Chapter 5: So Many Wonders
Halo.
Fluttershy had set herself a goal; stop crying by the time they reached the ring world's surface. But every time her sobs started to fade, the memory of Pinkie Pie would come bouncing into her mind, setting her off again.
Twilight had cried too, something she never expected from an AI, but when that AI was based on the real life Twilight Sparkle, it all made sense. Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie; a circle of friends to the end, even if one was just a cloned mind and holographic representation. Too bad the real Princess Twilight couldn't be there with them, but hey, she's a Princess; she's got Princess stuff to do.
The mood in the lifeboat was awkward as Fluttershy whimpered away at the back end.
On their way down, the pink Earth Pony with the green mane had introduced herself, and tried to lift the spirits of the depressed Pegasus... It didn't work. The only thing that would cheer her up now would be if Pinkie was confirmed alive and well.
Staring vacantly out the back window, Fluttershy saw the blackness of space transform into cool blue sky with wisps of white clouds. Up ahead, the window was blocked by the lifeboat's pilot; a pink Pegasus Mare with a blonde mane.
The lifeboat jostled as the pilot deployed the air brakes and activated the resistance jets. Lifeboats weren't designed for extended atmospheric use, hence the lack of wings. They didn't come with landing gear either. They were really just pony-made asteroids, with Ponies inside. This meant landing was very dangerous, since every landing would inevitably be a crash. Luckily, they had been designed to withstand the impact, depending on what they impacted, of course.
Fluttershy never liked flying. Not even when she used her own two wings. She preferred to keep her hooves on the ground. The whistling sound of turbulence and screaming jet brakes, along with the sight of the air brakes detaching and the snowy peeks of mountains ascending into view, Fluttershy felt incredibly uncomfortable.
She had to tell herself; It's ok, Fluttershy. It's ok. These are all routine things. Get a hold of yourself.
The lifeboat didn't appear to be slowing. In fact, it actually seemed to be getting faster.
Over the lifeboat's speakers, the pilot announced in a frightened tone, "Ah! W... we're picking up speed! Th-the chutes deployed too early!"
There was a panicked "Waa!" from the rest of the Ponies as the craft hurtled across the sky and descended amongst the mountains.
"I'm loosing her!"
Lungs heaving in and out and heart beating like a possessed hammer, Fluttershy covered her eyes and bleated consistently, "Oh my goodness - oh my goodness - oh my goodness - oh my goodness!"
"Brace for impact!"
Everypony in the lifeboat screamed, the ground racing up to meet them.
First came the impact. Whatever happened next; Fluttershy never witnessed as her vision snapped to black...
"... -luttershy! ... -luttershy, can you h - m..." Twilight's voice faded.
Fluttershy's hearing gradually returned, as well as her vision which blacked out and blurred back in.
"Hnnng," she groaned with the throbbing pain in her head.
"Oh, at last. I didn't think you were ever gonna wake up!"
Fluttershy didn't answer, just groaned again.
"Boy, am I glad you're ok."
Fluttershy rubbed her head with a hoof. "Uuhh, my head." The hoof came away with blood.
Upon realising the extent of her head injury, Fluttershy... didn't scream. Instead, she just sighed and slumped to the deck of the lifeboat, which was now dented out of shape.
"Fluttershy, get up!" urged Twilight.
"Uuhh, I can't," she wheezed in response.
"Fluttershy, the Covenant are surely on their way. We need to move!"
"The Covenant? Urrnnng, not the Covenan..." she trailed off, weak.
"Get up!"
"Ah, ok... ... Ok." She strained to her hooves and began to weep, both in distress and in woe for Pinkie.
Looking around in the lifeboat, Fluttershy found herself surrounded by the corpses of everypony on board. She was too dazed to react, but she disliked the scene all the same. Strolling out of the lifeboat and onto the singed ground, she took a deep breath of fresh air.
The scenery outside was beautiful. The lifeboat had carved a trench into a grassy meadow dotted with trees and rocks. A huge waterfall thundered down a grey rock face up ahead and into a river that separated the meadow from a steep, grassy incline, that eventually became a cliff. More trees and rocks were scattered around that incline.
Gasping with awe, Fluttershy gazed around, seeing the gigantic orange planet filling most of the sky, the shining sun, and something she never counted on seeing in her life. She was on an alien ring world, and tapering up from the horizon, she saw the world arch high above her head and swoop back down to complete itself behind her. It had her in a trance for a long while, until she felt her warm blood running down the side of her head.
"Fluttershy, I'm detecting multiple items of significant importance, scattered around the wreckage," droned Twilight informatively. "First thing's first; there should be a med pack by your hooves."
