Chapter 9: Calm Before the Storm
Beartrap Fortress was suddenly quite a bit livelier than it had been just a day before. The addition of several hundred more ponies probably had something to do with that. Even inside the relatively insulated office of Captain Runeward the sounds of the construction and buzz of chatter filtered through. Coldiron stood at ready attention in front of her Captain’s desk, with Sergeant Counter Charge standing next to her. Coldiron wasn’t sure what the sergeant was here, but she didn’t bother questioning. As for herself, she had just finished giving the Captain her full report of the mission to Arrow Vale.
Runeward sat silently for a moment, his eyes lost in thought almost to the point where Coldiron felt the urge to speak up and check if the old officer remembered she and Counter Charge were still there, but then he snapped his eyes up to her and a look of grim satisfaction lit up his face.
“Excellent work, Corporal. While I’m very disturbed by the events that have transpired in Arrow Vale and the fact that the old stories of the Lurkers contain a horrible truth we must now face, the actions of you and your squad of Heartlander recruits have been nothing short of exemplary. If we somehow manage to come out the other end of this alive there will be commendations to all of you. Not only have you survived an engagement with a dangerous and previously unknown enemy, but you’ve managed to come out of it with critical information concerning this enemy, as well as more than accomplishing your original mission goal of recruiting reinforcements from Arrow Vale.”
Coldiron couldn’t help a brief flash of pride at the Captain’s words, but it was heavily tempered by the reality of their present situation, “Sir, I thank you on behalf of my squad. The Heartlanders have more than proved themselves in my eyes. I… cannot say for certain if this is how I would have wanted to accomplish my mission concerning Arrow Vale, Too many of the town’s ponies lost their lives due to the Lurkers and it is a blow that abandoning the town was our only option.”
“True, but given our need of extra hooves to defend Beartrap Fortress it remains a truth that having so many able bodied ponies here to take up additional arms may make the difference when the ursans finally attack, which I fear is going to be soon. I trust you’re aware of the numbers massing right across the Bear Bones?”
“Yes sir,” Coldiron replied with a clipped tone that she hoped hid her worry. She’d heard already from other Legionnaires that the ursans were appearing in the hundreds, likely soon to be near a thousand, on the other side of the river, just keeping to the tree line. It was unusual. Ursans were not a subtle nor patient race in Coldiron’s experience. She wondered why, if they were already gathering so close to the fortress, why the attack hadn’t already begun.
“I can see you’re thinking what I have,” said Runeward with a stone smile, “It is strange the bears haven’t already come charging across the river. We’ve sabotaged the bridge already, but that will hardly slow them down. I think it’s possible they’re waiting for something.”
“What would they wait for?” asked Coldiron, “Reinforcements? They already have enough numbers to more than match our defenses.”
“All we can do is guess, unfortunately,” said Runeward, “but given I’m not a stallion prone to accept coincidence I’m willing to bet that the emergence of the Lurkers is connected to the ursans. It’s been a long time since the bears got bold enough to gather in such large numbers and at the same time a race of giant spiders appears from beneath our lands? I’m not willing to chalk that up to random chance. I wouldn’t be surprised if, when the ursans attack, we find ourselves also under attack by the Lurkers.”
It was a horrifying thought. While Coldiron had experienced firsthoof that the Lurkers, while terrifying, were killable, she didn’t relish having to deal with the speedy, tricky bastards while also fending off the powerful might of the ursans. While she understood Captain Runeward’s logic in denying coincidence, she was still surprised by the notion. Surely the ursans and Lurkers couldn’t be working together? Ursans were not, to her knowledge, team players. But she supposed that, ultimately, it was better to assume the worst.
“There’s nothing for it if that’s the case, sir,” she said, “We’ll just have to defeat all enemies, no matter how many come our way.”
Runeward laughed, “As pragmatic and eager as ever. Good. I want you to work with Sergeant Counter Charge. I’m giving you a field promotion, Corporal. From now on consider yourself a Sergeant, and in charge of the new 1st and 2nd Arrow Vale volunteer companies. Select anypony you find suitable to promote to corporal and get your squads organized. Sergeant Counter Charge will assist you with that and then both of you are to work on sweeping the area for any Lurker tunnels that might be near the fort. If you find any, I want them collapsed. I want this done by morning. Also, you’ll be in charge of reporting Quick Needles findings on the Lurker corpse you brought back. If he finds anything we can use as a weakness in his autopsy I want to hear about it immediately.”
It was a lot to suddenly take in and Coldiron found herself stunned for several seconds trying to get her brain wrapped around her sudden promotion and new duties. Organizing the Arrow Vale volunteers into two new companies wasn’t going to be easy, especially wile conducting their first task of searching for Lurker tunnels. Her mind reeled trying to decide who among her hometown ponies might be suited to being squad leaders. She felt a nudge on her shoulder and glanced over, seeing Counter Charge giving her an encouraging smile.
“Relax, Sergeant. You’ve earned this. I’d already had my eye on you for a recommendation for promotion before Arrow Vale, and your performance there cinched it with the Captain. You’ll do fine, and I’m here to help you with the basics. You think you’re ready to get to work?”
Coldiron could only nod, at first dumbly, then with greater confidence as she took a deep breath, “Yes. Yes sir.”
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Trixie never imagined in her life that she could all but inhale such bland, poor tasting food yet thoroughly enjoy it. Then again she usually didn’t get this hungry except perhaps after a particularly intense performance. In those cases she’d often been so flush with bits from a grateful and awed audience that she could afford to sate her hunger at the best restaurant in town.
For a moment a pained clench filled Trixie as she remembered that it’d be a very long time before she could perform on stage in front of others and enjoy the fruit of her own chosen profession. Assuming she didn’t die in the next couple of days. And even if she did survive this upcoming battle how many more would she have to face in the four years she’d be stuck serving the Legion? How many more life threatening perils would she have to overcome before she was a free mare again?
