Spartan Ava-127 lands on an unknown planet, outside of UNSC and Covenant space.
It was supposed to be a quick mission. All Spartan-127 had to do was infiltrate the Covenants CCS-class battlecruiser, and search the ships nav-data to find out the location of the Covenants homeworld. Instead, she was now on an unexplored planet with talking horses. Could this day get weirder?
Spartans never die... they're only Missing in Action
10th Feb 2554 Just outside Covenant controlled space
Spartan Ava-127 was regretting this mission so far. Everything that could have gone wrong, did go wrong. She had lost two of her squad attacking the Covenant CCS-class battlecruiser that was now firing plasma at her Pelican dropship, leaving only one other Spartan-II in her squad, Spartan Jake-039. Her mission to find out the location of the Covenant's home planet was also unsuccessful, the Covenant ship was already preparing for a slipspace jump. The Pelicans right wing and engine had sustained extreme damage, and it was only a matter of time before it'd explode.
Ava had nothing to lose, so she flew the Pelican as close as she could to the Covenant ship, dodging the AA fire from the ship. She had to get in the slipspace jump with the enemy ship. It was almost impossible, but maybe she would survive the jump. "Come on... just a little closer..." she whispered, deep in concentration. The Covenant ship entered slipspace, bringing Ava with in the Pelican dropship. The Pelican was barely staying together, but soon the Pelican would enter normal space.
11th Feb 2554 Equestria
Twilight Sparkle was having a great day so far, she was having a lovely picnic with her best friends Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. Spike was there too, as well as the Mane 6's pets. They had all sorts of snacks, including hay burgers, apples (With apple juice), and daisies, as well as some boardgames to play. It was a lovely sun filled day, with only a few clouds to be seen. "I'm so glad we can finally spend some time together, being a princess and going to all the different hearings and meetings in Canterlot is really stressful, and I've really missed you girls." Twilight said as she sighed, finally relaxing with no worries on her mind. "Ah'm glad you're here Twi, we've really missed you too, although we've all been busy too. The apple business has been really busy, and everypony else has hardly had any time to hang out." Applejack said, lying down on the picnic blanket underneath her and looking at the sky. Everypony was relatively silent for a little bit, until Applejack suddenly sat up, pointing to the sky "Are y'all seeing what ah'm seeing?!" She shouted.
Fluttershy looked up first, and saw a large object entering the atmosphere, burning and falling towards the Everfree forest, close to where they were having a picnic. "W-what could it be Twilight? You know stuff about space, right?" Spoke Fluttershy, startled by the large space object nearing the ground in the nearby forest.
"I don't know what it is... It didn't look like an asteroid... We should go check it out! There might be some rare stuff in it!" Twilight was practically jumping from hoof to hoof in excitement, and Rainbow Dash was already flapping her wings and flying to the forest to check out the crashed object. Applejack was running after Rainbow Dash, clearly racing her. The two had always been competitive. Fluttershy was clearly very nervous about going to the Everfree forest, and Pinkie Pie was literally bouncing up and down, excited for any potential "alien" visitors that she could throw a party for. Rarity, like Fluttershy, was clearly nervous. Twilight just rolled her eyes, smiling. These were the friends she had known for a long time now and she loved them so much.
11th Feb 2554 Equestria, inside of the Everfree forest
Ava-127 awoke with her limbs aching, and her head throbbing in agony. Her MK.VI Mjolnir Powered Assault Armor had "Armor Locked", essentially saving her when the Pelican she was in crashed. It stopped her bones from breaking, but it still hurt. She disengaged the armor lock, and stood up, heading out of the Pelican cockpit, walking into the troop holding bay where the extra weapons her Spartan squad, Obsidian team, had packed. She found Jake-039 checking the ammo and explosive ordnance. It seemed that they had packed well. "039. What's the situation like? Where are we? Covvie or human planet?" Ava-127 asked, greeting Jake-039 with the usual "Spartan Smile", swiping two fingers over her helmet's visor. Jake returned the gesture, and reported on what little intel he had. "We're probably not on a Covenant planet, but of course we won't know unless we find some of the bastards here. The comms are also fucked up, I can't get a link to the UNSC. We're best off hiking to see what we find. Maybe we'll find help, or maybe we'll find a Covenant Phantom we can, uhhh... "borrow" to get back to the UNSC. In terms of supplies, we're good. enough meds and biofoam to last a while, as well as enough ammo and weapons to keep us going. MRE's too, even though they taste like shit." Jake-039 said, passing Ava-127 her usual weapons, a BR-55, as well as an M90 shotgun. She nodded, and smiled behind her helmet as she realized that Jake was going with his usual loadout, an SRS99 Sniper Rifle, as well as an M6C/SOCOM Silenced Pistol, otherwise known as an "Automag". "I'm gonna go and scout around. You stay here and protect the ship. We'll make it a temporary base for now." Jake said, holstering his M6C and holding his sniper, stepping out of the Pelican and taking off into the jungle. Luckily the Mjolnir armor systems as well as the Spartan's augmentations allowed them to communicate seamlessly, either using a simple acknowledgement light in their helmets, or by directly speaking on team comm channels. If Jake ran into trouble, he'd have backup really quick. Ava-127 stepped out of the Pelican, and looked around the strange forest. it almost looked like the ones back on Earth, a bit like the ones on Onyx too. Just out of the corner of her eye, Ava saw something moving through the bushes, and heard what sounded like english. Were there humans? As if to answer Ava's question, something walked out of the bushes. It looked like a horse, just... colorful, and smaller. That wasn't what freaked out Ava-127, it was the fact that this horse had wings, and a horn with the lavender colored body. Then it spoke perfect english. "H-hello? My name is Twilight Sparkle, welcome to Equestria! How exactly did you... get here?" Ava shook her head, and chuckled softly, as if amused by the situation. "Talking horses? I'm really going fucking crazy."
