Halo: Contact Equis

Ad Meliora’s Medical Bay

Twilight was sitting on an infirmary bed, being checked over by a human doctor in her own med room. After assuring her friends that she was okay, they left her in the infirmary to see if any humans needed their assistance after the big battle. The only creature who stayed with Twilight as she got checked out was Tex.

“Is she good, doc?” Asked Tex.

“I… I really don’t know for certain.” Said the Doctor. “I know nothing of this species. If it wasn’t for Reagan’s scans, I wouldn’t know what to do.”

“Well, what did the scans tell you?” The ODST asked.

“Nothing is broken from what we can see. Just a bunch of swelling.” Said the Doctor. “I can give her pain meds, but I’m unsure how her body will react. Will you stay with her to ensure she doesn’t have an allergic reaction or any other kind of reaction to the medicine?”

“Course I can, doc,” Tex replied.

The Doctor nodded as he pulled out a needle. He then feels around Twilight’s foreleg before finding a suitable spot for the needle and pricks her. The Princess only slightly winced as the Doctor injected her with some painkillers.

“There, they should kick in at any moment.” Said the Doctor before turning to Tex. “I have some other patients I need to check up on. Notify me if she has a reaction. I will be back in a few minutes.”

“Do what you need, Doc.” Tex replied with a nod. “I’ll watch over her.”

The Doctor exited the room as Tex looked over at Twilight. She had been surprisingly quiet, not even saying a single word to the Doctor. They had cleaned the blood off her face, and they also tried to wipe the tears away, but every time they did, new ones took their place. Tex felt a lot of sympathy for the lavender Alicorn, and although he wouldn’t admit it out loud, he found her adorable. All the ponies were, to a degree, adorable looking, and seeing them upset tugged at his heart a bit.

Tex fully turned his body to her and removed his helmet. Twilight turned her head to look at him once his helmet was off. He had light brown hair and a short full beard that connected. He had light blue eyes that almost looked gray and looked young, much younger than the Captain. Twilight felt herself relaxing, finally being able to see his face rather than a blacked-out visor. It could have been the painkillers kicking in; she really couldn’t tell.

“You told me who you are, princess, so allow me to properly introduce myself. My name is Eric Torne, but my friends call me Tex,” said Tex as he held out his hand to her. Twilight gently took hold of it with her hoof and shook it.

“…Hello, Tex,” Twilight replied, saying her first words since getting to the med bay. “Why are you called Tex?”

“Well, I was born on Earth, and because of my southern accent, my friends just started calling me that.” chuckled Tex. “Crazy bastards, I wasn’t even born in Texas.”

Twilight gave him a puzzled look. She was confused on what he just said. “What’s Earth?”

“It’s my home planet.” replied Tex.

“But the Captain called it Reach.” Twilight responded, remembering her earlier conversation with the Captain.

“Reach and Earth are two different planets, princess.” Tex answered. “They’re just some of many worlds Humanity lives on.” Tex lectured as he rests his elbow and leaned on the examination table. "Reach was just one of many the Covenant glassed, but few still remain.”

“I… I see.” Twilight looked away for a moment as she processed that info before looking back at Tex. “How many worlds did you have?” Tex hesitated for a moment. He had to think of the total number of all the colonies.

"We… had around 800 colonies before the war.” said Tex.

“800!!!” Twilight exclaimed at the total number. Tex began to chuckle at her.

“Yeah. Humanity had around 800 colonies spanning all over the galaxy. We inhabited planets, moons, hell, even asteroids.” Tex’s mood then suddenly began to change. “Now… I think we have somewhere around fifty left.”

Twilight’s jaw practically hit the floor upon hearing the total number left. To go from over 800, to over fifty left. Just how many humans have died?

“F-f-fifty? H-how…how many…” Twilight began to ask before Tex quickly cut her off, knowing what question she was about to ask.

