Good luck sir. It's been an honour.

by Jessofages

First published 19th of October, 2012

The story on what would have happened if sergeant Forge hadn't perished.

The planet destroyed. The flood gone and the covenant obliterated.
All because of one man, Sergeant J. Forge. The man who literally stared death in the face to save those aboard the 'Spirit of Fire'.
But what if the detonation of the slipspace drive tore a larger than intended hole in the fabric of space, essentially creating a portal to another world.
What if Forge hadn't perished on that day, but awoke to find himself in a completely new and foreign world ?

One hell of a bang.

This is an attempt at a Halo crossover featuring Sargent Forge from Halo Wars. It's my first go at a crossover, so apologies if it's a pile of crap.

"Sir it's already overheating. I'll have to separate the core and align them manually when they need to blow."

"Son, I have a feeling that before this is over, we'll need ever last spartan in the fight. I can do this. Report back to the ship."

".....Good luck sir. It's been an honour."

The short conversation played itself over and over again as Forge began his ascent in the elevator with the slipspace drive. Those were his last words.
He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. "Report back to the ship." His last sentence had been an order. No fancy speech or philosophical realisation on what life meant. Just an order.
As the elevator continued to rise he wondered whether this was going to be worth it. Would his sacrifice make a difference to the war. Or was there just another covenant armada waiting just outside the plants orbit, waiting to shoot any UNSC vessels that emerged from its core ?
He would never know. He would never need to know.

As the elevator began to slow and the opening at the top slowly began to recede, Forge gave a sigh of relief.
He was meeting his end and he felt none the worse for it. He knew what had to be done and he was more than prepared to do it. Just as his training had instructed.
And he wasn't about to go and waste a spartan, one of the UNSC's more prized and valued soldiers, to detonate a bomb. That's what expendables like him were for. He, and all the others who had passed in this hell-hole were just another statistic. Another number......

Reaching the top, he began the necessary preparations for the detonation to come.
He followed the directions given to him by Anders to the letter. Even though she had explained it to him as though he were a gorilla learning sign language. "Red one goes here, blue one goes here. Don't touch that bit !" He thought to himself, mocking Ander's in his mind as he did. He was especially going to miss that princess. There was something about her reckless nature that made him almost enjoy some of the countless missions they had gone on together. Rather, the ones she insisted on coming on.
He cracked another smile to himself as he finished his work and waited for the 'all go' from Cutter.

He had once again drifted into a state of reminiscence when his com-link flared to life and he heard the familiar voice of the captain.

"Sargent Forge, all ground forces are evacuating to the 'Spirit of Fire'."

"Copy that. Get our people out of here, I'm blowin' the core."

And with that his com went dead as he clicked it off. He wouldn't be needing it any-more.
Returning his assault rifle to its holster on his back and turning back towards the drive, he allowed himself on last large intake of breath. Savouring the feel of the crisp air in his lungs and the feeling of the heat against his skin.
Recollecting himself, he hovered his index finger over the detonator, giving himself some last, reassuring thoughts around the fact that this was the end.

"Here we go." He muttered to himself as he pushed button underneath his finger until it gave the expected, 'Click.'.

Not a moment later a viscous hum emanated from the cores interior, slowly escalating into a full-blown roar as the core aligned itself and begun the fusion-based detonation.

Forge watched in awe as the core finally let loose a deafening 'Boom'.
His surroundings turned ghostly white, coupled with an almost unbearable heat as his world quickly disappeared before him.
Moments later his world went completely black. From blacking out or death he couldn't tell.
What he did know was that he had done his part. And for the human race.
The fight went on.

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Twilight Sparkle stood on her balcony, overlooking the moon-bathed streets of Ponyville. He telescope and trusty assistant Spike by her side.
She had chosen tonight to be her monthly star-gazing night. Both because it fitted in with her schedule and because Luna had told her that a meteor show was due in just a few hours.
Being the egghead she is, she was ecstatic to have the opportunity to observe and study a meteor shower. Even though she had done it several times before, the novelty had never seemed to wear off and she found herself in the same excited state every-time anything astronomical was mentioned.

Looking into the eyepiece of her telescope, she gave the night sky a thorough going-over.
"Ten pm. No sighting. Shower due in twenty minutes." She took her eye off the telescope and turned to Spike.
"Did you get that Spike ?"

The baby purple dragon just gave a yawn in response and sleepily replied, "Twi, why do we have to take recordings before the showers even started ?" He gave another large yawn.
"I mean, I could be in bed right now." He pointed out.

Twilight just grinned and shook her head. "We're taking measurements now in-case something happens before the shower." She explained. "And as for being in bed, you've had all day to sleep." She pointed out jokingly.

Spike didn't have the energy to respond. So he just accepted Twilight's answer and jotted down what she had said on the notepad he held and resumed his nearly fruitless attempts at keeping his eyes open.

The next twenty minutes went as Twilight had expected. Not even a glimmer had appeared in the inky canvas that was the sky. But then, almost like clockwork, the first bright, trailed speck appeared over the Canterlot mountains.
Nearly jumping several feet in the air, Twilight rushed to her telescope and planted her eye firmly on its piece, stating every little detail she could observe to a groggy, recently re-awoken awoken Spike, who wrote as fast as his claws would allow as the lavender unicorn's speech border-lined gibberish.

As the shower began to subside and the unicorn began to calm down as the last of the glinting specks disappeared over the horizon. Spike frantically wrote down the last of Twilight's observations and went over what he had written making sure he had gotten at least most of what the mare had been jabbering at him for the past ten minutes.

"So, Spike. Did you get all of that ?" The unicorn finally asked, pulling her eye away from the telescope, a small, faint pink circle around her right eye after being compressed on the eyepiece for so long.

"Well, uh. Yeah I think I got most of it." Spike replied with a sheepish grin.

"Most of it ?" Twilight asked in a disbelieving manner. "Exactly how much is....."
She began to ask, but was cut off as a thunderous boom echoed over Ponyville. Returning to her telescope in a flash, Twilight was amazed to see a bright flash of white emanating, not from the sky but from within the Everfree forest.
Delighted at this strange occurrence, she had spike write down the details of what had just happened and also to re-arrange her schedule so they could go and investigate the source of the flash in the morning, as she had decided it was too late to be exploring the Everfree.

"So, does this mean I can go to bed now ?" Asked an anxious Spike.

"Of course you can Spike. Sweet dreams." She called in to the dragon who was making hasty progress towards his bed.
Giggling at the way the dragon ran when he was tired, Twilight decided she may as well go to bed too.
As she ascended the stairs to her room, her mind was racing with theories on what the flash could have been...

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He was floating. At least he thought he was. Nothing at this point felt real.It was as though he were dreaming.
Forge felt he was finally at peace, he knew he was dead. How couldn't he be after being through such an event.
He continued to experience this state for several more minutes before a gleam in the distance appeared before him.
Assuming that this was the 'light at the end of the tunnel.', Forge made his way towards it. At least he thought he did. He wasn't sure on how he was moving.

As he neared the gleam, its white radiance became unbearable. Closing his eyes, or whatever the equivalent of them was here, Forge allowed several seconds before re-viewing the world, or sub-world, before him.
However, when he did re-open his eyes, he found himself not blinded by a dazzling white light. But rather by the sun.
"The sun ?" He thought to himself, slightly confused. Wondering how this was even possible.
As his eyes began to adjust to the harsh rays of light, his other senses began to kick in. The first being his hearing. His ears soon became full with the various noises around him. Including the sound of the long, drawn-in and raspy breaths he was taking and what he assumed were birds somewhere nearby.
The next sense he noticed was his touch. He felt the hard earth below him and what he assumed was a tree on which he had his head resting. Next of course came his smell. At first he was overwhelmed with the scent of various pollens. Scrunching his nose at the sudden burst of odours, Forge felt another sensation. One he wished he couldn't feel.
His entire body ached. Some parts more than others.
Groaning, he managed to sit up and give his surroundings a more thorough going over.
Clutching his sides and wincing as he did, he noticed that he appeared to be on the edge of some-sort of forest.
"Where the hell am I ?" He asked himself, hoping the answer would somehow come to him by itself.
With some more excruciating pain, he managed to pull himself to his feet. Not immediately finding his balance, he found himself leaning against the tree he had be slumped against.

After several more minutes of stretching and assessing his injuries. Forge found he had nothing too severe wrong with him. At least nothing a few hours in the R&R unit wouldn't solve.
Checking his equipment, he found his MA5B still firmly in its holster on his back. His M6C likewise on his hip.
Raising a hand to his left shoulder pauldron, he found that 'Lucy' had survived whatever had happened to him, as had his trademark ace of spades, which surprised him somewhat.
Inspecting the rest of his armour, he found that it was in almost the exact same condition as it was when he detonated the core.
He managed to crack a grin as he began to wonder exactly had happened after the explosion. "I've beaten death." He chuckled to himself. The guys back on the ship were never going to believe this one.

Returning back to the situation back at hand, he began to wonder how he was even going to get back. He couldn't see anything that could be considered anything close to civilisation or even covenant presence nearby.
Checking his watch he noticed it read, 'Oh, two hundred hours.', "Well that's obviously wrong." He said to no-one in particular with a raised eyebrow, as he looked back up and noticed the sun looked as though it had just risen.
Shrugging, he spotted a nearby hill and decided it would be best if he briefed himself better on his surroundings before wandering off aimlessly.
Reaching the peak of the hill with some difficulty, he found a rather peculiar sight awaiting him.
Before him lay a rather strange looking settlement. Its buildings almost looking cartoon like in both appearance and structure. All of which, he noticed, were coloured in nearly every colour imaginable.
"Well, you've really gone down the rabbit hole this time." He thought to himself as continued to scan the town.
Pulling his binoculars from one of the pouches around his waist, he began to notice what he thought were horses walking around the place.
Peering down the binoculars, his suspicions proved correct. There were indeed a multitude of multi-coloured horses walking around the town. Some he noticed had wings while others had horns. "What the hell is this ?" He muttered to himself, with growing suspicions that this was some kind of new covenant force he hadn't encountered before.
After the flood, he wouldn't be surprised if these creatures were hostile. Almost every species in the know galaxy, apart form other humans of coarse, wanted both him and his race gone.

After what felt what felt like hours of laying and observing, Forge found himself fascinated with the colourful creatures going about their business before him.
Having a thought to record what he was seeing. Forge lowered his binoculars and reached into another pouch, searching for his audio-log. Something he carried with him to vent his thoughts into ever since the incident with the crew of the 'Prophecy.'
"Where the hell is it ?" He grunted to himself as he continued to rummage through the assorted pouches that lined his waist.

Then came the unexpected. He froze dead where he lay when a muffled gasp resonated from somewhere behind him.
As would any other soldier, Forge assumed it to be some sort stealth attempt. Grinning at whatever it was behind him's failure at the attempt, he snapped his had from his pouch, ripped his side-arm from its holster and spun around into a low, crouched stance.
Raising the barrel of the weapon, he found himself aiming at one of the creatures he had been observing before. This one was purple, with a similar coloured mane that had a pink streak down its centre. He also noted that this particular one had a horn.
"Your move, covvie." He thought to himself with a blank expression, holding his fire as he decided it would be best to determine whether these creatures were hostile or not before he began shooting up the place.

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Jumping back slightly as the creature snapped around and faced her with some sort of metal-looking device pointing in her direction, Twilight considered the option of turning and bolting back to Ponyville and away from this.... whatever it was.

Her curiosity had gotten the better of her and she had decided to investigate the sight of the flash from the previous night as soon as dawn had broken.
She had come alone due to her friends either still being asleep or in Applejack's case, too pre-occupied to accompany her.
And now here she stood, face to face with some sort of creature she had never laid eyes on or even read about before.
It was roughly six feet tall, from what she had seen when it was laying against the hill. It wore what looked like armour from where she stood, some of its plates were scuffed or had scratches on them.
From what she could see, the creature was bi-pedal with five small appendages on the end of its fore-hooves, apparently used for gripping and holding objects.
But the feature that interested her most, was the fact that this creature didn't posses a tail and had either very short or no mane atop its head, with the exception of some very short hair lining its jaw.
The expression the creature wore gave Twilight the impression that it wasn't about to attempt any form of communication.
Taking the risk of first contact, Twilight decided to at least see if the creature 'could' speak.

"Uh.... hi." She said in a shaky voice, raising a fore-hoof and giving a small wave to the creature, which still held its device in her direction.

"It can speak English ?" Forge thought to himself as the colourful horse before him attempted a greeting.
Still not lowering his pistol, Forge looked the creature over. Attempting to locate any sort of translation technology, similar to the kind the covenant elites wore.
Finding nothing of the sort, he made the assumption that the inhabitants of this world did in fact speak English.
Wanting to prove his theory, he remained silent and kept his pistol level with the horse's fore-head, waiting to see if it would speak again.

Receiving no reply, or even a change in the creatures body language, Twilight began to feel as though the creature before her couldn't understand. Hoping she was wrong, she continued her attempt at communication.
"Can you, uh...... can you understand what I'm saying ?" She asked, hopeful that the creature would respond.

"Alright, this thing is talking to me." Forge noted to himself.
"This thing waved, and is talking to me." He re-assured himself, almost not believing what he was witnessing.
As the creature began to look disappointed with his lack of response to its last question, he decided it would be best if he did try and communicate with these horses. "Hell, they might even know a way to get me back." He thought hopefully.
Lowering his weapon slightly, Forge cleared his throat and stated a single word.
"Yes."

A new world.

"No soldier should be honoured for doing what is expected" - John 117.

Startled that the creature had finally given her a response caused Twilight to become both exceedingly eager to find out more about this being but cautious at the same time as to what it was doing here in the first place.
She also noticed it had lowered the device it was holding, which she assumed was a good sign as it looked as though it wasn't intended for anything apart from defence.
Taking in the fact that the creature didn't appear to be speaking any further any time soon, she mustered her courage and attempted to continue talking to this strange being.
"So.. uh. What's your name ?" She asked, this being the only question she could verbalise, although her mind was racing with things she wanted to question the creature on.

Forge considered the question for several moments, deciding on what the best answer would be. Assuming these horses had no idea what the UNSC was and they weren't part of the covenant, he opted for what he thought was the best response.
"Forge." He replied simply. As far as he was concerned, he wished to keep his identity as anonymous as possible until he had at least a rough idea on the nature of these creatures.
Rising to his full height, he re-holstered his pistol, lowering his guard as he saw next to no possible way that one of these creatures on its own could get the upper hand on him.
"And what might yours be little horse ?" He asked in a rather sarcastic manner, still in disbelief that he was conversing with a coloured horse.

"Forge ? That's a rather odd name." Twilight thought to herself as she watched the creature rise. Reaching its full height, it towered over her, once again giving her the urge to turn and run as it stood at least several feet taller than the top of her head.
Resisting the urge, she gave a barely audible gulp and mustered her courage once again.
Holding her ground, she answered the giant's question.
"My names Twilight. Twilight Sparkle." She said in an unintentional matter-of-fact way.
"And I'm a pony. Not a horse." She pointed out with a grin, extending a fore-hoof towards the creature, hoping it would understand the gesture.

Forge cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms as the horse, no, pony gave its response.
"Oh good." He thought sarcastically to himself. "I'm talking to a 'pony'." He added, all but certain that this was some sort of far-fetched, strangely real feeling hallucination.
Watching as the pony before him extended a leg in his direction, he was at first confused as to what it was doing.
However, it didn't take him long to realise it was offering a handshake.
"Why the hell not ? I'll play along." He said out-loud to no-one in particular hoping this back-fire and turn out to be some sort of trick.
Crouching down once more, he extended his arm right arm in return. Grasping the ponies hoof in his had, he was surprised at how furry and pleasant to the touch the ponies coat was. It reminded him of velvet.
Giving the hoof a few solid shakes, he found the shake to be genuine. He then returned to an upright stance, causing his still aching back to crack several times in protest.
Turning back to face the serenity of the town he assumed the pony had come from, he drew in a long breath, similar to the one he had taken before he had 'died' before asking his next question.
"So." He began. "Where exactly am I ?" He asked, still scanning the surrounding area he noticed that the town was larger than he had first assumed. He noticed it had a multitude of different styles of buildings all varying in colour, most notable of all of them was the vast apple orchard on the edge of town. Its rows of trees seemed to stretch as far as the eye could see.
"This place looks a-lot like Earth." He thought to himself, vaguely recalling the landscape of his home-world. Or at least the small parts that were relatively untouched be human development.

Pleased that she seemed to be making good progress with the creature, Twilight couldn't help but imagine how the rest of pony-kind would react to their visitor.
"Well, you're in Equestria." Twilight explained to the being that now had its back to her.
"And that there is Ponyville." She pointed out, noticing that the creature seemed to be fascinated with what he saw.
"I can't wait to tell the Princess about this guy." She thought to herself, making a mental note to write the letter as soon as she got home.

Forge couldn't help but chuckle at the pony's reply.
"Such an original and creative name." He replied sarcastically, wondering if their names were as creative as their town names. Considering this ones was Twilight Sparkle he doubted the others would be any better.
Continuing on that thought he asked his next question, "So, what about the rest of you ? Can you all speak or is it just you ?" He asked curiously, averting his gaze from the town and back to the purple pony before him, hoping there might be someone in charge he could talk to.

Not catching onto the creatures near obvious sarcasm, Twilight just grinned, pleased that the creature seemed to be taking a liking to her home-town.
"Well of coarse we can all speak." She replied with a cocked eyebrow. "I can prove it to you if you'd like." She offered, gesturing in the direction of the town, hoping she would be able to coax the being into willing coming back to Ponyville with her.

Weighing up his options, Forge found it would be best if he did accompany this pony to wherever she was going to take him.
Simply nodding his approval, he received an almost disturbingly excited response.
Shrugging it off, he began to follow the lavender pony in the direction of the town at a mild pace.
Forge found himself once again enthralled with the scenery of this place. The weather was neither to cold or too hot, it seemed to be just the right mix of sun and the occasional crisp wind that swept across the landscape, causing the plant-life to rustle as it went.
The overall atmosphere of the place was completely foreign to Forge, who had only a vague re-collection of what Earth was like. This world was overwhelming. He was too used to the cold, metal interiors of various frigates and the heat augmented atmospheres of the countless battle scenes he had found himself in.
This world was something completely different. There weren't any war-wounds scarring the earth he walked on, nor was there any sign of any sort of conflict ever occurring in this place. And there was definitely no sign of the covenant anywhere, putting his mind and suspicions at relative rest.
This world seemed almost comforting.

