//------------------------------// // Chapter 2: Welcome to the War // Story: Legionnaires of Equestria // by thatguyvex //------------------------------// Chapter 2: Welcome to the War The moment Counter Charge had heard the bellowing roar of ursans she forced aside all extraneous thought and immediately went into issuing orders to her Legionnaires. When dealing with ursans there was absolutely no margin for hesitation or error, especially for a commander. A part of her mind was shouting at her that this situation was impossible, that there shouldn’t be ursans this close to Beartrap Fortress, but she told that part of her brain to kindly shut up and let her do her job. “Squads one through three, form on me! Squads four and five, advance down the road, triple time it! Don’t let any of the draftee’s break and don’t leave any of them behind! Alpine, I’m counting on you!” Alpine, the pegasus in charge of the fifth squad in Counter Charge’s platoon gave a smart salute and one of her customary cocksure grins before the dark, forest green mare flitted away with her aerial squad over the scared confused Equestrians. Alpine called out with her clear, loud voice, sounding a lot more steady than Counter Charge felt. She knew she could count on Alpine to keep her it together. “Alright kiddies, get moving! Quick now or you’re gonna be bear chow!” While the Equestrians began to move, the fear palpable among them slowing the column, Counter Charge double checked to make sure squad six’s unicorns were still with the formation. There weren't enough unicorns in the squad to form a proper spell array against the ursans, at least not while split up among the Heartlander unicorns. Without that heavy firepower the unicorns would only be able to slow the ursans down, but that might be enough to give Counter Charge and her earth pony squads enough time to intercept, bringing their heavy crossbows and claymores into the fray. Her squads formed up around her, fifteen ponies not including herself, all stout earth ponies. The ponies in her personal squad, squad one, were armed with the long claymore blades designed for piercing thick ursan hide. Squads two and three had the thick leather harnesses that mounted the huge anti-ursan crossbows with barbed bolts specifically crafted to punch through thick armor and hide. Counter Charge was just drawing her own claymore with another chorus of roars sounding from the south portion of the forest. That surprised Counter Charge. The report had placed the ursan raiders to the northwest! Why were the bears showing up from the south!? She didn’t question it for long, instead gritting her teeth and issuing orders to her squads. “South flank, double time!” Her squads were at the head of the column, and as Counter Charge led her troops around to the southern edge of the road, giving way for the column of Equestrian draftee’s to start getting past her, she saw the ursans break from the forest and charge down a short hill towards the road and the Equestrian draftee’s column. Counter Charge had served on the Western front of the Barrier Lands for nearly five years, but never once had the charge of an ursan force failed to fill her with equal parts awe and dread. She’d heard tales from fellow Legionnaires of the horrors of fighting the ophidian snakes in the southern jungles, and the terrifying might of the wolven hordes in the north… but those stories paled in her mind to the raw ferocity of a force of ursan warriors charging straight at you. The beasts barreled out of the woods, snapping low hanging branches from the pine trees like so many thin toothpicks. Each one was a towering monstrosity easily twice the height of the biggest earth pony. Bristling fur either a dark brown or pitch black covered their quadruped form’s, bodies thick was muscles so strong that Counter Charge knew a single swipe of their massive paws had the potential to rip a fully armored pony in half. There were only ten ursans charging out of the woods, but when it came to ursans ten was a deadly force to reckon with. Each one could savage an entire squad of unprepared Legionnaires, and Counter Charge didn’t want to think of what the beasts would do to the untested, barely trained Heartlanders. Blast it all there weren’t supposed to be any ursans in this area! Beartrap Fortress hadn’t had to deal with any serious ursan threats in decades! Even as Counter Charge brought her squads into line to intercept the charging ursans she heard the terrified screams of many among the Equestrian recruits and her heart sank. She had known the Heartlanders were used to a realm of peace and knew nothing of the violence of war, but she’d hoped they’d hold at least a minute or two. Already she could see panic rippling through the Equestrians like a wave, many of the pegasi taking to the sky and flying away in scattered dashes, while those who were unfortunate enough to lack wings were starting to stampede down the road, breaking formation. “Keep them together!” Counter Charge bellowed, forcing her voice to its loudest to carry over the roars of the ursans. All she could do now was hope the squads she’d put in charge of the Equestrian’s could make them retreat