> Warrior of Salvation > by Alpha777 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Chapter 1-from Failure into Confusion (Edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Year 2552, Planet Reach's Orbit Reach had fallen by the hands of the "Covenant" and they began to glass the surface until one ship known as UNSC Pillar of Autumn escaped through the Covenant's massive fleet unnoticed. All except one ship, a Cruiser-class warship known as "Salvation" noticed the fleeing ship and the ship master, Thar'Telznecun, contacted the other ships of the situation. Thar'Telzecun went ahead and ordered to pursue the vessel and as soon as they were on the move, an Ultra ranking Elite wearing white and gold armor with a symbol in blue called "Sol" walked onto the bridge. Akaru'Viranamu was his name and Thar noticed him walking towards him. "Is there something wrong, Shipmaster?" asked Akaru. "There is a human vessel that has fled the planet and now we're in pursuit of it." Thar answered with a determined expression on his face. Akaru then looked up to see the fleeing vessel with no expression whatsoever. Thar then turned around to see the vessel entering a slip space portal and he became increasingly aggressive because of the humans action. Thar yelled out, "Activate the Slip Space device and go after them!!!" The pilot answered nervously, "Yes, Shipmaster, it shall be done." Thar turned to Akaru and ordered, "Akaru, I need you to get yourself armed and ready. When we are ready to board that ship I need you to lead our brothers to our victory, understand?" Akaru turned casually towards the shipmaster and nodded his head. "Good, now let's not disappoint the holy prophets. For the Great Journey, brother." Thar said as he sat down. Akaru repeated, "Yes, for the Great Journey." Akaru turned and quickly moved to get himself ready for battle. Thar was relieved for a few moments until the alarm went off, surprising the shipmaster into a jolt. "Report, Maku!" Thar yelled as he tensed up, adrenaline pumping through his body. "The slip space device is malfunctioning and is causing a rupture, sir!" the pilot answered. Thar's eyes widen when he heard the reply. "Aaargh CURSES! Why is it happening right now?!?!" Before the pilot could reply, the portal collapsed midway on the the ship, splitting the Salvation into two. Akaru jumped when the ship shook, the sound of the alarm going off and explosions. "By the Forerunners, what was that!!??" Akaru yelled out the question, running out of the main armory to see far off at the end of the hallway was open to space. Before he could react, the emergency blast doors closed off in a quick second. Akaru, with his mandibles wide open and his eyes filled with shock, thought, 'Did the portal just collapse or am I'm going insane?' Akaru began walking slowly towards the blast doors until the alarms went off again. Akaru thought, 'Oh what now?!' Then all of a sudden, the whole ship started to shake like an earthquake and as Akaru ran to the window, he saw an unknown world before him, and he was headed straight towards it. Akaru thought, 'Ah shit.' In Equestria, everypony was going about their day as usual. Two ponies that were both pegasi, one cyan with a rainbow mane and tail while the other was a light yellow with a long pink mane and tail came strolling along town, visiting their friends until dusk came. The cyan pegasus asked, "Today was the best day ever, wasn't it Fluttershy?" Fluttershy smiled at her friend and replied, "Yes, it s-sure was a good day, Rainbow Dash." They both smiled at each other as they made their way to Fluttershy's cottage. They reached the door and as Fluttershy was about to open the door, an unexpected explosion erupted out of nowhere. Rainbow Dash yelped, "What the hay was that!?" Dash noticed that Fluttershy was looking at something up in the sky with a face filled with fear. Dash turned to see what she was looking at, then her jaw dropped and she stuttered, "What in Celestia's name....." What Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash were looking at and couldn't identify was half of the remains of the unknown object hitting the atmosphere, engulfed in bluish-purple flames like a meteor and heading towards the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy finally spoke to Dash, "W-we need to t-tell Twilight about this, Dash." Dash turned to Fluttershy and nodded her agreement, then they both ran towards Ponyville where Twilight's library was at. Rainbow Dash, followed by Fluttershy, knocked on the door to Twilight's home. The door swung open and there stood a lavender colored unicorn with a purplish mane. "Oh, hey Dash, hey Fluttershy, what *yawns* brings you here at this hour?" Twilight asked as she rubbed her eyes with her hooves. "Sorry to wake you at this time Twi, but Fluttershy and I were at her cottage until a big object came from behind and we saw something in the sky. Go and see it for yourself." Dash said. Twilight looked where Dash was pointing at and her eyes widened with shock. What she saw was a very large, flaming object falling to the surface and then crashing into the Everfree. Twilight was surprised to see something so unexpected. Twilight was about to say something until three ponies suddenly arrived. Two were Earth ponies and one was a unicorn. A pink pony with a dark pink mane and tail that was poofed up came running towards Dash, Twilight, and Fluttershy with an ecstatic energy and said, "Oooh oooh oooh, my 'Pinkie Sense' tells me that there's someone new to Ponyville! *gasping* This is soooo exciting and I'm going to make the best 'Welcome to Ponyville' party ever!" The other Earth pony, which had orange colored fur with a light yellow mane and tail that was made into a ponytail and was also wearing a Stenson hat, walked up to them and said, "Uuh, Pinkie Pie, what are ya blabbin' about?" Then the white unicorn with the purple mane and tail walked up and said, "Applejack dear, it probably has something to do with that object that fell from the sky over there, don't you think?" Twilight was thinking for a few moments until she asked, "Let's wait until morning, then we can check it out and see what we can find, okay girls?" All 5 ponies nodded in agreement and they went back to their homes and slept. 