As they walked through the pristine environment, their destination had become gradually larger. After several minutes Forge had eventually tuned out the pony he was following, who had apparently taken it upon herself, well at least he assumed it was a she, based on her voice, to give him a full explanation of the world. Including something about a 'Canterlot' and what he assumed was another pony named 'Celestia.' She then went on to give him a complete de-brief on her friends, which Forge almost completely ignored, because quite frankly, he couldn't care less.
As they neared the edge of the town, Forge took in how cartoon-like the town was up close. Some of the buildings looked as though they shouldn't be standing at all. While others just looked down-right ridiculous. Coupled with the fact that almost every house was a different colour, it only furthered Forge's assumption that he was either dreaming, hallucinating or that this was his eternal punishment.

Just before Forge and his companion could enter what he assumed was a 'street', he was drawn from his trance-like state by the sound of shouting.
Looking around he noticed nothing out of the ordinary, or what he assumed was ordinary for this place. He then noticed that the sound was coming not from the ground but the sky.
Looking up and raising a hand to shield his eyes from the sun, Forge noticed a small, light blue blur heading surprisingly fast in his direction.
"The hell is....." He began to ask, but was quickly silenced as the blue projectile collided with his chest.
He grunted as he was knocked to the hard ground below him, forcing the wind from his lungs.
Rocketing a hand towards Lucy, he grabbed her by the handle and was about to jam her into his attacker when he snapped his eyes open to meet his assailant.
He looked the blue mass that stood on his chest over with a hard glare. On top of his collapsed form, stood another pony with its front hooves planted on his shoulders, apparently in an attempt to restrain him. This one had a light blue coat with what he made out to be wings to match. It had large rose coloured eyes that glared into his with what he assumed was anger, and its mane, that was the feature that sent Forge into hysterics. Its mane was every colour of the rainbow.
Wheezing from laughter, Forge was unable to hear what the now offended looking pony was saying. Instead, he released Lucy's leather bound grip and easily overpowered the pony with his right arm, shoving its form off him with relative ease.
Struggling to stand, Forge managed to catch his breath, brush the majority of the dust from his armour and stifle his laughter before looking over to where the blue pony was picking itself up.

Twilight just watched as Rainbow tackled the creature, only to be thrown off like a rag-doll.
Stifling a giggle of her own, she watched as Rainbow picked herself up, her pride obviously damaged.
"You alright Rainbow ?" Twilight asked, already knowing what the response was going to be as her friend continued to angrily eye the creature she had brought with her.

"I'm fine Twi." Rainbow replied through gritted teeth.
"Just what is this thing ? Did you know it was following you ?" She asked in rapid succession.
Not waiting for an answer, she took off and hovered just inches from the creatures face.
"Huh, bud ? Why're you following my friend ?" She asked in her best demanding tone, jabbing a hoof into the strange creatures chest.

"Rainbow, calm down. He wasn't following me. I was leading him here." Twilight assured her agrivated friend.

"You lead him here !" Rainbow exclaimed in disbelief that her friend would do such a thing.
"Twi, it looks like an alien ! How can you even trust it ?" She asked, hovering over to where twilight stood.

"Because Rainbow." Twilight began as she rolled her eyes.
"It can talk, and from what I've seen, I don't think he means any harm." She gestured towards Forge.
"Rainbow, this is Forge." She explained, hoping their guest wouldn't mind his treatment.

Still taking in what had just happened, Forge didn't catch most of what the two were saying. He did though, snap to life when he found the blue pony hovering just inches from his face. Barely feeling the poke of its hoof on his chest, he focused on refraining from laughing any-more than he had, as he found it hurt quite a fair bit to laugh in his current state. As he watched the two ponies converse, he began to wonder whether he would have been better off on his own back at the forest. He contemplated doing just that when he noticed that the purple one seemed to be introducing him to her multi-coloured friend.
Apparently, the coloured one was called Rainbow, confirming his suspicion that the pony's names were just as imaginative as a house brick. At the mention of his name however, he gave a mock bow towards the rainbow pony, who just continued to glare at him with her rose eyes.

"So... uh, yeah." Twilight began, trying to break the awkward silence that she was sitting in after several moments of the two just staring each other down.
"He told me his name was Forge and that he came here by......" She trailed off with a confused expression.
"Wait, you didn't tell me 'how' you got here." She pointed out, turning to face Forge. "Care to explain ?" She asked him, somewhat eager to hear the creatures origins.

Forge took some time to formulate an answer. How could he answer the pony's question ? He couldn't tell them everything. Earth, the UNSC, the covenant, the flood, the war in general. They were all 'classified'.
Mulling his answer over, he decided to opt with the most general of answers.
He wasn't about to spill everything because some 'pony' had asked.
"I came here because I had to." He began. "I didn't want to come here, it was an accident." He continued to explain. "Well, not entirely an accident." He thought to himself, his mind wandering back to the detonation that had occurred no hours ago.
"I was caught in an explosion. And somehow.... here I am." He finished, raising both his arms for 'dramatic' effect.

His explanation just left the ponies with a dumbfounded expression.
Several moments passed before the silence was broken by Rainbow scoffing. "So, you 'are' an alien." She stated, obviously not impressed.
Turning to Twilight she mumbled out of the corner of her mouth, "Are you 'sure' we can trust this guy ?" She asked, not taking her eyes off the creature.

"Well, not yet of coarse." Twilight relied. "But I'm sure we'll find out the longer he's here." She pointed out.
"I was taking him to go and see Applejack before you.... interrupted." She explained, trying to find the right word to explain what Rainbow had done.
"You're more than welcome to come with us and make sure he doesn't get into any 'mischief'." She offered, giggling to herself.

"Well, you don't expect me to leave you with this 'thing' alone do you ?" Rainbow retorted.
"C'mon ugly." She said, flying behind Forge and pushing into his back with both her front hooves. "We're movin'" She stated, continuing to attempt to push Forge along.

Seeing how there was next to no alternative, Forge obliged and began to walk in the direction that the rainbow pony was pushing him. "Whatever you say, Ma'am." He replied casually as the purple pony took the lead and directed him towards the massive apple orchard he had seen earlier.
"This just keeps getting better and better." He thought to himself, realising how bleak his situation was starting to turn out.

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The rest of the journey passed rather uneventfully.
Thankfully, many of the residents of Ponyville were still asleep. But those that were awake gave Twilight's find some rather questionable glances, some of fear, others in confusion, but all of which made Forge uneasy. He felt as though he were some kind of open display that anyone could come and gawk at on a whim. He hated that feeling.

As they continued to wander the winding streets, Forge got the opportunity to study more of the town close-up.
It impressed him somewhat that sentient horses were able to form a fully functioning community.
It was strange for him to not see any kind of slum or poor-district in the town. Apparently these ponies lived in a completely equal society, something he was rather envious of, as the human race had never had a society such as this in any of its recorded history.

As they neared the entrance to the apple orchard, Forge noticed that it looked surprisingly like a plot of farmland, almost identical to those he had read about in old history books about Southern America in the twentieth century back on Earth.
As they passed under a large sign that lead into the farm, he read, "Sweet Apple Acres" etched into the wood of the sign, which was bathed in a solid golden glow from the mid-morning sun.

The two ponies entered first, Twilight in the lead with Rainbow close behind her, still giving Forge the evil eye.
The moment Forge caught up with them, he heard what sounded like muffled frag-grenades going off at regular intervals.
Wondering what in the world could be producing such a noise, he began to scan the rows of trees for the solution.
After a minute or two of searching, Forge was about to give up. It was then he spotted what looked like an orange pony accompanied by a larger red one off in the distance.
Each of them were wandering through the orchard, stopping at each tree, turning on their heels and 'bucking' the trees. Causing them to shake violently and drop their burden moments later. Each impact producing the sound he had heard before.
"No freaking way." Forge thought to himself. He wasn't that educated on the subject of physics, but he was fairly sure that just kicking a tree once couldn't make it drop 'all' of the apples it was holding.

"Hey Applejack !" Twilight called out at the top of her voice, hoping to attract the cow-ponies attention.
Although they were a good fifty meters away, Applejack had heard the call and answered with a wave, before she began a mild trot over to where the three were standing. Obviously oblivious to the six foot soldier standing with them.

"So, that ones Applejack ?" Forge thought to himself, snickering once again at the vast originality of the pony's names.

"Well howdy there girls !" Applejack said, greeting her friends once she was near enough, "How're y'all doin' ....." The next few words got caught in her throat as she spotted Forge, who had chosen to lean against a nearby tree.
"W...what the hay is that ?" She asked, shakily raising a fore-leg in his direction, her ears flat against her head under her trade-mark Stetson.

"That." Rainbow butted in before Twilight could answer. "Is an alien." She said, eyeing Forge once again.
"Twilight found it this morning and thought it would be a good idea to bring it into town." Rainbow added with a sarcastic demeanour, mentally questioning her friends judgement.

Forge raised a hand and gave the orange pony a small wave before satisfying a itch on the back of his left ear.
"What's up orange. ?" He asked casually, cracking a small grin at how thick the hat-wearing pony's accent was.

Refraining from answering the creature, Applejack turned back to Twilight with a worried expression.
"Ya sure this things safe." She asked, eyeing the device protruding from the alien's back.
"He don't look all that friendly." She pointed out, noticing Forge's ragged appearance.

"Applejack, he's perfectly...." She began to explain before she was cut off by a loud 'Bang' resonating from Forges direction, causing all three ponies to jump from surprise in unison.
The three ponies turned to face the alien, who was re-holstering the metal device device on its hip.
They then watched as he drew a rather large knife from his armour and began bending over to retrieve an apple from the ground.
As he lifted the apple, the three ponies noticed it had a small hole running from one side to the other.

Forge couldn't remember the last time he had had an apple, especially one this fresh.
It was sweet and juicy, just as the name of the farm implied. He savoured the first piece as he chewed it with vigour.
Arriving in a strange world with absolutely no idea what's going on can raise quite the appetite.
He was halfway through his second piece when he noticed that the ponies had stopped talking. Looking up, he noticed all three of them were staring at him with looks of utter shock.
"What ?" He asked with a mouthful of apple, returning the ponies looks with one of confusion.
"You don't mind, do you orange ?" He asked as he finished his mouthful and returned to carving himself another section with Lucy.
By this point, he didn't really care about what sort of impression he was giving, this whole scenario was clearly not real or a figment of his imagination. Even he could work that out. All he wanted was to find someone in charge and see if there was any possible way of getting back to the 'Spirit of Fire", or at least his own universe.

He didn't know about the ponies, but he still had a war to win....

Hatred put aside.

"Thought I'd try shooting my way out. Mix things up a little." - Spartan 117.

The three mares just stared in shock as the creature continued to eat as though nothing had happened.
Curious as to what the creature had done to attain the apple, Twilight managed to muster the courage to ask another question.
"You...you know magic ?" She asked timidly, the words unintentionally catching in her throat.

Forge just cocked an eyebrow in response as he drew his gaze from the scenery and back to the purple pony.
"Magic ?" He thought to himself. "The hell does it mean by magic ?"
Swallowing his mouthful, he cleared his throat before giving his response.
"Magic only exists in children's stories." He replied bluntly, remembering the countless stories that were told to children back on Earth. Lowering his free hand to his waist, he redrew his pistol and displayed it to the multi-coloured ponies before him.
"I used this." He explained after several moments, receiving nothing but blank stares of confusion from his audience.
"It's a gun." He continued, using a tone similar to one he would use if he were talking to a four year old.
Still receiving not a single word from the ponies, he returned the side-arm to its holster and returned his gaze back to the captivating scenery laid out before him.

The three friends just gave each other glances of confusion as they attempted to decipher what this 'gun' was.

"A gun ?" Twilight asked herself. "There's so much I have to write to the Princess about." She added, fretting that she would forget everything she had observed and everything that the creature had told them before she was able to reach the sanctity of her home and put her mental notes to paper.
Eager to get her find home, Twilight turned back to the creature and asked, "So, uh, would you like to come back to my home so that I can, uh..... study you ?"
She immediately regretted her choice of words as she realised how degrading her sentence must of sounded.
Still, she waited for the creatures response, silently hoping for the best.

Forge just snickered as the pony asked its question.
"You want to study me ?" He asked rhetorically, still finding it hard to believe his current situation.
Shaking his head slightly, he returned his gaze to the pony and gave his reply in the form of a phrase he was getting accustomed to using.
"Sure. Why the hell not." He replied, giving his shoulders a half shrug as he discarded the now near completely consumed apple.
Pushing himself off the trunk of the tree with a slight grunt, he trudged over to where the ponies stood.

Rainbow and Applejack just stood in utter disbelief at what their friend had just asked the creature to do.
"You want this thing to come with you ?" Rainbow asked in disbelief, giving her friend a look that would imply that she was insane.
We don't know what this thing is or what it wants." She continued, giving Forge yet another barrage of disapproving glances.
"It could be here to overthrow Equestria for all we know !" She pointed out, her voice slowly rising in volume as she protested against Twilight's decision.

"Ya know. Ah think I'll have to agree with Rainbow on this one sugercube." Applejack stated, also giving Twilight an unsure expression.
"Ah mean, just look at it." She added, eyeing the creature as it neared their location.

Twilight just sighed.
"Girls. You're just over-reacting." She retorted, turning to face their visitor who now stood to her left.
"I'm sure he's here in the best of terms, right ?" She asked to Forge who now had his arms crossed and was wearing an almost emotionless expression.

"Sure." Forge replied plainly, finding himself in constant eye contact with the rainbow coloured pony as it seemed to be determined on beating him in a staring contest.

Seeing how dire her situation was becoming. Twilight decided that it would be best if she and he extraterrestrial friend made their exit at this point.
"Well, uh, it was great seeing you Applejack." She said sheepishly as neither Forge nor Rainbow broke their gaze from one another.
"We'll just get going now I guess." She continued. "I'm sure you have lots of work to do." She said optimistically as she made her way over to Rainbow and began to pull on her friends foreleg.
"C'mon Rainbow." She urged. "Let's get this guy to my place before anypony else sees him." She pleaded with her friend, throwing an anxious glance towards the entrance of the farm.

"Now hold on there Twi." Applejack called to her friend before she could leave.
"If that thing really is an alien. Then ah think it would be best if I came with y'all. Ya know, in case you need an extra pair of hooves." She finished, trying to throw a bit of humour in her tone despite her obvious concern.

"Well, if you think that's best." Twilight responded, looking back over her shoulder before returning to her attempt at coaxing Rainbow from her intense stare.

Finally breaking her gaze from the creature, Rainbow managed to divert her attention back to her friend who was pulling at her foreleg.
"Sure Twi. If you say so." She eventually replied, uncertainty still blatant in her tone.

Relieved that her friend was willing to let the creature accompany her further, Twilight watched as Rainbow spread her wings and leaped into the air with several flaps of her wings, creating a slight gust that rustled through her mane.
Turning back to the creature, she found it watching Rainbow with intent. Whether it was admiring her flying technique or just loathing the blue pegasus' presence she couldn't tell.
What she did know was that she needed to get the visitor to her home as soon as possible and inform the Princess of his arrival.
"Shall we ?" She asked, only to receive a short grunt of response from the creature as it continued to watch Rainbow fly overhead, who was assumingly making sure the path to the library was free of any ponies who may catch a glimpse of the visitor.
Assuming that its grunt was a yes, Twilight began to lead the way towards her home at a brisk trot, occasionally looking over her shoulder to make sure that the creature was close behind her and not dawdling.
"Its just up ahead." She called back to the creature reassuringly after several minutes of tense trotting, keeping a close eye out for any curious ponies.

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Forge couldn't care less as to where the pony was taking him now.
She had said something about going to her home, seeing some Princess character and avoiding the other ponies as much as possible.
As a result, he wasn't surprised to find himself ducking and weaving through the town's back streets as he followed the purple pony with the orange one on his flank and with the rainbow coloured one flying overhead.
Every now and again he would catch the occasional glimpse of the other inhabitants of the town strolling around the open streets. The site of this world still baffled Forge. The fact that he was in a world inhabited by talking, colourful horses was a fair bit to take in, even for someone who had seen the things he had.

Eventually, he found himself, once again, immersed within his own thoughts. Mainly on what the hell he was going to do in this place and if there was any potential way to get him back to his own world.
Once again, he found himself enjoying the feeling of the place on his senses as he followed the purple pony in a similar fashion to how a sheep would follow its Shepard.
He was just getting accustomed to the feeling of the breeze on his skin and the pleasant aromas that mixed and found their way into his sinuses before he was once again pulled from his trance as the purple pony addressed him.

"Well, here we are." Twilight stated with a sense of pride in her voice as they neared the entrance to her library.
"This is my home." She explained as she raised a foreleg in the direction of the tree to the creature who looked as though he had been abruptly awaken from a deep sleep.

As Forge roused himself back to reality, he took in what the purple pony had pointed out to him.
The building he saw looked as though the tree had grown over the structure that laid within.
It was substantially larger than the other residential buildings he had seen and he noticed that this one appeared to have a small observation platform set up on the upper balcony, complete with a telescope that was ridiculously huge for a task as simple as observing the night sky.

As the purple pony, accompanied by the orange one, lead Forge towards the entrance to the building, he began to wonder what was to become of him. He knew for a fact that there was no possible way he could stay in this world. From what he had observed, his mere presence was more than enough to frighten the inhabitants. Or at least, the three he had met so far.
He highly doubted that the other residents would act any differently.
All he wanted to do was to get to this 'Princess' character and attempt to acquire a way back to the 'Spirit of Fire', no matter what it took.

Seeing as the creature seemed to be taking in the sight of her home rather than replying, Twilight trotted up to the door and gave to solid wooden door several raps with her right hoof, each producing a solid 'knock' as it reverberated throughout the wood.
"Spike ?! Spike, are you in there !" She called out, hoping that her assistant was awake and that he wouldn't be too shocked to see a six foot alien, clad in armour following her.

Forge was just beginning to wonder what in the world a 'Spike' could be when the door to the building began to slowly creak open.
Somewhat eager to see what was on the other side, Forge took a few steps towards the door to join the purple pony.
As the door swung open, Forge found himself gazing upon something even stranger than the talking ponies.
Before him stood what he though was either a purple dragon with green spikes running down its back or an overgrown lizard possessing the same appearance. Its height was one of its features that surprised him most. For a dragon, it appeared to only reach halfway up his thigh at its full height.
He watched curiously as the dragon rubbed its eyes and began to converse with the purple pony.

"What is it Twi ?" Spike asked as he rubbed his eyes, adjusting them to the harsh light of the outside world.
"I was having the best dream. And then you have to go and ruin it by....." He trailed off as he eventually took in his surroundings.
Upon catching sight of the gargantuan creature Twilight was with, he retreated several steps back into the house, half shielding himself with the wooden door.
"W... what is that ?" He asked shakily, uncertain as to whether this thing was friendly or not.

