Mission Log: 10-3AB

Lance Corporal Aaron Freeman; ODST Special Forces; April 16, 2550

[Covenant-occupied Planet Halvey]

The young ODST had awoken with a start. His eyes scanned the interior of his pod.

A groan escaped his lips. It would seem he suffered a mild concussion during the impact. However, the pain was irrelevant.
He needed to focus on his mission.

Aaron slammed his fist on the manual release buttons, watching the green lights bleed over to red as the covering hissed then flew off with the force of a cannon, colliding with a few trees in the way.

He reached to his left, taking out his M7S Submachine Gun from its berth and gave his surroundings a quick check.

No hostiles.

Unfortunately, that did little to hide his paranoia. The Covenant were tricky bastards after all, the murderous freaks.

The lance corporal carefully stepped out of the wreckage of his SOEIV. His boots landing in moist earth. It must've rained a some time ago.

He checked his mission clock: 21:36.

"Damn..." The ODST cursed. He must've been unconscious for over four hours. Still, if the Covenant haven't glassed the entire planet yet just to rid it of human filth then that must mean the UNSC was still in the fight.

No matter. He had to find his squad and finish his mission.

And God help any unfortunate alien that stood between him and his goals...

May 16, 2557

5 Minutes After UNSC Hearth & Home's Destruction

Location: Unknown Alien Planet

If there were ever a time to pray to God... it would be right now.

Aaron tried to visualize how he would survive his crash landing, but so far, the scenarios left him with a rather... unfortunate end. Even the onboard AI of his armor couldn't predict what course of action he should take.

Regardless, he was an ODST- no, he's a Spartan!

There's no way that he'll be burning to death on some godforsaken planet in the middle of unknown space.

Already the titanium nanocomposite bodysuit was absorbing the heat as best it could. Temperature controls were trying to keep his body as cool as possible in order to prevent him from suffocating in the surrounding heat. His armor seemed to be holding strong, but he can only hope for so much.

His visor polarized, allowing him to see through the flames. He was still coming in hot, but he could already make out a forest in his sight along with... a town?

If there was a town then there could be civilization. But are they friend... or foe?

Shit! Can't worry about that! Need to focus on not dying!

Everfree Forest

"Hey, Applebloom, are you sure we'll get our Cutie Marks if we find a fallen star?" An orange-coated earth filly with grey eyes, a purple mane and tail styled in a rather tomboyish cut while dressed in a light brown sleeveless shirt, blue jean shorts, and white shoes asked.

A pegasus filly gave her friend a grin; this one with a yellow coat, scarlet eyes, and a red mane/tail in a Southern cut, wore dark blue overalls, a pale yellow t-shirt underneath, and brown shoes. Nestled in her mane is a large, hot pink bow. "Of course, Scootaloo. You and Sweetie Belle gotta trust me on this." Applebloom replied in a thick Southern accent.

A unicorn filly with a stark white coat, green eyes, and a lavender/pale violet mane and tail that looked elegant and curly, sighed. She wore a light purple frilled sundress and light blue sandals. "Honestly, Scootaloo, Applebloom, we've won't be able to find a fallen star just because the weather pegasi said something about it. My older sister knows not to always believe what you hear." Her accent sounded more elegant and regal like a noblewoman (or noblemare, depending on your preference).

Scootaloo scoffed. "Please, Rainbow Dash is the best flyer in Ponyville. There's no way she would lie about a star shower."

Applebloom giggled. "Well, ma sister says that Rainbow tends to exo... exon..." The earth pony filly tried to say the word, but couldn't get it.

Sweetie Belle sighed. "Exonerate?" She simplified.

"That's the word." The redhead replied with a thankful nod.

However, the young pegasus puffed her cheeks. "Hey! Rainbow Dash doesn't 'exo-ner-ate'!"

"Yes, she does!" Applebloom countered.

"No, she doesn't!" Scootaloo retorted.

"Yes, she does!"

"No, she doesn't!"

As her friends argued, Sweetie Belle looked up at the sky, keeping a watchful eye out for any falling stars. So far, all she saw were clouds and even the occasional pegasus pony flying around in the air.

'Goodness, there doesn't seem to be anything in sight...' The white filly frowned in thought. After all, what did she expect? It's not like anything is quite literally going to fall from the sk-

CRASH!!!

"What the hay was that!?" Scootaloo exclaimed in shock.

"An earthquake?" Applebloom said with equal surprise.

