Chapter 5: -And the horse he rode in on...
Planet, unknown; September 2, 2552
0640

All Twilight could think of after jumping from the windowsill, was how absolutely, incredibly stupid her decision was. But, it was the quickest way down, and given the fact that time was a factor in whether or not this alien would be recaptured, dead or alive, fastest was, indeed, best.

When Twilight was about fifty feet from the tops of the trees, she used her magic to surround her body in a purple, magical bubble, allowing her to float gently towards the forest floor. Once she landed, the bubble popped like a balloon. She took off towards the south-east, and all she had to do was follow the large, heavy boot prints that were pressed into the soft soil. It was no surprise as to whom they belonged.

Twilight was shocked with how far the footprints were spread out. It indicated just how fast this Spartan's top speed really was. No doubt it was probably faster than anypony could gallop. A pony's average running speed was twenty miles per hour. Nathan must have been able to run double that, easily.

Twilight didn't dwell too much on his speed. She just followed the imprints as best she could, hoping the Spartan hadn't run into any trouble. She wasn't a tracker by any means, she was a librarian who was following a real life pony's tale. After about ten minutes of running, she was in a very familiar part of the Everfree. Froggy Bottom Bog.

Twilight knew better than to venture into the swamp, lest she disturb some of the dangerous beast that dwell in the depths. Last time she and her friends were here, they had a dangerous run in with a Hydra. That was the last thing she wanted to encounter on this trek. She already had aliens to deal with, she didn't want to add more danger to the plate.

A sudden deafening roar echoed across the bog, causing an eery silence to fall over the area as frogs, crickets and birds went silent, hoping to avoid being placed on the menu of the obviously large creature that emanated that roar. It looked as if Twilight's wish wouldn't be granted. She deftly hopped from isle to isle, heading towards the sounds of battle in the distance. Twilight couldn't help but feel scared; scared that the soldier who had saved her life was now on the receiving end of one of the deadliest creatures in the Everfree.

Twilight made her way around one of the larger islands in the center of the bog. Once she made her way around, she was only a fifty feet away from, what she feared, a Hydra. She watched as it fought against the Spartan, fear tugging at her gut. Stuck in the murky mud was Nathan, trying desperately to free himself from the prison while simultaneously trying to fend off the beast with a measly little knife. Neither of his attempts were working, and Twilight knew once you were stuck in the deep muck, there was practically no way to get out without the assistance of incredible brute strength, or magic. Nathan was stuck fast, with the Hydra only meters away, ready to strike. Twilight had to act, and she had to act now.

Twilight took a deep breath, channeling her magic through her horn. In an instant, she was in front of Nathan and the Hydra. She let out a struggled yell as she focused some of her most powerful magic into one, powerful blast, sending the Hydra sailing a hundred feet back.

Nathan stood there, stunned at the panting Unicorn before him. She had just... appeared out of nowhere, risked her life against some mythological creature, and all in an attempt to save him? Why would she do that? She wasn't a soldier, she had no obligation to even care for his well being. She was just a civilian in the wrong part of the woods. The part of the woods that Nathan was assuming to be hostile territory, not.

Twilight turned around, smiling lightly. "Are... you okay?" She asked a little winded, using her magic to pull Nathan out of the muck with, what seemed like, a very high amount of difficulty.

"Fine." He replied dryly, stretching his arms and neck. "You should go back to the Capital. Between those things and any Covenant survivors, this area is definitely is definitely not safe. And I'm not going back to prison, if that's why you're here." He began walking off, but the roar of the Hydra behind him made him turn back around with a sigh.

The Hydra rolled back to its feet and was now glaring at the small purple unicorn who had stopped it from feasting. Twilight let out a small eep of fear and hid behind the Spartan. He looked down at her. A Spartan always knew when the going got too tough, the tough eventually had to get going. He couldn't fend off the beast without any weapons, and with Twilight in tow, he had to insure her safety as well. With that in mind, the Spartan looked to the little purple unicorn and uttered,

"Run."

Twilight and Nathan turned on a dime, booking it across the swamp to the safety of the forest on the other end. Twilight was right about her assumption before on the Spartan's speed, which was faster than anypony she ever knew. He could even give Rainbow Dash a run for her bits... if she wasn't using her wings that is.

