//------------------------------// // City Defense // Story: “THIS IS SPARTA!!!!!!” // by Sawtoothetherium //------------------------------// Luna woke to a growling horn call. It was still the middle of the night but the City outside was already bursting with activity. She had guessed what the call was but didn’t want to believe it. Leonidas leapt out of the bed and emmediately began donning his armor while Luna grabbed his shield and spear. She gave them to him quickly and he nodded his thanks before flying out to see what was happening. Luna was rather astonished that he could have gotten into his armor so quickly, he was obviously strong enough to carry it but even then speed was difficult if not impossible in plate armor. She went to the balcony to see what was transpiring, and the chamber doors opened to reveal a surprised and still sleepy group of visitors. “What was that,” Twilight asked. “The Thebes war horn, they are assaulting the city,” Luna told them quickly. That is actually what was happening, the Spartans had their wives or children light beacons on the roofs of their houses as to light the battle. What they saw scared the willies out of all of them, they saw all of the Spartans lined up in rows with their shields locked to form a phalanx and their spears out to impale anyone stupid enough to come close. They did something similar in the air, except they didn’t lock shields, they simply stood on guard far enough away from one another to fly but not so far away that it would be possible to get through. Facing them was a massive army of hoplites with similar armor, but they wore shoulder plates and their shields were decorated with the mark of Thebes, the lion. The group sat next to Luna and decided to see how it played out, after all they were about to see these Spartans in action. They sat back and watched. Then Thebes charged at the Spartan line, the Spartans waited for them to get there then smacked the front row with their shields simultaneously with enough force to shatter their skulls, with or without the helmets protecting their heads. Celestia and Luna winced in sympathy for the poor Thebes soldiers, they have bee hit in the face with shields before and knew that it hurt. Before the second row of Thebes soldiers could attack the Spartans they returned to phalanx position with practiced ease. Leonidas was in the front lines like a true king, in fact he was right in the middle where most of the Thebes army was focused. The enemy pushed against the wall of shields and spears, and found the flying Spartans come down on them without mercy. The Spartan flyers dove into the enemy’s ranks and simply stabbed anyone they came across, the phalanx broke in the first two lines and they began to brutally slaughter the Thebes soldiers. The group focused on Leonidas himself, his spear had broken in one enemy and he was now fighting with his sword. He threw an enemy over him with his shield and he landed on his comrades spear, Leonidas cut the guts out of one before removing his head, another he stabbed in the face, the next he smacked with his shield so hard it crushed his helm into a disk like shape and sent the stallion flying back a few hundred feet. “Dang,” Rainbow exclamed loudly. “Well aren’t you glad you didn’t get on his bad side,” Luna mused to her sister who could only nod, never before had she seen such a display of violence come from one pony. Leonidas helped his men finish off the rest of the Thebes soldiers. It was the absolute shortest battle Luna had ever seen. The quick and easy way these Spartans dealt with enemies was more than intimidating, Luna was actually rather terrified. The Spartans dragged the bodies and threw them in the sea when they were done, and they bagan to return to their homes as though nothing happened. Leonidas flew up to them and laughed when he saw their faces. “You should see yourselves right now, so afraid.” He said landing by them. “I assure you that you are safe. We will not harm you.” They knew this but couldn’t help but be afraid, save for the two sisters, they had seen and done much worse in the past. He bid them return to their room, and bagan to remove his armor and Luna helped him smiling. He looked at her amused. “Impressed?” “Very,” She told him before pulling him in for a kiss then returning to his armor. He chuckled as he undid the other side and put the armor on the stand, he put his sword near a grindstone in the far corner that Luna had not noticed before. He put his shield, which lacked dents of any kind, on the rack. Luna allowed him to bathe while she cleaned the blood from his armor. The amount of it was impressive, she would be willing to bet that he had killed more enemies than any other Spartan. As she cleaned she began to think, what would happen to them? If they found a way back to equestria what would happen? Would he come with her? Would she stay with him? Would they see one another again? As Luna continued to think tears bagan to form in her eyes but she fought them down. She couldn’t allow such things to get in the way, if they never saw each other after they returned to equestria then she had better enjoy the time she had with him now. She continued to clean his chest plate and he came in now cleaned off, he noticed Lunas moist eyes. “What’s wrong Luna,” He asked kindly. “I was just thinking,” She told him, “What will happen to us if me and the group return to equestria.” “I’m guessing equestria is your homeland.” “It is. What will happen to us if we find our way back, I want to go home but I dont know where home is anymore. Is it here or is it there? Will you come with me? Will I stay with you?” She bagan to choke, “Will I ever see you again?” He rushed up to her and held her to his chest to let her cry, he began to stroke her mane. “I dont know the awnser Luna, but I do know that no matter what happens I will never stop loving you. If you do go back, we are both immortal so we both have an eternity to find one another again.” He lifted her head gently to meet her gaze, and leaned down to meet her in a kiss. Once again they were overwhelmed by passion, they fell onto the bed and stayed there until morning.