“Over twenty billion.” Tex said flatly. “Don’t… Don’t even try to comprehend that number… many can’t…”

Twilight feels her chest tighten. ‘Twenty billion deaths!? That’s ten times the population of all creatures on Equis.’ This entire time, she thought just one planet had burned; she had no idea of the total extent of what truly has been going on.

Twilight looked back at Tex who wasn’t looking at her anymore. He had his head to the side as if to keep his emotions in check. The will of the humans was stronger than she ever could have imagined.

“H-how can you keep going on?” Asked Twilight, her voice barely above a whisper. “How can you keep fighting?”

“Well… I can’t say for every human. We all have our reasons… This one is mine.” said Tex as he stood up straight.

He pressed a button next to Twilight, and a metal shutter opened, revealing a window. Tex motions for Twilight to look out. She will never forget what she saw. The window revealed a hanger that was filled with human civilians. She placed a hoof over her mouth as the civilians lounged around the hanger, calling it home for now. She saw many of them hurt, crying, or in distress. She focuses her attention on a woman sitting alone, trying to comfort a crying baby. The woman’s hair was unkempt and messy, and her eyes were sunk in from crying.

Twilight then looked over at a couple, a man and a woman, who were embracing. The woman seemed to be crying into the shoulder of the man. She was holding a dirty stuffed toy in one of her hands. She was clutching it in a firm grip as she was sobbing hard into the shoulder of the man who gently stroked her back. His face expressed an immense amount of sorrow and pain. Then Twilight looked off to the side, near the wall of the hanger. Laying down on the cold hard metal was a lone child. He couldn’t have been more than 8 years old, but he was all alone. No father or mother in sight to comfort him.

Twilight felt her heart in her throat as new tears began to form in her eyes. She looked at Tex, who was looking out the same window, looking at the civilians. His face soft, and gentle.

“This is why I continue to fight.” Tex said sternly. “My family is safe on Earth, but these people… these people have lost everything. Their homes, their lives, their loved ones, everything. Everything that they knew and loved is gone, taken from them by a cruel and unforgiving enemy. I can’t sit on my ass while this happens to people. I just can’t. That’s why I fight. I fight for others who cannot stand for themselves. I fight for the sake of others so that they can live another day. I fight to help others push Towards Better Things… Semper Ad Meliora.”

Twilight could not believe the bravery Tex had, if this is how he felt, then sure most soldiers continuing the fight felt the same way. She was inspired, everything that she had experienced today, paled in comparison to what the humans endured. She was inspired, inspired to step up and pull herself out of her stupor.

“…I’m so sorry, Tex. I’m so very sorry how much your kind has suffered.” Twilight said softly. This caught Tex off guard as he then looked back at her, a small smile beginning to form on his face.

“To be honest, hearing that from someone who isn’t human… that truly means a lot Princess.” Tex smiled at her as he spoke.

She gives him a small smile back before letting out a long breath.

"After hearing and seeing all this, it makes me feel kind of silly for… being so upset earlier.” Twilight looks back out the window a second time to watch the civilians.

“Princess, there is no shame in feeling how you felt,” Tex’s words gained her attention again. “Your kind is not used to this kind of violence. What you did was justified; you don’t need to beat yourself up over that.”

“I know… And you can just call me Twilight.”

"Alright, Twilight.” They gave each other bigger smiles until the two were interrupted as the door opened and the Doctor stepped in.

“So, any reactions from her?” Asked the doctor with his hands in his lab coat pockets.

“Nope. She seems fine, doc,” Tex turns to face the doctor.

“Good.” The Doctor said with relief. “Now I can let the others in. That jumpy pink ball of cotton candy wouldn’t leave me alone until I cleared her.”

Twilight chuckled at his description of Pinkie. The Doctor steps out again as Twilight’s friends fill into the room one by one.

“TWILIGHT!!!” Yelled Pinkie as she got right up in her face and began looking her over.

“I’m fine, Pinkie. I am now, at least.” Said Twilight before noticing the group of soldiers they helped at the castle walk in too. In total, counting Tex, there were five of them.

