The morning air was crisp and the air cool. The sunrise had just ended when Twilight and the rest of her party left for Whitetail Woods. The guard's armor clinked and clanged, drawing the occasional stare from a pony as they made their way down the road of the town. They made good time, it was about noon when they reached the outskirts of the forest. Twilight, who had been in the lead, stopped.
"Okay, girls. I have something very important to say," she turned to the group. "It is extremely important that we make a good first impression. Especially you, Rainbow Dash."
Rainbow Dash, who had been hopping hoof to hoof in giddiness, stopped. "Why me?"
Twilight sighed, hating to dis on her friends like this. "Because we both know you tend to not think things through. Sorry," Rainbow Dash 'hmph'd. She then turned to the two guards. "That goes for you two, too. I know you want to protect me, but I can handle myself. Don't be overly defensive or offensive. I really don't want to start an intergalactic war." The guards only response was to stiffen.
She turned and started to move forward again. I can't believe I'm thinking this, she thought, but thank Celestia Pinkie isn't here. She and the group moved into the forest.
Master Chief rechecked his ammunition and weapons for the umpteenth time. He knew the creatures would send someone to meet him, whether in peace or war, he did not know. He did have to prepare that they may try to kill him which is why he grabbed a DMR and two SMGs, which were clipped to either side of his legs.
He checked his motion track, which he had extended up to 75 meters. There were seven blips, all grey signaling that they were unknown contacts, moving towards him. He took a deep breath and let it out. Here we go.
The trip was silent, aside for the clopping of hoofs, clinking of armor, and Rarity's occasional gripes about the dirt. They saw the clearing up ahead, knowing that this was the one because they smelled a faint scent of fire. Twilight earlier ordered Rainbow Dash not to fly ahead or above the treeline, much to her displeasure. They came out of the clearing and all stopped to stare at the lone occupant in said clearing.
What struck Twilight as odd was not the fact it was very tall, they barely made it up to its waist, nor the fact that its golden eye was staring them down. No, what was odd and surprising was the shape of it. For it was a shape that Twilight knew.
It was the shape of a Human. Those odd creatures who stood up on two legs that had technology so advance that it seemed they had magic of their own. But it looked like no Human she ever saw. In fact, the appearance was so dissimilar to the Humans she saw that she doubted it was a Human.
There was no sign of skin anywhere on its body. Maybe, she thought, our air is poisonous to it. It's body was covered with green and black. She blinked, dismissing unneeded thoughts. She was about to say something when Rarity said something first.
"Egads, what an ugly shade of green." The clearing became deathly quiet as the group looked at Rarity in horror. Rarity was in the process of shoving her whole hoof into her mouth when she realized what she said. Twilight dared to look back and saw to her horror that the eye was looking at Rarity. Rarity was shaking like a leaf before she swallowed. "Wh-what I meant to say is th-that it's different shade than what I'm used t-to." Rarity let out a shaky laugh. Something about the alien unnerved them.
The silence was deafening. Twilight noted out of the corner of her eye that one of the guards shifted his stance, as if expecting the alien to suddenly charge them. She was about to tell him to relax when Rainbow broke the ice.
"W-well I like it..." she said while giving the alien a nervous smile. The others in the shakily agreed with her.
Twilight swallowed her fear and cleared here throat, which was suddenly dry."H-hello, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle." The creature didn't respond or move except to turn its gaze back at her. Or at least what she thought was its gaze. The more she thought about it, the more it seemed that the 'eye' was a visor of some sort.
"A-and I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria." she said. Twilight resisted to hoof-face herself at Dash's boasting.
"A-ahm Applejack."
Each of the group went and named themselves. Rarity stuttered her name and an apology and introduced the near catatonic Fluttershy, who was hiding behind her. After introductions had been made Twilight cleared her throat again. "A-as the Princess of Friendship, I...I hereby welcome you to Equestria..."
Silence rang out throughout the clearing. The thing barely had moved since they first laid eyes on it. Maybe it was a robot, and it was nearly out of power. The thing just kept staring at her; it was very unnerving. Things stayed silent. "Uh..." still no answer. Twilight gulped. "Do you understand us?"
