Ahhhh...Christmas! It's around Christmas time when everyone and everypony just can't help but being...happy and content. Friendships and family bonds are all that matters!...along with the presents, of course. Even those that don't celebrate Christmas get into the mood of the holidays!...mostly because their own religions celebrate similar holidays around the same time, BUT...it still stands that this time of years is one of the BEST times of year! New years time is best time.
Don't believe me? Well take a look at Crimson team! They're filled with probably those least likely to enjoy ANY holiday, yet, for the past couple of years of their service as a full team, they've ALWAYS taken part in the festivities. Their most moody of members, Artemis, would even host and run the whole thing if she was allowed!...but this year...it would be the entirety of Crimson Team, plus Princess Luna, which would host the party, except this time, it wasn't only to celebrate...but also to remember.
"God damnit Halsey! Give me my Rookie back!" Reyna growled impatiently, tapping her foot and staring at her watch, "And Luna! Where'd she go!?" Reyna sighed, rubbing her temples to try and calm down, "Jesus...why'd I agree to this?" she turned her head and looked to the small alter which she was about to reveal to the rest of the partygoers just beyond the red curtain she stood beside. On the alter was a tattered, burnt, and broken Spartan-IV helmet; it's visor was cracked in many places, giving it the appearance of a spider web. Beside this...was a picture frame. Reyna just stared at it...thinking deeply about the pony inside and her creepy, yet comforting smile.
"Oi! Oi! Reyna! I'm 'ere!"
Reyna spun around to see her pony comrade, Pip, charging down the hall towards her. It was one of those rare times he wasn't wearing his armor, either.
"Finally! How long did she expect to keep you in that debriefing room?" Reyna asked, returning to reality.
"Who knows?" Pip responded, "She always wan's ta re'ord everything..."
Reyna rolled her eyes, waving his statement off, "Whatever...do you know if Luna will be back?" Pip shrugged, "Ugh, I knew she shouldn't have been part of the debrief...I have a feeling there's more to all this stuff than Halsey is saying. She's never been good at being truthful, or even at following regulation..."
"Hey! Sis! All the stage effects are set-up on my end!" the two comrades looked up to see their third partner, Reyna's sister, Ryan, on a scaffolding above them, "We ready to go?"
"No!" Reyna shouted up, "Luna's not here yet."
"Damnit..." Ryan leaned against the guardrail of the scaffold, grabbing and toying with a screw on his right arm, "Hope's she's okay..."
Reyna noticed what he was doing and scowled, throwing the pencil she was holding up at him, "Stop messing with your fucking arm! Do you remember how much that thing COST!?" the order was driven home as the eraser end of the pencil hit him square in the forehead.
"Gah! Jesze! Okay! Sorry!" Ryan backed away, making his way to the manual stage lights so he could get ready for the start of the party.
"God...He loves that new arm of his, but he doesn't take care of it correctly..." Reyna rolled her eyes, hacking her head in dismay, "He's such a kid..."
"Who is?"
Again, the two looked to the direction the new voice came from to see Luna standing in the doorway opposite to the one Pip had came from.
"Luna!" both shouted happily.
"Haha, why are you so happy to see me, my faithful warriors?" asked the blue Goddess.
"We coul'nt star' wi'out you, Princess!" Pip shouted, "You're the star o' th' show!"
"That and...I thought you weren't going to come, honestly..." Reyna added sadly, "I saw you run off hastily a while ago."
Luna looked down in embarrassment from being caught, but then cheered up quickly and returned Reyna's stare with a bright smile, "She would never let me live it down if I missed this, so neither would I."
Both Reyna and Pip grinned, nodding, "Alright! Time to get this started!" Reyna motioned for both Pip and Luna to follow, dashing to the center of the stage, "Luna! Ready for your introductory speech?"
Luna quickly trotted over, Pip right beside her, and nodded, "I am ready."
"Good." Reyna looked up again and saw Ghost staring down at them, "Ready to go!" Reyna shouted to her brother, giving him a thumbs up.
Ryan nodded before stepping back and activating the automated controls for most of the stage equipment, which he pre-programmed for the show, on his tablet. Reyna, Pip, and Luna all prepped themselves for giving the other soldiers a good show as the curtains allowed light to start flooding the stage, along with the cheers of the awaiting crowd.
