Chapter Two: Start of a whole new life...
Present day…
The room was dark, cold, and had only a fluorescent light strip to eliminate the room. Cortana sat in silence in her chair, her hooves locked together in hoof-cuffs as she stared down the figure in front of her, their features concealed in darkness but their voice clearly feminine. The only thing that separated them was a cold metal table.
The air was stiff and dry, adding to the already uncomfortable situation. The room was padded, muffling the echoes of their voices so that they are crisp and clear. The chair Cortana sat on was metal and, after sitting upon it for over an hour, was becoming extremely uncomfortable against her rump.
The figure shifted in their own padded chair as they leaned backwards and asked, “So, you can’t remember what happened that could have possibly brought you here?”
Cortana shifted her eyes as she looked at the figure. “You already know the answer to that. As do the several other guards that have done this exact same interrogation”, Cortana said with a slight snarl.
“I think you have me mistaken for someone who follows the princess blindly”, the figure got out of their seat as they proceed to pace slowly around Cortana.
“Then who exactly do you work for”, Cortana asked as she tracked the figure with her eyes.
“I serve the ponies of Equestria”, the figure said, “We do what the princesses legally can’t do, and we do it with extreme subtlety. As far as the world knows, we’re simply a rumor”.
“And what exactly does this rumor want with me”, Cortana asked with a raised eyebrow.
The figure stopped behind Cortana and said, “All will be revealed in due time. For now, continue with your story”.
Cortana sighed, seeing that she’d get nothing but vague and cryptic answers from this pony. They were nothing like the other guards as she was able to probe them easily to get information, but this one was different. They knew how the game was played, and they were toying with Cortana, giving a little bit of information but not enough to make any definitive conclusions. They had to be apart of some sort of intelligence organization at least, that’s all she was sure about.
Alright, I’ll play your game, Cortana thought to herself as she let out a sigh.
Cortana groaned as she awoke, her leg throbbing but surprisingly not in excruciating pain from the bite. She didn’t want to believe that any of this was happening. At first it was pleasant but being almost eaten would put anyone in a sour mood. She cracked open a tentative eye to confirm what she already knew.
She wasn’t dreaming, and she was still a pony, but what she didn’t expect was to be in someone’s lab. Taking a second look around, she then recognized the place as someone’s home, although the multitude of beakers and flasks would have fooled anyone that was less observant.
A variety of papers and chemistry equipment littered the center table in a haphazard mess,
as various notes were in varying arrays of being written, discarded, and then rewritten again. Models of various contraptions were also left in varying stages of completion as well, as many of them seemed to be experimental flying constructs while a few were dedicated toward faster ground travel. Above the table sat a single crystal orb suspended in the air by a netted sling made of what appeared to be string. Cortana assumed that it was supposed to provide light, but it didn’t appear to have any distinguishable features that would reveal how it would accomplish that.
Turned to look to her left and found a desk with its papers neatly organized and categorized in their places on its built-in shelving. The shelves seemed to have quite a bit of room left on them for more books or notes. One of its corners had seen better days as it was covered with melted wax that was left to dry with a candle holder set in the middle of the mess, awaiting a fresh stick to be placed upon it. On a shelf set off just to the right of the desk, sat a variety of various objects ranging from awards, to souvenirs, to a collection of memorabilia.
Looking to her left she spotted a small kitchen setup of sorts as it seemed to also double as the owner’s chemistry station as well. Most of the equipment she could easily identify as being standard to any chemistry setup, although lacking any means of heating or cooling the various mixtures and compounds. To the left of the chemistry station sat a table with a cutting board on top and a tall cupboard filled with a wide variety of ingredients.
She then turned to look around the bed around her and wasn’t too surprised to see how sparse it was of anything but the essentials. She sat on a simple, hay filled bed with a hay filled pillow and a set of simple sheets. Next to it sat a night stand with a similarly abused corner as the desk with another candle as the culprit of this mess as well. A book sat on top of the nightstand, but she couldn’t quite make out the text on it.
Directly across from her sat a set of doors that she assumed was the exit to the home. Next to the door stood a crudely built coat hanger that held a cloak and, for lack of better descriptive words, a wizard’s hat. To the left of the door was a window with the letter “N” above it. This caused Cortana to look around, finding four other windows, each adorned with a letter. After a moment of contemplation, she recognized these as the navigational markers of a compass.
