What else is up There?

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Chapter Ten

The HVI's

March 24th, 2553
Equestrian star system
Skies above Equestria
Captain James Mitchell of the UNSC frigate Dawn of the Sun
8:14AM

"What're we looking at?" the Captain asked as he stepped onto the bridge of his ship and looked out the viewport at Canterlot, which they were fast approaching. Fires in the Royal City bled plumes of black smoke into the sky that dissipated around the shields of the Supercarrier hovering above it.

"We got a Brute Supercarrier above Canterlot, Ponyville, and New Cloudsdale. And we've received reports from our unmanned craft that Covenant ships are above many other pony settlements and metropolitans including New Appleloosa, Fillydelphia, and Manehattan" the A.I. of the Dawn, Never-ending Summer, declared as her hologram appeared on the appropriate holo-tank next to the main screen.

"Equestria's being assaulted on all fronts. This is a full fledged invasion" the Captain remarked, sitting down in his command chair.

"Correct, sir" Never-ending Summer stated.

Captain Mitchell leaned forward and looked at the Brute ship and Canterlot, wondering how he would get in to extract the Princess and Lieutenant Crusher.

"We can't go straight in, the Supercarrier would immediately blow us away, and I have no idea where the Everlasting Faith went to. So what should we do?" the Captain asked.

"Based on my analysis the best course of action would be to retreat; we do not have the firepower to engage even a Corvette, much less a Supercarrier" Summer answered.

"No, we're here to help the Ponies of Equestria. We're going to stand, and we're going to fight" Mitchell exclaimed.

The Captain thought about it for a moment before he decided on a course of action. "Summer, notify Marine Combat Team Fourteen, order them to load up a medium combat load and have them report to launch bay seven" Captain Mitchell commanded.

"Yes, Captain" the A.I. replied, her hologram disappearing.

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"Move it, Marines, we haven't got all day" Staff Sergeant Jennifer Williams ordered as she stood next to a D77H-TCI Pelican dropship, a BR55HB-SR* in her hands.

The Marines piled into the Pelican and she joined them, motioning for the pilot to take off while the rear ramp closed. Staff Sergeant Williams stepped into the cockpit as they rocketed across the sky for the Royal City of Canterlot.

Silly name. It bothers me that most of the city names seem to be parodies of Earth cities the Staff Sergeant thought. The city was beautiful.

The key word is 'was.'

Williams stepped back into the 'blood tray' as it was called by front-line troopers to address her Marines.

"Listen up, MCT 14; we've got two high value individuals to extract from a location known as Canterlot Tower. One is a bridge crewmember of our parent ship, and the other is the ruler of this entire country, Princess Celestia. Our orders are simple; get in, extract the HVI's, and get the fuck out" Staff Sergeant Williams declared.

"Questions?" she asked.

"I've got one; why in the hell is this entire country populated by talking ponies?" a Corporal by the name of Walter Hughes inquired.

"You get a chance you can ask them yourself. Any other questions?" the Staff Sergeant asked.

No other hands went up.

"Outstanding. Stay alert, Marines" Williams ordered before stepping back into the cockpit to check on their distance to Canterlot.

They were almost at the city.

"Stand to it, Marines" Staff Sergeant Williams shouted as she walked back into the blood tray, the Pelican coming to a stop outside the remains of Canterlot Tower, half of which had collapsed from being sliced in half and was now resting on two different structures, creating a perfectly horizontal bridge between the two.

"This thing safe?" Corporal Hughes asked as they entered the horizontal remains of Canterlot tower through the hole at the bottom of the detached part of the tower.

"Probably not" a Private by the name of Samuel Jenkins replied as he tested the walls, which had become the floor when the upper half collapsed.

"Stay quiet. Watch the ground for windows and take it slow" Staff Sergeant Williams ordered as she and the Marines began to make their way through the horizontal tower, making sure to move slowly so the tower doesn't shift and collapse

They made their way through the tower, making sure to mind their step and to avoid any windows or doors that would collapse under their weight.

Eventually they made it to where the Princess's bedchambers were, the double doors right in front of them on the floor.

"Open it up, Samuel" Staff Sergeant Williams ordered, the private complying as he crouched down to lift the doors up, permitting the rest of the squad to look in the room below.

The HVI's were naturally all the way down at the bottom, next to the glass entrance to an outer balcony.

"Hey! Friendlies coming down!" Williams yelled, earning the attention of the pony Princess and Lieutenant Crusher.