“Somepony’s got a frowny face,” said a chipper voice next to her as Blossomforth sat down at the table next to Trixie in the mess hall of Beartrap Fortress. The pegasus was wearing a bright smile, eyes alight with a contentment Trixie knew she couldn’t match.
“Trixie is not frowny facing,” she said firmly, “She is far too dignified for frowny faces! Trixie is brooding.”
Blossomforth’s grin didn’t falter, “Didn’t know you’d found a stallion around here already.”
Trixie blinked, then her face turned the color of a fresh apple, “I… Trixie doesn’t think you heard the right word there and would request that you get your mind out of the gutter.”
After a soft laugh Blossomforth patted Trixie on the back with one of her wings, taking a bite of the gruel that passed for ‘rations’ at the fort, “Mmmph, this stuff isn’t bad. Yeah, sorry, guess I’m just in a joking mood. You want to brood in peace I can stop.”
“No,” Trixie said, perhaps more quickly than she realized, “No, it’s quite fine. Trixie could use some joking. Is Strong Back dong well?”
“Yup. Sort of. He’s resting comfortably at least and that stuffy doctor stallion said that Strong Back’s probably going to make a recovery. You know, assuming we win against the bears. Which I’m sure we will. I mean, have you seen what the ponies around here did while we were gone? That hill’s got twice as many pits and spikes on it now, and I’m pretty sure the bridge wasn’t busted up when we left.”
Trixie nodded. She had seen. Beartrap Fortress had been given extra fortification in the past two days. Not only were there additional wood spike barriers and pit traps on the muddle hills leading up to the fortress palisade, the gates had been reinforced with additional wood braces, and the interior of the fort had been given fortification in a series of dug trenches with spiked edges. This created a series of fallback positions in case the main wall was breached, or the gates destroyed. From what Trixie had heard from talk among the Legionnaires the center building of the fort was also being reinforced so that it could be a third, final fallback position for some kind of ‘last stand’ scenario.
While it was clear that Blossomforth took these preparations with good cheer and a positive outlook, Trixie just saw it as a form of desperation on the part of the Legion ponies. As if they were expecting the traps to fail, the wall to fall, and for them to have to make a final stand in the center building. It was like admitting defeat before the battle was even begun. Then again, perhaps that was just Trixie’s dour mood talking. She envied Blossomforth, her optimism. From her energetic stance to her bright smile, to the way she seemed to savor the gruel, it was as if the pegasus mare wasn’t at all worried that perhaps in less than a day she’d be fighting for her life, and that she might not make it. That she might end up in the jaws of a ursan beast.
The thought sparked a surge of anger inside Trixie, not at Blossomforth, but at the ursans. She almost understood why Coco Pommel seemed to so easily go berserk in battle. It was naturally enraging in a way that seemed to touch an otherwise buried part of her pony instincts, the thought of ponies being killed in such a manner. Trixie hoped she could tap into this feeling later. She didn’t want to freeze up in fear again… though she still didn’t know if that was because of the nature of the Lurkers that caused her to freeze up sometimes or if it was battle in general that did that. She just knew she didn’t want to look like a coward again, or to cost anypony their lives because of it. Great and powerful heroes didn’t freeze in the middle of a fight. Right? Trixie was pretty sure that was a rule.
Before she could ruminate on the thought for long Trixie noticed a commotion coming towards her and Blossomforth. Coco Pommel was rather quickly trotting with a flushed and uneasy look on her face as a group of half a dozen of their fellow Equestrian recruits followed her. At first Trixie couldn’t hear what was being said but in a few moments she could pick up the conversation as Coco was making her way right towards her and Blossomforth.
“Was it scary, going down into the tunnel?” asked one mare, one Trixie recognized from her rather long legs and neck and two-toned blue mane as the unicorn from spell array practice, Allie Way.
“I’m more interested in hearing about these new monsters,” said a brown earth pony mare with a stark blonde mane and blue eyes, “D-did you actually kill one of them? I saw the body that was brought in. You actually fought that?”
The other ponies following Coco were asking similar questions, all to Coco’s awkward stammered half-answers, “It was- I mean, I guess I was scared, I don’t… well, I didn’t do much, a-and I don’t really want to talk about… Trixie! Blossomforth!”
Coco perked up when she actually saw Trixie and Blossomforth, immediately rushing over, “Thank goodness. They won’t stop asking me things about what happened.”
Trixie blinked, looking at the eager and curious faces of the other recruits, and she stared blankly at Coco, “Well? Trixie doesn’t understand why you’d have problems answering.”
Coco made a small whining sound and bit her lower lip, glancing at Blossomforth, who sighed with a knowing smile as she elbowed Trixie.
“Hey!” Trixie rubbed her shoulder where she’d been elbowed. Blossomforth ignored her, instead flying up a bit and waving her arms to get the other recruits’ attention.
“Okay, okay, settle down everypony, don’t crowd, and don’t pester. Coco and the rest of us went through a lot out there and we’re looking forward to a bit of downtime. You want stories, cool, just take a seat, don’t ask everything at once, then me and Trixie will take your questions one at a time. Now, Coco, why don’t you grab some grub and have a seat, take a load off?”
Coco gave Blossomforth a grateful smile as the other recruits, all sharing shrugs with each other, began to sit at the table either next to or across from Trixie and Blossomforth. Coco went and got a bowl of gruel from the cook pot and joined them in short order, just as everypony was settling down. Trixie looked around at the recruits and quickly assessed the situation. What she was seeing was not just eagerness, but also a certain nervous need. These ponies were all scared, just like she was. They knew they had dangers to face in the ursans, and hearing that there was a whole new threat like these spiders was frightful. Yet here was Trixie, Blossomforth, and Coco, three mares who, like them, were just raw recruits from the peaceful Heartland, and they’d all come back alive from a battle with these new monsters. These ponies wanted to hear about their victory, as a way to calm their own nerves, to hear proof that recruits just like they were could fight and live. They needed some kind of assurance that things weren't hopeless.
