"What in the name of all things good was that?" I ask the ponies who just turned a small covenant invasion force into stone statues.
"That was the power of the Elements of Harmony." Twilight replies to me.
"Damn. Let's get back to the princess so we can discuss what comes next."
"So then Human, would you tell me what you know about the covenant?" The taller princess asks me.
"Sure." I reply. "The covenant is an a militaristic religious movement composed of multiple aliens races whose goal, to our knowledge, is to exterminate all life in the universe that doesn't agree to their religion. They show no mercy and are not very diplomatic. They are also very technologically advanced, even compared to us humans."
"Rex, come in, Rex." The captain calls to me.
"Yes captain?"
"Reach has fallen, and a very important AI was sent from reach to the Pillar of Autumn, which recently sent out a distress call and WE are the closest according to ONI. We are sending a Pelican to pick you up. Eta 20 minutes."
"Roger that captain."
"What was that?" The princess asks me.
"My superior is calling me back to our ship. I leave in 20 minutes."
"My faithful student." The princess says to Twilight. "I want you and your friends to go with the Human. According to him, these aliens will not stop unless they are defeated. Take the Elements with you. I can cloak the planet again after you leave."
"Wait a minute, you mean you cloaked this entie plannet?"
"Yes. My sister and I were able to reflect the flight from the sun and moon to make the entire planet vanish from view, since we knew of others outside the ponies relm of knowlege that were not exactly friendly, but not necesarily enemies. They called themselves Forerunners."
"But how did you hide the planets gravity?"
"That was a much more complex..."
"Sister." The shorter princess interrupts. "Some of the other ponies want to go with the human as well."
"Very well." She replies. "Human, I leave these ponies in your care as your responsibility."
"I will guard them with my life." I reply.
"Good. Now, we wait."
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"Captain." I radio to him.
"Yes Rex?"
"Some of the natives wish to help us, and they have a powerful weapon of sorts that was able to petrify the entire covvie force in the city."
"Well that sounds helpful."
"They will all need armor and I volunteer to train them on the way to the Pillar of Autumn."
"As you wish Spartan, but I will also have the other two Spartans assist in the training."
"Roger that sir. Looks like the Pelican is here. Be up there soon." I reply as the Pelican lands in front of the castle, in the courtyard. I walk to it, get in, turn around, and see a dozen ponies get in the back of the Pelican with me. "So I take it that all of you are here to fight with me against the Covenant?" I ask them. They all nod in response. "Just be warned, you will have to kill, a lot. One or two of you may be medics for our little squad, but almost all of you will have to kill in some which way or form. I will also be your superior, so you will have to follow my every order to the letter. Leave now if you think you're not prepared for this." None of them move a muscle. "Good. Pilot, we're ready to go." The Pelican takes off and in a matter of minutes we have breach the atmosphere. I see two other Pelicans flying back up, which must contain the other Spartans. I look to the ponies and see them in awe at the fact that we are outside of their atmosphere.
"Amazing." Twilight observes.
"Wait till you see our ship." I say to her, causing her to look at me with curiosity. Now to the rest of the ponies, I say. "OK ponies. We are landing on our ship in a few minutes. You will have to be sent through hazmat, just in case you have any diseases that humans can get that you are immune to. After that, I'll lead you to where you will be staying while on-board this ship. Shortly after, we will get you all fitted for armor. Once that is done, training until we reach our next destination. Also, the entire ship is inhabited by humans like me, and to them, you are brand spanking new, so expect some weird looks, especially you unicorns and pegasi, since you are from ancient mythology." They simply stare at me. "Good."
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"OK ponies, time for armor fitting." I tell them after they have all been declared clear of diseases. We are in the fitting room that is used for Spartans when their armor is shot. In total, there are 5 pegasi, 3 unicorns, and 4 of the normal ponies. "Praxus." I say, calling the shipboard AI.
"Yes Rex?"
"6 of the ponies have special jewels that hold a lot of power. I was thinking that they could maybe power their armor."
"Roger that Rex. Their armor should be ready before we reach the Pillar of Autumn."
"That's good. OK ponies, follow me. We're going to the Forge room for training."
