Lesson 1: Don't f*ck with ponies.
"You know they gave me a choice?" Cortana says to Master Chief, a Spartan. The saviors of Humanity, men and women who wore suits of armor that, along with their training, made them titans on the battlefield. "I could chose any Spartan I wanted. I observed all of you as you developed into the Spartans we needed you to be. But I chose you, above all others. Wanna know why? Because you had something the others didn't. Luck. Let me tell you Chief, that luck got you out of a LOT of sticky situations. It also got you some interesting allies. To bad you'll never remember them. I guess we have time until someone finds us. Well, you don't really have a choice in the matter either, seeing as you're in cryo. It began shortly after the fall of Reach. Who knew that ponies could be as lethal as you.
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"Spartan BRNY. You are wanted on the bridge immediately." The intercom system of the UNSC ship, Say My Name, blares into the lone Spartans room. Rex, a decently tall man, for a Spartan, about 6 feet even without armor on, awakens at the sound of the intercom. His dirty blond hair, short cut of course, is slightly shaggy from sleep. He rubs his blue-green eyes as he sits up.
"In armor or no?" he asks the AI.
"In armor. New planet showed up out of nowhere and you are wanted down there. The Covenant are also in orbit so be prepared. Which loadout do you want for the mission?"
"Can I see the planet?"
"Of couse." The AI projects the image of an Earth sized planet, very lush in the equitorial region, and the top and bottom eigths of the plannet were frozen over. The planet apeared to have one super continent, which was very visably inhabited, due to the massive citties that he could see.
"And where am I landing?" He asks the AI.
"At the castle city shown here." The AI replies, zooming the image in on a rather large city similar to very old Earthen palace fortressess. "Take note that there are a lot of equin animals on the planet so it is safe to assume that they are the dominant species."
"Roger that. Just give me my usual scouting loadout." The Spartan replies to the AI. He then walks over to a contraption near the door out of his room and steps into it. Not even 10 seconds later he is already almost fully armored up with weapons ready for him. He was lucky enough to get custom colored, standard issue Spartan armor, dark green with pink accents. On each shoulder and his chest was his identifying emblem, a black hawk on a green shield, on a crimson shield. His visor was also special, in the fact that it was green like his armor.
---(Entering First Person)---
"So what's the situation captain?"
"Well Spartan, the Covvies found a new planet. And it seems as the did so on accident. We were ordered out here when the planets gravity apeared out of nowhere. Now the Covvies are examining the planet and we don't know why. That is what we are sending you down for. Find out what they are after, then give them hell."
"With pleasure sir."
"Thats why I like you kiddo.". The captain replies to the Spartan before he charges off to a Pelican drop ship. After he arrives a few minutes later, the ship takes off anf heads for the planet. Meanwhile, above them, one of the massive UNSC MAC gun fires at the Covenant ship in orbit of the planet, ripping a hole in its shields with a unheard but certainly felt bang.
'Well this is new.' The Spartan thinks to himself as he notices a rather large pink shield surrounding the city he was to land near.
'I thought this planet didn't have high tech. How the hell do they have a force-field like that, especially one of that size." I think to myself. "Any other intel I need?" I ask the Say My Names AI.
"Well, the other Spartans that were on the ship have landed in their respective LZs. Also that you're getting your own AI, with everything already downloaded as needed. Meet Midnight Thunder." As he says this, my H.U.D. wavers and changes colors from the traditional blue to a crimson color.
"Nice to meet you. Don't die out there." Midnight, definitely male, jokes, I think.
"Nice to meet you to. What exactly are you?" I ask
"Midnight Thunder, at your service. Third generation smart AI, specialization with tactics and all computer systems."
"So what's the plan Midnight?"
"Well, it seems that nothing the covenant has been unable to break the shields around the city, but they have managed to get some troops through the field. The Battle Net is also on about some sort of resistance coming from the natives."
"Sounds like fun."