Trixie took a deep breath, and before the questions could start flying she drew the attention of the table by loudly clearing her throat and leaning forward, placing her forehooves on the table.
“Trixie imagines you all dearly wish to know the details of our little adventure? Well, rest assured if it is a story you want, Trixie shall be your incomparable bardess! Listen in awe, to the tale of Arrow Vale and the battle of the tunnels!”
Blossomforth chuckled slightly, giving Trixie a coy looked that seemed to say ‘Really?’. Coco Pommel just looked grateful not to be the center of attention for the time being. Trixie paused for an appropriately dramatic moment to make sure she had her audience’s undivided attention, and then she launched into her story. She had done this a hundred times before. Magical tricks and feats were the bread and butter of her performances back home, but they were all supplemented by no shortage of grand tales, amusing anecdotes, and humorous stories of her travels. Normally she embellished and even, yes, outright lied to make the show (and consequently herself) seem better, but in this case she found that embellishment was almost unnecessary.
After all, she actually did fight horrible monsters this time. And hardly by herself, but alongside worthy and valued comrades. Oddly, while Trixie had thought she might have been irked to share the spotlight, she found she kind of enjoyed telling of Blossomforth and Coco Pomell’s courage and Coldiron’s skill, making her companions’ come off as even greater than she. It was a strangely satisfying feeling, and she relished the looks from her audience as she spun the tale… a growing audience, she noted, as before she was halfway done not only were there more of the Heartlander recruits gathering around their table, but a number of the regular Legion ponies were also finding seats nearby to listen in.
By the time she got to climax of the adventure, their deadly battle and flight from the giant Lurker with the gauntlets and the collapse of the tunnel they barely escaped from, just about everypony in the mess hall was now listening to Trixie. She hadn’t even noticed when she’d jumped up onto the table and had started to use bits of her illusion magic to create images to emphasize parts of the story. When the last image showed her, Coco, Blossomforth, and Coldiron emerging from the hole with the rescued Arrow Vale ponies Trixie let the image fade away in a puff of blue smoke.
“And so we rose from the darkness, battered, bruised, yet very much alive and victorious!”
She finished with a small bow, sweat trickling off her brow. There was a brief silence, followed suddenly by the stamp of hooves as many of the ponies gathered applauded. Trixie accepted it with a small smile, hopping off the table and sitting down once more to catch her breath.
There were a few cheers, a lot of buzzing conversation, and in general the mood in the room seemed to be significantly less tense. Trixie and her friends got a few pats on the shoulder, and even a number of the usually stoic or grim Legion ponies gave small nods or smiles at the group. Amid it all Trixie noticed Allie Way nearby, looking thoughtful, and still stiff, as if she was a wound up spring. Trixie slid over to the mare, giving her a questioning look.
“Still troubled?” she asked.
Allie Way jumped slightly, then looked a tad mortified as she said, “I’m sorry. I was listening to your story, but… while I guess everypony else is encouraged, I just… can’t feel better about any of this.”
Coco, who’d finished her gruel during the story, and was now sitting on the other side of the table, nodded her head and put on a small smile, “I feel the same way Miss Allie Way-
“Oh, please, just Allie.”
“Okay, Allie. I do feel the same way you do. I’m so nervous it’s like it’s the night before a big show and Suri has me working all night to finish a line in time with no breaks,” said Coco, rubbing her forehooves together and looking apologetically at Trixie, “Not that your story wasn’t lovely. It’s true we… we won, sort of, when we fought those spiders. But it’s scary, thinking about the next few days. We’re going to all have to fight again soon, and even if we can win it won’t be easy, will it?”
Trixie frowned. She’d rarely gotten anywhere in life by thinking about how things wouldn’t be easy, but she couldn’t deny that it wasn’t as if Coco and Allie didn’t have plenty to be concerned about. When the ursans came, there’d be a lot of them. And unlike the Lurkers, who weren’t physically tough if it wasn’t one of the big ones, even a small ursan could rip a pony to pieces with little trouble. Just thinking of that first fight on the trail left Trixie feeling queasy.
“Trixie can’t deny it will be hard,” she said, “and frightening. However, Trixie believes that if we let ourselves think too much about how bad things might be, that will just make it more certain the worst will happen.”
“Yeah, but…” Allie Way swallowed, her eyes looking downcast, “those ursan monsters are the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I don’t know if I can fight them and not just… freeze up.”
That Trixie had little she could say to, as she had the exact same problem herself with the Lurkers. As she struggled to try and come up with something inspiring to say to the clearly terrified mare, Blossomforth came over and gave Allie Way a quick shoulder bump with one of her wings, “Hey, there’s no shame in being scared. We all feel the same way. That’s why you’ll be fine out there. You got us to watch your back. You freeze up; I’ll swoop in and snap you out of it. You just got to promise to do the same for any of us, right?”
Allie Way blinked her large blue eyes, seemingly at a loss for a second before, slowly, a relaxed smile spread across her face as she nodded firmly, “Yes, I will. Thank you.”
“See? No worries!” said Blossomforth, and Trixie found herself as envious as ever of the other mare’s attitude. Yet, despite that envy, Trixie found herself not minding it at all. It was disquieting enough, the wait that they’d need to endure before the ursan attack. At the very least she could spend it with some ponies she found she actually liked. It’d been a long time since Trixie had been around ponies she thought she could consider friends.
