The last of what's up There

Foreword: it begins, the Reclamation, and the final chapter of The Last of what's Up There.

Chapter Eleven
Reclamation

Date: November 6th, 2555
Location: Skies above the land of Equestria.
Individual: Commander Robert Crusher
Time: 4:19 AM

It was time. Time to bring the might of the UNSC to bear on the Prometheans, time to show them the true tenacity of the human race, time to end this conflict and restore peace once again to the denizens of Equestria.

Commander Crusher looked over a data-pad; according to information gathered from their drones the only known species left alive in Equestria were the normal ponies, and their numbers were at an extreme low: down to 40,000 from a pre-war estimate of 300,000.

Small species, but it made sense in their world. Robert was expecting an enormous population boom after this war was over.

Too bad it won't bring Twilight back.

The Commander shook that thought immediately; thinking about Twilight right now wouldn't help anyone.

"How we looking?" Crusher asked, stepping into the cockpit.

"We're just over the grounds of New Ponyville, Commander."

"Good, we need to get there as soon as possible" Robert said, stepping back into the main compartment where Spike and the Spartans were sitting.

"We'll be there soon, so make sure your gear is-" Commander Crusher started to say, cut off when an explosion rocked the back of the Pelican and bucked the craft forward, upon then beginning its rapid descent to the ground. Spike was thrown to the floor with a dull thud and a yell of "OW!".

Spartan-035 moved to help him.

"The hell was that?!" Robert demanded, looking back into the cockpit.

"Prometheans hit us, Sir! We're going down!"

"Ah, crap" Robert commented.

The Pelican quickly smashed into the ground and skidded several feet before coming to a stop, the pilot dropping the rear ramp which allowed the Spartans to disembark while the Commander got on the radio.

"All UNSC forces, this is Commander Robert Crusher, we have been shot down on the grounds of New Ponyville and are requesting immediate assistance, over."

"This whole area used to be New Ponyville...and now its just ash..." Spike deadpanned, staring out of the Pelican at the landscape.

"Given some time it will be the grounds of New New Ponyville" Commander Crusher joked, with no change in expression from Spike.

"Maybe... Robert, what do you do when you're the last of your species? Knowing that when you die your entire species will then be extinct?" the baby Dragon inquired.

"I don't know, Spike" the human Naval officer answered.

"Of course you don't...no one ever has answers for my questions... Not Twilight, not the Princesses, not you" Spike stated coldly.

"I'm sorry, Spike, but maybe you'll find a way to continue your species" Crusher offered.

"How?"

"Dragon-Pony hybrid, perhaps?" the Commander answered, drawing his shotgun over his shoulder.

"Aren't hybrids born sterile though?" the baby Dragon declared, greatly confused.

"Griffons are a cross between Lions and Eagles, and they seemed to work out OK" Commander Crusher replied, unstrapping Spike and stepping into the cockpit to check on the pilot.

"Pilot, I need to record another message and broadcast it to all available channels in space, can we boost our signal to..." Robert started to say, Spike tuning him out and hopping out of his seat.

Spike looked out the Pelican again and saw the Promethean sphere coming straight for them, hundreds of Promethean soldiers dropping down and firing upon the Spartans, who had taken cover behind a thruster which had come off the Pelican during the crash.

"Commander, they're here!" Spike yelled back, stepping into the doorway of the cockpit.

"Shit! OK, Spike! I'll be there soon!" the Commander exclaimed, going back to the console in front of the pilot.

"I don't have much time! I'll be broadcasting this message on all frequencies. To whomever finds this; destroy Equestria! Glass it, nuke it, I don't care, just leave nothing alive on this planet!"

"Robert!" Spike urged, watching as the Prometheans came steadily closer.

"OK! I'm coming!" the Naval officer yelled. "This is Commander Robert Crusher, signing off!"

"Spartan-035, status report!" Commander Crusher demanded as he stepped out of the Pelican and approached his Spartans.

"We got Promethean soldiers and their Sentinel coming at us, Sir!" the Spartan officer responded, reloading his empty BR.

"Understood. I've sent out a distress call to all UNSC forces in the area so we just gotta hold out until they get here" Robert stated.

"Copy that, Sir."

