For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted System)

Ch.1: Armored Saviours.

The Everfree Forest, 2147 CLR

“No, no, no, no, no, no, no!” Twilight screamed over and over again as she dodged between the trees.

“Twilight, I told you this was a bad idea!” Spike shouted as he held onto her.

Behind them, a pack of Timberwolves chased after them, eyes glowing with hunger. As to why the two were in the Everfree Forest, there had been reports stating suspicious activity happening inside, with even Zecora saying that there might be other ponies lurking about in the forest. To add more to the growing pile of evidence, she had found what appeared to be hoof tracks leading towards the Old Ruins. The only problem was that there was nopony within the area. The Scouts that had been sent to check it out had came back with nothing, saying that there were no signs of life.

However, Twilight wasn’t exactly convinced. She decided to check it out for herself. Of course, Spike knew she was going to do something like this and had tried to stop her, only for him to then get dragged along with her on a wild goose chase. One that had turned from bad to worse.

“If you had just listen to me and dropped it, we wouldn’t be in this situation!” Spike said in a panic, as Twilight tried to lose the pursuing Timberwolves, only to get themselves lost within the forest.

“Spike! Now’s really not the time!” Twilight retorted as she managed to corner themselves into a dead end. “Oh no.” She groaned as her ears pinned back. Hearing a chorus of snarls, she turned around and saw the lupine forms of the Timberwolves surrounding her and Spike and leaving no openings for them to escape.

Thinking fast, she cast a barrier around themselves as one of the Timberwolves made the first move, pouncing towards them, only to get rejected. The rest of them snarled as they attacked Twilight’s barrier one by one, causing quite the strain on her.

“Twilight, can’t you teleport us out!?” Spike asked, flinching every time the Timberwolves slammed into the shield.

“Ah! I should have done that ages ago!” Twilight growled in frustration, not only from forgetting that she could’ve just used the Teleportation spell, but from the strain the pack was putting on her.

Eventually cracks started to form on the shield, Twilight tried her best to hold it up as she began to tire out from the strain. Upon the last attack, the entire Timberwolf pack charged at the shield, breaking through as it shattered and crumbled. The backlash was enough to knock Twilight off balance, throwing her back against a very large tree and somewhat ending up squishing Spike between her and the tree.

“Ow…” Spike wheezed as he tried to squeeze his way out, only to regret it as he saw their predicament. “... Oh horse apples.”

“Spike, language.” Twilight scolded, only to remember that they were now at the mercy of the Timberwolves. Fear started to settle into the two, grabbing and holding one another as the Timberwolves savoured the moment, watching their prey wither in fear before them. “Spike, I’m really sorry about all of this.” Twilight managed to speak out as the hungry pack got ready to feast upon them.

“Just for that, I’d like to say I told you so and I forgive you.” Spike said before he closed his eyes and accepted their inevitable fate.

However, just before the Timberwolves could take a bite out of the two, something large and metallic came rushing towards the pack from the side. All were quite surprised by this turn of events, as Twilight saw a massive, green, metal like golem towering over them, wielding a massive pistol in its left hand and a strange sword that looked like a cross between a chainsaw and a broadsword in its right. What its purpose was, she soon found out, as she heard it revving up, the saw teeth running along one edge of the blade as the massive hulk charged towards the Timberwolves. Using its armoured shoulder, it slammed into the closet Timberwolf, it’s wooden body shattering into splinters from the force.

Seeing this happen, the rest of the pack snarled and spread out, keeping out of reach of the new threat. It did little to help as it used its pistol to fire a salvo of shots into the pack, the rounds themselves embedding themselves into their targets and then imploded inside, instantly taking out three more.

“Unless you want to be in the line of fire, I’d suggest you’d move!” The being shouted at Twilight, its voice cold and metallic.

Doing as it said, she grabbed Spike and started running again. Twilight didn’t dare to look back, using the same passage the golem made with its unusual sword. She followed a way before getting snagged in a trap, a well placed and concealed net.

“What the heck!?” Twilight shouted as she struggled to get free.

“Twilight, hold up!” Spike told her. “Stop struggling so that I can get us out of here!”

“How!?” She stressed out. He didn’t answer her immediately, but she soon got her answer as Spike used his dragon fire to burn through the net. Although they forgot just how high up they were, as they landed with a hard thump. “Oof! Ow!”

