By Glory to Rebels
Usual Disclaimer: I own none of the copyrighted material in this work of insanity.
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The One and Only Chapter
Inside a small home in the Everfree forest, a lavender unicorn tried to puzzle out the meaning of her friend's final lesson. Zecora's rhyme echoed around Twilight Sparkle's mind as she looked for the deeper meaning within.
If Trixie's tricks have you in a fix, you must nix your magic and use the six.
Nix your magic, use the six.
Use the six!
Like a bolt of lightning, Twilight understood. "Nix your magic, use the six; Zecora you're a genius!" Twilight shouted excitedly.
"I know how to stop Trixie and save Ponyville!"
Levitating a quill and paper, Twilight quickly began to write down instructions, "But first, we have to get you back into Ponyville, Fluttershy."
*******
Twilight's plan had worked perfectly. Playing off Trixie's arrogance, the show mare had agreed to a second duel now that Twilight had acquired a magic amulet of her own from beyond the Everfree.
This is it, my last chance to save my friends and Ponyville, Twilight thought, as she took in the defaced town square surrounding her.
Mayor Mare was trapped in a giant birdcage, swinging in the breeze. Flags with Trixie's likeness fluttered in the unnatural storm Trixie had conjured above the town. The once beautiful fountain in the town square had been replaced by two statues of the arrogant mare herself.
Ponies began to gather in the town square, everypony looking to Twilight with optimism in their eyes. The ponies were hopeful; now that Twilight had returned, Trixie's reign of terror would surely be finished.
Nervous, Twilight Sparkle nevertheless stepped forward from the crowd of ponies with a confidant smirk on her face. Her fellow Elements of Harmony and Zecora stood at her back lending her strength. Twilight had faith that they had followed her instructions and were ready with their part of her plan.
Trixie trotted toward Twilight from across the square. The Alicorn Amulet and her eyes pulsing with a dull red light, Trixie prepared to humiliate her rival once again.
"Let's start with a simple age spell shall we?"
"Let's," Twilight replied coolly.
"Snips, Snails step forward," the azure unicorn demanded, sadistic grin on her face.
The two unicorn colts moved in front of Trixie as her horn began to glow red. She fired a bolt of magic, and the colts were enveloped in a swirling red light. With a puff of smoke, the colts were replaced with two crying foals.
"An oldie, but a goodie," Trixie scoffed, "Now let's see what your pathetic little charm can do."
"Oh, you mean this old thing?" said Twilight as she removed the green stone necklace from around her neck dropping it to the ground.
"That's just one of Zecora's door stops. I don’t need a magic amulet when I have my friends."
"Ha, how do you expect to beat The Great and Powerful Trixie and her amazing amulet with your measly magic? Do you think the 'magic of friendship' can overcome the power of the Alicorn Amulet?" Trixie ridiculed, barely keeping her laughter restrained.
Twilight still wore her confidant smile, "Of course I do. I know the value of true friends unlike you Trixie."
"Wer here with ya Twi!"
"Let's kick her flank!"
"A lady always stands by her friends!"
Gulp, "I'm with you Twilight."
"mhhmmhhhhm mmmm mmmmhhhhhmmm!"
The other Elements shouted their support stepping forward from the other ponies to stand with their friend, giving Trixie the hardest stares they could muster; though some were more impressive than others, since Fluttershy couldn’t threaten a foal if she tried for three days and Pinkie Pie lacked most of a face.
"Here ya go Twi, we brought this just like ya asked" Applejack said passing a small box to the unicorn.
Taking the box in her magic, with a thankful glance towards her orange friend, Twilight opened the box and took out a small pendant in her magic.
"And here Trixie thought the great Twilight Sparkle didn’t need a magic amulet to beat her" mocked Trixie, waving her hoof dismissively.
"This isn't magical at all," Twilight said as she levitated the pendant in front of her. The item in question appeared to be some type of metal, with a white eagle and strange symbols carved into it, "This is just a beacon of sorts, a way to help direct my spell to where it needs to go."
Twilight's horn began to glow with her magic.
"Twilight, I trust you and everything, but what is this spell supposed to do exactly?" Rainbow Dash questioned, "All you said to do was to get that box from the library and meet you here."
"Yes, a little explanation would be nice," Rarity said, not understanding what her fellow unicorn was planning.