Twilight, however, wasn't able to match his speed. By a longshot, even. She found herself becoming weighted down by the mud, which she tried to trudge through as fast as she could. Her speed was cut by half because of it. She waved a foreleg and called out, "Wait!", hoping to get the Spartan's attention. The Hydra was gaining on her much more quickly than she could move. She could have tried to keep up, use her magic to help her. But, after using a teleportation spell, then immediately using one of her strongest attacks on the Hydra, she was completely spent.

Just as she was about to give up the struggle and accept her fate, she felt herself being scooped up. The feeling of cold metal pressed against her light fur and skin. She let out a surprised yell and looked down to see nothing but sage armor. She let out a sigh of relief that the Spartan had come back for her.

Although, Twilight didn't consider them out of this mess yet. The Hydra was right on top of them, and Twilight watched as it brought one of its heads back, then brought it down like a bolt of lightning. Twilight was about to warn Nathan, but even before the first syllable could escape her lips, the Spartan sidestepped as fast as lightning, plunging his knife into the creatures eye. Even carrying Twilight on his back didn't slow him down in the slightest.

The creature roared angrily as blood and viscus fluids seeped from the wound, plopping into the swamp with muted thumps. Nathan kept one arm around Twilight as he rocketed them across the swamp into the woods beyond. Just to be safe, Nathan kept running until they were deep enough in that the Hydra couldn't get past the brush and trees.

Once he thought they were a relative safe distance away, Nathan looked back to see the Hydra making a hasty retreat back under the swamp. It wouldn't have the two of them as meals this day. Nathan let out a sigh of relief, and smiled, remembering the words of one of his old Spartan III team members, G141 Axel, who had managed to kill one of the larger predators on Onyx with nothing but a combat knife. 'Nothing makes a snack out of a Spartan'. Nathan missed that Russian bastard quite a bit.

Nathan sifted the thought of fallen brothers and sisters aside as he gently placed Twilight back on her hooves. Once back on the ground, she checked herself over for any injuries she might have sustained, and, satisfied she was unharmed, looked up to thank the human who saved her life again.

"Thank-" Was all she was able to get out of her mouth before she noticed Nathan was already walking away. "Hey! Wait!" She called out, catching up to him in a gallop. Nathan ignored her as he closed his vents once again to give him private time with his AI.

"Almya? ETA to target?" Nathan asked as Twilight scooted up beside him, keeping a brisk pace to his walk. Almya chuckled a bit, and he knew what Almya was giggling about.

"Five minutes out. But, it also seems like you have a companion with you." She snickered again. Nathan slapped his helmet, shaking his head in frustration.

"I swear, I'm going to have you decommissioned when we get back to the UNSC." He sighed, cutting past a large thicket with his knife, then barreling the rest down with his weight.

"Oh, you always say that." Almya chided. "Now do your job and I'll do mine. I'll scan for any Covenant frequencies on the high and low bands."

"Copy." Nathan said, as Almya got to work. Now, his attention was going to have to be on his little companion. He half turned to her, reopening the vents on his helmet. "So, what made you want to follow me?" He asked, pushing aside a bush for her to pass.

Twilight ducked under the foliage and smiled at her protector. "Well, I couldn't let you wander around Equestria without a watchful eye on you. The Princesses might be lenient on your little break out if you give me a good explanation." She stated, looking back up at the masked man of steel trudging along.

"You want a good explanation?" He asked, slowing his pace until he finally stopped. "If this Covenant ship knew how to get here, then others will. You'll have a full fledged war on your hands, er, hooves. A war you can't win." Nathan stated coldly, almost mournfully. Twilight could read it in his voice. All the things he lost to this war, all the people, all the planets... How many had died, Twilight wondered. How many had he seen die?

"They're... that bad, huh?" She asked, Nathan turned quickly, making Twilight realize her choice of words were very, very poor.

"That bad? They've destroyed all but two of our colony worlds! Out of the hundreds we had! They've killed billions, are continuing killing... I lost my home, my family, and friends to those monsters! We never win! So forgive me if I want to make sure another world doesn't fall to their grubby fucking hands!"

Twilight cowered back lower and lower as he approached her with each word. She could see her fear etched face in the golden visor of Nathan's helmet. "Good job, Twilight" She thought to herself. "You just angered the soldier who's the only thing keeping you and your home safe."