in an orderly fashion and keep things from turning into a full route. They’d all be dead in that case. “Squads, full charge! For the Legion! For Equestria!” It was the best she could manage to shout while drawing her claymore and lowering her head as she barreled towards the oncoming ursans. Squads one, two, and three formed a V-shaped wedge around her, pounding down the side of the road along the south flank. She knew when they got in range squads two and three would peel off and set up a firing line, and trusted those squads to do their job without hitting her and her claymore squad. Meanwhile the bulk of the Equestrians were still a near panicking mass trying to get away, but fortunately instead of breaking and dashing in all directions the ones on the ground were following orders from the Legion troops placed among their ranks. The earth ponies marched quickly but with drawn weapons, ready to receive the ursan charge with their own claymores, while the ones with crossbows awkwardly went about loading them and firing. The Equestrian’s limited familiarity with the weapons meant few of the bolts hit, but it slowed the ursan charge slightly. At the same time the unicorns behind the earth ponies began to haphazardly fire off spells. Most of those spells were weak energy bolts, the most basic attack taught to the new recruits, but there were a few genuine balls of fire and crackles of lightning from the more experienced Legion unicorns. The magic, unfortunately, did little to the ursans, their tough bodies weathering the magical assault with minimal damage. It slowed them some more, but no more than a few seconds. Strangely Counter Charge saw a burst of green, blue, and purple fireworks flash among the ursans, causing one or two of the hulking brutes to trip over themselves from the blinding lights. Where had that magic come from? That wasn’t a Legion attack spell, she was certain of that much! Well, she had not time to think on it. Squads two and three fired, their bolts striking with far greater accuracy than the ones fired by the Heartlanders. Huge bolts as long as a pony’s foreleg slammed into the sides of the charing ursans, staggering a few, but not nearly enough. Counter Charge growled, speeding up for the last few moments of of her squad’s headlong gallop. The ursans were dead ahead, their charge hitting the Equestrian draftee column in almost the same instant that Counter Charge’s squad slashed into the ursans from the side. At that moment all became chaos and Counter Charge could only focus on fighting for her life. ---------- Terror unlike any she had known since facing the Ursa Minor in Ponyville gripped Trixie’s heart like the cold, wooden maw of a timberwolf. She’d faced such creatures, timberwolves, once or twice in her travels across Equestria. They usually ran off with a few quick pyrotechnic light displays. They were more of a nuisance than true threat. There was nothing ‘nuisance’ like at all about what was barreling towards Trixie. The massive bear-like beasts were like a clawed tidal wave as it smashed through the trembling line of earth ponies set to meet them. Trixie nearly fainted when she saw one poor mauve colored mare desperately trying to reload the crossbow mounted on her and scream just before an ursan’s jaws clamped over her head. The bear shook his maw, lifting the mare into the air, whose legs were flailing about in helpless, useless fits as blood poured down her body. With a single heavy shake the bear slammed the mare into the ground and her head came off with a sickening rip. Trixie nearly threw up. The Canterlot stallion next to her did. The Legion mare, the gray unicorn, growled, “Keep firing damn you!” As if to emphasize her point the gray mare’s horn lit up with magic and from it a crackling bolt of electricity sizzled across the space to slam into the ursan that had killed the mauve earth pony. The lightning arced over the bear’s back, making it shuddered, but hardly slowing it as it reared up on its hind legs, towering over another earth pony who’d come up to slash at it with his sword. This brave stallion’s efforts were rewarded with a sharp swipe of paws that opened his chest like an overripe melon, bone and organs alike spraying out to splatter the cold ground. The stallion didn’t even get a chance to scream before the ursan slammed down and crushed his already dying body into the dirt. Every single one of Trixie’s instincts were screaming at her to run. She had to get away from this place, as fast as possible, before she met a similar fate as those poor ponies had just met! She could turn invisible! Slink away under cover. Nopony would notice her! …but the sight of Blossomforth flying overhead stopped Trixie. Blossomforth was shouting, what Trixie couldn’t hear, but it wasn’t a shout of fear. It was a shout of rage. Blossomforth buzzed overhead and dove in at the ursan that’d killed the mauve colored mare, her spear skipping off the ursan’s head as she thrust at it. It snorted and looked up at the pegasus, rearing up on its hind legs once more. Blossomforth had clearly underestimated the reach of the ursan, as she beat her wings frantically to get away as a paw swung back to