The Mountain Among the Stars

by Johnjohns


VIII: Twin Peaks

Chapter 8: Twin Peaks


April 21, 2543- 0800 Hours/Royal Palace, Canterlot, Equestria

Cole slowly opened his eyes, allowing the warm, morning sunlight to filter past his eyelids, and flood his cornea. He stared at his ceiling for a few moments as he reminded himself once more that what he was experiencing wasn’t a dream. He blinked several times as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. Lifting his arm up, he looked at his watch. It read that it was eight o’clock in the morning. He sighed. Generally he didn’t sleep in this late, as his strict military lifestyle didn’t allow it. He suddenly realized that this was the first time in many months that he didn’t have to get up at five o’clock in the morning.

He sat up, and scratched the top of his scalp, cocking his head to the side to look out the window. The storm that lingered above the city last night was now long past, and they sky was entirely devoid of any cloud cover. Crisp, clear blue sky dominated the heavens above as Celestia’s sun shed its warmth upon the land below.

Climbing off of the very comfortable bed, Cole stood up and walked over to the window. Having closed the window that night to prevent rainwater from getting in, Cole now lifted up the glass pane, allowing a rejuvenating spring breeze to blow through the room. Cole took in a long inhale of oxygen. Somewhere out in the city, Cole could smell the bakeries opening up their doors, allowing the sweet fragrances inside, to filter out.

Cole wasn’t sure whether it had rained last night or not, as he had fallen asleep before he was able to find out. If it had indeed rained, there was absolutely no evidence of it. The grass below was dry, bearing not a single droplet of morning dew. From this angle, Cole could just see a little bit of the courtyard, and none of the stones were damp. It was a perfect day.

A suddenly knock at the door got Cole’s attention. He turned around, and walked over to the doorway, placing his hand on the knob, and turning it so that the door would open. First-Sergeant Scott Jeffries stood just beyond the edge of the doorway, as to not get in the Admiral’s way.

“Oh, good morning, Sir,” he said. “I hope that I haven’t just awoken you.” he gazed awkwardly at Cole, who was still wearing his undershirt and loose pajamas. Cole guessed that it wasn’t often that the man saw one of his commanding officers not in uniform.

“Not at all, Sergeant,” said Cole. “What is it?”

“Oh, nothing urgent,” said Scott. “I was just letting you know that Celestia had invited us all down for breakfast, again. She said that if you don’t want to, that it is no big deal. My men and I will hold tight for now, if you say so.”

Cole chuckled. “I think that it would be best for both of us if we accepted her gracious offer,” said the Admiral. “We wouldn’t want this whole thing to fall apart over a couple of blueberry pancakes, would we?”

“No, Sir,” said Scott with a confused smile. “Just wondering, Sir, but how did you know that there is going to be blueberry pancakes?”

Cole shrugged. “Lucky guess? Anyway, give me a minute to get ready.”

“Are you sure, Sir?” asked Scott. “Celestia said not to bother with any of us putting on our uniforms. We put ours on anyway, but she specifically asked that we all dress comfortably.”

“Really, now?” asked Cole. “Are you sure?”

“That’s exactly what she said, Sir,” said Scott.

Cole nodded his head. “Make that thirty seconds then,” he said, before shutting the door on Scott.

Exactly thirty seconds later, Cole came back out of his bedroom. His hair was neatly combed, and he had changed from a white undershirt, into a grey t-shirt which matched his pajamas perfectly, and he had his backpack slung over his shoulder.

“How do I look, Sergeant?” he asked with an intense stare.

“Rather comfortable to me, Sir,” said Scott awkwardly.

“Damn right I am,” he said. He nodded down the hallway. “Lead the way. Where is the rest of your team?”

“I sent them to go scout out the area ahead,” said Scott. “How else do you think that I knew that there would be blueberry pancakes? If I didn't know, then I would have never been able to tell you if you guessed correctly, until we all sat down to eat.”

Cole laughed. “Spoken like a true soldier,” said Cole with a smile. “Knowing everything that there is to know, beforehand. Very good.”

Scott wasn’t quite sure why Cole had been acting so cheerful lately. His only guess was that the Admiral was very happy being here.

“With all due respect,” said Scott. “It’s a very old and difficult habit to break. We ODSTs are too used to finding out everything on our own, that we have turned the process of information gathering into a science.”

The two walked side by side, down the hallway. When they arrived at the dining room, they found almost the entire crew already sitting down at the table. Celestia and Luna sat next to one another in the same spots that they sat the night before. Twilight and her friends sat next to them, looking up at Cole with bright smiles. Cole’s men sat across from the ponies. The only one who was missing was Shining Armor. Cole and Scott sat down directly across from the two princesses.

“Good morning, Cole,” said Celestia with a warm smile. “I trust that you got a good night’s sleep?”

“Indeed I did, your Highness,” he replied. “Certainly much greater than I have had in quite a long time.”

“Well,” said Celestia. “That is good to hear. It pleases me to know that we can provide you all with at least some form of comfort, whether you are used to it or not.” There was a long pause in which no one spoke. “Anyway, after you told us yesterday about the various foods that you humans eat, I decided to have my kitchen staff prepare a few things that I believe you will enjoy.”

“Oh really?” asked Cole, shooting Scott a grin. “Like what?”

“You will find out in a few minutes,” said Celestia. “The meal is almost ready. In the meantime, is there anything else that you need?”

“Actually, there is something that I would like to do,” said Cole. “I told my lieutenant, whom I left in charge of the ship, that I would call him this morning. I was going to get in contact with him right now, if you would like to meet him.”

“Oh,” said Celestia. “Alright. I would be happy to meet this man. Do we need to go to our communications room, in order to speak with him?”

“No no,” said Cole, taking his datapad out of his backpack. “We can stay here, and eat as we speak. All we need is this.” He held up the datapad for all to see.

“What’s that?” asked Twilight Sparkle.

“This is a datapad,” said Cole. “It is a very thin type of computer. It allows me to access information, and to communicate with my ship, on-the-go.”

Twilight’s eyes widened as Cole turned on the tablet, lighting up the screen, and impressing Twilight with the technology.

“We can communicate with him, through that?” asked Celestia in disbelief.

“Yes,” said the Admiral. “And you will be able to see him, and he will be able to see you, through the built-in video camera.”

“So, let me get this straight,” began Twilight. “By useing that little device, you are able to communicate with somepony, or someone, face-to-face, over long distances?”

“That is correct,” said Cole. “I mean, sure you have to charge it up when the battery starts to run low, but other than that these things are very useful.” He tapped his finger across multiple icons on the screen. “There we go. I am calling Lieutenant McMahon, right now.” he suddenly looked around the room. “By the way, where is Captain Shining Armor?”

“He is holding a security meeting with the rest of the palace guards,” she said. “He should be along in an hour or so. We need not wait for him.”

Cole nodded, and then looked down at the facade of the datapad, just in time to see McMahon’s face appear on the screen.

“Good morning, sir,” said the Lieutenant. “How are you this fine morning?”

“Better than I have been in a long time,” said Cole with a smile. “How are things going on the Everest?” he glanced over at Celestia, who was listening intently to the conversation.

“Nothing much to report, sir,” said McMahon. “Except for the fact that is a bit lonely here without you.

“So nothing to report,” said Cole with a grin.

“Uh... yeah basically,” said McMahon. “What about you, Sir? How are things going, down on the surface?”

“Very good,” said Cole, suddenly glancing away from the camera. “McMahon, I would like you to meet someone.” He turned the datapad, so that it faced Princess Celestia. “I am pleased to introduce you to Princess Celestia. Princess Celestia, this is Lieutenant McMahon.”

“It is an honor to meet you, your Highness,” said McMahon, through the datapad speakers.

“And you as well, Lieutenant,” she replied with a smile.

McMahon nodded to someone off screen, and then suddenly two more men walked up, and stood next to him.

“Princess,” said Cole. “These are my two other best officers. This is Chief-Warrant Officer Ramirez, my weapons specialist, and this is Lieutenant Fosco, my communications officer.”

Celestia nodded to the two of them. “It is a pleasure to meet you both, as well,” she said.

They smiled at her was well, but said nothing. Cole frowned at them. They waited several seconds before glancing at one another and walking off-screen.

“Anyway, Lieutenant,” said Cole. “I just wanted you to meet the Princess who has been treating us so kindly while we have been staying here. Hopefully you two will get to meet each other in person, soon.”

“Of course,” said McMahon. “I am sure that Cole would allow you to come aboard the Everest, soon, you Highness.”

“He has already made the offer,” said Celestia. “I do look forward to that very much.”

“As do I.” smiled McMahon, before looking at Cole through the camera. “It isn’t often that non-military personnel visit the ship, but that doesn’t mean that it is an entirely unfamiliar practice.”

“Perhaps tomorrow.” Cole nodded to Celestia with a smile. “That is if you wish to, your Highness.”

“That certainly seems like a possibility to me,” said the solar-princess. “I am not one to decline such a rare opportunity.”

“Then it is decided,” said Cole, turning to face the Lieutenant. “Tomorrow.”

“I will go about making preparations for your arrival, then,” said McMahon with a slight nod. “It certainly will be nice to get something done, rather than...”

The lieutenant's voice drifted off as his attention was suddenly diverted to something off-screen.

“Maya, say again?” asked the Navigational officer.

“What’s going on?” asked Cole, his expression suddenly changing to one of concern as he looked upon his officer, through the datapad screen.

“Where?” asked McMahon, speaking over Cole. “Show me.”

“Lieutenant, what is happening?” asked Cole, adding emphasis to his voice. Celestia raised an eyebrow at him.

McMahon suddenly glanced back to Cole, seeming unusually distraught. “I don’t... I...” his voice wavered. “Something’s happening up here, sir.”

“Tell me, McMahon,” ordered Cole sternly. As he spoke, the red emergency lights began to strobe inside of the bridge command center.

“I... I’ll have to call you back,” said McMahon as he suddenly ran off-screen.

“Lieutenant!” yelled Cole at his datapad. “Come back to the camera, and tell me what’s happening!”

The blaring sound of an alarm was the only discernable noise that came through the speakers. McMahon did not return as he was instructed.

“Luiten- Maya! What’s going on?”

The camera view suddenly switched to the image of Maya’s avatar, projected before a black background.

“Sorry, sir,” said Maya. “Lieutenant McMahon ran off to go speak with Ramirez. I’ve got some bad news.”

“What?” asked Cole. “What’s happening up there?”

“Something very bad, that’s what,” said Maya with a sigh. “It’s the Covenant. They followed us here.”

“What?” asked Cole, his voice suddenly filled with rage. “How could they possibly... how many?”

“I’m counting only one vessel at the moment,” she said. “It is approximately seventy-thousand kilometers from our port side, and holding position.”

Cole glanced over at Princess Celestia. The princess’s eyes were wide. Princess Luna merely stared at him, showing no emotion.

