The Soldier and his Rider

by Joe Toon


Chapter 1: Scouting

“So, tell me again; why are we here?”

“(Sigh) For the thousandth time Joshua, we are here as reconnaissance. We are to scout this entire area and find what we are looking for.”

“You say that, but what are we looking for?”

“We are looking for any trace of the New World Order in this realm. To check if they already established a foothold in this world.”

“Oh right. And who or rather what is the New World Order?”

“They are the perfidious traitors of mankind that sold us out to the vile Xenos!”

“………Aah.”

“They caused the Great War and made it last for a hundred years so that the aliens could invade us and rule over Thera once they hand over control to them.”

“Oh right. So essentially, the enemy!”

“Well to simplify it, yes the enemy.”

“You could have just said it from the start.”

“I HAVE! And every time I tell you, you seem to become even more talkative since we got to this new world! On that note, how in God’s name are you even talking? You are a horse for crying out loud!”

It was the midday at the bottom of a mountain’s cliffside adjacent to some woods and a British soldier in his late 20s, wearing a Great War uniform was riding out into an open field. His horse was a young brown stallion who he had been talking to for the past week.

“I can’t help that,” snorted the horse, “ever since we got here all I could ever think about are thoughts.” There was an awkward moment before the stallion continued. “I just realised how redundant that sounded.”

“On that note, how did you start talking let alone over think about things?” the rider spoke with curiosity and fatigue, “I feel as though something in this world is suddenly giving all the horses in our division some sort of sentience.”

“Sentience,” Joshua thought for a minute before he was struck with an epiphany, “Yes, sentience! That’s the word to describe what I’m feeling right now! Yes, Sentience.” The air of confidence in his voice faded as he lowered his volume in his last sentence.

The soldier gave a blank look, “You don’t know what it means, do you?”

“Nope,” the horse gave a sheepish reply. His rider looked at Joshua’s face from his saddle seat and could have sworn that his horse formed what could only be described as a toothy grin of embarrassment. Joshua then lit up immediately, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t have an idea of what it implies.”

His sheepish grin felt so infectious that the soldier could not help but burst laughing. The sight of his rider’s laughter caught up to the steed as he too joined his companion’s glee. It took a full two minutes to compose themselves before each drew a long sigh of breath from the laughing.

“Alright,” sighed the horse, “I admit that was silly.”

Still chuckling the rider drew another long breath and looked to his steed, “I have to say, talking with you didn’t turn out to be so bad after all.”

The horse snorted a chuckle and smiled, “Thanks Sergeant. Anyway, where are we?”

“Let’s see,” the soldier pulled out a journal and started tracing out a layout of the area, “we left alpha site two weeks ago and has since travelled through the barrens, over this mountain, and now I believe we are making our way to meet the potential locals in the area.”

“Oh,” Joshua exclaimed with surprise, “this world in inhabited?”

“Of course,” the sergeant put away his journal, “While we were up on the mountain, I noticed patches of towns and villages not far from here. And as an added bonus, that ridiculously impossible palace built on the mountainside across us! If I had not broken these binoculars, I could get a better look of the area.”

“How far do you reckon is the closest town?”

“Three, four days, give or take. Two if you decide to gallop all the way there.”

The horse gave a deep sigh. Hearing this his rider patted his mane, “Cheer up old boy, I wont rush us getting there. We’ll take a break now and then. Besides, we still have a full week before we report our whereabouts to the rest of the division and I still have the wireless transmitter in case things get hairy.”

“Nah, it’s not that Sergeant,” Joshua neighed a sigh, “it’s just… Ever since… No that’s not it. The reason I kept asking about our mission is because, I thought we would be participating in some action!”

The sergeant looked puzzled by this. “I beg your pardon?”

“What I mean is sir is that I was bred and raised to be a warhorse!” Joshua stirred up proudly from his statement. “All of my brothers, sisters and I have been raised to be cavalry! To be the fearsome force that routes the enemy lines! I mean, just a hundred years ago both our species would honour the code of chivalry! Charge head long into the enemy lines and either die in honourable combat or return home as glorious heroes! Nowadays, we are either pulling supply wagons or be a quick mode of transport when there is a lack of automotive vehicles.”

The rider stared at his steed dumbfounded from his rant. “I have no words. To think that a steed such as yourself would have grandiose dreams of glory and honour. I would have thought that a creature such as yourself would hate such notions.”