Twilight juts chuckled at her assistant as he hid behind the door.
"Spike. This is Forge." She explained, gesturing to the creature beside her.
"He's a visitor, and as far as I know he's not here to hurt anypony." She assured the baby dragon.
"Now why don't you stop hiding and come out and say hello ?" She asked, trying to coax the dragon from the safety of the building.

Spike just stood dumbfounded as Twilight gave her an explanation.
However, when she had finished her explanation, he jumped out from behind the door and half ran, half waddled to the creature.
"An alien ?" He asked excitedly.
"Why didn't you say so ?" He continued to ask as he stopped just in-front of the giant.
"Hi ! My name's Spike !" He excitedly stated as he extended a stubby claw towards the creature and craned his neck to look at the visitor's face.

Forge couldn't help but crack a smile at the eagerness of the purple lizard before him.
Everything in this world seemed to have a comedic value to it.
"Forge." He replied simply, crouching down and taking the dragon's claw in his hand.
Careful not to crush its comparatively smaller hand, Forge just gave it several gentle shakes before releasing his grip and returning to his full height.
He then found himself smiling once again as the dragon looked down at its own hand and mouthed the word 'awesome'.
Its reaction reminded him of a child who had just received a gift.

Twilight just stood back and watched as she watched Spike and Forge greet each other.
She was amazed to see that they seemed to get along much better than Forge had with either Rainbow or Applejack.
She continued to watch as Spike said his hellos to both Rainbow and Applejack in turn before re-addressing her assistant.
"Alright, Spike." She began, regaining the dragon's attention.
"I need you to go and get a quill and a blank scroll. We need to send a letter to the Princess as soon as possible about our friend." She explained, looking up at Forge. Who she noticed was still smiling to himself, apparently from his interaction with Spike.

Receiving a nod and salute from her assistant, she watched as he disappeared back inside the library, the rhythmic 'tick' 'tick' 'tick' of his claws against the wooden floors following him.
Turning back to Forge, she noticed that Applejack was now standing on his other side and Rainbow had landed behind him, for what reason she couldn't tell so she just continued with what she intended on saying.
Clearing her throat she asked. "So, Forge. Would you like to come inside and have a seat ? There's just so many things I need to ask you !" She finished as she giddily trotted into her home.

Forge just watched as the purple pony trotted into the building. Followed by the Stetson wearing pony and the Rainbow coloured pony, who was still throwing him the occasional, frown over its shoulder.
Shrugging, Forge followed the ponies inside, careful to crouch through the doorway to avoid hitting his head on the low frame.
As he entered the relatively larger interior of the building, Forge immediately noticed that many of the wall were covered in bookshelves, each was carved into the the wood of the trunk and all of them were lined with various tomes and novels.
The structure seemed to use the tree as the actual 'building base' as he seemed to be standing inside the tree.
Shrugging, he just added it to the growing list of weird occurrences he had seen in the past couple of hours.
As he further explored his surroundings, he saw that the tree house had what appeared to be a kitchen at first glance, a study area, which consisted of an old oak table covered in assorted books, quills and rolls of paper, all of which had the look that they were used often.
Forge also noticed that there was a staircase running along one of the walls that appeared to lead up to the second floor that he had seen earlier.
As he continued to wander through the first floor, taking in the sight of the vast collection of books before him, he noticed the purple pony sitting in a nearby chair with the two others on either side of it.
All of them were watching him intently, which gave him the assumption that they had been watching his every move since he had stepped through the door.

Seeing the creature stop its exploration of her home, Twilight watched as it turned to face them with its steely glare, obviously oblivious that she and her friends had been watching it.
"What do you think it's doing ?" She heard Rainbow whisper in her ear as the creature continued to stare at them.
"Why does it always have to be always doing something ?" She hissed back.
"Just try and be nice to it for once." She added, receiving a huff from Rainbow before turning back to their guest.
"Would you like to take a seat ?" She asked the creature, gesturing to an empty chair opposite her and her friends.
She watched as the creature gave a small nod before trudging with its heavy boots over to where she had indicated.
As the creature lowered itself into the chair, Twilight realised she probably should have tried to find a larger chair, as the one the creature occupied looked almost ridiculously too small.
As the creature gingerly lowered its form into the chair, it gave a series of audible creaks in protest before finally falling silent as the visitor made itself comfortable by crossing both its arms and legs and reclining in the chair.
She was just about to ask her first question to the unamused looking creature before she heard the familiar thudding of footsteps down the stair case and the small, purple form of Spike appeared seconds later.

"Ready to take that letter when you're ready." Spike informed her, his facial expression lighting up when he caught sight of the creature once again.

"May as well do it now before we get too engrossed into my questions." She mused to a neutral faced Forge.

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Princess Celestia stood on the balcony of one of the towers that covered Canterlot castle.
She enjoyed this the most. Just looking out over Equestria in the mornings and taking in the many sights that it brought.
As she scanned the landscape, she took in the beauty of the countryside and the various settlements which were all bathed in the mornings soft light.
The crisp morning air was refreshing in her lungs as she savoured each long breath.

She had just closed her eyes momentarily and was about to return to her days work when she heard the familiar wispy 'poof' of a letter arriving from her student.
As she opened her eyes, there was indeed a scrolls levitating before her.
Placing her light yellow telekinetic hold over the scroll, she unravelled the parchment, somewhat eager to find out what her student would find so important as to send it to her so early in the day.

Dear Princess Celestia.
I have great news ! During last nights meteor storm, I observed an unusual flash coming from the edge of the town. In the morning I went out in search of its source and I found an extraterrestrial creature I haven't seen or even read about before.
It calls itself 'Forge' and it has also told me that it is something called a 'human'.
I am also writing to ask for an audience for you to personally meet Forge.
Please reply soon.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.

Celestia's expression remained neutral as she finished reading the letter.
"That's what they were talking about." She thought to herself, reminiscing a previous conversation.
Not wanting to waste any time, she placed the scroll on a nearby table and gathered her magic for her coming spell.
She stood in complete silence for several moments, her horn flashing a bright pink before it flashed a brilliant white that completely enveloped her being. Leaving nothing where she previously stood.

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Forge just sat as he took on the barrage of questions from the three ponies and the dragon who were situated before him.
The entire experience reminded him all too much of the unpleasant feeling of being 'chewed out' by one of his superiors, an experience had been through one too many times.....

"Where exactly are ya from ?" Asked the orange pony, who was still giving him looks of uncertainty.

"Earth." Was the simply answer he gave. Just the name of his home-world would have to satisfy these ponies.

"Do you have any friends or family ?" came the next question from the purple pony.

"All my friends are my brothers and sisters in arms." He explained.
"The same goes for my family." He added, remembering his family lineage which was solely based around the military, stretching as far back as World War Two.
His response earning him seemingly understanding nod from the pony, who was writing everything he said down with floating quill suspended by a swirling purple aura.

"Do you fly spaceships ?" Asked the eager looking dragon, who was literally on the edge of his seat.

"Not exactly." Forge chuckled, remembering the one or two occasions where he had flown a Pelican drop-ship.
"I've been in a hell of a lot of them though." He added, cracking a grin at the giddy dragon.

The questioning would have continued if it weren't for a series of raps on the wooden front door.
"Thank god." Forge thought to himself as he shifted his position in his chair, watching as the purple pony placed the quill down and briskly trotted over to answer the door.
He was getting rather tired of the constant questioning.

Twilight didn't want to cease questioning the creature, but she couldn't leave somepony at her doorstep.
"Now really isn't the best time. Could you please come back...." Twilight trailed off as she realied who was standing at her door.
Before her stood none other than Princess Celestia.
"Oh... I'm sorry Princess." Twilight apologised, dropping into a low bow.
"I just didn't expect you to reply to my letter this soon." She explained.

"My dear Twilight." Celestia responded gingerly to her student.
"How many times do I have to tell you that this isn't necessary ?" She mused, referring to Twilight's bow.
"I am merely here because I wish to bring your visitor back with me to Canterlot." She explained.
"And I think it would be best if you and your friends came with us." She added, not wanting to exclude her student from what was to come.

"Of... of course Princess." Twilight responded, surprised that the Princess was so eager to take Forge to Canterlot.
Turning, she trotted back into her home to inform her friends on what was happening.

Forge just sat, silent and unmoving as the purple pony went to answer the door.
The following scenario was similar to every other. He found himself in a deadlocked gaze with the ponies in-front of him.
One giving him continued looks of uncertainty while the other just glared at him.
The dragon however, seemed more interested in looking over his gear than anything else, with an expression of utter curiosity and wonder.

After a minute or two of hearing a muffled conversation coming from the front door, the purple pony finally returned.
"The Princess is outside and she wants us to bring Forge to Canterlot." Twilight explained in a 'to the point' fashion.
"So I'm going to need you guys to go and find the others and meet me outside in about ten minutes from now." She continued.
"Rainbow. Can you go and find Fluttershy ? You're the fastest and her cottage is the furthest away." She asked her multi-coloured friend who just gave a curt nod in response before darting out an open window.
"Applejack, I need you to go to Sugarcube Corner and bring Pinkie here, alright ?" She asked the orange mare.
"Sure sugercube." Came the reply as the cow-pony briskly trotted out the front door in the direction of the bakery.
"And Spike." Twilight began, turning to face the dragon who had finally pulled his gaze off of Forge.
"I need you to go and find Rarity." She stated, knowing that the dragon would take any opportunity to go and see the snow white mare.
As she watched the dragon waddle out of sight, Twilight turned back to Forge, who was still in the same casual position she had left him in.
"Forge." She began, gaining some the human's attention.
"The Princess is here and she says she want to take you back to Canterlot with her." She explained, immediately receiving a cocked eyebrow from Forge.
"Oh yeah, that's right." She thought to herself, feeling rather foolish.
"The Princess is one of the two rulers of Equestria and Canterlot is the capital city." She explained to a confused looking Forge.

Forge couldn't believe his luck. He was already meeting the leader of this place and he had only been here several hours.
Grunting, he stood and walked over the front door with heavy steps.
"What're we waiting for then." He said to no-one in particular.
Stepping back out into the piercing light of the sun bathed town. Forge gave his eyes several moments to adjust before taking in his surroundings.
As he scanned the area, he saw nothing out of the ordinary. Until he spotted a creature which roughly like one of the ponies but much larger and surprisingly, it possessed both a horn and a pair of wings.
This one stood nearly as tall as he was, if not taller if he counted the horn. It had a snow white coat and wore what appeared to be golden shoes on its hooves, supposedly to match the golden necklace and tiara it wore.
However, this particular pony possessed a feature which took Forge completely aback as it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
The pony's mane and tail consisted of blues, greens and pinks. All of which billowed in the non-existent breeze.
The sight was by far the most strange and fascinating sights Forge had seen so far.

As the human emerged from Twilight's home followed by Twilight, Celestia looked the being over with curiosity.
Its appearance was unlike the others. I was indeed bipedal, but its facial structure and body stance resembled nothing like the other two.
Eager to meet the visitor, she slowly trotted over to where the baffled looking creature stood.
"Greetings visitor." She said warmly, once she was within touching distance of the human.
"I am Princess Celestia, co-ruler of Equestria." She explained, extending a golden-clad hoof towards the being, making eye contact with the human's steely gaze.

"Forge." Forge finally replied after several moments of taking the Princesses' greeting, taking its hoof in his own had and giving it several firm shakes before releasing his grip.

Celestia would have enjoyed asking the human several questions before the others arrived, but alas, speed was of the essence, and as soon as they had completed their simple greeting, the three groups of two arrived. Rainbow with Fluttershy, Spike with Rarity and Applejack with an unsurprisingly ecstatic Pinkie Pie.

Before anypony could say anything, there was a flash of pink and before anypony realised it, Pinkie Pie had Forge pinned by the shoulders, similar to how Rainbow had him, and was grinning at him like a mad thing.
"Hi ! I'm Pinkie Pie !" She near yelled at the human.
"What's your name ?" She asked eagerly.

Once Forge had finally realised what had happened, he found himself once again planted on the ground by a pink mass that had its face uncomfortably close to his.
"Get. Off. Me." He replied through gritted teeth, struggling substantially more to remove the pink pony than he had the rainbow coloured one.

"Pinkie Pie. There is no time for introductions now." Celestia said gently as the party pony sighed and removed herself from Forge's chest.
"We must leave for Canterlot immediately, but you have no obligation to accompany me if you do not wish to." She explained to the group of ponies before her.
Receiving no sign that they wished to stay behind she continued, "Very well." She replied to the determined looking ponies before her.
"Forge, you should prepare yourself for the teleportation." She explained briefly to the human who was picking itself up off the dirt before she began to charge the magic in her horn once more.

"Whoa whoa whoa, lady. What do you mean teleporting ?" Forge asked quickly as he regained his footing.
Instead of a response, he received a blinding white flash that threatened to blind him before he felt as though he were falling, wind streaking his face and an undistinguishable noise filled his ears.....

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When Forge finally awoke, he found himself lying face down on the cold, marble floor. Groaning he managed to stand and rub his eyes several times, readjusting them to his new surroundings.
Once he had suppressed the sting in his eyes, he glanced around where he now stood.
From what he could make out, he appeared to be standing in a large hall of some sort, with large stain glass windows depicting different events on each lining the walls.
Large pillars were situated in two straight lines leading from what he assumed were two large, wooden entrance doors up to two thrones situated on the far wall.
There were other, smaller doors lining the room as well, presumably leading to other parts of wherever the hell he was.
Continuing to glance around, he found the other ponies and the dragon standing not too far from where he was, all of them wore expressions of concern, even the rainbow coloured one. But that quickly changed once he had turned in their direction and the ponies expression quickly changed back into one of apparent loathing.

"Glad to see that you're finally awake." Celestia finally spoke as the human roused himself.
"You've been out for a good quarter of an hour." She pointed out. "Clearly you've never teleported before." She mused, cracking a grin at the still groggy looking human.
"Oh, and in case you were wondering, I've explained everything we know about you so far to the others so you won't be hassled with too many questions." She explained.

"Teleporting ? Hell, that was nothing like the other ones." Forge thought to himself, remembering when Anders had discovered a teleportation network on the world he had detonated.
"Alright lady." Forge finally stated, growing impatient with the current situation.
"Time for me to ask a question." He continued, trying to keep his temper under control.
"Where the hell am I now and why have you brought me here ?" He asked, looking around the room once again.

"You're in the Canterlot throne room." Celestia replied calmly.
"As for why. Well, you see an issue has arisen." She began, seriousness creeping into her tone.
"An issue that I believe you are the key to solving." She explained, only to be met be a hard glare of confusion from Forge.

"Can it with the riddles." Forge stated flatly. "Just tell me what it is." He said with a hint of demand in his tone.

"It would be best if I let them tell you." Came her reply.
"Jakk, Damk." She called out.
Not a minute later, one of the doors that lined the throne room opened and in stepped a pair of figures.
Both were over seven feet tall and were bipedal. They appeared to be muscular in stance, however one was clad in light blue armour while the other wore white. They had two toes on each foot and four digits on each hand.
Their facial features were almost lizard like, save you their mandibles, which were split into four different sections, each lined with a row of teeth.

Forge didn't need an explanation from anyone to know what these monsters were. He knew them all too well.
Before anyone could react, he had taken off at a sprint towards the creatures, Lucy in one hand and his side-arm in the other.
Reaching the creatures in a matter of moments, Forge held Lucy's blade against the white one's throat while he levelled the barrel of his pistol to the others forehead. Surprisingly, neither of the creatures had reacted in the slightest at Forge's outburst.
Having his finger itching, Forge pulled his side-arm's trigger, resulting in a loud 'bang' and a mix of dark blue and purple blood splattered against the wall, strewn with chunks of the former elite's brain.
As the light blue elite crumpled to the ground, Forge turned his attention back to the white-clad one he had his knife pressed against.
He snickered as he was about to draw the blade across the alien's throat but found he could not. His arm was immobilised by a bright yellow aura, as was his gun-bearing hand.
Turning his head back towards the group of ponies behind him, Forge noticed that all of them wore expressions of utter shock from what they had just witnessed. Save the butter coloured pony who was cowering behind the purple pony and a snow white, horned pony, who looked as though she was going to throw up.
"Let me go !" He yelled at the Princess, who he had noticed was the one holding him back.

Celestia just stared at the human, unsure on what to say. Eventually she responded.
"No." She said flatly.
"This creature knows of a lock to which you are the key." She explained.
"And before I let you do that again. You are going to listen to what he has to say." She finished with a near threatening tone in her voice as she eyed the now blood covered corpse of the light-blue elite.

Turning his head back to the white elite Forge called back, "You have no idea what these things are capable of !" He yelled, rage nearly overcoming his tone.
"They have killed so many of my kind ! They just killed them ! Men, women, children. All of them !" He continued to yell, fuelled by anger towards the elite and all the acts the Covenant had committed as he struggled against his bonds.

"Forge, you must listen to me. This creature is not. Your. Enemy." She said, emphasising her last few words.
"Put your obvious hatred aside and just listen to it." She pleaded, straining to keep the human restrained.

Weighing up his options once more, Forge called back, "Fine."
"But know this. I will kill you." He hissed in a voice he was sure only the elite could hear.
As he felt his arms being released, Forge reluctantly holstered his weapons and returned to where the ponies stood, a grim scowl upon his features as he looked back at the elite he had been forced to spare.

"Good." The Princess began.
"Now please, Forge. Listen to what he has to say......"

One such as yourself deserves no mercy.

"Brute ships, staggered line. Shipmaster, they outnumber us three to one !" - Random elite.
"Then it is an even fight." - Rtas 'Vadum.

Forge just stood and watched, his features plastered with a scowl of utter hatred as he watched the white-clad elite recover from the last few minute's of events, constantly fighting the urge to go against his word and just slaughter the beast where it stood. But managed to hold his tongue as he noticed the all too familiar handle of an energy sword that hung from the elite's waist.
As much as it pained him, he decided it would be best to at least hear what this monster had to say, but if any remark was made about it being all innocent and trustworthy, Forge knew that he was more than likely to 'snap'.

Peering around from her lavender friend's form, the still cowering shape of Fluttershy dared to cast her gaze towards the white giant.
What she saw almost made her burst into further tears. Instead she managed to keep it to a heavy sob.
As she continued to stare at the white creature, she watched it kneel over its fallen comrade, gingerly remove its helmet and began muttering something with a soft tone in a tongue she didn't quite understand.
Not being able to withstand the sight of the mourning creature any longer, Fluttershy began to subconsciously trot towards the creature at a slow pace.
Making certain to keep her gaze from the disfigured mess that was the blue creature's former head, she approached the white creature and nudged it slightly with her head, the cold metal of its armour chilling upon her fur. She then promptly screwed her eyes tight as she braced for the worst from the gargantuan before her.
Reviving nothing in return after several minutes, Fluttershy built up the courage to open her eyes once more and move closer to the still grieving creature.
"Shh." She finally said in a comforting tone. "Everything will be alright." She continued, attempting to further comfort the creature, although it was showing no facial sign whatsoever of being saddened by the death of its companion.

