(Original) Chapter 1: Dawn of an Empire

Before Humanity arrived, Equestria was a simple, peaceful place. That all changed one night in the year 2531 when a large, heavily damaged spaceship half landed, half crashed just outside the small town of Ponyville.

It was a large vessel, obviously some kind of warship. Scrawled across its hull in large, proud white letters were the words U.N.S.C Spirit of Fire.

At first, nopony knew what to make of the strange ship. That was, until her crew finally exited it to witness the strange, beautiful new world they had arrived on. The ship's captain, a grizzled looking Human by the name of James Cutter emerged from the crowd of marines and sailors who had gathered to inspect the damages and determine where they were. It was then that the crew came into contact with the Ponies for the first time, as Cutter greeted them cautiously.

Many of them were as nervous and wary as the humans, but overall the first contact was friendly and peaceful, if a bit awkward. Captain Cutter briefly explained his people's predicament to the Town mayor as best he could and asked to see the land's ruler. Cutter and the Mayor became friends quite quickly, after sharing with each other tales of leadership and discussing the challenges of holding office. Finding herself trusting the human, she was happy to show him the way to Canterlot, Princess Celestia's seat of power.

After a day's rest in town, Cutter and his entourage then boarded a pelican dropship and flew to Canterlot. As you could imagine, the flying machine gave the citizens and guards quite a fright, whom had not been informed of the humans' presence or arrival. When Cutter emerged from the craft, this time with a woman by the name of Ellen Anders and three soldiers in massive powered armor, they were greeted by a crowd of very alarmed Royal Guards in defensive combat stance.

The guards calmed at once when the Captain explained the situation, and that the Mayor of Ponyville was willing to vouch for him. The guards then marched the Humans in to see the Princess, under heavy watch. James Cutter then greeted Princess Celestia with as much respect as he would Admiral Preston Cole himself. Pleasantries settled, the Captain then gave the monarch the long version of how he and his crew had ended up on Planet Equis, and in Equestria. Celestia was both fascinated and appalled by the history the Cutter had described, down to ever last gritty detail the man could recall.

The situation was that Cutter and his crew were effectively stuck in Equestria with no hope of getting home. It would seem the Spirit of Fire's FTL drives were unusable, as the trans-light engine was gone. It had been used as a bomb by Sergeant John Forge to destroy a very valuable asset that was under claim by Humanity's hated enemy, the Covenant.

This was when the event that would truly change the course of Equis' history occurred. In a bold calculated move, Doctor Anders offered Celestia all the ship's technology as a show of good faith between the two species. Pressed into this new scenario by the scientist's actions, Cutter vowed to personally defend Celestia's land from any and all danger, rather that be the Covenant, or anything otherwise. In this exchange, Celestia would make provisions for the crew of the Spirit to settle in Equestria, as well as have access to whatever resources necessary to find a way to contact the UNSC in the foreseeable future.

Celestia, seeing that Ellen had absolutely no legitimate motive to be deceitful, and sensing that old Cutter had an honest straightforward personality, agreed. Making Galactic History, the Princess took both Humans' hands in her hooves, giving each of them a shake in agreement. It was from that moment onward that Humanity and Ponykind would be permanent allies throughout the Galaxy.

In the months and years that followed, the crew of the Spirit of Fire became a familiar sight in Equestria. Many humans built their new homes in Ponyville, mingling with the locals, and performing odd jobs, some even starting careers and businesses of their own. The ship's former medical staff found themselves working in Equestria's hospitals.

Dr. Anders and the Spirit's former scientific staff cooperated with Equestria's own top researchers and engineers to integrate UNSC technology into Equestrian society, forming a precursor to the modern day Imperial Ministry of Technology.

As for the officers and military personnel, most moved to Canterlot. The officers especially were drawn to the Capital for its largely Cosmopolitan nature. Cutter himself retired to a quiet life in Canterlot. In a world almost devoid of conflict, most UNSC soldiers largely stuck close to the Royal Guard, given their similarities as warriors. Eventually, Human and Guardsponies could even be witnessed training and sparring together, as well as sharing barracks and sleeping quarters.

Many of the Spirit's resident pilots found themselves more than at home among the pegasi in the city of Cloudsdale, high in Equis' sky. Anti-gravity technology was improved, allowing for humans to inhabit and walk the clouds as a pegasus would. Races between Longsword pilots and the Wonderbolts were common, although being so evenly matched, they were often very tedious affairs.

As the years passed, the Human population in Equestria grew at a steady rate. Human children could be seen among fillies and colts, learning their letters and numbers together. With each new year, Humans became a much more critical part of Equestrian society. By 2535, Celestia issued a royal proclamation: Former UNSC Marines were officially able to join the Royal Guard. Already sharing history with the Guard, many signed up, now donning the gleaming silver and gold of royal armor. The former UNSC pilots joined together with the pegasi Weather Authority to form the Royal Air Corps.

