The morning birds chirped cheerfully as the sun rose, lighting up Equestria and starting off a new day. Garrett heard the door swing open, followed by a single set of armored hooves that undeniably belonged to a guard.

“This early?” he grumbled. “What do you want from me now--” he was cut off as he saw a different guard come into view.

A mare pegasus guard stood straight and was looking at him, eyebrow raised as if she was expecting more. For a soldier that can cause a lot of havoc in an hour, he looks so... incapable of doing so, she thought to herself.

“Who are you suppose to be? Kiss Ass Number Two?” Garrett asked.

“Lieutenant Commander Turbulence.”

“So your captain got bored with me. Let me guess, you started making bets who could piss me off the most.”

“No,” she replied. “Captain Galea is my commanding officer, and he gave us an order to not harm you. Fortunately for you, none of the other commanders wanted to do anything while the princesses were busy with you.”

“Just get to the point.”

“I think differently compared to them.”

“Everyone does, genius.”

“I always tried to put myself in your situation. I tried to think of myself crashing in flames, waking up only to be greeted by freaky aliens, and do whatever’s needed to survive. Apparently, I would have also found myself in a similar situation such as yours, minus the fact that you did a wheelie on that vehicle thing while you were going back here. I admit, that was impressive.”

“What? Trying to be my friend, then?” he asked sarcastically.

“Stop trying to act so tough. I’ve been overhearing your conversations, and yes, I’m feeling sorry for you. It’s hard not seeing your family for years.”

Garrett growled, feeling exposed, “Does anyone else know?”

“No. I’m the only one. I want you, me and the rest of the guard to mutually respect each other, and I would prefer to start off by seeing what you can do.”

“Your point being?”

“You’ve been threatened by us the entire time you’ve been here. You’re like a phoenix that’s been locked up in a cage for an eternity. I want to see what you can do in the open. Besides, it’s scheduled for sunshine all day for the next few days.”

“Arranging a little ‘accident’ for me, then? That doesn’t seem so polite. After all, I did save your princess from snakes.”

Turbulence felt the memory flash right before her eyes. She remembered watching Garrett attack the flying serpents like a furious bull that was pumped full of rage, and she also remembered his note on the Luna’s bandaged foreleg.

“...And because of that,” she said, snapping back into reality, “I’m going to give you a treat.” She opened his cell with a key and motioned him to follow her.

Cautiously, he did so, senses tuned in so well that it was easy for him to hear a pin drop.

The majority of the guards in the dining room were still drowsy after waking up. They were out of their armor and were in the various stages of lining up, eating, and chatting, still cheerful about Garrett’s capture. Captain Galea picked up his food and sat with Commander Downburst and a group of guards, who were in the middle of a discussion.

“Morning, captain,” one guard greeted.

“Morning,” he replied. “Nice to see a change in schedule today. Nothing special happening for the rest of the week.”

“I agree,” said another guard. “Still... what about the human?”

“Yeah,” said a third, “what are we going to do with him? I mean, in my opinion... he’s just... scared and freaked out. I don’t really think he’s not that bad. I would’ve done the same thing if I met a group of aliens.”

Downburst snorted. “Which part? The part where he punched me in the snout at the beginning, or the part where he’s been the main topic of chat among us?”

“Well... he did manage to make Princess Celestia laugh. That counts as something, doesn’t it?”

Downburst shook his head. “I swear, the only time I’d believe that he ‘isn’t so bad’ is if he’d walk straight inside here, take a tray of breakfast, and eat with a commander--” he was cut off as the entrance door swung open.

Ordinarily, everypony would have greeted the ones coming in. This time, however, all the guards fell silent. It was hard to concentrate as Lieutenant Commander Turbulence walked in, escorted by First Lieutenant Garrett Archer. “You have got to be kidding me,” Downburst grumbled.

The moment Garrett got a view of the room, he quickly came to a halt, eyes fixed straight at Turbulences’ with straight rejection.

“Hell. No.” He was clenching his fists tightly in an attempt to expel some of the energy building up inside him.

The pegasus paid no attention to him as she continued moving down the hall and lined up for her meal. Turning back, she found Garrett still standing at the door and still staring at her. “It’s either you get moving, or you won’t eat anything.”

