"So let me get this straight," Kix said, "You're extremely talented and magical beings who have mastered almost every aspect of your world, but you haven't even begun thinking about the possibility of space travel?"
"Well, no." Celestia said unashamed. "I suppose that with everything that's happened, we never really prioritized the idea."
"The closest thing we have is lunar banishment," Luna added, "would you like us to banish you to the moon?"
"No!" Kix shouted, but immediately corrected himself. "I mean, no, I'd rather not be banished to the moon."
"Surely there has to be another way to get rid of him." Rainbow Dash said.
"Ouch." Kix said sarcastically, rubbing his side. "That hurt."
"What's the matter, can't take a hit? I thought you were a trained soldier." Rainbow smirked.
"Why you little-"
"Cut it out, both of you!" Twilight intervened, stepping between the two, who were now head-to-head. "We have other things to worry about besides your grudge match."
"Like getting me off this planet." Kix huffed.
"And out of our manes," Rainbow muttered, but Twilight's glare was enough to make her back down.
"Regardless of her wording, Rainbow Dash does make a great point. There has to be another way to get you home." Celestia said, turning her attention to Kix, "You came here on one of these 'cruisers', did you not?" Kix nodded. "Then surely it must still be operational, and if not, at least repairable."
"Yeah, there's a problem with that," Kix said, rubbing the top of his helmet, "it kind of exploded."
"And you're sure it cannot be repaired?"
"Look, Prism, if it could've, I would have been on my merry way back to Earth a long time ago."
"Pardon me," Twilight said, "but I don't believe you should be referring to the Princess with that name."
"What, 'Prism'?" Kix said, "I'm only commenting on her... unique hairstyle." He gestured to Celestia's mane. Twilight glared at him.
"You know what I mean."
"No, not really." Kix stated blatantly.
"Then allow me to explain," Twilight growled, taking a deep breath. But before she could continue, Kix stopped her.
"Sorry, but I already know what you're gonna say."
"Oh really?" Twilight said skeptically, raising an eyebrow. "Then let's hear it." In all sense of truth, Kix had absolutely no idea as to what Twilight was about to lecture him about nor did he care to know, but he was sure of one thing: if he didn't think of something fast, whatever remained of his self-pride would be utterly shattered. I mean, being publicly embarrassed in front of their world's royalty by a tiny, talking pony? He would never be able to show his face in public again, let alone the UNSC barracks. But fortunately for him (and his pride), Celestia spoke first.
"Kix, Twilight, please! We have no time for arguing amongst ourselves!"
"Ah find myself agreeing with ya' there, Princess." Applejack joined in. "Heaven knows it's only a matter of time before another one of 'em aliens shows up."
"Time? Time?!" Pinkie burst in. "We don't need to wait for the aliens, silly filly!" Kix felt a knot form in his chest as he considered the possible meanings of her words.
"Pinkie dear, what exactly do you mean by that?" Rarity asked, concern evident in her voice.
"We don't need to wait for them because they're already here!" Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing over to the window and pointed her hoof up at a distant object invisible from where Kix was standing.But he didn't need to see, the sounds told him everything. That distinct, high-pitched whirring noise could only mean one thing: Phantoms.
"What the hay are those things?!" Applejack gasped, as everyone except Kix and the two sisters gathered around the window, jaws hanging as they watched the purple beast draw closer to the city.
"We can get the Elements. I'm sure we can defeat them without Kixs' help." Twilight said, trying to hide the fear in her voice. She wasn't doing a very good job.
"I'm afraid it's quite the opposite, my dear." Celestia's voice was cool and calm, as it always had been in these types of situations. "For Kix is the only one with any experience in dealing with these 'Covenant', and we have no idea of the effects the Elements could have on them. Kix, can we ask you once more for your assistance?" She turned back to where Kix had been standing, but froze when she saw he wasn't there. "Kix?"
"Perhaps he has already determined his course of action, my sister." Luna said softly, the sound of boots hitting stone growing distant.
"Yeah," Rainbow muttered, "And it sounds an awful lot like running away."
.............................................................................................................
Kix rounded another corner as he sprinted down the almost endless corridors of the huge castle, his heavy boots thudding loudly as he ran. The second he heard the phantom, he knew exactly what to do. Admittedly, it wasn't the greatest of plans, but he didn't have very much to work with.