"I-I'm sorry..." Twilight whispered, turning away with regret on her face. "I-I didn't know..." Nathan backed away and continued on, parting the brush in his wake.

"And I hope you never do..." He muttered back. Twilight slowly got back into pace with the human, avoiding meeting his gaze. She had a general idea of how bad these 'Covenant' could be, but she hadn't realized what they had actually cost the human race. And now, all alone on an alien planet, he was going to make sure they didn't do the same thing to hers.

"Hello? Twilight? Are you receiving?"

Twilight jumped a bit, roused from her thoughts by the human by her side. She looked up to see him staring down at her. "I asked you what this planet is called." He stated, apparently, for a second time.

"O-Oh... We call it Equis. Why do you ask?" She pondered curiously. Nathan simply shrugged and snapped a tree branch with a swift push of his hand.

"Needed to know what to call this new place." He stated. "Almya, we almost there?" He asked his companion.

"Oh, so it's 'we' now? Is Twilight now a part of the team?" Almya chuckled. Nathan just rolled his eyes, forced to play along with her little game. It was easiest, as Almya was never known to give up on something that got under one's skin.

"How do you know I wasn't talking about you? We've been a team for a while now." He pointed out.

"True," Almya stated, her words becoming more playful. "But, you always say 'I', not 'we'. This Equinoid has grown on you, hasn't she?"

Nathan slightly turned to Twilight at his side, who was looking around the forest anxiously for anything that could pose a threat to them both. "She's smart, has great situational awareness, and knows the terrain and what kind of dangers to expect from the local wildlife. She's a valuable asset, whether she knows it or not."

Almya hummed innocently. "To the mission, or you?"

"Can it." Nathan warned. Almya giggled in response and clicked off the mic, going back to her work. Nathan checked the nav point on his hud. The two were only a few hundred yards away now.

"So," Twilight began, breaking the silence of the walk. "Why are we heading back to the space ship? It's nothing but a wreck now." She stated, staring at the Spartan curiously.

"Because, I have to be sure of something." Nathan said simply, looking up into the sky to see the tail end of the Corvette sticking out above the treeline.

Nathan and Twilight could now see just how wrecked the ship really was in the light of day. The hull was breached in hundreds of places, with coolant leaking to the forest floor from broken tubing, causing the soil and mud to turn to frozen glass. Sparks were sent out occasionally from destroyed electrical systems, which fell the the ground with sizzles. This was going to be a dangerous trek, even in MJOLNIR armor.

Nathan turned to Twilight, crossing his arms. "I take it I don't have to tell you how dangerous it is in there?" He asked, raising a brow beneath his helmet.

"Nope." Twilight replied, smiling.

"And even if I did, you'd still follow me."

"Yep."

"Even if the ship could be full of hostile aliens?"

"Well, I have you. Um, to protect me, that is..." She coughed, turning away to hide a slight rosiness tinting her cheeks. Nathan pretended not to notice that, leaving it where it was.

"Fine. Be careful in there though. There's a lot of things that can hurt you with a ship in this condition." Nathan turned and pointed to the pool of bluish green sludge. "Like that Coolant. It's negative two hundred degrees Celsius . Don't let it touch you." Nathan let her stare at the pool and entered the ship through one of the breeches in the hull. Twilight shuffling in behind him.

The ship was tilted at a forty degree angle, which meant Twilight had to use some of her magic to keep a grip on the floor. She was still a bit tired from the fight with the Hydra before, but the spell she was using didn't require much focus. Nathan was forced to magnetize his boots in order to maintain his footing as well.

"So, which way?" Twilight asked, looking down the darkened halls, which occasionally brightened when a flash of sparks shot out of the damaged walls, revealing the burnt and mangled corpses of Covenant soldiers. Twilight nearly puked at the sight of it.

Nathan pointed downwards, not even caring about the bodies strewn about. "We're going to the bridge. I'll find out what I need to know from there." He stated, his boots thunking as he lifted them up, then got sucked back down by the magnets.

Twilight followed closely, using the faint, blue lights on the Spartan's armor as guidance. "And when you find out what you want, then what? You do remember you broke out of the dungeon, right? Princess Celestia won't look too kindly to that." Twilight stated, carefully ducking away from a sparking conduit.

