//------------------------------//
// Chapter 24: The Final Fall Begins 
// Story: I Have Returned 
// by EPiiCx5587 
//------------------------------//

I Have Returned Chapter 24: 
The Final Fall Begins

Three years ago….

Sleep was slowly leaving Twilights body. The three long weeks of surgery took a massive toll on her, but she could feel it, feel her newfound strength. Now she was faster, stronger, and more capable than practically any human has ever been, she would be an elite: A Spartan. To some, she would be like a god, little do they know she once was.

Most soldiers could only dream of becoming a Spartan, and now she was one.

Slowly she opened her eyes to instantly become shocked. The ceiling was wooden, why would it be like that? Jane turned her head to the left and she could see a bright blue sky outside a nearby window. That was impossible, she was on a space station right now.

Confused, Jane pushed up her body with her hooves. Wait hooves?! She looked down at where he hands were to find two purple hooves in their place. Quicky Twilight threw off the blanket that covered her to see that she was fully back in her old body.

She was home. Home at last. A strange feeling swelled up in her stomach when she thought ‘home’, something foreign and gross...as if deep in her soul Equestria didn’t feel like home anymore.

Twilight shook those thoughts out of her head, that didn’t matter right now. All that was important at this moment was that she was in Equestria once again.

Her heart was filled with joy as she lept out of bed, and ran down into the main living room of the Golden Oaks Library. Everything was just as she left it, the way the furniture was placed, to the locations of all of the books. It was like she never left.

“Spike! I’m home!” Twilight yelled out to no response.

Strange, after all these years she thought that he would come running at the sound of her voice. She was certain it would be fine, he was probably just at Rarity’s. After all he would be a teenager at this point, and well, she knew what teenagers were like with mares. 

Just the thought of seeing Spike all grown up made made her tingle with anticipation. There was so much catching up to do, she couldn’t wait.

Twilight rushed out of the door and into the busy streets of ponyville. Once again it was just how she remembered it, so lively, so happy. As she looked around though, she noticed that something felt… off. She couldn’t put her finger (or now hoof) on it though.

Then it hit her. She had been gone for three years, now she’s back and in open public, but for some reason nobody or nopony was noticing her.

“I’m back everypony.” She said. “It’s been three years but I’m back.”

Once again nopony noticed her.

“Hello! It’s me Twilight Sparkle, your princess who has been gone for the past three years!”

This wasn’t right. Ponies would just past by her, not even glancing in her direction. It was like she was still gone. How could this be? She had saved equestria countless times, now she returns after an explained three year absence and nopony cares that she was back? It just didn’t feel right.

Eventually Twilight decided to start walking. Maybe if she found one of her friends, they would surely notice her. They were her best friends after all, how couldn’t they miss her?

After a bit of wandering, Jane...Twilight... came upon the market at the middle of town. Great! Usually Applejack was there selling her apples.

Twilight weaved her way into the crowd, and started looking for Applejack’s stand. There were just so many ponies clustered around it, it made it hard for Twilight to find it. 

She tried saying excuse me to a few ponies in her way, but once again she got no reply. After trying a few more times, she just decided to barge through and shove them to the side. It worked, but when she looked back, the ponies didn’t even looked fazed. It was like it never happened.

Turning her head back around Twilight saw the Apple family stall with Big Mac selling apples. Great! He knew her, certainly she would get a reaction out of him.

She trotted over to him all while smiling. He didn’t even glance at her, yet she was standing right in front of him.

“Big Mac, it’s me Jan- I mean Twilight.”

No response.

“Please Big Mac, not you too. Can you at least tell me where Applejack and the others are.

Nothing, absolutely nothing.

Twilight sighed, it was pointless. She turned back to face the crowd again, but this time the entire crowd was gone. All that stood before her were five ponies: Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Rarity. For a moment Twilight was filled with joy, then she noticed their faces, they were all angry.

“Girls, it’s me, I’m back.” Twilight said, starting to get worried now. “Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Everything went dead quiet. The five ponies just started at her, all looking like they hated her.

Jane at this point started to back up.

“Please, say something. Say anything!”

Things went silent for another moment, until the five ponies said in unison. “You monster!”

“What! Why are you saying that, I’m not a monster. It’s me Twilight, don’t you all recognize me?”

“No... you are a monster.” They all said again.

“No, it’s me Twilight!”

“Wrong, you are Jane, not Twilight. A murderous monster.”

Jane’s heart was racing faster than it ever had before. Why were they saying this? What was going on!?

Suddenly though, Jane heard another voice, this time from below her. She looked down, and there he was: Chamdi.

“You…. Killed…. Me….” He said.

Jane jolted upright in her bed with a gasp. She immediately noticed that she was back as a human again, and that she was still on the space station in which she got her surgeries done. She was back in reality.

