As what was expected for Aaron and his team, the firefights with Covenant troops got more and more brutal with each encounter within the corridors of the carrier.

At first it was going rather smoothly because there were more Minor-class troops then the Majors; but soon as they got closer and closer to the brig’s entrance, Major and Heavy-class troops became more common, along with a pair of Mgalekgolo at one point. As a result, Aaron and AJ had only two marines left out of the surviving eight.

Aaron’s team were currently now engaging the last squad of Covenant troops outside the entrance to the brig. This squad contained four Grunt Imperials: three equipped with a T33 and one with a T25 who only fired overcharged shots. One Elite Commander that was stationed in the center of the corridor with a mounted T52, and two Warriors who both beared the dreaded T33-LAAW.

The cover that Aaron and AJ had was an interior dent on one side of the corridor's wall while the two remaining marines stationed themselves behind a supplies crate which was on the opposite side, and a little farther down from Aaron’s and AJ’s position.

With unpredictable pacing of timing to emerge from cover for a brief moment to shoot, Aaron’s team managed to only take out the Grunts with well placed headshots. Unfortunately, this only left the attentive and well disciplined Elites that greeted Aaron or his squad with a barrage of suppressive plasma fire, and a series of heavily explosive fuel rods--and on a few occasions, an attempted stick by an active T1 AG.

Twilight, who managed to survive every firefight that Aaron and his team fought due to her seemingly unnoticeable size, could only spectate from the safety on top of a ceiling pipe to analyze the situation that was at hand.

She couldn’t decide if she should intervene now and risk getting in trouble with the UNSC, or hold back and let the chances of Cadance being rescued be reduced to practically nothing.

However, she didn’t have to make a choice at all.

“Jensen, Harrison. This is Kenwood. Do you read me?” Kenwood transmitted into Aaron and AJ’s COMMs.

“Loud and clear, sir,” Aaron replied. “What’s wrong?”

“Two things. First of all, you know that Covie you and your team brought in from the citadel located in the San Palomino Desert that was donned as Hvu ‘Umam?”

“Yeah?”

“Well he somehow escaped his cell and stole one of our slipspace-equipped Pelicans to get away.”

“What? How can that be?” AJ asked.

“Our only theory is that ‘Umam was assisted by a currently unknown suspect aboard this ship. We’re looking into it now.”

“What’s the other situation?” Aaron asked.

“Well it seems as if Princess Twilight Sparkle has stowed away into your mission,” Kenwood replied, matter-of-factly.

“That can’t be possible. She wasn’t even on the Pelican. Same thing with Fredrickson’s,” Aaron denied.

“Well her friends found her cabin empty with only a letter telling of her intentions to aid you in the recovery of Princess Cadance. We don’t know how she found out about it, or how she even got aboard your dropship unnoticed--but I’m afraid it’s the truth.”

Aaron hesitated for a bit to make sense of Kenwood’s information. First a captured Covenant soldier escapes the ship with help from an unidentified rebel, then an equine princess that is under UNSC protection stows away on a high risk operation?  This had to be the most unusual experience that Aaron ever had in his entire career.

“Jensen? Are you still with me?” Kenwood said, snapping Aaron out of his daze.

“Affirmative, sir,” he said. “We’ll keep a look out for her, but right now we are pinned down near the entrance to the brig. We have several casualties and don’t have much ammunition left to clear the area.”

“Understood, Jensen. But I’m afraid you’re way into deep of a hotzone to send reinforcements and additional supplies your way. You’re going to have to work something out, and as soon as possible because if Fredrickson is successful with his part of the operation, you and everything else aboard that ship is going to get obliterated if you do not get out in time.”

“I know,” Aaron said, glumly. “We’ll make this work somehow. You can count on us.”

“Good luck. Pony Express out,” Kenwood transmitted one last time before he disconnected, practically leaving Aaron, AJ, and any other innocent soul onboard to perish without any good benefit.

“So? How exactly are we going to work this out?” AJ asked, skeptically. He knew that Aaron had overcompensated, and was making sure that Aaron knew that he had regretted it.

Aaron took another moment to think.

If what Kenwood said was true, if Twilight was really aboard the carrier with them this entire time--then the mission would be way more easier then it would have been since Aaron knew that Twilight possessed great power, especially when she saved him from the Timberwolves back in the Everfree Forest.

