The Centurion Project

by TheEighthDayofNight

Chapter 72: Ambush

Steel Horn stood atop his wooden battlements, staring out toward the grisly display marking the edge of the woods. It was either sour luck or the work of the ponies, but the wind was blowing from the east, carrying the stench of blood and the beginnings of decay toward his bulls. They’d been able to hear screaming most of the night, and at dawn one of the missing bulls had approached the gates, bloodied and traumatized, but coherent enough to deliver a brief story, and one half of a message.

‘Surrender, I have your brother.’

Steel Horn had sent the bull off to drink his sorrows away as the second half of the message shined crimson in the dawn. He watched his scouts tromp toward the treeline, but he already knew what they were going to find. It turned his stomach, even at distance, but he knew what fresh heads on spikes looked like. He’d never liked such “displays of strength”, especially didn’t like when other chieftains used skulls to decorate their meadhalls. It was barbaric, and pointless. Captured shields and weapons, those were prizes, not body parts. To see the fallen mangled… He sighed and rubbed his forehead.

Stone Hoof stood beside him, his massive hands clenched around the railing of the battlement.

“He will return Stone Horn untouched or I will personally flay the skin from his wretched hide,” the elder bull snarled. “I thought him a worthy opponent, thought he had a shred of honor, but this-”

“Shut up,” Steel Horn grumbled. “Even the pile of ponyshit Half-Horn told us said that Stone Horn led an ambush against a barely armed human, and an unarmed princess. I’m sure its far worse in fact, and the fact that Stone Horn still lost is a sign that he’s an even bigger idiot than you. Were he not my brother, I’d happily be rid of him. The Keepers clearly don’t support his acts, look at his repeated failures.”

The timber snapped in Stone Hoof’s hands and he whirled on his eldest son. Steel Horn straightened, towering over even the large elder. He snorted in Stone Hoof’s face and moved forward, forcing him to step back.

“Go ahead, challenge me,” he growled. “I would happily be rid of you too. I warned you that this was too risky, that we should have kept the army together and forced the Equestrians to negotiate for a princess, but you stupidly listened to your lesser whelp and got all the rest of the chieftains to divide the army.” He motioned all around them. “Now look where we are. The Saddle Arabians continue to resist, with their armies no doubt summoned from abroad, and the Equestrians have arrived to keep us pinned in place at the best. Time is on their side, and now your idiot calf gets more of my bulls killed pursuing some grudge match against a clearly superior warrior.”

He stuck his finger in Stone Hoof’s face as the elder bull wilted away.

“I should just leave this, call Elias Bright’s bluff, see if he mounts Stone Horn’s empty head on a stick next. By the Keepers I should thank him for doing so. It would certainly have spared me bulls had he executed Stone Horn the first time.”

A cry from the treeline drew his attention and he felt his head pound as a familiar figure rushed from the trees, sword in hand. The trio of scouts drew their weapons too slow, and the first fell clutching his neck. The human threw a knife at the second, the blade sending a glint across the field as it found a home in the bull’s thigh. As he fell, the third turned tail and ran, leaving his fellows to their fates, not that Steel Horn could wholly blame him. The human moved quick, and within short order another pair of bodies sat propped up as a mockery.

Steel Horn felt a slight chill as the human paused, staring at him from across the grassy plain. It was impossible over the near mile of distance, he knew that, but it still felt like those mismatched eyes were staring into his, daring him to come out, challenging him. Steel Horn had faced many challengers, had bested each one, and while he still felt the usual heat welling in his chest, the ancestral rage that had led him to so many victories, this time it was just slightly tampered. Not with fear, he feared only for his son and his long-suffering bride, not his own life. No, he felt just the slightest trace of doubt. Doubt that he’d win, doubt that he should even try to. He had become a powerful, well-respected warchief through his intelligence, and his unmatched will. He’d never once felt truly challenged, not since he was a child.

Yet staring across the field, matching the human’s gaze, Steel Horn could only sigh and rub his brow.

“Poor fool,” he mumbled. “In a better life, you and I would be brothers. You’d be a better brother than who I have now.”

“Barbaric monster,” Stone Hoof spat from beside him. “We must act. He will kill Stone Horn and… and…” Steel Horn heard a sob, then closed his eyes as the old bull collapsed to his knees, weeping openly. “He’s going to kill my son. He’s going to kill Stone Horn, and then you, and then everyone here. I will have nothing left.”