Blinking frequently, Fluttershy looked down to see that there was indeed a med pack laying right in front of her. The med pack was a white, plastic, octagonal box with a red letter "H" printed on the lid.
"You suffered a nasty concussion. You should really fix yourself up."
Opening the med pack, Fluttershy asked, "Twilight?"
"Yeah?"
"Why am I the only survivor?"
"Simple. Because you were the only Pony wearing MJOLNIR mark 5 armour. It saved your life, Fluttershy."
The yellow Pegasus sighed with guilt, feeling that somepony else was more deserving of her fortune.
Tiredly, she cleaned some of the blood away. Whipping out a plaster from the med pack, the ache in her head intensified, and she winced as she flattened it over the wound.
"That should do," muttered Twilight.
With her vision becoming less blurry by the second, Fluttershy searched around the area just outside the lifeboat's open door. Three Ponies from inside the lifeboat had been thrown free of the wreckage and flung onto the dirt, along with their rifles, grenades, and the med pack that Fluttershy decided to keep in her saddle bag.
Salvaging four fragmentation grenades, she listened to Twilight, who told, "There should be a helmet camera on one of these soldiers. There's a slot on your armour's collar for installing one in the event of a missing helmet."
"Ok. I'll see what I can find."
Uneasily checking the helmets of the three bodies, she eventually came across a camera on the helmet of the green maned Earth Pony. Fitting the device was easy; just extract it from the marine helmet and insert it into the slot in her armour's collar.
"Wow! I can actually see now!" swooned Twilight, wonderstruck. "Oohh, this place looks amazing! I can't believe we're actually here, on an alien ring world. No pony has ever seen, or even heard of such a place! Ooh, I can't wait to learn more about this place! Can you?!"
Fluttershy couldn't remember the last time she'd heard Twilight so excited. To be honest, Fluttershy didn't care for learning about this place. The Covenant were on it, and she just wanted to go home.
Nether the less, she humoured the AI, and said dryly, "Oh, yes... I... can't wait..."
There was an elevated, "Teehee," from the AI Twilight as Fluttershy used the mechanical arm of her armour to inspect an MA5B assault rifle.
"Ah, good thinking, Fluttershy. We will need this weapon for whatever lies ahead."
Nervous, Fluttershy asked, "Will we really need it?"
To which Twilight replied, "Most likely."
Fluttershy swallowed, dreading whatever required her to pack an MA5B.
Rummaging through the scene, Fluttershy acquired a decent amount of MA5B ammo, which she kept in her bag with the med pack, Rarity's pistol, and four grenades.
Randomly, Twilight asked, "Fluttershy? When was the last time you ate?"
"Oh, um... well... it was before I went into cryo sleep," she admitted, knowing Twilight wouldn't react too happily.
"Oh goodness! I knew you hadn't eaten in a while, but my word! You must be starving."
She was right, she was starving, and her tummy groaned, as if in reply.
"I suggest that you eat something, right away."
"Sure. Um, is there any food lying around?"
"There will surely be a canteen lying around so you can take a drink. As for food; look around! What do you see?"
Fluttershy had noticed an olive green flask abandoned on the floor. When she picked it up, she found it was empty. Not to worry; there was a flowing river nearby.
As for food, well, Fluttershy gazed around her, seeing nothing but trees, rocks, and grass... Grass! Of course! With the canteen secured in her saddle bag, she roamed away from the crash site and began grazing like the Pony she was on glorious grass.
After swallowing her first mouthful, she stated, "Mmm, this grass is delicious."
Just as she was about to take her second mouthful, a distant blowing noise startled her, and she looked up to behold a ball of blue light rocketing up into the sky at a perfect, vertical angle, leaving a faded trail as it shrank away.
"Wow!" whispered Twilight in amazement.
Fluttershy felt unnerved. "W... what was that?"
"I don't know, but I sure hope we'll get a chance to find out."
Not liking the idea, Fluttershy gulped.
She tried again to take a second mouthful of grass, only to be interrupted once more.
"Warning; I've detected a Covenant drop ship on approach."
Fluttershy almost screamed, but instead, she just nickered and desperately sought advice from the AI. "Oh no! W... w... what should we do?!" The thought of the Covenant aircraft zooming closer and closer every second sent her heart into overdrive.
"Take it easy, Fluttershy. Just run to the hills. There's a bridge you can use to cross the river."
Not sure how she could possibly take it easy in such a dire situation, Fluttershy galloped towards the fast flowing river. If it wasn't for the Covenant drop ship, she would've filled up the canteen she'd acquired.
Upon arriving at the bridge, Twilight alarmed, "Banshees, moving in!"
"Banshees!?" Fluttershy was in disbelief.
