Chapter VI

"So... what are we doing again?"

I looked at Rex in response. "You once asked if a dragon could grow a mustache, so I'm going to test it out."

Rex grunted. "Right, and will it make me look alright, or make me look worse?"

I thought for a moment. "I'm not quite sure, but I figured I owed you a favor before I continued with my project."

Rex folded his arms in response. "Fine, do it."

My horn glowed a little, making Rex's upper lip glow, until a big, bushy and black mustache appear. This made Rex place a claw over the mustache, and think for a minute. "Could you change it to red?"

I shook my head in amusement, then trotted over to the basement door while speaking. "I'm going to start the maintenance routines on my project, it still needs to go through a whole load of tests, so if anypony comes over, tell me."

Rex nodded as I went down to the basement, and entered the massive room, which had a large blast door over the project, and an elevator ground under the robot. Too heavy to move all five pieces with magic at once, so yeah.

I trotted over to one of the terminals I've made, and began to type down on it, before a very mechanical, and quite epic voice boomed through the basement. "Voice module online. Audio functionality test initialized. Designation: _______ _____. Mission: The Liberation of Equis, Equestria."

I nodded as I shut off the robot, and smiled that it resembled so much of that one I knew. And with that, I went up the nearby stairs and pulled out a small remote, before I began to use it with my magic, causing the robot to begin moving. I had the robot stretch it's arms, stomp it's feet a couple times (which most likely made the ground shake around Ponyville), and made the robot reach back to grasp one of the EMP bombs, before leaving it, then tested it's laser eyes. Said lasers shot out, and tore through a wall, almost making a tunnel to a nearby dig site I was told about.

I smiled that both functions worked perfectly, before running the shielding I added, and the Nuke Resistant shields went online, which could easily stop anything. This was perfect, so I turned off the robot, and headed for the main door, still not giving out the name of the robot until the Grand Galloping Gala.

Once I reached the library, I saw Rex who was speaking to Mayor Mare, who came over. "Relax, Mayor, I'm sure the ground shaking was nothing, now I'll ask Ethan about it personally. Go on and head back to the Town Hall, and relax."

Mayor Mare nodded in response and left, while Rex gave me an annoyed look. "You just had to test the robot's mobility, didn't you?"

I nodded. "It had to happen eventually, Rex, and everypony would've most likely have felt it eventually."

Rex grunted and headed for the stairs. "Just tell me next time so I could come up with a better excuse."

"I did tell you."

"Sure, whatever."

I rolled my eyes at him, and headed for the door, before seeing ED-E float over to me. "You want to come along, ED-E?" He beeped in response. "Then let's go."

...

*Beep!*

I looked at ED-E. "That was my 50th trick?"

*Beep beep beep!*

"Wow, that must be this year, yes?"

*Beep!*

"What do you mean 'This Month'?"

*Beep.*

"Oh..."

Just then we spotted two colts running towards us. "GANGWAY! COMING THROUGH!"

Just then two of the local colts, Snips and Snails, ran right under ED-E, almost bringing him along with them. This made me raise an eyebrow and looked as they rushed off around a corner. I looked over at ED-E, and nodded, before we headed after the two unicorn colts.

We soon caught up to them to the town square, and spotted a stand in the middle of town. This made me raise an eyebrow and push through the crowd while ED-E floated from above, and we soon made it to the front where we heard a mare speak. "Come one! Come all!" I smiled as I saw Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow, before it went on. "Come and witness the amazing magic of the great and powerful TRIXIE!"

I raised an eyebrow in response. I think there's a bit too much ego here.

"Watch in awe as the great and powerful Trixie performs the most spectacular feats of magic ever witnessed by pony eyes!"

I gave a small grunt as I heard Rex's voice from somewhere in the crowd. "WHAT A LOAD OF SHIT! I'VE SEEN BETTER MAGIC THEN THAT LITTLE LIGHT SHOW!"

I looked at Rarity who commented of 'Trixie's' boasting. "I guess if she's right though, then there's nothing wrong with being talented, is there?"

