Riding the compact elevator, the soldiers descended. It was a lot less cramped this time around, for all the wrong reasons. No Caramel, Bulk, Derpy or Flitter. No great and powerful Trixie. And no Pinkie Pie, hogging the space with a Ghost.
Prior to catching the elevator, the herd had fended off a year's supply of Flood, and were knackered from fighting for so long.
In that chamber, Fluttershy and the other Mares had found some pretty disturbing things. Covies being devoured by the Flood was the least scariest thing they'd happened upon. A pool of red Pony blood and clumps of blonde mane and tail hair; that was something to be worried about. Derpy had blonde hair.
Another thing that got the troops spooked was the aftermath of a Covie on Flood battle. Purple and green blood joined together to form a massive stain on the floor, and parts of Zealot Elite were strewn around the chamber. As for whatever the Elite had fought, it had moved on, but not without leaving behind a clue. A single, purple, Pony eye. Of course lots of Ponies had purple eyes, and Trixie was one of them.
Fluttershy had gulped, frightened of running into "her." Lightning Dust looked a little sad too, which was rare, but she soon cheered herself up by swishing the dead Zealot's energy sword around with her teeth. The Pegasus became disappointed when the silent Fleur de Lis had snatched the sword from her chops: Better in a Unicorn's control.
Now, as the assault force rode down to the ground floor, Lightning sat and folded her forelegs, grumpy. "It's not fair."
No pony took notice of her.
Octavia was being unnaturally quiet, sitting on her haunches while Vinyl tried to comfort her.
"Aw, don't worry, Octy. We'll make it through this."
Still no words from Octavia, just a sniffle.
Soon, the lift made it to the bottom of the shaft with a groan, and the Mares hopped off to venture through a narrow tunnel and into the final chamber of the facility.
Coming up to the shy's side, Blossomforth hesitantly quizzed, "So... do you think Derpy will be ok?"
"I hope so," she responded. "I really hope so."
"This is Derpy we're talking about," chirped Lightning, probably about to say something mean. "That Mare's as dumb as a rock." Yep, there it is. "She's a Pegasus, and she probably fell to death!"
"Enough, Lightning," Twilight warned, serious.
Not finished, Lightning continued, "Or maybe," she put on a spooky voice and waved her hooves around. "She turned into the Flooood-"
"-Shut up!" cried Fluttershy loudly, taking the herd by surprise. "Shut up, shut up, shut uuup!" She started to weep.
Derpy and Fluttershy had been through a lot together. The meadows, the Truth, the cartographer, the control room. And now she was gone. Not dead, not alive, just... gone, with no trace other than some red blood and blonde hair, which could belong to anypony.
As the group continued to walk, Blossomforth and Vinyl offered the teary Pegasus some healing hugs.
"There there, Fluttershy, we get it," Vinyl spoke, then stared at Lightning. "Ignore Lightning."
Just then, Fluttershy's hoof made contact with something loose, and it rolled across the floor. It was a flask, lying abandoned, and as it rolled along, it sounded like it was full.
Halting, the herd watched the flask come to a rest by a trail of red blood leading away into the shadows.
Just off the blood, a soldier saddle and pieces of fractured UPSC armour were scattered around. Taking heed, the soldiers tip-hoofed and fluttered over the mess, eyes scanning the area. Clearly, somepony had been dragged away, and judging by the freshness of the blood, it was recent. Whatever was responsible could still be lurking. The victim could be lurking too.
Approaching the saddle bag, Fleur opened it up and had a little rummage, finding some ammo and grenades for the squad to top up on.
Fluttershy discarded her empty flask and examined the full one. It appeared to be in good nick, and a quick check confirmed that the water within was safe to drink. But who did it belong to? Fluttershy shuddered at the thought of drinking water that had been dropped by a combat form.
Silent as usual, Fleur took something out of the saddle bag and held it up. It was pony tags, and inscribed on them, was the name "Derpy."
Beginning to cry, Fluttershy was interrupted by Twilight. "It's ok, Fluttershy. Don't worry. She might still be out there."
The pink maned Mare spied past the "in denial" faces of the squad and at Lightning, who mouthed to herself, "Who are you kidding?"
For once, she found herself agreeing with her.
Stifling, she paced on, stowing Derpy's canteen. The rest of the Mares followed, staying alert, disheartened by the discovery.
Exiting the chamber, the Ponies progressed along a corridor, and they passed through the door out into hell's Lapland. Strong wind whistled through the canyon, drafting snowflakes into their faces.
The noises of the Covenant could be picked up behind the storm, and not just any noises. There was a Banshee somewhere, likely the one that had destroyed the bridge above, which was now lying in pieces around the valley like giant crumbs. The humming noise of a Ghost's engine whizzed by, close. And somewhere further away, a Wraith was hurling plasma mortar, at what though? Had the Covenant already spotted them? In this blizzard?
