Coughing and the taste of copper. Those were the first two things I noticed when I regained consciousness. The third thing I noticed was that my eyes were closed. When I opened my eyes, though, the pain finally came and I clenched my eyes shut. I must have groaned or moved because I heard the clopping of hooves and someone say,

"I think he's awake."

Hooves? My eyes shot open again and I turned my head in the direction of the voice to see two ponies looking at me. One was a light purple with darker purple hair and a pink stripe while the other seemed more horse-like with a large horn and wings. Alicorn. That's what it's called. I remembered as I saw the flowing mane and tail.

I coughed again and felt something wet leave my mouth. I looked down at the interior of my helmet, which was lit by the lights from the HUD system. Speckled on the inside of the helmet in front of my mouth was what I knew was my blood.

"Not cool," I croaked as I started to push myself to a sitting position. A hoof appeared on my chest and gently applied pressure back towards the table. When did I get on a table? I asked myself as I looked around the room. It looked to be a medical ward, though with some archaic equipment. I looked back at the hoof and followed it to the Alicorn's face.

"You must lay back down," she said gently, "we have no idea of the extent of your words, I fear-"

"Ma'am, if I may," I croaked. She seemed perplexed. That perplexity gave me the time needed to key my suit's medical diagnostic program. What came back made me chuckle. Seeing the confused look on the Alicorn's face, I explained, "My suit can scan my body for wounds and the such. Says here I have a couple fractured ribs and some internal bleeding. Not too much of a problem."

"Not too much of a problem!" exclaimed the purple unicorn, stepping forward. I chuckled again before reaching down to my left thigh plate. Opening the trauma kit that rested there, I grabbed the small can of BioFoam and pulled it out.

"Nope. It ain't," I replied before taking the canister's nozzle and inserting it into the armor's port. I then grit my teeth as I had to push it deep enough to reach the ribs and source of bleeding. When it was deep enough, I depressed the lever and felt the cold foam be dispensed into my body. The anesthetics in the foam also numbed the pain. I felt myself sigh in relief as I pulled the nozzle out. I looked down at the, now empty, canister. Shaking it, I put my left hand under the nozzle and depressed the lever again. Only gas and some small bits came out.

"Let's just hope I'm not standing next to another Charger when it explodes," I remarked before tossing the canister and catching it in the same hand.

"What was that?" asked the Alicorn.

Still tossing and catching the canister, I answered: "BioFoam," I then chuckled softly, "Nothing like some foam to ensure you're going home."

My mood suddenly dropped as I remembered who said that. Czymbor did. I wonder what my squad is facing without me. Do they think I'm dead?

I looked from the canister that rested in my open hand to the two ponies that stood with somewhat worried looks at my change in demeanor.

"Are you alright?" asked the Alicorn.

"No," I replied, "I am not 'alright'. I am who knows how far from home in a land full of talking ponies! To make it worse, my squad, my... friends are probably fighting for their lives on that damned planet while I sit here, not able to do a goddamned thing to help them! So I am far from alright!" I stopped yelling to look again at the canister in my hand. My mind screamed that tossing it would help relieve my frustration but the rational part of me decided to just clench it until it started bending. Which, given my augmentations and the power from the suit, the canister began to do so rather quickly.

"I see."

"Do you?" I asked, looking at the crushed canister, "Have you ever seen an entire planet burnt to glass just because it was a human world? Have you ever held someone in your arms as they breathed their last breath, holding a letter they had recorded for their children?"

There was a moment of shocked silence before the Alicorn spoke again, "No, but I do know what it is like to be helpless." I looked up at that white, horse-like face, "I had watched my own sister succumb to darkness. I was unable to see it until she tried to keep the sun from rising. Unable to help my sister return, I had to banish her from the kingdom."

I took this information and processed it. This Alicorn has suffered loss, that much is certain. Loss equal to that of the majority of the Human race? Not by a long shot but loss is still loss. I nodded,

"I apologize for my outburst than," I said before swinging my legs off the table and standing on the opposite side from the two ponies. Once I was on two feet, I turned back around to face the two ponies. I noticed that I was about a foot and a half taller than the Alicorn with the unicorn being half the size of the Alicorn. Setting the canister on the table, I reached my hands up to my helmet. A neural command undid the seals before I lifted the Soldier variant helmet up and off my head. Once it was off, I blinked my eyes a couple times before setting it on the table.

Using my gloved hand, I tried to rub off any blood that was on my face before chuckling and lowering my hand. The two ponies seemed to examined my newly revealed face. They would see pale skin, that was normal for Spartans, hazel eyes and short cut brown hair.

"I feel rude for not introducing myself earlier. I'm Mack Lyons, Spartan of the UNSC," I stated with a nod of my head.

"And I am Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria," The Alicorn, Celestia, replied while returning my nod. I looked at the purple unicorn to find her staring at the helmet and canister. I saw Celestia look over as well and chuckle. This chuckle seemed to bring the unicorn back to reality as she blushed softly before looking at me.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia's personal student," she said before fidgeting on her hooves. Finally, she asked, "What's a Spartan?"

I smiled, "That is a long story."

"Oh," she replied before brightening up again, "what's the UNSC?"

"An even longer story."

"What isn't a long story?" she asked with mild exasperation. Ah. A scholar, I thought to myself with a chuckle.

"Me wondering where the rest of my gear is," I said with a joking hint to it. Celestia chuckled softly before looking at Twilight,

"Twilight, can you fetch the objects that this being brought into our world?"

The unicorn looked like she was going to argue before she nodded, muttered a "Yes Princess" and turned to leave the medical ward. When she exited the doors, I chuckled again before picking up my helmet and tilting it so I can look inside.