Reyna put on a huge grin as she stepped forwards first, turning the mic headset on and waving, "Heeeey everybrony! Reyna 'Widow' Smith here! And it is MY honor of welcoming all of you to Crimson Team's Annual Christmas Day extravaganza!" In reality, being a co-host to a party like this (or really taking part in parties or celebrations of any kind) wasn't her thing, but...'tis the season! Plus, she owed it to somepony, "Alright alright! Calm down! Don't wast all that energy in me! After all we got THE Luna, goddess of night, to really host this whole shebang." Reyna and Pip motioned to the blushing princess, to which the crowd cheered more fervently than before, "Give it up!"
Luna stepped forward now, adding a bit of magic to her not-so-traditional-anymore traditional Equestrian Voice, "H-Hello! Thank you for all the cheers! It's very kind of you all..." Luna paused for a moment, smiling slightly as the crowd continued to cheer and shout, "But remember: You're not here for me! No...you're all here to celebrate the seasons!...and...to say goodbye..."
The crowd, at this, began to quiet down as the mood switched from festive to somewhat solemn.
"Yes...as you all know, usually my Second in Command, Artemis, would run this, but...she couldn't make it this year." Reyna explained, "I'm sure you've all heard the news, and if not..."
"Now I'm sure none of you want to spend the entire party feeling sad, so try not to think of this as a funeral!" Luna interjected, "She wouldn't have wanted that! This will be her...farewell party."
Murmurs went through the crowd. Up until this point, news of probably the most known soldier in their area actually going K.I.A. were just rumors. Plus, nobody ever thought it would be possible for HER to just up and die!
"I can see the mood was somewhat ruined..." Luna suddenly grabbed every soldier's attention, stomping a hoof and clearing her throat, "So, I guess before we kick-off the actual festivities, I will leave you with a little something a certain mare once told me: 'Whenever something brings you down, you have two options: Sit there and sulk, or get up and do something about it...'" Luna paused to see if everyone and everypony in the room was listening. Even Widow and Pip were leaning in, curious as to what she was going to say, "'Or you can just screw it all and go nuts!' I think what I'm trying to convey here is, well...screw it all and go nuts, everypony!"
Luna reared back on her rear hooves and flared her wings, signaling Ryan to start the show for real. The human did just that, too. He pressed a multitude of buttons on his tablet then allowed his pre-programming do the rest! The lights dimmed, stereos slid out of hidden trap doors, and a section of the stage started to transform, revealing a large DJ set with none other than one of their own, musically talented, ranks.
"Give it up for DJ Pon-3!" Widow cheered , raising her hands and motioning to the white-coated unicorn with hair similar to lightning and shades as black as night stationed amidst her turn tables.
Luna backed silently behind the curtains while both Pip and Widow dove off the stage to join their comrades amidst the crowd. The DJ, Vinyl Scratch, started-off her sets with a simple, yet energetic piece filled with enough heavy bass to cause a tsunami if the stereos were placed in water. All above and around her, the lights and lasers which Ryan had configured flashed and moved with the rhythm of the music. Everyone and everypony was going to party until they were purple!...er well...pin-! No wait...uhm...they would all party until they couldn't party no more! All, that is, but Luna.
She knew she should be out there, "going nuts" like she said everypony should themselves, but there was something else she had to do. She had a few places to visit; information to uncover; fallacies to clarify. She hated to admit it, but...Halsey was hiding something about the true intentions behind accepting Artemis into the Spartan-IV program, and she had to make sure that this something hadn't been the reason Her Little Stalker was no longer stalking her.
"Have fun, everypony and everyone." Luna muttered, grinning as she disappeared and dark-blue flash.
-------------
Pip REALLY enjoyed himself that night. Though he didn't really talk, still, that didn't keep him from taking Luna's advice! He danced, he played some games, and he even attained a bit of "fun time" with Cross...but once the party was reaching it's later hours (around six the next morning), many had gone to hit the sack. Though, those few who had become entirely used to the sleep deprivation remained to talk and just chill, even Vinyl. Pip, at this time, found himself sitting at a table with Reyna, Ryan, Vinyl, Aerowin-a vibrant-green Pegasus and master aeronautic pilot who often flew them to their missions-and even Agent Washington. Plus, Cross was asleep, leaning against his side with a serene and cute expression which he just found completely adorable. Of course, Vinyl had set a bunch of random tracks to play so that there was at least some kind of music playing, even though she was done her mixing for the night.
