Second chance: Noble

(Seven Months Later)

Sitting in the bay Carter looked over at the rest of Noble team Six and Emile seemed to be catching up on some sleep, Jun was playing a game of twenty questions with Jorge and Kat was putting her newly acquired tablet through its paces as she ran system checks on the teams MJOLNIR armor along with combing through files gifted to her by Cortana. Hearing a soft chirping in his ear placing a hoof against it a voice spoke clearly "Commander we are coming up to Fort Armor, ETA is ten minutes Princess Twilight and Captain Unyielding Guard are waiting for you."

"Thank you, Air Man," turning to Noble Carter motioned for them catching their attention he relayed the message nodding they began the preparations for departure, it didn't take long for the jet to reach its destination. Feeling the small jolt of the landing Noble lined up watching as the door went down, they filed out seeing both the Princess and Captain waiting for them. Making their way over the Princess noted they were all wearing some new uniforms with dark and light gray squares in a camo pattern they each wore caps covering their eyes, smiling at the team she spoke "Noble it's good to see you, I hope the flight was well."

"Yes ma'am, this jet would give the Pelicans back home a run for their money." Carter said looking over his shoulder at the ship a XFB-97 otherwise nicknamed Harpies, turning back to the princess he motioned to his team "So where do we need to be going? my teams anxious to get started."

"Commander if you'll follow me I'll show your team to their bunks," the Captain spoke up turning to him Carter noted him, he was wearing a military uniform with his rank on the collar and multiple ribbons adorning his chest, he was a dark blue pony with a gray mane and tail his voice reminded Carter of Mendez deep and full of authority ", once your settled we'll meet in the planning room and go over you routes and duties."

"Understood sir." Carter said giving the captain a salute, returning it he turned and began showing the team the garrison starting with their rooms and working from there. They were shown the armory, mess hall, gym, training grounds, and vehicle bays as they toured the base Carter was getting a familiar sense of deja vu as he was once again reminded of home. As they reached the meeting room Noble took the seats set at a large wooden table watching the Captain and Princess walk to the front, they stood on either side of a large screen the first to speak was the Captain as the lit up showing the layout of Ponyville along with highlighted routes that had to be Nobles patrol patterns pointing to the pattern he said "I want you six to memorize these routes they are yours and only yours, as you can see it looks like the standard guard route but it will primarily focus you on the college you'll be stationed their and patrol their through out your shifts."

"We will try to rotate you six and have you patrol in the standard groupings of two," looking them over the captain shook his head and continued ", but I doubt the residents will see you as average guards, and you all know that, upside is I think the punks that cause trouble will start thinking double about doing anything when they see you."

"Yeah, I bet." Emile said with a smirk as he remembered chasing off anti UNSC civilians mostly boys trying to impress crushes only to be sent home with an M.P. escort and soiled pants. Knowing exactly what Emile was thinking Carter shot him his best 'be on your best behavior' glare only to be shrugged off sighing Carter asked "If we do run into any trouble makers what's standard procedure when dealing with trouble makers?"

"If you see them and can detain them you just turn them over to the local P.D. but if they escape, you'll file a report and the locals will take it from there. You aren't cops so you aren't required to do anything the guards main duty is to help uphold the peace and protect the civilians if any enemies of our fine country come knocking." the Captain finished looking over the SPARTANs getting a yes sir from them, smiling at the he motioned for the Princess to take over smiling at him Twilight stepped forward to take over "Now I know many of you are eager to take over but many of us have discussed the usage of your armor while patrolling and despite how......comfortable you are in it we think it'll be best if you don't don it-"

"Wait a second," Jun spoke up cutting princess Twilight off and catching the others attention ignoring the looks he continued "I get our armor is not standard issue, but you expect us to just waltz around town in our uniforms or at best Cortana's standard issue for your troops?"

"Yes, Jun your much larger and more intimidating than even our most seasoned guards so you will put the citizens of my town on edge, adding your armor to that will only have them scared and we don't need that." Twilight said staring the SPARTAN down he smirked while asking "Is that the only reason?"

"No," turning to the captain Twilight gave him a small look seeing this he turned and left the room once he was gone Twilight ignited her horn incasing them room in a purple hue along with creating a bubble around them all before continuing ",I know that you six will be sent on covert missions against the GCP and one thing is if you are somehow seen by a survivor and they report back to anypony you'll be instantly recognizable, your physique can be a giveaway but proving it's you in that armor will be impossible. So, while you're in Ponyville you'll adorn specially designed uniforms that will be part of a special branch of the guards brand new and specifically created for you by the princesses and Cortana, of course that armor won't be much different in looks but there will be an insignia for the local guards to see."

