“Class, dismissed!” Rainbow Dash joined in with the raucous cheering as one of the first pony Troopers in the history of Equestria. Jennings had been right, the course had challenged her in ways she could have never imagined. It was way tougher to complete than she thought it would be, that’s for sure. The crowd of Troopers thronged off the platform amongst cries of ‘Helljumper,’ ‘Never Stop Fighting,’ and ‘405th.’
Jennings stood above and behind the crowd, staring down impartially at the mass of ponies. In his full gear, he looked like shadowy god of war ready to take somepony’s life at the drop of a hat. Having fought both aliens and insurrectionist humans, he was not going to assume that everypony there was attending for good reasons. He knew for sure that he had made some enemies in the establishment of this training center, and he wasn’t ruling out the option that one of them would try to sabotage this celebration. As of yet though, there wasn’t anything suspicious, just a massive crowd of newly minted Troopers conducting a hasty ambush on the bar. To be fair, they were still half starved to death and exhausted from their training, which had only wrapped up a day or two earlier. And as any exhausted, hungry soldier will tell you, the first order of business is always acquiring alcohol, which the Apple family had been kind enough to provide. To be fair, they were just asked to make some for Canterlot function, and were not told the specifics of the actual event. Had they been told ‘oh by the way, it’s for a secret military group that’s been starved for the last six weeks,’ they probably would have made a lot more. Despite all the festivities going on, Dash worked her way up the stairs to where Jennings stood, arms crossed and face fixed an a stern expression.
“Shouldn’t you be partying with your classmates?”
“Shouldn’t you be relaxing? C’mon, you just finished a stressful training cycle! Doesn’t that merit some time off?”
“We Troopers don’t get time off. While I’ve been here, my buddies on Earth have been dying. While at first the break was nice, I have to get back. I have to fight.”
“I’m sure Princess Celestia is already working on a spell to get you home. But… from the few conversations I’ve had with Twilight… trans-dimensional portals take time to prepare. But then, what do I know. I’m no unicorn.”
“Yeah, well every minute she doesn’t have one finished, another soldier dies.”
“Don’t you think you’re being a bit dramatic about it? Is it literally ever minute?” Jennings glanced down at her. Rainbow Dash could almost see the red glow behind his eyes. “Ok, I take back everything. Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood,” she said apologetically.
“Don’t worry about it. Just go enjoy your day off. Remember, guard duty starts tomorrow!” He said half-jokingly.
“Yeah, yeah. Don’t remind me.” Dash had been one of the lucky three to be chosen for the very first guard duty the following morning. She got to sit up and wait all day in case the Covvies decided to wreak havoc somewhere.
“Seriously though, just go have some fun. You’ve earned it.”
“Alright, then. Will do. You don’t need any company?”
“I’ve been alone for as long as I can remember. A few more hours won’t kill me.”
“Well, now I feel like a jerk for leaving you alone! Nopony should be alone forever!” Jennings sighed in resignation.
“I’ll find someone after the war ends to spend the rest of my days with. Now go have fun, Dash. I’ll be fine.”
“Ok, fine. But I still feel bad about it.”
“I’ll tell you what, you can atone for your ‘fun crimes’ by showing up to guard duty tomorrow, without a massive hangover. At least try to be functional tomorrow.”
“You got it! I usually don’t drink too much anyways.” Dash trotted down the stairs, rejoining her buddies at the bar. Some of them were already on their third or fourth cider. It was so nice to cut loose a bit after months of training. Hooves first!
~ ~ ~
“I am so freaking bored,” Rainbow Dash announced to the two other Troopers who were sitting at the table with her. They had been playing Poker for the past few hours, having already performed exhaustive weapons and gear cleaning. Even after that Dash had clambered into her drop pod, jerking on the sticks wildly making ‘fwoosh’ noises in order to keep herself entertained. After about ten minutes of wild flying from the pod, she grew bored of that too and had joined the poker game.
The pod system that was developed for the use of the ODSTs was a combination of Human and Equestrian technology. Since Equestria lacked a key component of the ODST employment system (namely, an space-faring vehicle of any sort), they had to develop a new method of rapid deployment. Pony engineers had constructed a launcher of sorts that could aim and fire a series of four drop pods anywhere on the continent, with the ability to ‘reload’ another squad for firing within seconds. That being said, the components had only been tested separately. However, there had been no problems, and everything should function flawlessly. Should.
“I know what you mean, Dash. I’m bored out of my gourd, here,” the soldier on Dash’s right said. He was an old veteran of the royal guard before, and commanded the respect of all who worked with him, even if he was the same rank as the rest. Well, all but one. The only one who didn’t sat to Dash’s left, and was the ODST clown, always hilariously lazy, but always there in a jam.
“Oh, Celestia. Here we go again. Old Timer over here is going to off on us about how ‘back in his day,’ this and that. We get it! You’re better than the rest of us! Just shut up and bet.”
“I’m going to kill you. Slowly.”
“How?”
“Right now, I’m planning on ripping your skull out and beating you to death with it.”
“That doesn’t seem physically possible.”
“That’s exactly what the last guy said, right before he died.”
