(AN: So sorry for the bad ending to chapter one, but like I said before I won't do it again. As such I feel some explanation is in order for what happened between then and now in the story so if you read on the story shall tell!)

There we were, standing in the large open room which held only a single round table at its center. Both princesses plus the captains and commanders from each of the ten UNSC ships stood around the large table discussing territory options for the UNSC to place its troops. Not only that but since we have seen no sign of Covenant activity we were basically out of the war until we got the slip-space drives repaired for all ships and go back to UNSC controlled space.

I looked over at Princess Luna who we had recently met not too long ago. Her midnight mane waved in the air like it would if there was a light breeze in the room. The hue of blue that painted her coat seemed to go perfectly with mane. Not only that but Princess Celestia had told me and Ray what the little symbols on a pony's flank was, and it seemed weird at first but the idea kind of grew on me. Apparently in this world Celestia raises and lowers the sun while Luna did the same with the moon. None of the higher command or anyone else the fact except me seemed to believe the fact. Although all the ponies we've met so far confirm the fact that the princesses did just that. Ray and I didn't really get that much information on the world here during the short Pelican ride to the castle in Canterlot.

Both princesses seemed to be looking at a certain area on the map that covered the entire table while a small device scanned up and down the map collecting information and sending it to the nearest ship available, after which that ships AI would then send that information to the remainder ships giving us all updated maps we could use. Unfortunately the ponies don't use a coordinate system so the on-board AI has to create one for us to use effectively. I went up to the table right as the small device finished scanning the colorful map. Princess Luna had been talking to her sister but stopped to look up at me, after which she continued to converse with Celestia on the matter at hand. I took a look around the map ignoring the glares I received from a few of the higher command. After a minute of scanning the areas I noticed a particularly uncontested area with in Equestria borders near a place called Applebaloosa. The princesses didn't seem like they had even considered the area nor had any of the captains or commanders.

"Uhh, how about here?" I asked pointng to the blank spot in a desert colored area. Both princesses and the higher command looked at the spot I had chosen. A few of the commanders began to converse amongst themselves along with the princesses who seemed to like me spot of choice.

"Sister I do think this might be the best place so far." Luna said her expression showing her pondering the area almost as if she was second guessing the spot.

Celestia nodded her head in agreement. "This very well be the only choice we might have." She looked to the still conversing group of commanders. "What do you think of it?"

"Well, it's a good spot and all. Only problem is that there isn't a source of water near by." I recognized the man who just spoke. It was one of the ships strategic ground commanders but his name slipped my mind.

"The human does pose a good point, Tai. Perhaps we could allow the humans to live with the pon..." Luna was cut off by a loud bang.

The sound caught me by surprise and looked over to see the commander of the UNSC Forward Unto Dawn II with his hand in a fist and his expression hard pressed with anger. "For the last time no one is going to stay anywhere near your kind." Celestia seemed unamused by the outburst while Luna let out a defeated sigh.

"Actually..." a voice from thin air began. The little device lit up in the center projecting a blue hologram of a female figure that wore normal civilian clothing and her hair straightened. "I think it would be a rather good idea to let our soldiers mingle with a peaceful alien race. Not only that but reduced stress on the men and women would yield better combat awareness later on. About a thirty seven percent increase to be precise, commander." Renona said in her usually calm voice.

The commanders brow creased as he began to raise a question. "And how exactly did you figure that?"

Renona smiled. "I'm glad you asked commander. I took live combat training results from each squad in your ship and compared it to each of the other ships results and found that your strictness increased stress in the soldiers, thus reducing their ability to combat efficiently when the time arose." Renona looked towards the princesses who's expressions varied. Celestia kept her usual poker-face while Luna seemed intrigued by the blue hologram. "Now that I have taken scans of the map I would highly suggest letting us set up on the boarders of Ponyville. I believe the open fields should be optimal spaces for training. Plus it will allow the men and women the chance to interact with anyone in the town."

Celestia nodded her head and looked to the group of commanders for their approval. "If you all think this will be our best option I will begin arrangements to make your stay permanent and will be constructing homes for you. Lyra will also be accompanying you for the time being. I wish you all a good rest of the day. Lulu, I believe we have court to attend to." With that the whole room seemed to disperse their separate ways.

I walked through the large double doors on the opposite side of the room and found Lyra and Twilight sitting, waiting for me or anyone really to come through the doors. The pair looked up at me as I went to them. "So?" The lavender unicorn inquired.

"Well nothings really official yet." I began. "We have decided on a spot near Ponyville, and Lyra..." Lyra's ears erected upon hearing her name. "Princess Celestia decided that you will be staying with us for a short time. Why? I'm not completely sure."

Lyra was practically beaming and looked like she was about to burst. "So I'm assuming Princess Celestia and Princess Luna are going to be covering the topic more then?" Twilight asked looking at me with a curious gaze.

I shook my head. "No, everything is pretty much set except it hasn't been documented. However we are going to be finding a way to try and repair our slip-space drives. In the meantime we have nothing to do really." I let out short sigh before I began walking down the corridors of the castle, completely oblivious to the fact Lyra had decided to follow me. The echoing thud my boots made when they made contact with the marble flooring of the castle masked the soft clip-cloping of the sea foam green pony behind who was watching me the few minutes I had been aimlessly walking.

"Taylor?" said a voice from behind me. I turned to see Lyra standing there with what I could only guess to be a worried expression. "Are you alright?"

A moment of hesitation passed by me before I answered. "Yeah, I'm fine. Why is something up?"

Lyra looked down at her hoofs....

