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                  Don't Fear Your Arbiter                  
                   -by The_Pegasus_Box-                    
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                          Welcome                          
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Welcome
Rays of sun overhead shined through thick foliage directly into the Arbiter's eyes. The memories of what happened shortly before flooded his mind. The human ship, Forward Unto Dawn was split in half. The section containing the Demo- The Master Chief, was cut off by the portal. The life support systems on his half were failing due to a breach in the ship, one of the hatch's didn't close. The Arbiter ran from the bridge to the hatch to close it manually, he almost succeeded to. Before he could shut the door, he was knocked by a Scorpion Tank out of the ship and thrown into the void. Struggling for air, he soon found himself blacking out, and lost in slip-space.
Or so he thought.
The Arbiter gasped for air as sunlight barraged his eyes with their rays. The memories dissipated as his situation became clear, and instinct took over. Trees surrounded him and the familiar smell of a swamp traveled up his nostrils. His training, passed down for generations and proved each battle, kicked in. Standing, his sword fizzed to life and his plasma rifle clicked to ready. Sniffing the air, he took in everything.
Nothing smelled right. This place didn't smell like The Ark, or Earth.
"Where am I?" He asked no one in particular. To him, the trees looked like ones from Earth, but they didn't smell right. So he knew that conclusion was wrong.
They are too... Clean.
Now that he thinks about it, everything here smells clean. The Ark smelled artificial, while Earth and most other worlds smelled of industry and ash. This one smelled untainted, pure. Wherever he is, it's far from home. Lowering his weapons, he deactivates them and clips them to his sides with a magnetic clack. Looking up, the sun shown from an angle due east. Logically, for Sanghelios that is, the nearest village would be due north. Swamps on Sanghelios where a rare thing, so he hoped whatever lived on this world had the same logic in mind.
Before he set off, he checked his equipment. 'What was that human term. Ah, better safe than sorry'.
On his back sat his Type-51 Carbine with nine rounds. On his belt sat another three cases, all full. His plasma rifle held steady at eighty four percent. Two plasma grenades and an Incendiary grenade are clipped to his sides. And finally, on his right leg clipped his Type-1 Energy Sword. The Prophets Bane, or so hes taken to call it, sitting at its overcharged power. Somehow, the AI Cortana managed to transfer his excess shield energy to his weapon after his armor upgrade. Nodding with satisfaction, he turned and marched north. He did not want to spend much time on this world, he needed to inform Lord Hood about The Master Chief.
A cool breeze swept through the thick underbrush. The Arbiters sheer height alone kept him from becoming stuck in the greenery. Although his silver-bronze armor made him stand out like a sore thumb, he doubted any intelligent life would be in vegetation this thick. His steady pace of walking kept his mind off the large amount of bugs, presumably mosquito in nature, from his concern. One false step, and he could tumble into a ravine or a small lake with who-knows-what in it. Another breeze blew by. The Arbiter took a whiff of the cold air and savored it's feeling. Ever since he discovered the truth of Halo, the forerunners, and the prophets, it felt like a massive weight he hadn't known was there had been lifted from his back. After that day, he felt himself stand straighter, yet more limp and calm. His tone of speech while still "Royalee" as the humans called it, was becoming more modern, and less sophisticated. He welcomed the changes, because to him, Thel' Vadam was dead, and he is a new Sangheili.
Pausing for a second to scratch his bug-bites that itched his neck, he took another tentative sniff of the air, still cautious of anything lurking. He was not disappointed. A scent hit his nose, a familiar one. Metal and meat. 'Maybe something intelligent lives on this world after all?'
Readying his carbine, he took slow steps toward the smell. He paused every few feet and raised his carbine, scanning the area. Soon enough, he was right on top of its origin. Below his feet, rifle raised, sat a bush.
