Chapters Author's Note
Hey guys. So, this is a Halo: MLP crossover. The main characters crossing over from the Halo universe are the Arbiter (Thel 'Vadam) from Halo 2 and 3, and Rtas 'Vadum, who was also a character from Halo 2 and 3. No humans will be appearing in this story. That means no Master Chief (sorry). I hope you enjoy this, and I would appreciate comments as to what you liked/disliked. Looking forward to hearing from you. Thanks.Rtas 'Vadum Arbiter/ Thel 'Vadam
-TheBigLebowski
Whispers
Before a pair of mystified lavender eyes, the cosmos, in all its glory, spread from horizon to horizon in a humbling display of majesty. A midnight canvas intensified the subtle glow of million year old starlight, and the auroras danced a verdant tango in a winding river of luminescence to make an evanescent setting all the more dreamlike. It was fitting, as the crickets chirped their melodious lullaby into the crisp spring breeze. After all, most everypony in town was dreaming, asleep; only a few chose to stay up on this particular night, admiring the simple beauty and mystery of the unknown.
Beneath the dome of the night's sky, in a field of warm grass just beyond the glow cast by the lights of civilization, lay a young unicorn mare and a younger dragon hatchling, stargazing as the day's dusk became a memory. Red and yellow and blue had faded to black, a black interrupted by dots of flickering radiance, like tiny sprinkles in the frosting of a dark chocolate cake.
The unicorn loved this time; she was named for it, after all. Twilight rolled a bit to look to her side. The dragon was still lying on his back, his hands folded behind his head and his legs crossed comfortably; Spike hadn't changed for the last hour, save for his verdant eyes, which kept growing larger as he marveled upwards. The unicorn dared not spoil the moment; it was one of the few times of quiet she'd enjoyed all day, and one of the few moments of relaxation from a day full of hectic errands for the both of them.
Rather, she rolled back over, her forelimbs curled against her chest and her flanks splayed along the ground as her stomach embraced the sky, and continued gazing into the simplicity of everything. She could map the stars, but chose not to narrate her wandering eyes as they identified waypoints against an endless backdrop. Cassiopeia, Orion, Draco, the Ursas. Constellations. Sirius, Rigel, Vega, Betelgeuse. Individual stars in a sea of sparkles. But for all she knew of the vibrantly dormant sky, she had many more questions, questions she could not find the answer to, no matter how hard she tried. She, and all like her, could only speculate.
She turned to her companion. Still taken aback by the trance-like movement of the sky, the dragon remained fixated. Twilight turned her eyes back to the sky, but kept her attention on Spike.
"Thanks for staying out here with me," she said softly, her voice trailing off into the cool air.
"Don't mention it," the dragon replied, not moving his gaze, "It's nice to slow down every once in a while."
The crickets filled the following silence, making it serene and comfortable.
"I've got to tell you though," the dragon continued, tapping his foot against the dew wet ground, "When we moved from Canterlot to this little town, I never thought we'd ever be more busy here than we were there."
"Neither did I," admitted the unicorn, reflecting on the events of the past moons; Discord, Nightmare Moon, Queen Chrysalis and the entire ordeal in the Crystal Empire with King Sombra, not to mention myriad local fiascos she and her friends had to deal with since the Summer Sun Festival almost two years ago, "But in a small community like this, whenever there's a problem, not getting involved isn't an option."
"Well yeah. Look at earlier today," Spike admitted, moving his hands to a new spot on his scaly belly, "If anypony had set off a confetti cannon and a cake cannon from the top of a bell tower in Canterlot, it'd be their mess to clean up. Not here though."
Twilight's mind reluctantly remembered the day's source of strife. A pair of pressurized air cannons, one loaded with confetti and another loaded with sugary desserts, were set off from the town's clock tower by the local party animal. It was innocent enough, a simple attempt to brighten spirits and spread delicious red velvet over a large area. However, when the cannons were set off, the sudden increase in pressure caramelized the sugar in the cake, making it stickier than most glues. The resulting adhesive confetti rain covered everything within a four block radius of the bell tower... everything. It had taken the majority of the day to clean up the city property and ponies unlucky enough to be caught within the blast radius. Luckily, hot water neutralized the adhesive sugar; unluckily, that discovery hadn't been made until late in the afternoon.
Another pause interceded between the conversation and the nocturnal environment. From the balcony of the library, an owl crooned to the crescent in the sky, and for a moment, the crickets ceased their symphony as they anticipated nocturnal hunters.
"We should really come out here more often," Spike said suddenly.
Twilight turned to look at him, her belly still facing the sky as her neck craned to the right.
"I think we would all live a little differently if we just took some time to look at the stars every now and then," he continued, "Really forces you to think."
"You've got that right," admitted the mare.
Her own thoughts had strayed from the past to the future, from reflection to planning to memory, since the sun had set. And still, her thoughts ambled.
"You ever wonder what's up there?" she asked.
The dragon turned to her shortly before rolling back to face the auroras without watching the stars themselves.
"Like what?" he asked, his voice tiny in the presence of existence itself.
"Maybe somepony up there is wondering what it's like here,'' she contemplated aloud.
"I guess," Spike admitted, finally taking his eyes off the sky and onto his talons folded neatly over his chest, "Do you think we'll ever meet them?"
"I hope so," answered Twilight, "Don't you?"
"Do you think they'd be like us?" he asked, straying a bit, as if trying to make a more educated answer.
"Probably not."
"Do you think they'd be nice?"
"Maybe," the unicorn responded, "I don't really know."
"I guess I would want to... meet them I mean."
Twilight turned to look at him, rolling over onto her side.
"It'd be cool... I think," he added, "What about you?"
Twilight opened her mouth to respond, but before she could, Spike's eyes lit up, and he refocused on the sky. Twilight turned her gaze upwards as well, and saw what appeared to be a comet flashing across the sky. It's bright, yellow tail made an arc across the sky, creating a streak like that of a brush dipped in gold paint and dashed across the canvas of the night sky, just below Orion's Belt.
"Make a wish," said Spike as he watched the celestial object dart from horizon to horizon.
The first of the shooting stars disappeared, but was followed by another and another, each creating golden trails following that of the first.
"That's weird," Twilight muttered, "there wasn't supposed to be a meteor shower tonight."
"What'd you wish for?" asked Spike, oblivious to Twilight's observation.
"I haven't yet," answered the unicorn, still contemplating the nature of the occurrence dozens of miles above them.
"How about a day off for tomorrow?" suggested Spike, and Twilight escaped the wanderings of her mind long enough to agree.
"A day off sounds nice," she sighed, "We haven't had one in so long."
Over the mountains, far to the West, a subtle flash of purple light broke the night, and the wind began to pick up slightly.
"Was that lightning?" asked Spike, turning from the clear skies above to the clouded ones of the West.
"I think so," Twilight answered, "Looks like there's a storm coming."
As she finished, thunder rolled in the distance, confirming that she was right.
"We'd better get inside," Spike concluded, and led the way back to the oak tree, a short walk away. The crickets had stopped now, and the wind was blowing faster.
"Got to love Equestrian weather," joked Twilight as she began trotting to catch Spike.
"Changes just like that," added Spike, snapping his fingers for emphasis.
They reached the house and shut the door firmly behind them, and in the time before the storm set in over them, they watched the stars through the window.
Before long, a light April rain had begun to fall.
"I don't get it," Spike said as the sky was shielded behind a veil of dark clouds, "It was so calm a little bit ago."
"There's always a calm before a storm," Twilight said, watching as blue and lavender lightning danced behind an expansive curtain of cumulonimbus.
"Come on," Twilight said, flicking her tail by the dragon's nose as she turned around, "It's late, and we should probably be getting to bed."
He wordlessly agreed, and followed her up the stairs.
Spike fell asleep quickly, but Twilight stayed awake, the inconsistent and brilliant light of the storm through her window striking like the sporadic wanderings of her thoughts.
There wasn't supposed to be a meteor shower tonight.
The thunder rattled against the bark of the oak, and the tree swayed, creaking as if trying to speak to her.
A thunder storm wasn't in the forecast.
The rain coated the windowpane, and the soft pitter patter of precipitation scurried about on the ceiling like tiny footsteps.
Rainbow Dash said nothing about the weather ponies ushering in a spring rainfall tonight. Normally she won't stop talking about everything she gets to do as the weather team's captain.
The night and the storm grew weary, but Twilight found herself still awake, tortured by subtle curiosities she couldn't answer.
There wasn't supposed to be a meteor shower tonight.
Halo: Salvation
Earlier...
Alpha Centauri System,
Aboard the Covenant Separatist carrier, Shadow of Intent
On a massive transparent screen, a pair of green, slit eyes watched as fantastic destruction turned to silence. The technology of the holographic projection centered above the control room allowed a viewport into the vacuum of space outside, but its effect was visible nonetheless as what once was a formidable fleet was torn apart, and pulled into orbit with the system's sun. Aft and bow sections of a celestial navy crumpled in the grip of gravity, and the lights of their engines flickered and died as the enemy ships, and all those aboard, were consumed by fire and the abyss of space.
"Shipmaster 'Vadum, the drop ships are returning," said a deep voice from the right, calling the Sangheili back to his station.
He swung his armored head around, pivoting his bulky shoulders to look behind him and around the command bridge. Every contoured surface of the expansive room gleamed with an unstained luster, and green and blue light glinted off of the spotless purple superficies. The source of the voice behind him was seated adjacent the floating, central captain's seat of the control room, and was waiting for him to respond with parted mandibles and an unblinking gaze.
The grand scale of the battle had lured 'Vadum from his seat and closer to the bridge's primary screen, and its breathtaking presence had kept him fixated. But now, he was obligated to step away from the awesome scene of expanding clouds of blue fire and radiation before the system's fiery star, and return to his duties.
"Contact them," he said as he stalked back to his seat in the middle of the expansive room, light from numerous consoles and power nodes glinting off of his elegant white armor, "We need to know the status of the rest of the corvettes."
"Ship to ship communications are offline, Shipmaster," came the response from a Sangheili Major working on a different console in the room, off to the left.
The Commander exhaled as he sat down in his chair, rubbing the stumps of his missing right mandibles as he focused on his next words.
"Then deploy the Huragok to the communication center," he said calmly.
"They are already on their way, Shipmaster."
"When will the repairs be complete?" he asked, his voice dominant in the room filled with quiet clicks and beeps as his comrades worked at their individual consoles, "We cannot pursue 'Mdama until the fleet's communication has been reestablished."
"Uncertain," came a voice from his side, "Damage analysis has not yet been completed."
"Are there any other systems that are out of commission?" he asked without hesitation, and reports began filing in quickly as supervisors began barking out their individual results from all corners of the command bridge.
"Weapons systems are online."
"Defensive shields are at eighty percent."
"Engines are fully functioning."
"Life support is functioning properly."
"Reactors are online."
"Good," the commander said as it was confirmed that the ship was not in fact crumbling, "All normal communications technicians are temporarily reassigned to tracking the Remnants' fleet. I want to know when and where they come out of their jump. Devote all other available resources to repairing the ship's communications, and when the Phantoms return, summon the Arbiter to the bridge."
From behind the captain's chair, the sound of the blast door sliding open sounded, and heavy metallic footsteps approached from the threshold.
"The Arbiter is already here, Commander," came a familiar voice, deep and confident.
The Shipmaster spun around in his floating seat and stepped down, placing a balled fist over his chest as he acknowledged the newcomer. He was tall and wide, his muscular arms and gaskins much larger than those he passed as he entered the room. His engraved, sterling armor was sleek and ancient, much different from the design of the newer combat harnesses employed by the rest of the Sangheili. On his back he carried a Type-51 Carbine, and on his waist was slung a Type-25 Energy Rifle opposite the hilt of a Type-1 Energy Sword.
The Arbiter strode to the center of the bridge, and in turn, placed his fist over his breast to match the salute of his counterpart. Despite his presence, the operations of the bridge did not falter, and the focus of each individual in carrying out their assorted tasks in keeping the carrier functioning was unbroken.
"Come," the Arbiter said as he nodded back in the direction of the door he'd just entered through, "We are needed in the hangar bay."
"Arbiter, I need an after action report," the Commander said as he quickly closed the distance between himself and the Arbiter to walk by his side, "What is the status of the corvettes that covered your infiltration?"
"Two of the five remain," came the answer as they left the bridge for a long, contoured hall of purple synthetics and verdant lights, "A worthy trade for four enemy cruisers."
"It matters not how many of them we kill," replied 'Vadum as they reached the elevator bank, "We do not have the numbers we once had. We have but one carrier, five cruisers and now only two corvettes. Our capacity to make war is dwindling. If we cannot win this conflict without our brothers' bloodshed, we may not have a future worth fighting for."
"It is our families' futures we have always fought for, Commander" came the reply as the Arbiter whipped around, conviction dripping from his tone, "And as always, any worthy cause demands sacrifice."
As he finished, he placed his hand over the nearest console, and a pair of doors opened with a sound like an exhale from the ship itself. They stepped inside the elevator, and after pressing another few verdant screens inside, began their descent to the hangar.
The Commander's shoulders drooped slightly, but his piercing gaze held fast with his much taller counterpart's. The Arbiter seemed to refuse eye contact at first, rather staring at the lavender interior of the rapidly descending room they occupied. Eventually, he spoke, glancing to his side to meet the gaze of the Shipmaster.
"If it is any consolation," the Arbiter began, his voice slow and quiet as the elevator came to a noticeable stop and the doors parted, "my Phantoms were able to intercept a few escape pods that survived the destruction of the corvettes."
"How many survivors?" asked the Shipmaster grimly as they both stepped out and into another long hallway.
"Enough to replace those we lost when boarding their ships," came the low-pitched reply over the sounds of heavy foot falls.
"Stop evading me," 'Vadum demanded, stopping their promenade in the middle of the solitary hall, "Their lives matter to me, perhaps more than they did before our Covenant was broken. I need to know how many in your boarding party were lost."
"None of the veterans met their ends," The Arbiter continued slowly, standing tall and still as he looked into the eyes of his counterpart," and the Hunters have not been slowed by time nor age."
He walked a short distance farther before speaking again, and after stepping out of the hall and onto a balcony overlooking the carrier's endless hangar bay, he gestured to a quartet of the nearest landed drop ships, their passengers milling around the flight deck. Two Mgalekgolo, their tall, hulking armored bulk impressive even from a distance, prowled side by side away from one of the Phantoms. Behind them, several Sangheili did the same, their weapons held on their hips and backs.
"The Minors however... those that were eager to taste battle found it bitter. Those that were patient are no longer Minors."
As the Arbiter spoke, he pointed to the arranged bodies of several of his dead kin. All of the corpses were lighter and less extravagantly armored than their living brethren who now took respite, alluding to their inferior rank. Small pools of indigo blood gathered around their motionless bodies, which were congregated adjacent the nearest Phantom's hull.
"Seventeen of my Elites have fallen this day."
"Of our Elites," corrected 'Vadum as he turned away from the solemn aftermath of the battle, "Do not think that while I guide this fleet, I grow fat and content with watching our brothers die."
"Then let them know that you care," the Arbiter counseled, "Come with me to the flight deck. Let the warriors see you, and remind them that you have fought as hard as they. I have not forgotten your conviction, but it is hard to see your actions as ones of individual prowess when all they see in battle is this ship, not its crew."
"I am not judging your honor," he continued as he began leading the Commander down a ramp to the bustling flight deck, "Were it not for your mastery of our armada, this fight would be over by now, and we would not be discussing this. I witnessed your tact from the mining platform near the sun, after we delivered the bombs unto the cruisers. The ambush was perfect. Distracted by our infiltration, they had no notion of your presence until it was too late. To come out of a jump on their flank was no easy feat, and to catch the Song of Retribution with its shields down was an accomplishment to bring pride to your name."
They reached the endless floor of the hangar, and the Arbiter continued as he strode in the direction of the landed Phantoms, each of them pockmarked with plasma burns.
"It makes little difference," admitted 'Vadum, "'Mdama's flagship escaped, along with the rest of their cruisers."
"Do not fret," consoled the Arbiter as they began passing other Sangheili warriors, many of them bleeding and all of them pausing as they passed to place their fists over their chests, "We have won a victory over 'Mdama and his dogs, and the tritium they came here to mine will now be used to power our fleet for the next decade. The humans may have bled them as they fled Requiem, but they will not pursue our common enemy. We shall be the ones to finish the Covenant Remnant. They run like the cowards they are, and no matter which hole they bury themselves in, we will find them."
The Arbiter stopped as they reached the side of the nearest Phantom, and he began removing weapons' batteries from a large metallic container, one of many accumulated amidst the landed drop ships.
"And when we do, a thousand hells await them."
The Arbiter took time to remove the battery packs from his sword and plasma rifle, retrieving new ones from one of the containers and slamming them home amidst energetic hums of the now primed, recharged weapons. After he holstered the sword and double checked the Plasma Rifle, he began removing purple, cylindrical canisters from a separate box to refill his Carbine's ammunition supply.
"I assume you are tracking their signatures?" he asked as he once again put his Carbine into its place on his armored back.
"Several of my best technicians are seeing to that," assured 'Vadum, standing behind the Arbiter as he resealed the containers, "When they come out of their jump, we will know, and we will not be far behind."
"Good. We should begin rearming the fighters. They will not likely be surprised again. Our communications are still down, I presume."
"They are."
"A lucky hit," consoled the Arbiter, turning his amber eyes to meet 'Vadum's, "There was nothing you could have done to avoid it. The odds of slipping a round through our shields are astronomical. Were any of the crew killed?"
"Yes, but only a few. It would have been more if we were not understaffed."
"How long until we are once again battle ready?" asked the Arbiter as he stole another glance at the dead bodies of those that had accompanied him on his most recent mission.
"We are unsure at the moment," replied the Commander, "The Huragok have always been efficient, but an anti-matter round does not make for a simple repair."
"Well then let us take this time to rest and heal. There is nothing we can do until we can once again speak with the other Shipmasters. They will know to return to the Shadow of Intent , but while we sit mute they will know to sit idle."
The Arbiter led the march back to the elevator banks, leaving the hangar behind and the warriors to their own business. Once outside the elevator doors again, the Arbiter placed his hand over the console screen, and they slid open once more. He extended a hand to the elevator's interior, but the Shipmaster seemed hesitant to enter. He waited at the Arbiter's side, and eventually found the words he was searching for.
"Thel," he said, causing the warrior to turn to him with a stern pair of eyes, "I have never adequately expressed my appreciation of your dedication to this fleet."
The Arbiter cocked his head to one side as he digested the compliment.
"Our war with the humans taught us much," the Arbiter responded after a short silence, "but perhaps the most important lesson I learned came from the mouth of the Master Chief. No soldier should be awarded for doing what is expected. If my actions were anything less, I would be undermining my duty, and I would not be worthy to wear this armor. If our fallen brothers had not fought so valiantly, they would not be worthy to call themselves Sangheili warriors. Your gratitude, though sincere, is misplaced."
"Perhaps," admitted the Commander, "But to go up against their cruisers with but a squadron of Phantoms and five corvettes, and then to take the mining facility by your lonesome... such merit is why we follow you, Leader."
"Merit had little to do with it," he admitted, "For years I have lived my sentence as Arbiter, but the death I was given will not seem to come. Perhaps the gods wish to see my shame grow after each battle, where I yet stand in the midst of my brothers' ends."
The Arbiter's head fell slightly as he finished, but the Commander only lifted a hand in gesture and offered words of consolation.
"Perhaps it is not their cruelty, but their mercy that keeps you alive."
"There is nothing merciful about war," growled the Arbiter, "I have lived war for decades, as have you. We know this. We fight for retribution, not for peace. I have grown weary of the death of our kin at the hands of these vile Loyalists. Have the Prophets not been proven false? I want only for this war to be over, and it will only end when every last one of the bastards that would attack our families on Sangheilios out of fanaticism for The Great Journey lay in blood and ashes."
"Arbiter. Mercy comes not during war, but upon its end. There is hope for our kind, and it lies at the end of this long, dark night of bloodshed. We have only to fight a little while longer."
The Arbiter looked down.
"Were it so easy."
"I will return to the bridge, that you may do what you must in the wake of this victory," said the Shipmaster as he stepped into the elevator.
"That would be best," admitted the Arbiter, and once the doors slid shut, he again prowled back to the hangar bay.
More craft were coming in through the transparent energy shields of the hangar, and from an elevated platform overlooking the hangar, the Arbiter watched. He watched as Banshees, Seraphs and Phantoms all found their docking positions, and the pilots their sanctuary. He watched as the wounded and the dead of his brothers were assorted, briefly mourned, and prepared for cremation, as was tradition. He watched through the hangar bay doors as the Fleet of Retribution slowly gathered around its flagship, the ship he called home. He remembered how vast the fleets he'd once commanded had been, and compared them to the fragment of the fleet around him. One day, this war would be made right. But until that day came, this war was the life he had to lead.
He stood there for what seemed like hours, until the ships stopped coming in and the number of those wandering the flight deck was reduced to zero. It was then that the voice of the Shipmaster crackled in his helmet.
"Arbiter, communications have been restored. And what's more, we've found them."
The Sangheili's eyes narrowed, and a grin came to his face. He stood, turned, and strode back down the hall.
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
Hope you enjoy.
In this chapter, see the beginnings of the storm to come, a storm that was foretold.
Signatures
"Spike!" came a call from upstairs.
The dragon paused mid-bite, his jaw hanging precariously open as he enviously eyeballed the potato salad sandwich just inches in front of his nose. The wish he'd made the night before had come true; the day had been free of chores so far, but now he dreaded whatever task Twilight might have for him. She'd been locked in her study since before he'd awoken earlier in the morning, and hadn't emerged yet; it was already mid-afternoon, which meant that whatever she was doing was either important or confusing enough to keep her undivided attention. In short, if he ended up helping her, it would not be simple nor easy.
"What?" he responded, salivating a bit as he eyeballed the morsel between his talons.
"Could you come here?" came the muffled response from above, "I need your help with something."
The drake sighed and let the sandwich fall to the table, coming undone as it landed, and vacated the kitchen.
"Coming!"
As Spike began his march up the stairs, he could hear the not so soft hoof steps of Twilight doing something frantically from behind the closed door of the study. He figured she'd probably made some breakthrough in magic or something of the such, but when he opened the door to the room, what greeted his eyes was enough to make him freeze.
It was dark, the curtains drawn over the window with the only light being from candles and lamps, and the entire room was covered in papers, each with myriad notes and numbers scribbled over the entirety of their surfaces. Recently dried inkwells, quills worn down to the nub and still more notes littered the desk. On the walls were pinned maps, charts and graphs, each of them also adorned with still drying ink. On the far side of the room was a massive global map, which Twilight was standing before, her back facing the dragon.
"Umm, Twilight," he said slowly prompting the unicorn to spin around, revealing that she was wearing magnified spectacles to no doubt inspect the minute details of the map; the resulting effect made it seem like her pupils took up the entirety of her eye socket, and the dragon visibly recoiled upon seeing it.
"Good, you're here," she said, relieved as she levitated the many lenses off of her nose and onto the study's desk, "I need you to write a letter."
Her words fell on deaf ears, as Spike was taken aback with the sheer amount of knowledge compiled in every corner of the room.
"I never even knew we had this much paper," he said, oblivious to Twilight's request.
"I broke into the reserve supply in the basement," she admitted, turning her nose up a bit with pride, "That's where I dug up these old maps too."
"We have a reserve stash of paper in the basement?"
"Well not anymore," the unicorn responded, "but nevermind that. I've discovered something important and the princess needs to know."
"What did you find?" asked Spike as he tried to make sense of a titanic line graph looming on the nearest wall.
"Well I'm glad you asked," she said, standing tall as her horn sparked a glow and myriad papers began orbiting the two of them.
"You remember that meteor shower we saw last night?"
"The shooting stars?"
"Yes. Well, I didn't remember anything about them in this year's almanac," she said as she opened one of the spinning books, titled 'Poor Richie's Almanac', showing it to the dragon, "So I double checked, and sure enough, there wasn't anything both notable and natural going on in the stars last night."
Spike looked at her confusedly, and uncomfortably folded his hands behind his back.
"What makes you think that the scientists that wrote the almanac didn't mess up?" he asked, unsure that he could even contribute anything worthwhile to the conversation.
"They haven't made a mistake in, well, forever," Twilight admitted, "The Canterlot Observatory is one of the best space studying organizations in the world, and they didn't predict a meteor shower for last night. Not a single one anywhere in the world did. The sky is very predictable, down to seconds and inches, which can only mean that whatever happened last night wasn't natural."
"Okay, so there were some shooting stars that the scientists never saw coming," Spike said, "That's not that big of a deal, right?"
"Not just that," Twilight said with a grin as she brought another paper to Spike's nose, "but look at this. Those stars came out of the Orion constellation from about twenty-two degrees south of east, and shot straight over the Macintosh Hills, where we lost sight of them at about ten degrees north of west."
The dragon's eyes went blank.
"Um."
"Also, given the acceleration due to gravity and the atmospheric factors, considering that we had a barometric pressure last night of about 1.02 kilograms per cubic centimeter, there should not have been a natural thunderstorm last night. There wasn't rain in the forecast either, which means the weather ponies definitely weren't involved."
"Uh."
"I was confused at first too," Twilight continued as she began pacing back to the massive map on the far wall, "but then I thought that maybe, a large displacement of air could have caused a pressure difference and a large increase in static energy, which could have produced the heat lightning we were seeing last night. Also, a large heat source passing through the atmosphere could have caused the water vapor in the stratosphere to condense, thus, creating last night's storm, which originated along the bearings of the meteorites."
Spike sighed, his head beginning to hurt.
"If I'm right, then it's possible that an extraterrestrial object penetrated our atmosphere last night."
Spike, his brain pulsating, finally spoke his mind.
"Twilight, you do realize that it's somepony's job to do this, right? There are scientists in Canterlot that get paid to make these types of connections."
"I know but this could be important," Twilight reasoned, "If something did get through the atmosphere it could be the scientific discovery of the century. Imagine if it were a rock sample from another planet, or..."
She was cut suddenly off by a low-pitched growl, and both of them looked down at her rumbling stomach.
"Have you eaten today?" asked Spike.
Twilight shook her head and Spike sighed, rubbing his temples free of the throbbing feeling they'd recently attained.
"Okay, I've got a sandwich downstairs. I'll go get it for you. And here," Spike said as he went to part the curtains drawn over the window, "this dark can't be good for your eyes."
Light rushed in through window like a flood, and Twilight squinted and looked away as her eyes adjusted to the morning's radiance. Eventually, the world refocused, and the unicorn blinked away the sun's glare to look outside. She could hear Spike's steps receding away from her, no doubt heading downstairs to retrieve the sandwich he had offered. But, outside, she saw something that seized her attention.
"Spike..."
"Twilight, you need to just relax," the dragon sighed as he turned back around at the threshold of the study, "Besides, even if something did fall from the sky, imagine trying to find it. It could be anywhere, literally."
"Is that smoke?" Twilight asked aloud, peering outside.
Spike trotted up to the fixated equine's side, and followed her gaze to the West. Back, deep into the embrace of the mountains, exactly where they'd lost sight of the meteorites the night before, a column of black smoke was rising into the clear skies.
Spike looked up at Twilight, and she down at him.
"I think we should get started on that letter."
Meanwhile...
The nerve center of the Shadow of Intent was filled, several high-ranking Sangheili gathered around the room's central star map. The map, a massive holographic projection that reached to the ceiling, portrayed the entire galactic quadrant in a vast collection of infinitesimal lights, each tiny dot representing a singular star system. Each of the individuals around the table-shaped console in the center of the room were fixated as they waited for the entirety of their company to arrive.
The blast doors to the room parted suddenly, and all present turned to see the Arbiter stride in, the light of the star map glinting off of his sterling armor. The respect he commanded silenced the room in an instant, the only sound in the newfound quiet being that of his own footsteps.
"You say you have found them?" the Arbiter asked as he joined the congregation.
"Yes," came the reply from the Shipmaster, his arms crossed over his chest as he stood at the star map's interface, "But our situation has been... complicated."
"What is it?" asked the Arbiter, his voice lowering.
The Shipmaster looked down for a moment as he worked at the console's interface, highlighting two individual stars on the expansive hologram in bright red.
"My technicians have detected not one, but two slip space ruptures on opposite sides of the quadrant."
"'Mdama's fleet did not stay together?" the Arbiter asked, concerned, "Why?"
"We do not know," admitted the Shipmaster as he highlighted their own fleet's position on the star map, "The most likely possibility is that our jammers interfered with their battle-net, thus preventing them from coordinating a destination when they retreated in their rush."
'Vadum paused, light from the hologram shining off of his lustrous white armor, as he considered the staggering distance between the trio of crimson points, each representing a different concentration of warships in the quadrant.
"The majority of 'Mdama's capital ships emerged here," he continued, pointing at the red point nearest the ceiling, "in the Epsilon Indi System."
The Shipmaster again let his hands drop to the console's interface, and the third point, representing the rest of the enemy forces, became larger to represent a map of a single solar system rather than a quarter of the galaxy. The new map displayed small red ships above the third planet in the system as they emerged from slip space portals.
"However, a congregation of capital vessels emerged here," the Shipmaster said as he pointed to the map, "on the brink of this planet's gravitational influence."
All assembled of every rank focused on the map, some silently so, others quietly voicing their thoughts to those at their sides.
"We lack the surprise we had when we engaged the entirety of the fleet," admitted 'Vadum, "We cannot risk going into battle with a prepared enemy larger than we are, and inaction is not a wise decision."
"You suggest engaging the smaller of the two groups?" asked the Arbiter; the Shipmaster nodded, and the quiet commotion among the echelon increased in excitement ever so subtly.
"What do we know of this planet they have fled to?" asked the Arbiter again, causing the commotion to halt.
"Nothing, save for its existence," answered 'Vadum, turning his head down and slightly to the side, "We first learned of its location in the stars three years ago, when its presence was revealed by an artifact on the cleansed human world called New Harmony, when an expedition on pilgrimage unearthed a holy site there. This world has not been visited by any of our kind, nor our allies of disparate species; it has not even been named."
The Arbiter stepped closer to the hologram, studying every aspect of it closely as his eyes grew intense in ambition.
"Tell me more of the ships that emerged near this planet," he said, his voice lowering.
"A single battle-group survived the jump," said 'Vadum from the interface, narrating the hologram as it displayed his words, "One battle cruiser serves as this task force's flagship, with four light cruisers and six corvettes beneath its command. What would have been the fifth cruiser entered slip space with its shields down. The damage we inflicted unto this singular vessel corrupted its hull integrity; we believe only pieces emerged on the other side."
"Did they make for this planet for a purpose?" asked the Arbiter as he began pacing slightly.
"We do not know," came the response, "It is likely the jump was random, meant only for a retreat, but it is possible they know something we do not."
"Have they since landed on the planet," the Arbiter pressed, prying for any further information, "or have they amassed above it?"
"They have reactivated their cloaking devices since they were detected," said 'Vadum, prompting a slight growl from his counterpart, "However, we do know they are still in the system. We have not detected any further slip space signatures."
"Can we deduce anything more about our quarry from here?"
"No."
"Then we must make for this planet," said the Arbiter, pointing at the map with newfound vigor, "We will emerge farther from this world than they did, so that we will have time enough to assess the best route of attack before we initiate contact. Prepare the jammers aboard the Testament of Zeal , and orient two of the cruisers around her. We will scramble their battle-net, and prevent them from calling for help when our battle commences. We cannot afford to have 'Mdama come to their rescue. If he does, we will be outmatched."
The energy among the amassed officers increased, whispers and nods reverberating through the group.
"You seem to be recalling your days as Supreme Commander," said 'Vadum amusedly as he watched the Arbiter's eyes light with internal fire, "Have you anything else to contribute?"
"Our capital ships will linger outside the range of our foe's weaponry," the Arbiter said, his voice firm and strong, "From there, we will launch Phantoms and boarding craft to infiltrate and destroy as many enemy vessels as possible. Two corvettes and our Seraph squadrons will cover the insertion, and pull back once we have passed through hostile jaws. From there, we will plant the bombs, and fall back. Should anything fail, Shipmasters will take charge of assorted forces. Follow the carrier's lead; the enemy will likely have jammers as well. This will be our course of action until adaptation is necessary."
A few growls of determination sounded from those gathered, and the Shipmaster nodded as he considered his brother's words. Eventually, he nodded, blue light redirecting off his alabaster helmet.
"A fine plan," 'Vadum admitted before addressing all present, his voice changing from contemplative to authoritative as he switched from a friend to a leader, "Fall out to your battle stations. Prepare for a slip space jump."
The room emptied quickly, until only two remained. The Arbiter, following 'Vadum, brought up the rear of the procession as the nerve center was vacated, the blast doors sealing shut behind them as they prowled out the way they'd come. The hall was nearly empty as each of the Sangheili made for their stations with haste, leaving the Shipmaster and the Arbiter to walk shoulder to shoulder.
"What are your thoughts?" asked 'Vadum, his eyes locked forward though his audience was to his side.
"Our lack of knowledge concerns me," the Arbiter admitted as he strode through the smooth, glossy hall, "We know not what waits for us on the other end of this jump. What if this cruiser, the one that was destroyed as it fled, has created a debris field above the planet?"
"It is not likely," answered 'Vadum, "They emerged very near to the planet, relatively speaking. It is likely that what did make it to the other side was pulled from the heavens by the planet's gravity."
"This does little to comfort me," grumbled the Arbiter, "We still do not know if we have charted a course for a prepared foe, if they linger, waiting for us, or if they lay weary, licking their wounds. We know not if we are heading into an ambush. If we could detect 'Mdama's slip space signature, it would be foolish to think that he could not detect ours, and come to his comrades' rescue, if he is not already waiting for us."
"'Mdama is no fool," said the Shipmaster as they rounded a corner in the hallway, "He has proven his worth several times over when the Covenant was ours to share, though his recent bout with the humans on that Forerunner world may have humbled him."
"'Mdama, humble?" countered the Arbiter, stopping midstride as he turned to face his company, "We are talking of one who has named himself the hand of a god."
The Arbiter quickly stalked farther down the hall, leaving 'Vadum a few strides behind him.
"Would a humble warrior have contributed his forces to a siege of my home, and planned to do the same to yours?"
'Vadum's voice slowed as he tried to reason with his impassioned ally.
"This is more than retribution for the attack on 'Vadam Keep, just as this is more than the up-keeping of our alliance with the humans," he caught up to the Arbiter, and placed a hand on his shoulder, turning him to look into his eyes, "All these things are part of a battle to save our race, and to attain a lasting peace. When we allied with the humans, 'Mdama and those like him saw us as traitors. While they live, we will never live in peace, and Sanghelios will remain a battleground, our children and wives in the crossfire."
The Arbiter sighed as he shrugged slightly, causing the hand on his shoulder to fall. He looked down, his breathing uneasy.
"Do you ever worry about the matters of home?" asked 'Vadum, knowing full well the answer.
"I trust my council members will watch over my hold for me."
"I wish I could say the same," admitted the Shipmaster, laughing slightly, "But then again, I am no Kaidon."
"Let us talk no more of memories and wishes," said the Arbiter, his voice between frustration and pain, "We are on the eve of battle. Our minds must be here and now."
He turned suddenly and continued down the hallway.
"What will be your station when the fighting commences?" asked the Arbiter, becoming a battle-oriented warrior once again.
"Would it not be in the control room?" came the response from slightly behind.
"It is always wise for those in positions of power to undergo the same trials as those they are appointed over," the Arbiter counseled, "To not do so would be to forget the consequences of one's orders."
"I have not forgotten the smell of bloodshed," countered the Shipmaster harshly, "nor the heartbreak of loss."
"Have any of us?" asked the Arbiter as he rounded the final corner to the elevator banks.
"I no longer crave battle, as I once did."
"And you are not alone," said the Arbiter smoothly, "You are wise to recognize the atrocities of war, but our cause is just. The coming battle will be as treacherous as it is critical. Imagine the vigor our warriors will fight with upon seeing their Fleet Master at their sides. This fight will not be fought with flagships and plasma, but with swords and bombs. Your skill will not be needed aboard this ship, but will be put to use in combat."
The Arbiter paused before he continued, contemplating his next words.
"Regardless, it would be beneficial to renew your honor in the eyes of our brothers. Commanders are merely obeyed, but leaders are followed. The respect commanded by the first cannot hope to rival that of the latter."
The conversation paused as they reached the banks, the Arbiter pressing the console to summon an elevator for his counterpart.
"I will consider joining you in your Phantom," the Shipmaster yielded, "But do not wait for me. For this attack to work, we must be swift."
The Arbiter nodded as the doors to an elevator opened, and the Shipmaster stepped inside.
"This is where I leave you," 'Vadum said as he turned back around to face the Arbiter before the doors sealed once again, "Marshal your warriors in the hangar. I will be in the bridge, to catalyze our coming victory."
"Lest we lose our way, without your hand's guidance."
The door's shutting interrupted the Shipmaster's chuckle, and now solitary, the Arbiter summoned an elevator of his own. He strode through the doors upon their opening, and waited in silence for the ride down to the hangar to be complete, all to gather his brothers for death, whether theirs or their foes', and to prepare them for the coming of the unknown.
It was a long ride down.
Elsewhere...
The royal chambers were quiet, the only sound being that of a quill scratching against parchment. One princess sat at her desk, writing a decree by the light of her midday sun as it poured in through the expansive, elaborate window. The other of the room's inhabitants, the younger as well as the darker, sat in a large velvet chair in the corner, diligently reading a scroll held in a deep blue aura.
The room was regal in every sense of the word; every surface was beautiful, created with the finest craftsmanship and material imaginable. The mahogany desks and end tables shimmered with a polished luster, and the spotless floors reflected the ceiling in their wax. Even the walls reflected the riches of the palace, every picture and painting framed in gold and silver while the granite mantle displayed a collection of trinkets and treasures from all corners of the world.
Both of the royal sisters were diligent in their work and study when a sound like a wind, accompanied by a green flame, came in through the fireplace, and a sealed scroll rolled out from the cold hearth. The pair stopped their tasks when they heard the mail's arrival, and Celestia, after letting the quill drop back to the wood of the desk and allowing her horn's glow to die out, levitated the parchment from the fireplace to herself.
"What is it?" asked Princess Luna, her curiosity peaked as she too strayed from her reading material, a document marked with the seal of a foreign government.
"A letter from Twilight," came the response as Celestia smiled to herself, undoing the bindings as she did.
"Read it aloud," petitioned Luna, smiling as well, "Perhaps something interesting, or even comical has occurred in Ponyville."
"Let us hope that whatever it is," began the princess as the letter was unfurled in her magic's grip, "it is nothing dire."
"The realm has been quiet for long enough," admitted the Princess of the Night, "For irony's sake, the time for something malicious to happen could be nigh."
"No such thing," Celestia said as she laughed quietly to herself, "The writing is too legible for it to have been written in haste. Perhaps another letter regarding a friendship lesson, or a question she couldn't wait to ask."
The scroll levitated in front of the alicorn's nose, and Luna waited eagerly from her seat for her sister to begin reading.
"Dear Princess Celestia," the ivory mare said theatrically as she began narrating the letter.
"I do not know if you could see it from Canterlot, but we had a meteor shower last night."
The princess paused as she finished the opening sentence, furrowing her brow as she looked, concerned, to her counterpart on the far side of the room. Her sister spoke her thoughts exactly.
"There should not have been a meteor shower last night," Luna said of equal concern, "I had no part in it, and the observatories predicted no such thing."
"I know," admitted Celestia slowly.
"Could this be..." Luna said quietly to herself before refocusing on the letter, "Well go on, keep reading. What else does it say?"
Princess Celestia inhaled deeply, and continued in earnest, trying hard to remain objective.
"As I was unaware of a meteor shower predicted for last night, I investigated every record and document at my disposal, and was not able to find anything confirming that last night's meteor shower was a natural event. As a result of this, I felt predisposed to try and find out what did cause this phenomenon. Based on my calculations and reasoning, I believe it is possible that an object, or several, of a massive nature entered our atmosphere last night, causing the subsequent 'meteor shower' Spike and I observed. To add to the sighting last night, we witnessed a column of smoke in the mountains a few miles outside of Ponyville this morning. On the off chance that it may be related to the events of last night, I have taken it upon myself..."
"What does it say?" asked Luna concernedly as her sister trailed off, her voice no longer accompanying her reading eyes.
She stood, vacating her seat as her deep blue eyes filled with a dull fire.
"Sister," the dark alicorn pressed, her tone grim, "if this is in accordance with Star Swirl's predictions of old, we could have a crisis to worry about."
The white alicorn turned to her sister with a look of worry, the letter falling to the desk.
"She's going to investigate."
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
In this chapter, see how the Swords of Sanghelios find themselves on the Equestrian's planet, and how Twilight, Spike and Rainbow Dash make a discovery in the mountains.
Contact
"It's kind of chilly this morning," observed Spike from Twilight's back as she trotted down the cobblestone road.
The unicorn only sighed; she was simply too focused to indulge in small talk, one of her rider's many talents. The cloud of smoke over the mountains in the distance had withered and was now barely visible, but still present nonetheless. If she were to retain any hope of concluding the rising column of soot's origin, she would have to make good time into the hills, and that required unshakeable focus. If she wavered, her goal may be lost to her forever.
"I said, it's kind of chilly this morning," repeated Spike, raising his voice since his last announcement as he leaned back, spreading his hands out behind him on the unicorn's back, "isn't it Twilight?"
There was no response, save the sound of hooves striking against the road with an unwavering pace. Spike burred his lips, partially to mock Twilight as an equine, and partially to express dissatisfaction with being ignored, both in an attempt to reacquire his friend's ear. Still no response came from beneath him, so the drake resorted to drastic measures.
He bent forward and grabbed Twilight by her jowls, and pressed his eyes to less than an inch away from hers.
"Chilly out here, huh Twilight?!"
The unicorn bucked and shook her head violently back and forth, tossing the dragon rather unceremoniously from her back and into the grass on the side of the road.
"Spike, what are you doing?!" she trilled.
The dragon picked himself up from the soil that had broken his fall, brushing earth from his shoulders and shaking his spines free of dirt.
"Well that wasn't very nice," Spike mused as he ambled back to the road, crossing his arms when he stood before Twilight, steam practically rising from her scalp.
"Why'd you do that?" asked the equine, well beyond irritated.
"Why were you ignoring me?" Spike countered to receive silence before continuing with a tone between sarcasm and concern, "Look Twilight, as your friend, assistant, and closest personal advisor, I can say without a doubt that you are obsessing over this whole thing."
"Me?" she began, placing a hoof over her chest and acting offended, "Obsessed?"
Spike's eyes shifted awkwardly to the side as he pondered whether she was serious before responding, "Yeah, obsessed."
"Absurd!"
Spike sighed again, and let his hands fall to his hips.
"You say that I'm obsessing over this, but you're showing no regard for what could be a groundbreaking discovery!"
"If, by groundbreaking, you mean a crater?"
Twilight snorted.
"What are you hoping to find at the end of this day hike anyway? We know everything about space already. If it's as important as you say, then where are the professional scientists? You know, the ones that get paid to make discoveries."
"Anything," she replied energetically, "and it could literally be anything causing that smoke up there. We could find extraterrestrial geologic samples from a meteor that could have impacted a forested area, or we could discern the chemical makeup of an asteroid in a smoldering impact zone. Smoke like that just doesn't occur naturally."
Spike rolled his eyes slightly, before huffing a deep breath in, and exhaling a small puff of green flame, prompting a minute column of grey haze to rise from his nostrils. Then, blatantly sarcastically, he raised his hands to the 'almighty' smog that now encircled his head.
"It's smoke," he said, widening his eyes and flailing his hands like he was telling a ghost story.
"Spike, you are being very rude, and I do not appreciate it," the unicorn said, sounding unmistakably like an irked mother.
A sudden downdraft displaced Spike's smoke rings, and a blue feather quietly drifted down on a breeze between the pair.
"Hey guys," came a raspy voice from above, "What's goin' on?"
"Twilight's become fascinated with a byproduct of fire," responded Spike, looking up to meet the magenta eyes of Rainbow Dash, who had recently taken to hovering above them with an amused smile on her face; Twilight's face immediately became redder with frustration and embarrassment with Spike's response, but her seething breath prevented her from speaking in her own defense.
"You mean the smoke?" the pegasus asked, interest peaking her tone as she turned her gaze westward, "I was just on my way over there to check it out. Could be a forest fire or something."
"Yeah," agreed the unicorn, her lavender eyes reddening as she stared at the source of her warranted albeit useless frustration, "or something."
"We were heading over there too," Spike said, ignoring the searing gaze of Twilight, her chin thrust forward slightly in her universal irritated expression, "Twilight thinks it might be a space rock."
"A space rock?" Dash responded, her voice climbing in excitement, "That'd be way cooler than a forest fire!"
She zipped down to eye level with Twilight, her pumping wings keeping her aloft just beyond the unicorn's nose.
"What if it is a space rock, and it gives us super powers or something when we touch it? What if it gives me super speed, and since I'm already super fast, I'd have super, super speed?! I'd be so fast nopony could even see me! I'd be able to..."
"Rainbow!" Twilight interjected suddenly, causing the pegasus to stop mid-gesture, her forelimbs cast above her head in imagined triumph as she no doubt pictured herself on a pedestal, surrounded by thousands of screaming admirers, "I hate to say this, but we're kind of in a hurry to get there."
"You're in a hurry?" the cyan mare said, once again descending to eye level, "Well why didn't you say so? I could never leave you hangin'! I'll get us there in twelve seconds, flat!"
"Rainbow, I don't think that's necess-Wah !"
The unicorn was cut off as her friend performed an aerial loop, gaining momentum before swinging around to scoop her and Spike up in her forelimbs, dragging them both through the air as they held onto her for dear life. They whistled through the atmosphere as a prism followed their arcing streak across the midday sky, tears forming in the passengers' eyes as they reached speeds near the sound barrier, all while their pilot confidently relished in the velocities she achieved.
Exactly twelve seconds later, Spike and Twilight were courteously dropped into a grassy mountain meadow, although the landing was less than smooth. Meanwhile, their valet performed another loop above them, a dazzling display of color tracking her path through the bluebird air. Twilight was halfway to her hooves when Rainbow came in for a fantastic landing, skidding to a stop in the thin mountain soil, flaring her wings and turning her nose up in theatrical pride once she stopped.
"Told ya I'd get us here in twelve seconds."
"I'm kind of glad I don't have wings," admitted Spike under his breath as he pulled himself from the dirt for the second time in recent memory.
"I'm sure it's different when you're in control," said the unicorn as she shook her head free of the terror that had just passed, "but on the bright side, we did just cover a few miles in seconds. So thanks, I guess."
"Don't mention it," Dash responded, her posture not changing in the slightest until she allowed her gaze to stray above the trees, "Hey, the smoke's not far. Come on."
The pegasus led their procession as they traversed the meadow, and entered a copse of trees as they made for their goal of the smoke column's base. The farther the trio pressed through aspen branches and juniper spruce, the birds became quieter, until their songs were absent in the nursery of branches above. Onward they went, Dash blazing a trail through thick shrubbery. Eventually, they met an exceptionally thick concentration of scrub oak, their sharp branches completely hindering substantial vision.
Rainbow Dash, persistent as ever but not wanting to simply fly over the wild thicket so as to stay with her friends, again led the way as she pushed through and weaved around myriad thick, thorny branches. Grumblings carried through the alpine forest, as branches scratched at hides and jabbed at eyes, and the procession kicked up a murder of previously silent crows from their arboraceous roost.
"Do these shrubs go on forever?" grumbled Twilight as she dodged a branch's attempt at her forehead, trying her best to keep up with Rainbow Dash's flexible weavings around branches that seemed to be causing her little to no trouble at all; the unicorn stole a look back at Spike, whose convenient height was enough to allow him to simply stroll beneath the limbs' influence. She was the only one having any trouble.
"Don't worry," Dash said over her shoulder as she contorted her body to squeeze under an eye-height limb, "I think I see the end."
"Finally," breathed the unicorn, immediately before running into the flank of her friend.
After staggering back a bit shocked, Spike doing the same, Twilight hesitantly asked, "What is it?"
Rainbow Dash remained silent.
"What's wrong?" asked Spike, peeking around Twilight's legs.
Quietly, Rainbow Dash responded, "You need to see this."
She quickly vacated the shrubbery, light pouring in through the branches as she tore a hole through the sylvan veil and emerged into the open air once again. The other two quickly followed her into the fresh light, and after blinking their eyes back into focus, froze in awestruck fascination as well.
They found themselves standing on the edge of a titanic crater, at least one hundred feet deep and several more in diameter. The land beyond the radius of the scorched, black earth was still as thickly forested as the terrain they'd just come through, but within the radius of effect, there was nothing but black rocks and ash. The force and heat of the obvious impact had been nothing less than tremendous, and in the center of the massive pit, a pillar of smoke climbed lazily into the clouds.
"I think we found it," Spike muttered, leaning to look over the lip and at the steep slope of the impact crater.
"That's awesome," Rainbow Dash, hovering at Twilight's side, observed as she marveled at the sheer size of the dent in the planetary crust; her chosen words were startlingly accurate.
"Still think I'm obsessing Spike?" Twilight said, her tone kind and a bit playful as she made an unspoken peace with her smaller friend; if she'd allowed her eyes to stray from the sight before her, she would have seen him shaking his head 'no'.
"Come on," Twilight urged as she shook herself from the humbled trance she'd fallen into and stepped to the edge of the crater, "We didn't come this far for nothing."
She took a deep breath in, and with a fair amount of courage, stepped onto the incline of the crater's outer slope. Rainbow Dash was quick to follow, leaving only Spike at the edge.
"What the heck?" he said with a shrug before he too leapt onto the slope, sliding on his back not unlike sledding in wintertime.
It took a considerable amount of time and a very careful descent to reach the bottom of the crater, where the slope flattened greatly over a small area. Twilight led the procession towards the epicenter now, the other two closely behind her.
"What is it?" asked Rainbow Dash as Twilight reached the exact center of the massive divot they now occupied.
"I don't see anything," she responded, looking at an expanse of uniformly scorched stones and soil all around her, "Look for a rock that stands apart from the others."
"All rocks look the same," Rainbow Dash said in hesitant retort as she kicked the gravel at her hooves slightly, a cloud of charcoal dust rising in response.
"Look for differences in color or luster," Twilight responded as her horn sparked a glow, and she began sifting through the earth, "Normally the part of a meteor that survives the fall is metallic."
"And, what colors count as metallic?"
"Silvers, greys, blacks," Twilight began in response, preoccupied in her search more than slightly.
"Purples?" came Spike's voice, hesitant and very near fearful, and Twilight and Rainbow both looked in his direction, legitimately concerned.
"Purples?" Twilight asked in disbelief as Rainbow Dash zipped to the dragon's side.
"Purples," the pegasus confirmed after following Spike's gaze into the ashen soil.
Twilight immediately dropped the stone she'd been inspecting and trotted to where Spike's talon was pointing in the dirt, to see a small, glossy purple surface protruding up through the greyscale dirt. Carefully and very gingerly, she reached out a hoof to touch the object, and upon finding it cool, tried to lift it in her magic. However, it was much heavier than she'd anticipated, and after giving it a firm tug, the soil all around them began to displace. Twilight's eyes widened a bit as she realized that, whatever this object was, it was much larger than the superficial section she was currently tampering with, and the rest of it was buried.
"It's under us," she simply said before she began throwing the soil around her hooves away, quickly to be aided by her friends.
It took longer than she'd expected, but eventually they'd unearthed a large purple object. It was strange, to say the least. It was very heavy, which meant it was very dense given its volume, and apart from the dirt that coated its exterior it seemed unblemished, each surface perfect and smooth. Each of its superficies but one were contoured and without corners; the surface in question was not very different from glass, although opaque and dark. It had a shimmer like silver or polished steel, but its color was far too vibrant to be any known metal, although its conductivity had yet to be tested.
"Come on Twilight," Rainbow Dash urged nervously from behind the unicorn, who was crouched in the dirt as she observed everything she could about their discovery, "you're the smart one. What is it?"
"Sure as heck isn't a meteor," she admitted, "At least, not like any meteors I've ever heard of."
"Can we go home?" asked Spike nervously.
"I'm not leaving until we figure out what this is," she said as she ran a hoof over the smooth purple surface.
She tapped the lavender exterior, hearing the bell-like ring as it responded. She then ran a hoof over its surface again, which she was realizing was too perfect to be naturally formed. But, when she touched the opaque, flat surface of the object, she was surprised when it lit up. A verdant light suddenly came from underneath the surface, and white symbols began flashing before the unicorn's wide eyes as the object began humming with a static energy.
"What did you do?" asked Rainbow Dash, her voice fearfully reverent.
"I don't know, I just touched it," responded Twilight, backing away.
"This is freaky," said the pegasus as she too put a healthy amount of distance between herself and the object, "I mean, what kind of... space rock, does something like that?"
"It's definitely not a rock," Twilight said slowly, "but it must have fallen from the sky last night. We saw it, and a crater like this doesn't just form randomly."
There was a solemn silence before Dash spoke again.
"What exactly did you see last night?"
"We thought it was a meteor shower," responded Twilight, "Just, bright lights streaking across the sky."
"Like that," said Spike from behind them, his voice shaking; the two whipped around, momentarily forgetting the still active object just meters away from them.
They followed Spike's talon, extended upwards to the sky, to see a fiery ball descending from just beneath the sun. It raced earthwards, fragments coming off of its exterior as it barreled in their direction. It roared through the air as it shot over them, in between the ground and the clouds, and continued on farther to the north.
Rainbow Dash turned her eyes, sparkling with a glint of awe, from the sky to Twilight, then to Spike, and then without saying a word, darted back up to the lip of the crater, leaving a blue feather fluttering downwards in her place. Twilight and Spike shared a fearful look as well, before forsaking their discovery to scramble up after her.
Earlier...
The hangar of the Shadow of Intent was stagnant with warriors. Sangheili, Unggoy and Mgalekgolo, the united races of the Covenant Separatists, covered the flight deck as they waited for the coming battle together. Phantom drop ships, their exteriors smooth and aerodynamic, were gathered in droves, the troops they were to transport lined up in formation outside their purple hulls.
The flight deck looked like an ocean of cobalt and crimson, the extravagant armor configurations of the warriors directly responsible. But, in the midst of the sea of color, stood a section of black. These warriors were set apart from the rest of the force by more than just uniform, but in prestige as well. These warriors were of the Special Warfare Group, and the champion of the fleet stood at the front of their column.
The weapons they brandished held the firepower of a much larger unit, compressed into only a few squads. Type-25 Energy Rifles and Type-1 Energy Swords clung to their hips, but Type-33 Light Anti-Armor Weapons, Type-51 Carbines and Type-50 Beam Rifles were fit into slots on their backs. The variation in the armament among the unit replaced the niches normally filled by varied species with niches filled by specialized warriors.
The staging area of the hangar was stiff with tension and discipline, none moving nor speaking, but listening. The silence of thousands nearly echoed through the bowels of the ship, just as it had when the silence had been of tens of thousands in campaigns since past. The memories of those tens of thousands contributed all the more to the quiet, and to the insufferable agony of waiting for the coming fire.
The Arbiter stood at the head of his column of eighteen Sangheili, two Mgalekgolo towering over the formation from the rear: twenty-one of the finest fighters in the fleet. The Arbiter's eyes were locked forward, but he could see the faces beneath the contoured helmets of every SpecOps Minor that stood behind him. They had followed him into battle countless times, as they would again soon. They were the night, silent, dark and dangerous, just like the inky blur of slip space, just beyond the hangar's doors.
Eventually, the uncorrupted silence was shattered as the voice of the Shipmaster boomed from the ship's announcement system.
"Attention warriors, prepare for combat! We will be exiting slip space shortly."
Without another word, the sea of soldiers was set into motion as the Phantoms were boarded, and the silence was no more as marching feet and the whirring of drop ships' engines resounded throughout the cavernous hangar.
The Arbiter was the first to step through the ventral doors and into the cargo hold of his respective Phantom. From there, he extended his hand to each Sangheili as they in turn climbed into the drop ship. He exchanged nods and glances, and the occasional clap on the shoulder with each of them, until all eighteen were aboard. They said nothing; no words were needed. Once all were aboard, the Arbiter turned and strode into the midst of his comrades as the Hunters lumbered up after him, the Sangheili taking up positions behind them, facing the doors.
However, before the doors were sealed, another found his way into their company.
"I trust you have room for another?" asked Shipmaster 'Vadum as he stepped into view from the bow of the vessel; he carried a sword hilt on his hip, opposite a Plasma Rifle on the other, making it clear his purpose for coming to the flight deck.
"Shipmaster,'' acknowledged the Arbiter, respectfully placing his fist over his chest in synchronization with the other eighteen warriors at his back in salute.
The Arbiter stepped between the Hunters in the doorway, and extended his hand downward to 'Vadum, more out of courtesy than necessity. Regardless, he took it, and stepped up into the Phantom's hold.
"Shipmaster," began one of the SpecOps Sangheili from the middle of the tightly packed hold, "surely you would not accompany us, if our task was not arduous and essential."
"You are right, brother," he responded as he, followed by the Arbiter, stepped back through the space between the Mgalekgolo, "Our path will lead us to the heart of the enemy fleet."
"The battle-cruiser?" asked the Arbiter to receive a nod from his counterpart.
"Would you have it any other way?"
The only response came in a unified determined growl from all present, and with that, the Phantom's doors tilted upwards, the light of the hangar to be drowned in darkness as they were sealed within the vessel. However, the glowing, seemingly floating eyes and power nodes of the SpecOps Sangheili's armor cast an eerie, dull blue glow, like the light of a distant star, across the interior of the hold. Compressed gases hissed as the doors became airtight, and the hum of the engines went from a whisper to a hum as the Troop Carrier began hovering above the flight deck.
Out of the darkness came voices, familiarity betraying anonymity.
"Will we be alone in the pursuit of our quarry?" asked the Arbiter.
"We should be infiltrating the vessel with ten other drop ships, if we all make it past their defenses."
A new voice sounded in the helmets of the warriors: the pilot of the drop ship, talking over the battle-net.
"Leader, we embark. Make ready for departure."
The warriors once again were silent, and they fell into proper ranks facing the doors as the vessel began to sway and shift slightly. The Phantom noticeably picked up speed, and banked to the left after presumably leaving the hangar's safe embrace.
The pilot was silent, as were those he transported. In the quiet dark of the drop ship's belly, with the unknown just outside the doors, the brothers waited for danger they could not see. All that existed was the motion of the ship around them, and the glow of their armor and weapons, like bioluminescence in the deepest, darkest cave.
A shock reverberated through the ship as it jerked suddenly downwards, and sounds like quiet thunder rattled in from outside. Again, the ship lurched, changing direction slightly and banking, and more thunder penetrated the hull. All aboard knew what was happening; they were in range of their foes' weaponry.
Though it was dark, but no longer silent nor still, the voice of the Shipmaster made itself known with unrivaled vigor and passion.
"You are the Elites that make up the heart of our force! So long as you live, our cause will never falter! Have courage this day, for no matter how dark the night, these blades will light our way!"
His response came in surprised grunts as again, harder this time, the ship jerked downwards. This repeated again and again as the thunder erupted outside.
Suddenly, the Phantom changed its vector rapidly, the inertia causing a few Sangheili to fall on those at their sides as they lost their balance. The engines' hum began to falter, and again, the ship jumped at an unseen and very loud force outside, betraying those it carried and causing them to stagger.
"Pilot!" yelled the Arbiter into his communicator, "What happened?"
Static replied, and again the vessel was battered to the side as an undeniable explosion punished the front of the ship. The warriors again righted themselves after stumbling, but found the floor of the ship no longer stable.
"We are hit!" yelled the Shipmaster as a crushing G-force pulled them all to the floor.
The ship rolled, and the wall became the new floor as the sturdy warriors were tossed about like dolls. The walls were hot, and again the ship lurched. The vessel changed course again, negative G's now causing the warriors to leave the floor and float in the air of the cargo hold, only to be slammed back down as the Phantom pitched and rolled around them.
"We are in the planet's atmosphere!" yelled the Arbiter, explaining the recent addition of non-artificial gravity as well as their battering.
"Ready yourselves!" yelled 'Vadum as he fought against the motion of the drop ship, crawling and staggering to the wall of the hold, where he struggled to sit supported with his back facing the front of the vessel.
The air outside the doors screamed and howled as it rushed past, the Phantom cracking and moaning as if in pain as it descended. The engines roared, crying out against their failure as their propulsion was overtaken by gravity and momentum. Something screamed, the Hunters roaring out as the Sangheili yelled over the battle-net and to those around them as they struggled to the walls of the ship to brace for the coming shock. The noise was deafening, and it only grew as they fell.
"Brace for impact!"
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
Alien
Rainbow Dash sped ahead, leaving the other two in the dust as she raced after the object that had fallen from the sky, its vapor trail still causing atmospheric distortion to make tracking its descent hardly a challenge. The calls for her to slow down faded behind her, until the only sound she could hear was the crackling of the singed, electric air above her- it had been that way since the, whatever it was, had fallen-and the rush of the wind as it ripped through her mane and past her ears.
She flew through forest and meadow, not letting vegetation stop her as she weaved and rolled to keep her course as near to unblocked as she could; tree trunks and limbs made it so she was constantly altering her direction, her wings denied a simple maneuvering scheme and forced into an impressive acrobatic display.
Following the discoloration of the air above her, she came to a large glen, and settled to the ground at the edge of a massive rift torn between the trees. Where it started, only the tops of the trees were affected, but as it grew, the rift extended down into the forest floor, where a scar several meters deep and across was cut into the soil. The earth at the bottom of the small canyon was nearly molten, steam rising up to burn her nostrils even with her altitude over the rift's base. It was obvious that whatever had fallen had made this formation, and the pegasus meant to find its creator.
Magenta eyes traced the path the scar followed, an imperfect and staggered line with trees, split as if they were toothpicks, on either side. She could not see the end of it; as far as she could tell, the path continued over the nearest knoll. Just as she was finishing her analysis, she heard heavy steps behind her, and heavier panting.
"Did you see where it went?!" asked Twilight excitedly between heaving breaths before she saw the ditch cut in the glen's floor.
"Can we just stop for a second," began Spike as he doubled over, bracing himself with his hands against his knees, "and think? I mean just look at that?"
The dragon pointed to the massive scar in the ground, the other two paying heed to what he had to say.
"Like a big plow," he said, still panting as he gestured to the formation in question, "If it was falling like it should have been, like something natural, it should have just been another crater, like the one we just saw."
"Spike's right," admitted Twilight as she straightened up, slowing her breathing, "This looks like..."
"Like after I bail from a crash," admitted Dash, turning a concerned pair of eyes back to Twilight.
"Intelligent flight?" asked Twilight aloud, that old spark lighting in Rainbow's eye once the words registered in her ears.
"Intelligent," Spike groaned, "like, controlled? Like, not a space rock?"
Rainbow Dash's wings twitched, and she turned around with braced legs as she prepared to take to the sky once again.
"Rainbow wait," Twilight hissed to stop her friend mid-motion, "Don't you think this might be a really bad idea?"
"Probably," she admitted, not changing her stance, "but so was messing with that thing in the crater. Something big is happening Twilight, and I want to know what."
"That doesn't mean you go running up to whatever just fell out of the sky and poke it," said Spike as he unsuccessfully went to grab Dash's wing so as to prevent her from flying anytime soon; a simple flick of the feathers kept them well out of the drake's reach, "Look, I know you probably know this already, but I'm freaking out right now, and I'm not too eager to give myself a heart attack by running after you when I'm already terrified. Is it too much to just sit this one out?"
"Spike, you can go," Twilight admitted as she stepped to Rainbow's side, "but Dash and I are Elements of Harmony. We're obliged to take action here, just like we were with Discord, and the Crystal Empire."
Twilight turned to Rainbow suddenly, her tone nearly maternal.
"But, we are going to take this slowly and cautiously when we finally get to a point where we can observe what is going on. We'll be careful, and not rush anything once we find what we're looking for."
The pegasus nodded, and Spike's left eyelid twitched slightly as he took a final deep breath, Twilight and Dash exchanging a nod before trotting off along the lip of the smoldering ditch. The dragon turned back in the direction of home, but looked over his shoulder at his disappearing friends. He hesitantly looked back to the East, then over his shoulder once more, biting a talon as his mind raced between what he wanted and what he thought he wanted.
"Oh, fine," he finally groaned to himself, and he began jogging after the vanishing equines.
Meanwhile...
Slowly, the world filtered back into focus. Blackness was replaced by simpler darkness, which was then replaced with subtle color and faintest light. Everything seemed tinted a hazy shade of blue as the Arbiter once again grasped consciousness, and struggled to look about the smoldering world around him. The smell of stagnant blood and smoke was overwhelming, yet almost comfortingly familiar.
As the Arbiter slowly regained consciousness, he became aware of his place among his surroundings. He was lying on his back, devoid of pain except for a very dull throb in the back of his skull. He tried to move, feeling the shift of dry soil beneath him as he rolled slightly. He looked around, tilting his head back and forward to see what could be seen; he was at the bottom of a small crevice, the ground sloped up and away from him until it leveled off into some sort of unseen plateau on both sides. He looked to his left, to see a blurred outline of what he thought was the Phantom he'd previously occupied, spewing a column of smoke from blue fires near its engines and cockpit. He looked to his right, and saw black armored bodies a small distance away and arranged in the same fashion he was, on their backs with their heads pointed up slope. Some of the bodies were complete; others were missing pieces. They all lacked weapons.
"Finally, you are awake," said the familiar voice of the Shipmaster from somewhere above him.
The Arbiter shifted his body around, craning his neck to look back and see the white armored silhouette of Rtas 'Vadum walking downhill towards him, a recently adorned Carbine on his back to add to his other weapons.
"You are the last of the wounded to rise," admitted the Shipmaster, kneeling at the Arbiter's side.
"Wounded?" asked the Arbiter, feeling the back of his skull where he'd previously felt a trace of pain.
"Were it not for your thick head, you would be among that lot," the Commander said grimly, pointing to the arranged bodies to the Arbiter's right.
"How many?" the Arbiter groaned as he sat up, leaning back on his elbows braced in the dirt.
"Eight, along with the pilots and crew, were killed in the crash," 'Vadum admitted looking down slightly, "Two more have since bled out due to their wounds. The Hunters are fine, as are five of our Elites. The wounds of the remaining three are grave, but far from life threatening."
The Arbiter growled deep in his throat, and shifted his weight forward to stand.
"Luckily, the atmosphere is breathable," said the Shipmaster as he trailed behind the Arbiter, who was now striding in the direction of the downed Phantom, his heavy boots leaving deep prints in the soft dirt of the trench dug by the crash, "lest we'd all have perished."
"What happened to put us here?" asked the Arbiter as they reached the mangled corpse of the Phantom, its hull shredded and one of its ventral doors ripped clear; there was still indigo blood visible in the smoldering hold of the vessel, as well as a trail of it amidst a drag mark in the dirt, leading back to where the bodies of the dead were sorted.
"It would seem that the cockpit took an angled hit from a plasma torpedo," said the Shipmaster, pointing to a massive, blackened hole near the bow of the crumpled vessel, "The pilot's quarters depressurized, pulverizing the crew and crippling the Phantom. We lost the bomb while we were still above the planet's sphere of influence. The autopilot engaged after we entered the atmosphere, and was able to navigate a less than catastrophic landing."
The Arbiter looked back at the massive rut the ship had torn, and snorted. He turned his eyes from the Phantom, which was still showering sparks from its pierced hull, and billowing smoke into the atmosphere from its corrupted engines and generators. The Mgalekgolo were standing watch on the ground behind the Phantom's smoldering aft rudder, but there were no living Sangheili in sight.
"Where are the others?" asked the Arbiter, noticing a lack of the survivors he was assured of earlier.
"I sent out a scouting party for the purposes of reconnaissance and gathering local vegetation for the cremation. We plan to burn our dead and set charges on the Phantom. The ship is damaged beyond repair, and we have salvaged what we could. We will destroy it, and move on."
"Move on?" the Arbiter asked, looking back at the Shipmaster, "If we were to leave this place, how would our brothers find us? Surely they will not leave us on this world. They will know of our place here from the Phantom's distress beacon, and come to our aide."
"The distress beacon may prove to be a curse rather than a blessing," the Commander said slowly, "We were unable to deactivate it."
"Deactivate it?"
The Shipmaster avoided the Arbiter's gaze, looking down and to his left. The Arbiter locked his amber stare onto the Shipmaster's downturned helmet, not taking note of the voltaic shocks and roaring blaze of the Phantom behind him.
"What are you not telling me?" he asked, his voice lowering sternly.
"We were able to salvage the communications log from the cockpit, though the ship's battle-net has since short circuited," 'Vadum began, his annunciation slow and deliberate, "It seems that, shortly after the battle began, the Testament of Zeal was boarded."
The Arbiter's eyes widened and his breath faltered as his counterpart continued.
"She was destroyed, along with the fleet's jammers. The Remnant's battle group called to 'Mdama for help... Their call was answered."
"What of our fleet?" the Arbiter asked, his breath bated.
"The Shadow of Intent and two cruisers were all that escaped. They fled to the Lambda Serpentis System, to regroup with the remainder of the Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose . We believe 'Mdama's ships pursued them. The last transmission we received was some time ago and of a distressed nature, though none of us were yet conscious to hear it."
The Arbiter's solemn eyes spoke for him in his silence.
"There are no allies of ours on this world that we know of," the Shipmaster continued, "which is why we must leave this place. The scouting party reported finding a sustainable place to survive in these hills. Until we can find a way off this world, we will stay there."
"Very well," the Arbiter growled, "Have you taken the weapons off the dead?"
"Yes. As I said, we have salvaged all we could."
Just then, one of the Mgalekgolo growled from behind the Phantom, and the two turned to see the pair of armored giants in a defensive stance, facing the edge of the depression they occupied.
"The scouting party?" The Arbiter asked over his shoulder, his hand drifting towards his sword hilt as the Mgalekgolo growled again, leveling their cannons at the slope's summit from behind their massive, verdant shields.
"No," the Shipmaster answered, his fists balled tensely, "The Hunters know their scent. If it was them, they would not be acting so."
The two were quiet as they looked and listened, until the sound of a feral cry, and a loud, ringing metallic crash came down from the far summit of the trench torn by their landing. The pair immediately darted in the direction of the sound while the Mgalekgolo stayed put, clambering up the slope with driving legs as they hurried to investigate.
Earlier...
"I think I see where it ends," announced Rainbow Dash, her voice scratchy and hesitant as she squinted through the alpine trees she hovered amidst.
The unicorn at her side paused, breathing heavily after covering a substantial amount of distance in pursuit of the fallen object. The depression seemed to go on for miles, as Twilight and Rainbow Dash had persistently followed its trail across meadows and over knolls. They must have spent over forty-five minutes following this trench dug in the ground, presumably by a high speed, angled impact, but now, the terminus was in sight.
"More smoke," observed Twilight between breaths, "I think we should go slowly from now on."
"Agreed," said Dash softly, and she alighted to the forest floor on soft hooves.
They walked now, their ears erect and twitching as, not knowing what to expect, they combed the air for any clues or warnings of possible danger. The birds were silent. The smell of smoke grew stronger, yet, it was somehow unique, more pungent than normal wood smoke and the smoke of the crater they'd found earlier. They reached a clearing, the edge of the copse they'd taken their time navigating, and peered out from the tree line.
What they saw was the trench's end, its creator buried in the ground and vigorously emitting the smoke they smelled. Even from a distance, the two could tell that it resembled the object they'd found earlier: contoured surface, purple color scheme, only this object was ablaze in patches of blue flame, and its exterior was blackened and torn, far from unblemished.
"This is unlike anything I've ever seen," Twilight admitted, her breathing heavy as she tried to slow her racing heart, the sheer weight of what she was looking at hitting her like a wave as her lust for discovery shifted to a form of panic.
"We need to get a closer look," Dash said as she began to forsake the protection of the silent trees, only to have Twilight latch onto her tail and pull her back.
"We need to be careful," Twilight reiterated, concern permeating her gaze as she locked eyes with the brazen pegasus.
"Careful?" Dash responded, raising one eyebrow as she returned her friend's gaze, "Come on Twilight, it's me."
"That's what I'm worried about," replied the unicorn, her voice hushed as if the forest itself has ears.
"We'll be fine," Dash reassured, and turning back around, she assumed a position like that of a prowling jaguar, her belly low and her knees bent, and began sneaking towards the edge of the smoldering crevice torn by the smoking, lavender object in the near distance; Twilight sighed again, but reminded herself of their reasons for being there, and followed her winged companion.
Slinking through the tall, hardy grass of the clearing, they reached the edge of the trench, and staying low, peered out through the parted stalks of vegetation. The object was much clearer now, but the majority of the details they saw now were obvious even from a distance. What surprised them was what they saw around the object. Four figures, two of them tall and slender, the other two large and bulky, were undoubtedly moving about near the smoky wreck below.
"Are those minotaurs?" asked Rainbow as she observed the lustrous, bright metallic outlines of the figures against the dark brown background of the gulley.
"The smaller two are about the right size," admitted Twilight as she squinted, "but I'm not seeing any horns."
"So, females?" suggested Dash.
"Since when have you known minotaurs to have flying machines, or any noteworthy technology for that matter?" Twilight responded hotly.
"How am I supposed to know?" the pegasus hissed back, "You're the egghead here. It's your job to know stuff. Besides, aren't flying machines supposed to have wings and... ya know?"