Now if only she could shake the feeling that she might soon lose them…
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“Perimeter check finished on the south end, Sergeant,” reported Alpine with a smart salute, one that Coldiron felt a tad odd receiving considering up until a short while ago they’d been of the same rank. She returned the salute, nodding for Alpine to continue her report.
“We made a very thorough check both physically and with magic,” Alpine said, nodding towards the south tree line, “If there are any tunnels dug by these spiders of yours they’re either too deep to detect or they can somehow block magical detection. The woods themselves are also clear. No ursans have snuck across to give us worries, yet.”
“Good work,” Coldiron said, shaking the strange feeling of talking to Alpine from a position of authority, “How are the Arrow Vale volunteers? No trouble?”
“What? Nah! They’re an alright bunch,” said Alpine, “Some of them are pretty green, almost as bad as our Heartlander recruits in a few cases, but hey, they’re farmers, so what can you expect? At least most have held a spear before, and a lot of them seem pretty pissed about what happened in their home… eh, sorry Sarge, that’s your home too.”
“Yes,” said Coldiron, tone neutral, “It is, and I hope to see it occupied by ponies again, after we win this battle.”
“Yeah,” Alpine turned her gaze west towards the river. Even from the distance they stood at it was possible to make out the movement in the trees across the rapidly flowing water, “Won’t be long, I’m thinking, before we see just how well this old fort can hold up.”
Coldiron took a deep breath, letting it out slowly before looking back towards the stout, simple palisade walls of Beartrap Fortress, “I think the old girl will surprise us.”
“Here’s hoping, eh?” said Alpine with a wink, “Either way, I figure it’ll be one hell of a fight. Something others can talk about over the campfire, no matter how it turns out.”
Coldiron let out a short, humorless laugh, “Never was much for stories, personally.”
Alpine quirked an eyebrow, “What do you do for fun, then, Sarg?”
“Train.”
“Horsemanure.”
“…crochet…”
“What was that Sarge, didn’t quite catch it?”
“Nothing! I didn’t say anything. Carry on, I’m going to go check on the 2nd company, see how they’re coming along with the north end,” said Coldiron quickly as she rapidly trotted away from the snickering Alpine.
For all that she used it as an excuse to get away from the awkward conversation Coldiron did intend to go check in with Counter Charge. The organization of the Arrow Vale ponies into two impromptu volunteer companies had been an arduous task, and one they’d had to do rapidly in order to get them to work on the task of checking for possible Lurker tunnels. Strictly speaking the two units weren’t even full Legion companies, which consisted of a hundred ponies; five platoons of twenty which in turn were made of up of five squads of four. Because none of the ponies from Arrow Vale were officially joining the Legion this temporary status meant a rougher organization based on which ponies worked best together, knew each other the best, and had some mutual agreement over who was best suited to be in charge. Basically the “1st Arrow Vale Volunteers” was eighty eight ponies, most of whom were young bucks and mares who worked as lumber ponies and knew each other all from their mutual profession. They were led by Temp Sergeant Wood Chips, a large, burly brown earth pony mare with a stark white mane. Many of them still carried their axes from their lumber work along with the spare spears and crossbows taken from the fortress armory.
The “2nd Arrow Vale Volunteers” was mostly filled with the older ponies who were still fit to fight, just over seventy ponies strong and led by Mayor Straight Lace, now also a Temp Sergeant. Coldiron’s father was also part of the 2nd, which had surprised her when she’d learned he’d volunteered. At least her brothers were safe. Well, as safe as they could be given the situation. The rest of the Arrow Vale ponies were still expected to help in the fighting if things became dire, which they no doubt would, but they wouldn’t be expected to jump onto the front line immediately.
Both companies were mixed arms. Normally a Legion company had platoons set up by designated purpose, like the heavy bolter platoons that’d have the large crossbows mounted to lay down fire on the ursans, or the pegasi platoons with their lances. But the Arrow Vale companies lacked the training with those kind of specialized weapons and tactics and so would fight shoulder to shoulder with light crossbows and spears. They’d been given basic armor, such as what was available, and banners had rather quickly been stitched from gray cloth and blue thread so each company had a signal flag to designate their position on the field.
Coldiron spotted the flag of the 1st Arrow Vale on the north edge of the forest in short order, the gray square with its bright blue “1 AV” flying in the stiff, cold breezing blowing in from the west mountains. She saw the ponies moving in rough groups of around a dozen, impromptu platoons, in a wide line amid the trees, pounding on the ground with spear butts or axe heads, while a few of the unicorns worked magic with glowing horns; detection spells hastily taught that could sense lifeforce at close range. No good for long range recon, but good for finding trouble in the confined spaces of the thick forests of the barrier lands or, as luck would have it, sensing if any Lurkers might be below them. At least in theory.
Really they were taking shots in the dark about how to find Lurker tunnels. After all, nopony had ever fought such creatures before, at least not until the attack on Arrow Vale. Coldiron felt more than unsettled by the dubious “honor” of being one of the only Legionnaires to have fought this new threat.
When she was spotted approaching the north tree line a few calls went up and before long Counter Charge’s blue form came trotting out to meet her just outside the thick wall of evergreens. Counter Charge’s brow was dripping sweat and it was clear she’d been working as hard as the ponies she was commanding to sweep the area.
“Sergeant,” she said with a smart salute, which Coldiron returned.
“Sergeant. How’s it look out here?” Coldiron asked.
“Clean as we can surmise,” said Counter Charge with a shrug, “Which to be honest I’m not confident is all that much. Never imagined I’d have to worry about an enemy digging up from underneath my hooves, and our detection spells aren’t really set up for penetrating underground. Sure it doesn’t look like there’s anything down here, just from whacking at the dirt trying to hear any hollow noises or cause a collapse, and sure our spells aren’t sensing anything besides the normal amount of regular sized bugs… but how much can we rely on that? We could have a whole army of those things underneath us and for all we know they’re too deep to sense, or can ward themselves with magic of their own, or just haven’t dug high enough yet for us to see but can afford to wait until we’re flank deep in ursans before tunneling up.”
