//------------------------------// // CH7 // Story: MLP FIM/Halo: Towards the broken dawn… // by Evident Disaster //------------------------------// CH7 Heliacal XXXXX AN: We’re getting hotter and hotter with each passing chapter, and soon more is to come, which I might add the UCAF is going to start probably the largest war on the face of the planet in about 2 chapters more. And yeah we have our elite loyalist enemies and allies coming into play soon enough, just for a plot twist… XXXXX Time: Unknown Location: Unknown Zaro dropped from the tops of another tree top, he had scouted from the highest point of this forest to see if he could find Rebas’ camp nearby, and they had heard of their random bursts of transmissions that they had touched down nearly 40kms from their own landing site. Zaro was determined to link up with his fellow warriors to rally against their delusional brothers. He landed next to his second in command. “We are not far, but it seems that the trail maybe a little cold. Our brother’s markings suggest that they’ve headed on further north.” “This complicates things.” His second in command replied. “Yes, if they head further north we might lose their communications frequency in the winds above in the heights. Can you determine if we might find an alternate route around those mountains?” Zaro asked. His second looked at his mappers and began searching the zones, he shook his head. “If we were to take an alternate route it may take weeks to traverse the distance, the only way to keep up with the others would be to cut across those mountains, or we may fall behind.” Zaro didn’t like this, he had his experiences of the cold on the UCAF warzones and he’d rather not be in an unfamiliar place looking for his fellow brothers only to get ambushed or killed in accidents. He had little choice though; he’d lose the window of opportunity to rally his brothers to get to the UCAF and prepare against the threat of Vesdarea and his loyalist followers. The zealot would stop at nothing to come hunting them all down. Zaro got to work on selecting a path; they’ll need time to get the right equipment and supplies before they began the treacherous hike to the mountain tops. XXXXX Location: Canterlot: Cyrene Complex Time: 1:41 PM Twilight had come back to the complex to check up on Miguel, she hadn't been so sure of what she had seen in his mind, but her curiosity and concern for the alien, human, grew. She had known that the being was in some sort of stasis, she could distinctly recall something from the scattered memories of what was said to him. She was determined to get back to Miguel and try and see if he was awake now. She passed into the medical ward when things went wrong. “Emergency in Chamber Alpha, code-red containment breach, repeat containment breach, all personnel to Chamber Alpha!” Twilight broke into a run, she knew that if there was a containment breach then it was most likely that Miguel must have woken up, he’d probably just as confused as she was when she saw into his mind, but the difference was that he was awake and he was dangerous. She knew what he was capable of doing and she was determined not to let him hurt others and others to hurt him, he was just following his protocols for survival. She rushed towards the ward and arrived at the scene where a few guards were helping up the unconscious nurses, they yelled orders to begin the sweep for Miguel. Twilight didn’t waste any time, she thought carefully and made the correct adjustments to her magical abilities, she then used the spell that Rarity had told Spike about and she had learnt when her friend was taken by the diamond dogs to their cave lairs. She summoned her magic and sent a pulse to search for the alien body amongst the natural environment, she felt him, and he was fast, rushing to a haphazard escape route. She focused and teleported some distance from him and soon found herself in a janitor’s closet, she opened the door and followed the trail after Miguel. She had some difficulty with magic ever since the encounter with Miguel, but that was probably because her magic hadn't fully been restored, she was still in need of recovery, but she wouldn’t allow Miguel to harm anypony or himself. She chased after his trail on foot and prepared to teleport as close as she could to him when she had the strength to. It wasn’t until he reached the courtyard that she really needed to hurry; it was then that she also ran into the others. Princess Luna and Celestia appeared, the girls followed behind with a vast array of questions as to what was going on. “Twilight what happened down here?” Rarity asked. “Miguel’s gotten loose; he’s made it into the city!” Twilight replied with gasping breaths as she took a moment to recover from chasing the human. Celestia’s face turned into a frown of concern and began to summon her magic; she stopped her magic and then said. “We must get to Miguel as soon as possible; I’ve alerted the local guards and the Wonderbolts to seize him as soon as possible.” She told them. “Wait a moment what’s so bad about him getting into the city?” Rainbow asked. “Because he’d cause all sorts of trouble, has anypony reacted well in the past to strange new things popping out of thin air?” Twilight replied. They all nodded, the chances were there’d be wide spread panic at the sight of the 6’1ft alien with strange clothing and physique, he didn’t look anything like a pony, no tail or cutie mark or unique