A Close Encounter
It was another peaceful afternoon in Ponyville. The sun was shining and evaporating what remained of that morning’s dew. Birds were singing to one another from across treetops. Children were laughing and frolicking merrily around the town. The cloud of smoke over the Everfree forest persisted and now the light smoky scent was slightly more pungent, but this in no way lessened the beauty the surrounding country side. All in all, it was truly a paradise. A perfect example of how pleasant a more pastoral setting could be.
However, anypony traveling near the vicinity of a certain well known apple farm may be surprised to find that life was not as soothing as it may seem. Strange, because one would consider a farm to be the highest attainable level of peace and tranquility possible; but, for some reason, this farm was not following the lead of the surrounding landscape in that it was not being serene.
For you see, on this particular farm there was currently a particular purple unicorn who was particularly upset. Why does this affect the farm’s placidity levels? Well, this unicorn was currently inventing new and innovative swears to express her frustrations, and the nature of these swears where so vulgar that they would make the toughest, most battle-hardened royal guard blush. For, unfortunately, this unicorn forgot that the monster she was supposed to be taking care of had the ability to break through wooden walls like they were made of tissue-paper. Thus, she had placed a barrier spell on the entrance of the barn but not on the barn itself.
This realization not only caused this unicorn to utter these new swears, but to roar them at a volume that made the Royal Canterlot Voice pale in comparison; resulting in her companions hugging each other, cowering in fear from their upset friend, and praying that her spontaneous combustion wouldn’t burn the barn down (somewhat ironic given that one of the companions could be considered a deity herself). Said unicorn’s number one assistant also made a mental note to ask her what a few of the words she was bellowing meant in the near future… if he managed to survived her fury, obviously.
Once Twilight had finished her rant and lay panting on the floor of the barn the others cautiously approached her. After they determined that she was going to be okay, Luna cleared her throat to speak.
“Well Twilight that was a… interesting way to express your opinion, and it certainly was creative. Although you may have gotten a little overzealous around the end there, particularly the bit about my sister’s horn being ‘shoved’ into a certain part of your anatomy.”
Twilight was too tired to say anything so she opted to simply blush in embarrassment.
“But, disturbing mental images aside, we still have a very big problem.”
“How are going to find that awful brute?” asked Rarity.
“Uh Rarity, that thing isn’t exactly gonna be too hard to track down,” replied Rainbow Dash as she pointed to a set of large tracks that the creature had left.
Luna inspected the hole in the barn’s wall and the debris surrounding it. It was clear from the way the ruble was strewn about that the beast had used brute force to make his escape, which left a single question unanswered. How the buck didn’t the girls hear that?
“Twilight, you mentioned in your rant that you placed various kinds of barriers on the barn’s entrance yes? Perhaps they muffled the noise of the crash?” Unlikely though. Most kinds of force fields don’t impede noise from traveling through them. The Princess continued pondering the subject for a few moments before sighing and turning to address the girls.
“Very well, you will all stay here while I track the beast before it does any more harm.” She spread her wings and prepared to take flight, when an orange hoof stopped her.
“Oh no you don’t! Sorry yer highness but there ain’t no way we’re lettin’ you go on yer own,” asserted Applejack. “We’re all goin’ with you.”
Luna glared at the orange pony who had dared to defy her order. Applejack would have been lying if she said she didn’t feel a little nervous under the Princess’ reproachful glare.
“Applejack” muttered Luna through gritted teeth, furious that anypony would have the audacity to give her a command. “I don’t know if you have noticed this, but I am more than capable of handling myself thank you very much.”
“Ah know that princess, but in case you didn’t notice, this thing destroyed mah barn and mah friend’s home. Ah ain’t gonna let it get away with that.”
Luna was taken aback by the bitterness in Applejack’s tone. She hadn’t been expecting the cowpony to be so vengeful, but then again the creature did damage her property and threaten her friend.
“’sides, we’d find it quicker if we went as a group,” Applejack argued. “We could cover more ground.”
She does have a point.
Luna looked at the six mares in the barn. Their eyes all had a glint of determination in them. It reminded the Princess of when they had faced Queen Chrysalis and her swarm. Well, they are the bearers of the element of harmony. They stopped Discord and… her…
The princess of the night sighed again and addressed the group in front of her. “Are you all sure you wish to join me?”
They all affirmed this with a nod; all except Pinkie, who chose to bounce happily instead.
“Very well, but Spike must stay. He is too young to come with us on such a perilous task.”
One would think that Spike would begin protesting Luna’s decision, insisting that he was old enough, that they wouldn’t be safe without him, that they never included him in any of their activities, etc. However, in this case Spike was relieved that Luna had decided to force him to stay behind. It gave him an excuse to avoid the monster without looking scared in front of Twilight because, in all honesty, the metal creature terrified him; not as much as say an Ursa Minor, but still enough that he wanted nothing to do with it.
Despite his fear, Spike felt guilty for not going with Twilight and was concerned about her safety, and standing in front of the massive hole that the creature made in the barn’s wall was not helping to put his worries at ease.
“Are you sure you’re gonna be okay Twi?”
Twilight slowly picked herself up from the ground and smiled warmly at the young dragon. “I’ll be fine Spike. As long as I’m with Luna I’ll be safe.”
Pinkie Pie jumped behind Spike and, to his annoyance, started patting his head. “Don’t you worry you’re pretty little head about Twilight, Spike. Your auntie Pinkie Pie will make sure nothing bad happens to her.”
Deciding that it was time to get moving before the creature managed to get too far, Luna began making her way out of the barn through the newly made entrance, followed by the impromptu search party. “Are you all ready?”
The group nodded simultaneously.
The Princess flared her wings and prepared to take off. “Very well, let us go.”