In 2539, many remaining officers, along with a now retired James Cutter, gathered with the Princess to discuss possible plans to officially recognize the crew of the Spirit of Fire as citizens of Equestria. Based on the contributions the Humans were making to society, Celestia agreed without hesitation.

By that time, Celestia had become a very major figure among the Humans, especially among the marines who serve under her as part of the Royal Guard. Many referred to her with reverent titles such as "The Empress of the Sun" or "Her Holiness, the Sun Goddess." It was enough to make the monarch blush. They were indeed devoted to their duty.

When official contact was finally remade with the UNSC in 2547, the crew finally learned how the Human-Covenant War had been going in the time since the Spirit of Fire's disappearance. It was not good. Dozens more worlds had been attacked and glassed, ONI had even gone so far as to reveal the clandestine Spartan II's to the public in order to boost morale.

This news pushed the Humans to begin work on gathering their ship's old weapons, which had been left in the ship due to their not being needed. Cutter and Anders informed Celestia about the recent developments in the war, and made vocal their concerns for Equestria's safety. She reluctantly agreed to their plan to arm the Royal Guard with UNSC equipment and allowed for the construction of factories to manufacture more.

The mid 2540's sees the rise of the Great Industrialization of Equestria with the Kingdom's rush to arm itself for mutual defense.

In 2549, the humans, with the help of magic provided by unicorn volunteers, were able to manufacture guns, Scorpion tanks, and Warthogs at an unprecedented pace. By 2550 they are even able to manufacture a small fleet of Charon-Class light frigates. The Spirit of Fire itself was made space-worthy again as well. These early vessels help form the core of what eventually becomes the Imperial 1st Fleet.

Leading the charge in innovating technology, was Doctor Anders. At her right hand side for much of the time was a young but brilliant Unicorn named Twilight Sparkle. Together the duo were able to make such wonders as a working magic-powered Shaw-Fujikawa Trans-light engine to equip on the newly built spacecraft, new pony-ergonomic model firearms that could easily be held and operated by any well-trained Earth Pony, magic-powered shields that could be mass-produced for vehicles as well as infantry ponies and marines, and portable medical spells in grenade form that could heal non-critical injuries on soldiers at will on the battlefield. Unfortunately their brilliant cooperation had to be cut short as Sparkle was called back by Empress Celestia for an assignment in Ponyville. It would seem though that magic and UNSC technology was a match made in military heaven.

With the rapid development of armament and increasingly advanced infrastructure, the humans felt content that they could now effectively keep Equestria safe militarily should the Covenant ever threaten her. Politically however, issues arose given Equestria's lack of a truly formal system of centralized government on a large scale. Multiple plans are drafted and rejected for first a Constitutional Monarchy, then a Republic, before finally an Imperial, semi-Democratic Ministerial system of governance is ratified into power.

This takes shape In the Spring of 2547, when Celestia, after much deliberation with Cutter, Anders, and the other prominent leaders of Equestria, decrees the the reorganization of her human subjects of Equestria together with her pony subjects to form the modern Empire of Equestria. Celestia is unanimously appointed Empress by Ponies and Humans alike. The Ministries, Grand Assembly, and Bureaus are established to run aspects of the Empire, freeing up the Empress of various duties, while Celestia is able to focus on more critical roles of leadership such as being the voice of Equestria in the Galaxy, and being the national symbol of Imperial pride. With their political union solidified, the two species vow to defend each other with their lives not as mere allies, but as fellow Equestrians.

As more and more new vessels are commissioned into the newly formed Imperial Navy, the Royal Air Corps is formally reconsecrated into the Imperial Air Force. While Royal Guard is maintained as a non-government affiliated fighting force, it is replaced by the Imperial Army as the regular ground military, while both are now equipped with modern weaponry and magic shielding systems. The Imperial Marines is established to accommodate former UNSC soldiers that did not join the Guard. With that, the Equestrian Imperial Armed Forces is complete. James Cutter comes out of retirement to become Interim Supreme Commander of Imperial Forces under Empress Celestia. The Wonderbolts captain Spitfire is appointed as commander of the Air-force for admiral service to the Kingdom before the rise of the Empire. The seasoned Royal Guard captain Shining Armor is made acting General of the Imperial Army, and interim Senior General of the Marines Corps from similar credentials to Spitfire's. The Royal Guard, however, answers only to Celestia herself, where she is their commander and chief.

Thus was Imperial Equestria born in only two decades. While the Human-Covenant War drags on, Equestria continues to expand and grow both on Equis, and in the surrounding Gliese star system. It is in the mid summer of 2551, one year before the Great Schism and the discovery of the Halos, that we find ourselves in the present, as Twilight Sparkle spends her time in Ponyville learning about friendship. Meanwhile, the Empire prepares for its first military expedition into UNSC space. The fleet's destination: Planet Reach.