//------------------------------// // ...And Your Enemies Closer // Story: Halo: Stranded // by The R0fl Guy //------------------------------// “That's classified,” Chief said in a flat tone. The group had only been walking through the Everfree Forest for two minutes, and the Spartan had already denied an answer to four of their questions. The only answer he had given was a simple “No”, to Pinkie Pie asking if he was hungry. “I recall myself stating that you are to answer the rest of our questions.” Celestia shot a stern look towards Chief. “Classified or not,” she added with a hint of venom in her voice. She did not take kindly to being blatantly disobeyed. “I have protocols to follow.” Chief never broke his stride or even looked back to the princess as he spoke. “She's really starting to annoy me...” Cortana muttered. “What possible harm can be caused by you answering our questions?” Luna asked. Chief did not reply. Instead, he continued walking. “I see that they do not teach proper manners wherever it is that you come from,” Luna huffed. “They taught us to be silent.” Chief glanced towards Celestia and Luna for no longer than a second, then quickly returned his gaze to the trail ahead of him. “Us?” Celestia asked with genuine curiosity. When Chief did not reply, Cortana said through his helmet, “I hope you didn't expect an answer to that. Although, you should already have one, seeing as you invaded his mind.” “We did not view all of his memories,” Luna said with slight annoyance in her voice. Celestia had had enough. She would have answers. If a seven foot tall extra-terrestrial was going to be living among her subjects, she would have some information about it. She trotted to the Spartans side and looked into his visor. “I understand that you do not wish to speak to us, let alone answer our questions, but you must be honest with us. Your honesty and cooperation will make your stay here much less stressful,” she said. “There is nothing to be honest about. I crash landed here, and I need a way home. There's nothing more to it.” Chief continued walking, his gaze still on the path before him. “There is nothing to be honest about, yet you are withholding information from us?” Luna asked sarcastically. Chief continued walking. Celestia was now becoming very irritated with the Spartan. She walked in front of him, cutting him off and forcing him to come to a stop, and looked directly into his faceplate. “If you are going to be staying here, you will tell us a little bit about yourself.” Celestia had to look up to meet the Spartan's gaze, but that did not stop her from giving him a look of utter seriousness. It was a look that only a monarch could master, and she had honed that skill very well. “Stop meddling in matters that don't concern you,” Chief said. “For your own good,” he added as he walked around Celestia. As the Master Chief continued walking once more, Luna approached her sister. “Perhaps he is right, sister. We saw very few parts of his life, but what we did see...” Luna's voice trailed off for a brief second as she lowered her gaze to the ground, “I do not want any of that to happen here. I cannot even begin to imagine how and why such destruction and evil could be caused.” “While I agree that what we saw was... disturbing, I would feel much more secure having some information on this being. I am quite sure that you would as well,” Celestia said softly. “Very well, but...” Luna gave her sister a look of doubt as her voice trailed off once more. “Is there something more bothering you, my sister?” Celestia asked while lowering her head closer to Luna's. “If more like him, or the other beings we saw, find us, what do you suppose would happen?” Luna asked in a quiet voice, making sure the six mares a few feet behind her would not hear. This question caught Celestia completely off-guard. She looked to her sister with a blank expression on her face, still trying to find an answer even when Luna spoke again. “It does not seem unrealistic, another species finding us. They even said, someone is looking for them. What happens if they find them here? In our home?” “I do not know, Luna.” Celestia looked away from her sister. “Our magic, and the Elements of Harmony, would only be able to do so much. Would we be able to defend ourselves if more Humans came here wishing to wage war? Or the Others?” “The power of the elements is unmatched,” Celestia said to herself more than anyone else. She would love to believe that the Elements of Harmony could protect everyone and everything, and she almost did, but deep down, she questioned their ability to defend their home if such a thing did happen. Noticing her sisters facial expressions becoming blank, Luna said, “Celestia?” Celestia was deep in thought about Luna's question, but when she heard her voice once more, she said, “Yes, Luna. I apologize, I was just thinking.” “Did you... come to a conclusion?” Luna asked skeptically. As strong and proud as their nation was, Luna doubted their survival against such vicious foes. “Fear not, Luna, there will be a way. There always is. For now, however, do not think about such things. Focus on the task before us, instead,” Celestia replied. She knew ignoring the matter would not help them in any way, but the Everfree Forest was no place to stop and think about such things. “Very well,” Luna said as she began walking. She stopped at her sisters side though, and asked in a voice not much higher than a whisper, “And Mother and Father would be there as well, to guide us, right?” “I think they would be there, Luna.” Celestia smiled softly to her sister. Celestia watched as Luna continued down the trail, following the Master Chief, then turned to meet the girl's curious