Driving smoothly over the sand, the Warthog LRV drew closer to Cheerlie and her squad.
"Hang in there, Helia," Amethyst the driver told the wounded Pegasus in the passenger seat.
Helia just closed her eyes and respired deeply.
Cheerlie and the soldiers under her command didn't seem too relaxed this time. No pony was sun bathing, no pony was playing, and no pony was smiling. They just stood and watched as the over encumbered Warthog approached and came to an easy stand still before them.
"We saw two Covenant drop ships fly by," mentioned Cheerlie, pacing over to the vehicle. "They didn't seem to care about us, so we figured they were posted on you."
From atop the gun pedestal, Fluttershy stated, "But we only saw one drop ship."
"Just the one? Well we definitely saw two."
"Maybe the Covenant sent one to reinforce the cartographer," Twilight calculated.
Fluttershy grew worried. "Oh no! Pinkie Pie!"
Continuing, the deep pink Earth Pony informed, "We also heard Helia's distress signal. Is she ok?"
"Um, not quite," admitted Fluttershy, stepping down from the Hog. "She's broken a rib - maybe two. And I think she's punctured a lung."
"Oh dear!" gasped the ex-teacher. "That sounds awful!" Trotting around to Helia, she asked, "Helia? How are you?"
The blonde maned Mare just wheezed, her eyes closed and tongue hanging out.
"She'll be fine," Fluttershy taught, coming around to Helia's side. "She just needs some TLC."
Cheerlie nodded. "Of course."
"I've been talking to Rainbow Dash," chirped Twilight over the exterior speaker. "She says she's still having Banshee trouble. I'm willing to bet those Banshees were responsible for Helia's crash." Taking a pause, she added, "Rainbow won't be able to evac her or anypony else until she's lost them."
"Oh, it'll be ok," Cheerlie said, putting on a cheerlie face. "We'll keep her safe until evac is available."
"Thank you, Cheerlie," Twilight gratified.
Cheerlie worked with Fluttershy, Amethyst and Derpy to lift Helia out of the car and carry her gently to a deck chair on the beach.
With the injured pilot under the wing of Cheerlie and her platoon, Amethyst, Fluttershy and Derpy got back in the Hog.
"We opened the door, by the way," Twilight mentioned, almost forgetting.
Cheerlie had forgotten too by the sound of it. "What door?"
"Y'know, the door to the cartographer."
The Earth Pony blinked. "... Oohh, of course! Hehe, I forgot. So, I guess you'll be on your way now?"
"Yep. See you soon," Twilight bid as Amethyst set the Hog in motion.
As the Warthog drove away, the troops riding it and the troops stationed on the beach exchanged their goodbyes.
"Get well soon, Helia!" Fluttershy called out, unsure if anypony even heard her.
With Helia gone, Derpy could take her spot in the passenger seat again. She stuck her head out to catch the breeze and the spray of the glistening ocean.
Contemplating what Cheerlie said about the two drop ships, Twilight announced, "This isn't good. If the Covenant sent a drop ship to reinforce the cartographer, that means Pinkie Pie is trapped!"
Concerned for her friend, Fluttershy pleaded, "Oh, can you please try radioing her again?"
"I'll give it a shot."
Before the AI could try hailing the pink Pony, a giddy, familiar voice fizzed through the speaker. "Hellooooo! Can you h-meeehh?!"
"Pinkie!" Twilight and Fluttershy gawped.
"Oh good, you can hear me! I was getting bored of talking to myself... and worried."
"Pinkie, where were you?!" demanded Twilight. "We tried contacting you earlier!"
"And I tried contacting you earlier!" Pinkie answered, then she paused to think. "Hmm, maybe I got too low."
"Too low?" Fluttershy perplexed.
Twilight sighed. "Oh, let me guess: When I said "stay low," you thought-"
"-I should get as looow as possible!" finished Pinkie.
"You are not gonna believe this!" she moved on. "I found the cartographer!"
Correcting, Twilight shot back, "You were already in the cartographer."
Counter-correcting, Pinkie informed, "No I wasn't, silly. I was in the building that housed the cartographer. The cartographer itself is right at the very bottom!"
"As low as you could go?"
