What else is up There?

Chapter Six

Ponies and Elites

March 22nd, 2553
Equestrian star system
Royal City of Canterlot
Shipmaster Rala 'Toram of the CCS-class battlecruiser Everlasting Faith; Fleetmaster of the Second Fleet of Unified Clarity

Fleetmaster 'Toram hovered down into the streets of Canterlot from his ship, having moved it over the Royal City so the trip to and from the city would be short.

The Sangheili Fleetmaster landed in the streets with a thud, the ponies of the town backing away from him just as they did when he first arrived in the city yesterday.

Discussions between the Princess and Rala had come along nice, with the human Lieutenant Crusher acting as a moderator to make sure neither got too hostile with each other over what Shipmaster 'Saramee and his Sangheili did to the pony inhabitants. Rala was impressed that the Princess even willing to become allies with the Sangheili; according to some reports she lost her sister during the final days of the Conflict.

Rala 'Toram did not care.

It's a pity Shipmaster 'Saramee died during the war on this planet; he would've become a valuable asset during our campaign against the Parasite Rala mused.

The Sangheili Fleetmaster arrived at Canterlot Tower, the home of Princess Celestia, and was permitted access by the Unicorn guards outside the main gate. Rala entered the Tower and proceeded up to the top floor to reach the Princess' bedchambers.

Upon entered he was greeted with Lieutenant Crusher and Princess Celestia idly chatting next to a fireplace, both individuals sitting down on large squares of fiber the humans called 'pillows.'

The two stood as Fleetmaster 'Toram approached, his boots striking the marble floor with a distinct thud.

"Ahh, welcome back, Rala. You ready to continue your alliance discussions with the Princess?" Lieutenant Crusher asked.

"Yes, human, I am ready" Rala responded dismissively, an act which caught the attention of Princess Celestia.

"You don't seem very fond of Lieutenant Crusher; do you not like him?" Celestia inquired.

"No, I do not" Rala answered, also being dismissive to the Princess.

"Don't mind him, Celly, he led several campaigns against the human race during the war; he never liked our species at all" Lieutenant Crusher explained.

That wasn't entirely true; Rala had always thought humans had merit and should've been given chance to join the Covenant, but his oath to the Covenant had prevented him from taking mercy on the creatures.

"Enough with the small-talk, human; are we or are we not going to continue talks of a diplomatic relation?" the Sangheili Fleetmaster said.

"Actually I decided it would be best to for me to know you more; true relations come with friendship" Celestia stated, earning an amused scoff from the Fleetmaster.

"You want me to form a 'friendship' with you?" Rala laughed, shaking his head. "The relationship between our species will be professional, not personal."

"That's a shame. Tell me about yourself anyway, Fleetmaster" the Princess requested, deciding on a different approach to earning his friendship.

If there was one thing Rala 'Toram genuinely enjoyed it was telling others the history of his actions. "During the war against the humans I initially commanded only my ship, a battlecruiser titled Everlasting Faith. During the destruction of the human colony of 'Arcadia' I destroyed two ships and damaged two others. My work stopped the humans from reinforcing their positions on the planet and allowed an Arbiter, Ripa 'Moramee, to discover the location of a shield world. However, the two damaged ships escaped along with a third that followed Ripa. After the battle I was promoted to Fleetmaster and given command of the newly formed Second Fleet of Unified Clarity: though one of the smallest fleets in the Covenant Navy I was still proud to lead it. In 2549 I returned to Arcadia with my fleet and glassed the planet, killing the one million humans that remained" Rala began, recounting what was basically the starting point of his career.

"Much later, in September of 2552, my fleet discovered the human colony of New Jerusalem. The human defense forces suffered near annihilation before retreating, allowing my fleet to glass the planet. A small fleet of human ships were the only thing between my fleet and the planet…they did not last long" Rala continued.

At this point Lieutenant Crusher chose to chime in. "What Fleety here isn't telling you is that Rear Admiral Michael Preston commanded that fleet."

