//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Arrival in Equestria // Story: I Have Returned 2: The Broken Ones // by EPiiCx5587 //------------------------------// I Have Returned 2 The Broken Ones Chapter 4: Arrival in Equestria Jane signed the last of the documents she needed to work on in regards to her previous mission. It felt strange just writing her name down, Jane Arimondo. For years she had been answering to that name, over a decade now. It was a name she didn’t intend on changing, and she truly felt that it was her own name now. Yet when she wrote it, she was reminded of everything she did. How her name carried poison to the minds of some, and incited anger, sadly well deserved anger. Chances are these thoughts were coming to mind just because she was going home, but it still bothered her. Jane picked up a blank piece of paper and tried writing it again. There it was, her name. It came so easily to her, like it was there since birth. Bah! She couldn’t dwell on such small things like that, there was more pressing issues that she needed to take care of. “Roland, how much longer?” She asked. “About twenty minutes till we exit slipspace Captain.” He said over the intercom. “I’ll send the documents over to Osman, I’d suggest you go prep the others. Come up with a game plan.” “You’re right. We have a lot on our plate. Firstly we have find the cause of the Forerunner attacks on the colonies and do that behind Luna’s back, take care of the fuckers who know about me behind everyone’s back, and make it look like we're taking care of the Sun Order to Luna.” “So you’re not going to tell them?” “Tell who?” “The Crew, about you. If there was any good time to mention it, it would be now.” “I’ve read their records already, when they discovered the truth behind the Spartan II program they wanted to kill doctor Halsey for kidnapping innocent children and experimenting on them. I’ve killed innocents, if they found that out they would get even angrier.” “Would you blame them?” “No, I wouldn’t. It’s the proper human response to hearing something like that. Nevertheless we have more pressing issues, and none of them are going to get solved if the team hates me.” “Very well then, it’s your choice Jane.” “Alright then. Send everybody to the bridge so I can talk to them.” __________________________________________________________ Ten minutes later Port Stanley Bridge Jane dimmed the lights of the bridge as a holographic projection of Equestria appeared in the middle of the room. She quickly counted over each of the members of Kilo-Five to make sure they were all present, which they were. “Alright team we have a new assignment, one that is of utmost importance.” “Aren't all of our assignments like that?” Mal said sarcastically. “True, but this one even more so. I have recently been informed by your old boss Serin Osman that multiple UNSC colonies have been attacked by something Forerunner in origin. We have no idea what it is, but none of our Forerunner resources are giving us any answers. This is the only Forerunner place in the galaxy that we know of that we don’t have access to due to it being under control of the Equestrian government.” “Uh Captain?” Vaz asked. “Doesn’t the UNSC have control over the Equestrian government?” “True, but due to them being a different species, and other circumstances, we do let them have a lot of political freedom to do as they desire. We could ask them to let us in, but we want to keep this Forerunner attack thing under wraps.” “And how are we going to do that?” Phillips asked. “I was getting to that. Currently Equestria is dealing with a small insurrection called the Sun Order who want their old Princess Back, their magic back, and of course death to all humans. They’ve attacked a few small UNSC warehouses, but we don’t think they’re any threat. However Equestria’s leader President Luna thinks otherwise.” Jane said, as a photo of Princess Luna appeared next to the holographic planet. “She’s been pushing for UNSC aid on taking care of them, and that’s our cover.” “So what’s the plan then?” asked Deveraux. “I’m splitting the team into two. Vaz and Mal will take up the position of searching through the sun order, while Deveraux, Naomi, and Phillips will search for the Forerunner origin of the attack. I’ll be moving in between both teams helping each of you out. Obviously Luna can’t know of the presence of some of you, so she’ll only meet with Vaz, Mal, and myself.” “Captain, we’ll be exiting out of slipspace in 30 seconds.” Roland said over the intercom. “Very well then, the presentation is over. I’ll brief the Forerunner team on what to do once I get an idea of how much freedom we’ll have to maneuver around. Roland, prep tart cart. Mal, Vaz, let’s go.” Just as she finished speaking the room lit back up again, and the ship came out of slipspace, the empty black void now filling with stars and of course a little blue planet that she knew oh so well. Jane took a deep breath. It was time to return once more, to the planet she once called home. ____________________________________________________________________ Tart Cart The engine of Tart Cart roared to life, a familiar sound that Jane missed so much. Due to her duties as the leader of Kilo-Five she never got to do much ground work, just paperwork, and having to bark orders at others. Mal and Vaz strapped themselves into the seats just next to her and behind her. They had changed into their proper UNSC uniforms as they would be meeting the president of an entire