colour, not to mention he was covered in blood. Celestia summoned her magic and then began to teleport them. “Where exactly are we going?” Twilight asked. “To the place where the guards are about to surround him, this will take only a moment longer.” Celestia replied. The magic from Celestia’s horn grew as the focus continued to trace the alien to the edge of a café and down a waterfall into the local aqueduct. It was then that Miguel was tackled by the Wonderbolts that Celestia zeroed in on his location; she pushed out with her magic and teleported them there directly. Twilight ended up directly in front of Miguel, and on reaction she grabbed him, her hands planted on his wet cheeks and her magic focused into his mind, and then she reached for him. XXXXX Miguel felt the mare enter into his mind, this time he was awake and he could recall her intrusion last time, how she stumbled into the core of his soul and stared into the oblivion within his heart, she had opened a doorway few had done so before and there was a reason why. Because they wanted to understand, him and his pain, but Twilight had stumbled into the pit by accident an unintentional mistake which almost cost her, her sanity. But being here now, she couldn’t access those memories again, and Miguel wasn’t willing to open up like that again. This time they were in the one place that he could find peace, and where she could communicate with him properly. Miguel brought them together in his home, his place of sanctuary and peace, the one place he had found hope. Location: Miguel’s Soul- Event Solace XXXXX The sounds of silence were so loud, and yet peaceful, he had to admit that this was the one place he could find a moment’s reprieve when he needed to. He sat on the metal bench aboard the Event Solace, a UCAF transport ship which he had been on when he was evacuated from his homeworld so many years ago. The transport was large for being a transport, but that was usually with the whole of UCAF ships and military, large scale and numerous. He had his eyes closed and his head lying back when he felt someone tap his shoulder. He opened his eyes and found the purple skinned alien from his memory, the same one who managed to wake him from his coma, and the one who seemingly decided to dive into his brain. “So we meet at last.” He said to her with a small smile. The purple skinned young woman returned the smile and said. “Yeah, I guess we do finally get to meet face to face, instead of you know.” Miguel was rather passive on appearance and he did scrutinise whoever he met with a close eye before making a judgement. And he could see that this young woman hadn't really too much interaction with the opposite gender, she looked rather more secluded, but she was trying to get to know him, so he returned the gesture. “First impressions always last, but I can understand where you’re trying to come from, doesn’t worry about the mishaps that happen, as long as it doesn’t happen again, I think we can work around that.” He replied. “Oh okay…” She said with a slightly brightened expression. Then there was a brief pause, which did seem a little awkward. Miguel decided to try and start further conversation. “I can tell that you being here means that you wanted to speak with me in person, and you do seem to know me, which has me at a little bit of a loss as to who you are…” Twilight understood what Miguel meant and properly introduced herself. “Oh sorry, I’m Twilight Sparkle; Student to Princess Celestia, the ruler of the kingdom in which you are currently in and you did see her before. I live in Ponyville where I learn the magic of friendship and study further magic to improve my knowledge and knowledge for all ponykind.” Miguel knew that she knew him, but manners were something he did retain even though being thrown in with the nastiest bunch of soldiers in existence. “Okay well Twilight Sparkle, I am Miguel Kenshin, Major of the UCAF 81st Helldivers. I have served for years fighting against a relentless enemy which has threatened my people for nearly 30 years and I have served without a moment’s reprieve, at least physically.” Twilight did recall a few things that she had seen, him so young battling wars in his lifetime, it was still a bit disturbing to her that she had seen him go through the process of destruction, everything that ripped away at his soul. She didn’t comment, and she suspected that he knew that she had seen more than just a few flashbacks. Miguel decided to drive the discussion in another direction. “Twilight I’m curious but how is that we’ve been able to talk in plain English?” Twilight didn’t understand what he meant by English until she then understood what he meant by it, she replied. “I mind linked us and shared my own memories, I guess I should say that I added all of my people’s vocabulary into your mind, so we aren’t necessarily speaking in your language we’re speaking in mine.” “Ah, that explains how I suddenly understand the triple meaning to bucking…” He commented airily. Twilight blushed at the comment and sheepishly replied. “I might have put too much information in there.” Miguel smiled for a moment and then said. “Don’t worry I think we both can act like adults about that. Besides who knew that you liked Rainbows and Sunshine?” “Oh you mean by that strange album inspired by Pinkie Pie? I do remember that song, I don’t know is how she managed to get a camera and a recording microphone when no one else had one, or the