Chapter 23: Well Enough Alone
343 Guilty Spark.
Once reuniting with the assault force, and leaving Twilight behind in Halo's control centre, Fluttershy informed everypony of the situation as best she could. Everypony would stay and guard the control room while Fluttershy went in search for the Captain and Applejack.
Well, not everypony. Pinkie had been most insistent to tag along, and she brought her Banshee to a rather undignified landing to join Fluttershy on her little search and rescue op. And she wasn't the only one.
Contact had been re-established with Rainbow Dash by the time Fluttershy exited the control centre, and the Pegasus in the Pelican came swooping in to pick her and Pinkie Pie up from the summit of the Forerunner pyramid.
Leaving Twilight and the rest of the troops behind, the three Mares bid farewell and took off out of the winter wonderland.
Twilight had mentioned that Applejack and Rarity were walking right into a trap, and Fluttershy's stomach sank despairingly. Part of her knew it would be too late, but a bigger part of her hoped to reunite with her friends.
During the flight to wherever Applejack and Rarity's last known location was, Fluttershy strapped herself in in the Pelican's troop bay, laid on her belly, and fell asleep.
She would've kept herself awake with worry, but thanks to her Spartan training, she often fell asleep as quick as a whip, even in dire times like these.
Another side effect of Spartan training was nightmares, and after the events of the Truth, the cartographer and the control room, and her imagination running wild over AJ and Rarity, she was in for a doozy of a semi-conscious trail.
*****
So the dream started off alright. She was prancing merrily through a meadow full of pretty flowers, and there was laughter all around. All her friends were there; Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and even Twilight's little dragon assistant, Spike.
Since Spike the dragon wasn't equine, and since he was too young, he wasn't allowed to join the UPSC, and Fluttershy was glad about that. Better keep him safe on Equestria with the real Princess Twilight and the other three rulers. She really missed them though.
So as she and her friends danced around in the flowery field, having a ball, a distant voice echoed something. Dreamy, Fluttershy couldn't make out what the voice said, but whatever it said, it was unthreatening.
She turned to face the source of the voice, and she saw the great and powerful Trixie standing alone on an engraved metal platform, just beyond the flowers. While the weather in the meadow was bright and sunny, grey clouds provided Trixie with a murky ceiling, and snow blew around the sole Mare in a blizzard.
Trixie was donning her cheerful purple hat, along with a cape of the same star strewn design. The whacky clothes blew in the wind. She smiled sheepishly and lifted a hoof, wanting to play.
Pleasantly, Fluttershy nodded her head, and Trixie beamed with delight as she came bounding over, out of the darkness and into the light. With her, she brought a new laugh to the circle.
Trixie had a weird laugh, like she was practicing laughing, like she was new to it. Sweet.
Full of glee, Fluttershy, Trixie and her friends frolicked in the flowers.
... It was then when things went dark...
Blackness surrounded Fluttershy, and she looked around for her friends, but they had faded away. Everywhere she looked, it was just black, black, black... until she came face to face with Rarity, and found herself never wanting to see that face again.
Like it was being pushed against cling film, Rarity's fear stricken face was moulded to a wall of vile, green flesh. Fluttershy screamed at the sight, but couldn't turn away, couldn't close her eyes, was forced to watch as Rarity's face crumbled like old cheese, and a gaping hole was born in the Unicorn's head, revealing a half dissolved brain.
*****
As Fluttershy whimpered away in her sleep, Rainbow Dash nudged her and tried to wake her up. "Pssst! Fluttershy... Fluttershy, wake up!"
Once awoken, Fluttershy wailed and kicked her front hooves out, shooing her visions away. "Aah. Aaaahh!"
"Sshh!" Rainbow shushed her. "Be quiet."
Groggily, Fluttershy rose up and rubbed her sweating head. "Huh? Whu... where are we?" Noting Rainbow standing right in front of her, her eyes popped and she grated, "Who's flying?!"
Rainbow shushed her again. "Sshh! No pony's flying. We've landed."
"Oh."
Whispering agitatedly, the rainbow haired Pegasus interrogated, "Hey, do you have any idea what happened to Pinkie Pie?"
"Pinkie Pie?" Fluttershy puzzled.
She scanned around the whole troop bay, and there was no sign of the fluffy pink Pony.
Growing concerned, she asked, "Where is she?"
"That's what I'm asking. She just disappeared."
Fluttershy called out for her missing friend. "Pinkie?"
No answer.
"Pinkie?!"
"Sshh!" Rainbow pushed a hoof against the yellow Mare's lips.
Fluttershy shoved the hoof away. "Why do you keep shushing me?" she demanded.
Glancing around nervously, Rainbow reasoned, "Because I really don't like where we've landed."
Over the sound of their conversation, there was a constant pitter patter of rain coming down on the roof of the Pelican.
"Where have we landed?" Fluttershy pondered, curious.
"Applejack and Rarity's last known location."
There was a pause as Fluttershy thought for a moment.
