Twilight crept down the stairs, careful not to make a racket as she descended into the main floor of the library.
Her four friends were sprawled out in various places, each one dozing peacefully under a spare comforter she had provided. Her eyes drifted to the clock on the far wall. It read 3:48 AM. Her mouth curved into a small grin. Perfect.
Carefully stepping over her friends, she made her way over to the basement door. Nosing it open, she entered the musty-smelling basement, slowly making her way down the stairs. She froze when she spotted the super-soldier sitting up against the far wall, eyeing her cautiously.
After a few tense moments, she relaxed when she noticed the black suit (where she assumed his abdomen was) rising and falling slowly and rhythmically, indicating he was indeed asleep. Glancing around the dank underground chamber, she felt a pang of sorrow for the Chief, who had chosen to sleep here in the first place. Did he always like to be alone like this…?
She advanced on the sleeping figure, her horn aglow with her lavender aura. Her jaw was set in grim determination. It was time to see what this super-soldier was all about.
“…Twilight? What are you doing?” came a harsh whisper.
Biting her hoof to keep herself from yelling out, she turned around, nearly bumping noses with Rarity. She spat out her foreleg, raising a brow in confusion, “Wha? How’d you notice me?”
Rarity rubbed sleepiness from her eyes. “You stepped on my ear back there; how could I not notice you?”
Twilight smiled sheepishly, “O-oh. Sorry, Rarity.”
“That still doesn’t answer my question, though,” Rarity continued, “Why are you down here?”
Twilight turned back towards the sleeping human, her eyes dancing over the polarized visor. “I… I need to know.”
Rarity looked between the human and the lavender unicorn, a confused expression on her face, “What..? Oh, dear. Is this about his past?”
“Yes,” Twilight responded.
“B-but I thought we were going to leave him alone! Not bother him about something he’d rather forget.” Rarity asked, her voice elevated with worry.
“I know… It’s just that it’s always bothered me ever since I saw him in that prison cell. I’m really worried, Rarity. I want to know what in his past could be so horrible that it still bothers him to this day. But, if he won’t tell us about his past, I’ll just have to see it for myself.” Twilight replied, her face now set in stone, “So, are you with me or not?”
Rarity squirmed in place, “…Oh, dear. Why not? I’m curious as to see what will happen.”
Twilight nodded, “Just be aware that we’re entering the mind of a soldier; worst comes to worst, we may end up in the middle of a firefight and getting caught in the crossfire.”
Rarity gulped audibly, “Will we be okay if we… erm… die in the memory?”
Twilight nodded, “Yes; we’ll be noticed by the occupants of each memory, but what will be in the memory are only be projections of our consciousness. If we... y’know… we’ll just wake up here, back in the library.”
“As if it were only a bad dream?”
“Yes,” Twilight replied, her horn glowing slightly, “Anyways, are you ready?”
Rarity sidled up to Twilight, nodding shakily, “As ready as I’ll ever be, Twilight. But I don’t know the spell…”
Twilight smiled, “As long as you’re in contact with me, we’ll both technically be ‘casting’ the same memory spell. At least, that’s how it’s worked in the past for me.”
Rarity took a deep breath, her expression now similar to Twilight’s. She set her foreleg over Twilight’s back, “Okay. Go ahead, Twilight.”
Nodding, Twilight’s horn brightened for an instant before it tapped the soldier’s helmet, their vision fading to a vast whiteness.
--
Twilight blinked once, twice, three times, struggling to clear the white spots in her vision. A terrible stench met her nose, causing her to gag involuntarily. She blinked again, her vision still blurry, but various shapes danced in and out of her vision. Rubbing at her eyes with a hand, she rolled to her side to push herself up.
She stopped herself, staring at her hand that was pushing her upright. She pulled the appendage away from the ground, wriggling her fingers in front of her face.
Realization slowly setting in, she looked down at her feet, waggling her toes experimentally.
She was human. No doubt that she was in John’s memories, now.
Struggling to two feet, she leaned heavily against the wall, taking in her surroundings.
She was in a sewer of some sort, sitting on one of the raised platforms that ran along the side of the central canal. The water was a murky brown, obviously the source of the stench. Light filtered down from above through small grates, revealing a blood-red sky above. To her left, the sewer continued down several meters before ending in a large, metal grate. The other way beheld similar conditions, except the grate had been melted open by whatever had passed through earlier.
She was still examining the melted bars when a voice whispered from behind her.
“H-hello?”
Twilight turned slowly, careful not to trip on her longer, more cumbersome legs. Before her was another human. She wore a short red jacket, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. A pair of dirty red pants adorned her legs. Long brown hair fell to the woman’s elbows, most of it drawn back so it stayed out of her face. Luminous azure eyes stared fearfully into Twilight’s own before they widened in recognition.