Celestia and the others just watched as Fluttershy consoled the creature, who had now taken up the task of gently closing its companion's still open, glaring eyes.
All of them were astounded that it was her who had made the first attempt to communicate after the... 'event'.

As the creature began to rise back to its full height, it looked none the worse for wear, as though it had seen this kind of incident happen before.
Startled by the creatures sudden movement, Fluttershy gave a small, "eep" as she jumped back slightly in surprise.
As she recollected herself, she turned the harshest gaze she could muster towards this 'Forge' creature.
Setting it with a glare that was unaccustomed to her, she drew in a short breath before continuing.
"H..how could you?" She asked plainly, her meek tone filled with apparent anger and her usual stutter somewhat dismissed.
"How c...could just.... just kill it?" She continued to ask, her heavy sobs returning. "It did nothing to you!" She exclaimed as loud as her soft voice would allow, somewhat muffled by her sobbing as she continued to glare at the human.

"It did nothing." Forge repeated to himself in an almost disbelieving tone as he cracked a small grin to himself at the pony's utter ignorance, although his response was still audible enough for the others around him to hear.
"How DARE you!" He suddenly growled, jumping to life and jamming a finger towards the yellow pony who was now cowering behind the monster due to Forge's sudden outburst.
"How DARE you say it has done nothing!" He continued, now completely aware that he was shouting every word he spoke at the frightened looking pony.
"It has done things you can't hope to begin to imagine!" He yelled, now directing his voice at both the yellow pony, who was now in completely in tears and the elite, a large vein beginning to noticeably pulsate on his neck with the rhythm of his agrivated heart.

"Hey!" Rainbow yelled, flying into the creatures face, pressing her forehead against the human's.
"Nopony talks to Fluttershy like that! And anypony who does has to go through me first!" She stated, overconfident that this would calm the creature down.
Forge just stared into the rose eyes of the pony opposite him, the utter hatred blatantly clear in his gaze.

"Gladly." He growled after several moments as he roughly grasped the pony''s ridiculously coloured mane with his armoured, right hand before tossing the pony into the hard ground to his left with relative ease.

"Rainbow!" Twilight yelled, her horn glowing a dark purple as she projected the same restraining spell that Celestia had used moments ago as the rest of her friends gasped in shock as they watched their friend crumple into an unmoving heap as she collided with the floor.

Once again, Forge found himself bound in place. This time by a dark purple aura that surrounded his body.
"Argh!" Forge yelled as he struggled to move. "Release me now!" He shouted at the purple pony who was projecting his bonds.

Pleased that her student was so quick to defend her friends but disheartened that Rainbow had been the first to object the creature's actions, Celestia took this opportunity to once again intervene with the current goings-on.
"No." She repeated flatly, as she watched Rainbow's limp form jerk several times, indicating that she was indeed, still alive.
"Applejack and Pinkie." She said, ignoring the thrashing human.
"Go and send for somepony to collect Rainbow Dash." She instructed, noticing that the throne room was unoccupied apart from herself, Twilight and her friends, Forge and the white creature who still stood as though it were a statue, unmoving and silent.
"Seek out the nearest guard and have them send for a stretcher and medical staff." She finished as she received a curt nod from the cow-pony and a salute from the party pony as they raced from the room, out through the large entrance doors which slammed shut behind them.
"Now, Forge." She said, returning her attention to the human who had its teeth gritted in both anger and frustration.
"I need you to listen to what I'm saying and calm down" She began, trying to make her tone as comforting as possible.

Forge decided that this was a good a time as any to cut the Princess off.
"No, Princess." Forge glowered towards the white pony. "I will not listen to anything that this thing has to say!" He yelled, finding that he could now move somewhat in his bonds. Looking over to where the purple pony stood, he noticed that beads of sweat were now beginning to trickle down its face. "It's tiring." Forge thought to himself, seeing a way out of his situation.
"This monster that you hold so innocent and precious is at war with my people." He began to explain. "It is holding what it calls a religious war against us!" He continued, his tone becoming increasingly aggravated.
"They have killed countless humans, wiped planets clean! All it wants is for the human race to be permanently wiped from the face of the galaxy!" He ranted, his rage against the covenant returning, similar to a fire being re-kindled.
"I have seen my friends, my brothers, my people slaughtered without mercy be these monsters." He continued, setting the monarch with a gaze of utmost content as he continued to gradually slacken his bonds, unbeknownst to any other apart from himself.
"Think of it Celestia. Could you watch everything you love. Everything you care for, be ripped away from you in an instant without any sympathy or mercy?" He asked, receiving nothing but the same glare from the white pony.
"To me, and to you. You are nothing but vermin in its eyes. Vermin that needs to be exterminated." He finished, letting what he had said seep into the peaceful monarch's thoughts.
"Just a few more moments." Forge thought to himself as she found he was able to move even more within his purple prison. "Just have to keep her occupied for a few more minutes." He repeated, determined on releasing himself from his shackles.

"P....princess." Twilight said weakly. He legs beginning to tremble under her growing fatigue of holding the fidgeting human in place, beads of sweat now running down the length of her face.
"C..celestia." She continued, desperate to end the spell and allow the Princess to continue it.
Her barely audible cries only met by silence from the white monarch. Who apparently was too deep in thought to address anything else at this given time.

Celestia just stared at the human, disbelief plastered across her features.
"Surely this cannot be true." She assured herself before turning towards the white-clad creature. Who still had a cowering pegasus behind its legs, which apparently didn't bother it in the slightest.
"Is what he speaks of true?" She asked flatly, setting the creature with a harsh gaze, a gaze that still held disbelief that this creature could be responsible for such atrocities.

The white-clad elite just returned the Princess' icy glare with one of its own.
Apparently gathering its response, the elite took several seconds to respond.
Finally lifting it chin slightly, it replied in a hard, gruff voice that sounded as though it were used fairly often.
"What the insect speaks of is true." It began, utter seriousness emanating through its tone.
"Their destruction is the will of the Gods. And so, they must be eradicated so that those who see may tread the path." It continued, its multiple mandibles opening and closing with every word it spoke.

Celestia was taken aback. "How could one creature do so much." She asked herself, still seeking answers.
"You spoke not of this in our last meeting. Why did you not tell me?" She asked the white creature, still in disbelief.

The elite just stared the white alicorn down with its unwavering gaze.
"The will of the Covenant is none of your concern." It finally responded, making a cutting motion in-front of its body with a flat hand right hand, from its left shoulder to its right hip.
"The holy war with these creatures did not involve your kind." It pointed out, taking several long strides towards the Princess, a scowl etched into its reptilian-like features as it left a still cowering Fluttershy in its wake.

Forge watched as the elite advanced on the Princess, unsure of its motives, he finally found himself ready to break his now slack bonds with one final jerk.
"Hey ugly!" He called out to the elite, who promptly turned to face the human.
"Your beef is with me, not her." He pointed out, receiving a look of confusion from the Princess and nothing from the other white pony who was still in the room, who had apparently passed out at some point.
"Why don't you come over here and talk this out, man to freak." He smirked, receiving a harsh snarl from the Covenant warrior, who altered its course and began trudging over to where Forge still stood immobilised.
"Stupid bastard." Forge thought to himself as his attempt at bringing the elite within striking distance had succeeded.

The elite just continued to snarl as it approached the human, anticipating the feeling of killing yet another of its kind.
Reaching Forge, it stood at least a foot and a half taller than he did, forcing it to crane its elongated neck towards the human.
"As you wish." It finally said, its voice full of resentment.

"What's the matter big guy?" Forge mused. "Not so tough without your buddy over there?" He mocked, indicating the best he could towards the fallen elite.
The elite, however, was unamused and quickly responded with another growl and a savage right hook, the majority of the blow catching Forge on the left cheekbone. Leaving it feeling as though it were shattered and with his nose askew.

"I am going to enjoy this." It said, glaring at the human before it who was now wincing heavily on the spot, still suspended by the purple aura. "You will squirm just as the rest of your race has." I continued as it roughly grabbed Forge by the throat.
"My face will be the last thing your pathetic eyes ever see." It finished, as it forced Forge to meet its own gaze.

Celestia couldn't bare to see these two guests of hers fighting amongst themselves as though were a pair of diamond dogs quarrelling over a gem.
"Both of you stop!" She demanded, but received nothing in reply as both creatures continued to glare at one another.
"As ruler of this land, I command you to stop!" She ordered as she contemplated using magic to restrain the white creature as well, her calm tone completely diminished.

"Stay the hell out of this!" Forge yelled back, finding the elite's grasp around his neck slacken slightly as the Princess called to them.
Seeing that he was going to have to act now or never, Forge prepared himself to break his purple chains.

"Do not interfere." The elite threatened as it re-tightened its grip on the human's throat.
He wasn't about to let some heretic creature ruin his vengeance for his fallen brother.

Suddenly, Forge gave one last final, violent jerk against his purple bonds, which in turn, shattered from the purple pony's gradual fatigue and inability to withstand anything more than slight movements.
Feeling his arms drop once more, Forge launched his right hand towards his side-arm before ripping it from its sheath and firing several rounds into the stomach of the startled elite, who promptly released its captive as its shield flared from the multiple impacts.
"Dammit. This bastards got his shield up!" Forge frantically thought to himself, realising that this wasn't going to be as easy as the first elite.
Before the elite could work out what had just occurred, Forge managed to level the barrel of his weapon and let loose the remainder of his clip into the shocked looking elite before the weapon clicked, having nothing left to fire.
"Shit." Forge thought as he discarded the pistol and drew the assault rifle from his back, flicking the safety off as he did.

The elite took several moments to fully grasp the situation. One moment, the human was within his grasp. The next, he found himself standing like a stunned Unggoy, his shields flaring from what he assumed was an attack from the human's primitive weapons.
Growling, it recollected itself and groped its hip for its plasma blade.
Finding the curved hilt, the elite drew it and ignited the light blue blade.
What emanated from the hilt resembled two, gruesome, curved blades. Each curving around either side of the hilt and extending into two sharp points.
Raising the noble weapon, the elite began charging towards the human at an unnatural pace, preparing to slice the human in half at the first opportunity and put the heretic out of its misery.

Forge anticipated the coming charge, he realised the elite had no other option.
Pulling the trigger of his MA5B, he set a hail of lead towards the oncoming elite. The majority of his rounds connected with their target, while the others collided harmlessly with the wall behind the elite.
As the elite reached striking distance, Forge found himself ceasing fire as he quickly ducked into a commando roll to his right in order to avoid the elite's battle roar, followed by a 'whirring' noise as the blade sliced through the now empty air where Forge had once stood.
Regaining his footing, Forge continued his onslaught as he watched the ammo counter on his weapon slowly decline. Remembering that he had forgotten to take inventory of his current ammunition, Forge cursed himself as he prepared for the elite's next strike.

Missing its target, the elite roared again as it spun to face the human. Blade raised, the elite swung once again as bullets continued to pepper its shield.
Intending to cut the human in half, the elite swung the sword horizontally once more, only to have the human dodge the blow once again.
Growling, the elite quickly followed the attack up with an overhead strike on the human. Only to find the blue blade jammed in the ground. Frustrated, the elite swung with its free hand balled into a fist, connecting with the unsuspecting human's side, and sending it into the air, leaving it sprawled on the ground, its weapon skidding past where it had landed.
Sensing its near victory, the elite gave a low chuckle as it removed its blade from the ground with a swift jerk and began to stride towards the injured human who was now clutching its side in agony.

Forge hadn't expected that. One moment, he thought he had the elite beaten, the next he was sprawled across the ground, his MA5B missing and his side aching as though the elite's blow had shattered several ribs.
Forge had only a second to cough up a mouthful of blood onto the previously clean floor before he felt the cold grasp of the elite around his throat once more as he felt himself being lifted from the hard floor below him.
As he felt his feet leave the ground, Forge began to choke before meeting the gaze of the white-clad elite that held him, its eyes burning with fury.

"I will enjoy this." He heard the elite snarl at him as he watched it raise its weapon once more.
"Not....if I can help it." Forge managed to splutter as he used the last ounces of energy he possessed to retrieve Lucy from her sheath and bury her blade into the hard muscle of the elite's arm that held him.
Having already worked its shields almost the entire way down, it didn't take much energy for Forge to twist the blade into the elite's forearm before he felt its grip finally slacken and release him.
As the elite recoiled in pain, Forge quickly located his fallen assault rifle and jammed a new clip into it that had conveniently fallen from one of the pouches that lined his waist.
As he pulled the release on the weapon, it gave a satisfying 'click', indicating that is was prepared to fire.

Giving a blood curdling yell, Forge pulled the trigger once more and unleashed a renewed volley of fire upon the elite, who was still attempting to remove the combat knife from its flesh.
Forge watched as the bullets punctured the unshielded armour of the elite. Small spurts of purple blue blood rupturing from the multiple holes in the elites form.
He continued to fire as the elite began dropping to its knees, its expression blank once more as it fell with a 'thump' to the hard ground below.

Ending his stream, Forge noticed the elite was still wheezing after all the punishment it had received, its great chest rising and lowering slowly as it did.
Limping over to its form, Forge found it laying in a pool of its own dark purple blood, its breaths coming in forced rasps as it spoke its next words.

"The.....journey......awaits." It rasped between its heavily laboured breaths, blood beginning to ooze from the corners of its mouth.

"Give them my regards." Forge responded plainly before placing several more rounds into the wounded elite's temple, causing the elite to jerk one final time as he silenced it.

Forge wheezed as he dropped his rifle and clutched his side, the clatter of the weapon echoing throughout the throne room, the pain in his side now being much greater than it had several minutes ago.
Turning his gaze to the Princess he was only met by a look of complete shock after what she had just witnessed, her pupils much smaller than he remembered and her mouth agape and fumbling as she appeared to be attempting to from some viable sentence.

Smirking at her appearance, Forge turned back to the blood covered corpse of the white armoured elite.
Looking the corpse over, he remembered being in such a situation before and couldn't help uttering a phrase he had used once before, not that long ago.
Between his own laboured breaths, his now failing vision and the constant taste of blood in his mouth, he mustered his energy and said with his best attempt at a cocky smirk, "And for the record..... I would have..... kicked your ass...... the first time..... if the lady....... hadn't.......stopped..... me." Before promptly spitting up another mouthful of blood and feeling his weight collapse underneath him.
As he fell back against the cold, hard floor with a heavy 'thud', Forge stared off into seemingly nowhere with a glassed expression as his vision gradually failed him.
Coughing several more times, Forge felt his mouth fill with his own blood once more as he watched his world plunge into darkness...... and he knew no more.....

Accumulated events.

"Now the gate has been unlatched, headstones pushed aside; corpses shift and offer room, a fate you must abide!" - The Gravemind.

"Surely it didn't." Luna assured herself, talking more to herself than her sister who stood in a whirlwind of thoughts opposite her.
"Surely it couldn't have." She continued to rant, her tone sounding slightly more desperate as she spoke.
"Did it not listen to what they had to say? What they told us?!" She half asked, half demanded at her sister, who had finally returned her gaze to her stressed sister.

"He did." Celestia replied simply, her manner of voice both simple and absolute.
"Before either of them could get a word out he had... disposed of one of them." She stated as she gazed over to the now freshly cleared and sanitised areas where the pair of aliens had fallen.
"And with a matter of words, the remaining visitor and the human had broken out into an all out argument. Ending with the... end of the second of our visitors." She explained, remembering the violent argument the two had engaged in. And how the resulting brawl had concluded with the deaths of her seemingly friendly visitors, a fact she was still having trouble grasping, and the addition of a new patient at the Canterlot hospital.

"But why ?" Luna asked, her expression much more distressed than her sisters, who on the outside seemed to be taking the last few hour's events rather well.
"Why did the human not listen ? Why did it not hold his temper ? Why did it have to go as far as to murder our visitors ?" She asked in rapid succession, her body language becoming somewhat erratic and her tone gradually becoming more demanding as she questioned her sister.
"You heard what they said as well as I did. And if they are right, what is to happen ?" She added, her tone grave.

"Why." Celestia responded, stating the word rather that asking it as she contemplated on how to best answer the question.
As she remembered everything that had transpired, she recalled everything the two had said. About their war, about their species and about other things she didn't entirely grasp the meaning of.
After several moments of considering the question with an absent-minded expression across her features, Celestia finally turned to her sister and gave her response.
"It would appear, dear sister. That things are not entirely what we though they were. If what the visitors said was true and Forge is oblivious as to what their purpose here was. Then I fear that our situation may become very dire in a very short time." She said, her tone unwavering and free of the distressed tone that her sister's possessed.

"But what if what they said does happen ?" Luna responded.
"What if what they described happens ? Then what sister ?" She asked, her tone making it blatantly clear that she was unhappy with the way Celestia had handled the situation.

"Then all we can do is wait." Celestia responded as she turned her gaze from her agrivated sister and out across Canterlot through one of the throne rooms many stain-glass windows.
"And we must hope that Forge doesn't create any more chaos then he already has in his short time here." She added, her multi-coloured mane billowing in the non-existent breeze.
"That is all we can do." She repeated to herself quietly, a small sense of dread beginning to emerge within her thoughts as she began to wonder what may actually happen in the near future if what the aliens had said was indeed true...

"When and if he survives the extent of his injuries, I will allow him to return to Ponyville with my student." Celestia finally said as she kept her gaze on the scenery before her.
"He will remain there until we can fully grasp the severity of the issue." She explained.

'We cannot simply just wait." Luna insisted as she ruffled her wings slightly from frustration.
"We have to rid ourselves of it !" She urge, almost yelling at her sister. "It does not belong here. It must go." She finished as she stamped her left foreleg, her frustration becoming more and more prominent by the minute.

"Sister." Celestia began with a small sigh. "I know that you were fond of our visitors, but wishing ill of our new guest will not lighten the situation." She said, her tone light and calm as it had been the entire time as she fixed her gaze upon her scowling sister.
'You know as well as I do that we cannot simply just remove him from Equestria. We will need him if things do turn for the worst." She explained, almost lecturing her younger sibling.
"Let us just hope that the visitors were wrong." She added grimly as the sun reached its midpoint, casting its full brilliance across Canterlot, bathing the city in a glorious golden glow.