At the same time, he was mad at her for performing such a reckless and illegal deed. If Twilight ever made it out alive with them, Aaron knew that she would have to face punishment either by the UNSC, or her own kind.

The main point was that Twilight was not needed for the operation, but truthfully she was. She seemed to be the only hope for success in Cadance’s recovery. Decisions for her discipline would have to be seen to later.

Instead of answering AJ’s question, Aaron turned away from him and seemed to focus his attention somewhere behind their position.

“Twilight!” he called, to the confusion of AJ and the remaining marines. “If you truly are here! We need your assistance!”

***

Twilight was surprised at her name being called by Aaron all of the sudden, and it really cut her off guard. But then it dawned on her that the letter she left behind in her cabin was discovered by her friends, which was of course intentional; but she didn’t expect them to rat on her. She wanted to be upset with them for possibly getting her in trouble with Aaron, her brother, Celestia, and the entire UNSC.

Despite all that, she was even more baffled that Aaron was now asking for her help that she intended on giving him, and his squad.

She was a bit hesitant at first because she feared the consequences she might face later on, but if it meant that Cadance would be returned home safe and sound, then it was well worth it.

Twilight closed her eyes to began to cast a spell to return her to her real size.

***

“Are you really sure that Princess Twilight is onboard with us, or the fact that she has  even been following us through this hellish place the entire time without us even noticing?” AJ asked, uncertainly. “I mean, we had some pretty intense battles on the way here. Frankly I would like to think that a stray round might have already killed her.”

As soon as AJ had finished his statement, a faint purple light began emanating from the ceiling of the corridor just behind from where the marines were.

All eyes in the vicinity watched in utter fascination as the light began growing bigger and brighter at a steady rate. Soon enough, both UNSC and Covenant  sides had to look away and shield their eyes to prevent from being blinded.

When the light subsided, all eyes gazed on to Twilight’s revelation in full size. She stood at full attention with an emotionless, neutral look.

The three Elites stood down from their weapons, but still had at them at hand incase their human foes tried anything funny--but any alicorn princess was to be left untouched.

“Twilight. Over here,” Aaron called to her in a whispered volume.

Twilight looked over to where Aaron and AJ was stationed. Aaron was giving her a non-verbal hand gesture to get her to join them in their position. However, Twilight hesitated and now focused her attention on the three Elites guarding the entrance to the brig cellblock where Cadance was being held. Just by analyzing their body language, Twilight already knew that they weren't going to shoot at her.

Taking a breath, Twilight steadily but cautiously approached the three Elites who continued to stand down their weapons.

“Twilight! What are you doing? Get back here!” Aaron ordered in a hushed whisper, but Twilight didn’t heed his wish. She continued to proceed without a hint of stopping.

In a panic, Aaron gestured for his squad to stay put while he decided to go after Twilight. However when he revealed himself, the Elites raised their weapons to Twilight’s startlement.

When she noticed they were not trained on her and instead somewhere behind her, Twilight noticed that Aaron had come out from his spot. It didn’t take her long to put two and two together.

“You must stay here, Aaron,” she said to him, matter of factly. “I can handle this on my own.”

“Don’t be a fool, Twilight,” Aaron insisted. “It was already stupid of you to come here without a moments regard of your own life. Have you no fear?”

“I’ll admit I was scared, and still am,” Twilight confessed, but still had a hint of determination in her tone. “But Cadance feels more like a real sister to me than a sister-in-law, and I need to be there for her, no matter what the cost might be.”

“You’re speaking of throwing your own life away! You do realize that don’t you?”

Twilight hesitated her response for a bit.

“I do, Aaron,” she finally said. “But it’s what a hero is supposed to do so in order to save what he or she loves, right?”

Now Aaron hesitated as he seeked out a proper response.

“Yes. But this is not the battle you’re supposed to be fighting. It’s ours,” he insisted. “Have you even considered how your friends and loved ones are going to feel if you don’t make it out of here alive?”

She hated to admit to herself that Aaron had a strong point. She knew how much her friends and family loved her enough that they didn’t want anything to happen to her at all, and it brought a feeling of regret and shame to herself. However, she refused to crack by focusing back on her will to help rescue Cadance with her own life balancing on the tightrope.

