Marcus 657

Chapters

Chapter 1- A Grave Injury
Chapter 2- Savior
Chapter 3- A Worried Pony
Chapter 4- A Princess's Mistake
Chapter 5- Dreams
Chapter 6- Found
Chapter 8- Questions and Answers
Chapter 9- The War
Chapter 10- Introductions
Chapter 11- Fear and Laughter
Chapter 12- Stories of the Past
Chapter 13- Spotlight
Chapter 14- Iron Pony
Chapter 15- Fear and Flames
Chapter 17- It Begins
Chapter 18- A Hard Days Work
Chapter 19- Zealots
Chapter 20- Death and Life
Chapter 21- Love and War
Chapter 22- The Battle for Equestria Begins
Chapter 23- Gateway to Hell
Chapter 24- Preparations
Chapter 25- The Loss of Love
Chapter 26- Did You Miss Me?
Chapter 27- Hospital
Chapter 28- Epilogue
Prologue- The Cold Dead
Chapter 7- Confrontation of the Gods
Chapter 16- Covenant
Sequel: The Return

Chapter 1- A Grave Injury

It was a dark day in Equestria. The sky was overcast with clouds. The wind howled nonstop. However, this would not deter Twilight Sparkle from pursuing her studies. Rain or shine, she would perfect this spell, even if it meant enduring a hurricane. “Spike, read me the description once more, would you?” Her faithful dragon was just a few feet away as a safety precaution. He was always careful when spells such as these were being practiced. He didn't want to be involved in a freak accident. He didn’t feel like going down in history for suffering a particularly strange death.

“Sure, Twi,” the purple dragon responded dutifully. He took up the large, dust-covered tome into his claws from the table standing near him. He opened it, but it was with some difficulty that he found his page, for the wind incessantly tried to scatter them about. At last, he found his mark and pinned the text to the table. Spike read, “It says that for the spell to be a success, you need to imagine the object moving in your mind. Think of it as being not here, but someplace else, then imagine that place in your mind, then add the appropriate amount of power, and it should work!” He had to shout over the tempest.

Twilight gave him an exasperated look. “Spike, you understand that that makes no sense whatsoever, right?”

“Hey, I didn't write the thing.”

The mare sighed. “Oh, alright then, not here, but elsewhere, imagine where it will be, not here, but elsewhere……” She didn’t really understand, but it was worth a shot anyway. Twilight aimed her horn at a small rock in front of her and her horn began to light up. A purple aura surrounded the tiny object, and with a surge of magic, teleported it fifty feet away. The stone reemerged into reality with a crackle of lilac electricity and a small pop from the air displaced. Then, the weather began to worsen again. Thunderclaps began to echo from the high mountains to the east. Raindrops started to fall. Spike shut the book, shielding it with his body.

“Twilight, that was great and all, but maybe we should go inside now…” Spike whined, but Twilight Sparkle wasn't paying any attention. She was focused on a larger rock the size of a small tree.

“I wonder if I can move that,” she whispered to herself. She trotted over to it and again surrounded it with the same purple aura. Twilight added the proper amount of power and the rock disappeared. But it didn't apparate to where she had planned, which happened to be next to a small ravine nearby. Instead, a steady, bright ball of light emanated from the same spot where the rock had just been. Surprised, Twilight cut off her magic and stared at it.

The light began to increase in intensity, growing larger and larger until it was the size of a mighty zapapple tree. The luminosity increased, forcing the mare to first shield her eyes, and then avert her gaze entirely. Spike ran over to her and clung to her leg. The wet grass steamed and browned as if near a fire. The two started to back away for fear they might be burned alive.

Spike yelled, “Twi, we need to get out of here!” He went ignored, for she couldn’t hear anything over the cacophony of thunder and wind. Twilight stood her ground, ready for anything. She wanted to know what caused this, and she was going to find out no matter what.

Finally, the light ceased. The pair looked confused. Suddenly- BANG! A large, fiery explosion burst out of nowhere, sending Twilight and Spike hurtling through the air! Bits of metal and molten slag spewed into the field, carving up the grass and starting small conflagrations. What looked like a metallic wing soared passed Twilight, barely missing her head before it embedded itself into the ground just a few feet away! Smaller bits and pieces of debris fell down around her and Spike. Finally, a large iron-gray box landed next to the wing. It clanged and rolled as it impacted the surface, is if it had been travelling at a great speed.

As Twilight looked up to examine the scene around her, she gasped. Where the light had been, there now was only a crater. There was scattered debris everywhere, although she couldn’t fathom from what. The wing that had flow past her was scorched, as if burnt by a great fire. Twilight looked at the edge of the crater and saw something trying to crawl out. Its shape was unknown to her, but in her heart, she knew that it needed help.
Frantic, she turned to her assistant. "Spike, there's something in the crater. We’ve got to help it!” She galloped towards the shape.

Spike had missed it and responded, “How could anything have survived that, Twilight?” He followed her regardless.

“We still need to find out what it is and what happened!” she shot back to her companion as she reached the wreckage and started digging through it with hooves and horn. As she came closer, she saw that whatever it was hadn't been totally destroyed by the blast and subsequent impact. It was black with a heavy coat of soot, and had burn marks which looked like they could have come from lightning strikes. She got closer for a better look. It stirred. Its leg twitched, and a limb rose. Its skin was metallic and the limb ended in a weird paw with what reminded the unicorn of five long toes. The eyes were replaced with a single large piece of something reflective and amber.

“H-Help....m-me…” it pleased in a tired, croaking whisper. It then dropped the limb, falling to move no more.

Chapter 2- Savior

"Spike, quick! Help me get this thing out of here," Twilight shouted as she neared the hulking mass before her. She use her magic to toss aside more debris in her drive to reach the injured thing moving among the wreckage. "We need to get it some help!” Truthfully, Twilight didn’t know where to go. Her mind needed time to think- time it didn’t have.
Spike, jogging behind her, suggested, “We should take it to the hospital!” Hospital! That word kicked her brain back into gear. She shook her head. They now stood over the motionless form.

"We can’t bring it to the hospital because it’s not a pony. The doctors wouldn’t know what to do- they could make things worse! Besides, the last thing we want to do is start a panic." Spike looked at her like she was crazy.
"But the doctors are trained to help, Twi!” Twilight shot him one of her famous do this or else looks. Spike begrudgingly helped Twilight with the hulking mass by first shifting pieces of debris off of it, and then trying to move it. It remained silent. Spike groaned with effort.

“Stand aside!” A purple aura surrounded it. "Ugh, this thing must way a ton!" Twilight was trying to lift it with magic. It was a grueling effort, almost as if there were invisible wards around it trying to repel the magic. It felt slippery, but Twilight Sparkle refused to give up. The unseen wards seemed to be weakening until suddenly, they vanished with a flash of amber light and a crackle reminiscent of electricity spells. It was with somewhat less difficulty that the unicorn lifted the thing. It was tough, but manageable.

Twilight had to think about where to go next. Medical magic was too risky to try without proper injury assessments, let alone on an absolutely alien creature. Thanks to its thick, armored shell, Twilight couldn’t even get a read on its injuries of appearance. She couldn’t even tell whether it was alive or not. Spike watched her suspend the thing in the air. He knew of but one pony who might be able to help them.

“Twilight, what about Fluttershy?”

Her face lit up as realization spread across it. “That’s it! Fluttershy works with all kinds of animals. If anypony can help, she can.” It would also keep the thing under wraps. It was nowhere near as good as taking it to the hospital, but what choice did they have? Twilight Sparkle knew it was the only safe place where it could be cared for without ponies finding out and potentially inciting a panic. The town had reacted poorly to Zecora, and she was just a cloaked zebra. She shuddered to think what would ensue if something astronomically more exotic suddenly exploded into their midst. That was why they had to go to Fluttershy's house. Fluttershy herself was scared of everything and anything, including her own shadow; she had onced screamed when she saw it. However, Fluttershy's knowledge of animals and their anatomy would provide the best chance of helping the creature.

"You’re sure about this? I mean, she’s scared of pretty much everything Twilight- everything."

"I know she is, Spike, but Fluttershy can't help but help anything in need. Besides, she knows about all kinds of animals; I’m sure that she’d at least have some idea of what to do. C’mon- let’s go." He shut up and followed her to Fluttershy’s house.

“GAH!” Twilight jumped and nearly dropped her cargo.

“What was that?”

Twilight pressed on and replied, “I don’t know, Spike. There’s slippery something about this thing. I keep on trying to grab it with magic, but it keeps on trying to break free- weird...” Spike eyed the thing suspiciously, but remained quiet. The mare was not in the mood for wild speculation about what kind of evils must be hidden inside. As the pair drew near Fluttershy's house, the overcast day broke into a torrential downpour.

They were thoroughly soaked by the time they arrived on Fluttershy’s doorstep. Strangely, their passenger was completely dry, for all the raindrops that came near him disintegrated with a flash of that peculiar orange light. Twilight knocked as loudly as she could so it could be heard over the thunder. They stood there for a moment waiting for Fluttershy to answer. Knowing her, she was probably hiding under her bed because of the storm. It was quiet for several tense minutes. Just as Twilight was beginning to calculate what it would take to teleport the three of them to the hospital, the door creaked open. Fluttershy peeped through the crack in the door. "Y-Yes?" she asked tremulously.

"Oh thank Celestia! Fluttershy, I need your help with something." Twilight levitated the metal object into view. It had been covered in ash and soot before, but now it was cleaned off; or at least partially. Twilight could see what looked like scratches and burn marks on the outer part. It reminded her of armor, but she couldn’t be sure; it didn’t look anything like the armor she was familiar with. Parts of it were covered in this strange black substance that looked like plastic. Twilight was practically pleading with her friend. "This....creature needs your help. It's badly hurt and might die. I'd take it to the hospital, but it’s not a pony and I don’t want to cause a panic. The only place I could think of was here. Can you help, Fluttershy? Please?

Fluttershy, now curious, stuck her head out to get a better look at it. At the sight of it, Fluttershy did squeal and retreat inside, slamming the door with more violence than a mare like her ought to possess. Rather, the pegasus gasped in horror and flung open the door for Twilight and the patient.

Fluttershy cleared off a space on the floor, shooing aside Angel, who scampered away when the body was dropped there. Then, what looked to be a helmet came off the alien. It rolled a few inches away and came to stop with the neck hole on the floor. Twilight got a good look at the creature’s face. The skin seemed very white- almost too white. It had no snout to speak of; it was flat! Its main was nonexistent, or had been shaved off and confined to a strange flat top style covering the scalp. What was still there was a deep brown. It seemed to have more hair, but not much. Its nose was crooked, as if it had been broken more than once. It's lower chin and face was covered in brown stubble. A rather impressive collection of scars large and small crisscrossed all over the head.

Fluttershy looked extremely baffled and worried. “Can you get the rest of this metal off it, please? I’ll go get my supplies.” The pegasus shot up the stairs, leaving Twilight Sparkle and Spike alone. The dragon knew better than to bother Twilight when she was trying to concentrate, so he stayed out of her way.

Twilight didn’t know quite what to do. She started by defeating the shields, again, which was becoming an extremely exhausting task. She then searched the suit for any sort of separations or gaps. She found a few around the midsection. It took a lot of effort to release the locks, but they yielded when the unicorn applied more force. A small hissing of gas and crackle of amber energy escaped. Twilight noticed that the slipperiness finally quit. She surveyed the rest of the enormous body, trying to figure out how to release it. This was no easy feat, as unlike ponies, he limbs were comparatively bulbous and didn’t nicely taper to points. Again, Twilight searched for locks that could be opened. She found them near the ends of the limbs. These were much easier to remove, although each piece seemed to some ludicrous amount. It took another few laborious minutes to completely remove the shell. The upper body was covered in a strange sleeveless shirt featuring a multitude of narrow white and crimson horizontal stripes. The lower region was covered in a form-fitting garment almost halfway down to what could have been the knees.

Fluttershy returned came in with supplies; a needle, thread, gauze, cotton balls, and some warm water. They began to examine the body together, looking all over it. They found a medium-sized wound with a piece of metal sticking out. Blood could be seeped from the gash. The creature was still silent and still, save for an occasional twitch in one of its strange paws with the long toes connected to the upper body. They didn’t have a word for them. They were kind of like the paws owned by diamond dogs, and the other limbs had what they clearly recognized as feet. Sparse dark hairs coated the creature.

"Alright, Twilight I'm going to need you to roll it over onto its stomach so i can reach the wound," Fluttershy ordered. Twilight did as she was told, rolling the being over. Without another word, Fluttershy began to do her work, cleaning it out with the hot water and cotton balls, and then removing the piece of metal, which had lodged itself between two bones. More blood flowed from the gash, quickly soaking the gauze pieces. Spike chose that moment to reenter the room from the kitched. Fluttershy looked at him and commanded, “Spike, go back into the kitchen and grab some big towels.”

“Okay,” he shrugged and vanished from sight. He soon returned with several white towels.

“Thank you.” Now, she gave some instructions to Twilight. “Twilight, could you please put some pressure on the wound so we can close it?” The unicorn complied. Magic made this job several times easier. The towels were all soon drenched with blood, but the flow did gradually slake. Fluttershy voiced her worry. “I'm not really at all familiar with his anatomy, although it does seem to resemble apes in a way. But I’ve never seen a real one of those; only those monkeys at the Grand Galloping Gala." Twilight blinked. She didn’t know how Fluttershy determined that it was male, but that was irrelevant.

Twilight reassured her. “Just do whatever you think you have to. So what comes next? This bleeding isn’t stopping.”

“Well, um… I’m going to need you to hold the wound shut so I can stitch it together.” Twilight nodded and a purple aura covered the gash. Fluttershy began to stitch up the wound, but it took a surprising amount of time to complete her task. Not only was the wound huge by pony and animal standards, for it would have completely slit her belly open, but it was also extremely complex. Some parts were cut. Others were torn. It was just a horrible, bloody mess. Nevertheless, Fluttershy managed to eventually create a satisfactory seal. She wrapped the wound in bandages to stop it from bleeding everywhere, as well as to keep it compressed and closed.

Now that was done, they all gazed upon the creature. It did not look pretty. It was huge; certainly bigger than most ponies. It might have been larger than Princess Celestia or Big Macintosh. Its skin was a sickly shade of white, as if it seldom saw the sun. It might have been forced to live in its armor for months at a time. Its musculature was amazing; while the muscles were large, they were definitely toned instead of merely bulky; they were designed to work long and hard. Myriad bruises, scrapes, and small cuts coated its skin. There were certainly scars everywhere. Much of its body was sparsely covered with dark hairs. It was extremely lean, with almost absolutely no body fat to be found anywhere. Its ribs could be plainly seen underneath the skin through the sides of its shirt. The chest rose and fell slowly and deeply, suggesting that it were in a deep sleep. It all looked simultaneously mighty yet exhausted, as if it had been doing far too much for far too long with far too little food and rest.

Spike, who had grabbed the thing’s helmet and sat in a chair across from the two mares, looked at it quizzically. "You mean to say that you've never seen anything like this? The mare who loves every animal there is and knows everything about them doesn't know what this is???" Fluttershy nodded her head. "Well that's just great! This thing's an alien!" Spike shouted. Twilight glared at him and then focused her attention back onto Fluttershy.

She tried to take a much more sensitive approach. "Fluttershy, I know I've asked a lot of you, but I need to ask for something again. I need this to stay here for the night. There isn't room at the library, and if I have to make the journey through Ponyville with this thing, there will be questions. I lucked out while bringing it here, but I don’t want to risk it again. Can you let me keep it here?" she asked her friend.

Fluttershy stood there for a while, thinking. She finally nodded, knowing it would need to be cared for over the night anyways. "Yes, it can stay. But only for a night." Twilight beamed and gave her a hug. She smiled. "Now go, before the storm gets worse,” Fluttershy said. Twilight nodded, and grabbed Spike, leaving the helmet behind.

Once Twilight had left, Fluttershy looked at the creature before her. It was far too large for any piece of furniture in her home, so she took cushions from her seats, sofas, and stools in order to construct a makeshift bed for it. After laboriously rolling it onto this assortment of cushions, Fluttershy trotted up to her room, thinking that it might want a pillow to sleep on, so she retrieved them. Once she had returned, she laid the pillow next to it, and shifted its head onto it. As she was about to lay a blanket on top, Fluttershy could have sworn that it seemed to briefly stir and open its eyes. A brief vocalization did escape it though. It sounded confused, but not pained. Good, so her patient was alive and not suffering.

Suddenly, it woke up! "W-What are you?" it asked before falling unconscious once again. Fluttershy screamed and ran up to her room, locking the door and barricading it with everything she had.

Chapter 3- A Worried Pony

"Emilia!" Marcus woke with a start, breathing heavily and hacking up a storm. He coughed up some blood and spat it out, not realizing where he was. He wiped off his mouth and looked around at his surroundings. They could only be described as being like a small cottage in the twentieth century style. This is not human; too small and outdated. And most defiantly not Covenant, Marcus thought to himself. He got up off of the floor and noticed the dropped blanket and the pillow next to it. Whoever they are, they’re very kind. He remembered some blurred images from when he had woken up earlier. Damn thing looked like a….horse? Well whatever it was, it was gone now. Marcus started to look more at his surroundings, wondering where the owner of this small house was and what they were doing

That wasn’t enough to distract him from his injuries, now that he was fully conscious. “Aw, dammit, my head!” Marcus groaned out loud. His head felt as if it had been hit by a gravity hammer. His eyes saw the familiar yellow-white glow of electric lighting. He reached up to take off his helmet and examine his head when he noticed that his helmet was missing. Missing? That couldn’t be right. He held his hand up to his eyes. They were bare! He never took off his armor in the field!

Oh, this is bad. He looked around the small room, and finally found his armor neatly pilled on a small chair next to a door. He got up, but did so slowly. The soldier’s body ached terribly. Oddly enough, the ceilings were high enough to even give him plenty of headroom. Suddenly, he felt something wet and sticky on his shirt. Checking himself under the telnyashka he had on, Marcus found his body wrapped in a number of bandages. Underneath the bandages, his wounds felt as if they had been stitched shut. They even treated my wounds… and not too badly... So far, these people didn't seem hostile, but Marcus couldn’t stay. He had to get out of here to find any other UNSC forces, or at least the remains of his team.
He put his armor back on, starting with the pants, then boots, then cuirass, then gloves, and then lastly his helmet. All but the last part were tough to do; normally techs would help him in and out of the ensemble. Marcus didn’t feel any sense of security until he was finally back in his helmet with the familiar stench of sweat and stale air. He didn’t reactivate his energy shields, sensing no immediate danger. The motion tracker showed no contacts. His hand was shaking again, so he alternately clenched and relaxed it until it stopped. I need to get a grip on that. He-he, grip. The man searched the room for weapons, but all he could find was a single grenade. Super! He slapped his hand against the forehead of his helmet. Well, if the time came, he knew what to do with it: go out with a bang.

“This would be just my luck.” He looked around the room, looking for a weapon of some sort. There was nothing. I’d better get out of here; there’s no time to lose. Double checking his surroundings, Marcus opened the door and walked towards the nearby forest, leaving the door slightly ajar.
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As Twilight Sparkle trotted down the street towards Fluttershy's house, she couldn't help but worry about the timid pegasus. She was usually afraid of, well, everything, so this must have been brutal on her. Last night before she had gone to sleep, she had Spike send a letter to Princess Celestia about the day's earlier events. She had written back, explaining in no uncertain terms that the thing was to be kept a strict secret and that they must not allow for it to get loose. Those would apply for the time being until she and Princess Luna could come around the next day and settle the matter. Twilight could tell the Princess was scared simply by the humorless, curt, formal nature of her letter. Most telling of all was the fact that her letter had given her so little information about the issue facing them. This worried Twilight, who had seldom seen Princess Celestia, her beloved mentor, being seriously concern about anything. When the princess had been worried, it almost always meant that a deadly threat faced Equestria. Just what was that creature and what was it capable of it if could scare the princess just by showing up all alone barely alive?

She knew this was a big deal; a life form from another universe, planet, or something, was here! It was in Ponyville! She didn't know everything though and that bothered her. All the mare knew was that this was a major discovery, and that it would affect Equestria on a grand scale. Exactly how, though, she did not know either, and Twilight always hated not knowing. As she walked up to Fluttershy's house, she noticed that the door was slightly open and that the lights were still on. Oh no! Twilight rushed into the building looking around for Fluttershy. The creature was nowhere to be seen; it must have walked off into the nearby forest. It had taken its strange hard suit with it.

Nearly in a panic, Twilight searched the bottom half of the house, looking for any sign of Fluttershy. She checked all of her usual hiding places; under the sink, in the pantry, under the table, but she wasn't there. Twilight Sparkle galloped up the stairs, about to look through her room. She tried to open the door, but it was locked. Twilight unlocked it with magic and tried to open the door again, but it wouldn’t budge. Fluttershy must have blocked it. She pushed as hard as she could against the door. She called, “Fluttershy! Are you here?” No response. The unicorn magically sought out whatever was barricading the door and then carefully levitated the blockage aside. Twilight gently entered the room, determined to scare Fluttershy as little as possible. Once inside, she realized that Fluttershy had blocked the door with a dresser, a chair, a lamp, and a pile of books; no wonder it was so tough to get it. She looked around the room for the scared pony. A frightened squeak drew her attention to the close. Opening it, she found her friend curled up into a ball. "Fluttershy, what happened? Where is it? Are you ok?" Twilight asked at once, looking down at her friend for any sort of injury. The pegasus looked up at her, trembling.
"I-it w-woke up, a-and grabbed m-my leg, I-I didn't know what to d-do," she finally stammered out. Twilight pieced together what she could from the rest of Fluttershy story. The creature apparently had woken up, and had asked where he was, and what Fluttershy was. Twilight thought that strange. Didn't they have ponies where ever it came from? It had then fallen back unconscious. “Not too long ago, I heard something moving downstairs. I was too scared to look. I heard some talking and then footstep going out.”

Twilight felt disappointed by Fluttershy. “Fluttershy, you’re supposed to be looking after it. And now that it’s loose, it could get hurt. Or worse, somepony could see it!”

Her friend could only faintly squeal back, “I’m sorry…”

“There’s no time for that now!” Twilight let out an exasperated moan. This isn't happening- this isn't happening! she told herself. She looked out Fluttershy's window, towards the forest, deep in thought. It must have gone into the Everfree.

Twilight looked back at her friend, who was still petrified. Whatever this thing is, it scared her more than anything had before. She helped her friend calm down with much more than just a bit of coaxing and led her downstairs. Twilight had made Fluttershy a cup of tea to help keep her calm. Then suddenly, with another panicked squeak, Fluttershy dove under the table, upsetting her cup and spilling the tea. Twilight Sparkle turned around to see what the disturbance was, only to find Spike leading both Princess Luna and Princess Celestia into the cottage.

Chapter 4- A Princess's Mistake

As Celestia and her sister, Luna, walked up to a small village cottage outside of Ponyville, the solar diarch couldn't help but admire the scenery of the quaint town. It wasn't big and noisy like Canterlot, with its large crowds, cacophonous streets, and dirty odors. It was small. It was quiet. Tranquil, that’s the word Celestia wanted- tranquil. Perfect peace, quiet, and harmony reigned over the little hamlet. Well, at least most of the time. Twilight Sparkle and her five friends seemed to do an exemplary job at disrupting that. However, with this new adventure, well, those six mares might have just changed the whole of Equestria. Celestia just hoped it would be for the better.

She had long considered it impossible; the transference of beings between worlds. She had poured over every book, investigated every spell, scoured every lead. She had searched for what seemed like ages; it had been ages, making sure that it couldn't be done, but since the letter from last night, she was worried that maybe she had missed something- a minor detail she had either overlooked, not found, or had been lost to history, had just blown a massive hole in her previously ironclad conclusion that inter-dimensional travel was impossible. That fear had been in the back of her mind since she had begun her search all those thousands of years ago. It had been ever since she had witnessed what other universes had to offer that she was afraid to let them come to hers. And now she was afraid that they were coming, and one in particular scared her the most. When she saw that one universe, they had just harnessed the power of the sun itself, and annihilated a whole city with it to end a war that had lasted for years and ended so many lives. Celestia looked over to her little sister to see how she was handling the news. She seemed to be calm, although Luna always did have a good poker face. Nopony could bluff like she did.

"Sister," Luna began, startling Celestia out of her thoughts. "What do you think of all this? ‘Tis strange- a human showing up here… What if they haven't learned the era of their ways? What if they have gotten stronger since last you saw into their world?"

She just had to voice what Celestia had been dreading. The elder sister put on a strong front. "We shall have to wait and see, but based on the description Twilight gave us, it didn't sound like it. As for if they have gotten stronger or not, well, we shall just have to wait and see." Celestia thought back on the letter she received last night. Twilight had Spike write it quickly, not even caring for the spelling mistakes, which told Celestia that it was an important matter. It seems to be wearing some sort of protective armor, and after further analysis and thought, appeared to have battle marks and burns on the armor, although no real damage seemed to have come to the creature; the armor protecting it must be phenomenally durable. It also seems to posses some sort of regenerating shield that renders it resilient to magic. That part worried Celestia the most. Oh dear, how she hoped her student was wrong, but something told her that she wasn't.
Spike greeted them and let them up the path. They entered Fluttershy's small cottage, prompting a most distressing display from the pegasus, who promptly dove underneath the table. Luna and Celestia both immediately got the bad feeling that this was going to set the mood for the rest of the visit.
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Marcus had been following a trail of smoke he had seen earlier that day. It had shown up as he neared the edge of the forest he had been hiding in. As of right now, it was his only hope at finding anyone else from the crashed Pelican. Or at least, what he hoped was the crashed Pelican. For all he knew, it could have been a settlement, or a forest fire, or a volcano. As he walked through the forest, he saw plants he could have dreamt of. Some of them were bright purple with bell-shaped flowers. When he either crushed or brushed against them, they let loose a cloud of gas, or maybe it was pollen? The air filters in the armor blocked it all out, so it didn't affect him. Then there were the trees. Grand, old trees that hadn't been disturbed in what seemed to be a thousand years. Few of those remained on human worlds; they had either been glassed by the Covenant, or cut down for colonization. One thing new to him was the wildlife. Despite having been on many worlds, he had rarely ever gotten a good look at the local fauna. They always ran away and hid whenever war came with its cacophonous gunfire, engines, shouts, screams, and battles. The animals here, however, were strange regardless of the standards used. There were things that looked like wolves, but they were composed purely out of plant matter from trees and vines. There had been a magnificent shining silver stag. There had even been a few seconds where Marcus could have sworn that he had observed a dragon flying overhead!

Marcus definitely knew that he would eventually have to leave the relative safety of the forest and follow the smoke in a more direct path. He continued walking for what seemed like hours. The forest he was in, as magnificent as it was, also had some downsides. Every now and then he would find a bog, and with no way around or over it, and he had to trudge through it. He hated these parts. The weight of him and the armor made him sink like an anchor, and it was a total bitch to get out once he had gone in. Moss and algae stuck to his armor as he walked out of the newest bog. "Disgusting," he said as he wiped as much grim and muck as possible. He continued on. Approximately a half hour later, Marcus decided to follow the smoke a bit more directly. Following it to the edge of the forest, he could see the area where the source of the smoke was coming from. It seemed to be just on the far end of a hillside meadow, obscured from view. He stealthily began to crawl across the field. Even though there seemed to be nobody around, the man could not afford a single mishap. He wished that his armor were painted in a camouflage scheme like those found on historical uniforms from the turn of the millennium. One of those patterns, a Communist German design, called Strichtarn, would have been perfect for just about every single piece of terrain he had so far encountered.

It took him the better part of an hour to cross the quarter mile of meadow. When he finally saw the source of the smoke, Marcus was crestfallen. It wasn't a downed Pelican, but instead merely bits and pieces of half of one- most likely even less. He could already tell there was no way anybody else had survived the crash. Emilia might have made it had she not been ripped away from him just mere milliseconds before the jump. Marcus shuddered, thinking about what her final moments must have been like. Suddenly, there would have been nothing but empty space and a flash of light. And then… nothing. Or worse, she might have lived all the way down to the surface, flailing and tumbling the whole way down. The ground would have come up quickly, getting closer and closer until SPLAT! There was no way that any of the marines could have possibly made it.

A wing lay half buried in the ground, smoking heavily, flames still emanating from it. It spewed great belches of black smoke into the atmosphere. Bits and pieces of metal and molten slag where strewn about everywhere. From what he could tell, only part of the interior of the Pelican actually came with him to where ever he was. That's next on the to-do list Marcus; keep your priorities straight. First, find friendlies- there are none, second- find what weapons and ammo you can. Right, lets get cracking then.

He walked to the debris field, and searched through the wreckage. He searched the Pelican wing first, hoping that part of the interior weapon rack had come with it. It hadn't. Marcus sighed, but continued his search. Finally he came across a weapons container. It was badly twisted and burnt, but seemed to be somewhat intact. It had landed several miles away from the crater, which he presumed to be the entry point of what ever had brought him here. He tried the latches to the case, but they were fused together by the extreme heat. There was no way that any of the marines would have survived that. He did not want to imagine what it would have been like to be burned alive like that. Marcus had to pry the container open, using his superhuman strength to accomplish it. Once open, Marcus inspected his findings. There was a magnum and three mags of ammo, one of which wasn't usable thanks to bent feed lips. Some jerk had likely been using it as a bottle opener. He got what ammo he could from the mag and pocketed it. Also, there was a standard MA-5 whatever assault rifle, with the same number of magazines, although they were all usable and completely filled with 7.62x51mm full metal jacket ammunition. The guns and the ammo were far from ideal as far as hunting equipment were concerned, but Marcus was a good shot; he'd make do with what he had, just as he always did. This remarkable adaptability was what had kept him alive and separated from the other Spartans. Pleased with his findings, he put the pistol in its holster on his right thigh, and then he slung the assault rifle onto his back.

Secretly, Marcus knew that even with these findings, he would be run down eventually. He’d need to eat; a seven foot tall man with lots of muscle mass doing a lot of strenuous physical activity required massive amounts of food. He didn’t have any with him and there had been none in the Pelican. Perhaps the marines would have had some, but all the food would have likely vaporized as they had. Another issue facing him was power. His suit had a nuclear power source, however, it was not inexhaustible and it would gradually reach the point where it would either go offline through depletion or catastrophic failure, assuming that it didn't either somehow break or stop when a fail safe triggered. He needed to conserve as much power as possible. The problem with this was that he relied so much upon powered electronic armor features to function. His guns couldn’t be aimed without electronics, having no iron sights. Oh what he wouldn’t give for some old-fashioned analogue military hardware. If only he could have for himself the traditional AKM assault rifle and the Flora pattern Afghanka of the legendary Spetsnaz Alfa Group!

Casting aside his wishes, Marcus returned to the task at hand. Let’s hope I won't be needing this. Marcus continued his search, but didn't find much. He only located a spare fragmentation grenade, and a partially filled spare magazine for the assault rifle. Pleased with the turnout, considering his bleak initial assessments, he climbed the hills out of the valley and snuck back into the concealment of the trees. He did not notice the rainbow-maned pegasus with a cyan body hiding behind a cloud who had been observing him throughout his search with curiosity and, even though she would never admit this to anypony, fear.

Chapter 5- Dreams

Marcus had been walking in the forest for hours now, and was admittedly getting tired. His muscles and joints were sore with not only that day’s events, but also the fatigue and stress from the prior days of battle. He was bone tired and needed to rest. Once the sun had lowered itself to where only a dim light could be seen over the horizon, did Marcus find a suitable place to camp for the night. It was a grove of trees which formed into something like a bit of semicircle. The trees were tall and featured foliage thick enough so that no one could spot him from the sky without enhanced detection capabilities. More importantly, he was deep enough inside the forest to make it very unlikely that he would simply be stumbled upon by accident.