The humans walked to Tex, and all of them took their helmets off as now was a time for them to relax. One of the humans approached Tex and gave him a firm handshake.

“How ya doing, Lance Corporal?” said Tex.

“Just great, amigo, no thanks to you.” Said the other human, who had a Mexican accent. “You missed KP duty. We took care of the alien bodies.”

Twilight looked at her friends with interest. “…Did you all help with that?”

"Of course not!” Rarity said with disgust. “That’s gross and disgusting! We helped go around and made sure all the humans were okay.”

“Good. Thanks for your help, girls,” Said Twilight with an exhausted sigh.

One of the humans approached the Alicorn. He had dark brown skin and short black hair with brown eyes.

“Despite how you feel, I need to give you serious props, Princess.” Said the human. “What you did back there was impressive. The Covenant sends in their spec-ops for deadly missions. They are very skilled warriors. You managed to take down one of their officers; that’s no simple feat. Bastard has probably killed many humans; you did us a service.”

“I may not feel good about it… but thank you.” Twilight only cringes slightly at the memory.

“I’m Marcus, by the way. Marcus Holms.” He said as he offered his hand to her. Twilight smiled and shook it.

Tex quickly stood straight and began to walk around the other humans. “Aw, hell with it. Let’s just get introductions out of the way.” He said. “Yeah, that’s Marcus; he’s our demolition expert.”

“Damn right, he is.” Marcus gave a thumbs up. “Need to blow something up? Come find me.”

“Hi, my name is Tabitha Morgan, but I like to go by Tammy. I’m the one who helped your Princess when she hurt her wing.” Said the female soldier as she stepped closer. This Tammy had short ginger hair that came to her shoulders. She also had white skin and green eyes that reflected her friendliness. “I have training in medicine and First Aid. I’ll patch you up good as new on the field.”

“Hola mis amigas. Name’s Carlito Torres.” Said the fourth human stepping up. He had tan skin and short black hair.

“I’m the sharpshooter of the squad. I always got you covered.” Carlito gave a wink to the group.

“Corporal Adam Stewartson.” Said the fifth human. He had blonde hair slicked to the side with blue eyes. “I have some experience as a pilot. I can fly any bird in the hangar.”

After him, Tex finally stepped up to introduce himself to Twilight’s friends. “Master Sergeant Eric Torne, but you can just call me Tex. I specialize in close quarters. Never leave home without my shotgun. I also lead the ODST squad known as Whiskey-7.”

The ponies exchanged hoof/handshakes with the humans after their introductions. Now it was the pony’s turn.

“Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship. I know your Captain has probably already told you about me, but what they hay.” Twilight chuckled.

“Name’s Rainbow Dash!” Rainbow boasted. “The fastest flyer in all of Equestria!”

“Applejack. I own Sweet Apple Acres just outside of town,” said Applejack.

“Hiya! I’m Pinkie Pie! Party Planner Extraordinaire!” said Pinkie.

“Rarity; fashionista and owner of Carousel Boutique,” said Rarity.

“Hi… I’m Fluttershy, an animal caretaker,” said Fluttershy.

“Hello, I’m Starlight Glimmer; an expert in magic.” said Starlight.

“And I’m Spike, Spike the Dragon.” said Spike. The Humans were smiling until Spike said he was a dragon.

“Dragon? You’re a dragon?” Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Well, yeah.” Spike answered as if it was common knowledge.

“You look awfully small to be a dragon.” said Adam, kneeling down to Spike’s eye level.

“That’s what I said earlier,” Carlito added.

"Well, if you’re a dragon, can you breathe fire?” asked Tex while crossing his arms.

“Sure can!”

Spike took a deep breath before breathing out, spewing a huge ball of green fire out of his mouth. This caused all the humans to flinch backwards away from the fire.

“Jesus fucking Christ, dude!” Carlito exclaimed, covering his face from the heat.

