Nothing is Over

Chapters

Chapter 2 the manticore
Chapter 3 edge of the forest
Chapter 4 terrible party
Chapter 5 night on the town
Chapter 6 market disaster
Chapter 7 escape
Chapter 8 On the Run
Chapter 9 Fireside Chat
Chapter 10 I fought the law
Chapter 11 And the Law Won
Chapter 12 Dreams
Chapter 13 interrogations
Chapter 14 I Feel Free
Chapter 15 A fresh start
OC Cannon fodder needed
Sorry
HOw I PLaNnED ON ENdING It
Chapter 1 This is where the fun begins

Chapter 2 the manticore

Following the road to Ponyville, I saw that it cuts through a dense forest. From my map making memories, I think this was called the Everfree forest. Supposedly dangerous, can’t be as bad as the jungle. It was different, walking through a forest that didn’t have the cries of pain from the wounded, the roar of MG’s, mortars exploding all around, the smell of death and smoke. Instead it was quiet with some occasional animal sounds. That’s another I wasn’t used to, wildlife. I still remember what my CO told me when I got over there ' if you ever get lost and without supplies, remember you can eat just about anything and can use just about anything for everything.’

I’m broken from my train of thought when I here a twig snap off to the side of me. in an instant, my training kicks in and roll just in time to miss a scorpion tail. I look and see huge manticore snarling at me. He looks at me, I stare right back. It roars and I make the first move unsheathing my combat knife slicing at the beast’s legs. It retaliates with a nice swipe at my right side. I stagger a bit only to have the beast pounce on me, pinning me to the ground. I can taste blood in my mouth. I would kill to have my SLR right about now. Using my left hoof in an attempt to keep it away from my face, I use my right hoof to bring the knife into the beast’s throat. I watch as the life drains from it eyes and it falls limp. I kick it off and roll out from under it. Crawling up to lean against a tree, I take a look at my wound. Three scratches, not too deep, not too long.

Catching my breath, look over at the manticore. I blink and I’m surrounded by jungle with a dead griffon in front of me. His chest caved in from the buck I gave him. He was first griffon I fought hoof to hoof. I hear my team calling for me. Finally, Rolling Thunder runs out of the jungle followed by several blasts from mortars.

“MARBLE, GET YOUR ASS MOVIN’! THEY GOT THIS PLACE MARKED FOR MORTARS!” He screams helping me to my hoofs “GO GO GO!”

We take off running down the trail. I see movement to my right as we’re running “THUNDER, THEY’RE TRYIN’ TO FLANK US!” I yell over. I hear a whistle above us closing in. We both knew what it is. Before it hits us, we both dive forward. I didn’t land right and ended up hitting a rock.

I try to look around, but my vision is blurred. ‘Maybe those scratches were deeper than I thought.’ What I can see is that I’m outside of that forest ‘not the jungle’ next to what looks like a camouflaged pillbox. I hear a voice and see a yellow blob approaching me before darkness takes over.

Chapter 3 edge of the forest

This is to set the mood for this first part

It was a bright and sunny day in Ponyville, with not a cloud in the sky. All the ponies were out and about, doing pony things. Fluttershy was having a great day, lunch with her friends and buying treats for her animals. Nothing could ruin this day for her

As she was approaching her cottage, she noticed rustling in the bushes. Thinking it was one of her animals, she continued to her cottage. As she was about to cross the bridge over, a large cloud grey pony come crashing through the brush. She stopped dead in her tracks as the pony seemed to look over at her before he seemed to pass out. He was a large light grey earth pony with a marble rock patterned coat. He had a light blue mane slightly longer than most stallions keep theirs. It was also matted like he hadn't taken care of it. Fluttershy didnt know what to think, until she noticed blood trickling down his side.

I hear the sounds of a cry and beatings. Looking around, I see I'm in a small hut. I look over and see two griffons, an officer and a grunt, next to another pony. One griffon is beating the pony mercilessly while the officer watches on. The officer approaches me, stares me dead and the eyes.

" I admire your bravery, pony, but there is a fine line between bravery and stupidity. You think because you say nothing... You are strong? You are not strong, you persistent bastard." The officer scoffs.

The other pony looks over to me " Don't tell them a bucking thing!"

The officer turns back to the other pony and asks, " Are all pony soldiers like him?"

The other pony then spits blood in the officer's face. The officer wipes the blood off and inhales on a cigar, then sticks it in the other pony's eye. The other pony lets out a bloodcurdling scream.

"Kill them both." The officer says as he leaves the hut. The grunt nods and unsheathes a small knife, before tuning the the first pony.

"Go to Tartarus." Was all he could get out before his throats was slit. The griffon then approaches me

" You are not strong, pony." The griffon mutters loud enough for me to hear.

My eyes fly open. I was shaking in a cold sweat, gasping for air. I feel something soft over my head and eyes. Oh Celestia, they found me and are going to waterboard me. Only, I don't hear anypony around me, like I'm, all alone. My hooves aren't tied down and it feels like a pillow or bed I'm laying on. Sitting up and removing what looked like a wet compress off my head, I see I'm in....a house? Or pet store? From the layout, it's definitely a house. My captor comes into the room with a tray of water. It was a yellow pegasus with a pink mane. She looks similar to what I saw before I blacked out. She seemed almost afraid of me. Maybe she knows what I am and what I've seen and done.

"Oh, y-your awake." She squeaks out just barely audible.

" Where am I?" I ask her. She seems to shrink back a little." Where did you take me?"

" M-my house, o-outside of Ponyville." She answers back. I move to stand up but she nudges me back onto the couch." No, your hurt. You shouldn't be walking around, I was going to take you to the doctor but I couldn't move you that far, um if that's ok with you?"

" Trust me when I say this, I've been through worse." She seemed to get the point as she backed away from me. "What's your name?"

"Um, I'm Fluttershy." I could barely hear her through our conversation, but somehow she got quieter.

"What was that?"

"It's Fluttershy" she said

This time I could barely make it out but I'll just roll with it," nice to meet you, the names Marble Force. Just call me Marble." She just sat there, I guess still trying what to make of me." Well, I guess outlived my stay, so if you could bring me my bag I'll be on my way."

"Your leaving?" She asks as she she walks over to a table with my saddlebag sitting on it.

" Yes, I wanted to get a room in the hotel before dinner. Um, you wouldn't happen to have a map of the town? I don't really know my way around." I say while getting my saddlebag on. There's a slight tightness in my right shoulder and a bit of stinging, but it's not bad.

"Um, I d-don't have a map, but I can show you around. Um if you want." She answers

"Ok, lead the way." With that, we set off towards Ponyville.

Chapter 4 terrible party

Before we set off, I did a double check on my belongings: two candy bars, my watch, my dog tag, a bag of 47 bits, the picture of Raven team, my journal, a box of matches, and my combat knife. Fluttershy seemed a little surprised or scared by the last one.

The walk into town was pretty quiet at first. I don't know if she just doesn't like to talk or if she's scared of me and the fact that I carry around my old combat knife. She finally gained enough courage to ask me a question.

" Um, h-how did y-you get those s-scratches, if you don't mind me asking."

"Hm, oh. A manticore." I answered," A manticore tried to get me."

" Oh my." She squeaks," Um, why do you h-have t-that k-k-knife."

" I had it for a while. Everypony in my squad engraved their names in their handles."

" Y-your squad? You were in the royal guard?" She looks over at me almost quizzically.

"Sorta. I was a soldier, not a guard."

We finally reach Ponyville and I take a moment to stop and look around. Down one road there's a market. Down another there's what looks like a gingerbread house. Further down there's a really decorated what looks like a tent or spire with links Andy purples. Finally to my right there's a bouncing pink pony coming at me and more houses.....wait what? Immediately my field of vision is filled with pink.

" Hi,mynameispinkiepiei'veneverseenyouaroundhereareyounewhereandiknoweveryponyinponyville *GASP* ihavetoplanyourwelcometoponyvillepartydoyoulikecakeilovecake..." the pony talked for 45 seconds, and I didn't understand a word that was said. I look over at the pony who is eagerly bouncing in place and just say "Yes." Both this pink pony and Fluttershy give me a confused look. I just smirk and continue on my way. I look back the pink pony darts off towards the gingerbread house. I look over to Fluttershy and ask who that was. She said it was Pinkie Pie and that I should watch for a party later on.

We finally reach the hotel and get me checked in. I thank Fluttershy for patching me up and showing me around. Looking at my watch, I see it's about 5:30 in the evening. I decided to grab something to eat from town. Setting down my bag, I head out onto the town. Wandering around, I noticed how empty the streets were. I decided to head for the gingerbread house. 'Could really go for some pastries.' I think to myself. As I continue my way, I take note of how eerily quiet everything is. "Something's not right," I mutter. Not wanting to be out in the open if something is going to happen, I double time it over. The whole building is dark on the inside, much like all the other houses and shops, however the sign on the door says open. Slowly opening the door, I'm greeted by darkness until....

"SUPRISE!"

*BOOM*

That sound. That single sound brought it all back. Every part of me was screaming 'We're under attack!" Every face, name, bullet, explosion, cries of anger, cries of pain, and every drop of blood came flooding into my mind and eyes. My mouth can only make one word as I dive for cover.

"CONTACT!"

Then, there's silence. A silence that makes me peer out from behind my cover. What I'm greeted by is the mixture of confused and scared faces of the ponies of Ponyville. The pink pony from earlier is behind what looks like a cannon. Looking up I see a banner that says 'Welcome to Ponyville!' I emerge from behind the table I was using as cover and see every pony start calming down. I used this moment to calm everypony down, even though I'm still a little teary eyed.

" Everything's fine, just a little.. spooked." This seemed to work as they all went back to enjoying themselves, except for six younger ponies, that seem to be coming over to me. Two I recognized as Fluttershy and the one she called Pinkie Pie, but the other four are new. There's a white unicorn with a purple curled mane, a purple unicorn with a purple mane with a pink line, an orange earth pony, and a blue Pegasus with a rainbow mane.

" Gosh, Pinkie, Ah ain't never seen anypony be that surprised from you before." The orange one says. Pink rushes to my side apologizing for scaring me. The blue one looks over at me and notices my watery eyes.

"Pinkie, you scared him so much he's crying."

"No no. It just brought back.... unwanted memories. You surprised me good though." I reply hoping to make this all less awkward." In fact, it's been awhile since I've been to a good party." They all seem shocked at this. Pinkie was the first to speak up.

" Sorry I scared you, but at least your not mad are you?"

"No, I'm not mad. You all have names?" The purple one is first

"Oh, my name is Twilight Sparkle."

"Ah'm Applejack."

" My name's Rarity. It's a pleasure."

"I'm Rainbow Dash. Fastest flyer in Equestria."

" Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie. Sorry for scaring you, I was trying to make you feel welcome, because every pony deserves to be welcome. I love maphhh!" She's cut short by a blue hoof in her mouth. 'Could've used that earlier today.'

"Well, I'm Marble Force. Please, just call me Marble."

" Hey you have the same name as my baby sister, Marble Pie!" Pinkie comments, " It almost as if the author forgot about her!" We all look at her puzzled until I ask what she's talking about. The others reassure me that it's just "Pinkie being Pinkie." We all continue to talk for awhile and eat different cupcakes and other treats.

"This has probably the best welcome I've received. Definitely better than Manehatten."

Rarity's eyes seem to sparkle at the mention of the city. "You've been to Manehatten?" She's almost as excited as Pinkie when I first showed up in town.

"Uh... yeah, I grew up there. Set up a little cartography shop for awhile."

"Oooh! What's it like. The ponies, the fashion, the colors! Ooh tell me" she squeals causing me to flinch a little while I think about the last time I was in Manehatten.

