Stories revolving around an unidentified odd Spartan of the UNSC in Equestria.
A Spartan of the UNSC falls into Equestria and has various shenanigans in the land. First chapters revolve around how he meets the royalty, the mane six, and the new world in general.
When it happened, it came fast. Nopony knew where it had come from or how it ended up in Equestria and was rather disturbed by its appearance. A foul beast that could only have come from Tartarus itself. Capable of insurmountable destruction and yet for a strange reason death was among the only things that weren't left behind in its wake. He was a machine of death, and when it first arrived it was proclaimed that the end was neigh. That’s what came out of the first days the Spartan fell from the sky into the peaceful land of Equestria.
It was a cool quite night and the sky was shimmering with stars. A peculiar star though was shining brighter than any other. Soon enough the star was so bright it was actually strong enough to blind anypony who looked at it. With a crash and booming sound that shook the earth beneath, it fell into the ground and woke everything in a 12 mile radius. The ponies frightened and scared hid in their houses. Others who were a lot more daring started rising and peering into the crater left behind from the explosion. It was black as charcoal and smoke was rising from it; the heat that radiated from the crater could be felt just by looking at it.
After a few hours the ponies started coming to look at the object that had crashed into their lives after the heat had dissipated to a more understandable level. Inside laid a statue of massive size and planetary weight; it was also as strange like the one of Discord. Yet this creature didn't look like a draconequus at all, none of its body parts where that of known creatures in Equestria. They did resemble those of the Minotaurs, but both its face and legs where wrong; along with the fact that it was made of metal. The royal guard was immediately contacted, and when time came they somehow managed to lift it up between eight unicorns to take it to the castle for further inspection.
News agencies followed closely the story of the space statue and were absolutely shocked when the statue was declared to be alive by both Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. What held it in its form and place was unknown, but it was thought to be some sort of spell for imprisonment. The creature was speculated to have been an enemy for some sort of sentient beings beyond space and had been imprisoned like Discord yet was discarded into the void. So many things had been speculated in the 12 hours the creature had arrived. The princess’s placed a second body lock spell and placed the new statue in the garden’s for close supervision.
It was the following night that the spell broke and the creature started roaming around the castle. Both Princesses startled by their spell being broken as simply as one breaks a twig made them both wake up and prepare for a possible battle. Nopony knew what the creature was capable of, but they were sure that whatever this thing was along with its motives; could be nothing but nefarious.
**********
The Spartan finally woke up from his concussion and found himself and his body in armor lock. The feature of his Mjolnir mark 6 Spartan armor was that it would lock up in order to resist very powerful falls and protect the Spartan using it. He found himself standing in a pedestal in a very apparent garden. His armor wouldn’t budge even though the armor lock had been lifted already. After disabling all motion constrictors he was still unable to move. He felt that he probably must’ve been under the retention of a covenant shield or something of that sort. When his armor’s mini generator had charged enough it unleashed his energy shields. Automatically the shield flared upon contact of some sort of unknown power and went dim. Thankfully whatever conflicting energy restrainers the covenant used to stop him and use him as garden furniture where turned off. The Spartan took a step down from the pedestal and waited a few seconds before his shield gained power again.
He had no weapons so he would have to procure them from somewhere. He looked around but there wasn’t any sort of covenant soldier around to assassinate and recover a weapon from. Was it really possible that the Covenant had been so foolish and idiotic that they left him unguarded and in an open space? No, he couldn’t think like that; the Covenant were very crafty and smart. There is just no way they could’ve done something like that without there being an ulterior motive. He sneaked around the area and searched for any traps. Finally he reached the conclusion that they must’ve thought their retainer unbreakable and would have him there as a permanent trophy. He saw many other statues, some that looked to be of equine origin and one that simply looked like a failed genetic experiment.
He made his mind and sneaked inside the building that looked very much like a castle, he was going to find out what was going on. Inside of it he saw many more of the equine creatures and derived that they were some sort of military due to the golden armor they used. Among them were what looked like pegasus, unicorns, and regular horses, but due to their size he could only deem them as ponies. They were apparently trying to look strong and powerful, yet being so little and having crossbows and spears only made them look cute and adorable. They were as dangerous as a marshmallow with a mini cocktail sword.
After some thinking time he concluded that there was no way this was covenant related. The colors were too bright to their usual theme and the ponies were to nonthreatening for them to even adopt into their military branch. It was possible that the Spartan had ended up falling into an unrecognized planet with a new and rising species. This would be incredibly easy for him; he would just need to establish some sort of contact and clear things up about his situation with the leaders of this world. He kept looking and saw what seemed like a guard frantically running from the gardens and yelling some sort of orders unto the other guards. If only he spoke whatever language hey spoke he would be able to communicate with them fluently. The guards ran (or galloped?) across the castle at a fast pace with either scared or serious demeanor. It was obvious they realized he had escaped.
He saw a lone guard run through the castle which could only mean he was some sort of messenger. The Spartan followed him as swiftly and quietly as he could. Finally the guard approached a set of two massive doors and barked at the guards standing in front of them. They opened with what looked to be some sort of magnetic pull that emitted a certain glowing light. The creatures must have found a way to incorporate electronics into their bodies somehow in order to magnetically pull the doors with the horns protruding from their heads. It was obvious they wouldn't let him in, even if he approached in a non-threatening manner. He sneaked up behind one and with a quick snatch and grab he had one of the guards in his grip. With a moderated punch the guard was out like a candle. The Spartan grabbed the spear he had and set the unconscious guard as a trap. The foolish guard found the body of his friend and fell completely for the decoy the Spartan had set up. The Spartan grabbed the second guard and this time he simply cut off the air intake with a choke hold until the guard blacked out. Finally he placed both guards to the side and entered the massive room where he assumed the leaders would be.
When he entered he found no one but the messenger frantically searching for his leader. The Spartan had hit a dead end and now had to incapacitate another pony. The pony turned around at the sound of the doors and saw the Spartan staring at him. He was about to scream when with a swift motion he closed the 10 foot gap between him and the pony. He grabbed his snout with one hand and with another he grappled its torso. Being seven feet and three inches tall made the Spartan a giant in all of the eyes of these ponies. He had the pony in his grasp and in comparison it looked like the Spartan was holding on of those full body pillows. He turned the pony and stared directly at him before turning and looking at the throne. He pointed towards the throne with a movement of his head and the pony stood still while looking at him. The Spartan nodded once more towards the throne and then smelled something bad. He looked down at the floor under the pony and noticed something he’d never seen before.
The pony had efficiently shat himself out of the intense fear he held from the Spartan. When the Spartan looked up it appeared that the pony just couldn’t handle it anymore and passed out. The Spartan was grateful that at least he wasn’t holding the pony like he first did or he would’ve probably crapped all over his armor. He shook the pony’s body in irritation as he wasn’t able to get any piece of information out of him. He grabbed the equine and left him to the side of the hall and made his way out of the grand hall. Once out he found three guards inspecting the bodies he left behind. They looked at him while raising their spears and begun making loud noises that he could only interpret as orders to give up and surrender. The Spartan wasn’t threatened by the spear or the crossbows the other two held pointed at him in the same sort of magnetic technology. The spear was just too big for him to be any threat against the Spartan and the his energy shields could withstand multiple plasma blasts so a few crossbow bolts would be nothing.
The Spartan looked down at the pony and knelt before him in a surrender like fashion. The ponies looked at each other surprised at his sudden change of tactics, but they still had orders to fulfill so they cuffed him and placed a few restraining spells on his arms and feet. They looked quite proud about being able to subdue what they must’ve assumed to be a vile beast. They paraded the halls with him in tow while taking him to the leaders. It was unknown to them though that was exactly what he was expecting from them. The electromagnetic power they used to sort of subdue him was slowly draining his shields but eventually he would break free from it, and with it the control they had over him. He could’ve easily broken it himself but he still wasn’t ready to show his full hand. The handcuffs where child’s play in comparison to the measures the Convenant would take to secure a UNSC soldier. His plan was great and simple. Instead of fighting every guard and figuring out about the enemy slowly he would just let the enemy find its leader’s for him and once they did he would try to establish communication. If things went south he would just break free and escape.
A few minutes passed and the guards brought him to the garden where he first awoke, if he just had waited he would’ve skipped all that sneaking around and would’ve completed his goal a lot faster. He acted as if weak and yet with a strong will in order to keep his assailants at bay with a false sense of security. He finally saw the leaders of these ponies and was surprised to see that he couldn’t put a name on the type of creature in front of him. The ponies in front of him wore silver and gold armors and were far taller than all the other ponies. So tall in fact that he was sure that the white one was probably his height. The other one was comparably smaller yet both were taller than the guards around him or any pony he had seen. They had both horns and wings which were traits of the unicorns and pegasi; if he managed to set a sort of communication system he would try and figure out what they were.
The white one seems a very serious and her stare turned into a glare when he assume the guards told her of his encounter with the two guards of her hall. It was a true blessing they didn’t see the messenger that soiled himself back in the grand hall. She seemed to order something to the Spartan yet all he could here was several horse like whinnies. He didn’t understand a fucking thing she (apparently due to her feminine form) said. The Spartan assumed that the creatures were most probably asking the regular questions of where he was from and how he got there along with his intention. He shook his head and shrugged trying to compel the message of him not understanding. That was not a good tactic as the leader looked at him with an even angrier glare. He changed tactics and decided to act like a dog would in a movie. Maybe it was degrading but it would be better rather that shooting blindly and get some sort of diplomatic conflict at this first contact scenario. He kept talking to him and he would now turn his head to the side with everything she seemed to ask. Her stare turned from angry to stern and the white one looked closely at him and said something. He turned his head as a form of proclaiming misunderstanding to the message proclaimed.
The leader turned to the other and talked to her to which the other nodded. Her horn lit up and suddenly the shields flared as they were broken along with the electromagnetic hold. The ponies around him placed themselves at defensive positions with flared wings, spears pointed, and crossbows aimed. It seemed that they misconstrued this as an act of hostility. How was it possible that creatures capable of biogenetical engineering couldn’t depict a simple energy shield at work? The leaders were also at the defensive and talked again. Again the Spartan turned his head to the side. The white one told the blue one something else and so the horn of the blue one glowed once more. Whatever it was she did it went right through the Spartan’s helmet and into his brain. It was now the time for the Spartan to take this a an act of aggression and rose from the kneeling position he was in and effectively obliterating the handcuffs like they were made out of licorice.
The Spartan stood in defensive position and looked at the leaders. Then something amazing happened, the voices and sounds started turning into human voices. He was now able to understand what they were saying and he really didn’t like it. All around him there were voices calling him monster, evil, villain, beast along with other offensive terms and ideas like caging him up. He heard a throat clearing up and turned to see the Leaders. The blue looked at him intently and opened her mouth.
“Can thou understand us?” asked the blue leader.
The Spartan replied but found that nothing he said was understandable to him. It was as if his reply was crystal clear yet the sounds that came were altered into roars and shrieks. Maybe that’s just what they heard if he tried communicating with them without knowing their language.
“A simple nod with your head will do.” Said the blue leader.
The Spartan nodded at the blue leader and looked at her with intrigue, though it wasn’t an emotion capable of being deemed through his helmet.
“The spell we have cast upon thee is an incomplete one. It was supposed to be a translation spell capable of making creatures completely learn other languages and dialects in seconds. Sadly it was never completed and the only property it has is about making one party being able understand the others dialect. Yet thy tongue still speaks in thy original language and therefore communication will have to be done through body language.” Explained the blue leader.
The Spartan thought, ‘Did she just say spell? As in magic?’
“Allow us to introduce ourselves; we are Princess Luna of Equestria ruler of the moon, stars, night, dreams, and shadows. And this is Princess Celestia of Equestria ruler of the day, sun, mind, and light. We both are the rulers of the kingdom of Equestria and fight to keep harmony all across the land. It is our duty as immortal alicorn goddesses to keep our little ponies away from harm’s way and chaos.” Finalized the blue (finally known) alicorn.
The Spartan once more baffled at the thoughts running through his mind, ‘Did she say immortal? Also goddesses? What about ruling over the skies.’
Eventually the Spartan looked at the moon over their heads and started chuckling and laughing. The idea of being a new species of sentient horse that ruled over the lands could be crazy but not impossible. But what really made him laugh was the concept of immortality, godhood, and control over the sun and moon. Sadly, his laughs weren’t taken as a good sign by the guards as they looked insulted and very angry. One in particular with a purple armor seemed to want to impale him with a spear. The princess though, didn’t look angry but neither did their stern glare change.
Princess Celestia took a re-affirming steps forward without ever breaking her stare and said to the Spartan, “Is something funny?” Though it looked calm and serene she was actually starting to grit her teeth.
The Spartan stopped laughing and looked at her. It was rather unnerving for her to be looked at by the being. She knew that he had armor on, but since they weren’t able to remove it she was facing this golden visor that gave no sign of the current emotion of the being. For all she knew the being could be looking at her in scandalous ways or with the evilest smirk. She thought for moment about it and tried lifting his helmet. Immediately the Spartan noticed the slight glow of Celestia’s horn and the slow change of his view. The Spartan grabbed his helmet and tugged it down into his head, just as he did so Celestia’s horn stopped glowing which just proved she was trying to unmask him. The Spartan didn’t have anything against the ponies but he never revealed his face to no one besides his superiors.
“What are you hiding from us?” Asked Celestia with a bigger hint of anger than before.
Then the Spartan made a bunch roars and shrieks in response to which Princess Luna looked at Celestia and replied to her.
“Sister remember that he can’t speak our dialect, he can merely understand us. It would be wise to just ask yes or no questions” Said Princess Luna.
“How are we supposed to learn from this being if he can’t even speak to us?” Celestia replied with a louder angrier tone.
“We shall have to do with what we have Celestia, that is at least until I can find a way to finish the spell.” Replied Luna with a commanding voice.
“Fine!” Celestia said and they turned to the being, “Are you here to create chaos and evil?”
The Spartan would’ve loved to just shrug and mess around a little, but since he had already been “dispensed” by ONI because of his irregular behavior he didn’t feel like being shot through the void of space again by other beings. The Spartan looked at Celestia and shook his head which made Celestia’s stance and position relax a little.
“Were you banished from your race?”, asked Celestia, “Be wary that we are casting a lie detecting spell so don’t you dare lie to us.”
The Spartan thought for a second and came to the conclusion that he might as well be banished so he just nodded in confirmation. The stress came back to Celestia’s stance.
“Are you evil?” asked Luna this time.
The Spartan shook his head.
“Do you know that you harmed at least two of my subjects?” asked Celestia.
The Spartan nodded.
“Do you know how you got here?” asked Luna.
The Spartan shook his head and shrugged.
“Do you know where you are?” asked Celestia.
The Spartan shook his head and then looked at her portraying a slight emotion of Are you serious?
“Im gonna assume that is a no.” replied Celestia.
The questions for the Spartan went about the same for a few more minutes with some questions being more specific than the others just so the Spartan would have no way of finding a loophole through them and be able to lie without the detector catching it do to the generality of the questions.
The princesses at the end were a lot more relaxed than when they first started since they were now fully convinced the Spartan wasn’t a threat to the nation (for now). They had sat down and the guards around him took a stoic yet more neutral pose after the orders of the princesses’ to stand down. Though they were still ready to attack if something were to happen. “So now that we have an idea of the threat you pose what should we call you?” asked Princess Luna.
The Spartan (though to them was still just creature) got an idea and made gestures as to writing on a sheet of paper. It took a while though since the ponies weren’t familiar with his type of scripture method to get the message delivered. They came to him with a quill and parchment and he wrote his name with the antiques they brought him. Sadly when he showed them what he wrote it was obvious that not even the scripture of the languages was the same. The search for his name turned into a game of Pictionary with the Spartan drawing several clues with the armor and capes of the ancient Spartans along with some acting of the warriors. The princesses took the clues in and decided to just call him Silent Warrior, some say that if you listen closely at night you can still hear the sound wave of the face palm the Spartan did.
“Well then I guess there are only two issues left to take care of.” Said Princess Celestia to the Spartan.
The Spartan lifted his hand from his visor and looked at Celestia.
“We have to figure out what to do with you and your punishment for the afflicted guards you attacked."
"Luna would you please go and ready the dungeon along with some guards? I know it’s been a while since it’s been used so it would be good to make sure everything is still intact. Also take the measures for our newest guest.” Said Celestia to Luna and then turned to the Spartan, “Hope you don’t take this the wrong way Silent but you still have to take responsibility for your actions. We will give you a week for each one of the guards you attacked, and while you’re in there we’ll think what to do after youre free.”
The Spartan hung his head and raised his arm with three fingers raised. Sure he didn’t like the idea of being imprisoned, but he was still a Spartan. Also if his past superiors had a similar situation he would be sentenced to immediate execution. Thankfully all he had was a problem with authority and an attitude problem that made him subject for quite literal dispensation. If he let them find out about the other pony themselves he risked getting his sentenced doubled so he thought it to be better if he just came out and accepted it. Celestia looked at his three digits and gave him a look that promoted misunderstanding of what he tried to say. Almost immediately a guard entered the gardens and went directly for Princess Celestia.
Celestia sighed and looked at the Spartan, “It seems like it’ll be three weeks in dungeon instead of two.”
Luna looked at her sister and asked, “Why three sister? All we know is about two guards being victims of Silent.”
“I just received notice that one of the royal messengers was found in the grand hall in a near comatose state induced by fear. Which also caused him to soil himself.” Replied Celestia to her dear sister.
The Spartan chuckled at the image of the soiled pony which earned him a glare from both princesses. Luna left the gardens and left Celestia, the Spartan, and about 12 guards behind. The time passed with Celestia telling the Spartan a few details of Equestria and its outlying regions. Along with it she told him the behavior expected from him should he want for his “time out” to pass on calmly and without problems. He was made aware of the political organization of the land and was also asked what his diet consisted of. It was an overall hard discussion with yes and no responses being the only available options. A whole hour passed before the Princess of the night appeared again.
“The dungeons are ready and prepared dear sister.” said Luna with pride.
“Luna I was aware that the dungeons where out of use but did it really take that long to get them ready?” asked Celestia.
“Sister the dungeons would’ve been great if it were for a normal pony, but our guest has shown a lot more resilience to our magic than expected. Therefore some special measures had to be taken.” Luna stared at Celestia.
“Well it as up to you to get them prepared, I just hope you didn’t overdue it.” Celestia said with worry.
“Don’t worry sister we merely bumped the already installed security up a notch.” said Luna.
“Are you sure it’ll be necessary?” asked Celestia.
“Of course, it’s supposed to be punishment after all.” Replied Luna with a smile.
‘Man I do not like the look of that smile.’ Thought the Spartan.
**********
When they finally arrived the Spartan looked at his dungeon cell and noticed that all was completely surrounded by about one meter of pure pink colored crystal. When they approached the cell Luna’s horn lit up and the crystal moved to the side and allowed entrance to the cell. He was placed inside and uncuffed through one of the holes in the crystals directly connected to the cell big enough to pass food through.
This little bump in security must’ve been done while high on cocaine and steroids because it seemed like even the ceiling and the floor had been replaced. Spartans were trained for any situation, but he never thought of having to escape from a crystal dungeon.
“Luna? This is the little bump in security?” asked Celestia.
“Why yes dear sister, I even went and got in contact with Cadence to get some idea of how to control crystals and how to build one of the dungeon cells back in the Crystal Empire. The electrically laced steel bars were my idea though.” Said Luna with glee.
“Luna, Silent is going to be only three weeks in here. Why did you feel compelled on recreating the crystal gulag?”
“Because fun. And also we are not truly aware of what Silent is capable of, he could be a lot more powerful than we give him credit for. I rather have this measures and not need them rather than need them and not have them.”
“I guess I see your point. But I expect you to apologize to Silent once he is out.”
‘They do realize that I can hear them right? I mean we are still in the same room’ thought the Spartan of the rambles between both sisters.
“Well then goodbye Silent, we will see you in three weeks from now. Please take this time to think of what you’ve done.” Said Celestia as she left the room.
Luna looked at the Spartan for a while without saying anything and then left leaving a creeped out super soldier behind.
The first few days of the Spartan went smoothly though completely boring. So much so that he decided to try and figure out a way to interpret the sounds that came from his mouth and the sounds he heard in order to be able to convey messages. Maybe if he tried hardly enough he would be able to learn the language through practice of trial and error. The guards looked at him oddly the first two days he started to do that. By the end of the first week they no longer cared. He was astoundingly proud of himself when he was able to formulate his first coherent word. Spartans were very intelligent warriors and after the augmentation they were even more capable of retaining new information. After his first word the guards began to worry about him. He oddly and awkwardly began yelling the word pencil in happiness as if he had found the cure to all diseases. The guards from time to time insulted his intelligence with little snips and commentaries. They probably weren’t aware of the spell Luna applied to him and what it did to him. The Spartan had simply decided to leave the fact of their “magic” aside in order to prevent himself a migraine.
After a few days into the second week he had already found a pattern into the words through the phonetics of his alphabet and had a general grasp of how to say some things. Some words he had tested came out exactly how he wished them to be, yet other words still eluded him. The language of the equines proved to be a lot more complex and complicated than he thought it to be. Almost like trying to learn a kind of never heard before mandarin derived language. By the end of the second week the Spartan had already figured out how to say a few basic greetings and objects. His name still escaped him though, but he was trying with all his will to find a way to pronounce it and make away with the Silent Warrior name they gave him.
Then one day a white unicorn with blonde hair entered the dungeons followed by a bunch of what could be only described as snobs. He walked toward him and bragged at the other ponies as if he had battled the Spartan and subdued him like an out of control animal. He lied about the Spartan and portrayed him as a stupid creature to the mob. The Spartan couldn’t reach him due to the crystal walls around the cell. By what the Spartan heard, the unicorn that was shitting on him at the moment was called Blueblood and threw his weight around as if he was untouchable. He also used his aunt Celestia as a pretext to do whatever he wanted and act as however he pleased. At the end of his lies he looked at the Spartan and gestured in a way for the Spartan to try and reach him. This was the breaking point of the Spartan’s patience, as he threw all his anger with a mighty blow to the crystal wall. The whole ground vibrated due to the power of the punch and the sound of the impact reverberated through the dungeons like a cannonball through concrete. A crack appeared at the crystal wall that outlined the epicenter of the punch. The whole wall was cracked like a bulletproof Plexiglas to a sniper round. Needless to say Blueblood and his friends where scared and beginning to re-asses their safety from the beast. The wall healed itself like magic and left an infuriated Spartan on the other side.
Blueblood’s fear seemed to leave as soon as he saw the wall heal itself and the Spartan still in there. He laughed in a mocking manner at the Spartan and through a few insults to his intelligence in his cocktail of ridicule. The Spartan was now angrier than ever and if anyone in that room had looked directly into his eyes they would be able to claim have seen the seven circles of hell. A series of punches to the wall shook the dungeon grounds. Blueblood was convinced that the Spartan wasn’t capable of escape so he paid no mind to the infuriated prisoner as he kept mocking him from outside. He was so convinced of being untouchable that he didn’t notice the Spartan gave the wall no time to regenerate through multiple punches. With a final punch a sizable hole appeared and the Spartan reached from his cell with his hand unto the idiotic snob while ignoring the shocks the steel bars sent into him. He withdrew Blueblood’s head into his cell as the shocked mob of snobs screamed in panic. The unicorn was frightened as he was made aware of his new predicament. The Spartan held unto the Blueblood’s head and shrugged off the magic the unicorn was applying to free himself. By the time the guards reached for the aid of Blueblood it was already too late. The walls had healed and trapped in them was Blueblood’s upper torso suspended in the air as his head was directly inside the Spartan’s cell.
The panic in the unicorn’s eyes was only the cherry on top of the Spartan’s revenge sundae. As the guards were unable to set him free they ran out of the room obviously to look for Celestia. Though it would already be too late by the time she would reach him. The Spartan took hold of one of the steel bars and felt the electricity flow through him, he then reached with his hand towards Blueblood. The Spartan took an image with his helmet that would make him laugh, smile, and enjoy life as a whole for the years to come. Blueblood was crying like a baby as bubbles of snot and tears flowed like rivers from his face while he tried to formulate a coherent plead for mercy.
‘AAAAaaaand record.’ Thought the Spartan as the red REC icon appeared in his visuals of the mess of a unicorn stallion that was before him.
Such was Blueblood's fear that something else happened while crying his life out to the Spartan. The Spartan let go of the steel bar as his armor would overload and it could cause a problem. He looked at Blueblood and saw liquid fall on the other side of the crystal wall. Sure the pinkish look the crystal wall provided made hard for the true colors of things to be depicted, but it was obvious Blueblood had pissed himself. The Spartan couldn’t take it anymore and fell to the floor laughing his ass off at the blubbering idiot who had claimed to be a warrior among warriors. After he stopped crying Blueblood passed out and the Spartan stopped recording. He happily waited in his cell like the good little Boy Scout he was after earning the badge for “teaching a stuck up snob a lesson”. Princess Luna, Princess Celestia, the guards, and the snobs came into the dungeons minutes later and found the mess of a prince hanging from the wall. Celestia looked at the Spartan sternly and gave him a verbal reprimand due to his rash actions. It was something about him being the advanced alien that he should know better than turning to violence to vent his frustrations. While Luna opened the crystal wall to retrieve Blueblood she turned to the Spartan and whispered, “Nice.” And then left with the pony in tow with her magical grip, though a few meters away to avoid touching him. The maids came later and cleaned the mess Blueblood did and glared at the Spartan for making them have to clean for a second time in less than a month the body secretions of a pony. The Spartan felt bad for them and made it a goal that he would properly apologize once he had the whole language figured out.
Needless to say his little stunt gained the Spartan a new week to think about his actions. The Spartan didn’t object as it was totally worth it and stress relieving. The third week went without a hitch and the guards not once said an insult to him, maybe because they deduced what could happen. The Spartan just kept to his business and tried to understand the language even more. There were more advances in his linguistic research and the patterns became more and more understandable. If he kept like this he would soon be able to pronounce complete sentences.
The fourth week was very peaceful and the Spartan passed time working out, mentally reviewing the phonetic patterns he had formed about the equine language, viewing Blueblood’s mental breakdown, and sleeping. During the week he was visited by Princess Luna in which she told him of what happened after Blueblood woke up and how much she had laughed once she reached her room and placed a sound proofing spell. Apparently Blueblood was so ashamed he wouldn’t leave his room and was also apparently planning a personal vendetta against the Spartan.Luna taught the Spartan about the Royal Canterlot voice and how it was a lot more fun to laugh about Blueblood with it. The Spartan could probably grow fond of this Princess. Nothing passed during the fourth week except the rumors he heard of a certain Twilight Sparkly “ascending” whatever that meant, and about how it would impact the political world. The Spartan gave it no second thought and just went to sleep.
***********
The Spartan woke up from his cell on the last day of his imprisonment and looked at the ceiling. He could hear the guards walking towards his cell with the sound of hooves hitting the cobblestone. Assuming that they were going to just plop down his usual food serving of three tomatoes, a carrot, and a glass of water he gazed of over the food entry opening. It was hard to think that he managed to survive a month on that kind of diet. Oddly enough nothing came through the opening and instead the cell opened followed by Luna entering. The Spartan was taken by surprise as he was expecting to be released at a later time.
“Hello Silent.”
‘Here we go with that fucking name. What am I a goddamn dog!?’ thought the Spartan.
“I wish to inform you that your mandated sentence has been completed as of today. I hereby declare you a free… umm, I'm sorry I don’t think I really know what you are.”
‘I guess that's just another word I have to learn to say’
“I guess minotaur would fit your race better than any other that lives in Equestria.”
‘Oh for fuck’s sake!’
“Anyways, I would like for us to discuss the following course of actions regarding your stay in Equestria over breakfast so please follow me.”
The Spartan stood up and followed Princess Luna out of his cell, outside waited two guards who gave him mean looks. It appeared like some hard feelings had been created in the course of the four weeks. Both of the guards stood by the princess’s side in a protective manner as if thinking he would take the smallest opportunity to lounge at her. They walked through the halls and this time the Spartan took time to pay attention to the details and the work that had been placed into them. The equine military might have been a laughable stock but when it came to decoration and architecture they went all out. This place was immaculate and beautiful to the smallest of details. The white marble perfectly accentuated with the light of the sun coming in through the windows, and the multiple reds of the tapestry gave it a sense of a warm serenity.
Through the stroll of the halls the Spartan saw two faces that he recognized all too well. Moving away from the guards and near the two ponies made the nearby guards think he was about to attack or do something regrettable. They launched at him in order to stop him and grabbed him in every way they could. The enormous soldier covered with guards moved to the two maids and knelt before them. They were pretty scared at the thought of the Spartan going directly for them; thinking the beast wanted to attack them because of the mean glares they shot his way in the dungeon they prepared for the worst.
“SOooRry.” Said the Spartan.
Both mares stood completely dumbfounded at what the creature had said. The beast for some reason had come to them and apologized for who knows what reason.
“Sorry for what?” asked one of the mares.
Then the Spartan gestured with his body as he picked up a guard from his shoulder and held him with one arm while with the other made as if cleaning a spill.
“I think he’s sorry for making us clean that mess up.” said on mare to the other.
“Oh! Don’t worry about that, it’s our job after all. Besides it was quite worth it for getting rid of Blueblood for quite the while. Just don’t make it a habit of yours and we should be just fine.” said the other mare to the Spartan.
The Spartan nodded and pulled himself up, then he shook himself like a wet dog and the guards of top of him fell to the ground. He returned to the Princess and then continued their stroll to the dining room with a slightly bemused princess.
When they reached the dining area the Spartan was surprised to see the elegant display among the multiple tables and the waiters strolling through with multiple dishes. Truly the Spartan hadn’t given the ponies the credit they deserved, they had exceeded his expectations and proven themselves to be truly decent and evolved beings. He was a little intrigued as to why the Princess didn’t choose to get a table and instead kept walking to another room. The multiple ponies, and if his eyes didn’t betray him, some gryphons, zebras, and minotaurs in the room stared quizzically at him as he moved to the other room.
Once in the room the Spartan noticed it to be a little bit fancier and better guarded. There was a single waiter in it standing like a guard obviously waiting for orders. Instead of multiple tables for different guest there was just one big elongated table like those depicted in movies found inside rich family castles. There were multiple Chandeliers across the ceiling in a symmetric pattern surrounding the main chandelier made out of diamonds and gold hanging in on top of the table. The light it emitted made the silver cutlery and glasses have a special shine to them. All in all it seemed like a Walt Disney Movie dining room. Luna sat down and motioned for the Spartan to do so as well. As soon as they sat down the waiter swiftly approached them and gave both a menu which included the many dishes they could offer along with a daily special. A quick glance through the menu proved that all the dishes and entrees where of vegetarian origin. The Spartan noticed that there were two boxed messages on the very bottom of the menu which included a message for special orders and a message for the carnivore menu.
‘Im already out of the cell, might as well live it up a little.’ Thought the Spartan as he motioned for the waiter and then signaled with his hand to the carnivore message.
The waiter looked taken aback but made no comment of his choice. He left and soon came with a black looking menu. He gave the Spartan the new menu and took the red one for herbivores with himself. In this menu he could see many different kinds of animal names he had never heard of aside from mythology but he assumed that it was meat. He settled on a Hydra steak with a side of mashed potatoes. Eventually Luna also made her mind up and signaled for the waiter.
“Yes my princess? How may I help you?” asked the waiter to Luna.
“Yes, umm, could I please have the salad with hay bacon strips, also some tea for the drink?” replied Luna.
“Yes your highness, and for your guest?” said the waiter while he turned to the Spartan.
The Spartan pointed to his decided dish and the side he wanted with it. Also gestured with his hand as if drinking some sort of liquid out of a mug. The Waiter took the hint for the beverage and grabbed both menu’s with his magic.
“Very well, if you’ll excuse me I’ll go and tell the kitchen your orders. If you need anything else please tell me.” Said the waiter and excused himself through a door that could be assumed to be connected to the kitchen.
Silence fell unto the dining hall and an intense feeling of awkwardness fell as the presence of the emptiness in the hall made itself overly abundant. The Spartan kept looking around the hall taking in every single detail in order to have something to do. He also wandered if Celestia was going to come to have breakfast too. He was snapped out of it as he heard Luna clear her throat. He looked towards her and saw her staring at him.
“Im sorry I didn’t say this earlier but my sister Celestia will not be making it for breakfast, as she is quite busy at the moment with the ascension of her pupil and managing the coronation.” said Luna.
The Spartan nodded and then tilted his head to the side as his attention was completely on Luna.
“Im going to guess you understand my sister’s absence but have no idea of the other details am I right?”
The Spartan nodded.
“Ok here it goes, as we explained before Celestia and I are alicorns. And we are the leaders for this country. My sister though has had a student she has practically raised to become another of the leaders of the country of Equestria, but a leader can’t be just strong mentally but also physically so my sister imposed upon her student the ultimate test to see if she was ready to accept the burden of leading a country. Needless to say she passed it and we are now planning the coronation of her while also mentally preparing her for the new responsibilities. Sadly though with her coronation some ponies have come up that believe that she shouldn’t be given that gift and that it would be better suited for someone else… mostly themselves. And so therefore have made threats to her health and well-being.”
The Spartan nodded but looked to the side as he took it all in. Not one month had passed and he was already hearing about threats to royalty and political conflicts. He really didn’t want to get involved in it though. He looked towards the princess and nodded once more for her to continue.
“My sister and I have discussed what to do with you and also how you came to be here. With the coronation coming up and the threats made we both thought it would be good to employ your services.”
The Spartan didn’t nod; he just looked at Luna as he processed her petition. She wanted to involve him in this cluster fuck of political problems. He had already been dispensed by the ONI and been imprisoned for a month. Was it that the world just wouldn’t let him live in peace? He chuckled a little at the idea and shook his head in the process. As he did this the waiter came with the orders and placed them in front of the table an excused himself again. Luna looked at the Spartan and took his reaction as a rejection to their plan. She had to do something or else trust the mediocre and feeble guards of her sister to protect Twilight Sparkle, and she knew that aside from external appearances they were only good as door guards.
“Listen Silent, I know we haven’t known each other long and most of the time you were imprisoned but you have to accept that you brought this upon yourself. Please listen to our plead, we've seen what you can do; you can withstand magic and have the brute force of a manticore or more. You knew how to control yourself rather than electrocute Blueblood for his arrogance. And even with so much brute power you can still manage to use it with precision and sneak into the castle and elude our forces. This unicorn is a really good friend of mine and I know that you can protect her if danger arises. Please, if you do this we shall leave you alone and let you be in peace. Can you do this one favor to us? It won’t last more than three months and you’ll be fully financed.” Luna pleaded at the Spartan.
‘Well fuck, here we go again with another mission even when I’m supposed to be dead. I guess Spartans really never die heh heh. Still I don’t want to partake in anything with these ponies, there's really nothing they can do to change my… is she pulling a puppy dog face at me?’ thought the Spartan.
‘I didn’t want to resort to the puppy face but I really have to get him to agree lest we have to actually seclude Twilight from society until her coronation day. COME ON CATCH THE BAIT!!!’ Luna thought as she placed her evil scheme into action.
‘She is! She is making a puppy dog face! Why that little…Awww…NO! Be strong soldier! You were brought up with the most grueling military training and discipline! BE STRONG DAMMIT!!! SHE WILL NOT COERCE YOU INTO THIS! YOU ARE A POWERFUL MACHINE!!!!’ thought the Spartan at the scene unfolding in front of him.
‘COME ON! JUST A LITTLE MORE! YOU WILL BREAK SILENT! HOW ARE YOU RESISTING SO MUCH OF THIS!!? YOU KNOW WHAT!? FINE! YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE, YOU HAVE FORCED MY HOOF INTO THE LAST AND ULTIMATE PLAY!’ thought Luna and then said, “Pweeeeaaase?” as her bottom lip started quivering.