Could always try using the narrow streets to my advantage again, Kix considered, but quickly dismissed the thought. These were brutes he was going up against, and although they wouldn't try to crush him, they wouldn't hesitate to fire on him or anyone else that got in their way.
By now Kix had just ran through the main entrance hall and after bursting out the front doors he came to a sudden halt, his eyes scanning the ground for any enemy activity. Thankfully the phantom had yet to drop it's load, but it was now dangerously close to the castle. It had already fired a few concussive rounds upon the city square, no doubt clearing out a potential landing zone.
"Big mistake," Kix said to himself as he drew his trusty shotgun and loaded it. The covenant had just shown him exactly where they planned to land, and he wasn't going to waste that information. He wasted no time either as he bolted down the steps leading into the town and weaved through the tiny streets, avoiding the occasional crowd of panicking ponies who were no doubt going to seek refuge in the castle. If the brutes managed to get inside, it would be a bloodbath. Kix shook the thought from his head as he continued towards the LZ. He wasn't going to let that happen. Sure, most of the ponies he knew inside the castle hated him, but they didn't deserve death, and certainly not at the hands of brutes. He'd seen firsthand what brutes could do in their fits of blood lust, and he would never forget those images, and he didn't even want to begin to imagine what would happen if a battle-crazed brute got his hands on one of the ponies. No, Kix wouldn't allow it. He was willing to fight to his last breath to prevent that future, although finding a way to both protect the ponies and defeat the brutes without being killed or injured would be preferable.
He had almost reached the covie drop zone when he slowed to a stop, crouching behind an overturned produce cart that had been abandoned during the first attack to shelter himself from the plasma that was once again raining as the phantom reached it's destination. Hovering just a few yards from Kix's hiding spot, and still spewing plasma, the phantom lowered and began to drop the first wave inside a house it had just leveled.. Kix took a quick peek to see exactly what the Covenant had in store for him, and he was rather impressed (and terrified) to see a brute chieftain readying a gravity hammer, followed closely by a group of minors, all wielding deadly spikers. Things were beginning to look grim for Kix as yet another chieftain touched down, this one accompanied by stalker class brutes wielding maulers. Hoping to determine his odds of surviving the inevitable skirmish, Kix quickly ran a number count of his enemy, but his hopes of victory without injury or casualty faded quickly as he compared the odds. It was twelve-to-one, with the brutes in two groups of six. Kix had fought brutes before, but never so many at once in such a small area. The only thing that felt normal to him was the constant knowledge of his actions determining the fate of innocent lives, but it wasn't exactly comforting. If he could just find a way to break them up a little...
"Spread out!" The chieftain bellowed, "Search the entire the city! Find Kergreesh!" Kix let out a quiet sigh of relief as he watched the brute squads split up into four groups of three, greatly increasing his odds of victory. But Kix shortly realized that it also increased the odds of losing track of the four groups, though it wasn't hard to tell where they had been. Carts and stalls lay overturned, their contents spilled and smashed over the cobblestone roads. Doors had been broken down and windows smashed as the brutes searched the houses, though they never took anything nor stayed in one place for very long, and Kix began to wonder if it was because they were uncomfortable with their surroundings. That, or they were just bored because they had encountered no resistance.
He had chosen to follow one of the chieftains first, and trailed them closely as they weaved through the narrow streets leading to the castle gate, which had been shut shortly after the last civilian had reached safety behind the stone walls. He still couldn't believe that he was letting little ponies order him around, but he figured killing Covenant here was just as good as killing them on Earth.
Speaking of which, where exactly is 'here'? Kix thought, readying his knife as he creeped up on one of the brute minors. He would have to ask later, but for now, he had to focus on the task at hand.
Quickly, he drew the knife across the brutes' throat and with a single swift motion brought it down, the brute dying with only a soft gurgle. Kix took the two plasma grenades strapped to the brutes waist and attached one to his own before lobbing the other one straight at the chieftain, who had just caught the scent of his dead teammate. The chieftain readied his gravity hammer and began to turn, but he was too late. The grenade collided with the back of his head, permanently securing itself there with that all-too familiar sound. The chieftain howled at the realization of his inevitable death, and the second minor saw what was happening a second too late as the grenade exploded, blowing the chieftains' brains all over the walls, the tiny shards of his skull acting as shrapnel as they tore through the other brutes' chest, killing them both instantly.
"One down, three to go." Kix said, picking up the chieftain's gravity hammer. "And this should make things a whole lot easier."