"As low as I could go."
Excitedly, Twilight interrogated, "Did you find the location of Halo's control centre?"
Unfortunately, Pinkie's answer was, "Nope. I tried messing around with the cartographer, but I can't quite get the hang of it. Come to me, and I'll lead you to it!" Her voice was distorted as she bounced up and down.
Curious, Fluttershy asked, "What about the Covenant? Are they still in there?"
"One of them is, but I took care of the rest. Now it's just a game of hide n' seek with the last Elite," she revealed. "Or is it cat n' mouse? ... Hide n' mouse?"
Joining in, Derpy suggested, "Cat n' seek?"
"Killed it!" Pinkie squawked.
Derpy got angry. "No I didn't!"
Talking to Pinkie all the way, the three Ponies finally arrived at the Forerunner building that housed the cartographer. Pinkie was waiting for them on the enormous balcony, killing time by killing Hunters.
When the last titan fell, the pink one beamed and waved ecstatically. "Hi!"
The Warthog's tires screeched on the ancient metal as Amethyst hit the brakes, bringing the vehicle to a jostling stop. The Unicorn switched off the engine and placed the key in her saddle bag before dismounting.
Fluttershy leapt from the LAAG and ran over to her pink friend. "Hello, Pinkie!" she greeted, glad she was safe.
Pinkie rocked with the impact of Fluttershy's hug.
Interrupting, Amethyst checked, "Uh, will I be needing this?"
Pinkie noted the big heavy rocket launcher Amethyst was wielding. It was a very weighty weapon, and the Unicorn took the pressure off her robotic arm by resting the twin barrelled bazooka on her back.
Shaking her head, Pinkie replied, "No no. All is clear in the hood."
"What about that one Elite?" Fluttershy reminded.
"Oh yeah. Forgot about him. Hahaha!" snort.
Inquisitive, Twilight fished, "Pinkie, was the Elite's armour gold by any chance?"
"Yeah, how'd y'know?"
Fluttershy, Amethyst and Derpy looked at each other. They knew.
"I knew it!" Twilight exclaimed. "Isolomee!"
"Oh, was he the Field Master?" Pinkie tilted her head in question.
"Yes!"
"Oh."
Sighing, Twilight reassured, "Don't worry. It's one Elite versus four of us... We'll bring the rocket launcher, just in case."
"Ok, good," Amethyst said, her question answered. "I'll need some help with all this ammo though." Placing her front hooves on the Warthog's tailgate, she eyed all the rocket cases. "I don't think I can carry it all on my own."
"Allow us!" came the response from Derpy, who got to work unloading the long brown cases, Fluttershy and Pinkie helping.
"Thanks," Amethyst delivered.
"You're welcome!"
Awkwardly, Derpy, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Amethyst secured a case each on their backs. They were damn heavy, but Pinkie was able to handle two of them. Five cases in total, and each case contained two rockets. That brought the total number of rockets to ten. Twelve if you counted the rockets that were already in the launcher.
With the ammo on her back, Amethyst made use of her Unicorn magic to help her mechanical arm hold the anti-vehicle weapon.
Lugging around an explosive cargo, the four Ponies and one AI began their spelunk into the ancient alien structure. Before turning down the ultra steep ramp, Fluttershy stared out at the lush blue sky and shinning sun, and the Warthog parked within the distant square of outdoors. Bidding farewell to the view, she wondered when, and if, she would ever see it again.
Passing through the once locked door, Pinkie lead them down... and down... and down. Some areas of the complex were gloomy. Others were well lit.
The first chamber they'd cautiously passed through featured a Covenant computer terminal, hooked up to the Forerunner systems. Twilight had analysed that that was how Field Master Isolomee was able to lock himself inside.
Everywhere in the complex was littered with Covenant bodies and their multi-coloured blood. Bullet holes, plasma burns, and blast scars made an addition to the hellish scene.
Pinkie had fought well. Really well, considering she was on her own and was up against an entire battalion. They even went by a couple of Hunters, just lying on the floor, so peaceful and silent.
Plunging deeper into the bowels of the cartographer facility, the explorers scanned every area they passed, keeping an eye out for the gold armoured Zealot.
