A/N: Powerthirst does help. thank you all who follow this story, i promise that i will attempt to pump out chapters as often as possible. i think that this chapter is pretty good, and adds more to the plot than before. and May the force be with you.

The sun shined through the blinds, just like every other day. But unlike every other day, the city of Canterlot was in a state of repairing from the issue of the past day. The cleanup of Reaper forces was going by quickly; the bodies piled up in a single place and burned. Families had been claiming those who died from the Reaper monsters, but for the most part, only a dozen had been killed; guards and civilians alike.

For one though, he was just starting to regain conscious from the past day. The room he was in a private hospital room, and at the moment he was alone. Waking up from the experience that he went through was no easy task. He opened his eyes, and started to regret it. The pain in his lungs was high and the dull pain all over his body kept him immobile.

“Fuck, I knew this was going to hurt, but god damn. Now I know what it feels like to kiss a freight train,” he said to himself as the doctor walked in.

“Ah, good, you’re awake. I was hoping that you would wake up soon, or else things could have gotten complicated. Now I have a few questions,” the doctor began, but was then silenced quickly.

“Just give it to me straight, how bad is it?” the human said, trying to sit up. He failed and lay back down.

“Alright, your left lung was lacerated and you were bleeding profusely. The rest of your bones have a thin layer of bruising on them, adding to the pain of us having to stitch up your lung and side. I recommend you to remain in bed and rest, which is what your body needs now. We don’t have blood for you, so you are going to have moments of dizziness and slight confusion from lack of blood. Is there anything I can do that can better accommodate you?” the doctor asked, having a look of slight compassion on his face.

“Yes, in my one of my pockets on my armor, there is a syringe with a powerful pain-reliever in it. If you could get that, I would greatly appreciate it. Also, can you inform Princess Luna that I am fine and tell her I won? She’ll know what I mean,” he requested, gaining a nod and assurance that the message and pain-relief will be sent and received.

The Spartan was left alone again with only his thoughts. The minutes went by, before he noticed that he was in bed, naked. He laid there contemplating why he had no pants on, when he remembered his lung and the total body damage, and brushed it off as the doctors are slightly retarded. He would ask for a gown later.

Of the ones he wanted to see, Luna was the first to arrive. She flew in, blasting the door open just to see if it was true that her love had awoken. She saw him in the bed, blanket covering him, and hugged him until he was having trouble breathing, more than before. Luna saw this and quickly apologized and let go of him with some reluctance.

“Damn, I knew you missed me, but you don’t have to choke me out. Ouch, that hurt too. I’m actually in ungodly pain right now, and all I have going for me now is the fact that the doctor is getting something for me,” the Spartan said, just as the doctor reentered the room. He was carrying the syringe that the Spartan had asked for. Without a moment’s hesitation, the human grabbed the pain-reliever and through the blanket half off of him to reveal his upper right thigh.

The next part half-concerned the doctor, the human jabbed that needle right into the biggest vein in the leg and pushed half of the liquid into himself. Instantly, the Spartan’s eyes went from half-asleep, to fully awake and functional. He then jumped out of bed and wrapped the blanket around his waist to hide himself. The two only saw him in bed one second and the next standing with a blanket on him.

“How…how are you out of bed? You shouldn’t be up at all. Your blood pressure is low and over exertion of your body can tear your stitches or further injury you skeleton. Now back in bed, before I call in security to get up back in bed and unable to move,” the doctor said, being very serious, but didn’t expect the human to just laugh and to walk around the bed and kneel down in front of the doctor, to be down on his level.

“I’m going to tell you once, and only once. My body has a natural regenerative property that will have my lung working at peak proficiency. My bones will stop being unbearable painful at around the same time, but that is a few days away. My blood pressure is actually back up and fine. Now, I need you to make more of this.” He held up the syringe to the doctor. “This is no pain killer, this is pure adrenaline. This has enough concentration to wake up a dead elephant with only an eighth, I used only half, but it will wear off in about nine hours, so you have until then. If not, I will collapse where I am standing at that point in time from the pain coming back at one shot. Now I have but one more thing,” he said, standing back up. “Where are my pants?”

The doctor looked at him like he was crazy, considering that ponies never wear pants. The human shook his head and pointed at the blanket around his waist.

“When you got me out of the armor, I had black clothes on, where are they now?’ he asked, hoping that would jog the doctor’s memory. The doctor just looked like the human was crazy, until he remember something.

“Yaw, when the armor just popped off, we had to cut the clothing off, so to properly assess the damage to your body. A Miss Rarity came by and said she would like to fix this up and to make some outfits for you. I would suggest going and seeing her for your clothes. I’m sorry, but I don’t think that others would mind if you…” the doctor wondered off, hoping the Spartan would pick up on it.