“Fine,” Garrett growled, anger all too present in his voice. He marched down the hall and also took up his spot in the line, positioning himself in such a way that he would not be flanked so easily. All the guards were staring at him, suspicious.

Turbulence raised an eyebrow. “Why are you doing that?”

Garrett’s voice was cheerfully dead and irritated. “Oh, I’m sorry, I just don’t want to get stabbed while my back’s turned.”

“We have strict orders not to inflict any harm on you.”

“Do you think I would actually believe that?”

“Okay, maybe we can slap you once or twice.”

“In return, I’ll punch you once or twice. That goes double for your captain.”

After the two got their meals, Garrett made his way to a corner farthest from the ponies, leaned against the wall, and ate his food in silence, with all the other guards still watching and keeping their distances. Turbulence, on the other hoof, sat on the table closest to him. “Well? Good enough for a treat?” she asked.

“At least it’s better than the crap Captain A-hole-” he shot a look at Galea “-forces down my throat,” Garrett said, forcing a laugh before he started eating as fast as he could and staying completely silent.

“Come on, Garrett,” Turbulence interrupted. “Give us a conversation on grounds we can relate to, and no more insults.”

“Like what?” Garrett asked after he wiped his lips with a napkin and placed his tray down. “I can’t think of anything.”

Turbulence was silent and in deep thought. How am I suppose to help this guy look better to us? “Did you really see planets burn?” she cautiously asked.

Garrett stared at her, aware of what she wants him to talk about. This time, however, he was not afraid to say it. “...Yes. Why do you think I signed up for the military’s special forces?”

Scattered murmurs echoed throughout the room.

“Tell us a mission you did,” Turbulence suggested.

“All right,” Garrett said, setting up a chair for him to sit on in the corner. “I was on the moon of what used to be the planet Madrigal before the Covenant, the alien alliance my race is at war with, attacked it. I prowled my way through the cliff like how a tiger hunts its prey, and I found the sniper I was suppose to take out...”

“...I knew I had to get out, so I ran as fast as I could, but I tripped over a weapon box, falling down to the ground. As I tried to get back up, I could hear the plasma grenades hiss through the corridors, getting closer and closer. I picked up whatever was closest to me, and, before I knew it, I was seeing the the end of the platform, but the little aliens were hot on my heels.” Garrett stopped to take a drink of water, smiling as all the guards were on the edge of their seats, eager to know the rest.

“What happened next?” asked Turbulence after he finished drinking.

“I was too late.”

There was an outburst of shouts and gasps from the guards that filled the entire room. Even Captain Galea raised his eyebrows, impressed with how Garrett told his tale.

“So how did you escape?” asked one guard.

Garrett chuckled. “That’s up for you to decide.”

“Keep talking like that,” Downburst said, “and, worst case scenario, I might end up respecting you.”

“Right back at you.” Garrett switched his attention to Turbulence. “If I remember correctly, you said to me that you’ll offer me some fresh air.”

Turbulence raised her hoof. “Only if you promise not to cause any more trouble.”

Garrett smirked. “I swear I’ll behave and play by the rules.”

The armory was nothing like Garrett could have imagined. He expected a dusty, dirty, and hot room with black tools. Instead, he saw a clean, well-ventilated, and magnificent marble room. All the tools were made of a strange material that looked like gold, which he assumed it was, and the blacksmiths were large, muscular unicorns who could have even challenged Big Macintosh for size.

“All that gold must have been a pain in the ass for the budget,” Garrett said with a nod.

Turbulence shook her head. “They’re not made of gold.” She switched her attention to one of the blacksmiths. “Do you have my special request?”

With a sinister smile, the blacksmith raised a strange crossbow and tossed it to Garrett’s hands. “Just to let you know, commander,” he said, “arcane crossbows work only for unicorns because it magnifies the power and speed of spells slightly.”

“I know,” said Turbulence.

He switched his attention to the trooper. “We tried to copy the grip of one of the weapons in your armory.”

“Seriously?” Garrett asked in disbelief as he inspected the crossbow. “You’re giving me a weapon? FYI, I can’t do magic.”

“True,” said the commander.

The blacksmith focused his magic on the crossbow and yanked it away from the trooper’s arms. He then held it in front of Garrett and showed off the customized pistol grip which bore much resemblance to his sniper rifle. Before the human could have done anything, the unicorn quickly aimed it at Garrett’s arm and fired a bolt which splattered into blue paint upon impact, making him wince slightly.