Cortana took a moment to look out the window that was by the bed that she currently sat on and was taken back by the view she got. Stretching out before her was a vast forest, the same one that she assumed she was attacked in by those strange dogs-like creatures. As she thought back on the past events, she remembered someone fending off the attacking creatures, but she surmised that she had passed out at some point during their escape.
A realization hit as she took a look at her left foreleg and found that it had been treated and bandaged, the pain replaced with a dull throbbing. She tentatively got of the bed, putting a bit of weight on her leg. Finding that she could stand with no pain, she then tried walking around the room she was in. What ever pain killers she was on, it was doing wonders as she could walk normally on her injured leg. Her train of thought was immediately broken as the door flung open, causing her to jump with a yelp, flashes in her mind of the creatures returning to finish her off.
Standing in the door was a gray unicorn stallion with a white mane. On his back was a pair of saddle bags that were filled to the brim with what appeared to be groceries and ingredients. Her yelp caused him to jump as some of the ingredients fell out of his bags on to the floor. After gaining a moment to compose himself and taking a few breathes he finally spoke.
“Well, I was wondering when you would finally wake, granted I wasn’t expecting it to be so startling”, he said as his horn began to glow, the dropped items on the ground beginning to glow before floating through the air and on to the kitchen table.
Cortana took a few deep breaths, remembering that it helped humans to lower their heart rate to a more manageable level before replying. “Sorry, I thought that you were those…” Cortana trailed off for a moment as she she shook her head, pushing the horrifying thoughts out of her head.
“Ah yes, timberwolves can strike fear in to the hearts of many unwary travelers…” The unicorn lit his horn once more as his saddle bags were removed and levitated next to the cabinet in the kitchen. “…but I wonder what made you venture in to a forest that is known to be filled with them.”
“I…” Cortana paused for a moment as she considered on telling him everything that happened up to that point but decided against it. “… got lost. I didn’t even know that those creatures were in there.”
The unicorn seemed to accept the response and went over to put the groceries away. “Well, luck must’ve been on you side. If my apprentice and I weren’t out there looking for ingredients, you may have ended up as those wolves next meal.”
Yeah, I sure was lucky that I ended up on an unknown world and almost got killed, Cortana thought to herself before sighing.
“So- “the unicorn turned to look at her as the ingredients floated and organized themselves in the cabinet, “-do you have a name?”
“I am C-04- “Cortana caught herself for a moment as she almost rambled off her A.I. registry number, clearing her throat before continuing, “-um, my name is Cortana.”
The unicorn turned fully to face her as the last of the items were placed in to the cabinet and said, “Fascinating name, I don’t think I’ve heard anything like it before. My name is Star swirl.”
“I hope you don’t find me rude, but how were you doing that with your… groceries,” Cortana asked as she walked over to examine the cabinet.
Star swirl cocker an eyebrow at this line of question. “You don’t know what a levitation spell is?”
Cortana mentally slapped herself for being so blunt and quickly scrambled to recover. “Well, um, I mean to say, I’ve never exactly learned how to use it. My family was… different.” Cortana mentally slapped herself again for such pitifully recovery.
Star swirl seemed to have accepted the response regardless. “Well, if you’d like, I can help you get started. That is, if you don’t mind a bit of reading.”
Cortana tilted her head at Star swirl’s mention of books, especially in the plural sense. “Books, as in more than one? How complicated can a levitation spell be?”
“So, what does this have to do with your role in the whole”, the figure questioned, giving off a slightly annoyed tone.
“In any good story or retelling of a tale, context is key,” Cortana replied calmly. “Although if you wish, we can gloss over a lot of the motivations that lead to a lot of my decisions.”
The figure growled slightly in frustration but quickly calmed. “Very well, continue with your story, but don’t go in to any unnecessary details-,” the figure quickly brought up a hoof to silence Cortana before she spoke, “-If you do, both your time and my own will be wasted and your chances of being released will dwindle along with my patience.”
“Is that a threat,” Cortana asked, seeing just how hard she can push her questioner.
“A promise, as you see, you have more to lose in this than I do,” the figure replied.
Unfortunately, Cortana couldn’t argue with her on that front. Her question was free to leave at any time, while she could be left here to rot. With a heavy sigh, she continued her story.
Cortana’s jaw hit the floor and then some after seeing the number books that Star swirl set on the table. “All these for one spell?”
Star swirl grunted as he finished putting the last set of books on the table. “Well, from your knowledge of magic, that being none from what you’ve told me, I thought it best to start you with the basics.”