There wouldn’t be a fire tonight, or on any other night for that matter. Such things were extremely easy to detect and drew unnecessary attention. There was no point in taking the effort to make one. The MJOLNIR armor provided climate control and a flashlight, so he didn’t even need it for warmth or light. Another thing that people often forgot about was the risk of starting a forest fire. He hadn’t seen any dangerous or large animals thus far. He had proven himself time and again in close combat against the deadliest foes in the galaxy; nothing here could hurt him.

He set about clearing the ground he was about to occupy. He swept aside little bits of gravel and twigs, trying to make it as sanitary as possible. It wasn’t for his comfort so much as it was to provide a better surface for performing maintenance on his weapons and to make it easier for him to hide traces of his form when morning broke. Once the ground was clear enough, he went hunting for a rock. Marcus needed a somewhat large, relatively smooth and flat one to act as a work surface for cleaning his weapons. It took approximately half an hour, but he found one in the end. The powered armor made it a breeze to lift and carry the thing. He took care to remember where he had found it so it could be returned later, as if it had never been disturbed.

Marcus sat down and placed the stone in his lap. Marcus unslung his rifle from his back, placing it next to him. He examined it, looking it over for any small fractures or dents. There were none, although the rough treatment of weapons in combat was leaving small little scars and pockmarks. None of it was mechanically meaningful. As any smart soldier did when they had time, he decided to give his rifle a thorough detail strip and cleaning. He took the weapon apart, removing the dust cover before separating the rifle into its three major components: the rifle, the cover, and the bolt. The weapon had been designed with simplicity and strength in mind; no further disassembly was technically required. Thank you, Mikhail Kalashnikov, thought Marcus.

He removed the cleaning kit from its storage place in the buttstock. Marcus was one of the lucky guys who had a full kit with them, although this was due to the fact that he was likely the first guy to use this particular rifle than anything else. Troops had the remarkable ability to jumble up their cleaning kits; finding a regulation one in a deployed combat unit was like looking for a virgin in a whorehouse. He also drew out the ramrod from its place under the barrel. The Spartan gripped the weapon between his thighs, muzzle facing the heavens, before he began to clean.

Marcus took the patch and applied a small amount of solvent to it. He then placed it in the muzzle before using the ramrod to gently, slowly, push it down the bore. When he reached the chamber, Marcus used one hand to pull back on the charging handle so as to avoid putting unnecessary stress on delicate instruments. Inch by inch, the weapon was removed of dirt. While this would have been good enough for a simple quick fix, Marcus wanted to do more than just simply clean out the bore. He then gave the bolt, recoil spring, and even part of the gas system, a rubdown.

Next, Marcus repeated to process, but did it with a dry patch. While it didn’t really hurt anything to leave cleaning solution on it, it was a suboptimal way of preparing a weapon for long term survival. It really was no different than having a Hornet maintained before sending out to the frontlines, or visiting a physician prior to being sent on an operation. Lastly, Marcus took a small plug of dry lubricant and gave his assault rifle a generous rubbing. Lubrication, particularly dry lubrication, prevented dirt from sticking to the moving parts of a weapon and causing it to malfunction in a really bad way. The coating Marcus was now giving it would last for ten thousand rounds on fully automatic, and even longer if he were extremely sparing and judicious with his fire.

It did not take Marcus long to finish. A brief time later, he reassembled the weapon. Thanks to its Kalashnikov-inspired, simple design, this only took a few seconds. The only difficult part was getting the dust cover to go back on. This was easier on old rifles which had been broken in and loosened up somewhat, but was difficult on new rifles like his. It required a certain finesse to get it right. After a few minutes of fumbling around by the glow of is flashlight, Marcus finally got the dust cover to pop into place with a pleasing snap.

There was nothing to do now besides wait for morning. Marcus lay down on his front to conceal the glint of his reflective amber visor, blocking it with his left arm just to be safe. He kept his assault rifle by his side, armored right hand curling lovingly around the neck of the weapon. With almost practiced ease, He entered the land of dreams.

Bodies were littered everywhere. Screams came loud and piercing. Marcus could hear large explosions all around him. The smell of burning flesh and death over took his mind. He looked closer. The blank stares of the dead looking back at him. Oh God, why? Why did they have to stare at him? Behind him, Marcus heard footsteps. Before he could react, a sudden pain shot through his guts. He looked down at his abdomen. Piercing through him was an Elite’s energy sword!

Marcus woke up, hyperventilating. His forehead was drenched in sweat. He had been asleep for a few hours it seemed, for it was now fully dark and the moon was at its peak. His hand was shaking uncontrollably, so he clutched at his rifle to steady it. That worked somewhat. He clasped his other hand around it to gain a better semblance of calm. Why does this happen to me every night? Marcus thought to himself. For the rest of the night Marcus did not sleep, dreading what else his mind would force him to relive in his dreams.
________________________________________________________________________________

Twilight Sparkle was sitting in the living room of Fluttershy's house. Spike was on her right, with Fluttershy occupying a small chair to her left. The pegasus looked pale. Across from them were the princesses. The unicorn had just finished telling her story and Princess Celestia did not look at all pleased by what she had heard. Twilight had told her everything she could remember; the spell, the bright light, the creature itself, and above all else, how it had likely gotten away during the night. She could tell the princess was upset over that part the most, although whether it was at her or over what happened was unclear. That worried Twilight greatly. What’s the Princess so scared about anyway? It seemed harmless. Finally Princess Celestia broke the silence.

Her voice was a rigid monotone, lacking even its typical warm edge. "We must go out looking for it. If it is here, then there might be others as well. It can help us find and capture them. Twilight, I wish you to stay here. Princess Luna and I will search for the creature ourselves." Twilight sat there in shock. This was her discovery and partially her fault. She should be responsible for getting the creature back. Didn’t Celestia trust her implicitly? Was this some sort of punishment for her failure to keep it properly quarantined? She knew not.

"But Princess, this is all my fault, shouldn't I be the one to find it and bring it back? It seemed harmless," she said to her mentor and sovereigns.

Celestia’s voice regained some of its warmth "No, Twilight, you shouldn't. This being is beyond you or any of your friends." At that, Celestia looked at Fluttershy. There was a brittleness to the white alicorn’s demeanor. Twilight looked at the princess, knowing there was something else she wasn't telling her.

"Excuse me for being rude your highness, but is there something else I must know? There has to be something more." Twilight looked intently at the princess, fidgeting nervously with her hooves. Celestia sighed, knowing she could not hide it from her student any longer.

"Twilight, how much do you know about....humans?" she asked her. Twilight looked at her with some confusion. It seemed to take a few seconds for the unicorn’s brain to properly engage.

"Well, not much is known about them. Some say they are real, while others say that they were just fictional creatures. But what is mainly said about them is that they possessed great power, and that they were very destructive. They waged wars all the time, becoming masters of bloodshed and devastation. That’s what the legends claim. Other than that nothing, why? You don't think that it’s....? No..it can't be.." Twilight trailed off. She remembered something else from her reading about the beings. They were a sign of immanent, bloody doom.

Luna interjected, “You should know that the appearance of humans is a sign of fell fortune. You are aware of this, are you not?” Twilight nodded.

Celestia seemed pleased that her student had bothered to learn her folklore, despite it not having been a part of the curriculum. "Yes, I do believe, that from what you described to me, this thing is a human." The pupils of every mortal pony dilated. Fluttershy hugged a cushion to her chest.

"We have to find it, Twilight Sparkle, and quickly." Luna nodded in agreement. As Celestia and Luna began to leave, a certain rainbow-mained pegasus burst through the door.

After only a momentary delay to get her bearings, Rainbow Dash blurted out, "Twilight, Princesses- everypony! There's something I gotta tell you! There's something here, in the Everfree. I just saw it and came as quickly as I could," She lay on the floor to catch her breath. Admittedly, she had only come to Fluttershy’s cottage because she meant to ask about what she had seen. So much for being cool about it.

Luna, with a look of both worry and hope, asked the pegasus what she saw. “Please, Rainbow Dash, reveal everything to us.”

"The thing was huge; taller than you, Princess. It was wearing some kind of armor too, although it was trying real hard to be sneaky. It was searching through this weird, metallic rubble as if it were looking for something. Whatever it was after it found it. It went back into the Everfree Forest once it was done with its search. I'm telling you guys, I've never seen anything like it!" Twilight remembered the wreckage, but didn't understand why it would go back. There was nothing there for it. Twilight looked at Princess Celestia. Even more telling was the absolute lack of bravado or boastful asides in Rainbow’s story.

"Rainbow Dash, show us were you saw this creature. Twilight, I might need you after all. The same goes for you as well, Fluttershy," the white Princess commanded. Fluttershy squealed in fright, hiding behind Twilight and covering her face with her mane.

Chapter 6- Found

As the group of ponies headed out for the Everfree, Fluttershy couldn't help but worry over what could be lurking in the forest. It was getting dark, but Princess Celestia had said that they needed to begin their search without delay. They had made a plan before setting out. Basically, Rainbow Dash would fly over the forest looking for anything unnatural. While Rainbow did reconnaissance, the rest of the group would walk, fanned out into orderly patrols. Fluttershy was scared, and not just of the forest, although that scared her too. It was this...human. She had never encountered something like it; something so big and, well, scary. And those eyes.....so full of confusion, hate, sadness, and something else, something Fluttershy couldn't quite place, yet it brought tears to her eyes. She gave a whimper. Fluttershy was shaken from her thoughts by Twilight, literally. The unicorn had walked into the pegasus when the latter scared herself stiff.

“Come on, Fluttershy,” groaned Twilight Sparkle. “We don’t have time for this now.”

"S-sorry, I'm j-just a little scared, Twilight," the pegasus explained.
Twilight looked at her quizzically. "Of the Everfree? You've been in here lots of times, Fluttershy."

"Well, yes, I know that, and yes I am a little scared of that, but what really if scaring me is this...human. What if it’s like what the books say? E-Evil and all...”

Twilight preempted her from going further. "I hope not Fluttershy, for its sake and ours. I’m nervous, too" Twilight admitted. Suddenly, a guttural sound came from behind them, causing Fluttershy to jump!
Luna had cleared her throat. They all shut up. As Fluttershy wandered through the forest looking for the human, she accidentally strayed from the path, wandering away into the forest. She would have noticed had her mind not been so preoccupied with the human. It wasn’t just a creature; it could talk- in their language, no less. Never mind the sheer improbability of that; he, for Fluttershy was somehow certain it was male, had asked what she was. Had he never seen a pony before? Weren't there ponies everywhere? Wanting to ask Twilight about it, she looked around for her friend, only to find trees and vines surrounding her. She let out a high pitched squeak.

"Oh, oh dear no..." Fluttershy whispered. The pegasus stood petrified in place. She looked around her for her friends, and even looked towards the canopy of trees for Rainbow Dash, but saw nopony around. Terrified of being alone in the terrible, dark, forest, Fluttershy screamed and bolted. She ran for her life, even though she didn’t know where she was going. Just one thought went through her head: anywhere was better than where she was now. Fluttershy charged through trees and vines, through muck and bogs, trying to find a way out, a safe place to hide until either morning came or her friends found her. She ran and ran and ran. The pegasus lost track of time and of space. She stopped when she suddenly tripped over something shiny, metallic and green. Wait! It was moving! She screamed.

Marcus was jolted awake by the sudden impact of something hitting him. He had almost fallen asleep again for the third time that night. He jumped up, assault rifle still in hand. The night was quiet- almost too quiet, as the old saying went. The Spartan scoured his surroundings, only to have his eyes rest on what could only be described as a small.....horse? What the hell? Am I dreaming? No- he couldn’t be. He looked at it, his military conditioning to fire temporarily overwhelmed by his curiosity. The animal had a pink mane and a light yellow body. It had wings on its back. Wait...wings? What the hell is this? Marcus smacked himself upside the head. Oww! He followed the lines of its body and found its head. It looked almost cartoonish- too cute to be real. And then he looked into its large blue eyes. He saw something he hated, a fear that he had seen in almost every human he had ever encountered. A fear of the unknown, the fear of him and what he was and could do to. A mad thought occurred to him. Things could be different this time. He placed his assault rifle on the ground and extended an armored palm.

Marcus tried his most soothing voice. "It’s all right, see? No gun. I'm not going to hurt you, ok?" Seeing no change in its stance or look, he took off his helmet against his better judgment, sensing no threat from this small creature. "It’s alright, see? I'm a friend!" He sat down holding out his hands. It didn't move, although Marcus noticed it relaxing a bit. It still looked ready to bolt.

It spoke, though it was so quiet as to be inaudible except in absolute silence. "Y-your n-no going t-to kill m-me?" She asked him, or at least he thought it was female from the pitch of its voice. Marcus looked at it, not quite sure of himself.

"No, why would I do that?" He lied, knowing full well what he could, would, and might do to her without flinching.
She just stared at him, seemingly unconvinced. "I promise you, I will not harm you, nor will any harm come to you.
Not while I can do anything about it." It was her turn to look confused, and she began to relax a bit, although she was still timid around him. He noticed her shiver.

"Could you some closer so I can see you?” She did so, reluctantly though. She sat as far from him as possible, but close enough so that he could get a good look at her.

"What’s your name? I'm Marcus," he inquired.

She answered with that same peculiar yet undeniably cute squeak. "M-my name is F-Fluttershy," she whispered.

Fluttershy? Weird name... He looked at her, her gaze dropping to the ground. "Fluttershy, I'm afraid I'm lost. Can you please tell me where I am, Fluttershy?" Now the pegasus was really confused. Not only were humans real, but they also weren’t that bad either. However, the books forgot to mention that humans were also insane. She scratched her head with her hoof and looked around, as if she were not quite sure which one of them was crazier.

"Well, Equestria of course, w-where else w-would you be?"

Equestria? What is this I don’t even... This is a dream. This must be a dream! Marcus intended to ask her for clarification when a sudden rustling came from the bushes. Quick as a flash, Marcus did several things. Firstly, he grabbed his assault rifle. Secondly, he somersaulted around to face his enemy. Thirdly, Fluttershy panicked. Fourthly, things got complicated a second later.

Chapter 8- Questions and Answers

Fluttershy was completely baffled. During the scuffle, she had tried to use The Stare on Marcus, but it had somehow failed! It worked on everything! Nothing before had resisted its power, but then she had met this human- this absolute alien, and it just simply ignored the stare. Fluttershy was blown away, trying to comprehend what had just happened while the human was being questioned by the princesses. Marcus stood against a tree, his gaze fixed upon the alicorns, who stood with Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash flanking them. Marcus was now free to move about, but much to the relief of Fluttershy and everypony else, he was still completely unarmed. Fluttershy sat between the two groups. Marcus shifted uneasily, startling the yellow pegasus. Celestia glared as she cleared her throat to speak.

"So... I do believe introductions are in order, you already know who I am. This is my sister, Princess Luna, goddess of the moon and of the night," Celestia gestured towards her sister on her right and Luna nodded her head in greeting. The white alicorn began to motion for Rainbow dash to step forward, but was cut off by Marcus.

"Is Rainbow Dash, right? I heard your name earlier. You got some nerve to talk like that to someone who could whip you silly," he said.

Rainbow stormed at him, "WHAT? Why I oughta-” She stopped dead as Celestia shot her a glare. Marcus stood chuckling to himself silently. Celestia looked at Rainbow sternly.

"Yes, we understand Rainbow that you want to prove yourself against Marcus, but now is not the time for this.”

“Agreed,” added Luna, ruffling her feathers distastefully. “We would vastly prefer that thou dost not settle scores while protecting national security, or on the taxpayer’s account.” The princess turned to Marcus and looked him in the eye. Her voice regained some of its echoing quality with an unsubtle hint of menace added to it. “Human, though we bear you no ill will, we shall not hesitate to defend our subjects. Thou would be wise to be civil. Is that not clear?” The human saluted and bowed sarcastically, not that Luna noticed.

Celestia motioned towards the purple unicorn sitting beside her. "This is my pupil, Twilight Sparkle. She was the one who found you, and brought you to the care of Fluttershy, whom you have already met." Twilight gave a small bow. "Speaking of your..... abilities, I do not recall humans being this strong,nor this agile." She seemed to be planning something. At that Marcus shifted away from the group, turning away and clenching his shaking hand in his other.His words came wooden and measured.

"I'm..I'm not exactly a 'natural' human."

"Whatever do you mean?" Luna inquired, wings flared slightly.

"It's long and complicated, and extremely classified. I'm not even supposed to be talking about it...... All you need to know is that the fairy godmother sure as hell didn’t give it out with goodies." Marcus explained. The princesses frowned.
Celestia didn’t skip a beat. “Then we shall discuss this later.” Marcus stood there for a few moments before nodding his consent.

"Now, speaking about humans, how do you know so much about us?" he asked. Celestia stood there for a moment, not wanting to reveal her secrets, but was willing to do so to win his trust.

Celestia gradually become graver in tone as she spoke. "I have seen into other universes; looking through gates of time and space, looking for any other universes like ours; peaceful and loving. I did not often succeed, however, and I mostly found conflict and hatred. Yours was one of the rare races that had the capacity to truly choose its own destiny, but you were also one of the most corruptible. I have seen others like you spend years to develop technologies that saved billions. But then I saw whole cities purged from existence in nuclear fire,” she ended ominously. Something clicked in the human’s brain. Marcus stood there for a moment, thinking.

"That would have been World War Two. The United States had just developed the first nuclear bomb. They used it to convince Japan to surrender without having to invade. That would’ve been worse."

A voice interrupted. "You've had multiple world wars? Why?" Marcus turned his head, seeing Twilight Sparkle looking expectantly at him.

"If you count the ones that aren’t officially named world wars, then we’ve only had two. If not, then fourteen. And as for why, well…” The man trailed off as his hand began to shake. Most of the ponies simply stared at him as he was standing there, trying to get his hand under control. Fluttershy finally mustered to courage to go up to him. He felt a warmth on his tremulous arm and a soothing voice in his ear. The limb quieted down, but suddenly, Fluttershy found her patient shying away from her grasp.

Fluttershy asked, “Marcus, what’s wrong?” The scene was tense silence.

"It's...it's a psychological disorder soldiers sometimes get after combat called Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or more commonly known as PTSD. It can manifest physically with twitches such as my hand. I've had it for awhile, but it was supposed to have been treated. It came back just over a month ago…" Celestia looked at him knowingly.

Luna said, "So you are a soldier. Say, what caused the disorder?" Marcus looked up into the sky, his eyes forming the famed thousand yard stare and overflowing with moisture. Luna tried to ask him again, but he held up his hand, recoiling like a wounded animal.

It was a long time before Marcus spoke again. "So you know of a way to get out of here- get back to my universe?" he asked the white alicorn. Princess Celestia sighed and shook her head.

"I spent centuries looking for something like that. A way to go to other universes, or to send something back to its own. Alas, I could not find the means. I only know how to look into others. I cannot help you with this.” Marcus looked down to the ground, deep in thought.

"And there are no other humans here? None at all?" Celestia looked at him and shook her head.

"No, did anyone else make it through with you?" The look on his face said it all.

Fluttershy looked at them both and noticed Rainbow Dash who was extremely angry. Fluttershy made a mental note to talk to her later. She decided now was a good time to ask her question. The pegasus was simultaneously lovably adorable and infuriatingly quiet. "U-um, excuse me, Mr. Marcus, sir, may I ask you something?" Marcus looked at her and smiled.
"Why, why didn't my stare work on you? It works on everything and everyone, even the Princess, but not you. Why?" Marcus looked towards her quizzically.

"Well ,was exactly is the stare, Fluttershy? I saw you use it, but I just thought you were scared." She looked around and pawed the ground with her hoof. "Well, you see, it’s this thing that I do whenever I need someone to listen or obey, or if I'm, well, really scared..." she said. Marcus stood there with all eyes focused upon him.

"I would think it's because of my mental training. Spartans, that's what most people call us, all go through extremely demanding mental and physical training, which is the main reason why I’m different, Princess. I’ll explain more later, but for now, all you need to know is that I would believe it is because of that, making me immune to your stare.” The human thew up his hands slightly. “Well, that and after you’ve spent your entire life battling the worst threat in human history, you typically get rather jaded.” Fluttershy gave a small squeak. They all stood there in silence. Then Marcus began to search around for something.

Luna was the first to ask, "What is it that you are you looking for, Marcus?” He did not halt his search, but rather yelled back in a voice undoubtedly loud enough for everypony to hear.

"My guns. I dropped them earlier when one of you hit me with that force. What kind of thing was that again?" At that, Celestia cleared her throat.

"That would have been me, I hit you with a large blast of magic." Marcus stopped in his tracks, and looked back at her. If she could have seen his face, then she could have reasonably claimed that he bore no small resemblance to a fish flopping on dry land.

"Magic? Sure, why not? I got pegasi, unicorns, and small ponies who can all talk, by the way, why not? While we’re at it, let’s have a sleepover and invite Santa Claus and Comrade Oglivy! Right, magic- got it! Go ahead and rape every single natural law known to humanity in the face..." He went back to his search, grumbling to himself all the while. Twilight spoke up.

"What exactly are they? What are you looking for? Describe the appearance, please.” Marcus ignored her. However, it did not take long before he found his first target. He grasped it in his hands and lifted it up for all to see. He had been banking on his hosts being more interested in what he had to say than the fact that he was trying to find tools of death while they watched him.

"What I have here in my hand is a M6C standard magnum pistol. It uses twelve-point-seven by forty mm semi-armor-piercing, high-penetration rounds. It comes with an integrated low zoom scope.” Marcus then placed it on his armor and resumed scouring the ground for weapons. It took a surprising amount of time for him to locate his other gun, given that it was a shiny steel color in the middle of a forest and he had his flashlight on. The ponies must have been very familiar with electric lighting because none of them asked him any questions about it. He had woken up under the familiar glow of electric lighting, but this finally confirmed his suspicions that they were more technologically advanced that he might have at first suspected. “And this," he proclaimed as he lifted out his assault rifle, "is the MA5D Individual Combat Weapon System, but everybody calls it the MA5D Assault Rifle, or Assault Rifle, or Avtomat, or anti son of a bitch machine.” He chuckled at his own joke. “It fires the seven-point-six-two millimeter by fifty-one millimeter round, and has an integral ammo counter and compass." He finished, pulling out the current magazine before ramming it back in. He did a few rifle drill steps before snapping to attention as if he were on the star demonstration team from Fort Mdiku. The ponies all gazed fixedly upon him, not quite sure of what to think about the whole thing.

Twilight Sparkle inquired, "What does it do?” At that, Marcus wordlessly kicked up a stone into the air, raised up his assault rifle, aimed at his target, and squeezed the trigger. He let out a few quick bursts, shattering the rock into pieces. The ponies were speechless. Fluttershy squeaked and ducked behind the nearest tree.

"It kills." They stared at him, and Marcus noticed both of the princesses unease with a sigh. This could have been handled a lot more diplomatically than by performing a single man version of the twenty-one gun salute. "There is much you need to know, Princesses, about humanity as of late." Marcus sat down on a log and laid his assault rifle across his lap. His hand no longer shook. Rather, it confidently grasped the weapon. He moved the gun into the white beam of his flashlight and took off his helmet in order to run his hand through his short hair. He looked back up at the stars for a short while before he returned his attention to Princess Celestia, staring at her with his unnaturally blue eyes.

"Humanity is in a fight of its survival, and we are losing. Badly."

Chapter 9- The War

Marcus stared into the newly-started fire, choosing his words carefully. He had been through the whole war and remembered all of it. Terrible didn’t begin to describe it. They didn’t have to know; he could just clam up and refuse to talk about it. However, it was inevitable that they would eventually know anyways. He sighed and took off his helmet, grumbling to himself. He then looked at Fluttershy, sadness and pain in his eyes. He didn't want to frighten the pony, but he had to be very frank in order for them to understand what he had come from. Life would be impossible unless he explained himself fully and completely. Marcus took a deep breath. This would be one of the hardest things he’d ever done. He first addressed the timid pegasus. "Fluttershy, I apologize for what I am about to tell you, but try to understand that you do need to know this," he said to her.

“I understand.” He nodded, looking into the fire once more before raising his face to address the crowd.

"It began at Harvest, one of our outer planetary colonies. It had a population of a only a few million people. It was mainly an agricultural planet and its people were peaceful and kind. On one of my shore leaves, I went there. It was just after a really terrible campaign. A child came up to me one day with the biggest smile on his face. In his hand was a flower and he gave it to me. That gave me hope. How he knew how much I needed it, I’ll never know. I never found out who he was," Marcus smiled at the memory, thinking of the boy. But his smile soon faded

"We were attacked without warning. The Covenant, an alien religious cult, we still aren't really sure, declared holy war and then proceeded to rep holy genocide on our race. They have immense power and technology far beyond ours. No amount of diplomacy worked. I mean, how do you negotiate if the other guy just kills you on sight? War broke out. The campaign for Harvest lasted 5 years. The Covenant killed everything in its path. Men, women ...even the children. All burned before the hand of the Covenant. I will never know if that boy lived, but in my heart I know he did not. We saved a few, thinking we could win. We were cocky back then, but now we know better." Marcus looked up at Celestia, fear and sadness in her eyes. A hoof shot up into the air. It belonged to Fluttershy. “Yes? What is it?”

Fluttershy was fighting back tears as she asked, “Marcus, what’s g-genocide?” All of the other ponies looked at him confusedly. It suddenly occurred to him that this place had no concept of such things.

Marcus scratched his head, sighing in frustration. “Genocide is like…” No, that’s not how to explain it. He had to be absolutely blunt in order to convey the idea. “Genocide is to kill every single member of an entire race. Leave none of them alive.” The reaction was immediate. There was not a dry eye. The more sensitive ones recoiled physical. The more stoic ones frowned. He went on explain the rest of the war and what had happened. In a way, the strategy of the Covenant greatly resembled island hooping from the Second World War. Finally Marcus came to the Spartans

"We were created, created is the keyword, to fight. I actually was Earthborn; one of few Spartans from Earth. Most were from the outer colonies. We were trained from the age of six to fight and die. We were meant to be the greatest force humanity had ever known. And when the time came, we were the only thing slowing the Covenant down. Planet after planet burned, and still the Covenant moved on, religious zeal fueling them in their genocidal campaign against us." He paused to tend to the fire. He added more kindling. "When you.....teleported me here, I was on a mission. A target had to be taken out, but we failed. The enemy had already known about it and was prepared. How they knew I'll never know." Marcus shook his head as he remembered the slaughter he and his men had walked into.

"I was stationed on a planet called Torturous IV. It was falling as well. The target would have bought us more time if we’d killed it, but we failed. We saved what we could, but we had to leave to live to fight another day. Then all of a sudden, I'm here, surrounded by talking ponies where magic is real." He shook his head. Wet marks were visible on his cheeks. His chest heaved silently.

They all sat there in silence, taking in what Marcus had just told them. Then Fluttershy did something unexpected, especially for her. She walked over to Marcus, and hugged him. She squeezed his neck. "I'm sorry this had to happen to you Marcus. I hope your...people make it through," she said. Marcus sat there, a little stunned. It must’ve been a good day for his PTSD, as he didn’t physically retaliate on impulse. He returned the hug, awkwardly, and patted her on the shoulder.

A soft lie to spare her feelings and convince himself. "It’s ok, Fluttershy. It’s what I do. I have no problem with it. Even from when I was little, I understood my duty and the challenges I would face, although it was far more severe than I ever could have imagined... " He clasped his hand again in habit. The pegasus looked up at him and nodded. She let go of him but didn't leave. She sat next to him looking back into the fire. The others were shocked by Fluttershy's actions, never in a million years believing that she would ever do something like that. In a way, it did make sense, but they had imagined her fear overcoming her compassion.

Celestia looked at Fluttershy for a moment, a curious look on her face before turning back to face Marcus. "My deepest sympathies to you Marcus. Had I known, well, I would have tried to avoid such a...hard subject." Marcus nodded to her. He had heard it all before, from civilians who hadn't seen anything, to new marines, who were out to fight and die like naive children. If they were unlucky, they'd live. Marcus looked up to the sky, it was at least midnight. He didn’t need her pity.

"You all must be tired. Get some sleep, and I'll keep watch." at that, Marcus added more fuel the fire, rekindling it. The ponies before him looked around with unease; this forest scared them. "Don't worry, nothing can get past me. You'll be safe. And I promise not to hurt you while you sleep." The ponies looked back at him with suspicion which only made Marcus chuckle. They looked around, and one by one, found a place to sleep and lay there, eventually nodding off to sleep Fluttershy stayed close to Marcus. She had finally realizing what else she saw in his eyes. It made her feel safe around him and let her know that he would never hurt her. She saw a protector who needed to be shown that there was still good in the world
____________________________________________________________________________________

Luna awoke. Marcus watched her fly into the sky before unleashing a massive amount of light from her horn and eyes followed by the sky going dark as the moon vanished. Luna immediately went back to sleep. Celestia soon awoke and told Marcus that she would be gone for a little while, as she needed to raise the sun. Marcus just shook his head and let her be. This place was strange. It had magic, talking ponies, pegasi, a living physical goddess that he could talk to, and definitely more. It was almost too much. He looked down at the small bundle of yellow and pink beside him. Fluttershy was sleeping soundly, and Marcus dared not to wake her up. God, this is weird. Why do they have so unbelievably… cute? Marcus had no other way of describing it. He was getting soft and he knew it. Celestia returned, and woke up her sister. They sat and chatted; Marcus didn't pay it much mind. His thoughts were focused on Emilia and the rest of his squad. Were they alright? Did they win? Did they survive? Marcus didn't know, and he might never know. He had a terrible feeling that it didn’t matter, even if they somehow had survived the Pelican crash. Celestia got up from her conversation, and walked over to him. Marcus nodded his head in greeting. She returned the greeting in the same fashion.

"Marcus, would you be so kind as to walk with Luna and I? We have questions about your abilities and how you got them. We understand it’s a touchy subject, but we must know." Marcus nodded. He understood; safety precautions and all. Marcus nudged Fluttershy ever so gently, and she woke. The pegasus stared up at him with those shining orbs.
"Fluttershy, I'm going for a walk with Celestia and Luna for a bit, can you watch over for the others for me?" At that she looked scared, doubting herself.

"Don't worry; I won’t be very long. If you need anything, yell for help and I’ll come," at that he smiled, and got up, slinging his assault rifle over his back. He walked with the princesses through the wan early morning sunlight. It was a spiritual moment watching the first rays of sunlight creep over an alien world with the company of two alicorns. They marched along in silent reverence with Marcus quietly thanking what ever force was out there that he had lived to see peace and beauty again. It was several minutes later that the trio found a small clearing. Celestia and Luna sat next to each other, across from were Marcus was standing. He leaned against a beech tree and cleared his throat.

"I suppose you'll want it all then, am I right?" Luna gave him a knowing stare. Marcus sighed and ground his heel into the dirt more forcefully than necessary. He fought to maintain his composure as he said in monotone, "I was taken at the age of six along with seventy-four others by a government agency known as ONI, or the Office of Naval Intelligence. Under the government’s supervision, they trained us from that age to be the perfect soldiers. At the time, we had no idea about the Covenant, but the government needed super soldiers to fight a scad of rebellions that were causing havoc throughout the colonies. Once we all reached puberty, the augmentation process began." Marcus winced, remembering the pain through it all. He explained the augmentation process, and the roll the Spartans had to play in the human-Covenant war. They were supposed to be perfect. Marcus snickered at that. They were, in a way, but were also flawed. They were no longer human in the eyes of all those who looked upon them. Freaks of nature they were, and most viewed them with a bizarre mixture of hatred, admiration, dependency, and fear. I wonder if could ever regain that humanity that was taken from me. Is it possible for me to be anything but a killer? Finally, Luna spook up.