“Whatever. I’m going to get a refill.”
“Yeah, that’s right dirtbag, run!” Dash held her sides, trying to contain her mirth. Anytime these two were together was hilarious. She genuinely didn’t know whether or not they were good enough friends that they could insult each other mercilessly, or genuinely disliked each other.
Rainbow Dash became suddenly keenly aware that she was sitting directly underneath a klaxon. Jennings came sprinting downstairs from his perch by a slew of radios, monitors, and other security devices.
“Let’s go, helmets on, weapons locked! Covvies spotted pushing towards Ponyville again!” Dash and her compatriots snapped their helmets on, sprinting over to their pods at a lightning speeds. She had hoped that this day wouldn’t come for a long time. She had hoped they had cleaned up the last of the covenant during the encounter in EverFree, but obviously this wasn’t the case.
Dash spun around in mid air, landing directly in the seat of her pod, rapidly pressing the buttons necessary to prepare her for launch. The door swung closed with a hiss, audibly sealing a second later. She watched out the viewports as Canterlot swung before her, upside down from her position on her back. The mechanism clunked into position, locking in its firing solution. Dash tensed with the timer, preparing herself for her first drop into a firefight.
The sudden acceleration took her buy surprise as she accelerated feet-first towards the atmosphere, things starting to feel normal as the parabolic arc dropped her into a more normal position. That being said, the ground was approaching soon. Holy shit was it approaching soon. They had long-since passed Sonic Rainboom speeds, and they weren’t slowing down as the ground approached.
“Fire thrusters!” A blazing inferno appeared outside the windows, obscuring the impending collision with the ground. The sudden stop felt like it broke every bone in her body, but the door blew open and she jumped out, Assault Rifle at the ready.
The Troopers all landed in the same area, in the center of the Ponyville Market. Fortunately, nopony was hurt. Nonetheless, all were terrified at the sudden arrival of three strangely garbed and armed ponies, and one strangely outfitted… thing. This was the problem with working for a secret military unit, nopony knows that you’re there to help. Hence, the screaming and running in panic. Only the rare few who knew about Jennings had any idea what was happening.
“Jennings? Is that you?” Jennings helmeted head snapped around.
“Twilight! Get everyone inside, now!”
“Jennings, what’s going on?”
“No time, get everyone inside now! Move!” His gloved hand forcefully formed into a pointing motion away from where his unit was moving.
“But…”
“Go!” Twilight scampered off, trying to gather everypony into a coherent group that could be moved into the largest building in Ponyville—the club.
The quartet of death fanned out, moving slowly through the streets, scanning in all directions. Jennings watched via his VISR where each of his compatriots were pointing their weapons, noting with satisfaction that they were spread out equally, scanning their individual fields of fire. So far no movement. So far. An acknowledgement light blinked in his HUD. All four of them froze. The grizzled ancient gestured down one of the side streets. Jennings nodded in acknowledgement, deftly giving out silent instructions via subtle head movements and hand signals. The squad broke into two teams, Jennings and Dash moving out in a flanking maneuver. The veteran his annoying compatriot exchanged glances, opening fire on the column of grunts they had spotted.
The first three in the group dropped, clutching at bloody holes in their exoskeleton, but the remainder dove for cover. After the first few seconds, they were beginning to return with a volley of their own weapons. Traces, plasma, and needles crisscrossed in the narrow alleyway in a deadly light show.
Three hulking shapes appeared behind the column. The duo adjusted fire, alternating between who was shooting and who was reloading. The bullets sparked off the shields of the three elites, causing them to cast a faint blue light on the walls surrounding them as their shields strained against the barrage. A frag grenade detonated in the confined space, popping the shields on the first two.
Jennings and Dash unloaded a hail of bullets from the roof of one of the flanking buildings, killing the first of the three elites. The shields on the third elite stubbornly refused to drop, a testament to the strength of the elites’ oddly colored armor. The third and second elite jumped into the nearby buildings to avoid the rain of bullets. Dash primed another grenade, tossing it down the alley where the remainder of the grunts were gathering. Jennings fired his BR at the second elite, causing its shields to glow again as it dashed between buildings and north.
“Bravo team, the red elite is running north. Cut him off and kill him before he gets into the club, where he could do some real damage. We’ll get this elite,” Jennings ordered through his radio.
“Yes, sergeant.” The two troopers below him abandoned their covered position, beginning their trek northwards, parallel to the path the elite took.
“So what’s our next step?”
“Search the buildings around here. Very, very carefully.”
Jennings moved downstairs first, carefully pie-ing the corners, looking cautiously for an elite foot, gold armor, or something jutting off the elite’s body that would allow him to start shooting the elite before the elite ever saw him.
He eased slowly from room to room, slowing his breathing down significantly to keep a steady aim. The fans inside his helmet worked overtime as fog accumulated near the base of his visor, blurring the floor slightly. His eyes were extraordinarily active, darting this way and that , constantly looking for that slight edge. He heard a sickening crunch behind him, ducked and spun. The elite must have gone invisible and snuck up on them. He had just batted Dash away, knocking her unconscious by throwing her into a wall. And now, it was staring at him.
“Human.”
