From War to Peace

From War to Peace
Chapter 7
The Ghosts That Linger

Firebase Victor, Equestria
April 3, 2556
7:40 P.M.

I sighed and rubbed my eyes as I finished reviewing yet another initial report from the science team; they were all essentially the same, requests for funding and clearance, endorsements, and technical jargon that would leave my head spinning.

Turning the light on my desk off and placing the report away in a file, I looked around the command center; the room was black as pitch with only a few lights on in the darkness and the UNSC eagle screen savers rotating in the darkness. As I stared at the symbol, I couldn’t help but think about what Brayden had said earlier, ‘Is he right? Is peace ever truly possible again? Hell, after the war, I sacrificed my body to become another tool of war… Maybe peace is just an illusion.’ My mind plagued me with these thoughts as I stared into the darkness.

“Ahem,” noise to my right shook me out of my daze, and I looked over to my right to see Sasha standing at the foot of the stairs that lead to the top of the tower where she, Lane, and Gunny had set up a small cabin for her to stay in. A smirk plastered her porcelain white face, “Drifting off, captain?” She mocked coyly, with an eyebrow cocked. “I thought you Spartans had stamina enhancements?”

I looked her over as I stood and stretched, her raven black hair hung around her shoulders and covered the top of her standard-issue UNSC PT top, though it looked just a size too small, smirking to myself in the dark, I now understood why I thought she had broad shoulders. Her hands were positioned on her hips, and her UNSC marine sweatpants hung loosely on her slim runner’s frame. Her hair and skin shone with a slight gleam of sweat, and her shirt and pants were damp. In her arms were a towel, some PT shorts, and a pair of cherry red boxing gloves suggesting she’d just returned from the gym.

Rolling my shoulders and walking out of the darkness, and leaning against the command table, I shrugged. “Hey, I wasn’t sleeping; I was just thinking,” I said quietly as my mind returned to Brayden’s broken look. Shaking myself out of it, I smirked and pretended to pout, “Besides, the Stamina Enhancements are for other things.” I said, and Sasha laughed as she leaned against the railing that leads up to her room.

“Oh, right… ‘Pondering’ maybe if you were pondering the insides of your eyelids.” She mocked back as I threw my hands up in the air and shook my head in surrender. Laughing even harder now, Sasha had to reach over and grab the railing to make sure she didn’t fall. However, she soon stood back up, and her eyes held a mischievous look that boded ill for me.
“Well then, Michael,” her tone low and slightly seductive, “You’ll have to show those enhancements sometime.” She said as she leaned forward and showed some slight cleavage. I flushed and started to stammer as my mind ran through countless scenarios, most ending with me doing something that would either get me court-martialed, sent to hell, or both.
Smirking, she raised her boxing gloves and snickered, “In the ring, of course.” She said, barely controlling her choked fits of giggling before bursting into laughter and falling flat on her ass on the stairs, hands clenching her sides.
For several moments I stood there, jaw agape, and faced a bloody crimson as she continued her laughing fit before she finally managed to stand and smirk at me, “Ha heh heh, sorry bout that, couldn’t resist.” She said as she began to climb the stairs, tears of laughter slipping out her eyes. “I’ll see you in the morning, Captain.” Winking, she left out the top hatch, and I stood there for a moment longer before a loud cough from my left shook me out of my shock.
To my left, at the top of the stairs into the atrium, stood gunny, his short choppy hair tousled and a grin spreading from ear to ear. “I only caught the end of that conversation, but I get the feeling now is a bad time…” he said in his typical twangy accent.
Breaking into a new blush, I fought it down and glared daggers at him, causing him to break out laughing. “What did you want, Ike,” I said slightly menacingly to try and get him to drop the event by using his first name. Eventually, he ceased laughing and smiled genuinely as he held up a tac pad with a movie on it. “It’s movie night in a mess, and we’re watching an old 21st-century classic, The Book of Eli.” He said as he handed me the pad to read the description. “Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman, great movie with a decently low budget.”
I smirked as I listened to Gunny, continue to describe the movie. Gunny loved movies, and whenever we could, he’d try and get us to watch some movies as a team, old classics from the last five centuries. Some were really good, others not so much. “… So, you in?” Asked Gunny as he started his way down the stairs.
Smiling and handing him the tac pad, I began to walk down alongside him. “Sure, why not,” I said as we slowly walked down the stairs. Smirking, Gunny looked over at me, snickered.
“So, Stamina enhancements? That’s your new pick up line?” Asked Gunny as he snickered at my no doubt beat red face. I reached over and punched him in the shoulder with slight force.
“Shut up. She was hitting on me.” I growled as he broke out into laughter again. Growling and mumbling, I stalked ahead of Gunny, “It’s Matt and Brayden’s fault, been hanging around them too much, need to wash my mind out with soap.” I quietly grumbled to myself as I stalked past the rec room and kitchen into the mess hall where Brayden, Blake, Lane, and Matt had set up some couches and popcorn in front of a holo-projection screen.
Plopping down on the far right couch and grabbing some popcorn from the nearby table, I sat down and puffed in indignation as I began to eat the popcorn while waiting for Gunny to start the show. Both Blake and Lane glanced over at me with inquisitive looks, but a glare to both of them quickly silenced any possible questions.
Coming through the kitchen and walking up to the front of the room, Gunny smirked and began his typical grandiose introduction, “Gentlemen and friends, comrades and brothers, tonight I present to you a classic movie of hope and survival in a wasteland, I present to you… The Book of Eli.” Gunny said as he bowed and activated the movie from his tac pad, quickly taking a seat by Matt and Brayden’s sides.
I sighed and pulled up a chair. Once the movies started, the lights in the mess hall dimmed.
“What are you guys watching?” A voice asked from the hall on our left. Looking over, I saw Twilight walking into the room, her violet eyes curiously scanning the Wall as the opening credits played.
“How did you…” I began to ask as she trotted over next to the couch I was sitting on, the entire time her eyes were glued to the screen. Shaking my head, I decided to see if she wanted to join us. “Never mind. We just started to watch a movie called The Book of Eli, care to join us?”
“Certainly. Is it alright if my friends can join?” She asked, her eyes lighting up in joy.
“Sure, the more, the marrier,” I said, shrugging. Smiling from ear to ear, Twilight looked into the darkness of the hallway and nodded. Almost immediately, a pink blur rushed into the room, followed by the rest of the ponies I’d met over the course of my stay on Equestria. Pinkie Pie galloped over to Blake and sat down next to them, and their conversation drowned out by the opening scene’s music. The rest of the group soon filed in and sat in various places around the room as the movie began to play.
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A few hours later and the movie had ended with some satisfied smiles and some jubilant laughter.