Spartan Jake-039 was moving through the forest, looking for any clues to where he was. This forest was massive, and a lot of weird sounds could be heard. This didn't stop Jake-039, however, as he was used to fighting in places like this. He was a Spartan, and he could handle whatever was thrown at him. He soon stumbled across what looked to be an old castle, and he watched for a while, hidden in the bushes, wanting to make sure it was a safe building to search. Suddenly without warning, he turned around aiming his M6C/SOCOM to the trees around him. He had heard a low growling, sounding almost like a wolf, and was ready to put the danger down if need be.
Five creatures emerged from where Jake-039 was aiming, resembling wolves but... wooden? "What the hell...?" muttered Jake, before he opened fire at the rapidly approaching creatures. Two of the approaching creatures fell into a pile of sticks, due to expertly placed headshots by Jake, but the third creature pounced, a much larger "wooden wolf", knocking Jake's M6C out of his hand. He drew his combat knife, rushing the creature. It growled in pain, as Jake stabbed it right where the neck would be, then kicking it with extreme force, sending the wolf creature into a tree where it fell into a pile of twigs and sticks. The last two wooden wolves proved easy to kill, and Jake retrieved his M6C from the ground. Something about the wolf creatures didn't rub him right. They hadn't appeared on his motion sensor. Meaning either they weren't alive and had no heartbeat, or any form of life, or they had radar jamming technology, similar to Covenant Sangheili who use Active Camo. Both worried Jake. He marked the castle for him and Ava-127 to see. They'd have to search it later, right now he needed to get back to the Pelican to report on the strange creatures he just fought. He took the skull of the large creature he killed, and started to head back to the temporary base.
11th Feb 2554 Pelican Dropship
Ava shook her head, concerned that she had gone insane. Twilight giggled when she was called a talking horse by Ava-127, and corrected her. "I'm not a horse silly, me and my friends are ponies. Don't you have ponies where you're from?"
Ava shook her head, still making sense of these colorful creatures. One pony in particular, a blue pony with a rainbow colored mane, was clearly uneasy. Not good. If this was a first contact with a new species, it was going bad. "We have ponies but... they don't talk and they don't have as much color as all of you."
Twilight looked confused. "Okayyyy... Are you friendly? Like... are you going to hurt us?"
Ava-127 shrugged, and walked a bit closer to the ponies. "Only if you try to hurt me or my squad. Otherwise I'll be friendly." The pink pony nearly exploded in excitement after hearing that, and she started to bounce around Ava-127, asking so many questions it hurt Ava's brain. She could barely make sense of all of the questions, but heard a few things about going to parties, and being best friends with all the ponies here.
Ava just shook her head "Sorry, I don't go to parties, and I won't have any time for that. I need to get back home, the UNSC need me and my squad back." Upon saying that, Pinkie Pie essentially deflated, and she looked sad. Really sad. Despite being a Spartan, mostly emotionless, Ava felt a pang of regret, and she sighed. "Maybe I'll be able to go to a party. Just be warned, I'm not very social." Pinkie Pie almost instantly went back to being hyperactive and happy, and Ava-127 sighed again, muttering under her breath. "I'm gonna fucking regret this..."
11th Feb 2554 Space just outside of Equis
The Retribution's Truth exited slipspace above the planet that the Forerunners names "Equis" It's Shipmaster, Reto 'Danam, clicked his mandibles in anticipation, knowing that this planet held a holy relic needed for the Great Journey. Most of the Sangheili had rebelled against the Covenant, ever since the Prophets chose the Jiralhanae, the brutes, to be their escorts to the Great Journey. If Reto 'Danam could get the holy relic that this planet held, he would earn back the respect of the Prophets, and be a hero, not only to the Covenant, but also to his own kind, the Sangheili.
"Shipmaster, our scouts are ready to start searching for the artifact. We have four Phantoms loaded with Kig-Yar, Unggoy, and some Sangheili to supervise them. We have also sent two squads with Zealots to look for the holy artifact." spoke one of the bridge crew, alerting Reto 'Danam of the situation.