“Ugh! Why was there a trap set up?” Spike groaned out.

“I don’t know.” Twilight answered, but soon froze up as they both heard guns clicking.

“Don’t move!” A voice shouted out, as two more metallic beings came out from the bushes, only these were different from the first.

Both were wearing red and silver armor, but their appearances were each unique. One had a helmet with a gold half dome with what appeared to be a white skull on the front. The other had a more pointed helmet with a gold visor and its right arm was more heavily armored than its left and terminated in a clawed gauntlet.

Soon enough the first one came back, Twilight looking up and finally getting a proper look, though she wasn’t very fond of how menacing it looked.

The armor looked both advanced, yet slightly archaic. Across the chest was a winged skull, while the pauldrons each had unique iconography. The left had a red dual headed arrow pointing sideway, while the right had what appeared to be a winged sword on it. Its right knee had a red diagonal stripe on it, while the helmet had a narrow muzzle going down, with slots on either side. Glowing red eye lenses seemed to glare at her as she stared at it and what looked like some kind of backpack was visible behind it, with two nozzles poking out.

“So you're the one that those mutts were chasing?” It asked, somehow managing to sound distrusting.

“Y-Y-Yes.” Twilight stuttered out her answer, shrinking under its gaze. “W-Why are you looking at me like I’m the enemy?” She asked.

“Because we’ve already encountered some of your kind, and their response wasn't so friendly.” One of the other figures said, and to Twilight's shock, the voice was female. “You’re the only one that hasn't open fire on us.”

“Wait! So there are other ponies in the Everfree Forest?” Twilight questioned them and they nodded. “What was their sigil?”

“Why should we trust you? How do we know you won't tell your friends and have us hunted down and killed?” the third figure snapped, distrust clear in his voice. The other two nodded in agreement.

“Okay, fair point.” Twilight said with a sigh. “Here’s the sigil for the army I fight for.” She said, pulling off the patch on her left shoulder and showing it to them. It depicted an Alicorn with two swords crossing each other from behind it, while also having one half of the sun on the right, and the other half of the crescent moon. “I’m with the Equestria Military Arms Corp. Those other ponies you almost got killed by, are with Flame Tail.”

“Equestria? Flame Tail?” Twilight got the feeling that she was getting confused looks from beneath those visors. The female armored figure spoke up. “The first sounds like something from a cartoon, and the other sounds like one of those cats from a book series I read back home called Warriors.”

“Uh, I’m sorry to ask this, but are you three from...another world?” Twilight asked them, because from the sound and look of things, she couldn’t help but feel like they were.

“If you call getting dropped into a forest with wooden wolves, creatures that are supposed to be a literal myth and getting attacked by talking ponies with guns while finding out you're now an all to goodness Spartan when it was supposed to be a costume as being transported from another world.” The third figure said sarcastically. “Oh yeah, did I also forget to mention finding out you can do this?” He held out his hand and a massive hammer that crackled with energy materialized in his hand, the hilt resting on the ground. “Because that's so very normal on Earth.”

Twilight winced at his little rant, but it was enough to answer her question. “Okay, moving on…” She said before hearing voices off in the distance. The three beings tensed, the female bringing her left hand to her back, where Twilight noticed an ornate one handed broadsword magnetized to it.

“Did you hear those shots?” A voice asked.

“Yeah, not to mention the screaming. You think it might be that purple princess trying to save the day?” Another voice answered in a snarky manner.

“If that’s the case, she’s an idiot for coming in here. Heck, I wouldn’t mind if those three metal creatures were to kill her for us, without even realising it.” The first voice said with a laugh. “Besides, she can’t even fly anymore and her magic isn’t as powerful as it once was before.” That comment made Twilight wince at the memory of losing her wings and half of her magical capabilities.

“Great… it's those idiots…” the first figure snarled. “Alex, get your sniper rifle ready and set yourself up somewhere where they can't see you. Vik, stay here with.... I’m sorry, We never got your name, miss?” he said, turning to Twilight.

“... It’s Twilight. I’m the princess those two were talking about.” She answered, taking off her uniform and showing them what was left of her wings. They were quite shocked at what they saw.

The third armored figure spoke up. “What… what the hell happened to you?” he asked.

“War.” Twilight answered sadly, moving her mechanical wings a little bit. “That’s what happened, and what’s still going on.”

