• Published 31st May 2014
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Second Contact - SpartanD014



When Spartan D-014 is randomly ejected from slipspace, he ends up on a strange new world. It's peaceful enough, but not all is as it seems...

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Chapter 07

CHAPTER 07


Luna stared curiously as the large human bent down below his computer, and pulled off a panel, revealing the various pieces of machinery beyond. He then grabbed the now repaired “battery”, and put it into a slot that fit it rather perfectly. Almost immediately, the device lit up, and what Luna assumed to be the main screen came on with a picture of a spinning eagle, beneath which was written “UNSC”. Delta stood up, his helmet not hiding his satisfaction. He turned to face herself and the other ponies inside.

“Alright,” he said. “Now let’s get to work.” Delta took a seat in the chair in front of the computer, and began pressing the various buttons around it. The picture of the eagle disappeared, and made way for a picture with various words in it. Before the human pressed one of them, she managed to read off “Pelican Diagnostics”, “BiOS Settings”, “Power Distribution”, and “Access Information”. The one that he pressed read “Help”. This “help” picture lead to another picture with many more words on it, and Delta pressed one that read “Repair Manuals”. This picture lead to one with, yet again, more words, but this time, Delta pressed one that looked like a set of parentheses growing in size, coming out of a megaphone.

“PERSONAL ASSISTANT ONLINE. PLEASE CONFIRM UNSC IDENTITY,” said a soft, female voice, seemingly out of nowhere. The ponies all looked around, surprised and confused.

“Who said that!?” Luna demanded. “Show yourself!” Delta turned his head to look at her.

“Relax,” he said. “It’s just the personal assistant.” This meant nothing to Luna, nor did it mean anything to the other ponies, so all she offered in return was a confused stare. Delta seemed to realize that his words fell on untrained ears, so he offered an explanation.

“It’s basically a smart computer program,” he began. “It’s nothing as smart as the AI’s we have aboard ships like Lightning, but basically what it does is it provides assistance based on what I ask it. For example…” He turned back to the computer.

“Access reactor repair guide,” he said. The computer made a beep noise, and flashed red.

“Unable to comply,” said this ‘personal assistant’. “Please confirm UNSC identity.”

“Oh, right,” Delta said. “Confirmed, Spartan-D014, service number 09238-11426-SA.”

“Stand by,” the personal assistant continued. “Spartan identity recognized. Please provide retinal confirmation.”

“Oh, for the love of…” Delta said. “Uh… Can you guys… turn around?” The ponies all looked at him, confused, but complied, and turned around. Luna heard a hissing noise, followed by a pop. She then heard two beeps, and the personal assistant said, “Retinal scan verified. Welcome, Spartan D-014.” Luna heard the pop and hiss again.

“Alright, you can turn back around,” he said.

“What did you do?” asked Twilight, curiously.

“Uh… I had to show the computer my eye,” he said awkwardly.

“But I thought you said the helmet didn’t come off by itself,” she pressed on, getting suspicious. Delta sighed.

“I lied,” he said quickly. “Now, let us continue on.” Twilight was about to retort, but Luna put a hoof on her shoulder, and Twilight stepped back. Delta leaned in to the computer.

“Access reactor repair guide,” he said. The picture on the computer faded away, followed by the spinning eagle again.

“Accessing…” said the voice. It repeated this twice more, then the eagle faded away, and an image of the schematics of what Luna assumed was the “reactor” appeared.

“Pray tell, Delta,” said Luna. “What does this ‘reactor’ device do?”

“It creates a large amount of energy via the fusion of two atomic nuclei,” he said. “Thus producing power that the ship can use to fly and function.” As he said this, he began moving his finger up and down, and with it moved the words on the screen. It seemed that he was looking for something. Luna spared a glance at Twilight Sparkle, and saw that her mouth was agape.

“Nuclear fusion!?” she said loudly. “We didn’t even think that that was possible!”

“Yeah, neither did we, for a while…” Delta said. “But when we figured it out, well…” He trailed off, still looking for whatever he was looking for.

“So how does it work?” Twilight said, ever eager to learn.

“I don’t know,” Delta replied. “I just am trying to find how to fix it… Come on… Ha!” Finally, Delta stopped moving his finger, and pressed on a line of words. A diagram of the reactor device appeared on the computer, and Delta stared at it, looking for something. Finally, he pointed at one part of it.

“There,” he said. “From what I saw when I did my visual check of the reactor, this is the broken part. And there, too.” He moved his finger to point to another part. “The first part is the section of the reactor that actually collects the energy produced. The second part is the section that channels the energy into the sections of the ship.”