"Listen, Fluttershy, I was flying us over here, and Pinkie was just rambling on to herself about something," Rainbow began, the sadness clear in her bright cerise eyes. "I wasn't paying much attention, so I don't know what she was on about. And then, all of a sudden, this bright gold light shone in the troop bay."
Listening carefully, Fluttershy widened her eyes in fascination.
"When it disappeared, so did Pinkie. I have no idea what happened. I've got a real bad feeling about this."
"She just vanished?" inquired Fluttershy, both eyebrows raised.
Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. I've searched everywhere in the Pelican for her, but I can't find her anywhere. She isn't picking up on the radio or anything."
Fluttershy's concern escalated into fear, and she stammered, "Wh... what do you think happened?"
Still whispering, Rainbow grabbed Fluttershy's shoulders and said, "Dude, I have no idea. Don't suppose you know anything?"
"N-no. I... I've just been sleeping. This is news to me," Fluttershy responded broodingly. "Oh, I hope she's ok."
Letting go of Fluttershy, Rainbow breathed, "Me too."
"We shouldn't be too worried," Fluttershy preached hypocritically, briefly placing her own hoof on Rainbow's chest in a meaningful manner. "She's Pinkie Pie. She disappears all the time, and she's always turned up fine in the end."
"I know," Rainbow sighed. "But when she's not here, I just get worried."
Fluttershy could relate to that all too well.
"What if she isn't fine?" questioned Rainbow, full of doubt. "What if Applejack and Rarity aren't fine either?" The worry in Rainbow's voice began to increase. "What if..." She stopped herself and let out a long breath to calm herself down. To herself, she talked, "Get a grip, Rainbow. I'm sure they're all ok."
Noticing the door to the cockpit shut, Fluttershy wondered, "Why have you sealed up the cockpit?"
"Because of the outside, man," came Rainbow's shaky answer. Zipping over to the cockpit and opening the door, she added, "Take a look for yourself."
Intrigued, Fluttershy crept into the Pelican's cockpit with Rainbow and gawped out of the window.
The drop ship was surrounded by mist, and the rain was bucketing down rapidly, making visibility very poor. Fluttershy could still make out the shapes of nature though. Looming trees standing off the ground on spider-like roots and huge leaves hanging out over the swamp. The leaves twitched as the rain pelted down on them. Luminescent insects scribbled their way through the fog with no sense of direction.
Looking down, Fluttershy saw that Rainbow had landed the Pelican in some murky, shallow water full of lily pads and vegetation. The water rippled like mad with every drop of rain that shot down through its surface.
Getting a gander up, Fluttershy noticed banners of sweeping green vines hanging between the spooky trees, and patches of cloudy night sky just visible through the jungle canopy.
"Oh... oh my," Fluttershy began, intimidated by the eldritch wilderness. "This is Applejack's and Rarity's last location?"
"Yeah," replied Rainbow, her eyes glued to the view. "It's creeping me out. Just looking at it makes me itch."
Fluttershy caught herself scratching her mane as she said that.
Absent minded, Rainbow muttered, "... Someone was watching me... I know it."
Turning to stare at her pilot friend, Fluttershy saw that Rainbow was in some sort of trance.
"I couldn't take it anymore, so I locked myself in the troop bay with you and... With you."
A moment passed as the two Pegasi goggled out at the swamp.
"Sure gives the Everfree forest a run for its money, huh? Hehe." Rainbow's laugh was nervous and broken.
Suddenly, Rainbow pointed at an arrangement of boulders and urged, "Oh and look. Look, look, look, look. Right there. Do you see it?"
"I... I'm not sure," replied Fluttershy, squinting her eyes at the boulders. "What am I looking at?"
"That, is Rarity's crashed Pelican."
Looking closer at the boulders, Fluttershy saw that they weren't boulders at all. They were in fact a downed Pelican. The aircraft had come to a hard landing at the side of a mossy hill with its nose flexing a glum looking tree.
Fluttershy widened her eyes at the crash site, her heart thumping with bother. What if Applejack and Rarity hadn't survived the crash, and their bodies were waiting for her inside?
She couldn't bring herself to speak, just stood there gazing far out into the mist, covering her quivering mouth with a hoof.
"There's a crashed Spirit near by too," commented Rainbow. "This place is like a drop ship grave yard." She took a beat in contemplation and then came out with, "What if I'm next?"
Fluttershy looked over at Rainbow. "Oh Rainbow, I'm sure you won't be next," she comforted unsurely. "You're the best pilot in the UPSC, remember?"
"... You're right," Rainbow remembered. "I am the best. I got this... I got this."
Out of nowhere, Rainbow pulled Fluttershy in close and aimed a hoof out at something in the fog.
"What's that?!" she cried, forgetting her own rule of whispering. "Did you see that?"
"Um... no," Fluttershy responded honestly, her eyes scanning the view.
"What was it?" Rainbow was spooked, and she held onto Fluttershy like a precious teddy.
"I didn't see it," reminded the shy, still searching.
