//------------------------------//
// Chapter 13: A Day at the Beach 
// Story: Once Upon a Time, on an Alien Ring World 
// by Hi World 
//------------------------------//

The Silent Cartographer.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, and the ocean sparkled in the light. Alone in the sea, there was an exotic island that featured a few silvery, ancient alien structures. The rocky haven was surrounded by a lovely white beach and was littered with plants. The birds whistled their song and flew through the clear blue sky.

Up from the horizon, the ring world, or "Halo" as it was now known, swept up into the sky and arced all the way around to complete itself at the opposite horizon.

The moon wasn't visible, but the orange gas giant, Threshold, could easily be spotted, just off Halo. Its vast orange body was tinted blue in the sky.

With the birds chirping, and the calm noise of the waves washing up and down the shore, all was peaceful on the tropical island...

Roaring over the ocean, two Pelican drop ships closed in on the resort. Their gangplanks lowered, revealing full sets of Ponies riding within.

In Rainbow's Pelican, Fluttershy sat closest to the open hatch. Gazing out, she saw the ocean racing by underneath. She enjoyed the pristine water spraying up in her face, courtesy of the low altitude.

Normally she'd be freaking out over hanging at the back of an open, speeding Pelican, but Pinkie Pie was sat just opposite her, beaming giddily at her, then at the view, then at her, then at the view. Besides, after what she'd been through on the Truth and Reconciliation, she knew what real fear was.
There's nothing to be afraid of.

Prior to suiting up for battle and catching the Pelican to the mission site, Fluttershy had enjoyed the most peaceful sleep she'd had in ages. The lack of nightmares surprised her: Must be something to do with reuniting with all her friends, she theorized. She'd enjoyed a lovely bowl of cereal in the Covenant ship's mess hall, along with an icy cold glass of milk. She'd had one last look at her cutie mark, and one last flap of her wings before hiding them away in her armour.

Donning her Spartan armour, Fluttershy had Twilight installed, and the AI rang out over her armour's speaker. "The Covenant believe that what they call "the silent cartographer" is somewhe-"
"-Why's it so silent?" Pinkie interrupted. "Is it shy?"
Flutterhsy snickered contritely.
"Pinkie," Twilight growled.
"Sorry."
"As I was saying; the Covenant believe that the silent cartographer is somewhere under this island."
"It's silent and it's hiding underground? Ok, it's definitely shy."
"Hahaha. Y'know, Pinkie, I'm shy, but I never feel the need to hide underground because of it. Maybe if I was scared."
"So the silent cartographer is the scared cartographer? I wonder what it's so scared about."
"Well, I'd be pretty scared if the Covenant were searching for me."
"Girls, please, the cartographer is a map room that will show us the location of Halo's control centre. It doesn't have emotions."
Interested, the troops listened on.
"The island has multiple structures and installations. One of them contains the map room."

Fluttershy stared out of the Pelican, seeing the second Pelican, and a silvery metal structure whiz by. The structure looked like some kind of arch in the side of a cliff.

As the vehicles kept flying over the spectacular beach, she saw a small amount of Covenant soldiers clustered amongst some purple crates and holo-shield placements atop a sandy crest.

She had enjoyed the Pelican ride, but as soon as them Covies came into view, her heart sank. In a few seconds time, she would be fighting.

"We're here!" Rainbow cheered over the radio, sure of herself and the soldiers. Hovering the Pelican a couple of metres off the soft sand, she bellowed, "Touchdown! Hit it, Ponies!"
"Go-go-go!" Pinkie shot out of the troop carrier like a bullet and let loose all over the Covenant.

Fluttershy gently lowered herself to the beach as everypony else charged out of the Pelican, barging past her, neighing and whinnying with determination.

"The Covenant are outnumbered for once," Twilight informed with high spirits. "Together, we can overwhelm them."

The Pelicans' jets blew sand in graceful wisps through the air. Watching the second drop ship deposit its troops, and hearing gunfire ringing in her ears, Fluttershy sheepishly joined the rest of the soldiers with her MA5B at the ready.

