From War to Peace

From War to Peace
Chapter 4
"Of Dreams and Nightmares"

The nightmare had been the same for all four years since the war. Sure there were small variations here and there, maybe one of the marines would say something else, or a different creature from hell would round the corner, or even the marines themselves would change into different people or faces. Still, generally, it was always the same.

Panting like a dog, I ran through the sewers with my men following close behind. I couldn't really remember where we were, but all I knew for a fact was that there was something behind us that really wanted us dead, so I didn't really care.

I rounded a corner in the sewers that lead up a slope to a gate at the top. Deciding this was a decent enough position to defend from, I turned to my fellow Marines and yelled, "Alright, gents, let's set up here. We have the high ground, and we should have an advantage over the shits as they round the corner."

With a collective "OOHRA!" the men rushed to several positions scattered around the corridor, a few ran to a mangled dumpster near the bottom of the slope, more fled to the top where I was and pointed their weapons downrange, waiting for an excuse to fire.

One marine came up to me; close-cropped brown hair and grime-covered skin glistening in the artificial light of the sewers. It took me a moment to realize one of his eyes was missing with blood sluggishly flowing out of the socket. He hefted a rocket launcher and spoke, "Sir, I got one more shot left in this thing, permission to open the salvo?" he asked, smiling grimly in the dark.

I nodded and smirked, "Sure, just be sure to get the fucker right in the face." I said as I raised my Battle Rifle and got ready as thudding footsteps sounded through the sewers. I tried desperately to control my breathing as I realized the only thing large enough to make those noises were.

I began to shake slightly as a hunter the size of a small elephant rounded the corner; it's spikes scraping ominously against the top of the sewers. "Christ, that thing is huge," one of the marines said, slack-jawed. The hunter heard him and whipped around to see us; it's plasma cannon charging an ominous green as it growled with a ferocity that made it feel like we were fighting a titan.

Quickly reacting, the One-eyed Soldier stood up and yelled at the top of his lungs as he fired his rocket launcher, "SURPRISE JACKASS!!!" The rocket screamed out of the tube and flew down the slope hitting the hunter square in the chest, making its cannon aim up and fire.

The other marines and I ducked down as the shot cut into the slope and up over us into the ceiling. I looked up and noticed that the One-Eyed soldier hadn't been fast enough and now was only a pair of legs, a black burn mark on the wall behind us.

Fighting back the tears of rage, I stood and yelled with a vengeance filled voice, "OPEN FIRE!!!" Our entire troop opened fire with various weapons ranging from Assault rifles to Battle rifles and a few pistol shots.

The salvo kept up for a few more seconds as the hunter convulsed under the constant fire. Orange blood and worms began to flow down the giant's metal legs and arms as it began to slide to the ground; it’s cannon no longer glowing.

As we stopped firing, I ordered the men at the bottom of the slope to come back up top and help defend the position as we all reloaded our weapons and tried to control our emotions. We mostly tried to ignore the now smoldering legs of our comrade. Eventually, after what felt a few minutes, I walked over to the corpse and picked it up and placed it over by the wall where it wouldn't be in the way.

"Wait… what's that noise?" Said a marine with a shotgun as he looked up and cocked an ear to hear better. I stood and readjusted my standard-issue chest plate and tried to listen and hear what he was hearing.

"Ah chill, Zimmerman," Said one marine as he hefted his Battle Rifle and rolled his eyes, "there's nothing else down there. Covies should be topside by no-"

"EVERYBODY, tight formation, we got buggers." I interrupted as I recognized the scratching noise. Sadly my warning was too late as a solid wall of drones rounded the corner and flooded up the slope to our group.

We desperately tried to fire at them, but there were hundreds of the little bastards. They swarmed up, chirping and firing the odd plasma pistol as they flew through our group, clawing and biting at any exposed flesh. I watched as one marine was swarmed by eight of the drones and ripped apart limb from limb.

By now, tears were freely flowing from my eyes as I yelled and kept up the fire, popping the little buggers in the head and body where I could and swatting away whatever got too close. It seemed we were going to win as the drones began to fall back, and I yelled in triumph as I turned to look at my men.

My cry of victory died in my throat as I turned to look at the only man left to stand was lifted into the air by an invisible hand a skewered on a glowing white sword. As my comrades' corpse fell to the ground, I looked at the now blood-soaked specter standing over my friend's corpse as it growled in a deep voice and sauntered towards me.

Acting on reflex, I dropped down and grabbed the shotgun from Zimmerman's now disembodied hands and rolled forward, and fired into the stealth Elite's chest, making the towing beast stagger back and it's active camo fail. The creature looked to me with hate-filled as it charged forward and slashed at my face.

