Foreword: hello! And welcome to The Last of What's Up There, the final installment of the Up There trilogy and the last Halo/MLP story I'll ever write(no promises). This story treats the alternate ending of What Else is Up There as canon and will see Robert Crusher and the UNSC embark on another mission to protect Equestria from a menacing alien force. Will they succeed? Or is Equestria finally doomed to succumb to those who would love to see the planet a flaming hellhole with all who inhabit it dead? Only time will tell.

Please note this is story three of a trilogy so it is HIGHLY recommended you read the first two stories, Ever Wonder What's Up There and the sequel What Else is Up There before reading this, lest you be spoiled on things that have happened prior to this tale. This story will also follow the schedule of the preceding story, with a new chapter coming out every Sunday, so be sure to subscribe to Story Alerts so you don't miss a beat.

Enjoy! And please remember to leave a review/comment

The last of what's up There
Written by Codename One

"You ever wonder what's up There?"

"Like what?"

"Maybe someone up there is wondering what it's like here?"

"I guess, Spike. Do you think we'll ever meet them?"

"I hope so, Twilight. Do you?"

Do you?

Chapter One
Who they became

Date: November 7th, 2555
Location: Land of Equestria
Individual: Commander Robert S. Crusher of the UNSC Dawn of the Sun(destroyed.)
Time:7:14PM

"A lot has changed in the past two years. A lot. First of all the UNSC arrived at the planet Equestria two weeks after Captain Mitchell sacrificed himself to destroy the Forerunner Dreadnought, but only one UNSC ship came, the Infinity, a massive cruiser and the largest ship ever created by humanity."

"Aboard this ship were the Spartan-IV's, the fourth generation of the Spartan supersoldiers and firm holder of the title of humanity's greatest warriors. The Spartans had always been trained to be the strongest, fastest, smartest, and deadliest soldiers the galaxy had ever seen. With all new training, equipment, and weapons the Spartan-IV's would easily live up to the title."

"With the Infinity came Fleetmaster Rala 'Toram's fleet, the Second Fleet of Unified Clarity, and the second-in-command of the fleet, Shipmaster Toro 'Kabak and his assault carrier, the Solace in Darkness. With these ships and the personnel aboard Equestria would be one of the most well-defended places in the galaxy."

"Or so we thought."

"You see, something terrible has happened. Something I never thought would've happened in the rest of my days of living. A team of Sangheili were exploring the old gem caves beneath Canterlot in search of Forerunner artifacts after we learned that more were down there. The new leader of Equestria, Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, had told us that one time she was in the caves and had seen very strange things down there."

"So the Sangheili team went in to investigate."

"They never came back."

"Curious, I took a team of Spartan-IVs into the caves to investigate, and what I saw horrified me to a great extent."

"There were obvious signs of a battle, with charred rock, scorched ground, and purple blood all over the floor."

"No bodies were in sight."

"Scratched into a wall with an energy blade were the words 'May the Gods have mercy on your souls.'"

"Proceeding into another chamber we came under attack by the-"

"Commander! They're here!"

"Shit! OK, Spike! I'll be there soon!"

"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!"

"OK! I'm coming!"

"This is Commander Robert Crusher, signing off!"

Two months earlier

Date: September 11th, 2555
Location: New Ponyville, Land of Equestria
Individual: Lieutenant Robert S. Crusher of the UNSC Dawn of the Sun(destroyed.)
Time:12:06AM

"Hi, Robert, what's up?" Derpy Hooves, a pegasus with a gray coat and blonde mane and tail asked as she stood in the doorway of her home in Ponyville, looking up at the human standing before her.

Derpy was a former Weather Pegasus and survivor of the Covenant Conflict, and one of Lieutenant Crusher's best friends in Ponyville. The two had met at a party celebrating the completion of New Ponyville and the two had hit it off immediately.

Of course the Lieutenant was friends with almost everypony in New Ponyville, seeing as how he was one of the humans that defended Equestria from the Brutes.

He always told the ponies that praised him that Captain James Mitchell was the true hero.

Coming back to the moment Robert looked down at Derpy, smiling and saying "hey Derps, can I come in? Last time we met you said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Of course, come on in" Derpy replied, stepping aside to allow the human access. Lieutenant Crusher entered the structure and Derpy closed the door behind him.

The two hopped onto a couch in the living room and turned to look at each other, Derpy speaking first by saying "I just wanted to thank you once again for everything you've done to help make Equestria a safe place."

"I'm just doing my job, Derpy" Lieutenant Crusher asked with a smile.

"Well yeah, but that doesn't mean I can't thank you for it. I just want Equestria to be safe from those Covenant and you're the dude heading the safety of this land" Derpy explained.

"Well thank you. Is there anything else you want to talk to me about?" Robert said, leaning back in the couch.

"Nope!" Derpy answered, joining Lieutenant Crusher as he got off the couch and headed over to the door, opening it for him to allow him to leave.

"Well I suppose it was nice talking to you, Derps" Robert stated, turning around in the door to face the gray Pegasus.

"Yeah. See ya later, Robert" Derps responded with a smile, nodding to the Lieutenant who turned and walked back into the town.

On his way through the town Lieutenant Crusher looked around at all the changes that had happened during the past two years.

For one there were humans all over the place, although all of them were UNSC soldiers from the Infinity, ensuring that all humans in the town were noble and good-willed people.

In addition to the Marines in the town a UNSC firebase had been built near the town and would allow instant support if New Ponyville ever got attacked.

And with the Infinity up in space around the planet life would be great for the defenders of Equestria.

Before long Lieutenant Crusher had made it across town to the New Ponyville Library, which was built out of the same thing Old Ponyville's library was, a hollow tree.

Stepping into the structure the Lieutenant saw Spike and Twilight sitting on the couch together, cuddled up and looking at something on a UNSC data-pad. Upon entering the building the two looked up and pulled away from each other.

"Uhhh, is this a bad time?" Robert asked, looking back and forth between the two, wondering if he had missed a memo saying they were dating or something.

"No, Spike and I were just looking at some pictures of some old friends. We're not a thing if that's what you were thinking" Twilight Sparkle answered, standing up from the couch and approaching the Lieutenant.

"Good, I would've hated to have missed the update" Lieutenant Crusher stated, closing the door to the Library behind him and sitting down in a chair.

"So how was your day?" the lavender Unicorn asked.

"Pretty good, Twilight. Went out and talked with some Marines in town, talked with the old CMC, then went to go see Derpy. Talked with her a while. I should've asked her about Dinky but I didn't" Lieutenant Crusher answered.

"Dinky's in Canterlot right now I think, I don't remember what for" Twilight said, earning a nod from the Lieutenant.

"OK. But other than that nothing else happened today" Robert stated, leaning back in the chair and relaxing a bit more, taking off his UNSC-issue combat boots and rubbing his socked feet.

"Alright then. By the way, I got a message from the Captain of the Infinity saying he wants to see you ASAP, he didn't say for what though" Twilight told the Lieutenant, who sighed and stood from his chair.

"Alright fine, I'll go do that now" Robert said, opening the door and heading back outside.

It was going to be a long day.

Author's Note: oh man, I wonder what Crusher was flipping out about in the opening, right? Don't worry, that will be revealed in due time, and the answer may shock you.

So please leave a review/comment, and be sure to check out the new chapter this Sunday. Until then I'll see you starside.

Legal Note: Commander/Lieutenant Robert Crusher, Captain James Mitchell, and all related characters belong to me. Twilight Sparkle, Spike the Dragon, and all related characters belong to Hasbro. Halo belongs to 343 Industries.