Steel Horn couldn’t bare to look at the weeping bull, just stared out across the grass as the human turned away and again vanished into the trees. After a few moments he said;

“Then find your courage and get on your feet. I am not content to sit here and wait for death.” Stone Hoof looked up, the faintest traces of hope in his eyes at the sharp words. Steel Horn let out a near inaudible snort and waved him away, unable to bear the sight of the self-disgracing bull. “Bring me Chieftain Khari, and try to dry your tears. I need my warriors inspired for the fight ahead, and their elder weeping will not inspire confidence. They are already beginning to fear the human, you showing them yet more fear will not help.”

Stone Hoof flinched, but nodded, continuing to dry his face as he got to his feet. He bowed, then trotted down the battlement, his shoulders sagged. Steel Horn simply stared off toward the trees, his fingers tapping against the railing.

The human was crafty, but he wasn’t some apocalyptic magician. Stone Horn was an idiot who had misused his forces, but he had damaged the Equestrian army, proving that while strong, they were not invincible. They’d stopped in their approach to Saddle Arabia after all, and even now his scouts reported that most of the army was still limping along, recovering its strength in anticipation of the battle to come. That fact was baffling to him. A scouting party was to be expected, even scouting in force. Attacking his foraging parties, that too made sense, they were small, easy wins that allowed the human’s forces to vanish into the trees while picking at his bulls, enraging them, making them irritable and sloppy. Already there were nearly a dozen fights a night over the little arguments that kept tribes from uniting. It was the promise of great battles and glory that had united most of the tribes, and the death by a thousand cuts the human was inflicting was only making the already boring siege even more straining on the carefully maintained peace.

Elias Bright surprised him though. Had he been in the human’s place, he would have continued the probing, the little stabs to enrage his enemy. With Stone Horn’s ambush… Steel Horn took a deep breath, tapping the rail. He wasn’t quite sure how he’d react to that. The surviving bull said they’d manage to wound Princess Luna, and even now Steel Horn wanted to throttle his idiot brother. How Elias had managed to avoid cutting him in two, he didn’t know, but using him as bait, that also made no sense. The human couldn’t possibly believe that he’d win any major battle with his smaller force, not unless he’d seen the rest of his army arrive. The last report Steel Horn had received, however, still put the main Equestrian force another day away at least. If he went after Elias with even half of his minotaurs, the human would be hopelessly outmatched, disguised camp or no. To openly bait a battle… but what else could the human do? Killing Stone Horn would demand he go out and fight in response anyway. Letting him go would just lead to another ambush, if Steel Horn didn’t lock his wayward brother up first, and then they’d be back at square one. He supposed General Bright’s actions made enough sense, the human was trying to make the battle favor him by making the fight begin on his terms. He sighed and continued tapping, his almost-smile making a return.

He’d never had to think this hard about an opponent before. Moves within moves, what was genuine, what was bait? If the stakes weren’t high, it’d almost be fun.

He glanced back at the sound of hoofsteps and clattering, and his nose twitched as the zebra chieftain, Khari, ascended the battlement. The zebra chief gave him a respectful nod before hopping his forelegs up to stand and stare out beside him.

“I am here. How do we fight, Warchief? My warriors are as eager as your own.”

Steel Horn took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on the still gruesome display. He hated it the more he looked at it. He turned and bellowed out a command to one of the minotaurs on the ground.

“Ground Breaker! Take fifty warriors and clear those bodies! If the human attacks you, kill him, but nobody enters the trees! And take shields, he may have ponies lying in wait.”

The tall bull nodded and he jogged away toward one of the ramshackle ale halls. Steel Horn turned back to the field and nodded to the faraway trees.

“He will be waiting there I think. You are an expert in ambushes, is there a way to counter him in the trees, or do I leave my brother to die?”

Khari hummed thoughtfully, his regalia clattering as he tilted his head this way and that.

“I will take scouts through the land, but if I were to guess, I think he would spring a trap along a path. How else are you to find him?” He sniffed and tapped the gold rod spearing his nose. “But you cannot bring many warriors. This one is no simple pony. He has some of their softness, but not nearly enough. He is crafty, he will cheat if he believes he will win.” He chuckled. “He would fit in well with changelings I think. Vicious, sneaky.” His tone darkened, and his smile widened as he looked up toward Steel Horn. “But I am also sneaky. My warriors are sneaky. I can win your brother back, Warchief. Your warriors may not like it however.”

Steel Horn waved him away.

“My warriors will like winning well enough, and General Bright will give them a fight. How that fight starts, they can get over.” He again nodded to the trees. “Go, find out what you can. I’ll prepare a small band of warriors. Hopefully it will be enough.”