“Why?” asked Cole. “Why aren’t they moving in?”

“Perhaps they are waiting for backup, however I cannot be sure,” said Maya. “It is possible that-”

The A.I.’s speech was suddenly cut off as the screen went blank. Cole stared at it the now lifeless device for a moment.

"Maya?" Cole asked. "Maya, are you there?"

There was no response. Communications had officially ended with the Everest.

"Wha-what happened?" asked Luna. "Did something happen to them?"

"No, not yet," Cole replied, tossing the datapad onto the dining table. The device struck the wood with a thud. "The Covenant have jammed our communications. They don't want Everest to call for help."

"What does this mean?" asked Princess Celestia.

"It means that we are in the dark until communications can be re-established," Cole replied. "That is if the Everest can even last that long."

"What should we do, sir?" asked Scott.

“Prep the pelican for takeoff,” Cole replied. “We need to be ready for anything.”

“Are we going up there, sir?” asked Anderson.

“No,” said Cole. “Going up there would be too risky. There is nothing that we can do right now, besides wait until Lieutenant McMahon gives us the all-clear.”


UNSC Everest, In Orbit Above Equis

“Vessel exiting slipspace now,” Maya reported. “Seventy thousand kilometers off our port side.”

“Maya, report, what is it?” asked McMahon as he ran over to the planning table. A holographic image of a Covenant spacecraft appeared in holographic three-dimensional space, a good distance away from Everest.

“Covenant battle cruiser,” stated Maya. “Reverence classification.”

“Is that the only one?” McMahon asked.

“At the moment yes,” replied Maya. “I am detecting no more slipspace ruptures, and... we just lost the communication link with Admiral Cole. The Covenant have jammed the signal.”

“Can we call for help?” asked McMahon.

“Negative,” Maya answered. “All channels are offline. Even if they weren’t, Cole has forbidden that the Everest transmit signals outside of our area of operations. He doesn’t want the rest of the UNSC to know that we survived.”

McMahon let out a long exhale. “What’s the status on the Covenant ship?”

“Holding position,” said Maya. “They see us, but they are making no efforts to engage. This is certainly odd behavior for the Covenant.”

“Alright,” McMahon said. “What are our options? What weapons do we have left?”

“All missile batteries have been depleted during our last engagement,” Maya said. “However, we still have a few MAC slugs left over.”

“It’s not enough,” said Ramirez, walking up to the table, with Fosco following close behind. “That ship is almost twice our size. Even if could can breach their shields, we wouldn’t be able to deal enough significant damage to stop them from plowing us over.”

“What is your suggestion, Chief?” asked McMahon.

Ramirez sighed. “I don’t have one,” he said. “All we have are bad options, and I cannot decide which one is best.”

“Covenant cruiser is now moving to engage,” reported Maya. “At current velocity, it will be upon us in two minutes.”

“Orders, sir?” shouted several crewmembers from their stations.

“Everyone to your battle stations!” McMahon ordered. “If we are going down, we are going down fighting!” he turned to Ramirez. “Get me an option, Warrant Officer, and get me one fast. You know this boat’s offensive capabilities best.” he turned to face the A.I.’s avatar, which floated above the table. “Maya, move Everest to meet the Covenant head-on. If we move to engage them, they might think twice about being so bold. That might just give us enough time to come up with some sort of plan.”

“Yes, sir,” Ramirez and Maya said simultaneously. Ramirez ran back to his station, and Maya’s avatar winked away.

McMahon walked back to the Captain’s chair, and sat down. As he did, the Everest turned so that it faced the Covenant cruiser. It was still just a spec of light in the distance, but it was growing larger and larger every second. The hull shuttered as Everest’s main drive engines flared, and powered the ship forward to engage the enemy.

I swear, Cole is never going to leave me in charge of his ship again.


Bane of Defiance, In Unexplored Planetary System

“The scan has come out positive, Shipmaster,” said Iritumee. “The vessel matches the classification of Admiral Cole’s. It is him.”

“Excellent work, Iritumee,” said Tihar, turning to look the minor Sangheili in the eye. “You have guided us to our enemy, and have brought great honor to your family. I will be sure to inform the Prophet of the great deed you have done for the Covenant.”

“Thank you, Shipmaster,” said Iritumee, bowing low before the elder warrior. “I am grateful to have your sign of approval.”

Tihar nodded. “Return to your post,” he said. “I will call for you if you are again needed. Until then, gather as much information on that planet as you can. I want to know why the Humans came here.”

“Yes, Shipmaster.”

The young Sangheili scurried back down the ramp, leaving Tihar and Folve alone. Before them, a large, blue planet sat on its very own blanket of space. It appeared to be natural, and entirely untainted by the humans. Besides Cole’s vessel there were no other spacecraft signatures in the entire system. He was alone, and so was Cole.

“The humans are weak,” Folve muttered, just loud enough for Tihar to hear. “I can feel it.”

“Cole is likely low on ammunition,” said Tihar. “If our judgment proves correct, then this shouldn’t be too difficult. However, my judgment has proven me wrong in the past, just as Cole has proven many of us wrong in the past.”

“What do you plan to do, Brother?” asked Folve.

“There is nothing to plan,” Tihar replied. “We must engage Cole. Based on his response, we will know how to properly deal with him.”

“What if this is a trap?” asked Folve.

“If it is, then there is no way to tell unless we move in,” said Tihar. “We must not delay.” he turned outward, so that he would be able to project his voice to the entire bridge. “Now, my brothers, it is time to face our greatest enemy. For the glory of the Covenant, for our families, and for ourselves, we must fight! All crew members, report to your stations, and send us in to engage Admiral Cole! This is the time to prove ourselves worthy to our Prophet!”

“Yes, Shipmaster!” roared the bridge crew.


“Covenant cruiser is not deviating from its current trajectory,” Maya announced. “The gap between us and them will close in less than forty-five seconds. If we don’t change course, we are going to collide with it. What shall we do?”

“Stay on course,” ordered McMahon.

“Sir?”

“Just do it,” McMahon said, raising his voice. “Ramirez, are our Helix guns online?”

“Yes, sir,” said the weapon’s expert. “However, I don’t know exactly what you plan to do with them. They aren’t exactly anti-capital ship weapons.”

“Have them ready, just in case,” ordered McMahon.

“Thirty seconds,” Maya said.

“On my mark, bank to starboard at fifty degrees,” ordered McMahon.

“Calculations set. Ready when you are sir,” replied Maya.

McMahon watched as the Reverence-class cruiser grew larger each moment as both vessels closed the distance between one another at an incredible speed. McMahon wasn’t sure exactly what he was doing, but the last thing he wanted was to sit and wait for the inevitable. If the Everest was going down, then he at least wanted to make an attempt to prevent the Covenant from reaching the planet below.

“Twenty seconds,” said Maya.

The Covenant cruiser continued to barrel through space, seemingly destined to collide with the Everest. McMahon suddenly began to regret his decision. He should have known that a Covenant ship would never back down from such a direct challenge.

“Fifteen seconds,” Maya reported. “If we are going to move, now is the time to do so.”

“Just wait,” muttered the Lieutenant.

The enemy vessel was so close at this point, that it almost cloaked the entirety of space with its massive, curved hull.

“Lieutenant?”

McMahon was silent as he stared at the enemy cruiser.

“Lieutenant!”

“Bank now!” ordered McMahon.

The UNSC Everest’s thrusters engaged, veering Everest off of the collision course. The enemy vessel tried to account for the change in trajectory, but the move had been too sudden. The two vessels blew past one another at several thousand kilometers an hour.

“Plasma torpedoes!” announced Maya.

“Targeting,” stated Ramirez. “Maya, shoot them down!”

“Firing.”

On the exterior port hull of Everest, several fifty millimeter Helix point-defense guns spun up, and sprayed streams of hot tungsten at the incoming plasma missiles. The tracers and torpedoes raced towards one another, before exploding in a vibrant display of yellow flashes and blue discharges of hot energy. Over one hundred torpedos were destroyed by the barrage of cannon shells, however some made it through. The surviving torpedoes sped after the Everest like honey bees chasing after a bear that stole their honey.

The point defense guns retargeted the remaining missiles, but the Everest banked sharply to starboard, preventing them from firing on their targets. The covenant ship was doing the same, banking to the right, so that from a distance it looked as though the two opposing ships were forming a figure eight out of energy trails.

“The remaining plasma torpedoes are closing in,” Maya said. “I don’t have a shot. Brace for impact.”

Seconds after the announcement, the ship shook violently from several successive explosions.

“Status report!” demanded McMahon.

“Multiple torpedo impacts across our stern,” Maya said. “Main drive engine one has taken damage, and is slowly losing power.”

“How long do we have?” asked the Lieutenant.

“A few minutes,” Maya said. “After that, our mobility is going to be cut in half.”

“Can it be repaired?” asked McMahon.

“Yes, but not right now!” replied Maya. “We have a situation. The Covenant ship is coming around for another pass,”

“Let’s meet them, then,” said McMahon. “Divert power to the MAC weapons system, and charge the main gun.”

“A single shot will not be able to breach the enemy’s shields,” Maya said. “Are you sure?”

“I’m positive,” said McMahon. “Just have it ready to fire. We have to wait for the right moment. Take us in for another pass, and this time fire all of our guns at the damned thing. I want to get them annoyed as much as possible.”

“Roger that, sir.”

Both vessels lined themselves up with one another as they prepared to duel it out once again. The distance closed rapidly between the two, as both spacecraft rocketed towards one another at an incredible speed. As they flew past one another, the Everest unloaded a volley of cannon fire at the Covenant cruiser. The fifty-millimeter rounds splashed harmlessly against the alien vessel’s energy’s shields. In response, the Covenant ship fired several high-velocity plasma rounds at the Everest’s starboard side. The energy projectiles impacted the Everest’s heavily armored hull in brilliant flashes of bluish-white. Chunks of extra titanium-A battleplate melted and were blasted off of the ship, exposing the main layer of armor below. This gave McMahon an idea.

Once the two vessels had passed one another, the Reverence-class cruiser fired a massive volley of plasma torpedoes at the Everest as a follow up.

“More torpedoes,” Maya reported. “Over a thousand. Firing all available Helix guns.”

“Will they be enough?” asked the Lieutenant.

“Negative,” said Maya. “There are far too many of them. Engine one is still losing power, and is down to fifty percent energy output. Plasma torpedoes scheduled to impact in twenty seconds.”

“Can our armor withstand that many warheads?” he asked.

“Uncertain. Likely not.”

“What about the additional layer of armor that Cole had installed? What holds those plates to the rest of the ship?”

“The extra plating is attached via magnetic couplings, to allow for easy removal.”

“Can they be ejected off of the ship?” asked McMahon.

Maya paused. “I like what you are thinking, Lieutenant,” she said.

“Can it be done?”

“Yes,” she replied. “Ready when you are. Impact in eight seconds.”

