What else is up There?

Chapter Nineteen

Canterlot

March 30th, 2553
Equestrian star system
Captain James Mitchell of the UNSC Dawn of the Sun.
11:14AM

"Captain Mitchell, it is time" Rala 'Toram's voice thundered over the loudspeaker into the room the Captain shared with Twilight Sparkle.

"Understood, Fleetmaster" Mitchell replied, nodding to Twilight who joined him as he walked through the ship to the hangar bay.

The plan to invade Canterlot was one they had all worked on all night, and it was quite very simple.

Blitzkrieg.

The Everlasting Faith would fly directly over the city and drop in thousands of Sangheili warriors via the drop pods, along with hundreds of Wraiths and Ghosts, along with a few Scorpions and Warthogs that had been salvaged from the Dawn of the Sun. All Marines from the Dawn would also assist in the assault.

In addition to the ground forces Rala would also deploy Banshees and Seraphs to provide air support for the invasion force.

While this is going on the Everlasting Faith will be engaging any and all Covenant ships above the city.

As this is all happening the primary expeditionary force, comprised of Captain Mitchell, Lieutenant Robert Crusher, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, and Princess Celestia would infiltrate the caves beneath Canterlot and find out what the Covenant are up to.

Simple.

The Captain could only hope.

"Captain Mitchell we are coming up on Canterlot. Covenant air presence is twelve assault carriers, one Supercarrier, and their space station" Rala said over the comm, sounding very calm.

Captain Mitchell, on the other hand, was feeling his blood run cold; the carriers would be bad enough, but the firepower from the Devout Believer would be devastating to the Sangheili battlecruiser.

"What's the plan, Rala?" Mitchell inquired, already knowing what the answer would be.

"What is always has been; go down fighting" Fleetmaster 'Toram responded.

"Rala, wait. Perhaps we should wait for your fleet to arrive before re-engaging the Covenant?" Mitchell suggested.

"No, this ends here and now. We wait any longer and Equestria is doomed" the Fleetmaster responded, increasing the speed of the ship as they rocketed for Canterlot.

It was now or never.

"Board the Pelican, it's time to go" Mitchell ordered, stepping into the dropship while his comrades followed.

"My brothers, the time has come. For twenty years the inhabitants of Equestria have lived in fear of the Sangheili. No longer. Today we reclaim our honor in the eyes of the Equestrians. Today we free Equestria from the tyranny of the Jiralhanae. Today shall see the end of the last remnants of the Covenant" Rala declared.

"Today...the Jiralhanae die" the Fleetmaster finished, the roar of Sangheili universal approval thundering across the comms.

"All units: ATTACK! LEAVE NO ENEMY ALIVE!" Rala bellowed, the Pelican soaring out of the hangar along with hundreds of Banshees, Seraphs, and Phantoms.

As the Pelican rocketed across the sky Captain Mitchell could see thousands of drop pods falling into Canterlot as the Everlasting Faith streaked over the Royal City, firing its plasma turrets and projectors at the Brute ships.

As the Pelican approached the city the Captain saw AA Wraiths firing at the thousands of aircraft approaching the city.

"All UNSC forces partaking in this attack, this is Captain James Mitchell of the UNSC Dawn of the Sun: this is it. This is the end, and also a new beginning. We have sworn the Equestrians that we would do our best to protect them from the Covenant, and that is exactly what we will do today. The Covenant think they've won. They're wrong. We will push them back until they're falling off the edges of Canterlot. We will crush every last vehicle they throw at us. Kill every last soldier they send to us. Shoot down every last aircraft that comes for us. We will show the Covenant that we will NOT go quietly into the night. We will NOT succumb to their attacks. And we will NOT stand by idly while they destroy an innocent race! We WILL destroy them all! And we WILL reign triumphant!" Captain Mitchell shouted.

"ALL UNSC forces, prepare for victory! Prepare for success! Prepare...for the annihilation of the last remnants of the Covenant Empire!"

All the dropships, both Sangheili and human, made touchdown and the ramps dropped, thousands of humans and Elites pouring out and gunning for the Jiralhanae that were dug in waiting for them.

"ALL UNSC FORCES: ATTACK!" Mitchell bellowed, rushing out of the Pelican as the Brutes opened fire.

Before even one of their spikes could touch a friendly soldier the forward line of the Brutes collapsed, bombarded into glass by Seraph bombers that flashed over them, followed closely by Banshees that screamed through above the streets, blasting every Brute they saw.

Captain Mitchell hefted an MA5C assault rifle and racked the charging handle, motioning for his comrades to follow him as they headed deeper into the city in search of the old entrance to the caves.

"What's our objective?" Mitchell asked Princess Celestia, who had the most knowledge of the caves.

"Canterlot Tower, my old home. It's the fastest way into the caves" Celestia answered, pointing a hoof at the ruins of the Tower near the mountain the Royal city was built on.

The expeditionary force's mission was simple: get into the caves as fast as possible.

"Let's go" Mitchell said, running down the street as the battles raged all around them; Seraphs bombarded Brute positions, Wraiths and Scorpions annihilated Brute vehicles, and the Marines and Elites shot any straggler in the face.

