-You asked for a longer chapter. Here it is. Enjoy. <3-

The Chief jumped down to the ground below, both arms wrapped around his missile pod. He quickly ran around the corner of the Dawn, where an enraged hydra was attacking the hull of the frigate. He lifted up the missile pod and aimed it at the hydra, firing three consecutive shots at it. It roared in anger and pain, turning its attention to the Spartan, who fired two more missiles at it. It screamed in agony as the missiles hit it, but it still lived, charging at the Spartan. The Chief started walking backwards, firing at he moved. The missile pod soon ran out of ammo. The Chief dropped it and pulled out his rocket launcher, quickly firing two rockets at the beast. It continued to charge the Chief, as he threw his rocket launcher to the ground, pulling out his spartan laser. As it was charging, one of the hydras heads rammed into the Spartan, causing him to drop his spartan laser and to be knocked to the ground. The Spartan rolled to the left, narrowly dodging one the hydras feet as it tried to crush him. He pulled his magnum out and fired twice, before rolling to the left to avoid getting rammed by another head. He fired the rest of the magazine, letting it slide out once it was empty, then quickly slid a new magazine inside it.

"This is suicide, John!" Cortana stated.

"I know, I just need to hold off a little longer. Eventually this thing will bleed out." The Chief replied, firing the rest of his magnums ammo at it, throwing it aside and pulling out his battle rifle. He fired a few quick bursts at the hydra. The hydra tried to ram the Spartan with one of its heads again. The Chief jumped up, landing on the neck of the hydra. He ran up it, firing bursts into the beast as he ran, before the hydra struck the Spartan with its tail, knocking him off it. He grunted as he stood back up, before jumping out of the way and dodging another attack by the hydra.

"Chief, you might want to listen to this." Cortana said.

"I'm listening." The Chief said as he fired a few bursts at the beast, before loading another magazine into his battle rifle.

"I'm reading six O.D.S.T. H.E.V.s in atmosphere, and they will be landing in this area momentarily." Cortana said.

"Cortana, scan for any U.N.S.C. ships in system. If there are any, contact them immediately." The Chief ordered, as he rolled to the right, narrowly dodging a charge by the hydra.

Buck never really got used to the extreme heat that came with atmospheric entry. The H.E.V. started to slow as the upper exterior panels separated, acting as a drag-type chute.

"Be prepared for anything, team." Buck said. "There is artificial light coming from the surface, meaning we have some kind of civilization here. We don't know how they will react to us, so be on guard."

Bucks drop pod crashed into the ground. The door popped off with a hiss, as Buck climbed out, clutching his MA5C.

"Team, form up on my location." Veronica ordered over the COM. Her location appeared on his HUD, as Buck charged through the forest. Eventually, he ran into Veronica and The Rookie, who had beaten him there. Soon, the rest of the team arrived.

"Sir, I heard gunfire to our south. Battle rifle." Romeo said to Buck.

"Alright, that's the direction of the Dawn, that must be our man. Let's move!" Buck ordered as the team charged through the trees and brush.

The Chief unloaded the rest of the magazine into the hydra, only enraging it further. He threw it aside and braced himself, as the hydra knocked him off his feet with its tail. The Chief started to get up, but the hydra pressed one of its feet against him, pinning him. He looked up at the hydra, as its heads inched closer and closer, saliva dripping down onto the Spartans armor.

"I told you so." Cortana said. The Chief closed his eyes, waiting for the end. After surviving the Covenant and the Flood, this was how he was going to go. It was an eventful life, to be sure. Suddenly, the Chief heard the distinctive sound of a spartan laser, and the hydra screaming out in pain. It toppled over onto the ground, a massive hole in its side. The Chief looked over to see a squad of O.D.S.T.s running to him. He got up off the ground and brushed himself off, before walking over to meet the ODST's.

"Master Chief?" one of them asked. The Spartan nodded. The O.D.S.T. took off his helmet and held out his hand to the Spartan. "Gunnery Sergeant Edward Buck, Seventh O.D.S.T., glad to see you're still alive and kicking."

The Chief shook his hand, being careful not to crush it. "This all?"

"Yes sir." Buck said. "We were sent down to check if you were still alive. Man, Cole would have our asses if we were a second later."

"So... just out of curiosity, Sergeant, what has happened in my absence?" The Chief asked.

