Operation: DRAGOON

Chapter Four

Spartan-A196, town of Ponyville, Ponyville Spa. 1000 Hours, December 03, 2552 (Military Calendar/Local Time)

Lisa felt very uncomfortable.

Colbert hadn’t been pleased with her decision to make contact with the Equestrians without consulting her more properly but now that the contact was made, they would have to maintain it. Or, more accurately, Lisa would have to.

The crew of the Boxer would remain hidden and continue scanning the planet for Insurrectionist signs, leaving Lisa to play diplomat. This involved learning as much as she could about their culture, beliefs and lifestyle, developing a good relationship with the rulers and, where possible, teaching them about humanity. At the same time, her original orders of searching for the Insurrection still stood and would need to be carried out.

A tall order, given how closely the Equestrians would follow her with the intent of being good hosts, but that wasn’t why Lisa was uncomfortable.

Twilight had sent a message to her mentor and fellow Princess, another Alicorn called Celestia, detailing the Spartan’s arrival.

Celestia had told her to spend a week introducing Lisa to Equestrian society while a more formal ceremony could be put together in the capital city of Canterlot. That meant Lisa would be spending the next seven days with at least one of the six ponies she had met on the first day, going along with them as they carried out their daily business or volunteered to give her a tour.

The first two to do that were Rarity and Fluttershy.

After readjusting her clock to the local Equestrian time, they had led Lisa deeper into Ponyville.

The moment they began walking to one building in particular, the Spartan’s unease had started to grow.

‘Why, a day at the spa is absolutely the best way to relax and unwind,’ Rarity said, walking at Lisa’s side. ‘You just feel so refreshed and rejuvenated. There is simply no alternative.’

‘I’m sure,’ Lisa said.

‘Oh, yes,’ Fluttershy said. ‘It’s nice.’

Lisa just nodded distantly as they entered the spa, two Earth ponies looking up as they did. One was blue with a pink mane while the other was the exact opposite, a blue mane with a pink coat.

‘Aloe, Lotus, this is SPARTAN-A196,’ Rarity said, placing her hoof on Lisa’s back and nudging her forward a little. ‘She’s a visiting diplomat.’

Lisa nodded again, this time in greeting. The two Earth ponies hadn’t been hit with the translation spell Twilight had cast, meaning they wouldn’t understand her.

‘A diplomat from where?’ the pink coated pony asked.

‘Outer space,’ Fluttershy said. ‘She’s an alien.’

The Spartan expected the two ponies to react negatively, or to freeze in place. She did not expect them to break out in smiles and usher her into the spa itself.

‘The usual, girls,’ Rarity said, floating over a robe that looked tailor made while Fluttershy put on one from a nearby pile. ‘And the same for our new friend.’

Friend? Lisa thought. She had met them all less than an hour ago and thrown up in front of them.

One of the ponies running the spa came over, looking expectantly at Lisa.

‘You’ll have to remove your clothes, darling,’ Rarity said as she climbed onto a waiting table where a third pony stood, ready to tend to her needs. ‘It’s the only way to truly enjoy the wonders that Aloe and Lotus perform.’

‘Easier said than done,’ Lisa said. Her armour needed a team of trained technicians and specialist tools to remove most of it. The only things she could take off were her gloves and helmet. ‘This isn’t exactly the easiest thing to remove by yourself.’

‘Do you need help?’ Fluttershy offered. She had perched herself on another table and was receiving a gentle massage from the blue pony, whereas Rarity’s was much more rapid.

‘Yes, but neither you or Rarity can help me,’ Lisa said. ‘Thank you for offering, though.’

‘Well, remove what you can,’ Rarity said. ‘Then make yourself comfortable and enjoy as much of the spa as you want.’

‘Right.’