Not twenty seconds ago, she was peacefully grazing, but now she had the Covenant air force moving in to annihilate her. Drop ship, Banshees; how much were the Covenant willing to expend on a single Mare? Things had turned hectic fast. Too fast.
The stomach churning sound of alien engines came resonating over the hills. She knew the aircraft could be anywhere over her head.
Before her, a long, metal bridge connected the meadow to a sloping ledge. Between them, the river coursed into a second waterfall that bellowed under the bridge and dissipated before reaching the bottom of the mile high precipice. It was terrifying, and to make matters worse, the bridge didn't even have any railings.
Fluttershy stared down for a while, petrified, when Twilight ordered, "Fluttershy! Move!"
"Ah! Ok!" she squealed, and set off cautiously down the narrow bridge over the never ending waterfall.
Not sure if it was her imagination, Fluttershy swore the bridge was wobbling under her weight. She had to stop half way across to reassure herself, panting in fear.
A large shadow drifted over her as the humming of a Covenant engine reverberated in her ears.
Impatiently, Twilight grated, "Alert; the Covenant drop ship has detected us. I order you to seek cover amongst the boulder to your left."
Fluttershy didn't answer, just regained her composure and continued her quaky way across the infinity foot high bridge.
Once at the other side, she edged her way around the boulder Twilight mentioned, the daunting drop to her left, and hunkered down between it and a cliff face.
Shivering, she heard the arrival of the Banshees living up to their name, screeching overhead. Peering over the rock, she got a gander of them; their sleek, purple fuselages, and each wing made up of two metal beams tipped with golden light. Hanging below the noses of the aircrafts were their weapons; two heavy plasma cannons and one big fuel rod cannon. These vehicles could inflict hellish damage upon wherever they fired.
In total, there were two Banshees, and one leviathan drop ship. A Spirit, to be precise. There were many ways to describe the bulky, Covenant drop ship; the letter "U," a two pronged fork, a horseshoe, but the only word coming to Fluttershy's mind was "scary."
As the giant purple horseshoe hovered in place and lowered over the lifeboat crash, the two extensive doors that lined the outside of each "prong" fell open, exposing the aliens within. Hopping to the ground, the foot soldiers consisted of two Elites, one crimson and one blue, and a pack of Grunts.
Fluttershy watched on as the Covies spread around the crash site, the Spirit drop ship levitating upwards and buzzing away. They were quite far out of range on the other side of the bridge, but Fluttershy managed to make out the veteran Elite as it stood still and stared ghoulishly at her from across the way.
Too scared to think of what to do, she couldn't take her eyes off the biped soldier, until Twilight yelled, "Take cover!" and plasma splashed against her energy shields.
Screaming, she ducked down beneath the boulder, her shields had just popped. One of the two Banshees pulled up from it's dive having been the culprit, and banked around.
Taking deep breaths, Fluttershy pined, "H... h-how am... How am I suppose to survive thi-hi-hi-hiiis!"
"Be strong, Fluttershy. I'll walk you through this," came Twilight's response. "I'm picking up one enemy contact, crossing the bridge. Use the more accurate pistol Rarity gave you and open fire on him."
Sniffling, the despairing Mare swapped her MA5B for Rarity's diamond encrusted M6D pistol, and unwillingly poked up from behind her rock, just as her shields recharged.
The lone Covie crossing the bridge was the blue armoured Elite, who had been ordered by the veteran to carry out the necessary execution. He just came belting over the bridge at full force, dismissing the bridge's height, wobbliness, and lack of railings.
"Fire! Now!" encouraged Twilight as Fluttershy pointed her gun shakily at the running alien, who was still at quite a distance.
Hastily, she fired, and missed completely. Trying again, she pulled that trigger, and missed a second time. The warrior was too far away, and moving too fast, and Fluttershy was too concerned about the Banshees overhead.
As the rookie Elite came nearer and nearer, she fired four more shots, and this time, she actually managed to hit him, three times in fact. It wasn't enough to drain his shields, but it was enough to rock him out of balance.
Loosing his footing, the Elite slipped off the bridge and went screaming all the way down what had to be the tallest waterfall in the universe.
There was no time to celebrate, not that she would've celebrated, as Twilight bawled, "Take cover!"
The Pegasus ducked back under the boulder in time to avoid the deadly blue rain of the Banshees' plasma cannons. She shrieked with dread as the plasma bolts melted away at her rocky cover.
After they stopped firing, Twilight updated, "Now all the Covenant are crossing the bridge!"
Fluttershy moaned helplessly as the Banshees wailed around in preparation for their next assault.
With some sort of scheme in her artificial mind, Twilight checked, "You have exactly four grenades, right?"
Timidly, Fluttershy sniffed and whimpered, "Mm-hm," with a shaky nod of her head.