Somewhere ahead, a Grunt waddled by, crying, "Get it off! Get it off!"
And another obscured Grunt replied with plasma pistol fire, silencing his panicking friend.
Getting the impression that the Covenant weren't the only peril lying in wait, Fluttershy trudged through the deep snow, shielding her face. The snow was a lot deeper than before.
"Scorpion tank's dead ahead," informed Twilight.
"Huh, I like how you said "dead" ahead," grunted Blossomforth with a fake smile. "Almost as if you're foreshadowing."
With the rest of the soldiers in tow, Fluttershy approached the massive shape of the Scorpion tank, sitting abandoned in the blizzard. A Ghost laid just next to it on its top-side. Whether it was intact or not, she had no idea.
"Dibs on the gun!" called out Vinyl, picking up the pace.
Lightning flew just off the Mares, and she leaned in to say, "Dibs on the main gun," with a smug look on her face.
"Oh darn it."
Octavia chuckled contritely, making Vinyl cheer up a little.
As Fluttershy clambered up onto the idle tank, Blossomforth quizzed, "Wasn't there a Warthog before?"
"I believe there was," Octavia responded, then asked, "Twilight?"
Before lifting the hatch, Fluttershy stood and let Twilight surmise, "Well it's not here anymore. I don't know where it's gone. Perhaps some of your reinforcements survived and took it to take on... whatever they were taking on."
"Sure hope it served em well," shrugged Vinyl, jumping up and raring to go. "I miss that thing though."
As soon as Fluttershy pried the hatch open, a monstrous shriek came blasting out, and two thin tendrils whipped around, frightening her. She screamed, and before she could slam the hatch shut, those tentacles wrapped around her forelegs and pulled her inside.
"Fluttershy!" cried many Ponies, and they raced to enter the tank.
Too late; the Flood form within reached out a disgusting hand of slimy green skin and closed the hatch. Not only did it close it, but it also spun the wheel, locking it. Desperately, the squad tried everything they could to lift the Scorpion's lid and save Fluttershy.
Within the tank's red glowing interior, Fluttershy found herself face to face with a cluster of red tipped tentacles. Above those flailing plants, a Unicorn Mare's head hung limp to the side, revealing one purple eye and one vacant eye socket. Beneath some bandages, parts of blue coat hung to the ex-pony's diseased flesh in clumps, and a lot of her mane and tail were still present. Her - its forelock hung down in a strand, and the tip had been fashioned into a hook.
Further identifying the changed Mare, a wicked snarl tore out of its throat, along with some dead flesh, and it almost seemed to shout Equestrian language at her in a voice Fluttershy would recognise anywhere.
"SCRREEEE-yy-riieeen-gurr-WRRAAAAGH!"
She had been hoping never to see her this way, but she was locked in with her now.
Twilight urged, "Oh gosh, shoot it!" just as Fluttershy pulled the trigger.
A foot wide hole was punched into the chest of what was once a friend, but that didn't stop it, just made it angrier.
With all the strength of a crane, the thing hauled Fluttershy off the tank's deck and smacked her into the ceiling, taking a chunk off her shields. Another tentacle wrapped around her shotgun and yanked it off, discarding it to the side, out of reach. Clever.
The ex-unicorn slammed the screeching Pegasus down to the floor, and that's when she decided to gnaw away at her. Fluttershy shrieked with a pitch so high, it would attract dogs, as her own friend gnashed at her face, her crooked teeth picking the flesh off her cheek bone.
Frightened, Twilight yelled, "Push her off us! Quick!"
It was no good though; Fluttershy couldn't move under the weight of the great and powerful monster.
Blood ran down Fluttershy's face. Her blood. She was being eaten right now. Eaten by Trixie. The excruciation was impossible to ignore, and she wailed shrilly as her face became ravaged.
Thinking hard under the pressure, Twilight came up with, "... I've got it! Pull her close!"
Was she mad, or was she insane? Fluttershy had no idea, but since she was gonna die anyway, she thought "why not," and instead of pushing the cur away, she embraced it.
With Trixie's decomposing body held tightly against her own, her shields started to recharge, not that that would help with being eaten... or would it? The golden light swirled around her as usual, but unlike usual, an electronic hum emitted from her suit, growing louder and louder, until it finally ended with a subdued blast, and Fluttershy felt a shock of electricity. The monster that had once been Trixie felt a whole lot more; gold electrical bolts zapped from her misshapen form, and she spasmed like a fish out of water on the deck, howling in pain. The alarm signifying that her shields were fully dropped buzzed on in the yellow one's head.
"Shotgun, Fluttershy!" Twilight demanded, keeping her cool very well. "Any day now!"
