Chapters High in the atmosphere of Earth, a spaceship flew. Onboard were several Orbital Drop Shock Troopers. The ODST’s rushed to get their equipment and get into their drop pods. Their target was a covenant ship floating above the city. As the last of the ODST’s got into their pods, the officer controlling the system pulled the lever to release them. They burst through the cloud layer, and an ODST with a red stripe on his armor looked down at the covenant cruiser.
“We’re supposed to hit that thing!? You gotta be kidding me!” said a voice from over the radio. He checked his weapons, making sure they were secure. Suddenly, the front of the covenant ship began to glow and a hole sprang into existence in front of it.
“Slipspace rupture! It’s going to jump!” yelled one of the commanders through the radio.
“Shit I’m heading right for it!” the ODST said as he tapped at the controls of his pod, trying to steer away from the rupture. As his pod hit the field, he tried to relax. Slipspace was a dangerous place, even for full size destroyer-class ships. Some ships had even entered slipspace to never exit. They simply vanished along with their crew. Nobody knew how it would affect something as small as a drop pod. His vision began to blur and he shook himself, trying to stay awake. His pod exited slipspace after what seemed like an hour later, and began to fall toward the surface of an unknown planet. Following his training, he popped the flaps of the pod to slow his descent then waited for it to hit the ground. A moment later, the pod slammed into the ground in a thick forest of trees. He kicked the door open, stepped out, and grabbed his sub-machine gun. Attaching it to his waist, he looked back to his pod. It had been almost completely torn apart. Huge chunks were missing and he was amazed that there weren’t any ruptures. He reached into the remains of the pod and grabbed his other weapon, an assault rifle with five spare magazines to go with it.
“Now to find out where the hell I landed.” he said. He walked through the trees with his rifle at the ready. His black face plate polarized slightly whenever the sun became too bright. When he finally reached the edge of the tree line, he looked around and spotted a hill. He climbed up on top of it to get a better vantage point. What he saw when he got there was interrupted by a snapping twig. He spun to face the sound with his rifle raised. Standing near him was an orange pony with a blonde mane. On top of her head, she wore an unmistakable cowboy hat.
“FREEZE! One wrong move and you get a bullet through your skull!” he shouted. The pony froze in place and looked at him with frightened eyes. Its eyes darted to the right, and he spun around to face a cyan colored pony zooming towards him. He hit the ground, letting the pegasus zoom past him directly into the dirt. Jumping back to his feet, he turned and aimed the rifle at the two ponies. His finger was halfway done pulling the trigger when his vision went blurry again, and he blacked out.
“What is that thing in its hand?” Twilight asked. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had dragged her up here to investigate something clad in some sort of black clothing. It held something in its hand that looked like a weapon.
“Ah don’t know but it sure didn’t sound happy when it saw me.” said Applejack.
“We should to take it to Nurse Redheart and see if it’s okay.” Twilight said after a moment.
“You want to HELP this thing Twilight!?” asked Rainbow Dash incredulously.
“Well we’re not going to kill it unless it really is dangerous. Applejack may have simply frightened it.” she replied as she levitated the creature into the air.
The ODST opened his eyes groggily. Looking around, he saw that he was in a bed with clean white sheets in a white room. He looked down at himself to see he was in his black uniform.
“Where the hell am I?” he wondered aloud.
“You’re in a hospital.” said a feminine voice. He whipped his head around to see a purple pony with a horn sticking out of her head. His hand immediately shot toward his side where his sub-machine gun was supposed to be. When he didn’t find it, he jumped to his feet on the other side of the bed, his eyes darting around the room until he spotted his armor and weapons lying in the corner.
“Calm down! Everything’s alright, we’re not going to hurt you.” she said, causing him to stop for a moment.
“How do you know English?” he asked uncertainly, still uncomfortable without his weapons. He sounded calm, but in truth, his mind was going crazy. He had heard the various covenant species speak English, but a pony? That just didn’t make sense to him. He quickly put his mind in check. Seeing aliens that at one time had been previously thought to not even exist taught you to think that anything was possible.
“English?” she asked curiously. “Is that what you call your language? We call it Equestrian.” She seemed oddly comfortable talking to him, as if she had met an alien before.
“Why are you helping me?” he asked, keeping his fists raised in case she decided to turn hostile.
“Well I wasn’t going to let my friends kill you unless you were really dangerous, so I brought you here.” she said.
“Well how do I know you’re not just going to kill me later?” he asked, his eyes darting to the assault rifle poking out behind his armor.
“Oh the ponies here on Equestria are rather peaceful really.” she said. “I can’t even remember the last time there was a war or any kind of battle for that matter.”
“So in other words, no weapons or soldiers or anything?” he asked.
“Well the princess has guards who occasionally use weapons to guard events, but other than that, no.” she replied. He finally lowered his fists.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"My name's Twilight Sparkle." she replied happily. "What's yours?"
"Daniel." he said, and started walking over to his gear. When she didn’t stop him, he put it on and placed his helmet on a hook on his waist. His weapons went on separate hooks, one on his waist for his sub-machine gun, and one on his back for his assault rifle.
“Does anyone know where my pod landed?” he asked.
“Rainbow Dash might know.” Twilight replied after a moment of thought.
“Let’s go ask her then.” he said. They walked out of the hospital and Twilight spotted Dash clearing some clouds in the sky.
“Rainbow Dash come here!” she called. Dash turned around with a smile then froze when she saw Daniel looking up at her warily.
“Is he friendly?” she asked without coming down.
“Yes he is now get down here! We need your help.” Twilight replied impatiently. Rainbow Dash complied and touched down in front of Twilight.
“Do you know where my pod landed?” Daniel asked.
“You mean that thing you came out of? Ya I know where it is. I saw a couple more of them touch down a few minutes after Twilight took you to the hospital.” she replied.
“Take me to those too.” he said. His face didn’t show it but he had a flicker of hope that he might have other soldiers with him on this planet. He followed Dash to his wrecked pod and searched through it for anything he may have missed. Once he was sure it was empty of anything important, he asked her to lead him to the other pods. They were just passing between a pair of trees when three ponies jumped out at them.
“Well well well, what do we have here?” The lead pony said with a smirk as he pulled out a knife. Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to charge, but Daniel stopped her with a ticked off look on his face.
“Back off.” Daniel said as he grabbed his assault rifle and leveled it at the threats.
“What a cute little toy!” The lead pony said mockingly, causing the two ponies following him to laugh. Daniel grinned and pulled the trigger. The two other ponies watched as their leader fell to the ground, a small hole in his forehead.
