... Just Out of Reach.

Luna woke slowly, eyes fluttering as she came from the bleak, dreamless sleep that is unconsciousness. Her mind reeled as she gathered the fragments of the past, having received quite a considerable knock on the noggin. She remembered watching an anomaly on space, scrying the planet with a homebrew spell, witnessing the horror of genocide, the light…

She sat upright, her head protesting with  voluminous pain and dizziness. She tossed her gaze about the room, noticing that her guards had surrounded a figure clad in armor, helmet beside it, golden hair splayed about the floor in a small puddle of blood. She sniffed the air as she pressed a palm to her brow, noting that the scent was of ionization, decay, iron. Suddenly she was well, and terrified. She opened her mouth to warn the guards, to tell them to evacuate and quarantine the castle, to call a radiological cleanup crew. However the words did not leave her mouth.

As she began to order them to leave, the armored figure snapped to life, yanking the halberd of one guard to the side, shoving their palm into his chest and sending him flying to the granite wall. He lay there, crumpled, twisted, broken with a pool of blood radiating from his throat. Similar acts occurred with lightning quick speed, ruthless and brutal efficiency as the armored creature laid out the rest of her guards around the room.

When all was finished, the being hadn’t moved an inch. Luna took this chance to observe the creature with a quick eye. The creature seemed to be a full nineteen hands in height if it were standing upright, it's matte drab green and brown armor was tight to the feminine form, giving it a female sex. It stood knelt, resting on it’s right knee, left palm forward and right pulled back, holding the splintered haft of the spear she had pulled from her last living guard before he was dispatched with a blow to the neck. Her head was hung so her face was level with the black marble floor, bloodied hair hanging in wild trajectories.

And all the while she stared at her, glaring at the princess with a wild, malicious and murderous air.

“Please,” Luna managed through her terror bound chest. “Please stop. No more killing, please!” She let out a sob, dreading the way her guards’ families would react when she told them of their deaths. “I mean you no harm,” she whispered. “They meant you no harm!” Luna shuffled back into a corner, hiding from the monster she had brought into this world. She cast about with her eyes, trying to find her crown, her magical channel. “I only wanted to know what you were…”

The armored creature stood, noticing where Luna was looking, seeing the crown between them. She clenched her fist, snapping the spear in twixt as she walked to the crown, picking it up and examining it.

“Where am I,” She asked, looking up to Luna with a slightly more gracious glance. “How did you bring me here?” She tossed the tiara to her, letting it skid to a stop by her thigh. Luna stared at her, panting in fear and awe. The armored female stood there, fists by her sides for a minute. Her foot began to tap at a minute thirty. At two minutes she swore under her breath, pulling a device from her right thigh.

Luna screamed in fear as the device emitted a jet of fire, a concussive blast of sound shocking her chest as something pinged and whizzed twice before carving a line in the soft marble floor.

“You’re not mute!” she yelled at her, brandishing the obvious weapon at the princess. “I heard you talk, so start talking now! Where the fuck am I?!” Luna cowered, crying onto the floor as the creature glared at her.

The doors opened with a loud bang, the armored female turning and firing at the guards as they stormed in. She aimed for their knees, taking them down without killing them. She fired until her magazine ran dry, the guards ceasing to enter after six of them had fallen.

“Why didn't you leave me?!” She screamed at the door, throwing her weapon aside. “Why didn't you let me die? You should have left me on Reach!” she turned for Luna, fists clenched and raised to strike. “I! Wanted! To! Die! With! My! Friends!” Luna stood before her,crown upon her brow and glowing blue cats eyes beneath the now black metal. Her eyes rolled in their sockets, the armored female falling to the ground.

She stood there for a moment, staring at the creature before her, pity upon her face. her eyes returned to their deep navy color, losing their luminescence as her lids fluttered. She fell, landing on her side, catching a brief glimpse of her guards rushing in to sheild her and capture the creature.

******

“What have you done, sister.”

Celestia sat by the gurney in Canterlot Royal Hospital, holding her sedated sister’s hand. She wiped her eyes, stroking her thumb over the back of Luna’s hand. The sight of her sister in such a state was almost too much for her to bear. She looked out the glass doors, distracting herself by watching the busy goings on.