Khari’s eyes twinkled.

“Trust me, Warchief, we shall be more than plenty.”

*****

Elias waited in the middle of the game path, shield on his arm, loaded down with pila. Beside him stood Storm Chaser, the tall pegasus glancing up at him every once and awhile. There had been nothing quiet about his confrontation with Lionheart, and with Granite remaining with the reserves, all the ponies could still feel his burning anger from the night before. The fact that his armor was still painted with dried blood did nothing to help his image, but he didn’t care. If anything, it was going to help intimidate the minotaurs, and if it won him the fight that much sooner, then the ponies could cope. So long as they were alive to do so.

He did his best not to look to the small mounds of dirt and brush behind which many of his legionaries were hiding with Ice Blossom. The place was an obvious spot for an ambush, one of a dozen that he could’ve chosen. The land was pockmarked with small delves and trenches as the forest moved away from Saraj, the one he’d chosen was on of the largest, consisting of ten-foot drops of sheer stone to either side of a game path that was no wider than four ponies shoulder to shoulder. If the minotaurs tried climbing them, the legionaries hidden a few yards back could easily spring forward and cut them down before raining javelins on any bulls trapped in the delve. If the minotaurs tried to flank, the ponies, well-hidden in the brush artificially thickened on the cliffs, would be able to fight a quick holding action while some ran back to warn him, letting the strike force escape with little casualties. Then he’d be free to string Stone Horn from the palisades...

Elias closed his eyes and tilted his head from side to side, cracking his neck. He felt stiff, the scores still decorating his arms and legs aching and pulling as they tried to heal despite his lack of care. Bandages were wrapped around his knuckles, stained black with dried blood, and they too ached, but he did his best to ignore the pain, taking his flask from his belt and unscrewing his cap as he continued to think. They were to close one end of the delve, and with javelins raining down on them from either side, the bulls would be forced to die trying to hack through the shield wall, or turn and run, where a few pegai were set to dive at them from the trees. If none of the bulls ran, Pyrelight was under orders to set fire to the other end of the delve, while Granite was to move forward and fortify the shield wall with fresh reinforcements. With any luck, Steel Horn would come forward himself, and the battle would be decisive. The siege would end with minimal losses, and then as a hero, he could deal with Lionheart and Stone Horn properly before the rest of the army arrived. Simple. His plan just had to work.

A horn call from the trees made the ponies around him jolt into readiness, little clatters of javelins bumping off their shining steel armor filling the air as they shuffled into tighter formation. Elias tapped his fingers on his gladius hilt as a troupe of minotaurs stomped through the trees along the game path, armed to the teeth, but seemingly unsurprised to find him waiting with his own armored troops. Elias took a long pull from his flask, earning him a disgusted look from the pegasus beside him.

“What is that filth? I can smell it from here,” Storm Chaser protested, his muzzle curling. “That’d better not be gryphon vodka, that’s illegal outside Bordertown!”

“Why don’t you worry about them rather than how I chose to self-medicate,” Elias grumbled, savoring the burn he felt in his throat. The pain in his hands quickly began to dull, and he clenched his fist tight around the shaft of his javelin as his the fog of exhaustion was replaced by a lighter fog of intoxication. Better to fight with a dulling agent than tired though. Storm Chaser huffed, but his eyes turned forward, eyeing the approaching bulls.

Steel Horn led the group of thirty hulking warriors, his shining horn enough to distinguish him from the rest of the bulls, even with his helmet on. He paused his band before entering the delve, looking up at the short stony cliffs with an appraising eye before looking toward Elias.

“Let us talk, General Bright!” he called, spreading his hands. “I recognize that my brother has done heinous, dishonorable things in the name of my cause, but he will be punished if he is returned to me. Of that you have my word.” He nodded toward the center of the delve. “So let us speak, warrior to warrior.”

The minotaur drew the sword on his hip and stabbed it into the soft, leafy dirt before removing his helmet and setting it on the hilt. He moved forward slowly, but confidently, keeping his hands outstretched and his palms up.

Elias’ bad eye twitched and his lip curled in a sneer. His grip tightened around the hilt of his pilum, and almost instinctively he started calculating the distance to Steel Horn’s heart. Idly he asked;

“What do you think that is, two-hundred feet?” The words were barely more than a mumble as he tilted his head to the side.

“General, something isn’t right, don’t go up t-”

“Shut up,” Elias snapped, cutting Storm Chaser off. “Keep the legionaries in position unless they try to kill me.”