Further up the beach, the Covenant bawled at the invading equines and fired their plasma weapons and needlers here and there. A Jackal with a blue shield was bucked down the crest by a lightning fast Pinkie, who then fired her assault rifle into a red armoured Grunt.

Cheerlie and Derpy were there too.
Private Derpy yelled, "Down in front!" before hurling a grenade amongst a couple of Elites.
Chortling, the veteran of the warriors picked up Derpy's grenade, pulled the pin out, and was about to throw it back when Pinkie bucked it out of his claw. It landed between two Jackals, sending them screeching through the air.

The rookie of the Elites attempted to snatch Pinkie, but before he could, she flashed away and fired a burst behind her at the veteran. She'd drained the veteran's shields when she'd bucked him, so the bullets took him down quickly.

Panicking, the Grunts squealed and ran, being shown no mercy by the Ponies who mowed them down with little effort.

One last Covie remained; the blue Elite. He retreated to the mysterious arch structure and took cover behind a boulder underneath it. As the Ponies closed in around him, he popped up and fired his plasma rifle, hitting one unfortunate Stallion in the face. The victim had no time to scream - just collapsed to the sand, his face melting.

Cheerlie chucked a grenade behind his rock, and before the Elite could react, it detonated. In a cloud of fiery debris, the murderous biped was tossed off the ground and dropped on the rock, dead.

"The area is... clear?" Twilight sounded surprised. "Already? Wow! That was fast!"
In celebration, the soldiers howled, save for a group who mourned the passing of that one Stallion. The death made Fluttershy upset too.

To the point; the beach had been cleared mesmerizingly fast! Rainbow Dash and the other Pelican were still in sight, flying away over the sea.

Radioing the pilot, Twilight requested, "Rainbow, can you please bring us a Warthog?"
"Sure thing. I'll be a jiffy!" came Rainbow's response as the two Pelicans picked up speed and shrank away.

A camp had been set up on a separate island, and that's where Rainbow had to go to collect the Warthog LRV.

Over the fire team channel, Twilight surmised, "Thanks to that lightning fast sweep of the beach, we should have at least ten minutes to spare while we wait for Rainbow to return."
Before Fluttershy could answer, Pinkie Pie popped in from above. "Fantastic! Ten minutes of beach party! Wooo!" She fell back down to Halo.
Liking the sound of it, the Ponies muttered happily to each other.

And so, in the wait for Rainbow Dash, the Ponies kicked back and relaxed.

Pinkie had laid a towel down for Fluttershy, who laid on her belly and looked around, sipping sweetly through a swizzle straw from a glass with a mini umbrella in it.

The pink Earth Pony then pitted herself against five other Ponies in a game of volleyball, and she wasn't loosing.

Derpy had taken up residance in a huge sand castle she'd built, her derped yellow eyes shifting suspiciously.

In addition to her exotic drink, Fluttershy had also received an ice cream cone with a flaky stick of chocolate protruding out of it. Licking the vanilla flavoured treat, she smiled with delight. It was a pleasant day at the beach on Halo. The sublime rays of the sun reflected off her long pink mane and the kind warmth found her face. She felt like she was back on Equestria.

Luckily, no Covies decided to ruin their picnic. Fluttershy laughed at the thought of the alien monsters enjoying their own little beach party.

In the distance, a spec appeared in the sky and grew closer.
"Rainbow Dash in bound. I take it the beach is still ours."
"It's been glorious," Twilight replied. "Not a peep from the Covenant."

As the Pelican drew closer, a Warthog LRV tucked under its tail, Fluttershy got up off her towel and reported to a boulder.

Pinkie had just won her game of one on five volleyball, and she zipped away to join Fluttershy at the Warthog's drop off point.
"Derpy! You're with us!" the pink Private demanded, prompting the grey Pegasus to come galloping their way, obliviously demolishing her own masterful sand castle.

