender unicorn. “You need your rest; I’ll carry you until I need to become hidden.”

Twilight involuntarily backed away slightly from the giant as he rose, before giving him a small smile. “No, really it’s fine I - WAGH! What are you doing?!”

James gently hoisted up the lavender unicorn, holding her in the crook of his left arm, as one might hold a puppy. Leaving his robotic right arm free to draw his pistol, should any situation call for it.

“J-James… Put… Put me down!” Twilight exclaimed, hooves scrabbling against him as she did her best to cling to him, causing his shields to glow dully as they reflected the tiny impacts of her hooves.

“Ooh! Are we getting pony-back rides now?! Me too!” Apple Bloom excitedly chirped, darting to James’ left calf and excitedly hopping in place.

James rolled his eyes and let out a gentle puff laughter within the confines of his soundproof helmet. Reaching down, he gently scooped up the tiny yellow foal, placing her on his shoulder with the same care a mother would show when moving an infant.

Hearing a slight snort of laughter from in front of him, he directed his eyes towards Applejack and Princess Luna, both were openly grinning at the sight of the Spartan, at this tool bred for war turned hayride.

“Don’t tell me you two want to be carried as well?” James joked, gently adjusting his grip on the lavender unicorn, who had seemingly accepted the circumstances she was put in and was attempting to find a more comfortable position in the crook of his arm.

“Nah, Ah’m good,” AJ quickly spurted out as she began packing up the picnic the group had demolished. “Ah c’n walk jus’ fine, thank ya.”

The princess giggled slightly, unfurling her large midnight blue wings. “I, unlike these three, have wings. Besides, I must be off, royal duties and such.” Her last sentence was hurriedly added, as if in slight fear she too would be scooped up and treated to an impromptu pony-back ride.

James nodded at the alicorn as she flapped her powerful wings, propelling herself into the sky. “I shall be back in a few days to check up on you, Spartan. In the meantime, keep the ponies safe, goodness knows what your arrival here might do to the natural order of things. I simply pray nothing followed you through.” With another powerful flap, she was gone. Soaring off into the wild blue yonder to the pony capitol, Canterlot, he presumed.

“Well alright then.” He nodded his head at Applejack, who had just finished stuffing the last of the picnic into her saddlebags and was now staring at him expectantly. “Lead on, ma’am.”

“Just Applejack,” the orange pony corrected, before striking out back down the path leading to Ponyville, the great armored war machine turned pony-ride falling in step beside her.

Fluttershy hummed a slow, melodic tune to herself as she trotted gently through the verdant green field behind ponyville. Perched on her back was a basket filled with daisies – Twilight’s birthday was coming up soon, and they were her favorite. A strange smell permeated her nostrils, her nose wrinkling softly at the acridity of it. It smelled like it did over at the hydroelectric dam, electrical for lack of a better word.

Just then a soft bleat reached her ears, accompanied by the soft touch of something rubbery against her flank. Fluttershy squeaked, jumped a full pony-length into the air and promptly shot under the now upturned, empty basket. The soft bleat became one of alarm as the owner of the tentacle presumably shot backwards as well.

Heavier Than Most shot backwards from the strange yellow quadruped, which had somehow managed to squeeze its entire body underneath a small wicker basket, which was now quivering uncontrollably. He had only attempted communication with the quadruped; he hadn’t tried to vaporize it, maul it to death, or hunt and eat the creature, like many of his fellow Covenant would. Why was it so skittish then?

Slowly, Heavier Than Most floated over to the quivering creature, and extended a tentative blueish purple tentacle. The creature ‘meeped’ in fear as the tentacle entered its vision. Gently, he flipped over the basket, revealing the odd shivering yellow quadruped. Which to his surprise took one look at him with a single teal blue eye, before jumping up and babbling excitedly in its odd vocal language – which he noted was very much like the language of the humans.

“Hey there little guy! I’m sorry… You scared me there, I saw the tentacle and I remembered those Neighponese comics I’d been reading…”

As for most of his kind, understanding different languages was not a barrier for him. What did astonish him was the quadruped’s sudden change from fearful, to ecstatic in the blink of an eye. As much as he wished to internally ponder the yellow quadruped’s mood swings, there were more pressing matters he had to attend to.

Purring urgently, Heavier Than Most gestured wildly towards the crash site, a faint tendril of black smoke still visible above the area where the Seraph had gone down.

“What’s wrong?” Fluttershy questioned, cocking her head slightly. “You and your friend crashed here, and your friend is in dire need of medical help?”

Heavier Than Most stared at the Quadruped with surprise, before blinking and nodding his snakelike blue head once. Odd that this seemingly primitive creature could grasp his message so quickly.

“Oh my! Can you show me?”

Heavier Than Most nodded once more, before tearing off in the direction of the downed craft, the yellow quadruped in tow.

James shrugged himself out of the heavy lucid green chest piece, which was held suspended in the air before him by a complicated hook and pulley system located in Twilight’s basement.