"Impossible, that only lasted for a second. It must've been nearby." Sweetie Belle clarified. Her green eyes already looking around the forest until she caught sight of a smoke trail. "There!"

"Is somepony camping out here?" The yellow filly asked.

"This early in the morning?" Scootaloo added incredulously. "Nah, that's gotta be our fallen star!"

Applebloom grinned. "Then let's go check it out! We can finally get our Cutie Marks!" With that said, the young filly took off deeper into the woods on the path towards the smoke signal.

Sweetie Belle sighed. "Honestly..." She quickly followed her friend, despite the fact she wore inadequate footwear to run in.

"Hey, wait for me!" Scootaloo shouted, running after her fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders.

As the three fillies traversed through the forest to find the star, a pair of glowing yellowish-green eyes watched the Cutie Mark Crusaders with hunger radiating in those devilish orbs.

Spartan IV ID: Aaron Freeman

Rank: Lieutenant

Status: INCAPACITATED

Location: Unknown

His head ached... almost like he had been drinking during one of his R & R parties when he and his buddies were off-duty.

Fun times...

Though not as fun as that death-defying drop. The Master Chief was one crazy son of a bitch.

His whole body felt sore. His previous injuries coupled with the crash seemed to have rattled his internal organs a bit. He could feel his stomach protest loudly, but he resisted the urge to vomit.

Aaron gave his HUD a quick look. His shields were flaring rapidly, but slowly recovered. His life signs were low. And he found the reason why...

A couple of his ribs were cracked, one of which had pierced his left lung. His right shoulder had popped out of its socket. A concussion. Several torn muscles, nerves, and blood vessels.

Shit, just his luck.

The lieutenant ran a quick check on his armor. Several sections had massive heat scarring, but the nano-machines from the auto-repair nodes were working overtime. Lucky for him, none of the major functions were damaged in the crash. At best, all he would receive were the injuries on his person.

Already he could feel the biofoam injectors sealing his wounds and repairing the damage. However, he needed an experienced doctor to remove the rib in his lung. The biofoam wouldn't last forever and without painkillers, he'll be feeling a throbbing pain in his chest every time he breathed.

Armor-lock disengaged at the last second, letting his limbs drop to the air, even though he couldn't feel it through his tech-gloves.

With a groan, the Spartan crawled his way out of the crater he made with his body. Each movement hurt like hell, but at least he was alive to bitch about it.

A quick check from his HUD informed him that only two of his weapons had survived the atmospheric entry: His pistol and his battle rifle. The assault rifle had been reduced to molten slag, his shotgun had been lost during the fall, and his SMG had been shattered when he impacted on the ground.

"I should've stayed with the ODSTs..." Aaron groaned, silently regretting his decision to become a member of one of the legendary Spartans. "At least then, I had something to sit in."

Suddenly, voices reached his helmet's audio receptors. Female. Young, probably juvenile.

"Are you sure it fell around here, Scoots?" A girl with a Southern accent inquired.

"Trust me, Applebloom. I know what I saw." Another one, this sounding more tomboyish.

"You could very well be leading us in circles. It's not the first time this happened." A third voice, more regal and elegant.

Aaron narrowed his eyes, forcing away the pain from his injuries as he quickly melded into the treeline. The shadows perfectly concealing his form. However, he made sure to dim the intensity of his VISR's reflection so that no one saw the red glare from it.

A rustling caught his ears. His motion tracker spotted three unidentified individuals approaching the sight of his crash landing.

Once they cleared the hedges, the Spartan couldn't help but gape in shock. The unidentified individuals were humanoid, obviously alien, yet they spoke English. Though the more shocking features were the fact that they were juvenile... ponies?

He could clearly see them now. A tomboyish orange pony, a Southern yellow pony, and a white elegant pony. Arms, legs, fingers, toes, the whole deal. Despite their hair, coats, and tails, they would honestly be mistake for normal human children.

"Hey, look! There's a crater!" The orange one comments, gesturing to Aaron's impact site.

"We can already see it, Scootaloo." The white one replies.

"Let's check it out and see what's in it. Who knows, there could be an alien!" The yellow one bounces with excitement.

Aaron narrowed his eyes. Could these be some new species based around equines? But how come this species has never been recorded in the UNSC database or discovered by the Covenant?

The Spartan watched the three pony kids investigate the crater, checking the hole for any sign of him or whatever they thought had fallen from the sky.

'Now what the hell am I supposed to do?' He said to himself mentally. There's no way to contact the UNSC unless he had better communication equipment. And he couldn't radio his surviving comrades without alerting the Innies in orbit. For all he knew, the bastards were already on this planet and taking it for themselves.

