//------------------------------// // The Struggle - Chapter 3 // Story: Three Brethren, Three Kings // by Wither //------------------------------// Scott POV I pulled the shirt over my head, the heavy linen and leather padding feeling thick and cumbersome. The scouting mission I was being sent on was already preparing to move out into the surrounding woods and grassland, and I was prepared to help in any way. The gambeson offering some protection and plenty of mobility, I sheathed my short sword I was gifted y the blacksmith and walked towards the little gate making up the entrance of the encampment. The rest of the group was already there waiting for my arrival, the glint of their weapons a welcome sight. "About time you got here you monkey" Fleetfoot joked with a grin. She had served with Soarin and his group of performers called 'The Wonderbolts', and frankly it sounds quite fun. But that was before Sombra took over, now all they are either missing, dead, or in resistance groups such as these two. I had been introduced to Fleetfoot earlier in the week, and it looks like i'll have most of the day to get to know her. The group consisted of Fleetfoot, and 7 other Ponies who were all dressed in similar armor to me. Light and thick clothes, mainly gambesons really. I can see why too, even if it gets a little warm, this vest could easy take a punch. "Lets get a move on folks" Fleetfoot commands as we all walk out the front gates in a huddled group, not bothering to move into positions yet. We continued to walk for some time before Fleetfoot finally ordred us all to move into their own dedicated positions. I was sticking with the main group of four ponies, and we had two others on either side of the small group in a wide arc, making sure to spot anything and give a warning to those in the middle. We continued moving further inland in this formation, keeping a sharp eye out for anything remotely harmful. This went on for a few hours, the sun reaching midday, so Fleetfoot called in the perimeter watch and decided to set up a camp. After hastily pitching our tents, I was sent with a pony named Comet to go refill the waterskins. I bent down to fill the few waterskins in my arms. I looked over to Comet only to see his horn ignite with magic and fill all the waterskins at the same time. This isn't the first time I had seen magic in use, and I can guarantee it wont be the last, but it will have some getting used to. No matter how many times I see it, magic always amazes me. Sparkling Comet looks over at my amazed face in curiosity before blushing and getting back to work screwing on the caps. As we both begin to depart and close back in to the camp, the sound of panicked voices can be heard through the sparse trees. I cant make out any of the words, but they sound demanding. Comet and I give each other a quick look wondering what was happening at the camp before hastening our paces. We both got to the camp and wandered back to the center of the tents only to see the the rest of the scouts in a defensive formation facing dark soldiers. Fleetfoot was in the front of the group, to which me and Comet both jogged up to and unsheathed our swords. "Ha, nothing but a few rebel dogs" The leader sneered toward us when he said that. He was confident enough even if he didn't have the numbers to back him up. This fight had us nine against six of them... and I wasn't too confident in these odds myself. After all, they all had quite a lot of metal armor whereas we only had leather and canvas. At this point the air was tense, so far no one had dared to make the first move. We were at a disadvantage since all of the Sombrarian? Yeah that sounds good, Sombrarian soldiers had heavy armor. Still, he had the numbers, we could just hopefully overwhelm them. What felt like hours of this staring contest ensued, and soon enough the fight began. I don't know how, but suddenly there was a scream and a cry before the gathered dark guards began to charge us. I could faintly here the sound of Fleetfoots voice tell all of her scouts, me included, to try and surround them over the onslaught of the corrupted Ponies charging us. Soon enough the the soldiers collided with our thinly spread wall of Ponies. The unlucky few to be caught head on by the soldiers were shoved to the ground or stabbed through by there swords. Luckily enough one of the ponies caught his sword in what appeared to be a weak point in the armor, right where the chin was, and took the soldier down with him. From my angle to the side I could make out three of our Ponies likely down for the count. I looked away from the grizzly sight to see the rest of the scouts closing in and engaging the Sombrarian soldiers. With the battle raging on I find it in my heart to help. I charged in to the fray and brought my sword edge down on one of the soldiers to little effect as the blade glanced off of the metal. The soldier looked towards me and brought his own blade down on me. With what little Stark Shield taught me back in the