“Anyone else think it’s a toy?” he asked threateningly. They looked at each other with hesitant looks before turning and running. With two more bangs, they dropped dead in their tracks. Dash watched all this with an almost scared look on her face. Daniel may seem friendly, but he would kill in a heartbeat if he was threatened with a weapon. He walked over to the leader and picked up the knife he had dropped. It had a cruel sharp edge while the other side was slightly serrated. He pocketed it and walked over to the other two, pocketing their similar knives after he had searched them. When he turned back, he noticed that Rainbow Dash was staring at him with her mouth agape.
“What the hay was that!?” she snapped suddenly. “You didn’t have to freaking kill them! I could’ve taken out all three of them without killing them.
“They were going to kill us. It’s a rule where I come from. ‘Kill them before they kill you.’” he said, staring her right in the face with a very angry scowl. She hovered there with her own scowl for a moment before continuing. He followed her around the side of a hill to find another pod lying on its side. It was missing several pieces and chunks from its protective armor. Daniel walked over and knocked on the side of the pod.
“Hello!? Is someone out there!? GET ME OUT OF THIS THING!” cried a voice from inside the pod.
“Oh shut up Roger and hold on.” Daniel replied as he recognized the voice. He pushed the pod over so that the door pointed up. It popped open a moment later, and a relieved ODST climbed out.
“I thought I was going to die in there!” he said as he pulled out his submachine gun and a shotgun. When he turned around, he froze at the sight of Rainbow Dash. He started to raise his sub-machine gun, but was stopped when Daniel grabbed his arm.
“Don’t worry Roger. These things are friendly.” said Daniel. Roger relaxed and removed his helmet. He had short brown hair and hazel colored eyes.
“God that thing always gives me a crick in the neck!” he said as he twisted his head around to fix it. Daniel shook his head. Out of anyone he knew, Roger was always the strangest. He would switch from one thing to another in a heartbeat if you gave him the chance.
“Roger, this is Rainbow Dash. Dash, this is Roger.” Daniel said when Roger was done.
“Nice to meet you.” he said with a cautious nod, still not quite trusting the pony.
“So where’s the next pod Dash?” Daniel asked.
“Not very far.” she replied and started gliding away. Daniel walked after her with Roger close behind. They entered a small clearing moments later with a pod sitting in the middle, its door was closed.
“Probably an ammo drop.” said Roger.
“We’ll see.” Daniel replied as he walked up to the pod. He grasped the edge of the door and pulled. It gave way and popped open to reveal an ODST still strapped in. Daniel quickly placed his fingers on their throat to check the pulse.
“Still alive.” he said as he undid the straps and pulled the ODST out. The body armor was smaller and thinner than the armor that Daniel and Roger wore.
“Maybe it’s Rachel.” Roger said as he noticed the female armor design.
“Let’s take a look.” Daniel replied as he laid her on the ground and pulled off her helmet. She had dark brown hair and her eyes were closed.
“Ya its Rachel. She’s the only one I know who has the tattoo on her neck.” On her neck was the symbol the ODST’s used, a skull with crossed battle rifles and the word Helljumpers written beneath it.
“She’s unconscious right now. Grab her weapons and follow me.” Daniel said with a grunt as he slung Rachel’s unconscious form over his shoulder. Roger complied and grabbed Rachel’s sniper rifle and battle rifle out of the pod.
“How can she carry all this crap!?” he asked as he followed Daniel.
“Oh shut up and keep moving.” Daniel replied with an annoyed sigh. Rainbow Dash followed them, still unsure whether they were truly friendly or not. The one named Daniel had killed three ponies. Sure they were thieves but they were still ponies.
“You okay Dash?” Daniel asked, concerned about the look on her face.
“What? Oh, ya I’m fine.” she replied. The answer was good enough for Daniel and he kept walking, careful not to let Rachel hit anything. They were just entering the town when he felt her stir.
“She’s waking up.” said Roger.
“Well no shit sherlock.” Daniel replied as he set Rachel on the ground. She groaned and placed a hand on her head. When she didn’t feel her helmet, her blue eyes snapped open, but she relaxed when she saw Daniel.
“Sleep well?” he asked with a grin.
“Hahaha very funny.” she replied as she got to her feet. Upon spotting Rainbow Dash, she tensed up, reaching for a rifle that wasn’t there.
“Calm down Rachel, they’re friendly.” Daniel said, and she did.
“Here are your guns.” Roger said as he hefted the rifles. Rachel grabbed the sniper and put it on the hook on the back of her armor, and then grabbed the battle rifle.
“Where is the extra ammo?” she asked.
“Oh, here you go.” Roger replied as he pulled out a few magazines. She grabbed them and placed them in the pockets on her armor. Once she was done, she followed Daniel and Roger into the town.
“Apparently the place is called Ponyville.” Daniel said before Roger could open his mouth.
“Seems like a good name.” Rachel commented as she scanned the area, a habit that was forced upon her through battles with the covenant, a genocidal alien race that was bent on wiping out every single human world they could find. Daniel led them to the hospital where he had met Twilight. She was waiting for them in front.
“Are they your friends?” she asked.
“Ya, these two are from my squad. Roger the loudmouth and Rachel the marksman.” he replied.
“Hey!!” said Roger indignantly, causing Twilight to laugh for a moment.
“Are you hungry?” she asked when she recovered.
“Heck yes! I’m starving!” Roger replied eagerly.
“I could go for something to eat.” Rachel agreed.
“We can get you something at my house.” Twilight said. They followed her back through the town to her house, which was actually a hollowed out tree. Daniel was surprised it was alive. When they entered, they were surprised to see a small purple creature curled up in a little bed.
“Is that a dragon?” asked Roger.
“Yes, his name’s Spike.” Twilight replied.
“Cool!” Roger said with a grin. Twilight led them into the kitchen and began to cook while they waited patiently. She finished about ten minutes later and levitated bowls of soup to each of them.
“This is amazing!” Roger said after his first taste. He tossed his spoon aside and drank the soup straight out of the bowl.
“He’s right Daniel! Try it!” Rachel said as she ate her soup more slowly. Daniel took a sip and his eyes widened. He set his spoon down and drained the bowl in a few quick gulps.
“That’s the best soup I’ve ever had!” he said happily.
“I’m glad you like it!” Twilight said with a smile. “You can stay here for the night if you would like.”
“Thanks for the offer, but for now I want to explore this town.” Daniel said as he set his bowl on the kitchen counter.
“I better go with you then. Ponies might react better if they see me with you.” she replied.
“Sounds good to me.” Rachel said. They walked outside then Twilight began to show them around the town. They saw plenty of ponies giving them strange looks and whispering to each other as they passed. Some even slammed their doors and shut their windows as the group passed. Roger had a sheepish look on his face and Rachel’s hands were tensed on her battle rifle. Their first stop was an apple orchard, where they met and orange pony that Daniel recognized as the one he had threatened to shoot.
