Author's Note

It's unfinished due to a rewrite in pony forms. Mentioned it in my blogpost but I''l post it here as well:

Blackened Skies isn't dead, but it's slow writing due to it's current form. I have an ending planed out, but it involves the Forerunners. And to my knowledge, human hands(or at least the shape of the human hand) make it easier to interface with Forerunners' technology. With the addition of the weaponry of Halo, having fingers make things easier.

So I decided to make the Ponies anthro. The obvious changes will be their bipedal state and the addition of fingers and thumbs. In my mind, that would be more common in the Halo universe as 99% of the species that aren't animals are bipedal and have hand-like structures. They will stand on hooves and have fingernails made of ivory-like(a crucial detail that you'll see). Their wings will sprout from the scapula(shoulder blades). The horns will be in the same place and their tails sprout from where the tail bone in humans would be. They will have the same heads, albeit a bit smaller as to make them look less awkward. One last note is that they they will be fairly small, the average height being 1.04 meters tall(3'5'' feet tall) to 1.09 meters(3'7'' feet tall) with exception of Princess Celestia and Luna.

I'll keep the old chapters in and post the latest unfinished one today. Sorry for the drastic change, but I believe I can put out more chapters faster if I make them anthro, as well as not having to jump through hoops trying to think of ways of how the original forms can interact with the technology in Halo.

Land Of Impossibilities

"No...that isn't right....no, that doesn't look right either...That wouldn't work..." mumbled a lavender Alicorn known as Twilight Sparkle. The Pony was hunched over a desk, crumbled papers littering the floor and desk around her. The wastebasket beside her had been long over-filled.

Twilight grunted in frustration as she erased the lines she had just drawn. Designing what would go where in the upcoming Gala was proving to be much harder than she had expected. Not only was she faced with the problem of putting the tables and decorations in a way that would please the Canterlot nobility, she had to do it while pleasing middle and lower class citizens.

The other classes, a new addition, was Celestia's attempt to remove the 'line' the nobles had drawn around them. The solar deity had grown tired of the nobles' selfish views on the other classes. Hopefully the Gala would show the nobles that the classes below them weren't as bad as they thought.

As much as Twilight adored and believed in her once-mentor's diplomacy skills, the purple Alicorn doubted that this Gala would change anything, if not further increase the division.

And as much as Twilight was honored to being chosen to plan this party, she soon developed the feeling that this was impossible to do. She couldn't figure out how to please everypony. The nobles would want fancy decorations and food that befitted them.

The lower classes, however, was the opposite. While they might be impressed with the decorations, Twilight was sure they wouldn't be happy with the food. Then there was the difference in tastes of music, different opinions on entertainment, and the HUGELY different types of personalities.

And Twilight had less than a week to figure this out. Twilight groaned loudly and met her face with the desk.

"Still working on the Gala?"

The voice startled Twilight, who turned to see Tempest Shadow. Tempest had been given two choices. One, she could face banishment or imprisonment for life...or she could sign up as Twilight's personal guard. Tempest chose the latter.

Twilight smiled softly at Tempest. The dark maroon Unicorn's armor had been updated. Now it had a silver finish, with deep violet highlights accenting the plates. On her flank, instead of the Storm King's insignia was Twilight's.

Twilight's smile turned sheepish, "Yeah...Can't really figure out how to make it so all classes 'click' together."

Tempest hoofed the ground, "I don't know all that much about the nobles, but maybe instead of trying to make everypony happy, you could focus on compromise?"

Twilight blinked, "...I think you're right. I can't make everypony happy," she sighed, "guess I have to start over agai-"

"TWIIIIIIIILIIIIIIIGHT!!!" Both jumped at the voice. A pink blur whizzed past Tempest, who immediately started a offensive spell in order to defend her friend. She stopped, however, when she realized it was just Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie grabbed the sides of Twilight's head and put it to hers. He eyes were wide and crazed, more so than what was considered 'normal' for her, "A doozy! A real big doozy!"

