Headhunters

by PseudoFiction

"Oh, God help my big mouth."

The gravity lift came to life again, bits to debris and grass lifting from the wet ground and hovering in the pillar of soft light as Ishmir slowly descended from the Covenant drop ship. As he fell on an invisible rappelling line, he spotted Twilight Sparkle and Marko sitting in the shadow of the phantom.

Marko was sat against one of the lower standing-stones. Princess Twilight sat on the ground beside him, proudly finishing the story she was telling while Ishmir was checking the drop ship was flyable.

“… and that was the day we learned that not only should we keep our hooves on the ground, we have to stand by our friends.” The princess finished telling her joke with a giggle at a joke Marko obviously didn’t get. “Kind of like how you stood by me and protected me.”

“That’s dumb.”

Eyes widening at Marko’s comment, Twilight Sparkle quickly glared at the headhunter. “You’re dumb!”

“Your face is dumb,” Marko smugly retorted putting his visor down low to meet Twilight’s glare. The pony met his challenge, angrily grinding her face against the gold-tinted glass.

“Your mother is dumb!” she seethed.

Marko laughed triumphantly thinking he’d cornered the princess. “I fucked your mother!”

Twilight took the insult well considering how innocent she was compared to the Spartan. With a huff, all she said was, “yeah, you wish.”

Marko blinked confounded surprised by that little escalation. All he could think was, did that pony just out-diss me?

“She did,” Ishmir informed as he approached. It wasn’t uncommon for headhunters to know what their buddies were thinking, being so close all the time.

“So, will it fly?” Marko asked with a nod at the phantom drop ship.

“Yup. Looks like our destiny was in this old clearing after all. This puppy ‘ll get us to the edge of the system and in UNSC radio range in no time.” Ishmir grinned, averting his golden gaze to Princess Twilight Sparkle. “Thanks for putting up with us, princess. It’s been a pleasure,” he told her.

“The pleasure was all mine. And I’m sorry. You were right about these Covenant things.” She cast a dirty look at the alien gore Marko had managed to rake into a neat pile for the cleanup crew if it ever did arrive. “Thank you for taking care of them.”

“No worries. They shouldn’t bother you.” Holding up a handheld radio, Ishmir hesitated, then threw the piece of human equipment to the pony. It glowed in magical light as Twilight caught it in her telekenisis. “But if more show up, use your magic on this radio to send us a message or something.”

The intensity of the light engulfing the radio doubled before the device vanished altogether, no longer blocking Twilight Sparkle’s smile from the Spartan’s view. “Don’t worry. I’ll find a way of contacting you.”

Ishmir nodded. “Goodbye, princess.”

“Goodbye, Ishmir.”

Taking his leave, Ismir gave Marko a pat on the pauldron, armour letting out a dull thud as his hand made contact. As he stayed in place, the green armoured Spartan said something about hating goodbyes, and Ishmir murmured something back about keeping things short.

Marko watched for a moment as Ishmir was lifted up into the phantom again by the gravity lift, and then sighed.

“Later, bitch.”

Though she should have been offended, Twilight Sparkle took the comment in stride with a giggle. “Later, fucker,” came her happy retort.

His proud smile matching the intensity of his visor motif, Marko reached out and tousled the girl’s mane with an armoured hand. Then turning, Marko walked away, fearing his voice might break if he said anything else. Without missing a stride, he hopped into the gravity lift and was plucked up into the belly of the phantom by an invisible manipulator.

As he rose up, he twisted through the air looking down at Twilight Sparkle. She was waving a hoof as the foliage behind her broke down the middle. Running up behind the princess were five other brightly coloured ponies as well as a squat little lizard of some sort.

Marko figured those girls must’ve felt like they were walking in on the end of that twentieth century movie, E.T. Just in time to see the brave hero – or in this case heroine – say goodbye to her extra-terrestrial friend.

Friend?

Okay, fuck it! Yes, she’s my friend, Marko thought with a smile. He might never admit it out loud, but Twilight Sparkle was pretty cool and tough to boot. She’d seen firefights turn hardened marines into pathetic blubbering balls of wet-themselves. But not Twilight Sparkle. She powered on.

He felt a little bad leaving her to explain the massive pile of dead Covenant to her friends. But she was smart. She’d figure it all out.

Rising up through the belly of the phantom, Marko settled onto the troop bay floor. Like the drop ship itself, the inside was populated by an eye-burning purple glow. Those Charlie Foxtrots really loved their purple lights.

After a shift in gravity in his stomach told the Spartan they were tearing up through the atmosphere, Marko turned to the cockpit and joined Ishmir in the front. He was seated in the uncomfortable looking pilot’s seat, hands on the holographic controls. The front view screen revealed an infinite expanse of stars indicating they were already breaking out of the atmosphere.

Standing by Ishmir’s shoulder the Spartan was quiet for a while.

“Sniff.”

The wet snivel caught his buddy’s attention and Ishmir turned to look up at the headhunter.

“Marko, are you crying?”

Marko shook his head with an offended scoff. “No...! Yes. I’m just gonna miss that little fucker is all.”

Smiling as he placed his hands on his helmet, Ishmir gave his helmet a slight twist. With a click the seals at the neck let go and he lifted the headgear off his head. “Don’t worry. I’m sure we’ll be back,” the boy assured tousling his short black hair.

Imitating the motions; lifting his own helmet off his head Marko asked, “you think?”

“I have faith.”

There he went, bringing it up again. All Marko could do was groan as he face-palmed tiredly. “Oh, God help my big mouth.”

The End

Comments

[MustangII]

Now I have a need for more this

[Vessel Lazarus]

Ah. A shame to see this end. Also, instant respect for HU.

[Atlas55]

I remember when all these chapters were just 1 giant chapter

[Requiem17]

I remember this story. Nice to read it again :)

[DauntedSuperior]

Pretty good story. Definitely deserving of more likes.

[Lethally Insane]

This needs a sequel.

[Bronzer]

I love your descriptiveness. Like describing the mud being high and covering Twilight's lower body.

[Cutrose1985]

It took me over 15 weeks to actually get around to reading this story, afterwards I am honestly am wondering why I didn't read it sooner. Amazing work and worth the read definitely needs more recognition than what it has.

[NotShadowLotus488]

Unsure if true Destiny game reference or just tryna make connections

"Will it fly?" -first time your guardian speaks

"Will it fly?" Followed by the word "Destiny" in the next sentence

[GordonFreebrony]

That was it? A www. A good short story though.

[NotShadowLotus488]

Reread this story, still love it

[Starlight Nova]

If Marko and Ishmir were voiced, what would they sound like?

[PseudoFiction]

7281864
Nolan North. Nolan North can voice anyone, Twilight Sparkle included.

[quipdoesmc]

7283157 damn right he can. Damn right.

[Brandenburg]

7281864 Grif and Tucker from RVB of course!
Maybe Simmons.