Raising her digital eyebrow, Twilight checked, "Your choosing Derpy?"
Pinkie Pie spread her hooves. "Of course! Derpy's our friend, aren't you, Derpy?!"
The blonde maned Mare rushed over and cheered, "Yay!" Her eyes rolled around as if they weren't connected to anything.
Unsure, Twilight accepted, "Well... ok." She switched to the radio. "Cheerlie, you and the rest of the squad stay here."
"And enjoy the rest of your day!"
"Oh, of course we will," the Earth Pony Mare nodded. Waving, she called, "Hope you find what you're looking for!"

Rainbow Dash swooped in over the beach, blowing sand everywhere, and deposited the Warthog LRV onto the soft terrain.
Taking off, she told, "Have a blast!" and rocketed away over the glittering sea.

In an instant, Pinkie shot over to the green vehicle and shrieked, "Dibs on the driver's seat!"
Sat behind the wheel, Pinkie beamed with excitement and turned the key, summoning a mighty roar from the powerful engine. The whole vehicle shook as she revved it up.

Twilight started, "Fluttershy, I recommend you-"
"-Dibs on the gun!" Derpy copied the pink Pony, and flew up onto the Warthog's gun.
"Nnng! I was going to say you should go on the gun," the AI grated to Fluttershy, frustrated.

"Well, I don't mind sitting in the passenger seat," Fluttershy stated, more than a little passably. "I'm really not good at gunning... or driving."
Bluntly, Twilight reminded, "You handle a Wraith tank pretty well."
"Oh, yes, but... um..."
"But what?"
The pink maned Mare sighed, "... But nothing."

To Fluttershy's dismay, Twilight demanded, "Derpy, I order you to get in the passenger seat. Fluttershy can handle the turret."
"Aaww!" moaned the derped one. Complying, she murmured, "Fine."
"Thank you."

Now that Derpy was in the passenger seat, Twilight encouraged, "Go on, Fluttershy, it's easy. If you can handle a Covenant tank, you can handle anything. I'll walk you through it."

Wordlessly, Fluttershy paced over to the rear of the truck and hoisted herself up into the bed. Rearing up, she wrapped her front hooves around the handlebars and placed her back hooves on the two horseshoe prints on the swivelling, circular gun platform. It was kinda like riding a scooter.

"You ready?" checked Pinkie with a smirk.
"Not quite. Let me-wahaaaa!"
Without warning, the pink Mare floored the gas pedal and sent the Hog speeding down the beach. Rooster tails of sand were flung up from under the vehicle's fat tires, and grooves were left on the beach. Making use of the vehicle's hoofbrake, Pinkie skidded the Hog around a curve, leaving the beach party behind. Cheerlie waved after them until they were out of sight.

*****

The Covenant relaxed on the beach. Atop a flat rock, three Jackals sunbathed and chirped to each other. Grunts sat around, cross legged on the sand, munching away at their picnic. And one blue armoured Elite watched over them all like a lifeguard.

The joy was erased when the Covies noticed a Warthog skid to a halt, just by the surf of the sea. They stared at the three Ponies in the vehicle, and the Ponies stared back.

"Um, should I shoot them now?" Fluttershy asked anypony in general.
The answer came from the Covies, who set aside their vacation to engage the equine troopers.

Fluttershy let loose with the LAAG, its thundering fire rattling her bones. At the wheel, Pinkie whooped and drove the Hog straight at the aliens, intending to run some over. And Derpy stood up in the passenger seat, emptying her MA5B all over them.

Aiming at the Jackals on the rock, Fluttershy overheated their shields and cut them down, then went to work on the blue armoured Elite. It wasn't long before his shields became depleted and he fell to the sand with a gurgle. Using the Warthog gun was surprisingly easy.

Laughing all the way, Pinkie drove the Hog into the centre of the squealing Grunt congregation, and commenced doing doughnuts. The side of the car crunched the aliens' bodies, and pulled them under its spinning tires. Fluttershy held tightly on to the gun, afraid of falling off in the g-forces.