“Right, then,” said Doctor Gazer, stepping forward. “How should we proceed?” Delta pressed a few more words on his computer, and the computer then turned back to the picture of the spinning eagle.

“I’ve downloaded the repair instructions to my HUD,” he said. “I’ll get it on a tablet for you all to look at. The reactor is accessible by removing the plating on top of the aft of the pelican. We’ll open it up, and get to work with the spare parts I have outside.” Everypony nodded, and Luna followed them all outside. Delta walked over to his pile of parts, and picked up a small ladder. He pulled down two switches on both sides, and the ladder extended to be much longer. He propped the ladder up against the back of his craft, and climbed up.

“Doctor Gazer?” he asked from above.

“Yes?” replied the unicorn scientist.

“Over in the pile of spare parts you should see several flat, black rectangles,” said Delta. Luna looked over towards the pile, as did Doctor Gazer. “Pick it up, and tap on it.” Doctor Gazer walked over to the pile, and picked up one of the rectangles in his telekinesis. He tapped it with a hoof, and the rectangle suddenly lit up with an image of the reactor.

“Ah!” Gazer yelled. “Incredible! What do you call this device?”

“A tablet,” said Delta. “Basically a small, portable computer. I’ve sent the schematics to all of them, distribute them as you see fit.” Delta continued to do whatever he was doing, and Star Gazer passed out the tablets to Skychaser, Twilight, and their two assistants. They all tapped on the “tablets”, and pictures of the tablet schematics (which now had the damaged areas highlighted) appeared. Luna heard several “pops” from on top of the craft, and a large section of the hull plating fell to the ground across from the ponies. Delta jumped down after it.

“There,” he said. “The plating is off, and the reactor is exposed. I can already see the damage, it’s pretty obvious. First, we’re going to repair the power channeling parts. To do that, we’ll have to completely take out the damaged one and all other damaged parts, then replace them. Questions?” Luna looked around her. The ponies all shook their heads.

“Right then,” Delta said. “Let’s get to it.” Delta climbed back up his ladder. Doctor Gazer (rather humorously) followed him up. Skychaser went up next, but he opted to fly up, carrying some of the spare parts detailed on the tablet in his mouth. Luna flapped her powerful wings, and flew up to get a view of the reactor. When she got to a good height, she looked down at the device. It was a small circle, with a diameter of only about half a meter. Several cylindrical tubes sprouted off, each going in different directions. One tube was much wider, and originated from the center of the bottom of the circle. It appeared to be burnt and the metal was bent. This was, undoubtedly, the broken piece. Delta held out his hand to Star Gazer.

“Can you pass me the blowtorch?” he asked. Doctor Gazer stared back, confused. “Oh, um, it’s that ‘L’-shaped thing with the pointy bit on one end, and a canister on the other.” Star Gazer used his magic to teleport the ‘blowtorch’ into his hand. Luna stared at it with unease, as it reminded her of the weapon that he used to kill the guard. Delta held the device to one end of the broken piece.

“Stand back, and cover your eyes,” he commanded. The two scientists did as they were told, and Delta squeezed part of the device. A small jet of flame leapt from the end of the device, and began to cut through the broken metal of the component. When he was done with one end, he directed the blowtorch to the other. This job done, Delta picked up the now removed piece, and threw it to the ground, where it hit with a clang.

“There’s that piece. Now we have to remove the parts that were connecting it to the reactor,” he said. “That piece was too damaged to remove normally, but I think that these should be fine… Pass me the screwdriver, please.” Delta was about to go without explaining it, too, but then caught himself. “It’s also L-shaped, and has a circle at the end.” Doctor Gazer found what Delta was looking for, and teleported it into his hands. Delta aligned the odd-looking screwdriver with one of the screws, and squeezed on end. As he squeezed, he pulled it backwards, and the screw came along with it. He did this several more times, until the component that linked the broken piece to the reactor was free. He then took it off, and set it aside.

“There, now we can-,” Delta was interrupted by an ear-splitting roar that split through the air.


10 MINUTES PRIOR

Rainbow Dash looked on with a sigh as Delta, Twilight, Princess Luna, and Doctors Gazer and Skychaser all walked into the crashed ship. She really didn’t understand why she, along with Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy, had all been dragged along. There was too much egghead stuff going on, and not enough action. She had nearly collapsed on the ground when the human had detailed his plan for repairing his ship. It sounded very time-consuming. With nothing better to do, Dash decided to go bother the guards.