Fluttershy had a really bad feeling in her gut. She felt like she was being watched. Stalked. Like the Elite's eyes were boring into the back of her skull. It made her twitchy, and she kept flicking her head this way and that, checking behind, above, in front, behind again.
Breaking the tension, Twilight started, "Soo, Pinkie... You just shot your way to the cartographer?"
Bouncing happily, the pink one confirmed, "Yes indeedy!"
"Was it hard?"
"Not really. Well, the Hunters were a challenge, and there were four Elites guarding the cartographer itself. That's where I saw Isolomee!"
Puzzled as to how the Field Master had survived, Fluttershy stammered, "And... h-he just ran away?"
"Nah, he put up a fight. I tell ya; those energy swords are deadly! But when he found out what I did to all his cronies, he was running faster than a snail... y'know... with rockets attached. Hehahahahaha!"
A low growl sounded from the shadows of a corner. Fluttershy stopped in her tracks and stared shakily at the emptiness. Pinkie came up to her and followed her gaze. There was nothing there.
"You ok, Fluttershy?" she asked, concerned.
Hastily, the yellow Mare took a swig from her canteen and wiped her mouth. "Yes, I'm... fine."
Pinkie grinned a joyful grin at her before bouncing on with the others, Fluttershy creeping after them.
After a long time exploring the magnificent yet confining Forerunner complex, Pinkie brought them to a particularly dark room with a glass floor, similar to the security centre. Three dead Elites were strewn around the see-through deck, two veterans and one rookie. Leading out of the room, was a thin, dripped trail of purple blood.
In the centre of the small dark room, was a short pedestal with a holographic representation of the Halo ring floating above it. In front, was a usual, semi-transparent, Forerunner control panel.
Presenting the display, Pinkie narrated, "This, is the cartographer... At least I think it is."
"It certainly looks promising," Twilight commented. "Fluttershy, you know what to do."
Uneasily, the shy Pegasus glanced around and gulped. "Yes."
Pinkie, Derpy and Amethyst watched on in anticipation as Fluttershy made contact with the millennia old controls and did as Twilight said.
Using both front hooves, Fluttershy widened an orange icon at the top of the holo-panel, and in response, the image of Halo expanded. An enchanting sparkling noise came from the translucent model of Halo as it broke up into neatly organised segments, like the whole ring was one big jigsaw puzzle.
Numerous icons flashed into existence, pointing to various landmarks on the Halo ring.
"Wow!" Twilight gasped in awe, understanding things that no pony else could. Explaining, she droned, "Ok, we are at the flashing icon. Halo's control centre is located... there, the big green one."
Fluttershy eyeballed the big green icon.
"Hold on while I get the co-ordinates."
Waiting, the troops eyed the array of alien glyphs dotted around the image of the ring world. There was a flashing blue one, the big green one, a big red one, a medium yellow one, and many more little ones.
Randomly, Twilight muttered, "Huh, this place has a library. I'd love to go there."
"A library?" Derpy pondered.
Finishing her work, the AI stated, "All done. Let's head back to the surface and call for Rainbow Dash."
"Oh good," breathed Fluttershy, glad that the mission was almost over. She still didn't let her guard down. "I can't wait to be out of here."
"Me too," agreed the bazooka wielding Amethyst.
"Y'think Rainbow will have lost the Banshees by now?" pondered Derpy.
"I'm sure she will have," Pinkie smiled confidently. "She's the best pilot in the UPSC!"
Back the way they came, the herd began their journey back to the surface.
Pinkie was on point, and she had just slid open a Forerunner door, when the unmistakable sound of a snarling Jackal echoed around the chamber beyond. Whereas anypony else's first instinct would be to take cover, Pinkie's first instinct was to race out into the open, eliciting surprise from the Covenant. Plasma and needle fire ensued.
"Oh no! Where did all these Covenant come from?!" wailed Fluttershy as she kept safe behind the doorway, Amethyst and Derpy squeezing past.
"Isolomee must have called for back up!" the AI conjectured. "I haven't been able to access the Covenant battle net from this deep underground!"
"Oh no!"
Pushing herself, Fluttershy poked out of the doorway and witnessed Pinkie zipping around at the speed of light, playing her usual tricks on the enemy soldiers.