Weakly, Fluttershy dragged herself over to where the shotgun laid, trailing blood from her face onto the floor.
When she snatched the scatter gun up with her mechanical arm, she rolled onto her back to see ex-trixie rise over her, twitching and gibbering. A second dose of buckshot tore into Trixie's abdomen, ripping it apart, but she still didn't fall. A third one did the trick, and the mutated Unicorn's head rolled leisurely into Fluttershy's lap, the rest of her body flopping limp to the floor in a pool of green blood.
Exhausted, Fluttershy didn't register the severed head on her lap, and just leaned back against the bulkhead, wheezing, coughing as Trixie's great and powerful BO intruded her muzzle.
Now that the Flood form was dead, she could finally hear the wind outside, and the other Ponies banging against the hatch in a desperate attempt to get in. Kicking away the bloody, stray soccer ball, Fluttershy strained to her hooves and wobbled on over to the hatch, spinning the wheel and pushing it open. Once it was open, and snow came filtering in, she fell back with a grunt and laid on her side.
"Great job, Fluttershy... Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy didn't answer, just closed her eyes and rested, her vision blurring. The rest of the team entered the Scorpion one by one, rushing to the weary Pony's aid.
"Fluttershy!"
*****
Fluttershy floated through a swirling red vortex, surrounded by the distorted faces of her friends. Applejack, Pinkie Pie, the real Twilight Sparkle. Even Spike the Dragon, the great and powerful Trixie, and Vinyl Scratch and Octavia were among them. They moaned eerily into her ears as she drifted by, being sucked into a black hole; a black hole that got further away the closer she got.
From that black hole, vines crept out to meet her. The multiple stems wriggled around slowly, and as one of them wrapped tightly around the puny Pony, one big one emerged from the hole, looking more like a flexing trunk than a vine. Its skin was veined, and imprints of faces were pushed up against it from inside. It even had a mouth, painted in blood and sporting huge, sharp teeth that looked to have been thumbed in at random.
Whatever this overgrown venus flytrap was, it was Flood. A gargantuan mass of Flood that Fluttershy screamed at, petrified. It stretched over to her, groaning loudly as its mouth opened wide enough to swallow a hippo. To her shock, words came out in a loud voice, low and rumbly.
This one is cowardly and weak, and will go out - not with a bang, but with a squeak.
"Aaaah!"
"Fluttershy! You're awake!" the familiar voice of Octavia sounded from Fluttershy's right. "Good."
She looked around wearily to behold the grey Earth Pony kneeling to the right of her, Blossomforth to her left, Lightning swivelling in the seat that hung from above, and Fleur de Lis peering over her shoulder in the Scorpion's driver's seat. The hatch creaked open, and Vinyl squeezed in, closing it on the gustiness after her.
"How do you feel, Fluttershy?" AI Twilight quizzed thoughtfully, accidently startling poor Fluttershy.
The Pegasus rubbed her eyes. "Uh... tired," yawn. "I just wanna go home."
"Home time will come, Fluttershy."
"Where are we?"
Octavia answered in her soft, soothing tone, "We're still in the valley."
"We took the tank. Did a number on the Covenant... and the Flood."
Getting a nose full, Fluttershy could smell the charming scent of... strawberries. It was a lovely smell, and it put a faint smile on her face. Whatever happened to the stench of the Flood? Well, Vinyl had an answer for that:
"Fleur de Lis here sprayed the tank with her air-freshener. She doesn't go anywhere without it."
The slender white Unicorn saluted and wordlessly got back to manoeuvring the tank. Its vibrating engines and rumbling treads jostled Fluttershy.
"It was also Fleur who treated you," mentioned Octavia. "She sure knows her stuff... At least we think she does; she never talks."
Still not talking, the tank driver beamed up her horn to levitate a sign over her shoulder. It was a picture of a hand giving a thumbs up.
Weakly, Fluttershy croaked, "Th-thank you, Fleur."
Upon the thank you, Fleur withdrew her funny sign.
Octavia brought a canteen to Fluttershy's dry lips, hydrating her with glorious, cold water. More gratitude from the Pegasus as the tank rolled to a stop and Fleur switched it off, walking over to Fluttershy and putting the keys in her bag.
As Fleur silently touched up Fluttershy's face, checking her, Octavia narrated, "She cleaned your wound with disinfectant and put a plaster over it. Was that the right thing?"
As Fleur nodded, Fluttershy confirmed, "Um, yes."
Fluttershy was worried. This was the second time she'd been bitten by a plague carrier. She knew that to become infected, one of the small parasites had to get inside her, but what if the virus could be spread by biting too? She didn't want to turn into one. She didn't want to suffer the pain, of have to see herself lash out at her friends. It'd be a nightmare.
