Slipspace, en route to Equis
Banished Light Corvette "Exalted Power"

Main Hangar

As the Banished Recon Teams, consisting of three Brute Packs, their subordinate Grunts and Jackals, and a duo of Mgalekgolo Goliaths prepared themselves for landing, their leader, Pavium, looked up from sharpening his Gravity Hammer's blade with a whetstone to a datapad nearby. The pad contained Atriox's explicit orders for the Banisheds' expedition teams.

Recon the planet. Evaluate the locals and only if needed, the UNSC's presence. Report back once completed. Leave no trace behind.

Pavium gave a gruff sigh as he strode over to a Banished Phantom, currently being boarded by the first recon team, led by his pack-brother, Voridus. Pavium knew that his brother was rather...lax when it came to following orders, but Pavium trusted him, and Atriox had assigned Voridus to this task as a test of loyalty. A test that he would hopefully pass, Pavium thought, or he'll most likely meet the force of Chainbreaker's maul.

"Brother?"

Pavium turned to Voridus, who approached with a small smile.

"All teams are ready. We will arrive soon."

"Good. Do you know your orders?" Pavium questioned.

"Recon, evaluate, report. Leave no trace." Voridus replied. "And the humans only if necessary."

"Good, brother. You're learning after all." Pavium nodded. "What's our transportation?"

"Ttwo Ghosts and a Marauder." Voridus replied. "We're moving quickly, but quietly. Not sure why we need the Marauder, though. It's built for combat."

"I see your point." Pavium shrugged as they walked to the bridge. "It pays to be prepared, Voridus. We might need it in case we are detected. Which will not happen...am I clear?"

Voridus was silent, only giving a curt nod. The two Brutes entered the bridge and watched the stars fly past as the Corvette proceeded through slipspace.

====

Ponyville, outside Sweet Apple Acres
Around 10 AM

As the UNSC Pelican carrying Captain Lasky and Fireteam Crimson set itself down on the grassy terrain outside Ponyville, the Element Bearers approached to receive them.

"Hey, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight turned to her pegasus friend. "You okay? You seem tense."

"I'm fine." Rainbow replied quickly, almost too quickly. "Just a little nervous, on edge maybe."

"What about?" Fluttershy queried.

"Just thinking about stupid things." Rainbow muttered. "Nothing to worry about."

"Well, if you're worrying, it is something to think about." Applejack put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder as a supportive gesture.

"Thanks, AJ." Rainbow nodded. "Well, guess it's time."

As the Pelican bay doors opened, Lasky and the Spartans disembarked. Chris, upon seeing the natural landscape, gave a whistle of appreciation.

"What's got you so happy?" Pinkie asked.

"This place reminds me a lot of my home." Chris replied. "So, where to?"

"Would you care for breakfast?" Twilight asked.

"We'd be honored." Lasky replied. "Lead the way."

As the eleven of them returned to Ponyville, Twilight could see the other residents waking up, and a few colts from the schoolhouse passing out newspapers. As they passed, a colt offered one to Captain Lasky.

"Thank you." Lasky replied, peering at the title on the front page.

"Earthquake strikes Canterlot, alien visitors arrive soon after." he said. "Straight journalism I suppose."

As Twilight paid three bits for the paper, they returned to their walk. Chris gave a smile under his Mjolnir Recruit: Charred-Class helmet as he looked around. The town was peaceful, and in his opinion, idyllic in most terms. For the first time in a while, the Spartan-IV relaxed, exhaling a breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Chris?"

He turned to Laura, who moved up next to him.

"You good?"

"Yeah, just feeling good about being here." Chris replied. "It's nice, you know? Not having someone shooting at you on a constant basis."

"I agree, it's...refreshing." Laura admitted. "Come on, we'll get left behind."

====

As the two lagging Spartans rejoined the group, they entered Sugarcube Corner and sat down. Pinkie darted into the back to prepare a breakfast platter, while the Spartans removed their helmets.