Nathan pulled open a busted door with a slight grunt, then entered the destroyed turret control room. Sparking plasma coils hung loosely from the busted ceiling and walls. Twilight followed exactly in the Spartan's footsteps as he made his way over to a large, purple crate.

Twilight stared at the octagonal pattern on the panels, pondering what the device could be."What is that?" She asked curiously. Nathan's answer was to rip one of the purple panels from the box, which revealed a few rows of the same weapons the other aliens used the night before to try and... Twilight got rid of that memory quickly.

Nathan happily grabbed a Plasma pistol, some grenades, and two Plasma rifles. He turned to Twilight and passed her another Plasma pistol, which she caught in her magical aura. He finally answered the mare's question with, "It's a weapon's crate. We're going to need these if there are still more Covenant out there." He stated.

Twilight instantly dropped the Plasma pistol from her magic, shaking her head violently. "No! I refuse to kill anypony! How... how could you expect me to do that?!" She asked in angry astonishment.

Nathan simply shrugged and put Twilight's discarded pistol on the other side of his hip, the magnetic holster activating to hold it in place. "I didn't want you to walk around unarmed." He stated, pushing ahead.

Twilight scoffed as she trailed him, giving him her best disapproving glare. "Unarmed? See this?" She asked, tapping her horn with a hoof. "I can use magic, so I'm never unarmed!"

Nathan didn't reply. He simply left the argument where it was as he kicked the half knocked in bridge door completely down. To say the room was a wreck was a complete understatement. All the windows of the view port were completely smashed in. The holographic reader in the middle of the room was blinking, casting the room in a bright flash, then back to shadow as it tried to come back to life with no avail.

"Whoa. This place is... Amazing!" Twilight gawked, rushing over to one of the holographic terminals, tapping one of the buttons with her hoof.

All at once, the lights came on, miraculously at that. Twilight, though she didn't know it, had activated the emergency generators, or at least that's what Nathan was assuming, going off of memory of the ship during the briefing. Now that the area was lit up, he made his way to the navigation console, taking Almya out of his helmet and placing her inside.

A tiny blip of the woman appeared above the panel as she gazed at the room. She let out a whistle and said, "Wow. This place took one hell of a beating. Alright, this won't take long." She stated, placing a hand on her head as her mind swept through layers and layers of Covenant code with ease.

Twilight approached the terminal, gazing at the tiny woman. "Hey, I saw her last night in your cell. Who is she?" She asked curiously, reaching out to touch Almya.

Nathan grabbed her hoof out of the air, slowly lowering it back down. "That's Almya, and she doesn't like to be touched without permission." He stated as Almya refocused on them.

"Alright, I got what we needed." She said proudly, then faltered a bit. "Um... do you want the good news, or the bad news?" She asked.

Nathan sighed and looked down at the Unicorn to his side. She was so set on not inflicting pain or death on anything, yet in just a short time, the war would be coming here, either turning her into a soldier, or a burnt corpse in a sea of glass. The thought unsettled Nathan a bit, picturing Twilight like that.

Nathan shook his head of the thoughts and turned back to Almya. "Well, why don't we start with the good." He sighed.

"Well, I lied. There is no good news; only bad and worse. The bad news is, I found a star map in the ships databanks. When I flip it around, the stars match ninety-eight percent with this system. The Covenant know where this planet is."

That was Nathan's worst fear confirmed now."And the worse news?" Nathan asked.

"Well... I've been scanning movement and com traffic around the area. Let's just say there were more survivors on board than we realized." Almya flickered the main hologram to life, showing a 3-D image of the ship in the ground, surrounded by a couple dozen red dots. "Twilight turning on the lights seems to have brought the squid heads home."

"Oops..." Twilight grimaced, blushing in embarrassment as she turned away. Nathan grabbed Almya out from the computer, readying his stolen Plasma Rifles.

"Don't sweat it." Nathan assured her. She didn't know that would draw the Covenant back. Hell, she didn't even know what she was touching. "It saves me the trouble of hunting them down. So, are you sure you don't want a weapon?" He asked as one of the doors to the bridge began to flash bright. The sound of plasma cutters could be heard as the Covenant tried to claw their way in to get the intruders.