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I put down the small glass pad I had in my hand on a small pale mud-green cot that I slept on every night. Lyra was lying down on her own cot faced away from me, her mid section raising up and down in a steady motion. We were inside a tent and it had only been a few days since the final arrangements for all the soldiers to become Equestrian citizens was made, and now all we had to do is wait for homes to be built and we could all live a normal life again. No war, no fighting. It brought peace to my mind knowing that. I stole a look at the pad. Tonight I decided I wanted to write down everything that had happened to me since I got here just to see if I'm dreaming. Everything tells me I'm not yet, it feels like I should be.

A light breeze cut through the tent and Lyra involuntarily shivered. Lyra I thought I told you to use the blankets. I quickly grabbed the drab green blanket from the foot of the cot and gently laid it across her body. Her hoofs quickly wrapped around it pulling it tight across her body to keep warm. Kind of cute when she's curled up like that. Almost like having a pet... no... no that wasn't what I was looking for. Ah well. Remember, Taylor. Early morning field training tomorrow. Better get some sleep. I took the glass pad off my cot and slid it into a standard issue UNSC backpack with my name etched into one of the flaps.

With a light sigh I rested my back onto the green mesh and flipped the pillow to the cool side before closing my eyes and drifted off to sleep.

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I woke to the feeling of something against my stomach, and I was on the edge of my cot for some reason. I gently pushed the mass away from me but it responded by snugging closer to me, almost like a dog would. I took a quick glance over at Lyra's cot then down at the mass that was wrapped up tight in blankets. "Lyra!" I whispered harshly. The blankets shuffled a little before a mint-green head poked out. "Lyra, get out of my cot!" I pushed forcefully this time and she finally gave in. Her mane was completely disheveled and messy, but made her way over back to her cot. I think I caught a hint of sadness when she looked in my direction.

Checking my watch I had attached to my wrist I realized that it was still an hour before we were supposed to be up. I let out a groan before turning on my side, the green wall of the tent greeting me. Lyra had gotten into the habit of sneaking into my cot during the middle of the night. I found it pretty annoying finding her curled up next to me. Mostly because I'm not used to it and partially because I didn't want to be found with her in my lap then get chewed out by the Sergeant. Most of the men and women had already gotten used to having Lyra around all the time, but they don't really seem to like her that much despite what I tell her. I turned and looked back over at Lyra but she was curled up facing the wall, a hint of regret beginning to engulf me.

"Lyra?" I whispered. She didn't even budge except for the light rise and fall of her chest. I let out a short sigh before standing, the cot also letting out a sigh. Well, might as well get ready before call time. I thought as I took my own blanket and placed it over Lyra since there was a slight chill in the air. Lyra huffed before she poked her head up making eye contact with me. "Hey." I said quietly with a small smile.

"Hey..." Lyra replied still a little drowsy from sleep. "Sorry for, you kno...." she let out a yawn before looking back at me.

I adverted my eyes from her for a split second. "It's alright." I said turning to my cot, just below that my ruck sack. I grabbed the ruck sack and threw it on top my cot before opening it and pulling out fresh clothes. My stuff I was wearing now was at least two days if not three old and desperately needed to be changed. After a few minutes I had completely changed into fresh forest green clothes. When I turned back to Lyra she was again turned facing the wall of the tent with both blankets wrapped around her.

I quietly exited the tent immediately greeted by a light breeze. The sun was just coming up making a few oranges and purples in the sky. There were no clouds out and the grass around me seemed greener during the twilight. The air also smelled immensely fresh, completely untouched by the smog that factories produced. It was also quiet. Not like a waiting in the trenches for all hell to break loose type of quiet, but just... quiet.

Just out of the corner of my eye I spotted a figure moving and faced it. There was Sarge walking around with a cup of coffee in his hands. He was already wearing his pitched black ODST armor except his helmet. I went up to him giving him a nod as he looked in my direction.

"Kid, what are you doing up?" Sarge said before sipping at his coffee.

I shrugged, "Lyra woke me up and I didn't feel like rushing to get ready." I then looked myself over. "Well I guess I still need to get on my armor, huh?"

Sarge let out a short chuckle, but I wasn't sure why. "Well, no need to rush. They're pushing back call time 'cause we have a few speacial guests joinin us. One of the higher command and the AI's thought it would be a good idea to let them in on this." Sarge took another sip of the coffee. "Although most of the higher command is against this..." He trailed off from his train of thought.

I thought for a moment trying to think if anyone besides Lyra was even allowed near here. After a moment I thought the princesses would have access. "The princesses are coming here? To watch?" Sarge shook his head. "Huh..."

"We'll also be doing a live fire testing of all weapons before hand. They wanted to see everything." Sarge replied.

Everything? "we're going to be out here all day then." A thought occurred to me. "MAC's too?"

"Everything." Sarge replied before lifting his watch to his face. "You've got three hours before call time. Why don't you go back to bed? I'll get you up an hour early."

I glared at him for a second before answering. "I can set my own alarm. Thanks." With that I turned and went back to the same forest green tent. When I entered it was dark on the inside and I could barely make out the shapes of the two cots. I quietly went over to Lyra's cot and found her sound asleep and I gently ran my fingers though her tangled mane, amazed at how soft it felt. I think she awoke again because she pushed her head into my hand. For a while I scratched behind her ear before I got up and went back over to my cot, taking out my SMG and cleaning kit.

I didn't notic Lyra get up until she jumped onto my cot laying next to me. She seemed more awake than she had only five minutes ago. "What are you doing?" She asked eyeing the gun in my hand.

"I'm cleaning it before the mission." I said as I took out one of the pins in the side of the weapon allowing me to open the top and see the inside of the SMG.

