Halo: Equestria

Chapter One: Arrival of the Giants

Darkness was creeping upon the land, and Celestia could feel it. Months prior, Discord returned to his evils ways, and vowed upon the corpse of Celestia that his army and power would take Equestria, and plunge it back into eons of chaos. The revelation stunned Celestia as she watched Discord vanish before her eyes, off to create the army he had foretold. Ever since then, Celestia has been on edge, waiting for the moment Discord to strike. And in that time span, not a single word or sighting of Discord occurred. She told her faithful student, Twilight, of this news and she promised that her and her friends would be on guard at PonyVille.

Celestia was sitting in her personal library, reading into defensive and offensive spells that she might have to use in an act of self-defense. As she read, a particular spell arose in her text, and it caught her eye.

“Summoning of the Giants…?” She mumbled to herself. She read into the spell and hoped that the spell worked. Standing up, Celestia ignited her horn and it glowed a pulsating red. She clenched her teeth as the magic powered up. With a gasp, the spell dissipated in a flash of red, followed by a small KA-BOOM! Celestia stumbled and as she looked for the giants, she was saddened to see that none were summoned, and hung her head in defeat.

She closed the ancient text and retired to her bedchambers, exhausted from the exertion the failed spell dealt her.

***

Antonio sub-consciously loaded his Shotgun as he stared at the entrance to the CQB portion of the massive Gym onboard the UNSC Frigate Juniper. His robotic right arm tirelessly worked the buskshots into the receiver chamber of his shotgun. It was late at night, and he couldn’t sleep, so he decided to run off the energy he had. Thing is, Antonio has ran the course about ten times over the past few hours. With his Shotgun fully loaded, Antonio unsheathed his Kukri knife from his Security shoulder bad and let it bounce in his palm.

He huffed behind the steel and red of his Grenadier helmet as he used his HUD to remote activate the timer. The countdown pinged and the Spartan III was off like a shot. Targets immediately rose to meet him with glowing target rings, only to be shot or gutted by either a buckshot or blade. Antonio was a blur of motion as he rounded the corners and sprinted down the halls. The course ended suddenly and Antonio stood at the exit slightly panting.

“One minute and forty two seconds. That must be a record.” A female voice spoke from behind him. Antonio turned to see a pair of shockingly blue eyes that belonged to Rachel, Spartan C382. She was only wearing the standard-issue black under suit, and it hugged her curves nicely, as it did on all Spartan III females.

“What are you doing down here? It’s after hours.” Antonio asked with a cold voice. Rachel frowned a bit.

“I’m guessing you’re having trouble sleeping again.” She replied crossing her arms. Antonio placed the shotgun and kukri in their places and sighed.

“And what if I am?  It’s no issue to you. It’s my personal issue and you shouldn’t need to worry.” He said prodding her in the shoulder a couple times with his robotic hand.

She gently pushed his hand away from her and glared.

“Antonio, you’ve changed. Not only as a friend, but also as a person all together. You’ve become cold and unfeeling towards Joseph, Lizzie, Donovan, and me. We rarely see you outside of the battlefield—“She was stopped with another prod, and Antonio spoke, his voice bordering on malice. “Wanna know why I’ve changed? After we watched Magnux Three, my home planet, fall to the Covenant, I was shown that being kind isn’t going to get you anywhere in life. If you want to succeed, you need to be professional. And a professional doesn’t have time for friends.” He said coldly and harshly.

Rachel gasped a bit at how harsh the statement was.

“Antonio…” She said shocked.

“And stop calling me by my name. I outrank you, and therefore I should be called Commander, or Sir. Understand me, Sergeant?” He asked with a venomous tone.

Rachel turned to leave before he got anymore harsh.

She could feel her eyes burning with tears.

             ***

Captain Jacob Faust, age twenty-five, stood on the bridge next to the ships’ AI podium. The AI, named Dusk, was oddly modeled after a cartoon pony from the early 21st century, but Faust didn’t mind it. Besides, AI all vary in forms, why is Dusk any different?

But actually, it does bother Faust. After tracing his family tree, he found out that one of his ancestors had created the show that Dusk had been modeled from, and that made Jacob very sick to his stomach. Even in the 25th century, his family name is still linked to that show.

That being beside the point, Faust waited for the next set of orders to come in from UNSC Command. Dusk looked at her Captain with rose red eyes and sighed.

“I’m getting the orders now sir. They’re looking pretty bland to me.” She said.

“Read them to me Dusk.” Faust said.