“Wait until they are close enough, and then detach the plates.”

“Sir!” called Ramirez from across the room. “If you eject those titanium plates, we won’t be able to get them back. Are you sure you want to do this?”

“No time. Already decided,” Maya said. “Shedding exterior armor now.”

In an instant, several thousand, thick titanium armor plates peeled off of the hull, forming a debris field right in the path of the oncoming plasma torpedoes. A second later, the wave of missiles collided with the cloud of metal, causing a massive chain reaction of plasma discharge.

A few of the projectiles survived the collision, only to explode harmlessly against the Everest's second layer of protection. McMahon felt the ship shake one last time, and then everything was silent.

“All torpedoes have been destroyed,” Maya said. “Excellent thinking, sir, although I would not recommend we try that again.”

“Agreed,” McMahon said, letting out a sigh of relief. “What’s the status on the enemy cruiser?”

“It’s coming around again,” Maya said. “We cannot afford to duke it out with them again. We don’t have the firepower, or the protection to do so.”

“What about the MAC gun?” he asked.

“Fully charged and ready to fire,” Maya said. “Although like I said, we won’t be able to-”

“I know, I know,” the Lieutenant said, interrupting her. “Hold here. Let’s let them come to us.”


“The humans have suffered some damage to their engine, Shipmaster,” reported one of the minor Sangheili from below. “It is possible that they have lost a great deal of mobility. Also, I believe that the material they released to destroy our torpedoes was their armor. They shed it to prolong the inevitable.”

Tihar stared across the reaches of space, at the now motionless human ship, only the size of a pebble in the distance. “The humans are poorly equipped, and hurting,” he said. “It is only a matter of time before we bring our full judgment upon them. They cannot postpone the coming fire forever.”

“What shall we do, Shipmaster?” asked another warrior.

“Bring us in close,” replied Tihar. “I want them to cry with fear before their doom.”

“Understood, Shipmaster.”

The Bane of Defiance moved quickly towards the human ship, and within a minute they were in a striking range of just over five thousand meters. It idled in space, seemingly inactive, as if it was patiently waiting for its destruction. The Bane halted as well, so that it looked as though both vessels were staring at one another, urging the other to make a move.

“Our boarding crews are reporting that they are ready to move in,” reported Iritumee. “Shall they deploy?”

“No,” answered Tihar. “There is no point in risking our warriors in a close-quarters engagement. There is nothing in there that we need. As for Cole, I am content in watching the smoldering husk of his vessel crash into the planet below. Destroying it from the outside is our best option. They could have laid a trap for us on the inside.”

“A most-wise decision, Brother,” said Folve, with an approving nod. “Prepare to fire all cannons!”

“No,” said Tihar, putting his hand before his brother’s chest, as if to prevent him from wandering off. “I want the ship to burn so brightly that the Prophet can see it from where he sits. Ready the ventral plasma projector.”


“Why are they stopping?” asked Fosco aloud.

“I don’t like this,” Ramirez said, the nervousness evident in his voice. “Sir, we should do something.”

“Just wait,” McMahon said calmly. “I want to see what they do.”

“Sir,” Maya said. “Longsword pilots are reporting ready to launch, if you need them to.”

“Thanks for the info, Maya,” he said. “Any idea as to what they are waiting for?”

“They may be just as confused as we are, sir,” she replied. “I have certainly never seen... wait... something is happening.”

“What?” asked McMahon, as his eyes darted all across the enemy’s ship’s streamlined hull. “I don’t see...”

He paused as the enemy cruiser suddenly began to pitch upwards, revealing its belly to the Everest. A circular point at the middle of the vessel began to glow in a reddish-orange hue.

“Energy spike detected on the craft’s underside!” shouted Maya. “Its shields are dissipating!”

“Its getting ready to fire its glassing beam,” McMahon muttered with wide eyes. “Maya, get me a targeting solution on that weapon!”

“It won’t be enough,” she said. “We won’t be able to destroy her.”

“But we can kick her as hard in the gut as we can,” he replied. “That will at least give us some time to plan our next move. Prepare to fire!”

The Everest’s angle adjusted slightly so that the enemy’s primary weapon was lined up with her own.

“Energy levels have reached critical levels!” reported Maya with a raised voice. “She’s about to discharge her energy beam!”

“That’s not going to happen,” said McMahon. “I’ll be damned before I have the Everest go down under my command. Fire forward MAC.”

“Firing,” she said. “Cover your ears!”

There was a high-pitched screech as the magnetic accelerator cannon discharged a six-hundred ton depleted-uranium bullet at over thirty-thousand meters per second. The Everest shook as the massive round exited the barrel of the gigantic coil gun. A fraction of a second later, the slug slammed into the center of the enemy cruiser’s plasma projector, causing a massive explosion which sent waves of superheated energy to spread outwards in all directions. The MAC round impacted the cruiser with such force that it embedded itself halfway inside the ship, and sent it lurching backwards, away from the Everest.

“Now’s our chance!” shouted Lieutenant McMahon. “Fire all point-defense guns, to cover our escape. We are getting out of here!”

“Roger that,” Maya said, firing up Everest’s one good engine once more. The automatic turrets mounted on the ship whirred up to speed, and began to spray a continuous stream of cannon fire at the enemy vessel, as the Everest pulled away to safety. “Where to, Lieutenant?” Maya asked.

“We need to set her down somewhere to make repairs, and to get boots on the ground,” replied McMahon. “The enemy won’t be crippled forever.”

“Uh, I hate to break it to you, Lieutenant,” Maya began. “But this ship isn’t exactly designed to land anywhere else besides a shipyard.”

“I am well aware,” he said. “Take us down to the surface.”

“Yes, sir,” she said. “Standby for atmospheric entry. All hands, brace yourselves!”

Upon making contact with the outer planetary atmosphere, the Everest began to shake violently. All crewmembers who had been standing, returned to their posts. Once seated, McMahon found himself gripping onto the armrests of the admiral’s chair, as if the ship was about to fall apart around him.

Rippling waves of orange heat billowed around the Everest’s hull as she dived toward the planet below. Once past the upper atmosphere, the outside hull began to cool, and McMahon was rewarded with an amazing view of the Equestrian countryside below. A small village, no more than a patch of tan discoloration on a green canvas sat among the rolling hills, and beyond, perched upon the mountainside, was Canterlot. McMahon smiled.

“Any ideas, Lieutenant?” Maya asked as the cruiser continued to speed toward the planet’s surface.

“We need to set her down on something soft,” he said.

“No really, you think!” exclaimed Maya. “Where?”

McMahon’s eyes were drawn to the valley below where the capital city was situated. A small river ran through the valley, inland from the great waterfall. On one side of the rushing body of water, were several kilometers of flat grassland, stretching all the way to the great mountain, and he countryside beyond. It was plenty of space to put a damaged UNSC flagship.

“Set us down in the valley, below the city,” McMahon said. “Get as close to the mountain as you can, without risking damaging part of the city.”

“You’ve got it, sir,” she said. “Although I can’t be held responsible for any broken windows.”

“I’m sure the UNSC will pay for any of the damages we cause, at some point in the future,” McMahon said with a slight grin. “Gee, Cole is going to give me so much crap for crashing his ship.”

“Don’t worry, sir,” Maya said, her avatar giving him a less-than-comforting smile. “I do this all the time.”


Royal Palace, Canterlot, Equestria

The dining hall was utterly silent. Together, humans and ponies sat along the large table, watching the morning’s breakfast grow cold, before them. Ten minutes turned into fifteen, then fifteen and twenty, then twenty into thirty as the group waited for any kind of update on the situation up in orbit. As much as they didn’t want to admit it, they all were beginning to realize that the Everest might not ever call back, and that the Covenant would be the only ones saying hello.

From where he sat, Cole stared out of one of the large windows, overlooking the palace courtyard below. His expression was bleak, and his face was as pale as a ghost. As much as he wanted to be optimistic, he knew better than to get his hopes up. In its current state, the Everest was hopelessly outgunned against any sort of large Covenant warship. The chances of the ship surviving longer than a few minutes against a covenant cruiser were unimaginably small, not to mention the fact that he had left his second-in-command in charge, instead of himself. Cole sighed. The day had just taken a turn for the unthinkable.

Overall, the feeling that had Cole upset the most, was his guilt. The Covenant had already destroyed so much in their endless holy war against humanity. Equis was a world, left entirely untainted by the evils of the universe. The ponies and other beings who lived on the planet’s surface had existed in peace for many tens of thousands of years, lucky to have been magically sheltered from the horrors beyond, by complete chance. It wasn’t until he had shown up, that the world’s security had been put into jeopardy. He had taken the risk, and now the Covenant had found Equestria. Cole knew that he couldn’t live with himself if the Covenant decided to exterminate the planet. They would exterminate the planet.

As though Cole’s doubts had suddenly decided to become reality, the air around them began to throb and pulse as a great rumbling sound began to shake the entire palace. The glass pitchers of water that sat on the table shook as the water inside rippled violently. Everyone at the table glanced around at one another nervously. Cole looked across the table to Celestia. She was silent, but her eyes were wide with fear. The only thing Cole could do was silently mouth the words “I’m sorry.” It wasn’t enough. I never could be enough. No words could justify what Cole had done to such an innocent little world. After a few seconds, he couldn’t bare to look her straight in the eye, and had to turn away. There weren’t many who could out-stare the man.

Without a word, Cole stood up from the table, and walked over to one of the tall windows. Slowly, one by one, the others joined him. His eyes scanned the skyline, searching for whatever was causing the disturbance. Then he saw it. Approaching from the southwest, beyond the tall towers of Canterlot, was the Everest, and it was coming in very fast. Cole almost forced himself to smile, but then he noticed the massive smoke trail billowing from the rear of the vessel, leaving a dark streak of smog lingering amongst the sporadically placed clouds. Whatever had happened in orbit, the Everest had not made it out unscathed as she did during her previous engagement.

“Is... is that?” Celestia began.

“My ship,” Cole said. “Yes it is.”

“It’s huge,” Twilight Sparkle said with aw. She noticed the smoke too. “Is... is something wrong with it?”

“Yes,” Cole said. “It appears that one of her engines has been damaged.” he sighed. “And she isn’t slowing down.”

“That... that isn’t going to hit us, right?” asked Rarity.

Cole opened his mouth to speak, but to be honest, he wasn’t sure. He instead stood silently as his ship rushed at them at a frightening speed.

The Everest was very close now, at a distance no greater than a few kilometers, still approaching at several hundred kilometers an hour.


“I swear to god,” Cole muttered silently under his breath. “If he crashes my ship into the fucking mountain, I swear I’m gonna...”

Cole stopped himself as the ship leveled out, and began to rapidly decelerate as it neared the front of the city. Cole let out a silent sigh of relief as the ship began lowering itself gently into the valley below. A few seconds later, the entirety of the vessel had disappeared from view, as it landed below the city.