"I swear, HOW she stayed a virgin is beyond me..." Aerowin exclaimed before taking a slug of his drink, a bottle of Buck Daniels, "I mean, she definitely 'presented' herself enough times you'd think it would have just...happened!"
The group all snickered, nodding in agreement, "Yeah, but she was always just doing that to screw with our heads, you know?" Ryan added, "She LOVED fucking, in reality. But she would only fuck our minds." he concluded, nodding.
"Pffffft, so true, so true!" Widow laughed, something she had been doing much more often.
"I remember the time when I was getting my Pelican prepped for flight, to take you four on some mission, can't exactly remember which one, though, I think it was..." he suddenly realized that he was swerving off topic and quickly went to the point, "Anyway! I was in the cockpit, checking all the instruments and dials, when she walked in and offered to help. Of course, I told her that would be great, but then she started saying the most AWKWARD stuff!" Aerowin raised his bottle and waved it around a bit, laughing, "Heh, like 'So where's this pit the cock goes in?' an' 'Yeah, the thrusters seem to be working, but it looks like yours need a test run.' " the Pegasus laughed again before taking another slug of his beer and shaking his head, "The entire time she would sit in a very lewd position or lean over my shoulder uncomfortably..."
"Oh yeah, that sounds like something she'd do." Vinyl laughed, "She did something similar to me when I was configuring my sets and decks for this party last year...I will admit I was a bit dissapointed when she denied mmmeeewwww-nevermind." The DJ laughed nervously before suddenly becoming interested in fixing her mane.
"Geeze. Looks, fighting skill, and adaptability. She was sure one hell of a wom...er, mare." Washington stated, "I swear, the last time I fought against her, before agreeing to enlist as allies with the UNSC, she seemed to be trying to seduce me rather than defeat me."
"Oh yeah, she has fucked with the minds, and hearts, of probably everyone she ever encountered." Ryan pointed out to everyone else, leaning in to tell his own little tidbit, "She seduced Wash in the middle of a fight, and she groped my sister during downtime while on one of our missions." Reyna gave her brother an annoyed glared, but he paid her no mind, "She molested Aero in his own Pelican and she constantly harassed me every time she thought I grew a crush for a girl. She got Vinyl in the mood, just to deny her with a laugh, and she invaded Pip's throat with her tongue." now Pip and Vinyl joined Reyna in glaring at Ryan, "Hell, she even tried to get herself a threesome with Pip and Cross here. I'm pretty sure she was just doing it to mess with 'em, but still!" Ryan burst out in laughter, ignoring all the glares. Soon enough, though, everyone and everypony else joined him. He was right about it all, so they couldn't really argue with him about it.
"B-heh-b-but get this..." Ryan, after a couple minutes of laughter, was finally able to continue, "The person, er, pony, I should say, she harassed and molested most was actually Princess Luna! And, to top it all off, her reason was because she was head-over-hooves, deeply in love her!"
Everyone was about to laugh again, but Pip suddenly slammed a hoof on the table, narrowing his eyes, "Wha'cha mean 'was,' Ryan?"
"Wha...? Pip, she can't really have feelings if she's, you know...dead." Widow answered.
"I beg t' differ." Pip responded, "Friendship is Magic, Love is Forever." Pip, with that sudden and deep line dropped, slowly got up, lifting Cross into his hooves and beginning on his way to bed.
The rest watched him leave silently, no sound but music...
"Well..." Aerowin muttered, coughing slightly.
"I think...we should stop talking about her like this..." Reyna stated, "It's not really fair of us to just recall her oddities and make fun of her."
"Agreed." Vinyl added.
"So instead, why not recall the best times we had with her?" Washington suggested, to which the rest of his comrades nodded in agreement.