“Sorry for threatening you.” he said while Roger and Rachel were picking apples.
“Aw it’s okay. Ah’m sorry for scaring you there. Mah name’s Applejack” she replied with a kind smile.
“I’m Daniel.” he said.
“Hey Daniel, think fast!” Rachel called as she tossed him an apple. He caught it one handed and took a bite.
“Jeez is all the food in this place delicious?” he asked as he ate the apple. Applejack only smiled wider and laughed. They were there for about an hour, eating apples and joking, before they left with Twilight. She led them to a place called the “Carousel Boutique” where they met a snow white pony named Rarity. After she got over her shock of seeing Daniel and his friends, she immediately started fussing over their armor and how it wasn’t “in style.” Daniel motioned for Twilight to hurry up so they could leave. She happily obliged and they were on their way after a couple minutes. Twilight led them to a small cottage just outside of a large forest. She knocked on the door, which was soon answered by a bright yellow pony with wings. The pegasus froze up when she saw Daniel.
“It’s okay Fluttershy. They’re friends.” Twilight said calmly. Fluttershy relaxed a bit but Daniel could see she was still nervous. They left moments later so as not to scare her any further. Their final stop looked so much like a gingerbread house that Daniel was afraid Roger would try to take a bite out of it. Twilight said the place was called “Sugarcube corner.” They entered only to be immediately confronted by a shockingly pink pony. She began to speak so fast that Daniel could barely make out anything she was saying. The hyped up pony didn’t even walk. She bounced everywhere she went. Once she finally calmed down, they bought some cupcakes and a few cookies before leaving to head back to Twilight’s house. Daniel swore he saw the pink pony wink at Twilight, but dismissed it as meaning nothing.
“I think we finally found someone who talks more than you do Roger.” Rachel said as she ate a cupcake.
“Hey that’s not funny.” he said with his mouth full of his own cupcake. They reached Twilight’s home a few moments later and stored the rest of the cupcakes and cookies. Twilight used her magic to levitate a few sleeping bags for them to sleep in, then walked upstairs to go to bed herself. Daniel unhooked his guns from his armor and set them aside, then began the annoying process of getting the armor off. Roger had already set his weapons on the floor and was halfway done with his armor. Rachel’s sniper was leaning against her wall with her battle rifle directly beside it. Once their armor was all set to the side, they climbed into their sleeping bags, and it wasn’t long before Daniel heard Roger’s quiet snoring.
“So what do you think of this place?” Rachel asked quietly.
“I won’t lie. This place is amazing. Much better than what’s going on back on Earth.” he replied.
“Do you think we’ll ever see Earth again?” she asked.
“I don’t know.” he said sadly. Rachel gave him a concerned look before going to sleep. Daniel, who had gone through plenty of sleepless nights, soon began to feel his eyelids droop as he fell asleep as well.
Daniel opened his eyes to see that he was walking through an alleyway.
“Not again.” he muttered to himself. He was in a recurring dream that had plagued him for the past few months.
“What was that Daniel?” asked an ODST slightly ahead of him.
“It’s nothing Michael.” he replied. Michael nodded and they continued moving. Behind Daniel were two more ODSTs, Nathan and Joseph. They scanned the side entrances of the alley, expecting an attack at any moment. Suddenly, plasma shots burst against the wall near Joseph’s head.
“AMBUSH!” he cried, jumping behind a dumpster for cover. Nathan joined him and Daniel fired a few shots in the direction the plasma had come from. He ran into a side alley and took cover behind the wall. Michael was close behind him, firing shots from his battle rifle as he went. Peeking around the corner, Daniel spotted a couple dead grunts lying on the ground with their blue blood spilling from holes in their chests. The victory was short lived as an elite came out of a side alley hefting two plasma rifles. The super heated plasma splattered against the concrete as Daniel drew back into cover.
“I’m going to try and get to that alley and distract him.” Michael said as he pointed to an alley a little farther ahead.
“No! You’ll get hit!” Daniel hissed, but Michael was already running. The elite noticed him and fired. The shots splattered against the ground as Michael barely escaped into the alley. Joseph jumped out of cover and emptied the magazine of his assault rifle into the elite’s chest, causing its energy shield to splutter and pop. Nathan finished him off with a pistol round to the head.
“That was close Michael.” Joseph said as he inspected the dead elite. When he got no response, he turned to see Michael being held in the air by an elite’s energy sword. Daniel was standing in the side alley, frozen by the shock of seeing his friend impaled on the blade, so the elite didn’t notice him. It snarled as it let Michael fall to the ground, then turned to face Nathan and Joseph. Joseph ejected his spent magazine, and was grabbing a new one when the elite charged. Nathan threw his pistol to the ground and grabbed his shotgun. The elite stepped back a few feet from the force of the rounds hitting its shield, but it was still standing. It snarled again and leaped at him. Joseph was sent to the ground and his assault rifle skidded away as the elite impaled Nathan on its blade. With what seemed like a laugh, it let him drop to the ground and walked slowly to the crawling ODST. He had just grabbed his rifle when it stabbed him.
“YOU BASTARD!” cried Daniel. The elite turned with a look of shock as the ODST tackled him, sending the energy sword flying away. Daniel quickly recovered and pulled out his knife. The elite reached up to grab him, but was stopped short as the knife drove into its skull. Daniel slowly let go of the knife, and walked over to Michael’s corpse. He lifted Michael’s head and pulled off his helmet. Michael’s eyes were frozen in a look of pain and shock. Daniel felt tears began to sting his eyes as he closed Michael’s eyes.
“You crazy bastard… I told you not to do it… I told you not to do it.” he said. He was interrupted by the roar of a pelican’s engines. He looked up to see it flying towards the end of the alley. He carefully picked up Michael and walked out. The pelican landed just outside the alley and the marines on board were shocked to see him carrying a dead ODST in his arms. Once the ODST’s body was inside the pelican, he turned and went back into the alley. The marines were about to call him back when he came out with another body. Going back for Joseph, Daniel heard a marine walking beside him.
“Your whole squad is dead?” asked a rough voice.
“Yes.” Daniel replied. The marine placed a hand on his shoulder and Daniel turned to see a black soldier looking at him with a sad look.
“It happens to us all marine. We never truly get over it.” he said before continuing on. Daniel followed close behind and was about to pick up Joseph when the marine insisted that he should do it.
“I’ll do it son. You’ve faced enough pain for today.” he said.
“Who are you?” Daniel asked.
“Sergeant Avery Johnson.” he replied as he hefted Joseph into his arms. They walked back in silence and deposited Joseph with the others in the pelican.
