//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 // Story: Equestria Legio // by Teal //------------------------------// “Curse those damned guides.” Marcus Maximus, Tribunus Laticlavius of the 50th “Imber” Legion, angrily muttered to himself “Curse them and their barbarian kin.” It had not been a great day for him and the legion. In fact, it had not been a great day for the whole army of Publius Quinctilius Varus.  Just the day before, under heavy rain and a hail of projectiles let loose by unseen foes in the forest, the four Roman legions under Varus were blindly marching West, trying to find a way back to Roman territory, as they marched along the increasingly hostile Germanic land. Sent out to crush a Germanic uprising, and aid the Germanic tribes allied to them, Varus had sent his army along a path that would supposedly bring them to the rebellion. But, as every man in the legion would quickly learn, the route they took was nothing more than an ambush. Led into a forest, and abandoned by their Germanic scouts, the four legions found themselves surrounded by barbarian warriors, who constantly harassed them with projectiles and attacks. Although the Romans were able to hold their ground against the attacks made against them, with the well-trained and well-armed legions forming strong lines that pushed back the savage barbarian charges, the constant harassment still managed to take its toll on them. Little by little, as the legions did their best to move along the narrow path, men would fall victim to a lucky shot, or end up in the unlucky end of a quick barbarian charge.  It was awful, and Maximus remembered how Legatus Legionis Gaius Rufus, the commander of the 50th Legion, died after rushing off towards a leaderless Cohort, whose senior centurion died during the initial stages of another sudden attack. Dismounting his horse and recovering a scutum from a fallen legionnaire, he joined the ranks, hoping to inspire the cohort to reform and hold the line, but instead ended up getting killed by an arrow that landed right on his neck.  Thus overall command of the legion was left to the second in command, him, Tribunus Maximus. To say it was never his dream to command a legion would be a lie, but given the circumstances that led to his sudden command, Maximus wished that the responsibility was never suddenly entrusted to him. Now, at the head of the remains of the 50th Legion, and marching along a forest where he had no clue what was in front of him, Maximus prayed to the gods that he could make it out of this alive. Angry, tired, and disheartened, he did his best to keep his composure, as the shattered remnants of his command trudged along the muddy path. Maximus himself moved on foot with them, his horse shot from under him early in the battle. In a way, he was thankful to be on foot, as the barbarian archers had the habit of shooting at anyone who was mounted. Stil, that didn’t make him happy at having to lug himself with his own legs, as they made their way along the awful path to nowhere they were in. Gazing forward and trying to see what lay in front of him, he did his best to figure out where they were heading to. But with the thick fog that suddenly came in obscuring his surroundings, it was basically impossible to view anything ahead. He did, however, see the silhouettes of a dozen men move along in front of him, and for a second Maximus was ready to give the order for the cohort behind him to form up and resist another attack. But after careful examination, and a patient and thoughtful mind, Maximus soon distinguished the unmistakable look of the Roman galea protecting the silhouette’s heads, quickly realizing that these were the scouts he sent out earlier to survey their front. “Any news?” Maximus asked, as Centurion Felix Agrippa moved towards him. Agrippa shook his head, and a frown could be seen plastered on his scarred face.  “The path continues and leads us to nowhere, it seems.” He ultimately said. “Narrow roads, rough terrain, and forest on both flanks. That’s what is ahead of us, sir.” “That’s what we have behind us and here right now with us.” Maximus grimly said.  He hated this place as much as anyone else in the Roman army. Legions were trained to fight where they could maneuver. Although they were thought to be flexible and adapt to the land and terrain they were in, the environment they were in now made it nearly impossible to adapt. The hills and muddy ground essentially boxed them in and slowed them down, making any movement nearly impossible. Add the fact that commanders could barely coordinate their scattered units, then the whole thing was essentially a brawl, and not an organized battle in which the Romans were more used to. Agrippa just shrugged at the Tribunus words, the veteran Centurion having nothing better to add.  “We would have moved further to see if there were any villages or possible defensible position for the legion-“ He ultimately admitted. “-but with the fog thickening, we decided to move back, or else risk going too far and getting jut off from the rest of the legion.” A good move, something that was always expected from a career officer like a centurion. With the sudden barbarian attacks, terrible path, and now the sudden fog plaguing the marching column, the normally organized legion ended up having its units separated and isolated. The neat close-order marching lines, that usually aided in organization and defense, were now ruined, with the various cohorts either clumped up or seperated from one another.  