" So this it." Timberhoof comments looking out the window of the train as trash and raw eggs are thrown against the car. "This is the respect we get." He takes out a piece of paper and a quill and quickly writes down an address and gives it to me." You every in town, let me know. It'd be nice to meet up again sometime." I take notice of the name of the city Neighton. The train comes to a stop and I move to exit

"Hey Marble, good luck." Timberhoof calls out with a smile.

"Take care, Timber." I call back. That would be the last time I every saw Timberhoof.

As I move to the door, I noticed a younger pony also move to leave. He takes a look at my service beret and goes wide eyed.

"Your a Solar Beret? You guys were real badasses over there you know." He stammers out I just smile. "Didn't get to see much fighting over there. I was only over there a couple of months."

We both exit the train car and are greeted by yelling and trash being thrown at us.

"Foal killer!"

"Murderer!"

"Your not REAL ponies!"

I position myself so that I'm taking most of the blows and not the other pony. He didn't deserve it. None of us did.

"Marble...are you..ok?" Twilight asks. I shake my head to clear my thoughts.

"W-what?"

"Dude, you just dazed off after Rarity asked you about Manehatten." Rainbow says.

"Sorry, just..lost in thought. But to answer your question. The city's nice once you get past the name calling, the eggs and garbage being thrown at you as you get off the train, and that your family won't associate you with them because you were serving your country for six years." I say,"but I wouldn't know, never really liked the city life."

"Oh, it sounds.....lovely." I think I just ruined the city life for her.

Chapter 5 night on the town

"Wait. Why would ponies throw trash at you and call you names?" Twilight asked. All of them seemed confused and shocked at the fact that Manehatten treated me this way.

"They didn't like that I served for Equestria."

This grabbed their attention. Well except Fluttershy since she knew I was a soldier. "You were apart of the royal guard?" Rarity asks.

"Not the guard. A soldier. That's why I came here, to start over. I hate to ask, but would you know of any place I could work until I get my map shop running again?" Applejack said I could work on her farm for a while." Just stop by the hotel when you wake up, in case I'm not awake; although I've always been an early riser. Even when I was a colt. My mother asked me why I woke up so early, I told her 'more daylight to play in.'"
"Well someponies need their beauty sleep like myself." Rarity chimes in. I was about to say something, when I noticed the noise coming from the speakers. "What is that noise coming from that speaker?" They seemed confused by the sudden change in topic. Never did like to talk about my time in the Berets.

"You mean dubstep? It's Vinyl's favorite." Rainbow asks.

"Is that what that's called. Doesn't this Vinyl have anything good like Chicacolt or Equestrian Lights Orchestra?" They all started to grin. Until Rainbow Dash flew over next to me saying

"Dude, those are such old bands. No pony ever listens to them." I lower my head and reach for a drink. After taking a swallow, I noticed how much it burned going down and how it was missing the sweet alcoholic taste. Looking at the bottle, it read Extreme Hot Sauce.' That's why it burned.' Pinkie looked like she was about to burst into laughter as if she was waiting for my reaction. I didn't have much of a reaction, mostly because of my training and time eating rations that I developed a sort of numbed taste to certain foods, so I just kept drinking it, much to everypony's surprise. Twilight was the first to react. "H-How can you keep drinking that? Pinkie pulled a similar prank when I first got here and I had fire shooting from my mouth!"

"I've had worse." I replied. Glancing at the clock I noticed it was almost 12:30 and everypony was shoveling out. I said good night and stopped by the local bar for a quick drink. I sit at the bar. I said" Hey! Bartender, come down here." He gets down here. He says

"So what you want." I look at him and answer

"One bourbon, one scotch, one beer." I'm sitting now at the bar, I'm getting drunk, feeling mellow. I look down the bar and see the bartender severing a few other customers. I call out "hey bartender, come down here." He comes down here. I ask him what time it was.
"The clock says 1:30, so last call."

I pay for my drinks and head back to the hotel where I fix myself some more drinks while listening to some Music . Don't really remember what happened. The whole night was a blur. All I remember is getting drunk and sluggishly pacing around the room to the music. I don't remember sleeping at all. I also must've punched the mirror because it was shattered and I found blood and broken glass all over my right hoof I must be to drunk to feel it. I look at myself in the broken mirror. My eyes are bloodshot, my mane is even more of a mess then it always is. I woke up sitting on the floor, leaning against my bed with an extreme hangover. A sudden knock on the door partially wakes me.

Author's Note

In case you can't figure it out

Equestrian lights orchestra- electric lights orchestra
Chicacolt- Chicago

Also sorry for the lateness I've been really busy. Actually writing this on vacation

Chapter 6 market disaster

"Where in tarnation is he? He said he would be here!" Applejack huffed she had been waiting close to an hour for Marble to arrive to help with the farm work. "Maybe Ah should go find him." She looks over at Big Mac for an answer

"Eeyup."

"Your right. Ah'll be back." With that, Applejack left and headed off towards town. 'Maybe he's just tired from the party last night.' She thought to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted when Pinkie Pie came bouncing along side her

"Hiya Applejack."

"Oh howdy Pinkie."

"I thought you would be with Marble today."

"Well, Ah was just on my way to get 'im. Seems he overslept. Probably from the party last night."

"Ooh, can come too."

"Ah don't see why not." They continued down the path to the hotel. Reaching the hotel, they were directed towards his room. As they approached his room, they noticed a static buzz coming from his room. "Now what do ya s'pose that is?" Applejack asked as she knocks on the door. No response. She's about to knock again until Pinkie Pie beats her to it repeatedly knocking. The door creaks open. Peaking through the door, they see a grey blob slumped against the bed. Pinkie enters first, closed behind was Applejack. As they enter they are blasted with the smell of alcohol. Sitting there against the bed was a very tired Marble

"Phew Marble, ah don't mean ta be rude but it smells like ya bathed in straight whiskey." Applejack says covering her nose." Pinkie why don't ya take him and try ta splash some cold water on 'im."

"Okie dokie lokie! Come on Marble." She says dragging the half awake pony into the bathroom. Applejack takes this time to look around. A record player was on and at the end of the vinyl record, A shattered mirror in the corner, and a small weathered book with something sticking out of it. Upon closer inspection she realized that it was a picture. A picture of eight ponies dressed in similar outfits and hats. One of the ponies she recognized as a younger Marble and another as....her dad. Flipping over the picture, she saw the names written on the back; and confirmed that it was him.

"He was a good friend." Applejack jumps as she turns around to see a soggy Marble with Pinkie further behind. "Bright Mac, he was a good friend."

"Y-ya knew my pa?" She stammers out.

"Yeah, I knew your dad. Great guy, probably one of the nicest ponies I've ever met... also one of the strongest." He sits down next to her." Let me tell you something about your dad. huff. Bright Mac was one of the bravest ponies I've had the pleasure of meeting. He fought by my side from the beginning of that war until that picture. That picture was taken the day he found he was... having another daughter." He says starting to choke up. 'Apple Bloom' Applejack whispers to herself. "Just hours later...... he would be dead. The wounds and memories he sustained over there, ensuring our victory, would have earned him a hero's welcome...... instead he was killed in that hole, like an animal." He looked over at Applejack. She was on the verge of tears. "Here, you keep it." He says giving back the picture

"Well come on Marble. We got to get you to Applejack's farm." Pinkie says bouncing out of the bathroom. Completely ruining the moment. Marble moves to get the book and places it in his bag. Applejack notices this.

"Ya'll are bringing a book?" Marble just looked at her

"This journal never leaves my side."

The walk through town was pretty quiet. Ponies going about their daily business. Along our walk back to Applejack's farm or as she called it Sweet Apple Acres, we past by the market. Noticing that I haven't eaten anything all morning I decided to stop at a stand that sold breakfast foods. As I go to pay, I realize that I'll be left with a whole 2 bits. I slightly panic, but it must have been enough to annoy the two ponies behind me.

"Come on grandpa, just buy your coffee and go." One of them says while the other snickers away. I turn to look at them. One is a grayish brown with a blondish mane, while the other was orange with a brown mane. Both were pegasi."Finally. You were so slow. Maybe that's why you don't have any bits?" The orange says while the brown one laughs. There a collective gasp from the other ponie around us, which I counted about three, besides Applejack but she was further out. Not to sure if she was paying attention. Anyway, I just look at them until I say

"What did you say?" The orange one looks at the brown one, both of them laugh.

"Your slow, no wonder you don't have bits. Though all you earth ponies are slow compared to us pegasusus"

"Why are you pushing me and it's pegasi." They both look at me like I have three heads, "is there a rule saying that I have to be a pegasus to buy a quick breakfeast."

"Of course there's a rule it's us. Now beat it!" The brown one says while shoving me, or trying to shove me. I barely moved. "I said BEAT IT." He yells while throwing a hoof at me. Very sloppy. I catch it mid-air and return with my own hoof, hitting him in the side of the face. He stumbles back the the orange one goes in. The orange one is in front of me rearing up to buck me with the brown one behind me. Rolling to my right, I avoided the kick. The kick however hits the brown in the jaw. Recovering, I tackle Orange to the ground..... and proceed to punch his face repeatedly. Brown slowly makes his way up and tries to pull me off. "Hey get off of him!" I just push him back. Then he does something so cowardice, I don't know what else could be so low. He goes and gets the guards.

Not a minute later I hear. "HALT!" Looking up I saw about three or four guards surrounding me. One moves to get me off, but I throw and elbow into his chest knocking the wind out of him. They all surround me not moving until the wooden pole of a spear smacks into the side of my face. Every goes black.

Twilight is just about done organizing a stack of books, when her door practically flies off its hinges. They whole stack comes tumbling down around her. She looks to see what caused it and sees a very frantic Applejack in her doorway.

Confused she asks" Applejack, what's wrong?"

"Twilight, its Marble. He got 'I'mself Trouble!" She's practically pacing around the room.

"What do you mean 'trouble'?" Twilight asks

"Ah mean the guards took 'im to the guard barrack! That kind'o trouble! Come on!" With that the two took off towards the Ponyville Barracks

Author's Note

A note. When the story is in Marble's POV. It's supposed to be his journal writing

Also Marble was a corporal in the solar berets. He joined when he was 18. Got over to the war when he was 19. The griffon Civil war lasted 6 years This takes place 10 years after the war. He's about 35 that's why they called him grandpa

Chapter 7 escape

I'm jolted awake by a large bump. Looking around, I noticed that I'm hoof-cuffed, sitting in the back of a guard wagon, and that my bag is missing. There's a guard sitting across from me and a guard pulling. Looking ahead I see the town barracks coming into view. The guard across from me looks up at me and says.

"Hey, you're finally awake. You really screwed yourself and those other two over. The one had to be rushed to the ER." I say nothing and keep looking forward. We arrive and I'm pushed and pulled everywhere. I'm pushed along to this one desk with a guard sitting at it.

"What did this one do, Chief?" He says looking up from some paperwork.

"Nothing much, just disturbing the peace, most likely assult coming later." The chief responded, giving him my saddle bag. The guard took a look at my bag before pulling my knife out of it giving me a strange look. The chief also gave me a strange look before asking, "now why the hay do you need a knife like that?!"

"Protection," I reply simply.