"Wh-what?" said Twilight, stunned.

Pinkie pulled back, "My Pinkie Sense! There's a huge doozy coming!" On cue, the pink Pony started to shudder violently enough to worry Twilight about her friend's safety.

Pinkie stopped shuddering and leaned back in, "You gotta call the Guards! The Princesses! The Pony Postal System! The Sea Ponies! The-"

Twilight put a hoof to Pinkie's mouth to silence her, "Look, Pinkie...I know how important this could be, but I need to make some progress on the Gala. Just...give me half a day and then we'll prepare for the doozy."

Pinkie leaned back to speak, "But-"

"Please, Pinkie. Just a few hours is all I ask. Besides, we can all handle it together, I'm sure."

Pinkie whined, danced on her hooves for a moment, before speeding back out of the room. Silence enveloped the room afterwords. Tempest had watched Pinkie zoom out of the room before turning to Twilight, "Should I be worried?"

Twilight sighed, "Yes and no," seeing Tempest's confused look, Twilight explained, "Yes because doozies are, well, doozies of an event. No, because they don't always mean 'life-threatening, end-of-the-world' events. The first doozy was me believing her Pinkie Sense, for example."

Tempest pursed her lips and looked back out of the room, "If you say so..."

Xor 'Vozamai and the other two aliens were silent as they walked the halls of the ruined castle. The further they walked, the more Xor saw that there was effort put in to restore the palace. The halls were lit with candles, the dust was almost non-existent, and there were repaired decorations.

They continued walking down the halls, Xor realizing he could get lost easily in here. AJ suddenly stopped, "~~Gal dangit~~...Fergot Star Swirl's here."

Rainbow Dash replied, "Maybe he could use a spell on...uh...the big guy? So he can talk to us?"

The term 'spell on' caused confusion to the Sangheili. The translator did indeed translate it correctly, but the way it was worded still didn't make sense to him.

"That ain't a bad idea, RD...dunno how he'll respond ta th' big guy, though," said AJ, apparently agreeing with what Rainbow Dash. Xor still didn't know the specifics, but apparently they might have an idea on how to get him to communicate with them. And, with any luck, how to get home.

The sense of urgency came back. Luckily, the two aliens started to walk again. A few Units later, they turned a corner and Xor saw another room through an open door. From what he could see at this distance, were glassware with various liquids in them, books scattered around, and drawings and crumpled paper scattered around.

Another alien shifted from spot to spot, talking to itself. It wore a covering on top of its body which covered most of it. It had an alternating pattern of shades of blue decorated with stars and crescents. It hat a long, bent hat with a fanned out brim and a metallic ball on the tip. The alien's main coat color was light grey, accented by a white and grey colored beard.

Xor blinked. Somehow, that word automatically came to him and knew what it was. But, as what was common recently, he didn't know how or why. Xor shook his head and took a larger step to catch up with the two.

The trio entered the room and stopped outside the hallway entrance. The grey alien didn't seem to notice them. AJ cleared her throat, "Uh, Star Swirl?"

The grey one, now known as Star Swirl, blinked his steel grey eyes and looked to them. His eyes immediately focused on Xor and the bony appendage on his forehead that Xor had just now noticed started to glow. Xor fingered his energy sword as the light quickly intensified.

With a sudden pop, AJ and Rainbow Dash disappeared and reappeared next to Star Swirl. His horn glowed again as Xor unclipped his energy sword. He didn't ignite it as a dome appeared over the trio of aliens.

Once AJ realized what just happened, she grabbed Star Swirl by the base of his neck and spoke, "Woah there, pal. He's friendly."

Star Swirl's eyes flickered to AJ for a moment, "How do you know?"

AJ opened her mouth to respond when she realized Star Swirl had a point. How did they know for sure this alien was friendly? What if it was fooling them and waiting for the perfect to strike?