“Whatever do you mean?”

“Well, for one I would have thought that beasts of burden such as yourself would loathe the fact that we use you as a mode of transport, let alone ride you out into battle. For another, I would have thought that you would have relished the idea of being a free animal such as those of the wild.”

“Surely you jest?” Joshua stamped his hooves in protest. “That may have been true to the creatures of the wild, but we are domestic bred horses. Though I may not speak on behalf of all my brothers and sisters but contrary to your thoughts there are many of us who find it an honour to be the steed of a warrior, let alone an officer! Some of us even hold romantic ideas of dying in battle with our rider.”

“Well, sorry to disappoint your ideals but I do not intend to die in battle, let alone in a strange new world.” The rider took notice of his steed’s dampened mood after he spoke. He gave a supportive smile as he thought of an idea. “However, perhaps I can humour your fancy for now.”

Joshua’s ears raised, “What do you mean?”

“How would you like a quick gallop across the open field to pass the time?”

The horse turned his head to face the soldier. His eyes gleamed with excitement. “You mean…… A Charge?”

“Why not? We have time to continue scouting later.”

“Wonderful sir!” Joshua neighed with anticipation. “Wait sir, before we do how about great speech before the charge?”

“Very well,” the sergeant cleared his throat and straightened his form. He drew his sabre from its sheath and pointed it to the air, “En Garde! For God, King and Country!”

Joshua stamped his hooves, “For Pride, Honour and Glory!”

And together as the soldier raised his blade to the sky and his horse raised his forelegs to the air they cried out in unison, “THERA VICTORIA!” and charged out into the open field.


“Woah there! Slow down! I don’t know how much more I can handle!”

“What’s the matter, sergeant? Too fast for you to handle?”

“Actually yes. I’ve never been in a charge that fast before and my balls are killing me.”

“Bwahaha, lucky that I have no concern for that! Now that you mention it, I never galloped that fast before in my life. It feels as though I could run across the whole world!”

“Hahaha! Let’s not get ahead of ourselves.”

It was a full hour since their charge across the open as the sun rose higher above them. Joshua full of energy felt ready to go for another run contrary to his rider who looked as though he was going to faint from the speed they were moving.

“You know, something tells me there might be an anomaly in this world that gives strength to certain creatures such as yourself.” The sergeant panted as he dismounted.

“I suppose that might be the case. Ever since we’ve been here, not only having my mind felt sharper than before, but it feels as though I gained some sort of inner strength to keep going. Do you suppose you might gain similar benefits from this new environment?”

“I doubt it. On the contrary, I feel unnerved here. I mean don’t get me wrong, this land is beautiful. Almost too beautiful. Nothing here feels out of place except for me. I can’t exactly speak for the rest of the men in the Division but me personally, I feel as though I don’t belong here. It’s as though my entire being rejects the reality around us or it’s the other way around.”

“Well that’s disturbing,” Joshua gazed towards him with concern, “Anything I should be concerned with?”

“No. Not really. It’s probably because this world is a complete contrast to the dreary Steam-powered cities of Thera…”

There was a cut in his sentence. The soldier suddenly went silent and started to scan the area around them. They were out in the open and the woods covered what leering eyes that may be spying at them.

“Joshua, do not look alarmed but I think we’re being watched.”

The horse saw his rider’s gaze into the woods and listened in. He whispered, “You’re right. I hear movement among the fallen branches.”

Sweat streamed from the sergeant’s forehead as he gestures Joshua to move naturally, “No sudden movements just yet. Just let me mount up and when I give the order, run.”

The horse nodded. The two slowly did as planned and trotted into the open field away from the woods. Joshua slowly picked up the pace when he heard something that made his heart stop for a moment; a noticeably crack from a fallen tree branch. In his hesitation he turned to the noise and he saw them; five men in camouflage clothing, armed with rifles and bore no insignia of any respective army he knows of. He turned to his rider who already bore notice and quickly shared a gaze of alarm.

“Joshua, Hiya!” the soldier whipped the reins, signalling his steed to break for it. In turn Joshua ran as fast as his legs could push him as distant sounds of gunfire was heard. As they began to lose sight of the woods, a noise from a distance was heard. They recognise that sound; it was engines.