Twilight quickly glanced at her five friends, Zecora, and the gathered ponies, all were sharing confused and questioning expressions, waiting on the lavender pony to make her move.
"Don’t worry everypony, just stand back," Twilight said in full confidence.
An expression of pure calm descended upon her face, Twilight closed her eyes as her magic surged forward powering the massive spell.
"Whatever it is you are doing Sparkle, Trixie can beat!"
The azure unicorn stood her ground at this demonstration of her rival's power, though beads of sweat were beginning to form on the magician's forehead.
Twilight began to float above the ground, swimming in her magic.
"Trixie is all powerful! You cannot stop Trixie, Sparkle! Not even Princess Celestia can best Trixie with her amulet!"
Twilight, confidant grin reappearing on her face, horn almost as bright as the sun, opened her eyes, revealing them to have been replaced by pure white pools of her magical power.
"It's a good thing I'm not summoning the Princess then."
Twilight released her spell.
A bright light exploded in the town square where the pendant had been floating in Twilight's magic, blinding everypony present forcing them to look away. Blinking their eyes to restore their vision, the ponies of Ponyville were shocked at the large creature that now stood before the Elements.
Eyes wide, Lyra Heartstrings, who had just taken a large gulp of her Hay-Cola, proceeded to spit-take it all over her friend Bon-bon before fainting dead away in righteous affirmation, large smile on her face.
Several excitable, flower-talent related ponies collapsed in fear upon seeing the creature Twilight had unleashed upon Ponyville and Equestria.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders, finally worming their way to the front to stand with their sisters, looked at each other before shrugging. Applebloom asked the question on everypony's mind, "Well, what is it?"
The hulking monster could be compared to a minotaur, or perhaps a very large diamond dog. The creature was huge compared the ponies; it was several hooves high, even taller than Princess Celestia. It appeared to be wearing some form of armor scuffed and scratched with wear; much of it was a light blue while its leg plates, from the knees down, were tan.
It wore several pouches around its waist, and a knife across its chest between two straps on its chest. Its left shoulder plate, tan with a white stripe going across it, stretched upwards toward its head. Its right arm seemed to be completely mechanical; a simple tan plate for a shoulder guard. The helmet the creature wore completely covered its face; most of it was a golden glass with two small protrusions above it, like horns, coming straight out from its forehead.
The creature looked around observing its surroundings before finally turning around and squatting down before Twilight.
"Heya, Twilight."
Its voice had a distortion to it, as if speaking through a microphone, but was clearly male. Twilight, lying on the ground, still working to catch her breath from her massive spell, finally managed to reply "Hey… Six… I'm glad you could make it."
"Well, anything for a friend, you know."
The creature known as Six gave Twilight a quick pat on the head and turned to look where Trixie was standing. The blue pony had yet to recover from her absolute shock, jaw still reaching for the ground.
"Impossible! That’s impossible!" stammered Trixie, not understanding how her rival had been able summon this monster. Its golden gaze pierced her very soul, rooting her in place though her instincts screamed for her to escape.
Standing back to his impressive size, Six never moved his gaze from Trixie as he asked "This the pony that’s been causing you trouble Twilight?"
"Yes, that’s Trixie" Twilight confirmed as she returned to her hooves. "But it's not completely her fault. That necklace she's wearing corrupts who ever uses it."
"So it's just that tacky jewelry causing the problem?"
"Well…" Twilight paused "Maybe not totally, she was a jerk last time she was here as well as a liar, and thanks to her
boasting Ponyville was nearly destroyed."
"I see" Six replied in a voice that spoke of unwholesome things to come in the near future packed into two simple words.
"So we just need to get that necklace off to return her to normal."
"Yes, but she has take it off, you can't just take it from her."
Nodding his head in understanding, Six began walking across the square towards the cowering pony as he cracked the knuckles on his remaining hand, he said, "Ok Twilight, I know what to do just leave everything to me."
Seeing this colossal monster approaching her with clear intentions of causing bodily harm, Trixie finally snapped out of her stupor.
"STAY AWAY FROM TRIXE!"
Terrified, the unicorn only managed three quick blasts of magic from her horn as Six walked towards her. Trixie's magic hit Six causing flashes of golden light, but not slowing him down in the slightest. With speed that even impressed Rainbow Dash, the hulking creature sprinted across the square; tackling Trixie and throwing dust into the air and obscuring the vision of the assembled ponies, the magician had no time to react before the monster proceeded with its assault.
