The Master Chief was falling towards the planet at very high speeds. His armour was incredibly hot, along with the inside and outside of the drop pod. As soon as he strapped himself into the pod, he initiated the armour lockup safety procedure, protecting himself from the intense heat.
As he continued soaring towards the planet, he examined the drop pods semi-functioning heads up display. It read: "12 SECONDS UNTIL PARACHUTE DEPLOYMENT" among other things such as, "WARNING: HULL BREACH".
“No shit,” Chief thought to himself. He was still surprised that the drop pod had power; he assumed the cable it was attached to on board the Dawn was meant to charge it.
“Chief, I'm going to adjust our flight path. Our current trajectory will bring us straight into a mountain.”
He felt the thrusters of the drop pod come to life, then felt the pod move in a different direction. He then checked the pods heads up display once more and read, "TWO SECONDS UNTIL PARACHUTE DEPLOYMENT".
He waited for the chute to deploy, and as soon as it did he felt the pods descent slow drastically. He had already entered the atmosphere of the planet while he was attempting to escape the Dawn, and normally, that is when the chute would deploy. However, since they weren't using the acceleration thrusters, Cortana had calculated the best time to deploy the chute, and soon after, the braking thrusters.
He was nearing the ground, and since their speed was considerably slower than normal atmospheric re-entry, Cortana had calculated the braking thrusters to fire at twenty five meters to impact, instead of fifty. Chief glanced at the pods heads up display, forty three meters above ground, roughly five seconds until impact. Soon after, he felt the braking thrusters fire, indicating he was at twenty five meters. He glanced again, eighteen meters. Chief braced himself for impact as well as he could in his unmovable armour.
In an abrupt stop, the drop pod hit the ground with tremendous force, sending violent vibrations through his bones. The impact created a huge cloud of smoke and dirt, and sent bushes and foliage flying in every direction. The sound the impact made would have been deafening had he not had his helmet on.
"That's one way to make an entrance," Cortana muttered. Chief smirked at this.
He then counted to ten inside his head, and satisfied that his landing zone was stable, deactivated the armour lockup fail-safe and cautiously exited the pod.
-
Loud rumbling and explosions could be heard in the distance where pieces of the Dawn crashed into the ground. Eventually the remaining aft section crash landed, colliding into the planet with so much force that Ponyville shook for seven seconds straight, leaving an eerie rumbling sound that was topped off by an incredibly loud explosion. The explosion was heard for miles around, waking everyone in its range. In the middle of the confusion, the Master Chief's drop pod soared by overhead, crash landing into the outskirts of the dangerous Everfree Forest.
-
Twenty minutes after Spike and Twilight's departure, the girls, Spike, a dozen royal guards, Shining Armour, and the two princesses stood in front of the library. Ponies for miles around were outside searching for the cause of the loud noises and rumbling. Some were scared and crying, wondering if Equestria was under attack, some were assessing the damage done to their property and the surrounding land from stray pieces of the burning frigate, and some were discussing what they saw, trying to piece together the puzzle of this confusion. Since Ponyville and Canterlot were the closest places to the landing zone of the wreck, it was complete chaos there. Mayor Mare was attempting to calm everyone down in Ponyville, while the royal guard and diplomatic leaders were trying to do the same in Canterlot, but it was to no avail.
“Luna and I were well aware of the meteorite, and we already had a squad of royal guards readied to investigate. We were to accompany them. We were about to set out when I received Spike's letter, and we thought having you girls come along would be an excellent idea,” Celestia said to the girls. “We brought the Elements as well, just in case we come across anything dangerous.” There was a hint of nervousness in her voice, making the girls eye each other cautiously. She must have sensed their feelings though, and she snapped out of it. “We will be leaving in five minutes, so collect your things and be ready for the journey,” she said sternly.
“Uhm, Princess?” Applejack said nervously, “Why exactly would we be needin' the Elements anyway?” she asked. “Ah mean, it is just a rock, isn't it?” she added slowly.
“I do not know. We most likely will not need them, Applejack. We are only taking precautions, in case something does happen.” Celestia answered.
“But what threat could a rock possibly represent?” Rarity asked in a slightly disgusted tone. “I mean, other than chipping your hooves and getting you all dusty...” she added fearfully.
Celestia was about to reply, but she was cut off.
“Actually, it was my idea to bring the elements. I suppose I should tell the rest of you what I saw, since I most likely had the best view of what happened.” Princess Luna stepped forward. “I was sitting on my balcony, gazing over Canterlot and beyond, when I first saw it up high in the night sky. It was large, and falling fast. More and more pieces broke off of it, and as it got closer I was able to see that some of the pieces reflected the light of my moon. This meteorite is certainly not made of rock, that is for certain. The way it shined, and how it rumbled so much, as if it were being torn apart from the inside as well as out... I do not know what it is, but we must be very careful. Nothing like this has ever happened before, so we do not know what to expect, therefore we must take every precaution.”
“I agree,” Twilight said. “We're ready to go now. Spike, did you triple check everything?”
“Sure did! Do you want me to go with you, or stay here?” he asked.
“Sorry spike, but I'd really appreciate it if you'd stay here. Someone needs to watch over our places for us while we're gone, it's going to be a bit of a journey,” Twilight replied.
“Don't worry Twi, I understand,” he answered cheerfully, relieved that he could finally go back to bed. Despite everything that was happening, he was beginning to feel very tired.
“Then lets get going! It's gonna' take at least a day to get to the meteorite, and another to get back!” Rainbow Dash yelled.
“Yeah, I wanna' see if I can make some new alien friends!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed happily.
“But, what if there IS something dangerous though?” a very nervous Fluttershy asked.