8:30 A.M. on a Sunday Location: Everfree Forest, at the front-half of the ship 'Salvation' wreckage Akaru was brought back to consciousness by the sun shining into his face. Groaning with pain, Akaru sat up slowly and looked at his arm. It was bleeding out dark blue liquid and he tried to patch it up to stop the bleeding. "Ouch, that was too much, even for an Elite, especially with the rank of Ultra." He said before he let out another groan of pain. He stood up and felt woozy as he slowly walked towards what's left of the main armory. 'By the Forerunners, this place is a mess, but that is to be expected when the ship crashes afterwards. Oh well, I should get equipped.' He then got his bearings and walked towards one of the arms lockers. He opened it to find 2 fully charged Plasma Rifles, a Plasma Repeater, a Needler with full ammunition and extra ammunition, 4 Plasma Grenades that are intact and usable, and 2 Energy Swords that are fully charged. In another storage unit, he found 5 armor abilities which is the Evade, the Active Invisibility (AI), an Armor Lock (AL) for defenses purposes, a fully usable Covenant Jet Pack (CJP), and a Bubble Shield (BS) which is also for defence plus healing capabilities. "I think I have what I need from here. But the question is, where exactly is here?" Akaru mumbled to himself as he walked out of the wreckage. He scanned the area again and thought, 'It seems to me that I ended up in a forest, a dense one for sure. That means there has to be life living here, hopefully not any humans. I have had enough of them for now.' Akaru kept scanning the area and noticed a few plumes of smoke rising into the air, confirming that there's civilization nearby. He grinned in relief to the signs of civilization and said, "By the gods, I'm very lucky that this planet has sentient life upon it, or I would be stranded here until either the humans come, if they're not here yet, or the Covenant comes to explore this area out in space; hopefully soon." But then he heard someone in the distance which he listened closely and heard feminine voices, "Hey girls, it's over here!" Akaru sighed and thought, 'It must be humans, considering that of their dialect. I got to hide, quicky, for I want to avoid any conflict right now.' He then activated his AI and hid behind some bushes just in case if his AI fails. He waited for a few moments until he saw 6 colorful ponies approaching the wreckage, if he actually knew what ponies were that is. He thought to himself, 'By the Forerunners, what are these beings? I will have to keep a careful eye on them in case if they're hostile or not.' Mane 6 3rd person POV The Mane 6 slowly approached the wreckage that is before them. Twilight and the 5 were stunned by awe and fear mixed. Twilight spoke, "Wow, this thing is gigantic, but it looks like it is missing half of...whatever this thing is." Rainbow Dash's eyes widened and replied, "What!? This..thing..is somehow missing a part of something and yet it is gigantic by itself!? How is that even possible!?" Then the 6 notices the scattered corpses within and outside the wreckage. The 6 were in shock, especially Fluttershy. Twilight concluded, "Maybe this is some sort of a ship and whatever happen to them must be involving this very wreckage." Fluttershy spoke, "M-maybe there's survivors that maybe i-injured around here, if we look around." Twilight nodded and replied, "You're right Fluttershy, maybe there are. Alright girls, search around if there are any survivors that may need our help so let's split up and search around." The 5 nodded and started searching around for a few minutes. Fluttershy notices a small trail of dark bluish liquid leading into the bushes. she slowly walk towards the bushes and look to see where it leads. At first she didn't see anything but saw a few drops of the dark blue liquid from nowhere. But when the source of the dark bluish liquid became visible, her eyes widened. Akaru's 3rd person POV, few moments earlier Akaru watch them and considered them non hostile and was about to introduce himself. But that changed as he felt woozy and notices of how much blood he lost. He started to feel weak and fell into his rear and his back against a tree. Before he blacked out, he saw one of the 6 beings looking in his general direction. She had yellow fur with pink mane and tail, along with feathered wings and light blue eyes. He then notices that his AI ran out of charge and he then started to hear the yellow one yelling for help and nothing. The Mane 6 stared at him with awe, fear, and worrisome. Twilight immediately said, "We have to find help for it." Lucky for Fluttershy, she had her saddlebags with her medical gear that she uses in case if an animal is injured. She said, "I might be able to help the poor thing, but this might take a while" Half an hour later, Fluttershy finished patching up the injured creature. The 5 were relieved but until Rainbow Dash said, "How are we going to get this thing back to Ponyville, I mean, look at it, this thing might weigh so much that it's going to take more than 6 of us to carry it back and we can't just le..." She stop at mid sentence when the creature began waking up along with a few groans of pain. Rainbow Dash then said, "Nevermind." Akaru gain back consciousness and notices the 6 beings standing around him, staring at him. He immediately look at his arm and notices that he was given medical care from them. 