Though the townsponies could only catch glimpses through the cloud of dust surrounding the two combatants, everypony could agree that they were glad their name wasn't Trixie Lulamoon.
The sheer brutality caused ponies with weak stomachs to vomit, others to faint, and parents to cover their foal's eyes and ears; all while dodging the occasional stray bolt of magic from the dust cloud.
"Neat!" A light blue pegasus with a light brown mane said with a flash of his camera.
"Twilight dear," Rarity began as she covered Sweetie Belle's and Applebloom's eyes and ears, pulling double duty as Applejack was in the process of resuscitating Fluttershy, "Don’t you think this is just a tad harsh, even if it is Trixie?."
"Yeah Twi," Rainbow Dash agreed, protecting Scootaloo's innocence, "I don’t think anypony deserves that," motioning with her head towards the dust cloud where stars could be seen flying out along with Trixie's magic.
"mmmmmhhhhhhmmmmm" Pinkie said nodding her head vigorously.
Casting a shield around the combatants before stray magic could hurt somepony, Twilight turned to her friends with a reassuring smile.
"Don’t worry girls, Six is a trained soldier. I'm sure it just seems much worse than it actually is, he wouldn't hurt Trixie….."
"DEAR SWEET CELESTIA, THE PAIN!"
Twilight's ears drooped as her smile slipped.
"Well, I'm sure it's nothing permanent….."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO TRIXIE'S LEGS!?"
"Well…" Twilight rubbed the back of her head sheepishly seeing the smirks on her friend's faces, "I'm sure she'll survive."
Twilight turned to her zebra companion, "You were right Zecora, I just had to bring Six to Equestria and he would be able to beat Trixie's tricks; Nix my magic and use the Six," Twilight said proudly, happy that she had been able to solve her friend's final lesson.
Being addressed finally brought Zecora out of her wide-eyed shock, blinking slowing. She turned her gaze to the smiling unicorn before her, "Twilight my dear, you seem to have learned the wrong lesson, I fear."
"What!?" Twilight's pupils shrank to pinpricks with the thought that she had failed something.
"Twilight, I didn’t know about this Six. How could I know he would be able to beat Trixie's tricks?"
"But… but I was so sure! My magic wasn’t strong enough to beat the Alicorn Amulet, so I needed help from my friend, Nobel Six. I did wonder how you knew about Six initially, but I just chalked it up to your Zebra Sense."
Zecora was unable to prevent her eyes from rolling, and she threw in a quick face-hoof for good measure.
"Twilight, there is no such thing as a Zebra Sense. How could one so smart be so dense?" she muttered.
"Oh," Twilight manage to say as her face turned a deep crimson, head dropping.
"You were supposed to use your pony friends to find a way to save the day, even if it is a tad bit cliché."
"But," Zecora put a hoof under Twilight's chin, raising her head back up. The zebra had a smile on her face as she met the unicorn's eyes.
"You thought outside the box and came out on top, even if Trixie did receive a few knocks."
"A few knocks, Zecora?" Applejack said as she straitened her hat after confirming that Fluttershy would live to faint another day.
"I reckin she's gettin more than a few."
The gathered ponies were shaking their heads in agreement to the Element of Honesty's statement, when somepony shouted, "Hey, look," pointing across the square.
The dust was settling inside Twilights shield. Twilight quickly dispelled her shield as she and her friends trotted forward to meet Six as he walked back across the square. Six carried an unconscious Trixie under his left arm and held the evil charm in his right hand.
Seeing the concerned expressions on the ponies' faces looking at his cargo, Six squatted down to the ponies' level as they came together, giving the Elements a better look at the injured magician.
Surprisingly, from what the ponies could see, Trixie did not look as bad as many had feared after all the noise and speculation. She was battered, a little bloodied, and large bruises were already starting to form, but the Elements could see the rise and fall of her chest.
"She'll be all right; she'll probably have a massive head-ache when she wakes up and some bruises for a few days, but she will be fine, nothing permanent," Six reassured.
Six held out the amulet toward Twilight. "Here you go Twilight; I suggest finding a safe place to put this so we don’t have to do this again."
Twilight picked up the Alicorn Amulet with her magic dropping it in a box she and Zecora had brought.
"Don’t worry Six, this is going back into hiding where it belongs," Twilight said as she locked the dangerous artifact away.