"OK Rex, we're landing now. I'm setting you down on a mountain railway that seems to lead into the city." The pilot says to me as he hovers the Pelican and opens the back. I grab my DMR and Magnum, and jump out onto the railway.
"Where to?" I ask Midnight.
"Waypoint up." He replies as a red triangle appears in my vision. It looks like it is almost at the barrier to the city.
'Let's go then.' I think to myself before starting along the tracks. They lead through caves, none of which have covvies in them, thank goodness. As soon as I exit the cave, I hear a train whistle, look back, and see a train, strait from the childrens cartoons back on earth in design. I duck to the edge of the tracks and hide behind some rocks The train seems to bounce when it passes by, weird. After it passes by, I get back out of cover and continue along the tracks.
"Hold up compadre." Midnight says to me. "Covvies on radar, along with unknowns."
"I see em. Thanks." I reply. I double check my radar and see a few red dots on the edge. I turn so they exactly in front of me, enter the scope of my DMR, and look for them. I see three grunts, smallish reptilian bipeds, with armor that acts as gas tank for the fumes they breath. Some of them get to be as tall as humans, and much bulkier, but are about half as tall as us Spartans. I use the reticule that my H.U.D. gives to line up my shot with one of the grunts. I am far away enough for the reticule to remain unchanged, but I am one of the best snipers the UNSC has. I line up the reticule so that the head of the grunt is in the pinpoint center, and pull the trigger. The grunts head recoils back as it falls down dead. I quickly move the reticule to overlay the second grunts head, pull the trigger, and nick its head, still killing it. I repeat the process on the third grunt and get another bulls-eye.
"Nice shooting." Midnight compliments me.
"Thanks." I look for the waypoint and notice that it was were the grunts were basically standing on it. I check my radar and it's clear on all sides. I sprint to the waypoint and come face to face with the barrier that was blocking all weapons. "What is it?" I ask, observing the pink field, with a hole in the side.
"It seems to be a metaphysical barrier with no technological origin, rather a biological generator."
"Interesting." I reply. I then hear a loud horn and look toward where it came from. I see the train from before as it passes through the field and into the city. I turn back to the hole that was in it, and notice that it is beginning to close, so I charge through it just in time for it to seal behind me. "What's the next objective?" I ask Midnight.
"Give 'em hell."
"With pleasure. Where is the largest concentration of the covvies?"
"At the giant castle in the center of the city. Marking the way now." Midnight replies, throwing up a red triangle at a street entrance. I head through it, checking my radar on occasion so I don't get caught off guard by stray covvies. After a few waypoints, I am almost at the entrance to the inner city. Then I hear someone screaming.
"HELP! HELP ME! SOMEPONY, ANYPONY, HELP!" The voice, female, screams. I check my radar to see where it is coming from and I see a yellow dot and a red dot nearby. I run to where the sound is coming from and see two things. The first is a covvie skirmisher commando, a reptilian species in the covenant that sometimes show avian feathers, closing in on an equine with a horn on its head. The unicorn is rose red with a dark green mane and tail. It seems that neither of them have noticed me, so I take aim at the skirmisher, and fire. At that very moment, another equine, as large as the skirmisher, and blood red with an orange mane and tail. My shot misses so I put my DMR on my back, pull out my magnum, and charge at the skirmisher. It shoves the other equine off of it just in time for me to pistol whip it upside the head, knocking it back into a wall. It gets up, looks at the large equine and then me, and sprints away in the direction of the castle. The blood red equine turns to me and prepares to charge.
"Hey, I'm on your side." I say to it. It gets up from charging stance.
"Who are you?" He asks.
"I'm a human." I reply. "Part of the UNSC. And what you just saw, was part of the Covenant. An alien allegiance determined to exterminate all other forms of life. What are you?"
"I'm a earth pony, and that is my sister, a unicorn."
"Thank you for helping save me. My name is Rose Thorn, welcome to Canterlot."