Lisa reached up and took her helmet off, the suit letting out a faint hiss as the seal was broken. Next came her gloves which she placed alongside her helmet and guns on a shelf lining one wall. Her supplies and remaining weapons followed soon after. This still left Lisa wearing half a ton of metal and reactive circuits covering most of her body, limiting her choice of spa treatment.

She looked around, trying to decide on what to try out, then settled on a mud facial, easing herself onto the chair, lying flat on her back. It had been designed with ponies in mind, not seven foot tall Spartans, and her legs jutted over the edge.

The pink pony came over, brush in her mouth, and began applying the mud to Lisa’s face until it was completely covered, hiding her scars from sight. Most of them had come from plasma burns, earned during a Covenant attack, adding a level of ruggedness to the already hardened face. Her eyes were dark brown, never quite still, and guarded, watching the pony as placed two cucumbers over them and cut everything off, leaving Lisa to rely on her other senses.

Lisa felt the faint breath of the spa pony on her face as she adjusted the cucumbers to sit more properly, then heard her walk away.

‘Does your friend want her, um,’ the pony trailed off, searching for the correct word. ‘Claws doing as well?’

Lisa’s eyebrow twitched momentarily then fell still. The Equestrians had hooves. It was doubtful they knew the word hand. At least, in the context of anatomy.

‘Do you, A196?’ Rarity asked.

‘Sure,’ Lisa said. ‘And they’re not claws. We call them hands.’

Rarity translated, calling the pony seeing to Lisa by Aloe. That meant the other one was Lotus.

‘I’ve been meaning to ask,’ Rarity said as a file began rubbing against Lisa’s fingers and nails, smoothing the rough surfaces down. ‘Is your name really Chief Petty Officer SPARTAN-A196?’

‘No,’ Lisa said. ‘The Chief Petty Officer part is the rank I hold within the UNSC Navy. You can call me Spartan if you wish, or just Chief. I’ll respond to either.’

She didn’t know these ponies well enough or trust them enough to tell them her real name. Until then, her rank would do.

The unicorn made an ‘ah’ noise, though whether this was directed to Lisa or to the pony giving her a massage was unclear.

Lisa spent the next few minutes remaining stock still, fighting the urge to stand up and clear her eyes of the cucumbers. To lie motionless in a potentially hostile environment while an unknown held a potentially dangerous tool nearby during a time when she didn’t have her helmet on was contrary to her training. But, she was supposed to be an ambassador for Humanity and Lisa suppressed those feelings as much as she could.

Even so, she was constantly unclenching her hands as Aloe smoothed down her nails and applied a moisturising cream. It surprised Lisa that she was able to do such detailed work without hands, claws or magic to manipulate her tools, relying mainly on her mouth to carry and work them.

‘So, Chief,’ Fluttershy said as Aloe moved onto Lisa’s other hand. ‘What brought you to Equestria in the first place? Was it chance or were you looking for intelligent life? That is, if you don’t mind me asking.’

‘It’s fine,’ Lisa said. She forced her hand to remain limp as Aloe used a fine pick to remove all traces of dirt from beneath her fingernails while trying to determine what to tell the Pegasus. Her mission to track down the remaining Insurrectionists was classified top secret, meaning she could only share the details with those who possessed the right clearance. Fluttershy and Rarity didn’t have that clearance, and were aliens to boot.

‘I’m... looking for someone,’ she finally said, deciding to tell them the very basics. ‘We had a hint that they might be somewhere near this star system and followed up on it. I was looking for them when I came across Ponyville.’

‘Have you seen any sign of them yet?’

‘No,’ Lisa said.

‘Would you like our help in finding them?’ Rarity offered, her voice coming from a different location that it had been. Lisa guessed she had moved onto another amenity offered by the spa.

‘No, thank you,’ Lisa said. ‘I wouldn’t want to trouble you.’

‘Oh, don’t be ridiculous, darling,’ Rarity said back. ‘It wouldn’t be polite to not offer to help search for your friends. I absolutely insist on doing what I can to help.’