Rainbow Dash didn't see Star Swirl's point like AJ did. She scoffed, "C'mon, dude. I think we would know by now if he was planning to invade us. 'sides, we can easily take him."

Xor doubted that very much. Star Swirl either agreed or dismissed Rainbow Dash, the Sangheili couldn't tell which, "You do realize what shape its-"

AJ elbowed Star Swirl, interrupting him, "His. He don't like it all that much when we call him an it."

Star Swirl rubbed his shoulder and looked back at Xor, who was glaring at him.To the Sangheili's surprise, Star Swirl did not shrink or flinch away. He held the glare with his own and continued, "...realize what shape his teeth are in? Those are not teeth of an herbivore, but of a predator."

The two female shared glances at Xor's array of teeth. Xor suddenly got the distinct feeling they were starting to take Star Swirl's side. He gripped his sword handle tighter. To his relief, however, AJ spoke in his defense, "Yeah, he has sharp teeth. But that don't mean he's gonna eat us. He already ate two apples, so I don't think we hafta worry 'bout food too much."

"He has no jaw," deadpanned Star Swirl.

Rainbow Dash elbowed him, causing Star Swirl to look annoyed at the repeated bumps, "Hey, cut him some slack! He's an alien for ~~pony's~~ sake."

Star Swirl seemed to think about this for a moment before addressing Jaze, "And what is your defense?"

Xor gave him a stare before replying, "Where is the bathroom?"

Star Swirl blinked and AJ adjusted her hat, "That there's th' problem here. He can 'parrently understand us, but can only say that."

"Yeah...we were hoping you could help with that," said Rainbow Dash, scratching the back of her head.

Star Swirl still seemed unconvinced. AJ sighed, "Alright, look. Yer right 'bout not knowin' much 'bout him. But we can't rightly know more about him without being able ta talk to each other. An' isn't that onna th' things ~~Twi~~ taught ya 'bout? Ta talk over thangs first?"

Star Swirl squeezed his eyes shut and sighed, "...fine. Give me a few minutes to come up with something. Does he have a name?"

Rainbow Dash and AJ looked at each other. Rainbow turned her attention back to Star Swirl, "We think so...but neither of us can say it."

"Have you tried?"

"Well, uh, not really," said AJ.

Star Swirl sighed and looked at Xor, "What is your name?"

Xor took a few steps further in the room, 'Xor 'Vozomai.'

"Shor...Vazame..."

Xor clenched his fists in anger at the butchering of his proud name but stayed silent. Star Swirl's horn dimmed, dispersing the dome and pulling books over to his position. Xor's eyes doubled in size at the sight of the glowing books moving through the air.

The three aliens didn't seem to notice his gawking. Star Swirl flipped over the pages of the books while talking to himself, "Let's see here, we have no knowledge about his species' psychology or anatomy so making direct changes to his body is ill advisable...We have no knowledge about his native language to cast anything on us that could translate his words...There's really only one spell to use..."

He closed the book loudly. A small, white cylinder floated over to him before following him as he approached the Sangheili. Xor eyed the cylinder warily, growling lowly.

Star Swirl stopped and rolled his eyes, "It's just ~~enchanting chalk~~. It's not going to hurt you. You wish to speak, yes? Then let me draw the ~~rune~~."

Xor was clearly missing out on more than a few important words, making Star Swirl's words provide little sense. Still, this being before him was likely the only one who could enable him to speak English, though he had no idea how. Star Swirl continued towards the Sangheili.

Again, the difference of sizes made itself known. If Star Swirl was uneasy by this, however, he was good at hiding it. The white cylinder shot to the ground, Xor gripping his sword again. To his moderate interest, it left some of itself behind on the ground. Star Swirl quickly drew an elaborate design around the Sangheili, one that Xor couldn't guess the purpose to.

Star Swirl finished and took a step back, "Good. Now, stay still and don't move out of the circle."

