//------------------------------//
// Chapter 43: Full Circle 
// Story: Once Upon a Time, on an Alien Ring World 
// by Hi World 
//------------------------------//

The Flood barged their way through the door, and were instantly vaporised by two fuel rod projectiles. The Mare holding the cannon staggered through the damaged and corpse littered corridor, keeping a safe distance from any lingering nasties.

Two came surging around the corner, and she converted them to nothingness with the stolen alien bazooka.

A swarm of infection forms appeared, and a fourth deafening explosion took care of all of them.

She had one projectile left in the chamber, but plenty of spare mags to keep her going.

With every step, she grunted in pain, keeping her bandaged right foreleg off the ground. She hoped she wouldn't have to do any running any time soon.

Traversing the corridor, she came up short upon Twilight saying, "Expect trouble ahead."
True to the AI's words, a cluster of snot-bags threw themselves up at a cracked door ahead, attempting to worm through. The last FRP in Fluttershy's cannon did the trick, blasting down the door and wiping out the parasites. After a simple reload, she was ready to limp onwards.

Poking her head out the corridor, she looked left, looked right, receded in a flash. The Flood were embarking on either side, so she reversed down her branch corridor and prepared herself for a quick skirmish. As the Flood grew louder, Fluttershy shivered, terrified.

Howling loud enough to trip Fluttershy's pulse, the creatures came flailing into view, and Fluttershy let the cannon loose all over them. She didn't just mindlessly spray the Flood with her powerful toy; she actually took aim and fired at the right moment each time. She valued the fuel rod cannon and its amazing capabilities, but she knew that if she wasn't careful, the Flood could take those capabilities away.

Having only expended two FRPs, and not seeing a single sign of life from the Flood, she checked behind her and hobbled forwards into the wider section of corridor. As soon as she stepped out, she came under fire from something armed with an assault rifle. Bullets pinged against her flaring shields, and rather startlingly, flicked the fuel rod gun off her mechanical arm.

"There's one left!" strained Twilight over Fluttershy's scream, over the sudden sound of a warped neigh. "And something big, incoming!"
Something big?!

The distorted Pony noise rolled up from her right, and she spun to behold the poorly equine culprit stampeding up, MA5B on the still equipped soldier saddle. A giant tusk morphed with the ex-mare's head, stained with vibrant blue Grunt blood.

With a weakened wail, Fluttershy drew the shotgun and pulled the trigger, but the four legged beast was out of range, and just kept coming, shrugging off the ball bearings.

An earthquake befell the deck as something came charging in from the left. Something heavy with footfalls that thundered tremendously and almost rattled poor Fluttershy off balance. She was able to stay stood up though, and she witnessed something with all the speed and weight of a freight train come crashing through a sealed door, knocking the combat form off its hooves, and splattering it against the opposite wall, denting the metal panel.
"There's the big guy," commented Twilight. "Back up!"

The new comer was huge and wore blue armour over the orange worms that made up its body, and four tapered spines hung from its back. The Hunter's shield gauntlet was painted olive green with the amount of Flood blood now on it, and with the combat form taken care of, it pivoted to face Fluttershy.

Gently backing up, not taking her eyes off the Hunter, Fluttershy's lungs went into overhaul.
"Get him, Fluttershy."
With a nervous gulp, the yellow Mare braced the shotgun, and closed the gap between herself and the walking tank, terrified of the consequences. She became too close for the Hunter to use its fuel rod gun, so it resorted to using its thick metal shield as a crusher.

Fluttershy hopped aside with a yelp, missing the impact of the metal shield hitting the deck. All she needed was a view of the orange worms on its back and she'd be victorious.

However, that patch of worms never showed itself as the Hunter rotated, and its heavy shield came up to meet her eyes instead. It hit her hard, sending her flying through the air and completely draining her shields. The Hunter scored a home run with her, and she shrieked all the way down the corridor until she scraped along the deck, coming to a rest against a fallen Flood form.

The knock left her dizzy, disoriented, and blood pooled under her eye. "Urrnng!"
"Wrruuurrg!" the Hunter bellowed, charging up its fuel rod cannon.
Twilight yelled, "Retreat! Retreat!" desperate not to be ended now.

Fluttershy struggled to her three hooves and hopped away as fast as she could, being chased by green explosions, screaming all the way. Her destination was the narrower corridor she'd exited earlier, but the Hunter stepped in to block her path, and she just ended up drawing closer to it again.
"Ugh! Get out of the way!" grated Twilight in irritation.

The Hunter lunged for Fluttershy, but she was able to duck in time. She barrelled over and slid under the monster's legs, coming out on the other side with the orange weak spot in plain sight. She hadn't planned on this, but since it was there, she quickly brought up the shotgun and sent a devastating buckshot into its unprotected worms.

Having absorbed every last ball bearing the eight gauge shell had to offer, the Hunter let out a low burble and keeled over, vibrating the deck as it came down in a puddle of Flood blood.

