Two Dawns
A quiet beeping woke Ale from his slumber. He opened his eyes and was greeted by his blue HUD sporting a gently flashing light dictating the time. With a neural command Ale turned off his alarm and shifted out of bed. After he had reported his findings to Twilight yesterday he had set an alarm due to an extra early shift at work this morning. He carefully tread on the ground as he walked through the library towards the front door; his armored mass moving surprisingly fast and quiet, honed by years of training and combat. He reached the door and exited into the cold night air.
He walked through town towards the lumber yard and observed the quiet peacefulness the night gave off. While everything seemed perfectly fine Ale still felt like something was off. He knew very well that he should trust this feeling since it has served him well after years of battle. He continued to head towards his destination with caution, checking his surroundings every now and then. Ale reached the fenced lumber yard with no incident and checked in at the guard house. He politely waved off the night crew as they left for their homes.
After punching in, Ale looked over his work itinerary and followed it to the letter. He continued working as the day shift came in some time later, surprised at how much work was already accomplished by the alien. His work day was surprisingly drab with only a few things here and there requiring special attention; meaning he cleaned a toppled crate filled with adult magazines that was rather unexpected by Ale and assisting in the repair of a wagon.
It was midday by the time he finished and clocked out. As soon as Ale stepped outside he felt the same feeling he had earlier that morning only a lot stronger. He looked up and down, side to side, even going as far as to switching through his different vision types through his HUD and pinged his radar multiple times. Ale even sent a neural command to the ‘Ember’ to sweep the surrounding space for any slip-space signatures. After Cassandra reported a clean sweep did Ale begin to move, startling the ponies that had been staring at the seemingly disoriented Spartan. Ale did not shrug off the strange feeling, knowing full well that doing so could be a huge mistake and instead placed it in the back of his mind.
Ale continued walking through town until he reached the library. He was about to walk in when the door opened, revealing Twilight and the rest of the mane 6.
“Hi Ale!” Twilight said. “We were just on our way for our weekly picnic. Care to join us?”
Ale shrugged as he replied, “Sure. Where are we going?”
“To the park. We always sit on this grassy knoll under the shade of a tree.”
“C’mon Twilight! You could have just said the park. We don’t have all day!” Rainbow said.
Twilight placed her forehoof on her head in exasperation as she replied, “Let’s just go.”
Ale stepped aside and let them pass. He turned with them and began following them to their meeting spot in the park.
“So Rainbow, why aren’t you out training right now?”
“The Wonderbolts, in celebration of my recruitment, decided to celebrate it here in Ponyville.” As Dash said this Ale noticed a few blue and gold streaks performing aerial stunts in the sky above him.
“Let me guess, Pinkie’s in charge of the party?”
The pink menace, as Ale had started calling her, jumped up and down rapidly as she exclaimed, “Yeppers!”
The group entered the park and soon reached the grassy hill that Twilight had described. Twilight used her magic to set up the red and white checkered blanket and opened the picnic basket to place all the food out. She looked towards Ale and smiled.
“I should probably mention that Luna sent a message last night Ale.” With this said she levitated a gold ticket towards Ale.
He plucked it from the air and studied it curiously. “What’s this for?”
Rarity gasped, “Why, it’s only the most important event of the year! The Grand Galloping Gala!”
Ale’s visor hid his confused expression, but AJ picked up on his predicament by the lack of response or enthusiasm.
“It’s where groups uh nobles get together and have themselves a rooten tooten hoedown.”
Ale nodded in understanding at AJ’s down to earth description. Rarity huffed a bit.
“Yes well, while AJ’s description was a bit unrefined it is a fancy party none the least. This reminds me,” She began quivering with excitement, “you must need some sort of suit. Would you be interested in letting me create a fabulous suit for you?”
Even her irresistible puppy eyes were no match for the will of one who has seen as much death and horror as Ale. Seeing her tactic wasn’t working she began quivering her lower lip and blinked her eyes rapidly as if she was going to cry. She perked up slightly when she saw Ale inhale a breath.
“No.”
She let loose an exasperated sigh. “You’re no fun!”
Ale chuckled gently before Twilight cleared her throat. “Anyways, Luna invited you to attend the gala with her. It occurs in three days.”
Ale smiled at the chance to spend more time with the dark alicorn. “Count me in,” he replied.
The group settled into conversation as they began eating, Ale simply watching as he still refused to remove his helmet and wasn’t particularly hungry at the moment. After half an hour or so the ponies finished up and began packing up their picnic.
“Are you sure you don’t want anything? I’m sure there is something left for you.” Fluttershy asked.
Ale shook his head and waved at her gently. “I’m fine, but thanks for asking.”
Rainbow Dash spoke up, “Well, I better make sure to tell Spitfire that the party will start soon.”
“I have to write a report to Celestia about our attendance to the gala this year.”
“My animals are waiting for me to feed them as well.”
“And I must simply finish my masterpiece!”
“I have to finish collecting apples if I want to meet my criteria for catering at the gala.”
“And I have to finish setting up Dash’s party!”
Ale nodded and began to say goodbye before he was struck paralyzed with a feeling of dread. He immediately whipped towards the Everfree and studied it carefully.
“Ale? What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
Ale stood stock still as he felt his gut drop out and waves of adrenaline rolling down his body. His armor enhanced hearing began picking up sound coming from deep within the dark forest.
“Ale?” Twilight asked again.
“Run.”
Twilight and the girls looked extremely confused. “What? Ale, what’s happening?”
Ale looked towards the colorful ponies that he had come to know and befriend and spoke with a terrifyingly familiar professional tone.
“Go to the library and lock the door. Barricade all the openings and don’t come out, no matter what you hear. Warn anybody you see along the way to stay inside and hide.”
Twilight looked like she was going to argue before Ale’s hearing alerted him to the buzzing sound becoming much, much larger. With a massive stomp, Ale frightened the girls.
“Promise me you won’t open the door!” The buzzing was clearly audible now and the girl’s eyes widened in fear. “Go! Tell Celestia as soon as possible!”
The girls began running towards Ponyville. Ale turned towards the forest as he saw a massive black hoard charge out. Ale estimated an 800 meter distance between him and the hoard. He rapidly grabbed his rifle from his back and began firing into the line, holding his ground against the oncoming swarm. Ale felt dread as he watched more and more changelings pour out from the forest to fill the gaps of their fallen comrades. They were rapidly approaching in a much, much larger swarm than Ale originally anticipated.
Without a second’s hesitation he turned around and began sprinting back towards Ponyville as fast as he could, leaving the changelings in the dust. Ale knew that the changelings would kill, the guard he had briefly known when he first came to the castle being living, well used to be living, proof. As he ran Ale thought over his options as to how he could most successfully defend Ponyville. Ale was no fool and knew that this was not a good situation. He was used to reinforcements when counter-attacking, not solo defending an entire position filled with innocent, defenseless civilians from a Flood like strategy. It was obvious to say that this was not going to end well.
Ale crested a ridge and saw Ponyville rapidly approaching. He was frustrated when he saw many ponies standing outside and near the edge of town when they heard the report of Ale’s rifle, ignoring the mane 6’s attempts to get them indoors.
