//------------------------------// // Explanations, answers, and even more mysteries // Story: When Worlds Collide // by Lon35hadow //------------------------------// John's head was throbbing. The last thing he remembered was Lily alerting him and the others as to ten unknown contacts before he had been knocked unconscious. When he brought his hand up to his head to rub it to remove what disorientation he could, he discovered that his helmet was already off. He was immediately jolted awake and looked around the room. What he saw surprised him. What he saw was what looked like an old, medieval dungeon, complete with wooden door with iron bars. He also saw ten humans standing, talking with one another. He recognized Ken, Lily, and Maruco due to their armor coloring, but the other seven John didn't recognize. One of the people John didn't recognize, a woman in a grey and black, skin-tight outfit, tapped Ken on the arm and gestured towards John. This got everyone's attention, and they turned as well. Ken, Lily, Maruco, and a man in yellow and silver armor with a lot of scars on his face and what appeared to be a glass eye in his right eye socket walked over to John. John could see that Ken and the others didn't have their helmets on. Ken was Caucasian, with close cropped hair and gray eyes, not exactly what one would call handsome. Lily looked a lot like Linda, a Spartan-II that John knew well, seeing as how they were among the last of the Spartan-IIs. She had red hair and green eyes. She had a youthful appearance in her face, almost like she was having fun with this. Maruco, though, looked like John's oldest friend, Sam, a Spartan-II that died during the Spartans first engagement with the Covenant. He had blonde hair and blue eyes. He was average looking, like Ken in every other aspect. "John, good to see you're finally awake," Ken said, a smile on his face. He brought out his hand to help John off the cot he was on. Wait a minute. How did that not collapse from my weight? he thought to himself. This is Zaeed, in case you wondering who he is," Lily said, gesturing to the guy with the scars and glass eye. "Pleasure to Meet you, John. Your friends told me and the others as to what you've done," he said, holding his hand out for shaking, which John took. "May I just say: Goddamn, the shit you've done out paces the stuff we've done, but only fuckin' barely," Zaeed said, a grin on his face. "Oh, really," Maruco said. "Well, care to enlighten us as to that shit, Zaeed?" "Yeah, yeah. Later. Right now, I think we should introduce your friend to the others." "Agreed," Ken said, nodding. After that, the others introduced John to the others in the room, starting with Ashley Williams, a standard height, brunette Caucasian who wore blue, flowing armor, followed by James Vega, a Hispanic man in black-grey armor with a Mohawk cut in his black hair. The next was a Caucasian woman in a black and white skin-tight suit whose black hair reached her shoulders. Her name was Miranda Lawson. The woman after her wore, in terms of actual clothes, wore only a biker jacket, wearing body armor underneath. She had a small pony tail and only a little amount of hair on her head. Her name, or at least all John got, was Jack. Both her and Miranda were biotics, which, according to Ken, who had been told by Miranda, was basically someone who could control dark energy with their mind. There was another biotic with them who went by the name Jacob Taylor. He was an African-American with short hair and wore a black and silver bodysuit. The next was the one who had let Ken and the others know John was awake. She looked of Asian descent, with a streak of purple under her lower lip going to her chin. She wore a hood, so John wasn't able to get a good look at the rest of her face, but he did get that her name was Kasumi Goto. John was, personally, surprised that there was a full military that he didn't know about, as well as other aliens, but when they said that they got here via a wormhole, it made sense for John, at least. In return, John, Ken, Lily, and Maruco told them about the non-classified tech of their military, as well as the covenants. When they got to the part about slipspace, Ashley said, "Wait. So, you're saying you guys are able to go faster than light, so long as your ships have enough fuel?" Ken shrugged, responding, "Yeah. Don't you?" Miranda shook her head. "No. The drives we use have to be discharged after a certain amount of time, so they don't burn out and kill everyone aboard the ship." "Jesus, talk about a safety issue," Maruco exclaimed. "And your weapons fire what are essentially sand grain-sized pieces of metal at who knows how fast speeds, using something called 'Mass Effect'?" James nodded. "Yeah." "Don't forget construction," Kasumi added. Maruco looked at the others from the Spear and said, "You guys realize what the UNSC could do with just the construction part of that? The fleet could be back at full strength in no time." Ken looked down to the floor, his hand on his chin. "Yeah, but think of what the insurrectionists could do with the weapons part of the tech." "Fair point," Lily said. It was then John brought up a point that had been bugging him. "Shouldn't we try to get out of here?" Maruco looked at him, saying, "Tried