//------------------------------// // Chapter 4: Arrival // Story: My Little Pony: Apocalypse // by Randepic //------------------------------// Unknown Location Unknown Time Darkness. That’s all the Rookie could see. Total darkness. He could not see anything else not even his own hand in front of his visor. In fact, he couldn’t even feel his hand. Nor could he feel the rest of his body for that matter. Panicking, he thought back to his previous engagement. His squad had been defeated by the Covenant in attempt to defend Vergil, the Engineer. ‘The Covenant got us, didn’t they?’ he asked himself. ‘They killed us all. They must have. But if I’m dead, how am I still thinking?’ His whole life he always hoped that there’d be an afterlife, was this it? Was all that was waiting for him – for everyone – an empty black void? Was he to remain in a vast emptiness as nothing more than a mere conscience? The Rookie returned his thoughts to the last thing he could remember. He recalled a white light and loud humming. ‘Where did they come from?’ He struggled to remind himself; it was as if his collective conscience was dissolving into the blackness. ‘A machine? Yes, a machine! It was a Slipspace drive! The Engineer was doing something with a Slipspace drive. It behaved erratically and then… nothing.’ The Rookie couldn’t remember anything that could logically explain his situation. Suddenly, he felt his body returning from the void. He could feel his arms and legs and everything in between. He never felt such relief to have his sense of touch back, despite it only being gone for – how long? – a short while, he assumed. A new sensation coursed over his body. It felt like a large fan was blowing on him from below. He opened his eyes but could still see nothing. ‘Did that strange light blind me?’ He could not remember the light being intense enough to cause blindness. The wind seemed to grow stronger; the Rookie felt himself being jerked around even flipping end over end. ‘What the hell is happening?’ Slowly his vision began to return. First all he could see was white; an improvement over the blackness but only just. He brought his hands in front of himself and smiled that he could see them clearly again. A gust of wind blew against the Rookie’s stomach causing to flip onto his back. He ended up staring into a blue sky. Tilting his head slightly to the left, he spotted the sun. It burned brighter than he remembered it. ‘Wait a minute. Blue sky… the sun… that could only mean…’ The Rookie’s vision of the sun ended as he passed through the white that he saw earlier. Another gust of wind flipped the Rookie back over onto his stomach. The next thing the ODST saw was a vast landscape beneath him covered in rolling green fields, mountain ranges, and what looked like small towns or villages. This sight confirmed his suspicion and his fears: he was in freefall. The wind was the atmosphere pushing against his falling body; the layer of white was undoubtedly a cloud layer. How had he gotten off the station and more importantly how he had managed to end up in this situation was a complete mystery to him. But this was not the time to think about it. From his perspective, the ground was still several miles beneath him; that would all change in a matter of seconds. The Rookie screamed as he looked around for something – anything – that could help him. Suddenly he heard another deep-throated shriek. The Rookie looked to his right and to his surprise he saw a gold-armored Brute Captain Major had also found himself in the same horrible predicament. The beast either didn’t see the human or it didn’t care as it was too busy flailing its arms and legs and howling at the top of its lungs. This was the Rookie’s only chance. He shifted his body through the air until he was perpendicular to the Brute Captain. He reached for his weapon holster only to discover he had no weapons. Regardless, he declared that the Brute would be his lifeline and he would not pass the opportunity up. The Rookie extended his arms and legs out wide to slightly slow his descent. The Brute began to drift below him. Satisfied that he had the better altitude, the Rookie brought his arms and legs to his sides in a traditional skydiver’s fashion thereby gaining more speed. The Brute had his back to the human and therefore did not see the Rookie quickly plummeting right up behind him. Once in range of the Brute, the ODST reached out and grasped the beast’s back. The Brute immediately looked over his shoulder. Upon seeing the Rookie, it snarled and tried to grab him. The Rookie immediately retaliated by seizing the beast’s holstered sidearm, a mauler. A second later the ODST emptied the entire the clip into the Brute’s head. With the Brute dead the Rookie peered around the side of the body and back down towards the earth. The green landscape increased in size as he drew nearer and nearer to