‘OH YOU FUCKING BITCH!!!!!!!! GOD DAMMIT!!!!!!! FINE!!! ILL FUCKING DO IT!’ ran through his mind as his head hung and slowly nodded. He looked unto and was surprised by the quick hug that came his way.
“Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!” said Luna in rapid succession, “You don’t know how much this means for me!”
Both looked at each other after the explosion of emotions settled and separated in an instant. They looked at their plates and went ahead to devour their breakfast. During it Luna told the Spartan about Twilight Sparkle and his mission in general to protect her from every and all attempts to harm her. She had 5 best friends and multiple acquaintances around the town in wish she resides in, Ponyville. She also has a little assistant called Spike which is a purple and green dragon, they’ve passed so much of their lives together they consider each other brother and sister. She has a pet owl called Owlicious and Spike has a pet phoenix called Peewee. The names of her best friends are Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy with which she tends to get into lots of problems or adventures in search for lessons of the magic of friendship. She is very studious and most of the time likes to read so therefore she should be easy to watch when in the public library she lives in. All this and some more little details were given to the Spartan about his three month mission.
Twilight Sparkle would most likely be a handful to watch over, but being a Spartan there isn’t really anything smaller than an army that he couldn’t handle. He would need maps of Ponyville with the houses of her and her friends marked, he was also going to need schematics of the Ponyville Public Library in order to make defense and retaliation plans, and finally he needed to get a class in the technology available in Equestria along with the physical capacities of every sentient species on the planet. If he was going to do this mission, he was going to be prepared for anything.
The Spartan looked at the princess and gestured her attention, once he had it he pointed to the clock. It went downward from there, asking for two weeks of preparation was a whole task within itself which presented to the Spartan a whole new problem. He desperately needed to learn a few phonetic commands and orders. It took half an hour before Luna finally understood what the Spartan meant and agreed to his demands. She didn’t like the idea of leaving Twilight under the care of the royal guards for two weeks, but if it meant she would then deliver a very well prepared guard then she was going to accept it. Celestia was not going to be happy about this turn of events.
They both finished their meals (Luna completely creeped out as Silent only partially lifted his helmet to reveal his mouth where he dumped the food in) and then got somewhere for the Spartan to sleep in during his two week preparation. Luna showed him where the library was and introduced him to a few guards and servants that would help him with some tasks. She also got a few scholars from her sister’s school to come and teach him what he required in case the alphabet too was different.
The Spartan wasn't certain of how his mission would play out or how he would have to protect Twilight Sparkle but he was sure of something, the next two weeks were going to be a pain in the ass.
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.
The next morning, Twilight woke up and went through her regularly scheduled list to get ready for breakfast. Spike was still in bed, so Twilight decided to give him some extra sleeping time for being such a good little assistant that past few days. She went downstairs and found the peace and serenity of the Library in the early hours of the morning. She loved that sense of peace every morning before a new day. The shades of light blue that covered everything announcing that the sun was coming but it had still to make an appearance, the cool breeze of the past night still lingering around the world, and the complete serenity of every single living thing being still asleep. All broken when she heard the thumps of the wood the Spartan’s boots made as he approached Twilight.
“Good morning Silent, did you sleep well?” Twilight asked, expecting to hear some sort of vocal response from the guard.
The Spartan only nodded at her question and went directly to the chair he had been using the previous day. He sat down on it and picked up the same book he had been reading the other day, though it was noticeable that he was near the end of the book. Twilight thought of the things she would be able to learn from him if only he could speak. She would send a letter later on to Princess Luna to see what spell she used, and see if she could modify it so he could also speak. That would have to wait though, as she had a dire need at the moment: she needed coffee. She moved onto her kitchen and turned on the stove as the water kettle on top of it began to heat. Making coffee, cereal, and toast were among some of the only things she could do without setting the kitchen on fire. It completely escaped her how she could be so good at chemistry, yet so bad at cooking. It really pissed her off sometimes.
In the other room, the Spartan silently read his book without noticing anything in the world. Or so it seemed, in reality the Spartan was constantly looking at his motion sensor, which he had reconfigured to a larger radius. He was secretly monitoring every moving creature in the library as the morning developed. Sure, he read his book and was learning a lot of it as he was new to reading this sort of scripture. If this book were to be in the human English alphabet he would’ve already finished it yesterday, so it was no surprise it was taking him so long to read it. He looked at his sensor and saw that all dots were accounted for. Twilight then came from the kitchen and saw him still with his book.
“Umm, Silent?” asked Twilight to the Spartan as he lifted his head and saw her, “Would you like some coffee once it’s done?”
The Spartan nodded at her suggestion and went back to his book.
Twilight took the affirmation and moved back into the kitchen as the kettle started whistling its tune. She turned it off and prepared the two mugs of coffee as she poured hot water into them. She was making good progress in socializing with the guard and maybe if she could reach out to him he would want to teach her about his world, once she got the spell from Luna, that is. She came from the kitchen and set the steaming mugs at the dining table and called the Spartan over.
He sat down and surprisingly grabbed the mug by grabbing the handle with his five digits rather than passing his arm trough the handle and applying pressure grip to the sides like most ponies would. The day Twilight got him to speak would be the like receiving a Christmas present and birthday present early and at the same time. She then saw the guard lift his face up, and under it a mouth protruded where he ingested the coffee. Twilight couldn’t believe what she was seeing; this being wasn’t some sort of mechanical animal! It was covered in metal armor! How did she not realize this before? Now more than ever she wanted to have answers to the questions that were starting to bubble into her mind. She stood up and went up the stairs to wake up Spike. She had to send a letter.
After Spike made breakfast, and Twilight being somehow informed that her guard had something he couldn't eat, the morning slowly turned into mid-day. Twilight was getting her saddlebags on as she was going out for the weekly grocery trip. She went out the door and left the library and its occupants behind as she trotted towards the market place. Once she got there she would be able to purchase parchment, ink, quills, vegetables, apples, and coffee among other things.
It appeared that the Spartan had let her go without any sort of supervision whatsoever, this was really good for Twilight as she thought having a guard would mean being escorted around the whole place and secluding her from the general populace. This was turning out to be great, since it only meant having a new roommate for a couple of months. Twilight moved around the marketplace and did her shopping through the stalls, checking the things she already had acquired from her checklist. After all of that ruckus, she thought it would be a good idea to visit her friend Applejack and see if she might buy some apples. As she neared the stand with a big apple drawn over it she could already see her orange earth pony friend servicing a few other clients. The orange earth pony had a Stetson hat, blonde hair, and freckles.
“Hello Applejack how are you doing today?” asked Twilight.
“Hiya Twilight, I’m doin mighty fine thank ya for asking. As you can see here, today’s apples are selling real nice. How about you sugarcube, anything to report?” asked Applejack.
“Well I’m quite good too now that you ask. Yesterday the guard Celestia told me she would send arrived, and I must say he was quite a shock the first time I saw him. He seems to be very reclusive, yet from what I’ve witnessed he would be a gold mine of information if I could get him to speak.”
“Word got around to the farm about this guard coming to town; he must be quite something if he shocked the whole town just buy coming to it. So he’s a shy one isn’t he? I don’t know how much help a shy guard will be to ya Twilight.”
“No Applejack you misunderstood me, it’s not that he’s shy, he just can’t talk.”
“Oh so he is one of them poor speech impaired ponies huh? I’m so sorry for the poor guy, I have a cousin who happens to have that problem. It makes it really hard for him sometimes.”
“Not quite either Applejack you see he just doesn’t know our language so he can’t speak it. So he rather decided not to speak.”
“What’s the point of a guard who can’t understand us?”
“Well, he does understand us.”
“For cryin out loud Twi! Just tell me what his deal is already!”
“Ok well, umm you see, he doesn’t technically belong here. Nopony knows where he came from but he crashed on Canterlot. The Princesses took him in and seem to trust him, so they made him my guard. Personally, I think it’s great he doesn’t seem to follow me around everywhere I go, since I got these wings everypony seems to act differently towards me, and having a guard follow me around would be the final nail in the coffin. Ponies would probably start bowing to me, and I can’t let that happen.”
“I don’t know, Twi, him being from who knows where yet he can’t talk with us, but he can understand us, and he’s strong enough for the princesses to place him in guard duty? It just doesn’t sit well with me, I’m not saying I don’t trust the princesses, but maybe they’re a little too trusting of this fellow.”
“I know it seems strange, but don’t worry, if anything does happen I’ll go right to you girls and send a letter to the princess, ok?”
“Ok Twilight, be careful though.”
“I will Applejack, thanks for your concern. Before I leave, do you think I could get four Red Delicious apples to go?”
“Sure Twilight, here you go!”
“Thanks, this will go great with the fruit salad I’m planning on making this afternoon. How much do I owe you?”
“I’d say about 2 bits should do it.”
“Alright here you are, thank you for the apples AJ.”
Both Ponies saluted each other and parted ways. Twilight was making her way back home when a pink blur shot past her into the general direction of the library. Twilight’s mind clicked and it suddenly hit her. Pinkie Pie. A bit of fear appeared in Twilight’s eyes as she began running to the library. She didn’t know how her guard would react to being bombarded by multiple questions by an unknown mare without respect for personal space, but she knew that it wouldn’t end well. She had almost reached the library when the door opened and pinkie shot through it.
‘Oh no, I’m too late!’ Thought Twilight as she saw her friend fly out the door. Then Pinkie fell on the ground and ran up to Twilight.
“WHERE IS HE!?” Shouted the pink and bouncy earth mare as she grabbed ahold of Twilight’s face.
“Pinkie what do you mean?” asked Twilight.
“You know exactly what I mean Twilight! I was told about your new guard coming to Ponyville to stay, and he’s your new guard it means he’s new and that means he’s never been in Ponyville which means I have to befriend him and throw him a ‘Welcome to Ponyville New Guard Friend’ party!”
“Pinkie I have no idea what you’re talking about! When I left this morning I left him at the library, there’s no reason he shouldn’t still be…” But Twilight’s reply was cut short as this time a green blur shot right past her face where Pinkie Pie was. She stood shocked as she saw that Pinkie Pie was no longer holding her face or in front of her for that matter. She looked to the side and she saw her guard grabbing Pinkie by her waist and lifting her up in the air. He looked back to Twilight and said, “Authorize.”
“Wait Silent! She’s my friend!” yelled Twilight as the Spartan held Pinkie.
‘I’m guessing she is the one named Pinkie Pie. Well, I can’t just assume stuff but one never truly knows.’ Thought the Spartan as he gently placed Pinkie down.
“Pinkie I’m so sorry about this, I couldn’t have known he would react like this. I mean I didn’t even know where he was up until you…” but Twilight was once more interrupted as Pinkie gasped and looked at the Spartan. She then started bombarding him with millions of questions ranging from his favorite color to his favorite balloon. All the while Twilight was trying to get her attention the whole time.
“PINKIE!!!!!!” yelled Twilight with all her might.
“What is it Twilight?” asked Pinkie.
“He can’t answer back.”
“Who can’t answer back? Sparty? But why?”
‘Did she just call me Sparty? WAIT! How did she even get to that nickname? Does she somehow know I’m a Spartan?’ thought the Spartan.
“He can’t answer back because he doesn’t know our language, he can understand us but he just can’t speak like us, also I’ve been informed his name is Silent Warrior not Sparty.”
“Silent Warrior? However did you get to that conclusion about Sparty?”
“The Princesses told me. How did YOU get to Sparty anyway?”
“Oh Twilight, sweet, innocent, Twilight… maybe if you just think about it you’ll get it someday. Anyway I’d love to stay and chat but I have to go and plan a party. See you later Twilight!”
“Wait, Pinkie!” but Twilights demands were to no avail as the pink pony was already gone.
Twilight looked on to the Spartan who was staring in the direction the pink pony had run off. She was pretty sure he was as confused about the situation as she was but she was used to it so she could now easily shrug it off. He on the other hand would have something to think about for the next few days.
“Don’t worry about it Silent, that’s just Pinkie being Pinkie. What you should worry about instead is about your actions, mister. You can’t just attack ponies like that! If I hadn’t said anything would you just have proceeded to attack her? You have to be more careful about your actions Silent. Please don’t make me repeat myself.” Twilight finished her verbal lashing towards the Spartan.
Both of them continued with several thoughts on their heads about what just had happened. The Spartan knew Twilight was right, but he had restrained himself from completely attacking by asking authorization for the pink mare. He would have to be more careful and only reserve himself to act when immediate danger was visible, or when he got signs of fear from Twilight herself. He would definitely need to work some sort of system out to better center himself around possible threats, since sudden body contact could very well be unacceptable in this kind of society.
Twilight was on the other side thinking about her guard. Sure he had been rough, but maybe she shouldn’t have given him such a lashing; after all, he was just doing his job. Another thing that was intriguing Twilight was the small little fact that Pinkie hadn’t found him at home. If he wasn’t there where was he? And how could he just appear out of nowhere when Pinkie barely made contact with her for mere seconds? Had he been following her? And if so, how did he manage to stay hidden with such an enormous size? Such were the questions that were slowly giving Twilight a migraine. She would have to give herself more time to think about them later, but right then, she thought she could very well use a good book and some tea.
They both entered the library as the Spartan reactivated the alarm system. He then sat down and grabbed his book once more. Twilight went up to her room and pulled out “Quantum Mechanics: advanced edition” from under her pillow. This book always seemed to relieve her of stress on rough days.
**********
Two hours had passed since the little incident with Pinkie Pie, and Twilight was completely engrossed by her book. You could practically walk right behind her and she wouldn’t notice, she was completely vulnerable to anything. And that’s exactly what a certain Rainbow maned pegasus thought when she saw her friend on a reading trip through her bedroom window. Rainbow was initially going to ask Twilight about any other Daring Do books that could have come out but after seeing her friend like that, she just couldn’t resist the idea of pulling a prank on her. It was simple prank, but she knew her friend wouldn’t stay like that forever, so time was of the essence; she quickly got ahold of a paper bag which she inflated. The plan was to sneak up on her and pop it right behind her, which would be hilarious. It was going great; she had snuck into the library without anypony noticing, and was slowly reaching Twilight. She was practically there when all of the sudden everything went black and something grabbed her muzzle.
She tried fighting back, and kicked full force with both her legs to whatever had grabbed her. She was happy to see that she could once more see and realized that whatever it was grabbing her it was taking her down from Twilight’s room into the lobby. She kicked once, twice, three times at her aggressor and each time she could sense whatever it was grabbing her muzzle slip as the kick made contact into something strong. Then a sharp pain came from the back of her head and everything went black again.
She woke up later and heard screams and insults that could only be from Twilight. Rainbow hearing the sounds of her friend in distress tried rushing to help, only to realize she was completely restrained by rope. All of her body had been restrained with tight rope and nothing was spared. Rainbow tried shouting but it also seemed like she had a gag in her mouth, just what in the flying fuck had happened? And of course Rainbow couldn’t see anything. Only then did she notice that the screams weren’t those of pain or horror; they were of hate. Twilight was utterly pissed as something, Rainbow didn’t know what it was but she could only take a guess that whatever it was it had really done it this time.
“I thought I had told you about these kinds of reactions Silent!” Twilight yelled, “In one day you’ve already assaulted TWO of my best friends! Would you like me to tell you where the others are so you can go ahead and get it out of the way!? I don’t know what Rainbow Dash did to get this sort of punishment but whatever it was it couldn’t have surmounted to this! I come down after reading my book and see you sitting with her gagged, roped, and blinded like a prisoner and all you do when I ask for an explanation is say ‘Authorize’. Silent I know you job is to guard me but this has got to stop! Not everypony who enters the PUBLIC library or touches me will have an evil scheme. It’s almost as if you thought there was somepony out there actually planning to harm me. At first I thought you were good but you haven’t been giving me reasons to trust you at all. Maybe Applejack was right; this is your last chance Silent. One more screw-up and I want you gone.”
Twilight sighed as she went over to Rainbow Dash and magically untied her. “I’m sorry for this, Rainbow Dash, he has a tendency to overreact. I don’t know what you were doing, maybe you got in through a window or something like that, but it shouldn’t have escalated into this. I’ll find a way to make it up to you.”
As Rainbow Dash was freed she could see what had grabbed her, it was very big. She looked at the Spartan quizzically for a moment as she was being overtaken by the surprise of this new creature she had never seen before. The surprise was quickly overtaken by anger as she remembered what the metallic creature did to her.
“What’s his problem?!” yelled an angry Rainbow Dash.
“I’m sorry Rainbow Dash, as you may already know, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna were going to send me a guard to keep me safe while they prepared the coronation, so things would pass on smoothly without invasions and things of the like. But this guard they sent me has proven to be more on the paranoid side that anything else and is giving me a lot more stress than he should be. I’ll make your make him give you a proper apology once I get Luna’s communication spell fixed.”
“It’s okay Twilight, I don’t hold against you, but make sure that he keeps to himself or else next time I’ll beat him to pulp.”
“So may I ask what you were doing here? You know before you got imprisoned.”
“Well I was going to ask you about any new Daring Do books.”
“If I remember correctly there should be a new one coming out soon, sadly I just can’t seem to keep up with all the studying I’ve been doing lately. Since Spike has been working with Rarity the past few days gathering gems and I rarely see him during the day it gets kind of chaotic in here.”
“I guess, anyway could you please tell me when it arrives? I’m eagerly waiting for it.”
“Since when have you been eager for a book Rainbow?” said Twilight with a smile
“Since your egg headedness started rubbing off on me.”
“Play nice, Rainbow, or maybe I’ll rent the book by accident to someone else.”
“Ugh! Fine I’m sorry. See you later ok?” and with that Rainbow Dash took flight and left the library by flying through the window she originally entered through. She could hear Twilight calling out to her with anger as she had told Rainbow Dash hundreds of times that she shouldn’t use the windows as doors.
Back in the library Twilight turned to look at the Spartan who was still standing where she had left him. She punished him like she would have punished Spike if he had stolen the ice cream in the freezer again. He placed the Spartan to clean the library from top to bottom. She had to teach the Spartan the error of his ways one way or another and it appeared that verbal lectures weren’t good enough. She hoped she wouldn’t have to come to anything more drastic.
The day continued and both ate a salad Twilight made up out of the groceries she had bought that day. Twilight decided it was enough of a break time and grabbed a couple books of Equestrian politics from the library desk and made way to her room. After that the afternoon passed by rather peacefully and turned into night. Spike had already arrived by the time the Sun exchanged places with the moon, but was so beaten after hunting gems he went directly to sleep, leaving Twilight to cook dinner. Dinner wasn’t that special, she made a few sandwiches and after that both she and the Spartan ate some fruit.
The night was silent and cool as Twilight studied about what her new set of responsibilities might entitle. Politics made her head pound, so many rules and drama queens making stuff up so they would be able to keep their material possessions. If it wasn’t for power it was for wealth; at least there were various that took emphasis on the people though. She thought she’d give it a rest for the day and turned off the lights of the library with a single spell she had learned not long ago. As she set herself for bed she heard the distinctive sounds of the guard’s boots walk into his room and closing the door behind him. Had he been up all the time while she was? Twilight gave it no second thought and went to sleep, Maybe the third day is the charm.
**********
The next day was quite a regular one; Spike’s gem hunting had ended so the meal and library organization would be taken care of. After a good breakfast, a knock on the door was heard and after opening in front of it was none other than Fluttershy. The pink haired and yellow coated pegasus looked at Twilight to ask for some help tracking down a rare plant in the Everfree forest. Everything was going well until she saw the metallic monster sitting on Twilight’s dining room. Instantly an inner battle gave way inside her as she would decide whether to run and hide or take both Twilight and Spike with her. She decided on the latter because as soon as Twilight was about to ask what was wrong, Fluttershy flew past her inside the library and grabbed Spike and one the way out she snatched Twilight. With both in tow she flew almost as fast as Rainbow Dash away from the Library and towards her cottage, Leaving a rather dumbfounded Spartan behind.
Once in her cottage Fluttershy shoved both Twilight and Spike in her room. She quickly closed and locked all the doors of the cottage aside from covering all the windows with drapes. Everything was perfectly silent before Twilight opened her mouth.
“Fluttershy? What’s going on?” asked Twilight.
“D-did you n-not see that m-monster?” replied Fluttershy.
“Fluttershy, he isn’t a monster. He’s the guard Celestia sent to protect me. A rather paranoiac one at that, I might as well get going before he flips the whole city upside down searching for me.”
“NO! I can’t let you Twilight! What if he eats you!?” said Fluttershy holding Twilight’s face in her hooves.
“Fluttershy he isn’t going to eat me he is here to protect me.”
“But what if…” Fluttershy’s rebuttal was cut short as a set of knocks came to her front door.
Fluttershy went to her window and saw that the monster had followed them home. She was more scared than ever, it proved that the thing standing in front of her front door not only was big but also was rather fast. Twilight looked out the window and saw him.
“Fluttershy you have to let me go clear things up with him, or he might think you’re trying to kidnap me, and that won’t end well for any of us.”
“But Twilight!”
“No buts! Believe me when I say it’s easier this way.”
Twilight grabbed Spike with her magic and both made their way to the front door.
“Um Twilight, I don’t mean to add any more stress to the situation but I was cooking something when Fluttershy took us.” Said Spike on Twilights back.
“Great.” Said Twilight sarcastically as she opened the door.
The Spartan was surprisingly calm when she opened the door. He was just standing there looking at the cottage. He held a list in his extremities and seemed to be checking something out.
“Whatever it is that you’re planning, you can throw it away Silent, that pegasus in there is called Fluttershy and you sort of scared her. She overreacts sometimes but that’s okay, you got it?”
The Spartan nodded and only scribbled on the list a little more.
“Hey, umm, Twilight I should really get back to the Library.” said Spike from Twilight’s back.
“I know, could you get back on your own? Fluttershy was kind of asking me about a favor and maybe it’d be wise to do it, since were already here.”
Spike grunted and jumped off of Twilight’s back as he started the journey back home. Twilight went ahead and knocked on Fluttershy’s door. Soon enough the timid pony came out slowly from her cottage. It took a while before Fluttershy was confident enough to speak fluently with Twilight while the Spartan was there. It turned out that Fluttershy needed a root for a bunch of animals who had been starting to get ill from drinking in a contaminated pond. Twilight would be glad to help but first she needed to grab her saddlebags and a few books in order to find the root easily. Both she and the Spartan made their way back home in silence. They were almost there when the Spartan stopped Twilight with his hand.
“What is it Silent?” asked Twilight with confusion.
The tree house looked completely normal from the outside but something was off, the Town was completely silent. Nopony was on sight either trotting back home or socializing like usual. The Spartan was no fool and had been fully alert from day one, he looked at his sensor and he saw a lot of signals from inside the library. They were all placed in a semi-circle around the door. It was obviously an ambush, though how they were able to prepare in such short notice or evacuate the town for their attack was very jarring. He grabbed Twilight from her waste and carried her a few meters back from the door. He placed her down gently and looked back at the tree-house.
“Silent what are you doing?” a confused Twilight asked.
The Spartan placed himself in position and exploded into a mad dash towards the door he was going to break through it and eliminate all hostiles.
“SILENT!” yelled Twilight as she ran behind him.
It was too late though, as he smashed through the door and sent debris all over the area taking everyone inside by surprise. He was about to start the elimination process when a bright purple flash blinded him and he felt like he was being crushed against the world. His body gave up and smashed into the library’s wooden floor like rag doll as a purple glowing encapsulated him. His shields broke from the smash against the floor along with the magic holding him jolting Twilight with the magical backlash. The lights of the library turned on and a multitude of ponies where coming out of their hiding spots with party hats and streamers. The shock in their faces was all the Spartan needed to know he had screwed up again. He looked at Twilight and she was mad, but she wasn’t in rage. She was sad and mad, as her glare slowly became more intense with some tears falling to the sides.
“That’s it. I can’t take this anymore Silent. I’ve tried to see the good over the bad but as soon as things get better you pull something like this off. I know you try, but you’re just not getting it fast enough. I just can’t deal with the pressure right now Silent. Maybe in another time, I could have but now isn’t a good time. Please leave.”
Twilight slumped down to the floor as Pinkie Pie along with the other elements of harmony trotted up to her and consoled her. The Spartan lifted himself up from the floor and watched at the ponies around him. Some were scared, others were angry, and some just hadn’t gotten over the shock yet. He turned around and left the library.
**********
Nobody saw the Spartan around after he literally crashed the party. Days and nights passed, and yet not a single soul had seen him. It was as if he had vanished into thin air. The library hadn’t had the guest for enough time for it to cause any sort of noticeable changes, except for the empty guest room. Thing were back to normal, but Twilight knew she would have to report the dismissed guard to the Princess eventually. She didn’t want to think about the princess getting her another set of guards but she knew it was unavoidable. After a while she indeed sent her the letter and two days later, two standard issue guards were on her doorstep watching who entered and who didn’t. During library hours they would check everyone before they got inside the library. They would follow Twilight everywhere so her plans about everything being normal got stumped. Eventually two weeks had gone by and nothing had happened.
Two months remained before the coronation, or 1 month 27 days 15 hours 32 minutes and 15 seconds to be exact. But who kept count right? Everything was fine and Twilight had already finished studying politics. She was now studying the legal system and the monetary system which would also make an attempt to break her head. The guards were very silent and complacent; they didn’t do much else rather than keep ponies at a safe distance. If only Silent Warrior had been like that, he would still be here instead of them. Their names where Lightning Strike and Feather Stroke, they would keep Twilight safe until the coronation. Another set of guards had been deployed to search for Silent and bring him back to the castle. All efforts in finding him had rendered useless.
One night there was a frantic knock on the door; one of the guards woke up and went to answer it. Both guards had been lodged in the guest room once belonging to Silent Warrior. He opened the door and on the other side a hooded figure moved swiftly and plunged a dagger straight into the guards neck, he tried calling for help but a magical aura grabbed his head and swiftly threw him out of the house with a sickening crack. The mysterious figure moved along the house, and found the other guard in the guest room sleeping. He plunged the knife into the second guard and effectively disposed of him like his companion. With both guards out of the way only two things remained on the hooded unicorn’s to do list. He went up the stairs and saw his targets sleeping. There the figure slipped a pill into the little dragon’s mouth to take care of him at once. He might have been small but if the little nuisance woke up, his dragon fire could prove problematic.
Sadly, as the figure moved around the move Twilight who hadn’t gone to sleep too early was slightly woken up. As Twilight started to move the bed sheets in order to see what was happening the figure took the opening to insert something into Twilight’s horn and tied her to the bed with chains. Twilight yelled but found her voice gone as she felt a tingling in her throat.
“Well, well, well, look who’s up and about at this hour at night” said the hooded unicorn.
Twilight tried to turn on the lights with her magic but noticed that she couldn’t produce magic. Her eyes widened as she could feel the extra weight and pressure on her horn.
“Don’t worry about using your magic sweetheart, after all, if you’re an alicorn that’s about the first thing to take care of, don’t you think? I also tied you up real well as a precaution, you can never know how strong an alicorn can get.”
Twilight looked around the room but stopped once she saw spike in his nest awfully still.
“He is quite adorable when he is sleeping isn’t he? I liked it so much I slipped him something so we could keep him that way… forever.”
Twilight’s eyes widened and started tearing up with rightful rage coming from them. Her mouth opened as if it shout but nothing came. Though slowly the machine on Twilight’s horn started smoking and just as it did a small noise was emanating from her mouth.
“Quite persistent aren’t you? Don’t worry I got more toys where that came from, you see I didn’t know how strong a recently ascended alicorn could really be, but I decided I didn’t want to have any risks so I went ahead and took the necessary precautions. The whole room is noise cancelled, even if you broke my spell you would have to have a really strong voice to break through the room. And as for your horn…” The figure said as it pulled two more contraption from a saddle bag and stuck the tool onto Twilight’s horn, “can’t have you using your magic, darling.”
Twilight couldn’t believe what was happening, who was this pony? And why was he doing this? Did she do anything to deserve this?
“I know what you’re thinking sweetheart; you’re wondering why I’m doing this. But I must tell you that I’m sorry, this is purely professional. I was hired for this little assignment and given quite the sum of bits to get it done and I intend to follow through with my word to the very end. Whoever did this was quite insistent with getting it done. So let’s stop delaying the unstoppable shall we?”
The hooded unicorn pulled out a big curved dagger out of his saddlebags and approached Twilight who was now on the brink of snapping into hysteria.
“Oh one more thing before I forget, my boss wanted me to say ‘Long live the new Princess of Equestria’ cheesy, I know, but he is the one paying for this.”
And down the dagger went. As Twilight closed her eyes and her life flashed before her.
But not into Twilight, the dagger simply fell to the floor as the magic grip around it disappeared. Twilight looked up as the pain never came, her eyes shot open once more when she noticed the arrow stuck to the unicorn’s foreleg. Blood flowed down from the wound as the unicorn tried to heal his wound. But as soon as the first arrow came, another did. Then another, and another, and another until about six or eight were stuck into the unicorns vital parts. The blood of his body made a puddle on the floor, as soon as no signs of life were found there was an enormous sound from the bottom floor. All the spells had vanished with the death of the assassin.
“SOMEPONY WHOEVER IT IS PLEASE HELP ME! MY FRIEND IS DYING! PLEASE!” screamed Twilight as strongly as she could. She heard the sound of somepony coming up the stairs. The door smashed into pieces as the Spartan came in to Twilight’s room. He looked around and found Spike he checked for a pulse and found one, though it felt weak. He went to Twilight and took off all the magic restrainers as he ripped off the chains like they were taffy. Twilight stood up, and immediately went to Spike. She casted a diagnosis spell on him and found the poison the pony had used on Spike would only allow about 7 more minutes before the job was completed.
“HE’S DYING! We need to get him to the hospital now! If we wait any longer he might not make it!” yelled Twilight at the Spartan.
The Spartan picked them both up and jump through Twilight’s balcony at an amazing speed. Twilight on the other hand didn’t had time to think and was picked up as she was conjuring a teleportation spell. Due to both action being done simultaneously they teleported in midair. When they appeared they were in the lobby of the hospital but arrived with a smash to the ground. That Spartan took most of the hit as he was holding Spike and Twilight but it was a pretty big hit. The security of the hospital gasped as they fell an went immediately to inspect the visitors. They arrived and saw an unwelcomed pony, the Spartan. After hurting Twilight and her friends, he had gotten a bad vibe around town, it didn’t help that the palace guards where after him. They saw Twilight and Spike near him and Twilight was full with bruises where the chains had tied her she also seemed like she was crying. The commotion brought a few doctors and nurses to the lobby and saw the image before them.
Twilight looked up to the doctors and said pleadingly, “You have to help him! He is dying!” while holding Spike in her hooves.
The doctors took Spike and Twilight to get medical attention. Meanwhile the security guards were holding the Spartan against the floor as they sent a nurse to get some of the local authorities to help in his containment. If it weren’t for one of the guards being a unicorn, they would be in deep trouble. The guard used a spell usually reserved for special cases in which they amplified the gravity force of an individual by a few times which would effectively stop them. In the case of the Spartan, the security guard had to amplify it hundreds of times till he finally collapsed to the floor. A few minutes later the nurse came with about 10 royal guards (all unicorns) following her. They had been stationed in Ponyville in order to restrain the Spartan should he re-appear. Once the gravity spell was lifted they took the Spartan in their magical grip and dragged him to a chariot where they would effectively transport him into his predetermined cell in Canterlot.
**********
Twilight stayed by Spike the whole night expecting the cure the medical staff had given him to work and bring Spike back to the land of the consciousness. At about 7 a.m. Spike opened his eyes and found himself strapped to heartbeat monitor and several intravenous bags pumping some liquid into him.
“Twilight? What’s going on?” Asked Spike scared at what he was witnessing.
“Spike?” asked Twilight groggily after being woken up. “SPIKE!” yelled Twilight as she wrapped he hooves around Spike and brought him into a hug. Tears fell from Twilight’s eyes.
“Twilight what happened? Why are you bruised? What’s with the cuts? And most importantly why am I in the hospital!?”
“Spike, I’m so relieved you’re okay!”
“Twilight, are you crying?”
“Yes, you don’t stand a few minutes from dying every day!” More tears fell from Twilight’s cheeks.
“D-Dying!?”
Twilight was about, to explain as the door to the room exploded with the elements of harmony barraging through it and into the room. Faces of relief and worry were on all of the elements.
“Oh SPIKEY WIKEY WHAT WOULD I EVER DO IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU!?” cried Rarity in that overly dramatic signature way the white unicorn had as she pulled Spike into a hug.
“Girls how did you know?” asked Twilight.
“Some night guards came an’ told us a few seconds ago. I told ya you shouldn’t have trusted that fellow!” yelled Applejack.
“Ugh! I should’ve pummeled him when I had the chance!” followed up Rainbow Dash.
“Wait, you girls think Silent did this?” asked Twilight intrigued.
“We don’t think he did it, we know so!” said Applejack.
“Why on earth would you think he did it?” asked Twilight.
“Umm, because that what they told us? Also that he is being taken to Canterlot were he will be judged? An assassination attempt against her own personal student, Celestia will be pretty pissed.” Said, Rainbow Dash.
“Girls, he didn’t do it!” said Twilight.
“Honey, we know you must’ve grown attached to the guy the few days he stayed with you, but there are eye witnesses that saw him grabbing you when you teleported to the hospital.” Said Rarity.
“That’s just it, Rarity. He wasn’t the culprit, he was the savior. This other pony unicorn came into my house at night and tried to kill me. He almost did until Silent took care of him. If Silent hadn’t acted me and Spike would have been dead.” Said Twilight.
“Twilight listen to what you are saying, now why would anypony in their right minds try to kill you?” asked Rarity.
“I don’t know Rarity. But if you don’t believe me please send some guards to my house. You’ll have all the evidence you need.”
“I’m on it!” said Rainbow Dash as she left the room to get the guards.
“I hope we can clear this mess up before Celestia banishes Silent for something he didn’t do.” Said Twilight.
**********
On a prisoner carriage headed to Canterlot was the Spartan being grabbed by all extremities with a magical grip. The guards giving him dirty looks as they carried him to Canterlot. Most of the guards from Canterlot were acquainted with Twilight Sparkle and as such the idea of someone who would try to kill her made them rather angry. Some comments were exchanged about giving him a little bit of punishment themselves and blaming it on a rough patch in the way over to Canterlot. Others spat at the Spartan, as they couldn’t contain the disdain they held over him. The Spartan kept silent the whole way, once he was left alone in the cell he would find a way to escape and then clean his name.
The Spartan was sure of one thing at the moment, and it was that if the Princesses had been merciful the first time they met, this time there would be nothing stopping them from sentencing him into some sort of public execution. The ponies were pissed at what they thought he had done to Twilight and when they find the bodies in the tree house all sort of coherence would be thrown away. He needed Twilight to help him this time from what could very well be a similar situation.
The Night and Solar guards had the Spartan in their custody, nothing he did or tried would be able to stop them. He was glowing as so many multiple parts of his body were being held down simultaneously. His armor crackled with little electric shots, dancing around it as his energy shields were not active, after it burst for the first time. In the way back, the guards stopped and had to find a way to make it so it wouldn’t affect them. They eventually came up with quite an interesting plan, they set up a relay team that would tap into the apparently electrical properties of the suit with their horns and suck out magically the ever growing charge. After a few tries with some of the guards having been shocked into dreamland they perfected the system and managed to avoid the pulses the armor sent. The Spartan was without energy shields and tightened with magic.
The guards had originally expected to reach Canterlot in about a 1 hour long trip in the carriage. It had taken about 5 hours. Carriages were used mainly for royalty, and apparently Celestia had been quite sure about the danger the alien posed. The whole trip had passed completely in silence along with glares of the guards towards the Spartan. Not once did the Spartan tug or attempted escape, but it didn’t stop the guards from practically having him guarded like Hannibal Lector.