already. Something strengthened the door, and everything in this room, really, including the cots. Can't punch through it or body check it. I tried both. Damn near knocked out again because of it." "What he means," Ken said, holding up a hand, "is that the field works a lot like a covenant one-way shield, only more force for whoever touches the exit side. And yes, we've ruled out biotics." Ken then went up close to the door and pulled a dagger out of the hidden compartment in his left forearm and threw it against the door. When it hit, the door had a strange, purple glow to it, the dagger having been forced half way through the wall opposite. "You see, according to what the others told us, all biotics are blue-" "Not all," Miranda said earning looks from John and the others. "You see, a friend of ours, who was cryogenically frozen for 50,000 years, had green biotics, but I think that was because of his species. But nothing would suggest biotics of this color." She said that last part as she walked closer to the door. She produced what John could only assume was an orb of biotic energy, which was a deep shade of violet, and threw it against the door. The field on the door seemed to absorb the biotic blast, strengthening it. "Wow," Zaeed said. "Well," Lily said," I was going to suggest you guys use your biotics to weaken the field so We could pick the lock with our knives, but that's apparently not going to work." It was then that John could hear something outside the door, as could the others, indicated by them turning towards the door. As far as John could tell, it was someone unlocking the door. When the door opened, surprise and shock was on everyone's faces. The reason why was said perfectly by Zaeed. "A damn unicorn," he said, his eye twitching, "That's it. I've lost my damn mind." "You haven't, Zaeed," Jack said. "I think we all have." Well, regardless of that," Kasumi stated, "I actually think the things kind of cute." "Me too," Lily agreed. The others looked at one of the two with looks of disbelief on their faces. "Are you two fucking kidding us?" Maruco asked, his eye twitching in disbelief at their statements. "No," They both said, crossing their arms. The pony, who wore bright gold armor and had a white coat and blue mane, cleared his throat to get their attention. They looked towards him again and John could see him almost jump in fear. Almost. He did lose his stoic expression for a second, though he quickly recovered it. "The princesses request to speak with you," he said. Before anyone could respond, a new, scratchy voice spoke up. "And what about us, horse? We're with them, so if your princesses want to speak with them, then we're going with them." "And there's Sawn," Ken mumbled. Another voice spoke up then. "Yeah, I have to agree with the giant bird on this one." "That would be Garrus," James said. "I told you, Garrus. I'm not a bird. I'm a Kig-yar." "Hey, I'm just saying that you look like one, alright Sawn." "Would the both of you please be quiet so I can think," a third, deep voice said. "And Thel," Maruco said. The pony turned to his left so he could look at the cell the other three were in. "The princesses requested these eleven, not you three. You'll meet her in due time." Ken was the next to speak. "No either all of us go, or the princesses will have to come here themselves, even if just me, Lily, John, and Maruco are the ones to stay here." "Yeah, and the same goes for us as well," Zaeed said. The guard seemed to consider this for a few seconds before sighing and saying, "Alright, you win. And before you tell me to unlock all of your friends,three are already with the princesses, and the other three are still unconscious." Ken held up a hand. "Just unlock the doors to their cells. We'll carry 'em." The pony shrugged. "Suit yourself." ... House of Octavia Melody; lone team call sign: classic lone team meeting regarding alien technology acquired the previous day Ten minutes earlier: Octavia was, by all means and ways, having a good day. All things considered, of course. This was her second year as a member of lone team, as she was recruited shortly after the Canterlot wedding incident by a changeling who had left the hive that attacked Canterlot just before. It was this changeling who had saved her from a pack of invaders before they had been able to drain any love from her, and also the one who was her mentor and was a close friend of hers. She still had her day job, as it was her dream and talent, but she contributed to lone team whenever possible. Right now, she and a few other members of the team were waiting for Lone Shadow to arrive. The fact that he was the one who called it was amazing in and of itself, as, most of the time, he spent most of his time in the remains of his hometown, so, needless to say, something important was happening. She was talking with Drawn Bow, another member of lone team who was also in the royal guard, about music, as he had a son with a music related cutie mark, and wanted to know more about the subject so he could relate to his son more, when the doors to the dining room, which was doubling as the meeting room for now, opened and in walked in four ponies, all of whom were instantly recognized. The first was Nightengale, wearing his guard