Twilight didn't see anything that could count as wings on the massive heap of metal in the trough of the depression, or anything to generate lift for that matter. It certainly didn't look aerodynamic at all from this angle, and she realized her friend's words had merit.
"So, Twilight, what are they?" asked Dash, her voice noticeably climbing.
"I don't know," the unicorn admitted, "This is as weird for me as it is for you, so forgive me for not having the answers right now."
"Great," Rainbow Dash groaned beneath the breeze, "we're stuck out here in the sticks with Celestia knows what just down the hill, and we don't even know where they're from or if they'll eat us if we try to say hello."
"Well what would you have us do?" Twilight responded, trying to keep her voice down as the two took measures to conceal themselves further by retreating a few meters back from the edge of the gulley.
Rainbow Dash sighed as she shook her head slightly, and as she went to steal another look at the source of their distress below, her ears twitched. Her head instinctively whipped back to the source of the ever so subtle sound she'd detected, her ears erect and her eyes wide.
"I heard it too," whispered Twilight from her side, her eyes and ears searching for the source as well.
"What was it?"
"Shh."
Another sound came from the trees, a twig's snapping, followed by a rustling of leaves as something no doubt darted through the underbrush. Their eyes suddenly snapped to a small shrub, its branches shaking amidst a crunching in the foliage, but the source of the sound once again escaped detection. It seemed to be playing with them, snapping a twig then causing a tree to sway as it was here, then there, then nowhere.
Just then, the grass of the tree line began to be displaced, though there was nothing visible to cause its sudden movement. The pair drew back slightly, gritting their teeth as they prepared to face whatever monstrosity was stalking unseen from the shadows. The parting grass came closer and closer, until from the shadows, a familiar dragon strolled into sight.
"Finally," he grumbled, picking a twig out from his spines, "I've been looking everywhere for you."
"Scaredy-cat," Rainbow Dash said as she elbowed her friend, hiding her own sigh of relief.
"I wasn't scared," argued Twilight, nearly laughing as she calmed herself down.
Suddenly, a felled log in the forest split in two like a twig beneath the weight of a bull, causing the good-natured banter to come to a frightened halt, and with a savage roar, something burst from the forest in their direction. The three froze in shock as a massive bipedal figure, clad in a dark red metal, darted for them, a long, double pronged, glowing object in its hand. It covered the distance between them and the tree line in moments, accelerating furiously with its long, driving legs. Its intentions were made clear, when upon reaching the trio, it swung the searing blue weapon at Twilight in a quick, fluid motion. The unicorn instinctively ducked, losing a few strands of hair on her mane as the scalding blade hissed through the air mere inches from her skin.
Its first blow failing to strike true, the creature reared back, stepping downwards as it prepared to swing the weapon through the equine's aligned midsections, but they proved slightly quicker once more. Rainbow Dash darted to the sky in a flash, Spike scurried off into the grass, and Twilight dove through the creature's sleek legs, the weapon piercing the dirt she'd quickly vacated.
Slowly now, as if relishing in the act, the creature turned to face Twilight, and for the first time, she was allowed a good look at her assailant. Its outline matched those of the creatures she'd just seen adjacent the wreckage in the gulley, only it seemed much more imposing close up. At least two meters tall and wide in the shoulders, its muscled bulk protected thoroughly in what she could assume was some form of very ornate red armor. Its legs had two knees each, one bending forward, another bending backwards, both of them tensed and athletic in its current stature. Its face was entirely covered by its contoured helmet, and its forehead was adorned with four glowing blue circles arranged in the shape of a diamond.
It reached down to grab her as she lay on her back, but as Twilight crawled away, it prowled after her. She quickly turned, scampering to her hooves as she tried to make her escape, but she felt a strong grip close on her mane from behind. The unicorn winced through clenched teeth as the foreigner hoisted her up by her hair, and held her eye to eye with its own unfeeling gaze. It pulled the sword back, aiming it at her throat, but before it lined up its thrust, a soft metallic ding, like that of a bell, drifted up from the creature's feet.
It looked down, the equine and radiant blue blade still in its unmoving grip, to see Spike wrapped around its lower leg, his reptilian fangs pressed into the unscathed surface of its crimson shin armor. With a halfhearted growl and a meager kick, the attacker dislodged the dragon from its leg, sending him sailing into the center of the grassy clearing, and turned its attention back to Twilight once more.
However, the unicorn never gave it the chance to line up a second time, and she let loose with the most potent defensive spell in her arsenal. The lavender beam traced a line from Twilight's horn to the alien's breast plate, and an effect like shattering glass resonated over the surface of its scarlet shell. Voltaic strands of blue light danced over the creature's entire exterior, and it staggered back as its grip loosened, the unicorn falling to the grass below.
The alien looked down at its singed breast plate, a circular scorch mark showing the point where her magic's beam had found its mark, and as it looked back to her, a slow, wrathful growl emanated from deep within its cavernous chest. It lifted its leg to advance upon her once again, and Twilight hit the ground, not because she feared what was to come, but because she saw an arcing prism of light tracing a path straight for her assailant in the distant sky.
Rainbow Dash struck the alien from behind with a tremendous force, its limbs flailing behind its torso as the pegasus embedded her outstretched hooves into the middle of its back, the crushing blow echoing into the alpine air. The force carried the two a considerable distance away from their point of impact, resulting in a pile up with Rainbow Dash perched atop the immobilized creature's back.
"You okay Twilight?!" Rainbow shouted as she bent down to inspect her foe, who was face-down in the dirt and not moving.
Spike came running up from behind as Twilight was about to respond, but the words froze in her throat as she swore her eyes betrayed her; the light behind Rainbow Dash seemed inexplicably distorted, and as she watched, another of the creatures, identical in attire and armament, emerged from the air itself only feet from her friend.
The unicorn barely managed to shout out a warning before the second alien landed a merciless kick into Dash's ribs, sending her skidding through the dirt until she came to a stop, unconscious, at Twilight's side. The figure strode towards them, its glacier blue blade held firmly in its swinging, muscular arms. Its demeanor was different from that of the first, which was now struggling to its feet in the background; the second creature breathed heavily, each exhale coming forth in an aggressive snort, the way it wielded its weapon was less elegant and more deliberate, and its strides landed with heavy, intimidating foot falls as it covered the distance to its prey in haste. Where the first's purpose had been to berate, the second's purpose was to kill.
It reached them in moments, and as Twilight prepared another spell, it raised its sword. There was a sinking feeling in the unicorn's stomach when she felt Spike cowering and Rainbow unmoving at her side, and as she saw the incandescent blade begin to descend towards her, she knew her defensive measures would not be charged and ready in time; they were utterly defenseless. She stole one last breath and cringed, but before she blinked, she saw another lambent distortion behind her attacker.
Suddenly, two prongs, like those of the attackers' blades, erupted from her assailant's chest as its weapon dropped harmlessly to its side, and as its head drooped limply with a sputtering, wet cough, a third of the creatures phased into sight at its back. The third pulled his sword free and loosened his grip on the assailant's throat, allowing the limp body to crumple into a heap at the equine's hooves. Twilight's eyes were wide in shock and horror as she locked her gaze onto the motionless maroon body before her as it softly gurgled into silence.
She blinked away her hysteria as she looked up to her savior; he was undoubtedly the same species as the others, but his attire and presence were both very different. He wore a lustrous set of engraved sterling armor, his face left bare save a contour of metal over his forehead. He looked down at the unicorn as his impassioned amber eyes strayed from the dying body of their mutual quarry, allowing her a look at his face. His skin was reptilian, dark grey and coarse, and where she'd expected a mouth was a set of four toothy mandibles instead.
As she looked to the figure above her, another of the foreign race stepped forth from invisibility, and took a place at her rescuer's side. This one, the fourth, was unlike the others in many ways; he was not as tall, his armor was smooth, perfect in curvature and an unstained shade of white, and in place of a blade he held a single long, lavender weapon of sorts in both of his four-fingered hands. His face was scarred, and he was missing mandibles. The fourth, as the first, looked down at the dead body of the slain creature before looking briefly to Twilight, his green eyes peering right through her.
The equine suddenly jumped as she heard a very angry, very deep affront in a guttural language she did not understand, and to see that she would understand in the future, alighted her horn with the signature yellow glow of a linguistic spell. The two standing over her turned, and Twilight followed their gaze to see the alien tackled by Rainbow earlier staggering to its feet, its sword held tightly in one hand and its knees bent in a robust stance. The sterling warrior stepped forward, his blade held in his left hand and raised in front of his face as he slowly advanced on his crimson foe as the fourth in white armor began circling around to the side with his weapon leveled.
The fight started and finished in a matter of seconds. The maroon alien lounged first, only to have its thrust sidestepped by its silver opponent. In an attempt to counter, the crimson combatant reverted to a backhanded slash, which was also ducked. In a fluid, almost dance-like fashion, the argentate warrior pivoted and spun as he passed under his opponent's blade, and opened a white hot gash in his quarry's midsection. With an anguished and surprised yelp, the wounded creature brought its sword down diagonally in a rushed slash, but its arm was met with a rival blade. The sword, still held by a red clad hand, fell harmlessly to the ground, and the silver warrior redirected his foe's weight, sending it stumbling towards his alabaster accomplice.
The crimson alien's head was met with a vicious impact as the smaller warrior struck it with the lavender stock of his weapon, the force of the blow lifting its feet from the ground and planting it on its back. It tried to sit up, only to be pressed back down as an ivory boot met its breast. The smaller warrior raised his weapon, and fired a trio of shots into his foe's helmet, promptly ending the hostilities.
"Zealots," growled the white fighter as he placed his weapon on his back and stepped off the motionless body beneath his foot, the circular holes in its forehead steaming.
"Gather the others to our position, and see that we find the third," said the larger of the two as he retracted his blade into its handle and placed it on his left hip, "We will see to our shelter later."
With that, the pearly combatant turned away and began to walk back towards the tree line, raising his hand to the side of his helmet as he said something unheard. The other turned to join him after a last look at the two corpses, but before he turned away, his amber gaze met the lavender eyes of Twilight again.
Suddenly, a white flash of light and heat struck the earth between Twilight and the creature, like a blinding strike of solar lightning, and in the wake of the surge, the royal sisters stood defensively before Twilight, Spike, and the now stirring Rainbow Dash; the silver and gold armor of the siblings glinted with sunlight, and their horns glowed red hot with charged combative magic.
"You will not harm them!" declared Celestia defiantly as her wings flared and her eyes went white, her armored exterior oriented like a golden shield between her subjects and the stranger.
The creature seemed surprised at first, likely at having understood what the princess had said, but he quickly locked eyes with the alicorns, turning to face them as his superior height caused him to look down on them. However, where the alicorns' demeanor was nothing less than defensive, he did not even reach for his weapons. Regardless, a different growl resonated through the air as his white armored companion strode up to his side from behind.
"Mind your tongue, creature," he said from the sterling warrior's side, "You speak to the Arbiter, the champion of The Swords of Sanghelios."
"Princess?" said Rainbow Dash weakly, finally opening her eyes as she struggled through her recent injuries, "You two missed all the fun."
Princess Celestia looked back concernedly at Rainbow Dash as Spike cradled her weary head and Twilight enveloped her body in a meager healing spell, while Princess Luna remained on guard. Upon seeing the frightened, battered bodies of the three, the princess took a protective step forward, her voice threatening as she defended what she knew to be vulnerable from what she believed to be malevolent.
"I care not who you are, nor what darkness would compel you to attack an innocent. You will not harm them!"
The princess' stance became more menacing, and the white alien reached for the sword hilt on his hip. However, the hand of the Arbiter caught him, and without a word, calmed him before responding to the strangers in a deep, smooth, masculine voice that seized the attention of those that heard it.
"To whom do I speak?" he asked forcefully.
"The sworn protectors of this peaceful land," Princess Luna responded, "a land which you have brought violence to."
"I assure you, I meant your subjects no harm," reasoned the Arbiter as he looked down to the limp bodies at his feet, "It was these few who acted in violence, a violence my comrade and I put an end to."
"It's true, princess," Twilight said as she tended to her friend, "The red ones attacked us."
The princesses looked confused, but remained convicted in their defense of their subjects and their suspicion of the outlanders.
"You are of the same race, are you not?" Luna asked, loosening her stance slightly as she gestured towards the corpses in the grass.
"Our blood does not define us, and these fanatics are no allies of mine," the Arbiter assured as he looked down.
"Princess," Twilight said in an attempt to make peace between her mentors and her unknowing, albeit successful, saviors, "trust me."
The sisters' demeanor eased, as did the posture of the strangers before them.
"I apologize for these brash actions of mine," Celestia said slowly as she looked back and forth between Twilight and the Arbiter, "I have treated you as an enemy, where I should have thanked you."
"It would appear that we are in your debt," added Luna as she stooped to scoop Rainbow Dash's injured body onto her back.
"A debt?" the ivory foreigner said to the Arbiter, "What compensation could these beings offer us?"
"Would you insult their pride, Rtas, by denying whatever they have to offer?" the Arbiter said quietly in response, "I advise you embrace humility. We are not in a position to pass judgment on them, nor forsake their gifts of sustenance."
"Did I hear you say you needed shelter?" Twilight interjected as the equines waited commutatively for a response.
The Arbiter unsurely looked to 'Vadum, and he back at him. The forest behind them gave way to sound, and the two turned to see their eight surviving, black armored Sangheili entering the clearing, looking to them for leadership and guidance. They watched as, out of the crevice, the Mgalekgolo ascended into the meadow, also waiting for the orders of their superiors. And as they looked back to the waiting eyes of the equines, they knew what their response had to be.
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
Alliance
It was a glum procession down from the highlands. The aliens, their journey lengthened by lack of flight, had little option but to follow their newfound host on foot as they descended from the mountains to the foothills, and from the foothills to the plains. It was a long walk, their tall, sturdy silhouettes highlighted against the pink horizon as they traversed rocky ridgelines and mountainous saddles.
It was an uncomfortable march for the Princess of the Sun as well, her heavenly namesake now setting according to her will. She was the only representative of her species to these grim foreigners. Luna had gone ahead earlier in haste, the weight of Twilight, Spike and the wounded Rainbow Dash barely being enough to hinder her flight as she brought them to the sanctuary of Canterlot. It was in confidence that Celestia, an accomplished diplomat, stayed behind to accompany her guests back to the refuge she'd offered, but their quiet nature made the trek nerve-racking in the least.
Conversation had yet to be struck since their initial meeting. The twelve strangers she was leading downhill were all but silent; the only vocalizations any of them had made had been from one of the big green ones- she had yet to learn what they were called- when it growled upon slipping on a sandy patch of the trail.
At first, the alicorn did little to provoke socialization; if they were anything like her own species, she knew they would be internally grieving. They were insistent on burning the bodies of their dead, arranged in a makeshift morgue outside the shell of their crippled craft, a craft that was also torched before leaving. The smoke was now fading into the void of the darkening sky, the blackness simply absorbing the ash and smoke as if welcoming it home. When the princess had tried to express sympathy, she was met with a silence that had yet to be broken.
The procession had reached the base of the foothills when the sun disappeared behind the veil of the horizon. It was here that her company all but disappeared into the night. They moved without noise, the aliens, their footsteps like those of ghosts. The only thing to give away their presence was their glowing eyes, floating and swaying like stars given life, and the princess could not help but feel as if she was in the company of spirits.
Celestia eventually turned to the Arbiter, who had kept his place directly behind her in their promenade through the wilderness, and tried to plant the seed of a dialogue.
"The palace isn't much farther," she assured, hoping for a response; what she received was an affirmative grunt, likely accompanied by a nod could she have seen her counterpart's face.
"We'll be going around to a smaller, more discreet gate by the rear of the bulwark," she said, prying for an answer to receive the same vocalization as before.
She began to accept her companions' stern demeanor, focusing only on the path ahead. The crickets immediately around them were silent, while the echoes of the nocturnal insects in the distance reached across the prairie they traversed. Yellow fireflies danced around them, breaking the darkness one moment at a time, and casting a subtle golden light to be reflected in the stainless, glossy surfaces of the aliens' armor.
The princess eventually felt herself growing weary of the uncorrupted quiet; it made the already lengthy trek seem much longer, her armor heavier, the night darker. She gave consultation a third attempt.
"You don't say much, do you?" she said, trying to establish some degree of approachability with the strangers at her back.
She nearly rejoiced when she received a verbal reply.
"One cannot talk and listen at the same time," said the Arbiter in the darkness behind her, his voice deep and paternal.
"Listen?" the alicorn asked, hoping the seed she'd planted would grow, "How can silence be heard?"
"You have heard it," the Arbiter said cryptically, "and you know its significance. This silence is a testament to the tradition these warriors lead."
"And what tradition is that?" she asked, now past beginning the conversation and fully invested in her audience.
"A tradition of fear," replied the Arbiter from just behind her, "and respect."
The princess stopped, allowing the Arbiter to catch her so as to walk side by side with him. She looked up seeking his eyes, but his head remained oriented forward. Together, they persisted in their journey, the dark around them growing darker as the night aged.
"Do you fear them?" he asked before turning his amber eyes, the fireflies' light glowing in his irises, down to hers, "Do you fear me?"
"Should I have reason to?" the princess replied calmly, raising an eyebrow as she returned the Arbiter's gaze
"Yes," he admitted, "until we come to respect one another."
The princess was taken aback and fell slightly behind the Arbiter's long striding gate, but trotted to catch back up. The Arbiter, his focus once again on the air directly before him and oblivious to the princess' falter in pace, further explained.
"You see, my people have always been respected by our friends," he said, "and feared by our foes."
"You see me as an enemy?" The princess asked, her voice strong but confused, "Is this why you are so silent?"
"Not so much an enemy," the Arbiter explained, "but not yet an ally."
"I am not afraid of you," the princess affirmed after a short silence filled with the symphony of crickets and nocturnal wind in the grass of the prairie.
"Then why are you sneaking us into your home? Such is the only reason to avoid the main gate of any fortress," the Arbiter said, reaffirming that, in his previous silence, he had listened and learned from everything the princess has said, "Are we truly welcome in this palace you claim to be leading us to?"
The alicorn's eyes widened slightly, but before she could defend herself, the Arbiter continued.
"Trust must be earned, and once earned, it must be kept. Trust is a most effective weapon when wielded by traitors and assassins. Take no offense. This is a lesson my people learned in a very... violent manner, and we shall not forget it soon."
The wind blew softly and persistently now, and the fireflies' aerial display was no more. The procession was once again cast into darkness, nothing but meager starlight and a waning moon to light their way.
"I hope to earn your trust then," Celesita said cordially, "so that we may come to respect one another rather than fear one another."
There was a rumble in the Arbiter's throat, but the vocalization was far from hostile.
"When my warriors' safety has been procured," he began, his voice carrying off into the night, "you will have earned my trust. I cannot promise the same for the rest of them."
The Arbiter looked back upon finishing, and Celestia followed his gaze to the only member of their procession clad in white.
"Then it would seem we are on the path of an alliance," the princess said good naturedly.
The outlander was silent for a few moments longer, the mist from his breath in the cold air the only visible part of him as it caught the moonlight in the darkness, like the breath of the night itself.
"Time will tell," he simply said, and with that, he fell behind her once again, and their conversation ended.
The wind blew through the grass like coarse wind chimes, the whispers of the night guiding the group towards their destination; the lights of the city were now becoming visible in the distance, the towers of Canterlot adjacent the peaks of their mountainous foundation ascending into the stars. The atmosphere was lighter now, the silence less complete after having its presence shattered by the first of the newly acquainted species' conversations. It took some time, and a large distance travelled, but eventually the quiet was corrupted again.
"Arbiter," softly came the voice of Shipmaster 'Vadum from the rear of the column, and the silver warrior stood to the side of his marching brothers to join the Commander.
The Arbiter walked at the side of Rtas 'Vadum, but the Shipmaster deliberately slowed his pace, falling behind until the others, still being led by Celestia, were a considerable distance ahead. The Commander's green eyes, glowing in the dark, were locked on the princess, the faint clatter of her armor giving her away. When he was sure the regal mare was out of earshot, he spoke, his voice hushed but still affirmative.
"I fear we may have quite the crisis to deal with," he said, looking briefly to the Arbiter at his side before refocusing on the princess' signature, her faint outline hardly visible even to trained eyes.
"I believe we may agree," came the Arbiter's guttural baritone in response.
"Those Zealots could only have come from a capital ship," continued 'Vadum, "one that could be lingering about this world."
"I know," the Arbiter growled quietly as he looked to his warriors, marching before him in pursuit of the princess.
The Shipmaster sighed, looking up earnestly at his counterpart
"Do you believe they came here to locate an artifact of some kind?"
"It could be that they did," the Arbiter responded, "but we never found the third."
The taller of the two lowered is head slightly, his voice descending as well.
"The future is uncertain. You may be right regarding the nature of this world, the nature of our foe's presence here. They may well be searching for a holy relic," he snorted as he finished, "Let us pray it is not so."
"Yes, but if it is, all life on this world is in danger," the Commander admitted grimly, "The Remnants still believe death the only suitable fate for nonbelievers, and seeing as we are heretics in their eyes, we will burn along with them."
"Nothing is burning yet," said the Arbiter as he stopped, placing a hand on the Commander's shoulder and meeting his eyes in a stern look of reassurance; he clapped his shoulder plate once, and stalked on ahead after the others.
"Let us make sure that does not change."
Elsewhere...
"Ow! Cut it out!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed as she squirmed against the needle, Canterlot Palace's doctor struggling to administer a syringe to the pegasus' swollen ribcage.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but healing magic can only go so far," the unicorn stallion explained as he took a step back from the patient's bed, momentarily giving up his efforts to tend to the thrashing mare, "Your bones are intact now, but we need to give you an antibiotic to deal with the swelling, and to treat any possible infections."
"I'll be fine, just leave me alone!" the cyan mare rebutted, covering the targeted, and very red section of her torso with her wing to prevent any further attempts at the syringe's piercing her hide, "Twilight, tell him to let me be."
"Rainbow," the unicorn began from her seat at the bedside, "we've had a long day. Don't make it any longer."
"Just tell him to get that thing away from me," Rainbow nearly shouted as she inadvertently dodged another attempt by the hovering, magically engulfed needle to administer the required dose of anti-biotic, "and then we can all start winding down."
"It's okay," Twilight said as she rose, and pulled her friend into an embrace, "I only want what's best for you."
The pegasus allowed her muzzle to fall onto Twilight's shoulder, and once Twilight was sure she had her friend's attention diverted, she nodded to the doctor, who quickly stuck the needle into Rainbow Dash's swollen midsection.
"Ow," Dash hissed as she pulled away from Twilight and glared first at the doctor, then at the unicorn, deviously grinning from just beyond a forelimb's reach of the bedside; the doctor packed up his clipboard and medical bag, and vacated the room quickly, allowing Rainbow's seething frustration to be directed solely at Twilight.
"Only what's best," the lavender mare reminded as she placed a hoof on Dash's shoulder, "And see, it's over now. No more shots, no more doctor. Now all we have to worry about is the hospital food."
The unicorn made her way over to a nightstand near the window, darkened by the young night outside, and filled a glass of water from a jug on the tabletop before trotting back to the bedside with the glass in tow.
"I hate needles," grumbled Rainbow Dash as she rubbed her midsection where the needle's cold tip had pushed through her hide, "and this isn't even the hospital. This is the medical wing of Canterlot Palace. The food should be decent, not that green slop they always give me in Ponyville."
Twilight gave the water to Rainbow Dash, who smiled and drank thirstily.
"Thanks," she said as Twilight placed the cup back near the window, staying at the bedside this time as the glass floated away in a lavender essence.
"Don't mention it."
The pegasus shifted around on the bed as she tried to orient herself into a more comfortable position, trying to adjust to the firm hospital mattress and coarse sheets, not near as comfortable as the clouds over Ponyville. As she writhed onto her back, she winced and her wings flared, and Twilight was allowed a fleeting glance at her friend's red and purple ribs, the bruising savage and severe.
"Does it hurt," she asked quietly, genuine concern pervading her tone.
"Yeah," Dash responded in a hoarse whisper, looking directly to the ceiling as she folded her hooves over her chest.
"Has it gotten any better since..."
The pegasus interrupted her with a shaking head, and the both of them sighed. Twilight could only look to the pegasus with admiration. She was tough as nails, but in obvious pain, and there was nothing she could do to help. Healing magic could mend bones and seal cuts, but pain was incurable.
As the two sat in relative silence, keeping each other company, the door swung quietly open, and the clip-clop of hooves on the tiles approached from outside.
"Dashie!"
A sudden pink blur zipped to the bedside from the room's entrance, and after Twilight blinked away the initial confusion, she saw Pinkie Pie wrapped around Rainbow Dash in a very sincere, albeit firm embrace. The look of anguish on Rainbow Dash's face was a testament to the pain she felt as the vice of Pinkie's forelimbs closed around her chest, but she dared not retreat from the hug; she knew Pinkie was worried for her sake, but was undoubtedly wishing she was only gentler.
The sound of three more sets of hooves entered the room, and Pinkie finally let Dash breathe again as Twilight looked back to see her closest friends enter the room.
"Hey," the lavender mare said in a cordial greeting, her eyes lighting up as she met her friends' worried expressions.
"Oh, it's good to see you two," Rarity sighed upon seeing Rainbow in the bed and Twilight at her side, "We feared the worst."
"How y'all holdin' up?" drawled Applejack as she reached the foot of the bed, rearing up and placing her forelimbs on the bedframe to inspect Rainbow.
"I'm fine," Twilight said as she stood, vacating her chair to join them, "but Rainbow's a little banged up."
"Oh, you poor thing," Fluttershy soothed as she saw her fellow pegasus' ribcage, promptly to pull the sheets up gently to cover her friend's bruises.
"I've been through worse," Dash brooded as her friends came to encircle her, occupying every corner of the bedside.
The atmosphere seemed lighter now; friends had a tendency to do that. It was as if a burden had been lifted from the room, and despite Rainbow's pain not having changed, it seemed more bearable now.
"We heard all about what happened," Rarity said slowly as she patted Rainbow's hoof, causing the eyebrows of Twilight to rise.
"You did?" Twilight asked, her tone somewhere between concern and surprise.
"I bet it was tree gnomes," Pinkie hissed from the bedside, glaring at the wall with vengeance burning in her baby blue eyes.
"What?" Dash managed to whisper in response to Pinkie's accusation, looking to Twilight for reassurance.
"I was just telling them in the waiting room a bit ago," announced the familiar voice of Spike as he too entered the room, a vase of yellow roses in his talons, "how Dash was hit by a falling tree."
The drake found his way to the bedside too, inhaling deeply the essence of the roses, and allowing Dash to inspect them as well. He placed them on the nightstand, picking one for himself and placing it between his teeth, raising his eyebrows at Rarity in the process; the alabaster mare only rolled her eyes and smiled.
"I never told you how nice those flowers are, Spike," admired Rarity in good humor as Twilight and Dash's expressions contorted into something strange, "It certainly brings a bit of much needed color to the room. Otherwise it's very... plain."
"And not just flowers, but roses in bloom," Fluttershy continued on the tangent, "They're sure to make it smell much nicer in here."
Applejack agreed, and Pinkie did too, and the four newest equine occupants of the room fell into a brief conversation of their own. Twilight, seeing as the others were distracted, leaned down to Spike, and let that which had twisted her face into an expression of bewilderment out.
"You lied?" Twilight hissed into the dragon's ear, quietly enough for the others not to hear.
"Princess Luna told me to keep quiet about the aliens for now," Spike whispered, just loud enough for Rainbow and Twilight to hear as he rearranged the flowers on the nightstand, not looking up so the others would have no idea he was even speaking, "She needed a reason to get the Elements of Harmony to Canterlot... just in case."
Twilight looked to Dash and Dash to Twilight, volumes spoken in their silent gazes. Spike was acting, and effectively too, portraying a scene of normality on this day of sheer turbulence. The Elements of Harmony were the most powerful weapon in Equestria's arsenal. Seeing that all six of their embodiments were in the same place, should the Elements need to be used, they could be employed in a relatively short time. Strategically, it was brilliant on the princess' part, but why would it be necessary? The hostile aliens were dead, and their killers had since been declared friends, more or less. Obviously, the princesses knew something they didn't, and obviously, they wanted as few ponies as possible to become involved.
Rainbow's eyes were worried, and there was uncertainty in the lavender of Twilight's as well. But, they had to trust Luna. So they shared a phony smile, and wearing their masks of reassurance, they tried to enjoy the company of their friends as if everything was fine.
Meanwhile...
The palace's lights were upon the conglomerated procession now, the darkness cast away by the sentry fires, high on the bulwark of Canterlot's perimeter. The gates the procession stood before now were large, strong and ornate, despite their secondary nature as the rear entrance to the fortress. The many towers rose up to the heavens it seemed, so high that their tops were beyond the effect of the fires' light, and yet the mountain the complex was built into rose even higher than that. The ivory towers glinted with the light of the stars as if covered in billions of white sparkles, and the essence of silver and gold seemed profuse in the engravings and inlays of the columns and structures. The entire building was a testimony to its builders' skill and craftsmanship, as well as their resolve.
"A grand palace," the Arbiter admired sincerely from the princess' side, craning up at the boundless architecture.
"I have seen bigger," spat the Shipmaster, pushing past the Arbiter, who was still peering up at their host's home.
Before the many Sangheili, who stood assembled behind their leaders as they inspected their setting, the princess took a stance in front of the ornate yet immense gates. There were no sentries posted, no sentient soul anywhere near the gates to throw them open. But the princess, despite the doubts of her onlookers, merely stamped her hoof into the dirt before the entryway, and like the awakening of a giant, the gates slowly parted.
"Follow me," the alicorn said as she strode through the threshold, the interior of the walls devoid of any onlookers, "I'll take you to your rooms."
The procession followed, their arms swinging freely despite the many weapons they carried, and their eyes alert. The princess led them through a large uninhabited courtyard of sorts, past gardens with ponds and trees, statues and fountains, and while the beauty was noticed by the foreigners, it was not focused upon. The alicorn brought them to the end of the courtyard and into one of the towers, and after climbing a set of stairs, into a large, vacant dining hall.
"Where are all of her attendants?" asked Shipmaster 'Vadum in a hushed tone to the Arbiter at his side, "She is a royal, is she not?"
They traversed the spacious hall, leaving through a pair of doors on its far side, and entered a long, ivory corridor proceeding for as far as the eye could see. The alicorn coerced them some distance down the corridor, to a place where the halls were lined with sealed wooden doors.
"This is where you will be staying," Princess Celestia announced as she stopped her promenade and turned to face her guests.
The aliens seemed to only stare at her blankly, a few looking about the high vaulting ceilings of the hallway, confused. Her company stood motionless, their wide individual girth and muscular stature causing them to stand cramped together in the relatively narrow hallway.
"These corridors are where you will find your rooms," she explained, trying her best to sound authoritative, "The hall, back the way we came, is where meals are served. I couldn't help but notice, some of you seem to be in need of medical attention."
The Arbiter snorted while a slight rabble arose from the others, and he looked away from the alicorn.
"That will not be necessary," he snarled.
"Well, should you need anything," the mare persisted, "you have only to ask. Until then, please, make yourselves comfortable."
The aliens continued to look around aimlessly, until one of the black armored warriors gingerly nudged a set of the wooden double doors, causing it to creak slowly open. He, and several others, peered through the parted doors to see the bedroom within, and grunts of approval sounded from within the ranks. To the princess, their inspection of their new, undoubtedly foreign environment was almost comical.
"The entire East Wing is yours alone," she said as cordially as possible, "You will not be bothered here."
The Arbiter only bobbed his head slightly, and went through the hall opening each of the double doors one pair at a time while the others spread throughout their newfound barracks. The Arbiter stopped after opening several of the rooms, and took time to look inside. He ducked under the doorway, which was clearly built to accommodate a much shorter race, and stepped into the room.
His first impression was one of lavish luxury. The accommodation was very clean, well kept and roomy. The furniture was made of a very richly colored wood, and the metals on the door handles and drawers were made of a lustrous golden metal. There was a bed of sorts in the center of the room's largest wall, a canopy draped above its mattress, but the bed was far too short for any Sangheili to fit on. The walls were white; everything in the whole palace seemed white, unstained and pure.
The windows, expansive sections of crystalline glass on the far wall, exposed a view of the East, the moonlight pouring into the room from high above the darkened horizon. He turned towards the door, but he stopped when he saw that the cabin had a second room. He entered, and found that the floor was different in the second section, colored in marble tiles rather than the rugs of the sleeping quarters. There was a tub, marble as well, but too small for him to climb into. It seemed to be a lavatory, but very different from any he had ever used.
His inspection complete, the Arbiter again turned to leave, but froze when he saw that he was not alone. In the doorway adjoining the chamber's two separate rooms stood another Sangheili, his posture hunched and waiting. The Arbiter had not even heard Commander 'Vadum enter the room.
"Arbiter," he said calmly as the argent warrior relaxed, "the others are requesting to be quartered in pairs, so as to maintain a sleep rotation."
"They may be accommodated as they please," he responded as he began the walk back into the hallway, the Shipmaster at his side, "It appears that there will be enough space for them to do so, but remember that we are guests. The home of our host is to be treated with respect."
They entered the corridor, the Sangheili now dispersed throughout the separate rooms. The Hunters, however, stood exactly where they'd been left.
"See to it that the Mgalekgolo are kept appeased, lest they become destructive," instructed the Arbiter as he continued his inspection, peering into the other rooms to notice their many trinkets and valuables decorating the nightstands and tables, "Make sure that nothing is broken."
The Shipmaster nodded, and began going from room to room distributing the Arbiter's orders, his voice authoritative and his word obeyed as law. It was not long until the Mgalekgolo were herded into one of the rooms with a Sangheili auditor, and the singular cabin's breakables moved in black armored arms to other, less risky quarters.
As the Arbiter watched and the Shipmaster supervised the warriors' settling into their new dwelling, the voice of the princess climbed over the commotion.
"Arbiter," she said from the opposite end of the corridor, "a word."
The argentate warrior moved to respond to the alicorn's request, but a hand landed on his shoulder before he could reach her. He turned around, to see the Shipmaster once again at his side; how he simply manifested near him was a talent in its own regard. The Arbiter shrugged his hand free, and gave a perplexed look to his counterpart, whose scarred brow was set in a very familiar scowl.
"I still do not trust her," the Commander growled, low enough for his words to be heard only by his intended audience.
"Yet she has fulfilled her promise," the Arbiter said, gesturing to the hall they occupied, "given us shelter and offered us food when we have nothing."
"It will take more than the bestowment of comforts to earn my credence," the Shipmaster responded fervently, "Until I am sure that she is indeed an ally, I will not leave your side."
The Arbiter looked into his comrade's fiery green eyes, then back to the princess, her posture elegant as she patiently waited for him to reach her.
"Very well," the Arbiter agreed, looking back to 'Vadum with an urgent seriousness in his tone, "but I urge you to refrain from matters of politics."
"I am content to remain a warrior," the Commander said with a nod, and with that, he followed his counterpart to the princess.
When they reached her, the alicorn seemed different. Her armor was gone; where she'd dispensed it was a mystery, but it could have been anywhere. She had disappeared after showing them to their rooms and later rematerialized where she stood now. She seemed smaller without the gilded plates of metal covering her alabaster hide, and while she seemed less imposing physically, her demeanor was still that of a ruler. She greeted them with a smile, but it seemed insincere as her jaw set into place and her coral eyes focused on the Shipmaster.
"I thought that, as the leaders of our respective factions," she said to the Arbiter after glancing shortly to the Commander, "we may discuss the events of late."
"Anything you have to say to me," the Arbiter rumbled, "my friend may hear as well."
"As you see fit," the princess said as she gave another smile, which disappeared before she turned and led them deeper into the palace.
They traversed more corridors and staircases as they went, their footfalls echoing through the seemingly vacant palace. The halls were lined with lavish displays of art: embroideries, stone busts, paintings, glass and metal workings, all set on display on elegantly formed pieces of furniture amidst cultivated flowers to no doubt show off the elegance of the palace even more so. Eventually they came to another set of gargantuan doors, which once unsealed, revealed a massive court. The expansive room was well lit and well decorated, stained glass and elegant tapestries hanging from the walls to display symbols of inarguable nobility. On the far side of the cavernous room a pair of thrones were arranged side by side, one of them occupied by the darker mare from earlier in the hills, her armor absent as well. They followed the princess to the stairs ascending up to the thrones, and paused at their base while the alicorn took her seat, and once facing them, she sighed.
"What is it you wish to discuss?" the Arbiter asked, his height allowing him to look the princess, in her elevated throne, nearly eye to eye.
"Forgive me, Arbiter," Celestia began, finding a comfortable spot on her massive chair, "but I believe I have been remiss. Here I have invited you into my home, and formalities have not been struck between any of us. We are the representatives chosen to bear witness to the first contact between our great races. And yet, I do not even know the name of your species, let alone your name."
The ivory mare straightened up, cleared her throat, and began the introductions.
"I am Celestia, Princess of the Sun, and Warden of the Day," she said before turning to the alicorn seated next to her, "This is my sister, Luna, Princess of the Moon and Stars, and Warden of the Night. We are the co-rulers of Equestria."
"As for our race," continued Princess Luna from Celestia's side, "equines or simply ponies are the blanket terms, though there are different species within this genus. Pegasi, unicorns, alicorns... but you will become familiar with them in time."
The small talk was interrupted by an awkward silence as the foreigners hesitated in response, as if the cordial, idle conversation was outlandish to them.
"And the small reptile," began the Arbiter slowly, "the one along with your... ponies?"
"A dragon," answered Celestia with a nod, "one who has yet to mature."
Again, the royal equines looked to their guests in anticipation, the silence intruding on their alliance's christening. It was obvious that they were expecting their identification reciprocated, their patient eyes and attentive ears hoping for the meeting's continuation. The Arbiter and his comrade shared a hesitant glance before breaking the quiet with their response.
"Shipmaster," said 'Vadum hoarsely as he bowed his head slightly.
"Shipmaster?" repeated Princess Luna, raising an eyebrow as the outlander shared what she had expected to be a name.
"My rank will be sufficient for now," he furthered, his voice a persistent, constrained growl.
Another silence came shortly after, making the conversation's flow erratic. The princess' posture remained unchanged, and they continued waiting for their patrons to speak as if the pleasantries were the beginning of a therapy session. They clearly wanted the information they'd shared to be returned.
"Sangheili," muttered the Arbiter articulately, causing the tolerant expressions of the mares to be broken by surprise and confusion.
"Hmm?" responded the darker of the princesses.
"Our race," came the response, "We are called Sangheili."
"Sageelie?" inquired Princess Celestia.
"Sangheili," came the correction from Shipmaster 'Vadum as he crossed his arms, each syllable annunciated eloquently.
"Sangaily," repeated the white alicorn, butchering the pronunciation again.
"If it is less troublesome," the Arbiter began as the Commander sighed in futility, "there are other names by which our species is known, names created with brevity and ease in mind."
"And what might these names be?" asked the smaller mare.
"Elites," said the Arbiter, "A simple moniker bestowed by a previous enemy in a conflict since past."
The princesses glanced to each other briefly, the implications of the simple title reverberating through their thoughts.
"And the large ones in your company?" Celestia asked, turning back to the towering pair before her, "They are Elites as well?"
"Mgalekgolo," answered the Commander, causing the eyes of the princesses to dilate upon hearing the name announced.
"Hunters," the Arbiter corrected, "A name also bestowed by this previous foe of ours."
The equines sighed in relief upon the Arbiter's conclusion, then assumed the same expectant posture as they had before. The Arbiter knew why.
"You know my title," he said, stepping up one stair closer to the sisters as he spoke, "Do you wish to know my name?"
"You are called Arbiter," replied the Princess of the Sun, leaning forward in her chair as she abandoned her congenial disposition for something more serious, "I wish to know what cause calls for your judgment."
The Arbiter looked down to the Shipmaster, whose unbroken gaze said enough in his voice's silence.
"You would label survival a cause?" the Arbiter said as he turned back to the princesses; their eyes implored him for explanation.
"Have you any concept of war?" he continued, turning his head down and slightly to the side.
"Yes," responded Celestia strongly.
"And what of genocide?"
The pair visibly recoiled as the Arbiter finished, but before they strayed in their surprise, he extended his speech.
"This is the scale our wars are fought on," he iterated, "This is the scale of our kind's capacity for destruction. There is never any surrender, and never any mercy. Our peace is not made until all our enemies lay dead."
The princesses were visibly taken aback by the Arbiter's passionate tone and haunting words, but he continued in earnest despite their obvious and warranted discomfort.
"Our race is currently divided against itself over the results of a war that has since seen an end. There are those of us who have made peace with our past enemies, and those that still wish for war," the burly, argentate outlander continued, conviction imbuing every word, "As the Shipmaster has said, if we do not cleanse our kind from the ideals of the fanatics with which we wage war, then they will surely exterminate us and those that stand beside us in our quest to make amends for our past."
"Is this how you came here?" asked Luna, but before the Arbiter could respond, the Shipmaster seized his shoulder, and spoke to him in a hushed tone.
"Arbiter, I urge you to withhold some things from them," he admonished, "There can be sanctity in the unknown."
"We both seek answers from the other," the Arbiter counseled, "If the Remnant has stayed on this world, they surely did so for a reason. If there is an artifact here, we cannot survive the Remnants' onslaught alone. We need their support, and to gain it, we need their trust."
"So earn their trust, not their apprehension," advised 'Vadum, "I do not question your judgment, but I worry the whole truth may be too much for them to bear at once."
The Arbiter nodded and 'Vadum stepped down, returning the gesture, and the interspecies discussion continued.
"Do you recall the warriors in red," the Arbiter began, "the ones that attacked your subjects earlier?"
The alicorns nodded affirmation, and beckoned for him to continue.
"They were an advance team of scouts, Zealots in rank, loyal to a faction called the Covenant Remnant, one of the factions that considers us, the Swords of Sanghelios, an enemy."
"These Remnants are what remains of this, Covenant?" asked Celestia hesitantly, her ears eager to hear what the Arbiter had to say.
"Yes," he responded sternly.
"And what exactly is the Covenant?" inquired Luna; the Arbiter only snorted again.
"What you ask would take days to explain."
"So summarize," bid Celestia, her tone dry as her patience began to fade.
The Arbiter sighed, and looked back to the Shipmaster once again as he delayed action with thought.
"The Covenant was once a mighty and honorable empire comprised of many races from across the galaxy," he began, looking back to his hosts, "United under one religion, the Covenant scoured the galaxy for what the gods had left behind in the pursuit for transcendence. What artifacts that were found were used to promote the agenda of the Hierarchs as they led their followers towards the Great Journey."
The princesses, in the interest of brevity, accepted that they would not understand the majority of what the Arbiter had to say; rather, they pressed for more pertaining information.
"And, why have they come here?" asked Luna.
"They could be here hunting us, the survivors of the battle," admitted the Arbiter, only to cause the eyebrows of the mares to descend into mild glares.
"What battle?" inquired Luna.
"There was no battle fought here," added Celestia concernedly.
"Not on this world," said the Shipmaster, his arms still crossed, "but above it the fires raged."
The alicorns shared an uneasy look, but the Arbiter only continued.
"We tracked a small battle-group of the Remnant's ships to this system. We engaged them, not knowing the planet was inhabited. Our singular craft was shot down in the first wave of the attack. After we were grounded, our enemy gained a tactical advantage when they destroyed a large portion of our communications jammers. They called for reinforcements, and outmatched, our fleet was forced into retreat."
"You were defeated?" asked Luna, only to have the Shipmaster step forward defensively with his fists balled.
"While we live," he snarled, "we have not been defeated."
"A battle gone awry can misplace the souls of those who partake," said the Arbiter, his tone calmer than his counterpart, "This is how we came to this world you call home."
The alicorns again shared an uneasy look before adopting an even more attentive posture.
"They may also be here searching for holy artifacts," continued the Arbiter, "as was the purpose of the Covenant some time ago, but I do not know. The reasons for their battle-group coming to this world in the first place are unknown."
"Holy artifacts?" asked Celestia, raising her eyebrow as she eyed her tenants.
"In the days of the Covenant's prime," explained the Arbiter, "it was the Zealots, always in threes, who went on ahead of the fathoms to find holy relics, and prepare them for the arrival and interpretation of the Hierarchs. The Hierarchs have since been eradicated, but Jul 'Mdama, the Remnant's leader, still seeks the wares of the gods."
"So, you believe this enemy of yours has been brought here by their religion ?"
"Do not mock the faith of my fathers," rumbled the Shipmaster hostilely, "Our gods were real, and I have seen the temples and tombs they left behind. So grand in scale are they, that they are nothing less than divine."
"While faith still runs strong within our race," furthered the Arbiter, "'Mdama's interest in the gods' artifacts is due to their power. The Covenant has always used the technology of the divine to create weapons, with which they extend their shadow of influence. The now dead Hierarchs of the Covenant bastardized the honorable, reverent faith of the Sangheili with manipulative greed and sinful treachery in their use of the relics, hence the Covenant's schism. We were branded heretics for accepting this truth, and so this war began."
"I fail to see why this instigated aggression towards my citizens in the mountains," Celestia countered flatly to cause an uneasy sigh from the Sangheili.
"Suffering and death are the only fates the Covenant deems suitable for non-believers," the Arbiter grumbled, "If they have indeed concluded that this world is of importance to the Covenant's sect of faith, then simply, your presence here as heathens would be seen as an affront."
Celestia glared slightly, shaking her head as she obviously conveyed her doubt.
"And how do you know this?"
The Arbiter turned his head with a growl.
"Because I used to be one of them."
Luna visibly shied away, sitting back in her throne as Celestia's heart skipped a beat, and the Arbiter once again stepped closer.
"We have a mutual enemy in the Covenant Remnant, noble princesses," he assured, "and your homeland may very well be in danger. We will fight this enemy of ours whether you stand by us or not. Will our alliance continue? The decision is yours, and yours alone. If you must take time to think, then do so. We can adjourn, if it is your will."
Luna looked to Celestia for confirmation, her worried eyes conveying her own opinions. Celestia knew what her sister was thinking; she agreed. The Arbiter knew their response before he received an answer.
"We shall take our leave until morning," he said, and led the way out of the court, the pair of Sangheili shrinking in stature as they receded back towards the entrance until they disappeared through the doors, leaving the throne room in echoing silence as the shock of the conversation slowly dissipated.
The mares took a few moments to breathe deeply, rearranging the thoughts in their heads before seeking consultation from one another.
"How are our little friends doing?" Celestia asked deliberately, avoiding the weight of the most recent issue to be brought to their attention for a short time.
"Rainbow Dash had three broken ribs, but the unicorns have repaired her well," answered Luna, fluttering down from her throne, "Her only injuries now are severe bruises."
Princess Celestia sighed in relief, and as she too vacated her seat to join her sister, she refocused.
"How did they strike you?" she asked, beginning a stroll to the rear of the throne room, through a small set of doors and into yet another long hallway.
"The Arbiter, I like," admitted Luna, "His bodyguard, I do not. They strike me as equally passionate and focused, but the Arbiter at least seems to be trying to trust us. The Shipmaster, I feel, is very suspicious of us."
Celestia sighed, remembering a portion of the conversation she'd held with the Arbiter on the plains.
"He is trying to make us fear him," Celestia concluded, nodding as they rounded a corner in the hall, its walls, sparsely occupied by stoic guards at their posts, made extravagant with massive paintings and tapestries befitting a royal sanctuary, "and we have reason to be afraid."
"If they are telling the truth," Luna countered, her head held high as she strode beside her sister.
"So you are suspicious of them as well?" asked Celestia, knowing full well what the answer was.
"Of course I am," Luna replied, careful to mind her voice's volume, "They bring ominous news. We lived in peace until they came along, and now they bring us threats of apocalypse."
"Perhaps it is wrong to think the Shipmaster's bitterness misplaced then," reasoned the taller of the pair, "if we mirror his sentiments."
"Their words were eerily reminiscent of Star Swirl's prophecy, though I have not yet memorized its words," contemplated Luna, her gaze turned downwards in thought.
"Nor have I. It was but a lingering memory this morning, and time came to act upon this memory when we received Twilight's letter. But I do recall there being mention of fire in the heavens and on earth, stars swept from the sky and the Fallen rising from the ashes," Celestia paused as she reran the words and implications through her head, "It appears Star Swirl's premonitions may prove true once again."
The metallic click of ornate horseshoes against marble tile rang through the corridors of the palace, thought filled silence seeming to hang in the air.
"Have you ever heard of anything like what they were speaking of, relics left behind by the divine?" Luna asked as they escaped earshot of the sentry they'd passed most recently, her tone somewhere between confusion and concern.
"The only thing that comes to mind is the Tree of Harmony, perhaps even Tartarus," answered the Princess of the Day, "They predate our rule, so their true age and origin is unknown."
"The matter remains," Luna continued after a short contemplation, "We have a choice to make, and much rests on it. Shall we let events run their course, or shall we seize control of our own fate? Shall we pursue the Covenant Remnant alongside our new guests, or will we set them loose and refrain from any hostilities?"
"Hostilities have already found us," Celestia said, her very words heavy with regret and worry, "War has been declared, unofficially, and Equestria is at stake. Inaction is not an option, and this Remnant is an obvious and very grave enemy of ours."
"How does the saying go? The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Luna added, looking up for confirmation.
"And so we have found friends," Celestia nodded, "And an enemy, but from what the Arbiter has said, it seems that if we choose a side, we will be forced to stand along with them until the end. This war that has found us, according to them, will not end until one faction has been annihilated."
"This is not the first grave threat Equestria has faced," Luna reminded, conviction in her heart as the words came forth.
"Yes," Celestia agreed softly, "but it very well may be the largest."
Another silence, filled with the sound of hoof steps returning from the farthest reaches of the rebounding corridors they traversed.
"I did tell Spike, Twilight and Rainbow Dash to refrain from speaking of the incident until we can decide what course of action would be best," Luna said informatively, "As is clear, the last thing we need right now is a panic among the populace."
"I doubt they would react rationally to learning that aliens are being kept in Canterlot, or anywhere in Equestria for that matter," Celestia said, forcing a chuckle, "Twilight had already offered them shelter before we had any chance to arrange a plan regarding their accommodations, leaving us little choice but keep them here. I do think a congregation of extraterrestrial giants strolling into Ponyville would have given us more than just the Remnant and this prophecy to worry about."
The darker alicorn returned the laugh, though it was far from hearty.
"Let us hope that the night brings us no more surprises."
The princesses reached a pair of massive double doors opposite each other in the hall, one marked with a radiant depiction of the sun, the other with a silver crescent moon: their personal chambers, guarded on either side by gilded royal guards.
"You look weary," Luna said as she turned to Celestia, finally seeing the dark circles under her sister's eyes, "It has been a full day. I can maintain our keep until the night's end."
Celestia sighed, smiling a bit as she too realized the toll the day's events had taken.
"'Til then, I shall take my leave, sister," the ivory alicorn said, giving a slight, playful curtsy.
"And I shall begin my watch," Luna sighed, bowing her head formally as she bid her sister farewell, "I hope rest brings you clear thoughts, that we may have reached an answer by morning. I will see you at dawn."
Celestia gave a smile, and quietly pushed the doors to her bedchamber open. The click of the doors' resealing seemed like thunder in the wake of the silence that followed, and in a deceptively peaceful palace, the Princess of the Night turned, breathed, and was overcome with an overwhelming feeling of fear. Not fear for herself, but fear for her home, and countless others that called Equestria home as well. She looked at the guards, their blank expressions of discipline far from approachable, but she knew they were hers to protect as much as it was their duty to protect her. It was her duty to protect all her citizens, and here she had learned of something that could give them great harm.
But, she shook such notions from her head, and told herself that it would never be so. She had to maintain a character of immunity to weakness, and fear made one weak. She kept herself from faltering, while her mind weighed on her cocked shoulders and erect neck. And with that, she reassumed the posture of regality, and returned to her duties, her obsidian horseshoes' striking of the marble ringing through the halls.
The bustle of the initial settling was over when the Arbiter and Rtas 'Vadum made it back to their accommodations; the others had settled in for the night, the wooden doors to each room firmly shut. Still, the theme of silence persisted as the metallic sound of their boots' falling resounded through the still air of the palace, and as they strode through the corridor in relative privacy, thoughts became words.
"You hid the consequences of defeat from them," 'Vadum said with a trace of surprise in his voice.
The Arbiter did not falter in his gate as he spoke over his shoulder to his counterpart.
"Would you have me tell them their world could end?"
The Shipmaster's head only bobbed as he considered the consequences of such a revelation.
"It may bring a much needed ally to our side," he speculated, "and invigorate their fight against their doom."
"We do not know why the Remnant is here yet," reminded the Arbiter sternly, "It could very well be that we are the cause of their presence, that they have simply made us their prey. There is a difference between genocide and what occurred earlier. The Covenant makes an enemy out of non-believers, but to exterminate them is an entirely separate act."
"With the way you were speaking, I thought you would tell them what the Covenant does to planets it deems sullied. Hence, my feeble attempt at political strategy," 'Vadum admitted.
"Your counsel was sound," the Arbiter replied honestly, "I will reveal the whole truth when I deem it necessary, lest they be frightened off by an uncertain future."
They reached the place where their kind was being quartered, and paused in their stroll.
"I will remain awake for a short while longer," the Shipmaster informed, "The largest of the rooms in this wing has been reserved for you, and you alone."
The Arbiter shook his head.
"You still do not feel secure within these walls?"
"No," rumbled the Commander, "and until I do, I will remain watchful. We learned the cost of a lack of vigilance when the Covenant split. That conversation brought memories back. I will not see them relived."
The Arbiter felt a sinking feeling as he too remembered the massacre of the Councilors, the rage and confusion he'd felt as the transmissions of their deaths were broadcast to all Covenant fleets, their betrayal made into a display of the Hierarchs' immunity, immunity that had since been proven false and far from blasphemous. He looked back to the Commander with the wrath of memory and the fire of vigor in his eyes.
"May your watch be uneventful, sentinel," he said with a salute, "I will see you on the sun's rising."
He turned as the Shipmaster placed a fist over his breast, and found his way through the doors of the room he had inspected earlier. The moonlight was brighter now, the room cast into a pale, transient light as veils of clouds cast sporadic darkness onto the ground.
The Arbiter looked at the bed, and was reminded how small the resident race was compared to his own kind. Conventional sleeping habits would not do. He looked around. The chairs were too small as well, as were the sofas. He eventually decided on the corner, and slumped down with his back against the wall and his feet extended outwards comfortably. This was a good place to sleep; he could see the doorway, and he could not be seen by another through the massive window. A good, tactical, prepared place to sleep.
The darkness called to him like a lullaby, the silence a comfort that had proven its elusiveness in recent years, and eventually, the Arbiter's eyes drifted closed, and he fell into an uneasy sleep.
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
New Beginnings
Luna looked around the dreamscape. The setting was peaceful, stable and very normal, a good indicator that the dream's creator was sleeping well enough. This place, for how unique it was, was familiar; it was odd, how each individual's dreams were as particular as they themselves were. Some were dark, others bright, but this setting was too lifelike to be created from sporadic wanderings of thought.
She'd been in these mountains before, not half a day earlier, and though the characteristic emerald green grass of the Macintosh Hills beneath her hooves was an intangible concoction of the dormant mind through which she wandered, it felt real. She'd been here before. She'd seen the trees, smelled the crisp air, heard the birds' songs on the mountains' breeze; this dream was a memory, only one not of her own. She was searching through somepony else's nocturnal recollections; she needed only to find the specific memories she was looking for.
She could hear the excited shouts and exclamations of Twilight and Rainbow Dash in the next meadow, chasing after the aliens' craft as it fell from the sky. But she knew what would come of that endeavor; she needed to know what had preluded first contact, what had drawn Twilight into the mountains before the Arbiter's ship had come down. Fire in the heavens and on earth, Star Swirl had said, and Twilight had written that she'd seen smoke, smoke that Luna could now see, though barely, rising above the aspens. She needed to find what had caused the meteor shower, because it certainly hadn't been meteors. The princess waited for the sound of the pair of ponies to disappear into the next knoll, and with a pump of her wings, she took to the sky.
It was easy enough to find the crater, but even for its staggering size, it seemed small compared to some of those she'd seen on the moon. As the alicorn descended into the depths of the expansive pit, the ashen air about her like a calm snowstorm in the mountain's breath, she scanned the greyscale earth for anything to aide her search. As she set down in the crater's center, smoky dust and cooled embers rising up about her obsidian legs, she saw that the desolation of the impact was not completely unyielding.
"So this is the answer," she said quietly to herself as she looked down, seeing the large, smooth purple object in the dust, hoof prints immediately around it in the dirt testifying that the Princess of the Night was not the first to come upon the object.
The alicorn smiled, pleased with her discovery as she bowed her head slightly. She closed her eyes as she felt the dreamscape begin to swirl around her, and she felt a lurching feeling in her stomach as she once again joined the tangible realm. She reopened her eyes when the feeling of falling had passed, the view of a moonlit Canterlot from her bedchamber's balcony greeting her.
She again smiled slightly to herself as she blinked away the trance she'd been in, the white power of alicorn magic vacating her eyes as she slowed her heart. She'd found what she was looking for; she'd found an answer.
Beneath the starry skies, she turned to the West, and flexed her wings. With an exhale, she kicked off from her veranda, and wings pumping, she made for the Macintosh Hills.
Later...
The light of the morning trickled over the horizon, and bled through the window like the flow of a quiet river. The ivory walls were dappled in lambent gold as the sun showed its face and night turned to day. The radiance of dawn reflected off of the dust in the air, creating an essence of glitter all about the room as shadows stretched to the West. All was peaceful; all was still.
And as the peace of the morning charted an illuminating course for the Arbiter's dormant figure, slumped in the corner of the room where he'd originally settled for the night, visions of chaos and horror were dispatched by his eyes' sudden opening. His chest expanded as he drew in a sudden, surprised breath, but when he was reminded where he was in body, he chased his dreams away with a groan. The sun's warmth called his attention away from memories and to the world beyond his window. He blinked at the light as it worked its way up his chest and into his eyes, and he sighed.
He rose, his armor's weight familiar as he slowly stood erect. The room seemed blinding, white walls shining as the light met their stainless exterior. The Arbiter sighed again, relishing each breath of crisp morning air as he began to make his way towards the door.
He pushed the entryway open gently to be greeted by the sound of a synchronized salute, and looked up to find his brothers in arms waiting for him, their fists placed over their breasts in perfect unison. They stood at attention outside their rooms, silent and still as they waited for the bidding of their superior; such was customary regardless of the setting, whether a training common house or a ships' quarters. The Shipmaster stood in the middle of the hallway, the morning light making his armor all the more lustrous as he waited as well, though his rank exempted him from a strict code of conduct when it came to formations; he looked to the Arbiter with a nod of greeting upon seeing him enter their company.
The Arbiter looked to each of the warriors, their faces hidden by their helmets' black masks. He gauged the Mgalekgolo as well, their gargantuan posture not as noble, but disciplined none the less. The Arbiter walked down the center of the hallway, approaching Shipmaster 'Vadum amidst the motionless SpecOps Elites under his command. They shared a salute, the Arbiter dismissing formalities with a grunt of approval.
"At ease," he muttered, and with the sound of the unanimous movement of armored warfighters, the congregation stood at rest.
"All are present. No incidents to report," commented the Commander, his scarred maw catching the Arbiter's eye as he spoke.
"Have you seen the princesses as of late?" the Arbiter asked, looking over his shoulder and down the hall to make sure they were not already in their presence; 'Vadum shook his head 'no'.
"Hmm," the Arbiter hummed to himself, "It appears that we are free to do as we please."
"We await your orders," responded the Shipmaster as he gestured to the others with an open hand.
The Arbiter felt his stomach churn as his counterpart concluded, and he remembered none of them had eaten since before they were shot down.
"The princess said meals are served in the hall," he remembered aloud, "We will go there, until we can reunite with them, and continue discussions."
"As you wish," responded the Commander, and he turned to the others, signaling for them to follow as the Arbiter led the way down the otherwise vacant hall.
They came to the massive dining hall after a short walk, and upon approaching the long chestnut table, they found it stocked from end to end with myriad varieties of food on silver platters, causing a hushed albeit excited commotion from the group.
"Thank the gods," one of the Elites began as they collectively quickened their pace towards breakfast, "We've eaten nothing but the starch of the agricultural vessels for years. I, for one, will enjoy this meal."
They reached the table in stride, but found that the first platters were adorned with a green plant of some kind, small red berries spread around the dish's perimeter to create an exquisite presentation. The congregation moved farther down the tale, only to find another dish consisting of only fruit. They moved on again, and found slender, orange vegetables arranged in a very artistically designed salad with small, green treelike plants on the side.
"What is this... foliage?" one of the Sangheili seethed as, disgusted, he let a handful of lettuce fall through his fingers and back to the table, "We are not Colo."
"Where is the meat?" another asked, frustrated as he threw his thick arms towards the table's spread.
The Arbiter groaned in his throat, looking down slightly as the others grumbled all around him and the Mgalekgolo took to standing around, waiting.
"It would appear our hosts are herbivores," the Shipmaster said disapprovingly, shaking his head.
"This is what we have been offered," the Arbiter began, turning to the others as he gestured to the table, "and so we shall accept it. Set aside your desires, and accept the gifts of our hosts without further complaint. Such is the behavior of a respectful guest, and I expect nothing less from the lot of you."
Not another grumble came from the Elites as, begrudgingly, they did as they were told. The Arbiter distanced himself slightly from the group as they began the arduous process of eating, their needle-like teeth and mandibles nearly useless in grinding the fruits and vegetables into a substance able to be swallowed, never mind the sylvan taste.
The Arbiter continued farther down the table, looking for anything somewhat familiar or remotely appetizing. He found no such thing, and was near the far end of the table when he settled for a leafy breakfast. He was struggling to choke the vegetation down when his attention was seized by a newcomer behind him.
"Arbiter," he heard a cordial female voice say, and he turned to see that Princess Celestia had entered from the far side of the dining hall, "I see you have found the banquet table."
"Hmm, Princess" he said a he gave a nod of greeting, briefly looking back wishfully to the many courses adorning the table's platter, "You are alone this day?"
"Yes," she responded as she approached across white tiled floors, her hooves' clapping against the marble seeming to carry through the massive room, "I pray you forgive my sister's absence. Her duties have her currently distracted, I'm afraid."
The princess reached his side, and smiled pleasantly up at him.
"How did you sleep?" she asked to receive a blank look from the towering Sangheili.
"I sat," he said plainly as his eyes drifted back to the table, "and closed my eyes."
The princess drew in a breath as she realized her greeting's failure at conveying her intentions, and befuddled, she tried to correct herself.
"No, it's... it's a customary greeting in Equestria," she explained, "something we say when we first see one another after the sun's rising."
The Arbiter nodded slowly to himself, and adopting a very regal posture with feet staggered and one arm extended before him, he bowed, and asked, "How did you sleep?"
The princess opened her mouth to correct again, to say that he was using the phrase far too formally and that it was a statement of nothing more than good natured hospitality, but no words escaped her mouth. Rather, she decided it best to smile, and casually return the Arbiter's gesture with a bow, saying, "Very well, thank you."
The two straightened up, the Arbiter's tall stature causing Celestia to crane her neck up to look him in the eye. He returned her gaze, and with a subtle hand gesture, he asked, "Have you come to a conclusion, regarding our earlier conversation?"
Celestia was impressed by how to the point the Arbiter was, as if he had no notion of idle conversation. Everything he said served a purpose, and he made no room for small talk. Equestrians' socialization habits revolved around the pleasantries of casual dialogue, and it seemed that the Elites were their opposites in that fashion. She was impressed with his focus, but it made seeing him as more than a figurehead or an ally difficult; it was nearly impossible to think of him as a friend.
"Yes," she responded, returning his formalness, but before she continued, she hesitated, arranging the words in her head so they came across in the best possible form, "My sister and I have agreed that we shall aide you in any way we can. But, should a decision have to be made between your safety and the safety of Equestrian citizens, we shall choose to protect our own."
The Arbiter nodded in understanding, responding with, "Very well."
There was a pause as the princess waited for the Arbiter to speak, but when he appeared to be doing the same she took it upon herself to keep the conversation alive.
"I also would like to apologize again for how brash Luna and I were upon our first encounter," she said with a trace of regret, looking down a bit.
"I understand your actions were done with the intent of keeping your citizens safe," the Arbiter admitted, striking a tone of amicability, "You reacted defensively, and you knew not whether we were foes. Your sister first introduced you to the Shipmaster and I as protectors , and you have proven it so."
The corners of Celestia's mouth drew up in a small smile, "And so, it would seem, we shall have to protect what we love together."
The princess hesitated for a moment, not noticing the Arbiter's subtle nod, before she asked, "Do you fight to protect something?"
The Arbiter's look of confusion prompted her to expand, asking, "Do you fight because these Remnants hate you, or because you hate them?"
The silver of the Elite's armor glinted in the morning sun, coming through the skylight, as he growled, "We are enemies. We hate each other."
The princess was unsatisfied with the answer, sighing as she swallowed an expression of discontent.
"A true soldier fights not because he hates what is before him, but because he loves what is behind him."
The Arbiter turned his barreled chest to the princess and stepped closer to her, his imposing stature matching his stern tone as he looked down at the alabaster mare before him.
"Your idea of war is far different from mine, princess," he rumbled with passion but without hostility, "Rarely are its reasons for being waged simple enough to be likened to a coin's faces. And yet, like you, we so often choose to see it as so. It is easier that way."
The princess took a moment to reflect on the traces of pain, masked with conviction, in the Arbiter's voice.
"I assure you, my motives have my people's safety and security in mind, but likening my conviction's origin to simple love or hatred is misplaced," He looked away, taking a short stride in the direction of the other Elites as his eyes rested upon them, "It is much more than that."
"Sister," came a new voice suddenly, and the Arbiter whirled around to see Princess Luna alighting at her sibling's side, her chest heaving with a burden of urgency.
"Princess Luna," the Sangheili said in greeting as he performed a very respectful bow, "How did you sleep?"
"Not a wink," the alicorn said quickly and with little emotion, dismissing his posture as a formality, "I thank you, however, for your hospitality."
The dark mare quickly leaned in closer to Celestia, lowering her voice slightly to avoid her message being delayed any longer; clearly, it was as pressing a matter as any.
"Sister, there has been a discovery," she said, "Your presence is needed in the library."
The ivory alicorn stepped back a bit, eying her sister with habitual and preliminary caution as she tried to gauge what might have transpired without her knowing.
"We will need the Elements of Harmony too," continued Luna, short of breath as if she'd just flown across the nation, "as well as the Elites."
Celestia again looked at her sister with doubt, as well as a hint of confusion.
"You think they are ready?" she asked, not minding her voice's volume as she stole a glance at the Arbiter's tentative stature, "To meet them, I mean."
"They will have to be," said Luna, urgency pervading her tone, "Only by combining the pieces of the puzzle can we see the whole picture, and it's time we began sorting these riddles of late into answers."
The white alicorn was unmistakably doubtful at first, but as she silently reflected on all of the implications and possibilities of Luna's suggestions, her eyes glinted with a trace of understanding.
"Very well," she said as she looked into Luna's eyes, a look of reassurance reflected in her counterpart's gaze, "But I will be the one to retrieve them."
The sisters shared a nod, and after giving a slight bow to the Arbiter, Celestia turned, and retaining her regal composure, walked out of the hall the same way she'd come.
"Arbiter," Luna said amicably, drawing his perplexed focus from Celestia's retreat and onto herself, "would you come with me?"
The foreigner looked back to the others, meeting the Shipmaster's verdant gaze even from the far side of the hall. He gestured for them to join him, and immediately, the white armored warrior gutted the cud he'd been chewing and dropped his plate, and he called the others to duplicate his trek to the Arbiter's side.
The Arbiter looked to the princess before him, his comrades advancing on them from afar, and with a very proper extension of his arm, offered a simple, "Lead the way."
Earlier...
"Twilight."
The unicorn's ears twitched, the simple warmth of sleep sealing her eyes like glue; she remained impervious to attempts to penetrate her closed eyelids, regardless of the familiar voice that kept uttering her name.
"Twilight," the raspy voice came again.
"Five more minutes," she groaned, curling up tighter into the cushions of the chair that served as her current bed.
A sudden thud, accompanied by a sound not unlike a squeaky toy being compressed, hit her head, and Twilight's head came up from underneath the sage green blanket draped over her back like a groundhog resurfacing after a long winter just in time to see a lime green bouncy ball slowly rolling away from her. Groggily, she probed the room with sleep ridden eyes, until she found her assailant lying on the hospital room's bed, and looking to her eagerly with a pair of very awake magenta eyes.
"Did you throw a ball at me?" she groaned, her voice dry and monotonous.
"Why do you think the princess is lying?" Dash asked, leaning towards her from the hospital bedframe.
"Lying?" the unicorn responded with a stifled yawn, specks of light coming through the shutters drawn over the window.
"About the aliens."
"She's not lying," Twilight said, her ears twitching as Fluttershy, of all ponies, growled in a very loud snore from her night's resting place atop Rarity on an armchair in the corner, "She's keeping secrets."
"Like that's any better?" the pegasus responded, trying hard to keep her voice hushed, so that the others may not hear.
"It could be," Twilight reasoned, slowly coming to be fully awake, "Just think about it. What if all of us knew what we know? Even then, we don't know a lot. All we really know is that the Arbiter and his buddies are here, they're warriors from anywhere but here, that they killed the red ones that attacked us, who were definitely not the same faction, and that thing from the crater may or may not be correlated with them."
Dash was quiet, the gears turning in her head as she processed a thought.
"Not a lot to go off of," Twilight admitted, "And the first thing everypony would want to do would be to ask questions. Why are they here? How did they get here? Is it safe to have them around? And nopony knows the answers yet."
"We would all start looking for answers," Dash admitted, agreeing with the unicorn, "I sure tried. I just can't seem to think of anything else but what happened earlier. I even dreamed about it."
Twilight took a deep breath in through her nose, letting it out slowly.
"I think the reason they're keeping this a relative secret is to tell the truth at a more convenient time, once they've got everything figured out," the unicorn sighed, "Then everypony will have their answers, and there'll be no need to go crazy with not knowing."
"I guess you're right," Dash admitted as she sat back into her bed, her head bouncing off of her very firm pillow, "But why wouldn't she trust the others with knowing what we know?"
"She didn't tell us everything either," Twilight reminded, holding her blanket close to her chest with her forelimbs, "I sure don't know where the aliens are being kept. All Celestia agreed to was that they'd be offered shelter. Then Luna brought us back here so you could get healed up. By the way, how are you feeling?"
Dash tilted her head as she shrugged, looking down at her swollen midsection with an expression of indifference as she said, "Pretty good I guess. A little sore but that's it."
"And honestly, I think if Pinkie knew, the whole kingdom would know in a few minutes," Twilight said quietly, refocusing the conversation, "She'd probably try to welcome them with a fiesta or something."
"Fiesta?!" Pinkie suddenly exclaimed, her eyes shooting open as her head lifted itself from dormancy, somehow adorned with a massive sombrero; she reached into her mane and promptly produced a pair of maracas, giving them a quick shake as the faint notes of La Cucaracha played in the distance.
The others quickly jolted awake as well, Fluttershy cutting off a snore as she sat up, startled, one of Rarity's forelimbs clutched in her grip like a teddy bear.
"What about a ciesta now?" Applejack asked groggily, somewhat irritated as she too sat up out of the chair she'd fallen asleep in, her hat askew on her brow, "Y'all woke me up to tell me to take a nap?"
"Pinkie, it's too early for a cultural celebration," Rarity said as she tugged her forelimb from Fluttershy's vice-like grip to rub her eyes free of sleep, "But seeing as we are all awake, I don't see why we can't at least send for a spot of food."
"See if they have pancakes!" came the sound of Spike's voice, the mares looking into the far corner of the room to see a purple talon extended out from underneath a blanket, a conspicuous bulge in the cloth completely concealing the voice's owner.
A sudden knock prompted seven heads to snap to the door, and Twilight got up to answer as Fluttershy opened the shutters and Applejack took to her morning stretch, the bones in her back audibly popping as she limbered up.
"That'll be breakfast," Dash said as she glanced at the room's alarm clock, confirming that meal time was nigh.
The light rushed in through the window as Twilight opened the door, revealing the splendor of Princess Celestia, her august mane catching the morning's light in a display of regal majesty. Her presence alone was humbling as her height filled the doorway.
"Princess?" Twilight asked aloud, causing the others in the room to focus on the doorway with surprised eyes.
"Good morning," the alicorn bid maternally, her voice strong and deliberate.
She waited until she had the attention of all in the room before she spoke again, their wide eyes and loose jaws a monument to their surprise at seeing her.
"Everypony, if you're able," she said kindly with a concerned look in Rainbow Dash's direction; the pegasus gave a subtle nod to affirm that she was indeed alright, "I'd like you to come with me. There's someone I'd like you to meet."
"You mean somepony?" Pinkie asked as she leapt from her chair, her attire of earlier gone without a trace.
"Not quite," the princess said cryptically, and she turned slightly from the doorway, gesturing for the others to follow with a turn of her head, "Come with me please."
They followed immediately, trailing behind the monarch as she proceeded down the halls of the Canterlot Medical Wing, heading for the palace's center.
