Author's Note

Note a change I'm making with the Spartans is some scars they have. If anyone has seen Terminator Dark Fate think of the scars Grace has if you want a visual of how they look.

Chapter 4

Starin at her mentor Twilight was shocked at what she'd heard how could the princess have been waiting for these warriors considering how these ponies had only just arrived only a short time ago. Slowly walking forward Twilight tried to get her attention only to be stopped by the other alicorn that gave a small shake of her head while saying in a silk-smooth voice "Everything will be explained soon." glaring at the other alicorn Twilight opened her mouth prepared to fire back only for the blue alicorn to walk away from her. Celestia looked away from the SPARTANS for a moment the group noticed that the blue alicorn had started making her way over to them, as she drew closer Celestia turned back to them her smile never wavering she said "Now I know you all are very curious about what is going on." the SPARTANS gave her a nod of confirmation she tilted her head and continued "Good but before we continue I believe the best place would be the castle of friendship."

"Sister you can't be serious !" Luna yelled slowly making her way over to them despite the injuries she had sustained during the fight she continued "Do you see what they've done to me ?"

"I am serious Luna."

"But sister-"

"Luna, I think you need to concentrate on healing versus arguing with my decisions," Celestia growled back narrowing her eyes at the younger alicorn she turned back to the SPARTANS and continued ", now let us go back to the castle and have a proper introduction." as Celestia finished the sentence she ignited her horn surrounding the appendage in a golden aura after a moment everyone's sight was filled with that very same light temporarily blinding them.

(Castle Friendship)

Blinking away the spots from his eyes Carter looked around seeing that she had teleported everyone but the guards to the castle, turning to the princess Carter was about to speak when his name was called "CARTER !"

Turning toward the voices the commander saw Glimmer, Sprinkle, and Sunny running toward the SPARTANS skidding to a stop Glimmer looked them over, smiling she saw that they appeared to be ok looking up at the commander she said "I'm glad you guys are ok, I managed to send word to Celestia." looking past the SPARTAN Glimmer noticed that three were missing from the group. Pinning her ears back a small frown came to Glimmers face as she realized that she may not have been fast enough with sending the letter to Celestia, taking note of this Carter placed a hoof on the younger mares shoulder causing her to look up he said "It's ok, the injuries were just minor they've been taken to the hospital we'll be going in to check on them in a moment."

"That's good so why are you here and not there ?" Glimmer asked as she looked around the room taking note of Princess Luna's condition, her mothers, and the fourth and unknown alicorn that was patiently waiting next to Celesita. Clearing her throat Celestia brought attention to her once again, lifting her hoof to her chest she said "I wished for a proper introduction." nodding her head Glimmer stepped back and made her way to her friends and sat with them, looking at the SPARTANS Celestia said "As you probably have guessed I am Princess Celestia of Equestria, you've met Princesses Twilight and Luna along with three of the six elements of harmony."

"We have met them," Carter said giving the three elements he knew a small nod he looked to the fourth who looked away from him sighing he continued "To those who haven't met me I'm Carter A-259 leader of Noble team."

"I'm Jorge S-052 Noble Five." The largest of the group said giving a small wave to the newcomers who smiled back looking down to Six the SPARTAN said "I'm Noble Six B-312 newest member of the team and you can call me SIx." the group of ponies eyed the SPARTAN expectedly only for him to lapse back into silence ignoring the looks given. Grunting at the lack of information the orange mare stepped forward and said "Ah'm Applejack, tha boy yah knocked out earlier was mah son Apple Gem." nodding his head Carter turned to the blue pegasus scowling at them she said "I'm Rainbow Dash captain of the wonderbolts and fastest mare in Equestria, my son was the one who attacked upfront."

"Hello darlings I'm Silk stitcher." the pearl white mare introduced herself while giving a small curtsey which was returned with small nods from the armored ponies, blushing slightly at the lack of communication she stepped away from them.

Carter then turned his attention to the mare sitting beside Celestia once again he had a nagging sensation like he had seen this mare somewhere else but couldn't place where until she spoke "It's a pleasure to see you again Noble." immediately recognizing her voice the three SPARTANS looked up at the mare. Smirking at them she stood seeing the look on her face everpony saw she was taking pleasure at shocking the elite soldiers she continued "Now before we continue I will come out and say that I am not doctor Catherine Halsey."

