Over the course of the week he stayed with Celestia and Luna, he learned more about the ponies way of life, he learned to use his new hooves effectively, he had also gotten to know Luna more. And one of the days they walked around the castle for quite a while before John discovered that they had a gym for the guards, he immediately asked Luna if he could go on some of the weight machines.

She told him it was fine, so he went onto the bench press and put it up to the maximum weight of 160 kilos after he did so, the small number of guards in the gym gathered round, curious they started to take bets on if he could do it or not needless to say he took them up on the bet, to the guards surprise he did one press like it was nothing so he tried using one fore leg but still it was to easy he asked if they had any higher weights but they didn't, so he done a few more presses before he stood up, the guards marveled at his strength, one of them, Flash Sentry challenged him to a round in the ring.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea, considering I'am double your size" John replied.

"What do you think your gonna win, you may be strong but are you fast" Flash Sentry replied before continuing, "I'm the fastest punch in all of the guard, I reckon I could beat you in less than a minute." The guards looked at John, eagerly awaiting his response but he was already in the ring waiting for Flash Sentry to arrive.

"Okay some rules, no flying, no kicking and no breaking each others bones!" one of the guards yelled. John nearly laughed, at the thought of Flash trying to break his reinforced bones. Flash entered the ring and the guards again started taking bets on the fight, Luna looked at John with concern on her face, he noticed this and it distracted him long enough for Flash to land a left hook, John immediately turned to face Flash who was grinning immensely.

John got into a position waiting for his opponent to strike, he didn't have to wait long, Flash may have been quick but John had something he didn't, apart from the strength he had, he also had incredible agility for his size, so when Flash was about to land another blow he deftly sidestepped him and landed a punch so hard it knocked Flash Sentry out and two of his teeth clear of the ring. The guards faces looked up at John, in his black over suit he looked intimidating enough, but it was the way he just walked up to Flash and picked him of the floor with ease and carried him to the castles doctor that unnerved them the most, they had never seen another pony with that much power. Luna exited the gym meeting John after he had placed Flash Sentry in the doctors office when she asked,
"Did you have to hit him that hard?"

"That, oh that was my weakest hit, if I had hit him hard enough he wouldn't be alive right now" John replied, this made Luna stop for a minute before she asked,
"How hard can you hit?"

"I have killed and crippled people before with my bare hands before I came here, but I don't ever plan to do that again. As for how hard I can hit" he looked around the hallway, he noticed a shield lying in a corner, he walked over to it he held it up and motioned to Luna.
"Hold this steady with your magic and I'll show you." She nodded and a blue aura surrounded the shield. John took a position and aimed his fist at the center shield, he brought his fore hoof back, and with all his might he slammed it into the shield, his hoof and most of his fore leg passed through the shield like it was nothing more than paper.

"You really weren't kidding" said Luna stared, dumbfounded at the gaping hole left in the shield by her friend.

"Now you see, if I had punched Flash hard enough most of his head would have been over the guard, or every bone in his face would have been broken, either way he wouldn't be alive" explained John.

Luna said after a moment of trying to comprehend her friends immense physical capabilities."It's getting late, Celestia will be looking for me to raise the moon, I'll see you later in my room."

John walked to Luna's room alone but on the way he stopped on a balcony to watch her and her sister perform their duties, as he looked up at the sky he saw the sun setting and Luna raising the moon, he had never seen such an awe filling sight. He thought the way that Luna flew up pulling the moon with her magic was simply majestic, he was to busy staring at Luna raising the moon that he didn't notice Celestia walking onto the balcony next to him.

_._._._()_._._._

"It is beautiful isn't it" this startled John slightly but before he could say anything Celestia continued, "By the way, Luna told me what you did to Flash Sentry and one of the guards shields, I must admit I find it slightly impressive that you hold such physical power. I saw Flash in the infirmary earlier he said it was fine, he just said he was being a bit of a hot head, don't worry his teeth have been fixed, so no harm done he said." But John hardly heard any of what Celestia had said, he was still to busy looking at Luna who had just finished raising the moon, when she had finished she flew towards her balcony and into her room, he followed her path across the sky.

"You admire her don't you?" asked Celestia.

"You could say that" he said in a tone that surprised even him. "Erm forget I said that please, but for now goodnight princess."

