Spartan, Warrior of war.

I sigh getting myself out of the crater Kat put me in. Ow ow ow. The gel helped A LOT, but my back still hurts like hell, and so does my head. I run a medical evaluation through the armour systems, seeing nothing hurt too bad I sigh in relief. If I ever took off the armour a wicked bruise would definitely form, but I knew what I was doing the MOMENT I said those words, “You told a woman she had a muffin top. You earned it Spartan.” I chuckle as I look at the hologram of Karam.

She definitely was Cortana. The same hair, the same figure, the same starling intelligent and curious eyes...Where the hell did that come from? I'm not sure and I will not question it. At all.

I bend over her, grabbing her AI core, and naturally slide it back in the helmet feeling cold mercury slide down my spine. Naturally I shivered as the feeling spreads across my body, violating every inch of my body, “I missed you.”

“Couldn’t survive five minutes without me?”

“Look what happened when you left me for four minutes, I dread to think about five.” She laughs and...I feel happy.

“Sleep Spartan. It's been a rough day. I'll wake you if I need you.”

Space. Alone. Cold. Lost.

I take a deep breath, “Hey are you ok? Your vitals spiked. ALL of them.”

I nod, “I'm fine and sleeping sounds good.” I sit against a wall by all my items and possessions thankfully untouched. I look at the gun parts sighing as I wouldn't feel safe without at least one assembled. I take around ten minutes putting them all together feeling my eyes drop and execution began to take me.

I sit against the wall closing my eyes letting myself myself fall into a simple, Peaceful sumbler.

Luna’s P.O.V.

I smile down at the nightclub within eyesight of my towers balcony, right outside the Lunar entrance with my night ponies guard barracks.  A testament and reminder of the ponies newfound respect and love of my glorious and wide night, the strange lights and the even stranger but catchy music.

I sigh as send out a small magic pulse looking for nightmares requiring my assistance to face and overcome their night terrors and horrors born from fears and anxiety born from either themselves, their peers, or the society they live in.

Ping.

Ah, an upset dreamer in the Everfree? Must be a traveler or a hiker getting lost in the woods. Must be so scared, at least I can alleviate their dreams/nightmare/night terrors depending on how bad it is.

I cast the magic spell that allows me and only me to enter a dream. I smile as I enter the dream hallway. I cast the pulse once more feeling it ping on a shifting door on green and blue with a weird metal stick. Thats the first sign of something being wrong, as even with Discord the mismatched Dragonquest had a non shifting door like this. I open it and walk in to vanish the demon of this mind.

I know I am dreaming but I cannot wake up! I know I am in that little hamlet of a town surrounded by corpses of the...Covenant. “Kill the DEMON!” My head snaps to the elite zealot charging toward me, its energy sword ready to skewer me. I feel an rage build up, an uncontrollable rage building and eating at my insides, my vision, my mind.

I feel my shotgun in my hands and i see the rectal. I feel an feral grin tak my face as I scream rising the shotgun firing twice, once to drop the shields, the other to the face blasting its head off. I see the handle of the sword in the air and my rader is telling me something is behind me. I use the butt of the shotgun to double over the thing behind me while spinning around with the sword active slicing through all restaiance, shields, armour, skin.

I see it to be a dark blue pony unicorn with wings, its missing the top half of its head. ITs tongue rolled out and most of its spine and brain on display. The world blurs and I awake.

Celestia P.O.V.

I jump awake from my sleep to a scream, Luna’s scream! I send a magic pulse to all staff ringing the bells on their stationed as they only interact with either Mine or my Luna's magic. I dont even get out of bed simply teleporting to her room.

I see her magic field collapsed in on itself and it looks like something in somepony dream either kicked Luna out or...or killed her… I feel a bit of bile rise in my throat at the thought of Luna being killed in the realm she is supreme, the all and most powerful. Were I cannot thread but where she thrives. I hold her down making sure she doesn't bite her tongue of injury herself in her flailing waiting for the doctors to arrive and administer a sedative to help her rest.

Spartan P.O.V.

I look around as Karam’s voice tries to sooth me, “You’re alright Spartan you’re alright. It was just a bad dream. I got ya, I got ya.” I feel myself calm and the Spartan mind take over calming me to the point I can think.

“It was an nightmare.” I look down. I had an nightmare of not my own making, an nightmare of rage and hate not fear and terror. I take a deep breath looking at the cave that I seem to live in for now. I turn my head to the entrance as a blip is arriving but its green, Drake.