"I-I told you already, I won't use a gun!" She yelled, backing away from the door in fear. "B-But, I'll try my best to help yo-"

"No." Nathan interrupted her, turning his head. "If you won't use a weapon, you're a liability. Under the main computer is an Engineer hatch. You should be small enough to hide inside. If I don't make it, follow the tunnels until you make it out, understood?"

Twilight looked to the hatch the Spartan was talking about, then back to him. "B-But-"

"That's an order!" Nathan snapped, making Twilight jump. "You're in a war zone now, Twilight. My chain of command is the only chain of command you'll be listening to out here. Understood?"

"Y-Yes... Sir?" She added at the end, remembering a military book her brother once owned. That was what you called your CO, right? Nathan chuckled and kicked over one of the strewn about weapon crates, creating a bit of cover.

"Now go. I'll be fine." He assured, lifting his visor to give Twilight a confident smile. Twilight gulped and nodded, accepting his confidence enough that he'd be okay. She quickly trotted over and lifted the hatch to the Engineer compartment and crawled inside.

"Letting the girl get away while you sacrifice yourself for her." Almya giggled. "Ah, romance is such a fleeting thing..." Nathan rolled his eyes as he awaited the Covenant assault. Any minute now, they'd rush in, guns blazing. The Covenant weren't a species to change tactics, even when the going got tough. It was always brute force, or die trying.

As quickly as the sounds of cutting and un-welding came, the room was plunged back into silence. The cutting had stopped, the garbles of excited aliens on the other end had died down to nothing. A pin could drop back at the castle and Nathan would have probably heard it. Maybe the Covenant-

Whatever thoughts Nathan was about to have about the Covenant giving up were completely erased as the doors flew across the room, embedding themselves in the wall from the force of the blast. Through the smoke, Nathan could see a flurry of Elites, Grunts and Jackals enter, firing wildly into the air, hoping to hit something.

From his cover, Nathan was able to melt a few Grunt faces before being forced to move as a grenade was thrown his way. He dove down into the crew divot in the floor, allowing the lower ground to provide him some bit of extra cover. Once he was secure in his new entrenchment, Nathan continued his assault against the boarding party.

Little by little the aliens were gaining ground on the Spartan. Nathan was keeping a steady stream of fire, hoping to pin them down, but it wasn't good enough. It was one against dozens, and these Covenant were well trained. More trained than what the Spartan was used to. They were actually using cover tactics. That was a new one.

Nathan shot a kamikaze Grunt that was making a beeline towards him and opened up communication with Almya. "Ally? You got any suggestions here?" Nathan asked quickly, yanking a charging Elite into his cover and promptly putting a knife between its eyes. He resumed the suppressing fire as Almya thought frantically for a solution. The only one she found wasn't the smartest, but it would have to do.

"The control panel over there! We can activate the ship's self destruct sequence!" Almya placed a nav point on the computer across the room, which wouldn't be impossible to get to. The problem was, Twilight was undoubtedly still crawling through the Engineering tunnels, trying to find her way out.

"No. I can't risk it. Twilight might still be on board! What else have you got?" He asked, pulling out his plasma pistol, shooting a Jackal in the face who had gotten a bit too close for his liking.

"Nothing!" Almya shouted, trying to get her Spartan to see reason. "You either blow this ship, or risk everyone's safety on this planet! One death isn't as tragic as millions!"

"And no deaths are better!" Nathan shouted, fed up with hiding and waiting. His weapons were almost empty, which was a problem that would have to be fixed soon anyway. Using what remained for power in his Plasma Rifle, he charged one of the squads of Grunts, sending a torrent of burning plasma their way. Skin and armor sizzled and melted as the Grunts succumbed to the final bouts the Spartan's weapon had to offer. Quickly reaching down, Nathan picked up a fallen Needler, sending a hail of crystals at a nearby Elite. The spikes embedded in the beasts chest, and before the alien had time to scream, they quickly exploded, sending bits of flesh, bone and blood in all directions.

Many of the remaining squads began to fall back, hoping to escape; regroup and take the Spartan out in greater numbers. Nathan felt a bit of anger that some of the Covenant were going to get away. He couldn't chase them all down, so he relented and let them flee for now.