"Protection. What're you protecting yourself against, maricores?" He laughs at that last part. I look at him

"Some." Again they both give me a strange look. I can tell they both don't believe me. They probably think I'm just some crazy old bloke. The guard at the desk sets my bag down on a box by his desk and pulls out a sheet of paper

"Your name?" But I lose focus on them and more on the windows, or more of bars on the windows. Images flash in my eyes of my time in the POW Camp. Griffons all around yelling Pony Bastard and throwing I don't even know what at me. I'm pulled by my vision by the guard yelling louder, "Your Name!" I was so lost in my mind that I didn't even notice the other guard approach us. Realizing that I wasn't going to talk, she reached out for my dog tag. I caught her hoof before she could remove my tag. The chief slams his hoof on the table

"Now we can do this the easy way or the hard way! Your going to let go of her hoof so she can read YOUR name, since you won't do it." I let go and she gives it to the guard at the desk. "Well whaddaya know, old hairy here's a soldier." He says looking down at it." Marble Force, Phoenix Company?" He leans in closer to me. "Now you listen and you listen good. You better act exactly how we want you. Now tomorrow you gotta go in front of that judge."

Meanwhile, Twilight and Applejack are racing down to the guard house to try and get any information about what had happened. Applejack couldn't see what happened, but only saw Marble beating up two other ponies.

"Are you sure, you didn't see anything." Twilight asks hopeful that Applejack saw something that will help Marble

"No, Ah didn't see nothin. All Ah saw was him on top of a pegasus j'est throwin punch after punch. Y'know till the guards took him away."

Two more guards come and take me down some stairs, most likely where the cells are. Before we head down, I overhear the chief to tell the guard to see what he can find out about me. I'm led down to a shower room with a large hose. It was a simple white tile floor and stone walls room.

"Stand over there!" The one guard yells pushing me almost to the floor. I catch myself and walk over where they want me. I was, however not expecting them to turn the hose on full blast, spraying me with a wall of icey cold water. All awhile the two guards are laughing and making jokes. "Make sure to get behind the ears," I hear while I brace myself against the wall.

After that was done, they throw a towel on me telling me to dry off before I'm lead off again. They lead me to another room where there's a unicorn with a scissors and a razor. A. Bucking. Razor. The guard with the scissors tells me to sit down. I stand still paralyzed in fear. I feel a baton wrap around my neck holding me still. Instantly my vision flashes to the war and how I was tortured. I can still feel myself being hoisted up being tied to a post. I wiggle around trying to get loose. That upsets the guard.

"Dammit, this one's hard to get a hold of." The guard holding me comments.

"What's the matter with you, can't you see he's crazy." Another guard says. He sounded younger than the others. I calm down and the guard loosens his grip around me. The unicorn is holding the razor with his magic, looking up at with smile.

"Try not to move. You don't want to cut your own neck." He raising the razor closer to me. I blink and it's a griffon knife slicing across chest. The burning pain errupts all throughout me. I scream in pain and slam the guard behind me into the wall before punching him in the side of the face. I buck the unicorn in the legs making him fall to the ground. The younger guard recieves a punch to the face and side. The first guard starts to recover, but I throw a punch straight into his snout. Knocking him to the floor I take off for the stairs. The guard mare is walking down the hall, probably to see what all noise is. She sees me and goes into a defense position. "Halt!" I don't stop. Instead opt for sliding under her, knocking her legs out from under her. Once under her, I throw her off of me and keep towards the stairs.

Reaching the top, I use my weight and momentum to slam through the door. I instantly head for the box that had my bag in it. Two more guards try to stop me. One from the front, one from the rear. Bucking the one behind me in the face, I face up against the one in front. He charges forward, and I throw three punches into his muzzle and side, before pushing him over a desk. Grabbing my bag in my mouth I make for an exit. I spot a window by the door, because the door had a barred wall next to it. Without a second thought, I dive through the window before rolling and recovering. Galloping past two blurs of orange and purple, I head towards the forest.

"What the hay was that?" Applejack says as a grey pony crashes through the barracks window and ran off.

"I don't kn...." Twilight was cut off as several guards and Chief come rushing out.

"Which way did he go? Where" Chief says, still looking around

"Who are you looking for?" Twilight asks

"That..Marble pony!" Twilight and Applejack can only say one thing

"Oh, no."

Author's Note

Just wondering. What's everyone's favorite top two ponies

Chapter 8 On the Run

Fluttershy was making her way outside to feed her animals, when the sound of galloping hooves approaching. Looking over she saw Marble with his saddlebag hanging from his mouth, further behind him was about six guards, even further was Applejack and Twilight. They were all heading straight for her. Acting on instinct, Fluttershy froze, waiting for them to come crashing down.

Marble saw Fluttershy and instinctively dove over her as she crouched down in fear. Rolling to his hooves, he recovered and continued galloping into the Everfree. The guards were not as successful, as they attempted to stop before crashing into Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy! Are you ok!" Twilight yells over as her and Applejack come running up. The guards quickly get up attempting to reorganize.

"Sorry miss, but we have to keep going." The sergeant states before ordering the other guards to start moving. Fluttershy moves over by Twilight and Applejack.

"What's going on? Why were they chasing Marble? Oh he's not in trouble is he?" Fluttershy asks

"Well, ah went t' go get 'im this morinin. And we was in the market, and he started fightin these two ponies, then the guards came and took 'im away." Applejack answers." Ah guess he somehow got out."

"Ooh I hope he's ok." Fluttershy comments, "We have to help him!"

"That's a good idea. Fluttershy you go find Rainbow, Applejack you go find Pinkie, and I'll get Rarity and we'll all meet back here." Twilight says. Before all three turn and rush back into town.

The six guards continue their search, through the Everfree forest, for Marble. A voice comes through their communication bands causing them to stop." Sergeant, several eyewitness came forwarded saying that it was an act of self defense."

The sergeant thought for a moment before replying. "Ok we'll bring him in and work it out."

"Be careful though. You told me to find information about him. Turns out, he's a former Solar Beret. Says he received the Royal Medal of Honor."

The sergeant stood unsure what to do. "We'll be careful." He says through the band." Alright fan out. 50 yards between each other." The sergeant called out. The guards move to the respected distances. Trudging along, one guard moves to jump over a fallen log, when a leafy mass amerges from a bush. The blob stabbed the guard in the hind leg before taking the crossbow, quiver, and communication band off the guard before disappearing into the foliage. "AAAAHHHRRGGG!" The guard screams in pain. It all happened so fast before she could see what happened.

"That's Firefly. Shit, Lucky get over there!" The sergeant cried. Lucky, a pegasus, rushed to where Firefly was. He was running along, on one side of him was a ditch and on the other was elevated another 2 meters. As he was passing the ditch, something large fell from a tree. He felt hooves connect with his armor as he's kicked down. Looking up he sees a grey pony with leafs and mud covering him. The pony threw two punches into the lucky, before kicking him down into the ditch; into a patch of blue flowers.

Cutlass, and Blue Star continued to make their way through the forest when they heard lucky calling. Cutlass was about to move, when he felt something around his hoof. Before he could get a good look, he was yanked upside down, in the air.

"AHH. Blue get me down!" He yells just before and arrow flies into his leg. "AAAAAARRRGGG!"

"Sweet Celestia! Don't worry I'll get help." Blue Star runs off to find the others" Sarge! Sarge! Sar-AAAAGGGR!" He screams as branch swings back hitting his forelegs with several three inch spikes." AAAHHH! HELP ME! SOMEPONY HELP ME!"

The sergeant heard the yelling." Blue Star! What the hay is going on here!? Come on Swift." He yells to Swift Blade before running off to Blue Star. Swift would have followed if something didn't tackle him to the ground. Sarge kept running until he found Blue Star standing with spikes imbedded in his front legs. "Sweet Celestia, Blue. Hang on." He says as he moves to pull the spikes out of Blue Star. "Ok one, two, THREE!" He yells pulling Blue back causing both of them to stumble backwards. Blue sits crying in pain, while sergeant looks around for Swift Blade." Swift where the Hay are you?" He gets up and heads in the direction he came from, only to see Swift knocked out tied to a tree. He's about to move, when a mass merges from a bush slamming him into a tree. He looks and sees Marble covered in mud, pinning him against a tree with a knife to his throat.

"I could've killed them all. I could've killed you." Marble says coldly." In town, your the law, out here it only me. Don't push it or I'll give you a fight you won't believe. Don't. Push. It." With that, he turns and runs off deeper into the forest leaving the shaking sergeant.

Twilight and her friends were making their way to the HQ the guards have set up. They passed by several guards bandaged up being carried away. They passed by one guard who looked like a ball of fluff.

"Gee, what happened to him?" Rainbow comments.

"Fell in those blue flowers." The girls look over and see the sergeant walking over to them.

"Who did all this?" Asks Twilight.

"Your psycho friend out there."

"Pinkie?" Rainbow comments. Sarge gives her a look, while rainbow recieves a smack on the back of the head curtesy of Applejack.

"What. No that Marble guy that showed up in town." Sarge comments as he heads towards the Hq tent. "Now to make matters worse, we've learned that he didn't even start the fight. How he can fight two pegasi and take on, basically the entirety of Ponyvilles garrison is beyond me. *scoffs* Don't know what the hay would pose Celestial to make a pony like Marble."

"Celestia didn't make Marble." They all turn to see a tall olive green unicorn with a charcoal mane. He's wearing a black beret with a phoenix emblem and a long grey trench coat. "I made him." They are all confused by his sudden appearance.

"Who the hay are you?" Sarge asks.

"Name's Trottman. Colonel Trottman." He says

"Well we're a little busy here colonel, what can I do for you." The sergeant says

"I've come to get my pony."

"Woah, woah, woah. Your pony?" Asks Rainbow Dash. Trottman turns to her and says

"I recruited him, trained him, and commanded him for six years durning the Griffin Civil War. I think that make him mine."

I wonder why Canterlot would send a full bird colonel to deal with this." Sarge joins in again

"The army thought I could be of help."

"Well I don't know in what way. Marble's a civilian so he's our problem." Trottman is slightly taken aback by this

"I-I don't think you understand. I didn't come down here to rescue Marble from you. I came here to rescue you from him." Sarge looks at him with a smug grin on his face.

"Is that right, well we all appreciate your concern colonel. We'll try to extra careful out there." Trottman glances outside at the wounded guards then back at the sergeant before saying.

"I'm just amazed he allowed any of your possy to live."

"Is that right."

"Strictly speaking, he slipped up. You're lucky to be breathing."

"Well that's just great!" Sarge exclaims slamming his hoof down. "Colonel you came down her to see why one your swords has a dull blade!"

"You don't want to accept the fact that your dealing with in guerrilla warfare. With a pony whose the best. With bows, with knife, with his barehooves, even weapons you've never seen. With a pony whose been trained to ignore pain, ignore weather. To live off the land. To eat things that'll make a billy goat puke. In the griffin lands, his job was to expose of enemy personal. To Kill. Period. Win by attrition. Well Marble was the best." Everyone was in their own different state of shock muttering to themselves

"Ignore pain?"

"Weapons we've never seen?"

"K-kill?"

"Ok colonel, now you've got us all scared. W-what do you and your special forces think we ought to do about your psycho out there." Sarge ask while motioning towards the forest.

"Let him go." Rainbow Dash was the first to come out of the stupor.

"Do WHAT!" She yells

"Let him go, for now. Defuse the whole situation. Defuse him. Create a gap and let him slip through, then put out a national APB. In a couple weeks you'll pick him up in Appaloosa or some place cleaning windows. There will be no fighting and nopony will get hurt." Trottman says calmly.

"I'm sorry colonel, we can't just turn our backs and hope he gets picked up in Appaloosa." The sergeant says turning towards Trottman.

"Well you send your ponies in there, they'll get killed."

"Look, we're just a small town barracks but we're expected to do our job, like our ponies in the special forces!"

"In the special forces, we taught them how to stay alive."

"Well no shit I haven't thought of that." Sarge says getting annoyed by Trottman.

"you want a war you can't win!"

"Hey!" Rainbow Dash cuts in." Are you saying that us six plus all the guards are no match for Marble!"

"Well you send that many just remember one thing."