gazes. “Come, girls, we have a long distance to cover, and not much sunlight left,” she said with a reassuring smile. Such thoughts would be too much for the girls to handle, for anyone to handle, so she would keep them between herself and her sister. As she turned to continue walking, she was met with her sister's gaze once more. “Celestia, there has been an inconvenience,” Luna said cautiously. - “You could make a run for it, you know,” Cortana said. “I know,” Chief replied. “So why don't you?” “Because that would only piss them off.” Chief risked a glance over the rotting log he was hiding behind, and added, “Them, and that pack of manticores.” - “A pack of manticores?” Celestia asked as the group moved along the trail. “Yes,” Luna replied. “I was following the human to make sure he did not try to escape, when we came upon a small clearing. As soon as I smelled them, I knew what we were approaching,” she said. The group reached the clearing, and Luna directed everyone behind a large boulder near them. From their position, they could see the Master Chief crouched behind a log that had fallen quite some time ago, hiding from whatever was on the other side of it. “He, however, is not familiar with the sights and smells of the Everfree, and almost walked straight into them. Luckily, the manticores are asleep, so he was able to duck down unnoticed,” Luna said. “I see. We don't have much time, our scents will wake them soon. We must find a way around them, quickly,” Celestia said. “We do not have many options for sneaking around them. The forest is much too thick in this area; we would create too much noise trying to sneak through it,” Luna replied. “'Shy and I could fly everyone over to the other side of them,” Rainbow dash suggested. “Oh, well, I'd really rather not.” Fluttershy peeked out from behind the boulder with wide eyes. “Come on, you've dealt with manticores before,” Dash persuaded. “Yes, but that was only one manticore, not three sleeping ones who would be very, very angry if we woke them,” Fluttershy replied fearfully. “Perhaps we should go back and find another way around. It will take longer, but it will be much safer,” Luna said to Celestia. “Yes, but we have very limited daylight,” Celestia replied. “We could delay the sunset if we must,” Luna suggested. “Only for a short while, though.” Celestia glanced towards her sun with a worried look on her face. - “What are they doing?” Chief asked in a less than patient tone. “Discussing what to do. For being the 'princesses' of this place, they sure seem pretty clueless,” Cortana answered. Chief shifted impatiently. “We need to get moving,” he said. “Just be patient. I'll be alright,” Cortana replied reassuringly. Chief shifted once more. “I know what you're thinking, and I advise against it,” Cortana said. “The last one you killed with a grenade. We don't exactly know what they're capable of in close quarters combat,” she added. “If they won't think of a way past them, I will.” Chief peered over the log at the three sleeping manticores. “I'll take them by surprise. That's already one guaranteed kill,” he added. “Alright. Just don't let them land a hit on you. By the size of their arms, they look like they could do some damage,” Cortana warned. - “Sister, our only option is to go back. We should start moving, we have already wasted enough time discussing what to do,” Luna said. Glancing at the sun once more, Celestia said, “Very well.” She stepped out from behind the boulder to tell the Master Chief, and was more shocked than she should have been when she saw that he was no longer crouched behind the log. She returned to the rest of the group and said, “He is not there anymore. He must have snuck off,” in a slightly angry tone. Just then, Applejack noticed something balancing on a large tree branch high above the ground. “Uuh, princess?” she said slowly while looking up. The rest of the group looked to her, then followed her gaze up a massive tree, and onto one of its larger, higher branches. The master Chief was perched up high, holding his combat knife in his right hand, and the energy sword hilt in his left. He was holding his knife backwards, ready to slam its blade down onto an enemy without a moments notice. He did not intend on using his energy sword, as he wanted to conserve its charges, but he would if his situation became dire. He was directly above the trio of sleeping manticores. He looked down at them and noticed their noses twitching violently, even from his elevated position. He examined them, searching for the strongest looking one, and once he found his target, he prepared himself for the jump. He flexed his muscles for the thirty meter drop, and readied himself for what he was going to do. It was time to make a move. The Spartan launched himself off of the tree branch and soared to the ground. He landed fast and hard, with a thud, cracking, and squishing sound to accompany him. From the other side of the log, a few ponies winced once they realized what had caused the sound. The Master Chief had landed directly on top of the largest manticore's head, completely flattening it under his immense weight. The sound and impact had woken the other two sleeping manticores, but before they could react, Chief was already on ones back, slashing and stabbing at its neck. The manticore cried out in pain while it attempted to swat the Spartan off its back, but Chief had dug his blade into its neck too many times for it to handle, and its strength was effectively drained. As the beast gave one last cry of pain, Chief jumped off its back before it fell over, bloodied and dead. The princesses and the girls could only imagine what was happening beyond their boulder and the rotting log. They heard roars of