swipe at her. “NO!” Trixie didn’t realize she shouted, or was even acting until she was already in motion, charging at the ursan, her horn lighting up with a purple aura. She knew no real attack spells, but she’d tried her fireworks earlier and it had managed to daze a couple of these monstrous beasts! Once more she let out a blast of sizzling sparks, little purple, blue, and green contrails that when they reached the ursan detonated in showering flashes of dazzling light. The ursan roared, shaking its head, and fell to the ground, Blossomforth forgotten in its mind as it shook its head to clear the flashing lights from its eyes. “The flaming teats was that!?” asked the gray Legion mare, looking at Trixie, “You did that before. Shoot the thing!” “Trixie doesn’t know attack spells,” said Trixie, hurriedly, her fear returning as she saw the ursan regaining its senses, “You shoot it!” Blossomforth had flown back towards where Trixie was, hovering in the air as she pointed down the road with her spear, “We have to keep moving! We’ll be left behind!” Trixie glanced to see that Blossomforth spoke the truth. While the rear end of the Equestrian column was caught up in the fight with the ursans the rest of the column had moved on down the road at a near gallop. Only about twenty Equestrians were busy battling for life and limb against what Trixie estimated was eight or nine of the ursan monsters. A group of Legion soldiers, maybe a little more than a dozen, were now also engaged with the ursans, hitting them from behind. Earth ponies fired those huge crossbows, and Trixie saw the bolts slam into a few of the bear like beasts. It was distracting the ursans somewhat, causing maybe half to turn to face the Legion ponies, but the rest continued to tear into the Equestrtians and Trixie gulped, seeing yet another mare get dragged down by another ursan, her screams of “Help me! No! Please n-” cut short by the chomping maw of the ursan over her throat. Now Trixie, too, felt a spark of anger push past the ocean of her fear. How dare they!? How dare these things slaughter and kill without remorse or reason!? This wasn’t how ponies were supposed to die! This wasn’t how it was meant to be! Curse them! That anger flared in her horn, and for pure spite she sent an extra large and explosive set of fireworks onto the ursan that had just killed the pleading mare. The fireworks wouldn’t hurt them, but that one at least wouldn’t be seeing much of anything for awhile, as a huge cacophony of multi-colored fireworks exploded all over its face. Trixie only wished she’d acted faster, maybe she could’ve saved that mare. She also wished she had a spell that could actually hurt these things! Blossomforth apparently shared Trixie’s anger because she flew at the blinded ursan, which was growling and roaring as it pawed at the ground, blinking its dazed eyes. Blossomforth jabbed with her spear and the head lodged in the ursan’s thick fur just above the neck and Trixie heard Blossomforth let out a sharp curse. “What does it take to kill one of these things!?” the white pegasus gasped as she fought to free her spear and evaded a swipe from the blinded ursan’s paws. She flew back towards Trixie and the Legion unicorn, looking incredibly frustrated. “You Heartlanders run,” said the gray Legion unicorn grimly, a fatalistic gleam entering her eyes, “I’ll keep them distracted while you get away.” The Canterlot stallion, who’d been on the ground shaking this whole time, took no more prompting and with a squeal broke and ran away at a full gallop. Blossomforth frowned, shaking her head in apparent disgust, “We can’t leave you.” “You can and you are!” shouted the gray mare as she took a few sharp steps forward and from her horn summoned a shard of ice, hurling it at the ursan, which had finally gotten its eyesight back and began to charge at them, “Go!” Trixie was tempted to do just that and follow the Canterlot stallion, but she found herself looking towards Blossomforth instead. She resolved she wouldn’t leave unless the pegasus mare did too. She was the only one so far she’d even had a chance to speak to and Trixie wasn’t about to leave behind her one… well… not ‘friend’ really, but acquaintance at least! The ursan barreled in and to the gray Legion mare’s chagrin Blossomforth and Trixie hadn’t budged. Blossomforth, whether in frustration or panic, actually threw her spear like a javelin. The spear hit the ursan in the shoulder and didn’t do more than tickle the monster as it roared, just a few paces from the ponies. The gray Legion mare growled and fired a beam of ice from her horn that hit the ursan squarely in its face and then she dove aside to avoid the charging monster. Trixie did likewise, throwing herself to the side to just narrowly avoid getting crushed by the ursan as it charged past them. She almost knocked the breath out of herself by rolling poorly, not used to having to throw herself around like this. She scrambled to her hooves as the ursan turned around with speed far greater than a beast its size ought to be capable of, and seeming to sense Trixie being the weaker prey focused its eyes upon her. Trixie could see its eyes clearly now, two dark