"Oh yeah, what." She says confidently

"A good supple of body bags." Trottman says as he exits the tent. Every ounce of confidence Rainbow had was gone.

"Trottman!" Sarge calls out to him." Listen colonel, I don't know who's side your on. If you really came to help then follow me."

Chapter 9 Fireside Chat

Trottman and the girls followed the sergeant to a tent filled with radios and maps. There's a guard at one of the radios talking into it.

"Royal guard calling, Marble Force. Royal guard calling, Marble Force. *sigh* If your listening, Marble here's your situation. You're surrounded. Every possible exit has been block. Every road, trail, waterway is guarded. We understand your service to Equestria, and you will receive fair treatment. Just please respond we can work this out."

"Anything?" The sergeant asks the guard. He turns to Trottman and the girls, and explains " He took a communication band off one of my guards."

"Well then he has to be listening." Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

"Ah'll say. If Ah was him, Ah'd try ta listen in. See what everypony else is sayin'." Applejack comments.

"Of course he's listening, but he's not going to break radio silence." Trottman interjects.

"Maybe not for us colonel, but for you." Sarge says. "He's your pony."

"...."

Sarge mockingly says" Maybe you could talk him into sparing all our lives by giving himself up."

"Well I could try." Trottman says calmly.

"Well get him to talk, and we can get a fix on his position. Being that you don't mind setting him up for us."

"Setting him up for you?" Trottman asks." That's like bring the gems to the dragon." Trottman begins working on the radio. Sarge goes into the tent, to see where the signal comes up on the map; leaving the girls outside.

"I hope he's ok." Fluttershy mumbles

"Don't worry Flutters, he'll be fine out there." Rainbow says. "Besides, you heard what Colonel Trottman said about him. About how he can live off the land."

"Yes, darling." Rarity jumps in." But he also said how Marble's job was to k-kill." Mumbling the last word.

"And when we find him, we can have a super-duper-glad-your-not-dead-or-arrested party!" Pinkie jumps in.

"CONTACT! RIGHT SIDE! RIGHT SIDE!" The sound of gunfire and explosions scream through my ears as I turn to the right bringing up my rifle, leveling at the first griffin I see.

*Bang*

The bullet tears through his chest. I repeat as I take aim at the next griffin. I feel a hoof drag my back down into our ditch, we were taking cover in. Looking over I saw it was Bright Mac. "Ah gotcha buddy!" He tries to yell over top the noise. He raises his rifle firing several shots into the advancing griffin army

*Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Bang* *Click*

"Buck! Ah'm jammed!" Mac yells. Turning towards Lt Riverwood, he yells."Lt, we gotta get outta here!"

"Hang on Apple!" Riverwood yells back before turning his attention back to the radio pony. "Raven leader calling Company leader. Requesting immediate air support, danger close!" Lt. Riverwood turned to us calling out." Fall back! Fall bAGGGCCKKH!" He's cut off as a bullet tears through his face, blowing off half his jaw; before resting its self in the radio pony's shoulder.

Mac, practically dragging me away as I was just frozen in shock, tells me." Come on! Ya'll heard him! Fall back!" I nod an ok, and lifted the wounded pony onto my back, heading to the rendezvous point. Overhead, the sound of whistling tears through the sky as friendly mortars careen towards the griffin position. A voice comes from behind me, only it's loud. Very loud.

"Company leader calling Raven!" I'm jolted awake, gasping for air. Looking around, I see I'm still in my makeshift bunker. Really it's an abandoned mine. I see the communication band I took and realized that's where the voice came from.

"Company leader calling Raven.......Company leader calling Raven. Come on Raven....Company leader calling Raven. Talk to me Marble......Company leader to identify Raven team: Marble, Onyx, Shadow, Apple, Star, Ortega, Thunder, River, Colbalt, White, Timber. Confirm. This is Colonel Trottman. Talk to me Marble."

Twilight glances over to Applejack before mouthing 'Apple?' before turning her attention back to the radio waiting for a response.

"....."

"...."

"They're all gone, sir." A somber voice comes through. The guards in the tent frantically search the map trying to find him. Twilight and her friends had to stop themselves from jumping for joy that he responded.

"Marble, are you alright?" Trottman asks.

"Raven team, they're all dead, sir." Marble says slowly

"Not Timberhoof, he made it out." Trottman counters

"Timber's gone too, sir."

"How?"

"Got himself killed over there, didn't even realize it. Virus ate him to the bone."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know."

"I'm the last one, sir."

"It's good to hear your voice again, Marble." He says trying to lighten the mood." It's been a long time. Look Marble, you've done some damage, but they don't want anymore trouble. That's why I've come. I'm gonna come in there and fly you the hay out. Just you and me."

"Where'd you come from, sir?"

"Hoofington."

"I tried to get in touch with you there, but everypony there never knew where to find you."

"Well I haven't been spending a lot of time there, they've got me up in Canterlot. I'm shining a seat with my ass." Trottman jokes.

"I wish I was back in Hoofington now, sir."

"We'll talk about that when you come back in."

"I can't do that, sir."

"Well look, Marble, we can't have you running around out there, wasting friendly civilians." Trottman says, getting slightly annoyed by Marble's persistence.

"There are no, friendly civilians."

"Well, I'm your friend, Marble. I was there with you, knee deep in mud and blood. I've covered your ass more times than once. Seems like bailing you out of trouble is getting to be a lifetime job for me."

"There wouldn't be any trouble if it wasn't for those two dipshit pegasi! All I wanted was a bit to eat, but those two kept pushing, sir." Marble says getting more upset.

"Well you did some pushin of your own!"

"They drew first blood, not me."

"Marble, let me come in there and fly you the hay out."

"They drew first blood." Marble mumbles

"Marble are you still reading me? Company leader calling Raven! Marble acknowledge!"

"He's all done Colonel," Sarge says coming out of the tent" but don't worry, we got a good fix on his position. Come first light, I'm going to put everypony I've got in that forest. Then we'll get him my way. You'll see. He can't handle 200 guards."

Author's Note

Some of the names of ponies Trottman named off aren't in Marble's picture because they were killed earlier in the war. I don't remember if I said this, but Marbles picture was taken about seven or so months before the end of the war

Also the weapons he used during the war are similar to as followed.

Tank- M8 HMC
Rifle- M16A1
Sidearm- colt 1911
Helicopters- Bell UH-1 Iroquois, CH-47 Chinook
Frag grenades
Other

Chapter 10 I fought the law

Celestia's sun rises above Ponyville. Numerous guards patrolling the Everfree forest while others prepare to continue the search. The girls arrive at the command tent from Fluttershy's cottage, as they spent the night. Trottman and Sarge were peering over a map of Everfree. Several areas were X'ed out, leaving a red circle around the south east portion left.

"Have you found anything yet?" Twilight ask walking up to the map.

"Not yet, but we've got it narrowed down to the southern area." The sergeant states."We're going to send out another patrol soon. They're to find him and report his position."

Leaves brush past as we continue our patrol through the jungle. Since we've lost over half our team, we were partnered with another team from Phoenix, Dingo team. Looking around, everypony is exhausted from the humidity and still weighed down from Mac and Onyx's deaths. They both had families waiting for their return. Onyx was just married before getting shipped out here again, and Mac has another foal on the way. Why did the dud land in mine and Timber's hole and not their's?

Carefully hopping over a fallen log, Sgt. Thunder tells us to stop. It was like I was wearing earplugs, because the whole jungle was dead silent. There was no sound except the sound of us getting our rifles ready. Then, we heard it.

"CONTACT!" Somepony shouts.

"Shit!" Another one yells.

"LEFT SIDE! LEFT SIDE!" Rolling Thunder yells.

A massive firefight ensues. The sound of the gunfire was deafening. Colbalt swings his MG around to lay down suppressing fire while the rest of us make for cover. Diving behind the fallen log I ready rifle. Several griffons are charging to my left. I take aim

BANG BANG BANG

Two bullets slam into the first griffon. One in the leg, the other in the neck. The last bullet punches through another griffons chest. It's me, Timber, and Thunder behind the log, while White and Colbalt are covered in a crater. Shadow took cover behind some trees with several ponies from Dingo.

"We've gotta push right! We can counterattack their location!" Thunder yells over the noise, before calling over to Colbalt." Colbalt! Suppressing fire!" He holds a hoof to us telling us to wait." Hold. Hold. GO!" Signaling us to move. We weave through the trees and brush, to try and get flank the enemy. "HOLD HERE!" He orders until a bullet tears through his hind legs. "AAAAHHH!"

"SARGE!" Timber yells. "MEDIC!" The medic from Dingo makes his way to our position to our position
White Room and Colbalt are about to move when small and round rolls into their crater. A second later an ungodly roar echoes through the jungle.

BOOM

An explosion tears through the crater, killing White. Colbalt's hind legs were blown off, as he screams in pain.

"WHITE!" Shadow screams. Enraged with seeing his best friend killed, he slams in a fresh magazine into his rifle.

BANG BANG BANG BANG BANG

He takes out four griffons until he's stopped by multiple bullets hitting his shoulders and chest. He drops dead next to his best friend.

The scene is utter chaos as bullets whiz by, until one strikes my left foreleg.

I awake heavily breathing. The morning sun is peaking through the treetops. Judging how hungry I am, I remember how I haven't had anything to eat since that party. I've got to venture out a little ways and find something to eat.

Stomping through the forest were dozens of royal guards. Several guards hacked away at vines and leaves with their swords. The column stopped, when a distinct smell filled the area.

"Uh, what's that smell?" One guard asks.

"Timberwolve?" Another one says, before the captain steps up and sniffs the air.

"No." He says calmly." That's the smell of death." Looking further down the trail, he notices something large laying down with flies buzzing all around it. "There." He says pointing his hoof at it.

Leading his troops up to it, they see what it is. A dead manticore with a distinct knife wound in the neck.

"What the buck?" One guard mouths. "Do you think this was him?!"

"This can't be." A guard says. The other guards look over to her inspecting the body." This isn't a fresh kill. He's been dead at least a couple days." Stepping back, the captain orders his troops to keep moving.

"Let the hunt continue." One guard jokes.

"Really? Are we hunting him or is he hunting us?" His friend jokes back as the guard patrol continues down the path, unaware that a pair of eyes were watching them from the foliage.

"There they are." Marble whispers to himself as makes his way further in the brush. "Gotta get back to the cave."

Marble continued down trail back to his cave when he heard a twig snap behind him. Looking behind him he saw a shadowy figure obscured by the brush. Pulling out his knife, he dove into the bush and tackled the figure. The blade stopped inches from the figure's throat. Looking down, he saw it wasn't a guard or one of the many monsters of the Everfree, but a terrified zebra carrying a bag of herbs.

"W-Who might you be, that you hold your blade to me?" She asks. Instead of responding, Marble threw the bag into a bush, before running off in the direction of his cave. The sound of the struggle attracted the attention of the guards to his position.

"There he is!" He hears one of them yell. Soon, Marble was surrounded, with him at the entrance, and the guards outside behind, cover.

Trottman, the girls, and the sergeant were all waiting around for an update on the search. Rainbow Dash was flying around lazily. Twilight was looking over the map with Trottman and Sarge. Pinkie and Fluttershy were waiting by the radio. Applejack and Rarity were sitting, trying to pass the time.

"Ugh, this is taking forever." Rainbow complained. Suddenly, the radio jumped to life. Pinkie was about to reach it, but Sarge took it first.

"Ground control to Hq."

"Hq copies." He replies

"Sir, we found him. He's held up in the abandoned mine a few miles south of here."

"Good, now don't do anything till we get there." Sarge says hanging up the receiver. Looking over he sees the girls looking at him with hope. "They found him."

