Riley slowly entered into the library. It was dark now, having spent the day talking with Shining Armor and walking the town. The princesses had long since retreated to their own quarters, wherever that was. His boots echoed on the floors as a light in the corner of the room clicked to life.

“You’re back late...” Twilight called quietly from her chair.

“Your brother took me drinking.” Riley chuckled, shaking his head gently. He then added “I made him some money.”

“Really?” Twilight perked up immediately. “..How come?”

“My metabolism is too fast.” Riley slowly shut the door behind him. “Can’t get drunk, drank half a dozen ponies under the table, hustled some pool.. ...Look, I’m sorry for earlier... I can handle anything but the silence.. I hate not being able to do the one thing I’m made for... And being hated for doing it...”

“I get it...” Twilight slowly stretched her front legs, moving to stand and walk towards the lumbering Spartan. “Well... I don’t really get it... But I know you mean well.”

“I wish everyone shared your sentiments.” Riley strode across the floor, trying to step quietly on the hardwood flooring. “Is Spike asleep?”

“Yeah, he’s been out like a light for a few hours...” Twilight nodded gently in affirmation, her voice barebly above a whisper, soft and low against the gentle hum of the dim yellow light in the corner.

“Gotcha.” Riley paused his trek to the basement door, turning to face Twilight. “Twilight, you’re well-read. Is there any chance this world has some kind of faster than light travel that you know of? Long range teleportation?”

“Afraid not..” She looked down, almost ashamed. “Long range, sure but not that long enough to travel the kind of distance to the planet you'd mentioned.”

“I just wish I had some way to contact the UNSC, another Spartan, anybody...” Riley turned his face, the visor of his helmet glinting off the lamplight, appearing as an eerie golden glow in the evening dark. The small shield generators upon his armor shone a pale blue glue against the wall as he reached for the basement doorknob.

“Goodnight, Twilight. Thank you for your patience and understanding.” Riley’s words echoed in her mind as he opened the doorway, ducking as he passed through it. The spartan made his way down the oak stairs, navigating past the desks and workspaces at the landing. He slowly turned, setting himself on the floor with a ‘thud.’ Riley leaned his back against the wall behind him. His eyes were heavy, he was tired. Very tired.

He heard a sharp inhale in his helmet, the precursor to a sentence.

“Jessica?” Riley asked. “Are you alright?”

“I was debating whether or not to ask you the same thing..”

“Don’t worry about me, I just want to move. Large amounts of constant adrenaline that's not getting used is making me tired as hell.” Riley replied as he leaned his head back against the wall. “Goodnight Jessica.”

“Goodnight Riley..”

The spartan closed his eyes gently, feeling his weight gradually slip away as he fell into unconsciousness.

Riley watched the steel door close in front of him, the sections lowering into place, sealing tightly against their frame.

“Ready, boys?” A Sergeant yelled from the hall, climbing into his own drop pod.

“OORAH!” Sounded among the pod bay. Blue HUD screens in the pod lit Riley’s helmet as the group prepped.

“Soldiers! That anti-aircraft battery offends me!” Called out over the comms systems, it was the voice of the ship’s captain. “Remove it!”

The pods were released in their chutes, rocketing towards the surface. He watched the UNSC Say My Name dissappear above him. The pods breifly glowed a brilliant orange as they plummited upon reentry, flames licking the sides of the steel chambers. Riley watched the other pods through his windows with adamant interest. The group gained quickly on the ground below, the battle to reclaim Harvest.

“Hey, it’s not so bad! At least we’ve got a big bad Spartan!” echoed over the radio. Laughter filled the airwaves.

Riley gripped his harness tight as the ship vibrated. He was 15, and absolutely terrified. He tightened his jaw as AAA fire lit up the sky below the soldiers. He could hear rounds deflecting off the bottom of his pod. One drop pod outside his window burst into flames, plummeting towards the ground, spinning wildly out of control. He could hear screams across the radio, causing his speakers in his helmet to crackle. The screaming was in his skull, becoming a part of him as the man in the steel coffin mere yards from him was burned alive.

Their chutes deployed, Riley was forced into his seat as the pod’s thrusters fired, slowing him minimally before he struck the ground. Things happened fast. The door of his pod exploded outward, shooting off against a distant rock formation. He grabbed his rifle from beside him and launched out of the pod. He could see the flaming wreckage of a pod in front of him. The trooper clearly didn’t survive. He glanced around to catch his bearings, finding the looming tower of an AA gun in the distance. Riley took a deep breath and advanced.

He rushed forward towards a looming hillside, the ground around him was cracked and scorched. Deep crevices filled the landscape. As he reached the foot of the hill, plasma fire lit up the air around him. He turned to see ODST of the Second Shock Trooper Battalion following him in the distance. Determined to prove his worth, Riley charged the hill. His body seemed to move without his mind, in a surreal way. His arms raised his assault rifle, riddling several Unggoy as they attempted to find better positions. Four elites were stationed in a pillbox several yards up the hill. His legs carried him quickly up the terrain, his arms throwing a grenade into the window of the armored position. After the grenade exploded, he opened fire in the bunker, eleminating what was left.