“Run! Run goddamn it!” The ponies still seemed unfazed and in desperation, Ale raised his rifle and fired short bursts of hot plasma at their hooves, clearly getting the message across as they dispersed. Ale was almost there when he glanced behind his shoulder and saw that the changelings had already crested the hill and were beginning to fire green bolts of magic at the town. Ale took a few bolts himself, his over shield thankfully taking the assault in stride. Ale flew into town and saw most of the ponies slamming their doors and windows shut, barricading their homes as best as they could. He knew that getting the changelings to cluster up at a choke point would be his best option when fighting in an urban area like this by himself.
He soon reached the library and immediately headed for the garage, the screams of ponies beginning to ring out as the changelings reached the town and began their assault. Ale practically sheared the metal lid off a long green case stored next to the garage. He pulled out the LAAG that he had dismounted from the Warthog and hefted it up into a firing position. He moved at a fast jog as he headed for the area of first contact. He came around the corner of a house and saw the changelings rushing up the street towards him like a dark shadow. Ale spun up the LAAG and began lobbing 12.7X99mm armor- piercing rounds at them. The insects began dropping rapidly under the unending stream of hot lead ripping through their bodies. The roar of the gun and the screams of the enemy were dulled significantly through Ale’s sealed environment. Ale held his ground and braced himself against the powerful recoil of the chain gun.
The swarm had slowed down dramatically and struggled to push towards him. Body parts flew everywhere, green arcs chasing said parts; a fine green mist flying out after red gold streaks. Ale watched carefully as the changelings began splitting up and taking to the air to flank him. Ale began pedaling rapidly backwards as he spread his fire as best as he could. Ale noticed the gun barrel beginning to turn red and steam, his ammo counter also dropping rapidly. Knowing that the gun would become un-operational if he kept up his current rate of fire Ale dropped the massive gun and pulled out his SMG’s. He continued firing as he fled into an alley way to take cover, his over shield beginning to beep loudly as it dropped dangerously low due to the overwhelming amount of magical attacks it had endured. He barreled between the two buildings and turned another corner. Ale frowned when he hit a dead end and turned around. A black mass slammed into him and drove him back against the wall.
Unfortunately for the changeling, Ale was a lot more heavy and stable then it predicted and at the speed it was traveling physics took over. The bug disappeared in a fine green mist as Ale’s over shield proved to be much stronger than its exoskeleton. Ale looked up to see that a group of changelings had chased him. They gave little warning before charging him while firing their magic. Ale dodged to the best of his ability in such a small place but he still took hits. His shields finally became taxed beyond their limit and fell. The magic bolts, while failing to penetrate his armor, still gave a lot of force. Ale felt the hard hits and powered through it, more concerned about their sharp horns and fangs that could potentially break through his under suit and injure him. They came within striking distance as Ale began deflecting their hoof strikes in a blur. The changelings were no match for the Spartans super human reflexes and fell quickly to his onslaught.
Ale activated his jet pack and flew up to the roof. He was met with an unexpected surprise as pegasi in familiar blue and gold outfits were flying through the air, dodging green missiles and cutting through swarms of flying changelings with what looked to be wing blades. While it was a relief that he had some outside help he could still see that many of them were wounded and one would drop out of the sky here and there. Ale was about to help relieve some pressure off of them when he saw a fire maned pegasus fly rapidly through the sky, burning many changelings with some sort of enchanted wing blade set. Satisfied that the pegasi could handle themselves, Ale jumped down into the middle of a street and immediately took cover.
Black forms were flying everywhere and Ale heard many ponies crying out in fear. Ale saw a large group of changelings heading down the street towards his position. Thinking quickly he leaped through a storefront window that had already been shattered and was met with a gruesome site. Three mangled corpses of what once was a small family were scattered about the front room with blood splatters everywhere. Ale felt sickened that something so violent could happen to something so innocent. He looked out of the window he was currently crouching behind and saw the changeling group passing him. With a new sense of duty, Ale climbed quickly out of the window and opened fire on their undefended rear. They screamed and attempted to fight back but were simply mowed down by Ale’s SMG’s, the silent Spartan efficiently killing them and disappearing. He moved around the town as quickly and quietly as possible, killing many groups with guerilla tactics. Ale found himself in the housing area and, hurrying to keep those that sought shelter there safe, cleared the area of most hostiles. When he reached downtown he felt a sense of dread.
Swarms of changelings were still attacking and many buildings were on fire. Ale watched as a door was torn down and a few changelings rushed in. Hearing screaming, Ale abandoned stealth and rushed forward, watching as a few ponies rushed out of the house and were chased by laughing insects. Ale pulled out his magnum and fired as he rushed at them, dropping the ones that were flying. The other changelings stopped their pursuit and instead ran at Ale. With swift bashes with his magnum and a follow up with his combat knife, the black beings were on the ground bleeding out or already dead. His actions caught the attention of the swarm however and they began chasing him. Ale turned swiftly and barreled through a burning building, the fire damaged structure collapsing at the loss of more support on top of a mass of changelings. Ale continued running as he came out through the other side, his shields taking an absolute beating. A large green flash slammed at his feet and cratered the ground, sending Ale flying through the air. He landed on his chest with a huff and attempted to stand only to be tackled by a massive force.
Ale struggled against the force of a hundred changelings pushing on his body, his shields failing impossibly fast. Ale brought his elbow back and knocked a few changelings off of him to give him enough room to roll on his back, his magnum already out as he fired rapidly into the crowd that was less than an arm’s reach away. He was immediately engulfed again and struggled with all his might. His visor turned red and began beeping as his shield depleted and exposed Ale to the brunt of the changeling attack. He felt their punches and magic strikes right away. Ale shifted his head in time to avoid being impaled in the neck by a black horn. He was surprisingly quiet as he squirmed under them, wincing when he felt sharp fangs bite through his under suit in his lower left forearm. Knowing that this was incredibly dangerous Ale activated his thruster pack and blew out from the black mass, toasting a few of them on his way out. Ale slammed head first into a building and now knew why that was dangerous as he was stunned from the strong impact with no protection from his over shield, his armor and body taking the brunt of the impact.
He quickly regained his bearings as he jumped up onto his feet and brought his rifle to bear. The swarm was closing in on him fast and Ale prepared for a repeat performance before a rainbow blur wiped all the changelings off their hooves. Ale immediately fired on the knocked down bugs and crushed a few of them with his armored boots while running through them. After killing them he quickly scanned the sky for the blur knowing full well who that was. Changelings were still flying through the air but were noticeably smaller in number. A cyan flash caught his attention as he began chasing it down, firing on the black bugs that dared get in his way as he sprinted. When the pegasus attempted to take a corner Ale leapt into a flying tackle and took them both to the ground that would make many football fans cheer.
“Oof! Let me go!”
The pegasus whom Ale now confirmed was Dash began bucking and squirming violently. Ale kneeled over her and turned her around on her back so that she could see his visor. She immediately calmed down but scowled angrily at Ale.
“What are you doing!? Let me go back out there!”
“I told you to stay in the library!”
“Yeah well you need me more out here then inside cowering! Besides, I’m a part of the Wonderbolts and they need me!”
