Deployment at Last
The two weeks had gone through in an academically brutal manner for the Spartan. The teachers had given him full lectures of the physiology and abilities of the races in Equestria. The schematics of the town and the library took two days to get to the castle for him to analyze. He took five days to test open combat with the castle guards in order to see how they fought in active combat. It took him three excruciating days to be able to come up with basic commands like: Run, Hide, Stop, Wait for me, Left, Right, Back, Front, Forward, Retreat, and Regroup. He was still unable to pronounce his name. He used five days for battle plans and academic development (some reading lessons included) and on the final day of his two weeks he rested. And best of all Blueblood didn’t show up once during the whole period of time.
The Spartan was given a sword and a shield for protection the morning he was set to be deployed. He laughed at them at first but then took them either way. He also sneaked a crossbow with his personal belongings. He readied himself in his room and stood ready for either Princess Luna or Princess Celestia to show up and send him off. As he looked out the window of the Palace he saw the city of Canterlot. Not once had he left the castle and he wasn’t entirely sure of the world outside he now knew so much of, knew of him.
A knock on the door pulled him back from his daydreaming and into his current mission. He knocked three times in the wood of the desk in his room as a sign they had developed for him to welcome people into his quarters. The door opened and a guard came inside introducing Princess Celestia, which came looking rather calm taking into account all the load of work she had been receiving recently.
“Hello Silent, how are doing this morning?” asked Celestia as she entered the room.
The Spartan just stood there looking at her.
“I see you're as chatty as ever. Listen today you will be taken to Ponyville, the whole town has been informed of your arrival. Nopony knows your actual mission so we just told them you were there to socialize and be integrated to pony society by Twilight Sparkle as one of her new higher education tasks. She has been notified of your true objective along with her friends. You will be delivered by Royal Carriage directly to her home in the Golden Oaks Library, please make sure not to create mass panic. Also be sure not to leave her side and be constantly aware of the surroundings, if something were to happen to her somepony would end up with 80% of their body broken. Are you ready for you mission Silent Warrior?”
The Spartan saluted the princess and gave out a sound resembling ‘Hurrah’ at her. She took this as a good sign and led him with her out into the castle balcony. In there a carriage with four Pegasi ponies waited for him.
“I hope you don’t take offense, but since I was made aware of your weight I had to make some special arrangements for your delivery as some extra wing power would be required for your transportation. Along with that I will also give you this.” Princess Celestia levitated a bag full of bits, “This are bits, as you probably studied they are the currency used in Equestria. Should you need more please notify me through Spike’s dragon fire.”
The Spartan grabbed the bag and sat at the carriage which wobbled as he went in. With everything ready the door closed and Celestia approached him.
“Good luck Silent Warrior, and please don’t let anything bad happen to her. Also give this note to Twilight once you get there.” Celestia gave the Spartan a letter along with her final message and stepped back for the carriage to leave.
The Spartan would one day figure out how to say Spartan, and when that day came he would be the happiest soldier alive.
Without further distractions the Pegasi galloped at full force along a predetermined straight road and it wasn’t long before the carriage itself lifted up. The Spartan had learned about the flying carriages, but knowing of them and experiencing them was a whole different thing. To the regular eye one would say that the Spartan was doing fine as his body kept completely still and serious, yet if you looked inside his helmet the Spartan was glancing everywhere expecting the whole thing to break apart at any given moment as sweat fell down his forehead. His hands extended and grabbed the sides of the carriage as he gripped at it for his dear life. As a spartan he could endure orbital falls but that didn't mean he liked the whole ordeal any more than the next Spartan. He would have to endure about one hour of this special form of hell until he arrived to the town.
**********
The Spartan felt the rough landing of the carriage into the rocky street which also announced his arrival. He welcomed the feeling of the solid ground under his boots as he got out of the carriage with his equipment, money, and Celestia’s message in tow. That carriage would forever have the marked indentation of the Spartan’s hands along its sides. He looked towards his sides and saw a multitude of ponies looking at him. He turned his attention to the giant tree house in front of him and approached the door. He knocked into it and waited for a response from the inside. Within a few seconds the door opened and Twilight stood looking at the giant metallic warrior. The Spartan looked towards the guards and motioned them to leave, something they automatically understood. He looked back at Twilight which still stood frozen in the front door. The Spartan reached out and gave her the letter Celestia told him to deliver to her when they met.