“To the UNSC Frigate Juniper, you have been assigned to map and explore a recently discovered star system. Enter area with precaution. The 115th Battle Group will be nearby in the event of hostiles. Report any findings back to Command.” She read in a bored tone. “I told you sir.” She added.

“Well, it’s better than nothing. How long until we can get underway?” He asked. “Give me time to warm up the Slip Space Generator. That’ll take about…thirty minutes to an hour. Then I have to plot the course, and my math is telling me it will take about three months to arrive, sir.” She told him.

“Tell the crew to prepare for Cryo. I’ll go get ready myself. The ship is yours Dusk, and don’t get a scratch on her.” He teased as he departed from Dusk’s company. “Aye sir.” She replied as she turned on the PA system.

“Attention all personnel. We just got orders from Command.” She added a pause for dramatic effect. “We’re not being sent to fight Covies or Rebels.” She giggled a bit as she literally heard a massive groan from within the ship. “Sorry guys, but we’re being sent to map a recently discovered system. Ready yourselves for Cryo. See you in three months.” She concluded.

Dusk immediately went to work on plotting the course and warming up the slip-space drive. The course was laid in and now all she had to do was wait for the confirmation from the reactor that the ship was ready for slip space.

The ping for slip-space sounded and Dusk sent the ship underway.

***

Twilight awoke with a grumble. Her bed sheets were entangled with her body and she struggled to free herself of the cloth prison. Having no such luck, Twilight used her magic to teleport the blanket onto the floor next to her bed. She sat up and yawned, only to receive an eyeful of sunlight as is poured through her window. She winced harshly and pulled her curtains shut. Looking over, Twilight found that Spike was already up. This statement was true as the smell of breakfast was wafting through the room. Twilight sniffed the air and her stomach roared.

“Mmm…grass pancakes…” She muttered with hunger in her voice.

Twilight departed her bed, brushed her mane, and set off down the stairs into the library portion of her home. The smell of breakfast intensified as she neared the kitchen.

“Spike, I’m awake! I-“She was cut off with the sight of a fire on the stove and Spike panicking. “Twilight! I don’t know what happened! I was trying to be nice and make you breakfast, but something went wrong and-“He too was cut off when Twilight used her magic to bring a bucket of water over the fire and put the fire out.

Spike sighed with relief as the fire was extinguished. He looked up at his friend. “I’m sorry Twi. I tried being nice and-“Again, he was cut off. “It’s fine Spike, I know you had good intentions. We can just go to the restaurant down the way to get some breakfast.” She said with a friendly smile.

Spike nodded and went to clean up the mess he unintentionally made. As he cleaned, he spoke again. “Hey Twi, did you remember about the party tonight?” He asked. Twilight looked up, slight horror on her face.

“P-party?” She stuttered. “Yeah, it’s Vinyl Scratches’ birthday today, remember?” Spike asked. Twilight started to breathe rapidly as her mind raced. “I completely forgot! We have to go and get her a gift! Oh, this is such short-notice!” She whined.

“Short-notice? You and Pinkie Pie have been planning her party for weeks! How can you forget that quickly?” Spike asked.

“I guess I just got so busy that I forgot!” Twilight retorted. “Come on, we have to go now!” She told Spike.

“But I’m not done cleaning.” He deadpanned.

“You can get it later! We have to get a gift for Vinyl now!” Twilight said using her magic to levitate Spike and send him out the door, with herself right on his tail.

It wasn’t until she was already half-way to the store that a feeling started nagging at Twilight. A feeling that something big was going to happen, and it was going to happen very soon.

***

Dusk was sitting bored on her podium, reading small diagnostic reports from all over the Juniper as it traveled through slip-space. The reports usually told her of the ships’ status, status of the crew, and power in the power generators. But there was one report that went unnoticed until Dusk stopped after going pass it. She went back to the report and scanned the flashing red title.

CAUTION: SLIP-SPACE FIELD COLLAPSE IMMINENT!

Dusk’s holographic eyes widened to the size of tea plates as she sped read the diagnostic report. In a state of panic, she released Captain Faust from his Cryo sleep.

“Captain! Captain! Emergency!” She yelled. Faust was groggy as he woke up.

“Dusk? What’s wrong, are we there already?” He asked.

“Far from it sir!” Duck replied. “Then what’s wrong?” Faust asked.

“We might not even make it there because the slip-space field is collapsing around us as we speak!” She yelled. Faust immediately went into action.

