What else is up There?

Foreword: what happened to all the comments? My first story got like 4-6 comments per chapter, this story is five chapters in and the total is like eight or something? Did you all run away? Or did someone who has a grudge against me track you all down and kill you? Just let me hear what you have to say about the story because I was expecting lots of comments for chapter 4 and it got none.

Very disheartening.

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Chapter Five

They're back

March 21st, 2553
Equestrian star system
Twilight Sparkle of the Unicorn race
Town of Ponyville

Twilight Sparkle reached the library and immediately tried to open the door, finding it tightly locked.

In a panic Twilight began slamming on the door to get Spike's attention so he would open the door.

A dark shadow fell over Ponyville as the Covenant ship came down, hovering directly above Ponyville. The ship overall was much different from Thar 'Saramee's supercarrier, being significantly smaller than Thar's massive vessel. This new ship was extremely bulbous in the middle and did not feature a hook-like prow, instead sporting three fins that stuck down from the front of the ship.

It still terrified Twilight to no end.

"SPIIIIIKE! OPEN THE DOOR!" Sparkle screamed, desperate to get inside so she could get a message to Princess Celestia.

Twilight looked over her shoulder and saw the purple beam of the gravity lift fall until it struck the surface, meaning a Covenant landfall was imminent.

"SPIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIKKE!" Twilight shrieked, in full-on panic mode and in fear for her life.

Gonna die, gonna die, gonna DIE! Nononono! PLEASE OPEN THE DOOR, SPIKE! Twilight frantically thought, continuously pounding on the door.

Another shadow fell over Twilight and she whipped around, eyes coming right up against the knees of a Sangheili warrior, who towered over her. His dark red armor shined in the sunlight and the handle of his energy sword glowed with the fury of a blood lust as it sat deactivated on his thigh. The Sangheili's dark eyes looked down upon Twilight, striking absolute fear into her heart.

She was terrified.

"PLEASE, DON'T HURT ME!" Twilight shrieked, throwing herself to the ground and covering her head with her hooves.

The Sangheili looked down in confusion.

A deep humming caught the Unicorn's attention and she looked up, looking past the Sangheili to see a UNSC ship coming down from space.

"Oh, yes! The humans have come! I knew they'd save us again!" Twilight exclaimed, momentarily forgetting about the Sangheili towering over her with the fire of malice in his eyes.

"Oh, Celestia help me!" Sparkle exclaimed cowering once more.

The Sangheili crouched down and cupped Twilight's chin in his claws, forcing the lavender Unicorn to look at him, chuckling darkly before he spoke.

"This will be fun…" the Sangheili growled before standing tall once again and towering over the Unicorn.

"HEEELLP! SOMEPONY HELP!" Twilight screamed, in fear for her life once again. In all her terror she forgot that she was a Unicorn and could use magic that would possibly save her life.

The Sangheili raised his foot into the air as he prepared to bring his boot down on Twilight's head, ending her miserable existence

The blow never came as an average-sounding voice yelled "Rala! Stop!"

The Sangheili turned around and Twilight looked up, seeing a human approaching both the Unicorn and the Sangheili warrior. This human was dressed similarly to Commander Preston but featured a different insignia and colored stripes on his chest.

"What do you desire, human?" the Sangheili asked, turning slightly to get a better look at the human.

"What are you doing to her?" the human said, coming to a stop next to the Sangheili.

Twilight was confused and terrified; the Sangheili and human weren't fighting, which could imply a number of things, but all meaning that the two were friends and that they'd come to destroy the denizens of Equestria.

"Messing with the poor creature; it's fun to see lesser beings afraid of us" the Sangheili started.

"She is not a 'lesser being', she is an equal; a sentient creature that has as much a right to the freedom of living as the rest of us" the human responded.

"I wish the same could be said for your sentient non-organics…"* the Sangheili huffed.

Twilight was even more confused; are the Sangheili are no longer allied with the Covenant? Maybe they won't be hostile with us now Twilight thought; the glow of the Sangheili's sword handle reminded her otherwise.

"They are equals, Fleetmaster 'Toram, and we're not here to hurt them" the human exclaimed, prompting the Sangheili to fold his arms over his chest and huff in annoyance.

"By your word, human."

The human, seemingly convinced that his counterpart wouldn't harm the Unicorn, crouched down to look the aforementioned equine in the eye, adopting a soothing look on his face.

"Look, I know you're afraid, but there's nothing to fear. My friend and I—" the human started, never getting the chance to finish his sentence as Princess Celestia and a platoon of Royal Guards appeared next to the library, having been brought there via the Princess' teleportation spell.

