//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Punching Girls to Look Tough // Story: Halo: Ponies and Clouded Pasts // by Blazer //------------------------------// John felt himself being lifted, an intense pressure slowly restricting his windpipe. Instinctively, he groped for his throat—only to feel a hand blocking his progress. He gripped his assailant’s arm in a vice-like grip, attempting to break their wrist. However, he discovered that whatever was choking him was made of something hard and inorganic, the surface of its forearm not even giving a little. He felt his head being forced backwards as gravity pressed his chin into the attacker’s wrist, his feet now leaving the ground. Now desperate for air, he flailed weakly, throwing a jab or kick into the thrashing in an attempt to soften the powerful grip preventing him from breathing. His attempts met the same failure as his previous attempt with the forearm; the body was also made of the same inorganic material, and the assailant made no reaction to his attacks. John’s eyes snapped open, now wanting to see just who—or what—was throttling him. His body relaxed momentarily in surprise. An all-too-familiar purple entity stood before him, her voluptuous curves partially covered by black patches covered with scrolling data. Her short, chin-length hair fell neatly around her face, which wore an expression wracked with fierce anger. “C…Cortana?” he croaked. “Where is it?!” she screeched. John was taken aback by the sound of her voice. Although it had its familiar ring to it, he hadn’t heard her this angry since her encounter with 343 Guilty Spark. In addition, it lacked the cool, mercury touch it once possessed. Something about it simply rang false. He should expect that much… She was trying to kill him. “You’ve… You’ve gone rampant..?” he whispered, unable to speak any louder. The pseudo-Cortana pulled him close, her bright violet eyes glaring murder through his visor. “You will give me that tether, Chief!” she snarled. John’s arms fell limply at his sides, his hands flopping against his sides uselessly. The edges of his vision began to dim, his lungs threatening to burn out of his chest cavity. Mustering up what little strength he had left, he opened his lips, struggling to form his question, “W-why…?” Cortana was about to answer before she suddenly looked up, turning away from the Chief. An evil smirk appeared on her face, and a scream from John’s right jolted the soldier away from the encroaching darkness of his vision. His head swiveled to the source: a lavender unicorn. Twilight? Cortana’s murderous grin widened, “If you won’t tell me… Maybe she will.” Her grip momentarily loosened. Before John could even gasp for air, he felt himself flying away from Cortana, the impact of his back slamming into the far wall knocking what little air he had accumulated back out of him. He gasped, from both pain and desperation, hacking as he gulped greedily at the cool air of the basement. Wincing as the feeling painfully returned to his deprived appendages, John struggled into a sitting position, forcing himself to one knee. Cortana was still advancing on a shell-shocked Twilight, the eerie smile still plastered onto her face, “So, do you know where it is?” she asked, her own voice trembling as much as Twilight’s body. Twilight backed into the far wall, shaking her head, her mouth widened in a silent scream. Cortana’s evil grin grew, “I didn’t quite hear you,” she roughly grabbed the unicorn by the mane, lifting her without difficulty, “Care to speak up?!” Twlight’s eyes shut tightly in concentration, her horn suddenly emitting a shower of sparks. A long silence filled the room as Twilight’s eyes opened again, her expression even more panicked. John gritted his teeth. Dammit, Twilight! Why don’t you teleport out of here?! A white blur zipped past John’s vision, smashing itself into Cortana. The two tumbled past Twilight, colliding with the stairs. Rarity emerged on top, smashing her hooves into the AI’s face. She punctuated every crack of Cortana’s head smacking into the stairs with a syllable. “Don’t—touch—my—friend—you—rogue!” Rarity roared, mercilessly pounding Cortana’s face into the stairs. Her advantage of surprise was quick to fade, however, as the blows didn’t seem to be dazing the entity at all. Cortana’s arm whipped around, swatting the unicorn away as if she were a pesky insect. Rarity somersaulted into the wall next to Twilight, a line of blood dribbling down her lip. John was already in motion, sprinting while winding his arm back in preparation for a vicious right hook. Just as Cortana turned to face him, he was already in mid-swing. His fist collided with her cheek, the force of the impact jarring his arm painfully, as if he had punched a wall of solid ice. A sharp pain lanced out from his finger as ligaments snapped. Cortana recoiled, taking a step back from the force of the blow. Unfazed by the pain in his right hand, John immediately followed up with a left uppercut to her abdomen, his arm shaking violently as it connected. Cortana stumbled backwards, somehow managing to back up the stairs. John lowered his guard, pointing accusingly, “Who the hell are you?! You’re not Cortana!” The pseudo-Cortana cackled crazily, throwing her head back in maniacal laughter, “Ahaha! Oh, it’s me, all right,” she lowered her head, wearing another crooked grin, “I know who