Buck scratched the back of his head. "Nothing really, actually. Insurrection is pretty much dead in the aftermath of the war with the Covenant. They kind of did us a favor in glassing our planets, they pretty much killed the insurrection off for us." Buck let out an awkward laugh. "Recently, however, Covenant started popping up again. Pretty much dead even with the Elites on our side though. Bravo Kilos aren't really ones for tactics."

"Buck." Mickey said. "I have Cole on the horn. He wants to know if communications are online on the Dawn. It would make talking a lot easier."

"Cortana?" The Chief asked.

After a few moments pause, the A.I. spoke. "It's damaged, but it works."

"Alright, Master Chief, could you please escort us to Communications?" Buck asked. The Chief nodded, and the seven humans walked towards the frigate.

"Master Chief, can you hear me?" a voice asked from a monitor. The screen was damaged, but the sound was working fine.

"Perfectly." The Chief responded.

"Alright, my name is Captain Cole, son of the late Admiral Cole. I am in command of the U.N.S.C. Gettysburg." The Chiefs mind flashed back to the aftermath of the Alpha Halo, the return to reach, and Operation: First Strike. He shook his head clear and continued listening. "With me is Lieutenant Jenkins, who is with O.N.I."

"Welcome back, Master Chief." Jenkins voice said.

"Alright Master Chief, you and the O.D.S.T. squad with you have a little assignment from O.N.I." Cole began. "They want you to investigate and obverse the life on this planet. There is obviously sentient life on this planet."

"I already know sir." The Chief said.

"How so?" Jenkins asked.

"I ran into one of them."

"Well, what are they like?" Jenkins asked, his voice becoming excited.

"They are... horse like in nature. The one I talked to was a unicorn." The O.D.S.T.s shared a few strange glances.

"Son, did you hit your head on something?" Cole asked.

"No Captain, he's right." Cortana said. "These sentient beings are intelligent, and are horse like. The one we ran into was definitely a unicorn." Romeo cracked up a little.

"Okay, well, get into contact with these... horses." Jenkins said.

"They like to be referred to as ponies, sir." The Chief corrected. Romeo started laughing again, but an angry glance from Buck got him to shut up.

"Okay... get in contact with these ponies. Just study and observe them. Don't go off killing them. I assume they aren't violent, correct?" Jenkins asked.

"The one I ran into seemed very kind. Even if they were violent, I'm sure we could handle them. They don't seem very advanced when it comes to technology." The Chief stated.

"Very well. Do you know if they have any form of leadership?" Cole asked.

"Not as of yet, Captain." The Chief answered.

"Alright, good to see you are still alive Chief. Team, you are to accompany the Chief during this mission. Captain, this is more of your mission than it is the Chief's, but he is in strategic command. Any objections?" Cole asked.

"No sir." Veronica said.

"Okay, good luck team." And with that, the transmission ended.

The humans drove into Ponyville in two warthogs, one standard and one troop transport. The sun was just barely over the horizon as the two warthogs pulled up to the Ponyville Library. The Spartan and the O.D.S.T.s dismounted and walked up to the Library.

"Stay here." The Chief ordered. "You'll probably end up scaring her."

"Understood. Squad, keep an eye out for anything that could be dangerous. Do not fire until you get the Chief's say so." Buck said to the squad. The Chief ducked through the doorway and walked in. Twilight was asleep in the middle of the floor, surrounded by books. The Spartan tapped her twice gently, causing her to stir.

"Five more minutes mom..." she said sleepily.

"Sorry, no can do." The Chief said sternly. Twilight immediately sat up and looked up at the Spartan. She rubbed her eyes and immediately remembered last night.

"Get what you were after?" Twilight asked.

"Not exactly, wasted it all on a hydra. Though, I did come back with something." The Chief said.

"What?" Twilight asked.

"Captain! Can you come in here?" The Chief called out. Veronica walked in and took off her helmet. Twilight observed the creatures appearance. Way smaller compared to the Spartan, atleast a couple feet shorter, and skinnier. Probably the female of the species. She had no fur or coat, either, except for on the top of her hair, which was blonde and styled into a what looked like a tail. She walked up to Twilight, a smile on her face.

"Hello, I am Captain Veronica Dare." she said.

"Hello Captain, I am Twilight Sparkle." Twilight said, reaching her hoof out to her. Veronica took it and shook her hoof.