After her bad dream, she was left over-heated with an aching head, and an aching tummy. What luck; she'd been cursed with these symptoms the first time she was here, and now she was re-living it, only she had the Flood to worry about now. At least she ended up getting a chance to sleep, even if it only lasted about twenty minutes; not enough to re-energise her.
Groggily, she got to her hooves and noted Lightning watching her through half-closed eyes, resting her head on her folded forelegs. She wasn't tired, she was just plain bored.
"The cave ahead is too small for the tank, and we don't have Trixie to faze us through like before," mentioned Twilight. "We're gonna have to hoof it from here... Unless Fleur and Vinyl have any spells."
The squad's two Unicorns shook their heads, Vinyl sighing, "Nah, Lightning's right; I aint as good as Trixie."
"Darn straight."
"And she's not as good as Rainbow Dash," the bazooka wielding Blossomforth chipped in.
"Yeah - hey!"
Fluttershy remembered the last time they were here, and how the un-infected Trixie had fazed the MBT through the cave with her remarkable magic. What a shame she wasn't here.
Before the Ponies disembarked from the tank, Twilight checked, "Are you ready to go?"
Swallowing, Fluttershy nodded slightly. "Mm-hm."
"Alright then. Let's get moving."
Out of the gigantic Scorpion, the herd pushed hard and strong through the harsh weather, following a crater down into a pit, where they came up to the cave. The inside of the cave was a little less wintery, with not as much snow making its way in.
The trek through the cave lasted less than a minute, and the assault force were soon back out in the snow storm.
Two dead Hunters could be seen sticking out of the snow. Fluttershy remembered them, as well as the Covenant drop ship that would be somewhere up ahead. She wondered if Hunters could get infected. They were made out of worms, so if a Hunter were to get infected, each individual worm would have to get infected too, right? Didn't matter; Grunts couldn't get infected because they were deemed too small. If Grunts were too small, then what were worms?
Pressing on through the monster of the storm, an odd shape soon faded into view. An over-turned Warthog LRV, resting on its side on the icy lagoon. Two corpses were present too; one of a healthy, rookie Elite, and one of an infected Pony. The diseased Pony was gross; its neck twisted a full one eighty so its face was constantly staring behind.
"Well, there's my car," spat Vinyl.
"Our car," Octavia reminded.
"What do you think happened here?" Blossomforth questioned, puzzled.
That was a very good question, and Fluttershy wanted an answer almost as much as she wanted to find the next pulse generator.
As was becoming a more common thing on Halo, Twilight didn't have an answer. "I don't know. This is definitely our Warthog. Maybe the Elite and the Pony formed some sorta temporary alliance, then an infection form got in, and... Or maybe the Elite was on his own, he stole the Warthog to get away from something, and was ambushed by-"
"-Give it a rest, Twilight," Lightning cut in, hovering by. "No pony cares what happened."
Raising a hoof and an eyebrow, Vinyl pondered, "You're seriously talking to Twilight like that?"
"All that matters is that we've got the Warthog, and while she's wasting time coming up with stories, she could be telling us where to go."
"... Very well," Twilight eventually grated, not happy accepting defeat by such an ignoramus. "I suppose you're right. Just one more thing I have to say."
"Ugh, what?"
"Dibs on the gun."
Having been the gunner the last time, the turquois Pegasus became confused, then annoyed. "Wha? Hey! You can't take the gun! You're an AI!"
"I know. Fluttershy's taking the gun."
"Aw come on!"
"Don't argue with me, Lightning. You and I both know you'd be better off in the air."
Lightning folded her arms and grumbled, "Yeah, I guess."
"Um, don't I get a say in this?" piped up Fluttershy, raising a hoof.
"Oh Fluttershy, I know you're not feeling well, so I got us a place on the Warthog," explained the AI. "Octavia gets the passenger seat, so it's either shoot or drive."
In the background, Vinyl declared, "Dibs on driving!"
Understanding the AI's reasoning, Fluttershy shrugged and walked through the blistering cold to approach the back of the side-ways Hog. As predicted, she saw the crashed Spirit drop ship fade into sight.
The LRV rocked as the Ponies, minus the moody Lightning, attempted to push it over onto its wheels. Even without her help, the remainder of the team were able to right the Warthog, no problem.
Now that the Hog was the right way up, Vinyl hopped in, yelping as she planted herself in a seat full of freezing snow. Octavia swept most of the fluffy whiteness out of the vehicle before lifting herself into the seat, wincing as she didn't quite clear all of it.
Once Fluttershy was standing on the gun pedestal, groaning with the pain in her gut and rubbing her throbbing head, Blossomforth and Fleur crammed into the back. Lightning was a good flyer, so whether she liked it or not, she would have to tag along side.
