//------------------------------// // 11. What Lies Behind Those Doors? // Story: My Little Halo: Survival is Magic // by Dusk Writer //------------------------------// John continually drifted in and out of consciousness. When he awoke the first time, he was being carried over the ground surrounded by an aura of many different colors; it took six unicorns to lift him off the ground. After that, each time he awoke for a few seconds, he was in a different place. He was being carried through a crowd of ponies. He was going through a set of doors. He was in a long white room. When he finally regained full consciousness, he found himself lying in a soft white bed; extremely uncomfortable for the hardcore soldier. He attempted sitting up, but found that to be too much of a stress. He barely heard the clip clop of hooves on tile, not even noticing the new presence until they were directly next to his bed. He looked to his side, noticing the mocha brown earth pony with a dark brown mane and tail, his cutie mark being an hourglass. “Who are you?” John asked, not fully trusting this new visitor. A brief flashback of when he first worked with Cortana flew through his mind. “Just call me the Doctor,” he replied in a British accent, “I’m only here to make sure that your armor won’t turn everything within a mile into molecular dust or anything.” He pulled out a small device, looking much like a small pen. The device whirred to life as he scanned John’s armor. John moved to resist, but his armor suddenly locked up. When the Doctor finally finished his examination, John's armor unlocked. "Well, I'll be going now. Fortunately enough, you will not be turning into a fireball that could destroy the entire city! Have a nice day!" And with that, the strange pony left the room, tapping one of the bottles feeding liquid into John's arm. John began to lose consciousness again, but not before he saw 'The Doctor' pull out his small device and lock the infirmary doors. Then, the darkness overtook him as a voice spoke in his mind. "So misguided." ~~~~~~~~~~ Chrysalis sat upon her obsidian throne, rubbing her hoof against her temple as changeling soldiers brought in reports from all over the Bad Lands, so many victories over small villages. But, there was only one report she wanted to hear; how had the attack on Canterlot gone? She'd sent a force ten times larger than before, so Canterlot had to have fallen by now. As the soldiers in front of her continued their reports, a bang echoed throughout the great black halls as a familiar form stumbled in. "Ah, General Trickery! Was the attack on..." She trailed off, just now noticing the blood dripping from multiple fractures in his armor, his eyes wide in madness. "What's wrong?" "Demons! Monsters! Abominations in Canterlot!" He stumbled to the base of the throne before collapsing with white foam bubbling up in his mouth. “Medic!” roared Chrysalis, anxious to hear about these new demons in Canterlot. After several minutes of waiting, she began to grow impatient. Her eyes began to glow an eerie red as she lifted the still body of her general. She reached into his mind and woke him up, speaking to him in a low growling voice, “What are these new demons you speak of?” Trickery only managed to get out a few words, “New alicorn. Strange bipedal demon. Demon took out a third of our forces single-hoofedly. Alicorn managed to take them all out.” And with that, he passed out and would not reawaken. Chrysalis placed him back on the ground as medics rushed in, and sat upon her throne, lost in thoughts that were not hers. ‘Could the humans have finally returned to this world? All I need now is to become free, and then I shall take back what is rightfully mine.’ Unknown to anypony, Chrysalis had not been in control of her body for many years, an imprint having taken over her mind. The attack on Canterlot had been rouse, for the imprint had been trying to find something that Celestia had hidden. The imprint used her magic to reach all the way out to Canterlot, feeling for a specific presence. There, the life force of a human, but fading quickly into unconsciousness. It felt around his mind, seeing that he while he felt victorious, he also felt he should prepare. She(?) mentally scoffed, before accidentally speaking in his mind, “So misguided.” ~~~~~~~~~~ “C’mon man, wake up!” John stirred as a hoof shook his shoulder. He cracked open his eyes to see an orange and gold blur standing over him. He jolted awake, shoved the blur away, and prepared to roll out of the bed, reaching for his pistol. Three things stopped him; the absence of armor, the hole in his abdomen, and all of the tubes attached to his limbs. He stopped, bringing his fists up, ready to fight. As his vision finally began to clear up, he saw that the pegasus he had shoved away was now stuck in the wall, stone cracking around him. He fell out of the wall onto the floor flat on his face, not making a noise as he did so. John lowered his arms when he realized that it was only Camo Flash, and would have gone over to help him if not for the tubes plunged into his skin. Camo got up with a groan, shaking off the dust of his orange coat. “Well, good morning to you too,” he said, a hint of irritation laced throughout his voice. The look on his face changed from irritated to excited as he remembered why he was there. “Princess Cortana has requested to see you in the throne room. She had these clothes designed for you.” All hints of irritation had vanished from his voice as he pointed to a set of clothes, looking much like a UNSC uniform. John walked over to the clothes, ripped off the tiny hospital gown, and started putting on the fabrics. He stopped, half-way dressed, “Wait, Princess Cortana?” ~~~~~~~~~~ Celestia sat upon her throne, drinking a soothing cup of tea. After she, Luna, and the elements had turned Cortana into an alicorn, all eight of them had collapsed into unconsciousness for several hours, unable to take part in the battle. After she and Luna had awoken, they had temporarily panicked, seeing that Cortana was no longer in the cavern with them. They had rushed top side to see the new alicorn leading a group of unicorns who were using their combined magic to lift