Back Into It

(Several hours after the gathering in Twilight’s Study)

       “Fuck I forgot how much I hate this shit” Tony groaned as he rubbed his eyes, he was sitting at the large maple desk with a plethora of paperwork in front of him, majority of it was what had happened in the last three years involving Armonia, The Crystal Empire, Equestria and its allies, part of the remaining was forms he needed to sign to take over as the military commander of Armonia, a few were on Dragon traditions and finally was a massive book which was titled. ‘ Unicorn magic for foals’.

        “Tony?” a voice asked as the man looked over his shoulder to see Twilight standing in the doorway.

          “Yes Twilight?” he asked before rubbing his eyes and yawned.

           “I just wanted to check up on your progress” She said as she entered.

             “I haven't touched the Book yet” He said as he looked over paperwork again.

               “Ah, well how is the paperwork?” She asked.

                “Chaotic” He groaned as he grabbed a sheet and looked at it. “Princess Flurry Heart shatters Crystal Heart” He said putting it back down before grabbing another. “Lord Tirek almost takes over Equestria” he read out loud before placing it back on the table and leant back in his chair. “It just goes on and on” He sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

        “Well if it makes you feel any better, that little display you did earlier today resulted in several very… pushy Nations to immediately back off” She said as she sat on a second chair next to him. “I also wanted to asked about your decision on what is going to happen with Shining” She asked as Tony groaned again and covered his face.

          “Fuuuuuuck… I forgot all about that” He groaned “I have no idea but should have a idea in the morning after all this crap is done, and it doesn't help that Amber’s sister doesn’t like me” He muttered as he placed his head on the desk.

            “Any idea why?” Twilight asked.

             “Well I knocked up her sister” Tony said raising his head, which had a piece of paper stuck to it causing the purple Alicorn to giggle before she removed it with her magic.

              “Well Blaze is adorable” She said gaining a curious look from the man. “Her.. your son” She said as Tony nodded.

               “Sorry my brain is dead at the moment” He said before looking back at the paperwork. “I think I have a decision on what to do with Shining, can you get her and Cadence?” He asked as Twilight nodded before exiting the room. “I hope this is the right choice” He sighed before standing from the seat and stretching, causing several cracks and pops to be heard before he picked up all the paperwork and returned it to its folders before sitting back down just as the door opened and several marines entered, follows by Glimmer Shield, Cadence, Twilight and several more marines. “Okay well take a seat” he said which the Three Alicorns did. “Okay, i have come to decision I guess” he said.

           “You guess?” Cadence asked.

           “Yea I guess, cause I don't know what to make of you, when I saw you during the battle, you didn't take your eyes of Cadence and the look you have didn't appear malicious” He said the the alabaster mare. “So first thing is first, i have a few questions to ask you” He said.

             “Questions? I thought you had made a decision?” Glimmer asked with a raised eyebrow.

           “I do, just I need to hear from you a few things to see if my choice is correct” He said as Glimmer nodded.

            “Okay, shoot.” She said.

             “Okay, first question is, how did you go from being a psychopathic bitch to… well this?” He asked her as she sighed.

              “Well after I was blasted away from the wedding, the Alicorn Amulet managed to shatter and release Shadow Storm, who was locked away within it… unfortunately the blast of it backfired and altered my body into an Alicorn… painfully, Over the next couple of months, Shadow used me for all sorts of purposes, most were for her own desires and stress relief… and she was incredibly sadistic.” Glimmer said before taking a deep breath. “I thought it would be better when we discovered the prison of WarSong but he was worse, he managed to be so rough he murdered me several times but thanks to dark magic, they resurrected me”She sighed again and looked down at the ground. “It was only when I saw Cadence and the pain in her eyes when she thought she lost when I realised that what i put her through was nearly as bad as what they did to me and I… I feel horrible and I know that nothing say now will make up go that and i accept the terms of my imprisonment and or execution” She said as she looked at Tony.

        “Hmm interesting, well I wasn't planning on declaring either of those options, in truth I desire someone with your skill as a military leader and training as a captain” He said causing all the jaws in the room to hang open in shock. “And before you go on, you will have a magic proof shock collar on at all times” He said before turning back to his paperwork. “You are dismissed” He said as the guards grabbed Glimmer and dragged her out.

       “Honey, you can't be serious” Cadence said as she walked over to him as he simply looked at her. “Sweetie?” she asked again. “but why?” She asked.

        “I have a soft spot for stupid animals” He said as he picked up the mare and sat her on his lap as she blinked stupidly for a few moments.

        “Wait did you just call several of your friends stupid?” She asked.

         “Your words not mine” He chuckled as she head butted him.

         “I'm telling them” She said with a smirk before teleporting away.

          “Ahhh shit” He groaned in annoyance.

(Equis’s Moon’s orbit)

          Several miles above the surface of Equis’s Moon, a massive red Slipspace rupture formed before The Reach’s Redemption came through and narrowly avoided connecting with several wrecks of UNSC and Covenant starships before stopping in the moon's orbit.

          “Damage Report!” The captain ordered as she looked around the Heavy Cruiser’s bridge.

           “Weapon systems are offline but everything else appears to be fine.” a technician replied.

            “Okay, someone tell me where the hell we are” She ordered.

              “In orbit of an unknown moon in what appears to be a ship graveyard” the Navigation Officer replied.

               “Okay I want a full report on our personnel and I want our weapons back on yesterday, Who knows what is hiding here” She said as all the personnel scrambled to active as she placed her hand on the console attached to her chair. “Spartans to the bridge” She ordered through the P.A. system before taking a deep breath. “This is a Code red, i want Longswords, Broadswords and Shortswords patrolling the area around Reach’s Redemption until her weapons are operational” She ordered as alarms began blaring before standing and walking over to an Officer “What's out there?” She asked him as he looked at his console.