"Who could she mean?" Fluttershy asked quietly, her blue eyes worried with persistent nervousness, "I don't like meeting strangers. I hope they're nice."
"I think I might have an idea," Twilight admitted slowly as she shared a glance with Rainbow Dash, who had walked clear of her first few limping steps, "If I'm right, you're all in for a surprise."
They passed by the throne room, the doors to the massive space kept open and the guards absent with court not being in session. They passed the dining halls of both the West and East Wing as they traversed the palace from one side to the other. It took long enough, but eventually, they came to the doors of the library.
"Before we meet them, I urge you all to remember everything you've learned since you came to bear the Elements of Harmony," the princess said sternly, turning her back to the library's entrance to speak to her followers, "But more than that, I urge you to trust me."
"Why wouldn't we trust you, your Highness?" Rarity asked, looking to her friends for reassurance as Celestia's coral eyes alighted on the alabaster mare's gaze.
With that, the princess turned, pushed the doors to the library gently open, and stepped inside. The bookshelves were massive, reaching all the way to the vaulted ceilings above, rows upon rows of them climbing alongside symmetrical corridors, each originating from the center of the polished floor, a mosaic creating the royal seal in the tiles making up the center piece. But, in the center of the seal, where normally a titanic globe was kept, was an object veiled in a white furniture sheet. The mares, along with Spike, took a moment to appreciate the scope of the library's arsenal of compiled knowledge, as well as the skill in the artwork of the floor, waxed to a near reflective shine. But, as their eyes wandered towards the ceiling, the doors opposite the entrance through which they'd come, on the far side of the library's central floor, were thrown open, and led by Princess Luna, a congregation of tall, bipedal figures strode into the vast chamber housing Equestria's archives.
The newcomers spread out facing Celestia, their stances strong and their physiques imposing, the weapons on their backs and the armor on their bodies ominous. The Elements and Spike, at the princess' back, said nothing, and as Luna joined her sister, two much larger green clad figures ducked in through the doorway, standing just inside the entrance. Once all were assembled, the Matriarch of the Day spoke.
"May I introduce you to Canterlot's most recent guests," she said, turning slightly to look each of the Elements in the eye, some of their expressions calmer than others, "The Arbiter, his Shipmaster, and their comrades."
The newcomers gave a synchronized salute as they were mentioned, the sound of their fists clapping over their breasts echoing through the library.
"What are they?" Applejack asked, taking a subconscious step closer to the princesses as she met the fierce blue gaze of one of the foreigners, his face shielded by a metallic black mask.
"We are Sangheili," the Arbiter rumbled in response, stepping forward from the ranks with the ivory Shipmaster close behind, "but it has been proven much easier for your kind to refer to us simply as Elites."
His lumbering gate brought him to the Elements' presence, and he gave an elegant bow.
"How did you sleep?" he asked, causing the mares to share a confused look between one another; his question went unanswered, and he did not act as if he had expected it to be.
There was an awkward silence in the room, both parties quiet out of discipline or shock, but the Arbiter eventually took it upon himself to break the silence.
"And you are Twilight? And you, Rainbow Dash?" he asked as he took a step nearer the two, their somewhat familiar gazes more approachable than the overwhelmed expressions of the others, "Princess Luna has informed me of your singular titles as champions of this land, Elements of Harmony. May I compliment you both, and you as well dragon, on your tenacity. Rarely have I seen any creature stand so effectively against Zealots, as you did yesterday."
"What is he talking about?" Fluttershy whispered to Rarity at her side, careful to remain unheard as the Elite's eyes silently probed each of them.
"Let's just say Rainbow wasn't exactly hit by a tree," Spike said, deflecting Rarity's look of confusion with a shrug.
"To the four of you, I apologize," the Arbiter continued as he approached the others, his engraved armor working up his torso, directing their eyes to his intense amber stare, "We have never met before, but I assume, united, you make up Equestria's six greatest heroes."
"Arbiter," Celestia interceded on behalf of her company's stunned silence, "this is Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack and Pinkie Pie, and yes, these six before you make up the Elements of Harmony."
"Wait, so they're... I've never heard of Elites," Applejack stuttered, pointing towards the Sangheili with a waving hoof as her eyes implored an answer first from Celestia, then Luna, then Twilight, until she was answered by the Shipmaster's baritone.
"Nor would I expect you to have heard of us," he said, crossing his arms and putting his weight back on one leg.
"Yesterday afternoon was the first meeting of our species," Princess Luna explained to those who didn't know, "The Arbiter and the Shipmaster acted in defense of Twilight, Rainbow Dash and Spike, effectively saving their lives."
"Soooo," Pinkie began, "they're friendly?"
"Yes," Twilight answered, a pink blur shooting from where Pinkie had been standing towards the Elites before she could fully finish; all assembled looked to where the mare had gone, to see she was wrapped around the leg of one of the SpecOps Elites in the formation, causing quite a scene as first he tried to dislodge her with a shake, then a kick, then a much more vigorous kick while her hug of endearment held true, and Twilight, watching somewhat amusedly and somewhat concernedly as the Sangheili became distraught at Pinkie's welcome, continued, "for a militant organization of stranded extra-terrestrials."
"Wait, you said they acted in the defense of Twilight and Dash," Rarity said, looking to the princesses, "What were they defending them from?"
"What did he say earlier... Zealots?" Applejack said, just as confused as her alabaster counterpart.
As the Elite Pinkie had taken a liking to tried to pry her off, at least, until the Arbiter held out a hand signaling to simply let her be, Twilight sighed, and turned to face her assembled friends.
"I should probably just start from the beginning," the unicorn admitted, drawing in a deep breath before she began, "The short version is that two nights ago, Spike and I saw a meteor shower while stargazing. But, the meteor shower was previously unpredicted. It wasn't natural, and the next morning, we saw smoke in the Macintosh Hills."
"I saw the smoke that morning too," Dash added, stepping closer to Twilight as she told her story to her friends, "and when I got done clearing out clouds for the day, I decided to go check it out. I ran into Twilight and Spike about a mile outside of town."
"We went into the hills and found the smoke's source," Twilight continued, "It was a crater, a big one. At the bottom we found an object of some kind. It was purple and made of some kind of metal I think. Before we could inspect it any further, we saw the Arbiter's ship coming down. We left the crater to follow it, and we eventually found the crash site. That's where we were attacked."
"Attacked?" Fluttershy gasped, "B-by what?"
"The Covenant Remnant, Zealot class," explained the Shipmaster stoically, his bulky arms tensed, "We know them as enemies, a splinter faction of religious fanatics within our race."
The Arbiter stepped closer to Twilight, addressing her curiously.
"You say you found something prior to our landing?"
"That would be this," Princess Luna said in response, seizing the Arbiter's attention as she approached the veiled object in the library's center, pulling the sheet clear to reveal the object in question: large, purple and contoured, a few dents in the exterior, the foundation it stood on misshapen, and one surface smooth and clear.
"What?" Twilight asked as she took a double take on the purple object, the Elites looking upon it astounded as well, "How did it get here?"
"I retrieved it," Luna said calmly as she stood at the object's side, "Rainbow Dash's dreams revealed its location, and I took it upon myself to secure an object of such importance."
Without a word, the Shipmaster approached the library's center, and with strong hands, pried a service panel off of the object's shell, revealing wires and power nodes within. He picked at the interior, a few electric shocks complaining against his intrusion as the Arbiter watched over his shoulder.
"So... what is it?" Rainbow Dash asked calmly, leaning against a bookshelf.
"A console," explained the Arbiter as the Shipmaster concluded fiddling with the inner workings of the device, and stood to place a hand on the flat, transparent surface of the object's top, "used aboard Covenant ships."
Somewhat less confused expressions on the faces of the equines than before gave him his response.
"You are correct," the Shipmaster said as he glanced over his shoulder to Twilight and the console lit up green, "The meteor shower you saw was not natural."
The Arbiter took a deep breath in, and standing tall, he grasped the attention of all in the room.
"Prior to our arrival to this system, we engaged the Remnant's combined fleet on the far side of this galactic quadrant," the argentate warrior explained, "After the engagement, one battle-group of their fleet fled here. One of the ships of this battle-group, however, was damaged, and was torn apart when it made the jump. The debris of its destruction must have caused the anomaly you observed. You would likely be able to find more pieces of its hull and infrastructure among the hills, but it would seem this singular piece was all your search yielded."
"Our pursuit of this battle-group led us to this planet" the Shipmaster said over his shoulder, his attention once again seized as he poked at the verdant screen of the console before him, "When we engaged them, our individual craft was shot down, causing us to enter your atmosphere for an emergency landing. The Remnant forces were able to call for reinforcements sometime after we were disabled, and our fleet was forced to retreat. Thus, our stranding."
"And so we know how two of the parties in the hills met yesterday," 'Vadum continued, looking coldly at Princess Luna, who was still standing at the console's side, "But the third has yet to explain itself."
Luna shared an uncomfortable glance with Celestia, and the eyes of the Elements drifted curiously to the Princess of the Sun.
"Twilight sent us a message regarding her findings before her self-induced expedition," the white alicorn explained, "We knew what had transpired was not natural, and so we sought her safety."
The Arbiter stepped forward challengingly, his heavy presence resounding in the otherwise silent room.
"Then why did you arrive dressed for battle?" he rumbled, his growl repeated by the other members of his race at his back.
"A prophecy," Luna responded firmly and without delay from the Shipmaster's side, ignoring his suspicious glare without apprehension.
"Prophecy?" the Arbiter responded with a meager snarl, "If you would learn anything from my kind's mistakes, learn it is wise to refrain from trusting the words of prophets."
"Star Swirl the Bearded was no mere prophet," Princess Celestia retorted hotly, causing the Elements to subtly move nearer to her with wide eyes, "His predictions have proven nearly infallible in the past. He foretold of Nightmare Moon's first and second rebellions, of Discord's return and of King Sombra's rise and fall. The greatest events of this world's history were written of by his quill centuries before they transpired. He even predicted the coming of these six that stand before you."
"What does this prophecy say?" the Arbiter asked half-heartedly.
Princess Luna trotted to one side of the chamber, unlocking a glass case built into the side of one of the bookshelves, and produced one of the many scrolls it harbored. Gingerly, she unraveled it, and turned towards the others, reading it aloud in a projected voice.
"For I have seen fire in the heavens and on earth. I have seen worlds colliding, and the fate of Equestria decided by angels of light and of darkness. In the depths they fought over whether this world would burn. But before Terminus is won, stars shall be swept from the sky, setting the lands below to flame. And the Fallen shall rise from the ashes to claim what is theirs, all as the Oracle has professed. This and much more will come when martyr's blood flows like dusk over the horizon."
"Quite vague," the Shipmaster chuckled from the console's interface as Luna replaced the scroll, locking the case once again, "As prophecies are meant to be."
They all looked to the white armored figure as he worked diligently, his fingers precise in their movements on the screen's surface.
"I will take action on reality," he said condescendingly, turning towards the equines and gesturing to the focus of his attention, "This console is a transmissions relay, the heart of a capital ship's communications functions."
"Like a telegram?" Rarity asked, contributing her refined tone to the communion of voices much larger than hers.
"Can you use it to, ya know, phone home?" Pinkie asked gleefully, suddenly materializing at Rarity's side and looking expectantly with big blue eyes to the Arbiter.
"We could if we had any Huragok. The transmitter is damaged beyond repair," the Shipmaster explained, "but both the log and the receiver are still functioning. We can listen, but we cannot speak."
"What will you listen to?" asked Twilight.
"This console is tuned into the Remnant's battle-net," furthered 'Vadum, "We can eavesdrop on our foes without them knowing."
"Pull up the log," the Arbiter commanded, "See what we can learn about our quarry."
The Shipmaster placed an open hand on the screen, and slid his fingers together to make a fist while white symbols on a backdrop of green responded to his touch, and the console began to emit a conglomeration of Sangheili voices. Again, the Shipmaster waved his hand over the interface, cleaning up the signal, and a single voice became audible while all present were fixated with perked ears.
"Our communications are once again functioning. Call to the fleet. Tell them we require assistance in keeping these Heretics at bay."
"From the space battle," the Arbiter said, receiving a nod from the Shipmaster as he isolated another transmission.
"Shipmaster Vol, Fleet Master 'Mdama has ordered you to continue your investigation of the planet. The Librarian's pet has convinced him this world is of importance. Scour the surface. Report findings to the Song of Retribution . We will continue our pursuit of the Heretics' ships."
"Shipmaster Vol?" 'Vadum said inquisitively as he once again turned to the Arbiter, the only one in the room who had an expression of comprehension, "It would seem our adversary is commanded by the Justiciar of Truth, Kar Vol."
"Justiciar of Truth?" Princess Luna said, "Is this some kind of office, or perhaps a rank?"
"Do not let his title's noble diction fool you," Shipmaster 'Vadum counseled, "He was an enforcer for the Prophet of Truth in the days of the Covenant, his sole purpose to exterminate non-believers and heretics. He was the most wrathful, ruthless, brutal Sangheili I ever met in my service, and he has had ample time to hone his craft. It would seem the Prophets' absence has allowed him to find new purpose with the Remnant, as many who share his family name have also done."
Another uneasy look went through the equines' gathering.
"What else does it say?" the Arbiter petitioned, and again, a new transmission was isolated.
"Ships will maintain orbit above the planet. Dispatch advance teams to find the artifact, and to secure an area suitable for Fleet Master 'Mdama's eventual arrival. Standard infantry will provide security."
"The battle-group stayed behind," concluded the Arbiter aloud as the Shipmaster continued tapping away at the console.
"We have intercepted a distress beacon on the surface. Moving to investigate. Postpone landing operations until further notice."
"Landing operations?" Twilight asked aloud, her rhetoric going unanswered.
"Heretics' presence confirmed! Cleanse this world of their blasphemous ways!"
"And there's the fanaticism," Spike said sarcastically, pointing to the console as he shook his head, "Whatever happened to tolerance and religion going together?"
Twilight gave him a reprimanding look, but Spike only shrugged it away as yet another signal came over the console's speakers.
"Two of our brothers were lost in the fray. The Heretics are a worthy opponent, but cowardly. They have allied with indigenous beasts, and since slunk back into the shadows like the vermin they are; contact has been lost. Continue with the landing operations. Scouting parties, continue the search. The Librarian's pet would not have directed us here without purpose."
"That was the most recent of the transmissions," Shipmaster 'Vadum said after a pause as the console went silent at his touch, "Everything else I found in the log is either irrelevant or scrambled."
The Arbiter nodded, his focus geared more towards getting the facts straight in his own mind than seeing to it that the others understood as well. When he was sure he had everything right, he turned to his hosts.
"It would seem we know the cause of the Remnant's actions thus far," he said.
"The Librarian's pet? Heretics? Song of Retribution?" Applejack, frustrated and confused, responded, "What exactly did we learn!?"
"The Librarian's pet is likely a Reclaimer," explained the Arbiter, "Who, I am unsure. I know not of any alliances between the Remnant and humans. But, the Librarian... such could only mean they are indeed here to search for an artifact."
"Gosh, every answer brings up more questions," Twilight said quietly to herself, causing Pinkie to zip to her side.
"Yeah, but if we take time to explain everything right now, it might get boring," the pink mare whispered as if telling a secret.
"Who is the Librarian?" asked Princess Luna, oblivious to the words of the mares behind her.
"A god," came the simple answer as the Shipmaster's ragged mandibles twitched, "A Forerunner of Requiem."
"And what of the rest of these... implications?" Celestia continued, her patience beginning to wane, "Please, do enlighten us with your conclusions, and let us make some sense of this babble."
The Arbiter drew a breath, and stepped forward.
"They came here originally to search for an artifact, but were surprised when we engaged them here. They must have thought we would pursue the fleet's heart, the Song of Retribution , away from this system. Their reinforcements saw to our fleet's displacement, and they reassigned a team of Zealot scouts that had been searching for the relic they believe is here to investigate our Phantom's distress beacon. Upon finding Twilight and Rainbow Dash at the crash site, they attacked. The events that followed their aggression forged our alliance, which was witnessed and reported, likely by the third of the Zealots we never found."
The Shipmaster passed his hand over the screen of the console, and more glyphs began flashing across the interface, his eyes watching them intently.
"The good news is they do not know where we are," the white Elite added, "We walked to this palace. They had no communications or ship borne signals to hone in on, and once we destroyed our drop ship, all hints of our existence disappeared in their eyes."
"Except, of course, that they saw you," Rainbow Dash scoffed, feeling quite secure in the princesses' massive shadows.
"All they know now is that we are on the planet," The Shipmaster continued confidently, "And we know right where they will be."
He stepped back from the interface, a series of symbols highlighted at the screen's center, and the Arbiter stepped to his side.
"Landing coordinates?" the warrior asked as he saw the console's face, confirming he was right with the Shipmaster's determined nod.
An unanimous growl reverberated from the Elites on the far side of the room, and they grew uneasy in their previously disciplined formation, like dogs waiting to be let loose of their chains.
"Wait," Twilight said in anxiety, stepping forward as she spoke the thoughts, blatantly present in their distressed eyes, of all equines in the massive room, "Just wait. Should we really instigate violence without first attempting diplomacy?"
"They do not see you as anything more than common beasts," the Shipmaster growled in response as he stepped between the Arbiter and the ponies, "and they see us as the pinnacle of disgrace. Why would they take time to consider your pleas, or show us any mercy?" The Shipmaster began to pace like a caged lion as he continued, his voice subtly climbing, "Our sole purpose now must be to prevent the Remnant from finding an artifact. Suffering is the only path suitable for non-believers in their eyes, and a relic's presence here marks this planet as a temple of the utmost sanctity. If they do, their wrath will be swift, and this world will burn until its surface is but glass."
As the Shipmaster finished, the Arbiter groaned, realizing what his counterpart had done. The shock value of this revelation was obvious in the response of the equines, the Elements' eyes widening as they stepped away from the aliens, and the alicorns stepping forward in silence, their glaring eyes and parted mouths a prelude to their horns and eyes beginning to radiate an intense white light.
"What?" Celestia seethed, her power, for the minute, contained.
The Shipmaster glared back, facing the alicorns down as his wide chest heaved with each breath, and the Elites behind him tensed their hands over the grips of the weapons on their hips.
"You did not tell me the scale of our enemy's capacity for annihilation!" Celestia accused, her voice well above her regular tone as she advanced upon the Shipmaster, "The entire world is in peril?!".
"Nor did you tell me the truth of this prophet, whom you hold on such a lofty pedestal!" 'Vadum yelled back, bearing down on the alicorn as well.
"Silence!" bellowed the Arbiter suddenly, stepping between Celestia and 'Vadum, his bulk and presence defusing the aggression that had become so prominent in the cavernous archives as he first glared down the princess, then turned aggressively to the Shipmaster, his arms flexed at his sides.
"I will not sit here squabbling like children while our enemies prepare a force to meet us," 'Vadum snarled as he leaned around the Arbiter's girth, pointing an accusatory finger at the alicorns, "We should be out there, meeting them in battle, as our honor mandates! But they would seek to appease them!" He looked into the Arbiter's eyes challengingly, "We should not have entered this alliance!"
"Know your place, Shipmaster!" The Arbiter roared, towering over his counterpart with shoulders cocked; he'd never had to do such a thing before, but that only made his stand against his brother in arms all the more potent, "Do not let your passion endanger our purpose! I am aware of the traditions of old, and of the sacred laws of combat. We will not retreat, we will not surrender, no matter how dark the night or how ferocious the storm, but I will be the one to give orders!"
"And neither you nor I have the authority to risk the lives of millions!" Celestia, emboldened by the Shipmaster's suppression, criticized, "You told me only that Equestria was at risk from this Covenant Remnant, so I acted to preserve my kingdom, but I cannot sanction matters that endanger the entire world!"
"There will be no risk if we stop them," The Arbiter rebutted as he whirled around to face the ponies, "Yes, this world is in danger, and yes, this information was withheld from you. Does this make the threat any less potent? You are the leader of your keep. I suggest you use your position for accomplishing something rather than allowing fear to give birth to inaction."
As the Arbiter spoke, the Shipmaster prowled back into the midst of the other Sangheili, leaving him to consult the still angry princesses.
"If you have warriors, now is the time," the Arbiter urged, "This is the only counsel I can give, and you would be wise to heed my words. I know not if this prophecy of yours has any truth in it, but I assure you, the danger posed by the Remnant is very real and very near."
The Arbiter turned to his comrades.
"Ready yourselves for combat!" he bellowed, causing an excited ruckus from the other Elites as they cast their fists above their heads.
"You would meet them in battle?" Luna asked, shocked, "You are hardly an army, and Equestria must be mobilized if we are to fight these invaders."
"You are correct," the Arbiter answered, turning back to the alicorns, "We are not an army, we are a resistance. We are but a few, daring to stand against many. And so we shall continue to stand, as long as honor flows through my veins and vigor fills my hearts," he placed a fist over his breast as he paused, looking fiercely to the sisters "Will you stand with us?"
The alicorns were silent, and the mares behind, their eyes wide, had subconsciously moved even closer to the exit. There was no response to the Arbiter's question.
"Very well then," he rumbled as he turned around, and stalked back to his own kind, "We will fight our mutual enemy, even if you will not."
He stopped at the head of the formation where the Shipmaster was standing, his shoulders slouched as he glared across the floor to Celestia, whose demeanor was just now beginning to calm down. The Arbiter placed a hand on his shoulder, and the intensity of their eyes met. The Arbiter gave a nod, and walked past his comrades and out of the room while the Shipmaster raised his arms to his men.
"Let us remind this bastard Vol and his dogs that the Swords of Sanghelios still draw breath!" 'Vadum yelled, his roar reciprocated as he drew his icy blue sword and thrust it into the air, "TO WAR!"
Author's Note
Sorry this chapter took so long. Been super busy lately, and wanted to make this chapter right. More coming soon. Leave a comment on what you think!
Contingency
The doors to the library slammed home, and the reverberating footsteps of the aliens were cut off as their tall figures disappeared behind the ornate entryway. The silence, contrasted to the noise of before, rang through the vaulting rafters of Equestria's archives and through the ears of the equines left in stunned reticence.
"How's that for a first impression?" Spike said under his breath as he nervously looked around; he was the first to speak, though unnoticed, since silence had taken over the library.
"Canterlot's guests?" Rarity suddenly said, oblivious to the comment that had preluded hers as she raised her eyebrows and glanced to the others, the door's echo evaporating into the cavernous air, "We are extending hospitality towards those brutes?"
"I've met porcupines with side aches that were friendlier than them," Applejack scoffed as she jerked her head towards the door, her brow furrowed and her cheeks tempered red.
"That's actually, um, not a metaphor," Fluttershy said quietly from the mare's side, still shaken by the receding shock of her first encounter with the aliens, "They were really mean."
"We've consorted with them since yesterday," Princess Luna said calmly, looking with a reassuring nod towards the yellow pegasus, whose face was still partially concealed behind her long mane, as it had been during the previous altercation, "That was the first incident between us that could be described as less than agreeable."
"Yeah, well, still," Rainbow Dash grumbled from the wall as she leisurely propped herself up against one of the book shelves, "Who are they to be stepping to you like that? They're lucky I'm, uh..."
"Impaired?" suggested Spike as Dash hesitated to find a word that didn't admit weakness.
"Yeah."
"T'weren't respectful at all," Applejack grumbled as she shook her head disapprovingly, readjusting her hat as she did so.
"They are a martial bunch," Twilight admitted as her eyes remained thoughtfully locked onto the doors across the room, "Their reasons for being so must be compelling. Either they think their fight is more important than maintaining some degree of hospitality, or they take after the Minotaurs in an instinctive tendency towards aggression."
"No. They proved too sophisticated yesterday for that," Celestia rectified, her eyes on the door as her thoughts wandered to the entities beyond its oaken threshold, "They were careful to be respectful and polite, to the point of moving valuables in their quarters to other rooms to avoid breaking anything of ours. I think, perhaps when we doubted the scale of the war that is on the nation's doorstep, the Shipmaster became provoked. Twilight's indication towards diplomacy, Equestria's standby in times like these, must have prompted an attempt to convey the urgency of the situation with intimidation."
"Why would he do that?" asked Fluttershy quietly, flicking her mane out of her face.
"For the same reason the Royal Canterlot Voice was employed by my sister and I during an age since past," Luna answered as she turned to face the others, "A bolstering voice begs to be heard, thus the triumph of the yell. And so we have listened to the Elites' dire message. An enemy to this entire world is upon us, and they must be dealt with, by any means necessary."
"The Remnant?" Rarity asked unsurely, "Is that what their foes are called? The Covenant Remnant?"
"Yes."
"And they're predisposed to set our planet to fire simply because we're here?" Rarity furthered, uncomfortable as the reality of her words sank in with the princess' confirming nods.
"That would seem to be correct, by the testimony of the Elites."
"Why?"
"We're non-believers," Celestia explained matter-of-factly, "They're a religious sect, a cult for all intents and purposes. And, with us being heathens..."
"We don't adhere to a cultural set of ideals we've never had any contact with, and so they declare us abominations?" Twilight said aloud, perturbed, "Can any culture, alien or not, really be that ignorant? If that's really true, then I'm starting to regret bringing up the whole diplomacy thing."
Fluttershy came to the unicorn's side, tilting her head as she offered consolation.
"It was a good thought," she whispered faintly.
"War is never favorable," agreed Celestia, turning to face the others in all her imposing majesty, and her voice deepened to a grim new tone, "It guarantees only death and ruin, and nothing can remedy the damage of conflict once it has been done."
The atmosphere of the room grew heavier as the princess conveyed the seriousness of her words with stern eyes, looking into the gaze of each of her subjects slowly, until Pinkie Pie perked up from the back of the congregation, instantly lightening the mood.
"Unless it's the card game," the rosy mare declared gleefully, "Or a prank war. Or a water balloon war! Then it's really fun!"
Celestia let out a meager sigh as she grew slightly frustrated, believing the mare hadn't taken her warning seriously. But, when Pinkie's glittering blue eyes met her own, and her smile lit up the room, she forgot her resentment. Yes, the mare had taken some weight from her statement, but what else could she expect from the Element of Laughter? She knew the importance of what would transpire in the near future, as did the others, but for her own sake and the sake of her friends, she made it a joke so as to take away the potency of fear. Whether or not she'd done so knowingly was a separate matter; the effect was the same regardless.
"We will search for alternative methods later," Celestia announced, taking the center of the group once again as her authoritative voice commanded attention, "For now, we must trust them, and treat the Remnant as our own foe as much as they are a foe to the Arbiter."
"Trust them?" Rarity countered, stepping forward as she unknowingly conveyed her own doubt laden fears, "But what if they're wrong?"
Princess Luna turned her dark eyes to Rarity, humbling the mare simply with a glance.
"And if they're right?"
Rarity seemed to shrink beneath the alicorn's deep blue gaze, the truth in the simple statement letting her know just what they had to lose. At that moment, it became obvious what was at stake, and any lingering doubts about the integrity of the princess' decision were discarded.
"So, what now?" Applejack asked humbly, "We offer 'em our help?"
"We promised we would," Luna answered as she looked inquisitively to her sister, "Can we really afford to do anything else?"
The Princess of the Sun's answer was clear enough in her posture as she stood slightly taller, closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply as if preparing to hold her breath for a duration of time. When the white alicorn looked back down, in a calm voice, she directed those that would follow her lead.
"Make for the Hall of the Elements," she said to the mares firmly, yet gently, "As their Bearers, I believe it fit for you to be as prepared for action as the rest of us."
The six seemed worried at first by the princess's decree, but with her presence a reassurance, they nodded, and followed Twilight as she led the brisk procession out the library's nearest doors. Celestia, once the Elements had gone, turned to her sister.
"Luna, assemble a team of our finest guards, and meet me at the armory, I know not if we go to war, but I will not see our kingdom brought into harm's way without doing anything to keep our citizens safe."
The dark alicorn nodded in silent agreement, and likewise turned to leave.
"What about me?" came a small voice beyond the princess' plane of view, and she oriented herself to see Spike looking up to her with wide verdant eyes.
"I would like you to stay here," she said, causing his spines to droop a bit as she stooped to his level, "If, for any reason, something were to go awry, I shall send a courier with a message back here. Should this happen, you must make drafts of the message, and send letters to the Crystal Empire, the Griffon Kingdoms, the Shetland Isles, Saddle Arabia, Zebrica and the Kingdoms of Tauren and Tarragonia."
The dragon nodded confirmation when the alicorn's eyebrows raised slightly, wordlessly asking him if he understood. But, when she turned to leave, he trotted after her, calling out, "Wait!"
She stopped midstride, and looked back to the small reptile.
"What kind of letter will it be?" he asked, his voice quivering.
The princess feigned a smile in an attempt to calm him, and knelt sincerely as she put a reassuring hoof on his shoulder.
"Let us hope we will not have to write it," she said calmly, and with another smile, she rose and turned to the center of the library while the pitter-patter of footsteps receded from the room.
Completely alone now, the princess' gaze drifted to the console, still alight in the middle of the chamber. She strode over to it, focusing on each of the white characters as they flashed by over a backdrop of green in the upper right section of the screen. In the console's center was a hologram of a reminiscent sight; the globe. One continent was central to the screen, and on that continent was a singular red dot. It was all too familiar. She knew that place. She knew their landing zone... and she grew worried.
As she committed the details of the hologram to memory, she once again heard the doors open, and she turned to see an armored unicorn guard enter, his crested helmet held at his side.
"Your Highness," he said in a deep voice as he gave a slight bow, "The VIP has arrived. He is currently awaiting you in the throne room."
The princess smiled slightly, the ends of her mouth drawing up the slightest bit.
"Just in time," she mused to herself as she slowly glanced back to the flashing landing zone, marked on the hologram's surface, "We could use as many professionals as we can afford about now."
Meanwhile...
Heavy boots thundered into the palace courtyard, their weight attributed to the burden of interspecies cooperation. The Shipmaster lumbered at the front of the procession of extraterrestrials, still seething from the encounter in the library. Behind him, the Arbiter and the rest of his company followed, their attitudes neutral and composed, or at least, contained within. But despite the Shipmaster's anger, the birds in the trees of the palace gardens a short distance off were all but content to sing their merriness, obvious even to outlanders, to the sky. For the peace of the air of the courtyard, the aliens had an air of anger, like the feeling of a bitter wind, about them.
"You have the coordinates on your harness's display?" the Arbiter called out to the Shipmaster, a few body lengths ahead of him; he responded with an affirmative grunt over his shoulder, his gangly hand coming up to the side of his helmet as he adjusted his headgear.
They reached the palace gate on the far side of the courtyard, the same entrance they'd used to enter the mountainous fortress of Canterlot the night before, and the Shipmaster, the others coming up behind him, looked up at the towering doors.
"Open the gate!" he said in a loud voice, opening his arms challengingly to some unseen entity on top of the bulwark, "We will not be restricted any further by weaklings' petitions for peace!"
"Shipmaster," the Arbiter rumbled from behind as the Commander's request went unanswered, the gates remaining still, "calm yourself."
The white armored Elite whirled around.
"Peace, no matter where, will not solve anything. Not peace in mind, not peace in heart, and certainly not peace in action," he snarled, "There would be no reasoning with the Covenant, and the Equestrians would seek to do just that. They disgrace us with their passive ways, their cowardice in refusing to meet battle. The peace they seek will be their poison!"
"Yes, but rage is poison just as potent," the Arbiter retorted, his voice climbing ever so slightly, "Calm yourself, before your anger molds into bloodlust. Be not too eager to meet battle; such would be our meager band's undoing."
"Meager?" 'Vadum answered sharply, stopping to point a slender finger towards the warriors, Sangheili and Mgalekgolo alike, at his sterling counterpart's back, "I need not remind you this company is comprised of the finest fighters in our army. I would take them against thousands of the Covenant, or tens of thousands of these... Equestrians. And what's more, I would take them to victory! I rue the moment we landed on this planet of... cravens."
The others were silent, the Hunters mumbling quietly to themselves in guttural groans as they simply waited to follow the Elites at the front of the congregation once more.
"They hesitate to risk their world," The Arbiter reasoned once the Shipmaster had concluded, "Where is their fault? We have less to lose than they, for the toll they pay does not necessarily end with their lives, but with their planet."
"And what of our toll?" came the rejoinder, the Shipmaster's facial scars highlighted on his cheek, "So long as we are stuck here, we are as much a part of this world as they, yet those who call this planet home are less eager to keep it safe than we are! If the Remnant takes this world, we burn with them. We have just as much to lose as they, for if we were to become martyrs, any chance our army has at surmounting these trials dies with us, and what is left of our race will war itself into extinction!"
There came no response this time, only the Arbiter's burning amber eyes looking to him with his head slightly cocked to the side, waiting. 'Vadum returned the gaze, checking himself and realizing the offensive posture he'd unknowingly assumed in his superior's presence. He straightened up, quickly averting his gaze as his apology, though silent, was administered in a downwards glance; the Arbiter accepted with a nod, and the Shipmaster clicked his remaining mandibles, letting a deep breath out in a heavy sigh.
"Hence, my frustration," 'Vadum continued with a small outreach, picking up where he'd left off with a much more placid tone, "I was wrong to become wrathful, but my reasons for doing so are hardly a sin."
"I understand, Shipmaster," answered the Arbiter, his tall, burly silhouette marked by an outline of glossy silver against a backdrop of the black armor of the SpecOps Elites behind him, like a white star in the night sky, "but there is still time. Do not forsake hope that we will persist, as we always have. The differences we have with our hosts are but another trial, hardly equal to the hardships we have already passed."
"Just as this gate is but an obstacle," the Shipmaster groaned, undoubtedly anxious about getting past the titanic doors.
"We haven't a key to open it," the Arbiter began, admiring the gates' impressive height, "But between the Mgalekgolo's cannons and our assorted heavy weaponry, perhaps we could muster enough firepower to blow it off its gilded hinges."
The Arbiter had meant the suggestion as a joke, but his grin faded when he found the Shipmaster to appear to be taking the proposition seriously as he sized up the door, and looked eagerly to the Hunters and to the Elites' sparse Fuel Rod Cannons. But, before he had to dispel any attempts at high explosives' distribution, the Arbiter and his company found themselves no longer alone in the palace courtyard.
"Arbiter," came a female voice, announcing its presence from behind as Princesses Celestia and Luna, accompanied by a squadron of guards, strode across the lawn towards them with purpose, fully dressed in armor with weapons at their sides; to Luna was a short, double-edged sword, the blade and handle comprised of an ethereal black metal, the quillon and pommel made of a lustrous silver steel, a shroud of dark mist encompassing the entirety of the weapon even in its sterling sheathe at her waste; to Celestia was a long golden spear, the white metal that made up the weapon's head forged into the shape of an elegant yet deadly weaving point, the guards of the blade coming up about a glowing orb of light set in an open space at the blade's base.
They came up to the rear of the formation, and the functionaries of the congregation's leaders parted like water around a rock as they made a path to the Arbiter and Shipmaster 'Vadum.
"Let us go or join us," the Shipmaster growled preemptively as he stepped towards the alicorns, their figures made substantially larger by the metal about their shoulders and breasts, "but do not waste precious time with idle talk."
"Nothing you can say or do will prevent this engagement, so do not make use of the armor you wear, and attempt to restrain us by force," added the Arbiter as he made to turn away from the alicorns so as to attend to the door, fully invested in the presumption that they were being detained by their hosts, "You may not think it, but we are doing your world a kindness. You must not prevent us from leaving."
The Royal Sisters shared a tense glance as the Arbiter turned his back to them, and stepping towards their departing guests, Celestia bid they listen with authority in her voice.
"We will not prevent you from leaving," she announced, causing the aliens to stop midstride and slowly, disbelievingly, turn back around, "But we will prevent you from leaving without us."
The Arbiter now shared a precarious glance with his white-armored counterpart. The tall Sangheili flexed his jaw in hesitation as the Shipmaster at his side shrugged his initial confusion for all to see, and the pair looked expectantly back to the siblings.
"We came to uphold Equestria's end of our alliance. We are in this together," Luna said, giving a subtle bow, "I pray you are wrong about the Remnant, that you are exaggerating about the totality of the threat they pose, but if you are not, then every Equestrian sword belongs adjacent yours in the fray."
Many of the Elites stared at the princesses in doubt ridden shock, looking disbelievingly back to their commanders as they seemed to be considering the proposal in a positive light. But, when the Arbiter stepped forward with an open hand, their shock turned to disbelief.
"So it shall be," he said with a set brow, shooting a short growl to the ranks of the others when a quiet commotion trickled through the formation, "Let us draw swords together, and face the Remnant as one."
The princesses shared a moment of unspoken mutual respect with the Arbiter as they simply looked one another in the eye. There were volumes spoken in that shared gaze, volumes written in conviction and ideals, in what their eyes had seen and what they expected to see in the near future, and in the determination to create the future as they would have it.
"Who is your escort?" the ivory Commander asked as he stepped to the Arbiter's flank, interrupting the stare as he pointed to the armored guards at the princesses' rear.
In response, the most ornately armored of the group came to the front of the formation; he was tall and heavily built compared to the others, his long, pointed horn as white as his fur, and his blue mane swept down his brow like an azure, feathered tide. His shoulder plates were bulkier than the others', and his gilded breastplate was engraved in silver, a feature lacking in the metal shells of those at his back. His helmet, under one forelimb, had a crest much more extravagant than the others' as well; as opposed to the standard blue plumage of those behind him, the stallion in question had a crest composed of red feathers, the likeness of fire seeming to dance in their essence, and on his flank was hung a sheathed, curved cavalry sabre. He appeared, with distinction, to be a much higher rank than the others, both by his presence and his equipment.
"Captain Shining Armor," Princess Celestia said as she gestured to the white unicorn as he gave a slight nod, introductions finally putting a name to the individual every Sangheili in the courtyard seemed to be sizing up, "former commander in chief of the Equestrian Royal Guard and current prince of the Crystal Empire, Equestria's closest ally, as well as ten of the best and brightest guards this nation has to offer."
The Captain, his phoenix feather crested helmet still under his forelimb, straightened up beneath the weight of his polished war suit, and in a deep, somewhat scratchy voice, he addressed the strangers before him.
"Once I heard about the situation, I came as quickly as I could," he explained, "I've been briefed on the events of late by Princess Celestia. On behalf of the Crystal Empire and all who call it home, I extend my communion."
The Arbiter locked eyes with Shining Armor's blue gaze, his nostrils flaring as thoughts coursed through his mind, all the while the Shipmaster gauged the ten congregated behind the captain; four unicorns, three pegasi and three with neither horns nor wings. Their gold-plated armor, imprinted on the shoulder with a symbol of a serrated arrowhead against a background of a flaming sun, was far lighter than the Captain's, and their armament was different as well. Blades set into their gauntlets, spears over their shoulders and swords on their flanks seemed to make up their arsenal.
"You are a warrior, yes? A leader of your people's armies?" the Arbiter asked Shining, stepping forward with rhetoric in his voice as the Captain gave a nod, "And, how many enemies have you killed to achieve your titles?"
This obviously surprised the stallion, as his eyes suddenly dilated and he drew in a breath, making a brief, uncertain glance to the princess at his side. He turned his head inquisitively to the side as he looked back to the Elites, and assertively, he answered.
"Neither Equestria nor the Crystal Empire has been to war in centuries," he explained, his composure not faltering beneath the Arbiter's intimidating stare, "but the coalition of our nations' standing armies are highly trained and well equipped. We're ready for anything the Remnant can throw at us."
The Arbiter looked to the Shipmaster as the stallion concluded, the Commander in turn leaning back on one leg and crossing his arms over his thick chest as he looked down to Shining Armor's profound eyes.
"We've trained our entire lives to defend our homeland," furthered Shining sharply, taking the Elites' inspection of him to be one of condescending judgment, "and we're honored that the chance to do so has fallen to us... Sir."
There was silence again, made meaningful as Shining's persistent stare broke into the Shipmaster's probing verdant gaze.
"I like this one," the white armored Elite mused to the Arbiter at his side, nodding slightly to himself as he came to respect the Captain's refusal to let their daunting presence cause his confidence to falter, "There is hunger in his eyes, and honor in his words. We will test your mettle today Captain, and we shall see if you truly deserve your rank. The Remnant will provide your baptism."
The Shipmaster turned as he finished, shooting a glaring smile to the Captain over his shoulder as he strode back to the SpecOps Elites, and began organizing them into small squads.
"You have assembled your warriors," the Arbiter said to the princesses, looking approvingly to the armored ponies before him, "Now, where are your champions?"
"They will be arriving shortly," Celestia assured, "They were dispatched to the Hall of the Elements to retrieve the talismans of their namesake. From there, they will accompany us to this landing zone. But, they are to be kept near the reserve rather than at the front. They are simply too important to Equestria's national security to risk unnecessarily."
"It shall be so," the Arbiter yielded with a nod, "I will make sure they are kept in relative safety. The fathoms of our enemy will have to come through me before they do them any harm."
As the Sangheili concluded, Shining Armor looked to him.
"What size is the force we're expecting?" the stallion asked.
"An advance infiltration team sent in to secure areas of importance for the rest of the force now in orbit aboard the remaining Covenant ships: a few teams of Sangheili, Unggoy, perhaps even Ibie'shan," explained the Arbiter concisely, "We should expect at least a few squadrons of ground troops, but no more than a battalion, and perhaps a small aerial presence. Such was the custom of the Covenant in the old days, to send in small teams of Zealots and independent squads of shock troops to perform reconnaissance on a newly discovered world, to search for and secure areas of interest and to test indigenous capabilities. The log did not specify the numbers of the advance force, only their landing zone."
"Right... about that," Shining Armor murmured upon the Arbiter's conclusion, "According to the longitudinal coordinates specified in the console's log, the landing zone they've selected is quite close to a population center. They'll be setting down a few miles outside of Trottingham, a small farming town at the foot of the Unicorn Range, just west of here."
The Arbiter looked back and forth between the Captain and the princesses as they continued.
"While our primary objective is obviously to disrupt this landing operation," Luna furthered, "we need to make sure Trottingham's citizens stay safe as well."
"Then we will contain the landing force," the Arbiter offered simply, "Strike them swiftly and prevent them from retreating. I doubt they realize their proximity to this settlement, and if they do, they will hardly deem it worthy of their attention. If it is not a military outpost or a concentration of compiled knowledge, they will likely avoid it for the time being."
Nods of approval went through the congregation as the Arbiter spoke.
"What kind of weapons systems will our enemy be operating?" Captain Armor asked, prying for details and as much intelligence as he could gather.
"The same as ours," came the baritone reply, "Projectile weapons, directed energy and plasma."
"Good," nodded Shining, "Between our combative magic and the princess' weaponry, we should have a comparable arsenal."
"Yes, but if distance were to be closed, expect swords to be drawn," continued the Arbiter, offering words of warning to the surprise of his counterpart.
"Swords?" the Captain asked aloud, prompting a half-hearted snort from the sterling Sangheili towering above him, "Sorry, I meant no offense. I just, didn't expect a space faring race to still employ fencing."
"Swordsmanship is a treasure of our culture," chimed in the Shipmaster, rejoining the conversation he'd been listening in on.
"There is no more honorable way to kill your enemy," the Arbiter began, his demeanor a bit too moderate given the subject he was addressing, "To use a sword in battle, you must face your foe in single combat on equal ground, and the victor is not the one who is better equipped or of a higher rank, but the one whose skill as a warrior is greater."
The Captain nodded affirmation, his counterpart's fondness for his chosen method of combat present in more than his tone. The alien's passion for combative fencing seemed almost... excessive.
"You wear a sword, do you not?" the Sangheili asked curiously, gesturing to the sheathed blade at the Captain's side.
"My sabre?" Shining Armor checked with a nod, looking back to his scabbard, "Abraxas it is called, a product of Equestrian magic and the Crystal Empire's forge masters. You will not find a finer weapon on this world, though I have yet to actually use it in battle."
"Good," grunted the Arbiter, "Then it will still be sharp."
Just then, the conversation between the Arbiter and the Captain was interrupted by a new voice, coming from the center of the courtyard, nearer the palace, and upon hearing it, Shining's ears perked up and his eyes were graced with the unmistakable light of joy.
"Shining?" Twilight Sparkle called out disbelievingly, the Arbiter looking up to see her begin to trot ahead of the other Elements, heading straight for the Captain in question, "When did you get here?!"
She reached him at a canter and threw her forelimbs around his thick neck, his armor rattling as first he staggered, then reciprocated the gesture, closing his eyes amidst a wide smile as his chin alighted atop the unicorn mare's head.
"Twiley," he crooned softly as he pulled slightly away from the embrace, "Come on, you didn't really think I'd let you and your friends do all the cool stuff without me?"
"I know, this is so freaky cool!" yelled Pinkie, materializing between Shining and Twilight suddenly and causing them to retract from one another to make room for her, "Aliens?! That's way better than all those silly friendship reports!"
The pink mare's response immediately seized the attention of Princess Celestia, whose cock-eyed glance caused Pinkie's excitement to slightly wane as she realized what she'd said in the presence of her friendship teacher. However, the gaze that caused the most discomfort from the affectionate group was that of the Arbiter, whose disapproving expression caught the Captain off guard; the stallion immediately wiped the smile from his face, and to Twilight's chagrin, he returned to soldier mode, straightening up as he cleared his throat and assumed a stoic expression to match the faces of his metal clad company. It was abundantly clear the professionalism of the combative company of aliens.
"Is this a courtship ritual?" The Arbiter asked unsurely as he looked away from Shining and to Celestia.
"They're siblings," came the simple response, which was in turn answered by a click of the Sangheili's mandibles.
"Are we ready?" the Shipmaster called out as the rest of the Elements joined the assembly, "The longer we delay, the longer the Remnant has to prepare defenses."
"The quickest route will be through the Whispering Wood, and up through Eagle Pass," answered Shining, eager to reacquire the respect he'd achieved before he'd shown some apparent weakness in his sentiment for his sister, "We'll head west from here, cut through the forest and arrive in the mountains above the landing zone."
"We embark," Shipmaster 'Vadum barked out upon Shining's conclusion, "Patrol line! Captain, you and your forces know the terrain. You will take point as our orienteer, and I will be close behind. Hunters and heavy weapons operators take up the rear with Equestria's champions."
"Very well," Princess Luna agreed as the entire assembly was set into motion with Celsetia's hoof meeting the ground, the titanic gates coming free at her will, "let's get moving."
The reverberating thud of the gates meeting their stoppers carried out into the clear blue day, and together, the alliance of ponies and aliens strode off into the hills, the sun glinting off of armor, weapons, and the jeweled polish of the Elements of Harmony, strung about the necks of the innocent as they walked in the wake of their malefic company.
Later...
The forest was quiet, even as the Elites, for all their size, moved through it. The breeze danced in the leaves of the trees, countless birch and oak coloring the air above them green and yellow as the branches allowed only spectacled glimpses of the sky down to those treading beneath their protection. The birds were quiet; occasionally, the whistling tone of a meadowlark or a finch would find its way through the sylvan crowd, but for the most part, the forest was breathtakingly reticent. Hence, the Whispering Wood's name.
From the rear of the patrol line, which was cumbersomely making its way uphill along a trail cutting through the foliage, Twilight, and the rest of the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony, could only watch as the Royal Sisters, the guards and the Elites proceeded before them; that is, they could watch while they tried to keep up. The forest floor was damp, causing hooves to lose their grip every now and again as rocks were surmounted or roots were hurdled.
Yet, despite the mares' trouble, the Elites toting the massive cannons directly before them, or the Hunters' with their even more imposing bulk, were having little trouble traversing the wooded, hilly trail, slowly leading its way up to the cloud-shrouded mountain pass above. There was something about the way they moved, the Shipmaster, the Elites, even the Hunters. They didn't shuffle or trudge like the guards, and they didn't stride like they had in the palace, like the princesses, near the front of the column, were doing now.
No, the aliens... stalked. They prowled. They didn't look where they stepped, yet every boot's fall was perfectly silent, stepping between branches and twigs so as not to make a sound, and avoiding soft patches of earth and mud to keep from leaving tracks. Their heads were erect, their breathing, despite the exertion needed to ascend the slope, was steady, and their weapons bristled on their backs and hips like spines. There was a beauty, an elegance, in the danger they posed as their silent eyes and concealed faces probed the undergrowth as they, ever faithfully, persisted towards the top of the pass and onto the other side, where the real prize awaited: the landing zone, and the prey it would harbor.
Yet, the Arbiter lingered behind the others, hovering quietly around the Elements like a shadow. He hadn't spoken yet; none of them had, even as Shining Armor occasionally drifted back in the patrol line to walk, like the Arbiter, alongside the Elements like a sentient shield. The seriousness of the situation was ever present, potent in every step nearer the coalition came to the Remnant's landing zone, and the peril that would surely accompany their arrival.
The trail was slick for some reason; perhaps it had rained earlier, the weather system of the mountains far different from that of the plains. Regardless, at an exceptionally steep part of the trail, Rarity lost her footing, and stumbled into the mud of the path. She grumbled something under her breath as she tried to stand, only to fall again, sliding back down the trail and staining her forelimbs dark.
"Curses," she seethed as she tried to brush herself off after being reluctantly helped back to her hooves by an even dirtier albeit smiling Applejack, her previous stumbles on the trail obvious in the mud of her fur.
The others continued on, but Rarity stayed behind, joining Twilight as she passed her on the ascent.
"Just what have we gotten ourselves into?" the white unicorn asked with a disgusted expression, panting as she struggled to cope with the very foreign environment of the forest, "Out here in the wilderness, hiking up some mountain to fight a battle on the other side. It's not exactly my forte, if you know what I mean."
Twilight cocked her head to one side before responding.
"This whole thing has been a roller coaster for all of us. We're all pretty far out of our element here, not just you. All we can do is trust the princesses," she admitted, short of breath, "I just hope it doesn't get any more wild than it already is."
"I agree," Rarity responded as the others became farther away, "I mean, this is some serious business. Your brother is here, the princesses are outfitted for war, those guards aren't conventionally armored, and I've never seen the insignia they wear on their shoulder plates, even in all of our visits to Canterlot. They could be some kind of special group."
The lavender unicorn hesitated in her answer before offering a response.
"Special Forces?" she asked aloud, careful to monitor her tone.
Just then, the Arbiter materialized at the pair's side, his footsteps silent amidst the equines' clambering, exasperated hoof falls.
"You take pride in your reasoning," he said amicably as if he'd heard every word of their conversation, "You value it more than your pace."
Twilight looked up to him as she matched his slowing gate, his words and his delay in stride causing Rarity to gain a new energy, and climb on ahead to catch the other Elements, partially to escape the intimidation of the tall foreigner's presence.
"Thanks... I think," Twilight said with hesitance.
The Arbiter nodded, keeping an eye on the others as he spanned the soft trail.
"You are a scholar?" he asked her, looking down and to his side to meet the eyes of the young mare; his voice was quiet, but in the surrounding air, his whisper seemed like an orchestra of woodwinds.
"Not officially," she responded, watching where she placed her hooves, "I guess the most important thing I am is the Bearer of the Element of Magic, but alongside that I'm only a student."
"A student?" the Arbiter asked aloud as he checked the distance between himself and the nearest of the Elites; he was visibly confused, his head turned to the side as the gears turned in his head, "You are champions, but how did you come to be so? You are not politicians, not scholars, not philosophers, and you are certainly not warriors."
Twilight managed a small smile as she ducked under a fallen log, its trunk bisecting the trail; the Arbiter, directly to her side, simply stepped over it. When they emerged on the other side, she hummed slightly to herself whilst thinking of the best way to answer the foreigner's curiosities.
"Some say we were in the right place at the right time," she began, reflecting on the events of the Summer Sun Festival nearly two years ago, "that our reasons for becoming Bearers are nothing more than an outstanding coincidence."
The unicorn stumbled on a damp stone, her train of thought momentarily derailing.
"Others say it's fate, that the Elements chose us as Bearers just as anypony would make a choice," she continued objectively.
The Arbiter emitted a meager growl from the depths of his throat.
"We make our own fate," he rumbled as he averted his eyes, looking through the trees for anything out of place.
"I guess the result is the same though," Twilight admitted as she struggled to match the Arbiter's gate, "regardless of which school of thought you adhere to. During a time of crisis, when the very existence of the day was in danger, we intervened, and the Elements attached themselves to us in the process. Ever since, we've been champions, as you keep calling us. But before we were Bearers, we were all extraordinarily... normal."
She hesitated on the words before she continued.
"Applejack was a farmer. Dash was a weatherpony and a part-time stunt flier, Rarity was a seamstress and Fluttershy was a recluse with more animals than ponies for friends."
"And what of the euphoric one?" the Arbiter asked slowly, "What is her profession?"
"Pinkie organized and managed all festivities in Ponyville," came the answer, "I don't really know what to call that other than a party planner."
"She is quite odd," admitted the Arbiter matter-of-factly, "You all are, but she is the most strange."
The Arbiter seemed to reflect on his statement's truth a moment longer before he continued with another question.
"What are these... Elements of Harmony?" he asked, "What are these things that have caused you to transcend all the other commonplace beings of this world?"
"They're hard to explain," Twilight said, taking a moment to arrange her thoughts as she walked side by side with the Elite, "They take a physical form in the amulets of the others and in my crown, but they exist beyond tangibility. They're very old and very powerful, and they preserve the balance of... well, of everything. They undo evil and chaos, no matter their scale."
"And there are six of these Elements?" the Arbiter pressed for answers.
Twilight gave a nod, before reciting, "Magic, Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness and Laughter."
The Arbiter's brow descended, his tone contemplative and soft as he muttered to himself, "Such trivial things."
"Maybe," Twilight nodded, "But together, the smallest forces of good can keep even the greatest evil in check."
The Arbiter drew in a sharp breath, and his piercing eyes snapped to Twilight's, the simple profoundness of her statement stopping him in his tracks.
"So..." Twilight began again as she persisted walking, leaving the Arbiter slightly behind, "when the Elements are used together, good will always prevail."
"They are symbiotic?" the Sangheili asked as he caught up to the unicorn with two long steps.
"Yes," she acknowledged, smiling to herself as she realized the accurateness of the Arbiter's choice of words, "I guess that's a good way of putting it. Ever since we became Bearers, the six of us have been close... very close. Our friendship has proven its worth to Equestria many times over, but its worth to me is greater than all of that. I would treasure them even if the Elements never came to us. But then again, the Elements are kind of what brought us together in the first place."
The Arbiter looked up suddenly as the loud snap of a stick carried through the trees, and saw that the white unicorn mare had once again stumbled, a shattered stick beneath her hooves. The procession stopped momentarily, waiting for the echo of the wood's splitting to stop bouncing through the trees, carrying on once the reticence's embrace had returned. The forest once again soundless, the Arbiter picked up the conversation he'd shared with the unicorn walking adjacent his gaskins.
"These Elements may be as potent as you say against chaos and other things that would undo the balance your leaders have created in this land, but we are at war. Kindness does not win wars," he said slyly, suppressing a clever smile, "Nor does generosity or laughter. Weapons however..."
Twilight turned a pair of widened eyes up to him as he finished, and the Arbiter looked ahead, increasing his pace to hide his smile at the unicorn's apprehensive expression. As he pulled away from her, still in the midst of the Bearers but now beyond the range of a whisper, Rarity stumbled again, an exposed root stealing her balance on the slippery slope, and a very courteous puddle of mud took it upon itself to cushion her fall. The nearest of the Elites stopped to shake his head disapprovingly at the sight of the mare being helped back to her hooves by Rainbow Dash, who was quick to swoop in to rescue Rarity from the ground, while the Arbiter stopped his uphill climb to offer what could have been counted as words of encouragement.
"Come," the Sangheili said as he stopped to make sure she regained her balance, while the others of his race were all but too eager to ignore the faltering of the equine with little sympathy, "we are nearing the coordinates."
"Can we at least stop for a rest?" the mare said, panting as she looked down in horror at her dirty, matted fur.
The ponies of the party stopped at the request, looping back around to congregate together, but the aliens, save one, persisted skyward.
"Shipmaster," called out Shining Armor with a controlled volume, "Wait a moment please. Some of us are falling behind here."
"You would have us wait for them?" 'Vadum scoffed as he paused briefly to look over his shoulder at the Element Bearers, all the while continuing the climb, "Shall we tell the Remnant to delay their search for this artifact until the children you have named champions are well enough rested to comfortably ward them off? Time is not a luxury we have."
The Elites put distance between themselves and the ponies, and Rarity glared at their armored backs.
"How rude."
"He is proving quite bitter the more we associate with him," agreed Princess Luna as Fluttershy, her eyes shifty, watched him go in the hopes he wouldn't turn back around.
"Does that make him any less correct?" the Arbiter offered simply as he, the only one of the Elites still around, stooped to the equines' level, "War takes its toll on one's character. He was not always so."
"The stress?" asked Applejack, pushing her hat back to scratch her sweaty forehead.
"We can cope with stress," the Arbiter responded as he looked to the trees, "It is a constant affiliation with death, especially the death of one's brothers, that hardens the hearts. We few who have survived the crucible are close, but all others are far away. Such is the blessing, and the curse, of the comradery between soldiers. A friendship much different from yours, put simply."
The Arbiter was oblivious to the many stares he received, some sympathetic, others with only a trace of understanding.
"Give him time," the Sangheili continued as he picked up the hike once again, and began the arduous process of catching up to the others now far above him on the slope, "Especially after today, you may find him more satiable, or at least, you will understand him."
The coming trek resulted in a broken patrol, the aliens at the front of the column as they followed the trail the equines had directed them onto upwards to the pass, and the equines following in their traceless wake. Eventually, they reached Eagle Pass, where the slope flattened, and the Whispering Wood became a sub-alpine forest. The top of the mountain became visible through the conifers, and the breeze grew into a harsh wind as the vegetation became sparser near the summit.
It was here, in a cradle between two peaks near the summit of the Unicorn Range, that the Shipmaster, at the head of the column, navigated the patrol line towards a saddle to the North. The walking became easier, and the equines quickly took advantage of the flat ground, catching up to the aliens that led them.
As they traversed the saddle, the contoured slope of the grassy formation marking the divide of the mountain range, the trail narrowed, and the slopes on either side pressed inwards as they grew steeper, reaching up to the peaks they walked between in a rocky ascent. The terrain created a natural chokepoint, and upon realizing it, the procession grew cumbersome.
The Shipmaster, at the front of the column with his Elites close behind, inspected the trail closely, cocking his head from side to side as he probed its superficial traits for possible threats. He was obviously hesitant to enter the chokepoint, but his reasons as to why were, for the moment, a mystery.
Yet, after a moment of consideration, the white clad Sangheili pulled the column farther along the trail with a forward wave. The ground rose up to swallow them, and the evergreens shepherded them together. But, just before they entered the chokepoint, the Shipmaster's balled fist snapped up, and the Elites behind him froze, their weapons drawn in an instant. The Shipmaster slowly used a free hand to reach down, closing it around the handle of his own Plasma Rifle, his fist still in the air above his shoulder as his head slowly turned from side to side, listening.
Then, as the faintest, nearly indiscernible sound came out from the trees, the Arbiter made a hand signal with an outreached arm, and in rapid unison, the Elites phased out of sight, and the Hunters quickly took up defensive positions, widening their stances and planting their shields in the ground.
"Where'd they go?" asked Applejack from the rear of the column, putting a voice to the shocked eyes of the equine portion of the patrol, "Did they just turn invisible?"
As the mare finished, the sound from the trees came again, louder this time, and more distinct as audible foot steps reached the erect ears of the Equestrians.
"Something's coming."
"Get to cover," Shining Armor hissed urgently, and the ponies leapt from the trail and concealed themselves in the shrubbery at the side of the trail.
Shining Armor and his guards formed a barrier of muscle and metal between the sound and the Elements, keeping their bodies, while low, in front of the Bearers as shields, the princesses doing much the same. As they watched through parted bushes and in between tree trunks, the sounds of footsteps were added upon by a new sound; vocalizations. They were varied from high-pitched squawks and snarls to scratchy growls and yelps, their sources unseen at the moment though they were inarguably coming closer.
"What do we do?" whispered Fluttershy from her hiding place beneath a juniper spruce, her voice trembling.
"Stay down," responded Princess Luna, her tone smooth and calm as her stern, unblinking eyes remained fixated on the nearest bend in the trail.
It did not take long for the mysteries of the sounds to become clear, as a group of figures slowly came down the trail in a single file line, the same general formation the Elites had orchestrated themselves into for the first span of the day's trek. They were strange, at least two different species. Most of them were squat, grey-skinned bipeds with large orange tanks strapped to their backs and what appeared to be miniscule weapons in their unwieldy hands. Herding the smaller creatures along the trail with harassing prods and aggressive snarls were larger- although far smaller than the Elites- slender, avian appearing creatures with sharp claws and teeth, reptilian skin, quills running the lengths of their backs and what looked like shields of the same material as the Elite's swords latched onto one arm each, weapons in their free hands. The armor they wore was sparse and simple, the coloration of the metal reminiscent of the material making up the Sangheili's metallic harnesses, but the design was far less ornate.
They lurked along the trail, oblivious to any presence in the mountain pass other than their own, the avians scanning the surrounding area with yellow, unfeeling eyes while the smaller creatures trudged along with their portly heads directed to the ground immediately before them. But, as they came down the trail, the Equestrians silently watching them the entire way, they came into view of the Hunters, their towering bodies blocking the trail. Upon seeing them, the creature at the front of the patrol line jumped back with a shriek, the heads of those behind it snapping forward as the Hunters emitted a unified roar, and their cannons began to glow green.
In an instant, the entire pass lit up in an awesome display of firepower as the Hunters unleashed their verdant projectiles into the creatures, and the trees and rocks on either side of the trail erupted in the unified emission of myriad blue plasma bolts. The noise went from quiet to deafening in an instant as green balls of fire threw mangled bodies, blood and dust into the air, precise balls of azure plasma bored holes through flesh, and the aliens being targeted screamed.
"Heads down!" yelled Shining as he and the other guards instinctively went to cover the Bearers with their own bodies, holding their helmeted heads with hooves over the backs of their necks as the Equestrians ducked and covered behind felled logs and mounds of earth.
Though they escaped from the line of sight of the fire, the noise was terrible, loud and inescapable like a thunderstorm, but much more potent. Lights flashed through the air as the radiant plasma carved arcing streaks of colored vapor through the thin air, trees snapped as the Hunters' cannons roared, and the unique sound of the Elites' Plasma Rifles on the wind made an eerie, almost animal-like hiss. Yet, the one sound that became quieter was the screaming of the creatures on the trail as their voices were quickly extinguished.
Then, in an instant, the firing stopped, and the Equestrians poked their heads out from cover to see the Swords of Sangheilios emerging from the air amidst their cover, their weapons steaming. On the trail nothing moved, until one of the avian creatures struggled to its feet, and tried to beat a limping retreat back up the trail. It didn't make it far before one of the black-armored SpecOps Elites leapt down from the embankment and onto the trail, and rushed after it, pouncing on it from behind and pinning it to the ground beneath a heavy foot. He cut off its resulting wail with an Energy Dagger, produced from his wrist gauntlet, to the back of its skull.
As silence retook the alpine forest, the rest of the Elites began walking amidst the now colored ground, stained light blue and dark purple in the foreigners' blood, and checked the bodies of their fallen enemy for survivors, turning limp bodies over and prodding their sides with the barrels of Carbines and Beam Rifles. Once he was sure the coast was clear, the Arbiter stepped away from the carnage of the post-ambush gore, and waved the Equestrians, still in the bushes, over. Shining Armor and the princesses were the first to trot down the embankment, followed by the rest of the armored ponies, who were in turn followed, though cautiously, by the Element Bearers.
"Scouts?" asked Shining Armor aloud as he approached the Arbiter, looking past him to the motionless bodies of the aliens.
"Light patrol. Kig-Yar and Unggoy," came the answer as the Arbiter pointed with his Carbine's barrel to the respective species at his feet, "This is the face of the enemy, the other races of the Covenant Remnant."
The Hunters rejoined the group, not minding where they stepped as they crushed the casualties beneath their titanic weight, and the Shipmaster's voice came down from the embankment.
"There will be more," he assured as he jumped into the blood-soaked dust of the trail, quickly drawing the attention of the Equestrians away from the alien bodies and onto himself, "The coordinates point to the valley just on the other side of this pass. Come."
The Shipmaster turned to continue down the trail, the same way the Covenant had come. But, when the Arbiter stayed put, he, and those eager to follow him, paused.
"I suggest the Elements remain here," the argentate warrior said calmly as he fit his Carbine back into its slot on his back.
"Not here," countered Princess Celestia, shooting a look back to the mares, who were visibly, and rightfully so, keeping their distance from the squadron of corpses; the horror in their eyes was quite a testament to their reaction to the ambush, "They must be closer, so as to make a difference if their intervention is needed."
"Yes, but you are so concerned for their safety, and the safety of this settlement," stated the Arbiter to counter as he too looked back to the Elements before adding, "What would you have us do to ensure the survival of both?"
It took a moment, but Princess Luna's eyes were eventually alighted by the glint of an idea.
"Captain, would it not be wise to send a few guards to Trottingham before we conduct this raid as a precaution, so as to maintain its safety?" the dark alicorn suggested, her sterling armor and sword catching the sunlight.
"Right. Sergeant Chevron," Shining Armor agreed from beneath the brow of his helmet, one of the unicorn guards' ears perking up at the mention of his name, "I'm reassigning you to a security detail. In case this raid goes sour, I need you, Private Buck Wheat and Corporal Rose Quartz to defend Trottingham."
The unicorn and two of the earth ponies nodded, but before they turned to leave, the Arbiter addressed the Captain.
"Is this settlement relatively secure," he began, "more secure than the valley beyond this pass?"
The stallion gave a nod.
"Then perhaps, if you deem it necessary, your champions will be safer there," the Sangheili suggested, turning fiery eyes to the mares, still apprehensively, fearfully keeping their distance from the corpses the warriors stood amidst.
Shining Armor considered the proposal, taking the princess' desire to keep the Element Bearers safe, as well as his own concern for his sister, into account, and weighing it against the chance that their power would be needed. In a time efficient manner, the stallion made a call.
"Sergeant Gale Force," he said calmly to one of the pegasi, not barking in the least, "I'm reassigning you to a security detail as well. Stay with the Bearers of the Elements, and make sure no harm befalls them. You and the Bearers will be accompanying Sergeant Chevron to Trottingham as a contingency unit. The rest of us will accompany the Elites and the princesses on the assault. We'll know more when we can see what we're up against. If need be, we'll call an audible, but this will be our course of action until that moment comes. We'll send you results of the raid post-engagement. A green flare will mean the assault was successful; in that case, rendezvous with us back at Canterlot. A red flare will mean the enemy escaped, and to take up defensive positions until we've made sure the town isn't in any immediate danger. Respond with blue when you see the signal, and do try not to cause a commotion in..."
Suddenly, a new sound cut the Captain short, only it came not from the ground, but from the sky. The Equestrians' ears twitched, and they looked skyward as the Elites readied their weapons again and followed the equines' gaze. The noise grew louder as it came closer, and the Arbiter turned to the princesses.
"Get out of the open," he rumbled, "Into the trees."
The entire congregation did just that, taking cover after scrambling up the embankments or simply disappearing from sight altogether, and as the sound reached its peak, they were cast into a massive shadow. A Phantom drop ship, flying low and slow less than a hundred feet off the ground, with a pair of Banshee fighters as escorts, passed directly overhead, the downdraft from the crafts' turbines bending tree trunks as if they were in the gales of a hurricane, and after passing the divide of the Unicorn Range, they banked downwards, disappearing from sight.
"Make haste," 'Vadum bid urgently as he deactivated his camouflage module, and reassumed his place at the front of the procession, "The Remnant's operation has already begun."
Shining Armor looked to the guards he'd previously spoken to, and with a quick salute, they galloped off to the Northeast towards Trottingham. The Element Bearers followed, but Twilight was reluctant to go; a reassuring look from her brother convinced her he would be alright, and she, the civilian, did as her brother, the soldier, had ordered. The Captain then trotted up to the front of the patrol line to join the Shipmaster, and with a newfound vigor, the climb continued.
They made excellent time to the saddle of the divide, and their pace only quickened once their trek led them downhill. It did not take long for them to come to a rocky precipice between two topographical bowls, stretching out into the valley below. Here, the Shipmaster turned to the Elites at his back, and with a calm hand gesture, signaled them to crouch as he assumed a low crawl, and slunk to the edge of the precipice, inches from where it dropped away to a sheer twenty meter cliff. The white-armored Elite took his time on the cliff face alone, until he turned and signaled for the Captain, the Arbiter and the princesses to join him.
When they reached the Shipmaster's side, the sight that greeted them was as peculiar as it was stunning.
"What's down there?" asked Princess Celestia as she squinted at the distant sight.
"A depot. The drop ships are making supply runs to the surface, so that the capital ships can remain hidden in orbit," came the response from the Arbiter as he rose up slightly over the sandstone boulder he'd taken cover behind so as to get a better view; the Remnant had set up a perimeter consisting of a trio of watchtowers around a considerable amount of plasma coils and energy spires, and Covenant infantry units worked among the amassed equipment.
"They're stockpiling resources and setting up defenses," said the Shipmaster as he observed the emplacements around the landing zone, "Shade turrets, energy shields, power spires, containers of battery packs; this looks like the beginnings of a firebase."
As they watched the coordinated labor below, another Phantom drop ship flew over them from behind, oblivious to their presence, and descended to the valley. The vessel's door guns were vacant, and its payload consisted of four Ghosts, latched unto its belly with electromagnetic bonds. As they watched, the aircraft hovered and landed within the Remnant's perimeter, and its escorts peeled off and rose back into the sky, a trail of blue vapor marking their paths as they disappeared into the blue. More infantry units leapt from the Phantom's ventral doors as it set down, and the engines flickered out as even the pilots vacated the aerial vehicle, and those already on the ground began a refueling process for the aircraft.
"How many are down there?" asked Shining Armor, watching as the Remnant milled about on the valley floor.
"Fewer than there should be," came the response as the Arbiter growled suspicion.
"Where do you suppose the rest are?"
The Arbiter shook his head, glancing shortly in the Captain's direction before refocusing on the Remnant.
"I do not see any Sangheili Commanders," admitted the Shipmaster as he inched slightly forward, "There should be at least two in charge of a force this size."
"Which is the ranking officer down there?" asked Princess Celestia as she took a moment to glance back at the others, the combined armament of the Royal Guards and the Elites making a formidable phalanx at the base of the precipice.
"Sangheili Minors," came the response from the Arbiter, his eyes burning as he eyed his prey hundreds of yards below, "Six of them, along with two dozen Grunts and no less than ten Jackals."
"They outnumber us," observed Captain Armor, grimacing as he ran a quick tally in his head.
'Vadum nodded before replying, "But it is they who are outmatched."
The princesses looked to the Shipmaster apprehensively, and found his chin adorned with a glaring smile. When they looked to the Arbiter, they found the expression mirrored.
"Snipers here," 'Vadum growled as something behind his green eyes clicked into place, and a plan began to formulate, "Two teams will advance on the depot."
Shining Armor too, his expression alluding to the restlessness he saw in the Elites', contributed a tactician's mind to the formulation.
"See that irrigation ditch," the stallion began, pointing to a long, down-hill running depression cut into the earth that passed within thirty yards of the landing zone, "The farmers in Trottingham dug it to carry runoff from the mountains here down to their crops farther down the valley. We can use it to get close. I know where it begins."
The Arbiter and 'Vadum shared another look as they nodded in unison, their newfound ally's contribution appreciated.
"And the boulders of this slope are large enough to provide cover for us," observed Luna, looking to her sister after gauging the rocks of the hill below the outcropping.
"Very well," agreed the Shipmaster, his words rushed by the progress of the Remnant below, "I will take four Elites, as well as the Captain's squad, along this irrigation duct."
"And I will lead the charge with the others," added the Arbiter as he retreated from the cliff face so as to join the rest of the force, and prepare for the imminent assault.
"Their fire will be focused on us," the sterling Sangheili continued, looking to Shining Armor and the Shipmaster, "When you get to their flank, take them by surprise. Destroy the turrets first. That will clear the way, and we shall finish them together."
He turned, but Celestia's strong voice called him back.
"I can orient the sun at our backs," the alicorn said to receive a bewildered look from the foreigners of her company, "When they look up to target us they will be blinded."
"The sun will not help us," scoffed the Shipmaster as he took note of the star's position in the sky, "It is already midday."
"No Arbiter, take heed," Princess Luna intervened suddenly, "My sister has dominion over the sun's movement in the sky. If she wills it, it shall be so."
"Sorcery," growled 'Vadum, "such a feat is impossible. How could you make the very forces of nature do your bidding?"
As he spoke, Celestia's horn began to glow fiercely, irradiating a fiery white light, and as the aliens looked on, the sun began to drift closer to the horizon, until it adorned the summit of the mountain like a giant golden crown.
"By the gods," mired the Shipmaster as he squinted upslope, the light blinding his eyes and proving his words fallible, and his mandibles parted in an expression of disbelief.
"We will discuss this later," hissed the Arbiter suddenly, "We have a raid to conduct. Shipmaster, assemble your forces."
The ivory Elite nodded, and bounded back to the congregation at the precipice's base.
"First squad, we embark," he said as he waved a hand in the air and turned to look at Shining Armor at his side, "Captain, take point."
"Right," the stallion agreed as he marshaled his own six warriors, "The duct is this way. Follow me."
And with that, they were gone, leaving the Royal Sisters, backed by the Arbiter, the Hunters and the rest of the Elites, behind.