He kicked the bush. Nothing happened. 'Stupid nose, incompetent bushes'
The Arbiter was about to continue his march when the world around him shifted. Multiple forms burst from the vegetation, including the bush at his feet, and swung at him with a multitude of weapons. Reacting on instinct, he swing his carbine at the two figures that exploded from the bush before him. He hit one in the face and the other in the chest. Something hit him from behind and uttering a low yelp he was on the ground. One of the figures stood behind him, wielding a large hammer. Arbiter kicked him dead in the chest, sending him flying. He turned to get up when he noticed the two creatures he hit before. The one he hit in the face held a bloody eye with a... hoof? The creature was small and stocky, boasting camouflaged armor. Its squared jaw and face made the Arbiter think it to be male and its odd silver eye shone brightly. Dropping its hoof, Arbiter could see the other was a sharp gold. The other, a winged version of the first, looked more sleek, with its muzzle small and short, this one struck him as female. She also wore similar armor, her eyes a shimmering blue. Before he could contemplate any more, his legs worked on auto and he burst into a sprint due north-west.
|---<Hayseed Forest>---|
When his assaulter's smell no longer lingered, Arbiter let himself a chance to breathe. A quiet bubbling sound echoed nearby, and realization washed over him accompanied by relief. Within a few meters sat a clean stream. Scooping his hand into the water, he drank happily. Little did he notice the change in the trees until he smelt it. Lifting his head, he noticed the air felt less humid here. Not only that, but the tree's leaves shone a brighter green. He was definitely in a different biome. Standing up, he clipped his carbine back onto his back and continued walking, his mind distracted.
The Arbiter had read up a lot on humanity during his time on the ship Forward Unto Dawn. Most of the 'books' he read were on human history. He enjoy'd their World Wars and reading on the production of technology. 'Seriously, Bio-foam, that is an invention for the ages'
What he also read however, was their mythological texts. Most religions they had were forgotten when they invented space travel, but one, Christianity, sat whole. When the Covenant arrived however, that one disappeared as well. The irony of the situation the Covenant found themselves in now forced a laugh from Arbiter. 'We should have seen it long ago, how could we have been so blind?' However, the mood was soon forgotten when the beings that attacked him re-emerged in his mind. The male one reminded him of a Earthen pony, only distorted and odd. Forming an ambush like that took great skill, so he expected them to be intelligent life. Unfortunately for him, Arbiter didn't think them to be friendly. What struck him as odd though, was the female one. She had wings. He remembered reading something on creatures like this, the Pegasus.
"This is a strange place..." Arbiter muttered. A creature out of mythology actually alive was something remarkable he hoped. It wasn't from his history, so he didn't care too much. The sun above him was at midday, and he had yet to find civilization that didn't try to kill him. Going off into a trance, his ears listened to the chirping of birds and the breeze that carried him as he walked.
It was about 1500 hours when his ears picked up the sound. His nose would have been first, if it hadn't been so loud. Cheering and shouting filled his ears as he ran to whatever made the noise. Soon enough, a small town filled his vision as he came to the edge of the forest. Activating his helmets short scope, he managed to get a look at a crowd of cheering ponies surrounding what looked to be a colorful train. 'Actually, now that I look at it, it looks like someone let a human four year old go crazy with paint on this town. Even the ponies here looked like... What was that human candy called? Smarties, right'.
Sergeant Johnson filled his mind, the memory of Arbiter trying candy for the first time with the Sergeant reemerged, with sorrow at his loss, before he remembered another thing he talked about. The humans called it, "Riding the Rails" where one would hop on a transport and get a ride for free, if they went unnoticed. It originated when humans would seal a ride form a train by hiding on top. Whatever was on that train was certainly important. If he climbed on top, he could wait until they became alone, and he could speak to them, and NOT get ambushed. As the plan crossed his mind, he mentally kicked himself for not checking his motion tracker before. Activating his camouflage, he moved into the town. A sign crossed his vision, and he mentally added its name to places visited.
|---<Dodge Junction>---|
Walking nonchalant though the town is easy enough for the Arbiter. When a pony passed by, he checked his motion tracker. The result wasn't easy to take. Somehow, his motion tracker got damaged. It doesn't even appear on his HUD. Moving a little quicker, he managed to get to the back of the crowd, which stood no more than up to his waist, and catch a glimpse at what they were cheering at. Before him was another pony, but this one much different. She, presumably a female, had a deep blue coat, horn and wings. Her eyes shone teal and her blue mane sparkled in an invisible breeze. Oddly, it reminded Arbiter of the night sky, something he treasured greatly. Upon her flank was a black patch and a crescent moon. She wore a neck brace, silver shoes, and a tiara. She was obviously royalty of sorts. Now that he notices, all the ponies he has seen have marks on their flanks. Either they painted them on or they are natural he did not know.