The female figure rubbed her right arm, as if she was reminded of something that happened to her. The first figure shook his head to clear it before he continued with his orders. “...Vik, stay here with Twilight and her companion. I’ll try and draw them away from here, and if they try to attack, Alex, snipe them.” The female figure, Alex nodded as she pulled out a long barreled gun that had an integrated bipod and a dual band scope. She soon walked off, her armor shimmering before she then vanished from sight. Twilight stared in shock at the spot where Alex had been.

“Did...did she just use an invisibility spell?” Twilight asked in a whisper. The third figure, Vik, busted out laughing.

“No, it's an armor upgrade that allows you to literally blend into your surroundings.” He said. “It’s known as active camo.”

“Oh.” She said with a sigh. “Sorry, I’m still getting used to technology. Nothing against it, I love it as much as magic, but I’m so used to doing things with magic that I forget about science.” She explained, looking at her wings.

The first figure gave a bitter snort. “You’re not the only one that's trying to cope with stuff…” it said before walking towards the sound of the voices, the chainblade having been replaced with a sword that crackled with power.

Vik shook his head. “The three of us have had it a bit rough when we got here, nearly got chomped on by a Manticore and getting shot at by those ponies and getting used to our new bodies… so you can see why Sasha, Alex and I are a bit on edge.”

“I guess.” Twilight said, placing her uniform back on. “Even my new wings don’t help me cope with the fact that I failed.”

“Pardon my language, but I call utter bullshit on that.” Vik said.

“Why?” She asked him. “Why would you think that? I’ve lost both of my wings and half of my magical prowess in defending Manehattan, and it still wasn’t enough. My fake wings are just a cold reminder of that fact.”

“Yet you're still fighting to save your country. If you had truly failed, you would’ve given up long ago, wouldn't you?” Vik pointed out. “I’ve seen people that have have suffered worse on the news and yet they didn't give in. And neither should you.”

“I… You’re right.” Twilight nodded with a sigh. “I shouldn’t give up, nor should I let my past failures haunt me forever. Even though Alicorns can’t exactly age.” Then an idea struck her. “Say, can you help us? I know I’m asking a lot of you three, and you do have the right to refuse and stay neutral. But what if you’re stuck here, with no way of getting back home?”

“Then it's a risk we’ll live with…” He said, his voice going flat. “As for helping you, how do we know your allies won't attack us at first sight? We’re not exactly capable of blending in with your lot.” he gestured to himself, indicating the armor.

“That’s true, but I’m still a princess. And I’m making all three of you my responsibility, granting you immunity and a chance to prove yourselves to everypony that you’ve got as much rights as any of us.” She told him with a hardened look. “And if they don’t like that, then tough luck for them. We need all the help we can get. Since Flame Tail’s soldiers tried to kill you at first glance, that gives you enough reason to fight back against them.” She explained to him.

Vik sighed. “Alright, but the three of us will need to talk it over before we give you our answer.” He said.

“Fair enough.” She nodded.

Two sharp cracks suddenly split the air, causing Vik to flinch. “Geez, it's only been at least 3 days and that still makes me jump…” he muttered.

“Can I ask you something?” Twilight inquired.

“What?” Vik replied, shouldering the rifle he held.

“Um, this might come off as offensive, but has your kind ever been to war?” She asked him. “I mean, from the sound and look of things, your race must have had wars…”

Vik gave a bitter chuckle. “We’ve had more wars than you could ever imagine. And two of these wars involved entire nations. The second world war ended up with more lives lost than those killed the American Civil War… all thanks to a mad man who perpetrated the most inhumane war crime ever seen known as the Holocaust, a mass slaughter of over a million innocent people known as the Jews.” He said, anger clear in his tone.

Twilight was completely horrified by this, she never would have imagined such a being existed to commit such an atrocity, nor did she think such a war could be waged on such ambitions. Mass genocide. “That’s...beyond wickedness, even more evil… How can any of you live through such harsh times? Let alone win a war and end it!?”

“Because we adapt. This is both our boon and our curse. As we adapt, so does warfare, from bows and arrows, to muskets and machine guns.” Vik said, staring out into the forest. “But for all the horrors humanity has done to itself, there are people who help to make our world better.”