Twilight was speechless, not expecting the shy to mop up the Hunter so suddenly. "Wh... what?!"
As for Fluttershy herself, it was as if she hadn't even noticed what she'd just done, and she continued to squeal down the wide, burnt out corridor.
"Fluttershy! Stop! You did it!"
"Aaaaah - huh?" She stopped abruptly, and her shields began to regenerate. "I did it?"
"Well, you did half of it."

At first, Fluttershy was confused, but then a deep howl of anguish resonated from the mess hall, and the second Hunter came stomping out to avenge its fallen bond brother.

Letting out a groan, Fluttershy proceeded to evade the fuel rod projectiles that came blasting her way. They rattled the corridor and broke the metal panelling, leaving destruction in her trail.

After at least five salvos, the Hunter decided enough was enough, and just ran straight at the little Mare. Its massive boot came down on her long tail, and the pink hairs stretched as Fluttershy attempted to run clear.

The Hunter lifted its boot, and her tail snapped back like a spring, flipping her onto her face.

Laying on the floor, she watched as the towering Hunter lifted its boot once more, about to come down hard on her face.
"No!" she snapped, unwilling to accept her demise.
Rolling to the side, she dodged the ultra heavy boot by mere millimetres, and felt her cheek press against the blue armour.

The Hunter flinched, and Fluttershy was able to scramble away in time to avoid having her brains splattered by the alien's shield.

Like a Flood infection form, the frightened Mare sprang up to the Hunter and latched onto it, squirming around as she searched for the best position. The Hunter squirmed too, trying to knock her off, lacking the hands necessary to grab her.

The Hunter was a bucking bronco as it desperately struggled to remove the soft yellow barnacle. But Fluttershy had all three good legs wrapped tight around its armoured body, and she squeezed the thing in a hug, keeping herself firmly secured to its back.

Once there was a lull in the Hunter's movement, Fluttershy's actions raced ahead of Twilight's advice as she primed a fragmentation grenade and imbedded it within the mass of worms.

Frantically, she dove off the giant Covie and ran, not looking as it went up in a flash of flames and sloppy orange blood. The explosion did provide an indicator that she'd won though, so she halted and turned to face the mutilated Hunter, panting in the intensity of it all.
"Fluttershy; two. Hunters; zero," Twilight calculated happily. "Well done, Hunter killer! Keep fighting like this and we'll be back home for brunch!"
Fluttershy caught her breath, feeling bad for killing, and feeling the burn in her fractured leg. "Oh please... no more... fighting... I... hate fighting."

After another sip of water, and worrying over the fact that she'd have only one sip left, Fluttershy trudged past the fallen Hunters and Flood towards the mess hall.
She came up short upon Twilight informing, "There's more Covenant in here too. You know what that means?"
Fluttershy hung her head. "Ugh, more fighting."
"Yeah, sorry, Fluttershy. Be careful."

She swallowed her nerves and took a peek into the mess hall. The Covenant she found in there consisted of Grunts and Elites. She'd fought Grunts and Elites on the Autumn before, and here she was, doing it all over again. These Grunts and Elites were different however. They were armed with the usual plasma pistols, plasma rifles, needlers and plasma grenades, but one of the Grunts was hauling a fuel rod cannon, and their armour colour wasn't quite as pretty as usual. They were black clad, and from her experience on the Honest Mistake, black clad Covies meant business.

The AI wasn't pleased to see them either. "Spec ops? Now what reason could they possibly have to be here? Don't the Covenant have better things to do?"

Since their Hunters hadn't returned, the black armoured Covies were well and truly ready for whatever opposed them. It just so happened that that was Fluttershy, and they immediately opened fire on her.

"Get back!"
Fluttershy got clear of the doorway and the plasma and needles that shot out of it, just in time to witness a plasma grenade detonate and an FRP take out a chunk of the wall.

Fluttershy had a fuel rod cannon, but now it was lying lost and broken amongst the Flood bodies.

"Two Covenant contacts are approaching either side," Twilight told. "Stay hidden. After a re-assessment, I think it would be wise to sneak past them, but get the shotgun ready, just in case."
Ah, sneaking. Fluttershy preferred sneaking to fighting.

Her hiding place was behind a vending machine. A Flood corpse joined her there, much to her fear, and she kept silent as the Covenant communicated to each other and their footsteps grew louder and louder.

She saw one of them enter the corridor and scan around, noting the dead Hunters and Flood. He was an Elite, his face hidden behind his sleek black helmet.

If Fluttershy could see him, then he could see her, so she reared up and pushed herself as far back against the vending machine as she could.

The Flood corpse she was standing on gave under her weight, and her rear hooves sank into its decaying body. She felt all the ruptured organs, jagged bones and slimy blood sloshing around within, giving her the shudders.