"That is... horrific. Why would anyone consent to such a thing? The sacrifice of...of children?!?" Marcus laughed at that and shook his head. They were so naive, but who could blame them? They lived in a perfect world without war or violence

"The parents never knew about it. We were kidnapped. There was no agreement between parents and the government. They just took us, and replaced us with clones, which later died because of gene mutations. And as for the government? The UNSC? They didn't care; all they wanted were soldiers to fight. But then the Covenant came, and well, you know the rest." Marcus once again was able to leave the princesses at a loss for words.

The white one tried to speak. "Marcus I-..." Marcus waved Celestia away. “I don’t need your pity- spare me." Marcus sighed and looked back up a the two. "Right, well, you know it all now; the full story of where I came from and what I am. I just have one question for you. What will you do about it? Will you kill me, or at least attempt to? Or will you let me live?" Celestia and Luna stared at him. Their expressions were unreadable, but they did not make eye contact and their manes seemed to be waving ever so slightly more animatedly than usual.

Celestia almost stumbled over her words. "Kill you? No, there will be no more death, and as for what we will do? Luna and I will have to think on that for a bit. For now, you will stay with Twilight Sparkle and her friends. What they will do with you, I do not know either." At that Marcus, happy he didn't have to kill anyone, walked up to Celestia and held out his hand. Celestia looked at him curiously, but did the same with her front hoof. They shook hand and hoof together.

Marcus explained, "It's a human custom that when a friendship or an alliance is made, those who made it shake hands to symbolize it." Celestia smiled at that. They walked back to the camp and found everyone else had already awoken and were now busy cleaning the place up.

"Glad to see you three back from your little 'chat' " grumbled Rainbow Dash. She was still a little sore about the whole speed thing. The man ignored her. Marcus gathered his things; his magnum, his assault rifle, and the case everything had come in, caring extra ammo and grenades. As he picked it up, Marcus heard something rattle in the case. Remembering that he had secured everything carefully, he set down the case and inspected it.

On one side was a small button. Marcus pressed it and a small compartment concealed held in the case opened. Marcus shook out whatever was inside. A large knife fell out. It was a large kukri with a 10 inch blade. Marcus grabbed it and held it up to the light. On the blade was inscribed some sort of language. Marcus remembered it to be Latin. It read. “Dator postremi sommi” 'Bringer of the final sleep'. Quite poetic. Marcus smiled and slid the knife into sheathe; his old knife had been lost. With everything ready, and the ponies ready as well, Marcus walked up to them with his assault rife in hand. “Time to go.” He couldn’t resist the joke.“Marines, eyeballs- click!”

Chapter 10- Introductions

As the group walked out of the forest, they encountered more of the bogs Marcus had trudged through earlier. Most of the ponies just flew over, but Marcus and Twilight lacked such capabilities. He offered his arms to ferry her across. The unicorn shook her head with her horn briefly shimmering as she tensed up her eyes. Twilight Sparkle then proceeded to skate across the bog. He remarked to nobody in particular, “Just like a water strider.”
Fluttershy heard him and asked, “Excuse me. What’s a water strider?”

His voice was uncharacteristically cheerful. “It’s an insect that skates across the surface of the water. We got them all the time when I was a kid. We had this pond behind my house, and it would always be full of the things every summer. My father was an entomologist.”

She gasped. “You have bugs that walk on water?” Fluttershy focused intently upon him. Twilight’s ears turned fixedly in his direction.

“We sure do. What, you don’t?”

“I’ve never seen any,” answered the pegasus.

Twilight interrupted, “We have things like them, just not in this part of Equestria.” Marcus nodded. As they neared the forest's edge, Marcus took point and led them onward. Princess Celestia was immediately behind him with Princess Luna to her right. Following a short distance behind them were the rest of the ponies. They cleared the forest and existed into the meadows near Fluttershy's house. The Spartan paused to admire the unspoiled scenery. He bent down and picked up a dandelion in his fingers, gently bringing it up to his visor as if it were a precious jewel. He then twirled the stem between his fingers until a breeze came through the golden mid-morning and scattered the seeds into rustic autumnal.

It was several seconds before he turned and addressed the party. "Well, where to? Keep me here or set me loose upon this world? It’s your call, your royal highnesses." Marcus looked them hard in the eyes and curtsied. The princesses turned to each other and exchanged looks. Celestia nodded at Twilight, who stepped forward.
She lifted her front hoof in a nervous kicking motion. “You’ll be living here for a while, so we’d better get introductions out of the way. Try not to frighten anypony, okay?”

“Me? Never…”remarked Marcus with false outrage. They walked on past some of the outer homes, but it was not long before ponies caught sight of them with mixed reactions. Some ran, some stood, and some ducked behind cover. Marcus was used to this No pony here had ever seen a human, and the first one they had ever seen was a faceless giant clad in ominous armor and carrying strange devices. They likely didn’t even know the word for him. Some screamed that aliens had invaded. The entire street emptied before them. Ouch. Marcus knew what it was like for aliens to invade your home. Now he knew what it was like to be the invading alien.

"This isn't going too well, guys," whispered Rainbow Dash. Marcus looked over at her and almost gave her a 'you don't say' face, forgetting she wouldn't have been able to see through his visor. They had encountered nopony else after that first street. Marcus glanced down an abandoned street, only to see a tumbleweed blow across perfectly on cue. Presently, the party reached the almost wholly deserted town center. Its only occupant was a violently pink pony with a very poofy, unruly mane who kept bouncing up and down with a huge smile seemingly etched onto her face. Marcus wondered which hurt more, its lips or its knees. His gave a quick glance towards his companions. They didn’t act as if anything were amiss as the peculiar wingless, hornless, pony walked up to them, suddenly pulled out a cannon out of nowhere, and fired it with a sound almost entirely unlike any artillery he had ever heard. Marcus dodged the obvious attack, rolling and bringing up his assault rifle! He took aim at the pony and was about to fire when a deep purple aura surrounded his gun and tore if from his grasp.

"MARCUS, RESTRAIN THYSELF!" Luna barked with her echoing voice. He looked around, and noticed... confetti? Were those streamers there before?

A second, orange, pony in a cowboy hat appeared from behind him. "It’s just Pinkie greetin’ ya is all." The orange pony walked up to him with her head and mane coated in glitter, confetti, and streamers. She also didn't have wings or a horn, so Marcus guessed she was just a regular pony. Right, regular. Is that even possible here?

There was no time to think, for Marcus’s senses were suddenly overwhelmed by something loud and pink. “'Hiya! I'm Pinkie Pie, like Applejack said, and that's Applejack, just like I said! You must be new around here, because I've never seen you before and I know everypony in Ponyville. And because you’re new here, you must not have any friends, so I thought that I’d welcome you and be your first friend!" At that, she gave a big laugh and began to bounce like a damaged Ghost again. This one is way too happy. Looking over to Fluttershy, he asked her if she was always like this.

"Actually, well, yes. You should see her at parties though. That's when… well, she’s extra happy." Marcus nodded at that. This was going to take some getting used to. More worryingly, she would not do his nerves any favors. Marcus looked over at Rainbow Dash.

"Where did she get that cannon?"

Rainbow just shrugged. "It’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie.” How helpful! “She does the weirdest stuff sometimes. There was this one time where me and her were at the pool and she jumped in. I’d asked her to take it a bit easy, so right before she hit the water, she just slowed down to a complete stop and then slowly sank in."

Pinkie exploded, "OOOH- I remember that one, Dashie! That was a funny day, what with all the me’s and all!" Marcus just shook his head, confused. He took Rainbow's advice and just ran with it. Princess Celestia cleared her throat, causing everypony to suddenly remember that they were in the presence of royalty.

"Everypony, this is Marcus. He's not from here. He's a human. I want you all to take care of him and show him around, make some friends, and adjust to life here. He may not be able to go back to his home for a long time."
Applejack inquired, "Well, where is the feller from anyways, Princess?”

Celestia sounded like a mother trying to avoid an awkward subject with a young child. "That is a tale for him to tell. It is not my place. Now, Luna and I must be off. We have business to take care of. Marcus, Luna will be checking in on you every now and then. I hope you have a pleasant stay here."

Luna finally spoke. “We too wish you good fortune.” Then the same aura surrounded the rest of Marcus’s weapons and stripped them from his body with remarkable ease. “Equestria is a land of peace. You shall have your arms restored once you have proven yourself worthy of being trusted with them.” At that, Celestia and Luna suddenly disappeared into thin air with bright flashes, leaving Marcus totally bamboozled.

Twilight gave him a quick explanation. "They teleported back to Canterlot.”

“What is Canterlot?” His intonation implied something closer to amusement from a clever pun.

“It’s our capital city. The princesses rule from the castle there.” Twilight beamed up at him. The Spartan saw no additional activity on the motion tracker. At least the stares had stopped.

He had to know more about it. "I take it that the concept of limited, elected government is foreign to you.” The stares answered him. He waved them away. “Forget I asked. If I cause trouble for any of you, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen." He got the distinctive vibe of being stuck in a particularly vivid bad dream.

Fluttershy smiled warmly at him. "It’s alright Marcus, we understand." He returned her smile with the Spartan gesture of two fingers over the visor. She had grown quite improbably comfortable around him.

They all had noticed, but it was Applejack who finally voiced their concerns. "Fluttershy, you’re not scared ah this stallion? He's HUGE!" She waved her forelegs for emphasis. Fluttershy just shook her head, a little embarrassed. Marcus tapped his foot and cut in before anyone else spoke.

"The word’s man, and I’m right here, y’know; I’m not deaf and I know exactly what you’re saying.” He folded his arms. “Well, where will I be staying? From what I've seen, I can squeeze into most of your buildings.”

Twilight Sparkle was about to answer the man when a snow white mare with a splendidly groomed purple mane arrived and hijacked the conversation. "Honestly, darlings, what is all the commotion about? Is there a monster? In Ponyville? Ple-" she stopped dead in her tracks once she finally noticed Marcus. First, her pupils dilated. Secondly, she summoned a demon out of nowhere. And then she screamed bloody murder while fainting onto a near by bench!

Chapter 11- Fear and Laughter

Most of the town heard Rarity scream. A few poked their heads out their windows, only to see the huge thing standing there while Rarity screamed her lungs out. Marcus had had enough. His temper snapped finally, and most of his mind went blank. All of his training and preparation- all of it useless as he lost his mind for a brief second. He dashed over to her and clamped one of his hands over her mouth, throwing the other hand around her neck. Everyone froze. Marcus looked into her eyes before speaking.

"On the count of three, I will let you go. When I do, if you scream, you will regret the second you do that you and I ever meet one another, because I will make you suffer." Rarity nodded quickly. Marcus stood there for a moment contemplating what had just happened. He had lost it! Years of controlling his temper and rage, and this pony makes him lose it! The temptation was there, oh god it was. How easy it would be to just snap her neck. It was so thin, so brittle. Shaking his head of these thoughts, Marcus sighed and saw that Rarity was staring back at him with large eyes; fear almost seeping out of them. He saw this and visibly calmed down, not truly wanting to hurt her. He spook to her in a quiet tone.

"I'm letting you go now. One....Two.....Three" Marcus let her go, and she stood there, shivering from fright. "Well, at least she's not screaming anymore" Marcus sighed, and looked over at Fluttershy and the others. They were staring back at him; one or two of them looked ready to fight. "Sorry, she just wouldn't shut up," Marcus explained. They all backed away from him a little bit. He had just shown them his true colors and they were terrified. Rarity looked up at him.

"W-what are you?" Fluttershy answered that for him.

"His name is Marcus, and he is a human, Rarity."

“A human? I've never heard of those except in old pony tales."

Rainbow Dash spook up for a moment. "That's because he's not from our universe. He came because of a spell Twilight was working on that went wrong." Marcus nodded at her. Twilight grinned meekly, clearly embarrassed on that note.

"Well, why d-did you attack me exactly then?" Before Fluttershy could answer, Marcus interrupted.

"Because you were screaming at me. I've been screamed at before. I've been through... a lot. Normally, I can control myself, but this time," he paused and nervously fingered his hair and avoided Rarity's eyes, not wanting to admit that he had failed his lifetime of military discipline. He opened his mouth, but the words just didn't come. He sighed deeply." I'm sorry that if I hurt you, but you wouldn't shut up. I just acted on instinct. Next thing I knew, I.. I,- uhh.."

Fluttershy spoke for him. "He's very sorry and didn't meant to hurt you, Rarity. And he won't let it happen again? Isn't that right, Marcus" She glanced at him with something like that stare from last night. Without his helmet on, it somehow made him feel vaguely meek. Marcus nodded, amazed that he hadn't already been ostracized.

At that Rarity looked down, ashamed. She hadn't meant to be rude or anything. "Please do forgive me...Marcus is it? I shouldn't have been so quick to my actions" Marcus nodded, accepting her apology. Marcus sighed, looking around at the town. It was deserted; everyone locked up into their homes. Twilight looked around as well, and realized that they scared the whole town.

"Why don't we all head to the library? We can stay there and chat for a bit" she suggested. Marcus nodded, eager to leave the town square. Before they left, three little ponies, fillies, Marcus guessed, ran up to the one called Applejack. One with a yellow coat and a red mane hugged her. The others, one with a white coat and a bicolored mane, and another with an orange coat and purple mane, stood back and stared at Marcus in awe. The little one who had hugged Applejack began to speak.

"AJ, ah heard a scream so me and Scootaloo and Sweetie Bell came runnin'. What’s goin on 'ere?" Scootaloo was the orange one and Sweeite Bell was the white one but the Spartan did not know the name of the first one. The yellow filly looked at the rest of the group and her eyes fell on Marcus. He gave a small smile and waved a little, unsure of what to do. Their eyes widened in amazement at Marcus's colossal size.

"Wow..." all three of them went. Marcus gave a chuckle.

“It’s not polite to stare, you know," he said as he leaned down to the small, yellow, filly. She backed up, not sure what to do.

"Well, mister, we just never seen somethin' like you before." Applejack gave a quick bump to the smaller one. Marcus guessed that they were sisters. Applejack cleared her throat and nodded towards Marcus to her sister.

"Apple Bloom, say you’re sorry." She did and Marcus laughed. These ponies really were quiet cute.
Marcus shifted were he stood, clearly uncomfortable. This was stuff he wasn't too good at. Apple bloom shot him a big smile. Scootaloo ran up to him and placed her fore hooves on one of his knees, trying to climb up one of them.

"Afraid? You kiddin' me? You’re the coolest thing EVER! Well, next to Rainbow Dash of course!" At that, the three fillies tried to tackle him. Marcus laughed and picked them up; they couldn't have gotten him on he ground if they wanted to. He put up Applebloom on his shoulders and had the other two hanging from his arms. He looked over at Applejack.

"This ok with you?" She nodded smiling. The three fillies couldn't stop laughing.

"WOW! I can see everthin from up here, AJ- even Big Mac working over at the barn!" Apple Bloom beamed. Marcus laughed at that. Was he really that tall to these ponies? Twilight smiled and motioned for the group to follow them. Marcus followed, the three fillies still hanging onto him.

The large group walked up to what Marcus initially guessed to be a large tree, although on on closer inspection, he saw that there were windows, a door, and even a balcony attached to it. The group filed in, but Marcus had to put Apple Bloom and her friends down to get in. He still had to bend over a good bit to fit in. He looked around the surroundings. The library had been carved out of the tree; the walls of the building were lined with books, there was a full kitchen off to the side, and a staircase that lead up to a second floor, where Marcus guessed the bedrooms were. The books ranged from newer volumes from authors Marcus had never heard of, to much older, dust-covered tomes with yellowing and browned pages. Marcus opted to lean against the wall containing mainly newer books, hoping not to damage the older ones. The others took seats around him, sitting on what furniture was available. The three small fillies decided to sit in front of him, looking up with large eyes. Rarity looked over at him with concern for the foals clearly etched on her face .

"So, Marcus, I do believe Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and I need to know a bit more about you. Twilight told me you had shared some of your history with them when they were searching for you in the Everfree forest." Rarity seemed to have at least partially gotten over her earlier shock. He complied, telling her everything that they were allowed to hear. He left out any major battles and gore, and the augmentation process as well. He didn't want to scare the kids. They looked on at him, spellbound in shock and awe, asking the occasional question, but remaining silent for the most part. Scootaloo looked up at Marcus and asked him if he could tell a story from the wars.

Suddenly, all the levity and twinkle went out of his eyes. The fillies recoiled. Everypony's eyes dilated and his hands curled up and began to shake. "No. I'm not talking about it."

Scootaloo tried to cajole him. "Bu-"

He stamped his armored boot on the floor and shouted, "I said NO! I don't want to talk about it!" His eyes went wild for several seconds, the man panting and seething like a mad bear. Silence. Gradually, he calmed himself and wiped the fresh sweat from his brow. "I'm sorry, but no. I don't want to talk about it- it's too painful." In that moment, they all realized just how truly unlike he was any of them.

Chapter 12- Stories of the Past

Clear blue skies lay over a bloody field on the plains. Marines dug into foxholes doggedly offered resistance to covenant forces cresting over the hills. This was the key moment in the battle of Ikcheriya, the largest outpost of the Octanus system. The UNSC could not lose this fight or one of the last outer colonies would burn. They had to win, or else the civilians trapped on the planet would face extermination.

Marcus ran for the hill, bullets flying and plasma fire streaming past his face. He ducked into a muddy crater inhabited by two marines. Their expressions said all I needed to know. I paused to think for a moment. We were about one hundred and fifty meters away from a hillock controlled by a covenant fire team and a shade. We had throw them back and reclaim the high ground. This sort of thing was second nature to him. He turned to the first marine, who manned a turret. “I need you to suppress the shade on my signal.” He then turned to his fellow, who had a Battle Rifle. “You kill any targets of opportunity. Take headshots- conserve your ammo." Seconds passed while everyone prepared. Marcus grabbed his flare gun. It was to be the signal for the counterattack.

He pointed it up in the air. The two marines nodded at him, one white face drawn in pale, and one dark face scared but determined. The Spartan swallowed. It all came down to him. No worries. After all, this would just determine the fate of an entire planet – no pressure. No pressure at all. He jerked the trigger as the bright red flare soared into the sky.

A hail of gunfire erupted from the entrenched marines. Marcus surged out of the crater, brandishing his assault rifle. He joined in the primal war cry and led the storm. Few plasma bolts came near him, for it was concentrated on the regiment thundering behind him, and any filthy alien to expose itself was cut to ribbons.

In just nine seconds, Marcus had reached the crest. He hurled grenades in to the nests. He rammed the assault rifle's butt straight into the head of a grunt, and then turned and emptied a burst into a stunned elite. Marcus then ripped the the heavy turret from its pedestal with a mighty roar, bringing it to bear on the enemy reinforcements. Streams of plasma hurtled down range, eviscerating the enemy line. Marcus stayed there, pinning down the entire enemy force.

The rest of the force caught up with, and then overtook Marcus. His fireteam rallied around the Spartan. A marine with a blue beret ran to him with a fifty caliber machinegun when the plasma cannon went dry. He then ducked prone and sprayed fire down on the covenant with his PKM.

Marcus surveyed and ordered his men. "Misha, kill those hunters! Private, drop those brutes!” He turned to a marine with a green beret and a SAW. "Wilson, get the Elite!" The three of them were augmented by fire support from other teams. It was a wonderful sight to see the covenant break ranks and flee as they were swept aide like ants under a tsunami. Scorpion tanks, warthogs, and hornets thundered by, eager to sate their bloodlust.

As the humans neared the crest of the next hill, the men gained some hope. Maybe they’d make it out alive. They were winning; this was their fight, and nothing breathes strength into an army like victory. Suddenly, a blue fireball arched over the top and exploded, taking half a dozen men with it.

“Hold the crest!” Marcus ordered. The marines leapt onto their bellies and got ready to fight for their lives. Marcus ordered stragglers to take over their weapons and rushed with Misha and Wilson to the skirmish line. He snatched up a fuel rod cannon from a fallen grunt, wrenching it and the ammo from the still-pliable fingers. The ground lay littered with the dying and dead. Marcus averted his eyes from the humans, but gave only the soles of his boots to the aliens.

The counterattack was well under way when they reached the skirmish line. Marcus’s heart sank the moment that he saw what faced them: a mob of covenant vehicles, ugly in the purple and unsettling in their silent levitation. They were like dispassionate nightmare machines born of the stars.

The gunfire struck them, but had little effect. The nightmare machines just kept on coming on as inexorably as death. Rockets stopped the odd Wraith, but there were far too many! Marcus let loose a string of five blasts from the fuel rod cannon. All five found their marks, blowing apart whatever they hit. The tracers were thick enough to appear like oddly directions blips of static. He stopped to reload. As he did this, the Spartan took inventory of the situation. He could hear a marine frantically screaming into the radio, begging for artillery, airstrikes – anything to save them. How young that man – not man, boy sounded. Was he even twenty years old yet? Had he ever kissed a girl? Did he know the warmth of a woman’s touch? Marcus felt the clip fill the magazine and his helmet readout told him that it was good to go. What of his mother? Did she know about this? How would she react when she got the news about her son, yet another boy who fell a heroic man in a crucial battle to win the lost war?

No time for that! The Covenant army came over the hill and all hell broke loose. The marines shot at whatever moved in front of them, dropping grunts left and right, but it was all a waste of ammunition. We’d be out several times over before we slew all of them. The grunts posed no real threat. Then squads of Jackals and grunts came over. A marine with a rocket launcher let loose a rocket straight at a tight group of Jackals, killing seven. Then came the true masters of destruction with strange songs and unearthly screeching.

“Banshees fast and low!” a marine shouted. The squadron zoomed towards them, plasma bolts firing from their duel cannons. Their load high pitched screeching made marines drop and scream, tearing at their helmets and ripping them off in some cases. Marcus fired at them, but in his haste, his aim was poor. Only one fell to his fuel rod cannon. A pair fell to the rain of bullets. Marcus desperately tried to reload again, but saw that he was out of ammo. He unslung his own Battle Rifle and took precise shots at the enemy. Each burst killed another foe, but it was futile. They were simply too numerous. There was no choice. The banshees were close; they were almost in range. They let loose a few stray plasma bombs, hitting their targets and coming in close. A Scorpion blew up with a thunderous roar, flame and smoke spewing from its main chamber.

Marcus ordered, “Fall back!” If only they could get to the safety of their heavier ordinance, then they could stand a chance. The Spartan lay down a withering wall of lead, protecting his marines with animistic ferocity. In that moment, he felt alive and murderous, but frighteningly clear and rational. Here he was, a perfect killing machine doing its job perfectly. All around him, guys were hit and fell over to move no more. But he stood and fired, gradually walking back to the previous hill with perfect poise and form. When one thing ran dry, he reloaded it. When it ran totally dry, he grabbed another, not caring for its origin, or whether its owner was alive or dead.

The banshees were on top of them now. Marcus slid on the bloody mud. He was going to die! Then, he spied a rocket launched just feet away from it. He dashed over and picked it up, aiming it at the nearest banshee. Click. NO! It could not be empty. It just couldn't be! Marcus fumbled desperately in the mud, looking for anything that could save him. Suddenly, the radio in his ear went off. “Artillery authorized. Firing for maximum effect on your position now.

Wait? HIS position? Marcus looked upwards into the sky. Bright flashes shone as the hypersonic projectiles hurtled towards the ground. He locked his armor and shivered, waiting for the end to come. BOOM! Chaos. Pain. Noise. Fire. Black.

Marcus awoke with a start, panting like mad with sweat streaming down his face. He scanned around frantically, straining in the darkness for things that weren’t there. He calmed down and surveyed the inside of the bedroom. It was a spare one of Fluttershy’s. He had gone to sleep soon after they had arrived at Fluttershy's cottage outside of Ponyville. He really owned the pony his thanks. Just as quickly as relief came over him, crushing grief flooded over him next.

Officially, the operation was labeled a success. A full two thirds of the ichkeriyon population was successfully evacuated, and covenant losses in the theater were quadruple the human ones. That did nothing to soften horror. They would never see the real war. They would never see the shots going through car windows, flying through open doors. They would never see how guys burned alive in wrecked vehicles, how in pools of blood and machine fluids next to shot-out tires and walls, guys falling down, would stay quiet forever. They would never see the place where one of every third would stay forever young when a plasma bolt melted through the helmet. Again, a weapon resounds. Again, they would never hear the scream of somebody’s final pain. They would never see the red on the ground by the old battlegrounds, where even gone forever, the slain helped them but a little. They would never see the man who would soon see his son for the first time, but for whom the final day was Ichkeria. They would never see the burnt-out pelicans standing as obelisks for those who gave their lives for others. They would never see the holes in the armored vests. Ichkeria… how many boys were laying there? How many wasted years? Marcus wept. “Mothers, forgive me. I couldn’t save your sons! Why did I survive and they did not? Ichkeria, what have you done?”

The door came open and in stepped the pegasus herself. “Mister Marcus,” she asked, “Are you alright.” So much concern was in her eyes.

The Spartan wished that he could tell her the truth, but it was too much. He had his pride and he couldn’t bear to tell of such terrible things, least of all not here. He lied, “I’m fine, thanks, Fluttershy.” He gave his best attempt at a smile, which was pretty awful, even for Spartan attempts at mimicking expressions.

“Are you sure that you don’t want to talk about it?”

A spike of anger shot through him. “No.” Marcus spat, more coldly than intended. Fluttershy drew back a bit , and turned to leave. She spook to him through her mane.

“I’m sorry.”

She turned to leave, dejected. He extended an arm. “Wait, Fluttershy, I’m sorry I snapped at you....” She turned and looked him in the eye. “I just....."He shivered a bit.. "I just can’t talk about it. I really don’t want to. Maybe someday I’ll tell you, but....not now.” He was echoing his speech from two nights ago at the library.

The pegasus nodded at him. “I...I understand. I won’t ask you or make you tell me anything you’re not comfortable discussing. But if you ever need somepony to talk to, then I’ll always be willing to listen to whatever it is you have to say. I promise.” Marcus smiled as Fluttershy bid him good night and went to her own room. That night, Marcus slept well for the first time in a great long while.

Chapter 13- Spotlight

The next morning Marcus woke up to the smell of cooking coming from down stairs. His stomach rumbled loudly, and he remembered that he hadn't eaten anything in a while. He got up and grabbed his stuff and walked down stairs. He walked into the kitchen to find Fluttershy making breakfast.

"Good morning Marcus, how did you sleep?"

"Better than I have in a long, long time" That seemed to please Fluttershy.She must have forgotten the incident last night, that or shes giving me space....Good. She returned to her cooking, making Marcus's stomach rumble again; it smelled so good. Fluttershy chuckled.

"When was the last time you ate Marcus?" Marcus had to stand there for a second thinking.No, it couldn't have been that long. He sighed to himself, knowing it had been.

"3 days. Before I came here, I was in combat and didn't have time. And when I did come here, I had no food. Not even C-rations." Marcus grimaced at the thought of eating those. They were made to have anything and everything a soldier needed in case they couldn't get a proper meal, but unfortunately they tasted like shit. Whoever made them didn't exactly have flavor in mind.

"Then you must be very hungry. Here, I made hash browns and cut up some fresh fruit. I don't really know what humans eat, but I did what I could."

"Well, you're on the right track .Humans are omnivorous, although we do prefer meat." Marcus dove right in; not noticing the look Fluttershy gave him.

"M-meat?" Marcus nodded.

"We need the protein and carbs. We can't digest hay like you can."

"Oh dear..."

"Don't worry. We can live without it as long as we get the proper supplements for it." Fluttershy nodded at this and seemed pleased by it. Marcus finished his hash browns and moved on to the fruit. Marcus bit into an apple, and stopped as he bit in.

“Is there something wrong with it? Is it bad? Oh dear..." Marcus finished his bite with relish. He looked over at her.

"That might be the best damn apple I have ever had. Pardon my language, but soldiers don't exactly get fresh fruit like that.Not even when on leave!" Marcus took another, larger bite. He finished the apple quickly and ate another. Fluttershy had some of the same, only she had some hay fries with it as well. They finished breakfast, and Marcus let out a content sigh. He hadn't eaten in a while, and that had to be the best breakfast he had had in a very long time. Fluttershy looked up at him

"Well, I suppose to we should go meet up with Twilight now."

"Why?"

"She's holding a town meeting for you, so that everyone knows that you aren't dangerous and that they shouldn't be scared. " Marcus nodded at that. It was going to be an awkward meeting; that was a given. Made sense though. He didn't want everyone scrambling every time he entered town like they had before. They left Fluttershy's house, and she looked at him.

"Can you hide so that we could move through town without you being seen? If that's ok with you, that is.." At that Marcus gave a broad smile. He turned on his armor ability, and vanished before Fluttershy. He was utterly invisible. Fluttershy gasped.

"I thought you couldn't use magic!" she said.

"It’s not. It’s a technology we call 'active camouflage'. It deflects the light off of me so that I'm rendered invisible."

"Well, stay close, I don't want to lose you." With that, they walked towards town. Since Marcus had to do some dodging when they entered town; since no one could see him, he had to move so they wouldn't hit an invisible Spartan. They entered what Marcus guessed to be the city's town hall, and deactivated his armor ability, becoming visible again. He got a few shocked faces and gasps when he appeared out of know where. Rainbow Dash ran up to him and gawked.

"You gotta teach me how you just did that," Rainbow Dash pleaded. Marcus just chuckled and moved on, walking up to Twilight. His face grew serious.

"When does this meeting start?"

"In a few minutes. You should stand back stage for now so you don't scare anyone. You can come out when everyone is in and seated." Marcus nodded and complied. He stood back stage; he kept his right hand held in his left behind his back. He could see a shadow on the opposite side of the stage. Realizing who it was, MArcus smirked and nodded towards Luna. She must be here to see if everything goes as planned...and that I don't kill anyone.Pinkie Pie came up to him, a box in her mouth.

" MER FERGERT TER GERVE YER THERSE!" Marcus shook his head.

"What?" Pinkie dropped the box on the ground.

"I forgot to give these to you silly! They're a 'Welcome to Ponyville' gift!" She opened up the box to reveal a dozen pink frosted cupcakes.

"Oh well, thank you Pinkie, but I don't eat sweets much." Pinkie frowned.

"Oh please??? Just try one??" Marcus raised an eyebrow. She was persistent. Spartans didn't really eat a whole lot of sweets; closer to none really. But he complied, taking one out of the box and raising it to his mouth. He hesitated, looking back at Pinkie. Her eyes were wide with happinessWell, bottoms up. He took a bite, and swallowed. It wasn't too bad, although it was a lot more sweet then he would have liked. He took another bit, and finished the cupcake off.

"Not bad," he said. "A little less sugar and they'd be great." Pinkie beamed at him, and gave him a huge hug.

"Take the rest if you want! I’ll have more with less sugar next time." And with that, she trotted off. Marcus stood up, holding the box. He really didn't know what to do with them. He opted to just hold on to them as he heard twilight begin to speak. He heard Twilight walk on stage, and say a few words. Something about a new visitor in Ponyville, and how he wasn't here to hurt them. They needed to be nice and not freak out when he was around. Marcus laughed; it was never that simple. He heard her call his name, and he walked out. His first impression from the ponies, well, expected. Fright. He cleared his throat.

"Good morning everyo-er, pony." They stared right back. Marcus was never good at public speaking. He took off his helmet, clipping to his belt and looked into the crowd.

"As Twilight said earlier, I'm Marcus. She filled you in on everything so I don't really know what to say. I guess I'll start with questions. Anyone?" There was silence for a moment, and then someone in the crowd, a grey, wall-eyed pegasus with yellowish-gold eyes raised a hoof.

"Are those muffins in your hoof?" That got a small laugh from the crowd. Marcus smiled.