“An Automobile!” the sergeant cried, “Can you move faster?”

Joshua gave him a smirk of confidence. “Is that a challenge? Hold on tight!” His speed quickly outpaced his gallop on the open field earlier as a truck quickly came to view.

“Alpha base! Alpha base! This is Sergeant George Percival!” The soldier was yelling into a wireless communique, “We are being pursued by N.W.O.! Bearings East-by-Southeast five miles from Highpoint 28!”

Copy that sergeant! Evade capture and return to base a.s.a.p.

“Negative, Alpha base! Direct route to base is cut off! Hostile presence assessment Code Orange Foothold! Repeat, Code Orange Foothold! Requesting scavenger protocol!”

After a long pause from the dispatcher the wireless sounded off, “Acknowledged Percival. Permission granted! God speed! Over!”

“Acknowledged Alpha base! THERA VICTORIA!”

After the communique ended Joshua spoke out while still trying to outrun their pursuers, “So what is it then? What is Scavenger protocol?”

“It means we are on our own. There will be no support, no reinforcements, we are basically cut off!”

“That’s it?! Then what the hell do we do?”

"Evade capture, live off the land, survive and return to base anyway we can. If not possible, establish a new base of operations by recruiting the locals to our cause or at least request cooperation of some sort.”

“That’s putting a lot of faith on the locals.”

“With them on our tail, I don’t think we have much of a choice.”

Percival looked back to see the automobile lag behind them. “I can’t believe it! We are actually out running them!” Just as he spoke a gunshot rang out and the sergeant screamed in pain. He was shot in the shoulder.

“Sergeant!” Joshua slowed down after taking notice from his master’s ordeal.

“What the hell are you doing?” the sergeant gasped in agony as he clutched his injured shoulder, “I didn’t tell you to slow down!”

“But you’re hurt!”

“And if they catch us it’s all over! Now keep running!” He let out a groan of pain as Joshua galloped faster than before. With each movement the pain grew all the more excruciating as he couldn’t reach for the alcohol pouch.

Sensing this, Joshua slowed down enough for the pursuers to catch up.

“Sergeant, there’s a river ahead!” The horse looked back at his rider who has now slumped over from agony. He turned back towards the river and noticed how wide it was. There was no bridge and the current looked rapid, making it dangerous to cross. Then he had an idea, “Sergeant, stay with me and hold on as tight as you can. I’m going to try the impossible here so hang on!”

Joshua felt him grasp his mane tightly as he sped up, galloping faster towards the river. As they approached the riverbank, with all his might Joshua leaped clear across the river barely landing on the other side. His rider gasped in agony from the landing as the steed continued to gallop away. He turned back to see the men disembarked from their vehicle and started firing shots at them. He pushed on until they were no longer in sight.


“Joshua, please put me down!”

“Not until we lose them!”

“You have been running for hours and I don’t think they could have crossed the river in time to catch on to us. I can’t take any more of this pain!”

Night fell on the pair as the horse continued to gallop. Ever since they lost their pursuers, they came across a road and has been following it, still running.

“You need medical attention and you only have so much cider to ease the pain. We can’t stop now, not if we can make it to a town!”

“You have been running for hours and the closest town is 3-4 days away! If you keep this up, none of us will make it!”

Joshua snorted confidently, “As I recalled, you said we could make it within two days if we galloped there and judging by how fast we’ve been moving we might reach there by dawn. Just stay with me a little longer! I’ll be fine!”

Percival gave a weaken reply, “Then at the very least slow down. I’ve been bleeding for hours and I need to at least bandage the wound. I can’t last like this.”

Hearing this Joshua slowed pace and started to trot. “I… I am sorry sir,” his voice quivered in fear of losing his partner, “I didn’t realise…”

“It’s fine. Just let me bandage myself and then we can keep going.” It felt like the night dragged on as the sergeant nursed himself. His hisses and groans of pain felt like daggers to Joshua. He couldn’t bear to listen without the urge to continue to race for the closest town.

“Talk to me,” Joshua spoke out.

“About what?” Percival said with a low panted breath.

“Anything. Just something to distract you from the pain!”

The rider painfully chuckled, “What could we talk about? On that matter, what do horses normally talk about?”

“I don’t know,” Joshua said thoughtfully, “We don’t actually talk about a lot of things other than food, mates and when the next action will be.”

