Halo: Contact Equis

"Twilight.... What the hay happened!?" Applejack yelled her question. The group turns to Applejack, and to the group that stayed behind.

"Manehattan... is now under control of the Covenant..." Was all Twilight could say, before turning her head in shame. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy all gasp. They then looked at the soldiers, they were wearing their helmets, but they were all looking towards the floor. Carlito was the only one without a helmet, he had his arm around Marcus to help keep him stable. Kieran still had the unconscious Ultra on his shoulders. They all looked like they had just gone through Tartarus and back.
"What about you guys? Have you been taking care of the survivors?"

"We... Have." Applejack turns her head to the side, a sad expression falling on her face. At that moment, two marines quickly walk past holding a stretcher with a stallion on it. He was covered in bandages and he was groaning in pain. Twilight watches them walk past, her jaw left slightly gapped. The hangar was full with pony refugees, unsurprisingly, all were very upset and stressed. Many didn't know what was going on and why their town was attacked. To most of the ponies rescued, this was their first time seeing the Humans and the Covenant. The humans try their best to take care of the pony refugees, getting them food, first aid, blankets, anything they need. In the far back of the hanger, rows of white sheets covered the deceased in an organized manner. It was complete chaos. Tex turns to the rest of his squad.

"Alright everyone, let's take it easy for a bit. Marcus, help Carlito find a doc. Tammy, tend to the wounded. Adam, get those burns on your face checked out. That's an order." Tex said while taking off his helmet. His squad does as he orders and begins to separate.

"Clara, go tell the captain we're back. Kieran, lock that Covie in the brig until the Captain decides when it's best to interrogate him." Maverick ordered the other two spartans before they themselves split up. Twilight notices Maverick turning back and approaching the back of the hanger. She looks back towards her friends before giving out orders as well.

"Girls, keep doing what you are doing. Rainbow, Starlight, and Spike, help them with anything they ask for." Twilight said, looking at all of them. They nod and they leave as a group. Twilight then turns in the direction she saw Maverick leave. She slowly follows him. She turns a corner around some crates and sees Maverick standing alone, where no one else could see him. She stays out of sight and watches, his back was facing her. His arms were at his side, his hands clenched into fists and then relaxed repeatedly. Eventually he reaches up for his helmet, and takes it off. He had light brown hair in a crew cut, but one side of his head had a massive scar where no hair grew. He had pale skin, but she couldn't see his face. Maverick suddenly drops his helmet to his side, the loud clang startling Twilight. His shoulders slump and he hangs his head. He eventually went down on one knee, his elbow rested on his leg and he buried his face in his hand. Twilight's mouth slightly opens, and her eyes go melancholy as she hears him begin to gently weep into his hand. She goes downcast and she looks to the side. Her own eyes begin to tear up, Starlight is not the only one she knows she needs to apologize to. After a few seconds, Maverick stands back up, using both of his hands to rub his face and eyes. He takes in a deep breath before bending down and picking his helmet back up. But he continues to stare at the wall for a moment. Twilight steps out from behind the crates she was hiding behind and spoke up.

"...Maverick." Her voice sounded soft. He quickly tenses back up, raising his head and shoulder before putting his Operator variant helmet back on. He turns around and looks at her. He never spoke, but she knew he was looking right at her through his visor.
"I... I'm sorry I snapped at you... I... I know you had the lives of my ponies in mind... You saved a lot of them today... and I cannot thank you enough for that... I just... I just want to save them all... after today, I know that will be impossible, but... But I... I don't want anypony else to die..." tears fall off her cheeks as she continues to look Maverick in his visor. His shoulders relax again, and he fully turns around to face her.

"... War never gives, it only takes. If you are given an opportunity, you must make a sacrifice. I've learned this first hand multiple times. I have had to make decisions like that for years now, it never gets easier. Thank you for understanding that I only wanted to save as many civilians as I could... I'm... I'm sorry I couldn't save more." Maverick's voice was stoic, but hid a lot of pain. Twilight approaches him, and raises up on her hind legs. Despite being an alicorn, and he a spartan, her head came up just below his chest. He looks down at her, as she places her hoof in the center of his chest.