“Giant. I have some food if you want.” He walks in dragging the corpse of what seems like a big cat but with bat wings and a scorpion tail.

“Manticore.” Dragons can exist, so why can't manticores exist right next to them right?

?

I reach for the seals pulling ?off the helmet smiling happily as he looks at my face while i stare at the delicious meal, “Whoa dude. You’re alive?”

I look him in the eyes smiling a bit. I watch as he shivers and most of his scales slide down seamlessly creating a honestly imteading figure that slim, aerodynamic, reptilian figure that would send any knight running for the hills, "Calm down. I'm not going to steal from your horde or hurt you. I just want some the meat." Drake nods trying to use his claw to cut it but growls as it simply makes little cuts.

"Catch." I reach for the blade keep on my shoulder tossing it to him. He looks and makes a startled noise jumping back as it lands in the manticore going to the hilt.

"The fuck?!? Why did you throw the sword at me?!?"

"A. To give you something to carve the meat with. B. Its a knife. That is a knife."

Drake sighs picking it up and looks at it, "It's light for something so long and thick."

I cough, "Phrasing." I cough again as Karma laughs her holographic ass off giving me a sense of success, "Its made of high grade Titanium alloy. I think the batch that was made form came for another world." I watch trying to hold back laughter as he circles it in his hands, his mouth open widish like well a dragon eyeing something it's never seen, a item so new and unique that it must have it.

"Keep it. I don't think I'll need it." I smile at him and he just grins using it to carve out strips of meat and using his fire to cook it slowly, "Mmm." I smell the delicious cooking strips of flesh slowly cooking filling me with the primal urge to tear into the cooking flesh and devour it raw, the blood running down my chin and dammit i'm drooling now.

Drake looks over, keeping the precious knife close to him, sighting the drool on my chin but I catch his eyes darwen to the tumor on my neck from the Flood spore, “May I ask where you took that?”

I chuckle, “After dinner, or lunch.”

“Why?” Ah straight to the point. Not only hoarding jewels but knowledge. Good dragon.

“You won't want to eat otherwise, Right Karma?” The speakers switch on with an audible noise. Naturally they don't do that but it's her showing off.

“Right Spartan.” I watch with amusement as he jumps with a violent jerk, his scales going down flat again.

“THE HELL?!?”

I laugh watching him brandish the knife outwards in a sword hold. I laugh harder noticing how childish and unpracticed it is. Flaws in his stance, how he holds it, all that good stuff, “I thought you knew about Karma! You saw me talking to her!”

“I thought your logic matrix was messed up so you were talking to yourself!” I can see his flight or fight instinct kick in and it looks to be flight.

“Why are you scared of us?” I tilt my head taking a slightly pink piece of meat, I examine it for a moment and procd to do the editability test. No discomfort, it’s food. I look at him, honestly reminds me of a naked elelit.

He takes a deep breath, smarth dragon, “You’re scary.”

I almost choke on my food trying not to laugh as I look him in the eye. He's being honest, oh this is so funny. I make sure to finish my food before speaking, “I guess I am. Do you wanna see the flood?”

I grin inwardly. The dragon is an student. He seems to horde and value knowledge over gems. I'm not sure if this rare but if it is I am thankful hes like this. The action that warranted that thought?

He immediately calmed down and his eyes alight with greed, a base greed over life and death to a dragon. A promise of addition to his horde that no one else has. I grab the helmet sliding out Karma AI chip as it's also an hologram projector, “Wow, I’ve only seen one of those in Canterlot.” I freeze slightly looking him in the eyes.

He proceeds to look like he shit his britches. Spartan pated death glare. Works on anything, “C-canterlot and The E-everfree castle have a l-large gray w-white obelisk. Everything, pony, griffin, Dragon. If they touch it a voice says “Acess denied. You are not the reclaimer. Then they are put to death by the obelisk, the only ones to survive it are Alicorns or ponies destined for accession.” His voice steadied as he spoke. As if speaking from a book.

“Take me.”

“Wha-?”

“Drake. I have a very good reason to say I am the Reclaimer.” His eyes widen, jaw drops. I slide Karma chip back into the helmet and locks it on my head. My audio sensors hear a small pop outside of the cave but I take no mind to it, “Karma waypoint where I am standing.” I see small waypoint blink into existence.

“Spartan?...”

Trust your AI. Especially when she sounds fucking scared.