“Alright everypony, let’s nab us uh monster!” whooped Applejack.
The girls cheered, and galloped/flew/bounced behind Luna as she followed the monster’s tracks out of the barn and towards the Everfree forest.
A francba!
Jorge leapt to his right just as a large jaw slammed into the dirt where he had been standing seconds ago. As he hit the ground, Jorge used his momentum to quickly roll back onto his feet. Despite the size of his suit, when adrenaline was pumping through his body the Spartan could be surprisingly nimble. He whipped around to face the now dazed hydra that had attacked him.
“Is that all you got you oversized lizard?”
The hydra, which was not too fond of Jorge’s taunting, roared and reared its four heads back in preparation to strike. The Spartan however, was having none of that. He whipped his pistol out of its holster and, in the blink of an eye, placed a bullet through each one of the hydra’s four heads. Its tough scales were no match for the pistol’s semi-armor piercing, high explosive rounds.
The hydra seemed to stand still for a few seconds, as if the bullets had no effect on it. The only indication the soldier had that his bullets had pierced the reptile’s skin were four clouds of red mist that briefly flashed around each of its heads. Just as Jorge was about to fire another round the beast crumpled into a heap of lifeless flesh. Jorge, misjudging the size of the creature from his distance, narrowly missed being crushed by the falling corpse. He cautiously approached his fallen opponent to confirm that it had been killed. He inspecting each one of the hydra’s heads and was satisfied to find a bullet wound spewing blood and gray matter out of each one. The soldier had managed to place all of the rounds between each of the hydra’s pair of eyes, save for the last head, where the bullet had imploded its right eye. Sloppy, thought Jorge as he looked at the wound. As he turned around to leave the bog that he stumbled into, the Spartan began mentally berating himself.
Dammit! I haven’t been awake for a whole hour and already I’ve gotten lost in a forest and attacked by some giant mythological monster that came out of bloody nowhere! Jorge alleviated some of his frustrations by punching a nearby boulder, which cracked in half against the force of the blow.
Jorge had awoken in the barn a few hours after being left there by the alien creatures, or at least the Spartan assumed they had brought him there. He had woken up groggy and still sore, but it was nowhere near as bad as the deplorable condition his body had been in not hours ago. The first thing he was able to distinguish in his new surroundings was the smell of hay which hung in the air. It was surprisingly comforting, in that it reminded him of the farms on Reach. The thought of his home spread a warm feeling in his chest that quickly traveled across his body, and a ghost of a smile cracked his stoic façade for but a brief moment.
Unfortunately, that warm sensation soon grew cold as ice as the realization of his planet’s current situation hit him. He frowned, and his face contorted into a dark scowl. Jorge stood up and lightly shook off a few stray straws of hay that found their way onto his armor. That was when he realized that he was wearing his helmet. This confused him more than he already was, seeing as how he was fairly certain that he had taken it off prior to passing out. The only way he would be able to get it back on is if the aliens had put it on for him. His frown deepened further at this thought. Covenant had gotten their filthy claws on his armor, or at least he thought they were Covenant. One of them had spoken to him, and it wasn’t the crude, heavily accented English that Sangheili sometimes spat. This had been a clear, articulate sentence, despite the creature’s stuttering.
Jorge looked around the warehouse he was in. There was a platform in the back area of the room that appeared to be constructed out of flimsy wooden planks, and was lead up there via an even flimsier looking wooden ladder. The bottom floor was made out of similar looking planks but these were older and slightly rotten, a sharp contrast from the red walls that surrounded him, which almost appeared new if the fresh looking coat of paint was any indication. The floor was covered with dry grass, the residuals of the bales of hay which were found in the corners of the structure. Primitive farming equipment populated the storage building. Rusted plows and harrows were piled a few feet from him, and various barrels, scythes, hammers, screwdrivers and other tools where placed neatly along the walls of the room.
Out of instinct the first thing Jorge did after taking in his environment was to examine his current armament. He wasn’t surprised to find that his signature chain-gun was nowhere to be seen, but that still did not make it any less disappointing. What he did have was alarmingly meager. He still had his pistol, the ever trusty M6G PDWS, along with four magazines of ammunition. Other than that all that remained were two M9 frag grenades, one plasma grenade which he had taken from a dead Sangheili, and his combat knife. Needless to say, his arsenal was far from stellar.
Jorge was interrupted from his inspection by voices coming from right outside the barn door. He approached the entrance and, sure enough, seven dots where visible on his motion sensor. The Spartan tried to open the barn door just a crack but was surprised to find that he couldn’t move it. He tried pushing harder but the wood would not budge. Jorge could have charged at the door, but instead he opted to peek through a large crack in the wall nearby. What he saw left him completely speechless.
There, a few feet from the entrance of the building, were the horse-like creatures from earlier, but this didn’t surprise Jorge. Unless he had been dreaming or hallucinating then it was likely that they would have brought him there. What did surprise the large Spartan was what the creatures were doing. They were…having a picnic. A real honest to god picnic: basket, quilt, sandwiches, the whole shebang. And they were laughing. It sounded almost, no, exactly like a human laugh. Hell, if the aliens were to be replaced by humans it would look like a picture taken out of children’s book. There were six of them, including the purple one he had encountered earlier, plus what appeared to be a small lizard. Jorge noticed that while some of the horses (as he now opted to call them) had horns protruding from their foreheads, there were a couple that didn’t. A couple even looked like they each had a pair of wings, although the Spartan was too far away to be certain. They were all just sitting there talking. While Jorge was too far to hear exactly what they were saying he was able to make up a word or two and, much to his surprise, he realized that they were speaking English. Jorge had thought that he imagined the purple one speaking to him earlier, but now there was no denying it. Not only did these creatures speak perfect English but it appeared to be their native tongue.