"You have not been to war in centuries," began the Arbiter as the first team disappeared into the trees without a sound, looking to Celestia at his side, "This is true?"
"The armies were bigger then," the alabaster alicorn nodded as she hid a shudder with a phony grin, "The memories are still fresh, though."
"They never fade," came the grim response as the Arbiter slowly drew his Plasma Rifle, and circled the hilt of his sword at his hip with a slender finger on his free hand, "Are you ready?"
He looked first to Celestia, then to Luna, looking into their eyes rather than listening to their words. He seemed somewhat pleased with what he saw. The alicorns, however, directed their eyes in the direction of Trottingham, a miles down the valley and concealed by the rugged topography of the Unicorn Range. The Elements and their escorts were surely near the town now. The shadows began to overtake the valley, stretching westward as if reaching for the far side of the basin, and when they looked back, the alicorns gave the Arbiter an answer in unison.
"Yes."
"Good," he said as two Elites with Beam Rifles took up a prone firing position on the precipice, and the other two stood on his flanks; with a short growl, he turned, and his eyes set forward, rumbled, "Follow me."
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
Firefight
Shining Armor slogged through the mud of the irrigation duct, eleven bodies at his back: three unicorns, two pegasi, one earth pony and five Elites, one alabaster and four black as night, and danger undoubtedly somewhere to his front. He couldn't see much beyond the thick damp of the trench he'd been crawling through for the better part of the last ten minutes, and he could guess where they were in the trench's winding downhill path. But, he didn't know exactly where they were; there was currently a shortage of any landmarks to identify his location with. The trench was a bland setting; bland, but an irreplaceable asset when it came to the infiltration. From all perspectives except those in or above the trench, all twelve warriors, pony and Sangheili alike, were completely concealed.
The stallion paused in his trek briefly, turning back to the Shipmaster, directly behind him. Shining had led the group thus far; he'd charted their course from the precipice above to this ditch's humble beginnings, and had been on point ever since. That being said, the white-clad Sangheili had been second in their procession the whole way. And now, the two of them stood side by side, their hooves and boots stained in the same mud, as they remained concealed from the Covenant Remnant, the duct making perfect cover for their operation thus far.
"Have we reached a suitable position to fire on our foes?" asked the Shipmaster quietly once the coalition came to a halt, not panting in the slightest despite the excursion the group had just undergone.
Shining shook his head and removed his crimson crested helmet so as to minimize his profile, and reared up to peer over the lip of the trench. His ears laid flat against his head, only his eyes protruding from the ditch's safety, and he scoured the valley with probing blue eyes. Very little had changed; the Remnant's craft was still grounded on the near side of their landing zone, and the individual warriors still toiled away.
"Not yet," answered the stallion as he was joined in his gander by the Shipmaster, his slender hands parting the stalks of grass above the trench as he too crept above its promise of safety, "But if we keep going about two hundred more yards, we'll be right where we need to be."
The Remnant was completely oblivious to their presence as they ambled about the landing zone. Shining recounted and reevaluated them, just to be sure. Six Elites, identified as Minors in rank by the Shipmaster earlier, directed the labor of the other creatures around them as they continued setting up their improvised beachhead. There were ten of the avian creatures, the Kig-Yar he'd heard them called, three of them with yellow shields and the rest with blue. And of the smallest creatures, the Unggoy, there were twenty-four; they performed the arduous tasks of organizing the cylindrical blue and grey box shaped containers into stacks and piles, and establishing the weapons turrets between each of the three floating synthetic watchtowers.
The watchtowers. Shining, his head and shoulders low as he cautiously watched the aliens in the valley, wondered why such a viable vantage point would go unused, and as he looked to the hovering lavender platforms, he realized they weren't entirely vacant after all. His armor shifted with a subtle clatter on his body as he nudged the Shipmaster and pointed to the two extra Kig-Yar in their nests before sliding back down the wall of the trench, and once at the bottom, he replaced his crested helmet.
"Brothers, take heed," he heard the Shipmaster whisper steadily above him, "The Remnant has positioned two snipers in the two foremost watchtowers. These are now priority targets for our Type-50 operators. Over watch unit, can you acquire them in your sights?"
There was silence following 'Vadum's comment, the Elite not moving from the trench's edge, his vigilance persisting as he waited for an answer from the snipers upslope. Shining looked upwards from the muck of the trench, back to the precipice, and the chute of shale shards and boulders directly below it. Though when he looked, the precipice, the trees around it, and the chute seemed devoid of any movement, he knew all three were occupied. The bare outcropping dropping away to a cliff, from which he and the others had first observed the valley, was home to the two concealed Sangheili marksmen, whose response was still being awaited. Directly below the cliffs of the precipice, in a copse of evergreens, he knew the two Hunters lingered, the tall, verdant trees being the perfect concealment for the tall, verdant creatures. And in the gravelly sand chute of the slope, he knew the Arbiter, the royal sisters, and two more of the Swords of Sanghelios were stalking ever closer to the valley amidst the boulders. He saw nothing, just as the Remnant was undoubtedly blind to their presence, but he knew without a doubt they were there.
As his uphill gaze came to a completion, Shining Armor heard the headset of the Shipmaster hum to life.
"We have spotted the Jackals in the watchtowers, Commander. We shall engage them first when you give the word."
The ivory Elite nodded, and once again ducked down into the safe embrace of the duct, sliding into the mud adjacent Shining.
"The approach is simple from here," the alien explained, his voice low and quiet, "I will take point for now, Captain, so as to coordinate with the Arbiter and the others on the mountain with greater degrees of both speed and efficiency."
Shining nodded.
"Lead the way," the stallion answered, "I'll be right behind you."
Just then, the Elites' communicators came alive again.
"All units," buzzed the voice of the Arbiter quietly, "if possible, refrain from using active camouflage on the approach. Such an act will drain the potency of our harness' shields. This mistake could prove fatal. Adhere to cover and move only when the risk of detection is minimal."
The Arbiter's words went unanswered; there was no need to reply, and the Shipmaster once again assumed the low posture of a crouch, and continued farther into the valley along the trench's bottom. Shining followed him, stepping in the Shipmaster's boot prints, much larger than his own, to replicate the Elite's silent advance. The Equestrians made sure their sole spear-bearing earth pony kept his lance low, and the others, especially those without horns, made sure to cling to their blades to prevent them from rattling. They made good time with the Shipmaster on point, his long strides forcing the equines to trot to keep up. Shining Armor felt his already adrenaline fueled pulse quicken with the exertion of clinging to 'Vadum's heels with the burden of heavy armor on his bones, the mud sucking his hooves down with each heavy step. But, after a length of time, the advance to their goal was interrupted.
"Get down," hissed the Shipmaster suddenly, the procession along the bottom of the irrigation duct halting suddenly, and following the white-clad Elite's lead as he threw himself down against the wall of the ditch.
Eleven bodies followed 'Vadum into the mud, four of them Sangheili and seven of them equine, the small wet splashes of the nearly dry duct quiet enough to refrain from escaping the depression. None in the coalition dared to move without the Shipmaster's word, as none of them yet knew the cause for his delay, and they lay still as his scarred face ever so slightly came up over the lip of the earthen aqueduct.
Immediately, he ducked back down, and slowly, so as not to make any noise, leaned to Captain Shining Armor, his armor dirty and his white fur dirtier, at his side.
"There is a solitary Kig-Yar," the alien whispered, pointing over his shoulder to the air beyond the ditch, "relieving himself outside the perimeter."
Shining Armor nodded understanding, and after removing his crimson crested helmet again, peeked over the top of the ditch to where the Shipmaster had gestured. Sure enough, there was a solitary avian creature not more than three meters away. He thought to himself, realizing it must have strayed from the other members of the Remnant sometime between now and the last time he'd dared look over the trench's edge. Shining saw only its back, its blue shield hanging at its side, and its weapon, a small device with pink crystals protruding from its contoured surface, was attached to its hip. It appeared to be urinating.
Shining came back down from the edge, and slowly, careful not to bump the metal of his helmet, replaced his headgear. He looked to the Shipmaster, and as he struggled to keep his breathing quiet instead of frantic, he shrugged.
"We are not yet close enough to engage the Remnant effectively. Let him be," the Shipmaster murmured, holding his downturned palm out steadily, "He will soon return to his comrades, and we will be free to move once again."
Sure enough, as they listened, the group heard the creature begin to leave, the claws on its feet tapping the dirt as its steps carried it away from the ditch, and the congregation, especially the equines, let out a contained sigh of relief.
But, just before they were free to move once again, a voice came over the Elites' headsets, and in the otherwise silent duct, the subtle sound seemed like thunder.
"Shipmaster 'Vadum. We are in position, and ready to engage. What is your status?" came the voice of the Arbiter over the communicator, and the receding steps of the Jackal froze.
Unanimously, every body in the irrigation ditch sank lower into the mud, and the wind was held ransom by their lungs as they collectively held their air, refusing to betray their stealth any farther.
"Shut it off," hissed Shining when another breeze picked up, his voice lost in the breath of the mountains, and the Elites' hands found their way to the insides of their helmets.
As the footsteps of the Jackal, just beyond their plane of view, prowled closer, another transmission came over the communicators, only to be cut short as they were switched off.
"Shipmaster, sta..."
The silence resumed, only the faint vocalizations and clicking claws of the Kig-Yar just beyond the ditch disturbing the fragile peace of the valley, its eyes undoubtedly probing for the source of the sound it must have heard. And, below its line of sight, not a single Equestrian or Sangheili flinched. None of them moved. None of them breathed. Not even the water trickled.
And for a moment, the valley was silent as a crypt.
The Jackal's steps had stopped, and heartbeats nearly became audible as, upon looking a bit to the side, Shining Armor saw the creature's shadow stretching across the far wall of the ditch. Slowly, he looked to the emerald eyes of the Shipmaster adjacent him, and in a moment of unspoken thought, the very present danger of the situation was mutually conveyed, and understood.
As Shining watched, something in 'Vadum's eyes visibly moved. His irises seemed to grow brighter, luminous almost, a fire lit within him. From then on, every ounce of the Shipmaster's focus was directed to the Jackal's shadow, and his hand found its way again to the handle of his Plasma Rifle.
The Kig-Yar scratched its claws in the dirt above the ditch, and its shadow drew its weapon. The impasse held fast, nothing moving, both patience and oblivious eyes delaying death as the shade of the day stretched across the valley.
Then, the shadow turned as if to go, but the initial relief of the coalition was terminated when its head craned back, and a loud squawk emitted from the creature, and its arms waved in the direction of the landing zone. Shining Armor closed his eyes and bared his teeth, focusing hard on his own contribution to the group's stealth, but their detection seemed imminent, unavoidable. When the sound of more footsteps in the grass came nearer, it became obvious that, while not officially, their cover had been blown.
In an instant, the Shipmaster's balled fist snapped up, and eleven pairs of eyes locked onto his hand. Shining knew what would happen when the tension in the Elite's fist was released. He didn't want it to happen this way, as the risk was far greater than it should have been if all had gone according to plan, but he knew it had to be so. He just wished he had longer to swallow the bad taste in his mouth; he didn't have any spit to do so. The Captain closed his eyes once more, steeled his trembling nerves, and tried to bring everything he'd ever learned in his countless hours of training back from memory. He could only recall one thought, a simple phrase he'd learned during basic training.
Slow is smooth. Smooth is fast.
He mouthed the words as he refocused on the Shipmaster's erect fist, and tried to apply them, first to his racing heart, then to his rambling mind, then to his quaking body. He tried to push his fear away, to delay it for a few moments longer before it got the better of him, but time was short. The space between seconds seemed to freeze for a moment before it happened, as if everything in the valley had given him time to comprehend the implications of what a simple fist's descending could set in motion. Regardless, the stallion understood well enough, and when the Shipmaster's fist broke from its hold, he, and every other warrior in the trench, rose up with weapons drawn.
The Shipmaster fired the first shots, two searing azure bolts of plasma launching from his weapon to catch the stunned Jackal on either sides of the chest as it stood with its shield at its side less than two meters from the trench's edge. But, the creature still stood, and as its stance faltered, it drew its weapon in a last combative effort, and swung it to bear in the direction of the trench.
Shining came up adjacent 'Vadum, and upon seeing the creature's weapon leveled at his face, instinct and training took over. His blood became hot, and a red ray of destructive magic leapt from his horn to the Jackal's throat.
The weapon fell from the Kig-Yar's hand, and it toppled to the ground, convulsing as blood began to hemorrhage from the gaping wounds in its torso and windpipe, and the green grass around its body turned purple in an expanding pool. Shining Armor blinked, his breath stolen as the sight met his eyes, and as the creature died, he became entranced.
He didn't see the Shipmaster duck back down behind the trench's edge and reactivate his communicator, and he didn't hear him yell into his headset, "Arbiter, engage! Engage!"
He didn't see the Remnant Elites, the ones the Jackal had called to, caught in the open as they sprayed suppressive fire in his direction and furiously backpedaled to the shelter of their perimeter, being chased by arcing balls of plasma and focused red beams of combative magic from the unicorns behind him in the trench the whole way. He didn't see the blue beams of the snipers cut through the air of the valley, tracing lines from the precipice above to the watchtowers, and he didn't see the lifeless bodies of two more Jackals plummet from the watchtowers with steaming holes through their helmets.
The valley was erupting all around him, green and blue and red flashing this way and that as both factions ferociously engaged one another from respective emplacements, but Shining Armor saw none of it. The noise was deafening, but the Captain was already deafened. He remained fixated on that singular Jackal as it struggled to clutch onto its fleeting moments life, and everything else seemed less profound than the sight of this creature, which he had never even known existed a day ago, as it died.
He watched as it kicked and thrashed, as if trying to fight away the crippling pain it undoubtedly was feeling. He saw it clutch at its neck and its breast, its legs' flailing growing weaker and weaker. He heard its agonizing, frantic breaths, coming forth like wheezing, choking, sputtering coughs, its windpipe filling with thick, strangling blood.
He watched as the creature rolled towards him, panic in its slit yellow eyes and thick, dark blood on its lips, and their gazes met. He stared into the Jackal's raptor-like gaze as its body began to relax, and its clawed hands fell away from its wounds. The blood still poured from its body, but it seemed not to notice anymore. All it seemed to notice now was the unicorn stallion peering over the edge of the trench while searing shots whistled by.
Shining could tell exactly when it died. There was a precise moment where the life left its wide eyes, their light fading like the beginning of dusk, and its body went completely limp. Its head fell to the grass, but its lifeless eyes remained locked forward on the stallion, and Shining's trance remained unbroken.
It was dead. He'd killed it. He'd punched a hole through its neck and watched as its life drained out and it drowned in its own blood. He'd ended a life, stolen it away, and though he was unharmed, he felt a very odd pain begin to tear at his heart, and his stomach turned over. This wasn't like any other death he'd experienced, even recently; he hadn't stood idly by a bedside as nature reclaimed an elderly life, or come across a body that had already crossed the threshold from warm life to numb, cold death, or buried his head in his forelimbs and his body behind cover as the actions of others saw to enemies' deaths. This was his first spilling of blood, despite years of being labeled a warrior, and he was utterly forsaken by his preparation for combat in how he was supposed to react. This creature had been another sentient soul, and he had killed it. He had denied it the rest of its natural life, by his own choice and by his own actions, and that simple reality had snared him, and froze his heart as well as his mind, and he was hypnotized. But then, out of somewhere near the perimeter, a bright light broke his trance.
Shining's eyes blinked response, and before he could readjust his focus, he felt firm fingers grip the back of his neck, and push him down. He landed with a meager splash, and heard a hissing sound above him, and then, like awakening from a dream, his senses returned. He felt the cool air, he heard the thundering weapons and the screams and shouts of the combatants all around him, and he looked up to see the Shipmaster crouched over him, a steaming Plasma Rifle in his hand and a feral ferocity in his eyes.
"Keep your wits about you, Captain!" he bellowed, his composure not faltering in the slightest, "You mustn't rely on me to keep your skull intact!"
The Captain's eyes peered through the sockets of his helmet to a pair of smoking, blackened divots in the opposite wall of the trench, directly behind where his head had been. He looked back to the Shipmaster, who had already risen to continue firing at the Remnant. He then looked back to the others as they too ducked and rose again and again, firing back at the Remnant beyond the trench. As Shining watched, one of the Elites took a burst of fire to the chin, the exterior of his armor beginning to glow in a very voltaic shade of cobalt, and he ducked back down blow the lip of the trench as one of the Equestrians wore a bolt of plasma on the shoulder plate, and fell, his armor smoldering but his flesh unbroken, into the mud. Though Shining could tell the unicorn guard was not wounded, he could not, and his panicked scream ensued as another of the guards checked him for blood only to find singed metal. Another outbreak of suppressive fire impacted the edge of the trench directly above, showering the Captain in fragments of earth, and once again the white-clad Elite was forced down, and upon seeing Shining still on his back, he hauled him to his hooves.
"Fight back!" he roared as he pulled him up, "Our lives depend on their deaths! Fight back!"
Shining did as he was told, and tried to focus through the eye slots of his helmet on the nearest target, but he was shaking too wildly. As he tried to single out a foe to direct his aggression towards, all three races of the Covenant flitting from cover to cover within their perimeter as they returned fire all the while, some of them shooting for the trench, others firing uphill to the mountain, he realized that he could physically feel his racing pulse. As Shining observed his enemies, he realized the turrets had become operational, two of them spraying withering fire in his direction, the other firing in an oscillating fashion upslope. While the Captain watched, one of the turrets once again forced him down with a line of shots in the dirt before his face, and a small panic began to fall into place. But, as he gathered the courage to come back above the safety of the ditch again with the full intent of returning fire this time, he was seized once again by the Shipmaster's hand.
"They have us suppressed here!" the Sangheili yelled as the black-armored Elites too ducked down and looked to him for leadership, "I will move farther up, and draw their fire! Once clear, heavy weapons operators will destroy the turrets!"
With that, the Shipmaster bounded off, his back slouched so his torso remained below the trench's edge, leaving the Captain and the others behind. Shining Armor took one look to his warriors, their gold plated armor tarnished with mud and scorch marks from glancing bolts of plasma that had met their mark. Their wide eyes implored him for an order, not only one that would ensure victory but survival as well. And as the stallion's mind raced, he could think of only one order to give them.
"Follow me!" he yelled over the battle, and then raced off after 'Vadum with six ponies in tow.
When he caught up to the Shipmaster, the Elite was already up and firing again, a hail storm of enemy fire flashing through the air all around him. Without hesitation, Shining reared up against the wall of the trench alongside 'Vadum, and with a deep breath, was somehow able to calm his mind enough for his training to take over. He acquired the first target, an Unggoy darting between two transparent stationary energy shields, and he sent another beam of destructive magic in its direction. He missed wide, but it didn't matter. He found another member of the Covenant to engage, and refocused. Before he knew it, thought had given way to instinct once again, and the other members of his race were at his side as well, fighting alongside him, while he in turn fought alongside Shipmaster 'Vadum.
A rising ball of fire suddenly gripped his attention, and he witnessed as the last of a trio of green rockets impacted the nearest of the Covenant's turrets, rending the metal and leaving a warped heap of scrap in the emplacement's stead, little to nothing left of the operator. The incoming fire was reduced drastically, and the bodies of the Covenant began to pile up within the perimeter.
And still, Shining Armor fought on.
"They have destroyed the first of the turrets!" yelled the Arbiter to the others as he saw the rising ball of blue fire, and he once again ducked behind the massive slab of stone separating his flesh from incoming plasma, several shots' impact of the granite encouraging him to take cover.
The Arbiter looked upslope slightly to another boulder, flanked by conifers growing through the hard ground. The Royal Sisters, their weapons drawn and their bodies contorted into awkward positions as they strained to stay behind the stone, looked back at him. The monolith they were pinned down behind was far too small to shelter the both of them, yet somehow they made due.
"How grand!" Celestia yelled in sarcastic response, her spear hovering very near her breastplate as another influx of hostile fire sprayed the ground around her, and she tucked her legs in closer to her chest to keep them out of harms' way; for being blinded by the sun, the random shots of the turret operators below were coming frighteningly close, "If only this changed our predicament!"
Princess Luna went to stand, and tried to leap from behind cover, but as she did a bolt struck the tree adjacent her head, and she once again ducked back into the rocks, her midnight blue eyes fierce and frustrated as she turned back to the Arbiter.
"We are completely pinned down!" the Princess of the Night screamed as the Arbiter whipped around the side of the boulder once again, sending a quick volley of shots from his Carbine downhill before dodging another incoming barrage.
"Give them only a moment longer!" responded the Sangheili as another duo of blue beams snapped overhead, leaving a vapor trail from the precipice to the most recent of the snipers' kills, lying motionless between spots of cover on the valley floor, "The Shipmaster will not fail us!"
"We do not have time!" responded Celestia, "Sooner or later, they will find their targets!"
A sudden grunt of surprise met the Arbiter's ears, and he turned to his side, opposite the alicorns, to the two other members of his race in the chute, sharing cover behind a different monolith a stone's throw away. One of them had just taken a shot to the chest as he exposed himself to return fire, and while his shields were still functioning, his comrade struggled to pull him back behind cover and back to his feet as the dirt all around them kicked up. As he watched the SpecOps Elites check each other for wounds when they were once again behind a barrier of stone, he realized just how correct the princesses were. The plan had been foiled by an unfortunate turn of events; that much was certain, but if they didn't do something soon, this slope would become a graveyard. His mind began calculating the best course of action as he took the terrain, his allies and his enemies into account, and after stealing a glance at the slope between himself and the valley, he spotted a massive felled log a few dozen meters away, a suitable firing position that had the potential of offering more cover than his current emplacement.
"I will move up briefly!" he yelled out, looking assuredly to the princesses, "If you wish to relocate, do so while I am in the open and their weaponry is focused on me!"
The alicorns nodded affirmation, and with that, the Arbiter braced his hand on the boulder that had protected him, vaulted over the top of it, and sprinted downhill. The air around him was hot with plasma, and as he raced downhill on fleet feet towards the downed tree's trunk, he ever so briefly looked over his shoulder to the alicorns behind. He'd expected them to be dashing through the open, seeking new positions, but instead, he saw them standing where there was nothing to take shelter behind, their wings flared, their eyes glowing, and their weapons seeming to irradiate the same intense white light that surrounded their horns.
The Arbiter reoriented his eyes forward, and covered the remaining distance to the log in less than a second, leaning back and sliding through the dirt on a hamstring to pop back up with his back against the trunk's hard exterior. He looked uphill again, just in time to see the alicorn's spectacle completed.
The Arbiter watched with wide eyes as, to his awe, an awesome beam of white energy shot forth from Celestia's spear, burning a path of unquantifiable heat to the center of the Remnant's landing zone. The alabaster alicorn manipulated the tip of her scalding hot blade, guiding the beam deliberately and efficiently towards the turret that had been harassing them, but an incoming shot met her breastplate, and she fell back behind the nearest rock, the beam straying ever so slightly from her desired target to meet the watchtower adjacent the Type-26. The hovering platform exploded in a massive blue fireball, pieces of the structure thrown clear across the valley as a burning metal rain showered the landing zone, causing several members of the Remnant to dive out of the way.
Before the Remnant could recover, Princess Luna likewise swung her sword as her sister dashed to cover, and an arm of lightning followed her blade's descending like a massive electrical whip. The voltaic bolt reached down to the perimeter, and branched off to strike not only the Covenant that had forsaken their cover, but also the nearest Shade's operator, and as her attack culminated, a omnipresent clap of thunder boomed through the valley.
Together, the princesses' attacks had eliminated dozens of the Remnant, and the Arbiter gawked in awestruck silence. The once green valley floor was now charred and blackened, a very obvious line of scorched earth bearing testament to the might of Celestia's spear, and the smoldering bodies of the Remnant within dark craters, like pockmarks in the grassy plain below, alluded to the no lesser power commanded by Luna. It took a moment, but eventually, the Remnant regrouped, and the chute once again became their favorite target. The Arbiter stole one last look before he resumed cover; the final turret had come to bear on the Shipmaster's and Shining Armor's position, the irrigation duct running along the flank of the landing zone, but each of the remaining members of the Covenant were firing uphill. The Arbiter rose up to fire a few more shots from his Type-51, catching a Kig-Yar in the open, but as the creature collapsed, he was once again forced down.
But, as the Arbiter threw himself onto the ground, he felt the mountain begin to shake. His initial presumption of an earthquake was quickly debunked when he heard a bass toned roar, and he glanced uphill to see two green titans rushing in his direction, the Covenant's munitions bouncing off the Hunter's armor like stones off of a fortress wall. The Mgalekgolo lumbered around the felled log, and came together on the opposite side of the Arbiter's shelter, planting their massive shields in the ground as they assumed a unified combative stance.
Bolts of plasma ricocheted off the Hunter's hulls to no effect as the cannons on their arms whirred to life, and before long, an array of verdant fuel rods were rocketing towards the perimeter. The initial explosions saw to the final Type-26's destruction, as well as that of another of the watchtowers, but when one of the Hunter's shots found its way to one of the stockpiles of fusion coils, the entire landing zone was consumed in cobalt fire.
The shockwave was visible as it raced outwards from the landing zone in a rapidly expanding radius, the sight of the explosion coming before the sound, and the dust was blown from the Arbiter's armor as the vaporous shockwave's force reached him. And, as the deafening noise of the explosion echoed down the valley and over the mountains, a complete and utter silence followed; at least, until it was broken by the satisfied, rhythmic hum of a verse of mumbled battle poetry from one of the Mgalekgolo.
The Arbiter peered over the wood of his shelter to see the smoke over the Remnant's fortification, and he immediately knew there was no longer any danger posed by the Remnant from this distance. The noise finally dissipating, the Arbiter looked back up to the princesses' position, their bodies concealed by the boulder, and remembered Celestia had been hit.
"Princess!" he called out, "Have you been bled?"
"She's wounded!" came the very worried response from Luna, still concealed behind the monolith.
"I will be fine!" came the reprimanding voice of the Princess of the Sun, and before long, her tall figure came into view once again as she stepped out from cover, her spear leveled, her brow set and unfazed, and contrasted crimson blood running down the front of her white chest, a small hole in her breastplate.
"Very well!" he called out into the disturbingly calm air, "Let us advance!"
With that, he once again vaulted over the log, and sprinted down the chute as he put his Carbine back into place on his back and drew his Plasma Rifle, his long legs pounding the earth and his lungs heaving with powerful breaths, the atmosphere a blend of clean mountain air and thick smoke. He reached the valley's base in seconds, stopping briefly to look back to see the two Elites coming down behind him with equal haste, and the princesses swooping down to his side on expansive wings.
The Arbiter led the four who had fought down the chute with him deeper into the valley, and when they neared what was left of the Remnant's perimeter, they saw the second team emerging from the irrigation duct, all of them battered but very much alive. They lingered on the edge of the wall of smoke, like a grey fog, that was hanging over the Remnant's landing zone, and listened to the crackling of the myriad blue and purple flames visible through the haze.
Both halves of the conglomeration met at the smoke's edge, the Shipmaster trotting to the Arbiter's side, dirt smearing his previously unstained armor with Shining Armor close behind in much the same condition. The Hunters hung back, slow to come off the slope of the mountain.
"Shall I signal the others?" Shining asked slowly, his breath still heavy and his eyes very wide.
"Search for survivors," the Arbiter ordered grimly, ignoring the Captain's question as well as the Elements and security detail farther down the valley in Trottingham for the moment, "Spread out. Shoulder to shoulder. Do not lose one another in the low visibility. Have caution. Unable to run, any living Covenant we find will fight like cornered beasts."
The Elites began to fan out, lining up abreast as they faced into the fog, but the equines were hesitant.
"Would it not be safer to surround the perimeter, and wait for the smoke to clear?" asked Luna, not straying from her sister's side; Celestia was bleeding heavily now from the wound in her chest near her shoulder, but from her stance to her aggression beset eyes, she seemed more an unshakable warrior than a dainty royal.
"Let these swords light our way," retorted the Shipmaster, more from trying to sway the Arbiter away from the Princess of the Night's proposition, "We must claim victory swiftly, and ensure this threat has been vanquished. If they reported our attack, reinforcements will be here in due time. We will kill them cleanly, as our forefathers' honor would have it."
"We will finish them now," the Arbiter decreed as he took a strong step into the smoke, the blade of his sword jumping from the hilt of one hand to cast a glacier blue glow through the grey haze as he gripped his Type-25 in the other hand, "Move in."
The other Elites drew their swords and Plasma Rifles as well, all except 'Vadum who kept his Type-25 on his hip, lighting the group through the dark smoke in an incandescent radiance, the hiss of the energy swords and the crackling of the flames the only sounds to accompany the ashen footfalls of the coalition as they formed up, Sangheili and Equestrian alike, and walked seventeen abreast into the Remnant's crippled landing zone, like a wall of metal, muscle and bone. The Equestrians bared their weapons also, the princesses gripping their immensely powerful arsenal in magic, Shining drawing Abraxas' red tinted steel blade for the purpose of war for the first time, and the six other armored equines leveling their spears and swords, the unicorns' horns humming with energy and the pegasi's wings fluttering as they hovered in formation, the blades set into their gauntlets free to be wielded.
Slowly, cautiously, the phalanx advanced.
The Arbiter walked a short distance ahead of the others, like the tip of the spear, 'Vadum and the princesses at his sides with Shining Armor trekking through the haze on the far side of the Shipmaster. Blue eyes and nodes on the Elites' combat harnesses floated through the smoke, as did the signatures of the intense gleam of their double pronged blades, the eerie blue light of their malicious intent cutting through the dim, smoldering air of the valley. As they neared the Covenant perimeter's heart, they began to encounter bodies. The first they came across was an Unggoy lying on its stomach, and the Elite that traversed its body kicked it over so as to look into its lifeless eyes; upon seeing the cauterized hole blown through its midsection, the SpecOps Sangheili didn't bother to investigate the possibility of its continued life further.
They pushed further into the smoke, carefully checking each of the corpses they came across for a pulse or any other indicator of life, or simply pushing the tip of a sword or lance into the sides of the dead Remnant to minimize the risk should one of them being playing possum. Only when they reached the wreckage of the Shade turrets and watchtowers did they realize what was lacking.
"Arbiter," the Shipmaster said quietly from the sterling warrior's side as they both eyed a Kig-Yar lying motionless beneath a warped chunk of lavender metal, its chest cavity undoubtedly crushed, "we have yet to encounter another dead Sangheili."
The Arbiter's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately realized what they were walking towards.
"Close ranks!" the Arbiter bellowed, and just as the warriors around him pressed in closer together, the sound of a Storm Rifle screed through the smoke, and a trio of azure rounds came racing through the smoke in his direction.
Two of the shots met their mark, one striking the Arbiter in the midsection and the other in the forehead. His combat harness' energy shield absorbed the bolts, but their force was passed onto him, and as his armor glowed an electric blue, he staggered and his head whipped back. As he looked back up, the blades of six swords cast their light through the haze before the conglomeration.
A unified feral howl came from the Remnant Sangheili, and as the Arbiter reassumed a combat stance with hulking gaskins and arms flexed, the voice of one of his brothers tore through the smoke.
"Sword charge!"
More plasma bolts erupted through the smoke towards the surviving Remnant Elites, their battle cries echoing out through the valley and their armor systems glowing through the haze as shots hit home, but in a matter of seconds, the distance between the two factions was closed and the Plasma Rifles went silent.
All six of the Covenant Sangheili Minors came barreling into the center of the unified races' coalition, straight for both factions' leaders in a last ditch attempt to inflict the most damage as possible before they themselves died. The most eager of the Remnant Elites made a target of princess Celestia, who planted her spear in its chest as it raised its sword at her, slightly wincing as its momentum coupled with her upwards thrust lifted it up and over her shoulder, and it landed heavily behind her. As she turned to pull her spear free from the sputtering Sangheili, the second Remnant Elite raised its sword as well, and lined up a slash with the back of the golden armored alicorn's neck.
But, as its blade descended, it was deflected by the silver blade of Princess Luna, the alien's sword missing her sister's head by mere inches. Luna stepped between the Elite and her sibling, its orange eyes piercing the ashen air, and with a reach much greater than her own, brought its sword down towards her skull. Luna brought her own blade up to meet her opponent's, but when the weapons met, it became obvious that her foe was much stronger. Its sword blew through her attempt at a block, and she was barely able to lean back out of the scalding prongs' path, the tip of the sword leaving a molten scar in her silver armor, but not in her flesh.
She recovered quickly, faster than her now off-balance opponent, hovered briefly and landed a kick on the alien's left leg, buckling its upper knee outwards. It grunted in pain, staggering back briefly, and Luna set down as Celestia finally managed to pull her spear free of the first Elite's now motionless corpse. Luna's opponent was quick to reenter the fray, limping ever so slightly as it stabbed at the dark alicorn's chest. Luna parried, knowing better now than to try to muscle her foe, redirecting the sword off to the side with an expertly manipulated blade as her own sword hovered in her magic's grip, and she darted within her foe's superior reach. She spun quickly, slashing the Elite's blue clad thighs before once again dashing out of reach to avoid a rushed slash as the alien fell to its knees. As her quarry once again raised its arm, Luna thrust forward, the metal of her sword finding an unarmored section of the Elite's neck. It fell backwards, instantly dead, and panting, the two sisters once again readied their weapons for the next assailants to come their way, though none did.
While the Royal Sisters' duel played out, at their side the Arbiter, 'Vadum and Shining Armor tangled with the remaining four Remnant Elites. They clashed at the same time; Celestia had thrown her opponent over her shoulder, her pike embedded in its chest, when the first of the other Elites crossed swords with the Shipmaster, the first of the Swords of Sanghelios to enter the fray.
The white armored Elite met the downwards slash of the Remnant Minor with an upward slash of his own, bringing both blades to a stop at eye level. Frozen in an impasse, mutual strength locking both swords into place, 'Vadum put a quick end to the duel when he drew an Energy Dagger from the gauntlet on his free hand's wrist, and pushed it through the Minor's eye socket and out the back of its skull.
As the body of 'Vadum's lifeless opponent folded over its center of gravity and crumpled to the ground, he looked over to see the Arbiter finishing up his two foes with a circular blossom of his blade, ducking the incoming slash of one opponent and sweeping the legs of the other in a fluid motion before passing his sword's prongs diagonally through the chest of his standing foe, only to turn and pierce the hearts of the grounded Elite before it could once again stand. They both died quickly and without hardly a sound.
As the first five Remnant assailants hit the ground mere seconds apart, the final surviving member of the Covenant's landing party came sprinting towards Shining Armor. And as the Elite's incandescent blade came nearer the Captain, he found himself trying to take a step back; he didn't allow himself to retreat, and instinct and training took over as the outlander rushed him.
Time seemed to slow once again as he gripped Abraxas ever tighter in his magic's influence, the fire imbued sabre hovering tensely at his hip. He'd been in this situation before, in training that is. Fencing was a mandatory skill for members of the Royal Guard, and he had practiced one on one combat ever since he was a recruit. That being said, he had never undergone a real combat situation with his sword at his side, a duel where death was at stake, and he had never practiced with an opponent quite like the bipedal tower of armored flesh charging his way now.
Regardless he steeled himself, and grit his teeth as the Elite advanced closer through the smoke, the glow of its electric blue sword highlighting the falling ash like snow. Shining's opponent's blade was pulled back, the hand holding the hilt adjacent to the shoulder with the two prongs extended outwards towards the Captain like a lance being aimed during a jousting match. As it came closer, Shining realized it was already wounded, the left half of its face burned free of skin, and the arm of the same side hanging somewhat limply. He knew the Elite had to be running on adrenaline, but he could still use its apparent weaknesses to his advantage. As the Sangheili bore down on him, the Captain shifted ever so slightly to his foe's left, to where its arm was mangled and its eye was blind, and readied his sabre.
When the Elite stabbed for his throat, Shining swung Abraxas perpendicular to the strike, parrying the thrust and leaving his quarry's midsection defenseless in perfect form. He twirled the sabre, and exactly as he had rehearsed it countless times before in training, pushed the fiery steel tip forward and into the Elite's sparsely armored abdomen. When he felt the blade strike home, the Captain found himself overcome with a wave of relief, but when he realized his opponent was not dead his relief turned to panic.
The alien took no heed of the sword of his belly, nor the hissing of singed flesh as smoke rose from the wound, and brought down a slash at Shining Armor's head. He was hardly able to duck out of the way, the incandescent blade relieving his crest of a few crimson phoenix feathers. Shining fell onto his back, the alien rearing back as it again prepared a thrust, stepping downwards as it aimed for Shining's throat with Abraxas' handle sticking out of its body just above the navel.
The Captain rolled to the left, the alien's blade missing him and piercing the earth instead. Shining found himself on his back, though he'd laterally displaced, and looked up once again as the Elite pulled its blade from the dirt and reacquired him through its one good eye. But before it could raise the blade, Shining struck its mangled arm with a combat spell. The limb was thrown back, hardly anything of substance left to hold it in place, and it yelled out in pain and once again raised the sword in its good hand, but as the extraterrestrial's sword descended, a white flash interrupted the struggle.
In between blinks, the Shipmaster materialized between Shining on the ground and the Elite standing over him, his left hand braced around the wrist of the hostile's sword wielding arm, stopping the searing blade mid-hack. As the Remnant Elite pushed against 'Vadum, the ivory Sangheili lurched forward, the brow of his helmet striking his enemy in the mandibles in a vicious head-butt, knocking it back. It staggered, and as it stood again to continue fighting, its torso was left open for a fraction of a second, but it was enough time for the Shipmaster to strike a killing blow. He stabbed forward, burying his own blade up to the hilt in the Minor's torso a few inches higher than where Abraxas was embedded in its flesh. The alien collapsed onto its side, a sickening moan emitting from its throat as it coughed out a mouthful of blood, and its last breath escaped on a mumbled curse.
There was a moment where none of them did anything, save breathe and stare at the corpses in the ash. Not one of them moved: not Shining from the ground, not the other ponies gathered around him, frozen where they were when their attempt to aide their officer was cut short by the Shipmaster's intervention, and not the other Elites as they watched with emotionless eyes as blood gathered around the dead members of their race. 'Vadum stood over his felled opponent, what was left of it, and in the quiet murmured something to himself. The Shipmaster then pulled his blade free of the motionless corpse at his feet, the wound steaming as he did so. He deactivated his weapon, the blade retracting into the hilt with the press of a button, and he replaced the handle on his hip. He then turned, his breath heavy like that of a bear, and with a blood-stained hand, reached down to help Shining Armor to his hooves.
"Your life is owed to me twice over, now," he said slowly, his voice a glum growl in the suddenly calm air.
"I had it sorted," the Captain breathed, loud enough for those under his command to hear, but he made sure to face away from them to keep his wide eyed, obviously shaken eyes out of their view.
The Shipmaster turned again, and ripped Abraxas from the belly of the dead Elite, handing the wet, indigo stained blade to the Captain. He took it in his magic's grip, and wiped it free of blood on his gauntlet while all the wounds of the motionless Sangheili Minor emitted smoke and the pungent smell of burnt meat.
"Aim higher next time," 'Vadum said grimly as Shining took possession of Abraxas again, the Elite slowly turning to point to the two parallel deep wounds he'd inflicted in their mutual quarry's chest, and said, "The hearts and lungs are there."
"Hearts?" Shining asked as he sheathed his sabre.
"Two of them," came the simple explanation as the Shipmaster took the first step away from the Captain, still standing in relative shock, "Less of a chance to miss, evening the odds for swordsmen like yourself."
The Shipmaster stalked back the way the coalition had come, giving a mutual nod to the Arbiter as he passed.
"Signal the others," he said flatly without looking over his shoulder, "We are done here."
The rest of the Elites followed him, all seven of them fading away silently into the smoldering fog like apparitions. The Royal Sisters were quick to follow, the dissolution of adrenaline enough to cause Celestia's gate to falter in the slightest; she leaned on Luna ever so slightly as their silhouettes disappeared deeper into the cloud of ash they occupied. Next were the other Guard members, few of them taking their time as they eagerly vacated the battlefield, the unicorns' swords sheathed and their horns calm, the pegasi's wings relaxed, and the only earth pony's lance held over his shoulder as they too disappeared.
Shining Armor was left alone, standing in the slowly drifting white ash. He waited until he was sure the others were gone, even daring a glance over his shoulder with watering eyes to confirm his solitude, and he fell. There was no longer any need to hold himself with an air of leadership, no longer a necessity to set an example of strength for his subordinates, or upkeep a manner of professionalism for his newfound extraterrestrial allies. The masks were off; he was alone, and the strength he'd forced his legs to keep left him all at once.
His breaths came in exasperated heaves as the ash rose up to meet him, his armor losing what little was left of its luster as the cinders covered his gilded shell, and his mind kept replaying what he was trying to forget. All the deaths, the blood, the screaming. He whimpered as he thought of all the times he could have died, should have died, if not for the quick hand of the Shipmaster and no small amount of luck. He pulled his helmet off and ran a dirty hoof through his mane, and tried to calm his galloping heart to no avail. The images of death and near-death kept coursing through his mind; the Jackals, Grunts and Elites he'd seen killed that day, the ponies beneath his command that had been hit and wounded to narrowly miss joining the Remnant all around him. And it had all gone awry because one of the Kig-Yar decided to take a piss.
It struck him how fragile it all was; his life, the lives of others, battle plans and intentions for survival. Had everything gone according to plan, the raid would have gone cleaner, quicker, and with less risk. Yet, one factor fell out of place.
The worst part was he knew how he should be reacting to his first taste of combat, and he wasn't in accord with the standards of officers, of leaders. Training had taught him to act in battle, but there was a lack of preparation for dealing with the actions of war once the fighting stopped. He'd trained his whole life for this moment, and now that it had happened, he was merely the first tear drop away from having a complete breakdown. He felt weak, ashamed, and no matter how hard he tried to shake himself back into the world around him, he couldn't.
At least, not until he felt the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
The Captain whirled around with damp eyes and captured breath to see the tall, grey outline of the Arbiter a few short meters behind him, his piercing amber gaze cutting through the haze as he simply watched him. Shining held the stare, knowing full well that the Sangheili had caught him at a moment of sheer weakness, and while he expected some form of response, whether in disgust or in disapproval, there was neither malice nor contempt in the Arbiter's eyes, only empathy. He simply bowed his head slightly, and like a ghost, turned to go without a sound.
In an instant, Shining was somehow calmed, and his pulse began to stabilize. He focused on his breathing, sucking in contaminated air, holding it for a moment, then slowly coughing it back out. It took a few moments before he was able to find his strength to stand once again. It took less time for him to dry his eyes before he turned back to the direction the others had gone to. He sighed, hid his face behind the mask of his helm, and trotted back into the clear air, leaving what had transpired in the dust and ash behind.
The sunlight was a godsend as he stepped out of the smoke once again, able to breathe and see as if he'd been reborn. However, the aftermath of the battle was still far from a memory, and lingered in those around him. Luna was focusing a spell onto Celestia's bleeding chest, the wound beginning to seal beneath the recent hole added to her armor, all the while his own warriors tended to each other, tying bandages around wounds and burns and using healing magic to try and ease one another's pain. The Elites, oddly enough, seemed to take no heed of their sparse wounds, not even acknowledging their presence.
Regardless, the Captain knew he had one more task to do before they could leave this valley of death, and eager to return home, he looked skyward, and fired a green flare from his horn into the sky above before turning expectant eyes down the valley in the direction of Trottingham. He waited while the ball of green light above reached its peak and began a subsequent descent, and then waited until it reached the ground, then waited some more, but the sky remained devoid of a return signal.
"No response," he said aloud to his many comrades.
"Try again," bid Princess Celestia dryly as she tried to scrape some of the dried blood and dirt from her fur.
Shining did as he was told, firing another green orb into the sky, and looked eagerly for a response, but none came.
"They're not responding," Shining grimaced quietly as he sent up a third flare, "They were supposed to use a blue flare to signal that they understood the results of the raid."
A small congregation of ponies, the alicorns included, surrounded the Captain, and mirrored his eyes as they looked eagerly farther down the valley where the irrigation ditch lead, to where Trottingham was, just beyond a bend in the valley on the other side of a topographical bowl's ridgeline. As the first two, the third flare went unreciprocated.
"Is it possible that they cannot see that flare?" Princess Luna asked slowly, diverting her eyes from the distance to look to Shining, "Is the smoke blocking it?"
"That signal is over a hundred meters high," the stallion responded, shaking his head, "There's no way they wouldn't be able to see it."
"Communication difficulties, Captain?" came the voice of the Shipmaster as he stepped away from the congregation of Elites, who had come together away from the equines to join the Hunters.
"Gale Force and Chevron are beyond capable," Shining answered the Shipmaster as he came up behind him, "If they were able to see the flare, they would know to respond with a blue one, according to the plan we established after you ambushed the first scouting patrol earlier."
The Shipmaster clicked his mandibles, his green eyes directed skywards to confirm that the sky was indeed devoid of another flare.
"So, they did not see the flare," one of the armored guards proposed unconfidently, and Shining grew frustrated, more at the situation than the soldier who'd spoken.
"They should have though. Everypony in Trottingham should be able to see that signal."
The Arbiter joined them suddenly, a calm sense in his tone.
"They must not be in the settlement, then," the sterling warrior rumbled.
"They wouldn't abandon their post," the Captain retorted, his voice climbing, "That would be disobeying a direct order."
Shipmaster 'Vadum crossed his arms and leaned on one leg, while the Arbiter balled his fists tensely and glared farther down the valley, following the winding path of the irrigation duct to where the settlement lay, so he'd been told, around the next bend in the trough between the steep peaks of the Unicorn Range on either side.
"If they are as competent as you insist," the Arbiter reasoned, "and the conditions are as favorable as you claim, we would have seen their signal by now. Something must be preventing them from answering."
Shining considered his counterpart's words, and after a moment's thought, a realization hit him.
"Oh no."
The prince whirled around with frantic urgency in his voice.
"Arbiter, what did you say earlier?" he implored, "Something about Commanders."
"I noted their absence. A company is always led by no less than a pair of Sangheili Commanders," came the response.
"Of which there are none?" the Captain confirmed, the Shipmaster and the Arbiter nodding agreement in unison.
"At least, not here," 'Vadum responded, his head tilting a bit as he said the words.
As they spoke, one of the SpecOps Elites joined the discussion, and spoke directly to his white-clad superior.
"Shipmaster, kill count confirmed. Between the scouting party in the mountains and the Remnant in this valley, fifty-six Covenant have been killed in action."
'Vadum nodded, and looked concernedly to the Arbiter.
"One squad short of a full company," he observed aloud, and the implications struck the entirety of the coalition at the same time.
"We need to get to Trottingham, now!" ordered Princess Celestia, her authority unquestioned as she took the first step towards Trottingham, the answer to the riddle concealed behind the mountains in the settlement, "Simple haste will not be fast enough!"
The Arbiter looked to the Shipmaster as the pegasi took to the air once again, and together, the Sangheili eyed the practically undamaged Phantom on the outskirts of the landing zone, four Ghosts still latched onto its belly. 'Vadum looked back to the Arbiter, and a devious smile adorned his scarred maw.
"Brothers!" he roared to the others, "Mount up!"
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
Trottingham
Shadows stretched across the land, and a sound like the distant hum of a violin echoed through the hills and reverberated through every stone, tree, field and structure of the secluded section of earth. Trottingham stood nestled in the bosom of the Unicorn Range like an oasis, a small patch of comfort in the midst of harsh terrain, fields of corn and wheat expanding out from the farm houses, stores and town hall of the settlement's heart in rows. The rocky slopes of the sierras rose up on either side of the valley like a 'V', and beyond the fields of golden crop, the grass between the ascendant peaks waved in the late day's breeze like a restless verdant sea.
The distant hum grew into a shrill wail, becoming louder and louder like an approaching scream as the valley lost its peace. The eerie sound's source of gravitational propulsion drives became obvious when, in the distance from the quiet town, blue vapor trails and dust swirls approached as if a supernatural force to be reckoned with bore down on the subtle municipality in haste.
Four Type-32 Rapid Assault Vehicles roared over the valley floor in a spearhead formation with tremendous speed, four winged equines soaring no less quickly intermittently between each Ghost in the formation. Just overhead, slightly behind the echelon of vehicles, pegasi and alicorns, a single, massive Type-52 Troop Carrier lingered, as if watching over its smaller allies as they raced through the green grass below.
The Arbiter, driving the foremost Ghost in the formation, looked behind him briefly to the drop ship, and putting his hand to his headset's communicator, hailed its pilot.
"Shipmaster 'Vadum," he addressed, "how does this vessel suit your command?"
The sound of the Phantom's engines was present in the response as the battle-net buzzed to life within his silver helmet.
"The Shadow of Intent it is not, but I still retain my ability at steering these Phantoms. Our force is well kept within the cabin. Though the foreign nature of this method of travel was quite present within Captain Shining Armor and his flightless comrades as they boarded the craft."
The Arbiter reoriented his eyes forward, focusing on the Ghost's display on the console above his hands on the controls as they guided the nimble vessel across the valley floor. He looked to his left to see a white alicorn keeping pace with his own vehicle no more than two meters away, and to his right to see a black alicorn doing the same, the sisters' expansive wings vigorously pumping and the grass beneath them swaying as if being buffeted by gale force winds. And beyond them, the azure blue trails of the other three Ghost's propulsion drives streamed behind as if they were lambent tails on a kite, the menace they posed to those who opposed them obvious in the low posture of both the vessels and the black-clad Elites slouched at the controls. The other two pegasi, both clad in the elegant albeit recently corrupted armor of the Guard flanked the formation, small swirls of dust and pollen following each hefty wing beat.
The Arbiter's attention was suddenly seized as he heard the voice of Princess Celestia call out from his side.
"We are approaching Trottingham! Not long now!"
The argentate Elite nodded in response, and pressed the throttle forward ever so slightly, his Ghost's engines' pitch going up as if complaining against the exertion. It was not long before the formation entered an extensive wheat field, the last patch of land between them and the now visible structures of Trottingham in the relative distance. The echelon skimmed over the surface of the field, just above the gilded stalks, and as they raced forward they persistently closed the distance between themselves and Trottingham, and by extension, the Element Bearers and Guard members that were supposedly somewhere within. Near the middle of the field, the Arbiter once again accessed his communicator.
"Shipmaster, when we reach this settlement, relinquish the troops you harbor on the outskirts," he ordered, "We shall comb the town as one body, and you shall be our eyes. Stay within the drop ship, and guide us as you deem fit."
As he concluded, the Arbiter remembered the Type-50 operators still in the hills, and furthered his prior orders for them to traverse the ridgelines of the Unicorn Range and rendezvous with the rest of the force at Trottingham.
"Over watch unit, you will need to quicken your pace to a new firing position. Your vigilance will likely be needed. Contact me once you are within view of the settlement."
No response came, as none was necessary, but his communicator shortly crackled to life once again.
"Arbiter, I do not doubt your instinct, but I fail to see why the Remnant would show interest in an agricultural settlement."
He looked to his left, the Sangheili operating the farthest Ghost looking his way with one hand on the controls, the other raised to his headset. The voice of 'Vadum came over the battle-net, putting a voice to his thoughts as the Phantom he flew descended lower to the valley floor, its contoured hull gleaming in the late day's light.
"We do not yet know that the Remnant is what has caused the lack of a response from the Elements and their escort. Then again, I can think of no other likely cause for such a thing to happen."
"Nor I," the Arbiter chimed in, "Though I do not believe the Remnant would be here for the farms."
"What else could they be here for? The Shipmaster furthered, "It is very nearly impossible that they already were able to ascertain the champions' identities as well as their location. They cannot be hunting them, correct? And the princesses specified that this town has little to do with their martial infrastructure."
"When I have found an answer, you will be the first to know," the Arbiter responded, only to have Celestia join the conversation with a remark of her own.
"Our first task must be to find the Element Bearers, and secure their safety!" she yelled over the Ghosts' and Phantom's engines, flying forwards all the while, her spear leveled as if she were jousting an unseen foe, "Once that has been done, we can play detective!"
As she spoke, the Princess of the Night performed a barrel roll over the top of the Arbiter's Ghost, leveling off on her sister's wing, and below the roar of the engines, spoke to her.
"Sister," she began, the electric whir of the gravitational propulsion drives drowning out her voice to all save her intended audience, "are you sure we should bring the aliens into the town? They will be inevitably seen by anypony who would look in their direction."
"At this point, it does not matter," came the answer as Celestia kept her eyes forward to dissuade any notion of her keeping of secrets, "This turn of events has forced our play, and keeping the knowledge of their presence contained is undoubtedly less important than ensuring the Elements continue in their ability to defend Equestria."
The wheat field suddenly ended, the structures of the town looming all the nearer, and the Arbiter brought the Ghost to a screeching halt. He pulled back on the controls and released pressure on the throttle, turning the Ghost perpendicular to its momentum, causing it to skid to a stop just within the town's limits. The other three Ghosts followed his lead, and the winged equines opened their wings to the air, slowing themselves in an instant to alight within the now stationary formation with perfect aerial grace.
The Shipmaster guided the Phantom into their midst, and set down on the edge of the wheat field. The ventral doors opened, and the two Mgalekgolo, accompanied by Captain Shining Armor, three more Elites and the remainder of the Equestrians, leapt a small distance down to the ground below. The Arbiter jumped from the cockpit of his Ghost, pulling his Plasma Rifle from his hip before he hit the ground, and with a wave of his hand, brought the entire coalition to his flanks.
The Elite in silver led them to the beginnings of the town, taking cover along the wall of the nearest building, a two-story shop with a sign on top that read Clydesdale Grain in large white letters. The Arbiter peered around the corner of the store to observe the town while the sound of the Shipmaster's Phantom's engines roared to life as the craft took off once again. The settlement was simple; one dirt road ran down the center of the structures, which were all aligned alongside the main street. On the far side of the town, making an endpoint for the town's only road as it stood as if watching over the municipal structures in its shadow, was a two story building painted white with a red roof, large windows, and two separate wings on either side of a main entryway. It was obvious that this structure was of importance in relation to the smaller shops and homes lining the main street it commanded.
As the Arbiter memorized every alleyway, shadow and building he could see as he leaned slightly around the corner of the store, he realized just how devoid of movement the settlement was. He felt Shining Armor at his side, looking on as he was, as he realized that there was no sign of any of the residents. The wooden walkways running along each side of the dusty street were empty, and each of the windows were vacant of silhouettes. There was not even a sound, save for the drone of the Phantom's engines as it climbed a safe distance into the sky above, and the faint tolling of a bell in the wind as it coursed through the air and stirred the carillon in the town hall's bell tower.
The Arbiter looked down as he heard the Captain's breath escape.
"It's a ghost town," the stallion breathed, and he looked up to the Arbiter with a look between fear and confusion as further silence confirmed his statement.
The Arbiter glared down the street once more, and he ran a finger over the smooth surface of his Plasma Rifle, reminding himself of its presence.
"Spread out in two squads," he ordered, his voice a hoarse whisper, "Go nowhere alone. Advance from structure to structure until Equestria's champions have been found."
Growls and nods of agreement went through the ranks of the Elites, while bated breath was held among the Equestrians as the Arbiter looked into the blue eyes of Shining Armor behind his gilded helmet, and furthered, "Captain, you and your own will come with me."
As the Arbiter spoke, a contingent of the Elites sprang from their place along the wall of the store and sprinted across the street, taking up positions along the outside wall of the structure opposite the Arbiter's position. Meanwhile, the Hunters took up a position in the center of the street between the two groups of the coalition, their looming bulk imposing as they stood shoulder to shoulder with verdant shields ready.
"You search the town," Princess Celestia began before taking to the air once again, hovering for a moment with her sister at her side, "Luna and I will begin checking the rural homes spread out through the valley."
As the alicorns sped off to a distant barn, the Arbiter looked up again to the Shipmaster hovering above the town in the Phantom, and he put a finger on his helmet's communicator.
"Shipmaster, circle the settlement. Should anything catch your eye, inform us immediately."
His words had immediate effect, as the craft dove to an altitude below one hundred feet, and patrolled outside the town's limits, the gun beneath its nose swiveling like a raptor looking for prey.
The Arbiter looked back to the Equestrians behind him, and then across the way to his brothers in black; every soul in the town was looking to him, waiting for his word, waiting for his orders, waiting to follow him. The Arbiter only raised his hand, and took in a breath. When he let the air back out, he allowed his hand to descend, and no sooner had he drawn breath again than he'd whipped around the side of the wall with his Type-25 pointed down the street as his brothers mirrored his movement across the road.
With a wave he shepherded the Equestrians forward while he covered their advance, forcefully saying, "Search the building," as Shining reached the doorway to the grain shop.
The Captain threw the unlocked door open with ease, and they filtered inside, the Arbiter entering the structure last to see the Equestrians dispersing into all corners of the store, hauling their armored weight up stairs or throwing stacks of seed out of the way to check every nook and cranny of the shop.
The absence of the building's potential occupants was declared when a strong voice yelled from upstairs, "Clear!"
"Onto the next," replied the Arbiter, and he led the way back into the street.
He checked the street once again, his weapon sweeping across the motionless setting before him as he leaned out of the doorway of the grain shop. The Equestrians again came trotting up behind him, making for the neighboring building so as to continue the search, but the Arbiter caught the leading Captain by the shoulder plate, and offered words of warning.
"Calm and careful," he reminded Shining, sharing a nod before they moved on together.
The search of the next building, a tavern by the looks of it, yielded nothing except a few bottles left open on the bar with condensation still coating the outside of the glass. In the same fashion they scoured the third building, a metallurgy shop with embers still smoking in the forge, but no residents were within.
Again, the Arbiter and his equine company went to move on, the ponies dashing from building to building while the Arbiter covered their advance, but when the Sangheili left cover to join them, he found the ponies frozen in the entrance to an alleyway, their advance stopped midstride. It didn't take a second glance for the Arbiter to confirm the reason for their pause.
In the alleyway, slumped against the wall, lay one of their own.
A pool of red gathered around his motionless figure, avian appearing footprints in the crimson damp, and his torso was blackened as if burned. His armor was no longer gold, and the wall behind him was discolored as well. The brow of his helmet slouched over his breast, concealing his face, but his horn alluded to his identity.
In mortified horror the Equestrians watched their comrade as if they expected him to get back up, and tears mixed with the blood at their hooves. For pity's sake the Arbiter mirrored their silence, but he clung to the alleyway's walls and kept his amber eyes moving, ever vigilant in his search for foreign movement.
Eventually, the Arbiter shattered the vigil with a hushed address.
"Captain?" he murmured, causing a shift in the reverence of the Equestrians.
"It's Sergeant Chevron," admitted the prince, his voice cracking as he spoke.
The Hunters moved up through the center of the street as did the Elites on the walkways across the road, passing the alleyway as they advanced in their unhindered search, and seeing that they were not drawing any fire, the Arbiter deemed it safe to allow his watch to falter. He turned from his post, and stopped watching the Equestrians' backs long enough to join them.
But, as he approached, something caught his eye. On the wall opposite the dead pegasus, a splotch of color was out of place.
"This is not Equestrian blood," the Arbiter noticed as he passed a finger through the dark, drying purple splatter opposite the Equestrian casualty; upon a second look, the blades in the dead guard's gauntlets were stained the same color, "It would appear he died fighting."
The Arbiter looked closer at the fallen pegasus' body.
"These wounds were inflicted by a Storm Rifle," he said, pointing to the stallion's torso, the breast plate all but melted.
"But these wounds here," he continued, pointing to a pair of aligned holes in the abdomen, "these were done by a sword."
There was no response from the Equestrians; whether or not they took comfort in their comrade's spirit went unknown. Two of the guards lifted his stiff, armored body from the dirt, and moved him back inside the building they'd most recently cleared, leaving a trail of red through the street and into the doorway. As the casualty's solemn bearers returned, the metal over their faces doing little to hide their grief, the Arbiter reached for his headset.
"All units, take heed. We have primary evidence of Remnant activity in this settlement. We are clear to engage any Covenant forces on sight from here on. Stay alert. Active camouflage is likely being employed."
The heartbreak lingered in the coalition, refusing to disband as the equines seemed to lean on each other in mutual embrace. The alleyway became noisy with sniffles and whimpers, and as the Arbiter began to depart from the Equestrians, he noticed another lavender tinted discoloration on the ground. Drops of the fluid led down the alleyway, and around the backside of the buildings.
"A blood trail," he muttered to himself, and upon whirling around, said to Shining, "We can catch his killers, if we make haste."
"I'd rather find the Element Bearers, the townsfolk, and the other three assigned to the security detail first," came the glum response, "My sister won't have let the Elements become separated, and Gale Force won't have let them off on their own. I'd wager that if we find one of our missing ponies, we find them all."
The Arbiter clicked his mandibles, thinking of a way to sway the prince in his favor.
"I can tell the others to continue searching the town if it brings you comfort," the Arbiter replied after a frustrated growl, and he pointed to the indigo blood in the dirt, "But I cannot turn away from this opportunity, for at the end of it lies our quarry."
A silence followed, and the Arbiter furthered his argument with an authoritative step forward.
"I advise you trust me, Captain," he rumbled, "for I know far more of warfare than you."
"You know far more of killing than me," corrected Shining with equal authority, "I'm not here to kill, I'm here to keep Equestrian lives safe."
"And if you and I kill the Remnant in this town," reasoned the Elite, "there will no longer be a threat to defend your citizens from."
Shining looked to the others, and they back at him. He ran a hoof through his crimson crest, and sighed.
"Alright," he agreed, nodding to himself.
The Arbiter returned the nod, and reached for his helmet.
"Brothers, the Captain and I have found Covenant blood," he explained, "We are going to follow it, and hunt the Remnant that entered the town. Divide your forces, and secure the rest of the buildings in the same fashion as we have been."
He looked back to the Equestrians as his communicator clicked off, and from the other side of the street, half the Elites bounded across the road to pick up clearing structures where the Arbiter and the Equestrians had left off.
"Follow me," the Arbiter bid, and he turned his eyes downwards to the splotches of purple fluid in the dust.
The Arbiter followed the blood trail with a predatory grace, finding tiny dots of indigo in the tan earth of the town, as well as disturbances that made the outlines of partial tracks. He pointed them out as he went, quietly explaining what it was he was seeing to those behind him.
"It was a Sangheili that took the hit," he whispered, pointing out the color of the blood and the shape of the tracks.
"By the looks of it, he wasn't hit very hard," Shining added, noticing the decreasing volume of blood in each intermittent stain in the town's earth, "The wound may have begun to clot already."
The Arbiter nodded agreement, and lifted his Plasma Rifle to a more ready position, his dominant hand on the trigger and his other hand cradling the weapon for support. His steps became less eager and more cautious, more tense, as the blood trail paralleled the main road from behind the buildings. The setting sun cast an orange glow over the town, and each westward facing window reflected sharply. The sounds of doors violently being thrown open from the main road persisted, as the other Elites continued searching the town, and in the distance, a metallic glint hinted at the princess' progression in their search as well.
As the Arbiter knelt, inspecting the earth for sign in an elongated gap between tracks, the voice of one of the snipers in the mountains came over his headset.
"Arbiter, over watch unit is in position. We have a vantage point over all outdoor areas of the settlement."
The Arbiter committed the detail to his mind, but kept on his search, amber eyes scouring the soil for anything out of place. It took a moment, but he was able to reacquire the blood trail, the Equestrians' learning to mimic his pattern of circling around until a fresher sign could be located.
The trail led to the end of the town, to the outside wall of the building nearest the town hall on their respective side of the road, but it was here that the blood trail ended. The Arbiter stopped as well, and puzzled as he tried to discern where his quarry had gone as a hunter would. He stood to the side as the Equestrians silently watched him, and he visualized the path most likely taken with a pointing finger to aide in his thoughts' progression.
"They were moving this way," he said to himself, "clinging to cover and never straying from the paths of the town. If they had continued..."
The Arbiter's words trailed off as he completed the line made by each point of blood, and when his finger traced the path, he found the town hall on the other end of his extended arm.
"Captain," he rumbled, "what service does that structure provide?"
"It's a governmental building," the stallion explained in a hushed voice, "That's where the mayor's office is. It serves as an administrative center for town meetings, minor court hearings. Every town has one similar."
"Is knowledge stored there?" furthered the Arbiter.
"There are documents of minor political and historical importance in the upstairs archives, but it's not exactly a library," he explained, "Apart from the mayor's private collection, there should only be deeds to land tracts, maybe a constitution or two."
Just then, the Sangheili's ear was greeted by the electric voice of the Shipmaster.
"Arbiter, I am reading thermal signatures in the structure ahead."
The Elite focused on the windows of the town hall, but found them motionless with the shutters drawn.
"The Remnant surely does not know what you have explained, and we know they will be seeking documents of importance," he said slowly to the Equestrians at his back, "In the Covenant, archives and throne rooms were synonymous. High Charity, our capital city, stored all of the compiled knowledge of the empire. We have had no concept of the two being separated until now. Ready your weapons."
"We're going in there?" asked one of the guards, a pegasus with wide green eyes behind his helmet's eye slots.
"Such is our duty," replied the Arbiter without looking away from the town hall, "The Remnant must be purged from this world and the rest of the galaxy. If you wish to depart, I will not stop you."
He looked back.
"Who will go with me?"
"I'm right behind you," came the voice of Shining Armor, and the blue crested brows of the other six Equestrians descended in agreement as well.
The Arbiter checked the windows again, hefted his Plasma Rifle, and upon releasing a breath, sprinted across the roadway to the grand double doors of the town's capital. He threw himself against the outside wall of the building, and waited for the galloping hooves of the Equestrians who'd come after him to fall silent at his sides before giving the nod to one of the pegasi, motioning for him to open the door while the rest drew their weapons.
"It's locked," the hovering stallion said as he tested the door.
"The first that has been so," recalled the Arbiter, before pointing around the side of the southernmost wing of the structure, "Noise is our enemy. Check for alternate entrances."
It did not take long for a door on the side of the large building to be found, and as they had done at the front of the structure, the coalition stacked up. Gingerly, the Arbiter nudged the door, causing it to swing open on squeaky hinges. Ducking through the doorway, the Arbiter found himself in a study, the mayor's office, large chairs and sofas spread comfortably around a desk, but every bookcase in the room was empty. Dust floated through the air, and the soft falls of metal horseshoes and boots dully thudded through the room as every corner was searched.
"This room is empty," whispered a guard, and the coalition followed the Arbiter towards the center of the structure.
On the far side of the apartment, a large white door loomed. The Arbiter strode to its threshold, and leaned against the painted wood with a shoulder, pushing it open with his weapon ready. The opened door revealed a much larger, more cavernous room than the first. Rows of benches were arranged before a trio of elevated seats, behind which was another set of large double doors. This room was the center of the building: the courtroom.
The silver clad Elite slowly made his way down the center aisle of the rows, his head swiveling from side to side as he inspected his surroundings for anything out of place, but he found nothing. He heard the Equestrians behind him as they aided his search, their hooves far from predatory as they made a subtle noise on the wooden floorboards.
The search of the courtroom, while thorough, was unyielding, and as the Arbiter allowed himself to breathe freely for a moment more, Shining Armor made his way across the aisle to him.
"If you could maybe ask the Shipmaster exactly where what he saw was..."
The Captain was interrupted by a squeaky hinge coming to life a distance away from any of the Equestrians in the room, and all present whirled around to the courtroom's door connecting to the north wing to see its white door swinging slowly open. The Arbiter trained his Plasma Rifle on the doorway, dropping to one knee behind the backrest of the nearest bench while Shining, and the rest of the Equestrians, did much the same, their horns kindled, wings buzzing, and all their weapons raised.
At first, nothing emerged from the north wing, and as the Arbiter's amber stare waited for a target, a familiar face came into view. Lavender fur, laid back ears, a horn protruding from a mane of dark hair: Twilight Sparkle.
The Arbiter allowed his weapon's muzzle to drop, and the mare waved them over, but not before hissing a very faint, "Shh."
The coalition quickly did as they were bid, ducking into the doorway to join the mare, and to find the room on the other side of the closed door very cramped. Apart from the six Element Bearers, the talismans of their namesake still about their necks and Twilight's forehead, and the three missing guards, dozens of stallions, mares and colts, almost all of them without wings or horns, were also concealed within, clutching each other as they cowered in the dark at the sight of the Arbiter.
The alien gauged the room intently. Myriad fearful, confused eyes looked at him, both young and old, and despite his own returned oscillating gaze, his attention was seized as new company surrounded him, not the equines with whom he'd arrived.
"Brothers, we have found the missing Equestrians," he said as he pressed against the side of his helm, "If able, find a way to notify the princesses. They lack the communication devices we have."
"Twiley," whispered Captain Shining Armor upon seeing his sister and pulling her into a brief embrace, "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"No, none of us are... well, except the mayor there," the mare, her crown catching the meager light, responded urgently but quietly as she gestured to one of the older mares in the room; Fluttershy was tending to her coronet, which was not broken, but the ankle was regardless in the process of being bandaged, "She took a stumble getting here."
"What happened?" asked the Arbiter, looking down at the ponies around him.
"We could ask the same of you," chided an Equestrian stranger, a mare with yellow fur and a blue mane, stepping forward with a very fearful anger in her eyes, "What's going on here? What even are you?"
The Arbiter looked her way.
"If you must know who I am, know me as he who hunts that which is hunting you," he growled in the darkness, "If you would accept this, then you have nothing to fear from me. Rather, mind the radicals that seek your blood's spilling."
"The Arbiter and his own are friends of Equestria," furthered Shining Armor, stepping between the tall alien and the now wide eyed mare who'd posed the comment, "They've proven to be friends of Equestria more than once already today. You have nothing to fear from him."
This seemed to give the citizens some measure of peace, but the matter persisted, and one of the guards picked up where the mare had interrupted once again.
"We were attacked. It had to be the Remnant," said the guard, an earth pony, explaining, "We had no idea it was coming. Most shopkeepers were still conducting business when it happened. Sergeant Chevron ordered us to round up all the citizens and the Elements, and keep them safe. He was wounded while covering our exfiltration from the town. Haven't seen him since."
"He didn't make it," said Shining in response, looking away as he said the words; the ears of the other guards laid flat as they heard the words, and some eyes filled with tears.
"Did you ever see your assailants?" asked the Arbiter shortly after as the rest of the Element Bearers came over, their expressions solemn with the news of Chevron's death.
"Not hide nor hair of 'em," Applejack answered grimly, rubbing her forehead free of sweat; the amount of bodies crammed into a single room made the air very close and uncomfortable.
"The first lasers came from the West, I think," added Rainbow Dash, "back in the direction you guys were headed before we split."
"And you've been hiding here ever since?" asked Shining, prying for details; he received many nods for an answer.
"We could hear them outside," Twilight furthered, her voice trembling slightly, "We thought they were looking for us, so we guarded the door and hoped they wouldn't think to look here."
"Luckily, they never did," added Rarity, making her way over from the crowd of Trottingham's residents.
The Arbiter turned away slightly from the others before him, and bent down to Shining Armor's ear.
"Captain, this changes the nature of our mission greatly," he said, "These citizens may not be warriors, but they can and will be engaged by the Remnant should they present themselves as targets. If we seek to confront our foe, they must be out of danger."
A short silence followed the Arbiter's comment as the Captain weighed his potential options. But, not long after, the silence was shattered as the sound of breaking glass resonated through the building from the second floor. All present looked up.
"What was that?" somepony asked in a terrified whisper.
The sounds of footsteps stomped down through the ceiling, and the room cowered down, families gripping their loved ones and stifling the frightened mewls of the foals. The Equestrian Royal Guard drew their weapons once again, and waited by the door with the Elements behind them, Fluttershy and Rarity seeing to it that the masses stayed quiet and away from the windows, Twilight and Pinkie Pie moving furniture to barricade the door if need be, and Applejack and Rainbow Dash waiting behind the guards with set jaws and determined brows.
"Shipmaster, can you confirm any other signatures in the structure?" the Arbiter asked calmly into his communicator.
"I see nothing apart from you," came 'Vadum's voice over the headset.
The Arbiter emitted a soft groan, and in the shadows, a filly whimpered, her hushing mother trying to comfort her rapidly beating heart.
"Over watch unit, your perspective?" the sterling Elite asked again.
"We cannot identify the intruders. If the Shipmaster's thermal imagery is now clean, the Remnant may have grown wise to our activity and activated their camouflage modules."
The Arbiter nodded, and once again, hissed into his helmet's communicator.
"Brothers, come at once to the town's governmental building. The Remnant is on the second floor," he paused shortly before continuing, "I will be engaging momentarily."
The eyes of all in the room suddenly snapped to the Arbiter, the words just having left his mandibles, and his amber eyes returned the stare.
"Captain, get them to safety," he said, looking at a cowering foal while he addressed the armored stallion not far from his sister's side, "Out the door through which we entered. I will cover your retreat."
The stallion gave a nod, as the Arbiter removed his sword hilt from his waste with his fee hand, and the Elements prompted all to quickly rise while the guards secured the town hall's central courtroom once again. The Arbiter exited the room last, following the procession of ponies of all shapes and sizes, and where they continued on, he took a turn.
A short moment of quiet footsteps yielded the find of a staircase, through the doors behind the courtroom's judge's chair, and the Arbiter gingerly began to ascend the steps to the second floor, his breath controlled and deliberate, just like the muzzle of the Plasma Rifle in his steady hand. The sounds of commotion from his yet to be seen foes persisted in growing volume as he neared the summit of the winding, narrow stairwell, almost too narrow for his wide shoulders to navigate without his armor bumping the walls. He stopped at the top of the staircase, an open doorway leading out into a second story room, and he listened from concealed safety behind the corner, the wall between him and the entities he'd heard. As he listened, the deep, authoritative voice of a Sangheili made itself known.