Inside it are numerous parts that moved, all made of metal and kept up at their most pristene condition. I took out the long metal cylinder on top, then throughly inspected it. In the front was the firing pin i. The center of two prongs which were used to grasp the rounds, then eject them once they had been fired. On the prongs were some gunpowder residue that needed to be cleaned off and I promptly grabbed a small rag and a bottle of cleaning oil.

I looked over at Lyra who is watching me intensly. She didn't move her eyes to me but kept them on the weapon. I continued cleaning the SMG, putting it back together when I was finished. I put a fake round into the chamber, then cocked the weapon, and fired. My ears heard the satisfying click as the pin made contact with the hard plastic fake, then ejected it not a moment later.

"Good as new." I announced to no one in particular, setting the SMG back down. I looked down at Lyra who was now levitating my silenced magnum in the air.

The mint green unicorn looked up at me with a confused expression. "You know I see everypony carrying these things. What do they do exactly?" She asked, her expression changing to worry.

"Well.... Uhhh." I hesitated not sure how to explain these things to a pony. Especially one from a peaceful civilization. "Lets just say that it can hurt you if you're not careful."

Lyra looked back at the magnum before asking the question I always hated answering. "Do they kill?"

Now I felt trapped. I wanted to tell her yes, but didn't want to scare her either. I decided to just avoid the question over all. "I'm getting hungry." I quickly pulled up my ruck sack and dug through it for any MRE's. eventually I found a few and tossed one to Lyra.

She quickly caught the pale green package with her magic and brought it to her face so she could read the label. A look of disgust distorted her mussel as she set down the package. "Do we really have to eat these?" Lyra complained like a foal.

"Its that, or going hungry till dinner." I quickly replied while opening the pale green package and dug my spoon into the mush. I took a bite then looked at Lyra who is watching me devour the meal. "Well?" I asked swallowing another bite.

Lyra slowly opened the package with her magic, then lifted it to her mussel and sniffed it a few times. She then leaned back again reading the label. She uttered something under her breath but I couldn't hear it, but he reluctantly picked up a spoon with her magic and began eating.

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Lyra and I stood in line with the other marines and ODST's while the commanders were talking amongst themselves, looking over a map of the surrounding area. I glanced around and saw that everyone was standing straight with their weapons at their sides, ready for the orders to begin the exercise. One of the commanders had looked up at some point when I turned my attention back to them. Following the direction her was looking I saw the princesses and six other ponies walking with them. One of whom I recognized was Twilight. The commander met the octet in the middle and greeted them before returning to the map, the eight ponies following.

I saw Lyra was starting to get antsy and was having trouble staying still. But just in time one of the commanders came forward and looked down the rows of men and women in body armor. "Good morning soldiers. As you know today you will be running two combat exercises. The first one will begin shortly but first I wanted to cover a few things. First off you have all been given lock down paint and should be treated as real ammunition. As such make sure you know where your team is and work together. Today Princess Celestia and Princess Luna will be helping over see the exercises along with six of the "most important ponies" we should all know." The commander looked directly at Lyra, holding a stern expression. "Lyra!" He nearly yelled. All eight of the other ponies by the table looked in our direction.

Lyra stood straighter and kept looking forward. "Sir?" She replied trying hard to not let her voice waver.

"You're doing up close observations. Try not to get shot." The commander ordered before turning around.

"Permission to speak, sir." I yelled. The commander stopped then turned to face me. He nodded his head giving me the O.K. "Sir, I don't think it's wise to send Lyra in without any armor, sir. Not only that but she has not been trained in combat, sir. She also had no ear protection, sir!" I quickly listed while looking forward not wanting to see his expression.

The commander slowly made his way to me not saying anything. I felt a bead of sweat roll down the side of my face. He stopped right in front of me, his face only inches from mine. I kept myself from shaking while I waited for him to yell in my face. "Well then, I guess you're going to have to keep a good eye on her. Won't you?" He whispered slowly.

"Yes sir." Was all I got out.

The commander smiled before turning back to the group surrounding the table.
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"Get down!" a voice yelled as shots raced over our heads.

I quickly slipped my feet from under me, landing on my stomach which didn't feel very pleasant. The sounds of assault rifles going off would have been deafening if it wasn't for the built in ear protection all the helmets came equipped with. I looked around trying to find anything that looked like a mint green color, but couldn't. Panic began to consume me as I scrambled on my hands and knees, crawling behind the hill that my squad was taking cover behind.

"Cover fire!" another ODST next to me yelled into his mic while firing short burst of his SMG.

I felt something touch me from behind and turned to see Lyra with a helmet awkwardly attached to her head. An explosion cause dirt to fly up over the hill we took cover behind. I checked the motion tracker in the bottom left of my helmets visor and could see numerous red dots on the edge of the sensors. After a moment I noticed a small portion of the red dots were moving to the right of the sensors. "All units, enemy if flanking right. Set up resistance in the buildings, I want sniper fire on them." I commanded into my mic and a few ODST's and marines with snipers went to set up.

We were trapped and had to figure out a way to get to the objective. I peeked over the top of the hill and found massive amounts over cover then enemy team was using to their advantage. Scattered around are flat metal platforms with another flat metal piece with a square hole in the center were set up. Standard UNSC barriers. In between those are sandbags piled to at least half the height of a normal person.

Both princesses and the six ponies, along with General Perez stood at monitor watching live cam footage from the cameras attached to each soldiers helmet. Princess Celestia was in utter shock at how vicious each soldier was, not hesitating to take shots at each other in attempt to score a hit. On the other hand Princess Luna seemed quite intrigued by the on going exercise. Fluttershy is huddled up in a corner unable to watch the shootings and the sounds of discharged weapons and people yelling as they pushed the front. AppleJack sat next to Fluttershy trying to help her understand what was happening.