soulless pits that promised a gruesome, brutal death. Its fang filled maw opened in a roar that made Trixie reflexively put her hooves to her ears as she scrambled away, unable to get up as the ursan stalked towards her, one paw raising into the air. Trixie saw those claws, imagined them tearing through her flesh, and froze. She knew she ought to do something! She knew she needed to cast a spell, or try to roll away from the fatal blow, but she couldn’t. Her body just wasn’t responding. Seeing death in front of her, she just… froze. “Trixie!” Something plummeted into her, shoving her aside in a tangle of hooves and wings. The ursan roared and Trixie heard flesh tear, and a pony shriek in pain, but she was too disoriented for a second to figure out what happened or why she was now on her back with something warm and pony shaped on top o her. Blinking she looked and gasped when she saw Blossomforth laying on top of her. Blossomforth’s face was screwed up in pain as she, too, blinked her eyes open and looked at Trixie. “Are you… okay?” the pegasus asked and Trixie couldn’t answer for a second because her eyes had strayed down Bossomforth’s body to her hind legs. There it was clear Blossomforth’s right hindleg and flank had taken the worst of the ursan’s claws. Deep red furrows had been rent through Blossomforth’s white coat, blood seeping from the wounds. Trixie’s mind almost went blank, but the growls of the ursan drew her attention. The bear was a half dozen paces away, the gray Legion unicorn bobbing and weaving away from the ursan’s claws as she flung more bolts of electricity at it. The bolts stung at the ursan’s hide, and Trixie could tell it was slowing down, but not nearly enough. The Legion unicorn was getting tired, the ursans’ claws getting closer and closer to hitting her with each passing second. Trixie carefully worked herself out from under Blossomforth, who groaned in pain and finally noticed her injured leg. “Oh…oh wow… that’s a lot of blood,” Blossomforth said, gulping, her eyes wide, the pupils going to the size of pinpricks. “Yes, yes, Trixie sees that!” Trixie said as she worked to take off her leather coat. Ignoring Blossomforth’s question as to what she was doing Trixie took out the dagger she’d been issued and used it to cut one of the belts that held her coat on. With the severed belt she went to Blossomforth and using her magic wrapped the belt around her leg, just above the worst of the claw wounds. Trixie pulled the belt and tied it as tightly as she could. “Wh-what are you- gah!” Blossomforth grunted as Trixie then levitated the pegasus up and put Blossomforth on her back. Trixie grimaced at the blood soaking over her. “Tourniquet! Trixie taught herself first aid years ago. Very useful for the road. Now stop talking and hold tight to Trixie!” “But what about her!?” Blossomforth asked, vaguely pointing at the Legion mare. Trixie’s eyes flinched with hesitation, and then saddened with resolve. “There’s nothing Trixie can do! We have to run now!” Blossomforth started to protest but Trixie broke into a gallop, rushing towards where she could still see the main body of the Equestrian draftee’s retreating down the road. She only cast a quick glance at the battle with the ursans as she ran. A few of the ursans were down, but only three or four, and Trixie held little hope for the ponies, Equestrain born or Legion born, who still fought. Shame pierced through her, and she felt like a complete coward…but if she and Blossomforth stayed, they’d die. Blossomforth might die anyway, if Trixie didn’t get her somewhere that had a doctor. The tourniquet would only do so much good with a wound that bad. “No! Trixie, we have to go back!” Blossomforth said, but the pegasus mare held on, her wound keeping her from must taking to the air. Trixie ignored her, running on, head down, tears in her eyes. Coward or not, she knew to look back, let alone go back, would mean death. And Trixie was not dying today! ---------- Coldiron saw the two Heartlanders flee, the blue unicorn carrying the pegasus on her back. Coldiron spared a quick smile of satisfaction at that. For mere Heartlanders they’d been braver than Coldiron had ever expected to see from the soft, peaceful ponies who lived in Equestria’s interior. More importantly, they were out of the way now, finally obeying orders and running like Coldiron had told them to. Now she could fight this ursan without worrying about holding back with her magic and accidentally catching those two in the blast. The usan’s black eyes were now shot through with hints of red from the creature’s pure rage as Coldiron continued to quickly work her hooves to duck and dive from its swiping claws and snapping teeth. Coldiron was tiring out and knew she couldn’t keep up the evasion for long, but with the two Equestrians out of the way she no longer needed to. Reaching deep into her reserves of magical strength she summoned up her mightiest cold spell, the element that was her specialty. Her horn flared a bright, snow white color and the ground around her turned icy as the air started to flash freeze. “Die!” she growled, blasting outward with a wide cone of sub-zero air filled with a swirling