After he said this his horn grew brightly. Xor instinctively gripped his energy sword, preparing for the worst. A few moments passed, Star Swirl's horn growing ever brighter before a beam shot from it.

A few things happened within the span of a few seconds. As the beam neared Xor, the drawing at his feet grew bright. White wisps of ethereal energy broke off of the line as the beam reached its target. Before Xor could react, the beam reached him.

His shields broke, and Xor immediately ignited his energy sword. His first instinct was to lunge and cut the aliens down but held his position as he noticed their faces.

Their faces looked surprised, or at least that's what Xor thought they looked like. It came to him that they likely didn't expect for his energy shields to break either. Still, he shifted lower to a combat stance, keeping his sword lit, "What did you do?"

AJ and Rainbow Dash's eyes bugged out while Star Swirl's mouth curled upwards. The grey alien spoke, "There we go. It worked."

"What worked?" asked Xor.

"The spell," replied Star Swirl, seeming unsurprised.

Xor was about to clarify when the realization hit him, "You can understand me?"

AJ gave a shaky nod, "Eyup..."

Xor stared at them. His shields came back and he deactivated his sword, putting it away and returning to a normal stance, "Why did my shields break then?"

AJ and Rainbow Dash shared a confused look while Star Swirl simply raised an eyebrow, "Shields?"

AJ looked over him, "Uh...Ah don't see any shields on ya..."

"Wait, you mean that flash of light?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Xor nodded, causing the two females to look over at each other. Star Swirl eyed him, "You have invisible shields?"

"Unless they break. Which they did. I will not ask again. Why did my shields break?" Xor said, giving Star Swirl a glare.

Again, Star Swirl didn't seem to be unnerved by his glare. The grey alien spoke, "I assume it was because it was in the way."

"In the way?" Xor said, AJ and Rainbow Dash looking just as confused as him.

"I casted a filter of sorts, located just before your...mouth..." Xor drew a hand up to his mouth, but didn't feel anything. Star Swirl clarified further, "I made it intangible, meaning you can still eat and drink with it active. But, as I said, your shields were likely in the way during the time it took to stabilize the spell’s main Matrix before having the intangibility Matrix start to form and activate. "

"...what?"

Star Swirl sighed, “It broke your shields while the spell sat itself up.”

“I still do not understand. What do you mean by ‘spell’?”

Star Swirl gripped his face in exasperation, "The magic spell!"

"Magic?"

"Yes, magic. Surely you know about magic, yes?"

Xor disliked the tone the grey alien was using, "No, I do not know about 'magic'."

Star Swirl frowned, "Hmm...you must have been extremely sheltered then."

"Uh, Star Swirl?" said Rainbow Dash, "I don't think that's the thing here..."

Xor huffed, "I was not sheltered. I have not heard of this magic. No Sangheili has."

Xor grew annoyed when Star Swirl scoffed, "Please. You're telling me you're species has no magic whatsoever?"

"Ah think that is what Shor here is tellin' us," said AJ.

"Xor. It is Xor," snarled Xor.

AJ winced, "Z-Zore? Like, wit' a 'z'?"

It wasn't exactly like the way his name was supposed to be pronounced, but it was the closest so far. Xor huffed, "Yes, with that sound."

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand how your species doesn't have magic," said Star Swirl, "If you had no magic, you simply wouldn't be alive."

Xor was about to reply before Rainbow Dash spoke before him, "Well, he is an alien, right? They probably don't live like us, yeah?"

Star Swirl opened his mouth to call out on Rainbow Dash before sighing instead, "Whatever. Let's drop this subject, yes? You still need an idea of what to do next."

"Wait," said AJ, "Whut do ya mean 'we'?"

Star Swirl glanced at one of the tables in the room, "I was in the middle of some critical tests before I was interrupted, and I would like to get back to them."

"You're not coming?" said Rainbow Dash.

"No, Rainbow, I am not. I am sure you two can handle it from here. You two surely have a plan, yes?"