“What the shit!?” Exclaimed Tammy taking a few steps back.

Twilight almost couldn’t get over how much these humans swore. Swearing in public was seen as a taboo amongst ponies, but to the humans, not so much. Spike chuckled at the frightened humans.

“This place gets more and more intense by the second!” Marcus remarked, looking to his fellow squadmates.

“You have no idea how eventful things can get around here.” said Twilight. “Though I would admit that aliens landing on our home certainly is a new one.”

“You’re just damn lucky to have survived said aliens.” Said a new voice at the door.

Everyone turned around to see Captain McCormick standing in the doorway. Almost immediately, all humans stood straight up and saluted. The Captain walked in and used his hand to motion to the ODSTs to be at ease. Following Captain McCormick into the room were Maverick, Clara, Kieran, and the Princesses. Twilight perked up upon seeing Celestia and went over and hugged her. Celestia hugged back tight.

“You need something, Captain?” Asked Tex, standing st full attention.

“I do, actually. Me and the Princesses here have been having quite the talk.” said McCormick, looking to both the sun and moon princesses.

“Indeed. I’m well informed of your situation now,” Said Celestia, turning towards the humans. “I must give you all my sincerest condolences. You have suffered more than anypony can imagine.”

The humans only gave Celestia sad expressions and nods. The ponies only half-filled in, looked somewhat confused.

“What do you mean, Princess?” asked Rainbow Dash.

“I have arranged to educate you all later, but right now, that isn’t important,” Said Captain McCormick. Twilight looked away; a sad expression formed on her face as she knew exactly what the Princess was talking about, the fullest extent of the war from Tex earlier. “Allow me to shed light on what is. When you left after our first meeting, Princess Twilight, my engineers gave me a status update on my ship. Short story, the Ad Meliora’s engines are far too damaged to be repaired with the equipment available to us.”

The humans looked shocked and began to look at each other, except for the Spartans, who already knew this information.

“You mean… we’re stuck on this planet?” Asked Carlito as the pony’s eyes widened.

“For now, I’m afraid.” McCormick answered stoically.

Every human had

“But there is good news,” Everyone looks back up at McCormick.

“Our comms are still fully functional. We are repeatedly sending out distress signals, but we are far out of range from any nearby UNSC ships. Our only hope at the moment is that someone gets close enough to hear us.”

The entirety of Whiskey-7 and Zeta Team looked at each other with hope.

“So, we are stuck here for I don’t know how long. Days, months, years…decades. It all just depends at the moment.”

“However,” Celestia spoke up. “I am currently making arrangements to make your stay here, on my homeworld, as comfortable as possible. You are all more than welcome to join our society. My subjects will welcome you all with open hooves for the time being.” Celestia then gave a kind smile to the humans.

“But that doesn’t mean we get to sit around doing nothing.” McCormick said. “While the Covenant is here, we are honor-bound to protect the citizens from all danger by the Covenant for their acts of mercy and kindness.”

The humans looked at each other again one more time; they were all processing the information together. After a brief moment, they all turned back towards the Captain and the princesses. Tex then approached Princess Celestia. She was the only pony who was able to meet the humans at eye level.

“Princess, I want to be the first to say this… Thank you. With all my heart, I cannot thank you enough,” Said Tex. He surprised everyone by bowing his head before her, showing his utmost respect and gratitude.

“You are welcome. It’s my pleasure to help hurt souls like you,” Said Celestia, giving him a kind, gentle smile like a mother would give to a child.

“You all here is actually a good thing because there is one more thing we discussed,” said Captain McCormick. “It was unknown to me at the time, but these six ponies are actually very important.” The Captain pointed towards Twilight and her friends.

“How so, Captain?” asked Tammy.

“They are part of a very strong magical connection called the Elements of Harmony.” Celestia answered first.

“Elements of who-and-what now?” Marcus was scratching the back of his head.