"I must say, that helmet seems a little...scary in nature." Rarity said as he eyed Chris's helmet, which was painted in the Charred-Permutation, featuring a skull and flame patterns. "You certainly have a taste for fire."

"It's how I got my nickname." Chris replied. "You know, I've been thinking of changing it to blue at some point."

"Why blue?" Rarity asked again.

"Flame that burns blue has more heat than a red-colored flame." Chris replied. "Saw that at a university lab back on Earth when we were doing some community outreach. Unlike Majestic."

"Who's Majestic?" Twilight asked.

"Fireteam Majestic's another Spartan fireteam." Emily supplied. "They're rather...flamboyant about the role. Think of it this way. They went to Rio de Janeiro for their shore leave back before the Requiem campaign. We went to Detroit for some peace and quiet."

"I take it this Rio place is pretty lively?" Twilight asked.

"Putting it lightly, yes." David smirked. "Full of nightclubs, bars, and other nightly attractions. Detroit was more like what we wanted, as it's a quieter city."

"Wow." Applejack replied. "Since you're all soldiers, I would've reckoned that you'd like being in the action and all that."

"We do. Just not all the time." Chris smirked. Lasky merely nodded from where he was reading the newspaper he had received. Then, he raised his eyebrows.

"Something wrong, sir?" Laura asked.

"Take a look at this." Lasky replied, setting the paper down, revealing the story that had caught Lasky's attention.

"More mysterious disappearances in the northern mountains."

Another expedition to summit Mount Cleargem, north of the Crystal Empire, has gone missing. Two other teams attempting to recover rare minerals from the mountain's peak have also vanished in the same circumstances, for the third loss this month. A heavily armed Crystal Guard team reported that though the campsites of all three teams and their supplies and instruments were accounted for, the ponies in each team were all gone, with no trace left behind for the first two sites.

The Guards did manage to recover an Academy Journal from the third campsite that detailed "Strange flashes of orange" and "Glowing eyes in the dark, watching us from afar". The other pages of the journal were blurred and illegible. The Crystal Prince, Shining Armor, has promised to investigate personally should the need arise. The only evidence the ponies were even there, he continued, were piles of superheated ash found in several sleeping bags. The ash has been stored at the Empire's Archives under heavy guard for the foreseeable future.

Anypony who may be of assistance is asked to come forward to the Crystal Empire Archives.

Lasky frowned as he turned to the Spartans.

"Sound familiar?" he asked.

"It certainly does." Chris scowled. "Prometheans."

"What are those?" Pinkie asked as she returned with a piled-high platter of breakfast food.

"They're Forerunner AI specifically made for battle." Chris replied. "They were one of the hostile units on Requiem, along with Jul 'Mdama's Covenant. They could appear whenever and wherever they wanted at any time on that planet."

"Furthermore, the UNSC believes that they were once ancient and modern-day humans turned into Promethean forms using a weapon called the Composer." Laura replied. "Six months before our second campaign on Requiem, a Forerunner called the Didact attacked Earth using the Composer, turning every life-form in the city of New Phoenix into more Prometheans. The Didact was later killed by Spartan 117."

"Plus, the Promtheans use Hardlight weaponry that completely disintegrates its targets." David replied. "I'm pretty sure we know what's going on in those mountains, at least for the most part. Is there any way we can contact the rulers of this Crystal Empire?"

"They should be coming to the summit in a few days, you could ask them then." Twilight suggested.

"We'll do just that, then." Lasky nodded. "Alright, is there anything else you wished to show us?"

As the group finished up at Sugarcube Corner and exited the bakery, heading to the other side of town, Chris's brow furrowed at the thought of hostile Prometheans on Equis.

====

At the same time, the Banished Corvette exited Slipspace behind Equestria's moon, and deployed the three Phantoms carrying the Banished's recon team to the surface. As they flew towards the northern part of the Everfree, the Carrier held its position as to not alert the UNSC.

Author's Note

Update!

Next time - the UNSC and the races of Equis meet at the summit, and the Banished make landfall at the same time.