Counter Charge let out a frustrated sigh and Coldiron completely shared the other mare’s sentiments. There were still far too many unknowns for her to be comfortable going into battle with this kind of enemy out there, but they didn’t have much choice. The ursans would be attacking any day, perhaps even that very night, and they didn’t have time to do more than this.
“Well, we’ve done all we can,” she said, “2nd company has finished sweeping the south. All that’s left is the east. If both companies work together the east can be cleared in record time, afterward we can return to the forth and rest up.”
Counter Charge nodded, giving Coldiron a smile that made her look at the other mare questioningly.
“What?” Coldiron asked.
“Nothing," replied Counter Charge, "it's just that I’m supposed to be helping you get used to commanding a company but you seem to be settling into your new rank pretty well.”
Coldiron grunted, looking away, “I can’t really say much to that. Right now I’m just concentrating on the tasks that need doing… “ she glanced around to make sure nopony was nearby who could overhear her and Counter Charge before saying, “Truth be told I’m as nervous as I was my first day as a recruit. I don’t want to panic when the fight starts, but I keep wondering if I’ll be able to give orders clearly. Leading a squad or platoon is simple enough because I’m right there to see everypony and can figure out what needs doing, but a company is larger. If I can’t see everypony and how they’re doing how can I give the right orders? What if they don’t hear my orders?”
The understanding nod from Counter Charge helped relax Coldiron somewhat as the older mare said, “I know what you mean. It’s a matter of delegation and trust. When the fighting starts and you can’t see the whole picture you got to trust your gut and your subordinates. You’ll have Temp Corporals leading the platoons. Trust that when you give an order, they’ll ferry it down and carry it out on the squad and platoon level. It’s no different than trusting your squad to watch your back, just a larger scale.”
“I… understand,” Coldiron said, taking a deep breath, “Anyway, shall we go link up with 2nd company? I want to get this done while we still have daylight.”
Counter Charge’s smile deepened, “Lead on, Sergeant.”
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“Oh, wow, that’s pretty gross,” said a voice from behind Quick Needle and the stallion stiffened at both the interruption of his work, the invasion of his workspace, and the particular voice in question being both instantly recognizable as his most unbearably cheerful and energetic of recent patients.
He turned, looking at Blossomforth standing in the doorway of one of his small operating rooms and he glared at her, “Recruit, I don’t believe you have permission to be in here.”
The pegasus mare, whose incredibly colorful mane both gave him a headache and oddly fascinated him, gave him a innocent grin as she held up a bowl of gruel in one hoof, as if it were some kind of peace offering.
“Oh, I know, but I talked to one of your orderlies and they said you’d been working all day with nothing to eat, soooooo, viola! Also, totally ulterior motive, I was here to visit my buddy Strong Back too!”
Quick Needle eyed the gruel, his stomach giving a growl that utterly destroyed any possibility of claiming that he wasn’t hungry. With a resigned sigh he nodded and pointed at a table along one wall, “Set it down. I’ll eat in a moment. Your friend is well enough. Resting. I doubt he’ll be awake for at least another day or so. In that way he is most fortunate. However this goes, he won’t have to suffer any of it.”
Blossomforth’s face turned sour as she set the bowl down and she trotted closer, “You’re pretty dour for a pony who spends his time helping others. Anyways, how’s this going? You learn anything neat?”
She was referring to the subject on the table; the body of the Lurker that she and her squad had brought in earlier that day. He’d been working at dissecting the body since it’d arrived. If he was being honest with himself he’d been so enraptured with his work he’d forgotten all about food, or taking any breaks. His orderlies were more than capable of preparing the hospital for receiving wounded for the upcoming battle. This work, any findings he could garner about the bodies of these new enemies of the Legion, was top priority. That had been an order from Captan Runeward himself, but even without that order Quick Needle would have insisted he work on the body. If the worst came to pass and the fortress fell there was a squad of volunteer pegasi who would each carry a copy of his findings along with Coldiron’s own report of the action in Arrow Vale that would hopefully reach Skywoad Keep and the rest of the Legion at large.
Even if everypony in Beartrap Fortress died there was still a chance the Legion would be informed of their new enemy, and it was Quick Needles duty to make sure that report had as much information about the Lurker’s physical attributes as possible.
“Look for yourself…” he said, gesturing for Blossomforth to approach the table. He was still irritated at her presence, but less so in at least she showed some interest in his work. He’d accept t for now. Besides, her queasiness as she looked at the body gave him some small sense of vengeance at her intrusion.
“Our subject, on the surface, resembles a member of the arachnid family, and shares a number of qualities with the normal members of that species that you may be familiar with, albeit all at a far larger scale. It’s where this specimen differs from normal arachnids that is of particular fascination. First of all the brain case contains three distinct chambers for three organs, all functioning in concert like a single brain. It’s possible that the destruction of one chamber might not be fatal, but thus far I cannot discern what each separate ‘brain’ might be meant for. There are, you can see here, here, and here sizeable glands underneath the head, and on the sides of the thorax and abdomen. I think these are for putting out and sensing pheromones; powerful ones. I’d theorize these pheromones play a critical role in this species' ability to communicate, but without a live specimen to test on I couldn’t say for sure.”
Blossomforth gulped, looking at the dissected body on the table with the kind of revolted fascination of a pony who’d seen a train wreck and couldn’t bring themselves to look away, “Neato. Uh, anything else?”
Quick Needle nodded, smiling ruefully as he enjoyed his victim’s discomfort, though he did feel a bit of guilt as she had come to bring him food when he was being too foolish to remember to eat. He supposed he’d show her mercy and make the last bit quick, as he had discovered one other thing he found of interest.