"No, they're cupcakes that Pinkie Pie gave me as 'Welcome to Ponyville' present. See?" Marcus opened the container and showed them all. They all looked and nodded, happy to see that it was what he said it was, although Marcus noticed the pony who had asked looked sad about the answer. Another hoof was raised.

"What are you wearing?"

"This is MJOLNIR Mark 6 combat assault armor. Standard issue."

"What does it do?"

"Well for one thing it keeps me alive in a fight. It’s got a motion sensor, a shielding system to me alive. I also have an ammo counter for when I have my weapons equipped." Most of that sailed over their heads, but the answer seamed to satisfy the questioner. Someone yelled out asking why he was here.

"To be honest, this wasn't on purpose. Twilight was practicing magic when something went wrong. She ended up teleporting me here." There didn't seem to be any other questions. No one looked as scared as they had before, so that was a good sign. Marcus was about to finish everything when another hoof was raised.

"You said you have weapons. Why?" Marcus looked down,afraid of that question. Fluttershy spoke up for him though, saving his hide. She stepped forward a bit, hiding behind her mane, but spoke loud enough for most ponies to hear.

"He needs them to protect those who can't protect themselves. He helps ponies where he comes from. He's a soldier, and fight to protect other ponies." Everyone looked at him with awe. They were in the presence of an official war hero. Marcus looked around; uneasy. He looked at Fluttershy, and nodded; thanking her for her help.Another hoof was raised and Marcus pointed to it.

"Where do you come from?"Marcus frowned at that. He was Earth born, but he was raised on Reach with the other Spartans.

"I was born on a planet called Earth, but was later raised on another planet called Reach. That was where I was trained." At that a few more hooves were raised, but they all seemed to have the same question.

"How do humans live on different planets?" Marcus then explained some of humanity's more recent history, with the creation of the slip-space drive and the founding of human colonies among the stars. Ponies stared in awe at the story, and many were impressed with the tale.

"How have humans done this without magic?" This one stumped Marcus.

"I really don't know. I still don't really understand your 'magic' since it breaks most laws of humans science, but i also don't understand the science and technology behind slip-space drives.." Now most were quiet.

"I hope nothing bad comes of this, and I’m happy to be here. Thank you." And with that, the crowd was allowed to leave. They all got up, but didn't scramble out. That was also a good sign, Marcus guessed. Princess Luna walked out of the shadows.

"Well, that went better than we would have guessed." Twilight bowed, and Marcus nodded in her direction.

"Agreed."

Chapter 14- Iron Pony

Marcus walked out of the town hall, exhaling deeply. Life in Ponyville just got a lot easier, and he was glad for it. Only problem was that he had no real place to stay, or any form of currency for him to buy anything. He looked around, and spotted Applejack and her sister selling apples at a stand. He walked over there, Fluttershy trailing him. He stopped about half way there, a strange feeling over taking him. He felt as if he was being watched, and looked around casually, trying not to alert whoever it was. He turned to Fluttershy, scanning the area as he did.

“Someone is watching us," He said to her. She immediately froze.

"No, act normal. We are just having a pleasant conservation." He gave her a smile and nodded, as if to answer a question. Marcus turned around, balling his fists as he continued to walk towards Applejack's stand. His hand stopped shaking, and his senses became sharp. Every detail was in HD, and he saw everything; ponies at the stalls, a vender pocketing a small amount of money, bees on a flower. Anything and everything he saw. Right before he made it to Applejack's stand, a blur charged at him from above. He dodged, rolling sideways and jumping back up. He swept the legs out of whoever had attacked and stood above them, holding his arm back ready to strike. He stared right back at Rainbow Dash.

"Christ Rainbow, what the hell do you think you doing? You want to get yourself killed?" He said to her as she got up. He got up from the ground and looked around at the market; Ponies were staring again, but once they saw everything was ok, they returned to their own business, although some cast more glances towards him.

"I was just testing you is all; wanted to see if you’re really as fast as you say you are...." Marcus sighed.

"Still sore about that?" he said. Dash looked right at him and snorted.

"No! I could bet you any day in a race! I just don't feeling like trying really." She turned her snout away, and began to walk away. Marcus laughed.

“Oh really? Well then prove it." He smiled evilly at her. She stopped dead in her tracks.

"P-prove it?" she responded. Marcus nodded.

"You and me. I've been in need of a work out, and if you’re as good as you say you are, then you might prove to be a challenge, and I do love a good challenge." Dash squared her shoulders, looking right back at him; she lowered her head and snorted.

“Fine, you wanna lose so badly, let’s do this. Iron Pony Competition, you and me." Marcus smiled.

“Where and when?"

"Sweet Apple Acres Farm, high noon. Be ready to lose," and with that, she flew off. Marcus laughed.

"Oh my, this won’t end well." Marcus looked at Fluttershy.

"Don't worry Fluttershy, this should be fun." And with that the two walked off, not noticing the rustle in the bushes. Something had watched the whole encounter, and left without a trace.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Marcus and Fluttershy moved through the town, going from vendor to vendor for small items that Fluttershy needed back at her cottage. Marcus helped carry the assortment of items for her since she didn't have her saddle bags with her. He noticed how most ponies didn't seem to run in terror when they saw him, although he did get a few fearful looks. Overall though, the meeting seemed to have worked. He even got a few occasional hellos from ponies who passed by. One pony ran right up to him with a large grin on her face. Do these things have plastic surgeries or something? the mare had a light green coat with streaks of other shades of green and white.

"Hi! I'm Lyra! You're Marcus, right?" The spartan nodded in return.

"Then that makes you a human!" Again he nodded. That made the the mare go crazy. She began bouncing up and down, quietly chanting 'I was right! I was right! Those scholars can go kiss my flank for thinking me crazy!'.Marcus just looked down to Fluttershy for an answer. She smiled nervously.

"That's Lyra, our town human fanatic. She's been obsessed with everything and anything human related. Now that I think about it, she sorta sits like you too." Marcus just nodded. This place was nice, but had a lot of crazy characters in it. Fluttershy looks towards the town clock tower and gasped. It was ten til noon. Marcus looked to it as well and smiled.

"Oh boy, this is going to be fun." The duo turned from their path and started to walk out to the outskirts of the town were Sweet Apple Acres was, Fluttershy leading the way.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

It was high noon, and Marcus was at the empty fields of Sweet Apples Acres. To his left was a race track, and to his right was an assortment of strength testing items. Buckets of apples to be lifted, hay stack to be charged through, a spot for a hoof/arm wrestling contest. Marcus smiled. He hadn't been to anything like this before, and was sure he was going to enjoy himself. Rainbow landed a few feet away, looking ready as ever.

"You ready to lose Marcus?" Marcus just laughed.

"Are you?" Dash puffed up her chest.

"Ya right, no one’s ever beat me in an Iron Pony competition. I'm not gonna lose to some Spartan." Marcus nearly burst out laughing at that. She really didn't know what he could do. Well, now's a good time as any to show her, and her friends..

“What’s up first?" he said. She trotted over to the arm wrestling station and had a seat on one side of it. She held up a hoof and had a grin on her face.

"Fine by me." He walked over and sat across from her. He held up his hand, and crossed it with her hoof, holding on to it with his hand.

"Ready?" he asked. She nodded.

"On the count of 3. 1, 2, 3!" She tensed her arm, trying as hard as she could to move Marcus's arm. He didn't even have his arm in armor lock. Dash's arm was shaking at the force, but Marcus just yawned. Dash was sweating already from the effort, and still MArcus would not even budge.A crowd began to form, consisting of the Apple family, Fluttershy, Twilight, Rarity, Spike, and Pinkie Pie. Marcus noticed Spike couldn't keep his eyes off Rarity.

"W-why w-wont y-you budge?" she stammered through gritted teeth. Marcus just smiled, taking g his helmet off wit his other hand and smiling before responding.

"Because, I'm a Spartan," and at that, he slammed her hoof down, finishing it. He didn't do it hard enough to hurt her, but it was enough to make a point. Dash looked on is utter shock. Marcus looked at her and spoke.

"Still wanna do this?" Dash nodded, shutting her mouth and looking around for the next element. She was if nothing else persistent. They moved on through most of the strength challenges, which Marcus won of course. Dash was looking ever more desperate, more and more sweat accumulating on her.

"A mile around the track?" Marcus looked over at it and nodded.

"Just don’t know when to give up, do ya Dash?" he asked her. She just snorted, sweat dripping off her body. They got ready at the starting line and Big Mac held up a checkered flag. He looked at them both, making sure they were ready, then swung it down, signaling to go. They took off, Marcus in the lead by a few feet. Dash knew she couldn't lose to him, or else her cred points would go way down. She got up off the ground and began to fly. She caught up with Marcus, smiling at him.

"Hey! That's cheating! I don't even have wings!"

"She done the same thing to me partner, you can’t do anythin bout it," Applejack called out. Marcus grunted, and picked up the pace. He began to gain distance again, and was soon far ahead of Rainbow Dash. Come on Rainbow think, how can you beat this colt? And then it hit her. A smile grew on her face, and she put everything she had left into the final lap. She was gaining speed, and already past Marcus, She neared the end when she broke the sound barrier. Wanting to show off, she passed the finish line, and headed straight up, going as fast as her wings could let her. She stuck out both her hoofs, and a few seconds later, a large sonic boom was heard, followed by a large, rainbow blast in the wake of the pony. Marcus stopped where he was and looked up in awe. He had never seen such a thing. She slowed down, and changed her angel towards a hay bail. Crashing into it, the mare stood up, a dazed grin on her face.

"And that is how you do-" She didn't finish. She fell back down and began to snore. Marcus was panting, and looked down at the pony.Damn. She had to be fast, faster than most planes any human could make. She had just broke the sound AND light barrier!

"Wow...that's, that sure is something." He leaned over, spitting. Fluttershy walked over with a water bottle. He thanked her and took it, downing it in a few large gulps.

"You really put Rainbow Dash through her paces. She's never had to use the sonic Rainboom to beat anypony before, only to save ponies." Marcus looked over at the snoring pegasus. Her leg twitched and her tongue hung out of her mouth. She mumbled something about the Wonderbolts, and about some things she would do to Soarin, whoever that was. Marcus smirked.

"Well, she beat me. Let her know when she wakes up." Marcus sat down on the ground and looked up, Fluttershy sitting next to him. She decided to speak.

"How...how can you do all that?" Marcus looked down and shook his head. His hand was shaking. Fluttershy saw it and nodded towards it, her mane flooding her face. She drew back and tried to blow it away, partially succeeding. He laughed a bit and smiled. Fluttershy, after correcting her self, asked about his hand again.

"Does your hand have anything to do with your strength and speed." Marcus thought, and nodded slightly.

"Somewhat yes." Fluttershy frowned.

"Did....did it h-hurt?" Marcus looked back up at her and stared at her for a moment.

"Yes....it did. More than you could ever imagine..." MArcus looked back down and rubbed his hand. It was getting out of control, so he decided to lean back and sit on it for a bit. Doc said it was bad, but I don't care. I can't let them see it. Applejack walked up to the two of them and asked them all to come inside for dinner. Marcus and Fluttershy happily accepted, and followed Applejack inside until a small white pegasus colt ran up to them. He had a brown mane, and was shaking a bit. Applebloom walked up to him and frowned somewhat.

"Feather wing, what you doing ere?" asked Applebloom. The colt leaned over catching his breath.

"Fire....in town. Ponies...trapped...." Marcus didn't need to hear anymore. He put on his helmet and ran for town, following the large trail of smoke coming from town.

Chapter 15- Fear and Flames

As Marcus neared town, he could see the glow from the flames. A building burned bright in the night sky as smoke enveloped the town. Ponies were running around; most were screaming for help, but some tried to form a fire brigade. Marcus ran up to the burning building, a lone stallion in front of it. He looked up in horror, screaming for help. The stallion had a yellow coat with an orange mane.

"Help someone please! My wife and children are still inside! Help, anyone!" The stallion had tears rolling down his face as he looked around. Marcus walked up to him, looking at the fire. At the sight of Marcus, the pony backed away. He raised his hand in greeting and looked to the fire, then back to the stallion.

"What's your name?" He stood there for a moment, shacking. He repeated the question, and the stallion finally answered.

"C- Carrot Cake, sir. What do you want?"

"I'm here to help Mr. Cake. That's all." The stallion hook his head and blocked his path, still scared of the Spartan. He was one of the few who still didn't trust the human fully and he didn't want him near his family, no matter what. He could still be dangerous for all Carrot knew. Marcus was about to protest and move the stallion to the side when he heard hooves behind him. Twilight ran up with her friends behind her, Fluttershy following behind most of them with her mane hiding her face. Twilight ran up to Marcus and looked to the fire.

"What happened? How did this start?" At this Carrot Cake came up to Twilight.

"I was clearing up the bakery when this started! Ms. Cake and the twins were upstairs when it started, and haven't been able to get out!" Twilight looked to Marcus and spoke.

"Why haven't you done anything?!?" Marcus just pointed to Carrot, who just looked to Twilight with pleading eyes. Twilight groaned with annoyance.

"Ok, whatever. Marcus, you get in there and save who ever's inside. I'll stay out here and put a force field around the house so the fire doesn't spread, ok?" Marcus nodded and walked up to the house. Twilight turned to Fluttershy.

"Fluttershy I'm going to need you when they come out. Can I rely on you?" She nodded, trying to get a hold over herself. Marcus stood in front of the house and turned to Carrot Cake.

"Mr. Cake, please stand back. All of you get back!" And at that, Marcus braced himself and charged through the door, smashing it to bits and a wall of flame enveloping the opening. He looked back and noticed a purple wall covering the house. The flames didn't spread, but the smoke began to accumulate. Marcus wasn't bothered by it; his helmet's filters would stop him from breathing it in. What he was worried about were the ponies trapped in the house breathing in too much smoke. He heard yelling from the second story, and looked for a flight of stairs. The walls were creaking and groaning; the building was going to come down on him if he didn't hurry.

He searched the first floor, looking around in the back of the now ablaze kitchen, when a beam came crashing down right in front of Marcus. Jumping back, he nearly ran into a burning oven. Looking around through the smoke, he finally found the stairs, and made his way towards them. He took a few at a time, hoping to ease his great weight and so that he could go a bit faster. Some of the steps were on fire, and Marcus had to step over those. The staircase groaned under his weight, and a few of the steps gave out. He nearly fell twice when a step caved in underneath him. He finally reached the second floor. Everything was burning, and roll over from the fire was beginning to take the ceiling of the house. The smoke was thick and horrid, clouding Marcus's vision. He followed the yelling, nearing a small room that looked to be a nursery, or at least what was left of one. He saw a blue mare with a pink mane holding two crying foals. He jumped through the fire, crouching near them when he landed.

"Is there anyone else in here?" he yelled at her. She shook her head.

"N-no! Who are you?"

"My name is Marcus ma'm. Please, I need you to trust me right now, ok?" She nodded, still shaking.

"Please, help us!"

"That's why I'm here. Please, I need you to calm down. I can carry the kids in my arms, and you can get on my back. I need you to hurry; this place is going to come down on top of us any second. " She was hesitant, looking over Marcus and his armor. Her eyes fell on his expressionless mask and was about to protest when part of the wall came down. She screamed and did as she was told, handing over the foals. A fiery beam came crashing down over the entrance Marcus had come through, blocking it. He took the kids and held one in each arm, covering them as best he could. The mare climbed onto his back, and wrapped her hooves around his neck. Marcus looked around. There was a small opening, what was once a window Marcus guessed, a few feet away through part of the wall that had fallen. Marcus looked over at the mare on his back.

"Hold on! It's going to get a bit bumpy!" he yelled, and sprinted for the opening. His footing almost gave way as a section of the floor fell away, but he ran on. Marcus burst through the opening, flames bursting through as he did. He landed heavily on his feet, and the mare jumped off quickly onto the street, coughing heavily. Marcus ran over to Fluttershy, handing the two foals to her. She set them down and looked them over.

“They'll be fine, just a little scared and congested from the smoke." She gave each a bit of water, trying to comfort them. He looked up at her, and noticed that her demeanor had changed. She was no longer scared, but comforting. When she was needed, Fluttershy changed greatly. He admired that. Marcus walked over to the mare, who had her husband looking her over. Marcus bent over, checking for burns. Besides the cough, she seemed alright too, although there was a decent sized gash on her forehead. Marcus called over a pony to keep pressure on it. The two of them looked at Fluttershy caring for their foals, then back at Marcus with wet eyes.

"T-* cough*-thank you so much Marcus. You...you saved us. " They both smiled up at him. At that a loud crack was heard, and the building cave in on itself, falling to the ground in a flaming inferno. They looked on in horror as what was once their home and livelihood burned to the ground, becoming ash. Twilight's shield had worked, and no other buildings had caught fire thankfully. Marcus looked back at the couple.

"How did this happen?"

"We don't know. We had put out the ovens like we always did, and then we heard something fall down stairs. I went and looked, leaving Mrs. Cake here and the kids in the nursery. I found that a lamp had fallen over and started a fire, before I knew it; the whole house was on fire. I tried to get my family out, but the flames were too much. I ran out looking for help, and then you showed up. I don't know how I can ever repay you Marcus. I'm...I'm sorry for not trusting you more. It could have gotten my family killed, and I would never have forgiven myself." Marcus shook his head.

"You don't have to thank me. And I understand your fears, but just be bit more mindful of your of them next time." They asked about their foals, and Marcus assured them they were alright. Ponies ran up carrying buckets of water, putting out the rest of the fire. Twilight dropped the shield when it was safe. Marcus sat down, taking off his helmet and breathing in the smell of smoke and burning wood. The night had grown quiet. Princess Luna walked up. She had planned to meet up with Marcus and check in on him. The Princesses had decided to let him become a citizen of Equestria, but had to cover a few, smaller details with him. She had come to talk about those when she found the whole town in chaos.

"What is the meaning of this? What is going on here?" Marcus explained about the house. She looked on, a curious look on her face. MArcus just shook his head and clutched his hand; it was acting up again, and he didn't want to deal with it right now. Applejack was walked over to the other side of the house with a bucket of water when she tripped on a small, shiny object. She bent down and took a better look at what it was. She then stood up and called out for Marcus.

"Marcus, come have a look at this," Applejack called over. He walked over, looking at what Applejack was pointing at with her hoof. Marcus bent over to have a better look. He pushed away a bush, to find a small, long object. It had a small spike in the middle, and two rounded endings protruding at each end. If you were a human, you would hold it along its length. Marcus looked on in horror, knowing full well what it was.

"Marcus, what is it? What is that thing?" asked Twilight. Marcus dropped his head, and picked up the object. He walked to the crowd, and looked back at Twilight and Luna. He flicked it with his wrist, and a large, blue beam shot out, forming what looked to be a sword. It hummed with pure energy.

"This...this is a Covenant energy sword. And the Elite who dropped this was either very careless, or put it down as a warning."

Chapter 17- It Begins

Marcus stood still, looking at the scene before him. In front of him was a barren waste land, marked with large artillery craters and destroyed defensive positions. Sand bags with destroyed machine guns were littered on some of the hill tops, whereas bodies filled ravines. Some craters still smoked from the tremendous blast of the artillery, while others just provided cover for whoever felt like using it while they still lived. Off in the distance was a war torn city; fires lite up its skyline like a torch to a pyre. Anti-air rounds pocketed the skyline every now and then, and machine gun fire was heard in the distance. Bodies lay before the Spartan’s feet; anyone who was human had plasma burns marking their bodies. Some missed limbs while others looked more like Swiss cheese then men. Those that weren’t human were riddled with bullets; their wounds still poured blood on the already war tour field. Grunts lay everywhere, marked by the occasional Jackal; few Elites laid dead on this field. Marcus had not been a part of this fight; he had only watched. He now stood here, looking at what he could have prevented. He fell to his knees and held himself, weeping over the fallen.

He looked down at his hands, shaking from his grief and pain. ‘Why can I never save them?! WHY?’ He stood and looked towards the sky, flinging his arms behind him in rage.

“ITS WHAT YOU MADE ME FOR ISN’T IT?! TO SAVE OTHERS?! SO WHY CAN’T I? Why…why can’t I save them…?” He collapsed once more to the ground, shaking. He looked around him through teary eyes. Suddenly, something caught his eye. A hand was in the air, moving back in forth. ‘Impossible’. Marcus got from where he stood and sprinted to where the hand was. As he grew closer, he could see a body still connected to the hand. Marcus praised whatever gods there were as he drew nearer. He knelt down to the marine, already calling in the med evac. He looked down at the face of the marine and was shocked. He held in his arms a woman, bleeding from two leg wounds and a upper right chest would. Her armor was ragged and torn, and the souls of her boots were worn out. She had been fighting for a long time. He held her there, whispering comforts to her as she lay there in her own blood. It was everywhere, and covered most anything now. How she hadn’t bleed out yet Marcus didn’t know. Her helmet was rooked on her blond head, and it looked like it didn’t really fit her. She coughed and looked up at him through brown eyes. They sat there awhile, neither really talking, Marcus just looking down at her while she slowly died. He could do nothing but wait. He did have a few cans of bio-foam, but at this stage it wouldn’t do any good.

She began to shift, and with her last bit of strength reached out her hand towards Marcus’s face, or where it would be; it was concealed by his helmet and visor. She clasped his head in her shaking hand and held it there, seeming to look past the visor and straight into Marcus’s soul. She coughed somewhat, blood oozing from her lips. She began to speak, but choked on her words. Marcus shifted his weight and brought forth a canteen, washing away what blood he could and letting the woman take sips. Finally able to talk, she spoke two words to him.

“T-thank y-you...” After that she let her hand fall to the ground. Her eyes glassed over her as a deep cold took her body. Marcus sat there as the life finally drained from the woman’s body. Marcus sat there for a few moments, shaking with rage and pain. This woman had died for him, and others. She had given her life so that others would live. Wasn’t that what he was supposed to do? So why then did he sit here alive and this woman dead?

‘Why….WHY?’

Marcus woke with a start. His head was drenched in sweat, and his whole body was shaking. He quickly wrapped his arms around his body and doubled over, weeping silently. He remembered that woman as if it had happened yesterday; her face was so peaceful in her final moments. What did she thank me for? I couldn’t save her..... Wiping his eyes, he looked up to see the girls watching him with worried expressions. Fluttershy sat next to him, reaching out a hoof. He drew away quickly, scaring the mare slightly. He shook his head and walked to the end of the train car. He and the girls were on the train back to Canterlot when he had fallen asleep. He reached the end of the train car and exited out the door. He stood there leaning against the railing breathing heavily. He shut his eyes closed and tried to calm himself; he was hyperventilating and his body was trembling. He finally sat down against the wall of the car, holding his head in his hands. He tried to breath, but it felt like a thousand tons of weight was just sitting on his chest. His sight began to blur and Marcus felt dizzy.

Suddenly the door to the car opened up and a figured stepped out. Again he drew away, but this time the figure persisted, drawing him into a hug. He knew who it was, and he tried to get away, but she held strong. Mare’s stronger then she looks. Finally giving in, he rested his head against her shoulder while she tried to calm him. He sat there, her hooves around his neck while he silently cried, letting out all of his pain and anguish out. She just sat there taking everything in. Marcus thought of everyone he ever knew, everyone he left behind, and all he saw die. Coughing a bit, Marcus drew away carefully, nodding his head. Fluttershy sat there, frowning at him slightly. She worried for him. Finally getting enough courage to speak, Fluttershy stood and asked something that had been on her mind for a while.

“Marcus….what h-happened to you? Where you come from?” Sitting there, Marcus rested his head against the train car’s wall, looking up at the night sky. Apparently the train ride back to Ponyville had taken most of the day, and Luna’s moon now rose in the great blackness of the night sky. He stared at it for a while before answering her question. He didn’t really know where to begin to start, so he started from the beginning. He told her where he was from, and what he had gone through as a child. He told her of the UNSC and his augmentations, and the wars he fought against the rebels. Then he told her about the war with the Covenant. He spook about the dream he had the night Fluttershy woke him, and the one he had just had.

“That woman…she couldn’t have been older than twenty two. And she just lay there, dyeing and not even caring. She knew I couldn’t help….and she still thanked me…why?” Fluttershy sniffed, wiping away tears she began to speak, trying to think of something to say. The whole tale was so…so sad! It was the worst life she could ever imagine, and he lived it! Finally a thought occurred to her.

“You…you say that all the other Spartan II’s were emotionless, right? Would they have stopped for that woman?” Marcus sat there for a bit, and then shook his head, speaking.

“No, I suppose they wouldn’t.” Fluttershy then smiled at him.

“Then maybe she was thanking you for just being there. She had someone with her in her final moments.” Marcus sat there for a moment, letting that sink in. He mouth began to twitch a little, and a small grin crept onto his face. He looked at Fluttershy and drew her closer. She lay down on his lap, and looked up at the night sky with him. They were both silent as the train made its way home.

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Chrysalis held back tears as she looked around her. Burning, everything burning! Her precious changelings slaughtered before her. She looked around, watching as those who lived ran for the lives, only to be cut down by more fire. A few days ago, a large object, larger than anything Chrysalis had ever seen came shooting out of the sky, trailing a large tail of smoke. Thinking it might be a dragon attack, she did what any sensible ruler would do; she sent in a task force to eliminate the threat. But when they did not return, she became worried. Then there were reports of disappearances, and fires started throughout her kingdom. At first she thought they were isolated incidents, but they started to become common, and centralised. She could do nothing though, her power lost when those elements of harmony destroyed her horn. She was powerless as the beasts came into her home and wrecked everything. They burned everyone alive, and destroyed her home. Now she kneeled in front of one of them, watching in horror as he finished off those that were left. Then it turned to her.

It was one of the strangest things the changeling queen had ever seen. It was reptilian in nature, and stood at least 7 feet tall. It had small, beady black eyes, and had four mandibles which were covered in teeth. It grumbled something to his companion, who stepped forward and bowed. He then walked over, and grabbed her by the throat, throwing her at the larger ones feet. He looked down at her, grumbles emanating from his throat. It was laughing at her! He bent over, and picked her up by her throat, squeezing. Chrysalis couldn't breathe, and this things grip was strong. She struggled, but try as she might she could not get free. She looked back into its eyes, staring deeply.

“W-what are you?” she asked. It merely laughed, and brought something out from its hip. It hissed open, and Chrysalis felt a sharp, burning sensation in her abdomen. Slowly, ever so slowly, the beast stabbed her with its weapon, drawing a quick, painful breath from the queen. Once the weapon was hilt deep, he let go of her, letting her fall to the ground. He laughed, enjoying the days kill. Uze’ Kenzu, Ship Master of the World of Fire and acting Field Master, stared into the eyes of his kill as its final breaths were taken. The changeling queen was dead. A Sangheili major walked up to him, and bowed deeply, knelling before his ship master.

“Ship Master, the technicians say the ship will be operational within the week. 3 days’ time is all the ask of you, and then we shall return to the Great Journey.” Uze' nodded, pleased. The Major stood and bowed once more before walking away. The ship had been damaged when they entered this world, and soon would be repaired for their return. Soon, the Ship Master thought, soon this world will burn. All in the name of the Prophets and Gods. Uze raised his energy sword, yelling at his fellow brothers in arms. They turned to him, calling up in his cheer for war and blood.

Chapter 18- A Hard Days Work

The group arrived at Ponyville late in the night, and when the train pulled to a stop, everyone got off. Not really saying much to one another, they left to retire to their homes. Marcus just stood on the train platform uneasily. The station was vacant, but wide open, and it made him uneasy., unsure of what to do. Staying at Fluttershy’s wasn't a permanent thing, and he didn't want to impose on the mare. Fluttershy stopped and looked back at him, seeing his hesitation.

“Y-you don't have any other place to stay, don’t you?” He nodded at her, taking off his helmet.

“Well, you can stay with me till we find a permanent place for you,” She motioned for him to follow, and he complied. Marcus walked beside her in silence for a few minutes as they walked to her house, till she spoke up.

“Marcus, what are the other Spartans like?” The question caught him off guard. No one had ever been really interested in what the Spartans were like, only in what they could do. How well they could fight, and how long they could last in one. It differed for each Spartan, so there was no definite answer. Neither was there one for this question.

“Well, I guess they're all a lot like me. Some have their own little quirks that they've developed over time, kind of like me, but not as bad.” He thought for a moment remembering Master Chief’s like quirk; he rarely took off his helmet.

“I can say one thing about all of us though; we are a very tight group. We look out for one another, and consider one another family, even though none of us are blood related. We’re all brave, strong, and fight with every inch of our being against those that would do us, or others, harm.” The answer seemed to satisfy the mare, although she seemed to be thinking on something hard. Marcus let her be. In her time, she would ask whatever it was that was troubling her. They arrived at the house, and Marcus walked to the room he had stayed in before, but Fluttershy called out for him.

“Yes?” he answered.

“C-could you stay in here for the night? If you were to wake up again I'd be able to help. Plus I wouldn't anything to, ah, happen if it did.....” Marcus thought for a moment and nodded. He didn't want her to baby him; he could take care of himself after all, but these dreams shook him to his very core, and experiencing another episode without help unnerved him. He followed her to the main bedroom and sat on the floor in a corner across from the bed. Fluttershy soon found some comfort in her sheets and fell asleep. Marcus was not long behind, but the world of dreams would not be kind to him.

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Marcus woke with a start. sweat poured down his head and his breathing was erratic. He doubled over and tried to control his stomach from spewing forth what still remained in it. That night’s dream had been worse than usual. It relieved one of his worst fights, one that he hoped he had forgotten long ago. Feeling the nausa pass, Marcus leaned back and rested his head against the bare wall. He stretched his forelimbs (sleeping on the floor night after night even in MJOLNIR armor isn’t the best thing) and looked around the room. It was early in the morning, and the sun was still rising. He looked up, and noticed Fluttershy’s bed was empty. He got up, and searched the house. He called out her name, and finally saw her outside looking towards the rising sun. He went out and stood near her. Her mane was in a large, pink mess, and a bath robe was wrapped around her. A small bunny sat near her, eating it's morning carrot. She looked back at him, startled. She calmed down when she saw it was him, and looked forward again. Marcus walked up beside her and sat down.

“Something troubling you Fluttershy?” She shook her head, but Marcus guessed otherwise. She sighed and looked on.

“I-it’s this whole…c-covenant thing. I’m just really scared; you’ll have to fight them, and youmighdieandomgoshyoumightdieMarcus!” She couldnt take it anymore and leaned into his arm and began to cry once more.

“Why did this have to happen Marcus? Why here? Why now? And why with you?” She looked up at him, a warm feeling in her chest. She was scared for herself sure, but she was also afraid for him. What if they’re too much for him this time? Marcus felt a bit uneasy; comforting wasn't his strong suit, but he had to try. He looked to the rising sun, and he thought about it all. He could never answer those questions; no one could. It was all fate and chance, something Marcus believed in strongly.

"Fluttershy, I want you to listen to something. I have it here in my helmet, and I want you to listen to what it’s talking about. Ok?” She nodded, confused. He pulled up his helmet and turned on a song he had installed for recreational purposes. He told her that it was called “Hero” by a band called Skillet. While the music wasn’t quiet to her liking, the words meant something to her. It talked about who was willing to fight for what was right, even though they weren't special. They were not a superhuman, or a superpony in Fluttershy's case. But the fight needed to be fought, and that pony/person was willing to fight.

“Fluttershy, I have been fighting for all my life. Whether it was through training, or in a combat zone, I have been at war with everything who stood against me, and later on, against my family and those who I cared for. I have become good at it, and while that might not be a good accomplishment, it keeps those I care for alive and well.” He looked down at Fluttershy; her crying had stopped during the song. She understood, and smiled up at him; hope in her eyes. They looked on towards the sun rise.

