Exiled soldiers

For Twilight, the world was nothing but darkness, pain, and sorrow. She knew she was unconscious, she had trained with Princess Luna enough to recognize that if she had an odd dream that ended with her going to bed, only to wake up in real life seconds later, but it didn't stop the hurt of what she saw.

More accurately, what she saw were two different things. One was her returning to Equestria, back to Canterlot, the pain spell removed. "Why is it you returned, my former student?" Celestia would ask as she sat on her throne.

Twilight would attempt to answer, but was preempted by eight gunshots, and multiple guards falling down, holes in their head, and a magnum in the lavender unicorn's hands, the barrel smoking, to which Celestia replied, quite calmly, "Ah, so you came to get your revenge, then. I suppose that if you removed the spell, I should have seen that coming." With that, Celestia stood up, and drew a flaming sword from beside her throne. "I would say I am sorry, but you proved you were unworthy of such a thing when you betrayed Equestria the first time." With that, she attacked Twilight, who was rooted to the spot, and, just as her sword made contact with the dream Twilight, who wore her armor, the dream changed.

The second one was, in terms of those she knew, was more recent. She was still in her armor, and was on a barren, desert world, with numerous vehicles burning around her, all of them destroyed, with shouts of panic in the distance. Twilight looked around, a single Assault rifle in her hands and magnum on her thigh, both empty with no spare magazines. Around her, specifically, were five other armored bodies, each limp, broken, chunks of armor, if not entire limbs, gone.

One wore a Buccaneer helmet, Tyr skin, with the Maverick armor, Jester skin; the second wore all Raider; the third, Scout; the fourth had on armor similar to Twilight's, but had small armor pieces protecting, from what could be seen through the armor cracks, gossamer wings, while the fifth one had on armor similar to the Raider armor, but it had purple spines coming out the back, many having parts missing. "No," Twilight said as she collapsed. This was the first time since she had blacked out she had seen this, and, though she knew it wasn't real, it didn't soften the blow of seeing her friends and team mates dead or dying.

"All of this," a voice said from behind her said before foot steps were heard behind her, eventually stopping beside her. She turned, and saw the Warden's leg next to her head. "All of this is simply because you could not let go of your rage, however well it is hidden from the others."

It was then that the Warden dropped something in front of her. Twilight looked, and gasped as she saw the limp bodies of the other Elements, Sunset, Celestia, her parents, Cadence, Shining, and even Nightmare. "I suppose I should thank you, though," Warden said before the sound of his blade coming out was heard. "You made my mission much easier." And, as the former alicorn stared at the lifeless eyes of the others, those who had helped make the years on Equis something sweet and fond, even if the last were the exact opposite, the hard light blade was brought down, and the dream changed to something that had happened since she blacked out.

That was to say, she was alone in the skies above Ponyville. She had no armor, just her old clothes from before her banishment, her wings unfurled. Even though she liked her castle, sometimes, before all of this, she would just fly to relax, as even alicorns had their limits with what they loved, and, really, Twilight enjoyed the feeling of the air and wind through her wings. But, one thing that did surprise her, though, was the fact her wings didn't just vanish and she plummeted to her death, like the other times, but they stayed , and the world began to brighten, which, given the other black out experiences she'd had since she became a princess, indicated she was about to wake up.

"So, how much longer do you think she'll be out?" Josh asked. He and the other members of Lone team were in the med bay, in a circle around Twilight, whose wings had grown in since they first appeared six days ago.

"No idea," Spike replied. "I just hope soon."

"Same," Elegance said. "Still, given her reputation back home for freak outs, I'm wishing we had an inhibitor ring."

"How bad do they say it got?" Ken asked.

"When she failed to send a letter to her teacher, Princess Celestia," Spike said, "on a self imposed deadline, while thinking it was one Celestia herself made, she, quote unquote, 'made a friendship problem'. In short, she cast a spell on a doll of hers, and just about half the town went nuts, as the spell caused any who looked at the doll to want it."

"Wow," Palmer said. "That's a first."

"Oh yeah," Josh commented. "And she had wings before we met you guys?"

"For two years, yeah," Spike said.(1)

"Two tears?" Ken asked. "What about the rest of her life?"

"A unicorn," Spike replied. "She only got her wings because she finished a spell that not even the greatest mage was able to, which , apparently, was enough to make her an alicorn, which also equals princess with our home."

"Which, if you ask me, is bullshit," Elegance said, crossing her arms. "Changeling leaders, contrary to propaganda even after our kind made peace with Twilight's kind, are not raised to that. They could be a homeless changeling, but if they did something that benefited their entire Hive, even after the current leader failed if it's something like a shortage of food, they become the leader."

"How is that any different?" Spike asked.

"Because they don't need to do some awe inspiring feat of magic. They could be a soldier, and become the leader for staying behind to defend a group of changelings who can't fight back, as long as the leader at the time was either killed or ran away, and they survived. For alicorns, it needs to be a magical feat, and only a magical feat of some kind. Yes, Princess Cadenza was a pegasus, but she still did a feat of magic, especially for a pegasus."