"Send them to the planet. We are close, and soon we will have the Prophets respect again." Reto 'Danam sat down, looking through the information they had of the planet.
11th Feb 2554 Equestria
Jake-039 had just gotten back to the Pelican. Ava-127 had explained about the ponies, and introduced them. Naturally, Ava and Jake were still cautious, the ponies were still classified as "aliens", and after fighting a long war with the Covenant, they were naturally cautious with anything non-human. Jake learned that the creatures that attacked him were called "Direwolves". Currently, Ava-127 was arguing with Twilight. Ava wanted to stay at the Pelican, and keep the supplies safe. Twilight however, wanted the two Spartans to go with her to Ponyville, a town not too far away, and in the morning she'd get Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to come to Ponyville to meet the two soldiers. Eventually Ava agreed to go to Twilight's castle, and both of the Spartans lugged as much equipment as they could to Ponyville. By then it was nearing night, and the few ponies that saw the two Spartans ran, clearly startled. Twilight let the Spartan's pick two rooms to sleep in, and after a while Ava fell asleep, Jake couldn't fall asleep however.
7th September 2552 Reach
Ava-127 took cover behind a large piece of debris from a destroyed building. There were 3 Kig-Yar chasing her, one was armed with a needle rifle and the other two had needlers with shields. All she had was two bullets in a mag for her M6D magnum. She could kill one of the Jackals with the magnum, the rest would have to be with her trusted knife. She got out of cover, shooting the Jackal without a shield clean in the head, the round cracking the Jackals head apart, killing it instantly. Ava sprinted towards the second Jackal, shooting it's shield arm, giving Ava-127 room to tackle the Jackal, and slice it's throat. One left. She then heard a loud bullet crack, and turned around to see a headless Jackal, presumably shot by a sniper.
"Good kill, Onyx 2. Radio in the rest of Onyx team to regroup, we need to defend the second Orbital MAC cannon battery, the others are down." Ava said through her comms. Onyx 2, Bill-091, flashed his acknowledgement light green, and a minute later four more lights flashed green in Ava's helmet. She grabbed the needle rifle from the dead Jackal, and took the ammo that the three Jackals had, and set off to the rendezvous point. When Ava got to the gun battery, it was a full blown warzone. Hundreds of Grunts, Elites, Jackals, and Brutes were rushing the few UNSC Marines and ODST's. Ava rushed into cover, and found Onyx team waiting. Onyx 3, Ashley-241, was badly wounded, her armor melted in spots, from plasma, and the smell of burnt flesh filled the air. Onyx 4 , Baird-179, had his left leg broken, and his energy shield refused to recharge. That only left Ava-127, Bill-091, and Onyx 5, Alyssa-084 with 100% combat efficiency. They had already lost Onyx 6, Alex-026. Luckily, there was a few weapons with some ammo that Ava could use. She swapped out her needle rifle with an MA5B Assault Rifle, and took an M7/Caseless SMG. She started to take shots at an Elite, downing it's shields and killing it without struggle. The Covenant were getting close, and more enemies seemed to be pouring out of dropships. Ava-127 looked behind her, to see where her teammates were, but there was no-one to be seen. She looked back to where the Covenant was, and saw a large ball of plasma, from a Wraith tank, before it hit her. Her whole body burnt but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't scream. Ava suddenly woke up, her head aching. She recalled her dream, she was back on Reach with Onyx team. A sudden noise broke her train of thought, as she realized that Twilight had just entered the room. She looked worried. "Are you okay, Ava? I heard a few groans, it sounded like you were in pain, or having a nightmare..." Twilight asked.
Ava sighed, and sat up from the surprisingly strong bed that had held her extra weight provided by the armor. She put her helmet back on, and nodded towards Twilight. "I'm okay. It's just... I remembered Reach." Twilight looked confused. "R-Reach? How would dreaming about reaching out be... scary?'
"Reach was a UNSC controlled planet. A genocidal collection of Alien species, called the Covenant, has been at war with humanity since 2525. As of 2552, two years ago, Reach is no more. The Covenant massacred the planet and it's inhabitants. They glassed the planet. I fought there, and lost my squad." Ava clenched her fists, thinking back to how quickly Reach fell. How the Covenant slaughtered the UNSC without mercy.
"The Covenant? Can you tell me more...?" asked Twilight Ava sighed, and nodded. The next three hours consisted of Twilight learning of the horrors of the Covenant.
By the time Ava-127 had finished telling Twilight the atrocities the Covenant had committed, Twilight was in tears, shocked that such a great evil existed. Once Twilight had calmed down, she smiled weakly at Ava. "You'll stop them right? You and Jake seem... unstoppable, so you'll stop them if they come here, to Equestria, won't you?"
Ava shrugged. "Only if we're here. But I need to get back to humanity, to Earth."
