This is a brief thing I put together for my story that details realistic pony warfare. They're fighting along side humans as well, against...orc-like monsters for the sake of simplicity. If any of you have ideas to add, please let me know, I'd love to have people to toss ideas back and forth with for fun. Keep in mind this is an excerpt in the middle of the story and a chapter. King of the Dead
Emeris and I walk towards Ponyville. I still occasionally look back at Canterlot, wondering if things between Luna and I will ever be the same. Emeris notices my anxiety and tries to distract me.
“So there’s been an issue Lucretia and I have been discussing. From what we’ve seen, Cadence has only a few minutes to resurrect a creature before they go completely brain dead. We’re still not sure exactly what happens, but it means that unless she’s actually nearby in combat, our units may stay dead.” Emeris stops and faces me.
“No one has wanted to admit it, but you taught us never to run from the truth. Our numbers since the beginning of this war have steadily been dropping. We haven’t lost anyone in the first three battalions, but the fourth battalion took about five losses during our last defensive. Not surprising since they’re not required to practice, but considering there’s only around two hundred of us total, it will add up.” I put my hands on my hips and nod a few times.
We would have been in a completely different situation if Cadence hadn’t shown up during our first skirmish defense of Canterlot when we had to intercept the Og Nag heading for a group of civilians. We had no way to go home and no reinforcements coming. We had begun training ponies to fight, but what we could teach them had been limited since they couldn’t really hold weapons.
Emeris repeats what I already know about our difficulties with the volunteer civilians. My jaw hits the ground when we finally arrive and I see what Lucretia has been working on this entire time. Hundreds of ponies had their own armor with attached weapons. Some had what appeared to be lancers welded onto their side.
Emeris chuckles as he crosses his arms.
“So Lucretia determined rather quickly that the ponies can’t fight like we can. Their lack of dexterity means they have to fulfill specific roles. She took the larger ponies, and had special armor crafted. You’ll notice the large axe on the top of their helmet. They use it as their main weapon but they have a few more tricks up their sleeves.” Emeris lets out a loud whistle. A large pony, who stands in front of a group of thirty, turns around and looks at Emeris. Emeris motions for them to come over.
They get to a full gallop immediately, despite what had to be pounds of metal for armor. They skid to a stop, standing at full attention. I was shocked how well they could run with a massive four inch wide lancer attached at their side that stuck out about three feet in front. The whole thing had to be about eight feet long.
“Let’s give Captai- General Raiden here a demonstration yeah?” The colt nods and stomps a hoof on the ground eagerly. Emeris folds his hands behind his back and stands up straight.
“As you’ll notice, when he stands at attention, his armor relaxes a bit. This lets his armor breath a bit. They can’t simply take off armor to cool off with their hooves, so it’s more breathable. I know what you’re thinking, vulnerable spots for arrows to get through right?” Emeris faces the colt again.
“Dezgo!” Emeris roars. The colt hunches over, and tenses his legs. His armor clanks as it folds on itself, creating a solid metal face. Every slit that was exposed is now covered, making him arrow proof at least on the front. I walk around and inspect his suit. The only open parts were behind him on his hind legs.
As I’m looking him over, Emeris wheels over a cart that has five wooden shields on it. Each shield is roughly three inches thick. Emeris looks at the colt.
“Gai.” he says casually. The colt leans back on his hind legs and throws his body to the left, using the weight of his lancer to help him spin around. He gallops several paces away.
“Nehora!” Emeris yells. The colt repeats the same spinning motion, probably having to incorporate the weight of the spear as part of his normal movements. He goes back to standing at attention, his body facing the wooden shields. Emeris tugs on my arm and leads me over about twenty feet from the shields. I watch eagerly, as I start to notice there are some mechanical parts with the lancer as well. Emeris chuckles a bit.
“You’re gonna love this...Dez Nah!” he yells. The colt bolts towards the shields, almost hitting top speed immediately. He closes the distance to his target in a few seconds. As soon as he’s five feet out, he tilts his head back and hits some odd trigger behind his head. The lancer springs forward, slamming into the wooden shields and sending shards everywhere. A few shields get caught and dragged on the lancer. He casually trots around and stands at attention. He looks at his handiwork and gives a small satisfied head nod, completely ignoring the hanging bits of wood.
Emeris looks over at me. I can see a sick grin on his face through his helmet. He walks over to the lancer housing and begins pointing at various parts as he speaks.
“So first off, they can launch it forward for extra power when they charge, but they can just gore units normally if they want. He can keep it launched forward to get some range, and then bring it back with that rear lever if he needs to kick something off.” There’s a lever hanging down behind the lancer. The colt casually gives it a tremendous kick with his left hind leg. The spear snaps back into its housing with a loud mechanical click. As it slides back, he head butts the wood off his spear.
“They have to train hard, as the sudden weight on the left side makes them run awkwardly. We’ve had to attach some counterweights for the other ponies but this big guy right here doesn’t seem to mind.” The colt looks at me and lets out a loud, angry snort in response.
