Princess Celestia sat in front of the fireplace, enjoying herself with a very generous helping of chocolate fudge cake. It was the finest cake she had ever tasted, even better than the last cake she had. The princess always wondered how the bakers managed to create such masterpieces. She closed her eyes and savored the bite, making sure to taste every single, last crumb. Using her magic, she decided to grab another piece of cake, only to find her saucer devoid of any.
"Aww... no more cake..." Celestia frowned. She turned to her grandfather clock, noticing it was almost time for her to lower the sun so that her sister, Princess Luna, can raise the moon. Ever since the Nightmare Moon debacle, Celestia could not express her happiness with words, knowing that her sister was brought back to her. Now, everyday no longer seemed to be a reminder that she was alone. Her sister was with her, ruling Equestria side-by-side, together.
All because of Twilight and her friends.
Celestia reminisced the time when Twilight was but a filly. She was very intellectual and hardworking for her age, but she was humble about it. She never bragged about her status as a student of the princess or showed off her prowess to others. That made Celestia very proud. It was a mystery to her how Twilight managed to not make any friends during her time as a student, but that all changed when the princess sent her to the small town called Ponyville. From there, she managed not only to gain friends and realize her position as an Element of Harmony, but reunited her with her sister. And for that, she was eternally grateful.
However, that was not, in Celestia's opinion; Twilight's proudest moment. Nor was Discord's Defeat, after he had somehow managed to escape, and neither was Twilight's intervention in Cadence's and Shining Armour's wedding; revealing that Cadence was actually the Changeling Queen, Chrysalis. No, in her opinion; Twilight's proudest moment was the time when she completed a spell that she had given her, something not even the famed Star Swirl the Bearded could do. Using everything that Twilight had been taught and learned about the Magic of Friendship, she completed the spell, returned her friend's Cutie Marks to their rightful ponies, created new magic, and thus, was deemed ready. Twilight Sparkle was no longer going to be Princess Celestia's student.
She was deemed ready, to be a princess.
Celestia smiled at the thought of her student surpassing every challenge, every obstacle and every hurdle that was thrown at her, some quite literally. While she was proud of her former student, she could not help but feel lonely again, knowing that Twilight has duties of her own now.
"It'd be nice to hear from her again... she sighed.
As if on cue, a green flame appeared in front of her, and a letter materialized from the flames. Celestia was somewhat startled at first, before realizing it was Spike's signature message flame.
"Heh... you always had a knack with timing."
Celestia opened the letter, expecting good news, a greeting, or anything of particular interest that would compel her former student to send her a letter. The letter was of particular interest. But not the good kind.
Dear Princess Celestia,
It has come to my attention to inform you of recent events here in Ponyville. I, as well as those connected to the Elements of Harmony, have felt a powerful energy rush at the same, exact moment in time, and it was only us who felt it. Rainbow Dash informed me that a bright flash appeared in the Everfree Forest prior to the energy rush. This brings me to the conclusion that this was of magical means. We came to the Everfree Forest to investigate the source of energy before we found it, however, we were confused at the sight. We found three beings in a clearing, whom we believed were dead. We turned to leave and inform you of this, before one of the beings moved. It was different from the other two, as it was shorter and of a different color. However, the most surprising thing I have found was that this being was sentient. It was perfectly capable of speaking fluent Equestrian, despite the fact that this creature has never before been recorded in history. It was composed of what looks like metal, which leads to the theory it is some sort of machine. However, this is not the reason why I'm writing to you. While it was sentient, we have evidence that it might be insane, as it began yelling and kicking at the corpses of the other two. This might seem like an act of fear, but it was clearly aggressive at the corpses, yelling insults and vulgar language at them. We decided to leave it alone, until we saw what it was capable of. A pack of Timberwolves attacked it soon after, but they were quickly dispatched in a horrific way. The being moved with incredible speed and strength. It pulverized the first Timberwolf, before snapping the necks of the other two. The being was what I believe, giggling at the last two Timberwolves before it proceeded to kill them. That's not all. The being gathered the remains of the Timberwolves and gathered them all to one pile before it dumped the corpses of the other two beings with it. It then proceeded to set them on fire. And the whole time the fire burned, the being just stared at it. We left immediately and sent this letter to you, in hopes of advice, and, if necessary, help, if the being decides to wander and unleash its wrath on Ponyville.
