Tundras

Twilight and her friends were riding the train to the recently resurfaced Crystal Empire after being tasked by Celestia to help stop Sombra, as well as Twilight looking to pass a test given to her by the solar princess. As the train began to enter the icy landscapes Twilight looked back to her friends. Applejack and Rainbow were playing poker, Fluttershy and Rarity were just talking and Pinkie sat alone, her mane deflated slightly.

Seeing her friend in that state Twilight walked over and sat beside Pinkie. "Hey Pinkie, what's wrong? You aren't smiling and you've been quiet the entire journey."

Pinkie didn't look to Twilight but instead just kept staring out the window at the passing blankets of sift snow. "I just have a feeling."

"What kind of feeling?"

Pinkie turned to Twilight with an extremely worried expression. "I have a feeling that something very, very bad is going to happen. And I don't mean just this empire coming back, it's something bigger, bigger than anything we've gone up against before." Her voice was filled with terror. "I don't think we can stop whatever it is that's coming Twilight, not alone." Pinkie then started shivering.

The rest of the group picked up on Pinkies discomfort and gathered around to comfort her. "Hey, it's ok Pinkie, I'm sure whatever you're feeling isn't as bad as you make it out to be."

"Famous last words." Applejack said quietly, causing Twilight to look at her with a raised brow. "What? You know how Pinkie and her senses work, if she says somethings gonna happen then it's gonna happen, there hasn't been a time where she's ever been wrong about this sorta thing."

The group nodded in agreement and looked to Twilight. Sighing as she knew the apple farmer was right, she turned to Pinkie and placed a hoof on her back. "Well, you say we can't do it alone, but maybe there are others that can help,us beat whatever is coming." She suggested with a cheery voice, trying to cheer up her friend that had cheered her up on multiple occasions.

"Yeah, like the big guy." Rainbow stated.

"You mean Master Chief?" Twilight asked receiving a nod. "Well, Princess Celestia did say he was out here on a mission, maybe he can help us out."

The group all nodded in agreement. After hearing the name of the Spartan, Pinkoes hair inflated slightly. "Hey, that might be the answer." Pinkie gasped in realisation. "Whatever is going to happen Chief must be the key to stopping it!"

"Alright girls, so we all know what we have to do?" Twilight asked, determination running through her.

"First we save the Crystal Empire..." Rarity began.

"...then we stop,whatever is coming with the big guy!" Rainbow finished.

Meanwhile

Chief shot a lone Shadow Bug with one of his plasma pistols as he walked deeper into the temple hidden under the ice in pursuit of the stranger from the main chamber. As he shot a few more enemies he noticed that one of his pistols were drained of energy, now useless. He placed it on his side and switched to his battle rifle.

The stone hallways seemed bare, only having a few carvings here and there that broke the plain walls. There were a few lot torches lighting the way forward, probably lot by the stranger that was ahead of them. Suddenly Chief stopped as the ground shook violently, the sound of something groaning echoing through the hallways and chambers. 'Should we be worried about that?' Eris asked with an uneasy voice.

"We can find out later, we have something else to do right now." Chief replied as he continued his journey into the temple.

The sense of emptiness began to set in as the walls became completely bare, no torches or carvings in sight, the only light coming from Chiefs headlights on the side of his helmet. Everything was completely black other than the spots his torches were pointed to, they would be unable to see anything coming from far up ahead or to the sides, so Chief payed close attention to his mini map on his HUD, watching for any red dots that appeared.

Keeping a steady pace he was able to travel through the halls without interruption and had nothing to hinder his progress. As he traveled further he spotted a light at the end of the black void that surrounded him.

Keeping the same pace he warched the light grow closer and closer as he approached, the sense of emptiness leaving him as the darkness began to fade away with the warm glow at the end of the abyss.

Stepping out of the hallway Chief took a moment to enjoy the warm glow while his eyes adjusted to the new light. Once he could see clearly anything positive that came from stepping into the light was shot by firing squad as he looked to his new location.

He was on a cliff overlooking some underground operation. A giant cylinder-like building went from the top of the large underground cavern to the bottom where it seemed to be Nightmares and Changelings mining some strange mineral, glowing red gems that made him feel uneasy, just by looking at them he got the sense that whatever they were they shouldn't even exist.

"Oh, so you caught up." Surprised by the sudden voice Chief immediately turned around and aimed his rifle at the newcomer who immediately raised his hands defensively. "Easy there trigger finger, I'm on your side, another of Symbols agents." Miller quickly stated.

'He's registered as a friendly Marcus.' Eris confirmed.

Chief lowered his weapon and nodded. "Sorry, not used to having people sneak up on my for friendly reasons."

Miller shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "It's fine really, I've had it done to me a few times in my existence."

'No wonder, being a Nightmare Fuel is sure to put people on edge around him.' Eris commented.

Chief looked back down to the mining operation below. "You know anything about this?" He asked.

"Yes." Miller walked up and began taking photos with a small camera with no flash. "The Nighmares and Changelings have banded together and are planning a full scale invasion of this realm, those crystals down there are essential to their plan. They are filled with an energy known as 'Apocalypse Magic,' think of it like a steroid for beings of the Multiverese, grants the being that absorbs the crystal emense powers but also corrupts their very being."

"Well then we have to put a stop to their operation." Chief stated as he readied his rifle. "Do you perhaps have any ammunition on you? If I don't get a refill I'm going to have to punch my way down there."

Miller nodded and handed Chief a small bag of ammo magazines that he had brought with him for the Spartan. "Alright, let's get going." With that the two jumped off the cliff and began sliding down the curved cave wall.

Author's Notes:

Hope you enjoyed this chapter.