Author's Note

I hope you enjoy this little story of mine. I am doing my best to write and make a good story. Please note that some chapters may change from time to time, as I come back and edit them to be, well, better. This is one of those chapters. I hope to bring (hopefully) better versions to all of my chapters soon.

The Divine Wind

And so, The Great Journey begins.

Light pierced the windows of the Pelican, illuminating the inside of its dusty interior. Dust waved, like stars in the beams of light that intruded the tinted windows. It was a fresh morning, and the Pelican stood timelessly as it had forevermore. The Pelican, a common universal ship, was docked on a grassy meadow, surrounded by nothing but blooming flowers and other flora of appeal. Vines grew from the ground and interlaced around the old ship, moss covering its sides. The metallic plane had become one with nature there, clearly for many years before. One would expect such an old structure to weather away, yet the Pelican seemed to persist, everything. Not even the sun seemed to mark the Pelican's shiny silver of paint.

Near the pelican, in a very similar state of disuse and yet somehow, perfect condition, was an old building, of clearly similar origin. The building was small in size, with no alluring attributes, all but a small shine a hole on the door produced. No more than Two-Hundred Meters in the area. Alike the ship that was nearby, nothing seemed to leave a mark on its surface. Not even the water, which should have weathered it all away twice over.

But this morning was different than the others. There had been a sudden shine of light, brighter than the sun itself. Inside of the old Pelican, in the building, and outside of the pelican. A figure had suddenly appeared as if from thin air, leaning onto the back of the Pelican's cargo doors, slumped over. One could have taken this strange figure, in black-clad armor, as merely another relic of a similar type to the building and ship, but unlike the two, it was very alive. His chest rose and tell in a rhythmic pattern. He slept soundly, through some of the mornings. Dew formed on his solid black visor, and not even the animals were disturbed. A bird had perched itself on his shoulder, only to flutter away when the figure had suddenly awakened in a shock. He coughed, quite loudly, his hand reached to his helm. His fingers rubbed against the solid metal of the helmet, just for a moment. He was fine, it seemed.

All knew him as The Rookie. It was what he was called for most of his teenage to adult life, even although he was never completely new to what he was doing. The Rookie leaned his head back, onto the surface of the pelican that was behind him. He didn't really care what had happened just now. All he knew was that he needed water. He reached for his side, his hand moving onto his water canteen. It wasn't full, but it was neither empty. He took it out of its sheath and moved it upwards. He moved his helmet out of the way and took a sip of the water. It was then, that The Rookie swore that he had drunk the best water in the world. As he did put the water canteen back into its place, which was on the right side of his waist, he did realize that he had to get up, he had to find out what had just happened.

And so The Rookie did let out a soft sigh as he pushed his body forward. His hand moved down to touch the ground, his fingers grabbing hold of the fragile grass below for just a moment before he stood up. He looked around now, finally taking a look at his surroundings. And, it was a sight to behold. A whole grassland stood before him, and a gentle breeze did come from his back to sway the wind to its favor. Poppies did linger about, in large groups, along with few other types of colorful flora. But their distinct red color, they did stand out. They were beautiful, and it did take The Rookie aback for just the moment. He stared at the field, watching the swaying of the flora, and the occasional view of a bird flying by. But nothing seemed to break the sound of the gentle wind, the wind that had brought him here.

It felt like an eternity as The Rookie did look at the field, a very pleasurable one, but The Rookie knew he would have to get up soon. And, so, he did. The Rookie now finally looked around him, this time paying attention to the two objects that he had not paid any special attention to when he looked out; even if he did see them. Right behind him, there was the Pelican. The ship looked untouched, yet the moss that had crept up its sides showed that it had been there for a while, even if it did not show any weathering. And nearby, there was the building that he had glanced over. It was in that similar state of disuse, but not of disrepair of any type. The Rookie took a good look at the two, and he did recognize that they must have been here for a reason. The Rookie had, just only moments ago, been held, hostage. Now, he had suddenly awoken here. Perhaps he had hit his head and lost his memory or some other reason, but he knew that these buildings were his way to get back home.

Now, it was time to check that old Pelican. He had to get home. The Rookie stood next to the Pelican's side and pressed the red button, in order to open the cargo bay doors. He wasn't expecting to find anything, but having the ship alone was nice enough. The Rookie looked inside, his visor automatically adjusting to the darkness inside of the cargo bay of the Pelican. There were many, many things inside of the Pelican, it made the Rookie stand back in wonder as he looked in. A mongoose stood at the ready, lined up next to several pallets of supplies, all about his height of Six Foot, One. (186 Centimeters). Perhaps the UNSC had sent him on a secret mission to scout for many, many months, and left him some of their best supplies. He must have hit his head too harshly in order to have forgotten that, though. There were water purifiers, water canisters, food kits, first aid kits, ammo, knives, and a small assortment of weapons and weapon parts, and this is just what he could see in the first two pallets. And despite how disused the plane looked, all of the objects said they were manufactured January First, 2560. That couldn't be right. It had just been January Third, 2554. Nothing made sense. But that didn't matter now, Rookie had to keep investigating.

The Rookie moved into the cargo bay, the dust that settled in now dispersing. It would have made him cough if not for the mask that was implanted into his helmet. The Rookie moved onwards, eventually reaching the pilot's seat. All of the controls were perfectly kept, other than the layer of dust on them. On the pilot's seat, two keys laid. The Rookie reached for them and inspected them. One was most likely for the plane, and the other for the other building he had noted earlier. Now that he had seen this pelican, he knew that he had to investigate the building. Perhaps there was some clue as to why he was here in there, or at least more supplies.

The Rookie stocked up on a few supplies before he stepped out of the Pelican. He took a pistol and an SMG and locked his newfound Pelican. He made his way to the building he had seen earlier, a lowered pistol in his right hand. By the look of the building, he figured that the building would be abandoned like the Pelican also was. He arrived at the building, and the dim light that he saw earlier had suddenly become bright, so bright that The Rookie couldn't help but look away. The brightness dissipated soon enough, and the door opened before the silent ODST. The trooper looked at the door with some hesitation before he walked into the building. It was very small, at first glance it was a simplistic barracks. All seemed normal, a few beds lined up with other necessities people would need, a bathroom and a small kitchen, but in the middle, there was a table lit up with a map, of what seemed to be the environment around the building.

The Rookie holstered his weapon and walked towards the table, looking down onto the map, the darkened visor of his helmet reflecting the light of the surface. As he looked at it, a figure appeared, a figure that made him stand back. It was an AI, a reddish light in hue. It was odd enough, but the figure of the AI was... Very strange. It was a little horse, seemingly feminine in nature, with large eyes, and what seemed to be a UNSC insignia on its rump. The rookie had never seen a "smart" AI before, but he knew they were supposed to be modeled after humans, not... whatever this was.

"Boy, am I glad to finally meet someone else! It feels like I've been here eons!" It said, making it's way to the edge of the table, towards The Rookie.

"What... are you?" The Rookie said, breaking the silence he had carried since he had arrived.

"I'm Vea, I am an AI, created by the UNSC. Well, I think. I'm not really sure how I arrived here, nor what happened to those who made me or this structure. To avoid rampancy, I have kept data usage to a minimum. This means I am not too sure how long I have been here, either." The AI said, looking up at the ODST, clearly delighted by the sight of him.

"And... Why are we here?" The Rookie asked, looking at the AI as it looked back at him.

"I am not too sure. All the knowledge I have about our whereabouts are two queries."

"And those are?"

"Equestria, and, The Divine Wind."