“Now Miss Sparkle, I can’t stress enough the importance of you NOT fiddling with my armor. Without it, I lose combat functionality, I won’t be able to effectively protect the town should something have followed me through the rupture I fell through.” James cracked his neck. “Besides… There’s a good chance that twenty seconds after you try opening up my armor’s systems, you’ll blow a crater the size of this town in the face of your lovely planet.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” Twilight fearfully questioned.

“Well, you see, my armor is run off a tiny nuclear fusion generator. Without the proper access codes to the maintenance panel, or unless I’m wearing the full suit, the reactor is programmed to initiate core meltdown in order to protect our technology from Covenant hands… or tentacles.” Adding the last part as he remembered the oddly passive Covenant ‘engineers.’

“Well don’t worry, James. The princess said hooves off, and that’s exactly what I plan on doing. She didn’t say anything about questioning YOU however…” She snickered slightly at his apprehensive look. “Don’t worry, you are of course free to not answer my questions.”

“I intend to answer your questions to the best of my ability, ma’am.” Slightly more robotically than he had intended.

“No need for such formalities among friends, James. Just call me Twilight.”

“Most of my friends are dead, Twilight,” James quickly replied.

“Well, you do lead an… Interesting life… But I think you’re a friend, considering you’ve saved my hide three times today.”

James chuckled slightly, before spreading his heavily muscled arms. “Well, this is what I really look like.”

“Huh, you’re paler than I imagined…” Twilight began, before clapping a hoof on her muzzle and grinning apologetically up at the human.

“Comes with years of wearing nothing but that armor,” James replied, his stoic expression never leaving his face.

“You don’t smile much, do you?” she asked, a slight hint of snarkiness apparent in her voice.

“I smile when I have reason to.” At this, James cracked a smile, more for Twilight’s benefit than his own. After all, being stranded on an alien planet for the rest of his life wasn’t exactly something that warranted his mirth.

“See? That wasn’t so hard now, was it?” Twilight remarked, returning his small smile with her own moderate grin.

“It’s just odd Twilight… I’m so used to following a set command structure. War, duty and my fellow Spartans are all I know.” He let out a short sigh. “We Spartans are trained to follow orders. Yes, we are far from robots, we think independently; however we rarely are able to act upon our own judgment. Through most of my life, I’ve been following orders, only being able to act upon my own judgment when in combat, for the greater good of the mission. Of course I have my own thoughts, emotions and feelings… It’s just… strange.”

“Strange in a good way, or strange in a bad way?” she asked, walking over to James and placing a reassuring hoof in the small of his back (the small of his back being the highest she could reach with her hoof).

“I haven’t decided yet,” James flatly responded.

“Well, either way,” Twilight began, “no matter what you decide, I’m sure we’ll find a place for you here. We know AJ will need help on the farm, but if you ever find that to be… unsatisfactory, I’m sure Luna could find a place for you in the guard, or any other branch of the services… Though, they don’t exactly do much, seeing as we’re an exceedingly peaceful world.”

“I don’t think I could exactly do that either, Twilight.” James turned his head to stare down at the unicorn. “I swore an oath to the UNSC, an oath I cannot and will not break.”

“Well, either way, we’ll find a place for you.” Twilight rubbed her hoof comfortingly across his back, while beaming up at him. “And now that you aren’t towering over everypony in that armor as much, I’m sure ponies will give you a chance, as opposed to bolting whenever they catch a glimpse of you.”

James barked out a short laugh. “Yeah, maybe.” He’d tried not to show too much emotion throughout the entire conversation, but he was beginning to feel a certain trust in the lavender pony by his side.

“Twilight,” he began, “for a Spartan, trust is not freely given. Earning my trust means you’ve earned the closest thing to friendship that I can freely give.” He gently reached down, opening himself up slightly to her as he gently ran his robotic fingers through her indigo mane. “If there’s anything you need from me, don’t hesitate to ask… Within reason of course.” He added the last part as Twilight gave an excited look at his armor and sidearm.

Letting out a short giggle, Twilight gently nuzzled his side. “Thanks James, it means a lot.”

Breaking away from the Spartan, Twilight began happily trotting up the basement stairs, levitating a plethora of quills, parchment and books ahead of her and into the main room of the library. James followed her up the creaky set of stairs, marveling at how he had brought his just over half ton weight down them in the first place. Magic must be in play here, he was sure of it.

“Well, now that you’re settled… I don’t think AJ will need you on the farm for a while, why don’t you meet our other friends?” Twilight began, before she noticed James giving her a confused look.

“Twilight, are you sure? Princess Luna and I were pretty adamant when we said no contact with other ponies unless absolutely necessary…”

“Relax James, they’re the other Elements of Harmony.” She frowned at his blank look. “Ummmmm, I suppose we’re kinda Equestria’s last line of defense against any and all hostile forces that threaten us. Each of us represents an Element of Friendship: loyalty, honesty, laughter, kindness, generosity, and my own, magic.”

James nodded slightly. “How?”

Twilight gave him a sly look. “You answer my questions, I’ll answer yours.” Levitating a roll of parchment and a quill next to her as she took a seat by a large fireplace, she said, “Now, I’d like to know about you first. Who are your friends, your missions, anything about you that you’re willing to disclose.” She glanced over at his left arm and blushed slightly. “I have to admit, I am curious to know how you lost your arm…”

“Are you sure Twilight? I’ve seen enough of your world to know that violence isn’t exactly commonplace…”

Twilight inhaled sharply, considering his words for a few seconds before looking into his eyes and nodding slightly. “I can handle it.”

