"They let me pick, did I ever tell you that ? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted. You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something no-one saw... but me. Can you guess ?... Luck. Was I wrong ?" - Cortana
(The day before Forge's arrival.)
"And what would you have of us ?" Celestia asked as she studied the two bipedal visitors before her, who both wore the same serious expression.
"We will have nothing of you." Came the reply from the creature clad in white. Its tone blatantly suggestive that it was disgusted with having to speak the tongue of its enemy.
"By order of the Hierarch, we are ordered to search this world for any signs of holy relics." The alien explained, both its tone and composure unwavering.
"What manner of relics will thoust be searching for ?" Luna piped up, eager to hear more as to why the creatures had suddenly turned up looking for the leaders of Equestria.
Luna had become immediately fascinated with the creatures the first time she saw them. There was something about their appearance that drew her in, as grotesque as it was at first glance.
The alien slowly turned its gaze towards the second alicorn.
"That." It began, in a drawn-out manner. "Is none of your concern." It finally added, putting emphasis on the already blatant fact that it was not going to reveal anything further.
"Very well." Celestia said, although she wasn't entirely convinced that these creatures were here on the best of terms.
"However, I will be assigning several of my guards the duty of observing and noting your actions." She added, eyeing the two creatures. "Purely as a security." She assured the aliens, who's expressions hadn't changed in the slightest since their meeting had started.
Refusing to show any expression and desperately wishing to end this pointless 'meeting' as soon as possible, the elite responded, "As you wish." before turning on the spot and heading out the door from whence it came with its companion in tow.
"Why do we not just rid ourselves of these vermin ?" The lower ranking elite asked in his own, familiar tongue once they were out of earshot of the alicorns.
"The hierarchs have deemed them to not be an obstacle towards the journey. They need not be vanquished. They will merely remain behind once the journey begins." The white-clad elite explained, pleased that he was able to once again, speak in his own tongue as opposed to the tongue of the heretics he was sworn to destroy.
"But what if they have already uncovered the relic and they are concealing it ? What are we to do then ?" The elite questioned, not entirely satisfied with his comrade's excuse.
"Then. Then their significance in the galaxy will be severely decreased." The white-clad elite explained, his tone of voice revealing not a hint of concern whether these creatures were to live or die.
"Then they become merely another obstacle along the path." The elite added as the duo finally exited the hall.
-----------------
Celestia watched as the two creatures ended their meeting and promptly left, talking to themselves quietly in a tongue she did not understand, their heavy footsteps echoing throughout the throne room.
She wasn't entirely certain as to what exactly the creatures wanted, and her mind buzzed with questions on the subject.
Displeased that they had left she turned to her sister, who was eagerly watching the pair's every step as they left the throne room, presumably to collect whatever equipment they needed to begin their 'search.'
"What do you make of our new guests ?" Celestia finally asked, breaking her sister's gaze from the empty doorway.
"I'm fond of them." Came the honest reply from the grinning Luna.
"I find them quite... interesting." She added, her own questions buzzing around her mind as to what they were after and whether there were more of them.
"What doest thou think they will be searching for ?" She asked her sister she attempted to answer some of her questions.
"What do you think they will be searching for." Celestia corrected her sister with a slight chuckle before she actually addressed the question.
"And as for what they want. I honestly have no idea." She answered honestly. "But whatever it is, I think it would be best to not interfere and only step in if they start harassing our subjects." She stated, hoping that this answer would suffice.
"We'll just have to wait and see." She finished, wondering if the aliens would actually find anything, completely oblivious that this was the last time she would get the chance to further question the aliens.
'Log entry number: thirty-six million, five-hundred and twenty-four thousand, two-hundred and twenty-seven.'
It has been a little over one-hundred thousand years since the 'event' and I was charged with the position of overseeing this facility and being forced to record these insipid, daily reports.
I mean, honestly. Who would give a second glance as to what occurs within this backwater facility anyway ?
Absolutely nothing has happened since my creators disappeared without so much as a "Goodbye." Well, at least not until now...
Scanners have picked up the undeniable signature of a reclaimer.
A 'Reclaimer !'
I must say it is quite exciting. I've been absolutely dying to see what the device within this complex is capable of.
And now that the reclaimer is here I can finally get my well deserved reward of witnessing the object I was charged with guarding in action.
