Your Human And You: Feet First Into Hell

Maelstrom grunted as he pulled himself up through a window before tucking into a roll as he hit the ground, leveling his SMG out in a sweeping motion.

"Clear," he whispered to the rest of Nightmare before stalking down the narrow hallway. The ODSTs filed in behind him as they climbed through the window, checking their corners as they approached another turn.

"Where to now, sir?" Melt asked as he traced his Carbine's sights over the Sergeant's shoulder.

"Give me a second," Maelstrom said as he closed his eyes.

His entire head burned painfully as he thought back to the map that 'Princess Luna' had imprinted in his mind. Everything seemed to fade away as he brought back the memory of the vision, slowing it down as he examined the route that she had set for them.

"This way," Maelstrom said as he turned left.

The ODSTs silently made their way through the empty hallways of the castle, keeping watch on every door, corner and even window they came across. It was shocking to see that the ponies with wings could actually fly, seeing as their appendages looked far too small for their bodies and flapped casually while in the air. The ones with horns were the most troubling to think of, however, as those ones could levitate objects of varying sizes within their field of vision, and the Sergeant had even seen one levitate something out of sight. For all the ODSTs knew, they could stop bullets mid-flight or even redirect them, if they didn't try to pry their weapons out of their hands. God help them if they pulled the pins on their grenades without them noticing.

Maelstrom held his hand up to signal a halt before turning his gaze around the corner to see a door from the vision, and smirked when he noticed it was unguarded.

"Easy streak from here on, Nightmare," Maelstrom said. "Up these stairs and then we wait."

\\\//////

Applejack huffed as she watched the strange ponies moving various equipment across the edge of the apple orchard, unable to do anything to stop them. She had heard of how her parents had dealt with folks that would advertise themselves as "inspectors" before to get a few free meals from under their noses, and she suspected that these ponies were no different. Even with those documents that she would have thought to be forged, they moved with an authority about them that even she couldn't deny that felt true. Whatever purpose they had here, though, had better not be harmful to the farm, lest she buck each of them back to Canterlot with her own four hooves.

"Applejack, you need to relax," Oak said as he put down a few baskets underneath a tree. "If they're here under Princess Celestia's orders, shouldn't you trust them?"

"I should," Applejack admitted, "but look at 'em. Don't look like anypony the Princess would hire, 'specially for somethin' like this. Who the hay needs fancy armor to test apples?"

"Somepony that read 'Snowy White'?" Oak joked.

Applejack shook her head.

"Ah'm not too keen on waitin' for 'em to act up first. Stars know what'll happen if they find out 'bout us. You know how those Canterlot types are 'bout that."

"I do, but we shouldn't care, Applejack."

She sighed in defeat before turning towards the closest apple tree.

"Fine. But Ah'll get ta Twi's faster than a pig to the trough if they screw up."

\\\//////

Celestia hummed to herself as she looked over the list of items that she had been going through since Luna's return. She had drafted this list over the course of the past few hundred years in preparation of this moment, and though she normally loathed lists and going through them, she felt like Twilight would have since it was all to help her sister.

"Restocking on fruits, check," the Princess said to herself, reading off each box. "Introduction to the Reclamation Initiative, check. Reinstating her authority in the Courts, for later. Introduce the concept of Humans... I wish it could have been done more subtly, but none the less, check. New room, check. Unlock her new... armory. Of course I forgot something," Celestia sighed as she pressed a hoof to her temple.

Her horn lit up with a warm glow before she disappeared in a burst of light.

\\\//////

Maelstrom slowly closed the door behind him before silently releasing a breath as he examined the room.

"This place is cozy," Melt noted as he sat on the crescent-moon themed bed.

"Got plenty of room, too," Icepick noticed as she walked around the balcony of the second floor.

"Keep your eyes peeled, Nightmare," Maelstrom instructed as he holstered his SMG. "Black Eye, on the door. Blind, keep an eye on the door from the balcony. Sputnik and Cowbell, windows. Watch out for those ones with wings. Remember, non-lethal takedowns, I repeat, NON-lethal. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," Nightmare chanted.

"Good."

Maelstrom looked around the room in mild interest, trying to gauge who he was going to be dealing with by the hints that the decor provided. The ceiling was painted entirely with constellations galore, a few models of the planet hung up by strings. To either side of the room were giant bay windows, framed by what looked like gold with drapes that were a light shape of blue that seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. The bed was a giant decorative piece that looked like it could barely hold one person if they curled up into the fetal position, with some kind of circle of cloth hanging above it.

The ODST Sergeant walked around the bed and saw the wall behind it, eyeing it with curiosity. It didn't look right, for some reason. The paint on it was a different shade than the rest of the room and looked as though it would fall over. He ran a hand across its surface, the texture smoother than the wood that made up the other walls yet not sturdy enough to be marble like the rest of the city.

Maelstrom gave the wall a slight push.

KR-KKKKKKKKKKKKK

The ODSTs suddenly turned towards the wall in defense and watched as the section that Maelstrom had pushed against was turning in place. On the other side of the wall were rows of melee weapons of varying sorts. There were large swords made of silver, stained brown with old blood, some chains that ended in several other weapons like hooks or morning stars, and an assortment of daggers.

"Whoa," Sputnik said. "Looks like someone's expecting to hold out here in a fight."

"Guess they're not exactly up to bat as hard as we thought," Melt said as he examined the sword from a good few feet away. "Even if they close the distance, standard Marine kevlar wouldn't give unless they swung these things around faster than sound. Plus, I doubt these rusted things are going to break any barriers, aside from their own pommels."

Maelstrom nodded as he examined the rows of knives that hung below the larger weapons, and settled his eyes on a dagger at the end. It was a large knife, about the size of a standard combat knife that every ODST had, except this one wasn't serrated, and had a white cloth wrapped around its handle.

For some reason, Maelstrom took the knife off its place on the wall and examined it closely. It had small text in alien writing, yet something echoed in the back of his mind.

'The Maelstrom of Our Arrival is the Will of Justice'

CRACK

Maelstrom and the rest of Nightmare turned around again to see a tall white pony standing next to Black Eye. She stood taller than any other they had seen, possessed a set of wings and a horn like Luna, but her hair was like the lights on Reach. She blinked in shock and looked around to see the ODSTs pointing weapons at her.

SMACK

Before anyone could properly respond, Black Eye slammed the stock of his M-90 into the side of her head, sending her sprawling as a crown clinked against the ground. As the unconscious pony fell to the floor, Maelstrom realized who they had just knocked out.

"Oh shit."

\\\//////

Shining Armor glared at the sealed entrance to the rest of the ship as two unicorns beside him panted from exhaustion.

"It's... huff, no use, s-sir," one said, trying to catch his breath.

"I've seen... dragons... resist less fire..."

"Damn it! Just when we think we have enough hold of these situations, something just has to destroy all expectation and remind us how far behind we are in the universe," one of the technicians said.

Just when Shining Armor was about to order everypony to pull out, everything around him suddenly became far heavier. The guards on either side of him collapsed while everypony else fell to the ground. Shining could barely keep his legs from buckling out beneath him before the unthinkable happened.

The door opened up.

Shining tried to get a good look at whatever was inside, but his vision was obscured by a burst of smoke. He coughed harshly as he fought to stand upright, but before his mind could catch up, something metal struck him in the side of the head, and the Captain of the Guard was out cold.