“Wow, that was a pretty rad movie!” Yelled Rainbow Dash as she jumped over the back of the couch, swinging her hooves as she tried to imitate Eli’s swings with his machete.

Scrunching her face up in concentration and putting her hoof to her jaw, Twilight hummed with concentration. “So the book of Eli was actually a ‘bible,’ and this bible had an essential part in your culture…” Twilight paused and continued to ponder as everybody began to stand, stretching and talking, “It was called The Holy Bible what is that?” She asked as I sat on my couch and tried to come up with an appropriate answer. Meanwhile, Blake and Pinkie were jumping around and imitating scenes from the book of Eli.

“Well, the holy bible is the basis of a religion called Christianity. I could spill on and on, but it would take me a life time to explain it all.” I answered carefully as I tried to provide a satisfying answer.

“Religion.” Said Twilight slowly, as if she was testing the word out. “What is that you worship?” She asked with wonder in her voice.

“ Well, religion altogether is just the belief in a greater being that tests us to make us better,” I said, shrugging my shoulders. I honestly didn’t know how to explain a concept such as religion to somebody who didn’t have an innate experience with it already. It was kind of like describing color to a blind person.

“Are there different religions?” she asked after a moment of contemplation and looking over to our friends as they laughed and talked a little bit.

“Yes, an innumerous amount of them, too many to count anymore,” I said as we watched Gunny imitate the Gatling gun from the movie and explain how it worked.

Twilight scrunched her face up again, and I could almost see the gears turning in her head. “Wouldn’t that cause conflict between your people similar to what happened between the humans and covenant?” She asked with a grim tone to her voice. At that very moment, I knew that this conversation had gone south.

Looking over at her with a startled look, I asked her, “How did you….”

“Know?” Twilight finished for me. She smirked slightly at my shocked face and sighed, “I had a meeting with Princess Celestia after I delivered the food this afternoon, and she told me to make sure I knew what I was getting into.” She said everything about her seemed weary when she spoke of the war, and honestly, I couldn’t blame her.

We sat in silence for a few more moments as I tried to figure out how I should approach the situation. After a few silent moments, which felt like a lifetime, I had decided to spill the bean to her as the rest of the group continued to talk.