"Finally!" Rainbow Dash exclaimes.

"Well, lets go."

Arrows flew past Marble, As he stood in a corner of the entrance. Every so often he would throw a rock back. More and more arrows were coming, and Marble has had enough. Until, he spots an old lantern filled with kerosene hanging by an old rope on the other side of the entrance. Waiting for a break in the volley of arrows, Marble rushes over and grabs the lantern. Soaking the rope in the kerosene, he wraps it around the top before lighting it. A second later, he throws it.

The guards didn't know what to think as they see a flaming lantern land a couple of feet in front of them, before exploding in a large fireball. All the commotion died instantly. They all took cover, too afraid to move, until the captain speaks up.

"Frosty, I need you to go in that cave."

Frosty speaks up." No, not me, sir."

"What do yo mean not me?" He says with some anger.

"Look I'm supposed to be stationed up in Canterlot. I didn't come down here to get killed by some maniac in some forgotten cave. Besides he probably in there waiting for us."

"Your right, private." The captain says." Light Wing, bring that dynamite up here, we're going to flush him out." He turns towards the mouth of the cave again." Marble, this is Captain Stonewall of the Royal Guard. This is your last chance to come peacefully."

"...."

"Light Wing, do it."

Marble watches as two sticks of dynamite are thrown into the cave, landing a few feet from him before he makes a mad dash deeper in. Seconds later, the entire mouth was destroyed in a ball of rocks and fire, sending a deafening Boom echoing through the forest.

"How much further is this mine?" Rainbow complained.

"Not much." Trottman replies.

"Good this place give the creeps. Like I don't wa-" she was cut off as an explosion echoes through.

"Idiots!" Sarge mutters to himself, realizing where the blast came from.

"That came from the cave!" Twilight yelled." We have to hurry! Come on everypony!" Galloping towards the sound. As they arrive, they see the guards gathered around a collapsed cave. Some were talking, others were picking through the rubble. Sarge marches up to captain Stonewall.

"What the Hay is wrong with you! Don't you ponies listen to orders!?" He yells. "You were supposed to wait for us!"

Stonewall shuffled his hooves." Well he was fighting back! Heck, he literally threw a fire bomb at us!"

"It's your mess! Dig him out!" Stonewall sighed before heading off." I thought you said he was the best of the best?" Sarge jokes to Trottman. "I mean look. A few guards stopped him."

"There was a time that Marble was very special."

"Special my ass. He's just another lawbreaker." The girls just watched as the two bickered back and forth.

"So, do we help them or just watch." Rainbow Dash whispered.

"Disturbing the peace wasn't it?" He replies calmly." That's gonna look real good on his grave in Canterlot. Here lies Marble Force, winner of Royal Medal of Honnor, survivor of countless incursions behind enemy lines, recipient of multiple Purple Hearts, Killed for disturbing the peace?"

"Oh don't give me that shit! He almost killed a civilian, for Celestia's sake!"

"Your pretty damn lucky he didn't kill all you when he had the chance." With that, Trottman turned and headed back to town.

Light.

Light is coming just a little further down the tunnel. Marble rounds a corner, only to be met with an old ladder and daylight. He doesn't know what time it is, as he was down in the cave for several hours. Climbing up the ladder, he peaks his head out. View over looks the clearing all the guards. Dozens of guards are picking through the rocks trying to find his body. 'Not dead yet suckers' he thinks. Towards the edge of the clearing there are several wagons with boxes in them.

"Hmm. That could work." He says to himself. Carefully lifting himself out, he slowly and quietly makes his way around the clearing. Eventually, he reaches the wagons. A single guard stands in his way. Sneaking up behind him, he wraps his hoof around the guards mouth before knocking the guard out. Dragging the unconscious pony into the bushes, Marble slipped the golden armor on and watched as his coat became a clean white coat. Hitching himself to the wagon, Marble set off to town.

Author's Note

Ah, right on schedule.

BTW Sgt. Rolling Thunder is named after the military op during Vietnam not the actual character.

Chapter 11 And the Law Won

The guards at the clearing were cleaning things up for the night, when they noticed something laying along the edge of the clearing. Slowly walking over, they saw a pony, a pegasus pony. The guards stare wide eyed as they recognized the pony.

"Oh shit, is that Firefly?" One guard mutters.

"Wait, if Firefly's here, who took the cart?" Another one questions. A collective gasp fills the clearing

Captain Stonewall clears his throat." Fan out. Stop every wagon and chariot you see. He couldn't have gotten far." He turns to one of the guards." Corporal, how long ago did the wagon drivers head back?"

"About fifteen minutes ago, sir."

"Crap, ok. Contact the barracks in town. Let them know he's still out there, most likely heading there now."

"Yes sir." He salutes and runs off.

"What a mess." Stonewall mutters.

Even though Trottman planned to head back to Canterlot, early next morning; Pinkie insisted on throwing a Welcome to Ponyvillle party. Even then, none of them were really in the mood for a party, with the previous couple of days events.

Sarge and Trottman were exchanging stories from their times in the guard. Rainbow Dash had a particular interest in Trottmans stories of the Berets.

"So, the entirety of Phoenix company was marching into one of the cities. I think it was Eagleton, anyway there was a bridge we had to cross to enter the city. Now Marble's team was taking lead, and right as they get to the middle of the bridge. Their lieutenant stops the whole line, walks to the edge, and starts pissing right into the river below." They all laughed. Pinkie was rolling around on the floor crying laughing. "Another time I saw some uni-" Trottmans cut off as Sarge's communication band starts vibrating. He excuses himself to go answer. Trottman eyes him as he leaves." Anyway, I saw this group of unicorns try to earn their wings, by jumping off the barracks with their rain ponchos."

"Ouch."
"Oof. "

A few seconds later Sarge returns. "That was the forest patrol, they found his body." The girls' emotion seem to drop a little." In fact, he knocked out a guard and stole his armor and a wagon." Their expression turned to confusion.

"Well, he is resilient." Trottman says

"You. You knew he was still alive. You trained him." Sarge snaps back

"Did you really think the training wouldn't include 'how to escape a cave'?"

"Aw come on." Pinkie jumps in" you two were getting along so great!"

Sarge laughs" Don't worry, he won't get away this time."

"If you guys couldn't get him before, what makes you think you can get him now?" Twilight asks.

Trottman points a hoof to her. "Exactly, so what is your mighty plan. You gonna send in more guards after him. You gonna go door to door looking for him. Just what ever your going to do just know that I'm probably the only one who has a chance against him. That's not because I commanded him, it's because he trusts me. You see, I'm the closest thing to a family he has left, after what his real family did to him."

"Sweet Celestia, where do they find you ponies?" Sarge says to himself.

"Oh and one more thing you should take into consideration. What you and everypony else call Tartarus, he calls home." With that Trottman turns and leaves, leaving seven stunned ponies.

Marble successfully snuck into a small line of guards, making their way back to town.

'Why am I doing this? Why are they doing this? I cant turn myself in, because that would be a disappointment to the berets, but I can't keep running.' He's lost in thought when the whole line stops causing him to almost hit cart in front of him.

"What's the holdup?" A guard yells behind him. Peeking around the side, Marble sees two guards making their way up cheacking the guards and wagons.

'Ok stay calm, Marble.' He says in his head, while stealthily grabbing a rock and hiding it under his hoof.' You can do this.'

The two guards finally reach him. They give him a suspicious glance over, while Marble does his best to remain as calm as possible. Just as he thinks they're about to move, they noticed the holes in his armor for wings.

"Halt! You there!" They yell. Marble reacts by throwing the rock at them and running towards town. The rock hits one of the guards in the helmet knocking him over in a daze. The other guards unhitch themselves and peruse him. Realizing he's about to be overwhelmed, Marble makes it so his cart takes up the entire trail. With Marble weaving back and forth, the gaurds can't close in on him.

"S-Stop! Hey!" A guard yells, clearly running out of breath. "Damn, this one's fast." Further down the trail Marble sees light, granted its almost night. The closer to the exit he got, the further behind the the chasing guards got. As he was about to exit, he saw something that made his heart sink. Just outside the forest, was a massive barricade full of guards. Picking the lowest wagon, Marble takes his chance and jumps.

He clears it but his wagon, he was pulling, didn't. A loud Crash followed as his wagon collides with the other. Marble is thrown free as the hitch breaks off snagging his bag flinging off. He lands hard with a THUD, as his helmet rolls off. Groaning as he gets back up, he sees several guards rushing up to him. Getting into a defensive stance, the first two guards charge. The first gets bucked away into a pony holding a lantern. The pony loses his grip and the lantern flies towards the wrecked cart. The second lands a hit across Marble's muzzle.

The girls and Sarge followed close behind Trottman as he made his way through Ponyville hoping to run into Marble.

"Ugh, this is hopeless." Rainbow complained." How are we ever going to find him." She got her answer a massive fireball erupts over the edge to town.

"Found him!" Pinkie Pie yells as she points towards the explosion.The group took off in a full gallop towards the fire.

Marble stumbles as the guard lands another hit across his face. The heat from the fire singes his back, but was keeping the guards from all rushing him. The guard rears back to buck him, but Marble slides out of the way landing two hits into the guards side. A sickening *Crack* is heard from the second hit. He falls to the ground clenching his side as Marble sets up a defensive position against the next guards. He looks up into Marbles eyes only to see a cold stare that spoke pain, fear, and sadness.

Diving to the right, Marble dodges the guards swing from his sword. He returns by kicking up dirt into the guard's face. He spots a board off a cart. Swinging low, Marble knocks the guard's forelegs out from under him; causing him to face plant into the ground. Suddenly, Marble is hit with a magical blast sending him flying into a nearby wagon. (not the flaming one ) As Marble is dazed from the hit, the guards close in. Seeing he's being surrounded, Marble responds by rushing behind the wagon he flew into. 'Better to have three fronts than four.' He thought to himself. Peaking into the back of the wagon, he spots a crossbow and a quiver of nine bolts. Silently cursing to himself, he grabs the bow and bolts and prepares his final stand. The guards, seeing that he's boxed in, decide not to make the same mistake as last time.

"Marble!" A familiar voice calls through, followed by several other familier voices. "Marble!" Peeking out from behind his cover, Marble spots Trottman, the girls, and further back Sarge with all the guards." Marble," trottman begins," this needs to stop. Look around, Marble. All of this is because of you. Come on out Marble, let me fly you back to Hoofington."

"...."

Twilight decides to speak up." Marble, we know your scared and confused. Just stop all, and come out. We can end this tonight."

"You can't possibly understand what I'm going through! "They all recoil from Marble's outburst." What I've been through! If you all understood it, you would have to have been there. To see your friends blown apart. Watching your team, that became your family, die in your lap, crying and screaming in pain! To spend six years of your life, living in a hellhole, where every step could cost you a leg or two! Then after going through all that, coming back to the real world, and seeing those maggots waiting at the train station! Protesting all of us, spittin', calling us foal killers and vile crap! Who are they to be protesting us, unless they've been there to know what the buck they're protesting! Over there, we all looked out for each other! Back here, we're no better than a piece of trash on the road. I thought Equestria was about happiness and forgiveness, I guess I thought wrong. Those pricks don't give two shits about us. They didn't care when Starboard had his legs blown off. They didn't care when Ortega landed into those spikes. They didn't care when That shell landed in Mac and Onyx's hole. They didn't care when half of Lt. River's face was blown off! They didn't care about any of us! "

Tears begin to form in the girls eyes, as they hear the pain in Marble's voice. The guards knew the war was bad, but their minds couldn't process how nightmarish it truly was. "Marble," a guard calls out," what will it take for you to come out? What to you want?"