planet. Jane on the other hand preferred her black ONI uniform. She gripped the controls and took a deep breath as she started to pilot the enhanced pelican out of the docking bay. During all of Kilo-Five’s expeditions Roland separated a part of himself to join them whilst being still in Port Stanley. This was no different as he planted himself in a data chip in Tart Cart. “Roland, give me an ETA.” Jane calmly ordered. “We’ll be arriving just in time for dinner, so I hope you’re all hungry. ETA is around 6pm local time. I already have permission for us to land at the UNSC tower.” “Good, I hope they have lobster.” Mal Joked. “That is quite possible.” Jane said. “Most of the natural life forms on Equestria are very similar to ones on earth. Granted though the Pony race is completely vegetarian so don’t get your hopes up.” “You seem to be quite knowledgeable about this planet Jane.” Vaz said. “I’m knowledgeable, on most inhabited worlds we have access too. They don’t make ONI commanders out of people who haven’t done their homework.” Technically what she said wasn’t a lie, she had done countless research of hundreds of known planets and solar systems. Yes this particular one was a bit different in terms of how she found out said information, but once again her response to Vaz wasn’t a lie. “Ha, and what does that make us.” Mal laughed. “Cannon fodder.” Jane returned with a smirk, giving all three in the room a good chuckle. This was nice, Jane needed a good laugh to calm her nerves. Tart Cart started to hit the atmosphere, heating the hull of the ship up as it slowed down due to it no longer being in the vacuum of space. The stars started to fade away and the sky became blue, and Jane could see the sun of the solar system start to set. It was hard to believe that for most of her life she thought that sun was controlled by a single pony, and now knowing that she was lied to by somepony she trusted so much. Tart Cart started to level itself out began flying eastward towards the capital. After about fifteen minutes she could start to see the skyline of the city. It looked nothing like it used to, what was once a beautiful fantasy medieval styled town on the side of a mountain was now a full scale modernized city at the base of said mountain. The centre of the city being the UNSC equestrian capital office. It consisted of two connected skyscrapers, one taller than the other one. The taller one sported the UNSC logo, and the shorter one has the logo of the Equestrian UNSC branch which replaced the eagle with a pegasus, and the planet at the bottom of the logo was Equestria not Earth. The old castle still sat on the mountain, but it was now converted to a museum, or so she heard. Perhaps she’d get the chance to visit it. There was a landing pad at the back of the main UNSC tower in which she landed on. Jane took a deep breath, this was it, after five long years she’d have to face Luna. There was no point in hesitating though she thought as she stood up out of her seat and made her way to the back of the small ship. Vaz hit the button to open the cargo bay door at the bat as Jane’s heart momentarily stopped as she knew what she was about to face. It was actually ironic, she had faced almost certain death so many times, and this is what was making her nervous. Despite the irony though, she knew exactly why this was scary for her, and couldn’t control her nerves. The cargo bay door finally came down, and Jane was face to face with President Luna. The president had two bodyguards on her side, each adorned in special UNSC uniforms designed for ponies. It was strange seeing Luna adorned in UNSC clothing, almost uncanny. “Hello Jane Arimondo, it has been a long time.” Luna said. At the surface Luna seemed calm, she was good at masking her emotions, but Jane could tell just from her eyes alone that this was also emotionally taxing on her. “Likewise President Luna. These are two of my most trusted people on my team Vaz and Mal.” She said gesturing to both persons.” The two both introduced themselves, giving President Luna a quick salute. “Very nice to meet both of you. Come I’ll show you three to your rooms.” Luna said with an obvious fake smile. ____________________________________________________________ A few hours later The three were shown their rooms in the UNSC building, it wasn’t a hotel so they weren’t much, but in the end they didn’t need much. They had a lot of preparations to do tomorrow. Vaz decided to go out for a night on the town while he had the time, while Mal choose to stay in and do some research on Equestria and the Sun Order. There was an outdoor patio that connected the two UNSC buildings. It was filled with flora from both Equestria and Earth as a symbol of peace. In the middle of the patio sat a fountain with a statue of a nameless human and pony standing next to each other looking towards the stars. Jane was leaning over the railing at the edge of the patio looking out towards the skyline of the city. By human standards it was quite small, but for Equestria the size of it would have been unimaginable back before she left. “Was this something you volunteered for?” Said a voice from behind Jane. She turned around to see that it belonged to Luna. “No I’m just here under orders.” Jane responded. “Don’t you have any say in what you do?” Lune questioned. “I wish, but Serin has me as her Lap dog, and trust me when I say I’m on a short leash. I hate it, but it’s the only reason why I’m not locked up in a jail cell. In fact I imagine the reason