“Listen Dash, I’m sure Spitfire would agree with me that in this situation the elements need to be protected at all costs! The girls need you!”
Dash was about to argue when she grimaced in pain. Ale searched her over and found one of her wings to be burned badly.
“Now look at what you’ve done to yourself!”
She looked a bit ashamed before Ale interrupted her. “Get up. I need you to walk and head towards the library.”
She nodded and they both quickly got up from the cover Ale had tackled her into. Ale ran alongside the quadruped as he fired at changelings with his specialized assault rifle. They ran past rubble and dead changelings everywhere, occasionally passing by the corpse of a pony. Rainbow looked terrified as she saw what the insects were doing when she wasn’t traveling at blurring speeds. Ale kept her on track however with the report of his rifle ringing in her ears. Ale checked his vitals while running and was happy to find that the wound on his arm was superficial really. A Spartans healing capability would take care of it in no time. Ale soon saw a purple bubble encasing the library and was shocked to see the number of changelings trying to break it down. There was easily twice the number that had tackled him earlier. Knowing that he probably couldn’t take on twice the number that had already injured him earlier and with an injured civilian with him he resorted to asking for Dash’s help.
“Rainbow, can you get a raincloud over their heads quickly without getting spotted?”
She saluted him as she grinned. “You got it!”
She grimaced as she powered rapidly into the air, easily outrunning any changeling that wanted to chase her. She quickly brought a cloud laden with water high above the library and began manipulating it to rain heavily. The second the water began making contact with the changelings and covered the purple dome, Ale pulled the secondary trigger on his rifle, sending a bolt of electricity into the hoard of bugs. They instantly began dropping silently as powerful yellow bolts leapt all over them. Ale smiled a bit as it reminded him a bit of a giant bug zapper. This was short lived however when he saw RD falling towards him, spiraling out of control. Ale reflexively clipped his gun to his back and threw out his arms, barely catching her as he crouched with the impact, helping disperse some of her momentum. She was breathing heavily and was unconscious, Ale knowing that the strain of her injury probably put her into shock. He quickly ran through the bubble shield as both his armor and human self negated almost completely the effects of the dome.
He opened the door with one hand and was promptly smacked in the face with a frying pan. Spike immediately began apologizing as Ale simply shrugged it off since his shield had long since come back online. He was however a bit irritated when Pinkie fired her confetti cannon at him, covering him and RD in streamers. Twilight and the girls rushed up to him and drilled him with questions, Twilights horn alight and visible strain on her face.
“She’s fine. But I told you all to stay here. I expect there to be no further accidents. The changelings are being driven back but do not come out until I say so.”
Ale turned to leave and continue the fight until a yellow hoof reached out and grabbed his arm.
“Are you okay?”
“It’s just a skin wound.”
“What about the others? Are they okay?”
Ale remained quiet and watched as their faces fell with tears building in their eyes, Flutters sporting the thousand yard stare. Ale nodded at the others to comfort her and to keep RD safe as he turned and left. He quickly ran out into the green gore that covered the streets and looked around. He couldn’t spot a changeling in the sky or on the ground fighting in the immediate area. He heard fighting towards the side of town where they had first attacked and swiftly ran to the Hog parked nearby. He jumped into the driver’s seat and started it up. He put his ‘lead’ foot to good use and sped quickly through the streets, crushing the dead bugs under the legendary machines wheels. Ale admittedly had a tough time driving with all the debris and bodies in the road, the hog wanting to roll every second as it bumped violently and side swiped buildings as it struggled to retain traction. Ale turned on the windshield wipers to wipe the green gore off the windshield as he neared the edge of town, said town being empty of hostiles as they were all dead or had retreated. He reached the edge of town and saw a fight still occurring in the fields between Ponyville and the Everfree forest.
He throttled through the creek, washing the hog as he sprayed across the channel and drove up the opposite bank. Many of the Wonderbolts were still fighting the numerically superior enemy, many of them heavily wounded but determined to protect their fellow brothers and sisters. A large group of bugs made a thick sloppy rank line as they began firing magic at the blue uniformed pegasi. The attack was devastating as many of them could not avoid the solid wall of green magic. Ale took this chance to throttle heavily right towards the bugs. They didn’t even have time to react as the three metric ton machine rammed into them with its high beams on and horn blowing loudly. The hog shuddered violently at the combined mass of insects it smashed into. The machine also began rolling violently and Ale gripped the roll cage above him with one hand. The hog finished its roll and, as designed, landed on its wheels. Ale slammed the gas down and pressed L2 (Just kidding) engaged the rear axle power steering and performed a 180 donut. He straightened the wheel and held his rifle in his left hand as he began firing on the retreating stragglers. He chased the running ones down, running them over as he fired at the ones that took to the air. After a full minute his rifle fell silent as it silently smoked, the whole front of it turned red with its almost non-stop firing and in danger of melting with anymore use.
Ale whipped the hog around and floored it back to Ponyville, Spitfire yelling at him to check on the elements as she checked her fallen teammates. Ale was relieved to see that the changelings were truly gone as he didn’t encounter a single one while sliding through the streets. He slammed on the breaks however when he saw six familiar ponies walking out from the damaged DJ club. Ale leaned out of the hog and shouted.
“What are you doing!? I thought I made it clear that you had to stay in the library until I said so.”
Twilight looked at him as she replied, “We heard the fighting stop and wanted to check on the other ponies. We came here since the club is a good place to take shelter. We found survivors in here but they’re hurt!”
Ale nodded, still disappointed that they had disobeyed him but none the less jumping out of the hog and rushing to the back of it, pulling out a med kit. He started to stand up straight when a thought struck him. He stood up and looked at them as they stood in front of the club beckoning him to them urgently. He studied them carefully and noted a few things.
‘No signs of crying, no rugged fur, Fluttershy would never leave someone who was hurt, Dash looks fine,’ and probably the most important thing to notice, ‘their cutie marks are backward.’
Ale flicked his HUD view to see in a slower frame rate and revealed six changelings. Ale, acting as if nothing was wrong approached them with the kit.
“Quick! In here!”
Ale followed them in and immediately saw a massive group of changelings in the club, no doubt currently disguised.
Ale handed the kit to ‘Fluttershy’ and spoke up. “I forgot! I have more med kits in the back of the hog! I’ll go grab them real quick!”
He turned and was immediately pounced on by ‘Twilight’, ‘Applejack’, ‘Pinkie’, and ‘Rainbow Dash’. Ale swiftly killed them with his combat knife that he had already unsheathed and sprinted out of the club, performing a flying somersault to land feet first on the back of the hog. He gripped the maneuvering handles of the currently mounted LAAV, or gauss cannon, and turned it towards the club. He aimed right inside the open door where a few disguised changelings were already beginning to flood out of. ‘Fluttershy’ leapt at him from the ground and opened her fang filled mouth, her head promptly exploding as a MAC round fired through her opened maw and into the open doorway. Ale apparently hit something important as the whole club collapsed to the ground, killing all of its occupants in a massive crunching sound.