The lavender turned her gaze away from the screen as the camera changed to a different soldiers view and shots rang out and screams came shortly afterwords.

"If its too much for you, you may leave." General Perez announced to no one in particular, but no one moved, their eyes fixed on the screen.

Rarity had wanted to tear her gaze away but couldn't. The sheer horror occurring in front of her had captivated her. Not in a good way, but in a way that if she did she might lose her breakfast and watching was the only thing keeping her mind off that. She hadn't been able to speak the entire time.

A rainbow maned Pegasus is hovering above the Princesses, grinning ear to ear thinking about how awesome the thing she is watching was. More sounds of shots being fired blared through the speakers but no screams or yells came. "This... is awesome!"

"Rainbow Dash!" Rarity recoiled at the sound of hearing those words. "How can you say that? These brutes are causing a mess. And the color of their armor. Olive green?"

"GIRLS!"

Both Rainbow Dash and Rarity turned to face the lavender unicorn who is levitating a note pad and quill above her head, taking notes.

Twilight let out a soothing sigh to calm herself before continuing. "We're supposed to be observing, not fighting. Now either sit there and watch or leave the room." With that Twilight turned back to the screen and continued to write down notes on the events happening in real time.

The video feed changed again, this time showing footage of what Taylor was seeing. The camera turned to the right showing Lyra ducking behind a concrete barrier. Lyra had begun to peer over the edge of the concrete right as shots rang out and the camera view rushed forward, tackling the mint green mare,

The camera shifted upwards, showing Lyra lying on the ground unharmed. "Dammit Lyra I told you to stay down!"

"Sorry..." was all they could hear the unicorn say before the sound of SMG's and sniper rifles being fired engulfed her voice. Lyra stood and brushed herself off with her magic.

On a opposite monitor it had the map of the layout and little red and blue triangles, each one representing a soldier. Sometimes one would disappear signaling that someone had been hit and 'killed'. The blue triangles are attempting to surround the red ones, but more blue triangles winked out of existence by the minute. Every now and then a red triangle would disappear from the screen.

More shots whizzed over our head as my squad moved left to try and flank the enemy team and push them back. They had begun getting too cocky and took more casualties than the enemy at first but now that they had a foot hold they are pushing back. I stopped my squad and took cover behind a concrete wall, an after a moment I realized just how quiet it had gotten. It didn't feel right.

Without hesitation I pulled up the map on my HUD and did a location check on the rest of our team. Green triangles were scattered around in a semi-circle, moving forward on the yellow outlines that represented cover and buildings. It just didn't make any sense to me.

Again we began to move forward, keeping our heads low which wasn't a problem for the unicorn behind me. A shot rang out when one of us stuck our head up to high and we all ducked down further. I stopped my team when we came to a small open area between cover that we needed to cross. I went first and was met with silence as i crossed and crouched down when I made it to the other side.

I motioned for the next guy to do the same and again not shots were fired. Lyra is next in line and she looked a little afraid, shaking slightly. She took a few steps back before she sprinted forward. This time a loud bang came out of no where and the mint green unicorn fell on her side, halfway in the cover, halfway out. I sat there for a second trying to comprehend what I just saw before coming to my senses and pulled the limp mare into the cover.

Dammit! Fuck! I rolled Lyra onto her back, a large red blotch invading my sight. They hit her in the mid-section and can hear her gasping for breath. This told me she had the wind knocked out of her from the stun round but she'd be lucky if it didn't cause anything more than a large bruise considering she hadn't been wearing armor.

"...ield medic, over. I repeat, requesting a field medic. We have a hit mint green colored unicorn mare, mid section bruised and possible internal damage. Victim is hard of breathing an..." I turned off the mic not wanting to listen to anymore of the coms.

Princess Luna was the only one watching the exercise along with General Perez, the camera view continuing to switch between the each soldier on the field. Princess Celestia in the six ponies are enjoying cups of tea as they waited for the exercise to finish up. It had been going on for at least five hours. Six at most. An orange coat mares ears erected trying to listen in on the radio. She looked up, straining to catch whatever was happening.

"What's goin' on with yer thing over there?" AppleJack inquired, pointing a hoof at the small metallic box.

General Perez moved his gaze over to the radio before turning up one of the dials.

"We have a hit mint green colored unicorn mare, mid section bruised and possible internal damage." a voice rang out through the small speakers.

Perez's expression changed from relaxed to mild concern before turning back to the monitor. "Renona, switch the video feed to Taylor's feed."

"Yes, General." replied a unseen female voice. In an instant the screen changed showing a view of trees and a concrete wall.

Now everyone had gotten up and went to the monitor to see what was going on. The camera shifted down revealing the unicorn in the dirt, her eyes filled with fear and pain. Both Celestia's and Luna's mouths are wide open while, shocked at the sight of Lyra yelling in pain at the slightest movement or touch. Twilight stared in horror, unable to move her gaze away from the screen.

"Lyra, calm down. You're going to be fine. Deep breaths, Lyra." Taylor's voice came through trying to calm the distressed mare.

"Renon..."

"Already sent a medical officer, sir." Renona cut off Perez. She then appeared on a holopad and smiled at the group of ponies. "Don't worry, she'll be fine. The most she'll suffer is some internal bruising and external bruising, nothing too serious."

Celestia's face grew serious as she approached Perez. "I told you not to let her on that field, for her safety. This is exactly why I didn't want any of my little ponies out there!" Celestia began yelling, her hoofs making contact with the metal floor which emitted a loud clank as metal met metal.

Perez didn't even so much as flinch at the approaching monarch. "I assure you this wasn't supposed to happen. Everyone knew she was there and was told not to fire at her, and when we find out who had shot her he or she will be dealt with appropriately." The general said not daring to move his gaze from the white alicorn.