The five soldiers all sat there in silence, recalling the times the crazy, yet surprisingly caring mare had helped them or showed kindness in some way. Aerowin recalled the time their Pelican crashed deep in enemy territory, and Artemis carried him the entire way because he had broken both rear legs and his right wing. Vinyl smirked at the thought of the time when Artemis helped her build the courage to ask another mare out for the first time. Washington sighed, laughing at his memory in which Artemis went toe-to-hoof with Tex because the ebony mare didn't like the way the cold-hearted Freelancer was treating him. Lastly, both Reyna and Ryan imagined every mission, every moment that they had shared with Artemis, up until the travesty at the Rainbow Factory only a couple weeks ago.
"To Artemis." Reyna said, raising her glass.
"To Artemis." everyone and everypony else agreed, raising their own glasses.
"Couldn't stand to live with her," Ryan added, "Depressed to live without her."
The five saluted their late friend before downing the rest of their drinks, then heading off to their respective beds. Vinyl, though, had to first pack all of her equipment up before hitting the hay. Plus...she had to start getting ready for the New Year's Party only a few days later!
-------------
"Wh...what the!?" Luna stared at the now blank screen in front of her in shock. One moment, she was reading the Crimson Team bio, the next she was trying to prevent a hacker from stealing said files, and then the next every file was erased, meaning, Crimson Team technically didn't exist anymore, "What just happened!?" Luna shouted, pressing multiple keys on the keyboard with her magic, "Who just...?"
Before the files became hacked and corrupt, she caught a glimpse of some kid of side note about Artemis, separate from the one about controlling her temper. All she saw, though, were the letters D, A, N, I, and A.
"Ryan wouldn't hack into files such as these! But...who else has skill such as his...?" Luna thought out loud, "And what is Halsey going to do when she finds out these files were deleted?" she actually grinned at this thought, "Whatever she does, I know she won't be happy about it!" but quickly returned to a worried state of mind, "But still...with these files deleted...Artemis literally doesn't exist anymore..." Luna sighed, hanging her head over as she began to slowly walk out of the computer room, "Well...at least she finally got her wish." the goddess muttered, "She's no longer a part of this war...wait a moment." Luna suddenly came to a drastic realization, "She didn't!"
-------------
Pip gently laid Cross down on her sheets, taking a moment to appreciate her sound figure with a grin, then went to the computerized message board on the wall to check for any new missions or important notices impending him or his team. Tapping the center with his hoof, the screen came to life, illuminating his face amidst the dark room. After giving the screen a quick look-over, nothing new appeared to have arrived, so, with a yawn, he began his way back to the bed to join Cross.
"BL-ING! New Mail."
Pip stopped in mid step, then slowly turned to see an animated envelope appear on the screen. Wondering what the heck this message was doing here at this time of night, he trotted back and tapped the screen, the message opening. It was from Halsey...
'The buck? Wha' does she want!?'
'SUBJECT: Diana
Pip, this message is of utmost importance, and is under severe confidentiality. In fact, this message will delete itself and erase you entire current inbox in five minutes. That being said, I have a very special assignment for you. A new Freelancer has appeared, claiming the name Diana...odd thing is, though, Director Church named every Agent after a State in America, and...he never had any subject that was inhuman...save for a past farce which we already covered, but none the less...this Freelancer is a pony, which, according to all recorded information, is impossible, unless Church found his way to Equis before John did.
Pip, your primary objective, effective immediately, is to track and learn every single thing you can of this "Diana," so that we may asses where her motives lay, and how to deal with this unexpected event. You will still take part in Crimson Team's missions, do not worry, but, as previously stated, do everything you can to uncover the truth behind Agent Diana.
Oh, and, Merry Christmas.
Also, NEVER under any circumstance, approach me about this topic unless it is in complete confidentiality. You know your duty, soldier, now as you were.'
Pip almost didn't comprehend what this message was conveying, but when he tried to give it a second read, his entire inbox suddenly disappeared, leaving him with no clarifications. Shaking his head and deciding to worry about this another time, the tired warrior finally crept into bed with his marefriend. He was asleep the moment his head touched the pillow.
-------------
Vinyl finally packed all of her equipment up and was heading back to her bed, but stopped to give Artemis' memorial alter a last look.
She sighed, shaking her head, then continued on, "Merry Christmas, damn psycho, and to You, a peaceful sleep." The unicorn flipped her shades on, and began humming one of her favorite tunes.