His thoughts drifted to Vera, his Sangheili bodyguard, who made it her duty to protect him until their mission to the Frontier colony had been completed. Wherever she is, he hoped she'd be alright...

Ping!

His motion tracker picked up new contacts... a dozen of them, closing in on the three unaware pony kids.

Now the important choice could have two different outcomes: Standby and watch or warn them and possibly expose yourself? Neither option sounded good, but one of them felt right.

Several growls came from behind the girls, who flinched and slowly looked back with their eyes wide with terror.

"T-Timberwolves..." The white pony girl muttered with a shiver.

The Spartan raised a brow in confusion. What could they be talking about?

He got his answer when several wolves stalked out from the shadows of the forest. Each of them possessing glowing, green eyes filled with a need to feed. The strangest thing about these wolves... was the fact that they looked to be completely made out of wood.

'Just what kind of planet did I land on!?' Aaron screamed in his head.

His thoughts were interrupted when the three girls screamed in fear as the pack of Timberwolves pounced at them to devour their flesh.

Instincts took over and already he had activated his thruster pack, the propulsion sending him barreling right into the path of the pack as he smashed right through the lead Timberwolf. The impact shattered the wooden beast into splinters due to both his armor's mass and the enhanced strength.

Once he came to a stop, Aaron pulled out his combat knife and lunged at the next wolf, slashing with the carbon steel blade at its jugular. However, no blood came from the wound so that meant he had to completely destroy it.

One of the Timberwolves pounced on the Spartan, latching its jaws onto his left shoulder. Thankfully, the armor and bodysuit kept his flesh protected, but the damn thing was annoying him.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Aaron snarled, grabbing the beast by the throat then tearing its head completely off with his brute strength. The next wolf in his sights didn't last long against him when he punched a hole clean through its chest and grabbing, what could have been, its heart.

Several more contacts appeared on his motion tracker. By his count, over a dozen.

"This should be fun..." The LT smirked, entering a combat stance with his knife prepared to slay more enemies.

Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders watched as their savior battled and effortlessly killed the Timberwolves.

"What is that thing!?" Sweetie Belle cried out.

"It must be the alien!" Scootaloo exclaimed, awed by how cool-looking the armored giant is. "Awesome!"

"Is it protecting us?" Applebloom wondered aloud as the Spartan engaged the rest of the Timberwolf pack.

Aaron struck the first one with a kick, literally knocking its head off. He grabbed the useless body then swung it like a club, bashing two more into wooden splinters. Another wolf tried to bite his arm, but the fangs shattered against his armor. He decided to give it a good kick to the chest which destroyed the wooden beast with ease.

This exhilaration... This thrill...

He felt it all before he became a Spartan. Grabbing hold of a Timberwolf's muzzle, Aaron twisted its head with enough force to snap it backwards. It released one last pitiful whimper before dying.

Killing an enemy with your bare hands. He'd forgotten how good it felt to kill things that weren't human. How he would snap the necks of Grunts that were unfortunate enough to get in his way. Torture Jackals that thought they could hide and pick off UNSC Marines with their snipers. Skin captured Elites alive from fallen Covvie raiding parties.

The bloodlust...! The need to slaughter the enemy felt so damn good! The Spartan couldn't get enough of it!

Even as an ODST, he killed Innies and Covenant without remorse, doing it in the most painful way possible just to see the look of terror in their eyes.

War and terrorism changes people, and not for the better. Aaron was no exception. The Covenant glassed his homeworld of Harvest, killing his family and friends on the surface. He joined the Marines to kill the alien bastards. Then when the Innies started making life hell for the UNSC again, he killed them too. He killed anybody that threatened the peace and serenity of all that just wanted to live their lives without having to worry about the Sword of Damocles dangling over their heads. That's why he bloodied his hands and why he will never forgive anyone that seeks chaos and death. All in the name of foolish ideals like religion or autonomy.

So lost was he in his haze of rage and lust for battle, did he not realize that he had killed the Alpha of the Timberwolves by breaking it, literally, in half on his knee. The beast crying out in agony before falling silent as the bodies of the pack surrounded him like a blanket of death.

The fillies watched as the armored giant dealt away with the Timberwolves. Its single blood red glass-like eye staring at the carnage it wrought then it looked right at them.

Sweetie Belle froze with fear, hiding behind Scootaloo and Applebloom in an attempt to shield herself from the monster's sight. The yellow filly of the Crusaders gulped when she noticed the metal being flex its... 'hooves' or paws as if wanting to grasp something.