Ale dismounted and climbed back into the driver’s seat. He made his way over to the library and was relieved to still see the purple dome in place. He left the engine running as he climbed out and headed back into the library, this time ducking beneath the frying pan and pinching the lit fuse on Pinkies’ cannon. He looked around and saw Fluttershy conversing quietly with Rarity and Applejack. Pinkie was helping RD to her hooves and Twilight looked like she was about to break from the stress the shield was putting on her.
“It’s safe now. I wouldn’t suggest going outside but do as you wish.”
Twilight let out a relieved sigh as her shield collapsed. The others gathered up with each other and Ale stepped outside. The others followed soon after and gasped at the sight. A few buildings were still on fire while others were completely burned down. Some looked like they had even exploded. What was more disturbing was the massive amounts of green blood on the ground with hundreds upon hundreds of dead bodies littering the town. It didn’t help that you could see colored coats here and there that were streaked with red blood. Ale’s Warthog was damaged badly with multiple dents and ripped off armor in some places. One side of the front axle was bent making the machine lean to the left slightly when driving. The windshield was cracked and one headlight smashed out. It still rumbled proudly though as the true might of UNSC engineering endured. However, the sight of Ale brought more concern for the girls. His armor was scuffed and scratched everywhere with some parts scraped and dented slightly. Nothing looked melted however which was surprising since changeling magic was notorious for being super heated. His visor was smattered with green blood and, the most pressing matter for them, was his lower left arm which was streaked with red blood.
“Ale? Are you alright?” Twilight asked.
“I already told you, I’m fine.”
They were going to press the matter when a distant clinking dragged their attention. They looked into the sky, Ale already having pulled his weapon out. He put it away however when he spotted the tell tale gold armor of the Royal Guard. A very large detachment consisting of 50 plus pegasi approached the blood soaked streets of Ponyville. They landed with slight squishing noises and looked around in horror. Ale stepped forward.
“Who’s in charge?”
A pegasus clad in gold armor with a red stripe shook his head as he stepped forward. “T-that would be me sir,” he replied shakily.
“Are you all that the princess sent?”
“She has sent a detachment of unicorns and earth ponies but it will be a while until they get here.” The guard looked around once more before asking, “What in the name of Celestia happened here?”
Ale looked towards him with his head slightly angled at him. “The reaper of innocent lives and the destroyer of nations. War.”
The pony looked shocked as he wiped a foreleg across its muzzle, leaving a bloody streak.
“Find Captain Spitfire. She will tell you everything you need to know. Get these streets cleared and help those injured. Burn the remains.”
Ale turned to leave before the obvious rookie interrupted him. “Wait! Where are you going?”
“Canterlot.”
The pony looked nervous as he looked around. “What if they come back?”
Ale actually scoffed at him. “Listen, I highly doubt they’ll come back after seeing what a single soldier was capable of doing. If they do come back you better hope your training pays off. It is your responsibility to defend your fellows. Find Spitfire.”
Ale walked to the ever rumbling Warthog and climbed in. Applejack rushed over to him before he could leave.
“Just where do ya think you’re going?”
“I must speak with Celestia in person.”
“You have ta stay! We need ya!”
“AJ… Look around you. I can’t let this happen again. I must speak with Celestia.” Ale gestured behind her with his hand. AJ turned around and saw exactly what Ale was referring to in a new light. All the destruction strewn about frightened her. But she realized that it would have been much worse without the Wonderbolts timely arrival and Ale. She pictured the same scene only in Manehatten where she had once been before. She recoiled at the sheer thought of such destruction and death.
“Your friends need you AJ. We both know that you’re checked into reality more than the others. That’s why you’re still standing with a straight mind. That’s why you need to be the one to help your friends.”
She looked over her five friends and widened her eyes in worry. Fluttershy was curled into the tightest quivering ball she had ever seen sobbing loudly. Rarity was on the ground knocked out cold and Rainbow was streaming tears quietly. Pinkie was standing next to the body of a fallen pony and was shaking the corpse gently, desperately asking if they were okay and that they would come by later to celebrate their victory. She began to shake the body harder before giving up, studying her gore covered hoof while rocking back and forth on her haunches, whimpering quietly. Twilight’s reaction was the most heartbreaking. She stared at the ground, her ears sagging while her wings hung limply in the green mud. Her proud and determined demeanor was gone and was instead replaced with an empty, hollow feeling.
“Go, your friends need you.”
AJ began walking away before looking back. Her eyes were sad as she stared at Ale. “Please, be careful. You need to come back, for our sake.”
Ale nodded before revving the engine. The Spartan began carefully driving down the street, avoiding survivors and reaching the edge of town quickly. As soon as he was clear he accelerated as fast as he could, slowing down slightly when the hog began shaking too violently when pushed too fast due to its damage. Ale vied for a silent ride as he was in no mood for entertainment. The late afternoon sun shone brightly upon the land, it’s brilliance out of place in such a perverse situation.
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Celestia trotted back and forth on her balcony, her student’s letter worrying her greatly. An attack on such a peaceful town by the changelings was devastating. She had sent as many guards as she could spare in hopes of countering the threat. Her pacing was interrupted by the dull whine of a very familiar machine. She looked out over her courtyard as the noise approached, the gatehouse opening to permit the entry of the vehicle. She wished she didn’t recognize the vehicle as it came into view. Her eyes widened at the sight, the bright green streaks clashing violently with the dull green, grey, and black armor. The machine looked to be in terrible condition, the occupant hidden behind the impenetrable white spider webbing of the glass windshield.
The machine stopped and its rumbling ceased. Celestia sat down in shock at the implications of such damage to the seemingly unstoppable space warrior’s vehicle. The Spartan jumped out and looked up at Celestia. With a shake of his head at the sad sight of such a powerful being Ale activated his jetpack and flew up to her, landing beside her with a dull gentle thump. He watched as Celestia looked at him.
“How many?”
Ale sighed gently as he sat down next to her. “Hundreds, if not lower thousands. We succeeded in driving them off however.”
“And the ponies?”
“Unknown number of casualties. The town’s destroyed and many of the Wonderbolts were killed.”
Celestia shook her head desperately, refusing to believe what Ale had said. She knew he was right though judging by the visible damage on him. She quivered as she began crying gently. She blamed herself. ‘I could have done something to save those that she resided over. I’m the goddess of the sun! If only I had paid more attention.’
Ale watched as she suffered silently. He guessed she was probably feeling the same way he had after New Alexandria. Ale felt the need to give her something that was unavailable to him during his time as a Spartan. He leaned over and hugged her gently, whispering comforting words. Celestia wrapped him tightly in her forelegs and continued to cry into his battle hardened armor. She hiccupped as Ale rubbed her back soothingly.
“It’s going to be alright,” Ale said as he finally pulled away from her. She sniffled as she nodded. She stood up shakily, supported by Ale as he helped her regain her bearings.
“W-what do I do?”
“You will rest and help those that have suffered when you’re more presentable,” Ale said as he began to lead her towards her bed.
“And what will you do?”
Celestia felt like Ale was staring back at her dead in the eyes through his silent cyan visor. “Ensure the safety of those I have befriended.”
She saw her eyes widen in her reflection as she registered the meaning of his words.
“Y-you can’t! We need you here!”
“Who said I wasn’t coming back?”
