The Ringworld Warrior

I trudged into Fluttershy’s home, Panug still clinging to my leg. I switched my translators over to Equestrian, so I didn’t confuse the pegasus. “Miss Fluttershy? I discovered the… Source, if you will. Would you please come here?” I heard a faint mumble in reply, before the mare peeked in, recoiling at the sight of Panug.

“Ancilla, is it possible to equip an Equestrian translator to the Unggoy? I believe his armor can sustain one.” I queried, while gently prying Panug off.

“Affirmative. Summoning Autosentry in Repair Mode.” The voice sounded, and I lifted up slightly, before my Autosentry appeared. It hummed, before a hardlight appendage reached down to the cowering Unggoy, and fixed a small object to the suit.

The being howled in fear, and a voice spoke with it, “Please! I don’t want hurt-wait… What?” My Autosentry vanished, its work complete.

“Panug, I added a translator to your suit. It automatically turns the Equestrian language that you hear into Balahonan, and what you say turns into Equestrian. This way it is easier to communicate. Miss Fluttershy, it’s okay. This is Panug, an Unggoy. He was hungry, and was hunting for food. The Unggoy are carnivores, but they don’t eat sentient beings.” I added mentally in my head, “Usually.”

The yellow pegasus meekly came in, looking warily at Panug. “Umm… Hello, Mr. Panug. How… How are you doing?”

The Unggoy tilted his head, thinking it over, “I fine. The Holy Being was going to bring me with on the Great Journey!” His chest puffed out, a grin somehow visible on his face.

“Apparently I’m a major religious figure to him. I was hoping you could take care of Panug, and maybe convince him I’m not a God. I must go to Twilight Sparkle’s residence, I should be able to update my ancillas database there. Panug won’t try eating your animals, am I correct, Panug?” I said, looking at the Unggoy. He nodded cheerfully, head bobbing rapidly.

“Oh, yes. Thank you for helping me, Mr. Hardlight. My animal friends will be happy to hear this.” Fluttershy smiled, looking rather adorable. I nodded, before turning around and striding towards town.

I had just reached the edge when I heard a blood-curdling shout, as a mass of bodies charged Ponyville from the Everfree. My eyes narrowed, as my visor zoomed in and identified the creatures. “Griffons,” I whispered, eyes widening in shock. I quickly sprinted to the large oak tree which Twilight had said was her home, in the hopes of warning her. A shadow passed over me, as a grey griffon flew above before diving towards me. I ducked, its claws raking across my shields, dealing a rather substantial amount of damage.

I glanced up, and saw that the claws were covered with a purplish metal that curved organically, and emitted spikes of plasma. I sprinted after the creature, leaping up and drawing my sword, before swinging down and cutting a wing off. The griffon screeched, spiralling into the streets, blood spewing from the wound. I landed a ways away from the body, ducking and rolling to absorb the impact. I dashed forwards, rushing over the injured soldier and crushing the skull with my armored foot. I had eyes only for the oak tree, which had at least a dozen griffons swarming to it.

A streak of light flew by me, trailing smoke. A loud bang, and a curved, purple pod crashed into a nearby store, obliterating the wall. A hidden hatch flew open, accompanied with hisses of steam and an armored claw. A body soon followed, revealing a tall creature clad in white armor with red detail, an elongated helmet sweeping backwards. A hand slipped down to the being’s side, quickly lifting up a purplish-blue C, with flared ends reaching behind the handle. The front lit up with a blue spark, before bolts of blazing plasma smashed into me, draining my shields rapidly.

I heard a scream from the giant tree, and rolled towards it, attempting to reach it. My foot hit a large chunk of rubble, causing me to fall forwards, stunning me. I flipped around, only to see the armored creature looming over me, a blade of plasma in its grasp. It bellowed, before swinging the weapon at my chest. I activated my hardlight sword, barely parrying the blow, while the being stumbled back in shock. I leapt up, taking an aggressive stance, head hunched and sword ready.

It dashed, blade held out to the side, likely for an uppercut. I twirled to the left, but the sword followed, before slicing across my shields and dropping them by a third. I swung, carving a massive gash in the creature’s chest, its apparent shields flickering before vanishing with a loud crack. It fell backwards, innards spilling, as incandescent blue blood gushed. It toppled with a gurgle, then lay still. I said a quick prayer to the Mantle, before leaving for the tree.

I switched to my Lightrifle, scoping in and out quickly to take power shots at the many griffons, felling them one by one with glowing orange holes in their bodies. A swarm of black passed by, revealed to be… Hundreds of them. Hundreds of griffons were flooding the streets, smashing into houses and shops alike, screams of terror coming from each building. There were too many, I could not take them all. I continued firing, despite the odds, slowly pushing towards the tree. A large griffon flew out, an unconscious purple unicorn on his back, as well as a terrified purple and green creature. I shot at the griffon, hoping to wound it enough to land, but my shots missed.

I growled in anger, chasing after the soldier. Plasma claws lashed out at me from every direction, smashing my shields to smithereens with the constant pounding. One swipe carved along my back, making me stop at the pain. I fell over, writhing in agony as more and more griffons joined to kill me. I gasped, panting as my vision began to black out. “Ancilla… Summon the Autosentry. Try to get them off.”