the ground, and his certain death. Looking more closely, he could see a large forest directly beneath him. With no other options, he held tightly around the dead Brute’s waist and awaited the inevitable. A mere thirty seconds later he felt the collision with the first tree branch in the forest. Branches broke beneath the plunging ODST and Brute. Eventually, the two struck a large branch causing the Rookie to lose his grip on the Brute. The Rookie fell over backwards, landing hard on the branch directly beneath him. The wind was knocked out of him instantly. His collision through the tree limbs only increased as he fell like a ragdoll through each and every branch in the tree. Pain shot through his body with each and every branch he struck. Striking another branch just under the chin, the Rookie’s helmet dislodged and fell away from him. Without any protection, his head immediately smashed into another thick branch knocking him out cold. The Rookie would never know when he finally hit the ground. The Everfree Forest 9 hours later… The Rookie awoke to the sounds of chirping crickets. Slowly, he opened his eyes and gazed at the dark sky above. He had landed flat on his back and, based on the night sky, he assumed that he’d been knocked unconscious for quite a while. Not that it would’ve been the first time he was knocked out from a “drop”. The first thing he had to do was check that he was still in one piece. A quick clench of his fists and wiggling of his toes and he knew that he hadn’t been paralyzed from the fall. ‘I can’t believe I survived that unscathed,’ he said to himself rather optimistically. While lying down, he looked around to assess his situation. It was too dark to really see anything. Several tree branches had landed on top of him and, likewise, he felt many more were wedged underneath him. Returning his gaze skywards the Rookie looked for the stars in hopes of discovering where on Earth he landed. However, the trees obscured most of the sky; he could barely see the moon let alone any stars. Knowing he wouldn’t find anything helpful, the Rookie decided to get moving. He threw the branches and twigs off him. As he attempted to push himself into a sitting position pain coursed through him, forcing him back down. Quickly, he comprehended that he had taken quite a beating while falling through the tree limbs. He wasn’t about to give up so easily. He pulled out his dog tag and inserted it into his mouth, biting hard on the metal. Again he sluggishly pushed himself off the ground. The Rookie intensified his grip on the dog tag as the pain returned. Despite what people may say, biting on an object while undergoing horrific pain does NOT make it any less excruciating. Eventually, he was able to sit up. The Rookie stopped momentarily to allow his sore body to recuperate. He noticed that he actually began to sweat from that attempt. He wiped the moisture from his head and reminded himself that he’d need to find his missing helmet. He did a quick sweep of his surrounding before giving up; it was still far too dark to see. For all he knew it could’ve gotten stuck on one of the trees. A cool, gentle breeze blew across his face. The Rookie closed his eyes and enjoyed the momentary respite. More sweat dripped down his forehead. Once more he wiped the perspiration from his face. This time, however, his focus drifted towards his hand. In spite of the darkness he could just make out his hand was covered in something dark and sticky. ‘Oh no,’ he moaned. He planted his opposite hand on the back of his head and winced from another influx of torment. He looked at his opposite hand; it too was covered in the same sticky substance. His only conclusion: his head was split open and he’d been bleeding profusely. Almost immediately after, his head started throbbing. He held the sides of his head in a vain attempt to end his suffering. The only medical aid the Rookie had was a single bio-foam canister, which is insufficient for the head injury he sustained. He had to find help, and fast. Without his helmet there was no way he’d be able to contact any possible nearby forces. He could not just sit and hope that a UNSC patrol would happen by and find him… he didn’t even know where the hell he was. The Rookie returned his attention on getting up to his feet. He put his dog tag back into his mouth anticipating that this would hurt. His fears were dead-on. As he struggled to pull himself to his feet he was overcome by even more agony. After a brief struggle he was standing upright, albeit with a limp. His right leg felt swollen and may have been sprained or worse, suffered a fracture. The Rookie took a step forward with his right leg and almost fell back to the ground. He caught himself on a tree trunk before he could do so. ‘Damn!’ he cursed. Sluggishly, he regained his footing and tried to walk again. Each consecutive step with his right leg nearly yielded the same results. The Rookie ultimately was forced to apply as little pressure as possible on his injured leg. He came to a halt as he examined his desired route ahead. The forest was pitch-black making it impossible to see anything. The Rookie had never been in a forest so dense that it was incredibly difficult to see. If he had his helmet he could use its VISR to see in the lowlight. He got to thinking about his location. These trees were not any type one would find in Africa. He considered that he may have landed somewhere in the Americas. ‘North America perhaps?’ he speculated. ‘It doesn’t matter where I am. I just need to find out how I got here and where the nearest friendly forces are.’ As he limped away from his landing site he spotted a small glimmer in a large patch of grass. Curiosity getting the better of him, the Rookie gradually hobbled over to it. Reaching down into the grass he found his helmet. ‘Thank God!’ The glimmer had been a reflection of the little moonlight that managed to penetrate the forest canopy off the helmet’s visor. Overjoyed from finding his helmet, the Rookie quickly scooped it up and proceeded to inspect it of damage. The back of the helmet had suffered a few small dents and scratches, nothing he needed to worry about. His hope faded when he examined the faceplate; a long crack ran diagonally across the visor. Frantically he slipped the damaged helmet over his head and prayed that it remained fully functional. Upon linking up with the rest of his suit, the Rookie’s helmet immediately flashed a warning across the heads-up display: his vitals were perilously low. The HUD displayed a 2-D image of his body and highlighted multiple areas in red, indicating significant damage had been done. Unsurprisingly to him his head and right leg were among those highlighted. Despite the troubling news about his condition, the Rookie felt comforted to know his helmet was still fully functional. He took a moment to check his helmet’s other systems. The first component he checked was the COM. Activating it, he received nothing but static. ‘COM’s dead. Figures.’ Next he tried the VISR mode. Instantly, the surrounding environment was highlighted in a light shade of orange. Every tree, rock and twig within the dark forest suddenly became visible. The Rookie breathed a sigh of relief. Even though he didn’t have a COM he could at least see where he was going now. In the lowlight the long crack was hardly noticeable. The ODST continued to hobble through the dark woods. The tree canopy above grew thicker and thicker with each passing minute. The Rookie finally reached a point in the forest where he could no longer see the sky at all. His VISR was having no difficulty in highlighting his surroundings in spite of the lack of any light. As he limped along in the black woodland his thoughts drifted back to his near death experience by gravity. It is every Helljumper’s nightmare to die while dropping in a pod. That goes for the Rookie too, but now he can add falling without a pod to his list of fears. It felt like he had awoken from a nightmare only to find it wasn’t a dream. There is no way any man could live after falling from such high altitudes. If it hadn’t been for that Brute he would be sitting in his own grave. ‘Using a Brute as a shield to survive a 20,000-foot fall that would have been fatal… That will be a hell of a story to tell. I can’t imagine anyone else doing something even remotely similar.’ One thing the Rookie noticed was how quiet it was in the forest. A short while ago he had heard crickets but now he could he hear nothing but his own sounds. It was like the entire forest of devoid of life. The unnerving lack of life forms made him feel utterly alone. In his last deployment, the Rookie had been separated from the rest of his squad in the streets of New Mombasa. Stranded in the seemingly deserted city, he was left to fend for himself against the Covenant occupation until he reunited with his squad. However, despite it all, he was not actually alone. The city’s Superintendent-class A.I. Vergil was “watching out" for him. Whenever the Rookie was near something of importance to him, Vergil would give him a heads-up about it: roadblocks would rise from the streets or street signs would change giving a direction he should go. Vergil even was able to provide him with logistical support by means of marking nearby enemy presences on his digital city map and by revealing hidden UNSC weapons caches. Throughout his short stay in New Mombasa the Rookie felt relieved to have his own personal “guardian angel”. However, this time things were very different. He had no one watching his back. He had no logistics. He had no weapon. All the Rookie had with him were essentially the clothes on his back. Wounded and alone in the middle of God knows where, he’s never felt so powerless. His VISR