Derpy flew through the air with great skill, until she crashed face first into a solid wall. Unsticking her face from the silvery metal, she continued her aerial assault on the attacking Covenant.
Amethyst took cover behind a support column, unable to get a good enough aim on the aliens with her rocket launcher.
Helping, Fluttershy fired her new MA5B into a Jackal's hip, sending him to the ground. Screeching, the bird-like biped dragged himself away into cover behind another support column, quivering to bring up his shield and deflect more bullets from Fluttershy's gun. As soon as he was obscured, somepony rolled a frag grenade in after him, and the following explosion sent him screaming into the air.
Now that the enemy fire was beginning to die down, Amethyst grew the confidence to emerge from hiding. Combining her mechanical arm and her Unicorn magic, she hoisted up the launcher and peered through the sights. Getting a good lock on an Elite and his Grunts up on a balcony, she pulled the trigger, and was almost sent to her haunches by the kick of the immensely powerful weapon.
From one of the two tubes, a rocket streaked across the chamber with a tail of fire and smoke. Amethyst had been aiming for the general area where the Covies were situated, but she was lucky enough to actually strike the blue armoured Elite in the head. The explosion was deafening, and sent shrapnel and alien body parts fountaining over the floor.
Regaining her composure, Amethyst panted and allowed time for the launcher to vent some excess heat.
Looking at Fluttershy, she chuckled and said, "After I've used my next rocket, I'll take your case, ok," referring to the case of rockets on the yellow Mare's back.
Further on, the equine quartet ascended a U shaped ramp and came out into another large room, only this one had a lower ceiling and no vantage points for them mean old Covies. This was the room with the dead Hunters, and this time, two live Hunters were waiting for them, along with two Elites and a mixed bag of Grunts and Jackals.
Immediately, Amethyst sent the last rocket in her launcher whooshing through the air and detonating against one of the huge Hunters. As the four Mares ducked down, the giant alien wailed and fell to the deck, its bond brother howling with rage.
"Fluttershy! Rockets!" demanded Amethyst, ejecting the spent tubes.
Hurriedly, Fluttershy plonked her case of explosives on the floor of the ramp and clacked it open, helping Amethyst reload.
Pinkie and Derpy shot off into the Covenant occupied chamber, wreaking havoc and provoking the aliens. Grenades blew Jackals to shreds, bullets converted Grunts to rag dolls, and an Elite was bucked to death by both Mares at once.
As for that Hunter, it came stepping closer to Amethyst and Fluttershy, its fuel rod gun at the ready and its thick metal shield covering its front.
With the launcher fully loaded, Amethyst sent forth another 102mm HE anti-tank shaped charge, and struck the second Hunter on its shield. Baring the brunt, that incredible shield took a tiny amount of damage from the prodigious explosion, keeping the Hunter alive and moving.
Frustrated, Amethyst quickly fired off the second rocket, aiming at the Hunter's feet this time. A second before the rocket detonated, blowing one of the Hunter's legs off with an ear splitting BOOM, the Hunter fired a single fuel rod projectile back at the rocket jockeys.
Fluttershy and Amethyst screamed and ducked in time to avoid the deadly green object as it soared over their heads and exploded against the wall behind, washing them with humidity and shuddering the ground.
As Derpy and Pinkie continued to pick off the remaining Covies one by one, Fluttershy and Amethyst worked together to reload the launcher.
"Thanks," Amethyst smiled over the sounds of angry Covenant and gunfire.
"Thank you," returned Fluttershy, grateful for Amethyst's help throughout the entire ordeal.
In a flash, Pinkie appeared before them, Derpy hovering up behind her.
"It's clear!" she beamed, her four hooves patting on the metal ground excitedly. "It's all clear! Let's move!" And away she shot.
"Come on girls," encouraged Twilight as the other three raced to catch up. "We're almost at the top!"
Sliding open a door, ascending a winding ramp, and exiting another door, the fire team arrived at the chamber where the Covenant had set up a computer terminal to hack into the Forerunner systems.
Hastily, Fluttershy and Amethyst sprinted up to a balcony and beat a Jackal to death, Fluttershy squeezing her eyes shut with discomfort.