When they reached the city, the Spartan was paraded through town like a circus animal going up and all the way into the castle. The ponies all around would stare and make remarks insulting him. This didn’t make the Spartan evoke any emotion. The problem arrived when he was at the castle; guards who once weren’t fond of him were now practically spitting on the soldier. Insults and comparisons towards animals had been thrown his way, and in one occasion an actual rock was thrown at him. He tried to catch it but his hands were completely unable to move, the rock directly impacted the side of his helmet. The Spartan originally was just going to reach Luna and try to explain the situation but they were treating him like trash without having any sort of evidence. This irritated the hell out of the Spartan but he kept calm as long as he could at least to defend his case.
Then Blueblood came. The snobbish unicorn galloped to see the Spartan restrained by the guards and started laughing at him. He walked right beside the Spartan and made comments about his intelligence and how the Spartan was probably about as intelligent as a dog.
“I warned them about you. I told them you were just some animal with metal plating. A brute in all that’s what you are: A non-thinking creature with no sort of rational process whatsoever, but did they listen? No, Auntie Celestia trusted you along with Auntie Luna, sometimes those two can have such dumb ideas. Trust the freak from outer space into royalty missions. As a matter of fact, I think it wouldn’t be too difficult to think that you were a freak among those who were like you, probably the most idiotic too. So undeserving of royalty, it’s a good thing your bowing or else I might not allow you to be graced with my presence animal. You know what’s interesting though? It’s that there are more like you out there. More stupid dirty animals roaming, the mere idea just makes me want to puke!” Blueblood ranted on and on about how good he was, and how bad the Spartan was.
Inside the cage though the Spartan was starting to tug at the magic holding him in place, his strength grew stronger and stronger every second Blueblood kept talking. The guards taking him were starting to grunt in effort, as the Spartan’s blood boiled. Then Blueblood got closer to the cage with his nose up high and proceeded to stare at the Spartan.
“You know, I don’t think that anything like you should even be allowed to live. Such vile and stupid animals should just be put down. Your species isn’t even worthy to live.” Said Blueblood and then spat on the Spartans visor. That was all it took. Something inside the Spartan snapped.
The Spartan burst through the cage and towards Blueblood like lightning, the magical grip all the guards had to him had been ripped apart so fast, the magical backlash knocked most of them out and those who weren’t were too much in pain couldn't do anything. The Spartan grabbed Blueblood by the throat and held him in the air choking the stupid bastard. The Spartan wasn’t seeking his humiliation this time, Blueblood had gone way too far. This time the Spartan wanted blood from the unicorn, he wanted god-tier physical punishment. He lifted his fist backward and would have been covered in Blueblood’s blood already had he not been shot at with a ball of energy that shoved him backwards and thus letting go of the prick. Blueblood fell to the ground wheezing for air as the Spartan was being surrounded by guards that just kept coming, horns were flaring up to life and crossbows were being pointed at him.
“SILENT WARRIOR! SURRENDER AND GIVE IN TO THE PROCESS OF JUDGEMENT! YOU ARE CHARGED WITH THE ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT OF CELESTIA’S PROTÉGÉ, TWILIGHT SPARKLE, AND THE DRAGON SPIKE! SURRENDER AT ONCE!” a voice came from a unicorn between the lines of guards. The Spartan saw the surrounding army only growing bigger and bigger every second.
Blueblood took this as a cue to try and slip away from the chaos hide somewhere safe. It was too bad that he was the Spartan’s target and no one else. A regular Spartan always looked at every option in dangerous situation along with the impacts it could have for the near future. This Spartan though wasn’t regular at all and was blind with rage, punishment was his objective and anyone that got in the way would be effectively “taken care of”. The Spartan spotted Blueblood making his way through the guards into the inside of the castle. Being near the guards training ground gave him a lot of liberty of movement, but it also gave his current aggressors that advantage. His only option was to create a diversion and take them by surprise. The Spartan turned his back on them and went toward the cage, with the injured guards around it.
The guards on the area never let their guard down, but it wasn’t required for what the Spartan did next. In a flash of movement he grabbed the cage flipped it to the side with the bottom exposed towards the surrounding guards, he then grabbed the injured guards and began using them as projectiles keeping one or two close to him to avoid the guards heading towards him from shooting their bolts. He ran towards them and with an unexpected agility, avoiding the bolts of magic that took them by surprise. The Spartan was not only incredibly strong but also as fast as a ballistic missile. When he reached them he threw several well guided punches that sent guards into others making them collapse on the ground. Every punch he threw at the guards made a dent like tin foil into their armor, as some of the ribs, legs, or jaws broke within them.
He saw what looked like a pink beam shoot out of the ground behind some guards and collapse over the whole area in an expanding shield. The Spartan knew better than to be trapped inside when it completely finished closing. He ran directly towards the castle as some guards tried making magical barricades and barrages to stop his movement. He avoided most of the barricades and had to completely ram into soldiers that attempted to tackle him. He then slid through the dirt just in time as the shield closed, and was now staring at a pretty pissed looking white unicorn with blue mane and purple armor.
“You…YOU… YOU TRY TO HARM MY LITTLE SISTER AND SPIKE! AND COME BACK TO DO THIS ON THE VERY GROUNDS I ONCE SWORE TO PROTECT?!? YOU WILL LEAVE THIS PLACE AFTER I'M LAYING COLD DEAD ON THE FLOOR!!!!!!”, finished the Unicorn as he sent multiple shots of pink energy towards the Spartan.
The Spartan assumed this was the very unicorn that had shot the shield behind him. The Spartan ran to take care of him but didn’t realize how the magic shots he had evaded were now following him. He reached the unicorn in time before the magic shots reached him and with a well-placed kick the unicorn smashed into a nearby wall. The magic shots reached the Spartan and connected with his back exploding into pink voluminous flashes of energy. The Spartan was blasted with an enormous force into a hall pillar. The pillar exploded into shards of debris falling everywhere and onto the Spartan himself. The white unicorn grunted in pain after he collapse on the floor before he looked at the pile of rubble and was happy to see no movement. He let go of his magic to rest but then his eyes shot open in disbelief as he saw the Spartan breaking through the concrete and mess. His suit was glimmering with sparks shooting all around it, and stroke fear into the guards around him.
The Spartan’s shields had regenerated somewhere along the time he was fighting the other guards. The shields took all of the damage of the magic blast, but he had taken the direct hit to the pillar and the falling concrete and marble. The Spartan rose from the rubble like a nightmare from the deepest depth of Tartarus. The Spartan looked at the white unicorn who had attempted to stop him from delivering punishment, he had fought well but he was not nor ever would be prepared to take on a Spartan head on. With a hand he clicked a little button to the side of his helmet and a small target appeared with a projected distance. Blueblood was getting away, but punishment was coming for him and it was going to come stronger than ever.
The Spartan began running towards Blueblood at a full sprint, the distance was getting shorter and shorter every second that passed, and the few guards that had been foolish enough to try and stand in his way were rammed to the side or brought down with a punch. Chaos around the whole castle spread as he ran for his objective. Finally he saw Blueblood entering some sort of hall and closing the door behind him. The Spartan broke through the door as splinters flew everywhere. There in one of the corners was Blueblood terrified out of his wits. The Spartan grabbed him by the neck in a choking grip and Blueblood once more flailed about. One of hind legs kicked the Spartan but it was as much help as it would be kicking wall.
The pompous white unicorn was crying once more due to the fear he felt, it seemed that once more he had pissed the wrong guy. The Spartan raised his other arm and formed a fist, last time he had been merciful and let him go with only embarrassment. This time however he was going to make sure he couldn’t blabber anymore, if he was going to be stupid about what he said he would go ahead and take his ability to speak for a while. Nothing to brutal just a broken jaw, maybe he would learn to appreciate the gift of speech. A bright flash of light appeared from behind the Spartan and enveloped the whole room leaving the two individuals blind for mere seconds. Not even the Spartan’s helmet was capable of stopping the light; it was like watching a supernova explosion. The Spartan didn’t even register the shot that was taken at him when he found himself flying through the air at a massive speed. He was able to flip in time to use Blueblood as a cushion as he broke through the wall and fell into a known area of the castle.
The Spartan lay in the gardens of the castle. He had landed near the concrete where the genetic monstrosity used to stand when he first woke up. Blueblood had landed in a bunch of thorn bushes. The Spartan had received quite the hit; it was so hard he was having trouble shaking it off. He wobbly stood up and saw Celestia walking towards him, she looked pissed. Not royally pissed, but pissed nonetheless.
“I trusted you Silent. I thought I could trust you and give you a life here in my kingdom. Give you a second chance, but it seems that I trusted you too much. I was blinded by the conception that everything had good in themselves but not only did you do exactly the opposite of what we had asked of you when we told you to protect the one being in this land that I love almost as much as my sister, but you were brought here and impaired over 45 royal guards and seek to break my nephew both physically and mentally. You live me no chance Silent Warrior, I cannot let you hurt my subjects anymore.” Celestia raging with tears, charged her horn with a massive power and aimed at the Spartan.
The Spartan stood up groggily but getting ready to try and dodge the attack. He had taken quite the beating for a single day. A dark and purple flash of light appeared next to Celestia and there stood Princess Luna along with Twilight and the other Elements of Harmony.
“CELESTIA WAIT!” yelled Luna as the other Elements moved to stop her.
It was too late though as the shot left her horn and directed to the Spartan at an enormous speed. The Spartan tried moving to the side to dodge it but couldn’t as he saw that his leg was glowing in a pink manner. Behind the hole he had come through to the gardens stood the same white unicorn he had fought a second ago. He was visibly bruised and weak but somehow had come all the way to the gardens to aid in the defense against the Spartan. The shot reached the Spartan and he could feel how all of his extremities contorted into pinpricks, it could be described as being compressed enough to passed through a needle head. Then he felt as he expanded once more. He opened his eyes and saw darkness, he saw little lights all around him and then he turned. He saw the sun and to his side he saw the moon. He was floating in space a little too far from the planet to be sucked back in by the gravitational pulls. As a matter of fact he was practically drifting of into space. His suit detected the anomaly in the pressure and initiated the armor lock as the Spartan fell into unconsciousness.
**********
-3 hours before the disaster in Canterlot-
Rainbow Dash trotted inside the hospital room where all the other Elements were waiting for her to confirm what Twilight had been rambling about. She had an unfocused stare, and was noticeably pale. She just came into the room with that thousand yard stare which made everyone in the room worried. Twilight approached her and knew exactly what she had done.
“You went yourself didn’t you?” said Twilight with pity.
Rainbow Dash was at a loss for words, but nodded. It appeared like she hadn’t fully accepted the concept of seeing death. Sure she knew of it and how to it happened but never had she seen murder upfront. In none of the situations she and the other girls had been was there murder involved, sure there was chaos, ponies screaming for their lives, and ponies getting placed inside slimy cocoons but never murder.
“Did you see him?” asked Twilight.
“W-which o-one?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“What do you mean which one, there was only one.”
“Then…Then WHO WERE THE OTHER TWO THAT I SAW!?” yelled Rainbow.
“Two more?!” yelled Twilight as she blanked, “Oh no. The guards?”
Rainbow Dash only nodded as tears formed on her eyes, “I had to drag one inside, since he was thrown in a bush. I-I couldn’t risk anypony finding him too.”
The ponies around the room were either as white as a ghost or looking sick to the core. Fluttershy broke into tears and Pinkie Pie’s hair deflated.
“Lightny and Fido?” said Pinkie as tears fell from her cheeks.
The depressive mood of the room fell more and more as time passed. Rarity was trying to help Spike with the idea of the recently departed. It was a very gruesome thing to think about, but nothing had prepared them to have to actually have talks about such a thing. The six friends always delved into the unknown and dangerous but the idea of actually losing one of themselves hadn’t really hit home, until someone close to them died. Sure the guards weren’t exactly the best of friends, but they were ponies to whom they had met and known for the little while they had been stationed in Ponyville. If losing them hurt so much, what would happen if they ever lost one of themselves? Though the answer could very well be at the doorstep, since their current situation meant that someone had tried to kill Twilight.
It took an hour before the six mares were able to at least start getting the big picture of the situation Twilight was in. Not also that but the other five mares and dragon could very well be used to get to Twilight and harm her. There was just no way of figuring out exactly how their lives would be affected for the next month or two, but evidently enough some plans would have to be made. It took quite the while to be able to lift up the spirit of the group, and even longer to pick up Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were among the first ones to pick themselves up. After them came Rarity, Spike, and Twilight; though Twilight could very well just be pretending to be alright. In the midst of the worries and problems, they had forgotten of the outside world until a knock came to the room.
“Come in.” replied Twilight at which moment the door opened and quickly entered Princess Luna.
“Oh Twilight Sparkle! We are most grateful for your well-being!” she said as she picked up Twilight and hugged her tightly.
“We are truly sorry for having left you with that being. I guess he coming from the stars and being so disoriented made us empathize him, and now we paid the price. I sincerely hope you take our apologies, rest now for we will make sure he pays the ultimate price for such actions!’
“Princess Luna this is not okay.” Said Twilight
“I see we have deeply hurt you, and maybe in the future we shall be able to rekindle our friendship, but right now I have some business with that…” but Princess Luna was interrupted by Twilight.
“No Princess, what I’m trying to say is that Silent didn’t have anything to do with it! As a matter of fact if it hadn’t been for him me Spike would be probably… dead.”
“I do not understand Twilight; the reports say that he was seen appearing here in the hospital with Spike about to die and you with multiple bruises and cuts. We assumed you naturally teleported to an area you could get help for your friend after he tried kidnapping you.”
“That is somewhat true Princess Luna, but not that he wanted to kidnap me or hurt me. There was this other unicorn that came to the library at night and tried to kill us, but definitely not Silent. I’m sad to say that the guards I was appointed to did not have the same fate I did.” Twilight said looking down, “The unicorn had placed me under monumental restraints in order to kill me, and figured to kill Spike first. Then Silent took care of him, I don’t know how he knew I was in trouble, but the issue here is he being punished for a crime he did not commit.”
“If what you’re telling me is indeed true, we must not waste time Twilight Sparkle. We need to go to Canterlot at once, before Silent reaches Celestia. We are afraid of what she has planned, but when she heard of the attempt she went uncomfortably silent.” Said Luna, “All of you except Spike come close to me. I'm guessing you have never teleported in groups before?”
Everypony had bundled near Princess Luna, as her horn began to glow stronger and stronger until an enormous flash appeared and they were gone from the hospital.
They later arrived at Canterlot but were met with the whole guard mobilized and moving on. They threw themselves unto a full gallop and reached the area of the first encounter. The multiple guards laying in their broken bodies, and those who were helping to get them into the infirmary. They all drew the conclusion that whatever Silent was in species, he was very dangerous.
Their moment of shock was broken as an explosion resonated on the other side of the castle. Luna knew where the sound have come from and knew the feeling of her sister’s magic as the shock wave passed through the castle breaking various windows and glassware. She immediately grabbed all the group of mares and teleported them all to the origin of the shock wave.
When they appeared Luna saw the broken wall from which they had access to the area of the castle and also saw Blueblood as a bloody mess in a thorn bush. What grabbed her attention the most though was that she saw Celestia aiming at the Spartan charging her horn fully for what she was going to do. Luna had an idea of what Celestia was going to do, last time she did it the moon had a 1000 year occupant. She had done it with the Elements of Harmony which sent her directly to the moon and binded Nightmare Moon there, but Celestia was very capable herself of teleporting anything that far away. The thing was that she really didn’t know where it would end up and was pretty much a death sentence within itself.
Luna lounged and yelled, “CELESTIA WAIT!” but she was too late. With a flash a burnt piece of land was left of where the Spartan stood once. And a very exhausted Celestia stood staring at where he once was.
**********
When the Spartan had been first disposed by the UNSC he had been on a cryosleep chamber, the thing had probably hit something or broken down when he entered the atmosphere of the planet. Drifting in space completely exposed would kill him in about 14 hours unless he could replenish the oxygen he was losing.
“Wow Celestia can be such a party pooper from time to time cant she?” came a voice from nowhere in particular. The Spartan just drifted off in the solitude of space.
“I mean you’ve caused so much chaos in the time you’ve been in Equestria it's like having my very personal treat. I know I'm supposed to be good now per say, but I mean sometimes one has to unwind right?” continued the voice the conversation.
“I'm so glad you and I had this talk, human, it’s been such a while I saw one of your species. You guys always know how to have fun. Now let’s give you a little push in the right direction shall we? I mean I'm not going to take you back to the castle like a lost child, you’re a big boy now; besides, we wouldn’t want to make things too easy now, would we Spartan?” the voice said as a paw materialized next to the flying soldier and gave a good shove back to the planet.
As the Soldier entered the atmosphere fire enveloped its armor as it fell once again into the planet like the first time. It was definitely going to hurt.
“I have high hopes for you Spartan, I’m sure you’re about to make everything a lot more interesting.” Said the voice as discord materialized with a smug grin on his face.
Falling into a planet’s atmosphere isn’t something any living thing should get used too. Sure the UNSC’s required to enter and leave planets like one leave’s his own room but there is a very big difference between actually descending into a planet and flat out falling. The heat was unbearable and an immense feeling of dread covered your whole nervous system. Then came the actual landing, being in the pinnacle of armor developed by the UNSC meant that when you touched the ground you would feel like humpty dumpty.
The brilliant ball of fire fell into the world this time though instead of conveniently landing in a populated area the Spartan crashed into a somewhat of a soft landing. The metallic biped rolled plenty of times until the sand efficiently stopped him. Under the scolding and unforgiving sun laid the Spartan in armor lock once more. Hours passed completely under the sun in the infernal desert until the Spartan once more woke up. Once woken up he screamed, not because of the pain he felt after falling into the atmosphere, or being given a legendary beating by a magical horse. No he screamed because his armor’s body temperature regulator had finally given up after so many highs and lows with the temperature around him. Being in the sun the whole day just ended up turning him into a walking stove.
The Spartan stood up and took his helmet off for the first time since he had arrived to the god forsaken planet of talking horses. The Spartan looked around desperately to his sides but had no such luck in finding anything remotely looking like water. He did see however what appeared to be a cave of some kind, it wasn’t pretty big but it could offer proper shade against the sun. He ran towards it though the sand didn’t exactly make it a walk in the park and the overheated metal in his body outright made it torture.
When the Spartan finally reached the cave he attempted something no other Spartan had tried before, he tried to take of his armor manually. He failed miserably after 20 minutes of poking and prodding the thing on his chest. The thing felt like the inside of a car that had been left in one the hottest days of the summer the whole day in the parking lot. The heat was so unnerving that the Spartan screamed once more in frustration knowing that he would have to endure the damn thing until the heat dispersed off of it. Thankfully though the sun was setting and he was in a cave.
The Spartan sat against one of the rocky walls and waited for the night; once it came he would start his journey and try to find some sort of civilization where he could get some water and food. After that he had to pay a visit to certain ruler of theirs. He didn’t quite remember how he returned to the planet after being tossed into space but he had strange memories of a voice talking. It was all pretty odd, but he had bigger issues at the moment. He would have to find some water, being in the sun all day long had taken a toll on the Spartan.
*************
Meanwhile in the Grand hall of Canterlot Castle where seven ponies and two alicorns who were arguing. It hadn’t taken too long after Celestia banished the Spartan that Luna got her attention. Shining Armor which had helped ultimately in the banishment reported to the Princesses and asked if they were fine. He looked absolutely trashed, which made Twilight flinch when she saw him. When he saw her though and saw the various bandages he claimed the good off getting rid of the biped. This didn’t help at all as Twilight’s face turned into concern not for her brother but for all the destruction in the castle. The Spartan had really proved the dangerous being he could be that day.
They were able to call a few doctors and guards to help take Blueblood to an infirmary where later was informed of about 45% of broken bones in his body aside from internal bleeding. He would be in bed rest for months and most certainly insufferable. Some doctors secretly wished that his mouth would have been broken too.
Meanwhile after Blueblood was attended to, doctors moved across the entire palace tending to all the guards that had been injured. It was surprising to see that none had received more than a few broken ribs or legs; the nature of their injuries was not to kill but to incapacitate all of them from battle immediately. Shining armor too had broken ribs but that hadn’t stopped him from continuing his mission. He was very angry that so many of his guards had been dealt with by a single creature, after that day every single guard available was placed to a tougher regime of training to avoid anything like that happening again.
Celestia had been informed by Twilight about Silent’s innocence over the incident in Ponyville. She at once sent a group of guards to inspect the tree house and take care of the bodies of the fallen guards and also of the assassin. The news that she had sentenced death to the Spartan was very difficult to tell to the six elements of harmony. He hadn’t been so innocent after what he did to the castle and its occupants but it was not difficult to see that he probably was very angry at such accusations to him; Blueblood had been the one to finally tip the being off according to some guards. Some reports of the treatment he had been given by the castle guards also helped to see the motivations behind Silent’s attack. The guards overall had known Twilight since her childhood years as Celestia’s protégé and were very fond of her. Hearing about someone trying to hurt her made them break the rules of conduct imposed on them. So much destruction and hurt caused for a misunderstanding.
Sure the Spartan would have faced some sort of trial for his attack but it would probably land him once more in the dungeon for a year at the most but not death sentence. And saving the future Princess of Equestria could also as well have taken care of the incarceration time. Needless to say Celestia was not feeling all that well. Celestia reached up with her magic multiple times in search of the Spartan to find the body but it was no longer there. There were two only possibilities; the Spartan had either fallen into the planet or had been thrown into deep space. The latter meaning they would never see him again and he would die. Celestia couldn’t think clearly but she was sure that at the moment she confronted the Spartan that’s what she had wanted to do to him.
She would keep her eyes and ears peeled to any reports of falling objects from the skies for a few weeks, but it was such a small possibility she wouldn’t be able to keep it up. It had been hard to face her personal student after she herself had been teaching her to always gather all the information without acting out. Twilight on the other hand wasn’t completely mad, she was sad; last time she had been with the Spartan she had rejected him and closed the door behind his back. She really hadn’t even tried to start a friendship with him. Showing no expressions or speaking whatsoever had given the Spartan a lifeless robotic look that made it easy to forget the living creature inside. She wished for a while that this had been just a bad nightmare and she would wake up with the metal behemoth sitting in a chair at the lobby.
***********
The Spartan found himself waking up with a jolt. He couldn’t remember exactly when he had fallen asleep or if he actually fell asleep or just simply passed out from being a giant walking stove. The night had already begun and his armor had cooled down. He would be able to start his journey to some sort of environment that didn’t involve him getting cooked medium rare. The Spartan placed his helmet on, stood up, and walked out of the cave. He moved through endless sand dunes and from time to time saw various small animals like snakes, scorpions, and lizards move around the place. Some had been selected to become the Spartan’s next meal. The journey had been long for a while and the cold of the night made him shiver a little but his resolution was strong. Having survived an intergalactic war, the void of space, and falling twice into a planet’s atmosphere a measly desert was among the last things down the list of ‘stupid reasons to die for’ in the Spartan’s head.
As he moved through the desert he found a small oasis with some vegetation to its sides. The Spartan ran towards the small haven and fell on his knees when he saw the most beautiful thing he’d seen for a while. He saw the crystalline water on the oasis just waiting for him, alluring him with its beauty. The Spartan took his helmet off and drank the water eagerly as the fresh liquid entered his body and hydrated him. The Spartan knew that finding such a thing was a little too good to be true and that his possibilities of find anything like it again were close to zero. He would have to take some water with him one way or another. And he really didn’t have that much time to try and weave a basket out of the nearby vegetation.
The Spartan grabbed one of the snakes he had with himself and ripped it head off. He then did something he never thought he have to do; he filled the insides of the snake with water. The fact that snakes could expand their stomachs to deal with large prey really came in handy but was utterly disgusting. He could have used his helmet but he wouldn’t risk it to be damaged by water. Once the Spartan had rested he took off once more with is impromptu water pouch into the desert. By the time he had found some sort of shelter from the heat of the day, the sun had already ascended into the sky. The Spartan laid himself in his new shelter cave which was a whole lot smaller than the last one and went to sleep.
The Spartan’s journey was long, and some days were longer than others as his water depleted. It took a while but eventually the Spartan found his boots stepping on harder ground every mile he walked. He looked around and saw that several mountains where surrounding him, at least this new sun trap had some sort of vegetation and life. He had given it his all and had finally reached solid land, sadly though he hadn’t found water in well over four complete days since his last drop of water. He had exploited all other resources he could and done some things only done in the most desperate of times. The Spartan’s dehydrated body couldn’t take it anymore, he tumbled to the ground like a stack of cinderblocks and blacked out. His body had done what it could but even a Spartan had its limits, and though their bodies were made for battle and survival there was only so much one could do with the materials given to them.
*************
A few days had passed and things had returned to normal, or as much as they could with Twilight staying back at Canterlot castle to have bigger security. Both princesses still hid the fact that many death threats had been made to Twilight and so they kept her in the castle behind the pretense of doing it while they found the pony who originally hired the assassin. It hadn’t been that difficult that whoever it was had to be among the nobles that issued the threats and the princesses would have found him or her almost immediately but had to have something in order to keep Twilight in the castle. If she were to leave there was no telling how many others would try the same and how much more security they would have to send to Ponyville.
Celestia had to issue a statement towards Canterlot about the incident at the castle as word about it spread panic over the city. She apologized over it and made it pass as an attack response test for the guards to see how well they would manage. This seemed to appease many of the paranoid ponies and gave them an ease of mind. On the other hand she still had no news of anything falling from the skies, she had ordered to be informed of other anomalies immediately but it had come to no avail as no such news came. Celestia had tried to speak to the elements of harmony to make things right and even though they accepted her apology it seemed that now they were distant towards her. The six mares had seen something dark about the princess that they just couldn’t shrug it off, something about her not being all compassionate and forgiving as they had once made her out to be.
Luna had tried to speak on behalf of her sister to the elements and tried to gain their confidence towards her sister once more as she herself knew how easy it was to slip like that. It seemed that the wound was still too fresh and it would take some time for it to heal. Both alicorn sisters just wished that the wound would eventually heal and things would be once more what they were before the metallic being.
A few days had passed since the incident and Celestia was in her bed chambers getting some much needed shut eye after a day with some very pompous nobles raiding the day court. They hadn’t been the first ones to come and try to make their disapproval of a new princess heard; at least they were just trying to stop the coronation rather than taking advantage of it like others. A rather unprecedented number of snobs had shown to the palace seeking to see Twilight Sparkle during those days. Word had gotten out of her staying in the castle and every single noble who thought about gaining power had schemed to court Twilight in order to be some sort of prince when she rose to the throne. Luna had respectfully intercepted them and told them that she would personally shove their horns or other extremities of theirs so far up their rumps not even the elements of harmony would be able to get them out. Celestia really needed this sleep or else she might snap and accidentally snap someone’s neck.
A rather frantic knock came to Celestia's door, her eyes shot open as a small flame ignited in her eyes. Her sleep time was one of the most sacred things around the castle; among the things not to be disturbed were Twilight, Luna, and the royal cake reserves. She stood from her bed and moved with a stomp towards her door, she was about to make whomever was behind that door wish the idea never had crossed their minds. She opened the door and her bloodshot eyes went directly to the small pony that stood in front of it. He was a simple messenger of the Royal castle. The messenger felt as his soul was being ripped from his body the moment he made eye contact with the princess and he was transfixed with a glare that would kill most ponies.
“Y-Yo-Your H-Highness?” said the pony as he tried to bow, but his legs were so wobbly it was more of a face-plant. When he raised he lifted the small scroll to her for she to take it.
“This better be of the utmost importance Swift Foot.” Celestia said as she grabbed the scroll with her magic and unrolled it. As she read it her eyes practically bulged out of their sockets at the message contained within.
“Swift Foot, go grab my sister from night court and tell her I must see her at once. This is a very important matter.” Said Celestia as the messenger ran through the hall for her sister.
If the message was right maybe there was a chance to make things right again. Maybe she still had a chance to regain Twilights trust.
*************
*Three days earlier*
The Spartan came back to his sense and found himself inside a jail cell, the thing was pretty rustic. The walls where made of concrete and the bars made of steel, and the rest of the building seemed to be built out of wood. That wasn’t what grabbed the Spartan’s attention though, he saw that in a desk just a little out of reach was what appeared to be a huge glass of water. Having lost his sanity by water deprivation the Spartan bended and broke the jail cell as if the bars were made out of paper clips. He grabbed his trophy and drank it all down in a single swig.
‘DEAR GOD ALMIGHTY IN THE HEAVENS ABOVE! I might not believe in you but I might if you keep sending me signals like those of the past few days!’ thought the Spartan as the water travelled down his throat.
The Spartan looked around and saw that not very far there was a door, he placed his helmet on and walked outside of the apparent prison and met with the eyes of all the ponies trotting around the area. They met him with a stare that showed the most intense fear he had ever seen, these ponies probably didn’t even know he was sentient. The Spartan tried to initiate communications but at once ever pony on the scene panicked and ran, some others got behind cover and started throwing food towards him as projectiles. Apples and for some reason apple pies were thrown from ponies towards him as means of subduing him.
‘Holy crap, if this is how ponies try to attack outside invaders everywhere I’m starting to think it wouldn’t be bad to invade and pillage towns every so often!’ thought the Spartan as he snatched all the food thrown at him with precision before it touched the ground or hit him.
The Spartan looked around and saw a bag thrown on the ground, probably from one of the first ponies to panic, and filled it up with the food he was getting. Now if only he would be able to find some water that would just make his day. He looked around and saw what looked like a tavern, he was about to fill out the part of pillaging. The Spartan really wasn’t one to create chaos and bring pain to anyone but his enemies, but being stranded in the desert for long enough time sure took a toll on someone’s decency and morals.
He entered the tavern and ponies once more threw things at him, though this time there were more chairs, glasses, and bottles involved. The Spartan evaded most things and once in a while a brave pony or two tried tackling him, they were foolish. The Spartan might have been quite weak after his journey but that didn’t mean he was any less of a super soldier, he could still fight these ponies with three of his four extremities tied. He evaded most idiots who thought they could stop him but some got lucky and actually kicked him; those were the ones who were knocked into dreamland. He went behind the counter and found what he was searching for, a full 5 gallon water container. This was the Spartan’s birthday gift; he grabbed the container and his bag of goodies and moved towards the door. He could see the semi-circle of dots in his sensors but thought better than going into an obvious ambush. He instead opted to go through the back door.
*an hour later*
After he saw the ambush he headed for the back of the tavern and saw that no backdoor was available he generously made a new backdoor for the owners of said tavern by pummeling through a thick wall of lumber. Once out he moved into the desert and was now a few miles away from the town. He had picked up a track and was moving with it towards whatever town it had in place. He took several breaks to drink water and eat up to regain his energy and after a day or two he was back to his potential, though he would need to invade another town since his food had already been consumed. The town he found was a little too close to be convenient and it was too similar too. Whatever this magical land was it still offered too many convenient things for its living creatures. It was no mystery its inhabitants were so easy to take care of. The only things that were an apparent threat were the unicorns and that was because they used magic in battle.
He had some pending business with a certain white alicorn princess after all. He wasn’t going to attempt regicide just yet because he understood he somewhat deserved a punishment. But death was a little over the line. He had given it thought and already had made his mind about what he would do next time he saw the princess.
‘When I see that bitch, I’m going to punch her right in face’, thought the Spartan. It seemed really stupid and quite frankly a little small of a payback for being given the death sentence. But taking a Spartan’s strength seriously he could practically punch her hard enough that her head would just downright rip off her neck and fly out. That or explode into millions of pieces all over the room.
He had to be methodical about it and plan it quite well or it could land him in a full on war against the ponies. And it would be a pain in the ass having a whole country against you, besides there still was the other alicorn to think about. The Spartan did as he did back when Twilight had thrown him out of the library. He hid in the forest and through it he went to the apple farms and stole sustenance. He wondered how much time he would have to do in jail to make up for all the apples he had stolen.
He could see Canterlot all the way back from Ponyville and he knew where to go. His journey was not finished until the white horse had received her special fist lollipop package. He packed his new rations and left for Canterlot, it would take some time but he was sure he could cut through the trip fairly easily; after all he had all the motivation he needed.
***********
Luna and Celestia flew through the night sky back to Canterlot, they had both sorrow on their faces. Upon reaching Appleloosa they were informed of the escaped of the being they had sent the message of. It had taken quite the while for the darn message to be delivered and it had already been about one or two days since the creature had escaped. None knew where it had headed. At first relief was what appeared on Celestia’s face as she had been finally informed that the being had not died in the void of space and was indeed alive. Then a frown formed as he escaped and vanished just as he had been found to be alive. Celestia would have guard squads deployed to find him, she wanted to apologize but this being probably wouldn’t want to see her again.
Luna had seemed initially happy but then sorrow overtook her as she remembered how quick she was to mark him as an enemy. She hated to have so many contradicting emotions and actions, she almost felt like she wasn’t in control anymore. She would personally try and find the Spartan, she had finally finished her communication spell and she wanted to get some answers out of the Spartan. And maybe if she tried hard enough there could be some sort of alliance formed of trust between both her and him.
Both alicorns arrived at the castle and made their way to the throne room to plan some sort of search strategy. They moved along the quiet halls of the castle and found it rather silent with almost half of the guard still hospitalized. When they reached the throne room doors they noticed that both guards in there were knocked out. They moved swiftly and opened the doors with their magic. Upon entering they saw the one thing they were hinted was in there. In the complete darkness of the room was the Spartan sitting in the throne waiting for them both hands locked together.
“Silent!”, yelled Celestia as she moved towards him.
The Spartan stood from the throne and moved towards Celestia in a brisk pace, the pace turned into small yet fast jog, and finally into a sprint.
“I am so glad you’re alive!” said Celestia expecting him to stop any moment to meet her. He wasn’t stopping. It took Celestia too long to realize the Spartan didn’t intend to get all warm and fuzzy after his return.
‘Hi! I come from Space Package Co. You’ve been sent a package! PLEASE SIGN HERE!’ The Spartan thought as his sprint doubled in power and strength as his arm lifted.
“Silent?” asked Celestia as she stopped moving towards him but he was already upon her. Then all the world faded into darkness.
Luna stood in shock at what she had just witnessed in front of her own eyes. Not five minutes had passed after finding the Spartan that he ran towards her sister and sucker punched her into oblivion. Celestia flew backwards and smashed against a wall leaving her indentation marked, she was out like a light. Luna’s horn flared and she grabbed the Spartan as her rage consumed her, she grabbed the Spartan and started smashing him against everything in the throne room. Windows, chairs, pillars, and walls shattered against the Spartan as he was treated like a rag doll. Finally he was smashed against the floor leaving a crater behind. Once Luna calmed down she looked at the state she had left the whole room in. The maids and builders of the castle would be very pissed at her; after all they had to fix already various parts of the castle after the attack. She looked back at where she left the Spartan a found him missing from the small crater. When she looked to her side she met a gold visor staring at her.
She was about to reflectively use her magic when a hand gripped her horn and another her neck effectively stopping her magic and keeping her at bay. The Spartan shook his head and let go of the Princess of the night. He took a step back and limped towards Celestia, Luna had really given him a beating. Once with her he grabbed her by her leg and dragged her all the way back to the throne room where he gestured Celestia’s horn and Luna’s mane. Luna understood the message, a little bit of the reason behind the Spartan’s initial actions. (You know being sent to die in space and such)
“Silent do you really think hostilities should be the best first step to take in order to reach a peaceful agreement?” asked Luna.
‘I don’t know you princess but I’m not very fond of falling into the earth more than once every lifetime. I’d like to see you fall to the earth and be all happy and giddy after meeting the ground!’ thought the Spartan as he pointed at Luna then the sky and finally gestured his fist smacking into the ground.
“Regardless of what you went through Silent, how do you expect my sister to react once she finally wakes up?”
‘I don’t know, but if she sends me up in space I’ll come back a shove my foot up her ass this time.’ Thought the Spartan and shrugged.