“Approxly a thousand signatures outside.” I gulp.

“Drake?”

I can hear him running around. I'm not sure when he left his original position, “Yes?”

“Stay in the back. Keep quiet and wait three hours. Then and only then come out.”

He nods hiding in the back of the cave. Long enough to erase the sound of his breathing but short enough to let him breath.

I go a quick check of my weapons, Pistol. Good. Rifle. Good. Shotty? Good.

I take a deep breath making sure my footsteps are long and heavy. Fear factor always works.

I near the mouth of the cave taking an deep breath of the filtered air through the armours purifier, “Hey Karam?”

“Yes Spartan?”

I feel myself smile, “Well get through this. I promise you.”

“Don’t make a girl a promise…if you know you can’t keep it.”

I can feel the sadness in her voice and it sends shivers down my spine as memories of Cortana saying just that passes through my mind. If anything it makes me pissed off. Sad. And determined.

I walk out of the cave to see ponies. Ponies. Look over there MORE ponies, “BY ROYAL DECREE OF THE GODDESS OF THE SUN, THE RULER AND FOUNDER OF HARMONY AND EQUESTRIA, PRINCESS CELESTIA. YOU ARE TO BE DETAINED AND PUT UNDER ARREST FOR YOUR CRIMES OF DREAM ASSAULT TO PRINCESS LUNA! SURRENDER NOW AND YOU WILL BE TRIED FAIRLY IN COURT. RESIST AND WE WILL ATTACK. WE ARE A THOUSAND STRONG. YOU HAVE NO HOPE. SURRENDER.”

I chuckle to myself, “Karma turn on the speakers.” The little light in the corner tells me that the speakers are on, “Hello Ponies!” Ponies jump, “I have a counter proposal. You go home. You get to live. I have done nothin-”

“Hey Twilight! see I wasnt lying! That’s the giant green thing I saw near the river where the scream came from! Its a foal eater!” I look to where the screams are to see the cyan pony with wings. It actually looks cute with its little necklace. Judging by the voice it's a girl, but a tomboy ohhhh great.

The blue pegasus is looking at a purple Alicorn whose wings flutter and won't sit still as if they're new, “I-is that a metal golem?!? I though the technique to make them was lost to the ages!” I hear an honestly adorable little squee come from the Alicorn as her wings flare with an audible *poof*

I laugh slightly as her little group and the others look at her in concern, wing boners it is. I see a blush through the thin coat making me laugh harder but I notice that the guards in golden armours are military. Defense set up to create a counter siege to guard an open castle. And it seems like the six ponies without armour is the “open castle”. I grab the pistol on my hip and fire it in the sky.

Most the ponies jump into an aggressive stance, the yellow pony passed out, a coward. “Hes fast! Mages hold him down!” Bullshit. They do- Their horns are glowing. THEY have magic. I fire again seeing the spell falters, most likely form lapse in concentration, so I run grabbing the nearest ‘mage’. I fire at a tree and put the pistol to the ponies temple.

“One wrong movement. A single fucking one and your friends head becomes that trees bark.” Nonexistent, “Weapons down. Or my weapon fires. I am quicker than any of-” I see the Blue penguas try to lift into the air, sorry buddy you aren't walking again. I shot at his back off not tearing it off, not simply putting a bullet in it but completely obliterating it. The station screams in pain. How do I know it's a guy? The scream sounds mannly.

“I said one move and the pony is hurt. I'm not blind Skittles.” The look of confusion on her face and Karmas laugh was so stafsing, “How about this? Most of you are guys so.” I put the gun aiming at the ponies balls, “One wrong move and i give him a makeshift neutering. No kids, better ask your pals to play nice~” The poor pony in my grasp looks at his comrades with begging eyes, “I think he wants kids, or should I just finish him off?”

I smile as they all set down their weapons, the unicorns lowered their heads, “You six! Over there! Toss over the jewelry!” I highlight the point by displaying the gun aiming. To be honest they strangely do quite well with blood. This is a small after thought as they all hand over the cute jewels which i put in my pockets on my hips. I back off slowly to the edge of the forest and when I was in enough I toss the pony back to them.

I chuckle to myself as I run deeper into the forest making sure to cover my tracks so they can't follow me, “Karma look for Forerunner power signatures.”

“Scaning, scanning. Found. 200 meters that way Spartan.” I can hear how happy she is and it makes me happy. I just simply hope that whatever we find can help us.