There was a long, awkward pause as Rainbow continued to hug Fluttershy, her whole body shaking and her eyes darting around.
"I really don't like this place."
Wow, since when did Rainbow get so scared. Being scared was Fluttershy's job.
The yellow Mare was still just as frightened as Rainbow, despite not seeing whatever she'd seen, and she faced the pilot.
"Lucky for you; you don't have to go out there." Looking back out the window at the wet, rainy swamp, she gulped and trembled, "I do."
Without Pinkie, Fluttershy was going alone. Rainbow was desperate to join her, but there were rules and reasons that forbid it.
"Oh, Fluttershy, I'd really love to help you. You know I would. I really want to, but I can't just leave our Pelican unattended."
Fluttershy understood, and to be honest, having a choice between a helper and a guaranteed evac, Fluttershy would choose the evac. Without evac, she'd be stranded, just like Applejack and Rarity.
Rotating, the two Ponies receded into the Pelican's troop bay, and Rainbow made sure to slide the door shut after them.
"If only Pinkie were still here. She'd brighten the mood."
"You really have no idea where she went?"
Back to whispering, Rainbow repeated, "No. Like I told you, she just vanished in a flash of light."
A low rumble sounded throughout the troop bay and startled Rainbow. "Waa!"
The rumble sounded again, and Fluttershy peered down at her tummy as it growled in hunger.
Rainbow raised an eyebrow at the embarrassed Pegasus and let out a sigh of relief. "Hehe. You should probably get some food in you," she suggested, turning to an on board storage unit. "There's some sandwiches in here."
Having retrieved a couple of fresh salad sandwiches, Rainbow and Fluttershy shared a quiet little picnic on the Pelican floor, listening to the continuous tapping of the rain outside.
After swallowing a mouthful of bread, butter and greens, Rainbow spoke, "Listen, Fluttershy, the best way I can help you is if I circle the area in my Pelican. This thing's got great tracking gear. I can guide you, and give you a heads up whenever danger approaches."
Fluttershy took a bite out of her sandwich and chewed contritely as Rainbow talked on.
"I know it's not much, and I really wanna be on the ground with you, but-"
"-It's ok, Rainbow," interrupted the shy, gulping down the nutritious food. "That's a good idea, and I'm grateful for your help."
"Right. Ok. I just wish there was more I could do." Sulkily, the rainbow maned Mare took another bite from her sandwich.
"Your guidance will be enough."
"Are you sure?"
Not at all sure, Fluttershy took a suggestive pause before answering, "... Sure."
Once the food break was over, Fluttershy gathered up her gear.
"Ok, you ready to go?" checked Rainbow.
"Just a minute," responded Fluttershy as she placed her canteen in her saddle bag.
She noticed Trixie's hat crammed in there with it's heart warming design, taking up quite a bit of room. The sensible thing to do would be to leave it behind, but she decided to keep it for now.
After looking at it for quite a while, Rainbow put a hoof on her shoulder and said, "Sorry, Fluttershy."
Hastily, Fluttershy stuffed her canteen in her bag and zipped it closed, sniffling.
It would've been terrific to have Trixie join her on this mission. The experience would've certainly helped their friendship strengthen, and her great power was rallying.
Rainbow went through the checklist. "You got water?"
"Yes."
"Ammo?"
"Yes."
"Grenades?"
"Yes."
Having ticked everything, Rainbow articulated, "Well, I guess this is it." Affectionately, she wrapped her hooves around the shy Mare in a hug and wished, "Good luck... Watch yourself out there."
Hugging back, Fluttershy returned, "You be careful too now."
The two friends withdrew and shared a glance before turning their backs to each other; Rainbow entering the cockpit to lower the gangplank, and Fluttershy facing that gangplank, ready to embark on her journey through the spooky swamp.
Once the ramp came down with a splash, putrid, moist air came billowing into the Pelican's troop bay. Fluttershy wrinkled her muzzle with the nauseating stench and marched forwards, out into the pouring rain.
Stepping off the metal ramp, the muddy swamp water sploshed up her armoured legs. It was strangely warm, like she was paddling in fresh blood.
She couldn't begin to imagine how Rarity must have reacted. The muck, the water, the gasses; these were all things the purple maned Unicorn detested.
A tremendous roar spread around the swamp, jumping Fluttershy's heart. Rainbow brought the Pelican's noisy thrusters to life and sent the VTOL into a climb. The water was pressed flat under the drop ship's belly and the liquid wisped under the pressure of the powerful jets.
Over the radio, Rainbow said, "I'll guide you as best I can, but it's really hard to see in all this fog."
Fluttershy watched as the Pelican's altitude increased and the whole craft wobbled in the extreme weather, pushing its way up through the moist foliage.
"I'm relying mostly on radar."
Facing the other Pelican that had crashed, Fluttershy waded her way through the water. She coughed feebly with the thick, humid air that intruded her petite snout.
"Fluttershy, you still there?" pondered Rainbow having not received an answer.