Twilight nodded, and started to walk out of the room. "Spike is cooking breakfast, why don't you wake up your friend and we can eat? We're gonna have a busy day, the Princesses want us in Canterlot as early as possible."
Ava got up, and once she had woken Jake-039 up, they joined Twilight and Spike in the kitchen where breakfast was being made. It smelled nice in the kitchen, bringing back memories of breakfast on a Sunday, before getting taken by ONI for the Spartan-II project. Spike was cooking what looked like waffles, as well as toast. Twilight was asking the Spartans a lot of questions, most of which were classified, such as the properties of their armor. Eventually, Spike served up a few waffles and pancakes, he was eating toast, while Twilight was stuffing her face with waffle, seemingly forgetting all manners Jake-039 also opted to just have pancakes, with cinnamon sprinkled on the top, in his opinion it tasted a helluva lot better than the MRE's he thought he'd have to eat. Ava-127 opted for pancakes with syrup. She hadn't had anything this sweet in a long time. After breakfast, Ava and Jake packed a dufflebag with a few weapons, and enough ammo for a firefight if the need arose. The two Spartans met the Mane 6 and spike at the train station, where Jake just shook his head upon seeing the train.
The train ride was uneventful, except for Rainbow Dash and Applejack hoofwresting, and Pinkie Pie playing "Eye Spy" with Twilight and Fluttershy. Rarity was taking a cat nap. Rainbow Dash approached the two Spartans and chuckled "Hey tin cans! Do you wanna join me and Applejack in hoof wrestling? I'll go easy, I promise!"
Jake chose to just watch, and Ava-127 decided to "Hoof" wrestle Applejack and then Rainbow Dash. Neither of them expected to lose within three seconds of starting. Jake decided to challenge Ava to an arm wrestle, and he just barely won. By then the journey was almost over, and Canterlot was getting close. Jake continued to arm/hoof wrestle Applejack and Rainbow Dash, they were determined to beat the super soldier. Ava put on music in her helmet, her favorite death metal bands in a large playlist consisting of over 600 songs, from various 21st century Death Metal and Death Core bands, such as Lorna Shore, Slaughter to Prevail, Arch Enemy, as well as some classics from Megadeth, Metallica, Rob Zombie, and Slipknot. She was a huge fan of heavy music and it kept her busy when not fighting the Covvies. Twilight was now reading, which seemed to be a favorite pastime of hers, and Spike was also reading, except it was just a comic. Fluttershy was watching Jake-039 in awe, either fascinated or scarred by how strong he seemed to be. Pinkie was cheering on Rainbow Dash, who was currently losing, and Rarity was watching with a look that screamed disgust, probably thinking "What ruffians".
Soon the train came to a stop, and Twilight led everyone out of the train, each pony with their own luggage, and the two Spartans with their dufflebag filled with ammo and weapons. A pony was waiting, and as soon as he saw Twilight he trotted up to her to give a bone crushing hug. "Twily! I've missed you so much!"
Twilight hugged back, ecstatic to see the pony. "I missed you too Shining, I always miss my big brother!"
Shining Armor looked at the two armor clad figures, confused at who they were. When Princess Celestia had said that he would be escorting somepony important, he didn't expect two non-ponies who looked like machines of war. "Twily, who are the... umm... guests? I thought I'd be escorting ponies, not... whatever they are." Shining said.
Twilight explained everything as fast as she could to Shining Armor, and he seemed less weary, though he still had his guard up.
Ava stepped forward and nodded towards Shining Armor. "Spartan Ava-127. It's a pleasure to meet you, mister...?"
Shining relaxed, and finished the sentence. "Shining Armor. Good to meet both of you, if you're friends of my sister then I see no reason why we can't be either. Both of the Princesses are waiting, follow me"
Shining Armor did a quick tour of Canterlot, and eventually they reached the castle where the Princesses were. Shining Armor led them through the gigantic building, showing them to the rooms they would be staying in for the nest few days. Ava-127 and Jake-039 would be in a room with Twilight and Rarity, and Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rainbow Dash would be in their own room. Once they had gotten settled in, Shining got the Spartans and Twilight Sparkle to the throne room. The ceilings were extremely high, and the glass windows were beautiful. Sitting in the thrones of this large and breathtaking room, were the two Princesses. Princess Celestia, and Princess Luna. Celestia was completely white, and Luna was pitch black almost, fitting, since they controlled the night and day. Ava still had trouble believing that, but she trusted Twilight, for now.
Both of the Spartans greeted the Princesses, and explained why they were on Equestria. They explained about the Covenant, and once they were finished explaining years of war to the Princesses, the largest one, Celestia, spoke. "While I may not be able to get you back to your people right away, I promise we will find a way for you both to get home. Just as long as you can repay it by protecting Equestria to the best of your ability. The Changelings are coming back, and they seem much, much more dangerous. We will need help to defend everypony."
Ava looked to Jake, who nodded, and then she spoke. "Fine. We'll help. You have our word."