James shrugged passively, before taking a seat across from the purple pony. “If you’re sure… I have mission recordings stored in my helmet’s flash memory – it would be easier for me to just show you.”

Twilight grinned, her horn glowing lavender as his Mark V EOD variant helmet blinked into existence in his lap. He pulled on the helmet, noting how odd it felt to be wearing it without the rest of his suit. He was also thankful that the helmet could draw solar power – it had taken him and Twilight a full hour and a half to get him out of the suit, and it probably would’ve been impossible without her magic. The thought of having to put the entire thing back on just to power his helmet’s video recorder probably would’ve given the poor girl an aneurism.

Gently, he brought the helmet’s internal power systems online, quickly chinning open the visual mission logs and selecting the appropriate file. “OK, go ahead and cast the amplification spell Twilight.”

As a soft purple glow enveloped his head, he pressed the playback button; judging by the small gasp from Twilight that the image of two massive hunters had appeared before them. As the playback continued, he could hear the purple pony’s quill scratching feverishly upon her parchment, as well as the pony’s own gasps of awe and horror behind the sounds of the playback. James merely stared at the screen, eyes unfocused and head elsewhere; he had viewed and reviewed the recording hundreds of times since that particular mission. Not to mention lived through it, and the parts the recorder didn’t show.

A soft low whistle brought James back from his thoughts. “Wow… That was… different. I can see why the Princesses wished us to remain as sheltered from the universe as they did…”

“Get some rest Twilight…” James said flatly, detecting a slight tired wavering in her voice. “I’ll stick around and wake you when AJ gets here. Besides, I want to familiarize myself with Equestrian history and such.”

“You mean analyze our social and political structure, as well as military defenses...” Twilight chuckled, levitating two large tomes and a set of reading glasses over to him. “All the information you need is here… The glasses should translate old Equestrian for you, and if you need help with any of our more… cultural words, don’t hesitate to wake me.”

The Spartan nodded as the lavender unicorn beamed at him before trotting upstairs. Gently he pulled open the large tome and began reading, taking care to not rip the ancient yellow pages as he turned them. For once in his life James became oblivious to the passage of time; he was so engrossed in the tome he almost didn’t hear the soft wing beats behind him, nor feel the gentle changes in air pressure that accompanied them. What he did undoubtedly feel was a soft pressure against the back of his neck, along with the metallic coolness and sharp pinch of what he assumed to be the serrated edge of a bread knife.

“Don’t move…” came a growling voice from behind him, accompanied by an increase in pressure from the object.

“Three…” James calmly began, his eyes stopping their back and forth movement as he was reading the lines in the book.

“Three?” it repeated.

“Two…” James kept counting, gently closing the ancient book and laying it on the ground before him.

“Now you listen here buster…” the voice began, but was cut off as James listed the final number in his countdown.

“One.”

With impossible speed and agility James rolled from his sitting position and rounded on his attacker, slapping the knife from the hooves that gripped it with his prosthetic before delivering a devastating roundhouse kick to the floating creature’s abdomen, sending it across the room to smack the back of the couch with a soft thump, before tumbling over the back of it. Taking two massive strides over he reached behind the couch, firmly grasping a struggling cyan mare in his titanium grip and planting her on one of its cushions.

“Lady, you need to work on your reaction time,” he passively stated, releasing the mare’s hooves as she rose back into the air and attempted to buck him, which he casually deflected with his prosthetic limb before grabbing the mare under his other arm and squeezing gently.

“LET ME GO YOU OVERGROWN APE!” it shouted, bucking and flailing her hooves wildly.

James shrugged. “Alrighty then,” he calmly said before dropping the mare to the ground with an unceremonious thump, gently pressing a boot down on her back to prevent her rising. “You’re the energetic pegasus who tried to attack me at the crash site, aren’t you?”

She froze. “You’re the one who was wearing all that armor?”

“How many bipeds do you normally see walking around town?” James replied, removing his boot so she could breathe. “Now, are you going to attack me again? I really don’t want to have to take the blame for a multicolored unconscious mess on Twilight’s floor.”

“Nah… That was just a test,” the pegasus brashly replied as she got to her hooves and brushed herself off. “If I were really trying, you’d already be an unconscious mess on the floor.”

James stared unamusedly at the rainbow-maned pegasus, who noticed this and backed away slightly, rubbing the back of her head with a hoof.

“‘Kay… Maybe not…”

“What in the hay… RAINBOW DASH!” Both the human and pony looked to the top of the stairs, and were confronted by the sight of a slightly frazzled and furious Twilight Sparkle.

“Oh ponyfeathers…”

Hey guys, sorry this took so long to upload. My Wireless card fizzeled out on my laptop about two weeks back, new card was on backorder e.t.c… Long story short, my PC’s been laying in the back of best buy being ‘fixed’ for the past two weeks. I’ve been using my tablet for everything… You have no idea how good my keyboard feels right now.