“Feels like a paintball,” Garrett commented as he wiped it off. “Didn’t really hurt, but it did make me feel that I’m hit.”

“Good, that means it works. Plus, that’s as far as we can go to make arcane crossbows works without magic, and don’t worry about eye protection, because it’s pretty much a sprinkle of water,” said the blacksmith as he returned the weapon to the trooper. He then pointed to a target with his hoof. “Take a few shots on that so you can get a feel of it.”

With that in mind, Garrett raised the weapon and fired five shots at the target, with each one hitting it on the bullseye. “Semi-automatic, and same recoil as a battle rifle. Not bad. Wish this had a non-magnifying scope and a black finish, though.”

“That could be arranged,” said the blacksmith, smiling as he knew he was about to learn a little bit about human engineering.

“What’s going on here?” Princess Celestia asked as she and Luna were approaching a gathering crowd of guards and commanders in an observatory which overlooked the training field, and the ponies themselves looked like die-hard fans of the Wonderbolts watching one of their airshows.

“The human’s attempting to conquer the Watchtower Challenge,” said Commander Downburst.

“None have ever completed the Watchtower alone, and the only way to finish this challenge is with a unicorn and pegasus team,” added Luna in disbelief.

“He’ll be in the company of a small team of unicorns, fresh out of training.”

“They are using training spells, correct?” asked Celestia.

“Yes, your highness, just as protocol dictates. I can assure you that he will not be hurt at all,” replied Turbulence.

“They didn’t even allow him to wear any armor,” said a guard. “However, for fairness, they allowed him to bring a kit of things no larger than his weapon from his ship, and Captain Galea saw to it that they were not any form of weaponry.”

“If they were smart, they would use their crossbows to make ascension ropes,” said Downburst.

“And what are the odds of them knowing that spell? We just developed that two days ago,” said another

“Twenty bits say that they won’t last five minutes when the action starts!” yelled a second.

“This may not end well,” murmured Luna.

“Don’t give up so easily,” said Celestia, nudging her slightly. “We’ve never seen his ability to adapt with this much of a view.”

The Watchtower Challenge took place in a large, rectangular field. Tall grass and bushes stood everywhere, but they only stood until the height of the flank of an average unicorn guard. The only truly tall plants were trees scattered about. The perimeter length of the area was lined with four archer towers, and the field itself also had a two towers stationed in the center.

The Watchtower itself stood five stories high, and it looked like it was built to survive waves of pegasi attacks. Starting at the second floor, there were windows for guards to shoot out of. The tall structure was surrounded by a ditch, leaving anypony exposed if one tried to climb without clearing out the shooters. A lone, red flag stood on top of the building, easily seen throughout the area. Opposite the Watchtower, on the other side of the field, was a small gate, which was open and covered, where the team was to come from.

Garrett looked at the field and inspected his team of five unicorns. “What’s our objective for this place?”

“One of us needs to turn the mechanism to release the flag. After that, lift it up, and you win,” said one guard.

“We are so dead...” murmured another guard.

“Shut up, kid,” said Garrett as he was bringing out strange sticks and yellow-brown nets from his rucksack. He then began pulling long strands of grass and plucking leaves from a nearby tree. “No way in hell can we just charge in head first, so we’ll be doing the second best thing. I’ll be naming each of you first to fifth, respectively, and you have to listen to me very, very carefully. First, take off your gear... all of it.”

“What’s taking so long?!” Downburst growled impatiently. “What could they be possibly be doing in that gate for an hour and a half?!”

“Actually, it’s now two hours,” mumbled a guard.

“Patience is a virtue,” Turbulence said with a sigh of impatience.

All hopes were raised when a strange clanking sound reached their ears. Even all the training guards on the field became excited as they raised their crossbows and shot paint bolts at the source of the noise, only to be disappointed. Instead of a hint of a living thing, everypony only found a guard helmet, which was magically floating in the air, smashing against the base of a tower.

The sound of more crossbows firing came next, but it quickly died out within ten seconds. When everypony turned and looked again, nothing but the grass, trees, bushes, archer towers, and the Watchtower were on the field. However, the guards on the right side of the field were all giving the signal that they were hit by leaving their post and keeping their crossbows, and the towers themselves had newly added paint marks.