First contact is going to be an issue however, as it appears that the main entrance to the facility was locked up fairly tight. (Note: I still have no idea how I did not perceive this problem before.)
Blasted thing is going to take me hours to crack. But don't fret, I 'will' get it open, and I 'will' meet this reclaimer.
Now, without further adieu. I have a door to crack.
And with that, the small, hovering metal sphere shut the main console down with a gentle click, causing the array of flickering lights upon the transparent console to fade until the room was submerged in darkness once more, apart from the small area around the sphere, which was bathed in a light yellow glow.
Hovering through the seemingly endless catacombs that made up the facility, the sphere pressed on through the foreboding darkness, humming the only tune it knew as it went.
The tune was up-beat and sounded cheerful, similar to something someone would hum when they were in a pleasant mood, or fishing perhaps.
As the metal ball made continued its journey, it encountered two of the many other AI's that roamed the facility alongside it.
These robots however, were much different in they way that they were built. They were grayish-white in colour, and had two arm-like appendages with two grapple fixtures at the end of each arm, along with a central "head" and a curved undercarriage containing a very rarely used weapon.
They were propelled by both an anti-gravity unit located on the undercarriage of their forms and small engines on the back of the main unit.
As they passed with a barely audible hum, the cheerful sounding sphere gave them a merry, "Hello there, good fellows !"
Which was unsurprisingly met with silence as the two drones continued on their way towards their next task, seemingly oblivious to the sphere's greeting.
They never did reply.
The sphere's journey continued for roughly a quarter of an hour before it finally came to a silent halt before a large, intricately engraved, metal door that was the defining entrance to the catacombs of the facility.
Glancing over the door for a moment, the sphere ceased its merry tune and silently hovered to a small control panel that was embedded in the wall adjacent to the door.
Activating the console with a small 'blip', a small portion of the tunnels darkness was bathed in a light blue light that emanated from within the transparent display.
Inputting the necessary commands, the sphere was met with a pre-written message detailing the circumstances that must be met before the doors lock-down could be overwritten.
Attention.
Authorisation to open this door can only be granted if one or more of the following pre-requisites have been met:
1: Catastrophic system failure has occurred and relocation of data and samples must be performed.
2: Current monitor AI has undergone 'Rampancy' and replacement must occur.
3: Other AI's bearing information of significance may be allowed access.
4: Subject who's signature matches that of a 'Reclaimer' is detected and should be granted immediate access.
5: Maintenance which cannot be performed by "Sentinel' units is necessary.
All other reasons are to be considered insufficient and the door must remain sealed.
Protocol: 403-98
End message.
Having read that it was indeed authorised to open the door, the sphere have a hum of satisfaction as it continued through the system and input the required data into the door's over-ride system.
Thinking that it would be a simpler task than anticipated, the sphere expected the door to slide open as soon as it confirmed the reason for it doing so.
However, it was met with multiple information sections that were required to be completed before the door would open. Ranging from the time of detection to the type of signature received.
Giving a mechanical sigh, the sphere began to fill out the seemingly endless stream of 'questionnaires' as it pulled the required information from the facilities instruments that had recorded the Reclaimer's presence.
"Why are these things never simple ?" The sphere asked itself with a hint of boredom in its artificial voice as it completed the first lot of data and moved on to the second...
Forge had quickly tuned out the consistent complaints coming for the purple pony who was following closely at his heels. The only information that he was taking in was the general directions as to where the pony believed his equipment to be.
As he continued to trudge through the corridors of the hospital, Forge noticed that ever one of the multi-coloured quadrupeds fled as he approached.
Apparently news of his actions had spread like wildfire while he had been unconscious.
As his heavy footsteps echoed throughout the vicinity, he noticed that shortly after the sound had diminished, it was quickly followed by either soft whispering and the sound of scurrying, or yells and the sound of galloping. Sometimes both.
"Where exactly did you say my stuff was ?" Forge asked without bothering to look over his shoulder, his growing impatience obvious in his tone.
"It's in the next room on your right." Twilight informed the giant after finishing her list of things she wanted the creature to comply with. All of them it apparently rejected through its silence.
Glad that they nearing the possessions that the creature desired, Twilight tried to not imagine what the creature could do if it became enraged again, even in its current state.
