Marcus 657

by John 117

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."

Comments

[John 117]

1975412

Sorry, but...what? I couldn't gather much from that.

[Cole the guy]

The cities are going to burn.

[Tyren]

Spartans never die, they just respawn...

[Lunar 457]

Its earns that all Spartans are one and if Marcuse does die that ship would have crashed

[demon51423]

2023166 dude if he dies then it will be after all them covenant basterds go down first

[damnaion]

22# aww and dam

[The Crimson Reaper]

Spartans never Die, they just Make a one way trip to Hells resort and forget to check out after checkin in all the covvies,

[The rainbow explosion]

5565454 Spartans never die, they just go to hell and regroup for the taking over of hell.