Exiled soldiers

"So, doc, what were you able to find out?" Palmer asked Halsey.

"Aside from what the Soldiers found, nothing," Halsey said. "Really, the only thing to note would be, as far as I can tell without my equipment, is that, unlike humans, they do not have a Geas."

"A what?" Palmer asked.

"Instructions implanted at the genetic level," Halsey said. "Hard to detect, even my equipment, which was specifically made for detecting anything connected to the Forerunners."

"That it?" Palmer asked.

"For now," Halsey said. "You must learn patience, Commander Palmer."

Before Palmer could retort, a rapid beeping came from one of the Elite instruments that Halsey had gotten. "What's going on," Palmer asked.

"They're waking up," Halsey said. "Get the Monitor and that Soldier here, we may need their assistance."

"They're outside, doctor," Locke said. At Halsey's request, he and Master Chief had helped her carry some of the equipment, and were also standing guard.

"Then what are you waiting for," Halsey said. "Get them."

"Yes, doctor," Locke said before exiting the tent they were in before coming back in a minute later with Resolution and Void.

"Spartan Lock informed us," Resolution said. "If I may ask, why do you need our help?"

"To help answer and ask questions," Halsey said. "Now, everyone, quiet, we need a calm environment so we can get as much data as possible."

The makeshift lab was quiet, aside from the beeping of machines. The three individuals had been placed on tables that were in the center of the tent, with machines connected to read their vitals and brainwaves, the latter much more active than before.

The gray female woke with a groan, followed by the other two shortly after. "Ugh, what happened?" the gray female said.

"Be careful, Ma'am," Locke said. "You've been unconscious for. . . how long, doctor?"

"A few hours, if the Commander's report is accurate," Halsey said. "If I may ask, what are you?"

"You don't know what I am," she asked, just now opening her eyes. "On second thought, what are all of you?"

"Humans," Halsey said. "Now, what are the three of you?"

"I-I'm a changeling," she said. "My name's Elegance. Who are all of you?"

It was Locke who spoke up. "Classified, Ma'am."

"Of course it is," Elegance said as the other two finally got up. "Can we at least know where we are?"

"Sangheilios," Halsey said.

"Where's that?" Elegance asked.

"Classified."

"Who are your companions," Halsey asked.

"Oh, uh. . .," Elegance said. "Sorry, I seem to have forgotten for now."

"That is quite alright," Halsey said. "they seem to be waking up now, anyway." Indeed, both of Elegance's companions were beginning to stir to full consciousness.

"Ugh, my head," the pruple female said, rubbing her head just under her horn, "Spike, you okay?"

"Yeah, Twi, I am," the male said as both he and the other sat up.

The woman opened her eyes, and looked around. "Uh, where are we?"

"The planet Sanghelios, Inheritor," Resolution said, floating into the woman's face.

"Uh, who are you?"

"6732 Peaceful Resolution, Inheritor. Monitor of the portal myself and the Reclaimers found you and your companions in."

"What's a Monitor?"

"Well," Resolution said, "quite simply, we are machines meant to watch over a particular installation, and, as a secondary function, in my case, anyway, are libraries for Inheritors and Reclaimers to use." At the word 'Libraries', her eyes lit up.

"Really?" she asked in excitement. "What do you know? What's the meaning of life? How do ponies reach faster than light speeds? Why does my home have so many different races?-"

"How do we make Twilight stop for now?" Spike asked.

"Well, at least Inheritors like knowledge," Resolution said.

"What is that?" Twilight asked.

"I think that best answered after the Reclaimer ask their questions, Inheritor," Resolution said.

"Yes, thank you, Resolution," Halsey said. "John, would you mind recording this for me, please?"

"No, Ma'am," John said.

"Thank you," she said. "Now, can you tell us your name, race, and home world, Ms. . ." she asked Twilight.

"Twilight Sparkle," she replied. "I'm a pony from Equestria."

"I haven't heard of that world before," Halsey said.

"It's a country," Elegance said. "The planet's called Equis."

"Thank you," Halsey said. "Now, Ms. Sparkle," Halsey could not believe she was saying that in a serious tone, "who is your male companion, and what race is he?"

"My name's Spike," he said. "I'm a dragon."

"Well, Resolution, it looks like you were right," Palmer said.

"What were the three of you doing at the portal site?"