Cortana mentally cursed herself for not sooner recognizing his test of her with his questioning. She was fortunate enough that she was able to keep her origins a secret, but not her lack of magical knowledge which was next to nothing. Though she had to admit, even with her lack of knowledge of magic, she knew that it shouldn’t take these many books to pull it off. Then again, she was in a land of magical talking unicorns and wolves made of wood, so she quickly pushed her skepticism aside for the time being.
“First, you’ll need to have a firm understanding of what magic is, and how it affects the world around us. Then you’ll need to learn how to channel and focus that magic to your horn. Finally, you need to learn the affects that magic has on the body. Only then can you attempt the spell safely and not hurt yourself and others in the process”, Star swirl finished his spiel with a smile.
Cortana shook her head as she regained her composure. “All this for a simple spell? Is magic really that dangerous?”
“My dear Cortana, magic may be a useful tool, but like all other tools, if used incorrectly, it can be harmful. Using magic without proper knowledge is to a foal wielding a great sword”, Star swirl said as he levitated a book over to Cortana. “Best to start with this. While your reading, would you care for anything to eat? I assume that a bath would also help.”
This drew a strange sensation from Cortana as her thoughts scrambled as what she was feeling she had to assume was either anger or embarrassment. “What makes you assume that I don’t have a home nearby?”
Star swirls smile fell to a frown as his eyes bore in to her and said,” First of all, if you did have a home nearby, not only would you have a saddle bag for anything you might buy on the trip, but you’d also have supplies for the journey if you had to cross through the forest. Since the forest stretches for miles in either direction, it would take days for you to navigate it safely and get to town. Even if you did loose your saddle bags at some point, the smell of cavern mosses and grass are pungent on you, meaning that you probably didn’t follow the road leading through the forest, “Star swirl stepped closer to Cortana until he was eye to eye with her. “Finally, if you are from a nearby village, perhaps you could tell me which one it is, and trust me that I have been to a good number of the.”
Cortana’s anger soon gave way to fear as her heart raced. This unicorn gave her no opportunity to get out of this that she could immediately see, and with her less than stellar knowledge of this world gave her very little in the way of options. With a heavy sigh, Cortana relented and said, “A bath would probably be nice.”
Star swirls cheery demeanor quickly returned as he turned back to the kitchen set up. “Excellent, for tonight you’ll stay here and begin your studies and then I shall talk to the princesses about a guest room for you.”
“Princesses?” Cortana’s confusion came back once more that day.
“I’m gonna assume that a history lesson is in order as well”, Star swirl asked to which Cortana nodded sheepishly.
Days after awakening: 5
Stats
Page generated in 0.035 seconds
Total duration
976 users online
1,464,230 hits today, 2,073,628 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Why is the title an s followed by a random series of numbers? No, I've never played Halo.
8702970
no spoiler giving guys!
I give a slight clue to that in the second chapter.
The TL:DR version is that in the halo series, Cortana is an A.I. who’s serieal number is C-0452-9. As for the S well, that’s spoilers for what’s to come, but a hint to those who know it’s meaning.
I like it
I'm curious to see what kind of events lead to her ending under custody of the pony equivalent of ONI.
Congratulations; you've managed to produce the only Halo crossover that I've enjoyed. (I Against I, Me Against You, while excellent, doesn't count, as it is an RvB crossover more than a Halo one).
There are a number of grammatical errors (mostly failure to capitalize names like Clover and words at the starts of sentences, as well as errors with quotation marks). A more thorough read-through for editing purposes would help with that, or getting a beta reader if you can (easiest is just to request one in the comments and see who bites). There are also a few passages where the wording doesn't really track; best way to deal with that is just to read your chapter aloud, or (if possible) get someone else to read it aloud to you so that you can hear the parts that sound stilted. Also, when Cortana is speaking to the ONI-type pony in the shadows, refer to the pony by 'he' or 'she.' Even if she can't tell what he/she looks like, she can still hear the speaker, so 'they' sounds awkward and makes it look like it's talking about both Cortana and the interrogator, or that there are multiple interrogators.
All the same, I find no fault with the execution of the story itself. I wouldn't have brought up the editing if I didn't think this story was worth the time. I'm a long-time Halo fan, and I've been less than impressed with every other Halo fic I've read; the fact that you've produced a well-written one is commendable. I particularly enjoyed Cortana's sudden realization about her new form.
Fun fact, in case you want to play around with this: 'Cortana' is a derivative of a title once given to 'Excalibur' in certain Arthurian tales.
Pls update
Or I will incinerate/annihilate you for life.