fact that she recorded it without any of us seeing it… that shocked Applejack when she got like a thousand fan messages about her song.” Twilight said with a bit of confusion. Miguel sat there and then asked. “You know, I ask this to only those who I trust most, but do you know why we’re here?” Twilight looked at him and replied. “I think it was either some sort of cosmic coincidence, or possibly the great creator of everything, seriously though I never really thought about it.” Miguel nodded. “True, not many people do think about such things anymore, unless you’re a philosopher. But who knows? That or that silly rumour made by the UCAF priest, I think his name was Bishop, he commented that everything was made by the chaos of a pink blob causing a chain reaction that supposedly created the big bang, I mean it’s ridiculous, how could a pink blob cause the creation of the universe?” They stopped talking and they looked at each at each other and laughed. The things that they talked about so trivial, the first meeting between two different races punctuated by laughter, it was the foundation for a good friendship. Miguel stopped laughing after a little while and then said. “I think it’s time.” “Already?” “Yes, I don’t think holding the others up with our mind link would be appropriate and I do need to speak with your mentor.” Twilight understood, the mind link began to fade and the two faded back out. XXXXX Location: Canterlot- Infirmary Time: 1:44 PM Miguel could hear the soft beeping of a monitor checking on his pulse, he could still feel the ache in his back, rushing through streets and landing in a waterfall wasn’t exactly what he wanted, but he managed to elude them until he was surrounded. He had never wanted to forget that day again, the one of the best days to mark in his lifetime, being able to finally talk to someone without having the formalities of military standard or some other rule, the only problem was that was inside his head. He cracked his eyes open very slowly and then began to focus on the world around him, he was in a hospital room, or an atrium if the ceiling was high enough, but it seemed that he was alive. At least in the sense he knew that was physical, he felt exhausted physically, what had happened since the meeting? He and Twilight met and they talked and then their conversation went on for a while with random discussions; they cut their connection in the end to wake up. Her ability to enter into his mind felt different from the last time, as she had done it when he was unconscious, and then this time it felt like she had gone and made a smoother transition, which was good as he didn’t feel disorientated. She had delved into his mind without his permission sure, but it remained a puzzle why she’d bother going in there, but that was her decision, the only thing he was rather confused about was why he let her go so far. He’d get his answers soon enough once he figured out what was going on. He lifted his head from the bed pillow, it was surprisingly soft, not like the medical wards on UCAF vessels or field bases, and they had the most uncomfortable pressure pillows which hurt to lie on for more than an hour. He slowly observed what was in the room around him, he spotted the windows, curtains and the strange pair of aliens which were not too far away, and then he spotted her. The purple alien from before was lying not too far away, she was on a bed next to him, he was sure that she wasn’t here as a patient. It was then a blue skinned nurse arrived, her red cross with 4 questions marks in each corner on her hat indicated that she might have something to do with medical investigations, or something similar. She noticed that he was awake and called over on a microphone. “Nurse Clear Heart to Doctor Flummoxed, please report to Room 49, patient has recovered. Please inform Princess Celestia that patient has recovered.” The nurse said through a microphone. In moments a chime ran across the facility where he was being held, and also he noted that Twilight who had been resting soon woke from the announcement, she was baffled at what was going on and then found her way over to him. She then realised what was going on. She rushed over and greeted Miguel. “You’re awake!” “Yes I am awake, but why am I tied down?” He asked. Twilight took a step back and replied. “Princess Celestia decided to have you buckled down with as much restraint as possible, you did escape from one of Equestria’s most secure facilities and injure over half a dozen guards and knock the wonderbolts silly. Not to mention terrorize half of Canterlot.” He recalled his rush through the streets and he did admit that was probably true or… “Are you absolutely sure that your mentor doesn’t have a bondage fetish?” Twilight took a step back blushing furiously and defensively said. “NO, Miguel I’m pretty sure that I’d know if she had such a thing… It doesn’t seem like her anyway.” At that moment the princess walked into the room, Miguel could remember her, a pastel coloured mane that seemed to glitter in endless rainbows, her body was albino white which seemed to radiate light around it, it was of no surprise to him, he had seen his fair share of oddities in the wars and meeting an alien strangely humanoid with physics defying magic and some other unique abilities with the body of a goddess which would get the attention of every other male. He was thankful for being so dulled down by years of timid work or he’d have