"Then who are you ?" Jorge asked cocking his head to the side as he sat down, chuckling the mare gave a small shrug while saying "I was a smart A.I. construct created by ONI and was programmed with all of their best hacking software Catherine Halsey's brain was used to create me.....well a cloned brain."

Taking a few steps forward the mare looked at each of the SPARTANS, pride was evident in her eyes and a smile graced her lips she waved a hoof at herself while saying "My name is Cortana, Nobles 1,3,4 and 6 had the pleasure of meeting me before Reach fell as they escorted Dr.Halsey from Sword base."

"If you're that same A.I. that Six was tasked with escorting how did you end up here ?" Carter asked a slight edge was coming to his voice too much of this didn't add up to the SPARTAN, but this didn't deter the mare shaking her head she pointed to them and said "Just like you, I had died......or the equivalent of dying for an A.I."

"So how long have you been here ?" Six asked the ex A.I. getting straight to the point smiling at the SPARTAN Cortana chuckled while saying "I knew I chose you for a reason Noble Six, but to answer your question I have been here for a little over eighty-five years."

"Eighty-five years ma'am ?"

"Yes Six......alicorns are very long-lived."

"So how did you end up on this planet ?" Six asked moving on from the information just given seemingly unshaken by the information given from Cortana who'd decided to move on also.

"That is a long story my friends and it all started after you delivered me to the Autumn....." Cortana said as she began telling the SPARTANS about her story of how she and the Master Chief had found a superweapon known as halo and the parasite known as the flood. She then told them of the covenant's invasion of the earth which lead to the discovery of more halos and installation 00 otherwise known as the arc, Noble was then informed about the uneasy alliance that was formed between the UNSC and the elites. They were then informed about how the war had been won by the UNSC and that the covenant was defeated. Standing to the side the equestrians listed with rapt attention as Cortana caught the SPARTANS up with current events, staring wide-eyed every equestrian was at a loss for words as Cortana finished her story ".......after which I managed to pull enough of me together to form a hardlight shield around John, but I don't think enough of me stayed in the area and my more unstable parts went somewhere and I appeared at Canterlot Castle."

"So the wars over we won ?" Jorge asked a small amount of disbelief in his voice at the news he'd received all three were shocked about a war they'd grown up in, a war that had shaped their very lives, and for it to finally be over only months after their deaths. The words didn't seem to be true shaking his head Carter asked "So is the covenant is gone ?"

"More or less," Cortana answered as she stood and turned activating her magic she conjured a large chart where three names were displayed turning she pointed out each section while saying ", while I was connected to the infinity I managed to find some info about splinter cells the largest being The covenant lead by Jul M'dama, next is Keepers of the one freedom lead by Castor, and finally are the Banished their leader was unknown at the time."

Looking back at his team Carter knew what each of them was thinking and at that moment he turned back ready to ask the question that plagued each of their minds when a refined voice interrupted him "Excuse me darlings but could you possibly give a bit more context in all we've just heard ?"

Turning to the speaker Carter realized it was Silk Stitcher who'd stepped forward with a hoof raised she looked at the four ponies, looking at the others gathered around Carter saw a look of curiosity and worry on each of their faces. Turning toward Cortana she simply shrugged her shoulders and said "After I appeared here I decided to explore the world and learn what I could about it and its inhabitants, I've only been back in Equestria for the last five years."

"So they don't know anything about our world ?"

"No, I haven't told them anything," Cortana said as she looked toward the ponies she merely glanced his way, that's when the SPARTAN noticed a message appear on his HUD 'I will explain why at a more private time.' taking the hint Carter said "Well if you're okay with it I an explain."

"I am commander." Cortana stated while taking a seat next to the SPARTANS who watched her nodding his head Carter was about to start his explanation when Celestia walked forward. Standing before the SPARTANS Celestia looked them over a frown finally adorning her face after so much smiling she said "Before we continue I believe it would be more comforting if we removed your armor."

Looking at her each of the SPARTANS they cocked their heads to the side confused by what she meant, Jorge cleared his throat catching the princesses attention he said "Ma'am this armor needs specific equipment and technicians, we SPARTANS are trained to take sections apart and do repairs.....but It doesn't come apart easily." chuckling the princess simply leveled her horn toward them and explained, "I know of a spell that can compress your armor."