Vinyl had the keys to the Hog, and she fired it up, smirking awesomely at Octavia. "Aw yeah!"
Octavia just smiled and rolled her eyes.
Checking behind, the radical Unicorn asked, "You gals ready for a wild ride?"
Fluttershy began to reply, "Um, no - wahaa!"
Vinyl hit the gas.
"Ok, the next pulse generator is close," announced Twilight. "Looks like we've got a Covenant air-base to take on first, though."
Dreading it, Fluttershy gulped.
"Rodger that," Vinyl grinned, spinning the wheel to bring the Warthog around. "Y'hear that?! We got some fun coming our way! Hehe!"
Taking care, but not much care, Vinyl sped the Warthog up the winding ridge and through the narrow gorge, into the next canyon. The canyon that was dominated by a magnificent, towering, Forerunner structure. If there were any Covies, or indeed Flood waiting for them, they were impossible to see in the snow.
As the jeep made its slippery way across the frozen lake, Twilight droned, "The pulse generator is located way up high, almost level with the top of this structure. This structure is what the Covenant are using as an air-base. If we're gonna get up there, we're gonna have to take one of their Banshees."
Afraid, Fluttershy pondered, "And how do you expect me to do that?"
"The Covenant have two Banshees grounded on the valley floor. They say they're being repaired. If we can secure them, I can find out what needs to be done and I'll walk you through it."
Walk me through it? Twilight had said those words enough times to make it her catch phrase.
Advancing through the thick snow, the overloaded Warthog came up to the two idle Banshees. A mesa, some trees, rocks, Covenant crates and portable plasma shields were dotted around the area to the left of the building. Three Elites and a Grunt on a Shade turret had been assigned to guard the Banshees, and Fluttershy opened up on them as soon as they were spotted, disliking the thundering LAAG.
One of the Elites was mowed down by the Warthog, dragged under its chunky, off-road tires. Vinyl sent the Hog into a power-slide, and slammed the rear fender into one of the other Elites.
Two Elites down in an instant; one more remaining. The Grunt on the stationary gun remained as well, and he opened fire upon the Warthog. The devastating, purple plasma bolts melted the snow and corroded the Hog's green body work. It also drained away Fluttershy's shields.
Shifting her attention from the hiding Elite to the Grunt, the screeching Fluttershy tore away at the Shade, the armour-piercing slugs cutting through the shiny metal and finding the little alien behind.
Now it was time to take on the last Elite, and as Fluttershy swivelled the LAAG to deliver the stream of bullets, she witnessed Lightning zip away behind the same crate the Elite was hiding behind, performing a spectacular buck. The rookie Elite screamed with pain as he fell to the freezing snow, holding his head in agony. Hovering in the gale, Lightning fired a burst from her rifle, putting him out of his misery.
"Well done, but it's not over yet," said Twilight, raising curiosity. "The Covenant have-"
She was interrupted by a sizable, blue explosion from behind.
Sighing, she continued, "Ugh, a Wraith."
"D'oohh."
Vinyl gritted her teeth. "Oh good! For a second there, I thought it was over!"
On the way to the Wraith, which was somewhere hidden in the snow, Fleur tapped Blossomforth's shoulder and motioned her head for her to get out.
Blossomforth was unsure though, so she just sat there and asked, "Why?"
Fleur whispered in her ear, and Blossomfoth's facial expressions told a story.
In the end, Blossomforth stated, "Uh, Twilight? Is it ok if I defend Fleur while she fixes the Banshees?"
"Fleur? What would she know about-"
Twilight stopped as she detected Fleur abandoning ship and galloping away.
"What?! Fleur! Get back!" Stressing, the AI growled, "Grrr! The last thing we need is Ponies doing their own thing!"
From behind the wheel, Vinyl queried, "Should I go back for her?"
It took a while for Twilight to answer, and a plasma mortar detonated nearby, curtsey of the Wraith. "... No. Blossomforth, you catch up with Fleur. Keep her safe, got it? Lightning, you go with Blossomforth."
Without question, Blossomforth took uneasy flight, weighed down by the bazooka, Lightning streaking ahead of her.
"Let's see how this goes."
The distance between the Hog and the Wraith closed, and the lumpy looking vehicle soon emerged in the dense snowfall. Fluttershy leta rip, sending bullets pinging off the monster's thick armour.
Octavia was leaning dangerously out of the Hog, waiting for the tank's hind to come into view so she could offer it a few grenades.
Wrestling with the wheel, Vinyl drove the car around the pivoting beast, and the wind blew it up on two wheels. Everypony screamed, but Vinyl's brilliant driving skills were able to bring it back down on all fours.