The day’s events were few and quick. Fluttershy needed a few things in town, so Marcus went with her. He kept his helmet on now, and had his magnum on his hip and the safety off safety, just in case. Once they had finished that, they decided to head up to Sweet Apple Acres to see if Applejack had any work to be done. Marcus was getting tired of just sitting around, and he needed something to do, badly. They arrived at her place, and found Applejack standing with Big Mac arguing over something. As the two got closer, they got the tail end of the argument.

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“I’m tellin’ you ah can do it Big Mac! Ah’ve learned from mah mistakes since last time, and won’t do it again. Now go on an’ rest, ya hear? You overdo yerself you much sometimes Macintosh." Big Mac just looked down and shook his head. The argument was lost, and he knew it. He heard footsteps and looked up again, only to see Fluttershy and Marcus. He nodded in their direction, and Applejack turned around.

“Well howdy, y'all. What brings you around ‘ere?” Marcus stepped up, nodding towards Big Mac. He liked men, or stallions in this case, of few words.

“Well, as of right now, I have no job. I can’t just sit around on my ass all day and night, so I thought a job might do me some good. I came to ask if you need anything done. Its free of charge of course, I just need something to do badly.” Applejack stood there for a moment, a big grin on her face.

“You came just at the right time partner. Big Mac here hurt his hoof again, and I need somepony to help out with Applebucking season. Think ya can handle it?” Marcus turned to his left and looked out over the wide fields of apple trees. There had to be hundreds of them. That’ll keep me busy for a long time, Marcus thought. Marcus turned back to her.

“Sure Applejack, I’ll help you with it.” She smiled, a large grin across her face.

“Great! You can start tomorrow if ya can. And please, call me AJ. Applejack’s too formal for a cowpony such as mah self.” With that she walked towards the fields, ready to buck away. Marcus smiled to himself. He got his first real job that didn’t involve killing anyone. This should be...interesting. With that settled, Marcus and Fluttershy walked back to her house in silence. They had a small lunch, and Marcus went out for a run, promising to be back before night. He was gone for an hour or two, having encircled most of Ponyville, and a little bit of the Everfree.

Once he returned, he literally had nothing to do. He sat down on the only thing that seemed to be able to hold his weight, a large, metal chair in the kitchen. Once seated, Marcus felt something poke at his backside. He reached back, and grabbed hold of a hilt. The knife! He had forgotten all about it. He pulled it and inspected the blade. It was a bit dull, and its sheen was wearing off. Having nothing better to do, he started to sharpen the knife on his armor, bringing it down in long, small strokes. Soon the blade was sharp enough to cut anything with the smallest touch. He grabbed a towel from the kitchen drawer and began to rub down the weapon; bringing out it's shine again. Looking over the weapon, he remembered who's it was.

Emilia… It had been hers. He must have seen her use it a half dozen times on Grunts and Jackals, even a few Elites. How had he forgotten who’s this was? Feeling a bit of nostalgia, he gently but back the weapon in its sheath, clenching his shaking hand. It seemed to get more noticeable when things like that popped up. Marcus sat up straighter and looked around at the kitchen. That whole process took about an hour or so, and he saw that it was near dinner. Fluttershy had prepared a small but nice dinner, comprised of a salad, bread sticks, and various drinks. Fluttershy had water, were Marcus decided on hard cider. It had a very sweet taste, but was strong and bold, running down Marcus’s throat with a fiery burn that left him wanting more. By the end of dinner, he had had three of them. Night soon followed, and they sat at the same spot Marcus had found Fluttershy that morning, watching the moon rise into the night sky. They soon returned to the room Marcus laying across from Fluttershy’s bed.
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They next day was somewhat the same process, although Marcus got up early, leaving a note for Fluttershy saying he had gone to AJ’s to work. He left, grabbing a small bag with some small items for a lunch, and left, walking towards the farm. He arrived to find AJ stacking barrels into a pile in front of one of the orchards. He waved a bit, and she nodded back, a small smile on her face.

“Took you long enough. Thought Ah'd have ta start without ya." Marcus grunted and pointed around the area.

"Hard to find my way without a guide." Applejack laughed and pointed towards the tree line.

"How ‘bout you and I get to work now that you're here?” He looked at her with a blank expression.

“Where exactly do I start?” She motioned towards a stack of barrels.

“Fill those up with apples in the east orchard; thats the one right behind you. It should be enough for this un. Ah’ll be helping you, so don't worry. We should be done by lunch, then move on to the next orchard and finish up by 5 or 6.” Marcus nodded, and grabbed the stack and moved into the thicket of apple trees. He looked to AJ, who just bucked the trees with her hind legs, making all the apples drop into buckets. Those that were full weren't moved to another tree, and those that were stayed. Marcus came to a realization. Because of his different form, he wouldn’t be able to pick the apples the same as AJ. But Spartans have been known to be adaptive, hell they were trained to be, and an idea occurred to Marcus. Moving back, he punched the tree. Apples fell from it, and the buckets were filled. Happy with himself, he moved onto the next tree, and the next, and the next. By lunch time, the two had finished their work, and left the orchard. Marcus grabbed his hand; sore from the punching. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea after all, but it worked. At least the hand isn't shaking. They sat down at a picnic table and ate lunch, chatting between one another.

“You sure you’ve never done this before? You were going faster than ah were!” The mare smiled at him, and Marcus shrugged.

“I guess I just learn quickly.”

“So, ah, what goin’ on with you and Fluttershy exactly? You been hanging around her a whole lot lately.” AJ grins at him, and Marcus just frowns.

“I don’t follow,” he responds.

“Oh please, you been with her this whole time! You never leave her side, unless something requires you to, and you always smiling at one another.” Marcus caught on, and just shook his head. He couldn't pass this up.

“Oh you know, same old same old. We sleep together everynight, and she cooks for me too.” Aj spit out her food.

"You what?"

"Sleep together." She staired at him with a blank stair.

"One question: how?" Marcus smiled and wiggled his eyebrows. Aj started to bet red and looked away, flushed crimson. Marcus laughed at her and explained himself.

"Its not like that. I sleep in her room on the floor by her request. She wants to be there incase i have another, ah, episode..." AJ just nodded, looking past Marcus and into the orchard of trees. Suddenly AJ spoke.

"Did you know your parents?" Marcus just looked at her for a moment before shaking his head.

"I was taken from the to be a Spartan II when I was six. I don't remember much of them..." AJ nodded and looked at him with a sad expression.

"Mine were taken from me when Ah was bout that age. Big Mac was a year or two older then me, and Applebloom had just been born. Granny Smith don't talk about it much, and Ah don't really remember what happened, or what they were even like..." Marcus stared at her for a moment before speaking.

"I, ah, I'm sorry to hear it. Why though, if you don't mind me asking, are you telling me all this?" AJ just shook her head and looked around, trying to find something to focus on. She didnt, so she spoke to him.

"Just so you can relate I suppose. You're all alone her Marcus, and you've got no one else to really talk to that will understand. Ah guess I'm just sad for you." Marcus bristled at this.

'Well, I don't need pity." Aj looked at him, guilt in her voice.

"Ah didn't mean it like that Marcus!. Really, Ah didn't." Marcus just clammed up, not even acknowledging her anymore. AJ just sighed, and nodded her head.

“Well, any how, Fluttershy does seem to be getting mighty comfy around you, so watch yourself. ” Marcus just shrugged, ignoring the comment. It couldn't work, and all he was doing was helping her stay calm and feel safe. It wasn't like he had romantic feelings for her or anything......Right?

They finished their meals, and returned to work, setting up in another orchard and quickly moving through it, getting all the apples. By the time they were done, it was almost 6:30 pm. Marcus frowned, sweat covering his face. His hand hurt like a bitch, and he knew he would feel it even more in the morning.

“I should go, and thanks AJ. I needed the work. I’ll be back same time tomorrow.” AJ nodded, smiling and leaning over. The argument from before had left, and her playful mood had returned.

“Go on then lover boy. Go on home to Fluttershy. Thanks for the help again.” Marcus just laughed at her joke, and grabbed his things. He walked to Fluttershy’s and arrived shortly before 7. She had dinner ready and everything. Marcus told her of the day’s events, even the bit about AJ’s teasing. Fluttershy laughed at that and blushed. Marcus finished off his cider, and smiled back at her.

“Applejack has a good sense of humor, but I think that was a bit miss placed,” she said to him. Marcus nodded. They had finished dinner rather late, around 8 o’clock. Marcus helped gather the dishes and went back up stairs. He stopped by the bathroom a minute. I wonder…

“Fluttershy, is it alright if I take a shower?” She looked back up the stairs, still cleaning downstairs.

“Sure. I’m not sure, ah, if you could fit though. How could you with all that armor on?” Marcus just looked down at the stairs, pointing to the bolts in his armor.

“I can take it off you know.” A small squeak was heard down stairs.

“Sorry! Yes you can.” And with that, Marcus walked into the rather large bathroom. He closed and locked the door behind him, not wanting her to barge in on him by accident. He took off his armor, and laid it down in a pile in a corner. He then stripped off the nano suit and under shirt and underwear. He turned the shower on hot and stepped in, not minding the cold at first. It would heat up, and the chill felt good to him. It had been a long time since he felt running water on him.

He leaned his head against the wall, letting the water run down his back. He barely fit in the shower, but man did it feel good. Marcus hadn’t had a proper shower in a few weeks, and damn did he smell. He grabbed a bar of soap, a rubbed it over himself. It was a bit more careful around old, scared wounds. Done with the cleaning, he stood there for a few more minutes, letting his head clear of all thought. Finally he stepped out and dried off. He looked at his undershirt and pair of boxers. Shit these are dirty.

Grabbing the bar of soap, he turned the sink on and cleaned the clothing as best he could. The shirt was had a large tear in the fabric where the piece of metal had pierced through. He let it be, putting the clothing back on, the nano suit, and finally the last bits of his armor. He walked out of that room refreshed. He found Fluttershy already asleep and lay down in his usual spot. He was soon asleep. The work from the day had tired him out; Marcus’s brain was far too tired to create any sort of vivid image. That night, Marcus slept well in the land of darkness and space.

Author's Note

If you guys feel like listening to the song here it is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEDa1lawY4M

Chapter 19- Zealots

On the 3rd day, Marcus woke up feeling refreshed. It was a crisp morning, and the sun was beginning to rise over the mountains to the east. A light fog covered the land, and Marcus breathed in the fresh air. He had slept well, and was ready for another day of work on AJ’s farm. He got up from his position on Fluttershy’s room, and walked down stairs, hearing the sizzle of…was that bacon? No way she made that. He walked into the kitchen to find Fluttershy making breakfast. Eggs, what looked to be bacon, milk, and muffins.

“Did you really make bacon? Fluttershy, you didn’t have to do that just because I’m a-“He was cut short. It looked like bacon, but different. It was lighter, and had a bit of a different smell to it.

“It’s vegetarian bacon. I don’t really know what’s in it, but I decided to try it. I hope you like it” She brought over a plate of food for him. He grabs a slice of the vegie bacon, and brought it to his mouth. He sniffed it. Well, it smells like bacon, I wonder… He took a small bite out of the crunchy morsel, only to be rewarded with the taste of bacon. This stuff was delicious!

“Fluttershy, this is amazing! It tastes almost exactly like the real thing!” He took another bite; scarfing it down. She looked happy, and took a bite of her own. She swallowed and looked up at him.

“That IS good!” Fluttershy squealed.

“You’ve never had this or real bacon, have you?” She shook her head. Marcus looked over at her, smiling. She really had gone out of her way for him this time.

“Well, thank you. It’s great.” Marcus finished breakfast, and said goodbye to Fluttershy when he had finished cleaning up after himself. She waved him goodbye, and he walked off to AJ’s farm. He arrived a few minutes later, and went straight for the barn. He found her, standing next to a stack of barrels, although there was noticeably less than yesterdays.

“Hey AJ. So what’s the plan for the day? You don’t have as many barrels as yesterday.” He pointed at the stack.

“Eeeeyup.” She imitated her brother almost perfectly. “I figure since we beet our quota yesterday ah’d give ya a break today and let ya have some fun in town after lunch. Fluttershy ‘ll be there.” At that AJ smiled and winked at him. He just shook his head, smiling. He grabbed some of the barrels and followed her out to the new orchard of apple trees.

“You know nothing’s going on with me and her, right?” AJ just laughed and moved on, walking in front of him. They reached the orchard and began their work. Marcus used the same technique as yesterday; punching each tree hard enough for the apples to fall, but not hard enough to break it. They moved from tree to tree, gathering up the apples that fell loose from the trees into the barrels. They finished when Celestia’s sun was high in the sky, and walked back to the barn. They sat at the picnic table from the other day and ate in silence.

“Alright, you’ve done enough for the day; ya can go on into town and hang out. I’ll finish up here and met ya down there.” Marcus was about to protest, but Applejack just shot him a look. He kept quiet did as he was told. He got up and walked down the main road into town. He walked quietly, his helmet was off, and he breathed in the fresh air. Today was a good day. Marcus was reaching the town edge, when he heard a creak behind him. He jumped around, bringing his pistol to bear. There was nothing but trees and bushes. A fox ran out from the cover of one of them and ran across the road when it saw him. Marcus put his pistol back in his holster, and started his walk to town again. His nerves were now on edge, and for good reason. The birds had stopped chirping, and three large figures followed the Spartan into town, cloaked. They had been relived when he hadn’t noticed the shimmer in light from the cloaking device. The Elite Zealot team moved forward, following the Spartan into town.
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Marcus had found Fluttershy at the newly rebuilt Sugar Cube Corner talking to Pinkie Pie. These ponies really knew how to build quickly. She had a troubled look on her face. Marcus walked up to the two, smiling. He had calmed his nerves a little, and relaxed at the sight, but felt concerned. Something was troubling them.

“Hello Pinkie, how are things? Is something wrong?” Pinkie looked at Fluttershy, and then back to Marcus. Her eye was twitching, and her tail was in a large fuss; buzzing around at what looked to be sonic speed.

"Marcus something’s here, in Ponyville. I don’t know where, but I’ve never gotten twitches like these before.” Marcus looked a Pinkie like she was crazy. Sure he was paranoid. When was a Spartan NOT paranoid? But this was a bit different. He would have noticed if the Covenant were here. They weren't exactly stealthy. Only are rare occations did they ever try to hide themselves.

“Pinkie, how would you know? Just because the sugar in those cupcakes is giving you a bit of a rush doesn’t mean it symbols anything.” Pinkie Pie just shook her head.

“No, you don’t understand. I have these…twitches that happen every now and then when something goes wrong. My tail twitches when something falls from the sky for example.” She began to explain all her other twitches, which Marcus tried not to zone out of. This could mean anything.

“But I’ve never gotten these twitches before! I don’t know what they mean, and I’m afraid they might mean that our, ah, problem might be here. Now.” At that Marcus paled. He was about to respond, saying that her accusation was ridiculous, but then something happened that was unexpected. A large figure materialized behind Marcus, taller than him by a foot. It wore deep purple armor and something with two ends in each hand. It kicked Marcus straight into the store, making him plow through walls and furniture. He was finally stopped by a large oven, although the wall behind it groaned under the sudden assault. Shaking his head, Marcus looked up at his attacker. It was a zealot Elite, backed by two more. One had an energy sword, while the other was armed with a plasma repeater. The lead one, the one that had kicked Marcus, held two plasma rifles. N-no…not here. Not around them. Bellowing it’s furry, the Elite charged him head on, bringing forth his two plasma rifles. Rolling to the right, Marcus got up and ran for the back door, fumbling for his rifle on his back.

Bursting through the flimsy wooden frame, Marcus turned and headed for the town center, ignoring the enraged elite behind him. His priority right now was to get everyone out of town. He heard the Elite behind him curse his existence as he followed the Spartan.

“Why do you run human? Your life will end like all others before you! Die now by my hand!” A sword was slashed downward in front of him. The Elite had swung too early by a second. Ramming his body sideways, his shoulder connected with something hard. Looking to his right, he saw that it was an Elite, stunned and bent over. Taking the opportunity, Marcus turned towards him and rammed his fist into the gut of the Elite, hold onto his shoulder for extra effect. The air in the Elites lungs quickly left him, and he doubled over trying to breathe once more. Before he could finish the Elite off though, the zealot that had been chasing him finally caught up, tackling him to the ground. The two wrestled around on the ground, neither of them having the upper hand. Marcus scored a few good hits the ribs and face, but took just as many if not more to his groin and stomach. These Elites were good.

Finally gaining something of an upper hand, Marcus kicked the Elite off of him. He turned onto his stomach and sprinted away, trying to find his friends. He could hear explosions and screams in the distance. No, no, no! Not again! I can’t let it happen again! He had left his rifle behind at the bakery, so he opted for his magnum. Drawing back the slide, a round clicked into place. Turning a corner, Marcus caught sight of hell once more. Ponies ran for their lives a tall figure stalked amongst them. It held blue flame in its hands, and spewed it forth into the crowd of ponies. Buildings burned while more and more civilians were cut down by the enemy fire. Marcus stood for a moment, taking in the scene. Finally snapping out of his trance, he ran forward towards the Elite, screaming bloody murder as he charged.

Turning towards the new threat, the Elite brought its plasma repeater to bear on Marcus and fired. Jumping into the air, Marcus flipped end over end until he landed once more onto his hands and feet. Dodging incoming fire from the elite, Marcus ran on. He stopped behind a hald burned house, catching his breath. He looked past the wall and caught sight of his friends ushering people away from the scene. Good, they’re safe….Wait, where’s Fluttershy?! A scream brought him back to reality. Turning back behind him towards where he came, he saw the two elites that had pinned him before. In the hand of one was a bright yellow Pegasus with a pink mane. An energy sword was held to her throat.

“NO!!” Marcus yelled. He ran straight towards them, banishing any and all other thoughts. He did not care for the others; he didn’t care for any of the other pony’s that now fled from their burning homes. He cared about her. She will not have the same fate as everyone else I've known! Pulling up his magnum, Marcus fired three shots towards the Elite. They struck it’s shields, making them flare, but they did not go out. Turning towards Marcus, the elite threw Fluttershy away, his attention now focused on him. Backed up by the leader of the group, the Elite charged Marcus, swinging his sword in a high arch towards his head. Ducking down under the attack, Marcus rammed his shoulder once more into the Elites gut. But this time the end was different. Fueled by fury and anger, Marcus wrapped his arms around the elite’s waist and fell backwards, dazing the elite further. Getting up from the ground, Marcus kicked the other Elite away, before turning back towards the other. Wrapping his right arm around its neck, Marcus tugged hard on it, squeezing the air out of it throat. Squeezing even further, Marcus made a quick jerk of his whole head, snapping his spine completely. Turning around, Marcus received a quick jab to the skull before stumbling backwards. He tripped on the body of the now dead elite, and fell onto his back.

“You have failed human. Like all other demons who try so hard to keep others alive you have failed. And now I will be the one to claim your head!” Drawing an energy knife from his wrist, the Elite stabbed downward towards Marcus’s throat. Reaching out towards its wrists, Marcus resisted the move, but try as he might; the blade continued its path towards his death. Please…don’t let it end like this! Not when so many other need me! Then something unexpected happened. A pair of yellow legs struck the Elite straight onto the side of its head, forcing him off of Marcus. Getting up quickly, Marcus pinned the elite to the ground with his knees. He then proceeded to beat the living shit out of it; each hit breaking bone. He yelled out his furry towards the elite, not just for trying to harm him, but for trying to harm his friends, Fluttershy, and every human he knew. He took out his built up rage and anger on the Elite. Drawing back his arm one last time, he looked on the wreckage before him.

The Elite’s face was bloodied beyond repair. Its mandibles were bent and broken in odd shapes and angles. It’s cheek bones seemed to have fractured, as well as most of the skull. Its eyes were wide and black. Marcus looked deep into them, looking right back. He saw everything the elite was, and what it felt at that very moment. He saw rage, and undeniable strength. And he was going to stop him here and now.

Leaning down to the side of its face, Marcus slowly pulled out his Gurkha knife. He drew it close to its throat, barely whispering, “You have murdered billions of my people, slaughtered my men, and now you terrorize those who have not witnessed war in centuries. You will pay.” Marcus jabbed the knife straight into the Elites throat, twisting it around. The Elite gurgled, blue blood flowing freely. Wrenching the knife away, Marcus stood up from the corpse. He put his knife away and looked down, knowing who had watched. He was ashamed, and yet he had enjoyed it. Oh how he enjoyed that kill! It felt right; just even. The elite deserved to die! Moving his hand towards his face plat, he saw it shaking. Tremors moved down from the tips of his fingers to his wrist, and the whole hand was covered in blue blood. Snapping from his thoughts, Marcus clenched his hand and looked down again. He walked away towards Fluttershy, who stared on in horror. Marcus tried to speak.

“I….It’s just……Fluttershy I…I’m sorry you had to see that…I just couldn’t…” Marcus kneeled down in front of her and held out his hands towards her; he drew them back and looked down at them, his one hand still shaking. “Please….forgive me…” He held back tears now; real tears. He had never wanted her to see it; any of it. He never wanted to have her see him like this, and now she was afraid of him. He couldn’t bare it; he would never be able to. She was his salvation, and he would lose her because of his weakness; his own corruption. He looked up to her to see tears on her own face, but he did not see fear. He saw pity.

“M-Marcus, I may n-never forget w-what just h-happened, and I do apologies for that…But right n-now our friends need y-your help. I-I need your help. S-so get up! Because right now we need you!” She walked forward towards him and nudged his head up with her snout. Once up, Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around his neck. He smiled at her kindness. He rose from where he knelt, and grabbed his magnum from the ground. He checked the mag by sliding it out. Satisfied he rammed it back into the gun. He knelt down once more and took the energy sword from the one of the dead elites.

“Thank you Fluttershy…..you don’t know how much that means to me….” He nodded to her and sniffed. Damn I’m getting soft… He laughed a bit at that. Spartans aren't supposed to get soft, but here I am with a shaking hand and a pony for a friend. Nodding his head forward, Marcus marched forward, magnum in hand. Fluttershy flew off, probably to escape with the others. Good, she’ll be safe. Walking into town center was a sight to behold. Buildings had plasma burns all over them. Thatch roofs had caught fire from the heat of the discharged plasma.The library seemed to be mostly intact. Looking around, Marcus spotted his assault rifle near one of the market stands. Looking around quickly, Marcus dashed over to the stand, sliding down on the ground to it as plasma fire laced through the sky. The other Elite had finally caught on.

“You’re too late hinge head! You friends ugly ass one and ugly ass two are dead! You’re all that’s left, and man are you one ugly fuck!” The elite, instead of responding, howled with rage. Taking his opportunity, Marcus stood with his assault rifle ready. He fired at the elite crouched won, tracer rounds tearing into its shields. It took a few quick bursts before rolling away; it’s shielding had been depleted. It threw a plasma grenade over its cover. It sailed through the air quickly, a blue tail of flame following it. It stuck down on the ground next to Marcus. Thinking quickly, Marcus jumped away from the market stand, but not before the grenade went off. The shock wave hurled him forward, sending him into another wall of a house. Groaning loudly, Marcus stood up from the rubble. He was about to rush out when he was tackled from behind once more. He landed on his stomach, and rolled over as the Elite pounced on where he had been laying a few seconds ago. Grabbing a nearby two by four from the rubble, Marcus cracked it over the Elites back before standing up. He sent a punch towards the Elites gut, but it was blocked. The Elite jabbed with his fist, getting Marcus in the chest, but not before receiving a knee to the groin. The elite doubled over in pain, groaning from the immense physical trauma he was now in. Marcus took his chance. Breathing heavily, Marcus closed his fists into a ball and slammed them down onto the elites back. It feel forward to the ground. He looked down at it in all its glory. It was beaten and bruised, and it bled in a few places. It began to speak to him.

“It matters *cough* matters not what you do to us human. You may kill myself and *cough* * cough* and my team, but you cannot win. You have no one else but yourself to fight this battle. You *cough*will lose.” Marcus thought for a moment, and then began to nod his head. He knelt down onto the elite, placing his knee in between the shoulder blades of the beast. He grabbed it by the jaw line, and brought its head up, making it wince. It tried to fight back, clawing at his hands to release him. Marcus took no notice of it. Using his other hand, he removed his helmet and looked down at the elite into its eyes.

“You may be right hinge head. You may kill me, and burn this world in the name of your false gods. You may claim victory over my decayed body as you reap sorrow onto this world.” He re-gripped the elites head again and looked into its eyes.

“But if you think for just one moment that I will go quietly into the night without a fight. You are sadly mistaken my friend. I will continue to fight for these…ponies until my dying breath. And you will suffer.” Drawing out his knife once more, Marcus brought it to the Elite’s neck. He put it close, and drew it across slowly, letting the elite feel every inch of the fatal gash that he was creating. He drew it away with a quick flick, and listened to the sounds of gurgling as the elite finally bleed to death.

Chapter 20- Death and Life

Marcus stood before the corpses of the dead Elite. He looked down and saw the blue black blood oozing its neck. He flicked his knife, splattering drops of blue blood on the ground. He wiped it off on his on an extra cloth he had, and sheathed it. Even if I go through a portal to a different dimension, death and war still stalks my life. Marcus looked around at the ruined town. Buildings that were once burning infernos were now ashes. The Library was still standing, but it had bullet holes and plasma burns marking its large trunk and branches. Houses still stood; if the ponies were lucky, they could rebuild the town. Marcus walked around, moving debris from dead bodies of ponies that littered the ground; they all had the same stare; empty and everlasting. Marcus sighed to himself, clenching his fist from anger. I can't just let them lie here, rotting away...

Marcus decided to make a mass grave. He carefully carried the bodies of those lost onto a makeshift pier outside of town. Some he knew; others he had only briefly seen. He pulled the bodies on a pre-made pier; there were 15 bodies total. Looking around, Marcus found a burning plank from one of the houses, and placed it on the pier, setting the bodies aflame. He looked on into the flames, watching as the bodies turned to ash. The pier burned on as the ashes spread over the land. Marcus took off his helmet, hoping for some fresh air. What he got instead was the stench of burning corpses and burnt ozone; he clipped it to his belt and unslung his assault rifle. One of the clips had 21 rounds in it. Just the right amount. Marcus stood at attention. He brought up his assault rifle across his chest, and took aim towards the sky.

“For those who have fallen today, let it be known now and forever that you will not be forgotten. As a Spartan, I vow to avenge your lives.” Marcus switched his assault rifle to burst, and shot off 3 rounds. The shots echoed over the land, startling a flock of birds. They took flight, and soared overhead. Marcus regripped his rifle, his hand shaking again, and fired again, and again the shots echoed once more. Marcus continued on, till the clip was empty. A 21 gun salute; fitting. Marcus clicked the empty mag out, letting it fall to the ground. He slammed in the last mag he had into the weapon, and pulled back on the hammer, making a satisfied *click*. It was full, but that only meant he had 32 rounds to spare. He looked around, and began to search the bodies of the dead Elites. They can rot in the deepest pit of Hell for all I care, but I still need the ammo and weapons. From his search, Marcus produced two plasma rifles, and a plasma grenades.

“Good enough I guess.” Marcus clipped the two plasma rifles to his hips, and put away the grenade. Marcus thought of what to do next. I should probably meet up with the others at Canterlot. It would take about a day’s journey, but Marcus could do it. He was about to begin his journey, when a piece of wood fell to the ground. A shadow ran out, try to get to cover again. He saw this, and ran after it. He followed the shadow to a crate of fallen apples. He held his rifle up, ready for anything. What he found was something completely unexpected; Applebloom. She tried to hide more in the pile of crates, hiding her face from the Spartan. Marcus lowered his rifle, holding out his hands to the filly. He took off his helmet as well and looked at her.

“Hey, it’s ok. See? Its me, Marcus” Marcus knelt in front of the crates, holding his hands out. A head poked out from behind, and Marcus saw that it was indeed Applebloom. Oh no, Applejack must be scared out of her mind right now.

“Are they g-gone, Mr. Marcus?” Marcus nodded to her, beckoning for the little filly to come out from hiding. She did, and ran into his arms.

“Applebloom, what are you doing here?” He was petting her mane, trying to get the dirt and grime out of her yellow coat. Applebloom had begun to cry.

“Ah, ah got separated from mah sis when ponies started to panic. Ah hide as best ah could, then ah saw you fighting off those monsters.” The small filly looked up at Marcus.

“You saved Ms. Fluttershy from one of ‘em. Ah, ah saw you! Then ah saw the others…..they…” She began to cry again, and buried her head in Marcus’ chest piece.

“I know, I know. Shh, it’s going to be ok, I’m going to get you back to your sister. How’s that sound?” Applebloom looked up again, and nodded her head. He smiled down at her, and picked up his rifle, slinging it over onto his back.

“Come on; let’s get you to your family.” Marcus carried her in his arms out of the town, beginning the journey to Canterlot. Marcus went past the burning pier on his way out, and pushed Applebloom’s face away so she wouldn't see. She shouldn’t have seen any of this. Marcus carried her all the way to the grand city. His thoughts were lost during the journey; Applebloom had fallen asleep soon after they left the town. When he did focus his thoughts though, they turned to Fluttershy. I hope she made it out ok. Marcus matched fast, wanting t make it to Canterlot as fast as possible.
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It had been a day and a half since the fight in Ponyville, and Marcus and Applebloom had not yet returned. Applejack couldn’t stop pacing in the throne room. How could ah let this happen? May own sis, left behind with those things attackin the town. I just hope Marcus found her and is keepin her safe. Once again, she looked out the window towards Ponyville. She wasn’t able to see anything, but still the thought of her home burning brought tears to her eyes. Marcus could fight them off, she knew that, but at what cost? Macintosh sat on his haunches, watching his sister with worry.

“AJ, Applebloom’s a strong filly. She’ll make it out ok.” Applejack continued pacing, taking no heed to her brother’s words. Ah promised Ma and Pa ah’d take care ah her; now look what’s happened! The others sat away from her, talking to Princess Celestia about what had happened. Spike sat next to Rarity and Twilight, hoping to gain whatever info he could gather. He had been knocked unconscious before anything real had begun. They re-told what had happened in Ponyville since they left Canterlot. Pinkie Pie described how the fight started, with the huge monster appearing out of nowhere and kicking Marcus away.

“Then he got up and attacked them and we all ran for our lives because these huge alien things started to attack us and Marcus fought one of them but then he saw that Fluttershy was in trouble and killed that one then kept fighting….” Princess Celestia by now had zoned out, Pinkies words droning on and on. What she was able to gather though was that what Marcus described as Elites had attacked the village and Marcus had fought them. Whether or not he won, no one knew. Then again, if he hadn't, Canterlot would be burning right now.Celestia raised a hoof, silencing Pinkie Pie, she turned to her student.

“Do you know what has become of Marcus and Applebloom?” Twilight shook her head.

“We had scouts search the village, but only found a mass grave and half the town destroyed. No sign of Marcus or Applebloom.” Celestia looked down at her hooves. A tear rolled down her face. How could I have let this happen? I protect these ponies, but they die none the less to forces I can’t even fight. Marcus, where are you? At her last thought, doors could be heard opening into the great hall that led to the throne room. Shouts were heard, and a few swords clanged. Shouting was heard, nad the sound of hooves hittin stone. Loud crashes and bangs were heard, then all was silent. Everyone gathered around the Princess, looking towards the great doors of the throne room with fear. With one mighty push, the doors swung open with a loud *CLANG* and in strode in one the greatest sights Celestia had seen in her long, long life.

Marcus walked in, a pony’s sword in hand. His armor was covered in dried blue blood, and a few new weapons could be seen on his hips. His helmet was off, and his face was covered in dirt, ash, and grime. Around his neck hung Applebloom; dirtied with ash and blood as well. Thankfully it wasn’t hers. She looked towards her sister with beaming eyes. Marcus walked up to the group and leaned down, letting Applebloom jump to the ground and tackle her sister with a bear hug.