“Twilight? Is that you…?” The woman asked.
“…Rarity?” Twilight ventured, taking a wobbly step forward.
“Oh, Twilight! Thank goodness!” Rarity exclaimed, stepping forward to sweep Twilight into a quick hug, “I thought I had materialized all alone in a different memory than yours!”
Twilight smiled, returning the gesture, “Don’t worry; since you were in physical contact with me in the real world, we wouldn’t be separated into different memories.”
Rarity broke the hug, stepping away, “Well, you could’ve told me that before you cast the spell.”
Twilight nodded, “I’ll keep that in mind next time.”
Rarity shivered, glancing at the central canal’s contents, “Ugh… This place could use a change in décor. I’m guessing this is some sort of sewer system, judging by what I see floating in that muck.”
“Yes; the Chief should be around here somewhere, if the spell worked correctly,” Twilight explained.
“How do you even know it worked correctly?” Rarity asked.
“Well, we’re not alone in different memories, are we?”
“Y-yes, but how do we know if we’re in Mr. Chief’s memories?”
Twilight grimaced, “I… I honestly have no idea. Once we find the Master Chief, we’ll know for certain. For now, let’s explore.”
Rarity winced, “Okay; just be careful, Twilight.”
The two girls moved towards the melted grating, stepping under the splayed metal bars and continuing down the side. They reached a wide side passageway that led to the left, eventually ending where a rusty ladder hung down. The manhole cover above them had been melted away in a similar fashion, the smell of burnt paste in the air.
Ascending the ladder, Twilight peered into the room above them. It appeared to be a basement of sorts, boxes stacked in neat piles at the base of large shelves that lined the walls. On these shelves were many glass jars, each one containing insects and caterpillars of various kinds. After a few minutes of scrutiny, Twilight realized that many of the species she was seeing here were common species back in Equestria.
“Rarity… These insects…”
“Yes; disgusting, I know.”
“No. They’re just like the ones back in Equestria.”
Rarity inspected a jar, plucking it off of the shelf before returning it to its rightful place, “You’re absolutely right… Are you sure we’re in Mr. Chief’s memories?”
“Positive. We wouldn’t be humans, otherwise.”
“…Very true.”
They continued up into a medium-sized atrium. More of the same jars lined the walls, their contents keeping an eye on the two in an eternal silent vigil.
Twilight was examining another one of the jars when she heard Rarity gasp through an open doorway. Rushing through, Twilight tripped on an object that lay at the threshold, also slipping in some sort of warm liquid. Scrambling to her feet, she stood up next to Rarity, suddenly biting back the urge to throw up at the scene.
Four bodies of strange humanoid creatures lay at their feet, purple blood leaking out from their facial orifices. Their heads were almost avian in shape, their noses ending in large serrated beaks rather than a flat human face. They had small hands with three long fingers, and long, spindly legs with three clawed toes.
Rarity retched, holding a hand to her mouth. Twilight brought a single finger to her lips, flashing the universal sign to be quiet. Now shaking uncontrollably, Twilight stepped over their corpses, moving on into the next room. A circular stairway lay beyond, spiraling up into the darkness.
Twilight looked back at Rarity, who was still staring, horrified, at the corpses that littered the room. Striding up to the shell-shocked human, Twilight set a comforting hand on Rarity’s shoulder, squeezing slightly.
“Come on; we’ve got to find the Chief,” Twilight said, her voice shaking.
Rarity stared at the corpses for another minute before slowly standing up, pulling Twilight into another hug.
“I-I’m scared, Twilight… Please, can we leave?” she pleaded.
Twilight was about to reply when loud banging could be heard upstairs. Rarity screamed. Keeping her terrified friend close, Twilight retreated into the atrium they had passed through earlier, her eyes wide with fear.
The banging continued, followed by two enormous thumps. The entire building shook with the noise, dust raining down upon the two frightened humans.
Suddenly, dozens of small projectiles flew into the room through the roof over their heads, peppering the ground in front of them and tearing through the floor above. After a few moments of the floor groaning, and a few panicked shouts, the ceiling collapsed.
Twilight tackled Rarity into the storage room, narrowly avoiding a huge hunk of what appeared to be metal and marble from crushing them underneath it. She scrambled away from the doorway, coughing and struggling to see through the dust cloud that had risen.
Two enormous bipeds stood before them, large chunks of angular blue metal appearing to serve as an armor of sorts. A large plate that was set on its back sported large spikes which moved as the creature stumbled forward from the sudden drop. Underneath the armor, hundreds of orange worms squirmed and wriggled, making up the entirety of the being’s physical mass. While its other arm was blocked from view, an enormous cannon was mounted on its right arm, several green protrusions decorating the exterior. Luckily for Twilight and Rarity, they seemed distracted, dazed from their drop through the floor.