“Actually, it’s more of the fact that humans are not very hairy, and our parts are very noticeable, especially when I have been genetically altered to be bigger, stronger, faster, and smarter, I don’t think that it would be appropriate for me to run around in nothing. I will keep the blanket until I arrive at Rarity’s. Luna, do you know where we could find her?” Anthony asked, finally making the doctor understand why the need for clothing.

“Yes, we can actually leave now you are able to move,” Luna said, regaining a look that was of relief, no matter how faint it was. Nothing escaped the eyes of a Spartan. He just nodded and the two left the hospital and walked to the room Rarity had been placed in.

The walk lasted about ten minutes, with the princess conversing with the human the whole time about different tactics that the guard could implement to strength their defenses. All the tactics where universal in practice, but different in the field; the reacting time of both side, the numbers on both sides, and the length of time that had eclipsed since the beginning of the battle. The two kept talking and walking, ignoring all other ponies as the two talked.

The two finally arrived at Rarity’s room and Luna was the one to knock on the door.

“Come in~” came the sing-song reply. The two walked in and found the room an organized disaster. Different fabric hung on odd holders, and Rarity was in front of a sewing machine, stitching up some clothing before them. “Oh good. We all thought that you wouldn’t be up and moving for a few days. I took the liberty of fixing that outfit the doctors cut to help you. I didn’t know if you would want your old clothes, so I just kept them. They have been helpful in my forming you a new wardrobe; I am still having trouble with the pants part.”

“You don’t have to do that Rarity. I will probably just wear the clothes I had on earlier. Those are designed with comfort and effectiveness, not much on style but that I don’t care too much about anyway,” Anthony said, looking around for the clothes.

“Don’t care about fashion! This is not acceptable. I will not have my new friends and savior running around without some since of fashion. I completely insist, and nothing you say or do will change my mind, so you can either help me on what you want to wear, or you can let me pick it for you,” Rarity said, ending all arguments on the issue.

“Fine, but can you first get my clothes, I don’t feel like wearing this blanket longer than I have to.”

“Oh yes. They are right here,” she said, picking them up with magic and levitating them over to the human. He grabbed them and placed the shirt on first. He then just dropped the blanket with both mares watching and put on his pants. Rarity couldn’t help but blush and look away; surprised he could just drop the blanket without any hesitation. Luna couldn’t take her off of his member.

Now that is something to remember for later, Luna thought, before the Spartan found the two with such different expressions.

“You didn’t have to look away if you didn’t want to; I don’t think I have a reason to be embarrassed. I am well in the category of ‘Damn!’” the Spartan said, making Rarity and Luna blushes deeper and not make eye contact. The human just chuckled and was ready to help Rarity on his new clothing line.

“Right, so. What are you thinking to be your new wardrobe?” Rarity asked. The human contemplated the thought when a pair of guards walked into the room.

“Princess Luna, Princess Celestia has requested yours and the human’s presence in the throne room now. We have been sent to escort you,” the guard stated, leaving no room for interpretation or error.

“Now why would Celestia wish to see us? Wait let me guess; it has something to do with yesterday, doesn’t it? You know what, don’t answer, we’ll find out from her. After I finish with Miss Rarity and get some food in my system,” the Spartan told the guards, making them look at each other and shrugged their shoulders. They had no choice but to wait on the Spartan. “Now, Miss Rarity, I think that the clothes should be something like what I have now, but with a different pattern on them. Do you think you could come up with a few for me like that?”

“Why of course darling. I could do that in a jiffy. Is there any design you want in mind?”

“Can one of them be a forest camouflage, the rest can be whatever you think is best. We’ll be back later to check up on you after we have met with everyone else. We have to go now, good luck Rarity,” and with that, the Spartan and the Princess were both escorted to the throne room to meet with Princess Celestia.

Canterlot throne room

Princess Celestia was sitting at the throne, reading a report of some kind when her sister walked in with the human right next to her. The report was put aside as she greeted her guests, putting on a faux smile. The Spartan saw right through it. Luna was more oblivious as she was more concerned as to why Celestia wanted to see them both.

“Now that you two are here, would either of you mind for cup of tea and some-” Celestia started off, before being interrupted.

“Cut to the chase Celestia. I can see that you really don’t care about drinking tea with us. And you can remove that smile of yours, you’re not fouling me with it,” the Spartan said, throwing Celestia off for a moment before she recovered, smile gone and ready for business.