“Of course I do, but surely they have to understand and hopefully move on without me. I know them well enough that they will do so. Now stop trying to hold me back and waste time. There’s nothing you can do or say to stop me because I’ve already made up my mind. Just trust me, okay?”

No more words could be formed in Aaron’s mind. Twilight had a talent of making rational and logical statements that he couldn’t seem to counter; and just trying made him get into a looped argument with her. The only thing he could do was to stand himself down.

“If that’s what you wish, your majesty, then so be it.”

Twilight just nodded and continued to proceed toward the brig’s entrance.

When she finally approached the Elites, they stared down at her in an intimidating way since they were taller than she was, but Twilight refused to show fear even if she was a little scared. Besides, it was not the first time she looked danger straight in the eye and miraculously didn’t run away from it.

“Ohw era uoy?” the Elite Commander asked her in the Sangheili native tongue. It occurred to Twilight that this alien didn’t know how to speak Equestrian.

Raising her hoof while lighting up her horn, Twilight used a spell to translate what the Elite said. She intercepted it as: Who are you?.

Not only did this spell give her the skill to understand a foreign language, it had a special side effect as well.

“Ge ma, Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she fluently replied with no trace of an accent. “Ge dnamed ot es Princess Cadance siht tantsin!”

The three Elites seemed to hesitate for a bit as if not knowing if they should give in to Twilight’s request, but then they remembered how fortified the brig was incase the humans breached the location and successfully obtained Cadance.

“Ecnis uoy era eno fo eht yloh sgnieb ‘Nbek spihsrow, neth wort--tub ekat deeh,” the Elite Commander warned and signaled for his allies to clear a way for Twilight.

Twilight nodded and turned her head back toward where Aaron and his team were positioned.

“Tnod tel meht ni,” she told the Elite Commandeer while pointing her hoof at Aaron’ and the marine’s location.

The Elite Commander nodded and opened the door for Twilight. When she was finally inside, the door automatically closed behind her, preventing Aaron and his squad from seeing what would become of Twilight within the Covenant brig.

As soon as she entered the cellblock, she was shocked to discover that multiple changeling drones were hovering overhead, wielding Covenant weapons in appendages that stuck out at the end of their hooves. Their weapon systems being a T25 or a T33.

There were also Covenant troops present, and have fortified the area with one T55 A-I SG with a single T52 DESW placed on either side.

Standing in the middle of the room was the one changeling that Twilight did not forget.

“Queen Chrysalis?!” Twilight gasped in both shock, and anger.

“Oh what? You’re not happy to see me?” Chrysalis asked with an innocent tone, but was clearly coated with sarcasm.

“No! Not one bit,” Twilight seethed while glaring daggers at Chrysalis. “Not after nearly killing Celestia, and almost turning my friends and family against me!”

“Oh my. Somepony sure knows how to hold quite the grudge. Two years should be quite a record for you,” Chrysalis cackled.

“Enough!!” Twilight screamed, enraged by Chrysalis’s taunting. “Where’s Cadance?”

Chrysalis shook her head, tsking.

“Such impatience, and even more annoying as an alicorn now,” she stated while signaling to her Covenant allies to clear a view of a certain cell. “Try looking there. I should tell you that we haven’t made quite a presentable display.” Chrysalis then looked as if she was trying to not chuckle.

With strong anxiety within her, Twilight trotted as quickly as she could to the indicated cell, without looking up to notice that all weapons were being trained on her.

When Twilight looked into the cell, she was relieved that is truly was Cadance--but not in a great condition at all. It nearly wanted to make Twilight almost gag.

Cadance was lying in a puddle of bodily fluids of mixed urine, feces, and semen which originated from the changeling drone’s feasting sessions. Her coat and mane were oily and moist from the unhygienic atmosphere of the cell, and she appeared to have lost weight as well--but not in the healthy way since she almost seemed a bit bony.

Her eyes seemed a bit dazed and glassed, but she was still alive; but she wouldn’t remain that way for long if she stayed any longer in such a hostile environment. Apparently since ‘Nbek found Cadance to be useless to his intentions, he finally came to the idea that she should be executed in a slow, but unpleasant way by having wastes from his ship to be dumped in her cell with an anti-ventilation barrier put over it so Cadance would asphyxiate from the lethal gases. Frankly, it was Chrysalis who gave him the idea. She wanted nothing more than to have Cadance removed from the picture once and for all.

