My Little Halo: Harmony Evolved

by Arcane Howitzer

3: Adaptations and Revelations

Reach Station Gamma

23 September 2551 1127 Military standard time

Location: Planet Reach orbit

The cruiser Guam had arrived approximately ten minutes behind schedule and one hundred kilometers off course. This was well within acceptable parameters, and the dockmaster AI Doppler extended the standard handshake protocol and docking permission to the ship's AI. It fully expected that the handshake would be accepted and that the ship would begin docking procedure. It did not, however, expect a reply of possible biohazard contamination, and the images accompanying that warning were, beyond a doubt, the most unexpected surprise the AI had ever been subjected to. Within ten seconds of the Guam's transition to normal space, packets containing a detailed write-up of the situation had been sent to various high ranking naval officials. Over the next thirty minute, there were more than a dozen requests for thorough inspections of Doppler's systems, and at least three requests for his decommissioning on grounds of obvious early rampancy. Still, by the time the Guam docked, there was a Hazard Containment team waiting.

As the airlock cycled, Private Jenkins wondered what was going on. They had been told what to expect, of course, but that had just convinced him that the Sarge was pulling a joke on HazCon team three. He honestly didn't expect to find anything abnormal on the Guam, let alone ponies. That was just stupid. It wouldn't even make a good drill, because that sort of thing just doesn't happen. It was so unlikely that he and the entire team were visibly surprised to see three of the impossibilities waiting for them as the airlock opened.

After an awkward silence, one of the… ponies… spoke up. "Feel free to come aboard. We're here to make sure you know what's where now, since we've had to do a bit of reorganizing." The one that had spoken bore a simple nametag: Corp. J. Hoover, 85th ODST. He also had wings. No one had told Jenkins that they would have wings. Or maybe they had and he had just ignored it because the whole thing was obviously a joke. This had to be some kind of elaborate joke. People don't just turn into ponies.

Jenkins apparently wasn't the only one there thinking that, as Doctor Mark, the medical specialist who was there to do the actual inspecting, started laughing. "Ha Ha Ha. This is some kind of joke right? We're being filmed right now for Galaxy's Most Gullible People, aren't we? That's the only logical explanation! That's funny, that they thought they could pull something like this over on us. Hahaha!"

As the doctor continued to laugh in a rather unhinged manner, the ponies before them did an amazing impression of people who had seen this coming and were still disappointed in it. "You have been ordered to give this vessel a clean sweep," "Corporal Hoover" said in an annoyed tone. "Therefore, it shouldn't matter if this winds up broadcast to the entire universe, you still have to do it. Now hurry up, these wings came with a need to use them, and the hangers here just aren't big enough."

"But… But this is ridiculous!" Jenkins protested

"Yes. Yes it is." One of the other ponies cut in. Its voice identified it as female. Her name tag identified her as Corp. Martha Simmons, 85th ODST. Her horn identified her as a unicorn. "You know who knows that better than anyone? The people who have been living it for the past week! Now it you don't get your asses in gear, you're gonna find out if this can spread the hard way." Her tone made it clear that they would not enjoy it if they didn't start moving.

Luckily, aside from everyone being a pony and other minor things that would come with that, tests found nothing abnormal aboard the ship. Samples were sent to labs for more thorough analysis, but the mobile tests covered every way something could be spread to humans, so there was no reason to keep the crew of the Guam under quarantine. No one had really expected them to find anything, but better safe than sorry.

The package was collected, and the crew was quietly escorted to a remote base in the Viery plateaus. After all, if it went public that the entire crew of a heavy cruiser was no longer human, there was no way to tell what the reaction would be. The ship itself was moved to dry dock for "refitting."

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ONI Castle Base

23 September 2551 1600 Military standard time

Location: Planet Reach

In an obscure corner of the base, behind a secret door openable only by a keypad that as far as most people knew wasn't even powered, sat a large table. Though this table rarely saw use, at the moment it was occupied by some of the brightest available minds on the UNSC payroll.

"So, I take it everyone knows why we're here?" Fleet Admiral Marcus Langston, current coordinator of Reach's Logistic and, if it came up, defensive efforts, spoke up.

