//------------------------------// // The Second Coming pt.2 // Story: The Speechless Spartan in Equestria // by marking //------------------------------// The Second Coming pt.2 It is said that if you ever have a near death experience, you get to see all your life pass in front of your eyes. Black Mist, the batpony charged to keep Silent Warrior from annihilating the ponies of Ponyville while he took guard of Twilight Sparkle, had a somewhat similar experience. Despite reassurance that Silent wouldn’t kill him, Black mist couldn’t help but feel the complete opposite after a little off handed jab he made about the Spartan’s fear of the chariot got him in a precarious position. The Spartan felt it would be necessary to get his point across by tying the Thestral’s bat wings up and then dangling him from the chariot like a yo-yo. And therefore that was the first thing Black Mist had to explain to the Spartan: You do not put ponies in life threating situations because they teased you. The Spartan for all he cared was that Black Mist was a living example and had first-hand experience on why no one should dare joke about him. After all the Spartans’ personal pride was the fact that he was viewed as a monster capable of unmentioned destruction. Having placed a pony in peril seemed to have calmed the Spartan enough to ignore the lack of any safety regulations in the chariot an even the scream of Black Mist as well as Twilight Sparkle. Twilight screamed for him to bring Black Mist up while Black Mist seemed to just beg for mercy. Whenever Twilight attempted to raise him back into the chariot with magic the Spartan would snuff it out by flicking the tip of Twilight’s horn. “SILENT WOULD YOU PLEASE LET HIM BACK IN!? If you do I promise to give you a free pass on any one mistake you do while in Ponyville!” Twilight pleaded which finally got the Spartan thinking. ‘A free pass could really give me some free range. Yet on the other hand this is quite fun,’ the Spartan thought as he dangled the pony a few times before finally pulling him up and into the chariot. “I’m ALIVE!” the guard yelled as he kissed the floor of the chariot, “Thank you Miss Sparkle, if it weren’t for you I’d probably be left there until he arrived at Ponyville.” “You’re welcome Black Mist; I can say I expected more discipline from a royal guard though,” Twilight said, “I mean making a joke at the expense of Silent? Have you not heard of what he has done since he came to Equestria?” “To be honest Miss Sparkle, I’m not in the royal guard for my discipline. I just have a natural set of skills that allow me to be a good candidate for this mission,” Black Mist said. “Oh, well ok then. Though just for future reference, I’ve come to understand that any sort of messing with Silent is a big no no,” Twilight said. ‘Heh, I like this girl,’ the Spartan thought before Twilight turned to him with a rather prominent glare. “And don’t you think for one second we aren’t going to discuss your actions the second we get out of this chariot,” she said. The Spartan nodded before getting comfortable in the chariot, the whole ordeal seemed to have calmed him enough to finally enjoy the ride than to fear falling off it. He looked to the side to find Black Mist improvising some sort of seat belt with the same rope he used to tie his wings ups. The Spartan would have a good chuckle at this memory later on. Not long after the town of Ponyville came into view as the chariot made way to land exactly in front of the library like last time. No sooner had they landed that Twilight began a very well thought out and composed lecture about why it’s wrong to play with pony’s lives at high altitudes. Black Mist had taken to unpacking and would have told Twilight that is was his job to teach the Spartan about those things yet he didn’t feel like standing in her way. The Spartan on the other hand wasn’t really listening to her; he was more focused on clearing the perimeter. They were once more in public domain and land. The castle’s defenses were ridiculous and laughable but it had a certain weight of power in it that allowed for would be attacker’s to abandon the idea of staging an attack there. Here though, they were in possible enemy territory, given the time they had been away any of the threatening parties could have rigged the place up with either traps or ways to observe them. The Spartan would have to take a few hours to check every single inch of the library for anything suspicious. Both Twilight and the Spartan had left for Carrousel Boutique to pick up Spike as he had been staying with Rarity ever since Twilight went to Canterlot. The excuse was something about him being too weak to travel and being in danger once more should Twilight be attacked. The Spartan laughed at that one, he had seen soldiers have their legs blown off and being a few steps from death only to be reassigned the next day for monitor and data analysis duty. The point was that a simple thing like almost dying never became an issue. As they approached the frilliest building the Spartan had ever laid his eyes upon he was made aware of his charge walking up to the front door and knocking on it. The door then opened before a white unicorn with a purple mane came outside and