Six looked down at the Box she held under her hooves with mixed emotions. The bright shine of the blazing sun at her back cast a shadow upon the container.
Months had passed since the end of the war against the changelings, the Spartan, unfortunately, having fallen unconscious a mere hour before the final capitulation of their Queen. When she did awake, it was to the sound of distant cheering and the faces of the Spartans she cared so much about, and one quite peeved Shining Armor.
Six could only chuckle to herself as she recalled the Captain’s outburst at Six rushing into combat with several broken ribs, a partially collapsed lung, hairline fractures in all four of her hooves, and a dislocated foreleg. And those were only the injuries she told him about, adding in the injuries sustained afterwards some would call it a miracle she held on for as long as she did. It seemed almost poetic when Six walked out of the hospital a month later as good as new.
‘Well, almost,’ she thought as a dull pain continued to radiate out of all her recently healed injuries. It would still be quite a while before she truly would be as good as new and ready for active duty once again. The constant worrying and coddling by those around her was getting on her nerves, however, so the relative silence and tranquility of the desert was a welcome change.
She looked around her environment, memories of her awakening at this very spot filling her vision. This was where it all started. Here, in the middle of the desert, was where Six returned from death. And it would be here she would put that life to rest.
Within her hooves, she held that life. A container of metal emblazoned with the symbol of Noble. Within lay the dog tags she had once held on to so dearly, the tags of the family she had lost on the plains, streets, hills, and buildings of Reach.
It seemed only fitting to the Spartan that they be buried where her old life ended and a new one began. She would have to make sure to thank the princesses for not questioning why she wanted this box made and why her journey was so important to undertake alone. Especially considering that in only a few days, the Spartan was to be awarded a medal for her efforts.
She recalled that the medal was dubbed ‘The Alicorn Honor,’ which was apparently quite a prestigious accolade for a soldier to receive. According to highly energetic and excited Pixy, the last pony to receive said medal was a mare by the name of ‘Commander Hurricane.’ Six had no idea who this Commander was but with the reverence Pixy spoke of them it was safe to assume they were important.
As such, Canterlot was abuzz with the preparations, and while Six couldn’t have cared less, she went along with it anyway. She had no need for such accolades, after all, and said as much when the news was broken to her. Yet the princesses, public—hell, the whole damned guard—brokered no argument. So for her to suddenly undertake a journey to the middle of the desert for reasons entirely her own required some persuasion on her part.
Though that was only with Celestia. Once Luna saw the symbol she had etched into her cargo’s surface, Six could see in her eyes that the moon princess wouldn’t interfere and even supported her impromptu trip. On reflection, Six remembered that Luna looked even…proud when they waved her off.
Six scanned the sand dunes around her, making sure one last time that this was the correct location, the small outcropping of rocks in front of her all but confirmed it.
The Spartan got to her knees and began to dig, the sand moving easily beneath her armored hooves as memories of all she had accomplished back in the UNSC came rushing back.
The life she had lived flashed before her eyes. Landscapes from hundreds of worlds and areas from thousands of missions. From the earliest memory of her childhood to the wastes her dreams always brought her back to. Before long, the grave was dug, and the box was placed within.
Six looked down upon the exposed container, the symbol of Noble staring back up at her, glinting in the blazing sun. Her posture straightened as she brought her hoof to her head for one last salute towards her fallen family. A final paying of respect to the life she had lived and the planet she called home.
She didn’t know how long she remained there, but when she brought her hoof back to the ground, cheeks damp from silent tears, the sun had passed its apex. It was time to put the past to rest.
Filling in the hole, memories from the moment of her awakening began to flow through her mind. Her first night in this very desert to her first experience with pony civilization.
A civilization free of war for a thousand years… or at least it had been. But with the changeling war over and their hives occupied under the provisional government with Curxe at its head, Six could finally experience a world at peace.
‘What would it be like?’ she wondered, to experience peace? For the first time in her long life as a Spartan, there was no ‘next mission,’ no ‘new assignment.’ For the first time, Six felt…scared at what the future held. Could a Spartan ever be a civilian?
Such questions flooded her mind as she finished burying the box under the desert sand. She stared at the slightly raised mound of sand before her, eyes once more threatening to shed tears. Yet they never came.
Six turned around and walked back to where she had dropped her helmet, picking it up from its spot on the sand. She held it in her hooves, looking down at her reflection.
Months ago, she didn’t wear this face. One could have even argued she never truly had one to begin with, the Spartan opting to keep her helmet on wherever she went. But now, here, on this planet, she didn’t want to put it back on. That was the old her, the little girl that watched the Covenant take everything she loved away, the Spartan that wanted nothing more than revenge.
Six put the helmet onto her hip as she gave one last look behind her. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and looked forward once again. Taking the first step into her new life.
And for the first time, when she looked towards that distant rising smoke on the horizon, the sun beginning to slowly dip behind it, and the distant specks of flying pegasi against the orange sky, something else stared back at her.
A feeling that maybe, just maybe… her new home had been found.