"Will we be able to re-equip it ?"

"With only a thought," Celestia explained as she watched the SPARTANS looked between each other than back at Cortana who simply gave them a nod. Stepping forward Carter was the first to go as Celestia began activating her magic before she enacted the spell she explained "Now concentrate on a piece of your armor and that's where the rest will fold into." nodding his head Carter made up his mind and concentrated on his UA/FC-I earpiece. As the SPARTAN was enveloped in golden light the group covered their eyes it took only a few seconds before the light dissipated, uncovering their eyes the ponies looked at the commander. Carters coat color match that of his armor, his mane and tail were black, his mane was styled in a crew cut fashion, his cobalt eyes had a weary look of one who'd spent many nights without sleep, under his left eye was a scar going across his cheekbone, his body was covered in many scars but specific ones seemed surgical in nature. The younger mares blushed as they looked at Carter's body, even without his armor Carter was larger than any normal pony and unnaturally muscled in such a way one thought he was carved from marble. Looking toward his flank Carter noticed Noble team's symbol was on his flank.

Smiling down at the commander Celestia moved over to Jorge quickly casting the same spell, Jorge had decided that his armor would be compressed into his UA/BRACER gauntlet. Jorge's fur also matched his armor being a pale olive color, he had no mane and a small shadow of a beard, his tail was a dark grey, running down his right eye was a thin strip of scar tissue. Jorge's own body bared the same surgical scars as Carter but these seemed more pronounced. Rolling his shoulders they let out a massive pop as he did, his own flanks held an eagle that held arrows and lightning bolts in its talons.

Next was Six stepping before him Celestia readied the spell one last time, after a moment the SPARTAN was revealed to the others. As Six came back into view the younger mares gasped at the SPARTAN standing before them was a pony closer to their age than Jorge and Carter, his coat was a slate grey color like his armor. Six's mane and tail were a pale grey, the mane was cut just long enough for it to be slicked back, his face held multiple tiny scars that ran across his right cheek almost as if something had blown up in it. Looking down at his own flank Six saw he had the ONI symbol with knives crossed behind it, looking between each of them the ponies noted how young Carter and Six looked compared to Jorge stepping forward Glimmer asked "How old are you all ?"

"I'm 41 years old." Jorge answered as he inspected his body further, Carter looked down towards Glimmer and said "I'm 32 years old." turning to Six he was busy examining his arm realizing everypony was waiting on him Six said "I'm 23 years old."

Ignoring the looks that they were being given Carter stepped forward looking between the ponies Carter noted that most of Lunas injuries were healed cocking an eyebrow at her Carter ignored the sharp glare sent his way he asked "So where should I begin ?"

"What's this covenant you guys keep talking about ?" Sprinkled asked as she continued staring at the SPARTANS sighing Carter sat back and rubbed his eyes while saying "The covenant was a massive religious based government comprised of multiple alien species, the war started back in 2525 and before we were informed by Cortana about its ending it'd been going on till 2552. The covenant for one reason or another had decided that the entirety of humanity was an affront to their religion, so whenever they found a human inhabited world the covenant would attack it and burn it to the ground."

"The resulting war saw a loss of billions of people the closest estimated number we had at the time was thirty billion," Carter said as the words left his mouth the ponies in the room reared back at hearing the sheer number of lives lost. Gulping the first to speak was Silk stuttering out her question "H-h-how did you win ?"

"Winning wasn't something a lot of us thought about at the time," Carter said as started looking up toward the ceiling he took a deep breath before he looked back at the ponies he continued ", I do know without the SPARTANS the war would have been over long before 2552, a single SPARTAN could hold back hundreds of covenant during a single engagement. Deployment of a SPARTAN helped with morale whenever or wherever we were deployed on a battlefield *HEH* just seeing ONE of us on the field and the battle would turn to our favor almost immediately."

"You keep referring to yourselves as SPARTANS, but what does that even mean !?" Rainbow asked letting out a small snort of annoyance at the lack of explanation, this earned a glare from Carter as he said "SPARTANS are a group of selected individuals, the first program was known as S-II or SPARTAN-II which is the group that Jorge belongs too me, Six and the rest of Noble are S-III or SPARTAN-III's."

"What do you mean by selected ?"