It felt like centuries before the alien-robot-thing did something. It nodded. Twilight let out a small sigh of relief. No need for that translation spell. Things still stayed silent. Hoping for another reaction she spoke "We, uh...we've said our names, what's yours?"
Master Chief checked his ammo counter on his HUD one last time as the aliens came out into the clearing. He blinked as noted how...colorful they all were. The one in the lead was purple, probably the same thing he saw yesterday. He was able to look at it in clearer detail now. Its body was purple, while its hair was a darker shade of the color with a pink stripe in it.
Two of the things that flanked the ones in the middle wore what looked like armor. It was gold and Master Chief swore that it glowed somewhat. Soldiers, by the way they carry themselves, he guessed. They were armed with what looked like...metal swords. He smirked behind his helmet. There was no way they were getting through his armor.
There was one that was light blue and had... rainbow hair. And just like that, his smirk was gone, replaced with a frown. There was a white one with purple hair, while another was orange with blond hair. This one was wearing a strangely human-looking hat. He almost didn't see the yellow one, hiding behind the white one, shivering violently. It was then and there that Master Chief decided they were of no threat to him physically. They may have some tricks up their proverbial sleeves, but he was confident he could handle it.
They were all tiny horses, about the size of Grunts. At that thought, he glowered at them. What was strange about them, besides being vividly colored, was some possessed either a horn, wings or neither. In the case of the purple one, however, it possessed both a pair of wings and a horn. The horns didn't even look remotely sharp. No threat detected.
"Egads, what an ugly shade of green." Master Chief's head snapped to the white one, where the sound originated. The white one stuffed her hoof in her mouth. Chief blinked at that. He noticed that the others looked at it in shock and horror, even the guard's eyes were wide. The white one eventually regained some of her nerve, and spat back out her hoof. "Wh-what I meant to say is th-that it's different shade than what I'm used t-to." He was going to tell her off that it was standard issue, but held back.
"W-well I like it..." Master Chief's eyes shifted to the rainbow one. The rest murmured in agreement. The purple one spoke up. "H-hello, I am Princess Twilight Sparkle."
"A-and I'm Rainbow Dash, fastest flyer in all of Equestria." the rainbow one said. He immediately decided he disliked the rainbow one more than the others. Boasting soldiers was reckless. Reckless soldiers got themselves and others killed.
"A-ahm Applejack." the orange one piped in.
The other two named themselves: the white one was named Rarity, the yellow was Fluttershy. The names grated on him for some reason. He was starting to hate this place.
The purple one, Twilight apparently, cleared her throat."A-as the Princess of Friendship, I...I hereby welcome you to Equestria..."
Master Chief stared at her. Princess of Friendship? He didn't know how to respond to that. He was dealing with royalty, something that has been archaic for centuries. And a princess to what? Friendship? The only friends he had are dead. Friendship was useless to him.
The one named Twilight stalled. "Uh..." Master Chief kept quiet, waiting to see what more they have to say. "Do you understand us?" Master Chief stood still before giving them a small nod. Twilight let out a small sigh. Master Chief still decided to stay on the silent route. Twilight spoke again "We, uh...we've said our names, what's yours?"
Master Chief thought of his possible answers. He could tell them his rank, but that would lead to more questions. Questions he really didn't feel like answering. Heaven forbid he would answer with his real name. That only left one answer. "117." he said bluntly.
Twilight and the rest of the ponies started at the sudden answer. The alien's voice, decidedly male, was deep and gravely and brief. "117."
It was then Twilight noticed something else about him. Something frightening. He was carrying a gun. She had learned what a gun was when she traveled through the mirror. She also learned about the damage they could do. She gulped and started to shiver slightly. If the alien turned hostile, she didn't know if she could get her shield spell up in time. Or if it would stop the projectile at all.
"What kind of name is that?" Twilight's blood ran cold after she heard Rainbow Dash say those words. The alien turned his head towards her, but otherwise did nothing that signaled it was upset with her response; its poster was just as straight as when they first came here. After seeing it wasn't going to attack them, she thanked her lucky stars.