"For your sake you better hope it doesn't get her hospitalized, 'cause if it does I'm going to se....." Celestia stopped as she felt a midnight blue wing fall over her back gently. She looked over and glanced at Luna for a moment before she stormed out of the room leaving six shocked ponies and an unfazed Princess of the night.

Luna let a smile cross her muzzle. "She'll come around. Tai can be a little protective sometimes."

Perez turned back to the monitor which now showed a medical officer placing a plastic mask attached to an oxygen tank over Lyra's muzzle then gently put her on a gurney and took her to a medical pelican. Perez let out a short sigh. "Renona, alert all personnel that the exercise has come to a conclusion and that may return to their tents and prepare for later this evenings meal."

"Yes sir." Renona replied before winking out of existence on the holopad.

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"Lyra has minor bruising to her left kidney and severe external bruising on her midsection. I have her on a low dose of morphine right now and we'll also be keeping her over night to keep an eye on her. If there are no further questions I'll let you all be." Audrie said as she read from her data pad. The tall blonde left the rather bland room leaving just me and the two princesses.

I can hear Celestia letting out a low sigh of relief after hearing Lyra is going to be fine. Lyra is being really quiet for some reason. So are the princesses... "So, Lyra." I began trying to come up with something to say that didn't have to do with the incident. "What's life like in Ponyville?"

Lyra's ears erected at the question I presented her. "Well... it's usually peaceful and quiet. Nothing much really happens that I know of. Everypony there is nice and caring. You should really ask Twilight about it. I'm sure you'll get more out of her than I can give you." She paused and I can see the gears turning in her head and I knew which question was coming next. "Do you know who did this to me?"

Unsure of what to say I turned to face the princesses. I could see the growing concern on Luna's face while Celestia was shaking her head "no" at me. I turned back to the mint green unicorn, contemplating what I should say. "Well, uhh... why don't you just rest for now and we can talk about it later."

"And by later you mean never, don't you?"

My face grew serious before I said anymore. "I'll take care of it. Right now I just want you to not think about it, alright?" Lyra nodded her head in confirmation. "Good." I looked up at the clock and realized the time. "Well, I'll see you all around. I want to get dinner then I'll come back for while more. You have a good night, princesses." Luna and Celestia bid me farewell and I headed out of the med bay and down to the hangar.

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Ray took a large bit of mashed potatoes and swallowed it quickly. "So you're telling me that's why they ended the whole fucking exercise?" Ray inquired as I nodded my head. He leaned back now looking worried. "Shit, dude. That really sucks. Is she going to be... ya know, ok?"

"Yeah, she's fine. They're keeping her over night, don't want her moving around too much right now. They even had to put her on morphine." I replied digging my fork into a steak.

Ray was shaking his head in disappointment to whoever put Lyra in this situation. Just then a large group of guys come into the 'mess hall', all carrying trays of food and laughing to themselves. They all sat and one of the large table.

"Hey come on dude, tell us what happened!" one of they guys yelled loud enough for everyone to hear.

The other guy motions for everyone to come closer and they all moved in unison. I didn't bother listening for a while as me and Ray finished up our steaks. After a few minutes i tuned back into what they guys was talking about. "And so there are these ODST's running across some cover and I waited for the damn thing to pop it's head out, 'cause I knew it was with them. And sure enough the stupid unicorn ran across and I got her clean in the stomach. You should've heard the way sh........" The guys stopped what he was saying and looked up in my direction.

I had gotten up and moved over to their table. "So I hear you shot that unicorn, huh?" I asked in a friendly manner.

The guys face lit up at the question. "Oh man! You should have seen the way she just slumped over hit the ground!"

"That's interesting." I replied keeping my voice upbeat and cheerful. That was, until I rammed my fist into his face and he fell backwards in his seat. I shoved people out of my way and grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, dragging him onto the floor where I got on top of him giving myself a clear shot at his face, and began to beat him down. I'm pretty sure at some point I broke my hand while beating the living shit out of the punk ass kid.

After a while I found myself being held up in the air and after I swung my fist a few more times, I stopped, my left hand aching and my right completely on fire. I looked behind me and found I was being held up by a fully armored spartan. Freezing I could feel the color drain from my face. Just standing ten feet away from one of them is scary enough, but being held up by it is terrifying.

The soldier had gotten up, his hand covering his nose and cursing as he was led to a medical officer. There is a small pool of blood on the floor which told me I most likely broke his nose. I looked up at the spartan who in turn looked at me. I can see myself in the reflection of its visor, and the people behind me too.

"Officer on deck!" someone hollered and everyone quickly snapped to attention and did a crisp salute.

The spartan set me down and I turned to face Perez walking down the center of the mess hall. I stumbled slightly having to regain my footing. By the time I had and looked up, Perez was in my face staring me down.

"What the hell do you think you're doing soldier?" Perez yelled. I stood my ground not daring to budge even slightly.

"I was simply taking care of a few problems, sir!" I started, "He was talking about how he had shot Lyra, so I decided to take matters into my own hands, sir!"

Perez narrowed his eye and I could feel them burning into my soul. He then took a step back before turning to the marine with the bloody nose. "I want you in my office. And Taylor, you're on suspension for the next three days. I don't want to see you anywhere near the training floors. You may have access to the med bay for tonight." he finished turning to me again as the marine went to the med bay with a few of his buddies.

I snapped a crisp salute before he exited the mess hall without another word and everyone else went back to eating or doing whatever it was they were doing before. The spartan had left as well but I didn't see him or her leave. Ray was about to say something but I decided to head down to the med bay and get my hand checked on.

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"So you did what exactly?" The Lunar princess inquired.