“Come, we’ll have to take her to her bed and somehow find a way for her to calm down when she wakes up.” Said Luna as she made way to her sister’s bed chambers.
The Spartan grabbed Celestia’s back leg and dragged her behind him like a small child would a raggedy anne doll. Once there he just grabbed Celestia and threw her into the bed. He didn’t want to admit it but after his experience in the desert he had developed somewhat of hatred for the sun and might be venting it towards Celestia. He looked at Luna as she looked at him with a grim smile in her face.
‘What’s with this mare’s smile that always makes me feel like she is some sort of escaped convict serial killer?’ thought the Spartan.
Princess Celestia woke up the very next day in what she could only explain as a horribly uncomfortable position. Her head ached with the intensity of ten thousand suns, but as she attempted to massage her head she found herself unable to move. Her whole body had been incased in a bright pink crystal prison that reached up to her neck. Her eyes widened and looked around to see that in front of her was her very own sister grinning manically.
“L-Luna? W-what’s going on? And why do I feel like the friendship express rammed against my head?” Celestia asked.
“Oh don’t worry about that sister as I already took care of it, as a matter of fact that is why I’m here right now!” Luna replied with glee.
“Lulu you’re going to have to be more specific than that, and if you can please pass me some migraine pills. The strong ones, not those weak ones they give out at the hospitals,” Celestia said.
“Of course dear sister.” replied Luna as a few pills popped into Celestia’s mouth.
“Thank you, now, can you explain to me why I seem to be your hostage?” Celestia asked.
“Well I thought that if we were going to do this then we would have to make sure you could stay calm,” Luna said.
“Calm for what? Luna I don’t see-“ Celestia said before Luna’s horn began glowing brightly and Celestia’s crystal rock rotated to see behind her where a fully crystalized Spartan was. Well his head was somewhat free of crystals but that was it, he couldn’t even turn his head if he wished to do so.
In a flash the memories of the past night rolled through Celestia’s head; the worry of him being lost and the relief of him actually having come back. That was until the very vivid image of a fist headed towards her face appeared. The temperature in the room seemed to rise as Celestia grinded her teeth.
“I can see that you now remember what happened yesterday Sister, and that’s why I took the precaution to place both of you inside these crystals. Quite ingenious isn’t it? Now we are all going to have a good calm conversation and we’ll-“ Luna said before the distinct sound of a magic blast filled the room as the crystalized Spartan flew out through a hole in the wall and onto the training grounds.
The crystal on the Spartan shattered like glass as he hit the ground leaving him grunting in pain, such a thing happens when your armor doesn’t lock up.
‘Luna I trusted you,’ the Spartan thought.
Luna looked in shock at what happened and then saw the crystal around her sister melt away from her body before she flew through the hole in the wall. Luna approached the hole and saw the quite tremendous fall as well as her sister descending upon the Spartan whilst engulfed in flames.
“Huh, how did I forget about her horn?” Luna asked to herself as she looked back into the room where a broken magic dispersion ring rested as smoke rose from it, “Well I’ll be, seems like I didn’t. Uh oh,” she said before she too flew from the room into the soon to be battlefield.
The Spartan had finally stood up when a ball of flames collided with him and sent him to the ground, on top of him stood none other than Princess Celestia as she raised her hooves to give a stomp.
The Spartan raised both of his legs and promptly wrapped them over the Princess’s torso as he swiftly sent her flying back to the other side of the training grounds and smashed into the ground herself. The guards had begun to alert the others as some begun to take action and tried to attack the Spartan. They raised their spears and approached before a booming voice came from none other than Celestia herself, “DO NOT INTERFERE! HE IS MINE!!!”
Celestia propped herself up as the guards paused in their progress as their princess lunged at the Spartan. Celestia made for a tackle before the Spartan side stepped and pulled her from the collar into the ground in a resounding smash. He approached her before a leg bucked him in the jaw, sending him flying into the training dummies. Celestia took the time to stand up and began shooting spell after spell where the Spartan had crashed through.
“SISTER! STOP THIS AT ONCE!” Luna yelled as she arrived at the training grounds.
Celestia ignored her as a massive charged ball of electricity was hurled towards the Spartan’s position. The explosion shook the ground as the blinding light and deafening sound subsided, by then guards were pouring out of the castle, some of them covered in bandages. Among them were Princess Cadance and former guard captain Shining Armor; Twilight Sparkle had yet to appear.
“What is going on!?” Princess Cadance asked.
“It seems that my sister and Silent Warrior are in some sort of kerfuffle.” Said Luna
“Silent Warrior? Wasn’t he supposed to be dead,” Shining Armor asked in irritation before getting jabbed in the side by his wife.
“Shiny play nice, you know that was a misunderstanding,” Cadance said.
“Yeah I guess,” Shining said as the whole training ground stood still and in silence for a while, “What’s going on now though?” he asked
“I’ll tell you what happened Prince Shining Armor,” Celestia said through gritted teeth, “Mr. Warrior came back from space only to punch me in the face.”
“WHAT!?” screamed both Shining Armor and Cadance.
“Sister you sent him to die in outer space!” reminded Luna.
“Yes! And now I’m going to break his legs!” Celestia yelled back before a pony dummy smashed into her face while she was distracted.
‘Not if I get to you first,’ the Spartan thought as he grabbed another dummy and flung it at the alicorn.
“What kind of warrior without honor attacks at an opponent’s back!?” Celestia screamed in frustration before vaporizing the second dummy.
‘Those who are alive,’ the Spartan thought as he took the time to flank her from the side.
“Princess, to your right!” Shining Armor yelled as Princess Celestia turned in time to pull up a shield as the Spartan’s fist collided with it.
Cracks formed where he struck and a reverberating sound came out of which the ponies flinched as well as the Princess inside who closed her eyes and covered her ears. This broke her concentration as the shield vanished. The Spartan tackled the Princess to the ground and raised his fist before four auras of magic formed around his body pertaining to the four royals of the area. Only wanting to get him off of Princess Celestia turned into ejecting the Spartan far into the air until he was but a mere dot in the sky.
“I think we over did it,” Luna said as the dot began falling back down as it turned bright yellow like a meteor falling down.
“What in Tartarus is he doing?” Princess Luna asked before her eyes widened and saw the Spartan headed towards Celestia with a kick as fire blazed over him at the speed and force he was getting.
Up in the sky the Spartan had engaged the armor lock and was aiming for Celestia like a kinetic missile. ‘I told you next time you did that I would be sticking my foot up your ass Celestia!’ he thought as the ground came faster and faster.
Shining Armor didn’t wait for the Spartan to touch ground before he erected a shield over all the ponies on the ground; his wife Princess Cadance erected a shield right beneath it. Celestia underneath was charging up a magical blast that aimed right for the Spartan. All of them were unaware of the purple alicorn who had just arrived on scene.
“WHAT THE HAY IS GOING ON HERE!?” she yelled as all the ponies looked at her.
As soon as they did the Spartan impacted against the first shield and blasted though it like a bullet and then smashed through the second like a bulldozer, Celestia having been distracted missed her shot by a few inches which grazed the Spartan enough to change his trajectory and smashed into the middle of the ground between all of the royals which ended up with an explosion of ground and rock as a seismic wave made the world shake.
The world stood still as the Spartan rose from the crater as the dust settled. The Princess and Prince of the Crystal Empire rubbed their heads as they clumsily attempted to keep standing. Luna simply looked blankly at Twilight Sparkle and Celestia seemed scared of her student seeing her like this.
“Umm, Silent Warrior and Celestia were just having a sparring match!” Luna interjected which got a resounding “WHAT!?” from every single spectator on the field. Even the Spartan looked quizzically at Luna.
“Yes that is exactly what’s going on right everypony?” Luna asked with the fakest smile she had ever given since telling Blueblood she wouldn’t sell him to a band of pirates were she given the chance.
“Yesssssss, that is indeed exactly what we are doing Twilight,” Celestia said sheepishly.
“What are you ponies talking about? Celestia and that thing were-“ Shining Armor said before Cadance’s horn began glowing and his eyes turned into pinpricks and began watering, “I mean, sure yeah thatsexactlywhattheyweredoing!” he said in a far higher pith than normal.
Cadance didn’t say anything as her horn stopped glowing and she looked at the suddenly very interesting stone pillar to her side while whistling a catchy tune.
The Spartan looked dumbfounded at all the ponies as he caught the frantic look Celestia had in her eyes while looking at him. For a second there he thought about outright telling Twilight what was going on but he remembered his inability to convey specific messages. He sighed as he looked at Twilight and shrugged.
‘You owe me Sunbutt,’ the Spartan thought.
An awkward silence reigned as Twilight’s expression turned from intrigue to irritation.
“You know what? I don’t even want to know. Not the fact that Silent is somehow back from the grave. Not the fact that the whole training grounds looks like a war took place here. Not even the small fire on Princess Celestia’s tail. I’m just going to turn around, go back to the library and if any of you feel like you need me please don’t search for me. You can explain to me what happened at a later date,” Twilight said as she turned around and left.
‘Heh, I like her attitude,’ the Spartan thought.
As soon as she was out of sight every single one of the Royals and guards in the area let out the breath of air they were holding.
Celestia was suddenly reminded of something Twilight said as a trail of smoke hit her nose, “Ahhh!” she screamed as she galloped in circles, “Put me out! Put me out!”
‘As you wish,’ the Spartan thought as he cracked his neck and cocked his fist back, ‘Come here so I can put you out of our misery!’
He didn’t take two steps in before a giant gush of water fell on both Celestia and him as they both stood in shock. Both of them looked simultaneously towards a certain dark alicorn holding a rather grey cloud. They both looked at each other and nodded before moving towards Luna.
It took a while before the message clicked for Luna as her expression turned from curiosity to fright as her horn glowed and the cloud floated between them.
“STAY BACK! I HAVE CLOUD AND I WILL NOT FEAR USING IT!” Luna said while wrapping her hooves around the cloud and cocking it like a gun. *Cha-cuck*
The Spartan stared at her quizzically before he had to duck and roll as a lightning bolt shot from the cloud in his direction. This seemed to set off alarms for every pony as they all ducked for cover. Celestia and the Spartan found themselves behind a bunch of broken training dummies as they figured out a plan to take Luna down.
“Alright, here’s how we do this: you go and take a lightning strike the team as I take the opportunity to ram her,” Celestia said.
‘Or! OR! You can go fuck yourself!’ the Spartan thought as he flipped her “the bird” in a clown in the box gesture.
“Good to have you on board!” she said as her horn and the Spartan wedged himself into the ground.
“Come on don’t be such a baby! It’s only a lightning bolt!” Celestia grunted as she tried to pry the Spartan off the ground.
‘Fuck off you mad horse!’ the Spartan thought as he changed his grip from the ground and latched onto Celestia.
“What are you doing!?” she yelled in panic as the Spartan jumped out of cover with her in tow.
‘If I fry you fry with me!’ he thought as Luna aimed at them in time for them to look at her in panic.
They attempted to duck for cover once more before a bolt of lightning struck the dummies and blew them to pieces.
“HUZZAH! You have nowhere to go now!” yelled Luna.
Both the Spartan and Celestia seemed to come to the same conclusion and took to charging at Luna from different directions. Luna attempted shooting Celestia but it was to no avail as the lightning was stopped by a shield. She then aimed at the Spartan only for the electricity to course through the soldier and down to the ground without making him flinch. Luna yelped as she was tackled to the ground by both parties. Celestia proceeded to tickle the crap out of her sister as the Spartan went the more aggressive way and gave her a noogie. Luna had never been laughing and grunting in pain at the same time, but I guess there’s a first time for everything.
Luna gasped for air before Celestia got on top of her and held her down as the Spartan knelt beside her.
“W-what are you doing?” Luna asked.
‘And now for the piece de resistance…’ the Spartan thought as he lifted his helmet a little and stuck his finger into his mouth.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?”Luna screamed in fright as Celestia held her firmly and the Spartan really soaked his finger.
The Spartan took his finger out as the helmet fell back on and began approaching the Princess’s ear with it.
“NO! STAY AWAY! YOU PSYCOPATHS! STOP! SOMEPONY! ANYPONY! HELP!!!!” she said as the Spartan gave her a wet willy. The first wet willy in Equestria came to be as Luna lost consciousness.
Both the Spartan and Celestia stood up and nodded to each other before looking back and seeing the whole community of ponies looking at them like they were maniacs.
“I guess we both made mistakes don’t you think?” Celestia asked without looking at the Spartan.
The Spartan nodded as both of them began walking away from the unconscious princess of the night and into the castle. None of the ponies present stood in their way.
“What do you say we let bygones be bygones and start a new chapter? A ceasefire if you like?” Celestia asked while the Spartan seemed to mull it over.
“I know what I did was exaggerated but you need to understand that Twilight is very special to me, I would do anything for her. When I thought you of all ponies had tried to harm her I just didn’t think straight. Please would you allow us to start over, it would really mean a lot to me and her,” Celestia asked.
The Spartan looked at her for a brief moment as they stopped in the halls, ‘By all rights I should be allowed to kill you but for some reason I find myself unwilling to do so. Huh… this place must be getting to me,’ the Spartan thought before he shrugged and raised his hand.
Celestia stared quizzically at it before the Spartan took the initiative and snatched her hoof and began to promptly shake it and her in extension with possibly more force than was needed. Celestia was left stumbling as she dizzily regained her balance, “ThanK..YOoooUU.” she said still slightly dazed.
The Spartan nodded before making his way towards the castle’s kitchen, it had been a long day after all and he found himself in need of something delicious.
‘Who knows, maybe these ponies aren’t so bad,’ the Spartan rounded a corner before a full entourage of guards appeared in front of him.
“HALT FOUL BEAST!” cried the leader
‘Or maybe not,’ he thought before getting ready to pummel through the ponies. The kitchens had something he wanted and nothing would stand in his way.
*I would like to thank both Requiem17 and Nanofield for making this new chapter possible.
Celestia trotted happily to the Library. Having made up some sort of agreement with the Spartan meant not only would she be able to finally take that load off her conscience but also extended an opportunity to fix the strained relation with Twilight. Lately she has been witnessing Celestia in rather unfortunate situations where she revealed less than dignifying behavior. She guessed it was only natural for her to begin to see Celestia as more of an equal than rather the immaculate pinnacle of perfection most of her subjects thought her to be. Who knows, maybe if things worked right Twilight, Luna, and her could probably enjoy doing more casual things like fighting Timberwolves in the Everfree Forest or seeing who can survive the cockatrice’s stare the longest! It has been a while after all, who knows what young ponies do for fun this days.
Yep, it was definitely going to be good to finally have another alicorn to keep her company. Somepony to rule the land as she and her sister guided her into becoming an efficient Princess of the Land and be able to take over their duties as both she and her sister went off on a much needed vacation. What a great plan. Of course she first has to have her coronation ceremony though, and hopefully the Spartan would accept to follow through with Twilight’s protection. Things had gone awry after all but it was possible to fix things up as long as certain measures were taken. Celestia would need to play her cards right and manage up to the smallest detail.
Celestia was so engrossed in her thoughts that she had barely noticed the Castle library before almost slamming into its doors. Guards would usually be there to open them for her but it seems that the castle was running very low on guards as of late. She would need to speak to Silent about it as she couldn’t be having a coronation ceremony with all the guards hospitalized. Celestia opened the doors and walked into the library expecting to see her prized student right by her usual library corner and encased in a book fort of her own creation. The book fort was there but her student wasn’t, she turned to the librarian to enquire her student’s whereabouts.
“Good morning Tender Composure, is there any way you could help me find my student Twilight Sparkle?” Celestia asked warmly.
Tender bowed before the princess and then replied, “Of course your highness, Miss Sparkle has been here since dawn. It was when those terrifying noises came from outside the castle that she decided to investigate. When she came back and I inquired about them she said something about something being ridiculous and needing something to eat. If I were to guess Miss Sparkle would be located in the Royal kitchens your Highness.”
“That was rather informative Miss Composure, have a nice day,” Celestia said before making to leave. She was almost out before Tender called out to her, “Princess Celestia?”
Celestia looked back, smiling warmly at her before asking, “Yes Miss Composure?”
“Well I just wanted to ask if there was something going on in the castle, you know with those absolutely terrifying noises anypony would think we were under attack. And, well, your white coat is kind of singed,” Tender Composure pointed to a dark hair on her back where Luna’s lightning had graced.
“Oh don’t worry about it my little pony; it is as my student says. Just some ridiculous set of events,” Celestia replied and with that she left the library.
Once outside she immediately searched for a mirror or something that could be used as such and found an overly polished window of the castle. She saw herself in a rather uncouth light as she was worse for wear than Miss Composure told her initially. Her mane was a mess (it even flowed erratically), her usually pristine white coat had dirty smudges and singes all over, and a few small bruises where beginning to show up from the whole ordeal.
‘How did I not notice this before?’ Celestia thought before her horn lit up and her coat began shimmering as well as her mane getting straightened out and groomed. It was an efficient little trick she had come up a few centuries ago in situations where the land was more prone to accidents and she needed to look well to address her subjects.
‘Now where was I? Oh yes! Twilight!’ Celestia thought as she made her way towards the kitchen. She would take the time to figure out how to break the recent events to her student. She wondered what Twilight was thinking at that moment.
The Spartan pummeled through the barricade the guards had made as per protocol and had a steady path towards the kitchen. The guards had been yelling and jumping at him trying to worthlessly grapple him to the ground. The guards that intercepted seemed to consist of only earth ponies and pegasi though which meant their threat was of low priority.
The Spartan moved without effort through the halls as the guards shot their spears and what not at him. From time to time he had to duck or sidestep tackled attempts but all in all they really didn’t hinder his movement by much, his shield would only light up from time to time with a few well-placed punches and kicks but they weren’t consistent enough to drain the shield enough for it to collapse. The Spartan had a repeated experience as he walked with multiple guards latched onto him with the stupid hope that they might stop him, if they had brought some of those unicorns they might have stood a chance at making him take them seriously. Maybe even if they worked together and attacked at the same time, but they were disorganized and most didn’t think much before attacking blindly. If this is how their inside military worked he was frightened to think how incompetent the other creatures of the land were if this was the biggest kingdom.
The Spartan had made quite the progress and finally saw the doors to the dining area, it would be impossible to be serviced or eat in piece with a bunch of ponies endlessly trying to harm him. The Spartan stopped dead in his tracks as the guards seemed to separate from him in apprehension of his sudden stop. They anticipated his next move, expecting a full out attack on them, some gave out a prayer for the sun to protect them. The stories of the bipedal behemoth and what he was capable of doing were upright unnerving, not to talk about the state of their fellow guards currently in the infirmary. The palpable silence was unbearable as beads of sweat began to roll down the heads of some of the guards. Some of them gripped their spears tightly as they imagined the worst case scenario and before they knew it the Spartan acted.
Some of the guards instinctively flinched and backpedalled while others braced themselves. Strange where the ones who actually stood their ground and waited for the inevitable fight. Of course none of them were able to fully comprehend what had happened as the Spartan launched himself forward with an incredible speed leaving them all behind. The only guards that received any fight at all where the ones in front of the Spartan, as they were rashly thrown to the sides. It took them a while to come out of their stupor but when they did all they saw was the door to the dining room being closed.
The guards jumped to action and pursued him, slamming into the doors at full strength only to be thrown backward. The doors were sealed tight and the Spartan had somehow barricaded inside within record time.
Inside the dining room everything was at peace. A few nobles or castle staff where there for breakfast as well as a certain purple alicorn. It didn’t last though as the doors to the dining hall were all but ripped from their hinges as the Spartan raced inside and without further notice began piling up tables and what not against the doors in an impromptu barricade. The few guards that were stationed inside and those who were eating breakfast jumped at the Spartan before the soldier turned and with a few well-placed hits they fell unconscious. He unceremoniously grabbed their bodies and placed them on the barricade as well.
The whole Dining room and kitchen was in chaos as nobles and maids screamed in panic and backed against a corner in the room. The Spartan turned to look at the ensuing destruction and shrugged as he went directly towards the purple alicorn.
“SILENT! What is the meaning of this!?” Twilight yelled as she rose from her seat and walked towards the super soldier, “Not one morning in Canterlot after I find out you are alive and you’re already causing trouble! Do your people know nothing of restraint or social etiquette!?”
All the ponies seemed in shock at how the small little alicorn had seemingly stood up and given a verbal lashing to the metallic demon. She would surely be destroyed where she stood as well as getting her soul ripped out of her and serving as the demon’s breakfast.
‘Maybe if you ponies would shut the hell up and leave me in peace for a while we wouldn’t clash so much Sparkles,’ the Spartan thought as he extended his arm in invitation towards Twilight.
“What are you playing at?” Twilight asked at the hand before abruptly being picked up by the Spartan, “W-what are you doing Silent!? Put me down this instant!” she yelled in surprise.
The Spartan went towards the Royal dining table where he gently placed Twilight down and promptly motioned her to sit. As she did he took to sitting on the other side as he gracefully moved with a patience and smoothness that simply felt wrong to him. Twilight was confused at the whole ordeal.
“Uh, Thank you?” she said.
‘I can be well mannered too Miss Sparkle if the occasion requires it,’ the Spartan thought, wishing she could hear him.
The waiter shakily moved up to both of them and asked for their choice of breakfast. A simple order of oats with tea for Twilight as well as an order of scrambled eggs and water for the Spartan. Without a second thought the waiter all but ran away from the ‘guests’ towards the kitchen as silence reigned. Not even the ponies from the other dining room made a squeak.
“Listen umm, Silent, I feel like I should apologize for everything that’s happened. Maybe if I had informed the Princess of what had happened faster I might have been able to avoid this whole mess. You wouldn’t have ended up wherever you did and about 45% of the castle’s guards wouldn’t be assigned to bed rest,” Twilight said with a downtrodden demeanor.
The Spartan simply raised a hand to stop her and gave her a thumbs up before doing something he didn’t think he would be doing for anyone ever. He raised his helmet just enough so Twilight would be able to see the small smile he had. The tension between both of them seemed to disappear into the air as Twilight smiled at him.
“Silent! Are you smiling!?” she exclaimed in surprise before the Spartan once more pressed his helmet down.
‘These ponies are really getting to me. I don’t think that ridiculous pet name they gave me is that annoying anymore,’ the Spartan thought before he mulled it over, ‘Nope there it is; whole unadulterated hatred ready to be unleashed at the smallest excuse.’
The waiter came and dropped off the dishes with food before running away for cover. As Twilight looked at him and all the other ponies as if finally realizing the whole mess that seemed to surround the Spartan.
“It seems like you left quite the impression last time you were here right? Hehe,” Twilight said, trying to bring some humor and ease the tension of the situation, “I mean could you really expect any less, you sort of decimated the forces that stood before you and left a path of destruction and misery behind yourself. I think the least you could do is apologize.”
‘They treated me like a murderer without more evidence than rumors passed from mouth to mouth before your shiny little Princess thought it a good idea to send me into orbit,’ the Spartan thought before he said, “No.”
“Oh come on, can’t you at least try? It sure would help ease tensions. All the staff is frightened of you and the guards are barely sleeping with the extra shifts they had to get. Blueblood is in a full body cast, and well some of the halls are going through ‘remodeling’. Not counting whatever you did with Celestia this morning, and my brother the Prince of the Crystal Empire having broken ribs because of you,” Twilight said.
‘Your brother stood in my way, Blueblood is lucky that I decided to use him as an impromptu shield rather than my new punch bag, Celestia had ordered a special package of my fist to her face the second she sent me airborne, and the castle is inevitable collateral damage,’ the Spartan thought as he sighed and simply began to eat his food.
“Can you at least make the effort to seem concerned?” Twilight asked, narrowing her eyes.
The Spartan shrugged as Twilight now sighed dejectedly, “You’re unbelievable you know that?”
“Yes,” the Spartan said.
“Well at least you are capable of basic responses, how far have you advanced in our language?” Twilight asked.
“Yes,” the Spartan said while smirking from inside his helmet, he indeed had a larger range of vocal expressions now than he did when he first started but it didn’t mean that the ponies had to know. Besides, seeing the purple alicorn getting ruffled up was fun.
Twilight was about to ask another question before a muffled voice came from outside the dining area.
“What is the meaning of this?” said the voice that was no doubt Celestia before the door began glowing in a magical grasp. The doors groaned as they pushed against the multiple objects and ponies placed in the barricade before they stopped pushing and instead where pulled back as they were ripped from the hinges.
Celestia looked unamused at the dining room where a tornado must’ve passed through before the nobles poured out on a stampede. The guards behind Celestia recovered the bodies of the knocked out guards before making to apprehend the Spartan. It was only at Celestia’s extended wing that they stopped.
“Silent, I do not understand how you bring chaos and destruction to every single room you step in. But I warn you, one more offense and you’ll find yourself once more in your dungeon cell restrained up to the neck,” Celestia said before turning to her guard, “Lightning Spear, please make sure that Silent Warrior has received a Royal pardon as of this moment and that any attempts to apprehend him will result in punishment. We can’t afford having more guards sent to the infirmary, the nurses are already working overtime as it is.”
The guard nodded before he and the other guards took the injured and left, though not without leaving two guards behind. Celestia’s horn glowed once more and every single piece of furniture re-arranged itself leaving the dining room in pristine condition. She approached the table where the Spartan and Twilight sat and joined them.
“Good morning Twilight, please allow me to apologize for the events you witnessed this morning. I should have known better than let my emotions take control of my actions. Could you ever forgive me?” Celestia asked.
“Of course Princess, I would never be able to stay mad at you. Especially when talking about Silent here. I’ve known him long enough to know he has a way to push everypony’s buttons,” Twilight replied as both she and her mentor nuzzled in reconciliation.
“I know I’ve been making rather strong mistakes here and there but believe me when I promise not to repeat them. I will be the role model you need to look at now that you are going to become a princess of Equestria, if you ever have questions or doubts please come to me,” Celestia said in the warm moment both were having as the Spartan gagged a little from the display.
“Or me!” Luna yelled between them. At some point she had snuck into the room as if expecting to find the perfect moment to ruin everything.
Both Princess Celestia and Twilight recoiled back as they were startled by the Princess of the Night.
“Luna!? What are you doing here?” Princess Celestia asked, still a little startled.
“Oh you know I was just coming down from the training grounds after I passed out for some reason and recalled about the translation spell!” Luna said with glee.
“Wait! Translation spell? As in the translation that will allow us to finally have a fluent conversation with Silent Warrior!?” Twilight asked, her eyes filled with stars.
“That’s the one! I think I managed to complete it! All I need to do is test it now,” Luna said as she pointed at the Spartan who looked quizzically at them, “Now stay still Silent, you might feel a small pinch,” she said as her horn glowed as both Princess Celestia and Twilight waited in anticipation.
The Spartan stood still as Luna’s horn glowed brighter and brighter until it was near blinding to look at. That was until an enormous blast of power struck the Spartan right in the chest and slammed him through the wall, and the one behind that one, and the other four behind that one.
“LUNA!? WHAT IN TARTARUS WAS THAT FOR!?” Celestia asked as she turned to her sister just in time to see Luna’s horn turn in her direction before she too got blasted through several walls. Twilight stared fearfully at Luna in shock of what had just happened.
“THAT’LL TEACH BOTH OF YOU TO NEVER INSERT YOUR DRIBBLE SOAKED EXTREMITIES INTO MY EARS AGAIN!!!” Luna yelled with the RCV whilst raising her hoof in a threating gesture. She promptly asked the waiter for two grilled cheese sandwiches.
“Luna? May I ask what just happened?” Twilight asked, unnerved.
“Oh don’t worry Twilight Sparkle; I was just extracting my just vengeance from mine sister and Silent Warrior,” Luna said as she took the tea that has been set for the Spartan and sipped from it
“So the whole translation spell being finished was a lie?” Twilight asked.
“Absolutely not, it’s just the opportunity presented itself in a rather perfect way. So I took it, I still have to test it though. As soon as Silent comes back I’ll be able to finally test it,” Luna said before the waiter arrived with her food.
Twilight couldn’t help but chuckle as she looked at both of the holes before strangely enough both the Spartan and Princess Celestia re-entered the room though the doorway. They didn’t say anything as they both sat down, and watched Luna enjoy her breakfast. Celestia took to asking for a serving of pancakes from the waiter and the Spartan asked for some more tea.
“I must say Tia, your personal waiter is a lot more resilient than I thought,” Luna said at the pony that still seemed to be shaking.
“It’s not his first rodeo Luna, and it won’t be his last,” Celestia said as a plate of pancakes was placed in front of her.
“We’ll good to know. How about we now try for real if the spell works huh?” Luna asked as her horn glowed once more and before anypony present could react she shot a beam of light at the Spartan which promptly made him collapse back in his chair. All the ponies gasped at the reaction, even Princess Luna as she didn’t expect this.
They rose from their seats and rushed to the Spartan as fast as they could, “Silent Warrior are you alright!?” Twilight asked, quite seemingly distressed.
“Yes Silent Warrior, can you hear us!?” Luna said.
“Dear Faust Luna what did you do!?” Celestia asked.
“I did the spell just as I said I would! I didn’t mean to kill him!” Luna said.
“Maybe he isn’t dead, just unconscious!” Twilight said.
“Oh? And how would you go about confirming this Twilight Sparkle?” Luna asked.
“Maybe we can take his helmet off and see if he is breathing?” Twilight asked.
“That sound like a good idea,” Celestia said.
“Great!” Luna said as the three alicorns just stared at the form of the seemingly dead Spartan.
“Well?” Celestia asked Luna.
“Well, what?” Luna asked.
“Aren’t you going to check?” Celestia asked.
“What!? Why me!?” Luna yelled.
“Hey! You kill it you bring it back!” Celestia said.
“Princess Celestia is right Princess Luna, since you were the one who shot him at least you should be the one to check if he is alright,” Twilight said, ignoring the childishness of both of her rulers.
“Oh really? And how about you Twilight Sparkle? He is your guard after all,” defended Luna.
“Was my guard remember?” Twilight said.
“Actually Twilight I was thinking maybe you could take him back?” Celestia asked.
“Princess is this really the time to talk about him returning to my home in Ponyville? After all he has done over there not withstanding?” Twilight asked.
“Twilight Sparkle I order you to remove Silent Warrior’s helmet and check for life,” Luna said.
“LUNA! Don’t you use your title against my student like that!” Celestia said with indignation, “Twilight Sparkle I order you to ignore Princess Luna’s order.”
“Oh real mature sister! So this is how it’s going to be huh!? It’s one thousand years in the past all over again!” Luna yelled.
“Luna! I… I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry, it just that-“ Celestia said before being interrupted by Twilight.
“ENOUGH! I’LL TAKE THE DAMN HELMET OFF!” Twilight yelled, quiet annoyed at the whole ongoing discussion.
Both Luna and Celestia smiled a little as they hoof bumped in secret.
Twilight slowly and cautiously reached with her hooves towards the metallic helmet before grasping it firmly. Slowly and gently the helmet began to come off and she once more saw the Spartan’s mouth before suddenly and unexpectedly one of his arms reached up and pushed the Helmet down and another grabbed her hooves.
“Si aprecias tu vida, suelta mi casco este minuto exacto.” (If you value your life, let go of my helmet this exact minute.) The Spartan said as all the alicorns jumped away, startled by the suddenly alive and speaking human.
“Silent your alive!” Twilight yelled.
“Claro que estoy vivo! Porque jodidos no lo estaria!? Y porque jodidos me disparaste otra vez!?” (Of course I’m alive! Why the fuck wouldn’t I be!? And why the fuck did you shoot me again!?) The Spartan yelled.
“What is he saying?” Celestia asked.
“I don’t know although it seems like another language though. Maybe I’m getting closer?” Luna asked.
“Como que no me entienden? De que chingados hablan? Y porque… PORQUE ESTOY HABLANDO EN ESPAÑOL!?” (What do you mean you don’t understand? What the hell are you talking about? And why…WHY AM I SPEAKING IN SPANISH!?) The Spartan yelled in fury.
Princess Luna shot at him once more hitting him squarely in the helmet.
“Hvad fanden!” (What the hell!) The Spartan yelled.
“He is still speaking in tongues!” Celestia yelled, “Blast him again!”
Another shot to the face and the Spartan began to stand up.
“Ik ben,” (I’m)
Another shot.
“nagpapatuloy,” (going)
Another shot.
“zu töten,” (to kill)
Another shot.
This time instead of a language the Spartan returned once more to its growls as he lunged at Princess Luna and grabbed her horn, “NO!” he yelled.
“OKAY FINE I’LL STOP!” Luna said before the Spartan let her go.
The Spartan walked back up to the table and sat down before drinking some tea.
“I thought you said you had it finished,” Celestia said.
“I thought so to sister, it seems to be a lot more difficult than I originally thought,” Luna said.
“Princess Luna, is there any possibility this could have any sort of negative concequences?” Twilight asked.
“Of course not Twilight Sparkle! I’m just poking and prodding a totally mysterious alien brain with my magic,” Luna said rather sure of herself.
In that instant the Spartan smashed face first into the table. The three alicorns gasped at this but seemingly relaxed at the snores coming from the Spartan as it lay sleeping.
“I might have been a tad obtrusive though,” Luna said sheepishly as Twilight went near the Spartan.
“I think it would be good to take him to his room so he can rest,” Twilight said.
“What a great idea, and maybe then we can discuss you and him going back to Ponyville Twilight,” Celestia said as her horn flared up and the Spartan was lifted, “Dear Faust, I didn’t remember him being this heavy a second ago!” Celestia said with strain.
“Maybe because three alicorns and the ex-captain of the royal guard helped you sister. I might as well help you now too,” Luna said as her horn flared too and the lower half of him glowed blue while the top of him glowed yellow.
The three alicorns made their way through the doorway with the Spartan in tow and began their trek to his room.
The Spartan woke up groggily from his sleep sometime around 1 am if his computer’s clock was anything to go by. The Spartan was about to stand up before his eyes settled on something else inside his HUD. According to his proximity scanner something else was in the room, something that hadn’t taken the time to make its presence known. This something would be regretting its position and poor decisions very soon.
In one swift motion the Spartan rolled out of his bed to evade whatever had been on top of him from simply diving on him. As he stopped he grabbed a small yet sturdy dresser and flung it like a projectile at his uninvited guest. He merely heard a scream before the dresser collided with the roof leaving a sizeable hole as it fell to the ground afterwards. The Spartan moved to inspect the rubble in search for his attacker before he noticed certain dot in his sensors move behind him. The door flung open and a black shade flew out with an impressive speed. But it wouldn’t help him/her, not for long anyway. The hunt had just begun.
As the Spartan stepped out of the room he looked at the shade flying away before adding a marker to it just like he did to Blueblood that one time. The difference though was that this intruder had an obvious set of skills it would no doubt use to get away. It was quite fast and silent so it would be difficult to catch it were aware of the Spartan’s presence.
Having decided to use the opportunity to train with a simple snatch and grab the Spartan went off. The intruder had seemingly gone up to the whole other end of the castle and with quick and precise movements in order to evade his pursuer. The Spartan had a somewhat vicious reputation already running over the whole castle as well as some rumors running around in the city of Canterlot. The rumors talked about the Princesses trying to harness the power of a being far more powerful than themselves but failing to do so. The demon was enormous in size and would tower over Princess Celestia herself! It walked on two partially deformed legs and used its claws to crawl over walls and pillars. If you looked into its single golden eye you would see yourself living your worst nightmare only in time for the monster to end it by ripping you to shreds. And finally, if you were somehow crazy enough to attack it, you would find yourself unable to get past its magical ward that protected its chitin exterior.
This only gave the intruder more than enough motivation to escape and search for help. His contractors had told him his mission would be to watch over this walking mountain and he had barely tried to sneak into its room to get a good look at him when it woke up as if sensing his presence. If the dresser he threw at him was anything to go by, the beast would no doubt rip off his limbs. The intruder had his objective in mind as he went inside of a guest room where it promptly hid inside a closet room.