greeted Twilight. The Spartan was sure he had seen her during the whole party fiasco a few weeks prior. “Twilight! So good to see you darling! Oh and I see you brought your friend over,” Rarity said, though the last part seemed a whole lot duller than the first. “Yes, Rarity, he’s back. Though this time I’ve got some help to keep him in line, aside from that I believe that if we give him the chance we might be good friends!” Twilight said enthusiastically. ‘Oh you poor innocent child,’ the Spartan thought. “Really? Friends with him? Am I the only one who sees that ghastly and brutish getup he is wearing?” Rarity said. ‘Well fuck you too doll face,’ the Spartan thought as he crossed his arms. “Um Rarity I don’t think I’ve told you but he can actually understand everything we say,” Twilight said while smiling nervously. Rarity seemed to blush as she looked away, “Oh well look at the time, you must be in a hurry! How about I get Spike for you huh!?” she said as she rushed inside her home. “I’m, really sorry about that Silent. It’s just that she really is committed at heart to fashion and well, to be honest you are not exactly fabulous if you get what I’m saying,” Twilight said. ‘Are you implying that I’m not fashion runway material coach!?’ the Spartan thought as he struck a pose. “Haha very funny Silent but this is serious, if you want to get in Rarity’s good graces your only way would be through acting like a gentlecolt or through her family,” Twilight said. ’And why in the seven hells would I be in need of her approval?’ the Spartan thoguht as the door to the boutique opened and out trotted Rarity with Spike. “TWILIGHT!” Spike yelled as he ran from the boutique and hugged Twilight. “I missed you too Spike, I’m so sorry I left for Canterlot and didn’t come back. The Princesses wanted to be sure that the pony responsible for the attack was found and punished accordingly but it seems that whoever is pulling the strings is quite good at what he or she is doing. They wouldn’t let me come back without Silent back there. But don’t worry I’m sure the Princesses will find the culprit soon enough,” Twilight said reassuringly. “It’s okay Twilight,” Spike said as he looked up to the Spartan, “If it’s him taking care of us I have no problem. He might be rough around the edges but I guess we owe him one don’t we?” Spike said as he reached his claw towards the Spartan in a handshake. ‘Huh?’ the Spartan thought as the drake shook his claw. “Come on man, don’t live me hanging,” Spike said. The Spartan sighed before slowly walking towards Spike and kneeling towards him, once down he took his claws and shook it firmly. Rarity, having taken a step backwards as the mountain of metal so casually moved towards Spike, seemed to relax as the Spartan only reciprocated Spike’s gesture. “See, Rarity? He isn’t so bad once you get to know him. I guess it’s sometimes hard to remember that inside that suit of armor lies a living being,” Twilight said, slightly smiling at how smoothly the situation had gone. “Yes, well. I guess I can see it from a certain point of view. Maybe if he is capable of showing me he can change his behavior I might one day see him as a friend,” Rarity said. That rung a bell inside the Spartan, ‘A friend?’ he thought. Not once since his arrival to the land had the Spartan been called that. Sure there were certain ponies who he liked to be near more than others like a certain Princess of the night who had a good sense of humor. But aside from that none of the ponies had ever made an attempt at establishing a relation with him aside from that of enemies. “That’s the spirit Rarity! Hopefully we can all look back to these days in the future and laugh about how much of a rough start we had,” Twilight said. “That would be good wouldn’t it? I guess it’s good to try,” Rarity said, “But enough chit chat darling, I hear Pinkie Pie wanted to see you, Spike, and Silent. And I really don’t want to be the cause for Pinkie being driven off the edge.” “I guess you’re right, come on Spike, it’s time to leave,” Twilight said. “Do we really have to?” Spike asked in despair. “You’ll have more time to spend with Rarity later on. Pinkie awaits us,” Twilight said. “Ugh, Okay I guess,” Spike said dejectedly. Meanwhile, the Spartan had already stood up and zoned out. ‘A friend? I mean they used it before but most of the time it was just for casual conversation or a simple tease. I never thought they meant it to be true before. Is it really possible to become friends with these ponies? What does a friendship constitute?’ this and many more questions were boggling the Spartan as he didn’t even notice that he was following the alicorn and the dragon. The whole way to Sugarcube Corner passed in silence as the Spartan seemed to be focused over his own thoughts and ideas. ‘You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. This is where Pinkie Pie lives? I’m starting to think that all of these ponies live in extraordinary homes,’ the Spartan thought as Twilight had snapped him out of his previous thoughts and seen the establishment seemingly made out of cookies. The multiple bite marks on the side of the building seemed to be a testament of all the creatures who had been fooled by the external appearance. And even then the Spartan found it strange, who in their right mind would want to eat something that’s been exposed to the elements? Even if the place was really made of pastries the Spartan wouldn’t dare to even taste it as he would probably die from on intestinal infection. They weren’t quite inside the establishment when a repetition of events happened. The Spartan stopped as he saw the town eerily quiet and multiple beings inside the building they were about to enter. Provided they weren’t in a semi-circle around the door and instead were convoluted in an array of different areas the message was the same as last time: ambush. The Spartan had to fight all his instincts not to rip the door off its hinges and initiate a full frontal assault. But just as a precaution he stopped Twilight and Spike from entering first as he reached the alicorn and pushed her and the dragon behind him before entering. Twilight looked at him with worry as the Spartan moved towards the door and motioned them to stay behind him. They did as he told and with his hand he slowly turned the knob of the door and opened it gently. As he did he looked towards both the alicorn and Spike and said, “Wait for me.” Glad one of the things he had studied to say came to use as he crouched and moved inside the establishment. As he closed the door inside the rather dark room the flashlights in his suit and helmet turned on as the targeting reticle began placing waypoints on every single one of the beings present. The Spartan simply looked around the room as the heads of ponies simply stood out of their obvious hiding places while their eyes were wide and full of panic. To the ponies it just looked like the demon of last time had come to finish what he had started. The lights of the placed were turned on as the Spartan now saw the seemingly happy decorations hung up over the place. Streamers and balloons littered the ceiling as well as a banner that read, “Welcome Back Twilight!” “Surprise?” Pinkie Pie said as she came from behind a table. ‘So, wait, the first time this was all just supposed to be a reunion?’ the Spartan thought before chaos erupted. “IT’S THE MONSTER, IT’S COME TO EAT US ALL!” yelled a blue unicorn as the ponies all began screaming and running around before they began jumping out the windows and out the doors. As the last one of them left Twilight entered the placed followed by Spike. “Why am I not surprised?” Twilight asked with a deadpan stare. ‘To be honest, this time I didn’t do anything to elicit that sort of reaction. And besides that, if I had wanted to eat them I’m pretty sure running wouldn’t have helped them at all,’ the Spartan thought as he turned to look at Twilight. “What in tarnation happened here!?” Applejack asked as she too entered Sugarcube Corner followed by Rainbow Dash and Rarity. “I would like to know the same thing. How is it that it didn’t take fifteen minutes for mass panic to breakout?” Rarity asked Twilight. “I would like to ask Silent but we all know that isn’t going to happen,” she said irritably. “It’s not his fault!” Pinkie Pie yelled which seemed to grab the attention of all the ponies in the room. “Pinkie we know he isn’t a bad stallion, but his constant attacks on Ponyville aren’t really helping him either dear,” Rarity said. “But he didn’t do anything! He just came in and stood there! I mean I know he looks a little spooky but it’s not like standing will harm anypony right? I would’ve known! My Pinkie sense would’ve told me so!” Pinkie said while standing in front of the Spartan. “Well I guess you might have a point there,” Applejack said. “And at least this time he didn’t break through the front door and charge all of you,” Twilight said. “You see? He might not be completely up there in the attic but he is at least trying. I guess we just need to give a chance for him to get used to this,” Pinkie said. ‘Why is this extremely pink and obnoxious pony helping me?’ the Spartan thought as he looked at Pinkie Pie quizzically. Almost as if reading his mind Pinkie said, “Sometimes new ponies can be different and look scary, but if we don’t look beyond those differences there is just no way we can make new friends.” “I guess you are right Pinkie,” Twilight said, not looking somewhat apologetic, “Sorry for assuming you had done something bad Silent, I guess you really are trying to change. Could you forgive us?” The Spartan merely nodded and went up to a corner of the room where he sat silently. “YAY! WE CAN FINALLY HAVE THE WELCOME BACK PARTY! AND WELCOME TO EQUESTRIA SPARTY PARTY!” Pinkie Pie yelled as she tossed confetti around her and in what could only be described as a tornado of pink, streamers, and balloons as the whole room was re-organized and cleaned up, almost as if nothing had ever happened. The Spartan stood up in shock of what just happened and every single other pony seemed to know what he was thinking as they all said to him in unison. “It’s just Pinkie Pie being Pinkie Pie,” they all said. The Spartan seemed to barely be able to take that as a coherent answer as he sat down once more. He would’ve pursued a better explanation but he thought twice about going down that rabbit whole that was Pinkie Pie. The less he got connected to the ponies of