outlined an object in blue several yards ahead of him. Stepping over to it he was surprised to find an M6S automag on the ground. ‘How did this get here?’ he wondered. He struggled as he bent over to retrieve the weapon; he did not want to kneel down in fear that he’d hurt his inflamed leg. Plucking the magnum off the ground he ejected the magazine and counted twelve rounds still in it. It wasn’t much, but at least he was armed again. He’d need to conserve each round. Holstering the automag, he limped further into the forest. Several minutes later he reached a portion of forest where the trees were more spread out allowing additional moonlight to reach the ground. Deciding to take a break, the Rookie came to a rest against a tree. He closed his eyes and massaged his swollen leg which didn’t help due to the armor. Under normal circumstances he wouldn’t exert this much energy walking on a possible broken leg as that only made it feel worse. His vitals-status on the HUD reminded him that a broken leg could be the least of his problems; he still had his head injury to deal with. A sudden noise caught his attention. A low humming echoed across the treetops. The Rookie righted himself up onto his left leg. Scanning the canopy above, he spotted a Phantom dropship gradually flying overhead. A searchlight was mounted to its forward plasma auto-cannon. The Phantom hovered in the air and swept the searchlight along the ground. Without hesitating, the Rookie dove into some bushes behind the tree. The light leisurely illuminated the tree. After a moment, the Phantom flew off still searching the forest floor. The ODST remained prone behind the tree just in case the Phantom had spotted him. He heard another noise somewhere behind him. Glancing over his shoulder his VISR outlined several targets in red. It was a Covenant patrol. He counted six aliens: two Brutes, one Jackal, and three Grunts. The Brutes were each carrying a brute slung across their backs. The Grunts appeared to be brandishing needlers. The Jackal was wielding a Covenant carbine. The aliens were speaking to one another and did not seem to notice the Rookie. Even if he were better armed, the Rookie was in no condition to take them all on by himself. He chose to play this one safe. The ODST remained motionless in the bushes as they marched past. One of the Brutes barked, “Stay alert! Keep your eyes peeled! Any one of those ponies could be hiding out here in the woods.” The other Covenant acknowledged the order. ‘Did I hear that right?’ the Rookie asked himself in disbelief. ‘Did he just say “ponies”?’ The Rookie kept his eyes on the Covenant patrol until they disappeared into the darkness. He remained where he was for several more moments before rising to his feet, and shaking off the pain at the same time. The Rookie was perplexed by what the Brute had said. ‘The Covies are hunting some stray farmyard animals? What the hell is going on?’ He checked his automag and loaded a round into the chamber expecting a fight in the near future. Continuing along his determined route the ODST remained vigilant for any more Covenant patrols. Surprisingly, he did not encounter nearly as many Covenant as he thought he would. Just as he had said to himself earlier, the forest seemed mostly empty. The single Phantom and Brute patrol were the only signs of hostiles he’d seen for the last hour. Once again he felt disturbed by the eerie loneliness. The Covenant were hardly the companions he sought, but at least they told him he wasn’t alone in the woods. The Rookie came to a halt. He heard the sounds of shuffling shrubbery. He glanced around but the VISR picked up no signs of life. He snatched the automag from his holster and looked around. All he saw were trees and the occasional rock outlined in orange within his vicinity. The scuffling of bushes ended abruptly. He decided it was most likely just an animal; had it been Covenant he’d be dead already. The Rookie holstered his weapon again and pushed onward. Overhead he overheard the characteristic hum of another passing Phantom dropship. However, the forest canopy was too thick for it to spot him. His VISR could not detect the Covenant troop carrier either. A few seconds later the Phantom was no longer in earshot. The sounds of bushes rustling caught his attention again. Could it have been another animal? He moved his hand over his holstered magnum. Before he could reach it, the rustling stopped once again. That confirmed to him that someone, or more likely something, was watching him. The Rookie became stiff as a statue not moving his hand away from his magnum. Without turning his head he moved his eyes corner to corner expecting something to jump him. The forest around him was absolutely silent. Gradually he loosened his posture. SNAP! Something broke a twig broke in the bushes next to him. The Rookie grabbed his magnum and sharply turned