"I mean we were specifically chosen out of a small group of individuals ONI wanted for the project which was kept secret at this time so those chosen were the best of the best, with the SPARTAN-III generation they pulled from military academies before our graduation those selected usually were seventeen to eighteen in rare cases some were sixteen, an example is me. The SPARTAN-II generation on the other hand was pulled from service extremely early in their careers the candidates chosen had either just entered boot camp or were exiting training, the candidates had to be eighteen or nineteen to be chosen for that program, an example is Jorge he was actually enlisted to join the ODST's before-"

"HORSESHIT !!!" Applejack suddenly snapped cutting the commander caught off guard by the sudden interruption he turned toward the mare, surprised by the sudden outburst the other two stood by ready for a fight as the orange mare marched up to Carter. Looking up at him she made sure to look him directly in the eye Applejack prodded the commander in the chest and growled "Yah better stop lyin right now boy we want the truth and ah know yer lyin !"

"Ma'am I am telling-"

"Carter ONI isn't here listening in on us here and I believe you want allies, not enemies." Cortana interrupted ignoring the surprised look the SPARTAN was giving her, Carter turned his gaze to the other two who nodded their head agreeing with what she had said. Rubbing his nose Carter took a breath and thought 'This isn't going to go over well at all.' Carter turned back to the group and began telling the truth "Ok I'll give you the truth, the original program was first put into action so the UNSC could fight an insurrection that they couldn't stamp out, the first generation was made up of the seventy-five six-year-olds that went through intense military training till they reached the age of fourteen. As these candidates reached fourteen they were put through an augmentation surgery......a majority of the group died from the surgery, thirty-three candidates actually became SPARTANS while the other dozen were crippled to the point they couldn’t be placed on active duty."

"That same year when the SPARTANS were put into active duty and finished their very first mission against the insurrection the covenant attacked Harvest and burned it to the ground along with almost everyone who called it home," Carter explained ignoring the dismayed looks of the ponies he continued with his explanation not waiting for any questions "Now jump to 2531 and that's when Colonel James Ackerson started the SPARTAN-III program which used war orphans from the worlds the covenant destroyed during the war, the numbers were around three hundred candidates and the program so far has had three companies Alpha, Beta, and Gamma, which had around three hundred thirty, the level of augmentation that the S-III's had done weren't as high-grade as the S-II program the performance records showed that those companies were just as effective as the previous generation.........of course there were some exceptions to that."

"Most of the S-III's out of those companies were sent on high-risk operations that were deemed too risky for S-II's." Carter said taking a small pause to catch his breath a voice finally had a moment to speak "What do you mean to high risk ?" Glimmer asked her voice sounding small to everyone's ears seeing her body language her eyes were downcast with tears forming at the corners and her ears were pinned back, frowning slightly Carter took his time as he tried to find the best answer he continued on with the truth saying "They were sent on suicide missions and from what I'm allowed to know there weren't any survivors, hell if it wasn't for Chief Mendez selecting me to lead Noble I would have been beside them."

"So how long have you all been fighting ?" Sunny days asked as tears flowed down her cheeks she looked to each of the SPARTANS who looked between each other before Carter answered "Depends on who you ask Jorge has been fighting since the very beginning starting at fourteen, I started fighting at fifteen in 2536, and Six started at thirteen in 2542, but we all have over a decade of combat experience, so any more questions ?"

"How could somepony decide to do that too children !" Luna cried out anger evident in her eyes she stood above them glaring down Carter turned to Celestia for the support he needed only to see the same anger in her eyes, closing his eyes Carter took a breath and said "Without the SPARTANS the UNSC would have fallen long ago and I can't speak for the S-II's like Jorge. BUT many of the S-III's joined to avenge their lost families and before you say any more I grew up with them, trained beside them, and watched some of them die so if anyone is allowed to feel outraged it's us."

"Now each and every SPARTAN that fought did so with pride and courage that would put your soldiers to shame. Our goal was to win as many battles as possible while protecting any and all humans we could during our engagement, during SPARTAN deployments the civilian and soldier survival rates jumped by sixteen percent. So as much as you hate what they did the results of our engagements speak for themselves, so now that I've finished with the explanation I have some questions of my own." Carter stated ending any and all discussion about the programs and the UNSC at the moment nodding her head Celestia seemed the first to calm down. Luna, on the other hand, decided to leave in a flash of purple light sighing at her sister's sudden departure Celestia said "Let's just move on for now, what questions do you have for us ?"