The train game a loud whistle and the blue pony turned to get on. That was the Arbiter's cue to move as well. Stepping quietly, he walked around the crowd and towards the train, and climbed onto the front car as quiet as possible. Lying on top, he let out a sigh of relief as none of the ponies seemed to notice him. Looking over the edge of the car and into the cabin, he saw the blue pony and what looked like a battalion of soldiers.
'It seems like my ride will have to be cut short'
The Arbiter did not want to harm anyone here, nor the contrary, so stealth seemed like the best way to go about all of this. He has killed enough. The train let out a sharp wheeze and started its run.
As the Arbiter clung onto the train, he took in the vast scenery to either side of him. To the west was a plain that spanned for miles, ending in a desert. A red mountainous range filled most of his view in the south. They passed a second town before they went over a large gorge. Looking east he found himself staring at an enormous mountain over the trees of a forest. On the side of the mountain, sat a gleaming white city. From here, the Arbiter could even make out the details of gold and marble. He gawked at the sight. Turning his attention back to the rails, he passed over a bridge before another town came into view. The town was mostly made of wood and other materials, so the large amount of ponies in golden armor like the ones on the train stood out. Looking right, the Arbiter gave a silent prayer before pushing himself off the train and into the trees next to him. He felt the train car rock as he shot off, another prayer that no one saw him. The Arbiter waited silently for the train to pass, and when it did, he got up and moved into the cover of the trees.
Once the rails and town were out of sight, he sigh'd and slumped to the ground. Lying on his back, he let the cool air wash over him and relax his body. He had no idea how tired he was. Before he could relax any longer, he willed himself up and walked deeper into the forest, but towards the town at the same time.
'Given enough thought, I'm guessing the inhabitants of this planet are largely on the intelligent side. After my previous experiences with unknown meat, I think I'll just settle for fruits for now. Maybe I can get a few of the town of they have a market during the night'
It wasn't his best plan, but it would work. No way is he going into a populated area with that many guards. He may be tough, but hes not suicide. Eventually, the Arbiter found a small clearing. Close enough to be able to smell the town, but not hear it, nor see it. A few reads though a UNSC survival guide that one of the ODST's gave him flashed through his mind. He needs three things, shelter, food and water. Food is covered, and water shouldn't be too hard to find. Shelter, due to his size, is going to be a slight problem.
He surveyed the trees in the area, looking for a specific one. One of the trees, off to his left, has just what he needs. A low lying branch (for his height, about six feet off the ground) which can be easily cut off. Doing so, he can hang foliage off it to cover him. Moving to the branch, he takes the piece in one hand and wields his sword in the other. It may be a disgrace to use the blade in such a manner, but, no one was here to judge. With an almost effortless swing, the blade cleaves through the thick branch just before his hand, leaving a large stub. Tossing the rest of the greenery on the ground, he rips off the other pieces still on, good for a fire. Once done, he proceeds to cut off multiple other branches from trees around him of sufficient height. Propping up the branches on each side, he steps back and admires his improvised lean-to. 'Not bad for a first'
Next on his list was food. He opted to just carry his sword and leave his carbine and rifle inside the lean-to under some extra branches. He took the grenades however, wouldn't want anyone to accidentally blow up or set the forest on fire. Activating his camo, he walks to the village. It takes him the good part of five minutes of walking before he caught sight. Looking at his arm, he confirmed it to be invisible, nodding, he walked into town.
Another sign, this one made him chuckle slightly.
|---<Ponyville>---|
Walking into the town, he took note of two things. One, it smelled GLORIOUS! Not meat could be smelled, but that's to be expected when the main villagers are ponies. But the fruit! No bounty this good could ever be found on Sanghelios! The scent of the fruit almost made him not notice the second thing. The language. The ponies in the town spoke -with some differences- in clear human English. At first, it came as a shock, but soon dispersed to relief. If they spoke a language he could understand, all the better. Before he got his hopes up to far, he double checked his translator. It came up as deactivated. A few sentences passed his ears, every pony here seemed happy. Too happy. He didn't like it. Unknowingly, Arbiter managed to wander into the middle of the town market. Preferably, he needed to get food and get out before a guard noticed him. Looking up, he saw it was almost sundown, another reason to get moving. Scanning around him, his eyes soon locked onto a sight which made his mandibles water.
Apples.
'APPLEAPPLEAPPLEAPPUAPPULZ!'
The one time he had an apple before this was on Earth, it was like divinity made fruit.
He also on the same day, on a completely unrelated note, pissed off an entire battalion of ODST's by liberating their apples.