With Maximus were at least five of his cohorts, all massed together as easy targets for the projectile attacks of the unseen foe that lurked along the forest around them. The rest of his cohorts were behind them, unseen at the moment because of the fog. They had been separated from the main force by a sudden attack that drove a gap between them, one which was never plugged because of the low visibility caused by the fog Maximus had to wonder what situation those separated cohorts found themselves in, and he hoped that those five managed to stick together. If they were unlucky, then further attacks would have split them up further, with the last, and unluckiest, cohort either left isolated or bumping into the legion behind them. The legions of Varus’ army were equally lost and separated, leaving the whole force cut-off from one another. Many times, Maximus halted his column so that the rest of his cohorts could catch up to them. But each time he stopped, large bands of barbarians surrounded their position and made a fierce attack against them, forcing them to fight for their lives and endure casualties. To stop would mean they would become vulnerable targets, and as frustrated he was at the thought of being cut-off from half his legion, he had to move forward. If he had the ability to, he would have stopped and made a heavily fortified marching camp in the next clearing they encountered. With his legion in the lead, he could create a fortified position in which the rest of the army can rally on. But the means to make a fortified camp had been left behind earlier that morning, when Varus ordered the legions to leave behind the wagons that carried the tools and supplies so that his army could move lighter and faster. Once more Maximus cursed their situation. They were trapped here, and it seemed that there was no way out. Looking ahead, he squinted his eyes and saw the ever thickening fog getting worse by the second. He could barely see anything that was a few yards in front of him. “Nowhere to go but forward, sir.” Agrippa told Maximus, the Centurion barely visible, despite being almost beside him. “Aye, it seems like that’s the case.” War Mistress Luna stood atop the frozen hill, her escort of Lunar Guards keeping their eyes peeled, as they kept careful watch against any possible threats. Despite being clad in steel plated armor, with only a thin wool padding inside, the Lunar Guards kept a stoic poise, betraying any possible signs of cold brought on by the freezing elements around them. Luna herself was adorned in her own regal and warlike armor, with the dark steel forged from Hollow Shades remaining without any padding inside, as she was unfazed by the freezing sensation of the northern lands of the Crystal Empire. The War Mistress was used to the cold, and the countless amounts of high altitude night flights she had made over the years had made her so accustomed that it almost felt like it was her own environment But that wasn’t the only environment she knew she felt at home at, for, as she surveyed the land ahead of her and studied the large stone fortification in the distance, her mind worked continuously, as it smoothly planned out the tactics, strategy and logistics needed to capture the enemy stronghold. This was her second environment, one where the engines of war reigned.  The title of War Mistress suited her the same way as being the Princess of the Night. When she was younger, like any other foal, tales of adventures and battles fascinated her. However, as she grew up, the interest and the desire to study the action and art of it all only grew and grew. It started with fictional books of characters marching off to war to fight battles that never were. But then it became more close to home than fantasy, as she traded fictional books for historical ones. Soon she was reading about leaders of the past and how they planned and fought their battles, how they inspired and led the warriors, how they won victories and recovered from defeat. Over time her mind was molded and exercised in the art of war. As she grew older, her interest in how war is waged was soon joined by her body's itching desire to test out its powers. She was an alicorn afterall, a species equivalent to that of a God. Blessed with these powers after magically binding herself to the moon, a task nopony had ever done before, she ended up being gifted with wings to complement her horn, and a sheer strength and power within her body, both magically and physically.  Having been a unicorn mage before, the magical powers were easy to contain and master. The physical ones were much more difficult, however, and she found it hard to control her strength and prevent sudden bursts that could hurt others or damage her surroundings. She needed an outlet to let it out and learn to control them. Her interest in war led her to learn how to fight, mainly the art of fighting with the blade. A quick learner, she sought out the best sword masters, and read ancient literature about the skill. It didn’t take long for her intelligent mind and powerful body to coordinate with one another, ultimately making her into one of the best sword fighter in the land of Equestria. These combined knowledge in both the art of war and the art of the sword proved useful in the fight against the Chaos God that ruled and terrorized the unstable nation of the Confederation of Ponies. Viewed by many of a goddess comparable to Faust herself, Luna, along with her fellow alicorn and sister, Celestia, united the three pony tribes in a rebellion against Discord, the powerful draconequus that held power over the confederation through the might of his chaos powers. With Celestia as the diplomatic leader that appeased the various demands of the three tribes, and Luna as the top general who formed the first united pony army in history, they marched against Discord and surrounded him. Welding magical artifacts, they managed to imprison Discord by turning him into stone, dethroning him and taking his place as dual monarchs of a reborn nation that was declared as the Kingdom of Equestria. The years of peace that followed was a prosperous one, with the chaos brought on by Discord disappearing, allowing the land to provide bountiful riches that assisted in the growth of the new Kingdom. During this time, Luna was happy to know that the tyrannical monster of the land was ousted, but felt an uneasy longing within her.  