anger and pained howls, but could see nothing of what was happening. Chief was ducking, sidestepping, and doing whatever he could to evade the fierce swipes and punches the manticore was throwing at him. Dodging it was child's play for him, as he was able to predict its next move two moves before it made it. He could not make a mistake, however, as a direct hit from it could be potentially devastating. As stupid as the large beast was, its speed and strength was quite remarkable. “This thing's attacks are wild and poorly timed. Wait for an opening,” Cortana directed Chief. The manticore continued its attacks. It swiped left, right, left again, and then brought its fist down in an attempt to crush Chief. That was the opening he needed. Chief sidestepped to his right just as the beasts paw came crashing down, then rushed forward towards its unprotected face. The manticore was off balance after attempting such an attack, and could not recover fast enough to defend itself. It tried landing a hit on the Spartan with its left paw, but Chief ducked under it just in time, then sunk his combat knife into the furious manticore's jaw. The manticore reared back, roaring in pain. It clutched its bleeding jaw with both of its paws as it began stumbling backwards. Unbeknownst to the beast was the rotting log behind it, and as it continued stumbling, it tripped over the log and landed hard on its back. It struggled to get to its feet, but the Master Chief was too fast, and as the manticore was beginning to sit up the Spartan had already launched himself at it, combat knife at the ready. Chief landed on the manticore's chest and pinned it down under his weight. The furious beast struggled and thrashed at him, but the Spartan countered this by repeatedly jamming his knife into its neck. The beast was beginning to lose its strength from a significant loss of blood, but the fact that it was nearing death only made it more desperate. The ponies watched in terror as the Spartan brutally impaled the manticore's neck and throat over and over again. The princesses were the most resilient to the scene, but they were still taken aback by it. The desperate and pained wails of the dying beast were breaching the psychological shield they had built up over the few millennia they had ruled, and they could do nothing but watch. The girls were certainly not taking the situation any better than the princesses. Fluttershy had fainted as soon as she heard the gruesome sounds of Chief landing on one of the manticore's heads, and the rest of them were frozen in a mix of shock and fear. They had never in their lives seen such intense violence before that night and day, even when the Changelings attacked. It was something new to them; something that they could not handle. Chief continued slaughtering the beast. It would certainly not be a clean kill, but he did not care. This thing needed to be dead if he was to get Cortana out of the forest, so he would kill it with his bare hands if he needed to. “It can't last much longer,” he thought to himself. He was surprised at how strong the creature was, and how long it could resist death. The manticore continued thrashing in a desperate last attempt to save itself, and managed to knick Chief's shoulder pauldron, slightly off-balancing him. The Spartan was bringing his blade down on the beast for the final time as it connected with him, which caused him to miss his target. Instead, he ended up slicing the manticore's right ear clean off. The manticore was able to deal with this though, as that was nothing compared to the devastating attacks Chief had already thrown at it. The manticore had only one chance to get the Spartan off of it. As Chief's knife met the beast's ear, it delivered a solid punch to his side. The impact of the manticore's fist slamming against him knocked him off of its chest, and he landed on his back a couple meters away. He had lost his grip on his combat knife when he was hit, and could not locate it as he got up. The manticore's brain was in full blown panic; it was thinking about nothing but survival at this point. With a flood of near-death adrenaline taking over, the manticore launched itself at Chief, intent on mauling him to death. The Spartan had other ideas. As the manticore soared through the air towards him, Chief expertly rolled out of the way. He caught a glimpse of the ponies as he did, and noticed their fearful expressions. They must not be used to violence, he thought. As he landed back on his feet, he felt the manticore slam into the ground behind him. He turned to face the beast, and raised his fists while he slowly moved backwards to increase the distance between them. The manticore struggled to get up, and growled viciously at Chief as it did. It could taste its own blood as it choked and gurgled on it, and there was no taste a manticore hated more than that of its own blood. “Careful, it's becoming desperate. Just let it tire itself out, once its adrenaline settles it'll practically fall over dead,” Cortana said slowly. As she spoke, Chief could hear the strain in her voice. The forest was taking its toll on her once more. He needed to hurry. The manticore growled again, then went down onto all fours. It was going to charge, Chief thought. It continued growling, then slowly began creeping forward. Chief crouched down defensively and readied his energy sword. He needed to kill it now, and the fastest way would be with a white hot blade of energy. The manticore continued creeping towards him, gradually building up speed until it had closed enough of the distance between them, then broke out into a full sprint. There was only a two second's distance in between them at the manticore's current speed, but that was