Marcus 657

by John 117

Chapter 27- Hospital

Marcus groaned awake. He felt as if his body had been put through a meat grinder, and his head ached like a hunter had decided to sit on it. He sat up on his bed and looked around at his surroundings. He was in a…hospital? What the…? He looked down at his body and sure enough his armor was off, and instead he wore a hospital gown. He had IV’s hooked up to his arms, and a pulse monitor stood nearby, beeping with regularity. The room he was in was plain and simple; a bed, desk, a clipboard on the end of his bed that read his condition and status, the heart monitor, the IV stands, and himself. Marcus noticed that the bed he lay on was much too small, but it seemed to hold his weight. He tried to get up off his bed, but felt dizzy immediately. Not wanting to tempt fate again, Marcus sat back down. Instead he called out hoping someone would hear him.

“Nurse? Hello? Anyone there?” No one answered him. Marcus sighed and turned to the night table next to his bed. He searched the drawers, but didn’t find anything. Where’s my stuff? Looking around again through the room, he spotted a closet in the back corner. He sighed to himself.

“Great, guess I’m stuck here like this.” At that the door opened, and in walked a mare with a stark white coat and a nurse’s cap on. Her cutie mark was a large red cross like one you would see on a medic. She looked over at him and smiled.

“I see you’ve woken up finally. Good. You have ponies who would like to see you very much.” At that she opened the door wider and called out into a hallway. She stepped aside and let 7 ponies walk in. One by one, Marcus’s friends came in; Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and finally the one he wanted to see the most-Fluttershy. She rushed him, tackling him back into his pillows. He let out a slight ‘oof’ and groaned.

“Easy on the wounds there Fluttershy; they’re still a bit raw.” She ignored him and hugged him tight, and dug her head into his shoulder and began to cry. He held her close and buried his head into her mane. The others joined into the hug, creating something of a group hug, although hard since Marcus was lying down on a bed. Finally letting go, Fluttershy and the others backed off, although she did feel the need to stay by his side. Fluttershy wiped her eyes away of tears and cleared her throat.

“Y-You’re ok!” That made Marcus laugh and nod his head.

“Yes, yes I suppose I am. How is everyone else?” Applejack stepped forward.

“The Princesses are fine Marcus. You hit the alien thingy with your gun and the guard in the tent finished it off wit ‘is sword.” He nodded. Then Marcus heard hooves coming to the room, and all inside bowed as Princess Celestia walked in. She smiled at him and bowed slightly.

“I owe you my thanks once again Marcus. You have not only saved countless lives at the Battle of Baltimare, but also the lives of myself and my sister, not to mention my student and her friends.” Marcus just shook his head and smiled back and the goddess.

“No, you don’t have to thank me. It’s my job after all.” Celestia laughed at that and nodded.

“Be that as it may, you still deserve something in compensation for your efforts.” Marcus frowned, but nodded his head. He wasn’t in any mood right now to argue. All he wanted to do was rest. But against his wishes his mind had a few questions of its own. He looked at Celestia and frowned.

“How many,” he asked her.

“Beg pardon?”

“How many died, Celestia? How many lived?” Rubbing her foreleg with her hoof, Celestia averted her eyes. She had dreaded this part, but she knew it would come. Sighing to herself she looked back up at Marcus.

“Are you sure you want to know this? With your…condition and all?” He nodded to her.

“As you wish. We lost 200,000 ponies, along with another 4th of those that survived wounded or missing. We had about 160 guard casualties overall, and minimal damage to surrounding areas.” His hand started to tremble again, and he clenched his eyes hard as he looked towards the ceiling. He muttered t himself.

“I’m never fast enough to save them all….” There was silence in the room. Fluttershy grabbed Marcus’s shaking hand in her hooves and nuzzled against his chest. He looked down at her and smiled. Celestia walked up to him; a small smile on her face.

“Whether you will accept it or not you will be honored Marcus; you have done feats that nopony could ever dream, and you have saved us all. Plus, you can finally settle down and put down the weapon.” He smiled at that. Fluttershy looked up at him and beamed.