Doctors and nurses were all in a hurry, running too and fro as their workload had suddenly increased. As a rule of thumb, the injury of a princess came first. When Luna was evacuated from the castle, her guards brought her directly to the hospital. Doctors diagnosed her with a  severe concussion, several broken bones, and radiological contamination. All of her guards had similar, if not worse ailments.

The death toll was six, the knees of six others seeming to have exploded from the inside out. One babbled incessantly, vehemently, obsessively, that a great demon of old had come to reap terrible vengeance. Said guard can do naught but talk now; his back broken and spinal cord severed - paralyzed from the neck down.

Celestia surveyed the scene when the hazmat crew had cleared it of radiation. There was blackening on the floor before the now destroyed telescope. Blood painted the marble around it, body lines teaching where guards had been slain. They had given her a helmet; golden glass visor, olive matte and brown colored, scarred by years of battle with enemies who used fire as weapons.

It sat in her lap, inert, one red light the size of a pen tip blinking rhythmically. She knew the guards had captured it. They had stowed it away in the deepest part of the castle, locked and guarded by elite soldiers.

Luna stirred, mumbling in her sleep. Her eyes opened, half lidded from the sedative.

“I'm sorry, Tia,” she said. “I was too curious.” Celestia smiled sadly, gently squeezing Luna’s hand.

“It's alright sister.”

“No, it's not,” she said, dejected. “Ponies died because of me, because if what I did. If I had just left well enough alone…” Her eyes watered, soft soft sobs rocking her gently on the gurney. Celestia felt warm tears begin to stream down her face at the sight of Luna so saddened.

“It's not…”

“Princess Celestia!”

A guard in shining steel armor walked into the room, helmet in the crook of his arm. He held a roll of parchment in his right hand, his left on the pommel of a saber. He knelt, bowing his head in quick observance of etiquette.

“Those in charge of the prisoner,” he said, looking to her. “They send a message, and request that you take immediate action.” She took the scroll, looking it over without betraying its contents. She looked to Luna, setting the parchment face down on her leg.

“Sister…”

“It’s alright Tia,” Luna said softly, repositioning her head on the pillow. “Go take care of it. I’ll be fine, I just need some sleep is all.” she gave Celestia’s hand a squeeze, quickly drifting back into her dreams.

******

Celestia strode through the rough hewn tunnels of the castle dungeons, striding toward the last cell. This cell was set aside for only the most dangerous criminals in Equestria, kept as deep as possible into the mountain the city was built upon. It has only been filled twice in the entirety of Celestia’s rule, each time by her order for the worst type of criminals. Murderers they were, mass murderers at that, each of them having killed over a hundred others.

This one though…

It was less that she had killed the guards, because the count was only six, but it was how she had killed them. She had been quick, efficient, ruthless. She was trained to kill, beyond what a soldier is trained to do. She had knowledge of the body type that soldiers didn’t, she had strength beyond compare, speed too fast to track with eyes. She was here because she was dangerous, because she killed them without trying, without the physical strain it took one of her guards to kill.

She pushed the thoughts out of her head. There was a reason her sister had brought her here, even if she didn’t mean to or even know her reasons herself. She needed to know who, what, why. She reached the final door, the last barricade to stop anything but her or Luna from getting through.

“Halt,” The guard called, holding out a hand, palm forward. Two other guards leveled halberds at her, challenging her to go further. “What is the pass code?”

“To protect life,” she replied. “No matter who it may be and what they have done.” The guards raised their weapons, the challenger stepping aside and opening the door. She moved in quickly, feeling the static of a magical barrier as she passed through the door. She continued walking, slowing her pace to match the mind game she was about to initiate. She needed to appear calm yet ruthless, ready to do whatever it took to learn what she wanted, but patient enough to take as long as it would.

“Good morning,” She said as she came into view of the door, peering through the iron bars and into darkness. “Though I doubt you know what time it is. I do believe you have requested my presence.” A chill crept through her, the feeling of being watched by a predator sliding down her spine. A voice from within followed the feeling, equally cold and calculating.