“From what I understand, it’s a very powerful set of magical traits these ponies have. It can be used as a weapon against their enemies to deliver a powerful blast.” said Captain McCormick, trying his best to describe a type of magic he has only learned about today.

“M-magic? Uh sir, permission to speak freely?” Adam gave the Captain a weird look.

“Granted.”

“Do you honestly believe in magic? That’s kiddy shit.” Adam crossed his arms as his squadmates joined in with nods of their own.

“Princess, would you?” asked McCormick, turning to her. A smile formed on his normally emotionless face.

Twilight gave the Captain a knowing grin before turning towards the ODSTs.

“I would be delighted to,” said Twilight as her horn began to glow. A bright flash filled the room, and suddenly, Twilight and her friends were gone. The ODSTs looked absolutely confused and in awe.

“What the absolute fuck!?” Shouted Tex. He was only a few feet away from Twilight, and now she was just suddenly gone.

“Where the hell did they go?” asked Tammy.

“Over here!” said Twilight. They all turned behind themselves to see Twilight and all her friends at the back wall, smirking and waving at them.

“The… Fuck?” said Carlito.

“Teleportation is one of the most basic spells,” said Twilight as she stepped forward. “Another is telekinesis.” Her horn lit up again, and an aura surrounded Carlito.

“¿¡Qué!?” Carlito exclaimed as he looked down at his hands. He was then very slowly lifted up off the ground.

The other humans backed away from him; they were all in total awe. Twilight then released her hold on him, and Carlito ended up falling right on his rear. “Ow! ¡Pendeja!”

The humans began to chuckle and laugh at their sharpshooters.

“Twilight, that was amazing! How did you do that?” asked Tex.

“Magic.” she replied with a smug expression.

The Princesses were chuckling as well, and even the captain appeared to be laughing at the display.

“Believe in magic now?” McCormick asked. The humans just gave faint nods as Carlito got off the ground. “Good, because these ponies have such powerful magic within them, I want you all to look after them.”

“You mean you want us to be their bodyguards?” asked Tex.

“In a way, yes, but it’s more than that. Since we could be here a while, this is also kinda like a cultural exchange. I want you all to be friends, learn things from each other.” said McCormick.

“That goes for you too, my little ponies. The best way to help the humans to adapt to life here on Equis is to show them around and be friends with them. We’ve organized to help the whole ship of humans to adapt, but I want you eight specifically to be the ones to help test the waters on this idea. And while they learn from you, you learn from them… Especially their combat skills.” said Celestia.

“What!?” they all exclaimed.

“What I have learned from Captain McCormick disturbs me greatly. I have done my best to shelter you all and all my subjects from harm, I fear we may not be able to this time. My own soldiers will be learning from the humans to use their weapons and learn other forms of combat. You will need to learn to.” said Celestia.

“Wait, integrating our armies… Does this mean…?” Twilight’s thought trailed off.

“Yes, Twilight,” Celestia answered for her former student. “We are forming an alliance with the Humans.”

Everypony and everyone began looking at each other. Allies, it was official. Humanity has its first extraterrestrial allies.

“It is technically a temporary, unofficial one,” said McCormick. “To make it official, we would need a council of humans, but as there isn’t one, and I’m the highest-ranking human on the ship. I can at least start negotiations.” said McCormick. “Now buddy up, that’s an order.”

“Kieran, Clara, you two do the same.” said Maverick.

“We do?” said Clara surprised.

“What about you?” asked Kieran.

“I’m joining too.” said Maverick. “Besides, we need three more volunteers anyway.”

The Humans all turned to the ponies, and both parties approached each other and started to pair up. Kieran paired with Applejack, while Tammy did the same with Pinkie Pie. Marcus got up with Starlight, Rarity complimented Adam’s hair, Rainbow Dash trotted up to Maverick, and Carlito picked Spike.

“Well, that leaves you and me, Twilight,” said Tex.

“I guess it does, Tex,” said Twilight with a smile.