"Michael Preston? A Commander with the same name led the defense of Equestria from Thar 'Saramee" Celestia said.

"At any rate we finished off the colony and moved on. My next engagement took place at Earth, the human homeworld; my fleet was no where near Jiralhanae ships or High Charity when the Schism split the Covenant in half, we were far off, and as a result our first battle against the Jiralhanae would be our last. I did not accompany Fleetmaster Rtas 'Vadum when he travelled to The Ark to destroy the last of the Covenant with the humans and their Demon" Rala continued.

"'Demon'?" Celestia asked, wondering what he meant.

"He's talking about the Chief; Master Chief Petty Officer Spartan-117. He is the last of the Spartan-IIs…well, he was the last…now he's presumed dead" Lieutenant Crusher stated.

"Why is he called 'Demon'?" the Princess inquired.

"It is a title given to him by the Sangheili when he destroyed one of the Rings, before we split from the Covenant. His destruction of the Ring was viewed as a direct attack against the Forerunners and their Godhood, theories that were later proved untrue…" Rala trailed off.

"I see" Celestia said, looking away she remembered that Rala said he commanded a whole fleet, yet the Princess had only seen his flagship. This perplexed her.

"You said that you were a Fleetmaster; where is the rest of your fleet?" Celestia asked, earning a nod of realization from the Sangheili.

"My fleet has returned to Sangheilios, our homeworld, to ensure its safety from the Jiralhanae. The Sangheili leadership sent me on a special mission to find Equestria to build a diplomatic relationship with your people, and Captain Mitchell also requested that he come along to reestablish a relationship with your kind. His personal mission to prevent another war between us came as a bonus objective" Rala explained.

"You said that you had to find Equestria; did you not have records?" Celestia stated.

"Our only records of Equestria's location disappeared when Shipmaster 'Saramee's ship was destroyed, and the human Commander Preston left behind false coordinates when he returned to human space. The human Office of Naval Intelligence believes the Commander was trying to hide your planet from his own people" the Sangheili explained.

"Interesting" the Princess commented.

"Well I suppose that's enough; I'm willing to let you return to Ponyville if you so desire, but I'll have my student and the humans keep an eye on you" Celestia said.

"Do you not trust me?" 'Toram asked, slightly amused.

"Your kind performed unspeakable horrors on my ponies, and nearly caused our extinction. Not to mention killed my sister, Princess Luna. So yes, I am a bit hesitant to trust, but I am willing to give the Sangheili a second chance" the Princess answered.

"By your word, Princess" Rala 'Toram stated, turning and leaving Celestia's bedchambers.

Once he had left Princess Celestia turned to Lieutenant Crusher, who was kicking back in one of the chairs the Princess kept in her bedchambers.

"Tell me, Lieutenant; can Fleetmaster Rala 'Toram be trusted?" Celestia asked, still concerned about the Sangheili and what they've done in the past. It also seemed Rala took pride in saying that he caused the deaths of well over a million humans.

"Fleety did the same thing to your people that he did to mine, and now our two species have allied. I trust him, as does Captain Mitchell. Rala may be very violent, and is quite dismissive and acts like he doesn't care, but when push comes to shove Rala will gladly swoop in and save the lives of all beings allied with him. He says that saving lives bestows honor upon his name but I think he does it because he truly does care about his human allies, and I truly believe he will come to care about his pony soon-to-be allies as well" Crusher answered.

Celestia could only pray that the Lieutenant was right.

*-*-*

Author's note: This story seems to be coming along nicely.

In other news the Michael Preston mentioned in this chapter is indeed the same human who lead the defense of Equestria from Thar 'Saramee in the first story, he was promoted to Captain after the events of Ever Wonder What's Up There and eventually made it to Rear Admiral before he was killed. All of this was explained in the epilogue of the first story.

Lawsuit Shield: Captain James Mitchell, Fleetmaster Rala 'Toram, Rear Admiral Michael Preston, and all related characters belong to me. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro. Halo belongs to 343 Industries(unfortunately.)