Doctor Catherine Halsy, the mind behind the famous SPARTAN II project, glanced through the notes she had received just hours prior more to confirm that yes, she was about to say this, than to remind herself of any details. "At Approximately 0300 hours on September the seventeenth, a forerunner artifact, previously presumed to be a simple, if powerful, power storage device, activated, turning the entire crew of the Heavy Cruiser Guam into a super-advanced species of pony. What data we've gathered suggests that they are the equine equivalent of Homo sapiens, possessing cognitive and digestive abilities far beyond the average horse. In addition, there are subspecies resembling the Pegasus and unicorn of ancient mythology. The pegasi have demonstrated their capability of powered flight, but we do not know the significance of the unicorns."

"Right," the head of the Xenoarchaeology branch of ONI, whose name no-one else present had bothered to remember, and whose presence at the meeting was the subject of some question, said. "I thought I was just imagining that. Well in that case, our main questions should be 'What happened?' 'How can we use this?' and 'Can we reverse this?' For how we can use them, the pegasi are obviously useful, and they're all veteran crewmen or soldiers. As for the other two questions… the info packet mentioned something about coordinates? That should be our first area of study."

"Correct." Langston replied "Whatever the artifact did involved a set coordinates. However, there are two problems about exploring this. One: How to do so without risking more people, and not just to this pony thing. For all we know the Covenant is already there; it wouldn't be the first time. Two: as far as we can tell, these coordinates bear no relation to anywhere. Meaning they don't exist, so it should be impossible to send anything there."

Halsy spoke up again. "An unmanned probe would solve problem one. All it would really need to be is a drive and a sensor suite, with coordinates for a deep space rendezvous with an actual ship. No humans are put at risk, and nothing would be lost that wouldn't already be lost if we sent an actual ship. As for problem two, the artifact wouldn't try to follow coordinates that don't exist. There must be something there."

"An unmanned probe?" The man who spoke this time was the CEO of the main shipbuilding company being used for the war effort. He was also, of course, an ONI agent. "We can make one of those in a week, maybe two. So unless someone else has something to say, I do believe we all have other things we need to get back to."

"Well, the people who were affected have requested special equipment, on the assumption that they will be returning to the war."

"Give them what they need." The admiral said dismissively, "We need every trained body possible, human or not."

With that, they filed out and returned to whatever it was they were doing beforehand.

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Outpost Epsilon, Viery Plateaus

5 October 2551 1000 Military standard time

Location: Planet Reach

One of the few things to be said of Outpost Epsilon was that it was actually big enough to house the entire crew and military compliment of a heavy cruiser. The fact that ONI maintained a base designed to keep approximately five thousand people out of the public eye was unsettling, but at least it was quickly outfitted for its new occupants. Over the first few hours, the refitting team that had been sent replaced most vital equipment, such as doors and stoves, with hoof operable versions. Over the next few days, the crew received equipment redesigned for hoofed use, everything from an improved version of the 'quick fix' rocket launchers they had practiced with in slipspace to refitted uniforms and body armor. There were even some altered vehicles for them to practice with. The only things missing were guns, due mainly to the fact that while a rocket launcher's trigger was large enough to operate with a hoof, normal handgun triggers were not.

The crew themselves spent most of their time training, since they still expected to be able to return to the war at some point. The rest of the time was spent trying to beat the dry, dusty heat of the Viery region. For most of them this meant staying inside the air-conditioned bunkers, but most of the pegasi, by dint of now being aerial creatures, preferred to stay outside; they just weren't comfortable in close spaces anymore.

That was why Jason was lying in a small patch of shade watching clouds with another Pegasus instead of sharing a drink with his squad inside. He was staring at a rather substantial chunk of cloud when he was struck with an idea. Turning to the other pony, who was lemon yellow with a mark that looked like a thunder cloud with lightning shooting out in four directions like the points of a compass; he tried to get his attention. "Hey Spark."

"My name's Mark." The other pony grumbled back.

"Whatever. Clouds are made of water, right?"

"Yes?" heasked more than answered, obviously hadaving no idea where this obvious fact would lead.

"We can fly now, right?"

"I can. Don't know about you."

"Why don't we fly up into that cloud right there? It'll be like a sauna, only cold instead of hot."