It was a dream, it was all just a dream. None of that was real. She was a fool for even thinking it was real for a moment. In fact she should have known that it was just a dream the instant the ponies wouldn’t notice her; it was a dead give away.

That wasn’t the half of it though. Her friends, they called her a monster. It was only a dream, but it felt so real. Killing almost never happened in Equestria, and anyone who killed was frowned upon even if it was in self-defence. Ponykind had a ‘there’s always another way’ mindset. It wasn’t too much of a stretch to think that her old friends would hate her for what she had done.

No, that was impossible. They all knew her very well, and would know that Jane would never do anything such as killing another being without good reason. They would understand, right, they had too. If they didn’t though, then that dream wouldn’t be too far off of reality. It was a scary thought, and it sent shivers down her spine.

A knock came from the other side of the door to Jane’s room.

“Come in.” Jane said.

The door opened revealing none other than Admiral Osman herself. Once again Osman was carrying the same briefcase containing her ONI uniform.

“Hello Jane, how are you feeling after all of your operations.” Osman said, giving Jane a smile.

“Well, bigger for one. Stronger too.”

“Explain.”

“I find that after I recovered from my surgeries I don’t get tired as easily. I don’t need to eat as much. Weights that use to push me to my limits now feel like paperweights. All kinds of things.”

“I bet.” Osman replied pointing to the brief case. “As you can already guess, I brought your uniform. This time though, I’ll leave it in your hands.”

“Yes, thank you once again Admiral Osman.”

“It is no problem. You’re ONI now Jane, you’re going to do great things for humanity.”

“I hope so.”

“You will Jane. Humanity always comes first, no matter what. I know that you will follow those words no matter what, I can see it in your eyes.”

Humanity always comes first? It was such a strange concept considering her origins. How could she value the lives of her birth species instead of the species in which she snuck into. Was that honestly what Osman saw in her? For now though, she would just go along with it to keep Osman happy.

“Yes sir! Humanity is the only thing that matters.”

“Great, that’s what I like to hear Jane.”

“I know. Is there anything else you’re here for Admiral?”

“Yes actually. I had your armour put on top priority, it is ready for you now to try on.”

Her armour!? Yes! All of Jane’s negative thoughts left her in an instant. This is what she had been waiting for. Jane designed her armour herself, and she couldn’t wait to try it on.

“I would love to try it on.” Jane said, getting up out of her bed.

“That’s good to hear. As you already know Spartans are required to wear a special kind of jumpsuit to put on their armour. Yours is in your closet I believe.”

“I’ll get that on right away.”

“Good, I’ll leave you to get changed then. Meet me outside.” Osman said before leaving.

Jane walked over to the closet in her room. It wasn’t often soldiers in the UNSC got a full closet for themselves, but she was getting special treatment no doubt in part of her ONI affiliation.

She opened it up, and found her jumpsuit.

“Well, lets get you on then.”

_____________________________________________________________
Five minutes later…


The machine stood before her. A device designed for putting on armour for a Spartan IV in rapid time. Before these, a team of technicians had to put it on which could take up to fifteen minutes. This machine on the other hand could do it in five. That alone could be the difference between life and death.

Jane stepped into it one foot at a time. Her new boots clamped down onto her legs. Next she placed her hands into two sockets that put on her new gloves and gauntlets. Now the machine slowly lifted her off of the ground as a few mechanical arms popped out of the ground to put on the rest of the parts.

First was the chest plate, then the shoulders, and finally the legs. The machine lowered her back down to the ground before a robotic arm holding her new helmet placed it on her head.

Her hud flared to life as she walked off of the machine, clad in her new armour.

Turning around to face a mirror, she saw herself for the first time as a Spartan. Her armour was coloured the same way her old hair was, and the soldier type helmet was a perfect fit for her.

She looked… deadly. Of Course she herself knew that behind all of that armour was a simple human being. To others though, especially her advisories, all that they would see is a Spartan who was built for combat, and bred for war. The perfect killing machine.

_________________________________________________________
Present day. Equestria, inner planet.


Jane crept silently through the brush. She had been tracking down Palmer and the others for the better part of an hour now. She had to keep at a good distance though and keep crouched, after all Palmer had motion trackers just like her.

Peeking her head just over the bush she was hiding in, she caught a glimpse of Palmer Luna, and her old friends standing outside of an entrance to an underground Forerunner structure. Jane could just barely make out what they were saying.

“Should we go in?” Luna said.

“It would be hard for Jane to find us in there.” Palmer replied.

‘Fat fucking chance, I’ve already found you.’ Jane thought.

“True, but it might be dangerous down there.”

Rainbow dash flew in between them trying to look heroic.

“Humph! I’m not afraid of any danger.” Rainbow proclaimed.

Sadly though, Rainbow was ignored by the rest as they tried to figure out what to do.
“Hmmm.” Luna said. “Once again, it looks so familia- ARGH!”