Applejack shook her head. "Nothing at all, except when somepony goes around showing it off like a school filly with fancy new ribbons."

I thought on that while Trixie finally spoke in a more boasting. "Oh really? And who did you see do magic better then muah?"

"ETHAN MASON!"

I grunted at him mentioning me, while Trixie spoke. "Really then? Why don't you have this pony come up on stage then?"

I gave a grunt and raised my hoof, making her look at me. "Because I'm not one for competitions or boasting. Plus I keep it to myself instead of showing it off."

Trixie huffed. "Well, I challenge you to a magic duel!"

"No thanks."

"Oh? Are you afraid of losing to the Great and Powerful Trixie?"

"No, I just don't want to show off and make myself seem better then anypony else, given that we're all equal."

The crowd began to murmur their agreements, causing Trixie to scoff. "What a pathetic reason. I was hoping to prove that I could show how I have a strong enough magical power to stop a great Ursa Major!"

I raised an eyebrow. "I think I read something about that in the newspaper."

She smirked. "You see!"

I interrupted her. "Now I remember, there was a mare with the same look you did, who boasted about the same thing, but was easily bested by a teen unicorn filly who's been researching magic since she was four. And she'll be turning 16 next month."

Trixie went wide eyed while the crowd began to disperse. This made her growl, and looked at me. "Show me your magic, now! I want to prove I'm better then you!"

I grunted, and shook my head as I climbed up to the stage, making the crowd come back within seconds. I then sighed heavily, and looked at Trixie. "You know, if you want this so bad, then I'll go all out, but not for boasting, but to get you to shut up."

She huffed while the crowd seemed to be pleased with my answer. I then took a deep breath, and let my magic flow through my horn. This caused me to tap my Pip-Boy, and one of my newest devices, a Sentry Bot, appeared right next to me, gaining gasps and looks of awe from the crowd. I then let my horn glow brighter, and I began to make clouds swirl around the sky, then begin to swirl around me while the Sentry Bot spoke in it's emotionless voice. "Sentry Bot online... Awaiting orders..."

I looked at the robot. "Activate Project 47."

The robot stood still for a moment, before it rolled around. It then aimed it's arm at a nearby stall, and fired off a storm of red lasers, which tore through the stall, and made it light on fire. This gained gasps from the ponies, before the robot rolled over to me, and spoke. "Project 47 at 27% Working Capacity..."

I nodded and let it roll back to the Library, before I launched off the clouds, which swirled around the stall, then floated away, and the stall was even better then it was before. This made the crowd cheer, but I wasn't done. I let the clouds head back to the sky, and took a deep breath, then my horn began to glow brightly, and aimed it where nothing could be harmed except a small patch of grass. And with that, a large wall of flames, lightning, and ice launched out onto the spot and gained gasps of amazement from the crowd.

The spell then began to increase, which was making me feel sweat run down my forehead as the spell turned into a large dragon. Said dragon flew into the air, and roared loudly, enough to echo throughout a good fourth of Equestria, before it slammed into the ground, sending up flames and knocking out nearby light bulbs, while the ice froze the ground at the end.

This made me collapse to the ground, breathing heavily as I could feel darkness taking over. That was way more then I expected, which made me call out weakly. "Rex!"

Rainbow and Rex rushed over to me, same as my friends, as Rex pulled out a energy bar, handed it to me, and I took a large bite out of it. It didn't help that much, but I'll have to keep away from magic for quite a while. That was too much for me, and I don't think anypony could do it without going unconscious... Thank you Celestia for teaching me that spell, because that should've shut that boasting mare up.

I looked over, and saw a wide eyed, slack-jawed, and awe inspired Trixie as she stared at me, not uttering a word. This made me smile weakly as I spoke. "Can somepony help me get home? I need to get some sleep."

Rainbow nodded and wrapped her wing around me as she helped me up. "Sure thing, Ethan, just take it nice and slow, and try not to over due something like that again."