'Thank the gods that I am in good company.' He thought. He then look back towards the 6 until one of them, who has lavender fur, dark purple eyes, purple with a pinkish band on her mane and tail, and instead of just having wings, she also has a horn, asks him, "A-are you alright? Can you understand me of what I'm saying?" with a concerning voice. Akaru responded, "Yes, I am alright, thanks to your help." The 6 eased up but then the yellow one from before asks, "C-can you walk, sir?" She has the most innocent and sweetest voice with concernness within it. He couldn't help but smile and replied, "Yes, I think I can." He slowly stood up and notices that he was towering over them. The one with the multi colored mane and tail asks, "Who or..uhm..what are you?" The one in a strange hat says to the multi colored one, "RD, don't be so rude!" "But I didn't mean it like tha..." She was interrupted by Akaru who said, "It is alright, I know why you ask that and to answer that question, I'm Akaru' Viranamu, and I am a Sangheili warrior from the planet, Sanghelios and I represent the Covenant Alliance with the rank of Ultra." The 6 were in awe and the one that was known as 'RD' plainly said, "Wow." with her jaw dropped. Then the lavender one said, "Well since you introduced yourself, let us do the same, my name is Twilight Sparkle. "I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in Equestria." the multi colored mane being said. He thought, 'Hm, this one is either confident or just simply cocky, maybe both for all I know.' The yellow one said, "M-my name is Fluttershy, and I take care the animals." Akaru smiled more after hearing that and thought, 'She and I will get along just fine, since she is a shy, but kind one.' The one with the hat said, "Howdy, the name's Applejack, its'a pleasure ta meet ya." "I'm Rarity and I must say darling, your attire is quite magnificent." Akaru smiled and noded and said, "Why thank you Miss Rarity." Then all of the sudden, a pink blur came out of nowhere and said with excitement, "HI I'M PINKIE PIE, AND I'M GOING TO GIVE YOU THE BEST 'WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA MR. AKARU' PARTY EVER!!" while she bounced up and down nonstop. If he was in an anime, there would have been a sweat tear appearing on him. Akaru was set aback and was surprise from Pinkie Pie's sudden excitement and simply said, "Uh, alright then. I should have expected that. Plus the fact that I really don't want to know how, in the name of the mighty Forerunners, you are able to be that fast." Twilight replied, "Sorry about Pinkie, she loves to make new friends and throw them parties when they are new to Ponyville." Akaru simply replied, "It is quite alright, after what I have been through, I should have expected it." Twilight resumed, "Speaking of which, what exactly happen to you, and how, if possible?" "Let's just say that there was a malfunction with Salvation's, the Covenant Cruiser-Class warship's machines that cause the entire ship to split in half, which this here before you, was the front part of the vessel while the back part would be in oblivion of space." Twilight's eyes widened and replied, "R-really? And what do you mean by w-warship?" Akaru knew at this point there is no way in hiding the truth and responded, "Let's just say that we were at war, which was pointless to me and quite a few others, okay?" Twilight nodded and asks, "Well, let us lead you to Ponyville, because you may need rest, plus it is dangerous to be in the Everfree for too long." Akaru simply nodded and asks, "May you also give me a tour when we arrive?" Twilight smiled and replied, "Of course we can, besides I was actually going to ask you that." Then the Mane 6 and Akaru left the wreckage and headed towards Ponyville After another half an hour, they finally reached the edge of the forest and before them was a town. Twilight said, "Welcome to Ponyville." To be Continued...... > Chapter 2-Presence of Royalty...and Raids(Edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Mane 6 and Akaru finally arrived at Twilight's library, which is made out of crystal, after trekking for hours from the forest to Ponyville, also taking time to tour the entire town. So far, the residents of the town were greeting the unknown but kind visitor with enthusiasm. Although at first, they stared at him in shock and in fear until they noticed he was with the Mane 6 and received a kind greeting from the stranger, easing them to a welcoming mood. All of the other 5 ponies that was with them went home after tagging along on the tour. Twilight opened the door and walked in. Twilight turned towards Akaru and warned, "Be careful, you might want to watch..." Twilight paused as Akaru hit his head on the small door arch with a 'clang' sound that was made by his helmet. She continued, "...your head." Akaru walked in as Twilight close the door behind them. He looked around with amazement in his eyes. He said, "This is a fascinating library, indeed. Though not quite as awe inspiring as the Great Library on the Halo rings, but it's still impressive." as he turns toward to Twilight. Twilight was confussed when he mentioned a 'Great Library of the Halo rings' topic. For a moment she thought to herself, 'What's a Halo ring? I guess it must be an important thing if he mentioned it. oh well.' Twilight smiled and said, "Thank you. Although, I'm not the only one that reorganizes these books everyday. Spike sometimes help me reorganize them while I'm busy doing research or other work." Akaru blinked in confusion and asked, "Who is this 'Spike' fellow that you speak of?" Right on cue, a small, purple reptilian creature came from upstairs to great Twilight and Akaru. He said, "Twilight, you came back. Did you and your friends find anyth....?" Twilight smiled and replied, "Oh, hello Spike, and yes, the girls and I found a creature which turned out to be very friendly." She and Spike turn