//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4: Section 8 
// Story: The Helljumper *Objective Updated* 
// by Addunexus 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 4: Section 8


As we made our way back towards town, I could tell Twilight wanted to ask as many questions as ONI did after a failed mission. Before she could ask anything we broke through the forest into the clearing near the small house that belonged to the 'Element of Kindness' as Celestia had put it. I came to a sudden stop and let the others walk past me. When they noticed I wasn't ahead of them they turned around to look at me. I let myself lock gazes with everyone's questioning look before I looked at the ground. All I heard was a few nervous hoof steps and someone say a name, I didn't pay attention to it I continued to stare at the ground. Suddenly my vision was filled with purple, and I felt Twilight wrap her hooves around my torso as best as she could.

"It will be okay," Twilight softly said, "there is no reason to be mad at yourself,"

Bringing my free arm up, I wrapped it around her and half returned the hug, "I just wish I cou-"

"Stop blaming yourself," Luna interrupted, "she may not have been able to show it that well, that pilot was thankful you tried to save her."

Before I could say anything back to the Princess, her and Celestia came over and suggested we should get back to the library before it gets even later than it is. Which caused me and Twilight to stop hugging one another and begin walking yet again. This time I could sense Shining's anger, and his eyes glued to the back of my head. Pushing that out of my mind, and I noticed that Celestia and Luna had taken the lead as we entered town.  As we began again, I decided that sneaking would make me look like I was trying to break into someone's home, and stayed in the middle of the group. 

"I am surprised, a voice said from the white pony in front of me, "you didn't stay to the shadows this time. I wasn't expecting that."

I simply stayed quiet as we continued walking, keeping myself in thought as my mind slowly began to kick into gear. 'How am I taking this so well? Being stuck on a planet with no war, but colorful talking ponies that will help when asked!   I should be back on Earth, with Jenn and Sarge, and Dez fighting the Covenant! I hope those three are alright, I don't want them to lose everything like I have. Upon my thoughts bringing up the others I felt wetness begin to form in my eyes. 'I already lost Anne, the Captain, Reach, and now Vence and the others. Poor Vence, she didn't deserve that, her son doesn't deserve it either. I really hope they are alright, and held those bastards off. Before I could go down an all to familiar road of depression and sadness I bumped into Celestia and Luna before they opened the door to the library.

Upon my unexpected collision the Princesses turned their heads back to look at me, then looked at one another and back to the door. Luna moved to open it, but as she did it burst inward with a bang and something that had no right to be that pink jumped the two large ponies in front of me and tackled me. As I started falling back I felt another being behind me that I could only guess was Shining. 

"HII'MPINKIEPIEANDWELCOMETOPONYVILLE," the loud pink pony said as she was muzzle to nose with me.

The shock wore off almost instantly, and I managed to toss the surprisingly light pony off of me. As I heard the rest of the world slowly turn to try and follow where the pink blur went, but I had already jumped up to my feet and pulled a knife out from under my chest plate. The ponies all around me stared as I drew a knife on the ball of energy that was staring me in the face, with a puzzled look. 

"What the HELL," I shouted, knife still pointing towards the pony my eyes were fixed on,  "was that for?!"

Shining didn't even let an explanation out of my attacker's mouth, he instantly threw me into the library, where I met the same wall I crashed into from earlier.  As I looked up to see the angry stallion stomping across the room, angry look plastered on his face, a light yellow pony with a lighter pink mane and tail landed in front of him.  From being near Celestia, Luna, and Twilight all night I could tell that this pony was a female. Her landing stopped the angry being that stood before her,  he then tried to go around her, but then the pink pony who I now noticed was a as well female appeared out of nowhere. 

"No need to hurt the party pony," said she giggled, "well he isn't really a pony."

"Pinkie," he shouted back, "he had a k-"

A stern voice cut him off almost instantly, "Shining! He was surprised, and Pinkie, you shouldn't have tackled him," she said as she turned to the one named Pinkie. She then turned to me, and I saw her face somehow go from as stern as a drill instructor shouting his lungs out at a raw recruit who has been sick on his hat, to a caring mother speaking to her newborn child. "Are you okay, did you get hurt from being thrown or jumped on?"

"I hit the same wall as last time," I started, keeping my gaze glued to Shining, knife still gripped in my left hand, "but I swear to God if you throw me ever again, I will plant this knife just as deep as it has been in a brute's neck, in yours."

