Halo: The Interlopers

It had been a month since the First Contact War had ended.

Outside Ponyville, a small gathering of humans and ponies attended a service at dusk. A commemoration of sorts. Behind Admiral Thaddeus Hunt and Princess Celestia was a pair of objects hidden beneath a pair of large tarps. In front of him was the whole of the gathering.

He looked at the speech he’d appropriated in part from Lord Terrence Hood, and altered slightly. After a sigh, he looked up at his audience.

“For us, the storm has passed. The war is over. But let us never forget those who journeyed into the howling darkness and did not return. For their decision required courage beyond measure…

“What drove them was the belief that we had a duty to help Equis in this fight. The belief that this ugly war was necessary to keep the peoples of this planet free, and indeed to protect our own race as we rebuilt.”

He nodded to a soldier present, who pulled the tarp from one of the objects. Beneath it was a drop pod that lay on its side.

“This is the spot where our peoples made first contact. Equis and its inhabitants realized they were not alone, and humanity found that an alien race could deliver hope rather than merely the horrors so many of us knew during the Human-Covenant War.”

Twilight Sparkle and her friends, who were in attendance with the Princesses, recognized it as the exact place they’d met Mark. Twilight shut her eyes, holding in tears and suppressing sobs while her friends consoled her.

“And this is a monument to all those lost in the war.” The second tarp was removed, to reveal a large statue of a UNSC soldier, a griffon soldier, a pony soldier, and a lone SPARTAN in front of them all. The statue as a whole was painted with astonishing detail with enchanted paint that was nearly impervious to conventional wear and tear. Many of those in attendance recognized the SPARTAN's armor, though the name was unacknowledged on the plaque, as were the others.

Princess Celestia “And it is a monument to the SPARTANs. They were the first to make contact with us. They saved my life and many others mere days after their arrival. They served with bravery and distinction throughout the war, in over a dozen campaigns. One of them almost died to save Manehattan. And just as they were the first humans to make contact with us, they were also the last to make the ultimate sacrifice, so that we could all live free.”

“Present arms!” A human sergeant boomed. A mixture of seven uniformed ponies and humans raised their weapons and fired a single shot each. Then another shot. And a third shot to complete the salute.

Princess Celestia ambled to her student, who motioned for her friends to leave her for the moment.

“Twilight…” The normally eloquent alicorn struggled to find words to console her student.

“It means a lot to me, what you said about him up there. I know you thought he was a bad person, but I know he felt about me the same way I felt about him. When we spent time together, he made it all about making me happy, he treated me better than royalty. He was satisfied just to be with me, and he looked past us being different species.”

“In those letters I wrote you, I tried to dissuade you from being with him less because of who he was, and more because I wanted to protect you from this kind of loss. I meant all that I wrote, but I’m glad that I was wrong about much of it, and that he did make you happy.”

“He made me promise him something on Hearts and Hooves Day. That if he didn’t come back, I’d mourn him, but not for too long. He didn’t want me to give up on life, love or happiness. He didn’t even think he was good enough for me, and he wanted me to have a long happy life, like he never had.”

Princess Celestia hugged her student as she sobbed quietly, closing her own eyes.

***

It was a long trek, but it was almost over. He had to tell her something, let her know that things would be okay. He felt it was an obligation to deliver the message of a few words, ones that would mean everything to her.

After the extreme impact he’d suffered a month prior combined with the theft of his armor several months prior, it was no wonder he’d dropped off the grid after impact. Outwardly he looked fine, and he’d subsisted on the land as he made his way to deliver that message. His equipment all worked fine, with the exception of his tracking device.

He hadn’t called it in because he wanted her to hear it in person, not secondhand from someone else. But in a few hours, he’d be able to finally end that month-long journey.

***

That night, Twilight tucked Spike in for bed and kissed him goodnight, watching as the child peacefully drifted off to sleep. When she climbed into her own bed, it was something denied to her as she cried into her pillow.

Though she was nowhere near selfish enough to end her own life, at that moment in time she would have welcomed death, secretly hoping to join her lover for the rest of eternity, wherever he was.

She heard her door open, and responded through her tears.

“I’m- I’m fine Spike, I’m just a bit emotional from that ded-dedication,” She said, assuming it was her assistant coming to console her. She got no response, save for the door being closed.

She heard quiet footfalls approach, and when she rolled over and looked for the source she couldn’t believe her eyes. After she rubbed the tears out of them, she felt a gloved hand on her cheek and heard a familiar male voice. She smiled through her tears.

“When I make a girl a promise…”