Kestria

"Alright, it looks like the area is clear. Just a bunch of horses on Promethean Vision." Sky said.

"Hmm. Weird." Joseph said.

"You can say that again. There's a village, but nothing but horses!" She said, taking a few minutes to scan the general area.

"Well, maybe whoever lived here abandoned the-"

"Well I'll be damned." Sky interrupted him. "There's unicorns and pegasi as well."

4728 doubled over and started laughing. "You, you're smoking something, and I want some!" 4728 said between his hysterical laughing fits.

Sky shrugged. "I'm not on drugs, either way, they wouldn't affect us, dumbass." Sky said. 4728 calmed down.

"So there's really-" 4728 was cut off.

"Yup." Sky answered for him.

"Maybe they're sentient?" 4728 asked.

"That's not possible." Sky said. She got up and made sure her shotgun was ready.

"Alright. I've heard unicorn blood tastes good, but that was just from a book." 4728 said.

"You read?" Sky asked.

"A little bit. Mostly kill things." Joseph said.

"Let's get a move on." Sky said. They moved through the orchard with caution. 4728 had his DMR raised, as if expecting something awful to happen.

They came to a clearing. A red horse was pulling a wagon, another small yellow one with a bow in the wagon.

"Is that a-" 4728 started.

"Yes." Sky interrupted. The two walked out, and noticed an orange one that had been rather close. It was kicking the tree, and apples were falling.

"Hey, this one's smart." Joseph remarked.

"Applejack, look out!" Someone yelled. Sky turned toward the voice.

"Whoever's there, come out now." She yelled.

"What are y'all doin' on my farm!?" The horse in front of 4728 yelled. 4728 thought for a split second before laughing.

"I WAS FUCKING RIGHT!!! WHO'S THE DUMBASS NOW!?" 4728 said loudly, doubling over as he laughed.

Sky shrugged. "Sorry!" Sky shouted. "We don't want to hurt you, lest you hurt us."

"It's alright, sugarcube. What're y'all doin' on my farm though? And what're you?" 'Applejack' asked.

"Well, I'm Sky, and this is Joseph. Our ship crashed in that forest. We could use some help if anyone here could show us the way." Sky asked.

"Sure, but first y'all should probably talk to Twilight. She'll have some questions for you before you go to your ship." Applejack said. "I'm Applejack by the way. Nice to meet you." She held out her hoof, and Sky assumed it was a handshake, so she shook the horses foreleg.

"Nice to meet you too, Applejack. Can you show me to this 'Twilight'?" Sky asked.

"Alright, sugarcube. I gotta make this fast so I can get back to work. Follow me." Applejack said, sprinting off. Sky waved for the calmed 4728 to follow. The two caught up with ease.

"Contacts, above us." 4728 glanced at the sky. Pegasi looked down at them. One light blue pegasus dove down and began pursuing them.

"Why are you chasing Applejack, huh!?" It yelled.

"We're following her to Twilight's house. Back off, civilian." Sky said. 4728 laughed lightly at that.

"I'm no 'civilian', I'm Rainbow Dash! Fastest flying pegasus in the universe!" She shouted as she flew.

"So you're an illegal immigrant?" Sky asked. 4728 slowed down, he was cracking up at this. The most funny thing to him was how stoic Sky was.

A pink pony bounced at 4728's pace.

"HiI'mPinkiePie!Youmustbenewhere!DoyoulikepartiesIcouldthrowyouonetonightifyouwantmeto!" She shouted. 4728 couldn't understand her, so he nodded. "YAY! I need to go plan after Twilight tells Celestia about you two!" She said.

"What!?" 4728 asked.

"Oh, nothing." She said. "You might want to look forw- ah, too late." 4728 had hit a tree, breaking down a wall, where he slammed through several bookcases before stopping. His shields broke, then he was knocked unconscious.

"Twilight! Spike! Are y'all alright?!" Applejack shouted.

"Yeah! What are these things?" Twilight yelled, pointing at something behind her bookcases.

"Umm... They're friendly? That one wasn't looking where he was going, so he kinda ran into y'all's library." Applejack explained.

"Where's my brother?" Sky asked, poking her head in, the door being incredibly small compared to her.

"Um, uh, Twilight?" A voice called. On the stairs looked to be a Covenant grunt, but purple and green.

"Ms. Twilight, get down!" Sky yelled, reaching for her Magnum. Before she could, she was hit by a purple blast.

"You shouldn't have done that!" Sky yelled before charging the purple horse in the center of the room.

4728 awoke, and saw Sky rushing at the pony, and with lightning swiftness, tackled Sky.

"First Contact protocol, Sky. No fighting." Joseph said. Twilight noticed this. "Sorry about..." 4728 looked at the several wrecked bookshelves, scattered books, and a huge hole where he entered the building. Rainbow Dash had entered through there, and was hovering by Applejack. "Uh... Sorry." 4728 said.