Luna collapsed onto the ground. Palmer quickly helped Luna get back on her feet.

“It happened again?”

“Yes, it did. I don’t know why. It feels like I know this place, but I try to focus on remembering anything I get that blistering pain.”

“Same kind of pain when you try to think of humans?”

“Yes, exactly.”

This was news to Jane. Maybe she would have to look into this if she let any of the survive.

“Well that doesn’t matter right now. I say we go in. I’ve been in enough Forerunner structures to know that they always build another exit.”

“Very well, we’ll follow your lead Miss Palmer.”

They all started to move into the structure while Jane waited silently from a distance.

This was perfect, she could probably corner them in there, and end this once and for all. Palmer made a poor choice by siding with the enemy, and helping them out. Hopefully Jane could deal with this quickly and get back to the ship.

Jane stood up, walked out of the bush and into the open. Stepping up to the entrance she stopped for a moment. There was bound to be danger down there, who ever took Celestia, and possibly killed her fire team could be down there.

No, she couldn’t be afraid. That’s what the being would want her to be. Jane’s encounter with it was bound to happen eventually. All that she could do was face it head on, and with all of her power.

Palmer would no doubt at this point have Jane come up on her motion tracker, so it was time to finish this once and for all.

Jane lept into a sprint down into the underground structure. She had no time to admire the Forerunners architecture, and technological wonder. That could be done later.

Quickly she caught up to the others and yelled. “Stop right there!”

Each of the seven turned around, and Jane noticed that each her old friends where wearing their respective elements save for Luna who was wearing Jane’s.

Palmer snickered.

“I caught you on my motion tracker long ago Jane, and now we have you cornered with the Elements of Harmony.”

“Damn! I underestimated you Palmer.”

“Ya, we set a trap, and you fell for it.”

“I must admit, I’m impressed.” Jane scoffed. “But you are all fools to think that you can defeat me. I will fulfill my ambition, and save humanity. If you are all willing to stand in my way, then I’ll knock you down with all of my might.”

“We’ll just see about that!” Palmer shouted. “Girls, activate your elements.”

One by one each of the elements started to glow, and they all raised into the air. Each of their eyes glowed white, and a double rainbow shot out towards the ceiling. Within a fraction of a second the two rainbows combined into one and shot down at Jane.

The Rainbow collided with the Spartan in a display of light. After a few seconds though it all went away leaving Jane standing there the same way she was before.

For a moment Jane got worried, but soon realized that she didn’t feel any different. The elements didn’t work on her.

A few more moments passed before Luna said. “Did it work.”

Jane at this point couldn’t contain herself.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! That was pathetic!” Jane laughed.

“No! They didn’t work, how is that possible.!”

Jane laughed again at Luna’s remark.

“You have no idea how things work don’t you.”

“Come again?”

“With humanity there is no such thing as good or evil. It’s not like your stupid world where everyone is either a saint or sinner. With the human race, it’s just different people with different goals, there is no set morality. You think that you can purge evil from me, well guess what! In reality the only right or wrong, is the right or wrong we create ourselves!”

The seven started to back away now nervously.

“No, our once chance to stop all of this, gone.” Palmer said, now visibly scared.

Jane pulled out the M739 SAW from the back of her armour, and pointed it to them.

“And now with that done, I’m going to do what I should have done in the first place instead of taking you all prisoner! Shame, I initially didn’t want to kill any of you, but I have to do what I have to do.”

In an instant though, before Jane could pull the trigger a massive wall materialized in front of her, separating the lone Spartan from the others.

Dam! She was so close. Whoever did this, it must have been the work of Celestia's kidnapper. That only confirmed her earlier suspicions, this was a trap.

Behind Jane some of the floor opened up, and out from it came a large cylinder object with an opening in it for a person to enter. A haze of blue energy was inside the cylinder and it shot upwards towards the ceiling.

It felt as though it was beckoning her, wanting her to enter it. Without even noticing Jane started to creep forwards to it till she was just a meter away from it. Whether this thing was going to kill her or help her, she didn’t know. All that she knew was that it must have been there for a reason.

“No pain no gain then.” Jane said as she stepped into it.

All around Jane her world went white, and then just as suddenly she found herself alone, surrounded by a blue haze and darkness.

A being appeared before her floating in the haze. It was clearly female. She was very humanoid, but she definitely wasn’t a human at all. Her skin was pale white, and she had two holes on her face for a nose. Whoever she was, she was wearing a strange metal shaped hat in the shape of a hairstyle.

“Wh- Who are you?” Jane asked.

“I am the Librarian.”

“Are you the one who has been doing all of this?”

“No I am not the one behind all of this; however I do know who is. Fret not, I am here to answer all of your questions Jane Arimondo. It is time you learned the truth about Equestria.”