//------------------------------// // ... And The Pony You Rode In On // Story: Halo: X Team in Equestria // by The Good Dark Lord //------------------------------// April 10, 2553 "PUSH! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" A Crystal Pony yelled as he and his hundred or so companions pushed the Longsword through the dirt. They were all dressed up in crude pony made versions of Spartan armor. "PUSH!" The Crystal Ponies pushed. "HNNNG!" "PUSH!" "HNNNG!" "PUSH!!!" "HNNNG!!!" The Longsword finally reached its destination: a dirt runway in the middle of the grass field just outside the Everfree Forest. The ponies made it so the Spartans could leave. "We did it!" The Crystal Ponies started cheering and brohoofing each other. Footsteps were heard. They turned around and saw that it was Braden. They all saluted. "At ease," Braden said, "You've all done a damn fine job. Go get some food and rest." The Crystal Ponies nodded and left. As they dispersed, Braden took another gander at the surrounding area. Due to the work effort it took to create the runway, fix up the Longsword, and get the Longsword out of the Everfree, word had gotten out across the country that they were leaving soon. Now while Braden agreed that this was a big and important event, he didn't think it was necessary for over two thousand ponies to camp out here just so they could watch. He had spotted several other non pony races in attendance, namely griffons, minotaurs, donkeys, and buffalo. Concession stands were set up, campsites with tents and fireplaces were established, ponies were milling about everywhere doing stuff, goddammit, this was supposed to be a launch site, not a party. Braden shook his head in annoyance. Richard walked up to him. "Sir, I have just finished the final inspections with Sparkle. Everything looks ready to go." "Excellent," Braden said, relieved, "Any chance we can leave by tonight?" "Affirmative." "Wait, what about the mini slipspace drive? Was it fixed up after the Pinkie Pie clones stole it?" "Rose repaired and installed it. Nothing to worry about." And what an adventure that was. Later that night, X Team was standing on a podium before the giant crowd of ponies. Celestia was up there with them. "Why are we doing this?" Braden asked. "So you can leave on good terms," Celestia answered, "Make a good last impression!" Braden sighed. "Fine. Whatever. Uh, citizens of Equestria! We thank you for your relative hospitality these past few months, but now we gotta go, and, save the universe, and stuff. Thank you." Silence reigned. ... "Wow, that speech sucked." Celestia said. "Screw it. Everyone on the Longsword we're leaving!" The Longsword's ramp promptly opened up for the Spartans. "Wait, just like that?" Twilight asked. "You're just gonna up and go now?" "Yes. Now all of you clear out! Make room for the runway." The Crystal Ponies stepped forward. "Wait! Our savior! With you gone, who will guide us?" "I expect you all to behave yourselves. That is all I ask." "YES SIR!" The Spartans began boarding the ship. Well, most of them. Kenny stayed behind so he could say goodbye to the Mane Six. Because they're the only ones that matter. "Will you ever come back?" Pinkie sniffled. Kenny kneeled down to her level and hugged ear. "Probably not, but never say never, right?" That made Pinkie smile a little. Fluttershy jumped into Kenny's arms and snuggled him. D'aaawwwww. "You're the nicest badass I know! I wish there were more like you. *Sniff sniff*." Kenny patted her on the head. "There there, you're a big girl don't cry." Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity were about to say something when a scarecrow jumped in front of them. Kenny jumped back. "Gah! Who the hell are you?" "I'm Scarecrow! Aren't you going to miss me the most?" "No!" Kenny delivered an uppercut to Scarecrow, sending him off into the distance. All the ponies cheered. Kenny waved at them as he walked up the ramp. "Goodbye everypony!" The ramp closed. Just as the token celebration band was about to start, the engines activated and the Longsword began hovering. The ponies flipped their shit and started running away. Well, most of them ran away. The main characters from the show knew that they were at a safe watching distance. Oh and Blueblood was there. This was a big event, after all. As the Longsword took off into the sky, the vibrations it made caused his wheelchair to tip over. "AGH! MY BACK!" Everypony snickered. Rarity took a