Twilight was on the verge of tears from seeing her sister-in-law is such a horrific state, but the feeling immediately ceased and turned to pure rage when Chrysalis said, “I warned you that it wasn’t going to be a pretty sight, but at least you know where your precious princess is. Hopefully you’re happy now.”

“No,” Twilight hissed, ominously. She then snapped her attention on Chrysalis will a raging inferno in her eyes. “I am NOT happy at all!! You will pay for what you have done to her!”

Twilight then furiously screamed and flung herself at Chrysalis with her wings in means of tackling her and beating her to a pulp, but was unfortunately stopped when a well placed Carbine round found its way into Twilight’s base wing appendage.

Twilight gasped from the sudden inflicted pain, and crashed to the floor with an audible crack when she landed hard on her other wing. She had just fractured the bone of her right wing while her other burned like Tartarus from the radioactive round implanted within it. The combined injuries and intense pain from them pretty much immobilized Twilight from getting up and continuing her will to fight. Just attempting to recover made her cry out and collapse back on the floor.

“You know, I never seem to grow tired from watching my new allies shoot down ponies and inflict traumatizing pain on them,” Chrysalis remarked with a sinister snicker and grin. “At the same time, I feel sort of bad for them--but then I remember that they deserve it.”

Chrysalis walked up to Twilight and looked down on her with a look of contentment while Twilight glanced back up at the queen with a look of hatred still painted on her face, but she was too crippled to get up and fight with her hooves.

Chrysalis then gently, but mockingly, stroke the bangs of Twilight’s mane with one hoof. Twilight flinched and became more agitated with each affectionate, but fake stroke.

“You have such a pretty face,” Chrysalis cooed with a silk, but sadistic tone. “It’s a shame that you wish to ruin it by coming here in misguided hopes of saving poor innocent Cadance. I thought all alicorns were more wiser than this, but it seems you have proven me wrong. Well, given the fact that you were once an obnoxious unicorn: frankly, I would’ve seen this coming anyway.”

Sick of being mocked and taunted continuously by Chrysalis, Twilight decided to use her magic in means of a last resort. She closed her eyes and began focusing her mana.

As if already knowing what Twilight was up to, Chrysalis quickly lit up her own horn and zapped Twilight’s forehead, frying her horn and bringing the purple alicorn close to unconsciousness.

“I swear you’re making this too easy for us,” Chrysalis laughed. “What would Celestia think of you now if she saw you like this. Not only are you a wedding crasher, but a wannabe solo hero as well. I swear I don’t know what that sun-flank sees in you, or anypony else for that matter. But you know what, I don’t think they’ll ever get to. It’s time that this is finished, permanently--and then I don’t have to worry about banishment again.”

Chrysalis’s smile grew even wider and ever more evil than it normally was. She then looked at one of the Zealot-class Elites.

“Can I borrow that real quick?” she asked him, indicating to the sheathed and inactive T1 EW/S on the side of his waist.

The Zealot looked down at his weapon and back to Chrysalis before mysteriously showing a sign of being hesitant to her dismay.

“She’s not worth anything to our intentions, just as Cadance is,” Chrysalis hissed impatiently. “Both of them are not capable of what ‘Nbek seeks! Trust me!”

The Zealot took a moment to think, but gave in to Chrysalis’s request and threw the handle toward Chrysalis who caught it in her magic. She then telekinetically flicked the switch located somewhere on it which ejected a beautifully bright blue, but sharp and hot blade of shaped plasma from the handle’s sides.

Chrysalis then held the edge of the blade close to Twilight’s neck at a hair-breadth distance that Twilight could already feel her neck burning even if the blade wasn’t touching her flesh, but it sure was cooking the hairs of the coat.

Twilight couldn’t move or speak, but she was aware of her situation. The only thing she could do was weakly focus her glance either at the blade being held at her neck, and Chrysalis’s devilish smirk.

“Normally, I’m not the type of girl who would start collecting heads, and mount them as trophies around a palace--if I could ever get one,” Chrysalis stated. “But yours might make the nice first addition.”

Chrysalis then raised the sword up and positioned it at an eighty-degree angle above Twilight’s head, ready to slice it off.

