For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted System)

For the Emperor and the UNSC! (Rebooted System)

Ch.4: Their first Battle Scars.

All around them, many ponies were running away from the fights, seeking safety from the battle that raged around and inside Ponyville. Twilight went around trying to find her friends, her team, while also trying to help their forces. They were holding, but were being pushed back, as the enemy used rocket launchers and other explosives to break through their magical barriers, their lines of defense. And if they do, they’ll start killing civilians.

When it came to Flame Tail’s army, they would leave none standing. Civilian lives didn’t matter to them. But if kept in captivity, it was worse than being killed by them as they were forced to help make the weapons and vehicles that Flame Tail's forces used..

Grunting, Twilight fought back with the Guard, using her magic to defend and her weapon to attack. What looked like a glowing ball suddenly flew over Twilight's head and exploded in the enemy's midst, the heat from the blast reminding her of when the sun became unbelievably hot during the summer, causing ponies to stay indoors. The enemy unit was instantly vaporized.

“How’d you like that, you no good jerks!” Sasha's voice called over from a few feet behind them. She turned her head to see him perched on the ruins of a house that had been destroyed in an artillery salvo, a massive gun in his hands. The most distinguishing feature was the coil in the middle of the weapon. As Twilight looked closer, she saw that the backpack on Sasha’s back had changed, becoming bulkier. Both it and the gun were linked together by power lines that stretched between the two.

As much as she would've like to have known what kind of weapon he was using, asking about it wasn’t the time.

“Twilight, if you're pulling back, now's the time!” Sasha shouted. He launched another energy ball from his weapon at another enemy unit trying to assault her squad, the coil on the gun beginning to glow with heat. “I’d rather not have your leaders hang me because I let you get killed!” The third shot from it however, was where things went wrong. As the ball of energy left the barrel, the gun suddenly exploded, sending Sasha flying backwards with parts of his armor shattered, including part of his helmet, and his left arm vambrace. He crashed into the building behind the ruins he had been perched on and vanished from sight.

“Sasha!” Twilight called out in a panic.

“Ma’am! We have to pull back!” One of the Guards, a Sergeant, said as he dragged her back to a more defensive position. “Dammit! What the heck happened to him!?”

“I-I-I don’t know! I don’t even know what he was even using!” Twilight stuttered as the enemy began pushing them back again. “I have to go help him!” She said, but was stopped before she could run out to get the Space Marine.

“I can’t let do that, your highness!” The Sergeant said as he stopped her.

“But-!”

“Princess Sparkle, with all due respect, listen to me! We can’t save him if we’re all dead before we even reach him!” He told her. “If you really want to get him out of harm's way, we need more reinforcements!”

Just as he said that, reinforcements did arrive. Flanking around Flame Tail’s troops, they had managed to grind their advance to a halt. Seeing this, Twilight pushed passed the Sergeant and sprinted towards the building where Sasha crash landed. Once she found him lying in the living room, she used her magic to try and drag him, though she soon learned that he was way too heavy to lift.

“You so own me...an explanation.” Twilight said through her gritted teeth, as she dragged the unconscious Dark Angel out of the building.

Alex skidded to a halt near Twilight and gasped. “Oh no…. He must’ve been using a plasma weapon and it overheated…” She said as she helped the Alicorn move Sasha to a safer spot. “Damn it… why’d he have to do something so stupid as that?!”

“Plasma!? Well, no wonder why. But why is his plasma based weaponry so dangerous to use!?” Twilight asked in surprise shock. “He could had killed himself!”

“Because humanity had yet to figure out a way to make their plasma weapons safer to use. Most of the alien races had found a way to use plasma safely, but us humans… not so much.” Alex explained before a strange looking pistol suddenly formed in her hand and spat green bolts of energy at an enemy soldier charging at them, the armor the pony was wearing being no protection as the bolts boiled it away and sent him to the ground screaming in agony before a single bolt silenced him.

“And what kind of energy based weapon is that?” Twilight asked nervously. “Because I doubt that’s human.”

“You’d be right, this is a Covenant plasma pistol. A lot safer than the plasma weapons of the Imperium.” Alex said.

“You can say that again.” Twilight nodded before asking the Spartan. “Have you seen any of the girls, Alex?”