"Excellent."
Crossing the bridge, the diminutive Grunts waddled along first, with their master in crimson armour taking up the rear. Upon arriving at the other end where Fluttershy's rock was, a round green frag grenade came arching over the boulder and rolled into position amongst their flat, alien feet.
BOOM! Grunts went flying everywhere; down the waterfall, back onto the bridge. One even came to a rest before Fluttershy, who yelped in surprise.
"Well done, Fluttershy!" the AI cheered. "There's only one contact left, most likely the Elite. Incoming!"
A horrible green explosion took place on the cliff face, sprinkling her with debris and piping hot green substance: The Banshees had returned, and one of them decided to use it's heavy weapon; the fuel rod cannon.
The explosion had blasted a miniature cave into the cliff and sent small rocks tumbling down the precipice. Heat and radiation seethed her way as she shook her head clear of stars. Her shields had taken damage, but fortunately, they hadn't dropped completely.
Those bullying Banshees banked around once more, lining up for another strike.
Roaring monstrously, the remaining foot soldier pounded onto the grassy slope and approached the boulder.
Urgently, Twilight commanded, "Leave a live grenade right here and run around the rock! Now!"
Unquestionably, Fluttershy obeyed her friend and bit the pin off one frag, placing it gently in her spot, and hurriedly squeezed between the boulder and the immense drop.
She had no idea why Twilight ordered her to do such a thing, but when she noticed the veteran Elite climbing over the rock and looming over her spot, she understood it all.
The grenade detonated with an ear-splitting BOOM, sending chunks of rock and alien into the air.
As the pieces came raining down, and her shields began to recharge once more, Twilight shouted, "Quick! Look for some plasma grenades and get back behind the rock!"
Unable to catch a break, the strained out Pegasus darted around for the tiny blue balls. One of the dead Grunts kindly gave up two of the lethal little devices.
With the salvaged Covenant grenades taking up storage in her cheeks, she took the recently deceased Elite's path and pranced over the rock, avoiding two blasts from the Banshees' fuel rod cannons and taking hits from their plasma weapons.
Seeking shelter under the rock, she figured her shields were a smidge from being fully depleted, and she spat the Covenant grenades out into the roofed crater she'd made with her frag.
"The Banshees are circling back around," informed Twilight. "By the time they're in position, your shields will be fully charged. When they swoop in for the kill, I want you to throw one of those plasma grenades right at it! Get your aim right, and-"
Hopelessly, Fluttershy wailed, "-Oh, I can't throw worth my life! Aha-aha-ahaa!" sniff.
This was a crazy plan, and Fluttershy wasn't sure if Twilight had lost her mind.
"We can't let the Covenant win, Fluttershy! Either destroy the Banshees, or... or..." Twilight seemed frustrated, reluctant to finish her sentence.
Fluttershy knew what she was getting at anyways, and as she peered out over the precipice and it's beautiful view of the ring world, she felt a little... inclined. However, she was better than that, so she placed one plasma grenade in her bag, balanced the other one on a front hoof, waited for the golden lights of her armour's recharge system to fade away, and rose up from the nook.
Them Banshees were streaking at her like iron fillings to a magnet.
"Oh no," she squeaked, feeling sure this would be the end. "Please work - please work - please work."
The first of the two aircraft swooped down into range, and as it fired a luminous green projectile at her, she squinted her eyes with fear, bopped the alien activation button on the grenade with her nose, and hurled it as hard as she could at the Banshee's smooth, shiny front end.
Plunging into the concealment of the rock, she missed the result of her actions, and when the Banshee's fuel rod projectile exploded against her shelter, making the whole boulder crumble on top of her, she was likely to never find out if her grenade did the trick, especially when a second projectile slammed into the rubble, courtesy of the second fighter.
Fluttershy lay still beneath the crushing weight of her tomb.
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4723923 Lol well it could mean that, or it could not.I have added my own lil twists to make it original
We'll have to wait 'til the grande finale!
Thanks for the watch and/or fave btw
4724195 I read the finale part as grenade instead of grande
4730353 The grenade finale? Well, I suppose there are grenades involved lol.
4734739 So...Many...Grenades. I died multiple times trying to make the Autumn go Wildcat, and it's because I could never make the grenade throws. I know they were easy, but 8 yr old me had no concept of distance or conserving ammo. Grenades and bullets flew everywhere, just to kill a lonely grunt.
4747434 Lol same. I could've grabbed a launcher from the armoury, but after what you encounter there, I doubt I'll ever go back
4751765 Oh God, you're right. Wait... Do you think Fluttershy is gonna have to go in there? Because what be in there is... No.
4754459 Well, I know if she goes in there or not, so I'll just leave that for y'all to find out when it comes