Jorge could almost hear his mind snap. This went against everything that he knew about Covenant. Even him being alive would be considered odd as the aliens weren’t known for taking prisoners, but watching a group of Covenant having a picnic while addressing each other in English was simply unprecedented. Were they even Covenant? Why else would they be on Reach? His mind was running at a million miles a minute. Jorge had no clue what to do, he had never before faced this kind of scenario. He could attack them and then what? If they were Covenant then there was no way he would be able to fight through an entire town full of them with the measly weaponry he had. But… they were speaking English!!! How could they be Covenant? Besides, he had no idea what these creatures were capable of; and what if they weren’t in fact Covenant? Was that even possible?
There were too many variables to take into account, and he didn’t know enough about his current situation to make an informed decision. He was not the kind of soldier to ‘shoot first and ask questions later,’ he was a Spartan. Trained his entire life to analyze any situation and come up with the most optimal solution possible, and so Jorge resigned himself to avoid confronting the creatures and to make it back to Noble team at all costs, with the hope that all his questions would be answered in time. He turned around and headed towards the back wall of the barn. Using the one strategy that had yet to fail him, the Spartan charged at the wall and burst through it as if it wasn’t even there. How the aliens didn’t hear him he’ll never know, but at that moment it didn’t matter. He sprinted as fast as he could into a nearby forest in the hopes that he could gain some distance between himself and the foreign creatures.
And now, after hours of blindly marching through said forest, there he stood; examining the corpse of a mythological creature that he had just slain. As silly as he felt calling the monster a ‘hydra’ the beast looked remarkably similar to ancient Greek depictions of the creatures. Jorge sighed and began making his way out of the swamp. He had been wandering through the forest trying to reestablish contact with friendly forces, but that hope had died along with the beast. There’s no way I’m on Reach. Last he checked there weren’t hydra’s on Reach, or any terrestrial creatures of that size for that matter. Various theories as to where he could be entered his mind. Did the Covenant really capture me? Maybe they took me to one of their planets? He doubted that. If that were true then they never would have left him unguarded or with his armor on. Is this another human colony? That too was unlikely. If he was captured by insurrectionists then, again, he wouldn’t have been left in a warehouse on his own; and if he was found by UNSC forces then they would have taken him to some sort of hospital or command center. Hell, maybe the slipsace drive teleported me to another world entirely.
Jorge almost laughed at the absurdity of that last theory. I could be dead. Or maybe the aliens never talked and I’m just going crazy. He continued contemplating his location for a little longer before quickly pushed those thoughts out of his head and doing the only thing he could think of. He kept moving. The Spartan continued marching through the bog with his pistol out in case another ‘fictional’ creature decided to attack him. The mud was now waste high and trudging through the swamp was becoming increasingly difficult, but Jorge showed no signs of slowing down.
Having just learned how dangerous this forest could be, Jorge decided that he needed to find shelter before nightfall. Once he had some sort base he would… he would… he didn’t know what he would do. He was in an unknown territory with no squad mates, no contact with any sort of command or any humans for that matter, and to top it all off he was tramping through a forest full of strange, and in some cases hostile, flora and fauna, surrounded by a never before discovered species of sentient beings.
Jorge had never felt more alone in his life. He had always had other Spartans to count on whenever he went on missions. Spartans rarely ever went on lone wolf style operations and instead opted to go in small teams. This became even truer once he had joined Noble Team, as Spartan-III’s were trained specifically to fight in groups. In the few cases that Jorge did go on a mission on his own he at least had radio contact with command. But here? Here he was completely cut off from anyone, and the fact that a small part of him was convinced that he was going insane only served to increase the oppressive feelings of isolation he was suffering.
Once Jorge had made his way out of the swamp and onto dry land, he looked back at the dead hydra to make sure it stayed dead. He had no idea what that thing was capable of so it was best to stay cautious. For all he knew the creature could just be playing dead, although the bullet holes in its heads helped calm these concerns.
That thing is huge! He thought, now able to get a look at the beast from a better vantage point. Not as big as a Scarab but still, it’s a massive creature.
After taking one last look his kill, Jorge turned around and continued traveling through the thick forest. Vines and branches, that would normally hinder most other creatures, were swept away by the Spartan with ease. He had trained in these kinds of environments his whole life and as a result he was able to cover a lot of ground in a short time.
He continued to mindlessly march through the thick vegetation for a few hours, passing by some truly fantastic plants on his way. Flowers of every shape and color resided here and they truly were a sight to behold. A species of yellow, bell-shaped flower seemed to be the most common plant that Jorge had seen. They hung upside down from tree branches so that their petals pointed to the floor, but what made these flowers particularly interesting was that they didn't seem to grow on any specific kind of tree; they just sprouted anywhere not unlike a fungus.
There were also some plants that followed him as if they could sense his presence. One of the damn things had actually tried to bite him. It was dark crimson, like blood, and had a set of jagged, cruel looking yellow teeth that, despite being razor sharp, failed to pierce his armor. Another kind of flower, similar in appearance to the carnivorous plant only black instead of red, appeared to have green eyes and a malevolent smirk that gave Jorge the feeling that the forest itself was going to try to kill him. What unnerved him the most about this flower was that, unlike its red cousin, this plant had holes all over its surface like a sponge, and whenever a breeze rolled by and entered said holes it would create a sharp whistle that sounded like the shrieks of a madman. Jorge destroyed this plant whenever he could.
But by far the strangest plant Jorge saw was a flower (or at least he thought it was a flower) that was incased in a bubble. It wasn't really a bubble; it was actually a very thin layer of membrane that gave it the appearance of one. However, one would be forgiven for confusing it for a bubble seeing as how they floated over the forest floor, casually drifting in any direction. Inside the membrane sphere was a small, electric blue colored flower. Its long stem was extremely thin, and curled around itself within its orb casing, making it look like a green web. The plant also had some sort of natural lighting which caused it to glow in the shade, creating a jaw dropping-ly beautiful scene whenever Jorge entered a darker part of the forest.