---

Twilight Sparkle sat within the hospital room of the alien she had only just met, which had been stripped of the armour and strange devices it had been wearing previously. It was now garbed in a plain hospital gown, which had been fashioned from an old bed sheet considering the creature's size.
Its lifeless form was lain against an ordinary hospital bed. The creature's size making the bed seem several sizes too small for its massive bulk.
She had opted to stay behind and keep an eye on the creature, even though her friends had protested profusely. She figured that this would be the best opportunity she would get to observe the creature alone and maybe even converse with it further if it regained consciousness.

Sighing softly she took to the task of gazing at the wall adjacent her as she roamed through her thoughts and recollections on what had transpired in the past few hours. Or at least what she had been told had happened, considering she had passed out when the creature had broken her magic.
Being alone within the relatively small and bland room made it easy for her to lose herself within her mind, the only annoyances being the repetitive 'beep' of the various medical equipment in the room that monitored the creature and the raspy, drawn-out breathing of said creature.

The doctors had explained to her that it had suffered around half a dozen shattered ribs which had also caused one of its lungs to under-go a small, non-permanent puncture which would take some time to heal, some minor internal bleeding and mild bruising of the neck tissue. Most of these had been treated with magic to the best of the doctor's abilities, however, the creature's lung and ribs would take additional time to heal, as magic can only do so much.

Doing her best to tune out the creature's continued, laboured breathing and the occasional hoarse cough. Twilight focused her attention on the bare white wall before her and recalled everything that had happened since the creature had arrived, attempting to form some sort of idea as to what was going to happen now and what the Princess would want her to do with her find...

She hadn't gotten very in-depth with her swirling thoughts when she was drawn from her state by the sound of groans and the slight rustling of bed sheets coming from the creature.
Turning her gaze towards the creature with a puzzled expression, she watched as it began to start fidgeting and mumbling things to itself that she couldn't quite understand.
The more she listened, the more she was able to pick up. It sounded as though the creature was talking to somepony. And whatever was happening within the giant's head, Twilight could tell that it wasn't a pleasant experience.

---

Forge couldn't form a logical explanation for what he was experiencing.
He once again found himself in a 'floating' sensation, similar to the aftermath of the core detonation.
However, this time, instead of just swirling nothingness before him, he was surrounded by what he figured to be his memories.
Each played itself before him, as though they were each displaying their wares to an eager crowd.
It was hard to tell where one memory ended and the next began, they were mingling together so tightly that Forge found it difficult to discern one from the next.

There was one he was able to pick out from the rest however.
It was a memory that Forge wished he hadn't have to live through. The memory in particular depicted the time when he had assisted in the reclaim and eventual detonation of the UNSC cruiser, the 'Prophecy'.
This was a point in Forge's life that he wished he could forget. But the more he tried to focus on everything else around him, the more the memory seemed to press in. As though it were eager to show Forge what it contained.

Finally giving in to the pressure of the memory, Forge found that all the others dimmed around him as the one displaying the 'Prophecy' drew him in.

Forge watched with a blank expression as the memory played. He knew what was going to happen, and so he braced himself for what he knew would eventually occur.

It all happened as he knew it would.
The failed attempt at boarding the 'Prophecy' via pelican, followed by the hasty, forced insertion into the ship's interior after the pelican had been shot down with team 'Lima' amidst the chaos that was raining around him.
The brief skirmish within the ship's corridors with the Jackal rangers, which ended with Forge re-living the broken ankle that he had suffered during the fight, the searing pain being refreshed in his mind as he watched his past-self suffer the injury.

"Bloody Jackals." Forge thought to himself as he remembered the aftermath of the pain from the injury coupled with his hate for the pirate species and everything they had done alongside the Covenant.

Then came what he had hoped he wouldn't have to remember. The rescue of the survivors and his argument with the 'Prophecy's' AI 'FitzGibbon' regarding his level of access to the ship's co-ordinate data.
He watched as his former self and the remainder of team 'Lima' secured the crew and wiped the ships black box, as per the 'Cole Protocol' before eventually triggering the ship's self-destruct sequence and making a hasty exit with the surviving crew of the 'Prophecy.'

The something strange happened. The memory blurred and apparently 'fast-forwarded' through the rest of the evac from the 'Prophecy' and promptly dumped Forge in a place he knew all too well.
He was within the 'Spirit of Fire's' med-bay, surrounded by the slowly dying crew of the 'Prophecy' who lay in countless cots that lined the walls of the cold, metal room.

It seemed as though the memory only wanted Forge to re-live only the parts that had caused him the most pain.

He was standing before the bed of one of the crew. One who Forge had known had and had quite the friendship with.
"You're gonna be alright." Forge watched himself say as his doppelganger grasped the cold, unmoving hand of his near-dead friend.

He couldn't help be feel extremely saddened as he watched the scene play out before him once more... He wished he didn't have to watch it again.

As the past Forge began to near the verge of tears, which was a feat near impossible for one such as himself who had seen more than his fair share of death. Forge watched as a nearby pedestal began to flicker, producing the pale blue, transparent figure of the AI 'Serina'. Who had seemingly gone through the entire process of observing the survivors unchanged. This was blatantly obvious due to the AI's usual blank expression and tone that sounded as though she was indifferent to everything going on around her.

"You do know that's not true right ?" The AI asked in an seemingly uncaring tone as she folded her hands behind her back.
"That is statistically impossible." The AI added, its tone unwavering even though the expression on the soldier's face before him was obviously both upset and angered. "There will be no survivors. The amount of radiation present within their systems is simply too large." She stated, as though she was trying to inform rather than comfort the soldier.

"The hell is wrong with you ?" Forge responded, his sadness banished. Only to be replaced by a feeling of anger and distaste towards the AI.
"These were good men." He began, gesturing around the room of dead and dying marines.
"They had families and friends." He continued. "And all you can do is shrug it off and count them as another statistic ?" He asked with his temper rising as her jammed a finger towards the AI.
"Even if they are at the end of the road, they still deserve better than this." He finished, attempting to restrain his frustration as he turned his back to the AI.

"Well, technically I didn't shrug." Was all the AI responded with in her usual, uncaring tone. Which, unsurprisingly, was met with the Sergeant simply stalking from the room, muttering inaudible curses as he went.

Forge was watching his angered self march out of the med-bay when a sharp, indescribable pin shot through his upper torso.
"Argh !" He yelled as he groped for the site of the sudden pain, causing the multiple memories to promptly disappear in a sudden flash.
As the pain began to grow, Forge found his surroundings being plunged into total blackness for several moments before a bright white light appeared before him.
Squinting, he held a hand to both his eyes and his exceedingly painful abdomen as the light receded slightly ad his new surroundings slowly emerged from the brightness...

---

Twilight watched on with an expression of both interest and concern as the creature continued to fidget and mumble in its unconscious state.
Now standing by its bedside, she listened as closely as she could in an attempt to hear what the creature was mumbling about.

After several minutes of activity, the creature ceased its movements and remained still once more.
Twilight then went over everything she had heard.
She had heard something about a 'prophecy'. This baffled her as she tried to think of what sort of prophecy the creature may be referring to.
She had also heard something about a 'jackal', whatever in Tartarus that was. Something about a 'box' and mention of somepony named 'Serina.' Whoever that may be.

As she began to ponder what on Earth the creature might have been rambling about, she was abruptly cut off as the creature suddenly burst into motion once more. This time with its eyes wide open as it propelled itself into a sitting position.

Startled, she jumped back several feet as the creature yelled and grabbed its side that contained the newly mended ribs.
As the creature flailed and attempted to fling itself from the bed, Twilight acted on the first though she had and cast yet another restraining spell on the creature, encasing it within a shimmer purple aura.

"Stop !" She demanded, even though there was little the creature could do about its position in its current state.
"Stop." She repeated, this time in a calmer manner as the creature continued to frantically observe its surroundings whilst still clutching its side within her aura.

"Where the hell am I ?" Forge asked, his words coming in short rasps and much harsher than he had anticipated as he found it difficult to breath and as pain continued to shoot up his side. His eyes darting around the room as he took in his sudden change of environment and the occupant of the room, who he quickly realised was the same purple pony who had first found him when he awoke in this foreign land.
'What the hell happened ?" He asked again, not bothering to wait for an answer as he noticed that he was now garbed in a sheet and free of his armour and weapons.

Surprised that the creature had been able to summon this much energy after just re-awakening, Twilight took a deep breath and lessened her hold on the figure, who had seemed to have ceased its fidgeting for now.
"You're in Canterlot hospital." Twilight began to explain. "From what I've been told, you... killed the other aliens and passed out." She continued as she gradually lessened her magical grip. "We brought you here and had you healed the best we could. But apparently, we didn't do a well enough job." She pointed out as she finally released the human, which prompted it to re-adjust its grip on its side as well as raising a hand and rubbing its neck several times before it responded.

"Hmm" Was all Forge replied as the pain in his side began to slowly reduce, his neck throbbing as though it had been twisted into an ungodly position .
He couldn't help but feel a small sense of relief in knowing that two more of those bastards had been wiped from the face of the universe, never to be seen again.
"Where's my stuff ?" He asked bluntly after several moments of silence from both himself and the purple pony. Who now wore an expression that looked as though she were eager to talk to him, but didn't currently possess the will-power to do so.

"In...in the other room." Twilight responded with a raised eyebrow as she gestured towards the door of the room with an extended foreleg.
"Why ?" She asked, he features displaying utter confusion.
"Surely he's in no fit shape to move." She thought to herself as she watched the creature begin to further prop itself up with one of its elbows and swing one of its long, fur covered legs over the side of the bed.

"Why ?" Forge repeated as he grunted and strained to swing both of his legs over the edge of the bed.
"Because I'm not staying in this hole." He replied sternly as he gave one final grunt and propelled himself into a standing position with all the energy he could muster.
Unsurprisingly, he found his balance to be slightly off and his legs shook slightly as they took his weight once again.
Bracing himself against the bed for several moments, he winced as pain shot through his side once more and his entire body in general ached.
Taking several deep breaths he readied himself for a second before releasing the bed and making the best attempt possible at striding towards the door of the room, as difficult as it was.

"Wait, what ?" Twilight asked as the creature began walking towards the door.
"You shouldn't be doing that !" She pointed out frantically. "The doctors said you shouldn't be awake yet. Let alone walking around the place !" She exclaimed to the human, who had now clumsily reached the door.

Completely ignoring the ponies protest, Forge placed a hand on the cold metal of the doors handle.
"You comin' or not purple ?" He asked without looking back before opening the door and striding out into the hallway before him, earning cautioned and surprised looks from the several ponies who stood beyond. Some ran while others just stood there with petrified looks on their faces as the giant slowly made its way through the small opening.

Seeing no other option and not willing to just let her find walk out the door, Twilight hastily followed in the giant's footsteps. She didn't dare try and stop it again as she feared that her magic may once again prove insufficient to halt the gargantuan as it had seemed to have recovered at an alarming rate.
"What is the Princess going to say ?" She asked herself, worried as to what the Princess may think of her just letting the injured alien walk around the hospital in the state it was in.
"Oh, I hope she knows what she's going to do with this guy." She though, hopeful that the Princess may have devised some feasible method for returning this creature to where it came from.

---

"D'ya think it was a good idea leaving Twi alone with that thing ?" Applejack asked with a hint of worry as she trotted alongside her rainbow maned friend.

"Course' " Rainbow replied as she trudged through the soft grass that lined the garden. "It's not as though that thing will be getting up any-time soon." She said, her tone bitter as she remembered the rough treatment she had received for the alien, leaving her unconscious and with a large lump on her forehead that still throbbed slightly.

The two had opted for taking a walk through the Canterlot gardens in an attempt to talk about what had happened within the past couple of hours.
Their other friends had declined due to various reasons.
Rarity had decreed that she wished nothing more to do with such a barbaric creature and had decided on returning to Ponyville. But that plan was cut short as she was soon pulled into Canterlot's extensive market, offering wares and materials that she couldn't possibly pass up.
Fluttershy was simply to afraid to be anywhere near the alien after its rather violent outburst. Which had more-or-less been started by her.
Instead she had sought refuge within the castle, where she would be near the Princesses and would have to worry about the alien storming in to find her for questioning its undeniable hatred towards the other two.
Pinkie Pie had wanted to go with Twilight and give the creature a proper 'welcome' once it came around. After constant protest from her friends, she eventually gave up and simply decided to keep Fluttershy company until something could be decided.

"What d'ya thinks gonna' happen to that thing anyway ?" Applejack asked, genuinely curious as to what was going to happen to the new-found visitor.

"I don't care what happens to it." Rainbow replied, her tone still as sour as ever. "I just hope they get rid of it." she added, honestly hoping that the creature would find its way either sent home or banished.
"Come on." She said after a few moments. "Let's go see what Twilight's up to. She's probably bored out of her wits." She offered as she changed direction and headed for the hospital without waiting for a response from the cow-pony. Even though she could think of a million better things to do than go and see the alien, she figured that it would be better to keep Twilight company than wander the gardens in a round-about conversation with Applejack regarding the creature and its motives.
"I really hope they get rid of it." She thought to herself as she continued to trudge towards the hospital, with her orange friend in tow.

---

Some twenty feet underground, completely unbeknownst to the ponies above, a small spherical object was hovering alone along a darkened passage-way, humming a merry tune to itself as it went.
It was roughly a foot in diameter with three concave sides, leaving a large, luminous yellow 'eye' located on the 'front' of the sphere, branded with a symbol with a meaning that was lost to most long ago.
The body of the sphere appeared to be made of some-sort of metallic metal, which reflected the yellow glow and cast it throughout the darkened area, revealing the simplistic, yet extravagant design of the walls around it.
The walls looked as though there were decorated with lines that formed a vein-like network that progressed seemingly at random throughout the entire structure.
The entire place seemed eerie, as nothing could be seen that wasn't bathed in the sphere's yellow light. Couple that with the fact that there was a constant, light droning sound echoing throughout the catacomb of tunnels gave the entire area a rather sinister feel.

As it floated down the corridor, it halted a what appeared to be a monitor fixed directly into the wall.
'Reading' the information, the sphere spoke to itself in a slightly high-pitched, male sounding voice.
"All systems nominal. All specimens accounted for. Facility power, seventy-eight percent." It listed off to no-one in particular, as it always did, before turning and resuming its way down the corridor, picking up its tune where it had left off.

"Everything is as it should be." The sphere informed itself in a matter-of-fact tone as it gradually disappeared down the dark corridor, its bright, yellow glow degrading into the darkness that encased the narrow tunnel...

The entrance.

"They let me pick, did I ever tell you that ? Choose whichever Spartan I wanted. You know me. I did my research. Watched as you became the soldier we needed you to be. Like the others, you were strong and swift and brave. A natural leader. But you had something they didn't. Something no-one saw... but me. Can you guess ?... Luck. Was I wrong ?" - Cortana

---

(The day before Forge's arrival.)

"And what would you have of us ?" Celestia asked as she studied the two bipedal visitors before her, who both wore the same serious expression.

"We will have nothing of you." Came the reply from the creature clad in white. Its tone blatantly suggestive that it was disgusted with having to speak the tongue of its enemy.
"By order of the Hierarch, we are ordered to search this world for any signs of holy relics." The alien explained, both its tone and composure unwavering.

"What manner of relics will thoust be searching for ?" Luna piped up, eager to hear more as to why the creatures had suddenly turned up looking for the leaders of Equestria.
Luna had become immediately fascinated with the creatures the first time she saw them. There was something about their appearance that drew her in, as grotesque as it was at first glance.

The alien slowly turned its gaze towards the second alicorn.
"That." It began, in a drawn-out manner. "Is none of your concern." It finally added, putting emphasis on the already blatant fact that it was not going to reveal anything further.

"Very well." Celestia said, although she wasn't entirely convinced that these creatures were here on the best of terms.
"However, I will be assigning several of my guards the duty of observing and noting your actions." She added, eyeing the two creatures. "Purely as a security." She assured the aliens, who's expressions hadn't changed in the slightest since their meeting had started.

Refusing to show any expression and desperately wishing to end this pointless 'meeting' as soon as possible, the elite responded, "As you wish." before turning on the spot and heading out the door from whence it came with its companion in tow.

"Why do we not just rid ourselves of these vermin ?" The lower ranking elite asked in his own, familiar tongue once they were out of earshot of the alicorns.

"The hierarchs have deemed them to not be an obstacle towards the journey. They need not be vanquished. They will merely remain behind once the journey begins." The white-clad elite explained, pleased that he was able to once again, speak in his own tongue as opposed to the tongue of the heretics he was sworn to destroy.

"But what if they have already uncovered the relic and they are concealing it ? What are we to do then ?" The elite questioned, not entirely satisfied with his comrade's excuse.

"Then. Then their significance in the galaxy will be severely decreased." The white-clad elite explained, his tone of voice revealing not a hint of concern whether these creatures were to live or die.
"Then they become merely another obstacle along the path." The elite added as the duo finally exited the hall.

-----------------

Celestia watched as the two creatures ended their meeting and promptly left, talking to themselves quietly in a tongue she did not understand, their heavy footsteps echoing throughout the throne room.
She wasn't entirely certain as to what exactly the creatures wanted, and her mind buzzed with questions on the subject.
Displeased that they had left she turned to her sister, who was eagerly watching the pair's every step as they left the throne room, presumably to collect whatever equipment they needed to begin their 'search.'

"What do you make of our new guests ?" Celestia finally asked, breaking her sister's gaze from the empty doorway.

"I'm fond of them." Came the honest reply from the grinning Luna.
"I find them quite... interesting." She added, her own questions buzzing around her mind as to what they were after and whether there were more of them.
"What doest thou think they will be searching for ?" She asked her sister she attempted to answer some of her questions.

"What do you think they will be searching for." Celestia corrected her sister with a slight chuckle before she actually addressed the question.
"And as for what they want. I honestly have no idea." She answered honestly. "But whatever it is, I think it would be best to not interfere and only step in if they start harassing our subjects." She stated, hoping that this answer would suffice.
"We'll just have to wait and see." She finished, wondering if the aliens would actually find anything, completely oblivious that this was the last time she would get the chance to further question the aliens.

---

'Log entry number: thirty-six million, five-hundred and twenty-four thousand, two-hundred and twenty-seven.'

It has been a little over one-hundred thousand years since the 'event' and I was charged with the position of overseeing this facility and being forced to record these insipid, daily reports.
I mean, honestly. Who would give a second glance as to what occurs within this backwater facility anyway ?
Absolutely nothing has happened since my creators disappeared without so much as a "Goodbye." Well, at least not until now...
Scanners have picked up the undeniable signature of a reclaimer.
A 'Reclaimer !'
I must say it is quite exciting. I've been absolutely dying to see what the device within this complex is capable of.
And now that the reclaimer is here I can finally get my well deserved reward of witnessing the object I was charged with guarding in action.