The dream melted away as Daniel woke up. He looked around to see Roger and Rachel still fast asleep. He quietly got up and put his armor on. Roger grunted in his sleep and Daniel froze. Once he was sure Roger was still asleep, he put on the rest of his armor and walked outside into the rain of the early morning. He sighed then walked into the forest where no one was likely to find him. He reached a clearing with a lone tree stump in the middle and sat there, letting the rain fall on his armor and slide down his face plate. Taking his knife, he got up and started carving Michael’s name into the stump.
Roger yawned and stretched as he woke up. He looked over to see Daniel’s sleeping bag empty and his guns still resting where he had put them.
“He’s wandered off again.” he said with a sigh. Rachel stirred and woke up next to him, only to breathe the same sigh as she saw Daniel’s empty sleeping bag.
“He does this almost every night! You think he would’ve forgotten by now.” she said.
“Cut him some slack Rachel. Michael was his best friend.” Roger replied.
“I know but it worries me sometimes.” she said.
“It worries me too, but you know better than to talk to him about it.” he said as he got up and began to put on his armor.
Twilight yawned as she got out of bed. She walked over to her dresser and combed her mane before heading downstairs to check on her guests. She found Roger and Rachel playing cards, but there was no sign of Daniel.
“Where’s Daniel?” she asked.
“He wandered off, and don’t worry because he does it all the time.” Roger said calmly. He heard the door shut and turned to see Twilight had already left. “Here we go again.” he sighed, placing a king of diamonds down on the table.
Twilight followed Daniel’s tracks to a clearing, where she found him sitting alone on a lone tree stump. She stepped forward, and a twig snapped underneath her hoof. Daniel spun to face the sound.
“What are you doing here?” he asked.
“I was looking for you.” she replied.
“Well you found me. Happy? Now go away.”
“What’s the matter with you?”
“It’s none of your concern. Now go away!” he said angrily, clenching his hands into fists. She stepped back in fear before turning around and leaving. He sighed and raised his hands. They were glowing with a barely perceptible light blue aura.
"What is WRONG with me!?!?" he shouted at himself, slamming a fist into the stump. Sitting back down, he took off his helmet, and buried his face in his gloved palms. When the rain stopped, he stood and put his helmet back on. He walked slowly back through the forest, taking his time to look around at the trees as he went. The blue aura slowly faded from his hands.
Twilight ran back through the forest, startled by what she had seen. Daniel had begun to get angry and she noticed that his hands started glowing a light blue color. She finally reached her home and burst through the door, causing Roger and Rachel to look at her with raised eyebrows.
“You didn’t tell me Daniel could use magic!” she exclaimed.
“What the hell are you talking about?” Roger asked.
“I was talking to him in a clearing and his hands began to glow!” she replied.
“What’s going on?” Daniel said from behind her, scaring her so bad that she shot a beam of light that hit Roger directly in the chest.
“What the hell was that!?” Rachel exclaimed. The light subsided to reveal a green pegasus with brown hair.
“WOAH!” the pegasus exclaimed in Roger’s voice. He tried to step forward and immediately face planted.
“You turned him into a pony!” Daniel said.
“I didn’t mean to! You frightened me!” Twilight replied.
“Well can you turn me human again?” Roger asked, but when he said “human” he began to glow and appeared a moment later as his old self.
“So you can change back and forth or something?” Rachel asked.
“I must have hit him with the Mind Morph spell.” Twilight replied. “It allows you to change your form at will, but it seems that you can only change between being a pony or a human.”
“That would probably be a good idea so we don’t scare anyone.” Daniel said. Twilight agreed and hit Rachel with the same beam of light before turning to Daniel.
“Hold on. Let me get rid of this armor first.” he said. When he was done, she hit him with the spell, and he stood in front of her a moment later. While Roger and Rachel both turned into a pegasus when they were hit, he had turned into a unicorn. His hair was a little longer than usual and his coat was a light grey. It took him a while to get used to walking on four hooves, but he managed to get it down easily enough. Roger and Rachel had done the same and were currently trying to fly. Rachel was a dark blue color which went well with her lighter blue eyes and dark brown hair.
“Man this is cool!” Roger said with a grin as he managed to hover a few feet in the air, but that quickly ended as he attempted to do a back flip and face planted. Daniel tried concentrating on becoming a pegasus and found that his horn disappeared and wings formed on his sides.
“So we can choose what kind of pony we are eh?” he said with a small grin as he spread his wings. He caught a glimpse of a strange mark on his flank. It was a shield emblazoned with a skull. Looking at Roger and Rachel, he spotted marks on their flanks as well. Rachel’s was a crosshair while Roger’s was another shield. He also noticed that their clothes disappeared when they turned into ponies, making him feel a little bit exposed.
“Could we possibly get some clothes? I don’t really feel comfortable like this.” Roger said, confirming that he felt the same way as Daniel.
Twilight giggled and said, “Sure, I’ll take you to Rarity’s again to get some clothes.” They followed her into the town, and many of the ponies they passed did double takes at the three pegasi.
“What the hell are you laughing at!?” Roger snapped at a pair of pegasus mares who were giggling behind their hooves.
“Just leave it Roger.” Rachel said, grabbing hold of him so he couldn’t go after them. They walked up to the boutique and Twilight knocked on the door.
“I’ll be there in just a moment!” Rarity called from inside the boutique. She opened the door, and was surprised to see Twilight standing with three pegasi.
“Hello Rarity, I’d like to get some clothes for Daniel and his friends.” Twilight said.
“These ponies are Daniel and his friends? How did you transform them?” she asked incredulously.
“A Mind Morph spell, now can we please get some clothes?” Roger asked impatiently.
"Oh, of course. What kind would you like?" she asked.
"Just something basic like our uniforms, preferably in black." Rachel said.
“Wouldn’t you like to look more fashionable though?” she asked hopefully.
“No, don’t do anything fancy to them.” Daniel said. “We just want basic black outfits.”
“Fine.” she said with disappointment. They quietly watched as she used her magic to sew together three black outfits in the time it would take a human to make one. Twilight paid her and they quickly left before she could change her mind about making the clothes fancy.
“Damn this stuff feels way better than our normal outfits!” Roger said as he slipped the outfit over his wings. Rarity had cut out spots in the fabric for their wings and tails, though this didn’t make them any easier to put on.
“Now if only they had beer in this place.” Rachel said.
“Actually, we do have one bar in town.” Twilight replied.
“Let’s go. I could use a cold beer right now.” Roger said. Twilight led them to a building called “The Prancing Pony.” Daniel face hoofed, he had never drunk beer in his life so he thought it was stupid to do so, but he went inside with Roger and Rachel just the same. He never noticed that Twilight left once they went in.