"Make haste," came the voice, "The Justiciar wants any information we can bring him, that we may find a lead our scans of the planet's surface failed to yield."
The Arbiter breathed deeply, quietly, and listened further, the weight of the weapons in his hands comfortable and strangely elegant.
"What can we learn from simple scrolls?" came a different voice amidst the sound of paper's ruffling.
"Their contents are yet to be known," said a third voice, higher pitched but undoubtedly belonging to a Sangheili, "We will know once the inscriptions of the indigenous race have been deciphered."
The Arbiter let a breath out, and hoisted his Plasma Rifle close to his chest, preparing to use it as quickly as possible once he turned that corner and the bolts started flying.
"Take everything," came the baritone first voice, "We cannot afford to be remiss. The human doctor assured Fleet Master 'Mdama of an artifact's presence on this world, and we must have it prepared for his return once he has dealt with the remainder of the Separatist fleet."
The Arbiter readied himself, activating his active camouflage, and began to lean unseen around the corner, when the sound of excitement from the within the room, as well as the floor below him, catalyzed his move.
"Heathens and heretics, in the streets!" yelled one of the Remnant within, and as the hostile sounds of myriad objects hitting the floor and Storm Rifles activating resonated through the room, the Arbiter sprang into action.
Clinging to the wall, he swung around the corner, his Plasma Rifle raised, and upon seeing no targets and a few scrolls floating conspicuously in the air, he sprayed the room indiscriminately with plasma bolts. As his shots met their marks, and the harnesses of the cloaked foes within the archives glowed blue with each hit, he realized just how outmatched he was; he'd drawn his weapons on no less than six Remnant Sangheili, and while some of them still clutched the prizes of knowledge within Equestrian documents, books and bound parchments, those that had darted to the windows upon seeing the Equestrians fleeing now turned their still cool weapons to the Arbiter as he fired burst after searing burst from around the corner.
One of the Elites fell, the scrolls he'd held spilling to the floor along with his own blood, and as the active camouflage modules of the damaged harnesses began to fail, each of the room's occupants came into view.
A volley of shots beat the Arbiter back around the corner, his previously invisible exterior glowing blue as his camouflage module shorted out, and he blindly returned fire as incandescent balls of plasma bored holes through the wall behind which he took shelter. Withering fire slowly crept nearer to his flesh, when a sound like an electric whip came cracking through the windows, and the heavy sound of bodies falling amidst the shattering of glass bore testament to the Type-50 operator's accuracy.
"Targets down," came the voice of a Sangheili over the Arbiter's battle-net, and with the fire he'd been taking momentarily diverted, he once again rounded the corner to return fire.
His foes no longer invisible, targeting was much easier, and as the Arbiter aimed down the length of his rifle, he found a Sangheili in purple armor, the pattern of a diamond in large blue nodes on his helm's crest, looking back at him from the opposite end of his Type-25, dozens of scrolls held under one of his arms and a sword in the other.
The Arbiter knew the nature and importance of his quarry, and announced into the battle-net for all to hear.
"Zealot!"
"Kill him!" the Zealot roared in return as he pointed the twin prongs of his Energy Sword to the Arbiter, and as he beat for the rear of the cavernous archives, he bellowed again, "Kill them all!"
The Arbiter was able to fire off another burst as the nearest Elite, a Sangheili Commander, brought his Storm Rifle to bear on his torso, and as his foe fell limply to the ground the Arbiter was forced behind cover once more by the concentrated fire of the rest of the Remnant in the room. He tried to return fire, knowing the criticality of bringing the Zealot down, but he could not move; the walls of the top of the staircase were already black and smoldering, and the beginning of a fire was forming in the wood of the structure.
The Arbiter prepared once again to lean around the corner, but as he went to move, a glowing blue ball landed at the stairs' summit, a rising electric whir accompanying its pulsating, energetic surface. The Arbiter's eyes widened as he realized what was lying at his feet; a plasma grenade. With a surprised grunt of effort, he dove back down the stairs, crashing through the railing and landing hard on the first floor once again as an explosion rocked the position he'd occupied. Looking back up, the Arbiter saw the staircase decimated; there was no way of re-engaging the Remnant through his previous means.
As he looked around, searching for a way back up, he saw the streaking blue lines of plasma fire descending from the top floor to the street, and upon bounding to the window, saw the Equestrians, still led by Shining Armor, drawing fire as they took shelter within the nearest of the town's structures. Some of the unicorns were returning the Remnant's aggression, but they were undoubtedly pinned down.
"Shipmaster," the Arbiter said into his communicator as he vacated the courtroom for the south wing and cautiously stepped outside, "I need your guns to bear on the town hall's second story immediately! The Equestrians' lives depend on it!"
With hardly a delay, the Shipmaster's Phantom descended from the sky above, and hovered above the Equestrians' position in the shop, the craft's powerful engines driving the dust of the streets up into a ferocious twister. Through the howling sandstorm, the Arbiter watched as the Remnant shifted their fire onto the drop ship's hull to no effect, the glow of the shots piercing the opaque air like lightning.
Then, with the intensity of imminent thunder, the Phantom's weapons system roared to life. Lavender flashes burned through the swirling, dusty wind, and with each strike of the vessel's heavy plasma shells, the Remnant's fire decreased and the area of the town hall's second story that remained intact diminished. It did not take long for the Covenant's return fire to cease altogether, but even then, the Shipmaster remained persistent in his engagement of their now silent position.
Eventually, the Shipmaster's guns fell silent, and the dust storm quelled as he lifted into the sky once more, yet as he departed, his voice came over the battle-net.
"Thrice now, I have saved you Captain," 'Vadum said, chuckling slightly, "As the day persists, your debt to me grows."
The Arbiter, now outside the town hall, placed his hand on an architectural ledge on the building's outer wall, and hoisted himself up. As he began to climb for a second story window, darkened by smoke, he heard the relatively distant voice of Shining Armor calling after the ascending Phantom.
"Thank you, my guardian angel," said the stallion sarcastically albeit gratefully in the distance, oblivious to 'Vadum's comment, and the Arbiter caught a glimpse of the Equestrians as they made for the safety of the first grain shop they'd cleared.
Watching them as they went, the Arbiter witnessed as the distant glints of the princesses' armor sped in from the outer farmhouses, and Luna and Celestia landed among their citizens, forming a defensive perimeter along with the guards around Trottingham's denizens and the Element Bearers. The Arbiter knew the princesses would, according to their word, see to it that their Equestrians stayed safe while the Swords of Sanghelios saw to the Remnant threat.
The Arbiter finished his climb, his height allowing him to push the second story window open while only being a meter or so off the ground, and lifted himself into the structure's interior. The archives were black in smoke from multiple crackling fires, and the building creaked with each step the Arbiter took. Yet, apart from the sounds of the fire, the room was quiet; no voices, no movement apart from his own, and the argentate Elite drew his sword out of suspicion.
He reached for his headset, the glow from his blade illuminating his face.
"Secure the perimeter," he said to the others, "Brothers, make sure none of the Remnant escape. I shall flush them out to you, should any still draw breath."
The Arbiter continued his search, looking to confirm the Remnant were indeed dead, and for that, he needed to find bodies. It did not take long to find the first two; a pair of Sangheili Commanders, one with the left portion of his torso blown away, the other missing his legs, bore the evidence of the trauma caused by heavy plasma shells. But the Arbiter looked closer, inspecting his dead foes, and noticed a very unique glyph on both the Commanders' definitive head crests.
They wore the insignia of the Silent Blade. The Arbiter knew this unit, a Remnant Special Operations Group rival to the force he himself deployed with. But, the Arbiter had yet to find the true prize among the smoldering dead.
Throwing over bookcases and sifting through the ashes, the Arbiter found the charred remains of two more Sangheili Minors, but the Zealot proved elusive. Apart from that, he knew not how many bodies to expect; the enemy fire he'd received as a greeting upon entering the archives had prevented him from taking an accurate tally of how many foes he had to contend with, and so, he remained cautious albeit persistent.
As the area he had yet to search became smaller than the portion of the archives he'd scoured, the Arbiter grew tense. If anything were to happen, he knew it would happen soon, and that he would soon make contact with any surviving Remnant. He kept his sword raised, and his finger on the trigger mechanism of his Plasma Rifle.
Then, as he stepped over a small cluster of flames, the electric popping of a sword being drawn seized the Arbiter's attention. He looked up, and saw a glacier blue sword cutting through the smoke and ash in his direction. Caught off guard, the Arbiter quickly parried, stumbling backwards as he raised his sword long enough to block another descending flash of the ion bound plasma blade.
The Arbiter ducked the third slash, only able to see the glowing weapon of his foe and not the weapon's wielder himself, and backpedaled away from his oncoming attacker firing his Plasma Rifle at the signature of his enemy's sword. As the radiant bolts passed by his quarry, the light illuminated purple armor, an arm clutching a collection of scrolls and books opposite a sword wielding hand. Yet, as the Arbiter regained the upper hand, his ranged weaponry giving him the advantage, the Zealot turned and ran off into the smoke, the sound of glass exploding outwards marking his departure from the burning building.
"Zealot, coming out!" the Arbiter yelled into his headset, and as he pursued, the sounds of Carbines and Plasma Rifles alluding to the Zealot's path, voices came over the battle-net telling him exactly what he did not want to hear.
"He was too swift for my mark!" came the voice of one of the SpecOps Elites, just as the Arbiter's sterling boots impacted the earth outside the town hall, his leap from the flaming structure hardly large enough to cripple his momentum.
"He is running for the hills!" came the voice of another as he rolled, regained his feet, and ran after his brothers' arcing bolts of plasma as they traced the Zealot's route of escape.
"After him!" yelled the Arbiter as he led the charge across the green plains and crops in pursuit of the high-valued target, "He must not escape!"
Blazing a trail through a field of corn after the fleeing Zealot, the Arbiter heard the voice of the Shipmaster in his ear.
"Arbiter, I am reading multiple inbound aircraft! Covenant Phantoms, four of them!"
He looked up, identifying the silhouettes of the craft mentioned by his comrade. Three of them made for the town, but the fourth made a landing destined to make landfall just beyond the corn field, and a surge of adrenaline prompted the Arbiter's legs to pump faster.
Bursting through a wall of corn, the Arbiter cleared the field of crop, and found himself looking at the Remnant Phantom less than fifty meters away, the Zealot he was pursuing just beginning to step up into the ventral door of the drop ship. And helping him up was a hand armored in gold.
The Arbiter froze, his Plasma Rifle at his side, as he locked eyes with the Sangheili Warrior as he lifted the Zealot, the stolen documents still under his arm, into the vessel's hold. The Arbiter knew there was only one Sangheili in the Remnant's local fleet that could hold such a high rank, and as the enemy Shipmaster pointed in his direction with an authoritative bark, the Phantom's ventral door gunner swung to bear on his position. The Arbiter dropped to one knee and fired into the Phantom's hold as four more of his brothers erupted from the corn field at his back doing the same, but the Phantom lifted off before any of their rounds could strike flesh. Plasma rained down on them as they kept on firing, and the Arbiter yelled frantically into his headset.
"Shipmaster, demonstrate your skill! The Zealot is escaping on board the fourth vessel, along with Kar Vol himself!"
"I am outgunned!" came the response, and the Arbiter looked up to two of the other three Phantoms bearing down on 'Vadum's craft; the third, however, was making for his own position.
"Strafing run!" one of the SpecOps Elites cried out as he took a prone position, anticipating the searing downpour of fire, but it never came.
The Arbiter could only look on in awe as a prism of light intercepted the incoming Phantoms as they broke formation, and while no damage was done to them at first, their flight faltered as if being buffeted by a powerful wind. And while the Elites watched in consternation, the three incoming drop ships turned to granite.
The massive boulders, exactly the size and shape of the Type-52s, continued in on a vector, striking the ground outside Trottingham with tremendous force, causing them to break up on impact. The boulders landed all around the Arbiter and his comrades, while all they could do was put their hands up to shield their eyes from the rocky debris and dust thrown up by each impact.
And when the dust finally cleared, the Arbiter looked back to where the light had originated, to see Equestria's champions hovering in a circle in the middle of Trottingham's street, their eyes glazed over white and their talismans connected by a ring of energy. Inexplicable awe filled his heart, and his thoughts were voiced by a black armored Elite at his side.
"Champions' might," he murmured, his voice trembling slightly, "All our lives are owed to six children."
"Discard any doubt as to their worth," furthered another as he replaced his weapons in their respective places on his armor, and began the trek back to the town; the Element Bearers' power began to fade, and they dropped back to the ground once more.
"Gather the bodies," the Arbiter said, ignoring what had just transpired as he watched the fourth Phantom, the one transporting the Zealot and Kar Vol, become a miniscule speck against the painted sky, "Covenant and Equestrian alike."
The Arbiter looked up to see the Shipmaster's vessel cruise in steadily to the heart of Trottingham, setting down on the street with its doors down. The Equestrians now milled about the town openly, looking at the desolation, smoke and craters pockmarking their once peaceful town, and the princesses led them to 'Vadum's craft. The Arbiter breathed in the smoke, and placed his steaming Plasma Rifle on his hip. Nothing more could be done here, and while the body count told a story of victory, the Arbiter could not help but feel he'd failed; his prey had escaped.
He sighed, and strode past his brothers back to the town, his amber glare set like the stone the Covenant craft had been turned to.
"We are done here."
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
Masks
The dull throb of the Phantom's engines rattled through the vessel's quarters, providing the only sound audible as the exhausted coalition of Equestrians and Separatists waited for the flight back to Canterlot to reach its end. None stood; all sat on the lavender craft's floor, leaned against the pitching walls or on each other, respective species clinging to one another for support in more ways than one.
The vessel's hold was dark, the blue eyes of the Elites casting an evanescent glow over the different species sheltered within the armored hull of the Type-52 drop ship as the Shipmaster guided it back to the East, to the mountainous fortress of Equestria's capital. With each shift in the floor, the metallic complaint of a pile of Covenant Remnant Elites' helmets in the corner rang quietly through the hold, reminding the Arbiter of the communicators they had planned to salvage along with the Covenant's vehicles and ammunition they had already helped themselves to.
The addition of Trottingham's denizens made the cabin quite cramped; refugees, Celestia had labeled them, and according to her, they were in need of shelter, which the Royal Palace could easily provide. It seemed she thought of her home as a place for the homeless as much as it was a castle. However, her school of thought was not so strongly represented within the Phantom; the princesses, along with the other Equestrians graced with the gift of flight, flew outside the craft to create room for those without wings.
The Arbiter, his back braced against one of the ventral doors with his hands folded against his armored thighs, couldn't help but notice the dependency of the Equestrians on each other; none of them sat alone. Their shock was evident in the expression of one foal who continually glanced his way, averting eye contact whenever the Elite turned his way like a game of bewildered peek-a-boo as, between fascination and fear, he gauged the newcomer. Many of the child's older kin did something similar, only their looks were much more suspicious. If the princesses were not outside the Phantom's hull, they would likely not be so peacefully awaiting the ride to Canterlot to end.
The Arbiter could only begin to imagine the torrents going through each of their thoughts at the moment. So many changes had come to these Equestrians in only a few hours, and one didn't need look very hard to see its evidence. His eyes wandered past Shining Armor, his crested helmet in his lap, as he sat close to his sister and the other Elements, and on to the other members of the Equestrian Guard, gathered around a salvaged red and white bed sheet in the hold's center, as their tired eyes blinked away in the darkness.
The Equestrians all looked to Chevron's concealed body the same way they had before, as if they expected him to rise any time, and the Arbiter could only shake his head. He knew it was wrong for him to think such a thing necessary, but then again, he had become so used to seeing scenes like these, scenes of the dead intermingled with the living. And despite the Equestrian soldiers shielding their fallen comrade from the civilians that shared the Phantom's hold, the weight of their sorrow seemed contagious even to those without armored hides.
As the Arbiter rested his head in his hands, he couldn't help but feel lucky that none of his own were lying beside Chevron's veiled body. His brothers in black rested beside him, and while he looked to them with gratitude simply for their drawing of breath, they returned the silent expression of thankfulness.
The Arbiter looked to Twilight, and waited for her eyes to meet his. When they met each other's gaze, the sterling Elite's voice rumbled over the engines and shivering turbulence in the darkness.
"I have yet to thank you," he said, and with his voice being the only presence in the shadow of the cabin, many silently looked his way.
"For what?" replied the unicorn mare, shooting back a quizzical look, "You were the ones that came and got us out of that town."
"And you were the ones who brought down a squadron of Covenant drop ships," the Arbiter furthered, addressing the other three Element Bearers in the cabin as well this time, and the drop ship lurched at a pocket of unstable air as the words left his mouth.
"So we're even," Applejack said in response, her drawling voice formless in the darkness, "We saved each other."
"I was not thanking you for saving my life," the Arbiter explained matter-of-factly, and he shot a brief glance to one of the SpecOps Elites at his side, "I was not alone in the path of the Covenant's attack run."
The silence following the Sangheili's words seemed heavier than the quiet of before, and as the vessel they occupied pitched and rolled lightly around them, the Arbiter furthered the conversation he'd struck. Upon pointing to Twilight's crown he addressed her, and many of the other Elites followed his finger with piqued interest.
"Your power is unlike anything I have seen," he said in compliment, "If you would grace me, I would listen to an explanation of its nature. How it was made, how it works."
There was no silence following this remark, as an alabaster mare sat up from amidst the company of the Elements with sapphire colored fire in her gaze.
"Why? So you can use it for your own?" shot back Rarity, her eyes' intensity far from her normal gentle expression, "Make a weapon of it?"
The Arbiter cocked his head at her, and those at his sides snorted their contempt.
"Tell me then, what exactly did you use it for today, if not a weapon?" countered the Arbiter, his voice far calmer than hers, "You think the Phantoms you downed were unmanned?"
Rarity leaned away from the Arbiter, curling up next to Pinkie Pie at her side a bit tighter; he'd obviously, however unintentionally, struck a nerve.
"I meant no offense," the Arbiter explained as he shifted his weight backwards, "I would be proud, had I done what you did today in my first battle."
"Maybe you would've," Applejack said, her resolved voice barely audible over the drone of the Phantom's engines, "But we're nothing like you."
The Phantom jolted suddenly, rattling as it did, and once it found smoother winds to fly on, Twilight once again spoke.
"The Elements of Harmony are the pinnacle of Equestrian magic," explained Twilight briefly, paying no heed to the earlier words, "They're used for maintaining the balance of things. Nothing more, nothing less."
The Arbiter chuckled, his mandibles curling into a toothy smile.
"What's so funny?" Pinkie Pie asked, intrigued by his laughter.
"Magic has always been the explanation for things that could not be explained by neither science nor our faith," came the response, "And here, you use it as the basis for everything. Your weaponry, your means of moving things, the appendage on your brow."
The Arbiter pointed to Rarity's horn as he spoke the words, and continued, "These things are all very tangible. I saw the wares of my people turned to stone by your magic, and this system's sun bend to the will of Princess Celestia, feats that are, by all means of reasoning, impossible. But with your magic, they became possible, and I cannot help but think it is something more. That was no illusion, nor was it a miracle... it was real."
"What are you trying to say?" asked Shining Armor sincerely as he too joined the conversation.
"I only mean to say that I believe there is more than sorcery at work here, and I would very much like to find out what it is."
Just then, a deep static voice came through the dense air of the cabin.
"We are nearing Canterlot," came the voice of the Shipmaster over the PA, "Prepare for landing procedure."
The Elites stood as the intercom went silent, and the Equestrians, being in a very foreign place, mimicked them as they came away from the ventral doors. The craft began pitching and rolling much more frequently, but while many of the Equestrians stumbled with the shifting surface they stood on, the Separatists stood erect, their balance unbroken.
The rolling Phantom ceased to pitch with a thud, and the ventral doors cracking their seal finalized the landing sequence. When the side doors reached their open position, the Equestrians eagerly returned to the earth of their homeland, jumping down from the cabin into the green, pristine lawn of the Royal Palace's courtyard. The princesses, pegasi Royal Guards, and the two winged Elements, Rainbow and Fluttershy, landed aside the lavender vessel with a grace unlike the cumbersome vessel's touchdown, and joined their kin. The princesses guided them, soldiers and citizens alike, into the palace, and entered their home behind them.
Bringing up the rear, careful to avoid the citizens, two Equestrian guards hauled the veiled body of Sergeant Chevron inside as well, and went in the opposite direction as the others upon passing through the threshold.
The Elites vacated the Phantom last, their weight making for heavy thuds as they jumped down into the trimmed grass. It seemed odd; the scene they'd boarded the Type-52 amidst was of fire and flames, and no small degree of blood shed, yet here, everything was quiet, still, exactly the way they'd left it. It was night, and the crickets were singing to their little hearts' content, the easy breeze blowing through the trees of the gardens like sylvan wind chimes a short distance from the grounded Phantom's hull. Everything was cast into a silver light by the moon in the cloudless sky above. The courtyard was calm, still... peaceful.
The Arbiter breathed in the air as if to take in its essence, and he stretched his beleaguered arms as the Hunters lumbered off with an escort of eight Elites, their weapons shouldered and their heads held high. From their stature to their atmosphere, they entered their temporary home very differently from the Equestrians that went in before them.
The Arbiter was the last to step down from the Phantom, and he watched his brothers go with an appreciation of their prideful gates. The sounds of the night called to him, and his eyes strayed from black combat harnesses to a distant tree amidst a hedgerow and a statuesque fountain as a nocturnal bird crooned to the moon from its branches. As he listened from a distance, he heard footsteps at his side, and looked over to see that Shipmaster 'Vadum had joined him.
"Have they swallowed their first taste of battle well," began the Shipmaster, watching the Equestrians disappear into the ivory walls of their palace, "or does it not sit right with them?"
Alone now, the Arbiter allowed his thoughts to come forth to his friend without the constraint of formality.
"Naught but two's hearts beat heavy," he admitted, nodding in the direction of the princesses just before they disappeared from view, "They proved seasoned, in my eyes. They are right to lead."
The Shipmaster nodded, tilting his head slightly as he rubbed the stumps of his missing mandibles.
"And what of the Captain?" asked the Arbiter with interest.
"He is honor bound," responded the Shipmaster, their subject no longer in sight, "He puts his duty before himself. A fine example he proves for his subordinates."
The Arbiter nodded partial agreement.
"Yes, but he sees war as separate from his duty."
The Shipmaster looked up at his counterpart.
"How so?" he said, his green eyes still intense, but nowhere near as luminous as they'd been in the heat of battle.
"He seems hesitant to kill," the Arbiter explained.
"This world is far different from ours," reflected the Shipmaster as he looked up to the pale crescent moon, "From the day we could stand, we were prepared to spill the blood of our enemies. Here, they would rather take care of one another than harm one another."
"And where is their fault there?" the Arbiter added, his words heavy in his chest, "Perhaps if our kind shared that sentiment, our race would not be in this mess."
"We've surmounted worse," the Shipmaster replied, clapping the Arbiter once on the shoulder as he gestured to the sword hilt on his hip, "Never lose faith, Thel, for these blades shall light our way."
"Speaking of blades," the Arbiter furthered with a lighter tone than before, "Tell me your opinion on training these Equestrians. If we are in this together, the least we can do is prepare them for the next battle we shall face."
The Shipmaster gave him a confused look, his mandibles slightly parted and his brow scrunched.
"You think it is coming so soon?" the Sangheili asked, his white armor redirecting the pale radiance of the night like polished glass.
The Arbiter nodded.
"I know it is."
He looked down, his weight shifting in hesitance on the dew wet palace lawn.
"What is it?" asked 'Vadum, knowing full well there was something bothering his brother in arms.
"I saw him," came the response.
"Who?"
"Vol," explained the Arbiter, his voice grim in the cool nocturnal air, "He looked right at me. I saw him take the Zealot, along with his loot of the town hall, into the hold of his craft as the Covenant landed outside the settlement. Gold-clad, weapons strewn, the symbol of wrath inscribed on his helm in crimson glyphs. It could have been none other than the Justiciar of Truth."
'Vadum nodded understanding, knowing full well the impact of such a thing on his leader's psyche; it wasn't important that Kar Vol had been seen, it was important that he'd escaped.
"When I closed in on the Remnant in the town's archives," continued the Arbiter, his tone low and rumbling, "I heard that Zealot speaking of their purpose."
"You think he was the third we never found from the day of our arrival?" asked 'Vadum, letting his hands fall to his hips.
"I know not," admitted the Arbiter as he shook his head, "but I do know the Remnant scanned the planet's surface already, but were unable to find the artifact they are so confident is here. They were searching the town hall for information, possible leads and clues."
"Then which was their real mission?" began 'Vadum, "This intelligence, or their landing party we destroyed?"
The Arbiter clicked his mandibles in thought, his boot pawing at the grass as his analytical mind ran details through and through.
"It is obvious which our foe thought was more important," he admitted, "Kar Vol attended the raid of the town, but was absent at the landing zone."
'Vadum nodded with an affirmative grunt, and crossed his arms as his ragged mandibles twitched.
"Perhaps the landing was a test, a diversion, meant to draw attention away from the town while they swept in and vanished without a trace," proposed the Commander as he leaned back on one leg.
"Perhaps," the Arbiter agreed methodically as thought preluded each phrase, "Vol always has seen those below him in rank as expendable. Such would also explain the meager size of the landing party. If he'd made landfall with the intention of staying, there would have been multiple sites of landfall of a much larger scale than what we saw today, and more of his fleet would have come down from orbit as well. We likely killed nothing more than sacrificial probes."
The Shipmaster shook his head in disgust.
"The rest of his clan is the same way," he growled, "They all carry little value for life in the wake of their pursuit of transcendence and communion with the weapons of the gods."
The Arbiter growled, his resounding bass note dying off in a frustrated groan.
"It matters not," he rumbled coarsely as he looked up to the stars, "Vol is far above us once again, safe within the belly of his battle-cruiser, and there is no feasible way we can reach him until he rears his ugly head once more."
The Commander kicked the dirt as he said, "We will likely have to go through more of his followers before that day comes."
"He has plenty of them," added the Arbiter, shaking his head before looking to their stolen Phantom and the amassed equipment latched unto its belly, "Let us hope we have acquired enough weapons batteries and ammunition from the landing zone to cope with the fathoms that circle us overhead."
The Shipmaster rumbled agreement.
"They could descend any time. We must be ready... the Equestrians too."
"I do not disagree that we need to prepare, but they also may bide their time," thought the Arbiter aloud, "We know we are safe from the power of their armada for now. They will not risk destroying the artifact, and so until they are sure where it is, they will refrain from plasma bombardment. And despite the obvious value of our heads, I believe they hold the wares of the gods much higher than our deaths. If anything, we will become a secondary goal for Vol and the Covenant."
"Regardless, I refuse to believe Thel 'Vadam and his band of warriors would not be a hearty prize for the Remnant dogs," chuckled the Shipmaster, prompting a meager smile from his counterpart.
"Use this courtyard as our vehicle bay," said the Arbiter as he began to walk away from the drop ship's hull, "We will store our pickings here, until the princesses ask us to move them elsewhere. And when the opportunity arises, move the console we found here as well once the princesses grant you access to their library."
"As you command, Arbiter," came the response, and the sterling warrior looked over his shoulder as 'Vadum began to go to work removing the Ghosts from the Phantom's belly, and driving them to their own improvised lot a small distance away.
"I will be in the dining hall," the Arbiter said over his shoulder as he walked away, "I presume that is where the others went. Once everything is secure, find me there. We will see to the communications devices and vehicle maintenance once we are well enough rested for our focus to be restored."
From the cockpit of the first Ghost to be unlatched from the Phantom, 'Vadum gave a nod while the Arbiter persisted towards the palace's nearest doorway.
Upon entering the palace through narrow doors, the Arbiter closed the entrance behind him, the sound of the doors' closing echoing through the empty hallway. The corridors were vacant as he made his way slowly to the dining hall, using memory as his guide. But, when he came into the cavernous dining hall, the table set by unseen servants as if nothing was awry, he found those he'd gone into battle with a short time ago.
Again, as they had been before, his own brothers and the Equestrian Guard were segregated, more by their own accord than anything else. There were no civilians in the hall; the Element Bearers were absent as well. The equines gathered at the close end of the elongated dining table, the Separatists on the far side. As the Arbiter went to join his own, he strode by the Equestrians in time to see solemn, tear stained faces, and vessels of liquid raised into the air.
"To Chevron," one of them said, and the others repeated the statement before they all swallowed the grief in their throats along with the drink in their cup.
The Arbiter reached his kin to find them all intently watching the Equestrians as he had.
"This is how they honor their dead comrade?" one of them asked aloud, and after the stallions had downed another round, the majority of the Elites turned away while the Hunters ambled near the walls behind them, "By quaffing alcohol?"
"Hrmph," another of the Sangheili muttered as his focus turned to the dining table's many organic culinary offerings, "I wish we had some. It may help us to swallow this vegetation, and finally sate this hunger."
A grumble went through the ranks, and another deep, raspy voice growled, "Gods, I long for some meat."
The Arbiter, unlike the others, didn't even try to choke down the Equestrians' salad. Rather, he keenly watched the nine Equestrian guards as they finished a third, then a fourth set of beverages, swaying in their seats as they drank without a trace of celebratory behavior. But then, he realized something... there were only nine, and Shining Armor was not among them.
As he watched them, he picked up movement behind the stallions near the doorway through which he'd entered. White armor and broad shoulders identified Shipmaster 'Vadum as he quickly made for the members of his own race, shooting a judgmental glance to the Royal Guards as he passed. When he reached the Arbiter's shoulders, the same doorway swung open again.
"The princesses," announced the Arbiter to the Commander at his side, giving a nod in their direction.
The alicorns in question stopped briefly by the other members of their race on the far side of the table, saying something unheard, and then continued on towards the other doorway on the wall of the hall opposite the one through which they'd entered.
"Where do you suppose they are coming from?" asked 'Vadum as he watched the alicorns walking away.
"Anywhere but here. Perhaps they honored the Sergeant their own way," came the response as the stallions swallowed yet another round.
The princesses did not even spare the Swords of Sanghelios a glance as they strode, still clad in their armor, across the hall, and exited through the doorway while amber and green eyes watched them go. As the door shut behind the sisters, the Arbiter took a stride away from the table, making for the East Wing.
"Where are you going?" asked the Shipmaster as his counterpart left.
"I do not hunger," he said over his shoulder, and with that, he left the dining hall.
Left with his ebony clad brothers, the Shipmaster watched the Arbiter disappear into a corridor through a third doorway in the hall, and his eyes oscillated between the doorways through which the Arbiter and the princesses had respectively traversed. His mind wandered, and eventually, his legs followed his thoughts.
Meanwhile, the Arbiter strode alone through a long corridor, his muscular arms swinging despite their fatigue from the day's effort. Though he made his way for his quarters to end the night, his mind as heavy as his armor, he passed on open door along the way which hadn't been so earlier in the day. Out of curiosity, he stopped midstride, and looked within to see a darkened room, a single light on to illuminate an armored stallion seated at a bar within the spotlight of the room's confided darkness.
Upon closer inspection, the Arbiter realized the identity of the bar's sole patron.
"Captain," he addressed quietly, causing the stallion to turn on his stool.
"Arbiter," came the reply, slightly slurred and ironically good natured as Shining waved the foreigner over to himself, "come on over. The Officer's Club caters to you as well, alien or not."
The Arbiter did as he was bid, walking through the darkness to be illuminated within the column of light encompassing the bar, and once he 'd looked Shining Armor in his hazy blue eyes, he took a seat beside him. The prince had three items on the counter before him. One was his helmet, gleaming in the light. The other two were a glass and a bottle; the bottle was half empty, and the glass was quite full.
As the Arbiter sat, Shining produced a second crystalline glass, the vessel's thick walls catching the light beautifully as it floated over from its place behind the counter in a light blue aura. The stallion offered the Sangheili a drink, pouring his glass until it nearly ran over, and clumsily slid it in his direction to be caught by gangly grey fingers.
"You are alone," the Arbiter observed aloud as the stallion celebrated his new company by finishing the contents of his glass, "The others are doing the same as you in the dining hall."
The stallion set his cup down heavily with a heaving sigh once it was empty, and he wiped his mouth with his forelimb as the glow from his horn alighted, and the bottle tilted in his telekinetic grip to refill the glass.
"That's why I'm here, not there," the Captain said slowly, his eyes a bit red around their irises, "The Officer's Club is as good a hole as any to hide in."
The Arbiter, not bothering to taste the drink he'd been offered, tilted his head at him.
"You hide?" he asked.
"I don't want them to see me like this," Shining responded methodically, gesturing sporadically to his own face, "The other guards, you and your Elites, the princesses, Twilight... especially Twilight."
The stallion let out another heavy sigh, shaking his head a bit.
"To be honest I was kind of hoping you wouldn't find me here."
The Arbiter nodded comprehension, and got up to go, but he felt a white hoof touch his hand as he turned to leave, and he looked back to see Shining had caught him.
"Please don't," the prince said quietly, his voice quaking a bit, "I thought I'd wanted to be alone, but alone is a very empty feeling right now."
"If you wish me to stay," the Arbiter rumbled good naturedly as he retook his seat, "I will."
The Captain seemed delighted by his smile, but his damp eyes told a of a different emotion.
Regardless, as the Arbiter's metal suit clanked against the wood of the stool he gave a sincere, "Thanks."
The Arbiter sucked in a breath, and gestured to the rapidly emptying bottle on the counter before his company.
"What is that sates your thirst?" he asked.
"Hard cider," responded the stallion with a meager smile, "Really hard cider. I'm afraid it's not hard enough, though. It's not working."
The Arbiter cocked his head again as he stated more so than he asked, "You drink to forget."
Shining gave a nod as he knocked back another glass full of amber drink.
"Odd," reflected the Arbiter aloud as he looked down a bit, "In my culture, the young cherish battle. The first trial of combat is a rite of passage to be undertaken by all, and to be celebrated upon completion."
Shining looked up with a hard, pained look in his eyes when his company had finished. The Arbiter was surprised by the reaction, and furthered his previous comment.
"I do not know whether or not this sentiment is sincere, but I have always found it an odd custom. There is no shame in hating the notion of war."
The stallion chuckled, the look in his eyes betraying the emotion of the rest of his face.
"I always thought it would be different," Shining said slowly, letting his glass sit for a short while.
The Arbiter turned to face him completely, and listened at tentatively as he went on.
"My whole life, I always wanted to be a soldier. I signed up about as young as you can, and I always prided myself on being a good Royal Guard. I received the highest marks possible on every test, every field trial they put me through. I was at the top of my class everywhere I went: Basic, Infantry School, Rangers, Officer Candidate Training, Advanced Combat Courses, even Special Forces. I made officer within eighteen months of joining. They told me that'd never been done before."
"Quite a history," the Arbiter complimented in monotone, nodding approval as his eyes turned slightly down once again.
"I've faced down monsters, tyrants," continued the Captain, his voice climbing slightly, "forces of evil so great, they cast the whole continent into shadow, and I did it all without spilling a single drop of blood."
The Arbited nodded approval once more, and again, complimented him, saying, "A feat, truly."
Shining took no heed of the Arbiter's words, and continued as if he hadn't been interrupted.
"I... we all, rather, have the Elements to thank for it," he said, and he waved his hoof a bit theatrically as he added, "A more potent non-lethal weapon you will never find."
The Arbiter smiled to himself as the Captain finished, and chortling a bit, added, "I suppose turning your enemy to stone can be defined as non-lethal, so long as he is not at a height great enough that the fall would break him."
Again the Captain ignored the Arbiter's words, and went on, only now with a much sadder tone; he took another drink before he tried to go on again.
"But today, they weren't there," he said, his voice unsteady and throaty while he visibly choked back tears, "at least not in the valley. Our magical cure-all was absent, whether by fate or by our own choice you can decide, but for the first time, I had to apply what I've spent the better part of my life learning."
The Arbiter shook his head as Shining finished, and contributed some philosophy of his own.
"War is not something that can be taught," he said eloquently, his voice a deep, unthreatening growl, "Lessons do it no justice, and neither do the words of those who have experienced it to those who have not."
Shining went to refill his glass and before he swallowed another vessel full of cider, he said quietly, "That might explain the way I'm feeling. It's not the liquor that's pulling me apart."
He paused, staring into the bottom of his glass before he continued.
"I always thought it would be more instantaneous," he said carefully, his eyes still red but his speech no longer slurred, "In training, we practiced our sword fighting or our combative magic on dummies, statues, inanimate pieces of paper on a range. You hit the target, then you do it again and again until the drill is over. But you're all tough bastards. Today... the Covenant didn't just drop when they got hit. They thrashed, they tried to get up again, they screamed... oh, the screams.
"When you ambushed the patrol in the mountains, I didn't see any of that; I didn't see just how... horrendous it was. You all went invisible, we jumped into the trees, and as soon as the shooting started I protected the Elements with my body as they trained me to, then I buried my head in the dirt and waited for it to stop. I looked up, they were all already dead. Compared to what came later, it seems a miniscule thing, but if I told you I was unaffected by that, I'd be lying."
The Arbiter nodded, his fiery stare and set brow meeting the stallion's gaze in a look of understanding.
"I saw it in your eyes," the alien said simply.
"I tried not to show it," admitted the prince after a short pause, looking down again as he said the words.
"It is a look I have seen many times," the Arbiter said, leaning back a bit on his stool, "There is nothing else quite like it, yet it is not an emotion to be sought."
"You think the others saw it?"
The Arbiter shook his head 'no'; whatever relief such a gesture could yield was evident in the Captain's relieved sigh, and once his lungs were empty, he leaned forward again, and explained his consolation to his somewhat bewildered looking companion.
"In Officer Candidate School, the instructors taught us that we had to lead by example. They taught us never to show weakness, because such an act would hold the whole unit to a higher standard of excellence. They said that if you were feeling emotional, to leave, get it out, and come back stoic. My instructor described it as a war mask. You put it on, you become somepony else, and you don't let them see who you are underneath."
The Arbiter's brow relaxed a bit as he cocked his head to the side, and Shining Armor realized his predicament.
"I guess that whole concept went away as soon as I poured you a drink," he admitted, but the Arbiter only readjusted his weight.
"When I was very young, before my tenth name day, my uncle told me the legend of the Three Faces," he said slowly, "I remember it well; I believe it is relevant to your war mask. "
The Captain's interest piqued with his left eyebrow's raising.
"Would you like to hear it?"
A nod beckoned that he continue.
"There once was a vagabond who carried with him three faces as he traveled between the great keeps of old. The first face he wore when he arrived at a new hold. This face bore an expression of neutrality, brow set into determination and mandibles curled against the wind, that he may be seen as no different from the others. Wearing his first face, he was tolerated by all."
Shining Armor leaned forward, drink in tow, as his much larger counterpart continued.
"The second face he wore when he had become accepted into a keep. This face was twisted into a smile, that others may see his mirth and merriment at having found a home. Wearing this face, he came to be loved by many."
The Arbiter straightened up before going on, and his voice descended in volume ever so slightly.
"But the third face he wore only when he left a keep. He only ever left at night, so that others may not see him as he went, for his third face was his own, and it was set into a frown. For he knew that no matter how others saw him, it made no difference. For in truth, he knew he was living a lie, that he could never live among those he had deceived into loving him or accepting him, for a lie is a dishonorable thing. And so, after stripping himself of his guises, he made for the next keep beneath the stars to try and find one that would accept him as he was, rather than as he pretended to be."
Taking a sip rather than a gulp now, the Captain commented monotonously, "Quite a story to tell a young one."
"I learned much from it," admitted the Arbiter, seizing his audience's attention once more, "You see Captain, we are all the vagabond... We all have three faces."
Shining paused, his glass frozen tilted precariously towards his lips, and as his reddened eyes squinted a bit at the Arbiter, he set the drink down and leaned forward on the counter against his forelimbs, his attention on the alien's shadowed, downturned brow at his side.
"The first is the face we wear the most often, in the presence of strangers and in crowds. This is the face we want others to see. It is a mask, the most deceptive of the three. In this face are the expectations we are held to, and because it is influenced by perception, it is the least true, the least pure."
The Arbiter looked up a bit, and placed his right arm on the counter at his side as he faced Shining before he slowly continued on.
"The second is the face we show our friends, our family, also a guise but more honest than the first. This face is an indicator of trust, for we trust those we show this face to enough to reveal the emotions we feel regardless of what we are expected."
He paused again.
"The third, the true face, is the most elusive. Most never see another's, for it is often concealed in one's thoughts. Too often, only we know our third face's appearance. But, the third face is the most pure, the most transparent, like a mountain lake on a still day. It is the face of one's true self."
Shining held a stare with the Arbiter's amber eyes for a moment before he sniffed, and then reassumed his previous posture of leaning on the counter and looking into the bottom of his glass. Though the stallion had looked away, the Arbiter went on.
"Your first face is the scowl of a warrior, Captain," he said slowly, "but your second face is one of fear."
The prince looked back to the Arbiter, his expression nearly expressionless beneath the gleam of his silver helm, and while Shining's lips pursed and his eyes squinted, the Arbiter remained emotionless.
"You are young enough to have never faced true loss before, and now that it bears down on you, you cannot help but fear that everything you know, everything you love, will die."
Shining sniffed again, his face seemingly unchanged, and looking into the Arbiter's eyes, asked, "You think me a coward?"
"No."
His eyebrows raised, and one hoof let itself fall into a half hearted shrug.
"You just said my second face, my more honest mask, is one of fear."
The Arbiter's head tilted, and he looked away for a moment as his thoughts gathered into words.
"Yes, but despite your fear today, you fought," he explained, "You did not allow the voice of hesitation in the back of your mind to control you. You resisted your instincts telling you to run, to hide, to live, and you risked death because you knew you had to in order to fulfill your duty. You were brave when you were afraid, and such is the purest form of courage. Your second face is far more revealing, far more noble, than the mask of gold that you wear."
Shining gave another insincere chortle, and looked away as he said, "You speak like you've known the feeling."
The Arbiter likewise avoided eye contact as he countered the prince's assumption.
"Sangheili do not know fear," he growled, "We do know reason, however, and we respect the very potent and ever present threat death poses to us all. In this way, you are far braver than I. Death is expected of me as Arbiter, and so I have made a goal of meeting my end in the fires of battle. I do not fear death, I must welcome it, for my duty demands it."
Shining looked back to him for a moment, and with a subtle twitch of his mandibles, the Arbiter furthered, "At least, I would say it is so to you."
Shining cocked his head.
"What do you really think?"
The Arbiter grinned.
"My war mask is not pried off so easily, Captain."
Shining shook his head and looked away again, smiling a bit at the cryptic giant at his side, and after a deep sigh, asked, "So if death is a goal for you, what is it you fight for?"
Again, the Arbiter's chest heaved in a tired, silent laugh as he gauged Shining's naivety.
"You Equestrians love to ask that question," he mused, "I believe it will be asked many more times before it receives an answer, simply because I do not know how to convey it to you yet. Explaining it would be very... arduous."
Shining sought the Arbiter's eyes before he said, "It seemed like death was a goal for more Elites than just you, today."
The Arbiter, again, cocked his head.
"Your kinsmen in the valley... I don't understand why they charged us. It was suicide."
The Sangheili sat up straight, crossing his arms over his wide chest.
"It was meant to be," he said.
This did little to console the stallion, as he visibly grew more distraught, and he held his shaking head in his hooves as his voice grew in volume.
"I mean, the one that nearly got me... his arm was ripped to pieces, his face was half seared off. He would have been dead within the hour. Why not seek medical attention? Why not try to live another day? We could have helped him if he'd surrendered."
The Arbiter's arms remained crossed as his head dipped a bit.
"To do so would disgrace him," came a baritone voice, "but to fight even a doomed battle would make for an honorable, a beautiful death."
Shining's face contorted into an expression of doubt.
"They charged us for honor?" he asked, his tone disbelieving, "They tried to kill us for honor ?"
"You do not understand," the Arbiter began, his voice impassioned, "A warrior's blood, his life essence, is his honor given form. To give this life essence fully and completely in battle, whether for victory or upon defeat, with vigor in the hearts and willingness in the breath, is the highest honor, the highest calling my people are held to. He would have died purely, and he would have reflected greatness on his bloodline. The Warrior's Way would have come to an end for him, and it would have done so in the perfect manner; a warrior who dies fighting in battle ends his life as he lived it, and such is the substance of the ballads of the heroes of old. He would have been hailed among them, and the gods would have rewarded his dedication as a pilgrim on the Great Journey with an eternity in paradise."
Shining Armor shook his head, struggling to understand.
"All that for honor?" he speculated, "Sounds more like glory than honor to me."
The Arbiter's head lowered.
"Honor is the cornerstone of my people's culture. We may differ on certain views, but on this, all Sangheili agree. We all may die, but he who dies with honor will live forever, in song and story, in the heavens, and in the memory of those who live on."
Shining Armor shook his head, and swirled the cider in his glass hesitantly. His forelimb began twitching rhythmically as his weary head swayed, and his breathing grew heavier as something within him boiled over.
Eventually, his eyes still locked on the counter, he said in a calm voice, "If honor is so important to your kind, then why was there any need for Chevron to die?"
The two locked eyes, the Arbiter with surprise in his gaze and Shining with a hybrid of pain and anger in his.
"See, here, on this world, honor is in lowering yourself to help another, in giving up yourself for the good of somepony else," said Shining, his voice growing louder, "Honor is a selfless thing in my culture; we don't ask to be remembered or rewarded.
"Chevron died with honor. He died trying to protect his friends, his family, the things he loved, from a force they'd done nothing to instigate aggression from. All he wanted was to give back, so that through his service, what he stood in protection of might remain safe. But your race came, and killed him brutally, painfully, more painfully than I can probably imagine, and why? Because he tried to stop them from killing innocent, defenseless farmers? What honor is there in that?!"
Shining seemed to collapse a bit as his voice carried out of the room and off down the hallway, and he desperately reached for his drink to knock back more numbing cider. His nerves seemed to calm as he grimaced against the liquor's burn, and somewhat calmer albeit drunker now, he managed to give an insincere, unconvincing smile in the Arbiter's direction.
"I guess that's just how different we are, huh?" he said, leaning on the counter for support once again, "It's just, I ordered him to go to Trottingham. I ordered him to go to his death, and I... I can't let that go. And even if I apologize to his tombstone when we put him under tomorrow, he'll never know just how sorry I am for that."
Shining hid his eyes again as he looked down, his voice cracking as he finished, and he wiped at his cheek as he attempted to conceal a tear's falling.
"Arbiter, when I ask you what it is you fight for," the stallion continued quietly, "it's because here, war is something to be abhorred. War isn't something taken lightly, and there better be a damn good reason for me to try to take another's life. I don't doubt that we have to fight the Remnant, but there isn't any reason for them to be fighting us, to be shooting at mares and foals in their homes, or as they run away."
He coughed, and sniffed once again.
"It just seems like the other members of your race are fighting and killing simply because they enjoy it, and they justify it with a Great Journey and an estranged concept of wrathful war gods. So when I ask you what it is you're fighting for, it's because I don't want to be one of the bad guys. I don't want to be drinking with a monster, one just as bad as the ones that attacked Trottingham today. I ask you because I need to know if we've made allies with angels, or with demons. Because at the end of the day, Equestria is, and always has been, a force for good, and I need to know if you are in fact one of the good guys. So eventually, I'm going to need to know why you're fighting."
The Arbiter paused, finally poured the contents of the glass Shining had offered him into his mouth, and after setting the vessel back down on the counter, he removed his helmet and placed it aside the glass. With his right hand he rubbed his forehead while his other hand balled into a tense fist.
"Good? Evil?" he growled slowly, an edge to his voice that hadn't been there before, "By what scale of justice do we measure our actions?"
Shining Armor looked to the Arbiter to see his head shaking, and his eyes impassioned as well as stricken with emotion, a mix of pain, regret, memory and frustration making his eyes seem to glow. His voice climbing only slightly from its prior volume, the Arbiter spilled over as Shining's bottle nearly ran dry, his words humid in the quiet, dark atmosphere of the Officer's Club.
"We use survival as our justification for fighting, and the Remnant uses the gods as the rectification for their deeds," he began, "My kind has had everything taken from us... our society, our culture... even our lives, yet our faith has always been there for us. For some, it is all that is left. We were raised beneath the divines, and our religion has proved to be our salvation many times over. Is it not, then, worth fighting for?"
Shining leaned forward, forgetting his drink as he invested in the Arbiter's words.
"It is always easy to see everything as good and evil, right and wrong. But it is never so simple," he growled, shaking his head slowly, "I have seen horrible things done in the name of good, and I have seen good things, merciful things, done by the evil. There is never truly a course of events so simple as good and evil, but this is how we choose to see it."
The Arbiter paused, and his tensed hands relaxed slightly as his head hung lower. His mandibles twitched uneasily, and for a moment, the room was absolutely silent.
"But in truth, once total victory has been achieved," he began again, routing the quiet, "he who still stands will define good and evil. Should the Covenant Remnant win, we shall all be spoken of as heretics and blasphemers, and the deeds we've done with mal-intent, and there have been many, will become our legacy. Should we win, the Remnant will be the ones who are condemned as fanatics and extremists, as the servants of false gods, and their dishonorable actions, also numerous, will be the story of their remembrance."
Shining Armor was paralyzed, his counterpart's words ensnaring him like a physical trap, as the Arbiter went on.
"I suppose a part of the answer to your question regarding why I oppose the Remnant is because I have seen the fraudulence of the Prophets' teachings. I have seen the fruits of the Covenant's faith, and our gods were not among them. Do I believe in the gods? Yes; to me they are as real as the air in my lungs. But can I continue along the Great Journey? No.
"I know now that zealous followers can be manipulated, and I have chosen to be my own warrior rather than the pawn of another. But for most within the Remnant, this revelation has not yet come, and so they see me as a traitor, a heathen and a conspirator simply because I found the truth, and the truth was not what we had been told. I, and those that fight with me, know our true enemy was the ideas the Prophets let grow, but for many within my race, they only saw foes in the Prophets' flesh.
"It is strange how morality changes. Many years ago, I would have seen my actions today in much the same light," he said, "Morality is decided by each and every one of us, and we fight for what we believe in if our conviction is strong enough. I believe my people can only thrive again if we make peace with our enemies of old, and this can only be done once the Remnant and its sins, its festering, poisonous beliefs, are no longer a force to be feared."
Something changed in the Arbiter's posture as he paused; he sat up taller without moving, and he leaned forward to his company without coming any closer, and his words, while he spoke barely above a whisper, boomed like thunder.
"You decide your goods and your evils, but decide first what you believe Captain," he said, the stallion he spoke to transfixed, "because before all this is over, good and evil will become intertwined, and even Equestria itself may become stained."
With that, the alien stood, and upon replacing his helmet firmly on his head, he gave an elegant bow before he turned to go. Shining was left as he had been, alone with an emptier bottle and his helmet for company in the meager light of the bar, yet before the Arbiter's receding footsteps disappeared, his voice came through the dark.
"I am sorry," he said, something paternal and sincere in his deep, resounding voice, "that your sergeant died."
Shining sniffed, not bothering to turn towards the Arbiter as he spoke.
"I see that you are in pain, and that this pain has led you to see me and my kind as savage, violent creatures," the outlander's smooth voice, formless in the shadows, continued, "But I pray one day that you will see the Sangheili as our few graces, rather than our many shortcomings."
Again, Shining Armor sniffed, taking another drink to nearly empty the cider he'd taken such a recent liking to.
"Your armor has been corrupted today, Shining, but that only signifies that you have had your metal tested. And feel how you may, your life as a soldier has been christened, and you have reason to take pride in the armor you wear from now on."
With that, he turned to go, his steps becoming more distant with each passing moment.
"Rest well," he said over his shoulder near the entryway to the Club, "I will see you on the morrow."
"Good night," Shining slurred in response, his tone devoid of mirth, "Sweet dreams."
The last sound that reached the stallion's ears, after the last of the Arbiter's echoing foot falls, was his baritone voice's response.
"Doubtful."
Meanwhile...
Celestia winced as her armor came off, the blood coating the fur of her chest sticking to her breast plate as she peeled it free of her tired, dirty body. She'd all but forgotten this part; fighting had always been a part of being Equestria's leader, but while the emotions and sights of combat never faded, the many things that accompanied it, the fatigue, the bottomless feeling of dread and the ache of an entire body rent useless by overuse, felt new every time. She had begun to associate this armory with such a cocktail of emotions. She now hated coming here.
Slowly, she inspected the spot of crimson in her alabaster coat, tracing the lines where the blood had run down her breast back to a spot of new, shallow scar tissue alongside her sternum. The pain had yet to fade, and she grit her teeth again as her horn alighted, and her breastplate found its resting place on a mannequin matching her own dimensions.
As she liberated herself from her shell, the mannequin became more encumbered, until it was dressed as she had been. Yet, her coral eyes were drawn to the perfectly circular hole in the breastplate, the metal around the round puncture warped and burned to black. She strayed from her armor for a moment, and her wandering gaze found her spear on its weapons rack. Its white blade still had spots of indigo staining its elegance.
With a sigh, she found a polishing cloth, normally the tool of the presently absent quartermaster, and began scrubbing away. As the blade began to shine again, she heard the Royal Armory's door creak open behind her, and the metallic sound of horseshoes approached.
She turned to see Luna coming to join her, a hollow smile on her face; Celestia saw right through the false look of calm, focusing on the more honest emotion of solemnity in her sister's dark eyes.
"Celestia," the Princess of the Night began firmly yet gently as she removed her own silver helm, and placed it on her own mannequin a small distance away, "You left without seeing to the accommodations of the citizens from Trottingham."
Celestia sighed uneasily, and turned to go back to her blade, polishing hard to restore the weapon's luster it had before the day's events.
"Just, see that they are kept in the East Wing," she said dismissively over her shoulder.
No answer came at first, but the unmistakable sounds of armor meeting wood made it obvious that Luna's armor was coming off much faster than her sister's had.
"That is where the Elites are being kept," began the younger of the two again as she removed her sword, still in its scabbard, from her waist, and strung in on her own weapons rack adjacent her armor mannequin, "Are you sure they should be accommodated in such proximity?"
"West Wing, then," Celestia groaned, and the cloth pressed harder on the razor sharp point of her spear as a particularly adhesive splotch of dark, dried blood was coaxed from the weapon's metal; she unwillingly remembered the Elite whose blood she was cleaning up.
Hoof steps approached the white alicorn from behind, and a gentle wing alighted on her shoulder as to turn her away from the weapon and towards her sibling.
"Is something wrong?" Luna asked, her midnight blue eyes sincere in their concern for her sister.
Celestia's expression remained hard, and Luna brought out one of her old standbys: sarcasm.
"Apart from your obvious distress?" she furthered, her eyebrows cocking as her sister fought off a laugh.
"Stress and distress are quite different," explained Celestia as she turned to go back to her equipment, "I only have a burdened mind at the moment."
"Humor me with your struggles of thought, then," Luna persisted, trying to turn her sister around with words rather than her touch again.
Celestia pretended to be invested in the maintenance of her wares as she first finished her work with her spear, and then went to her armor, rubbing bits of dirt and grime from its gilded exterior with her breath as a polish.
"I know not what to do next," she said quietly without turning from her armor set, the golden metal standing proudly on the false wearer it had recently adorned, "If I should prioritize Equestria over the rest of the world."
Luna's apprehension was obvious in her lack of a response.
"The Remnant is space capable," continued Celestia, finally concluding with her armor and focusing on the real issues before her as she turned to look her sister in the eye, "They have only landed in Equestria so far as we know, but that does not mean that they cannot land elsewhere. I wonder if some degree of secrecy regarding the aliens is more important than warning the other kingdoms, if they have not already made contact on their own."
"Secrecy?" Luna laughed nervously, "The Remnant and the Swords of Sanghelios saw to the destruction of a governmental building today, while nearly twenty civilians looked on. If we still have any secrecy, it will not last. The only question now is how we shall break our silence about the Arbiter's presence without causing a panic among the populace."
Celestia groaned again.
"Speaking of which, we will have to repair Trottingham that its citizens may return home," she said, her voice monotonous and low, "I had given a fleeting thought to deploying the Corps of Engineers to rebuild the town hall and clean up the damage caused by the Covenant's falling stone ships. If all goes right, we should be vacant of any guests of our own species within four days."
Celestia felt her pulse in her temple, and she shook her head as she insincerely laughed, as if trying to convince herself of something, at her own choice of words.
"And all this is yet another stress on my mind."
"And why should you face these troubles alone?" Luna beckoned, stepping forward with strength in her voice and her stride, "I am here, I can help you. I know you have led Equestria for far longer than I, but I am your sister still. If you need me, I am here, as I expect you to be there for me as well. And if you should need a more practiced diplomat than I, there are things that can be done to notify the leaders of the other nations. Tauren, Zebrica, even Griffindale I am sure will come to our aide if only we ask, and the contribution of the Crystal Empire's power is but a petition away; we already have their prince working for us."
Celestia looked away.
"I'm not so much worried about my own ability to make a decision, nor the commitment of our allies, though we have yet to notify them of what has transpired here. My mind turns elsewhere, even while I think of these truths you bombard me with."
Luna came forward again, now face to face with Celestia, and the two met eyes.
"Is it your wound?" asked the younger, looking at Celestia's stained hide.
"I'm fine," the white alicorn answered, turning away, "It was nothing."
Luna cocked an eye, reaching out towards the wound.
"May I see it?" she asked.
Celestia reluctantly agreed, and Luna, with a clean polishing cloth, rubbed away the dried blood in her sister's fur until a circular patch of new, hairless flesh was visible through the red.
"You will have a meager scar," she concluded, looking at the hole she herself had patched earlier, "Luckily the engagement ended in time for us to seal the wound before permanent damage could set in."
Celestia turned away once more.
"Again, I have suffered worse. We both have," she responded, "The armor's enchantment held true, though I shall have to commission a new breastplate. The weapons of the aliens are quite potent to have made it past the magic's shield."
Celestia went back to a mirror near her mannequin, and rubbed the very raw area of skin on her torso while she herself inspected the damage.
"You say you are fine," Luna said from behind, "but not all wounds are of the flesh."
Celestia sighed as she looked at her reflection as if it was a stranger, and slowly looked away, turning back before admitting, "I am worried, Luna, not for myself, but for them. The Elements, the guards... Equestria... the world even."
Luna tilted her head to the side, and her brow furrowed in the slightest as Celestia went on, her eyes wider than before and her voice a bit off from her regular, confident tone.
"The families from Trottingham... you saw their faces, they were terrified," she said, shaking her head as she recalled the memory, "Foals, mares, even stallions nearly crippled in fear, and for good reason. They were farmers, politicians, some worked for newspapers and others sold general goods. They were not soldiers, not champions, yet when they fled into the streets of the town the Remnant showed no hesitation before trying to kill them as well. This Remnant... they killed one of ours today, and he was among the most capable ponies in the Royal Guard. I shudder to think how many more that would have been without our newfound allies."
Luna's expression softened, but her eyes remained stern, focused, and she beckoned with her silence that Celestia went on.
"Fear runs rampant through Equestria. Everywhere these aliens go, terror follows. Even I... I believe we are not ready for what is coming," Celestia said, having a degree of trouble retaining her tact, "You and I are guardians of this nation, and we've stood in defense of Equestria together... we were alone but the two of us were together... until recently the Elements were bequeathed to the others. What I am trying to say so ineloquently is that the eight of us... you, I and the Element Bearers, we cannot fight the Remnant alone."
"I understand," Luna said, casting away her sister's somewhat rambling delivery and focusing on what she had to say, "And I agree."
"What we saw today," continued Celestia slowly, looking down as if she were thinking aloud rather than holding a conversation, "with the Elements of Harmony strung about our bodies we faced Discord eons ago, Tirek and Sombra centuries ago, but the armies of the Covenant are here and now, and they are not like them. They are not a single entity we can face at once, and they are not localized to Equestria. They are an army, and they do not reside on this world where we can reach them. I don't know how to fight them off. We have no experience with an enemy like this, and I fear we may not have any experience to go off of."
A sudden masculine voice interrupted the siblings' dialogue, and the two drew in a surprised breath upon hearing it.
"So use mine," came the entity from the armory's entrance, and Luna whirled around adjacent her sister to see Shipmaster 'Vadum standing in the doorway, his green eyes piercing even from across the room.
"Shipmaster," Luna said on an exhale, hiding her surprise at seeing him, "I was not aware you had left your Elites."
"But I was fully aware you left your ponies," he answered, tilting his head downwards slightly as he subtly opened his hand in their direction.
He took a tentative, silent step towards them, looking around the room with a predatory focus. He seemed to take special notice of the armor mannequins and weapons racks, as well as the stainless ivory walls.
"So this is your armory?" he said admiringly as he closed the distance between himself and the Royal Sisters by half, "Elegant... refined. A very peaceful atmosphere, ironically."
"The nature of our martial wares is scarcely what brought you here," Celestia said, apprehensive about the alien's presence in no uncertain terms, "so please be forthcoming with your true intentions."
"They are hardly so sinister," he said, reaching out to touch Luna's sword only to have his fingers hover over the blade, "My fascination with weaponry is simply a curiosity. One can learn much from a civilization by a few things: their military, their hierarchy, how they bury their dead."
He turned his gaze towards them as he finished, and found a pair of very uncomfortable stares locked onto him; when he looked carefully, he could nearly see the beginnings of an aura, and the faint distortion of heat about the sisters' horns. But still, he held the gaze, and continued to approach them, ignoring the weaponry he had been previously transfixed on.
"I thought I would inform you how Sergeant Chevron died," he said suddenly, his voice confusingly between ominous and calm.
He received no verbal response, but Luna's eyes darted briefly to her sister at her side.
"He had a sword thrust through his gullet, but not before being decimated by plasma rounds," continued the Sangheili as he took a few prowling steps closer, only to stop once the gleam of Celestia's spear seized his eye.
"I'm afraid I never saw his body until he was already shrouded. The Arbiter told me what I know," he admitted as he admired the princess' weapon, his fingers curling above his sword at his side as he focused on the irradiating white gem set just below the blade's guards.
Suddenly, he turned away from the weapon as quickly as he had taken to it, and refocused on the alicorns in the room.
"Did you see him?" he asked.
"We recently put him to some degree of rest in preparation for his funeral," Luna responded hotly, advancing a few steps in the Shipmaster's direction on her own, "But apart from that, we were the ones who issued the order to cover him, so that fillies and old mares didn't see his body as we herded them to safety, away from your kind in Trottingham."
The Shipmaster froze, and his head lowered to cast his scarred face into a shadow. His armor, however, seemed to glow in the well lit room, and the beginnings of a small growl rumbled in his belly.
"Hmm. You still see the Remnant as my kind," he said quietly, his gaze downturned, "as if we had anything in common."
The princesses glanced at each other, confirming that neither of them were making any sense of the outlander's odd behavior.
"This sergeant," he began again suddenly, "was there anything left of his body?"
"Enough to bury," responded Celestia, no small degree of suspicious aggression in her tone.
"So that is what you do with your dead?" came the answer, and the Shipmaster's head cocked ever so slightly as he said the words.
Finally, with an authoritative step in the Shipmaster's direction, Luna asked the question the alicorns had thought since he'd first entered their presence.
"Why are you here?"
"To ensure that you know he died because he was unprepared," came the immediate response, equally authoritative and much more menacing, "His enemy was stronger than he, and seeing as you introduced him as one of Equestria's finest, you must be able to conclude that there will be thousands more like him, if not millions. And for many, there will be nothing left to bury."
Luna recoiled slightly at the Shipmaster's sudden snarling tone, and as Celestia came to her side, 'Vadum continued.
"You saw a fraction of the Remnant today, a splinter of their power," he beckoned, "If they had wanted to, they could have obliterated the lot of us from orbit and been done with this world hours ago."
"It's only been a day and a half since we first met," scoffed Celestia, doubt pervading her tone.
"Then you understand my implication."
The alicorns' glared, then recoiled, sharing a glance before Luna thought up a very obvious question.
"So why are we still here?" she said as she raised her eyebrows at the Shipmaster.
It was 'Vadum's turn to recoil now, and his methodic advance stopped as his head lowered and his remaining mandibles parted.
"They are looking for something," he said, no longer imposing but rather somewhat amicable now, "and they know not where to search."
Luna, a degree of the tension in the room evaporated, stepped forward, and much more comfortably, said, "You already gave us this lecture, and we have already told you we know nothing that could possibly relate to an ancient religious artifact on this world."
The Shipmaster, opened his hand towards Luna as his thoughts became words.
"That does not disprove its existence," he reasoned, a hissing passion in his voice as he seemed to be trying to convince the Royal Sisters rather than inform them.
"Why are you here, if not to feebly try and perplex us," Celestia asked as she came up behind her sister, her voice too much less hostile than it had been.
"I came with an offer," he answered, his chest expanding a bit as he drew in breath, "for a more... permanent alliance between us."
The sisters didn't respond, and the ivory Elite came closer, now standing no less than a few steps before them.
"All graces we owed one another from our first encounter have been played out," he explained, "but there is still much we can gain from one another."
The alicorns shared an uncomfortable glance, the tension in the room returning in an instant.
"For example," he went on, "I can help you and your forces prepare to meet the Remnant on the next field of battle, so that cases such as the dead sergeant..."
"He had a name," interrupted Luna coldly, glaring now at the Shipmaster with her jaw set.
"Sergeant Chevron... are an inconsistency," he corrected with indifference, "And for example, you can help me look for the subject of the Remnant's obsession."
The Shipmaster's voice grew a bit more excited as he went on, bent on swaying the sisters' obvious hesitancy.
"My Elites and I know the Remnant. You and your subjects know the intimacies of this world: history, geography... weaponry," he shot a brief look at Celestia's spear for a moment, "like the Elements of Harmony. In short, I know our enemy, and you know the terrain on which we shall fight. As we are, we are two separate arms flailing on their own. But, by combining our knowledge and experience, we can put a single coherent mind to our respective factions' actions, and with solidarity, we can operate as a united, stronger, whole. In exchange for a sum of your kind's knowledge on weaponry, science, history and geography, and the Palace Courtyard as a base of operations, I vow to prepare Equestria to fight the Covenant, and with our newly stolen vehicles and the listening device, the console you found in the hills, we are very prepared to do so."
Luna leaned forward, her wings fluttering a bit at her side as she readjusted them into a more comfortable position, and reflected aloud, "You say you want knowledge, but first grant me some of yours. Why is it the Remnant seeks this artifact?"
The Shipmaster gave her a confused look.
"Who would not seek kinship with the divine?"
Unsatisfied with the answer, Celestia added, "But what caused you to see your deities as worthy of godhood."
The Shipmaster shrugged, his mandibles twitching before he offered up an answer.
"Power?"
"Power is an axe," Luna responded without hesitation, "It can be used to build or to destroy. It only depends on who wields the blade."
"So then, Shipmaster," continued Celestia, picking up the topic again, "if we were to unlock the power of this... artifact, whatever it may be, for what purpose would you use it?"
"The only purpose that makes sense," came the baritone response, "Ridding the Remnant from the galaxy, by any means necessary."
Luna looked down as Celestia sighed, saying, "That's what I thought."
"We will consider your offer, Shipmaster," yielded Luna, "but council must be made before a decision can be reached."
The princesses went to leave, believing their hearing of the Shipmaster's proposition to be over, but as their backs turned and their long legs carried them towards the exit, a deep voiced growl barked at them from behind.
"You protect this kingdom like mothers protect their children."
The alicorns froze and slowly turned, and when the Shipmaster read the look in their eyes, his own gaze seemed to lighten with the glint of an epiphany.
"Did you birth Equestria?" he asked quietly, "Did you found this nation?"
His answer was a very affirmative, "Yes."
"Has this spear, and this sword, then, been with you since you first undertook that task?" he asked, looking to the weaponry with that calculating spark behind his emerald gaze; he received no response as the sisters suspiciously gauged him
"I wonder," he extended, transfixed again, "how many lives' blood has been washed from these elegant blades? No less than those you killed today, and that was no small number."
He turned back to the sisters, his fists tensed at his sides, and as his brow lowered, his growling words came forth with enough weight to be felt at the core.
"Power may be an axe, Princess. But before you build a single home, you must first cut down many trees for lumber. War is my power, and I know not whether your kind's dabbling in war has been anything like mine, but now our wars are the same. And I know war is not a victory march. So if you want to keep this nation, your child, alive, you will have to add significantly to the number of lives your weapons have claimed, and pray it is enough to keep your citizens from joining Sergeant Chevron in whatever place it is you believe you go when you die."
Celestia stepped forward, and while her voice was no louder than the 'Vadum's, it carried just as much authority.
"The eagerness with which you speak of killing and death is exactly what causes my hesitation to share our knowledge of weaponry with you, Shipmaster, even if your own arsenal is somewhat comparable. And the same goes for helping you find this relic your kind seeks."
"Never mind weaponry... for the time being," ;Vadum persisted, "What is more important now is that I help you search for whatever it is the Remnant is looking for. If we can find it first, we just may have a chance against them. But I lack the tools I once used to find such artifacts, and so I am asking to borrow yours."
The sisters did not even flinch, and remained unyielding of an answer at the moment, and so the Sangheili sighed.
"May I at least have the commitment of the courtyard?" he grumbled, "A vehicle bay, as well as training grounds, are a necessity to the upkeep of my people's martial tradition."
Celestia gave a meager bow of her head, saying, "You may."
"Then I shall take my leave," 'Vadum said amicably, giving a very polie, elegant bow, "'Til the dawn, Princess. I await your decision."
And with that, he turned, and as silently as a ghost, left the way he came.
"Hey, Fluttershy, are you awake?"
The raspy voice cut through the darkness, barely disrupting the bedroom's silence.
"Mhm," came the soft voiced mare, and the stir of her turning beneath her blanket, the squeak of the sofa she was resting on, confirmed she had yet to fall asleep.
The response floated through the air of the luxurious Canterlot bed chamber, but for how complacent the room was, its residents could find no solace.
"Me too," responded a third voice, that of Rarity, and more tossing and turning accompanied her admittance.
"Sounds like none of us can rightly sleep," came a drawl from a chair on the far side of the room, the moonlight illuminating Applejack's slumped figure beneath a blanket, her hat turned down over her awake eyes.
"Except Spike there," added Pinkie Pie, nodding to a lump beneath a sheet on the floor atop a pillow; the lot of the sleepless mares looked to him with something akin to envy.
"Clear conscience," reflected Rainbow, looking away towards the silver-lit window as the dragon in question emitted a growling snore.
"You all feel guilty too?" asked Rarity.
"Yeah," admitted Applejack quietly, before adding, "and afraid."
"You really think what the Arbiter said was true?" asked Fluttershy, her voice uneasy but not quite trembling.
"How many of them do you think were inside the ships?" asked Rarity.
Suddenly, Twilight, who had been silent prior, jutted in.
"Don't think like that," she reprimanded.
"How can we not, Twilight," shot back Rainbow, her tone masking a trace of pain, "We can't just forget it. This isn't something we can ignore."
"Not to mention what might come tomorrow," added Applejack, and a sound like a sigh came from somewhere in the room.
"Stop," Twilight rebuked again, "We'll deal with tomorrow when tomorrow comes, and we're not going to talk about today anymore because it's in the past. It isn't important. What's important is that we're all okay. We don't know what will come next, but we'll at least have each other."
The mare rolled over to face the window as she finished, and the room grew quieter as she looked to the stars beyond the pane of glass.
"And that's all that matters."
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
Reckoning
Thel 'Vadamee stood on the floor of the Control Room, the crew of the normally bustling nerve center gathered a short distance behind him in reverent silence. All eyes were upon him, but the tall Sangheili, clad in gold with a long lavender cloak trailing behind him, watched only the main screen of the Supercarrier's overhead display.
Before his eyes, a planet burned.
The work of his forces was apparent in the smoke rising into the green and blue planet's atmosphere, and he could see the smaller vessels, cruisers and frigates like insects adjacent the staggering mass of the ship of which he was in command, the Seeker of Truth , of his massive fleet as they finished their persecution of the planet's waning defense. Yet while the Seeker of Truth cumbersomely loomed over the doomed world's surface, 'Vadamee couldn't help but grow excited that the truth he and the others of his kind had sought thus far was soon to be found, the truth behind the Covenant Empire's power, their manifest destiny, their right to conquer in the name of the gods
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
The Supreme Commander turned towards the source of the new coming voice in the previously silent command bridge, a robed entity seated in a levitating chair hovering towards him from the Control Room's entrance. His crown was heavy and ornate, as were his clothes, garnishes seeming to try to hide his frail, gangly grey body.
"Noble Prophet of Penance," addressed 'Vadamee, greeting the Lesser Prophet with a bow, "The altar of our sacrifice is prepared. The ceremony is set to begin upon your word."
"Good, Commander," mused the San 'Shyuum, his three fingered hand coming up to stroke his jewel laden chin as his motorized seat came to a halt beside the Sangheili, "Very good. Tell me, with what degree of ardor have you carried out your task?"
The Elite turned again to face the main screen, continents blackened in smoke far below creating nothing less than an environment akin to hell for those still alive on the surface. Then again, such was as it was meant to be.