"That... was... AWESOME!" Scootaloo, being herself, cried out with awe as she ran to the armored behemoth and looked up at it with wide, sparkly eyes. "What are you? Are you a superhero? A robot from another world? A stallion with enchanted armor?"

Aaron reared back in surprise when this orange-furred pony started rambling off nonsense, yet spoke in clear English. A fact he still found hard to believe since he only ever heard humans and the occasional Sangheili or Unggoy saying a few words of it.

He wanted to say a few words to the alien children. Maybe find a way to locate any friendly units on the planet from the UNSC or his Sangheili companion. However, his recent adrenaline rush had already passed... along with the painkilling effects of the biofoam. The Spartan could feel the rib in his lung already making it difficult for him to breath. Followed by his exhaustion and recent injuries, Aaron could barely remain on his feet any longer.

"H-hey, are you okay?" Scootaloo looked at the swaying figure in concern.

"Need... medic..." The human soldier groaned before collapsing on the ground, out like a light.

"Oh my Faust!" Applebloom exclaimed.

"He needs help! We have to bring him to the hospital!" Scootaloo grabbed hold of the Spartan's left arm, but every time she pulled, the super soldier wouldn't budge. "Man, this guy weighs a ton!"

"We're going to need help." Sweetie Belle suggested, her earlier fear of the armored behemoth vanishing when she realized that her savior was hurt. "We can't possibly move this... whatever he is, by ourselves."

"Let's get Exxy! She's plenty strong!" Scootaloo said, pushing the man onto his back, being mindful not to hurt him any further.

"That's a good idea! Let's go find her." Applebloom added.

The lone white filly looked to the unconscious soldier apprehensively. "But... shouldn't one of us stay here?" Her friends looked to her for an explanation. "What I mean is, we can't just leave this stallion all by himself. One of us has to stay here while the others go off to get help."

"Good plan." The purple-maned filly jumped in agreement. "Sweetie Belle, you stay here while Bloom and I go get Exxy!"

"Do hurry back soon. I don't... like the forest at all..." Sweetie Belle admitted, crouching near the unconscious Spartan.

"Don't worry, we'll be back before you can say 'Pinkie Promise'." Applebloom grinned, patting her friend's shoulder then glanced to Scootaloo. "Let's get moving. Otherwise, my sister will tan my hide."

"Right," The filly nodded, following her friend as they took off back on the path that would lead them to the Moon Princess's child.

Sweetie sat there beside the black/red knight that had saved her and her fellow Crusaders. She idly wondered what was behind the strange helm the stallion wore. Would he be handsome? The ideal knight in shining armor that her sister would fantasize about after reading those weird romance novels?

Curiosity got the better of her as her hands grasped the edges of the helmet then she pulled with all her strength. Suddenly, she heard a hiss and idly wondered if her savior had gotten mad with her for touching him, but the stallion made no such movement. With one last pull, she removed the knight's helmet and revealed the face of her protector.

Her first thoughts about the stallion was that he was hairless, save for the patch of black fur on top of his head, and his skin was almost ghostly pale. He had no muzzle save for a point at the center of his face that could be his nose. He had no ears atop his head, but on opposite sides. The more notable feature being the long scar that ran over his left eye, possibly due to a blade or a past childhood injury.

Whatever her savior is, he was definitely alien and not Equestrian...

Excalibur Edge's Hut

Border of Everfree Forest

A mare leaves the front door of her modest home near the border. The mare looks to be eighteen to twenty with a ruby/gold striped mane and tail. Wings that are cyan that turn white toward the wings tips, and along the lower feather. Even with the black sleeveless shirt and blue jeans, you can see the silver coat of her body. Cyan fur that goes from her elbows down to her fingers with a matching cyan on her shins that starts below her knees, and matching hooves. A horn of silver twelve inches long grows from her forehead. A horn and wings you ask? Well she is an Alicorn, and daughter to Princess Luna. Her name is Excalibur Edge.

"Another beautiful day for guarding the woods." She said to herself. The mare yawned a bit loudly as she slipped on her shoes and grabbed the magically enhanced broadsword by her porch, slinging the weapon onto her back, which remained stuck in place for some strange reason.

However, just as she was about to enter the woods to do her patrol, two colorful blurs collide with her stomach, knocking the mare on her back with a yelp.

"Exxy! Exxy!" The voices of Applebloom and Scootaloo reached the warrior princess's ears.