"What portal site," Elegance asked.

"You were found near a Forerunner portal site," Resolution said. "The one I was assigned to, in fact."

"That's. . . complicated," Twilight said. It was obvious even to Halsey it was a touchy subject that would need time before she was willing to talk about it.

"Well, can you tell us about your world," Halsey asked.

"Not much to tell," Elegance said. "It's a world that hasn't seen war in over a thousand years.. . . Actually, more like declared war in over a thousand years."

"What do you mean?" Palmer asked.

"Just that," Elegance. "Just about three or four years ago, another leader of my people attacked her," she said, gesturing towards Twilight, "capitol. She was beaten back, but because Twilight's people don't understand the meaning of the word 'security', they let her go instead of hunting her. And if they did so now, they'd bring about the changeling hives."

"What exactly are your forms of government, anyway?"

"Well, each changeling hive, what we call it because of us having insect traits like the eyes and gossamer wings, has a different form. Mine is a democracy, while the ponies, whether they know it or nor, is a benign dictatorship."

"Celestia isn't a dictator, Elegance," Twilight said.

"Then why is it she doesn't put more responsibility on those in her staff, and always relied on you and your friends-"

"They aren't my friends anymore," Twilight snapped. "They left me, and didn't even try to defend me from what got us exiled, anyway. Which I don't want to talk about."

"And who was the one who persecuted us, Twilight?" Elegance asked. "As long as Celestia and Luna are immortal, it's a dictatorship. A benign one, but a dictatorship nonetheless."

"I imagine this 'Celestia and Luna' are your leaders, Miss Twilight," Halsey asked.

"Former's more like it," Twilight said. "The three of us were exiled, and if we return to Equestria, we'll slowly and painfully die. To think I looked up to her."

"Excuse me, Inheritor, but did you say 'Celestia and Luna'?" Resolution asked.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Because those were the names of two individuals who had contact with Forerunners. I was not around at the time, but any official record of your people are in my data banks, seeing as how I was the Monitor to the portal that led there."

"Just what are Forerunners?"

"Of what we can say," Halsey said, "they were a race far more advanced than humans or any other race we know of that, for the most part, dies one hundred thousand years ago."

"How'd they die?"

"That would be heavily classified," Halsey said. "Now, if you are ready, I would like to run some tests. Nothing harmful, just routine tests to see if you are carrying any micororganisms that could be harmful to us."

"I guess so," Twilight said.

"Thank you. Now, if the rest of you may leave, I can get to work," Halsey said "And John, you can stop recording."

"Yes Ma'am," John said before he left the tent, followed by Locke and the Forerunners.

"Doc if you think-"

"You need not worry about them Palmer," Halsey said, cutting Palmer off. "I am aware I am not the most moral human, but even I have standards. Now, please, leave us, as this may take some time."

"What ever you say, Doc," Palmer said in a sarcastic tone before leaving.

"She really doesn't like you, does she?" Elegance asked.

"Not really, no," Halsey said. "Can't imagine why, though." She walked to a nearby counter that had a few syringes. "Now, if you three will stay calm, I will take a blood sample from the three of you. It will be quick, I assure you."

"I guess we might as well," Elegance said, holding out an arm.

"Thank you, Miss Elegance," Halsey said. "If I may ask, one of the one who escorted you three here says they discovered your genes allowed you to camouflage your self. Why would you need that?"

As Halsey put the syringe in and pulled a drop of green blood out, Elegance said, "It's because ponies feared us, and the only way for us to feed was to disguise ourselves as their loved ones."

"You know, if your gonna talk to us, we may as well know your name, too," Spike said.

"Doctor Halsey," she said. "No more questions, please."

From there, Halsey took blood samples from Twilight and Spike, putting the filled syringes back on the table. "Thank you," Halsey said. "If you want to explore the camp, you'll need an escort, Talk with Locke and Palmer outside, I'm certain one of them will oblige."

"Might as well stretch our legs, guys," Spike said. With that, the three left the tent as Halsey put a drop of each blood sample in a petri-dish and began to look for, among other things, micro-organisms.

"Let me get this straight," Buck, one of Locke's team, who had their helmets off, said. "The Commander found what is, in essence, a unicorn, dragon, and some kind of bug-horse thing that are humanoid?" Buck, the rest of Fire team Osiris, and all of Blue team, helmets on, were outside the tent.