These were Jorge’s favorite plant by far. He took a pause from his walking to reach out and grab one the bubbles. Jorge gently held it in his cupped hands and stared at the mesmerizing shade of blue. He continued to stare at it for a few more minutes before lifting his arm and delicately pushing the flower upward. It continued to float towards the sky for a few seconds before slowing down and coming to a halt mid-air.
Hydra attacks and macabre plants aside, this place is actually pretty pleasant. Most of the animals I've come across have been harmless enou-
Jorge’s thoughts where cut off by the sound of a twig snapping a few meter from where he was standing. All his years of training kicked in in a heartbeat as he quickly whipped his pistol out of its holster and crouched in a defensive position, aiming the gun in the direction of the noise.
It’s probably just a squirrel again.
A quick check of his motion sensor disproved that theory as it was displaying a white dot, indicating that there was something of substantial size in front of him. Jorge silently approached the source of the noise, his gun at the ready. As he moved forward so did the dot on his motion sensor. Step by step, he gradually got closer to whatever was being displayed on the sensor. When he was finally in front of the white dot, Jorge smoothly pushed the canopy aside and came face to face with what had caused the racket. He could not believe his eyes.
You've got to be fucking kidding me.
The group of ponies had been following the creatures tracks for over an hour by the time they arrived to Froggy Bottom Bog. The bog was by far one of the most unpleasant areas of the forest, and that day it was as stagnant as ever. Bubbles slowly rose to the surface of the brown-green muck and ugly, black, twisted trees populated the surrounding shore, giving the swamp a sinister appearance. Mosquitos, dragon-flies, and other pests buzzed above the surface of the water, which was permeating the foul stench of rotting vegetation. Understandably Rarity refused to take a single step into the putrid liquid. Fortunately, this problem was quickly solved when Rainbow Dash begrudgingly agreed to carry the white unicorn on her back while the others, minus Luna and Fluttershy, traveled through the mud by hoof.
The fliers stayed closed the three mares on the ground, who were getting more and more irritated by the minute. The sludge was making walking a chore and a rather difficult one at that. Even Pinkie, who would normally be doing some sort of physics defying stunt, was getting annoyed by the mud that was impeding their progress.
“Could you three hurry up please? shouted Rarity down at the group on the ground. “You’re taking an awfully long time and at this rate we’ll never catch the monster.”
If looks could kill then Rarity would be the first mare in the history of Equestria to be caught in the epicenter of a thermonuclear blast from the glares the three Earth-bound mares were giving her.
“Er…um… or you could… you know… take your time” she muttered weakly.
Finally, after what felt like hours, the group made it to an area of dry land in the middle of the bog and decided to take a break. Rainbow in particular needed to rest from carrying Rarity and said as much.
“Are you calling me fat!?!” screeched the dressmaker.
“What? No!”
“Well, you just said you needed to rest from carrying me, so you’re clearly implying that I’m heavy.”
Rainbow rolled her eyes. “Excuse me for being tired from carrying your big butt for the past twenty-five minutes.” Realizing what she had just said, the cyan pegasus winced. Poor choice of words there Rainbow.
She looked over at Rarity and slowly backed away. The white unicorn was fuming, literally. Smoke was actually coming out of her nostrils as she snorted in anger. Her face was beet red and the veins on her neck were alarmingly visible. It actually reminded Rainbow a little of Horse Power whenever he got pumped up. She would have chuckled at the memory of the excited pegasus bellowing ‘YEEEAH’ if it wasn't for Rarity approaching her with a look of pure rage.
Rarity opened her mouth and took a deep breath, ready to give Rainbow Dash a piece of her mind, when suddenly both mares heard somepony shriek in fear.
“Fluttershy” they both said in unison. Forgetting their confrontation, Rainbow Dash and Rarity both galloped/flew in the direction of the scream. When they joined their friends they saw the whole group, including Fluttershy, staring at a large mound of dirt in both horror and awe.
“Hey, what are you… you…”
Rainbow Dash trailed off when she got a closer look at the small hill in front of her. It wasn’t a hill at all, but was actually the corpse of a full grown hydra. The group of ponies stared wide-eyed at the tremendous beast. They had never seen a hydra this close before except for Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, who were almost eaten by one about a year ago. The memory of that terrifying event only served to make this situation all the more jarring.
Luna was the first to approach the corpse, momentarily distracted from her current quest by the unusual sight in front of her. What could have done this? It does not appear to be wounded and it certainly isn’t old enough to have died naturally. She continued to circling the dead hydra until she arrived to its first head.
“Girls come quickly; I found the cause of the hydra’s death.”
The six bearers of the elements of harmony made their way to where Luna was standing. Unfortunately, they were not prepared for the copious amounts of blood oozing out of the hydra’s head and suffered somewhat violent reactions to the gore.
Rarity’s face turned green and she began dry heaving. It took all of her willpower to keep from ejecting the contents of her stomach. Pinkie Pie’s hair straightened out for a second time that day, while her coat became a noticeably darker shade of pink; almost as if shadow had been cast over her. Fluttershy had the most extreme reaction of the group. All the color drained from her face and she just stood, staring at the creature without moving a muscle. It was as if her mind was unable to process the scene in front of her. After a few moments she broke down and started weeping silently. The others simply chose to cringe in revulsion.
Luna you fool. Of course their going to react like this, they’re not used to these kinds of things.
As Luna chastised herself she took another look at the hydra’s wound. Her stomach churned uncomfortably and she began to feel a little nauseous. Maybe I’m not so used to it myself.