to his right. A shadowy object dashed out of the bushes and away from the trooper. He didn’t get a good look at it but the life form was roughly the size of a Grunt. His fears were that it could’ve been a highly trained SpecOps unit and if it was, he could not allow it to report his position. Ignoring the agonizing pain in his leg, the Rookie pursued the fleeing target. The target was several yards in front of him; too far away for his VISR to properly identify it. It dashed between trees and leaped over large rocks in a single bound. It was clearly well acquainted with the terrain and proved to be quite agile, something a lowly Grunt could never hope to be. Still, the Rookie was determined to catch it. Each step the ODST took in his haste felt like someone was stabbing his right leg with knives; he did his best to brush it off. He noticed the unknown contact leap behind a huge boulder several yards away. The boulder was wedged right up against a tall cliff; the Rookie had it trapped now. He slowed his pace taking deep breaths; the chase had left him winded. Limping up to the boulder he braced his back against it like he was about to execute a door breach. Taking a deep breath he lunged around the boulder and aimed his automag. There was nothing behind the rock. His target was gone. ‘What the hell? Where is it?’ he demanded. He knew that it, whatever it was, had maneuvered around the boulder. He didn’t exactly see it, but he saw its shadow and more importantly he had heard it. The Rookie was certain he wasn’t chasing his imagination. What if he was merely chasing some animal? The ODST holstered his weapon and swore. He angrily kicked the rock with his good foot. He had completely wasted his time and effort chasing nothing. Not to mention the hell he put on his wounded leg during the pursuit. Feeling beaten, he sat on the ground and leaned against the boulder. He pulled off his helmet and set it beside him. He dropped his injured head into his hands. “This is hopeless,” he whimpered miserably. “I’m lost in the middle of a goddamned forest with a broken leg and cracked skull and I have absolutely no way of calling for help. Things can’t possibly get any worse.” As if fate objected to his assertion, the Rookie’s situation deteriorated further. A Phantom dropship emerged over the treetops. The Rookie instantly found himself enveloped in its searchlight. He frantically grabbed his helmet and jumped to his feet just as the dropship opened fire with its auto-cannon. Streaks of blue plasma fire melted a chunk out of the rock. The plasma turret continued to track him as he bolted to the back the way he’d come. The Phantom ceased firing and hovered over the Rookie to cut off his escape. The dropship turned sideways, giving an opportunity for a Grunt manning the starboard side plasma cannon to take aim on the trooper. The Rookie skidded to a stop – nearly falling in the process – just as stream of blue plasma fire hurled his way. He had no cover to return fire, he had to escape. He turned around and darted the other direction. The Phantom’s troop bay doors opened. A pair of Jackals armed with beam rifles took up position next to the Grunt gunner. The bird-like aliens took aim and unleashed their marksman rifles. The Rookie didn’t take a moment to look behind him and therefore didn’t know about the snipers. Once the first blue beam sped past him he knew he was in trouble. Training instincts took in for the ODST as he zigzagged to throw off the Covenant marksmen. Streaks of blue zipped all around him combined with wild gobbets from the plasma cannon gunner. All at once the plasma fire ended. The Rookie sprinted as fast as possible not slowing down until he was certain he was beyond their range. Cautiously, he glanced over his shoulder but could no longer see the Phantom or its occupants in his VISR; he had lost them. Suddenly he no longer felt the ground beneath his feet. He returned his attention to his twelve and saw nothing in front of him; he had run right off a cliff. He plummeted more than a dozen feet flailing his arms and legs. Landing feet first on a steep incline directly beneath, he fell forward into a somersault. Flipping and rolling end over end down the rock hard slope, the Rookie was unable to stop himself. His body smashed against every inanimate object in his path: rocks, shrubs, etc. The Rookie’s crippled limb collided with a large rock in his path, snapping his bone. He nearly passed out from the trauma. Finally, his tumbling body came to a rest at the base of the slope. He laid face first in the dirt, too injured to move; his entire body hurt like hell. His HUD flashed red signifying his health was now in life-threatening condition. The Rookie limply flipped himself onto his back. Rolling over his right leg he felt an excruciating CRACK! He grasped his leg and screamed in unbearable anguish. Any doubts he may