"For the last time, Buck, yes," Palmer, who was there as well, said. "I don't understand how it's possible, even with Forerunner tech, but they exist."

"Okay, even with what happened on Genesis, this is some weird shit," Tanaka said.

"Agreed," Vale said. "What do you guys think?" she asked Blue team.

"Can't really say much," Fred said. "We didn't exactly grow up with unicorn and dragon stories, after all."

"I'm more interested in the fact just that unicorn, I can't believe I'm saying that," Kelly said, "being nearby with a human is able to stop the Prometheans."

"Same," Linda said. "What about you, Chief? What do you think of this?"

"I don't know, Linda," John said. "All I do know is that this will help us defeat Cortana."

"Agreed, Sir," Locke said. It was at this point Twilight, Elegance, and Spike walked out, getting the four Spartan's attention.

"Uh, hi," Twilight said nervously. "Doctor Halsey said one of you'd show us around?"

The two Spartan teams looked at their own team mates and each other. "So, uh, who's going to escort 'em?" Buck asked. No one spoke up for a few seconds.

"Guess I'm up, then," Vale said. "Follow me, guys." With that, she made her way to a cliff where two Sword Elites were repairing a Banshee and an Elite and Grunt were having a conversation, Twilight and the others following.

"So what's your name," Elegance asked. "You know, if it isn't classified?"

Vale chuckled. "That's mostly because of the fact you three are first contact with your races. Name's Olympia Vale, but everyone calls me Vale. What about you three?"

"Elegance," Elegance said. "And before you ask, my particular sub-group of my people name based on abstract terms."

"Nice name," Vale said. "What about you?" she asked Twilight.

"Twilight Sparkle," she replied.

"Weird name," Vale said. "No offense, just an observation based on my kind's names. So you're a unicorn? Honestly, I expected you to be a full on horse unicorn."

"I'm a pony," Twilight said.

"You know what I mean. You?" she asked Spike.

"Spike," he said.

"Nice to meet you guys," Vale said. "So, in case your wondering, your on Sangheilios, home world of the Sangeheili, which would be the tall aliens. More specifically, we're in a camp led by our ally, the Arbiter, and his faction, the Swords of Sangheilios." A few more seconds passed before she said, "So, Elegance what is your species called, anyway?"

"Changelings," she replied.

"Really?" Vale asked.

"Yeah," Elegance replied. "Why?"

"Nothing major, just that there are old stories of creatures called changelings. I don't know the details, just that it had to do with children."

"So, um, Vale, do you know what those things are?" Twilight asked, gesturing to a Soldier that was, to Vale's surprise, helping the two repair Elites repair the Banshee.

"The Soldiers? Vale asked. "Machines made by Forerunners for combat. Apparently, each one has some kind of skill useful in the field."

"Oh," Twilight said. "So what do you do, Vale?"

"That's a bit of a complicated answer," Vale said. "For one, I'm a Spartan, a human who's had special augmentations done, but I can also translate Sangheili."

"Really," Elegance said. "How?"

Vale shrugged. "When I was a kid, my mom and I were on a courier ship that had a problem that stopped us from going to slipspace, an alternate dimension, basically, that allows our ships to go faster than light. Turned a six day trip into six months, and we had to evade Covenant, an alien hegemony that wanted to wipe my kind out because their gods, which were the Forerunners, said so, and I decided to listen in on Sangheili communications. Learned their language, even made corrections to older ones I had access to, ones even A.I.s, essentially man-made minds that are smart as hell, got wrong."

"Okay," Spike said. "That's impressive."

"Thanks, Spike," Vale said. "Any other questions right now?"

"I have a few," Twilight said. "One is if you can teach me Sangheili language? The second is who were the others you were with when we came out?"

"In order," Vale said, "yes, and three of them were my team mates, while the other four, who had their helmets on, are another team of Spartans."

"Thanks, Vale."

"No problem, Twilight," Vale said. "So, if it isn't too personal, how'd you guys get here, anyway?"

"That' still a little too personal, Vale," Elegance said. "Maybe later."

"I guess that makes since," Vale said. "So, what do you guys plan on doing?"

"Honestly," Twilight said, "no idea. We didn't expect to arrive on a planet that had a race that had space travel."