I nodded weakly, on the verge of falling asleep, and I could feel my heart pounding harshly now that I think about it. Man I need to get some rest.

...

Rex's POV

...

I looked over Ethan as he slept peacefully in his bed, with Rainbow laying down next to him, and her head over his stomach, which made me roll my eyes at her, and headed downstairs. Once down there, I spotted Applejack and Rarity with ED-E who were in the living room, waiting. This made me hop onto a couch, and laid back as I spoke. "You girls need to relax. Sure, it was Ethan's first time doing it without Celestia giving him extra magic, but he did it, didn't he?"

Rarity huffed at me. "How could you not be worried about him? Isn't he your best friend?!"

I shrugged as I grabbed a nearby bag of chips. "Sure he is, but I don't worry about him too much, since he survived a lot." I then pointed a claw at her. "And if you survived two bullets to the brain, you'd get the same response from me."

They went wide eyed. "WHAT?!"

I then thought of something. "Come to think of it, he said somepony told him he was called special because of it... either him or his brain. Maybe that's why he was able to survive that spell... because everypony else I've seen do it either died or were out cold for a good five years."

The girls were now even more worried, which made me grunt. "I'm not saying Ethan'll be out for that long. He'll be out until nighttime, I can tell because I ran the tests on him."

The girls sighed in relief at that, while Applejack spoke. "Hey, Rex?" I gave a nod. "Tell us more 'bout Ethan. He always mentions stuff, but we hardly know that much 'bout him."

I though a bit. "Well, he did say something about his brain, spine, and heart being taken out of him, and were replaced by metallic replacements."

The girls almost cried out, but I put up my claw to silence them, making Rarity speak quietly. "Tell us more about this, Rex."

I nodded, sat up, and set out my hands to try and make the scene. "Alright, it all started when Ethan got this message on his Pip-Boy about a late night show at someplace called the Mojave Drive-In, and instead of a show, he found a satellite dug into the ground..."

...

Later

Third-Person POV

...

Snips and Snails trotted through the Everfree Forest until they came up to a large cave, went inside, and Snails was the first one to speak. "Whoa! How we gonna find an Ursa Major when I can't even see my own hoof in front of my face?"

Snips spoke at that. "Hold on." He then strained a bit as he made his horn glow into a little light, and it finally went on.

Snails smiled. "Oh. Heh. That's better."

They then head a snarling as they went wide eyed, then looked behind them to see a very large Ursa, who stood up, and growled. The two's responses was screaming as the Ursa roared in anger.

...

Rex and ED-E walked through the night, and were silent as ED-E made a few beeps, which made Rex grunt. "Yeah, Ethan's fine, he woke up a little while ago, and now he's having his date with Rainbow."

*Beep, beep, beep.*

"Yeah, they do make a cute couple I guess... why, you got an id--"

They then heard some screaming, and saw Snails and Snips run past them. This made them confused, then heard a loud roar behind them. They looked there, seeing an Ursa Minor.

*Beep?*

"Yeah, run."

Then they both bolted as fast as they could for Ponyville.

*Beep?!"

"Yeah, I got an idea! Find Ethan!"

...

Ethan's POV

...

I smiled at Rainbow as I took a bite of my vegetable soup, and chuckled as Rainbow got some of her food stuck on her nose. I smiled and wiped it off, then thought for a moment. "So... what should we do after dinner?"

Rainbow thought for a moment with a small smile. "Hmm... how about a movie?"

I smiled, and used my magic to make the daisy in the middle of the table turn to a beautiful, red rose. This made Rainbow go wide eyed as I took it, and offered it to her, making her blush madly as she giggled. I then put it in her mane, and sat back. Rainbow tried to speak, but I beat her. "It's one of my ways to offer another date, next Friday?"

She smiled. "Yeah, definitely."

Just then we heard a mare scream, and spotted Trixie, Snails, and Snips run past us, then spotted an Ursa come out of the forest. This made me groan slightly, and look at Rainbow. "I'll be right back."