towards Akaru and said, "Spike, this Akaru'Viranamu, the one we found at the place of impact. Akaru, this here is Spike, my number one assistant." Spike looked up at Akaru with eyes wide open in awe and wonder. Spike then said, "Uh, hi there, Mister Akaru. It's nice to meet you, sir." Akaru looked down on Spike with a grin, replying, "Salutations, young one. It's a pleasure to meet you too." After the Introductions, Twilight told Spike to get ink, a quill, and a blank scroll. Spike nodded, knowing what the letter is for. After a few moments, Spike returned with the required items and Twilight smiled. Spike asked, "Let me guess, a letter to the Princesses?" Twilight replied, "Yes it is. Now write down what I say.” In the capital city of Canterlot, Princess Celestia was about to go her bedroom until a letter appeared. She murmured, "Huh, I wonder what this is about?" Celestia levitated the letter and open it. She read: Dear Princess Celestia, Last night, I was awakened by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy and told me of what they saw, which was a large object engulfed in bluish purple fire which was heading towards the Everfree Forest. Right around dawn, We investigated the site of the object and what we discovered was unimaginable, for it was a gigantic spaceship and it turns out it was only half of one. We only found one survivor among the scattered bodies, so we helped it and when it awoke, he turned out to be very kind. We learned that his ship known as 'Salvation' had experienced difficulties and half of their ship crashed in the Everfree. His name is Akaru' Viranamu of the Sanghelie and as of this moment, he is with me in my home and I would like you to meet him as soon as possible. Your most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. Princess Celestia smiled at the letter’s contents and went to prepare to meet her faithful student's new guest. Back at the library in Ponyville, Twilight, Spike, and Akaru sat in the living room and were talking. Twilight brought out her ink and quill plus a notepad and prepared herself for notes. Twilight asked Akaru, "Excuse me, but do you mind telling me about yourself, your race, the Covenant, what other aliens that are involved, and other sort of things?" Akaru thought for a moment about her request. He then nodded and said, "Yes, of course. I imagine that you are eager to learn about us." Twilight smiled with excitement and forced herself not to start jumping for joy. Twilight then asked, "Okay, lets start from the beginning." Akaru started to tell about their history of how the Covenant was formed, what their goal is, and other facts. Twilight was writing down everything he talked about from the Grunts, Jackals, Skirmishers, Drones, Brutes, Elites, which she realized their actual name was 'Sangheili', and finally the Hunters. He also included the non-hostile Engineers that worked and repaired machines and their leaders known as the 'Prophets' who led the entire Covenant. She listened to his story about the lost civilization known as 'Forerunners' ,who built ancient holy sites and relics like the Halo rings, to the most dangerous parasites known as 'the Flood.' She was more interested in the spaceships of various sizes. Her jaw dropped when she heard that the biggest ship in the Covenant was the supercarrier. Akaru said that the ship is so big, that it would cast a gigantic shadow over Ponyville plus the surrounding area for miles. He also talked about the length of the ship and that it could, more or less, stretch from Ponyville all the way to the other side of the Everfree Forest. But then Twilight frowned when he talked about the Covenant declaring a genocidal campaign against a race of humans. Akaru told her that he didn't want it to happen but couldn't do anything about so he did his best not to harm too many humans as possible, especially the civilians. Twilight eased up when he said that and thought herself lucky that she met the only friendly alien of the whole, entire Covenant Empire. Akaru finished his lecture about the Covenant to Twilight as he concluded, "...and that is how the Covenant was forged." Twilight was smiling when Akaru finished and said, "That was very fascinating. I mean, I don't know what to say. I'm so speechless, but I have one question, what is a 'Halo'?" "Halo is a ring world built by the Forerunners as a gateway towards the Great Journey, or so the holy prophets have said. Personally, I think it is some sort of weapon of mass destruction that may be involved with the extinction of their own kind, and as a desperate attempt to defeat the Flood." Twilight was shocked and ask, "But why?" Akaru simply said, "It's because the Flood could not be stopped except by starving them to death by destroying their food source, and the fact that their main food source is any and all sentient life, well you should know the rest. But thankfully, the Covenant has not yet found the rings nor the parasites yet, there is nothing to worry about." Twilight eased up and replied, "Oh good, that is a relief. If it is alright with you, may I ask about your history such as you childhood and sorts?" Akaru smiled and was about to reply, until there was a knock at the front door. Twilight asked Spike, "Hey Spike, can you get the door please?" Too tired to even argue with Twilight, Spike went to answer the door. A few moments later, Spike yelled out, "Hey Twilight, the Princess is here. They came to see Akaru." Twilight and Akaru came down stairs to be greeted by Princess Celestia. Twilight, with a surprised expression and bowing her head, said, “Hello, Princess Celestia. I was not expecting for you to be here this soon." Princess Celestia smiled and replied, "It is great to see you too, my faithful student. I came to greet the new visitor.” Her head turned to regard Akaru. Akaru, noticing that she is royalty, bowed down in