“Applebloom! You’re alive!” Applejack returned the huge, tears streaming form her face. Macintosh joined in; glad his family was once again together. Fluttershy walked up to Marcus.

“You’re…you’re alive?” Fluttershy squeaked out.

“Last time I checked.” Marcus gave her a big smile. Fluttershy flew up and hugged him, and began to cry.

“We all thought you were dead! I told you to come back! I told you!” Marcus nodded, returning the hug.

“And I did, and as you can see. And I didn’t come alone.” Most in the room had tears of joy, and were hugging one another. Celestia strode up to Marcus, who was still holding on to Fluttershy. Celestia cleared her throat.

“I owe you my thanks, Marcus. Without you, my student and her friends would be dead.” Marcus let go of Fluttershy, who then stood next to his leg. Applejack walked up to him.

“And ours, big fella. You brought our sister back. I don’t know how Ah could ever thank ya for this!” Applejack looked up to him.

“No thanks are necessary. I did what I had to do.” Marcus held out his hand and Celestia her hoof. They shook hands/hooves once again.

“Now, tell me. What occurred during the battle, and the events afterward?” Marcus told her everything, the 3 Elite Zealots, the aftermath and his tribute to those who had died. Celestia thanked him again for that, and then Marcus told her of how he found Applebloom and how they got to the city.

“You really need to tone down the guards when it comes to me. I had to fight my way through that hall back there.” Celestia nodded and chuckled to herself. Her guards could get somewhat over protective at times. Then Celestia asked the question she needed answered most.

“So was that it? IS the Covenant dealt with?” Marcus hesitated, and was about to answer, when a pegasus sprang into the room carrying a letter.

"Forgive me my Princess, but an urgent message has just arrived. Baltimare is under attack from and unknown force. The city calls for our aid.” Marcus looked down at his boots, clenching his hands as the others turned to him.

“I believe that answers your question Princess.”

Chapter 21- Love and War

Celestia starred at the guard. He wore the standard Equestrian Guard armor, with its golden chest plate and helm; but to Celestia, it appeared as though the guard was cast in the darkest of lights. An eerie glow seemed to emanate from him. Under…attack? Unknown force? Oh no…The Princess looked to Marcus, but he was already gone, marching toward the doors and the guard.

“Where is your command center?” He asked, walking past the guard.

“I, ah, we, um…you shouldn’t…” he stammered.

“Show me, now!” He took off through the door, the guard following after him. He soon took the lead; he tried to stop the metal behemoth, but to no avail. Deciding it was in his best interest, the guard took the lead, and led Marcus to the central command for all guard units of the Equestrian Military. The mane 6 along with the Princess raced after him, trying to keep up. They soon followed the Spartan into the room, which was in utter chaos. Pegasi flew through the air carrying messages. Unicorns’ teleported scrolls back and forth. Earth ponies ran to the nearest units with messages as well. The Guard was in a panicked frenzy. At the center stood a large, old oak table, surrounded by high ranking guardponies, all of whom looked to their leader, Shining Armor. He looked tired, and bags were under his eyes. A mug of coffee sat next to him. Marcus walked right up to the table, looking around at all of the ponies. One of the high rankings at the table looked baffled and shocked, glaring at Marcus.

“What is the meaning of this? Who, or what, are you? How did you get in here? Princess, what-“ he was cut off as Marcus slammed his fist on the large table. All was silent in the room.

“If you wish for all of your kind to survive you will be silent and refrain from asking questions. You have no idea what hell is at that city at this moment, and you've never fought this kind of war before. None of you have the knowledge to fight it, but I do. If you want to survive as a species, you need to listen to what I say and ask. I need a map of this city, with surrounding terrain and a layout of the city and surrounding area, NOW!” Nopony moved, looking towards their commander, who stared at Marcus with burning eyes. The Princess finally ran into the room, the rest of the group following in after her. She looked around, confused. Marcus and Shining seemed to be having a glare match.

“I don’t take orders from the likes of YOU, Spartan! The Princess informed me of you, but I will not be ordered by something that isn’t even a pony! Guards, seize this-" Shining was cut off.

“General, you would be wise to do anything and everything Marcus tells us to do. He knows what he’s doing, and as of right now, our lives are in his hands. His experience far out goes our own.” All eyes turned to Marcus. Shining gulped, and steadied himself.

“Princess, I cannot help but object to this. If we send out scouts to find out whats happ-“

“Do it dammit, or we are all doomed!” Now all eyes were on the Princess, who herself never swore. Everyone was so stunned they all froze, but with a quick glare from the ruler and general they returned to their duties.The room was busy again, getting everything Marcus needed. Room was cleared at the table for him, and Marcus bent over the table inspecting the large map. It showed a detailed outline of the city, its surrounding areas, and the type of terrain surrounding it. A large hill overlooking the city caught his eye.

“General, do you have artillery units?” Marcus questioned. Shining nodded reluctantly.

"We have a few experimental pieces, as well as a few units of standard cannon."

“I need you to gather what units you can here on this hill overlooking the city. When I give the order, you will bombard the city with explosive rounds if you have them. I will move in here,” he pointed at a central street that lead to the center of the city, "and attack directly. Your pegasi will be charged with leading the civilians out of the town before the bombardment; I will assist in any way possible. Once the civilians have been cleared out, enclose the city with a magic barrier that will only allow the rounds from your artillery to go through. Can you do this?” Shining looked on; stunned. This thing knew what it was doing, and certainly knew more than he did. He looked to the Princess, and she nodded her head.

“Y-yes, we can. I should have enough unicorns ready to do this.”

“Good. We need to be there within the hour, or the city will be lost. Have your best unicorns teleport us as close to the city as possible. Whatever you do, make sure your men who evac the civilians know not to engage any enemy contacts. They will show themselves easily, so there will be no mistaking them. Do not engage. Do you understand? I will make my way toward the center of the city, where the main force of the enemy will be.” Shining looked back at Marcus from the map.

“What exactly is attacking my city; if you don’t mind me asking?” Marcus thought for a moment, thinking. I hope I'm wrong. Marcus looked around.

“Guard, err, what was his name? The one that brought the letter?” A white Pagasi walked up to him, his wing in a mock salute. Marcus returned it.

“Star Blazer, sir, at your service. “ Marcus nodded, and questioned him.

“The letter, did it describe the enemy in anyway?” Star Blazer pulled out the letter and re-read it.

“It only said that they came from the sky, in what looked to be a great ship. One we've never seen before though. It didn't seem to run on steam, but had large glowing orbs at the aft of the ship that seemed to be propelling it.” All eyes turned back to Marcus, but the cacophony of the room still continued on.

“It seems……It seems that you have a Covenant ship hovering over your city Celestia.” Marcus looked up at her, eyes serious. Celestia just shook her head.

“N-no….that’s not possible.”

“Possible or not, it’s here. Twilight, I needed to be at that city 2 hours ago. Can you get me there? I'll help as much as I can until the rest of the army gets here.” Twilight nodded, her horn beginning to glow.

“Wait!” Everyone had forgotten about Fluttershy, and she hated it. It was all happening so fast; she didn't know what to do. Making up her mind, she trotted up to Marcus.

“I-I just wanted you to know…that, well, it was... I’m glad to have known you Marcus. I just thought you should know that is, if you don’t come back, um…, well I really like you, so please, if you can; please don’t die”. She turned her head to her wing,and pulled out a single primary feather, and then gave it to him.

"So that you can remember me." Marcus smiled and bent down to hug her. She was shaking, and silent tears were rolling down her face. She looked back up at him with her baby blue eyes.

“Fluttershy, there are 3 things you must know. The first of which all of you must know;

1: Spartans never die, never. We’re just missing in action. Shining, in the case that something does happen, this is how I am to be listed as.

2: I will return to you, and I will win. This I swear by every god and spirit there is or ever was.

3: I understand how you feel, and I find myself surprised to say that I feel the same. You have helped me since I came here, and have done more then just look after me. Before I came here, I was broken at the core. You have helped me mend that, and for that I am forever grateful.” Fluttershy smiled up at him.

"I'm sorry we don't have more time, but I must go. Know that I care for you Fluttershy." At that he let go, kissing her on the forehead. He stood up and stepped back, a grim expression on his face. Out of all of them, I will miss her the most.He stepped to the center of the room, and put his helmet back on. He looked to Twilight and nodded. Fluttershy stood back, tears streaming down her face. Marcus turned away, facing Shining Armor and the Princesses. He clenched his shaking hand, and drew it up quickly to his forehead, saluting the three of them.

“I’m going to hold you to that promise Marcus,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight’s horn glowed brightly, and she flexed almost every muscle in her body. This spell would take a lot out of her. Finally a bright flash was seen in the room, and as quickly as it had appeared, it went out. Were Marcus once stood there was a blackened piece of tile, smoldering. As soon as it was over, pagasi and earth ponies ran back to their duties, carrying new orders. Shining was going to go through with this. If the Princess trusted the Spartan, then he would too. As everyone returned to their duties, Fluttershy’s friends stood around her, trying to comfort her. Her first love had just disappeared before her eyes, and was supposedly heading towards war and death. But a single thought coursed through her mind. Spartans never die; they’re just missing in action.

“I hope your right Marcus. For all of us I hope you're right."

Chapter 22- The Battle for Equestria Begins

Uze’ Kenzu, Ship Master of The World on Fire, looked on to the scene with gleaming eyes. His ship had regained full capacity last night, and the ship had begun its steady campaign to the nearest city of the people of this world. They had watched the city with eager eyes. Those that inhabited it were not the same as those who they had fought before. They were much more colorful, and in the eyes of the Elites of The World on Fire were abominations towards their gods. They prepared for holy genocide; enacting the holy rights on their bothers and saying final prayers. The gods were on their side, and no amount of demons or humans could stop them now.

“Not with the amount that they have anyways,” smirked the Ship Master. His scouts had found a demon far away from this city, but only one. He had sent a holy zealot team to eradicate the foul being. They had not yet returned, but this did not bother Kenzu in the slightest. If they had failed, so be it. The demon would come, and they would burn it, along with everything else on this world. Now his ship hovered over the pathetic city, spreading its soldiers out among its inhabitants. The Ship Master was pleased, until of course, some rather unexpected news came his way.

“Ship Master, my humble apologies, but sensors picked up an anomaly outside of the city. Further scans indicate a warp in space. It disappeared, but was replaced with the demon we found earlier. It would appear our brothers failed us in that matter.” The Ship Master gripped his chair more firmly; his anger was rising. He had not expected the demon to show up so quickly.

“Why was I not informed sooner of this?” the lieutenant bowed curtly, and began to speak once more, only to be silenced.

“I care not. See to it that a division of soldiers is sent out to destroy it.” Kenzu waved his hand to silence any other words, and the Elite was silent once more. He bowed, and began to bark orders to his brothers, some running towards the hangar while others continued to work at their stations. Demons were notoriously stubborn when it came to dying. Especially the one the humans call Master Chief. The Ship Master shook his head, remembering the grim encounter he had with the super soldier. His touched his face lightly, tracing the gashes on his face from the combat knife wound. I will have my revenge for that wound, demon.

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Marcus stood up from the smoking ground, shaking his head. He closed his mouth tight, trying to keep what food he had in his stomach in it. Note to self: never travel by teleportation again. He looked around at his surroundings, and saw the city to his right. It was a large, city with towering skyscrapers. Metal spires reached far into the evening skyline, casting shadows over the lands around it. In some ways, it reminded Marcus of old Earth buildings from the 21st century. The sun was coming down behind the city in an eerie but beautiful glow. The sight would have been magical, if not for the fact that the city itself burned, with a Covenant cruiser hanging over it. Damn. Marcus unslung his rifle from his back, and began the march towards the city. He only had one mag left, so he needed to be careful. He jogged down the hill, towards the outskirts of the city. Some ponies had already made it out, and were running for their lives. As soon as they saw him they stopped. They stared in awe at the towering soldier; their savior. But they didn't know it, they thought he was another one of the monsters from the ship. Many stopped dead in their tracks, too afraid at the sight of him. Those who could still move ran for it. Ignoring them, Marcus checked his radar and saw that it was picking up at least 20 contacts moving to him. His slung his assault rifle back on his back, and took out his two plasma rifles that he had taken from the dead Zealots.

He took cover behind a wagon, activating his cloaking, and waited for the enemy to get closer. Closer, ever so closer they came, until finally one or two Grunts passed Marcus’ hiding spot. Waiting till a few for more passed; Marcus unleashed hell upon his foes. Jumping out into the open, Marcus fired blindly, striking 3 Grunts and a Jackal dead. Marcus tossed out a plasma grenade, and dove for cover. The grenade went off with a loud “Whaump* and 3 more Jackals fell dead. Marcus ran out from his cover, but soon ducked back down again, attacking fire from an enraged Elite minor. Marcus put away his plasma rifles and took out his magnum and energy sword. Holding the gun in his right hand, and the sword in the other, Marcus charged the Elite. Firing off 5 rounds, Marcus swung up with the sword; a large gash formed on the Elite’s chest, and out forth spewed blue ichor. The Elite fell to the ground, clutching its chest and looking up at Marcus, fear in its eyes.

“Hasta la vista, baby.” Marcus brought up the magnum to the Elite’s head and shot off a single round into the Elite. It fell to the ground, a pool of blood forming around in as if it were a black halo. Marcus looked around him. The grunts and Jackals that still lived ran, their leader dead. Good, easier for me and my ammo. Marcus put away the energy sword and magnum, taking out his plasma rifles again. He looked to his right, only to find two ponies staring back at him. They were terrified by what they saw, but confused as well. They though Marcus was one of the monsters. Stepping forward, the older of the two, a stallion with a grey coat and blue mane, walked up to Marcus.

“A-are you here to s-save us?” One of them stammered. Marcus nodded, and walked over to them. Turning on his speakers, he leaned down to them.

“The Royal Guard will be here shortly to get everyone else out. Go over that hill and wait there for their arrival.” They nodded, and ran towards the hill Marcus had just come from. Marcus walked on, moving towards the inner city.
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Everything was mass panic. Star Blazer had never been through anything like this before; being a new recruit, only coming out of basic training 6 months ago. Everything was still fresh in his head, but training didn’t prepare him for this. Ponies ran for their lives, screaming all the while. Some feel to the ground, falling to enemy fire. Smoke and gas clouded Blazers vision, and he could barely see in front of him. Those in his squadron had been tasked to evac the citizens out of South Baltimare, but as of right now, they weren’t doing too well. Already 2 squad mates had fallen, taken into the darkness of alleys and side streets, screaming for their lives as whatever waiting in the darkness took them.

Blazer was trying to get the crowd to at least run in the right direction, and he was somewhat succeeding. Those who saw him ran towards him and by his direction ran towards the hill side, where the Royal Guard Artillery 45th and 23rd companies sat ready to wreak havoc on the city once the citizens were out and safe. He was looking around, hovering over the crowd, trying to look through the smoke at something that was coming his way. It was large and stood on two legs. It wore sleek purple armor, and held out a weapon that fired what looked to be pure fire. It stormed through the crowd, kicking around ponies, firing randomly into the crowd and grinning evilly, if it could be called a grin.

Instead of a jaw line that most ponies had, it had 4 mandibles, covered in teeth. It looked up from its rampage, and its black beady eyes locked onto Star Blazer. Fear was the only emotion he knew at that moment, and yet, compelled by his duty and the look of the ponies around him, Star Blazer stood his ground. He drew his sword, holding it in a holster strapped to his right fore-hoof. The monster grinned, and began to stalk forward, drawing out a strange sword. It was blue, and hissed with energy. As it neared Star, a yell could be heard over the din of the crowd. Star looked back through the crowd, and all his fears were gone. At him ran the Spartan he had meet only hours earlier. His armor was covered in blue blood, and it held a few new burns and scars. He charged past Star, drawing his own strange sword. The two behemoths clashed, sword against sword. Their duel was legendary, and all who saw and lived that day would never forget it.

The Spartan matched it's moves, every swing that the creature threw at him, and yet the monster fought on, rage filling its body and soul. As a final stroke, Marcus twirled in the air, sword out stretched. Tripping, the monster stumbled back, and the Marcus’s sword flew through the air. The beast recovered, and threw a punch at Marcus. He took the blow, but grabbed hold of the alien by the arm, bring it closer. As he did so, he stabbed the energy sword through it's abdomen, piercing it straight through. Satisfied by the sound of gurgling coming from the Elite, Marcus with drew his sword, letting the Elite fall to the ground, clawing at him. marcus just stood there as the Elite took its final breaths. He then began to walk towards Star blazer, who hovered where he was in shock. Marcus snapped a finger in front of his eyes to get his attention.

“W-what? Who?... YOU! You just....I mean.....How did you...!” Marcus nodded , looking back at the fallen foe.

“Yes, I suppose I did. Now, what are you doing? I ordered all allies to not engage the enemy.” Marcus turned to look at Star, but couldn’t make out were the Spartans eyes were supposed to be. They were covered by a visor that only reflected his face.

“I-I, well, it was charging the civilians. I couldn’t just let them die. So I stood my ground.” Marcus shook his head.

“What you did was foolish. That was an Elite Major, and it would have torn you apart without you being able to do a single thing about it. But your bravery is noted…Star Blazer was it? Yes, it was. What is the situation on the civilians?” Star Blazer looked back at the crowd, now thinning.

“This was the last section of the city that needed to be evacuated.” The Spartan nodded.

“Round up your squadron and pull out. Get as many civilians out with you. I will stay behind and move toward the center of the city. From there I will infiltrate the enemy ship and blow it from the inside. Have Armor fire when ready, and continue the bombardment.” Star Blazer nodded, and was about to leave when he noticed something about his plan.

“How will you get out Spartan?” Marcus looked down at his feet. He knew how this would end.

“Find Fluttershy for me. Find her and tell her……Tell her I'm sorry. I'm sorry for not coming back, but I must do this. For all of you. I guess I couldn't keep my promise after all....” And with that Marcus ran into the smoke, leaving Star Blazer behind. Star knew that what he planned to do was suicide, but who else could do it? Who elsewould do it? Star Blazer turned, showing the rest of the civilians the way out of the smoke and fire.

Chapter 23- Gateway to Hell

Marcus dodged through alley ways and through dark backstreets, letting his active camo recharge when needed. He had been dodging Covenant patrols and squads all night. He had to take a few of them out, seeing as how eventually the shield around the city would fail. Marcus looked up for what seemed to be the 20th time that night. He saw a purple barrier covering the sky, surrounding the city and all who still dwelt within it. Marcus could hear the faint sound of artillery shells falling into the city, blasting away at buildings and streets. The cannons had started again. The shield had been put into position a little while after Marcus had met up with Star Blazer, and the cannons went on and off ever since, taking 1 hour intervals. Marcus had to dodge a few shells every now and then, most shrieked by over his head, but some fell closer, and he had to jump for cover on a few occasions.

Marcus ran into a closed off building, smashing his way through the door. He rounded a corner, checking every hidey hole and corner for covies, or in the hopefully unlikely case, civies. Seeing the first floor was clear, Marcus sat down and checked his gear. He had traded his assault rifle out for a Covenant carbine after he had used the rest on an Elites head. He had a few clips on it, plus two plasma rifles and a single sticky grenade Marcus had pulled off of a dead Grunt. Those plus his Gurkha knife made up his arsenal. Not good enough. Marcus would need at least a cruiser full of soldiers to take on the army and the ship. But he didn’t have one of those. All he had was a carbine, plasma rifles, a knife, and a grenade.

Marcus looked down at the blue sphere in his hands, twisting it around. At first glance, it didn’t seem like much; just a smooth, round blue ball. But when the detonator was hit, it could vaporize anything in a 10 meter range. That gave Marcus and idea. If I can get in, and make it to the engine room, I could place this on a main reactor and blow it from the inside. I’d need a few more though. Like a lot more.….I can get those. Marcus smiled to himself, and then looked out through the window. He crouched next to the wall as a light lit up the room. A Covenant squad was moving past his position. Marcus drew his two plasma rifles, and slowly and quietly duck walked to the frame of the doorway, and stood up next to it. The squad was halfway past, but Marcus waited.

He waited for the opportune moment. Finally, the Elite passed the door frame and Marcus stood out from the door and walked right up to the back of the Elite. Before it even knew he was there, Marcus dropped his weapons and grabbed hold of the Elites head. Twisting his hands to the left, Marcus snapped the Elites neck with a loud *SNAP*. Drawing his carbine, Marcus drew head shots on the Grunts, letting them fall dead, then barrel rolled over to a wall and waited for the suppressing fire from two Jackals to end. He turned from the wall, opening up on the Jackal shield wall. Popping out the empty mag, Marcus charged the Jackals, and punched one strait in the jaw line, hearing a loud *CRACK*. Marcus side kicked the other, knocking out the air in its lungs. He finished it with a quick knee to the gut and grabbed hold of its neck, pushing up until it cracked. The Jackal fell dead, its spine broken. He turned and received a blast from a plasma pistol.

The other Jackal was not dead yet. Marcus drew out his knife and threw it at the Jackal, embedding in its skull. He walked over and wrenched the blade from it, flicking off bits of brain and bone. Blood splattered on the ground, but over all, it was a clean ambush. Marcus walked over to the dead Grunts, and produced 3 more grenades. Pocketing those, Marcus grabbed carbine ammo from the dead Elite and picked up his two plasma rifles. Hitching them on his hips he walked away from the deadly scene.
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Marcus neared the gravity pillar that lead up to the cruiser. It needed a fast way to drop off troops, and this seemed to be the best way for the Covenant. Who would have suspected that a lone Spartan would try and take it anyway? Marcus smiled from his 3rd story position. After the ambush in the ally way, he made his way to the center of the city. The shelling had stopped now, and the sun and started to rise over the hills, creating a beautiful glow over the city. Marcus smiled to himself and reached into one of his armor pockets. He pulled out a yellow feather, and brought it up to its eyes. It was straight and true, not frayed too much, but had a few loose ends. It was somewhat curved at the tip, but was over all straight. Marcus stared at the gift Fluttershy had given him, and wondered what the mare was doing. He hoped she had gotten his message. He knew what he had to do before the plan, he just didn’t really know how. Now he did, and he regretted it all the more. He knew she cared for him, and didn’t want to hurt her. But he couldn’t let them get hurt, not while he still breathed. His hand began to shake as he held up the feather, and he clenched it tighter with his other hand. I can't lose controll now.

“I’m sorry, so, so sorry Fluttershy. Please, forgive me.” Marcus let a tear form on his face under his helmet, and blinked it away. Now was not the time for being sentimental. The Covenant still lived, and he had to stop them from hurting anyone else. Marcus put the feather away, and turned from his position over the city, walking down to the ground where his fate waited.
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Marcus stood next a corner, looking past it towards the guards. 5 Elite lieutenants stood guard, with matching squads of Jackals and Grunts. Shit, how am I going to get all of those guys?

Marcus?

HOLYSHIT WHAT THE FUCK? WHO SAID THAT?

It is I, Princess Luna. My sister and her student are a little….disposed at the moment, trying to keep the shield up. I am here to speak with you.

How is it you are doing this?

Telepathy is one of my many gifts, along with my sister.

........your joking.....

I am not. Why would We jest at a moment such as this?

Just....never mind.

Very well.

Right, well, can you ask your general if he has any smoke rounds for those cannons?

One moment, I shall ask him.

There was a brief pause as he waited for a response. Had he known, the whole telepathy thing would have come in handy a few hours ago. Finally, Luna returned.

He says he has a few, but not many. They are only prototypes. Why?

I need him to fire them on my position. Can you tell him where I am, and to target it?

Yes, I shall do so at once, and inform you of his response.

Luna’s presence faded, and Marcus breathed a sigh of relief. IF this worked, Marcus’s job just got a whole lot easier. Before Luna even returned, shells streaked past him, detonating in the guard’s position, blowing up a large cloud of dirt and ash. Once the shells had embedded into the ground, the ends opened up, spewing forth a thick cloud of smoke. One shell had landed somewhat close to Marcus, throwing him a few feet back. Marcus coughed and turned on his helmets filters. He noticed a presence return to his mind, and Luna spook.

The cannons have begun to fire.

Thanks for the warning Luna.

Think nothing of it. We are just doing our part.

Marcus grunted, and moved from his position. He ran quietly through the smoke taking down any Covenant he found.
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Thain’ Fermoth was on guard when the shells had struck. He coughed and blinked, tears streaming from his face. He looked about him, but could see no further than his hand outstretched. He coughed, trying to call for his brothers in arms.

“Tenzu? Kepath? Unkay? Anyone? Are you there? Brothers, if you can, answer me!” There was silence for a few minutes, then some coughing.

“Tenzu here. Thrain, is that you? What has happened brother?”

“An ambush, I think. I cannot see you brother, where are you?” Before Tenzu answered, shrieks were heard in the smoke. Something dashed about, but Thrain could not see it. Grunts ran, and Jackals could be heard. A plasma rifle was shot off. Something rolled over to Thrain’s feet, and he picked it up. It was the head of Tenzu.

“No…” His sentence was cut short but a burning sensation in his abdomen. He looked down, and saw a human knife protruding from his armor. His hand motioned for it, but only smeared the blood that poured from it. Thrain knelt, holding the hilt of the knife. He looked up, only to see a grey and blue blur pass by him. All thought ceased, and Thrain’s head fell from his shoulders, sliced off by an energy sword.
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Marcus put the energy sword away, not even looking at the kneeling body of the dead Elite. He let the smoke clear before moving to phase two of his plan. As it cleared, bodies could be seen, littering the ground. Grunts, Jackals, Elites; all dead. Marcus nodded. All contacts neutralized. He searched the aliens, looking for ammo. Getting 1 more grenade (it never hurt to over prepare) and some clips for the carbine, Marcus walked up to the gravity pillar to the Covenant cruiser. It was somewhat pink, and had small, glowing particles floating inside it. It was pretty, in an ironic sort of way. Marcus banished the thought, and prepared himself. He grabbed his two plasma rifles, and stood ready.

“Well, into hell I go.” Marcus stepped into the gravity pillar, and shot up into the belly of the beast.

Chapter 24- Preparations

Marcus traveled up the gravity pillar to the cruiser’s bay. He had his plasma rifles ready at this sides, and checked their ammo percentage. 76% on both. Good enough for me. Marcus started to slow down at the opening of the cargo bay, and soon floated up to the deck, and landed with a soft thud. He had never been more scared in his life. All around him, Covenant soldiers moved around, moving crates to cargo bays, preparing landing craft for a full invasion (the ground forces had been scouts to root out and find any sources of resistance), and saw vehicles being hauled onto landing craft. Marcus stood, frozen.

i]Move Marcus, before they notice you! Without question, Marcus darted to a parked Wraith and crouched behind it. He craned his neck over the side of the mortar tank to see if anyone had noticed. They hadn’t seemed to.

Luna? Was that you?

Yes, I was following your movement with my telepathy, and was wondering WHY YOU ARE INSIDE OF THAT HULKING BEAST? Marcus sighed. He knew this would come, but he had hoped it would happen later, rather than sooner.

It’s part of my plan. The Covenant is preparing a full scale invasion, and they need to be stopped. I can do that from the inside by blowing up the main reactors in the engine room. If I can find some detonation packs in the armory of this ship, I can blow this thing at a safe distance. If not, then I’ll do what I can with grenades. There was utter silence. Marcus could hear Elites barking orders to Grunts. He had no idea what it was saying, but he hoped it wasn’t telling them to move the wraith.

Marcus, you understand the outcome if it comes to that yes? For both of you, and Fluttershy? Marcus sighed and bowed his head. He clenched his hand, moving to where the feather was stored.

Yes. I do.

Would you like me to put Fluttershy on? I can do it if you wish.

Not yet. When the time comes, then yes.

Very well. I will monitor your movement through the ship and keep track of you.

Understood.

Marcus stood up, looking for an exit. He saw one that wasn’t guarded, and activated his active camo. Sneaking past the soldiers, Marcus slipped through the door unnoticed into a long hallway. It ran straight, with a few off branching hallways that led to who knows where. Marcus only needed to know where two places were. The armory and the engine room. Marcus moved down the hallway, standing still when soldiers past. His armor ability was about to run out, and he needed to find someplace to recharge fast. Finding an off branch, Marcus followed it, till he found what looked to be crew quarters. Opening a door, Marcus rushed in as his active camo failed. He leaned against the wall, worried.

How am I going to find the armory? I can’t read this stuff, let alone understand what they’re saying. Marcus sighed, and looked around at the room he was in. It was small and humble, with a single bed at one corner and a desk in front of it. Next to the room in a corner sat a chest, and on further inspection, was full of clothing and personal items. This was the room of an Elite. Marcus looked around and inspected the desk. It had a picture on it, revealing an Elite major with his family, or clan as it were. Closest to him was a female; Marcus guessed it was his wife. Even they have families. Never thought about that before… Marcus looked away from the picture and noticed his camo was ready for use. Activating it, Marcus walked out of the room, right into the chest of a startled Elite Major. Reacting quickly, Marcus grabbed it, and flung it inside the room.

Drawing his knife, Marcus tackled the Elite, holding the blade close to the Elites neck. It struggled, holding onto for dear life as it fought to move the knife away, but the Spartan was stronger. Slowly, Marcus plunged the blade into its chest, clasping a hand over its mouth. The Elite struggled, until its last breath was heard escape its mandibles. Marcus stood, yanking the knife out. Small blood specs flew onto the picture on the desk. Marcus looked at it, and turned away, leaving the corpse behind with the memories of its family.

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Marcus had been wondering the ship for what seemed like hours. He had to stop twice to recharge his camo, and had to kill 2 more Elites, one of which was accompanied by a grunt. Marcus had killed them easily, and stowed the bodies away in small storage compartments. He moved down hallway after hallway, occasionally turning a corner into a new, longer hallway. He was lost and he knew it. On the rare occasion he had found a map out laying the ship, it was of no use. It only laid out the close areas. Marcus walked up to another map, hopeful. His prayers had been answered. 20 m down and to the right was a room that had an Elite’s plasma rifle over it.

If that’s isn't the armory I don’t know what is.

Marcus ran, closing in on his target. He rounded the corner, and found two massive purple double doors. Marcus stepped closer, and the doors hissed open. Inside was rack after rack of Covenant weapons. Marcus walked on, passing carbines, plasma rifles, and needlers, stopping when he found what looked to be a trophy section. Stepping in it, Marcus found tons of human weapons. Battle rifles, shotguns, SMG’s, assault rifles, anything and everything Spartan would need. Sadly though, no heavy weapons. Marcus dropped his carbine and grabbed a shotgun, loading it up with 6 rounds, and pocketed 24 more shells for it. Taking out his plasma rifles and dropping them, he grabbed the SMGs and clipped them to his hips, getting 5 mags for each. Marcus also found 2 frags, and pocketed those as well.

“Perfect.” Marcus nodded, and unslung his shotgun, walking back to the main room. He walked down to past regular Covenant weapons finding what he needed most. At the back lay a crate of detonation packs with the appropriate triggers for them. Marcus grabbed one, weighing it in his hand.

This could do a good bit of damage. More with the grenades attached.

I take it you have found the charges? Luna had once again startled him.

Yes.

Very well. Marcus grabbed another detonation pack and slung it over his shoulder, when a high pitched wailing sound stated up. A bright red light started to flash, and an Elite’s voice could be heard over the intercom.

They found the dead bodies! Shit! Marcus grabbed the shotgun by the pump and hauled it out of the armory. He entered the hallway, and ran in the direction he guessed was aft. He passed a bunch of grunts scrabbling around, and jumped over most of them, but brought his boot down on one of their heads, hearing a satisfying crunch. Marcus ran on, ignoring the bad aim of the Grunts. He finally ran far enough for the Grunts to give up, and slowed his pace. He neared another map, and looked down. A large arrow was point the direction he was headed toward what Marcus guessed to be the engine room. Marcus smiled; leaving the map behind, he raced down the hallway, not stopping for much except the occasional Elite. They usually received a quick blast from his shotgun and fell dead.