“I saw Vik and Applejack helping some ponies to a shelter.” Alex replied.

“Alright. What about the others, or even Eliteslayer?”

Alex shook her head. “I saw a Hornet VTOL firing on the enemy troops on my way here, so I’m guessing that's Eliteslayer, but I haven't seen the other girls.” She said. “I’m guessing they're scattered across the town, helping however they can.”

“Okay, I’ll go look for them. Can you take care of Sasha?” Twilight asked, reloading her gun.

Alex nodded. “Good luck.” she said before slinging Sasha's left arm over her shoulder and hauling the Astartes away.

Sighing, Twilight went around town looking for her friends, while also helping the ponies and troops. She needed to be sure that they were still alive. The enemy seemed to have slowed down, seeing them becoming a little more desperate as they tried to push their own forces back.

The sound of jet turbines caused her to look up as a strange looking aircraft came down to land. A twin linked rotary cannon was mounted at the front while two missile launchers jutted out near the wing, while two turbines rotated in different directions to allow more maneuverability. Two elongated skids sprung from the rear, big enough for a pony to stand on, with a handhold linking the aircraft to the skid. As it landed, it then vanished, leaving a solitary Spartan standing. “Princess? Everything okay?” Eliteslayer asked.

“For now. Sasha’s out of the action because his Plasma Cannon blew up from overheating, Alex is taking care of him, Vik and Applejack are evacuating the ponies to a shelter, and I’m looking for the rest of my friends.” Twilight explained to him.

Eliteslayer gave an annoyed groan. “Of course he'd go for that weapon…” he muttered, pinching the bridge of his helmet. “How bad was the damage to his armor?” He asked.

“Hopefully nothing too serious, just a few cracks and scorch marks. Other than that, he’s still breathing.” She told him.

He sighed in relief. “Good.” He suddenly stiffened and leapt towards Twilight, knocking her to the side before a dual bladed energy sword materialized in his hand and impaled a single enemy Pegasus. He then pulled out a single assault rifle and gunned down two more enemy soldiers. “One thing I can say about these guys, they're persistent little buggers!”

“No kidding.” Twilight huffed as she also gunned down some herself. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen my friends?”

“I think I saw Rainbow tangoing with two pegasi, the others, I have no clue.” Eliteslayer said, impaling his sword into a unicorn’s head and yanking it out.

“I doubt I can help Rainbow out.” Twilight sighed. “But I’ll keep looking for the others.”

Eliteslayer nodded. “You’ll be happy to know that the enemy forces are beginning to retreat, so we’ll have these guys cleared out soon.” he said.

“That’s good to know and it would explain why they have become desperate.” Twilight stated.

“Agreed. They’ve learned that this town doesn't give in easily.” Vik said as he approached the two, Applejack following him.

“Vik, Applejack, are you two alright?” Twilight asked them.

“Ah’m fine, sugacube. But Fluttershy’s hurt, Rarity’s tryin’ to patch her up, and Pinkie has knocked out the last of them artillery. And mister Super Soldier here ain’t doing good, he practically saved me and some ponies from a couple of grenades, even if he isn’t showing it.” Applejack explained, giving a little tap on the Spartan’s leg and he grunted in pain, almost buckling from that.

“Oh no, what happened to her!?” Twilight exclaimed.

“A couple of them vermin jumped her when she was attending a little colt’s wounds. She lost her left wing.” Applejack told her grimly. “C’mon, Ah’ll take ya to her.” She said as the two ponies left the Spartans in a mad dash, running towards Rarity’s destroyed house.

Both Alex and Sasha were there when they arrived, the Spartan standing guard with her sword drawn.

“Alex, where are Rarity and Fluttershy?” Twilight asked urgently.

“They’re inside. Rarity's managed to stabilize Fluttershy's condition, but she’s lost a good bit of blood.” Alex said, her voice tired. “Sasha’s regained consciousness, but he's still pretty shaky.”

“Alright.” Twilight nodded as she went upstairs to see Fluttershy, only to see a very distraught Pegasus, crying silently as Rarity does her best to stitch the wound. The shy pony whimpering and mumbling at the lost of her left wing. The sight of it was horrifying.