Something squelched within the Flood carcass, and Fluttershy closed her eyes, praying the Elites hadn't heard it.

Privately, Twilight whispered, "I'm not picking up movement. They've either stopped or are moving really slowly. Watch your back."
As soon as Twilight said "watch your back," a hand clasped over Fluttershy's mouth, and she was dragged out of cover by one of the spec ops Elites.

The biped that held her chortled and barked Elite language to his partner who came jogging over.

Screeching through the Elite's fingers, Fluttershy was restrained and forced to watch the other Elite pick up speed, elbow at the ready, and drive it forcefully into her gut. He was strong, and the young Mare gagged as all the air was punched out of her. A chunk of her shields had been drained, but they were still up and working.

"Fluttershy! Shotgun!" Twilight squawked.
The Elite that was holding her had failed to get a grip on her mechanical arm, and it whirred as the shotgun's barrel came up to meet the second Elite.

Boom! The black armoured bully was history, but the other Elite still held Fluttershy firmly in his clutches. Her mechanical arm couldn't flex enough to point the shotgun at him, so she groaned and wriggled around helplessly.

Catching both combatants off guard, a distracting whistle projected from just behind the Elite. Before the alien could turn to face it, it was followed up by a shotgun blast, and one of his legs was blown completely off. He fell over forwards, squashing Fluttershy who dragged herself out from underneath him. He was still alive and growling however, so she readied her shotgun and - boom! ... Somepony else took it, and the new Mare's orange hooves came to a stand right before the floored Covie.

Looking up to behold her hero, Fluttershy wheezed, "Applejack?"
The Earth Pony lifted her trademark hat, revealing her green eyes. "Howdy, Fluttershy."
"Oh, Applejack! You came!" Fluttershy's heart sang, and she wrapped a foreleg around the farmer in affection.
"Course I came. Ya didn't think we were gonna leave ya here, did ya?"
Fluttershy pulled away. "We? ... Where's Rainbow Dash?"
"Where'd'ya think? She's on standby in our escape ride," AJ answered, feeding shells into her shotgun's receiver.

Reloading her own shotgun, Fluttershy informed, "Well, I have Twilight-"
"-Hello!"
"And Halo's activation index... And... Rarity's neural interface." The image of what Rarity had become was forever burned into her brain, and it resurfaced as she mentioned her name, making her quiet voice go a little croaky. "We have to get to the bridge."
Applejack nodded. "I know. The rest of us are near there now."
Twilight rechecked with a puzzled tone, "The rest of you?"

A blast rocked the deck, and the two Mares hurried into the mess hall. The remaining Covies were taking heavy fire from a range of UPSC weapons, but some Covenant weaponry was in the mix, and Fluttershy worried if the Flood had returned.
"Yep. That's them," Applejack put the shy one's concerns at ease.

The equine soldiers were distant and blurry, and two of them were armed with shotguns, blasting the Covenant off their feet.

Grenades threw their biped bodies into the air, and a captured fuel rod gun helped. Fluttershy covered her ears, deafened by the storm of explosions that raged away at the far end of the mess hall.

Two other Ponies could be recognised as Aloe and Lotus, the former still sporting bandages, just visible under her armour. She was armed with a plasma pistol, and she used its overcharge ability to drain the shields on the Elites with one shot, leaving them vulnerable to her twin sister who mopped them up with a magnum.

One of the soldiers, a white Stallion with a pale blue mane, was tossed into the air by a Grunt's plasma grenade.
"There goes our last male," one of the Mares uttered out the side of her mouth.
The Mare next to her had the fuel rod gun, and she teared up, biting her bottom lip.

Soon, the mess hall was a mess. A mess devoid of hostiles, and the Ponies regrouped at a table in the centre. Besides Aloe, Lotus and Applejack, two new Ponies had come along for the ride. A cream Earth Pony with rich cherry hair and dull green eyes. The other; a blue Unicorn with a two tone blue mane and tail and blue eyes. They all looked at Fluttershy, smiling at her, unintentionally making her feel uncomfortable.

Twilight didn't feel uncomfortable though. "Oh, thank you for joining us, everypony! We are grateful!" Switching to private chat, Twilight prompted, "Fluttershy, say thanks."
Fluttershy was just as grateful as Twilight, if not more, to have these Ponies give up their time for her. The only reason she hadn't thanked them yet was because of her cursed shyness, and now she was getting paranoid that they thought she didn't appreciate their help.
Thanks to the AI's guidance, she was able to mutter, "Oh, erm, thank you," and put on the fakest smile she could muster.

"You're welcome," a deep voice sounded from just over her shoulder, startling her.
She twisted to find another Pony standing behind her. Well, she wasn't really a Pony, but she was equine none the less. She donned big golden hoop earrings and wore one of those golden necklaces that resembled a slinky toy, along with a same style bracelet on her right foreleg. Her coat was unusual; white with faded black stripes.