She gave a nod as I left the area, and skidded next to Trixie, Snips, Snails, and surprisingly Rex and ED-E.

I then heard Snails speak. "Great and Powerful Trixie! You've got to vanquish the Ursa."

Snips nodded at that. "Yeah! Vanquish so we can watch."

I gave a grunt at this as Rex spoke while Face-clawing. "You still believe in her?! Didn't Ethan go through enough to show you he's better?!"

Snails ignored him. "It took a lot of trouble to get that thing here."

I felt my eye twitch as I spoke for Trixie. "Oh sweet lord, YOU two brought him here?!"

Trixie went wide eyed and looked at me. "HIM?!"

I rolled my eyes at her. "Animal Friend is one of my games." I then looked at the Ursa. "I'd stand back if I were you three."

Trixie pushed past me. "No, I'll do it." I rolled my eyes and gave the go ahead. She then gulped a bit, and her horn glowed, causing a small, black cloud to appear over the Ursa. The cloud then shocked the Ursa on the rump, making him glare at Trixie. "Uh-oh."

He roared at them, causing the three to zip away with a dust trail following them.

Just then all of the ponies of Ponyville came out of their homes, and stared at the Ursa with wide eyes and all began running around in terror. This made me sigh heavily, and aimed my horn at the Ursa. He roared straight at me, while everypony looked at me, worry and horror in their eyes, which made me roll my eyes, and my horn glowed.

Deciding to go calmly through this, I made the wind begin to pick up, and it rustled through quite a few plants near the lake, which made a soft music. I then let my vocals take over a bit, which caused the Ursa's ears to go up, and his eyes were wide with confusion. He then let out a smile and a soft cooing, He also began to rock back and forth to the soft music and vocals while my horn gained a second layer, and I used my magic to lift up the nearby water tower, tossed out the water, got milk in it from the nearby cows. I then closed it's top, caught the Ursa before he could fall on Trixie, and gave him the giant thing of milk. This made it curl up and begin drinking milk, then I managed to put it back in it's cave.

I then grunted as I took a few deep breaths. Not as tough as the other one, but still pretty tough.

Everpony began to cheer wildly, while I saw Rainbow trot over to me, a wide smile, a large blush, and her wings were spread out quite a bit. Rainbow then smiled and spoke. "You're even more special then I knew, Coltfriend." She then kissed me on the cheek, which made me smile and wrapped my wing around her.

Just then Trixie trotted over to me, a smug smile on her face. "Ha! You may have vanquished an Ursa Minor, but you will never have the amazing, showstopping ability of the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She then stomped her hooves on the ground, making a cloud of smoke, before it disappeared, revealing Trixie halfway out of town.

Rainbow growled. "WHY THAT LITTLE..."

I chuckled. "Just let her go. Maybe someday she'll learn her lesson." I then got in front of Snips and Snails who almost snuck away. "Now, about you two."

They chuckled nervously. "Uh... We're sorry that we woke up the Ursa Minor."

"We just wanted to see some awesome magic."

"Yeah! And the way you vanquished that Ursa Minor was awesome!"

I narrowed my eyes at them. "Given that I showed something that was more powerful, and almost knocked me out for five years..."

They went wide eyed, and shrunk in their spots. "We deserve whatever punishment you give us."

I looked at the mess around Ponyville. "For starters, you can clean up this mess. And..." I thought for a moment. "What do you think, Rex?"

Rex smiled evilly as he began to rub his claws together.

...

Me and Rainbow sat in the livingroom, and were sitting next to each other while we watched TV, until I heard Rex speak. "That's right, you two, EVERYTHING. My room won't clean itself."

"BUT IT'S SO GROSS!"

"YEAH! AND WHY IS THERE A TENTACLE IN THAT PILE OF ROTTING FOOD?!"

"That's my pet, Dino, and he loves the trash, so he'll be pretty upset when it's all clean."

We both then heard a loud roar, then heard the two colts scream in horror. This made me shake my head in amusement, while Rainbow ate some Popcorn.

Life is so amazing here.