They all were standing in a perimeter around the craft, spears ready to eliminate any threats that the Everfree forest may throw at them. She picked out a particularly young looking one to mess with. The young ones were always the easiest targets, as their stoic expressions fell much quicker than the seasoned veterans of the guard. She circled the guard, and watched as he struggled to keep his eyes facing forward. She stopped right in front of him, and stared him right in the eyes, unblinking. Her gaze sharpened, and her brow furrowed. In response, the guard swallowed nervously, and sweat began to form on his brow. Rainbow Dash inched closer and closer, never taking her eyes off him. He began to sweat more profusely, getting more and more nervous by her unending stare. Dash was standing right in front of him now, with only a few centimeters separating them. She stayed like that for a few seconds, and then…

“Hi.”

The guard visibly jumped backwards an inch, and he released his breath, blinking. Rainbow Dash started laughing uncontrollably, and she fell to the ground. The guard sighed, and resumed his watch on the forest. Rainbow Dash stood up, satisfied, though a bit annoyed that her escapade had only lasted five minutes. She was about to go find something else to do when she heard a rustling in the trees ahead of them. The guard noticed too, and pointed his spear towards it. Dash squinted, trying to make out a shape, but the trees were far too thick. Anything could be hiding in there, and they wouldn’t see it. There was another rustle, further away in the forest.

“Did you hear that?” Dash whispered to the young guard.

“Yes,” he said. “Stay back, I’ll check it out.” He began to walk forwards, but Dash put a hoof on his shoulder.

“You have no idea what could be lurking out there! I’ll go with you, watch your back,” Dash said. The guard opened his mouth to protest, but Dash put a hoof over it. “I’m coming.” The guard sighed, and closed his mouth. He then looked to one of the other guards.

“Hey, Iron!” he yelled. The guard looked his way. “I’m going to check out a noise, be back soon.” The guard nodded, and continued his patrol. The young guard cautiously stepped into the forest, followed closely by Rainbow Dash. Both kept their eyes peeled, and watched all around them. The guard motioned to Dash for her to get behind him. She complied, and he led the way. They walked for another minute, before the guard stopped. Dash looked at him quizzically.

“Hey,” she asked. “Why’d you stop?” The guard began to breathe heavily, and turned his head to look at Dash. Dash was surprised to see his face was stricken with fear. In front of the guard, two massive eyes opened, and a scorpion tail descended from above. The tail hovered in place for a moment, before the manticore let out a loud roar, and swung his tail. The tail connected with the guard, and sent him flying through the air, until he hit the ground a few meters behind Dash. Dash wasted no time in running to the guard’s crippled body, and she picked him up onto her back. She then flapped her wings with all her might, and flew to the crash site. When she arrived, the other four guards were standing at attention, and she saw Delta and two of the scientists on top of the crashed ship. She rather ungracefully landed behind the guards, and let down the wounded soldier. The trees began to shake, and the ground rumbled. Out of the forest and into the clearing stepped a massive manticore, twice as large as the one that Delta had killed a few days ago.

“EVERYPONY, GET DOWN!” one of the guards yelled as the manticore pounced into the center of the clearing. One of the guards threw his spear, and it landed in the manticore’s shoulder. This did nothing more than annoy it, and it ripped the spear out. It then pounced at Rainbow Dash, who dived out of the way, just in time. Dash looked up to Delta, and saw him springing into action. He jumped down from the top of the ship, and ran inside. When he came back out, he was carrying a rectangular shaped device, with a tube sticking out of one end. He stopped in the entrance, and squeezed a small handle on the device. Similar to the weapon he had used to kill the guard before, it let out a jet of flame, although this one was continuous. Dash saw the blur of several small objects coming out of the fire, and they impacted into the manticore, wounding it in several places. This one, however, was much larger and stronger than the one he had faced before. It shrugged off most of the blows, and advanced for Delta, preparing its scorpion tail. It swung at the human, and he ducked beneath the appendage. He let out another burst of fire, and hit the manticore several more times in its chest. The fire stopped, and Dash could hear a clicking noise coming from the weapon. Delta quickly pressed a switch on the side, and a box fell out of the back. Delta took another box from his belt, and shoved it into the weapon. Before he could fire again, the manticore swung its tail, only this time it connected, and sent Delta flying across the clearing. Rainbow Dash saw a golden aura surround him, before it disappeared with a pop, and he impacted on the ground. He struggled to stand up, but the manticore pounced on him, and secured the human on the ground with a paw. Slowly, the manticore began pushing Delta into the ground. The three guard who still had spears all threw them, and the all landed in the creature’s back. It let out a pained roar, but did nothing to stop it from crushing Delta.