The yellow mare's eyes went wide as I slid my knife back in its sheath under my chest plate. As he stood there with his mouth practically on the floor, I took note in the new ponies in the room.  To my left there was Applejack, standing next to a blue mare with a rainbow mane and wings. Next to her, unsurprisingly enough another mare, who was as white as a marshmallow with a curly purple mane and just like Twilight she had a white horn sticking from her head in the exact same spot. 

They were all staring at me with mouths agape as well, then the white mare put her hoof to her head and pulled a couch from across the room and daintily fell upon it. 'Alright, I can already tell I wont like that pony very much' I thought to myself. Before my brain could make any more comments, Twilight spoke up.

"Helljumper," she asked trying to make everyone less nervous, "if you are okay with us calling you that, can you explain how you got here?"

"Yeah," I said quite cheekily, "I was thrown through the door."

"That is not what I meant."

"Okay, out of all seriousness," I stated as I wondered around the room looking for a chair, "I have no idea how I got here,"

"How do you not know," she asked sounding a little annoyed.

"Twilight, calm down," Celestia said as she rested a wing over Twilight as if to calm her. She then turned to me, "Can you tell us what you do remember? And what do you want us to call you?"

"Well," I mumbled as I located a chair, "I am used to being called Helljumper by Navy officers, so that works. And the last thing I remember before waking up in my pod in that clearing was..."

I fell silent as I remembered Earth,  then I wondered about my bothers and sisters in arms once more. 'I wonder if the fighting has ended, and we managed to keep the planet safe. I hope Jenn and Sarge kept their families safe, and I hope Vence's son is alright and is proud she died for the whole of humanity.  This time I was unable to keep up my hardened facade as I realized I lost all of the people I considered my family. My head fell and the tears began to fall from my eyes.

Shakily, I began to tell the ponies anything that was not considered 'classified', "B-b-before I woke up in that clearing, my unit and I were going to take a Covenant battle cruiser." I feel the puzzled looks that were plastered to their faces, "We then, were dropped out of the P.E. and into space, where everything went pear shaped faster than anyone could imagine. My pod was hit by one of my squad mates and I was sent into an uncontrollable tumble. Which would have been fine if the stupid cruiser hadn't initiated a slipspace jump after we began out decent. But, the tumble I was in sent me unluckily into, and since slipspace is an alternate dimension I somehow wound up in the field that we buried Rawley in."

When I looked up from the floor, the faces of the ponies (that were not out like lights) and some were giving me puzzled looks, still. Celestia and Luna however were impassive to my story and I could see in Shining's face that he would still rather throw me in a cell. When my eyes saw the yellow pony, I was surprised, she was no longer horrified. She was actually starting to tear up! Twilight went over to her and pulled her into a reassuring hug.

"Fluttershy," she said quietly, "I-"

"Twilight perhaps I should take her home?" asked the blue pony.

Twilight just nodded and released the frightened Fluttershy. What happened next made my jaw drop, the blue one flew over to Fluttershy and picked her up and flew out of the room! When the door closed the room practically exploded with a question from Shining.

"Are you happy," he asked angrily at me, "you scared the most innocent of all ponies for life."

"Well," I shot back," excuse me, I didn't mean it. And I am pretty sure from all of the shit 'I' have seen, I have been scarred a lot worse than her."

"What do you mean?" came Celestia's voice from somewhere to my right.

"Being in a twenty seven year long war of attrition against an enemy," I began throwing some venom into my voice, "that is a sore loser and burns a world after they manage to fail at a ground assault. Tell me that isn't going to send you into a terrible case of PTSD."

The faces of the ponies in front of me looked like they were going to be sick. Shining looked like he was slapped, and all I could do was keep my eyes locked with Celestia. Before she could speak I beat her to the point.

"Yeah," I said quickly, "and I can't forget about the Innies before hand, they also did a good number on my mental profile as well."

"How can you be so okay with that!" came Twilight's voice from next to Cadence.

All I did was shrug, and lean back in my seat. All I could think of was how I could be sitting here and not in a padded room in Sidney with a mark in my medical records saying 'Section 8'. And before anyone could tell me otherwise I got up and asked where I could find a place to sleep for the night. Twilight and Celestia were suddenly taken aback from my sudden change of pace. Twilight just simply pointed to the door to my right, and I retrieved my shotgun from near the door I left it by  when I left and made my way downstairs. Soon enough I made myself comfy on the floor and fell asleep.