This crazy scheme might actually work. Marcus ran on, holding onto the detonation packs as if they were treasured artifacts from long lost civilization.
____________________________________________________________________________________

Marcus slowed his pace down when he reached the engine room. It had double doors as well, and like everything else on this ship, was a dark shade of purple. Marcus slung the detonation packs over his back and pulled out his shotgun. He walked through the double doors ready for anything.

Inside he found a few technicians, working away and making sure everything was in order. Grunts and Engineers did most of the work; while a single Elite looked on, keeping them in check. Marcus walked up behind it, moving to its side but out of its eye sight. Marcus sighed and looked at the Elite.

“So, nice weather we’re having here right?” The Elite’s eyes grew wide, and was about to turn, when a blast from Marcus’ shotgun tore through its gut, sending the corpse flying backwards. Marcus put away his shotgun, drawing his SMGs. He opened fire on the rest of the Covenant lackeys. Most dropped like flies, but Marcus had to turn much of the fire power of the Engineers. Once they were all dead, Marcus put his weapons away and walked up to one of the main reactors.

Strapping the detonation packs to it, he put the grenades behind them, making sure they were armed but not primed. Putting the detonation sequence to 3 minutes, Marcus was about to step away when he was shoved forward, his head bashing against the wall. Resisting, he pushed away from the explosives, only to receive a barrage from plasma fire. Marcus’ shields flared, and then fell. He took a shot to the shoulder, and fell, holding onto the wound. Marcus looked up, only to stare into the eyes of one of the biggest Elites he had ever seen. It had a long scar on its face, and was grinning. It held up its overheated plasma rifles as they vented excess plasma heat. Marcus gulped, drawing one of his SMG's.

“There goes the whole idea of returning a hero.”

Chapter 25- The Loss of Love

Marcus looked on towards his doom. An Elite larger than most the Spartan had seen stood before him, holding an overheated plasma rifle, grinning at him evilly. Marcus clutched at the wound on his shoulder; the armor had melted away partially, and the skin and muscle below it was burned severely. It hurt like a bitch, but Marcus pushed the pain away, focusing his attention to the problem ahead. He was hurt and was therefore weakened; which didn’t help the situation any more. Marcus gritted his teeth and stood up straight; glaring at the Elite. Form its size and armor; it looked like it was the Ship Master of the vessel. Great, that’ll make him harder to kill. Marcus looked at him, speaking like he was talking to a child.

“Well hey there, what’s your name little fella?” It growled at him, and stalked closer.

“Wasting time will not save you demon. I will burn this world in the name of the gods, and you’ll be no exception.”

“Aw, too bad. I was hoping to destroy this little ship and kill all you alien bustards. Darn.” At this, the Elite grew angry.

“Enough talk; now you will die!” The Elite charged, but Marcus was ready. He stepped to the left, letting the Elite run past him. It skidded to a halt, and turned, yelling at the top of its lungs.

“Die now human! It will only take but a moment to sever your head!”

“Tempting, but sorry, I’ll have to refuse. I have someone waiting on me, and I’d hate to break a promise.” Marcus charged this time, drawing his shotgun and blasting away at the Elite. The pain overtook him for a moment, and Marcus faltered at bring the weapon to bear on the Elite. Marcus rolled behind a dashboard, and took cover as the Elite fired blindly at his position. Marcus pumped his shotgun, and fired over the cover he was behind. Pumping it again; Marcus stood and fired again and again; slowly walking forward. The Elite took two shots, and its shields flared, it dove for over to regain its shields. Marcus continued to fire after it, dropping the gun when it went empty. Marcus drew his magnum and knife, ignoring the SMG’s. The Elite stood and dropped its now over heated plasma rifle. It drew out an energy sword; it popped open with a *HISS* and out shot a blue beam of hot energy.

“Your hide will be mine, human. I will hang it on my wall as a trophy for all to see.”

"Ya, see. I have a problem with that. I like my hide, and would prefer to keep it.” Marcus yelled and charged the Elite, rolling under the Elites swing. Pain over took him again, and he dropped to one knee and rolled, getting back up on one knee and scowling. I can’t keep fighting like this forever. Marcus’s mind went to the detonator on his hip. Marcus sighed.

Luna? You still there?

Yes, I am Marcus. What is it?

Can….can you put Fluttershy on for me?

Marcus, I thought you didn’t…… Oh, oh no. I’ll get here quickly.

Thank you. Marcus rolled as the Elite swung down at him, severing his conversation. Marcus fired his magnum at the Elite; its shields flared, but it did not stop its attack. It kicked at Marcus, sending him flying through the air. Marcus slammed against the wall with a dull *thud* and fell the ground dazed. He groaned and rolled his head, looking ahead towards the Elite. It stalked forward, grinning evilly. Marcus looked to his side and noticed the shotgun not too far away. I need to time this right.

M-Marcus?

I’m here Fluttershy.

What’s wrong? Princess Luna looked scared and asked me to stand still. She said you wanted to talk to me.

I did, and I’m glad you’re here. Look Fluttershy, do you remember the song I showed you? The one about the hero?

Y-yes, I do. Marcus, what’s wrong? Before he could answered the Elite, tried to curb stomp Marcus. Waiting for the last possible second, Marcus rolled for the shogun. Getting up and grabbing it, Marcus reloaded the weapon with two shells and fired at the Elite. Its shields flared, and went out. The beast took a slug to the leg, and it fell, yelling in pain and furry. It stood and began to limp forward, pure rage in its eyes.

Fluttershy, there is something you need to know……Not every hero comes home.

What do you mean? Marcus, you’re scaring me. What…what do you mean not every hero……. Oh no, Marcus no! Please no! Leave! Get out of that ship, please! Please, don’t die!

Fluttershy, I’m sorry. But there’s no other way. I’m already wounded, and I can’t get off this ship without fighting every other Covenant soldier on here.

Please, Marcus no! There has to be another way!

If there is Fluttershy, I don’t see it.

Luna....... Luna could teleport you out of there!

If she has the strength that is to get me out of a ship she doesn’t know, along with my weight and the distance between us. Plus I don’t even know if the detonator would work once I got back.

There- there has to be another way! Please Marcus; I don’t want you to die! By now, Marcus knew she was crying. She had to be if she was acting like this.

Fluttershy, I’m sorry.

Marcus! NO!

Goodbye Flutters.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy stood on the grassy hill overlooking Baltimare. She had tears rolling down her eyes from her metal conversation she was having with Marcus.

Fluttershy, I’m sorry.

Marcus! NO!

Goodbye Flutters.

At that, the connection was severed, and Fluttershy fell to the ground, sobbing heavily. Everyone stood around her, eyes downcast. They knew what was going to happen, and hated to see their friend in such a state. Fluttershy looked up towards the ship that now held Marcus. Applejack sat next to her, petting her mane soothingly. A few minutes passed, and then a large boom was heard echoing over the land. All eyes turned to see the aft section of the ship spewing forth fire and smoke. The aft section blew itself apart, sections of metal plating falling from the ship. It began to list forward, and it started to fall forward towards the outlining lands. Everyone looked on in horror and happiness. The menace was dead, but most didn’t know at that coast. Fluttershy looked on is sadness as the metal behemoth, silent tears rolling down her face.

No……he…he couldn’t have…..

Fluttershy began to sob again, knowing her love had been lost.

________________________________________________________________________________________

In the southern part of the city stood a wreaked building. Like most in the city now, it was pocketed with blast holes, and burn markings from artillery shells. The streets around were the same; pocketed with craters and small fires. Carts were turned over, and signs of panic were everywhere. Some bodies of dead ponies laid around; plasma burns on all of them. The building still stood, although a large part of a wall had fallen on itself when debris from the destroyed cruiser crashed into it. Bricks and broken wooden beams were strewn everywhere, and created a large pile that spilled into the streets. In the middle of the pile, a hand could be seen poking through the pile. It was still and lifeless; for its owner was most likely dead. It was covered with armor of a grayish hue.

Some bricks from the pile shifted, and some fell; cascading onto the street. If you looked closely at the hand, you would notice the fingers twitching. Finally, and ever so slowly, the fingers balled into a large armored fist. More bricks feel to the ground as a wounded beast tried to emerge from it's slumber. The Spartan was awake.

Author's Note

New ending. This was planned, but didn't really know how to put it in. Finally figured it out, and now its up.

Chapter 26- Did You Miss Me?

Dark Angel hovered over the southern section of the city, looking out for his friend on the ground. Midnight Fury was searching building and streets for any more Covenant and civilians. So far, they hadn’t found anything more than the remains of ponies. The two were members of Princess Luna’s night guard, but as of right now, the Guard didn’t care if you were a night guard or sun guard. With most of the remaining Covenant troops fleeing the city when the cruiser had been destroyed, Shining Armor had ordered all guards to move into the city and search for any left behind civilians. They were looking for them of course, but they were also looking for any sign of their savior; the Spartan Marcus. Dark had had enough with searching by air and went down to his old friend.

“Anything Fury?” The guardspony just shook his head.

“Nothing. No sign of him. I thought I saw something fall this way, but I guess I was wrong. All there is around here is destroyed buildings and rubble.” Dark sighed and looked around him. He had family in Baltimare, but he still didn’t know if they had made it out or not. Midnight walked up to a destroyed building and kicked a brick around, noticing the large pile of rubble from a ruined building. It looked like something and struck it, and made the wall cave in with whatever hit it.

“Hey, Dark; can you get an aerial view of this? I need to know what it looks like from up there.” Dark nodded, and flapped his wings, propelling himself into the air. He hovered a few feet in the air above the building; looking down at the pile of rubble. That’s……Weird.

“Hey, dude, this thing looked like it got hit by something big. I mean BIG.” Fury looked up at his partner.

“What do you mean?”

“I don’t know dude. All I know is that one of our rounds did NOT do this. Way too big of an impact crater and rubble for that.” Fury looked down on the pile he was standing on.

“Dark, get down here; we need to search this place quick.”

“Ya, got it Fury.” Dark Angel shot down, landing with a thud next to his friend and looking around.

“Where do we start?” Fury shook his head.

“I guess I’ll start going through this pile. You look around the area and check for anything.”

“Got it.” Dark trotted away, searching close allies and smaller piles of rubble. Furry rummaged through the pile of bricks and beams; looking for what he hoped was the Spartan. He pushed aside a beam, and looked down into a crater. It was large, about the size of Celestia's chariot. It was deep, and had a water line underneath that was leaking sewage. It smelled bad. Damn, what did this?

Dark was searching building, stomping out fires where he could, and going through smaller piles of rubble. He was searching a small pile of bricks and wood when he noticed something underneath.

“Fury, get your flank over here now!” Fury galloped over to where Dark was standing, stopping next to his friend.

“What is it? What did you find?” Dark didn’t even speak. He nodded his head towards a pile of wood that seemed to have collapsed recently. He nudged away the pieces of wood, revealing a large, grey helmet. It wasn’t of any fashion of the guard, but both ponies had seen the wearer of it in action.

“Dear Sisters, we need to get back to the Princesses quick Dark. They’re going to want to see this.”

“Damn straight they are Fury. He might still be alive!"

"But how? You saw the explosion! Nothing could've survived that."

"I don't know, but if this is here, then the rest should be too somewhere."Dark grabbed the helmet in his mouth and put it into a bag. Grabbing it with his mouth once more, he took off into the air with Fury following on the ground. There was still hope for the human.
________________________________________________________________________________

Fluttershy looked on towards the ruined city. Smoke rose high into the sky, enveloping in it a dark cloudy haze. The sun shone through it, but only barely. Fires still raged, casting an orange glow in the sky. The Covenant ship had crash landed a few miles away. When it crashed, the hull ruptured, and a massive explosion enveloped the whole of the ship. Everything inside was incinerated. Most ponies celebrated, hugging one another and cheering. Tears of happiness ran down the faces, all but Fluttershy. She had tears of overwhelming sadness on hers. The other ponies didn’t know at what cost they had won, but she did.

“Y-you did it, Marcus. You won…..but, but you didn’t come back… You broke your promise.” Her friends had left her to her sadness, knowing she just needed some time and space to collect herself. She sat on a hill, watching the city intently. She could see some pegasi flying over the city, looking for any sign of Covenant or civilians. Some ponies had been found alive, but most who had been left behind died; slaughtered by the hands of monsters. Fluttershy looked down at her hooves.

So many dead, so many gone. Why did you have to be a part of those numbers Marcus? Why couldn’t you come back? Fluttershy sniffed, and looked back up towards the sky. She thought she saw a pegasus flying towards her, and when she looked closely, she saw that it was. It carried something in its mouth.

“Who could t-that be?” The pegasus grew closer, and soon Fluttershy noticed a second pony following him on the ground. They were night guards. Fluttershy knew something was amiss. The guards were only supposed to return when they found something or ordered by Shining Armor to regroup for the return journey home. Fluttershy stood up and waited for the duo to arrive. The Pegasus landed a few feet away, and waited for his companion to show up. Once there, they trotted up to her and dropped whatever it was to the ground. It was in a brown sack.

“Ms. Fluttershy?”

“Yes?”

“My name in Dark Angal. This is my partner Midnight Fury. We are the night guards of Princess Luna. I believe we have something for you and the others to see.” At that Midnight Fury brought up the sack to her and placed it in front of her.

“W-what is it?” The guards smiled and nodded with their heads towards the bag.

“Look for yourself.” Fluttershy gabbed it with her mouth and dumped the object onto the grass. It fell to the ground with a deep *THUD * and rolled a little till it righted itself. It was a large grey helmet the Fluttershy knew all too well.

“Marcus… He’s alive!” Fluttershy grabbed the helmet with her mouth and rushed towards Celestia’s tent where all her friends were. They needed to see this for themselves.
_____________________________________________________________________________________

Princess Celestia stood looking down at a map of Baltimare. Her sister sat to her right, while her faithful student, Twilight Sparkle, sat on her left. Twilights friends from Ponyville sat around the map as well. Shining Armor sat across from Celestia, going over damage reports and other things with her.

“Guards searched the houses on 32nd and Mane. What they found wasn’t much better that any of the other places. Smaller Covenant species remained, with no larger ones anywhere to be seen. Ponies laid dead, and those that still lived where in a state of shock and didn’t move. We had to have the 45th division move in and help with evacuations. The guards from the 34th and 11th fought off the Covenant that was there, with minimal casualties. 2 dead, with 3 wounded. It was mainly Grunts.” Celestia shook her head and looked up at the general.

“How many are we talking about Shining? How many dead?”

“The total populace of Baltimare was around 3 hundred thousand. Out of that, we are seeing only around 100 thousand alive. A third of those are wounded.” Celestia looked down at her hooves, a tear running down her face. Damn it. She shook her head clear and looked to her sister.

“Any news?”

“No, I haven’t been able to find him. If Marcus is alive, I can’t see him.” Celestia nodded her head. This day gets worse and worse. Finally Celestia looked to her student.

“How is she?”

“Bad, I’ve never seen her like this. She really cared for him Princess.”

“I know.” Celestia nodded her head in a finally acceptance.

“Very well. There are measures to be taken, steps to be used. Twilight, you and Rarity will go and help the nurses with the wounded. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, I need you to go and help with the search parties. Split up if you must. Pinkie Pie do……something productive. We could use some bread for these ponies, so baked goods would be great.”

“Yes Princess!” was their response. Well, all except Pinkie Pie, who responded with an ‘Okie Dokie Lokie!’ They were all about to leave when Fluttershy ran into the tent. She ran up to the table and dropped something on the it. It was a brown bag with a large object inside. She was then followed by two night guards who were apparently out of breath.

“Princess, he’s alive! Marcus is alive and I have proof!” They looked on in disbelief. Twilight trotted up to her friend and places a hoof on her shoulder.

“Fluttershy, we all know you miss him, but there was no way he survived that blast. Not even he could have lived from that inferno.” Fluttershy shook her head and looked back at all of them.

“N-No! He is alive, and I can prove it!” At that Fluttershy gabbed the bag and pulled out the object. Out fell a helmet made of materials no one knew of, and covered in dried blue blood. It had a greyish tint, and was dented in the back. A large scratch marked the visor. Luna walked up closer to the table and spoke.

“That’s…that’s not possible. How is this here?”

“You see? He would have needed to be off the ship for this to be here! If the is helmet is here, then the rest of the armor is as well! He’s alive! I know it!” Celestia turned her attention to the two guards present.

'You two; where yo uthe one who found this?"

'Yes Princess!" THey responded, snapping to attention.

"How did you find this?" One guard looked to the other for a breif moment, then stepped forward.

'I thought I had seen something small fall from the ship into the city, so my friend and I went and looked for it. We found a large building with an impact crater in it. The helmet was a few hoofs away." Celestia nodded, and turned to Shining Armour.

“Shining, double the guards searching the city and find him! Fluttershy is right; if this is here he must be as well.” Shining bowed and turned to leave.

“At once Princess!” Shining galloped away, the entrance to the tent flapping in the wind. All eyes turned to the helmet on the table. Celestia looked up to the roof of the tent and offered a silent prayer. Please, dear creator let him be alive. The two night guards shifted uncomfortably, and turned to leave. Midnight looked back to the Princess.

“We’d best be off, Princess. We’ll return to our section of the city and begin to look for any more signs of him.”

“Very well. You are dismissed.” The both bowed and left the tent. Celestia noticed a night guard helmet on the ground, and chuckled to herself. A few seconds later Dark Angel came back flustered. He grabbed his helmet and bowed multiple times, saying he was sorry and something about being a clumsy buffoon. Celestia chuckled and nodded, letting the guard go.

As he left the tent, the light in front of him shimmered. Acting on pure instinct, he grabbed his sword from its sheath and prepared to block the attacker. A force pushed him out of the way, and sent him flying through the air. Dark landed on his back, the air knocked out if his lungs. The light shimmered once more, and there stood a large Elite with blue armor. In one hand it held a plasma rifle; in the other an energy sword. It grinned evilly and took a step forward. Celestia’s eyes burned bright with hate.

“No! You shall not have us demon!” With that she charged her horn, and shot the beast with a powerful blast of magic. It stumbled back, and wiped away blood from its mouth.

“Strong, but not strong enough heretic. Die now in the name of the gods!” At that the Elite raised its sword and charged, yelling at the top of its lungs. It lunged at Celestia but was blown back by a blast of metal and fire. It sailed through the air, landing with a loud *THUMP. It held it side, blood pouring from the wound. Dark awoke with the Elite a few inches away, and charged the downed Elite. He drew back his sword and plunged it into the beast's throat. It twitched violently, then finally died. Shock filled the tent, but one by one all their head turned to look outside of the tent through the newly created hole. Outside stood a metal behemoth, its head down cast. In one hand it held a long unwieldy piece of metal that smoked from the end. The other clutched a wound on its stomach.

“Like hell I’ll let you hurt them hinge head.” It threw the piece of metal into the air and grabbed it by it barrel, pumping it up and down. A plastic shell flew out and landed on the ground. It looked up to the group of ponies through a gaping hole where the round and pierced through the tent’s fabric. Fluttershy stepped forward, tears in her eyes.

“M-Marcus?...” The Spartan smiled at her and dropped his gun.

“H-hey *cough* Fluttershy.” He took a step forward, but grimaced. He fell to his knees, holding onto the wound in his stomach. The group rushed up to him as he fell onto his back, groaning loudly. Celestia asked Rainbow to go and fetch a medic.

“Shit….I haven’t been this banged up in a long time.” Fluttershy lay next to him, nuzzling his head. Marcus’s vision was beginning to blur.

“Hold on Marcus. Hold on just a bit more. The medics are coming. Please, just a bit longer Marcus.” Marcus was dazed and couldn’t focus. He felt something lying next to him, but couldn’t see it. As the medics arrived, Marcus fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 27- Hospital

Marcus groaned awake. He felt as if his body had been put through a meat grinder, and his head ached like a hunter had decided to sit on it. He sat up on his bed and looked around at his surroundings. He was in a…hospital? What the…? He looked down at his body and sure enough his armor was off, and instead he wore a hospital gown. He had IV’s hooked up to his arms, and a pulse monitor stood nearby, beeping with regularity. The room he was in was plain and simple; a bed, desk, a clipboard on the end of his bed that read his condition and status, the heart monitor, the IV stands, and himself. Marcus noticed that the bed he lay on was much too small, but it seemed to hold his weight. He tried to get up off his bed, but felt dizzy immediately. Not wanting to tempt fate again, Marcus sat back down. Instead he called out hoping someone would hear him.

“Nurse? Hello? Anyone there?” No one answered him. Marcus sighed and turned to the night table next to his bed. He searched the drawers, but didn’t find anything. Where’s my stuff? Looking around again through the room, he spotted a closet in the back corner. He sighed to himself.

“Great, guess I’m stuck here like this.” At that the door opened, and in walked a mare with a stark white coat and a nurse’s cap on. Her cutie mark was a large red cross like one you would see on a medic. She looked over at him and smiled.

“I see you’ve woken up finally. Good. You have ponies who would like to see you very much.” At that she opened the door wider and called out into a hallway. She stepped aside and let 7 ponies walk in. One by one, Marcus’s friends came in; Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and finally the one he wanted to see the most-Fluttershy. She rushed him, tackling him back into his pillows. He let out a slight ‘oof’ and groaned.

“Easy on the wounds there Fluttershy; they’re still a bit raw.” She ignored him and hugged him tight, and dug her head into his shoulder and began to cry. He held her close and buried his head into her mane. The others joined into the hug, creating something of a group hug, although hard since Marcus was lying down on a bed. Finally letting go, Fluttershy and the others backed off, although she did feel the need to stay by his side. Fluttershy wiped her eyes away of tears and cleared her throat.

“Y-You’re ok!” That made Marcus laugh and nod his head.

“Yes, yes I suppose I am. How is everyone else?” Applejack stepped forward.

“The Princesses are fine Marcus. You hit the alien thingy with your gun and the guard in the tent finished it off wit ‘is sword.” He nodded. Then Marcus heard hooves coming to the room, and all inside bowed as Princess Celestia walked in. She smiled at him and bowed slightly.

“I owe you my thanks once again Marcus. You have not only saved countless lives at the Battle of Baltimare, but also the lives of myself and my sister, not to mention my student and her friends.” Marcus just shook his head and smiled back and the goddess.

“No, you don’t have to thank me. It’s my job after all.” Celestia laughed at that and nodded.

“Be that as it may, you still deserve something in compensation for your efforts.” Marcus frowned, but nodded his head. He wasn’t in any mood right now to argue. All he wanted to do was rest. But against his wishes his mind had a few questions of its own. He looked at Celestia and frowned.

“How many,” he asked her.

“Beg pardon?”

“How many died, Celestia? How many lived?” Rubbing her foreleg with her hoof, Celestia averted her eyes. She had dreaded this part, but she knew it would come. Sighing to herself she looked back up at Marcus.

“Are you sure you want to know this? With your…condition and all?” He nodded to her.

“As you wish. We lost 200,000 ponies, along with another 4th of those that survived wounded or missing. We had about 160 guard casualties overall, and minimal damage to surrounding areas.” His hand started to tremble again, and he clenched his eyes hard as he looked towards the ceiling. He muttered t himself.

“I’m never fast enough to save them all….” There was silence in the room. Fluttershy grabbed Marcus’s shaking hand in her hooves and nuzzled against his chest. He looked down at her and smiled. Celestia walked up to him; a small smile on her face.

“Whether you will accept it or not you will be honored Marcus; you have done feats that nopony could ever dream, and you have saved us all. Plus, you can finally settle down and put down the weapon.” He smiled at that. Fluttershy looked up at him and beamed.

“That sounds really nice right about now Celestia.” Fluttershy was ecstatic.

“So no more f-fighting? You can finally settle down?” He nodded to her and brought her into a tight hug.

“And be with you if you’d like.” A lot of ‘ooooh’s’ and ‘awww’s’ went up as Fluttershy turned bet red. She returned the hug just as tight, making Marcus groan in pain. She squealed and drew away, before laughing lightly and nodding her head.

“Yes, I’d like that very much.” Celestia beamed at this, along with everyone else. Applejack walked up to Marcus and nudged his arm.
'

“So what was all that ‘bout not likin ‘er all that much?” Marcus laughed at that and rubbed the back of his head.

“I suppose I was wrong on that account.” Applejack nodded.

“Darn tooting you was.” At that she smiled and hugged them both. Twilight cleared her throat and stepped forward.

“I’m glad for you both, really I am, but something’s been troubling me Marcus. How did you get off that ship?” Marcus darkened at the question. Truth be told he didn’t remember much of it, but he didn’t want to either. Sitting up a bit and wincing at his wounds, and looked back at Twilight and thought for a few moments.

“I…I don’t remember much. I was in the engine room, fighting their leader, or at least I think he was; sure was strong though…..I had already placed the explosives. I shot him in the leg and then threw a grenade I still had when I stopped talking to you. I ran a fast as I could. What happens next is a bit fuzzy. I do remember making it to the hangar and jumping though….” His mind went back to it.

Weightlessness. That all he felt as he flew down to the ground. Smoke began to poor out of the ship; caused by the reaction from the grenade in the engine room. The packs would go off any second now. He closed his eyes, knowing this was the end; a song played in his head, one which he had known for a good part of his life.

Way down, in New York town
Thinkin bout the way she loves me
Theres a hole in my pocket that about her size
But I think everything’s gona be alright
Yeah I hope everything is gonna be alright.

He let a small tear fall from his eyes onto his visor as he fell to a fast approaching building. In a last vague attempt at life he tried to turn over in the air, and locked his armor. He prayed silently for the first time in a long time as he hit the roof of the building. A large explosion of dust and bricks flew into the air as Marcus hit the build at full speed. A wall soon collapsed ontop of him, and settled there. He lay there for a few moments, unconscious. A violent cough and sputtering showed that he was awake. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. He shifted his head, only to see bricks and wooden beams around him. His body was broken, but his will was strong. He pleaded with his limbs to move; move just an inch. And they did, and burning the likes of which Marcus had only known once in his life filled his veins. He still did not give up. He willed his body to push forward. He struggled for a bit, but he soon removed a piece away from his body, but more shifted onto him.

He groaned out loud, pain coursing through him. He tried again, pushing away bricks and small beams. Marcus clawed his way out, wheezing and stumbling around on the ground. He brought his hands to him helmet and tore it off throwing it away down the street. He lay there like that, his shot gun a few feet away. He laid there for a few minutes staring at it. I can’t die here, not like this. I survived the augmentations, the Covenant, countless glassing, inter-dimensional travel, and now I’m laying here….no. Not like this. Gathering what strength he could, he pushed himself up right. By all rights I shouldn’t be alive, but I am. I need to find Fluttershy…. He crawled to the gun and grabbed it unsteadily. Standing up on his own two legs finally, he used the weapon as a crutch. The thought of her fuelling him, he willed his body to take a step, then another. Soon he was moving down the street towards where the Princess should have been.

Marcus looked back up, realizing he had been speaking out loud. The song came back to his mind and he muttered a few lines.

“Thinkin bout the way she loves me…..” He looked down and saw his hand. It was not shacking, nor was it twitching or moving about. He no longer seemed to have that urge anymore. It sat there like any other. He looked at Fluttershy and drew her close into a tight hug. He buried his head in her mane, letting silent tear pour down his checks. He had not wept in years. Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around his neck, nuzzling into his shoulder and letting him. He needed this. Finally pulling away, Marcus sniffed and wiped his eyes. Many looked at him with joy and pride. Everyone had slight tears in their eyes, even the nurse who stood silently in the corner. He looked back at Celestia.

“I...I would be honored if I could stay here Celestia. Although I have a feeling I may need some clothing.” He smiled and looked at Rarity with a smirk. She smiled brightly and ran up to him.

“Oh darling, you have no idea how long I’ve want to hear that! First you’ll need a few casual pieces, then maybe a suit or two, oh and we mustn’t forget anything that you would wear to...” She began to trail off as Marcus’s future wardrobe was planned in a matter of a few seconds. Fluttershy chuckled. Marcus sighed and tried to get Rarity’s attention. Finally she listened.

“Oh what is it dear?”

“All I need right now is black combat paints, boots, and at shirt. If Celestia feels like carrying out this whole ceremony then I will need a uniform, which I will give you the specifics later for later. Right now all I need it the pants, boots, and shirt.” Rarity noticeably deflated at this, but she agreed none the less.

“Speaking of uniforms, where’s my armor?” He looked around the room and asked Pinkie Pie to check the closet for anything. Sure enough there was most of it hanging on a metal shelf, the shotgun propped up in a corner while the two SMG’s that he had had were piled on the floor next to him. The armor itself was horrid; it hadn’t been cleaned, and it looked almost as if it had been torn off and thrown in there. Marcus frowned at that. He grabbed a crutch that a nurse had brought in and hobbled over to check out his gear. It seemed fine, although some of the bolts that held the plates in place seemed to be slightly stripped. He sighed to himself; they were replaceable, but it would take time to make them correctly, especially with the tech at his hands. He shook his head and grabbed it. He hobbled back to the bed and sat down, placing the armor next to him. Rainbow walked up to him.

“What are you doing with that?” He looked up.

“Putting it back on; I’m not just going to walk around in a hospital gown the whole time!” At that he grabbed his boxers and undershirt. Finally realizing he meant to do this now, everyone walk outside of his room to give him some privacy. They waited there for a few moments until he said he was fine now. The walk back in to see him placing the chest piece on with some difficulty. Twilight trotted up and used her magic to help screw in the bolts that held the armor in. He thanked her and stood up straighter, testing his armor by moving his arms and legs around. It still seemed to function properly. He winced a little as he moved forward a few steps. The wounds were still there, but they would hold. A nurse ran up to him and tried to get him to lie back down. He ignored her, saying that he would be perfectly fine. He was a Spartan after all.

Chapter 28- Epilogue

A lone human stood alone in a long hallway inside the palace of Canterlot, admiring the grand paintings that lined its walls. They depicted scenes from the country’s history he was now in, and they were grand things to behold. Some were larger than two of him combined, and filled with vast colors and hues of them all. The one he saw now depicted the two rulers of this country in heated battle, before peace had settled over the land. He stood there in his well pressed uniform with a cane in one hand and his uniform cap in the other. A magnum was strapped to his hip in a holster. He no longer fully needed the cane, his wounds had healed weeks ago, but it suited him for now. His uniform was foreign and alien to all who saw it, so many did not disturb him. He was, in fact, dressed up for the ceremony that was about to take place in his honor.

Marcus sighed and looked down, his brow creasing. Rarity had made the uniform for him just as he said, and it fit perfectly; almost too perfectly. He tugged at the tight collar and grimaced. He hated wearing dress uniforms. He was too used to his comfy armor. Tearing his eyes away from the painting, Marcus began to walk down the long corridor once more in silence, his shoes makes light taps as he moved down the long hall. He contemplated all that had transpired since his arrival here in Equestria. The crash, the forest encounter with Luna and Celestia, Fluttershy, the Covenant……Much had happened to Equestria because of him, and much had happened to him because it. He smiled at the thought of Fluttershy. She had changed him for the better. His problem was now under control, and his hand no longer shook as much as it used to. He still had nightmares, but not as often, and Fluttershy would always be there for him when he woke up. He didn’t stop to look at anything else, but continued on towards the main hall of the palace that he was in; he didn’t want to be late for his own party now did he?