“After hearing the report of your encounter with them, specifically in how they seemed to manipulate magical energy with runes made from their web, I kept a close look out for any organs that might be related. You see unicorn magic is somewhat based on the physical characteristics of their horns, including the cartilage inside the horn that is made from a magically reactive substance. And… look here…”
He pointed with a hoof at the cut open portion of the abdomen above the spinnerets. Inside were the organs that generated the webbing, but between those was a set of what looked like small, thin bones, “These are rods of cartilage. Cartilage that is almost identical to the magically resonant cartilage found in the horn of a unicorn. I’m almost certain these are critical organs that allow this species to manipulate their own magic, or take the magic from other sources, at least, and store them in these bits of cartilage. Again I can’t be sure without a live specimen to experiment with, but that is my theory. So, if you ever happen to fight one of these creatures again, aim for this spot and you may disable their ability to use magic. Or not. Need more tests.”
Blossomforth blinked, and then nodded with a fresh smile, “That’s actually pretty useful. You should let the bosses know this stuff.”
“I intend to, once I compile my full report,” he said, then after a second of uneasy silence he said, “In any case thank you for bringing me the meal. I’ll eat and take a short break.”
The smile on Blossomforth turned infectiously sweet as she bopped him on the head with a wing, “See that you do. Doctor’s orders!”
With that she quickly left the room, leaving Quick Needle a tad flabbergasted and freshly irritated as he grumbled under his breath and went to grab the bowl of gruel.
----------
It was getting into evening by the time most of the preparations to make Beartrap Fortress as fortified and ready to resist assault as possible had been finished. Many of the regular soldiers had been given the rest of the evening to rest and unwind, with guard details in place with proper rotations set up, but otherwise everypony allowed to rest and spend the remainder of the daylight hours as they wished.
Everypony except the command staff consisting of each company’s commanding Sergeant and Captain Runeward. The Captain had called a staff meeting to prepare the actual unit placement and tactics for the upcoming fight, and as each pony shuffled into the long, rectangular meeting room on the central keep’s main floor Counter Charge could feel the unease in the air. Everypony was nervous, charged, and eager for the battle to come. Not out of bloodlust, but because no solider liked the waiting. The sooner the battle began the sooner it would be over and they’d all know where they stood; victorious, or resting with their ancestors.
Besides herself and Coldiron there were four other Sergeants in charge of the companies that comprised the fortress’s single regiment. Technically she was in command of the 4th company of the Beartrap 1st Regiment, but she also had command of the recruit company from the Heartland. Without a spare Sergeant to take direct command of the Heartlanders she’d appointed Alpine as a temporary commander for the unit while she would direct 4th company. Meanwhile Coldiron would command the two volunteer companies on her own; and Counter Charge was confident the young unicorn could handle the responsibility.
Everypony took seats on simple wooden chairs arranged near a blackboard at one end of the rectangular room, and Counter Charge was struck by how much it looked like a simple classroom as opposed to a meeting place to discuss military planning that would affect the lives or deaths of hundreds of soldiers. Captain Runeward was waiting for them, already standing by the blackboard, a grm faced teacher ready to begin class.
“Good evening Sergeants, I’m proud of how much you and your ponies have gotten done in such a short amount of time. I believe this fortress is as ready as it can be for what the ursans will throw at us,” Runeward gave a thin smile, “One way or another there will be blood paid for this ground. Now we need to decide on just how to go about making sure it’s more ursan blood than Legion blood.”
There were a couple of dark chuckles, but otherwise the room remained silent, the Sergeants all knowing the seriousness of the situation. Captain Runeward directed his attention to the blackboard, where there was already a chalk drawing of the fortress and the surrounding area, oriented with the north facing upwards as was standard. The fortress looked like little more than a rough diamond shape with one of its points pointed towards the west, where numerous small boxes marked traps and spiked obstacles. Further out to the west the crude outline of the Bear Bones river, the bridge across it marked with an X to indicate its status as already sabotaged, then the dense markings of the forest beyond. There were similar markings to indicate the forests to the north, south, and east. The detail on the fort showed the inner buildings and fortifications, and Counter Charge noted an unusual ring around the space between the buildings and the inner keep.
“At present our scouts report anywhere from seven hundred to over a thousand ursans gathering on the west bank of the Bear Bones,” Runeward began, using magic to levitate up a piece of chalk and make several markings on the west forest, “behind the treeline here. If they follow normal ursan organization patterns we’re likely looking at a mass charge of several staggered waves, with their strongest, most prominent braves chagrining in first, and the runts who hadn’t earned the ‘honor’ of first blood following behind. We’ve seen no indication of titans or heavy infantry, but that doesn’t mean they’re not out there, hiding deeper in the forest.”
Counter Charge felt only marginally better at that news. Ursan titans were… nightmares to fight. The gigantic transparent creatures of solid starstuff could out mass a house even as infants and the adults could smash apart the most solid fortifications with relative ease. The only good thing about them was their size made them easy to mark out on a battlefield and concentrate fire on, making attacking larger Legion holdings like Skywoad Keep that held sizeable artillery both mundane and magical suicide for even the mighty titans. But if there’d been one or two here to go against Beartrap Fortress their chances of survival would’ve dropped considerably.
“We can’t be sure,” Runeward went on, “which area of the fortress will get hit hardest but ursans rarely fight with subtly so in all likelihood it’ll be our west walls and gate that take the brunt of the attack. Therefore-“
He began to draw rectangles along the west two walls of the diamond shape of the fortress, numbering them as he went, “-1st and 2nd company will be assigned to the southwest wall and 3rd and 4th company will take the northwest. 5th company will be held in reserve here by the central keep to reinforce as needed. We’ll be placing the Arrow Vale volunteers on the other walls, 1st company on the southeast, 2nd company on the northeast. If the ursans swing around to try to hit those walls or gates 5th company will reinforce the volunteers. No doubt the ursans will take a beating getting there from our spell arrays and bolters along the way.”