First contact is going to be an issue however, as it appears that the main entrance to the facility was locked up fairly tight. (Note: I still have no idea how I did not perceive this problem before.)
Blasted thing is going to take me hours to crack. But don't fret, I 'will' get it open, and I 'will' meet this reclaimer.
Now, without further adieu. I have a door to crack.

And with that, the small, hovering metal sphere shut the main console down with a gentle click, causing the array of flickering lights upon the transparent console to fade until the room was submerged in darkness once more, apart from the small area around the sphere, which was bathed in a light yellow glow.

Hovering through the seemingly endless catacombs that made up the facility, the sphere pressed on through the foreboding darkness, humming the only tune it knew as it went.
The tune was up-beat and sounded cheerful, similar to something someone would hum when they were in a pleasant mood, or fishing perhaps.
As the metal ball made continued its journey, it encountered two of the many other AI's that roamed the facility alongside it.
These robots however, were much different in they way that they were built. They were grayish-white in colour, and had two arm-like appendages with two grapple fixtures at the end of each arm, along with a central "head" and a curved undercarriage containing a very rarely used weapon.
They were propelled by both an anti-gravity unit located on the undercarriage of their forms and small engines on the back of the main unit.
As they passed with a barely audible hum, the cheerful sounding sphere gave them a merry, "Hello there, good fellows !"
Which was unsurprisingly met with silence as the two drones continued on their way towards their next task, seemingly oblivious to the sphere's greeting.

They never did reply.

The sphere's journey continued for roughly a quarter of an hour before it finally came to a silent halt before a large, intricately engraved, metal door that was the defining entrance to the catacombs of the facility.
Glancing over the door for a moment, the sphere ceased its merry tune and silently hovered to a small control panel that was embedded in the wall adjacent to the door.

Activating the console with a small 'blip', a small portion of the tunnels darkness was bathed in a light blue light that emanated from within the transparent display.
Inputting the necessary commands, the sphere was met with a pre-written message detailing the circumstances that must be met before the doors lock-down could be overwritten.

Attention.

Authorisation to open this door can only be granted if one or more of the following pre-requisites have been met:

1: Catastrophic system failure has occurred and relocation of data and samples must be performed.

2: Current monitor AI has undergone 'Rampancy' and replacement must occur.

3: Other AI's bearing information of significance may be allowed access.

4: Subject who's signature matches that of a 'Reclaimer' is detected and should be granted immediate access.

5: Maintenance which cannot be performed by "Sentinel' units is necessary.

All other reasons are to be considered insufficient and the door must remain sealed.
Protocol: 403-98
End message.

Having read that it was indeed authorised to open the door, the sphere have a hum of satisfaction as it continued through the system and input the required data into the door's over-ride system.
Thinking that it would be a simpler task than anticipated, the sphere expected the door to slide open as soon as it confirmed the reason for it doing so.
However, it was met with multiple information sections that were required to be completed before the door would open. Ranging from the time of detection to the type of signature received.
Giving a mechanical sigh, the sphere began to fill out the seemingly endless stream of 'questionnaires' as it pulled the required information from the facilities instruments that had recorded the Reclaimer's presence.

"Why are these things never simple ?" The sphere asked itself with a hint of boredom in its artificial voice as it completed the first lot of data and moved on to the second...

---

Forge had quickly tuned out the consistent complaints coming for the purple pony who was following closely at his heels. The only information that he was taking in was the general directions as to where the pony believed his equipment to be.
As he continued to trudge through the corridors of the hospital, Forge noticed that ever one of the multi-coloured quadrupeds fled as he approached.
Apparently news of his actions had spread like wildfire while he had been unconscious.
As his heavy footsteps echoed throughout the vicinity, he noticed that shortly after the sound had diminished, it was quickly followed by either soft whispering and the sound of scurrying, or yells and the sound of galloping. Sometimes both.

"Where exactly did you say my stuff was ?" Forge asked without bothering to look over his shoulder, his growing impatience obvious in his tone.

"It's in the next room on your right." Twilight informed the giant after finishing her list of things she wanted the creature to comply with. All of them it apparently rejected through its silence.
Glad that they nearing the possessions that the creature desired, Twilight tried to not imagine what the creature could do if it became enraged again, even in its current state.

Just as they both entered the confines of the room, Twilight heard a familiar voice call behind her, "Hey, Twilight !"
Turning, she saw Rainbow speed around the corner and nearly knock her flat, followed by Applejack several moments later, who appeared to be deep within her own thoughts as the cow-pony greeted her friend.

"So. Where's the thing ?" Rainbow asked as she glanced around the barren corridor.
"Did you finally decide to leave it alone ?" Rainbow continued in quick succession, a small hint of hope trailing in her voice.

"No." Twilight replied plainly, causing the rainbow-maned pony's expression to droop slightly.
"He's just in there." Twilight informed her friends as she raised a hoof towards the creature.

The all looked in unison to see that the creature was about half-way done with re-equipping its body protection.
So far it had replaced its leg coverings, its heavily armoured boots and a camouflage printed, long-sleeve shirt looking attire that apparently went underneath the torso armour that it was now donning.

Slipping his head through the body armour's neck hole, Forge felt a gratifying sense of safety as he re-clasped the body plating around his midsection with a reassuring 'click'.
Aware that he had further company, Forge gave them a quick glance with his hard eyes as finished inserting his arms in their respective positions and grabbing his plated gauntlets from the table that still held his shoulder protection, utility belts, several other plates that need to be fastened to his armour and his main belt which held his holster.
To his dismay,the two pieces that were missing from the set were his side-arm and his assault rifle.
Both of which had apparently been confiscated.

Fastening the heavy metal gloves around his wrists, Forge greeted the new-comers with a casual, "Blue. Orange." As he didn't recall their 'proper' names. Not that he would ever consider calling a talking horse by name.

Both Applejack and Rainbow scowled at the giant.
They both knew that the creature didn't want to be here, but that was hardly a reason to be as rude as it was.

"So, ah... How're ya feelin' ?" Applejack finally asked, eager to break the silence that had fallen around the four.

Forge just shrugged his shoulders and gave a low grunt in response.
"Not too bad Orange." He finally added after several moments as he finished fastening the last strap on his first gauntlet with a loud 'click'.
"Been worse." He finished honestly as he went to work about his second gauntlet.

"It's Applejack." Applejack replied in an unamused tone.
"And anyways, we were just stoppin' by so that we could...." She began to explain before she was cut off by a loud scoff coming from Rainbow, who had taken up her habit of hovering several feet above the ground even though it wasn't necessary.

"You shouldn't be standing." She said plainly. "Nopony could have taken that and lived." She pointed out, remembering everything that she had been told alongside her friends when the creature had been admitted to the hospital.
"There's no way you could have an injury worse than that." She assured, more to herself than anyone else who stood in the room.

Forge found it constantly irritating that these ponies continued to use words such as 'everypony' and 'anypony', however he held his tongue and didn't bother bringing the issue up.
Instead, he responded to the winged pony's statement in as calm a tone as he could muster.
"Is that so ?" He replied rhetorically.
"Well blue, I just happen to have a knack to surviving." He added, briefly remembering the countless battles he had been a part of.
"And I don't intend on dying any-time soon." He finished as he secured his second gauntlet with a grunt followed by a loud 'click'.

Rainbow just huffed in response, clearly displeased with the creature's response.
"Whatever." She replied.

"Don't mind her." Twilight chimed in, shooting Rainbow a heavy scowl.
"Anyway, what Applejack was trying to say is that we have to bring you back to the Princesses now that you're well again. They requested to see you as soon as possible." She explained, highly doubtful that the creature would openly agree.

Forge just laughed and shook his head slightly as he went to work on his shoulder pauldrons, which to his surprise still held his trademark ace of spades.
"I don't think so purple." He replied with an amused tone.
"The only thing I'll be doing is trying to find a way off this god forsaken hell-hole." He explained, dearly hoping that there was in-fact, so feasible way for him to return to the UNSC.

Twilight had become quickly accustomed to being called 'purple', so she didn't bother reminding the creature that her name was in-fact 'Twilight'.
"But the only ponies who may know how to get you home are the Princesses." She pointed out. "So you have to go back." She insisted, fairly certain that this would convince the creature to return to the castle.

Forge stopped adjusting his second pauldron and mulled over what the purple pony had just pointed out.
He remained silent for several moments before he finally fastened the pauldron and gave his simple response of "Fine" in a plain manner, as he saw no other feasible way for him to discover a way off this rock.

Forge finished assembling his armour in silence as the three ponies talked amongst themselves. Most of this he tuned out, but he did catch word of a 'Fluttershy', presumably another pony, and something about him giving it an apology.
"There's no way I'm apologising." Forge thought to himself, figuring that they were talking about the yellow pony he had blown up at earlier. "Its ignorance got what it deserved." He assured himself, remembering how the yellow pony had sympathised with those Covenant bastards.

"Well, hurry up then." Rainbow said, her impatience becoming more and more obvious the longer she hovered in place.

Forge considered decking the blue annoyance once again, but managed to stop himself... barely.
Not bothering to reply, he sped up his progress slightly and finished fastening the last of his armour and belts, pausing over his now empty holster, wishing that he still had his weapons with him.
"I'm gonna need my weapons back too." He finally pointed out as he quickly glanced over himself, making sure that he hadn't missed any buckles or straps.

"I have a feeling that you won't be seeing them for a while." Twilight replied as she took lead and began to trot down the corridor of the hospital towards the exit.
"Celestia had them confiscated." She explained, which was followed by a grunt of displeasure from the creature. It didn't reply however, so she simply continued on her way with the creature in tow, followed by her friends who were both still giving the creature looks of uncertainty, especially Rainbow, as they eventually left the hospital and headed towards the castle.

---

Celestia stood alone in the throne room as she gazed out one of the many stain-glass windows that lined the room. Luna had chosen to return to her room and mull over the current situation, much to Celestia's disappointment, as she had wished to further discuss it alongside her sister.

Deep in thought, she was suddenly ripped from her mental state by the familiar sound of the throne room doors creaking open, being held open by a air of her guards as they always were.
What happened next surprised her somewhat. In strode her student, accompanied by two of her friends as well as the creature who had dispatched her previous guests.
"It's alive." She thought to herself, both intrigued and slightly angered at what it had done earlier.
Keeping her anger under a mask, she greeted the group as she would on any other given occasion.

"Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash. It is good to see you all again." She said, glancing at the three ponies in turn. "And it's even good to see you also Forge." She added, her gaze lingering on the human for several moments before she chose to continue.
"I'm glad you are all here." She began, removing her gaze from the human and mainly focusing it on the three ponies before her.
"I sent for your other friends to return here some time ago so that we may discuss the... terms of Forge's stay." she explained in a soft tone, as she almost always did.
"Speaking of you, Forge, I trust you have recovered nicely ?" She asked, studying the human for any signs of impairment or discomfort.

A shrug was all Forge offered, as he had found the activity of gazing out one of the many stain-glass windows with his arms crossed more entertaining than the current situation.

"I asked you a question." Celestia reminded him, finding his lack of an answer rather rude.
"I would appreciate it if you would answer it." she said, hoping to receive a little more than a gesture this time.

"I'm fine." Forge replied in a quite voice, his attention not at all directed at the ponies around him.
All he wanted to think about was getting back to the UNSC, or even a planet that wasn't inhabited by multi-coloured animals... or the Covenant.

"I see." Celestia replied, realising that the human wasn't in the mood for extended discussion.
"Well. Seeing as you are in no mood for talking, I only need you to listen." She explained to the human who seemed intrigued with the scenery that lay outside the confines of the throne room.
"Until we can find a way to send you back, we will..." She began, but was cut off by the loud creak of the great throne room doors once more as three more familiar ponies trotted inside, their unified hoof-steps echoing throughout the room.

Into the throne room strode Rarity, who seemed less than pleased to see the creature once again, Pinkie Pie, who as usual, was bouncing rather than trotting, and the barely visible parts of Fluttershy that only just protruded from behind Rarity's figure.

As Celestia watched the group reunite, she noticed that the human was still to draw his gaze from the window, apparently his level of care was severely low.
"Forge." She began, still not receiving any response from the biped.
"Before we continue, I would like you to apologise to Fluttershy. She was rather distressed after your actions and I personally think you should." She said plainly, noticing slight changes in the creatures facial expression as she uttered the word 'apologise'.

Forge knew it was coming, the words stuck in his mind after the 'Princess' had spoken them. "I would like you to apologise".
That was one thing he was determined not to do.
He glanced over and noticed the pony in question barely peaking out from behind the white one's mane. Smirking, he returned his gaze to the window and gave a small sigh before uttering his response of, "No" in a plain yet determined tone.

"What do you mean 'no' ?" Celestia asked, slightly surprised at the creature's cold-heartedness.

"Exactly what the word means." Forge responded, meaning to make his tone sound as though he were being a smart-ass.

"Listen here you big meanie." Pinkie suddenly burst out, somehow appearing right in-front of the creature, her fore-hooves planed firmly against its chest plating.
"You're going to apologise to Fluttershy right now." She stated, her voice sounding slightly angered.

"Oh... oh no, it's quite alright." Fluttershy meekly said from the safety of Rarity's shadow.
"It... it doesn't have to." She insisted the best she could, however it was unclear whether her friends had heard her or not.

"Oh yes it does Flutters." Rainbow chipped in, hovering over to Pinkie's side, thrusting her own gaze into the creature's.
"And it's not going anywhere until it does." She added, her features contorting into a heavy scowl as she stared into the creature's unblinking, brown eyes.

"And who exactly are you to say that, Blue ?" Forge asked in a now menacing tone.
"Would you like to go another round." He asked, ignoring the pink pony, who still had its hoofs against his chest, and cracking his knuckles loudly.

"Please, everypony. Just calm down." Twilight urged, attempting to avoid the confrontation that Rainbow was bound to lose.

"Yes. Why don't we all just calm down and talk this out in a civilised manner ?" Rarity agreed, also realising that Rainbow was about to bite off more than she could chew.

"I'll calm down when it apologises." Rainbow shot back, not willing to back down from the creature after what it had done to her before.

It was then that the throne room burst into a flurry of raised voices, most of them coming from Rainbow, Pinkie, Twilight and Celestia. All who were vying for control of the heating situation...

---

"Huzzah !" Cried the sphere as the console accepted the last block of information and flashed the words, "Access granted." In large font.
Moments later, the giant, metal door hissed violently before beginning to slowly slide open in the same fashion as most Forerunner doors, revealing a set of dusty, metallic steps that apparently lead to the surface.
Overly pleased with itself, the sphere increased its pace and hovered up the stairway with a hum that could have been interpreted as 'excitement.'

As it continued on its way, the passageway abruptly ended with a large stone slab that covered the roof of stairwell, marking the thin line that separated the dark catacombs from the vast exterior of the facility.
"Oh." The sphere muttered quietly to itself, suddenly overcome with disappointment.
Searching for anything that may open the way, the sphere was quickly re-invigorated as it noticed a button with age-long resemblance to every button it had observed throughout its existence.
Eagerly activating the switch, the slab gave a grinding sounds as it began to slide from its hundred-thousand year resting place.

The sudden glare of the surface forced the sphere to adjust its optical receptors to suit its new surroundings.
"Excellent." It said to itself. "Now to find this Reclaimer." It added as it hovered up and out of the catacombs...

---

The room was on the verge of exploding when everyone suddenly grew quiet as the sound of stone grinding filled the room and dominated all other sounds within the room.
All the occupants in the room immediately stopped what they were doing and watched as a large portion of the stone floor began to disappear roughly in the centre of the throne room.
Everyone wore expressions of disbelief as the slab finally came to a halt.
The situation only became stranger when a small, metal sphere hovered out of the new opening.
They watched as it 'looked' around the room before turning to face the group with what was assumed to be its eye, which glowed a soft yellow as the entire being bobbed slightly mid-air.

Everyone, including Forge, jumped slightly as the sphere squealed, "Reclaimer !" In a high-pitched, artificial voice.

---

The monitor couldn't believe its luck. It had only just exited the facility and it had already found the Reclaimer.
"He must have been waiting." It thought to itself as it quickly hovered over to the biped, until it was around a foot from the creature's face.
"Greetings, My name is three-seven-five, Forced Parity." It announced proudly, receiving confused expressions from both the Reclaimer and the multitude of coloured quadrupeds that also occupied the room.
"I have waited quite some time to meet you Reclaimer." It continued, receiving the same looks from its audience, although it was only focusing on the Reclaimer.
"And now that I have found you, there is so much that we have to do." It added with a hint of excitement in its tone.

"Oh, I just can't wait to get started."...

Into the depths.

"Men, we led those dumb bugs out to the middle of nowhere to keep 'em from gettin' their filthy claws on Earth. But we stumbled onto somethin' they're so hot for, that they're scramblin' over each other to get it. Well, I don't care if it's God's own anti-son-of-a-bitch machine, or a giant hula hoop, we're not gonna let 'em have it! What we will let 'em have, is a belly full of lead, and a pool of their own blood to drown in!" - Sergeant Avery Johnson.

---

"Did I do something wrong ?" The monitor asked after several moments of all the occupants of the room giving him a mixture of blank, confused and shocked expressions.
"Granted, I have not had an interaction with sentient creatures for quite some time. However, I don't think that quite deserves the reception that I'm receiving." He added in quick succession, not giving the Reclaimer or his companions any time to get a word in edgewise.

"Wowie zowie !" Pinkie suddenly cried, turning her attention away from the human and towards the strange object that continued to hover several meters away from her.
Ignoring the expressions of concern from her friends, she began bouncing towards the sphere, blabbering near-incoherent, quickly stringed together questions and statements as she went.
"My names Pinkie Pie, but you can just call me Pinkie ! What's your name again ? Why do you live in a hole in the ground ? Do you have any friends ? Why are you a ball ? Can I play soccer with you ? I have to introduce you to everypony ! Oh, and then there's your party to plan. What kind of cake do you like ? What's your favourite song ?..."

The river of questions continued to flow for another minute or so, with Pinkie bouncing giddily around the sphere the entire time, before she suddenly stopped as though a massive brain wave had hit her.
"Can I ride you ?!" She asked with a grin that shouldn't be possible.