"Move up, come on!" James yelled, rushing forward as they headed for Canterlot Tower.

Halfway down the street the wall of a clothes shop with blood on the display windows* collapsed and a Brute Wraith came through, turning to face the Captain and his allies.

"TAKE COVER!" Mitchell screamed, diving into an alley along with the others as the Wraith fired, sending a plasma blob soaring through the air and down into the street just outside the alley.

"Time to take a detour" James said, heading down the alley as his companions followed, hearing the sounds of intense combat not even a block away.

"Come on, we need to get to the caves" Mitchell stated, heading deeper into the city towards the mountain it was built on.

They had reached the last stretch, a 200 feet dash to Canterlot Tower and the entrance to the caves, when the city shook violently, prompting them all to look around in confusion.

"The fuck was that?" Lieutenant Crusher inquired.

Before anyone could conjecture there was a loud mechanical whirring and a Scarab tank hoisted itself up over the peak of the mountain, its entirety blotting out the morning sun and replacing it with the glow of its plasma projector.

James was about to tell them to run when the tell-tale horn of the nemesis Scarab trumpeted.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Freezing up Captain Mitchell was rooted in place, his mind flashing back to the day a Scarab vaporized his crew and almost killed him. That horn had always haunted him.

"Captain, we have go go!" Lieutenant Crusher exclaimed, trying to get Mitchell to move.

The Scarab finished positioning itself on top of the mountain and aimed down at Captain Mitchell and his group, trumpeting its mighty horn as the plasma projector began to charge.

"CAPTAIN!" Crusher bellowed to no avail; Captain Mitchell was nigh catatonic from the horn trumpeting.

Suddenly they all went flying forward several feet and scattered across the pavement, prompting Lieutenant Crusher to look back over at where they had just been standing.

The Lieutenant watched as Princess Celestia finished channeling magic to her horn and was about to gallop forward as the Scarab fired.

The flash of the plasma impacting forced Crusher to shield his eyes from the explosion.

When it stopped and he looked back the street was a crater of smoldering glass and charred pavement.

Princess Celestia had been completely vaporized.

BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

Crusher looked back and saw the lavender Unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, looking at the spot Celestia had been standing in horror.

"P-Princess?" Twilight said shakily, on the verge of crying her eyes out.

"Captain Mitchell!" Crusher yelled, seeing that the Captain was shakily starting to stand back up. "We have to go" the Lieutenant stated.

"O-OK. Let's go!" Mitchell declared as they grabbed Twilight to get her moving.

"P-Princess?!" the Unicorn exclaimed again, beginning to raise her voice.

"She's gone, Twilight! We have to go, now!" Mitchell said.

"NOOOOOO!"

Twilight broke down and started sobbing as they all sprinted for Canterlot Tower, eager to get inside before the Scarab fired again.

Just then there was a tremendous explosion at the top of the mountain and the Scarab was incinerated instantly, the pieces that survived the explosion raining down on Canterlot.

Captain Mitchell looked up and saw the Covenant space station, Devout Believer, hovering directly above the mountain, its plasma projector streaming down directly on the peak of the mountain.

They had cast aside a Scarab to start destroying the mountain.

"Looks like they found what they were looking for. Let's get into the caves, now" Captain Mitchell exclaimed as they entered Canterlot Tower, heading to the back to the old entrance to the gem caves.

"Let's stop what ever the fuck those Brutes are doing" Captain Mitchell stated, flicking his MA5C's flashlight on as they entered the caves.

*-*-*

"Captain Mitchell, this is Fleetmaster Rala 'Toram, the Covenant fleet has been reduced to five assault carriers, one Supercarrier, and their space station. Let it also be known that the Jiralhanae are swarming over Canterlot. The ground forces will not last very long" the Sangheili Fleetmaster declared over the radio.

"Understood, Rala. We have entered the caves and secured the entrance. You can call off the ground assault in the city" the human Captain responded.

Rala offered no reply as he prepared to engage the last of the Covenant ships.

"Weapons, arm all turrets and the plasma projector. Focus on the Inquisitive Follower and time attacks with those of the Supercarrier to catch them with their shields down" Rala ordered.

The weapons officer complied silently as the Everlasting Faith began to rocket for the Jiralhanae Supercarrier, all weapons ready to fire.

As the Faith approached the Supercarrier the assault carriers began to turn to face them, their weapons charging in full.

"Ignore them, focus all attention on the Supercarrier" Rala ordered navigation, who complied without a word.

"Come to heading 5-5-4 and prepare to fire on the Follower" Fleetmaster 'Toram announced, staring at the Supercarrier in anticipation.

The Supercarrier was completely ignoring the Sangheili ship in favor of helping the Devout Believer destroy the mountain as they dug for what ever might be underneath.

"FIRE! ALL WEAPONS FIRE!" Rala thundered as they soared past the rear of the Inquisitive Follower, their plasma weapons firing directly into the engines of the Supercarrier, disabling it heavily and causing it to slowly start falling down towards Canterlot.

