"So wait, how do dates work here?" Ethan asks

"There are six Suns and six Moons, all have 30 days each, and our years are counted from the very beginning," Celestia says.

"So then what's the exact date today?"

"I believe it is the 23rd Day of the Third Sun...every year it is first the six suns, then the six moons."

"So that is what you call your months?" Ethan asks.

"Yes...Suns and Moons." Celestia answers.

"And the year?"

"It has been 20,321 since our Planet was created."

"Damn...I would be more surprised but our planet has lived way longer...anyway, am I able to leave now?" Ethan asks.

"Ah, yes...the Doctor has cleared you and are free to go." Celestia smiles.

Ethan smiles back and grunts as he gets out of his bed, he goes over to grab his equipment and he looks at his Exo-Suit, he then sees it float...golden aura surrounding it.

"I'll carry it for you...it is no problem.

Ethan nods and grabs his tactical backpack and he puts on his small gear and light protection: knee pads, gloves, and handgun holsters, which he places his two pistols in.

He then grabs his Assault Rifle and puts the strap around his shoulder and body...the Weapons hanging down to his waist...the Magazine wasn't inserted so it wasn't loaded...and he put his Sniper Rifle on his back...still folded up so it's easier to travel with it hanging on his back...he then puts on his backpack and nods at the Princess.

"Ready to go, your Majesty," Ethan says, nodding.

"Please, just call me Celestia, if my mother trusts you, then I trust you as a friend," Celestia says.

Ethan holds his helmet and stands up straight, "Then lead the way, Celestia."

Celestia nods and starts walking, Ethan was by his side...as he walked, there were a few guards looking at him, but then they bow before Celestia...along with even a few maids that passed by and looked at Ethan in an interesting way...they were eyeing him...and he swore he could see them smirking.

Ethan rubbed it off and followed Celestia, she opened a large doorway to reveal a throne...a single throne, and glass windows which had encrusted and carved colored art...he was impressed by the work.

"So...this is Canterlot Castle...pretty colorful."

Celestia giggles and motions Ethan to sit next to her, he does so and he notices she lied his armor down next to him.

"Now, if I may ask, I would like to see how your...weapons and armor work."

"The armor will be a problem because we have to wait for its power to recharge," Ethan says.

"Oh don't worry about that."

Ethan looks to see Twilight enter the room.

"What do you mean?" Ethan asked.

"When you were out, we didn't want to twiddle with your things but I did look at your armor and held it, then I saw the 'Power Low' sign on the wrist part of the armor...so I used my magic and looked for the Power Source and I decided to do something...I powered it up with Magic...and magic, is endless." Twilight says with a devious smile.

"So my Exo-Suit has infinite power? Twilight, you clever...um...unicorn, thanks." Ethan chuckles.

"No problem, but I do apologize for messing with it."

"It's alright," Ethan says.

Ethan quickly looks on the back of the armor and hits a switch, the armor begins to loosen and open up so Ethan could put it on...first he puts on the Leg Pieces, which then tighten and connect to his clothes...the metal covering them, next was his arms, the armor fitting on perfectly as everything clasped and connected together...his chest piece also connected to the rest of the armor along with his back. Soon his Exo-Suit was fully equipped...Ethan then puts on his Helmet...the View completely Black until it then activated and he could see what he was looking at...the normal messages popping up like, 'Exo Suit Activated' or 'Abilities, Weapons, and Visor ready to go.'

Ethan does a system check on all his abilities and they all lit up green and ready to go, Ethan smiles and he opens the Helmet's front so the two Mares could see his face.

"So, you wanted to see what I can do?" Ethan asks.

"Yes," Twilight and Celestia both say.

"Well alright, but I must warn you to stand back...also do you have anything I can use to shoot at and also...there might be slight damage to your floor," Ethan asks.

Celestia's horn appears to show a few mannequin ponies, Ethan smiles.

"Alright, before I show off the weapons...I'll show you what the Exo Suit can do."

Ethan holds up his left arm, while his right one had the datapad, this one had a Black type of box which had a few buttons and switches.