“You see these clamps right here at the front and rear of the spear? We can undo them to take out the lancer if it’s damaged. But here’s my favorite part. You see this cable that runs the length of the housing? If it’s pulled at the front by its handle, it completely lets the spear sit freely. While it’s still snug, it gives them a devastating move.” Emeris steps back and gives the colt a nod. The soldier yanks on the handle next to his head. The metal cord flies out, making the clamps holding onto the spear spring open just a few inches.
The colt looks at a distant tree about a hundred feet away and adjusts his hooves carefully to face it. The tree is a foot wide and reaches towards the sky majestically. He rears up on his hind legs. As he begins his fall, he snaps his head back, hitting the lever behind his helmet. The spear flies through the air, letting out a fearsome howl. It slams into the tree, letting out a glorious crack. The tree splits vertically, as half of it falls off to the side with a loud creak.
A fierce roar erupts from what I presume is his unit. They stomp their hooves and cheer furiously.
“The idea is if their spear gets stuck and they have to ditch it, or use it nailing a Garge at a distance, they run back to our reloading team. They get a new spear, and then rush back out again. However, we’ve had to give each lancer a buddy. Their lack of maneuverability sometimes makes them vulnerable.” Another pony walks up. Her eyes are green and a small braid of her brown mane hangs behind her eye. Her fur is a dull purple, but she walks with a youthful spring in her step. She stops and stands proudly in respect. The colt walks up next to her.
He takes off his helmet. A pair of green eyes stare up at me, looking overly gentle despite the aggressive display I just saw. He has a golden mane that hands to one side. His red fur is a complete mess. He probably hasn’t stopped training in days. His muscles are much more pronounced than your average pony. I can see why he handles his spear so well.
“This is Big Mac, and his partner Umbra.” Emeris motions with his head for the two to head back to the training grounds.
“Basically the partner’s job is to kick off anything the lancer can’t. So if they got a dead Og Nag on their spear that’s stuck, they’re not screwed.” As we approach the middle of Ponyville, I can see they’ve turned it into a massive training yard. There’s extra weapons, endless racks of extra spears for the lancer group, tons and tons of rocks and rows of pony armor.
Emeris walks over and drags another test dummy out. It’s large sack full of either grain or sand. The two take their mark several paces away, and stand at the ready. Big Mac puts his helmet back on. The air is tense as Emeris brings two other dummies out. They’re different colors, which I assume means they have different things in them. The idea was that each dummy could be any number of issues. Emeris looks at me.
“Don’t worry; she does more than just kick things...Dez Nah!”
The two take off. Umbra stays glued to Big Mac’s right flank. Probably so she doesn’t collide into the spear when he stops. Her eyes stay glued to the target. Various soldiers swing at them with wooden sticks. Big Mac easily ignores them as they smash harmlessly against his armor. Umbra on the other hand has to dodge. She has basic armor made from leather and a few pieces of wood wrapped in more leather. She has to stay agile.
Big Mac rams his spear into the first light brown target. It gets torn to shreds at its mid-section. It falls to pieces and gets trampled. Umbra changes her pace perfectly to match Mac’s, before and after he hits the bag. Her timing was impressive but she trots along almost carelessly. As she runs along, I see some type of mechanism on both sides of her chest plate. It’s covered with her black cloak, but whatever it is, I’m sure I’ll see it soon.
The second dark brown target gets nailed cleanly, but the fabric doesn’t tear as easily as the former. It slides towards Big Mac on his spear. Umbra darts behind him to his left side. Mac skids to a stop. As soon as the forward momentum makes the bag start moving away again, Umbra follows up with a rapid drop kick to the target, sending it flying off. It rolls a few times ahead of Big Mac, who gives it a vicious stomp with both his front legs as he sails by. If that target had been living at any point, it sure wasn’t any more.
The third target is a solid black. I raise an eyebrow and already see a flaw in their tactics. Big Mac lowers his head and closes his eyes as he gores the target. It sprays his helmet with what I assume is flour. Umbra immediately drop kicks the target again but does an impressive follow up. I look ahead and see several Taraskans holding up wooden shields with targets painted on them.
As she drop kicks the bag away from Big Mac, she does some crazy cartwheel as she spins around. The moment all four of her hooves hit the ground, she jumps in the air, and brushes back her cloak with her forelegs. She slams her front hooves into her belly against two levers. Knives come springing out, flying through the air and nailing their intended targets. As she lands again, she leaps over Big Mac, and sends another two knives sailing over his head, hitting their targets as well.
They come to a skidding halt, with Umbra staying behind Big Mac again; they made a good team. Their plan was terrible though and I unfortunately had to interrupt the howls of excitement filling the base with my hands held up. I look at the pair who watches me proudly. Emeris walks over.
“Big Mac here was the best with a lancer, and Umbra was the most accurate and agile. I figured they’d make a good team.” I sigh and shake my head. Their eyes were so full of pride and ferocity; I hated to break the bad news to them.
“Gai.” I mutter. The pair trots back eagerly. I hold up a wooden shield and give them a head nod to charge. Big Mac rakes dirt back a few times with his front hoof before taking off. Umbra looks a bit more determined, but still has a dash of lazy to her. I stand there, holding the shield in front of me. I wait for the same conditioned response that could get them killed and see it at the last second. Big Mac closes his eyes a few seconds before reaching me. I immediately side step to his right side and sweep at his front legs.