That much Counter Charge knew to be true. The point of the diamond shape of Beartrap Fortress was to ensure that any force that tried to move to flank any end of the fortress still faced at least two walls worth of unicorns firing spells from arrays and earth ponies firing the heavy crossbow bolts. If the ursans intended to swing forces towards the eastern walls they’d do so under fire. Still, something was bothering Counter Charge.
“Sir?” she asked.
“Yes, Sergeant?”
“Where will the Heartlander company be stationed?” she asked, “They’re technically under my command, still, correct?”
She saw a brief flash of discomfort cross the Captain's face, but he nodded slowly, “Yes, that they are. I was just getting to them.”
He drew a final rectangle near the west gate, “The Heartlander company will be stationed here, as a defensive block against the ursans in case the west gate is breached. If the ursans crack the gate the Heartlanders will hold them as best they can until reinforcements from 5th company arrive.”
Counter Charge grit her teeth, keeping her tone level as she said, “Sir, permission to speak frankly?”
Again that flash of discomfort in Runeward’s eyes, “Granted.”
“Sir, I think that is a… questionable location to place the Heartlanders. They’re still very raw and have only had one engagement with the ursans up close.”
“An engagement where by your own admission to me the Heartlanders performed better than expected,” said Runeward, his own voice even despite the tightness in his eyes, “I’m placing them where I am because I wish to keep them from the initial brunt of fighting. As long as the west gate holds the Heartlanders will not need to fight, much. If 5th company reinforces but we still need more we can use the Heartlanders as a final reserve force, but otherwise I’d prefer to keep them somewhere out of the way.”
“Unless we lose the west gate,” Counter Charge said.
“Yes, unless we lose the west gate,” Runeward agreed, “But it will be up to you, my true Legionnaires, to ensure that doesn’t happen. The ursans will be more likely to try and overcome our walls anyway. Their bloodthirsty nature will drive them to attack where our soldiers are at, not spend time trying to batter the gate while under fire.”
Counter Charge took a deep breath, “True…”
“Actually, sir,” Coldiron spoke up, “If I can interject a thought?”
Runeward glanced at the young Sergeant he’d so recently promoted, and with a barely perceptible nod said, “You may.”
Coldiron looked as uncomfortable as a mare in a bed of fleas, fidgeting slightly as she said, “These ursans have shown a lot of uncharacteristic restraint by not just hitting us now, while they’re massed. We can’t necessarily expect them to act like normal. Also, there’s the threat of the Lurkers. While we found no sign of tunnels in the area, either beneath the forest or the fort, there’s still the real chance of interference from them during this battle. It would benefit us more to have more experienced troops held in reserve to respond to emergencies inside the fort, or if we lose the gate unexpectedly. The Heartlanders… have shown to me at least they have backbone. I think you can replace one of the regular companies on the wall with the Heartlander company and they’ll hold their own. Meanwhile we’ll have a stronger reserve force to respond to whatever surprises may hit us.”
There were a few nods from the other Sergeants, and one of them, a tall red stallion in charge of 5th company, Sergeant Bloodedge, said, “I’d be more comfortable parked in reserve with one of the other companies at our side anyway. If we’re going to push back an ursan breach of the gate, west or otherwise, I don’t know if I’d trust the Heartlanders yet to hold until the 5th got there. They might be better off fighting on the wall where they got fortifications to work with, instead of trying to take an ursan charge through the gate head on.”
Though Counter Charge had wished he phrased it in a way that gave the Heartlanders more credit, she at least appreciated the backup, as she supported Coldiron’s idea fully. While it might have seemed harsher to put the Heartlanders on the wall to fight, it was true that it’d be overall better for them. The fortifications on the palisade along with the ability to fire at range would give the Heartlanders time to acclimate to the fight without being overwhelmed. Ursans could get more and more viscous as they gained momentum in a fight and if the bears broke through the west gate that’d mean the Heartlanders would face the fiercest charge the ursans could throw at them with no wall to fight from. While Counter Charge had faith in the Heartlanders, they’d get slaughtered in that kind of situation.
Runeward seemed to finally come to the same conclusion because he nodded and made the adjustments to the board, putting the Heartlanders on the wall… in place of her own 4th company, “Very well, the Heartlanders will be stationed on the northwest wall and 4th company will take their place by the west gate to hold against a breach or as a second reserve company. Any objections?”
Counter Charge had none. In fact she would have suggested it herself if Runeward hadn’t done it. Her name wasn’t for show. She was accustomed to taking an enemy’s attack then counter charging to push them back. Being there at the west gate was the best place for her to help the overall battle.
When nopony else objected Runeward continued, “Well, at this point there’s little we can decide as we’ll have to adjust plans on the fly depending on enemy actions. As you can see we have secondary fortifications dug around the central keep, and this ring here… this is being prepared by a few ponies right now. We’re taking as much lamp oil as we can and making a ring we can ignite to cover a retreat to the secondary fortifications f we lose the walls. When that happens we’ll fall back by ranks and hold the second line for as long as we can. If the secondary line is strained too far, our final move is to fall back into the keep. There… we make our last stand, if need be. Make them pay for every pace with an ursan corpse. Any questions.”
There were a few, mostly about details of ammo conservation, target priority, ect., but Counter Charge didn’t have anything further to say. Her own mind was thinking ahead to the battle and if despite all their planning and preparation just how much of a chance they really stood of coming out alive, let alone victorious.