The Wraith operator was clever, and he backed the tank up to a copse of trees and rocks, stopping the Warthog crew from getting a view of his vehicle's rear.
It went on for ages; the Warthog making a run for the Wraith and subsequently retreating because the rounds from the heavy gun just weren't enough to penetrate the bulky front armour.
After a long while, the Mares in the Hog were blessed with a spot of luck.
Twilight hollered, "Banshee, incoming!" eliciting fret in the three Mares.
As Vinyl drove the Warthog back, the Covenant aircraft screeched by overhead, and "accidently" fired everything it had at the Wraith, destroying it and killing the single occupant. Vinyl cheered, pumping a hoof in the air while the other two just contemplated, confused.
"Wait," murmured Twilight, analysing. "... That Banshee... It's a friendly contact."
Fluttershy was perplexed. "Friendly? Then... who is it?"
She thought of the three Ponies who weren't currently present. Fleur, and how she never talked, like she was hiding something. The over confident Lightning, who had tried to steal a Banshee before, back on the bridges. And Blossomforth, the one she least expected.
"Bring us back to the Banshees," Twilight ordered Vinyl. As the Unicorn skidded the Hog around, Twilight got on the radio and hailed, "Twilight to Banshee. Who are you?"
... No response.
"Do you read?"
After a while, a voice returned. A voice Fluttershy had never heard before.
"Yes."
It was a Mare's voice; posh and chill. It sure as hay didn't belong to Blossomforth or Lightning. That meant...
"Fleur? Is that you?"
The responding voice sounded somewhat irritated. "Yes."
"Well... it's nice to hear you talking." Briefly coming off the radio, Twilight murmured, "For once." Back on the radio, she asked, "How do you know how to fly a Banshee?"
... There was no answer.
"Hellooo?"
"Hellooo."
"I said; how do you know how to fly a Banshee?"
... That's it; Fleur was choosing not to answer.
Twilight groaned with frustration. "That Pony's hiding something."
Sarcastically, Octavia spoke, "Oh, you think so?"
In a jiffy, the Warthog full of Mares arrived back at the two Banshees. Well, one Banshee, since the other one was in the air. Lightning's hind quarters could be seen sticking out the back of the one that was left, her tail flicking every now and then.
Blossomforth was there too, and she tapped Lightning on the back. "Uh, Lightning?"
"What?" she pulled out of the alien aircraft to follow Blossomforth's pointing hoof at the parked Warthog.
Vinyl and Octavia glared disapprovingly at her through the windscreen whilst Fluttershy just raised an eyebrow.
"Aw man! Please let me fly the Banshee!"
Fluttershy jumped down off the LAAG and waded through the snow over to the fighter craft.
"No, Lightning," Twilight denied. "You've got wings. Use them."
Muttering incoherently to herself, Lightning flapped her wings and lifted off.
"Fleur fixed the Banshees," informed Blossomforth, just as Fluttershy was about to enter the purple vehicle. "And then she just got in one and took off."
"Excellent, but how would she know what to do?"
"Me and Lightning asked her the very same thing, but she just wouldn't answer."
Twilight sighed, then ordered, "Blossomforth, if you could man the turret while we take care of the pulse generator, that'd be great."
Grinning, the pink and green haired Mare replied, "Sure thing, Twilight," and ran over to the Warthog, taking Fluttershy's place on the gun.
Sealing herself inside the Banshee, Fluttershy paid attention to her AI.
"Do you remember what to do?"
Worried, Fluttershy shook her head and babbled, "Oh, I haven't got a clue what to do."
"Understandable. I'll walk you through it." Ha, she said it again.
The pink maned Pegasus followed the AI's instructions once more, getting the Banshee into the air to join Lightning and Fleur, and two other fighters as well. Those two fighters came swooping in at high speed and unleashed their plasma cannons on the airborne trio.
"Evasive manoeuvres!" yelled Twilight. "We're in for one hay of a dog fight."
The beginner pilot did as told by Twilight, performing a variety of loops and spins to dodge the hail of plasma. The turbulence was atrocious, and she almost crashed into the side of the Forerunner tower. The g-forces weren't that helpful either; they played a game of football with her stomach, and the ill Mare felt real queasy, her cheeks bulging as she held it in.
Fleur was a phenomenal pilot, for some reason. Like a pro, she looped her Banshee around and made use of both the plasma cannons and the fuel rod cannon, rendering one enemy Banshee destroyed. The burning wreckage plummeted to the valley below.
Fleur almost crashed head on with the second one, and she hurried to bank her craft around, as did the Elite. Lightning was flying amongst the dog fight, and she withdrew a captured plasma grenade from her saddle bag and hurled it at the Banshee.
"Oh, wait!" she squeaked, reaching out as if the grenade were the one she was talking to.