"Good to know, was just testing you Princess Twilight." Jun said bowing his head and sitting back down he looked between his team sighing Twilight said "I figured as much, testing to see how component we are as leaders?"

"Sorry about the subterfuge ma'am, but we just wanted to make sure that we weren't following...... less qualified individuals." Carter stated watching as the purple glow disappeared from the room, smiling at this Twilight looked toward the door igniting her horn once again possibly alerting the captain who reentered the room she said "I understand commander, but you don't have to worry you'll be in good hooves."

"Now as eager as the six of you are to start I think it'll be best you spend the day touring the town and getting your bearings, along with meeting the locals. That's an order by the way that both Cortana and I agreed upon, your duties won't start till tomorrow and the folders that will be waiting in your bunks will detail your groups and schedule for the next few weeks." Twilight finished this by turning one last time to the captain to hand over the reins to him one last time as she left the room she wished the team luck, watching her go Noble each looked to each other a little annoyed by the forced R and R seeing the Captain started "I know you six want to get started but the princess has a point so here are my orders for the day, scout the town learn the ins and outs so you can better patrol and defend it. The mane six have trackers you'll be able to follow with your new helmets, they know about the trackers and have been told not to mess with them, so find them talk to them if you want but try your best to mingle before the party."

"Party, sir?" Jorge asked a small look of confusion adorning his face smirking at this the captain began to speak "Yeah a local here is gonna throw a block party at 6:00pm sharp it a welcome to Ponyville party, didn't want the six of you to be caught off guard so when you show up be on your best behavior. You'll meet some of the local guards off duty along with specific locals."

"Yer talkin about the parents of those kids."

"Yes, I am Jorge and they are keen on meeting you six." Unyielding said the smirk still adorning his face he slowly walked out of the room finishing the meeting with "Alright Noble get out there and meet the town, I want you to know it better than the back of your hooves by the time your due back."

"Yes sir." the six said in unison as he left once the door closed the six looked between each other and started discussing two pony teams, it didn't take long Six would be with Jorge, Emile with Carter, and Kat with Jun. Leaving the room they b-lined to the vehicle bay and check out two Ursa's, they were dark gray vehicles built to carry a driver, passenger and gunner along with being designed to drive fast and run over or through any obstacle without a single problem. The two checked out were civilian designed so guards without their own transportation could drive into town but they still had the powerful engine and the intimidating look, it didn't take them long to reach the town as they exited the vehicles Carter turned to Kat and said "Ok Kat give me the locations of our charges and we'll split up."

Nodding her head Kat pulled out her tab quickly tapping away at it she looked over the map and said "Commander it looks like Silk and Cloud are together at a local bar called Twisted Berry, Glimmer is in the park with Gem by the north edge of the pond and Sunny is with Sprinkle at a bakery called Sugar cube corner."

"Ok, teams are changing find your charge meet with them and see how their doing and then get to walking around the town." Carter stated looking toward Emile he gave a direct order "Emile best behavior!"

Rolling his eyes Emile turned and left with Six to head toward the bakery glaring at the departing SPARTAN Carter turned to Jorge and they left for the lake, turning to each other Jun asked "So Kat you up for a drink?"

"Please like you've ever had a drink in your life."

"First time for everything so let's see what this town has to offer." Jun said shrugging his shoulders with a small smirk on his face shaking her head Kat turned and began walking toward the bar, as the SPARTANs walked through they defiantly stood out every pony would stop and stare. Besides their size and physique Jun was quick to notice that a majority of the ponies were nude some wore normal clothes but a lot of ponies were naked excluding the two super soldiers, sighing he thought 'this world gets stranger and stranger.'

(Twisted Berry)

"And then he's waking up taped to the ceiling going 'that was the greatest night ever!'" Cloud finished the story about the after party when they had won nationals at the end the table of five erupted into laughs, Silk was sitting next to the QB for Ponyvile U Wild Eye. The bar was lively as usual everypony was either talking or gossiping about their daily lives all while having a good time shaking her head Silk said "I still can't believe you all went that hard at a party."

"Well Silk if you'd joined us at the game you coulda joined." a mare said as she stared dreamily at Cloud while the other mare beside her giggled at him, all the while he ate up the attention they were giving him, sighing Silk began explaining again to her why she had missed the game. Turning the QB started talking to Cloud taking his attention away from the mares he said "Well we wouldn't have been able to have that party if you hadn't made that catch."

"Pffft that was a small part, it was all you my pony." Cloud said clasping hooves with him but the two soon noticed that the bar had become as silent as a tomb chuckling Cloud looked around and called out "Whoa who killed the.........vibe."