"You're... You're a good man Maverick... a good kind soul... You have a big heart and I am happy you are our friend." Twilight spoke to him, her head raised up too look into his visor. She couldn't see any facial expression in his tinted visor. But when she dropped back down to all fours, he placed his hand on the spot on his chest where she had placed her hoof. He looks down at it, before looking back up to her.

"Thank you Princess Twilight... I... I needed to hear that." His voice remained stoic, as he kept his hand to his chest. Twilight was able to give him a soft smile, hoping he was giving her one back. He then walks past her, he needed to provide help to the wounded. Twilight follows after him, but she nearly runs face first into Starlight. She had a medkit in her magic aura.

"Excuse me." They both said to each other, and began to walk past each other, but Twilight spoke up.

"Starlight... can I please talk to you?" She asked. Starlight straightened up, and kept her head facing forward.

"I don't know if I'm in the mood to talk to you right now." Starlight responded plainly.

"Please... it's important." Twilight softens her expression. Starlight turns her head to look at her, though her facial expression was void of emotions, her eyes told a different story.
"Starlight... I'm so... so very sorry for what I said to you. The things I saw out there..." Twilight looked to the side and towards the ground. "...I saw things I have never thought I would ever see in my life... Mutilation... Brutality... in its cruelest form... I snapped... I wanted the death of innocents to stop... I'm sorry how I spoke to you... You are not a soldier I shouldn't of..." Twilight's voice trails off as she could see Starlight's expression begin to weaken. Her eyes are swelling, her lip quivering, and tears were beginning to form. It didn't take long before Starlight began to cry. Twilight hung her head in shame as Starlight began to break down in front of her. Starlight sat back on her haunches and began to cry into her hooves. The sight of the marine and injured stallion being obliterated from existence flashing in her mind. Twilight pulled Starlight into a hug to which she hugs back. Twilight began to cry as well, her heart breaking for Starlight.
"I never should have spoken to you like that. I'm so sorry Starlight. I know you feel upset about what happened... and to make you feel even worse about it was... cruel. I shouldn't expect you to... to take a life so easily. No one here should be put in that situation."

"But... but you were right..." Starlight spoke up through her sobs. Twilight looks down at her heartbroken friend. "If... If I d-didn't hes... hesitate... I... I could have... s-saved them... I... I killed... I killed them b-because I was t-too scared!" Twilight hugs her tighter, her words dripping with remorse and grief. Twilight feels the words pierce right through her, she closes her eyes and rubs Starlight's back, trying to keep her own emotions in check. She waits for Starlight to calm down before speaking again. After a few minutes Starlight's sobs subside and she regains her composure.

"From now on Starlight... you, and the others will stay behind. I don't want you or the others to go through anymore of this. You shouldn't have too... you were never meant to." Twilight comforts Starlight, but to her surprise, Starlight begins to pull away and stand up.

"...No Twilight, I can't do that..." Starlight looks to her teacher, despite looking distraught, she also had determination. "What I saw today... I can't just forget it. These monsters... they want to destroy our very way of life. If we are to stop the Covenant... it's going to take everyone, myself included. Though I know you didn't mean what you said... I... I needed to hear it. This is war... total war. No pony is safe... so... we need to keep fighting"

"Starlight... you seriously don't have too..." Twilight places her hoof on Starlight's shoulder. She responds by placing her hoof on top of Twilight's.

"I know... But... But I want to." Starlight looks Directly at Twilight's face, her new found bravery was commendable. Twilight gives her a soft smile before they are both approached by Tex.

"Princess, there you are. Orders from the Captain." He still had his helmet off, holding it in one hand.

"What does he need Tex?" Twilight asks, giving him her full attention.

"Princess Celestia and Luna are aboard the Ad Meliora, they are with the Captain on the bridge. They requested your presence." Tex informed her. Twilight's eyes widened at that, the Princesses were here, what did they want? What was she going to tell them of what happened?