The intruder gasped for air as the sweat he built up from the escape fell down his face.
“I *gasp* I think I lost *gasp* him,” the intruder whispered before an errant drop of sweat fell into his eye.
“Argh! Damn this thing stings!” the intruder said through gritted teeth as he used his hoof to rub his eye before a small tap on his back brought his attention to a small towel being offered to him.
“Thank you.” The intruder said with a smile as he took it without notice and took to cleaning the sweat off.
It was during this time that the intruder’s head shot up in the air as his eyes fell into its sockets. The intruder slowly turned behind him and was relieved to find nothing but darkness. He sighed and turned around but found himself wondering why he was now looking at himself at a golden mirror. The reason finally dawned on him before he screamed like a little filly as a metallic arm grabbed him by the throat and lifted him up from the ground.
The Spartan came out of the closet and into the light as the intruder kicked and struggled under his grasp. Once there the Spartan could see the intruder to be a pony, or at least to a certain aspect.
‘Hmm, I haven’t seen this model before,’ the Spartan thought as he inspected the Thestral most commonly known as batpony in a rather embarrassing manner.
The batpony had leathery wings and fangs as well as somewhat different ears, but what really took the cake was the dark blue/silver armor it wore. This was a guard without a doubt, but why hadn’t the Spartan encountered them before?
With that in mind the Spartan took the squirming pony and placed it under his arm as he began to roam around the halls. The batpony seemed relentless at trying to escape but thankfully it didn’t seem to be as soft as the other guards the Spartan had encountered in the past. This one seemed to think it could get away by putting up enough of a fight. The Spartan didn’t know if he should respect this or just plain feel insulted, one thing was sure though, it beat having the pony crapping himself.
As he travelled down the halls in search for Miss Moonbutt he suddenly came to the realization that he didn’t quite know where the room for the alicorn of the night was. He knew Celestia’s room well; after all he had not only made to wait there while trapped in a crystal cocoon for various hours but also had been thrown out of the room. Not once though had the Spartan visited Luna’s quarters but he assumed that if Celestia’s room was in a tower, Luna’s might also be on one. Which one though?
It took the Spartan 2 hours to find the damn room, as he found himself visiting various new places like an observatory, a game room, a strange place with a an examination table and a whip he rather not know what it’s used for, and a simple attic. Luna’s room was oddly absent of any sort of surveillance of any kind as the Spartan simply entered without problem at all. By this time the batpony the Spartan carried was unconscious as the Spartan had knocked him out cold when he grew tired of his squirming. He simply tossed the pony on the bed as he searched for the pony. She was oddly enough absent from her room, yet she wasn’t in the throne room either when the Spartan checked.
To be sincere the Spartan was only there because the pony seemed to be more in her department than the golden polly pocket ones that loved meeting their doom at his hands every other day. He expected an explanation behind the intrusion of his bed chambers and also how he somehow ended there when he clearly was having breakfast before everything went black.
He waited a small while in the hope she would come in through the door any second before he grabbed the pony from the tail and dragged him off the bed. If she wasn’t available he would go and hassle Celestia next. As he grabbed the handle of the doors the balcony doors opened swiftly as a certain dark alicorn strolled somewhat clumsily and dancing to some sort of tune.
“Whew! That unicorn sure knows how to play music! And to think this is what ponies now do during my night. I can’t say I blame them though, it is quite fun,” Luna said as she reached to her neck and pulled off what seemed to be a green glowing neon necklace.
She tossed it off without care as it landed directly on top of the Spartan’s head, catching the attention of the Princess as she looked at him like a deer in front of a car’s headlights.
“Please don’t tell Tia!” pleaded Luna as she took the whole situation in.
The Spartan couldn’t care less for the Princess ignoring her possibly very important duties to go and act questionably at nightclubs as he simply raised his arm and with it the pony that dangled from its tail.
“Black Mist!? What is going on? What happened to him!?” Luna said as she grabbed the guard in her magic and lifted him towards her as she inspected him.
Her horn glowed in intensity before a small spark passed from it and touched down on the guard’s head as he slowly regained consciousness.
“P-princess?” the guard asked as he began rubbing the back of his head.
“Black Mist, what happened to you?” Luna asked.
‘He was being stupid,’ the Spartan thought.
“I remember trying to get away from Silent Warrior before everything went black,” he said as the Princess looked to the Spartan with quite an angry expression. This was new.
“Why did you hurt my guard?” Luna asked dangerously.
The Spartan simply shrugged which prompted Luna to lay down the guard to the ground as she stepped towards the Spartan while glowing. And then it simply snuffed out as the Princess took a calming breath.
“Silent you can’t simply knock a pony out of the blue! This has been an issue for quite a while if Twilight’s letters and your past behavior is anything to go by,” Luna said as she turned to Black Mist, “I’m sorry for this Black Mist, you will be compensated later on. I will understand if you decide to go back on the deal we made.”
“No Princess, I gave you my word as a guard when I accepted this charge. And to be honest I think I might be responsible too. You see after I was assigned to the mission I thought it would be a good idea to see him and I guess I might have snuck into his room,” the guard said sheepishly at the Princess who now had an unamused expression.
“Oh Black Mist, did you not learn a thing about what my sister and I told you about Silent Warrior? As a matter of fact this is why you were charged with him. I hope this is a lesson to you,” the Princess reprimanded as she turned to the Spartan, “I hope you can forgive me Silent, as you can see I’m rather protective about my night guards.”
‘Huh, so you can simply not care when I break the bones of the day ones, but I knock out one of your night guards and all of the sudden you’re momma bear? Good to know. Also it would be good to know what the hell is going on,’ the Spartan thought as he crossed his arms and looked at the Princess.
“I guess it can’t be avoided to give you an explanation huh?” Luna said as she sighed, “Well if you must know I guess it would be good to clear your doubts before you go and break my sister’s sleep. Now that wouldn’t be a pretty sight, you thought she was mad after you punched her in the face? Disturb her sleep and you’ll find yourself a victim of the mysterious auto-combustion.”
The guard now known as Black Mist simply looked at both of them quizzically before turning to Luna, “Excuse me your highness, but did I just hear you right? That Silent really did punch Princess Celestia?” he asked
“Yes Black Mist, that is the reason why some of you where woken up yesterday morning as a fight between Silent and my sister broke out. And as a matter of fact that is why you are here,” she said now turning to the Spartan, “Silent, this here is Corporal Black Mist. He has been assigned to you when you return to Ponyville with Twilight Sparkle. As your destructive and downright psychopathic conduct seems to sprout problems everywhere my guard here will be in charge of making you aware of proper social etiquette. Twilight Sparkle has also made a set of rules you are to abide to in order for her to be comfortable with this, and after this is all over you will have your deserved freedom,” Luna explained.
‘Sure, because there’s really anything you could do to stop me from getting my freedom by force,’ the Spartan thought as he chuckled.
Almost as if she was reading his thoughts Luna replied, “We are aware that you might think yourself strong enough to evade our forces and obtain your freedom as such, but we must remind you that there is no place in Equestria where we won’t find you and nag you,” Luna said as the message struck the Spartan.
‘You play a hard game Luna, but I guess you make a point. I’ll bite,’ the Spartan thought as he saluted her.
“Well it’s good to know about your consent. You are dismissed Silent, Luna said as both he and the guard walked out of her room, “Oh! And one more thing! You uh, wouldn’t tell Celestia about where I was right?” Luna said as she giggled nervously.
The Spartan didn’t even gesture to her before he turned around and walked away with the guard in tow.
“Oh… right. My bad!” Luna yelled as she closed her bedroom doors.
‘I know I’m forgetting something,’ the Spartan thought as the guard trotted next to him.
“So you’re Silent Warrior huh?” the guard asked as the Spartan looked at him, “I gotta say, you are nothing like the rumors floating around describe you.”
The Spartan simply looked at the guard questioningly.
“Yeah I mean I expected to die when you caught me but I guess you aren’t so bad after all. I’m actually beginning to think that being your social conscience will be quite interesting,” Black Mist said.
‘I can still kill you. Keep acting like I’m your class pet project and you’ll find yourself inside a bag filled with rocks slowly sinking in a lake,’ the Spartan thought before he stopped dead in his tracks.
‘Fuck! I didn’t get how I woke up in my damn room!’ the Spartan thought as he placed his hand down his visor and simply walked back to his room. He would be getting the answers the next day possibly from Twilight. The guard didn’t leave his side and even went inside his room before the Spartan quite literally kicked him out. The guard was getting on his nerves already.
The next morning came far too quickly for the Spartan as he wasn’t even able to enjoy it. When he woke up he found that a certain batpony had somehow snuck into his room. Though impressive for him to catch the Spartan by surprise the winner in the end was him as he rolled the guard up in the bed sheets quite tightly and then placed him in the dirty clothes bin. It would take a while for him to get out he assumed.
The Spartan didn’t take long to make it into the dining room where he found Princess Luna sweating profusely under the gaze of her sister. Twilight seemed to be having a simple serving of pancakes as she had a lively chat with both Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor.
“Luna stop changing the subject and answer the question!” Celestia said rather irritably at her sister, “Where have you been going out to at night!?”
“I have no idea what you speak of Tia! Surely there must be a mistake,” she said as she looked away.
“Luna, I’ve been checking with the guards as well as the messengers and they have all reported you missing every third Thursday night of the month as well as not holding night court! Now tell me where you have been!” Celestia demanded.
“I know not what you speak of sister dearest!” Luna said, sweating bullets and backing away from her sister.
As the Spartan seemed to enter the room everything went silent and forgotten. Shining Armor immediately scowled, Cadance looked at him with curiosity, and Twilight waved at him before returning back to her pancakes.
Luna on the other end of the table looked absolutely relieved as she all but yelled at the Spartan, “SILENT! Good morning to you! It’s good to know you are up and ready to tackle another day, so how about you come and sit in this exact chair and we can go over what we discussed yesterday!” she said while pointing rather strongly to a spot between her and Celestia.
The Spartan merely shrugged at their dilemma before following suit and sitting beside Luna. The waiter didn’t wait long before he came to the Spartan with the menus and like the first time the Spartan simply chose one plate at random from the carnivore menu. He could last for a very long while without eating but he still needed to fill his food bases in order to keep himself at top performance.
Twilight, Cadance, and Shining Armor seemed to stop what they were doing immediately as they saw him choose from the meat menu. Twilight looked frightened while Cadance looked sick.
“So he eats meat too? Would anypony please explain to me again why we are allowing this monster to live with my sister? And give him the title of guard no less!?” Shining Armor exclaimed.
“Shining Armor eating meat is a perfectly natural thing to do. We shouldn’t discriminate beings that eat meat just because we find it strange or scary; it’s just part of the natural cycle of life. Also, do you not think of Silent Warrior a good guard after he was capable of blasting through the castle’s forces?” Princess Celestia asked.
“He sent innocent guards home broken! As well as placing the whole castle in a dangerous position as the number of guards on active roll are very small!” Shining replied.
“Which tells something of our current state of defense, we fear we will need to give the guards a harder training regime in order to be ready for such disasters or attacks. It is indeed sad that something like that happened but to grow we must learn from our mistakes. Besides we are going to send a special agent with Silent down to Ponyville to serve as a counselor of a sort. That way we can have the peace of mind that Ponyville won’t fall to ruins,” Luna said in his defense.
“Talking about returning to Ponyville,” Twilight intervened, “Have you told Silent about what we discussed yesterday during the time he was passed out?”
“Well he knows about Black Mist, but he is still in the dark about a few details,” Luna replied.
“I guess this would be a good time as ever,” Twilight said as she addressed the Spartan, “Silent I have to tell you that I don’t feel entirely comfortable with the prospect of you returning to Ponyville with me but I have agreed to it as long as you follow a simple list of conditions I have made up. Are we clear?” she asked.
“Yes,” the Spartan said.
“Good, I’ll be giving you the list later on so you can sign it in accordance. And after that we can leave is that okay with you?” she asked.
The Spartan nodded and all was good in the world. They ate their lunch in peace before getting ready and the Spartan signed some sort of conditions list that seemed to go on forever and he would most likely ignore the moment they become too much of a hassle.
The Spartan and Twilight stood side by side near the royal chariot as the Princesses and Prince awaited their departure.
“Thank you for having me Princesses, I can’t express how nostalgic it was to be in the castle again,” Twilight said.
“Remember Twilight, we are always hear for you. And if you ever need us, we are only a dragon’s fire letter away,” Celestia said.
“Don’t forget to write to us in the Crystal Empire Twily, it gets lonely sometimes up there in the frozen north,” Shining Armor said as both siblings nuzzled.
The Spartan stood firmly on the back trying not to gag at the sappy moments these ponies were having. He could almost remember his moments as a simple recruit; there was no mercy for no one. And the last time he saw his drill instructor, the only person he could look up to as a father, he got kicked out of the aircraft for stalling the line. That was a good day.
Twilight finally finished her goodbyes as she finally got into the carriage. The Spartan couldn’t believe he got coerced into getting inside that flying blasphemy of an aircraft. He barely stepped into the chariot before the doors to of the castle burst open as a rather angry batpony stomped towards the Spartan.
Black Mist looked up at him, glaring daggers at him before he spoke, “DO YOU KNOW HOW LONG IT TOOK FOR THE MAIDS TO REALIZE I WAS IN THE LAUNDRY!? LET ME ANSWER FOR YOU! THEY DIDN’T! I WOKE UP AS I WAS THROWN INSIDE THE WASHING MACHINE! HAVE YOU EVER WOKEN UP LIKE THAT!?” he yelled.
The Spartan merely shrugged before he sat down inside the chariot before the night guard joined them and placed both his hooves in his face, “I think I’ve committed a huge mistake.”
“Oh well no backsies!” Celestia said before she ran to the front Pegasi, “Go now, do it, go go go!” she said before the Chariot left Canterlot in a rather hurriedly manner as Black Mist simply looked from its top with a dejected expression.
“The guard is going to die isn’t he?” Luna said with a blank stare.
“I give him a week,” Cadance said.
“I give him one day,” Shining Armor said.
“I don’t really care; they’re Ponyvilles’ problem now! Toodles,” Celestia said as she merrily trotted away, leaving the other three ponies looking at the chariot fly off and away. Ponyville had thought itself safe from the Spartan menace, but the nightmare had only begun.
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.
The following morning Twilight woke up to the smell of pancakes wafting into her room. That coupled with her finally having been able to sleep after so many nightmares grouped into her being in quite the good mood. She made to leave her bed before noticing an oddly misplaced weight on her head. She fully opened her eyes to see the Spartan’s arm resting on herself. Her eyes widened as she thought over the precarious and rather embarrassing position she was in. If anypony were to look they would’ve had some interesting ideas.
The Spartan hadn’t seemed to have woken up yet as his snores, though muffled by his helmet, were still audible. Twilight took this opportunity to slip from the Spartan’s grasp as gently as possible. Once out of her bed she took a moment to think things over as the events of the past night were recalled. Twilight didn’t remember ever having gotten back to her bed, and the Spartan simply sitting next to her pointed out to him having brought her there. That coupled with the still snoring Spartan must’ve meant he stayed up a lot later than usual to make sure she was alright.
A smile grazed Twilight’s lips as she made her way towards the dining room where she found a both drowsy yet awake Black Mist. Spike was cooking in the kitchen but soon made his appearance as he placed a plate full of the delicious goods on the table.
“Good Morning Spike and Black Mist. How are you both doing today,” Twilight asked as she took a seat.
“I little off from my usual schedule but I’m sure I will be able to get used to this in a few more days,” Black Mist replied.
“And you Spike?” Twilight asked.
“Apparently not as good as you were this morning,” Spike replied, grinning as he turned to Black Mist, “You should’ve seen her Mist; she was snuggling and wiggling under the arm of Silent up there!”
Twilight’s eyes bulged from her sockets before she turned beet red, “SPIKE!” she yelled in annoyance.
“Hahahahaha! I’m just messing with you Twi!” Spike said as he took a seat.
Through all of this Black Mist only seemed to stare in shock at both of his hosts and partially charges. Something that Twilight immediately caught before she explained.
“It’s not what it sounds like Mist,” she said, “Yesterday night I was having nightmares and I stayed up late reading with Silent. I guess he must’ve taken me to my bed after I fell asleep by accident.”
Black Mist seemed to accept the explanation as he smiled, “So it looks like the tin man does have heart. And I guess it’s good to know he does have some sort of distinction between right and wrong.”
“Mist, did you not learn your lesson about making jokes about him yesterday?” Twilight asked.
“What happened yesterday?” Spike asked.
“Turns out the big guy doesn’t like being laughed at,” Black Mist said.
“And he roped you up and tossed you out of the chariot like a puppet. Do you really want a repeat performance?” Twilight asked.
“What is he going to do? Dangle me from the balcony?” Black Mist asked.
“I don’t know Mist, but I fear to know what he would do to you should he get creative,” Twilight said.
Black Mist was about to offer his rebuttal before a knock came from the door.
“Who could that be at this hour? The library doesn’t open until later and it’s still too early for Ponyville to be struck by disaster,” Twilight said as she got up from the table and went to open the door.
The door was merely opened an inch before it was forced open by a brown hoof. Twilight staggered back in shock before Black Mist jumped into action and stood in front of Twilight defensively. Though Black Mist’s quick actions were hardly of any used towards the bouquet of flowers that was aimed towards Twilight by a well groomed unicorn. The stallion had a black mane and green colored eyes that seemed to sparkle with mirth. His stance spoke of class as well as the fancy suit he was wearing. If this pony wasn’t a noble, then those who were surely used clothing made out of gold.
“Silent Warrior I presume?” the stallion asked.
“What? No, I’m not-,” Black Mist tried to correct the stallion before he was interrupted once more.
“I don’t care who you are. All I know is that right now you are standing between me and the stunningly beautiful Twilight Sparkle,” the stallion said as he winked and gave a small bow towards Twilight.
“Listen sir, I’m going to need you to leave,” Black Mist said before being completely ignored and shoved to the side as the stallion seemed to wiggle his eyebrows at a very disturbed Twilight.
“But where are my manners!? I’ve forgotten to introduce myself to you Miss Sparkle,” the stallion said, “I am Silver String from the house of String! Though you might already know of me, I have finally worked up the courage to confess my undying love to you Miss Sparkle,” the stallion said whom was now at an awkwardly close distance.
Black Mist, having been rightly pissed by such an aggravating stallion, came behind the pony and with both hooves grabbed him and pulled him backwards. Silver String didn’t seem to like the sudden hard treatment he received from Black Mist as he turned to the guard with a scowl.
“YOU DARE PUT YOU DIRTY HOOVES ON ME!? DO YOU NOT REALIZE WHO I AM!?” Silver String yelled, “I DON’T CARE WHAT YOUR NAME IS OR WHATEVER YOU ARE DOING! IT WOULD BE WISE OF YOU TO KNOW YOUR PLACE!”
The whole library stood in silence at the display of the pompous stallion before he once more looked at Twilight, “So terribly sorry you had to see that my dear, but sometimes you just have to teach the common rubble to stay in their place. Now where were we?” Silver said before Black Mist stood in front of him once more yet this time he was wearing a grin.
“Uh! You again? And what is it that you need now guard?” Silver said, but spitting the last part.
“I was just going to say that I’m not Silent Warrior,” Black Mist said before he pointed a hoof behind the unicorn, “He is.”
Silver String was about to once more place a simpleton guard in his place when he noticed the rather big shadow lying on top of him. He slowly turned as the blood in his face began to drain. The Spartan stood behind him at full height and seemed to be breathing rather hardly.
‘I was trying to sleep,’ the Spartan thought as with one hand he snatched the stallion by its horn and as raised him in the air, ‘I don’t think you have any idea how pissed it makes me that anything wakes me up.’
“U-unhand m-me you vile b-beast!” the unicorn attempted to command.
The Spartan turned around and opened the door as he turned the unicorn around. He held the unicorn with both hands as he took a step back.
‘I swear to god that if you show your face here again I will give you a free face remodeling,’ the Spartan thought before he raised his leg backwards and promptly punted the unicorn away into the horizon. Some ponies say they found him lying on the ground halfway to Appleoosa.
With that having been done the Spartan smashed the door closed and headed into his room leaving three rather shocked ponies and dragon in his midst.
“You, uh… you think he’s okay?” Twilight asked.
“To be honest I don’t know,” the guard said before turning towards the Spartan’s room, “And I honestly don’t care.”
“That. Was. AWESOME!” Spike yelled as he threw his small arms in the air, “Did you see how he just grabbed him and all of a sudden kicked him off!? I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it to Applejack’s farm from here!”
“Spike! This is no laughing matter! That pony could be seriously injured!” Twilight said.
“Oh come on Twilight, you and I both know that stuck up pony deserved it. Besides, what the hell was he thinking coming here out of the blue trying to woo you!?” Spike replied with disdain.
“I don’t know Spike, I really don’t,” Twilight said.
“I guess it’s a good thing Silent showed up huh? Or else I might have had to do the dirty work myself,” Black Mist said.
“Oh really? You don’t seem to inspire much fear Mist,” Twilight replied mockingly.
“Hey! What I lack in discipline and respect for the line of command and others I more than make up with skills! There’s a reason I was assigned on this mission you know,” Black Mist said with pride.
“Yeah, and what good of a job you’ve done so far. We’ve already had mass panic spread throughout the city yesterday and today a noble was kicked to the other side of town,” Twilight said.
“Oh come on! It’s only been one day!” Black Mist defended.
Twilight simply stared at him with an unamused expression. Black Mist tried looking at Spike for support only to see him giving the same look.
“OH FINE! You want me to go inside his room and tell him punting ponies is bad? Fine! I will!” Black Mist said as he marched to the Spartan’s bedroom and entered. Before a few buffered and unrecognizable worlds were said. At which point Black Mist marched right out of the room smiling yet shaking with fear.
“What happened?” Spike asked.
“Let’s just say that he knows how to say some words that, though don’t make much sense, allow for a very broad spectrum of results. Results I’d rather not figure out which one Silent was threatening with,” Black Mist said as he slowly regained his color.
Twilight would have asked what words he spoke of before the door knocked once more.
“Ugh! What now!?” Twilight yelled in annoyance.
“I’ll go check this time.” Black Mist said as he went to check on the door only for him to barely open it and another attempt of breaking into the library was made. Black Mist was faster thought and was able to deny access to whoever it was before closing and locking the door.
Twilight took the opportunity to look over the side window and was treated to a sight she never thought she would see. It seemed as though nobles were arriving from every inch of Equestria and by all sorts of means too. Be it carriage or hot air balloon they all seemed to have the same intent as they surrounded the entrance.
“SPIKE!” Twilight yelled in fright.
“What is Twilight!?” Spike asked as he ran towards her.
“I need you to write the Princess a letter!” she said as she began to place furniture in front of the entrance.
“What do you want it to say?” he asked as he got ahold of a quill, ink, and parchment.
“Tell her that for some reason nobles are arriving at Ponyville and ask if she knows of something we can do,” Twilight said before Spike sent the letter in ball of fire.
In the meantime more and more nobles seemed to be arriving and the incessant knocking on the door didn’t seem to stop. Some knocks on the windows were beginning to appear too. After a while the whole place was being knocked out of every single entrance and window in an attempt to gain Twilight’s attention. Spike thankfully belched out a scroll in time to stop Twilight from doing something she thought she would never have to do… tell Silent to deal with them.
Dear Twilight,
I am so sorry to hear of your ongoing conundrum and I wish to let you know that Luna and I are doing everything possible to put an end to this. Sadly, it seems we cannot forbid ponies to visit ponies or in your case go to a public library. It also looks like news about you leaving the castle and going back to Ponyville leaked out and the nobles are taking the chance to make a move. Though under any other situation I would advise against it, I have to say that maybe Silent would be the one most capable of taking care of the issue. Remember that we won’t stop until we can place an end to this mess.
Sincerely,
H.R.H. Princess Celestia Solaria Invicta
Twilight stopped reading the letter as her world seemed to flush down the drain. Her house was surrounded by a crowd of pompous nobles who seemed to be aiming to court her. Surely this couldn’t have anything to do over her upcoming coronation could it?
Now she, Spike, Black Mist, and Silent Warrior had to defend the library long enough for Celestia to send help and being bundled inside proved impossible for her friends to reach her or her to them. Sure she could probably teleport but it wouldn’t be long before the nobles raided her wherever she appeared and then she and her friends would be in trouble. The knocking didn’t seem to stop and it only grated on her nerves more and more until she finally snapped.
She turned around and walked with determination towards the Spartan’s room before the door slammed open, almost tearing off its hinges. The Spartan stood there as he walked directly into the kitchen where he found a full pot of coffee and, without serving himself a cup, he just grabbed the kettle and downed the whole thing. He stood there unfazed for a second before Twilight approached him.
“I know it’s unusual but I’m out of options. That’s why I’ve come to you Silent but before you do anything I have to place down some ground rules. One, you may not maim or kill anypony. Two, I don’t want them sent to the hospital with broken bodies. And three, make sure it’s nothing permanent,” Twilight said.
The Spartan stood there thinking for a while as the obnoxious sound of knocking didn’t seem to cease. There was also the added bonus that the coffee wasn’t acting fast enough as the Spartan was still quite grumpy from the encounter a few minutes ago.
The Spartan didn’t say or do anything before he walked past Twilight and into the basement before he locked the door behind him.
“Wait! That’s it!? You’re just going to leave us!? Some guard you turned out to be!” Black Mist yelled before he turned to Twilight, “Don’t worry Miss Sparkle, we will find a way to deal with these snobs!”
With that both Black Mist and Spike began barricading every single door and windows in hopes that the nobles outside would get the point. They didn’t. And what’s worse the knocking had turned into pounding as they seemed to now demand to be let inside. It was 15 minutes later before the door of the basement clicked open and out came the Spartan holding a box.
The Spartan was presented with the image of a whimpering Twilight Sparkle who was stroking her tail while Black Mist and Spike where moving a book shelf in front of the door.
“And what do you want!?” Black Mist asked rather irately.
The Spartan didn’t even bother answering as he walked up to the second floor and stood on the balcony.
Once out there he could see the crowds assembled in front of the library that immediately took notice of him and began demanding him to let them inside. The Spartan could care less for their petty ambitions and demands as he rummaged inside the box and pulled out a spray bottle.
At the very end of the crowd stood a small group of ponies the Spartan recognized as Twilight’s friends. Almost all of them were present except for a rainbow Pegasus who made her presence known as she flew and stood on the balcony with him.
“Hey Silent, what the buck’s going on?” she asked as the Spartan simply opened the door and motioned her inside.
Rainbow Dash gladly took the invitation and went inside to check on how her friend was doing and to clear up the odd order of events that were happening. It was during this time that the Spartan pointed at the group of friends and made a shooing noise as well as various other gestures that only confused the group of mares. Thankfully though it somehow seemed like Pinkie Pie got the message and spoke to them before they all backed away.
The Spartan grabbed the spray bottle and aimed at single noble who seemed to be popping a vein as he yelled his demands as well as lineage. It didn’t take much; only a single gentle squeeze from the bottle as a stream of the peculiarly colored liquid shot from its nozzle and right into the noble’s face. Now the pony was livid with anger as it shouted every single one of the most obscene words he could at the Spartan as well as cursing his family. The Spartan on the other hand just looked at him with intrigue.
‘3…2…1…’ He mentally counted down before it happened.
The noble pony who was making his rage known to the whole world began screaming his heart out in pain as he rubbed his eyes mercilessly. The crowd didn’t seem to notice but the Spartan did, and he had just confirmed what he wanted. The Spartan went inside the tree house really quick while the pony kept screaming and getting away from the place as fast as possible in search for water to rinse his face.
It didn’t take long before the Spartan came out of the tree house with a 5 gallon container filled with a distinctly familiar liquid. It was attached to some sort of water pump and a nozzle. The Spartan simply aimed at the front lines of the crowd and began spraying them all with the liquid. All of the nobles were seething in rage yet didn’t back down when the second pass of the spraying was done. The Spartan wasn’t done though; he was there to give out a message.
He reached into the box he had brought out and just at about the time the ponies on the front lines began to feel oddly itchy in the face the Spartan took out a lighter and turned on the fuses of a few home-made flash bang grenades he had made. He was surprised at the amount of chemicals Twilight had available in the lab of hers.
What once was a united crowd with the objective to enter the library had now devolved into absolute chaos as ponies screamed and fought against every other pony in their way to get away as fast as possible. Whether blinded by pepper spray or stunned by the blinding explosion of a flash bang the Spartan made sure none of them left without experiencing his wrath. Especially when he took out the tear gas and the stinger grenades. The screams of pain, suffering, and fear of the nobles were music to the Spartan’s ears as he began laughing manically with his hands extended over the ensuing chaos below the balcony.
‘DANCE LITTLE PUPPETS! DANCE!’ the Spartan thought over his maniacal laughter.
Meanwhile four ponies on the very back of the whole ordeal made the silent pact to never in their lives do something to piss the Spartan off.
(5 minutes earlier inside the library)
Rainbow Dash had just been allowed inside the library where once inside the poundings on the doors and the screams of dignified hatred with demands to be let inside could be heard. Inside she saw a night guard she hadn’t met before and Spike pushing against the front door in an attempt to keep ponies out. Twilight on the other hand was whimpering in the middle of the room.
“Hey Twilight! What the hay is going on here!?” Rainbow Dash asked.
“They won’t leave me alone Rainbow Dash. They just won’t leave,” Twilight said incoherently.
“Who won’t leave!? Come on Twilight you need to make some sense!” Rainbow Dash said.
“THE NOBLES RAINBOW DASH! All the nobles are here trying to court me for some selfish reason or another! One after another, after another, after another showed up and they never stopped! And now I’m trapped, and Silent abandoned us,” Twilight said.
“Abandoned you? He was the one who let me in,” Rainbow Dash said as Twilight’s ears perked up.
“How did you get in!?” she asked.
“Through the balcony, duh! It’s not like those snobs can fly,” she said while gesturing to her wings, “Bet they wouldn’t even if they could.”
Twilight was about to reply when the Spartan simply passed both of them and went into the basement where he promptly came back up only this time he had a 5 gallon container with some mysterious liquid inside. The Spartan didn’t say anything as he simply went right back outside. Every single pony and dragon in the room wondered what he was doing.
That was until the screams stopped being directed at the inside of the library and were now directed towards the balcony. The pounding also stopped too. That’s when they all heard the creepiest and most terrifying sound they had ever imagined. At once all the shouting had ceased and silence reigned over, it was a petrifying silence that made the ponies and dragon inside simply stand at attention while their hair stood on end.
That’s when everything went to Tartarus and the screams of pain and suffering began invading the treehouse. Along with them came the sound of detonating explosions from all around as the mother of all chaos unraveled outside. In that instant Twilight knew she had committed a grave mistake by giving the Spartan any sort of free range over how to deal with the mob outside. Then the laughter invaded their ears. It was a sinister and maniacal laughter that came from the balcony itself.
“I-is that Silent?” Spike asked.
“Y-yes, I t-think it is,” Twilight replied while looking into space.
“Twilight I’m scared,” Spike said as he left his post at the door and huddled with the alicorn.
“I’m scared too Spike,” Twilight replied.
At the other end of the room Black Mist was mentally preparing himself to never in his life make an off handed comment or joke at the Spartan’s expense. He didn’t know what he had done outside but it had taken him 15 minutes to pull it off. He didn’t want to know what he could do when given enough motivation. He would forever have nightmares about this day as well as every witness present.
It had taken 20 minutes before the screaming faded away as the nobles most likely had run off into the woods or wherever their blind bodies would take them in search of relief. The Spartan went inside the library and placed all the furniture where it originally was without any objections from the ponies. He opened the door to show Twilight the lack of a mob and a few ponies that had outright lost consciousness still littering the ground but nonetheless the situation had been diffused in the most extreme of ways possible.
“T-thank Y-you Silent,” Twilight said as she got her bearings back.
The Spartan simply shrugged and took a new book off of the shelf before sitting down in his corner and beginning to read as if nothing had ever happened.
No noble ever dared return to Ponyville after the news of what happened reached Canterlot. The Spartan was not punished as he had been given orders to take matters into his own hands. The monster that was the Spartan was now deeply ingrained into the minds of the ponies. Some ponies like Rainbow Dash and Applejack who thought him to be in reality a soft guy inside received a grim reminder of what the super soldiers where capable of doing.
The rest of the day went on as normally as it could have gone, though nopony talked to each other for the rest of it. They merely went about their business, they asked no questions, and took to slipping the whole thing out like a bad nightmare had happened. The Spartan merely shrugged, to him it was better this way as no one messed or pestered him after all.
Four days passed since the Spartan’s display of unadulterated chaos. Ponies at first had steered clear from the library as rumors of it being haunted had spread. They didn’t last long though as the ponies were somewhat more accepting of disasters striking the town every once in a while. It didn’t mean they were fully back to normal though. They would still tread cautiously when passing by the library but it sort of helped that the Elements of Harmony had announced that Twilight wasn’t being taken hostage by a metallic monster straight from Tartarus that was so terrifying those who laid eyes on him would immediately start crying. Those rumors and other like him having the ability of blinding you with a single flick from his finger or making the very air you breathe toxic by a single thought of mind were also put to rest as Twilight had brought him to town’s square and made him formally apologize for the disturbance.
Formally apologizing was too generous of a word, because in reality Twilight was the one profusely saying sorry to the residents and explaining to them that the Spartan meant no harm (to them). At the very end of her speech Twilight asked the Spartan to back up what she had told them at which point the Spartan just shrugged. Twilight had to really, really, promise them that he was an inherently good guy and that he was just acting in defense of the library.
After that Twilight had to give the Spartan an especially large lecture about pony manners, social etiquette, what is socially acceptable and why it’s bad to throw explosives at the general populace. The Spartan would have to stand up multiple times and write on the chalkboard answers to ridiculous questions like what to do in case a pony hits him with a broom. Apparently, snapping his neck to promptly dispose of the threat wasn’t the correct answer. Twilight and Black Mist walked the Spartan through multiple scenarios at which Twilight acted as the attacker and Mist pretended to be the victim. They had to do it that way as the first time Black Mist tried attacking Twilight he accidentally tripped and ended up flying out the window.
The Spartan was fully aware that none of the parties were in any real danger, but it was fun to toss the night guard out of the library at mach speeds. Twilight promptly sat him down and began a presentation why it’s wrong to toss ponies. The four full days went on sort of like that, as well as using the aid of the other Elements of Harmony to try and make more complex scenarios. By the end of it everypony felt quite good about the progress made, as well as the Spartan’s compliance to sit through it instead of ripping their spines out with his mere hands.
It seemed like Twilight would be able to regain some sense of normalcy over her days, or at least that was until that fateful day happened. It was a regular day like any other and Twilight needed to go grocery shopping, and where she went the Spartan went as well as her ‘caretaker’.
“Do you really need to track my every move?” Twilight asked as the Spartan stood by her as she made to go outside of the library.
The Spartan had to resort to conventional escorting tactics as Twilight and Black Mist had made it very clear that it was inappropriate to aim at ponies with his crossbow from afar.
“Yes,” the Spartan said as he looked around the area, it seemed clear of any threats.
“I’m just going grocery shopping! What are you afraid somepony is going to try and steal my carrots?” Twilight asked a little irritably.
‘When I was your age I had already killed my fair share of covenant troops. You would be surprised the creative ways one can kill when his target has its guard down,’ the Spartan thought as he just kept looking around for any threats.
“Ugh! Fine! But make sure not to cause a scene okay?” Twilight asked before she finally walked outside.
‘I make no promises,’ the Spartan thought as he followed.
Outside ponies seemed to stand still as they watched the Spartan analyzing each and every one of them. Having concluded that not of them posed a threat he quietly kept following Twilight as she stopped by a few stalls and spoke to several ponies.