"We figured we would have been lucky if we were on an inhabited planet," Elegance said.

"Well, if you guys want, I might be able to get you all a ride to our ship when it gets here," Vale said. "I'm sure Halsey will, too, if only to study you more."

"Really," Spike asked. "We didn't think you'd want us on one of your ships."

"Long as you follow the rules if you do want to go up there, you should be fine."

"I guess so, then," Elegance said.

"Same," Spike said.

Twilight, though, was wide eyes at the concept of being on an alien ship. "Oh, yes. Did I pack paper, and a quill?"

"Twilight," Spike said. "I think taking notes for you-know-who isn't gonna do anything."

"Who cares," Twilight said. "I'll be the first pony in who know how many years to study alien technology!"

"She gets very excited at learning new stuff," Spike whispered to Vale, leaning to her ear. "So unless you want to have her annoy everyone on your ship, probably bets to lay rules on that ground."

"Noted," Vale said as Resolution came over.

"Forgive my intrusion, Reclaimer, Inheritor, but I must ask something of the Inheritor," she said.

"Me?" Twilight asked.

"Yes, Inheritor," Resolution said. "I was wondering: ten thousand or so local years ago, the portal to your world opened, and, shortly after, six prototype Forerunner weapons went missing. You wouldn't happen to know anything about those, would you?"

"Are they dangerous?" Twilight asked.

"Themselves, no," the Monitor asked. "You see, what they were designed to be was a more effective Composer that would isolate Flood infection from healthy cells. It worked, for a while, but the effects were temporary, and the amount of time before things reverted depended on how much of a charge they had. So the weapons themselves, no, but if your people's guard is let down around something they affected, then those are the danger."

"Uh, Twilight," Spike said, his eyes wide. "Didn't everything both you-know-whos faced come back after a thousand years after some sort of spell was weakened?"

Twilight's eyes widened. "Yeah, um, I think I know what happened to those six weapons, Resolution."

"Oh, splendid," she said, doing a little twirl. "What?"

"They're my old home's primary defense," Twilight said.

"And by 'primary'," Elegance said, "she means just about every major threat was taken care of with them, if we're thinking the same thing, guys."

"We are," Spike and Twilight said at the same time. "Which is to say-" Spike started.

"-Equestria is screwed over big time," Twilight finished. "Given what happened to us, is it wrong I don't really care that much?"

"No argument here," Elegance said.

"Wait, Resolution," Vale said. "You said 'prototype'. Was there ever a second group of these weapons?"

Resolution was silent for a while before she said, "I do not know, but it is quite possible the Forerunners did so, making at least another group. Of course, I have no idea where they are."

"Well, there's that," Vale said. "So, anything else you guys want to know for now?"

"Not that I can think of," Elegance said. She turned to the others. "You guys?"

"Nope," Spike said.

"Nothing here, for once," Twilight said.

"Well, then, I guess I might as well show you guys to the place the Sangheili set up for you." With that, Vale lead them to a tent that was on the other side side of the tent they were at, near where the pelican had been before Sunaion.

"You guys sure do work quick, don't you," Twilight said.

"Yeah, well, when you have eight Spartans, it's easy to get tents with creature comforts set up."

"Well, thanks, anyway," Twilight said. "So, when are we going to leave?"

"Tomorrow, hopefully," Vale said. "A lot of shit's been going down, and right now, we're just playing it by ear."

"Just wondering," Twilight said. "See ya later, I guess."

"See you guys later, too," Vale said before walking out of the tent.

"Well, she was nice," Elegance said.

"Yeah, I guess," Spike said. "But still, I know we pretty much hate Equestria right now, but still, I pity the ones who are going to be there when everything hits the fan."

"Who cares," Elegance said, laying down on a nearby cot. "They didn't believe even Twilight, let them get the repercussions." This got looks from the others. "What? I mean, come on, you seriously don't want them to have something to make them pay for banishing you guys. At least admit it's ironic our punishment leads to them not being able to fix it."

"She's not wrong, Twi," Spike said, taking a seat on his own cot. "I mean, yeah, it is kind of bad this is going to happen to them, but they didn't even believe you. I mean, I don't want them to die, but they still need to get some kind of payback, even if it isn't from us."

"Yeah," Twilight said hesitantly. "I guess." With that, Twilight lay down on the last cot, thinking of the course her life had now taken.