“That sounds really nice right about now Celestia.” Fluttershy was ecstatic.

“So no more f-fighting? You can finally settle down?” He nodded to her and brought her into a tight hug.

“And be with you if you’d like.” A lot of ‘ooooh’s’ and ‘awww’s’ went up as Fluttershy turned bet red. She returned the hug just as tight, making Marcus groan in pain. She squealed and drew away, before laughing lightly and nodding her head.

“Yes, I’d like that very much.” Celestia beamed at this, along with everyone else. Applejack walked up to Marcus and nudged his arm.
'

“So what was all that ‘bout not likin ‘er all that much?” Marcus laughed at that and rubbed the back of his head.

“I suppose I was wrong on that account.” Applejack nodded.

“Darn tooting you was.” At that she smiled and hugged them both. Twilight cleared her throat and stepped forward.

“I’m glad for you both, really I am, but something’s been troubling me Marcus. How did you get off that ship?” Marcus darkened at the question. Truth be told he didn’t remember much of it, but he didn’t want to either. Sitting up a bit and wincing at his wounds, and looked back at Twilight and thought for a few moments.

“I…I don’t remember much. I was in the engine room, fighting their leader, or at least I think he was; sure was strong though…..I had already placed the explosives. I shot him in the leg and then threw a grenade I still had when I stopped talking to you. I ran a fast as I could. What happens next is a bit fuzzy. I do remember making it to the hangar and jumping though….” His mind went back to it.

Weightlessness. That all he felt as he flew down to the ground. Smoke began to poor out of the ship; caused by the reaction from the grenade in the engine room. The packs would go off any second now. He closed his eyes, knowing this was the end; a song played in his head, one which he had known for a good part of his life.

Way down, in New York town
Thinkin bout the way she loves me
Theres a hole in my pocket that about her size
But I think everything’s gona be alright
Yeah I hope everything is gonna be alright.

He let a small tear fall from his eyes onto his visor as he fell to a fast approaching building. In a last vague attempt at life he tried to turn over in the air, and locked his armor. He prayed silently for the first time in a long time as he hit the roof of the building. A large explosion of dust and bricks flew into the air as Marcus hit the build at full speed. A wall soon collapsed ontop of him, and settled there. He lay there for a few moments, unconscious. A violent cough and sputtering showed that he was awake. Blood flowed from the corner of his mouth. He shifted his head, only to see bricks and wooden beams around him. His body was broken, but his will was strong. He pleaded with his limbs to move; move just an inch. And they did, and burning the likes of which Marcus had only known once in his life filled his veins. He still did not give up. He willed his body to push forward. He struggled for a bit, but he soon removed a piece away from his body, but more shifted onto him.

He groaned out loud, pain coursing through him. He tried again, pushing away bricks and small beams. Marcus clawed his way out, wheezing and stumbling around on the ground. He brought his hands to him helmet and tore it off throwing it away down the street. He lay there like that, his shot gun a few feet away. He laid there for a few minutes staring at it. I can’t die here, not like this. I survived the augmentations, the Covenant, countless glassing, inter-dimensional travel, and now I’m laying here….no. Not like this. Gathering what strength he could, he pushed himself up right. By all rights I shouldn’t be alive, but I am. I need to find Fluttershy…. He crawled to the gun and grabbed it unsteadily. Standing up on his own two legs finally, he used the weapon as a crutch. The thought of her fuelling him, he willed his body to take a step, then another. Soon he was moving down the street towards where the Princess should have been.

Marcus looked back up, realizing he had been speaking out loud. The song came back to his mind and he muttered a few lines.

“Thinkin bout the way she loves me…..” He looked down and saw his hand. It was not shacking, nor was it twitching or moving about. He no longer seemed to have that urge anymore. It sat there like any other. He looked at Fluttershy and drew her close into a tight hug. He buried his head in her mane, letting silent tear pour down his checks. He had not wept in years. Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around his neck, nuzzling into his shoulder and letting him. He needed this. Finally pulling away, Marcus sniffed and wiped his eyes. Many looked at him with joy and pride. Everyone had slight tears in their eyes, even the nurse who stood silently in the corner. He looked back at Celestia.