"Zecor-... I mean... Lieutenant Commander Zecora?!" gasped Twilight.
"Yes, it is I. Here to help dear Fluttershy," the Zebra rhymed.
The Zebra always rhymed.

"Sh-shouldn't you be running the Truth and Reconciliation?"
Fluttershy wondered the exact same thing.
"We'll need it to make the jump to Equestria!"
Zecora and Applejack shared a chuckle before the stripy one explained, "Now don't you worry, AI Twilight. I appointed somepony else to take the Truth on flight."
"Who?"

Applejack stole Zecora's answer. "Lieutenant Hayseed Turnip Truck."
"Him?! You've gotta be kidding me!"
"Sounds like yer not too confident in ma cousin," accused Applejack, narrowing her eyes. "Any reason why?"
The cherry haired Earth Pony who was new to Fluttershy raised an eyebrow. "Wait, he's your cousin too?"
"Everypony's Applejack's cousin," the Unicorn responded, rolling her eyes.

The orange Mare in question wasn't fazed, and she continued to preach, "I know Turnip Truck aint the brightest o' fellers, but he wouldn't a' got to where he is today if he couldn't handle things."
An uncomfortable silence lasted a few seconds before Twilight finally sighed, "... Are you sure he can run the Cruiser?"
Closing her eyes and nodding, Applejack declared, "I am."
"... Well... ok... You know your cousin more than anypony, so I guess if you say he's up to the job, that must mean he's up to the job."
"Darn tootin'."
"... Um... who's Hayseed Turnip Truck?" Fluttershy questioned, raising a hoof.
Twilight, Applejack and Zecora just chuckled, and Fluttershy was left wondering why.

The Ponies were about to leave the mess hall and head on over to the bridge, which, if Fluttershy remembered correctly, was close by.

Applejack put a hoof on her and said, "Now, Fluttershy, I know you've been on the move non-stop since you came lookin' for us in that swamp. You runnin' low on supplies?"
"Um..."
"You gotta be hungry, right?"
Fluttershy's stomach answered that question with a rumble. She blushed as AJ giggled.
"Hehe. Here, get this down ya." With that, the farm Pony produced a shiny red apple and tossed it gently to Fluttershy.
The starving Mare caught it in her mouth and munched away. She'd forgotten how long it had been since she'd eaten, and the apple in her chops was so juicy and delicious, it made a little smile form between her bulged cheeks. "Mmmm," gulp, "Thanks, Applejack."
"Yer welcome, partner."

Getting a little more technical, Twilight advertised, "She's also low on water and pistol ammo, and she's carrying a few fuel rod cannon magazines. Also, you should probably keep in mind that she's injured her leg."
Peering down, Applejack pursed her lips upon realising the yellow Mare was keeping one shivering foreleg off the ground. "Yer injured? Land sakes, I only just noticed! What happened?"
"The... the Flood got me," she whistled, barely audible, embarrassed to talk about it.
"Flood?" AJ gasped and looked at her suspicious, "Yer not... one of them, are ya?"
"Why? Do I look one?"
"Not really, no."
"I assure you, she's not a Flood," assured Twilight, putting everypony on the same page. "Now do you wanna trade or not?"
"Oh, sure."

Zecora was the highest ranking soldier there. Now that Captain Rarity was beyond rescue, she was officially the highest ranking soldier for light-years, and until they made it back to Equestria and the royal sisters, she would be the leader of Ponies. Despite all this, she kept relatively quite, and guarded the next door as the rest of the troops traded equipment.

Roseluck; the cream Earth Pony Mare who was armed with a stolen fuel rod cannon accepted all the fuel rod magazines from Fluttershy's supply.
"Thanks, Fluttershy," she bowed respectfully, turning to join the Lieutenant Commander at the exit.

Applejack bared pistol ammo and a brand new flask, full of fresh cold water.

Stowing the flask she'd taken from Derpy's abandoned pack, Fluttershy accepted the new one and guzzled some of the revitalising liquid down. She let out a refreshed sigh when she stopped drinking and concealed the canteen in her saddle bag.
"That's good, right?"
"Oh, yes!" the Pegasus exclaimed, licking her lips. "I needed that."

Everypony gathered around the exit, peering out into the next scorched corridor. Lieutenant Commander Zecora opted to take point, and she lead the team out of the mess hall, onwards to the bridge.

*****

"Waaa," the final Grunt bleated, falling to the deck in a puddle of his own blue blood.

The squad of seven Ponies - well, one Zebra and six Ponies, had arrived at the Filly of Autumn's bridge, and boy did it look different. Consoles smashed to hell and back produced smoke, sparking every now and then. The floor, walls and ceiling were all blackened and dented, stained with the blood of Covenant and Flood. A few Flood corpses had been waiting for them, already floored by the Covenant spec ops team.

The vista from the shattered windscreen was beautiful. Sandy desert with odd rock formations, and of course Halo's super-structure swooping up and out of sight. To say it was a weapon, Halo was incredibly beautiful.