"I'm sure we... We can work something out." Twilight explained, regretting her action immediately. If the creatures could withstand a powerful stun spell from point blank, what could they do?

"Yeah. Right now we need a guide to our crashed ship in that forest." Sky said.

"Alright. I'll gather the Elements of Harmony, and we'll take you in there tomorrow. It'll take a while to convince Fluttershy to join us." Twilight informed. "In the meantime, I'd like to talk to you two about your business in Equestria." Twilight said, pulling over a desk and chair. The two Spartans sat on the floor.

"We're... We've run away. My family comes first, and he's the last one I have." Sky said.

"From who?" Twilight asked.

"The Office of Naval Intelligence and the United Nations Space Command, as well as everything in our galaxy." Sky said.

"What are you?" She asked.

"I'm a Spartan, humanity's ultimate soldier. So is he." Sky gestured to 4728.

"So wait up, you two are close, so why do you use foul language around eachother?" Applejack asked.

"We're close enough that it doesn't matter." 4728 said.

"Damn straight, boy." Sky said.

"I can only imagine what my mother would do if she heard Shining Armor say that to me." Twilight whispered to her friend Applejack. Both Sky and 4728 heard this, making note of her having a brother. With a dumb name, at that.

"Where exactly, in the galaxy are you from?" Twilight asked. "Spike, send a letter to the princesses, tell them there are aliens in my library." She said, turning to the dragon

"Kholo. Human Colony world." 4728 said.

"What is that armor made of?" She asked.

"Titanium Grade A. Approximately 1000 pounds. Don't try anything, because on top of that is a weak energy shield." 4728 said.

"What is the Office of..." She asked.

"Naval Intelligence. Everything's worst nightmare. The United Nations Space Command is slowly being turned into it's puppet. Part of the reason we ran in the first place." Sky said.

"So, if you're their strongest warriors, what do you fight?" Twilight asked.

"We fought the Covenant Empire for about 15 years, once the war ended, we just are stationed around the galaxy, putting down terrorist groups where ever necessary." Sky said.

"Do you mind if I tell the princesses? They could use your help with many things." Twilight said.

"Hold up. First, I want answers about you and your species." Sky said.

"Alright, shoot." Twilight said.

"What are you? Pony, pegasus, unicorn, what?" Sky asked.

"I recently was transformed into an Alicorn, which is when a pony like me has a horn and wings. Across Equestria, you'll find many pegasi and unicorns, even regular ponies." Twilight responded.

"Noted. What's with all the friendliness? Is that normal?" Sky asked.

"That's how it usually is here in Ponyville, everyone's super friendly." Twilight answered.

"Why haven't I seen any other alicorns besides you?" 4728 asked.

"There's not too many left. Some just disappeared at random, and others are just in hiding. They're the most powerful of our race, like you." Twilight said.

"Do you know how many are left?" Sky asked.

"Four, including me." Twilight replied.

"Who are the others?" Sky asked.

"Princess Luna and Celestia, who rule Equestria together. There's also Cadance, who rules the Crystal Empire." She said.

"Alright. I think that's enough questions for today, if you don't mind. Do you want to gather your squad and get to our ship?" 4728 asked.

"Well, we'll wait until tomorrow. I don't think you'll fit in a bed, but you could try the couches." Twilight explained.

"We'll take the couches then." 4728 said.

"We appreciate your hospitality." Sky said.

"Is he okay?" 4728 asked, pointing to the dragon, who looked sick.

"No, that's probably the response from the princesses." Twilight said as, in a burst of flames, a letter was formed, and landed in her hands.

"We're a hot topic then." Sky commented.

"Horrible and unintended pun, sister." 4728 said.

"Dear Twilight-" She was interrupted by 4728.

"Do you HAVE to read aloud?" 4728 asked. Anything that could read, doing so aloud, was what could set him off at any point in time. Rainbow Dash glared at him.

"If you want to know what's going on, then yes. I have to read aloud."

"Can I at least read it?" 4728 asked. Twilight shrugged and handed it to him. "Wow, real paper. Only see this stuff in museums nowadays-"

"GET ON WITH IT!" Rainbow and Sky yelled.

"Jesus, fine." 4728 paused and began to read, but a bright flash emanated from the center of the room. 4728 threw the letter and picked up his DMR. The letter landed at Twilight's hooves, and as she noticed the princesses, she looked down and read.

"Me and Luna will be there shortly. I can't wait to meet the new aliens! See you soon, Princess Celestia." Twilight said, scowling at 4728, who lowered his weapon. Sky saluted, and so did 4728. Twilight and Rainbow bowed.

"At ease." Celestia said, and the four returned to normal posture. She was almost as tall as 4728. Her sister was a little bit shorter, but just so that it was noticeable.