"Yeah, fair point, I guess," Spike said before a sound was heard."

"My head," Twilight groaned as she came back to consciousness, rubbing her forehead as she sat up. "How long was I out?"

"Six days," Josh said. "You alright, Twi?"

"I think so, yeah," Twilight said. "But I feel like somethings pulling my back down."

"That be because something is," Palmer said.

"Yeah," Josh said. "About that- you got wings now."

Twilight's eyes widened at hearing that. "WHAT!?" she yelled, craning her neck to look at her back, and just barely getting a look at her folded wings. "HOW?!"

"Far as we understand, Halsey and a few of the Soldiers used Forerunner tech to put genes for wings in your DNA," Ken said. "Apparently, something from before you were banished removed it, and, for some reason, Halsey thought she'd put that gene back in. How she knew what made that gene, I have no fucking idea, but the point remains that you now have wings, and your armor will need to be modified for that."

"Actually, Spartan," Roland said as his avatar appeared in front of the hospital bed Twilight sat on, "the good doctor took care of that while your team mate was out, and she wanted me to say that as soon as she woke up and was able to walk, she was to report to S Deck."

"That may take a while," Twilight said as she stood up from the bed, and wobbled a little. "It'll be a while before I'm used to my wings again."

"Well, regardless, the doctor expects you as soon as possible, Spartan," Roland said before his avatar disappeared.

"So," Josh said, "while you're getting used to your wings, mind filling us in on the lore with 'alicorns'?" He put air quotes around alicorn.

"I don't see why not," Twilight said as she stretched, much as she could with the new appendages. "Well, basically, alicorns, of which there are currently four, including me right now, that I know of, are the most powerful spell casters. Princess Celestia, my mentor, raises the sun, and her sister, Princess Luna, raises the moon."

It was here that Josh and Ken chuckled. "What's so funny, you two?" Palmer asked.

"Just find it funny that the name of the princess for the moon," Josh said, "is the same name for Earth's moon, and that the sun is often reffered to as a celestial body, and the name of the princess of the sun is 'celestial' without the 'l'."

"I guess that's kind of funny," Elegance said. "Just not my kind of humor."

"Yeah, same," Spike and Palmer said.

"Sorry," Ken said as he got his chuckles under control. "Anyway, continue, Twilight."

"Right," Twilight said. "The third is my old foalsitter, Cadence, alicorn of love-"

"Dear god," Josh said. "Your planet was made for little girls, I swear."

"And fantasy isn't?" Ken asked with a small smile.

"Ah, fuck off."

"Anyway," Twilight continued, "the last would be me, the former princess of friendship." Josh facepalmed.

"I swear, my niece would love that planet."(2) This earned a head slap from Ken.

"Shut it, Josh," Ken said. "I actually find it interesting the values they have reflect what most humans look for. That's to say, friends and love."

"And when the hell did you become a philosopher?" Josh asked, though in a friendly tone.

"None of your business," Ken said. "Speaking of business, though, there is something we were holding off until you woke up, Twilight."

"What's that," the now alicorn asked.

"We were thinking about starting a Spartan company," Ken said.

"And what's that?"

"Basically," Palmer said, "it's multiple fire teams who form a single, larger group. Most fire teams aren't in one, but being in a company means that with any tournaments that allow for their total size, the teams always fight together. If it's more, than it's up to the leaders of the company, who, more often than not, are the fire team leaders."

"They were thinking of asking Rip tide, Wolf, and Domino to join, but wanted to wait until you were awake before deciding to make one."

"I guess so," Twilight said shrugging.

"Right," Ken said. "I'll go see Brendon, Bella, and Marcus after whatever the doc wants with you is finished."

"Yeah, for any official stuff like the company, Ken's the main lead," Josh said. "You guys already know that, when it comes to squad based, it's dependent on the situation."

"Yeah, we remember," Spike said as Twilight slowly unfurled her wings, not wanting to cramp the muscles there.

"So, you almost ready, Twi?" Josh asked.

"Almost," Twilight replied. A minute later, sh esaid, "And I'm good."

"Then let's go," Josh said.

"And if Halsey has a problem with each of us going with you," Ken said, "she can go to hell."

"Thanks, guys," Twilight said with a small smile.

"No problem, Twilight," Elegance said, and the six left the med bay, though close eyes were kept on Twilight, and it was Josh, who walked next to her on the way to their destination, who saw her troubled expression.

"Everything okay?" he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Honestly?" she asked, to which she got a Are you fucking kidding me? expression. "No, not entirely."

"What's up?" Twilight sighed before he added, "You don't need to talk about this if you don't want to, you know."