       “A Lot of dead ships and stations but according to this, there Is several ships with distress beacons active which are also powered, also there is an online Mac Cannon Platform several miles in from of us” He reported as she nodded just as the five man team of Spartan VI’s entered the Bridge and lined up.

       “Alright Spartans, your need you to investigate a Mac Platform to see if it is operation and safe, if so then we may be able to get some information on what has happened here” She said as the Spartans nodded and saluted before exiting the bridge.

(Ranger Station, 15 miles away from the Reach’s Redemption)

       “Alright Spartans, this will be a simple breach and clear, we don't know what is on this station but for all we know it could be infested with Covenant or worse” The White and Purple Spartan Commander explained as he stood in the doorway leading to the pilot seat.

        “Five minutes until docking, She seems to know we are coming” Jay reported from the cockpit.

          “Alright Amy and Jay I want you to hold the Hanger in case we have to make a quick exit, Leo, Jill and myself will head to the command centre of the Station and see if we can find out what happened here” He ordered as the three seated Spartans checked their weapons.

           “Docking” Jay announced moments before short rumble was felt and Jay stepped out of the cockpit and checked his rifle.

             “Any problems so far?” Chris asked Jay.

              “No there isn't so far” He said as Jay walked over to the back of the Pelican and opened the bay door to reveal the deserted hangar.

               “Alright, we have our orders” Chris said as Amy, Leo and himself began moving to blast door which Amy tried to open, only for it to refuse so she began to force it open with Leo’s help as Chris had his Saw machine gun pointed at the opening before activating one of his armour abilities, scanning the dark hallway. “Clear” He said as the team moved forward, slowly and cautiously towards the command centre of the Station, along the way, they discovered that majority of the other hangers were empty of tools, dropships and pretty much anything of use.

       “Looks like the just up and left” Leo said.

         “How do you know it hasn't been scavenged?” Amy asked.

           “I doubt it seeing this place is in lock down” Chris said as they reached another door, which Leo and Amy forced open before continuing until they reached a flight of stairs which lead to a security door with a Sign stating ‘Command Centre’ above it. “Alright, let's go” Chris said as the team of three darted up the stairs and to the door, which was surprisingly unlocked and opened when they were near.

         “Um okay” Leo said as he entered first with his Shotgun raised soon followed by Chris and then Amy who was wielding a DMR.

           “Amy, shut down this lock down, Leo relay out status to the Reach’s Redemption” Chris ordered as the other two Spartans nodded and went to complete their jobs while Chris approached a console and accessed it to find a data log. “Hmm so this was designed to… wait how can it exist if it was made five years from now?... oh I see a malfunction in its prototype Slipspace drive, but where di… they relocated to the planet after discovering the alien locals were not hostile, okay does that me… no the AI of this Station ‘Baixao’ Opened fired on their civilization due to it going rampant and feeling abandon” He read through data files before a thought crossed his mind. “Now seeing as you are collecting consistent data, let's see how long you have be… 10,000 years but how?” he asked as he checked the audio files and video files. “Oh I see so AI rewired the Slipspace drive to bring ships here but it needed a large amount of power so it drained energy from the planet? What how can that be?” Chris asked before being tapped on the shoulder by Leo.

       “Connection has been made and the Captain is sending Technicians and Marines also Amy has deactivated the Lockdown and reactivated life support” Leo said as Chris nodded before he returned to reading. “Anything Interesting?” Chris asked.

        “Yea apparently, this station was equipped with a prototype Slipspace drive to be able to travel instantly but something went wrong and it ended up here, the people on board couldn't figure out how to get back so they settled on the planet with the locals until the AI went rampant and he felt abandon so he took his revenge with the Mac cannon” Chris said as Leo nodded.

           “Okay, so that explains the missing crew but where is the AI? And why are the other ships here?” Leo asked.

            “Well the AI managed to alter the Slipspace drive to bring ships from our ‘universe’ to here” He said as Amy walked over.

             “Um wouldn't that require a shit ton of energy?” She asked as Chris nodded.

              “Yes but seeing as the planet somehow produces a massive amount of power, This AI managed to find a way to absorb some of it and use it to power this station… oh… oh that's not good” Chris suddenly said as he checked what he just read again.

           “What's wrong?” Leo asked.

            “Okay so you know how that AI in charge of the Guardians became whatever she is?” Chris asked as the two Spartans nodded. “Well this AI managed to recreate that” He said as Leo and Amy looked at each other. “And it gets worse, each ship which came that had an AI onboard, he assimilated them save for a few who crashed on the planet which he seemed to let go rampant”  He said.

       “Okay and where is this AI now?” Leo asked.

       “Ummm… lets see, well this says that about five years ago he… oh my god.” He said shocked.

        “What?” Amy asked.

         “He returned to our universe along with a Covenant vessel and the ‘Plague Doctor’ “ He said.

          “You mean the ship that we boarded and also is most likely the reason we are here?” Amy asked as Chris nodded.

           “But there is good news, i am picking up an active UNSC microchip on the planet, somewhere that the AI recorded as Ponyville” He said seconds before the three Spartans burst out laughing.

            “What kind of name is that?” Leo asked just as a squad of marines entered which the Spartans instantly straightened up.

             “Don’t know but this AI has seemed to have taken an interest in him, there is a several terabytes of information on him” Chris said as he sat down on the chair only for it to collapse which caused the Spartan to fall on his ass.

             “I think be best inform the Captain about this Marine on the planet, and that we may have a way of getting home” Amy said as she helped up Chris.