After a few seconds of consideration, Mark replied, "You, sir, are a genius." The two took off, flying up to the object of their focus.

As he got closer Jason closed his eyes, expecting it to be like stepping into a cold shower. He was understandably surprised to find it more akin to running face first into a wall of wet cotton. He then heard a muffled thwump next to him, indicating that Mark had made the same mistake. They peeled themselves off of the cloud, staring at the supposed vapor that was behaving in a decidedly un-vapor like fashion. "Hey Spark?"

"Yea?" Mark was too stunned to notice the nickname.

"Did we just hit a cloud?"

"Yep."

"Weird." He experimentally scraped at the cloud, and looked at the chunk that was clinging to his hoof. Shaking that off, he pressed his hoof into the cloud, scooped out a significantly larger piece, and looked into the hole he had made. He squeezed the chunk in his hooves, watching as it compressed, darkened, and eventually rained. He stuck what was left back onto the cloud, where it stuck seamlessly. Then he looked back at an increasingly stunned-looking Mark. "Hey Spark. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

"That you could singlehandedly render the field of meteorology obsolete, thus making fifteen years of my life utterly meaningless?"

"Actually, I was thinking something more along the lines of 'Cloud Fort Alpha,' but you do raise an interesting point." He then started digging into the cloud, forming a large opening within minutes. "Are you going to help?"

"What?"

"If I'm going to turn this thing into a floating barracks, I'll need some help. Why don't you go get some of the other guys, and maybe alert the CO?" He started flattening out a ledge in front of the opening as Mark flew off. By the time he returned, with various higher-ups in tow, there was already a large crowd watching the physics-defying spectacle, and a smaller crowd of pegasi aiding in the effort. The cloud itself was actually starting to look like a proper structure, instead of a mass of vapor.

Captain Arnold called a pegasus down from the apparent construction site. The conversation that followed involved many questions, several shrugs, and an order for a complete demonstration to be filmed and sent in "for those ONI folks to puzzle out." It made no more sense in front of a camera than it did up in the sky, but they did learn a few valuable facts: only the pegasi could manipulate clouds. To everyone else, it acted like a normal cloud, even after it had been formed into a platform. In addition, equipment held by a pegasus shared in its cloud-touching ability and retained this quality for several minutes after being dropped. The video was sent in with a simple note. "If you can figure out how we're doing this, please tell us. We'll probably be seeing you soon."

Meanwhile, high above the planet, a large device of plastic, metal, and the occasional exotic element blasted a hole in the fabric of reality. Its departure through this rift was noted by any AI with access to basic sensors, though all but a few of them ignored it as ships were always coming and going at Reach. Those who did record the event did so because they had been told what trail the probe would be following, if not where it would lead. It would arrive in about a week, record data for another week, then rendezvous with a frigate in deep space. Everything had been planned out. Nothing would stop it.

The threshold of dimensions was the point of no return.

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Author's Notes: That cloud building scene gave me quite a bit of trouble, and I can't help but feel it's going to cause a few plot holes latter on. But I'll burn that bridge when I get to it.

For those of you who have been waiting to see the ponies you're all familiar with, (You all do know them, don't you?) that time is rapidly approaching. Those of you who want to see some alien-ass-kicking badassery, it's in the works, but won't see the light of day for quite some time. Next stop, Equestria!

As always, watch and review. Show me my mistakes so I don't repeat them.

Post revision notes: Just some minor detailing. Nothing to really see here.

Comments

[Fourpony]

Though the cloud building portion may be breaking your story later, I found it pretty entertaining with some added "lulz" (that is the correct term right?) Also felt this chapter needed at least one comment.

[Dances With Unicorns]

The second scene from “The Last Roundup” features Derpy jumping upon a cloud a bit larger than she is, and creating electrical discharges that damaged Ponyville’s town hall. Now, imagine a much larger cloud with a dozen Pegasus ponies. Turning clouds into electrical weapons would be a most effective tactic against enemy soldiers who are outside, ammunition or fuel stockpiles during foggy or rainy days or nights. Also, having Pegasus ponies create electric power and fresh water on demand from clouds would be useful for field operations.

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

That last bit sounds foreboding....