All the Banshees looked the same, and she was worried she'd just stuck one of her colleagues.
In a flower of blue fire, the Banshee was defeated, and it hurtled back down to Halo in many pieces. Since the two Banshees that were still active were no longer trying to kill anything, she'd say she'd just taken out the bad guy's Banshee, and she gave herself a pat on the back.
Now it was time to move up, and together, the two Banshees and one freezing cold Pegasus soared up through the blizzard. Fluttershy and Fleur decided to leave Lightning behind; she wouldn't wait for them.
"We're almost there." The tone of Twilight's voice increased in the tension.
On the view screen, Fluttershy watched as she raced vertically up the side of the Forerunner tower; the top lost in the blizzard. Soon, it came into view, and she rocketed the Banshee straight up past an army of Covies milling about on the roof.
On the roof, a huge alien symbol glowed in the dark, like it was lit from within. The Covies were silhouetted in the storm, but their heat signatures were perfectly clear on the monitor. One of the Covies was a Zealot, and he wielded two plasma rifles at once, firing up at the stolen aircraft. Joining the Zealot, three Shade turrets sprayed the air with sizzling purple plasma, and something new began to fire up into the air.
Originating from the Grunts, ghastly green fuel rod projectiles flew through the snow, being blown off course by the gustiness. The same weapons that Banshees were equipped with. The same weapons the Hunters were equipped with. Squinting her eyes, Fluttershy saw that the Grunts were carrying some sort of bulky, shoulder held weapons, like alien rocket launchers. It was interesting, but also quite daunting.
Three parked Banshees were sat on their landing pads atop the structure, and an Elite jumped into one, setting off immediately and coming straight for Fluttershy.
"Oh why me?"
"Quickly, Fluttershy! Get him!" encouraged Twilight as the yellow one moaned.
Fluttershy banked the Banshee fighter and played a game of chicken with the Covenant pilot. Both crafts hosed each other with blue plasma, and dodged each other's FRPs. As they grew perilously close, they each pulled up from their paths and whirled around, trying to get sight of each other whilst trying to stay out of the other one's sight.
Fleur had been busy blitzing the Covenant air-base, killing the Zealot in charge and making sure the other two Banshees couldn't join the fight. Leaving the Shade turrets for later, she made a bee line for the Banshee dance party.
Lightning finally made it up to their level, and she ducked to avoid being splattered by one of the three Banshees.
"Who's who?!" she demanded to know, all the Banshees identical.
From behind the Covenant occupied Banshee, Fleur dived and scored a direct hit with the fuel rod gun, sending the enemy fighter spiralling out of control, trailing fire. It came to a spectacular crash atop the tower, squashing a fuel rod cannon wielding Grunt.
With the skies devoid of enemies, the Ponies bombed the hay out of the Covenant air-base, reducing the landing pads to mere rubble. One of the Shade turrets was knocked off the side of the tower, and the Grunt that was still alive at the controls squealed all the way down until his high-pitched tenor was lost in the storm.
Utter obliteration had befallen the Covenant this night, and Fluttershy was neither happy nor sad; just really poorly. The skin of her tortured face was stinging like mad. She wasn't gonna turn into the Flood, was she? Either way, she'd been subjected to enough g-forces to tear her face off, and as she started to gip behind the Banshee's controls, she just had to pull over and let it out.
Twilight directed her to a landing platform sticking out of the cliff, just off the Forerunner tower and its devastated roof. Her landing was rushed, and she ended up smashing the vehicle into the silver metal. About to blow, she thrust the carapace open and galloped to the edge of the platform.
"Hurrg-"
From below, Lightning whinged, "Ew, gross!" She came up to land by Fluttershy's side, not even bothering to pat her back or comfort her or anything.
Landing her Banshee more elegantly, Fleur dismounted and approached the sick Mare. She gave her a pat on the back, and even offered her a face cloth to get cleaned up with.
"Nng... Th-thank you," trembled Fluttershy, feeling empty, literally.
Silently, Fleur nodded.
"Are you ready to continue, Fluttershy?" Twilight checked.
Impatiently, Lightning pointed at the non-existent watch on her wrist.
"The pulse generator's just through this door."
Taking a swig of water from her canteen, well, Derpy's canteen, she answered feebly, "Y-yes," and forced herself to her hooves, groaning with her aching tummy.
Twilight knew she wasn't really ready, but in order to stop Halo from being fired, as well as stop the Flood from escaping it, she had to push on.
"Ok. In we go."
As the three soldiers paced through the tall door, out of the blizzard and into the corridor, Twilight interrogated, "So, Fleur, if that is your real name, what's your story?"
As per usual, the stick thin Unicorn didn't answer.
"What are you hiding?"
... Nothing in return.