"This is my Wrist Launcher, this thing has three distinct abilities, well at least mine," Ethan taps a button on the Wrist Launcher and soon a small handle came out and reached his hand which he then held onto...then a Large Metal Cover extended out of the Launcher from all sides, Ethan crouches which made him completely hidden behind the Shield, "This is the Retractable Shield...we can equip this when we're under heavy fire, it is very useful, whether it'd be from bullets, knives, spears, or swords...this thing can protect you, as long as you can use it." Ethan retracts the shield and stands back up.

"Impressive, that sort of thing could never exist here...possibly everything you have I guess," Celestia says and smiles.

"What else does it do?" Twilight asks.

Ethan was still holding onto the handle that came out of the Launcher, he pressed a button that was under his thumb and he pointed his arm up, a small black slim rope with a metal end shot out of the launcher and it immediately lifted Ethan up to the ceiling, the Princess and Twilight looked up to see him hanging by the rope from his wrist.

"Grapple! It can connect to anything within one hundred feet and pulls the user to where they shot it, the grapple can help them...well hang around for an advantage, but it might hurt the user's arm for a while depending on how--ugh...one sec," Ethan retracts the grapple and started to fall, but then his Exo Pack activated which hovered him safely to the ground, "--Long you stay there sacrificing your left hand...also what you saw was my Exo's Booster Pack, which can help me get to higher places easily, it can also hover the user safely to the ground if they require to fall down somewhere or go across a gap or have an advantage point temporarily...we'll come back to that."

Ethan lets the handle retract into the Launcher and he hits another button which opens the Launcher...A few Dart-like weapons slide out and show itself, Ethan takes out one and he walks up to the two Mare, offering them to hold it. They take it and inspect it.

"That is the last ability, this Launcher can fire those Darts right there. They're tranquilizers, anyone hit with those will immediately be knocked out, basically, they'll fall asleep...and anything that can move can be affected by those...so don't touch the tip."

Twilight immediately widens her eyes as she WAS about to touch the point-end tip of the Dart, she gives it back to Ethan and he chuckles at her witty curiosity.

"Alright, that's the end of the Wrist Launcher, next...I'll just quickly explain my Booster Pack," Ethan jumps and is boosted into the air by ten feet...and he immediately comes back down without a problem, "That is the basic function, the Boosters are meant to help Soldiers have a better advantage to getting somewhere or someplace for their mission, The Grapple is meant for further or way higher places...I can also have my Boosters well...Boost me to the ground and help me cause a small shockwave stomp to anyone who is near...and it does work." Ethan smiles.

"I see, anything else?" Celestia asks...she looked so amazed with his technology...even more than Twilight!

"Last are the Suit Abilities, then we'll move onto mainly the weapons...someone say a Magic Word, any." Ethan taps his wristpad.

"Um...Abracadabra?" Twilight curiously said.

Ethan immediately disappears as soon as she says that.

"Ethan? Ethan!" Celestia and Twilight both say.

Soon they hear a quiet buzzing sound and then a clacking sound of electric almost.

"Boo."

Twilight yells and jumps while Celestia flinches and smiles at the joke.

"What was that Ethan?!" Twilight asks with annoyance.

"That was my Cloak Ability, it renders the user completely invisible...however the kick is, if the user moves more fast and such...the Cloak Power drains faster, if the user is completely still the Power won't drain and it will slightly recharge, but the user will also have to watch their footsteps as they can still be heard if they're not quiet enough," Ethan says going back to in front of the two Mares.

"Next one is Overdrive, this helps the user move faster temporarily, like so," Ethan taps his Datapad and Immediately he feels the rush of energy going through the suit and himself, he runs to the entrance of the Throne and back to the Princesses real quick. He then deactivates it, "The last one you can't physically see but it is called Stimulant, it helps the user heal if they are injured, basically, it's an adrenaline shot, soon it will run out and have to charge both like the Overdrive and Cloak ability."