Riley crested the small hill and found himself at the base of the AA cannon. Surrounding the upper deck of the installation were several elites, and dozens of grunts. Determined, the boy rushed through the masses, firing in a mad dash. Something struck his back plate, his shoulder felt like it was on fire. He could feel hot liquid running down his skin inside his suit. He was flat on his face in the dirt, gravel pressed up against his visor. His hands were empty. Something stomped his head, his visor shattered agaisnt the rocks. Stunned, he rolled onto his back. An elite stood over him, about to stomp him again. Riley grabbed the alien leg, mid fall. In one swift move he threw the leg to the side, surprising the elite with his strength. The beast fell to the ground, Riley quickly shoved his magnum into the creature’s mouth, pulling the trigger until it clicked empty. He stood as fast as he could, trying to find his assault rifle. He grabbed the weapon from the dirt and quickly raised it to dispatch of several more covenant.

He raced toward the cannon, his head was ringing. He reached the core in several bounding steps, it consisted of an energy shield covering a plasma battery. Trying to save his ammo, he punched the shield as hard as he could, once, twice, three times. The shield fell. Riley dropped a grenade in the capsule and turned to run. He was surprised to find himself staring at an elite. It grabbed him by the neck, lifting him off the ground as he turned. He struggled for air, making startled, choking noises as he tried to breathe.

“Now they raise their young against us.. You shall die with your cause, little demon.” The elite held him close to the reactor. The grenade detonated, sending shrapnel into the one compromised point of his armor. It seared, burning his flesh. He tried to scream but there was no air in his lungs left. He fumbled his thighs and found what he was looking for. With the last of his strength, he shoved the knife into the elite’s neck. The grip was released. Riley fell to the floor, taking several deep breaths.

And then the reactor blew.

The gun collapsed around the Spartan, the blast sending him clear of the structure. The ODST had just made their way to the foot of the hill as the explosion knocked them to the ground. They hustled up the steep hillside with little resistance, and crested it to find the battery destroyed.

A small green figure was on the ground, several hundred yards from it. Sergeant Hunnicut rushed to the fallen soldier. He rolled him over. Riley’s eyes snapped open.

His ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton. They rang intensely.

“Ho-ho-holy shit kid.” The sergeant helped raise his torso off the ground, the spartan forced himself to his feet.

“Big bad spartan is goddamn right. If we had a hundred of you guys we would have never lost Harvest in the first place.” An ODST commented.

Riley awoke with a yelp, his eyes were wide, his breathing heavy.

“I’m sorry to wake you Riley...” It was Twilight. She floated a peice of parchment towards him. “We got a letter..”

The golden visor hid his sceptic look. He grabbed the letter from the air, browsing its contents.

‘...Twilight, inform the Spartan two larger objects has been spotted in Low Equiis Orbit. The orbit is slowly decaying, we expect an impact to be made within the next 72 Days. These are far bigger than his own ship was. One appears completely intact...’

“Jessica?” Riley asked, as he read the letter several times in his head. “Can you... See any signals on the scanner?”

“You won’t like it.”

“I don’t care if I like it or not, tell me. You should’ve told me before.”

“I’ve got two UNSC distress signals, and two Covenant signals, they seem to match a ship’s distress beacon as well.”

Riley sighed heavily. “Why’d I have to ask for things?”

He slowly turned his head, facing the stairs of the library. “Have we got a tragectory for it’s landing?”

“Have you got a map?” Jessica answered the question with a question.

“Twilight, world map?” Riley panned his gaze over to the pony.

“Just a moment.” She slowly got to her hooves, walking across the wood floors. She scaled the stairs, Riley slowly getting to his feet and following her. They climbed the oak staircase from the basement. By the time they reached the interior room of the library, Twilight had already pulled the map from it's place on a shelf. She spread it across the floor. Jessica appeared, walking above the map.

"We're in this village?" Jessica asked, gesturing towards 'Ponyville' on the map. "If their calculations are correct, and gravity is roughly 9.8 meters per second... Given from the orbital trajectory of the beacon in orbit, it's going to land somewhere around here..."

Riley approached the map, looking at the spot she had pointed to. "Crystal Empire?"

"Not the city, my best guess would be about 13 miles northwest of the border."

"A frozen wasteland, basically." Riley prompted.

"The Crystal empire has very barren surroundings... An ancient evil follows those outside the barrier in the center of the kingdom..." Twilight spoke hesitantly.

"You said long range teleportation does exist, I've seen examples of relatively short range. Can you get me on one of those ships?" He asked.

"I mean, maybe it's possible but.. Only a princess could.. Why not wait for it to crash?"

"Those ships arrived via slip space, and mostly intact. Seeing as they're in a decaying orbit, they're not being crewed. At the least the crew is incapacitated... Meaning I may be able to do something about it, before they crash." Riley explained. "Can you get reach one of the princesses for me?"

"I'll do my best." Twilight nodded energetically. "Spike! Take a letter!"

Author's Note

I'm sorry this is short, it was planned to be much longer but a lot has happened lately. Things are kind of hectic, but hopefully a part two for this chapter will be out soon.