Twilight hastily trotted back to her home, thinking about the letter she was about to write to Princess Celestia. Once she was inside the library, she started looking around for Spike, before remembering that he had been going to Rarity’s today to help her with her work. She quickly used her magic to get a scroll and a quill to write her message.
Dear Princess Celestia,
Three creatures called humans fell from the sky in pods yesterday. Right now they appear friendly but Rainbow Dash has told me that Daniel, their leader, killed three thieves without even hesitating. This morning I followed Daniel into the Everfree Forest and he became angry. I looked at his hands and they were glowing blue! This must mean he is able to do magic! When I used the Mind Morph spell on Daniel and his friends, he was the only one who turned into a unicorn. I am sending you this in case any of this information could be of use to you.
Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle
She quickly rolled up the scroll and sent it in a flash of magic to the princess.
Celestia was calmly sitting in her throne room when a piece of rolled up parchment appeared in front of her. Taking it in her magic, she unrolled it and looked through the hastily written letter. Her eyes widened as she read it, and the page fell to the ground as she finished.
“Get me the guards!” she said urgently.
Daniel looked around the bar. There were several ponies of different sizes, shape, and colors. A few were dancing to the beat of the music that the DJ was playing. He leaned his head back to get a look. She had a white coat with a light and dark blue mane. She wore purple tinted shades and bobbed her head with the music. Roger was actually silent for once as he listened to the music, his head bobbing along and tapping his hoof under the table. Rachel scowled at him for a moment before returning to her drink.
“I hope you’re not thinking of going out with a pony.” Daniel said.
“Why the hell would you think that?” Roger asked, though he was visibly blushing.
“I saw the way you were looking at that DJ.” he replied, causing Roger to blush even harder, which in turn caused Rachel to laugh.
“Maybe we should come with pony names for ourselves so we fit in better.” Roger said after a moment.
“Great idea! You’ll be loud mouth.” Rachel replied.
“Come on would you please stop with that?” he asked.
“I’ll stop when you learn to shut up.” she replied, her voice coming out a little slurred.
“Okay that’s enough. You’re drunk and you’re going googly eyes for a DJ. We’re leaving.” Daniel said, pulling Roger and Rachel with him out of the building. Rachel startled giggling and hiccupped every few seconds.
“I’m tired of being a pony for now.” Roger said. Daniel agreed and they took off their clothes, not sure if they would disappear when they transformed. They stood a moment later in their regular black uniforms with the clothes Rarity had made in their arms. Daniel walked up to the door of the library and knocked, only to hear two quick thumps as Roger and Rachel were knocked unconscious. He spun to see two ponies in gleaming white armor.
“Traitorous bitch lied to me.” he whispered, his anger building. The guards moved toward him, but were stopped short as they were surrounded by a blue aura and lifted into the air.
“What are you gonna do now huh?” he asked with a maniacal grin, his hands pointing towards them with the same blue aura. They looked at each other worriedly, but then Daniel was knocked unconscious by another guard.
Roger groaned and rubbed the back of his head as he woke up.
“Good, you’re awake.” said a voice.
“What’s the big idea!?” he snapped when his vision cleared and he could see the guard.
“The princess ordered us to bring you to her.” he replied.
“Well maybe you could’ve, I don’t know, ASKED NICELY!?”
“We knocked you out because your leader was reported to be potentially dangerous.” the guard replied with a stony expression on his face. “Now follow me.” Roger did as he was told and followed the guard to a throne room where Rachel was sitting and Daniel was standing with his arms crossed, a very pissed off look on his face.
“What the hell is the big idea!? Why did you have your guards knock us unconscious just to bring us up here!?” Daniel snapped at the figure sitting on the throne. Roger looked up to see a brilliant white pony with a mane that moved as though it was submerged in water.
“I’m sorry, but Twilight’s letter told me you were potentially dangerous, considering that you killed three ponies.” she said.
“That still doesn’t explain why we’re here.” Rachel said.
“You’re here because of a dream.” she said. “In this particular dream, I saw a human using magic to rid Equestria of two great evils. One was an evil that I’m very familiar with, while the other was comprised of about ten floating machines filled with creatures that I know nothing about.” She started to say something else when suddenly, her eyes widened and she stared at a point past them with a look of horror. Daniel turned and looked outside. He froze when he saw the small hole forming above Equestria. A few small ships spilled out of it before it closed.
“How many are there?” he asked, directing the question at Rachel.
“I’m counting about ten.” she replied, using her keen eye sight to count them.
“So looks like we’re not done fighting the bastards yet.” Daniel said, smiling at the irony. You think you can finally stop fighting, but once you start, it will always find you again.
“What’s this other evil supposed to be?” Roger asked curiously.
“Its name is the Nightmare.” she replied. “It can take over just about anything and use them for its own evil purposes. It once had control of my sister, Princess Luna.” she added sadly.
“Great now we have to fight the covenant again, AND some crazy ass magic piece of shit.” he said glumly.
Authors Note: Well here we are. I finally finished chapter 3. I'm sorry if it is rushed or anything but I just wanted to get it over with. This is the last chapter and I will not make another. I will still do other stories but this one is done. Hope you enjoy. Also, people who are detail nerds, shut up and read.
Voro ’Rolam carefully examined the ancient ruins of the castle they had landed in. Behind him were several Unggoy and a couple of shield-bearing Kig-Yar. He motioned them to search elsewhere and they left, the grunts a little hesitant to go without their leader. Walking into a room that seemed meant to be a throne room, he saw chunks of purple armor lying in the middle. Curiously, he picked up a piece and examined the crescent emblazoned on it. His mandibles twitched as he wondered what this armor could’ve come from. It certainly wasn’t covenant, so what was it? He turned to bring it back to the ship when something grabbed his leg.
“What is this madness!?” he shouted as he looked down at a purple tentacle gripping his leg. He grabbed a handle off his waist and pushed a button, causing an energy blade to spring to life. He slashed at the tentacle but it passed right through it as if it wasn’t even there.. Another tentacle grabbed his arm and pulled on him. Soon, he was standing spread eagle with the tentacles gripping his arms and legs. A ghostly apparition of some sort of quadruped appeared in front of him, holding the piece of armor he had picked up with another tentacle. It placed the piece of armor in between the gaps of his chest armor. All the energy that made up the tentacles was absorbed into the armor piece, and he dropped to the floor. His body convulsed as the magic coursed through him, corrupting his mind and body.
“Filthy heretic! Get out of my body!” he shouted, trying to dislodge the chunk of armor. He got no response, and lost consciousness as his eyes became a darker version of his usual brown.
“Is everything alright sir?” asked an Unggoy who had come back early.
“Oh, everything is fine.” the Sangheili said with a disconcerting voice. The Unggoy thought about running, but was impeded as a bit of purple smoke entered his mind.