"Don't bother, I'll bring us up to you!" Celestia shouted back, her horn taking on a magical glow before she and the Lieutenant disappeared in a bright flash.

The same flash lit up the hall MCT 14 was in and the two individuals reappeared next to them, the Lieutenant immediately bending over and vomiting on the floor.

"Warn me next time you do that!" he demanded after he had recovered.

"My apologies" the Princess replied; she was about as tall as the humans but seemed larger than life.

"So if you could've done that teleportation the whole time we were stuck down there then why didn't you?" Lieutenant Crusher asked.

"I wasn't sure where we could go; all of Equestria is occupied by Sangheili forces. I should've known they were lying when they said they wanted a diplomatic relationship" Celestia stated bitterly.

The Marines were confused for a moment before Staff Sergeant Williams realized that Celestia herself was confused on an entirely different matter.

"Wait, Princess, I think you might be wrong. The Covenant ships attacking this place are not of Elite origin. They belong to the Brutes" the Staff Sergeant explained.

"Elites? Brutes? What are those? More Covenant forces we will have to deal with?" the Princess inquired.

"No, they're the names we gave to the Sangheili and Jiralhanae" Williams answered.

"I see. Well I'm sure you're here to rescue me?" Princess Celestia asked, more of a statement than a question.

"Sure are. Let's get out of here" the Staff Sergeant declared.

Celestia took one last look around the hall before hanging her head in defeat; as much as she didn't like it she would have to leave her home, Canterlot, for the time being.

I will come back, and we will drive the Covenant from our planet she thought.

"Let's go" Celestia said, following the Marines as they made it to the nearest exit point where they signaled for evac.

Once they had returned to the Dawn of the Sun Lieutenant Crusher reported to the bridge where he returned to his station while Captain James Mitchell brought the Dawn into space to hold an emergency meeting with Princess Celestia.

Once the two were in the conference room tensions quickly rose as Celestia was angered by the actions of the Covenant and the fact that Rala 'Toram had mysteriously disappeared.

"I am perplexed that Rala did not report to you as he said he would" Mitchell said, wondering where the Sangheili Fleetmaster could be at.

"That is not of my concern right now. Right now I am worried about our current state; Equestria is burning, thousands are already dead or dying, and these Covenant Jiralhanae already occupy most of my cities. And now we lack the support from Rala. What should we do, Captain?" the Princess inquired.

Captain Mitchell sighed as he thought about the most appropriate course of action. Realistically speaking he could not stay and fight the Covenant with only his Frigate when most of the Covenant fleet was comprised of battlecruisers and Supercarriers; his Frigate would barely be an even match for a Covenant Corvette.

But at the same time he couldn't abandon Equestria when they have no physical way of combating the Covenant.

His mind made up Captain Mitchell looked up and stared Princess Celestia straight in the eye, about to tell her exactly what should happen; she may not like the course of action the Captain had decided on but she would have no choice.

"'What should you do?' It's simple: you fight, or you die" Mitchell declared, saying nothing more and nothing less.

Celestia hung her head as she thought about it; no conflict had befallen Equestria in the past twenty years, and before that no war had been fought for over a thousand. Equestria simply wasn't ready for all out warfare against a malevolent alien species bent on the destruction of the entire universe.

They would need help.

"We'll need to travel all across Equestria to recruit various species to assist us: the Griffons, the Dragons, everything" the Princess stated.

"But first we need to secure Ponyville and retrieve my student and her friends."

Captain Mitchell nodded and looked up at the ceiling. "Never-ending Summer, bring us back down into the atmosphere and plot a course for Ponyville."

"Yes, Captain" the A.I. replied.

Mitchell motioned for Celestia to join him as he went back to the bridge, navigating through the twisting corridors of his ship.

Halfway there Never-ending Summer got on the ship-wide comm and said "you better hurry, Captain, there's something you need to see."

Urgency in mind the duo double-timed it to the bridge where they found the land of Equestria in view, Covenant ships on the horizon.

"This area looks familiar…yeah, there's the Everfree forest, and the valley that leads to Canterlot. But where's Ponyville?" Captain Mitchell asked, unable to spot the large town.

"That is Ponyville, Captain" Summer said, pointing out the viewport to an enormous patch of flatland that was glowing red-hot.

Ponyville was gone.

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Legal note: Captain James Mitchell, Staff Sergeant Williams, and all related characters belong to me. Princess Celestia and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro. Halo belongs to 343 Industries(unfortunately.)