Celestia huffed at him. “You will be careful won’t you? I have a sister to look after and a promise to uphold if you fail.”
Ale found himself smiling slightly at her remark even in such circumstances. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan on visiting the sun any time soon.”
Celestia nodded as she lied back down on her bed, nodding at the door. “You will have a guide accompany you when you return to your machine. He will direct you to the last known location of the changeling hive.”
Ale nodded thankfully in her direction as he exited the doors and closed them gently behind himself, the late evening light still shining in through her majestic windows.
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Ale walked down the corridors as he headed back towards the courtyard. He reached the main hallway that led to where his hog was waiting when the doors at the end exploded inwards. The night princess had a wild look in her eye as she stormed in, calling Ale’s name loudly. She spotted the Spartan and teleported quickly to him. She stood on her hind legs as she embraced Ale, the human reciprocating the gesture. She was shaking violently as she cried out.
“When I saw the Warthog I-I thought you were hurt! The guard explained everything and I’m so happy you’re alright!”
Ale continued to hug her tightly as she continued crying. “I’m okay. I’m okay. It’ll take a lot more than a bunch of parasites to take me down. I should know; I’ve had plenty of experience with them.”
Luna’s shaking slowed down as she started to calm down. She looked up, revealing her grief stricken face. The fur below her large eyes was matted and damp, her eyes puffy from crying. She glanced down and Ale winced when she froze, her eyes locked on a slight red blood streak on the left side of his thigh armor. She pushed back while still holding him in place as she got a good look at his arm. The sight of his damaged armor and bloodied arm started her shaking right back up again. Her horn lit up as she attempted to heal it, only to fail her task as his natural resistance and the stress of the situation proved to be too taxing.
Ale quickly pulled her in another tight embrace as he assured her he was fine. “Luna, calm down. It’s superficial and I’ll live another day.”
She still continued to shake, prompting Ale to take drastic measures. He yanked his helmet off with his undamaged arm and pulled her face upwards. He quickly locked lips with her, successfully ceasing her shaking as her brain registered the intimate contact. They stayed that way as long as possible, Ale stroking her back as he comforted her. When neither could hold their breath any longer they broke their kiss and stared at each other, huffing slightly to regain their breath.
Luna was the first to speak. “Thank you.” Ale smiled gently as his eyes softened. Luna collapsed against his chest as she took comfort in his breathing and strong grasp. She felt dread however, as she heard the next words leave his mouth.
“Luna, I need to leave.”
She pulled back from him in confusion. “What do you mean? Where do you have to go?”
Ale sighed as he replied, “I have to go and make sure the changelings don’t hurt anypony like this ever again.”
Luna looked at him in fear. “Surely you don’t mean-“
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Ale interrupted.
“But, but you can’t! You won’t survive an assault on the hive!”
Luna felt fear when she saw the look of pure determination on his face. “I have no choice. It’s them or more innocent lives. I didn’t have a choice against the Covenant and I don’t have a choice now.”
“Please. We can wait and call our forces together. There’s no need to risk your life after you’ve done so much. Ale, the bonding between our souls is almost complete. The changelings will feel the bond when it is complete and fear you as it is the most powerful magic in existence. It will solidify resistance to mind manipulation magic and the changelings are very good at it. Wait until you have a better defense.”
Ale replied without hesitation, “There’s no time. If we wait they can retreat and strike again before we are prepared. My whole life has been an occupational hazard and it’s no different now.”
Luna felt tears building up again as she knew there was no way she could stop him. “O-okay. Just, please be careful. You better be back for the gala.”
Ale pulled his helmet back on. “I’ll come back. I promise.”
“Don’t make a girl a promise you can’t keep,” Luna said.
The Spartan nodded as he began walking back to his hog, oblivious to the silent tears that crawled down Luna’s face.
(I’m really sorry about quoting from Halo but there are some killer and fairly emotional lines that are too good to give up. Also there is more to the soul bonding then meets the eye. Carry on.)
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ale headed outside and saw a pony guard inspecting the hog. He approached and coughed, the guard jumping as he spun around.
“Sorry that it’s not in the best of condition but if it runs that’s all that matters.”
The guard cleared his throat. “Yes well, I believe introductions are in order. I’m Lieutenant Quick Scroll. I was assigned to be your guide and to follow your orders sir.”
“CPO Ale.” They both nodded at each other and Ale gestured to the hog. “Well then, let’s go for a ride.”
The two soldiers climbed into the hog. Ale turned it on and put it into gear. They swiftly sped through the gate house and drove through the streets. Ale maneuvered the war machine out of the city and on to the moonlit plains. Ale’s new navigator pointed out to the desert, Ale following his command and steered towards the distant dunes. Ale turned on some music to help pass the time.
They both sat back and listened to the music as Ale kept driving. Ale was reminded of the hopelessness mankind felt as they were pushed back from colony after colony due to the Covenants ruthless genocide. He felt similar with the situation between the changelings and the ponies. Ale however felt conflicted at his current role in this conflict. Wasn’t he about to perform genocide just like the Covenant?
‘No. This is nothing like the Covenant. They were out to destroy us because they thought we were an affront to their gods. They were blindly following the instructions of the lying Prophets.’
This was different. He was protecting that which he knows is right and just. Ale knew in his heart that his duty required him to defend those who cannot defend themselves from the evil that lurks everywhere. With a new sense of finality Ale stepped on the gas a bit harder, pushing the hog faster while maintaining stability from the damage the hog suffered. The desert stretched farther than he could see, the Spartan knowing he was entering the area known as the badlands. The noise of the Warthog echoed out across the dead land as the brilliant shine of the moon continued to light their path.
-----------------------------------------------------
Ale slowed the hog down as Quick Scroll began pointing to a distant mound in the ground. Ale cautiously drove closer, sticking to the shadows with his lights off as he searched for an area to hide the Warthog. He found an ancient riverbed that was deep enough to shield the hog from view of the hive. He stopped the vehicle and turned it off.
Quick Scroll looked at him and nodded. “How do you intend on destroying the hive? We can’t take them on by ourselves.”
Ale jumped out, Quick Scroll following his lead. “Tactical detonation.”
“You have an explosive big enough for that?”
Ale sighed as he walked towards the front of the hog. “Yes. Unfortunately, it’s going to cost us our ride.”
Ale patted the beaten hog lovingly as he opened the engine access. Quick Scroll nodded as he watched Ale separate the glowing blue core from the machine. The core was a long hexagonal shape that was armored along its edges. It was supported by metal webbing. He pulled out a small rectangular plate that had a small screen with glowing red letters. Ale placed this on the core and typed in commands. The device read, ‘REMOTE DETONATION’, before being replaced with a pulsing, ‘ARMED’. Ale pulled his rifle off his back before magnetically clamping the core onto his back. He turned to look at Quick Scroll.
“Let’s go and be quiet.”
Quick Scroll followed Ale as the Spartan walked cautiously forward, his rifle up and painfully aware of the gently glowing blue light emanating from his back. They made good progress as they neared the mound, said mound turning out to be a massive hill that rose from the center of a huge crater. Ale pulsed his promethean vision and came up with a clean reading. Ale kept wary however as the flood was also good at hiding from sensor equipment.