He mentally checked himself to not run over there and take the entire stand, he could probably do it too. Walking over tentatively, he glared daggers at the pony at the stand. She was orange with a yellow mane and tail done up in ponytails, she also is sporting a stetson. If the pony could see Arbiter, she would have probably exploded from his stare. He wanted those apples badly. Walking around to the back of the stand, he looked for a way to get one of the half barrels of apples. What felt like an hour (which was really ten minutes) the Arbiter stared at the back of the ponies head. His patience was rewarded when she let out a yawn and walked over to a pair of saddlebags next to the stand. If he wasn't invisible, he would have been a blur anyway. In one quick motion he dove in, grabbed a bushel, and was already running before she even got up from her bags.
Once the Arbiter got back to his camp, he set the apples down and stared at them. Cautiously, as if it were to melt away at his touch, he grabbed one. Holding it up to his mouth, he took a "small" bite out of it, A.K.A. half the apple.
Right then and there, he felt like the divine winds were carrying him along. The experience was sensational, the apple ripe and filled with juice. He wouldn't care if he couldn't have meat ever again, this is all he needs. He ate five more apples before stopping himself. While delicious, they weren't that filling, hes going to need to take some again in a day or so to keep up his required consumption of food. Grabbing the foliage off his rifles and some left over from his lean-to, he made a small fire pit. The grass on the ground was going to be a problem, so; grabbing his sword, the heated blade dried out and crumpled the grass in seconds. Once finished, he placed the foliage in the center of the large patch of dirt and ash and held his sword around it. Within a minute, he had a good fire. A quick trip further into the forest and one small tree later he had enough branches and logs to last him a while. If all went smoothly, the next week or so would be constant recon of the ponies. For some reason, he didn't trust any of them anymore than the Jiralhanae. They're too... happy. It isn't right.
Laying on the grass beside the fire, the sun began to set and the moon rise. This planet had only one moon, like Earth. A starry night filled the sky. Reaching up, the Arbiter removed the mandible guards on his face and set them beside the fire. Shifting closer to the flame, he lifted his helmet off and set it beside him as well. Staring at the stars, he let sleep overtake him.
The next two weeks went by as a sort of routine for the Arbiter. Constantly waiting for the guards to leave or lessen so he could reveal himself to someone without getting a spear through the neck. After he first set up camp, he restricted himself to simple recon and scavenging. Each day at random intervals he would head into town and take food from the stalls when the owners weren't looking. Eventually, he found out which food was ripe and at what time and what was not. A few times in he heard the townsfolk speak about a "Ghost", this was obviously him. What surprised him however, is the increased amount of business at each stall shortly after the time of day he stole his portion of food. He paid no mind, however, as his recon provided much to ponder. On the third day he discovered the massive tree-castle near the edge of town on the other side. For four days he spent waiting outside that castle. Battalions of guards entered and exited the building as well as another figure. Like the blue pony he had seen before, this one had a horn and wings, and is purple. However, this ones mane was short and kept, and she was no more taller than any other pony. Each time, she was accompanied by some lizard thing, presumably a pet. He would have kept watching the castle, but something else caught his mind. Multiple times he had seen a rainbow overhead, only when he discovered it was a pony making this, he got interested. For a time, he watched this Pegasus do tricks and stunts in a field. Eventually, this got tiresome as well, and he needed a change of view. Years of service his entire life kept him moving, and being in a single location for a period of time made him go uneasy. While not to old for a sangheili, seventy out of his two hundred or so year span, his experience weighed him down as much as age. As his age crossed his mind however, so did thoughts of home.
'Now that the prophets are dead, and we can forge our own path, what will become of the Arbiter? Of me? Presumably politics, regarding the military nature as a best result. With my council now, there was no way I would be fighting on the front lines any longer. Maybe... Maybe I could even start a family? Sangheili tradition states the father cannot see his child, but the winds of change are blowing, maybe I can steer them in the right direction'
Right now however, the Arbiter had a more pressing matter.
His eyes locked with his opponent, his opponent glared back.
He shifted on his legs, his opponent rattled slightly.
Opening his mandibles, he displayed rows upon rows of shark like teeth, his opponent opened his mouth and two long fangs shown in the sunlight.
He couldn't take it any more.
He blinked.