Quite taken aback by the sudden outburst from the pink coloured quadruped, Parity attempted to process the steam of questions he had been given when he hesitated on the last one.
"Can you wh..." The monitor began to ask before he was quickly silenced when a large weight appeared on top of him and threatened to bring him crashing to the ground.
Alarmed, he applied as much force as he could in an attempt to keep himself from crashing, whilst catching the occasional glimpse of bright pink from above him.
Finding his power insufficient to keep himself afloat, he began to fly in random directions, attempting to dislodge the pink weight the stood on top of him.
"Get it off ! Get it off ! Get it off ! Get it off ! Get it off ! Get it off !" He wailed to the onlookers in his usual high-pitched, artificial voice as he bobbed and swayed under the excessive weight.

The whole situation had turned rather comical.
The room had gone from a heated argument that threatened to turn to violence, to the sight of Pinkie riding the unexpected visitor as though it were a mad cow, bucking and swaying in every which-way as it tried to dislodge Pinkie.

Twilight allowed the spectacle to pass for several moments before she finally came around to halting the pair mid-flight within a purple aura and swiftly separating the two, placing Pinkie securely behind her and allowing the sphere to recompose and level itself before she released her magic.

After that, not a single occupant in the room dared to speak, for within their midst was something that none of them could come close to guessing what it was.
The group was simply flabbergasted. Forge, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Twilight and Celestia all wore the same expression of shock mixed with a hint of uncertainty, Fluttershy had apparently collapsed and Pinkie Pie sat on her flanks with her fore-hooves crossed as she pouted after being separated for a potential friend.

The silence was brought to a sudden halt however, as Parity had finally regained his optimum altitude.
Making a noise that would suggest that he was clearing his throat, he said, "No, I'm fine, thanks for asking." As he looked over the audience once again. "I'm used to having... you know.... four-legged pink things on top of me." He added with a sarcastic hint to his artificial voice. "Granted, I don't know if that was some kind of greeting or not. But if it was, then I would much like for it to not happen again." He insisted, casting his faint yellow glow over the crowd.

"What are you ?" Rainbow finally spoke up, cocking her head slightly as she observed every detail on the sphere.

"Me ?" Parity asked, looking on both sides of him before realising that the quadruped would be addressing no-one else.
"I, am a monitor." He answered with a sense of pride. "A monitor of a facility. This facility to be exact." Making sure that the winged being completely understood him.
"And I have come to collect the Reclaimer." He continued, anticipating the next question as he turned his gaze towards the Forge. "You and I have much to do." He added with a slight sense of excitement looming in his artificial voice.

"And what do you intend to do with the human ?" Celestia asked as Forge began to open his mouth and give his reply, rewarding her with a frown from the human who once again, looked as though he might blow up at her at any given moment.

"What do I intend to do ?" Parity repeated to himself. "What don't I intend to do ?" He said as he answered the quadruped's question with another.
"Nearly everything down there needs a Reclaimer to activate it or the blasted things just won't work." He explained, although he didn't intend on giving any more information to those whom it didn't concern.
"So if you don't mind, I'll be taking the Reclaimer off your hands.... or, er.... hoofs, and I'll be out of your hair. Quick as that." He added, hoping to get stuck into the contraptions that laid below as soon as possible.

"Alright, just everyone hold the hell up." Forge finally spoke up in a voice that was much louder than was necessary as he held his hands up defensively.
"I'm not going anywhere. I'm sick of this place and everything in it." He added, his temper beginning to rise once more. "All I want to do is get off this godforsaken rock." He put flatly.
"And if you can't do it, then I'll find someone who can." He finished, pointing a gloved finger towards Celestia as he gave her yet another hateful glare.

Parity suddenly realised how he was going to get the Reclaimer to co-operate.
"You want off ?" He asked, already knowing the answer. "I can get you off." He quickly added, causing the Reclaimer to raise an eyebrow in interest.
"All I need you to do is come with me and give me a hand with with a few things. Down there. In the facility." He said, gesturing towards the entrance anxiously, hoping that the Reclaimer would accept.

"And what exactly is down there ?" Celestia asked, cutting off Forge once more before he had an opportunity to respond. "And what do they do ?" She added, somewhat concerned as to what the unexpected visitor had in store.

"Well... ah." Parity began to explain, but found the question harder to answer than he had originally thought.
Indeed, he did have a complete inventory of everything in the facility and could have listed them off without pause, but he found his tongue held when he realised that revealing what they all did may change the quadruped's minds in a matter of seconds.

Thinking up an answer as fast as he could he responded, "They're all machines and gizmos and whatnot." He said sheepishly. "Quite boring actually. You shouldn't really bother with them." He added, hoping to change the subject, however, he was met only with an expectant stare from the larger, winged quadruped prompting him to add a little more. " But if you really must know, they do lots of things. You know, some that move, some that don't." He answered concerned that his lack of a decent reply would be discarded and the Reclaimer would be kept from him, not that would be a problem, but he would prefer to avoid any violence if he could.

"Who cares what's down there ? As long as there's something that can get me off this rock, I don't really care." Forge interjected before anyone else could respond, his patience running dangerously thin.
"Show me." He added flatly towards the sphere, who continued to glare at him with its single, yellow eye.

"Excellent !" The monitor said with enthusiasm. "Now if you'll kindly follow me, we can get started immediately." It added as it began to hastily float back towards the opening, checking back to check that the Reclaimer was following more than once.

"Forge, stop !" Celestia called out as the human neared the stairs that disappeared into the floor.
The human however, appeared to have either not heard her or he had simply ignored her as Celestia watched him begin to descend the stairs after the strange sphere.

"Twilight. Take your friends and follow them. I'll stay up here and organise some guards to follow after you." She quickly instructed, not wanting to lose the pair in what she assumed was a maze that lay beneath her feet.
"Make sure no harm comes to Forge, I fear that something very bad is about to happen." She added, suddenly fearful as to what exactly was down there.
"Be careful, and if something does happen, call out and the guards or myself will surely find you." She said, hoping that such an event wouldn't occur.
"Now go ! Before they are lost." She finished, receiving a curt nod of understanding from her pupil as she and her friends darted for the entrance, quickly disappearing as Forge and the sphere had.

"I swear I've seen something like that thing before." She said to herself, straining her memories for any vague connection to both the sphere and its so-called facility.

---

"I don't think you quite understand just how exciting this is for me." Parity finally said after the two had finally descended into the facility and the light above began to dim rapidly as they ventured deeper into the tunnel.
"I mean, I've waited so long for this you to arrive, and now you're finally here !" He exclaimed, trying his best to contain his enthusiasm.
"And I trust that you are equally excited, correct ?" He asked, knowing that the Reclaimer was directly behind him due to the being's heavy footsteps which echoed throughout the empty tunnel.

"Yeah, it's great." Forge replied, his sarcasm not hidden in the slightest.
"Does this place have any lights, or am I just going to be blind for all this ?" He asked as his vision began to decay and eventually, all he could make out was the faint yellow glimmer coming from his guide.

"Oh right. You can't see in the dark, can you ?" Parity replied rhetorically.
"Just wait here, and I'll be right be, Ok ?" He said without waiting for a reply before he continued down the tunnel in search of a control panel.
"Don't go anywhere !" He called back as he shot up through a maintenance shaft, this being the fastest way to trverse the confines of the facility.

Forge considered calling out, but held his tongue as the faint yellow light gradually disappeared completely into the roof somewhere, figuring that it would benefit him more if he just did whatever it was this thing wanted him to and get back to the UNSC as soon as possible.

After a moment or two of complete blackness, the faint hum that came from the sphere had died down completely and Forge found himself alone in the dark. He never did like situations like these, as something always tended to happen when all the lights went out.
Cursing himself for not retrieving his weapons back on the surface, he kept silent and listened as closely as he could for anything else that may be lurking in the confines of the tunnel.

Several more minutes had passed and Forge, who had not heard anything, began to contemplate the choice of blindly continuing on his own when he heard what sounded like footsteps approaching from behind him.
Cursing under his breath, he did the only thing he could and waited, listening to the sound of what seemed like a small group closing in on his position, bracing himself to either run or confront the unknown.
As he continued to listen, he began to pick up what sounded like voices coming from the same direction as the footsteps. Straining, he managed to pick out several sentences being said by the unknown presences.

"Darnit Rarity ! Stop steppin' on ma hooves !"
"I am sorry darling, it's just so dark down here I can't see where I'm going."
"Where do you think that thing and its new friend have gone ?"
"I don't know, but they can't be too far ahead."

Forge's fears were quickly banished as he realised that they belonged to the horses who had followed and tried to befriend him during his time on this planet.
He figured that they were just about to run into him when he heard a low hum begin resonate through the tunnel, causing the voices behind him to quickly silence and the footsteps to cease.
The hum continued to grow louder for several moments before it peaked and a bright flash caused Forge to place a forearm over his eyes.
After squinting and blinking profusely for a moment, Forge found the previously pitch-black tunnel to now be bathed in a light blue light, revealing a cross-cross, vein like pattern that covered the walls.
Impressed, he eyed the detail in the pattern as the group of six behind him gradually approached.

"See ? I told you we'd find him soon." Twilight announced proudly as she looked over the groups find, who seemed more interested in the walls than their presence.

"What do you want Purple ?" Forge asked plainly, still refusing to make eye-contact with the ponies as he observed the walls, felling a sense of Deja' vu as they looked strangely familiar to the ones he had seen on the planet Harvest near Alpha base.
"If I'm not mistaken, that sphere thing said nothing about you lot." He pointed out, beginning to wonder if the strange little being had forgotten where it had left him.

"Well... uh, yes that's true, but the Princess ordered me to follow you and make sure nothing happens to you." She pointed out, getting the slight feeling that the human was trying to get rid of her.

"Is that so ?" Forge responded rhetorically. "I'm flattered, but I really don't need protection, especially from some...." He trailed off as a familiar artificial voice overwhelmed his own.

"I'm back !" Parity announced as he bobbed down the now illuminated tunnel towards the Reclaimer.
"And you're right where I left you, excellent." He added, more to himself than anyone else. "And I see that these creatures have decided to join us." He continued, casting his yellow gaze over the small troop of ponies, his tone making it impossible to tell if he was pleased or not. "I have no use for them, but that doesn't mean that they can't enjoy a small tour while we tend to business, right Reclaimer ? Now... shall we ?" He asked and without waiting for an answer, began to traverse further down the tunnel, forcing the group to follow closely behind him or risk becoming lost within the tunnel and the many others that branched off from it.

"Can't we just wait a minute ?" Twilight asked after the group had only moved several feet.
"I mean, you haven't really told us what we're doing down here." She pointed out to the hovering ball.

Parity stopped and hovered mid-air for a second before giving a heavy sigh and slowly turning towards the quadruped.
"Firstly, no we cannot wait. Secondly, you won't be doing anything, remember ?" He said, acting as though he were talking to a child. "This is between the Reclaimer and myself. I am merely letting you tag along because it would benefit the surprisingly small amount of data I have on your species." He continued, remembering how he had little to no information on the planet's inhabitants stored within the facilities mainframe. "If you do not wish to accompany us, I can always have you escorted back to the surface." He offered, feeling his growing impatience with the multi-coloured being's pestering.

"Escorted back to the surface." Rainbow repeated with a scoff, clearly mocking the sphere. "And who exactly is going to do that ? You and the ape ?" She mused. "There's six of us and only two of you." She pointed out with a smug grin.

"Well, not myself per se. But I'm sure these gentlemen wouldn't mind doing the honours." He retorted.

Confused by the sphere's reply, Rainbow was about to further insult the ball when she heard a low hum coming from behind her.
As the group turned in unison, they came face to face with three more hovering and even stranger looking robots. All three had a greyish-white colour and had two arm-like appendages protruding from their main body sections, with what appeared to be a grapple extensions on the end of each of their 'arms'.
Shocked by the sudden appearance of the beings, all of the ponies gave a gasp, except for Fluttershy, who promptly passed out as soon as she caught a glimpse of the new arrivals.

"Does it always do that ?" Parity asked curiously, floating closer to the Reclaimer and directing his voice so that only the human could hear him.

"From what I've seen, yeah." Forge replied with next-to-no emotion in his tone, his impatience with the whole situation becoming blatant.

"Hmm." Was all Parity replied with, surprised that a creature could become so frightened that it could pass out by simply looking upon something new, remembering how it had also done the exact same thing when he had been relieved of the pink quadruped and was finally given the chance to properly introduce himself.

"Anyway." He started, his usual joyful tone returning. "On with the tour !" He announced before continuing along his previous path with the Reclaimer, the quadrupeds and three of his sentinels in tow.

---

"And down there is one of the main control rooms, I must remember to show you that when we are finished." Parity said as he gestured down yet another of the many off-tunnels the group had passed, continuing with a seemingly endless stream of ramblings about the facility, the various things located within its age-old walls and how he had spent his time while 'on duty'.
The monitor had been speaking almost the entire time that the group had been travelling, pausing only to answer any questions the Reclaimer might have in great detail. The questions the quadrupeds had however, were met with a simple and blunt answer, suggesting that Parity wasn't enjoying the ponies company as much as he had first made out.

"Oh, are we there yet !" Rarity whined. "My hooves are starting to get sore." She complained, treading each step with as little effort as possible for the sake of her hooves.

"Ah agree" Applejack piped up. "This tour of yours has been nothin' but tunnels and things you won't show us." She pointed out.

"That is because we haven't gotten to the good bits yet." Parity assured them, completely oblivious to the fact that walking for too long could affect both one's mood and patience.
"But not to worry, they are just past this door here." He added as a large, sturdy door finally came into view at the end of the tunnel.

"Finally, the Princess will want a full report on everything down here." Twilight said, earning her nothing but silence from the sphere, whether it had heard he or not she couldn't tell as it was near impossible as the ball possessed no physical body language which would suggest otherwise.

"If you will kindly give me a moment, I'll have this door open in no time." Parity said as he floated up to a small panel next to the door, causing it to flicker on with a 'click'.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie had almost lost all enthusiasm with the trip, even with the ball's promise of interesting things.
Sighing she turned her head and peered down one of the other tunnels that branched off from the one she was currently in. Spying something large and shiny in a room at the end of the tunnel. "Oooh, what's that ?" She asked, pointing down the tunnel with a hoof as her smile quickly returned to its original luster.

"What's what ?" Parity asked, pulling his attention away from the array of numbers and sentences that darted across the panel in a language he was sure none of his companions could read.
"Oh that, that's..... something you shouldn't be seeing !" He said, alarm rising in his voice as he saw the Pink quadruped begin to bound down the hallway at an alarming rate.
"S... stop it !" He yelled at the sentinels who beeped softly before turning and speeding down the tunnel after the pink bullet. "Quick quick quick, get it !" He continued to rant as the creature came dangerously close to the room, the object within almost in its grasp.

"Wait, I know what to do." He suddenly said to himself as he hastily flew back towards the panel, a last-minute idea striking him. "Ok. Now stay calm." He continued to say to himself as he flicked through the various commands that lined the panel.
"And, there we go." He said as the panel emitted a beep and flashed briefly before several loud crashes of metal were heard at the other end of the tunnel.

As the group stared down the tunnel, what they saw was quite the sight. In a heap lay Pinkie Pie underneath the three sentinels, who promptly regained their altitude. The trio and Pinkie had apparently barged full-speed into the heavy metal door Parity had closed only moments ago, leaving Pinkie looking as though she had been hit by a train.

"Wh.... what happened." She slurred as two of sentinels dragged her by her rear legs back to where the group still stood, all of whom wore an amused grin at what had just happened, excluding both Forge and Parity.

"Never ever leave the doors open. Never." Parity mumbled to himself as he returned to working on the door he was meant to open.

After making sure Pinkie hadn't suffered too large of a concussion, Twilight asked, "So what exactly was down there." As she looked back towards the end of the tunnel where the door still firmly stood, her curiosity growing. "Must be important if you don't want us to see it." She added, hoping to get the sphere to spill something on what it was keeping in its facility.

"What that was is none of your business." Parity snapped back, his normal tone suddenly changing.
"It is between the Reclaimer and myself." He said flatly, making it clear that he wasn't about to tell these creatures everything about anything in his facility.
"Now, why don't we just try to enjoy the little bit of tour you have left, hmm ?" He asked, returning to his usual, joyful tone as the panel finally gave a soft 'beep' and the door responded with a loud 'click'.
"Ah ha ! There we go." Parity announced proudly as the door hissed violently and several jets of steam appeared around its edges.

"Reclaimer. Things I have yet to learn the names of. I give you.... the crown jewels of my facility." He said proudly as the door began to retract, revealing the large chamber beyond.

"What the hell are those ?" Forge asked with a bewildered expression as he slowly began to follow the monitor into the spacious chamber...

---

"Guardsman." Celestia said as she looked upon the guard whom she had called upon to gather the necessary troops for her.
"Your orders are to go down there with your platoon and secure this... facility." She said, obvious concern in her voice.
"Take no unnecessary risks, but I want whatever is down there secured and kept away from the human. And remember, do not touch anything down there. Do you understand ?" She asked, her voice echoing slightly around the throne room.

"Completely your Highness." The guard replied with a brisk salute.
"You heard the Princess men." He said, turning towards the group of armoured stallions behind him who numbered twenty strong.
"We are to pile in and fan out. Search for the Princesses student and her friends and to keep a constant eye out for the human." He instructed, relaying most of what the Princess had already told him before in a brief, private meeting.
"Once the human has been located, call for the rest of the squad. Detain it if it is uncooperative." He added, silently hoping it wouldn't come to that.
"Let's move out." He ordered, receiving a loud "Sir, yes Sir !" From every stallion as they began the decent into the facility, their hoof-steps echoing around the room with every step they took.

"Please let nothing have happened yet." Celestia pleaded to nopony in particular as the last of the guards disappeared into the facility.
"We just need more time." She said to herself as she thought of her next course of action, dearly hoping that what she had learned after Twilight left was false and what lay in the facility did not exist...

What lies below.

"We're droppin' into Hell, troopers! Time to grow a pair!" - Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck

---

"There has to be something here." Celestia muttered to herself as she poured over the small stack of books and scrolls that lay beside her.
Just after her student had left, she had departed for the Canterlot library, instructing the guards to allow nopony inside the throne room unless they had her full consent.
Nearly an hour later, she had returned with the stack that she now had beside her, the documents being the only ones she could find that had any mention whatsoever of the entrance and its occupant.

Frowning, she set aside yet another book and picked up the next in the pile. As she was running dangerously close to completing all of the books, she focused even harder, determined to find even the smallest mention of the entrance.

"Nothing." She muttered, laying down yet another book titled "Early Canterlot and its surroundings".
Beginning to lose hope, she lifted the second last book and paused at its title, "Canterlot and its construction".
Hopeful she flicked through the book, scanning it for anything that concerned the throne room.