“There! That does it. Now… Oh, thank Celestia, Twilight.” Rarity said with a sigh of relief. “Quickly darling, can you call for a medical team. She needs blood.”

“O-Okay!” Twilight nodded, snapping out of it and radioed in for a medical team to their position.

A sudden burst of light from outside caused them to jump in shock. Twilight's eyes widened as she sensed a large amount of magical energy coming from Alex.

But before they could question what just happened, “Hurry, up the stairs! Somepony help these two out, now!” They heard from outside as hooves started running up the stairs and bursted into the room. The Medics came up to Fluttershy and started their operation.

“Thanks, we’ll take it from here. Nice job on sealing it up.” One of the medics said. “I think you should go check on that armoured female, though. Something happened and we don’t know what, other than her killing a couple of squads of enemies with magic.”

Twilight, somewhat confused by that claim, nodded her head and went down to check up on Alex.

“... Ma’am, are you feeling okay?” She heard a medic ask as she saw Alex sitting down, her helmet off and holding her head as she groaned.

“Y-yeah, just… torn between screaming in fear and fainting.” She said as she looked at her right hand, arcs of energy sparking off it. “This… this shouldn't even have been possible… Humans aren't supposed to be able to use magic...” Her eyes showed both shock and fear.

“Calm down, calm down. Deep breaths, if you freak out anymore, you’ll start having a magical surge.” The medic told her, trying to keep her calm.

“Alex?” Twilight called out as she walked up to her.

Alex looked up, her eyes showing her fear.

“Okay, please don’t freak out. I know this may seem unnatural, but we can make this work.” Twilight told her as she approached the shaken Spartan.

“Twi? Alex? What the blue blazes happened here?” Vik asked as both he and Eliteslayer arrived. “There was some sort of explosion, but the light was a bit… weird.”

“That would be her doing.” The medic answered, pointing to Alex’s right arm. “By accident.”

“Alex? She did that? I thought it was one of you lot or even Twi!” Vik said, shocked.

“No, it wasn’t me.” Twilight said, shaking her head. “It was definitely Alex, and she’s a bit freaked out about it.” She explained.

Vik pulled Alex into a hug. “Hey, you okay?” he asked gently. Alex didn't answer, but a series of quiet sobs wracked her body.

“Why did we have to go to that stupid Con… we could've just gone to a movie…” she muttered. “I never wanted this.”

Vik stroked his girlfriend's hair. “We never really expected this stuff to happen. Now, we need to adapt to whatever this place throws at us.” He then lifted Alex's head up. “And no matter what, I’ll stay with you always.”

“And Alex, I can help you with your magic.” Twilight stated.

Alex hesitantly nodded as she stepped back. Eliteslayer strode forward, his expression unreadable behind his helmet. “What’s the status report?” he asked the medic.

“It’s hard to say for her, since her unknown magical powers just came out of nowhere. For the most part, it’s stabled. Your large friend is also fine, just a few bruises on his body, his armour protected him.” The medic answered him.

“Good.” Eliteslayer said before turning to Twilight. “I’m gonna go let Celestia know about the enemy retreating, but I wouldn't put it past those guys to leave at least two or three hidden agents. So be careful who you trust.” He then left, leaving the others staring after him.

“For someone that's in the same boat as us… he’s really hard to read.” Vik muttered.

“Maybe not all Displaced are the same?” Twilight questioned before shaking her head. “We’ll figure that out another time.” She said with a sigh.

“Agreed… right now, we need to make sure Fluttershy is okay.” Alex said, looking back towards the stairs.

Coming down the stairs were the medics, with Fluttershy in tow. She was asleep, but was quietly whimpering as they brought her down.

“Is she alright?” Twilight asked them.

“She’ll be fine, just needs some rest. Although, unfortunately, she won’t be able to fly again.” The medic stated.

“Can’t you make a prosthetic wing for her?” Vik asked, stumbling as his leg gave a sudden lurch. “Ah, damnit!”

The medic sighed sadly. “Yes, we can. But if you’re referring to making sure that she could fly again with it, well, we’ve tried. It didn’t work out so well.” He explained. “The problem is that we’ve been using magic to fix most things, we simply don’t know enough about technology. Without that sort of knowledge, we can’t balance both magic and science out.”