"John tonight is your last night here, you leave for Ponyville tomorrow, take this letter with you and deliver it to Twilight Sparkle in the Great oaks library, she'll help you with Rainbow Dash. Goodnight John" Celestia bade him farewell by placing her hoof on his shoulder for a few seconds before leaving him.

_._._._()_._._._

He got up and walked to Luna's room sadly, he arrived at her door to hear her singing, but she wasn't singing a song of happiness she was singing her soliloquy, it was a sad and beautiful song, John was amazed by her voice, he didn't want her to stop so he just sat there listening at the door, he listened to every word tentatively until she stopped singing over five minutes later, he stopped himself after a moment and listened at the door again. Luna was crying and this saddened him, so he opened the door quietly and sneaked in, he sneaked to the other side of the room, as silent as a cat and sat next to Luna putting his left foreleg over her back, this startled her
"Ah when did you get here!"

"I've been outside for about five minutes, I was listening to you sing. It was beautiful song but I must know why is it so sad?" John replied.

"It's sad because, I thought of it when I was imprisoned on the moon, back when I was jealous of Tia and now I just like it, it reminds me of what I was, of what I never wish to become again" replied Luna.

"I have some bad news, I will be leaving for Ponyville tomorrow" John said his voice cracking slightly when he said it.

"Huh, I just had a thought. You will need a pony name, John doesn't make sense. To create a name for you we will need to find out your cutie mark" explained Luna while she wiped the tears from her eyes. John started to remove his black over suit, with relative ease, he had gotten better with his hooves.

"Huh, well that makes no sense" said Luna puzzled.

"What is it?" asked John.

"Well your cutie mark, it's just erm... odd to say the least" said Luna. John looked round to see what she was talking about, he was surprised to find himself looking at a jet black eagle, with arrow's in one talon and a lightning bolt in the other and underneath the insignia was his spartan number "Sierra 117", also in jet black. John looked at it for a while before he explained what it was

"Well that was unexpected, that's the insignia for the spartan's and my spartan number."

"Well this doesn't really help us figure a name out for you" replied Luna.

" Maybe, I could just call my self Sierra, yeah that seems alright, what do you think?" John said still unsure of himself.

"I don't really like it, I think you should just stick to John. John is nice enough" Luna replied in a cheerful tone. But John was hardly listening he was crawling into the bed, he wanted to stay here with Luna even if he knew he couldn't, he just didn't feel that comfortable around new people besides she had been nothing but kind and helpful to him since he had arrived and he didn't want to leave her. Luna walked over too him, she leaned over him and asked,

"What's wrong, John?"

"It's just, I don't want to go" he said his voice cracking as he told her. Luna's response was reaching over and place a hoof on his shoulder before she walked over to her side of the bed and got it. John had already fallen asleep when she had gotten comfortable, she thought he looked peaceful, but he was far from it he was having a nightmare of the fires of the Human-covenant war, all the lives he had failed to save, all the enemies he had killed, but most of all he dreamed of Cortana and how he had lost her. It was during a particularly sad dream about her that he felt a warm presence, he saw Luna and she said,
"Wake up, John. Its just a dream." And with that he woke up staring at Luna's concerned face.

"You were having a nightmare, it was horrible, you just kept talking and saying you were sorry, but mostly you kept saying a name 'Cortana'. Who was she John, who was Cortana?

"Y-you were in my dream, how?" He asked confused.

"I can do that with my magic, it allows me to enter ponies dreams to protect them from a nightmare, but you never answered my question. Who is Cortana?" said Luna.

"Sh-sh-she was a friend, a close friend and I lost her recently, ha look at me big tough battle scarred soldier, on the edge of tears" said John with a sniffle.

"AWW, come here you" said Luna while she embraced John in a tight hug. John felt slightly awkward he had never really had a hug, but he decided that it felt good, so he allowed her to continue.

"Well think of this way John, you may have lost a friend, but she's in a better place now, besides you will make plenty of new friends here in Equestria after all, I'm glad to be one of them, the last pony did too" she explained.

"I'm sure that's true but I had known her for years, you could say she was in my head literally" said John while he held up the chip that had once housed his friend. "Wait the last pony?"

"Oh yeah you see, you weren't the first pony to land here, almost five years ago a section of a ship crashed here, much like yours except it crashed in a lake, Me and my sister broke the ship apart using our magic trying to find a survivor and after days of searching we came across a grey unicorn" she explained.