After a few minutes the group managed to regain their composure, all except Fluttershy who continued to cry while Rarity and Pinkie Pie tried their best to comfort her. Due to her work taking care of animals, Fluttershy was used to death and had long since accepted it as something natural. But seeing a living creature die so… violently was too much for the yellow pegasus to handle.
Luna continued to examine the hydra, making sure to check its three other heads before joining the others.
“It is as I thought; the beast has a similar wound in each of its heads,” Luna explained.
“W-what could have done something l-like this?” asked Twilight, who was still a little shaky from the sight of the behemoth’s wounds. “Do you think the monster we’re chasing is responsible?”
“I do not know Twilight Sparkle. I have never encountered a wound like this before so I cannot tell what could have caused it.”
“Ah’m bettin' it did do it”
“For now it is the most likely explanation. However, until I catch it we won’t be able to find out for certain.”
“Um Princess, don’t you mean until we catch it?” inquired Rainbow Dash.
“Nay, I want you all to return to Ponyville. Whatever may have done this,” she waved her hoof towards the dead hydra, “might still be in the area and if the metal beast is to blame then that is all the more reason why you should return.”
The group began loudly echoing their disapproval. Luna tried to get them to quiet down but it was no use; they were adamant about continuing the search with her, especially Applejack. Finally, Luna lost her patience with the six mares.
“SILENCE!!! WE WILL CONTINUE OUR SEARCH ON OUR OWN AND THOU SHALL RETURN TO PONYVILLE IMMEDIATELY OR WE SHALL…shall…”
Luna couldn’t finish. She found herself staring into a pair of large, teal eyes looking directly at her. The princess of the night felt a chill run down her spine as those blue eyes bore into her soul. She was completely hypnotized. Everything around her faded away and all that remained were those blue irises staring at her. She tried to resist, only to suffer a massive headache that began pounding her skull like a sledgehammer. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Luna began hearing a soft voice.
“Now, you’re going to stop yelling at us and then you’re going to let us come with you to find this monster. Do you understand?”
Luna nodded weakly; her vision soon started turning back to normal as the blue eyes left her vision. Once her sight was fully restored, Luna’s knees buckled and she began panting heavily. Her headache started receding and, slowly but surely, she got back up, although her legs were still quivering slightly.
What in the unholy name of Tartarus just happened!?
Luna looked towards her companions and could see them all with their jaws on the floor, staring in shock at a shivering mass of yellow and pink that was laying in front of her. The alicorn looked down at the yellow blob and realized it was Fluttershy. The poor pegasus appeared to be terrified, for not only was she shivering but she was also hiding behind her pink mane while whispering under her breath.
“I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry I’m sorry…”
“W-what… what was that?” muttered Luna weakly.
Realizing that she had not yet been zapped into oblivion, banished to the sun, or been zapped into oblivion after being banished to the sun, Fluttershy tentatively looked up at the Princess standing over her and was surprised to find that she didn't look furious. She didn’t even look mildly annoyed. She looked… afraid?
“Well… um… it’s called ‘the stare’ and I use it to control animals but you were yelling and I got scared and I can’t control it so next thing I know I was using the stare and then I got scared because I didn’t know what you were going to… please don’t banish me” whimpered Fluttershy.
Luna stared at Fluttershy in disbelief. She could not fathom how this small pegasus was able to subdue her. Her! The immortal princes of the night! She was practically a goddess! But here comes this timid mare and in less than thirty seconds manages to overpower her.
“N-no Fluttershy, do not worry I will not punish you.”
“You won’t?”
Luna smiled uncomfortably. “Of course not, I recognize that it was just an accident.” That was one heck of an accident though. “In fact, I’m happy that you are now feeling better.”
Fluttershy smiled weakly at the Princess as a look of relief washed over her face. She stood up and made her way back to her friends, who had snapped out of their stupefied state and were now looking at the Princess expectantly.
“Sooooo can we come with you?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Luna sighed. She recognized that these mares where more than capable of handling themselves, they have proved as much in the past, but that did not help quell her fears that something might happen to them. If they got hurt while in her care she would never be able to live with herself. However, the longer they spent arguing about this the more time it gave the creature to escape. Besides, even if I did tell them to go back they would probably go looking for the beast on their own, and in that case better they stay with me.
“Very well, you may continue the search with me.” The girls were about to start cheering when Luna raised her hoof to silence them. “On one condition: You must promise to stay with me at all times. Never leave my field of vision. Do you understand?” The girls once again nodded in unison. Luna and the six mares started making their way out of the bog in the direction that the tracks were heading. The water and muck made following the creature difficult as it washed away any hoof prints it may have left, but it appeared to be heading in one direction so the group had a fairly good idea of where to go.
After they left the swamp behind, the search party continued walking through the forest at a brisk pace. Everypony was excited to find their fugitive and the enthusiasm in the air was electric. But as time went on and no sign of the monster was to be found the girl’s excitement started to wane.
“Ugh we’ve been walking through the forest for hours” whined Dash. “Why can’t I just fly again?”
“Because the Princess doesn’t want us to stray too far from her” stated Twilight matter-of-factly.
Rainbow just mumbled something about missing her naps and Twilight rolled her eyes. She was used to her friend complaining when it came to messing with her busy sleeping schedule and she long ago learned how to tune it out. Rainbow does have a point though. How long have we been looking for this thing?
Twilight looked up at the sky and noticed that the sun was starting to dip into the horizon. As the minutes went by the lavender unicorn found it harder and harder to keep her eyes open. No! I have to stay awake. The Princess needs my help. But it was no use. Slowly but surely Twilight’s eye lids started to droop down and before long she began to drift off into a peaceful slumber without anypony noticing.