Although she was a leader as equal to her sister, she didn’t feel the power that came with it. No, the power held as a leader in time of peace was different to that of a leader in war. It just wasn’t the same, and she felt guilty knowing that her mind was desiring war so that she could be at the lead of another army. Gazing out at the enemy fortress and knowing how many lives would be lost in trying to take it, she felt even guiltier now than she ever did before. But she did not let that show. Keeping a stern expressionless face, she continued to plan, not letting her emotions get to her. Emotions were for later, when the battle was done, and when the war was over. Turning her head to the left, she saw a frozen forest that spanned all the way to the horizon of the west. It was a sudden change to the normally barren landscape of the frozen north, and Luna began to wonder how she could use it to her advantage. The cluster of untamed trees there seemed like a perfect place to hide an approaching assault force. With a portion of the forest extending towards the western face of enemy fortification, the forest seemed like a good place to move a portion of her army, so that they would remain hidden and safe from projectile fire. It was, however, tough terrain, which would cause problems of its own, with any force moving through finding difficult movement. She made a note to herself to send scouts there later to survey the area and outline a trail a future attacking force could use. Nodding to herself and satisfied at the quick survey of their future field of battle, Luna turned to the Captain of her guard escort, who stood patiently behind her. She was just about to give him the order to move out and head back to camp when a curious sight towards the east caught her attention. Quickly, she turned her gaze towards a clump of hills a mile or so from their position. Looking intently, she noted something bobbing up and down the crest of the hill, occasionally popping up to reveal themselves before disappearing. Curious to this, she kept on observing, wondering if it was just a trick of the eye. The hills itself were barren, just like the landscape around it, and Luna doubted that this was a wild animal who just so happened to live there. No wild animal would ever dare live in such awful land that could not support life. “Dusk Hunter.” Luna said, calling the attention of her guard Captain, who immediately took a step forward towards her. “What does thou make of that?” She then gestured towards the hills, where, by now,  various figures were bobbing up and down from the crest. “I’m not sure, your Majesty.” Dusk Hunter initially said. “From what I can tell they seem to be nothing more than-“ His words were immediately cut-off when a sudden realization came upon him. “By the moon, those are Dark Hoof Cavalry!” Almost immediately the adrenaline was injected into Luna’s bloodstream, as her heart pounded faster to spread it around. Dark Hoof Cavalry were a notorious light cavalry unit in the enemy army’s ranks. Unlike other units, whose soldiers were Crystal Ponies enslaved and mind controlled to fight for the brute King Sombra, the Dark Hoof Cavalry were instead composed of willing volunteer earth pony Crystal Ponies. Known for their swiftness and powerful sudden charges, they were notorious for lightning quick raids that happened so fast that nopony was able to react quickly enough. Observing the hill thoroughly, Luna now saw the figures from earlier fully reveal themselves, as they went up the crest before raising down the hill. They were indeed Dark Hoof Cavalry, with their charcoal black enchanted armor being unmistakable and easily recognizable. Luna cursed herself for not spotting them fast enough and wasting too much time ogling. It seemed that the recent victories and success of the campaign had gotten to her head and made her so much more careless than she had before in the past. This was a lesson for her not to become overconfident.  She had thought that no one would dare attack a powerful alicorn like her, but then realized that her light scouting party still presented a juicy target for a contingent of patrolling Dark Hoof Cavalry, alicorn at the lead or not. From what she observed, she estimated there were ten squadrons worth of them, all heading their way. With their enchantmented armor that gave them great swiftness, combined with their natural earth pony strength, they could easily cover the small gap between the clump of hills and their position. “Orders, your Majesty?” Dawn Hunter asked, showing no hint of fear despite the rushing mob heading out towards them. Luna quickly pondered what to do, but she knew what the only solution to their problem was. If they made an attempt to retreat now, then they would be left vulnerable and easy prey. If they made an attempt to fly, the Dark Hoof Cavalry units could easily occupy the high hill they were currently on and fire on them with their accurate poison tipped arrows. It was rumored that some of those arrows have been cursed and poisoned to kill alicorns. Choosing the other route of escape, by hoof, was also not an options, as they would easily out gallop them and surround them.  That left her with one option that would take advantage of their high position. “Captain, order thy guards to prepare to receive the foe’s charge.”