Twilight looked at the enormous behemoth in front of her while she tried to study him at every single possible angle. She had been told that a guard would be assigned to her for protection before the coronation came but this was something completely different than what she expected. She expected to see an actual pony guard standing in front of her door, not this metallic creature that was practically the size of Celestia. Then the creature extended a note to her and she grabbed it in her magic. She opened the note a read the following”
Hello my name is Silent Warrior and I need a home and someone to take care of me as I’m new to this world and kind of clumsy. I like macaroni art and playing hide and seek. I’m also very shy and don’t talk much. Please don’t let my cold external appearances fool you; in the inside I really just want a hug. XOXO
No but seriously now my faithful student, this is Silent Warrior and he is the assigned guard for your protection. I know it seems unorthodox but he has proven to be one of the best we could find even if he is the only one there is. He will be staying with you for a while until your coronation comes so it happens without problems. You more than anyone should be aware that these kind of occasions tend to call the most undesirable attention. Should you need any financial support for him please notify me through Spike and I shall promptly reply. I will understand too if he is quite a handful and decide against his service, just be sure to inform me and I’ll send the replacements and somepony to pick him up. Stay safe Twilight Sparkle, and may we see each other in good terms when your coronation comes.
Sincerely,
H.R.H Princess Celestia Solaria Invicta
Ps. Silent Warrior can understand what you say because of a spell Luna placed on him. Sadly he can’t really talk back that much as he doesn’t know our language.
Twilight stifled a laugh as she read the first part of the letter and then her gaze became serious as she read the following part. She looked up and noticed the forming group of ponies around her house. She decided to let Silent Warrior (the Spartan) into her home to allow the town to calm a little. They too had been notified, but they weren’t as accepting of newcomer’s as she or any of her friends were. The behemoth made his way inside the library as he ducked under the door and then found himself inside the library. He looked around and took it all in when he was snapped out of it with the sound of a book falling. He caught the sight of a small dragon looking directly at him with his mouth open.
“Big.” Said the small drake at the Spartan.
“Yes Spike he sure is big.” Said Twilight as she approached the Spartan from behind, “And he will be staying with us for a while.”
“You mean he's the guy Celestia told us she would send?” asked Spike.
“That is correct; he is here to ‘protect’ me should anything arise. Personally I think the Princess could just be overdoing it in order to avoid what happened during the royal wedding. I mean its not like anypony is threatening to hurt me or anything”
‘So it seems Celestia hasn’t really told Twilight everything. I suppose it's ok if my reports about her prove to be right; she would have some sort of panic attack.’ Thought the Spartan.
“Twilight if its okay with you I’ll leave for Rarity already.” Said Spike
“What? You don’t want to meet our new houseguest?” asked Twilight.
“Pleaaasee Twilight? Rarity is waiting for me?” Spike pleaded.
“Uh, okay but I want you to return early ok?” said Twilight
“Sure will!” Replied Spike enthusiastically.
Spike then grabbed a red wagon like those kids usually played in and bolted out of the library like a matter of life and death. In all due respect it could very well have had the same mental weight on the little drake as every second he kept Rarity waiting was complete and utter dung thrown against the love he had for her.
“He is so excited every time he is going to help Rarity collect gems. It’s like connecting the two things he likes most in the world, gems and Rarity. I just hope he will eventually grow out of his crush, he just seems to be so sad whenever she gets the occasional coltfriend. It makes me so sad to see him sad, I mean I basically hatched him through magic and his been like my little brother ever since. Do you know the feeling Silent?” said Twilight.
‘Yeah…. I know the feeling alright.’ Thought the Spartan as images of his fellow Spartans who were like brothers and sisters to him fell by the hand of the Covenant. The Spartan retained his posture and just nodded to Twilight.