a show of respect. He then said, "Greetings, your highness. It is an honor to be in you presence, ma'am." Princess Celestia smiled at Akaru and said, "It is nice to meet you too. But please, call me by my name, Celestia. I figure you must be the one named 'Akaru'Viranamu,' I presume?" "Yes, Celestia. That is my name. My people are known as the 'Sangheili' and we are with the alliance known as the 'Covenant'." He replied as he rose up. She smiled at Akaru’s polite introduction. Celestia was happy that Twilight and her friends discovered him. But then she notices his weapons and became very worried. Akaru notices this and said, "Do not worry, I only use these weapons if either I am attacked and am forced to defend myself, but not immediately, for the opponent may actually be friendly, or anything that relates to it. So that means I won't commit violence for no reason at all, unlike some that I have known while in battles." Celestia eased up from his response, and she asks, "May you remove your helmet, so that we may have a better look at you?" Akaru hesitated for a moment, for he never really remove his helmet at all except only to eat. He nods and replies, "Of course, Celestia." He then removed his helmet and what Celestia, Twilight, nor Spike thought he would look like. The one thing they were worried about is that what he actually eats, for his teeth that is on his mandibles looked like the were of a carnivor. Twilight asks, "Uh...what is it that you actually eat?" Akaru realises immediately that these 'ponies' do not consume meats, only plants of such. He answered with a sigh, "My kind consumes mostly meats, but definitely not the ones that are sentients like yourselves, and same goes for all the other species I know....well...probably except the Brutes, for they are the most savage of all the species." The 3 look relieved when he told them. Celestia smiled and said, "Well that is good to hear." Spike asks, "You mentioned brutes, and, if you don't mind, what do they look like and how savage are they?" Akaru replied, "Well they, what the humans described, are 'ugly yetis', whatever a yeti is, and let me just say that one of their 'warcries' is, in quote, 'I'll tear you into bloody ribbons, wear them as a scarf, and take you skull as a trophy.' Oh and the ones with the large hammers are chieftains and they are very dangerous." The 3 had a disgusted look on their faces when he explained it. Twilight set aside that thought and asks, "Well do you know a way to contact your friends or something of a sort?" Akaru sighed and replied, "No, I can't, because everything back at the wreckage are most likely destroyed completely. The only thing I can do is to wait for either the Covenant comes to explore this system or the humans do, but until then, I'm stranded here, but at least I...." He was interrupted by screams from outside and then a guard of sorts ran in and yelled, "THERE IS A DIAMOND DOG RAIDING PARTY ATTACKING THE TOWN, YOUR HIGHNESS!" The 3 were shocked and in unison, they replied, "DIAMOND DOGS?!" Akaru immediately went towards the door until Celestia asks, "Wait, where are you going?" Akaru stopped right at the door, turned his head at them, and replied, "I'm going out there and stop these 'Diamond Dogs' from harming the ones who can't defend themselves!" Twilight replied, "But you're still wounded!" Akaru simply replied, "It does not matter, and I can't just stand by and let the innocent be harmed, and on the blood of my father and the blood of my sons, I will not rest until the battle is won, for there is an old quote that the humans say is that 'There will be no rest either the weary nor wretched until the task is complete'." The 3 plus the guard was speechless, so they nodded in agreement and followed Akaru into battle. "Well looky here, another workhorse for us to chain up." as one of the three diamond dogs said as they look down at a grey pegasus mare yellowish blonde mane, and a cutie mark of bubbles. They gotten hold of her until they heard a voice saying, "Stop. Right. There. Release her at once and tell your pathetic kind to leave this town alone or else!" The one of the 3 replies as they turned around, "Or else wha...." stopping in mid-sentence and dropped the mare when they gazed at a creature they never seen before. The mare looked up to see her savior, which she then froze and stared at the tall being with glowing, piercing eyes. Akaru stared at the 3 creatures stop in their tracks with fear and confusion in their faces and replied, "Or else you and your friends will taste the end of my blades, vermin!" as he pulled out 2 of his energy swords out. The one in the middle laugh and said, "Oh really, I like to see you try freak!" He turned around and called out, "Diamond Dogs, kill this freak of nature" Akaru notices that the mare began to flee in search of safety and the entire raiding pack charged at him. Akaru then replied calmly, "Out of darkness, these blades will light my way towards victory." as he activated his blades and charged head-on. ...a few seconds earlier Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash ran up to Princess Celestia, Twilight and Spike in exhaustion. Rainbow Dash said, "I can't believe that the Diamond Dogs are raiding Ponyville, they will pay for this!" Applejack tapped on Dash's shoulder and said, "I thin' our new friend there ha' already beat ya to it, Dash." The 5 looked at Akaru facing 3 diamond dogs until the entire raiding party charged at him. The 8 overheard Akaru quoting, "Out of darkness, these blades will light my way towards victory," and he then activated his swords that glowed blue and he then charged in head-on. ....Few minutes later The 8 stood there in utter shock as they had watch him slaying the Diamond Dogs with ease. Akaru stood there, surrounded by the corpses of the diamond dogs as he slowly turned his deathly glare at