"I have to go Starlight." Twilight quickly hugs her again before following Tex up to the bridge. When she enters, she sees both the Princess with the captain. Maverick was there as well, standing off to the side. The two quickly approach the group, Tex saluting to the Captain, and Twilight bowing before the Princesses.

"Princess Twilight Sparkle, Master Sergeant Eric Torne, Spartan Commander Maverick. Thank you three for coming." McCormick says to the three. He then looks back to the Princesses. "And thank you for showing up as well your highnesses.

"Once we received your notice that Manehattan was under attack, we sent out our troops and rushed here as fast as we could." Luna spoke up. Luna looked angry, while Celestia seemed to look... upset.

"We appreciate the backup you sent, however, I fear it did little to nothing in... protecting your city from utter destruction." McCormick grimaced as he spoke. He then turns towards the three.
"Report, from all three of you, and don't lie. Reagan heard the comms from both sides, and what I heard wasn't pretty."

"Sir, we landed hot in the middle of the city. Our main objective was to escort civilians to safety." Maverick spoke first.

"Did you try to repel the attack?" McCormick narrowed his eyes.

"Sir, repeling the attack was an afterthought, we needed to keep the civis safe."

"In doing so, you have allowed the Covenant to have a foothold on this planet! They are no longer restricted to stay in the air and can now operate from the ground!" McCormick slammed his hands down onto the console in front of him.

"Sir, they threw everything at us. Before I gave the orders to retreat, They have deployed Scarabs. A handful of scorpions cannot compete against that, especially in a compact location. The safety of the civilians was my main objective." Maverick began to explain.

"And who gave you that objective?" The Captain questioned.

"I did Captain." Twilight spoke up, causing all to look at her. "I saw things down there captain, things I never want to see again. I know these are your men, but dammit this is my planet! While on the field, as a PRINCESS, I gave the order to focus 100% of our efforts into saving as many civilians as possible. Tex here can confirm, he was there when I ordered it."

"Is that true Sargent?" McCormick looked to Tex, who stood at attention.

"Sir, yes Sir." He replied. McCormick looked back to Twilight, she had no regrets in giving out that order. McCormick sighs heavily and rubs his face and temples with his hands.

"I understand Princess. I'm not upset at your request to save the civilians. They should be priority number one, I'm just afraid. They have officially invaded, your planet is now at risk." McCormick spoke up again.

"I appreciate your concern Captain." Twilight responded.

"Indeed." Luna began to speak up again. "Our number one duty is to our subjects, but just like you, Captain, I'm very nervous at the capture of Manehattan. Since they now have their troops on the ground, they will be able to mobilize much faster, and in larger numbers."

"My thoughts exactly Princess." McCormick motions to her. "Clarify one thing for me Commander, why did you order a retreat?"

"Sir, The covenant had dropped Scarabs. it is unknown to me how many they dropped into the city, but we had a close encounter with one. With a lack of effective firepower, The Scarabs would have decimated my forces as well as all remaining civilians at our makeshift LZ. I gave it out of fear for the lives of the many." Maverick answered back.

"Scarabs... God dammit." McCormick looked towards the ground again before looking back up at the three. "That lines up from what we heard. Reagan, play what we heard from their battlenet." Reagan blipped onto the console when he was summoned.

"Of course Captain." Reagan said. A recording of the covenant comms could be heard, the ponies looking around them, trying to identify the source of the audio, still not use to tech. The comms at first were being spoken in Sangheili, but Reagan snapped his fingers, and they were instantly being translated.

"Fall back! Fall back from the front lines!"

"By the prophets! What did that monster just do to our wraith!?"

"Get away from the wra-WAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!!" The sounds of bloody gurgles and bones snapping could be heard.

"By the Forerunners! It's the work of the Devil!"

“Send in any at all reinforcements! We are being torn to shreds!”

"Redirect all available scarabs towards the human LZ! Kill the devil!"

"Send in the Banshees! It will be a bit before the scarabs get there!"

Reagan snapped his fingers once again, and the transmission ended. Everyone there had confused looks on their faces, except for Twilight, her eyes were wide, she knew what was going on by listening to the transmission.