Your loyal friend,
Princess Twilight Sparkle.
Celestia read the letter very carefully before putting it down, simplifying what she had read in her head.
"A fully sentient metal being, both powerful and insane, is running around in Equestria, with possibly nopony to stop it." she thought.
Seems like it going to be one of those days again.
As she continued to ponder at her former student's predicament, Princess Luna, her sister, walked into the room.
"Sister. Art thou ready?" she asked.
Celestia looked at her with a raised eyebrow before replying.
"You're slipping again."
Luna did not understand, before she realized what she just said. Flustered, she covered her mouth with her hoof, going through different shades of red.
"S-sorry Tia. I kind of forgot for a moment that we don't talk like that anymore." Luna stuttered, embarrassed at herself.
Celestia chuckled at the sight. It was nice to poke some fun at your siblings from time to time.
"Don't worry, its alright. By the looks of though, your conversation lessons are going great! However, I'm sure you have some important business to do other than to chat."
This time, it was Luna's turn to raise an eyebrow. Had she seriously forgotten it was time for her to lower the sun?
"Tia, did you seriously forget it?"
"Forget what? I'm sure I've finished all my jobs today..." Celestia put a hoof to her chin, deep in thought.
Luna's jaw dropped. Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria, raiser of the sun, had forgotten one job; possibly her most important.
The sun.
"Hello? Celestia? Raiser of the sun? Whose job is to raise AND lower the sun?"
"Raise and lower, raise and lower... oh! The sun!" Celestia exclaimed, the thought returning to her.
"Looks like we have a winner..." Luna thought, as she and her sister walked towards the balcony. Together, they stared out into the horizon. Focusing on their magic, Celestia used hers to dip the sun into the horizon, whereas Luna used hers to raise the moon, reigning in the night.
Several minutes of strenuous magic using had passed. Together, they returned to Celestia's room tired; Celestia even more so than her sister.
"Tia, what's wrong?"
Celestia looked over to Luna. She had a worried expression on her face.
"What do you mean what's wrong?" she asked.
"Tia, you almost forgot to lower the sun. Something must be wrong if its enough to distract you from lowering the sun." she elaborated.
Celestia continued to stare at her, before bowing her head and sighing.
"Yes, something has come up. Twilight sent me a letter today."
Luna's expression brightened.
"Twilight? We haven't heard from her in ages! What did she say in the letter?" she asked in a foal-like manner.
Celestia grinned. That's what she thought as well. She looked at her sister before returning to her stoic expression.
"It said that she and her friends felt a rush of energy and discovered it was by magical means. They located the source of the energy, and they found a sentient being made of metal."
Luna looked confused.
"A sentient being made of metal? I have never seen a living thing composed out of metal entirely. That is of course, if I haven't read about it yet..." she pondered.
"Don't worry." Celestia assured. "There has never been a living being made entirely out of metal ever recorded in history."
Luna seemed even more confused now "Does that mean... it could be a new species?"
Celestia nodded her head. "However, that is not all. Twilight reported that it was powerful in strength and speed. It was able dispatch a pack of Timberwolves without a scratch."
Luna was still baffled. "Alright, so Twilight Sparkle and her friends discovered a new species. I still do not see what's so wrong that you need to worry about it."
Celestia shook her head. "Well... Twilight did say that the being may be... a little bit... insane."
Luna shot her a questioning look. "Insane? Like, how insane?
"How does "kicking corpses and yelling insults at them, giggling while snapping Timberwolf neck and burning them all in the end." sound to you?"
"Yeesh." she cringed. Whatever happened, it must've not been a pretty sight.
While Luna continued to think, Celestia made a walk towards the door.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Celestia groaned before turning to her younger sister.