Twilight didn’t say much afterwards, as they waited for Alex and Sasha to return. She was astounded at how his kind, Humanity, could defy such nightmares, but also saddened that it could create the very nightmares from the beginning. She couldn’t imagine living in a world like theirs.

Alex was the first one to return, her weapons slung across her back. “Everything okay here?” She asked. Vik nodded in response. As Alex crossed her arms, Twilight heard a faint whirr coming from the right arm.

Sasha was next to come back, holding a couple of combat backpacks and dropping them in front of Twilight. She quickly searched through them and found a map in one of them. “Ah-ha! Now I can find out where exactly they’ve bunkered down in.” She declared, looking it over and frowned. “So, they really are in the Ruins. But the scouts said they couldn’t find a single trace of there being any sort of activity happening in there.” She stated.

“But that doesn’t make sense.” Spike said in confusion. “How can Flame Tail’s goons be in there and not found?”

“Hmm…” Twilight hummed. “They must be in the lower levels. I doubt the scouts searched down there. If so, what could they be planning?” She questioned.

“I don't care whether or not she wants our help, we don't know enough to be sure if we should help or not!” Sasha’s voice cut across her musings. She looked up to see the three having a heated argument.

“Here’s a question; would you like to make everyone and everything your enemy?” Twilight asked the armored being with a flat look. “If so, just remember you pinned yourselves between a rock and a hard place.”

Sasha growled in annoyance, while Alex and Vik shared exasperated glances beneath their helmets. “Fine… we’ll help. But you’d better fill us in on what the hell is going on with this world…” he said.

“Deal. Now, where’s your place? I’ll tell you everything there.” Twilight asked, packing everything away and carrying it.

“We’ve been wandering this forest for three days.” Vik said. “Other than making camp twice in separate locations, we don't have a place to stay.”

“Okay, let’s find some place to settle down for today.” Twilight suggested to them, as Spike hopped onto her back.

“Isn’t there like a town nearby that we can go?” Alex asked.

“Not unless you want to get shot at under misassumptions.”

“Great….. another night of laying on the ground…” she muttered.

“Come on, let’s go before more show up.” Twilight told them as she checked the map again. “There should be a cave some ways from here.” She said as she took the lead with the others failing behind her.

As Alex followed, Vik commed her on a private link. “Still think you're dreaming?” He whispered.

Alex shook her head and didn't say anything. “Why are we here… and why do we have these powers…?” She thought as an unknown energy arced across her right gauntlet.

Meanwhile, Canterlot Castle.

“... Twilight did what?” Princess Celestia asked, a shocked look on her face.

“She went into the Everfree Forest with her assistant Spike, all because she thinks that there’s something going on at the Old Ruins.” The Royal Guard in front of her said, looking up from his report. “While our scouts have declared that there’s nothing of any imminent threat, she thought otherwise. By the time we realised she was gone, it was too late. We can’t go searching for her now. There was also reports of gunshots going off in the forest, but we couldn’t tell whether it was her or somepony else.”

Celestia sighed. “Very well, have a team formed for tomorrow’s search and rescue. We’ll probably find her at the Ruins.” She ordered.

“As you wish, your highness.” The Royal Guard replied, giving a short bow and leaving the Throne room.

Soon Princess Luna and Prince Blueblood entered. “Sister, is everything alright?” She asked her elder sister.

“No. Twilight just went into the Everfree Forest, with Spike, and is probably lost in there. We can’t send a team to look for her now.” Celestia answered with a frown.

“What could’ve prompted her to go in there?” Blueblood questioned.

“There were suspicious reports stating that there might be ponies roaming through the Everfree Forest. She probably suspected them to be Flame Tail’s troops setting up inside the Old Ruins, but the scouts found no signs indicating such things.” Celestia explained.

“Hmm, Twilight might be onto something.” Blueblood commented, rubbing his chin. “What if Flame Tail really is sending some of his forces to occupy the Old Ruins? They could be targeting Ponyville.”

“Sister, I think our nephew and Twilight might both be onto something.” Luna said as Celestia’s face now held a look of both grim resolve and dread. “What do you think?”

“I can only hope Twilight and Spike can make it out alive….”

Author's Note

And so, the story begins anew...again.

But, nonetheless, it has been great writing this story with Sebaste. And yes, there are a few changes, but not a lot to change the direction he had in mind. Hope you all enjoyed this and we thank you for reading it.