"Yeah, but it may help," Twilight said. "While I was out of it, I had a few nightmares. One was that I had somehow returned to Equestria, and to Canterlot, the capitol, and, as far as I can tell, was there to kill Celestia, seeing as how I killed eight guards with a magnum, but she killed me before I could. After that was, well, I was on a desert planet, and you, Ken, Palmer, Elegance, and Spike were all dead. The Warden was there, and said that 'if I had let go of my rage, it wouldn't have happened' before he dropped the bodies of my old friends, the princesses, and my family in front of me before he killed me."

"You don't seem that mad," Josh said.

"I hide it well," Twilight said. "At least, most times. But I'm also afraid that if something does happen to you or the others, it'll be my fault, and I could have stopped it."

Josh chuckled. "Yeah, maybe," he said. "But maybe not. Twi, look, I know what it's like to hide anger, I went to school with a shit load of morons and rednecks, after all, and needed someway to vent the anger. Now, I won't tell you what to do, as different means are effective for different people, but I will say this: you won't be able to get rid of all of the anger, but that is a good thing. After all, being a living being means that we'll be angry at something. Regardless, don't let it control and decide what you do. Did I tell you about my first mission against the Covenant?"

"No," Twilight replied. "Why?"

"Because I let my anger get the better of me, as the Covenant killed one of my best friends, and, well, let's just say the only reason I'm a Spartan are damned good prosthetics," he said, and Twilight saw him close his right hand a little. "That, and luck. Just remember: vent your anger however you can, when you can. You know, as long as you don't assault some one outside a war game."

That last part got a bit of a chuckle out of Twilight. "I'll keep that in mind," she said just as the group of six passed a group of three marines.

"I'm just saying, it's a little weird that we're in Covie space, and we haven't seen tail or head of the fuckers," one said.

"Who know," the second said. "Might be the huge ass war ship we have!" he laughed.

"Oh, shut it," the first shot back. "We both know that a single glasser at full strength could gut this ship if it wanted to. Something's up, I feel it."

"Really, where?" the third asked. "Your ass?"

"Do you really want to piss me off even more right now after I learned my girl back on Earth was cheating on me? With you?"

"Hey, he's just saying, dude." It was here the rest of the conversation was lost as the six Spartans walked into an elevator to take them to S Deck.

"That was odd," Ken said.

"What do you mean?" Elegance asked.

"Just that we haven't, at lease, had any small raiding parties by Covenant," he replied. "Especially since we are in Covenant held space."

"I thought the Covenant broke up," Spike said.

"We mean the Remnant, also known as the Storm faction, even if they're practically broken," Josh said. "Though, if there is one we need to worry about, it's Sali 'Nyon, who used to be a part of said remnant faction, but broke apart with his own followers. Haven't seen them in a year or so."

"Which means they've had plenty of time to build forces," Palmer said.

"And we're low enough on supplies as is," Ken said. "Only way we'd beat them is with luck, really."

"Then I guess it would be best if we didn't encounter them," Spike said, to which the three humans nodded. A few seconds later, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened to reveal two Soldiers, each with a suppressor in arm, standing guard in front of the door.

"That's new," Josh remarked as they left the elevator.

"Probably security," Ken said. "Lord knows that some Spartan-IVs have been traitors in the past."

"I thought you said you were atheist, Ken," Palmer said.

"I am," he replied. "But I can't help what old sayings have in them, now can I?"

"Fair enough," the red haired Spartan replied as Halsey came into view near an armor station that had Twilight's armor on it, but with a noticeable addition on the back, though they couldn't ell what it was at this distance.

"Hello, Spartans," Halsey said as they approached. "I take it that adjustment to having wings went well, Twilight?"

"It helps that I had them before," Twilight said. "Why did you want to see me, anyway?"

"To show you what I added to your armor, as well as Elegance's, while you were unconscious. If you would put your armor on, I'll show you."

"Right," Twilight said, taking the slacks that were the Spartan BSD out of suit they wore when not at something official. and stepped on the machine. Really, that whole process was much the same as before, except that holes were made in the back part of the torso piece, ones that didn't affect the main power supply, and something go over her wings.

When the entire process was done, Halsey said, "Step forward, and turn around please." Under her helmet, Twilight rolled her eyes, but did so.

"Okay, that's pretty fucking cool," she heard Ken say.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Fucking wingblades," Josh said. Indeed, on Twilight's wings were Titanium coated pieces of armor, a pain to make to where they protected the entire wing, with the parts just above the muscle and bone being sharpened blades, capable of, and tested to, being able to cut through Titanium with enough force, and who knows what else if they were magically enhanced.

"Seriously?" Twilight asked, surprised. She had read of old pegasai warriors using wing blades in combat, but had never expected to have her own, let alone now of all times after her banishment.

"We may kid," Josh said, "but not with this kind of shit."

"You may wish to go to the war games to have her try them out," Halsey said.

"Right," Ken said, going over to the machine that had his armor.(3) As it was being put on, he said, "you guys go there. I need to talk with the others to discuss a company." Once it his armor was on, he said, "Emily, get Roland and get Brendon, Bella, and Marcus! Tell them to meet me in the weapons range with their armor!"