I pumped the shotgun and pulled the trigger again only to hear a click as nothing happens, and I realized Zimmerman only had one shot left. In one last desperate bid to survive, I held the shotgun forward and tried to block the blade as I fell backward.

The slash cuts through the shotgun and slashes across my left eye and cheek, leaving a deep burned and bloody scar on my face. As the elite began to saunter forwards towards me, I scrambled back towards the slope, hoping that I could roll down the slope and escape this hellish creature.

As I was about to roll, the creature stomped on my left leg and broke the shinbone as it pinned me. Screaming in agony, I looked up into the monster's eyes as it lifted the sword to slash down into my chest.

But just as it was about to slash, a burning orange blade plunged through the creature's chest as it gasped and fell backward with the blade. I sat there petrified as I looked into the dark behind where the elite once stood to see a pair of hate-filled burning orange eyes as an ear-splitting scream tore through the air, and the eyes became a burning orange skull screaming in my face before I blacked out.

Twilight Residence, Equestria
05:39 AM

I snapped up in bed and grabbed the pistol residing beneath my pillow. I looked around in the dark of Twilight's house and ran a hand through my short hair as I continued to paint in terror.

I'd been having that dream for something like four years, and it had NEVER changed in all that time. But that last part, it was new and different… I sat there and looked up out the window into the pre-dawn sky, continuing to ponder the strange change in dreams.

Reaching over to check my tac pad after a little while, I found that it was going on at 6:00 in the morning, so I decided to get up and get some fresh air. I walked out into the field just a few hundred feet from Twilight's house and sat down, looking up at the pre-dawn sky.

The sun would soon be above the horizon, but the sky was a gorgeous spectrum of colors until then. Reds and pinks and oranges dominated the eastern sky while purples blues and violets with speckles of stars dominated the western sky, leaving the area in-between a dreamlike swirl of blues and reds.

Lying there in the dark, I felt an amazing sense of peace wash over me as I tried to recall the last time I was relaxing on a planet and not trying to kill or capture something… to be honest, it was a really long time before I could find any semblance of that kind of memory.

I remembered a wide field, just open air and plentiful plains, and a night sky looking down on Ashley and me. I remember we were lying there, wondering if the war would ever end but not really caring. Because at that moment we had each other and that had been enough.

"Hey Mike, What are you doing out here?" I heard Twilight's voice echo over the open field. Grasping at the memory as it slipped away, I opened my eyes and looked into the now dawn sky, and sat up, my skin suit constricting around my chest.

"Yeah, just remembering things. But I'm fine." I yelled as I stood up and began my walk back to Twilight's house. Twilight raised an eyebrow as looked me up and down as I sauntered towards her.

I could practically see the gears in her head turning as she tried to analyze the situation and whether or not she should press the topic, Man she and Lane will really get along well.

"You sure? I heard you woke up startled last night, and I was a little worried. Having bad dreams?" She asked slowly, trying not to step on any raw nerves I might have as we walked back into her house.

"Oh, that? I'm fine. Just reliving memories, both good and bad." I said as we sat down at the table in her kitchen. I saw her mouth about to open to ask the question I didn't want to hear, so I beat her to the punch.

"Fret not. You don't have to worry about it. It's just something we have to live with." I said, trying to cut off her questions and attempts to talk it out. I've had that question asked too many times, and while I appreciate the thought, it doesn't help, so it's better just to let it go.

As we sat at the table with a heavy silence in the air, I desperately scrambled to change the topic and avoid the awkwardness that usually follows these talks. "So," I said loudly, trying to shake Twilight out of her thoughts, "We had breakfast with Fluttershy and Rarity today, correct?" I asked, my eyebrow cocking in a questioning manner.

Twilight nearly jumped out of her seat as her hooves flew to her head, and she sprinted into the bedroom, yelling, "Oh gosh, I completely forgot! I need to get cleaned up and ready. I guess you can relax or get dressed or whatever it is you humans do in the morning."

I peaked an eyebrow and looked around the corner to see the stuff on the walls and furniture were spinning in a very comical manner as she ran by. I shook my head and sat down; here, I thought the Pinkie was fast.

Eventually, I stood and walked over to where I'd set up my cot and gear. I kneeled and checked my tac pad for any news from the Infinity. Flipping through the messages as I donned my armor plates and calibrated my suit, I noticed one of the messages was from Del Rio.

Stopping in the middle of my armor assembly, I opened the message and skimmed through it, checking for any news. As I finished the message, I put my tac pad down and slowly continued with my armor assembly, just much less enthusiastic this time around.