‘Me, too,’ Fluttershy added.

‘No,’ Lisa said firmly. ‘Thank you for offering but, and I don’t mean any offence when I say this, you’d be more of a hindrance than a help. I’d be more successful if I looked for them by myself.’

‘Faustia is a big planet,’ Rarity said. ‘It would take you a while to search it all. Wouldn’t your search go a lot quicker if somepony helped you?’

Lisa groaned inwardly at Rarity’s insistence on offering help. She didn’t like working in teams at the best of times, preferring to work alongside fellow Spartans over Marines and ODSTs if she had to choose one or the other. It was part of the reason she was happy to be deployed solo on long duration missions. The smaller the team, the easier to slip past a sentry, the smaller the footprint you leave behind.

For the past sixteen years, since Lieutenant Ambrose had taken her out of Alpha Company, she had worked by herself for the majority of it. The last time Lisa had become part of a larger Spartan team was during January of that year, fighting alongside another Spartan-III squad called Grey Team during a counter-Insurrection operation on Reach but even then, she had acted as an advance scout, calling out targets for Grey to neutralise and provide sniper cover as they assaulted the main rebel base, staying separate from them.

Adding civilians into the mix would spell disaster and possibly get them killed.

‘I’ll be fine on my own,’ Lisa said. ‘My ship is performing a search from orbit, looking out for small signs that the people I’m looking for are here.’

Aloe finished with her hands and started to work on Lisa’s hair, a difficult task considering the Spartan had it styled into a buzz-cut so short, she was nearly bald. This didn’t seem to deter the pony as she began working some kind of lather into it.

‘Are you sure?’ Rarity said, trying one last time. ‘I would be happy to help you.’

‘I’m sure,’ Lisa said. ‘But thank you for offering.’

The rest of the morning passed by quickly with Fluttershy and Rarity enjoying all the spa had to offer, from mud baths to regular baths filled with sweet smelling potions, while Lisa’s options were limited to what could be done to her hands and head. She did join the two ponies in the sauna, relaxing amid the steam, but was happier to be actually leaving the spa with all her gear back in place. It was a wholly new experience for the Spartan and not one she was entirely comfortable with.

‘What a nice way to spend a morning,’ Fluttershy said, stretching out her wings as Lisa and Rarity followed her out of the spa. ‘Did you enjoy it, Chief?’

‘It was okay, I guess,’ Lisa said, clamping her battle rifle into place. ‘Things like that aren’t really what I usually do.’

True, her head and hands felt soft and were cleaner than they had been in a long while, but it felt too alien for Lisa to properly enjoy. She was happier with her suit whole and a weapon close by.

Spike came jogging over as they walked away from the spa, waving to them as he did.

‘Hey, guys,’ he said, panting slightly from the exercise. ‘Pinkie says Sweet Apple Acres barn in an hour.’

Rarity and Fluttershy simply nodded as the dragon ran off again, exchanging glances at each other and at the Spartan.

‘What?’ Lisa said, looking back at them.

They just smiled and began walking to another part of Ponyville, forcing the Spartan to follow closely, mystified.

Spartan-A196, outskirts of Ponyville, Sweet Apple Acres. 1320 Hours, December 03, 2552 (Military Calendar/Local Time)

Rarity and Fluttershy took Lisa all over Ponyville, introducing her to the town’s inhabitants and businesses, for the best part of fifty minutes. It was only then that they changed direction and began leading her to the edges of town towards the farm Lisa had spotted during her initial observations.

It was surrounded by a waist high wooden fence painted white and looked to contain several dozen acres of orchards and fields. Near the main gate was a farmhouse with a distinct apple theme, standing proud amid a yard filled with hen houses and smaller sheds.

The two ponies escorting Lisa bypassed it, heading straight for a huge barn set behind the house. It was closed up but the Spartan guessed it wasn’t empty, not if the small glances Fluttershy and Rarity had continued to give each other in the hour leading up to this were any indication.