“I...I would be honored if I could stay here Celestia. Although I have a feeling I may need some clothing.” He smiled and looked at Rarity with a smirk. She smiled brightly and ran up to him.

“Oh darling, you have no idea how long I’ve want to hear that! First you’ll need a few casual pieces, then maybe a suit or two, oh and we mustn’t forget anything that you would wear to...” She began to trail off as Marcus’s future wardrobe was planned in a matter of a few seconds. Fluttershy chuckled. Marcus sighed and tried to get Rarity’s attention. Finally she listened.

“Oh what is it dear?”

“All I need right now is black combat paints, boots, and at shirt. If Celestia feels like carrying out this whole ceremony then I will need a uniform, which I will give you the specifics later for later. Right now all I need it the pants, boots, and shirt.” Rarity noticeably deflated at this, but she agreed none the less.

“Speaking of uniforms, where’s my armor?” He looked around the room and asked Pinkie Pie to check the closet for anything. Sure enough there was most of it hanging on a metal shelf, the shotgun propped up in a corner while the two SMG’s that he had had were piled on the floor next to him. The armor itself was horrid; it hadn’t been cleaned, and it looked almost as if it had been torn off and thrown in there. Marcus frowned at that. He grabbed a crutch that a nurse had brought in and hobbled over to check out his gear. It seemed fine, although some of the bolts that held the plates in place seemed to be slightly stripped. He sighed to himself; they were replaceable, but it would take time to make them correctly, especially with the tech at his hands. He shook his head and grabbed it. He hobbled back to the bed and sat down, placing the armor next to him. Rainbow walked up to him.

“What are you doing with that?” He looked up.

“Putting it back on; I’m not just going to walk around in a hospital gown the whole time!” At that he grabbed his boxers and undershirt. Finally realizing he meant to do this now, everyone walk outside of his room to give him some privacy. They waited there for a few moments until he said he was fine now. The walk back in to see him placing the chest piece on with some difficulty. Twilight trotted up and used her magic to help screw in the bolts that held the armor in. He thanked her and stood up straighter, testing his armor by moving his arms and legs around. It still seemed to function properly. He winced a little as he moved forward a few steps. The wounds were still there, but they would hold. A nurse ran up to him and tried to get him to lie back down. He ignored her, saying that he would be perfectly fine. He was a Spartan after all.

Comments

[Octavia Harmony]

Huh, interesting story! I caught this at 117 likes, isn't that something? Not sure if this is fixed in later chapters, but some of the information is incorrect. Like the UNSC standard issue grenades don't have spoons like said in the prologue.

[John 117]

2775177 Hm...this is true. Buttons instead of spoons? Right?

[Octavia Harmony]

2775192They have a safety feature that cancels out the need for a spoon; they won't explode until the bounce off a surface. That's why you can't have a grenade explode midair in the games.

I liked it. Crap. It's now at 118.

[John 117]

2775196 Well, I will go in a fix it later. This was in the prologue, yes?

[Octavia Harmony]

2775201 Yep. Pretty nice story you've written. It's been pretty long since I've read anything Halo based.

[John 117]

2775210 Thank you!

[Weirdguy]

Yay Marcus. It has been awhile seen i read any halo crossovers, well because there is too many and all of the main characters are either ODST's or Spartan II's or III's. There is barely any regular marines and Spartan IV's. But i did found a perfect character i want to do this though....

It was going to be a marine from that battle, goes to Equestria, and have shell-shock(i think its the right term) or night mares from that battle.

[Cole the guy]

This story is a nice story.

[Prince Lunar]

2775216

One of the best chapter yet

(Just thought I'd say its me Lunar 457 my old account got hacked)

[damnaion]

28# aww