"Well, I'm headed for the castle. It's where the most covvies are. I would suggest you two head to safety."
"The castle is the safest place in all of Equestria. All three of the princesses, the Elements of Harmony, and the Royal Guard are there."
"Then I'll escort you there. Stay behind me." I order them. "This is Spartan BRNY to the Say My Name. I have some new intel for you all."
"What is it Rex?" The captain replies to me.
"The natives are ponies. They speak near perfect English, and some can hold themselves one on one against the covvies. I have two under my escort."
"Thank you Rex. Now get back to work."
"Roger that captain." I reply to him, then to Midnight. "I need a way to the castle that takes us around the covvies."
"Just give me a sec."
"OK." I reply. "So then ponies, what do I need to know about this planet?"
"Well," Rose starts. "You are in the country of Equestria, current home of the ponies. There are three subspecies of pony, earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus. We are ruled by two of the princesses, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. They raise and lower the sun and moon respectively. We are a peaceful nation, but with the Elements of Harmony, we can defend ourselves from nearly anything."
"Got it. Just follow the waypoints and you shouldn't run into any covvies."
"Thank you Midnight."
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"So this is the castle." I observe. True to his words, Midnight got me to the castle without running into any of the covvies. We get to the gate, and Rose knocks on it with her hoof. A slide in the door opens and a ponies head looks out, closes the slide, and opens the door. We go in and the pony closes the door behind us. A second later, 5 ponies in a sort of golden armor reminiscent of ancient Roman armor have spears pointed at me. "I'm on your side." I say, raising my hands.
"It's true." Rose tells them. "He helped my brother and I get here, and defended us from the other aliens."
The guards raise their spears and one of them says to me. "The princesses will want to see you. Come with me."
"Lead the way." I reply. He goes ahead of me and I notice that he has a pair of wings folded against his sides. "Well isn't this just a fairy tail world." I comment to Midnight.
"Ain't that the truth." He replies. After a few minutes of wandering through the halls of the castle and the occasional rumble from outside, the pegasus leads me to a giant doorway. He opens it and ushers me inside, where I see two ponies nearly as large as I am. They both have a pair of wings and a horn, but one is pure white with a 4 colored mane and tail and the other, shorter one, is a deep shade of blue with a mane and tail that seem to be made of the night sky.
"So you must be the one who protected some of my little ponies." The tall one says to me. "Thank you for doing so. I would go further but it seems that those other, more hostile creatures have been assaulting my city. We have been doing what we can to stop them but we may not be able to hold out for much longer. The royal guard are fighting bravely but we are technologically outmatched. Would you be able to help them hold off the aliens until my pupil arrives to help?"
"It would be my pleasure." I reply.
"No need princess." A new voice shouts as the doors burst open behind me to reveal 6 new ponies and a small reptilian biped. The ponies consist of two pegasi, two unicorns, and two normal ponies. When they see me, they turn hostile and look like they are going to attack me.
"Relax Twilight. This alien is friendly. He saved two ponies today and is going to help us do more." The tall one says to one of the new ponies.
"If you say so prince..." One of the unicorns, lavender coat with a deep purple mane and tail with a purple and pink streak in them starts before one of the normal ponies, this one pure pink with magenta for the mane and tail dashes towards me with unparallelled speed.
"If the princess says you're OK then you're a friend of mine!" She shouts when she reaches me, extending a hoof. I reach down to shake it and she shakes my hand back very rapidly.
"Nice to meet you to." I reply. Next one to great me is the other normal pony, with an orange coat, blond main and tail done up in a ponytail, and wearing a cowboy hat.
"Howdy pardner. Name's Applejack. Pleasure making your acquaintance."
"So, what are you?" One of the pegasus asks me. This one, flying, has a cyan coat and a rainbow mane and tail.
"I am a human, and a member of the UNSC. We are fighting against the covenant, the aliens outside who want to destroy all life in the universe as part of their religion."
