//------------------------------// // Chapter Five: Blind Faith // Story: In the Darkness, The Lone Blades Light the Way // by New Lunar Eclipse //------------------------------// * Italics signify that it is being spoken in the species’ native language, or in the universal language of the Covenant, and that this is the closest possible translation.  Twilight was trotting back to the barn, a noticeable spring in her step. Celestia’s response to her request was slower than usual, yet still confirmed a time and place for the meeting. It seemed like this day was continuing to look up. That was, until something crash-landed right in front of the mare. Twilight reeled in surprise, but a familiar flash of rainbow in the subsequent dust cloud set Twilight at ease. Ugh, I can’t believe I’m getting used to being nearly flattened, the unicorn thought to herself.   The wild mare that dropped from the sky was quick to compose herself. “Hey Twilight,” Rainbow Dash started casually. “Nice landing, huh?” Twilight rolled her eyes. “Couldn’t you just land like a regular pegasus?” Rainbow smirked. “‘Rainbow Dash’ and ‘regular pegasus’ don’t go together in my dictionary!” “Is that so?” Twilight said with a smirk. “Well if you’ll excuse me, I need to go tell our new friends that the Princess agreed to meet with them,” Twilight stated coolly, and moved to walk around Rainbow. However, the pegasus cut her off. “Yeah, that’s what I came to talk about.” Rainbow’s cocky attitude was noticeably toned down, and weighted with worry. “Now I’m not scared of anypony, but those guys make me nervous. Like they’re sizing me up to eat, right?” Twilight brought a hoof up to her chin in thought. “Well, judging by their teeth, I bet the Kig-Yar-” “The what?” “Oh, that’s their species name! The tall one is a Sangheili, the bird-like one is a Kig-Yar, and the short one is an Unggoy.” Rainbow narrowed her eyes. “Yeah well, the point is, they don’t exactly seem like the kind of ponies that would sit down and chat nicely. You saw that laser-sword the tall one grabbed, right? And that beam that came outta nowhere.” “Of course. Those are called ‘weapons,’ Rainbow.” Rainbow stomped her hoof and raised her voice. “Exactly! Those guys are like, soldiers! They aren’t gonna play nice!” Twilight sighed. “Well, what do you want to do Rainbow?” “It’s obvious isn’t it? We gotta keep an eye on them!” Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Aren't we doing that right now?” “Well, I meant-” “Besides, we’re going to Canterlot: the capital of Equestria! Every corner has a Royal Guard. They’ll protect us.” Rainbow started to say something, but stopped herself and sighed. “Alright, I guess. But I still don’t trust them.” Twilight smiled, and the two mares began walking towards the barn together. “There’s nothing to worry about, Rainbow. You’ll see!” Twilight cheerfully reassured her friend.      *“This planet deserves to be glassed.” The area around the Minor was still, but his mind was a maelstrom of destructive thoughts. He could imagine it: the Covenant ships would swoop down upon their cities and purify them with holy fire, the houses and bodies catching aflame. He could smell it. And it was glorious. Talking aloud was heavily discouraged for a member of a Spec Ops team, but the Minor knew nothing was around to hear him voice his displeasure. However, fires and rough angular shapes that began to enter the Minor’s view through gaps in the trees silenced the alien’s tongue. A small town was ahead, but the Minor could tell his waypoint was further to the east. He kept to the forest until he was finally at the first waypoint, an open pasture adjacent to what seemed to be a human farm silo. After a few more steps he was a couple meters away from a second waypoint in the middle of the small pasture. He let out a loud sigh and dropped the plasma battery, the harnesses, and the two Unggoy methane tanks. Not too far away he saw a red barn with lights dancing inside. He also saw two pony shaped forms enter the barn and close the door. He held his large hand over the left side of his helmet. “*Ultra, I have arrived. I await you at the coordinates.” After a moment of silence, the Ultra’s voice sounded in his ear. “*We are on the way.” The Minor snapped his jaws in response and sat down on the battery. He watched the barn doors reopen and from it emerged six ponies, his larger brother, and his weaker subordinates. The Ultra took a moment to look around, but quickly located the Minor. His superior pointed in his direction, and began his walk toward the Minor. The others followed suit. As they slowly