"Luna, this is an important matter. The creature seems dangerous. I'm going to Ponyville and ask Twilight to lead me to it. From there, I'll decide what to do."
Luna looked at her sternly.
"Tia, you're tired. You just returned from your business trip from the Griffon Kingdoms and you just lowered the sun. You're going to exhaust yourself at this point. Besides, its not like we haven't handled dangerous being before."
Celestia wanted to retort, but she was interrupted immediately by Luna.
"Do not fret, sister. I'm more than capable of handling the situation!" Luna stated with confidence, puffing out her chest and standing straighter.
Celestia looked at her incredulously, as if to ask if she was serious.
"What? You doubt me?" Luna deflated, obviously put off by Celestia's lack of confidence in her.
Celestia began shaking her head sideways vigorously, a desperate attempt to keep her sister from feeling depressed.
Luna beamed at her signal. "Does that mean I can go?"
Celestia began to shake her head again, but was cut off by Luna's reaction.
"Tia, I can handle myself. I'm younger than you, but I'm not a filly anymore. Whatever this creature is, I can handle it. I promise. Besides, I need to get out more. I can't just stay in here until Nightmare Night now, can I?"
Celestia continued to give the "are you serious?" look. However, in many ways; she was right. While she was younger, she was by no means defenseless. She could handle herself very well should the need arise. And, in truth; she really was exhausted. She gave Luna one last look before sighing.
"Alright Luna, you can go. I trust you that you can handle the situation"
She could tell Luna was overjoyed, but she somehow managed to keep a straight face.
"Thank you." she said, albeit a little too quickly; her excitement clearly showing.
Luna darted past her sister, giving Celestia no time to speak her mind. She felt like she needed to go after her, but she simply felt too tired. Maybe she was right after all. Using the last of her energy, she walked to her bed and unceremoniously plopped down on it; drifting off into a peaceful slumber...
... that was rudely interrupted by a returning Luna.
"Oh, and by the looks of it Tia, you need to get out more as well. All that cake goes straight to your hips, you know."
Celestia gasped at her sister's implications. She was going to give her a piece of her mind, if she hadn't gone already.
"LUNA!!!"
Princess Luna snickered, giggling as she walked down the hallways of the castle.
It really was nice to poke some fun at your siblings from time to time.
"Wait a second. So you're telling me, a weird metal guy that you thought was dead, got up, yelled at a couple of dead purple guys that you think it killed, killed a pack of Timberwolves, and then it burnt them all together in a raging inferno for no particular reason?" Spike questioned.
"Yeah it did! I swear, it was giggling while it killed them!" Rainbow Dash answered.
Spike cringed at the newly-formed image in his head.
"Gee, and I thought I've seen crazy when Twilight's friendship report was going to be late."
"Hey!" Twilight retorted. "It wasn't that bad!"
Spike shot her a disbelieving look.
"It wasn't that bad? It wasn't that bad!? Twilight, you enchanted your doll so that everypony in town would fall in love with it!"
Twilight shuddered at the thought.
"Alright, I did go overboard on that one."
Spike smirked and crossed his arms in victory. This lasted for a second however, as he had another question in mind.
"Alright, so the thing's insane. What's the big deal? We could always leave it alone." he suggested.
"We can't, Spike. What if it comes here? Whatever that thing was, it's dangerous. It killed the Timberwolves without a scratch with its... erm... thingies!" Applejack exclaimed.
Spike was unamused of Applejack's lack of a better term.
"Thingies? Don't you think you could be a little bit more... I don't know... exact?"
Applejack rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"Well Spike, ah don't really know what he had. It kinda looked a hoof, I think, but it had five pointy things stickin' outta it. Sorta like your claw there." She said, pointing at Spike's claw.
"Five pointy things... wait a second. Was it walking on twos by any chance?" he questioned.
"It did, actually. How did you know that Spike?" Rarity asked.
Spike continued to wander in his thoughts before turning towards Twilight.
"Twilight, by any chance do you think it was human? By the way you guys talked about it, it kind of sounds like one."
"Human? You mean those people you met back at the portal?" Rarity guessed.