“Fine then, I have asked you to here because of yesterday. I have observed that without you we would have lost, Anthony. But I don’t believe that having you here is going to be beneficial to everypony. I think that your skills and body would be useful with Shepard. I will be sending her back to her world today and I want you to join her on her mission to save her galaxy. I don’t need to inform you on how bad it is over there,” Celestia began, not expecting the next to happen.

“Fuck no. I am not a soldier that will just go where the battle is. I ate war and fighting. I might be good at it, but that doesn’t mean I want to be face-to-face with death on any basis. I shall not go with Shepard, for a number of reasons; First, I am still in serious condition from the battle yesterday, second, my equipment is damaged and needs repairs that are not available there, and third, I don’t want to leave somepony I love just after I met her. I don’t feel that would be the best way to go about with a relationship. Also…” Anthony began, fired up and looking at Celestia like she had the plague.

“I was talking with Shepard, and she was certain they could fix your injuries and your armor with almost no major change in resources. And I know that you and Luna are together, but a relationship can grow stronger from being apart.”

“But not this early in it. That can actually damage or destroy it with no chance of repair. I know that in my world, the only time a couple is separated this early is when the one of the two is a soldier, or dies in a horrible accident. It is not natural for lovers to be separated early on in a relationship without consequences and-” Anthony argued back.

“This is not what I need to hear, I just needed you to go with Shepard. So now I enact that because of my rule as princess, I order you to go with Shepard back to her home land and-” Celestia was now standing and walked toward the Spartan. The human squared his shoulders and prepared for a real shouting match.

“I don’t care about your ‘executive rule.’ I don’t want to go with Shepard. Nothing will get me to go with her. I’m not leaving this peaceful land to go fight in a war that is not mine. I shall not leave the one I love, just as I found her. I shall fight for my right to go where I please, as I please! No order from anyone will make me go!” the Spartan said, getting louder with each word. Celestia was within three feet and started to use the Royal Canterlot Voice on the Spartan.

“YOU HAVE BEEN WELCOMED TO THIS LAND WITH OPEN HOOVES, AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY MY KINDNESS!”

“Your kindness? I don’t remember needing anyone’s permission to stay in a land that knows only peace and love. Tell me the real reason you don’t want me here in Equestria, because I would love to know?” the Spartan questioned.

“I don’t think you shouldn’t stay, I think that…”

“Bullshit and you know it. I. Want. The. TRUTH!” the Spartan yelled, finally doing some damage, not to Celestia, but himself. Anthony began coughing and hacking. He hunched slightly over and spat on the floor, adding a red glob on the carpet. Celestia took a step back as Luna ran forward to comfort her lover.

“Oh my, Anthony, are you okay? Why are you…?” Luna didn’t finish as Anthony got back up and wiped some blood off of his cheek.

“I tore a stitch from over exerting my lung; one lung isn’t enough to yell at people. I’ll be fine, just need to rest for a second,” he said, breathing heavy. He walked over to one of the pillars and used it to lean on. Luna staid right beside him the entire time. Celestia only stood there in shock at the will and strength he has, and knew that she almost made the biggest mistake in her life; Luna leaned down and planted a kiss on the Spartan, even though she knew that there was a chance that it was not clean. Celestia dropped all formalities and walked over to the couple.

“I’m sorry. I have no right to tell you where you must go. I just didn’t think that you were right for Luna. I want her to be happy, and I thought that I knew what was best for you. Now I know that you two are meant for each other, and I won’t separate you. Take good care of her Anthony, she needs someone who will be there to protect her when she can’t,” Celestia said, looking sadden, and full of guilt.

“I understand, but I think that I could at least help Shepard. I have a few blue prints I can form that have weapons that will destroy a Reaper fast and effectively. I will not go though. I would risk tearing my lung more, just to get my point across if I had to,” he said, coughing some more with no blood this time. Celestia nodded, and was about to help him, when an explosion ripped the throne room doors wide open.

On the other side was Pinkie Pie, holding a massive cannon. The doors were covered in confetti and cakes.

“Shit, this can’t end well,” Anthony said, still leaning on the pillar. Pinkie zoomed up to him and started to bombard him with party. There is no other way to describe it. One second the throne room was empty, the next there was a party taking over the room. Ponies occupied the room in every available corner, and the injured Spartan was stuck right smack dab in the middle. Luna was disorientated and looking all around, for she had become separated from her love and could figure out where he was.

The Spartan stood up and attempted to find Luna. The ponies were unfortunately blocking all view, which is hard to believe because the Spartan was almost seven, while maybe Celestia came up to his chin. He cursed under his breath, and turned toward the pillar. I can climb that. He thought, looking up it. He gripped the sides of the pillar and started to climb up it like an Olympic pro. The climb was easy, but staying on the wall was the hard part. There were no support beams for him to grab, so he had to rely on his own strength. His bones did not agree with him though. Holding up 280 pounds of muscle is no easy task for the bruised skeletal system.