Pandemonium raged below as Pinkie zigzagged amongst the enemy troops, knocking them down, shooting them, chucking grenades and laughing. She even stole some of the Covenant's plasma grenades and used them, sticking one to a crimson Elite's helmet. The biped warrior roared and attempted to remove the head gear, but by the time he'd got it free from his ugly alien head, the grenade detonated, vaporising him and two other Elites in a ghastly blue explosion.
Derpy took flight and made it hail bullets on the determined Covies. Her aim was completely off, but the aliens simply could not dodge all the 7.62 x 51mm armour piercing rain drops.
Eventually, the room was cleansed of Covies, and the army of four could run on.
Making their hasty way through a narrow, dark corridor, Fluttershy spied the colossal shaft up ahead, and the strange metal platform extending out into it, the Grunt's breather still sat idle on the edge. To the right, the corridor split and lead into the room with the smashed window and the door that she'd opened at the security centre; close to the exit.
Rounding that corner, a gold armoured Zealot sprang out with his glowing blue energy sword, and rammed the blade directly into Amethyst. The Unicorn Mare wailed as the Elite lifted his sword, Amethyst impaled upon it like a kebab.
The three Mares squealed with horror as Amethyst whimpered into death.
"That's Field Master Isolomee!"
Like the Truth and Reconciliation's Shipmaster, Field Master Isolomee was no ordinary Zealot. His helmet featured a couple of demonic horns that looked like angry eyebrows to Fluttershy. His shoulder plates were also more squared and elongated than those of a regular Zealot.
Immediately, the golden Zealot elbowed Derpy in the face, sending her tumbling to the ground.
He thrust his sword, removing the dead Unicorn with a horrible splash of blood.
Pinkie leapt and latched onto the Field Master, growling with uncharacteristic anger and firing her MA5B point blank into his unsightly face. Unfortunately, he had strong energy shields, and before Pinkie could pop them, he shoved her off.
"Quick! Overwhelm him!" bellowed the AI franticly.
Shrieking with terror, Fluttershy ran at the Elite's legs in an attempt to trip him up. Instead, she just banged her head against his armour, as if she'd just ran into a lamp post.
Laughing, the Zealot picked up Fluttershy by the scruff of her neck and tossed her over his shoulder like she was nothing more than a piece of garbage. The yellow Mare screamed as she scraped along the protruding platform. Her whole body dangled over the edge as she held on for dear life. Scrambling desperately to get back up, she knocked the Grunt's breather down into the abyss, and she never heard the sound of it hitting the bottom.
Cruelly, Isolomee booted Pinkie while she was down, eliciting little grunts from her. Derpy came to her aid, but Isolomee just backhanded her across the face, making her bleed.
Enough messing around; the golden Elite pinned Pinkie to the deck with his boot and raised his sword.
Despairing, the dangling Fluttershy screeched, "Piinkiiee!"
"Hey!" Twilight shouted from Fluttershy's armour. "Isolomee!"
Coming up short, Isolomee stopped his sword from slicing into Pinkie's body and twisted his neck to face Fluttershy, who gritted her teeth with the effort of keeping herself from falling for an eternity.
What Twilight said next was a surprise to everyone. "Khaka'um jedowah cre'oo'eon vrerchils hal ha Pinkie Pie!"
Everypony and Covenant Field Master was utterly bewildered by the language from Twilight.
She kept shouting at Isolomee in the Elite language.
Translated, she said, "I am the AI with Equestria's co-ordinates! You want me?! Come and get me!"
It was a good thing Fluttershy couldn't understand a word she was saying; she would've flipped.
Putting Pinkie and Derpy on hold, Isolomee made his deliberate way along the platform, towards Fluttershy. The yellow Mare's front hooves shook with the strain of keeping her above the bottomless pit, and her teeth chattered in trepidation. She began to sweat, and her hooves were starting to slip.
Drawing closer to the daunted Pegasus, the Elite halted upon hearing Pinkie's voice at his back.
"Yoohoo!"
Like lightning, Isolomee drew, primed, and threw a plasma grenade into the corridor behind. Derpy shot away into the next chamber while Pinkie stood on hind legs, wielding Amethyst's rocket launcher.