“Gather the others.” he commanded.
“Yes sir!” the Unggoy replied anxiously.
“Finally, my time for revenge has come!” the Saingheili said with a maniacal laugh.
Daniel walked through the castle grounds with the princess by his side.
“So I’m able to use magic?” he asked.
“Yes but so far it seems you’ve only been able to do so while under extreme stress or anger.” she replied.
“Could you teach me how to use it?”
“I think Twilight Sparkle would be better suited for that. Her special ability IS magic.”
“I guess I better get started then, seeing as how the covenant is already here.” he said and got into a chariot that they had been walking towards. Roger and Rachel were already waiting impatiently, and the guards pulling it took off once he was in. He watched the trees and buildings go by underneath them and said nothing the entire ride.
“So what are we going to do?” Roger asked. “Those drop ships can carry at least ten of those things each, so we’re gonna be facing one hundred of them by ourselves? We’re so fucked.”
“No we’re not. We’ll conserve our ammo, and if we run out we’ll use their guns.” Daniel said.
“Kill them with their own guns? This is starting to sound fun.” Rachel said with a grin, which was wiped off her face when she looked up to see another slipspace rupture. Roger followed her gaze.
“GOD DAMN IT! WHAT NOW!?” he shouted. Daniel looked at the rupture and saw a small flaming ship come through.
“Looks like a Longsword, but I thought they couldn’t do slipspace jumps.” Rachel said.
“They can’t unless they’re very heavily armored and outfitted with a drive.” Daniel said, squinting to make out the ship. It spun to its wider side, and it was a Longsword, though he had never seen one designed like this. It had heavy armor and its rear was larger than the normal design.
“Looks like ONI’s been working on it.” Roger said. The Longsword continued to fall toward the surface of the planet until it finally landed in the Everfree Forest.
“Take us to where that ship just hit.” Daniel said to the guards. They leveled out and flew to the clearing where Daniel had sat that morning. Getting lower, Daniel thought he spotted movement through the window of the cock pit. The Longsword’s left wing was on fire, which was quickly dying out. Soon it sputtered out as they climbed off the chariot and walked around the ship to the back. The hatch popped open and they walked on board.
“FREEZE!” shouted a voice as the hatch slammed shut. They lifted their hands and Daniel looked around. Standing behind them was a seven foot tall giant clad in green armor, an assault rifle in his hands.
“Who are you?” he asked, keeping the rifle raised.
“We’re ODST’s, and I’m guessing you’re a Spartan.” Daniel said, causing Roger to jerk his head around to look at the Spartan.
“Glad to know there are some other humans on this planet.” the Spartan said, lowering his weapon.
“Actually we’re the only ones here besides you. This place is inhabited by talking ponies.” Rachel said, causing the Spartan to laugh.
“Talking PONIES!? You gotta be kidding me.” he said.
“We’re not kidding. If you go out in front of the ship you’ll find a chariot pulled by two pegasi.”
“This I gotta see.” he chuckled. The hatch hissed open again and they walked around, the Spartan towering over them in his MJOLNIR armor. When they rounded the corner, the Spartan froze.
“So you weren’t kidding.” he mumbled.
“Have any weapons on this ONI hunk of junk?” Rachel asked.
“Ya, plenty of them. They put a whole freaking armory on board.” he said happily. He led them back inside where they found plenty of guns and ammo.
“This will do nicely.” Roger said, hefting a SPNKR missile launcher.
“What are you gonna use them for? Aren’t the ponies peaceful?” the Spartan asked.
“We’re going to use them on the covenant who showed up not long before you did.” he replied.
“The covenant is here!? How many!?” he asked curiously.
“Probably around a hundred of them.” Daniel said.
“Oh this is gonna be fun!” the Spartan said happily, grabbing a pistol and more ammunition. “I’m Spartan-092, or as most people call me, Jerome.”
“I’m Daniel, and this is Roger and Rachel.” he said.
“Wait did you say Spartan-092?” Rachel asked. “That Spartan disappeared with the Spirit of Fire.”
“Disappeared?” he asked. “Kidnapped more like. Fucking ONI spooks didn’t want anyone learning about the flood or whatever that shit was that we fought. I hijacked this thing.” he said, patting the wall of the Longsword.
“Also, aren’t Spartans usually serious at all times?” Roger asked.
“That serious shit is boring as hell. I’m only like that when the bullets start flying and plasma starts melting the ground between your feet.” he replied. Daniel couldn’t be sure, but he thought that Jerome was most likely grinning under that helmet.
“So how were you able to enter slipspace?” Rachel asked curiously.
“Easy, they installed a slipspace drive into this ship. It’s smaller and doesn’t create as large of a hole, but it still works.” he said.
“How did you get here then?”
“I didn’t bother to enter any coordinates because they had their guns all trying to wipe me out of existence.”
“That makes sense.” Daniel had to stifle a laugh as Roger mouthed the words “No shit…”
“So what are we waiting for!?” the Spartan said suddenly. “We need to set up some damn defenses somewhere!”
“Ponyville could work, but we would need to evacuate the residents first.” Rachel said.
“Excellent,” Jerome said, clapping his hands together. “I’ll start loading up weapons and ammo for those ponies with wings to carry on that chariot.” He quickly dashed back into the ship and began loading the weapons into boxes he had found. Soon he began carrying out four boxes at a time and placing them on the chariot, which the guards were not happy about. After the fifth load of weapons, the guards managed to take off and flew towards Ponyville.
“Now let’s get going. We won’t have much time before the covenant finds us.” he said. Daniel led the way back to Ponyville, his squad mates directly behind him and the Spartan following behind with his rifle ready. They reached Ponyville moments later, where the chariot was waiting for them. The ODSTs helped Jerome unload the boxes of weapons and ammo before letting the pegasus guards return to Canterlot. Daniel looked to around to see that most of the ponies were gawking at Jerome. It made sense since he was a good deal taller than the ODSTs and they couldn’t see his face. He had a feeling that Jerome was watching them, waiting to see if they would turn hostile.
“What’s going on?” asked a familiar voice. Daniel turned to see Twilight walking up to them.
“The aliens we’ve been fighting are here.” he replied. “We need to get everyone out of here before they find us. I also have to learn magic as fast as possible.”
“The evacuation should be easy.” she said, acting eerily calm about this. “I’m not really sure I can teach you about how to use your magic though. Every unicorn uses their magic differently so I’m guessing it’s the same for you. You’ll have to discover your own way.” Daniel’s face narrowed but he said nothing. He hurriedly dashed to Twilight’s home and retrieved his armor and gear. Once he was outfitted, he picked up the rest of the gear as best he could and carried it back to Roger and Rachel. Soon, they were dressed in their black combat armor with their helmets securely on their heads. They didn’t look as intimidating as the Spartan but the armor was meant more for as much protection as possible. While they had gotten ready, Twilight had been busy talking with the mayor about the evacuation.