“Alright, Twilight, I will share the history of the Human-Covenant and my experiences while I served with the UNSC. Be forewarned. However, this is some dark stuff, and I’m telling it to you alone as my team still has some open wounds from the war, and this is dark, dark stuff that I don’t want to share with the rest of your group necessarily… now are you sure you want to know more?” I said in a hushed whisper to her. For a moment, she looked tired and forlorn, as if I had already shared the war with her, but after a moment, her gaze steeled, and she nodded her head and gave me her absolute full attention.
Sighing quietly, I pulled out a drink from the cooler to my right and spoke. “Get comfortable. This is going to take a while.”

Hours seemed to pass as I shared the UNSC’s righteous victories and demoralizing defeats as well, including our personal experiences, both good and bad, All the while, our friends shared plenty of laughs and stories with our new found pony friends.

After what seemed to be a lifetime of memories and fears, I finally concluded the war with a retelling of the arbiters accounts of the events on the Ark and how the Master Chief and Cortana had detonated a halo right above the Ark to kill all of the Flood and save the entire galaxy from extinction.

After that, we sat in silence as she processed what she had heard, and I looked to see, to my chagrin, that somewhere along the line, the rest of the group had joined in and listened to some part of the war.

After a few moments of contemplation, Matt broke the silence. “Well… that’s a mood killer there.” After a moment of groans, Eye rolling, and sharp elbow jabs to the ribs, Twilight asked a question.

“How long were you all in the war?” For a moment, we were all silent, and Matt, Blake, and Lane sat down while Gunny leaned against a chair and Brayden stood hard-faced. They all looked like they had aged a thousand years in a matter of minutes. I imagined I looked no different than them.

“11 years.” Said Gunny as he stared vacantly off into space.

“13 years,” Said Lane as he pulled out a tac-pad and began to fiddle with it.

“13 Years for me as well,” said Blake with a mournful tone to his usual southern drawl.

“15 Years myself.” Said Matt as he rubbed his eyes in a hurried effort to fight tiredness.

“I was in it for 12 Years.” Said Nick as he fiddled with the Wolffe nametag on the chest of his fatigues jacket.

“I joined in 2538, so 14 years,” I said with tiredness in my voice that I’d only heard from my grandfather and the other older veterans of the insurrection.

I quietly looked over at Brayden, who was taking a slow drink from the beer he’d been nursing for a good hour now, as I knew his bombshell would be a hell of a shock.

“I fought the war for 26 years.” Said Brayden as he took another long drink from his beer as the ponies stared at him in utter shock. Brayden just looked into his beer as if it’d tell him the secrets of the universe and slowly sat down.

“B-but how?” Asked Twilight, who looked utterly awe struck, “How did you manage to fight for essentially ALL the war?” Brayden simply sighed and finished off his beer as the rest of the ponies looked on in a mix of sadness, awe, and pity. The rest of us veterans simply looked on with empathetic stares and nods.

“Well… I guess you just learn to fear death and fight as hard as you can to live another day, to see another dawn.” Began Brayden as his eyes began to lose focus, and he stared off into the distance. “Certain parts of you die, and the ghosts really add up over the years, but-“ Brayden stopped and looked down at his hands as they clenched his jeans in the dark of the room, the white screen of the projector giving him an unnatural looking halo of the hospital like white light; sickly and pale.

“No, the physical and psychological damage you eventually just shoulder through and live with, what really breaks you are the memories of what you’ve lost; the ghosts.” Said Brayden in a quiet and reserved tone as several of us nodded our heads, and Fluttershy, Twilight, and Applejack seemed to have some sense of what Brayden was talking about.

For a while, we all just sat there with the only noise coming from the hum of the projector light before a small, timid voice eventually decided to venture forward. “What are the Ghosts?” Asked Fluttershy, her large eyes speaking of empathy and understanding.

For a moment, Brayden was deathly quiet, and in the dark of the mess hall, it looked as if he was reliving every death and battle he’d ever lost and fought in the span of a few seconds. Eventually, he answered with a slightly choked voice, “Most of the ghosts are the memories that come and go, dissipating before any clarity can be resolved from it, and it’ll only leave a sad or angry feeling as it slips through your fingers.” Said Brayden as he stared at his now open hands as if the ghosts were slipping through his fingers right then and there.

