Halo: Equestrian Campaign

You look over the large, menacing structure in front of you. It is a stone castle, centuries past its prime. The outer wall has crumbled to nothing more than a mound of bricks, several towers have collapsed into pieces, and the remaining formations are so ancient that they appeared to be stained black by the constant abuse of the elements.

Chris and Calvin found the old fortress two miles away from the crash site during their search. It wasn't what you’d call a “high quality establishment,” but for now it would suffice as your home. Besides, the very existence of the structure meant that there was some form of sentient life on the planet at one time. which meant that there was an increased likelihood of finding a way to get off-world and back to the Thermopylae.

Though your team had found shelter, it did little to balance the good and the bad. Yes, you had a roof over your head; but you had little to no supplies, food, or weapons. Add onto that the fact that you lost all communications with the Thermopylae, and you had yourself a shit-day.

“Sir,” shouts Tyler. “We’ve finished taking inventory, ill upload the list to your HUD.”

Within a moment, your visor lights up with a tiny list of supplies.

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2 battle rifles: 144 rounds of ammunition

1 DMR:  42 rounds of ammunition

1 assault rifle: 64 rounds of ammunition

1 sniper rifle: 8 rounds of ammunition

2 shotguns: 18 shells of ammunition

6 pistols: 96 rounds of ammunition

1 grenade launcher: 4 explosive shells

5 combat knives

1 bio-foam canister

6 water canteens

3 ration packs

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The lowest of your supplies was food. Sure you had a good source of clean water nearby, but three ration packs wasn’t even enough to feed everyone for even one day.

To survive you were either going to have to go hunting, or find a the inhabitants  who may be long since gone.

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“Alright everypony,” announced a joyful Twilight to the group of assembled ponies before her. “As you all know something fell from the sky last night, and landed in the Everfree Forest. I believe it to be a piece of the mysterious material that is currently occupying the area above our heads. I’m certain that if we manage to find the thing that crashed and study it we can learn what it is. Using that research we can figure out a way to get rid of the ‘Sky-Fire’ and go back to our normal lives.”

Twilight stopped to make sure that her accumulated audience was still listening. Satisfied, she happily continued with her speech.

“I’m going to need everyone of you to cooperate with me. The more you comply, the quicker this situation will clear up. Do we all agree?!”

The majority of the ponies in the crowd didn't share in Twilight’s enthusiasm. After the commotion last night they had gotten little to no sleep at all, and fatigue was beginning to take its toll on them. Though most of the ponies felt like they were about to pass out from exhaustion they managed to nod their heads in agreement.

“Good!” exclaimed twilight. “Now if you’ll please give me your full attention, ill start explaining my plan.”

Twilight then proceeded to magic up a white board and several sharpie markers. She took a moment to make a quick sketch of several triangles and various other shapes..

“This drawing represents Ponyville, the Everfree Forest, and it’s surrounding area.” Twilight paused momentarily as several audience members snickered at her crude drawing. Once their giggles had been stifled, she continued. “Last night, we all saw the mysterious object fall into the forest. That is where I suspect the bulk of it to be located. What I need you to do is go into the woods and search for it.”

A few ponies whispered back and forth to each other about the dangers of entering the forest, but they were soon silenced by Twilight’s continued speech.

“Collecting the material is very important to my research,  but that doesn't mean you have to go looking in the forest. I know its dangerous to venture there so I will not force you to do so, but if anypony here is willing to do so, then please step forward now.”

A moment passed and nopony stepped forward. Most were uneasy with the whole situation in general, and being asked to enter one of the most dangerous places in Equestria did nothing to comfort them. After a few more moments of silence, a few ponies hesitantly emerged from the crowd to offer their assistance. After the first handful volunteered more followed, and soon enough a host of nearly thirty ponies had agreed to trek into the forest.

“Thank you all very much.” sighed a relieved Twilight before she turned her attention to the rest of the crowd. “All of you who didn't volunteer will look for fragments of the Sky-Fire in and around Ponyville. My assistant, Spike, will organize you into groups while I work with those who are going into the Everfree.” Twilight motioned for the bolder members of the assembly to follow her as Spike took hid place in front of the larger crowd of ponies to arrange them into separate groups.