----------
Night had fallen and the sky was clear. Coco Pommel found herself unable to get any sleep, and slipped from her bedroll and tent. The recruits were doubled up in their tents, and Coco had been sharing hers with a young mare who was also from Manehattan like herself, a periwinkle colored pegasus who was easily two or three years younger than Coco named Windfinder. As Coco slipped out of her tent she could hear Windfinder still quietly crying into her bedroll’s pillow. She was one of the ponies who had yet to adjust to Legion life to any degree, though she’d seemed to Coco to be in slightly better spirits after Trixie’s stories earlier. The showmare had gone on for most the evening, telling other tales of her travels across Equestria, each more ridiculous and over the top than the last, and it’d certainly seemed to ease the overall tension.
“You should get to sleep,” Coco said at the tent’s threshold, “You’ll need the rest.”
“I’m scared…” said Windfinder’s small, shaking voce.
Coco frowned, looking down, “I am too. I think everypony is.”
“You don’t sound scared. And you… you’ve already proven you can fight. I… I can’t.”
Coco didn’t know what to say to that other than, “Just do whatever you can. We’ll all be fighting together.”
“I saw,” Windfinder said, raising her small head from her pillow to look at Coco with terrified green eyes, “I saw them eat ponies. I don’t want to die that way. I don’t want to die at all!”
“Then fight as hard as you can. I will too,” Coco said, feeling at a loss, and wishing she had some way to give the young pegasus some kind of confidence or at least help her push down some of her fear. Instead Windfinder just looked away and buried her face in her pillow again, leaving Coco to dejectedly trot away with the sound of the pegasus’ sobs still ringing in her ear.
I suppose some of us aren’t really meant to be here, Coco thought, then frowned at her own thinking, As if any of us are meant to be here. There’s nothing more unnatural than for ponies to fight. I don’t want to accept it. I don’t want to allow it! I won’t let them die! I’ll… I’ll…
The anger rose and she tried to quash it down, but it smoldered like the undying embers of a dormant volcano. She knew the rage was just waiting for its chance. The Lurkers had been bad, and she’d unleashed it on them… but the true source of her rage were the ursans and the images of the dying ponies on the road from days before, who’d died screaming under ursan jaws and claws, those memories fueled the anger that felt like it’d burn away her heart if she let it.
It felt so wrong, but at the same time perfectly right. She hated the idea of fighting. She didn’t like the violence that seemed to come so naturally to her in this unnatural seeming war. Yet she couldn’t deny that she wanted to stop the ursans, the Lurkers, all of the horrible monsters that threatened her race.
She reached the palisade, nodding to one of the guards on duty, who gave her a surprisingly respectful nod in turn. The Legion ponies had been treating her with more regard since her return with the others from Arrow Vale. Was it because they’d proven themselves in battle? Was that what it took to earn the respect of the Legion? Probably, but Coco couldn’t feel a lot of pride about that. All it meant was that she was becoming a better killer, right?
Ignoring her own advice to Windfinder she stood on the palisade and stared up at the sky, completely unable to think of sleep. It was a beautiful night, filled with stars. The moon was nothing more than the thinnest sliver of pure white in the sky. Tomorrow night it’d be gone completely, the night of the new moon.
“Why am I not surprised to find you here?”
Coco turned her head at the familiar voice, seeing Coldiron joining her on the palisade. Coco smiled, though it was a small, tired expression.
“It’s the best spot to think,” she said as the short gray unicorn joined her, Coldiron leaning on the wall and closing her eyes as a brief wind tussled her brown mane.
“I can’t disagree. I usually come up here when I need to let my mind clear.”
For a number of minutes the two mares just shared each other’s company in agreeable silence. Then Coco glanced over and noticed something she hadn’t before. It was a small copper ring, strung around a simple, small cord of twine. It was tucked into the breast of Coldiron’s battlemage coat, but it’d slipped out as the mare had leaned over the wall.
“What’s that?” Coco asked.
Coldiron looked confused for a moment before following Coco’s gaze to the ring. Very quickly Coldiron’s cheeks warmed with a red hue and she tucked the ring away hastily.
“It’s…” Coldiron hesitated, seemed to Coco to withdraw into herself, then she saw the unicorn nod as if coming to a decision, “I guess I shouldn’t worry about it. It’s not as if it’s a secret. I just don’t really talk about personal things often, but you’ve earned some trust I think. The ring is my wedding band. My husband gave it to me the day we married.”
“Oh! Well, it’s a nice ring. Is your husband here at the fortress? Or… was he at Arrow Vale?” Coco felt utterly awkward asking about it, but curiosity was a powerful thing.
Coldiron’s eyes shimmered as she stared off into the night, “He’s not with us anymore. He was lost just over a year ago during an operation to the south. He was a combat engineer, the kind of pony who built the traps we use against the ursans when he wasn’t working on bridges or fortifications.”
“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked,” Coco said, hanging her head.
“No, its fine,” Coldiron said, turning to give Coco a wan smile that seemed to carry a wistfulness Coco wouldn’t have imagined seeing on the Legion mare, “Wrightsmith was a good stallion. Insufferable, at times, but good. Never regretted marrying him. I just wish I could have been there at the battle that took him. I don’t think I could have saved him. His unit was taken by surprise while trying to trap a bridge. But a part of me will always think I should have been next to him, when it happened.”
Coldiron’s voice had gradually gotten more and more pained as she’d talked, and at the end of it Coco couldn’t help herself, she’d come over and wrapped the other mare up in a firm hug.
“W-what are you doing?” Coldiron sputtered, blinking.
“Hugging you. This is what we Heartlanders do when our friends are in pain,” Coco said, giving Coldiron one final squeeze before letting go, at which point she did manage an embarrassed and apologetic look, “Should I not have done that?”
“It’s… I guess that’s just something we Legionnaires are going to have to get used to, if we’re serious about bringing the Heartland into the fold,” Coldiron said, glancing away with an equally flummoxed expression, then glanced back, “Thank you, though.”
Coco smiled. “No problem.”