Another shout came from above, drawing the creatures’ attention. Twilight blinked, a terribly loud WHUMP echoing fiercely in the small space. She suddenly noticed the massive block of what appeared to be pink quartz trapping the two creatures underneath it.
Paralyzed with fear, Twilight could only stare in pure horror at the creatures, which now squirmed and thrashed underneath the massive rock. She had imagined war to be scary… But experiencing a battle was something completely different. Fear gripped her in a vice, rooting her to the spot. Her attention was drawn upward when another shout came down, which sounded something like, “Grab it!”.
A small box appeared, but suddenly disappeared, grasped by a hand clad in green armor. After another exchange of words from the apparent owner of the hand, a clunking of boots could be heard—and it was heading straight for Twilight and Rarity.
Snapping into action, Twilight pulled the shell-shocked Rarity into a darkened corner, searching around for what could possibly be used as a weapon. She gripped a splintered board, wincing as the broken fibers poked at her palm as she held it up, pointing it at the doorway.
The clumping was practically outside of their room, making it hard for Twilight to tell the difference between their boots and her heartbeat. She froze when a tall figure stepped through.
Its appearance was very similar to the Chief, although the armor was much blockier and cumbersome-looking than the armor she saw back in Everfree Forest, as well as the figure being at least two heads shorter than him. The similarities included a polarized visor, the olive-green color and the black under-armor. In its right hand, it carried a strange, angular device that bore a short barrel on its front and a blocky stock that jutted out from the end, near the biped’s hand.
It spotted her, fixing Twilight with its gaze. A female voice could be heard as it spoke, “…Sir, we’ve got civilians.”
Another one of the bipeds entered the room, pushing past its subordinate. This one was taller than its comrade by a full head, although the armor was the same. It knelt in front of Twilight, holding out a hand, “Ma’am, come with me. We’ll get you out of here.”
Judging by his voice, it wasn’t the human she and Rarity were looking for.
“…Who are you?” Twilight asked, backing away and still flourishing her makeshift weapon.
“Ma’am, it’s okay. We’re part of the UNSC. Just come with us, and we’ll have you evacuated with the rest of the citizens.” The man cooed, keeping his hand extended to Twilight.
“S-stay back, you hooligan!” Rarity cried suddenly, slapping his hand away. She pulled Twilight backwards, backing into a corner, “I said stay back! J-just leave us alone!” She cried, obviously on the verge of tears.
“What’s the hold up, Fred?”
“Uncooperative civs. Nothing I can’t handle.”
Another one of the bipeds, this one supporting another one of its comrades, entered the doorway, which was barely wide enough for the two of them. Twilight raised her hands to cover her mouth when she realized the other’s right arm was burned off at the elbow.
“Dunno, Fred. You’ve always managed to scare civvies off with that ugly mug of yours.” The female mused.
“Cut the chatter, Blue Team,” The third biped barked, lowering his comrade to lean against the wall. Twilight’s ears perked up at his voice. Something about it was strangely familiar.
“Kelly, check up on James for me. I think he’s unconscious,” the man said, nodding to the one leaning on the wall. The one named Kelly nodded, leaving Fred to help their injured teammate.
The man crouched in front of Twilight, his polarized faceplate revealing nothing but Twilight’s frightened expression. Rarity sat up again, brandishing the stick, “S-stay away!” She cried, swinging the board viciously.
The man ducked underneath the blow, “Ma’am, it’s okay. We’re UNSC forces and—”
“I don’t care who you are!” Rarity howled, now flailing the makeshift weapon madly. “Just leave us alone!”
The man backed off, unnerved by her outbreak. He turned to Fred, “…How’d you manage to rile her up that much?”
“Hey, all I said was that I was from the UNSC and that we were here to evacuate ‘em.”
“…Maybe Kelly’s right. I should let her handle all civvy negotiations from now on.”
“Oh, come on, John… That’s harsh.”
“Noted. I’ll take it from here.”
Fred sighed, leaving the man to go check on the injured one. John turned to the two frightened women, holding up his hands, “Okay, look. Right now, we’ve got to move; the Covenant are preparing for one last orbital strike, and they’re targeting this city,” he extended his hand again, “Please; I can’t have someone I could’ve saved on my conscience when the city is destroyed.”
Twilight glanced back at Rarity, who had lowered the stick, her lip trembling, “W-why are they doing this…?” She asked, sniffing.
“Because they can. It’s a casualty of war,” John sighed, “We’ve got to go; it won’t be long now.” he moved his other hand forward, offering it to Twilight.
Without hesitation they both took one of his hands, and he pulled the two girls to their feet with ease. “Steady, now,” he mumbled as Rarity teetered where she stood. “Can you walk?”