I shrugged my shoulders before replying. "I gave him what he deserved. Honestly I could've done a lot worse than just break his nose, but don't worry about it. Perez is taking care of him as we speak. Me on the other hand got suspended for doing justice for Lyra." My voice is calm while I speak. I trusted the princesses in that they would approve of my deeds.

A mint green unicorn let out a soft sigh before she turned to face the wall.

"Are you alright, Lyra?" Celestia asked in a voice soft and silky, with a hint of her usual regal tone. Lyra didn't reply at first but eventually turned towards us, looking directly at me.

She moved her gaze from me to the floor and I felt my heart sink. "I just wish you didn't do that. I know he did it on purpose but it didn't give you the right to hurt him back."

I had to strain to hear her and tried to formulate a reply. "Lyra, I... look he knew... and you... ugh." She looked further down. That's it, she won. "Alright, I'm sorry, you're right I shouldn't have done that." Lyra now locked eyes with me, he expression telling me she knew I didn't really feel sorry for the guy. "Lyra..."

"I'm getting kind of tired. I think I'm going to go to sleep." Lyra said, letting out a prolonged yawn that is obviously fake.

Luna gave the unicorn a look of confusion. "But I haven't even raised the moon yet." The lunar goddess complained. "Not only that but it's not even seven."

"Ahem!"

Luna looked to her right to see Celestia giving her the "I think she wants to be alone" look. I mostly recognized it from Jackie back during basic training when new recruits were throwing up on the ground from push-ups and five mile runs. Luna nodded before turning tail for the door along with her sister and I not far behind.

"Taylor, wait."

I didn't hesitate to stop at the door way, both princesses heading towards the pelican bays with guards following them. I turned to face Lyra who is looking at me like she's worried or something. "Yeah?"

Lyra motioned a hoof in her direction telling me to come to her. I complied and sat in a chair next to the bed. "I... thanks." she let a small smile flash across her lips.

"Anytime." I ruffled up her mane a little before standing again.

I felt a hoof on my arm and looked down and Lyra. "Are you going to come get me tomorrow?" she asked giving me the best puppy dog eyes she could. It's cute, I have to admit, but I shook my head knowing that tonight was the only night I can come down here without an emergency or broken arm. Her expression saddened and moved her gaze down at the floor again. "Oh."

"Hey, come on now." I began, leaning down so I am at her level. "It's not like I'm leaving you or anything. Perez just let me down here for tonight. I'd be more than happy too if I wasn't on suspension." Lyra quickly darted her eyes to me before returning to the floor. "I'm sorry I cant, alright. Just get some rest." I said the last sentence a little mean and flinched slightly at it, but Lyra didn't seem to notice.

I stood up again and she turned to face the wall. She let out a huff and pulled the blankets around her covering every bit of her except her head. I slowly made my way to the door and stopped just outside of it, turning to look at the unicorn again. "Goodnight." I was rewarded with her pulling the covers around her tighter and facing away from the door more. After mentally kicking myself a few times as I left the room and headed towards the barracks.

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I woke up with a light headache and there is a light tapping on my door. Who the hell is knocking at my door? looking at the time I begun to realize just how long I've been asleep. Again, more light tapping came from the metal door to my right which brought me back to where my attention is needed. I stood up, using my hands to balance myself as I shuffled towards the door.

"Yeah?" My groggy voice went through the small speaker on the side of the door.

There was a pause; a very long pause. Eventually a voice came through. "Is this working?"

I recognized the voice slightly, thanks to the low quality speakers. After a short moment I turned on the small external camera and my suspicions were correct. Outside my door was none other than princess Celestia. I let out a groan before answering. "Yeah it's working. What do you need?"

"Have you seen Lyra? She wasn't in the med bay. I thought you might have gone by to get her." Celestia said, worry dripping in her voice. "May I come in?"

I heaved a large sigh before pushing the small black button next to the door frame, and it slid open silently. Celestia casually trotted in the small cramped space and I took a seat on the bed. "So have you seen her?"

"No, I've been asleep until you woke me. Plus I think I upset her last night and she probably is still mad at me." I said pausing for a second to collect my thoughts. "I don't know why but it's like there's something that I'm not seeing. The way she was acting... It's like she.... I don't know."

Celestia frowned at my comment and took a moment to collect her thoughts. "I think..." She took a few steps in my direction, now wearing a smile. "...she feels that you're the only one who cares about her and that can protect her. That could be the reason she's so affectionate to you."

I thought about that reasoning and it did start to make a little sense. But I still feel like there's more to it than that. Something on a more personal level she's hiding from me. But none the less I accepted the fact for now. "You might be right..." I looked up at Celestia with an idea in mind. "You know she could be in the mess hall."

"I didn't think to look there." She said getting to her hooves and made her way to the door. It took her a second to figure out how to open it but found the black button. "Thank you for your help."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Anytime."

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"Now entering the royal court, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna!"

Large decorated doors opened at both princesses trotted in and everypony in the court room bowed. All except the small portion of human commanders in the room. The princesses took their respected seats at the front of the large semi-circle room. The stadium seating sat over five-hundred ponies, a majority of which are representatives and lawyers. Celestia raised a hoof and everypony sat again, not making a sound.

"Thank you everypony for being able to attend to this matter on such short notice. We are here to discus the residency of the humans that arrived here six days ago. Today will be the last day to discuss this so any decisions must be made by the end of the day. Now last time we discussed this topic we were talking about currency conversions and the construction of homes." Celestia addressed to the room in her regal voice. She paused to let what she said sink in. "Now I have invited four of the commanders and generals from the UNSC. They will be helping us on certain matters we will be discussing today. Lulu if you will." Celestia said turning to the dark blue alicorn next to her.