approached, the Minor got off of the battery and gave a small salute to the Ultra. His gaze traveled down to the small equines clustered around the Ultra and he snapped his jaws, irritated at how they crowded around the larger Sangheili, not unlike the ever-annoying Unggoy. *Pitiful. And the Ultra allowed it! The Minor added that to his ever-growing list of reasons for resenting his superior. The Unggoy ran up and grabbed one of the methane tanks almost immediately, murmuring a quick thanks to the Minor who simply snorted back in response. The locals were staring at him, not only at his onyx black eyes but also at his large teeth. He smiled, showing off his teeth and standing up as tall as he could. The yellow one with pink hair hid behind a blue one with rainbow hair. *It knows its place. Good. “*Minor, the pony’s leader has agreed to speak with us. Hopefully to help us get off this planet, and back onto the Blessed Path.” The Ultra stated, while the purple one watched them converse. However, it was obvious she couldn’t understand them. “*Good, I want off as soon as I can. I’m eager to continue the fight.” “*All in good time, brother. What happened to your leg?” “*The wildlife got a hold of me after breaking my shield. They are weak, but numbers can overwhelm.” The Minor replied casually, waving his hand as he did so. The Ultra’s eyes fell upon the energy sword hilt on the Minor’s hip. His eyes narrowed as he contemplated his choices. With the Minor’s resentment towards him already high, he dared not take the blade in front of the ponies. “*I see you found yourself a blade.” “*Indeed.” The Minor tensed, waiting for what the Ultra would say next. Would he take it away and add it to his own arsenal? Destroy it? “*The Major won’t be needing it anymore. Take care of it for him.”  That was unexpected, but the Minor gave pause to honor the Majors’ deaths. “*Of course, Ultra. They await us in paradise.” The Ultra nodded understandably, and looked to the now very relieved Unggoy when something caught the Minor’s eye. He looked up into the sky and saw a large vehicle coming their way. The Ultra looked up and tracked it as well. Finally, it came close enough to be identified as a chariot, not unlike those the Sangheili once used from over a thousand years ago. It finally landed in front of the group, four pegasi in golden armor standing at attention in front of the vehicle. The vehicle itself was gold, like the armor of the stallions that pulled it, and seemed to be able to hold up to seven or so of the natives. What surprised the Sangheili the most was that the pegasi could keep the carriage level in the air, especially because the flashy carriage seemed to lack any sort of lift-producing mechanism. “*Very impressive. They seem to be stronger than their bodies look.,” the Ultra observed. “*So it would seem, Ultra. So it would seem,” the Minor said in reply, a small chuckle escaping him as his mind flashed back to an earlier moment. “C’mon everypony!” the pink one called cheerfully, causing the Minor to flinch at how human it sounded. “Celestia’s waiting for us!” “Er, fellas?” the orange one with the hat started. “Ah don’t think we can all fit.”      The trip to Canterlot was uneventful enough. The ponies didn’t have the chance to annoy the Minor or Ultra further, as the carriage wasn’t large enough to carry the full group. Fortunately, Rainbow was able to convince some of her neighbors to lend her theirs, so the group was able to disembark only slightly behind schedule.   In the carriage occupied by the Elements of Harmony, the minutes passed quietly, but not entirely silently. Twilight brought her friends up to speed on what she had managed to learn from the Ultra, which held everyone’s attention for most of the flight. In the Covenant-occupied carriage, the minutes passed in silence. Both the Kig-Yar and Unggoy spent their time napping while the Minor fumed quietly. The Ultra, meanwhile, gazed out the window of the carriage, taking in the vista that awaited him. This planet was…calming, peaceful even. These lands did not know war. *But so did the human planet, Reach, before we arrived in force the Ultra thought. Within a few minutes, the Equestrian capital of Canterlot was sprawling beneath them, and both carriages could see the city in all its immensity and glory. The other two Covenant awoke and looked upon the shining city with interest. Even the Minor stopped narrowing his eyes to peer attentively at Canterlot as the Ultra continued his observations. In fact, Canterlot greatly reminded the Sangheili officer of the Sanghelios city he grew up on the