storm of conjured ice knives straight into the face of the roaring ursan. Its pelt was torn and sliced by the razor sharp blades of ice, and its fur began to turn hard and white like miniature icicles from the raw magical cold being blasted into it. Yet still the ursan came on, rearing up and slashing down with both forepaws in a mighty blow that would have ripped Coldiron to pieces had she not backpedaled at just the last moment. Now thoroughly depleted of her magical strength Coldiron was left breathing ragged breaths as the ursan, badly injured from her spell but still very much alive, growled and charged at her. So this is it? I die here, she felt oddly resolved to it. She at least would die a proper Legionnaire, in battle against the enemies of ponykind. Perhaps she’d finally get to see her husband again, if the afterlife was kind enough to reunite her with him. Just before the ursan reached her, however, somepony charged in from the side, long claymore blade skewering straight into the ursan’s neck in a gout of blood. The bear was pushed aside, its charge turning into a sprawling crash as it hit the ground and rolled. The pony who’d impaled the ursan’s neck kept a bitter grip on her sword and went pole vaulting upward as a result, dangling in the air yet doggedly holding on, driving the blade even deeper. With a sudden crack the blade met the neck bone of the ursan and the bear shuddered and died with a whimpering gurgle, its paw giving one last, feeble swipe at a stunned Coldiron that fell short as the ursan breathed its last. Coldiron, utterly flabbergasted by what had just transpired, stared at the pony that had saved her. It was one of the Equestrian draftees, clearly. A cutie mark of a stylish purple hat and a red feather graced her off white coat, marking her clearly as a Heartlander, a Chosen. She was an earth pony mare, solidly built but with a slightly dainty air about her that didn’t match the ferocity in her pale blue eyes, eyes that matched her two toned, short blue mane and tail. This mare growled, shoved the sword deeper into the ursan until Coldiron spoke. “I think its dead, recruit.” The mare growled a moment longer, then blinked, as if not realizing what she’d been doing, and then she let out what had to have been the most feminine, squeaking ‘Eeep!” that Coldiron had ever heard as she scrambled off the ursan as if it were still alive. “I-I-I-I… it’s dead? Oh dear, oh no, did I do that?” the mare stammered, staring at the ursan with wide eyes. Coldiron didn’t know what to make of this mare, and took a second to scan her surroundings. She spotted Sergeant Counter Charge and the core of the squads that had charged into the ursan line. It looked like the crossbow squads had gotten caught up in the melee, now, forced to fight with hooves or any scavenged blade they could grab from dead comrades. The ponies fought in a moving wheel, covering each other as they fought off the surviving five ursans. The remaining bears were laying dead, but even five ursans might be enough to finish the remaining Legion ponies and the dozen or so surviving Equestrians who hadn’t managed to get away with the column. “You need to go rejoin the column, recruit,” Coldiron said, shaking off her fatigue and readying herself to get back into the fray. To her surprise the other mare just gingerly retrieved her sword from the dead ursan. “I can’t do that miss. My friend is still fighting. Oh, I’m Coco! Coco Pommel! Pleased to meet you.” Coldiron just blinked at the mare, Coco, for a second, not believing the bizarre friendly yet sheepish smile on the mare’s face. She could smile like that in the middle of a battle!? Was she a madmare? “Whatever,” Coldiron said, not wanting to argue with a clearly disturbed mare, “Coldiron. Long as you can kill ursans I don’t much care what you decide to do.” Coco gulped, but at the same time as she looked at the ursans, one of them dragging down a Legion pony with its jaws, Coldiron saw the mare’s eyes suddenly turn narrow, a deadly light entering them. “Those brutes! Those horrible beasts!” Coco went off charging towards the fight and with a helpless laugh Coldiron followed her, hoping she could manage to dredge up enough magic to keep up with this crazy Equestrian Legionnaire. ---------- Counter Charge ducked under the ursan’s paw, lashing out with a back-swing of her claymore. The thick blade bite into the ursan’s tough hide just below the elbow, severing flesh but not quite able to cut through the beast’s thick bones. It felt like trying to cut down a tree! Counter Charge pulled back, adjusting her hooves to avoid the ursan’s counter attack, its teeth grazing her armor. Beside her Tower Shield from second squad covered her flank, taking advantage of the ursan’s distraction to get in a slice with his own claymore. A red line was cut along the ursan’s flank but the bear moved with shocking speed, almost as if it’d intentionally exposed itself to draw Tower in, and snapped its jaws out at the stallion. With a sickening crunch the jaws clamped onto Tower Shield’s right foreleg, bending and puncturing the metal greaves and snapping bone with equal ease. Tower Shield grunted, but didn’t