As soon as the beach was cleared, Derpy reloaded her rifle, and Pinkie continued to speed the Hog further around the island.

Pinkie stared back over her shoulder. "You doing good back there, Fluttershy?"
"Kinda," the yellow Pegasus replied, her mane blowing in the wind.
"Terrific!" She turned to face the view ahead and swerved to avoid a tree in the nick of time.

"You did a great job on those Covenant just then," Twilight flattered Fluttershy. "Keep it up."
However, Fluttershy wasn't proud of herself at all.

All of a sudden, an upbeat tune started blaring from the Warthog's stereo. Fluttershy spun her head to face the vehicle's cock-pit.
"Alright! This is my favourite jam!" exclaimed Pinkie, bobbing her head like a pigeon in time with the beat.
"Pinkie!" shouted Twilight, annoyed.
"What?"

"This is my favourite jam," Derpy mentioned, producing a jar of blueberry jam.
As Pinkie sent the Warthog climbing up a hill, Derpy opened the jar and began licking away at the contents.

"Accessing the Covenant battle net," announced the AI. "... There's a Forerunner structure ahead. The Covenant believe that the silent cartographer is somewhere inside."
"Well then let's beat them to it!" Pinkie yelled, speeding up the Hog.

The structure Twilight mentioned soon came into view. It was nestled within a cliff and featured a large balcony that jutted out over the beach below. The entrance consisted of a long corridor that extended back into the cliff, and two other access points at either side.

Patrolling the balcony, were a handful of Grunts, three Jackals, and six Elites. Even more dauntingly, a massive Covenant drop ship was hovering just above the balcony, dropping off a few crates full of supplies. Thankfully, it hadn't noticed the musical Hog, and as soon as the crates were deposited, it pivoted in the air and buzzed away.

With the aircraft gone, Pinkie zoomed the car onto the Forerunner balcony and made road kill out of one Elite and some Grunts. The tires screeched as she drifted the Hog and drove back and forth in front of the ancient building's entrance.

Fluttershy spun this way and that on her gun pedestal, pounding the Covies with bullets. Her face was stricken with concern as the LAAG chattered and put holes into the silvery metal architecture. She felt bad for vandalising the gracious alien building, and figured Twilight wouldn't be too pleased either.

It couldn't be detected in her voice however, as she stated, "The Covenant are retreating deeper into the facility."
Pinkie saluted. "Roger that!"
"Who's Roger?"
"I ask myself that every day."

Fluttershy had just popped a veteran Elite's shields, and Derpy finished him off with a burst from her assault rifle, when Pinkie drifted the Hog sideways and accelerated straight inside the Forerunner facility.
"Pinkie?! What are you doing?!" demanded Twilight, alarmed.
The pink one just giggled, "I'm driving, silly."

Screaming, Fluttershy fired the big gun dead ahead at the shocked Covenant.

The corridor was segmented by protruding walls to either side, and the Covies dove away behind them. Not all of them however. The Warthog bucked as it rode over a couple of Grunts, and Fluttershy managed to take down an over-confident Jackal. Two rookie Elites attempted to roll away, but they had left it too long, and were sandwiched between the truck's grill and the back wall.

To the right, Fluttershy saw a veteran Elite ushering a group of the smaller races rush away, down a steep ramp. They disappeared before she could get a lock on them. Leaping out of the Warthog, Pinkie zoomed after them.

"Wait up, Pinkie!" called Derpy, unharnessing herself and rushing after the pink one.

Fluttershy took fire from behind, prompting her to shriek. Franticly, she spun the turret and put down the surviving Grunts and Jackals. With smoke leaking from the LAAG's three barrels, Fluttershy heaved, looking around. Her ears pricked up at the sound of gunfire coming from deeper inside the building.

Quickly, the panting Pegasus jumped down from the Warthog and galloped down the ramp after Derpy, Pinkie and the aliens. The ramp was so steep, she lost her footing, and tumbled head over hooves to a level platform where the ramp continued down to her left. She grunted with the landing, picked herself up, and continued to run after her friends. Gold light swirled around her as her shields recharged.

