As Master Chief and Twilight Sparkle advanced through the dimly lit hallway, Twilight's eyes jumped from shadow to shadow, frightened that at any moment, more Covenant would attack.

"Here's the Cartographer." Cortana said with relief. "Plug me in."

A second set of doors opened, revealing the Forerunner machine. Chief plugged Cortana's chip in, and she appeared.

"Strange." she murmured. "The Cartographer is fighting me, it's not wanting to triangulate the Infinity's signal."

"Infinity?' Twilight asked.

"A UNSC Ship we're trying to contact." Chief said.

"Phew, I got it." Cortana sighed. "It's right here, somehow it went deeper than we did. I got the portal open, we're set."

Chief removed the chip from the console, and a metallic screeching could be heard. It was a sound that set the unicorn's teeth on edge.

"What was that?" Twilight cried. Then blue lights coalesced around them in a rough half-circle, and strange metal beasts appeared. Twilight immediately reasoned they weren't happy to see them.

"Cortana, let's go!" Chief barked as the portal came to life.

"Don't wait on my account!" Cortana replied as the Prometheans readied their weapons. Twilight and the Spartan dove through, Twilight dodging the blasts of Hard-Light.

====

The two of them tumbled out and into a large area, filled with Forerunner architecture. Walls of blue rock towered above them, and Twilight got a nervous feeling in her stomach.

Chief took a step forward, and one of the metal beings jumped onto him.

"Chief!" Twilight cried, blasting the Knight with a beam of magic. The Knight revealed its face, before teleporting away.

"You alright?" she asked, pulling the Spartan up. "What was that?"

"I'm not sure." Cortana replied. "I did get a data purge reading from when it teleported. That one was a "Promethean Knight", if I'm getting it correct."

"More of them!" Twilight yelled, seeing multiple Knights and Crawlers battling a platoon of Covenant. Chief readied his Assault Rifle, but Twilight held him back.

"I've got an idea." she said, flaring her horn for a teleportation. The two of them appeared across the battlefield, out of eyesight.

"Neat." Cortana said. "Your kind can teleport?"

"Unicorns like myself can." Twilight said. "It's highly advanced magic."

"Remember to tell me about that later." Cortana said. "Magic...that's fascinating!"

"Can it wait?" Chief said as they entered the room where Infinity's broadcasts were originating from. "I've got a bad feeling about this."

"Same here." Twilight said, illuminating her horn for a light source. "This doesn't look good."

They entered the chamber, and Twilight's attention was drawn to the multiple Prometheans guarding a large orb in the center.

"That orb's generating the field that's cutting our comms with Infinity." Cortana said. "There's no sneaking around this time."

"Right." Twilight said. "On you, Chief."

Chief dove into view and opened fire, Twilight growling while picking up and throwing a Knight into the abyss.

====

"WHAT!?"

Celestia's mane flared with fire as she stared angrily at Pious Deacon and Luna, both of whom flinched.

"Please do not be angry, Ascendant One!" Deacon said. "I merely confirmed that your counterpart is correct. A slipspace rupture did occur at this location as a result of a failed energy surge."

"And where did that surge take Twilight?" Shining Armor asked.

"Unfortunately, I don't know." Deacon said. "That rupture sent this "Twilight" far beyond the range of my scanners. The closest I can guess is the Requiem Installation, exactly 126.91 Light Years away. And seeing as your kind has not developed a Slipspace-capable vessel, you are stuck here."

"Tartarus." Celestia cursed. "What now? How can we get to her?"

"Unknown." Deacon said. "I do not have any slipspace-capable constructs, and I believe a second energy surge would not be favorable."

"Why?" Rarity asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Slipspace is a highly unstable method of travel." Deacon replied. "A single miscalculation could send the subject straight into a star or black hole. Furthermore, Requiem is a highly dangerous installation. It is the resting place of one of my creators, who was exiled long ago."

"Who is this creator?" Luna asked.

"The Ur-Didact, of course." Deacon said. "He is the Supreme Commander of the Forerunner Military, and Protector of the Ecumene. He is a formidable warrior, and not to be trifled with lightly. There is nothing I can do to help recover your friend, for that I am gravely sorry."

"It's fine, Deacon." Cadance said. "Right now, I need time. Deacon, what happened to Queen Chrysalis?"

"She is being kept in stasis below ground." Deacon said.

"Take us to her." Celestia said. "I need to have some words with her."

"As you wish." Deacon said.

====

Author's Note

Sorry that it's so short. And sorry this took so fucking long.

More frequent updates are coming soon!