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.