Nathan let out a sigh of defeat and threw the Needler away as he made his way over to the highlighted panel. If Twilight was off the ship, then he'd press the self destruct button; killing the remaining Covenant, but also himself. "Almya? Is Twilight off the ship yet?" He asked, his hand hovering above the flashing red activation switch. As soon as Almya gave him the all clear, his hand would come down, no ifs ands or buts about it. If a larger force was on its way here, then at least the Princesses could try peace talks without a human trespasser to rile up the Covenant. Who knows; maybe they would avoid a war, simply because they weren't human.

Almya let out a sigh. She knew her Spartan's plans. Heck, she was practically a part of him. She knew how loyal he was to those around him; those who made nice with him were those he'd lay his life down for. Almya did a quick scan of the Covenant ship, but couldn't get a reading. "Unknown. Too much interference from this hunk of scrap. You'll have to assume she's out."

Nathan's hand hovered dangerously close to the red flashing button. It was now or never, but he just didn't want to risk it. If he did, then Twilight would be killed, he'd be killed, and all her friends and the Princess would be left in mourning for her. Nathan didn't want that to be the last thing on his mind before the end.

"Nathan?" Almya said softly, cutting through his thoughts of doubt and fear. "You know what you have to do... Be brave, and know that this decision will save millions of lives. I'm sure Twilight found her way out in time, so, just do what you have to do..."

Nathan shook his head. There had to be something he could do, something that- "Hold it!" He yelled, smiling wide. "Ha! If I'm right, and this works..." Nathan pressed a few holographic buttons, just barely deciphering the alien language. "And... Ah-ha! There we go; I have a two minute timer set in! That should-"

Whatever the Spartan was about to say after that was interrupted by a blow to the back of his helmet. Reeling about, Nathan saw his attacker face to face. Three-Jaw was standing there, its armor and skin cooked and crispy from the crash landing. A fire raged inside Nathan's soul as the Elite came down with another strike, which Nathan quickly countered, sending the Elite's fist into the control panel.

All at once, alarms began to blare through the ship. The Elite had just activated the self destruct sequence. Nathan only had a minute fifty-eight before the whole ship, and he, were reduced to atoms. Nothing said fist fight with an alien like an entire ship about to explode at your feet.

Nathan couldn't let that distract him. He focused on the Elite, throwing wild punches his way. While MJOLNIR armor increased the wearers strength by about three times the norm, it made Spartans just as strong as the Elites. The only even fight a Spartan would have in his life was one of these creatures.

Nathan grabbed the alien's wrist as it punched again, and flipped it over his shoulder. The Elite hooked his boot around Nathan's neck, dragging the Spartan to the floor with him. While on the ground, the Elite ripped Nathan's helmet off, throwing it against the wall with a loud thunk. With Nathan's face now exposed, the Alien went to work, straddling the Spartan's chest as it let loose punch after punch.

Nathan saw nothing but stars and black with each strike the Elite let loose. He was lucky his bones were enhanced, otherwise his skull would have caved in on the first blow. Nathan couldn't move his arms, couldn't use his legs to leverage his way out of the straddle, and could barely think with the blows he was receiving. All he could do was lay there, accept it, and try not to choke on his own blood.

After what seemed like an eternity, the Elite finally stopped his assault, panting heavily as it reached behind Nathan, grabbing a fallen Energy sword off the ground. It raised the blade high, yelling, "DIE, HUMAN!"

Nathan braced himself for the end, for a second time that day. He may not escape, but at least the ship would blow, killing the Covenant still aboard. In his mind, Nathan won, and that was all that mattered.

Nathan smiled, looked up at the Elite and muttered, "I win..."

Author's Note

Finally! YAY! UPDATE! Now, for those of you wondering why it was taking so damn long to update, I'll just let you know it was some really heavy personal shit going on. My grandfather passed away Thursday morning, after 20 days in hospis unit. (Where terminally ill people go to die). He had been fighting lung cancer for 2 years now. Sadly, he couldn't fight it any longer. I have a funeral to go to on Wednesday, and we get to view him in the casket one last time before the service starts. I'm going to be there, holding my mother's hand as I help her though the most difficult challenge of her life. Loosing your father in such a terrible way can't be easy, but we all know no one lives forever. So, now that my life is becoming a little less hectic, I'll be updating more frequently. Hope you all understand the delays and what not. It's been a very rough couple of months.
See you next Chapter!