"Well, we were gonna take him ta Twi's. Guess we'll jus' do that," said AJ, "How long does yer spell last?"

"Twenty four hours. I can make it permanent but that would require enchanting an object. I'm sure Twilight can do that," Star Swirl said as he went back to a desk and looked over some papers.

"...Well, guess we're goin' ta Ponyville then," said AJ after staring at Star Swirl for a moment. She looked at Xor, "Ya ready ta move, Sugarcube?"

"...'sugarcube'?"

Rainbow Dash took to the air, "It's something Applejack calls her friends."

Xor shot a look at Rainbow Dash, "I am not her 'friend'. Neither of you are my 'friend'."

Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes, "Ya don't have ta be a jerk about it..."

Xor huffed and started to walk forward, "I have not intention of making friends here. All I wish to do is get home."

Applejack narrowed her eyes as well, "Well, Ah won't force ya ta be friends wit' anypony, but that doesn't excuse ya ta be rude."

"I don't care. Are we leaving or not?"

Applejack pursed her lips in mild anger before sighing, "Yeah, let's go...jus' sayin' ya might want ta adjust yer attitude when we get ta Twilight."

Applejack turned and took the lead going out of the room. Xor ignored the glare he was receiving from Rainbow Dash and focused on the path before him.

As they walked through the halls and made way across rooms, Xor noticed that the castle went from decrepit and abandoned looking to clean, well lit, and almost welcoming. It was obvious that care went into restoring this castle to it's former glory.

Ultimately, however, Xor couldn't care less. All that mattered in his eyes was to get home. A small memory, a mild tidbit of forgotten information was rediscovered as they walked. And he knew it was true, or at least fairly positive it was true considering the information.

It told him that his race was indeed at war with another. And, surprising enough, that Sangheili, Humans, Unggoy, even the Jiralhanae and San'Shyuum were joined together to fight on the same side.

Which also told him, disturbingly, that whatever they were fighting was big enough a threat to get two species that at best disliked each other to become brothers-in-arms. Not even the Parasite, the thing that brought the mighty, immensely powerful Forerunner Empire to its end, could claim that as evident in the final days of the Human-Covenant war.

And yet this new threat who's name still eluded Xor had forced all of the species he knew together, some who he'd thought would never work together in a million lifetimes, in a frantic, desperate fight for survival.

It troubled him, to say the least, and further imprinted the need to get back home. If only to die along side my brothers.

"Zor!"

Xor blinked, realizing Rainbow Dash had been calling him for some time. And, as he saw, that they reached what looked like the entrance/exit of the castle.

A rickety bridge that crossed a rocky valley greeted him. Beyond the cliffside, was dense vegetation, the only break was a path. Other than that, the visibility was almost zero.

“Ya commin’?” said Applejack.

Xor glanced from her to the bridge to back at her again, “...you’re jesting.”

Applejack rolled her eyes, “Ah know it looks like it’s gonna fall ta pieces, but Twi enchanted it. You’ll be fine.”

“I am not setting foot on that bridge.”

Applejack looked Xor dead in the eyes, causing him to feel...something, “Trust me. You’ll be fine.”

To Xor’s own disbelief he found himself believing her. Something about her oversized eyes told, no, promised him that the bridge would hold his weight, despite how ridiculous it might seemed.

Xor quickly regathered himself, grunting softly as he tredded towards the wooden bridge. Applejack and Rainbow Dash was already crossing by the time he to to the edge. Xor peered down into the valley. He didn’t know how exactly deep it was, but it was obvious enough to mean certain death if he fell off.

Xor tested the first plank by setting some of his weight on it. To his surprise, it held. It didn’t even creak despite looking like it was over a hundred years old. His madibles went as slack as they could, the Sangheili equivalent of a jaw drop, when he put his full weight on the single plank.

“See?” Xor blinked and looked up from the plank to Applejack, “Ah told ya you’d be fine. Now, c’mon. Ah’d rather not be in th’ forest after dark.”