more than enough time for Chief to react. A Spartan II's reaction time was so fast that they were able to see in slow and fast motion. The manticore raised its thick paw at the Spartan, its sharp claws visible and ready to dig into him, then swiped at him with incredible might. Before it could even register what had happened though, its target was gone, it was lying at the foot of a large tree, and it felt a searing pain in its back. The pain was worse than anything it had ever felt before. As soon as the manticore was within a few steps of him, Chief had activated his energy sword and ducked under its arm with amazing speed and finesse. As he spun around to the other side of the charging beast's body, he flicked his wrist, delivering a swift slash of his energy sword to its vulnerable back. The manticore had put all of its strength into that swipe, and when it hit nothing but air, it knocked itself off balance and went tumbling into the tree Chief had jumped from earlier. As it lay stunned at the bottom of the tree, the immense pain from its back, neck, and throat began to take over, and its adrenaline began to fade. It let out a small whimper, wishing its mother was still there to protect it, then looked to its enemy for mercy. The Master Chief did not have mercy for such creatures though. He also did not have time for it. He quickly moved to the dying beast's side and delivered a quick slice of his sword to its throat, permanently ending its life with a sizzle, and a final choking sound from the manticore. He then deactivated his energy sword, and turned to face the princesses. “Lets get moving,” he said simply. When no one budged and he was met with nothing but wide eyes and gaping mouths, he said, “We don't have much time. Lets GO,” with extra force. He was met with nothing again. The ponies' lack of movement and speech was beginning to annoy Chief greatly, especially when Cortana was suffering because of it. He was about to order them to move once more when someone finally spoke. “You did not have to do that...” it said quietly, but harshly. “We were going to go back and find another way around. Had you just been patient...!” it began in a slow tone, but ended yelling angrily at Chief. He recognized the voice as Luna's, although her head was hung as she spoke, so he could not confirm that it was her speaking until she glared into his visor. Luna was now beginning to worry very much about Equestria's safety. In the brief time she had known the human, it had already displayed multiple acts of extreme violence, as well as murder. She could not imagine what would happen if others like him came upon their peaceful planet. She agreed that it was time to move on though, and as she began walking to the side of the clearing opposite to them, she said to her sister, “Celestia, I do not want anymore of these creatures to come here. Ever.” And with that, she continued down the path to civilization once more. Chief was glad that they were finally going to make some progress again, as was Cortana. He did not care if the princesses did not appreciate what he just did, he just wanted to get moving again. Cortana, however, didn't take kindly to their lack of appreciation. “I don't believe it,” she said, “you just solved our time shortage problem, and you eliminated three very hostile creatures without any help from them. It's as if they're impossible to please!” she yelled. “It doesn't matter,” Chief replied. “What matters is that we get out of this forest. From there we can think of a new plan, and we might be able to find some more supplies as well.” “Right, sorry. I was getting off topic,” Cortana replied in a calmer tone. “It's okay.” Chief attached the energy sword hilt to his side, then looked to Celestia. “How much longer until we reach the edge of the forest?” he asked. She had regained her bearings by now, and felt almost the same as Luna. “An hour,” she answered coldly. “Girls, we should go,” she added. By now, Fluttershy had regained consciousness, and Rainbow Dash and Applejack were slowly helping her up. Pinkie Pie and Rarity stood side by side, utterly shocked at what they just watched. Twilight was attempting to comfort them, and it seemed to be working, until they heard Fluttershy's near silent gasp. She had seen the dead manticore. She tried running towards the other end of the clearing where the path began again, until she spotted the other two manticores on the opposite side of the log. She barely held in the contents of her stomach as her eyes came across the crushed head of the largest one. With a cry of terror, she turned back to her friends and ran towards them at top speed. Despite running at top speed, she was still quite weak, and Rainbow Dash caught her in her forelegs. Fluttershy looked up to her foalhood friend and held back the urge to bawl into her mane. Rainbow saw her lips quiver, though, and knew she couldn't hold it back for long. “Shh, it's okay. Everything will be okay,” she whispered into her ear. Fluttershy knew that everything would not be okay though. She knew that the three manticores, along with the two guards from the night before, would not be okay. She was sad, and angry. She wanted to cry and yell at the same time, which surprised her, since she never wanted to yell. However, the circumstances were certainly right, so she pulled her head from Rainbow Dash's mane and looked towards the Master Chief. That's when she noticed it. A scar, in the left paw of the dead, mutilated manticore lying in front of the tree. A scar that was the perfect fit for a large thorn. Fluttershy knew this manticore, and this shook her to her very core. As she stood up shakily, she remembered removing the thorn from that very manticore's paw, and