Twilight shook her head. "I'm very sure it wasn't a human Rarity. It was too fast and strong. It didn't look like a human either."
Pinkie Pie, listening in on the conversation, popped in front of Twilight, waving her tail in front of her face.
"Hey Twilight, look! My tail's a twitchin'! My tail's twitchin'!" Pinkie stated excitedly.
"Twitchy tail? EVERYPONY, DUCK FOR COVER!" Spike shouted.
Everypony in the library, having accustomed to the Pinkie sense, ducked under the nearest furniture they could find. They waited something to fall, but they only heard the sound of something outside the library. Nothing happened next, until the door opened, revealing Princess Luna and two bat-ponies, presumably her guards.
"Hello? Anypony home?" she asked no one in particular.
One by one, the Main Six, including Spike, moved out of cover and bowed their heads in front of her.
"Welcome Princess Luna, its a pleasure to meet you here." Twilight said as she rose.
Luna smiled. "Likewise, Princess Twilight Sparkle." she looked at the others, still bowing their heads.
"Rise, my little ponies. I apologize, Princess Celestia is currently unavailable at the moment. I'm here because she received a letter regarding an unknown being." She turned her head towards Twilight. "Is that correct?"
Twilight nodded. "Yes. We found an unknown being that is sentient and powerful, yet insane. We ask for your advice, as it can pose a danger to Ponyville."
Luna pondered about what to do. If she was to determine if this being was to truly pose a threat, she needed to assess it herself.
"Alright. Twilight, I need you and your friends to lead me where you last saw this creature. From there, I shall decide what to do."
She looked over the six ponies. Twilight and Applejack kept a stoic expression. Rainbow Dash was trying to suppress a growl. Pinkie still had her happy expression, saying something along the lines of "better bring the Party Cannon..." and Fluttershy visibly shuddered.
"Will she be alright?" Luna asked, looking at Fluttershy.
"She's fine, princess. It's just that when we saw the thing firsthand, it sorta... left an impression on little ol' Flutters here." Rainbow answered.
Luna raised an eyebrow before looking at Fluttershy again. "I see..."
"This thing must be extremely dangerous if it was able to shake these ponies."
She remained skeptical of bringing her with them, before making up her mind.
"Well, everything seems to be in order. Twilight, lead the way please."
Twilight nodded her head. "Yes princess."
Everpony walked out the door. Spike moved to follow them, before he was stopped by Rarity.
"Spike, you cannot possibly consider joining us. It's too dangerous."
"What?! Then who's going to protect you then?" Spike whined.
Rarity chuckled at his innocence. Seriously, times like these just make him so adorable.
"Don't worry Spikey-wikey, we can handle ourselves. Besides, I have an important job for you!" she exclaimed.
"Really Rarity? What is it?" Spike wanted to know. Anything for somepony as beautiful as her.
"I need you to warn everypony when the creature decides to come to Ponyville. You can do that Spike, can you?" she questioned.
Spike stood straighter and saluted. "Yes ma'am!"
And with that statement, she began to join the others; ready for their journey through the Everfree once more.
The forest was quiet. Eerily quiet; save for the odd chirp of a cricket or the hoot of an owl. Anypony in their right minds wouldn't dare to go into the forest; especially in the night, when the forest becomes dark. It's as if the forest had any light anyway, even in the day. Yes, everything was quiet. But if you listen very, very carefully, you could hear a faint voice, echoing in the distance.
"Mayday, mayday, mayday. This is SPARTAN-A239 of Noble Team requesting immediate evac. Prioritization code sigma zero two dash seven dash echo alpha two three nine."
"This is getting annoying." Emile thought. He had been here for hours now, sitting in the Pelican on his own. The first few hours had been bearable, with him cleaning out and inspecting every single weapon inside.
Then he continued to look for anything of interest. He found the survival kit, MRE's, health packs and even some armor abilities. Upon seeing them, Emile immediately took the nearest Armor Lock. He tested all of them out, until he eventually grew bored and decided to camp out in the Pelican. He stayed in there since, twiddling his thumbs and listening to his distress call play out over and over again.