Xor pondered briefly over what she had said, “Why?” he found himself saying.

“‘Cause lotta critters come out huntin’ at night here in the Everfree Forest an’ Ah’d rather not tangle wit’ ‘em.”

Xor would have inquired a bit more but true to Applejack’s worries, the Sun was slowly making its descent. He clicked his mandibles together and followed the two Keifra aliens through the only path in the thick forest.

A few Units passed before Rainbow Dash suddenly stopped, “Joke.”

Xor blinked, “What?” he asked as Applejack stopped as well.

Applejack pointed ahead with her hoof, “Poison Joke. Don’t touch it.”

Xor followed Applejack’s hoof to see bright, unnaturally blue flowers covering part of the trail. He huffed in a breath. He didn’t smell anything foul or overly sweet from the flowers, so he didn’t understand why they said it was poisonous.

“It’ll play a joke on you if ya do,” said Applejack, stepping to the clear side of the path.

Now Xor was really confused, “A...joke? As in a jest?”

“Eyup,” said the orange Pony casually.

“...the plant will play a joke on me if I touch it,” deadpanned Xor, beginning to question the sanity of the two.

“It did to us,” said Rainbow Dash, also taking to the side of the path despite flying above, “Couldn’t fly straight until I got the antidote.”

“Ah got shrunk down to th’ size of an apple,” commented Applejack.

“...what?”

“Just...don’t touch ‘em. Trust me.”

Xor doubted the capabilities of a simple plant but he didn’t feel like arguing. So he sidestepped the patch of blue flowers following the two Keifra aliens . They continued their trek through the forest.

Said forest started to thin in density, the ferns that littered the ground grew few, until Xor noticed a break in the treeline ahead. He heard Applejack sigh in relief, “Finally.”

As they exited the tree line, Xor could see a grassy plain that continued onward briefly before ending in a river bank. A stone bridge allowed easy crossing, which marked the transition between a dirt path and a paved road.

The road led into a town populated with more Keifra aliens, all having a varied in bright coloring. A few glints of light in the setting sun showed that some of them wore metal coverings, obviously a sort of militia or peacekeeper.

“This is gonna to be pleasant,” muttered Applejack as she led the two others towards town. Xor wondered why she said that as they approached the town.

Xor found his answer as the first Keifra aliens that spotted them let out a shriek and scattered away. The Sangheili quickly found himself at the center of attention as the Keifra aliens either scattered in a panic or just froze in the spot.

Xor put a hand to his sword as two peacekeepers started to slowly approach them. One of them had a primitive looking spear at the ready, not angled directly at them, but enough to indicate he was clearly ready to use it at a moment’s notice.

“Miss Applejack? Miss Rainbow Dash? What...is that?” said one, a horned variant, as he eyed Xor warily.

“Uh, he’s-”

“MONSTER, RUN!” Xor snapped his head to the side to see three Keifra aliens drop to the ground dramatically.

Soon after, the remaining of the civilians scampered away. Those that didn’t were part of peacekeepers. The peacekeepers conversed lowly with each other, and Xor watched as a horned variant walked to the unconscious trio.

Xor couldn’t help but gawk as the horned one lit up it’s namesake and a similar color surrounded the three Keifra aliens. Then, as casual as picking up trash, the horned one lifted the glowing trio and started to walk away.

“Zor!”

Xor blinked and looked at Rainbow Dash, the Sangheili now acutely aware of how distracted he seemed to be lately. Rainbow Dash spoke, “They’re asking for your name.”

Xor tensed in distaste. He didn’t want his name to be soiled anymore from mispronunciation. All things considered, he had every right to defend it, to regain honor, “You will get no name.”

Applejack frowned, “Zor, I know we’re prolly misspeakin’ yer name an’ all, but that don’t give an excuse ta be rude.”

Xor snarled, causing the two civilians to back up and the two peacekeepers to tense, “You have dishonored my name more than once with you’re ‘misspeaking’. You will get no name.”