“Forgive me for saying such an original thing in this type of situation but: any last words?” Chrysalis asked.

Twilight glanced over to where the entrance to the brig was located. A strange smile then crossed her face. In a weakened voice, Twilight uttered, “You’re screwed.”

Chrysalis didn’t get why her victim would say such a thing in the face of her own demise; still, Chrysalis still counted it as a last statement.

“Goodbye, princess,” Chrysalis cackled and prepared to bring down the sword onto Twilight’s neck, but she was stopped when a strange pain traveled through the center of her body.

Chrysalis gasped, and dropped the sword when her magic ceased. Thankfully the blade vanished before the handle landed near Twilight’s head.

Chrysalis then looked down at her chest where she saw that a smoking hole had appeared, and that green blood was profusely leaking from it. It was super obvious that she had been shot, but by what?

As Chrysalis slowly turned her head to face her attacker, the pace she was bleeding at made her vision a bit blurry, and that she began to feel dizzy.

When she looked over to the door to the brig, she noticed that four bipedal beings were standing there. They were not one of her fellow Covenant allies since two of them had covered faces, and that their armor was way different than that of an Elites’.  The other two had their faces present, and looked nothing like any of the other species in the Covenant that Chrysalis knew. It drew her to the conclusion that these were the humans that ‘Nbek mentioned to her. The one that had shot her wielded a T51 C.

Before she could at least say something to them, one of the humans nailed her between the eyes with a Carbine round. The human was none other than Aaron.

His squad had miraculously brought down the three Elite squad when their attention was diverted for the moment when they heard a commotion from within the brig.

The corpse of the once feared changeling queen slumped down next to Twilight. Chrysalis’s dead open eyes stared back into Twilight’s with no emotion at all.

Now seeing that their queen was dead, the changeling drones began to attack with their weapons, and their own magic in a furious rage. Covenant troops then joined in on the firefight, even if an order wasn’t given to engage.

The odds looked pretty bad for Aaron’s team since they were outgunned, and that they now had to deal with a brand new insectoid-like species that could fight on the wing, even if they were not Drones, but a decent substitute.

Fortunately since AJ decided to rip the T52 cannon from its stand, he had no trouble at all bringing down the unarmored changeling drones with a barrage of suppressed plasma fire while Aaron and the two marines engaged the ground-based Covenant infantry. Aaron brought down Grunts and Jackals with well placed headshots with his T51 while the two marines bombarded the hell out of the Elites with the two obtained T33 Fuel Rod Cannons.

When all enemies within the vicinity were finally eliminated, Aaron and AJ secured Twilight while the marines were ordered to bring down the barrier keeping Cadance contained in her hostile prison cell.

“Twilight! Can you hear me?” Aaron asked her.

Twilight could hear him, but his voice sounded muffled and distant. Her vision faded in and out of focus for a bit before it became stable. Aaron’s voice also started to clear up too as Twilight steadily regained her senses of consciousness, but the lingering pain was still there.

“T-thank you, Aaron,” Twilight finally managed to say. A look of worry then crossed her face. “Is Cadance alright?”

“Norton and Jones are securing her now,” AJ said as he looked over to the two marines just as they managed to bring down the barrier to Cadance’s cell. The two marines then gagged and covered their noses and mouths.

“Whowee! That’s foul!” Norton exclaimed.

“Jesus Christ!” Jones cursed.

“What is it?” AJ asked.

“Looks as if the Covies turned this prison cell into a gas chamber in order to kill the princess,” Jones stated.

Aaron saw that Twilight looked extremely anxious from the marine’s report.

“Is she still alive?” Aaron called over to them.

Both Norton and Jones made their way into the cell and held their breaths as they inspected Cadance’s vital signs.

“A pulse is there, but it’s weak,” Jones reported. “She needs full medical attention, and heavy doses of fresh oxygen.”

“Looks like the same can be said for Princess Twilight,” AJ said. “One of her wings is fractured, and the other has been wounded at the base appendage. The injury on her forehead is yet to be determined.”

“Understood,” Aaron said and turned to Twilight. “We’re going to get both of you out of here. Can you walk on your own.

“I. I think so,” Twilight replied. Since her legs didn’t get shot at or landed on the wrong way, she knew she could try. She just had to be careful with her crippled wings.