Cole turned around. “Alright, the Everest hasn’t been destroyed, which means that things are already going better than expected,” he said, and then turned to face the princess. ‘Your Majesty, I need to get down there, to my ship, and find out what’s going on. You are welcome to come, if you would like to, but we have no time to waste. I need an answer.”

“I...” the princess began, but stopped when a familiar voice suddenly came out of nowhere, from across the room. Everyone turned around to see.

“Hello?” said Lieutenant McMahon’s voice from the datapad, which rested on the table. “Sir? Are you there? It seems as though we are free from the interference.” he paused. Cole jogged over to the table. “Anyway, I don’t know if you can hear me, but- oh, hello, Sir!”

“Lieutenant, what happened up there?” Cole demanded. “And what did you do to my ship?”

“I’ll tell you what happened, sir,” he replied with a smile. “A good-ol ship-based Magnetic Accelerator Cannon happened!”

“You... you destroyed the enemy ship?” Cole asked, pleasantly surprised.

“No, sir,” said McMahon. “But we put a giant, super-hardened bullet right into her belly.” he chuckled. “You see, sir, she was about to melt us with her glassing beam, and we waited until her shields were down, and then we fired a single round into the damn thing’s gut. Bitch lit up like an evergreen on Christmas Eve! You should’ve seen it, sir!”

“That... that’s great news,” Cole said, fighting the urge to collapse onto the chair out of joy. “What happened to the Everest? What was all the smoke?”

“Not a big problem sir,” reported McMahon. “Maya says it’s just some minor damage to one of our main thrusters. Nothing that we can’t fix.”

“Alright, stay put,” Cole said. “I’m coming down there.”

“Negative, sir,” answered McMahon. “The Everest isn’t too sightly right now, and some of the cargo in the holds wasn’t locked down properly, so some of it shifted around and... anyway, I think it would be best if we came to you. I’ll explain everything to you, once we arrive. Can we land in the courtyard?”

“Ye- yes,” Celestia said over Cole’s shoulder. “That is not a problem.”

“Thank you, your majesty,” replied the lieutenant with a light smile. “We’re on our way. ETA ten minutes to you, sir, out.”

“Copy that, Lieutenant,” the admiral said. “Cole out.”


Bane of Defiance, In Orbit Above Unknown Planet

“Status report!” roared Tihar through the light haze of smoke which lingered inside the command bridge. Whatever had just happened, it had thrown Tihar and his brother off both of their feet, and he was only just beginning to stand. Folve was getting up as well. His coughed from the inhalation of the smog.

“What- hgggt hgggt!” wheezed Tihar. “What just happened?”

“It was the humans, Shipmaster!” called out Iritumee from below. Tihar began to stumble down the ramp, to check on the other members of his crew. “They must have had one shot left in their main cannon! The waited until we lowered our shields, and then they struck! They truly are tricky little vermin!”

“Raaagh!” Tihar shouted, punching his fist into the hull of the ship, once he made it down the ramp. The metal buckled, and dented where he struck it. “What’s that status of our primary weapon?”

“Plasma projector is completely offline,” reported Iritumee. “We have sustained severe, critical damage to the weapon itself, and have lost all firing control. The explosion sent a surge of energy throughout the entire ship, damaging several other critical components. Our slipspace drive is offline, engines are experiencing uneven power fluctuations, navigation systems need to be re-calibrated, and our communications are offline. Also, there’s an eight-meter wide hole, penetrating halfway through the ship, where the human round hit us.”

“Can it be repaired?” Tihar asked, as he approached the younger crewmember. Folve followed behind his brother, silently. “The ship. Can it be repaired?”

“Ye- yes,” replied Iritumee. “I’ll get engineers on everything, right away, although it will take some time before the beam is ready to fire again.”

“I am well aware,” Tihar said. “Do it. In the meantime, what information did you discover on the planet?”

The young Sangheili hesitated. “I think that you are going to want to see for yourself, Shipmaster,” he said. “There is a lot happening here that I did not expect.”

Tihar stared at him for a moment, before nodding. “Very well then,” he said.

“Yes, Shipmaster,” said Iritumee with a slight bow. “Right this way.” Tihar nodded to his brother, instructing him to follow.

Iritumee led the two over to his station, and moved his levitating stool out of the way. After tapping one of his long fingers against the terminal several times, images of the planet’s surface began to scroll across the holographic screen.

“After the scan was concluded I discovered some... interesting... well take a look for yourself.” Iritumee tapped his finger on the console one more time.

Wide, distant images of the planet’s surface faded away into one of a more enhanced, close-up view. Tihar’s eyes widened.

“So that’s why the humans chose to stay here,” said Tihar.

“Records in the archives contain no information on the indigenous population,” said Iritumee. “I believe that the beings who live on this planet are the very first whom the Covenant has ever encountered. But if that is the case...” The young cadet turned to look up at his leader. “This situation has become far more complex than we once thought.”

“Indeed,” replied the shipmaster, as his eyes swam across the expanses of the orbital images.

Iritummee stared at Tihar for a moment, before a quick glare from his superior encouraged him to look away. “What shall we do?” he asked. “Shall I contact the Ministry of Conversion?”

“Do you know where the human ship landed?” asked Tihar, ignoring the younger sangheili’s inquiry.

“I... well... yes, Shipmaster,” he relied.

“Show me.”

Iritumee’s fingers flew across the screen, as he entered in several coordinates. In an instant, the image had changed into a top-down view of Cole’s ship. Small plumes of smoke were billowing out of the rear of the craft, becoming less and less noticeable, as human workers extinguished the fires. Two human transports were circling the rear of the ship, spraying white foam on the most pronounced hull breaches.

The ship has settled down alongside a river, which flowed from the mountains nearby. Tihar’s eyes followed the river all up the mountain, before his sight settled upon a mountainside fortress. Another human pelican had departed from the ship, and was settling down inside the city.

Tihar grunted. “It appears as though these beings and the humans are already well acquainted,” the shipmaster said, as he tapped one of his long fingers on the screen. The view zoomed in on the craft, which was landing next to another, long since arrived. They both were situated within the courtyard of a large, ornately decorated building. Tihar could see both humans and more of the strange, unknown aliens rushing out of the building to greet the new arrivals.

“When I pledged my oath to the Covenant, I swore to destroy the humans, no matter the cost,” said Tihar. “Whatever these being may be called, they seem to already be in an alliance with the humans.” he paused. “The way my eyes see it, the humans have already enticed these beings with their tales of woe and sorrow, into helping them. The humans made their decision, and so did they. It is too late for the Ministry of Conversion to act. The opportunity has been lost." Tihar released a sigh and bowed his head. "Inquisition had, after the time of their trial, deemed all humans to be heretics. Therefore, they all must be purged from the galaxy." he turned to face Iritunee. "And all those who ally themselves with the humans are considered Heretics as well. This situation has never been, nor will it ever be the concern of the Ministry of Conversion. This is military issue, and we will deal about it accordingly. Brother!" Tihar shouted, turning to face the Zealot. “Ready our warriors for a ground assault. We will launch our strike at nightfall. In the meantime...” he said, turning back to Iritumee. “I want our engineer teams working non-stop, until our primary weapon is once again operational, and the ship has returned to a combat-ready state.”

“Understood, Shipmater,” they both said in unison. Folve bowed out of respect to his brother, before proceeding out of the command bridge. Tihar watching him stride out of the room, until the door sealed behind his path.

“One last thing, if I may, Shipmaster?” asked Iritumee with a short glance up at his superior.

“What is it?” asked the elder, before turning back towards the younger.

“I want you to see this,” Iritumee replied, while tapping a long finger against the screen.

The orbital image of the courtyard magnified and enhanced itself, revealing each and every detail of the beings populating the open area before the palace. Tihar’s eyes locked onto the image of an older man, who was in the process of listening to one of the new arrivals. His eyes were cold and the hair upon his head had been reduced to a pale grey, from all the years of endless stress and conflict. Tihar wanted to feel anger, but the only emotion he received by watching the scene, was determination.

“Cole was never onboard the human cruiser,” said Iritumee. “He has been on the surface of the planet, this entire time.” the young Sangheili looked up at his shipmaster, causing Tihar to look down at him. “Even if we had destroyed the human vessel, Cole would not have perished. We would never have known that Cole was still alive, if not for our defeat.”

Tihar silently nodded as he allowed the scope of the situation to settle in. “This is the last mistake I shall ever make, regarding this human,” he said. “Their warship is crippled, and so is ours. They have the numbers, yet we have the strength. Their notion of hope gives them the commitment to fight, and the will of our gods is the wind beneath the wings of the Covenant.” Tihar paused. “I couldn’t ask for a greater fight. This is my destiny. Tonight, I will be judged on both my strength as a leader, and my allegiance to my faith. If it is my destiny to fail, I fail with honor. But if I am to succeed, we will strike a blow so severe into the hearts of the humans, that their morale will be forever scarred.” He paused. “And I have absolutely no intention of failing.”


Royal Palace, Canterlot, Equestria

“How long before their weapons systems are back online?” Admiral Cole asked.

The group of both humans and ponies had convened within the confines of the dining hall, to discuss the best plan of action, in regards to the Covenant’s unanticipated arrival in the planetary system. For the Equines, the emergence of a new threat, of which they have only ever heard stories about, was both confusing as it was surreal. Outside, the great sun continued to shower the land, and its inhabitants with light. By now, news seemed to be spreading that something big was happening, even though none of them truly knew of the deadly war which had now been brought upon their world. Messengers had reported to the princess that the majority of Canterlot’s inhabitants were perched upon the far walls, gazing down in wonder at the human spacecraft in the valley below. By now, the fires on the craft had been extinguished, and the vessel appeared only as a toppled column of metal, as if the Everest had once been a twin of the tall mountain which stood proudly above her. Several human dropships went to and fro, around the larger vessel, offloading supplies into the wide-stretching plains surrounding the Everest. Dozens of ground vehicles offloaded crates from the ship, while hundreds of human workers organized and stacked the chaotic amounts of supplies in an orderly fashion.

Both inside the palace, and beyond, ponies stood silent, wondering as to how something so large and powerful had ever found its way to the peaceful planet of Equis.

“Assuming that they likely have several Huragok onboard, the weapon will probably be back online in nine or ten hours,” said Ramirez, as he scratched his scalp with his right hand. “Twelve, if we are lucky.”

“That’s just too little time,” said McMahon. “We’re sitting ducks down here, and I don’t like it one bit. We have to do something.”

“We have to assume that they will launch an invasion of the city,” replied Cole. “Thus we must take every preemptive measure we can, to ensure the safety of everyone who lives here.” Cole sighed. Everyone sitting at the table was staring at him. Those who knew him, were trusting the Admiral to be the great leader they had always known him to be. Those who didn’t, were hoping that Cole would turn out to be as much as a hero as he appeared to be. “He wants me- the Shipmaster in charge of that vessel- and he will come after me, even if that means slaughtering thousands of innocents to get to me.” Cole turned to face Celestia. “Where can they go? Your ponies. It is no longer safe for them to be here.”