She recalled Pinkie Pie’s earlier statement and hasty exit.

A party, Lisa thought, exasperated. Great.

She didn’t mind that the ponies of Ponyville were throwing a party to welcome her. It was a nice enough gesture, but with parties came huge crowds and with huge crowds came too many variables for Lisa to feel comfortable with, as well as bringing up bad memories.

But, orders were orders. She’d just have to put aside her personal discomfort as best she could.

Rarity used her magic to open the doors just enough to let them all in but not enough to let light from outside seep in, keeping the barn’s interior darkened. Even so, Lisa’s augmented eyes could perfectly see a large number of ponies hiding behind tables, in the rafters and in empty troughs, while a liberal coating of streamers and confetti served to turn the barn from a storage space into a makeshift hall.

The moment Lisa stepped into the barn’s threshold, the lights were thrown on and everybody within the barn simultaneously yelling out surprise, the exception being Pinkie Pie who was a second or two later than the rest, and confetti was thrown up into the air.

Lisa fought back her growing unease and took a step into the barn where she was approached by Twilight and the rest of the ponies.

‘Welcome to Ponyville, Chief Petty Officer,’ Twilight said as the noise level began climbing, Pinkie Pie bouncing over.

‘I threw this party just for you!’ she said. ‘It’s a way of saying hi to you and the rest of Humanity.’

There was a banner running across the first beam that read ‘Welcome to Ponyville, SPARTAN-A196 and Humanity’, complete with a cartoon drawing of Lisa in her armour on both ends of the canvas.

‘Were you surprised?’ Pinkie asked.

‘No,’ Lisa said as she scanned the welcome message.

‘Aw,’ Pinkie said, looking down dejected.

‘Thank you for throwing it, though,’ Lisa quickly added.

The pink pony’s expression instantly cheered up and she beamed at Lisa with an impossibly wide grin.

‘So how did you enjoy your morning, Chief?’ Twilight asked as Pinkie went off to speak with someone else.

‘Fine, ma’am,’ Lisa said, adding the honorific on reflex. ‘Though spas aren’t really my thing. I’m not used to pampering myself like that.’

‘What are you used to?’ Twilight asked, directing Lisa over to a table filled with snacks, most of them being sweets or containing apples in way or another.

The Spartan reached for a plate and began piling it with a selection of the healthiest looking items there, avoiding the sugary sweets as much as possible.

‘Long periods without showers or proper beds,’ Lisa said. She placed her plate on a table and removed her helmet, attaching it to her rucksack with a piece of rope, then began picking away at her food. Even the healthier options were sickly sweet.

When Twilight looked at her with confusion, Lisa elaborated.

‘I’m a soldier, and the UNSC sends me on long duration missions more often than not. There have been months go by without me sleeping on anything other than solid ground.’

‘And a soldier is what exactly?’

Lisa momentarily stopped when she heard Twilight’s question, slice of apple pie half in, half out her mouth. She recovered and swallowed her mouthful of food before considering her answer. If Twilight, a Princess, didn’t know what a soldier did, then she guessed Equestria had no dedicated standing army, or even a militia.

‘I protect people,’ Lisa said. It wasn’t quite the truth. Her fighting was always away from population centres and against Insurrectionists. In a roundabout way, though, she did protect people but in the long run.

‘Like a Royal Guard?’ Twilight said. ‘They protect the princesses and patrol Canterlot, looking out for danger.

‘I guess so,’ Lisa said. ‘Though I’m sent out against enemies of the UNSC and neutralise them, operating in an active capacity rather than a passive, reactionary one.’

Twilight made an ‘oh’ noise as Lisa finished off her food.

‘I guess I’ll leave you to enjoy the party,’ she said, taking a step away. ‘And don’t worry about nopony understanding you. I’ve cast the translation spell over everypony so feel free to talk to them.’