"Firstly you mention earlier you'd been waiting for us, what exactly did you mean by that ?" Carter asked looking over the mare remembering what had been mentioned earlier about alicorns, smirking Celestia gave a small shrug of her shoulders and said "I've been waiting for a little over five hundred years ago I had visited my old home, the castle you all appeared in I had found a journal from my mentor Starswirl the bearded. A book of prophecies that he had written nearly eighty years before his death, as I read through the book I came across a prophecy that foretold about the elements of harmony finding new hosts. This happened twenty years ago with Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow three of the six hosts chosen, now as I reached the last pages they talked about a group of warriors that would appear in a castle abandoned to time and an untamable forest these six warriors would be the greatest any nation had seen in eons and would become the protectors of the elements and strike down foes they could not."

"As I finished reading the pages a note along with a symbol was scribbled beneath the finale sentence," Celestia paused looking at Carters flank everypony followed her gaze the ponies eyes widened in shock Celestia simply continued her tale ", the note told me to destroy those pages and leave no evidence that they had ever existed and I did. After which I returned to Canterlot and waited through the decades keeping an eye out for any signs of the elements or the hosts that could use them, then eighty-five years ago Cortana appeared telling me of her past I thought she was the surest sign you would appear after which the elements found their newest hosts twenty years ago they found six mares three of which stand before you."

"Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow dash became new hosts for those elements, Twilight was the element of magic, Applejack the element of honesty which is how she was able to call you out commander, and finally Rainbow dash who was the element of loyalty there are three others you'll meet at a later time," Celestia paused her explanation gaging the SPARTANS reactions seeing their stoic looks she continued ", but you never appeared the girls fought many foes, brought down tyrants, imprisoned evil spirits, expelled users of dark magic, and helped rehabilitate those they deemed worthy and during their fifteen-year campaign you never appeared."

"I kept a watchful eye over the world looking for your symbol but nothing came about and Cortana would send me the occasional update about the world and warriors we hoped would be you. But then the elements found new hosts five years ago these new elements were the children of the previous holders, so when they suddenly changed owners I contacted Cortana and had her quickly return home," Celestia paused looking at the four young mares in the room Carter followed her gaze already realizing where she was going with her statement he sat down while Celestia continued ", Glimmer Dust is the newest element of magic, Silk Stitcher the element of kindness, Sunny Days is the element of generosity, Sprinkle Delight the element of laughter, Cloud splitter the element of honesty and finally is Apple gem the element of loyalty."

"These new elements have been active for around five years so I called Cortana back home to equestrian and we began searching again using high-level scrying spell, physical searches, spies, and any means to find you or something that could lead us to you. But fate had other plans for you six as we didn't feel the magic pulse in Canterlot and before we left, which doesn't really make much sense considering the pulse had enough energy to damage windows and buildings while the light generated has temporarily blinded ponies that happened to see it."

"What light ?" Carter asked cocking his head to the side curious about what their arrival looked like exactly considering the SPARTANS were unconscious for it, smiling at the commander Celestia turned to Twilight and said "The local guards said it was a bright blue light that seemed fall from the sky and was only visible for a second moment, now when the light hit the ground it resulted in a massive explosion that generated a blue ball of light that seemed to stay in the forest, of course, the shockwave didn't stay in the area and damaged the town."

"Now before we continue I believe we have given the rest Noble and the element of loyalty enough time to recover, so I believe we should make our way over to the hospital." Celestia finished looking down at the SPARTANS she noticed a concerned look come to their faces frowning at this Celestia asked "What's wrong ?"

"During the explanation, I forgot to ask but did you send all of Noble to the hospital ?" Carter asked as concern was evident in his voice taking not of that Twilight was the first one to step forward asking "Yes we did, why do you ask ?"

"Oh boy." Jorge muttered as he placed his face into his hoof trying to avoid eye contact with the group while Six simply shook his head as the ponies turned their confused looks to him seeing if he had an answer.

"We better get down there ASAP." Carter said his tone becoming serious as his eyes hardened looking between each other Twilight and Celestia did as the commander instructed and helped get the group down to the hospital immediately.