"Something spooked the Covenant, spooked them bad. I want to know what? What could have caused them to focus their scarabs on the LZ?" The Captain asked.

"I think I know sir!" Tex spoke up before Twilight had the chance to open her mouth. "The LZ was under heavy fire, we were taking heavy casualties. After some abuse, Princess Twilight here flew up in the air and completely tore apart the covie bastards with a magical onslaught! Summoning these giant crystals that tore them to shreds, it was a sight to see sir." Tex explained. Though the Captain raised an eyebrow at him, the Princesses visibly react.

"...What did you just say?" Celestia says her first words as she and Luna turn to look at Tex. "What did these crystals look like?"

"They were jagged, and pitch black." Tex responded, unsure why the Princesses looked so frightened. The Princesses then shifts their eyes to Twilight, both bearing angry expressions. Twilight however avoided eye contact.

"Twilight! You used Black Magic!?" Luna yelled.

"... I did." Twilight said, her voice monotone.

"Twilight... That kind of Magic is banned! Out of all ponies who know how dangerous it is, it's you." Celestia spoke up, her voice more upset than angry.

"I did what I had to to save lives. I don't regret my actions." Twilight said as she turned to look back at the Princesses.

"Black magic? Can either of you please elaborate?" McCormick butted in, gaining Luna's attention.

"Black Magic is evil magic Captain." Luna began to lecture. "Ponies, specifically Unicorns and Alicorns, harness magic inside of themselves. That is both metaphoric, and literal. The best way I can describe it is that magic comes from the soul. When we use magic, we tap into a reserve inside ourselves that allows us to use magic that is attached to our souls to produce spells. Regular magic is benevolent and pure, black magic is malevolent and poisonous. If one conjures black magic, it begins to taint the soul, corrupting the pony who wields it after extended uses. Admittedly, the soul has the ability to purify itself, after a small bit of black magic is used, the harmony within ourselves begins to eat away the darkness. But use too much, and the darkness will outweigh the harmony, fully and permanently tainting the pony's soul for eternity." All the humans listened closely, their eyes widening as more of the lecture continued.
"This has happened many times before, but one such case has caused the banning of the magic's practice. Sombra."

"Sombra? Who or what is that?" The Captain asked.

"Over a thousand years ago, in the Crystal Empire, Sombra grew up. He was the friend to the up and coming princess of the empire, Radiant Hope. Sombra was... power hungry. He desired more, he wanted to be king. His solution was black magic, he allowed it to corrupt his soul, and with the power of black magic, he took control of the Crystal Empire. He enslaved ponies, used them to do his bidding, and even got the entire empire banished for one thousand years. He is powerful, very powerful. Despite being a unicorn, his skills in black magic rival our own as alicorns." Luna looked towards the ground as if in shame.

"What happened to Sombra was a tragedy, which is why all forms of black magic is banned. A certain student of mine should have known that." Celestia said, once again looking towards Twilight.

"I'm sorry Celestia, but what I did, saved a lot of ponies... I had no choice." Twilight said, though feeling her actions were justified, she felt a bit of shame. "I know I used evil magic, and used it to take lives... our subjects... our ponies... were dying... being slaughtered without mercy. Take one look inside the hanger Princess... you can see the bodies, there's hundreds of them, and hundreds more still in Manehattan... I couldn't bare the sight of it anymore..." Celestia listens to her carefully, before she herself begins to look away. Tears were forming in her eyes, Twilight was right. The very ponies she swore to protect and had done so for a millenia... were dying. If Twilight hadn't acted as she did, more would have perished.

"... Don't apologize my student. I bare all the blame." Celestia said, causing Twilight to look at her. "I have sheltered you all from any kind danger, I have done my best to protect you, and to instill peace. But all these years of peace have weakened us... we were not prepared to fight this enemy... their blood is on my hooves... I have failed them..." Tears fall from Celestia's cheeks, this causes Twilight to choke up. Her mentor... her teacher, who loved all her ponies... mourning.