"Ugh. Blood in the helmet," I stated in exasperation. Something floated close to me with a yellowish glow. Dropping the helmet onto the table, I drew my knife from my belt and turned to face the incoming Watcher. When I turned, I noticed that it was not the floating Promethean machine that became the bane of UNSC ground troops. Instead, it was a wet cloth surrounded in a yellow light.

At least, it was surrounded in the light. When I drew my knife and turned, the light disappeared and the cloth fell to the ground.

"Oh my," I heard Celestia whisper. Looking at her, I saw that she had taken a step back and looked at me in shock.

"What happened?" I asked, knife still ready for a fight.

"I was simply offering a wet cloth so you could clean your helmet," she replied. I raised an eyebrow in confusion before looking at the cloth and back at her.

"You did that? How?" I asked. She now looked confused,

"I manipulated it with my magic, of course." I comprehended this. These beings are magical? Where am I?

"Of course," I replied sarcastically as I relaxed my stance somewhat.

"Does your species not possess magic?" she asked. I shook my head and lifted my left arm,

"However much all this looks like it, no. My species, nor any species I've met, possess magic," I stated as I finally sheathed my blade. I watched as a yellow glow came to her horn. I looked down at the cloth to see the same yellow glow surround it. The cloth then lifted up and hovered near my, now free, right hand. I grasped the cloth and glow disappeared. "Helpful talent."

"Indeed," she replied.

Turning my helmet over on the table, I began to scrub at the blood splotches. Some of it had time to dry so I knew it was going to take longer than I cared for.

"You looked... scared when you first saw the cloth," she asked, "may I ask why?"

I stopped scrubbing and looked at Celestia. I then chuckled, "You saw the thing that I had fought when I first arrived, correct?" A nod, "That was something called a Promethean. That was a Charger, the mainline fighters. They can go anywhere. On the floor, a wall, a roof, no problem. However, they aren't often alone. Usually accompanying them is a machine called a Watcher. It's this little machine with what appears to be two anti-grav propulsion devices that glow orange."

"Ah. That explains it than," came the reply.

I nodded as I rubbed vigorously at a very stubborn spot, "Yep. Then there's the Knights. Big, lumbering things that have big blades and, sometimes, big guns. Add some Covenant die-hards and a ton of UNSC Marines and Spartans on a single world and you got one hell of a battleground."

I removed the cloth and examined the interior of my helmet. Satisfied, I set the cloth down before setting the helmet onto the table right side up with the red, Solar visor facing me. The gray primary color of the helmet complemented the red secondary color nicely in my opinion.

"The Covenant?" asked Celestia just as Twilight entered the medical ward with stuff hovering around her. I noticed the purple glow on her horn and around the items. Hovering around her were my two guns (surprisingly intact), the Charger's head, and the pistol's empty clip. When she got to the table, she set the stuff down onto it. Grabbing my pistol, I let it magnetize against my right thigh plate before picking up the Assault Rifle and looking it over.

"The Covenant. A collection of alien races that were hell bent on exterminating my species. Led to a war that spanned multiple generations. I, for example, had one great-grandparent and two grandparents who had fought the Covenant. They almost succeeded too. Exterminating my species, that is. Got to our homeworld and everything. That's when their primary infantry force rebelled, splitting the Covenant and joining our side," I explained. While I talked, I had figured that the rifle was jammed and had yanked back the charging handle after ejecting the magazine. Looking into the chamber, I noticed that the round was stuck. Failure to eject.

"Always something," I muttered before tossing the rifle onto the table.

"You talk about it so casually," Twilight stated with disbelief. I chuckled and picked up the Charger's head, looking it over. I shook it like it were a Christmas present before holding it in front of me.

"Well. The tides had turned during their invasion. Suddenly, they were the ones running and we were the ones chasing," I replied, glancing at her before looking back at the Charger's head, "You are going to make a great wall decoration," I stated with a nod. I then looked around, "Just need a wall to put it on."

I heard giggling and looked back to see Celestia giggling while Twilight looked at me with confusion. The door swung open again. Looking at it, I saw a yellow pegasus with long, pink hair enter the room. She was looking straight at the floor.

"Twilight," she uttered in what was barely above a whisper, "I know you said not to intrude but the girls and me were wondering when you would be coming back out."

I saw Twilight smile, "In a minute, Fluttershy. Right now, I am talking to Mister Lyons here."

The pegasus looked up in surprise. When her one visible eye came upon me, I watched as the pupil became a pinprick of fear. With a very audible squeak and visible shaking, the pegasus nodded.

"A-a-alright, Twil-light," she said before disappearing from the room fast enough that she left an afterimage. I looked at Celestia to see her kind smile before looking at Twilight who was shaking her head. She looked up at me,

"I'm sorry about that. Fluttershy is very, well, shy," she explained.

I shrugged, "No worries. Tall, armored, unfamiliar being? Yeah, I'd be scared too if I didn't know any better."

She nodded, "Yes, that does mak-"

"Grrgwble!"

"What was that?" Twilight asked in surprise.

"I think that was Mister Lyons' stomach," Celestia answered, giggling again.

I nodded, chuckling, "That it was Princess."

"Oh," Twilight began, "well, I'm sure my friend Applejack still has some Apple Fritters or some Apple Juice. She might even have a pie left too."

"Let me guess. Apple pie?" I asked.

She looked at me in mild surprise, "Yes. How'd you-?"

"Call it a hunch."

A/N: Here's Chapter Two! Next comes the (proper) meeting with Twilight's friends. Just for time reference, the fight took place during the Grand Galloping Gala (not the one where the Mane Six screwed up EVERYTHING! But one after it) and this is all taking place far after everypony else had left.

Hope you're enjoying it so far. Please leave a review informing me of you're opinions.

By the way. Anyone know when the new episode is coming out? All these reruns are driving me crazy.