Ethan then puts his hands up and shows the armor parts covering the gloves, "This is Nano Grips...basically I can use these to climb on walls and they work best on metal really." Ethan wiggled his fingers and chuckled showing the pieces moving around as he activated the Grips and deactivated the Grips.

"This is so fascinating, and this is all from the armor you wear?" Twilight asks.

"Correct ma'am, the Exo Suits Dominate the Battlefield and gives all Soldiers the advantage of attacking their enemies...but a Soldier is not complete without their weapon...shall I?" Ethan asks.

Celestia and Twilight nod and Ethan looks at Celestia, "Got a table?"

The Princess giggles and her horn glows, making a table appear. Ethan smiles and places his weapons down on the Table.

"So, I'll go from the basic ones to the complex ones," Ethan grabs a small one and he takes out the magazine and shows the small bullet to the Mares, "This is a bullet, I saw your Guards carry crossbows so I'll say think of this as that...however these little things are made of metal and when used they travel pretty fast and whoever it impacts on can slightly burn and either go through them or be in their system...these things are extremely dangerous, these things can hit critical points in the body and cause the victim to die instantly...just like an arrow. So, if you took one of these through the head, the heart, or any other critical point in your body, you could either die or be in extreme pain...then probably death."

The mares looked at the small bullet and were shocked how one little piece of metal could kill someone.

"Ethan, might I ask you something?" Celestia asks.

"Shoot,"

"The two metal objects that we got out of your body, are those also bullets?" Celestia asks.

"Yes, there are many kinds of bullets, all built for a specific type of Weapon then there are the bullets that are customized to be more dangerous...enough to blow up a person's head," Ethan says bluntly.

"This small one you're looking at is used for Pistols such as the one I'm holding...this is why I asked for something I could use as dummies," Ethan loads the pistol and shows the Mares the weapon in his hand.

"This is called the Fujin, a 9mm Pistol...pretty basic and reliable...oh and...you might want to cover your ears...these things are loud."

"I've got a better idea," Celestia's horn glows and the whole throne glowed for a bit then stopped, "I've soundproofed the room so the Guards won't overreact."

"Thanks...anyway, here we go."

Ethan clicks off the safety and cocks the Pistol and aims at one of the Mannequin's head, he proceeded to fire...one bullet, then three...soon the whole clip.

Bang, bang, bang...the gun was actually pretty loud, surprisingly...the Mares flinched from the noise and watched as holes appeared in the Dummy's head.

Ethan then noticed the gun was empty...he puts it back on the table and picks up the next one.

"This is actually a Rare one, this is called the Recker .44, it packs a punch, Revolvers are not something to take lightly...then again any firearm is a thing to not be taken lightly...but this is a Gun that can blow a hole in a person's head," Ethan says, he opens the cylinder mag and he takes the six bullets that were connected together and he inserts them...soon he sees the Cylinder lock the bullets into place, "Old Revolvers, you had to take out the bullets one by one and put the bullets that weren't fired...back in sometimes, later on, we had tools that could insert all six at the same time, but this one locks them so the ones that were fired will unlock from the mag and will be ejected once the cylinder is opened...this thing does have two barrels as you can see...this can fire two bullets at the same time is what I'm saying...but I switch it to only fire one bullet if I wanted to...and there is a laser pointer right in front of the trigger as well as a built-in Optical Sight."

Ethan whips the Mag back into place and clicks the hammer down and fires at the dummy...two bullets firing, making a pretty loud and fearful sound...and blowing large holes into the Mannequin's body, the Mares were astounded from the firepower...Ethan switches it to Single Fire and unloads the rest of the bullets into the Dummy, once he was done, he puts the Revolver on the table and grabs the Rifle.

"This is an Assault Rifle, it's a main Primary Weapon for many Soldiers, however, there are many different kinds of Rifles today, this is the GM85...and this is it without the attachments I have for it usually...besides the Built-In ones...this Weapon was meant for stealth missions, now this is a Full-Auto...which means the bullets continuously fire and I can just hold onto the trigger...but there are other fire modes, like Burst, which makes the Rifle fire three bullets at a time and Semi-Auto which is basically Single-Fire like the Handguns I showed you two," Ethan loads the Rifle and first single fires it, then burst fires it, then unloads the rest in Full-Auto mode...the Dummies shake as the bullets tear through them.