“Does that make you the leader of these people?” Celestia felt her body move against her will, pleading with her to leave this creature where it was and seek safer haven. She forced herself to stay where she was.

“Yes, I am Princess Celestia. Ruler of this land alongside my sister Luna, whom you had assaulted.” Celestia looked down, seeing the tray the guards had given her. It was full, save the glass of water, a chunk of the bread loaf, and the knife. “Are you hungry,” she asked. “You haven’t eaten much.”

“I don’t eat food from jailers. It might be laced with chemicals to make me spill my secrets.

“A solid concern. You must be accustomed to capture.” Celestia waved a hand, the tray sliding back through the receptacle. “I should think you would like some light, something to see by.”

“I can see just fine.” Celesia felt the chill again, searching the black cell before her to find a pair of ice blue eyes that nearly glowed. “Down to the business you act like you want. Where am I?”

“Your questions come later,” Celestia argued, waving her hand and pulling a chair. “I want to know who you are, where you're from, but most importantly, I want to know what gave you the audacity to kill six royal guards and permanently disable seven more.” A single cough of humourless laughter came from inside the cell.

“Fine then, have it your way.” Celestia heard armor plates shifting, clacking together like heavy  lacquered wood. “As to the question of what I am. I am a human. My specific people are called SPARTAN-IIIs. I am a bio-chemically, bio mechanically augmented human, schooled in war and killing since I was six, put into a half ton suit of armor that amplifies all if my physical abilities by a factor of about seven.” The prisoner stepped into the light, her golden hair pulled back and tied with a strand of string. Blood still stained the tips, giving her a wild appearance. “My name, for the asking, is SPARTAN B312, but you can call me Six. I was born on Eridanus II, outside the city of Luxor.” She crossed her arms, glaring at Celestia.

“Well”Celestia said, hiding her emotions behind a stone face of pacifism. she stood from her chair, making for the door. “I think that’s a good start. I will be back tomor…”

“Where do you think you’re going? I still have questions!” Six slammed her fist against the iron bars, causing one to buckle at the middle and another to free itself from its welds. Celestia stopped, standing just outside of the overhead lamp she was sitting under moments prior.

“The planet is Caballus, the nation, Equestria. If you say you are from Eridanus, and I am to believe you, then you are very, very far from home.” The last words came out as a sympathetic whisper, filled with emotion she should not feel for this creature. “We are in Path Kethona. After analyzing the data in your helmet, this would be the Greater Magellanic Cloud by your reckoning; the Tarantula Nebula.”

“Magellanic Cloud?” Six’s voice filled with worry. Could she truly be that far away from Reach? “T-that’s impossible! That would make…” She touched a hand to her temple, working the abstract math in an abstract way.

“Fifty kilo-parsecs,” Celestia answered. Six twitched at the words, her eyes shining with a different light. “You are one-hundred sixty-thousand light years from the nearest arm of the Milky Way.” Celestia closed her eyes, angling her face down slightly. She sighed, hearing the faintest emotions play over Six’s energy field. “I’m sorry, but there is no way to send you back.” She turned around, facing her.

The SPARTAN was on the edge, she could see it. Her hand was pressed into her hair, gripping her skull. Her lips were drawn in a pained grimace, her breathing becoming more and more frantic as the seconds elapsed. The hand holding the bars had pulled two together, wrenched them free of their welds, forcing the iron through the gaps between her fingers.

‘At this rate, she’ll lose her mind.’ Celestia thought, watching a single tear build in her left eye. ‘She will tear her way out of this cell with her bare hands, kill anything that gets in her way, and eventually kill herself.’ She sighed through her nose, chill indecision filling her torso. ‘How can I call myself just if I leave her now, if I turn my back and let her fall into madness?’ She stepped forward, unbidden her mind, closing on the door. ‘Now is when our devotions are tested. Now, when life on the verge of collapse presents itself, who cannot do for itself. To the Mantle, I pray I am not wrong.’

Celestia waved her hand, causing the bars to phase out of tangibility. She boosted her own strength and fortitude.

Then she embraced the lost alien, wrapping her arms around its broad shoulders and cold metal plates, gently calming her with soothing calls, easing her down to sit on the floor.