the surviving 3, who were shaking in fear. Akaru then spoke out to the 3, "Now this is your last chance, vermin. Leave or you will join your comrades in death." The 3 didn't hesitate and immediately ran for their lives, screaming. Akaru responded, "Huh, good choice, now hopefully they won't ever come back," as he holstered his weapons. He checked himself and discovered that not a drop of blood was on him. He then notices the grey mare from earlier and walk towards her. The mare flinched as he approach her slowly, but eased up when he knelt down to her. She look up to meet his gaze and he asks, "Are you alright ma'am? Are you harmed?" She smiled at him and replied, "Th-thank you, sir. Thank you for protecting all of us." Akaru smiled and patted on the top of her head, who said, "M-my name is Ditzy Doo, but everypony calls me Derpy, but I don't mind, what's yours?" Akaru replied, "I'm Akaru'Viranamu, but you can call me Akaru." He then notices that her eyes were looking in different directions and thought, 'I guess I can see why they refer to her as Derpy.' Then the 8 walked up towards Akaru and Derpy and Rainbow Dash cheered, "That was AWESOME! I guess you weren't joking about your rank being Ultra, because you were so fast, well not as fast as me, but still that is definitely 20% more cooler! You were li....." Twilight interrupted, "Dash, this is not the best time! He just killed them right there on the spot!" Spike commented, "Well he did gave them a warning and 2 choices to either leave Ponyville or get slained." Twilight responded back, "Well...I guess you're right about that, and he did let 3 diamond dogs leave alive when he gave them a second chance." Princess Celestia asks Akaru, "I need to ask you a question, Akaru. Did you enjoyed killing them?" Akaru replied, "No, never have, and never will, but sometimes when words fail, we all commit actions that some of us wanted to avoid. But sometimes victory aren't always secured by the throne, but within the front lines. And as I told Twilight and Spike here, I am one of the few that actually are against wars of genocide and the such, and I secretly help the civilians of my so-called 'enemies' to safety. Even the human soldiers like the 'Marines', 'ODST', and even the 'Spartans', or what the Covenant known them as 'Demons', knows who I am and they keep it a secret or 'classified' what they called it so that I may be able to continue helping their own in secret while also serving the Covenant for I can't betray my own kind. Does this satisfy you?" Celestia turn towards to Applejack, who responded, "He is definitely tellin' the truth, no doubt 'bout it." Celestia returned to gaze at him with a smile, indicating that she is satisfied. She then said, "Let us go help the residences here while I have the Royal Guards clean the mess up." Akaru nodded and then he and the 8 went further in town until Derpy stops him and asks, "Hey...uh...Mister Akaru, can I ask you a question?" The 8 stopped and turned towards them. Akaru nods and replies, "Why yes, of course you can. What is it, Miss Derpy?" "Do you like muffins?" To be Continued......... > The Crystal Empire(Part 1)(Edited) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It has been a day since Akaru fought against the Diamond Dogs, let alone arriving on the planet the ponies call Equis. The Princess talked to Akaru about bringing him and the Mane 6 to the Crystal Empire to meets her sister, Luna, as well as Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. "Are you ready to go, Akaru?" asked Twilight. "Yes, I am, but one question: How are we going to get there?" "By train, of course. Do you know what a train is?" Twilight asked before realizing and doing a facehoof and replied, "Nevermind. I forget that you are not from here." "Completely understandable, Twilight. It's like when I mentioned the Halo rings and that you did not know about them." Akaru answered. Twilight smiled at his response and they both went over to meet the others at the train station. They waited for a little while until Akaru noticed a bipedal horned being and turned toward to Twilight and asked, "Who and what is that over there?" "Oh that's Iron Will, he's a Minotaur." Twilight answered. "A Minotaur?" Akaru replied. Then Iron Will notices Fluttershy and came over replying, "Hey Fluttershy, how's it going?" "O-oh hi Iron Will. It's good to see you too. Me and my friends are going to the Crystal Empire to meet with Princess Celestia." Fluttershy responded. Then Iron Will notices Akaru and asks, "And who is he?" "Oh that's Akaru'Viranamu. He is from the planet Sanghelios and he is the only survivor of the crash site in the Everfree." Fluttershy answered. "Really? He's an alien?" Iron Will asks. Fluttershy nodded and added, "He also saved Ponyville from the Diamond Dog Raiding Party yesterday." Iron Will looked back at Akaru before introducing himself. "Fluttershy just told me about you, names Iron Will." as he raised his hand. "It's good to meet you." Akaru shook it and replied, "Salutations, it's a pleasure to meets you too, Iron Will." "I heard that you save Ponyville from those Diamond Dogs, good work." Iron Will added. "I prefer not killing anything, but when done righteously, it's nothing but a chore." Akaru replied. "Whatever you say, you actually taught those Diamond Dogs a lesson or two. Next time we meet, drinks are on me." Iron Will said. "Maybe, we shall see." Akaru answered. Vinyl and Octavia where on the train to the Crystal Empire from Canterlot. Octavia then notices the Mane 6 with a strange being in white and gold armor and woke up Vinyl saying, "Uhm Vinyl, you may want to take a look at that that are with the Mane 6." Vinyl turned around and her eyes widened and replied, "Wow, Now that's cool!" Octavia then said, "I heard there was a being that save Ponyville from a bunch of Diamond Dogs yesterday, and it must