outpost, I quickly flicked my blade upwards and caught his swing midair with the hilt of my sword. I was struggling to maintain a position, the soldier starting to overpower me. His blade was growing closer and closer to my unprotected face by the second. And i'm not a person that likes to be stabbed in the face, so I did the most reasonable thing I could think of in the situation and drop to the ground before the blade struck. When I fell backwards onto the forest floor, the soldier above me stumbled, to where I kicked out towards him, catching him in the leg. This impact made him fall to his knee. Before I could take another hit at him, he brought a shield from seemingly no where to protect him against more hits. I likely missed it when I first saw him, I was to caught up in the moment. Either way, he brought his shield down onto my foot, causing me to cry out in pain. I looked back towards my assailant and could tell he had a smug grin on his face under his helmet. I saw the soldier bring his sword up to finish me off, and I closed my eyes, because who really wants to see themselves get gutted? With a grimace on my face I accepted my untimely death. I heard a noise akin to that of mettle going through flesh, and startled, I opened my eyes to see the same soldier with a sword through his throat, the thin blade coated in blood. With a sickening squelch, the blade was pulled free, and the soldier collapsed, thus easing the pressure on my foot. I looked down to inspect the black blade that very nearly ended my life. I looked upwards to see a hand being presented to which I graciously accepted. When I was hoisted back to my feet, I saw it was no other than Comet who saved me. He looked a bit shaken with cuts and dirt gracing his face, but not too worse for wear. He wasted no time in getting back to the fight, turning around and valiantly charging back into the fray. I looked on wards to see there were about five of us left, but only three soldiers. Despite our disadvantage, it seems there confidence led them astray. Fleetfoot was dueling the sergeant it looked like, while the rest of the scouts were busy dancing around the armored soldiers. I decided to help the small group tackle the rest of the corrupted soldiers and ran to join them. We had practically encircled them, but we couldn't strike without an opening as they went back to back and were striking out with their heavy swords. After a few minutes of the taunting and encirclement, one of the soldiers became enraged and charged outwards to end the squabble. The foolish soldier was quickly surrounded once again and beaten unconscious in seconds. The last guard realized soon enough he was surrounded and begrudgingly surrendered. A sharp cry of pain soon filled my ears, and when I looked to the source I found it to be form Fleetfoot. She had been fairing well in the fight against the sergeant, but it seems he had gotten a lucky shot off and stabbed her through her shoulder. She was clutching the wound after the corrupted Sergeant pulled the sword out of her, a victorious smile gracing his rather depressing helmet-less features. He turned towards the remaining four of us, including me, and that smile disappeared seemingly with his will to fight. The Pony fled, and two of the scouts followed him into the woods to give chase. This left me and Comet to to guard the surrendered Soldier and care for the wounded. Comet got Fleetfoot a bandage and wrapped it around her injured arm while I took a rope from one of our packs and tied the Soldier to a nearby tree. Soon there was some rustling in the bushes. Comet looked to me before pulling his blade out, prompting me to do the same. Our fear was unwarranted when the two scouts who followed the soldier popped out of the bushes. "Did you have any luck finding that one fleeing soldier?" Comet asked with a sigh already knowing the answer. "No sadly. He lost us in the woods. We should get back to the outpost soon, he'll report back to his chain of command of our activity" The scout said with a grim look. Comet nodded before requesting the making of stretchers for the few wounded ponies still alive. While they were being made Comet and I got medical supplies from the supply packs we had to treat the injured. Only two of our ponies survived the conflict. One was unconscious and had a broken and bleeding arm, likely from being trampled. The other had a stab wound on his side. We treated them with what we had before placing them on the hastily made stretchers. We used our tents to wrap the dead and bury them giving them a small ceremony. Night was beginning to fall, so we grabbed what we could before heading back to the outpost. While walking back we were obviously slowed by the injured ponies, me included with my slightly crushed foot. The captured dark soldier was obviously a hindrance and he knew it. He would walk slowly, and constantly mutter about our reckoning. I could tell this was going to be a long night, but at least I have quite the story to tell to the guys...