“Unable to summon. All power is focused on regenerating your shields.” Came the response, making me cry out in rage. Suddenly, the piercing whistle of a charging Sentinel beam was heard, and the bodies on me fell away with a cry.

I stumbled up, looking for the source, then I found it… A Shield World class Sentinel floated before me, blazing away at the griffons. “Apologies, Hardlight-Shines-Eternal. The large distance between the Halo ring and the planet caused a delay in my arrival.” A familiar voice spoke, making me start.

“If you’re here, then what kept the ring from crashing?”

“I diverted a small portion of my subroutines to keep it in sync with the planet’s star. This Sentinel was kept in storage in case it was needed, much like yourself. It was originally for the Shield World Onyx, but the Iso-Didact diverted it to the ring stationed here. I will assist in any way possible.”

I smiled. The Shield World class Sentinels were extremely versatile, as well as substantially stronger than the standard Sentinel. They even had high-level personal energy shields that deflected high-speed projectiles, allowing them to withstand most assaults. “Wound the large griffon with the lavender unicorn on its back. That is one of the ponies under my protection, and is important to the society of Equestria. Eliminate all other hostiles.”

“Of course. Please, take care of yourself.” The Sentinel replied, before darting off. I grinned, switching over to my Scattershot. I began clearing a small area of griffons, before summoning my Autosentry and instructing it to eliminate all griffons it finds. It floated gently off, while I began sweeping the streets. Everywhere I found dead bodies and broken glass, and even a mare sobbing in a corner that had a small pool of yellowish-white liquid pooled around it. I moved on quickly after that, blushing for some reason. Every living griffon I found, I quickly disintegrated with my Scattershot, leaving the orange flakes to drift away and vanish.

I entered a large, circular building with a stripe pattern, and found a squad of griffons inside, led by another one of the armored creatures. This one had red armor, and seemed less experienced than the previous one. A whimper was heard from upstairs, quickly followed by a shush, and the soldiers went to investigate. I followed behind them, preparing to fire when they turned around. The red armored being roared, before pulling out a purple C shape and charging a green orb. It released the ball, which impacted my shields and dropped them to nothing instantaneously. I growled, quickly snapping the trigger of my gun, blasting holes in the griffons. Right as I was about to kill the leader, my weapon clicked empty, forcing me to switch out to my Lightrifle, which also proved empty.

It snarled, rushing forwards and kicking me down the stairwell before I could reach my sword. As I smashed repeatedly, I heard cries of fear above. I lay dazed at the bottom, shaking in nausea. As I stumbled to my feet, the red being appeared and smashed its foot into my head, snapping my neck back and tripping me. I snagged my sword and activated it, right as the creature prepared to crush my windpipe. As it brought its foot down, I swung my blade above my throat and held it, causing the being to slice its armored foot to the bone before it could pull it back. It fell, snarling. A gasp of shock reached my ears, and I looked to the stairs to see Rarity and a small white unicorn, both holding eachother and crying.

“A little help? Please?” I groaned, swaying in pain. I swore I saw another armored creature before me, clad in dark green with a gold visor. I fell into a dark abyss.

-------------------- Princess Luna’s POV --------------------

I stared at the screen before me, enchanted to show the site of any important battle that is currently happening. I saw a tall, silver being, the one Celly told me was a Forerunner, holding a large silver and blue sword of some kind lying on its back. It brought the blade to its throat, right as a red claw came down, slicing said claw and spilling a bright blue and purple blood. My stomach churned at the sight, forcing me to turn away before I spilled its contents.

“Luna? Are you alright?” My sister said, walking into the wardroom. She glanced at the screen, then at me, before frowning sympathetically. “That… That is rather gruesome. Would you please come with me? There’s a strange green metal object that landed in the gardens. It looks to contain some sort of magical device that allows communications, and I think we can activate them. Would you be willing to help?” She said, laying a hoof on my shoulder.

I shuddered, breathing a sigh, “That sounds… Pleasant. More so than this, I think.” We strode away, not noticing the Forerunner fall unconscious on the screen. “Do you think we can contact whatever made this object?” I asked, gazing at my dearest sister.

“It seems possible, actually. The device is mostly intact, and has white writing on it. The writing says ‘UNSC’. I wonder what that means.”

-------------------- UNSC Fire Storm --------------------

A man in an olive navy uniform stepped onto the bridge, as the crew saluted, “Officer on the deck!”

He snapped a salute back, before replying, “At ease. Simmons, any news on the lost communications drop pod?” He asked, looking at one of the crew members.

“No, sir. I’ll keep trying, but we have no idea where it ended up. We’re in Slipspace, it could be anywhere by now. However, due to it being a prototype Slipspace communications module, it can send and receive messages from Slipspace or wherever it is.” The man said, looking up from his console.

Captain Eric Travis nodded, before responding, “Thank you. I hope the Covenant haven’t found it… At least it didn’t have any locations for UNSC planets, thank God. How much longer until we arrive at Reach?”