“What just happened?” asked a guard, dumbfounded like the rest.

The same clanking sound reached their ears again. This time, however, it was on the exact opposite side of the field from where the first one came from. The guards again looked and found another helmet smashing against the base of another tower. Celestia and Luna, on the other hoof, were not looking at the helmet. They were focusing their attention to the plants on the opposite side of the wall where the clanking sound was coming from.

Instead of the motionless vegetation which they both expected, the two alicorns found a bush stand up and raise a distinctive, black crossbow that had a scope. Two more bushes stood up, floated up two magical crossbows, and aimed at the towers. It finally became clear to them who the figures were, and they both smiled in amazement as Garrett and the two unicorns wiped out the guards watching from towers lining the other wall and the two towers in the center.

“Good work, Garrett,” Celestia said as she and Luna nodded in satisfaction.

“Phase two,” Garrett said in confidence to the guards behind him and gave a nod. He and the two unicorns pulled back the hoods of their ghillie suits. The trooper charged out of cover and reached the center of the field, attracting the attention of all the guards of the Watchtower, who were the remaining ones left. The other members of the team followed up, floating their armor with them as they formed a wall covering them and the human.

Despite being out in the open, it was still hard to see the figures because of their improvised camouflage and face paint patterns. The only things the other guards were able to see were walls of armor levitating right above ground in different spots and crossbows floating in the air, firing paint bolts right at them. More guards popped out of cover from the Watchtower, returning fire.

“Tighten the gap!” barked Garrett. “Regroup!”

The unicorns made the bits and pieces of armor gather up into another wall, and the they met under the safety of improvised shields. Paint bolts impacted the armor and easily disorientated the team.

“There’s no way we can get passed them without getting hit,” Garrett said, adrenaline starting to pump him up, “so we’ll push our way.”

“Why do we always get to do the fun stuff?!” asked One.

“Getting there isn’t the fun part. Finding a way to get up is the fun part,” replied Four, giving a cocky smile.

“I like your spirit, kid. Stay behind me.” Garrett mounted his crossbow on a piece of armor along the floating barricade, using said armor as a pivot for steadier aim. The other unicorns did the same. “March forward on my mark. Three. Two. One. Mark!”

Right on cue, hooves and a pair of boots marched forward like Roman legionaries, stomping on the ground with enough courage to fend off a hydra.

“Keep shooting! Keep shooting!” yelled one of the guards from the Watchtower, his voice easily giving away that they were starting to get worried.

“We’re almost there! Hold it together!” barked Garrett to his team. “Take your time, and think of every shot as your last!”

“I’ll make a dash for the tower!” yelled Four guard, who broke formation and made a break for the objective.

“Kid! Wait!” yelled Garrett, but he was too late as he saw the unicorn abandon the protective wall.

Guard Four barely made any distance from the group before hearing Garrett’s voice, which was not in a good mood anymore. “GET DOWN!”

Immediately the guard slowed down, but before he could have even turned his head, he felt a fist smash his temple, making him fall into the cover of a tree. Amidst the very short moment, he was able to see the human raise a golden chest plate right on time to have a paint bolt land on it, spraying his face with the fluid.

Garrett felt the liquid cover his eyes and he lunged towards the same tree for cover.

“When this is over, I’ll whip you into shape!” he snarled to the guard with enough power to make a lion whimper as he was forcing the pony’s head down with his right hand and wiping the two different paints off of his face with his left. The rest of the team finally marched their way to the two and provided protection.

The guards on the Watchtower fired bolts right at them, only to be stopped by the wall and get shot by the team’s careful aim. Garrett and the unicorns finally reached the base of the structure, and they took cover in the blind spot of the shooters.

“Okay, I guess we have to use our ascension rope spells,” said Five.

“Which means?” Garrett asked, still mad about Four’s immature move. “You know what, never mind. I’ll just see where this gets to.”

The five unicorns took positions on the edge of the blind spot, aimed their crossbows high, and fired. Ropes shot out of the ends of their weapons, and the bolts that carried them stuck to the top of the Watchtower, secured tightly like a screw. Confident, they each took a cord, but before the team was able to do anything, the ropes quickly vanished.