Vik frowned in thought. “Where I’m from, we’ve figured out how to attach nerves to prothstetic limbs, maybe you'll find a way, but it’ll take time.” he said.

“Hopefully so.” The medic sighed. “Anyway, we should return to the castle. The Princesses and that are waiting.” He said to them.

“Okay.” Twilight nodded as they all left. Walking down along the streets, they saw that many buildings and houses were destroyed in the wake of the attack. The dead bodies of soldiers and civilians alike were lying on the ground, with missing limbs, or their internal organs splayed out onto the ground in a pool of blood.

“All these lives lost…. And to prove what?” Sasha muttered as he limped alongside the others. Alex wore a haunted look behind her helmet while Vik said nothing, his fists clenching in anger.

Soon they met up with Pinkie, who didn’t look much like herself. Her poofy mane and tail were straightened out, her bright pink coloration dulled, and her happy expression now turned to sadness.

“They’re all gone…” She sniffled, as Applejack came to her side and hugged her.

Seeing this, Alex leaned on Vik, her eyes beginning to tear up. “This is so wrong…. Those ponies are monsters….” She whispered.

Making it back to Twilight’s castle, both Celestia and Luna were outside waiting, while Blueblood continued on sending aid to help the injured. Seeing them in the state they were in, the two Princesses felt saddened as well.

“The town is secured and the enemy is in full retreat.” Twilight told them with a heavy sigh. “And yet, it still doesn’t feel like a victory.” She added, looking down to the ground.

“From what we’ve seen… at least 5% of the town’s population was killed by Flame Tail's troops.” Eliteslayer spoke up from where he was standing. “Mares and foals included.”

“I see…” Celestia said with a face of grim.

“We thank you three for helping our ponies as best you can, and we are sorry you had to partake in this.” Luna spoke next, her tone was one of sympathy.

“FLUTTERSHY!” They heard Rainbow Dash screamed as she came flying towards the group. Skidding to a halt, she ran up beside the unconscious shy pony. “Is she gonna be alright!?” She asked.

“She will be, but keep it down. She needs rest...much like everyone else here.” The medic told her sternly, making her realise that the others weren’t in high spirits.

“Oh…” She said as her ears fell flat. “Sorry.”

“Perhaps some rest would be wise.” Celestia said with a nod as they all went inside the castle.

The three humans nodded, but Eliteslayer declined. “I’m heading back to the base. I’ll catch up on my report later.” he said, his voice sounding strained. He then walked out of the castle, the doors closing behind him before the sound of jet turbines was then heard for a second before it then faded away.

Celestia sighed, but didn’t bother with it.

Both Spike and Nyx ran up to Twilight and hugged her, as they expressed on how worried they were about her and the others. Twilight gave a little smile as she was glad that they were safe from harm. Still, it didn’t quite help the fact that their hometown was hit pretty hard, and almost unexpectedly. Soon the group split up and went their separate ways; the medics taking Fluttershy to one room with Rainbow Dash following them, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie leaving to see if their families are alright, and the three humans retiring to their own rooms.

“Twilight, we’ll help Ponyville rebuild as best we can.” Celestia told her, using her wing to wrap around her former student.

“I’ll try to ease everypony’s dreams, but it won’t be easy.” Luna sighed. “With this attack, I doubt Ponyville will be able to rest easily.”

“Thank you.” Twilight said with a sniff, shedding some tears out.

As for the three humans, Sasha was in his room, sitting down on his bed, reflecting on how he nearly got himself killed with his own weapon and also the battle they had fought and survived.

“What have we gotten ourselves into…? This is not how I had wanted to spend my time… It was supposed to just be me, Vik and Alex hanging out at that Con, not us nearly getting ourselves killed in a war…” He muttered.

Within Vik and Alex’s room, Alex was crying into her boyfriend’s shoulder, still shaken by the fact that she could somehow use magic, but the amount of damage and death that had happened today to this town had shook her up even more. Vik tried his best to keep her calm and not let her newfound powers act out of control from the emotions she was going through.

His thoughts then turned to Eliteslayer. “Just who is he? And what happened in his past?” He wondered. Shaking his head, he soon laid down, Alex having fallen asleep beside him. Tomorrow would bring more answers, and maybe… a way to help the town rebuild.