Twilight on the other hand had to re-assure every single pony she spoke with so she would be able to buy her groceries. It wasn’t before she stopped by the apple stand that she was able to take a breather.
“Good morning Applejack. How are you doing this morning?” Twilight asked.
“Good morning to ya sugarcube, am doing mighty fine thank ya for asking. How about you, the big guy giving ya any problems this early?” Applejack asked.
“Not specifically, no. But I can’t seem to get rid of that feeling of dread that I’m going to have to apologize to everypony again. That and me having to re-assure ponies that he won’t make them explode in flames isn’t making my grocery shopping an easy,” Twilight said.
“Now don’t fret none sugarcube, I’m sure that all those classes we gave him must’ve worked for something. And if by any chance he still goes rampant me and Rainbow Dash will have him down for the count faster than ya can say apple fritter,” Applejack reassured.
“I guess it would be good to put some trust in him wouldn’t it? I mean it’s not like he is just searching for an excuse to hurt ponies,” Twilight said which seemed to give her the encouragement she needed to continue her shopping.
Unknown to everypony in the market, the Spartan had grinned almost sinisterly after the last thing Twilight had said.
The rest of the shopping had gone by swimmingly as Twilight seemed a lot more relaxed than she had been when left the library that morning. The Spartan and Black Mist had been following her in silence the whole way, and though it did make ponies behave a little more nervously it had seemingly calmed things over the town.
“You know Silent,” Twilight said as she mulled over an idea, “If you can keep behaving like you have been today I might even take you to see Fluttershy so you both can patch things up.”
‘What the fuck am I a lapdog?’ the Spartan thought.
“This day has indeed been going exceptionally well hasn’t it Miss Sparkle?” Black Mist asked.
“What’s with the sudden titles and manners Mist?” Twilight asked.
“Maybe it’s because I have decided to adopt a more professional stance over my job. Or maybe it’s because we are in public and I know Princess Luna happens to have ears and eyes everywhere.”
“Well I wouldn’t say I would like to see Princess Luna angry, as a matter a fact there was this one time-“ Twilight said before being interrupted as the Spartan suddenly dashed in front of her and placed himself protectively as a sword collided with his vambrace and his shield lit up a little.
“What the hay!?” Twilight shouted in surprise as in front of the Spartan stood a pony clad in black armor.
“Do not worry Miss Sparkle!” yelled the iron clad assailant in a gruff voice, “I have been sent by Lord Banks to dispose of this fiend that has obviously taken you hostage!”
Twilight looked at the pony in shock and was about to reply before the Spartan once more pushed her away as an arrow collided with his shoulder and was promptly deflected away.
“Darn! I was sure I had him!” yelled another voice as a gryphon at the top of a house made itself known with a crossbow in its claws, “Don’t worry Miss Twilight, I’ve been specially hired by Baron Tightpocket to rescue you from this beast. I will not fail in my mission.”
“What in Celestia’s name is going on!?” Twilight asked before the Spartan grabbed her and Black Mist before jumping over an impaling attempt from the ironclad pony.
The Spartan then ducked as an arrow flew over their heads and struck a house behind them. Without hesitation the Spartan began running from the area with a velocity unlike both of the ponies had seen before. Houses and Ponies rushed like blotches of color as the Spartan ran towards the tree house.
Once they reached it the door slammed open with a rather big pony holding an axe in its hoof. It attempted slashing the Spartan before he found his axe being kicked with such intensity it split in two. The earth pony was barely able to process the sudden change of positions before a massive hand grabbed him on the face and tugged him out of the library. The pony flew out like a wet rag and smashed into the ground as the Spartan went inside with both ponies following him.
In there he searched for Spike before he found him apparently kissing a picture of Rarity in his basket. The Spartan didn’t question it as he shoved the young drake and the other two ponies inside the basement. Down there they found quite the sight as it seemed the Spartan had made the place as his base of operations as well as weapon manufacturing. There were large quantities of grenades and more gallons of pepper spray.
“Silent what are you doing?” Twilight asked.
As the Spartan took out a spray bottle he knelt and said while motioning to the trigger of the spray, “Aim and Fire.” With that the Spartan pointed the nozzle at Black Mist and pointed to his eyes.
Twilight looked quizzically at the bottle before looking up, “What is in this bottle?” she said, almost scared to know the answer.
The Spartan didn’t reply verbally as he gestured with his hands crying. Twilight gulped as she turned the nozzle of the bottle to a place where nopony could be harmed. After that the Spartan rummaged in the box before pulling out two similar objects. Objects that had multiple electrically charged gems connected to them. He looked at Black Mist before clicking a button on the new toy and then jamming the two small metal rods sticking out of it to a metal table from which electrical sparks blasted from.
“What have you been doing in you free time?” Black Mist asked, appalled and in wonder.
The Spartan had begun heading up before Spike yelled after him, “What about me!?”
The Spartan didn’t have time to make something so he simply grabbed a smoke grenade from the table and tossed it his way. Spike clutched the grenade as if it were a gift from Santa Hooves himself. The Spartan was almost out when he was once more stopped in his tracks.
“Silent, please be gentle with them. And you know what I’m talking about,” Twilight said as the Spartan sighed and took off the stinger grenades and dropped them. And with that he walked out of the basement and closed the door behind him.
(Spartan)
The Spartan stood at the now silent and evacuated library as he made his way towards the outside world. These motherfuckers were apparently bounty hunters or hired guns and it was without a doubt who had sent them. He would be sending them back in caskets were it not for Twilight wanting him to be gentle. Of course gentle just meant they would be leaving in full body casts rather than in caskets, but the Spartan guessed it would be better than having another session of good manners were he would just turn on the armor lock and pretend to pay attention.
The Spartan saw the exterior devoid of that one earth pony he had the courtesy of showing outside. He wondered if the ponies and that one gryphon of mythology had gotten cold feet, of course his motion sensor told a whole different story. The Spartan pressed record from his helmet so he could later revise the attacking patterns of ponies and gryphons, if he was going to beat the snot out of them he would learn a little from them.
He feigned confusion as he turned his back on the aggressors as he grabbed the handle of the door with this hand. At once he ducked and just in time did multiple arrows struck where his had been a few seconds. The arrows themselves wouldn’t do anything to him even if they somehow depleted the energy shield they would never pass his armor. Acting as their shots actually counted was good practice as well as it would make them feel like they had a chance and allow them to give their all in the fight.
“DIE FOUL FIEND!” yelled a voice from top of him as he jumped and rolled to the side as a massive war hammer slammed into the ground. The minotaur holding it sure seemed pissed that he didn’t end it in a single shot.
‘Well isn’t this world filled up with a bunch of talking animals? I’m just missing them singing spontaneously to finally declare myself inside a Disney Movie. I really can’t wait to turn this movie into a rated R classification for gore and violence,’ the Spartan thought as he dashed and more arrows struck his position. A gryphon swiped at the Spartan’s position with a cutlass intending on slashing and flying away. The Spartan had a different plan though as he grabbed the overgrown bird’s claw and head before he redirected the bird’s path toward the ground. The gryphon screeched before it slammed into the ground rather forcefully and rolled away, leaving a trail of spittle, blood from a surely broken beak, and feathers.
The Spartan wasn’t able to enjoy the show as the war hammer from before flew over his head as he ducked. The minotaur had proved to move at a relatively fast pace. The Spartan took the opportunity as the Minotaur lost its balance after his hammer continued going without hitting anything to turn the minotaur around and kicking him in the back, sending the creature falling to the other side of the street.
The Spartan than blocked an incoming sword towards his thorax as the same ironclad pony from before stood before him. The Spartan grinned inside his helmet as he took out the home made taser with one hand while the other held onto the sword as the idiot somehow tried to pry it out of the Spartan’s grasp.
The Spartan pressed the button on the device as sparks flew off it and made the pony gasp inside its armor. At once he attempted to let go of the sword but it was already too late, the Spartan made contact with the sword. As the lightshow began the pony yelled in pain as the high voltage coursed through his body. His body fell limp as the Spartan grabbed him and dodged the arrows sent his way.
With marksman precision the Spartan hurled the ironclad pony’s body at one of the points where the arrows were flying from. A squawk from the bushes where the pony was sent confirmed the elimination of two thirds of his aggressors.
“Don’t you go forgetting about me lad!” The Spartan heard as the earth pony from before came into the scene.
‘After I’m done with you, you won’t be able to forget me even if you tried,’ the Spartan thought as he took out a flash-bang grenade and ignited it with the taser.
The earth pony seemed to anticipate the move as he quickly covered his face as the Spartan tossed the grenade in front of him before it detonated, leaving a faint stinging noise in the pony’s ears. He looked up with a smile expecting the monster to be stunned by his little gadget not working on him, sadly though the Spartan was nowhere to be seen. A small stomp behind him told the earth pony where he was as he crouched and bucked with all his might. The sound of a snap made him smile as he looked back but instead of seeing the monster crumpled on the ground he saw his whole body engulfed in sparks.
‘You piss me off,’ the Spartan thought as he grabbed the earth pony’s back legs and he used them to launch him in the air before kicking the stallion with enough strength to break its ribs as he was ejected from the battle field.
As the Spartan mulled over the thought that he had maybe gone a little over the line a war hammer smashed right into his head, blasting away the energy shield that was barely recharging. Silence reigned as he stood still and straight, eventually turning to see a now hammerless minotaur looking at him in shock. The Spartan cracked his neck as he stopped recording in order to not posses any incriminating evidence.
‘That last bastard was irritating, but you yourself have managed to piss me off,’ the Spartan thought as he dropped the taser to the ground and cracked his knuckles, ‘I hope you like the idea of artificial lungs big boy.’
The minotaur didn’t feel like standing to wait for the Spartan to make the first move before he charged at him with his horns. The Spartan charged as well before grabbing the minotaur by the horns and twisting his own body to gain leverage and tossing him into a tree.
The minotaur grunted in pain as he stood then screamed in fright as he somehow dodged the Spartan’s fist which collided with the tree’s bark. The tree’s bark exploded in splinters as the whole thing snapped and the top of the tree fell to the ground. The minotaur tried to punch the Spartan but his hand didn’t even make contact as the Spartan’s hand intercepted the fist. The Spartan was grinning maniacally as the minotaur’s life flashed before his life.
‘I’m going to give you summer teeth. Some are here, some are there,’ the Spartan thought as he twisted the minotaur’s arm and turned him over before he grabbed one of its horns and with a well-placed strike he snapped the horn clean off. The minotaur screamed as the Spartan walked slowly towards the beast fully intending to stab it in the heart with its own horn.
“STOP! Please I yield!” the minotaur pleaded.
‘Had I intended to simply put you out of commission this fight would been over five minutes ago,’ the Spartan thought as he approached the minotaur who now was dragging himself away from the Spartan.
“STOP!!!!!” another voice shouted as of all ponies none other than Fluttershy seemed to fly and stand in front of the Spartan with her hooves opened defensively.
‘Out of my way kid,’ the Spartan thought, ignoring the Pegasus before a tail seemed to wrap over the Spartan’s head and launch him away.
“Discord!” Fluttershy yelled.
“What? I was merely defending a friend? Is that so wrong?” Discord asked.
“That wasn’t nice Discord,” Fluttershy said as the minotaur behind them fainted as the adrenaline faded from his system.
“Oh come on, I’m pretty sure the big guy can take a little tossing aroun-“ Discord said before a fully powered hit from the Spartan collided with his face and in a shockwave the spirit of chaos was quite literally shot off out of town.
The Spartan stood there looking at his fist as it seemed to smoke.
“How could you?” Fluttershy said as the Spartan looked at her.
‘Huh?’ he thought.
“HOW COULD YOU!?” Fluttershy yelled as she grabbed the Spartan’s helmet and began to seemingly bore into his head as her eyes seemingly got bigger and irises turned more acute.
“Just because you are bigger and stronger than others doesn’t mean you can be a jerk to them! You should know better than that!” Fluttershy yelled.
‘Well aren’t you a funny little thing, do you tell kids the same thing every Sunday on your shows?’ the Spartan thought as he lifted both arms.
“What do you have to say for yourself!? I asked, what do you have to say for yourself mister?” Fluttershy asked indignantly while still clasping the Spartan’s helmet in her hooves.
The Spartan merely grabbed the hooves with his hands and pried them off, ‘First of all no touching the helmet. Second, you should see a doctor about your eyes. And third, if you want to file a complaint please make sure to send it to the HR department of Canterlot where it will be immediately ignored and forgotten,’ he thought.
“Well?” Fluttershy asked while still holding some air of the moral high ground.
“Fuck-off,” the Spartan said as he turned around and walked away from her and into the library, leaving behind a shocked and speechless Pegasus.
Inside the library seemed quiet and undisturbed as he knocked on the basement door and then entered without hassle. That was until Twilight sprayed him in the face with the pepper spray and Spike hit him on the side with the smoke grenade. Thankfully Black Mist hadn’t over reacted, or so the Spartan though until the guard ran out of his cover and charged him before the Spartan clocked him upside the head and sent the guard down into la-la land.
‘Stupid idiot,’ the Spartan thought as he wiped the pepper spray smeared in his visor and gave Spike the smoke grenade back, mentally making a note to never give the both of them any real weapons.
“So what happened back there?” Twilight asked with mild concern and embarrassment.
‘How have you not gotten the point of our situation by now?’ the Spartan thought as he groaned and walked upstairs to his favorite chair.
Eventually the town guard (The Spartan was amazed they indeed had one) made itself known as its only guard had to come down and pick the bodies and confiscate weapons as well as sending them to the local hospital to mend their wounds. Canterlot guards were then dispatched to monitor them and take them to the dungeon the second they were up and running.
Fluttershy had once more gone back to her cottage in order to regroup and then retaliate, or maybe just regroup and wait until it was all over. Whichever happened first. Discord on the other hand was knocked out cold with his face half buried into the ground somewhere on the outskirts of town. For the Spartan it had been a good day.
Discord the god of chaos was by no means a coward. Having a few millennia of experience, chaos magic, and immortality allowed him to get away with basically anything except world domination. That’s why he had been shocked when that creature he practically saved from space turned out to return his little attack with a punch that by any other means would have practically ripped his head clean off. Discord was only lucky that he had decided to figure out how it would feel to have rubber bones this day rather than crystal ones. Nevertheless the problem still remained, that the alien had punched him out of town and out of service for a full day. This only warranted a rebuttal of the chaotic kind of course.
Meanwhile the Spartan had done his final rounds around the treehouse in order to make sure he had gotten the last of the bastards that attacked him. Well, attacked seemed too generous, that would mean they posed a threat to begin with. Twilight, instead of chewing him out, just sighed as she watched the last bounty hunter getting picked up in the wheelbarrow and transported to the hospital. The Spartan on the other hand was happy that she was finally getting an idea of how things worked with him. Besides, nobody that knew what a Spartan was capable of was stupid enough to charge at a Spartan with the intent of killing him. Twilight had simply gone to bed and hadn’t woken up since, Black Mist was still out cold, and Spike had spent his entire time pestering the Spartan for details of how the battle went.
In the end everyone was asleep and the Spartan could finally get some rest after dealing with the colorful blobs that probably crapped rainbows and sunshine. The Spartan armed the security system and went to his bedroom and lay on his ridiculously small bed. He had been on the planet for a while now and the whole idea of dreams had been a difficult one to get used too. Usually one didn’t dream when suspended in cryo-sleep. All of his dreams were the same, either he found himself back in a battle fighting the Covenant or he would simply relive his training days. On more than one occasion he had woken up as he felt as if an AI was trying to get inside his mind. Of course whenever he woke up the feeling was immediately gone, but it usually served to keep him up after that.
This night though something else woke the Spartan up as his visor began flashing warning signs in his HUD which brought the Spartan to wake up. As he opened his eyes he found the genetic monster he was sure he had killed a few hours ago looming over him. The creature touched the Spartan’s helmet with a talon which gave the Spartan the window he needed as he grabbed onto the draconequus’s arm.
“My, my, up already? I’d expect you to be somewhat of a light sleeper but you were practically just searching for something to disturb you weren’t y-“ Discord was interrupted mid rant as the Spartan’s fist collided with the being’s face a second time which sent him flying out of the room. The only difference was this time the Spartan hadn’t let go of his arm.
The Spartan looked at the arm he held within his grasp expecting to see it oozing blood from being ripped off. Instead what he got was just an overstretched claw as it seemed be made out of a taffy like substance.
‘What the fuck is this guy made off?’ the Spartan questioned as he began hearing sound in his comms.
The Spartan immediately dropped the arm as it retracted into the library’s lobby while he tried to reply to the signal. What he got was not what he expected as instead of hearing the garble similar to his that would identify the people on the other line as English speakers he got a tune slowly coming into his headset. The volume turning higher and higher as the music could now be heard even through his helmet and out into the library. The Spartan tried everything in his control to stop the music but it didn’t relent as the dance-pop song continued it charade.
“What, you don’t like my little gift? You need to relax and go with the groove buddy!” Discord said as he appeared unscathed in the lobby dancing to the beat of the music in a frilly getup and using maracas.
‘I’m going to break every single bone in your body and then rip you to shreds only to burn you in a bonfire!’ the Spartan thought as he grabbed the taser he left on the nightstand. Though instead of charging at the draconequus he used it on the knocked out night guard.
“OUCH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR!?” Black Mist yelled as the Spartan tossed him the taser and pointed upstairs where Twilight was before smashing his fists together in a threatening manner towards the dancing draconequus.
(Twilight Sparkle)
Twilight was having a very good dream that involved her finding a never before read book inside the cave of ancient tomes inside the Canterlot Library. The Daring Do outfit she was wearing only aided in giving the dream that adventurous aroma she totally had no matter what Rainbow Dash, Applejack, or Pinkie Pie said. The dream was at once destroyed as a big explosion brought her to the land of the living in a rather unpleasant way. What seemed to only weird her out even more about the situation going on downstairs was the song that could be heard. It was odd yet lively and somewhat funny as the saxophone gave it a fast pace.
She looked over from the second floor only to see Discord flying comically around the treehouse as the Spartan chased him with a kitchen knife. The music didn’t help as the overly comical scenery in front of her made her want to laugh but the Spartan obviously trying to murder Discord made her want to stop it. Of course seeing that Discord was rather relaxed and running away now using a unicycle and juggling balls destroyed the seriousness of the situation. The two of them ran all over the place as the Spartan kept throwing flashbangs to stun and disorient the draconequus. At one point Twilight would have sworn she saw Black Mist pop out of the guest room wearing a tutu.
Twilight found herself silently rooting for the Spartan before Discord grabbed a book from a shelf and tossed it at the super soldier. This woke up Twilight’s sense of responsibility as she ran down the stairs and yelled, “DISCORD! WHAT IN TARTARUS IS GOING ON!?”
“Oh it seems the gig is up, anyway Silent Warrior it’s been fun but I believe Fluttershy will be quite scared to find me missing if I don’t-,” Discord realized that he would be unable to finish his explanation as the Spartan grabbed the draconequus by the head and pried his mouth open before placing a live stinger grenade inside.
‘You’re done motherfucker!’ the Spartan thought as Discord tried to fight against the Spartan’s grip before the grenade went off.
Instead of his head blowing up and covering him in brain matter it only bulged out like a balloon before Discord let out a gasp of smoke.
The Spartan didn’t take any chances as his mission was now clear, he would be killing this piece of shit. He slammed his fist against Discord’s face and kicked him out of the library. A new song was now playing in his helmet as he approached the open door of the library before looking back at Twilight and lifting up the kitchen knife as if asking to borrow it. Twilight was speechless as she could almost feel the evil aura coming from the Spartan.
“What in the Equestria happened?” Twilight asked as she could only fathom what the Spartan had in store for the god of chaos.
“What’s going on?” Black Mist said as he waddled towards Twilight while wearing a frilly pink tutu and corset.
“I think Silent is going to murder the god of chaos,” Twilight said before looking at Black Mist, “And what’s wrong with you?”
“The crotch is too tight,” Black Mist said before waddling back to his room to take off the ridiculous get up.
(Discord)
Many things used to go through the draconequus’s mind at once, like what water tasted like. Or why foals loved cinnamon toast crunch. In this case what was going through his mind was more or less a fist. The thought of how things had turned out so wrong was also in there.
The new song playing was not one Discord had thought about playing, it seemed like the whole enchantment he had placed on the metallic being was being affected by him. It didn’t help that no matter what the god of chaos threw at him the super soldier always came back and with a vengeance. Most of the time he would be able to change his body’s properties right in time before the Spartan struck in a way that would surely dismember anything short of a god.
Discord didn’t just run away either, he would make rocks and trees alike turn to life and attack the Spartan as well as throwing bombs at him in the varied forms. The battle had been dragged out of the town and into the clearing outside of town which served as an excellent battlefield. Explosions and wild maniacal laughter rang out from both fighting parties as destruction only followed them. Discord was exceedingly happy that he was an immortal or else the fight would have ended before it started, the Spartan proving to be a lot more chaotic and destructive than any other being he had the pleasure of meeting.
Of course Discord found himself slowly getting weaker and having less focus than when he started while the Spartan seemed relentless. The battle slowly began to turn into a one sided annihilation as the barriers Discord brought up were crushed, the monsters he spawned were destroyed and any excuses he said would be shoved right back into his mouth.
(Spartan)
This was the most fun the Spartan had been having since he came to Equestria. The genetic monster in front of him proved to be at the very least capable of surviving his attacks. This only instigated the Spartan to attack more fiercely and use tactics he hadn’t learned unless he had to fight against a Hunter. The trees that seemed to catch life and attack him were a little tricky to kill but nonetheless none of the little minions Discord sent at him was capable of stopping him for long. The Spartan would always find a window and with a crack smashed Discord’s face into the earth.
He was getting a real workout as the fight seemed to be at a stalemate, that was until Discord’s movements seemed to be slowing down which gave him the green light to finally give the bastard a lifetime’s worth of punishment. In the blink of an eye the Spartan was upon the draconequus while inside his helmet his face was contorted into that of pure unfiltered evil.
The Spartan began to systematically beat the living crap out of the god of chaos. Whenever he was capable of teleporting away the Spartan was already upon him and bashing his body faster than he could heal himself. Discord was a wreck as the Spartan brought the hammer of destruction upon him; something about the music only gave him more motivation as if an inner demon inside him had been awakened.
Soon the day’s light reached them as the dawn made its appearance and the smoke, splinters, scorched ground, destroyed vegetation, small fires, and multiple craters gave an idea of what happened. The Spartan grabbed Discord by the throat and hoisted him up as he took the out the now bent and jagged knife he borrowed from Twilight and placed it to the bastard’s throat.
Discord didn’t seem sorrowful or scared, only tired though he still kept a small smirk of amusement. The Spartan didn’t have a temper for his little jokes but he could respect a warrior that could look into the face of death and smile. Discord placed his talon on the Spartan’s helmet and the music stopped. The Spartan smiled as it seemed they had reached an agreement, besides killing a punching bag that could sustain his wrath was hard to come by. Discord would be a great dummy to take his frustrations out on.
The Spartan retracted the knife and let go of Discord as he turned away, heading towards the library. Discord only stared at the Spartan as his wounds and bones slowly healed, before the Spartan turned around and ran towards him like a freight train and kicked him so hard in the gut he was sent flying right into the Everfree forest all while leaving behind a small stream of blood. It would take a good long while for Discord to heal up but the message was clear.
‘And don’t you ever mess with my armor again,’ the Spartan thought as he ran diagnostics and saw that not only no foreign programs were installed but the suit seemed to be in a lot better condition as well as having the temperature regulation system back online, ‘Not bad.’
And with that he returned back to the library in order to attend his lecture on the consequences of terrorizing the town in the middle of the night and making a battlefield out of the town’s outskirts. He would also have to see if he could make some more advanced weapons in Twilight’s library.
The cool breeze of air passed silently through Ponyville as everything was finally at peace with the world and gave the residents of the town time to calm down and finally rest. The recent development between the giant metallic monster and Discord had brought out a full blown battle between the two that for a moment seemed to be eternal. Ponies really didn’t care as they were just two monsters killing each other, but what they did care was the nonstop ruckus created during the fights which made even nap experts like Rainbow Dash have trouble getting a few minutes of sleep.
Now though the world was finally resting, Discord was probably twisted like a pretzel around a tree, and the Spartan had returned a little more dented than before. This night though, something else was happening. As all of the citizens finally succumbed to exhaustion from the week long battle a few shady figures managed to enter town and without much fight took certain ponies from some households. The rainbow one had managed to break the jaw of one of the agents and the farmer proved somewhat difficult to manage once she woke up. But in the end all of them were muffled, chained up, and imprisoned. The final touch to the whole plane was a single innocuous note gently pasted to the front door of the Golden Oaks Library.
Twilight Sparkle had woken up the next morning to the sound of multiple frantic knocks on the door to the library. When she walked downstairs she found Black Mist barely up from bed as well, the Spartan was reading a book whilst ignoring the commotion outside, and Spike could be heard growling as he was forcibly woken up from a dream that must’ve involved Rarity.
“What’s going on?” Twilight asked.
The Spartan simply shrugged and returned to his lecture which elicited a huff of annoyance from the librarian. She trotted directly up to the door and opened it in order to find multiple frantic faces in the small crowd in front of her doorway.
Standing in front her were not only the cutie mark crusaders but also other ponies like Big Macintosh, Granny Smith, Rarity’s parents, and the Cakes. Before she could ask anything a note was pushed towards her as she began to read an alarming message.
Dear Ms. Sparkle,
As you may have or have not noticed, your friends the Elements of Harmony are no longer with you this day. This is because we have taken it upon our hooves to make sure that Equestria’s future is bright. Unfortunately you have become a hindrance to that goal of ours and are now threatening with taking down our dream for Equestria, thus we had to reach such rash actions. In the name of The Order of the Dark Phoenix we hereby demand you to give yourself up to us without protection in exchange for the other Elements of Harmony. You must show up alone in the Everfree Forest at the castle of the two sisters alone, unguarded, and unarmed in order for the exchange to take place. If those requirements are not met the Element bearers will be killed. This meeting will take place in two days’ time at midnight, for every hour you keep us waiting one of the Element bearers will be killed. Those are our demands Ms. Sparkle, we await your response.
Sincerely,
The Order of the Dark Phoenix
Twilight had to re-read the letter a few times to believe what it said. She looked up only to see the haggard and miserable looks the families of her friends were giving her. Some of the other families weren’t even notified yet. Twilight didn’t even answer as she ran inside the library and brought Spike down from upstairs.
“Spike I need you to write an urgent letter, immediately!” Twilight said as a flurry of books and multiple maps began to float around her. In the commotion nobody noticed the Spartan standing up and going downstairs into the basement.
Black Mist came into the library to see multiple ponies that quite frankly looked like crap speaking with each other while Spike wrote a letter frantically and Twilight enveloped herself in a cocoon of information.
“What in the world is going on? It’s not even noon yet, there should be a rule against this,” Black Mist said which earned him quite a fierce glare from the family ponies. They really weren’t much of a threat to him, excluding Big Macintosh; that stallion would probably break anypony in half.
The day unraveled and, with the visit of two very important princesses’, chaos finally opened up. More and more the families needed to be calmed down and re-assured that everything would be fine. Some of the fillies downright cried as they imagined the notion of something going wrong. The families eventually had to be led out to their homes as the royal guard took care of the problem.
Twilight had been fervently looking up tracking spells and scrying spells in attempts to find the locations of her friends. Sadly all were turning up with no results; whoever had taken the girls had done so with meticulous effort and good planning. Twilight didn’t notice the shadow behind her as Celestia reached down with her hoof and grasped her shoulder.
“Twilight, are you okay?” Celestia asked with worry.
“I’m fine Princess it’s just… I just can’t seem to find anyway to do this without reaching a bad outcome. They don’t seem to be joking around. What should we do?” Twilight asked with hope that her mentor would be able to offer some insight on the situation.
“Twilight, in moments like this one has to keep a cool head and logical mind. I suggest we wait until something comes up, maybe a new development will shed light into this and open a new set of options for us. The one thing I’m sure of it that we must not oblige to what they ask Twilight, whatever they are planning to do with you is obviously something bad enough to place the lives of five ponies on the line, if not more.”
“So you are just telling me to wait? When the lives of my friends are on the line!? I don’t think I can do this Princess, there’s got to be something we didn’t consider! Maybe something we overlooked!” Twilight said frantically.
Celestia was about to reply when her sister Luna called for her from the kitchen, “Excuse me, Twilight, it seems something important needs my attention.”
Twilight simply turned around and delved once more into her books.
On the other side of the library though Princess Luna had an ongoing argument developing.
“What do you mean just strike them down!? Luna do you understand how delicate the situation is!? This is a national crisis, the bearers of Equestria’s most powerful weapon are not only being held hostage and under the threat of death, my protégé and bearer of magic who is in line for the throne of Equestria is what this organization wants! We can’t just go down there with our horns flared and blast them all to Tartarus!” Celestia said.
“And why the hay not sister!? Back in the day such nuances and dirt like those ponies would be dealt with immediately and with the wrath of gods for their idiocy at standing against us!” Luna said quite angrily.
“Luna I understand how things might seem from your point of view but things have changed in these past thousand years. This is an extremely delicate situation. One wrong move and it could mean the death of somepony. I suggest we plan this ahead and wait for new developments, it would be better to organize the guards to infiltrate and take down the insurrectionists from inside,” Celestia said as she walked over to the kitchen table that had a map of the Everfree as well as specified diagrams of the Castle of the two sisters.
“And here I thought you were saying I was the one with the bad ideas. Seriously, Celestia? Sending the guard to deal with this? You must have rammed so much cake in your mouth that the frosting finally creamed your brain. Those incompetents you have as guards would get themselves killed before they were of any use down there. Back in the day the guards of our time might’ve been a good idea but your simple overshined action figurines you have walking down the corridors weren’t even able to handle a simple invasion to the capital! Might as well send the insurrectionists to just kill off the Elements bearers,” Luna said.
“LUNA! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU INSULTING MY GUARDS! Besides they aren’t that bad, they just need some more training,” Celestia said.
“And cojones,” Luna said.
“What was that?” Celestia asked she threw Luna a stink eye.
“Nothing…” Luna said before both sisters returned to talking about multiple strategies that might work.
During all of this guards moved around town asking ponies if they knew anything about the recent events or had any clues. Black Mist had been working around the clock to get a lead on the missing mares. He had looked for hoof prints and anything left behind. If you were to ask him why he was overworking himself for mares he had near to no connection with he would reply to you with some made up speech about duty and honor as well as sprinkle some loyalty to make it shine. The real reason though was that he hoped that if he found the mares and somehow saved them, he would get a promotion and therefore be re-assigned. Living as the custodian for the Spartan really didn’t work out as he thought. Originally he thought he would be some sort of mentor about honor and social interaction as well as dependability while sprinkling some loyalty to make himself shine to the Spartan.
Instead Black Mist had been hurled towards ponies, walls, and exteriors. He had been tazed, gassed, stomped, kicked, and dressed up in different outfits. And to make matters worse, he had begun hearing ponies calling him the Spartan’s pet pony he won in a bet against Luna. Such a degrading job was slowly killing his drive, and he had to get out. The only good thing was that the Spartan hadn’t caused a scene while this whole thing was going on; Celestia knows the situation didn’t need more stress because of him.
The day had gone by quickly and sadly no new developments or plans had been found that could change the tide of the requests. The princesses reluctantly had to go with the royal guard plan as anything else would be too risky. With a few perception altering spells they were capable of making the guards near invisible. The plan would entitle Twilight showing up at the entrance of the castle and she would wait for the culprits to show up before being taken down by the guards and securing the safety of the Element bearers.
The plan quite simply was absurd and too risky in Twilight’s opinion. Having to think of all the scenarios and possible ways in which one pony could approach the problem she arrived to a conclusion. She would offer herself up regardless of what the Princess thought. She was only one single measly pony in exchange for the well-being of five ponies. One sacrifice for the good of the many seemed like a perfectly logical explanation for her mindset.
After feigning going to sleep and later on waking up on whilst the other rested Twilight sneaked out under the veil of the night in order to find and rescue her friends by trading herself with the kidnappers. Maybe if she found them before everything happened, she could avoid unnecessary bloodshed just for her.
“I’m sorry Princess, but I just can’t let my friends suffer because they’re connected to me,” she whispered while looking back at the treehouse and walking right into the Everfree forest. Things inside seemed restless as the sound of the night creatures clawed at Twilight’s head. She couldn’t avoid feeling the odd sensation of being watched.
Twilight eventually made it to the castle right at the bridge where Rainbow Dash was almost tempted by the Shadowbolts into leaving her friends behind. The warm memory made Twilight’s resolution stronger than before as she took a step onto the bridge to close the gap and bring this stupid situation to an end.
Sadly as soon as she stepped onto the bridge a sharp pain came instantly from behind her head as the world around Twilight blurred and she lost consciousness. Her body lied limply at the start of the bridge as a shadow grabbed her by the horn and dragged her away.
Twilight groggily woke up only to find herself tied up to a metallic surface as well as having all her extremities restrained by rope. Twilight tried using magic but failed as she recognized the feeling of something crucial to her almost missing. She didn’t need to look in a mirror to figure out that multiple magical inhibitors were placed upon her horn.
“Look who woke up,” a deep gruff voice said from a shadowy corner of the room. Twilight couldn’t give the voice a form as the shadows and haze of her mind impeded her to rationalize the events that had transpired and therefore any response she could have made never came to her mindset.
“You see what happens when ponies don’t follow the rules Twilight Sparkle? Now you are captured and you’re friends are captured as well. What a nice little outcome you helped create, and now the whole of Equestria will suffer because of you, I hope you’re proud.” The voice said and with its accusations Twilight’s grogginess lifted quickly.
“W-wait! Where am I!? Who are you!? Let my friends go, we had a deal!” Twilight pleaded as she realized the implications.
“I think it’s time for me to leave, I hope you know what this means.” The voice said as Twilight thrashed in her bindings before a piercing pain scaled on the back of her head and everything went back to black. Her body laid limply on the metallic surface before the steps of her captor announced him leaving the area.
(Spartan)
Since the start of the whole thing he knew it would become a pain in the ass. He could only thank God that the ponies somehow were so shocked about the event his presence went completely over their heads and tried to solve the matter themselves instead of asking for his help.
It would been a great few days for him to relax and take it easy while reading in the basement working with a few of his projects for a while but sadly things were not meant to be because apparently the universe hated him more than he thought.
The signs Twilight showed immediately set of red flags for the Spartan, she would stubbornly investigate alternate ways to save her friends and she even flared her temper towards her mentor and Princess while expressing that the only possible way to save her friends was by relinquishing herself to the enemy. Clearly her judgment was clouded; multiple ways of taking down insurrectionists in search of a ransom were available but the time limit and stress of the situation clearly didn’t let the ponies find alternative methods. The Spartan would have simply sent a decoy and the second the bastards showed themselves he’d place a bullet (or arrow in this technologically impaired world) in each of their faces.
So of course having seen the signs and assessed the situation it was obvious Twilight would be doing something utterly stupid and tell no one about it so they could reach god-tier fucked up status of emergency for the nation. The Spartan knew that when this happened he would need to be ready so he began reading everything he could about the Everfree forest and memorized the map they had laid out in the kitchen when no one was looking.
After he prepared himself, it was just a matter of playing the waiting game. Twilight Sparkle would inevitably fuck up and he would have to pick up the pieces. Of course if she died the possibility of him being let go because of his assignment being incomplete would render him free. Yet again it would be a stain in his record of a failed mission which was unacceptable and utterly shameful to having lost to pastel colored marshmallows. Also the idea of dealing with a hostage situation was somewhat good practice as he feared he might get rusty and too used to being on standby.
Eventually as predicted Twilight snuck out of the library and went into the Everfree forest, she was actually going to turn herself in and trust the word of the kidnappers.
