As the small group walked through the main campsite, Twilight could feel the eyes burning into her skull. The " UNSC Marines" as Chris had called them, were looking at the with either curiosity or suspicion while going about their duties. A few looked in bewilderment at Pinkie, who, unlike the others, was bouncing and yammering about planning a party. Rainbow just growled.

"Twenty billion....Wait, RAINBOW! Get a hold of yourself! They're ALIENS! they don't deserve to be here...." she thought to herself.

"I heard that." a voice spoke.

Rainbow looked up in surprise. Chris had stopped and was looking at Rainbow.

"You were muttering, and I heard everything."

Rainbow grimaced and lowered her head in embarrassment. She had no idea she was speaking. Chris rolled his eyes, and continued.

"Just because we're aliens doesn't mean we're evil. We are, for the most part, peacekeepers. Humans are a warlike race, but we know how to make friends and forge alliances. Let me remind you of something. Don't jump to conclusions."

Suddenly, Chris put his hand to his helmet and began to speak.

"Hey, commander.....yes, I know what caused the rock to fall.....the locals were surveying us.....no....not for an attack, they were curious....not like the covies, like a child....I said they could meet you and Lasky......fine...See ya soon, Palmer."

Jason sighed and turned to the group.

"Well, I got good news and bad news. The good news is that commander Palmer is allowing you guys on-board in a friendship and diplomatic gesture. Bad news is, you're going to have to be the subject of a bio-scan to make sure you aren't carrying any diseases or pathogens that could potentially cause an outbreak among humans. Palmer says that if you don't agree, you won't be allowed aboard the Infinity. She's stubborn like that. And tough as nails."

"Fine. Just, make it quick, please."

Twilight looked at the others, who either nodded or said yes. Rainbow muttered and looked down.

Chris smiled and entered the ship through the open hangar bay. The group followed, and promptly dropped their jaws. Twilight was astounded at the number of strange machines the UNSC had brought with them. A few humans darted about, and Twilight noticed that they were carrying yellow boxes, and a few didn't even have helmets.

"Mechanics." Chris said, noticed Twilight's puzzled look. "Not all of us are warriors. The UNSC has a few different positions for those who don't want to face front-line combat. Cooks, Mechanics, Doctors, Firefighters, that sort of thing."

"The more I see, the more I want to learn." Twilight said sheepishly.

"I might be able to get Lasky to give you access to the shipboard database via a tacpad If I'm lucky." Jason replied.

Twilight flashed a broad grin.

"Just be careful, however, if you do get access. The database contains classified...restricted (Chris had noticed Twilight's confused look)...data, including troop movements, fleet positions, and other information that could be damaging against the UNSC if it got into the wrong hands."

Twilight immediately promised she would be careful.

Chris smiled at her and opened up the elevator doors.

"What is this?" Rainbow asked.

"Elevator." Chris replied.

As they got in, Twilight thought, then looked at Chris

"How far to the medical bay?"

"It's on level A52."

"What level are we on?"

"A2"

"How long should it take us to get there?"

"A few minutes."

Chris pressed the elevator control, and mostly everyone promptly fell over. Jason didn't. As the ponies struggled to get back on their feet, Chris could hardly help but laugh.

"What's so funny?" Rainbow said suspiciously.

"I might have forgotten to mention there's a slight bump at the start when we are in atmosphere."

"SLIGHT?" A tan-orange one asked angrily.

"This elevator is primed for usage in anti-gravity environments. Like outer space. So, since the elevator has more pressure to deal with, it has a bit of a bump and a slow start at the beginning of the ride up. So forgive me if I didn't mention it." Jason said.

"Egghead." Rainbow whispered.

"If you call me that again, I might start calling you an athletic jock who can't even see past her own common sense and has a complete disregard for other sentient species, and is always jumping to conclusions. " Chris said, without even looking away from the display.

"HEY!" Rainbow yelled, but at the time, they arrived, and another human was waiting for them. Her face was lean and tough, and she had a slight frown on her face. She was in armor similar to Chris's, but instead of red and steel gray, it was sterling silver and red. it was significantly less bulky than Jason's, and it was of a different build or type.

"Crimson. These the locals you were referring to?"

"Yep. Twilight and friends, this is Commander Sarah Palmer. She's essentially the boss of every Spartan aboard the Infinity."

"Pleasure." Twilight said politely.

"Huh. You can dispense with the pleasantries. I'm not to happy with Crimson here for bringing locals here without clearing with me first. But I'll let it slide."

"She's royalty, "commander". She was a unicorn, but she literally earned her wings. Now, show some resp...." Rainbow dash tried to say more, but Twilight rolled her eyes and shoved her hoof into her mouth.

"Royalty. Well, Guess I do owe you a drink and an apology, then. Sorry. There's your apology. Drinks can come later. Now, Let's get the scans going. Shall we, Glassman?"

A human, slightly scrawny, with glasses and a lab coat, stepped up, and pulled out a small device. After a few minutes, He put it back in his pocket.

"No hostile pathogens detected, commander. Their biology is strangely similar to ours, muscle grouping, same. Bone construction, same. Blood types, Cell count, all the same. Except for one strange thing."

'What?" Everyone said at one, human and pony alike.

"They're basically human, except for the wings and horns."

"Egghead." Rainbow said sarcastically.

"Hmm. A colloquial equine-human insult. Fascinating! " Glassman said, and he whipped out a notepad and jotted a few things down. He smiled and put it away. Now, who wants to meet Captain Lasky?"

For the first time in her life, Rainbow didn't know what to say. As her jaw dropped, Palmer rolled her eyes.

"Glassman's been called a lot of things. Egghead is one of them, surprisingly. The geeks are always being insulted."

Twilight nodded.

"Well, Crimson, looks like you got your wish. Captain Lasky's on with ONI at the moment, but it should only be a few minutes. However (She said this while looking at Twilight and her friends) you aren't allowed ANYWHERE without Crimson's supervision. Crimson, accordingly, for as long as they are on ship, they're YOUR responsibility. Anything goes wrong, YOU'LL be taking the blame. Understood?"

"Sir, Yes Sir." Chris replied.

"Good. Lasky's ready for you now. DISMISSED!"

As they left the medical deck, Twilight still had a question that remained unanswered.

"Chris, why did Commander Palmer keep calling you "Crimson?"

"I'm the leader of Spartan Fireteam Crimson. The nickname stuck."

"Who's In it?"

"Grant and I. Grant was a late arrival, he got assigned after the second battle of Requiem. He's fresh from training, but he's a damn good spartan. We're friends."

"That's nice and all, but Just two?"

"Two is all Fireteam Crimson needs."

"As they reentered the elevator, Chris hit the button for the bridge.

Author's Note

Here we are!

Grant is an Spartan OC given to me by FIMfiction user Doctor Whoovian. He will be developed more in depth later, and a maximum of 4 OC's are accepted, and possibly a whole team based around OCs could be done. Like I said, only 4. I checked the Halo wiki, and a spartan fireteam is 4-5. Counting Chris/Crimson, we only need four to make a full fireteam.

For those who want to see Master Chief, don't worry. He'll arrive soon enough. Along with the covenant remnants. (the covies will be arriving in chapters 5, 6 or 7. No set chapter for the covenant invasion of Equestria.)

And thank you guys and girls for all the support you have been giving this story. It really means a lot to me.

My editor is Reqiuem17. He does a lot of good halo crossovers, and he's a superb editor. If you need one, PM him and in the message, tell him Mkchief sent you. Kudos to anyone that does!