“Name’s Jennings, hinge-head.”
“You have caused me a lot of trouble in the last few months,” Lo’Vadomir said.
“Yeah, well I certainly haven’t been wanting to be here either.”
“It was your vessel that knocked us into this dimension.”
“And it was your cruiser that made mine lose control. I still blame you, for a lot of things actually.”
“Your species is an insult to the gods.”
“Yeah, well your religion is a lie.”
“Blasphemy.” A brilliant beam of plasma erupted from the elites’ grip, indicating their conversation was over. He pulled the trigger faster than he ever had before, spending his entire magazine in a few seconds. The bullets bounced off the elites’ shields, making it gleam with energy. The elite pounced forward, stabbing the air. Jennings ducked, coming up swinging his firearm like a battle axe. It bounced off the chest of the elite without doing much of anything. Lo’Vadomir swung his sword in a horizontal sweeping motion, aiming for Jennings’ neck. Jennings dropped to his knees at the last second. His rifle fell to the floor in two pieces, glowing red hot where the sword had cut it in two.
Jennings jumped up, grabbing onto one of the nooks in the elite’s ornate armor in order to hang off of his chest. Drawing his M7, he unloaded a magazine, finally popping the elite’s shields.
So that’s what that feels like.
Jennings looked down, watching blood trickle out of his armor and sizzle on the superheated plasma blade sticking into his abdomen. Lo’Vadomir removed the blade with a sharp pull, causing Jennings to fall to the floor. Lo’Vadomir spat at the bleeding form of Jennings, moving over towards the unconscious Rainbow Dash.
“Wake up, filth.” Lo’Vadomir shook Rainbow Dash vigorously. She woke up, still in a dazed state. “See what allying yourself with nishum does.”
“Jennings…” Dash struggled to say, trying to wake up enough to fight. She still couldn’t figure out where the ground
was. Lo’Vadomir dropped Dash in a heap. Her head laid limply on the ground, unable to move. Lo’Vadomir raised up his sword in an executioner pose. He plunged the sword downwards. Jennings rolled to the right, the blade severing his left leg. Struggling upright, he latched onto the elite’s armor. Dash recognized the distinct sound of a grenade arming. Lo’Vadomir swung the sword, stabbing Jennings in the side. A split second later a grenade detonated, showering the room with fragments. The elite slumped to the floor, missing the majority of its head. Jennings collapsed to the ground, riddled with shrapnel.
“Jay…” Jennings coughed, managing to speak.
“Never. Stop. Fighting.” Dash’s vision faded into black.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
One month later
Dash stood at the ODST launching pad, along with 39 other soldiers, all under her command. Her recovery had taken far too long for her liking. Mainly because it made her miss Jennings’ funeral. She was still pissed that she couldn’t make it. But now, it had come full circle. She had been given command of the ODSTs, and she was using her newfound power to push her agenda. Jennings had been there to help out Equestria in its time of need, and had died doing so. All the while, he was waiting for Celestia and Twilight to figure out a way to get him back home, so he could fight for those he truly cared for. And now, they had done it. They had figured out a way to portal back to Earth, and now, Dash was going to repay the debt she owed to Jennings. She was going to take the fight to the Covenant.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
“We’ve got a new contact, unknown classification!” A Naval tech shouted.
“If it isn’t one of ours, take it out,” Lord Hood replied.
“This is Spartan One-One-Seven, can anyone hear me, over?” Well hot damn.
“Isolate that signal!” Lord Hood barked at the tech. “Master Chief, you mind telling me what you’re doing aboard that ship?”
“Sir, finishing this fight.” Lord Hood was about to reply when he was interrupted.
“Sir, there’s a new slipspace rupture, much closer to Earth. Lots of contacts, inbound! They’re transmitting UNSC IFFs, but I don’t recognize the codes.” Lord Hood was leaning over the tech’s console in an instant.”
“Drop pods?”
“Maybe sir, can’t tell.”
“Give me radio contact.”
“Done, sir.”
“This is Lord Hood. To whom am I speaking?”
“Romeo-Delta Zero-Five-One. Don’t worry about what we are, just know we hate the Covenant just as much as you do.”
“Excuse me, did you say ‘what’ you are?”
“Yes, sir. Strictly speaking, we aren’t from your dimension. But Trooper Jennings represented humans well, and we want to help. Just point us at the target.” Lord Hood stood there silent for a second, before responding.
“Well, we’ll take all the help we can get. Transmitting coordinates now.”
“Roger that, we will be on the deck in less than two mikes.”
“Thanks for the assist, soldiers.” Lord Hood stood up from the console. Another tech flagged him down.
“Lord Hood, sir? I’m getting reports of what appears to be flying horses in ODST armor.” Lord Hood frowned.
“Say that again?”
“Flying horses, in ODST armor, sir.”
“And they’re shooting the covenant?”
“Yes, sir. Apparently, they’re kicking ass.” Lord Hood just smiled.
“And I thought nothing would ever surprise me, ever again.”
A/N Alright, that’s the majority of the story. Just one more chapter next week, relatively short. It’s just an idea that came to me that didn’t really fit in here. An epilogue, if you will.