Standing at the entrance were two of the largest and most intimidating ponies in history and Cloud recognized both of them Kat and Jun were back wearing the guard fatigues, scanning over the crowd they seemed to be looking for him and Silk looking passed Cloud Silk also saw them. Staring wide eyed one of the mares whispered "Holy Celestia their massive!" almost like they heard the whisper both the ponies locked onto the table they were at. Walking through the crowd the entire bar followed them not daring to move or breathe for fear of what these ponies would do, reaching the table Kat looked it over and as her eyes passed over the ponies they immediately looked down at the table avoiding her gaze. Licking her lips Silk put a smile on her face she asked "Kat darling it's so good to see you and Jun, how have you been?"

"Good," looking around the bar Kat motioned for Jun to walk around, nodding his head he turned and began moving through the patrons trying his best too look like he was trying to find seat, turning back Kat continued "We're just checking up on you and Cloud."

"Uh...yes darling as you can see we're doing good," Silk said meeting the gaze of the SPARTAN she motioned to the group and began introducing them "Kat I'd like you to meet a few of our friends the stallion is Wild Eye, across from me is Cherry Blossom and her twin Orchid." nervously the three ponies waved to Kat who simply stared back feeling how awkward it was getting Silk pressed on "How about you and Jun join us for a meal and some drinks, on me of course."

"No, we're good," turning Kat saw Jun heading toward the exit giving her a small nod looking between the two ponies Kat said "Just stopping by and before we go Carter wants us all to have a sit down individually and talk so contact us if you want to talk." turning Kat left without giving the Silk a chance to talk again watching them go the bar slowly found its voice again but all it could discuss were the two ponies who just left.

Sitting back Silk took a deep breath trying her best to calm herself looking between her and Cloud their friends tried to find their voices the first finding it was Orchid asking "Silk who were those ponies?" turning to her Cloud answered in Silks stead taking a deep gulp of beer before saying "Those were SPARTANs and their our guardians."

(Ponyville Park)

Lying beside the shore snuggled together both Apple and Glimmer were enjoying the day together Apple had the day off from the farm and Glimmer had asked for time away from the castle. Staring across the pond at a young group of foals and changelings playing with each other a small frown graced Glimmers face as a flash from Carters past came to memory, the bodies of young individuals packed away in a ships belly. Looking down at his fillyfriend Apple saw her concern leaning down he nuzzled the side of her face and asked "How you feelin'?"

"I'm scared, the nightmares are still coming and........"

"And?"

Remembering what the doctor said last time about sharing these nightmares with ponies she cared about Glimmer took a breath trying to calm herself after a few moments she finally felt ready and began to speak slowly "I I see our home falling a war burning everything to the ground by those monsters, everypony is gone. Noble, the princesses, and our home burned to the ground with only ash remaining and the dream always ends with me being killed by one of the aliens. It's always different places and times but it all ends the same we all die and our world is burned to its roots leaving nothing behind."

Bringing her close to him Apple gave her a small kiss trying to calm her down Apple thought back to his own session from earlier in the week, rubbing her back he tried to find the right words but only found silence. But this seemed to be the right thing to do after a few moments Glimmer did manage to calm down and soon after that she began to talk again, this time the conversation was concentrated on the new technology Cortana just introduced to the world chuckling at this Apple was about to cut her off and give his own views on the increasing number of technological advancements being brought to the world when a throat was cleared behind them. Turning around they saw both Carter and Jorge looking down at the two love birds, jumping up Glimmer raced over toward Carter wrapping her hooves around his neck she said "Carter your back!"

Standing stunned Carter gently removed the young mare from his neck looking down at her he said "Yes we just arrived this morning, we're just checking on all of you."

"Oh! Well we're doing good." looking back between Apple and Carter Glimmer gave the commander a sheepish smile looking around the park Carter noted that most of the children were staring at the stallions wide eyed. Looking back at Glimmer and Apple Carter said "Last thing if you two need to talk to us individually contact us and we'll set up a talk.'

"Wait why can't we do it now?" Glimmer asked staring up at Carter sighing he looked for Jorge's support only for him to shrug his shoulders shaking his head in annoyance he looked back down at the mare and said "If you want to talk we can, but I'd like to walk around the town as we do." looking back at Apple she gave him an apologetic look smiling at her Apple nodded his head. Seeing this Carter began to walk away with Glimmer sticking to his side already breaking the ice, watching the two walk off toward the town Apple turned toward the massive SPARTAN only to catch him staring at him while saying "Still have to see the town, you want to talk follow me."

With that said he turned around and started toward town with the young apple following right behind him after all he's been planning out what he's wanted to talk about with him for the last four months. As they made their way through town Apple Gem began to talk and question the SPARTAN getting to know him better and what his old world was like along with gaining a bit of closure and help with the uneasy nights he has had since witnessing his past.