Captain McCormick and Celestia smiled as they quickly made friends. “So, when do you want to announce this alliance to each of our people, your highness?” asked McCormick.

“Perhaps we should do that tomorrow,” said Celestia. “Let your soldiers rest for today before we tell them this news.”

“We would like to know more about your kind, Captain McCormick.” said Luna.

“Of course, Princess.” McCormick replies in agreement. “Though, I am still curious about your kind as well.”

Fire of the Mighty…

Back on the Fire of the Mighty, troops from the battle had made it back to the ship, humiliated by their defeat. Shipmaster Khota continued to stare at a monitor in front of him. It had a list of names. Some of them were glowing red. He enlarged one of the names and continued to stare at it for a bit. JYKAN. He growled to himself in frustration.

One of the doors to the bridge opened, and a Sangheili in purple armor approached him. He kneels before the Shipmaster before saying, “Shipmaster ‘Mutamee. I bring terrible news from the battlefield. Jykan has been slain.”

“Yes, I know that. One of my most honored officers has died, yet here you are still alive. Why is that?” Khota growled at him.

“Sir, you must understand, there was not much I could do. We had trapped a few human imps in a structure. We dispatched two of the filthy humans before turning to the imps, but they could see through our camo. They killed one of us while Jykan and I split, trying to get them to come at us one by one so we could slaughter the human filth. But to our surprise, a native came at us.”

“A native?” Questioned Khota as he crossed his arms.

“Yes, Shipmaster.” Said the Sangheili. “The one called Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

Khota clenched his hands into a fist. Clenched them so tight his knuckles began to pop.

“She ignored the warning I gave her pathetic little town… Then she shows up to help the human imps!?” He yelled, fury rising exponentially.

“That wasn’t all, sir. She was holding this.” The Sangheili shows the Shipmaster the human SMG Twilight had used. Khota widened his eyes. “Jykan challenged her to a fight. He tried to kill her with his sword, but she dodged and struck him. Jykan threw her into a wall and began to choke her to death. He was mere moments away from killing her… but…”

“But what!?” Yelled Khota, wanting his subordinate to get on with it.

“Shipmaster… I still don’t understand it. But Jykan’s sword was able to pull itself out of the ground, and it thrusted into his own back!” The Elite exclaimed.

“What!?” Khota said, standing up from his chair. “Are you telling me that Jykan’s sword somehow levitated and stabbed him in the back!?”

“Yes, Shipmaster, it is true of what I saw.” The Sangheili tried justifying his outlandish statement.

“You better start taking me seriously before I slit your throat for your insolence!” Yelled Khota, believing that the Spec-Ops Officer before him was making a fool out of him.

“I swear to you, it’s what I saw!” The Spec-Ops Sangheili begged Khota to believe him. “The Princess used a large protrusion from her head, it glowed a bright light, and the same light surrounded the sword. She managed to manipulate Jykan’s sword without touching it! Now that I think about it, she was doing the same as she held this weapon.” said the Sangheili, looking down at the SMG.

Khota didn’t know if he should believe his subordinate or kill him where he stood. He did know one thing for certain, however.

“Xala!” Yelled Khota.

“Yes, my Shipmaster?” Said the Sangheili bowing before Khota, whose name was Xala.

“As Jykan has been killed, you will take his place as an officer.” Khota spoke. Xala was a bit surprised by his sudden promotion but knew better than to question his Shipmaster.

“Thank you, Shipmaster.” said Xala as he bowed again.

“I’m giving you this position so that you may observe these natives and learn what you can about their abilities to manipulate objects. If they intend to help the humans, they will die with them as well. But if they are able to move things without touching them, I want to know everything about it so we are not disadvantaged.” said Khota.

“Yes, Shipmaster. I will learn all that I can,” said Xala, standing up and quickly exiting the bridge.

Khota sat back down in his chair and interlocked his fingers. “Whoever you are, Princess Twilight Sparkle, you have made yourself a very, VERY dangerous enemy today,”