“In... the caves in the mountains,” she replied, her voice quivering. “They stretch on for miles, deep into the world’s crust. During the last battle of Canterlot, I evacuated the inhabitants of the city into those very caverns. If the city falls... they will be safe... at least for a little while.”

“Good,” Cole replied. “I need you to give the evacuation order, as soon as possible. The Covenant will likely choose my vessel as their primary target, but with the city being so close, we have to figure that they will attack Canterlot as well. As long as you get your ponies to hide deep within the mountains, our soldiers will be able to fight the Covenant, without the risk of civilian casualties.”

“Understood,” replied Celestia. “I just worry that...”

“I will make you a promise right now,” Cole said, interrupting her. “As long as I am alive, the Covenant won’t come anywhere near the entrance to those caves. I swear by my life, that I will do everything that I possibly can to keep your people safe.” he sighed. “This isn’t your fight. This never should have happened.”

There was a long moment, during which, no one said anything. Celestia merely nodded and looked away from Cole.

“Your highness?” asked Twilight Sparkle, timidly from across the table. “What about Ponyville? It’s so close to the city. Shouldn’t we evacuate my town as well?”

“Yes,” said Celestia, to her student. “I seems that we have to. Blueblossom!” called the Princess.

“Yes, your highness,” said one of Celestia’s advisors, as she stepped forward from behind a larger crowd of ponies, situated at the opposite end of the table.

“Blueblossom, I need you to contact the transportation authority. Have them divert all available trains in the area, to Ponyville. If they question it, tell them that it is a dire emergency and that there is not time to delay.”

“I will send some of my men to assist in the evacuations of both the city and the town,” said Cole.

“Good,” replied the Princess with a slight smile. “Thank you.”

“I’m not sure how effective my soldiers will be, when fighting this ‘Covenant’, but I will stand by your side,” said Shining Armor, who had arrived after receiving news about the situation. Cole glanced over at the stallion, and gave him an approving nod.

“I will see to it that your soldiers are instructed on how to use our weaponry,” Cole said. “I don’t mean to sound insulting, but you are going to want something that packs a bigger punch than arrows and swords.”

“Thank you,” replied Shining Armor. “I will ready our forces, right away.”

“Good,” said Cole, before turning back to face Celestia. “The more help that we have, the greater chance we have of fighting the Covenant off. Are there any additional forces that you can call upon?”

“There are,” said Celestia. “But when the Covenant interrupted your signal earlier, they seem to have also disrupted our mana transmissions, so we can’t send out a call for help. The nearest garrison of our forces is at Fort Dune, over on the western peninsula of the San Palomino Desert. However, even that is a two day’s ride by carriage, from here. I could send out one of my messengers to...”

“Umm, your Ma- Majesty?” asked Rainbow Dash, as she stood up from the table. “If you need a pair of fast wings, I’m your mare. I can get over there in less than a day, and deliver whatever message you need me to. Remember, I am the fastest flyer in Equestria.”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at the pegasus. “Indeed you are, my little pony,” said the Princess with a smile. “Very well, get over to the base, and find General Unprecedented. Inform him that Canterlot is in immediate danger, and needs immediate reinforcements. If he questions your authority, tell him that Princess Celestia says that the harmonic balance has not yet been broken. He will know what I mean. Ask him to send over his pegasi units right away, and follow up by sending in his entire airborne fleet.”

“Harmonic Balance. Not Broken. Send reinforcements. Got it!” said the cyan pegasus. “Is that all?”

“Yes,” said Celestia. “Now go, there is no time to waste!”

With that, the pegasus, turned around, snatched up her saddlebag and goggles, and soared out one of the open windows, heading due west, in pursuit of the retreating sun.

“The rest of you,” Celestia said, turning to face the five remaining Elements of Harmony. “I need your help.”

“What would you have us do, your highness?” asked Twilight Sparkle, standing up with the rest of her friends.

“Twilight, I need you by my side, to assist me in the coordination of all our actions,” replied Celestia. “Rarity and Pinkie pie, I need you two to oversee the evacuation of Ponyville. You two are the only ones that I can trust with that responsibility. Can I count on you two?”

“You’ve got it, your Majesty!” exclaimed the pink mare.

“Of course,” replied Rarity. “We shall see to it that everypony gets out safely. You have my word.”

“Excellent,” replied the princess. “Fluttershy, I need you to stay with everypony, once we get them to safety. If the city does indeed come under attack, they will certainly hear the commotion on the surface. They will be frightened. I need someone to stay with them, and keep them calm.” she smiled. “I know of no pony more qualified for the job, than you.”

“Thank- thank you, your Majesty.” smiled the timid Fluttershy from behind her pink mane, which covered half of her face. “You can count on me.”

“Remember,” said Celestia. “If all else fails, have them find comfort in each other. As long as they believe that everything is going to be okay, they will still have something to hold on to, even if...” her voice quivered slightly as a tear came to her eye. “Even if that something is no longer existent.”

Fluttershy shook her head in understanding, and Celestia turned away for a moment.

“Princess?” asked Twilight. “Are you alright.”

“Mmm? Oh, yes. I’m fine,” replied the Princess with a half-faked smile towards her student. Twilight simply stared at her with uncertainty.

“What about me, your Highness?” asked Applejack. “If ya’ll don’t mind me requesting, I would sure love to kick some flank when these aliens get here.”

“Applejack,” began the sun-goddess with a warm smile. “I look upon you as though you were a daughter of mine. I could never ask you to take up arms.”

“You’re not the one askin, your Highness,” said the farm pony, with a smile. “I am.”

Princess Celestia opened her mouth to speak, but no words came forth from her lips. Instead she nodded to Applejack. Her body movements were clear enough. Applejack nodded a quick “Thank you” to the princess, before looking away.

“It’s settled then,” said Admiral Cole. “I will send forces to assist in the evacuations of both Ponyville and Canterlot, and will have your soldiers given basic training on how to use our firearms. In the meantime, with your permission, your Highness, I will have my men begin fortifying the city perimeters. We will set up a perimeter defense of the cave entrances, as well as a blockade at each of the city’s entry points. The majority of their forces will likely insert via airborne drop ships, so I will have to dedicate many of my soldiers to anti-aircraft duties.” Cole paused. “If you have any objections, then...”

“No no no,” replied Celestia. “You do what you do best. I will not interfere. Just keep my ponies safe.”

“I gave you my word, and I intend to keep it,” Cole said. “Thank you. In the meantime, I will be heading back over to my ship, to oversee our operations. From there, I will be coordinating my forces. I know that I would be unable to sway your decision not to get to shelter, but I do ask that you stay in the palace. It is the next safest place that you could possibly be. I will dedicate a team of my finest soldiers to defend the palace, along with your guards. You have already met five of them.” Cole said, giving Scott Jeffries a glance. “They will keep you safe. I promise you that.”

“My own well-being is the least of my concerns,” said Celestia. “But I do appreciate the security. I will ask that my citizens stay out of the way of your soldiers, and move to safety in a calm manner. Hopefully you will have no interruptions from them.”

“Right now, time is our greatest enemy,” began Cole. “One which is very difficult to defeat. We must waste no more time. Here-” said Cole, handing his datapad over to Celestia. She picked it up, and studied it within her telekinetic grasp. “-They have shut down our long-range communications, but short-wave form still works. I will maintain contact with you, from my ship. Until then, your Highness, good luck.”

“Good luck to you, Admiral,” she replied with a light smile. “Be safe.”

Cole nodded, and turned away. McMahon and his other two officers followed Cole out of the room, and out into the courtyard, where a pelican was waiting for them. Scott and his team stayed behind, looking unsure of what to do.

The remaining ponies and humans inside the room walked over to the window, and watched as Cole’s pelican sped off towards the Everest. In the distance, the sound of thousands of tons of heavy machinery in motion was echoing throughout the city.

Celestia looked down, and watched as over a hundred of her guards rushed out into the city, and began knocking on doors. Several human soldiers were already fortifying the palace walls with weaponry and tall metal barricades, that had been offloaded from several human transports, while they were having their meeting.

“What do you think is going to happen?” asked Twilight Sparkle. “If the Covenant is as ruthless as the humans describe, do we have any chance at all? Do we have anything to hope for?”

“There is always hope,” replied Celestia. “All we can do is hold onto our belief that the powers of harmony will prevail. They always have in the past. There is no reason to doubt that power now.”

The violet mare looked up at her princess, doubtful but silent. Outside, a dark cloud cover was creeping in from the west. As the blanket of water vapor encroached upon the countryside, miles and miles of rolling hills were slowly cast into shade.

“I hope that the weather does not impede Rainbow Dash’s progress,” said Twilight as the wind began to pick up, throwing her mane haphazardly over her eyes. She flicked her head to the side, clearing her vision. “Not that I have any doubt that she will be successful, that is.”

“A lot rests upon her shoulders, at the moment,” said Celestia, as she analyzed the incoming cloud blanket. “Depending whether or not she reaches Fort Dune in time, could be all it takes to decide whether this city is to perish or to not.”

“And if the General’s forces are not enough to turn the tide?” asked the Element of Magic. “What then?”

Celestia was silent for a moment. In the distance, sheet lightning spread across the storm formation, sending sharp, bright flashes of light onto the countryside below. The princess thought about her evening flight through the storm just last night and how quite it was once she breached the cloud barrier.

“Admiral Cole has risen above the most dangerous of storms, in the past,” began the Princess. “And so have we. Countless times has he defeated foes who outnumbered and outmatched him, and so have we.” she turned to look down at her student. As their eyes met, Celestia gave Twilight a warm smile. “Through our combined strengths, and faith in each other, I know of no reason how we could possibly fail.”


The filly’s dark evergreen eyes reflected the sunlight which flooded in through her bedroom window. Sitting upon the window seat, she gazed down upon the wide Canterlot lane below. Citizens and soldiers hurried past one another in a chaotic frenzy of galloping hooves. Across the street, the Equinox family was loading copious amounts of furniture onto a wagon that clearly was not designed to bare such an extreme load. As they continued to stack, the crowd in the streets grew thicker. Random pieces of belonging floated about in the air as unicorns carried whatever the deemed most precious to them towards the heart of the mountain.

Suddenly, the low rumble of a zeppelin's mana engines could be heard from above. The filly looked up towards the sky, but what she heard was not a dirigible. Instead, a strange, sleek metal aircraft was following the crowd of ponies, from above. She squinted, just barely making out the shape of a uniformed stallion standing at the rear of the alien vessel.

“This is the Canterlot Security Council,” announced a loud voice from above. “Take only what possessions you can carry in a compact saddlebag. Leave everything else behind, and proceed calmly towards the shelter. You will not be able to bring anything else inside. I repeat, proceed calmly towards the shelter. Stay calm. Don’t rush. There is plenty of time to-”

The sound of the stallion’s voice was cut off as the aircraft hung a sharp right, turning down another street, hidden from view by a large building.