outskirts of, where he trained with his uncle. The two carriages split up, the one with the equine passengers branching off and landing in front of the castle itself while the carriage the Covenant occupied landed in what seemed to be a large garden. Surrounding the carriage was an honor guard consisting of more white ponies in golden armor and one tan unicorn in simpler robes, marking him as one of the support staff. The Covenant made their way out of the carriage one by one, the Ultra taking the lead, followed soon after by the Minor and then the two lower class aliens. The aliens looked around and spotted a white unicorn wearing an ornate set of purple and gold armor approaching them. The intricate designs on the armor and the air of importance about him immediately grabbed their attention. “Greetings, creatures from another world! As the Captain of the Guard to the Royal Sisters of Equestria, I would like to extend a cordial welcome to our shining capitol of Canterlot. My name is Shining Armor. Our most sincerest apologies, but for safety purposes we’ll have to confiscate your weapons. You are to meet with the ruler of Equestria, after all.” The Minor was quick to rebel. “Preposterous! We will not-!” The Ultra raised a hand. “Calm, brother.” The aliens turned to face each other and continued their argument in their own tongue. “*Do not invoke resentment in these ponies. However harmless they may be, they could be the key to our eventual return to the Covenant.” The Minor snorted in anger. “*Who are they to demand our weapons? They should know their place, as Ninshin should.” The Ultra scowled. “*I share your sentiments, but are we not superior combatants? We shall relinquish what these ‘ponies’ can see. If conflict erupts, our wrist blades will suffice until we can reclaim our weapons.” The Minor closed his jaws, deep in thought, and then bowed his head. The idea that he’d at least have one method of escape, in addition to another currently stashed against his breast, appeased him. “Very well, sir.” “Good.”  They finally turned to the awaiting ponies. “We relinquish our weapons.” Shining armor nodded in approval. “We appreciate your cooperation. I assure you that your weapons will be returned once the meeting is concluded. I understand that you have thus far demonstrated responsibility in our realm. As an act of trust, we will allow you to keep your weapons as long as peace continues to be preserved.” Shining Armor turned to the tan pony and nodded his head once. To their great surprise, the tan unicorn made no movement to retrieve their weapons. Instead, the weapons simply levitated in the air, a cyan aura enveloping them as they floated over to him. The unicorn pulled Pip-Pap’s plasma pistol closer and remarked, “fascinating...” The weapons were placed inside a large chest that was then picked up by the same aura. The tan unicorn walked away with the chest beside him. The Spec Ops squad sat there gaping, rendered speechless by what had just transpired. Their thoughts were universal amongst them: *what?? How did…but… what?? “But, sir... aren’t I the one who’s supposed to confiscate their weapons?” a blue unicorn stated in confusion as he stepped forward. Shining’s eyes snapped open in realization and horror. No wonder he didn’t recognize the new pony! “Guards, stop that page!” The page, or rather the infiltrator, broke into a sprint. Two guards standing at attention by his chosen escape route moved to intervene, but the tan unicorn’s horn suddenly lit up and shot a blast of magic in between the two larger stallions. “Stop right there, criminal sc-” The bolt exploded directly under their feet and sent the guards sprawling, and the unicorn deftly leaped over the pair and out the gate. He turned sharply left, and disappeared from view. It all happened so fast that everypony was frozen in shock. However, the Covenant soldiers were faster to react. Both Sangheili growled, but the Ultra was the first to speak. “Bok, pursue that pony! Recover our weapons at all costs!” The Kig-Yar screeched in approval and took off towards the gate in the loping gait his species was known for. Meanwhile, the Minor let out a roar of anger, turning to Shining Armor as he did so. “Fool! How can you not tell a spy from one of your own?” Shining narrowed his eyes and sighed, lowering his head. “I’m sorry, I should have known,” he apologized. He quickly regained composure and turned to a lieutenant, quickly starting to bark out orders. “Secure the gates! Station guards at all main exits! Reinforce patrols on the walls! Notify everypony, I want that impersonator caught!!”