armor. The second was Observer in his guard disguise. The third was an earth pony stallion with a white coat, black mane and tail, and a blank paper as his cutie mark. Octavia knew this was a disguise, as this was actually the changeling who had saved her. His name, like Observer's, wasn't known, so everypony just called him Messenger. The fourth and final one was Lone Shadow himself, coming in behind the others. He was in his true form. He used his illusion spell only while in the castle so that everypony would think him as a Lunar guard. Everypony took their seats, with Lone and the others who just walked in at the head of the long dining table that was being used. "Now, as I'm sure you are all aware," Lone said, "Last night, multiple meteors landed inside the Everfree forest. These weren't meteors, but rather what I assume to be means of transport from space to a planet's surface." "What are you saying, Lone?" a pony in Lunar guard armor asked. "What I'm saying is that Equis has made contact with aliens." Just before anypony could say anything, Lone held up a hoof, stopping the questions before they could start. "We were ordered to knock these aliens out if they showed hostile tendencies, which they did, though to wild life and not us. Right now, as far as I know, they are in the castle dungeons, but that's not the reason why I called this meeting." "Then what is it, Lone?" Octavia asked. "We recovered weapons that one group of the aliens used. Half of those are currently being looked at by Party animal to see if they can be modified for earth pony and Pegasus use. The rest, we brought with us, though only unicorns will be able to use them." "So, what's the ETC of the modifications?" another member of the team asked. Lone shrugged. "Best guess. A week at least. This is Party animal, after all. Until then, we are to watch over the princesses, the Elements, and the aliens. If the Brotherhood knows about this, we can sure as tartarus bet they are going to do something." He then looked to Messenger. "Messenger, get a message to Prince. Tell him I'm going to be coming by soon to see how preparations are coming for his and Scarabs town." Messenger nodded. A second later, he said, "It's done." Lone nodded. "Right. Everypony, get to your castle over watch positions, and I think it goes with out saying, 'stick to the shadows.'" Everypony in the room nodded and got up to leave. Just as Octavia was about to leave, she heard Nightengale say, "Oh, and Octavia. Party animal asked me to tell you hi." Octavia rolled her eyes, as Vinyl was always trying to get into a relationship with her, and every attempt crashed and burned so spectacularly, just one would rival the sun in brightness, and walked out of the room. Nightengale shook his head and looked to Lone and the others. "Okay, in all seriousness, who didn't see that coming," he said with a grin. Canterlot castle throne room; ten minutes later Hades was waiting in the throne room with Wrex and Grunt, who's race, the Krogan, were incredibly similar to the Jiralhanae, with the rulers of the country he and the others had landed in, for the others. He was thinking on how they were going to get home when one of the ponies in the room, an orange one who reminded him of Maruco's DMR in color scheme with what the humans called a Stetson hat, walked up to him. "So, Hades. Does y'all's species have farms?" Hades chuckled a little. "No, Applejack. For the most part, by which I mean all, my species are carnivores, meaning we eat meat. Just consider yourself lucky that I am not one to eat sentient races, so long as they can speak or have enough survival instincts to be considered sentient." This seemed to satisfy, if somewhat unnerve her, and she walked back to where five other ponies were, one of whom was one of the countries leaders. The door opened not long after, and Ken, John, and everyone else walked. The white pony with wings and a horn, Celestia, raised an eyebrow at the guard and said, "Sergeant, I thought I told you to bring just the humans." "You did, your Majesty," the guard said. Even at this distance, it was obvious he was shaking in fear. "But they said that either they all came here or, and I quote, 'She's going to get off her fat ass and come see us herself,' and I thought it would just be easier to bring them all here." "Well," Celestia said, a smile appearing on her face, "they are loyal, and that is indeed a noble virtue." Ken bowed. "Thank you, your Majesty." Celestia held up a hoof. "No need for formalities. This is first contact, after all. Plus, of what the guards that brought all of you here to Canterlot, you must be respectable soldiers on your world as well. I see no reason to let formalities be between three parties, each of which is respectable in their own right. And your friends have told me stories about what you've done. and I can honestly say that me, my sister, and everypony else is impressed." Ken looked a little surprised. "Well then, you have all of us at a disadvantage, as we don't know your name, nor that of your sister or the others." Celestia brought a hoof to her mouth to suppress a chuckle. "Of course. I am princess Celestia. Regent of the sun and one of three princesses in Equestria." She gestured to Luna. "And this is my sister, Luna. Regent