"Naught but a few transports have made it off the planet thus far, and even then, I have ships in pursuit of them now. Before long, every human who desecrated this holy site with their filth will be no more. My fathoms have eradicated their attempts at resistance with befitting persistence," Thel paused for a moment, a console extending up from the floor to his side, and his hand found its surface as he guided his ship, and the fleet that followed it, "They are now at the edge of annihilation. Our finishing blow also rests on the precipice, and my hand's falling upon your decree is all it will take to end this world, according to the gods' will."
The Prophet smiled, his grey eyes squinting in the low light, pierced by the glow of the Commander's console.
"Your faith is strong, Commander," he said in compliment, but the apparent mirth in his tone was absent in the stern expression of the Elite he addressed.
"I must ask," 'Vadamee began as he pressed a section of his console's screen and the ship lurched to a sudden stop, anchoring above the planet's smoldering surface, "was the unit you took into your command able to find the temple beneath the humans' military installation?"
In an instant, the Prophet's demeanor changed to a more hostile state, and he harshly spat back, "Matters of the clergy are of my concern, Commander. You are but an instrument of warfare, of force, force that when applied correctly," he placed his hands together, his fingers pressing against their opposites as he eagerly admired the scene on the screen, "makes the Great Journey so much closer."
The Prophet of Penance turned towards 'Vadamee
"Are all your lances in position?" he asked in his haggard voice.
"Yes Holy One," said the Commander affirmatively.
"And have you prayed for guidance in the face of this trial?" the Prophet continued.
Again, with conviction and unbridled zeal, the Elite answered affirmatively, nodding before growling, "Since I first laid eyes upon this place our enemy calls... Reach."
The Prophet smiled deviously, and he bowed his head in an expression of faithful humility before extending his hand to the assembled Elites in the command bridge.
"Then let us begin," he decreed, and the Elites knelt, 'Vadamee bending a knee as well directly before the seated San 'Shyuum.
The Prophet extended both hands out over the humbled shoulders of the Fleet of Particular Justice's leader, and he began a sermon.
"Let this cleansing be an example to all who witness our Covenant," he began, his scratchy, elderly voice ringing through the silence of the Control Room, "that with our gods at our side, none shall stand before us. But on the Great Journey, all shall stand behind us as we, the strong, the faithful, the chosen few, lead the way."
And as he paused, the deep voices of every Sangheili in the room answered in unison, each strong in fervor, but none stronger than warrior clad in gold and purple in the center of the cavernous room.
"And ever are we grateful," thundered the Elites in a homogenous growl.
"And never will we, the zealous children of the divine," continued the Prophet, a trancelike state overcoming his hazy eyes, "allow our lords' legacy to become stained by the filth of heathens' hedonistic ways! For those who creep in the dark shall be dragged into the light of salvation, and quelled by our wrath!"
"We shall grind them into dust."
An explosion outside the ship rattled through the hull, hinting at the few humans left on the world's futile resistance.
"And while the smoke of this planet is to be left in our wake, we shall bring the blessings yielded unto us from the bosom of this world ever onward in our quest for transcendence."
"We go faithfully onward."
The Prophet closed his eyes, listening to the symphony of faith and destruction he conducted.
"Until the day our devotion is rewarded, and we inherit Paradise."
And with that, he bent down, and placed his hand on the hunched shoulder of Thel 'Vadamee.
"You may begin, Fleet Master."
Slowly, he rose, his amber eyes meeting the smiling Prophet's.
He then turned to his crew gathered behind him as they too stood, and after looking each of them in the eye as well, he cast his fist into the air, yelling, "Witness, my brothers, that you may bear testament to the glory of this day!"
The Elites bellowed out a roar of excited passion, some of them clapping their fists loudly over their chests in salute and others throwing their arms into the air. As the Sangheili's bellows reverberated through the cavernous hold of the command bridge, 'Vadamee turned back to the front of the room, his cloak billowing behind him like a lavender sail, and with thundering steps, he strode to the helm.
He placed his hand inches from the screen, and with the other, he snapped up a balled fist, and the commotion from his comrades turned to instant silence.
"Speak, my Prophet," 'Vadamee clamored through the hushed air over his shoulder, "and let the word destroy those who stand in the way of the Great Journey."
The Prophet of Penance smiled, and looked down before answering.
"Wrath," he said simply, one word deciding the fate of an entire world, "Destroy them with wrath."
'Vadamee breathed, his breath controlled and deliberate, and as he exhaled, one hand met the interface of the helm at his side.
The hum of the supercarrier's energy projector rumbled through the hull, and the Supreme Commander's free hand found a large flashing symbol on the console.
And for a moment, the system stood still. All was quiet, and calm. But only for a moment.
The blue line of plasma, visible on the main screen, erupted from the Seeker of Truth's hull, tearing down through the atmosphere and punishing the surface of the world below. Shockwaves like ripples blew across the terrestrial surface, decimating everything around the point of impact. And then, with 'Vadamee's hand guiding the cutting plasma beam, the destructive force began to write.
A single glyph was carved across the span of a continent, plasma bombardment the utensil and the planet the media, leaving nothing but molten rock behind. And when the circular glyph, the Covenant's symbol for wrath, was finished in a state of liquid stone, 'Vadamee once again knelt. The plasma beam retracted, the ship came to a stop, and the world below was granted a brief respite.
And again, the galaxy seemed silent as a grave. Nothing moved. Nothing breathed, as if death had gripped more than only those caught in the way of Supreme Commander Thel 'Vadamee's wrath.
Only one word broke the quiet.
"Perfect," reflected the Prophet of Penance, looking to the circular symbol of melted rock on the planet below.
'Vadamee stood, and exhaled again, his barreled chest heaving as he too admired his work, and the Prophet spoke again.
"Absolutely perfect."
The bridge was struck dumb in awe. None noticed the sensor console beeping, indicating an incoming hostile ship. 'Vadamee turned once again to look to his crew, but something strange met his eye. Between himself and the others of his race, stood a stranger. Tall, dark, an evanescent mane flowing behind her. Her eyes seemed sad, containing an expression of pity, and the longer 'Vadamee looked to her, the more he felt the same.
He looked back to the screen, and realized what he'd done, how many thousands he had just killed, and how many thousands more were being erased from the planet now as the rest of his fleet now finished the work he started. He heard their screams, the screams of men, women and children as they were consumed by fire, and while he tried to lift his hands to cover his ears, he could not move. And the more he looked, the more petrified he became. His hearts thundered, and he tried to reach out to stop them, but his arms still wouldn't budge.
It was as if he was trapped in the quicksand of his own horror, his own regret.
"This is not who I am," he said without speaking, "This is not the way. These actions are not my own. Let them be taken from me!"
But he knew what he had done, fully now as opposed to the numb obedience he'd had before. He looked back to the wrath he'd inflicted on the once rich, life giving world below, and when he tried to turn away he saw only the Prophet, drumming his fingers together in pride.
'Vadamee, in desperation, turned back to the stranger, and suddenly realized who she was.
"Princess Luna?"
Suddenly, the Seeker of Truth lurched.
The Arbiter jolted awake, his eyes wide as his hand instinctively went to his hip and the other pried for stability from his surroundings. But when he found the ivory wall at his side to be stable, his breath held. Where he expected to see contoured walls of purple, he instead saw walls of white. Rather than glowing power nodes and consoles he saw glimmering trinkets and bits of lavish furniture. And when he looked up, waiting to see the image of Reach cindering beneath the punishment of plasma bombardment on the main screen of the Control Room, he saw only an expansive window, the only thing ablaze beyond its crystalline plane the dawning sun.
The Arbiter sighed, his hand leaving his sword hilt to cradle his aching head.
"Just a dream," he said to himself.
His hearts were still racing; the mere memory of his greatest triumph was enough to cause him to break into chills, chills that now racked his armored body. He rose, slowly pulling himself to his feet from his previously dormant position in the corner of his quarters. He stood uneasily; his back ached, and his arms felt heavy.
He trudged to the lavatory, and after fumbling with the faucet of the sink, produced a stream of water. He stooped, and cupping one hand beneath the flow, he drank thirstily. He looked up to see his reflection in the mirror, but he didn't see himself. He was not the Sangheili that had once stood at the head of fathoms of the faithful. He was no longer the one that had led the campaigns of his people against the enemies of the Covenant. In many ways, that was a good thing. But, the memories of what he'd done when he had been Thel 'Vadamee still plagued him. Nightmares seemed more normal than typical dreams as of late, and the redness in his eyes alluded to his lack of restful sleep.
The Arbiter strode back into the chamber's central room. It was too early for morning formation yet, but too late to go back to sleep. He was contemplating the effectiveness of a weapons check when he heard a sound out his window, and upon looking, saw a congregation of Equestrians far below.
There was a procession of them, the Royal Sisters alongside a collection of Royal Guards, and a few civilians in their midst. Yet, the centerpiece of the promenade seemed to be a casket of sorts. They were headed for Canterlot's rear gate, and as the doors began to swing open, the Arbiter hummed to himself, and turned from the window.
"Detail! Ten-hut!"
The authoritative voice of Captain Shining Armor boomed over the quiet of the morning, and the sound of eight sets of hooves clacking together pierced the air like a sharp clap of distant thunder. The stallions, standing four abreast in two parallel lines facing each other, their Captain at attention on one end, all bore the same symbol on the shoulder of their navy blue dress uniforms, the very same symbol engraved in the coffin opposite Shining Armor: a serrated arrowhead against the background of a blazing sun.
Shining, his head erect and his expression stoic, despite the redness in his eyes and the lurching complaints of his stomach, looked to the coffin bearers on the far end of the alley made of muscle and uniform, the lead bearer, a unicorn stallion, wearing the signature navy blue uniform and crimson beret of the Special Forces unit, the same unit Chevron had been a part of, as was tradition. Three other unicorns, two stallions and a mare from the Equestrian Honor Guard, flanked the coffin.
Shining inhaled a deep breath.
"Present... Arms!"
As he spoke, the eight Special Forces stallions drew their swords in synchronization, and held them out, even the unicorns holding the blades in the clefts of their hooves. The funeral procession came forward, the coffin held in the magic of the unicorns, and as they passed each pair of Special Forces stallions, they raised their sabers to their muzzles, the tips pointing straight up while their eyes remained locked forward.
In a dozen strides they reached an open hole in the ground, in perfect line with matching tombstones all around, and they paused. Shining's eyes found a few ponies outside the Equestrian formation; a few foals, old stallions and a tear wet mare, all draped in black.
Princess Celestia, flanked closely by her sister, stepped up to where Shining had stood while the Captain stepped back to make way for the princesses, and the white alicorn began to speak, her voice strong, but obviously solemn.
"For gallantry in action," she began slowly, her voice not quavering but off from tis normal tone, "and dedication to service above and beyond the call of duty, Sergeant Ford Chevron is hereby posthumously awarded the Equestrian Medal of Courage."
As she said the words, Shining strode to the sergeant's next of kin, and presented the mare with a golden medallion strung on a purple ribbon. She took it with a sob, and the Captain turned stoically, and marched back to his place in the formation with a lump in his throat.
"While we bestow this highest honor on behalf of a grateful nation, however sorrowful," Celestia continued, "we hope it brings consolation to those Sergeant Chevron held dear outside of his service in knowing that he died a hero. And while we will cherish his memory, we will mourn his loss."
Now Luna stepped forward.
"As a soldier, Sergeant Chevron stood in defense of our homeland. A Royal Guard of Equestria is called to keep the kingdom, and all who reside within it, safe. He fulfilled that obligation in accordance of his oath of duty. Let his sacrifice echo among the great deeds of those that have gone before, and continue to inspire those that will follow in his steps."
The coffin was placed slowly in the grave as the Princess of the Night concluded, and all the Equestrian guards present spoke in unison when their comrade had been laid to rest.
"And now his guard is lowered."
A moment of quiet signified the reverence of the ceremony, and once the marble headstones had stood quietly for long enough, Shining Armor once again made himself heard.
"Detail!"
Every Royal Guard snapped to attention, and the civilians, the family of the departed, whimpered softly again.
"About... Face!"
In unison, the guards turned to face the way they'd come, their sabers sliding into their sheaths with synchronized metallic clang. Shining Armor drew in a deep breath, and as he prepared to announce more orders, something caught his eye.
He looked up, and distant from the congregation, amidst the shrubbery bordering the cemetery, stood a tall argentine figure. He watched, his head bent in the reverence so obvious in the Equestrians, as if he had joined them. Yet, he kept his distance as if he weren't welcome, but the Arbiter's vigil persisted for as long as the Equestrians'.
"Forward... March!"
It had been a long walk back to Canterlot's walls, even though the Royal Guard's traditional military cemetery, was less than a mile outside the palace's exterior. It wasn't the distance that took its toll on Princess Celestia.
A life ending before its time had a tendency to do that to those that lived on, and the alicorn's heart beat heavier than it had in a long time. She wasn't alone in that matter.
Nevertheless, her hoof falls resonated through the quit halls of her home as she returned to her office, three left turns, up one staircase and two more turns to the right once she passed the dining hall.
She opened the door to her study while the armored guards, on either side of the gilded oaken threshold, snapped a salute. She found the lavish office already occupied, and as the door hit the stopper, Luna turned towards her from the window. She gave a reassuring nod and a comforting smile, and Celestia closed the door behind her, locking the outside world away.
Celestia sat down at her desk without a word, and Luna came to lean against it. Her expression was soft, the opposite of Celestia, and her eyes, despite being the younger, had a maternal comfort to them. Luna opened her mouth to offer some words of consolation, but as she breathed in, there was a knock at the door.
"You may enter," Celestia said to the closed door, and Captain Shining Armor came through, his dress uniform still on from the morning and a folded document under his forelimb.
"Princess," addressed the stallion, his eyes focused but far from fearful, "Have you seen today's paper?"
The sisters looked at each other.
"No," responded Celestia while Luna cocked her brow, "Why would I have?"
The Captain took the paper in his magic's aura, and as he unfolded it, explained, "After the funeral I went to the Dining Hall for a coffee, and there were a few copies of these lying around," the raised eyebrows of the alicorn seated before him made it clear he was to get to the point, "It's the headline. For a paper the size of the Canterlot Chronicles , this is some pretty important stuff."
He set the newspaper down on the princess' desk, and she turned it with her hoof to read what it said in large bold letters across the page.
"Equestria's Angels? " she read aloud.
"It's about the Elites," he explained, gesturing to the small font spread out below the headline, "Apparently, one of the citizens we pulled out of Trottingham writes for the paper. She claims to have been one of the only ones to actually address the Arbiter back in the town hall. Apparently, they heard me call the Shipmaster 'guardian angel' after he saved our rumps from the Remnant when we were taking fire from the town hall's second floor, and the name stuck. The whole front page is devoted to the story."
Luna and Celestia shared a bewildered expression, and the darker of the two asked, "How far does the Canterlot Chronicle reach?"
"It's printed all across Equestria, despite its lack of popularity," answered her sister, "The only newspapers to rival it in size dwarf it in reception. The Las Pegasus Post , maybe the Baltimare Bugle ."
For some reason, as Celestia finished, Luna smiled, saying jokingly in an attempt to dispatch Celestia's grimace, "Why do all these establishments of the press employ some element of alliteration in their names?"
"That's hardly the point, sister," came the stern response as Celestia unfolded the paper, her interest devoted into its contents, "By the end of the day, Equestria will know about the aliens. By tomorrow, the whole world very well may know."
Shining Armor shrugged, saying quietly, "The secret is out."
"How accurate is the story?" asked Luna, her smile slowly fading.
"It's rubbish, completely contrived," Celestia answered, her eyes glued to the page as she read on, "It reads like a science fiction novel with hardly a shred of truth, aside from the fact that aliens blew up the town hall while trying to kill each other."
Shining Armor, who had undoubtedly already read the article, nodded agreement, adding onto the princess' statement, saying, "Alien invasion, War of the Worlds type crap."
"But the basic message is quite clear," came Celestia again, putting down the paper, "The news of the Arbiter's war coming to Equesria is not so far from the truth."
The trio was quiet for a moment, thought filling the break in conversation as all the factors of the situation were weighed respectively.
"Is there anything else in there we should be aware of?" asked Luna, standing up straight with a degree of command in her tone.
"Apart from the funnies?" clarified Shining humorously; his joke went unappreciated, and was responded to with a brief unamused glance from Celestia.
"They're saying something about how yesterday was much shorter than it should have been, a bit about a dog show in Canterbury, a story on weight loss, and a bit about meteor showers a few days ago in the astrology section," explained Celestia as she scanned through the rest of the paper, "We know two of those things are relevant."
There was a pause in the conversation, and the lull was drawn to an end when Luna drew a sigh.
"Well... then," she began slowly, "Perhaps we should take the announcement of our guests upon ourselves, so that none of the facts are swayed and no unnecessary misconceptions are allowed to brew. Wouldn't want fear or confusion to set in. Be sure to focus on the ability of our allies rather than the strength of our foes."
Shining and Celestia looked to each other with similar acceptance, nodding a bit as Luna looked to them expectantly for their response.
"I'll get going on a speech," Celestia said in answer to her sister, "Should you deliver it, or shall I?"
"Why don't you," responded Luna, "Equestria is still getting used to having me back, as I am getting used to being back myself. They may respond better to you."
"In the meantime, I'll approach the Arbiter," chimed Shining, "Maybe I'll ask him to make an appearance when we give this speech."
"I will also tell the Shipmaster our... decision," Luna said as she made eye contact with Celestia, the two nodding mutual understanding.
Celestia sniffed, and took the nearest quill and parchment in her magic's grasp.
"Well then," she said, "it seems we have some work to do."
Luna and the Captain turned to go about their tasks, and as they neared the door, Celestia called them back.
"You realize that if we go through with this," she began, "there will be no turning back."
Luna took a step nearer her sibling's desk.
"Are you not sure we should commit?" she asked, her eyes with the look of concern.
"Hesitancy is a precaution," came the answer.
"Lack of action is a mistake," Luna rebutted calmly, turning her head to one side.
There was a quiet as the two siblings shared a stare, a stare that spoke volumes in its silence, when the stallion in their presence made himself heard.
"I had a thought the other day," he began, an element of fondness in his voice, "The Elements of Harmony only work on beings that would subjugate others as a means to an end. Sombra, Discord, others of the like. It only works on the evil. And it worked on the Remnant."
He looked up before he continued.
"I don't know if the Arbiter is as benevolent as the Elements of Harmony, but the Remnant is here for evil reasons. We know that. I might have doubted that before, but now I know. And that's all the cause I need to fight them off. And if the Arbiter will help us, then I for one, welcome him without any reservations."
The alicorns again shared a precarious glance, and Shining Armor took his leave after a short silence, saying, "But hey, the call's not mine to make."
As the door shut behind him, the sisters once again looked to one another.
"See to it that the citizens are notified of the address," Celestia began, "and that couriers are sent to the cities too far to receive the message today. By the sun's setting, the world will have changed forever."
The Arbiter breathed. He felt his sword at his side, its weight comfortable and balanced. His body moved beneath his gleaming shell, adopting a stance to counter any incoming strike. He held his blade out before his barreled chest, bracing his elbow with his free hand, and with predatory eyes, he watched his ivory armored opponent circle him.
Suddenly, his foe rushed in, and the Arbiter's blade swung into action. The sound of heavy footfalls on the grass and of swords meeting in air clamored through the courtyard alongside grunts of effort as the first blow was parried and countered, only to be blocked in turn. A few seconds of violence suddenly disbanded as space was once again put between the two adversaries with a kick from a white boot.
Staggering back, the Arbiter once again readied himself, and braced against the oncoming wall of metal, muscle and weaponry that was Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum. The Arbiter ducked a massive, cleaving blow, and responded with a slash of his own, which was also dodged. Again, the two struck at one another simultaneously, opposite blades froze just at opposite combatants' necks, and all the Elites watching the duel grinned: a draw.
"It seems time has yet to slow us," Rtas chortled as the two comrades lowered their blades.
"Hmm," grunted the Arbiter as he rubbed a shoulder, "Not time, but age perhaps."
The Elites assembled around the makeshift dueling ring in the palace courtyard once again horseshoed around their leaders, smiles on their haggard faces. The Arbiter knew why; in a strange land, something such as a marshal yard were familiar. Canterlot suddenly felt all the more like home.
As the Arbiter opened his mouth to speak, he saw an equine figure approaching from behind his comrades.
"Shipmaster, continue dueling matches," he began as he started to step away from the group, "Do not allow your sword arms to weaken."
"As you command," came the response, and he pointed to two other warriors, "Zamamai, Wattinr, in the ring."
The Arbiter split the distance with the approaching unicorn, Shining Armor, and gave him a friendly bow.
"How did you sleep?" he asked in greeting.
The Captain smiled to himself, seeing the misguided attempt at adopting the Equestrian custom of greeting, and returned the bow. He looked past the sterling alien to the members of his kin crossing swords as they once again stood erect, and his eyebrows cocked.
"Hey, um...," began the stallion, rubbing the back of his neck as he hesitated, "I saw you at Chevron's funeral."
The Arbiter's expression grew a bit harder as he returned the Captain's stare.
"Why didn't you join us?"
The Arbiter's boot pawed a bit at the ground.
"I thought it ill timed," he confessed, his eyes not straying from the Captain's, "I would be naïve to think some members of his family would not blame those like me for his death. I hope it does not offend your customs that I paid my respects to him from a distance."
Shining Armor raised an eyebrow to the taller alien.
"Respects?" he asked, surprised by his counterpart's diction; the Sangheili was quick to explain.
"If you think it odd for me to honor the death of a soldier not of my own race, consider that I have spent my life fighting alongside warriors to whom I owe my life, Sangheili and otherwise. A coalition such as the one you and I find ourselves in is not so foreign to me."
The prince nodded comprehension, and after a pause in the conversation, looked past the Arbiter to the other Elites sparring in the grass of the courtyard before their neatly arranged stolen array of vehicles and equipment.
"Still not tired of fighting yet, huh?" Shining murmured as one of the combatants threw his opponent over his shoulder in a grappling move, a quickly drawn energy dagger harmlessly albeit deliberately pointed to the grounded warrior's neck.
"This is but a dueling ring," explained the Arbiter, looking back, "A setting of practice to train the eye and the arm so that real fights are shorter."
He paused before he gestured to the circle, adding, "Would you care to try?"
"I don't doubt I will soon, along with the rest of the Equestrian military," Shining answered, chortling slightly.
The Arbiter looked eagerly down to the Equestrian as he waited for his alluded to point to be driven.
"I came to you today with some news," he began, "Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have made the executive decision of allowing the Shipmaster and yourself to train and, if you deem appropriate, equip Equestria's Royal Army to fight the Covenant. In turn, Equestria will apply what you teach us to train the militaries of the rest of the coming coalition."
The Arbiter looked confused, he surprised, he asked, "The rest of the coalition?"
"That brings me to my next point," the Captain responded, "The princesses have also deemed it best to announce our current situation to the rest of the world. Upon calling for aide, we know the Crystal Empire will join us, and we expect at least Tarragonia, Griffondale, Minoa, Saddle Arabia and the Shetland Isles to join us as well. Together, we just may have the size and the infrastructure to take on the Covenant."
The Arbiter nodded comprehension; this was good news.
"The princess will be making a speech later, and letters have already been sent to the leaders of the world. You will be making an appearance at this speech, unless you feel strongly against such a thing. The sight of you will add tangibility to this whole thing."
Shining finished, and he looked up at the Arbiter with a bit of pride about his uniformed demeanor. The Arbiter's eyes were down and to the left, his mind working the situation over before he spoke in a low, hushed tone.
"The world will know we are here," he mused, before going on, looking his company in the eye and nodding with, "I will inform the others. We will get to work immediately."
"And one more thing," the prince said as the Arbiter began to turn back to his kinsmen, "You've been granted access to Equestria's archives. The library may be a good place to focus your efforts. That's where just about every form of knowledge is kept. You need clues, pieces of a puzzle for finding this artifact or just something to read, that'll be your best bet."
The Arbiter again nodded understanding, his mandibles curling into a smile at everything's finally falling into place.
"Has that console been lighting up at all?" Shining asked suddenly.
"Sporadically," came the answer, "Vol's fleet is anchored over a different continent at the moment, and there are no more plans of terrestrial operations for some time to come. They are continuing with their scans, and undoubtedly studying the documents they made off with from the municipality they attacked yesterday. That is all we know, but I will have it monitored continuously."
There was a break before the Arbiter returned to the subject if before, asking, "When will this speech be made, and where?"
"There will be attendants seeing to you once the speech commences to keep the choreography of the presentation in check. They'll be meeting you in the Dining Hall in three hours."
The Arbiter clicked his mandibles, his amber eyes lighting up a bit with satisfaction.
"Will there be anything else?" Shining asked after his counterpart's silence, and upon receiving no answer, the stallion snapped to attention, and gave a salute; the Arbiter mimicked the gesture with his own kind's acknowledgement, placing his fist over his heart and bowing his head.
"I look forward to working with you," Shining said in compliment, and with that, he turned, and strode back inside the palace, leaving the Arbiter in a far gladder state than he had found him in.
Canterlot Palace's Medical Wing was quiet, painfully so. It was the kind of quiet that seems loud, that rings in the ears until some sort of subtle noise graces the silence with stimulation. The room Dash had been stitched up in was no better; a book page's occasional turning, or a hushed yawn was all that was audible as four friends sat inside, waiting for the day to progress into something. Twilight, Fluttershy, A.J. and a very groggy Rainbow Dash were the quarter's only occupants.
"You think they'll move us to a real room any time soon?" Dash asked as she looked up from the wall she'd previously been staring at.
"Probably," Twilight responded, her eyes still glued to the book she'd had the foresight to grab from the library, "I hope so. There's not a lot of comfortable space in here."
A glance around proved she was right; most of them were seated on the floor or in chairs not meant for sustained use. Cushions sounded like a blessing.
"It also seems weird to be in a hospital when we're all fine," Fluttershy admitted quietly.
"How is everyone feeling?" Twilight asked once Fluttershy had finished.
"Bored," responded Dash quickly, her voice dry.
"But as opposed to yesterday?"
"Mm," Applejack said without looking up from underneath her downturned hat in her adopted armchair, her dormant figure suddenly awake again, "Better... I guess."
"I just miss Angel," Fluttershy whimpered.
"It almost feels like it never happened," Dash began, "In real life I mean. Like... a dream?"
"Nightmare," corrected Applejack, sitting up and readjusting her Stetson, "But that's just a part of being a hero... I guess. Wonder if the princesses feel that way."
"I wonder how the others are faring," Twilight speculated aloud.
"Rarity, Spike and Pinkie been gone awhile," Applejack observed aloud, stretching as her back audibly popped, "How long does it take to get snacks?"
"We did give them quite a list," Twilight hummed, quietly going over the assorted snacks they'd ordered from their friends on the errand, "Apples, carrots, hay fries... what else? Coffee cakes?"
Suddenly, the door to the small room erupted inwards, their friends in question bursting in short of breath and the half-finished shopping list they'd gathered spilling from their paper bags.
"Guys, something's up!", Spike shouted excitedly as his friends found their hooves, standing up amidst the commotion.
Pinkie picked up where Spike had left off, "There's a bazillion ponies outside, guards everywhere, and some really big banners and stuff!"
"They're gathering around the palace entryway," Rarity went on, trying to breathe slowly so as to sound eloquent despite her lack of air; they'd obviously come very far very urgently, "and there's some sort of a stage or something set up. Reporters are lined up at the steps. I think there's a Royal Address to be made."
"Well let's check it out!" Dash said, making her mind up for the others, and they all followed her quickly as she hurried out the door.
Following a prism of light through the halls, the group found their way out of the Medical Wing and onto the Canterlot's entry way. True to the promises of before, there were myriad others already gathered before the palace steps in a massive crowd. Royal Guards, stoic in their traditional armor, separated the steps from the excited rabble, and banners hung from their erected ceremonial spear shafts, billowing in the light spring breeze. It was a sunny day, the same as most Equestrian springs. The pegasi had cleared the skies of clouds, but some thunderheads were building over the Unicorn Range to the west. As the sun glinted off of the ivory exterior of the massive palace towers looming over the crowd of thousands, the Elements of Harmony, as well as Spike, slyly intermingled with the crowd and migrated towards the front of the masses. Here, where they could see much more, Spike jumped up to Twilight's back, craning his head above those at his sides, and looked back at the mob they had traversed.
"Where'd they all come from?" he asked aloud, distraught as he shielded his eyes from the sun.
"Everywhere?" suggested Rarity, nearly shouting over the ambient noise of all the ponies gathered around, "I can hear accents from Stalliongrad to Baltimare, and there's press badges from Las Pegasus and Dodge Junction."
"This is big, y'all" Applejack said, stating the obvious in the midst of their mutual confusion, "What do ya reckon it could be about?"
"We'll find out soon enough," Twilight answered as her eyes elevated to the opening palace gates, a pair of alicorns coming through, "There's the princesses."
In an instant the crowd went silent, and Celestia took her place at the stand in the exact middle of the palace steps with Luna at her side. She took a few moments of silence to allow the anticipation to build as she simply looked down at the masses before her, each stallion and mare in turn looking back in a state of fascination. The majesty of the princesses alongside the mystery of the day's subject commanded the very setting. Eventually, the Princess of the Sun opened her mouth to speak.
"Citizens of Equestria," she began, her maternal, authoritative voice seizing those that listened, "As I speak now, events within the kingdom are transpiring that will shake the entire world."
The princess paused again, her words and their implications ringing through the now quiet air. As she finished, the Elements looked to one another; they knew what was coming.
"Long have we looked to the stars in wonder," continued Celestia, her regal mane flowing in the wind like the banners of the guards flanking her stand, "imagining what else lies beyond the threshold of our starlit night sky. We no longer have to imagine."
The breeze picked up as she looked down at the podium she stood before and paused, and the only sound in the entirety of thousands was the flapping of the flags and banners. She looked back up, and somehow, her eyes found Twilight's, and like a dream, the words the princess had spoken to her a day before echoed through her mind.
"Trust me."
The princess' eyes elevated once more, and her chest expanded as she took a deep breath in.
"Two days ago, Equestria made contact with a civilization not of this world."
As soon as she finished, a hushed, excited albeit fearful commotion rose among the crowd. But, when the palace gates opened once more, and a tall figure clad in silver strode through, the commotion turned to cries of tumultuous fear. Yet, when he stood at the side of the princesses, adjacent them in stature, honor and regality, they gave him a friendly nod. The simple gesture calmed the masses enough for the princess' commanding voice to reach over them, and the Elite's amber eyes gazed out to those gathered before him.
"To my right is one member of said civilization, The Arbiter as he is known. He has proven himself a friend to us, as have his allies. Yet not all the news I give you today is of such glad nature," Celestia said.
The Arbiter's fists tensed, the weapons on his back and hips giving no false allusions as to his martial status. Yet, the Equestrians gathered beneath him already knew he was no foe.
"Along with the Arbiter came others whom would see us subjugated," continued Celestia, "An alien coalition called the Covenant has proven itself hostile against the inhabitants of our world. Already one settlement, Trottingham, has been attacked, as was told of in the Canterlot Post this day. Yet, with the Arbiter's aide, the attack was repelled, and many Equestrian lives saved."
Twilight gave her friends at her side a reassuring look, but the tension in their expressions explained how each member of the crowd must have been feeling.
"But we are not clear of the hardships ahead. Equestria has surmounted many trials in the past, and we shall do so again, but there is no need to do it alone. With Equestria's Angels at our side, we will overcome."
"Equestria's Angels?" Spike said from Twilight's back, his small fangs forming a smile, "I like that."
"But, I must also take this time to make something abundantly clear," Celestia went on, "The Covenant is an enemy to all who share this world. Which is why I must call for the unity of the military forces of the free nations across the globe. Equestria will host union meetings promptly, and while the leaders of the world convene, we must not forget what is at stake. Our homes, our families, our lives."
"Equestria was built on the foundation of love and tolerance. And while these are honorable traits and must never be abandoned, there sometimes comes a circumstance where one must accept that peace is not an option," she paused before sternly going on, "This is one of those times. And so we will fight."
The anticipation rang through the air as the future of millions hung on Celestia's words.
"Equestria is declaring a state of war against the forces of the Covenant Empire, an extraterrestrial organization of military nature. Today, at the sun's highest point in the sky, the bells across the kingdom will ring, and they shall not ring again until victory has been achieved. As a nation, as a family, we will fight to see that day come. All of us will sacrifice in some way, but we will do so together, and we will see our home made safe once again. Trust in me as I will trust in you, and we will emerge from the heat and pressure of conflict tempered, strong, and unbroken. Long live Equestria."
And from the princess' side, the Arbiter muttered, "May our swords light our way."
Author's Note
Theme for this chapter:
Justiciar
Later...
Twilight breathed in, savoring the still air. The stagnant smell of parchment and ink filled the room, its shelves and walls standing like giants reaching for the mural on the ceiling above. It was quiet, delightfully so. It allowed her mind to meander rather than focusing on whatever was happening close by, and that was a luxury she needed now. She needed to think.
Though the library was empty, torrents of the last few days' events ran through her mind. She struggled to keep everything straight. From the night it had all started, where she'd mistaken falling wreckage from a Covenant Remnant space ship for a meteor shower. To the next morning, where she'd gone to find what she believed to be a crater, only to find a Remnant console, what she had later learned was a piece of communication technology. That same afternoon, where she'd seen the Swords of Sanghelios crash land in the mountains, and gone with Rainbow and Spike to investigate, only to be caught between Remnant Zealots, and the Arbiter and Shipmaster.
How the princesses had offered the Swords asylum at her suggestion, and how with Dash being hurt by a Zealot's strike, Princess Luna had flown them back to Canterlot's Medical Wing for a doctor's attention. How her friends had come up from Ponyville to see them in that same room, with Dash hooked up to a heart monitor and Spike still having nightmares when he'd go to sleep.
She was glad that part was gone, and that they'd recently been quartered in a room that wasn't meant for somepony who was sick or dying. The extra space in the East Wing's rooms didn't hurt either.
From there though, it all began to blur. The aliens... Trottingham... her brother in battle armor... a flag draped casket and seeing a side to her alicorn mentors, a violent side, she had never seen before. And now this newest part... a declaration of war, and an appeal to the militaries of the world. It was all too much to rationalize, but grasping the world around her was vital to her future, her friends' future, the future of all of Equestria. Hence, why she'd come to the library.
Sunlight colored by stained glass danced in through the windows, and lit up the royal crest in the floor tiles. It was there that the claps of the young mare's hooves against the floor came to a stop, her eyes downcast in thought. But a reflection of crimson light teased at the corner of her eye, and blinking away her discomfort, she looked in an irritated way to whatever had interrupted her train of thought.
Her gaze found a glass case, set into one of the bookshelves, to be what was reflecting the sun's stabbing light. She recognized it from the other day, and a jumbled memory came to mind.
"The prophecy," she whispered under her breath, and with her attention seized, she slowly made her way over to the case.
Her horn lit, and the clasps holding the hinged case's lid fell open to unveil the parchment containing the prophecy, and she gingerly removed the bound scroll from its bed of red velvet. She unfurled it in front of her eyes, and as she began to read, she heard the door behind her crack its seal.
She stopped and whirled around, to see a familiar face walking quietly towards her.
"Rarity," she said in surprised greeting, "I didn't expect you to..."
The white mare only smiled.
"But I knew you would be in a place like this at a time like now," she said as she crossed the floor space to her friend, "I wanted to make sure you were... well, that you were doing alright."
Twilight hesitated, but eventually responded, "Yeah sure. I'm just fine."
Rarity didn't seem to buy it, but she said nothing. From the way her hoof pawed the ground, Twilight could tell she wasn't quite her old self either. Twilight quickly went away from the subject; they had a long way to go, but they were all dealing with their situation in their own ways, some a little better than others.
"How'd you know to find me here?" she asked, drawing another friendly smile.
"We all have our place we go to escape, to think. I have my needle and thread, you have your books" Rarity responded, her sapphire eyes hosting the dancing, colorful light, "Any time we had a problem that needed solving, you'd always end up in a library somewhere, scouring these books for an answer that was already tucked away somewhere in that brilliant mind of yours."
"Thanks," the lavender mare blushed, before she turned her eyes slightly downwards, her smile vanishing, "I just can't help but think we don't have a book with the answers on how to deal with aliens. I don't even know where to start looking."
Just then, something behind Twilight's eyes clicked.
"Then again," she began again, looking back to the text in her magic's grip, "This could be pretty close."
Rarity took a step closer, her friendly smile replaced with a more stern expression, the normal glittering in her eyes dull.
"That old scroll?" she asked.
"It's a prophecy," explained Twilight, "the one Princess Luna read us the other day."
They read the unfurled scroll separately and silently, Twilight holding its curved medium aloft in a sparkling aura.
For I have seen fire in the heavens and on earth. I have seen worlds colliding, and the fate of Equestria decided by angels of light and of darkness. In the depths they fought over whether this world would burn. But before Terminus is won, stars shall be swept from the sky, setting the lands below to flame. And the Fallen shall rise from the ashes to claim what is theirs, all as the Oracle has professed. This and much more will come when martyr's blood flows like dusk over the horizon.
"Make any sense of it?" Rarity asked upon reaching the bottom, shrugging as she breathed a sigh of futility.
"Fire in the heavens and on earth," reiterated Twilight, recalling one of the prophecy's lines.
There was a moment of thought between them.
"Battles?" Rarity suggested suddenly, her eloquent speech pervaded by excitement, "I mean Trottingham was on fire yesterday, and earlier, the Shipmaster said something about a battle they'd had in orbit."
Twilight nodded, and thought that maybe, they were onto something.
"Angels of light and of darkness ," Twilight reread another line of the scroll, "They're already calling the Swords Equestria's Angels in the newspapers."
Rarity, ebullient about their study, nudged Twilight's side.
"What about the rest of it?"
Twilight shrugged, saying, "I don't know. It's still cryptic."
She paused again, looking up from the scroll, and realized something aloud.
"If Star Swirl was right, even if just a little bit, then this prophecy is happening around us. This scroll contains elements of the past, present and future, and as time goes on, more may prove right. But this is too vague to cling to. We'll only know if he was right in hindsight."
"It's curious," Rarity admitted, her curled mane bouncing as she shook her head, "This whole thing is. Everything seems to be a riddle."
"Indeed."
The deep new voice was followed quickly by heavy footfalls, and the two turned again to see a pair of newcomers.
"Arbiter, Shipmaster," Twilight said in greeting as she put the scroll away, the clasps falling back into place, "What brings you here?"
"What else would bring one to a library?" scoffed Shipmaster 'Vadum as he trode across the Royal seal, "I wish to learn."
Rarity shook her head at the alien's petulant remark, and Twilight made an unaffected response.
"About what?" she asked.
"Magic," came the reply from the Arbiter this time as the two reached their unicorn company, but as the silver clad Sangheili's mandibles parted to speak once more, he was interrupted by a distant carillon's tone.
"What is that?" he asked, his head turning to the nearest window; as he spoke, a much nearer note of thunderous tolling rattled in through the room, indicant that Canterlot's brass had begun to ring as well.
"The bells," answered Rarity a bit solemnly, "Every settlement in Equestria has a bell tower. At noon upon a declaration of war, they ring, and they won't ring again until the arrival of peace."
"Perhaps we should savor their tone then," suggested the Arbiter, reflecting the Equestrians' sentiment, "Who knows when we will hear them once more."
When the bells finished ringing after about a minute, the Arbiter continued from where he'd left off.
"Hopefully it will be sooner than later," he said.
"War seems a dreadful thing," Rarity added, a trace of pity in her voice, "I can't imagine living that for as long as you."
Shipmaster 'Vadum was quick to clarify their reasoning.
"Not for the coming of peace, but because peace's arrival means the Remnant will be dead."
Rarity's and Twilight's eyebrows raised at the bluntness of the comment, but they quickly continued the conversation as if nothing had been said.
"So, then," began Rarity anew, "why is it that warriors such as yourselves have come to this place of learning? Why does magic interest you so?"
The Arbiter cocked his head at her while the Shipmaster behind him crossed his arms, leaning on his back leg.
"I have seen laws of the universe turned around by it," answered the Arbiter with tact, "and I am afraid I do not understand how. In the least I am curious, but then again, it may have the potential to aid us greatly."
Twilight shot a glance to Rarity, then shrugged.
"Well, I'm sure we could help you find a book."
The Arbiter clicked his mandibles.
"Perhaps," he began before gesturing to the Equestrians before him, "but as you are linked to the subject matter..."
Again, the mares shared a glance, but the Arbiter continued without waiting for their approval of his request.
"Tell me, how does magic work?"
Twilight's brow furrowed as she thought of an explanation suitable for someone who had no previous experience with such a thing.
"It's something that comes to unicorns with practice, and much greater is at the employ of the few alicorns there are."
The Shipmaster stopped her, stepping forward suddenly.
"It comes in tiers?" he asked, his armored shell gleaming.
"There are some that are more adept than others, but alicorns have the most powerful magic of all. All ponies have some degree of it within them, but only unicorns and alicorns can manifest it into an act, something called a spell. Having a horn helps to... tap into it."
Now the Arbiter stepped forward, excited.
"Tap into it?" he repeated, looking to the Shipmaster before concluding, "It's a network."
Rarity took her turn to speak.
"It connects everything," she explained, "It's a part of everything. It links us all together. Magic is what's at the core of harmony. How do you think Equestria's stayed at peace for thousands of years?"
The Equestrians could see the inner workings of thought expressed on the Elites' saurian faces as they began to understand. It was a half a minute before the conversation continued.
"You said that all ponies have magic within them? Is this so with the other species?" asked Shipmaster 'Vadum, prompting a shaking head from the Element of Magic.
"And if it connects everything," he pressed on, "from where does it originate?"
Now, as opposed to the beginning of the conversation, the mares in the room looked confused.
"What are you getting at?" asked Rarity.
The Arbiter answered, saying, "What you have described to me is a metaphysical energy that can be manipulated by the appendage on your brow."
As he finished, he reached out, touching the end of Rarity's horn.
"Don't do that," she said in retort, backing away from his hand, "It's sensitive."
The Arbiter looked back to the Shipmaster at his newfound discovery regarding the nature of unicorns' horns.
"Nerve endings."
The Arbiter began pacing, gesturing with one hand while his head was downcast.
"Like all energy, magic must have a place of origination," he thought aloud, "The sun is the starting place for warmth and light. The wind originates from a difference in pressure, which originates in the atmosphere, which originates from gases attracted to a large body due to gravity. Magic, therefore, must also have a source. And if ponies are in tune to that magic, its source must be in a place associated with your species."
Twilight's jaw was thrust forward as the Elites finished, and Rarity's expression was one of pure bewilderment. The mares looked to one another, and then turned back with the same expressions.
"This is insane," Twilight rebutted, "How can you make such conclusions after only being here for a few days? Magic has been one of the most extensively researched topics in our history, and here you're trying to erase everything we already know."
"I know nearly nothing of the nature of magic, and so I am not saying what you have learned is wrong," came the Arbiter's immediate reply, "I am inquiring as to its origin. All I am saying is that while it is unique to your kind, we have seen it before."
"Do you yourself know definitively how it is that you came to know magic," inquired the Shipmaster, his tone challenging, "or has it always been there?"
Twilight took her time to make reply.
"There is... speculation, among those that study it."
The Arbiter's strong voice became softer as he took a step towards his Equestrian counterparts, his hand extended as if to implore for their ears.
"We have seen things, as we have travelled the galaxy, as we have sought communion with our gods. Their power was, in many ways, very similar to yours. The way it can be focused into a weapon, like what your soldiers used yesterday. Telekinesis, telepathy, teleportation: these are all things that our gods could do, and we see them yet again here. The gods achieved these things through technology, but you seem to have attained them biologically, and that is the part where I become confused."
Twilight, calmed by the Arbiter's new approach, lowered her defenses a bit.
"I understand your curiosity, but why do you think it will help us? Very few have the ability to weaponize magic. It's harder than you might think."
The Arbiter bent a bit to look Twilight in the eye, amber meeting lavender, and with his voice bringing back some forgotten trace of awestruck humility, slowly said, "I saw the princess move the sun with magic. That is a titanic act of might, and forgive me, but it should not be attainable to a race of such a relatively low civilization tier. And if the Remnant's reason for being here is proven true, then our gods were here once long ago. You see, this is all intertwined more than you might think, and I believe it may be the subject for our salvation, or our annihilation. Which will be our future, we have yet to see."
Twilight looked to the floor, the marble tiles sparkling in the sunlight like a sea at dawn, and she looked back up into the Arbiter's fiery eyes. She sighed, and resigned to the possibility of his insinuations.
"You're positive that your gods could do these things?" she asked sincerely.
"Yes," came the strong reply.
"And you're positive the Remnant is here because they're looking for something to do with them?"
"Yes," came the Sangheili's baritone voice once more.
Twilight sighed again.
"Well, you might just be right. It's a theory at least. That's how just about any discovery begins," she turned to Rarity, whose expression was well beyond overwhelmed, and continued, "I think what we should do next is cross research."
The Arbiter seemed pleased, and a content hum resounded from his barreled chest.
"I'll start pooling resources," the lavender mare continued, "We'll do some scouring on magic theory while you train our armies. That's what the princess said you would be doing. I'll bring any leads I may find to you. Then, bring your knowledge to the table. For now, we'll be librarians instead of champions."
The Arbiter's mandibles curled into a smile, and with a bow, he said "Very well."
Then, he turned to go, Shipmaster 'Vadum close behind, but not before his ivory helm turned down in a respectful bow, despite his previous demeanor. Once they'd gone, Twilight turned back to Rarity.
"Let's get started."
Rarity's sapphire eyes held much more emotion than she conveyed when she simply nodded agreement.
"I'll go get the others."
Four days later...
The Arbiter and Captain Shining Armor, both clad in heavy, gleaming metal, sat down heavily in the grass of the courtyard after a long while of training. It had been a long few days, the hours between dawn and dusk filled with engraining lessons of war into the minds of the Equestrian Royal Guard. While they were soldiers, and already had quite a grasp on the concepts of fighting and battle strategy, the lessons imbued into their practice by their Sangheili teachers were tailored to combatting the Covenant specifically. Weaknesses in armor configurations, gaps in standard formations, how to defeat combat harnesses' shields, the most effective fencing techniques against typical Sangheili swordsmen; the last was a favorite lesson of most of the black clad Elites.
An allusion to an earlier lesson was on the Captain's face in the form of a bruise. As he removed his heavy helmet, he felt the spot on his temple where a Sangheili gauntlet had met his skull.
"You sure do seem at home in that dueling ring," Shining admitted as he flexed his jaw and rubbed the sore spot, "You'd make a fine teacher at the school of hard knocks."
The Arbiter chuckled.
"It would have been worse if we had been foes in reality. A simple energy dagger would have made such a blow fatal," he smiled as he paused, "But, I did have to correct your tendency of focusing solely on your opponent's blade, as if only his blade could hurt you."
Shining returned the laugh good naturedly.
"Are you always like that?" he asked, receiving a cocked eyebrow from his much larger counterpart, "Battle, war, honor, oh I could have killed you there. Swords swords swords!" And why is it always a sword? You could fight much more effectively from a safer distance with your Plasma Rifles and Carbines."
The Arbiter shook his head at the stallion.
"War is not meant to be safe. And as for the swords, a sword is the soul of a warrior. As your sword arm gains strength, so does your spirit. And the stronger you soul in battle, the more dangerous you are with any weapon."
Shining nodded, once again remembering the pervading seriousness and general lack of humor that was so characteristic of the Elites' personalities. As he leaned back, his muscles sore but warm, he eyed the training yard, hardly recognizable now as the courtyard it was. Their stolen Phantom was parked near the gardens, the Ghosts it had come with arranged neatly in a row off one of the ventral doors. The console they'd salvaged was among their equipment, but its screen was dormant, as it had been for days. The grass was trodden down in certain places, marking unofficially where the dueling ring, the training yard, and where they had their lessons were.
He looked down at his helmet, the crimson phoenix feather crest like a crescent flame in the midday sun. Even this, his own armor, had changed since the aliens' had begun integrating their two militaries together. A single black wire, running up the side of his cheek guard, identified the recently installed communication device that had been salvaged from the helmet of a dead Remnant Elite. Apart from the new radio, the whole of his gilded shell glistened a faint red with arcane energy. Ever since they'd made the discovery that arcane weapons, like Abraxas, could match an Energy Sword while standard steel and iron was easily melted through by the Covenant plasma blades, all of their equipment had been enchanted. It had made the mages of Canterlot especially busy, but their fighting force much more capable.
As Shining reran everything he'd learned, the Arbiter at his side seemed bored, occupied elsewhere with his thought. Shining turned to him, and tried bringing him back.
"Anything else you use to be stronger in battle?" the Captain asked.
The Arbiter chuckled, but then his voice went much lower.
"I think you already know that," he answered, "The day we first fought together in the valley, did you fight for yourself?"
Shining was slow to respond as he remembered how his first battle had made him feel.
"No."
"What did you fight for?" the Arbiter asked.
Shining was slow to answer again, but he made reply with conviction.
"For my stallions... for my family... for my home, and everything here."
The Arbiter once again smiled.
"To answer your question... remember what you fight for. If you will still fight for it when death stares you down, it is a cause worth fighting for."
There was a moment of silence between them, until Shining Armor spoke up again, and the Arbiter listened respectfully to what he had to say.
"When I was still in the Royal Guard, before I was promoted to Provost Marshal, Captain of the Guard, I was in this same Special Forces unit. I served with more than half of them; new faces have since come and some old ones gone. We were close. Then, I was married, and Equestria was a piece of my past. It was still home though, despite my newfound responsibilities in the Crystal Empire. But as soon as I heard what was going on back here, and that Celestia wanted my help, I came as quickly as I could."
The Arbiter nodded like he knew the feeling before the prince asked him, "How long have you and your Elites been together."
The Sangheili's mandibles clicked.
"Since this Civil War began," he said matter-of-factly as he leaned back, bracing his weight with his arms against the ground, "Some of them, like the Shipmaster, since even before that, back in the days of the Covenant. I know each of them better than most of my own family."
As he finished, he turned around to face the others nearer the training grounds' center, and the Captain turned with him. He pointed, and Shining's eyes followed.
"The pair in the dueling ring, those who wield two swords each," he rumbled as he gestured to two Sangheili facing one another while the rest of their brothers looked eagerly on, as if admiring a masterpiece, "they are and Denzu 'Zamamai and Sev 'Ikaporamai. They are swordsmen, aristocrats, warriors of unquantifiable renown and honor. They had both earned respite from war, but even in their age, they sought me out once the Covenant had been broken, and asked to fight for our people alongside us."
The duo in question clashed blades to the faint exclamations of their audience, and the Arbiter and Shining shared a smile at the sight of their comradery. In the mass gathered around the circular dueling ring, Sangheilli, Equestrian and even the Mgalekgolo stood side by side, intermingled. It was amazing how far they had come in just a few days.
The Arbiter pointed again, this time to the two Elites with Beam Rifles on their backs, the snipers. They shared the same height, the same posture, arms crossed and shoulders cocked. One leaned to the others ear, whispering something and causing the other to throw his head back and laugh.
"Xar and Xan 'Putum," the Arbiter said, naming those in question," Twins. They are the youngest in our company, but they fight with hearts of fire. Their bravery is matched only by their marksmanship, and as a pair, no enemy of ours is safe from them."
Shining was fascinated as the Arbiter went on. This was the closest thing to an introduction he had received from the Elites. Until now, they had been empty suits of armor, no more than a rank and a weapon, a nameless subject matter expert on war. And as he was gifted the knowledge of these prestigious warriors' names, he couldn't help but feel he had earned their trust. It was then that he realized, they all had earned his as well.
"Ichiko 'Wattinree is the son of the late Imperial Admiral," The Arbiter said as he singled out an exceptionally tall Sangheili, every slot on his obsidian, glyph marked armor fitting a weapon, "He has yet to achieve the greatness his father attained, but he is, without doubt, among the swiftest and most intelligent warriors I have ever fought alongside."
A slender finger identified another, a very scarred individual with a somewhat mangled arm and one white eye, as he laughed at something one of the Equestrians he stood beside said.
"Chak 'Ahrmonro is selfless beyond compare. I have lost count the number of times where he has thrown himself between a comrade and a grenade, or braved enemy fire to help another through the fray. How he is still alive is a mystery, but his kindness and his courage make us all glad he is."
The Elite with the most foreboding scowl of a face was next.
"Kev 'Xellus had nearly all the members of his immediate family killed by the San Shyuum when they betrayed us. He is not the same warrior I knew in the Covenant. His rage gives him strength, as is so for all of us, but unique to him is his ability to control his anger and unleash it in combat. Never have I met one more ferocious."
Shining's heart dropped a bit as he heard the story, but he knew none of them wanted his sympathy. Rather, he followed the Arbiter's nod to the next, a thinner Elite with a lighter armor configuration than the others.
"Krain 'Rolam is among the best pilots in my fleet, just as he is one of the best at tinkering with such technology. He understands the tools of war better than most, which is what makes him so precise. The helmets you and your kinsmen wear were outfitted with communicators by none other than he."
The duel was suddenly finished as one of the aristocrats disarmed the other with a twirl of his blade and a grappling move. The coalition cheered the victor, before he helped his counterpart back to his feet and returned to the crowd while the next pair made ready to take their turn in the ring. The Arbiter continued as one of the Hunters suddenly became irritated, undoubtedly by the insects that had taken such a liking to them, causing quite a ruckus.
"Many of their families have been torn apart by our race's war," he said, looking between Shining and his brothers as they gathered around the flailing Hunter, trying to calm it like ranchers around a kicking bull, "War is a rift torn in the ground, and we find ourselves standing on opposite sides of the canyon of those we hold dear. Brothers fight against brothers, fathers fight against sons. When individual conviction and action overlap, when all are forced to decide what they believe, such things happen. We are each other's family now, until this war can be brought to an end. We are far more than friends, more than comrades."
Shining nodded, looking down at the grass as, for the first time, he connected on this level with the aliens.
"I understand," he said simply, but the look in his eyes said much more.
Again, the two paused, but Shining went on, this time with his focus on the war effort.
"So from what you've been teaching us," he began "does the Covenant use the same tactics?"
The Arbiter's mandibles clicked as he too came back into soldier mode, and his arms crossed as he looked to the sky.
"Not their standard forces," he answered, "Typically, they employ shock and awe campaigns. My warriors and I are a part of the Separatist Covenant Special Warfare Group. We have taught you guerilla tactics, cloak and dagger, things of the like. These are the ways with which to most effectively delay the Covenant, as we are currently too small a force to oust them all together."
Shining sighed as he imagined the legions of Covenant above them.
"Hopefully that will change soon," he reflected, "With the arrival of the leaders of the other nations later today, maybe we can come together to be a sizeable enough force. And I'm sure that once we give them the knowledge and capabilities you've given us, we just might have a chance."
The Arbiter fell into thought for a moment, and asked curiously, "How many nations are there?"
"Including Equestria, eight: The Griffon Kingdoms encompass the most territory of any of the nations, and are almost directly to Equestria's Northeast, across the Sea of Amore. Their High King, Gilderoy, will represent the kingdoms here. Then there's Tauren, home of the Minotaurs, just south of the Griffon Kingdom's borders. And then south of them, right on the equator, is Saddle Arabia, led by Caliph Ayesha in both church and state. Below them is the continent of Zebrica, home to countless zebra tribes. North of the Sea of Amore is the White Sea, which is where the archipelago of the Shetland Isles are. Then, to the north of Equestria is the Crystal Empire, and to our south are the Badlands, where the different species of dragons live, wyverns, tarragons, drakes and the such. That's where they winter, and lay their eggs."
The Arbiter thought a moment again, and asked, "Have they ever come together before?"
Shining frowned.
"Not all of them. Equestria has been more or less on good terms with the whole of them, but many of the other nations hate each other. The peace of Equestria is not a constant the world throughout."
"What do you mean?" asked the argentite Elite.
"Well, to start, the dragons aren't even a nation. They're more of a race, a species. They're nomadic, and they migrate like birds. That, and they're rather destructive. Most countries lie in some species' migration path, and every year a maverick drake will burn a field or a hungry wyvern will steal some livestock. Most don't see them as anything more than animals, let alone trust them."
The Arbiter began to see Shining Armor's point, and he too found himself glaring as the stallion went on.
"You've got the Minotaurs who hate the Arabians. They went to war over resources a few decades ago, and never quite made peace. Then, there's the rivalry between the Griffons and the Shetland ponies. The Shetland Isles and the Griffon Kingdoms are separated by the Dire Strait. All seaborne trade between the East and the West passes through that strait, and so they're always jockeying for control of the seaway. They've never gone to war, but they've come close more than a few times."
The Arbiter sighed now, and muttered, "Getting them to join us may be more difficult than expected."
"Yeah," agreed Shining rather inarticulately, before optimistically adding, "But if anypony can do it, it's Celestia and Luna."
The Arbiter nodded at the thought, accepting it with hope that it was true. But, as they got up, their conversation over, to rejoin those they'd left, a sudden flash of green near the Phantom caught the Arbiter's eye. Apparently, he wasn't the only one who had noticed, and one of the Sangheili twins ran over to the console.
"Arbiter!" he called over his shoulder, "The Remnant is communicating!"
Suddenly, Shipmaster 'Vadum appeared at his side, and asked excitedly, "What are they saying?"
There was a moment where there was no reply, but eventually the message was deciphered.
"Kar 'Vol is headed for the surface! They think they may have found a holy site!"
"Where?" yelled Shining Armor, now the entire population of the training yard gathered behind him.
"In Equestria!" came the answer, "Nearly one hundred miles Northeast!"
"Warriors!" roared the Shipmaster without hesitation, "to the drop ship!"
The cockpit of the Phantom jolted and shook around the Shipmaster as he guided it, soaring near the speed of sound barely above the trees. The mountains were behind them, and now nothing but forests and plains stretched before them as they coursed towards Kar 'Vol's landing site. The main screen in front of him displayed his view, as well as his Heads Up Display.
They flew without escort; the princesses and the Elements were left behind at the castle. Such an opportunity as the Justiciar of Truth could not be passed upon, and soldiers of the coalition were already to arms when the call came in. To tell them, and wait for them to make ready, would have taken too long, especially when their window of opportunity was likely no greater than an hour wide.
Shipmaster 'Vadum reached to the ship's intercom, pressing the button before speaking into the microphone.
"We are nearing the Remnant," he said to those in the hold behind him, "We will make contact in no more than four minutes."
Not a moment later, he heard the voice of the Thel 'Vadam over the intercom.
"Warriors, today we have been blessed with the chance to lob the head off the Covenant snake that coils around this world! But do not think that 'Vol will submit easily! He is fierce and cunning, and will fight as savagely as each and every Covenant Loyalist he has brought to the surface with him! Remember what you have learned, and have courage as you stand in the fires of battle once more! None shall stand alone! We are brothers, all of us! We have been since we first bled together, and we shall be for all time! Now, as brothers, let us deal a blow to our enemy that they will never forget!"
There were some roars of approval from the Phantom's cabin, and Shipmsater 'Vadum hummed to himself in agreement as well before he once again spoke into the intercom, adding to the Arbiter's speech.
"No mercy will be shown to us by these Covenant dogs, brothers! Show them none in return! Let us remind this world who we are!"
Now the voice of Shining Armor came over the intercom.
"Once we enter the fray, we'll be using the battle-net for communication, not the Phantom's intercom! Remember to maintain shadow protocol once we reach that point! Use only codenames! We don't want the Covenant to learn anything!"
They came ever closer to the Covenant, but the rolling hills and trees prohibited them from establishing visual contact. Still, from the transmission's coordinates, Rtas 'Vadum knew they were near, and he opened the Phantom's ventral doors for a hastier engagement when they would finally have that chance. The rush of air tearing past the craft's hull drowned out all other sound, and the Shipmaster once again reached down to press a button on the console to reestablish communications.
"Switching over to the battle-net!"
The tone of the established communicators growled in 'Vadum's ear, and now on the battle-net, he heard his call sign used by Captain Shining Armor.
"Seraphim, are there any signatures on the scanner?"
He checked the circular screen in question, seeing it still blank before he made reply.
"I picked up a single drop ship and a pair of fighters earlier as they came in for a landing, but no capital ships have entered the atmosphere!"
The voice of another Equestrian came over the battle-net.
"Can they detect us too?" he asked.
"We're flying less than a hundred feet off the ground," the Shipmaster answered over the wind rushing over the drop ship's hull, "We are undetectable to them."
As he spoke, he pulled back on the controls, pitching the nose of the Phantom up to crest a tree topped hill. When he recovered, he saw the northeastern woods giving way to the cold grey plains. Sporadic farms and homes were spread out across the frosted ground, but one of the homes was plagued by figures on its property, as well as the signature blue glow of Covenant spires and energy shields.
The Shipmaster, having located their quarry, roared into his communicator.
"Warriors, prepare for combat!"
They flew closer, the drone of the Phantom's engines like a storm, and the silhouettes of Elites, Jackals and Grunts became visible against the earth.
"Landing party, platoon size!" called the Shipmaster, "I'm coming in on an attack run. I'll soften them up before they are put to your swords, brothers!"
As he finished, the nose cannon of his vessel let loose a fury of fire, and lavender explosions began erupting among the ranks of the Remnant on the ground. Blue bolts of plasma came up in greeting, but they were not enough the breach the armored exterior of the ship.
The Phantom dashed over the Remnant' landing zone, leaving it pockmarked with smoldering craters and littered with wounded and dead. The Shipmaster rolled the Phantom as he finished his bombing run, and lowered it to the ground as the Arbiter, on the ventral plasma cannon, began firing bursts of searing blue at the Covenant who were still standing or returning fire.
First, the Hunters leapt from the cabin, landing with an earth shaking impact on the cold ground. After them came the rest of the Phantom's passengers, with the exception of the Arbiter, who continued hosing the Covenant line with plasma. They hit the ground and went prone while the Hunters and the Phantom soaked up the majority of the enemy fire, and the voice of Shining Armor came in over the battle-net.
"Seraphim, we are on the ground! Hold your course so you and Archangel can provide a base of fire."
The Shipmaster's brow set in determination, and he conducted what he had been advised, the nose gun of his Phantom engaging targets with a brutal efficiency. On the screen, the crosshair of his weapon found muzzle flashes and silhouettes against the smoke, and as he fired, he witnessed the ragged aftermath of his accuracy on what had once been Covenant bodies.
Meanwhile, the Arbiter, with his boots hanging out of the Phantom, sat on the ventral door while the muzzle of the plasma cannon lit his face up blue. The number of enemy combatants had already been diminished by at least half, but there was still plenty to shoot at. An Elite Major stood up to fire at him; a well aimed burst put him back down much faster than he'd risen. A pair of Kig-Yar went to relocate, lowering their shields for a moment while they dashed towards the nearby farm structures. The Arbiter walked his shots on target with one long moment of sustained fire; sending both of them into the frost hard. Once more, he sprayed the enemy position, keeping them down while the Hunters did the same far below, and then he reached for his communicator.
"Ground team, this is Archangel," he growled, "When we have killed these stragglers, I shall join you, but do not wait around on my account! We must prevent them from escaping!"
Then, the Arbiter looked back towards the cockpit, and yelled, "Seraphim, take us on another run!"
The Phantom rolled with the Shipmaster's hand, and they slowly drifted over the battlefield with guns firing. But then, through the smoke and drifting ashes, a shadow emerged. It matched the outline of an Unggoy, and it appeared to be winding up. The Arbiter moved to swivel his plasma cannon towards the approaching Grunt, but it was outside his muzzle's range of motion. He reached for his Plasma Rifle, but it was too late. The Grunt's arm was already moving forward.
"Brace!" he yelled to Shipmaster 'Vadum, and the clink of something hitting the bottom of the hull rang through the chilled air.
"Grenade!" yelled the Arbiter once again, but seconds passed, and no explosion occurred; the Arbiter did not wait any longer to draw down on the Unggoy, who was now running away, and put three bolts into its back. When its methane tank came loose, the sudden release of pressure sent it shooting across the plains like a bottle rocket.
"Was it a dud? !" came the voice of the Shipmaster.
"It matters not!" replied the Arbiter as he went back to the door gun, "Maneuver around, I need a better angle on the Sangheili down there! They have our force pinned down!"
As another stream of plasma bolts came from the ventral doors, the troops on the ground were suddenly reprieved, allowing Shining Armor to lift his head once more. No later had the air cleared than he heard the voice of who he now knew was Chak 'Ahrmonro in his helmet.
"Abraxas! You and your unicorns, Seraphim, Archangel and the snipers maintain a base of fire on those Covenant! I will take all the rest on a maneuver onto their side, and clear through their ranks!"
"You heard him, engage!" yelled Shining as he lead the way, rising up a bit as his horn glowed red, "Suppressive fire!"
Blue and red beams of both magic and plasma began cutting through the smoke while the Elites began working their way around. The cries of the Remnant began growing weaker, until they stopped all together when the Swords of Sanghelios moved from their flank and through their position, and with swords and energy daggers, finished off the remainder. They moved on a small distance from the Remnant, and took a knee, weapons brandished still. 'Ahrmonro, once they were set, came back into the Captain's communicator.
"Captain, move up. Check the bodies. We will watch your back."
Shining Armor did just that, and began searching the many Grunts and Jackals, and fewer Elites, kicking away their weapons and checking their armor configurations for rank or glyphs indicant of certain positions. As he and the team he led performed their task without the hindrance of living Covenant resistance, the Shipmaster set down the Phantom just beyond the craters. The Arbiter jumped from the cabin, and the ship rose back into the blackening sky. The Arbiter drew his sword, its blue light piercing in the ashen air, and trotted to Captain Shining Armor's side as he left the limp body of a Sangheili Major.
"Archangel, we've checked these bodies. There aren't any Zealots here."
The Arbiter looked around slowly, his amber eyes a bit reddened by the smoke in them, before agreeing, "And so few. Why would such a small force come for such an important investigation? And if 'Vol said he would be here, then where is he?"
A Sangheili voice came over the battle-net.
"He must be inside. We will take him at once!"
Immediately, every one of the black Elites ran to the farm structures, and began stacking up outside of the barn and the farmhouse. But, as they ran, the Shipmaster's voice once again vibrated in the ears of the coalition.
"This is Seraphim. I am reading intense thermal signatures from those structures, far too hot to be any organics!"
The Arbiter stood erect, Shining Armor at his side, and looked fearfully to the farm. The other Elites, the Hunters now lumbering up to join them, seemed not to notice. The Arbiter put a finger to his ear, and addressed the Phantom.
"Seraphim, are your scans showing anything characteristic of a holy site?"
There was a pause before an answer came.
"Negative. There's nothing, not even a hundred meters below the surface. This is only a tundra. Nothing more."
Shining Armor sighed nervously, "What else could be in that barn if not organics? Where else could 'Vol be? What else gives off heat like that?"
The Arbiter froze, looking to his brothers as they got ready to breach the door. He searched his mind for an answer to Shining Armor's question. Too hot to be organics, and impossible to be anything not alive in the cold. What else could put off heat like that?
When he realized what it was, his hearts stopped.
Plasma.
"It's a trap," he said, his voice a hoarse whisper in the northern wind.
The Elites approached the doors of the buildings, and the Arbiter turned towards them. When the warriors on point made ready to kick the doors in, he began running to them.
"It's a trap!" he yelled, but it was to no avail.
It was too late. Black boots splintered the doors inward, and the Swords funneled in through the doorways with the Hunters close behind.
"No!" yelled the Arbiter, sprinting now, when the entire complex imploded.
There was no sound at first, just a tumultuous ball of blue flame that expanded outward, engulfing everything in and around the buildings. Then, with the shockwave came the force, and the thunder, and the Arbiter as well as each Equestrian still checking the Covenant's position, were thrown into the air as if they weighed as much as a doll.
Then, there was silence.
Author's Note
The theme for this chapter:
Enjoy
Silent Night
Earlier...
Princess Luna sat in her study, a mountain of parchment next to her and multiple quills enveloped in magic scratching away at papers on her desk. It was amazing how much administration went into hosting a collection of diplomats and warriors, especially when a good number of them were extraterrestrial.
She looked up when she heard the sound of horseshoes clicking together, the characteristic sound of guards snapping to attention, and knew somepony important was at the door. Not a moment later she heard a knock.
"Come in," she simply said without looking up from her work.
Her sister entered, a seriousness in her smile.
"They're all here," Celestia said, causing Luna's quills to fall to the desk, "Are you ready?"
"I am as ready as I shall be," the younger sister answered with a smile at first, but her amicability faded as a thought came to mind, and her eyes drifted out the window to the still empty courtyard, "but I fear, not all of this talk's parties are here."
Celestia looked out the window, the aliens' Phantom no longer in place, and the training yard empty.
"The Arbiter? And what of Prince Shining Armor?"
Luna nodded, explaining, "They left a little under an hour ago."
Celestia bit her lip, thinking.
"Did they say where they were going, or how long until they'd be back?" she asked, turning back to face her sister, who had risen from her seat, her elegant wings stretching as if liberated.
"They didn't tell me anything. They departed in quite a hurry. Shining Armor went with them. I know Cadence was looking forward to seeing him again," Luna said as she came to her sister's side.
Celestia hummed disappointment to herself, saying, "He would be influential in the conference's course if he were here. And most of the others were looking forward to meeting the Arbiter... I presume for the same reasons every reporter in Equestria has been literally begging to be allowed an audience with him."
The alabaster alicorn chortled before adding, "If only they knew just how grim they all are."
"They have their reasons, sister," Luna countered quickly, almost scolding, "Do not judge them. They have been through more than you and I had presumed."
Celestia shot a cock eyed glance at Luna.
"Have you been visiting dreams?"
The dark alicorn looked down and away for a moment as a foal who had been caught doing something she wasn't supposed to, but looked back at Celestia with her characteristic resolution. She nodded, and elaborated thereafter.
"And with them, their emotions, their pasts..." she hesitated as she brought them to memory, faltering a bit, "It does not do to dwell on it, but I find myself admiring them."
Celestia saw the concern in her sister's face, and Luna quickly went on to the business that had brought her sister to her study in the first place.
"Shall we go to the others?" she suggested, walking past her sister without waiting for an answer, "We can represent the Arbiter's interests as our own. We are an allegiance, after all."
Celestia nodded, admiring her sister's tact, and joined her.
A short walk through the palace's ivory halls, and the sisters came to the doors of the Council Chamber. Their horseshoes clicked as they came to a stop, and the posted guards opened the doors ceremoniously for the grand entrance.
Gathered around the chamber were the leaders and delegates from each of the nations and kingdoms across the world, each in a large chair seated at a round table with their names printed on a name tag in front of them for all to see; some were family, others were as close as such, and still others were far from familiar.
Princess Cadence sat next to the place with Celestia's and Luna's names, and her eyes lit up when she saw them come into the room. She was still as beautiful and bright as ever, her crown still light on her head.
However, she looked smaller now, perhaps because of the towering specimen sitting immediately to her left: Midas, War Chieftan of the Minotaurs, his face painted in traditional red and blue and the ancestral claymore of Tauren held in its scabbard between his gargantuan shoulders. His position as commander in chief of the vast armies and navies of Tauren was obvious by his wares. While he did not delight at the sight of his hosts, his gold tipped horns did descend in a respectful, though slight, bow; his banner bearers, behind him, did the same, their steel armor jangling against the bladed weapons strewn all across their bovine bodies.
The seating of Clan Leader MacShire, who was already small for a Shetland pony, next to Midas' girth looked almost comical. Midas' biceps extended over into the Islander's space; were he tall enough to place his front hooves on the table, he may have noticed. But, despite his size, MacShire held himself as no lesser than his most prestigious company, and the tassels on the plaid regal dress of his homeland bounced on his shaggy, blonde body as he too bowed in greeting to his Equestrian counterparts.
Next was yet another equine, a slender grey Arabian horse, also dressed in the traditional blue and white flowing garb of his homeland: Caliph Ayesha. His brown eyes mirrored the strength and wealth of his homeland, their pride bordering between arrogance and confidence. He did not bow when the Equestrians took their seats. He only nodded to them; in Saddle Arabia, the royal family was seen as sent from god. In the Arabians' belief, there was no need for prophets to pay respects; it was the other way around. As the patriarch of the Arabian royal family, he was the head of both church and state, making his presence the highest honor, at least within the borders he guarded.
Adjacent Ayesha was another sizeable figure. A classical cuirass shielded his scaly, muscular body, and an equally ornate gladius hung at his side. His attire was half ceremonial, half practical, as it was meant to be. He was Steelhide, representative of the races of dragons, and true to his name, those parts of him not covered in bronze shimmered, his grey scales polished to a sterling state. He was a Tarragon, a relatively small but intelligent species unlike most dragons, drakes and wyverns. He walked upright, and he stood among the tallest in the room. But, in other aspects, such as his crocodile like maw and his horns, like those of a gazelle, curling back from his scalp, he was very much like the creatures that had recently elected to follow him due to his control of the nesting grounds in the Badlands. His wings folded against his back like a cape, and though he was the newest member of the inner circle of the world's leaders, he didn't seem to take that into account. His chest inflated proudly when Celestia looked his way, and he bowed to both her and her sister.
Then there was High King Gilderoy, ruler of the Griffon Kingdoms. His avian features were light brown, the same plumage as a golden eagle, and the fur on his feline body was a dark red color. His beak was sharp, his talons sharper, and his broad wings furled against his shoulders. A crown studded with rubies and sapphires sat askew on his feathered head, but he wore no more clothes or armor, he was no larger than most of his kind, he carried no weapons, but something about his avian stare was intimidating. He commanded the love and loyalty of all ten of the Griffon Kingdoms under his rule, but still he smiled and bowed to Celestia and Luna, as all the others had.