"Well, here we are," Applejack shrugged.
Twilight whispered to herself, "My old pedestal," seeing the console that was once her home, cracked and dented next to the main view screen. Right where Rarity used to stand.
Acknowledging, Fluttershy limped on over to the pedestal, looking a question at the weathered little cylinder, unsure if it would even work.

Inserting Twilight's chip into the device and watching her purple Alicorn avatar wink into existence on top was enough to confirm that it was indeed working, and Fluttershy grinned, happy to actually be seeing Twilight for once in a long time.

Gazing around the battered and bruised bridge, Twilight's eyes shimmered.
Motioning a hoof, she sighed, "It kinda breaks my heart to see the Autumn this way."
Applejack leaned in. "Heh, we leave home for a few days n' look what happens."
Putting a hoof to her forehead, the AI smiled. "Hm-hm. Bare with me."

Fluttershy remembered Twilight telling Pinkie Pie to bare with them when they were working on opening the cartographer site. Pinkie had thought the AI meant there was an actual bear with them, and had left a bee-hive of honey in the Warthog's glove box.

A small cupboard was left ajar to the right, and just out of curiosity, the pink maned Pegasus pushed it open. Everypony else was focusing on Twilight, so Fluttershy was the only one who discovered a specially prepared bee-hive. Lifeless, it would seem even the bees had abandoned ship.

Pinkie should've been here, thought Fluttershy as she returned to the group, a frown on her face.

Whispering to her sister, Aloe pointed to Twilight and asked, "What is she doing?"
Lotus just shrugged, but Colgate leaned in with the answer. "Um, she's starting the self destruct sequence."
"What?!" both sisters grated in kind.
"If I'd've known that, I wouldn't've volunteered to come!"
"Me neither! Why is she doing this?!"
"Good grief," Zecora got involved. "Weren't you paying attention during the debrief?"
The two spa Ponies hesitated, unsure, faces reddening.
"Um..."
Shaking her head, Zecora tutted and turned to face the AI.

"There," Twilight announced with accomplishment.
A countdown timer appeared on the cracked view screen, beeping with every decreasing digit. It had started at forty minutes.
"That should give us enough time to make it to an external access junction, get picked up by Rainbow, return to the Truth and put some distance between ourselves and Halo before the detonation."

"Er, y'think you can make it longer, please?" Aloe requested sheepishly, Lotus nodding in agreement.
Fluttershy wanted more time too.
With a blank expression, Twilight stared at Aloe and Lotus, and the countdown timer suddenly flipped up to fifty minutes.
"That's as high as need be," Applejack declared, stopping the twins from protesting further.

Starting for the exit, AJ announced, "Well, I'm ready to move. Are y'all?"
Everypony nodded; Aloe and Lotus nodding more vigorously than the others.
Fluttershy agreed, "Definitely."

The yellow Mare reached down to retrieve Twilight's chip, but then out of nowhere, a different yet unmistakable, synthesised voice intruded the bridge via the surrounding speakers.
"I think that's out of the question really."
"Guilty Spark?!" Fluttershy gasped, searching around.
Roseluck, Colgate and the spa sisters were totally confuzzled.
"Who?" Lotus asked.
Twilight drooped, fed up. "Aw, come on!"

Droning on, the unseen Forerunner AI monologued, "Ridiculous! That you would imbue your warship's AI with such a wealth of knowledge. Weren't you worried it might be captured, or destroyed?"

The Ponies who weren't Fluttershy, Applejack or Zecora glanced around in confusion, weapons at the ready.
"Who is that?"
"Where's that coming from?"
"What is he talking about?"
"Why is there a bee-hive in that cupboard?"
Answering Roseluck's question, Twilight moaned, "He's in my data arrays; a local tap."

*****

Somewhere within the Autumn, 343 Guilty Spark was whizzing around joyfully, humming to himself. The floating metal ball hovered over to a console and connected to it with a conduit of electric blue zigzags.
"You can't imagine how exciting this is! To have a record of all our lost time!" To himself, he muttered, "Luna's banishment? Fascinating."

After a quick levitation upwards to a new console situated atop a balcony, he swooned, "Oh, how I will enjoy every moment of categorisation! To think that you would destroy this installation, as well as this record... I am shocked... Almost too shocked for words."

*****

Having listened to everything the monitor said, the equines contemplated for a while, then had their attention diverted by a loud, abrupt beep from the countdown timer. It read "49:17..." and stayed there.
Dread filled Twilight's tone as she breathed, "He stopped the self destruct sequence."
Even more dread filled Fluttershy's heart.

Twilight let the anger enter her voice. "Spark! Let the self destruct sequence continue! Now!"
"And let you destroy my installation? Let you destroy my home? I think not, construct. This is my home. The legacy of my makers. No way, no how am I going to let such tragedy befall it."