He stabbed the butt of his pilum into the ground and snatched his helmet off, plopping it atop the spear point before striding forward. His long, quick steps had him arrive at the center of the delve before Steel Horn, and he rested his hand on his hip, impatiently tapping his fingers as the bull closed the remaining distance.

“I should’ve strung Stone Horn up for what he did. I still might just for the fun of it, so talk quickly before I get bored and start taking pieces to pass the time.”

Steel Horn grimaced and his hands dropped.

“I don’t respond well to acts of barbarity, General Bright. We are both proud, honorable warriors. I will forgive your barbarism against my warriors this morning only because they died like cowards. You have my sincerest apologies for my brother’s actions.”

“Save it.” Elias spat into the dirt at Steel Horn’s hooves. “I want to hear what you think is a worthwhile price for getting him back in one piece. I think you already know what I want, but I want to hear what insult you think is worth your coward brother.”

Steel Horn’s muzzle twitched, and he let out a snort that covered his nose ring with steam. Elias’ bad eye twitched again, but he didn’t break eye contact with the bull. To do so would be a sign of weakness, and he had all the cards so far. He couldn’t move back a single step.

“You would have us leave, abandon our siege and our hope of a princess to guide us.”

Elias snorted.

“Seeing as your warriors damn near killed Princess Luna, I think you know the answer.”

Steel Horn sighed and he rubbed his brow, mumbling under his breath.

“Idiot calf, my life would be easier if you were dead.” Dropping his hands, he said; “I again apologize, and even offer our finest healers. Princess Luna-”

“I already in the care of her loyal ponies and recovering,” Elias cut in. “What do you think your brother’s life is worth Warchief Steel Horn? Give me a straight answer or I’ll give you his head.”

Steel Horn’s nose twitched again, and Elias could see a burning fury smoldering away in his eyes as he fought to control his temper. The minotaur’s thick, corded muscles flexed as he exhaled, his thin tail flicking.

“I will allow more food to be brought into Saraj. A weeks worth, you and your warriors can take it in.”

Elias blinked in surprise. It wasn’t anywhere near what he wanted to happen, but if he could take in food as well as his legionaries, they’d be able to pinch the minotaurs between two coordinated forces. He had no contact with the defenders of Saraj, but he could easily contact Night Flash and Book Binder from within the city. They could coordinate attacks, and what was better, Luna wouldn’t be stuck in some tent, exposed to attacks. She’d be protected by a palace. Hell, with a big enough distraction he could smuggle Celestia and Cadence into the city, finish the portal and then flood the city with food and reinforcements from Canterlot. His ears detected something particular in Steel Horn’s words, however, and he squinted at the bull.

“Me and my warriors, what of Princess Luna?”

“She will be safe in my care,” Steel Horn said. “I will personally escort her to the rest of your army, and will present my case. They are not so far away, perhaps a day. A week will be plenty of time for our negotiations.”

The bull knew he only had some of his troops, that was mildly troubling, but not unexpected. He hadn’t exactly been fighting like he had the full might of Equestria at his back after all. Elias tapped on his sword belt again.

“And what’s to stop you from running off with her once we’re in the city?”

Steel Horn smiled, the motion lacking… something. Elias wasn’t sure, but he continued to scan the bull’s face, trying to read it for any hints of deception. Perhaps that was what it was lacking. Perhaps the bull before him was trying to be genuine. Elias wasn’t so sure he wanted to deal with genuine. It was harder to be angry at it.

“You will keep Stone Horn with you, and I will offer more hostages, as well as food to keep them fed, separate what you carry in. I will give you my father, as well as fifty of my best warriors!”

Elias tilted his head and smiled. There was the catch, but his brain was quickly able to offer a much better idea.

“No. I want your wife and son.”

The words died in Steel Horn’s throat, and all of the fury fled his body as a touch of fear entered his eyes. His muzzle flapped, and Elias’ smile widened.

“Come now, Warchief, you just admitted that you’d be better off without your brother, which means your father sent you out here to get him. Two troublemakers and fifty warriors you claim are your best? Those aren’t hostages, those are favors. You’d snatch Princess Luna away, and then make her a million promises about how you will protect all her friends and loved ones if she stays. Then I’m trapped in Saraj to starve with all the rest while you try to figure out a way to convince, or coerce her. You want me to trust that you’ll just go to the rest of my army to meet with the other princesses? Give me your family.” He snorted and looked up the side of the delve, toward the sunlight filtering through the canopy. “Surely you trust an honorable warrior like myself to keep them safe.” His eyes flicked back to Steel Horn. “Unless of course you’ve been lying?”