"Stop them!" Celestia barked, the Royal Guards immediately jumping into action with their battle staffs.

The Sangheili warrior standing over Twilight leaped back and drew his energy sword, prepared to kill any Guard that got near him.

The warring species were about to attack when the human stepped between them, stopping the conflict from escalating any further.

"Enough!" the human shouted, ordering the Sangheili to stand down and turning to face the Princess.

"Listen to me; we're not here to hurt you. My name is James Mitchell, captain of the UNSC frigate Dawn of the Sun. My friend here is Rala 'Toram, member of the Covenant Separatists and Shipmaster of the CCS-class battlecruiser Everlasting Faith; Fleetmaster of the Second Fleet of Unified Clarity. We have come here to help build a diplomatic relationship between the equines of Equestria and the Sangheili of Sangheilios" the human explained.

"Why should I believe you?" Celestia demanded, keeping her Guards ready to strike at any notice.

"Because my species protected you…my father protected you, and the Sangheili are no longer allied with the Covenant" the human answered.

His father? What does he mean? Was his father one of the crewmembers of the Marathon?

Twilight couldn't be sure, and finding out would have to wait until the tensions eased and she'd be allowed to speak with the human and the Sangheili.

Celestia wasn't sure of what to make of this whole thing; on the one hand the Sangheili had waged absolute war with an intention of genocide against the equines of Equestria. On the other hand they seemed to not be hostile anymore and they became friends with the aliens that saved Equestria from doom.

If the Sangheili are willing to atone for their past mistakes and become true friends with her little ponies then who was Celestia to deny friendship?

"I…very well, I will permit the humans and Sangheili to stay here in Equestria for the time being. However I will keep a very close eye on the Sangheili" Celestia stated, motioning for her Guards to stand down as she approached Twilight.

"Rise, my student" the Princess gently demanded, waiting patiently as her pupil shakily rose to her hooves.

"I want you to keep an eye on the Sangheili; make sure he and his companions don't become hostile" Celestia whispered.

"Yes, Princess" Twilight replied, nodding her head a bit as Celestia walked away.

"I will stay in Ponyville for the time, get to know these two individuals before I leave" the Princess stated.

"What, we're all friends? Just like that? Very well…what do you want to know?" the human, Captain Mitchell, inquired.

"Let's start with how the Sangheili and humans came to be friends, but let's all get inside the library before we begin. You may get started without me, as I must make an announcement to all of Equestria" Celestia said.

"Let's get in" Twilight said, still very afraid of the Sangheili. Twilight tried to open the door again and remembered that it was locked.

Groaning in exasperation she channeled her magic to her horn and forced the door open, finding that Spike was no where to be seen.

He must've gone out into the town and ran when the Covenant ship came down Sparkle mused, deciding that she should go find the baby dragon before he got too far.

"Come on, I need your help to find my dragon assistant" Twilight said, walking back outside the library as she and the two aliens began the search for Spike.

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With the help of some very reluctant and frightened weather Pegasi Twilight and her accompanying aliens were able to find Spike in his hiding place in a hotel across town and brought him back to the library, there Twilight scolded him for running out but he protested by saying that he went out to go see Applebloom at the hotel, explaining why the library door was locked.

After Princess Celestia finished addressing the denizens of Equestria she returned to the library where they all got the introductions out of the way before proper discussions got underway; Captain Mitchell and the Sangheili Fleetmaster Rala 'Toram going over what had transpired the past three months with the UNSC and the Covenant Empire. Together the two recounted a tale of discovering two Sacred Rings, all-consuming parasites, and the schism that caused the Sangheili to split from the Covenant.

"At first we were not allied with the humans; we still believed in the Forerunners' decree that the humans were affronts to their existence. In the short time before we allied we lost a large number of ships to the Jiralhanae and a human NOVA bomb. The bomb killed one of the most respectable Sangheili that ever lived; Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree" Rala explained.

"What caused you to finally ally with the humans?" Twilight asked, writing down all Rala said in her notebook.

"As I said we still believed in the Forerunners' ancient decree that humans were a direct affront to their existence. However we soon learned that such a decree had never been made by the Forerunners; it was all a lie perpetrated by the Hierarchs. With that truth revealed we decided to form an alliance with the humans as we both had mutual goals; destruction of the parasite and destroying the Covenant and their crusade to destroy all life in the universe" 'Toram continued.