The whole building shook with the force of a frag grenade detonating around the next left.

Worried sick, Fluttershy slowed her sprint, careful not to trip up again, and peeked around the corner. She saw a narrow room strewn with dead Covies, a smashed window on the right, some shifting light displays on the left, and a scorch mark on the floor, Derpy sat in its centre. Through the smashed window, there was a spectacular, dimly lit shaft leading down into the abyss.

In the room, there was no Pinkie Pie.

Rushing over to Derpy, Fluttershy begged to know, "Where's Pinkie Pie?!"
The grey Mare just shrugged and hummed an "I dunno" at her.
Thankfully, Twilight was there to reveal, "She's right there!"

Of course, Twilight couldn't point, so Fluttershy had a little difficulty finding "there." "There" was a sealed, Forerunner door with a red light on each half, marking it as locked. A tiny window was nice and snug between the silver metal, and peering through it, Fluttershy came face to face with her happy pink friend.

"Pinkie Pie!"
Pinkie called out Fluttershy's name on the other side, but it was muffled by the thick metal that separated them. Fortunately, they could speak via radio.

"Oh, Pinkie! How did you get there?" enquired Fluttershy, her hooves placed against the door.
"I just ran!"
Twilight joined in. "Pinkie, can you open the door from your end?"
Searching around the poorly lit corridor on the other side, Pinkie answered, "Not that I can see. Should I look around more?"
"Please. I've scanned the entire area on this side, but I can't find the controls anywhere." Abruptly, Twilight announced, "Accessing the covenant battle net."

Fluttershy and Pinkie waited as Twilight intercepted the enemy com channel. Pinkie's smile was unusually heartfelt, like she was actually trying to convince Fluttershy and Derpy everything would be ok.

Returning from her snooping, Twilight stated, "There's a security centre on the island. The controls to open the door will be there, according to Field Master Isolomee."
Puzzled, Pinkie asked, "Who's Field Master Isolomee?"
"Some high ranking Elite. It seems he locked the door so he and his troops would be safe and uninterruptable  inside the cartographer." In brackets, she added, "Where you are."
Facing back, Pinkie observed, "So this is the cartographer, huh? Neato!"
"Yes, and Field Master Isolomee is in there with you!"
Pinkie didn't seem fazed at all.

"Pinkie, you stay here. Fluttershy, Derpy and myself are going to find the door controls and get this thing open."
Grinning, Pinkie sang, "Okie dokie lokie!" Switching to a more "down to business" tone, she then questioned, "Y'sure you don't want me to go ahead n' find the map on my own?"
"Pinkie, sweetie, you're trapped in there with a Field Master and his army. He has Hunters with him too. You should stay low."
Pinkie brought a hoof to her chin. "Hmmm. Stay low, huh?"

Fluttershy contributed, "Oh Pinkie, I was so happy to find you on the Truth. I don't think I could bare loosing you again."
"Aaww, it's ok, Fluttershy," Pinkie responded, touched. "Don't worry; I'm going to do what Twilight says, and get low." With that, she dropped down from the window.
Fluttershy tried to look down on the other side of the door, but the glass prevented her from getting her head in the right position.
Pinkie Pie popped up and made Fluttershy jump, shrieking, "I'm still here!"
The two Ponies shared a laugh.

Still on the radio, Twilight hailed, "Rarity?"
The Captain's voice fizzed back, "I'm here, Twilight. Have you found the control centre?"
"I'm afraid not. The Covenant have impeded our progress."
"Im - peed?"
"Hampered."
"Oh. Oh for crying out - What did they do?"
"They locked the door."
"Oh, is that all?" Rarity didn't think that was much.
"Yep. We just gotta open it, but it isn't going to be easy."
"How "not easy?""
"We're going up against Isolomee and his army."
"Um, who's Isolomee again?"
"The Elite in charge of the operation! Don't you ever listen, Rarity?"
"I do listen, I just forgot as all. These Covenant have ridiculous names. There is no need to be rude."
"Sorry."