“Wake the crew. Tell them to be ready at their stations.” He told her. Dusk nodded and activated the ship-wide Cryo release. In minutes, the bridge was buzzing with activity as technicians worked a way to regulate the field long enough to exit and make any necessary repairs.

“How long ago did the issue start?” Faust asked Dusk.

“About twenty minutes after you went into Cryo, sir.” She said, panic still evident in her voice. “Any idea what’s causing this?” Faust asked.

But as Dusk was about to reply, the bridge immediately went a bright red.

“What’s going on Dusk?” Faust yelled.

“Readings are saying something is shrinking the field!” Dusk replied.  The Juniper starting to shake violently as the red slip-space field now rapidly closed on the frigate. With a loud explosion, the Juniper vanished into thin air.

Moments passed. Stars twinkled, planets slowly rotated, space seemed empty. That is, until a massive red explosion erupted from no where.

In the explosion, the Juniper roared into existence as it tumbled and rolled uncontrollably though space.

“Dusk! Set the ship straight! STRAIGHT DAMN IT!” Faust yelled to the AI.

With quick and precise commands, Dusk ordered the engines to full stop and ordered the docking boosters to slow the rotation of the ship. Within minutes, the powerful boosters had slowed the spinning ship by only sixty-five percent. But that was enough for the ship to finally stop its’ suicidal spin. The bridge crew floated in zero-gravity and Faust clutched to his command chair for dear life.

“Artificial gravity is kicking in again in about forty seconds.” Dusk informed her Captain.

Faust was about to respond when the gravity kicked in and the entire bridge crew smacked into the steel flooring. Standing up, dazed and confused, Faust quickly cleared his head and stared at the AI.

“Are we dead?” He asked.

“I honestly have no clue sir. But if we aren’t I can’t say the same for some of the ships’ crew. I’m getting reports of about eight accident related deaths.” She said grimly.

“Get the clean-up crews up and running. Scan the surrounding space to see if we’re at our destination.” Faust said. But something in the back of his mind told him they weren’t, but he simply ignored it.

“I’m getting the readings now sir.” Dusk said. Silence followed for a few moments.

“We’re not at our original destination. We’re somewhere completely different.” She said with a shocked monotone.

Faust approached the bridge windows and gazed out at the space that the ship arrived at. He looked and saw a planet that looked a lot like Earth.

“Dusk, do you think the ship was teleported back to Earth?” He asked the AI.

Dusk contemplated it for a moment.

“It’s possible. The readings are saying that the planet is very similar to Earth, so we may have just had a freak hiccup with the slip-space drive and got spat back out at Earth.” She replied.

“Send a message to Command.” Faust ordered.

Dusk nodded and turned to work on the message. She waited for a reply, but one never came.

“Sir, I’m not getting a response. Something isn’t right.” She said worried.

“Send Alpha team down to scout the area. I’m getting the same feeling Dusk.” Faust ordered.

Dusk nodded and activated the PA.

“Strike Team Alpha, gear up and take a Pelican in Bay Zero-Five. I repeat, Strike Team Alpha, gear up and report to Bay Zero-Five.” She told them.

Antonio was standing with four other Spartans, who made up the rest of Strike Team Alpha. Rachel was suited in her full Scout armor with a DMR, Donovan was in his Commando gear with an Assault Rifle, Joseph was in his Recon get-up with a Battle Rifle, and Lizzie was wearing a full set of Air Assault, duel wield Magnums in her hands with a jet pack to complete her ensemble. Antonio made sure his right arm wasn’t dinged up from the massive commotion that caused the ship to rapidly tumble through space. After checking the servos, he gave the nod to board the Pelican that was planet-bound.

“We’re going to be landing on the dark side of the planet. Prepare for anything. Reports are saying that there has been no response to any of the attempts at contacting command.” Antonio warned, and the other Spartans nodded as they sat down in the Pelican troop bay seats.

After the rear hatch closed, the Pelican rose with a roar of the engines and slowly moved forward out of the landing bay.

            ***

It was nighttime in PonyVille, and the small town couldn’t be anymore lively. Over the hills and surrounding forests, one can hear the familiar wubs and dubs of PonyVille’s own Vinyl Scratch, being played.  In the town center, a massive party was going on. Ponies were either dancing, eating and drinking, or staying off to the sides and chatting over the loud PonyStep music. At the front was a banner that read: “Happy Birthday Vinyl!” in big letters. Twilight and her friends were off on the side talking while Rainbow Dash DJ’d the party.