she remembered it licking her mane in joy, back when there was no violence, and no killing. With this alien here though, she had seen not only more than her fair share of violence in the last thirteen hours, but murder as well! She quietly walked away from the group, past the Master Chief, and to the manticore's side. She nuzzled its cold, lifeless cheek, and whispered with a shaky voice, “It's okay, everything... will be okay...” As she spoke, she shed a tear onto the manticore's corpse. The rest of the group watched in silence. Even Chief was slightly surprised at her sudden bravery, despite caring very little for whatever memories she was reminiscing about with the manticore. To him, it was just another obstacle, and he was taught to overcome his obstacles, which he did. “I really don't understand this place,” Cortana stated. Suddenly, Fluttershy turned around to face Chief. She was crying quite heavily now, and her eyes and cheeks were covered with tears. The strangest part about it though, was that she was glaring at him. Chief wasn't shocked by this, but for some reason that was completely unknown to him, the rest of the ponies were, even Celestia. She had such hatred in her eyes that Chief instinctively crouched slightly, as this was the look an elite would give him before charging at him with an energy sword. Then something very strange happened. Chief began to feel slightly numb. The feeling started in his extremities, then slowly crept into his arms and legs. “Chief, do something,” Cortana said cautiously. He could not move though. There was nothing restraining him, but he felt as if something had grabbed him and would not let go. He continued looking into the eyes of the pony, and that's when he realized it. Her eyes were doing this to him. “Her... eyes...” he said slowly. The pony's glare intensified, and he began to feel the numbness move to his shoulders and knees. Chief didn't know what was happening, as he had never experience anything like this before. Suddenly, an idea came to him. He could not fight it, but could he resist it? It was worth a shot. He attempted to close his eyes, using all of his willpower. After a few seconds of struggling, he managed to close them, and almost immediately the numbness left his body, and he could control himself once more. As soon as he was free, he instantly grabbed his energy sword and activated it while sprinting towards the pony. In a quick blur of green, he grabbed it by its neck. He kept his eyes closed the entire time--save for when he sprinted towards her--as he did not want to get caught in its stare again. He held the pony in front of him, his blade so close to it that the fur on its neck burned away, revealing its skin. He heard frantic cries from the ponies behind him, and the voice of Celestia commanding him to let her go. When he moved his blade closer to her neck, he heard her cry out in pain, and he knew then that he was able to open his eyes. He opened them and immediately turned around, angling himself so that the body of the pony was between him and the rest of the group. He fully expected to see Celestia's horn glowing pink again, but was surprised when he did not. All she said was, “Release her.” Cortana scoffed at this, and yelled furiously through his helmet's speakers, “You expect him to just release her after doing... whatever the hell that was!?” “Yes. There does not need to be anymore fighting,” she answered. “Oh trust me, it wouldn't be much of a fight,” Cortana replied malevolently. Fluttershy was bawling now, out of fear and sadness. Ignoring Cortana's comment, Celestia said, “Master Chief, this will not happen again, I can promise you that, you must release her though. You have told us how being inside of the Everfree Forest is harmful to your armour, and this is only prolonging your stay.” Chief knew she was right. If he killed the pony, that would only make things incredibly more difficult for them. Getting out of the forest was his top priority, and he didn't need to be wasting anymore time inside of it than he already had. If he still felt that the pony was a threat once they were out, he would deal with her quietly then, but not now. He released the pony without a warning, earning a startled cry from it, and watched as it ran to the other smaller ponies. He deactivated his energy sword and reattached it to his side, then looked at Celestia. She met his gaze, and without looking away, said, “Girls, go and find Princess Luna. We will catch up with you shortly.” As the ponies slowly moved away from the scene, Fluttershy looked at Master Chief and said in quivering voice, “Y-you're a monster...” before burying her face back into Rainbow Dash's mane. He ignored her, and watched as Celestia approached him. Instinct told him to reach for his sword, but he did not. Instead, he continued watching as she walked towards him, their gazes fixed on eachother. Upon reaching him, Celestia said, “The amount of violence you create is taking a toll on my sister, my subjects, and myself. This is going to change.” She turned away from him, and her horn suddenly flared to life with the light yellow aura. Chief wasn't surprised at her challenging him, and he drew his sword, activating it and holding it defensively in front of him. He waited for her to make a move so he could counter-attack her, but the attack never came. What happened instead, was the bodies of the manticores becoming engulfed in light, only to disappear into nothing. Even their blood stains on the ground had disappeared. The aura around her horn then vanished, and she turned to Chief and said, “That is exactly my point.” She then began walking towards the other side of the clearing, and said, “Come. We need to talk.”