"CURSES!" Arbiter shouted at his opponent, "Fowl snake! You win this time"
The snake in question stuck out its forked tongue and slithered away. Laying back in his camp on a tree, he pondered the snake once again. When it had first shown up in his camp, he had solved the mice problem the Arbiter was beginning to have. He decided then he wasn't going to eat it. The snake came back each day. On occasion, the Arbiter would find himself talking with the reptile, usually with the result of hitting himself, but eventually he gave up and continued rambling to the creature. His camp had changed somewhat from his first day here. He managed to expand his lean-to with larger branches, as well as some wood from the half barrels of fruit he borrowed. At one point, he hollowed out a section of a tree surrounding the small clearing and he stuffed his weapons inside, save his sword of course. During a few visits to the town Ponyville, he snuck by one strange shop, which to his amusement, sold clothes. 'Ponies wearing clothes, amusing' One time, the owner left out a large brown piece of cloth, which he took. The next day, ponies seemed to swarm the place. Using said cloth, Arbiter tore off a piece to cover the hole in the tree, and the rest of it as a blanket to lay on or in.
So far, today was going smoothly, so why did he have a bad feeling something was going to go horribly wrong?
>~~Scootaloo~~</
Scootaloo buzzed along on her scooter. Her mood could get no brighter. Her friends, which are seated in the wagon attached to her scooter, also could not drop their smiles. They had a plan, and it was sure to get their cutie marks.
They are going to find the Ghost of Ponyville, and get their cutie marks in ghost-hunting.
By the time they reached the edge of the forest, the three were so eager they could be mistaken for vibrating balls of fluff. The small section of the Everfree forest they thought the Ghost to be living in was probably the safest part of the Everfree. The river which separated stopped most creatures from entering. Apple Bloom had worked out the perfect plan, they would split the forest in three sections, and each would look through their section. Finishing, they would meet on the other side. Then, run along the rails home. It was by straw's that Scootaloo got the side closest to the river.
This is so going to work.
>~~Arbiter~~</
At first, he didn't smell her, but heard her. Someone, female and young, was approaching his camp shouting "Here Ghostyghostyghosty! C'mere!" If anything, this was going to make him go further from the high pitched squeaking. The voice, obviously female, had woken him from a nap he had dozed off to. Mentally kicking himself all the way for falling asleep, he activated his camo, grabbed his carbine, and hid the rest of his camp. Now, he played the waiting game.
Through his weapons scope, he could see the small white pony, which had a horn, and a fluffy mane. It had no butt-mark and was under half the height of an average pony, so it was obviously young. Somehow, he needed to steer her away from his camp.
As if luck smiled upon him today, another voice rang in the distance, "Sweetie Belle! Apple Bloom!"
The white pony, obviously one of the two who was called, tuned towards the voice. Whoever that was, the Arbiter made a mental note to thank them. Hopefully, the three voices would leave. With the amount of guards in that single town, every single pony in that area must be of grave importance, and he didn't want to piss them off. The being off in the distance yelled the names again, only this time, it was accompanied by a loud roar that shook the trees.
The Arbiter, moving on instinct, rushed out of his camp and passed the white pony. While still invisible, she must have seen him because she came running in the same direction. Peering through his scope, he caught a glimpse of the situation.
Two young ponies, one yellow with a red mane, and one orange with a purple mane, ran screaming in fear from what looked like a massive crocodile made of rocks. It took the Arbiter a second to compile himself after the sheer stupidity of this situation. The crocodile however, took no breaks. The yellow filly, if that is the proper term, managed to get ahead by a few meters, she ran past the Arbiter and with the white pony turn and ran. The orange filly shared no luck however. The crocodile shot forward in a burst of speed and impacted the back of the filly, sending her tumbling forward. Knowing the intelligence, and obvious significance, of these ponies, he was not going to let one become some things meal.
'I am positively going to regret this'
The filly landed and the crocodile caught up. The pony had no chance to get up as the animal put a foot on the filly's leg, bending it the wrong way. A loud snap could be heard among the screams and tears of pain, both from the leg breaking, and the clack of the Arbiters carbine. All nine shots from his current clip exited the barrel in loud pops. Most of the shots missed or hit the stomach and burned the stone, but two got lucky and flew true into the beasts eye. It howled in pain and reared up. The Arbiter threw down his rifle and charged the beast, standing over the filly, he put his hands over the crocodiles paws and stopped the creature from crushing the pony. The beasts weight was too much however, and the Arbiter fell on one knee, and his camouflage dropped.