“Jane-Rose?” called the voice of a mare with a sophisticated accent, from the hall. “Jane, have you packed your bag?”

“Yes, mother,” said the little filly, turning towards her mother’s voice, before looking back out of the window. Held close to her chest by her forelegs, was a purple pony doll. Jane rubbed her cheek against the doll’s soft mane, which was made out of several strands of green yarn. It comforted her, just as she hoped the doll felt comforted the same.

Jane heard the sound of soft hooves approach, and stop next to the open bedroom door. Jane turned around.

Her mother was standing in the doorway, an elaborately decorated saddlebag strung to her flank, and a brush magically passing through her ivory-white mane. To Jane, she looked stressed. This bothered her.

“Are you ready to go, darling?” asked Jane’s mother, keeping both eyes fixed upon the mirror at the end of the hallway.

“Where’s father?” asked the filly, hugging her doll even tighter. She didn’t like it when her mother looked upset, as it made her feel uncomfortable.

The older mare hesitated for a moment before speaking. “He arrived at the Ponyville train station just a few minutes ago,” she said. “He just sent word in a letter. It shouldn’t be anymore than a few hours, and then he will be back with us.”

“Is he going to be alright?” asked Jane.

The question caught the mare off-guard. “Why of course he is going to be all right,” she replied with a less-than-believable smile. “Why wouldn’t he be?”

“What if the aliens get him?” the filly asked, as moisture began to form in her eyes.

“Oh, Jane,” said her mother, as she hurried over to comfort the filly. “The aliens are here to help us, not to harm us.” She wrapped one foreleg around the filly as she nuzzled her child.

“But I don’t like them,” said the young pony, as she whimpered into her mother’s shoulder.. “They’re big and loud, and mean-looking.”

“That’s because they are soldiers,” replied Jane’s mother as she ran her hoof through the filly’s short mane. “Don’t you remember the one time that those two guards told you to stop splashing around in the fountain, at the royal fair?”

The filly silently nodded into her mother’s shoulder.

“You were frightened of them because they looked mean and scary, right?”

The filly nodded again.

“But not all ponies are mean, are they?” asked the mother.

“N- no,” replied the filly, as she looked up into her mother’s eyes.

“Then why look at these humans any different,” replied the mother, kissing her filly on the cheek. “I’m sure that most of them aren’t mean at all. Right?”

The filly nodded, wiping away her tears with one hoof. They smiled at each other.

“Alright then, I suppose that it is time we should-”

There was a knocking at the door downstairs. Both of their headed whipped around towards the noise. There was a moment of silence, then the visitor at the door knocked again.

“Stay behind me,” said the mare, as she got up on her hooves and walked out into the hall. Jane followed close behind her mother. The two proceeded down the stairs, and to the front door of their city apartment. The older mare placed an eye against the small glass lens in the door, peering out into the street beyond. Two royal guards stood upon her stoop.

At the sight of them, the mare unlocked the door, and opened it for the two gentlecolts. Their gazes immediately fixed straight ahead, to address the mare.

“Good afternoon, ma’am,” said one of the stallions. “Our commanding officer told us that this apartment was to be visited. He said that we should check to see if you two were still here, and if you were, to escort you to the shelter, ourselves.”

“That would be my husband, yes,” said the mare. “We are all ready to go now, right, Jane? Do you have you things?”

The filly nodded as she peeked from her hiding spot behind her mother's leg, at the two tall soldiers.

“Alright then,” said the mare in a hurried voice. “Lead the way, sir. Jane, don’t let go of me, okay?” The mother suddenly lifted the filly onto her back, and noticed some degree of comfort return as she felt the little hooves cling tightly around her neck.

“Of course,” said the guard with a polite gesture. “Right this way, ma’am.”

With that, the four ponies proceeded down the front steps, taking the first leap out into the chaos that filled the streets of Canterlot. The guards brushed ponies out of the way, clearing a path just widen enough for the mare and her filly. The trek to the shelter wouldn’t be easy, but to the mare it was well worth it. If the princesses were frightened enough to order a mass evacuation of the city, then she wasn’t willing to take any chances when it came to the wellbeing of her child. No journey was more harrowing than the thought of losing her filly. That was all the justification the mare needed to make her decision.


UNSC Everest, Equestria

“Alright, Maya,” Admiral Cole began. “I want a list of everything we have. That means every single warthog, down to the very last M6 sidearm. I need to know all that we can use to hold off the Covenant if they decide to attack, and trust me, they will.”

“Retrieving log files now,” Maya reported from Cole’s earpiece, which was wirelessly connected to the datapad held in his palm. “Standby.”

Flanked on both sides by his officers, the vice admiral of the UNSC Navy strolled along a makeshift pathway, carved out of the various items which were being offloaded from the Everest. Stacks and stacks of heavy metal containers filled the space between Cole’s mighty flagship and the winding dirt road which was being used by various land vehicles to reach the city that loomed above.

Cole looked up, gazing up at the massive ivory-white silhouette that blocked out most of the sky to the east. McMahon followed his gaze.

“What is it, sir?” asked Cole’s executive officer.

Cole said nothing for a moment, simply staring up at the great mountainside city. “It would be a shame if such a beautiful monument were to fall, yes?” asked the Admiral.

McMahon glanced over at him, puzzled. “I’m sorry sir,” he began. “I am slightly confused. If it is the city you refer to, then yes. I wouldn’t appreciate it very much if it were to fall.”

“And why is that?” asked Cole, continuing to look up.

“Well,” began the Lieutenant. “While it is indeed a nice place, the safety of the Everest would be my concern. After all...” he turned around, facing the cruiser. “The Everest is currently the only way off this planet, and well... it is currently positioned beneath the city... which would be very inconvenient if it were to fall and crush the ship.”

Cole whipped around and looked at the Everest, and then back up at the City. “Indeed.” he said, and then continued to walk. “Maya, let me see what you’ve found.”

McMahon shot a glance over at Ramirez who responded by twirling a finger next to his head, and mouthing the word, “Crazy,” gesturing towards the Admiral. McMahon glared at him, before following in his commanding officer’s footsteps.

“Well, to begin with, we have plenty of food and medical supplies to last our garrison of forces for several months,” said Maya, as she relayed archive information to Cole. “When it comes to small arms, we have enough rifles and ammunition to supply more than five times the amount of our forces put together.”

“Good,” Cole replied. “Maya, I want our extra weapons to be sent to the Canterlot army. I have instructors ready to show the locals how to handle our weaponry as soon as they get the delivery.”

“Do you want everything sent, sir?” asked Maya.

“Everything,” replied Cole. “I don’t want there to be a single stallion in that city who is forced to go up against an energy-sword bearing elite, with just their steel blades. Remember, this is going to be the very first time any of them have faced a foe as strong as the Covenant. We need to drill it into their heads that all of the conventional tactics which they have been practicing for the entirety of their lives, is going to be almost useless against the Covenant. If we fail at that...” Cole hesitated, staring off into the distance, as he halted abruptly. “If we fail, then we are going to have a lot of dead ponies on our hands.”

His three officers looked at one another, behind Cole’s back, unsure if they should speak. Cole stood perfectly still for several more seconds until suddenly, for a reason as mysterious as to why he stopped in the first place, something brought the Admiral’s mind back to the present. He continued walking once more.

“Anyhow, what else do we have, Maya?”

“All warthogs are currently active, and assisting in preparations for the invasion,” said Maya aloud. “Twenty-five combat hogs; twenty LAAG and five gauss, plus fifteen more transport variants. Forty-five total.”

“Alright,” said Cole. “I want all combat variants set up at strategic chokepoints and blockades around the city. I want to make the city streets as treacherous to traverse for our enemy foot soldiers, as possible. All city entrances are currently being heavily fortified, so insertion via drop ship is going to be a must for them, if they want to take this city. How many tanks do we have?”

“Twelve M808s, sir.”

“Put two at each of the city's three main entrances,” Cole said. “That’s the Eastern Gate, Eastern Train station, and the Northern Gate. I also want four more to stay put, and protect the Everest. Keep the remaining two on standby, within the city. Accompany each with an engineer team. I want these things to last as long as they can.”

“Yes, Sir,” responded Maya enthusiastically.

“What else do we have?” asked Cole. “I know that we have four pelicans and four longswords, but other than that we have no air support. I don’t want to commit the fighters unless I absolutely have to, so keep them inside the hangars. Have the pilots stay on the alert, in case I need them.”

“Yes, Sir,” Maya said. “We do have several HAVOK tactical nuclear weapons in storage, but all missile delivery systems were used up during the battle of Psi Serpentis, so they are as useful as overly-sized footballs at the moment.”

“For the moment, yes,” Cole muttered. Maya threw a curious glance at him. “Anything else?”

“Yes... yes there is,” she replied. “Archives indicate that we have have a disassembled 15 cm Mark/2488 1.1GJ MAC, which has left to be offloaded from the ship.”

“An Onager?” asked Cole with a slight grin. “Well... that will certainly come in handy. Have it offloaded right away, and set up in the palace courtyard. I’m not sure how pleased Princess Celestia will be with a massive cannon put right in front of her home, but that is our best defensive weapon that we have at the moment, and I cannot think of a better place to place it. Can you?”

There was an awkward silence as Cole stared at his three officers. The three gentlemen glanced nervously at one another before Fosco spoke up.

“Um, Sir?” he asked hesitantly.

“I asked you three a question.” stated Cole blankly.

“Oh, no sir!” they all said in unison.

“Very good,” replied the Admiral with a smirk. “I’ll give the princesses a status update.”


Ponyville Train Station, Equestria

“What in Celestia’s name is going on?” asked Mayor Mare with a stubborn frown of her brow. “You can’t just barge into my office, and demand the immediate evacuation of my town, without at least explaining to me the Princess’s reasoning.”

“Ma’am, I...” began the armored stallion, just before the door behind him opened. Rarity and Pinkie Pie strolled into the office, just behind the guard.

“It’s alright, soldier,” Rarity said to the stallion, before turning to face the mayor. “I’ll handle this.”

“Rarity!” exclaimed the middle-aged mare. “Finally somepony who makes sense! Would you care to explain as to why I am being asked to...”

The tan mare’s voice trailed off as her gaze shifted to who had followed Rarity and Pinkie Pie into the room. A tall bipedal alien stood awkwardly in the doorway, clad in greenish-grey armor, and carrying what appeared to be a weapon of some sorts.

Rarity glanced behind herself and sighed. “I take it that this is the first human whom you have met?”

The man standing in the doorway nodded politely. “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am,” he said, his voice filled with uncertainty.

“I... I didn't expect them to be so tall,” said Mayor Mare. “Are all humans of your height?”

“Not at all,” replied Rarity, preventing the man from answering, himself. “Some are short and some are tall. This man just happens to be taller that some.”