“What the hell just happened?” asked Garrett.

“Umm... there’s a complication to this spell,” said Guard Three. “We just developed this spell a few days ago, and none of us have successfully done it... yet.”

Garrett slapped his forehead with his palm. “Are you telling me that you’re using tactics that haven’t even been field tested yet, and you don’t even have a single clue on how to do it?”

The unicorns shamefully nodded.

“Galea, you’re an a-hole,” Garrett growled in a low voice. He switched his attention to the team. “Let’s finish off these guards, and I’ll think of something.”

The trooper rolled out of cover and fired at the remaining guards of the Watchtower to get their attention. They happily returned his greeting, and they managed to pin him down to the cover of a tree.

The remaining members of the team followed and dashed out of cover, shooting at the distracted guards and taking out the stragglers. As the final guard abandoned post, the unicorns looked at Garrett, who was staring right at the Watchtower.

“What’s next?”

“Who’s the physically strongest among all of you?” he asked, attention still glued at the objective.

“I guess that’s me,” said Two, raising a hoof.

Garrett reached the base of the building, lowered himself down to one knee, and held both of his hands out. “Get on my hand, and I’ll lift you up.”

“You can’t be serious,” said Guard Two in disbelief as he was approaching the trooper.

“Hey, if you can think of a better way, be my freaking guest,” replied Garrett in a slightly annoyed manner as he was lifting up the unicorn, “and lose some weight while you’re climbing up!”

Some unicorns chuckled as Two grumbled and continued climbing by grabbing hold of the holes where the trainers would shoot out of. Halfway up, he said, “Nopony’s ever climbed the Watchtower before, and I guess I figured it out bec-- ack!”

The paint bolt marks on the wall made his grip slip loose, leaving him with only one hoof hanging on and the rest of his body dangling off the wall.

Garrett and the others felt the hairs behind their necks raise.

“Kid! You alright?!” Garrett yelled.

“I’m loosing grip!” Two yelled, panicking as his hoof was slowly slipping off. He struggled to get a hold of anything, but it only made him loose grip even faster. Finally, his hoof came off the wall. It was if time slowed down when he finally saw it lose contact, sending him into a free fall. He fell past one floor, but he stopped when a hand grabbed him by the hoof on the second floor.

Garrett was holding on to the building with one hand, and the other was clinging on to the guard. He screamed in agony as pain shot through his muscles as he had to carry himself and the pony with only one arm. Finally he threw the unicorn to his side, making sure that both him and his teammate had a decent grip.

“Make me do that again,” the human said, panting and clutching his arm while hanging on, “and I’ll just let you fall face first!”

Guard Two stared at Garrett, stunned by how fast he climbed.

Garrett, on the other hand, was in no mood for staying still.

“Oh, for the love of...” the trooper gently smacked the back of his fist against the unicorn’s temple, snapping him back into attention.

“H-how did you climb that fast?” asked the unicorn, still dumbfounded.

“Shut up and get going!” Garrett ordered, his voice switching to an officer’s tone.

“But...but I can’t,” the guard breathed. “Too... slippery... and too... tired... can’t hold on. I give up.”

Those final three words made Garrett know what was needed.

“...That’s it?” He spat, disgusted. “You’re just going to stop this far? You’re right. You’re weak, immature, and pathetic.”

Two was silent, staring at Garrett.

“That’s right. Take it all in, you useless piece of crap. Admit it, you’re a waste of space, resources, and time. Looking at a loser like you makes me sick. It takes a real badass to finish this easy-as-hell course, and you don’t even qualify in any category to be considered one.”

“Stop it...” the guard growled. “I’ll... I’ll climb this.”

“You?” Garrett scoffed. “I said a badass, not a baby that’s too scared to get dirty. Go back down, and I’ll finish it myself, maggot.”

“SHUT UP! STOP IT!” the guard shouted back. “I will climb this! I’ll pass this challenge!”

After that sentence, the guard roared out to the sky his battle cry, forcing himself higher and higher up the structure. The only thought that was going through his mind was raising that flag and proving Garrett wrong. His muscles were screaming at him, but he brushed them off. When the guard reached the top, he found Garrett standing on top of the structure, smirking as he was looking at him.

“Told you I could climb this,” the guard said, smiling proudly.

Garrett extended his hand and helped him up. “Good job, kid.”