gone with a goofy smile of a kid, which would make him feel rather embarrassed. Twilight got off the bed and bowed to her mentor and greeted her. “Princess Celestia, I’m happy to say that Miguel is feeling better.” “Thank you Twilight although it isn't necessary for the explanation I’m sure that the major would like to speak by himself.” Celestia replied. Miguel spoke up. “Yes, I think it would be prudent to start introductions, also my apologies if I cannot bow, I seemed to be a little tied down…” He wrung at his restraints. “Whose idea was this anyway?” Celestia blushed when she said. “A necessary precaution.” “Are you sure handcuffs wouldn’t have been better?” He asked. “Well we didn’t want you escaping again.” Celestia answered. It was then that the other girls arrived into the room, they hugged Twilight and started an array of questions about what was going on and seemed to make the room about as noisy as sticking one’s head next to a Harley. When Miguel was about to kindly ask them to shut up a pink blur burst forth knocking over the yellow skinned one and the orange girls and zipping right over to him. “SURPRISE! Happy Welcome to Equestria and You Woke Up From a Coma Surprise Party!” A pink girl said with such volume, it made Miguel actually flinch which was a very hard thing to do especially for him. Miguel managed to strangle out a reply. “Umm thanks?” The pink fluffy haired hyperactive girl then produced a cake from almost thin air, which was astounding considering the sheer size of it was a small table, and also how did she manage to hold a cake that looks like it would weigh about 30 pounds with two hands? Did the pink girl have super human strength? Then again from the author’s point of view, that answer would be a yes. “Out of the way ED, I don’t throw a party for you until November!” Pinkie said directly at the author, who happened to be a pot flower nearby the bed. Before anyone could ask her what she was doing, Pinkie jumped back to Miguel and begun to sing. “Sooooo, welcome to Equestria I hope you like your stay, it’s a wonderful day for me to say hip, hip hooray!!!” Meanwhile Miguel was busy being absolutely baffled by the pink party pony Twilight went over to the others and asked. “Is Pinkie going to break out the party cannon again?” XXXXXX Location: Evergreen District Time: 7:22 AM The day started off pretty well, James got out from the guest bedroom and began his morning by going for a jog around the block till noon and then get back to speak with Skyline about a future proposition for going out into the jungles in search of interesting artefacts, plants, animals, and the odd dangerous adventure. James had initially been planning on remaining in his hideaway in the jungle but the mare had made it rather difficult as she had been determined to keep him close, close enough to grab him of course with her big puppy eye routine to help her accomplish her goals. In truth she was a rather astute woman, of sorts, being rather adventurous and inquisitive about what to do, and reading books when she wasn’t being active. Skyline was the kind of girl who got your attention but also gave you space, at least when it suited her needs, the other times would be him going after her because of her, but then again this was what she quoted, ‘a working relationship’. Somehow he felt that this was going to be a very long stay in Evergreen. During his morning jog James was greeted by many of the inhabitants of the town who seemed to like him a bit more now that they knew that he was a subtle quiet fellow who knew personal space, and a good challenge. But James kept to himself unless Skyline really wanted to bring him along for anything, it had been 3 days since his stay and he’s found it more ‘proactive’ than what he would have been possible for such a place. Needless to say he enjoyed the time he was here, even if he didn’t necessarily show it or say it, he enjoyed the time he had off from his war, but he knew it wouldn’t last, nothing ever does. With each passing day he had come closer and closer to fixing a straight beam transponder to his fellow marines and helldivers, he picked up on scattered UCAF transmissions in a region nearby, and thus he would only be able to stay with Skyline a little longer. He’d hate to break the ice, but it needed to be done, the UCAF forces had gathered and were waiting for a rescue, and he couldn’t stay here forever, it was his duty to go back into the war and it was his personal belief that it had to be done. But for now he’d enjoy his time with Skyline. As he rounded back into the library he was greeted by the mare making a batch of pancakes. “Morning James, how’s the weather?” She asked. “About as good as it is really, I’m pretty sure that you already know of course.” He replied. “Well yeah, I do have the calendar, but I want your opinion.” She said chirpily. “Is this about your studies into different beings and different places?” He asked passively. “Maybe…” She replied sheepishly. “Well I think you might want to get a model and a chart to record it, because asking me every day won’t provide a good record and I don’t think asking me alone is also going to help, considering there’s only me.” He said with scrutiny to her research methods. “True, but still better to understand at least one person’s personal opinion, and you said it yourself you’re the only human I’ve met.” She had him cornered. “Yes but I don’t think you really need to ask me all