The marine shifted uncomfortably on his feet, as the two mares discussed the physical characteristics of his race.

“I see,” said the Mayor, examining the alien. “Anyway, again, might I ask why I am being given this order?”

“It’s a long story, Mayor,” Rarity replied. “And I must admit, I do not quite understand it entirely, myself. All you need to know is that Ponyville is in immediate danger, and that everypony needs to be evacuated.”

“Evacuated to where, exactly?” she inquired with a frown. “It isn’t exactly easy to evacuate a town filled with several hundred ponies.”

“To Canterlot,” replied Rarity. “Princess Celestia has ordered all trains in the area to assist in delivering the ponies of Ponyville, to Canterlot.”

“Yeah, and-”

“Pinkie,” hissed Rarity. “Didn’t we agree that I would handle the talking?”

“Oh, right,” said the pink mare, pretending to zip her lips together with one hoof, before throwing that hoof up in salute.

“The Canterlot Caverns?” asked the Mayor with wide eyes. “What sort of evil is one that warrants moving so many Equines that far underground?”

“I am afraid it is a force unlike anything we have ever seen before,” said Rarity with a somber voice. “Something the humans have been fighting for decades. Something more powerful, and more evil than anything you or I can possibly imagine.”

“Dear Goddess,” replied the Mayor, her eyes widening. “And it’s coming here? To Ponyville?”

“I honestly don’t know,” said Rarity, truthfully. “In fact, no-one knows where it is heading. Not even the humans. Just know that it is here, and will likely make itself known to us very soon.”

The Mayor sucked in a deep breath of oxygen, held it in for a moment, before releasing it back into the atmosphere. “Alright,” she said. “If what you are telling me is the truth, then what would you have me do? The safety of the inhabitants of this town is the most important thing in the world to me.”

“Give the evacuation order, and ask all ponies to take only what they can fit in a saddlebag, and then proceed calmly to the train station,” Rarity instructed. “I have soldiers already there, ready to assist everypony onto the train.”

“Alright, alright,” said the Mayor with a nod, taking in all of the information being thrown at her.

“Tell them to take their time,” Rarity continued. “Once the first train is full, another will arrive shortly after to pick up the next group. This process will continue until everypony is safely away.”

“How much time do we have?” asked Mayor Mare. “What’s our window?”

“I don’t know,” Rarity said, her ears drooping. “I wish I did, although I am guessing no more than a couple of hours, at best.”

“A couple of hours?” asked the tan-colored mare. “That’s it?”

Rarity nodded to her.

“Well then,” said the mayor, standing up from where she sat behind her desk. “While we don’t have the best possible time frame to work with, I am not the kind of pony to say that it can’t be done. You have my permission. Do what must be done to keep my ponies safe, and please do let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.”

“You can start by getting ready to go, yourself,” Rarity said, turning around to walk out the door with Pinkie Pie and the two soldiers. “Once you are all packed up, we could use your help at the train station. No pony in this town listens to anypony, more than they listen to you. It would be great if you could help maintain the peace.”

“Can do,” replied the mayor with a half-smile. “Thanks for bringing this issue to my attention.”

“You’re welcome,” Rarity said, closing the door behind her as the human and the three ponies walked out of the office, and back out into the hallway.

Rarity let out a deep sigh, and said nothing as she leaned her head up against the far wall.

“Mmmmmggh!” Pinkie Pie explained, flinging her hooves up in the air.

“You may speak now, Pinkie,” Rarity grumbled into the white plaster.

The fluffy pink mare unzipped her lips and exclaimed, “WhatdowedonextRarity!”

The two soldiers winced at the outburst. The marine took one awkward step away from the mare.

“Actually, you could do me a really big favor,” said Rarity, slowly turning to face her friend. “I’m going to go tell the troops to get things underway, here.” she smiled. “Could you go over to Applejack’s farm, and let the rest of her family know that they need to get ready to go. I want them on the first train out of here. Please stay with them until they arrive at the station.”

“You got it, Rarity!” Pinkie Pie bounced straight up in air, hovered for a few seconds, before descending as slowly as a feather.

“And one more thing,” Rarity said. “My little sister is staying with them. Please help her to get all packed up, and look after her.”

Pinkie sucked in a huge breath of air, as if she was going to have another outburst, but instead she replied like a normal pony. “Sure thing, Rarity. You can count on me.”

“I know that I can,” replied Rarity with the most sincere smile she had given to anypony all day. “Thank you.”


The passenger train ground to a halt just as Sergeant-Major Greystone finished writing his letter. Glancing out the window, next to where he sat, the familiar thatched-roof buildings of Ponyville met his eyes graciously. He smiled. Being born and raised in the small village, Greystone jumped on the opportunity to visit his home town, as often as he could.

His smile suddenly faded as he suddenly remembered why he had been sent to Ponyville in the first place. As the train doors opened, and he stepped out into the warm sunlight, he tried to picture what the surrounding landscape would look like, should Ponyville suddenly cease to exist.

He couldn’t.

With a sigh, the letter that he held in his telekinetic grasp exploded in a plume of white smoke as he sent the document on its way.

He looked in both directions. Soldiers, both equine and human, crowded the platform. Some were offloading equipment for the loudspeaker system that they had planned to set up, in order to keep the evacuees informed. Others talked quietly, watching as the two embodied Elements of Harmony strode off towards town hall.

He wanted to help them. He wanted to do everything that he possibly could to keep the ponies of Ponyville safe. After all, he had grown up with many of those who lived in the small town.

Random townsfolk halted in their tracks to gawk at the strange gathering of force at their train station. The stallions waved politely, while the humans tried to do the same. Greystone couldn’t imagine what the human soldiers were going through at that very moment. After traveling the stars for distances he couldn’t even fathom, battling an enemy which sought with all its might to erase the human race from the galaxy, being separated from their families for years on end, and now here they were - being forced to play peacekeeper for an alien race which many of them had only met today.

While it completely boggled his mind, Greystone could not doubt the respect that he had for the human soldiers. Despite being placed in a situation which, in a way, was the most stressful one they had experience to date, their overwhelming loyalty to their Admiral and his wishes was enough to give them the motivation to help the ponies of Equestria. Being a pony of rank, himself, he was well aware how meaningful that kind of loyalty is to a leader.

“What are our orders, sir?” asked a female voice from behind him. Greystone glanced back.

Flanking him on his right side was a petite female guard named Diabyx and her brother, Miguerav, who was quite the opposite. She brushed one of her dark violet bangs to the side, as she awaited a reply from her officer. Her fur was that of a dark grey, which was a vivid contrast compared to Greystone’s lighter-colored coat. Tucked closely at her side, her bat-like wings flexed, causing the interlocking steel blades attached to them to clink together.

Both were once part of Princess Luna’s personal guard, but had since been reassigned to serve under Greystone’s command. While they were his subordinates, they were also two of his closest friends.

“We do what we were sent here to do,” replied Greystone, turning back around to gaze down the main street of Ponyville. “Follow me.”

With that, he started down the wooden ramp, followed closely by his two soldiers. As his hooves left the solid surface, and made contact with the dirt road, he smiled, remembering how much he preferred the soft feeling of the earth rather than the perfectly interwoven stones of the Canterlot streets.

As the trio proceeded down the middle of the street, ponies stopped what they were doing to watch them. Greystone gave a couple of polite nods to some of the familiar faces, but kept walking nonetheless. It wasn’t every day that these ponies saw Canterlot guards in uniform, let alone in their very own town.

They walked for another couple of blocks before Greystone turned down one of the side streets. Now away from the scrutinizing view of ponyville’s citizens, Greystone broke into a fast trot. Miguerav and Diabyx matched his speed as the trio quickly made their way down the street. At the very end of the narrow lane, Greystone came to a halt, and walked towards a small, single-story building on the right side of road.

Compared to the other homes in Ponyville, this building appeared no different than the rest. There was a small, brown picket fence surrounding the front lawn. The building itself didn’t stand out at all. It had a normal looking oak door, with normal-looking curtain-covered four-pane windows, and a straw-covered roof which was the same color as every other roof in the neighborhood.

Greystone walked forward, and pushed the oil-deprived front gate open with a loud squeak. His two soldiers followed close behind, visibly wondering as to why this building was so important. He trotted down the cobblestone pathway and up the front stoop, and knocked three times on the door. They waited for a full minute, but no one opened the door from the other side.

“I don’t think that anypony is home, sir,” said Miguerav with a chuckle.

“That would appear so, wouldn’t it?” replied Greystone, before slapping one hoof against a piece of siding, next to the doorframe. A seamlessly concealed panel in the wood slid away, revealing a black metal opening with a glowing red light above it. “Luckily they left a key under the mat.”

With that, Greystone fired a bolt of magic from his horn, into the opening. The red light turned to green, and the normal-looking wooden door slid straight up, granting the three ponies access to the building. Greystone stepped inside, and flipped on a light switch.

The room was entirely bare. Not a single piece of furniture decorated its interior. As it turned out, the windows that were seen on the outside of the building were fake, since their opposite sides were not present inside the room. Instead of a normal interior, the walls, ceiling and floor were all solid concrete. A single fluorescent light illuminated the perfectly clean room.

In the far corner of the room, a steel hatch on the floor was promptly opened by Greystone with his telekinesis. This revealed a set of concrete steps that descended deep underground. Miguerav and Diabyx followed close behind Greystone as he proceeded down the cold, hard stairs. The shaft descended for about thirty meters, before coming to a stop at a thick, steel door. Greystone opened up another panel, and entered in a number combination, followed by another blast from his horn.

On the opposite side of the door, they could hear the sound of gears turning, and machinery coming to life. Several seconds later, the door began to slowly slide open, and the trio of ponies were immediately met with a blast of cold air that made all three of them shudder. The door was over a meter thick of solid steel. Cold, metal rods jutted out from the side, pistons which would lock into the doorframe when the opening was sealed.

Finally, the door slid all the way into the opposite wall, and all was silent.

“What is this place, sir?” asked Miguerav with awe.

“Climate controlled archive storage,” replied Greystone as he walked into the room. “Everything that the Equestrian government doesn’t want our enemies to know about is kept within the confines of this room.”

“But why here?” asked Diabyx. “Why here, and not in the capitol?”

“Oh, these are just copies,” replied Greystone, as he flipped on another light switch to reveal a massive room, filled with rows upon rows of metal shelving. Stacked on these shelves were countless numbers of cardboard boxes, all filled with sensitive paper documents. “Our main storage center is actually in Canterlot. This facility was built so that in the case of one facility being compromised, the others would still be able to function.”

“Others?”

“That’s enough questions for now,” said Greystone, waving her off. “With both Ponyville and Canterlot being threatened, it is our job to make sure that none of these documents fall into the hands of the enemy.”

There was a pause.

“So... what are we supposed to do, sir?” asked Diabyx.