"You want to know what I want? What I want is what all us other vets from the war want, what all those who spilled their blood defending Equestria would have wanted. That is, to be welcomed back. Sure, this war bucked us up but still; even after the nightmares we went through in the war and how everypony treated us when we got back, we still love Equestria and are still willing to lay down our lives to defend it. That is what I want." With a sigh, Marble slumps down against the wagon, mumbling to himself, tears forming in his eyes. Just loud enough for the girls to hear. "Sometimes when I wake up, I don't know where I am. At nights, I close my eyes and I'm back in the damn jungle. The jungle, with all the mud and blood, and the barking machine guns. Sleeping at night there, you had to pray that the centuries stayed alert, praying that a griffin didn't slit your throat while you slept." Marble is taken by surprise as he is suddenly wrapped in a hug. Looking down, he sees it's a weeping Fluttershy.

"Sometimes, all anypony needs is a hug." She says softly. Marble was about to respond, but he was hit by a stun spell, shot by a guard. "Eep!" Fluttershy squeals, before rushing back over to her friends.

"Was that necessary?" Trottman asks." Stunning him like that."

"W-what's going to happen to him?" Fluttershy asks.

"Well, I going to take him up to Canterlot, where he will receive some far treatment. Some of the guards up there know what he's been through." Trottman replies

Chapter 12 Dreams

Pushing open the door, I walked into a large party hall, well as big as you can get in a military base. It was filled to the brim with ponies and soldiers, laughing and having the time of their lives. Something felt.....off. There was a band Playing back in front of a dance floor. A huge banner hung across the wall that simply read Victory. Looking around, I saw my team. 'It can't be.' I say to myself.' They're all dead.' Yet here they were.

"Marble, over here!" Colbalt calls, drink in hoof. Eventually, I make my way over, pushing past all the other ponies celebrating. Shadow poured me a drink.

"Ah can't believe it's ov'r." Mac sighed." Feels like only yest'rday we was shippin' out."

"Me neither." I say, still eying them cautiously.

"Eh cheer up, Marble." Onyx said with his heavy Chicacolt accent." I'm sure things can only get better from here."

"Ha, ya got that right mate." Shadow chimed in. "Bloody 'ell, didn't think them griffins would give up." We all broke out into a laugh. "Ah mean like, they just kept coming. White, remember that time at Clawhook pass, ah swear I took out a whole company myself." The laughter grew as somepony approached us from behind.

"Gentlecolts." Said a familiar voice.

"Colonel Trottman." Sargent Thunder answers in a salute.

"At ease, Sargent." Trottman replies." You colts seem to be enjoying yourself here, so I won't make this long. Just stopped over to wish you all good luck back home, and a safe trip back. This time tomorrow, you all should be docking in Fillydelphia. I'm so proud of you all." With that, Trottman turned and disappeared into the crowd

"Haha, ya hear that guys, we're going home." Onyx laughed." I don't know about you guys, but first thing I do is going to be getting myself a beer, a hayburger and watching the opening game for the Bugbears."

"How can you like the Bugbears? They're terrible at hoofball." Star complained.

"Hey, just you wait. They'll make to championship, one of these days."

"What about you Mac? Got any plans when you get back to Equestria?" Timber asks

"Jest goin' back ta mah farm with mah family. Meet mah new foal." He said with with a hint of anticipation.

"Oi Marble what about you, ya got anything waitin for ya, anypony?" Shadow teased, since I was the only one on the team without a mare waiting for me.

Before I could answer, I noticed something wrong, all of this felt... off. It felt all noise just stopped. There was no music, no laughing, no celebrating. Suddenly a bloodcurdling scream fills the room. No other ponies seem affected by it. Looking across the table, I see Colbalt laying in the ground screaming, and crying. His hind legs were completely blown off. Blood spurted from the ends. "HELP ME! HELP ME!" He screams. I tried to rush over to him, but I couldn't move. My hoof felt like cement. An explosion and another scream reaches my ears. Starboard laying next me. His forelegs were gone and most of his chest was blown open.

"Ahhh!" Star screams in pain." I wanna go home! I wanna go home, Marble!"

I can't take it. I clasp my eyes shut and hold my front hooves over my ears. "Marble? What have you done to us?!" I can't see who said it, but that voice belonged to Timberhoof. Slowly opening my eyes, I instantly wished I didn't. I was back in the damn jungle My entire team was gathered around me, all blooded and mutilated. Timber looked like just a pile of skin and bones. Mac was trying to talk but couldn't with half of his face blown off. Ortega stood to my right with several stakes piercing his body. Lt Riverwood was in front of me. His face was covered in blood as the remnants of his jaw hung limply from his muzzle. Shadow stood just behind him multiple bullet holes in his chest and side. "You did this to us!" They scream. "You killed us!"

"No. Nooo!" I yell. I lower myself to the ground clasping my eyes shut so as to not see them." Make it stop!"

"This is your fault! You let yourself live and killed us!"

"Make it stop!"

"Enough of this!" A new voice yells." Wa-"

I spring up, gasping for breath. Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I take notice where I am. Three stone walls and a set of iron bars. I'm in a dungeon. My ears twitch as I hear hoofsteps approaching from down the hall. A minute later a guard stops in front of my cell.

"W-where am I?" I croak out.

He only responds with, "The Princess wishes to speak with you."

Author's Note

A short chapter. More coming soon ( could be a week(s))

Song is in the mood by Glenn miller if it ever stops working

Chapter 13 interrogations

clink clink clink

The shackles around Marble's ankles slunk along the stone floor as he was led down different hallways to where he was to meet the princess. As he walked, he passed several others guards going about their business. Most turned their noses away, however one caught his eye. A beige colored unicorn with a golden mane watching him with a look of sympathy.

'I-I know him.' Marble says to himself. 'But from where?' Glancing back to the unicorn, Marble noticed that he went back to his post. Marble was torn from his thoughts as the guard behind him gives him a quick shove to keep moving. Though, no one else could hear it, there was one thing that kept ringing into Marble's ears, the residual sounds of misery from the griffin POW camp. As they walked, Marble thought to himself, glancing out a window trying to clear his head. 'Things 'round really changed from the last time I was here.'

We rode in a fancy carriage all the way from the train station to the palace. There were three of us; myself, a medic from the 77th infantry, and a chopper pilot from the 23rd infantry. We rode, all dressed in our red dress uniforms, and myself in my beret. Ponies lined the streets smiling and cheering for us. We smiled and waved back

"Hey beret." The pilot called over, motioning towards the castle. "What do you think it's gonna be like in there?"

Shrugging, I reply. "Don't know. Never been here. Never really left Manehatten till this war."

"H-Hey hey! There's my family!" The young medic suddenly calls out. We look out to where he's waving and see what we can assume is his family. A slight frown meets my face. While we rode to the castle I was only able to pick out my brother from the crowd.

Eventually, we reached the castle. We were led into the throne room where the award ceremony would be. Finally we reached a set of double doors. The threes of us did a quick check to straighten our uniforms. I noticed that the medic also had a Purple Heart pinned to his uniform, as did I. Letting out a deep breath, the pilot looks over to us and says. "Let's do this." The door handles are surrounded by a blue aurora as one of the guards opens the door.

The room was filled with ponies, those from Canterlot, family, and other military officers. All attention was on us as we marched to the front where a waiting Princess Celestia was. Proudly marching up. We stop and bow to the princess,

"Rise my little ponies." She says. "It is my greatest pleasure to bestow apron you three, the Royal Medal of Honor, for your acts of bravery, heroism, and selflessness. You three have put yourself in danger to protect...." as the princess talks, I can't but glance around the room seated In the first couple of rows were the officers and generals. Off to the side was the royal advisors. One caught my eye because she looked really young to be an advisor. She was an orange unicorn with a red and yellow mane. 'I'll have to ask that medic who that is since he's from here.' I say in my head. I'm torn from my thoughts as Princess Celestia levitates three golden medals over.

"Captain Windseeker, for heroically risking your own life, to ensure the safe withdrawal of your fellow ponies, I hearbye award you with the Royal Medal of Honor." Windseeker gives a stiff salute before falling back in line.

"Corporal Marble Force, for heroically sacrificing yourself by staying behind to ensure your platoon's safe departure, I hearbye award you with the Royal Medal of Honor." I follow up by also giving a stiff salute.

" Private Redhawk, for staying behind, ensuring that every last wounded soldier be saved before worrying about your own injuries, I hearbye award you with the Royal Medal of Honor." He also gives a stiff salute. I could see a slight tear working in his eyes." Let us congratulate our heros!" The officer rise and salute while the civilians stomp and clap.

The road leading to Fluttershy's house was busy with activity. Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy volunteered to help the guards to clear the road from last night. Lifting a broken wheel, Spike notices a ripped saddle bag with a small book next to it.

"Spike, did you find something?" Twilight says over Spike's shoulder, causing him to jump

"Gah! Oh, yeah, um this." He says hold out the book. Twilight takes hold it in her magic, and notices that there's no title. The front looked like it did have a title but was worn off. Flipping to the first page, she sees a small message was written in the corner that read "To Marble, from Silver Maple. Come home safe brother." A little ways down, another long message was scribbled down

-April 21, 3812 in the era of Celestia,
Today's the day we finally ship out. Before I boarded the train to Fillydelphia, my brother gave me this journal. I've never see such a crowd at the train station of either city. So many families were there, seeing off loved ones. The bands were play all the way to the harbor. Ponies cheering everywhere. Through all the shouts, tears, and cheers; we boarded the ships and headed off to war. My ship was the HMS Star Swirl. Everypony on board seems eager to get over there, though should probably get comfortable. Somepony a few bunks down from me and Onxy is blaring music. The COs told us it takes at least two days to sail to the griffin lands.....-

"It's his journal." Twilight mumbles with a sigh.

"He keeps a diary!?" Spike laughs." Him? From what you told me, he didn't sound like the type to keep diary."

"No Spike! It's his journal that he apparently kept while he was at war. From the first page, it looks like it was a gift from his family, or at least his brother...... and there's nothing wrong with keeping a journal." Looking down at the book in her grasp, another sigh leaves Twilight's breath. "I wonder, if we're allowed to, if we should return his journal to him."

"I think that would be the right thing to do, if that's ok with you." Turning around, they see that Fluttershy standing behind them. "Oh, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm sorry."

"We're fine Fluttershy, but your right." Twilight says.

"Oh, I- I am?"

"Yes, we should return Marble's journal to him." Twilight states proudly before faltering ." Just... whenever we get a chance. I'm sure the castle is very busy at the moment."

"Oh." Fluttershy and Spike say in unison.

Marble is thrown into a chair. His hooves are chained to the table in front of him. He was told the princess was waiting for him, however no one else was there. A few minutes later, the door opens revealing Princess Celestia. Marble expected her to have a face of anger, but he was met with a face that showed small amounts of concern as she moved to sit across from him. Time slows to a crawl as she takes her seat.

After what felt like hours, Celestial broke the silence." Marble, I know there has been some confusion in the past couple of days about what happened."

"No kidding." Marble scoffs, rolling his eyes.

"Well," Celestia continues" we have the reports from the two pegasi you assaulted, and the reports from bystanders. We even have reports from the guards the arrived on scene."

"What would they know? They didn't see who or what started it. And I acted in self defense." Marble countered.

"That's... what we want to hear, your side of the incident." She said.

"Well." Marble says, shuffling in his chair." I was walking through Ponyville, when I decided to get something to eat. So, I stopped at a shop that had sandwiches. Since I was new in town, I didn't really know the menu so I was slow. Too slow, I guess for those two behind me as they were making all kinds of remarks about how I didn't have a lot bits, how Pegasi were the best, and all kinds of crap." Celestia cringed inwardly at Marble's choice of words, but kept it to herself." I could tell they were looking for a fight. They were the ones that threw the first hoof. I merely dodged and training took over."