Her demeanour suddenly lifted as she paused, finally finding what she was looking for. She had paused at the chapter that's very title gave promises, "The building of Canterlot throne room." Celestia read aloud to herself as she eagerly read the chapter aloud to herself;

"In Canterlot's early construction, the site was the throne room was much contested.
Some wished it to be placed at ground level, while others insisted it be placed above all else as a sign of the royalty within.
Eventually, after much discussion, the site for the throne room was decided, it would be built into the mountain and the city would surround it both around and below.
Before long however, construction was brought to a halt when an insignia was discovered upon one of the stones that lined the throne room's intended base..." Celestia trailed off slightly as she remembered seeing no insignia upon the door. She continued to read however, seeing as this was the most promising book she had found yet.

"The symbol resembled a circle with pattern-like design within. After close examination it was found that the symbol was centred upon what appeared to be a perfect stone slab that was finely seamed against the surrounding stone. If the symbol was some sort of language or warning, we could not tell.
What we do know, is that the carving slightly resembled a similar one from a pony-folk tale. It was said that the symbols were used as a language by the ones who came to our world eons ago and left several artifacts behind for pony-kind.
With the story being nothing but a tale, the symbol was dismissed and the throne room's construction proceeded as planned to create the Canterlot we know today.
The rest of the city followed suit as it began to rise...." Celestia stopped reading as she realised she had found her answer.
What the facility was resided within a fairy tale.

With as much haste as she could muster without seeming too suspicious, Celestia set off for the library once more, in search of the book that would finally explain what she desperately sought after.

---

"This Reclaimer, is just a part of why you are here." The monitor answered in a more serious tone as it floated ahead of the group and did a small loop around a pedestal so that he faced the group again.

Fascinated, Forge moved closer to the pedestal, discovering what appeared to be some-sort of cylindrical object with pointed ends.
Curious, he picked hesitantly picked the object up, which gave a slight hum as his fingers curled around its polished surface.
Bringing it closer to his eyes, Forge found that the objects middle contained a light blue sphere which gave off a slight glow.

"And what exactly does this do?" He finally asked as he continued to eye the intricate detail of the object and the sphere it contained, fully aware that there were six other pairs of eyes watching him closely as well.

"Well, in terms you would understand, that device can be best described as a key." Parity replied as he eyed the device as it continued to hum softly within the Reclaimer's grasp.

"A key to wh..." Forge began to ask before his voice was overridden by another.

"Oooh, what does this one do!?" Pinkie exclaimed as she bounded over to yet another pedestal, this one however held what appeared to be a transparent blue sphere that hovered several inches above the pedestal.
"It makes a funny sound!" Pinkie giggled as she began banging her hooves on the ball, which appeared to be covered in hundreds of hexagons, the ones that were being pressed glowed red for a second and bleeped as Pinkie's hoof made contact.

As soon as Parity saw what the quadruped was doing to his facility, he thought he was going to erupt with anger.
Feeling his 'temper' rising his eye began to glow a bright red before a thin blue laser lanced from within his eye and struck the quadruped in the center of its turned back, causing it to yelp and launch itself several feet in the air before it retreated behind the others, cowering and trying to avoid looking at him.

"Do not touch anything." Parity said a menacing tone, one he rarely used.
"Do that again and the consequences will be quite severe, understand?" He asked as he eye gradually returned to its original soft yellow.

"What did you do that for!?" Twilight yelled as she looked over to Pinkie, who sat cowering behind Applejack, nursing the burn that had been left by Parity's beam.
"She didn't mean to do anything wrong!" She protested, frowning at the sphere, as the rest of her friends were now doing.

"Quite frankly I don't care if it meant to or not." Parity retorted. "Protocol dictates that only the Reclaimer may handle the objects within this facility." He explained, hovering several feet closer to the group.
"Come to think of it, maybe I have been rather lenient with protocol." He added, more to himself than anyone else. "Yes, yes, I now see that bringing you here was quite the mistake." He finally said after several moments of thought.

"Please escort them out and if they touch anything else, I authorise the use of order twelve." He instructed the trio of sentinels, who gave a 'bleep' in response before they surrounded the group and began to shepherd them out of the room, urging the quadrupeds on with their 'arms'.

"And don't forget to close the door!" Parity called out as the group eventually disappeared from sight with the creature's protests still audible even after they had left.

Ignoring the protests, Parity took pleasure in the sound of the door hissing closed once more.
Giving a relieved sigh, he turned back to Forge.
"I am dreadfully sorry about that." He apologised.
"Now. Where were we?" Parity asked, returning to watching the device hum and glow as the Reclaimer still held it within its grasp.

"You were going to tell me what this did." Forge said plainly, not really caring that the talking horses had been forcefully ushered from the room.

"Oh, yes." Parity replied with a hint of excitement.
"Allow me to give you the full explanation." He offered as he floated to a position several feet in-front of the Reclaimer and clearing his 'throat' in a manner that it echoed loudly around the now deathly quite room.

"This here is something quite spectacular..."

---

It had been about a quarter of an hour since the commander had split his platoon into pairs and sent them out to search the facility for anything that could be deemed as a threat to Equestria. The idea of pairs was not ideal, but it allowed the ponies to search the confines of the tunnels much faster than if they had stayed in larger groups.

"What are we looking for again?" Storm Hoof asked his companion as the pair continued to patrol through the 'facility' the Princess had instructed their platoon to secure.

"Princesses' student." Gallant Bristle replied simply, his horn alight with a dark green aura which helped to slightly illuminate the comparatively dark tunnels.
"We also have to secure this sector of the tunnels" He added as the pair entered a large room-of-sorts, the walls lined with various glass cylinders contained within metal cases that each had a symbol etched on the front just below the conveniently placed viewing windows.

"Right." Storm responded as the sound of the pair's armour clinking together quickly filled the dead-silent room.
"Woah." Storm said in wonder as the vast room became much more visible, the cylinders becoming much clearer as the pair approached them.
"What do you think they are?" Storm asked as he approached one of the many tubes that lined the walls, noticing that it contained some sort of spore type substance suspended within a liquid of sorts.

"I don't care what they are, just leave them alone and let's keep looking." Gallant insisted as he headed for the door on the opposite side of the room.

"Hold up, just come have a look at this." Storm retorted, his eyes fixed on the things that were contained within the metal case.
"Look at em', they kind of look like really small parasprites." He pointed out as his companion drew up beside him.

Squinting, Gallant peered into the fluid and made out what looked like a rotten, off-coloured green corn kernel floating aimlessly within its glass prison.
"Great. Glad I wasted time looking at that." Gallant huffed as he began heading back towards the door.

"Yeah, I guess." Storm replied gloomily as he gave the mysterious substance one last glance.
"I'll come back later." He said to himself as he gave the metal case a tap with his hoof gingerly before picking up his pace and briskly trotting after his companion who had already begun to disappear down the next tunnel.

Little did the pair know, a small red light just beside the case was now blinking furiously, silently warning the watcher of the tunnels of the intruder's presence...

---

"Are you alright, Pinkie?" Twilight asked as she eyed the burn which had slightly darkened her friend's usual bright pink coat while the group were being hastily herded back down the tunnel they had originally come through by the trio of the strange looking robots, who insisted on poking and prodding the members of the group who fell to a pace that they apparently deemed 'unacceptable'.

"I'm fine." Pinkie responded in a gloomy tone, her usual cheer completely diminished.
"It's not so bad now." She added, glancing back at her still slightly scorched back.

"Told ya." Rainbow piped up. "That thing and its doo-hickey friend are nothing but trouble." She said menacingly.
"We shouldn't have let it leave the hospital, let alone the castle." She added, the obvious frustration in her voice beginning to grow as the group continued to be Shepherded down the tunnel.

"I know that his stay has been rather unfortunate to us, but don't you think that's just a little bit harsh?" Twilight retorted, keeping her gaze fixed on the path straight ahead.

Rainbow was just about to deliver yet another abuse-filled response when she was interrupted by shouting coming from a pair of figures who had just emerged from yet another tunnel.

"Miss Sparkle!" One of the figures yelled out, who Twilight observed was a Canterlot guard, clad in a full set of the golden guard's armour and who appeared to be holding a large polearm.
"Guards?" Twilight replied aloud, wondering why the Princess had sent armed ponies down here.
"What are you doing here?" She asked as the figures drew closer and she was able to observe that the polearm-wielding pony was an earth pony, and his companion was a unicorn, who carried no weapons.

"We've been sent to secure both yourself and a human, then return you both topside." The unicorn informed her, his horn glowing slightly with a faint, light blue aura.
"So, if you'll just come with us, we can regroup with the others and return to the surface." The unicorn continued as he took several more steps towards the group of ponies, only to be stopped in his tracks as some-sort of flying robot flew out from behind the group and blocked his path.

Recoiling slightly, the two guards recomposed themselves before the unicorn cleared his throat. "We have orders to escort this group and the human to the surface. I'm not sure what you are, but I am asking you to stand down." The guard said in the most polite and controlled tone he could muster, considering that he was conversing with a strange and unknown thing.

What he received in response could have been considered rude if he were talking to anything else.
The hovering machine simply stared at him for several moments before bleeping several times and then proceeding to push past the two ponies as though they were just obstacles in its path, quickly followed by the other two sentinels who continued to prod and edge the group towards their destination.

"Alright. I'm not asking any-more, stop where you are." The unicorn demanded as the group seemingly ignored them and continued down the tunnel.
"I said stop!" The unicorn yelled as he charged up his horn and let loose a simple stunning spell towards the lead machine.
The bolt glowed a bright blue as it sailed over the heads of the other ponies and collided with the rear of the lead robot, splashing against the silvery metal and causing it to shudder violently in the air for a moment before clattering to the floor, the glow around its main casing dimming slightly.

"Well that was easy enough." The unicorn said to himself as he moved up towards the now halted group, only to be stopped in his tracks as the machine's glow returned and the odd looking robot regained altitude.
The guard watched in horror as the machine spun to face him, a section under its main body beginning to glow continually brighter.
"Wh... what are you..." Was all the guard managed to get out before he felt a searing heat hit him squarely in the chest.
"Argh!" the unicorn yelled out as he was slammed against the wall from the force of the attack, with a large black, smouldering circle burned into his chest plating.

"Stop!" Twilight yelled as she watched the robot sail towards the downed unicorn.
"I said stop!" She screamed as she launched her own bolt at the machine that was apparently ignoring her.

Expecting the bolt to do the same as the unicorn's had, Twilight braced herself to make a run for it once the magic connected, as had the rest of the group.
What happened next she did not expect. The bolt sailed true towards the machine and looked as though it was going to do as she had hoped, instead the magical bolt splashed against a spherical barrier that now surrounded the hovering drone for several seconds before it faded, leaving the machine unscathed.

She watched in horror as the robot left its downed prey and turned slowly to face her direction, its undercarriage glowing as brightly as it had before.
Issuing several beeps, the other two machines that had accompanied the group followed suit, both their undercarriages beginning to glow a bright red.

Assuming what was going to happen next, Twilight screwed her eyes shut and waited for the worst.
She was soon forced to reopen them as she heard what sounded like the other guard call out, "Down here!".
Glancing around as quickly as she could, she located the other guard, who had his either dead or unconscious companion on his back and was gesturing for the group to follow him down on of the many off tunnels.

"Down there!" Twilight yelled to the rest of her friends as the group of ponies sprinted for the tunnel, with the machines following close behind, their weapons threatening to fire again at any given moment.

"I hope everypony else is alright." Was one of the many thoughts that crossed Twilight's mind as the group raced after the guard down the never-ending tunnels with the robots hot on their heels, deeper into the facility....

---

"This Reclaimer is the key to everything you see around you." Parity began to explain, his tone changing to one of seriousness instead of his usual, casual manner.
"You will most definitely need this if you mean to fulfill your purpose here Reclaimer." He added, eyeing the object as its glow continued to pulsate within the human's grip.

"And what exactly is my purpose?" Forge asked in return, fascinated by the object he held and what untold purpose it would serve.

"Your purpose?" Parity asked, his artificial voice beginning to form an underlying sense of worry. "You don't know?" He asked, only receiving a shake of the head from the Reclaimer before him.

"Well." He began. "This is quite strange Reclaimer. My makers stated that you would know exactly what to do when the time came." He stated matter-of-factly. "Nether the less, your purpose is to activate the full potential of this facility and use its power to your will. Whatever that may be." He said, concluding his explanation without the slightest change in his demeanour.

Without a wavering facial expression, Forge mulled over what he had just been told. Here in his hand he held power. And from what he had seen in this place so far, it was not any ordinary power.
Wrapping his fingers around the device tighter, Forge turned to look the strange little robot in the eye.
"Show me what this place has." He said firmly, the machine reacting instantly as it turned and floated over to a nearby door.

"This way!" It called cheerfully as the door slid open and the glow surrounding the construct began to dim as it floated to where ever it was going.

"This should be good." Forge mused to himself as he quickened his pace to a slow jog after the machine as they ventured further into the bowels of the facility.

---

"Tales for foals, fillys and colts." Celestia read to herself as she held the relatively used book she had spent the last half an hour searching for, its appearance suggesting that it had seen many a year of service in the possession of young ones.
Opening the book gingerly she noticed how it seemed to contain some of the happiest and cheerful depictions of mythical creatures she had ever seen. Beginning to doubt whether or not this book actually contained anything of use at all, Celestia turned the contents page nether the less.

The names of the various tales were well know to Celestia, seeing as she had read most of them in her earlier years. None of them seemed out of place except one. The last tale within the book had a name she couldn't recall seeing or hearing about before.

"The ancient makers and their machines."
Curious, Celestia turned to the page directed by the contents. Arriving at the right page, she was greeted by an image of several, apparently metal, floating spheres, not all that different from the one that had emerged from the hole in her throne room. All of them had a similar structure to the one what had appeared in the throne room, however these ones were accompanied by machines far larger than themselves. Massive, bipedal robots that looked as though they could quite possibly dwarf even herself, along with smaller and much less bulky bipeds that looked to be more flesh than machine. Although, it was hard to tell for sure due to the clothing and armour that she assumed hid their true forms.

With new-found interest she read on...

It took her only a quarter of an hour to finish reading the relatively short work of fiction, but what she had learned from the story book was far more valuable than anything else she had managed to uncover from the other works of the Canterlot library.

From what she had read, the machine that had taken her visitor underground was apparently part of some ancient civilisation. And from what she had learned, these machines and their creators were the ones who fashioned the planet, forming the various mountains and rivers that dotted its landscape.
They were simply creators, who, once finished with their task locked themselves away within one of the many mountains they had formed, leaving only their mark on the entrance. A mark that's image matched the one described in the book that had lead her to fairy-tales.

Perplexed, Celestia sat in silent thought as she considered the reliability and possibly truth that laid within the tale. Although it was highly unlikely that machines could make an entire planet, it was still possible that the tale held some valid information. The link to it and "Canterlot and its construction." was the fact that disturbed her the most. But still, why wasn't the mark there now?

With a million different thoughts running through her head at once, Celestia decided it best to return to the throne room and await for her subjects return, so that they might be able to finally figure out what exactly lay beneath their very feet.

---

"That... that was too close." Twilight managed to say between gasps as she tried to regain her breath.
The group had only run for a minute or two but the whole ordeal seemed as though it had lasted much longer than that. Thankfully though, they had found temporary sanctuary in one of the many rooms of the facility. A quick buck to the door's controls once it had sealed behind the group from AJ had brought the group some time, at least until the sentinels found a way around the door, which there undoubtedly was.
"Is he going to be alright?" Twilight asked worriedly, looking over the slumped form of the guard which had been laid gingerly on the ground by his companion.

"I don't know." The other guard answered as he gently began to remove the scorched plating from his fellow guard's chest. "He's barely breathing and there's little I can do with this in the way." He said as he unfastened the straps of the golden armour and peeled it from the unicorn's body.

The group gave a collective gasp as the armour finally came free, with both Fluttershy and Rarity having to avert their gazes for the same reason.
Where there should have been pristine and neatly groomed fur, there was now a large, red and slightly smoking burn mark on the guard's chest, the edges of which were surrounded by swollen and badly burnt skin.

"So much for this." The guard said coldly as he discarded the scorched armour with a loud clang as he turned to tending his comrade. As he surveyed the damage the guard's expression continued to intensify as he gingerly inspected the wound to determine whether it was fatal or not.
"He might make it." The guard finally said after a tense few moments. "So long as we get this bandaged and he sustains no further trauma." He explained as he unfastened the saddlebags from his back and withdrew a medical kit which all pairs of guards were required to carry.
"This'll have to do until we can get topside." He said as he worked, gently wrapping a set of bandages around the guard's body so that they covered the wounds of his barely concious comrade.

"Well let's hurry up and get out of this hole before 'they' find us again." Rainbow said as she hovered impatiently, her fore-hooves crossed.
"That would be a good plan if we knew where the hell we were!" The guard snapped back, quickly silencing the pegasus. "Or best best is to just keep moving, steer clear of those... machines and try to find another pair of guards that can lead us back to the surface."
The room was quickly filled with agreement as the mares realised that there was really no other choice.
"Alright then. Let's move." The guard said as he hoisted the body of his comrade onto his back and began to lead the other six down one of the tunnels that exited the room.

---

"Jesus." Forge said quietly to himself as he and the monitor finally exited the compact interior of the tunnel and out into an expansive room that put the hangar of a UNSC frigate to shame.
The chamber before him was enormous, at least from what he could make out, seeing as the far end of the room was covered in darkness.

"It gets better." Parity mused as he hovered forward, motioning for the marine to do the same. As he did, forge realised that he was actually standing on a balcony over-looking the immense chamber. Walking up to the railing, Forge noticed a pedestal similar to the others he had seen throughout the facility, only this one had a slot in its front, coincidentally shaped almost exactly like the object he still held.

"Well. Go on." Parity said, snapping Forge from his thoughts on the situation he was currently in.
Coming back to reality, Forge gently slid the object into the slot, resulting in a soft 'click' and an intensification of both the objects hum and brightness.
"Now touch that." Parity instructed, gesturing to one of the many holo-controls that made up the pedestals top. With almost a hint of hesitation, Forge pressed the control he was instructed to and was almost immediately blinded by the bright light that filled the once dark room.
Using his fore-arm to shield his eyes, Forge waited until the light was tolerable and removed his arm, revealing the now illuminated cavern of a room. what laid before him was unlike anything he had seen before.
"Holy shit." He muttered quietly to himself, utterly shocked by the room's contents.

"Yes." Parity began, more to himself than to Forge.
"It is quite spectacular." He said, letting his own gaze fall upon the treasure that he had been guarding since the day of his creation.
And now that it had been uncovered after so long. He would see to it that they 'were' used.
His moment had finally come after all these years.