Acknowledging, Fluttershy responded, "I'm still here. Aha-aha! Arg!" She began hacking in the swampy odour.
"Ok good," Rainbow sighed with relief. "I'm picking up Covenant, but they're quite a ways off. I'll let you know if it gets serious," informed the pilot, eyeing the red dots on her radar. She then proposed, "You should search the crash site. See if there's any clues."
Fluttershy flinched at the sound of a twig snapping.
She froze for a good few seconds before replying, "... Um, yes, Rainbow. I'll do that now."
Squelching her way out of the water, Fluttershy came up on a springy bank and brushed the leaves and lilies off her legs.
The crashed Pelican was a lot more identifiable now, and as Fluttershy drew closer to it, her ears pricked up at the sound of hurried footsteps running by. Petrified, she stood stiff and darted her head this way and that, focusing on the surrounding trees. She knew where Rainbow was coming from when she said she was being watched.
Tremulously, the jittery Mare spoke through her collar mic, "Um, Rainbow? A-are you sure the Covenant are a ways off?"
"Positive," she affirmed. "Why?"
After four seconds of nothing but the pattering of the rain, Fluttershy squeaked, "No reason."
Unsettled, Fluttershy hurried under the shelter of the crashed Pelican's tail, where she found a scattering of crates. One of the crates had been cracked open, and had spewed its contents out onto the moist earth: An M90 shotgun, identical to the one Applejack used, and a few cases of eight gauge shells.
"Ya see anything, Fluttershy?" Rainbow's voice fizzed over the radio.
The Pony on the ground reported, "Well, there's a shotgun, and some shells, but-" She pivoted, and came up close and personal with the bloodied corpse of a Pegasus Stallion. "Gah!"
"What is it?!" implored Rainbow urgently.
The slaughtered Stallion was slumped on top of a moss covered rock. Burgundy blood stains crept over him and snaked down the rock like roots, forming a red mote on the floor. There were no visible plasma burns, stab wounds or blast scars on his pale blue body. It was likely he died in the crash.
Horrified, Fluttershy's eyes were bolted to the body, and she panted in anxiety.
"Talk to me, Fluttershy!" Rainbow pleaded from the circling Pelican.
Fluttershy began to weep a little. "Oh, oh Rainbow Dash! There... there's a dead body right here!"
"Oh no! It's not Rarity or Applejack is it?!"
Sniffling, Fluttershy swallowed and answered, "N-no."
To herself, Rainbow whispered, "Oh, phew," and then droned, "Still bad news, but at least it's not them. Just gather up that shotgun and its ammo, ok. I've used a shotgun before. Trust me; they're very effective."
Trying to keep the unfortunate Stallion out of her vision, Fluttershy quivered, "Ok," and got to work salvaging the crash site.
Giving up some of her MA5B ammo, Fluttershy filled her saddle bag with a decent amount of eight gauge shells. With the assault rifle attached to her mechanical arm, she slung the shotgun between her saddle bag and herself and entered the crashed Pelican's troop bay.
"Keep searching the wreckage," instructed Rainbow. "And don't worry about the Covenant; they're all busy doing something."
What could the Covenant be busy doing here? the shy wondered.
If Rainbow didn't receive an answer, she would grow restless, Fluttershy noticed. Keeping this in mind, she spoke softly, "Ok, I'll see what I can find."
The metal deck of the Pelican's troop bay was cracked and dented, and the door to the cockpit was jammed half open. With a little help from her state of the art armour, Fluttershy was able to push the door aside and squeeze her way into the pilot's quarters.
Inside the cockpit, the rain filtered in via the smashed windscreen, dampening the two seats and ruining the controls. The nose of the aircraft had come up against a tree, and a leafy branch invaded the vehicle.
Conducting a thorough investigation, the blue eyed Mare discovered a small, portable coms system tucked away under the dashboard, safe from the weather.
"There's a radio here," Fluttershy informed Rainbow, sounding unintentionally vacant. "I think it still works."
"Alright," Rainbow pronounced back. "There any messages?"
Fluttershy got up on hind legs to pick up the clunky metal box. She ogled the various different buttons on the face of the radio, no idea what to do. She knew the triangular button meant "play," so she pushed it with her nose and was startled by a loud crack of static from its single, square speaker.
"Ah!" she yelped, holding the device out in front of her, mindful to keep it out of the rain.
"What is it?" Rainbow asked curiously over the buzzing static. "Is there a message?"
There was a message, and it began to play the moment Rainbow stopped talking.
"Howdy. This is Staff Sergeant Applejack o' the UPSC. We came in search of... ugh... treasure... but our Pelican crashed on account o' something jamming the thrusters."
Applejack! The last time they'd heard Applejack's voice was back when they were on the Truth and Reconciliation, but it felt like forever.
A new voice entered the broadcast, and Fluttershy had difficulty deciphering it.
"Applejack! Come on! We need to move!"
"I'll be with ya in a sec, y'all!"