Steel Horn shook his head, but his words came meekly.

“I wouldn’t… but I will not give them up. Not my wife, not my son. You understand, you have-”

Elias sneered.

“Nothing, Warchief. This is all I have, and you’re trying to take it away from me. I suggest you try a little better than lies and backstabbing to win me-”

His bad eye twitched a third time, and he looked to Steel Horn’s left. The sunlight shimmered as something equine shaped moved, and with wide eyes, Elias raised his shield. He was just quick enough, the dart skipping off the scutum and nicking his ear before clattering off the stony wall. Immediately he felt a burning sensation, followed quickly by his ear going completely numb. Elias’ gaze flicked to Steel Horn. The bull let out a bellow and tore the battleaxe from his back, sending it cleaving through the air.

A javelin pierced his shoulder, making the bull bellow in pain, the axe swing carving into the dirt at Elias’ side. The human finally recovered his senses, and he drew Feather, lashing out with the gladius and cutting at the still-hidden equine. The enchanted steel momentarily caught on something before biting into the neck of the creature. Crimson blood sprayed as the hidden equine staggered away before collapsing. The blood painted the golden jewelry the zebra wore, but Elias could focus no more time on the dead equine.

He and Steel Horn both staggered back as their soldiers poured into the delve, racing to overtake their leader and kill the other while he was still exposed. With the advantage of their smaller size, the ponies were quicker, and Elias was able to spit out an order to make sure they didn’t rush headlong to their deaths.

“Shield wall!”

The ponies started to skid on the leaf-covered forest floor, but managed to stop their forward momentum and start jamming their shields into place to halt the rush of minotaurs. Elias stumbled as he ran toward the safety of the shields, but with a cry from Storm Chaser, the shield wall lowered enough for him to hop over. The legionaries locked their shields in place, and a trio hopped onto their hind legs, flinging their pila at the minotaurs. Each javelin found its mark, and the bulls collapsed, sending their fellows sprawling into the dirt. As the momentum failed in the tightly packed delve, Elias caught his breath, rubbing his jaw as the feeling of numbness spread. Baring his teeth, he looked toward Storm Chaser.

“They don’t leave alive. I want Steel Horn on his knees and begging for mercy.”

The pegasus gave him a short nod, passing the human his helmet and pilum before flapping into the air.

“Legionaries! Press forward on my call! No prisoners!”

The legionaries tightened their formation and lifted their shields. The ponies in the second row helped them brace, while those in the third set their pila on the shields, ready to stab any minotaur that reached the shield wall. A bellow from behind the minotaurs halted their confused scramble, and called them into a similar line, with the bulls at the back passing discarded shields to those in front. Storm Chaser barked a command that set the legionaries stomping forward.

“One!”

“One!” came the shouted reply, and the shields inched forward, scraping the sides of the delve.

Elias shook himself, growling as he did his best to ignore the numbing sensation spread across the left side of his face. He cocked back his arm and sent a pila spearing into a minotaur’s chest just as a cry from their rear ordered them back. The bull bellowed and dropped his shield, leaving a gap in their line that more pila quickly filled with suffering. He watched as the bulls made a cutthroat choice, pushing their wounded fellows out of the formation so that a minotaur with a shield could plug the gap. The legionaries quickly stepped forward under the instructions of Storm Chaser, and they stepped over the first of the fallen bulls, the legionaries in the rear of the tight formation finishing them off.

Elias bared his teeth as Steel Horn bellowed out an order again, pulling his bulls back in an orderly fashion. It was hardly the ambush he wanted, but he could still cut the bulls off, could still end this decisively. He drew his flagged pilum and waved it.

“Centurion Blossom! Box them in!”

*****

Khari crept silently through the brush, his fur painted in shades of brown and green to better disguise against the trees and their fallen leaves. While he would have preferred to have received a potion of invisibility, the ingredients necessary to make them were incredibly rare, his shaman only having enough for two potions, so he gave it to one to his best sharpshooters, Taqua. Her mission was essential to deliver the human alive to Warchief Steel Horn, and he hoped that she would get the drop him. He didn’t know why, but he had a feeling that it would take every trick to drop the human without bloodshed. Perhaps it was that strange eye of his. It reeked of changeling magic, no doubt a result of his battle during the slowly-becoming-legendary Canterlot invasion.

Regardless, his camouflage was more than sufficient for his part in the plan. He had had his scouts tracking the ponies all morning, and had been delivered reports of the ambush awaiting Steel Horn, no doubt to try and force a quick end to the siege. Unfortunately for the crafty human, his warriors just weren’t quite sneaky enough, and while his ambush would be decisive, it wouldn’t be in the way he expected.