He looked out the window, and sure enough the fire he had started outside had shrunk into embers, barely letting out any light. The Elites were hardly recognizable; you could still see some purple, but their bodies were mostly charred to a black lump.
Emile grimaced at the sight; not because he hadn't seen sights like this before, but because of the presence of purple. Fighting the Covenant led him to a growing distaste of the color; one of the rare things he had in common with a certain heavy weapons specialist.
Upon reminiscing a deceased member, his thoughts wandered towards Reach. What happened after he died? Did the Pillar of Autumn escape? And what about Six?
Theories and thoughts continued to swirl in his head, until two possibilities became present. One: Noble Six will join Captain Keyes aboard the ship and attempt to make their escape. Highly unlikely, given the fact that they have a Covenant CCS-class battlecruiser on their tail. So, this leads to a second, more likely possibility. Noble Six will take his place on the gun emplacement, ensuring the Pillar of Autumn's safety.
Knowing Six, he'd probably pick the second option and stay behind. But that means he's going to die too.
Emile frowned. Then he smiled. While Six's report was covered in black ink, not all of it was covered. According to the file, Six was more of a hyper-lethal vector than a soldier; he's made entire militia groups disappear. If Emile knew one thing, it's that Six is going to be one hell of a pain in the arse for the Covenant before he's going down anytime soon.
He continued to think, before his gut-feeling went at it again. Emile came to trust this feeling; it's helped him out of sticky situations before. He slowed his breathing; using his senses to tell him if anything, if at all, was amiss.
His ears picked up something faint. There were voices, and by the sounds of it they were at the edge of the clearing. They weren't even trying to be quiet.
"Civilians? Maybe they can tell me where I am!" Emile thought. He looked out the window, zoomed in at the source of the sound with his visor and activated his night vision.
He was given the most bizarre sight of his entire life.
From what he could see, there were nine creatures that resembled technicolor horses. There was a white one with a curly purple mane; a horn on her head as well. There were four with wings; although there were two with armor and leathery wings, like a bat's. There were another two with both a wing and a horn; the navy blue one however is taller than the rest; it was almost six feet tall, including her horn. Then there were the last two. They had no special appendages on them, but they certainly were unique; especially the pink one. It was constantly bouncing along with the others.
This may have been a weird sight for the SPARTAN, but that isn't what got his attention.
What got his attention was that they were talking.
In perfect, fluent English.
Emile racked his brain for an explanation. Was he in an alien world? Was this a dream? A nightmare? So many questions and not enough answers.
All this thinking was becoming unhealthy for Emile; this type of stuff was more of Kat's specialty. Nonetheless, he had only one, rational explanation for this.
He must have overdosed on the combat stims again.
His thoughts were interrupted by a collective gasp. He looked out the window again, this time he saw the group shocked to find his little campfire; the yellow one with wings looked like it was close to crying on the spot.
Out of nowhere, the pink one was somehow in a fireman uniform. It approached the fire with a little bounce in its step, pulled a fire extinguisher out of its hair, and sprayed the pile with a white foam.
"All done!" it exclaimed with a squeaky, feminine voice.
"What the fuck is going on..." Emile thought. He was going to have an aneurysm at this point.
The tall, blue one however, turned stern. It walked up to the center of the clearing, and took a deep breathe.
"MONSTER OF THE EVERFREE FOREST. COME OUT THIS INSTANT AND SHOW YOURSELF!"
"Jesus Christ, that thing is fucking loud!" he cringed.
"I SHALL REPEAT. COME OUT THIS INSTANT!"
"Alright, alright! Jesus, that thing's going to burst my ears!"
He grabbed a M45 Tactical Shotgun E-model and a M6G PDWS; placing them on his back and his hip respectively. He pulled out his knife, checking it if it was in tip top condition before re-sheathing it in its rightful place. He pressed a button on the control panel; the back compartment slowly opening. He positioned himself in front of the mechanical door, steeling himself for what was about to come.
He was ready for anything.