Contributing, Applejack commented, "Twilight, he aint gonna let us destroy his home."
"Ugh, you're right," the AI moaned. "We're gonna have to find him."
Fluttershy gulped, watching what should've been a quick "in - out" mission escalate into a ship-wide hunt.

"Why do you continue to fight us, reclaimer?" Spark demanded. "You cannot win!"
AJ rolled her eyes and motioned her hoof to poke fun at the monitor who just nattered on and on.
"Give us the construct, and I will endeavour to make your death relatively painless, and-" the rest of his sentence never completed as he was cut off by a bleep.
"At least I still have control over the com channels," uttered the holographic Alicorn.
"Well thank Celestia for that. Let me check myself. Ma ears bleedin'?"
Some of the soldiers guffawed.

Shivering with her injured hoof off the ground, Fluttershy checked, "W-we have t-to find him?"
"It's startin' to look that way," AJ answered, not too excitedly. "Where is he, Twilight?"
The translucent Mare thought on, "Hmmm... I'm detecting taps throughout the ship; Sentinels, most likely. As for the monitor..." She paused, searching for Spark.
Everypony relaxed and stared past Twilight at the golden vista ahead.

"... He's in engineering," she eventually located. "He must be trying to take the core offline! Even if I could get the countdown restarted... I don't know what to do." A fretting expression formed on the AI's face.
This was bad. If Twilight didn't know what to do, who did?

Funnily enough, Zecora had a plan. "In order to rupture an engine's shield, how much fire power must we wield?"
Twilight had been facing the smashed windscreen, and she rotated to look at the Zebra. "Not much. A well placed grenade perhaps, but why?"
Producing a frag grenade, Zecora repeatedly tossed the device into the air and caught it, a mischievous smirk on her face. Roseluck leaned in with her fuel rod cannon, pouting and pointing at the alien weapon.
The eyes on Twilight's avatar widened as she realised what the Mares were getting at. "... Zecora... you're a genius." She began typing. "Just let me unlock the fusion reactors with Rarity's interface... There, we're all set. Fluttershy, yank me."

Ready to embark to the Autumn's engine room, the troops waited for Fluttershy to reunite with Twilight, and then braced themselves as the AI alerted, "Look out! Sentinels!"
The wee robots were outside the ship, and they hovered down to fire their lasers into the bridge.

Everypony sought cover and returned fire, Roseluck conserving her fuel rod ammunition.

The pesky Forerunner mechanisms were plucked out of the sky in no time, and after reloading their weapons, the squad left the bridge and explored deeper into the ship.

"I like your thinking, Lieutenant Commander," Twilight mentioned as the soldiers trotted through the ship's battered corridors. "If we can damage the Autumn's fusion reactors, we can trigger a wildcat explosion of the engines. It'll be dicey, and we won't have as much time to escape, but it'll work."
"Um, how not long to escape?" interrogated Fluttershy as she limped hurriedly alongside the others. "And how dicey?"
"I can't say until the damage has been done."
"It'll be like a volcano to tear apart Halo. Luckily for us, we still have Rainbow," rapped Zecora.

Fluttershy, and everypony else for that matter, swallowed. She didn't like the sound of Zecora's plan. She preferred the old plan.

Approaching the armoury, the door was already open, and a huge Elite was stood there waiting for them. Tentacles grew from his twisted limbs, and red-tipped wires flailed out of ragged holes in his chest. Parts of black armour were still attached to the monster, and it held an MA5B assault rifle in one fungal hand.

Everypony screamed, and the monster screamed back, the Elite within experiencing the agony of infection.

All at once, the Ponies opened fire, tearing the ex-elite apart with bullets, shells and plasma. The heavy weapons expert, Roseluck, did the smart thing and refused to fire her fuel rod cannon in such close quarters.

Fluttershy, Applejack, Zecora and Colgate were all kitted out with shotguns, and the normally resilient Flood form was murdered for good upon receiving a buckshot from all four. He had buddies though, and they came staggering out of the armoury, howling and gibbering and raising a chorus of vile snorts.

One by one, the Flood were blasted out of existence, their olive green blood splashing the walls, floor and even the Ponies themselves. It was disgusting stuff, and Aloe and Lotus whined as they attempted to wipe the sticky stuff off themselves.
Even Applejack, who normally didn't mind getting too dirty, had to say, "Yuck," as the mottled liquid dripped off her cheeks.
Zecora still wasn't fazed by her new makeup however, and she put on a stern expression as she fashioned the blood into tribal war paint.

Once everypony was ready to continue, they fanned out into the armoury, stepping over the rotting corpses, scanning the area for trouble. Trouble wasn't the only thing the armoury was devoid of. An extreme lack of weapons worried Fluttershy. All the available ordinance in the armoury were the weapons that had been dropped by the Flood. Still, Flood ordnance was better than none, so she and the squad harvested their bodies for ammo and grenades, and once they were done, they moved on.

