//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Why We Fight for You // Story: The Protectors of Harmony // by Delta Blade //------------------------------// Chapter 6: Why We Fight for You August 5, 2558 0918 hours Canterlot The Royal Castle Inside Princess Celestia`s throne room, there was a bright flash of light. Out of it materialized the alicorn princess and Captain Thomas Laskey. Immediately the human barfed out his breakfast out onto the scarlet colored carpet. "*cough*Oh god," said the dazed and kneeling Captain, staring down at his mess. "I am so sorry. *cough*I don't think my body was made*cough*for that kind of travel. *cough*That, or I just wasn't ready." "Oh it`s quite alright," said Princess Celestia. "You humans have always been so, resistant to magic." "That reminds me," said Laskey as he stood up and regained his composure. "How do you know so much about humanity? You somehow knew about how powerful we`ve become, then you mentioned our 'trust issues,' and now this." Thomas motioned to his puddle of puke on the ground. "Your species has been of great interest to me for quite some time now," said Celestia as she used her magic to toss the mess out an open window. "That shouldn't hit anypony." "So you`ve been watching us," said Laskey. "How?" "Like this," said Celestia as her horn began to glow again. Suddenly, Laskey`s vision blurred, then refocused. He was in a blue, cloudy landscape with stars floating around everywhere, like distant light bulbs suspended on tiny, invisible cables. Celestia stood before him; they were both standing on a solid, yet invisible surface of some sort. Laskey was the first to speak. "Where are we?" he asked. "Everywhere," responded the sun princess. "And nowhere." "That doesn't even make any sense." "It shouldn't. All you need to know is that this is where I go to observe what happens throughout the universe." "How`d you find this place?" "The Librarian showed it to me, so that I could watch over the universe after the rings were activated." "Those rings wiped out every sentient being in the universe. How`d you survive?" "The forerunners knew of the magic that my sister and I possessed; they knew the rings wouldn't be able to touch us if we didn't want them to, but they didn't care. The only reason they built the rings in the first place was because they were desperate to wipe out the flood. Since the Librarian knew my sister and I would survive, she thought it best for us to be the new supervisors of the universe." "Supervisors, but not protectors? If you saw that something in the universe was wrong, you wouldn't do a thing about it?" "No, that's where you come in." "Me?" "Your species I mean. As you may know, the human race existed before the rings were activated. Up until then, your species was second only to the forerunners in terms of power." "What kind of power?" "The power of your mind and your military, especially your military. In terms of that, I believe you and the forerunners were almost equal." "Wow, we were really that powerful?" "Yes, your species was almost twice as technologically advanced as you are now, from what I've seen at least." "Alright, so what does power have to do with it?" "Before the rings were activated, the forerunners were the most powerful species in the galaxy and they could see the universe by the simple means of coming to this place. Therefore, they held the mantle of responsibility to protect the galaxy." "And if they were ever destroyed, we would be next in line?" "Correct, the mantle would fall upon humanity`s shoulders. When both the forerunners and humanity were destroyed by the rings, humans came back because some of their D.N.A. was cataloged by the forerunners." "Wait, hold on. How does an entire species come out of a catalogue?" "Forerunner catalogues work a little differently from how you think human catalogues work. If the forerunners catalogue D.N.A. for example, they put it in a device that could regenerate the tissue, and therefore the entire being, back into existence at any specified time." "Then they must`ve set it to sometime after the rings had done their work." "Right you are, Captain. After humanity came back, I still firmly believed that you were the rightful inheritors of the mantle. Come, walk with me." Celestia began walking to Laskey`s left; he followed. Suddenly, from some focal point in the distance, shot out squares of light to Laskey`s left and right, forming a kind of hallway with walls made of moving images. On the images were just about everything, from scenes of a happy family sitting at home to scenes of war and destruction. "I have observed and recorded everything humanity has done since your resurfacing after the rings," said Celestia. "Though you may have started off quite primitive…" The two walked past a square showing a caveman playing with a rock. "…you began to grow back to your former glory. Countries began to be formed, and wars began to be fought amongst yourselves…" The duo then walked past another square, this one screening a sword battle being fought in a field by two opposing armies sometime in the middle ages. "…soon, you started wanting to gain the upper hand on your enemies. You began advancing your weapons technology to new levels of destruction…" They then strode past another square depicting a trench battle being fought with guns and artillery. "…you kept trying to invent new ways to kill each other in order to win wars. It nearly got out of hand…" They then passed by a square portraying a nuclear explosion in the middle of a desert. "…thankfully though, you were able to stop your own madness at the end of your second world war. You formed the United Nations, and then you looked to the stars. Humans were soon able to put their heads