"Thank you. Now then, my sister has informed me th-" Princess Celestia starts before being cut off.

"Woah woah woah. Your sister? As in Nightmare Moon. The mare in the moon. Haha! You mean to tell me she somehow can talk to you. And you can somehow talk to her! Ha!" Marble laughs.

A slight frown slowly creeps on to her face. "My sister, Princess Luna is no longer Nightmare Moon, and has been living here for the past seven months." Princess Celestia says sternly. "As I was saying, my sister, Princess Luna has informed me of a disturbing dream she found coming from you. Would you like to explain it. Talking about your feelings is better for you mind."

Rolling his eyes, Marble replies. "You wouldn't understand. You can't understand the things I've seen, the things I've done. There was one time over there, we were held up in a cave on Eaglecrest mountain. There was three platoons: Dingo, Raven, and Noble. Anyway, we were stuck in that cave for almost eight days. The griffins had a nonstop artillery barrage for all eight of those days. Deafening explosions all day and all night. Almost enough to drive somepony...... mad. Well it worked for one pony. On the fifth day we were in there. I was sitting against the wall, cleaning my rifle, when the pony across from me pulls a grenade from his vest, pulls the pin and shoves the grenade into his mouth........I spent the rest of the day picking bones and teeth from my face and limbs."

Princess Celestia shifts in her seat. A very faint shade of green finds its way on her face."Well Marble, it would seem that your actions were in fact, an act of self defense, however there is still the matter of what you did to several of the guards in Ponyville."

"Maybe you should teach them how to fight guerrilla, then they'd stand a chance." Marble mutters under his breath.

"What was that?"

"You should teach your guards how to fight in a guerrillla style. Teach them the ways of the berets."

Celestia ponders this for a moment before responding." You bring up a good point, but Equestria has no need for a large standing army. Until tomorrow." With that, Celestia stands and heads out the door. Another guard comes and leads Marble back to his cell, where his meal is being left. Marble releases a massive sigh of relief.' Feels as though the weight of the world was lifted off me.'

About ten minutes later, Marble finds another pony wanting to talk to him. The same beige pony from before was standing outside."Is that really you? After all these years?" The pony says. Marble just looks up from his food, still trying to remember him." You don't remember me. I guess we can let that slide. I dont even think you said one word to me at the Manehatten station."

Marble's eye widened at the realization of who was standing in front of him." Your- your the one from the train station. The one who commented on my beret. T-that's you!"

"Sergeant Bronze Star at your service." He says doing a goofy bow.

"Sergeant?"

"Yeah got promoted a couple of times in the pass years." Bronze laughs." Soooo what exactly happened that your here?"

"Well if you really must pry."

"Oh I must. I must."

"Well..." with that, Marble began retelling the whole ordeal from him meeting Fluttershy, the party, the fight, the final standoff, and ending with him waking up in this cell. Bronze Star was captivated by it all, hanging on to each word.

Princess Celestia makes her way back to the throne room only to be stopped by Princess Luna.

"So, how did thee go? We hope it went well."

"Hmm, he told me his side of the incident, didn't know you were here, and told a story about how one of his friends blew their head off."

"He didn't know who I was?" Princess Luna stammers.

"He did bring up a good point, and I think that it would be a great idea."

"And what might that be, dear sister." Luna asks. Celestia leans in and whispers her idea to her sister who agrees with it

Author's Note

Feel free to leave a comment

(This is the type of ship Marble was on in his journal part for those wondering) https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/b8/SS_Pretoria_LOC_det.4a15908.jpg/1200px-SS_Pretoria_LOC_det.4a15908.jpg

There a longer chapter!

Chapter 14 I Feel Free

"Ha! I can't believe it took them an entire company to catch you!" Bronze laughs. Marble had finished retelling the events from the past couple of days.

"I guess that shows who's training was better." Marble remarks. "So, what have you been up to since the last time I saw you?" Bronze shifts in his spot slightly.

"Well, after the war, I stayed with the military. They kept me in Manehatten at first. A few years later, I got stationed in Fillydelphia, where I met my wife. Stayed there about a year before being transferred here to Canterlot. Now we're expecting our first foal. So nothing much." Bronze shrugs.

"Congratulations, that sounds nice."

"It's not the same." Marble gives him a confused look." Our gear it not the same. Too clunky, I miss our old gear and uniforms."

"Yeah, those don't look too comfortable to be wearing all day, everyday." They continued to talk and catch up until evening. A guard came and brought Marble his dinner and Bronze headed off to the barrack mess hall. As the sun dipped down and the moon rose, Sleep overtook him.

We were all scrambling for what little cover was provided for us, as mortar rained from the sky.

"GET TO COVER!" Lt. Thunder shouts over the explosions." FIND A FOX HOLE AND STAY THERE!"

I run, trying to find cover, when suddenly; I'm pulled down into a hole. I look and see that Timber pulled me in.

"I got you Marble!" He yells. I peek my head up just enough to see the entire jungle become a hellhole. I don't think there was a spot that wasn't shelled. I don't know why, but the sights of the explosions, and the deafening boom captivated me. It reminds me of the firework festival in Manehatten every year. The sights and sounds of the forest gave me a sense of standing along the coastline with my family watching the fireworks. As I was smiling and reminiscing on the past, Timber was shaking uncontrollably, muttering how "This is it."

Finally after about 10 minutes, the shelling stopped and the heads of the fellow soldiers emerged from their craters. A series of All Clears echoe down the line. "Stay in your trenches!" Lt. Thunder yells. As he's checks everypony and their cover, another barrage starts. This one is different. No longer did I see it as fireworks from when I was a colt. This time I was terrified. I peak out and see Lt. Thunder crawling towards Bright Mac's and Onxys trench. He's about three yards away when an explosion rips through their crater.

"NOO! MAC! ONXY," My cries were drowned out by the mortars. Timber suddenly wraps me into a hug while starring down in front of us. I follow his eyes to a smoking mortar shell.

"It's... it's a dud." He mutters. Looking back to the lieutenant. I catch a glimpse of him. He was starring forward at the smoking crater that used to be his friends.

Princess Celestia waited patiently for, Marble in the interrogation room. Humming softly to herself, she contemplated whether she should follow through with this, or not. 'Is it really that necessary?' She says to herself. Before she has a chance to back down, the door opens and Marble is led inside. She quickly straightens her posture, before greeting him. Once he's seated, she gets a good look at him. He look disheveled and exhausted, like he hadn't slept in weeks.

"Good morning, Marble." She says warmly Marble grumbles a response

"Morning." He glances around the room, before settling his gaze on her." What's this about, I thought we were done yesterday?"

"Are you ok? You look like you haven't slept a week."

"Can't sleep. Every time I close my eyes, I'm back in the jungle."

Celestia gives him a quick glance before continuing."Anyway, the reason I summoned you back is because My sister and I have a proposition for you."

Marble crosses his forelegs." What kind of proposition?"

"A chance for you to start over. I want you to rebuild and train the Solar Berets. If you accept this your time in the dungeon will be shortened and you will begin training the recruits." Marble sat in silence, taking in what she said." Think about it this way Marble. Your one of the only ones here in Canterlot that has experience. You said it yourself "if my guards were trained like the Solar Berets they would have caught you.". If you accept, not only is your sentence shorter, but you shall have a job waiting for you. This is your chance to turn your life around."

Marble looks up at Princess Celestia. Releasing a built up breath, Marble gives his answer." Ok, I'll do it."

Weeks went by, as the lives in Ponyville went on as Pinkie tried to become friends with a new resident named Cranky Doodle. The events of Marble slowly became a distant memory. Now, Twilight and her friends were on their way to Canterlot. Pinkie insisted that they all go the see Marble for a party.

"Twilight, I'm surprised your not reading that book you brought with you, since y'know your an egghead." Rainbow remarks.

"Well, I don't think it would be very polite to be reading through his journal."

"His journal? Just think of all the crazy adventures that must be in it! It could even rival Daring Do!" She says jumping in the air.

"No Rainbow. Your not re- hey!" Twilight is cut off as Rainbow Dash snatches the book from her grasp. Flipping through to a random page she braces herself for the exciting story

September 15, 3813
Today we moved up the western trail to aid the ponies from Penguin Company. It was a humid day, being that it rained all night and morning. After probably 4 hours of marching through the jungle, we reached their position. I didn't know what to expect when we got there. I guess, a company of mostly pegasi would naturally take cover in the trees; while the few unicorns and earth ponies took to making fox holes. Getting settled in, we were introduced to the ponies of Bat.

"So that's Nicknack, Windy, and Cavedirt." One of the pegasi introduced.

"Cavedirt?" Starboard asked.

"Don't ask me. One day during basic he just told all of he wanted to be called that."

"Hey." Colbalt jumps in." If your company is mostly pegasi, why is your company named Penguin?

"Oh that's easy. Cause we got ponies like Pondscum over there." A blue and grey pegasus looks over with a frown before responding.

"Seriously, I crash in a muddy pond one time in basic and now I'm stuck with that name!"......

"Rainbow Dash! Give me his journal back!" Twilight yells, but was drowned out from Rainbow and Pinkie's laughing

"Wait, wait one more!" She laughs.

December 23, 3814
We were give a weeks leave for Hearth's Warming. We weren't allowed to go back to Equestria, but we were pulled off the line. Today we were walking through the market of Eaglecrest. Starboard, Mac, and myself were discussing our plans after the war.

"I'm telling you guy, after this war, we all go to Las Pegasus and celebrate." Starboard says.

"Yeah, and we can all take your airship." I laugh.

"Hey, just you wait. Once we get out of here. I'm going to get my airship."

I was about to open my mouth, when a young griffin carrying a small box approached us.

"Bit." He says. "Bit f-for Hearths Warming." We brush him off and continue along, but he kept following us.

"Starboard, I'm gonna get us a couple drinks over there." I said motioning to a small stand." See if you can get rid of him."

I had just gotten our drinks when a deafening explosion rips through the market. Looking for the source, I find Mac pulling me to it. Looking over at him, he had blood all over his face and uniform. His mouth was moving but, I can't hear anything he's saying, just a constant ringing in my ears . We push our way through the crowd as they escape danger. Breaking through, I see the griffin smoldering, completely unrecognizable. Starboard wasn't much betters. My hearing returned, and I could hear him screaming for help. Me and Mac tried the hold him together, but both of his front legs were missing.

"I WANNA GO HOME!" He yelled. "I WANNA GO HOME MARBLE!"

"Marble, where's his legs?" Mac cries. Tears were streaming down Mac's face as the realization set in. There was nothing we could do for him.

"Ok maybe one story was enough." Rainbow says shoving the book back to Twilight.

"That one was simply dreadful." A mortified Rarity remarks." Why would you read that one out loud, darling."

"Poor Marble." Fluttershy mumbles.

"Oh look we're here!" Pinkie suddenly shouts drawing their attention to Canterlot.

Author's Note

Interesting fact- the name Cave Dirt was a nickname one of my dad's friend gave himself in college.

Might kill off one of the mane 6. Thoughts on that or who it should be. that was a joke

Chapter 15 A fresh start

Bronze Star made his way to where Marble was being kept. Reaching Marble's cell, he was greeted with the sleeping form of Marble.

"Marble." Bronze says trying to wake him. He only receives a groan from the sleeping pony. "Marble come on. Wake up." He says tapping on the bars. "Your going to make me come in there." With a frustrated sigh, Bronze opens the door. "Marble, you're supposed to meet with the princesses in a little bit." He says tapping Marble, until he spots a glass of water." Alright, you made me do this." With that, he dumped the water on Marble's face. Instantly, Marble jumped up. He turned to see Bronze standing there. "Your supposed to meet with the princesses." Bronzed deadpanned.