"Darn it, Fleur, what's with you?!" started Lightning, getting in the tall Mare's face. "Why won't you speak?!"
Tunefully, the AI sang, "Fleur, if you don't answer me, I can have you court-martialled." That earned her a shocked look from Fleur. "Y'know, for disobeying me. I may be an AI, but I'm still superior to you."
This wound the model Mare up, and she gritted her teeth, not wanting to speak, knowing she had to. Eventually, she erupted.
"Nng! Fine! I'm talking! What do you want to know."
Fluttershy was taken aback by the silent one's outburst. So was Lightning.
"Oh my gosh, you're talking! Like... for real talking! I knew you could talk! Huh, they said I was crazy."
Fleur pointed a hoof at Lightning. "You are crazy, ok. Let's get that straight."
"Oh, surprise surprise, it's another jerk. You can't call me crazy when you never speak a single word!"
"Ugh, why do I have to talk to you?" Fleur was being rhetorical, but also quite crafty.
Cutting off the argument before it got out of hoof, Twilight asked, "So, Fleur, since you're talking now, how'd you like to share with us your secrets?"
Raising an eyebrow, Fleur pondered, "My secrets?"
"Yeah, like how you can fix and fly Banshees?"
There was a long hesitation from Fleur.
"Wait a minute," Lightning murmured, sussing things out. "... Are you a spy?"
Fleur sighed, "... Yes."
"Kill her!" thundered Lightning dramatically, bringing up her assault rifle.
Jumping between the two, Fluttershy croaked, "No!" and held out both forelegs.
"But she's a spy!" the trigger happy Lightning emphasised. "She's working for the Covenant! That's how she knows how to fly Banshees!"
"No I am not working for the Covenant!" Fleur stomped her hoof. "I am working for-"
"-PONI!" Twilight interjected.
"You got me."
Fluttershy knew about the Pony Office of Naval Intelligence all too well. They were the ones that had been in charge of the Spartan programme, and were responsible for the mistake that gave her her much detested Spartan training. What had a PONI operative been doing on the Filly of Autumn?
Asking the question that Fluttershy was thinking, Twilight enquired, "What are you doing here?"
"Research and evaluation," Fleur answered shamefully. "Just like PONI's always done."
"Well, you must be delighted to have found Halo with us."
"Yes and no. Yes; I'm delighted to have found Halo. No; I'm not delighted, I want to get off Halo right now."
Sympathising with the PONI operative, or the "spook" as Ponies called them, Fluttershy commented, "Me too."
Resurfacing, Lightning begged to know, "Ok, seriously, what the heck is PONI?"
No pony answered her, but she did get a response from the other side of the door they were approaching. 'Twas a monstrous shriek that could strike fear into even the toughest of warriors, and the Ponies' hearts sank with dread.
The Flood.
*****
Lurking in the shadows of the Honest Mistake's interior, Pinkie and some other Pony lied in wait. She and the Earth Pony Stallion had made it undetected on the ship, all their other buddies killed. If the Flood was going to spread across the universe and clear Halo's radius, they would need a ship, and this one would do nicely.
Of course two combat forms would be no match for the Covenant army, so that meant having to convert a few of the alien soldiers. Combat forms couldn't do that; only infection forms could, and that meant finding a suitable host to reproduce.
Footsteps and nattering caught their attention, and Pinkie Pie peeped through a gap in the panelling to spy two Covenant soldiers marching their way. While the monster controlling her wanted to take the ship, spread over the universe and consume everything in its path, she wanted the universe to be safe. Not even Covies deserved her fate, and especially not her friends.
"All me saying is, not all Jackals suck, but a lot of them do," came the high-pitched squeaking of a Grunt.
Normally, Pinkie would be laughing at the ridiculous alien, but all she could do was burble.
"Ereh t'nemugra on," replied the second alien in Jackal language.
As a part of the Flood, Pinkie and all other hosts were connected by a hivemind. Jackals had been infected, so she could understand what the overgrown bird was saying, and it made her laugh. Well, she didn't really laugh. More snorted. Snorted a gruesome snort that echoed around the corridor, and emitted her own green blood from her nostrils.
Coming up short, the Grunt whispered, "You hear that?"
In an instant, the odd couple drew out their plasma pistols, backing up and scanning around.
This was a pretty secluded part of the ship, and these were the first living organisms to venture down here in ages. Pinkie, or more precisely, her monster, was damned if they were going to get away.
Taking even herself by surprise, Pinkie broke through the panelling, her partner in tow, and raced up to the Covies like a runaway train. Them Covies screeched and fired their weapons, green plasma splashing Pinkie's decaying flesh. Two plasma pistols weren't enough to bring her down however, and she and her companion took a host each, discarding their weapons, and dragging them back into the shadows, not caring whether they were dead or alive.