the time.” He said with a internal sigh. Skyline went on with getting the pancakes, she brought them onto the table and James grabbed some cups and juice for both of them. He asked. “Sky, you know I’m not going to be around forever right… well I needed to ask you, but when I do leave, would you like to go with me?” XXXXX Location: UCAF Base Time: 10:44 AM At the base marines got to work doing their usual things, grabbing breakfast and getting into shape and the usual drills, search teams went out and search teams came back. And the one single commander of the whole thing was busy in his command shack with some of the sensor net grids from the tech marines. Inside the cramped compartments of the UCAF operations dome a single marine worked furiously at his console trying to search for possible communications links to friendly space, or the location of fellow marines who might be stranded or lost. He worked and worked, usually for hours until his back hurt. It was about 3 hours into his morning shift when he noticed something odd. “Running synchronised time relevance to point L1 and L9, begin search for residual EM emissions and signals, particle dispersion and immersion.” It took the computers of the shack to begin picking away at background radiation and cosmic dust particles, it revealed nothing, at least until it hit L7. A short spike on the readouts made the officer recheck the signals. “That can’t be right.” The scans brought out ever more particle dispersions across the region between L7-9 and soon he hit the conclusion, he rushed back to his command terminal and began typing out search patterns for residual subspace emissions, which was usually everywhere, but he had to be sure. “Subspace emissions at spike 0.13, confirmation, higher than average dispersion… possible ruptures.” The sensor officer suddenly realised the gravity of the situation. He pushed off to his secondary console and smacked a striped yellow and black switch. “Contact alert, repeat contact alert, confirmed target range of possible vessels within local system range, all personnel report to combat posts.” XXXXXX Zaro headed in the right direction, his squad had reached the edge of the forests near their allies location. It was another day’s trek to the camp and then he could alert the UCAF of the impending dangers that were coming. Sadly that wasn’t the case when the sudden rumbling began to shake the earth around him… “By the gods…” He ducked under cover of a sturdy boulder and his warriors followed him. They braced as a corvette came soaring over their heads. “Damn it all. Vesdarea has found us first.” He swore at this predicament. Things had just gotten much worse. XXXXXX Location: Unknown Time: Unknown From the depths of space a large vessel almost the equivalent size of a UCAF Destroyer appeared, however this vessel’s design and creation was not of the UCAF, the markings of numbers were CVF-88 Spirit of Fire. On the bridge of the old aging carrier a lone AI stood and watched as the system came into view, she had hoped to find a resting place for the ship should it be unable to reach human space. This was about as far as she could have gotten the ship to, it wouldn’t last the journey any longer out in space, mainly due to the lack of resources, time and energy. The ship wasn’t able to make it to light speed and the closest to human space she could think about wasn’t anywhere on her computers, the ship was lost and so was she. This last ditch attempt would hopefully save the lives of the remaining crew and hopefully someone would find their trail. But as she reached the system she noticed something, a spark, no a transponder signal. But that was impossible, they had been lost for so long and there was now a signal? She investigated the faint signal, it was coming from the world she was headed to, localized it was emitting an emergency beacon, but also a human signal at a steady pace, she couldn’t get the ID of the individual but it was transmitting which mean that it was enough for her. She began the wake up procedures starting with the captain, he needed to see this, if this was right then they had found their way back. XXXXX AN: Sorry people I did cut this one a little short due to some issues I have had to deal with in the past weeks, I have been sick and had to deal with a lot of problems here at home, especially with family, don’t ask it isn't good. I did rush this one a little bit, I’ve been trying not to go too far into the rush so I did slow it down a little bit more. I was aiming for another peaceful chapter to come, but it seems only more introductions and a further development into plot would have to do, and also I felt like I was keeping off the action which did sort of kill it for some people, I don’t know what to say. But yes, the covenant loyalists have arrived and the fireworks are about to really start. As a heads up I have a new idea coming out soon enough, it will be a new fiction with… Nyx and Lil-pip, that’s right, Fallout Equestria meets Past sins, vice versa, which has been floating around for a very long time. I have also a Starswirl the chronicles of Tempest Accord, which will be going into the Starswirl meets every other people’s fanfics, or something along the lines. I do need to get some idea of what people want so I just want your opinion on the ideas, do they sound worthwhile? And also I am still up for OCs to add to the fic and future stories! Please submit in comments or PM me!