the heavy Spartan. Cortana hadn’t looked much better herself, almost as though she had taken on every single changeling in Canterlot. After a few inquiries, Celestia learned of the slip space portal absorbing all of the changelings into the empty void. Such straining on her magic just after gaining a body had taken its toll; Cortana had been resting in one of the guest rooms inside the castle, still unused to the limitations of the physical body. However, she had proved most useful in helping get John’s armor off after he had been lying in bed for a while. It only proved to show why humans constantly wore clothes no matter what situation they were in to Celestia’s eternal embarrassment. She had quickly looked away and placed a hospital gown over his unmoving body. She set aside her now empty cup as a brown earth pony stallion walked in through the doors. He casually walked through the hall until he came to the base of her throne, and spoke in an odd accent, “Oh, it’s absolutely wonderful that Equis has finally made contact another being outside of space! Even if that alien has a tracker set that will bring more to it that might attract the attention of other unwanted alien species, it’s all wonderful!” Celestia sighed at Dr. Whoove’s eccentric attitude, “All I want to know right now, is if his armor is a danger to anypony.” She currently had a headache and did not have the patience for his craziness. He shook his head wildly in reply to her question. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I must go check on our guest,” she said a little snappily. “Well, it must be that time of century,” he said in a small mocking voice and turned, leaving the hall while humming a tune to himself. Celestia sighed again as Luna walked in through one of the side doors. “Dear Sister, could you please watch over the throne for me while I go visit Cortana?” Luna had a sympathetic look in her eyes; she and the elements had gone through the same thing Celestia had. The two of them being alicorns, they were more powerful and not as affected, but the six elements were still in a comatose state almost two days later. Celestia was not worried; she knew they would awake soon. As Luna nodded her head, it took all of Celestia’s willpower not to go straight to her own bed, going instead to Cortana’s temporary room. As she walked into the large guest room, she noticed that Cortana was not resting in the bed, but instead standing at the balcony, looking out upon Canterlot. Without turning, she spoke to Celestia, “This is the first thing I have seen with an actual physical body; it’s beautiful.” She finally turned to face Celestia, her glowing blue eyes piercing straight into her. “Just by looking out upon this city I can tell that it took thirty years to build and has been standing for well over three thousand.” Celestia was a little surprised, even though she knew every alicorn had their own special talent. The others, such as Cadance, had not usually shown such an astute understanding of everything around them so quickly. “As I’ve no doubt you know already, an alicorn is always a royal, so, that makes you a princess of Canterlot.” Cortana gave out a small sigh, “I do know already. I’ve already gone through over ten thousand different scenarios and they all lead back to royalty.” Celestia’s mouth nearly dropped open. The new alicorn had only been awake for about two hours, yet she had been able to completely think through that many different scenarios?! “Well, I think that gives you a title.” Cortana looked back over to her with tired eyes. “Well? What is my new title as a royal alicorn of the grand city of Canterlot?” Celestia motioned her forward and as Cortana came to a stop before the Princess of the Sun, Celestia lowered her horn onto each of Cortana’s shoulders. “As of right now, you shall forever more be known as Cortana, Princess of Intellect.” ~~~~~~~~~~ Thirty minutes later ~~~~~~~~~~ John walked barefooted through the halls of the Canterlot Palace; they had been unable to get new shoes fitted for him. With a contingent of guards following closely behind and a guide in front of him, he began to unconsciously ready his fists as if for a fight. When the guards had first shown up, he had suspected that they were there because he wasn’t trusted. He soon learned that they were instead there for his protection. It made him nervous though; if they were attacked by a stronger enemy, he would have to protect them. They hadn’t had the training he’d had, even if he was at a disadvantage with his ingury. He stepped into the hallway that led to the throne room. As he walked down the passage, his feet sinking into the lush carpet, he noticed a newly polished window stain. He stopped before it and examined the new window. It showed a white courtyard, with a green armored human taking a blast from a hive of changelings for a small group of guards. Directly above it, a neon blue alicorn had a pillar of magic rising from her body to form an unmistakable slipspace portal. He noticed the black fragments of glass appearing to be sucked into the void, realizing they represented the changelings. However, there was nothing on the changelings that had been sent flying into the rocky crags known as the Badlands. John quietly looked at the stained glass, until he felt a small poke from his guide. He looked down to the small pony, noting the wide eyes is face sported; he was scared, but of both John and being late to this meeting. John let out a sigh and followed the pony through the rest of the hall. There were more windows in the hall, but John ignored them and focused on the ahead objective. They turned another corner and found themselves facing a large set of doors. The guide poked his head in, "Princesses, we have him here. Shall I bring him in now?" A muffled voice was heard from within, and the guide withdrew his head and nodded John forward. As he walked through the doorway he was briefly reminded of the briefing room directly after he and some other Spartans destroyed Cote de Azur on the planet of Sigma Octanus IV. His anxiety increased tenfold as he no longer had his protective suit on. He strode through the fifty meter long hallway in a matter of seconds. Once