"Did the ship have a name written on it in big white letters?" asked John in disbelief.

"Yes actually, I believe it had 'Forward unto Dawn' written on the side. Why?" Luna said with a curious expression but John had lost her as soon as she had said the ships name. If that was here five years ago then, that meant he did survive.

"By any chance did this pony call himself the Arbiter?" Asked John.

"Yes I believe he did. Why friend of yours?" asked Luna. John leaned over and kissed Luna before he leaped from the bed and excitedly scrambled to try and put on his armor, he turned around to ask Luna for help, when he saw her red face and he realized what he had done.

"I'm so sorry Luna, erm it was just a spur of the moment thing" John tried to explain while Luna rose from her bed and leaped towards him pinning him to the ground with a strength that surprised him.

"How dare you!" she yelled before kissing him again.

"Um what was that?"John asked after she stopped.

"Erm... spur of the moment" Luna finally replied. She leaned into kiss him again but before she could Celestia opened the door,

"Lu-." Her voice cutting off as she saw her sister and John scramble to their hooves, she gave a little cough before she continued,
"Luna, it's time to say your goodbyes, John is going to Ponyville in an hour, John, meet me in the castle courtyard in an hour, your carriage will be ready then." After she had finished she closed the door and left them.

"Ugh, I guess I need to get ready then, Luna do you have anything I could pack my armor into?" John asked, looking around the room for a bag.

Celestia opened the door again with a fairly large saddle bag, and a black traveling cloak held in the light golden aura of her magic, she walked over and placed them on the bed before saying to John,

"I had these made especially for you, the cloak has been enchanted to be a light as a feather and water proof, the saddle bags are large enough to hold whatever you wish. I have placed a coin purse with two hundred bits inside, that should help you buy the necessities until you get a job." When she finished she turned and saw John picking up his armor and placing it neatly in one of the saddle bags along with the letter Celestia had given him last night, she looked at him for a minute before saying,

"Don't worry, John you'll be fine, Ponyville and the ponies that live there are very friendly, one you could say is almost to friendly."

"That's not what bothers me, it's just I feel like I'm still dreaming. I feel like just the other day I was floating in space mourning the loss of a friend, whereas now I don't know what to think" John replied with a sigh.

"One step at a time, John, first off let's make sure you learn how to fly first and then we can see about getting you home if that's what you wish. But for now let's just get you to Ponyville, come on the carriage is waiting" Celestia said in a kind but firm tone. John placed his traveling cloak over himself and his saddle bag over his back, then the trio walked down to the courtyard to the awaiting carriage, Celestia left after she said,

"And remember try and make some friends."

"Don't worry I'll try" he called after her. Luna pulled him into a gentle hug before he boarded the carriage and she said,

"I'll miss you John, promise you'll write to me, don't make a mare a promise you can't keep." He replied with a soft chuckle,

"Don't worry, Luna I promise i'll write to you when I can." He leaned off the carriage and gave her a small peck on the cheek, she blushed while he turned around facing towards the distant town he would soon be living in. And with that the carriage took off, it was being pulled rapidly by a team of five Pegasus, he guessed they would reach Ponyville in about an hour.

Roughly an hour later the carriage touched down in a field just outside Ponyville which was covered in a light snowfall, John thanked the Pegasus team for taking him this far but now he was on his own, in a completely new and unfamiliar territory. He thought of what he needed to do, firstly he needed to find great oaks library, secondly he needed a place to stay and a job, thirdly he needed to learn how to fly and lastly he needed to make some friends.

"This is going to be fun" he said trying to motivate himself. He started walking into the town, he was looking at the other ponies they were staring at him, he was much taller than them so he expected this, he just continued to wander around town trying to get a lay of the land, when he rounded a corner he bumped into a grey mare, causing her to drop her cello, time seemed to slow down as it fell, John dived down to grab it.

Author's Note

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyj9_YJCMUw&list=PLsJOxeYtTGVW6Ggm4M2_xsF8lFI8zL1iu - Luna's soliloquy

https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTYQ9HslcJ6wfZ5R-ee0Y8LmMWRkR13rmoEdOo228n_1O5iFErK - John's cutie mark for those who don't know what the spartan insignia is