"Circle around and charge the fore plasma projector! Fire directly into the engines of the Supercarrier!" Rala commanded.

The Everlasting Faith swung around until they were streaking directly across the sky for the Supercarrier as it neared Canterlot.

"FIRE!" Rala 'Toram yelled, the weapons officer complying and sending a white-hot stream of superheated plasma directly into the engines of the Inquisitive Follower.

The stresses of the plasma firing into the engines overloaded them and caused them to detonate, sending the Supercarrier into a supernova explosion with vaporized the tops of a few towers in Canterlot and two assault carriers near it.

The Covenant fleet had been reduced to three assault carriers and the space station Devout Believer.

"Arm all weapons and prepare to fire on the Believer!" Rala declared.

"Excellency, the remaining assault carriers are turning to fire on us!" the operations officer announced.

"I do not care! We must destroy the space station before they finish glassing the mountain and uncover what ever it is that they've found!" Fleetmaster 'Toram told them.

The Everlasting Faith soared over the Devout Believer and began to circle back around, charging all plasma turrets and the fore-bottom plasma projectors.

"Fire all turrets and the plasma projector when we're over the station" the Fleetmaster ordered.

The weapons officer did as told and all attacks landed harmlessly on the shields of the Believer.

"Blasted cowards" Rala commented, seething at the Jiralhanae.

Suddenly the operations officer piped up and yelled "excellency! The Jiralhanae assault carriers have opened fire on us!"

"Ignore those vile cretins! We must destroy the space station!"

They turned around and prepared to fire again, launching all the plasma they possibly could at the Believer and watched as the attacks landed on its shields.

Fleetmaster 'Toram was about to order them to circle around again when a warning sounded that said the shields had been broken, leaving the Everlasting Faith open to attack.

"Vile bastards! FIRE! FIRE ON THE ASSAULT CARRIERS!" Rala ordered.

The assault carriers completely unleashed on the Everlasting Faith, firing their plasma projectors and turrets at the Sangheili ship, scoring dozens of hits.

"Open a comm with Captain Mitchell!" Rala commanded, the communications officer doing as told.

"Rala, what's going on?" the human inquired.

"Captain, the fleet has been reduced to three assault carriers and the space station. However we are losing the battle. Canterlot has been completely overrun by the Jiralhanae. All contact with our ground forces has been lost and we are moderately damaged" Rala explained.

"Fleetmaster, we are continuing to search for the Jiralhanae down here in the caves and we believe we're getting closer to their position. Be advised, Princess Celestia was killed by a Covenant Scarab. Rala, if you can see it, please alert us to what the Covenant have found under this mountain" Captain Mitchell requested.

Rala 'Toram took a look at his displays and focused on the mountain, noticing that the Devout Believer was almost finished glassing the mountain.

Sticking up from inside the mountain was a gray-silver peak of metal.

"I apologize, Captain, but we can not see what the Covenant have uncovered" the Fleetmaster said.

"Understood. Rala, if you can hold off until we discover what they've found" Captain Mitchell requested.

Rala looked up and watched as the assault carriers broke off and were beginning to offload thousands of Jiralhanae into Canterlot which immediately began to charge for Canterlot Tower.

"Vile bastards" Rala exclaimed, knowing there was only one way to stop them.

"Captain Mitchell, I'm afraid we can not fulfill your request. Millions of Jiralhanae are pouring in and will soon be upon you. They must be stopped. You know what I must do" Fleetmaster 'Toram stated.

"Rala, no!"

"It was an honor serving with you, human" Rala said, motioning for communications to kill the link.

"Operations, arm the self-destruct mechanism. Navigation, bring us directly above the assault carriers" 'Toram ordered and his officers complied.

For honor. For glory. For Sangheilios. For...Equestria Rala 'Toram thought as they rocketed straight for the carriers.

That stallion I assaulted back in Ponyville...is he dead, I wonder? I am sorry, but now I can reclaim my honor I lost when I attacked him.

Captain Mitchell was right in a way. The ponies may not have been completely kind and benevolent, but each deserves the right to self-determination. The right to live. The right to continue their species as a whole.

They are rights I will ensure the ponies of Equestria will have until the end of time.

"Operations, fire the self-destruct!" Rala commanded, the last order he would ever give.

Goodbye, ponies of Equestria, it was an honor. May your species continue to thrive and expand across the stars. And may your people never again experience the tyranny of the Covenant Empire.

The Everlasting Faith detonated, completely obliterating itself and the three assault carriers above Canterlot.

It was truly the beginning of the end.

*-*-*

*This is a reference to one of my other stories, titled 'He came from Hell'.

Author's note: This chapter was kind of hard to write towards the end because I couldn't think of powerful enough words to put down to convey the proper emotions.

Writing is hard.

Legal note: Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. Captain James Mitchell, Fleetmaster Rala 'Toram, and all related characters are copyright to me. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro. Halo belongs to 343i.

Review this chapter or Derpy Hooves will slam her iron plot down on your cock and balls, and not in a good way.