be him right there." "Really?!" Vinyl asks. "Yes, in-fact, a whole raiding party except for three he let go." Octavia added. Vinyl's eyes widened and said, "Wow." At the Crystal Empire, Princess Celestia was talking to Luna, Cadence, and Shining Armor about the new visitor that arrived at Ponyville. Luna asks, "So who is thou visitor that is going to arrive here, sister?" Celestia answers, "Well he is not of this world of ours. He is from the planet, Sanghilios, but crashed here by accident. He is the only one that has survived this crash and was aided by Twilight and her friends." Shining Armor asks, "How do you know if won't stab us in the back?" "He saved Ponyville from a Diamond Dog Raiding Party and at first given them choices. Unfortunately, the Diamond Dogs charged at him and he....uhm...killed them all except three he let go." Cadence replied, "Wait! That was he who saved Ponyville?! The creature?!" Celestia answered, "Yes. That was him." Luna then asks, "So what is thou name, then?" "Akaru'Viranamu of the Sangheli." Celestia answered. To be continued...... > The Crystal Empire(Part 2) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Mane 6 and Akaru arrived at the Crystal Empire and was a surprise to Akaru when he gaze at the city. "By the gods, I can see why this place is called the Crystal Empire. This place is completely of crystal." said Akaru. Twilight and the others giggled and Twilight responded, "Yeah, I should have mentioned about that. Sorry." "There is no need to apologize about anything, Twilight" Akaru said. Twilight nodded and then they went towards the palace to meet Princess Celestia and others. Few moments later... The Mane 6 and Akaru arrived at the palace and were hold up by a few guards. "Princess Twilight, what is that...thing behind you?" ask one of the Royal Guards. "This is Akaru, the one who saved Ponyville yesterday. We are expected by Princess Celestia today." responded Twilight. The Royal Guards stood there for a few moments, then finally responded, "Alright, but keep him or whatever it is in control and from trouble." Twilight was about to answer but Akaru said, "Listen, you cretins! I am not some beast that is in need of being tamed, so I advise you to watch your tongue, for I shall not be disrespected like that. The Honor Guards of the Covenant Empire shows more respect to their opponents than you!" Akaru stopped for a moment to calm himself and then said, "Ugh, my apologies. It's just that it gets on my nerves when someone or in this case, somepony, judges to quickly. But I am not a beast that you treat me as for only beast kills without feelings, and I have feelings, okay?" One of the Royal Guards responded, "Yes, sorry. We didn't mean to act so rude. We'll make sure not to judge too quickly next time." "Thank you." Akaru said. Then the Mane 6 and Akaru went on inside until Applejack asks, "What was tha' all abou'?" "I am not used to being disrespected like that. Usually in the Covenant, we treat each other as comrades and plus, I have a short temper. I do apologies for it." Akaru answered. Twilight asks, "Really? Even those Brutes you talked about?" "Well, except for them, I guess, but that is where I got my short temper from." Akaru answered. Dash asks, "They couldn't be that bad..." Twilight and Akaru said at the same time, "Trust me, you really don't want to know." They then arrived in the throne room and noticed Princess Celestia and others that were waiting for him. Celestia smiled and said, "It is good to see you all again, I hope that the guards were to troublesome." Twilight answered, "A little, and it's good to see you too." Celestia turns towards Akaru, "And it good to see you, Akaru." "Likewise." responded Akaru. "So, you are the one that my sister spoke about?" asked a dark blue 'Alicorn'. "Hopefully none are bad as she made them sound." Responded Akaru. Celestia then said, "This is my younger sister, Luna" Akaru then bowed down towards Luna and said, "Greetings, your majesty." "Just call me Luna, Akaru." "As you wish, Luna." Akaru answered. Then a pink Alicorn and a white unicorn with blue mane came in and were surprised when they saw Akaru. Celestia then said, "Ah, Cadence and Shining Armor, just in time." Celestia continued, "Akaru, this is Princess Cadence and this is Captain Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard, and Cadence's husband. Cadence and Shining, this is Akaru'Viranamu, the one I told you about." Akaru bowed and said, "It is an honor to meet you two." Cadence and Shining bowed back to him and then Shining Armor then asked, "So you're Akaru, the one that saved Ponyville yesterday. With all due respect, I was expecting you to be more barbaric-looking." "It is quite alright, sir. But you might need to train your guards to show more respect to those that are like me. I had never seen such judgment like that." Akaru answered. "Well, it's not like we meet an extraterrestrial that comes to our world everyday, you know." Shining answered. "Hhmm, good point." Akaru said. Cadence said, "Well I for one am happy that you are here. I can sense that you are very compassionate and dedicated." "H-how..." Akaru asks confusingly. "We Alicorn have our own ability to control and as well as very important powers." Cadence said. "Like what?" Twilight answered, "Well Princess Celestia can control the Sun while Princess Luna can control the Moon. Cadence can be able to sense and control Love itself." "And you? You are an Alicorn." asked Akaru. "Well I can control one of the Elements of Harmony." Twilight answered. "The Elements of Harmony? What in the Forerunners' name is that?" asked Akaru. Celestia answered, "The Elements of Harmony are powerful elements that can defeat any and all evil." Twilight said, "I am the Bearer of Magic." Dash then said, "Loyalty." "Honesty." "Generosity." "LAUGHTER, YAY." "And I-I'm Kindness." Akaru