you are, Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117. And about Earth, Halo, the Ark and the Flood.” “S-so what?! You could have used a memory acquisition spell, just like I did!” Twilight cried, surprising the super-soldier. Just like…? John dispelled the thought with a shake of his head, Snap out of it. What matters is that she’s right. he berated himself. His breathing slowing to a more comfortable pace, he lowered his arm, his hand drifting to his sidearm, “I’d be a fool to believe that you’d be the real Cortana. Now where is she?!” “Why, John…” The entity said, lowering its head, “She’s right here.” Cortana’s body jerked like that of a novice puppeteer’s handiwork, her head tilting back at a strange angle and her arms bouncing loosely. When she raised her head, her expression was tinged with unimaginable sorrow. “Chief..?” She said slowly, blinking once in disbelief. -- Twilight watched in horror as the strange human cackled crazily, “Ahaha! Oh, it’s me, all right,” she lowered her head, wearing another crooked grin, “I know who you are, Petty Officer Master Chief Spartan-117. And about Earth, Halo, the Ark…” Something suddenly clicked in her mind. There was one thing that didn’t add up… “So what?! You could have used a memory acquisition spell, just like I did!” Twilight blurted out. Not to mention an illusionary spell! she thought quickly. The super soldier’s hand lowered, his hand drifting to the strange device still attached to his thigh. Much to Twilight’s relief, he wasn’t buying it either, “I’d be a fool to believe that you’d be the real Cortana. Now where is she?!” Twilight was taken aback by the sudden change in the soldier’s demeanor. Doubts about what John had told her in the Canterlot dungeon were aroused, about if they had really known each other for only a few months, but quickly stuffed back into the recesses of her mind. It was obvious this was not the ‘Cortana’ the soldier had told them about; she had just tried to kill him. “Why, John…” the creature spoke, “She’s right here.” Suddenly, it began to twitch and jerk about, like a rag doll on the end of a pull-string. The head rolled back, resting at an awkward angle before throwing itself forward. Slowly, it looked up, although the unicorn noticed something change in her facial expression. The malicious grin it wore before had disappeared, leaving a sad, somber one in its place. “Chief…?” the human asked, almost no louder than a whisper. Its voice had changed as well, taking on a deeper, more languid tone; almost like icy water flowing over Twilight’s eardrums. The Master Chief remained silent, unsure of what to think. Twilight did the same. “Chief! Go to the crash site! That’s where he—!” The being called Cortana froze, her face twisted in an unmistakable expression of pain. She screamed, clutching her head in her hands. Falling to her knees, she supported herself with her left hand, still clutching her temple with her right. The Chief took a sudden step forward as Cortana knelt, for reasons unknown to Twilight. Her suspicions were still too high for this entity to be trusted. The creature slowly stood, its faced twisted into the all-too familiar frown she had seen before, “Persistent wench…” it muttered aloud. The Chief drew his pistol, aiming at the creature, “Let her go.” he stated firmly. “Now, now,” the creature tutted, “Wouldn’t want to blow away your precious mistress, now would you?” The Chief’s grip on the pistol loosened visibly for a millisecond before tightening as he found his resolve. Twilight bit her lip as a pregnant silence followed, the tension making it almost impossible to breathe. “Now… if you will,” Cortana extended a hand, “The tether.” The unicorn was about to inquire after this ‘tether’ before the Chief cut her off, “No.” Cortana’s frown deepened, “Did you think I was asking you for it?” She flashed a brilliant white, temporarily blinding Twilight and the Chief. When the spots disappeared from vision, she realized that Cortana had teleported forward—straight into the Chief. In a deft flick of her wrist, she knocked the soldier’s arms aside, sending the pistol skittering across the basement floor next to Rarity’s prone form. Cortana slammed her fist into the Chief’s chin, forcing the super-soldier to stagger backwards to maintain his balance. Swinging her left arm back down in a downward punch, the entity forced the Chief’s head to snap back down, before bending her elbow and jamming it sideways into his midsection, knocking the Chief onto his posterior. As she advanced, the Chief rolled onto his left side, keeping his right leg elevated and bent. As soon as she came close enough, the Chief lashed out with a powerful side-kick, striking her on her collarbone. The entity roared angrily as it flew upwards, smashing through the roof and sailing into the library above them. A few startled screams came from upstairs, the realization suddenly hitting Twilight like a tidal wave. The others! The soldier rose to his feet, trudging up the stairs and pushing past the small doorframe, shattering it. This elicited a few more screams from above. Twilight waited for a few moments before rushing to Rarity’s side, cradling the fashonista’s head in her forelegs, “R-Rarity! Speak to me! Say something!” She whispered furiously. A loud WHUMP from upstairs made Twilight jump slightly, turning her attention to the gaping hole in the