Khari let out a breath, a near-silent signal to the warriors around him to halt their slow crawl. They had been moving forward for the better part of the hour, making sure that not a single leaf would be disturbed by their passing. The ponies did their best, but their bright colors were easy to pick out, even smeared in mud and grime. Even had they been completely hidden, they simply made too much noise. Their tails swished through the leaves with nervous, perhaps even excited energy. Their ears flicked this way and that, listening for some signal as Steel Horn and the human spoke below.

Khari resisted the urge to snort, though he could likely get away with it. The ponies would die in the grasslands, where every odd sound, every swish of grass could spell death. They were soft, but that was to be expected, even with their fierce combat prowess. Their lands were all lush, green, and largely undisturbed by predators. They didn’t need to concern themselves with threats in the grass, and in the trees, and so they were complacent, their senses not honed like those of himself and his warriors. He faintly wished to make a stray noise, to see if they would notice. If they did, he would at least get to test the mettle they were apparently quite adept at displaying, but alas, he needed this victory, and he needed it to be executed perfectly. There would be more battles.

He slowly raised his blowgun to his lips, picking the leader of the ponies in his sights. As they’d crept forward, he and his warriors had selected their targets, debating and arguing who they should get with simple glances. He’d had to argue about little, however. He was the chief of his warband, and so he took the leader, a light blue pegasus, only a single stripe of clean fur on the back of her neck to betray her true colors. She had been the hardest to see, and for that, Khari made sure to aim for the back of her neck. When she fell asleep, she would slump forward, the dart doing no more damage than a flea. A respectable warrior such as her didn’t deserve to die by falling on a dart.

Shouts split the air, making his ears flick as sounds of violence and pain started to fill the delve. He grimaced, his ears detecting the enraged voice of the human. He sent a prayer to the Keepers for Taqua’s safety, then flicked his tail, signaling his warriors. They took a collective breath, and he saw the mare’s ears turn. Too late.

With a collective exhale, darts sprouted from each of the ponies. Most didn’t manage more than a whimper before they fell. The venom was a particularly potent mix of a potion that aided sleeping ceremonies, as well as three different scorpions, distilled to be completely harmless, but extremely effective. It took less than a full dose to drop a fully grown bull, let alone the much smaller ponies. The mare was apparently made of stronger stuff, because she sprang to her hooves, whirling and brandishing shining blades on her wings. Her eyes fluttered as she fought the effects of the dart, but she still took a step back, glancing over her shoulder, her muzzle opening.

A dart pierced her jugular and her cry died in her throat. Khari sprang forward and caught her as she fell, gingerly removing the dart with his teeth and reapplying it next to the dart on the back of her neck. He then tore a strip of cloth from beneath her armor and tied it around her throat as a precaution. The dart wound was leaking blood, and he didn’t want the wound to grow any worse.

He glanced to the warrior who had fired the second dart.

“You will carry her to camp, and ensure that Zansora heals her wounds immediately. Warchief Steel Horn requested them alive, and alive he shall have them.”

The zebra bowed his head, and he rolled the mare onto his back before slipping into the brush. More zebras moved forward, creeping up the edge of the delve and peering down, their fellows across the way in a similar position as the sleeping would-be ambushers were dragged away.

After a brief moment making sure that all was going to plan, Khari similarly crept up to the edge of the delve, peering down at the small battle unfolding. He scowled and felt a touch of rage as he quickly noticed the still-disguised body of Taqua, just steps away from being trampled by the retreating minotaurs. He could Steel Horn, the minotaur warchief bellowing commands to his warriors even as he staunched his bleeding shoulder with a massive hand.

Opposite him was the human, his face twisted. Khari narrowed his eyes, scanning the human up and down. A stream of red running down the human’s neck led him to a cut on his ear, and he sighed, closing his eyes. A grazing wound might slow most creatures, but clearly the human wasn’t all that impacted, and he had struck back with lethal force.

Khari readied another dart, his warriors all doing the same. The ponies stepped quickly forward, and the minotaurs stepped quickly back, the large warriors struggling with the tight walls of the delve. The human raised a spear with a bit of red cloth tied to it and waved it.

“Centurion Blossom! Box them in!”

The human stared right up at him, clearly expecting a response from the warriors that were now sleeping. Khari flicked his tail, and with another collective breath, they gave the human their response.

*****

Elias felt something off even as he noticed the pair of brown eyes staring down at him where there should have been light blue. His scutum raised instinctively even as the words left his throat too slow.