why she sent me here is purely to remind me that she owns me.” “Considering what you did, you should be happy where you’re at. Most would not be so kind to you.” There was obvious resentment in Luna’s voice as she said that. Seeing Jane again must have been like tearing open a massive old wound. In a way though it felt the same for Jane, being here just brought up nothing but painful memories. “I wanted to keep myself out of a Jail cell so I could devote my life to helping others and improving the universe. I can’t do that when I’m being controlled so much. Luna’s face contorted. “I remember you saying something like that before you left. I’m sorry, but to me it sounds like you want to do those things less out of wanting to make the galaxy a better place and more out of wanting to get rid of your guilt.” Jane’s heart sank. She did want to make the galaxy better, but deep inside her she knew that her own guilt had a large part in that. “If the end result brings better lives for people, then that’s what matters most, not the reason.” Jane said, trying to hide the emotional pain in her face as she couldn’t even manage to look at Luna as she made that statement. “You can tell yourself that all you want Jane, but your actions will still haunt you no matter what. Rightfully so too.” “Luna do we really need to bring these things into this? I’m here on business, and the less of this I have to deal with the quicker I can be out of here.” “As much as I’d like to have you out of here quickly, this isn’t something you can run from forever. You’re facing this whether you like it or not. I took the liberty of notifying your parents that you’re here, you’ll have to face them eventually.” Once again Jane’s heart sank. The thought of looking her parents in the eyes after all that she has done, and all that she has become. It almost brought her to tears right then and there. “Can’t you just leave me to wallow in my own pity?” “No, you’re too selfish to deserve that. You can call yourself Jane Arimondo all you want, and maybe that is completely who you are now, but you were once Twilight Sparkle. You left a lot of ponies who cared about you so much when you left. They worried everyday about you, wondering if you’d ever return. Twilight Sparkle’s past is still your past, and as much as you try to act like she’s a different being altogether, you know in your heart that you can never truly escape her.” “And what do you want me to do about it huh! Go around and tell everyone I once knew that I’m sorry for leaving for six years, coming back, destroying everything, and then disappearing for another five years!” “What you do is up to you, but you have to do something and you know it. Meet with your parents at least. You owe them that much. They’re your family after all.” “Shouldn’t you be more concerned about your little insurrection problem rather than my family life?” “Perhaps, but if you think that’ll stop me from forcing you to face your past then you’re dead wrong Jane. I sent a message to your datapad containing your parent's current address, go there, you know you have to.” “And if I don’t?” “Then you are lost to me.” A silence then hovered around the two as Jane could only manage to turn away as a tear rolled down her cheek. “I’ll be taking my leave now.” Luna said. “Get some rest, we have a lot of work to do. You and your squad can take tomorrow off to do whatever research you can, and make preparations. I’ll see you the day after tomorrow, then the work can truly start. Goodnight Jane.” Luna left leaving Jane alone in her thoughts. Why did Osman have to send her back here of all places! It’s true that Jane thought she could handle it before she got here, but once she arrived and saw Luna’s face for the first time she knew that wouldn’t happen. The conversation she just had, only amplified that. Jane slammed her fist on the railing, denting it a fair bit, she was a Spartan after all. She knew Luna was right about facing her past, especially her parents. Trying to do good for the galaxy would only get her so far, it pissed her off, but mostly it depressed her, as she knew it was the truth. This assignment was getting worse and worse by the minute. ______________________________________________________________ Jane’s Temporary personnel quarters... Thankfully Jane got a full room and office to herself in the UNSC building. Once again, it wasn’t anything special or large, but it gave her ample space to do her work. There was a mini fridge off to the side that Jane opened to see what was inside. There was various small foods and also a couple of bottles of liquor. She grabbed a glass on the counter that the fridge was on and started to mix herself a drink with what she found in the fridge. “A jagerbomb really?” Roland said a he appeared on the office desk on the other side of the room. “I have paperwork to do, so I need to be awake. That and I really need a fucking drink right now.” “Let me guess, you ran into Luna.” Roland said with a concerned look on his face. “That obvious?” Jane said, both depressed and angry. “Sadly yes. Do you want to talk about it? You know I’m always here if you need an ear.” “I appreciate it Roland, but right now I just want to get my work done so I can be alone with my thoughts.” “Okay Jane, if you need me though, just ask. Do try to get some rest though Jane, if anything will help you, it’s that.” “Thanks Roland.” Jane downed her drink and sat down at her desk. These next few days were going to be hard on her, and she knew it….