"Spike, stay in the Pelican, we'll be OK" Crusher ordered, looking back into the dropship to see that Spike was listening and the pilot was coming out.

"Pilot, keep an eye on Spike. Spartans, this is it. Get ready" Commander Crusher exclaimed, shouldering his Battle Rifle and taking aim at the approaching Prometheans.

"FIRE!" the Commander bellowed, squeezing the trigger of his BR as the Spartans did the same, sending rounds downrange at the Prometheans who launched flying machines from their backs which projected a hard shield around their owners.

"Toss grenades!" Robert commanded, priming one of the explosive devices and tossing it behind the Prometheans who all rolled forward, bringing their weapons back to bear and resuming their fire on the humans.

Crusher targeted one of the Prometheans and focused all his fire on it, sending burst after burst into the target which quickly wilted under the fire and disintegrated in a storm of embers, the Commander reloading his empty weapon afterwards and taking aim at another Promethean, who had his shield back in front of him from the flying device.

"Target the flying machines to bring down their shields!" the Commander declared, taking aim and blasting one such device away, the shield of a nearby Promethean dropping and leaving him open to a follow up attack from the Spartans which destroyed it.

Just then dozens more Prometheans came down from the Sentinel and joined the first group in assaulting the humans, heaping more and more pressure upon them.

"Where the hell is that damn support?" Commander Crusher wondered, ducking down as several Prometheans fired at him with their laser rifles.

The Commander reloaded and stood up, momentarily staring in awe as in the distance a massive explosion lit up the dark-orange sky, revealing and adding to the hellhole that Equestria had become and silhouetting the Prometheans they came towards them, momentarily darkening their bodies except for their violently orange eyes and the glow of their blade arms.

Robert was at that point terrified of these monsters.

Spartan-035 stood and was about to fire on a Promethean near him and his Spartans when it teleported several times in a zig-zag pattern, closing the distance between it and the Spartans and slamming its shoulder into the Spartan officer and decapitating the female Spartan.

Before Robert could turn and fire on it the Promethean morphed backwards into a small blue ball before re-materializing out of thin air a number of feet back.

What the FUCK are these things?!

The Commander took aim and was about to fire again when one of the Prometheans did the zig-zag teleporting and stopped directly in front of him, knocking him onto his back with the wide side of its blade as their position was overrun, several Prometheans swarming into the Pelican where they killed the pilot and grabbed Spike just as the Prisoner himself knocked the Commander out.

It was over.

*-*-*

When Commander Crusher awoke he found himself restrained in some kind of magnetic holds in pitch blackness, unable to see anything.

As Robert struggled to come up with a way to escape the Prisoner of Equestria came into view, lacking the Sangheili helmet that usually occupied his shoulder.

"Prisoner... Where's Spike?" the human demanded.

"The dragon is safe; he needed to quickly be preserved if his species has any hope of continuing to live" the Promethean warrior answered.

"What did you do to him?!" Robert growled.

"Silence, Reclaimer, the Reclamation has begun, and you will be the Catalyst for it" the Prisoner declared, standing directly before Commander Crusher and looking around the area as if to make sure everything was in place.

"What is this Reclamation? And why have you done all this? You've mentioned revenge for something...but what? Just give me this" Robert pleaded, wanting only an explanation for why all this had happened.

"Perhaps the best explanation is witnessing it all firsthand" the Prisoner stated, pressing a holo-glyph on a console nearby which brought up a Terminal directly in front of Robert and broadcasting the usual visions to him.

The white Unicorn and Promethean warrior continued their duel, both parties attempting to strike the other while dodging hits and blasts. Their fight looked like some kind of ballet dance, with both of them moving gracefully throughout the field which was covered in the bodies of both ponies and Prometheans.

As the Promethean swung his blade-arm down the Unicorn fired a powerful blast into him at point-blank range, dislodging his blade-arm from his body and knocking him onto his back where he lied defenseless.

Pinning him down with a hoof the Unicorn growled "I told you we would not be your animals to experiment upon, and we would NOT be your slaves."

The Promethean stared into her eyes and replied "are you going to kill me?"