>~~Scootaloo~~</
Scootaloo stared up at her protector. Tears in her eyes clouded her vision, but the silver-bronze armor of the creature reminded her of the royal guard. Wiping her eyes with a hoof, she watched as the creature threw the cragadile onto its back. Using it's tail, the cragadile swatted the creature into a tree. Her savior glowed a brilliant white, then gold, then back to normal. The attack only seemed to seriously anger him. Letting out a mighty roar with split mandibles like an insect, he charged the cragadile. Jumping, he landed on the creatures stomach. In his right claw he held a small silver object. To Scootaloo, it looked like a dumbbell Rainbow Dash would use. Only when he whipped his arm back, did she see it wasn't the case. Out of the object came two long blades, pulsing with blue energy and a white outline. Putting a claw on the cragadile's neck, he thrust the blade into the cragadile and it fell dead.
Scootaloo ignored the dead creature. She was used to things dying. Yet, her mind felt hazy, weak.
The last thing she saw before blacking out, was her savior reaching down, and picking her up in his arms.
>~~Arbiter~~</
The orange filly in his arms needed medical attention, fast. Running back to his camp, he pulled out the blanket he had slept on and folded it into a smaller, thicker piece. He set the filly down on the blanket and examined the wounds she bore. A few scrapes and cuts were not in his concern, the broken hind leg however, was. Her left hind leg had been bent the wrong way, half way between what he thought was a knee and the hoof. It needed to be set properly. If this was anything like a Sangheili leg, a quick twist to the right should do it. However, he could clearly see the bone sticking through the flesh and fur of the leg out the left side.
He needed bio-foam.
Unfortunately, he had no bio-foam. This was going to cause it great pain, but their was no other option. Grabbing it's leg, he twisted right, hard. It's purple eyes shot open and it let out a scream at the top of it's lungs. Her scream, so high pitched it couldn't be male, stopped after a moment as she blacked out. Arbiter picked up the blankets and filly and set her and them in his lean-to, then covered the entrance. Her leg is gushing blood, she might bleed out. He needs bandages, there was no way he was going to risk bringing her to a hospital, not if he wanted to survive the trip. Taking a chance, the Arbiter grabbed his gear, all of it, from the tree, activated his camo, and bolted into Ponyville.
On the outskirts of town, he saw the two other fillies from before, as well as six other ponies with shocked faces. He recognized a few. The purple one from the castle, and the blue one that made rainbows. He paid no mind as he thundered through the town. Dodging as much as he could, he ran to the hospital he spotted along the far right of the town. He suspected ponies to take notice of the loud steps he was taking. But, if he didn't get bandages now, the filly might bleed out.
Approaching the hospital, he burst through the doors which sent the few doctors inside into alarm. The only thing they felt, was some unseen force barrel through them. The Arbiter spotted what he needed inside one of the rooms of the hallway he was running through. It's occupant, a female pony gasped and stared at the door to her room as it impacted the wall after the Arbiter, unknown to her of course, burst into the room and grabbed bandages, painkillers, cotton ball's, alcohol and surgical tape. Instead of turning, the Arbiter opted to jump through the glass window, roll to a stand, and continue running back to camp.
He almost made it back to.
As he exited the town border, something grabbed at his leg and made him fall, dropping his supplies. Turning, he saw his leg encased in a pinkish glow. The purple pony with wings and a horn was trotting up towards him, and angry look on her face. Her horn was glowing the same pinkish hue as his leg. She was stopping him. Grabbing his supplies, he turned to face the pony which was now face to face with him. A quick glance behind her revealed no one to bother. A smirk crossed her face in an angered look.
'No'
In an instant, the Arbiters camo dropped, his mandibles split, and he roared into the ponies face.
The purple pony's demeanor dropped instantly from one of courage to one of fear. Her pupils shrunk to pinpricks and her horn stopped glowing. Spittle exited his mouth and combined with a layer of sweat forming on the pony. The Arbiters size made the pony cower beneath him, even on his knees. Taking his chance, Arbiter activated his camouflage and bolted into the forest.
>~~Twilight Sparkle~~</
Twilight's mind was blank save for one thought.
The Ghost of Ponyville was not a ghost.
It was... she had no idea what it is.
But she knew one thing.
It's teeth, are those of a carnivore.
What's going to happen to Scootaloo?
And why did it steal from the hospital?