stood there and thought, 'By the Gods. This world is quite different from the rest.' Akaru the replied, "I-I see. This is not what I...." and was interrupted. "Expected?" followed by a psychotic laughter. Akaru and the rest were confused about the unexpected reply. Akaru asks, "Who was that?" Celestia sighed in irritation and then shouted, "Enough games, Discord!" Then a weird creature that was made up of different animal parts of such appeared in thin air and responded, "Oh Tia, you are no fun at all." To be continued... > The Crystal Empire(Part 3) > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Akaru was starring at what looks like a abomination of creatures fused together. He remember from, when he studied human knowledge, about mythologies. He somewhat looks like an Asian Lung Dragon in shape and form. The one thing Akaru was most confused of is when this 'Discord' finished his sentence. Akaru turned towards Celestia and asked, "Who is he, or it, whatever it is?" He then turned towards Discord, "No offense." "Eh, none taken." he replied. Celestia answered, "This is Discord, the God of Madness." Akaru stood there looking at Discord before replying, "I can see why." Discord floated towards, saying, "So this is Akaru, the alien from off-world, and who happens to save Ponyville from a pack of mutts. I have to say, for the first time in...centuries, I believe, I'm quite impress." "Uh, thanks, I guess." Akaru said as he watched Discord closely in caution. Rainbow Dash flew up and asked Discord, "Why are you here, Discord?" "Oh, I just want to meet Akaru myself, since I never have meet any aliens before, believe it or not, and as well as to visit the Princesses, you know, just so that they know I'm not causing mayhem somewhere else, which I haven't done that in, what, a year or so. Well maybe a little mayhem, but not the type where I don't get in trouble, at least. Afterall, I did made a promise to Fluttershy." He answered. Akaru looked towards Fluttershy and thought, 'I guess the humans are right about one thing though, is to always be cautious around the quiet ones.' "Yeah these 'humans' do have the right idea, huh?" He said. "By the Gods, stop reading my thoughts!" Akaru yelled out. Discord chuckled and said, "Sorry, force of habit." Luna came up and said, "I doubt that you came here not just to meet Akaru or to check in, what other reason of why you are here?" "Yeah that was the thing I was trying to remember. Uhm, oh yeah. While I was on my way here, I caught a glimpse that an army of Changlings is heading here, so I might as well warn you guys, considering that me and Chrysy don't really get along." Discord said. All but Akaru yelled out, "WHAT!?" Akaru asks Celestia, "What are these Changelings?" "They are a race of bug-like Equines who are able to shape-shift and are able to feed off on love." Celestia answered. Akaru's eyes went wide and he said in anger, "Then these foul creatures must be put down or at least pushed back to where they live. Let me help you to fight off these creatures. I will make sure that none of your guards and citizens will be neither injured or dead, I promise you that." Celestia and Luna looked at each other before nodding and said, "Alright, but make sure you kill less of them this time, if it is possible. They maybe horrible creatures, but that does not mean I want them dead all together." Akaru chuckled at her response, which confused Celestia and the others. "What?" Celestia asked. "Just like from one of the religions of the humans, what they called 'Christianity', I believe. Their creator, God, and as well as his son with the name of Jesus, told all of humanity is to do one thing to those you truly hate, and it is to forgive them for it." Akaru answered. Luna asked, "How come you know so much about these 'humans'?" "I have been studying them for quite a while. The humans are very interesting, do to the fact that in the past, that some of them fought wars to obtain peace, for religion, for their love ones, and even freedom while others fight for wealth, power, domination, or just for blood. The human world is both good and evil. They say that this combination is a balance for their world. The Ying and Yang, the Light and the Darkness, Love and Hate, peace and war, and Order and Chaos. Their will is so strong that it would never be broken, and we Sangheili respects that. In-fact, they even sometimes fight in wars just to survive, not to one's self but for the entire race. They are compassionated, dedicated, they learn from their mistakes, and are trying so hard to bring their world peace and order, like your world, but the quote of theirs say 'If you want Peace, prepare for War." He concluded but realised that he made some sort of a proud speech or sort. "I carried away, didn't I?" Aakaru asked sheeply. Twilight said, "Yep, but we actually enjoyed it. Right everypony?" Everyone replied yes and Akaru went cheerful inside, but then said, "Alright, we need to evacuate the city before those creatures arr-" A guard showed up and yelled out, "The Changelings are attacking!" Akaru and the others looked up at Discord, who said, "Wow, I didn't think they would get here so fast. They were still miles away from here when I arrived here." "Change of plans. Captain Armor, I want you and your guards to evacuate the entire city while I hold them off." Akaru said. "The Diamond Dogs are one thing, but the Changelings are another." Shining Armor said. Twilight came up and said, "Don't worry Shining, we are going with him, he's definitely not going alone." Shining sighed and said, "Alright, just make sure you come back alive, little sis." Then Akaru and the Mane 6 ran out towards the entrance of the city, where the battle is taking place while Shining and his guards evacuate the city. Akaru sighed and thought, 'If it's not one problem, it is another.' To be Continued.....