Rainbow Dash schootched up against Applejack and started to whisper, “What’s his deals with names?”

Applejack shrugged, “Dunno. Though Ah’m getting a feelin’ that they’re important ta him.”

“I have also waited long enough,” Xor continued, disregarding the two whisperings, “I demand to be brought to someone to take me home.”

“With all due respect,” said a peacekeeper, “You’re not in a position to be demanding anything. You’re in our land, disrupting our peace. By all accounts, I have every bit of a right to bring you into custody.”

Xor growled softly, “Is that a threat?”

“Just making a reading suggestion, sir.”

“As if you could hold me captive, let alone capture me.”

“You’d be surprised at the tenacity of the Royal Guard. Capturing you wouldn’t be the issue. Not hurting you while doing it would.”

Xor was about to snarl a reply before Applejack butted in, “Now hold on everypony, let’s all jus’ calm down. No need ta start a fight. We’re gonna take Zor here ta Twilight an’ send him on his way. Then we can put this all behind us.”

“Then let us find this ‘Twilight’. I tire of this world,” growled out Xor.

Applejack frowned at him but motioned him to follow. Despite herself, she found herself wishing that Twilight could do away with Xor as quickly as possible. She glanced at Rainbow Dash and from the Pegasus’s expression she was probably thinking the same.

Xor, meanwhile, was only focusing on what he would do once he got home. A nagging, worrying thought was that there wouldn’t be a home to get back to, so he needed to find this Twilight as soon as possible.

As the trio walked, Xor noticed that the Guards were following at a distance. He didn’t really care, and turned his attention back to the front. What he saw gave him pause for a few seconds.

There was a large tree ahead, easily the tallest structure nearby. It wasn’t organic, however, instead being made out a material that was faintly reminiscent of Blamite. What was far more odd, however, was that there appeared to be an actual castle sitting in the ‘branches’ of the tree.

The base of the trunk had a large double door carved into it. Due to the size of these creatures, however, it was more or less fit to be used by a Mgalekgolo. There were two Guards standing on either side of the stairs leading to the door. These were different than the others, having silver armor instead of gold.

Applejack picked up her pace a bit once the castle was in sight, “Alright, Twi’s in her castle. Th’ Guards should let Zor in if we’re with him.”

As they neared, Xor saw the Guards tensed but otherwise didn’t react. True to Applejack’s words, the Guards didn’t put up much of a fuss. The only thing they did was lit up their horns to allow a wave of light wash over Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

They seemed pleased afterwords and opened the door for them with their powers. Despite the outside appearance, it was rather well structured. The ‘trunk’ consisted of a series of floors increased by seats of stairs.

The ground floor was mostly empty, only a few Guards and staff walking about. All gave pause when seeing Xor. Said Sangheili ignored them and closely followed Applejack and Rainbow Dash.

The two quaderalpeds didn’t seem to have a problem ascending the stairs, the party having gone up multiple flights of stairs before moving to what he assumed was the main part of the castle.

“Alright,” started Applejack, “If Ah know Twi,- an’ Ah do- she’d be in her room plannin’ th’ Gala.”

“You know where this room is?” said Xor.

“Yep,” drawled Applejack as she walked through a large hall with stained glass windows lining the sides, “Only thing we hafta worry ‘bout is Tempest. She’s a might protective o’ Twi.”

The names of these creatures were ridiculous. Xor would have a hard time taking any of them seriously. His thoughts were temporarily interrupted by a flash of pink to the side of his vision. He looked to the side but saw nothing, and his motion detector desplaid no abnormalities.

He turned back to the alien he was following, Applejack. They walked in silence, save for his and theirs footsteps. Still, Xor couldn’t shake the feeling he was being followed and watched and kept finding himself checking his motion tracker over and over again.

They turned a corner and was greeted with a door at the far end of the short hallway. A single female Keifra-alien in armor stood guard. The alien