Just as they both entered the confines of the room, Twilight heard a familiar voice call behind her, "Hey, Twilight !"
Turning, she saw Rainbow speed around the corner and nearly knock her flat, followed by Applejack several moments later, who appeared to be deep within her own thoughts as the cow-pony greeted her friend.
"So. Where's the thing ?" Rainbow asked as she glanced around the barren corridor.
"Did you finally decide to leave it alone ?" Rainbow continued in quick succession, a small hint of hope trailing in her voice.
"No." Twilight replied plainly, causing the rainbow-maned pony's expression to droop slightly.
"He's just in there." Twilight informed her friends as she raised a hoof towards the creature.
The all looked in unison to see that the creature was about half-way done with re-equipping its body protection.
So far it had replaced its leg coverings, its heavily armoured boots and a camouflage printed, long-sleeve shirt looking attire that apparently went underneath the torso armour that it was now donning.
Slipping his head through the body armour's neck hole, Forge felt a gratifying sense of safety as he re-clasped the body plating around his midsection with a reassuring 'click'.
Aware that he had further company, Forge gave them a quick glance with his hard eyes as finished inserting his arms in their respective positions and grabbing his plated gauntlets from the table that still held his shoulder protection, utility belts, several other plates that need to be fastened to his armour and his main belt which held his holster.
To his dismay,the two pieces that were missing from the set were his side-arm and his assault rifle.
Both of which had apparently been confiscated.
Fastening the heavy metal gloves around his wrists, Forge greeted the new-comers with a casual, "Blue. Orange." As he didn't recall their 'proper' names. Not that he would ever consider calling a talking horse by name.
Both Applejack and Rainbow scowled at the giant.
They both knew that the creature didn't want to be here, but that was hardly a reason to be as rude as it was.
"So, ah... How're ya feelin' ?" Applejack finally asked, eager to break the silence that had fallen around the four.
Forge just shrugged his shoulders and gave a low grunt in response.
"Not too bad Orange." He finally added after several moments as he finished fastening the last strap on his first gauntlet with a loud 'click'.
"Been worse." He finished honestly as he went to work about his second gauntlet.
"It's Applejack." Applejack replied in an unamused tone.
"And anyways, we were just stoppin' by so that we could...." She began to explain before she was cut off by a loud scoff coming from Rainbow, who had taken up her habit of hovering several feet above the ground even though it wasn't necessary.
"You shouldn't be standing." She said plainly. "Nopony could have taken that and lived." She pointed out, remembering everything that she had been told alongside her friends when the creature had been admitted to the hospital.
"There's no way you could have an injury worse than that." She assured, more to herself than anyone else who stood in the room.
Forge found it constantly irritating that these ponies continued to use words such as 'everypony' and 'anypony', however he held his tongue and didn't bother bringing the issue up.
Instead, he responded to the winged pony's statement in as calm a tone as he could muster.
"Is that so ?" He replied rhetorically.
"Well blue, I just happen to have a knack to surviving." He added, briefly remembering the countless battles he had been a part of.
"And I don't intend on dying any-time soon." He finished as he secured his second gauntlet with a grunt followed by a loud 'click'.
Rainbow just huffed in response, clearly displeased with the creature's response.
"Whatever." She replied.
"Don't mind her." Twilight chimed in, shooting Rainbow a heavy scowl.
"Anyway, what Applejack was trying to say is that we have to bring you back to the Princesses now that you're well again. They requested to see you as soon as possible." She explained, highly doubtful that the creature would openly agree.
Forge just laughed and shook his head slightly as he went to work on his shoulder pauldrons, which to his surprise still held his trademark ace of spades.
"I don't think so purple." He replied with an amused tone.
"The only thing I'll be doing is trying to find a way off this god forsaken hell-hole." He explained, dearly hoping that there was in-fact, so feasible way for him to return to the UNSC.
Twilight had become quickly accustomed to being called 'purple', so she didn't bother reminding the creature that her name was in-fact 'Twilight'.
"But the only ponies who may know how to get you home are the Princesses." She pointed out. "So you have to go back." She insisted, fairly certain that this would convince the creature to return to the castle.
Forge stopped adjusting his second pauldron and mulled over what the purple pony had just pointed out.