"I see. Tell me about the Sacred Rings; Thar 'Saramee once told me that activating one of these rings would turn all true believers into Gods" Twilight stated.

"Also a lie perpetrated by the Hierarchs; the rings actually kill all sentient life in the universe to prevent the Parasite from spreading" Rala explained.

Twilight wasn't sure what horrified her more; the fact that the rings kill all in the galaxy or the fact that her notes and knowledge about the rings had been completely wrong all along.

"I see. Well thank you for your time; now I'm sure the Princess would like to speak with you" Twilight stated, looking up at her mentor who was sitting next to her.

"Indeed; I request that the Sangheili Fleetmaster come with me to Canterlot to discuss our possible alliance with their species" Celestia declared.

"Rala is not going with you alone, he has a nasty tendency to become very violent" Captain Mitchell exclaimed.

"I have very many questions to ask so I would prefer to keep you here in Ponyville, Mitchell" Twilight piped up, prompting the human to turn around.

"Let's get one thing straight, Unicorn; I am a Captain of the UNSC Navy and you will address me as such. Understood?" Mitchell stated, not hostile or menacing but very stern and forceful.

"Ah, you're just like Commander Preston; he also demanded that we call him Commander. If you wish to be called Captain then I guess I have no problems with that" Sparkle said.

Captain Mitchell looked away at the mention of Commander Preston.

"That still doesn't solve our issue with bringing a human escort along with me" Celestia spoke.

"I resent being treated like a child; your desire to bring along a human escort to accompany the Princess is insulting to me" the Sangheili Fleetmaster declared.

"Calm down, Rala, we're just trying to find a way to ensure tensions don't rise between you and the Equines of Equestria" Captain Mitchell said.

The human thought about it for a moment before he realized that his most trusted officer, Lieutenant Robert S. Crusher, would be most excellent as an escort for the Princess, seeing as how he knows Rala almost as much as the Captain.

"I've got it; one of my Lieutenants, Robert Crusher, will be your escort" Mitchell declared.

"By the Gods, no; Lieutenant Crusher is an annoying bastard" Rala exclaimed.

"Relax, Fleetmaster. Lieutenant Crusher is the only other human on my ship that you're comfortable around" Captain Mitchell reminded him.

Fleetmaster 'Toram huffed in annoyance as he realized the human was right…again. "Fine, I will have no objections to Lieutenant Crusher escorting the Princess and ensuring that tensions do not rise between the Princess and I" Rala said.

"Good, it's settled then. We shall go to Canterlot at once" Celestia exclaimed, motioning for Rala to follow her outside while the Captain radioed for Lieutenant Crusher to come down and accompany the two to Canterlot.

"You sure the Princess will be safe with Rala?" Twilight inquired, prompting Captain Mitchell to turn around to face the lavender Unicorn.

"Rala is a proud and tough warrior but has also proven himself to be very violent. However Lieutenant Crusher is a good man and is also a very good intermediary, often being the voice of reason in minor conflicts that arise between Rala's Sangheili warriors and the men and women of my ship. Your Princess will be safe with Lieutenant Crusher around" the Captain explained.

"I hope you're right" Sparkle responded, glancing down at her notes.

"Would you mind answering some more questions to pass the time?" Twilight asked, levitating her notebook and pencil back up to continue writing.

"Not at all; what do you want to know?" Captain Mitchell said, sitting down on the couch in the foyer of the library.

"Tell me more about the UNSC's technology" the lavender Unicorn requested.

A proud smile spread across Captain Mitchell's face as he decided to tell Twilight all about the greatest piece of technology he had ever come to known; his ship.

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Author's note: References! They return to my story and they will be the same as they were in Ever Wonder What's Up There. They will marked with an *. Today's * is a reference to the persecution the Geth suffer at the hands of all organic life in the Mass Effect series.

So the humans and Sangheili have returned to Equestria as one, and are looking to build an alliance with the Ponies of the planet. Will they succeed, 'they' referring to the Sangheili? as the humans have already been re-accepted. Furthermore, who was Captain Mitchell referring to when he said that his father protected Equestria from destruction? Find the answers to these questions in future chapters.

Not even the Reapers could destroy the lawsuits I would suffer if I didn't include the next four lines of text: Captain James Mitchell, Fleetmaster Rala 'Toram, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Princess Celestia, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro. Halo belongs to 343 Industries.

Shepard-Commander: "Hey Garrus, got a minute?" Vakarian-Garrus: "Can it wait for a bit? I'm in the middle of calibrating a review on this story."