“Alright then. Let’s talk about mates. Have you got one?”

“Ah no,” the sergeant sensed a blush coming from his tone, “I don’t think I could ever find one until retirement. I reckon if the Army wanted me to breed, they would have sent me a mare by now.” The horse looked back as took notice at his rider’s pained smile. “What of yourself, Sergeant? Do you have a mate?”

“Hah, they're called spouses Joshua, and no I don’t have one. Well, not yet anyway.”

“Not yet?” The horse gave a smirk, “So there is a woman you have your eye on. What do you mean not yet?”

Percival’s voice was softer now, “I’ve known her since childhood. Both our families knew each other actually. I couldn’t ask her hand though, not since her brother died after the alien invasion five years ago. I was there when he died, I felt responsible for his death.”

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that sir.”

“I’s all right. No chance of marriage anytime soon anyway.”

For a while there was an awkward silence. Thoughts of getting out of their predicament were swirling between them without a word. Percival finished what he could applying bandages to his shoulder. His pain was beginning to numb his mind as his breathing begins to slow drastically. Thinking of a means to keep him conscious Joshua broke the silence, “If we make it back home, will you ask for her hand?”

Percival coughed, “That may be improbably all things considering. You’ve got a better chance of getting a mate than me getting married.”

“Then how about this?” Joshua tried to sound assuring, “If I could find a mate, you ask your lady friend to marry you.”

“I’m not sure if you know what I meant by what I said earlier, but I’ll humour you. You’ve got a deal…”

Before the soldier could finish, Joshua felt a slump on the side of his back. He looked back to see his rider’s motionless body; the sergeant fell unconscious.

“Sergeant! Sergeant wake up! Sergeant!” Joshua began to panic. He tried to shake him awake but to no avail. With no other alternative, he began to quicken his pace while ensuring his rider does not fall off. He rode through the night, desperation kept him awake as he followed the road. He began to feel strange, as though the world began to spin around him. He then realised he was exhausted. He had not stopped for a meal or rest since the mountain and his legs began to weigh heavy. But he must push on, for the sake of the mission… No, to Hell with the mission. For the sake of his comrade, he must get him help.

Then from the distance he saw it, Farmland. He quickened his pace as he ran past a sign “Sweet Apple Acres” though he could not read it. He saw a barn with a farmhouse next to it and raced towards it. He stopped as soon as he reached the arch gate and with all the breath he could spare he cried out, “Somebody! Anyone! Please help us!”

There was no response. From his sudden shift of movement, the rider fell from his back completely motionless. With determined vigour he bellowed even louder, “Is there anyone in there? Please, we need help! Please, somebody!”

A light came on from one of the windows. Joshua’s heart pounded in hopes for rescue. He was about to call out again when the door of the farmhouse opened revealing a silhouette of a pony, fast approach from where they were stationed. An orange mare with blonde mane stood before Joshua with a concerned but tired look as though she was shook out of bed. And with a thick Americano accent she spoke, “Can 'Ah help you, sir? Sweet Apple Acres is not open at this time of the night so…”

While she was speaking, Joshua could not help but wonder why it was a pony of all things to approach them and not the barn owners. The thought went past him however as he interjects the mare, “I beg your pardon but my rider, he needs medical attention immediately.” As he spoke, he moved to reveal Percival.

“What in the hay do you…” before the mare could finish, she looked at the sergeant’s body with a wide-eyed look. Her tired expression turned to alarm at the sight of the motionless body as she opened the arch gate and approached the rider. “What happened? More importantly, what is that?”

“He’s my rider! We were attacked by enemy forces and he got shot!” He was bleeding out not too long ago! Please he needs help!”

“Woah calm down there big feller. Help me get him inside the house and Ah’ll go into town to get a doctor and Princess Twilight. She might want to see this.”

Joshua couldn’t figure out how she was able to lift the soldier with her forelegs, but she did so almost effortlessly with little assistance from him. As they approached the house, she turned to him and asked, “Oh by the way, the name’s Applejack. And you are?”

“I am Jo…” before he could finish, he found himself falling with dizziness as the world slowly began to fade. Muffled voices and shady images took his sight as he assumed more horses came into view as he slowly began to lose consciousness. Before long he fell into a deep sleep as the weight from his mind was finally relived from his shoulders.