"Do we have to fight. I don't want to fight." The other pegasus says shyly. This one with a yellow coat and a pink mane and tail.
"There is always going to be wounded in war, and the wounded need healing." I reply to her. "And with luck, the war will be over soon."
"Darling, who chose your outfits colors? The contrast rather well." The last pony, a unicorn compliments me. This one has a white coat with a purple mane and tail.
"I did. Actually, they are family colors, as is the crest."
"Well my little ponies, now that introductions are done, how about you go get the Elements and we can end this conflict for the time." The tall princess says.
"Agreed." I reply to her. "What exactly are they?"
"They are the oldest and most powerful of magics found on our fair planet. These six ponies are the only ones who can use them as of now."
"Roger that."
"That explains the massive power source I detected." Midnight buts in. "Marking it with a waypoint, and marking all equine life signatures as friendlies."
"WHO WAS THAT?!" The pink one exclaims.
"That was my AI. He helps me with missions."
"OH BOY! Another friend!" She replies. I am very tempted to face palm at that but I don't.
"Let's go kick some covvie ass!" I shout, the ponies rearing up as I do so. We all charge out, myself at the head, with the rainbow pegasus keeping pace with me. As I we burst into the courtyard of the castle, I see a squad of covvies coming out from behind a corner. This one had two elites, half a dozen jackles with arm shields, and 20 grunts. "We need to take out the taller ones first. The smaller ones will usually panic after that, leaving the ones with shields to deal with." I tell the ponies.
"Pinkie Pie, you ready?" Twilight asks the pink one.
"You betcha!" she replies, and gets slightly behind Twilight, standing on two legs, puts on hoof under her neck, and the other hoof grabs Twilight's tail. Pinkie Pie then rapidly turns Twilight's tail, and rapid beams of energy shoot out of her horn, knocking back several of the grunts and jackles, and even staggering one of the elites. The rainbow pegasus dashes at the covvies, easily dodging their plasma rounds, and spins around them at a very high speed, creating a rainbow colored twister. The other unicorn has a light blue aura around her horn, and shortly after, several large gemstones burst out of the ground, and are launched at high velocity at the covvies, killing and injuring several of them. I take aim at one of the elites with my DMR and send bullets into its head as fast as I can. In less than 5 minutes, the covvies are either dead of fleeing. I look back to the ponies and see the looks of horror on their faces.
"First kills?" I ask them. They all nod their heads. "I wish I could say that it gets better, but it doesn't. But it is necessary in order for the rest of our races to survive. You either learn to deal with it, or you break down. The covvies, they show no mercy. They glass planets that they defeat. All life gone in less than 24 hours if they have a large enough fleet."
"You're joking right?" Pinkie asks me with a worried tone.
"I wish I was. Right now, we need to get those Elements that the princess was talking about." I reply, starting back off in the direction of the waypoint. We manage to get there with minimal interference. A stray grunt or two who take off in the other direction when they see me. After a few minutes, we reach the waypoint, which is at a pair of large doors. I push them open to reveal a hallway with stained glass for each window, and at the end is a door with eight lines leading to the edges and corners from a hole in the center. When we get there, Twilight puts her horn in the hole and it glows with magic. The door splits open, revealing a chest. She opens it with her magic, levitates out five gold necklaces with cut gems and a gold tiara with a large cut gem.
"You may want to stand back." She says to me. "This can get intense."
"I'm sure I can handle it." I reply. She nods and then gives each of her friends one of the necklaces and puts the tiara on her head. They all close their eyes at the same time and the gems begin to glow. They raise into the air, forming a circle around Twilight. When they stop rising, they open their eyes, all pure white, and loose a blast of energy that decimates my shields. I run to the door to look outside and slam the doors open. Outside, every single covenant within the pink barrier has been turned to stone.
"Damn." Is my only word in reaction.
"Damn is right." Midnight agrees.