‘I swear these fuckers are all born with a mental deficiency, every time I turn around I find them playing with gasoline and fire,’ the Spartan thought as he slowly and gently snuck towards Twilight. She had almost made it to the bridge that went towards the castle when the Spartan acted out and downright knocked her to lala-land. Dragging her body all the way back to the library was easy. Sneaking her inside was easier. Dragging her down into the basement as each of the steps clocked her in the head was priceless.
Once in the basement the Spartan simply nullified her magic and strapped her tightly against his metal work bench while dimming the lights of the place so she was unable to recognize where she was. Sadly she somehow woke up before he gagged her and he had to hide in the shadows before he knocked her right out once more. He gagged her in order to keep her silent should she wake up and grabbed a few new projects of his for a field test before turning the lights off and leaving the basement. If the Spartan played his cards right he could play a little game with the purple alicorn and keep his speech impairment for a little while longer.
Dealing with insurrectionists was easy, the Spartans had been originally made for that very reason so he had therefore been trained for every kind of situation that arose. And the only thing that could come to his mind as he made his way through the thick forest was, “We don’t negotiate with terrorists.” The Spartan liked that idea and he was going to follow through with it.
‘We don’t negotiate with terrorists,’ was the single thought running through the Spartan’s head over and over again as he mowed through the forest foliage and approached towards the ruined castle silently. Things all around him seemed at peace and quiet, too quiet. The book the Spartan read said the forest was wild and untamed. So why when the night struck and the predator’s needed to come out did everything seem to be so calm?
The Spartan almost finished the trek towards the castle before shrieks of horror grabbed his attention. It seemed like a hunter had finally found itself a prey in the midst of night. Originally he would have just ignored them and let nature continue on its cycle, but he was stopped in his tracks as he heard the screams for help that seemed unusually high for some of the ponies he had met until this moment. If those ponies created a big enough ruckus the kidnapper would be alerted and at full guard which would make things harder.
The Spartan made his way towards the sound and stayed concealed before he found an unusual sight. There seemed to be three scared little fillies cornered by a creature of myth. An actual manticore seemed to be just toying with them for the moment before it would feel like eating and seeing as how the small ponies seemingly climbed over each other trying to escape they were just too frightened to think logically. They were probably foals too which didn’t help the situation at all, if he were to help them they most likely would run around telling every single pony they saw and blow the whole setup he was aiming to do. He had to take care of this problem without hurting the fillies, taking care of the manticore and sending them back home in a way that they wouldn’t come back into the forest and cause more trouble for him.
Cries of help were screamed by the CMC as the Manticore looked at them with an impish grin as if toying with them. The three fillies had attempted everything from separating, attempting to fly, and even climbing on a tree but the Manticore didn’t seem to be stopped by anything. Tears marked the coats of the fillies as the realization that there was no escape hit them. All they wanted to do was rescue their big sisters but it seemed that once more they were the ones who needed rescuing.
As the three fillies slowly began to accept their fate and stop running the grin on the manticore faded as it stopped corralling them and seemed to be more interested in eating them now rather than playing with its food. Applebloom gasped as the manticore lunged at them through the air and closed her eyes along with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo in anticipation of death… only for a loud cracking sound to be heard and a howl of pain to emanate from the manticore.
The fillies opened their eyes and gasped as the strange thing stood over them, it seemed like a tree as it stood well over them and was covered in vines and leaves. Almost like a living hill that sprouted out of the ground for their aid. The fillies only looked at it in horror as it held in one of its protrusions a wing from the manticore. The manticore in question thrashed in pain as blood seeped out of the surprise amputation.
The manticore seemed to be more enraged than in pain as it managed to stand on its legs and sneered at the living hill holding its wing. The tree monster tossed away the wing before moving towards the manticore at which point the lion, scorpion, and bat hybrid jumped and lashed out at the beast standing between it and its dinner. The manticore was unable to process what happened next as the creature sidestepped, giving the mythological creature a clear shot at the fillies; it seemed that the manticore would get its prize after all. The fillies screamed as the creature sidestepped from in front of them only to be presented with the view of the manticore lunging towards them.
Being inches in the air from them the manticore could almost taste the juicy and tender flesh of the foals as it opened its mouth and got ready to take the first bite. A bite that never came as a tugging sensation from behind it became agonizing pain. Everything stopped for the manticore before the creature grabbed it by the scorpion tail and threw the beast into the forest with so much strength that a few trees that stood in its way while flying backwards got shattered to pieces as the manticore impacted them. Everything had gone according to plan as the tree creature looked at the fillies and saw them scared out of their minds.
The Spartan’s plan was simple; stop the manticore, scare the living daylights out of the children, and coral them all the way back to Ponyville. This proved wonderfully correct as the Spartan turned around to see only dust clouds where the foals had just stood. He followed them for a little to make sure that they were on the right track to Ponyville. Hopefully with this scare they would never come into the forest again. As he moved back to finish his mission a small vial flew in front of him and smashed into the ground before an explosion of mythical flames engulfed the ground around him.
“What have you done foul creature, to the fillies that were once in this forest without a teacher!?” came a voice from within a hooded figure.
‘God fucking dammit,’ the Spartan thought as he looked at this hooded pony that seemed to carry something alike nitroglycerin vials.
“I will not ask again for there is nothing for you to gain, tell me where they are or you’ll find yourself in a world of pain,” growled the hooded pony with a thick accent.
‘Oh look, it even rhymes. I swear to god this fucking place,’ the Spartan thought as he made his way back to the track before a second vial flew directly at the back of his head, the Spartan only just dodging and his path blew up in flames.
“I’m putting a stop to your campaign, I will not miss again!” the pony said before it threw open its hood and revealed not only several different vials of the substance but also the pony to be a zebra.
‘I don’t have time for this,’ the Spartan thought as three vials were thrown his way with marksman accuracy.
The zebra must not have accounted for such a small reaction time from the creature as it grabbed all the vials in the air before they impacted and even tossed one her way. The zebra’s eyes widened as it dodged to the right before smashing against a tree she didn’t notice there a second before. She looked up only to see with fright the towering creature over her.
‘Night night,’ the Spartan thought as he clonked the zebra behind the head and allowed her body to fall limply to the ground.
‘Look at all this stuff she had in her hood, talk about having safety measures. She was a walking MRE for any animal that decided the push her in the ground with enough force to make one of the vials crack open, though they might be useful,’ the Spartan thought as he took the vials the zebra had and placed them in his inventory. Just then he was struck with the realization that he didn’t know where this zebra lived and also that the fires most likely alerted the kidnappers of him coming. His cover was relatively blown now and he was not in the mood for games anymore.
The Spartan grabbed one of the vines he covered his body with and with it he wrapped the zebra and its cloak into a neat bundle. A bundle that he quickly left in front of Fluttershy’s home near the Everfree.
With no more problems the Spartan once more quickly moved towards the castle. Time was of the essence now.
The Spartan ran through the forest with unimaginable speed for something as big and heavy as him. The reports he had read as well as the things he had seen before taking Twilight back to the basement for being an idiot showed the only way into the castle was a feeble bridge that had no chance in holding his weight. Therefore he would have to jump, so he needed as much velocity as he could muster.
The scenery flashed beside him as the world turned into a blur and his five second camouflage was turned to shreds as it was unable to handle the speed and rough movements of the Spartan. Faster and faster the Spartan ran as he saw the edge of the ground and the massive jump he had to make. It was a very large jump but he should be able to make it.
At last the Spartan reached the edge and jumped forwards and as high as he could, the air whistled around him as he landed on the other end of the land with a massive thump. Not long before he landed the world trembled as the edge began to crumble and give away. The Spartan quickly unsheathed his combat knife and impaled it into the ground as all the ground gave way and left a massive missing piece on the edge of the land. The Spartan was quick to climb up and hide behind a pile of rubble on the side of the cliff. If he was correct eyes would now be watching where he once stood.
The insurrectionist party might not be in the area but the Spartan trusted his sense that if they planned on having a prisoner exchange they would at the very least leave someone to look over the designated area. He would need to be aware of every little thing of the place and make sure no one tampered with it or set up a trap. This would mean that the Spartan needed to lure him/her or maybe even them out.
As the Spartan stood as still as a rock and overlooked his surroundings he was capable of making out four figures peering out from multiple orifices of the castle. The figures seemed uneasy as his sensors caught them moving around their respective positions in a quite desperate fashion. To be honest he had just fought a chimera and a zebra with something alike incendiary grenades so it was a very reasonable idea to think that the area spotters where thinking about something ready to go amiss at the palace.
‘And two of them are separate from the group, it’s like they actually want me to kill them,’ the Spartan thought as he waited for an opening to show up in which the peering eyes weren’t looking down on his position.
Eventually the opening came and the Spartan swept into the shadows of the ruins. He needed one alive to point him in the direction where the others were located.
Fire Blaze had not been a happy camper during the day to say the least. Everything had gone from bad to worse since the start as the Royal Guard practically flooded the whole town of Ponyville which made it a very stressing moment for the Pegasus pony. He and his brothers and sister had finally decided to act when Celestia announced Twilight Sparkles incoming coronation. Celestia had been the sole ruler and guide of the kingdom of Equestria for over a thousand years and when Twilight Sparkle had entered her life a few noticeable changes had begun to occur around society.
Celestia would shoot down massive projects from the aristocracy and would also be stricter when it came to guests of the crown. It was obvious the filly had been manipulating the princess herself, no one would truly suspect a filly of doing such a thing except those who were capable of seeing behind the mask of innocence the world had.
The order had been keeping a close watch on the filly as she grew as well as having a few guards of theirs that had successfully snuck into the palace near her at all times. Some plans to make her see their view by attempting to send some new ponies to become her ‘friends’ when she had grown up had failed. She had locked herself away from the outer world except to a select few which only exposed their beliefs about her to be true.
When Nightmare Moon, Discord, Chrysalis, and Sombra came back or attacked before being stopped by the mare that had become the bane of the Order of the Dark Phoenix a new idea sprouted about her leeching off the power of Celestia herself. How else could she beat so many enemies of the state? Celestia obviously had become so blind and weak from the purple menace’s motives that when she called her power to fight Chrysalis she had been far too weak to crush the bug.
In the end Twilight Sparkle had turned into an alicorn and been proclaimed as next in line to the throne of Equestria. The order had failed in their attempts to get her killed off by ‘accident’ with some of the many problems they had orchestrated in the town of Ponyville. And now being an alicorn a new fear had risen that she had taken control of some elemental force of nature like the other princesses. Some nobles had tried getting her killed which caught the blinded princess’ attention, causing her to send a metallic beast to guard her at any cost. Of course the Order had dealt with some of the nobles with planned assassinations by sending them an invitation to Gryphonia on behalf of a wealthy investor aching to meet them, which they had all jumped at like the buffoons they were. As for Twilight Sparkle, they would request the aid of an old creature depicted as Tirek in the tomes. They would ask him to take Twilight’s power away and give it to the master of the order in exchange for his freedom from Tartarus.
Now the Order had to take the most forceful approach it had taken in years as they outright kidnapped the Elements of Harmony and asked for Twilight as ransom. She had been a fool to get friends and allow herself to become vulnerable. She must’ve thought she was untouchable and allowed herself to be displayed in public for the world to see. If the plan worked well the order would have more power than it ever had before in the past. After Twilight Sparkle fell the Order would have to deal with the two bit princess of the night that had suddenly appeared gallivanting into the throne room one day as one of the diarchies of Equestria. But that was a plan for another day.
Right now Fire Blaze had his attention set on everything as the small specs of fiery explosions and the loud roars in the Everfree Forest seemed to point at something that could hinder their plan. Especially after that night guard had come snooping around the place. They had watched him until they were sure he was alone and simply ‘took him’. That night guard would be taught what happens to ponies when they don’t listen, just like they did to a certain Gryphon in particular.
As Fire Blaze finally calmed down from the sudden collapse of land near the bridge towards the castle as he attributed it to just a natural occurrence he felt something move behind him.
Fire Blaze turned around as quickly as he could but he was unable to see anything. A strange smell came to his nose as well as a figure standing in his peripheral view at which moment the pony turned at once more saw nothing. This was beginning to drive him nuts and that smell wasn’t helping either. The pony moved around sniffing for the smell as he heard the clack of a door being closed in the room behind him. As the pony turned around his face turned pale and a look of abject horror passed his face as a familiar metallic monstrosity sat next to the door that had just closed in a rather relaxed position.
Fire Blaze extended his wings in an aggressive fashion as he growled at the Spartan. The Spartan on the other hand made no move to stand up or even acknowledge the Pegasus as a threat. Fire Blaze on the other hand opened his mouth ready to call for back up and inhaled as much air as he could. At that moment though, the Pegasus felt like he had inhaled something akin to fire as his throat and lungs flared in pain. It felt like something was scraping his insides as the pony fell into a harsh coughing fit. The Spartan simply looked at him though the pony could almost sense the smug grin the Spartan had plastered on his face.
Fire Blaze tried once more to call for backup but this time the coughing became much harsher as he felt his insides being scrubbed by sand paper. He was horrified when he spat a small amount of blood.
“I was wondering when the gas would take effect,” the Spartan said as the pegasus’s eyes turned to pinpricks and looked at the Spartan with shock. No report said anything about the metallic beast being capable of speech.
Fire Blaze tried with all of his will to scream out for help which came only as a hoarse whiz from his mouth as he began to cough more and more blood.
“If I were you I would shut up and cherish the moments I have left of life. After all, from what I’ve read, mustard gas is not something that feels good. Tell me, how does it feel to have the inner walls of your lungs getting scraped with a metallic loofa?” asked the Spartan as he stood up.
The Pegasus on the other hand flared his wings and attempted to take off before two hands grabbed him from the base of his wings and pulled as the bone sockets for his wings popped and the bones got crushed. The Pegasus fell to the floor and tried to cry in pain but only fell into a coughing fit once more as more blood was splattered from his mouth.
Fire Blaze would attempt to run away but his world was filled with pain at the moment. The Spartan simply walked towards the pony in agony.
“Thank you for being my first test subject for one of my projects,” the Spartan said as he grabbed the Pegasus from the back of its head and held him against the floor.
Fire Blaze thrashed in panic as the imagery of what would happen next came into his head, “Now don’t be so antsy, believe me that no one likes dying because of mustard gas, I am doing you a favor.”
And with that the Spartan pulled out the same knife he used to cut the manticore’s wing off as he swiftly impaled it through the pony’s skull as the body’s nervous system went haywire and spammed all over the place before finally laying limply. The Spartan stood up and left the room, closing the doors behind him. The helmet’s air filters had kept him safe from the mustard gas but if another pony were to walk inside the room there was a possibility that some residue of the mustard gas was left in the room. And that would be a fun thing to mimic to the ponies. Though he doubted they had anything akin to the Geneva Convention agreements and even if they did it would probably be something like not throwing water balloons when time out was called. The Spartan chuckled at the thought of the ponies having some sort of ridiculous war composed of something like water balloons or something seriously stupid like pies.
The following pony was a unicorn and also the perfect subject for a few theories the Spartan wanted to try. The unicorn didn’t seem as jumpy as the Pegasus and his eyes seemed to glow slightly as he focused intently out of the window. The Spartan could care less as he leaped behind the pony and grabbed its horn and throat as it thrashed in blind panic.
“Don’t worry, I just want to test some things,” the Spartan said as he took out one of the tazers he had fashioned and connected it to the tip of the unicorn’s horn before turning it up as the electricity danced along his horn as if it were a lightning rod. The unicorn gasped and screamed though his sounds were muffled due to the metallic hand blocking his mouth.
The Spartan was treated to a show as the unicorn convulsed as if being fried alive and saw how he popped a few blood vessels when the wide eyes of the unicorn filled with blood. Finally the Spartan let go and the body of the unicorn fell to the ground limply as he analyzed his current health. The unicorn was breathing irregularly and a few ticks in his body would come and go as well as the sudden release of its bowels.
‘Still alive huh? I guess that the horn is not directly connected to the brain or else he would be. Maybe it’s more of an extra sensitive extremity of the nervous system,’ the Spartan thought as he approached the body.
‘Well I guess I really can’t leave any witnesses behind now can I. Got to say though, I like being able to speak my mind for once,’ the Spartan thought as he pulled a slender yet extremely sharp and fine knife.
He had been working on this project of his for quite the while in attempts to recreate something that resembled an energy sword. The whole idea was to use as much electricity to overheat a sharp object in a way that it would cut and cauterize things quickly and efficiently. The Spartan gave it a test as the knife was now glowing a bright red before attempting to chop the unicorns head up in a single motion. Something that didn’t work was that the knife became blunt due to the extreme heat dulling the blade.
The knife merely burned slowly at the throat of the unicorn as its eyes shot open and grasped at its throat. The Spartan rolled his eyes as he tossed the failed project he had worked so hard on aside. He simply grabbed his combat knife and stabbed the unicorn right through the heart. The Spartan stood up and left the room.
‘Two down, two to go,’ the Spartan thought as he left.
The Gryphon and the unicorn in pair were getting antsy as they hadn’t seen the other two of their teammates for a while already. There was the possibility that another guard was around like the first one they encountered. He had fought fiercely but a fight against four opponents had been too much for him and he been taken to the base. They would make an example of him to the Princesses.
The sound of a creaking door grabbed the attention of both gryphon and unicorn as they watched the metal monstrosity they had been notified of waltz in through the door with its left arm holding something right out of sight. Both of them looked at the single reason why they were unable to simply kidnap Twilight from the very start. The gryphon looked at the Spartan and took a step in his direction with determination.
“Well aren’t you an interesting thing? You don’t look so tough. I wonder how long you’ll last against me,” the gryphon said before splaying its wings open.
“Niko be careful, you’ve heard what the reports said about him,” the unicorn said as she charged a magic blast and kept her horn aimed at the Spartan.
The Spartan suddenly moved as he tossed something right at the gryphon before a blast of magic pushed him into the wall. The gryphon though had no time to evade as the object smashed against him and broke open, letting all the fluid pour out and soak him.
“Niko! Are you ok!?” the unicorn mare asked, not once taking her sight off the Spartan who stood oddly still while gazing at the gryphon with an odd concentration.
The gryphon lifted off a piece of rubber from his face as he looked at the thing that had soaked all of his body.
“A balloon!? Did you seriously attack me with a water balloon!?” the gryphon asked, almost laughing as he wiped the liquid off his face and talons which felt kind of slippery, “A balloon filled with soapy water no less! Haha! Why did we fear this guy again!? He is a complete idiot!”
‘Wait for it,’ the Spartan thought as he saw the gryphon trying to clean himself off by extending his wings and flapping them a few times which dribbled some of the substance that was most definitely not water with soap all over the place and some of it even splattering on the mare to his side.
Eventually the gryphon began grunting as he began feeling an odd sensation akin to a rash. Soon the sensation went from a rash to heat and from that to burning. The gryphon was treated to a beautiful view as his skin, fur, and feathers began melting from his body as he screamed intensely for it to stop while the mare to the side looked on in horror.
“What did you do to him!? What was that stuff!?” she asked more in anger and horror than with actual want for an answer as she knew that the metal monstrosity couldn’t speak.
“Acid,” came the unexpected response as the mare looked at the Spartan with mind numbing horror as it had leaped all the way from the wall to where she and the gryphon stood.
It all happened so fast as the Spartan used a knife to slit the throat of the gryphon before grabbing her with a fierce grip towards her throat which effectively crushed her trachea, rendering her unable to speak as blood filled her mouth. After that something so horrible she couldn’t even imagine in her worst nightmares happened as the Spartan placed her against a wall and with a good solid punch snapped her horn off.
If she were able to speak she would be screaming like a mad mare at that instant as the pain was overwhelming. She began feeling woozy as her consciousness slipped away from her before a needle was jabbed into her foreleg and the world returned to her as well as all the pain. Everything was pain and terror and she couldn’t escape. She tried squirming out of the Spartan’s grasp or at the very least give up some fight before she was raised to look directly at the Spartan’s visor.
“Let’s go over this once, you will guide me towards your leaders and where the Elements of Harmony are and maybe I won’t kill you,” the Spartan said at the nearly unconscious mare.
‘You think I would help you at all? To let our plans be destroyed by a monster like you? Betray my brother and sisters for that manipulating whore Twilight Sparkle!?’ the mare thought before she defiantly spat blood at what she thought was the face of the Spartan.
“It seems you don’t truly understand your predicament,” the Spartan said as he grabbed his blade and jammed the tip into the center of the protrusion that once was the horn of the unicorn, making her thrash wildly as her eyes went to the back of her head, “There’s things that are a lot worse than death. If you don’t cooperate I will see to it that you plead to me to be killed.”
With that he turned the mare around towards the forest as she pointed towards a general direction though it was difficult to see the path as tears filled her eyes and streamed down her face.
It took almost an hour to get to the basecamp where the Spartan confirmed that the Elements were being held hostage. The time was around 2 A.M. in the morning which gave the Spartan a relatively small window to fit all the pieces of his plan together. His sensors detected about thirty beings in the vicinity of the camp. The Elements were definitely there and if not, he could always take as much hostages until he found them.
With a swift move the Spartan broke the mare’s neck before flinging her body into the jungle. She had finished being useful and would only become a hindrance from then on. The Spartan had no mercy for scum like her or the rest of the insurrectionist group. After discarding her body the Spartan took to observing the camp and taking notice of the active guards. It seemed that some guards were in charge of the perimeter while others kept over watch of the imprisoned mares. Inside of the cage though, the Spartan saw two more bodies he didn’t expect to see.
One of the inhabitants of the cage was a gryphon he’d never seen before, he/she seemed quite roughed up and its wings were bent in odd angles. The word ‘traitor’ was seemingly carved into its forehead though it was hard to differentiate the words out of the splotches of its own blood. The other inhabitant pissed off the Spartan a little.
‘What is that moron doing there!?’ thought the Spartan as his ire was picked by Black Mist who seemed to have been captured by the insurrectionists. The only seemingly good thing was that most of them were either sleeping or unconscious. This would make them easier to transfer and avoid strange questions.
The Spartan was about to conduct his massacre when something caught his eye before standing up. There was a commotion down in the cage as it seemed like one of the Element bearers was waking up. The guards surrounded the cage immediately as one left running towards a tent, meanwhile the pony that could only be known as Rainbow Dash fought mercilessly against her bindings trying to get out. All of this didn’t last long as the guard that had left came back with a syringe which was then injected into Rainbow Dash after being forced into submission by the other guards. The Pegasus lost her drive and fell unconscious before being thrown back inside the cage.
They were obviously drugged to make them submissive and easy to manage. This made things easier, but it brought some problems with it as he didn’t know exactly the dosage they were using on the mares. The Spartan stood up from his position as he left to do his job.
The basecamp was quiet and peaceful as the night gently took care of those who slept under its veil. No sound or creature roared and the prisoners were held tight inside their cage as well as their bindings. One could spare nothing when it came to holding the Elements of Harmony prisoners. The guards themselves had to be re-arranged and get more night shifts to make sure that nothing would go wrong. Especially after a night guard was found looking around the old castle ruins or that Gilda the gryphon that aided in the catching of the elements turned on them after they revealed to her the full plan.
The Spartan moved with precision and dexterity over the shadows. He had to do this fast and efficiently in order to take a good part of the insurrectionists out before they sounded the alarms. It was oddly gratifying to once more be doing what he was best at; it gave the Spartan a sense of ease and tranquility.
The Guards would go missing from here and there, a few from the shadows would be pulled into a corner with only a crack and a squelch sounding off as a knife either penetrated their rib cage or separated their spinal vertebrae. The Spartan was almost done as he moved into the inside of a tent that seemed oddly well protected. If anything was screaming “enemy intel” it was that place, it was almost too good. The Spartan had thought the ponies too stupid as he went inside the tent expecting anything short of the master mind sleeping there or doing something stupid like cackling like an overly idiotic and generic villain.
As the Spartan crossed the path into the tent, right after formally requesting both insurrectionist guards in front of it to stop breathing air and die, the Spartan felt something click as his boot triggered a small little coil on the inside. The coil led to small little crystal similar to the ones that he used as energy sources for his tasers. They were connected to an odd barrel in the middle of the room and before the Spartan could curse as he stupidly fell into a setup trap for thinking the ponies beneath him the crystals set off a spark which lit the powder inside the barrel in the middle of the room which surmounted to a huge explosion.
So huge was the explosion some of the tents nearby where blown away as well as the occupants. The world shook and the Everfree forest was rattled as the animals inhabiting it were stirred up into a frenzy. Only a few guards and thankfully the cage with the hostages were relatively unharmed as the cloud of smoke and fire went up and dissipated into the air, leaving behind a huge crater and a dented Spartan whose shields were broken and small sparks jumped around his suit.
The smoke slowly dissipated and a manic laugh could be heard slowly moving towards the crater as bodies of the once sleeping guards littered the floor. The other guards were still too dazed and roughed up to make sense of what just happened, and some were checking that the hostages were still alive as having them die would not go well with the plan.
“Well, well, well… just who do we have here?” the voice said as it approached the Spartan, “I wondered how long Celestia would take to send her new guard dog for us. Thankfully I rigged the tent up with a little welcome surprise.”
The Spartan grunted as his cracked visor turned to look at the voice now revealed to be owned by a unicorn.
‘You are going to pay for that,’ the Spartan thought as the pony slowly approached him with a smug smile plastered on its face.
“Had I known it would be this easy to take care of you I would have done it a long while ago,” the pony said as he levitated a dagger, “Oh well I have things to do so I might as well do this quick. Or take my time, I mean, you did kill a lot of my men and Lord Phoenix will not be too pleased with that.”
With that the knife flipped in the air and flew in a straight line directly towards the Spartan’s neck… only to hit and jam into the ground as the Spartan rolled to his side in a quick motion leaving behind any sort of sign that he was injured.
“What the!?” the unicorn shouted before the Spartan grabbed him by the scruff of his neck and lifted him up into the air.
“Not bad acting huh? Next time, make sure your opponent is dead before going on a rant, especially if your opponent is a Spartan,” the Spartan whispered as the unicorn wailed in his grasp and tried freeing himself by prying at him with his magic.
A single swift punch in the noggin placed the unicorn out of business as the Spartan grabbed the remains of a tent and tightly roped him up into the top of tree before his shields came back online. By then the guards had already assembled and gotten ready to defend themselves against him. He found it odd that none came to the aid of their leader as they stood around the hostages with multiple crossbows pointed towards them.
“Cease your attacks and give yourself in!” yelled the gryphon in front of the cluster of insurrectionists.
‘You obviously don’t know me as well as you think,’ the Spartan thought as he stood completely still in front of the insurrectionists.
“Now get on your knees,” The gryphon ordered as the Spartan fell to the ground before two earth ponies rounded on him and grabbed his arms in order to keep him controlled.
The insurrectionists seemed to fall at ease as they saw the Spartan in such a vulnerable position. The gryphon that had obviously taken charge smiled as he waved to unicorns forth as their horns began charging and being pointed at the Spartan.
“You may be a dragon, a golem, or maybe even a familiar. But even the most resilient of creatures won’t be able to survive a direct attack from this spell,” The gryphon said before the Spartan seemed to mumble something, “What was that?” the gryphon asked as he moved closer while completely sure of his safety.
Once he was close enough the Spartan’s head shot upwards as his visor stared directly at the gryphon, “You’re all going to die here,” the Spartan said as the gryphon laughed at him.
“Hahaha! I didn’t know you could talk! Here we thought you were just an idiot, too bad your last words will be as stupid as you w-*BAGAWK*!” The gryphon said as the Spartan, in a fluid motion, ripped himself away from the earth ponies that were holding him without problem. Just after doing so he grabbed the gryphon and pried open the mouth of the gryphon and placed inside his beak one of the vials that the zebra had been throwing at him a while ago. Following this he stood up and grabbed the head of the gryphon before kneeing him in the face as his beak and skull were shattered along with the vial in its mouth.
The insurrectionists watched in horror as their new leader’s face burst into flames from the inside out and gurgled cries of help were rendered indistinguishable with the cracked bones, spewing blood, and twitching body. The earth ponies attempted to make a grab for the Spartan once more before he jumped in the air and lifted them by their heads just in time to deflect both magic blasts that had been sent his way by the unicorns.
The earth ponies screamed in pain as they slowly became rock and shattered into pieces, all the while the Spartan tossed them aside and pulled his knife as he leaped and tackled one of the unicorns down and impaled him into the ground with his knife. The other unicorn took the chance to charge another spell as he shot towards the Spartan, the armored bipedal once more leaping into the air, allowing the spell to hit the downed insurrectionist. Though this time instead of becoming rock and crumbling the impaled unicorn began sputtering and twitching in agony as the spell sent a high voltage of electricity through his body which only allowed for the knife that kept him grounded moved around in the injury and cutting the pony more and more.
The unicorn stared wide eyed at his brother in arms before looking up and finding himself staring at the soles of the Spartan’s boots as they smashed completely against his face and drove him into the ground before his head was crushed into a mess of blood, bone, and grey matter.
The Spartan was not wasting his time as he sent a flash grenade at the very few remaining insurrectionists grabbing for their crossbows. As the flash grenade went off a few meters from them and promptly blinded them, it opened a window of opportunity and thus ensuring the death of the last guards.
A gryphon that attempted to take off into the air to avoid the Spartan was pulled down by the tail and then grabbed by the wings before they got ripped off with the incredible strength of the Spartan’s grip and finally finished off with a broken neck.
An earth pony that had an axe began blindly swinging it and accidentally rammed it into the gryphon next to him before the axe was tugged away from him so forcefully his jaw dislocated. It was then used to decapitate the pony. The whole scene was something straight out of a nightmare that would make demons themselves wake up crying in fear.
Unknown to the Spartan a pair of eyes inside the cage had slowly opened and now stared at the ensuing massacre. Blood flowed out like a river and stallions, mares, and gryphons alike were maimed and dismembered with never seen before precision. The Spartan wasn’t alive, if he were that would mean he had a soul, and no creature in the existence of time would be able to kill as easily as he was doing it. This was not a living being, this was a weapon, a killing machine from Tartarus. And Black Mist was living with him!
The bloodied and battered night guard watched in shock as images that would forever be carved into his mind and plague him for the rest of his days happened in front of him. He as a soldier had seen death and was acquainted with it, he had seen tortured souls by being like changelings, or even the spoils of a pony after gryphons had eaten them. Nothing amounted to what he was seeing, and not long after he got tunnel vision and lost consciousness.
By the end of it the Spartan was caked in blood, fur, feathers, and a few pieces of ripped meat and brain matter. He wiped some of the blood off his visor before walking to the cage and ripping the lock off. The Spartan grabbed the hostages as well as the knocked out leader before setting the bodies and overall place on fire.
The smelled of charred meat enticed the surrounding creatures of the forest as they rounded towards the remains of the base camp as well as sometimes coming for the Spartan himself. He took a detour from the straight path ahead before going into a river which allowed for most of the blood to get washed away against the rough stream. After doing so he simply went ahead into Ponyville and inside the library. A few animals he met along the way towards there that thought he would be easy prey found themselves in the presence of the superior predator that night and found just how many ways a biped could kill an animal without using his hands.
Finally back at the library the Spartan placed the ponies in the corner as well as retrieved Twilight from the basement before tying up the unknown gryphon hostage and taking the leader of the insurrectionist basecamp out with him. The Spartan had special plans for this pony in particular.
(Next Morning, Ponyville Library)
The guards had begun waking up and making their rounds as they found the two guards assigned for the Ponyville Library knocked out and thrown into the bushes. Alarms had been sounded as well as the Princess had been alerted as the whole place erupted into chaos. They expected the worst inside the library, for the place to be the scene of a fight as well as Twilight and Spike being missing or worse… dead. As the Princess all but tore the top of the tree off in their haste to enter and aid the new alicorn of Equestria they found themselves grounded as they were met with an unlikely sight.
The Spartan sat at the kitchen table as he looked like he had gone through hell and back as he was covered in some stuff that made some of the guards that saw him first need to run away in search of a container to empty their bowels into.
The Spartan didn’t seem to give much of a crap as he drank from his coffee and read his book with ease. What really was breaking the mindset of the Princesses though wasn’t that the Spartan looked the very image of a god of war, but the bloodied and charred tent in the corner of the room filled with roughed up ponies as well as the dangling gryphon from the ceiling that served as a personal POW for the Spartan.
‘You two look like you’ve never seen a man enjoying his coffee in the morning before,’ the Spartan thought as he spared them a glance before tipping his mug in acknowledgement of their presence and going back to his reading material.
“What has transpired in this place?” Luna asked towards the room.
“I do not know sister, but I fear to know the answer myself,” Celestia answered as she looked at the night guard Black Mist who had seemingly woke up and looked around the room with a lost gaze while repeating the same words, “He is a demon. He is a demon. He is a demon.”
“I think we will need to get therapy for all parties involved,” Luna said.
“Come on Silent its Hearth’s Warming Eve! You cant stay cooped up inside the library every single day reading! You have to come out and let the holiday cheer into your heart!” Twilight Sparkle princess of Equestria told the human as he fully ignored her and kept reading and small little black book without a title.
“Look who’s talking.” Spike snidely commented as he walked past Twilight with a pile of books he had just retrieved from her room.
“Come on Spike! I stopped doing that ever since I got friends and came to Ponyville!” Twilight retorted.
“Not really, remember that one time you practically allowed me to become Applejack’s indentured servant because you were too engrossed in your studies? Or how about that time with the fire in the kitchen? Or that time when Applejack needed to help getting the applecart that broke on top of her? And how about that time with the demo-“Spike explained before his mouth was shot with a magic spell.
“I think he gets it Spike.” Twilight said flatly, “Nonetheless I still believe he should at the very least go out for some fresh air. He hasn’t left that library ever since the holidays started.”
‘Maybe its because every single time I remotely think about going out that pink diabetic marshmallow is waiting outside expecting a hug. Or the fact that all of you ridiculous ponies go into a full musical entendre for something as stupid as a single one of you feeling like you could be extra special about your god damned cup of hot chocolate.’ Thought the Spartan as he gazed into his cup of coffee and noticing it was now empty. He stood up to refill it when a single flash of purple magic took him by surprise as he looked down at the kitchen and finding the pot of coffee emptying itself on the kitchen sink as well as the coffee container being missing.
He looked towards were Twilight stood as she looked unto him with smug expression, “I know for a fact you cant stay indoor for long before you need your coffee or reading material!” Twilight said as another flash of magic blasted through the library and all the books including the one on the Spartan’s hand vanished.
‘Youre playing a very dangerous game kid.’ Thought the Spartan as he stepped towards Twilight.
(Carousel Boutique, Ponyville)
Rarity was having a wonderful day, as she had already woken up from a marvelous beauty sleep. She had already sensed the beat of music coming to her as she gazed upon the first snowflake falling from the sky and feeling her with inspiration and emotion. All the required materials to make one’s heart soar and the melody of it to become real. A quartet of violins was beginning to play before a bright flash of magic collapsed everything and Rarity found herself under a massive pile of books that seemed to lay in every single open space of her house and establishment. Rarity dug herself out and found a notes sticking on her hair that read:
Dear Rarity,
As Princess of Equestria, I Twilight Sparkle, ask for you to take care of my royal bank of knowledge for an indefinite time. Its for a good cause, I promise.
Sincerely,
Princess Twilight Sparkle
Rarity fumed at what her friend had just done before raising her hoof up in the air in disdain and screaming, “SPARKLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
(Golden Oaks Library, Ponyville)
The Spartan had raised up his hand in the air as his finger begun to count down obviously intended to give Twilight a sense of warning before the upcoming storm.
“Listen, Silent I know its hard, but you need to get out more. Theres a whole world of opportunities out there for you to grasp. I you maybe gave ponies and friendship a chance you might find yourself enjoying it.” Twilight explained just as the Spartan’s counter reached zero and lounged at her.
“AHHH!!” Twilight screamed in panic as the colossal soldier obliterated everything in its path towards her. She barely had time teleport out of the way before he rammed into the wall leaving a hole in it.