together to form the United Nations Space Command." "How come none of this ever happened to your species?" asked Laskey. "The wars I mean?" "The equines of Equestria abolished the very idea of warfare at the end of the first one we ever fought; I can barely even remember what it was like. Even to this day, I`m still not entirely sure why your species, or any other species for that matter, didn't abolish war as well." "I guess some wars need to be fought." "True, but the wars that needed to be fought, sometimes never even had to start. Not even the war you fought with the Covenant had to happen." They stopped at a multiple squares all flicking through multiple battle scenes of human and Covenant forces clashing with one another, both on the ground and in space. "The Covenant could have gone and activated the rings without getting humanity involved," said Celestia. "Humans would have never even known what the Covenant was doing had they not attacked you." "I lost my girlfriend in that war," said Laskey. "Yes, you know all too well that war cannot come without a cost; that victory cannot come without sacrifice. And that reminds me, if there's one thing that I've learnt about your species in all the time that I've been watching you, it`s that you know how to bounce back. After everything that you suffer and survive through, you don't just bounce back to where you were before, you bounce even higher. Your species was almost completely annihilated after the Human-Covenant War, and just look where you are now. You may not be the humans I knew before the rings, but you are, once again, the giants of this galaxy." "Hey, I thought that same thing when I became Captain of the Infinity." "See? That's how prevalent that fact is." "So what now?" The square in front of them then switched to a scene depicting the Librarian handing the Janus Key over to Dr. Halsey. "When the Librarian gave the Janus Key to Dr. Catherine Halsey, she henceforth conceded the mantle to humanity." "Halsey told me about this; we`re supposed to be the protectors of the galaxy now, right?" "Yes." "And now you want us to protect you? Also, am I going to puke again when we leave this place?" Celestia smiled as her horn began to glow once again. "No," she said. "You should be fine this time." Laskey`s vision blurred once again; when it had refocused, both he and the alicorn princess were back in the throne room. "That was a very nice revelation, princess," said the Captain. "But something`s telling me that there`s more to this than meets the eye. You`re making it sound like you can offer us something in return." "Humans have always been searching for harmony, but have never gone about it in the right way; that revelation was meant to show you that," said the monarch. "We can show you the path." "How?" "I understand that you`ve come here looking for six forerunner artifacts, am I correct?" "Yeah, how…how`d you know that?" "Oh, just a lucky guess," said the princess sarcastically. Both she and Laskey walked out onto a balcony, the Infinity looming in the distance. "I'm guessing you know where they are?" said Thomas. "They`re closer than you think," said Celestia. "You remember Twilight Sparkle?" "That purple alicorn that lives in a tree?" "Yes. That tree is what houses the artifacts." "Oh," said Laskey as he looked at the Princess. "Wait! My marines are in there!" "Is there some concern?" "Well, no. I doubt that they`ll do anything stupid, but I should still get down there before there`s some kind of miscommunication. I don't want anything happening to those artifacts." "Would you like to me to teleport you again?" "No offense, your majesty, but I think it`d be safer for me if I took my pelican this time." "None taken," said the sun princess as she looked at the spot where Laskey had puked. "It`s quite understandable." The Captain brought his communicator to his mouth and said, "Echo 419, this is Captain Laskey. I need pickup ASAP." "Aye, aye, sir," came the same female voice. "Rolling in." "You didn't even tell her where you were," said Celestia as Thomas brought the communicator down from his mouth. "I didn't need to," said Laskey. "She can just pinpoint the source of my signal to find me; it helps to keep us from disclosing our locations over the radio." "How come you couldn't pinpoint my signal?" "Well, you see, you have to keep the signal going so it can be traced. You had shut yours off." "Oh," said the princess as she saw the pelican approaching in the distance. "My mistake I guess." Laskey brought his wrist communicator back up to his mouth. "Gunnery Sergeant David Alvarez," said Laskey. "Do you read?" "Yes sir," came David's voice from the communicator. "Are you still in Twilight`s house?" "You mean her tree?" "Yes." "Then yeah, we`re still here, sir." "The artifacts are in that house. Be sure to let your men know." "Yes sir, I'll tell them, sir." "And be sure to ask Twilight where these artifacts are and what they look like." "Yes sir, I'll ask her, sir." "Once you have that Intel, do NOT touch or do anything of the sort to the artifacts; just make sure they don't go anywhere until I arrive, understood?" "Yes sir." At this point, the pelican had arrived, turned 180 degrees, and was lowering the ramp onto the balcony for Laskey to get on. "Alright, I'm on my way with the princess. Laskey out," said Thomas before ending the transmission. Laskey looked at the equine monarch and gestured to the inside of the pelican. "After you, your highness," said the Captain. "You want me to go in there?" said an incredulous princess, looking into the pelican`s cargo bay. "Yeah, I came here by your means of transportation first. Now it`s my turn." "Well," said Celestia before stepping into the aircraft. "I suppose it`s only fair."