Celestia smiled, and nodded "Then we shall help you find a way home. You may leave now, and we will call upon you when your help is needed."
Twilight and the Spartans headed back to the rooms, and Twilight started to explain every little detail about the Changelings as soon as Jake asked "What the hell is a Changeling anyway?"
12th Feb 2554 Unknown location in Equis, aboard Phantom Dropship
Reto 'Danam had been on a Phantom, heading to a location that looked almost like a giant ant colony from above, to speak with a creature one of the Zealot teams had encountered. She spoke the blasphemous human language, but told the scouts a lot of information about the planet and it's inhabitants, and promised even more if she could make a pact of sorts with the Covenant, to join forces. This was a mission he had to handle, although he had multiple Sangheili Ultras with him, so if this was a trap the foolish creature would regret it. As soon as the Phantom landed and the Elites all jumped out, armed to the teeth, the "Changelings" as they were apparently called, looked at the Elites with curiosity, but knew that their queen wanted to see these aliens. The Elites made it to the queen, and she looked unimpressed with the aliens in front of her. In english, she told her Changelings to kill the aliens, and keep their bodies for feeding. The Elites understood every word, and the Ultras drew their various weapons, two were dual wielding plasma rifles, and the other two had energy swords. Reto 'Danam drew his own energy sword, with red blades, from when he was in the Silent Shadow. The Elites attacked, cutting the Changelings down with ease. A particularly large Changeling charged at Reto 'Danam, and he sliced the beast clean in half. Chrysalis then shouted "Enough!" in human english, and stepped down to where Reto 'Danam stood "Do not be foolish, bug. Get in my way, and I shall cut you down like I did your servants. You shall not halt the Great Journey."
Chrysalis simply just laughed. "Oh, you'll do good. That was just a test, to see if you were worthy to fight alongside the Changelings, and you seem more than worthy."
Reto 'Danam turned his energy sword off, and nodded. "If this is a trap, you and your Changelings will regret it all."
Chrysalis told the Elite what she knew about the inhabitants of this planet. The Changelings were planning to attack the Crystal Empire tomorrow, and the Covenant would be assisting.
12th Feb 2554 Canterlot
The Princesses had wanted to see the Spartans abilities, as they were going to temporarily defend Equestria from the Changelings.
Princess Celestia had the Spartans do an obstacle course which everypony needed to do in order to join the royal guard. The best time was 3 minutes and 50 seconds, the Spartans completed it in 47 seconds, their enhanced strength and speed shocking the Princesses. Once they had finished, the Spartans returned to the room they were staying in. Jake-039 was using the computer device in his helmet to play old videogames, he mostly seemed to play games set in the first two World Wars, but this time he was playing Red Dead Redemption 2. Ava-127 had gotten a few books from the castle library, mostly books on the subject of magic and Equestrias history. She was still confused about the magic, it defied everything that humans had proven.
Twilight and Rarity were playing chess, and it was starting to get dark outside. Ava and Jake stayed awake, used to being awake for long periods of time, but Twilight and Rarity were now fast asleep. Time went by rather quick, the two Spartans cleaning their weapons and taking the chess set to play a few matches. After a solid three hours of playing matches, the Spartans tied, and it was getting light outside already. They decided to get up and make some MRE's, to have breakfast. The smell woke Twilight and Rarity up, and they wondered what the MRE's were. Just as Ava-127 and Jake-039 were in the middle of their breakfast, a pony adorned in golden armor ran into the room, bringing news from Celestia. "The Changelings are attacking the Crystal Empire! Princess Celestia needs all of you in the throne room, NOW!" The Spartans and the ponies rushed to the throne room, where they were soon joined by Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Pinkie Pie.
Celestia looked very worried, and as soon as everyone was present, started explaining the situation. Luna was already in the Crystal Empire. Celestia was going to teleport the two Spartans directly there, and they'd have to evacuate the population. Celestia and The Mane 6 were going to fortify Canterlot, as well as help any ponies from the Crystal empire as they evacuated. Ava-127 and Jake-039 armed themselves, Ava with a classic MA5B Assault Rifle and a SPNKr Rocket Launcher. Jake had his sniper, and a BR55. The feeling of being teleported was strange to the two soldiers, and when they arrived in the Crystal Empire, they grew cold with hatred, as they saw a familiar enemy along with new creatures that could only be Changelings.
"Hey J, why the fuck are the Covenant here?!" A Phantom dropship flew past them, going to the large castle structure in the city. Large beams of light shot it down, and Luna could be seen flying around, shooting down other ships with an unfamiliar pony with a pink coat. That must be Princess Cadance.
"How the hell am I supposed to know?! Just kill the bastards, before they do any more damage to this place!"