“Testudo!”

His shout came at the exact wrong moment, as Storm Chaser shouted another step forward. The front line of legionaries stepped forward, while the third row immediately started pulling their shields up. The second row was split between the two, leaving an exposed gap in the line of protection. Dozens of darts rained into that gap, and the ponies immediately started to collapse, sending further turmoil into the line. Elias felt a dart skip across the boss of his scutum, and he grabbed one of the fallen ponies, dragging her beneath his protection.

“Tighten ranks! Front row, two steps back. Pick up the wounded!”

Storm Chaser quickly spat out the corrected orders.

“Two steps back! One!”

The front row immediately responded and started moving back, but one pony caught a dart in her throat, and she fell forward, her shield falling with her. The shield wall tried to tighten, while one of the second row legionaries still on his hooves tried grabbing her tail to pull her back. A dart pierced his neck and he fell as well, his body acting as another obstruction on the already cluttered and tight delve ground.

Elias spat an obscenity and he drew a pilum, sending it skipping up the rocky cliff face. He heard a cry of pain, and the javelin vanished as the zebra he’d partially impaled withdrew, leaving a patter of blood in his wake. Elias immediately crouched, his scutum taking the reply from the zebras, the darts bouncing harmlessly against its painted surface. His bad eye glowed in the low light the shields created, but he was still able to see Storm Chaser.

“We need to back out, regroup. Get Granite to bring the reserves forward and sweep the cliffs. I’ll keep us together and prepare to retaliate. We’re not losing any ground here.”

The pegasus gave him a short nod, then started slipping backward in the formation. The minotaurs started moving forward under the commands of Steel Horn, and they moved quickly, taking two steps for every one the ponies took back. As his legionaries struggled to bear the barrage of darts, Elias cocked his arm back. The minotaurs had to be slowed, and the zebras couldn’t possibly fire forever. Once the darts stopped he could make an orderly withdrawal and figure out just what the hell had happened to his legionaries on the ridge of the delve. Then they’d counter-attack, make the zebras and minotaurs pay in blood for daring to disrupt his plan.

“Patefacio!”

The shields in front of him lowered and he sent his pilum spinning through the air. The minotaurs halted their steps to raise their shields, the javelin sticking in place. A cheer rose from the bulls, and one ripped the javelin free even as his legionaries closed their shields again, a dart skipping through and embedding itself between the plates of his armor. Elias’ face twitched in irritation, but he kept up the commands to withdraw.

“Another two! Keep moving back! Leave nobody behind!”

His ponies responded as best they could, dragging the fallen bodies of their fellows along as they kept their shields raised high. More darts pattered against their scuta like raindrops, and Elias bared his teeth, growling as one slipped through, causing another gap that was quickly filled. His ponies grunted and stumbled, the testudo growing hot with frustration and sweat.

Elias felt a touch of worry in his chest, hoping desperately Granite wouldn’t delay.

*****

Khari’s gaze snapped away from the human and his shielded ponies as a pegasus bolted from the back of their formation. He bared his teeth and withdrew from the cliff-side, motioning with his tail to two of his warriors.

“Track him. Bring him down if you can, but if he reaches more ponies, return, we shall withdraw and spring our trap on them.”

The pair nodded and bolted into the trees in pursuit of the pony. Knowing that the speedy pegasus would no doubt out pace them, he waved at his warriors, making silent signs for them to slowly draw back one at a time. He then counted his remaining darts. He had ensured that each of his warriors had been armed with at least a dozen, had thought that the element of surprise would have been more effective in stopping the ponies, but they held better discipline than he’d anticipated. Their broad shields were perfect for stopping small darts, and their formation utilized that advantage brilliantly, as did the speed by which they formed it. Even their armor, as shiny a target it made them, was helping them stay on their feet. More than one dart had skipped away to uselessness on that thick silvery steel, or had been stopped by the thin chain protecting what were normally gaps in such heavy pony armor.

He needed his warriors to conserve their ammunition, to pick easier targets, otherwise they would have to fight the ponies hoof to hoof. It was a prospect that was slowly starting to frighten him. He had seen the results of the ponies first battle with the minotaurs, but had attributed it to spells, and pony endurance, both of which faltered in the face of a careful ambush. These strange human tactics however, they would make things far more difficult, especially if the full brunt of the human’s forces arrived. He directed his warriors toward their original positions, preparing them to ensure the human would find no escape.