Since it was an audio message, there was no way to see who else was with Applejack when she'd recorded it. There was also no facial expressions or body language to read, so Fluttershy let her imagination come up with all that.
"Applejack, what are you doing?"
Rarity! Rarity had been standing right here with Applejack! It felt so good to hear their voices, but then Fluttershy remembered it was a message that had been recorded some time ago. Things could have gone majorly down hill from then.
Answering Rarity, Applejack said, "I'm leavin' a message so that if anypony comes to look for us, they'll be left in no doubt."
"I doubt I'll last another second in this icky swamp. Urg! There's mud everywhere!"
Ah Rarity. Always fussing about mud. Fluttershy grinned for a fraction of a second.
The audio continued.
"Well ya should o' thought about that before you decided to come down here."
"I knew what I was getting myself into, Applejack. And I also knew that it would so be worth it."
"How can ya' be so sure? None of us have even seen this treasure yet. What if there is no treasure?"
"Babs said there would be treasure, and thus, we shall claim it!"
"Babs? Y'mean that little Grunt feller? He's a Covenant, Rarity! How can ya believe him so easily?"
"Applejack, I am fully aware of the possibility that this is a trick, but if there's a chance to obtain some priceless alien artefacts, you bet I'm going to take it!"
"... Ok Rarity. Yer the Captain... Lyra, what are you doin'?"
"This is Applejack... And this is Rarity. She's a Captain."
"... Ok, I gotta wrap this up. If anypony's listening, there's a structure a few hundred metres from this here wreckage. That's where we're headin'."
"Oh my gosh! What happened to So-"
And that's when the transmission, rather abruptly, ended.
Uncertainty washed over Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash.
"A structure?" the blue Pegasus wondered aloud.
"Can you see a structure?"
"Not from this position; too much fog," Rainbow explained. "It might be where all the Covenant are hanging out at though."
Tucking the coms system back under the Pelican's dashboard, Fluttershy noticed a readout on a tiny screen. It said; "message recorded 12 hours ago."
Twelve hours! She was flabbergasted.
A lot could happen in twelve hours.
She grew doubtful. If there had been no word from AJ and Rarity in over twelve hours, what did that mean?
Getting down to business, Rainbow drawled, "Well, we got somewhere to go."
Fluttershy frowned at the coms system, the rain pelting her head and wetting her mane.
"You ready to move?"
Turning her back on the device and exiting the cockpit, Fluttershy affirmed, "Uh-huh."
Back outside, Fluttershy trudged through the sloppy mud, giving the dead Pony a wide berth. She slogged insecurely along through the torrential rain and eerie mist, listening to the sound of water hitting plants and buzzing insects whizzing aimlessly through the humid air.
The fog, combined with the rain, created a curtain of obscurity. Something, anything, whether it be a Covie or a Pony, could be standing right in front of her, and she wouldn't see them until she was a mere few feet away.
One thing she definitely didn't count on seeing, fading into view as she drew closer, was a downed Covenant drop ship. The massive purple Spirit leaned upside-down on the side of a steep hill, engulfed with brambles. Its two hulls had straddled a thick trunked tree, bending and splintering the wood.
Like the UPSC Pelican, the Covenant Spirit had spilt its cargo, and a number of dead Covies laid around the crash site in all manner of disturbing positions.
Fluttershy delineated the incident to her eye in the sky. "Um, Rainbow? There's a Covenant drop ship here."
"I know," came the return. "I told you about it."
"You did?"
"Yeah, I did," Rainbow repeated bluntly.
The forgetful Mare scratched her wet pink mane. "Oh, sorry. My memory isn't quite what it used to be."
"No need to be sorry, yo."
The rainbow maned Pony then stated, "Just so you know, we're coming up on the Covenant now."
Reminiscing about Twilight and how she'd walk her through the craziest of situations, Fluttershy trembled, "Oh, ok. Please walk me through this!"
"I will, I will," came Rainbow's reassurance.
Pressing onwards, Fluttershy rounded the massive Spirit, blue eyes gazing up at the thing in wonderment.
How did this happen?
She faced ahead and saw a huge, fallen tree. A large branch extended up from the sideways trunk and split up into two smaller branches. Leafy vines hung decoratively from the branches, and the silhouette of an Elite stood idle between them, holding what looked like a couple of wires.
"Aah!" Fluttershy yelped, bringing her MA5B to bare, when the shadowy figure vanished in the blink of an eye.
"What's up?" wondered the air support.
Fluttershy just stood shakily in the ferocious rain, doubting herself. Had she seen an Elite, or was her imagination getting the better of her? Right now, she didn't know which option she preferred.
Urgently, Rainbow checked, "Fluttershy, are you still there?"
"... I'm here, Rainbow," the yellow Mare eventually responded. She continued walking towards the fallen tree, her long tail dragging across the floor and gathering dirt. "I just thought I saw something, but I didn't, so it's fine."
"You sure you didn't see anything? Cos you're getting awfully close to the Covenant. They're in a pit on the other side of that gap."