Ale held his rifle with one hand as he vaulted over the edge and crouched, riding the sloping cliff face on his feet while leaning back and using his free hand as a mean of balance. He reached the bottom quickly in a small shower of pebbles that tumbled quietly. After ensuring that he had not yet been discovered Ale looked back up the cliff face to find Quick Scroll. He became extremely cautious when he did not see the pony and began looking along the cliff face. He was interrupted when a noise to his right pushed Ale into action quickly. Within a second Ale had his combat knife out and pressed against the throat of the now pinned noise maker. A second later Ale had his knife sheathed and stood up. Quick Scroll was lying on the sand, gulping breath fearfully as he struggled to maintain control of his bladder. Ale helped the poor bastard up and shook him down.
“Where were you? How did you get down here?” Ale whispered.
Quick Scroll steadied his breathing as he glared at Ale. “I traveled down an erosion path,” he whispered back.
Ale nodded and held his hands up apologetically. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.” The stallion nodded and Ale motioned for him to be quiet as they observed the hive. Ale could see a tunnel in the side of it by the ground and assumed that was the entrance if the tracks leading in and out of it were anything to go by. They approached the tunnel, Ale switching to night vision so that he could navigate in the dark. He swept his rifle side to side, making sure that there would be no surprises jumping out at him. The tunnels were no longer made out of sandstone but instead were made from a hard, smooth, black surface. It was also fairly damp and was frighteningly similar to the conditions he had seen in a 20th century movie. They continued moving deeper into the tunnels, Ale surprised at the stallion’s ability to maneuver in the dark. It was either the large eyes or maybe the glowing of the core on Ale’s back that helped Ale figured.
He was beginning to get concerned that they had yet to encounter any resistance and that maybe this was a trap until the tunnel opened along one wall and curved along the wall of a massive cavern. Ale crouched and motioned for Quick Scroll to do the same. They approached the walled edge carefully and peered over it. In the center of the room a large glowing green orb illuminated the room, helping disguise the glow from the core on Ale’s back. In front of the orb a throne made of the same substance that constructed the tunnels sat. The largest changeling Ale had ever seen sat on the throne. Judging from its slender form and crown Ale guessed that it was a female and thus a queen; which made perfect sense if they’re insect like. The platform that the throne and orb sat on was surrounded by hundreds of changelings.
Every changeling in the room had their eyes closed including the queen. Ale decided to monopolize on this opportunity as he pulled the core from his back and replaced his rifle. He set it down and checked it to make sure the explosive on the core was set. He began linking up the explosive to his neural interface so that he could mentally detonate once he was clear until a quiet clinking sound caught his attention. He looked down to his left hip in time to see Quick Scrolls hoof recede from him, his over shield having allowed access to Quick Scroll due to him being marked as a friendly. Ale turned to look at him. His eyes widened in surprise as Quick Scroll was enveloped in green flames, revealing a changeling with two red stripes running horizontally along both his shoulders marking him as a specialized unit. The changeling smiled evilly as its horn lit up and a green bubble surrounded himself. Ale realized what the changeling had just done and began to reach for his grenade pouch. Ale was far too late as it detonated, the force breaking the over shield instantly as it came from within the shield. Ale flew off the ledge in a shower of rock and dust as he fell down the wall.
He hit the ground with a loud thud, his prone form being battered by falling debris. Ale’s HUD was flashing red violently and had a single crack running down the middle of it. Ale didn’t feel or hear anything as the adrenaline pumping throughout his body was numbing everything. Ale fought against the blackness that pooled along the edges of his vision and attempted to push himself up. He got to his hands but when he tried to get on his knees his left leg refused to respond, causing Ale to fall back down. A mental command had already been sent and brought up his bio and armor reading. The left side of his waist armor had a large crack running through it and his body suit was breached. The reactor thankfully wasn’t damaged but it was majorly taxed out and needed time to recharge, his armor abilities being temporarily unavailable. His bio readout stated his thigh had a large amount of shrapnel buried in it with a large part of his quad muscle severed. With some insane amount of luck no arteries had been damaged and he only had some minor internal bleeding. His leg would be fine after he doctored it up.
He was already trying to get back up and had gotten to his hands when a crushing blow hit him in the side causing him to collapse. He wheezed as he tried to suck in air and tried to look towards his assailant only to be kicked in the face. His head was ringing, but his hearing did begin to return. Loud screeching and hooves stomping greeted his ears. He coughed up blood and tried to get up again. This time he was allowed to get to his hand before a voice called out.
“Enough!”
The noise instantly died in the room except for Ale’s wheezing. He looked up and saw the queen’s surprisingly bright green eyes stare at him.
“Bring him forward.”
A dozen changelings had to use their magic to pick Ale up a foot off the floor as they floated him over to the throne. They were struggling to hold him up as their magic began to give out, prompting them to drop him in front of the throne. Ale coughed again and rose to his knees painfully, his left side flaring in a pain so great it almost knocked him unconscious. The queen was staring at him with a very self satisfied look.
“Well, I have to say that your reputation gave me the impression that you were a giant unstoppable alien monster.” She smiled as she looked over his shoulder. “I’m rather disappointed that it was this easy to stop you.” Ale watched as the core and his weapons were levitated over to her side and set down.
“What *cough* can I say? I’m only human.” Ale shifted as he took stock of his weaponry, frowning when he found that they had picked him clean. They must have known what they were doing. He decided to stall for time as he thought up a plan. “You’re Chrysalis I presume?”
The queen looked at him thoughtfully. “And you are the metal giant they call Ale.”
The two stared at each other for a while longer, Chrysalis studying the alien creature with interest while Ale was searching for a plan to defeat the insects. The explosive charge on the core was mangled, no doubt the red marked changeling the one responsible. He shifted his helmet to gaze upon the special changeling, Chrysalis watching his actions with interest.
“I can sense you anger, and I must say it tastes absolutely divine.”
Ale looked at her in confusion, Chrysalis getting the message as she was able to sense his emotions.
“Contrary to popular belief changelings can eat most emotions. Love is just preferred due to its power. Unfortunately, those emotions must be directed at the changeling in order for them to eat. Being the queen has its perks however, as I am linked to my subjects thus allowing me to see, taste, hear, smell, and touch as they do.”
She inhaled deeply before continuing.
“I have an offer for you, human.” She walked towards Ale with a piercing gaze. “Join me. Together we can rule Equestria and nothing can stop us.” Her eyes flashed with disgust as she added, “I’ll even let you keep your pet princess and her naïve sister, provided that they have their powers removed of course. Can’t have them causing anymore trouble now can we.”
Ale watched her before looking towards the marked changeling again. “I’ll tell you what’s going to happen,” Ale said. “I’m going to stab him or her in the eye and kill all of you. I’ll even return home in time to keep a promise.”
Chrysalis chuckled as she shook her head. “You’re sorely mistaken. You’re in no position of power here and your bomb has been destroyed. Consider your options. You can die or accept my offer.” She looked at Ale with a disturbing sultry gaze. “I’ll even allow you to be my consort.”