As the box shut, a signal went through the crowd of ponies. Everypony cheered glad they had survived this assault on the town. Ponies began to plan on how to restore Ponyville to glory just in time for the next disaster, most likely next week.
"What are we gonna do with Trixie, Twi," Applejack questioned looking at the unconscious unicorn still being held by the massive soldier. "She's almost wreaked the town twice now with that attitude of hers."
"Applejack's right. We're not just going to let her go are we?" Rainbow Dash asked; Rarity and Pinkie Pie nodding in agreement.
"Well, we could turn her over to the guard I suppose," Twilight said as she absently tapped her chin in thought.
"Actually ladies, I think I have a pretty good idea."
*******
Fluttershy's animal friends floated above the stage spinning in circles, though the frightful pegasus could not bring herself to watch the spectacle; she was far too terrified for her friends, looking away as Spike tried to calm her.
The hardy ponies of Ponyville had been able to restore their town in record time, thanks to the help of a certain super soldier, just in time for the return of the Princess. Twilight was putting on a remarkable show for Princess Celestia and the delegates from Saddle-Arabia when the sky above lit up with light.
Everypony oooooooo'd and awwwwed as Twilight turned to see Six standing next to the stage with a bandaged Trixie at his feet; horn alight, hat and cape fluttering in her magic, the source of the beautiful light show.
A quick nudge from the human beside her, Trixie dropped her hat back onto her head. "It was the least I could do after treating everypony so horribly when I was wearing that Alicorn Amulet." Trixie dropped her head, looking to the ground in shame.
"Go on," the soldier said with a quick reassuring pat on the magicians head.
Looking back up to her rival, lips quivering and eyes full of unshed tears, Trixie finally managed, "I'm sorry Twilight Sparkle, can you ever forgive me?"
Twilight stared down and the pouting pony for a few moments before quickly glancing up at Six to see his almost imperceptible nod, "Yes, Trixie, I think I can forgive you," Twilight said as a small smile bloomed across her face.
"Oh thank you, thank you Twilight," the blue unicorn said as her lavender counterpart hopped down from the stage and giving her a quick hug. Twilight looked up to her massive friend, "Well Six, are you ready to go?" she asked.
"Yes I am Twilight. Will you be ok to do the transport spell alone with all this extra mass?" Six said holding his massive bag filled with fresh apples, baked goods, and other treasures he had received from his new friends.
"Or will Princess Celestia need to lend a helping hand, err… helping hoof, again?"
"No, the beacons make it much easier to teleport you, even with added difficulty of extra mass," Twilight explained. "Thank you for your help, Six."
"It was my pleasure," the human said, dropping down giving Twilight a quick, gentle hug. "I do owe you quite a huge debt, purple horse," large smile evident in the soldier's voice though his helmet blocked it from view.
"Until next time, Six," matching large smile on Twilight's face as her horn began to glow with magic.
"Looking forward to it."
There was a blinding flash of light; when it cleared, the Spartan was gone.
*******
The mess hall on the Spartan Deck of the UNSC Infinity was almost completely empty at this time of day. A few Spartan IV fire teams relaxed around the room; enjoying a rare moment of down time.
In one corner, the three man Fire Team Crimson sat with the legendary Master Chief absorbed in their own little world, recounting the events of Requiem's destruction a month previously. Crimson One was interrupted when Nobel Six walked up to the table, surprising the seated Spartans.
Crimson One was the first to speak, "There you are Six. No one has been able to find you for almost a week; we were almost getting worried," the other two members of Crimson nodding in agreement with their teammate.
The Chief, in rare humor that only came out around his fellow soldiers that had survived the impossible, "Yeah Six, we were thinking that you must have gone back to that land of ponies you told us about." He said with a small chuckle.
"I did."
Silence
Crimson One was the first to break it again. "Look Six," One said with annoyance, "if you don’t want to tell us how you managed to survive Reach, then show up out of the blue five years later, just say its classified; otherwise you're going to be thrown into a padded room."
"I told you the truth the first time, and this time I even brought back proof." Six said as he gestured behind him.
Jaws fell and silence reigned supreme around the table as an azure unicorn wearing a purple hat and cape with a star pattern walked up to stand next to Six, a nervous smile on her face.
"Boys, this is Trixie Lulamoon, and we are going to teach her about the Magic of Friendship, Spartan style."
The End