Del Rio's message had been a confirmation of the change of stations, the staff list, which consisted of a large part of my own team and a few of the support scientist, and a list of equipment shipped planetside. However, the thing that threw me off was that Del Rio addressed me by my full title, Captain Michael Hill of the UNSC Spartan Program, at the end of the message. Del Rio only did that one other time, and that was when I was first stationed on the Infinity, and Del Rio thought I was another copied and pasted officer.

I finally finished piecing my armor together and held my helmet in my hands and stared at it as I tried to piece together why Del Rio would be so happy and address by my normal title rather than the captain or just Hill. I continued to stare into my helmet until Twilight called for me, at which point I placed my helmet on my head and walked out of the house to meet her.

We walk down the street. In the early morning sunlight, the town looked very much like an old medieval town in Western Europe. Already some ponies are out and about setting up shop and preparing for the day to come.
As I looked around, I was rather perplexed; in some cases, some ponies were carrying on with their daily lives like I never existed in the first place, while others studied me with fearful yet curious eyes and moved with practiced, cautious movements and wary glances as they continued through their routines.
After some time, I looked back to our path to note our destination. We arrived at Sugarcube Corner and outside stood Flutter Shy and Rarity.
“Ah, so nice of you to join us.” Rarity said happily as we walked into the store and took a seat. I nodded to the two of them as I continued to scan the store. There were far fewer ponies in here today than yesterday, so I got a better read on the building’s tactical and strategic points, such as the counter’s well-paced firing positions on the door. Shaking myself out of my analysis, I looked to our breakfast host and smiled.
“Morning ladies, have a pleasant night?” I asked, trying to turn on the charm and focus on the conversation. The usual fine and very nice answers chorused, and everyone started to order their breakfast. I just ordered a cup of the closest thing to coffee I could find as perusal to my morning routine.
“Michael, may I…. I ask you a question if you don’t mind?” Fluttershy asked typically shyly enough. I lowered my coffee and sat back, relaxing into my chair at the table.
“Sure, go ahead,” I said, almost seeing the gears in her head turn as she tried to think of the best way to ask her question.
“What is it like on your planet?” She asked cautiously, and I could see Twilight and rarity looked over from their conversation, now curious as well.
I paused for a moment. “Well, I’m from a colony called Cygnus-3, from a city called New Jerusalem,” I said casually as I leaned back and sipped more from my coffee. “But our homeworld Earth is incredibly similar to this planet.”
“How similar?” Rarity asked, her interest peaked, and I could see that Twilight and Flutter shy also wanted to know.
I cocked my head to the side and reviewed my memory for anything that could be different. “Even though the dominant race here is ponies there, pretty similar,” I answered. Admittedly Earth’s ecosystem and wildlife were way different, and our cultures were different, but other than that, not much was different.
“And of the cities?” Rarity asked, her voice pitching in interest.
“Large mega-cities with everything you could need, the population is astronomical though, so it gets more than a bit crowded in places,” I answered, recalling my childhood in New Jerusalem, years before it was glassed.
“Wow, they must be a sight to see.” Rarity said, her and Twilight’s eyes gleaming in amazement. However, Fluttershy’s brow creased in confusion.
“Not really my taste after eighteen years of living in one, but for you, it would be incredible,” I said while Rarity dreamed of what Earth looked like.
“Well… What... What about the animals?” Fluttershy asked, her brow creased in confusion. I pondered how to answer this. On the one hand, the animals of earth mostly lived outside the cities on designated reserves, but the reserves typically double as zoos, so I figured that would be a bad thing to mention.
“Well, most of the animals of Earth have either adapted to love unnoticed by people in the city or live in the numerous wildlife reserves scattered around the planet,” I answered slowly and carefully, trying not to upset her with the news that they pretty much lived in designated areas for either research or entertainment.
Luckily my answer seemed to satisfy her, and she nodded in understanding and began to dream of Earth. Nodding in satisfaction, I lifted my coffee and drained it, ordering another one as the conversations went on, and I listened in.
Eventually, after several cups of coffee and a few pastries vaguely like a pop tart, I lifted my tac-pad to see what time it was. I nearly choked on my coffee as I realized that it was almost 10:45 am… The rest of the team should be here at about 11:30.
Standing up and grabbing the last pop tart, I made a move for the door. “Excuse me, ladies,” I said as they looked to me in curiosity, “but I need to do a little recon and receive my team. Hopefully, we’ll be back for dinner later this evening.” I reached over and grabbed myself one last coffee. Nodding their heads in understanding, they all waved good-bye.
“Bye, Michael, have a good day,” Fluttershy said quietly. I waved back and made my way out towards the field to the north, that Fluttershy is sweet enough to give a person diabetes.