The lavender mare continued to march onward, despite having slipped into a dreamless sleep. She began to fall behind the rest of the group, who were too busy following the creature’s tracks and staving off their own exhaustion to realize that a certain unicorn was not keeping up with them.
This continued for a while longer. Celestia’s sun was now halfway under the horizon and soon Luna would stop to quickly raise the moon; and all the while Twilight continued to trudge along in her sleep, completely oblivious to the fact that she was now lost and separated from the others.
Twilight woke up with a start when a small snake slithered against her leg. If she had not been groggy from just being woken up she probably would have screamed loud enough to burst one of her lungs. But, alas, this was not the case, and so the snake slithered on peacefully and Twilight was spared an unpleasant surprise. After rubbing her eyes she looked at her surroundings and quickly realized that she was now completely alone.
What happened? Where are the girls? I was right behind them a second ago.
Twilight continued to look around frantically while trying to come up with some sort of explination as to why she suddenly found herself alone in an unexplored part of the Everfree forest.
I must have fallen asleep, she concluded in frustration. She could hardly believe that she would allow herself to be so careless, especially while on such an important task for the Princess. Deciding that the best course of action would be to double back and try and find the path, Twilight turned around and trotted towards in the direction that she had come from.
As the sky darkened the forest became more and more imposing to the small unicorn. The trees seemed to close around her and every noise, no matter how small or insignificant, made her jump in fear. Worst of all she could not shake the feeling that she was being watched by hundreds of eyes hiding in the undergrowth. Various growls, snorts, and screams from the local wildlife were continuously emanating from every direction. The combination of all these factors, plus the fact that the sky was now blood red due to the nearly set sun, had such a powerful effect on the petit mare that with every step she took she became paler and paler.
Calm down Twilight, just calm down. Before you know it you’ll be in Ponyville, laughing about this whole event with Spike and the girls. Despite her self-assurances Twilight could not stop shivering in fear. Why am I even worried? I’m the Princess’s protégé for goodness sakes! If I could take on an Ursa Minor then there’s nothing I can’t han-
Twilight’s thought was cut short by a nagging feeling in the back of her mind. She couldn’t exactly place what it was but she could tell that something was not quite right. Twilight paused to examine her surroundings. Something was just off. There was a change in the air, and it was sudden enough to derail her train of thought (which, as a young dragon can attest to, is not an easy feat).
Then it hit her.
When did it get so quiet?
The forest had become deathly silent save for the rustling of leaves in the wind. The growls of the forest dwellers that had frightened Twilight not a few moments ago were now completely absent. The birds that had cried out to one another over the forest canopy were nowhere to be found. Even the insects that crawled along the trees and dirt had disappeared… or fled.
Somehow, against all odds, the silence proved more unnerving to Twilight then the sound of forest life. It was an unnatural kind of quiet, and the mare began to feel suffocated in its presence. She was left with a single question in her mind as she shakily renewed her travel.
What caused this silence?
In what could be described as a comically well timed event, Twilight’s question would be answered almost instantly. For no sooner had this thought crossed her mind that she walked through a cluster of plants and came face to face with her own reflection.
Her thorough analysis of the situation could be listed in a series of brief thoughts that go as follows:
1. What the…?
2. Huh?
3. What’s a mirror doing he-
4. …
5. Oh my gosh.
6. Oh my gosh!
7. Oh my gosh!!!
8. MONSTER!!!
Twilight didn’t move a muscle. She was, quite literally, paralyzed in fear. She could not even form a cohesive thought due to the fact that a single voice was now occupying roughly four percent of her thought power. Said voice was a single continuous scream that failed to become an actual physical action; while the other ninety-six percent of her analytical capabilities where completely void of any thought whatsoever. To put it bluntly, the amount of useful ideas that were passing through Twilight’s sub-conscious at the time was zero, nada, zilch.
The result was that Twilight was currently staring straight into the face of the monster she was pursuing with a look of absolute terror. Her mane was disheveled into a pinky-esc fashion from the shock of having this gargantuan creature staring straight at her, and her pupils had shrunk to the size of peas. Both Twilight and the metal being gazed at each other silently, the only sound that could be heard was Twilight’s erratic breathing.
This went on for several minutes, and all the while Twilight’s mind continued to scream in fear. Sweat poured down her brow as she continued to stand unmoving, looking at her reflection on the being’s helmet. Finally, having had enough of this whole affair, the monster, who had previously been crouching low in attempt to remain undetected, stood up to its full height.
The sudden movement caught Twilight off guard. In the face of the monster’s real height she was reminded of how much bigger than her it was. Fortunately however, the beast’s movements snapped the unicorn out of her stupor, and so she did the only thing she could think of doing in a situation like this.
She screamed.
“How could you lose her!?!”
“I lost her!?! Last time I checked she was right behind you!”
“Oh, um… could you please stop yelli-”
“Ah don’t care which one uh ya lost her, we gotta find her before she gets hurt!”
“I’m sure she’s fine, besides, now we can have another search part!”
“Not now Pinkie!”
“Will you all just stop shouting!”
“You started it!”
“I don’t care started it I’m finishing it! Besides, you clearly were the one who started it.”
“ME!?! Why you prissy slu-”
“SILENCE!!! THOU SHALL END THY BICKERRING IMMEDIATELY AND GO FIND MY REAGENT SISTER’S STUDENT TOGETHER BEFORE SHE-”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!”
“Twilight!”
Jorge had actually started feeling relaxed. The walk through the woods had been cathartic, and it was just what he needed to get his head clear and try to make sense of his situation. Now? Now he could feel his headache from earlier slowly creeping back into his skull.
Did it have to scream so loudly?