The lavender mare casually led her small unit of ponies towards the Everfree forest. Once they reached the edge of  the woods they were met with the sight of a multitude of wooden chariots. There were dozens of the rustic carts lined up in neat, orderly, rows. Each one had a harness fit for two ponies at its front and a wagon in the back with space enough to hold three more equines.

“Ok everypony, listen well because I will only say this once!” shouted Twilight from the head of the group. “I will be dividing you up into six groups of five. Each unit will be made up of two Pegasus, two earth ponies, and one unicorn. The Pegasus will hitch themselves to the harnesses of the chariots and fly above the canopy of the forest while the earth ponies and unicorns keep an eye out for signs of the crash. Judging from the estimated size of the object that fell from the sky, it should have left a pretty big crater in the ground so finding it should be fairly easy. Only when you land to collect samples will things become risky. I will leave it up to your group to decide on how you will go about gathering the material. Just make sure you are careful, the forest is a very dangerous place and I don’t want anypony to forget that. Does everypony understand?”

Everyone in the crowd seemed content with Twilights plan, and soon enough found themselves being organized into separate groups and getting safely strapped into their chariots. Not before long, all five chariots were airborne and making their way across the sky in hopes of finding the piece of the luminescent Sky-Fire.

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You slowly stalk across the muddy earth of the forest, careful not to make a single sound. You and Chris had been tracking an animal through the woods for over an hour and you didn’t want to scare it away. It was really starting to bug you that you hadn’t managed to kill the damn beast yet. It was almost like it was purposefully evading you, but an animal intelligent enough to elude a Spartan for so long was hard to comprehend.

“Solus,” whispers Chris over the intercom. “over here.” Quietly, you shuffled next to your companion to see what he had found. Peering over his shoulder you mange to get a look at what he was inspecting. It was an indent in the ground that closely resembled a horse hoof. From the looks of it the print was fresh, probably just a few minutes old. Finally, you had found the confounded beast’s trail!

“lets hurry,” you murmured to the ODST. “we don’t want to loose it again.”

Chris started in the direction of the trail, and you followed close behind. After a short while you yourself begin to see the obvious signs of a panicked escape. The animal had all but abandoned its stealthy maneuvering, and was now making a desperate attempt to flee from you.

You were getting closer!

Both your’s and Chris’ excitement gets the better of you and you broke out into a full sprint. For as fast as you run, the ODST manages to keep up with you. Adrenaline was pumping through your veins, and it wasn’t long before you saw vegetation rustling ahead of you.

“Chris, flank it on the right!” you hungrily shout to your companion. “We’ll try to box it in!” The ODST nods in conformation and then disappears into a thicket of trees. You slow your pace minimally so that Chris will be able to keep up with you. The chase continues on for some time as you dive, duck, and slide through the foliage of the forest. The beast is tiring now, you can tell. You grow closer and closer to the unidentifiable black and white striped blur, close enough where you can almost reach it….

“I see it! Shouted Chris as he emerges from the brush ahead of you. In the split seconds between the time he appears and calls out to you he raises his silenced battle rifle and fires a burst of three rounds at the animal. Instantly the vegetation ceased to move and everything goes silent. You take a few tentative steps towards where your prey had fallen…

.. Only for the mysterious blur to lurch at you. The animal’s attack causes you to evade backwards into Chris. The two of you collide and are sent tumbling down a ravine that had previously been hidden by the forest’s growth. Time seemed to slow as you fall further and further down the violent slope.

You and your attendant finally hit the bottom of the incline with a resounding thud. Thankfully, Chris had landed on top of you instead of the other way around. After you help you cohort to his feet and checked him for any broken bones or fractures, you turn your attention to the surrounding area.

The place from which you fell was fairly high up, not surprising since it caused your shields to fizz and nearly break. The trees were thinner down here and fewer in between. Leading you to assume that you were close to the edge of the forest. The thought of what lay beyond the woods piques your interest, and soon enough you find yourself signaling Chris to follow you in the direction you believe to lead towards the end.

You trek on through the ever thinning forest for a few minutes until you reach a sudden break in the trees. What you see when you exit the woods sends a wave of relief through you. in front of you spanned hundreds and hundreds of apple trees. Each and every one full of ripe fruits that were pleasing to the eye. Not only is your food problem resolved, but off in the distance you can make out wooden buildings with lights flickering in their windows and smoke pouring from their chimneys.

“Calvin, do you read me? We have a first contact situation, I repeat, first contact situation.”