"Attention crew." Praxus says over the intercom. "We are entering slip-space soon. All nonessential crew prepare for cryo."
"That means we have the ship to ourselves." I inform the ponies.
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"OK ponies, this is the forge room." I tell the, as we all enter the holoprojection room. Inside are the other two Spartans on this ship. One of them has black armor with green accents and the other has red armor with white accents.
"So these are the friends you made? They don't look all that dangerous Rex." The one in the black armor comments to me.
"Trust me Vic, they petrified the entire covvie force in the city I was in."
"Impressive." The red one compliments.
"You got that right Alex."
"Um, Rex." The yellow pegasus from before says to me. "What exactly are we going to be doing in here?"
"Well, um, what's your name?" I ask her.
"Fluttershy."
"Well Fluttershy, we are going to be training for the upcoming battle by testing what your load-out will end up being and how well you all work with squad tactics and in free for all." I answer her.
"Praxus, how long until we exit slip-space?" Vic asks the AI.
"You have approximately 10 days until slip-space exit." The AI replies.
"Well then we had better get started. Vic, you're our resident jack of all trades, how about you start things off."
"With pleasure. I am going to have all of you in a squad match against Rex and Alex in the War Games room. While that is going on, I am going to individually test you with various weapons and armor abilities, while you are in simulated armor based on what you will be wearing in battle. When it is all done, we three Spartans will determine which of you 12 is the most combat efficient and which ones of you are best suited for support of medical. Remember, there is no pain in the War Games room so don't hold back, any of you." He orders. "I'll start with you, big red." He says to Sanguine. I then lead the ponies to the War Games room, which is identical to the Forge room.
"Give us a good map for a 2 on 11 squad match that gives the team of 2 the advantage." I tell Praxus.
"Very well." He replies and the room shimmers and turns into a decent sized outdoor area I recognize as the Spire map. On one side is a giant covenant shield spire and the rest of the area is full of ridges and large stones, as well as some UNSC mini-bases.
"Ponies, your objective will be to kill us." I tell them, pointing at Alex and myself. "We are going to be based in that spire." I inform them, pointing at the covenant spire. "You will have to take the spire in order to win, because Alex and I will continuously re-spawn in the spire until that happens. Good luck." I finish. "Praxus, give them their armor."
"Will do." He replies. Seconds later, all of the ponies have armor that looks like Spartan armor, but designed for the ponies, special coverings for the pegasus wings and a ridge on the helmets of the unicorns for their horns.
"Let the games begin." I tell them.
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The games went rather well for the ponies first time. They managed to get into the spire and they almost got it to, but then Vic came in and called the match because he had finished the evaluation.
"OK ponies. With the evaluations done, I can assign you to what you seem to work best with. Applejack, Sanguine, and Jason. You three are going in as tanks, since you seem to use ranged weapons never. Your load-outs are going to be a shotgun as your only weapon and you will have the Armor Lock ability. Pinkie and all of you pegasi except for Silent and Fluttershy are going to be scouts and blitz fighters. You are getting standard battle rifles and whatever melee weapons you want, to an extent. You will also have the Rocket Packs so you can get that extra burst of speed should you need it. All of you unicorns are getting no weapons since your magic is plenty lethal. You will however be able to use drop shields that block any and all projectiles for a time. Silent, you are getting the Active Camo and a Sniper Rifle primary and Magnum secondary. Fluttershy, you are getting the drop shield and a magnum, along with medical supplies. I believe that covers everything."
"I believe you are correct on that one. Now then, how about we begin training you to work as a squad. I'll head this one." I tell them. "This one is going to be a objective elimination mission. Praxus, set up a map with a decent amount of covvies and a covvie base with AA guns." The AI changes the map from Spire to one that is reminiscent of one of the farming planets, with us on the outskirts of a city, in the crop fields. The ponies are armored up again, this time with their load-outs equipped. I finally get to notice their individual armors since I am not trying to kill them in the War Games. Twilights armor is lavender with dark purple accents, and a pink visor. Applejacks armor is a rust color with peach accents and a brown visor. Pinkies armor is, well, pink with magenta accents with a pink visor. Fluttershy's is yellow with pink accents, with a white visor. Rainbow Dash's armor is cyan with white accents, and a visor that changed color with the light. Rarity's armor is white with purple accents, and a purple visor. They all also have have the cut gem from their Element of Harmony embedded in the chest piece of their armor.