Before Lisa could object, Twilight melted into the crowd and left the Spartan all alone in the middle of a massive party containing upwards of one hundred ponies. She fought down her unease, managing to at least subdue it for the time, then put her helmet back on. The click as it sealed her suit and whine as the shields charged to full strength calmed Lisa a little, but not by much.

You can do this, she thought. It’s just a room full of civilians. They’ve been nothing but kind and courteous towards you and haven’t been hostile in any way, shape or form.

There were still a hundred of them, and all of them alien.

Lisa took a calming breath and moved away from the corner she had been stood in, moving to stand amongst the thronging crowd, saying hello to the ponies.

Despite the smiles they gave her and the relaxed atmosphere, Lisa felt herself growing more and more unsettled with each pony she met and how her progress was slowly taking her away from the door. The fact she couldn’t spot any of the six ponies she’d met first only exacerbated the issue and Lisa felt her head start to spin.

The room suddenly became louder and she heard the faint roar of a Pelican’s turbines overlapping everything, a noise none of the ponies heard, followed closely by children crying and a sense of vertigo.

She suddenly found it very hard to breath.

‘I- I need-‘ Lisa tried to say to the pony she was speaking with, a lime green unicorn, but couldn’t quite form the right words. She centred herself on the door then beat a hasty path for it, roughly barging past ponies in a desperate bid to get outside.

She reached the door and was just about to step outside when Rainbow Dash dropped down in front of her, a question on the mare’s lips. Lisa just shoved her out of the way and burst into the outside world, staggering to a nearby tree to lean against, gulping in air.

She sagged to the ground, eyes clenched shut as she tried to get the Pelican’s whine out of her head.

Slowly, but surely, the memory faded as her breathing and heartbeat went back to normal.

Lisa opened her eyes, gradually, and let out a long breath as Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie and several other ponies came rushing out, all of them with the exception of Rainbow Dash wearing similar concerned looks. The blue Pegasus wore one tinged with annoyance.

‘Are you okay?’ Twilight whispered once she was closer. ‘You ran out of there like you were going to be sick.’

‘Wouldn’t be the first time,’ Lisa wheezed. She pulled off her helmet and sucked in fresh air, free of the chemical taste her suit’s filters gave it. ‘Agoraphobia. I don’t do well in crowds. They bring up... They bring up bad memories.’ She coughed and reached for a canteen clipped to the side of her rucksack. ‘Really bad.’

‘So, you didn’t leave because you hated my party?’ Pinkie asked. Oddly, her mane was completely flat, like someone had taken a pin to it and let all the air out, same with her tail.

‘No,’ Lisa said, taking a long drink before stowing the canteen. ‘I just needed to get away from the crowds.’

More ponies were coming out of the barn now, watching the Spartan as she stood and slipped her helmet back on.

As if a switch had been thrown, Pinkie Pie’s mane and tail inflated to their usual state. Lisa just opened her mouth in confusion, the only one to do so. The others still had their attention focused on her.

‘Do you wanna talk about it?’ Twilight offered.

Lisa shook her head, saying, ‘No. I’ll be fine so long as I don’t go into any more crowded places in small rooms.’ She glanced at the barn then back at Twilight and the others. ‘Sorry. I should have said earlier but I was trying to stay for as long as I could.’

Then, to Rainbow Dash, said, ‘Sorry for shoving you out of the way. I just really needed to get outside.’

Rainbow Dash waved the issue away. ‘It’s okay. You say you needed some air. I can relate to that. There’s nothing more that I love than open skies to fly through. Being inside starts to bug me after a while.’

‘Right,’ Lisa said. She looked at the barn again, hesitant to go back inside after her panic attack.

‘We can have the party out here if you want,’ Pinkie said, following her gaze. ‘We were only in there to surprise you.’

‘Sounds good,’ Lisa said. She took another calming breath then followed the ponies back into the barn to help bring the tables and food into the farmyard.