The Unicorn pulled her head back and looked down at the Promethean as the dark-blue Unicorn from earlier joined her, having apparently been fighting a battle of her own against the Prometheans.

"Sister, what shall we do with them?" the dark one asked.

The white Unicorn thought about it for a moment and said "imprison them underneath Canterlot Mountain, along with their Cryptum. The Forerunners have begun their war against the Flood, and I do not contend that they will send any more Prometheans against us."

"Very well, Sister."

The white Unicorn looked back down upon the Promethean and said "your kind will never again harm our subjects, Prisoner of Equestria."

The visions ended and the Terminal retracted back into the floor, the holo-console next to the Prisoner turning off as he took position in front of the Commander once again.

"I...I don't understand. What happened exactly?" Robert asked, looking into what he believed were the eyes of the Promethean.

"I was a Promethean Knight and one of the most entitled warriors of the Forerunner Empire; in our time many species tried to fight and oppose our rule, and only two succeeded: the Flood, and the ponies of Equestria" the Prisoner explained.

"So who were those two in the visions?" the Commander asked, something telling him he already knew the answer.

"The rulers of Equestria: Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, though they do not appear as the Alicorns they are because the Terminal appears to have forgotten some of the details over time" the Promethean Knight answered.

"So all of what you've done now has been revenge for a war you lost hundreds of thousands of years ago?!" Robert exclaimed in anger.

"You misjudge, Reclaimer. We, as Prometheans, are eternal, infinite. Time has no meaning for us. 100,000 years locked away under Canterlot was insignificant to us, and we had been programmed to always finish our assigned tasks no matter what obstacles were placed before us. The 100,000 years between then and now were not a time of peace, but rather an intermission to the war the Princesses had though they won. We would wait until the end of time to complete our goals" the Prisoner explained.

"And within the next hour, we will have done exactly that and more."

"More? What more do you need?!" the Commander demanded.

"When the Forerunners conquer an enemy, they seek to make sure that enemy never becomes one again. Each time, however, the Didact and the Ecumene council chose to preserve the species that challenged us. They did it with your kind during the Forerunner-Human war, which is why your species was chosen as the Reclaimers that would rise amongst the stars and assume the position we had dominated the galaxy in" the Prisoner explained.

"The Equestrians were the only species to ever defeat us in war besides the Flood, and they had been chosen previously by the council to be the Inheritors. However, the council knew that thousands of Prometheans had been imprisoned under Canterlot Mountain and decided they would allow us to be imprisoned down there. The council planned to start another war with the Equestrians after they had defeated the Flood, though that obviously did not go to plan."

"With no new orders we assumed our original tasks were still active and unfulfilled, and when we were awoken by Princess Cadenza we resumed our war against the Equestrians" the Prisoner continued.

"You preserved every enemy you fought, including the Flood. Smart choice that was" Robert commented.

"The Flood were sentient beings that had evolved and earned their right to live; as powerful as we were we always believed that every sentient species had the right to live, no matter their overall intentions or machinations. When we knew that the Flood were close to defeating us and consuming all life in the galaxy we preserved every species we could, even theirs, and then fired the Halo array. If you want my opinion I believed the Flood didn't deserve to be preserved; I recognized the danger they posed, and if it had been up to me I would've commanded the entire Empire to defeat them conventionally. I apologize for any troubles you've had with them" the Prisoner stated.

"Hmm... What was the Princess talking about when she mentioned that her kind would not be slaves to be experimented upon?"

"We had been modifying their species in secret to make them physical equals amongst the stars, though several died in these experiments. The Princesses eventually learned of our experiments on her people and found it not to her liking, and it sparked the war. Magic is natural to Equestria, of course, but so much more of their society is not."

"The Princesses themselves were subjects of our experimentations; they were not to be born as Alicorns but rather Unicorns. During the gestation periods for each we artificially inserted Pegasus DNA and they fused, turning the two Princesses into Alicorns, along with some side-effects like the flowing hair. Naturally, having been born into royalty, they were immediately chosen as the Goddesses of the land and were chosen to be its rulers when they came of age. When the truth got out, however, the Princesses had assumed power and turned against us" the Prisoner stated.

"How do you explain their immortality?" the Commander asked.