of the moon." Luna nodded. Celestia then gestured towards the others. "And they are the Elements of Harmony." She then introduced each of the bearers. When she got to Applejack, she said, "Howdy." Hades could have sworn he saw Maruco go stiff when she spoke. He decided to question him later. The groups then began to talk, sharing personal stories. Hades was in the middle of one of his last missions for the Arbiter that stepped up after Thel when the one pony no pony wanted to know walked in. "Auntie, can I have some money," Blueblood said. "I'm throwing a party, and I need it to be extravagant." He then noticed the others in the room. "Auntie, what are these animals doing here. They should be thrown out and put somewhere that even idiots and uncultured ponies who would make them look civilized live. Perhaps that disgusting Ponyville." Hades saw Rarities, Maruco's, Zaeed's, and Jack's eye twitch, and Hades was feeling insulted as well. Maruco walked up to him and said, with anger in his voice, "Look, jackass. You may not like us, but if you want to live, I suggest you don't insult a person wearing two tons of power assisted armor who has had mental issues in the past and is strong enough, even with out his armor, to reach down your throat, and rip your guts out through your mouth." "Get away from me, peasant." "Do you really want to die, because you are coming close." "You wouldn't attack a prince in his own castle." "You sure about that, jackass?" "How dare you call me a donkey. Only a peasant would fit that description. Which is to say, all of you." Marucos eye twitched even faster. He looked to where the others were. "Hey, Rarity, this wouldn't happen to be Blueblood, would it?" "It is," Rarity said, her voice barely holding in the anger. "Why?" Maruco then looked towards the guards with spears and pointed to one of them. "Spear, now." The guard he was pointing to gave him his spear, then ran out of the room in fear. "No reason. It's just Jackass season, I got a license, and I see my first kill right in front of me." He looked to where everyone was standing. "Anyone else want in?" he asked, grinning like a mad man. "Hell yeah," Jack said. "It'd be a goddamn pleasure," Zaeed said, cracking his knuckles. "I'm in," Hades said. "I'm not one for violence, but Blueblood, for you," Rarity said almost growling the next part, "I'll make an exception. "Right," Maruco said. He then looked to Blueblood. "I'll give you ten seconds before we chase you down." Blueblood then gulped and ran out of the room like the devil was on his heels, though he was about to have a pissed off Spartan, an angry Brute, a biotic who could be labeled a psychopath, a mercenary who liked this type of violence, and a unicorn who hated him with every fiber of her being after him, which was about ten thousand times worse. Ten seconds later, the group of five ran after him, four of which wanted to end his life in the most painful, slowest way possible. "I give Blueblood a minute, two tops for survival," Ken said. John looked to Celestia and asked, "You okay with you nephew being tortured?" "No. He needs to learn that , regardless of his status, there will be those who are willing to put him in his place." She smiled. "Plus, I put a spell on him that protects him from fatal injuries, but not the pain. He just thinks he's just too important for anypony to harm him." During the hour they were sharing stories, Twilight brought up the Elements, which led to her explaining magic, which is why they aren't asking what it is. Once the new Blueblood haters club chased after him, Ken asked Celestia, "So where are we going to be staying?" "I was hoping you would agree to stay in the castle. Most ponies would panic if they discovered aliens were real. If you are to leave the castle, though, you are to leave with Twilight or one of her friends." Ken nodded. "Right. When they ask where we're from, we'll just say we're from a newly discovered country. No offense, but compared to our tech, you guys are primitive, so I think they'll buy that due to you not having satellites that allow you to map the entire planet." Twilight seemed a little flustered at that. "What do you mean? Equestria is one of the most technologically advanced countries on the planet," she said with a hint of pride. "This coming from a princess whose planet doesn't even have actual airplanes," Miranda said. "Or phones," Jacob said. "Or nuclear power," Lily said. "Need we go on?" Ken asked smugly Twilight comically glared at them, but said, "No." This got a laugh from everyone and everypony still in the room. Ken stopped laughing first and looked at Lily. "Hey, Lily, we've been out for a day right?" "Yeah. Why?" "Don't you remember what today is?" "What are you guys talking about?" Twilight asked. Lily looked at her as she said, "Just a special, interteam celebration of one of the greatest sci-fi movie series of all time." She paused here for dramatic effect. "Star Wars." She then looked to Ken. "We rotate who picks the song we listen to for the day. This year, it's Ken's turn. Hit it" Ken brought up his left forearm, which had a tacpad on it and brought up the music directory. He chose the song and it started playing. "Happy May the fourth, everyone," Ken exclaimed, spreading his arms out.