He remained silent for several moments before he finally fastened the pauldron and gave his simple response of "Fine" in a plain manner, as he saw no other feasible way for him to discover a way off this rock.
Forge finished assembling his armour in silence as the three ponies talked amongst themselves. Most of this he tuned out, but he did catch word of a 'Fluttershy', presumably another pony, and something about him giving it an apology.
"There's no way I'm apologising." Forge thought to himself, figuring that they were talking about the yellow pony he had blown up at earlier. "Its ignorance got what it deserved." He assured himself, remembering how the yellow pony had sympathised with those Covenant bastards.
"Well, hurry up then." Rainbow said, her impatience becoming more and more obvious the longer she hovered in place.
Forge considered decking the blue annoyance once again, but managed to stop himself... barely.
Not bothering to reply, he sped up his progress slightly and finished fastening the last of his armour and belts, pausing over his now empty holster, wishing that he still had his weapons with him.
"I'm gonna need my weapons back too." He finally pointed out as he quickly glanced over himself, making sure that he hadn't missed any buckles or straps.
"I have a feeling that you won't be seeing them for a while." Twilight replied as she took lead and began to trot down the corridor of the hospital towards the exit.
"Celestia had them confiscated." She explained, which was followed by a grunt of displeasure from the creature. It didn't reply however, so she simply continued on her way with the creature in tow, followed by her friends who were both still giving the creature looks of uncertainty, especially Rainbow, as they eventually left the hospital and headed towards the castle.
Celestia stood alone in the throne room as she gazed out one of the many stain-glass windows that lined the room. Luna had chosen to return to her room and mull over the current situation, much to Celestia's disappointment, as she had wished to further discuss it alongside her sister.
Deep in thought, she was suddenly ripped from her mental state by the familiar sound of the throne room doors creaking open, being held open by a air of her guards as they always were.
What happened next surprised her somewhat. In strode her student, accompanied by two of her friends as well as the creature who had dispatched her previous guests.
"It's alive." She thought to herself, both intrigued and slightly angered at what it had done earlier.
Keeping her anger under a mask, she greeted the group as she would on any other given occasion.
"Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash. It is good to see you all again." She said, glancing at the three ponies in turn. "And it's even good to see you also Forge." She added, her gaze lingering on the human for several moments before she chose to continue.
"I'm glad you are all here." She began, removing her gaze from the human and mainly focusing it on the three ponies before her.
"I sent for your other friends to return here some time ago so that we may discuss the... terms of Forge's stay." she explained in a soft tone, as she almost always did.
"Speaking of you, Forge, I trust you have recovered nicely ?" She asked, studying the human for any signs of impairment or discomfort.
A shrug was all Forge offered, as he had found the activity of gazing out one of the many stain-glass windows with his arms crossed more entertaining than the current situation.
"I asked you a question." Celestia reminded him, finding his lack of an answer rather rude.
"I would appreciate it if you would answer it." she said, hoping to receive a little more than a gesture this time.
"I'm fine." Forge replied in a quite voice, his attention not at all directed at the ponies around him.
All he wanted to think about was getting back to the UNSC, or even a planet that wasn't inhabited by multi-coloured animals... or the Covenant.
"I see." Celestia replied, realising that the human wasn't in the mood for extended discussion.
"Well. Seeing as you are in no mood for talking, I only need you to listen." She explained to the human who seemed intrigued with the scenery that lay outside the confines of the throne room.
"Until we can find a way to send you back, we will..." She began, but was cut off by the loud creak of the great throne room doors once more as three more familiar ponies trotted inside, their unified hoof-steps echoing throughout the room.
Into the throne room strode Rarity, who seemed less than pleased to see the creature once again, Pinkie Pie, who as usual, was bouncing rather than trotting, and the barely visible parts of Fluttershy that only just protruded from behind Rarity's figure.
As Celestia watched the group reunite, she noticed that the human was still to draw his gaze from the window, apparently his level of care was severely low.
"Forge." She began, still not receiving any response from the biped.
"Before we continue, I would like you to apologise to Fluttershy. She was rather distressed after your actions and I personally think you should." She said plainly, noticing slight changes in the creatures facial expression as she uttered the word 'apologise'.
Forge knew it was coming, the words stuck in his mind after the 'Princess' had spoken them. "I would like you to apologise".
That was one thing he was determined not to do.