Ethan reloads the gun and he clicks a button on the gun's barrel...a Thick Cylinder and Tight Barrel slides out of the actual barrel and he smiles.

"This is a Suppressor, also known as a Silencer, this is the main thing many use for Stealth Missions, they render the Gun's fire and make it very quiet so no one can hear it," Ethan then slides a couple of Attachments onto the gun and he shows them...he had an Angled Grip on the underside of the barrel and a Red Dot Sight on the top side of the Rifle and he fires the weapon, it did sound quiet and such...still had the same impact on the Poor Dummies however. Ethan quickly explains the Attachment's purposes and what they do before moving on.

Ethan smiles and finally grabs the Big One...the gun's stock unfolded and the Scope rotated to the top of the Gun, the Barrel unfolds as well, turning upwards.

"This...is a force to be reckoned with...this is the EAMR-84 Sniper Rifle...this is an Energy/Bullet Weapon Hybrid," Ethan shows the mare the Black, Red, and Silver Bullet in his hand and he loads it into the gun along with the mag, he then pulls back the bolt and switches off the safety, "The Name stands for Energy Anti-Materialistic Railgun 84 Sniper Rifle...cover your ears...I highly recommend it."

The Mares do what he says and they watch as he crouches and breathes.

Ethan pulls the trigger and that same 'Voom' sound was heard along with a few sparks of Electricity coming from the Barrel...the Bullet travels straight into the Mannequin and it's head and half of its body exploded into pieces...Ethan pulls back the Bolt and the Burnt Shell ejects...as the Barrel and the shell both had small smoke come from it, the Mares uncover their ears.

"This is not something to be taken lightly, this was meant for huge infantry and can take down vehicles such as choppers with only one shot...but those don't exist here...and to answer your question, yes, this is what I used to kill the Manticore," Ethan says...smirking.

Celestia was very surprised from the heavy weaponry...and how threatening it was. She looked to her right to see Twilight with her jaw dropped.

"That is very impressive Cooper, your kind has seemed to master weaponry I guess and your kind never had to use magic...that is what impresses me even more," Celestia says.

"Thank you Celestia...now lemme show you the last thing," Ethan folds the Sniper and puts it on his back once more and puts the rest of his weapons back on him, "You can get rid of the dummies and the table by the way," He grabs two Cylinder Objects which both had a Pin with a Ring around the end along with a button, "These are Cycle Grenades...back in the day there were many kinds of Grenades...Lethal and Tactical...and there were different types of Lethals and Tacticals...but today we are able to have all at once with these...Lethal Cycles and Tactical Cycles...I don't want to use them unless you want your throne to be damaged." Ethan says.

Celestia nods at Ethan and looks as he explains the modes...he didn't pull the pin or anything but he pressed the button to cycle the modes.

"First Lethal, the first mode is Frag: it is the standard one...once it's activated, a small counter will start, and once it goes off, this will explode, so basically don't hold this in your hand while it's cooking. Second, Contact: Just like frag but once it makes contact with anything, like a wall, floor, or a person...it will immediately explode. Last is Sticky: Once it's thrown the counter will start and whatever it touches, it will stick to so if it's stuck to you while the counter is on, you're done." Ethan says, as he puts the Lethal back and takes the Tactical, "Tacticals are meant to support and not hurt the enemy but render them unless of something. First is Threat: this will highlight enemies and it'll only work if you have the helmet's visor on, which I don't...basically anyone near it will light up red and will also light up ones that are cloaked. Next is Flash: once it lands the grenade will flash anyone close to it, blinding them temporarily. Last is EMP: anything electronic will immediately shut down for a while...sadly that'll be a problem here since you rely on magic rather than Technology."

Ethan puts the Tactical back and walks up to the Mares, "Aaaand that is all folks!" Ethan chuckles and bows, "Thank you for coming to my presentation."