(Sugarcube Corner)

Running around the shop Sprinkle and Sunny were helping out the Cakes and Pinkie with the lunch time rush, taking orders and bringing out food. Every once in a while, they'd dip into the back and help out the kitchen with cooking or baking. But all this was brought to a stop when one of the customers decided to be rude grabbing Sprinkle by the arm, he was a large earth stallion she recognized from one of her science classes along with a couple of his buddies. Smiling at her he looked the mare over slowly while saying "Hey Sprinks how're you today?"

"Um I'm a little busy," looking around for help Sprinkle saw a couple of customers looking away while the others seemed to be occupied with the other customers trying to pull away she said "I should go, we're really busy."

"C'mon they've got it covered," pulling her closer his friends snickered whether it was at her expense or how desperate he seemed, but they didn't do anything to stop him as his grip seemed to tighten ", so c'mon we're all friendly here right?"

Looking around for help again Sprinkle tried her best to rip her arm out of his grasp but couldn't as panic began to rise in her chest something flew passed her face and slammed into the stallions. Letting go of her arm he grabbed at his face letting out a string of curses as he looked for whoever threw the......balled up spoon? Staring at the useless utensil Sprinkle slowly backed away from the table and found herself bumping into Sunny seeing her concerned look she was about to speak when the stallion yelled out "Who the fuck threw this at me!"

Stepping out of the booth he puffed himself up as much as possible ready to fight whoever hit him glaring down at the customers in the residence, making her way around the counter Mrs. Cake was about to take care of the situation when two monsters of stallions stepped up. The first of the two had a small sneer on his face as he stared down the stallion he slowly walked up to him while he snarled "I did you little bitch, what're you gonna do bout it?"

"You.....you don't know w-w-who your dealing w-w-with!" the stallion stammered back looking to his friends who just stared back wide eyed at the heavily scarred stallion and his friend, gulping they slowly shook their heads motioning for their friend to back down. Growling at them he whipped back to the stallion who stared down the boy his gaze unwavering and looking like he was ready for a fight, licking his lips the stallion asked again "Do you know who-"

"I don't fucken care," the stallion snapped back moving toward the stallion watching wide eyed Sprinkle and Sunny were about to step in when the other one placed a wing in front of them stopping their advance reaching the younger stallion the larger one continued "You just tried assaulting a national heroine we've been put in charge of, now I'm goin to give you two fucken options. Option one you apologize to her and leave the place and never come back or option two you do something stupid I break a few of your bones and send you to the hospital and you get to eat outta a tube for the next few months."

Backing away from him the younger stallion looked at him wide eyed his tone and stance he knew that he was serious licking his lips he looked down at his hooves then back at the stallion, who motioned for him towards Sprinkle turning to her he gave a meek apology before scurrying off with his friends right behind him. Watching them go Emile and Six looked towards each other tilting his head Emile sent a silent signal nodding his head Six turned and went towards the counter to make a call, walking over to the mares Emile looked down at them and asked "You two know their names?"

"N-no Emile," looking toward the door they just left Sprinkle took a deep breath "I have class with one of them and we've talked."

"First time he do this?"

"Yes, what're you gonna do?" Sprinkle asked looking up at Emile turning away from her he looked toward Six who gave him a nod looking down at the mare Emile said "Nothin' we've reported him and with our standin with the government and your princesses that boys gonna have eyes on him for life but if he does anything we'll take care of it."

Looking between each other Sprinkle and Sunny were wondering what the entailed exactly considering that they knew about the SPARTANs, but those thoughts were quickly derailed when Mrs. Cake slowly walked up to the group of four ponies clearing her throat she squeaked "U-u-um excuse m-me?"

"Yes ma'am?" turning Six looked down at the mare as she quivered under his watchful gaze almost looking like she was about to pass out Six looked around the diner putting tow and two together he asked "Would it be ok if my associate and I sat down for some breakfast?"

"Uh y-yes of c-course!" Mrs. Cake blurted out motioning to the now empty booth behind them, sliding into the booth both ponies looked up at mare both asking for black coffee and some eggs with bacon smiling at the two she turned and went back toward the kitchen to get the orders. Looking around the cafe Emile saw that everyone was still staring at them sighing he turned to the girls and said "We'll stick around to eat but we gotta walk the town and get our bearings. The commander also wanted us to tell you girls that if you want to talk to us one on one just let us know and we'll sit down with ya."

Smiling the two nodded at the stallions before getting back to work helping the cafe catch up on orders and checking customers, watching them work the two SPARTANs looked out the picnic watching ponies pass by and mentally mapping out the area figuring out sniper positions and choke points. But from what they could see was any kind of full-on assault would level most of this town leaving nothing behind and they soon started conversing on where the best defenses could be set up in case of an assault along with the evacuation routes, the conversation lasted until the food and coffee was finished. As they left the restaurant the two stallions gave small goodbyes to their wards along with the owners.