The mare immediately to the right of the Royal Sisters' seats was the most outlandish appearing of the group. Her exotic dress, wild mane, and fierce eyes were fitting indicators of her untamed spirit. She was Cleo, High Priestess of the Zebra Tribes. As a shaman, she was a spiritual leader, but spirituality was the only authority all of the vastly different tribes could unite behind. Her intense stare scoured over the princess' bodies when they entered, but she quickly remembered to bow, her wild eyes quickly darting back up to scan the room some more.
Celestia cleared her throat as she and her sister took their place, and began the meeting with a simple greeting, saying ,"Thank you all for coming."
Before she could speak any further, Caliph Ayesha spoke, his smug nose turned up towards the empty chair in the room, the nametag before it reading Arbiter .
"Should we not wait for our company to be complete before we begin?" the Arabian asked.
"You'll have to forgive the Arbiter's absence," Luna made reply, giving her best cordial smile to her Middle Eastern counterpart, "His duties currently have him occupied, but I trust he would want us to continue. We will represent his interests."
Ayesha scoffed, and looked slowly to the others in the room.
"So this is our first impression of the fabled Angel of Equestria? An empty chair in the council chamber?"
"What could possibly have him so busy, that we become second?" High King Gilderoy asked.
"The Arbiter is, first and foremost, a warrior," Luna explained, her voice matching the authority of her sister, "Were he here, I believe he would say the same thing. And so, he is fighting the war, as are many Equestrians."
A hush came over the congregation. A moment passed, and the raspy, highland accent of the Shetlands broke the quiet.
"It's true then?" asked Clan Leader MacShire, rearing up in his chair to place his front hooves on the round table, "Equestria has declared war? On who?"
"The Covenant Remnant, is what they are called," answered Celestia, teaching the conference about their mutual enemy.
"How many are they?" asked Gilderoy.
Celestia hesitated before she made reply, admitting, "The Arbiter has assured us that they number in the tens of thousands... possibly more. But we don't know personally. We have yet to engage a force larger than a few dozen."
"We? You mean Equestria's soldiers and the Angels?" asked Midas, his mass leaning forward on his forearms, causing the table to bend his way.
Celestia looked down at her chest, where a circular scar was still sore; those seated right of her could see the pink scar tissue, and needed no further explanation as to the role the Royal Sisters had played in the war thus far.
Steelhide suddenly smiled a toothy grin, and his voice raised when he said, "You mean to tell me an army, a few dozen soldiers at a time, has caused this much havoc? So much, that news agencies on the far side of the world report of the destruction caused at Trottingham, and you convene an arms conference in reaction? All at the hand of this Covenant Remnant?"
Celestia wanted to elaborate on the Remnant's capabilities, but before she could, she was interrupted by an urgent question.
"Aunt... Princess Celestia," began Cadence, quick to remember the formality of the congregation, "where is this army, the Covenant Remnant?"
"Far above us," answered Luna in her sister's stead, "in vessels capable of leaving a planet's atmosphere."
"Ha!" laughed the Tarragon, crossing his arms while his wings fluttered, "You mean we are facing an army of aliens? Do they have green skin and large black eyes, and are these vessels little flying saucers?"
"No," came the stern response from MacShire, him and many of the others representing the eastern hemisphere glaring reprimand at the dragons' representative, "These vessels are miles long, so large they cast cities into shadow. They create winds strong enough to break the ice of the White Sea. Storms of lightning and thunder erupt at their arrival, and the howl they create goes on for miles."
The atmosphere in the room had changed now, and grave expressions adorned each face.
"Equestria is not the only place harboring these visitations," Gilderoy added, drumming his talons a bit nervously on the wood of the table, "These angels... demons... aliens... whatever they are to be called, made landfall in Griffonstone, the southernmost of the Griffon Kingdoms after passing over the Shetland Isles, as Clan Leader MacShire and I had already discussed prior to this assembly. They raided the Great Library of Griffonstone, dug a quarry a mile deep at the Doorstep in the country outside the city in a few hours, and then they went on south in their ships."
"Tauren saw it," added Midas, adding credibility to the claim, "There were three ships, one flagship and two escorts."
"As did Saddle Arabia," claimed Ayesha, his expression still noble and proud, "Some thought it the second coming. Most panicked. Our astronomers believe they observed them exiting our atmosphere somewhere over Zebrica that night."
"What night was this?" asked Cadence sincerely, her eyes wide but her poise not weakened.
"Three days ago," answered Cleo, the Zebra, the gold of her bracelets and necklaces jingling as she nodded affirmation.
"All of this on the same day?" asked Steelhide in disbelief, "This craft spanned the length of the globe, from north to south, in under one day?"
"Do not forget, it also created a hole in the ground so large, it caused earthquakes felt on the far side of my kingdom," Gilderoy added, driving home the awe his homeland was in at the sighting, "The might it takes to perform such a feat is beyond any of us."
"Any of us?" Steelhide quickly retorted, "You forget the power of my kin. All it takes is a roar of mine in defense of the nesting grounds, and all of the drakes and wyverns the world over will unite. We will see how mighty these aliens are when faced with an army of dragons."
Ayesha spoke next, and practically spat in the direction of the Tarragon, saying, "You seem confident in your power, Tarragon. None of us share the same confidence in you or your winged armies. You're rogue, hardly above animals. I doubt they will even answer your call."
"Says the fanatic," chided Midas, his horns turning to the Arabian and his fists balled; his banner bearers behind him mirrored his hatred for the horse, "Before you condemn Steelhide's forces, remember your own armies pillaged their way through Tauren's cities."
Ayesha remained unchanged, his cold stare returned to the minotaurs in the room, and he threatened to smile.
"Only in retaliation for the atrocities committed by Tauren's forces," Ayesha said, his elegant accent pervading while he justified rather than deny the accusations.
"The Crystal Empire will stand by Equestria," announced Cadence, interrupting the anger as she looked to her family.
"As will the Shetland Isles," declared MacShire, only for Gilderoy to chuckle.
"You can hardly support yourselves," the Griffon said belittlingly, "Your people live on the scraps of the Griffon Kingdoms' trade. And we will not ally ourselves with those who would steal what is ours."
MacShire did not react as if he'd been hurt, but he reacted in rage.
"The Dire Strait is not yours," he fumed, "No less than it is mine. How can one own the water?"
Gilderoy smiled.
"The same way I own all the wharfs, and every ounce of wealth that passes through that fold."
"Enough!" Celestia said over the quarrel, "This is not solving our problem! While we argue like foals on the playground an armada is searching our planet for an alien artifact, and once they find it, they will burn this planet to dust!"
There was a moment before Cleo spoke.
"So what would you have us do?" she asked.
"Join together," Luna replied quickly, fire in her dark eyes, "All of us. Only then may we have a chance."
Midas only grew angrier, and his fist pounded the table as he argued back, "I may as well piss on the graves of thousands of my soldiers as ally my armies with him," he said, pointing at the smirking Ayesha, "I will not make myself vulnerable while the lions' den of Arabia looms on my borders and the dragons run rampant through the mountains, burning crops and families in their homes! The line of Taurus will endure, but not by making peace with our real enemies."
Midas looked to Steelhide as he finished, blowing a snort of hot air out his nostrils.
"This has to all be a delusion," Cadence said quietly from Celestia's side as an argument broke out between Midas, Ayesha, Steelhide, Gilderoy and MacShire, "An anomaly. Maybe it was an asteroid, or some conjuring of magic."
"We know what we saw!" High Priestess Cleo yelled suddenly in her thick Zebrican accent, rising out of her chair and immediately silencing the others, "And we know what it brings. We have seen it in the sky. The wandering stars traverse the night, and the constellations speak in their silence. Malik, the warrior, and Ta'sha, the mother, have come together in the sky."
Some in the room seemed not to care, but others were gripped by the shaman's speech as she continued.
"A troubling time is nigh, a time of war and of rebirth, a time of death and life, a time of hate and love... a time of chaos. Zebrica will join you, Princesses of Equestria, for we will need to be strong together. Many days of discord are to come."
As she finished, a new voice came into the conversation, a voice without a body, as if the walls themselves were speaking.
"There's the invitation I was waiting for," the voice chimed, jovial almost, and the entity chuckled.
Celestia looked at Luna, and groaned.
"Tell me he isn't..." Celestia began.
"He is," Luna replied; no later had the words left her mouth when a sudden flash of light above the tables center pulsed, receding to reveal a levitating chimera, his arms spread theatrically open as if welcoming applause.
Celestia looked at Cleo with disdain.
"Couldn't you have used a word other than 'discord'?"
"Oh, come now Celestia," came Discord's chiding voice as he snaked through the air to her side, placing his head alongside hers and flirtatiously running a talon along her chin, "I am no longer such terrible company as you remember."
He quickly darted back away from the alicorn to avoid her aggravated reaction, once again opening his arms to the blessings and acceptance of the audience basking in his glory.
"I've been reformed, after all," he admitted before placing a hand over his heart, and giving a practiced airborne bow, "Now I live to serve. And I will serve you as best I can, so long as you introduce me to your outlandish new friends once they return."
A certain vein in Celestia's forehead was beginning to surface, and she seethed, "If you wish to serve me, you may do just that, and get out."
Discord seemed hurt, and his arms, one feline the other avian, fell at his sides as he alighted back down on the table, his smug grin gone and his eyes a bit saddened.
"Why would you say such a thing?" he asked, his out of place tooth seeming to droop as if he were a child who'd been scolded.
"This is none of your business, Discord," Luna replied, giving him a look only slightly more aggravated than Celestia's.
"I beg to differ," Discord countered, suddenly jovial once again as he waved his finger at her, "I am an inhabitant of this world the same as you. And, with you trying to decide the fate of the world and all, I'd argue that I have just as much of a say in how it shall be handled as the lot of you. I have just as much to lose, after all."
As he finished, he disappeared with a snap of his talons, rematerializing in what was supposed to be the Arbiter's seat, only the name tag in front of his place at the table was now fabulously bejeweled with gemstones and glitter, and in pink letters it read Discord .
As he adjusted his marker so it was straight, he happily remarked, "I'll just take this empty chair here," before looking expectantly, his talons folded against his paw, to the others in the room.
"This situation is far too fragile for you to be meddling in it," continued Celestia, trying to subtly nod towards the Arabian and the Taurens, who were still glaring at one another.
"Too fragile, eh?" the snake-like jester said, once again weaving through the air like a serpent through water before flamboyantly placing a hand on his hip and gesturing towards War Chief Midas and his body guards, "Is that why you brought the bulls into this china shop?"
Midas reached for a dagger as he rose from the table, and grabbed Discord to hold the blade to his throat as he bellowed, "Does he offer us insult?!"
Discord, a smug smile still on his outlandish face, simply reached out and touched the tip of the blade, turning it instantaneously into a rose. He then accepted the favor from his bovine assailant and feigned a blush, smelling it with a deep inhale before eagerly tossing it into his mouth and eating it.
"Not at all sweetheart," he said, his mouth full as he pat the bull on the forehead, "If you had the capacity to understand metaphors, you would know that already."
A snap of his fingers and Discord was on the other side of the room, picking his teeth in the glossy reflection of himself in Gilderoy's crown; the griffon seemed irked, but far from angry.
"Celestia, I thought you and your sister had turned this demon to stone. Why release him?" asked the Griffon King, gesturing with a talon to the creature hovering off his right shoulder.
"Because I am far too pretty to be kept up in granite," he replied as another flash produced new attire for himself, a Victorian era pink dress and umbrella; he admired his reflection further in Gilderoy's headpiece, then turned his attention to the craftsmanship of the crown itself, "I remember when your thirty-seven greats grandfather wore that same crown, your highness. Forgive me if I imply it looked better on him."
With a clap this time he disappeared in a flash of light, and was his normal abnormal self again. He took a quick gander at the room from his stage on the round table, his hands on his hips and his fluffy eyebrows cocked.
"You really did invite everyone here but me, didn't you?"
"Because we didn't need you," came Celestia's quick reply, only to have Discord doubtingly look her way, "We can handle the situation."
"The same way you handled Trottingham?" he asked, drawing a surprised look from Luna; no sooner had the expression registered than the god of chaos was at her side, petting her head and saying, "Oh don't look so hurt. As soon as you introduce me to your new alien best friends, I can be on my way."
He phased away again, darting around the room as was his habit, only now he was in a hammock strung between the walls.
"But they're not here, are they?" he said sarcastically again before putting his pretty pink sunglasses on and reclining in his new bed, "Oh well, I'll just have to wait until they get back."
While the hammock swayed above their heads, Ayesha felt the need to speak his mind about their newest guest.
"If he is going to make a rabble of this council any further, the Saddle Arabian military will return his inhospitality."
Discord's paw appeared above the brim of his hammock, a toe in the air as if he were about to make a point.
"So, the one who conquers in the name of God doesn't like having a god in his presence?" a flash put Discord, minus his paw which was still gesturing away above the hammock, in Ayesha's ear, and he whispered, "How hospitable is that, if I may ask Caliph, praise be unto ye?"
His snakelike tongue darted inside the horse's ear suddenly, and when the Caliph went to shoo him away, Discord was already back on the table center. The first time Ayesha had broken his poise was enough to spark a condescending laugh from Steelhide, his toothy maw chuckling away at the horse's enraged expression.
"I wouldn't be laughing if I were you," Discord reprimanded, singling out the Tarragon, "I'm trying to help you. You have something worth far more than golden hordes to fight for now."
The dragon didn't think it was funny anymore, and looked to Celestia as angry as the others.
"I've had enough of his insults," Steelhide said, but Discord only rolled his eyes.
Celestia, sounding almost maternal now, beckoned Discord's attention.
"Discord, I won't say this again. We have the situation under control."
Waving a finger at her, Discord once again twirled through the air, his tail following his body like the tail of a kite.
"That's where you're wrong," he said as his smile slowly dissipated, "If there's one thing I've learned, it's that control is an illusion. There is a flotilla of angry space invaders up there, and they do not like any of us, least of all, you and the Arbiter's friends. I've seen them; a little stroll through the stratosphere yielded a sight the likes of which I have never seen before."
Princess Cadence leaned forward, and asked him, "What did you learn?"
Discord clapped, and his seat was replaced with a chair made of hundreds of swords molded into a throne, and as he leaned forward on a sword of his own, his newly adorned beard and fur cloak flowing in some nonexistent wind, he said, "That the Winter Contingency is coming."
The others in the chamber looked around bewildered, but before any of them could speak, Discord was center stage on the table once more.
"When the Arbiter rode down here on his ball of flame, he set a off course of events that will shake this world to the core. I can't control it any more than you can, and if you're as smart as I remember you being, that scares you. So do yourself a favor, and stop trying to control this whole thing. In trying to keep our fate at bay, you just may bring it closer."
Clan Leader Angus MacShire suddenly stood up in his chair, and pointed a tense forelimb in Discord's direction.
"I grow tired of this prattle!" he shouted, his voice far too large for his body, "I'm warning you demon!"
"And I'm warning you, laddie!" Discord shot back mocking his accent, "The zebra was right. A time of great chaos is upon us, and I should know. None of us can control it, and as tempted as I am to sit back with some popcorn and watch you all run around trying to fix the sky as it falls down around you, for once I don't want to. I want to help, seeing as I quite like this world and my life in it, and the most valuable thing I can bring to the table is this: Our only hope is to fight back, and we have the best hope of making it through this if we fight together."
There was silence for a moment, before Ayesha beckoned with a question.
"What proof do you..." he began, only for Discord to interrupt him.
"What proof do I need? You all know who I am , what I stand for. If I would trade order for chaos, do you think it would be for the sake of a joke, or because it was what needed to be done?"
He spiraled upwards, taking a hovering perch near the ceiling of the Council Chamber.
"So," he began, crossing his arms, "what say you?"
The gathered diplomats were struck silent, and seemed to be truly considering the offer of an alliance for the first time since the meeting had began. Discord smiled a proud grin, and he once again fluttered down to Celestia's side, and putting a paw on her shoulder, whispered, "How's that for diplomacy?"
Later...
The normally quiet atmosphere of Canterlot library was bustling as six mares and a dragon hurried about the shelves, acquiring books and scrolls from the great wealth of knowledge of Equestria's largest archive. While Dash, Applejack, Pinkie and Spike scoured the book stacks, the others read what they found in the middle of the seal on the floor.
The light from the evening sun rushed in through the stained glass, warming the room and painting it colors just as warm. The light that reflected off the tiles on the floor were mirrored on the ceiling, and streaks of pink and blue added to the rainbow of the library.
"This is amazing," Twilight remarked as she looked up from the book, of many that were orbiting her in her magic's grip, she had previously been buried in, "What the Arbiter was thinking just might have been right!"
Rarity and Fluttershy dropped their texts, and looked to the lavender mare excitedly.
"You really think so?" Fluttershy asked, intrigued, and Twilight furiously nodded.
"Look at this book Pinkie found," she said as she opened to the page in question, flipping the book so the others could read it; the text, titled Digs of Zebrica showed drawings of etchings in a wall, presumably from an archaeological excursion, "Ancient civilizations, the oldest forms of writing. The best translation we have of these hieroglyphics speak of the gods coming from the sky, and gifting them with civilization."
Dash returned from her most recent lap of the library, and dropped her newfound books in the growing pile of sources as Twilight finished.
"But those are just legends," the blue pegasus said matter-of-factly, but instead of flying off again, she stuck around to hear Twilight's retort.
"Ancient writers only wrote down things that were historically important," she said, "Too few were actually literate, so scribes weren't wasted on things that weren't essential to the society."
There was a lull before Rarity grew excited, albeit still a bit confused, and turned her book towards Twilight, saying, "In this one, the writer says that scientifically, unicorns and alicorns are able to harness much more powerful magic in certain parts of the world."
Twilight looked down at the text with some familiarity, as if she'd read it before or was at least read in the subject. She nodded as she read where Rarity had directed her attention, the others awaiting her verdict with bated breath.
"Yeah, they're called manna pools," Twilight said, referencing the places Rarity had brought up, "They used to be holy sites. Now they're places of extensive study."
The others were bewildered, but Twilight looked at them expectantly nonetheless. It took a while before Applejack played along with Twilight's lesson, and asked, "Where are some of these... manna pools?"
"The Tree of Harmony is one, there are some places in the crystal fields up north... but this book talks a lot about the theories around Everfree Forest."
A.J. pushed her hat back, and ran a hoof through her mane in thought as she too stared down at the book Twilight had been studying. As the others processed the thought, Spike, who had been listening quietly and continuing his chore of rounding up books up to this time, recognized Twilight's professor-like mood; for her lecture to continue to go over as productively and as theatrically as she'd like, she would require a question.
"What kinds of theories?" he asked dryly; by Twilight's expression, he'd just given her a birthday present.
"Everfree has plenty of legends around it, most of them dealing with magic... old gods, fairies... things like what the first Equestrians to come over from the East believed in. But, there are some that think Everfree is rich in manna pools. Some believe the ambient magic of the forest gets stronger the farther into the woods you go. The only problem is, nopony's ever successfully explored the forest. Every party that's gone in never came back out."
The others looked to Twilight with concern.
"Why not?" asked Rarity, one eyebrow rising as she spoke.
"They probably got lost," Dash answered, shrugging at the obvious disappointment while Fluttershy seemed to tuck behind her mane.
"That place is haunted," the yellow pegasus said quietly, putting a cap on the subject for the time being.
It wasn't long before Pinkie Pie once again perked up, exclaiming, "All these theories about gods and magic... maybe they're connected!"
"Exactly!" Twilight responded, her eyes growing wider in excitement as she began to flip back through her reference material, "Some of these sites coincide."
Her hoof pointed out a map in a book titled A Study of Ancient Religions as she said, "This ancient place, called 'God's Doorstep,' outside of Griffonstone's capital, was the holiest site of the ancient Griffons. It's also the highest recorded point of magic fluctuation that's been discovered so far East of the Sea of Amore. And this..."
She paused suddenly as a new sound became audible over her own voice. It droned off in the distance, and was growing louder with each moment. After about a minute, the books on the bookshelves began quaking with the sound's pitch. Just as they realized it was the whine of the Swords of Sanghelios' drop ship, Pinkie ran to the window.
"They're coming back!" she yelled out excitedly, and in a pink blur, she darted for the courtyard.
Twilight snapped her books shut and left them in a pile on the floor.
"Come on, let's go tell them!" she beckoned as she beat the others to the door behind Pinkie, "Maybe we found what the Arbiter's been looking for, and he'll want us to investigate it more."
Spike groaned as she finished, knowing that such a thing would require far more work no less exciting than what they had already done. The soft patter of his feet hitting the tile was slow to chase after the sound of hooves doing the same down the hallway.
They reached the courtyard just as the Phantom was setting down, and saw the princesses, Cadence as well as the Royal Sisters, already there. Twilight smiled when her sister-in-law met her eyes, and Cadence's sparkling expression was reciprocated. The two turned to face one another, but as they went to meet, the wind from the jets of the Phantom kicked up a wind in the walled off courtyard that blew up dust and manes; those on the ground were buffeted back, and shielded their eyes from the sting of the heavy wind.
When the craft touched ground in its usual docking space, the ventral doors slowly opened. Twilight looked to Cadence once again, only her focus was now on the ship, looking to see the aliens or her husband... most likely both. So, Twilight decided their reunion would come later, and turned to watch as well.
But, as the doors slowly opened, she began to notice something was wrong. The Elites' height should have put their faces in view by the time the doors were halfway open, but they were three quarters of the way down now and Twilight saw nothing. When she began to see Equestrian Guards within, but still no Elites, she knew something was wrong.
The doors locked open, and the Equestrians began stepping out onto the lawn. Twilight counted them in her head as they hit the grass.
"One, two, three... four, five, six... seven... eight, nine...
She stopped suddenly when her eye recognized the final Equestrian out of the cabin. It was her brother; his armor gave him away, and she saw Cadence take a slow step towards him, her expression frozen in terrified suspense. As Shining Armor came closer to them, they noticed the limp in his gate, and eventually, the blood on his face.
"Shining!" Cadence yelled, and she ran to his side, holding him up in place of his weak leg.
Twilight was quick to follow, and they helped him towards the palace where he took a seat on the ground. Behind them, the other Elements were doing the same with the other wounded and injured Equestrian Guards while the Royal Sisters did so as well. She didn't see the state of the others, but Shining seemed to be in bad condition. His armor was burned and blackened in some places, and he had cuts and gashes in his forelimbs and neck. His fur was hardly recognizable as white, stained instead black and red, and his eyes seemed swollen shut.
It seemed like it was a short eternity of checking for other wounds and monitoring the breath of her brother before Twilight looked back to see the Arbiter shakily stepping down from the cabin, followed quickly by the Shipmaster.
Shining coughed a wet cough, drawing Twilight back to him, and Cadence, mortified at the state of her husband, whispered, "What happened?"
The last of the Equestrians sat in the grass, nursing their wounds with what bandages, improvised and otherwise, they could scrounge up. The Arbiter was still shambling across the courtyard when Shining hoarsely whimpered an answer.
"It was a trap," he coughed, "We went after a signal, a transmission that the Remnant leader was going to make landfall, and that they had found the relic they were looking for. We went to get them, to stop them. They lured us in around a farm house, and detonated a plasma cache in the buildings. Most of the Swords were caught in the explosion. We were at the fringe of the blast radius. They knew we were coming."
"How?" asked Twilight, somewhere between angry, afraid, and confused.
"We cannot be sure," came the voice of the Shipmaster in answer, the only one of the group who was unhurt, "Are you sure of the loyalty of everyone in the castle?"
Twilight looked back disgusted that the Shipmaster was even considering that this might have been act of Equestrian treason, but she couldn't stay mad for long. The Arbiter, since the first time she'd seen him, was slouched over, holding his ribcage as he walked and he winced with each step despite the effort he was showing to hide his pain. The Shipmaster walked beside him, but the Arbiter refused help, his breathing shallow but still proud. There was indigo blood around his mandibles, and more on his hands, arms, and armor.
"Even if there were a traitor in the midst, how would they contact the Remnant?" the Arbiter said back to the Shipmaster, standing up like his normal, authoritative self when he noticed Equestrian eyes were on him, "The only link we have to their communication systems is a listening device."
"Tell that to my men!" roared 'Vadum, pointing north, but the Arbiter's hand only fell on his shoulder, pulling him closer.
The Arbiter stifled a bloody cough and hid a convulsion as he leaned into 'Vadum's ear.
"They were my men too," he said.
The Shipmaster's head bowed, and he shrugged the Arbiter's hand off his shoulder. As his hand fell, the bloody Elite beckoned his friend's attention.
"Perhaps they became aware of our ear," the Arbiter suggested, "We can no longer trust the console."
The Shipmaster turned away, and looked at the Equestrians all around them, growling, "Or our hosts."
With that, he snorted, and his fists balled, he strode back into the palace leaving the rest behind. The princesses looked to the Arbiter, concerned, both for him, their wounded, and the Shipmaster's words.
"Forgive him," the Arbiter muttered, looking down solemnly.
The Royal Sisters didn't respond, but they watched as the white-armored silhouette of Rtas 'Vadum disappeared within the palace. Once he was gone, Luna went to one of the wounded Royal Guards, and knelt by his side. She wrapped the cleft of her hoof around his forelimb, and her horn sparked an incandescent glow, the magical aura of her healing spell sparkling in the setting sun's light. Once again, the Arbiter witnessed the singular power of alicorn magic with mystified awe as the stallion's wounds were sealed, his broken bones mended, and his bloody fur was cleansed. Then, she went on to the next one.
Meanwhile, Celestia approached the Arbiter, the coughs and groans of the wounded behind her growing sparser as Luna helped them.
"Can you bear any good news on this solemn evening?" the Arbiter asked her, visibly trying to hide his wounds; Celestia pretended not to notice.
"The armies of the world are with us," she said with a half-hearted smile, "They left to mobilize their respective armies, and will remain in contact as we organize a global defense. An old... friend of mine... helped convince them to join us under one condition. That I introduce him to you."
A sudden flash, followed by a sound like a confetti popper and a half hearted hooray , marked Discord's sudden appearance, and he wove through the air to take the Arbiter's hand, not minding the blood in the slightest.
"Good evening, Mr. Arbiter sir," he said in jest as he gave the Arbiter's hand a good shake before placing the same hand over his heart theatrically, "I am Discord. Might I say you are much taller and less green than I imagined you. It is an honor to meet your acquaintance. I am a great admirer of the chaos you've been sewing since your arrival."
The Arbiter's hand fell back to his side limply, and he dryly responded, "Forgive me if I do not return your rejoice. I lost my family today."
Discord's grin left as soon as the Arbiter finished, and he sincerely seemed sympathetic.
"Oh," he said, bringing a talon up to his over-bitten fang, "I am so sorry to hear that."
The Arbiter nodded, and then pushed past Discord and Celestia, presumably to clean himself up inside the palace. As he left he spoke over his shoulder.
"I shall need all the wood you can spare," the alien bid.
"What for?" Celestia asked after him.
The Arbiter turned, the light of the setting sun seeming to fall in his golden eyes. His armor did not shine; it was far too dirty and stained. He emitted a sound like a growl and a groan at the same time when he answered.
"A funeral."
The pyre was big, no less than seven feet tall. But, there were no bodies atop the wood as the hosts of Canterlot gathered around the unlit bonfire in the courtyard. This ceremony was a custom rather than a practicality. Their company seemed empty without the two Hunters, and the ten Elites that had been lost, but nowhere was that emptiness greater than in the eyes of the Arbiter.
The night was far from dark; Luna gave them a clear sky and a full moon, a fitting funeral gift for those that had come from the stars above. The moon gave them enough light that only one torch, lit in the hands of the Arbiter, was among the congregation.
None spoke as Shipmaster 'Vadum and the Arbiter, both still in their armor but clean now, approached the empty pyre. The Arbiter did his best to hide his limp and hold his head high, but it was still obvious he was in pain; he'd refused healing spells and medication altogether thus far.
When they reached the pyre, the Shipmaster and the Arbiter both reached out a hand and touched the wood. Their heads bowed in prayer, and then the Arbiter put the flame to the base of the woodpile. They stepped back as the flames began to dance, and in a few moments, the courtyard was lit up yellow by the fire, the smoke disappearing into the stars' embrace.
The Shipmaster stood at the Arbiter's side, both of their eyes glossy as they watched the wood cinder and turn to ash. Still, no one spoke, but the gesture of the princesses and the Elements, as well as each of the Guards that had fought alongside them gathered around the pyre said enough.
As the fire started to wane, Luna and Celestia came up alongside the still transfixed aliens with the Elements of Harmony and Discord close behind. The Sangheili did not look away from the pyre, but the Arbiter, his normally strong voice quiet, nodded to them.
"Would it seem curious if I told you why we burn our dead one alien planets, but not on Sanghelios?" the silver Elite asked.
He didn't wait for an answer, nor did he look away when the others looked to him for an answer, the fire flicking shadows over their features.
"On Sanghelios and on High Charity, the dead were kept in crypts, mausoleums. When we light the pyre, whether with flame or plasma from orbit, the dead turn to ash. The smoke rises back into the sky, that what once was a son of Sanghelios may one day return home."
Twilight understood the thought, and looked down as she recalled the concepts of infinite time and conservation of matter; if given enough time, the Arbiter's thought would eventually prove true. The thought seemed dull though, compared to the emotion of the courtyard; it was too grim a time of day to be enamored by science.
"They died here," the Arbiter said further, the torch in his hand going out and darkening his face a bit, "far from home, because of my lack of foresight."
"He shook his head as he looked down and muttered, "They should have died old on Sanghelios."
Celestia tried to feel his pain, but knew her consolation was futile when she extended a wing to the Arbiter's shoulder, and said, "It isn't your fault."
"Who else's then?" the Arbiter growled as he shrugged away from her, glaring down at her with the fire of the funeral in his eyes, "I was their leader, their brother. They followed me, I led them into a trap. And now they're dead."
"Ten more casualties of this war," growled 'Vadum from the side as he kicked the dirt.
"This war was what claimed them," argued Celestia, trying to comfort them from themselves to no avail, "Not you."
The Arbiter shook his head as it hung lower, and the Shipmaster's only response was to spit and growl something about the Remnant. The fire eventually ran out, and the Equestrians began to turn to go. One by one they filtered back into the palace, until only a few, those few at the side of the Arbiter, remained. The Elements left first, each of them stopping to pay respect to the Arbiter and Shipmaster before going back inside; it was Spike who actually reached up to take the Arbiter's hand in what was supposed to be a comforting embrace. Then Celestia left, not even trying to console any further, leaving the Elites, Discord, Luna and the ghosts of the fallen in the courtyard.
The chimera was the first to speak as he came to the Arbiter's side, shamelessly leaning on the alien's shoulder pauldron.
"I know this is a bad time," Discord began, causing the sulking Arbiter to look at his from the corner of his eye, "But it seems to be the running theme of the day that some things can't be controlled. As the eldest living thing on this planet, I can say with confidence that war is one of them. I may not be a warrior, but I know war is chaos."
The Arbiter growled, causing Discord to retract like a child a dog had snapped at.
"They took everything from me tonight," he said.
"Not everything," corrected Discord, gesturing back to the Elements and the princesses, "You'd be amazed what a couple friends, such as these, can do. Take it from me."
The Arbiter looked at them, then at Discord's smug grin.
"I shall be seeing you, Arbiter, no doubt," the God of Chaos said as he waved a finger at the Arbiter's nose, and then in a flash of light, he was gone.
It was the Shipmaster who left next, but not before clapping the Arbiter on the shoulder, looking into his eyes, and giving him a nod to remind him that they still had each other. Now, only Luna and the Arbiter had the courtyard. The dark mare approached him as the remains of the funeral pyre crackled and spit out sparks.
She looked up at him with some degree of admiration, and a smaller degree of pity; she knew he didn't want her pity, so instead of trying to console him as her sister had, she gave a simple offer.
"If you need anything..." she said quietly.
"How would that help?" the Arbiter snapped back, forgetting his glum demeanor in a moment.
Luna kept her composure, the moonlight mixing in her eyes like a reflection in a pool.
"It would do you good to talk to someone who would understand," she said tactfully, only for the Arbiter turn to face her; he seemed both bigger now as his chest inflated in irritation and his leg quivered as it supported his weight.
"How can you understand?" he snarled, glaring down at the Princess of the Night, "This war was started for a lie, a lie I believed in. My glory was won for evil, my power served corruption, and now, in the wake of all that I have done to bring harm to my brothers across the galaxy, I try to make what I have done right. I fight to make peace, I kill to try to save lives... I burn empty pyres in remembrance of warriors who are already embers!"
He turned to face her, the difference in their size almost comical if the Arbiter weren't enraged. But, concealed by his external anger, there was something truer and sadder underneath as his voice climbed with the smoke behind him.
"My mistakes and my blindness are what has kept this war alive, and this war is what caused them their deaths. I am haunted by what I have done, but more so because of all the pain I have caused, all the death. These ashes are all that is left of them and billions more because of me, and here I remain to wish I could put them back together again."
His voice was quiet now, and he looked down as he turned away from the alicorn.
"How would you understand? How would you know what it was like to fight for a lie, to hurt those closest to you, to be the catalyst of disaster? How could you know what it was like to realize that after all this time, you were fighting for the wrong side, and to try to pick up the pieces of the lives you shattered."
Luna looked up at him, the weight of memory in her eyes and her expression stern but gentle, and she quietly answered.
"Because I have."
The Arbiter turned to face her, his sad eyes growing a bit wider as he did. He didn't say anything, but the shock at Luna's revelation in his expression said enough. He still did not know what she had done, but the prospect of their similarity humbled him in a moment. One could see the exact moment his view of the princess changed.
"Like I said Arbiter," Luna continued as she gave a nod and turned to leave, "if you should need anything."
And with that, she left the Arbiter amidst the ashes.
It was a sleepless night for the Arbiter. The corner of the room he was accustomed to sleeping in was far less comfortable than it had been; perhaps he had some broken ribs adding to the discomfort. At least he was no longer bleeding, his wounds scabbed over. The pain would have been dispelled had he allowed the Equestrians to give him medical attention, but the honor of his people forbade it. Blood shed in battle was honor in its purest form; stifling its flow was deemed disgraceful.
His eyes wandered the room, lit up silver by the moon outside the window. The canvas bed, the nightstands, the floor; everything was the same, except the pie. The Arbiter had seen it adjacent the lamp on the nightstand when he'd come in, and read the note pinned to the crust with a toothpick: From Pinkie... and everypony else . Along with the pie had been a card with a picture of a kitten dangling from a branch on the front, the words 'Hang in There' within. The Arbiter almost laughed at the gesture, sweet though it was.
The pie was still untouched, despite the growling stomach of its intended.
The Arbiter's eyes were just beginning to feel heavy when he heard the report of a grandfather clock outside his room in the hall. It rang once, then twice, then three times before falling silent. In its wake, the castle seemed deathly silent, and the Arbiter's eyes finally closed. But, before sleep took him, he heard another sound, a subtle creak, and he shot awake.
He stood up, his spine tingling and his instincts telling him what his senses were not yet fully aware to.
"Who is there?" he asked as he took his sword hilt in his hand, his amber eyes scanning the room with a predatory focus.
There was no response save silence, but the Arbiter refused to relax. His eyes were persistent, scanning until finally, they saw something out of place. His blade erupted from the hilt, its glow lighting his face blue to add to the silver of the moonlight, and he growled.
"Step into the light, if you have any honor at all," he challenged, and again, no response came.
But then, a sound like boots rapped on the floor, and a single energy sword sparked from the shadows, its wielder coming uncloaked shortly after. A Sangheili Commander, armored blue and with the glyphs of the Silent Blade on the crest of his helm. The Arbiter blossomed his blade, and made ready for single combat with his foe, until the sound of more boots surprised his ears. Another glacier blue blade was struck in the far corner of the room, a second assailant coming forth from the darkness. Then a third blade started glowing.
Then another, and another, and another.
Twilight awoke to the sound of glass shattering. Second guessing her senses, she stayed in bed for a moment, looking around her quarters to see everything still in place. When she heard a reverberating crash, and a sound like wood splintering, she knew she had not been dreaming, and leapt from bed.
She threw open the door to the hallway, and saw her friends either already in the hall or just coming out of their rooms as well. None of them said anything, but their ears all twitched as they tried to pinpoint the disturbance's location. A third crash undoubtedly put the sound's origin near the Elites' quarters, and they all sprinted there.
As they arrived, it quickly became obvious the Arbiter's room was the where the sounds were coming from. Roars of pain and rage, coupled with the sounds of heavy things breaking and metallic clashes, emanated from within. It was unmistakably a fight going on inside, but when Twilight went to open the door she found it locked.
Applejack pushed past Twilight and tried to kick the door in, but it only bowed underneath her hooves. A deep voice inside screamed in pain, and Applejack went to kick again to no avail as the voice of the Shipmaster bounced down the hallway.
"What's happening?!" he asked as he came to them, a Plasma Rifle in one hand and a drawn sword in the other.
"The door is barred!" Twilight yelled, and the Shipmaster pushed past her.
"So break it down!" he yelled as he splintered the door inwards with a savage kick; the prospect of his friend being in danger gave him all the more strength.
The door opened in time for them to see the Arbiter, facing away from them, cut a hot gash through the chest of a Covenant Elite, the alien crumpling to the ground while the Arbiter's blade hissed against flesh. The Sangheili joined the bodies of six more of his kind on the floor, each one's hands clutching energy swords and each bearing precise wounds on their throats and chests. The glow of the swords and the moonlight lit up the Arbiter's armor like silver, and slowly, he turned towards them.
But as he turned, they found the front of his armor was stained purple. His eyes were fluttering, his breathing was shallow and slow, and blood coursed down his breastplate with each sputtering inhale he choked down. His knees began to quiver as he whispered to the Shipmaster and the Elements.
"Secure... the.... palace..." He said as he toppled over, his sword falling to the ground and his armor splashing into the bloody floor.
The others ran to his side, and rolled him so he would be able to breathe. They pried his chest plate from his sticky body, and saw that, in addition to the scabbed over wounds he had sustained earlier, he had been cut several times on his shoulders and abdomen, but the worst was a stab wound under his diaphragm. He was hemorrhaging blood, and they could practically feel his life leaving him.
"I'm going to stay with him!" yelled the Shipmaster as the Arbiter's leg began to kick against the pain, his hands weakly finding his wounds as he clutched at his injuries.
'Vadum put his hands over the Arbiter's wounds, trying to keep the blood in, and shouted over his shoulder to the shocked Elements.
"Go! Get the princesses, and the Captain! Sound the alarm; we've been infiltrated!"
"What if there's more of them?" questioned Rarity, blatant fear in her eyes.
The Shipmaster knew what she meant; the Elements were not warriors, and there were potentially more assassins in the palace.
"I shall go," he decided against his instincts, and as he got up to go, he pointed to the Elements, commanding them, "Do not leave his side! I will return shortly!"
The Shipmaster drew his sword in one hand took his Plasma Rifle in the other, and sprinted out the door. Huffing like a bear and moving like a leopard, he made his way through the pristine hallways, leaving bloody tracks with each footfall to stain the white floors indigo. In no time at all, he found himself before Celestia's quarters, the guards posted outside the door, on which a great sun was painted, leveling their spears at him as he approached.
"She's in danger!" he yelled, pointing at the guards challengingly, "Get her in armor, and call out the guard. I'll go for the dark one and the Captain."
"What's going on?" asked one of the guards.
"We are under attack!" 'Vadum yelled back, gesturing with an aggravated slash of his sword.
As he said he would do, the Shipmaster continued down the hallway, rounded a corner, and saw the second royal chamber, this one with a crescent moon on its doors. There were no guards posted outside, but a faint blood trail alluded to their fate. The Arbiter rushed in through the doors, weapons ready, and saw Princess Luna, armed with one of the Elite's swords but devoid of armor, standing over the bodies of two Sangheili swordsmen, the insignia of the Silent Blade on their helmet crests and gauntlets.
"I see you are already awake," Luna said in greeting, her breath a bit heavy as she dropped the Covenant sword, presumably wrested from her quarry, in her magic's grip and nudged one of her would be assassins, "The Remnant appears to have taken up residence with us."
"Then let us evict them," 'Vadum growled, and he and Luna sped outside side by side.
As they came into the hallway, they looked one way and saw Celestia approaching, armed and armored, and looked the other direction to see Shining Armor and Princess Cadence less formidably equipped galloping towards them. By the looks on their faces, they already knew what was going on, and needed no instruction to follow the Shipmaster as he ran back to the Arbiter's chamber.
As they rounded a corner, they saw an entire squad of Elites making moving down the hallway towards the Arbiter's room, at their lead, a crimson armored Zealot. The two groups saw one another at the same time, and both were equally quick to swap aggression The Remnant's first volley hit one of Celestia's body guards, sending the stallion down without so much as a twitch. The Covenant fared worse off, the combined firepower of the alicorns, Shining Armor and the Shipmaster putting three of them down as both sides took cover along the walls from the magic and plasma that was filling the hallway. Most of the Covenant hugged the walls, clinging to corners and firing from doorways while their leader, the Zealot, ran down the hallway towards where the Shipmaster had come from.
"They're going for the Arbiter!" yelled Shining Armor as he connected a combat spell with the chest of one of the Remnant Elites, causing it to topple over.
"And the champions!" yelled the Shipmaster as he traded shots with another foe, sending the Remnant Elite scurrying back to cover while he himself ducked a plasma bolt.
Without further hesitation, the Shipmaster broke cover and ran down the center of the hall, firing as he sprinted towards the remaining Remnant in the hall that stood between him and the Arbiter's room. He roared in a fit of rage, his sword's tip sparking as it contacted the floor or the walls as he ducked and dipped to avoid the Remnant's fire while his own Plasma Rifle sang a chorus of combat; the entire hall seemed to be lit up blue.
"Shipmaster!" Celestia called out after him, only to see that Shining Armor and Luna had gone after him, and that the Covenant were nearly routed from that part of the hallway.
As the last of the Covenant Elites fell, the Shipmaster continued his race to his friend, bounding over the bodies of the slain, and he yelled back to the others, "Get to the Arbiter!"
Earlier...
"This is not good!" Rainbow Dash yelled, the sound of her wings buzzing like those of a hummingbird as she tried to control the Arbiter's arm barely audible over his sputtering coughs, "This is so not good!"
All six of the Elements of Harmony were gathered around the Sangheili as he writhed on the floor; most of them simply trying to hold him down while Fluttershy did her best veterinary work on his wounds with Twilight's magic as an aide. Spike and Applejack had already removed the sheets and canopy from the bed to use as bandages, the linens already soaked through and stained purple with the Arbiter's blood. His eyes were rolling in his head, and he was groaning and trembling as if he had a tremendous fever.
"He's not lookin' so good," yelled Applejack as she wrestled the Arbiter's kicking leg back to the ground, his frantic struggles against his demise growing weaker by the moment, "We need to help him!"
"I can't stop the bleeding," Fluttershy, panic in her normally quiet voice, said; she was hurriedly dabbing at the Arbiter's chest and shoulders, clearing them of blood while simultaneously trying to plug the holes with the linens, "He's hurt really bad."
"Twilight, why isn't it working?!" yelled Rarity, over the Arbiter's gasps for breath.
"He's sustained massive trauma," Twilight replied, her voice loud and nervous, "I'm not the princess! My best healing spells take time to work completely! He's too far gone for me to bring him back quickly!"
Suddenly, the Arbiter wrested his arm, which was being held down, free, and grabbed Fluttershy, pulling her in close.
"Are they... contained?" he hissed, causing Fluttershy's already frightened eyes to go even wider; she nodded yes as a reason to get him to release her.
The Arbiter did just that, his head falling back and hitting the floor as he let go of Fluttershy. As the yellow pegasus began to go back to his wounds, he became reanimated, lifting his head up and pointing at Twilight, whose horn was practically turning red hot from all the effort she was putting into her healing spell.
"We need to... flank... call in reinforcements," he rambled, and as he finished, his head fell back with a dull thud once again.
"He's going into shock!" yelled Rarity, the arm she had been struggling to restrain going limp.
"Get him a blanket!" Twilight yelled back, trying to focus on her patient, "Keep him warm!"
Spike ran for the closet, looking for a spare comforter or anything big enough to cover the Arbiter's body. As he shifted through the closet, a sound like a wind outside followed by a tremendous explosion rattled in through the window, the whole room shaking.
"What was that?!" Dash yelled out, the quiet after the sudden thunder almost haunting, and Spike ran to the window.
"It's a ship," he answered, looking down and seeing a Covenant Phantom hovering over the gardens, its gun firing on their amassed equipment: the Ghosts, the console, their weapons and training yards, but strangely not their own drop ship, "They're destroying the courtyard!"
Spike watched as the attacking vessel's ventral doors opened, and scores of Elites jumped out; he lost sight of them as they rushed into the palace practically unhindered.
"What do we do?" Spike yelled, turning to the others as his voice cracked.
Each of their eyes looked to Twilight, and she swallowed hard.
"What the Shipmaster said," she answered, trying to keep her voice from quivering, "He's going to get help. We need to stay with the Arbiter."
She looked down as she finished, the Arbiter's arms and legs twitching as his chest convulsed, and right there she resolved that he would not die while she watched. Once again, her horn sparked a glow, and she enveloped the Arbiter's chest in the best healing spell she knew while Fluttershy kept on with the bandages. Outside, the sounds of screams, magic, and the high pitched hiss of plasma rang through the halls, and there was no question the palace was being stormed.
Twilight looked at her friends. Her heart was racing, and she realized she had never been so frightened in all her life. The look on her friends' faces matched her own, but at the same time, none of them even thought of doing anything other than what they were doing now; protecting the Arbiter, both from death and the Elites outside, until the Shipmaster returned with the princesses to help them.
It seemed like ages before a Sangheili silhouette came silently into the doorway, the light from the hall at his back pouring into the dark room around his sleek armor. Twilight and the others looked to the doorway expecting to see the Shipmaster, but when they saw four dots of blue light on his darkened helm, their hearts sank. The Elite drew his sword and its light illuminated his red armor, and they all knew help was far away.
"Stay back!" Twilight warned as the Elements rose from the ground, creating a wall of bodies between the Zealot and the Arbiter; their expressions were all terrified, but while some glared in determination and others hid their quickening breath, they all stood together.
The Covenant Zealot slowly stepped forward, not speaking as the tip of his sword dragged along the ground to create a line of sparks. The Elite took a moment to look around the room, seeing his dead comrades in pools of blood, and from behind his mask they heard a faint sigh. He approached the Elements slowly, and lifted his sword to light up whomever it was tat stood between him and his prey. When the light from his blade fell on the features of Spike, Twilight and Rainbow Dash, he snarled.
"The cretins from the mountains," he hissed, his voice higher than most Elites', "You saw to the death of two of my warriors by helping this traitor."
Twilight recalled the day the Swords had fell from the sky and landed in the mountains, how they had been ambushed by two Zealots, and how the Arbiter and the Shipmaster had gone off about how Zealots always come in threes; this must have been the third, the one they never found. Even from behind the helm that covered his face, Twilight could see the anger in the Zealot's eyes.
"We won't let you murder him!" she declared defiantly as the Zealot looked past her to the weak Arbiter.
"Murder?" the Zealot snarled, his head snapping back to Twilight as he towered over the ponies before him, "I call it justice."
He extended his arm, and used his blade to point at the Arbiter's motionless body.
"I'll kill him for the glory of the gods, and the Covenant," the Zealot sneered, pointing then to the Elements, "But I will kill you for sport!"
With that he raised his sword, its electric hum like a far off breath, and the room erupted. Dash, in a flash of colorful light, pounced the Zealot, knocking him back as she buried her hooves in his chest. Failing to knock him off his feet, she pushed the Elite back, his boots sliding across the floor. He reached down, his fingers enclosing around the pegasus' neck, and threw her away, her wings still flailing as she impacted the wall with a crack.
The Zealot kept on coming forward, and Applejack rushed him, rearing up to kick at him. Her hooves hit the Zealot's knees, and no later had the metallic ring of the Elites' armor sounded than the Elites' hand had come down on the side of her face, knocking her hat off as she fell hard.
The Elite kept coming, and when Rarity fired a spell at him he moved with sudden grace and cunning, weaving his torso around the bolt of magic like a torrent. Rarity's surprise was obvious when she froze, and was thrown aside as Dash and Applejack had. Her body flew into the bed of the room, and broke through the bedposts causing the canopy to fall down over her like a shroud.
Twilight was quick to fire, the splinters of the bedposts shattering yet to hit the ground before her own magic leapt for the Zealot's throat. The Elite blossomed his blade, the magic striking the plasma to no avail. In a fluid motion the Zealot kept the sword coming, and Twilight leaned back just far enough for the blade to miss her face. It was a crimson boot that hit her in the forehead instead.
Pinkie rushed him, dashing past him and taking his leg out, knocking him off balance. When she came back around, moving like a rose colored blur, the Zealot timed her arrival with the same knee she was aiming for. Pinkie fell hard, crying out in pain as her hooves flew out from under her.
Last between the assassin and the Arbiter was Fluttershy, who gaped up at the Zealot with tears of fear in her eyes. The Elite only shoved her aside, and stood over the Arbiter with his sword raised. The Arbiter looked up at him, helpless for all his strength, and coughed up some of his own blood. The Zealot's arm flexed, and as the sword started moving down, a chair shattered against his backside.
The Zealot stumbled forward, tripping over the Arbiter's body, and began reeling towards the window. As he stumbled Spike, who had gone previously unnoticed, curled up in a ball at his feet, tripping him. The Zealot fell against the window, breaking it under his weight, and fell through it along with thousands of pieces of silver glass. His screams of disbelief and rage silenced when he hit the ground.
Just then, the Shipmaster burst into the room, the princesses and Shining Armor close behind. The first thing they saw was Fluttershy, the legs of a broken chair clutched in the clefts of her hooves as she hovered over the Arbiter's body, her eyes still wet with tears of fear. 'Vadum rushed past the Elements, five of them just beginning to struggle back to their feet with the bruises and cuts they had just sustained marking their faces, and knelt at the Arbiter's side.
"Is he alive?" asked Princess Celestia as Luna wasted no time clotting his wounds with her healing magic.
"Barely," replied the Shipmaster as he cradled his friend's head; the Arbiter's breathing came a bit easier now as Luna's magic subtly chimed around him.
"You saved him," The Shipmaster rose from the Arbiter's side as he turned to the Elements and Spike, "You have my eternal gratitude."
"Are any of you hurt?" Princess Cadence asked as she flitted around the room, inspecting her sister-in-law and her friends for injuries.
"We'll be fine? They stormed the castle..." Twilight winced, before she was cut off by the Shipmaster.
"Partially," he corrected as he helped Pinkie Pie to her feet, the Arbiter's strength coming back to him at the expense of Luna's magic, "They have been repelled, at great cost."
As the Shipmaster finished, Luna looked at his arm, an indigo stream crawling over his skin.
"You're bleeding," she observed, causing the Shipmaster to shrug.
"Indeed."
"Let me help you," Luna bid, the Arbiter no longer needing her immediate attention, but the Shipmaster stopped her.
Just then, a Royal Guard found them, darting into the room out of breath.
"Princess," he said, drawing the eyes of those in the room onto himself, "The library... it's empty. They took it... all of it."
"What!?" Twilight yelled in disbelief, and she ran into the hall to go and see for herself.
She came back a little while later, her eyes large and shocked to match the ones she'd left behind, and nodded affirmation that it was horribly true; the library was empty.
"How did this happen?" Princess Celestia gasped, looking around at the chaos that had been sewn in her home.
The Shipmaster, looked around the dormitory, seeing the many bodies of those that had tried to take the Arbiter's life. The wind blew in through the shattered window, billowing the canopies and curtains of the bedroom. And as he looked at the corpses, the still dazed Arbiter trying to no avail to take his feet again, he saw an armor configuration that was familiar and telling.
"Ossoona," he said, approaching the dead Remnant Elite, whose armor was marked by cameras and recording devices, as well as an active camouflage module, "A spy. Who knows how long he's been shadowing us."
'Vadum kicked the body of the Ossoona over, seeing the wound in his chest that had claimed him, and as he thought over the implications of such a well executed infiltration, he realized something.
"This was a far more elaborate plan than we realized," he said, turning to face the others in the room, "Everything... from Trottingham until now... has been meticulously orchestrated."
The Shipmaster's implication raised many eyebrows, but Shining Armor was the first to speak.
"Well if they had time to plan since Trottingham, why haven't they attacked until now?" The stallion asked, his tone skeptical.
"They didn't know where we were," answered the Shipmaster, "They were unable to track us to this castle when we first arrived or since. We've been flying under their scanners or walking everywhere; they could not have tracked us."
"So what changed?" asked Luna.
The Shipmaster thought for a moment.
"They must have learned that we were able to listen to their communications somehow," he concluded, "Maybe they've been aware this whole time. Perhaps the landing at Trottingham was in part to convince us that they were unaware of our possession of the console."
The Shipmaster and his company, were both unsure, but these seemed the best answers they could reach.
"That answers how they lured you to battle," Celestia made reply, "but how did the know we were using Canterlot as our base of operations?"
The Shipmaster thought for a moment, racking his brain for an answer. Only one came to mind.
"The dud..."
He immediately began striding outside, and Celestia and Shining Armor followed him while the others stayed behind. He hurried to the courtyard, still on fire from when the Covenant drop ship had razed it, but in between the scattered pockets of flame, the console and their own Phantom were both unharmed. The Ghosts were destroyed, as was their training yard and most of their equipment, but the Phantom and the console were fine.
The Shipmaster approached the Phantom he had grown accustomed to piloting, and crawled underneath its nose as a mechanic.
"On our sortie, we thought an Unggoy had stuck us with a defective plasma grenade," he explained as he pried something off the hull, producing a small pink disc with a blinking red light in its center, "It was, in fact, a tracking device."
The Shipmaster crawled out from underneath the ship, and began inspecting the homing device in his hands. He then continued with his hypothesis about how they came to be attacked.
"The Ossoona was likely a reconnaissance element; there are myriad ways he could have infiltrated the palace given the Covenant's capabilities."
Celestia nodded.
"And so, they meant to cripple us," she said, "Take out our leaders and raid our knowledge stores, just as they did in Trottingham and the Griffon Kingdoms. They're targeting libraries."
"Why not take out the Phantom, and the console too?" asked Shining.
"For the prospect of further traps, and so they could continue to track us in case we relocated," answered the Shipmaster as he crushed the homing device in his hands.
He then looked up, his expression somewhere between a glare and a disappointed scowl, and said what needed to be done.
"Have the Royal Guard clear the castle, and move the Arbiter to the Medical Wing. Tomorrow we will move."
With that he started back for the palace, and over his shoulder said what each of them knew but was regretting accepting.
"Canterlot has been compromised."
Author's Note
The theme for this chapter:
In this chapter, see the Arbiter's memories of Sanghelios and his birth as a warrior, as well as the beginning of his recovery from his wounds. Also, see the connection of friendship and trust between the Arbiter and a certain alicorn blossom.
Relocation
It was quiet on Sanghelios, as it often was in the evenings. The suns were setting; one dipping below the horizon while the others lingered above the hills. Urs, the largest of the system's three stars, cast a red hue over the clouds while Joori, the smallest sun, painted the sky gold and pink. The moons were up as well, Quikost and Suban, both in their full phases marking tonight as a special night in the year. Tonight was the only night in the year the Gods' Tree would bloom.
Tradition and faith meant that each of the great houses of Sanghelios kept a Gods' Tree in their keep. It signified a holy place, a place for prayer and reflection. But, the tree was night-flowering, and only bloomed beneath the amplified light of rare twin full moons.
Vadam Keep was built atop a bluff with cliffs high enough to look over some clouds. The technological might of the Covenant had seen to the modernization of many of the other keeps, but the house of Vadam honored the old ways. Itss architecture remained arcaic, stone and wood, all carved from the rocky cliffs by hand; the perch the state's proud rulers lived upon was ancient, and just as old was the massive, solitary tree on its grounds.
The God's Tree was no doubt mighty, but it was colorless, brown and drab. It seemed almost dead, lifeless, if not for the smallest green buds decorating the fringes of the smallest branches. Its bark was haggard; its limbs twisted and writhed around each other as the trunk spiraled upwards around knots in the heartwood. The Gods' Tree of Vadam grew on a rocky precipice behind the palace-like keep overlooking the Kaidons' Valley, and it was here, beneath the crooked, gigantic limbs of the great tree, that a young Thel waited for the night to begin.
He breathed in the hot dry air, and felt his lungs fill with his homeland's essence. He savored it, and let it back out slowly. He gazed out over the Kaidons' Valley, admiring how far its sands reached before the silhouettes of the eastern cliffs broke its expanse. He looked west to the harbor, the mighty sea glistening with a thousand sparkles as the waves caught the sunlight. He beamed north, peeking down over the sandstone cliffs he sat atop, and looked up to the silver face of Quikost. This was home, and yet, the young Sangheili would have to leave it behind.
The sound of approaching steps caused him to turn, and upon seeing a familiar face, he respectfully stood.
"Uncle," the adolescent Sangheili said in greeting, placing a fist over his chest as he bowed his head.
"Nephew," reciprocated the newcomer, and he returned the gesture.
The new Sangheili was old; he seemed withered, from his voice to his skin, but he still walked tall and with pride. His eyes were white with cataracts, and his teeth were worn dull. He was not clad in armor but in the sterling robes indicative of the rank of Councilor, robes much more decorative than the plain tunic draped over his younger counterpart. He also wore the purple cloak signature of Covenant Shipmasters, a symbol of prestige and respect from his past, yet despite his attire, there was an aire of kind wisdom around him.
"I do not mean to disturb you," the older of the two said as he came up beside Thel, "After all, it is your evening."
Thel looked down as his uncle placed a hand over the bark of the God's Tree.
"I remember my first name night," he said almost nostalgically, "The night the God's Tree bloomed for me, and Lak became Lak 'Vadamee."
The elder could see his nephew was troubled; he kept looking down instead of forward, an oddity on such an occasion, when he should be filled with pride.
"Something bothers you?" he asked, and Thel slowly nodded.
Lak responded by slowly taking a seat among the exposed roots of the tree, sighing as his aged joints complained against the movement. When he was on the ground, he patted the dirt next to him; he seemed not to care sullying the uniform of his rank, as if his nephew was more important to him than the symbolism of his robes.
"Come then, sit."
The two sat side by side beneath the Gods' Tree, the desert wind blowing softly through its branches above their heads, and together they continued to admire the sunset. Lak did not speak, but rather waited for his nephew to confess his troubles. It did not take long for the youth's voice to clear.
"Uncle," Thel began; his voice was just beginning to change, just as his chest and legs were beginning to broaden, "I worry of what will come."
Lak 'Vadamee smiled.
"And what has you so worried, you who are the son of my sister and a 'Vadam swordsman?" the Councilor asked, "You have victory and honor in your very blood, and you have shown it. Of all the recruits in my common house, of all those I have trained, you are the most worthy to serve our Covenant. You have proven to be the best in sparring and hunting, in marksmanship and strategy. That you worry would worry me, were I not so sure of your future glories."
Thel looked down again, his amber eyes ageless and fiery.
"Yes, you have taught me well, and I have enjoyed learning from you," he admitted, his speech seeming to try and mimic the prose of the battle poems of old, "There is not a better teacher in all of Sanghelios, but..."
"But what?" Lak pursued, the larks in the trees above singing oblivious to the torments below their nests.
"I worry that, without your guidance, I will not thrive as I have here."
The boy's voice elevated as he explained, growing nervous and anxious as he spoke.
"I leave here tomorrow to begin my training under the Prophets, and I worry they will not see my skills befitting to serve them. What if they cast me aside? What if I am not the best among their recruits? What if I am not strong enough to serve our gods? What if I dishonor our name?!"
"Now, now..." interrupted Lak, putting a firm, yet gentle hand on his nephew's shoulder to calm him, "It is natural to fear such things."
"I am not afraid!" objected Thel, denying fear as he had been trained to, but Lak saw through it.
"It is perfectly natural to be afraid. I was afraid more times than I could remember."
Thel looked up at him with doubt at first, the thought of a renowned warrior such as his uncle being afraid outlandish, but slowly, his doubt faded just as the light above them grew dimmer.
"Everyone finds himself being afraid of something at some point in life," Lak continued, "What matters is not that you are afraid, what matters is what you do despite your fear. That is when true courage shows its face."
Thel swallowed his uncle's words, admiring their wisdom; he would remember them forever.
"In a few short minutes, you will have earned your surname. You have already been chosen to train under the Prophets to be their right hand on our pilgrimage, and you will join the ranks of the finest warriors in the Covenant. And if ever you find yourself afraid again, remember this night, the night you became a 'Vadam."
As he finished, the suns set, the sky turned lavender, and Lak stood, his cloak billowing behind him in the wind. The two looked up, and slowly, the wind calmed as if hushed, and the blossoms began to open. They were vibrant, varied in shades of pink and red in color, and they held a sweet fragrance unlike anything in the harsh land of Vadam. Thel looked at the blossoms in awe, the tree seeming to embrace him in its beauty, until the voice of his uncle called him back.
"Rise now, Thel 'Vadamee," he said, and as Thel stood up, he placed one hand on his shoulder, and with the other, he presented an ancient steel blade from under his cloak; Thel took the handle, and Genj's hand closed over his, "I, Lak 'Vadamee, bestow upon you the name 'Vadamee, for you have rightfully earned it in the eyes of all who have come before you. In taking our ancestors' name, you take up their creed of conviction and honor, of sacrifice and truth, of righteousness and pride. Wear your name proudly as one wears a sword; draw upon it should you need its light to guide you, and if ever you find yourself amid doubt or fear again, call upon these words: remember who you are. "
And as he finished, the wind picked up again lightly, and carried the blossoms down the cliff side like an aerial river of pink flowers. Thel 'Vadamee watched them go until they disappeared from sight, and then, with gilded fire in his eyes, he looked to the stars.
Thel 'Vadam saw nothing but darkness, but he heard plenty: a rhythmic droning, a kind of beeping that matched the rhythm of his heartbeats, the shuffling of hooves and boots, metallic clatter and hushed voices, some of which he recognized. Slowly, his other senses returned to him. First came touch, as he realized how light he felt and how sore his body was. There was pain everywhere, and he felt unbearably weak. Then came taste, the taste of blood lingering in his mouth. Yet, the air about him smelled clean, almost alpine in how pristine its quality was.
Finally, his eyes drifted open, and light stabbed at him. When he had adjusted to the white room, he looked around. He was in some sort of medical bay, and he was laid down on a bed far too small for his body; his feet hung off the edge. His armor was gone, but a glint in the corner of the room hinted to its location. Instead of clothing, he was wrapped in white bandages, some of which were colored blue by his blood; it seemed he had more linen visible than skin. On the table next to his bed was a bouquet of sunflowers and a balloon, upon which "Get well Soon " was written; its pink color alluded to who had put it there. All around him were smiling faces: the princesses, the Elements, Captain Shining Armor and his wife, and a few ponies he had not met before wearing white hats adorned with red crosses. But, standing over him, almost protectively, was Rtas 'Vadum, still armor clad and bristling with his weapons.
"Morning," bid Princess Luna from his bedside, all the others drawing a little closer upon realizing he was awake.
"How did you sleep?" the Arbiter said back in greeting, and he went to sit up until a shooting pain through his abdomen caused him to fall back to the mattress, causing it to bow violently beneath his weight.
"Finally, you're awake," Rarity said as if a burden had been lifted from her shoulders, and she placed a hoof over one of his hands as she sighed, "You had us all worried sick."
The Arbiter seemed not to care about her sentiments; he was too focused on the stitches in his abdomen from which his pain had originated, and the other myriad sealed wounds all over his chest, legs and arms. The more he looked, the more he found, and he looked away from his mended flesh to the only stallion among the medical staff, presumably the head doctor.
"You let him operate on me?" he said in horror, looking with anger and shame towards Shipmaster 'Vadum.
Rtas shrugged defensively, and with sigh said, "I thought it would be more honorable for you to live on and see the demise of the Covenant than to keel over and die."
The Arbiter's mandibles clicked, and he inspected the room further, seeing surgical tools in the corner, and a wire in his arm connected to a small monitor.
"How bad was I?" he asked, passing a hand over a stitched wound on his shoulder.
"While you were passed out in your quarters, the Elements fought off a Zealot in your defense. Twilight saved your life with healing magic in the palace," explained Celestia, causing her protege to beam in pride, "Luna saved you again on the way over from Canterlot, and this doctor brought you back from cardiac arrest..."
She looked towards the stallion, his scrubs light blue to contract the white of the nurses, and he answered.
"Five."
"Five times since we arrived," continued the princess.
The Arbiter looked down, the realization of how close he'd come to death hitting him hard. He didn't know to be reverent, fearful or just thankful.
"I've been asleep through all of this?" he asked, "I never felt a thing... the last thing I remember is being ambushed in my quarters."
Twilight asked aloud, "You were just dreaming a moment ago?", confused how he could be so at peace in mind after coming so close to dying.
"I was on Sanghelios," he said, almost nostalgically, longing in his aged amber eyes, as if he yearned to dream of it again.
As he looked to the Elements, the nurses and the doctor approached the bedside, checking up on his state. When the Arbiter felt a small pinch in his arm, he looked down, and saw a syringe drawing blood from his bicep. He snarled, and grabbed the doctor by the throat, the syringe falling to the floor and spattering blood over the marble tiles.
"You dare assault me!" he yelled, lifting the unicorn stallion from the floor while the nurses struggled to try and restrain him.
The Arbiter's fingers squeezing his wind pipe, the doctor wheezed an answer in his own defense, his eyes wide.
"We need a blood sample to analyze, in case you need a transfusion. We have no idea what your blood's composition is! If we can analyze a sample, we may be able to produce blood plasma."
The Shipmaster leaned down, and glared into the doctor's eyes.
"What you are stealing is sacred," he growled, his fists balled at his sides, "I allowed you to stem his blood's flow, but you will not rob him of any further honor."
The Arbiter's predatory, lion-like growl was the only sound in the room now, ominous and foreboding, reminding those in the room that he was not only still alive, but still dangerous.
"Doctor," Princess Cadence began from Shining Armor's side, her tone concerned, "I think it best to let this one be."
The doctor nodded agreement, his eyes shifting between the Arbiter and the princesses to show them both that he agreed, and would not try it again. The Arbiter's grip loosened in response, and the stallion's hooves once again hit the floor. He coughed, and then somewhat frustrated, he defended his actions.
"We have no idea what we're dealing with here," he snapped, gesturing towards the aliens, "This has been one of the most complex patients we've ever had. From the moment he's been here, nothing's gone right. We have no packets for a transfusion and he's lost a lot of blood. We have no idea if his insides are right because we don't know alien anatomy. Not even the heart monitor is working properly."
"That's because Sangheili have two hearts, Doctor," offered Shining Armor calmly, explaining part of the predicament.
The doctor's eyebrows went up, and he went to write something down on his clipboard as he whispered under his breath, "Noted."
The room went from vibrant to dull in a moment, and the tension between the Sangheili and the medical staff only seemed to be building. So, Luna sought to relieve the situation.
"Doctor, might we have the room?" she asked, and the medics left quickly and without complaint.
The door shut while the sound of hooves disappeared down the hall, and the Shipmaster grumbled, "I hate doctors."
In an effort to calm the Elites, Applejack sought to make peace.
"Can we get y'all anything?" she asked amicably with a friendly smile.
The Arbiter clicked his mandibles, and felt his empty stomach churn.
"Meat?" he asked, causing the Equestrians to all recoil a bit.
"I wish we had some for you," Celestia sympathized, "You could be malnourished from the lack of proteins, and you'll need your strength to recover."
Maternally, Cadence asked, "How are you feeling?"
"Like death," the Arbiter said, chuckling before he winced, the laughter hurting his sore abdomen.
"Fitting," Luna said, smiling at the Arbiter's strange humor, "You almost died."
"We are a nation of herbivores," Celestia explained, reverting to the Arbiter's previous request, "We lack the resources to provide meat, but we can see about getting a shipment of fish or something from Griffonstone."
The Arbiter seemed satisfied with the offer as he nodded approval, but he once again grimaced when he tried to shift his weight on the minuscule mattress. His hand fell to the wound in his belly, and with heavy breath, he subtly growled.
"Well, if you cannot provide me sustenance or the means to return to duty," he panted, "perhaps you would enlighten me on how we were attacked in what should be the most secure site in this country?"
Downward shifting eyes proved that what the Arbiter said had merit; Canterlot was overrun, and because of it, their guest almost died. The Shipmaster spoke now, his investigation of the clues post raid being the best source any of them had, and presented his theories.
"An Ossoona infiltrated our ranks; we know not when. From him, they learned we had a listening device and used that information. We know the transmission regarding 'Vol's discovery of the relic was a ruse meant to draw us out, hence the trap. During the raid, what we thought was a defective plasma grenade hitting the hull of the Phantom was a homing device they used to track us. Once they knew where we were headquartered, they struck in an attempt to decapitate our leadership and simultaneously raid the library. They succeeded in one of their objectives, and failed disastrously at the other."
The Arbiter sighed, and looked down at the wounds in his chest.
"Only nearly so," he reflected, and then looked back up before quietly asking, "How many were killed?"
"Seventeen guards, and the Remnant lost about twelve," answered Shining Armor with a crack in his voice, leaning on a table near the window, "We think the main purpose of the attack was not to inflict mass casualties, otherwise they would have just bombarded the whole castle. We believe it was an objective based surgical strike, and that perhaps, we were not their primary objective, and the library was their first."
The Arbiter's voice was bereft of its old vigor, his tone a hoarse whisper, and he kept on clearing his throat as if expecting to sound like his old self again. But here he was, bedridden and looking like a mummy he had so many bandages over his grey skin. It was humbling to those in the room; if Celestia could have scar tissue on her chest, and the Arbiter could be hospitalized, what could happen to the rest of the world's warriors who would be standing up to the Covenant.
"How extensive was their success, in regards to the library?" asked the Arbiter.
There was another moment of quiet before a quiet answer came forward.
"They took everything."
The Arbiter's brow rose in an expression of surprise, and he looked past the others to the pony, now avoiding his sight by hiding behind her mane, who had answered. Seeing her friend's timid predicament, Applejack stepped in to seize the Arbiter's attention.
"Twilight... before we were attacked...," she drawled, slowly articulating her point as she thought it out, "We found some things, and she came up with an idea about what the Covenant might be looking for."
The Elites' eyes fell on Twilight expectantly.
"There may be a link between ancient holy sites and manna pools," the lavender mare said, unveiling the fruit of her research for the first time, "Some of them coincide."
"That's quite intuitive," complemented the Shipmaster as he crossed his arms, visible wounds on his forearms and biceps left unattended now scabbed over, "What else do you know?"
Twilight shrugged and with a sigh, answered, "We lost all the texts we were studying and notes we'd taken when the library was raided. They even took Star Swirl's prophecy."
The expression on the Arbiter's face was as if he'd tasted something sour, likely the bitter consequence of defeat. They'd lost almost everything they'd had. He knew it would take a long time to rebuild, and they didn't have much time. He growled, but that angry growl faded into a disheartened groan, and his palm met his throbbing forehead.
"Do you remember any of the sites?" he asked quietly as he rubbed a sore spot through bandages on his ribs.
Twilight's eyes looked up while she tried to remember, and with a deep breath and a pawing hoof, she began rattling off what she could remember.
"The Tree of Harmony, the Crystal Empire's crystal fields, Gods' Doorstep, the Everfree For..." she listed, when her brother interrupted her.
"Gods' Doorstep?" he asked, standing up a bit excitedly as he did, "Did you know it was attacked by the Covenant?"
Surprised, Twilight looked to the princesses for confirmation. It was news to the Elements.
"High King Gilderoy informed us during the council," confirmed Celestia, nodding as she spoke, "They raided the Library of Griffonstone and dug a quarry a mile deep at Gods' Doorstep, destroying the site in the process."
Now the Elites stood up excitedly, 'Vadum stepping forward with his fists balled while the Arbiter sat up, only to fall back to his pillow as he grasped at pain shooting through his chest.
"They were looking for a relic, I'm sure of it," the ivory-clad Shipmaster affirmed, his green eyes vibrant, "When we were in the Covenant, the artifacts we sought were seldom on the surface. We had to dig deep, using Harvesters. The damage to the earth you described is signature of such an excavation."
Cadence now spoke her mind, seeking consultation to a thought.
"Is it possible that the Covenant has narrowed its search to these coinciding holy sites and manna pools?" she asked
"I would go so far as to call it likely," the Shipmaster answered, "From what you all have taught me about magic, it sounds very similar to our gods' power. With the resources the Covenant has stolen, they will know this as well. Since their scans of the planet are not working, they will have to act on the information they've gathered from the libraries alone. Manna pools and ancient holy sites, especially those pertaining to deities therefore could be a tempting target for Covenant investigation; they probably thought it exhibited traits of a Forerunner temple."
The Arbiter sighed, and once again snapped his mandibles together.
"In the least, it is a promising theory and a place to focus our efforts," he speculated, looking with favor towards Twilight, "But, if you are right, we are a step ahead of the Covenant. We now know a few places where they will be."
Smiles went around the room, and Twilight blushed a bit while those that had helped her beamed. This had been their last salvaged hope, and it seemed a beacon in what would otherwise be a time of mourning.