“Pinkie, this has to be your best party to date!” Twilight yelled over the music.

“I know! I didn’t expect such a great-turn out! Although why wouldn’t I, my parties always have a big turn out!” Pinkie yelled back excitedly.

“I woulda thought tha Vinyl was gonna’ be opposed ta her own party!” Apple Jack yelled.

“Of course not darling! When Pinkie organizes a party, you can never turn her party down!” Rarity replied.

“It sure was nice of RD ta help with tha music!” Apple Jack added.

“It’s great because this allows Vinyl to mingle with everypony else!” Twilight replied.

And at that moment, Vinyl appeared next to Twilight.

“Hey gals! Thanks for coming!” She yelled.

“It’s no problem Vinyl! Here, I got you something!” Twilight replied using her magic to raise a small, wrapped present to Vinyl.

“For me? Oh Twilight, you shouldn’t have!” Vinyl replied.

“Open it! I hope you like it!” Twilight said.

Vinyl tore into her present and smiled with glee as her shaded eyes looked upon a new pair of DJ shades.

“Thanks Twilight! I’ve been needing a new pair for a while!” Vinyl said hugging the purple unicorn.

“It’s no problem Vinyl! Go ahead and have fun!” Twilight said after returning the hug.

Vinyl nodded, put on her new shades, and went off to party. A couple minutes later, Rainbow Dash came over the loud speakers.

“Okay everypony! This DJ needs to take a break! The music will resume in ten minutes.” She told them as she was met with a rounding applause for her great DJ work.

Rainbow descended the stage steps and approached her friends.

“Phew! Who would’ve thought that being a DJ can be such a work out!” She said wiping her forehead free of sweat.

“I’d guess keeping the crowd pumped to that type of music would be a workout…” Rarity said with a roll of her eyes. RD was taking a sip of water and nodded.

“A crowd can be a tough one at times.” She replied. Just then, there was a collective gasp in the crowd. The Mane Six looked to the source and found Spike running over to them with a look of panic and urgency.

“Twilight! A letter from Celestia!” He said handing the letter over while catching his breath. Twilight opened the letter with her magic and read the letter. She gasped in horror.

“What is it suga’ cube?” Apple Jack asked worried.

“We need to get everypony out of here! We need to take our positions!” Twilight said running up the stage.

“Twilight, what’s going on?!” Rainbow asked after her. Twilight took a hold of the microphone with both hooves.

“Everypony listen! You need to leave now! I just got told that Discord is on his way here with an army! Get home now!” She cried urgently. In a second, there was a massive commotion of panic and fright. Ponies were running into each other or over each other as they tried to evacuate the town center. Twilight joined her friends who immediately knew what to do. Flutter Shy and Rainbow Dash took to the skies as the others ran to their pre-assigned spots in this type of emergency.

It took only a matter of minutes for the town center to be deathly quiet. Twilight, Apple Jack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie were all adorning combat helmets in a trench as their two Pegasus friends flew over head. No one spoke a word as the silence became unbearable. Suddenly, an explosion occurred in the distance, and it was near where Flutter Shy lived.

“Rarity and I will create a bubble to protect the town. Apple Jack and Pinkie Pie, I need you two to go and make sure that no enemies get through. Rainbow Dash and Flutter Shy will be providing air coverage if you need it.” Twilight told them. The girls saluted and went off as Rarity stayed behind. “When I give the signal, use everything you have to create a strong barrier, got it?” Twilight asked the fashion diva.

“Of course darling. I may not look like much, but I have the magic where it counts!” She said triumphantly. Suddenly, another explosion went off nearby.

“Get ready Rarity. Here comes trouble.” Twilight said. The silence became unbearable once again. Suddenly, a collective roar sounded at the forest near PonyVille. Out of the forest came dark creatures. They looked like they were smaller Discords, spliced with a Pony. It looked gruesome, and they all charged in a massive army.

“NOW RARITY!” Twilight ordered.

As one, the two Unicorns’ horns glowed blue and both shot a blue beam straight up, which then turned into a protective dome that descended around the town. Only a few of the enemies got through, but they were quickly dispatched with a forceful kick from one of the four defending ponies. Outside the force field, the Discord-ites pounded on the blue barrier. Rainbow Dash and the others returned to Twilight and Rarity.

“How long until they get through?” RD asked.

“I honestly have no clue. It could be minutes, hours, or days. But by then, Discord might ignore us and move onto Canterlot. We have to hold them here.” Twilight said to her friends. They all nodded in response as a evil cackling came over the air.