"Anyways, I am here on behalf of my government to learn about your society. Would you mind answering some questions, Ms. Sparkle?" Veronica asked.

"Sure, as long as I can ask you some of my own. I am so eager to learn about your culture as well. It seems it is a lot different from ours. And, you can just call me Twilight, Captain." Twilight said, smiling.

"As long as you stop calling me Captain, Twilight. You can just call me Veronica. And yes, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask them." Veronica asked. The door opened and Mickey walked in.

"Captain, we are getting a lot of attention from the locals." Mickey said.

"There's more of you?" Twilight asked, confused.

"There is seven of us." Veronica answered. "Don't worry, we're not here to hurt anyone."

"Alright, I'll go handle the others, make yourself comfortable." Twilight said, walking outside. Veronica turned to the Chief.

"Well, I guess you haven't lost your mind after all." Veronica said with a smirk. The Chief simply ignored her. After about ten minutes, Twilight came back in.

"Sorry about the other ponies... they aren't used to you. You will find that once they do, they will be very friendly." Twilight assured.

"It's not a problem, Twilight. Chief, could you and Mickey go outside? I've got things covered here. And, make sure you treat the locals nicely. I don't want an issue in my hands."

The Chief nodded to her and walked outside, Mickey in tow. Outside, there was many other ponies, in a variety of different colors and kinds. He instantly noticed that there were ponies with wings, which he recognized as the Pegasus. Looking around, he also saw ponies without wings or horns. Of course, there were a few unicorns here and there. Most of them were just looking at the humans, but three, smaller ones, likely children, were talking with the O.D.S.T.s, eyes full of wonder. One of them, an orange Pegasus, looked over and noticed the Spartan.

"Woah! Look at that one! He looks awesome!" she said, as the three galloped up to the Spartan, causing a cloud of dust. The Chief slowly dropped to one knee, so he wouldn't startle or scare them. In all truth, he was quite fond of children.

"What do ya sappose he is wearing?" a yellow pony with a red bow in her mane asked with a southern accent.

"It's probably some form of armor, like the other ones are wearing." a white unicorn answered.

"Cool..." the other two said in unison.

"Don' ya gals think it's rude ta not introduce ourselves?" the yellow pony asked.

"Oh, yeah!" the orange Pegasus said. "I'm Scootaloo!"

"Ah'm Applebloom!" the yellow pony said excitedly.

"And I'm Sweetie Belle!" the white unicorn said. "And we are..."

"THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS!" all three of them shouted, taking even The Chief aback.

"What's your name, mister?" Applebloom asked.

"The Chief." The Chief answered.

"That's a weird name." Sweetie Belle said.

"Careful Sweetie Belle! He might shoot laser beams at you!" Scootaloo warned.

"I don't even have a laser beam." The Chief stated. "Besides, I have no plans of hurting anyone here."

"Don't you mean anypony?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"We say it differently where I come from." The Spartan said.

"So... what exactly are you?"

"A super-soldier." The Chief answered plainly.

"Woah!" the three said together, eyes shining with wonder.

"We should try to get our super-soldier cutie marks!" Scootaloo said.

All three of them shared glances before jumping up in the air. "CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS: SUPER SOLDIERS YAY!" they all shouted, before running off.

"No different from our kids, eh Chief?" Mickey said.

"Yup." The Chief replied, looking around. The Rookie was taking a nap in the backseat of the troop transport warthog. Buck was talking with an older pony, who looked like someone in charge. Probably the mayor or something like that. Romeo was idly chatting with a few mares. According to what he heard from Buck, he was quite the ladies man, but he really hoped that it something like that wouldn't happen. Dutch was by the standard model warthog, showing the turret mounted gatling gun to a rainbow maned Pegasus.

"Chief, what is your status, over?" Cole's voice said from his radio, interrupting his train of thought.

"Perfect, sir. We have made contact with the natives. They are really friendly, and are quite civilized. After they realized we weren't here to hurt them, a few them started coming up and talked to us. We have a lot in common with them, on a psychological scale, anyways." The Chief said.

"How about the Captain?"

"She is talking with the pony I first made contact with, Twilight Sparkle."

"Good. If you get a hold of their leadership, contact me. The U.E.G. council wants me to meet with him or her on behalf of the U.N.S.C. and the human race. Cole, out."