“This challenge was easier than I thought, and thanks. The only thing needed now is the even bigger congratulation we’ll get back at the dining hall.”

“I’m not congratulating you because you won.”

“...Sorry?”

“What you just showed me down there is that you have what it takes to be a proper marine. Give enough time, and you can become an elite, an ODST. Because of that, you’ve earned my respect, so congratulations, again.”

The guard smiled.

“Come on, we still have a flag to raise.”

With that, the two walked to the flag, unlocked the mechanism, and raised hit high, both smiling proudly of their achievement.

“Hey!” Garrett shouted, pointing to the observatory, “I told you I could do it! If there were any bets, I’ll start collecting them later!”

The trooper doubted if his call reached the observatory. After all, it was hard to hear almost anything amidst the cheers of the team.

“Let’s all give a loud hoorah on my mark!” Garrett incited the five unicorns. “Three. Two. One. Mark!”

Five hooves and one fist raised up high, followed by voices that were heard all throughout the field. “HOORAH!”

Celestia and Luna clapped their hooves together, congratulating Garrett and his team as they left the field. All the guards in the observatory were murmuring amongst themselves.

“Well done, Garrett,” Celestia said with a smile.

“I have never seen such resourcefulness used to conquer this challenge,” Luna added.

Turbulence followed as well, joining the applause, followed by Downburst. One by one, other commanders and guards were celebrating along. Soon, all the poines in the observatory were clapping their hooves together.

Even Captain Galea, who joined the crowd right before the action started, had his hooves clapping slowly. He’s smart, I admit. “Well, back to work, everypony,” he said to the guards before he accompanied them going out of the observatory.

When the last guard left, Celestia and Luna took one last look at the Watchtower Challenge.

“He can make quite a mess, can’t he?” Celestia commented before leaving. He’d make a fine leader.

“Sister, wait,” Luna said abruptly as she stopped her sister. “Look.” She pointed to the base of a tower with her hoof.

The paint bolt marks along the wall started moving, sliding over the surface and into one particular area. One by one, the paint started forming letters, and the two alicorns watched in confusion and disbelief. As the final letter formed, it became clear what the message said.

He’s just as grim as you, Celestia.

-Dissenso

The letters quickly vanished and fell to the ground like a normal fluid would.

“Who is this Dissenso?” asked Luna.

Celestia shook her head. “I don’t know...”

Turbulence accompanied Garrett again as he entered the royal guard dining room for lunch. Again, all the guards inside were silent as they were watching him line up. After he got his food, he found himself in the middle of leaving, bringing it to his cell, but a group of cheers erupted from the onlookers. Specifically, five hoorahs. The five guards which he conquered the Watchtower Challenge with were inviting him to join them on their table.

“Now that’s more welcoming,” he said, smiling and taking a seat.

“I’m still amazed by the fact that we conquered the challenge,” said One.

“...Did you have to yell at me?” asked Two, slightly cautious.

“Military pep talks are the best kinds of pep talks, kid. Intimidation in training is what made every ODST like me tough,” Garrett said.

“Could you tell us how you survived the exploding spire?” asked Three. After he said his question, many other guards in the dining room stopped their current conversations and began listening quietly.

Garrett smiled. “I went off the ledge, and that’s as far as I go.”

There were scattered gasps and woahs throughout the room.

“Can you give us a space battle between the UNSC and the Covenant?” asked Four.

Garrett eased back on his chair. “Back in the early phases of the war, Harvest was the first colony to get hit...”

“...We returned to Harvest with a fleet strong enough to wipe out the Insurrectionists in one swift strike, so there we were, forty warships versus one Covenant capital ship.”

“Those odds were incredibly in your favor,” Donwburst said with a smile.

Garrett just stared at him, and the mere look of it made everypony’s jaw drop.

“No way...” the commander shook his head in disbelief. “You’ve got forty ships, and it wasn’t enough to take it down?!”

Garrett sighed. “We tried everything. Nukes, MACS, missiles, and even more, but its energy shields were too strong.” All the guards in the room whispered and murmured amongst themselves.

“So... you lost,” mumbled a guard.

“I’m not done yet,” Garrett said, managing to keep his enthusiasm down. “We knew those shields could take on anything, so we tried one more move: Hit it with everything at one go.”