have had about his leg being broken were long gone. He loudly moaned while clutching his leg and nearly felt like crying. This was no time to lament on his pitiful situation. The Rookie was out in the open at the base of the hill. He had to find cover before another Covenant patrol spotted him. Lying crippled on the ground would only make him a sitting duck. Once again, he slipped his dog tag in mouth and braced himself for the worst experience of his life. He rolled over onto his stomach – this time opting to go over his left side – and nearly bit his dog tag in half. Each slight movement put further hell on his leg. He looked ahead and saw the tree line about a dozen yards away. Very slothfully, he dragged himself across the dirt, putting even more teeth marks in the dog tag. This was almost too much for him; he’d rather go through ODST training again than take this hell. He was forced to stop and rest every few inches. After the longest – and most painful – twenty minutes of his life, the Rookie was safe beneath the forest canopy again. Just like earlier, the canopy here was very dense; no Covy dropship would be able to spot him. The Rookie delicately dragged himself beneath a tall tree to rest. He took several deep breaths and did his best to ignore his right leg. ‘I suppose I asked for this,’ he declared to himself. ‘I said there was no way things could get any worse.’ One of Murphy’s Laws instantaneously popped in his mind: If there is a worse time for something to go wrong, it will happen then. The Rookie has been in hopeless situations in the past but nothing at all this severe. The streets of New Mombasa provided all the first aid he needed primarily from the civilian medical stands. What he wouldn’t give for a conveniently placed Optican kiosk right now; although, it wouldn’t be able to mend a broken leg. The Rookie dropped his head into the dirt and groaned. ‘I’m going to die here. I’m going to die a slow, painful death. Why couldn’t I have just died on that space station? At least that would have been quick.’ A loud howl broke the silence of the peaceful forest. The Rookie lifted his head up. A second howl followed the first, echoing much louder across the woods. ‘Wolves? That can’t be good.’ A third wolf howl followed in suit; this one sounding much closer. The Rookie’s eyes darted around the forest. Another howl. Then another, and another, and another. The Rookie steadily pushed his upper torso off the ground. “That’s not good at all,” he whispered aloud. A large bush shuddered a few feet away. The Rookie fearfully gazed in its direction. A quick, loud snarl emanated from the foliage. A pair of ghostly green eyes glowed from behind the leaves. A wolf had found the Rookie. Weak, helpless and injured he knew he would be no match for a ravenous wolf. The bush shook some more as the beast lurking within crawled its way out. The Rookie’s eyes widened in absolute shock. It wasn’t a wolf. The monstrosity staring him down was wolf-like in appearance. The Rookie’s VISR instantly outlined it in orange, depicting it as part of the environment. The beast fully emerged from the foliage and loudly roared. Looking more closely at the beast before him, the Rookie realized what threw off his VISR: the wolf-like creature’s body was comprised completely of logs, sticks and other forest timber. It wasn’t part of the environment; it was made of the environment. The ODST had no idea what he was looking at; its very existence was impossible. The wolf-thing roared once more and charged the Rookie. The Rookie frantically pushed himself further up off the ground and reached for his holstered automag. The abomination rammed its wooden head into the Rookie’s chest with the force of a Warthog LRV, hurling him against the tree. The Rookie felt blood begin to drip down his forehead. Immediately after, it pounced upon the stunned trooper raring for the kill. The Rookie caught the beast’s jaws in his hands and struggled to push it back. The pseudo-wolf repeatedly snapped its jaws and nearly bit the Rookie’s hands clean off. The more the beast thrashed in his grasp, the faster the Rookie’s resistance depleted. Each passing second brought the bloodthirsty wolf-creature’s serrated, wooden teeth closer and closer to him. His head tilted down to his side where his automag remained holstered. He couldn’t afford to reach for it now; if he loosened his grip on the beast nothing would stop it from tearing him apart. The creature roared again yet, green mist flowed from its mouth. It quickly followed up with a swift swipe from one of its wooden paws across the Rookie’s chest leaving three deep scratches on the chest plate. Over and over again it swiped its paw at the helpless ODST. As it did so, the Rookie noticed it took focus away from its attempt to bite him. With all the strength he had left, the Rookie gave one final push, driving the