She fired, and sent a deadly rocket streaking straight and true towards the Elite on a column of smoke and fire. The Field Master had rotated to face Fluttershy, spun back to face the rocket, and only had a fraction of a second to watch it come up and meet his face. BOOM! Golden armoured body parts flew everywhere and bounced off the platform, falling into the echoic abyss.
Half heartedly, Pinkie performed a double backflip that ended with her flopping to the deck. She was clear of the plasma grenade detonation.
Exhausted, she left the rocket launcher on the ground and staggered over to Fluttershy. Derpy flew out of the broken window and into the shaft where she could push up on Fluttershy's hanging hind legs. With Pinkie doing the pulling, Fluttershy was safely hauled onto the platform.
Together, the three remaining Ponies laid and panted on the warm, blast scarred metal. Pinkie was covered in hideous bruises, and Derpy had suffered a black eye, as well as a dribbling of blood from her mouth.
They each gulped down water from their canteens as they caught their breath, regained their composure, and let the encounter sink in.
"... You ok there... Fluttershy?" Pinkie checked, heaving.
Fluttershy panted back, "Yes... What about you?"
Pinkie broke out a smile, and instantaneously brightened the mood. "I'm fine... Derpy?"
Squinting her blackened eye and wiping her mouth, the derped one informed, "I'm good... I'm good."
"That's more than what can be said for Amethyst," mentioned Twilight.
The remainder of the herd looked back at the nearly in half Pony laying still on the floor behind them, her guts on show and a disturbingly large pool of blood.
Getting around to her usual congratulatory self, Twilight announced, "Well done girls. You did it. You defeated Field Master Isolomee."
The celebrations weren't too celebratory. Pinkie and Derpy just put on grins while Fluttershy looked full on downcast, saddened to have lost a helpful and relatable teammate.
Moving on, Twilight said, "Come on. Let's return to the beach, call for evac, and stop the Covenant from activating Halo... Let's do Amethyst proud."
Just as they got up and left, Pinkie wondered, "Hey, none of you have seen my Grunt mask by any chance, have you? ... I was going to wear it next nightmare night."
"Twilight to Rarity," the AI hailed, waiting for a response from the Captain. "... Twilight to Rarity. Come in, Rarity..."
There was no answer, only static.
Irritated, Twilight spat, "Shoot!" and then tried, "Twilight to Cheerlie. Come in, Cheerlie..."
It was odd; Cheerlie wasn't picking up either.
Twilight needed to call Rarity to tell her the co-ordinates of Halo's control room. Rarity would then pass those co-ordinates on to Sergeant Trixie so she and her squad could meet them there.
She didn't need to call Cheerlie, but felt like she should let her know that the mission was done and they were ready for dust off.
Worried, Fluttershy asked, "Why is no pony answering?"
"I don't know," grumbled the AI. "I can only assume Rarity is out of range. As for Cheerlie; I have no idea why she isn't picking up. I've got a bad feeling about this."
Fluttershy gulped. Whenever Twilight had a bad feeling, she would rarely feel the need to make it known.
At the top of the ramp, Fluttershy shielded her eyes as the square of daylight blinded her. She could see the Warthog LRV waiting for them at the exit, beckoning them to take it for a spin.
The Ponies began to approach the vehicle, and once they emerged outside, something caught their eyes.
Gazing up and drooping their ears, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and Derpy gawped at the sight of a gargantuan Covenant CCS class battle Cruiser, hovering in position above the tropical island.
"Please tell me that's the Truth and Reconciliation!" whistled Fluttershy, petrified by the town-sized vehicle.
"Oh my gosh! No, that is not the Truth and Reconciliation!" Twilight denied, voice full of dread. "That's the Honest Mistake!"
"The Honest Mistake?!" Fluttershy repeated, gob smacked.
"Another ship in the Covenant fleet of particular justice! What is it doing here?!"
If Twilight didn't know; no pony knew.
On her own, the AI began to figure it out. "Oh no! Isolomee must have called for it when we were deep inside the structure! I haven't been able to monitor the Covenant's chatter from deep underground!"
"Cheerlie!" Pinkie Pie cried.