The lunar goddess smiled. "Certainly, Sister." Luna stood from her seat and trotted down the small set of stairs. "As you all know the human presence has been low. As Mayor Mare stated last time, "Human activity is next to none". As far as this, commander Lexi of the UNSC Now you see me Now you don't had ordered all troops to stay with in camp boundaries. Because of this human-pony interactions have been next to none with the exception of Lyra Heartstrings, my sister and I, and the elements of harmony."

"Princess, if I may interject." A brown pony stood. He had neatly cut mane and was a Canterlot Noble. Luna nodded giving him the go ahead. "I'd like to raise a health concern partly due to what happened to Lyra Heartstring. Humans pose an immediate threat to pony kind. I believe you and Celestia were "studying" human training activities."

Princess Celestia quickly stood flaring out her wings. "We will not discuss that topic at this time!"

The stallion grinned. "Why? Because you know you let on..."

"Lyra was released from human care this morning and is doing fine. What happened was an accident. Now nothing more on the subject!" Celestia interjected. She sat back down glaring at the stallion as he slowly took his own seat again.

Luna stayed quiet for a moment trying to think of a way to keep things from getting too heated. "Ahh, as I was saying..." Luna flipped through some notes she had with her until she found a subject that had almost been concluded. "I guess now would be the appropriate time to finish discussing housing. General Perez?"

Perez stood smoothing out his uniform. "I'll allow Renona." He laid out a small flat piece of metal that had circular indents in the center.

The center lit up and the same female figure appeared but wearing marine armor. Everypony in the room gasped and seemed to scoot a little further back than usual like the hologram was a manticor from the Everfree. Renona looked up at the princesses and smiled. "Good evening, princesses. It's good to see you again." Both princesses nodded their heads in acknowledgement. "I'm sensing a lot of fear... general are you sure this is a good idea?"

"It'll be fine. Just be yourself." Perez replied in a much softer voice than he usually used.

Renona let out a calming sigh before she took a step forward. "Well, from the information I've gathered about your infrastructure, data tells me that they hold up well in heavy storms possibly hurricane classed winds. They also have a self-managing cooling and heating system due to the design of each building rendering air conditioning needless." Renona paused to take a 'breath'. "As far as I'm concerned the housing should be sufficiant except the door space. My calculations show that the area of the of the space of the door way needs to be increased by seven percent. Other than that everything checks out."

"Now hold up here! We're not actually going to allow these things to stay, are we?" a pony from the crowd called out.

Celestia was about to speak up but Renona beat her. "We are kind of forced to stay considering out slip-space drives on all our ships are out of order and nonfunctional. Not only that but we also provide a strong tactical advantage in terms of military and transportation of goods. And if we really wanted too we would already have taken over the whole kingdom with in a few hours. So us staying isn't a matter of choice, it's a matter of making things work for the time being."

"Ahem..." Renona looked up to the sound of the voice and found Celestia glaring at her. "Thank you for that insight. So will that be all?" Renona nodded before disappearing. "Now that we have come to a conclusion on that matter, new floor plans will be designed with a seven percent increase on doorway space. I would now like to focus our attention to currency issues. Before we had discussed inflation issues the UNSC has encountered do to this Human-Covenant war." Celestia paused to flip through notes written during the last court session. "Now they say that the Covenant threat should not exist since they are no longer in their own galaxy, which is name the Milkyneigh galaxy, or the Milkyway galaxy so they call it."

Celestia waved a hoof in Luna's direction and her sister picked up where she had left. "Inflation on the bit will not be a problem. We had Renona work the calculations for us and she came up with that for every thirty dollars a bit will be produced. With this in mind we took in the account of each soldiers pay and added them together and spitting it evenly between all two thousand plus UNSC troops. This means each UNSC personnel will receive a total of sixty two bits. Any questions?" No pony objected or added anything. "Good."

Luna went through more notes until she found the next subject of the matter. "Ah, here we go. Second to last thing is, as another pony wanted to bring up, health care." The same pony began to stand. "Sir, please be seated, I will cover that matter here shortly." After the brown pony was seated again Luna began. "As some of you may have heard, Lyra Heartstrings had participated in a UNSC training exercise. Proper precautions were put in place to protect her but unfortunately for her some soldiers of the UNSC don't like to follow instructions. Because of this she was hospitalized for the night while she recovered from the incident. From what we hear she's doing fine and her protector, Taylor of the UNSC Last Frontier, is keeping a good eye on her."

"Thank you Luna." Celestia said taking the ball. "Because of this incident we learned that the human stun round can cause sever bruising, and if hit at point blank, can kill. However, these will only be used during UNSC training exercises. Back to the issue of health care." Celestia paused to let out a yawn she had been trying to stifle. "I will allow doctor Audrie to take advances."

At this a tall skinny woman with her brunet hair tied back stood from her seat. "Thank you. As the princess said stun rounds were designed for hitting armor and not bare skin. Although Lyra only had some bruising it still caused her a lot of pain due to the pointed tip of the rounds. To kill the pain we used a small dose of morphine and after a few hours she was fine to move around a little."

"Ok, can you explain what any of this has to do with health care? We're sitting here listining to you ramble!" A mare in the back rows yelled out.

Audrie paused and let out a frustrated sigh. "Some ponies, I swear!" she uttered to herself before continuing in a upbeat tone. "I was just about to get to that! I took the time to chat with a few of Ponyvilles nurses and doctors to get an idea of how good health care is. We can, with the agreement of local doctors, provide more advanced medical equipment and procedures to increase recovery rates of patients."

A mare with a pure white coat and a red cross for her cutie mark stood. Her light brown mane blending perfectly with the white on her coat, and a small hat with the same red cross sat on her head. "How big of an increase are we talking about?"