He finally discovered her over on the other end, talking with Twilight Sparkle, probably trying to find him. He decided to have a little fun. Staying as quiet as possible, he jumped from pillar to pillar and over the crowd of ponies partying. The band on stage was playing some dance song, but he Spartan didn’t pay it any heed. He finally made it over to Luna and Twilight, but was in some pain. His bones were hurting from jumping and landing on the pillars. He took a second to catch his breath, before sliding down toward the two mares.

Half way down, he decided to jump into the pair. He hit the ground hard, and scared both Luna and Twilight right out of their skins. They screamed a little, before they realized that it was only Anthony. Luna gave him a look that told him she was slightly amused, and Twilight was trying to get her breath back. The Spartan was not doing too well though from the landing, falling from about twenty feet will jar your bones around.

“Ugh, that was not a soft landing. I’ll pay for that later,” he said, looking at the now calm mares. “I think that somewhere to sit would be a good choose, I don’t want to tear my lung up. Someplace quieter would be great,” he said, trying not to yell, but the noise was too much for that. The two just nodded, and led him over to a corner that was unoccupied and farthest from the band. The noise level was tolerable.

The two took their seats; while the human had a hard time finding a way to sit that did not involve the floor. His height in this case was a hindrance, so any type of chair he would sit in would raise him above the table, making it so he would have to lean over just to eat. The Spartan just took the floor and got it over with. He sat cross-legged and was actually almost level with the table. The two mares took notice of this, but couldn’t think of a way to fix it.

Luna leaned over a place a kiss on the human’s cheek. “All right, now that we’re together and I got scared, what should we do now?” Luna asked, still slightly mad at how the Spartan was literally able to get the drop on her.

“I don’t know about you, but I need to take a short break. I jumped from pillar to pillar, just to get over here. And to slid down another one and landing on a hard floor, does not sit well with one’s bones. Especially if they have a layer of bruising on them,” the Spartan said, wincing a little as he leaned forward so he didn’t have to raise his voice too much. “I would enjoy it though if we just were able to actually just relax. Yesterday was a pain in the ass, and it still is.”

Behind Luna was Shining Armor. We must have been dragged into the party by the mass of ponies that stampeded their way into the throne room, courtesy of Pinkie Pie. Armor was still mad by the way he walked and looked. The Spartan had a bad feeling about this.

“And I half expected you to be in a hospital bed for the next week. When I heard that you were up and moving around, I had to see for myself. I guess the rumors are true, and Pinkie Pie wasn’t lying to me. I still don’t like you, but I can’t ignore the fact that you saved everyponies life yesterday, so I’ll let you off with a one day reprieve before I do anything,” Shining said, turning around, but was stopped by the Spartan speaking up.

“What do you mean, ‘before you do anything?’ I may be in some pain, but pain is just another factor in war that the body uses to register that you are not healed. It does not restrict me to anyone place or activity. Now what is this, ‘thing’ you wanted to do?” the Spartan asked, eyeing the unicorn. The unicorn eyed back and got a devilish smile on his face.

“I was going to challenge you to a duel, for disrespecting me and my guards, but I don’t think that you’re-”

“I accept,” the Spartan said, surprising the two mares and Shining Armor. “I might be in some pain, but as I said, it does not restrict my movements. Now, since I am the challenged, I chose that we shall battle in the training grounds in one hour. The rest will be determined at the time and location. Sped the word that the captain is about to get his ass kick by a wounded Spartan,” Anthony said, standing up to full height, but kept a neutral face on. If any were able to read his thoughts thought, it was a completely different story.

His mind was going in every direction, just to figure out how he was going to even fight him.

“Good, I’ll have the word sped around then. I’ll see you in an hour.” And Shining turned and left, not saying another word to anypony else, not even his sister Twilight.

Luna turned to her lover and had a look of concern in her eyes. She had no clue as to why he would accept, when just climbing up a pillar hurt him. Twilight was wondering why her brother would even allow this to happen. She was remembering when he would have never even thought of dueling somepony, but now will do it without hesitation.

“You don’t have to duel him, you know,” Luna said after Shining left.

“I know, but it has to be done. It’s not the issue, but the principal of it. I insulted him, and now he wants revenge. I am doing this to appeal to his honor, after I had ripped it away from him. I need to fight him, but I won’t just let him win, it will be a fight he will never forget.”

A/N Dun dun duuuun. cliff hanger. dont you just love those. *ducks behind chair as lamp passes head*