basement’s ceiling. The unicorn shivered unconsciously before staring at the blood trickling down Rarity’s lip. Why…? Why wasn’t I able to teleport before? And why did she…? She shook her head, dispersing the numerous questions surfacing in her thoughts, “Ngh, no! I need… I need to round up the others! It's time to end this!” She glanced forlornly at her unconscious friend, "And for that, I need to get Rarity awake." -- John ducked under a left hook, dropping his shoulder and slamming it into what once was Cortana. A loud clank ensued from the crystal colliding with the armor, followed by an even louder WHUMP as they smashed through the tree’s outer wall, sending the two tumbling out into the street. As John slowly started to rise, he felt himself being flung upwards by a solid palm-strike to his chest. He landed a few feet away, clutching where he had been hit. Cortana rose slowly, unfazed by the dozens of blows he had managed to land on her. John forced himself to one knee, gritting his teeth. Nothing was working. Physical blows obviously had no effect on whatever the hell this thing was; even the power enhancements of the MJOLNIR suit didn’t even leave a scratch. She, however, was certainly getting her licks in. Every blow would’ve killed him had he not been for the titanium-A plates that kept bone-shattering blows down to bruising ones. “You don’t have to die, Johnny-boy,” Cortana said in a tone that was too playful, even for her. Then again, it wasn’t her, “Just give me the tether, and I’ll leave you to your bestiality, or whatever you’re trying to accomplish here.” “Fuck you.” he spat angrily, still struggling to his feet. “Oh, my, and he thinks he’s all grown up because he’s speaking their language!” she tutted again. Suddenly, her eyebrows shot up, causing John to turn around to see what she was looking at. Six figures emerged from the interior of the library, all of them familiar. Even that sky-blue Pegasus, who he had thought hated him, was standing there. Twilight and her friends lined up, now wearing what appeared to be gold-plated necklaces. Each one bore a symbol that looked identical to the pictures that decorated their haunches. The only difference was that Twilight was wearing a sort of tiara in oppose to the necklaces her friends wore. John realized that this must’ve been what the Princess meant by ‘Elements’. “Alright, Cortana! That’s quite enough!” Twilight cried, stopping before a bewildered John. She gave him a wink, flicking something with her magic. He caught it out of the air, scrutinizing the object. The silver slide of his M6D pistol glinted in the dim moonlight. A quick smile adorned John’s features; it was a more-than-welcome sight, aside from Twilight and her friends. “I can’t allow you to hurt anypony else! We tried to negotiate with you, but you just won’t stop trying to hurt us! You’ve left us no other choice but to use the Elements of Harmony!” Twilight continued. Much to her horror, Cortana’s grin widened, “Oh, what? Do you truly think magic can save you?” “O-of course! The magic of friendship!” Twilight retorted, although obviously unsure of herself. “You fool,” Cortana lifted an arm, pointing at Twilight, “I am magic.” Twilight’s horn suddenly glowed an angry red. The unicorn’s eyes bulged out of her head as she scooted forward towards Cortana’s extended arm. No matter how much she fought the influence, however, her horn continued to pull her forward towards the entity. “If I cannot get the tether for this host, I’ll just use you instead!” Cortana exclaimed. John raised his pistol, pulling the trigger. The bullet flew true, neatly landing on Cortana’s pupil. However, John’s stomach sank as the bullet was stopped cold, forced to slowly move away from the creature’s eyeball through some sort of unseen force. Cortana raised her arm, causing Twilight to float upwards. “Ch-Chief! Help!” She squeaked. John dropped the pistol, sprinting towards the two. Cortana leaned her head against Twilight’s before her own body emanated a red identical to Twilight’s. In a brilliant flash, she disappeared, leaving only Twilight’s suspended body. The horn was grossly deformed, now bearing pulsing red crystals jutting out at every which angle. Twilight turned to face John, tears staining her face, “J-John… Help…” John opened his mouth to reply before a booming voice, different from before, echoed around him. How touching. Twilight’s eyes shut in pain, her face contorted. She thrashed about a few times while John could only look on in horror, taking a step back. The unicorn’s convulsions slowly came to a stop, and her eyes snapped open. In place of Twilight’s lavender irises were glowing orbs of blinding light. Twilight’s mouth curved into a grin. She is mine, now. There was a sudden whizzing noise, and an explosion of pain blossomed in John’s abdomen. In a third flash, Twilight disappeared, only leaving her tiara, its shattered pieces laying where she had been suspended in midair. Suddenly, John felt extremely cold, the feeling quickly leaving his extremities. His knees buckled, forcing him to kneel. A spatter of red invaded his blurry vision. There was a muffled scream as he keeled forward, resting on his polarized faceplate. A huge hand pressed down on his consciousness, squeezing it until he could no longer breathe. His vision faded to black, and everything became very still. Silence was all that remained.