“Good, but we need to move asap. Who knows when…”

Aaron was interrupted when the entire ship seemed to rumble and shake. The emergency alarm began to blare.

“What’s going on?” Twilight asked, confused and alarmed.

Aaron activated his COMMS and asked, “Fredrickson! Did you just detonate the core already?”

“If you felt the entire ship shake and heard a rumbling sound; then yes,” Zeke replied.

“Well why didn’t you give me and Jensen a warning then?” AJ demanded.

“Sorry. There’s a shitload of bad guys who keep popping up in every direction. It was a now or never situation!” Zeke excused.

“Listen, Fredrickson. We have recovered Cadance, and Princess Twilight had stowed away on the mission,” Aaron said.

“What? How?”

“There’s no time for an explanation now. Both princesses are in dire need of medical attention. Twilight has both of her wings crippled, one from a Covie round, the other fractured. Cadance’s condition is far more severe and she’s running out of time. Do whatever you can to rendezvous with us at the gargantuan bay, but make it quick.”

“Copy that,” Zeke transmitted before signing out.

Aaron then turned toward Norton and Jones.

“Can one of you carry Cadance?” he asked.

“I’ll do it,” Norton volunteered.

“I’ll be watching his back and act as an extra muscle if he needs it,” Jones said.

“Good,” Aaron confirmed. “Let’s go.”

“Do you think we’re going to make it through this successfully?” Twilight asked Aaron with grave worry on her face and in her voice.

“That’s what I intend on us doing,” Aaron replied, confidently. But deep down, he was as equally as concerned as Twilight. That’s a funny thing about being part of an op: you never know if it’s going to succeed or not.

The push toward the main hangar bay wasn’t as complicated as the one toward the brig because most Covenant troops were too busy moving towards their evacuation shuttles than to engage in battle. The troops that did engage were small and very nimble so Aaron’s team managed to clear them out with ease. Of course both Aaron and AJ were on the front lines of engagement while Norton and Jones brought up the rear. Twilight was sandwiched in the center. Her horn wasn’t damaged severely so she could still perform spells to offer support, but she had to be cautious to not over exert herself.

Finally, both parties managed to meet successfully with each other in the intended RV point; but now there was a huge problem.

The Phantom that was stationed in the center of the chamber, and the UNSC’s only use in a means of escape was guarded on both sides by multiple Jackal snipers wielding T27s’, Elite Commanders with T50s’ while Warriors bore T33 LAAWs’, four Hunters--two on each side, and finally two T26 AGCs’ stationed on either side of the Phantom. They have already began bombarding the only path for reaching the Phantom with a series of heavy mortar shots. The infantry then joined in by firing at Aaron’s team, forcing then to take cover behind a large Covenant barrier.

“Great! Now what?” Zeke fretted. “We don’t have enough men or firepower to deal with this infantry, or those Wraiths’.”

At this point, neither Aaron nor AJ could think of a solution. Even years of hard training could not help them in this sort of situation. If a desperate run and engagement was made, they would surely fail the mission, and doom the planet and it citizens that they agreed to protect.

For a brief moment, no one said a word as they continued to think of some kind of plan. It was either make one or a few sacrifices of life to save some--or give up each life over nothing.

Finally, Twilight spoke up.

“I think I have an idea,” she said.

“What?” Aaron and the rest of the squad asked in unison.

Instead of answering them, Twilight lit up her horn and casted a protective forcefield over the route to the Phantom, and the drop ship itself. Twilight seemed to be straining herself a bit since her eyes were closed tight and that she gritted her teeth.

The shots that the Covenant were firing were either deflected or detonated upon impacting the field’s surface.

“Twilight? What are you…?” Aaron began.

“Go!” she barked. “All of you get to the ship with Cadance and get out of here! I don’t know how long I can hold this spell!”

“What? No! We won’t leave you, Twilight!” Aaron insisted. “This entire ship is going to blow up in a matter of moments!”

“You have to!” Twilight protested, more urgently. “There’s no other way, alright? You’ve got to trust me on this!”

“But you’re just as equally as important as an asset like Cadance! Think about your friends, your family, and your future here! Don’t either of those things matter to you?”