he came within ten feet of the golden throne, guards scrambling to catch up with him, he snapped his feet together and brought his hand to a salute at his forehead. "Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117 reporting as ordered Sirs!" He felt the muscles in his right arm pull at the skin around the hole in his body, but he took the pain and pushed it to somewhere he wouldn't notice it. He looked upon the throne, examining the four beings that stood on and around it. On the golden throne was Celestia herself, her smile as radiant as the sun. To her right sat Luna, her emotions carefully hidden behind a mask and as mysterious as the dark side of the moon. To Celestia's left sat another alicorn, her coat a light pink, and her mane and tail the colors of purple, pink, and cream. She watched him with a look of curiosity. Suddenly, shock filled her face as John felt a presence in his mind withdraw that he hadn't noticed was there. She looked rather disturbed as he examined the last regal pony; Cortana. She only met his eyes, as only one emotion stayed on her face. She looked like any AI would, both an analytical look in her eyes and a thirst for knowledge. Celestia looked at Cortana, raising an eyebrow in question to John's raised hand. Cortana made a little motion with her hoof and realization dawned on Celestia's face. A small twitch at the sides of her lips formed as she brought her hoof to her white horn and said, "At ease, Chief." He dropped his hand, folded both behind his back, brought his feet to shoulder-width, and stood at parade rest. "You requested to speak with me Princesses?" "Yes, we need to speak with you about the hole in your abdomen," Celestia said, "We can heal such an injury. But first, we feel we need to show you how we gave Cortana a physical form and ultimately saved her from rampancy. Follow us." John unfolded his hands and followed at respectful distance behind the four alicorns. They led him through the maze of corridors and past the windows. "John," Celestia spoke again, "Come up here with us please, there is something else we need to discuss with you." John picked up his speed and easily caught up with the quadrupeds. "We have been planning on going back and investigating your ship Forward Unto Dawn, and we were wondering after you healed if you would come with us?" "Yes." John spoke with absolutely no hesitation. He needed to go as well; if he didn't one of the ponies could accidentally set off the fusion reactors in the back half of the frigate. "Permission to speak ma'am?" When Celestia nodded her head, John said, "I was wondering about the hunter worms. They may become a threat if they multiply too much." Celestia stopped and turned to him, a worried look on her face as she recalled that night over two days ago. "They have now increased to five worms. We will find another means of containment for them." "There may be metal in the phantom that will keep them subdued for now," John replied in a serious matter. The pink alicorn suddenly called Celestia forward in an urgent voice, "Aunty! I need to speak with you." Celestia complied although with a confused look upon her face. After the pink one gave him another worried glance, she took Celestia what she thought was out of earshot for the human, but he still heard every word they said. "Aunty, earlier I felt within his mind for any signs of love or emotions, and I felt nothing! There was a brief spurt of surprise, but he pushed somewhere so deep I doubt he even felt it! He's a monster!" The pink obviously didn't trust him, so he would have to remedy that problem at some point. "Cadence! You should never speak of another creature that way! He just saved our city!" Celestia was definitely a little pissed, and she continued to speak in a frustrated tone, "We will continue this conversation later." Cadence made to reply, but was cut off by a sharp look from Celestia. The pair walked back to the group they had left behind, "Shall we continue?" asked Celestia. A few minutes later, the procession finally came to a halt in front of the door that led down into the Crystal Caverns. Luna turned to him, "Now that this doorway has opened, all of our researchers are down there examining every piece of ground except inside the room we last separated from; we sealed those doors." The group then went down the spiraling stairs and eventually reached the bottom, stepping out into the same large crystal cave as before. As Luna had said, the room was crawling with ponies in white coats, each stopping at the same time to stare at John in wonder. "Leave us! We must show the Bane of Changelings something the rest of you may not. I am sorry." John had to admit, Celestia could have a loud voice when she wanted to. The science ponies filed out of the large cavern, not a single one not grumbling. "The Bane of Changelings?" John asked incredulously. Celestia suppressed a small laugh, "That is the name for you the locals and Royal Guard have come up with. It seems appropriate to me." The rest of the alicorns got a small smile as well, even Cortana. As they were walking, John began to walk next Cortana, "Are you going to tell me what lies behind the doors?" Cortana's eyes widened in wonder, "Oh it's beyond anything I have ever seen! The Halos were majestic in their own right, but this, this is something else." She wouldn't say anymore, so John waited until they stood before the large silver doors. Celestia's horn came aglow with magic and the monolithic doors slid open, revealing a chamber that was entirely Forerunner metal. As they walked into the room, John spotted what they had used on Cortana. He looked upon the angularly curved object. It was about two hundred meters tall with a hexagonal shape. Blue lights much like Cortana's ran in organized lines up and down the entire artifact. "This, John, is what the Librarian herself asked me to hide," Celestia spoke with awe apparent in her voice. Just before she spoke again, John felt a sharp pain in his side. Looking down, he noticed the blood spreading from his abdomen; he had exerted himself too much. As his vision began to blur and fade, he heard Celestia finish just before he hit the ground. "It is called the Composer."