"Ouch..." Excalibur groaned as she sat up then gave the two fillies a scolding glare. "Did you two have to run into me?!"

"S-sorry, Exxy, but-" Applebloom started but the orange filly interjected. "We need help! Somepony is in trouble!"

Her earlier annoyance past, Excalibur Edge stood up. "Show me." She said in a deadly serious voice.

The two members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders led their big sister figure back to where they left the alien knight and Sweetie Belle.

It took them a while since the fillies had lost track on where they came from, but Excalibur managed to discern where the last member of the CMC would be. Once they came to the clearing, her silver eyes landed on the form of Sweetie Belle staring down in surprise at a creature she had never seen before. It resembled most ponies in stature, but it was most assuredly not a pony. The alien was unconscious and seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"Exxy!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed after finally noticing the daughter of the Moon Princess.

"Start explaining. I want to know what happened." Excalibur demanded.

Applebloom fiddled with her tail. "W-we were just investigating the falling stars. We thought it would get us our Cutie Marks."

"Then a pack of Timberwolves tried to eat us then this big black giant with a red eye jumped in and saved us!" Scootaloo added, only her's was filled with both excitement and admiration. "You should've seen it, Exxy! It was all like BAM! And POW! And then it was all like ROAR!" The filly started making sound effects as she tried to mimic the unconscious Spartan's fighting moves.

The mare couldn't help but giggle in amusement. "And then what happened?"

The fillies stopped then looked down at the human and back at Excalibur. "He just collapsed." Sweetie Belle answered.

Excalibur arched a brow then did a quick magic scan on the unconscious man. What she found disturbed her greatly. He was covered in a variation of scars that ranged from burns to slash marks and to chunks of flesh that looked to have been torn off. Internally, she could feel that one of his ribs had broken and pierced his lung while edging a few centimeters away from his heart. If this stallion didn't get help soon, he was going to die.

"I'll have to get my aunt in on this. Meanwhile, you three are in big trouble." Exxy scolded the fillies, who looked down ashamed. "Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash are gonna tan your hides when they find out about this... but I suppose I'll let this slide just this once."

The Cutie Mark Crusaders smiled up at the mare. "You're the best, Exxy!" They said in unison.

Said mare grinned a bit with pride. "I know I am." Her gaze landed back on the strange alien. "Now let's get you some help."

She focused on the telepathic link to Celestia while keeping a watchful eye on the forest for any creature that dared to make their presence known. "Auntie, I've got a problem here."

"What is it, my sweet niece?" The voice of Princess Celestia entered the mare's mind.

"I've got some kind of strange stallion here. He's injured, a pierced lung and several other internal injuries. I can't move him, or I risk the rib piercing his organs to cut open his heart." Excalibur mentally said over the link.

"I see. I will be there momentarily. Your mother is asleep right now." Celestia replied.

"Thanks, Auntie. Oh, did Day come back and surprise you?"

Excalibur could hear a mental giggle in her head. "She most certainly did, but you and your mother should've told me that my only child was coming home."

"We could have, but we wanted it to be a secret." The mare replied. "Anyways, not the time for that. I've got a dying stallion here."

"Of course, I shall prepare a medical staff immediately. In the meantime, try and keep him alive as much as possible."

"You got it, Auntie." Excalibur replied, cutting the link then looking down at the human. "You're one lucky stallion, my strange alien friend."

Baltimare Square

"Back up! Back up!" Many Royal Guards ordered the ponies back while several others investigated a metal cocoon that had fallen from the sky.

"What is this thing, Captain?" A young stallion asked.

"The buck if I know, kid." The captain replied, tapping the metal with her spear.

Suddenly, the hatch began to open, surprising the guards as they stepped back, keeping their spears ready in case of a hostile threat.

A shadowed figure stepped out then the sunlight glinted down upon them. "Well..." A wicked smirk appeared on their face. "Seems I've landed on a potential conquest."

"W-what are you?" The captain demanded.

"Me?" Stepping out is the familiar form of the first Spartan IV and the rebel leader. "You can call me your newest tenant."

Ilsa Zane has come to play...

Author's Note

That's it for the chapter. If you have any suggestions on how to proceed, give me a message.

Excalibur Edge belongs to my good friend, Knightwolf1875.

I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible though it'll be a bit difficult once I get surgery for this hernia I discovered. Hurts like hell...

Anyways, review and comment on this chapter. Trolls and flamers will be ignored and deleted.

Peace out, everyone!