Twilight took a brief moment of hesitation to think before she said, “Of course they do. But they must accept that this was my choice in order to save them, and the entire world. I must confess that most of my life was unexciting before I learned about the meaning of friendship. I would’ve became a boring and dull old librarian if I didn’t discover the spark at all.  Now that I did, my life and my destiny became more clear--and that was to become a hero of harmony, along with my friends. Now it appears as if I must be one for the entire planet and ponykind.”

“Twilight, please,” Aaron begged, but Twilight cut him off.

“No, Aaron. I need to do this. You must let them know I did it for all of them, and that they should move on with their lives--but to never forget me, and that I will always be with them. I've told you this once already, haven't I?”

Aaron could see a single tear roll down Twilight’s cheek, but she showed no expression of breaking down. Instead, she had the expression of a brave and proud soldier that was willing to give up anything to save what was the most important. It had Aaron in awe.

A second sound of an explosion occurred, and the rumbling was more intense than the previous ones. Time was running out, and fast!

“Just go already!” Twilight shouted, continuing to struggle with her spell. “I can’t do this much longer!” The injuries she obtained, especially to her forehead and horn, had apparently had temporarily weakened her durability to cast spells; also that the firepower the Covenant inflicted on her field wasn’t making it any easier as well.

Aaron hesitated for a quick moment as he argued mentally with himself to keep protesting with Twilight, but he knew the reality of the outcome if he did so.

“Thank you, Twilight. You’ve done a selfless deed not only for the UNSC, but for your entire world as well. We’ll be sure to honor you for this, and we hope that all of Equis will do so as well,” Aaron stated, and then turned to his comrades. “C’mon, let’s go while we still can!”

Aaron’s team nodded and raced for the Phantom while Covenant troops continued to fire on the forcefield around them. It seemed strong, but it looked like it could falter at any moment if Twilight’s strength runs out.

Aaron quickly touched the terminal which activated the Phantom’s gravity lift which raised Aaron and the others into the ship’s interior with a still unconscious Cadance in tow. She was still unaware of the current situations that had taken place.

Aaron took command of the Phantom’s cockpit and initiated the departure sequence. In seconds, the Phantom succesfully escaped the hangar bay as soon as Twilight’s forcefield dissipated.  

As Aaron piloted the Phantom back toward the Express, he could only prepare himself for the news he had to deliver. He knew that Kenwood would understand, but as for Celestia, Luna, Cadance if she ever recovers, Twilight’s friends, and everypony in Equestria--they may be the ones who will not take it so lightly.

Just thinking about how Twilight’s loved ones would be affected made Aaron shed one single tear. It’s been years since he’s been this emotional, and it surprised him quite a bit; but for some reason, Twilight felt almost like a second sister to him. Now that it occurred to him that he’s lost both of them, it really hurt Aaron badly; but he refused to make a show out of it since now wasn’t the time. He wished to be alone if such theatrics took place.

***

Twilight watched with a small and weak smile as Aaron’s Phantom made it out of the hangar’s barrier, still in one piece and untouched.

Once the forcefield disappeared as her magic ran out, Twilight slumped to the floor while watching her wounded wings. Thankfully though, Twilight knew she might get new ones in a matter of a short time.

Twilight noticed that all Covenant troops that decided to remain onboard had gathered around her with their weapons drawn, but they did not fire on her at all. They sensed their impending doom so they knew it would be worthless to kill Twilight in cold blood.

There was another sound of an explosion that erupted from somewhere within the ship, but this time it was followed by a rumble that loudly grew at a steady pace. It was none other than the ship’s hull finally imploding in a fiery eruption that was heading for the main hangar bay.

It was at this moment that Twilight’s entire life flashed in front of her eyes from beginning to end. This experience brought Twilight to tears, but it made her smile and have a sense of peace. She knew she had lived a great life, but it was too bad that it was going to end this early.

Just as the blazing inferno of plasmatic fire reached the hangar bay and was just about to engulf Twilight, she closed her eyes and waited for her end. Just as she did so, she felt as if someone or something grabbed her, and wrapped her in a warm and relaxing energy.

She didn’t know what it was, but she assumed that it was the feeling that everypony got when they meet their end, no matter what the cause was.

One thing that Twilight sensed was that the hooves that Death, or whatever had seized her, had a grasp that seemed....irregular.