The Spartan had long since ceased to question his situation and decided that, for now, he should just go along with whatever happened until he came up with a better plan. There was little else he could do. If he was dead and this was some cruel afterlife then he couldn’t change that. If he was hallucinating or going crazy, then he would just wait to wear off or, failing that, just put a bullet in his brain. And if he was, by some sheer stroke of bad luck, alive and on some new planet populated by an alien species then… then he did not want to have to think about the implications.
That being said, just because he accepted his situation didn’t mean that he had to necessarily like it; especially when a certain alien creature, whose coloring was not exactly to Jorge’s liking, was screaming loud enough to hurt his ears even from within his helmet.
Shortly after screeching like a banshee, the little unicorn (as ridiculous as he felt calling it that Jorge felt it would serve for now) had galloped away from him at such an alarming speed that he doubted that he would have been able to catch it even if he wanted to. He was about to turn around and head in a different, quieter direction, when he heard a loud *thump* come from the direction where the horse had run to. Curious, Jorge decided to find out what had happened to the purple animal.
It’s not like I have anything better to do, he thought grimly.
He quickly arrived to a small clearing and spotted the unicorn on the other side. Much to the Spartan’s amusement, she seemed to have her horn lodged in a tree trunk and was now trying desperately to free herself.
So much for it being a threat.
Jorge continued to stare at the mare (at least he thought it was female judging from the pitch of her voice) trying to pull out her horn from the wood for the next few minutes. She continued to thrash and grunt violently, pushing with her forelegs while balancing herself on her back legs. Occasionally, she would slip and stumble slightly, resulting in unintelligible muttering.
Kind of cute actually, thought Jorge.
He began approaching the strange pony-like creature but paused when she finally managed to free herself from her predicament. She lightly rubbed her horn while muttering to herself, and turned around. When she spotted Jorge she once again froze and her pupils shrunk back to a minuscule size. He stopped moving towards her and stared back.
Oh god, please don’t scream.
Lucky for him, she did not scream, but instead back away from the massive soldier until her back pressed against the dark, warped tree which had previously imprisoned her. Jorge started making his way towards the unicorn again, curiosity winning over his better judgment, when he stopped once more. That was when he noticed how much the creature was shivering. Jorge took one quick glance at her eyes and was surprised by what he saw.
Fear.
There was no doubt about it anymore.
This is definitely not Covenant.
Covenant never show fear. Ever. They are always more than willing to die in the name of their faith. Even the grunts, who sometimes began running around screaming on the battle field, are more stupid and hysterical than anything else. But this… this was different. What Jorge saw in the pony’s eyes was the very essence of terror and he was surprised to find that he felt a pang of remorse for being its cause. Generally, he would be thrilled to be so imposing, as it could make a fight against the Covenant that much easier, but in this case he felt somewhat guilty for scaring such a delicate looking creature.
Jorge crouched down and tried to seem as none threatening as possible which was a futile gesture seeing as how he was a faceless being who towered over the spooked mare. But to his credit she did seem to start shaking less violently, at least until he tried to approach her again. At this the mare began hyperventilating and trembling worse than ever.
Undeterred, the Spartan continued advancing, not taking his eyes off the quivering purple unicorn in front of him. When he was about fifteen meters from the unicorn her horn began glowing in a purple aura similar in color to her eyes. This caused Jorge to hesitate. His fingers grazed his holstered pistol instinctively.
What’s it playing at?
The unicorn, who continued shaking like a leaf, was still obviously afraid. But Jorge knew that a frightened animal, especially when cornered, could be just as dangerous and unpredictable as when calm. Maybe more so seeing how there is an element of desperation involved, unhinging all forms of inhibition and allowing for the kind of crazy stunts that most creatures would never dare attempt. Maybe that’s what it was doing now. With this in mind Jorge slipped the pistol out of its holster and took a tentative step forward…
…only to be blocked by an invisible force.
Jorge was taken aback. He tried to step forward again and was stopped once more by the same force, only this time a large purple bubble materialized and illuminated right in front of him for a short moment. He reached out and poked at the force field in fascination, sending ripples across the sphere. Jorge looked inside the bubble and noticed that leaves were still gently stirring, as if the breeze was unaffected by the transparent wall.
He continued to poke the bubble. Every time he did so it would glow, enveloping the dark canopy in its purple light. This didn’t sit well with Jorge. He knew that Covenant could create biotic shields and the color of the sphere in front of him was uncomfortably similar to that of a Covenant carrier. He began feeling uneasy, questioning whether or not this new species was associated with the genocidal religion that was trying to wipe out his species. Maybe the creature was trying to trick him?
His doubt was immediately put to rest when he heard a shaky voice coming from inside the bubble.
“P-p-please go a-away”
Jorge turned his head to face the pony in front of him. Her eyes were closed and she was whispering the phrase to herself over and over again while tears streaked down her face. Jorge was unsure of what to do. He wasn’t a vet, an expert on animal behavior, or a diplomat. How was he supposed to handle this situation? A member of an unknown, (likely) un-hostile species, probably a child, cowering away from him, convinced that he’s going to cause her harm. This was a first for the large Spartan.
That phrase is pretty applicable to this entire day, he thought dryly.
Jorge continued to stare at the unicorn for a few seconds and sighed.
I can’t believe I’m going to try this.
“P-p-please go a-away”
Twilight was crying now. Tears were slowly leaking through her eyelids which were clenched shut in focus. She couldn’t help it. Hours of trekking through the forest had left her too exhausted to practice any advanced or long-term magic, and the headache from running horn first into a tree she was experiencing was severely hampering her concentration.
It won’t be long now, she thought miserably.
She couldn’t keep up the force field forever. Sooner or later it would collapse and she would be at the monster’s mercy. She only wished it could be later rather than sooner. Twilight could feel her magic begin to wane. Despite knowing the hopelessness of the situation, she gritted her teeth and poured every last ounce of energy into keeping the shield up.