What gap?
Fluttershy clambered up onto the trunk of the fallen tree and saw that it bridged a wide body of murky, rippling water.
Oh, that gap.
Steadily, she crossed the tree, fearful of the drink below. The tree's bark was slippery and covered in moss, and Fluttershy lost her hoofing. She ended up on her belly with her four legs wrapped tightly around the tree, and as she looked up, she saw two shaded figures in the rain filled mist.
She recognised them both as a Shade turret and an Elite. Just like before, the Elite appeared to be carrying wires in his left claw.
The Pegasus froze, praying that the Covies hadn't detected her, and snuggled up to the tree like the prettiest little urchin.
Shivering, she peeped up at the Covies, and witnessed the Elite shamble away, out of sight. She also realised that the Shade turret was unmanned.
With all threats no longer visible, Fluttershy resumed her undignified way forward, shuffling herself along the soggy tree trunk.
She knew she'd seen an Elite, but what was he doing carrying wire around with him? They were wires, right? It was hard to see in all the mist. Maybe it was rope to tie things down, like supplies... or hostages...
Spurred on by the idea, Fluttershy made it to the other side of the lagoon, her armour smeared in filth. The hairs of her tail were clogged with mud, and there were also a few splats of the stuff in her mane and under her chin.
"Great, you're on the other side now," announced Rainbow as she circled over in the Pelican.
What's so great about that?
"I see the entrance to a building too. It must be the structure Applejack was talking about."
Fluttershy looked up at the vacant Shade turret, inspecting it.
"The Covenant are defending it - no, wait," Rainbow interrupted herself. "... They're not defending it."
"Then what are they doing?" Fluttershy was confused. "Why else would they-"
"-They're aiming inside the building. Looks like they don't want someone to leave."
Remembering what Twilight had said about AJ and Rarity walking into a trap, Fluttershy swallowed the lump in her throat. Uh oh. They must be trapped inside.
Plainly, Fluttershy informed, "There's an empty Shade turret right here," wiping her hoof across its smooth, purple surface.
"Is there?" checked the pilot. "Cool. Er... yeah, use it... if you like."
If I like?
When working with Twilight, there was very rarely an "if you like." Twilight posted Ponies wherever she felt they would be most useful, regardless of how they felt.
And now here she was, being directed by the sentient Rainbow Dash, and she was been given choices. Fluttershy didn't know what to choose. Rain down hell in the Shade? Sneak past the Covies without fighting them? Test out her new shotgun? What was she to do?
Favouring stealth over violence, Fluttershy put away her rifle and whipped out the shotgun, just in case, and whispered over the radio, "I'm going to try and sneak past them," not sure if Twilight would approve.
"Thought you'd do that," Rainbow responded humorously. "I'll give you a heads up if any Covies get too close."
Hauling herself up to the top of a slope, Fluttershy had about as good a view as anypony could get in this weather. In the pit below, trees, bushes and various other plants sprouted out of the mushy ground, creating a creepy arena of nature.
Grunts of red and orange hid amongst the foliage, plasma pistols and needlers at the ready. A number of Jackals possessing blue and orange shields were mixed in with the diminutive methane breathers.
To the right of the pit, Fluttershy spied the gaping entrance to an underground Forerunner facility, blue lights situated above, illuminating the area in front. Before the entrance, a twitchy Grunt sat on a Shade turret, facing inside the building.
Just as Fluttershy began her slippery way down the soaking embankment, gunfire came thundering out of the building and muzzle flashes dazzled her eyes.
"Woah! What's going on?!" Rainbow demanded. "Is that them?!"
Unable to think of who else could be firing UPSC ordinance at the Covenant, Fluttershy gasped, "I think so!"
In an attempt to hail the unseen Ponies, Rainbow hollered, "Rarity! Applejack! Come in!"
"I'll lend them a hoof," Fluttershy announced and made her uneasy way down the decline.
Grasping vines and plants in her teeth, Fluttershy lowered herself about half way down the slope, when the stalk in her mouth snapped and she slid down the mud, into the pit.
Coming to a jarring stop in a thorny bush, Fluttershy yelped with the sting, and poked her head out to witness a frag grenade detonate, blowing the active Shade and its operator to smithereens. The explosion shook leaves from the trees and sent soggy debris flying up into the air to fall down with the rest of the rain.
In the thorny shrubbery, Fluttershy's armour offered her body protection from the nasty little spikes. However, she had no helmet, and her face was scratched raw as she poked cautiously out of the brambles and surveyed the swamp around her.
A panicking Grunt came running her way, squealing and flailing his arms in the air. With the brambles tugging at the barrel of the shotgun, Fluttershy pulled the trigger, and was subsequently deafened by the savage buckshot.
As for the Grunt, a portion of his body was converted into gloopy blue wallpaper paste, and what was left of him fell to the mud with a splosh. Repulsion and guilt washed over the young Mare.
"Run away!" cried another Grunt, fleeing through the trees with the rest of the aliens and retreating up a steep slope.