"Speaking of whereabouts, where are we?" asked the Arbiter after a little pause.
"Ponyville Hospital," came the quick response from Pinkie Pie, who was excitedly jumping up and down as she introduced her hometown to her alien friend, "You've been asleep for two days."
"Two days?" the Arbiter asked, looking around for confirmation; the Shipmaster, his arms crossed, shrugged and nodded his head in response.
"What is Ponyville?" he asked; Celestia was quick to respond.
"A rural settlement, and an inconspicuous hideout. You'll be safe here while you heal and we regroup. My sister and I, as well as the Royal Guard Special Forces you've been working with, will begin traveling the world to train and outfit the other militaries in what you've taught us. In a short while, we'll consolidate against the Covenant and drive them away."
"War is not meant to be safe, and I am still a warrior. What am I doing here?" asked the Arbiter, hardly a gap in the conversation before he began to object to Celestia's bidding.
"You need to heal," explained the Shipmaster, believing the news would be better swallowed if it came from him, and he placed a hand on his friend's shoulder as he went on, "This is the perfect place to do so. Gather your strength, and with Equestria's champions see if you can pursue Twilight's theory and learn where the relic the Remnant seeks may be."
The Arbiter turned to Rtas as he nodded towards the Elements, and asked him, "And where will you be?"
"I'll be drifting between you and the other armies to help train them along with the Captain and the princesses. First I'll go to The Crystal Empire with them, then the Badlands, then Griffonstone. After that, I may return, or I may go on to Tauren. I do not know yet."
The Arbiter sighed, and looked at Rtas' hand on his bandaged shoulder.
"You've never left my side before," he said, his deep voice a bit sad.
"Nor am I now," reaffirmed 'Vadum as his brow tilted, "I'm only allowing you some time to rest while I see to other matters."
The Arbiter looked crestfallen and defeated, as if his spirit were being sapped. No one spoke, and for the first time, the Arbiter seemed truly sad, the weight of everything finally hitting him it seemed. Between his team being lost, his body being all but broken, his ability as a warrior nullified by the hospital walls and now his closest friend leaving his side, he did not quite know what to do or how to feel.
The others picked up on his mood; it was the first time many of them had seen a true emotion other than anger or pride, and as the Arbiter's gaze descended towards his wounds, the sound of hooves approaching his bedside brought his eyes back up to see the Elements surrounding him.
"Oh, cheer up darling, it won't be so bad here," consoled Rarity, putting a hoof over his hand, "It's a nice town after all. And when we're not showing you around, you can read all you want about anything in Twilight's library."
Suddenly Rainbow Dash, who had been quiet, giggled a bit at a passing thought, and hovered over the Sangheili as she said, "Yeah, I bet we could have some fun scare pranks with your active camo!"
The Arbiter stifled a laugh, and Twilight continued from the foot of his bed.
"The good news is, the doctor says the major wounds aren't a danger any more. As long as you take it easy they won't open again, and your own tissue can start growing back. You've been released; as soon as you're ready, you can check out of the hospital."
"I suppose your magic is to thank for that?" the Arbiter asked a bit sarcastically, "My body will live, but my strength will take time to return? Is that right?"
The others nodded affirmation before they saw that he was nowhere ready to leave quite yet.
"We'll let you get some rest," said Twilight, "We'll be by later to pick you up."
"And we must be on our way as well," Celestia announced, causing all but one in the room to get up and leave, but not without minding courtesy and saying their own goodbyes to the Arbiter.
The last one left in the room was Luna, who didn't seem like she wanted to go just yet.
"Anything else about the Remnant?" asked the Arbiter.
Luna smiled at the question.
"You are a selfless one, aren't you?" she began, a certain jovial admiration in her tone, "Here you are, in a place for the sick and dying, and rather than being concerned for yourself, the only concern you express is for your cause."
The Arbiter slowly turned to her, and he glared a bit.
"Many have died for my cause, a sacrifice much greater than mine," he growled ominously, "To forget it is to forget all of them."
Luna looked down, scolding herself for her lack of tact. When she looked back up with an apologetic smile, she continued.
"There is nothing to tell we haven't already said," she said with a shrug, her voice light but still serious, "Now, it's just up to us to take initiative and bring the fight to them, instead of standing by while they make preparations to kill us all. And that initiative begins with training and outfitting our allies to take the fight to the Covenant."
The Arbiter's eye looked away from her as she spoke, following the cords attached to his arm to a small heart monitor. He watched the strange waves the green line in its screen's center made as it fluctuated with his hearts' staggered beating, and Luna sought his attention further.
"They're calling this alliance the Army of Hope, and Equestria's Angels seem to be the Army's rallying cry," she explained, trying to get him to appreciate the good news; they finally had help from the rest of the world.
But, the Arbiter's interest found something else in the topic as he slowly turned back to her, and with his voice low and quiet, he said, "You keep calling us angels, but I do not know what an angel is."
Luna's smile faded a bit, but it came back when she began to explain the Swords' namesake.
"They're good spirits," she said, her deep blue eyes shifting towards a window open to the sunlight outside, "They watch over us and guide us from heaven, and help us when we need them."
The Arbiter waited to see if she was serious before he chortled, and he winced at the pain it caused in his ribs.
With his head on the pillow, he looked to Luna, and with an ominous smile, he challenged, "And you think this is a good analogy for me? A divine, benevolent spirit?"
She didn't respond; her smile stayed, but her brow grew a bit more stern as the Arbiter began to glare.
"You clearly do not know me," he said as he shook his head, and looked away from the Princess of the Night.
The princess looked at the back of the Sangheili's turned head, his contempt cutting her more than a little. Her smile ran away now, though the alien did not see its slow retreat. And as the Arbiter ignored her, she quietly spoke from her place beside his bed.
"I know you better than you might think," she said, nodding slowly as he turned back to her.
The Arbiter shook his head and shrugged, his disbelief more than evident.
"What do you know about me?" he challenged.
Luna looked into his eyes, gilded amber meeting the blue of dusk, and she told him, "I know you have nightmares."
The Arbiter again shrugged, and subtly shook his head in denial.
"Do you know what those nightmares include?" he imposed.
Slowly, the alicorn nodded.
When he saw the gesture, the Arbiter's defiance ended. He again let his head fall to the pillow, and he stared at the dots in the ceiling.
"Then you know what I am... a killer," he said sadly, slowly, shaking his head at the notion as if he wished it were false, "That's all I've ever done... kill, for one cause or another... only recently did I begin to ask why, and even then, does that justify anything? I live off of destruction. I make war to convince myself and others that one day, there will be peace. But what peace can there be through war, except the peace amidst the ashes settling once we have destroyed everything... including ourselves."
For a moment, the room went silent; even the heart monitor stopped its drone for what seemed like a second or two, before the Arbiter's pulse resumed. Luna watched him with sympathy, her eyes flitting from his tired gaze at the ceiling to his damaged body, before she chewed her lip and hummed to herself.
"Mhm, and this haunts you," she began, causing the Arbiter to look her way once again, "You wake in the middle of the night amidst visions of fire and death, and you are terrified because they aren't dreams, they're memories. But there was a time when you didn't just say what you are doing is right, that your initiative was the only hope for your kind... there was a time when you believed it."
There was doubt on the Arbiter's face, before he heard a familiar phrase from his past.
"You need to remember who you are."
As the words left Luna's lips, the Arbiter drew a deep breath in, and the monitor sped up as his eyes widened.
"How could you...?" he asked, dumbstruck, before he realized someplace he had seen the mare beside him before.
He sat up in his bed, the weight of memory in his weary face, and for once, he took no notice of the tremendous pain in his body.
"I saw you... in a dream... you were with me in the Control Room... the glassing... Reach."
Luna looked down and pawed the ground before she adopted her regal self once again, her back straightening and her wings folding tightly to her sides; her posture was a mirror of the characteristic stance of her older sister, right down to the way she looked at the Arbiter with neither apathy nor obsession. But, her voice was as gentle as before.
"I have a gift... the ability to dream walk," she admitted slowly, "I've seen much of your past... I apologize if it seems like an intrusion."
"It does," the Arbiter said defensively, looking at her suspiciously.
The Sangheili looked down for a little while before he looked back to Luna, the weight of a memory still in his expression.
"In the courtyard, when I burned the pyre during my brothers' funeral," he began slowly, Luna nodding as she too remembered the moment, "you said you could understand what I had done, because you had done something similar."
"I did," she affirmed quickly, looking to the door as she continued, "If we had more time, I would tell you now, but I'm afraid I must be going. The next time we see one another, we'll talk about the past... both our pasts."
The Arbiter seemed conflicted, not knowing if this revelation was taken as a moment of weakness or a moment of being strong for too long. Regardless, his sterling armor still rested in the corner, and here he was, practically naked without it. But, as Luna got up to join the rest of her company headed for the Crystal Empire, he called after her.
"I would... like that," he admitted, and the alicorn gave him a smile.
"Until next time, Arbiter."
She knocked, giving the door a gentle kick, and found its deadbolt less than sturdy.
The door gave with an eerie creak inwards, and she found the Arbiter in the midst of dressing. He hastily stood up straight, a regal posture coming over him, despite several pieces of his armor still on the floor.
"Twilight," he offered simply in greeting, and her cheeks turned red.
"I'm sorry, the door... I didn't mean to come in as you were... changing..."
He seemed to ignore her once his greeting had been returned, and within a few moments, before she was done explaining her transgression, he had fastened his greaves and gauntlets around his gangly grey limbs, he met her in the doorway. A grunt towards the hallway told Twilight the Arbiter was ready to leave, but his shoulders' drooping under his armor's weight and the bandages, stained indigo through the gaps in his sterling armor, told her the opposite.
Regardless, she turned and led the way out of the hospital's walls, giving the nurses a friendly smile as she led her towering company past.
She looked over her shoulder, the Arbiter's heavy metal footsteps matching her own; he was ready to get out of the hospital, but he was not ready to be moving around so suddenly. He faltered every few steps, and the surprise behind his helmet was very apparent that he was not used to wounds, recovery, or his body failing him.
When they finally ducked outside, The Arbiter seemed to drink in the sunlight and relish in the breeze. He began to spread his arms to stretch, but winced before they extended, hiding a pained expression with a glare and resisting to grab at a wound on his shoulder, visible under his pauldrons... the linen bandages began to soak through.
He saw her noticing his wound reopening, and before she could get any ideas, the alien grimaced, growling, "I am glad to forsake this place. I have no home among the sick and dying. I'll not go back."
"Then where shall it be?" she asked.
The Arbiter looked around, and drifted off as if he'd forgotten her question. It was then that the great disparity between them became extremely apparent, if only for a few moments. Twilight felt a pain in her neck as she craned up at him, and the sunlight glimmering off of his armor, somehow still immaculately clean, was all but blinding. But what fixated her more was not their difference in size or posture, but with how they regarded the day.
She watched as his eyes flitted between birds, trees and flowers. She heard his strong breath sipping in the damp air, the smell of wheat and rain on the breeze. She smiled as his balled fists relaxed ever so slightly, and the tension in his shoulders loosened.
She swore that, even for an instant, the Arbiter looked... peaceful.
A warbler in the trees above interrupted her thoughts, and when she looked back to his amber gaze, any change she'd seen in him had gone, and he was back to the alien she'd become familiar with.
"I have no bearings," the Arbiter sighed, "I do not know this place."
She eyed him carefully.
"I could show you around. Are you up for a walk?"
She grit her teeth; she knew she'd struck a nerve by the slightest implication he may not be able to do something, even though she hadn't meant to. The flare in his eye was something she'd seen in Rainbow many times, and she knew what his answer was before he ever clicked his mandibles together, and began down the road.
"Arbiter," she called after him.
He turned back, a bit annoyed.
"Town is actually that way."
"Of all the places we have been together," growled Rtas, choking on ash, "This infernal place is the worst."
"They don't call it Caldera for nothing!"
Shining Armor laughed over his shoulder, the scarf keeping the burning air from his mouth but muffling his voice. Far behind them, the Phantom's engines idled, their subtle green glow a deep contrast from the bright orange of the bubbling lava pits and flows that streaked and pocked the ridge the pair were currently ascending.
Black soot swallowed each footfall, as though they were walking through sand. Only as they neared the spine of the ridge did the warm, dark igneous rock replace the soot, and it was there that the air slightly cooled, and they found a glimmering figure waiting for them.
"Thank you for coming!" the Tarragon clamored over the groan of the volcanoes all around them, a sound like the son of wind and thunder pervasive on the eastern wind.
"Steelhide! When we got your message, we came as fast as we could!" Shining Armor answered, and the dragon's talons wrapped around the Captain's forelimb.
"Let's get to the nesting grounds! I apologize but what we have to discuss cannot risk being compromised. We'll brief you everything we have on the plateau!"
As Steelhide began to turn, his wings folded behind him swung like a cloak, and he began to spread the black, velvety membranes as if to fly, but he remembered his company could not match him there.
As they crested the true summit of the formation, the rock leveled off into a great volcanic plane, dominated by a great smoking mountain on the horizon. Spread out in intervals as far as the eye could see were crouched dragons of all species and sizes, ranging all colors of the earth and sky. Some were smaller than ponies, others were bigger than buildings. Most were the size of a small house, but the biggest, far off in the distance, commanded a nest the size of a hill, and as her wings unfurled to protest the trespass of a particularly bold drake, their shadow could have cast all of Canterlot into shadow and her roar shook the earth.
The hens guarded their nests jealously while the drakes circled, either on foot or high above, riding the currents of rising air on great wings. Now and then, a jet of territorial fire leaped out from the gray sky or from one of the bulwarks of the nests, and whichever wyvern, wyrm or dragon had ventured too close went reeling.
Steelhide led the two through a gauntlet of fiery breath, gaping maws and very angry mothers. Shining Armor dared look a little too long at one of the eggs beneath a bronze wyvern's breast, and she returned his hospitality with a shrill roar, her long neck craning toward him. Her hot breath blew the crest of Shining's helmet flat against the metal, and from within her throat, an orange glow manifested.
Quickly, Steelhide ran between the two, and spreading his crocodile-like maw, he let out a deep roar of his own, and the hen curled back over her nest with a menacing hiss.
"It's the nesting season," the Tarragon said, almost defensively, a harsh turn around from the aggression he'd just shown menacing down a dragon three times his size, "Every species in the world nests here. These months are when traffic is heaviest."
His explanation had little effect on his company. A nerve might have been all that kept 'Vadum's sword from erupting forth from its hilt, and Shining Armor's wide eyes regarded every dragon they passed as if they were coiled snakes, ready to strike. The reptilian barks and growls seemed to nip at their heels every step of the way.
Their trek brought them to a cave, and Steelhide strutted inside, Shining Armor and the Shipmaster close behind. Within was a massive bonfire stoked by a very stocky wyrm with stubby wings. Above the fire, the sky peeked through a massive hole in the cave's ceiling.
It took Shining Armor a moment to realize the cave was rather a lava tube, the hole, a massive vent. They were in the throat of a dormant volcano, and beyond the thick black walls of hardened ash and stone, the cacophony of angry vocalizations tantalized the relative peace within.
Around the fire were much quieter specimens. As Shining's eyes adjusted to the dancing light, more appeared. One wyvern dominated the room, curled up like a dog near the cave wall, his head the size of a cart. Two lung, their horns like the antlers of deer and their manes like those of lions, laid near him. A few cockatrices, perched like flamingos on one leg, poked at what looked like roasted bats. Most in the room were Tarragons, like Steelhide, walking upright and conversing quietly with the others.
Rather than angry at their intrusion, these dragons regarded the pony and the alien with casual indifference. Most didn't even care they'd entered, and those that did didn't even lift their heads as they approached. But when Steelhide gave a call like that of a hawk, they all rose suddenly, and gathered around the fire.
As he approached, Steelhide unfurled his wings and he heaved into the air, flying over the fire. The downdraft caused the flames to swirl beneath him, a shape like that of a heart ringed in fire left in his wake, and the fires, now fanned, reached for the ceiling.
As the fire died back down, Shining looked up through the tongues and saw the Tarragon seated upon a massive treasure horde, at least ten meters high. A nest of gold coins and gems melted into a nest crowned the summit, and served as Steelhide's throne. The centerpiece of the treasure was Steelhide's gladius set in a massive stone, tip down. Only as he looked closer did he realize the stone was not rock, but bone.
The sword was embedded in a massive skull, its horns broken and chipped with age, and the rest of the skeleton, presumably, was still buried beneath the treasure horde. It became immediately obvious how Steelhide had come to amass, or rather, acquire, so much wealth. He had not always been the Emperor he was today, and this gold, this cave, these nesting grounds, had not always been his.
Shining Armor stowed that in the back oh his mind, and made a point to mind himself in present company.
Steelhide's voice boomed.
"This council is convened."
The Shipmaster stepped forward, circumnavigating the bonfire, putting the flame at his back to glare up at Steelhide.
"Then let us be onto our first point," he growled.
Shining Armor's eyes widened, and he looked to the other dragons in the room as they leaned in, snarling and growling softly. This was not the place for defiance, or for such a blatant challenge. They weren't necessarily surrounded by enemies, but they weren't quite friends. All around him, talons gleamed.
But the Shipmaster went on.
"You summon us from the other side of the ocean, and so we came to your aid. And you welcome our help by allowing your citizens to threaten us with fang and fire?!"
Steelhide gave his contemporaries a wave, and they stepped back ever so slightly. He stood up on his throne, the towering shadow of his wings cast on the walls and up onto the ceiling by the dancing light.
"I summoned you here for the same reason that hen nearly cooked you alive," he responded, his voice powerful, but calm.
"To protect the eggs."
Shining Armor laughed nervously, the light from that wyvern hen's throat as the fire bubbled up still very fresh in his mind.
"They seem very well protected," he chortled.
The fire popped, and the dozen or so pairs of eyes in the cave slowly drifted off of the stallion. Steelhide gestured to the other dragons.
"These are my scouts. They patrol the borders of the nesting grounds. When I sent you the summons, it was because they confirmed that the Covenant is in these hills."
Now Shining Armor ran around the fire to stand with the Shipmaster, and the two, then and there, they and the Emperor were eye to eye
"What size?" asked Rtas.
"Only a scouting party," came the answer.
Shining looked at the Elite at his side.
"Which means there's a larger force out there," the Captain said.
'Vadum nodded.
"And we need to find it."
"Do you want to go into town?"
They'd been standing on a crossroads, looking down Main Street. To walk where they'd been leading to would take them around the outskirts of town once more. They'd seen everything outside of the town's limits, from Fluttershy's cottage on the rim of Everfree to Applejack's farm, rolling hills covered with green leafed apple trees.
They had only seen others at a distance. And here they were, looking down a wide cobblestone road on Market Day. The whole town was in the square, and the Arbiter's heels were stuck in the road. In the distance, they heard the bustle. Conversations and laughter made the heart of the town, but Twilight and the Arbiter were quiet.
He looked down at her, and nodded.
She led the way, slowly. The Arbiter's stride had slowed since they had started, and he was breathing heavily.
The first to see him was a foal. He pointed, and his mouth went wide. He looked up at his mother as if to ask permission to run over, but she seemed hesitant, holding him tighter.
Then the adults started noticing and pointing, and even from out of earshot, it was obvious that the nature of their conversations had shifted as well.
"They're staring," the Arbiter growled.
She glanced up at him while his fists balled. She knew they meant no harm, that they were just curious or surprised to see one of Equestria's Angels. She'd grown used to the aliens; they hadn't. The Arbiter was still an alien to them.
The fillies and foals, however, were fascinated, and once the first got away from his mother to bound over to get a closer look, they all came. A block from the market, a mob of tiny ponies swarmed him, all shin high and asking him a thousand questions, 'oohing' and 'aahing' about his gleaming armor and outlandish weapons, so much like big toys in their eyes.
The Arbiter was surprised at the welcome, but his biggest concern seemed to be not to step on any of them as they darted between his legs, jumped up and down all around him, and pleaded to know what his spaceship looked like.
"Now, now," Twilight cooed, trying to buy the Arbiter some space, but even as she began to pick up and move the foals gently in her magic's grip, they only ran right back as soon as she let them go. She gave an apologetic look to the Arbiter, but the look he gave back was one of confusion.
Understandable, she figured. How could this be anything but foreign to him, getting surrounded by baby ponies. But as it went on, she realized something.
He wasn't used to others seeing him this way, as an icon, a hero. This, jovial, almost excessive welcome was nothing like he had ever had before. They liked him, and it was foreign to him.
Before long, their parents had wrangled them up, and the pair was left in relative peace if not for the expression on the Arbiter's face. His mandibles hung loosely, and his brow was furrowed, but not angrily.
"Are you okay?"
He only watched them go, and within the arms of her mother, a filly looked back at them, and waved.
"Are you ready to go home?"
He thought for a moment, and his mandibles clicked.
"Yes."
The walk back to Golden Oaks was quick, and before long they'd reached the base of the hill atop which the library stood tall, nestled into the heartwood. The road wound up the slope lazily, and without thinking she began the climb.
The staunch, metallic footfalls of the Arbiter persisted behind her as they ascended the slope, and his deep breaths grew louder. She heard him groan, but his rhythm continued, slowing ever so slightly. She reached the door, and as she turned the handle, she heard something like a railroad car hit the ground behind her.
She turned around, and saw him on his hands and knees, the blood slowly spreading across his armor, and filling in the gaps between the cobblestones.
"Soon the Great Journey shall begin, but when it does, the weight of your heresy shall stay your feet, and you shall be left behind."
It was something of an archaic mystery, a cross between old magic and older roots of power and rule, that the booming voices of the Royals in the halls of Canterlot commanded the silence of those who heard. Yet here, Luna, perched high atop a spire in the lavender court of the Covenant, found herself struck silent as well by calm words of damnation, and the vaulted roofs sheltering fathoms reverberated with the same silence of a crypt.
This was Thel's trial, his dream, his memory. And far beneath her, Luna watched with folded ethereal wings as the dreamscape bent around her. She was a stranger here, and so she stuck to the shadows as she followed the golden-armored Elite as he was flanked by guards, and with neither protest nor acrimony, was led out of the Council Chamber.
The Hierarch's words echoed in the darkness again and again, the cadence to his damning decree fading until the rhythm, like that of a distant drumbeat, hummed through the long, cold corridors. With each stomping footfall of the Elite and his carnal escorts the distant drums of the deep changed; they grew voices.
In the distance, out of the metal's night, a blinding light, and the condemnation of a congregation of hundreds of thousands, beckoned him.
He answered their call.
He stepped into the light, led and flanked by creatures far less noble than he, to the rapturous castigation of those who had hailed him as a hero not a week before.
In one voice, they all denounced him.
"Heretic! Heretic!" they chanted, snapping at his heels and throwing what they could to no avail.
Luna, appalled in so many ways, never saw the Elite's eyes stray from forward, his glare soften, or his maw flex in dissent. Callously, his guards put his wrists in electronic binds, the flashy technology of magnetism no replacement for the barbarism of common chains, and stepping back, they too cheered his demise.
Luna, all but a specter, alighted on yet another spire, so common in this city's architecture, and observed, knowing all of this was a recollection within a dormant mind. Still, to watch someone she knew made into such a sacrilegious spectacle... It wasn't quite pity she felt welling up inside her, but it wasn't quite anger either.
Perhaps the most important lesson she had learned about the Covenant was evident in the scale of the masses eagerly awaiting the Sangheilli's shame. He had drawn quite a crowd.
From far below, she heard Thel's unmistakable voice drift upwards.
"If they came to hear me beg, they will be disappointed."
The smile of the guard before him challenged that assertion, delighting in his pain, and as Luna watched, the restraints sparked, and arcs of lightning began to dance across the Elite's body. He jolted and shuddered, yet he held onto his determined glare, his one expression left of defiance and pride, but even that too began to fade. Slowly, as the pain and the realization of what was to come set in, his glare left him, and his eyes grew wide. From deep within him, he suppressed the cry that so desperately wanted to leap from his throat; it began instead as a growl, then a groan, and it built into a wail, and that shrill note carried over the jeering crowds as their victory.
They electrocuted him for far longer than was necessary. They fried him until he went limp, until his armor began to sully from the heat and warp to his body, and until his skin burned over the length of him.
What began as a proud, unyielding Elite with strength in his gait and a determined glare on his brow was now a smoking heap held up only by his wrists. They ripped his armor from his skin, tearing his flesh with it, yet he did not have the strength to call out in pain. The crowd, in his silence, roared.
His Praetorian stepped forward, his hair matted and his fangs yellow and chipped, and above the crowd his voice boomed.
"There can be no greater heresy! Let him be an example to all who would break our Covenant!"
The same figure produced a giant brand, its steel scalding red and its shape, like the head of a terrible snake coiled around his arm. Mercilessly, he jammed the orange metal into the Elite's breast, lifting him off the ground. He pressed up and back until Thel's arms locked out in their restraints, and his feet hardly had the strength to kick. He did not roar, but he wasn't quiet either. He threw his head back, his amber eyes wide, and hoarsely, he moaned as if fading away.
And the crowd went crazy.
Only once the Brute pulled the brand from Thel's chest, did they finally release him from his restraints. He crumpled to the floor as if lifeless, and Luna looked down at him.
Here was her comrade, her friend, stripped of his heritage, rank and life, reduced to smoldering naked flesh without any dignity or pride, tortured for sport and branded a traitor without even a name, and all around him, yesterday's brothers-in-arms were laughing. Pity was not strong enough of a word, nor shame, nor sorrow. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought that Thel had died right in front of her.
In a way, he did.
But Luna could only watch.
Then his guards picked him up under each arm and dragged him away, leaving a horde of the acclaiming faithful and a smoldering shell of gilded armor behind.
The Arbiter sat up violently and with a snarl, but that fearsome expression soon became a wince. He clutched at his ribs.
"Be careful!" came a familiar voice, and Twilight was once again at his side.
He was lying on the wooden floor, heartwood and bookshelves reaching to the ceiling all around him. But hovering just in front of his nose was the unicorn, a dozen things moving in tandem around her as her horn glowed hot. She wrapped him in towels and linens, mopped at the floor with more of the same, levitated a pitcher of water to his mouth, all in an effort to both provide care and clean up after the Arbiter's bleeding spell.
The Arbiter's bewildered expression was enough.
"You passed out," she said matter-of-factly with a small shake of her head, "A couple of your stitches opened up and you started bleeding pretty bad."
The Arbiter groaned, and examined the blood all around him. Every white towel the mare had owned was now a deep lavender from cleaning it up, and the floor was not quite yet clean. His head hit the floor. He felt numb, as if his arms, legs, and all of his fingers were asleep, and very cold.
"How long was I unconscious?"
"Maybe fifteen minutes."
He sighed again, and went to stand up, but Twilight stopped him.
"Take it easy. There's no need to rush."
With that, she turned the bulk of her attention to the wound under his breast, and her horn began to glow yellow. He felt the wound grow hot.
"No," he protested, pushing her away and causing many of the towels and the water to drop from her aura, "I've already been shamed once by your medicine's stemming my blood's flow. I shall not be again!"
Now it was Twilight's turn to look bewildered.
"What?"
"Sit me up," he growled, in pain and embarrassed, "and let me breathe."
She did just that, helping his silver-clad bulk to a chair, and once she covered it in linens and towels, she helped him into it. It bowed and groaned beneath his weight, and it was far too small for him, but he sighed in relief, sipping in the arboreal air of the library like it was a cold drink. Twilight perched on the chair's armrest, now eye to eye, her concern level with his anguish.
"We have to get you out of your armor," she said.
She knew his protest was coming before he regarded her with a defensive glare, his amber eyes piercing her from behind his nose-guard.
"It's heavy. The edges catch on your stitching and rip them open. It isn't protecting you," she explained, maternal and patient, "It's hurting you."
The Arbiter, somber, nodded. He was her guest here, and so in the interest of courtesy, he made to oblige her. He went to stand to disarm himself, but his legs went wobbly, and he collapsed back into the chair heavily. Twilight tried to catch him, and the chair all but broke beneath him. He breathed heavily, and Twilight set to work, carefully and gingerly taking off his weapons first, then his helmet, then his pauldrons, setting them all aside near the window for the light to shine on.
"Look at me," he lamented as Twilight slowly undid the straps around a reopened wound on his bicep, "I'm useless. I can't even stand."
Prudently, she peeled the armor off of his arm, the blood sticking in protest.
"Is that all I ever was? A hollow suit of armor?" the Arbiter went on, his head finding the back of the chair, "Strip it away, and I am a walking corpse."
Twilight, half berating him back to health and half soothing his doubts, allayed.
"You're bent, not broken. You just need time."
His amber glare snapped to her.
"Time is not something we have," he all but snarled, "We are on Vol's schedule now."
Twilight remained patient, setting to work on his breastplate now.
"You're going to get better."
His next look was doubtful, irritated, but she could tell he wasn't irritated with her.
"I have lost brothers to less severe wounds than these."
Twilight gave up on the particularly stuck strap she had been trying to get undone, and set her jaw, turning her head to the side ever so slightly.
"Then you must still be alive for a reason."
They stared into one another's eyes for a few moments before she went back to work on the irksome breast plate.
"I never got a chance to tell you," she said slowly, a newfound calm in her voice as she kept on at disarming him, liberating him of that armor; despite his initial protest, he sighed in relief for each piece she removed, "What we found in the Canterlot library before it was raided."
He turned his head to her, and his mandibles clicked.
"There are these things called manna pools. Places where magic users are stronger."
Ever so slightly, he leaned in closer, and his head cocked.
"We think the Covenant is honing in on them," she explained, "They've already attacked God's Doorstep in Griffonstone."
"Yes, you have told me this. But where does this manna stem from?" he asked.
"Well..." she paused to glance up at him, "there are theories that the largest manna pools are in Everfree, just outside town."
"We need to go there," he said determinedly, and shifted his weight under his feet.
"Put that out of your mind," she snapped, placing a hoof on his breastplate again to keep him in his seat, "You just started bleeding out from a stroll. You're not ready to be leading expeditions into the heart of the frontier."
Dejectedly he leaned back, and he shook his head.
"Didn't your doctors already fix this? Why prolong my degradation with ineffective treatments. I already endured that shame once here."
Twilight chewed on her lip as she thought of an answer.
"Healing magic is... complicated. Even the princesses could only do so much to you," her eyes found a wound, the bleeding all but stopped, "I can try but I'm not sure how much good it will do."
The Arbiter cocked an eye at her.
"I can start here, and we can send you to Fluttershy next. She's more of a veterinarian than a doctor, but I'm afraid any doctors here have already done what they can."
If hesitant skepticism was an expression, it lived in the Arbiter's eyes.
"She'll probably use essential oils and herbs, but it can't hurt right?"
He still shook his head. A moment of silence passed between them, and the sound of Twilight fidgeting with the breastplate, still resisting her, began to carry ever so softly along the heartwood of the oak. The Arbiter looked up, taking the structure in. Stairs hewn out of the wood, closets and doorways carved as if coaxed out of the tree, and it was still alive. The walls groaned as the branches above blew in the breeze. This was not conquering nature for resources, it was living alongside it. It was natural, symbiotic... pure.
"This is your home?" he asked, practically marveling.
"Golden Oaks Library," Twilight answered, following the Arbiter's mystified gaze to the ceiling, "Nothing like the Canterlot Library I'm afraid."
Once again, the Arbiter's mandibles clicked.
"The Covenant may not care," he pondered slowly, "You and I both know they've been targeting libraries as well as these manna pools."
Twilight let her sarcasm get the better of her, and she chuckled a bit as her hoof found a stitched up gash on the Arbiter's shoulder, and she gently traced it with her toe.
"Well if they come, I've got you to protect me."
The Arbiter chuckled at her joke, but she sighed, her voice finding something more serious as she looked out the window at a trio of colts playing ball along the edge of a sprawling, gilded wheat field.
"It wouldn't be much of a home if we were boarding up windows in fear. Ponyville is quiet. Even the weather passes us over."
The Arbiter found the sight outside the window as well, and he hummed softly to himself in rhythm with the birds nesting far above them in the library's sylvan roof. His shoulders became lighter by the minute, and the pervasive wholesomeness of the village and the comforts of his friend's home began to put him truly at ease.
"Tell me about your home," Twilight suddenly asked, her eyes gently looking up at him, beseeching her curiosity to be sated.
Out of the corner of his eye, the Arbiter saw a journal and pen levitate to life amid a subtle lavender glow, and he knew Twilight was getting ready to covertly transcribe everything he was about to tell her. He smiled lazily, and took a steady breath in.
"I haven't seen Vadam in years," he murmured nostalgically, "I'm unsure what has become of it, if I would recognize it. If it would recognize me."
"You can at least tell me what life used to be like," Twilight implored, unsatisfied, "What you wore, what you ate. Family."
He let his breath out far harsher than he had let it in, and he turned a harder brow to her.
"We ate those that asked prying questions, and wore their hides as loincloths."
She stopped fiddling with the same strap that had defied her for so long, and she was taken aback as if threatened. But the Arbiter's glare only held for a moment before he traded it for a mischievous grin.
"A joke... Your kind seems fond of them, yes?"
Twilight sighed in relief, and her chuckle was more of an alleviated sigh.
"First rule of Equestrian social etiquette: threats do not make for polite conversation."
The Arbiter hummed quietly as he reclined again, his thoughts drifting across the galaxy and time.
"We ate meat, roasted, until the flesh peeled from the bone. All creatures of the earth, sea and sky were our prey. Aboard interstellar vessels no such sustenance was available, and we quickly broke ourselves of such luxuries."
The Arbiter pretended not to notice that Twilight had forsaken his armor's removal in favor of writing some notes, the scratching of her quill against parchment betraying her attempt at a clandestine interview.
"Most wore simple tunics when not in armor. More elaborate apparel was always reserved for the nobility, status won through great exploits and tremendous honor."
His voice changed a bit, became more proud, more distinguished.
"I once had a cloak, fashioned from Doarmir fur and stained purple reminiscent of the blood of our fathers. It was a garment reserved for the greatest of military commanders. It was presented to me by my crew, as a token of their respect and gratitude, on campaign."
Twilight looked up at him with sad eyes, and he met hers the same.
"That cloak was my crown, and that crew was my family. I was proud to wear it, proud to be their leader, but all that was stripped from me, like so many other things."
As he finished, the clasp she had been working on finally gave, and his breastplate came away from his chest. As it did, Twilight was confronted with a horrendous scar over his left pectoral.
"What is that?" she asked.
It was unlike the other scars covering his body; it was clearly not the round puncture wounds or long, thin slashes that had since healed. It was a character of some kind, like a cattle brand. The glyph was circular, but ragged, unclean and unsymmetrical. It looked horrid, callous and malevolent. She shuddered to imagine what would have inflicted such a thing.
"A death sentence," came the Arbiter's grim reply, "I received that mark the day I became the Arbiter, a title and a scar both mine to carry until they kill me."
It was obvious Twilight was confused, how someone of such a rank and prestige as the Arbiter would be disparaged by something so heartless, and the Arbiter realized he needed to confess to her.
"The mantle of Arbiter is not a title given to those of honor, but to the honor-less, that they might die with some dignity in service, as restitution."
He saw the pieces click into place behind her wondering eyes, and he knew she finally understood. There was no point in concealing anything any longer.
"I suppose there is not a Sangheilli alive as shameful as I in the old ways."
He avoided her eyes to dodge her judgement. He knew it was coming; it always did. That sterling armor was gallant, but it could not hide that mark forever. He expected her venomous words of condemnation to bite any second, to damn him as the others had and dismiss him as some traitor or impostor. But they never came. He looked back to her, and he found her smiling at him gently.
"If that's the case, some medicine might not hurt the rankings."
His eyes widened as he regarded her, practically in disbelief at her grace. This, his greatest sins revealed, was not enough to sway her kindness, and as she went back to work on his armor plate, he felt as though the weight of a thousand suits of steel had been lifted from his soul.
Meanwhile...
Over the verdant glens of Minoa, the mournful lament of war trumpets, carried aloft on silver wisps of fog, called Princess Luna back.
She blinked away the dreamscape, trading the deep purples and grays and blinding light of High Charity for the misty green hills all around her. In the breeze, the tent walls flapped, and another wailing trumpet blast rolled in from outside. They beckoned her, her sword and her armor, heralding her and countless champions the world over.
She answered the call.
A blast of crisp air played in her mane just as an ocean breeze frolics in a sail. Her wings twitched, wanting so much all on their own to spread wide, and see if the air up there was just as lively. Her eyes adjusted to the light, and she looked down from the crimson wall-tent perched on this summit.
The rolling hills, beleaguered with ranks upon ranks of Minotaurs, their armor gleaming, clamored. Swords, axes and war-hammers clashed against heavy plate and oak shields. Across the knoll, to a belching fire, the lighter tone of hammers against anvils announced the smiths' work as they modified and enchanted the helmets and weapons to accommodate Equestrian advancements. The steel all rang together like so many bells, and the meadows sounded of a distant symphony.
Equestria's carillons hadn't rang since the declaration of war, and here the mists were haunted by the ghost of their song.
Luna did not realize she missed them until now, and the weight in her heart suddenly made her forget the weight of her armor.
A street, bracketed by a city of tents, led her to the war tent, a large yurt. She entered, Midas and Celestia already in council with countless lesser war-chiefs and banner bearers gathered around the central map table. Celestia looked up, smiling.
"How did you sleep?" she asked, winking as she saw her sister got the joke.
Luna smiled back.
"I had strange dreams."
She joined the two others at the table, a map of the world adorned with the emblems and sigils of each nations' forces where they were garrisoned in real time spread across the tabletop. Midas took it upon himself to fill Luna in on what he and her sister had been discussing as she took her seat.
"Each day our forces grow stronger. We learn. We adapt. And we have you both to thank for this," his voice changed as he brought up the poignant focus of his concern, "But our training is for naught if we cannot locate the Covenant."
Celestia serenely responded.
"Rest assured, we have established an effective network of communication between all nations of the Army of Hope. As soon as one nation establishes contact, all nations will know. We'll be able to mobilize as soon as the word is spread."
"You mistake my concern for blood lust, Your Highness," Midas answered tactfully, "Consider the astronomers in Zebrica and the Crystal Empire. The wandering stars that give their ships away have not been seen for days."
Now it was Luna's turn to play diplomat.
"Their capital ships have not proven their primary vessels for operations. The Covenant has proven to prefer surgical strikes rather than risk their cruiser or corvettes."
Midas' concern persisted.
"Princess," he said, practically imploring her to see the situation from his eyes, "If we cannot see those battle-ships above us, then from where are those surgical strikes being launched? And how could they hide a ship so mighty as to bore a hole thousands of feet deep at Griffonstone on a whim?"
The two sisters understood, but they understood something their counterpart could not.
"We've done everything we can to find them," Celestia said, still as calm, "And we shall continue to do so. Until one of us makes contact, we can only diligently train, so when we do meet them, we win."
Midas sighed, sitting back in his chair as he rubbed his brow. It was clear he and his kind were not used to waiting around. The Minoan road to war was a short one, and their campaigns were typically brutal. They were all trying to adapt to this new way of fighting, but their traditions were in conflict, and it was obvious both by the commanders' unrest and the warriors' learning curve.
"My legs ache," the War-Chief admitted, his tone leading them on in a not so subtle way, "Surely, we, as leaders, are not exempt from the burden of training, or the expectation of martial prowess."
Celestia and Luna shared a glance. They knew what was coming.
"Your Highness," he began, looking to Luna with a glint in his brown eyes, "Care to spar?"
Luna smiled first at her sister, then at Midas.
"I would."
She followed him as he rose eagerly, his banner bearers all confidently smiling, and left the tent. The War-Chief, bathed in sunlight, stretched his weary body, Luna doing the same as she regarded the valley below her.
The army of Minotaurs training on the gentle slopes did not notice them at first, and continued soaking in all the lessons the Equestrian advisers could give, training on those combined arms and individual techniques in dueling rings and in formations. Minoan archers, skewered oak logs, cut and dressed in salvaged Covenant armor, while berserkers practiced moving under the covering fire of the arrows. Heavy infantry closed on magic-casters, enchanted shields impervious to the Equestrian battle magic, and by extension plasma, being fired in trial.
Only once Midas took his horn from his belt, and its deep, echoing bass note overpowered the trumpets all around, did the others notice, and no sooner had its echo faded than the army had gathered, a dueling ring with walls of muscle, armor and red war paint encircling the War Chief of the Minotaurs and the Princess of the Night.
Luna drew her sword, and raising her chin, looked into the eyes of Minoa's champion. With a red palm, he adorned his face with paint the likes of a bovine skull, highlighting the dense bones on his face. She looked back to the war-tent; Celestia was sitting on her oaken chair outside the crimson walls, watching intently and expectantly. Ever so slightly, Luna could see her smiling. Suddenly Midas roared, and the crowd's, thousands of raging bulls and a few dozen Equestrians, voices climbed into a clamor to shake birds from the glens.
Working himself into a berserk, his eyes all but red, the great Minotaur heaved his massive claymore from between his shoulders, and giving a bellow, it fell towards her like a crashing wave. She bent and weaved to the side, and she parried, feeling more like she'd struck a tree than another sword. The bull brought his blade back up in a fluid motion, its inertia only reigned in by his rippling muscles, and came to a pause in a high guard.
Luna regarded her adversary the way she might look up at a tower. He may as well have been as tall, but his armor had little of the shine of polished marble. His was the color of tested metal, darker even than his skin, and weathered from use. His blade, his armor plate, and his horns were all chipped and worn. Luna wasn't looking at his armor for the sake of admiration, but to find a weak point. There weren't many.
Midas roared, and with a snort, he came at her again far faster than she thought someone of his size could move. He swung at her legs, and with a flex of her wings she was above the blade, above him, and the few Equestrians in the crowd's cheers were drowned out by the jests and jeers of those behind the War-Chief. Painted faces roared behind chained horns, and before she could hover, Midas swung at her again.
He reached her, and she dove back to the ground, dashing for the Minotaur's stomach. She led with a stab, but her sword's tip slid off of his convex breast plate with a high pitched squeal. Her speed carried her past his fist as he swung at her, but she wheeled on canted wings, and was within his reach once again. She lunged for his throat, but an armored fist glanced it a few inches off course. With one hand he hit her sword down and the other dropped the claymore, going for a dagger on his belt to reclaim an advantage in close quarters.
Luna followed her sword as it fell from her adversary's vulnerable neck to the ground, but she held her grasp. Midas' hand found his dagger, and Luna came back up with all of her nimble grace. Midas' steel had yet to clear leather when her sword tip stopped between his legs, the blade resting ever so gingerly against his groin between the tiniest gap in his thigh armor.
The crowd went silent in an instant, that is until Luna smiled and Midas laughed. His wide eyes relaxed, and gladly, he released the tension in his legs as Luna withdrew her blade, claiming victory in the dueling ring with an exhausted sigh.
"Well fought," he laughed, and his reach turned from hostile to the embrace of a warm uncle in an instant, a burly, steel clad arm wrapping around her shoulders to clap her, by comparison tiny, pauldron.
The few Equestrian advisers gathered around whistled, and the Minotaurs stood in quiet disbelief.
"It appears we all can afford to learn more of what our friends already have!" Midas yelled to his banner bearers.
With Luna still under his arm, practically lifting her hooves from the ground in his embrace, he turned to head back up the hill, the ring parting for them like a river around a stone. It took a moment, and the Minotaurs, still dumbfounded, did not move from their spectators' crowd. Midas, noticing this, wheeled.
"Get back to training!" he yelled, all that goodnatured affection traded for angry command in an instant, "We're not fighting yesterday's war! Our violent future awaits us in those clouds!"
He pointed to the sky, and while he berated his legions back into formation, Luna smiled, and kept on up the hill towards her sister.
"Well done little sister," "You've always been an excellent fencer, but each day your skill..."
She was interrupted suddenly, and the sisters' pride left for concern in an instant as a spark lit in the air above Celestia's horn, and a scroll flitted down to the dew covered grass between them. Celestia snatched the scroll, her eyes growing wider as she read.
"It's Shining Armor," the alabaster alicorn uttered, practically a surprised whisper.
For an instant, Luna relaxed.
"What news from Griffonstone?" she asked.
Celestia did not share her sister's abatement.
"He's not in Griffonstone."
She turned the scroll to Luna, letting her read. The scroll only had a few words on it and the seal of the Crystal Empire's Royalty was stained with the unmistakable tarnish of blood drops.
Covenant contact established.
Caldera needs reinforcements.
Earlier...
Shining Armor held his breath. Below him, a Covenant squad patrolled. One of the Unggoy's eyes scanned up and passed over him, but he did not see him. Shining's fur was as stained as dark as the ashen earth all around him, the soot rubbed deep into his skin, and his helmet, behind him, couldn't betray his silhouette.
He looked to his left. a dozen yards away, among the rocks of the cliffs, Steelhide cloaked himself behind stones and furled wings. Shining could see him, but the Covenant couldn't see him among the boulders he was perched behind, watching the same patrol with slow glances out from cover.
Behind Shining, Rtas 'Vadum lay prone, his inquisitive glare asking Shining for coordination.
"Six of them, two Elites," Shining whispered, conveying what he saw; he pointed with the cleft of a hoof down one direction of the gully below to tell the Shipmaster their enemies' direction of movement.
The white Elite nodded, and with a low hum, he disappeared. Shining watched as the dust along the edge of the slope moved up ever so slightly as the Shipmaster went over and down the slope into the gully, moving under the cover of his camouflage module, the volcanic haze and the belching earth.
Shining crept back to the edge, his position a perfect vantage point. He could see the patrol; they had flanked their axis of movement perfectly, and they weren't expecting them. He could see Steelhide slowly prowling up to the lip of his rocky cover on all fours, his shoulders flexing like those of a jaguar about to pounce.
It happened quickly. No sooner had Rtas 'Vadum's sword leapt out from behind the rocks than Steelhide had darted forward from his perch. Before the Covenant knew what was going on, Rtas' plasma rifle sparked, putting two of the Unggoy down as his blade carved a hot gash through the middle of the Elite walking point. Shining's horn grew hot as he fired a stream of magic down into the formation, connecting with an Unggoy in the middle of the patrol, rupturing his respiration tank to send the Grunt careening down the canyon like a missile.
The Elite and Grunt at the rear of the formation turned to him immediately and sent a volley of plasma into his position. Shining ducked down, his mane sizzling from a close call, and he curled up as tightly as he could as searing hot plasma pocked the rocks and super heated the air all around him. Rtas closed on the rear of the formation, a long burst from his plasma rifle stopping the Grunt's fire towards Shining .
As the final Elite leveled his Carbine on the Shipmaster, his active camouflage just beginning to fade out, Steelhide dove on him like a hawk with a tremendous impact. He dug his claws into the Elite's throat, and the crunch of his spine rolled off the stones as roars of pain went silent in an instant.
Their ambush over, Shining tobogganed down the slope to join the other two. He trotted up on them as the Shipmaster calmly slit one of the dying Unggoy's throats, retracting his sword with a slow breath in, and all movement along the dried up magma flow ceased.
"There you have it," Steelhide began, throwing his bloodied hands down at the corpses all around them in disgust, "They're here, as my scouts already confirmed. " He stalked towards Rtas as he pointed to the horizon on the north, the massive volcano in the distance looming, "Now call the Army of Hope, and let us strike them in force!"
"Right," Shining reached back into his saddlebag to get some paper and make good on Steelhide's request.
When he reached the canvas bag on his hip, and found a hole burned through it. He paused.
"Shit."
Sifting through the mangled bag, he produced the cindered remains of his paper supply. Their ashes joined the soot on the ground all around them, and Shining looked to Rtas as both their hearts sank. All that was salvageable was one scrap of a scroll, no more than enough to write a few sparse sentences.
"I've only got enough for one message," Shining groaned.
"Good," Steelhide began," "Then send it."
Rtas' mandibles flexed, and he walked to Steelhide, their eyes meeting level.
"If we tell Celestia and the others the Covenant is here, and we mobilize in force, we open ourselves up everywhere else on the planet," the Shipmaster explained slowly, "We must consider that a Covenant presence here could be a feint to concentrate our forces only to strike elsewhere."
Steelhide looked bewildered, his crocodile's maw agape. It was obvious he hadn't considered Rtas' possibility.
"We must confirm their presence and the size of their force," 'Vadum went on, "An effective reconnaissance must be done before an equally effective report can be sent."
"Look at your feet," Steelhide protested, "They're here. We have confirmed their presence."
"You said your scouts saw one ship, a scouting party, and now we have confirmed a small infantry presence," Rtas argued back, "The Covenant has an entire battle-group here."
the Tarragon shook his head, and his spines quivered while his wings flared out.
"Fine," he said through bared teeth, "You can continue, but I am going to return and mobilize my people. I pray you are right about this feint, that there is nothing to threaten the nesting grounds among these crags, but if you are wrong, the dragons will not be caught defenseless."
"The Shipmaster and I will continue," Shining Armor offered, "You'll be the first to know if we find anything else."
The unicorn hadn't quite finished speaking when Steelhide pushed his wings down, taking to the dark skies with all of the frustration and irritation that had been present in his gravelly voice. As they watched his bat-like wings become a shadow in the haze, Shining turned to Rtas.
"Where do you want to go?" he asked.
Rtas' mandibles snapped together rapidly in thought, and he regarded the canyon they occupied, looking down the slowly rolling bottom one way, then back up the other.
"Why would the Covenant patrol along such a perilous route?" the Shipmaster asked, pointing down the gully, then up both sides, "High ground on both flanks, limited cover and visibility."
Shining took a breath in as he thought.
"Maybe they weren't expecting any fighting?" he suggested, "Or they were just in transit, trying to avoid detection."
'Vadum nodded, obviously not having made up his own mind yet.
"Or..." he began suddenly, the idea formulating as he spoke, "This canyon is a potential infiltration route they meant to deny use by any probes."
Shining digested the implication as the Shipmaster kicked one of the Unggoy over onto its belly, and knelt to check its methane tank.
"Their gas levels are low. They only had about an hour of breathing time left," he said, getting excited as he tapped the red lights on the sides of the gas tank with the claws of his middle two fingers, "They were headed back to whatever base was theirs."
The Shipmaster pointed along the patrol's vector before they'd been slain, and took off in a trot.
"This way. We'll cling to the walls, lest we encounter any more of them."
Shining cantered after him, up into the rocks of the slope, boulder hopping to keep up with his partner's long legs. They pushed on down the canyon for what felt like hours, but the sun, all but a bleak dot hardly moving behind the curtain of smoke and ash above them, did not betray such notions.
For some time, Shining's focus stayed on simply keeping up with the Shipmaster's easy lope, a pace most Equestrians would have difficulty matching, but the Captain managed to match him in agility and speed. It was only when he heard something far deeper than the clap of hooves and boots against the obsidian and loose shale that he slowed, and once he stopped, the tone became all the more obvious.
"Do you hear that?" he called after the Shipmaster, and the Elite stopped mid-stride to listen as well.
The sound grew to a distant hum, and the Shipmaster recognized it.
"Hide!" he yelled, and no sooner had the words left his mouth than Shining dove into the boulders, and a massive formation of Phantoms and Banshees streaked over the rim of the canyon, hardly any air between the ships and the earth. The very stones shook with the thunder of the Phantom's engines while the high pitched, ghastly wail of the Banshees pierced Shining's ears with a poignant pain.
There were too many ships to count, but when all that was left above them was the vapor trails of the ships streaking towards the volcano in the distance, and their engines' shriek faded, Rtas shed his camouflage, and together, he and Shining scrambled to the top of the canyon wall.
They crawled over the edge on their bellies, and regarded the sprawling volcanic plain below them. Shining reached the top first, and as such was the first to see the incandescent glow of energy spires, idling aircraft engines and stockpiled plasma coils sprawling before them up to the base of the volcano on the horizon.
"Jackpot."
Over the lakes of lava, capital ships hovered, and as the two watched, through the clouds of lazily drifting ash, the purple glow of an interstellar vessel loomed until the bow of a Battle Cruiser pierced the volcanic vapors.
"Yes," Rtas growled, a hint of reverence in his voice as he watched the might of the Cruiser settle over the lava pools, the bass of its engines shaking even the stones they lay on, "May the gods have mercy on us."
The sound of footsteps came closer, and the Arbiter slowly raised his Carbine. He took a long breath in, careful not to brush any branches from the shrubbery and trees he was hiding among, lest their movement betray his presence. Concealed, he lay in ambush, knowing his prey was near. Deeper into the forest, he heard the anticipation of the kill walking closer.
He peered around the trees. Through the trunks, he saw his quarry. Large ears stood on top of its head, and its dark eyes peered around the forest with weary caution. Against the white skin of the birch trees, its brown fur stood out. A breeze rolled through the trees' verdant arms, and the deer, on elegant stilt-like legs, slowly tip-toed closer.
The Arbiter slowly pivoted his Carbine, clamping his hand around the barrel and using the tree in front of him to stabilize his sights. His crosshairs found an opening in the trees along the path of her elegant promenade, but just before she presented a shot, a lazy current of air blew on the Arbiter's back and carried on towards his prey.
She tensed in an instant, and she snapped to the Arbiter's position, her ears standing up straight and her tail flitting up like a white flag hoisted high. The Arbiter knew it was impossible for her to see him, but she knew something was wrong. Cautiously, she changed direction, and carefully trotted farther into the trees.
With a sigh, the Arbiter relaxed his fingers on his weapon and deactivated his module, slowly phasing back into vision to the world around him. He waited a moment, regarding the cool, vibrant and bright trees, and once the birds began singing again, he moved with the breeze.
Carefully stepping around collections of dry leaves and branches, the Arbiter silently stalked forward to where the deer had disappeared. Inspecting the ground, he found a collection of tracks, shallow in the soft, dark dirt. He followed the direction they pointed, the distance between visible prints growing as he used more subtle signs to trail his prey. Grass trodden the wrong way, a broken branch about hip high, a small patch of hair snagged on a blackberry bush.
A twitch of movement ahead signaled him, and he crouched low again. Stalking forward carefully, noting the breeze as a persistent crosswind and stepping only where the grass and moss was wet, he closed on his quarry. As he crept forward from the bosom of the trees to the clearing ahead, he saw what he was hunting. He knelt, and his crosshair found the base of the deer's skull; she was unaware of his presence.
As his fingers coiled around the trigger mechanism, the deer turned, and gave a soft bleat into the forest, and excitedly, two smaller deer, speckled with white spots over their coats, bounded into the grass of the meadow on clumsy legs. They circled their mother, practically bouncing along the soft forest floor, and she bent her head to take a mouthful of the grass at her hooves.
The Arbiter felt a pang go through his chest, and with a soft groan, he lowered his Carbine.
With a longing look to the animals in the clearing, he slowly turned to go, but as he did, the family of deer, in unison, shot up again, tense.
The Arbiter froze; he was sure he hadn't made any noise, and the wind was still right. They couldn't have scented him.
Off to his left, suddenly, he heard a twig snap, and the deer bolted. The Arbiter's Carbine followed the sound as it bounced through the branches all around him, and his pupils tightened as he scoured the undergrowth for whatever predator had turned the hunt on him. His back found a tree, and he felt his breathing growing faster.
"What are you doing out here?!"
He whirled with a surprised snarl, and found yellow fur blending in with the amber grass, and a very angry pair of blue eyes glaring up at him. The Arbiter blinked confusion, but Fluttershy just slinked closer to him, surprisingly at home in the deciduous environment.
"What were you going to do to that mama deer?!" she asked again, almost scolding.
The Elite's shoulders drooped, his Carbine hanging limply from one hand, and a bit deviously, he smiled down at her.
"And so the meek inherits ferocity at the defense of nature," he mused before his brow set, and he stooped to return her glare.
"You know the answer already, nymph. Or is your kindness swayed only towards those with dull teeth?"
She shook her head at him, and the muscles in her face relaxed, her expression returning to its normal diffidence. It took the birds to begin singing again for the Arbiter to realize their tension was palpable, and here he was, guilty of her most egregious sin. He sighed, and looked down as he locked the Carbine back into its slot between his shoulder blades. The weapon clicked into place, and beneath his silver shell, the Sangheilli's stomach very audibly growled.
"I'm trying to heal faster, but I will not, as I have not eaten properly in weeks."
Fluttershy looked uncomfortable, and she almost ducked behind her flowing hair, retreating.
"Shouldn't you be at Twilight's?" she asked softly.
"I left this morning," came the Arbiter's dry reply, callously reminding her of the planned move.
Fluttershy's ear twitched towards something deeper into the tree-line, and much like the deer, her eyes snapped onto something unseen. The Arbiter's sharp senses caught nothing, and he curiously regarded her, as well as the boreal shadows she seemed to be trying to sneak away from.
"Come on," the pegasus whispered as she silently walked away, so familiar with every stick's place on the ground, "We shouldn't be out here."
"Why not," the Arbiter asked, slow to follow, "You favor the forest."
"Yeah... most forests."
The Arbiter turned slowly, and looked into the darker woods that were driving his companion away. His eyes found where the trees changed, their trunks growing as if writhing, twisting. There, the soil changed, the grass went away in favor of mushrooms and moss.
He felt as though he was being sucked into a tunnel of darkness, a black hole bracketed by twisting redwood and carpeted with moss. His snaking thoughts brought a name to the shadows.
Everfree
At the same time, he felt tense and relaxed. His leg dared to swing, taking a step deeper into the woods. The shadows whispered his name.
"Hey."
He was shaken out of his trance in an instant, and the Arbiter slowly turned back towards the light.
"We should go," Fluttershy said as she turned, and with a buzz of her wings, vaulted a downed log, and went on down the trail back to her cottage.
Thel shook a chill from his spine, and followed.
"Oh look," Fluttershy said suddenly, once they'd gone down the trail a way, the roof of her cottage just coming into view, "Ginseng."
The Arbiter looked over her shoulder as she stooped to pick the red flowered plant all around her, and by her nod and smile, he knew it was some kind of medicinal plant. A gangly finger found the most painful of his wounds, and traced a line across his abdomen.
The mare made it clear she wasn't going to be done foraging for a while when she made her way over gingerly to another plant, and carefully picked it as well. The Arbiter sighed, and his eyes wandered between the tree trunks when he unexpectedly found a familiar sight.
"You have a Gods Tree!" he said, astounded.
By the time Fluttershy had looked up, the alien had already begun hurrying over to the brook in front of her cottage, a medium-sized tree with pink leaves and a gnarled, dark trunk fixed in his gaze. She slowly meandered over to him the same way ponies would sneak into temples late, after the ceremonies had begun. With quiet curiosity, she watched as the Arbiter stared up in bliss at the tree's limbs, most of which were at eye level for him. He drank in the smell of the blossoms, and spread his arms in the tree's shade.
"We call it a Cherry Blossom," she said with a peaceful smile from behind him.
Carefully, the Arbiter ducked under the branches, and on a knee, he placed his open hand over the tree's trunk.
"We had trees much like this on Sanghelios," he said reverently, his voice no longer that determined growl, "My family kept one for generations in our Keep at Vadam."
The brook at the roots of the tree widened into a slow moving pool, and like the first snowflakes of winter, occasional blossoms fell from their roosts to gracefully float down into the dark water below. The stream lazily carried them away on water like mirror-glass, until they disappeared under a bridge and around the bend.
"They must have been very important to you," Fluttershy said with a comforting smile.
"You cannot imagine how much so."
The Arbiter leaned forward, and his head rested against the tree's heartwood.
As he bent forward, the plates of his armor flexed with him, and a gap on his shoulder opened up to expose a stitched cut that had all but scabbed over.
"You heal fast," Fluttershy admired as the Arbiter stepped back from the tree.
"My people are resilient," he said quietly, his eyes still cast upwards.
"I think I have enough ginseng to make some tea that might help a bit more," she said as she shifted the weight in her saddlebags to feel the day's haul, "You'll be back at it in no time."
The Arbiter looked gratefully back at her, a serene smile forming at the corner of his mouth. Behind him, in the pool, he heard a small splash, and turned his head to see a trout disappearing back below the dark water's surface.
Fluttershy turned to go back inside, and over her shoulder, called, "There are fish in the brook."
With a growl in his stomach, the Arbiter knelt at the river's bank, and there, he lay in wait.
Meanwhile...
The ashen air burned Shining Armor's throat as he ran, but with each determined snort, each pounding gallop, he was farther away from the Remnant and closer to the nesting grounds. At his side, Rtas kept pace. Their ivory exteriors were stained black by the volcanic soil, and their hot breath mixed with the noxious fumes of the volcanic plane. Out of the corner of his eye, Shining saw the Shipmaster's talon click away at a hologram on his gauntlet, and over the next ridge, he heard their stashed Phantom's engines roar to life.
Swiftly, they jumped into the dropship, and sped off along the barren earth, the downward blast of the turbines throwing back a heart shaped cloud of ash in their wake.
Exhausted, Shining felt the cold metal of the craft's hold embrace him. Briefly, the thought of the grueling past days' operations teased his mind, and he stole a few moments' rest.
He awoke at the now familiar sound of the dropship's engine pitch changing, and his eyes opened to greet the hellish red light of the Badlands pouring into the dark hold.
Steelhide was there as soon as the Phantom's engines stopped, barking questions before their boots had even settled into the dust.
"Did you find them? Where are they? Did you notify the others?"
Shining, out of breath, stooped, all but gasping.
"They're... at the base... of the volcano. Thousands..."
"Tens of thousands," corrected the Shipmaster, "They've staged for an assault. We left as they were lining up their corvettes."
Shining looked up at the gaping crocodile-like maw of the Emperor, his entourage of bodyguards and scouts arrayed behind him. They were heralds of doom on the edge of the nesting grounds, and Shining, to the tune of thousands of dragons protecting their offspring, watched the light begin to flee from Steelhide's proud eyes.
"Is the Army of Hope coming?" he crowed hoarsely.
"As fast as they can," assured Shining Armor, "I know Celestia. I know Luna. They're on their way here with all of Tauren and Griffonstone now, and all the others won't be far behind."
"We should move East and join them," urged the Shipmaster, only to be answered by a chorus of hisses.
"How many thousands of dragon children lay defenseless in these nests?!" Steelhide roared back, "I will not leave them to a fate of chance!"
"You can't take on the Covenant alone."
"I'm not alone," Steelhide growled as his talon pointed towards a plain and sky full of every species of dragon imaginable, "I have the most powerful force in the world."
As he finished, all the squawking vocalizations in the shadow of the volcano went silent in a very animalistic way, and slowly, as if creeping up from the bones of the earth, a resounding bass note that shook the gravel and bone grew. Shining's and Steelhide's eyes met. They knew.
They looked to the volcano, and as if peeking through a curtain of smoke, the bow of a Covenant Battle-Cruiser slowly came into view. The glow of its purple engines turned the red haze to pink, and Banshees, like bees from their hives, poured forth from the hangars, and streaked for the nesting grounds with a climbing wail.
They'd done all they could. Help was on its way, but the Covenant was going to get to them first. They were all that stood between a new generation of dragons the world over and annihilation.
Steelhide looked at Shining, and they shared a doomed nod. The stallion jumped into the hold of the Phantom as Rtas began powering it up, and Steelhide drew his gladius. The Tarragon thrust it into the air as he belched out a roar and a column of flame, and all the dragons of the Badlands followed the Phantom into the air.
Through the ventral doors, Shining watched as the horde took wing, blotting out the sun as they went airborne. Like a wave, they climbed into the red sky, the gargantuan hen at their center, and Steelhide at the front, wings pumping.
"Keep them off my tail," growled Rtas in Shining's ear, and the Phantom rolled into a banking climb, gaining altitude on the Banshees coursing towards them.
Shining's horn glowed hot, and he breathed quickly in anticipation. For the smallest moment, he thought of Cadence.
The sound all seemed to drift away as the cloud of dragons crashed into the cloud of Banshees, their meeting announced by the bright flashes of blue plasma and jets of orange flame shooting across the sky. As if hypnotized, Shining watched as Banshees, trialing smoke, and dragons, limp or struggling and writhing frantically, began falling to the black earth below.
Covenant fighters dashed past them, dragons ripping into their hulls to get at the pilots, or melting through their colorful exteriors with their searing fire. The Banshees dove and rolled on the dragons, working in pairs to separate individuals from the flock and then hit home with long bursts of plasma. Mid-air collisions rent metal and smashed bone, purple and green explosions carved out chunks of the frenzy, and in great sweeping motions, the largest dragons cleared the sky with swipes of tail, talon and flame.
Shining felt as though he were trapped in the heart of a thunderstorm.
Then the first Banshee dove on them.
The Phantom rolled, and Shining held on while he tried to drive the craft away with rays of magic. He connected a few shots, only for the Banshee to roll away and then come on again at a different angle. Through the walls of the hold, he felt the Phantom's cannon blasting away with heavy plasma shells.
Timing a roll perfectly, Shining connected with their trailing Banshee's engine, sending it sputtering towards the ground. Looking around, he saw dozens of Covenant craft joining it, and he couldn't believe it.
"We're winning..."
His eyes lit up with hope, but then his face lit up with purple. The air began to feel electric, and he felt a resounding vibration in his ears. His hair stood on end.
Confused, Shining followed the noise to the belly of the Battle-Cruiser, and a growing purple light. Then, as if on cue, every Covenant Banshee darted like moths away from the fight towards their mothership's eminence. Mesmerized, Shining watched, until he felt the Phantom roll away, and the engines scream back to the North.
"Shipmaster!" called the stallion.
But there was no reply; there was only the sound of the Phantom's engines at maximum exertion, and the most terribly brilliant flash of light he had ever seen.
Earlier
With a stomach full of fish and tea, and a face full of sun, the Arbiter dozed comfortably on the banks of the stream in a bed of cherry blossoms. Far from being absent-minded, he meditated, letting his sub-consciousness flow towards healing. He was acutely aware of each cut in his skin, and tried to focus on visualizing mending them.
He could almost feel it working, and with each passing hour, he could feel his strength seeping back into him.
When he heard the front door of Fluttershy's cottage swing shut he looked up, and saw her cheerfully trotting towards him.
"Come on," she said jovially, "I'm going into town. You should come with me."
Without a question, the Arbiter stood, put his helmet back on, and followed her down the winding cobblestone path.
Before long they reached the outskirts of town, but even despite the languid day, there was not a soul in sight. The streets were barren, and storefront signs swung in the breeze with no one around to read them. The Arbiter regarded each sidestreet with a suspicious eye, but before long, it was his guide he began to harbor suspicions about.
They passed Main Street and the empty Market into the Town Square, towards a cityhall much larger than the one at Trottingham. The Arbiter slowed but when Fluttershy beckoned him further, he followed her again. Gingerly shepushed open the town hall's front door for him, and held it open while he ducked through the threshold.
A loud pop greeted him, and his hand instinctively went for his sword. But before he could spark the blades, he heard a congregation of voices sing out, heralding him in jubilation.
"SURPRISE!"
dumbstruck, the Arbiter stood in the doorway, armor clad and sword hilt in hand as confetti rained down on him, speckling his sterling armor all the colors of the rainbow and more. Streamers hung from the ceiling. Banners adorned the window frames. All around him, foals, fillies and Pinkie Pie bounced, blowing little horns and kazoos in celebration.
His eyes found the other Elements, and shaking their heads in amusement, they made their way up to him.
"We wanted to welcome you," Twilight explained, craning up at him with a smile from ear to ear, "And we don't know any better ways."
"The whole town came out!" exclaimed Applejack; much of the town bore her family likeness.
"So Pinkie put all this together," Rainbow Dash added, throwing her forelimbs up at the festively decorated town hall as she came to alight on the Arbiter's shoulder.
Pinkie, all but vibrating in excitement, began jumping all around the room, announcing the fruits of her labor as myriad ponies began enjoying her talents.
"We have CAKE, PARTY GAMES, CONFETTI!!!"
Another pop and another rain of confetti, and all the foals and fillies giggled, chasing each other around. And in the middle of all of it, the Arbiter stood bewildered.
"Oh here darling," Rarity suddenly said, and she gracefully placed a large package in his hands, "You've got to open this! I want to see your face!"
In an instant, the party stopped what they were doing and watched with eager anticipation to see what the gift was. With a sort of reverence, they regarded his slender fingers pulling at the ribbons' knots, and the wrapping paper fell away.
From inside of a small brown box, the Arbiter lifted out a beautiful, flowing, expertly stitched and perfectly sized lavender cloak.
With shocked eyes, he looked at Twilight and Rarity, and knew it was Twilight who told the seamstress about his reminisces, and what this garment meant.
Solemnly, he removed his helmet and threw the cloak around his shoulders and fastened the clasps under his collarbones. It was a perfect fit, a near replica of the one his crew had gifted him so many years ago. He felt something welling inside of him, and he looked up at the Elements.
"We just... wanted to say thank you, for everything," explained Rarity, "We are so grateful."
In an instant, the atmosphere was shattered by Pinkie's demand for a return to festivity.
"Lets PARTYYYYY!"
Hours passed. The Arbiter tried the food, and found it very sweet. He tried to talk to the guests, but found each conversation awkward. He tried to keep from stepping on the foals that were constantly trying to touch him.
By nightfall, he was sitting near a windowsill on the party's rim, simply watching everything quietly.
"Everything okay?" came Twilight's voice.
"Yes," he responded slowly, not looking up from his new cloak. He felt it in his fingers, admired its color; it was just like he remembered.
"I feel," he began slowly, "...I feel like... Thel 'Vadam... once again."
There was a long silence before Twilight sat with him.
"I don't belong here," Thel said suddenly, and he looked away.
"This is your home too," Twilight corrected him, but the Arbiter's expression conveyed its doubts.
After a long while, he nodded.
"Our people are very different," he began slowly, "But what you have here is... good. Truly. I hope you know what you have..."
There was another long silence.
"This is what I want one day... for my people."
Twilight laughed.
"Crazy Parties?" she said as Pinkie Pie, in a craze, lit off another shot of her confetti cannon, sending Rainbow Dash reeling.
"No," the Arbiter said with a chuckle, "Happiness. Community. Family..."
His eyes looked up in admiration once more at the entire town, gathered together without animosity or jealousy, enjoying one another in all their glories and faults.
"Peace."
He looked at Twilight, and for the first time since she'd known him, she saw him truly smile.
"Whoa!" came the sudden enamored call of a foal, who was reared up against the window, his hooves pressed against the glass and his eyes glittering with wonder at what was falling outside.
"Snow!"
The other foals at the party dashed to the windows, clambering over each other to get a glimpse of the falling white flakes. It took a few moments for them to realize that they could go outside and play amidst the lazily drifting snow.
"Snow?" asked Twilight aloud, laughing a bit as she watched the colts and fillies antics of bucking and romping outside, white dots floating about them on a light breeze.
"How could it be snowing?" Rarity asked, her sapphire eyes awestruck as she peered out the window skyward, "It's the middle of May."
The Arbiter said nothing as the speculations of the older ponies around him began to drone out the sounds of the children playing outside. Some blamed climate change, others, a mistake at Cloudsdale. But, the Arbiter didn't listen to them. Instead, he walked outside, his cloak waving with his movement, as if to play with the foals.
He stepped outside, and found the sun was obscured by what seemed to be clouds; such was expected, as grey skies were signature of a snowstorm. But as he squinted at the dim solar outline through the haze, his skin felt awry. It was still warm, perhaps warmer than it was earlier in the day. He breathed in the air, expecting a crisp chill on the insides of his nostrils, but felt no such thing. His mandibles parted to greet a snowflake that fell into his maw, but he felt no water on his tongue, only a dry hot dust.
Slowly, he put out his hand, and watched a trio of foals bucking with joy and youthful energy as the white flakes began to cover their hides, but their fur was not becoming glossy with melted snow, it was becoming tainted as if with dirt. The Arbiter looked down at his own hand, white specks in his palm, and he ran a finger through them; they turned to grey and black cinders. It was then that he realized what was falling.
He turned slowly around, many of the stallions and mares now outside to admire the meteorological oddity; they were all smiles, but the Arbiter's face was grimmer than usual.
"Get them back inside," he growled to receive confused stares from all that heard him, especially the Elements.
"What's wrong if they play in the snow?" asked Rainbow Dash, her fluttering wings causing the drifting flakes to tempestuously fly around her to catch in her mane, "This is really cool, and it probably won't happen again for a re..."
"It isn't snow," interrupted the Arbiter as he looked at his cloak, now turning grey because of what had fallen on it, "It's ash."
Immediately, the face of every stallion and mare within earshot went from amazed to afraid, and parents quickly darted into the lawns and streets to gather their children. The foals complained and asked why they could not enjoy the weather, and the parents only tugged them towards home. The Arbiter looked skyward, upwind, and the Elements at his side followed his gaze after seeking each other first.
"Something massive is ablaze," he growled, and he began to brush off his shoulders of their ashen accumulation.
"What could be on fire?"
The Arbiter looked back.
"What lies to our south?"
"Appaloosa, Dodge Junction. Farther than that..."
"Where are the princesses now?"
Twilight answered both questions at once.
"The Badlands."
"And what's in the Badlands?"
"Dragons," she answered slowly, "and their nesting grounds."
The Arbiter looked as far south as he could see, where the clouds began to turn darker. He squinted at the clouds, the expansive overcast of dark blue and grey, and saw purple lightning leaping in the sky.
"No," he growled, a combination of fear, anger and despair in his voice.
"What's wrong?" asked Fluttershy, who was in tune to his distraught demeanor.
He turned back to face her, his pupils all but pinpricks, and his voice low, he answered.
"They're glassing the Badlands."
