Author's Note

Finished this chapter up! Big shoutout and thanks to Requiem17 for doing a bit of editing for it, go check his stories out if you haven't already. No, he didn't put me up to this. Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Differentium

The Master Chief slowly opened his eyes, ears ringing as his skull lay limp. As he attempted to lift himself up, he noticed he was still in armor lock. He depressurized his suit, servos hissing as they eased. He heard voices outside, but they were still faint. He could only gather pieces of the conversation, noting the term ‘Forerunner’ and ‘Halo’. Suddenly silence reigned supreme, as John S-117 slowly moved to a crouch. He scanned his surroundings, taking note that the Pelican door was open, his MA5B was gone, and he only had his Magnum. Next he checked his HUD for any news on failures.

One beeped urgently in front of him, flashing red, “Unauthorized entity detected.” He noticed the warmth in the back of his mind, one that he had assumed was Cortana. Then he remembered she was piloting the Pelican, saving both of them before they crashed along with the Dawn. As soon as it seemed to notice that he realized it wasn’t Cortana, the presence quickly flitted away, leaving emptiness.

“Ancilla, what is the creature’s health status?” A tall silver and blue figure before him spoke, seemingly to nobody. It nodded slowly, before turning to him. “Good, you are alive. I am Hardlight-Shines-Eternal. I was going to help you out, but your ship’s artificial intelligence was most… Insistent, on keeping us from helping you. I had my Ancilla check on your vitals, and you’re all clear.”

John frowned. “Why did you help me?” He spoke, a low growl accompanying the words. He reached out a hand and pulled out Cortana’s chip, before slotting her into his implant. Immediately the familiar sensation of ice then heat filled his mind, before Cortana settled in once more.

“Because, quite honestly, you didn’t try and kill me. The main reason for that was that you were unconscious, but nevertheless, you didn’t harm me. I’m surprised your Class-2 suit held up for that impact, it was a pretty large one. Your AI was brilliant to fire the thrusters at the last second, but you came close to death. It too.” The silver one replied, voice betraying nothing.

“Class-2? Only 343 Guilty Spark said that. John, you better be careful. This might be another fanatic.” Cortana spoke up, listening in to the conversation. He nodded and gave a small grunt, before returning to the matter at hand.

“What are you?” John said, looking at the creature.

“I am Hardlight-Shines-Eternal, a Promethean class Forerunner. And I could, quite honestly, use your help.”

Master Chief blinked. “A Forerunner? They died a hundred-thousand years ago!”

“Well, the rest of my kind did, but some may have escaped. May I introduce you, whoever and whatever you are, to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna of Equestria. And please tell us what you are.”

John straightened, before snapping rigid with shock at the sight of two tall horses with horns and… Were those wings? Standing before him, with hair flowing in a nonexistent wind. At least, so far as he could tell in his MJOLNIR. “Wha-...” He sputtered, the largest sign of surprise anyone could get out of him. John frowned, before speaking, “I am Spartan 117, a human.”

It was the Forerunner’s turn to be surprised. “A human? I have read a lot-or as much as we had- of records about your kind before mine… Devolved yours. Before you ask, they did not know about the fact that the humans were running from the Flood and cleansing our worlds. They thought they were merely spreading out without thought. And the results… Well, they were terrible, to say the least.”

“The Forerunners… Devolved the humans?” Cortana raised her voice, broadcasting out of the Master Chief’s helmet speakers. “Oh, and did they wipe out the rest with the Halo rings?!”

“No. We gathered portions of every species and protected them in the Ark and then reseeded them throughout the galaxy after the rings fired. And my kind… They killed themselves to save yours.” A hint of anger entered the Forerunner’s voice, as well as sadness.

“How did you survive then?! Did you run so you could be the ‘last great Forerunner’?” Cortana accused, before she paused. The Forerunner’s helmet folded back, revealing a pale face with yellow eyes etched with grief.

“I wish I didn’t. I was ordered to come to the Halo ring here. I went into cryostorage, and remained there for the past hundred thousand years. And I never saw my family again…

“And I came here, watched as the Halo ring crashed into the sun, and fought to protect the ponies from the griffons. And I find others, ones who came in purple pods and armored in silver and red, carrying plasma firearms, and fighting with swords of plasma. I watched them slaughter others, while I continued to fight. And you accuse me of cowardice?!”

Cortana stammered, “Wha- How- The Covenant?! The Covenant is here?! I thought we had a truce with the Sangheili!”

John took that moment to speak, “Maybe it’s renegades. We don’t know for sure, Cortana.”

She grumbled, “I just don’t understand…”

A Grunt waddled around the Forerunner, “Holy One? What is going on? Is the Prophet of Truth here to bless us?”

The Forerunner blinked, frowning, “Panug, who is this Prophet of Truth?”

The Grunt, Panug, gurgled with reverence, “He leads us to the Great Journey!”

John grimaced at the title. He’d fought so long to prevent the Great Journey, only for it to come after him again. Hardlight queried, “Who is ‘us’?”

The hapless Grunt spoke without a thought, “The Covenant!”

The Master Chief immediately whipped an armored hand to his Magnum, before putting a round through the creature’s head. A shower of iridescent blood and grey matter spewed out, painting the ground with goo. He then aimed at the Forerunner, prepared to fire.