"That's today?" Marble asked.

"Yes." Bronze said as he turned to lead Marble.

As they walked, Marble took the time to reflect on all that has happened, and how he was supposed to teach the new recruits. The rhythm of their hoofsteps brought back a memory to Marble as he started to whistle to the beat.

Twilight and her friends made their way to the throne room where Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were waiting. They could barely contain their excitement. Upon arriving, they were greeted by Princess Celestia.

"Rise my little ponies." Celestia said warmly.

They continue to wait for Marble so the ceremony can begin. After while they all started to hear a strange noise

"Does anypony else hear that?" Pinkie asked. The others all nod in agreement

"Yeah it sounds like somepony....whistling." Rainbow agreed. They all listen to the Tune. A minute later the door to the throne room opens. They all turn to see, Marble marching towards them. What surprises them is that Marble is the one whistling. He continues to march until stopping infront of Princess Celestia, bringing his hoof up to a salute.

"Princess Celestia." He says before turning to Luna." And you must be Princess Luna?" She nods

Princess Celestial clears her throats before starting. "Marble Force, these past several months have be long and rough. We have called you here to give you a new start at life. It is with my pleasure to say, Marble I give you full pardons over you. We look forward to seeing what your new life has to offer. Congratulations, Sargeant Marble."

The last part takes him by surprise." Huh sergeant?" He asks turning to Celestia, only getting a smile in responses the others cheered.

Marble was led to the dinning hall where a small party was set up for him. This time it wasn't a surprise party. They went about, playing various party games and eating different treats. As the party was winding down, everyone was gathered around the grand table, until Twilight suddenly remembered something.

"Oh!" She exclaimed." Marble, we have something for you." Twilight levitated his journal over to him." We found it in Ponyville, and we thought you should have it back." She said with a smile.

"Thank you."

"So Marble darling, what do you plan on doing, now that you have a new life?" Rarity asked.

"Well I think Princess Celestia would be able to answer that better." He replied.

"What do y'all mean?" Applejack asked.

"What Marble means is that, I offered him a position in the guard. Given his history with the Equestrian military, it would seam as the perfect opportunity for him." Twilight and her friends listen to what Celestia has to say. Marble however drones her out, having already heard it. He instead focuses on Pinkie. More specifically, a fork that Pinkie is idly spinning. He can feel his heart speeding up as his gaze is locked to it. He no longer hears Celestia talking, only the chanting from his griffon captors. He blinks and it's no longer a fork, but a revolver causing him to jump back.

"Marble? Are you ok?" Fluttershy asked. Their attention falls to Marble as they see him hyperventilating and shaking. "Marble?" Marble is snapped out of his thoughts as he glances around the room, slightly calming down.

'It's ok Marble' he thought to himself.' You're not in the jungle anymore.'

"Dude are you ok?" Rainbow asked." What happened?"

"It's just..... a flashback.." He said weakly pointing to the fork." I saw that fork spinning and it reminded me of something else."

"What was the else? If you don't mind me asking."

With a sigh, Marble answers." It was.....well when I was captured during the war. The griffons had this sick and twisted game that they would play with their prisoners... I was one of them." The girl release a gasp, and Marble takes a deep breath as he remembers his time as a POW.

I was thrown into a blood stained chair seated across from another pony, who I learned was named Emerald. The griffons were placing bits on the table, I guess as bets on who would win. Emerald was practically in tears.

"Please Marble, I-I-I don't w-wanna die!" He stammered through this tears. A griffon officer aproaches with a revolver. Inserting a single bullet, he spins the chamber before slamming it onto the table. The gun spins before stopping and pointing at me.

"You play!" A griffin yells while slapping me across the face.

"It's goin' to be alright Emerald." I say trying to calm him, even though fear was in my voice. Only for me to be slapped again.

"You! No talk play!" When I don't move, I'm met with another slap." Play!" He yells as he moves the pistol closer to me. Hesitantly, I raised the pistol to my head closing my eyes, I brace myself for what is to come.

*CLICK*

I drop the gun breathing a sigh of relief, as the griffons cheer adding more bits to the pot. The attention falls to Emerald.

"Please. Help me." He cries.

"It's going to be alright, Emerald." I reassured. I could only watch as he shakily raised the pistol to his head

BANG

The top half of his head was blown open. My cries were drowned out by the cheers from the griffons.

"I have a question." Twilight asks. "What's a revolver?" The glances from the girls makes him realize that they all had the same question from his brief and watered down retelling of what happened.

"Think of it like a crossbow, except there's a rotating chamber for six bullets. Those are tiny pieces of led propelled forward by tiny explosions within the bullet. It could fire bullets faster than any crossbow bolt. It was a distructive weapon for a less civilized age. Though given its size compared to our issued weapons, many of us would scavenge them off the griffons. They were easier to move around." He answered.

"So uh, how did ya get away from them griffons?" Applejack asked.

" I was saved by my team. Funny a few seconds later and it would've been too late." Marble grimaced about how close he came to dying had it not been for his team.

"Kill them both." The officer says as he leaves the hut. The grunt nods and unsheathes a small knife, before tuning the the first pony.

"Go to Tartarus." Was all he could get out before his throats was slit. The griffon then approaches me

" You are not strong, pony." The griffon mutters loud enough for me to hear. Just before he reaches me, the wall behind him explodes in as two ponies rush in. A couple of griffons run in from another room, only to be gunned down by the two ponies. As the dust clears, I could see that it was Lt. Riverwood and Mac.

"Marble?" He asks before turning to Bright Mac." Finish those bastards!" He turns his attention back to me as he checks my injuries." Thank Celestial your alive. Are you ok? Can you walk?"

"Yes, I can fight. I can f-." I say weakly before he cuts me off.

"Mac! I'm not hearing gunshots!"

"There ain't no use Lt. They're already bleeding to death."

Riverwood gets up and makes Mac face me." Look at what they did to your fellow pony! If you can't do it, then he will. Marble make them bleed faster." He says tossing me a rifle.

OC Cannon fodder needed

Ight, I need at least six - eight OCs for the next part. These will become the members of Marble's new team. For plot convenience, a couple need to be pegasi. I'm asking you guys because I feel you guys should be involved somehow and also my brain is fried from these past couple of work weeks. ( seriously, we had to move an entire operation to a new building and still build four factory kits in a week with only 3 people)
Thanks

Sorry

So.... its been awhile. Things have happened to where I've just lost the energy to keep up this story. I don't want this story to end this way. I am hoping if one of you guys want to pick up this story and continue it. I would be OK with that. Seriously message me if you want to do that. Don't worry about your OC's that you've sent me, because I am writing a different fic and plan on using them in that. I hope to have the first chapter published soon

So as much as it pains me to do it, here we go

sorry again
Grohnation

Author's Note

Bottom text

HOw I PLaNnED ON ENdING It

So I replied on a comment asking how I wanted it to end so. I went and copied it for all to see

I was planning on having Marble create a task force ( codenamed Raven) in taking down different mobs. Slowly he would realize that something bigger is coming than just the mob.( the changling invasion) he would eventually find a storage room full of old equipment from his war I.e guns, helicopters, radios, and uniforms during a training exercise. Gathering more and more evidence of the invasion, he warns shinning armor; causing him to put the shield up. Fearing that he bubble isn't enough, Marble orders his team to remain on guard. When the bubble breaks, his team races to the landing area where they keep the couple of helicopters. In a counter attack called Operation Wedding Crasher, they storm the wedding hall in an attempt to rescue the princess and the rest, loading them into the chinook. Twilight questions about the two M60s in the windows. Which Marble remarks. "It's capable of delivering peace and friendship at 650 rounds per minute " Eventually the chinook is swarming with changlings. Fearing they won't make it to the elements, Marble and two other members of the task force parachute out of the back to draw the attention away. Not before giving Celestia a radio.The three of them know it's a suicide move, but are willing to lay down their lives for Equestria. After about an hour of heavy fighting, the three push towards the wedding hall in an effort to stop Chrystalis. One of the members is blasted away, while the other is picked up by a changling night into the air and dropped. Alone, Marble digs in. He's only 100 yards from the hall. A swarm pushes from three sides as Marble backs against a wall. Surrounded and nowhere to go, !arble does something dramatic. He orderes a rocket strike on his position.( a broken arrow) As the one of the other helicopters gets into position, he radios the Princess, saying

"It's been an honor to fight for you and Equestria again. I'm sorry"

Before his radio cuts to silence. A wall of fire erupts in and around the wedding hall. Unknown to Marble, as he ordered the rocket strike, the mind control on shining armor was wearing off. Just before the rockets came in, Cadence and shining armor's love blasted the changlings out of Canterlot.

Author's Note

Now it's dead

Chapter 1 This is where the fun begins

Walking. That's all I ever do anymore, just wander from city to city, town to town. Can't take the train 'cause I need to save my bits for motels and inns. Work's hard to find when everypony sees you as a monster and a killer. I'm on my way to meet up with a friend of mine, Timberhoof. We were in the same platoon. While we were over there in the Griffon lands, he told me that if I ever needed a job to look him up. From what he told me, he used to run a lumber business over in Neighton, before he got shipped over. The walk here has been pretty quiet. It really helped clear my mind, giving me a little peace. The road was empty, though that may be because it's about four in the morning.

Now, you're probably wondering who I am. Well, my name's Marble Force. Used to be in the Solar Berets before our Wonderful princess saw no need in having them anymore, since from what the paper said, we have the Elements of Harmony. Before I got shipped over to the Griffons, I was a map maker out in Manehatten. The only problem was when I got back, I was run out of town. Some respect.

About 5 or 6 hours later, I can't really tell, I come up to my destination about 10 minutes out of town. A simple little saw mill and a small cottage right next to it. Looking around I saw two fillies playing in the yard. Over by the saw mill I saw an older mare. The mare saw me and told the two fillies to go play inside.

"Morning," I call over to her, as she makes her way over to me," is this the residence of a pony by the name of Timberhoof?"

"Yes." She says almost apprehensively, "Um, who are you?"

"My name's Marble Force. You see, we fought together over in the Griffon's land." I answered," I think I have a picture of us together over there." I dig through my saddle bag and pull out an old wrinkly picture of my team. We were all gathered together in our combat fatigues and slouch hats. We were in a small market in one of griffon villages." Ah, here. See there's me, and then Shadow Bolt, then on the other side of me is Colbalt, then White Room. Over in the middle is Bright Mac, then to the left is Rolling Thunder, Onyx, then finally Timberhoof."

She stares at the picture for a second. I stare at it too, I knew why this picture was taken. I knew what happened only about an hour afterwards. This picture was when Bright Mac found out he was having another daughter. Later that day, he and Onyx would be killed in a mortar barrage.

"So," I say breaking the silence," is Timberhoof here or out in town?"

"Dead." She answers coldly

"What, how?" I was stunned.

"Illness. Doctors think it was a virus. They told us he caught it over there. It's a shame, it just withered him to nothing. Lost all his strength and just became a shell of his former self."

I was dumbfounded. I just stared down at picture in my hoof. Timberhoof was one of strongest ponies in the company, well except for Bright Mac. " I'm...sorry." I choke out." I didn't know. I'll just let my self out." With that I turn and leave

About another hour of walking I came apon a fork in the road. One going north and one going south. Not really caring I chose north. Eventually I reached a sign of life. A sign, in fact, that read 'Ponyville 10 miles'.

'Guess I'll stay there till the locals kick me out like every other town.' I mutter to myself as I start going up the road following the signs.

Author's Note

BTW the griffon civil war is supposed to be like the Vietnam war where the veterans were rejected and mocked in public just for serving in case you didn't catch that.