the place the better. They were only a simple task he had to take care of. Soon enough the party was in full blast and the mares were playing every single childish game, like placing the tail on the pony or making a conga line. The Spartan had never known of these things as he had never been involved in them as one didn’t have birthday parties in his line of work. Yet it was amusing to see the ponies have fun and sometimes play pranks on each other, the Spartan hadn’t even noticed the small smirk that had formed on his face. It wasn’t long before the cyan Pegasus he had once held captive for home intrusion landed next to him. “You know, now that I see you up close, you aren’t that scary,” she said. ‘It’s not my appearance that should frighten you girl. It’s what I’m capable of that usually make people think twice about messing with us Spartans,’ he thought. “I bet I could probably take you,” she said. The Spartan simply looked directly into her eyes, though it was futile with the helmet making it impossible for her to know what he was looking at, and said, “No.” “No? What do you mean, No?” she asked, flaring her wings, “What you think I wouldn’t be able to take you tough guy!?” ‘I know you wouldn’t be able to take down a UNSC Marine, taking down a Spartan would be unimaginable,’ he thought and replied as he turned to look once more at the ponies, “Yes.” “Bah! You’re looking for it big guy!” she said. The Spartan, in order to defuse the situation, was blessed with an idea. Originally Spartans only did this with overly cocky ODST members who thought the word Spartan was merely another title. He stood up as he grabbed a table and then placed it between himself and Rainbow Dash. “What’s this supposed to mean?” she asked, now intrigued with the Spartan. The Spartan simply raised his arm and placed his elbow over the table as he propped his hand up before gesturing, “Go ahead,” with his other hand. Rainbow Dash merely grinned as she realized the look of what could only be a hoof wrestling challenge. “Oh, you’re on!” she said as she too positioned herself and grabbed his hand with a hoof. ‘I wasn’t aware pony legs could bend that way,’ the Spartan thought before simply adding it up to another one of the race’s odd quirks. “ThreetwooneGO!” she yelled as she began to place as much strength she could into her hoof. Rainbow Dash was getting red in the face as she gave it her all but was appalled that no matter how much she tried his arm didn’t seem to budge a single millimeter. “Come one you stupid piece of manure!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she tried using both of her hooves but met the same result. “What is it Rainbow? Silent givin ya’ll a hard time?” Applejack asked while chuckling. “I haven’t seen you give it a shot!” Rainbow yelled in exasperation. “Alright girl, let me show ya how it’s done,” Applejack said as Rainbow Dash moved over and now she grabbed the Spartan’s arm. The same thing happened as with Rainbow Dash, Applejack had turned red in exertion as she then began to use both of her hooves and not even then did it move. “Consarn it! What are ya made of!?” Applejack asked. ‘That’s classified,’ the Spartan thought as he accidentally chuckled which caused Applejack to blush in embarrassment. “Rainbow Dash get over her and help me!” Applejack yelled in frustration. “So that’s how it’s done?” Rainbow Dash mocked. “Gosh darnit Rainbow Dash, just come and help me would ya?” “You got it!” Rainbow Dash said as she saluted. Soon enough both ponies were pushing with all their might at the Spartan’s arm, hoping to finally overpower him. ‘I’ve got a funny idea,’ the Spartan thought as he slowly began to let the ponies drag his arm down. “Now we’ve got him Applejack!” Rainbow Dash claimed victoriously. ‘Or do you?’ the Spartan thought as he let his arm fall just at about a few inches from the table as both ponies gave it their all for the last part of the challenge. “Almost there!” Applejack yelled. “Come on girls you can do it!” cheered Pinkie Pie. The Spartan was looking at his arm and the shaking hooves upon it and was getting ready to simply shove his arm forward in an ultimate display of superiority and win the game in a single move. But then he looked up and saw both ponies in front of him completely focused and determined to win this. It was impossible for them to win, every single pony in the room could have helped and they wouldn’t have made him budge yet for some reason the idea he had about winning was simply quenched. Something about how these ponies where working together for a single goal got to him. Maybe it was the team effort, or the fact that they seemed to be rivals united for a single goal. The Spartan reached to his helmet and discreetly took a picture of both of them. And just at that instant he let his arm go and slam into the table. Both ponies seemed to be quite pleased with themselves as the second they won they began cheering like mad. “How’s about them apple’s!?” taunted Applejack while the Spartan feigned to have a slightly hurt arm. “Yeah! Not so tough now are ya!?’ Rainbow yelled as all the ponies seemed to celebrate. The Spartan still seemed to be trying to figure out why he didn’t just crush them in the arm wrestle. Could it be he would’ve felt bad about those two ponies feeling bad after he won? A Spartan never willingly lost a fight, so why did he allow it to happen? “And all because we did it together!” the ponies cheered. The Spartan found himself smiling at those words. The rest of the party seemed a lot livelier afterwards as the ponies ate cake and danced, he was even offered some of the pastries. He found them to be overly saturated with sugar and most probably only a few more grams of sugar from becoming a weapon. At the end of the party the ponies began to leave and he took his side as Twilight’s escort. Twilight had gone through the door already and the Spartan was going to follow before a knocking came from his leg armor. The Spartan merely looked back at Pinkie Pie smiling at him before she said, “Thank you for what you did today with Applejack and Rainbow Dash. I knew you were a good guy, and hopefully in the future we can be good friends.” ‘How did she know?’ the Spartan thought before Twilight called out to him. “Silent, are you coming or what?” she asked. “Yes,” he replied as he left the confectionary. On the way to the Library the Spartan could only think about the day’s events. From leaving Canterlot to the party at Sugarcube corner. Throughout it all a single word never seemed to stop nagging him. Friend. Why did it have such an impact on him? ‘What is a friend?’ the Spartan thought, ‘Is it a relation? Is it an agreement of exchanged goods and service over a large amount of time with a specific individual? Maybe it could be like the relation between a soldier and his superiors in the chain of command. Yet there the soldier doesn’t order back at the commander, he only follows orders whether he likes them or not. Maybe it’s giving out commands on more equal grounds? I think the whole idea of a friendship might be an agreement with two parties on establishing a relationship in which a party provides the other with protection and care and vice versa. But Spartan’s weren’t ever made to be protected and cared for, we were made to protect and care for others. We are military assets ready to be disposed of at single order for the greater good of humanity. And it seems these ponies are incapable of following through by protecting and caring for me I believe it is impossible for them to be my friends. But if that’s the case why do I feel hollow when I think of them leaving me behind? I mean I’ve never had much aside from a chain of command or other Spartans to call in for help but for some reason that too feels hollow. I guess this is all that there is for me, Twilight Sparkle is my charge and I will protect her as those were my orders. I am her guard and nothing more.’ The group of three had arrived at the library quickly and inside they found a rather irritated night guard. After a while Twilight simply accepted to having forgotten about him in the first place, Black Mist had been quite angry about that. The Spartan had simply checked that all the alarms in the library were operating well before turning on the alarm grid. The Spartan had taken his usual spot near the corner of the room and once more grabbed a back to read like last time. Black Mist on the other hand had to go and sleep as he had to get used to being up during the day to monitor the Spartan. Everything was back to normal. That night Twilight had been having nightmare after nightmare every time she went to bed. Eventually she made her way down to the kitchen to grab a glass of water and calm herself. Everything in the library was exactly how she had left it except the gore had been cleaned up. Yet every time she closed her eyes she relived the event of that night with the exception that this time nopony saved her. Images of the dead unicorn plagued her as well as images of what could have happened when her friends found her and the guards dead in the library. She walked out of the kitchen and found the Spartan still awake and in his chair. “Why are you still awake?” Twilight asked. “Yes,” the Spartan said. “Oh, Sorry,” Twilight said with her ears turned down. ‘That never gets old,’ the Spartan thought. Twilight seemed to look around nervously before looking at the Spartan, “Would you mind if I joined you?” Twilight asked. The Spartan simply shook his head as the alicorn grabbed a book and sat on the couch near the Spartan. Both of them read in peace and silence for a long while before the snores of the alicorn roused the Spartan away from his reading material. He looked towards Twilight and found her snuggling the book in her front hooves like it were a teddy bear. The Spartan smiled as he gently took the unicorn in his arms and carried her to her bed. Once there the Spartan tucked her in and made to leave before her whimpers stopped him from once more going down to his chair. The Spartan was having lots of strange feeling as of late. The Spartan simply went down and left Twilight in her room whimpering before came back once more with his book in tow. He sat down next to her and with a hand he scratched behind her ears which seemed to calm her down. The Spartan stood in vigilance right by the alicorn the whole night while petting her every time she seemed to whimper. The following month would be an interesting one.