"So you can confirm that the Master Chief is still alive?" Admiral Hood asked.

"That is affirmative sir, I just got done talking with him." Cole responded.

"Very good. Have you made contact with the... pony leadership?" Hood asked.

"Not as of yet, I am afraid." Cole said.

"Very well, I will keep in contact with you." Hood said before the transmission ended.

A lone phantom skimmed over the top of a forest. Two legions of Special Ops grunts, skirmishers, and brutes were inside, armed to the teeth and ready for anything. They soon came upon an castle, where there was a perfect landing zone. The phantom hovered as its occupants floated to the ground below, via the gravity lift. Though the force probably wouldn't be strong enough to take down the demon, the ship master wanted the demon for himself. The two legions separated, twelve grunts, six skirmishers, and two brutes per legion, and filed out into the forest, into the direction of the crashed human ship. One of the legions soon came across a hut out in the middle of the forest, where a striped horse creature was living. The brute Commander silently motioned two come with him, which they obeyed without hesitation. They walked up to the door as the brute smashed it down and roared angrily at the horse. It jumped and grabbed a bottle with its teeth, chucking it at one of the grunts. The moment the grunt was hit by the bottle, it instantly caught on fire. It screeched in pain, running outside of the hut and running around, before another grunt shot it down with his plasma rifle. The brute charged the striped horse, gripping it by its neck and punching it multiple times in the face, before throwing it to the ground with all his strength, breaking its spine. The brute raised his brute shot into the air, roaring in pride over the fresh kill in front of him.

"Chief?" Veronica said walking behind him, Twilight in tow. "We have arranged a meeting with their leadership, two princesses named Celestia and Luna. The meeting is scheduled for two hours for now."

"Then I have to contact someone. Cortana, get me Cole." The Chief ordered.

"On it." Cortana said.

"Yes Chief?" Cole's voice asked.

"Sir, you have a meeting with their leadership in two hours."

"Always short notice... alright, I will be at your location in thirty with a pelican dropship. Cole, out."

Twenty-seven minutes later, Captain Cole's pelican landed a little outside of Ponyville. The Chief, Buck, Veronica, and Twilight Sparkle took the troop transport warthog and drove out to the pelicans position, where Captain Cole, Lieutenant Jenkins, and three Marines were waiting.

"Nice of you to stop by, Captain." Buck said as they rolled up, Twilight and Veronica hopping out of the back. Cole walked up to them.

"Hello, Captain Dare." Cole said, before looking down at the purple unicorn standing beside her. He paused, a strange look on his face, before finally talking. "I presume you are Ms. Sparkle."

"You presume correct." Twilight said with a smile. "Princess Celestia has tasked me with escorting you to Canterlot."

"Well, shall we?" Cole said, motioning her towards the pelican. She jumped aboard, followed by a Marine who strapped her in. Well... attempted to, anyways. Cole turned to the Chief. "Glad to see you Chief, I would stay and chat, but I got an appointment to keep. Till next time." And with that, the Captain and the rest of the humans jumped aboard the pelican. It lifted off moments later, flying towards a large castle to the east.

"Sire, enemy dropship to the east!" a brute called out to the brute Commander. He looked to the east and saw a pelican dropship, which was just lifting off a few miles away.

"Let us go! We will feast on whatever humans are there!" the Commander shouted as the two legions combined again, charging towards the west. A small hut soon came into view. The Commander observed a yellow horse with wings with a pink mane. She appeared to be singing to some birds. A manic smile ran across his face.

"Fresh meat." he muttered as he signaled two brutes to head for the hut. They charged at the hut on all fours. The horse seemed to notice them and screamed at the top of her lungs, before running inside of her hut.

Both Buck's and the Chief's heads turned at the sound of a shrill shriek coming from the north. The Spartan pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked to the north, spotting a hut and...

"Brutes!" The Chief called out. He put the pedal to the metal as he drove at top speed towards the small hut. Buck loaded several shells into the M90 he was holding.

The two brutes crashed into the hut, firing their spikers wildly.

"Come out! I can smell you!" one of them shouted. He sniffed into the air, and noticed the smell was coming from upstairs.

Fluttershy's heart was beating non-stop as she hid under her bed. She heard the two apes running up the stairs, before they smashed through the door. They sniffed around, before they threw the bed across the room, revealing Fluttershy. They laughed, before raising their weapons and aiming at the defenseless Pegasus.