The human continued to squirm under the weight of the manticore. Dash heard the sound of flapping wings, and saw Princess Luna fly overhead, her horn charging with energy. She let out a burst, which hit the creature directly in the head, burning it. However, she was still not fully recovered from charging Delta’s battery, and after she fired, she fell to the ground, unconscious. The creature screamed at the almost-lethal burst of energy, and put up its paw for a moment, which Delta used to escape the manticore’s grasp. With the creature now stunned, Delta raised his weapon, and let out several more jets of flame, each one impacting it directly in the face. Blood, flesh, and brain matter splattered onto the ground around the manticore, and stained the armor of Delta. The creature fell to the ground, finally defeated. Delta remained standing for a moment, before he, too, fell. The four scientist ponies ran to the aid of Luna, while Twilight and her friends ran to the human. Dash approached Delta, who lay face-down in the dirt. He picked himself back up, and stood up. The chest piece of his armor was dented, and several other parts had cracks.

“Delta!” Twilight cried. “Are you okay!?” Delta did not reply at first, instead taking the opportunity to catch his breath.

“I’m fine,” he finally said. His gaze turned to the wounded guard, who was surrounded by his comrades. “Crap.” Delta ran to the guard, and pushed the other guards out of the way. He flipped the guard over, and examined his wound. The tail of the manticore had cut deep, and had opened up much of the guard. Through the blood, Dash could clearly see parts of his kidneys, ribs, and a lung. The guard was breathing rapidly, each breath becoming shallower. Princess Luna was the only pony with the magic ability to heal the guard, but she was still unconscious. Who would heal him? Dash looked on with horror as she realized that he was still conscious.

“He’s in shock,” Delta announced. “Everybody stand back.” Delta ran into the ship, and came out with a large box that had a red “+” on it. He opened it up, and inside, Dash saw various pieces of medical equipment. Delta cursed several times under his breath as he rapidly gathered up the things he needed. Once everything was ready, Delta began to repair the damage to the guard. Dash had no idea just what he was doing, but she hoped it would help. He worked for about fifteen minutes cleaning out the wound and resetting anything that was out of place. In several areas he used some strange cream to coat a damaged organ or tissue. Finally, he pulled out a long canister, and inserted the nozzle into the wound. He squeezed on it, and the entire wound was soon filled with a foamy white substance. He was about to grab what looked like medical tape, but then froze. Dash wondered why he stopped, then she realized.

The guard had just stopped breathing. Delta put two fingers to the guard’s throat, and put his ear to it as well. He pulled away quickly, and took a small box out of the medical case. He picked up two rectangles from the box, and covered them in some kind of gel. Then, he pushed a button, and Dash heard a noise like a whistle coming from the device. He put the two rectangles on the guard’s chest, and pushed a button. The guard jolted upright, but fell back down. Delta pushed another button, and the whistling became louder. Again, he pressed the button, and the guard jolted upright, but once again fell back down. Delta pushed a third button, and the whistling became extremely loud. He put the rectangles to the guard’s chest again, pushed the button, and the guard jolted upright, his eyes opening wide as he gasped for air. Delta pulled the rectangles away, turned off the device, and put it back in the medical kit.

Delta continued from where he left off, grabbing the medical tape and wrapping the guard in it. He then took out a long tube similar to the one that had been given to Twilight Sparkle, and wrapped it over the guard. Slowly, the guard opened his mouth.

“Thank…” he said, beginning to struggle. “Thank… you…” The guard then lay his head back, and fell asleep, his breathing becoming rhythmic as it returned to normal. Delta closed the medical kit, and stood up. Dash then looked over at Princess Luna, who was just beginning to stand up. She shakily made her way over to the, now sleeping, guard, and looked down on him sadly.

“He’s going to be fine,” Delta said to her. He then turned to address the whole group. “Go ahead and get him someplace safe. We can be finished for today.” Delta picked up his medical kit, and put it back into his ship. He then walked back outside, and got to work putting the plating back over the reactor. One of the guards gingerly put the sleeping one on his back, and began walking out of the clearing. The scientists followed, and they were joined shortly after by Princess Luna and Dash’s friends. Dash turned to look at Delta, who was almost finished putting the plate back on. She then turned, and flew after her friends.