"That was accomplished via standard Forerunner technology; the Princesses were not actually immortal, though their life-span was increased significantly. Close to about 250,000 years I believe."

"What about my Unicorn friend, Twilight Sparkle? Her eyes were red when she attacked me, was that caused by more of your sick experiments?"

"Her aggression towards you was created of her own accord, but she never intended any harm. I used this anger against her, confusing and angering her further with extremely vague answers to her questions. A combination of my influence and the distressing knowledge that her fellow Inheritors were once again suffering and dying at the hands of aliens pushed her over the edge; In the brief time she was with me I had completely broken her mind, mending it with the will of the Forerunners. She came to believe our goals needed to be achieved, and I left her to deal with you" the Promethean explained.

"So that's why she thanked me; for breaking your control over her mind. You're a monster!" Crusher screamed, trying in vain to break his holds and attack the Prisoner.

"Silence, it is time for the Reclamation" the Prisoner declared, pressing another holo-glyph as the sky lit up with a blue intensity, revealing that the Commander and his unconscious or dead companions were secured against the side of Canterlot Mountain.

The blue light was coming out of the open top of the mountain, beaming straight into the sky and illuminating all the land.

"We've received reports that you were rounding up ponies and bringing them here. What were you doing to them?" the Commander growled.

"These reports were wrong; fabrications that we created and leaked out into the world in a ruse to lure you here. All of ponykind, 40,000 in total, are spread across the land as they seek refuge from us" the Prisoner answered darkly as they teleported into Canterlot Mountain onto some kind of elevator descending town towards the blue light.

"To begin the Reclamation that would fulfill our goals and achieve vengeance for the losses we suffered long ago at the beginning of this war we needed a Reclaimer's hand to use as the Catalyst for such a thing, and through your actions you proved yours to be a worthy Catalyst" the Prisoner said as the elevator went down deeper and deeper into Equestria.

"What the hell are you going to do to me?" Robert asked.

"Use you to fulfill our goals and begin the Reclamation" the Prisoner of Equestria answered.

Some time later the elevator came to a stop and the only exit seemed to be a massive tunnel which the Commander was escorted down.

Eventually they reached an enormous door which sported the same symbol Robert had seen everywhere in the past two months which split in half as the door opened.

"Welcome to the core of Equestria" the Prisoner exclaimed as they exited into an unfathomably massive cavern that was spherical in shape.

Dead center in the middle of the cavern was a massive machine that stretched high into the ceiling, and in the middle of the machine was a spot where one could stand.

"There's no magma ball...this planet is artificial" the human said.

"Correct; this planet is in fact a shield world. And this machine will begin the Reclamation that will finish the last of the Inheritors and free us from its prison" the Promethean declared.

"What?!" Robert asked, alarmed.

"It is as I said earlier: when the Forerunners conquer an enemy they make sure that enemy never becomes one again" the Promethean explained.

"I will NOT be a Catalyst for completely destroying a planet and all who live on it!" Robert yelled in defiance.

"I never said they'd be destroyed, and at any rate you have no choice. We have learned something, Reclaimer; we have completely exterminated almost every species in Equestria. The Griffons, the Canines, the Crystal ponies, the Changelings, they are all gone. The Council would find this unsatisfactory, and would have had us destroyed. In retribution for our misguided actions we set out to preserve the Inheritors, the last native species of Equestria, and required a Reclaimer's help to do so" the Prisoner explained, motioning to the machine.

"So wait...you're now looking to preserve the ponies and resolve your conflict peacefully?" the Commander asked, not sure of what the Prisoner wanted.

"No, this is a win for the Forerunners and the Inheritors willbe defeated, but we still wish to preserve their species. But only with your help can we do so" the Promethean Knight answered.

"And if I refuse?" Crusher inquired.

"We will have no choice but to completely eradicate the rest of the Inheritors."

Reluctantly agreeing to this Commander Crusher approached the machine and stepped into place in the center, watching as a ring descended down and stopped at eye level with Robert and began to spin, light cast off the ring like it was scanning his head.

As it span the ring's momentum increased and generated power for the machine, which began to glow blue as the lights activated and it began to hum to the point where it was vibrating Robert.