I can’t believe I’m never going to see my friends again.
At this thought Twilight choked out a small sob. One by one, she began remembering each and every one of her friends and how they enriched her life.
Rarity, always willing to help, never expecting something in return. Applejack, she was always there for me no matter what and I could trust her with anything. Rainbow Dash, she could be hot headed sometimes but she never let me down. I can’t believe I’ll never hear her call me egghead again. Sweet, gentle Fluttershy; if anyone lived up to their element it was her. She was truly the kindest mare in Equestria. And Pinkie Pie. Celestia knows she could be annoying, but she never failed to cheer me up.
Twilight was outright weeping at this point, unable to contain her sorrow.
I never got to say goodbye.
Sweat began pouring down her brow and mixing with her tears. The base of her horn was throbbing in pain. Her breathing became irregular and she could feel her knees starting to buckle. She knew that any second now she would collapse from exhaustion and her force field would come down.
This is it. Goodbye cruel world.
“Can you talk?”
Twilight’s eyes shot open. Her shield immediately collapsed as she herself fell to the ground panting. Her vision was blurry and she was doing her best to avoid passing out. Her tongue rolled out of her mouth and was lying on the forest floor, but she couldn't care less. She stayed like this for a few minutes just trying to breathe as much air as possible, as if she had just narrowly avoided drowning. After her vision returned back to normal and she regained control over her breathing, Twilight turned her attention to the monster in front of her.
Did it just talk? I did hear it talk before right? Or did I just imagine it? Maybe I mishear-
“So… can you talk?”
Twilight was stunned. She was sure she heard it talk earlier today after it destroyed her library and she was certain that it was sentient, but to have it standing in front of her, trying to start a conversation and, more importantly, not trying to eat her… it was quite astonishing. She continued to stare at the beast, bemused, for a few seconds before realizing that it was waiting for a response.
Quick, say something smart!
“W-wha?”
Twilight felt like face-hoofing herself to death. Nice job genius.
The creature seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “Right, I suppose my first question should have been: Are you intelligent?” it replied.
Well that’s just rude. Twilight glared at the creature, annoyed by its brusqueness. Although, in retrospect, seeing how it was more than twice her size and could break through walls this probably wasn’t the best idea.
“Yes I’m intelligent,” snapped Twilight. “Are you?”
The creature stepped back away from her almost in surprise, which perplexed the lavender unicorn. Is it afraid or something?
“Well I’ll be” it muttered.
Both parties were left staring at each other for the next few minutes. Twilight felt a little awkward under the scrutiny of this mysterious creature. If it felt the same way it didn’t show it. Then again, it was somewhat difficult to gage its emotions under that helmet. After a while Twilight shakily got back on her hooves and tried to think of something to say, but her mind was completely blank. Fortunately the creature took care of that problem.
“What are you?”
“What, haven’t you ever seen a pony before?”
The creature snorted. “Not one that talks.”
“Well, what other kind is there?”
The creature didn’t respond. It just shook its head slightly and muttered something under its breath.
“Well?”
“Well what?”
“You didn’t answer my question, also, why aren’t you trying to eat me?”
There was a long pause, then the creature began talking very slowly and deliberately. “Why. Would I try. To… eat you?”
“Because… isn’t that what monsters… you know… do?”
Twilight felt like a complete fool. Goodness I sound like such a filly. Of course it’s not going to try to eat me, it’s sentient. Although, dragons are also sentient…
Then, to Twilight’s surprise, the monster started chuckling.
“Heh, well I’ve never been called a monster before.”
“So if you’re not a monster then what are you?”
The creature paused for a few seconds before answering, as if it didn’t know how to respond.
“I’m a Homo Sapien.”
Twilight simply stared blankly at the ‘Homo Sapien’.
“We’re also known as Humans.”
Wait, that sounds familiar…
Then something in Twilight’s mind *clicked* and a look of comprehension appeared on her face.
“I think I’ve read about your kind before. But wait, aren’t you supposed to be a myth?”
“We’re the myth?” the human deadpanned. Twilight nodded in response and it muttered something incomprehensible again. It was at this point that Twilight realized that, not only was she still breathing, but that there was a living myth standing right in front of her. For a brief millisecond her brain was shut down by the overwhelming observation. Then, as her brain rebooted itself, thousands upon thousands of questions began pouring into her mind. Things she wanted to ask, to learn, to do with the human. Her excitement must have been visible because the human took a step back in apprehension.
I need to relax, no need to freak him out. He obviously… come to think of it, is it a ‘he'.
“Excuse me, Mr. Human? I just wanted to know, are you a… male?”
The human just stood there for a minute, as if it had not registered the question. Not the most talkative individual, thought Twilight. She was about to ask again when it answered.
“Yes. And I assume you’re a female?”
“Yes I am. My name is Twilight Sparkle and I am a unicorn mare. It is a pleasure to meet you Mr… excuse me but do you have a name?”
Once again, the human didn’t answer immediately.
“Jorge,” he finally replied in a reluctant tone.
“Pardon?”
“My name. It’s Jorge”
Twilight smiled. She was positively beaming. She was holding a conversation with an alien from an undiscovered species. And not just any undiscovered species; an undiscovered species who was only believed to exist in myth! This was probably one of the most important moments of her life. The next few minutes could permanently alter the future of Equestria forever, not to mention ponykind’s relationship with an entirely new, technologically advanced race.
I have to be careful. Jorge seems apprehensive and rightfully so. He’s in a new land facing a race he’s never seen before. If I’m going to convince him that I and ponies in general are not hostile then I need to approach this with the utmost delicacy and precisi-
“CHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGEEEEE!!!!!!!”
…buck me.