A Spirit Dropship dropped off a lot of Elites, who opened fire on a unicorn family who had erected a magic shield, which was slowly breaking and yielding to the plasma damage. Ava opened fire, the MA5B rounds startling the Elites, and a bullet could be heard overhead as Jake shot a full magazine from his modified SRS Sniper, breaking the shields of four Elites, which then dropped to the MA5B's continuous barrage of bullets. When the mag had run dry, Ava unsheathed her combat knife and rushed the closest Elite, delivering a bone crushing kick that downed it's shields, and as it roared in anger and agony she drove the knife into the throat of the Elite, and as she pulled the knife out of the dead enemy, her armor shields pulsed orange on her torso as an Elite shot plasma rounds at the Spartan. Ava heard a few bursts from Jake's BR55, and the Elite fell to the floor, dead. The family looked in fear as the Spartans approached, but they headed for the extraction point once the two soldiers had given a quick explanation. They fought their way to the two Princesses who were now holed up in the castle. Once inside, a couple of guardsponies had barricaded the door and held it shut with magic. When the Spartans approached the Princesses, the pink one, Princess Cadance, had a wound that was clearly from plasma. She was losing blood quickly, and Luna was crying softly as a medic looked at the wounds, confused, having never dealt with plasma before. "J, pass the Biofoam. We can't let her die." Jake passed a can of biofoam to Ava, and she approached Princess Cadance. "Luna, she's injured with plasma burns. Your medic can't save her on the battlefield, she needs a proper hospital. I can stop the bleeding and infection for now, as well as the pain, but you need to get her out of here. Take the ponies who still need to be evacuated, and we'll finish off the Covenant forces here." Ava looked at Jake and he nodded his head. Ava turned to Princess Cadance, and raised the biofoam canister to her wound. "Okay Princess, this is gonna hurt, but then the wound will be numbed." She inserted the nozzle into the wound gently, and sprayed the contents of the can into the wound. As expected, it stopped the bleeding and, as expected, Cadance gasped in pain as the wound burned with extreme pain for a moment, before going away almost completely. Luna had stopped crying, and was already helping Cadance to her hooves.
"Keep her safe. And get the ponies out of here. We'll keep the sons of bitches busy." Said Jake, reloading his BR55 and SRS Sniper. The guardsponies escorted the two Princesses to the rest of the ponies, and with a blast of magic from Luna's horn, they disappeared. Ava and Jake opened the now unprotected door, and they stepped out of the castle. There were dozens of Elites, multiple Hunters, and a large amount of Covenant Wraiths, all tearing down buildings, looking for survivors. The two Spartans raised their weapons. "You ready to make these motherfuckers pay for what they did to Reach?" "Hell yeah, let's do this!"
"You ready to make these motherfuckers pay for what they did to reach?" Jake-039 asked, raising his BR55 and aiming at an Elite, who was clearly not expecting for two of the UNSC's best soldiers to be there.
Ava-127 nodded, and shouldered her SPNKR rocket launcher, crouching down and targeting a pair of Hunters that had started to rush towards the two Spartans. "Hell yeah, let's do this!" She shouted, and shot a rocket at the approaching hunters, killing both of them at once. Jake-039 opened fire on the Elite who was closest, downing it's shields and killing the alien almost instantly, with extreme precision.
Ava-127 turned her SPNKR rocket launcher at one of the three Wraiths, and fired, the rocket launcher damaging the Covenant tank badly, but not fully destroying it. She ran for cover, and Jake-039 did the same, throwing a frag grenade toward a group of grunts and jackals that were slowly advancing. It blew them to pieces, and Ava had reloaded her SPNKR rocket launcher, so she could finish off the damaged wraith and another pair of Hunters.
Jake switched to his SRS sniper rifle, picking off Elites, and covering Ava.
Soon, the area stank with the stench of death. dismembered Jackals and Elites littered the floor, and fire and smoke rose from the destroyed Covenant vehicles.The two Spartans had also killed any Changeling they came across. Ava and Jake, satisfied with the carnage done to the Covies, started the long walk back to Canterlot. They made few stops, only stopping to eat MRE's. Within a day, they had reached Canterlot, and when they got inside the main city, there were so many evacuees that it made it impossible to count them all. It looked just like Reach again, families torn by war, scared, and not knowing what to do. The two Spartans found their way to the Canterlot Castle, and were greeted by two guardponies who led them to the Princesses. Apparently, Cadance was still recovering, but was much better. Along the way, Twilight and her friends saw the two soldiers, their armor blood stained and dirty from the battle. They immediately rushed over to check on them.
"What the hay happened?! Are you two okay?" asked Twilight, concerned. Rarity was gagging from the amount of dry blood on the Spartans armor, and Fluttershy looked lost. Pinkie Pie had lost her usual over the top happiness, Applejack was showing no emotion, and Rainbow Dash was acting fidgety, as if she wanted to get out of the castle and kick some Covie ass.
"We're fine. The Covies back at the Crystal Empire aren't though. They're in pieces, literally." Said Jake, taking his helmet off and grinning.
Ava chuckled, but kept her helmet on. "How is Cadance? According to the guards she's doing much better." asked Ava.