Fluttershy remembered passing through this very armoury back when the Filly of Autumn was still in space above Halo. She remembered the red blood that surrounded her. The Pony corpses that looked at her. She saw the same red blood on the deck, dried and burgundy, but those bodies were gone now. All but one.

The last time she was here, she remembered seeing a wounded, pale pink Mare with piercing green eyes and a ruffled, two tone purple mane. That Mare remained, and she lifted her head and made eye contact with her. Fluttershy just stood there, tranced, until Applejack's hoof waved before her eyes.
"Fluttershy?" She looked at the empty, blood soaked place where Fluttershy was staring. "You alright?"

Blinking, Fluttershy shook her head to clear her mind. The wounded pink Mare wasn't really there. Her marbles must've escaped.
"Oh, I'm fine," she replied with a sheepish smile.
Keeping an eye on her, AJ walked on, leading her and the squad through the armoury.

Worried, Fluttershy glanced back at the blood.

"Hold up," Twilight motioned, bringing the herd to a standstill before the next door.
Narrow windows in the door gave the squad a sneak peek into the corridor beyond.

Flood shrieked with rage, and their distorted forms sprinted eagerly to some unseen threat, off to the side. Covenant could be heard, and a monumental chain of green, blue and orange explosions jostled the deck. Flames licked the metal walls, throwing up the flickering shadows of at least one Elite, and at least two Hunters.

The Covies were calm now; no more Flood to kill, and they held position in the corridor.

"Roseluck, how much ammo do you have?" implored Twilight with a hushed tone.
"I don't know. A lot."
"Good. I want you to step out into the corridor and fire everything. Once your magazine is empty, head back to this location and reload. The rest of us will take the fight to the Hunters as you do that."
Nerves built up inside Roseluck. "Oh, um... are... are you sure that's a good idea?"
"Trust me; it'll work. Just go in, out, and we'll be taking it to the disoriented Hunters."
"But, what if they're not-"
"-Roseluck, just go, ok," Applejack interrupted, impatient. "Trust us."
The cherry maned Earth Pony swallowed her nerves and stood before the door. Fluttershy could certainly sympathise with her.

With the touch of a button, Roseluck opened the door, and the noise it made elicited alert grunts from the Covies to the right.

As quick as she could, the Mare stepped out and fired her fuel rod gun over and over again, screaming all the time. She hadn't even got a good sight of the Covies; too afraid to look, but she knew she was firing in the right place.

As soon as she'd spent her entire magazine, the other six galloped in to take her place. She had been successful, and one Hunter remained standing tall. The other Hunter and Elite had been perished in the fuel rod assault, making life a little easier.

Like Twilight predicted, the Hunter was disoriented, and it fired a fuel rod projectile of its own back in the Ponies' general direction with poor aim. As it detonated and a scream followed it, the Ponies rushed to surround the Hunter like some sort of tribal celebration, and released their ammunition. The Hunter didn't stand a chance; nowhere to turn, and it was dropped in quick succession.

"Well done, girls! Keep this up!" Twilight hurrahed, encouraging the Mares... All but one.

Aloe sat on her haunches before the remains of a body. She turned her head away slightly, revealing tears running down her cheeks.
"Lotus!" she cried over what was left of her blue coated sister. "No. No! Why! Aha-aha-ahaa!"
Shocked, Fluttershy brought a hoof to her mouth. "Oh dear!"

The Mares gathered around Aloe and the late Lotus, who was a real mess. Fuel rod damage was never pretty, and Fluttershy found herself turning away in repulsion, feeling disrespectful for it.
"I... I'm so sorry, Aloe," Fluttershy breathed sensitively, placing a hoof gently on the pink Mare's back.
She didn't know Aloe and Lotus that well, but they were her teammates, helping her through this mission. She pined for the loss of Lotus, and even started to cry herself. It was a shame; she'd survived the events of the swamp, only to be taken down now.

Colgate began tearing up and Applejack hung her head, holding her cowboy hat against her chest.

"Aloe? Are... are you going to be ok?"
Fluttershy would've asked that very question, but she was too upset to form words right now.

Just as the despondent Aloe was about to answer, a bone-chilling shriek tore up the corridor, dissolved into a crackle, and faded away. Each and every Pony, including Zecora, had fear pasted to their faces.

"Y-you should get moving," sulked Aloe, shooing the rest of the team away.
"Without you? Not a chance," Applejack declared, shaking her head.
"I don't want to continue... I don't want to move... I just want to stay here with my sister."
After wiping the tears off her face, Fluttershy said, "But we need you, Aloe. You're," sniff, "You're a part of our team."

A second bellow belonging to the Flood thundered all around and filled the Mares' ears.
Twilight strained, "We should probably get moving. Aloe; on your hooves."
"No."
"So what? Yer just gonna sit here n' let the Flood gechya?" grated Applejack. "Is that really what yer sister would want? Come on, Aloe."
Aloe didn't answer - just sat there with her ears drooped.