(4 hours later)

Walking toward the campus square of Ponyville University Carter and Jorge had just finished walking through the building memorizing the fastest routes to and from the classrooms, hearing hoofsteps to his left he and Jorge turned to see Six and Emile walking up to them giving a small nod. Nodding back, he looked around trying to find Kat and Jun only for the later stallion to come soaring in landing in front of the group turning to everyone Jun said "Sorry Commander Kat got caught by Silk she wanted to talk, was pretty adamant."

"I understand, me and Jorge had a sit down with our wards," turning to Emile and Six he tilted his head toward them only to get small shakes signaling that they hadn't talked to theirs sighing he continued "the party is at six so we have another three hours I propose we head back to base and go over our routes and town blueprints."

Looking between each other the SPARTANs gave a small nod agreeing to the plan as they walked off Carter commd Kat after a moment she picked up "Commander?"

"Kat just was letting you know we're heading back to base to debrief on our.......tour."

"I understand.......I'll be there in twenty."

"Understood Noble 2." Carter cut the comm and began following Noble to the truck so they could drive back to the base, walking beside them they brought the team up to speed.

(Kat and Silks location)

Pulling the comm away from her ear she turned to face the young mare she had chased both her and Jun down after a half hour and practically dragged Kat off to talk about the visions and her past and talk they did Silk had seen all her life and wanted to know everything. So, they had went off toward her family's boutique so Silk and her could take in private taking a seat in the back room and after nearly a half hour of talking the conversation had slowly died and lead to an awkward silence that was interrupted by Carter calling her looking down at the other mare Kat said "I have to go Silk, you good?"

"I'm getting there Katherine," looking around Silk licked her lips and took a breath before asking "But before you go may I ask you something?"

"Of course."

"During the seven months you six were away training me and my friends discussed what we had been shown and it took time for us to all open up but one day Cloud talked about what he saw with Jun and well.........."

"What?"

"Jun said something about SPARTANs never stop and it made us all wonder would you ever stop fighting? What are your plans here we aren't exactly at war or going to war there are rumors but nothing concrete, and you all being guards doesn't exactly make-"

"Silk that's enough what you need to know is we're here to protect this world and yes we are guards because there isn't a war regardless of whatever rumors are floating around, but what you need to know is yes as SPARTANs we don't give up and we don't stop until the job is done. Due to this fact it was Celestia's idea that we be enrolled into the guard to keep us active and not sitting on our hooves doing nothing." pausing Kat took a small breath remembering the story that the princesses had invented for them to talk about with their charges, once her thoughts were in order she continued "As SPARTANs we were our militaries best and brightest constantly fighting and being shipped from one planet to another, so adapting to civilian life is nearly impossible. Your princesses are giving us all a chance at being guards and have told us they intend on helping us adapt to your world, they know just as much as you know us adapting to civilian lives is a pipe dream."

After the final word left Kats mouth, she stared down at the much shorter mare for a moment before giving her a curt nod and staying they could meet and talk at the party as she had to go back to base to talk with the rest of her team. As walked through the store Kat felt multiple eyes on her including a set of a young mare the same age as herself all were staring up at her, giving a stiff nod she continued heading out the store and through town. Hearing the uneasy voices of the towns folk all she thought 'Wonder how long this will go on for?'

(Party time)

Standing in front of large crowd Noble had just been introduced to the town by Mayor Ivory Scroll and Princess Twilight as the newest guards to the town and it was also noted they were brought by the bright beam of light from a few months ago. Questions were asked and answered in quick succession and with practiced precision that left the crowd in a stunned silence including the Princess once the Mayor found her voice she quickly got the party going and soon everypony dispersed throughout the small block eating, drinking and mingling, looking between each other Noble weren't exactly sure on how to go about joining the party but were soon goaded by Twilight at joining the party. Walking through the block they soon separated into groups of two's once again and began walking through the town, seeing all the food and drinks being passed around one surprising fact that Noble came to learn after joining this world is that ponies are actually omnivorous creatures so they didn't need to change their diets at all.

This was quickly seen by a number of ponies when Jun and Six walked up to a stand grilling various meats and vegetables ordering a massive amount of food that would have fed a family of six ponies that hadn't eaten in a week. Grabbing the food and some drinks the two sat down at an unoccupied table digging into their food and enjoying the Flavors of civilian food, looking around Jun noted a few foals were staring at them with wide eyes but remained quite a distance away from them whispering between each other. Shaking his head Jun quickly buried his muzzle his burger savoring the taste he hated that this would be one of the few times he could enjoy civilian food, Six on the other hand seemed to only want to finish the food not savor it. But the two stallions soon found them face to face with four ponies one was quickly recognizable as Rainbow Dash but the other three were a mystery clearing her throat Rainbow said "Six, Jun we would like a moment of your time to talk."

Looking between each other the SPARTANs were silent taking that as a sign to join them the group sat down stallion next to Rainbow was a gold Pegasus stallion with a silver mane and gold eyes, he was wearing some kind of blue and gold unitard the same as Rainbows. Next up was a yellow pegasus mare with a short cut pink mane and forest green eyes she was wearing a type of sundress with butterfly patterns sown into the hem, standing next to her was a brick red unicorn stallion with orange eyes that sat behind a pair of glasses and mane that was short and slicked back he wore a collared blue shirt and black pants. As they took their seats the two SPARATNs continued to eat once they were sat Rainbow pointed between the ponies "The one wearing matching outfits with me is my husband Bolt Striker across from me is Fluttershy and her husband Polanium."

"Nice to meet you three." Jun said before shoving a hoof full of fries into his mouth while Six thoughtfully chewed on a cheese steak seemingly ignoring them Fluttershy gave an awkward smile before speaking "So I take it you know why we're here?"

"Yes, the captain and Princess Twilight explained you all wanted to talk to us."

"Well yes we just have some concerns." Fluttershy said looking toward her friends and husband seeing this Jun shrugged his shoulders and said "So what concerns are there?"

"Well, it's just from what we were told your past is......complicated." as she slowly turned scanning the crowd before looking back at the SPARTANs sighing Jun rubbed his eyes while thinking 'Cortana had to be right.' taking a bite out of his burger he said "That it is."

"Right," licking her lips Fluttershy looked between her compatriots who gave nods of encouragement she continued "We need to know what you'll do to protect our children."

Looking between each other the two super soldiers knew how to answer but had a gut feeling that it wouldn't be enough for them, taking the reins for this one Six stopped eating for a moment and began to speak confidently "Ms. Shy we'll do anything and everything to protect your daughter NOTHING will be able to get passed us. SPARTANs are the best of the best and we'll show you just that, we'll be unbreakable shields that will never buckle we're stronger and faster than even your most exceptional guards. Simply put with us protecting your kids hell itself could invade tomorrow and they'd live to talk about it."

Staring at the SPARTANs the ponies felt the truth behind his words and looked between each other but after a moment the first to speak was Bolt Striker "Well I for one am glad to hear that, so how bout we start winding down and uh get to know each other?"

Giving small nods the soldiers didn't really know what to discuss with the civilians but hopefully the conversation they could have wouldn't be too awkward but then again SPARTANs didn't really have a form of social life, so the conversation would more than likely be one sided.

(Jorge and Kat)

Standing behind the mare Jorge stared over her shoulder as the SPARTAN lobbed a ball against the bottles quickly toppling them over to the horror of the shop keep, smirking the Kat grabbed the final grand prize from the top tossing it to an awaiting foal. Sighing Jorge nudged his squad mate trying to get her to leave the stall alone as she had nearly wiped out the prizes, looking toward Jorge he shook his head at her sighing Kat turned back to the stall owner and said "Play nice or I'll be back."

Nodding his head franticly the two SPARTANs walked off perusing the town and taking in the sights trying their best to relax, despite the fact that these two were shipped from battlefield to battlefield and couldn't remember the last time they had any actual shore leave or down time. But they tried their best to do what normal soldiers do during shore leave but were failing miserably due to lack of social skills, stepping out of the crowd Jorge and Kat sat at a bench and began to watch ponies pass by. Until they were approached by the families of the children they were protecting, Applejack walked ahead of two other ponies who were dressed very smartly the mare had her purple mane pulled up and styled in a way that framed her facial features. She wore a white blouse with black trousers while next to her was a turquoise mare with light pink hair she wore a red jacket over a simple black shirt with red trousers, stopping in front of them Applejack was the first to speak "We've been lookin everywhere for ya'll, ah'd like to introduce you to Rarity and her wife Lilac Shadow."

Looking over the two soldiers Rarity couldn't help but grimace at Kats simple military fatigues she was a beautiful mare and should be wearing something to show off that beauty, but she pushed passed that today wasn't about fashion they needed to talk to the SPARTANs and get to know them. Looking between them Rarity did have to apologize to her daughter though when she had first described the two super soldiers, she had thought her daughter was heavily exaggerating their appearances but standing before them she definitely felt small clearing her throat she said "If you two are comfortable we would like to talk with you."

"Of course, we don't have much else to do." Jorge answered for the both of them getting a annoyed look from his younger comrade, motioning away from the crowd as they walked away Rarity tried to strike a conversation up with the two only for it to not get to far.

As the group got further away from the crowd Kat noticed a shift in Lilac and Applejacks body and facial features, taking a breath she knew some type of show was about to happen. After a moment Lilac was the first to speak out of the group her accent had a French accent "To cut to the chaze, we have a few questionz when it comes to our foals."

"Shoot." Kat said looking at the woman with a bored expression she sat on her haunches and stared down at the mare smirking at her Lilac pressed "We are concerned that you will dizrupt their social lifez and schooling."

"As you have been informed we are permitted to lay eyes on your children when on patrol that does not mean we will actively butt into their lives simply to disrupt it," Kat rolled her neck letting out a series of pops before continuing "Our job is to protect them and keep them safe not to keep them from being social, as long as they aren't being disruptive or stupid you shouldn't see us too much."

"Well the concern iz justified." Lilac said taking on a motherly tone and glaring up at the huge mare not quite realizing that said mare could possibly pitch her across the fair grounds. Taking a breath Kat looked up to Jorge for him to take over noticing this he spoke "And we understand your concern ma'am, you have nothing to worry about. It's as my comrade said we're here to keep them safe not distract them, there's a good chance that they won't even notice us when we do come by to check on them we'll slip by, and they'd be none the wiser."

Staring up at the mammoth sized stallion the mothers gave each other a look showing skepticism of these soldier's ability to be stealthy after a moment Applejack began talking "Ah guess we'd have to take your word fer it, yah know how often yah'll be in town?"

"So far we're on a rotation......for security we can't tell you how often or what our routes look like." Jorge stated using his authoritative the same one he used when detaining the vandalizers on Reach, seeing the uneasy looks the mothers were giving Kat sighed and said " The goal is to be as random and unpredictable as we can be, if something were to happen with your children or an attack happen the.......ponies wouldn't know who to expect out of Noble Team. It's a sound strategy and one that will play into our favor if such an unfavorable outcome were to happen."

Hearing this the mares looked into the SPARTANs eyes seeing that they wouldn't be getting much more out of them the group soon tried to change the subject to something else but the subject that Rarity and Lilac had chosen talking about growing up and the difficulties they'd had even trying to get the soldiers to open up, but hadn't been informed about the soldiers past and their own foalhoods. But as Rarity went on she soon realized that they hadn't been talking all that much pausing she looked to the SPARTANs and asked "Now you two haven't said much about your foalhood, what can you tell us?"

"Yes, we'd love to hear about it." Lilac chimed a small smile coming to her face as she looked between the two giants waiting for their response, chuckling to himself Jorge looked down at Kat and raised an eyebrow seeing the look Kat shrugged her shoulders and looked around the area before casting a privacy spell around the five of them. Raising a quizzical eyebrow Lilac was about to ask about the spell only for Applejack to place a hand onto her should while she slowly shook her head the look on her face was the same as the one she had when granny passed away, clearing his throat Jorge began "I have come to terms with my childhood and the hardships I've faced I want you to know that before we begin."

"And I chose this path for vengeance." Kat stoically answered and after a moment of confused silence the two SPARTANs started to talk about their up bringing, as their stories came to a close both mares stared at them horrified by what they had gone through. Seeing this Applejack was the first to speak "Ah didn't realize what all they'd gone through specifically growin up, but this is what ah wanted to talk about before ya'll met."

Raising an eyebrow at her Kat was about to asked when the southern accent cut her off "It was gonna be private with Twi, until now only me, Twi, and Rainbow had know, but we planned to talk to Fluttershy, Rarity and Pinkie with their spouses at the castle.......but we never got the chance."

Sighing Kat excused herself to com the commander and let him know about the situation hoping he could pass the info to the others before they stepped into the same pile they had done that.

(Carter and Emile)

Placing a hoof to his ear Carter listened to his second in command as she caught him up scowling a bit he asked, "So there are still a few ponies who don't know?"

"Yes sir."

"Ok get in touch with Six and Jun and tell them not to talk, I'll talk to the Princess." Carter looked back at Emile as he held his breath trying to keep calm as Pinkie, her husband and Twilights twins tried their best to make him laugh seeing the vein popping in his head Carter said "Noble Leader out."

Walking up Carter was about to speak when a regal voice spoke from behind him "I believe Emile has had enough everypony."

Turning to the voice Carter saw Twilight and her wife Fizzlepop standing there looking at them all letting out a small breath Carter was glad she showed up when she did, hearing some shuffling Carter looked back toward Emile as the young filly did her best to slide off his back. Landing on the ground unsteadily she looked up to the massive stallion he continued to look forward groaning she said "Awwww mom we almost got him to laugh." pointing to his reddening face she turned wearing a confident look on her face and said "See he was so close to laughing."