Ale had listened to her every word and while he was disturbed at her offer he was distracted as her words sparked an idea. He pulled up a schematic of the ‘Ember’ on his HUD, the blue image flickering a bit at the middle where the crack ran down. Ale watched as his command was received and the secondary drives began warming up, the MAC gun highlighted red on the image as a progress bar began filling up at a decent speed as power was diverted to the massive weapon. Ale suddenly felt as if a second pair of eyes was viewing the same thing he was. He felt a strange tingling in his chest. He didn’t know if Chrysalis was doing something and looked at her to see her waiting patiently for his answer.
‘No, she’s not doing that. Well if she’s not then who is?’
He began to feel as if his body was being tugged. He instantly remembered that this was exactly what he felt when Luna had teleported him to the ‘Ember’.
‘Wait, Luna?’ As soon as he thought this he felt a comforting presence and smelled the particular scent of Luna, a slight crisp mint filling his senses. He realized that Luna must be using their soul bond in such a way that she was watching him and attempting to teleport him out of there. Ale sighed as he realized that he couldn’t leave, not with the ‘Ember’ tracking his signal. It pained him to know that Luna knew what he was up to and that she would watch him die. Through his own eyes nonetheless.
‘I have to do this Luna. I’m sorry that I won’t be keeping my promise.’
He could almost feel the desperation in Luna’s attempts to teleport him as if she could feel his sense of finalism. Ale actually began sweating in an effort to dampen her attempts at teleporting him, her magic strengthening as she tried to save him.
“Well? I’m waiting.”
Ale looked up at her and smiled with bloody teeth, his visor hiding his wide smile.
“Fuck you.”
Chrysalis recoiled with anger. “You insolent fo-“
Ale lunged forward as best he could from his knees towards his weapon pile. He landed on the back of his shoulders as he completed a forward somersault, grabbing his combat knife in the progress. With blurring speed he lodged his knife in the eye of the red changeling up to its hilt, the changeling opening his jaw in shock; his body teetering for a second before falling over with a dull thud. Before Ale could react a black hoof smashed him in the face, cracking his visor further as a mess of white lines spider-webbed in a circle around the point of contact. Ale hit the ground on his back and received a few hard blows to his gut. The blows stopped raining down and Ale struggled to his elbows, seeing the queen back up from her attack with a very angry expression.
“*Cough cough* I’m sorry. Was he *cough* your favorite henchman?” Ale watched as the blue schematic in the corner of his visor changed the red highlighted MAC cannon to a rapidly pulsing green. He felt Luna’s magic strike him harder and knew it was time.
“Fool! I’m going to take pleasure in watching you die.” The surrounding hoard of changelings began hissing as they approached. Ale began chuckling, his voice getting louder and louder as he burst out into laughter. The changelings looked a bit confused as they hesitated. Chrysalis looked extremely pissed as she frothed at the mouth.
“What is the meaning of this?!”
Ale calmed down as he breathed deeply before shaking his head. “Die? Didn’t you know? Spartans never die.” Her look of confusion was lost to a bright white flash.
-----------------------------------------------------
Luna cried out as she saw through Ale’s eyes the glowing green weapon on the blue image of his ship turn yellow, her fears being confirmed when text on the bottom read, ‘MAC ROUND AWAY’. With Ale still resisting her, horn still lit, coat sweating with exertion, and fatigue clawing at her body she galloped to the closest balcony and looked out over the desert. The dawn was rising slowly on the horizon, the badlands still embraced by shadows. She watched a white streak fall blinkingly fast towards the ground and closed her eyes as it flashed brightly when it made contact, the explosion creating a second dawn with the sheer intensity of the light. Luna dropped to the ground and screamed as an agonizing pain ripped through her body. It was much worse than the time she and Ale began linking up. She screamed until she almost blacked out with lack of oxygen. She felt hollow, as if a part of her very being had been ripped out.
She weakly tried searching for her connection to Ale and found nothing but pain. Her heart twinged as she began crying at the loss of her loved one. She continued sobbing loudly into the stone floor, a puddle of her tears soaking her coat and mane as it had stopped flowing. The sound of a ponies hooves softly treading on stone approached her. Luna felt a warm wing embrace her and looked up into the magenta eyes of her sister looking at her with sadness.
Luna choked out, “He- he’s gone.” Celestia nodded and wrapped her sister tighter as she attempted to comfort her sister as best as she could. She looked up and saw that the light had disappeared from Ale’s weapon, a massive layer of airborne dust mixing with the gentle hues of the dawn sky.
-------------------------------------------------------
The metal cooling vents of the glowing blue drive closed as the engine came back down to a stable temperature. The blue engine turned a duller color as it continued to cool down to a standby state. The lights along the power lines leading to the MAC dimmed after a new MAC round was automatically loaded into the massive gun. All operational devices that were not necessary in the operation of the ship turned off and waited to be turned on again. With her task complete and her orders fulfilled, the A.I. Cassandra disappeared from her projector. The command room darkened and the functional screens flicked off all but one. It pulsed gently, blue text lighting on and off.
CREW STATUS:
CAPTAIN SANDERS: KIA
FIRST LIEUTANANT DEBRA: KIA
FIRST LIEUTANANT XANDER: KIA
FIRST LIEUTANANT MARK: KIA
CPO SPARTAN II 02-05 ALE: ACTIVE
---------------------------------------------------
Pulse…
Pain…
Pulse…
Ringing…
Pulse…
Pain…
‘I really need to quit waking up like this.’
Ale slowly opened his eyes, his vision black. He closed his eyes and tried to remember what happened. The schematic had turned yellow, reporting the MAC’s activation. He remembered telling the queen something, her face turning into confusion. Time had slowed down as he saw the ceiling begin to split, a blinding white light beginning to peak in. The queen’s horn had lit up with a green aura. Ale remembered reacting with possibly the fastest speed a Spartan had ever accomplished. His combat knife had somehow found its way into his hand as he lunged forward and planted it into the front leg of the queen. His other hand had also grasped her horn. There was a bright green flash that was excruciating to his body. He had literally felt his soul scream at the pain as it must have had a negative effect on it. Perhaps her magic was the cause of it?
Ale opened his eyes again and found his vision returning. He saw dust raining down on him in a dawn sky. He rested a moment before attempting to lift his head. Ale regretted this immediately as he was struck with much more pain and felt nauseous. He closed his eyes and rested for longer.
After he felt his headache recede he struggled to his feet, his body taxed far enough that he was unable to even gasp in pain. He stumbled for a bit until he propped himself on a nearby rock. He looked around and found that he was a good mile out from the crater that used to be the hive. He looked around and was surprised to find the bodies of a few changelings, the one he had personally killed among them.
‘How did they get there?’
Ale was distracted as he also found his weapons lying around. After he policed them, his combat knife still missing however, and returned them to their respected places he explored a bit more. He found the core to the hog buried partway in the sand behind another rock. It was dented but looked no worse for wear. He marked it on his radar for later retrieval and began scouting around, limping painfully as his left leg was still heavily injured. He soon sat down and addressed the problem. He pulled out a portable can of biofoam and applied it in the crease of his hip armor. As best as Ale could figure he theorized that the queen had attempted to use some sort of teleportation spell. Grabbing her horn had probably disrupted it in a way and caused several other objects to be taken along as well. After the biofoam set he stood up and was much more stable and in less pain. A glimmering nearby caught his attention as he looked over. His knife was lying in the sand a short distance away. He walked over to it and picked it up. It was covered in green blood, the surrounding area surrounded in blood as well. Ale stood and looked out towards the distant mountains as the blood trail led in that direction.