“...And?” asked a hopeful guard, who was just as excited as a pony in line during Cider Season.

“We won.”

Cheers and sighs of reliefs erupted in the room, leaving Garrett happy that he was able to keep up the entertainment.

“How’s Earth’s defence?” asked Turbulence.

“Can't tell you. If I did, I'd get executed, but let's just say it's enough to tell them that we're not going down without a fight.”

“I admit, those are interesting stories,” Galea said. “Your race has a lot of courage and determination, and I respect those part.”

“Want me to prove to you how much I really have?” Garrett asked.

“Well, you’ve jumped off a spire and fought a flying serpent in a one-on-one death match. If you want to prove just how much courage you truly have and actually make me think of you as ‘one of the best,’ go ahead.”

Garrett gave a smile which made the captain uncomfortable.

I have a bad feeling about this... Galea thought to himself as he saw the human stand up.

Celestia and Luna waited in their dining room, smelling their dinner which was laid out before them. Garrett sat on the opposite side of the table, also surveying the food in front of him. Adding to the mood, Philomena was singing a song in her cage.

“How’s this for a change of scenery?” asked Celestia.

“It’s definitely nice to be with others who aren’t guards for once,” Garrett said as he began helping himself to a bowl of Canterlot onion soup.

“You were amazing on the Watchtower,” Luna said.

“Just did what I learned back in boot camp, ma’am, and at least now I’m getting the good kind of attention back in the barracks.”

Out of nowhere, Philomena flew out of her cage and landed on Garrett’s arm. The trooper flinched as the talons gripped, and he held still, confused what to do. The phoenix then plucked out a feather and offered it to him.

“Uhh... thanks,” he said as he accepted it.

“That means she likes you,” said Celestia with a calm smile. “And that also means that she knows that we can trust you.”

“I guess I should consider myself lucky, considering the fact that she’s... fire related,” Garrett said as he kept it. Philomena let out a small screech of satisfaction and flew back to her cage.

“I heard that you were able to get a lot of respect and trust from the guards,” added Luna.

“Sure did.”

“What did you do to earn so much from the guards in so little time, Garrett?” asked Celestia.

Garrett shrugged, acting like he knew nothing. “After I ate, they wanted to see how much courage I had, so I showed it to them.”

A knock on the door interrupted the conversation. Commander Turbulence entered. “I’m sorry for interrupting, but I have a report from the medical wing. Captain Galea has sustained an injury. Specifically, a black eye. He may not be able to report for duty tomorrow.”

Turbulence winked at Garrett before she closed the door and left.

Celestia and Luna stared at Garrett, giving him you-have-got-to-be-kidding looks.

“Heh... karma’s a strange thing... right?” Garrett gave an unsure smile.

They continued giving him the look.

“...I regret nothing... On the bright side, the guards are starting to like me,” he said before he continued eating his meal.

“ODSTs are bold ones,” Luna said as she picked up her spoon with her magic to eat her Canterlot onion soup.

“If that’s how an ODST can be, I can’t imagine what a spartan is capable of,” Celestia said, also picking up a spoon to help herself with her soup. Before she even penetrated the very seductive grilled cheese layer on top, she noticed letters in the form of burned cheese appear on her meal.

Don’t be fooled by his soft side. Garrett is dangerous, and you know it. Keep him on a leash.

-Dissenso

Celestia shot a look at Luna, and she too was looking at her, for the same message was on her layer of grilled cheese.

“Something wrong, ma’am?” Garrett asked.

“Nothing, Garrett,” Celestia said as she shook her head.

“I know that look, ma’am,” Garrett said as he also shook his head. “That’s the same look that tells me crap just happened.”

That simple message on her soup was sinking into Celestia. She knew that Garrett was still a soldier, and he would carry out his orders when needed. But he is still a good individual with a conscience, she told herself, somehow managing to control her stress. “Nothing is happening. Everything is all right. It’s just somepony using their magic to write on food.”

“...With all due respect, who the hell would do that?” Crap... they’re giving the same looks those politicians back on Earth gave when news of Reach getting glassed came.

“You will be amazed how some minds work here,” said Luna, who also had the message affecting her. He is not dangerous, she tried to convince herself, he knows what is right and what is wrong. He will never cause more harm than he did when we first met. Never...