It was a while before Rarity resurfaced with a change of subject. "Is Fluttershy alright?"
"Fluttershy's just fine, aren't you, Fluttershy?"
The meek Mare replied, "Um... I guess so."
"Good," said Rarity gladly. "That's good to know."

She then let them know, "I'm still en route to my objective. I shall have my hooves on that treasure in no time!"

Fluttershy didn't care much for Rarity's desires; thought there were more important things to be concerned about right now, so she was surprised to hear Twilight getting all giddy about it.

"Y'know what; I'm actually looking forward to seeing that treasure. I bet it'll unlock so many secrets Halo has to offer!"
Well that was Twilight's reason for wanting the treasure. What was Rarity's?
"... Yes. Or maybe it will just make for some wonderful décor."
Twilight chuckled, "Hm-hm-hm. Oh Rarity."
"What?"
"Nothing."

Unsure what to think, Rarity changed the subject once more, addressing something that Fluttershy thought was more important, and far more dangerous.
"Whatever. I want you to use any means necessary to find Halo's control room."
"Yes, Rarity."
"We have to get there before the Covenant. Failure is not an option."
Fluttershy sighed, wishing not to bare the burden. "We'll be right on it."
Before breaking the connection, the Captain spoke, "Call me once you've got its location and I'll give Trixie the all clear. Good luck, everypony. Talk to you later."
"Talk to you later!" Twilight and the three Ponies hollered together.

Getting down to business, Twilight ordered, "Ok everypony - well, Fluttershy and Derpy, let's get this door open."
Derpy whooped with enthusiasm, "Woohoo!"
"You go girls!" Pinkie contributed from behind the locked door.
Waving, Fluttershy bid, "See you later, Pinkie Pie. We'll be right back," and ran away up the steep ramp with Private Derpy by her side.
Pinkie continued to gaze and smile out of the tiny window.

On their way to the Warthog, Twilight proposed, "We could do to have a third Pony in the Hog. Get back to Cheerlie; I'm sure she can donate somepony."
"Of course," strained Fluttershy, dragging herself up the insanely steep ramp. Too bad she couldn't use her wings like Derpy.

Once back at the Hog, Twilight asked, "So, who's driving, and who's-"
"-Me drive!" Derpy eagerly jumped into the driver's seat.
"Well, I guess that settles that. Hop on the gun, Fluttershy."

Somepony had to drive, and somepony had to gun. Fluttershy didn't want to do either. She hated inflicting pain on others, even if they were marauding aliens. But she just didn't have the confidence in her to be responsible for the lives of her fellow Ponies, which she needed in order to get behind the wheel. Ponies like Pinkie and Derpy who just hopped into their preferred positions made her decisions that much easier.

Wordlessly, Fluttershy hauled herself up to the gun pedestal once more.
"Now Derpy, I want you to follow my directions exactly, ok?" Twilight requested, not too confidently.
"Oh kay!" came the derped one's reply.
"Do you know how to drive this thing?"
Derpy shrugged. "Of course I do!"
"Ok good. We need to reverse out of here and turn left."
"Ok, let's try that..."

Pinkie had left the engine running, so all Derpy had to do was put the car into reverse, take off the hoofbrake, and act gently on the gas pedal.

There was an awful grinding noise from the vehicle's clutch as Derpy strained to get the hang of it.
"Oops, hehe!"
Then the Warthog's horn let out a loud honk.
"Woops, found the horn."

Fluttershy started, "Um, on second thought, maybe I should - woah!"
The Warthog LRV shot backwards, pushing Fluttershy up against the heavy machine gun. She flailed her hooves as she lost grip, but soon managed to get a hold of the gun's handle bars.

"Then I turn left."
Still reversing, Derpy spun the wheel left, steering the Hog out of the complex and up on two wheels. Fluttershy was a screaming flag that flapped from the LAAG.

Not slowing down, the Hog landed back on all fours and reversed all the way back down the beach.