"So, what's the plan?" Rainbow Dash asks me, flying in her armor, somehow.
"Well, first, I am going to split you into squads. Except for you Silent, you are going to be with me. Rainbow Dash, I want you to pick 3 other scouts to survey the enemies and find weak points. Remain undetected if you can. Unicorns, I want you to take the earth ponies, the rest of the scouts, and Fluttershy and you will be the bulk of the attack force. Remember, use your radar and I will keep in radio contact at all times. There are also no respawns in this practice, so consider it real."
"Yes sir." They all reply.
"That's what I like to hear. Rainbow Dash, you take squad alpha and scout them out. Squad beta, wait for my signal, then charge. Silent, come with me." I order before moving towards the outskirts of the city, the pegasi flying past Silent and me. I get up to the side of a building with a door facing the fields. A quick check of my radar says the building is clear, and I open the door and climb up to the top. When I get there, Silent is waiting for me.
"What took you so long boss?" Silent asks.
"Can't fly." I reply. "Now then, see that ledge, we are going to set up to snipe from there once alpha marks the enemy forces. Don't take out anything until I say."
"Roger."
"Good." I reply. We wait a few minutes and then I get the radio from Rainbow Dash.
"OK boss, the covvies as you call them are fortified in the skyscraper in the center of the city, as well as what looks like the train stations in the city. We saw Elites, Jackles, Grunts, and a dozen monstrosities covered in blue armor."
"Damn, Praxus gave us Hunters." I say under my breath. "Thank you Rainbow Dash. All ponies listen up. If you see a large orange creature with blue armor and a massive arm cannon, retreat immediately. If you are trapped, their weak is anything orange, especially their backs."
"Roger." I hear from the squads. "Now then, Midnight, mark the train stations for everyone."
"No problem bossman." He replies. Shortly after, 4 red triangle appear on my visor, indicating the 4 train stations.
"Good thing this loadout comes with a short range jetpack." I say to myself. "Come on Silent, we're going building hopping." I tell the pegasus before moving back along the roof, then running to the edge and jumping, when I start to fall, I activate my jetpack, which carries me up another story to the roof of the next building. Silent simply flies up to meet me. A few more jumps later and I can see the first train station, an above ground monorail station that leads to the other 3 and the tower in the center.
"So, what's the sniping priority." Silent asks me.
"Elites first, then Jackles, then Grunts." I reply. "Beta are you in position?" I ask them.
"We are in position and ready to engage." I hear Twilight reply.
"Roger that. When the first covvie falls, you are clear to engage."
"Can I shoot em boss?" Silent asks me.
"Just let me get ready." I reply. I crouch down at one of the ledges with my DMR, enter the scope, find an Elite, target the head, and fire, killing it. "Yes, you can begin shooting them down." I reply as I take down another. I line up the scope with another Elite, but before I can snipe it, a beam of lavender energy kills it. Shortly after, a person sized rock sweeps away a dozen Grunts.
"HERE COMES TOM!" I hear Rarity shout. I exit my scope and look in awe at what just happened.
"Rarity is a dress maker back in Equestria, but her magic is specified to gems and precision." Silent informs me before he takes out two Elites with one sniper round.
"Damn." Is once again my only response to the ponies lethality.
"GERONIMO!" I hear Rainbow Dash shout as she divebombs the covvies in the train station. I see the other ponies vacating the area and entering a building nearby. Moments later, there is a huge flash of light and when it dies down, a huge cloud of rainbow smoke like a mushroom cloud is emanating from the train station.
"Rainbow Dash, what did you do?" I ask her.
"Sonic Rainboom. I break the speed of sound and make a rainbow at the same time. This was a low altitude one." She replies, incredibly nonchalant.
"Well warn me next time." I reply.
"Will do boss. What's next?"
"We go to the remaining train stations, eliminate the covvie threat there, and then take the building in the center."