In Twilight's thought, she failed to notice the creature run off into the forest.
>~~Arbiter~~</
The Arbiter took every step with caution, his camouflage never dropped and he made sure to cover all of his steps. A battalion or two of guards was the last thing he wanted knocking on his door. Once he set foot in camp, his first concern was the filly. Ripping off the branches in front of the lean-to, he was relieved to still see her unconscious. As if he were stroking butterfly wings, he gently tapped the wound with an alcohol cotton ball. Once finished, he threw the bloodied ball into the amber's of his fire, it incinerated. Taking a chunk from the bandages, he tightly wrapped them around the wound and taped them together.
Finishing, he grabbed more logs from a pile and deposited them in the fire. Pouring half the bottle of alcohol on top, he had a raging fire in seconds. Grasping the blankets, he pulled them beside the fire pit. The flames would keep her warm and speed up the healing process.
Lying back on a tree, he removed his helmet, letting it slide off his hand with a clank, and mandible guards which tinkled together as they hit the grass. It has been a long day.
The sun was setting before the Arbiter finally convinced himself he wasn't being looked for. Well, not more than usual. For the past few hours he patrolled the edges of his camp, carbine raised, left hand ready to grab the plasma rifle at any given second. The filly so far hadn't woken up. He knew she probably wouldn't be awake till tomorrow, yet it still bothered him not knowing if she was OK or not. WHY did he care for this filly? It's not even his species. Not only that, but his first encounter with this race tried to kill him. Why in all the hell's did he care for this female when he didn't even know her? What would it's parent's think, it's obviously young, so it had to have them, right? Letting out a sigh, the Arbiter walked back to his camp from his patrol. No more than a few meters away, the thicket of trees still blocked most light from the clearing. Arbiter stepped into the area and collapsed beside the filly, back to a tree. Tossing his helmet and mandible guards to the ground in a clatter, he reached for one of his buckets of assorted fruits. Pulling out an apple, he split it in half and set both pieces on a long stick he whittled in his spare time, an odd pass-time he learned from a UNSC sergeant. Arbiter idly roasted the apples over the fire as he munched on a banana he drew from the barrel. The Arbiter let himself relax in the bliss of the situation. Starry night, the smell of apples, a cool breeze...
...the tapping at his foot.
It was the filly. She was awake. And poking him.
"Hey mister?" She asked timidly, "Can I have a piece?"
The Arbiter. Legend of the former covenant army. Leader of the Swords of Sanghelios. Had no fucking idea how to respond. The fillies purple eyes grew to such a size it seemed impossible, and their glimmering shine in the darkness only made it worse. It was weaponized adorableness. He had already seen this once aboard one of the UNSC ships, their cat had kittens.
This was NO comparison. It made the kittens look like piles of Unggoy shit. Tentatively, as if moving would make the filly explode, he pulled off a piece of the apple and handed it to her. She cautiously grabbed the apple from his hand in her hooves, something he did not think possible, and started eating it. The Arbiter reached to his barrel and pulled out another apple. Splitting this one in half as well, he removed his piece and stuck the other two on.
For a moment they just sat there, both eating fire roasted apple.
'Pretty good, kinda soft, but good none the less'
The filly finished her apple. For a second she sat there, almost if she wanted to ask something. Pulling the apples back, he pulled one off and handed it to the filly, asking a question on both their minds.
"What is your name?"
The fillies eyes widened for a second, again, the Arbiter did not think this possible due to their already massive size, before returning to a curious gaze.
"Woa" She spoke, the Arbiter gave her a puzzled gaze, "you look cool when you talk"
The Arbiter laughed. Never had he been complimented on his mandibles. It was always split-jaw this or heretic-lizard that. Never had he been called, cool.
"Thank you, young one, I am Thel' Vadam, but you may call me Arbiter" Gesturing the piece of apple out again, the filly took it with less hesitation.
"I'm Scootaloo!"
The Arbiter hum'd happily. 'Scootaloo, what an interesting name'
For the next hour. Scootaloo and the Arbiter sat and roasted apples in silence. Only the crackle of the fire and the occasional low breeze to break the quiet. The filly attempted to hold back a yawn, but failed. Scootaloo crawled over to the Arbiter and curled into a ball beside his leg. The Arbiter could only smile (which was more or less his mandibles making a V shape) and cover the filly in the blanket. Eventually, he fell asleep too.