He glanced over and noticed the pony in question barely peaking out from behind the white one's mane. Smirking, he returned his gaze to the window and gave a small sigh before uttering his response of, "No" in a plain yet determined tone.
"What do you mean 'no' ?" Celestia asked, slightly surprised at the creature's cold-heartedness.
"Exactly what the word means." Forge responded, meaning to make his tone sound as though he were being a smart-ass.
"Listen here you big meanie." Pinkie suddenly burst out, somehow appearing right in-front of the creature, her fore-hooves planed firmly against its chest plating.
"You're going to apologise to Fluttershy right now." She stated, her voice sounding slightly angered.
"Oh... oh no, it's quite alright." Fluttershy meekly said from the safety of Rarity's shadow.
"It... it doesn't have to." She insisted the best she could, however it was unclear whether her friends had heard her or not.
"Oh yes it does Flutters." Rainbow chipped in, hovering over to Pinkie's side, thrusting her own gaze into the creature's.
"And it's not going anywhere until it does." She added, her features contorting into a heavy scowl as she stared into the creature's unblinking, brown eyes.
"And who exactly are you to say that, Blue ?" Forge asked in a now menacing tone.
"Would you like to go another round." He asked, ignoring the pink pony, who still had its hoofs against his chest, and cracking his knuckles loudly.
"Please, everypony. Just calm down." Twilight urged, attempting to avoid the confrontation that Rainbow was bound to lose.
"Yes. Why don't we all just calm down and talk this out in a civilised manner ?" Rarity agreed, also realising that Rainbow was about to bite off more than she could chew.
"I'll calm down when it apologises." Rainbow shot back, not willing to back down from the creature after what it had done to her before.
It was then that the throne room burst into a flurry of raised voices, most of them coming from Rainbow, Pinkie, Twilight and Celestia. All who were vying for control of the heating situation...
"Huzzah !" Cried the sphere as the console accepted the last block of information and flashed the words, "Access granted." In large font.
Moments later, the giant, metal door hissed violently before beginning to slowly slide open in the same fashion as most Forerunner doors, revealing a set of dusty, metallic steps that apparently lead to the surface.
Overly pleased with itself, the sphere increased its pace and hovered up the stairway with a hum that could have been interpreted as 'excitement.'
As it continued on its way, the passageway abruptly ended with a large stone slab that covered the roof of stairwell, marking the thin line that separated the dark catacombs from the vast exterior of the facility.
"Oh." The sphere muttered quietly to itself, suddenly overcome with disappointment.
Searching for anything that may open the way, the sphere was quickly re-invigorated as it noticed a button with age-long resemblance to every button it had observed throughout its existence.
Eagerly activating the switch, the slab gave a grinding sounds as it began to slide from its hundred-thousand year resting place.
The sudden glare of the surface forced the sphere to adjust its optical receptors to suit its new surroundings.
"Excellent." It said to itself. "Now to find this Reclaimer." It added as it hovered up and out of the catacombs...
The room was on the verge of exploding when everyone suddenly grew quiet as the sound of stone grinding filled the room and dominated all other sounds within the room.
All the occupants in the room immediately stopped what they were doing and watched as a large portion of the stone floor began to disappear roughly in the centre of the throne room.
Everyone wore expressions of disbelief as the slab finally came to a halt.
The situation only became stranger when a small, metal sphere hovered out of the new opening.
They watched as it 'looked' around the room before turning to face the group with what was assumed to be its eye, which glowed a soft yellow as the entire being bobbed slightly mid-air.
Everyone, including Forge, jumped slightly as the sphere squealed, "Reclaimer !" In a high-pitched, artificial voice.
The monitor couldn't believe its luck. It had only just exited the facility and it had already found the Reclaimer.
"He must have been waiting." It thought to itself as it quickly hovered over to the biped, until it was around a foot from the creature's face.
"Greetings, My name is three-seven-five, Forced Parity." It announced proudly, receiving confused expressions from both the Reclaimer and the multitude of coloured quadrupeds that also occupied the room.
"I have waited quite some time to meet you Reclaimer." It continued, receiving the same looks from its audience, although it was only focusing on the Reclaimer.
"And now that I have found you, there is so much that we have to do." It added with a hint of excitement in its tone.
"Oh, I just can't wait to get started."...