The two Mares clap and giggle, "Ethan, you are a very interesting being, and everything that you have on you is very fascinating." Celestia says.

"Indeed, I really like your talents and such!" Twilight says.

Ethan chuckles and does a two-finger salute.

"So, may we ask you a few questions?" Celestia asks?

"Sure."

"Earlier, you said you were a U.S. Marine, and a Staff Sergeant, what does that mean exactly?" Celestia asks.

"You have Military here yes? I mean your Guards I can guess but do you officially?" Ethan asks.

"Yes, Our Guards are the official members of the Equestrian Guard...we also have the Wonderbolts who are a Pegasus Branch and they own the skies, then there is the Equestrian Army which we never had any use for because we have not entered war in over a thousand years."

"Really now? Anyway, in my World we also had Military, I served America, my country, my home, and my land...there are five branches of our Military, there is the Army, the Navy, the Marine Corps which is what I am apart of, the Air Force, and the National Guard...and a Staff Sergeant is a pretty high rank in the Military...not like a Commander kind but basically I am a leader for my Soldiers, I command a squad and we work as a team."

"I see...were you...at war when you came here?" Twilight asks.

"Yes, we were at war with a Resistance Group called the 'Insurrectionists'...their beliefs are that today technology will end the world...what they asked themselves is, will they end with it? Their answer is no...so they plan to end the world themselves...they have caused major terror attacks against the entire world and they won't stop until they have Earth at their fingertips...and have their version of Earth become a reality...they believe if there is no one left to challenge them, there will be no more wars...It's a load of bullshit...especially since they have killed millions of innocents for their 'Vision.'" Ethan says, sighing.

"Goodness, well at least you are here now...and away from Catastrophe," Celestia says.

"Yeah, but the scars still remain...you saw my metal arm and the scar on my face right?" Ethan asks.

"Yes." Twilight answers.

"I lost my brother, and my arm while fighting them...I grabbed this scar off of a higher-up Innie...nasty cut from a blade." Ethan says.

"I-I'm sorry," Twilight says putting a hand over her mouth in shock.

"It's alright," Ethan replies.

"Anyway...if my Mother has sent you here, then I suppose you are here to protect Equestria correct?" Celestia asks.

"Yes Ma'am, I have been given a second chance for a reason, my Sense of Purpose is to Protect and Serve," Ethan says.

"Then I have something to discuss with you in private...so Twilight, you may leave...you might want to go check on Spike."

"Wait, b-but Princess--"

"Twilight, trust me...this needs to stay confidential between me and Ethan, so please, go and get some rest and visit Spike."

Twilight sighs in defeat, "Alright...I do need to check on Spike anyway, goodbye Ethan, I hope to see you again." Twilight waves and smiles.

"Later Twilight." The Throne Doors close.

"Walk with me," Celestia says as she walks through the doors on the left side of the throne room.

"What do we need to discuss Celestia?" Ethan asks.

"I must tell you right now...there is something that is coming, something dark...and Twilight is deeply involved in this," Celestia says.

"Wait, how?" Ethan asks.

"I have chosen her as my Apprentice for a reason, I saw something in her and I believe she is the key to unlocking something ancient."

"No disrespect Celestia, but how come you had Twilight leave then, she should know about this if she is to either unlock it or prevent unlocking it if it's a bad thing," Ethan says.

"Yes but this is something that I must not tell her for this is a test to see if she is truly ready...as nervous as it makes me be."

"So what is this Ancient thing?" Ethan asks.

"The Elements of Harmony."

Author's Note

Hoo, boy...this felt like it took me a while XD, anyway...this was basically a get to know Ethan type of thing and what he can do as well as a setup for the next chapter.

Also, what do you think of the weapons? I wanted to look for Futuristic Weapons that didn't exist in any Video Games or Movies basically.

Anyway, next time on Soldier, Ethan's first mission on Equestria: Travel with Twilight to Equestria for the Summer Sun Celebration.

(Confidential Objective: Locate ponies who could be the key to assist in unlocking the Six Elements, and free Princess Luna from her Prison of Darkness.)