"No princess... this is my fault." McCormick spoke up. He hung his head, as if unable to look any of them in the eyes. "I gave the order to land on this planet. I brought the Covenant here, I drug you into this war, I got your civilians killed. Their blood is on my hands. While trying to save lives... I caused more to die. I bare the full blame your highnesses..." An awkward silence befell the bridge for a short moment before the captain spoke again.

"Reagan... I want you to send a message to Shipmaster Khota." McCormick spoke, causing the A.I. to quickly turn towards the captain, giving him a look of confusion.

"Sir, what for?" Reagan asked. McCormick Stood up to full height, turning around to look out the window of the bridge, looking over the Castle of the Two sisters, and the ghastly gorge.

"To safeguard all lives... man and pony... I offer myself as a prisoner." Everyone present was taken back by the words he just spoke.

"Sir! I cannot allow you to do that!" Maverick took a step forward.

"I outrank you son, If I order you to stand aside you will do it." The Captain spoke without even turning to face them.

"No you won't Captain! As a Princess of Equestria, I will not allow you to do so!" Luna spoke up as well.

"With all due respect princess, I do not bend the knee to you. I am no citizen of Equestria, and you are not my princess. I will do as I please." McCormick spoke in the same tone.

"Captain! You can't give yourself up! You know as well as I do that will not save anyone!" Tex chipped in. "You know as well as the rest of us that won't solve anything. They'll take you, execute you, and then continue the war without a second thought! You will sacrifice yourself for nothing!" Another silence befell the group. Finally, Twilight stepped forward to voice her opinion.

"Everypony... please think rationally. As much as we all want to play the blaming game, when you think, no pony is at fault. The Covenant has always been out there in space, If not now, they would have found Equis eventually. They either would kill us, or force us to join them like they have done with the other species Reagan has told me about. No matter what, our way of life would have been destroyed by them. With you here Captain, you are giving us a fighting chance to repel them. If we sink to our lowest point, and start worrying about the what ifs, we will fail going forward. Captain McCormick, no pony blames you for coming to our home, you were desperate and were fleeing. Celestia, you have lived for a thousand years, you know conflict more than anypony here, you know casualties always come from war. Please... please don't blame yourself. We must mourn our losses, but we must stay strong for the living. We need to keep fighting... for pony kind... for humanity... for the greater good of all Equis."

The group shared looks amongst each other, soaking up Twilight's words. Eventually, even the Captain began to slowly turn to face the group once more, his worn soft eyes falling on Twilight.

"I couldn't have said it better myself Princess." McCormick said, forcing a soft smile on his face. Twilight gives him a soft smile back. "Everyone, and Everypony, we now know the Covenant has no qualms with attacking pony civilians. We must accelerate our army's integration at once. We must prepare for their next attack, and next time, we'll send them running." McCormick approached the console again, with his arms behind his back.

"Oohrah!" Maverick exclaimed.

"Oohrah!" Tex also joined in. McCormick gave his two men a smile.

"Oohrah." The captain joined in. Celestia and Luna both looked towards the Captain, a new found determination in the both of them.

"We will prepare more of our troops, Captain. They will go through your training regiment, and will take orders from your human officers as well." Luna Informed.

"And we'll put all our defenses on high alert, and bring in aid from our sister kingdom, the Crystal Empire, as well as notify our other neighboring kingdoms." Celestia said with a serious face.

"Very well, we shall share all our military knowledge and skills with your soldiers, your Highnesses. My soldiers too will take orders from your officers..." He then straightens his back. "Even me. This is your planet, your home. I will take orders from you as well."

"You are our equal in this Captain. We must work together." Luna gave him a smile, respecting his loyalty.

"As you wish." The Captain relented. He then turned to his two soldiers and gave them a look. "You are dismissed, relay our orders and prepare all our best training courses."

"Yes sir!" They both said as they turned to head out.

"And Twilight." Celestia spoke up, catching Twilight's attention. "If you choose to go out onto the battlefield again, you are permitted to use your full authority as a Princess... Including the use of Black Magic. Just... know your limit, ok?"