It was a quiet walk back from the Everfree to Ponyville. Everypony was still a bit shaken up at what had transpired, and so they all left one another alone to think about it. Twilight kept on thinking back at how Delta had, after nearly being crushed, rushed to the rescue of the wounded guard. She looked ahead at him; he was still asleep. As she thought over what Delta had done, she began to regret more and more what she had said earlier that day. She had been acting only in her benefit, to get him out of Equestria. She had offered him a place to say, sure, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t still wary of him. And now he had completely neglected to check over his own wounds in order to bring a single guard back from the dead. Twilight craned her head and looked up at the position of the sun in the sky. It was about four in the afternoon. They hadn’t gotten too much work done, but they were certainly on their way. The group of ponies got a few strange looks as they entered Ponyville, but for the most part, everypony kept to themselves. They all reentered the library, and the sleeping guard was set down onto the couch. With that done, the ponies all took positions around the room.

“I…” Princess Luna started to say. “I don’t know how we can thank him. You say that Delta brought him back from the dead?”

“It sure seemed like it, Princess,” Twilight responded. “He had stopped breathing, then Delta used that device, and suddenly he was back.” Twilight looked at the guard, who was now sleeping peacefully on her couch.

“He’s a very… capable... creature, isn’t he?” noted Star Gazer. “The technology is incredible…” The other ponies nodded in agreement.

“When will we return?” asked Skychaser.

“Tomorrow, sometime in the morning,” said Luna. “I would return us to Canterlot now, but I’m afraid that my magical capabilities right now are… limited.” Luna rubbed her horn with a hoof, frowning slightly.

“What did he say about us accompanying him?” asked Twilight. Rainbow Dash perked up at this, for she was going to be going along too.

“He has allowed it,” replied Luna. “Under the condition that we do exactly as he says to maintain our safety…” Twilight nodded.

“But for now, we should rest, and eat,” said Luna. “We have many more busy days ahead of us, and we should be ready.” The ponies all nodded in agreement, and Twilight called for Spike. Twilight thought, and she realized that this was by far the most interesting adventure she and her friends had ever been on. And it was up to them to make sure that the outcome would be better for everypony: for Equestria, the other nations of Equis… and for Delta.


SPARTAN LOG – FRIDAY, MAY 23RD, 2556
LOCATION: UNKNOWN
TIME OF LOG: 1756 HOURS

RECORDING STARTED…

Uh, this is Spartan D-014… I figure that, as long as I’m trapped here, I may as well start keeping a log. Uh, where to begin… Well, two days ago, Lightning underwent some sort of slipspace failure, which deposited half of the ship over the moon of this planet. I escaped in a Pelican, and landed on the planet which the moon was orbiting. Well, turns out it’s inhabited. *Laughs* Yeah, I know that, should I fail, if somebody ever finds these logs, they’re going to think I’m crazy… Well, I haven’t really nailed down whether or not I am either… But they seem friendly enough. Technologically, I’d have to say that they’re tier 7, pre-industrial. At least, I haven’t seen any factories yet. To be fair, I’ve seen barely anything beyond this forest. Either way, they seem to be pretty good at learning, so a few of them are helping me repair the pelican. Oh, and did I mention that the things living here are horses? Well, ponies to be exact. They’re actually divided up into four groups: earth ponies, which are a lot more like the ones that we know, then there’s unicorns and pegasi. Yes, unicorns and pegasi. As in the creatures from ancient mythology. The fourth one is a mix between unicorns and pegasi. Though that’s not all, this world seems to be teeming with mythological animals. I’ve been attacked twice now by a manticore. I couldn’t recall what it was at first, but after some perusing of the database on the computer, I found it. Strange…

Anyways, the pelican repairs: once they’re done, I’m going to the moon to board Lightning, and see if there’s anything left. I doubt anybody survived, but it’s still worth a look. And if nobody did, I need to drop a beacon. After that, I don’t know… One of the ponies, Twilight Sparkle, offered to put me up. Nice gesture on her part… My relationship with these creatures is a rocky one at best… Well, I don’t know. Repairs should be done in about a week and a half, then I’ll head to Lightning, drop the beacon, and get rescued. Alright, Spartan D-014, signing off.

RECORDING STOPPED.

RECORDING ARCHIVED.

SIGNING OFF…

Author's Note:

So much for taking a couple of weeks. When I finished Chapter 6, I only had a couple ideas of what to do next. I decided to get them down in case I forgot, and that led to me getting a lot more ideas. I pretty much just started writing, and didn't stop. But I digress...

I hope you enjoy this new chapter. It's got a bit more action than the last one, and is helping to solidify Adam's (or Delta's, depending on who you ask) relationship with the ponies. Hopefully the next chapter will be out soon, and we can get the story rolling even more. Who knows, maybe I'll have another writing-idea-spree? Anyways, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy!