Ad Meliora Crash site…

Maverick stood near the open doors of the Ad Meliora that led to the outside alien world. So far, no one has dared to step outside, mostly out of caution and fear. Maverick stood at the entrance, his DMR in hand, gazing out at the alien surface, awaiting his fellow teammates Clara B452 and Kieran B902. Both Spartans saluted their commander and stood at attention.

“Commander, you said we are needed for a mission?” Kieran asked, slowly lowering his hand to unsling the MA5B Assault rifle off his back.

“Yes, I did.” Maverick answered with a nod. “Kieran, Clara. Consider yourselves lucky. We are going to be the first humans to ever set foot on this world. The Captain wants us to scout out the nearby vicinity. He wants us to try and familiarize ourselves with our surroundings. Getting familiar with the place will help out in our survival.” Maverick explained as he turned back around to stare outside. Clara stepped forward, unslinging her own MA5B Assault Rifle as well.

“So, the Captain’s sending us Spartans out for the scouting mission?” Clara asked before joking, “What would the UNSC do without us?”

She approached the exit. Clara analyzes the ground quickly, then slowly but surely steps down, the grass indenting under her heavy boot. “Surface seems safe enough to walk on.”

“Since you’re so sure of yourself, Clara, you get to take point,” Maverick said humorously as he stepped off the ship, followed by Kieran.

“Roger, sir!” Clara held up her weapon as she took her first few steps away from the ship. She then turns to her left to look at the cliffside. “I say we walk alongside this gorge the ship is resting on.”

“Very well. Let’s go, Zeta.” Maverick ordered as he and Kieran soon began to follow close behind Clara.

As the trio traveled alongside the gorge, they noticed that part of the forest to their right had outgrown past the treeline and up to the gorge’s edge. They pushed away some of the foliage and were amazed by what they saw. The crumbled old remains of a castle.

“Woah…” Kieran said, being the first to step out of the foliage. “Check this shit out.”

“Ruined infrastructure.” Maverick noted before adding, “So life must be present on this planet.” He placed his hand on the side of his helmet and spoke into his comm link. “Zeta squad leader to Eagle Nest, we’ve discovered a structure that appears to have been abandoned for a long time. Permission to investigate, over.”

After a brief radio silence, Maverick received a reply. “Zeta Squad, this is Eagle Nest. Permission granted but take caution. You are authorized to open fire on any hostile life forms AFTER you have made all attempts possible to communicate. Over.”

“Copy.” the green commander replied before lowering his hand back down. “You all heard them. Let’s move in to investigate.” Maverick clutched his DMR closer as he and his squad approached the abandoned castle.

Maverick stepped forward to gently open one of the wooden doors with the barrel of his rifle. He aims it into the darkness as he steps inside.

“Activate your night vision.” He announced, and his fellow Spartans did the same. They all step inside and gave the place a bit of a look around.

“Damn, this place is old,” Kieran said as he analyzed a weakened wall. “Looks like the walls could collapse at any moment.”

“Agreed. Take caution, soft steps.” Maverick instructed as they pressed deeper inside the dark castle.

Eventually, the Spartans come across a giant set of double doors with some depictions carved on them. A perfect circle was located in the center, split in half by the crack of the door, one depicting the moon and the other depicting the sun. Below said sun and moon were two four-legged creatures resembling equines with wings and a long protrusion coming from their heads

“Clara, the left door,” Maverick called out before the latter grabbed the door handle on the left, while Kieran got behind Maverick as he placed his armored hand on the other door handle.

Together, the two Spartans slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside. They didn’t need night vision to see through the darkness anymore, as the room was lit up brightly. A large hole in the back wall allowed a tremendous amount of light in.

“What the hell happened here?” asked Kieran as he lowered his rifle.

“No idea, but look below that hole. Are those…thrones?” Clara wanted confirmation she was seeing the same thing everyone else was.

“I see them,” Maverick confirmed. “So, we must be in a place of royalty. A castle, perhaps.”

“If this is a castle,” Kieran said, “then they need to fire the cleaning staff. This place is wrecked to shit.” Maverick and Clara only remained silent at Kieran’s joke. “I mean, look at the podium between the two thrones. It’s all smashed, like someone or something broke it.”

“Yeah. That, along with that hole in the wall, doesn’t appear to of just happened naturally with age. Something deliberately smashed those. No telling what that has done to the support. Take caution. We could cause a wall to collapse or even fall through the floor.” Clara pointed out. Her thoughts made her nervous, as she began to back away. Kieran turns towards a nearby window that seems to overlook the rest of the castle. He approaches it, walking as softly as possible and looking out of it.

“Uh… Mav.” Kieran’s voice hinted at a bit of dread. “You should see this.”

Maverick cautiously approached his comrade/best friend and looked out the window. Whatever room they were both looking into, they would never know what it used to be, as the giant stone support pillars were knocked over, and parts of the stone roof had fallen, wrecking the room below. Maverick feels his gut clench at the scene. This place may be far more unstable than they thought.

“Jesus… It’s worse than I thought.” Maverick shuddered, now completely untrusting of the ground beneath his feet. “We need to get out of here; we could compromise the whole structure.”

“Perhaps, we should have a different squad to check this out later.” Clara suggested, “Don’t think it’s a good idea for a trio of 1,000 lb armored Spartans to trudge through here.”

Maverick and Kieran agreed with their comrade.

“Zeta Squad to Eagle Nest, this place looks heavily compromised.” Maverick radioed. “We recommend this place be searched by a different squad that is…less likely to weaken the supports. Over.”

“Eagle Nest to Zeta Squad, acknowledged.” command replied over the comms. “We’re sending a squad of Helljumpers to examine it. Over.”

“Copy,” Maverick replied before adding, “We’ll place down a beacon to mark the structure’s location. Over.”

With that being said, Kieran pulled out a small device and planted it on the ground near the entrance. Eventually, all three Spartans exit the castle. They quickly scan their surroundings before lowering their weapons.

“What now, Mav?” Clara asked.

“From what we were able to see in the sky,” Maverick began, “there is a large opening on the other end of this forest. It would be best to scout that way. If the Covenant wants to take us by surprise, the best tactic would be from the forest. Let’s give it a quick look over and see if we can try and prepare ourselves in case they do use this forest for cover.” Maverick took point as he and his squad began to trudge into the depths of the Forest.

Meanwhile…

Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends were slowly trudging through the Everfree forest toward the mysterious metallic vessel. Even though the six ponies feel prepared for anything, the mystery of whatever it was made them uneasy.

“Oh my…” Fluttershy gasped upon seeing the nearby animal life panicking. “All the animals out here are in distress. They are just as scared as we are.”

“I would be scared too if a giant piece of flying metal I had never seen before crashed into my home!” Pinkie loudly chimed in.

As the Mane Six continued trekking through the Everfree Forest, they remained silent, seeming lost in their own thoughts, that was until Rarity spoke up.

“So…” Rarity began, “What do you girls think those big flyin’ things are?”

That was the question on everypony’s mind.

“Well,” Twilight pondered, “Those must be some kind of advanced airships, with no air balloons.”

“But if those really are airships,” Rarity began with great interest, “then who built them?”

The six mares remained silent for a moment to think about their answers.

“I think it must’ve been the Storm Empire,” Rainbow Dash said.

“Ah dunno about that, Rainbow,” Applejack said with uncertainty. “Those vessels seem a lot different than the Storm King’s airships. Also, that giant beam, the purple one shot. Ah’ve never seen an explosion like that before.”

Rainbow Dash could only nod in defeat before adding, “Yeah… You’re right.”

Pinkie Pie suddenly gasped in excitement before exclaiming, “You girls think it was made by aliens!?”

“A…Aliens?” Fluttershy fearfully quivering.

“Pinkie, there’s no such thing as aliens.” Twilight said, shooting her pink friend a deadpan look.

“Yeah?” Pinkie asked, “Well, how do you explain the flying metal oofoh?” This only drew a bunch of raised eyebrows from the other ponies.

“Pinkie, dear,” Rarity chimed in. “I believe it’s pronounced ‘U.F.O’.”

The pink Earth Pony gave a long “Oh~” before happily saying, “My bad.”

Before anypony could say anything else, Rainbow Dash quietly shouted, “Girls, quiet! I hear something!”

They all dropped down lower to avoid being seen. A small thumping sound could be heard walking towards them. They were slow and cautious, as if trying to be as quiet as possible.

“Can you see them?” whispered Fluttershy.

“No, not yet,” Twilight replied.

“Those sound like hoof steps… but they’re not walking on hooves,” said Rarity.

“Quiet! We don’t want to draw any attention to us!” Twilight harshly whispered, eliciting them all to shut their mouths.

After a few minutes, the ‘Hoofsteps’ came to a stop. Before anything else could happen

“Eagle Nest, this is Zeta squad leader.” a stallion’s voice comes, “Scouting the south side of the forest. Acknowledge? Over.” After a few moments of silence, the Mane Six heard more commotion.

Twilight was interested as these creatures were speaking fluent Ponish. She slowly peaks out of the tall grass to see where the voices were coming from and was shocked by what she saw.

Standing thirty feet away from the six hiding ponies were three bipedal creatures. They looked seven feet tall, a good foot taller than Princess Luna. Strangely, the three creatures appeared to be encased in metal, with their faces having a strange shiny glass-like metal. However,

The first creature’s body was colored dark green, with its ‘eye’ being a darker tone. Its head had an odd shape, with the eye taking up most of the face. Its shoulders were also large.

The second figure had a dark-red body, almost maroon, and appeared much slimmer than the other two. Its head was shaped much differently from the first, with two large cheeks, a black top, and a bright blue T-shaped eye.

The third was white with splotches of red and a head shaped more like a square. The supposed face was flat with no mouth or muzzle, rectangular objects along each cheek, and a single amber-colored eye shaped like a verticle slit. It also had something attached to the center of its chest.

All three creatures carried strange objects that loosely resembled crossbows without the bow part, though Twilight couldn’t make out the shapes. However, the Green and Maroon figures had their objects stuck to their backs, while the white one pointed it into the forest like he was using it to scan for something. The other two were kneeling as they placed something on the ground.

“You see anythin’?” Applejack quietly asked.

“Yes.” Twilight quietly answers the orange earth pony after looking away from the creatures. “There are three bipedal figures about thirty feet away from us, and they seem to be planting something on the ground.”

“What are they?” asked Rarity. “Ponies? Griffons? Dragons?”

“No.” Twilight shakes her head. “These creatures are unlike anything I have ever seen before. They almost look like monkeys, but with no tails, and appear metallic.”

Everypony was confused by Twilight’s description. But after what they saw happen in the sky, they know that whatever these creatures are, they must be very dangerous.

“We should head back to Ponyville,” said Twilight. “A message from Celestia should’ve been sent by now.”

The other ponies nodded in agreement and began to slowly back away. However, Fluttershy feels Pinkie accidentally step on her tail, causing the scared pegasus to make an audible ‘EEP!’ from the sudden tug on her backside.

“Who goes there!?” the voice of one of the creatures rang out, causing all six ponies to freeze.

‘Uh-oh.’ the element bearers simultaneously thought.

2 minutes earlier…

Spartan team Zeta was still trekking through the strange forest and away from the ruined castle. Maverick was absolutely sure that intelligent life was on this planet. There has to be. If they were able to build castles and establish a monarchy.

Setting his thoughts aside, Spartan Maverick put a hand to his commlink and contacted the Ad Meliora. After a few moments, Command replied, “Eagle Nest to Zeta team. Acknowledged. Keep us updated. Over.”

“Let’s set up a motion detector here,” Maverick commanded. “Command will be notified if anything comes from this way.”

“You got it, commander,” Clara replied before pulling out one of the scanners.

“Those Covie bastards may have active camouflage,” Kieran bragged, “but even they can’t sneak past a motion sensor.”

Clara was on her knee as she stabbed the tracker into the ground. After getting it in a stable position, she pushed some dirt against it to make sure it wouldn’t fall over and to give it a bit of camouflage.

“We’re about two klicks from the ship, Mav,” Kieran said over his shoulder after slinging his Assault rifle. “Think we should turn back before we scout too far ahead?”

“That would be wise.” Maverick said before admitting, “We don’t know the day & night cycle of this world yet.”

After finishing, the Spartans began to turn around to head back to the ship when Kieran heard a noise behind him. It sounded like a soft squeak from a chew toy. He and the rest of his squad quickly turn around to face where the sound was heard. Kieran unslung his secondary weapon, an M90 Shotgun, while Maverick and Clara pulled their weapons off their backs.

“Who goes there!?” Kieran yelled out, clicking the safety off on his Shotgun.

“Identify yourself!” Kieran yelled out again as the rest of Zeta team cleared the distance. Kieran’s voice was loud and very intimidating, but that wasn’t enough to make whoever was hiding reveal itself, hoping to stay hidden in the tall grass.

“Activate thermal scanners,” said Maverick, his voice staying cool and collected. He stayed silent for a moment before speaking again. “There! In the grass! We see you!”

The three Spartans heard voices from behind the bush, ranging from, “It sees us! How can it see us!?” to “What do we do!?”

The Spartans remained still, though they were on edge and their patience thinned. Finally, Maverick stepped forward and clicked off his safety as well.

“Attention! You have five seconds to come out of hiding before we open fire!” Maverick’s voice was stern as he then began to count down.

“ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT!” a feminine voice yelled, “We’re coming out!”

“Alright,” commanded Maverick. “Come out of there, slowly and with your hands up!”

“Hands?” the woman’s voice replied with confusion. “What are hands?”

“…That doesn’t matter. Just come out slowly!” Maverick pretty much demanded. “No sudden movements!”

After a few seconds, Maverick notices something slowly standing up, her head and body poking out of the grass.

The lavender creature had four legs, a pair of wings, and some kind of protrusion on its forehead. Maverick noted the creature looked just the depictions back at the ruined castle. She had a very scared expression on her face. After the creature stood up, so did the others one by one.

“Six,” said Clara. “I count six of them.”

“Copy that,” said Kieran. “Are those the things that spoke English?”

“No idea,” replied Maverick. “Step out of there so we can properly identify you.” Very slowly, they all stepped out of the grass. The three Spartans analyzed them head to…hoof?

“What the hell are they?” asked Kieran as he lowered his weapon. “They look like…horses.”

“I’ve never seen horses like them before.” Clara commented before mentally adding, ‘Except in mythology.’ She recognized some of them as unicorns and pegasi.

“We’re Ponies! Not horses!” The rainbowed-maned one said aggressively, which Kieran raised his shotgun to her.

“I don’t give a shit what you are!” Kieran growled back, causing the blue pegasus to gulp and shrink back just a little. “Step any further, and I’ll blast that pretty head off your shoulders!”

“Stand down, Kieran,” Maverick ordered the white Spartan. “They are unarmed and look scared out of their minds.”

“We can’t take that chance, Mav.” Kieran said, still aiming his weapon at the Pegasus. “For all we know, they could be with the Covenant Fringe!”

“I’m not so sure about that,” Maverick said while putting a hand to Kieran’s shotgun. “We saw images of creatures just like them at the ruined structure. Besides, these things just spoke English.” “Clara, go in for a closer analysis.”

“Rodger,” Clara replied before looking at the six ‘ponies’. “I’m coming closer. Do not move, got it?”

The ponies slowly nod, not saying a word. Next, Clara steps closer and kneels about two feet away in front of the winged unicorn.

“Who are you?” asked Clara.

“M-My name is Twilight.” replied the lavender creature. “Twilight Sparkle.”

“Twilight Sparkle?” Clara asked while raising an eyebrow underneath her CQB helmet. “Well, It’s nice to meet you, Twilight.”

She then reaches up for her helmet and unlocks it. From the pony’s point of view, they thought Clara was taking her head off, but she was just revealing her face. She had white skin with auburn hair and brown eyes. She smiles at them, relieving a bunch of fear in Twilight.

“I am Clara.” she said before adding, “You seem friendly to me. Are you not part of the Covenant?”

“The…Covenant?” Twilight replied, her silence said it all.

Clara sighed in relief before slightly turning her head to Maverick and Kieran, saying, “Alright, they’re not with the Covenant.”

Kieran sighed as well while Maverick nodded to Clara. After that, Clara returned to the natives and asked, “Well then, can you tell us where we are?”

“You’re in the Everfree forest.” Twilight answered. “A forest just outside our town of Ponyville.”

“I see.” said Clara as she puts her helmet back on before standing up. “Maverick, these are the inhabitants.”

“I can tell.” Maverick said.

“Well, what do we do now, Mav?” asked Kieran as he lowered his weapon.

“Give me a minute.” the commander replied before turning around and putting a hand to his Commlink. “Eagle Nest, this is Zeta Squad leader Spartan-A776. We have encountered several inhabitants of this world. Over.”

Eagle Nest replied, “Eagle Nest to Spartan-A776, this is the Captain. Can you confirm what the inhabitants are? Over.”

“Yes, sir.” Maverick replied. “They appear to be colorful equines that can speak English. Here. I’ll send you my visuals so you can see for yourself.”

Eagle Nest remained silent for the next few moments after sending his visuals. After the next few minutes, Captain McCormick finally answered.

“Eagle Nest to Spartan-A776.” the Captain’s reply sounded somewhat baffled. “Bring the…ponies to the Bridge. I would like to speak with them. Over.”

“Yes, sir.” Maverick answered. “We are on our way back. Over.”

Princess Twilight was confused when she heard a voice coming from Maverick’s helmet, laced with static and distortion. She and her friends begin looking around them, confused.

“Is something wrong?” Clara asked, noticing their confusion.

“Where is that voice coming from?” asked Twilight.

“It’s coming from Mavericks comm link,” Clara answered, which drew more confused looks from the ponies. “It’s like a two-way radio.”

“A radio?” Twilight asked with disbelief. “But radios are big and bulky.”

“Hmm.” Kieran stepped in. “They must not be technologically advanced like we are.”

“That’s not good,” said Clara, glancing at Kieran. “The Covenant could wipe out this planet with ease.”

“What do you mean wipe us out?” Twilight asked, her anxiety only increasing.

Maverick looked at Twilight, noticing her scared expression. He could see her growing distress. He lets out a long sigh. Nothing he could say would put her at ease. The one who was best at explaining these sort of things, was the captain. He turns towards Twilight and approaches her slowly.

“As much as I want to let you go,” said Maverick. “I have orders to take the six of you with us.”

Twilight gave the three Spartans a shocked and surprised expression.

“Take us with you!?” asked Twilight. “Why!?”

“Easy there.” said Maverick while raising his appendage. “We’re not taking you as a prisoner. We need to learn more about where we are. Our captain needs to have a few words with you.”

“Why can’t your Captain come to us!?” Rainbow Dash blurted out defiantly. Maverick looks at her, his visor not indicating any kind of emotion.

“Because our Captain is a high-ranking official,” Maverick answered sternly. “We cannot risk him stepping out of the ship at this time out of fear of an assassination attempt.” His words were all met with gasps from the ponies.

“Assassination!?” Rarity said as if insulted, lifting a hoof and placing it on her chest. “How absurd!”

“Look, like it or not, you need to come with us.” Maverick sternly yet gently said. “Our survival is on the line if we do not know where we are.”

“Will you guarantee our safety?” asked Twilight, narrowing her eyes.

“You have my word.” Maverick answered with a nod.

“Then… I will go.” Twilight said, much to everypony’s surprise.

“Just you, Twi!?” Applejack asked with worry, which Twilight turned around to face her friends.

“If you girls don’t want to come with me, I will not force you.” Twilight spoke with a reassuring tone. “But meeting with their captain may be a good idea for us, as we can also get information from them. I’m going with them, but you may come along if you’d like.”

The other five Element Bearers exchanged glances with one another before turning to face Twilight.

“Well, if you’re going to an alien ship,” Rainbow Dash said, “then so are we.”

One by one, all of Twilight’s friends agree with each other, giving their friend a determined expression. Twilight couldn’t help but smile at their bravery.

“We will all come.” Twilight said to the aliens.

“Good,” said Maverick before turning around. “Come. Our ship is this way.”

As the three metal figures turned and headed off in the direction they came, the six mares began to follow them. After spending the next ten minutes walking, the Spartan-IIIs and ponies reach the forest’s opening, right before the bridge leading to the Castle of the Two Sisters. As they step out of the foliage, their eyes widened.

Resting several meters next to the castle in the gorge was the flying metallic vessel they had seen earlier. They could see the huge words spelling out its name, AD MELIORA. Inside and around the vessel, there seemed to be more bipedal creatures like the three they were with, but these ones appeared to be much shorter, and many were wearing different uniforms and armor.

“The…Ad Meliora?” Rainbow Dash, once again, blurted out. “What kind of name is that!?”

“It’s short for ‘Semper Ad Meliora’.” Maverick replied without even turning his head to look at them. “Which means to ‘push towards better things’.” His answer seemed to satisfy the mares, except Rainbow herself.

Numerous tents and other structures were set up around the entrance to the ship, with some of the creatures running back & forth from the other stations. As they got closer, they saw the other creatures were not as heavily armored as the other three. They were able to see their faces. The creatures who noticed them looked at them like they had just seen the most incredible thing in their lives. Their eyes widened, their jaws dropped, and they all seemed to freeze in their tracks.

“They…are staring at us,” Fluttershy said nervously.

“They probably have never seen anything like us before,” said Twilight, “Like we’ve never seen anything like them.”

“I knew it!” Pinkie blurted out, gaining more attention from the two-legged creatures. “They are Aliens!”

“Pinkie,” Rarity quietly pleaded, “Please calm down, darling.”

Twilight and her friends were led into the Ad Meliora, looking around, never seeing anything like this. The walls were bright and clean, with a few lights on them. They step into a glass tunnel, allowing them to see more of the Ship’s interior. The tunnel was above a large hangar, where the aliens were all over the place, marching in formation with mysterious vehicles all around them. Some of these vehicles ranged from four-wheeled metallic carriages with different devices on the backs, olive green double-rotor gyrocopters, to large bird-like airships.

“Twi…” said Applejack. “Ah may have been ignorant about this up until now, but these aliens must be some kind of military.”

“Yeah…” said Twilight. A pit was left in her stomach upon this realization. She couldn’t help but notice how well-organized and disciplined the aliens were as she analyzed them from above.

Once they exited the glass tunnel, the group trotted into another corridor before being led to a room with a word saying ‘BRIDGE’. They are led inside, where more of the creatures are busy at their own stations. They are led up front, where a single creature was looking at a huge screen with his back to them. Between them was a metal table that also had a screen on it.

Immediately, Clara, Kieran, and Maverick lower their weapons and salute.

"Captain McCormick, sir.” said Maverick. “We brought the natives.” Slowly, the Captain turns around to face them.

"At ease, Spartan. Give us a little space would you?” asked McCormick. All three soldiers then step back, giving him and the six ponies their space.

“Greetings.” the alien said with a polite tone. “I am Flint McCormick, Captain of the UNSC Ad Meliora. I would like to first give you my sincerest apologies for landing on your home world.”

The six ponies look at each other, still confused about the situation.

“I…guess it’s ok.” said Twilight before sternly adding, “Despite parts of this…large metal…THING… exploding and causing debris to fall onto our town.”

“I promise to make that up to you.” said McCormick, sitting in a big chair. “And this is a Ship, a Halcyon class light cruiser, to be exact. currently one of the largest in our navy.”

The Ponies looked at each other weirdly. This thing was a ship? But most Ships were either in the water or suspended using hot air.

“Would you like something to drink?” Twilight was skeptical in accepting a drink from the Captain, but she felt like it would be seen as rude and could ruin the chance of getting some answers from him.

“Very well.” said Twilight. “What do you have?”

“We have water, tea, coffee, whiskey, or soda.” said the Captain.

"I'll take a cup of tea please.” Said Twilight. The captain then presses a few buttons on the table before looking back up at Twilight.

“Now that I have told you my name, could you give me yours?” asked Captain McCormick as he leaned back in his chair and pressed his fingertips together.

“Of course. I am Twilight Sparkle; the Princess of Friendship.” said Twilight, much to the Captain’s shock. McCormick straightens his back upon hearing ‘Princess’.

“Wait. You’re royalty?” McCormick questioned before exchanging a glance with Maverick, which the Spartan-III commander only shrugged at.
“My word, is that your castle out there?” said McCormick pointing to the Castle just outside the window.

“No. That castle has been abandoned for a long time.” said Twilight. “Now, what exactly are you?”

"What am I?” questioned McCormick, raising his eyebrow.

“I meant, what is your species?” Twilight recited her question.

“Oh. We are called Humans.” McCormick replied, placing a hand to his chest.

"Humans?” said Twilight. “I see.”

"And what are you?” asked McCormick.

"Ponies.” replied Twilight. “We are Ponies.”

“Not horses.” Rainbow clarified again with an angry expression. She looks over her shoulder back at the spartan in white armor to glare at him. He looks back at her, but whether or not he made a face to her, she couldn’t tell because of his helmet.

"Ponies? Well, that certainly is interesting…” The captain placed his index finger and thumb to his chin, soaking in that information. “Pardon my observation, but are all of you ponies? Some of you have different physical traits among you.”

“Very good observation,” Twilight almost smiled before answering, “Yes. There are four subspecies; Unicorns, Pegasi, Earth ponies, and Alicorns.”

“Unicorns and Pegasi!?” The captain said aloud with confusion. “That… This cannot be a coincidence.”

“Is what a coincidence, captain?” Twilight raised an eyebrow at him, confused by his sudden outburst.

“Many of us have heard of Unicorns and Pegasi before.” He revealed, leaning back in his chair. Twilight was a bit taken back by that.

“Really?” Twilight asked anxiously. “How could you know that?”

“Well, Unicorns and Pegasi are merely a myth to our kind.” The Captain described, interlocking his fingers together.

“Really!? Because humans are part of Equestrian Mythology.” Twilight was almost delighted to inform, almost.

“Well then, that’s certainly interesting.” the Captain began to ponder. He looks past Twilight to observe her friends, noting how uneasy or a bit frightened some of them looked. This fact will have to be studied at a different time. “Again, your highness, I certainly feel terrible about all this. I again apologize for our intru–”

“Stop right there, captain!” Rainbow Dash interrupted the human before stepping forward. “We don’t want another apology! What we do want is an explanation!” She then placed her hoof on the table in front of her forcefully.

Twilight and the other element bearers gasped at Rainbow’s hostile interruption while McCormick’s eyes widened. Meanwhile, the three Spartans behind them held their breath, ready to jump in after seeing her hostile outburst. “We want to know why you are here with an army! Are you here to invade!? Enslave us!? What reason could you possibly have that justified you landing here!?”

Before any violent confrontation could occur, Twilight stepped towards the Pegasus with a stern look and said, “Rainbow Dash, please calm down. We’re here to negotiate peacefully with the humans, not pick a fight with them.”

Rainbow Dash refused to back down. “Well, they sure seemed to want to fight us when we first met them! The tall white one back there pointed that stick at me! Said he was gonna ‘blow my head off!’ Sounds totally peaceful!” Rainbow said with sarcasm.

Upon hearing this, Captain McCormick gave Kieran a stern look, narrowing his eyes. Kieran looked back at the captain again, his helmet showing no emotions.

“Enough!” Twilight sternly said to the rainbow-maned Pegasus. “Rainbow, I’ll do the talking here.”

Rainbow Dash only sighed in defeat before flying back to the others.

“I’m terribly sorry about Rainbow Dash’s sudden outburst, Captain.” Twilight said to McCormick with sincerity. “We’ve been very stressed after the destruction in our town.”

“No offense taken, princess.” McCormick raised his hand to her. “To be honest, there is a lot of logic to her outburst. You have every right to be upset. I will have a…discussion with the lieutenant here about what happened.”

Kieran’s shoulders slump, and an audible “goddammit” was heard under his breath.

“Of course. Although Rainbow Dash did bring up a very important question.” Twilight said, causing the Captain to raise an eyebrow. “Why exactly are you here?”

The Captain gave a brief pause at Twilight’s question. After his soft eyes meet hers, McCormick finally lets out a long sigh before standing up and turning towards the screen. After pressing a few buttons, the Captain takes a few steps back. On the screen, a picture of a burning planet is revealed. Twilight’s eyes widen, as well as her friends, Twilight then looks over at the Captain, who stares at the picture intently.

"This…was Reach. To many people aboard this ship, it was home.” The Captain turned to look at Twilight. “Even me, as I was born there. Now, it’s nothing more than a barren wasteland of fire and glass.”

Princess Twilight only stared at the holographic scorched planet.

“We fled from here almost 20 days ago, bringing every soldier we could, as well as a few civilians. I gave the order to fly in this direction, towards your planet. I…I had no choice. We were followed by a fleet of those who destroyed our planet. We have nowhere to go. We are in a war where we as a species face extinction. As this area was unmapped previously, I thought no life was out here. I was gravely mistaken, but we had no other choice.”

Princess Twilight looks back at the captain, who hangs his head. Twilight then looks back at the picture of the burning planet. A wave of pity and sympathy hits her as she understands that the Humans have no ill will of being here. Twilight looks back at her friends to see their reactions. They were horrified. Fluttershy looked as if she could start crying at any moment. Rarity had her hoof over her mouth. Pinkie’s mane was slightly deflated. Applejack just looked on in shock, her eyes wide and mouth hung open.
Rainbow Dash only looked at the image with widened eyes, frightened at what she saw. Twilight then looks at the Spartans. Their shoulders slumped, and they were no longer standing to full height.

“Captain…” said Twilight, turning her head back to the sorrowful captain. “Your apology is accepted. I understand that you were trying to flee.”

“Yes, we are.” said McCormick, sitting back down slowly.

“However, may I ask… Who did this to your planet?” asked Twilight.

McCormick remained silent for a few moments. After silently contemplating to himself, he finally answered, saying, “It was the Covenant.”

“The Covenant?” asked Twilight. “Your soldiers mentioned them when we first met. Can you please elaborate on what they are?”

Captain McCormick was silent for a few moments before answering. “The Covenant is a massive empire of multiple alien races united under a single religion. For unknown reasons, they believe mankind is an affront to their holy ideals, and for the past 26 years, have been systematically wiping us out in a genocidal campaign.”

Twilight and the other element bearers only gasped in shock.

“...Genocide?” Was the only word Twilight was able to repeat. Equestria, probably even the entire world of Equis, had been living in peace for hundreds of years. The last conflict that required the movement of soldiers was almost 500 years ago, when the Griffon Empire invaded Equestria, starting the Equestrian-Griffon war. Even then, each side only suffered a few hundred casualties in total. No pony had ever thought of genocide.

“...That’s…awful!” Twilight finally spoke out loud.

“It is,” said McCormick. “No Humans are safe from their hellfire. Men, women, and children have fallen to their bloodthirsty genocide. They will not stop till we are all dead.” Twilight could not believe what she was hearing.

“We have been fighting them for almost 30 years now. Billions have died in this war, and the end is in sight. Humanity is losing at a rapid pace. Reach was a military colony. As it fell, a majority of our hope fell with it. I have done my best to safeguard as many humans as I could on my ship to save them. But we were followed…and with them disabling our engines in that last blast, I fear this is where my crew and I will make a last stand.” said McCormick.

“You’re expecting to die here?” Twilight questioned.

“Yes.” answered McCormick. “The Covenant currently outnumber us, and their technology is far more advanced than ours. Honestly, if they see you talking to me, or any human for that matter, that may be enough to put you in their path of destruction as well.

“You should save yourselves by pretending we don’t exist. Leave us to the Covenant. Many of us knew the risk of dying when we enlisted. This isn’t your war, and I would be wrong to drag your people into it.”

Twilight looks back at her friends. A lot of them were shaken up by the captain’s words. All without their knowledge, an entire war beyond the stars had been going on. A genocidal war even! Twilight couldn’t help but sympathize with the humans. They are the victims of an unspeakable war crime. They were fighting for their very lives, their right to exist. That is something she feels, as the princess of Friendship, cannot ignore.

“I appreciate your concern for my species, Captain, but I will not allow an entire race to be eradicated,” said Twilight. The Captain gives her a side-eye. “Let me elaborate a bit more on who I am. My full title is Princess of Friendship.”

“The Princess of…Friendship?” The Captain raised an eyebrow at that.

“Yes.” the lavender Alicorn nodded in response. “It’s my duty to offer an extended hoof of friendship to all, I guess, that also means to aliens as well. And seeing as you have not been hostile, I can’t turn my back on you.”

"That is very honorable of you, your highness, but I must insist.” the Captain replied. “I can’t help but notice a lack of technology in this world. How do you plan on defying the Covenant?”

“Well…” Twilight pondered before answering, “We do have magic.”

“I beg your pardon?” The Captain looked really confused now. "There is no such thing as magic.”

“No such thing!?” exclaimed Twilight.

“Yes. Magic is just a myth. Only seen in children's stories.” responded the Captain.

Twilight looked over and saw a human wearing the same clothes as the other humans on the bridge, bringing them a tray with two drinks on it, probably the ones the Captain ordered. She gives the captain a side eye and a smirk.

“Then explain this, Captain,” said Twilight as her horn lit up.

The Human carrying the tray froze as the two drinks started to glow and then hovered. The Captain’s mouth slightly gapped as the drinks then floated over towards them. Twilight levitates her drink onto the table before her, but keeps the Captain’s floating directly in front of his face. “Here you are, Captain.”

All the humans had turned to watch the display. Many couldn’t believe what they were seeing. Even the Spartans who had escorted them turned to look at each other. Though their helmets hid their expressions. The Captain lifted his hand and grabbed the drink right out of the air. He looks back at Twilight, who starts to use her magic to lift her drink up to her mouth and take a sip.

The Captain looked back down at his own drink. He examined it, it was just a regular cup of whiskey with ice in it.

No one on the bridge spoke before Kieran broke the silence. “H-How in blazes did she just fucking do that!?”

Twilight’s eyes widened at the Spartan’s language. Many of her friends also reacted as Rarity and Fluttershy put their hooves to their mouths, and Rainbow Dash snickered. Twilight cleared her throat before speaking.

“All ponies are capable of performing some types of Magic.” Twilight said before entering full-lecture mode. “Unicorns have access to a large variety of spells, including teleportation and telekinesis, to name a few. Pegasi, such as Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy here, use passive magic that aids them in flying and controlling the weather. Earth ponies, like Applejack and Pinkie Pie, use magic inside them to increase their strength and agricultural abilities. Alicorns, such as myself, are the rarest and most powerful ponies. We harbor all three magical types within us.”

The captain only slumps back in his chair. “That is insane. You can also teleport!?”

"Of course,” said Twilight as she lit her horn again. In a flash she was gone. This causes the captain and many humans to look frantically for her. They all hear a whistle, causing all of them to look at the back of the bridge. There Twilight was waving to them with a huge smile. Her horn lit again and she was back in front of the captain. He flinched back into his chair, his eyes were wide, and he held his breath.

"Good God!” McCormick exclaimed. “You can stop. My mind can only take so much.”

The Captain took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. The ponies whisper and chuckle, finding the human’s reaction to magic quite amusing.

"Ok… You mentioned earlier that there were five Alicorns, including you. Are they royalty as well?” asked McCormick.

“Yes, actually. You have Princess Celestia, Luna, Cadence, and my niece. You are currently in the country of Equestria, and Princess Celestia and Luna are the rulers.” said Twilight.

"I see.” McCormick said before asking, “What about the other two?”

"Princess Cadence, who rules over the Crystal Empire with my Brother Shining Armor, and Flurry Heart is their daughter.”

“I understand.” McCormick said before asking, “Where do you rule?”

“That’s…complicated for now.” Twilight said with a slight blush of embarrassment. “As a Princess, though, I can make temporary diplomatic relations with you, but if you want to make it official, you will have to speak with Princess Celestia.”

“I would like to do that as soon as I can.” said McCormick as Twilight nodded.

“I can have that arranged.” said Twilight.

"Good, good.” said McCormick. “I have one more question for you, Princess Twilight.”

"Yes?” asked Twilight.

"You called this country Equestria?” asked McCormick as he sat forward. “What about this planet?”

"It’s called Equis.” Twilight answered. The Captain nods his head in approval.

"Thank you, Princess Twilight,” said McCormick. “I believe your words alone have drastically increased our odds at survival.”

“It was my pleasure, Captain.” said Twilight.

“Did you get all of that, Reagan?” McCormick asked as he took a sip out of his drink.

“Um… Who’s Rea–?” Twilight asked before being interrupted by a red flash and the sudden appearance of a small human on the table they were using.

“I did indeed, sir.” said Reagan. “This knowledge was most useful.”

Twilight only jumped back in shock upon seeing Reagan. “What the hay!?” She noticed that he was transparent as he turned to look at her. “Who are you?”

“I am UNSC RGN 0493-2. You may call me Reagan.” He bowed his head in response. “The A.I. in charge of the Ad Meliora operations. Towards Better Things.”

"A-are you human as well?” Twilight asked.

“No.” he answered. “I was created.”

“Created?” Twilight was unable to fully comprehend what Reagan was.

“Think of me as a sentient computer.” Reagan said, trying to clarify what he was.

“I-I don’t even know what a computer is.” replied Twilight.

Reagan looked over at McCormick, who let out a soft chuckle. “Hear that, Reagan? Lack of tech means you must have a Spartan chaperone with you if you want to leave the ship.”

"That’s funny, Captain. See how hard I’m laughing.” Reagan said with a completely blank expression.

“Always the one with comebacks, Reagan.” said McCormick as he took another drink.

"Excuse me, I’m still confused.” said Twilight as she scratched the side of her head with her hoof.

"All you really need to know about Reagan is that he is like a…how do I put it… like an inanimate object, but sentient. He can manipulate most other tech, especially on this ship. While we are talking currently, he is running the ship’s scanners, defenses, life support in the med bay, everything. He also is like the world's most compact library, housing thousands of-" McCormick was cut off by Twilight as he said the magic word.

“Library! You just said Library!?” said Twilight as her eyes widened.

"Well… yes.” said McCormick.

"Oh boy, now you got her started.” said Rainbow Dash.

Twilight leaned in closer to Reagan with a sparkle in her eyes.

“You are a Library? But, how can you be with no books!?” Asked Twilight.

"Everything is Digital Princess Sparkle.” Reagan answered. “Every bit of knowledge I house is coded in me. Ask me for any kind of knowledge and I will provide it.”

“Anything?” Twilight wondered before asking, “What is 36 multiplied by 7, then divided by 2?”

"126.” Replied Reagan instantly.

"What is the atomic weight of the element Neon?”

“20.138.” Replied Reagan, again almost Instantly.

"What is the formula used to find the area of a circle?”

“A = Pi R squared,”
Reagan answered once again.

Twilight grinned ear to ear as her eyes sparkled more than ever. McCormick chuckles at her, his turn to be amused by her amazement.

“Though I would allow you to talk with Reagan as long as you want, I would like for you to notify, uh, Princess Celestia about my arrival here. I would desperately like to meet her.” said McCormick. Twilight pulls herself away from Reagan as she turns back towards the Captain.

"Of course, sir. Allow me the honor of welcoming you to Equis.” said Twilight, gesturing her hoof towards him, which the Captain shook it firmly with his hand. He gives her a friendly smile.

"Finally, some aliens who don’t want us dead.” said Kieran to his other Spartans.

“Hush.” Maverick said to him before returning his attention to Twilight and the captain

“Princess, as gratitude for your kindness, my ship is open to you and your friends at any time.” The captain waved his hand around for emphasis.

“Thank you, Captain.” Twilight replied. “Once Celestia is notified of your presence, I’m sure she will welcome you to our society until you find the means of making it home.” Her eyes widened at what she had just said. “I mean…whatever else you need to go.”

“Thank you, Princess. In the meantime, I will consider allowing Reagan to give you level-2 clearance when regarding his database. Aside from the classified stuff.” said McCormick. Twilight smiles at him brightly. As she stands up from her seat.

“Come on, girls.” She said to her friends. “We need to tell the Princess everything.” They all nod at her and stretch as they prepare to leave.

"Spartan-B452, Please show them the way off the ship.” said McCormick with a hand wave.

“Yes, sir. This way,” said Clara as she turned to lead the ponies off the ship.

As soon as they leave the ship, McCormick takes a long and hard breath and covers his face with one hand.

“Sir, are you alright?” asked Maverick.

“I hope to God I didn’t just doom an entire planet by choosing to land here.” McCormick said quietly.

Captain’s Entry #2:

We went to the Planet's surface. I ordered the ship to land on this planet to try and take on the Covenant using ground forces. We easily entered the planet's atmosphere, but the Covie’s were here within seconds. Out the front of the bridge, I could see a small town below us on the planet's surface. My god, this world DOES have life on it! And I brought the Covenant here!

Before I could decide to pull back up and leave, the carrier hit us with a large focus beam, completely shutting down our engines. Fortunately, for now, the Carrier is back in the sky, watching us like a hungry vulture. But that town we saw, there has to be living here. Hopefully, we can repair our engines quickly and get the hell out of here before our war ravages this place.

Author's Note

Chapter editted and updated on 3/22/2023 by

ObsidianFuryInMLP