The reason for Cheerlie not answering was blatantly obvious now.
Remembering Helia, the pilot that she had worked hard to nurse, Fluttershy bit her lip and tried to hold back her tears, to no avail.
"Accessing the Covenant battle net," Twilight advertised. "... The Covenant are talking. It's confirmed... Cheerlie and her squad are gone."
Fluttershy sobbed despairingly. Cheerlie, Helia and all the rest. Just gone.
"We should be relatively safe though." Twilight conjectured in a sad tone. "For now. The Covenant are hesitant to fire directly at one of their gods' creations. No doubt they'll send troops after us though."
"What about Rainbow Dash?!" Fluttershy begged to know, worried sick for her pilot friend. "Is she there?! Is she still alive?! How can she pick us up?!"
"Bare with me," announced the AI as she attempted to get a lock on Rainbow's signal. "Rainbow Dash, do you copy?!"
Over the radio, Rainbow Dash responded, "I'm still here, Twilight! You've got a Covenant Cruiser on you!"
The three Mares let out a long breath of relief at the sound of their rainbow haired friend.
Concerning the Mistake above their heads, Twilight told, "I know, and we need to get to Halo's control centre, right away!"
Rainbow sounded unsure. "I'm not sure how I can pick you up with that thing there! Should we call Zecora to bring in the Truth?"
"No," Twilight denied stubbornly. "I have a better idea."
Revealing her plan, Twilight promulgated, "I'll call Zecora and give her the co-ordinates of an underground access point, near the control room!"
Underground access point?
"She'll forward those co-ordinates to Trixie."
Repeating the yellow Mare's thoughts, Rainbow wondered aloud, "An underground access point?"
"Yeah. When I was at the cartographer, I found that Halo has a network of underground tunnels, spanning the whole ring. There's an access point here on this island, another one near the control room, and hundreds more dotted around the installation."
Piecing the puzzle together, Rainbow questioned, "Oh no. Are you saying what I think you're saying?"
"We can get to a landing platform inside the shaft from our position, and if I can re-hack into the Forerunner systems, I can open the lid in the centre of this island! That, is where you'll fly in!"
Lacking confidence, which was unusual for Rainbow, the blue Pegasus started, "Yeah, as much as I-"
"-I'm sending you the co-ordinates now," Twilight interrupted with disregard.
"Twilight-"
"-See you underground!" She broke the connection.
Noting the pilot's unease, Fluttershy began, "Um, I don't think she-"
"-Doesn't matter; she's doing it. Now get back inside. You remember that Covenant computer terminal?"
"Well, vaguely, but-"
"-Take me to it!"
Wow, Twilight was on an interrupting spree!
Dismissing the AI's manners, Pinkie frightfully sang, "Okie dokie lokie!" and galloped back into the ancient alien building.
Hearing a deafening groan from the buoyant Covenant warship, Fluttershy yelped, "Ah! Oh my goodness!" and whizzed in after Pinkie and Derpy.
Once in the chamber that housed the Covenant computer, Fluttershy placed her hooves upon the blocky machine. It was really just a purple Covenant crate that got wider at the top, featured a screen of gibberish and perplexing buttons on an oval keyboard, as well as a three pointed antennae blooming from the top like a weed. Connecting the console to an even bigger, blockier, Forerunner object, were three glittering blue holo-cables.
"Just upload me into it," ordered Twilight. "It'll be faster."
Doing as the bossy one demanded, Fluttershy retrieved the AI chip from her chest plate and mouthed it between a couple of holo-triangles to the lower right of the Covenant computer.
Once installed, Twilight's avatar materialised on the screen. Her fringed mane was frazzled, indicating stress, explaining her late rudeness. She poked her tongue out in concentration as she made her hooves tap against a keyboard that didn't exist in her digital world.
She didn't have to tap her hooves, or stick her tongue out, or make her mane frazzled, but chose to anyway to emphasise the fact that she was working hard. It also made the AI seem more life like. Not as life like as the real Twilight Sparkle of course, but still life like.
A distant clang echoed from behind, and Fluttershy's heart skipped a beat. "What was that?!" she grated, paranoid.