Suddenly the Prisoner of Equestria looked up and exclaimed "let the Reclamation begin." He then struck a holo-glyph in front of him which brought a holo-panel up in front of Commander Crusher.

"You're sure this will preserve the ponies?" Robert asked, looking at the Promethean.

"That is our intent, Reclaimer, as it always should've been" the Promethean told Robert, his tone dark as Robert pressed a symbol on the panel and a blue beam lanced up from the hole beneath him, incinerating him as it shot through the machine and speared through the sky into space where it travelled down the tunnel that lead into Trinity and dissipated before being shot back out of Trinity as a black beam that shone with an almost organic sheen. The black beam impacted on Equestria and enveloped the entire planet before receding back into the moon.

When it had finally finished all that was left upon the planet Equestria were the trees, grass, mountains, deserts, arctics, and oceans of nature.

*-*-*

Date: December 22nd, 2555
Location: bridge of the UNSC Marathon-class cruiser Say my Name*, Equestrian star system.
Individual: Rear Admiral Jonathan Ridinoff**
Time: 4:17PM Earth time

"Sir, scans show there's no organic life of any kind on the planet's surface. It's almost as if all life on the planet has disappeared into thin air" the Freedom Sky's operations officer exclaimed, turning in his seat to face Rear Admiral Ridinoff, who was standing before his command console.

"Bring us into the atmosphere and order several Marine Combat Teams to prepare for landfall; we're going down there to take a look" the Rear Admiral commanded.

"Yes, Sir!"

*-*-*

Once upon the planet's surface Rear Admiral Ridinoff found himself, along with three MCTs, in a massive open field between two forests; one made of black trees and bushes and the other appearing to be a normal forest.

"Scans showed no cities, no signs of life, nothing. This was supposed to be the land of the Equines. Where the hell did everyone go?" Rear Admiral Ridinoff asked as the Marines spread out and surveyed the area.

"There's absolutely nothing here, Sir" one of the Marine sergeants declared as he and his team approached the Rear Admiral.

"Keep looking; there's GOT to be some kind of clue as to where everyone has gone" the naval officer said.

"Yes, Sir!" the Marines responded.

There were a lot of questions to ask, and the answers were out there, waiting for them.

*-*-*

By the year 2560 the UNSC had searched through every last square inch of the planet Equestria, its moon, and the other planets in the system and had found absolutely nothing to indicate where those that had previously inhabited the planet had gone, nor had they found any of the UNSC forces stationed on the planet. The UNSC had even found the elevator in Canterlot Mountain leading to the core of the artificial planet(which their scientists had studied relentlessly in the years after) and had still found nothing but the cryptic message of 'may the Gods have mercy on your souls' and the Forerunner structure inside the moon of Equestria, which also yielded no results.

The only evidence of the Equestrian species ever existing was a grave found under a tree that contained the corpse of a female Unicorn, though absolutely no records exist of her as they too vanished along with everything else on the planet besides its natural formations. The Unicorn was re-buried in the spot she had been found in and a proper gravestone had been placed in it.

Confused and concerned the UNSC went on a galaxy-wide search for the inhabitants of Equestria, a search that ended in 2567; they were never found.

Giving up their hope on ever finding the lost inhabitants of Equestria the UNSC erected a massive monument to the Equestrian people on the planet's surface and declared the planet a 'no landing unless absolute emergency' zone, forbidding any and all humans besides the UNSC from ever landing on the world. To maintain this decree from Insurrectionists and other separatist humans the UNSC maintains a fleet and space station around the planet.

In addition to the humans never being allowed to land on the planet the Sangheili have expressed a complete disinterest in the pony planet, claiming they "don't care where the Equestrians have gone" as they are dealing with more pressing issues like the complete collapse of their society founded in the roots of the revelation that everything they had ever believed in was a lie.

In 2570 the UNSC made one last expedition onto the surface of Equestria in another attempt to uncover the mystery of where the Equestrians
had gone off to, with the same results as their last attempts.

It was after that the UNSC finally ceased all activity on the planet, pulling all of its people off of it and deconstructing its facilities.

To this day no one has ever found the Equestrian people or any evidence as to where they have gone...