The Chief ran up the stairs and tackled the brute closest to him. The other brute aimed his spiker at the Chief, before getting blasted away by Buck's shotgun. The Chief snapped the neck of the Brute he had tackled, and nodded to Buck. Buck nodded back and slowly walked up to the quivering Pegasus, taking a knee next to her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. The shaking Pegasus only answered with a nod. "Don't worry, we're here to help." Buck reassured her, before gently picking her up. "Chief, let's go. We need to warn the others."

"Right. Cortana, get me Cole."

"I can't believe anything like that could ever happen." Celestia said, still in horror about the story Cole told her and her sister about the Covenant and their genocide of the Human race.

"We're really sorry for your losses..." Luna said.

"We all are, your highness. So many young men and women, slaughtered without mercy..." Cole shook his head to rid himself of his anger. "Anyway, after discovering your planet by accident, and noticing the fact you actually had sentient life, we just had to find out what was actually on this planet. So that's why we sent in a team of soldiers. We weren't trying to be hostile, just a little recon."

"I understand. I would do the same thing in your position." Celestia said, before taking a sip of her tea. "I hope our governments will be able to live in peace with each other."

"That won't be a problem, your highness. Oh, and for future reference, does your planet have a name?"

"We like to call it Equis." Luna answered, a small smile on her face. 'In a weird way... the dark one is kind of adorable...' Cole thought to himself.

"Thanks." Luna said, a blush appearing on her face.

"How did-"

"Alicorn's have the ability to read minds." Luna said quickly.

"Interesting..." Jenkins said, taking notes.

"Sir!" A Marine said walking into the room. "I have the Chief on the horn, he says it's urgent."

"May I be excused for a few minutes, your highness? I have to take this." Cole asked.

"Of course!" Celestia said. Cole bowed before walking out of the room. He took the radio from the Marine.

"What is it Chief?" Cole asked.

"Sir, it's the Covenant. Me and Buck just took out two brutes."

"My God... alright son, I have complete faith in you. You and the O.D.S.T.s head into that town and defend it. You hear me, son?" Cole asked.

"Yes sir." The Chief replied.

"Good luck." Cole said, handing back the radio to the Marine. "Get the Gettysburg on the horn, I want our forces ready to deploy yesterday!" he said to the Marine, before marching back inside the room.

"What is it, Captain?" Celestia asked, concern evident in her voice.

"There is Covenant, here, on Equis, your majesty. With your permission, I would like to deploy my forces to help aid in defending your planet. I already have my recon team defending the town of Ponyville, where Covenant have been spotted."

"Yes... of course..." Celestia said, her demeanor rapidly changing with the news of this. "If the Covenant are anything like what you told us, we have nothing that can take them on. We will help in anyway we can, but I don't know much we can be of assistance."

The Marine ran back in, his magnum in hand. "Sir! Three Covenant battlecruisers have just emerged from slipspace. Gettysburg is requesting orders, sir."

"Tell them to deploy their forces and stay away from those battlecruisers. They won't stand a chance. Also, get on the horn and tell Hood, and try to contact any allied ships in system."

"Yes, sir." The Marine said, running back out. Cole turned towards the two princesses.

"The Covenant are likely going to attack this area, I would recommend you two leave the city immediately." Cole said.

"I can't, Captain." Celestia said. "I have to stay, I have to be here to serve the ponies of Equestria in this time of dire need."

"I understand, your majesty." Cole said.

"Please, Captain, do me a favor. Get my little sister to safety." Celestia said.

"Sis-" Luna started to protest.

"Luna, I need you to go. If I die, you need to rule Equestria and be the voice of Equis. Please... for me..." Celestia pleaded, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Okay... Tia'..." Luna said, almost in a whisper, before walking up to her sister and hugging her, several tears rolling down her cheek.

"Your highness, we must go." Cole said, reaching for his holster and pulling out his own sidearm. She nodded and followed him and the Marine out of the room. They were soon met by the two other Marines, armed with SMG's.

"Sir, the Gettysburg says that they were able to get in contact with the Covenant Separatist carrier Shadow of Intent. It will arrive in an hour or two."

"Good. We're going to need all the help we can get." Cole said as he, the Princess, Jenkines, Veronica, and the three Marines jumped aboard the pelican, which immediately lifted off.