Fluttershy observed as all the Grunts and Jackals charged straight up the hill and disappeared over its apex.
Well this was certainly strange. The Covenant had just run away! It wasn't like them. Grunts were scared easily, and could be intimidated into fleeing, but when they were in a sizable pack, and with Jackals at the aid, they would stand and fight. So what had them so spooked?
To find out, Fluttershy dragged herself out of the thorns, came up short as her hind leg was entangled in the brambles, yanked it free, and paced up to the entrance of the Forerunner facility.
"Hahaha! Check it out!" Rainbow laughed. "The Covenant are retreating!"
Fluttershy stood before the facility. Her face was scratched and sore, and her mane and tail were covered in mud.
The building's entrance looked like a gaping mouth, ready to swallow anyone who got close. The two lights above it were piercing blue eyes, watching over the swamp and judging all who stood before them.
The chattering gunfire had stopped completely, allowing the sound of the rain to fill Fluttershy's ears.
Also entering Fluttershy's ears was Rainbow's voice. "Uh, Fluttershy? I saw the muzzle flashes, and I saw the Covenant get owned by them, but..." the pilot paused to scratch her mane and adjust her headset. "... I never picked up any friendly contacts on my radar."
"No friendlies?" Fluttershy puzzled. "But then who scared the Covenant away?"
"Do you see anypony in there?"
Focusing her eyes inside the structure, Fluttershy couldn't see anypony at all.
Steadily, she set off walking into the yawning mouth of Forerunner metal. "I'll have a look."
Out of the harsh rain and toxic air, Fluttershy announced her presence inside the building. "Hello?"
... There was no answer.
She examined the interior of the facility. The metal floor declined shallowly and levelled out into a wide open room. A couple of support columns halved the ramp, and two more columns in the middle of the room stretched up to the ceiling, bracketing a long, octagonal hole that lead down into blackness.
Next to that hole, a Forerunner control panel shimmered away, indicating an elevator.
The Covenant had set up shop in this chamber, and their muddy boot prints lead the way to a cluster of purple crates.
Observing the mud, Fluttershy identified horseshoe prints, leading into the chamber and disappearing at the central hole. Following those horseshoe prints, was a long line of muck that trailed along like a snake... Like rope being carried by an Elite.
Fluttershy was getting incredibly freaked out. Why were there no Ponies here? What did the Elite have planned with his rope? Her imagination was running wild, and she had to switch herself off for a moment before she drove herself berserk.
"Hellooo?!" she called out a second time, praying for somepony to answer her.
... But there was nothing.
"Oh Rainbow, I can't find anypony," she whimpered over the coms, worried sick.
"There's no pony there? Then what happened?" puzzled Rainbow.
Fluttershy gazed up and around the spacious chamber, seeing if there were any clues on the ceiling. "I haven't a clue."
After a while, Rainbow stated, "We gotta keep searching. Can you get any deeper inside?"
Fluttershy shook herself like a dog, mud flying off her mane and tail and freckling the Forerunner metal.
Bringing a cloth up to the bleeding scratch marks on her face, she responded, "Well, I could, but - waa!"
The sudden sound of groaning metal came as a shock to the frightened Mare.
"Fluttershy, what is it?" Rainbow desperately inquired. "Fluttershy?!"
Before the yellow Mare, an elevator platform surfaced neatly in the shaft, and on it, there was... no one... No Ponies or Covies or anything.
"Oh. H-how strange," remarked the pink maned Pegasus, creeped out. "An elevator just surfaced right in front of me." Gulp. "With no one on it."
Thinking hard, Rainbow theorised, "Maybe somepony sent it up for you."
"Um, maybe, but..." Fluttershy didn't think that idea really fit.
Stepping up onto the platform and its glass floor, she declared, "Ok, I'm going to use this elevator."
"Alright," Rainbow nodded. "Just so you know, I can't see anything underground. I can pick out heat signatures with my radar, but that's about it."
Unnerved by the gloom under the platform's glass floor, Fluttershy optimised, "Oh, ok. That helps better than nothing at all, I guess."
Before touching the Forerunner control panel, Fluttershy stared out at the swamp she was leaving behind. The rain was really coming down hard, and the pattering noise it made had been providing an eerie ambience.
"Can you activate the elevator without Twilight?" pondered Rainbow.
Scanning the familiar light display, Fluttershy articulated, "I think so. I just have to remember..." Her voice difted as she searched her memory.
Feeling pretty sure of herself, she pressed a tiny white dot of light at the bottom of the display, and her stomach faltered as the whole platform rose out of its gravity locks and creaked down the shaft.
"Ah! I'm going down!" she exclaimed, staring up at the shrinking ceiling.
Rainbow's response was quite alarming. "Fluttershy, you're breaking up."
"Rainbow, can you hear me?!" she implored desperately, dreading the idea of being stuck in the Forerunner complex with no pony to talk to, to reassure her.