“We should be able to evacuate them to Canterlot but it may take a while to gather everyone.” The mayor said.
“Do it as fast as you can.” Daniel ordered, not wanting to think of what would happen if the covenant attacked before they were safe. Jerome was silent as he ripped the top off one of the boxes and lifted a belt fed machine gun and a tripod. He looked around and set it up facing the forest.
“You ponies wouldn’t happen to have any sandbags or something that we could use would you?” he asked.
“Ah think we may have some sandbags up at the farm.” Applejack said.
“Good, get them.” Jerome replied. “Are any of you three a sniper?” he asked the ODSTs.
“I’m the sniper.” Rachel said. Jerome pointed her to Twilight’s home which had the best vantage point. She saluted and went to set up her sniper rifle. Roger, meanwhile, was busy checking his shotgun and his newly acquired rocket launcher for anything that might cause a destructive misfire. Finding nothing wrong, he placed the shotgun on his back and sat down, placing the rocket launcher within easy access. Then they waited.
A zealot stood impatiently in front of two younger Sangheili.
“I’ve already told you that we cannot accept these creatures into our covenant. Have I not said they have allied with the humans?” he asked angrily.
“Yes, but they may be holding them prisoner. We never got any confirmation that they were helping them sir.” one of them said.
“What is going on?” asked a new voice. The zealot turned to see another Sangheili standing behind him. There was a piece of metal with a crescent moon emblazoned on it stuck between the armor on his chest.
“Voro, what is that between your armor?” he asked. Voro said nothing. Instead, he crossed his arms and stood there a moment. The zealot heard two gasps and turned to see the Sangheili he had been talking to both had glazed eyes and purple smoke entering their mouths. He reached for his energy sword when he noticed another trail of smoke coming towards him.
“Looking for something?” Voro asked. The zealot turned to see his energy sword in Voro’s hands.
“What are you doing? Give me my blade Voro!” he demanded. Voro twisted his mandibles into a smile and chuckled.
“I am not Voro.” he said. “I am Nightmare Helios.” At that moment, the smoke creeped into the zealot’s mouth. His mind went foggy and his eyes glazed over as it took control.
“There, now I just need to find the leader of these creatures. Once I control him, the Elements of Harmony won’t be able to win this time.” said the Sangheili formerly known as Voro. “Do we have any good weapons?” he asked the zealot.
“We have our plasma weaponry, along with our drop ships, a ghost, and one wraith.” he said sleepily. Nightmare searched through Voro’s mind to find out what this meant. Finding the information satisfying, she nodded Voro’s head.
“Where is your leader?” she asked.
“You are our leader Voro.” the zealot replied.
“Then let’s get started.” Nightmare said, and she left the room with the zealot close behind.
(1 hour later)
Daniel watched the ponies as they gathered in the middle of the town. Most of them had relatively calm expressions, but he saw a few with panicked looks. Twilight and her friends were helping the mayor keep everyone in line. It was just settling down when he heard something that chilled his bones.
“Covenant drop ship!” Jerome shouted. Daniel spun around to see the Phantom coming towards them. It was holding a ghost scout vehicle in its energy field.
“I don’t see the guns moving.” Rachel said over the teams COM channel.
“I don’t care, keep an eye on it anyway.” he replied. The drop ship loomed closer until it hovered almost directly above them. It dropped down a bit, then an elite floated to the ground from the bottom.
“What the hell is that on its chest?” Rachel asked. Daniel squinted to see a piece of metal emblazoned with a crescent moon lodged between the chest armor on the elite.
“My name is Nightmare Helios!” the elite said, its voice somehow magnified. “Surrender the Elements of Harmony or we will kill you all!” Daniel turned to see Twilight and her friends too scared to move.
“You want the ponies?” Jerome shouted back. “You’ll have to get through us first bitch!”
“I was hoping you would say that.” the elite replied, its mandibles forming a ghastly grin. It was lifted back into the phantom, and two more phantoms came into view over the trees. The ponies instantly panicked and ran for cover.
“I’m seeing two Phantoms, and one of them has a ghost with it.” Rachel reported. The first Phantom flew away, and the two took its place. The ghost was dropped off along with elites, grunts, and a few jackals.
“At least we don’t have to fight any hunters.” Rachel said encouragingly.
“Shut up and do your job.” Daniel replied. Rachel complied by quickly taking the head off an elite and causing some grunts to run for cover. Jerome took control of the mounted machine gun and aimed for the ghost. The ghost responded by speeding toward him. The Spartan jumped away from the turret and stood ready. As the ghost neared him, he jumped into the air. He landed on the hood and pulled out his combat knife. The elite driving the ghost tried to pull out its weapon, but only succeeded in grabbing the handle before it was stabbed in the throat. Jerome pushed its lifeless corpse out of the driver’s seat and took control.
“Let’s see how you like it mother fuckers.” he growled into the COM. Having used covenant vehicles before, he already knew how to drive and fire. He used the plasma weapons to overload jackal shields and cut down as many grunts as he could. Daniel took out the unshielded jackals and tossed a frag grenade at a group trying to set up a plasma turret. The turret operators were killed by the explosion and the others decided not to try again. The elites were taking cover behind buildings and trees, followed closely by grunts. From there hiding places, they opened fire. A plasma pistol overcharge hit Jerome’s ghost, and he was forced to abandon it. Ponies kept running past them, so it was hard to keep an eye on the enemy. A light brown pony running past Daniel was hit by a plasma round. He screamed as his fur and skin started melting from the intense heat of the plasma. A large pink needler round imbedded itself in his skull, exploding a moment later, ending his screams. Daniel caught sight of Twilight barfing onto the ground as she saw the dead pony. A loud crack sounded as an elite dropped dead with a bullet hole in his throat. Roger fired a rocket at the trees, taking out about ten grunts and two elites. Daniel turned his head and saw a grunt charging forward with a plasma grenade primed in each clawed hand.
“Roger look out!” he shouted into his mic. Roger spun towards the grunt and dropped his rocket launcher. Pulling out his pistol, he turned and ran to a safe distance before spinning around and putting a round in the grunts chest, causing it to drop its grenades. The plasma grenades exploded, sending a small heat wave and bits of grunt into the air. Roger ducked behind a building as needler rounds impacted the ground near his feet. He replaced his pistol and gripped his shotgun. Jerome was hiding behind some sand bags that had been set up, reloading his battle rifle.
“The Phantoms are coming back!” Rachel yelled. “This time they have a wraith!”