Twilight cautiously stepped forward to ask a question that would get the alien to open up more; it gave off a feeling of coldness, detached and indifferent. "What, may I ask, is the name of your species?"
"Classified." Twilight blinked at the response. Out of all the responses she thought he would say, 'classified' wasn't one of them.
"Psst, Twilight. What does 'classified' mean?"
"It means a secret, dear." replied Rarity for her.
Rainbow Dash shot Rarity a look. "How'd you know that?"
Rarity got shifty-eyed. "I read books," she said before quietly saying under her breath "Spy books." Applejack snickered at that. Twilight turned to see the alien had its back to them, with its weapon holstered.
"Would you like to come back with us to the castle?" No response. Silence again predominated the clearing. Twilight frowned. "C'mon, girls. I don't think we're going to get any more out of him." She turned to the others and started to leave before looking back one last. She, with confidence, could tell it was ignoring them.
"Well, now what, Twi?" asked Rainbow Dash.
Twilight sighed. "I guess we go back and wait for the Princess to come tomorrow."
"Well, I for one, can't be thankful enough to leave this place. That alien was so..." Rarity trailed off, thinking of the right word.
"Cold?" said Applejack
"Weird?" piped in Rainbow Dash
"Scary?" whispered Fluttershy.
Rarity frowned, "I was going to say 'brisk', but those work too, I guess. Even if they are blunt."
"Ma'am?" Twilight turned to the guard who called her. "May I say something?"
"Sure, Steel Wing. What's up?"
"I think that alien was in it's Royal Guard legion, or whatever the military equivalent it has."
"I agree," replied the other guard, Blue Shield, "That name sounded more like a service number than an actual name."
"Whut's a service number?" asked Applejack.
Steel Wing looked at her. "It's a way of identifying individual guards in a legion."
"And Ahm guessing the alien is in a type of guard duty?"
Twilight nodded, "That explains the gun," seeing the others looks, she elaborated, "It's a type of ranged weapon," she grimaced, "The end results are...messy."
"How'd ya know what a gun is?" asked Applejack.
"I learned it when I went to the Human world through the magic mirror."
Rarity paused in her walking, "Are you saying that the alien back there is a Human?"
Twilight sighed and shrugged. "Honestly, I don't know. I never saw a Human look like that before."
"Maybe it wearing some kind of suit of armor?" said Rainbow Dash.
Twilight rubbed her chin. "That would explain the lack of skin in sight. Although that doesn't explain the 'ship' at the crash sight, or how he got here," she shook her head,"Doesn't matter right now. Now? Now I'm beat. Let's go home and rest and prepare for the Princess to arrive."
After he said his name, he noticed Twilight staring at him with wide eyes. Or more specifically, his gun. He tightened his grip on it, half expecting her to try to grab it. She just stared at it with realization in her eye when the rainbow one said "What kind of name is that? He glared at her. He really didn't like this horse-thing.
Twilight stepped forward, and Master Chief was ready to bring up his weapon. She asked a question, one that he didn't like. "What, may I ask, is the name of your species?" Master Chief's eyes narrowed. This was a big no-no. Humanity was struggling to survive against the remnants of the Covenant that sought to destroy his species. And he sure as hell wasn't about to let another species know anything about his.
"Classified." he said bluntly. Then the horse-things started bickering with each other, something over books or something like that. He didn't really care. Deciding that they really weren't a threat, he holstered his DMR and turned his back on them still alert.
His eye twitched when Twilight asked him a question. "Would you like to come back with us to the castle?" He ignored her. Maybe if he did that they would get the hint and leave him alone. After a while she apparently did and said "C'mon, girls. I don't think we're going to get any more out of him."
He sighed in relief when he saw the grey dots move away from him. Finally. He relaxed. He glanced over at he Pelican. He still had a few days of MRE's, and had saw some deer yesterday so his food was taken care of. For now. His canteen finished boiling over the fire, its contents purified.
He still had a few hours left to kill, so he replaced DMR with the sniper rifle. He kept his SMGs on his thighs and picked a direction. He then set out to explore his surroundings.