“You little ponies honestly think that you little barrier will keep me out?” Asked the evil, yet charismatic voice of Discord.

“We won’t let ya’ll through Discord! We’ll hold our ground!” Apple Jack yelled back with a mighty voice.

The laughter only replied.

“I’ve been waiting a long time to finally crush you little pests, and I’m not going to be foiled! I’ll personally deliver your lifeless body to Celestia, Twilight. It’ll just go to show that her little pet has finally failed the Royal Highness.” Discord said with a malicious tone.

“Just try your worst Discord! We’re not afraid!” RD said shaking a fist into the air.

“Oh, you will be. And once you are, you’ll be drowned in the sea of Chaos that will surely come!” And with that, Discord’s voice vanished with a nerve-racking cackle.

The Mane Six all looked at each other in silence as the pounding on the outside of the barrier intensified.

***

The Pelican broke through the atmosphere with ease and descended into the night skies as it flew.

“Pilot, find the closest clearing and put us down there.” Antonio ordered the pilot.

“Yes sir.”

After a couple of minutes, the Pelican banked and swung about as it slowly lowered onto the ground.

“Be ready for anything.” Antonio told his team as the rear hatch lowered.

“Strike Team Alpha, move out!” Antonio ordered as he rushed out, Shotgun raised to shoulder height.

However, nothing came to meet them. Just the nighttime wind and the sounds of the grass rustling in the wind.

“Rachel, send up the Recon Probes. Let’s get a feel for the land.” He said with a cautionary voice.

She nodded and pulled out three small probes from her Tactical Softcase. She activated them with her wristpad and they sparked to life, hovering at the level of her head. She transferred the orders into them and they took off in separate directions. One to the north, one to the south, and one to the northeast.

“We should be getting a reading here soon, Commander.” Rachel told Antonio.

“Good. Alpha, fan out and move. Follow my lead. Pelican, return to the Juniper. We’ll radio back when we find anything.” He told the pilot.

“Yes sir. Good luck Alpha.” Replied the pilot, and with that, the Pelican took off into the night sky, roaring for space.

The five Spartans all fanned out and moved in step with Antonio, weapons lowered. Rachel was messing with her wristpad as she was receiving the information from the recon probes.

“Sir, there seems to be some sort of force field to the northeast. Worth checking out. Mountains are to the south, and it’s just forests to the north. The field is near the edge of a forest.” Rachel reported.

“Alpha, we’re moving northeast. Let’s see what’s going on over there.” Antonio ordered. The Spartans all followed behind him and raised their weapons as they entered the dense forest.

The first structure the Spartans came upon was in a style of a small tree house. It looked like a small and quaint country house; a single light came through the windows.

“Rachel. Scout it out.” Antonio ordered. Rachel sprinted forward and up the odd walkway up to the entrance. She raised her DMR cautiously and pointed it into the entrance.

“Hello…?” She asked.

A scream from within erupted and Rachel stumbled back a bit as three blurs of color raced past her.

“Stop them!” She called to her teammates.

Immediately, the four others sprung into action and stopped the blurs with a swift tackle and pinned, what-ever they stopped, to the ground. Lizzie was holding down the forelegs of a young foal as she leaned over it, gazing into a pair of frightened greyish purple eyes. Donovan was holding another young foal in a stomach and neck lock, its’ greyish eyes frantically moving about as its’ mulberry and greyish rose colored mane bounced with each head movement. Antonio was trying to keep the last one silent by covering the snout of the foal as its’ big red and frightened eyes looked into his golden visor, its’ yellow coat shaking visibly with fright.

“What are t-they sir?” Donovan asked as he struggled with the squirming foal.

“They look like young ponies.” Rachel said as she cautiously walked over to the others.

“What, do they belong to some farmers around here?” Lizzie asked as she forced her young pony back down.

Suddenly, one of the ponies spoke, something the Spartans weren’t expecting.

“We’re not work ponies!” yelled Donovan’s pony.

“What the…?” He asked looking up at the others.

“Please tell me you heard that!” He yelled.

“Not so loud!” The pony spoke again.

“Try to get some help Sweetie Belle!” Lizzie’s called out. The one called Sweetie Belle tried to kick Donovan, only to hear the sound of hooves smacking metal armor.

“I can’t! I can’t hurt it!” Sweetie Belle called in terror.

Antonio’s captive bit his left fingers and he lifted his hand, which allowed the pony to escape him.