Static came oozing out of her speaker, and Rainbow's fragmented voice buzzed behind it, barely audible. "... -lutter... -I ca... -a... -hink that I..."
"Rainbow! Rainbow, please answer me!" the terrified Mare pleaded. "Please answer me, Rainbow!"
Rainbow didn't answer her. The signal had been lost.
"Rainbow! Nooo!" She curled up on the descending platform as the darkness consumed her.
Reduced to tears, she whimpered, "Rainbow, come in... Rainbow, come in!"
It was no use; she was gone.
"No-ho-ho-hoo! P-please don't leave me... Please answer me."
In the darkness, the elevator scraped to a halt, the lonely little Pony balled up on its centre.
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"'...sent if up for you.'" It should probably be sent it up for you. Other than that, great chapter. I remember picking up a shotgun on that mission before you encounter the flood, but I can't seem to find it again, unless it's on heroic/legendary. Also, way to keep the normal method of revealing the flood to Master Fluttershy (That's mah nickname for her now). Always far enough away so she can't see them clearly, but she can see the outline. Better watch out for those "wires" Fluttershy.
5303667 How'd I miss that? Thanks man - edited. I know the shotgun doesn't spawn at the Pelican crash in legendary. I think it does in normal n' easy tho. I've been calling her Flutter-chief lol.
So any predictions what happened to Pinkie?
5303918 Well, in the books when the Chief is taken by Guilty Spark, they eventually come a cross a staff sergeant who managed to almost get all the way to the index. Chief has a brief eulogy either in his head, or out loud, saying that the staff sergeant must have been a badass to get that far without MJOLNIR mk. 5 armor (or is it mk 3/4?). I think Pinkie will be like that, only not dead, since it's Pinkie. But, she might be dead. You already know, but we'll find out next time, on Halo Combat Evolved Z.
5303918 Something else I noticed: Only 9 other people have commented on this story, apart from you and me. I apparently seem to be the most invested in this (Apart from you, but thats cos your editing and writing the dang thing). Yay for having no life!
5304079 Marvin Mobuto, they call that sarge. Introducing the pink pony to the library would certainly make it more fun... or would it?
5304116 Thanks for sticking around mate. It's good to know someone enjoys this drivel
I know I'm proud of most of it 
Y'think you'll still be hear when I post "Warning: Hitch-hikers May be Escaping Convicts?" 
5304771 Probably, if I know myself. I can never stay away from a good story, and this is basically Halo Combat Evolved, but you took a few liberties with the story.
5305036 Nice
Question: You read the author's notes? If not, that's fine, just curious lol
5305070 I occasionally do, but I tend to skip over them, since they seem to be primarily you posing questions to us that we can't answer until the next chapter is uploaded, or just really normal statements with almost no impact on the story whatsoever, except for how you feel about the mission or writing for it.
5308818 Cool beans
Them questions are just teasers for the future really, n' I'm curios if people have any predictions or owt 
I only bring it up cos Berry Punch will make an epic return at some point as I keep teasing in the notes. Just making sure no one's forgotten her. Trust me; what I have planned for Berry - no one will see it coming 
5308899 She becomes the marine fighting the elite in the end after the credits in Halo CE's legendary ending?
5309105 Nope
Good guess tho.
5309215 Damn, she turns out to be on the Filly of Autumn (Or whatever you call it, I have and will always know it as the Pillar of Autumn) And she is the only one capable of flying the Longsword out of the hangar and away from Halo? Or is that still wrong?
5309290 Wronger than your first guess
But you've got the right idea with her being in The Maw.
5312002 Welp, that's better than nothing, I'l take it! Meh, one more guess. She is the one who ends up throwing the last of the grenades into the drive core of the Autumn, or she holds off the flood and covies long enough for Flutter and the remainder of her friends, if any do remain, to get to the longsword and get away. Honestly, that was my last attempt.
5312465 Lol you've got quite the imagination, but no. Good thing you aint guessed it tho; it'll be more of a surprise
5312532 Oh my god it's going to be something so painfully obvious that I'm going to- She's in the cafeteria of the Autumn drunk beyond all reasonable levels isn't she.
5312535 Lol that would be hilarious, and a good idea, but no, it's not obvious. Never in a million years will anyone guess it. If anyone does get it before she returns, they get a prize
5312826 Oh well, I tried. Now to sit around and do nothing while I wait for any story to update...
5312843 Play games or try drawing shit :)
5312918 I, unfortunately, cannot draw for shit. So I think I will waste time playing video games. Yaaaaaaay, time to play Halo CE:A
5313378 Ah, the perfect game
5313470 You're damn right it is! Unfortunately I don't have the master chief collection, so I can't play Halo 2 Remastered, but oh well.
5315007 Meh, one o' these days. The cutscenes in that game are glorious.
5315715 Oh well. Instead I have Shadow of Mordor. Good game, and I'm only 3 missions in.
5309215
Actually, their guess was REAL close. She, in a way, WAS that marine.
9339364
Lyra was the crazed marine if that's what you mean...