Looking up, his normally amber eyes had turned a dark brown, and he looked like he was verging on 65 rather than just 45. “The second kind of ghosts are more punishing but can be conquered, they’re still clear in certain parts so you can remember the important parts, but the finer details escape you. Eventually, you either conquer them and move on, or they just become routine, a nuisance at worse.” Explained Brayden in a very sober and weary tone.

“Then, finally, you have true ghosts.” Said Brayden as he sat back in his mess hall chair. “These are the memories that as soon as they come on, they stop you like a ton of bricks. The second you hear or see the trigger for the memory, you simply stop and look for it, it's an unconscious action, and most of the time, you only stop searching when you remember that person or place is gone; ashes upon the wind of your memories.” Said Brayden, and from the corner of my eye, I could see several of us nodding in agreement with Brayden’s assessment. “Those are the true ghost you never get over and never forget, you can remember what you had for breakfast that morning and what the person was doing an hour before they died or the place was destroyed… those are the true ghosts, the Ghosts that linger.”

For several moments we all sat in shock and agreement. Those who had been in the war knew exactly what Brayden was talking about and thinking about the nightmare I did too. After a minute, the small, timid voice spoke up once again. “Well… I-I may not have k-known you for very long… but I think you’re a nice but hurt person, and maybe all you need is someone to help you remember what living is about.” I sat in awe, and so did Brayden and the other, judging by their slack jawed expressions and eyes full of amazement.

For a moment, Brayden simply sat in his chair, eyes wide and jaw slack, as he processed what he heard, and for a moment, a small smile appeared on his face, and he stood up and giving a caring rub to Fluttershy’s head, he spoke in a tone that I barely heard but smiled when I did. “Thanks, sweetness, you really helped.” After a happy smile from Fluttershy, Brayden stretched and threw his empty bottle in the recycling bin next to the mess door. “Whelp, I’m whooped, so I’m gonna hit the hay.” He said as he stumbled drunkenly through the door towards the rec room and dorms.

Looking at his watch, Matt sighed and stood up. “Well, I better make sure he doesn’t go into one of the scientist’s rooms on accident.” Said Matt as he left the mess the same way, the same way Brayden did, and as he left, I heard him mutter quietly, “The last thing we need is ANOTHER sexual harassment suit.” Quietly I snickered and stood myself, as did the rest of my group.
“Well, I think Brayden has the right idea. As such, I think we should call it a night, eh gents?” All around me were nods and groans as the men said their goodbyes and shuffled off to the dorms. Looking to Twilight, I smiled, “Well, thank you for joining us. If you need a place to stay till morning, I bet we can dig something up.” I said, considering it was going on 10:00 outside, I figured they might not too entertained with navigating the field in the dark.
Twilight simply shook her head. “No, thank you, we’re good. Ponyville isn’t too far away from here, so we can just walk, Right, Girls?” She asked as she looked to her friends, who all were in agreement.
Nodding in agreement, I began to walk towards the front door by the dorm rooms. “Well, in that case, I’ll walk you lasses out, and then I’m hitting the hay,” I said as I led them through the hallway containing all the dorms. Over my shoulder, I could Rainbow Dash ask Twilight why we hit the hey before bed. Snickering, I considered explaining the concept to her before deciding that certain mysteries could stay for now.
After escorting the group outside and bidding my farewells, I walked back to my bunkroom with Lane, writing some in his science Journal before finally falling upon his bed into a deep, dreamless sleep,p and I soon did the same.

UNSC Bunker, Selene-VII
September 13, 2526
3:40 P.M.
Brayden’s POV

Breath rushed through my lungs, and tears rolled down my cheeks as I ran through the old military bunker outside the capital city. I consciously knew what would happen, but I just couldn’t stand by and not try. I dashed and jumped past broken and fallen cabinets and lockers that cluttered the dark faded green and gray hallways, all the while hoping against hope that I wasn’t too late and that I wouldn’t fail, not like before.

After a couple more minutes of running, I finally burst through the double doors into the command center. The green boxy consoles that lined the walls were coated in dust, and on the far wall of the room, several bunker windows were looking out onto the savannah that surrounded my home city. But more importantly, where the alien ships in the sky. At the time, I didn’t know what they were, but I’d soon come to know them as covenant supercarriers.

Sprinting full tilt, I ran up to a console beneath the title ‘transit tunnel’ and began to activate the doors that would allow the refugees on the trains from the city to enter. I jumped as a crackle in my ear reminded me of the radio I had been given by Sergeant Major Collins the day before; had it only been a day? It felt so long ago… “Brayden, can you hear me, son? Are the doors open, and is Natalia still with you?” Rang the gravely voice of my father over the radio.