“Stop it!” He ordered Rachel.

“Go Apple Blossom!” Sweetie Belle yelled.

Rachel sprinted and picked up the fleeing pony and received a faceful of hooves to her visor which cracked. She stumbled back and Apple Blossom ran away.

“Help! Help! Some monsters have my friend! Somepony, any pony! Help! There are giants here!” She yelled.

A sudden scream could be heard in the distance.

Sweetie Belle and the other young pony made eye contact, bit the hands of their captors, and ran off.

“They’re small, but they can sure bite!” Donovan yelled.

“Hold on Apple Blossom! Scootaloo and I are coming!” Sweetie Belle called as the two ran. “Follow them!” Antonio ordered, and the Spartans all followed in chase after the ponies.

The Spartans only stopped running when they saw about twenty odd looking creatures surrounding the young ponies. The three cried out for help as the dark creatures advanced on them, hunger present in their yellow eyes.

“Spartans, engage!” Antonio ordered.

Rachel and Joseph stayed behind to provide support as Donovan, Lizzie and Antonio charged the creatures, guns firing. Antonio blasted on of the creatures away and it simply vanished into black smoke. Donovan sprayed his Assault Rifle and took out about three in one magazine, while Lizzie blasted away at the creatures with her Magnums. Some were advancing on her, and she started doing some fancy CQB fighting, Magnums still firing. She used her Jetpack to gain altitude for a back-flip, causing two of the creatures to smack into each other, allowing Lizzie to only waste one bullet on them. Antonio gutted some with a Kukri and Shotgun combo as cleared out the creatures.

The entire fight lasted only two minutes, and soon the Spartans were standing victorious.

The Spartans turned their attention to the three huddled ponies.

“P-Please don’t eat us…” The one called Apple Bloom said with a shaky country accent.

“Please…let us go…” Sweetie Belle pleaded.

“Please!” cried Scootaloo.

Rachel walked up, slinging her DMR.

“We’re not going to hurt you little ones.” She said getting closer.

“Rachel, what are you-“Antonio started, but he was cut off with a quick glance from Rachel.

She knelt to the three ponies levels and removed her helmet.

“It’s alright; we’re not going to hurt you.” She repeated.

The three ponies gazed at Rachel, their jaws dropping.

“W-what are you and what are y-you going to do t-then…?” Sweetie Belle asked. Rachel tilted her head.

“Haven’t you seen a Human before? Surely you must’ve.” She told them.

The three shook their heads, and Rachel frowned.

“Well, we’re not going to harm you. Just wait there.” She told them standing up and walking to Antonio.

“Yeah, we’re not on Earth.” She said stating the obvious.

“What gave you that idea Sergeant? The fact that there are three talking ponies? Or that we just blasted away some odd creatures?” Antonio asked, agitated.

“What are we going to do?” Donovan asked.

“Y-you can h-help PonyV-Ville…” Sweetie Belle suggested.

Antonio looked past Rachel.

“PonyVille?” He asked.

“Our home town! It’s under attack by more of those creatures and we need your help! We were hiding in out tree house, trying to hide from them when you found us. We though you were some more of those creatures, so we ran…” Scootaloo told them.

Rachel looked to Antonio, then back to the ponies.

“Which way?” She asked. The three pointed in unison: to the northeast. “Sir, we should help them. If they’re home is under attack, the least we can do is help.” Rachel told Antonio.

“Not our home, not our issue. We move in a different direction then.” He stated coldly.

Rachel gasped.

“Sir! With all due respect, this is the perfect time to show whoever lives on this planet that we mean no harm!” Rachel pleaded.

“Think of the new opportunities we can get now that we’re on an alien planet!” She added.

“Not our planet, not our home, not our issue.” Antonio stated, harshly.

Rachel gazed at him through her helmet.

“How can you be so cruel? Sir, I’m relieving you of your command. I’m taking over as Commander of this squad and I will have you reported.” Rachel said turning and walking to the three ponies.

“Sergeant! You do not disrespect your CO like that in front of the squad!” Antonio yelled as he raised a robotic hand in with an accusing finger.

“Kiss my ass CO. I’m in charge now.” She stated while she knelt down to the three ponies.

“We’re going to help you out little ones.” She said.

“Then follow us!” Apple Blossom cried as the three got up and rushed off to their town with the Spartans in tow.

“Hmmm…this should be interesting…” A charismatic voice said as a pair of odd yellow eyes appeared and traced Antonio as he ran.

Very interesting indeed...