"Yes Princess, I will not let you down." Twilight and Celestia exchange soft smiles before Twilight turns and heads out as well.

FIRE OF THE MIGHTY

Khota 'Mutamee sat in his chair, his fingers interlocked. He hears the doors of the bridge open. He watches as Xala, and N'thoka approach him. They both bow their heads before speaking.

"Shipmaster, we bring most excellent news of the battle. Their pathetic city of Ma-Nee-Hat-Tan has fallen and now acts as the center for our ground forces." Xala informed while placing his fist to his chest. Khota smiles at him, pleased with this information.

"Excellent. We may now begin bringing this world to its knees in the name of our gods. Xala, were you able to locate and eliminate Princess Twilight Sparkle?" Khota leaned forward, awaiting his subordinate's answer.

"She was on the field of battle, but I failed to locate her." Xala could feel the glare from his shipmaster staring right through him.

"Perhaps it was for the better we did not, my Shipmaster." N'thoka spoke up. "She has shown her true strength in battle. She tore through one of our battalions, shredding all of them into bloody chunks. Those who witnessed it have now given her the nick-name... The Devil."

"The Devil." Khota leaned back, He had heard the reports, but found it hard to believe. "Very well, what about your second objective? Have you found out how these natives are able to manipulate objects?"

"We believe we may have found something, Shipmaster. We bring you a native who wishes to share his knowledge." Xala spoke, clicking his mandibles together in delight.

"Hmmm... I see, where are they?" Khota asked.

"He is right..." N'thoka looks behind him, but nothing was there. He looks side to side, as a black mass began to ooze out of his shadow. N'thoka took a step back as the black mass spilled out towards Khota. It slowly took form, the pony stood tall and smirks. All Covenant troops present glare at them with both interest, and caution. Khota however was unmoving.

"Shipmaster Khota 'Mutamee. A pleasure to finally meet you." The shadow pony bowed his head.

"State your name native, before I grow impatient." Khota ordered, not interested in formality.

"Very well, my name is... King Sombra." Sombra grinned, revealing his fangs.

"King? You are a king?" Khota leaned forward.

"Of course, the rightful King of the Crystal Empire. Though, an usurper had me overthrown." Sombra's eyes flash green for a second.

"Then you are not a king. A king without a kingdom is just a man." Khota leaned back, all but impressed by Sombra. "If you wish to gain my interest, Sombra, you are failing quite spectacularly. Why should I even give you my time?" Sombra glares up at the shipmaster and snarls.

"You will show me respect, Shipmaster, I am the only one willing to give you the ability to harness magic." Sombra growled.

"I'm sure I will manage." Khota waved his hand towards one of his body guard in purple armor, a spec-ops, who steps towards Khota. "Dispatch this creature, make them bleed." The elite nods before activating his energy sword. He raises his sword to Sombra when he smirks. His horn lights with green and purple and the elite seemed to freeze in place. He began to let out groans as he lowered his sword and clutched his chest. His groans soon turned into pained screams, as his chest suddenly erupted, spewing his blood and innards all over the bridge. A large crystal sprouted out from inside the elite, filling his chest cavity, as he quickly fell dead. The others on the bridge began to cry out in anger at their dead brother, as all Khota did was stand to his feet, his eyes never leaving Sombra. Without hesitation, Sombra uses his magic to levitate the energy sword hilt and pull it towards him. Sombra was smirking as he manifested another crystal, a smaller one. He places the crystal on the hilt, and a dark aura soon surrounds the hilt. With one quick flick, the energy sword flashes alight. The blade seemed to be almost twice as long, with a deep purple color, but the very tips were a bright green color. The blade seems to vibrate violently, being completely unstable. Sombra could only keep it this way for a short while before pulling the crystal away. This reverts the energy sword back to its normal size and color.

"Do I have your attention now, Shipmaster?" Sombra said with a devilish smirk. Khota responds with his own large smirk.

"Indeed you do, King Sombra, we have much to discuss." Khota let out a dark evil chuckle.