My hands danced across the keyboards as I activated the doors, “I can hear you, dad.” I yelled over the radio as I looked at the security console to see the doors opening. Maybe this time, the doors will open all the way. “Natalia is still down in the opening bay, ready to lead you guys to the underground bays.” My voice was hoarse and cracking from all the running. I was only 15, and I was scared for Natalia, my best friend and the girl of my dreams I had left back at the doors to help everybody. Honestly, it sounded like something off a poorly written novel. I wish it had lasted.

Just as I remembered, the light on the power panel flickered and sparked with a loud crack as the doors stopped opening, just short of being wide enough for a single man to squeeze through. Feeling my panic rise and a fresh batch of tears welling, I screamed at the panel and tried to reroute the power, “Dad, the doors are jammed. I can’t get them to open any more!” I screeched as I looked outside to see the ships in the sky were glowing on their tips.

“Dammit! All right, son, listen to me, listen to me!” Pleaded my father over the radio as I simply stared at the raining plasma that was approaching the city's site and would cause the event that destroyed my life. “Son, It’s just you and Natalia. I won’t be there to back you up anymore, so I need you to promise you will take care of her and that you will survive this… Do you understand me, Brayden?” Finished my father as the plasma touched down and flashed melted the skyscrapers. In the distance, I could see the blast wave that would kill everyone but Natalia and me.

I numbly nodded my head before remembering that my dad couldn’t see me. “I will call dad. I’m… I’m sorry.” I cried as I ordered the computer to close the shutters over the windows. Just as I began to back away, the shutters caught, and the blast wave hit the windows. Fire and glass flooded into the room and a single piece of glass sliced along my left eye and back to my ear before the fire knocked me on my back and blinded me momentarily.

As I lay there in the dust of the old bunker, blinded by the fire, I listened to the screams of my people dying over the still open radio channel before a metallic click above my head confirmed that the bunker had sealed. Tired and in pain, I cried, cried that my family and friends were dead, cried that Natalia and I had no home to return to, but most of all, I cried because I had failed just like I had for the past 15 years of my life and would continue to for the next 30 years of my life and pain and survival.

After what felt like an eternity of crying, I slowly stood up and clutching my left eye, which had been covered in blood, I began to walk back towards the loading bay. ‘Natalia should have escaped from the blast and returned to the command room as we agreed ages ago, so where was she?’ I thought worriedly as I stumbled through the base.

Just as I was about to enter the bay, I heard a cry, “Help me!”, it was a voice I didn’t recognize. It was slightly airy but sweet, like a woman’s voice from Earth that I had heard once in a hospital. Rushing around the corner as fast as my delirious brain could move me, I found Natalia’s motionless form on her side next to a large mountain of rubble in front of the door. Her black private school uniform and crimson hair were sung in certain places and covered in dirt and blood. She lay on her side with her back to me as a mangled whimper managed to escape her throat, and she tried to move.

Running over the fallen I-beams and pile of concrete blocks, I sprinted to her side and rolled her over to check on the burns I remembered coating her chest and face. But to my surprise and horror, I found her face replaced with a burning screaming skull that engulfed my vision and caused me to be a blackout. The burning orange eyes seared into my brain.

Firebase Victor, Equestria
April 4, 2556
3:58 A.M.
Brayden’s POV

Gasping in terror, I shot up like a bullet. I looked around the small dorm room Matt and I shared. The late-night moon shone through the small window above the desk that separated our beds. Looking over at the clock, I saw that it was still early morning yet. Matt lay in a heap under some covers, and the wall remained hanging with both our Assault rifles. All was right in the world, so what had so riled.

I leaned back against the wall as sweat creased down my brow. ‘That voice didn’t belong to Natalia, and her face didn’t look like that, I KNOW that.’ I thought to myself as I stared into the dark. I snorted to myself as I remembered the crying, “Pfft, Christ, I was a crybaby back then. Maybe the war has its uses after all.” I muttered hollowly and sardonically as I reached under my bed and grabbed a beer from my stash, and began to drink it in earnest.

After a while, I finished my beer and lay back down to sleep. ‘Still, there’s something about that dream, something felt… altered and artificial, I guess...’ I wondered to myself as I stared at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity before I finally let go and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.