“Hey! I know youre mad but this is good for-AHHH!!!” Twilight was interrupted as chair flew at her just in time for her to raise a shield.
“You’ll thank me later, Bye!” Twilight yelled before she teleported leaving a scorched mark on the floor.
The super soldier moved towards the kitchen in search of anything that could help him search for the purple pain in the ass. Finding nothing he sighed in frustration before he heard the sound of foot steps behind him as he turned swiftly only to find Spike attempting to sneak away.
Spike froze in his place as he looked at him like a deer caught in front of a car’s headlights. He felt a slow chill crawling down his spine as he stared at the unyielding and unforgiving golden visor of the Spartan’s armor staring at him.
“Y-you k-know she m-might have point with the w-whole going out thing.” Spike attempted to mediate before he ducked and a cup sailed over his head and smashed into the wall behind him, “Oryouknowyou,maybeyourerightandyoushoulddoasyouwishasongasyoudonthurtme!”Spike frantically said as he ran out of the library.
The Spartan once more sighed and placed a hand over his visor as he thought of the possible things he could do now. Sleeping was sadly out of the question as he had already slept more than he should’ve attempting to hibernate past this ungodly diabetical season. Black Mist had gone home for the holidays to celebrate with his family as he seemed to take every opportunity to tell everyone how much he loved them in case the next day in service of Twilight Sparkle was his last, hence the option of sending to get more coffee and books was out. Aside from that, his laboratory had been seized by the equestrian guard after a certain idiot had stolen one of his Tasers and shocked Princess Celestia in her sleep. The draconequus was forced to eat his own spleen that night.
With all options exhausted the Spartan grumbled as he made way and grabbed a wooden cane that was set to the side of the door before coming out into the outer world. Were the populace stopped what they were doing and looked upon him. Sadly it wasn’t with expressions of horror and panic but of cheer and joy.
~The Scrooge is out, the love may have chance yet
To show him the beauty of joy, friendship and cheer.
May our happiness reach him, for this is something he won’t regret!~
Began a seemingly random stallion to sing as he slowly made way towards the Spartan as the ponies began stomping their hooves against the ground setting the tempo and allowing for the magical instruments of equestrian to awaken and begin jingling and bringin forth an upcoming song. That was instantly crushed as the stallion had attempted to crawl on top of the Spartan to sing a high note on his shoulders. The Spartan reacted by smashing the wooden cane against the stallions gut and batting him out of sight. The super soldier had learned during the first days that one of the ways to stop one of the orchestral numbers was by using blunt force trauma against the first pony that begun singing, hence he now brought a wooden cane with himself. If he had to beat ever single pony into unconsciousness before the day was out to get his coffee and reading material then so be it.
He didn’t take two steps forward as the ponies began running towards the center of town and music began blasting out of every single orifice the world had to offer. Ponies dancing and singing on rooftops, it wasn’t difficult to know that he had been too late to stop some moron from starting something. If the song was anything to go by, it all either started with a kiss or he found the last pickle in the fridge. This was going to be a long day.
(Mountain Everfree forest)
On top of the mountain a single diamond dog looked at the town of Ponyville as he cackled maniacally whilst using a telescope to focus on the homes. Specifically the gifts proudly displayed in windows. The diamond dog with his unusual white coat of fur blended perfectly into the snow landscape.
“Silly ponies, thinking they’re safe behind their crystal walls, leave all precious things for the taking. All soon will be mine!” the diamond dog said as he cackled whilst rubbing his paws together.
(Market Place, Ponyville)
The song had just finished as the Spartan was almost certain a vein in his head popped when some ponies danced around him and hanged bells around his armor, placed a jolly hat on him, and finally for a piece de resistance placed little lights on him. All involved are now tied up with those very Christmas lights and hang from the bell tower of Ponyville.
He had just arrived to his usual supplier of coffee when he spotted an infuriating sign depicting him with an angry face “Under order of Princess Twilight Sparkle, no coffee must be supplied to Silent Warrior unless he has six ponies to vouch for him being in the spirit of Hearth’s warming.”
The Spartan attempted to buy the coffee anyway but the vendor refused.
“Sorry friend, but the Princess was explicitly specific that you needed those six ponies to vouch for you. Even if I wanted to, there is a spell on the containers. Were you to steal them the coffee beans would turn to dirt the second they come out of the container.” Said the vendor.
The Spartan fumed before he grabbed a random pony from the streets and gave him twenty bits as he gestured for him to buy the coffee for him. The pony smiled before shaking his head and pulling out a decree that to degree made everypony unable to help him in that regard under penalty of law.
The Spartan began seeing red as he threw the pony away. He moved away from the coffee vendor when a new idea popped in his head as he ran off and hid behind a building keeping a lookout over the shop. He saw as a pony bought some coffee as she smiled and moved with some pep in her step away. The Spartan took this as his signal before following her down a dark alley were he jumped in front of her and snatched the coffee from her. He opened it to find the container filled with dirt.
“SON OF A BITCH!” yelled the Spartan in frustration before the pony he assaulted coughed next to him as he scornfully gave her some bits to buy herself more coffee. Apparently the spell was linked to him.
‘Maybe if I try cheating the spell instead of the system I can work my way into avoiding this plan of hers before I search her out and snap her spine in two’ , thought the Spartan as he came out of the alleyway. The Ponies in the town would most likely refuse to help him, but maybe he could use the aid of someone from out of town.
The Spartan sprinted out of town almost reaching the outskirts as he finally stumbled upon what he was searching for. On the very edge of the town there seemed to be a caravan of multiple vendors. He saw a magician attempting some parlor tricks to gain some quick cash as well as next to her being a brotherly duo selling what seemed to be hot chocolate that also made you relive old memories.
“Well obviously you three seem to lack the brain cells to fully appreciate an act of magic as amazing as the Great and Powerful Trixie brings you!” said unicorn that stood atop a box with two stallions and a mare booing at her.
On the side of her the brothers seemed to be doing somewhat good as a pony or two would come to buy their product. They seemed oddly intense about selling their product but it was just not catching on as ponies seemed to be especially wary of them. It wasn’t until the Spartan was in front of them that everything seemed to halt to a stop. The Spartan’s eyebrow rose as he could practically sense the greed coming out of both of them as well as seeing the bit signs form in their eyes.
“Would you look at this monstrosity dear brother of mine! Isnt it quite the interesting specimen!?” said one of the duo.
“Why yes good brother Id say he is so special id be willing to pay to see him. Such interesting creature would bring quite the flux of ponies!” said the one with the mustache
“~WELL! HOW ABOUT WE-HURK!” said the other brother as both hands of the Spartan grabbed them from the throats and raised them into the air.
“If you sing I will break you.” stated the Spartan
Both brothers gulped as they nodded in acceptance, the Spartan was about to release them when a snowball hit him in the back of the helmet.
“Let them go beast! You have managed to cross paths with your worst nightmare! And now Trixie will vanquish you with her unstoppable power!” she said as multiple fireworks blasted against the Spartan as well as multiple snowballs. Both brothers looked with hope towards the monster holding them expecting it to let go at any second. Instead when the smoke cleared the human stood still with his emotionless golden visor gazing into their souls.
He unceremoniously dropped them before grabbing his cane and whacking the great and power pain in the ass on her head.
“OUCH! What was that for!?” yelled Trixie in pain.
“Stop that.” Said the Spartan.
He usually would’ve been far more brutal but he kind of needed her for the whole fooling the spell thing. Once things relatively calmed down he managed to explain all of the parties what he needed from them before they either snorted or simply shrugged off his demand. The brothers were quickly convinced as the Spartan tossed a bag of bits in front of them. Trixie thought didn’t seem to be onboard just yet.
“You think the great and powerful Trixie needs your charity? Bah! Trixie needs nothing from lowly nuances like yourself.” She said before the Spartan grabbed the cane again. A few whacks later she was on board.
(Underground Ponyville)
The snow white diamond dog worked tirelessly as he made multiple tunnels all over the town setting everything up for his nefarious plan that would take place at night. The ponies would never see the horrors to come. They had been foolish and too trustful of everything and now it would bite them in the ass.
(Lake near Ponyville outskirts)
A single gryphon stood glaring at the pond as she huffed and puffed.
“Stupid Rainbow Dash! I try to make up for what I did and she blows me off to be with that bunch of dweebs!” the Gryphon said.
She tossed a rock as it smashed and tore a hole through the thick shield of ice that had formed over the lake. She looked away in time to find herself looking at the green armored legs of the Spartan who had in tow three ponies behind him.
“What in the Tartarus do you want beast!?”
This gained her a smack with the Spartan’s cane. Which resulted in her lounging at him before getting her ass handed to her as the Spartan whacked the shit out of her with his cane before explaining her his situation. Gilda was reluctant to help until a pony on the lake seemed to try and begin to start some sort of rendition to swan lake which made the Spartan stop in the middle of the explanation turn around, grab a block of ice and toss it towards the stallion before it hit a bullseye and knocked him right the fuck out.
Gilda laughed at this before the Spartan offered her to join him, she accepted under the condition he did that to Rainbow Dash. The Spartan had no problem with that.
(Everfree Forest)
The diamond dog had long finished and now all that he needed to do was to wait for the time to come. The ponies would wake up the next morning after he had done his job and cry at the loss of there precious possessions.
(Market Place, Ponyville)
The Spartan stood in front of the coffee vendor as with three ponies, one gryphon, and two dragons behind him. The dragons looked quite confused as a series of bumps were protruding off their heads. They seemed somewhat out of it.
“Im guessing this are your six vouchers?” asked the vendor
Spartan nodded before the vendor smiled and pulled out a scroll as he gave it to him.
The Spartan unrolled it as he began silently reading.
Dear Silent Warrior,
I knew you could do it! All you had to do was to believe in yourself! Do you now see the value and sense of frie-
The human didn’t read the rest of the letter as he ripped it to shreds. The Pony simply shrugged and gave him his coffee and the Spartan went on his merry way back to the library but not before stealing some books that were in the trash outside Carousel Boutique. The day was almost over and thankfully he hadn’t killed anything. He paid the brothers and Trixie and threw a rock at a several clouds until the Pony he was searching for finally fell like a prize. The Dragons stumbled back into the forest still dazed from the blunt force trauma applied to their craniums.
Everything seemed to finally be ending. Twilight never came back to the library due to fear of meeting a still pissed of Spartan and also because she needed to chew out Rarity for the sacrilege of throwing her books out into the garbage. None noticed the few rumbles the earth gave as the night went and since the Library was itself a tree the diamond dog didn’t consider anypony stupid enough to build its house inside a tree. A few miles away a zebra woke up and felt completely insulted.
(Next Morning, Ponyville)
The Spartan woke up to the sounds of hell, the rythms and chants of those not of this world. All of them demons awaiting to screw with his mind and break the fight in his soul. He stood up from his bed and moved over to the kitchen, hell could wait for him to have his first cup of coffee.
Once he was set the Spartan moved out to confront the abhorrent sounds that for some reason were just loud enough to make him notice them but low enough to give him the hope the he could somehow find a way to ignore them. He followed the noise all the way to the center of town where it seemed like a conglomeration of equines was taking place. All were hugging each other as well as having lit a small petite bonfire in the middle were the children played along each other around it. It more or less seemed like they were summoning Satan, and even then that idea would be a lot more pleasant and endearing that the seemingly diabetic and innocent aura they all exuded. It made him feel like he should join in and be friends with them; share kisses and hugs as well as compliments. Feeling this made him feel the need to kill everything in the vicinity, having been born and raised for war, death and destruction this went against his nature.
“Silent! There you are!” cheered Twilight as she trotted happily towards him.
‘She doesn’t seem scared or made at the least, she seems comfortable and safe. I must end her.’ The Spartan thought.
“I know we have our differences but I think that after what’s happened we should be thankful that we have our friends and let bygones be bygones. Who would’ve thought that a thief sneaking into all our houses and stealing our presents would be what united all of Ponyville in this beautiful celebration of love and toleration!” Twilight said with glee.
‘She just rhymed, and music seems to be nonstop as every one of this bastards frolics and sings in unison. I’m sure I burned her gifts last night but she also says a thief stole them and hence they are like this! I getting those gifts back and ending this right now!’ The Spartan thought seemingly ignoring the mistletoe Rainbow Dash was hanging between him and Twilight who was blushing profusely.
The Spartan simply walked away but not before pulling Rainbow’s mistletoe down to the ground with her along which hilariously ended with her smashing lips with Twilight by accident. Both ponies turned scarlet before running in separate directions most likely in search of a lavatory.
As this was going on the Spartan was looking around and asking some questions to the minions of Disneyland and they always replied with the same answer about the gifts seemingly vanishing. Some of the gifts were outrageously big, like a new pool table or a sofa. Such things would’ve caused a ruckus to still and if every single pony of the town lost their things then the only possible answer was that all things were stolen in a rush. The Spartan broken into a house in search for clues attempting to get to the bottom of this problem.
As he looked around for any clue like forced entry or scratches that shouldn’t be there he closed the distance between him and their tree decoration as the floor beneath him cracked under his weight and led him to fall down into a dark and damp tunnel.
‘So this is how it happened’, thought the Spartan as he turned on the floodlights in his helmet and armor.
~Silent Night! Holy Night!~
“Oh hell no.” The Spartan said as he moved away from the oncoming orchestra and stomped down the tunnel like a freight train.
(Undisclosed Location, Everfree Forest)
“Oh Rufus! How do you do it?” Rufus the white diamond dog said to himself as he chuckled and drank some more of a bottle of wine originally for a certain Berry Punch.
He nestled more into his new couch and looked at all the new things he had for himself. This was the best Hearth’s Warming Eve ever. His peaceful thoughts were suddenly broken as he felt a meta claw clasp on his shoulder before looking up and gazing into the soulless stare of a monster that could surely only come from Tartarus. And then everything went black as his fist collided with his face.
(Market Place Ponyville)
The ponies kept caroling and dancing before what appeared to be an enormous sized bag fell from the sky and on top of the fireplace immediately turning it off. The ponies gasped and walked away before the Spartan showed up breaking through the crowd and moving to the center of it. Behind him a passed out diamond dog was being dragged, its white fur now matted with dirt, grime, and blood.
“Listen up you bastards! I brought you your gifts back and the perpetrator behind it all. Grab your shit and go home, stop this fucking caroling of yours immediately or I swear by all that’s holy that losing your presents will be the last of your worries after Im done with you all!” screamed the Spartan
The crowd stood in shock before Twilight moved in front of them, “You can talk!?” she asked.
A stallion from the crowd seemed to finally catch what was going on before running to the pile to grab his belongings. Multiple other ponies finally understood the situation and before anyone was the wiser there was a massive free-for-all on the middle of the marketplace as all spirit of unity and love was broken down to greed and conflict. This was song to the Spartan’s ears as he finally walked away from the chaos and inside the library were he brewed another pot of coffee, sat down on his chair and began his reading.
Not long after Twilight came into the library with a disheveled mane and a few new bruises and scratches here and there, Spike clung to her back like scared cat as she didn’t say anything and simply went up to her room to possibly sleep. The Diamond Dog Rufus was never heard of again.
“Best Christmas ever.” Said the Spartan before taking another drink from his coffee mug.
“Silent….What in the world happened here?” Celestia asked at the odd and honestly uncomfortable situation that stared right at here, seeing as there was a good amount of blood everywhere and the 5 hostages that she and her sister had been working mercilessly in order to find and bring back with the least amount of conflict possible, and now she had been roused up by her guards to the notice that the guards posted at Twilight’s home were knocked out and thrown away.
Celestia had panicked at the thought of losing her protégé and the closest thing she had to a daughter of her own. What she and Luna had found though was not what she expected, nor was it any less startling as what she originally imagined. She looked at the Spartan intently, expecting an answer and an explanation, receiving only a shrug.
Now one would like to argue that Celestia and Twilight were only respectful to each other in the roles of teacher and student in order to keep a straight point that Twilight got her right to the throne through her own merit and nothing else. But it was almost too easy to see the similarities between both mentor and student as well as the traits they both shared almost like mother and daughter. Celestia’s mane began smoking and slowly igniting in fire when facing the nonchalant response the Spartan was taking over the delicate situation they had been dealing with the past few days, only for him to go and solve the problem with brute force and massacre.
If anything the Spartan only sent a message of terror to the ones orchestrating this. Instead of being able to reach an agreement in which the other side could be brought to see the error of their ways and then make amends for their mistakes they would now probably see her as a dictator with an iron hoof, ready to crush all who opposed her. This would only give them a more legitimate reason for their current objectives.
Luna on the other hand had been attempting to search for the missing ponies through their dreams the other night but for some reason she wasn’t capable of catching a glimpse of anything. She deduced that the Elements had been placed in a sort of dreamless state similar to a coma in order to keep them from giving away their location
.
Celestia was about to re-start the little scuffle she had with the Spartan and potentially level half of Ponyville before she was brought out of her fuming by the groans of pain coming from upstairs at which point a ragged looking Twilight came down the stairs from her room. Her hair had a few twigs in it and some scrapes as well as dirty patches on her coat, making it seem like she tussled in the dirt before going to bed.
“W-what in the world happened yesterday?” Twilight asked as she came down the stairs, massaging the back of her head where sharp pain seemed to be pulsating from.
“Twilight what happened to you!?” Celestia asked with worry as well as glancing at the Spartan, whom without a doubt in her mind had some part in it. The Spartan hadn’t even bothered to look at the scene as he resumed drinking his coffee and reading what appeared to be some sort of book about identifying wild birds.
“I remember walking through the Everfree forest to-,” Twilight attempted to explain before she was rudely cut off by Princess Celestia.
“What were you doing in the Everfree forest to begin with?” she asked sternly.
Twilight was barely able to react as she realized the hole she had dug herself into, “Oh um, I was trying to, you know, clear my mind with a walk,” she excused.
“Twilight, do you truly believe you have the slightest chance at lying like that to me and Celestia and succeeding?” Luna asked.
Twilight hung her head in shame before she replied, “I was trying to save my friends.” She looked up with determination, “But that’s just because time was running out and nopony seemed to be coming up with a good plan!”
“And therefore you thought the best idea would be not only to trust the ponies who did this to your friends, but to sneak out from under our noses without an escort?” Celestia asked, causing Twilight to look away in shame, “Its good fortune Silent brought you back. Or at least that’s what I think happened. All I know is that we were informed before sunrise that the guards in your home where knocked out. Not only that, but I come in here to find out you disobeyed me and my sister as well as placed everypony at risk with your rash thinking, the rest of the Elements of Harmony wrapped up in what seems to be a bloodied tent, a beat-up night guard, your personal guard looking like he fought a war on his own, and a gryphon tied up by rope in the corner. Right now I don’t know if I should yell at this nonsensical scenario or just give in and get some sleep,” Celestia said as she gasped for air.
Twilight had barely noticed her friends in the room before she was able to take in the whole scenario around the library. The place looked somewhat worse for wear and the bloody trail that followed up to where her personal guard sat left her imagination a whole world of gruesome possibilities. Her ears turned down as tears began to form in her eyes; it truly had been too much. Her friend’s lives all in danger because of her, the horrible dream she had, and to top it off having disappointed and angered her mentor. She had truly screwed up this time as she began silently crying before her sobs brought all attention to her.
Even the Spartan stopped his reading to turn and look at the source of distress as the guilt began to fall over Celestia.
“Oh, Twilight,” Celestia’s eyes widened as she realized her error too late. “I’m sorry,” Celestia attempted to apologize before Twilight ran up to her room and closed the door behind her.
Celestia looked to her sister for support before Luna said, “Go sister, she needs you now more than ever. Heaven knows that the whole situation would bring the mightiest of beings to their knees.”
Celestia nodded before walking up to Twilight’s room and entering. At this Luna simply looked around the room at the complete disaster; if only they knew somepony who was capable of popping in and out of everywhere with complete disregard to physics or anything whatsoever.
“You rang!?” a voice came from behind Luna as she turned and readied a spell to disembowel whoever had the gall to sneak up on her.
Luna was shocked to see the figure of Discord standing in front of her in a nonchalant way whilst carrying a travel bag.
“DISCORD!? What are you doing here!?” Luna spat as she stopped the spell before dots began connecting in her mind and she resumed the spell stronger than before, “As a matter of fact, where in the pits of Tartarus have you been!?”
Discord hid behind his travel bag as he pleaded, “Woah! Hey, no need to point horns at creatures! I was away for vacation; did my friend Fluttershy not tell you?”
“And why in all of creation would something like you need a vacation?” Luna asked skeptically.
“Hey, I may be the lord of chaos but even I have my fill of being shredded to pieces every time I crack a good one near a certain grumpy tin can,” Discord explained as a fire poker flew across the room and impaled him against the wall as a form of support to his claims. Discord popped away from the incident before looking around the room, “I rest my case, but I seem to have missed something big haven’t I? What in the world happened here?”
Luna took a moment to gather her wits after seeing the draconequus simply shrug away being impaled through the neck no less, “How is it that you didn’t notice the disarray in the room already?”
“Well, I simply thought Twilight finally took my decoration pointers, besides, you try staying focused as you look at seven different dimensions at the same time. It is quite the task I can assure you. Now back to the explanation of why my dear friends are seemingly tied up and bloodied,” Discord said, taking on an air of seriousness for once.
“They were taken hostage by a radical group that is heavily opposed against Twilight Sparkle’s ascension to the throne of Equestria. They meant to use them as a bargaining chip into getting Twilight and finishing her off, and though their motives are sketchy they have proven to be quite the threat,” Luna answered as she moved unto the task of untying the ponies.
“Where are they?” Discord asked eerily as he moved across the room, searching for clues in a completely serious demeanor that caught Luna’s attention.
“Discord why would you-,” Luna attempted to investigate Discords change but was cut off by the draconequus in question himself.
“WHERE ARE THEY!?” Discord demanded as he flew right up into Luna’s face.
Luna saw something in the crazy god’s eyes she hadn’t ever seen before. Were there was once mirth, playfulness, and a spark of madness now lay pure unadulterated anger. Perhaps the possibility of losing the only friends he had ever had was possibly affecting him in more way than one.
“Dead,” came the response, though not from Luna. Both turned towards the reading Spartan as he simply turned the next page on his book titled, “My body and me: Pony anatomy explained, Volume 3: Unicorns.”
“All of them?” Discord asked.
“Yes,” the Spartan said, not even glancing up.
“Well, good, I guess. I don’t know what I would’ve done had I gotten my claws on them,” Discord said, somewhat worried about his extreme behavior mere moments ago.
“I can empathize with you for once Discord, I truly do not know what I would’ve done to such treacherous being were I to find them myself,” Luna said as she glanced at the pile of ponies, all of which seemed to be unscathed with the exception of Black Mist who seemed to have been beaten to an inch of his life.
The Elements seemed to be faring well somewhat physically but the magical scans proved right as they seemed to be in a medically induced coma. There were no dreams behind their sleeping faces; they were in a constant state of limbo. The bastards who did it might have rendered them brain dead. The Spartan had done a great service to the country but at the same time, having killed all of the insurgents would mean they would have to perform an investigation to find exactly what they had been injecting them with. They would eventually overcome the coma but without any counteractive agents there could be horrible side effects that could follow the poor mares for the rest of their lives.
A small grunt came from the side as the gryphon in the room came slowly to her senses, “What the buck happened!?” she questioned.
“And who might you be?” Luna asked as Discord stood beside her with a small scowl on his face.
“What’s it to ya!?” the gryphon asked as she finally opened her eyes and the blurriness dissipated, only to meet one of the diarchy’s of Equestria and the embodiment of chaos staring down at her with very unfriendly looks. “O-oh! My Celestia! I’m sorry P-Princess Luna! I d-didn’t mean to!”
“Your rude behavior is not what will bring you to a punishment, but your involvement with the current events might be the line between our good graces and a permanent stay in the dungeons. You can start by giving us your name,” Luna replied with a renewed air of superiority and strength.
“G-Gilda ma’am!” the gryphon replied as she seemed to sit as straight as possible with her rope bindings on.
“Well then Gilda, how about you tell us about how you ended up tied away with the rest of the Elements of Harmony after they were taken hostage? As a matter of fact, how about you go and tell us everything that happened to you over the past three days?” Luna asked.
“And don’t you dare lie, because I will know. I can tell you right now I’ve been trying a few new foods recently, maybe trying gryphon would be something interesting,” Discord snarled as he got impossibly close to Gilda and flashed her with all his teeth, now looking razor sharp.
“I…” Gilda attempted to answer before a new voice replied for her.
“She’s innocent, I can vouch for her,” came the voice of Black Mist as he finally broke from his trance. Luna quickly moved toward him and placed a wing over him in support.
“Don’t exert yourself Mist, you’ve been through a lot already if you’re bruises say anything about it,” Luna caringly said as she gently lifted him up and moved him into a comfortable position in the couch as well as slowly placing the rest of the mares in places near him.
“Miss Gilda aided me in the retrieval of the Elements of Harmony Princess. I requested her expertise in tracking, but sadly our plans backfired and we were overwhelmed by the insurgents before we were even able to see the Elements. They proceeded to torture us for information and then tossed us in a cage with the girls inside,” the Night Guard said.
Luna stood up and looked at the gryphon before levitating her and placing her into a cushion while still looking at her warily.
“It seems that Black Mist vouches for your innocence miss Gilda, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt. But I feel like the whole story isn’t completely out in the open yet, and you can be sure that we will find out sooner than later,” Luna said as Discord seemed to slowly return to his spot before snapping his fingers and conjuring a bean bag and a cup of hot chocolate.
“I know I am not the most liked gryphon in the room right now your majesty, but I can help. I know what it is that they injected them with,” Gilda said.
“And how did you come to this information hmmm?” Discord asked.
“They weren’t exactly secretive about it in the camp, they talked about it being some sort of combination of sleeping tree zap and a flower that supposedly had the ability to make ponies fall into a trance and suffer horrible hallucinations,” Gilda replied.
“Well it’s not much to go by, but it does cut down a lot of options. It would be a smart move to look into it,” Luna said as she went up the stairs to give the recent news to her sister and possibly discuss any further decisions in regards to their unknown guest.
“And what am I supposed to do?” Discord asked before a book smashed into his snout. The book being about local Flora and Fauna.
Discord looked only to find the soldier simply reading into his book. “You know, one of these days something really bad will happen and you will regret it,” Discord said before opening the book as a small little Discord with a lab coat and glasses began explaining multiple types of plants like a class presentation.
The room had gained an odd sense of calm as both the gryphon attempted to look around the room to find a way to distract herself and the Spartan simply drank his coffee. On the other side of the room however, Black Mist stared at the human with a sense of dread slowly crawling up his spine. As the images of the past night were coming back to him slowly, the visage of the being he had been living with changed from one of a simple trigger happy short fused being to a monster living under a disguise.
He kept staring at him before the human turned its head slightly; though it seemed that he was simply staring at another part of the book, Black Mist new the Spartan was looking at him. He didn’t know how to explain it, but behind the golden visor of its helmet the monster was looking directly at him and peering into his soul, dissecting him mentally. Mist simply turned away as the horrible images of last night kept coming back to him, each time more gruesome than the last as more details came to mind of the being sitting in front of him. He wasn’t a guard or a soldier, those knew when an opponent was down. This was a demon, something that should belong in Tartarus.
The idea of asking to be relieved from his position came into his mind, but he knew that would leave Twilight alone with him. He couldn’t allow it, he wouldn’t run. He would fight this being and return it to the hell it came from should he attempt to attack the newly to be crowned princess. And he knew exactly who would help him Black Mist thought as he turned to look at Gilda.
(Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Twilight Sparkle)
“So, are you two okay now?” Luna asked as she carefully treaded with her sister and friend.
“Yes, Twilight has promised to come to me for guidance when she feels doubt about any issue and I promise to seek aid from any source that has any sort of possible plan we haven’t looked at yet as well as involve her in our plans,” Celestia replied as she and Twilight smiled at each other.
“You two are weird sometimes, maybe that’s the reason behind many of the dreams I’ve had the displeasure of stumbling upon,” Luna said.
“Like what?” Twilight asked.
“Believe me Twilight Sparkle, you don’t want to know,” Luna replied as she moved forth and sat next to them.
“So I have news,” Luna said as she turned to Celestia, “It seems that our unexpected gryphon visitor has awoken. Black Mist has vouched for her as an ally in the attempt to rescue the Elements of Harmony. She has also helped us significantly in narrowing down the search for the poison that was injected into the Elements of Harmony.”
“Wait, poison!?” Twilight asked in shock as she began to worry about all the possibilities.
“Worry not Twilight Sparkle, for we have found that the ailment your friends suffer from is merely a concoction to keep them out of the dreamscape and away from my ability to locate them,” Luna replied.
“So this gryphon, what is her name? Surely recognition is in order?” Celestia asked.
“I suppose you may be right, thought I suspect that she and Black Mist hide something important from us. It won’t be necessary to interrogate them until later. She goes by the name of Gilda, though I am unaware of her last name at the moment,” Luna said.
“Gilda? As in the Gilda that made Fluttershy cry, yelled at all of you in a party, and used to be Rainbow Dash’s flight camp friend Gilda?” Twilight asked.
“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Luna replied.
“Me neither,” Celestia joined in.
Twilight blushed as she remembered that she never went into full detail explaining Gilda’s misadventures in Ponyville when she came to visit Rainbow Dash.
“Even so, if what you tell is true then I would suppose that she isn’t a complete jerk as she originally seemed to be. It does bring more questions into her original involvement in the saving of your friends, seeing as she didn’t seem to have left on good terms with anypony,” Luna commented.
“Yeah, yesterday seems to be quite the blurry mess. I don’t seem to be able to recall much of what happened except that I was in route and then everything went dark. I then had this horrible nightmare and finally woke up here,” Twilight said.
‘I don’t remember feeling any nightmares from Twilight Sparkle yesterday. And I would have noticed immediately, I have been patrolling her 24/7. Furthermore, a lot of light could possibly be shed if I were capable of speaking with Silent Warrior, perhaps it is time I make a trip to his dreamscape and find the answers to many of the questions I’ve been having recently,’ Luna thought.
Twilight on the other hand was attempting to remember anything whatsoever but nothing came to mind, all she knew was that somehow Silent had saved the day yet again with as much violence as unnecessarily possible. Thinking about the possibilities made Twilight’s stomach turn with disgust. All in all, it just added up to the enigma that was her guard; maybe it was that he was incapable of full sentences, instead all his phrases included a way to insult you, give commands, and descriptions. Twilight stood up from the bed as her eyes twinkled, she had been living with this being for quite a while now and now she would be turning the tables. She would unravel the enigma that was Silent Warrior one way or another.
(Library lobby)
“I think I’ve got it!” yelled the tiny Discord in euphoria as the Discord holding the book seemed to wake up from a boring lecture.
The conscious parties in the library turned to see Discord as he went on to explain his findings, “The only tree capable of doing such a thing as told to us by Gilda is one native to the Everfree forest. The tree itself doesn’t exude the salve, but it has vines and plants that exude the salve in forms of gas that put animals to sleep, leaving them vulnerable to predators. The animal’s remains are then absorbed by the tree as nutrients. The tree’s name is Angela Mortus. Furthermore, there are three plants in the known poisonous spectrum that are capable of placing the mind into a trance like state as displayed by the Elements, of those three two can be found nearby and one is only available in the Crystal Empire! There is no time to waste!” The tiny Discord ran up Discord’s arm and crawled inside the draconequus’s ear in a display that could not be described as anything but traumatizing.
Once inside, Discord stood up from his bean bag chair and snapped his fingers as Luna, Celestia, and Twilight appeared in the middle of the leaving room.
“Discord, what in the name of Faust do you think you’re doing!?” Celestia snarled in anger.
“No time to explain my dear Tia. Time is of the essence! We need to leave for the hospital pronto!” Discord said before snapping his fingers once more and all of them and the Elements popped out of existence, leaving behind a human, a night guard, and a gryphon behind.
Gilda looked around the room as she was finally able to relax somewhat without the choice of impending doom in front of her. Eventually the metallic behemoth in the room caught her attention, to which she eloquently replied, “WHAT IN TARTARUS IS THAT!?”
The Spartan rebutted with a well versed, “SHUT THE FUCK UP!”
(Undisclosed Location)
It seemed that after that whole incident they were capable of finally getting things settled with the girls as they found a positive reaction from them towards a counteractive agent that, oddly enough, came from a poison joke extract. Rather than continue flailing at each other and investigating everyone’s background, Luna had to go back to Canterlot to attack the sizeable piles of documents that surely had already stacked over because of their prolonged stay in Ponyville. Celestia decided it would be best to stay with Twilight a few more nights to make sure that everything was truly over. Discord seemed to have placed a guard booth around the Hospital as well as placing nanny cams and motion sensors inside the place.
Gilda and Black Mist where left alone at the library after the Spartan took off for ‘materials’ as he said, which takes us to the present moment in time.
“You think you’re tough big guy? You have no idea what I’ll do to you when I escape from here! You hear me! The second they find out I’m gone they will track me down and then you’ll be in for it!” yelled the insurrectionist leader as he struggled against the restraints that held him in place.
The human ignored his ramblings as he worked on some sort of contraption in a workbench. He stopped and straightened his back before working his way towards the unicorn. The poor pony didn’t even know where he was and the lights were far too dim for him to even recognize any sort of tell in the room.
All of his ramblings and threats came to a sudden halt as something pressed against horn.
“W-what are you-,” the unicorn attempted to speak before being interrupted by a deep gruff voice.
“You know, I’ve been reading about unicorn anatomy for a while. Most of it is gibberish about you guys being capable of amazing acts of magic or how your internal organs work as a whole to make you body fully capable of supporting your magic as if you guys were the world’s biggest miracle. I guess that’s what I get for reading material from an author who obviously thinks himself better than everyone else. It doesn’t come without its good pointers though; did you know that the unicorn’s horn is quite sensitive?” the Spartan said as he began grinding something against the tip of the horn, resulting in the unicorn giving him a baffled expression as he felt nothing.
“I’m taking your silence as a way to confirm that they aren’t that, but I do have my theories to prove,” the soldier said as the grating got stronger and rougher, making the unicorn wince at the strange feeling in his head, “Like the fact that a horn is not so much as exposed nerves, but it does have such a thing called central nerves inside it. Just like a receptor, you have to take off the metal shield to reach into the cables inside.”
As he said that a blinding pain began to pulse from the unicorn’s head as he began fighting to move away from the Spartan, though it was for not as the soldier simply grabbed onto his head and held him still as he used a metal file on the top of his horn, making the unicorn scream in pain and agony whilst fighting for escape.
“How is it that you unicorns can claim to be better than all the races while you have this incredibly exposed weakness all the time?” the Spartan asked as he threw the file away and grabbed the horn with a firm grasp whilst placing his thumb against the tip of his horn, slowly applying pressure to it.
“P-please… don’t do this!?” the unicorn pleaded.
With a crack the tip broke off like a pencil and fell to the side, making the unicorn scream in agony and writhe in pain against his bindings before he began to slowly lose consciousness.
A hard slap against his face caught his attention as everything began blacking out only for it to come back as if having a bucket of water being thrown into your face.
“Now, we wouldn’t like to spoil the fun by going to sleep right?” the human said as he showed him a small syringe, “Don’t worry though. I have enough adrenaline shots to keep you awake for days. This party is merely starting.”
The unicorn, now more aware of his senses than before as well as the pulsing from his broken horn, could see the variety of tools and what not hanging from the ceiling.
“Please! Don’t do this! I’ll do anything! I swear!” pleaded the now fear stricken unicorn.
“Good,” the Spartan replied, “Because I want answers and you are going to give them to me. Either that or we can begin figuring all the nicks and knacks of pony anatomy, I’ve been dying to know just how sensitive a hoof is and how you would react to getting horseshoes,” the Spartan said as he flicked the unicorn’s horn.