scream, gritting his teeth tighter around his blade and shoving it into the ursan’s shoulder. “Sarge!” he called and Counter Charge knew he was buying her an opening at the cost of his leg. It hadn’t been the first time he’d put himself at risk to provide her an opening like this in a fight over the years they’d served together. Growling her own anger and snorting steam through her nostrils Counter Charge backed up then charged in, the tip of her claymore acting like a spear as she rammed it into the joint between the bear’s shoulder and neck, one of the few weak points that could be exploited to reach the monster’s heart, if you were skilled enough to get the angle just right. Counter Charge lucked out, feeling her long sword slide deep into flesh, past bones and muscle, and pierce the huge, thudding organ of the ursan’s heart. It coughed and sputtered a fountain of dark crimson blood from its maw, letting go of Tower Shield, and for a second the beast tried to exact revenge on its killer by slashing at Counter Charge, but she was fast enough to let go of her sword and duck away from the blow. The best tilted over and died with a shuddering growl. “Nice kill,” Tower Shield said, wincing past the pain from his leg as he grinned at her. Counter Charge went to retrieve her blade, intending to then check on Tower Shield, but an incredible force slammed into her and for a second the world spun as pain burst into every part of her body. She felt herself hit the hard ground and roll; cracking her head on what had to be a very unfortunately placed rock. Stars burst in her vision and the corners of her sight dimmed, but with a determined grunt she shook herself back to her senses. She felt a warm trickle of blood down her face and snout, some of the red getting into her eyes, but she could see she was on her stomach, having been knocked a good distance by another ursan that had charged her and hit her with its head like a battering ram. The ursan was now feasting on Tower Shield, its claws and teeth ripping into the Legion stallion with wild abandon, his armor no longer any good against such concentrated ferocity. Counter Charge pushed aside her fury and the stab of sadness at seeing one of her oldest squad members and friends savaged by the ursan and instead pushed herself to her hooves. Her sword was still stuck in the other one she’d killed but she didn’t care. She’d take the ursan on with her bare hooves if need be! Before she could charge in, likely to her death, a dozen forms suddenly rained down from the sky, pegasi Legionnaires with long spears, thrusting with the full weight of their bodies to pierce ursan flesh. The monsters roared and tried to turn towards their tormentors, only to get another barrage of spear thrusts from another dozen pegasi coming in from the opposite side. The ursan Counter Charge had been fighting got a spear right in its eye, and as the beast fell Counter Charge looked up, mouth gaping slightly. “Sorry Sarge, wasn’t fast enough,” said Alpine, the green pegasus mare looking despondent as she hovered in the air with a full platoon of other pegasi Legionnaires. Reinforcements from Beartrap Fortress! Counter Charge hadn’t counted on them arriving at all, let alone so quickly. Had a patrol spotted them? Alpine’s dark blue eyes looked around, her lips set in a sad frown, “What a mess…” Counter Charge looked around and to her surprise saw the fight was actually over. The arrival of the pegasus platoon had utterly turned the tide, their spears overwhelming all but one of the remaining ursans, which even now was fleeing into the tree line with a squad of the pegasi in hot pursuit. A wet gurgle from nearby drew Counter Charge’s attention, and in an instant she was by Tower Shield’s side, Alpine landing beside her. Tower Shield’s steel gray fur was stained red with his blood from dozens of wide, gaping wounds. Most of his belly was ripped open, and Counter Charge didn’t need to be a trained medic to know her friend’s days of fighting next to her were at an end. She put a hoof on the side of his head, keeping her face as calm and strong as she could. She wouldn’t let herself cry in front of her fellow soldier. Tower Shield’s eyes were hazy, and they flickered towards her, and Counter Charge thought his lips might have turned up in a small smile. He didn’t say anything. He didn’t even try to. He just looked at her with that faint smile, and then he was gone. Alpine lowered her head, heaving out a sigh, “…We should regroup and get a move on soon, Sarge. Might be more of them out here.” Counter Charge remembered the ursans that had been spotted to the northwest. Yes, there was still danger out here and she had a responsibility to get her troops to the fort. There would be time to ask questions and find out just why there were ursans in this area later. Steadying herself, pushing her emotions deep down until later when she could properly let them out while she was alone, Counter Charge closed Tower Shield’s unseeing eyes and turned to her surviving troops, which to her surprise did consist of a surprising number of surviving Equestrian recruits. “Okay Legionnaire’s, gather the dead, form up, and let’s get marching!”