menacing creature’s head to its side. He instantly took advantage of the opening he created and snatched his automag. Not even a meager second after clutching the magnum, the wolf-thing slammed its paw on the Rookie’s hand, pinning it to the ground. Alarmed, the Rookie glanced back in time to see the animal lunge forward with its mouth opened wide. The Rookie quickly turned sideways and yelped as the monstrous life form sunk its sharpened teeth through his armor and into his left shoulder. It then violently shook its head around in an attempt to rip his arm from his body. Blood spattered against the interior of his visor. It still held the Rookie’s hand against the ground. The Rookie sensed he still had a grip on the automag’s trigger. Out of options, he squeezed it hard. PHT! The 12.7x40mm round ejected from the gun’s barrel and tore through the wolf-creature’s tree-like paw. The creature released the Rookie and reared back, howling into the sky. The Rookie brought his automag to bear and aimed it right at the monster’s head. Its glowing green eyes looked right back at the trooper. It uttered a loud growl and lunged forward again. The Rookie fired several more times. PHT! PHT! PHT! Each round tore through the wolf-thing’s head scattering wood shavings and splinters everywhere. However, the creature did not stop. Plowing into the Rookie for a second time, it knocked the automag right out of his hand. Horrified, he watched as it flew through the air and landed several feet away; his VISR highlighted it in blue, showing him exactly where it had landed in the dark forest. The beast slowly and intimidatingly backed up from the ODST to charge him again. Out of complete desperation, the Rookie dove onto his stomach as yet another tidal wave of agony washed over him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw the monster sprint his way. The Rookie pulled himself as fast as humanly possible to his gun. Just when his fingertips touched the magnum, the wolf-thing clamped its jaws around the ODST’s side. Just like before, its teeth easily penetrated the armor and pierced his flesh. The monstrosity proceeded to drag the Rookie away from the gun. The Rookie tried to dig his fingers into the dirt to no avail. Feeling his fingers brush against a large rock, he seized the heavy object and smashed the beast across its head. The impact caved in a large portion of the right side of its wooden cranium. The monster released the Rookie again and stumbled backwards from the injury. Half of its head crumpled into wood fragments. The Rookie did not hesitate to scurry to his dropped weapon. He swiftly snatched it and flipped onto his back firing more rounds before the creature could react. PHT! PHT! PHT! PHT! More pieces of wood broke free from the abomination as each round effortlessly punched holes right through it. The Rookie ceased firing and glared at the demon through his blood-splattered visor. It staggered about aimlessly and appeared to be suffering from the multiple gunshots. PHT! The Rookie put another round through its skull. The wolf-like monster howled once more before its head broke into a dozen pieces of kindling. Seconds later, each twig, leaf and log from which its body was made fell apart right before the Rookie’s eyes. Green smoke rose from the “remains”. The Rookie lowered the automag taking deep breaths. ‘What the hell was that thing?’ His HUD continued to pulse red, now highlighting virtually every square inch of his body. He lowered back onto the ground and closed his eyes in intense pain. Truly, he had no idea why he was still alive, let alone conscious, from the massive trauma he sustained in such a short time. His head was throbbing; he could feel blood dripping through his hair. The pain in his right leg was so severe that he was beginning to consider that it should be amputated just to end his misery. There was no way he was going to find help. He could not sustain himself with those wounds in perhaps the most hellish forest he’s ever seen. ‘There is a way to end all the pain,’ his conscience told him. He held the automag above him and studied the weapon. Ejecting the magazine he counted the last three bullets he still had. ‘All it takes is just one,’ his mind explained. He slapped the magazine back into the magnum and loaded one of the rounds into the chamber. The Rookie contemplated the choices that fate forced on him. He could try to survive for as long as possible while living through the worst torment of his life. Or he could just end it. “No,” he loudly declared. He did not survive an encounter with the strangest “wolf” ever only to shoot himself. “I will NOT take the easy way out. I am ODST. I will never give up. Not even on death's doorstep.” The Rookie decided that he’d spent enough time crawling; it was time to get back on his feet. After about a minute of physical exertion he was back in the sitting position. He took several deep breaths and readied to try and stand. Something shifted in the bushes around him. The Rookie slowly examined his surroundings and counted a dozen green glowing eyes. The ODST felt a chill run down his spine. In an instant six of the wolf-things leaped out of the foliage howling and snarling. The rest of the pack had finally arrived and they looked pissed about their fallen pack mate. His VISR outlined them in red, finally indicating they were hostiles. The Rookie felt himself backing up against another tree. The six “wolves” formed a semi-circle around trapped trooper. He gazed at his automag and then back at the advancing demons. ‘Three bullets for six of them… not very good odds.’ The Rookie sighed and holstered the weapon. There was no use in fighting: he was out of ammo, out of energy, and out of options. He straightened himself up against the tree. “All right you bastards,” he growled. “Do your worst.” Each of the “wolves” roared in unison and lunged for the Rookie. The Rookie fearlessly stared down his assailants. All of a sudden, an object descended between the Rookie and the wolf-creatures. The “wolves” halted in their tracks; their eerie green eyes widening in shock over the unexpected arrival. The Rookie, likewise, was taken by complete shock by what had suddenly appeared. He could not believe what he was looking at. It was a little horse. The Rookie blinked. A small horse with a very long mane and tail stood defiantly between him and the wooden beasts. A pair of appendages was fixed on opposite sides of the horse’s back. The Rookie thought it may have been a bizarre mutation. After looking more closely, his VISR clearly revealed the additional attachments were covered in feathers. Were they wings? Was this a flying horse? The VISR outlined it in orange just like it had done with the first wolf-like creature. “How dare you!” a soft, angry, feminine voice shouted. The Rookie looked around believing another person was in the area. “How dare you try to harm a poor, defenseless creature!” the voice scolded. The Rookie looked back at the equine before him and blinked, coming to a realization. Not only was a small horse, no bigger than a Grunt, standing up to creatures twice its size but it was also talking? The little horse stepped towards the bewildered “wolves” and shoved a hoof in their direction. “You should all be ashamed of yourselves! You’re acting like nothing but a bunch of big bullies!” The winged-horse appeared to angrily glare at each one of the wolf-like creatures. Each of the “wolves” recoiled in intimidation. The Rookie was astonished by the event transpiring in front of him; he was at a complete loss for words. One of the wolf-creatures narrowed its glowing green eyes and growled at the horse, green mist flowing through its clenched teeth. The horse responded by shifting its glare at the beast. Its vicious expression instantly changed to one of fear. The equine continued berating the beasts, “Now I want you leave and never bother this poor thing again! Now GO!” The wolf-like creatures quickly turned tail and sprinted off into the dark forest squealing like puppies. Slowly, the little horse turned to face the Rookie. It – she? – had the most adorable eyes the Rookie had ever seen. The Rookie reached to pull off his helmet to get a better look at the little horse. The horse flinched at his sudden movement, jumping a foot away from him. The ODST stopped and held his hands palm out to show her that he meant no harm. Whether or not the horse understood the gesture was unclear to the Rookie. He placed his hands on the sides of the helmet and gently lifted it off his head. Without the aid of the VISR, it became more difficult to see the horse. The Rookie wondered if this horse was one of the “ponies” that the Brute had spoken about earlier. The pony pushed her long mane in front of her face to hide, still keeping one fear-filled eye on the ODST. The Rookie wiped blood away from his eyes. The little winged-pony continued to silently stare at him behind her mane. Finally, the Rookie said, “You can talk?” The pony hesitated before nodding back. “What’s your name? Do you live around here?” The bashful pony looked away and muttered something that the Rookie couldn’t hear. “I’m sorry, what?” The pony mumbled very quietly again, only slightly increasing the pitch of her voice. The Rookie was certain she said something beginning with an “F”. He started to feel lightheaded. “Could you repeat that?” he asked. The pony spoke a little more audibly this time. “I’m Fluttershy,” she barely whispered. “Fluttershy?” the Rookie asked, making sure he heard her right. The winged-pony nodded once in confirmation. ‘That name sure suits her,’ the Rookie thought. The ODST began to gasp for breath. “That’s… a very… pretty…” the Rookie trailed off. He fell onto his side and lost consciousness.