Ale pulled out his assault rifle and began walking; he had an insect to exterminate.
-----------------------------------------------------------
2 Days Later…
Luna walked slowly through the halls of her castle, her head low and steps dragging. She was clothed in a very nice dress, one that she had asked a friend of Twilights to help create. Unfortunately, she was in no mood to enjoy it. The gala she had just come from was subdued, the ponies still recovering from the recent attack on Ponyville. Even the nobles were quiet. The elements never even showed up, no doubt still grieving over the loss of the Spartan. Luna looked ragged, her nights sleepless as she had spent the past two nights sending out scouting teams to the destroyed hive. The report was always the same every time. No survivors. Any tracks that may have been made would have been covered by the falling dust a long time ago. The only thing they were able to find was the trashed Warthog. Luna shed tears as she continued walking. Her soul still burned with pain and she wondered if she would ever get used to it.
The doors to her bed chambers approached; her guards standing stoically on either side. She opened the door and closed it gently behind her. Her room was pitch black, the shadows attempting to comfort her as they embraced her. She dragged herself over to the balcony and stared out at the horizon. With her eyes sagging with tiredness she pulled power into her horn and began raising the moon. It was halfway over the horizon before Luna quit, the given momentum enough to guide it across the sky. She turned around and stopped as she was met with a peculiar sight. It took her a few moments as she stared dumbly at the object before gasping in shock, her brain finally registered it.
A steel grey helmet with a red stripe running along the back sat on her bed, the moonlight reflecting brilliantly off of the cyan visor. She saw a dark figure in the corner of her room and watched as the moonlight travelled down the wall. It slowly revealed the tall armored Spartan crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. Luna’s eyes widened as she stared at Ale. He smiled gently at her and uncrossed his arms as he stood at his full height. He slowly crossed the room and kneeled down in front of Luna. She tentatively touched him with a hoof before smiling, tears of relief crawling down her face as she felt the pain from her soul disappear, an amazing feeling of connectivity between them flooding throughout her as she assumed their bond had finally completed; making them one. She brought her hoof up to Ale’s face and caressed it smoothly. He opened his mouth to speak before a painful swipe from Luna made him recoil in surprise.
“What was that for?!” Ale asked as he rubbed his jaw.
“For being late,” Luna responded. Ale was about to reply before his lips were captured by Luna’s. They both melted into the kiss for a few long seconds before Luna pulled back. “That’s for coming back.”
Ale smiled cheekily, “Hey, I really didn’t want to see the sun.”
Luna swatted him playfully before suddenly embracing him. Ale returned the hug at her height and held her tightly. They stayed this way for quite a while, silently living the moment.
“I love you,” Luna mumbled from Ale’s shoulder. Ale squeezed her tighter before replying.
“I love you too,” Ale replied, his eyes opening as they lit up with a fleeting green flash.
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Now to read. Also, my first FIRST!
Edit: wow.. that was good. Like, really good. Only two things.
First, where she says "Don’t make a girl a promise you can’t keep", wasn't it "Don't make a girl a promise, if you know you can't keep it." I am by no means an official knowledgey person
Second, when you get to the blue writing, (I'm not saying what b/c spoilers) in my opinion, you could have left the chapter there and made a nice little cliffhanger and release the rest as the next chapter. JUST MY OPINION I'M NOT CRITICIZING YOU.
I love this story. I have got to say that this is among some of my favorite stories, including published novels and such. Like, Harry Potter, Eragon, The Time Machine, War of the Worlds. I don't comment often but this is the last chapter of this story so I just had to.
4665577 it's the first one if I remember right.
4665577 Eh, close enough on the quote thing. I didn't want to leave a cliff hangar because I thought it'd be extremely abrupt. Like things are happening too fast and than bam! It's done.Thank you! Last chapter? There's still a bonus chapter or 'Epilogue' as I labeled it ready to go and awaiting me to press the little publish button.
...
...
...
BEST. CHAPTER. EVER!
Seriously, I just love it, in particular the infiltration in the hive. The idea to make track his signal by the MAC was genial.
Love it. It reminds me the ending of How to train your dragon.
4666347 Thank you! I just saw How To Train Your Dragon 2 the other night as well. What a coincidence. It was a fairly good movie too.
Well...
Ale survived a MAC round to the face (or close enough), i think this gives definitive confirmation that ale is a "bone'a'fide" badass at this point.
ALL WHO AGREE SAY 'I'
ALL WHO DISAGREE SHALL BE SAT ON BY ALE!
I rest my case...
4667675 Court adjourned.
I have the feeling that the Ale we saw at the end was actually Chrisalys, 'cause lets be honest here from the badlands to canterlot a travel on foot even for a Spartan would take a lot, even more to a shot-to-the-face-with-a-MAC-round Spartan
4668481
*plays that music from the Halo 3 epilogue from when you see the Dawn drifting towards a suspicious planet
while seing Luna turn around to walk away right before a close-up of 'Ale''s face while 'his' eyes flash green for only a brief moment
But seriously, Ale still has his helmet, so how would the
AlienXenomorphChangeling Queen replicate it?4668481 Well I did say whatever you guys came up with is wrong right in the authors comments. So far what I said still stands and nobody has commented on what it is correctly yet.
4669010 Was the music appropriate? Also...
"Aliens"
4669010 fancy guess, Magic
Still the helmet bore no spider webbing across the visor though ill check right away
4669010 nope no spidderwebbing magic it is then
4669296 Nanobots. They repair his armor. That's why his armor isn't damaged anymore. It's the Mark VII.
4667675 So ale survived a mac round.suddenly is second favorite spartan.The list from least to best is now Noble 6 Ale (not by much) and Master chief/John/spartan 117.
4667675 I say Aye.
4667889 ROFLMFAO
I am at a loss of words because of how awesome this entire story has been. This story has provided great inspiration for my own and I look forward to seeing more from you. Please keep up the good work.
4667675 I
So Ale Killed the Queen?
Without going to the second story yet... *Deep breath, release* Crysalis is actually a part of Ale now. The hold he got on her joined them somehow. That or a darker version of him was created. Okay onto the second in the series
Very good sir, out of all my time here, there have only been 3 storys that made me cry, this one make four (I cryed the hardest for this one) and the halo song made me cry even harder
This is the only picture I could think of for that entire chapter
venturebeat.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/117-large.jpg
This story was good... Almost too good...
fc02.deviantart.net/fs70/i/2014/286/5/f/not_as_easy_as_killing_a_bug_by_xen0kid-d82pk3q.jpg
4667675
I
Wow, just... wow, the music totally fit with this chapter!
I find it strange that changelings were able to damage a titanium suit of power armor without any type of advanced weaponry.
how in gods world did you get your ass kicked by insects........NOW DROP AND GIVE ME 100,000,000,000 push ups
Y'all ain't bout to sit here and tell me the homie got changeling-fied.