“I… Take it this Covenant is bad then?” It spoke, grim curiosity etched on its face. The Master Chief noticed its hand had reached towards a silvery weapon at its side, six fingers and single thumb twitching as if nervous.

Cortana chose that moment to speak, “I-It tried wip-wip-wiping out humanity! The Great Journey is the fir-r-ring of the Halo rings! And you ask i-i-i-if the Covenant is bad?!” She screeched, voice stammering and shifting tones. The Chief’s HUD flickered with static, causing his concern to grow.

“Cortana, are you alright?”

She projected her hologram, sadness clearly evident. “No. I’m not. Chief, do you know how lo-lo-long we were on that ship?” She spoke, avatar quivering and blinking red. “Four and a half years. I was put into service eight years ago, Chief.”

The Forerunner stepped forward, shattering the false shell that the personal moment created. “Your AI is showing signs of rampancy. It… Is possible for my Ancillas to fix her, and the Huragok to create a Sentinel body, but it will require its full compliance as well as yours.”

The Chief then noticed the Sentinel behind the Forerunner, accompanied by a pair of Huragok, or more commonly known as Engineers. “Cortana, if there’s any chance to fix you, we’ll have to take it.” He said, removing the AI chip and holding her out to view the full avatar.

Cortana sighed, before nodding, “Okay, Chief. I… Didn’t want to tell you back on the Dawn, but if there is a chance to fix me… Then let’s do it. Okay, Forerunner, do your stuff.”

“If we may interrupt…” A soothing voice broke in, as the white horse stepped forward, “We are still at war, and the Griffons draw closer with every minute.”

Cortana turned to the creature, “Well, seeing how Truth is alive, even though we watched the Gravemind kill him, and how the Covenant is still up, plus the Forerunner’s accounts of Elites working with the Griffons… I think it’s safe to say that the Covies and Griffons are working together.”

John nodded, slotting her back into his implant and turning to the horses and others, “We’ll help. We took down the Prophet of Truth once before, we can do it again. And Cortana?”

“Yes, Chief?”

“Any idea why Truth is still alive?”

“Yes. When the Slipspace Portal ruptured, we could have been flung into an alternate reality. So far its only theory, but this might be proof. But if it is… We’re going to have a hell of a time getting back to the UNSC.”

-------------------- Griffon Command Post, 120 Miles From Ponyville --------------------

General Steelbeak paced inside his tent, thinking. He had been so close to success, when according to the reports, a strange creature carrying weapons of light came into the fray, assisted with a flying metal being that eliminated many brave soldiers. He cursed that it had killed the only griffon who managed to capture an Element of Harmony, despite him nearly tasting victory.

The Griffons reveled in bloodshed, but when the Holy Prophet came down from the heavens, they knew to refrain from attacking. And it was worthwhile, for now his entire race was working to join the Covenant, and accompany them on the Great Journey. An Elite stepped into his tent, interrupting his pacing. Steelbeak bowed before the being, who simply nodded in acknowledgement. It set down a purple holograph emitter, before leaving the General and the object.

The projector flickered on, revealing the hunched and pious form of the Prophet of Truth. “General. I heard that the attack was a failure.” The Griffon leader quavered, fearful.

“Y-Yes, my Lord. It was not our fault, though. Reports speak of a flying silver creature that shot beams of fire, and killed many brave soldiers. It even annihilated the griffon carrying the leader of the Elements of Harmony.”

The Prophet’s eyes widened, “And can you confirm these reports?”

“Yes. These were my most trusted warriors, and devout believers. They would not lie.”

“One can never be too sure.” The Prophet’s eyes returned to their half-lidded state, the folds of his wattle drooping.

“They have been trained since their birth, my liege. They know that if they were to so much as think of deceiving me or my army, then they would be executed.”

“Then there must be a holy relic on this planet. Find it, and keep it unharmed. You will have my Sangheili, Unggoy, Kig-Yar, and Jiralhanae at your disposal, and you will be one of the Holy Covenant if you succeed. But if you fail…” The Prophet of Truth chuckled, a dark and mirthless noise, “Then you will die.”

The emitter turned off.

-------------------- Covenant Capital Ship Divine Seer, Orbiting Equus --------------------

The Prophet of Truth leaned back in his gravity throne, before maneuvering to a viewscreen displaying the planet below. The ship’s Luminary had not stated that there were any holy relics contained upon or in it, but it could have been mistaken. Truth sighed, knowing that the humans were still out there, despite his efforts to exterminate them. He pulled up a current image of the Luminary’s readings, then gasped in shock.

There, floating in plain view, was the one symbol he did not want to see at the time.

The symbol for Reclaimer.

He frowned, before bringing up a transmission to the ship commander, "There is a holy relic on the planet. The Griffons have been ordered to retrieve it, but I want Kig-Yar, Unggoy, Jiralhanae, and Sangheili to join them, and follow their orders."

The Sangheili frowned at the mention of the Jiralhanae, before nodding. Truth continued, "And there is a human on the planet. Send an elite kill team to eliminate it. Choose those you wish, but make sure there is no trace of its presence. We must not let them find the holy relic."