He lets out a surprised yelp as he tumbles forward. As I swipe his front legs, I use the momentum to spin around and shield bash Umbra who tries in vain to skid to a shocked stop. She goes flying back as all I have to do is hold my shield firmly, and her forward energy does the rest. I pull out my sword and tap the back of Big Mac’s exposed legs. Before Umbra can recover, I dash over and point my sword at her. She stares at the tip with wide eyes.
“Dead and dead. Do not blind charge. Keep your eyes open as long as you can. What would you do if your opponent gets killed and falls over? That’s a corpse for you to trip on. You hit the ground like that, and you’re gone. You’ll get swarmed and stabbed everywhere. Let’s try another lesson. Gai.” Big Mac gets up and grumbles. He shakes his armor to remove some loose dirt. As he walks back, he shoots me a glare. They can hate me if they want, but I was saving their lives. As soon as they stand back in their ready position, I motion with my finger for them to turn around. They do it but with a bit of a grudge. I motion for Emeris to bring up another three targets. This time, I rearrange them, and put the same light brown sack over all three.
“Dez Nah.” The pair turn around and dash at the first target, just as they’ve done a hundred times. Big Mac spears the target dead center, and gets a nice dose of flour in his eyes. He cries out in surprise and stops, while shaking his head. Umbra skids to a stop, while keeping her eyes on Big Mac. She runs over to him. I hurl another shield at the back of her head. She screams as it knocks her to the ground. She covers her helmet with her front hooves and rolls on the ground next to him.
“Sloppy. You’re so conditioned to doing the same thing over and over, that you don’t actually analyze what’s going on around you. You need to change things up. React, don’t predict. Making assumptions is a mistake you’ll only get to make once. Umbra I know you want to help Big Mac, but while you’re watching him, you can get stabbed from behind. You can’t stand around like that.”
The pair gets up, except Big Mac is shaking with rage. He roars angrily and stomps his front hooves. I cock an eyebrow. Why was he getting so frustrated? Then it hits me, the same look I’ve seen a thousand times. He’s lost something and now he wants to fight to get it back. We lock eyes when he suddenly charges at me. I’m about to take a defensive pose when Lucretia comes running from behind him. Big Mac gets several feet before Lucretia jumps on his back. She straddles him and leans to the side with the lancer. The weight of both the spear and her body make him cry out before falling over again.
Umbra rushes her with a loud roar. Lucretia side steps and grabs her cloak as she sails past. She uses it to swing Umbra into a rack of spears. She knocks the entire pile over and lays there panting.
“Enough!” Lucretia yells.
“General Raiden has a point. We need to step up your training; your lives depend on it! Take it as a wakeup call, not a scratch on your fragile egos! You can learn now, or you can learn the hard way as your life flashes before your eyes; pick one!” The two slowly get to their feet and avoid eye contact. Big Mac stomps off. Umbra shoots me a glare before trotting after him. She knew I was right, but getting your high ruined is never fun. I guess I could have been nicer about the whole thing though. I wanted to teach them right away to let go of their pride and do what they had to do. War is not going to be nice. Best to teach them that as soon as possible. Lucretia crosses her arms and walks up to me.
“Go easy on Big Mac...he lost his farm from what I’ve heard.” I groan quietly. I never really gave my lessons much forethought. I didn’t claim to be perfect though. I give the rest of our units a look over. They still needed a lot of work. They couldn’t think about what they were doing, they had to do it out of reaction. Still too new to combat, I could see most of them panicking. There was no denying that all the extra forces helped turn the tides in our favor if Zaran ever returned.
Lucretia leads me over to the unicorns.
“There are two jobs for the unicorns: building walls out of rocks and clearing bodies, or being on the reloading team. Our more skittish ponies are back out of harm’s way. Initially we had the building unicorns set down every rock, but we found out it’s easier to have two unicorns make a barrier on either side, then drop the rocks in. Bam, instant wall. Also we started off having ballista teams, but having the lancers do it ended up being more efficient. That way we could move them with ease. We actually have specific lancers who are amazingly accurate at range like Big Mac that we call on. The ponies who don’t want to be directly in combat make up Tactical. They build, clear, reload, whatever non-combat stuff we need. Lancercore is looking good, but we have more ponies who want to be flankguards than lancers. We might take half the ponies who want to be flankguard and find other uses for them, but for now we’re a tad unbalanced, and we can’t just make them be lancers. The last thing you want is reluctant ponies charging in first.”
Emeris, Lucretia and I, take the next few hours to toss around ideas for training and improvements. Big Mac still gives me glares when he catches my eye, but always listens when I have instructions for him. Perhaps his desire for revenge outweighs his anger for me. Perfect, that’s exactly what he’ll need. We decided that in the event we have to cut training short, we’ll focus on having the ponies support our people instead of going in first. Being frontlines and having your plan fall to pieces, isn’t something for novices to deal with.