Turning quickly down into another hallway, he saw a few guards who stood in front of two large golden doors that lead into the main chamber of the palace. They were stoic and proud, much like the royal British Guard at the palace in London. Their helmets were polished to a bright shine, and their spears sharpened to a thin point. They would have been a grand sight to behold, if it weren’t for the snobby pony with a stark white coat and bright blue mane that had been nagging them for the past 10 minutes on how they weren’t good enough to be in the guard, let alone guard the main doors to the chamber beyond. Blueblood had been summoned to the ceremony for something that had supposedly saved all of Equestria. It was just some monster in his opinion that needed to be destroyed at once. But for now these guards had displeased him, and they would suffer for it.

Marcus, seeing this, walked up to the pony and tapped him lightly on the shoulder. The pony ignored this and continued berating the guards on how lousy of a job they had been doing. He tapped again, harder this time, and the pony finally gave him some attention. He did not turn around, but instead stuck his nose a bit higher in the air and spoke to Marcus.

“What do you want peasant? Be gone before I have these guards hall you out of the palace at once!” Marcus snorted and bent of to face him directly. He brought his cane up and hunched over it, smiling at the pony. He turned around and faced Marcus, paling somewhat. Marcus spoke to him quietly.

“What’s your name pony?” The pony laughed loudly and tossed his mane back, looking back at Marcus.

“I am Prince Blueblood, and you would be?”

“Marcus 657.” At that the pony paled even further. He stammered for a few moments then backed up a little. Quickly regaining his composure he looked back at Marcus with disgust and spoke.

“What do you want, human? I do not require your filthy assistance. Like I would ever ask for such a thing...” Marcus had to restrain himself same what with this pony. His PTSD might be under wraps for now, but that didn’t make him any less violent towards asses like this pony.

“I wasn’t offering it. I’m asking what it is you are doing to these guards who have been standing here for hours doing their job.” Blueblood looked back at the guards then back at Marcus before speaking again.

“I am reprimanding them for their disobedience towards me.” Marcus looked up at the guards, who stood still and looked forward with eyes of steel. They were doing their job, and they were doing it right. Marcus nodded and looked back down at Blueblood. Without breaking eye contact, Marcus asked one of the guards what had happened.

“Guard, what happened here? Is what he says true?” One of the guards stepped forward and saluted to Marcus then spoke.

“Sir, nothing happened between us. One of our guards had been relieved of command and he saw this as a sign of weakness apparently. He has been lecturing us ever since about how the guards should be for the past 10 minutes.” Marcus nodded and bent back over to Blueblood, who was now shacking with rage. He began to speak, but was cut off by Marcus.

“If this is true, then you and I have a bit of a problem Mr. Blueblood. I don’t approve of those who don’t show respect towards those who give up their lives for others.” He pulled out his magnum from its holster on his hip and pointed it at Blueblood nonchalantly.

“Now, do we have a real problem here, or are you being a self-absorbed pompous snob like every other high ranking person or pony there has ever been?” Blueblood stammered at this, and began to back away from the weapon. He looked at it then back at Marcus.

“I…You…You can’t threaten me! I’m royalty!” Marcus snorted and stood up, aiming down at the pony.

“And I’m the guy who saved your ass from an alien invasion that would have wiped you out, along with most of the guards standing here. Now leave before the bad side of me wins and you have a magnum round in your skull.” At this Blueblood finally ran for it, high tailing it away from the guards and the mad human. Marcus chuckled and looked back at the guards, putting away his weapon. The guard who spoke up smiled and nodded his head in thanks.

“Thank you sir, you have no idea how often he does that.” Marcus nodded and put on his cap.

“No thanks needed, I know how bad higher ups can be. From soldier to soldier, the guy seemed like a prick anyways. Never liked those higher ups much.” With that he nodded to those guarding the doors, which swung them fully open. Taking a deep breath, Marcus strode forward into the main chamber beyond.

Compared to the last time Marcus had been in this room, it was a sight to see. Ponies from all around Equestria lined its walls, filling up the room to its max capacity. Guards lined the back walls, keeping watch over the crowd. A column of guards lined the center of the room in a small passage for Marcus to pass through. Marcus stopped where he was to take in the scenery. At the end of the column of soldiers stood the Elements of Harmony; Twilight, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack (whom had a smug grin on her face) and lastly Fluttershy, who looked great as usual. They were all wearing dresses that Rarity had made for some ball a year or so ago. To their right on the center of the platform stood Princess Celestia and Luna, who looked back at him with pride. They themselves wore their usual regal attire. To their left was Shining Armor, captain of the guard wearing his brightly polished armor. In the weeks after the Baltimare incident, Shining and Marcus had become good friends. Them both being soldiers had a little bit to do with it, but no one seemed to mind. He nodded to Marcus, and he nodded back. Standing to attention, Armor did a right face towards the Princesses.

“Company, ATTENTION!” With that the column of guards snapped to attention, the spears locking into position at their sides. Shining called back at them again.

“Present, ARMS!” The spears where thrust forwards and a small tunnel was made with them. Marcus finally noticed 3 other presents near him, and looked down quickly to see Star Blazer, Dark Angel, and Midnight Furry next to him, standing proud and still. Marcus smiled to see his comrades next to him. He had meet the three of them briefly in the hospital, and Star Blazer still had a long scar on his face from an energy sword. He had requested that they be honored as well. Slowly, Marcus and the 3 ponies began to march down the tunnel of spears as ponies from all around followed the heroes with their eyes. At first it was quiet as the 4 of them walked down the tunnel of spears, but soon a hoof was stomped, then another, then a few more until the entire crowd was cheering for them. Hooves stomped with loud applause as the group made its way down the column of guards. Marcus could see 3 bouncing figures behind the wall of armor and guards that were following the procession. He cracked a small smile when he figured out who they were. The CMC had been through a lot, and when they had asked Marcus to become hero’s, he complied; but only for a day. He put them through a small Spartan style boot camp to see how they would work under pressure. They did well, or at least as well as one might expect. Afterward though, they decided becoming Spartans and ‘earing their cutie mark’s by becoming heroes’ wasn’t for them.

Coming to the end of the column of guards, Marcus and the others walked up to the raised platform, passing up the Elements and Shining. Bowing heavily, the 4 stood at attention until Celestia called for silence and asked them to be at ease. They complied, Marcus standing with his feet apart and his hand behind his back; cane still in hand. The others stood at ease, which was mainly them with their hooves slightly spread a part. Celestia then began to speak.

“My little ponies, we are gathered here today to honor those who sacrificed that which is held most dearly by all; life. They were willing to venture into the billowing storm and fight that which would end our way of life forever.” Bowing her head slightly, Celestia took on a bit more grave tone.

“Let us never forget those that ventured into the howling dark and did not return, for they made the ultimate sacrifice. Let us always remember those that will answer the call when they are needed, and fight till the end.” Marcus nodded at this, and bowed his head slightly. Most in the room fell silent and all looked down in respect. Celestia raised her head slightly and began to speak once more.

“For now, let us commemorate those who acted with courage and honor, and celebrate this day in their name! Marcus 657, Mightnight Furry, Dark Angel, and Star Blazer; you four have gone beyond the call of duty that was required by you and your superiors and for that we thank you with the Equestrian Medal of Valor.” At this Celestia took forth 4 medals, all made of a brightly polished gold and tied to a long red ribbon. On the medal was the seal of the two sisters, with the sun and moon rising above a carving of their heads in a ying yang fashion. Celestia hovered the medal over their heads and placed them around their necks each. They rested comfortably on their chests. Marcus looked down at his and smiled a little. It’s nice to get some notice for it all I guess. The four of them bowed again, and the crowd cheered. Marcus was about to turn and leave, thinking that was it, when he noticed Luna motioning him to stay. He stayed put as the other 3 left and stood next to Shining Armor. Marcus looked back at the two Princesses confused.

“And for you Marcus, who bravely entered the ship and destroyed it from inside and was prepared to sacrifice your own life for those who you barely knew, I shall grant you whatever you so wish. If it is within my power, it shall be yours.” Marcus stammered for a bit, before looking behind him towards Fluttershy. She smiled back at him, and he nodded to her. He was about to speak when he was cut off by Luna.

“Let it be known to you now that mine sister and I have the ability to make your life here…..easier if you so wish it.” Celestia smiled and nodded her head. Marcus was dumb founded.

“You mean…you can..?” They both nodded and smiled at him.

“We are goddesses, are we not?” Marcus shut up immediately and simply nodded his head. Celestia and Luna smiled and nodded their heads.

“Very well, Marcus.” At that the two of them stepped down and stood next to Marcus on either side of him. He nodded to them and they then closed their eyes. Spreading their wings to their full width, they enveloped Marcus in their wide span. Their eyes began to glow, and soon Marcus and what he was wearing was covering at a bright light. The light began to intensify, and soon the trio stood at the center of an immense orb of energy. Marcus didn’t feel a thing. His life flashed before him as it all happened. His brief childhood, Spartan training, the augmentation, the war, his squad all pasted before him like wisps of cloud. As soon as it showed up, it disappeared and was replaced by another. Physically though, things were changing. His limbs were changing, his hair grew out, his size began to decrease, and fur started to coat his body. All who saw this stared in awe. In one large bright flash of light, it all ended.

Something lay in between the two princesses wearing a grey uniform with a cap on its head. Fluttershy let out a squeak and hid her head behind her mane, peaking out with one eye. Wings sprouted from it, and it stretched out its thick muscular legs. It spread out on all four before falling. Many squinted to get a better look, while others flew into the air to see. Where Marcus once stood lay a stallion of immense size, rivaling Big Mac himself. It had a grey coat underneath the uniform and it stood up on quaking legs. On its flank a cutie mark of a Greek helmet over a shield. It turned its head towards Celestia and spook.

“Christ…I can’t walk on these damn legs.” Fluttershy let out a squee and rushed forward, tackling the stallion to the ground. He laughed and looked up. Fluttershy nuzzled into his uniform and smiled. Celestia chuckled and walked up to the two.

“Well Marcus, I can see that Fluttershy is happy. Are you happy as well?” He nodded a little oddly at first. This whole body was a bit off for him. The mane was a bit problematic; it got in his eyesight a bit and whooshed around way too much. Fluttershy looked up at him for a moment.

“A-are you ok? You’re sure you’re not hurt?” He nodded, nuzzling into her mane. It smelled sweet and fresh, like morning dew. He drew away and planted a light kiss on her lips. Everyone ‘awed’, and Applejack just looked even smugger. He drew away, leaving Fluttershy dazed. He waved a…hoof in front of her face.

“Flutters, you ok?” She just nodded slowly than tackled him again, planting a bigger kiss on him. He returned it with as much passion a fever as she did, and they remained like that for a few moments. Luna finally cleared her throat, and the two broke apart. Everypony now was in amazement and shock. All were cheering with applause and whistles. They both stood up, Marcus very shaky at first, but he got used to his new legs after a few moments. He stomped his hoof a few times, testing out how it felt. It didn’t shake at all. He smiled and looked up at the cheering crowd. Turning back to Fluttershy, who was blushing fiercely herself; she had never kissed many stallions before, and certainly not in front of so many ponies. Marcus smiled at her shyness and nuzzled, abet somewhat awkwardly, against her cheek. She reddened even further, but returned the gesture. They both looked back towards the cheering crowd in silence, waiting for whatever lay ahead for them, and for Equestria. They had a Spartan now, and he would defend his new home with all his might. Spartans never die after all.

They just adapt.

Author's Note

OH MY GOD ITS DONE!!! I just...wow....its done. I can't thank you guys enough for actually enjoying this story. THe fact that ponies enjoyed this helped me push through and finish it to the end. Thanks guys, and hopefully, I'll see you soon. Just wake me when you need me.

-John 117

P.S. Any thoughts on a sequel?

Prologue- The Cold Dead

Marcus sighed as he leaned his body against the crumbling concrete wall. I'm getting really tired of this shit. Does it ever end? Crouching down, he adjusted his grip on the sniper rifle. He turned around to face his enemies. A blue Elite leading a small squad of Grunts and Jackals came into view at three hundred meters’ distance. He held his breath, squeezing the trigger slowly, ever so slowly. They hadn’t seen him yet, so well-camouflaged was he among the rubble of a former hospital. The shine of the alien tech and glow of the weapons made them obvious as lightning bolts. There was no way he could miss. There was no way they could hide. Marcus applied more force. The trigger broke- the weapon fired! CRACK! He sent a 57 caliber round hurtling at the Elite. The projectile found its mark, tearing through the shields, armor and flesh. The alien’s skull exploded and it tumbled to the ground, lifeless. Now to dispose of the rest…

The little ones panicked and scattered. Some tried to maintain discipline. For their efforts, Marcus eliminated them with his predictable ruthless efficiency, just as he had been taught to do as a child. The small squad was reforming and began to charge at the hospital, seeking their attacker. There was no cover, so he could take his time. Marcus reloaded and allowed the aliens to line up. With each shot, he killed a Covenant soldier and the ones behind it. The mag went dry. Tranquility returned to the meadow. Suddenly, a flicker of red appeared in the corner of his vision; multiple contacts on the motion tracker.

Marcus put his sniper rifle away and shouldered his assault rifle, taking a grenade into his hand. The Spartan pulled the pin, but was careful to keep the spoon depressed. He could hear the enemy. Alien boots crunched on the ground and alien tongues clacked unintelligible languages. The group was directly behind a ruined wall that had once stood behind the receptionist’s desk. They were blissfully unaware that their fate had been sealed. Marcus released the spoon, counting silently in his head to two. Suddenly, he hurled the explosive through the gap, bouncing it off the ceiling and exploding it against the floor, killing two Grunts and a Jackal.

Vaulting into the opened, Marcus let loose a burst from his assault rifle, downing two more grunts in pools of blue blood before emptying the last of the mag into the surviving Jackal. The last Grunt bolted in vain, trying to find sanctuary within the burned-out halls. Marcus drew his combat knife and calmly chased it down. He ripped off the struggling alien’s mask and then spun it around to face him. Marcus stabbed it through the neck, and then ripped outwards. The grunt was screaming! Marcus kicked the wretched beast viciously, dropping it to the floor. Lastly, he cleaned his knife by flicking it twice in the air.

Marcus surveyed the area, beholding the carnage that he and the Covenant had caused. Littered around him were dozens of bodies of both Covenant and humans, although most were human. Most of the human bodies were disintegrated. The more intact specimens had entire large sections charred and burned away by plasma. The scene reeked of death, gunpowder, and ozone. Different expressions littered the faces of the dead. One face, a gown-clad civilian woman’s partially melted by plasma, had a look of absolute horror etched onto it. She had been clawing desperately at the wall to get out in her last despair. Another face, belonging to a man wearing a suit with a scarlet beret, whose ribs were exposed, showed only inhuman rage. Even in death, he had not dropped his ancient means of defense, a Kalashnikov AKS-74U rifle. Testament to his determination, a pile of spent 5.45x39mm shell casings and magazines were at his feet, and at least more than two dozen slain aliens of all kinds cluttered the hall, including a pair of hunters That explains the mysterious gunfire I heard earlier, and why they took so long to flank me. Rest in peace. Whoever you were, you were one tough son of a bitch. He and the woman wore matching rings on the fourth fingers of their left hands. Some smaller body parts were littered around the room with the woman. Perhaps it was from their child? The idea and image made Marcus feel nauseous. He gently shut their eyes, pausing for a few moments to pray that they had been reunited in Jannah.

The faces had always haunted Marcus. Yes, one did grow numb eventually, but it still hurt. He wasn't like the other Spartans; they could normally shrug it off and pretend to ignore it; continuing on with the mission, but not him. They stuck with him, and dug down into his core, twisting it up and around. I wonder how many other will be left like this on this God-forsaken planet.

Marcus had been stationed on Torquaturus IV to try and stop the Covenant. Admiral Cole had been the one officially charged with the task, but Marcus and his comrades knew that it would be up to them to do the heavy lifting. Survive was a total lie; it was all about delaying the inevitable. They had held in the first few ground engagements. Denied an easy victory, the covenant withdrew their ships and the glassing began. The planet burned. For three weeks- twenty-one days and nights, the sun was obscured by smoke and the night illuminated by red flames and bright beams of death. The cruisers eventually vaporized the oceans, quelling the fires just the previous night. Now, Torquaturus IV was a dying, smoldering shell of a world. These were the final days of the battle in the last places not yet turned to glass.

There was no time to be sad; Marcus had a job to do. He climbed to the highest point of the hospital’s ruins, doing his best to avoid looking at the horror. The smell created hellish memories anyway and forcibly reminded him of so many other scenes like this one. He passed the maternity ward on his way up. He covered his visor; it was too much.

At last, standing on the roof, he opened communications. "Marcus 657 calling on pelican 349-12. Do you copy? Over." There was a short pause then a response.

"We read you, 657, over." the pilot responded.

Marcus spoke, "Request immediate evac from hostile forces, over.”

"Request granted, evac will be 10 klics from 657's position, rendezvous will be in t-minus 30 minutes. See you therem 657- 349 out." The line went dead. Marcus shouldered his rifle and began the long hike to the evac zone. He walked through blood-soaked fields, now also soggy with water.
________________________________________________________________________________

As Marcus neared the landing zone, he could see the pelican circling in. He watched as the troop carrier landed and the rear hatch opened up. A squad of marines was in it. He paid them no heed; his attention was on a tall, slender figure in MJOLNIR armor toting an SMG. The figure gave him the Spartan finger wave and greeted him, "Well hey there, Spunky, how's the front been treating ya?"

"Oh just fine, Emilia. I nearly got my ass shot off, as usual,” Marcus responded. He returned the traditional Spartan greeting; two fingers over the visor, in a sort of mock smile salute.

"And your squad?" she asked him. Marcus just shook his head, disappointed in himself. He felt his hand shaking again. He stifled it by balled it into a fist. This was no time to let such things take over. Spartans were created to protect others, true; to die so that others might live on in their stead, but no Spartan was perfect. He didn't seem very good at keeping anyone other than himself alive no matter how hard he tried. Emilia and Marcus boarded the pelican and sat down in the chairs. The rear hatch closed with the usual whirring and hissing of motors and hydraulics. With that, the pelican lifted off on a course for low orbit where Admiral Cole's flagship, the UNSC Atlantis, sat awaiting their arrival. As they cleared the overcast cloud layer, a Covenant cruiser came into view.

"Pilot, where did that thing come from?" shouted Emilia, looking out through the cockpit windshield. It was bearing down on them quickly.

"Unknown ma’am, but its headed this way. Power fluctuations are being read though out the ship. It gonna’ jump!"

Just as the pilot finished, energy surges could be seen forming along the cruiser's lateral lines. Blue lightning could be observed emanating from them, indicating the formation of slip-space ruptures. The Spartans and marines strapped themselves in. A Marine to the right of Marcus was praying and holding a cross tied to his dog tags. Marcus put his hand on the man’s shoulder.

The pilot gunned the Pelican, trying to put as much distance between them and the cruiser as possible. If the jump happened while they were still in the thick lower atmosphere, then the storms resulting from a slip-space jump would tear their small aircraft apart! They had to make it! Unfortunately, it was all in vain; the cruiser was gaining on them and they were still much too low. A man cried out, “Mamochka prosti!” Marcus thought of his own mother. How was she? Did she still live? What would she if she knew what he was and what he had done? Would she even care?

Just as they were about to clear atmosphere, the cruiser jumped! Multiple things happened simultaneously. Marcus, trying to save himself the only way he knew how to in a situation like this, locked his armor. It was a futile effort against the infinitely greater energies of the cruiser. The Pelican began to rip apart! A hole was ripped into the hull of the dropship and marines were torn from their seats into the open air! They were killed by the chill and brutal winds long before their bodies would hit the ground. And then a bright white light filled up the disintegrating Pelican. The last thing Marcus remembered was holding onto Emilia's hand for dear life as the Pelican ceased to exist.

Chapter 7- Confrontation of the Gods

Luna had been watching with fascination at what was laid out before her: a human soldier trying to communicate with one of the shyest and most skittish ponies Luna had ever known, although one a few thousand years ago had been a contender. Once the group had realized that Fluttershy had gone missing, Celestia had reined in Rainbow Dash to help search Fluttershy’s ground sector for the missing pony. Everypony was tense and nearly silent. Even Rainbow dialed back her bravado. Their search was fruitless until they heard Fluttershy scream. In a flash, everypony bolted in the sound’s direction. Fluttershy was alright; she had merely panicked in a small, dark, hollow. Wait- there was motion; something big, metallic, and shiny was moving by Fluttershy!

There was no other explanation. They had found the human perhaps in the worst possible way. Celestia ordered the others to not interfere. They seemed to be speaking about as amicably as could be hoped for in such situations. They hoped that Fluttershy could persuade it to behave peaceably. Only she could do this. Adding anything new to the situation could turn it volatile. The human was sitting in front of Fluttershy asking her questions, and it also had its helmet off. Celestia pointed out that it was not armed, although one of its weapons lay on the ground a few feet away.
Celestia whispered, "Luna, we must do something; it could harm her."

"I understand sister, but what if it means no harm to come of her? He seems to hold no intentions of harming her and is being friendly enough," Luna responded.

Celestia mulled this over. "Can we really take that chance? It is a human as we had feared, Lu-Lu." Luna frowned at that. “Perhaps we should allow Fluttershy to handle first contact. Anything we do could provoke the human.” Thinking it over, she had to agree with her sister. They simply could not take the chance. Nodding to her sister the princess tried to go over to her when she stepped on a rotten branch. It made a small, crisp *CRACK* that was hardly very audible, but she disturbed the near by bushes. The human doubtlessly heard this. Before they could do anything, it had sprung to its feet more quickly than they would have ever imagined and rolled for its weapon, grabbing it and standing before a terrified Fluttershy. The thing grabbed its helmet and snapped it on, briefly being surrounded by an amber glow and the crackle of energy.

The tense moments felt like minutes. For a quarter second, Celestia did nothing, hoping that things wouldn’t escalate further. Then, the human’s hand darted for Fluttershy! It was impossible to gauge intent. She had to do something! The princess made a snap decision to defend her subject. Celestia shot at it with a pulse of magic strong enough to cow a Manticore, the bolt hurtling straight for the human’s chest!

The human didn't have enough time to react, let alone tell where the blast had come from. It sent him hurtling through the trees, nearly crushing Fluttershy. The human soared through tender yearlings, snapping them right in half with loud cracks.

He then was stopped suddenly by a large, old sycamore tree with deep roots. The monarch of the forest groaned under the mighty impact as the better part of a ton suddenly slamming into it, but the tree stood firm in the ground. The human reflexively covered his head and curled up into a tight armored ball. To everypony’s shock, it looked up to see his attacker and saw four more ponies emerge from the bushes, surrounding Fluttershy. It charged at them unarmed, the weapons were scattered on the forest floor.

It jumped into the air, balling one of its hands up into a fist. Luna saw that she was directly in its path! With her mastery of magic, it only took a split second for her to gather up her power and perform the correct spell. Her eyes and horn shone.

There was a tiny bit of slippery resistance from the armor so slight that Luna could have simply imagined it. The human halted as it was suspended several feet in the air. It struggled futilely against its arcane fetters

It took only a few seconds for it to realize its position. "Fluttershy, run!" He shouted, looking over his shoulder at the small pony, but she was just standing there, staring at him, but differently. It was like a drill instructor’s stare. He supposed that it would be rather intimidating if he hadn’t routinely wrested with cosmic horrors.

To his surprise, she only whimpered, "W-why i-isn't it w-working????" He was really confused, and looked back at the attackers. She was starting to panic. Suddenly, an unusually tall pony colored purple and black spoke with a strange echo yelled something at Fluttershy. HE noticed that they were all standing relatively still, almost entranced.

“Fluttershy! Thou may quit thy stare.” The small pony did. The large pony turned to the human and addressed him thusly, “Be still and civil and we shall release you, human. It does not please us to use violence. We promise that if you behave thyself, then no harm shall befall you.” The human seemed to wrestle with this in spite of the impossibility of its situation. It had just been handed a mandate to surrender, yet it still offered resistance. Luna was certain that it would not be easy to make this being come quietly. It had a warrior’s spirit- no doubt about it. There was something else too. Was it the fabled human recklessness?

"What do you want?" He demanded. Princess Celestia stepped forward. Her pure white coat stood out amidst the dark forest. Her flowing, multicolor, pastel mane, wings, horn gold finery, and unmatched size got the human’s attention. It seemed to think of her as some sort of chief adversary.

The white princess was about to speak when suddenly, a brash voice shout from the darkness, "We want our friend back, buck head!" Its source was the rainbow-maned pony. She only had wings. The human picked up on the undercurrent of fear in her voice. he smirked underneath his visor Things got spirit.

"Silence Rainbow Dash, and let us handle this," retorted Celestia. Rainbow Dash snorted, but spoke no more. The white alicorn turned its attention to the struggling human. “We simply wish to speak with you, human.”The human responded, “Let me down first and then I’ll talk.” It could sense their fear and sought an advantage.

“I won’t release you unless you swear to answer my questions and refrain from violence.” It hung its head, knowing full well that it was well and truly cornered.

Celestia didn’t believe what it tried to do next. "I’ll cooperate, but only if you answer some of my questions first. Why did you attack us? Who are you? And how do you know what I am?" Unbelievable! Was this human honestly trying to make demands even when it was being held at an alicorn’s mercy? Luna sighed and gave her a meaningful look as if to tell her older sister to just humor the human so that they could get on with it.

“Very well then, as a token of trust, know that my name is Princess Celestia, goddess of the sun. May I ask who you are?" The human gave her an incredulous stare, cocking its head. There were several minutes of silence.

Celestia was pleased when the human finally responded to her. "I am Spartan Marcus 657. Now let me down! Can you tell me why you attacked us? And where exactly am I? I've never heard of a planet called Eque-"The dark pony he had initially lunged at cut him off with that echoing, otherworldly voice she seemed to favor. "We will answer the remainder of your questions if you cooperate with us, Marcus. We promise that no harm shall come to you."

There were no alternatives for Marcus. Resistance was futile. They were suspending him high enough off the ground to make a best case scenario end with the fall simply breaking his legs. Whatever they were doing to him prevented his shields from even regeneration. Some sort of interference was being broadcast that prevented him from locking his armor. If he used his grenade, then it would either kill him by exploding in close proximity, or by convincing his captors to strike first. He had no guns. He had no backup. Even though it went against absolutely everything he had ever known from training and combat, there was but one thing he could do to escape his predicament.

“I...give in.”

Chapter 16- Covenant

Marcus stood in the shadows as the group waited for the Princesses. Luna had gone ahead to get Celestia ready and the rest of them had gotten what things they needed and met Twilight at the Library. She had then teleported them to the Northern gate of Canterlot, and from there they walked on. Shining Armor met them at the doors of the main Castle and led them to a small meeting room; a large, oak table in the middle with seats enough for them all and then some to be present if needed. Marcus looked down at the shiny metal object in his hand with fear while resting his hand on his magnum. Luna had seen fit to give him back his weapons, in light of recent events. Marcus's eyes scanned the room, and then back up to the doors. He was apprehensive to say the least. His eyes finally settled on Fluttershy.Why do I care so much for her? She has heart, even though she doesn't know it. Marcus looked around the room. I can't let anything happen to these ponies. The doors to the room finally flew open, and Celestia stormed in, Luna trailing behind her.

“Not in a thousand years has anyone ever had the audacity to summon ME to a meeting! But now I find myself not only being summoned, but forcefully by my own sister UNDER SOMEONES ELSE'S ORDERS!" Celestia huffed, standing at the center of the table, rage filling her eyes. Everyone looked down in fright, not daring to look the princess in the eye. Marcus walked up into the light, still holding the object in his hands. He looked right at her, not afraid in the slightest. Well, at least not of her.

"You! I understand that you have saved some of my ponies from harm, but that does not give you the right to order around my pupil, her friends, and my sister!" Celestia started to go on a rant about how he was to treat her, but he didn't have the time nor patience to hear it. He took off his helmet and clipped it to his belt. He then pulled out his magnum and shot out a round from the hip, the round bouncing off the ceiling, the blast ringing through the room. Everyone flinched and looked at Marcus. He put the gun back and looked at Celestia through serious eyes.

"Forgive me Celestia, but as of right now proper edicate and behavior have just gone out the window. We have a large and very dangerous problem." He put the object on the table for all to see.

"The Covenant is here on your very doorstep." Many gasped, and Celestia looked on in shock.

“How is it you have come upon this knowledge with me never even hearing so much as a peep from my scouts?" Marcus pointed at the object on the table.

"Because of that. That, sweet and dearest Celestia is a Covenant energy sword. One of the more deadly weapons in their arsenal. Applejack tripped over it when she was helping put out the fire you heard about and showed it to me. I knew at once what it was, and called this meeting." Celestia looked on with fear.

"This...this proves nothing. How do you even know what it is? It could be a piece of metal from the house or...or something! It could have come through the portal with you and flown to where it landed."

"Celestia please. listen-" Marcus was cut short.

"You come in here, with a piece of metal and a large claim that is barely supported by facts and evidence and want me tobelieve you? You have grown too bold Marcus."At that Marcus grabbed the object and flicked it with his wrist. A blue beam shot out, and formed a blade. It hummed with energy.

"I would think I would remember the very object that tore apart countless humans Princess! Marines, ODSTs, and even Spartans have fallen to such a weapon! I watched my comrades skewered on weapons like this! So many...so many gone...I just...I couldn't..." Marcus froze in place and looked down; his hand holding the weapon was shaking tremendously. Each and every face flashed before his eyes. He then continued to speak, powered by his grievances. Mothers forgive me I could bring them home. But that doesn't mean that I can't fight in their memory...I will not let more innocents die! "And if you do not heed my words, your skin will be cut from your body as a trophy for some Elite as he picks his teeth with your bones! Your fields will burn, yours cities will be leveled, and your people will all die by their hand! " Marcus spat out the last words, and for emphasis, drove the sword into the table, wanting nothing more to do with the weapon. It stood straight , a monument to the evil that was coming for them all. Marcus walked towards Celestia.

"Listen to me, or bid me away. The choice is yours, but know this. The choice you make could either save you, or doom you all." Celestia looked down, thinking. She then looked up at Marcus.

"What," Celestia cleared her throat. "What would you have me do Marcus? We don't have weapons such as yours. We have never had a need for such things.War is not our strongest subject, as you might have guessed."

"Yes, but mine is. When the time comes, I will fight them. I will fight until my dying breath if I must."Fluttershy gave a squee at that. Marcus ignored it and continued.

"But what I need you to be ready for is to evacuate cities. Whole cities, Celestia. And when the time comes, well, do whatever you can to protect those who you care for." At that Marcus looked over at Fluttershy. She looked at him, but lowered her head, blushing lightly. He looked down as well. Luna looked over at him.

"Can our magic do anything?" Marcus shook his head.

"As far as I know; no it can't."

"Then what do we do, Marcus?” Twilight pleaded. Marcus looked around the room into ever eye present. He looked back at Fluttershy, who looked back, fear deep within her. Marcus felt a large sense of protection towards the mare. He racked his brain for a plan of action, some way to find them and fight. To be able to give the first blow. But Marcus could only think of one plan, and humanity had been using it since the beginning of the war with the Covenant. Marcus shook his head and looked towards Celestia and Luna. He clenched his hand a few times, looking down at it. The only thing that came to mind was what he and the rest of the UNSC did. He sighed and walked up to Fluttershy and knelt down, petting her mane. She nuzzled into his hand and let him, smiling a bit. He smiled, then looked down, removing his hand. He stood up and looked at Celestia and Luna, knowing what they needed to do.

"We wait."

Author's Note

Since I haven't had the chance to thank all those who have liked, given a favorite, or both, I'd like to take the chance to do that now! Thank you all so much! I've been wanting to do something like this for sometime, and the fact that its doing this well is, well, incredible. Thank you all for reading, and I hope you enjoy the rest! John 117 out.

Sequel: The Return

So ya. Sequal. Here ya go The Return