Twilight nodded. "She said you two saved her, she seems really grateful." They all entered what looked to be a makeshift medbay, where Luna and Celestia were by Cadances side. Shining Armor was there too.
Shining nodded at the Spartans, his way of thanking them for saving his wife. Celestia however, seemed angry, and Luna seemed annoyed at Celestia.
"What the BUCK were you thinking, putting Bio-whatever into Cadance? WHAT IF IT KILLED HER?!"
Luna rolled her eyes and made an apologetic gesture to the Spartans. Cadance was currently sleeping, even though Celestia was shouting.
Ava spoke up. "With all due respect, she would have died if we didn't take care of the wounds there. I've seen ODST's, and other Spartans die to plasma wounds before. The magic was doing nothing for her, so instead of being a bitch and getting angry that she's still alive, maybe thank us for saving her! If we had simply left her, she would have died a horrible death. Plasma burns are worse than you think!"
Celestia looked shocked that someone would speak to her like that, but she couldn't find words to retaliate with. Instead, Ava and Jake walked out of the medbay, leaving all the ponies in there shocked.
They headed out, and walked back to the Everfree forest, to find the Pelican that was left there.
Outside of Equis, Space 08:00
The UNSC Destroyer Axios exited slipspace. They had been doing that for a while now, to throw the Covenant off their trail. Captain Nate was seated, looking out the forward windows that occupied the Destroyers bridge. The planet that he was looking at was breathtaking, but there were bigger matters at hand. There was a Covenant ship that was idle above the planet. Captain Nate picked up his data pad, getting any available information he could. He spoke, in a steady, strong voice. "Go to battlestations. High alert. The Covenant is here and I'll be damned if we don't fight back this ti-"
"Sir! You're gonna want to see this, there's a signal coming from the planet. It's UNSC in origin, and it keeps looping the same sound. Does Olly Olly Oxen Free mean anything to you?"
Captain Nate suddenly stopped what he was doing. Olly Olly Oxen Free. That was what Spartan-II's used as an all clear. He remembered that from when he was rescued by a team of Spartan-II's when he was still in basic training. Hearing that signal meant that not only was there a small UNSC presence on the planet, there were Spartans.
"We need to get to the location of the signal. Prep Spartan-III Squad Viper, get them down there, on the double!"
Equis, Evergreen Forest 08:20
"It's pointless. There's no UNSC here, just dust and echoes. We got our supplies, and we fixed the Pelican up. We might as well go back to Canterlot."
Jake-039 was adamant that the signal was just space being weird. There was no way that the UNSC had entered the same system. As soon as the signal was found, Ava-127 had set up a signal of her own, that only the UNSC would be able to understand. Just as Ava-127 was about to agree with Jake-039, they saw it. The UNSC Destroyer was a sight for sore eyes. It had the Greek word "Axios" engraved on the side, which meant "I am worthy"
An hour and a half later, Viper Squad had brought the two Spartan-II's to the UNSC Axios, and they explained the situation, the Covenant, the first contact with the ponies on the planet, and their mission details.
Onyx Team and Vyper Squad took a Pelican down to Canterlot, and Captain Nate was with them. Ava-127 and Jake-039 were relieved to finally see fellow soldiers, fellow Spartans.
When the Pelican touched down outside Canterlot Castle, there were multiple guards with spears. Celestia was with them too, but as soon as they saw the Spartans, they relaxed.
Captain Nate stepped out of the pelican, and nodded to Celestia. "Greetings. Captain Nate of the UNSC Axios." Celestia returned the gesture, and introduced herself too. 20 minutes later, and a Forward Operating Base had been established, with a few dozen ODST'S and Marines protecting it. Captain Nate and Celestia had already devised battle plans to strike at the Covenant, and the Changelings.
They would first attack any Covenant/changeling controlled areas, slowly taking Equestria back from the enemy, and then they would take out the enemy ship.
The next day 10 P.M UNSC Axios Armory
The Armory aboard the UNSC ship was a beautiful sight to the two Spartan-II's. It had enough weapons and ammunition to fight the Covenant for months on end. The two Spartans had the day off, as their armor was getting serviced by the ships scientists and engineers, as well as getting upgraded. The hot shower and warm food was greatly appreciated by Ava, and it was great to sleep in a proper bed for once. She may have been a Spartan, but she loved small comforts like that just as much as the next person.
She had been trying to sleep for the past two hours, but she had the rest of the UNSC on her mind. Captain Nate and the UNSC Axios had been cut off from the UNSC for a while, due to the Cole Protocol and being unable to use their slipspace engine to jump to Earth. Had the Covenant found Earth yet? How many Spartans were still alive? Eventually, she fell asleep, her mind full of questions.
11 A.M Forward Operating Base Foxtrot
Captain Nate stood next to Celestia in a war room, debriefing the Spartans in the room.