*-*-*

Spike awoke with a sharp gasp, staring up at the bright blue sky which was mostly obscured by Spartan-035, who offered a hand to pull the baby dragon to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

*-*-*

The end of The last of what's Up There!

*This is the ship you begin Halo 3: ODST on.
**This is a reference to Victor Ridinoff, a ponified Victor Reznov, in Blackburn's FFE series.

Author's note: Well, this ride is over, and it was a wild one; from the humble and meek beginnings of Ever Wonder what's Up There to the anger, fear, and sorrow of What Else is up There to the doubt and suspense of the finale, The Last of what's Up There, this has been one wild and crazy trip. With the closing of TLOWUT the 'Up There' trilogy is now finished, bringing my current bout of Halo/MLP fanfics to a close, and there are so many people I have to thank.

To my beta-reader, Michael Blackburn: you, Lord Blackburn, have been one of the biggest helps for this series and my writing; I still remember that day I sent you a PM, so formally and politely requesting that you be my beta-reader for the first story in this trilogy, Ever Wonder what's Up There. Since then we have exchanged close to 400 PMs in that chain alone, and I'm sure in the future it will grow even larger(bow chicka bow wow). I often wonder how different both this series and my life would have been if I had never searched for a beta-reader, had never clicked on your profile, and had never sent you that PM(would you believe that I was originally searching for a beta-reader to beta-read a Far Cry 2 fan-fic? But when I clicked on your profile and saw that you wanted to see more Halo/MLP stories I decided to do that instead?). I thank you for your undying loyalty and willingness to stick with me and my writing for the past 10 months, regardless of the highs and lows that we've been through(Jackhammer rape in BF3 comes to mind) and hope you will continue to be my beta-reader for future stories, despite how much of a horrible person you may actually be(Jerry Sandusky-semen-covered cheese grater is still the worst thing ever). You are one of the best friends I've ever had despite the fact we've never met in real life(is that weird?) and I promise that we'll maybe play some BF3 soon(no promises). I love and salute you, Lord Michael Blackburn.

To the developers at Bungie(who will most likely never read this): you fine gentlemen and ladies are probably the most deserving of my thanks, for if you had never come up with Halo this story and my relative popularity in this community would have never come to light. The past ten years have seen the rise of the Halo universe and its continuing innovations within the gaming world. The stories of your own published in both electronic and written format are bountiful and rich, all providing spectacular insight into the Halo universe, and none of it, not a single game or book, has disappointed me in any way, shape, or form. Thank you, and I hope your friends at 343 Industries will be just as deserving of the same praise when they publish Halo 4 and its future sequels.

And finally, to the ones that made it all possible, my readers: you guys are the reason I have met the level of success that I have within my small corner of the community; from the darkest days of stabbing Fluttershy with an energy sword to the moment when it all ended on a bittersweet note with Spike and the others sealed away in a Dyson sphere you have stuck with me, reading whatever shit I haphazardly slap together and put out. I owe my readers the most thanks, because without you these stories would just be words on digital paper, and nothing else has helped me more than the words you've written of your own and the favorites and thumbs up that have all shown support for me and my writing. Thank you all(now if only I was popular enough to get people to draw art of these stories for me).

Now there's a whole other bunch of people I don't have time to 7hank, but if you've at any time shown praise for or helped me with this story then you are most definitely appreciated and I thank you, and hope you will always come back for any and all literary works I produce.

Now if you still want to read more of my stuff I've got plenty of other stories that are on here and FIMfiction, including my hilarious multi-universe crossover story Dropping In and its in-progress sequel Dropping In 2. In addition to DI 2 I've got a shipfic going on called 'Together Forever' that I hope will distance itself from other shipfics. Also I got a little special something coming soon, something I've never tried before. Read after the Legal Note to see what's up.

Until next time, this is Codename: One, and I'll see you starside.

Legal note: Commander Robert Crusher, Spartan Wilhelm-035, the Prisoner of Equestra and all related characters belong to me. Spike the Dragon, Twilight Sparkle, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. My Little Pony belongs to Hasbro. Halo belongs to 343 Industries.

Coming soon: The Last of what's Up There DLC 1: Gilda's Plight(note, DLC does not actually have to be downloaded in order to read).