Audrie smiled at the mare. "Well, it depends. If we're talking about a broken bone and normal recovery time is two weeks, that recovery time will be reduced the five days. Although the patient will have to stay in bed rest for an additional three days with light therapy."

The mare thought about this and seemed pleased by the answer given to her, and sat down afterwards. Celestia stood from where she was at and moved down to where Luna was standing. "If there are no more matters that need to be covered, then I will have the final version of the Human-Pony agreement by tonight. Thank you all and have a good rest of the evening. Lulu, dinner should be ready soon."

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2236 (10:36) hour
12/3/2734 UNSC Military calendar
14/3/2734 Earth/Equestrian calendar
Calendar sync: 12 days
To: All UNSC personnel and Equestrian citizens
Encryption code: AAHI22079-224

Per due to being in Equestrian territory, UNSC Military calendar will be unissued in twelve days. As such, all UNSC personnel will be official Equestrian citizens at 2400 hour Equestrian time.

Below are the Human-Pony agreement articles.

Article: 1

By agreeing to this document you are accepting citizenship to Equestria and will follow the laws embedded in its government. Also, you will recognize princess Celestia and princess Luna as your political leaders for the rest of your stay. You will be treated as a normal Equestrian citizen and will do as other Equestrians do.

Article: 2

All UNSC personnel will receive sixty two bits to start off and taxes will not apply for the first week of citizenship. After said week all persons will pay a .7% tax on all goods. Additionally there is a .2% income tax rate that must be payed in full during tax collection. Failure to comply will result in banishment to the moon.

Article: 3

The homes provided are free of charge, but in consequence the home value tax rate is doubled (.5% to 1%). A home is already requested to be built and you may ask for this to be canceled before construction of the home is started. This also means that a pony has invited you into his/her home and you agreed. A form must be filled by both you and the said pony to show you are now living under their roof and are a "guest". This is to keep legal issues from popping up later on.

Article: 4

All UNSC personnel will be given health insurance, the first month being paid curtesy of princess Celestia and princess Luna. After said month paying the insurance companies is up to your own devices. Home insurance will not be included.

Article: 5

Any driving of warthogs is prohibited in any part of Equestria due to safety concerns. Only allotted time for Warthogs to be driven will be during scheduled UNSC training exercises. Pelicans will be reserved for long range transportation of goods to out regions of Equestria or other kingdoms. (Please note the other kingdoms have been alerted of your presence and your equipment.)

Article: 6

All UNSC personnel will be given the same opportunities at a good paying job as a normal pony and will receive unbiased pay. If you see a work place that fails to comply, send a message to Canterlot Castle and one or both Princesses will deal with said work place.

(To see the pony-housing forms, click here)

If you have read and accepted these articles, hit the accept button. If you wish to make any changes to the pony-housing forms, send a e-mail to Commander Antonio.

(Accept) (decline (note that declining will result in banishment to the moon))
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Lyra looked up from the pad as I finished cleaning my magnum and silenced SMG. I turned my head to see what she was doing and immediately got irritated. "Lyra, I told you not to mess with my stuff!" Lyra's ears folded as I scolded her and took the pad from her. I looked to see what she was doing with it and noticed the file and begun to read it over.

"I... I was wondering if you'd, I don't know..." Lyra began but didn't finish.

Curiosity got the better of me. "What? You were wondering if I would stay at your place?" Lyra nodded her head. Ugh, what am I going to do with this pony? Now she wants me to stay at her place. What's next? I let out a sigh and set the pad down beside me. "Look..." Lyra's expression changed from hopeful to torn in a split second. "I like you and all, but I can't. I just don't think it would be appropriate."

Lyra hopped off my cot and slowly went to hers with her head hanging low. "Lyra, come on I didn't mean it like that."

"No, it's fine. I understand." Lyra countered before jumping on the cot across from me and found a comfortable spot, and finally laying down. "I mean, I should've guessed you were going to say no."

Dammit, Lyra! Why do you always do that? I heaved a rather large sigh with my face in my hands as I tried to think, but kept drawing blanks except for 'say yes'. "Alright, alright. I'll fill out the damned form." Lyra looked at me with worried eyes as I reached for my data pad. The file was still opened and I clicked on the link that sent me to the form fill out. I glanced up for a second and caught Lyra's glare. "What?"

"You don't have to fill it out if you don't want too." she replied, her golden eyes watching me carefully.

I simply smiled at her before standing up to move over to her cot, sitting down next to her. "If you want me too I will." I began to scratch behind her ears and ran my fingers through her soft man. She almost seemed to purr as she pushed her head into my hand more, making my fingers press harder as I messed up her mane more than I meant too. "Alright, lets see what we have here..."

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After about an hour of filling out the pony-housing form, canceled my home construction, agreed to the document and sent it to whoever it goes to, Lyra and I were 'enjoying' dinner. Lyra grimaced with every bite of the vegetarian meal MRE while I quickly downed the spaghetti and meatballs. I sat in the opposite corner of the tent from Lyra to try and spare her the smell of meat as much as possible.

Over the past few days she got used to the fact that a majority of people enjoy eating meat, much like griffons. I even heard that Celestia is going to arrange trading agreements with them for the in-port of meat, just for us. Although I could probably live on a vegetarian diet, I just enjoy hamburgers too much to give it up.

Once dinner was over we stayed up for a little longer and chatted before deciding to hit the sack. Once I was in my cot and Lyra hers, we both eventually drifted off to our respected and well deserved dreams.

Author's Note

So here we are with the beginning of chapter two. I felt like I should probably write these in parts, dunno why I just did. So part two should come out soon. Get a little bit of action for anyone who was waiting for it.