"We're going to be attacking them from all fronts. Spartan-III squads Echo, Viper, and Gauntlet will be assisting with the main assault. The main assault will have Marines, ODST'S, and Spartans. The Unicorns will be assisting with manifesting shields for vehicles, and with artillery. The Pegasi will be using their ability of flight and weather manipulation against the Covenant, and the Earth ponies will assist injured soldiers, both Human and Pony. The UNSC Axios will provide air support from above. Meanwhile, Onyx Team will take a small team of ODST'S and disable a structure that is jamming all long range comms. Dismissed."
When Onyx Team got outside the FOB, they saw Twilight Sparkle arguing with Celestia. "But if I can go with Onyx Team, I can do research! Potentially helpful research, too!" Twilight resorted to puppy dog eyes, and Celestia sighed. She called Onyx Team over.
"Spartans.. my student wishes to accompany you to the, umm.. Comm Jammer? If she goes with, will you keep her safe?"
Ava looked Twilight, and sighed too. She nodded her head, and motioned for Twilight to follow them.
"Don't worry Princess. I'll keep her safe."
1 P.M UNSC Axios
Twilight had never seen anything like this ship before. She was fascinated by it, and how it managed to stay in the sky with no wings or anything. She would have to ask the Spartans once the Covenant was gone. Ava-127 handed her a helmet that had a hastily made hole in the top, for Twilight's horn.
"You're going to be heading into a warzone. If you want your research, then you'll put your helmet and this body armor on. It'll be uncomfortable, but atleast you can take a plasma projectile or two." She also handed Twilight a medkit, filled with Biofoam and bandages, and a whole bunch of medical supplies.
Twilight hated the armor, it was heavy, and as Ava had predicted, uncomfortable.
They got into a Pelican, and soon, were on the way to kick some Covvie ass.
"Holy shit, the techs really upgraded our armor, Jake! Active Camouflage that's almost as good as the Elites, increased shield strength, and thruster packs!" Was the first thing Ava had to say about her repaired and upgraded Mjolnir armor.
Jake-039 had the Active Camouflage, as well as a heavily improved motion sensor, in place of thruster packs.
The two Spartans carried suppressed weapons. Jake-039 with a suppressed Designated Marksman Rifle, and SRS sniper, and Ava-127 with a suppressed BR-75 and dual M6G-SOCOM silenced magnums.
The Pelican dropped them off 10 kilometres from the target, and they hiked their way to the objective.
"Fuck..!" Ava cursed under her breath. "There must be a few dozen Split Lips there, and double that with grunts and jackals.."
"Split Lips?" Inquired Twilight.
"Elites. They have four mandibles and it looks like their lips have been split."
After a while of recon, they were ready to strike. "Alright.. we'll split up. We have two generators we need to destroy to cut the comm jamming. O'Brien, Morgan, Twilight? You're with me. We'll take the first generator. Jake, take Mayhew and Frank. Stay quiet, don't let the Covenant see you."
They moved out, heading to their objective.
Twilight was surprisingly quiet, even when they took out Elites and grunts. They soon reached the generator, and Ava-127 got to work disabling it. Twilight moved away, and started to study all the Covenant structures. There was so much knowledge she could gain! Her excitement was cut short as she heard an ear piercing scream, and she looked back to see a red energy sword protruding from the chest of O'Brien. She couldn't see anyone wielding the energy sword, but then the alien deactivated it's Camouflage, revealing a heavily armored elite, and she held back a scream of her own. Instantly, Morgan began to open fire on the Elite with a MA5D Assault Rifle, but the bullets seemed to do almost nothing to the Elite.
"Kill this filth, brothers!" Shouted the Elite. Ava counted three Zealots, and one Major. She immediately opened fire, her shots dropping the shield of the Elite Major, and she finished it off with one last burst from her Battle Rifle. The Zealots fired at the ODST with their Plasma rifles, the plasma melting through his unshielded armor and burning him alive. The Elite in the unknown armor reactivated his active camo, and left the area. Ava threw a scavenged Plasma Grenade which stuck the middle Elite, killing two of the Zealots and bringing the thirds shield down. Ava was about to finish the Zealot for good, but before she could pull her trigger, she felt like she was hit by a train, as she flew a few metres away and hit the ground hard. The bastard had used a Concussion Rifle. The Elite activated its energy sword, picking Ava-127 up with ease. Ava could feel the heat from the energy sword, and she tried to escape from the Elite, but couldn't move. "This is it." She thought, as the Elite prepared to strike. Just before the Elite stabbed her, she heard three swift noises. Pff pff pff The sound of her handgun. The Elite dropped Ava-127, and staggered to the ground, clutching it's neck. It had three precise shots there. Ava took this chance, and kicked the Elite to the ground in a mere second, ending it's life by curb stomping it. She looked over to where the gunshots had come from to find her saviour, expecting to see Jake-039, but instead she saw Twilight, trembling. She was using magic to hold one of the M6G-SOCOM pistols that had fallen away from Ava when she had gotten hit by the concussion rifle.
"O-oh Celestia... What have I done...?" Whispered Twilight.