"I just locked the door behind us," the AI taught. "It was difficult, considering what we did in the security centre. Opening the lid will be even harder though. Hold on..."
The trio waited and waited as Twilight fought against the Forerunner systems in cyber-space. Fluttershy imagined Rainbow Dash in her Pelican, swooping around the island above, avoiding all sorts of fire from the Covenant Cruiser.
Speaking of which: "I'm coming up to the island now! I'm directly alongside the Cruiser! Oh boy!"
"Tell her I'm still working on getting the lid open!" Twilight snapped, stressing out over the difficulty.
Complying, Fluttershy spoke, "Um, Twilight is still trying to open the lid."
The pilot was outraged. "It aint open yet?!"
"No."
"Well it better be when I get there, cos I aint stopping!"
Pushing her face into Fluttershy's armour mounted radio, Derpy yelled, "Do all those evasive things that you do!"
"I'm already doing them!" Rainbow shot back. "How do you think I'm still talking?!"
To say she was dodging everything the Mistake was willing to expend, Rainbow was keeping her cool very well. That was one of many reasons she'd earned her reputation as the best pilot in the UPSC.
Eventually, a mighty loud scraping echoed around the complex.
"Yes! It's open!" Twilight exclaimed with elation. "Phew!"
Fluttershy took it upon herself to hail Rainbow. "You can come down now!"
"Alright. Get ready; I'm coming in hot!"
The extremely noisy sound of the Pelican's jets resonated throughout the facility, vibrating the ancient metal surfaces.
"I'm in! Seal it!" squawked Rainbow over the coms.
Immediately, Twilight worked her magic to re-seal the shaft, and the sounds of crashing thrummed in the Ponies' ears; persuing Banshees impacting the closed lid.
With the shaft and the cartographer suite sealed up tight, Twilight ordered the shy to eject her from the Covenant computer and fit her back in her Spartan armour.
She then told the squad to destroy the computer, just in case. Pinkie used a captured plasma grenade to reduce the chunky piece of alien tech to a sprinkling of purple shrapnel.
Like the wind, the trio ran through the confining corridor where Amethyst's devastated form lay, and out onto the platform where Field Master Isolomee had met his end. Pausing, Pinkie went back to flip the discarded rocket launcher onto her back with her two cases of ammo.
Hovering just off the platform with its gangplank down, was Rainbow's Pelican, and the soldiers leapt aboard.
Once each Ponies' hooves made contact with the metal deck, Rainbow raised the gangplank and sent the aircraft into a hasty descent, deeper underground.
"Wooo! We made it!" cheered Derpy, pumping her hooves in the air.
Pinkie flung the rocket launcher and all its ammo into the overhead netting. She then produced a party blower from her saddle bag, and prior to blowing it, she panted, "Paarr... tyy!"
Glancing back over her shoulder, Rainbow laughed, "Y'know, Twilight, you've had your fair share of crazy ideas in the past, but this one takes the cake! Hehahahaa! We're flying underground!"
Pinkie and Derpy looked alert.
"Cake?!"
"Cake?!"
"Uh, I mean, uh - there is no cake... It's just an expression."
"Aaww."
Twilight chuckled contritely.
Fluttershy on the other hoof, wasn't quite as gleeful. Getting to the cartographer had started out as a wonderful day at the beach, and it just became more and more nightmarish the further they'd progressed. If she didn't have a bad dream when she'd slept on the Truth and Reconciliation, she would be in for a doozy of a nightmare the next time she drifted off, and as she yawned, she felt like it would be soon.
There was some food and water on board the Pelican, so Fluttershy helped herself to a miniature meal to feed her aching tummy.
She got an eyeful of the view ahead; ancient silvery metal and dim purple and blue lights leading down the shaft. Eventually, the vertical tunnel emerged into a horizontal one, and Rainbow made use of the throttle to fly the aircraft gently forward. To look out the windscreen of an airborne Pelican and see the inside of an underground tunnel was a sensation Fluttershy never thought she'd experience.
After her tasty salad sandwich, the yellow Pegasus downed her entire flask of water, laid on her belly, and strapped herself in. Once again, she yawned as slumber beckoned her in. Peacefully, she rested the side of her head on her forelegs, and closed her eyes.