“I got this!” Jerome said, jumping over the sand bags and making a dash for the rocket launcher. An elite dashed forward, an energy sword crackling with energy in its hand. It swung, and would’ve sliced off Jerome’s head if he hadn’t ducked. He rose up, bringing out his knife as he went. The elite didn’t get to swing again as the knife entered the bottom of its skull. Jerome quickly pulled his knife out and grabbed the rocket launcher. Running over to a crate, he took cover and began to reload. The Phantoms opened fire, killing several ponies and barely missing others. Jerome popped up and fired, gutting both of the Phantoms with rockets. They exploded, sending shrapnel flying everywhere. When the dust cleared, Daniel saw a severely dented wraith. It fired, sending a high explosive plasma bolt towards him. He Jumped out of the way and ran as the explosion rattled his teeth and sent dead ponies flying. Jerome had already reloaded, and fired a rocket that hit the protective hatch covering the driver. It exploded, killing the driver and rendering the wraith useless. They didn’t get to rest though.
“I see eight Phantoms inbound!” Rachel said frantically. Daniel groaned and Roger shouted obscenities. Jerome was silent, hefting the rocket launcher. The Phantoms began to appear moments later and dropped off several waves of covenant. Jerome worked frantically, gutting Phantoms with rockets as fast as he could. The Phantom in the back spotted him as he took out a sixth drop ship that had dropped its troops. It opened fire and plasma arced towards him. He fired one last rocket, then rolled out of the way. One last Phantom remained, but Jerome had run out of rockets. He let the smoking launcher slip out of his hands, then took out his battle rifle again.
“What are you doing Jerome?” Daniel asked when he saw Jerome wasn’t taking cover.
“I’m tired of running.” he replied. “If I’m gonna die, I’m taking as many bastards with me as I can.” He dashed forward, firing his battle rifle. Even while running, he was deadly accurate. Grunts fell in groups of three and elites had to take cover to avoid his aim. Rachel helped as best she could, taking out jackals and elites as fast as she could before reloading. Roger was picking off grunts with his pistol while his shotgun rested on his back, still unused. During one of Rachel’s reloads, Daniel spotted an elite rushing towards Jerome from behind. Its energy sword blazed to life and he fired at it with his assault rifle. The bullets pinged off its shield and it reached the Spartan unscathed. It grabbed him by the neck and impaled him on the blade. It took its blade out of his body and turned him around.
“Nice trick ugly, but I’m not going out alone.” Jerome coughed through the COM. Daniel spotted Jerome holding two grenades with their pins missing. The resulting explosion killed both the elite and the Spartan. When the smoke cleared, Daniel spotted Jerome’s lifeless corpse lying next to a building. He heard a loud crack as another elite fell dead, and spotted a grunt with a fuel rod gun. He fired at it, but was too late. It fired twice, sending the fuel rods towards where Rachel lay hidden.
“Rachel get out of there!” he shouted as the grunt fell dead. He saw her get up and run to the railing of the balcony, but the fuel rods got there first, exploding and sending her flying through the air to the ground 20 feet below.
“NO!” Roger shouted, dropping his pistol and grabbing his shotgun. He rushed towards her body, killing every grunt and elite that dared get in his way. An elite with a needler took aim and fired, sending a pink needle directly into Roger’s chest, where it exploded. In a fit of rage, Daniel threw his rifle down, and his hands flared red. An energy sword flew to his hand and flared to life. Running faster than he had ever run before, he dashed up to the elite and cut his head off with one smooth swing. He turned to find another target, only to find all the aliens had lowered their guns and were looking up. He looked to see the elite with the crescent moon descending from the one remaining Phantom. Touching down on the ground, the elite stared at Daniel with dark brown eyes.
“You.” Daniel hissed. “You’re responsible for this. I’LL KILL YOU!” He dropped the sword and ran forward, intending to end the elite’s life in as much pain as possible. He was halted three feet from his target by an invisible wall.
“You’re pathetic really.” said Nightmare Helios. “You fight even when victory is hopeless. I could kill you where you stand, but I will humor you and let you fight. We will see how long you last.” Daniel grinned savagely.
“Big mistake bitch.” he said, bringing his hands together in a clap that vaporized the invisible barrier and killed an elite. Before they could react, he raised his own barrier around him and Nightmare Helios. He tackled the elite and grabbed the piece of armor lodged in its chest armor, figuring that was the source of its power. Nightmare Helios recovered and grabbed him by the throat, lifting him easily.
“I give you a chance to fight and you accomplish nothing. I expected something more from the one from the prophecy.” said Nightmare. “Now you will die and you will be with your pathetic friends again.”
“Never call the Helljumpers pathetic.” he choked out. Using all his left over energy and will, he slammed a fist into the piece of armor. The resulting magic explosion shattered his barrier and killed every covenant alien in Ponyville. The floating Phantom was vaporized along with every trace of the covenant. Nightmare Helios was vaporized along with the piece of armor that created him. Daniel dropped to the ground dead.
(5 days later)
Twilight stood next to her friends at the four graves. She looked at the names carved into them. They read Daniel, Rachel, Roger, and Jerome. All of them sacrificed their lives to save Ponyville and Equestria. She shed a tear as she remembered them.
(Unknown location)
Daniel’s eyes flickered open and he looked around. It was pitch black but he could see Roger and Rachel lying next to him.
“It’s about time you woke up.” said a voice, causing him to jump. He looked to his right to see a black unicorn with a snow white mane. She regarded him with crimson red eyes.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m Final Hour, in charge of everyone who passes away. You’re fight has kept me busy for quite a while now.” she replied.
“So we’re dead?” he asked.
“Yes, but I can’t really keep you here since you’re not ponies. So I’m going to give you an offer.”
“What would that be?”
“I will let you return to Equestria as ponies. Just promise me not to start another fight like that.” she said with a grin.
“Deal.” he said. "But before we go, where's Jerome?"
"He said he was done, so I just sent him on his way," she replied.
"Okay, I guess we're ready then."
“Here we go then, and don’t worry about your friends. They’ll be with you when you wake up.” she said, then her horn glowed and everything went black. He woke up again where he had died, with Roger and Rachel groaning next to him. They woke up simultaneously and screamed when they realized they were ponies. Daniel explained why, and they calmed down.
“I’m just happy it’s over.” Rachel said.
“Aren’t we all.” Daniel said, looking around. He spotted Twilight and her friends looking at four graves next to the forest. He started walking over to them with Roger and Rachel close behind.
“Miss us?” he asked. Twilight jumped so hard he thought she took flight for a second, then he got tackled in the strongest hug he ever received.
“We thought you were dead.” she said with tears in her eyes. He looked to Roger for help, but found Roger was too busy kissing Rachel. He grinned and thought living here might not be so bad after all.