“But enough about me, tell me about yourself Silent.” Said Twilight now facing the Spartan.
‘How about the fact that Silent Warrior is an idiotic name given to me by your princesses and I would prefer to be called Spartan?’ thought the Spartan though never changed his stance or showed signs and movement whatsoever.
“Oh, heh sorry for that.” Said Twilight as a blushed formed on her cheeks, “Well if you follow me I’ll show you around the tree house, and tell you where you will be staying.” Twilight then proceeded to give him a tour of the library, the kitchen, basement/ lab, bedrooms, and bathrooms. All in all it was a pretty well settled area for living, though privacy would be an issue.
“It’s still early so is there something you want to do?” asked Twilight asked the Spartan.
The Spartan looked at her and moved towards his bag where he had pre-written messages by the scholars in Canterlot he could use to convey messages. He grabbed his cards and showed one that said “I’ll go prepare the house” and “free time”. Twilight at first didn’t understand what he meant but he then pulled a set of alarms for a security system. She took it that he was going to rig the house in case intruders wanted to enter, she didn’t like the idea of isolating the public library though and was going to make statement when the Spartan pointed to the alarms and the to the clock. He motioned the alarms and the time being from 7 p.m. to 8 a.m. as were the daily hours of the Library. The Spartan had really done his homework and found ways to accommodate the measure according to Twilight.
Twilight let the Spartan to his work and went to the library books to see if she could find some sort of enlargement spell that could make his room a little bigger as he was a little on the tall side. She could hear him moving around with the stomps of his boots. About an hour passed and she had already seen multiple spells that could get the job done but she had yet to try them. She then noticed something odd about the silence in the library. She couldn’t hear the Spartan moving around anymore which was quite distressing as she probably had just lost the massive monstrosity inside her home. She went down from her room into the main lobby and saw the Spartan sitting down and apparently reading a book. He looked up at her and waved her hello. Then pulled out a piece of parchment and gave it to her. In the parchment Twilight saw the codes for the alarms and exactly where they were located around the tree house.
She looked up and saw the Spartan again fully attentive of his reading material; Twilight could see the book clearly was about Equestrian Scripture. She liked the fact that the Spartan appeared to be scholarly in nature, maybe one day after all this was over she would be able to teach him about magic. The idea made Twilight’s eyes glimmer as she thought of the possibilities of having her own student and watching him take in all her knowledge. For a second she could almost feel like it was the morning of hearth’s warming eve.
The Spartan looked up from his book and saw the little alicorn having what he only could describe as some sort of stroke. He wasn’t pretty sure if this was a mental condition or medical condition but he knew that when they used the word protection in Canterlot they meant in every sense of the word. He quickly placed his book down and moved beside her, he snapped his fingers in front of her multiple times but he got no noticeable reaction from her. He then had to move to more rash moves as this could become a problem and time was of the essence. He grabbed the alicorn by her front shoulders and shook her to snap out of it. For a moment he wondered if his protection clause would interfere with a slap to the face; he decided to save that move to the very end. He ran to the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water which he would pour on her, though as he ran he bumped into a wall which shook some of quills in the nearby desk out of alignment. This seemed to do the trick.
“Ah!” yelped Twilight as she was brought back from her daydream with force. She looked around and saw the Spartan looking at her but in a different position that she had last seen him in. “I got lost daydreaming didn’t I?”
The Spartan nodded, though he found it really weird that a day dream could really put her in such a state of mind. He knelt before her and placed a hand on her back as he stared into her eyes. Then he pulled one finger in front of her and nodded towards it as she started following it with her eyes. Twilight was unnerved by the things Silent Warrior was asking of her as she didn’t remember anything that could use that sort of close observation. She only assumed it to be like a medical examination to check up on her. The Spartan sighed and then moved once more to the chair in the lobby and grabbed his book.
Twilight wasn’t completely sure of what it was that bugged her most, maybe it was that she now had a gigantic behemoth looking after her, or maybe that he was staying with her for the next two and a half months. The fact that it looked like he was preparing the library for an attack didn’t help either. All she knew for a fact was that the next few weeks would prove to be troublesome and interesting.