“Do not worry, Fluttershy. Nothing can harm you as long as all of your friends are with you. I'm sure everything will be just fine,” Princess Celestia said reassuringly. With that, everyone set out. The girls and princesses escorted by the squad of royal guards. They headed South, towards the Everfree Forest, then stopped once they neared the entrance.
“If we cut through the forest, it would save half the time it would take to go around, although it is much more dangerous this way,” Celestia said slowly, contemplating on what to do.
“Because of the magical aura surrounding the Everfree Forest, it makes it extremely difficult, and possibly hazardous, for us to perform a group teleport spell to bring everypony to the other side of the it,” Luna said. “Once we get far enough into the forest though, it will become easier to cast the spell. We just have to pass the halfway point.” She turned to her sister, then said, “It is your choice Celestia.”
“It will be a three hour hike to pass the halfway point, but it will save us many more hours. As for the many dangers inside...” Celestia glanced towards the forest and continued, “I'm sure there is nothing that the Elements of Harmony, Princess Luna, myself, and a squad of royal guards can't handle.” With that, she entered the forest, the girls, her sister, and the guards following closely behind.
-
The Master Chief stepped out of his smouldering drop pod and examined his surroundings. He began securing the landing zone, and noted that everything seemed slightly more colourful and brighter than usual. As he walked, he stretched his stiff muscles. He then had Cortana run a full maintenance scan on his armour, and to his fortune, all of his armour was fully operational.
He glanced down to the many bags and magazines attached to his belt, and took a moment to assess his gear and the state it was in. Before he fled the Dawn's burning wreck, he had managed to grab a 99D-S2 AM Sniper Rifle, an M7 SMG, and an M6C Magnum. Unfortunately for him, most of the ammo he had grabbed was scorched and melted, along with the magnum. He had only three magazines left for his SMG, and two for his sniper rifle. He had also grabbed a Combat Knife, bubble shield generator, and a medical kit.
The Master Chief decided that heading to the wreck of the frigate was the best course of action, as there wasn't anywhere else for him to go he figured, and hopefully he could find more supplies.
“Where are we?” he asked Cortana while looking at all of the strange sights of the forest.
“I don't know, somewhere very far from humanity though. We drifted for a very long time, and I was only able to do so much to keep our flight log updated with the very limited navigational equipment we had. This planets climate is very much like Earth's though, the flora and fauna are extremely similar, some even the same. Oxygen levels are the same as well, and the sun here is a yellow dwarf star, just like Earth's. The moon here is considerably larger than ours though.”
“Good to know,” Chief replied sarcastically. “Find me the fastest route back to the Dawn, we're setting up base near it. We need more supplies, and most importantly, we need to make sure nothing decides to go exploring its wreck. Maybe we can find out where we are too.”
“Understood,” Cortana replied. “Done.” A blue arrow appeared on Chief's heads up display. It read 23 miles from him, normally a 20 minute sprint for the Chief, but he was in the middle of a large and seemingly endless forest, and to make things worse, he had no sense of direction. The compass on his HUD kept rotating, trying to find a magnetic North, but it could not. The foliage was incredibly thick as well, keeping him down to a brisk walk for the most part.
“I can create a small map of the areas we've already been through with your suits motion tracker and external scanners. All I detect is thick forest for miles around," Cortana said. "Although, instead of heading to the wreck, I suggest you set up camp somewhere for the night. You're going to need your rest,” she added.
“Understood. How many lifeforms are there in this forest? My motion tracker is going crazy,” Chief said as he took another look around the forest.
“This forest is almost exactly the same as a typical rainforest on Earth, so there are going to be many creatures inhabiting it. Don't worry though, I'm sure they're mostly prey, and any predators that come sniffing around you should be able to deal with. There is one oddity though, I'm picking up huge electromagnetic fields all throughout and around the forest. Stay on your toes, Chief.”
“Affirmative,” he replied. “Mark the drop pod with a nav point, this is where we set up camp for the night.” He then began gathering any supplies he could use to create a temporary camp, using all of the tricks he had learned from his early days of training.
-
“How much further until we pass the halfway point?” Rainbow Dash asked, slightly irritated that she had to walk with the rest of them.
“By the feel of it, not much longer. Twenty minutes at the most,” Princess Luna replied.
Suddenly, a piercing howl cut through all of their ears, stopping them dead in their tracks. They looked around, knowing full well that a group of timber wolves could easily have been stalking them the entire time. The guards formed a protective shield around the princesses and the girls, waiting for anything to attack. After two long minutes, they moved on, but much more cautiously this time.
“So, Princess Luna,” Twilight said, “You said what you saw was definitely not made of rock?” she asked.
“Yes, Twilight Sparkle. I am certain that it is not made of rock,” Luna answered.
“So do you think it's made out of some sort of metal then?” Twilight asked curiously.
“I do not know, but that certainly seems like a logical explanation,” Luna replied.
“Well whatever it is, we'll be able to take it on!” Rainbow Dash said fiercely. “I mean, what could take on all of us? Nothing, that's wh-”
“Woah!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. “Look at that!” she yelled excitedly, pointing her hoof at the Master Chief's smoking drop pod. The drop pod was slightly hidden from them on the other side of a patch of trees and bushes, but was still very visible.
“Lets check it out!” Rainbow Dash yelled, hopping through the trees and bushes to get a closer look.
“Be careful, Rainbow,” Twilight warned.
The rest of them slowly made their way through the foliage, over to the drop pod. There they stood, crowding in front of it, staring at it in shock as if it were some sort of powerful weapon. In a way, it was, for it certainly carried one. After a few minutes of gawking at it, they heard a crunch somewhere in the thick patch of bushes they had come through. Everyone turned to look, but did not expect at all to see what they were about to see.