“Just hang loose for now, soldier,” replied Greystone, as he walked out of the main storage center, and into a side-room that looked strangely like a lounge. Several, large chairs were situated in the center of the room. Off in one corner, upon a small table, sat a record player, with a stack of dusty albums next to it.

“There is nothing to do at the moment,” said Greystone. “Not until the bad guys attack for real.” he opened up an ice box in the wall, and retrieved several glass bottles in his telekinetic grasp. After glancing at one of the labels for a moment, he held two out to his subordinates. “Cider, anypony?”


Fort Dune, Equestria

The sun was on its downward descent towards the western horizon. In a few hours, it would be sunset.

Covered in a thin coat of sweat, and standing upon the highest prairie-grass covered hill for miles, Rainbow Dash let the thin blades of grass tickle her hooves. She fumbled inside her saddlebag for her canteen, and took a healthy sip of the refreshing rainwater, which she had collected from the thunderstorm that she had passed through, only a few hours earlier.

She had made it through the hottest region of the San Palomino Desert, where the sand once stretched as far as she could see, but the temperature on the peninsula wasn’t too much cooler. Dotted here and there, amongst the hills, traces of the desert were still present. Tall cactuses and short, brown shrubs -peculiar dead-looking things- dotted the landscape all the way to the western sea. The scenery, however, was not what caught Rainbow’s attention.

Reaching up to remove the precipitation-covered goggles from her eyes, she then squinted in an attempt to block out the excess amount of sunlight flooding her vision.

Stretching out before her, reaching all the way to the tip of the desert Peninsula, was a massive, fenced-in complex, consisting of a large airstrip, several dozen hangars, barracks, a control tower, office buildings, a firing range, and many other buildings that Rainbow Dash couldn’t identify. What truly amazed her, though, were the several dozen large airships parked on the runway.

She had never seen such a concentration of military vessels in her life. They were all large, but there was one which was just massive. Held aloft by three, huge hoof ball-shaped balloons, it’s gigantic wooden hull was laced with cannons, all aiming outwards in different directions, so that the ship was able to maintain a three-hundred-and-sixty degree field of fire. On the front deck, was a massive ballista built upon a swivel mount. The steel-tipped bolt loaded inside looked as though it could pass through an entire building. It was the only ship in the air, mainly because it would not be able to fit amongst all the small ones crowding the airstrip.

She reached up, and wiped some of the sweat off of her brow. “Sheesh,” she muttered to herself. “Who ever thought it to be a good idea to build anything in the desert?” she took another swig of water. “This stuff is pretty cool, but I mean seriously, of all places!”

The desert responded with a sudden gust of wind, sending a loose wave of sand flying into her face.

Some of the sand went into her open mouth, and she struggled to spit out the fine particulates.

“Auuggghhhtttt!” she spat, expelling bits of spittle and sand from her mouth as she wiped her eyes. “Friggin’ A!” she ended up rubbing more of the stuff into her eyes, than what she was able to get out. “Buck you too, sand!”

With that final insult, she carefully stowed away her canteen, and kicked off the hill with a gust of wind from her wings as she sailed down towards the only visible entrance along the fence perimeter.

She had contemplated just flying over the fence, but the thought of being torn apart by cannon fire didn’t really appeal to her.

She calmly landed about thirty meters from the front gate, and proceeded in a normal walking pace to the border. Two uniformed who were inside the booth next to the gate, jumped from their seats at Rainbow’s sudden landing.

She could see one of them mutter something into a small device, before both stepped out of the booth to meet her at the gate.

When Rainbow Dash got within ten meters of the perimeter, one of them raised up a hoof, and ordered her to halt. She silently obeyed.

“What business do you have, here, traveller?” asked one of the guards.

“I have come to speak to your General,” Rainbow Dash spoke up, so that her raspy voice was audible to the two stallions. “I have been told that I could find him, here.”

“No civilians are allowed inside the perimeter without special permission,” said the other. “I am sorry ma’am, but I am afraid that I am going to have to ask you to leave.”

“And I am afraid that I cannot do that!” replied Rainbow. “Please let me speak to the General! This is an emergency!”

“Ma’am, I am not going to ask you again,” repeated the stallion. “Turn around, and return to wherever it is you came from.”

“If you don’t let me in, there may not be a place for me to return to!” shouted the pegasus. “Or anypony for that matter. Canterlot is in danger! You must let me speak to General Unprecedented immediately!”

The stallion said nothing, instead choosing to glare menacingly at the pegasus. Rainbow could see the muscles in his body tense.

“Oh,” Rainbow muttered under her breath. “So that’s how it’s going to be.”

Without another word, she turned around, and began walking down the dirt road, as though to leave, but then quickly whipped back towards the two guards and broke out in a frenzied charge.

“Rauuughh!” she shouted as she galloped mightily towards the two stallions. Both drew their swords, preparing to defend themselves.

Instead, before Rainbow even reached the two ponies, she kicked off the ground, spread her wings, and sailed over the gate, far from the reach of their steel blades.

“Alert alert!” shouted one of the guards into his communicator, as Rainbow sailed towards a row of office buildings. “We have a perimeter breach! Single pegasus, heading towards the northeast wing! Requesting additional security detachments to the office complex, immediately!”

Rainbow didn’t hear their calls for help, as she closed in on the first of several large buildings.

“Now if I were a boring, old general, where would I be?” she asked herself, scanning the building tops below her.


General Unprecedented stepped out of the lounge with a smile. Held in his telekinetic grasp, was a fresh cup of coffee, which he took a sip from with delight.

“Oh yeah,” he said to himself, chuckling. “That’s good.”

His coat was a cold, dull grey that contrasted greatly with his whitened mane. His face, covered with the wrinkles of age tensed and relaxed as he took another sip. He wore a brown-colored uniform, decorated with several military patches, and countless multi-colored medals. Atop his head, covering most of his white mane, was a brown-color beret, which too was highly decorated. In fact, the stallion had so many pins attached to his uniform that it looked as though any normal pony would not have been able to stand under the weight of it all.

Closing the door behind him to allow the officers inside some privacy, he then made his way down the hallway. On both his left and right side, large portraits of legendary Equestrian military leaders covered the hallway walls. As he passed one particular photograph, he gave it a respectful nod. The inscription below the portrait read, “General Unprecedented I.” After that photograph came three more, all of which he was related to. Unprecedented the Second, Unprecedented the Third, and finally his own portrait, which he didn’t glance at for a single moment.

As he reached the end of the hallway, he pushed the door open with one hoof, and was immediately greeted by the sound of sirens, and the wail of loudspeakers.

“Warning! Perimeter breach! All security teams to the north-east wing!”

Unprecedented frowned. Before him, about a hundred meters away, almost a hundred soldiers were running towards him. Airships began lifting off from the runway, battlewagons raced just behind the sprinting group of soldiers, and those standing watch in the towers took aim at the skies with their crossbows.

The general took one last sip of his coffee, and he gazed towards the onrush of ponies, emotionless. Half a second later, he felt a disturbance in the atmospheric pressure, just above him. He looked up just in time to see the cyan-blue pegasus descending upon him.

With one fluid burst of telekinesis, he caught the winged pony in his grasp. She tried to resist, but his magic was too strong, and he was able to completely paralyze the pegasus within the field of white magic.

Subdued, and immobile, the general brought the mare to float just inches from him. He took another sip of his coffee.

“Graaugh!” she groaned, struggling against the telekinesis. “Not friggin’ fair!”

The General said nothing as he stared at her without emotion. Several seconds later, the crowd of guards had the two surrounded, their weapons aimed at the helpless pegasus.

“Nevermind, command,” said one of the many soldiers into his personal communicator. “We have the subject detained. Situation under control.”

Unprecedented cocked his head to the side as he opened his mouth to speak.

“You lost, young miss?” asked the General with a smirk. “On the off-chance that you may have gotten drunk, and wandered out her by accident.” he pointed with one hoof, towards the north-east. “Los Pegasus is that way.”

“She must be, sir,” shouted a soldier. “She charged me and my buddy like a drunken lunatic!”

“Yeah,” affirmed another. “She was talking all kinds of nonsense, saying things like-”

“Enough!” shouted Unprecedented, shutting up the soldier.

“Ngghht- no!” exclaimed Rainbow, continuing to pitifully struggle against the strong field of magic. “I’m not drunk!”

“I didn’t think so,” said the General, his smile fading. “So, if you aren’t lip up like a light bulb, then tell me, why are you here?”

“I came here-” she coughed, struggling to breath from the intense pressure on her chest. “To talk to you. Can you-” she groaned. “Can you friggin drop the force-field thingy? It’s hard to breath.”

“And what if you decide to run off, again?”

“Like I said,” Rainbow answered back. “I came here to see you.”

The General held her gaze for another moment, before giving her a wide grin, and releasing the energy field. The pegasus fell on her flank, hitting the ground with a thud. As soon as she came in contact with the surface, the soldiers surrounding them tensed, and raised their weapons, taking aim at the pegasus.

“Ow!” she glared at him as she got up on her hooves. “You don’t have to be such a jerk.”

“Stand down,” he said to his men, waving them off with one hoof. The soldiers immediately lowered their weapons. The General took another sip of his coffee, returning his stare to the pegasus. “What do you want?”

“Did a simple hello really have to be this difficult?” she asked aloud, brushing a loose bit of her mane from her eyes. “Anyway, hello.” she said sarcastically. “My name is Rainbow Dash, and I am the element of-”

“I know who you are,” the General said, interrupting her. “Why are you here?”

She glared at him for a moment. “Fine then,” she answered. “I came here to inform you that Canterlot, and perhaps all of Equestria is in danger, and that Celestia-”

“Princess Celestia.”

“Princess Celestia, whatever!” exclaimed the pegasus, flinging her two front hooves into the air. “She is requesting that you send the entire fleet to Canterlot immediately. More than the fleet! Everything that you have!”

General Unprecedented gave her no reply for well over a minute. Rainbow stared intently at him. He met her stare with one of equal intensity.

“Forgive me, miss Dash,” began the old stallion. “You are they element of loyalty, and I know that you can be trusted. However, your request...” he chuckled to himself. “I apologize, but I am going to simply need more sufficient evidence before I commit the entire garrison.”

Rainbow Dash smirked. “Princess Celestia told me that you might say that,” the pegasus said with a grin. “And in the event that you did, she told me to tell you that the harmonic balance has not been broken.”

General Unprecedented’s stare went cold. His grin faded, and his muscles relaxed. The fire behind his eyes disappeared, only to return seconds later as a roaring inferno.

“Back to your posts!” shouted the General. “All of you!”

The soldiers hesitated for a moment before backing away, and scurrying off in different directions. The battle wagon drives pulled their vehicles away with sound of creaking wooden wheels, leaving the two ponies alone in front of the building. Only a cloud of dust lingered with them.

“Come with me, into my office,” said the General, holding the door open for the pegasus in a rather polite manner. “I need you to tell me everything you know.”