Nodding her head Twilight coaxed her children into leaving with a sitter allowing them all to talk about more serious matters and giving the stallions a bit of breather walking away Emile let out a small breath his face slowly losing its red color. Letting out his own relieved sigh Carter turned to Twilight and gave a small nod of thanks she had asked to meet them at the park but hadn't planned on running into her children. Taking a breath Carter looked back at Pinkie Pie who was currently kissing her husband, clearing his throat he spoke "Princess Twilight I've just been informed by Noble Two about a concern."

"Concern?"

"Yes ma'am......apparently some of the children's parents weren't fully informed about our past."

"I take it they were just told?" Twilight slowly said looking nervously between the Pies and Carter noticing this Carter sighed and nodded his head while saying "Yes, I was also told you were planning on doing it here. But you didn't have the time."

"Thats true....I'm sorry commander," slowly shaking her head Twilight used her wing to cover the SPARTAN before continuing in a hushed tone "I did plan on doing it after the festivities tonight."

"Right, if I may speak freely ma'am?"

"Of course, speak freely."

"Get it done," Carters tone took on an edge he'd only taken when he felt that his team was in trouble or when certain individuals did......unconventional things. Pulling her wing back Twilights eyes widened but before she could speak Carter continued "My teams past shouldn't need explaining but you wanted this. So, I'll simply put it this way YOU talk to them in an hour as a group and my team will standby to answer questions nothing more or less."

"I.....i'll do that." Twilight said still staring at the SPARTAN as he turned and began to walk away from the mare toward Emile who was wearing a smirk seeing the small exchange. Ignoring the smirk Twilight turned and walked over to Pinkie forcing a small smile onto her face she leaned down and whispered "Pinkie think you could gather the girls for me?"

"Of course, I can!" she exclaimed as she threw a smoke bomb onto the ground and disappearing in a pink cloud, chuckling a bit Pinkies husband looked over at the two behemoth stallions with a worried look while saying "I know you trust these......SPARTANs Twilight but I do have my concerns."

"I understand Truffle," peering over he should Twilight noticed Carter holding his hoof against his ear again a bewildered look coming to his face knowing full well why taking a breath Truffle said "It's just we know nothing about these ponies and now our eldest daughter and her friends are being protected by them. Their massive Twilight unnaturally so and the scars covering their bodies are surgical precise more so than anything we have currently.........well anything Cortana had shared with the world."

Looking them over Twilight sighed she had hated swearing her friends and family to secrecy, once everything had settled down Cortana had tracked down everyone who had talked to the SPARTANs in the castle and sworn them to secrecy about the knowledge they had gone through. But she had stated that the others could be allowed in on the information as long as they never spoke to a living soul again about the information, when pressed on why it had to be secret by Rainbow Cortana simply said "Many things must be kept secret about the SPARTANs if you hope to have an edge against your enemies and to simplify it......if the enemies of this nation THINK they could replicate a SPARTAN because they gleamed information about those surgeries or how they were trained they won't hesitate to do try."

Just remembering that sent a shiver down Twilights spine she had hoped Cortana would be wrong but three months into Nobles training Cortana had invited her and the other Princesses to watch Nobles first training exercise which was broken up into two parts. Part one pitted them against a platoon of ponies while wearing their MJOLNIR armor the results from that battle were astonishing not a single SPARTAN was hit and the platoon was wiped out in a matter of seconds, part two was without their armor and the results were the same the platoon lost and all the SPARTANs stood amongst the bodies unscathed. After watching those matches Twilight completely agreed, Luna was silent, and Celestia simply watched as he own guards limped off the field angry and beaten, but before Twilight could start remembering everything from that day the front doorbell began to ring. Knowing exactly who it was she used her magic to teleport everypony into the room, standing before her were all her friends and their spouses along with the rest of Noble, walking forward she brought all her friends into a tight hug saying "It's so good to see you all."

"Of course darling," Rarity said a smile coming to her face as she pulled away, but it quickly fell away as she noticed the other ponies standing behind her all massive and scarred whispering back to her friend she asked "Twilight what's this about?"

"I've heard that you all have some concerns with the SPARTANs and........their past." Twilight slowly said gaging the expressions her friends and their spouses seeing a look of concern coming across their faces taking a breath she continued "So before we continue the information that i am about to share can never be shared outside of this castle..........EVER."

"Twilight.....what going on?" Fluttershy asked her eyes filled with fear and concern looking over her shoulder at Carter she received only a nod of encouragement sighing Twilight continued "I'm about to tell you Fluttershy........"

So Twilight started to inform her friends and their spouses about the SPARTANs, starting with their universe and the war that raged, to the childhood robbed from them, all the way up to the super-soldiers that stood before them. Carter never thought about his own history and the time he had lived in his old universe, but once Twilight had finished he look over to the large grandfather clock on the wall and thought 'One hour to sum up our history.'