“Y-yes… I think I can,” Rarity replied shakily.
“Good girl,” John turned to his teammates, “Pack it up, Blue Team. Time to go.”
Fred shouldered there unconscious squadmate, slowly standing up, “They coming or what?”
“Yeah. Kelly, cover our six. I’ll watch our twelve,” John barked, pulling a device identical to Kelly’s off of his back. Twilight suddenly noticed that they all carried one, even their injured teammate.
They went out back the way they came, descending down the rusted ladder and exiting the sewer through a gate that Twilight had failed to notice before, which was part of the mesh she had thought was whole.
Outside, they entered a thick jungle, the humidity almost unbearable for Twilight. They walked quietly for a few hours, John occasionally telling the group to halt with a raised hand to let an enemy patrol pass. Although Twilight was still genuinely frightened, she had at least gotten used to the fear.
After about twenty more minutes of walking, John ordered another halt, except this time, he and Kelly didn’t tell them to get down. He mumbled a few words to nobody in particular and then removed a small device from a brown satchel that was slung over his shoulder, gripping the top of the device and twisting it to the left. Blue smoke began to pour out, accompanied by a loud hissing noise.
John threw it into the brush ahead of them before passing through the smoke. Fred followed with their comrade, Twilight and Rarity close behind.
They entered a clearing where a large metal vehicle sat waiting. Other “civilians” sat nearby, some chatting quietly, others staring silently at the smoke rising in the distance, towards the city. A few armed guards jogged up to John, asking him several questions. When they were done talking, Twilight, Rarity and the other civilians were moved into the loading bay of the vehicle, taking seats on either side of the wide storage bay.
Twilight eyed the group of Spartans seated at the opposite end of the storage bay, the determined expression from earlier sneaking onto her facial features. Rarity raised a brow, “Twilight? What’s with that look?”
“I’m going to get some answers. I need to see what this war is all about.” Twilight stood up, wobbling precariously as the ship hit a bit of turbulence. Carefully weaving between the other passengers, she was almost there when a loud thunk filled the cargo bay, as well as the ship being jostled violently by an impact. Twilight was knocked off of her feet, giving a small cry of protest when a strong grip supported her right arm, keeping her upright.
“Are you alright?” John’s voice asked from behind her.
“I-I’m fine,” she mumbled, easing herself to two feet again as the soldier let her go.
“You should take a seat; it won’t be long before we make it back to the Iroquois,” he advised, pressing her firmly into the seat behind him, “These suits make it impossible to sit as it is, so you can have my seat.”
Twilight smiled a little, “Thanks, John,” she stopped herself, “I-It’s okay if I call you John, right?”
The man paused before shaking his head. "Sorry. Protocol. Call me Sierra-117 for now."
Twilight clamped her mouth shut as started to nod, but a sudden feature about him intrigued her: His voice was still so familiar. In addition, something about that name seemed familiar.
117... Could this really be him? He seems too talkative and friendly…
"Is... Is that your call-sign?"
Sierra-117 nodded, "Yes; how did you know?
Twilight searched her mind for an excuse, “Er… My… brother is in the military.” she said slowly.
John cocked his head before responding, “Marines?”
Twilight paused again, “… Er… Executive… Guard?”
The soldier sat still for a moment before letting out a low chuckle, “Can’t say I’ve heard of that before. So he’s part of your home planet’s militia?”
“…You could say that.”
After a short pause, Twilight shifted her gaze to the window where the planet they had left behind was shrinking from view, “So… Why did those things want to kill us?” She asked, her voice trembling slightly, “Why are we fighting them?”
John knelt so he was below her, his polarized faceplate betraying no emotion, “You don’t know why the Covenant are fighting us?”
Twilight shook her head, “I… I’ve never seen them before.”
John sighed, “Well… It all started when—”
Twilight’s vision flashed red, and a horrible migraine assaulted her mind. She slapped a hand to her temple, falling limp in the seat.
John put a hand on her shoulder, his voice sounding distant, “Ma’am?”
She shut her eyes from the pain, eventually blacking out.
--
Twilight’s eyes snapped open, the pain still leaving her head. Rarity lay sprawled in the opposite corner, although she was still unconscious. They were back in the basement of the library, the moldy scent invading her nostrils.
Shaking her head to disperse the pain, she looked at the Chief—who was now hanging in midair.
Another biped, this one apparently female, was lifting him effortlessly off of the floor, as if she had simply forgotten the soldier weighed half a ton. She was naked save for what appeared to be numbers and symbols scrolling across her body, and a messy mop of hair on her head, which fell just short of shoulder length. Her entire being glowed blue, and the air around her crackled with powerful magic.
She turned to face Twilight, murderous intent flashing behind her angry red eyes. She flashed a crooked smile.
Twilight screamed.