photo. As the Longsword flew up higher and higher into the sky, a portal opened up, and the Spartans disappeared into it. The portal closed. Everypony just stared for a few minutes. "So, now that the Spartans are gone," Twilight said, "What do we do now?" Celestia gave her a mischievous smile. "Now, my most faithful student, we start reverse engineering their technology that we made blueprints of." She winked at the camera. "Ain't I a stinker?" From her seat in the cockpit, Rose turned and pressed a few dials and buttons. "Checking coordinates. ... Right. We're heading for Reach." "So it's back to business now, eh?" James said more to himself than the others. "How much do you think we missed?" "A lot can happen in eight months." Ashley quietly said. "And in the event we do get back to the UNSC, they're going to ask questions," Richard pointed out, "They'll want to know why six of their Spartans went MIA for over half a year, and I have a feeling that 'oh we were stuck in the magical land of ponies' isn't going to cut it. Parangosky will throw us in the insane asylum for sure." "A valid concern," Braden said, "One that I anticipated." "Anticipated? You mean you have a plan for this?" "Yes. For the past couple months I've had Kenny film his experiences in Equestria. All we have to do is present the footage to the higher ups and have them pass it off as classified. We'll be labeled sane and get off the hook." James looked at Kenny. "Dare I ask, but, how much footage did you get?" "I've got nine hours of footage in this sucker," Kenny said pointing to the camera on his helmet, "Let's hope it makes a few ONI heads explode." "Guys." Rose said. "Yeah?" "We're here." The Longsword exited Slipspace. And then they saw it. James put a hand to his mouth. "No..." Reach had been glassed. May 1, 2553 Earth, East Africa X Team stood in front of the memorial. It was... practical, to say the least, but it was enough. "So... we won." Kenny quietly said. Richard gave a small nod. "Yeah." James looked over at the giant crater that had apparently been a gateway to someplace called The Ark. "Hard to believe what we missed out on. Galactic weapons of mass destruction, space zombies..." "Don't forget the whole enemy mine situation with the Elites." Rose added. Everyone went quiet again for a moment, thinking about what had transpired during their absence. The Halos, The Flood, it was a lot to take in. And they all thought: "Would things have turned out better, had we been there?" Truth be told they were all happy to hear that Humanity had won the war, but, the sacrifices that had to be made in the name of victory... "Hey guys," Ashley said, breaking the silence, "Do you think that maybe, just maybe... there are still other Spartans out there? Who survived?" When they had gotten back, Parangosky had told them that all other Spartan- II's were MIA (ONI for good- as- dead). Since they were Spartans, they weren't exactly physically capable of breaking down and crying at the thought of everyone they had trained with being dead, but that didn't stop the news from tearing them apart on the inside. But then again... "It's a possibility." Braden replied. It was wishful thinking at best. But then again... July 7, 2553 Earth, Super Secret ONI Facility Braden frowned at the short old woman who sat across the table from him. "Alright, you got me here, Parangosky. What do you want?" Parangosky sneered. "Disrespectful as always. But I'll let it pass, considering the bigger issue at hand." "What are you talking about?" "There was an idea, to create Humanity's greatest warriors, an idea that one Catherine Halsey made a reality." "This is about Spartans? What-" "However, her methods, while ultimately successful, were time consuming, costly, and worst of all, controversial. Do you have any idea how many ONI agents I had to kill and then replace just because they wouldn't go through with the program that created you? Most impractical..." "Get to the point." "The next generation is coming, Colonel, and we need veterans to train them. Veterans like you and your team." Parangosky hit a button under the table. "Let him in." The door to the room opened. A man wearing a suit walked in. He was bald, and had a tattoo depicting a fistful of arrows on the left side of his head. Braden's jaw dropped. Jun smiled. "Hello again, Braden. I'm here to talk to you about the Spartan- Four Initiative." To be continued Oly Oly Oxen Free All out in the free We're all free