At the back of the group, Colgate raised, "Er, guys? Have any of you noticed that Roseluck isn't here?"
... Well, that made everypony go quiet.

Zecora reloaded her shotgun and returned to the armoury where Roseluck was last seen heading.
"Roseluck?" she called, searching the bare armoury and its supply of dead Flood.
She looked down to notice a large puddle of fresh red blood that wasn't there before, and hoof prints leading away into a broken air vent. A lot of stomach-churning gurgling came seeping out of that vent, and the metal panelling vibrated as something clawed about inside. There was a splutter, and a mixture of red and green blood sprinkled the metal.

"We really need to move," Zecora started, backing out of the armoury, keeping her eyes locked on the clanging air vent. "I fear Roseluck is in the wrong groove."
A wet gargle echoed out of the air vent, along with loud banging.

"Ok, Zecora's right, we gotta continue," Twilight spoke rapidly. "Aloe, get up. The Flood are coming."
Aloe remained seated on the floor, eyes closed. "I don't care."
Twilight groaned, loosing her patience. "Ugh! Applejack, just grab her!"
Wordlessly, AJ nodded and snatched Aloe's blue tail up in her teeth, pulling hard and making for the next branch corridor.

Flailing dramatically, Aloe sobbed, "Hey! Let me go-aho-aho-ahooh! Didn't you hear me?! I want to be alooone!"
"Sorry, Aloe," Colgate mentioned as she slotted in behind, using her head to help push her along.
Zecora took rear and sealed the door shut, and Aloe squealed all the way down the branch corridor.

"Noo-ho-ho-hoo! Let me gooo!"
"Um, Aloe, could you, erm, please keep it down?" whispered Fluttershy politely as she limped along. "We wouldn't want the Flood to find us, would we."
It was no use; the Earth Pony just wouldn't quit her babbling.

Exiting the branch corridor and entering a main corridor, the Ponies came under attack by a scattering of Flood infection forms, and they came under attack from a flock of Sentinels.

Trying to keep a hold of a wailing, flailing Pony whilst fending off baddies was certainly a challenge for Applejack and Colgate, so Fluttershy tried helping them as best she could. She made herself the easiest target, knowing her shields could take some damage, and used Rarity's magnum to lay waste to both the parasites and the flying droids.

Zecora had just sealed the door behind them and locked it with her Lieutenant Commander privileges, allowing AJ and Colgate to release the crazed Mare.

Aloe bolted for the door, slamming into it, beating at the controls, desperate to run back to where her sister laid. It was no use however; she just couldn't get through the door, so instead, she dove behind a fallen console and continued to sob helplessly as the others fought the Flood and Sentinels.

It was a long range battle; terrible for shotguns, hence why Fluttershy was using the diamond encrusted magnum. It did a decent job on the Sentinels, but an even better job on the parasites.

Applejack also had a pistol as her sidearm, and Zecora had an assault rifle. Colgate had a plasma rifle, and instead of using her soldier saddle, she operated it with her Unicorn magic, keeping a shotgun ready for any unexpected encounters.

Not long later, the floor was carpeted with green blood, severed tentacles and scrap metal. Another Flood on Sentinel battle could be picked up not too far from their location, and a whole swarm of plague carriers generated an increasing hubbub from back the way they came.

"Chop chop!" Twilight pushed, too hectic to praise. "No dilly-dallying. I've calculated a shortcut to the engine room, through cryo two."
"Cryo two?" Fluttershy repeated.

Cryo two was the cryo bay where she had slept when the Autumn made the jump from Reach to Halo. It was where she'd woken up. Where her nightmare began.

However, Aloe was living her own separate nightmare. "I don't wanna continue! I don't wanna go!"
"Aloe, settle down already, would ya?" snapped Applejack, looming over the twitchy Mare. "We're all very sorry for what happened to Lotus, but ya gotta move on! We all gotta if we're gonna have a shot at savin' the rest o' life from Halo - the Flood!"
Not responding, Aloe just curled up in a ball and shuddered. She reminded Fluttershy of Lyra.
"Good gravy, girl! Pull yerself together!"

Breathing heavily, Aloe attempted to get the better of her impulse. She licked her parched lips, wanting water, equipped with water, not wanting to waste time drinking when the Flood could be heard nearby. Fluttershy felt the same way.

Since she wasn't wasting time anymore, she rose shakily to her hooves, sniffed and muttered, "... Ok."
"Alright," AJ grinned, but it soon faded as a horrendous shriek entered their hearing, making some of them flinch. "Come on!"

Considerately, Fluttershy hobbled up beside the woeful Mare, keeping her foreleg off the ground, wincing with every step.

Two by two, the soldiers ducked under a half closed hatch and into the branch corridor beyond.