*****

Gray Granite paced as the sounds of a violent fight continued to fill the air. His orders were clear though, he was to wait to be summoned, either to deliver Stone Horn if a deal had been struck, or to provide reinforcements. He had a mixed batch of auxiliaries and legionaries, mostly the ponies who had witnessed Elias’… handling, of Lionheart. While a few of them had been happy to be away from the seemingly mad human, more than a few had taken the pseudo-banishment personally, himself included. The ponies were used to being in the front few rows, were used to staring their foes in the face side by side with Elias, and he had relegated them to be a back up plan. Perhaps it was their training, or perhaps their concern for the friends they could hear crying out in pain and rage, but he wasn’t the only pony pacing. His blood was boiling, his pelt itching with the need to lead his ponies forward, to charge into battle and drive their enemy from the field, even as his ribs and face still ached from the beating he’d received. Kind Heart had spent a little time healing his ribs, but she’d needed most of her magic for the traitor. He’d limped off to a few short hours of restless sleep only partially mended, but it was enough. Elias hadn’t slept at all as far as he knew. If his friend could keep going, so could he.

But he waited. Elias trusted him to keep his ponies in control until the right moment, and so he would, as much as it burned him.

Granite’s ears flicked and his head raised as Storm Chaser came crashing through the brush. The pegasus rolled to a stop, panting hard, sweat and blood dripping into the dirt. His eyes flicked around until they landed on Granite, and he gulped.

“Need… reinforcements. Careful… ambush… above.”

One of the auxiliaries offered the Royal Guard a canteen while the rest looked to their commander. Granite snatched up his shield, nodding to the pair guarding Stone Horn.

“Back to camp. Put him in the stockade and then fall in with Princess Luna and the healers. If you think the battle isn’t going our way, you bolt east. Don’t stop until you meet the rest of the army.”

The pair of legionaries nodded and tied themselves to the wagon holding the well-bound and gagged Stone Horn. While the minotaur had been furious about the treatment, Granite had thought it prudent to reduce sources of stress for Elias. The minotaur’s bile-spewing tongue was certainly one of those things. As they tromped away, Granite looked to the rest of his ponies.

“Tight formation, shields at the ready.” The earth pony watched as Storm Chaser stood, spitting into the dirt and passing the canteen back. “You said you were ambushed? By minotaurs?”

Storm Chaser shook his head.

“I only saw them in the delve where they were supposed to be. I think it’s zebras above us, ponies are dropping silently, I think by paralytic darts. I couldn’t tell. I was focused trying to keep order, then running to get you.”

Granite’s muzzle twitched. There were supposed to be ponies on the edges of the delve.

“Where’s Centurion Blossom and her legionaries?”

Storm Chaser just shook his head and shrugged. Granite felt his muzzle twitch again, and he tightened the strap on his helmet.

“Stay tight ponies! Make sure those shields can snap into a testudo instantly. I’m not about to have a panic when General Bright is still holding strong.” The ponies closed around him, and once they were in a tight, steely square, he barked a command. “Forward march, double time!”

*****

The pair of zebras watched silently as the block of ponies jogged toward the sounds of battle. The older of the two, a tall mare, frowned, looking toward where the pair of ponies had been pulling a wagon. As the younger zebra started to pull back, she stopped him with a slap of her tail, moving toward the wagon trail.

“What are you doing?” the younger zebra hissed. “We are to report back!”

“That was the warchief’s brother,” she muttered in reply, keeping her voice near silent in case the ponies had scouts flitting about. “If we bring him back, the battle will be won with no fight. The ponies will have no leverage, less than that. The warchief will have prisoners where the ponies have none.”

The younger zebra hesitated as she vanished in the brush, increasing her pace, but with a mumbled curse, he snuck after her, the pair moving quickly to catch up with the wagon.

By the time they overtook the wagon, a fort made of tall logs rose through a clearing of trees. Guards stood at the gates, their spears pointed out and waiting. The zebra mare motioned silently to her younger counterpart, and he quickly obeyed, slipping through the brush to the other side of the wagon as the ponies trotted along, oblivious. The zebra mare readied a dart as the pair chatted, relaxing as their bastion grew closer.

“Do you think Princess Celestia is going to do anything about the general? Princess Luna looked like she was gonna drop her feathers.”

“I was going to drop my feathers,” the pegasus shuddered. “You weren’t in the tent, he was pissed. If you thought minotaurs were scary, I would hate to see a line of humans charging me. General Bright might be smaller, but he’s terrifying when he’s mad. He could stop a changeling’s heart just by looking at them.”

“Given everything I’ve heard about the wedding, I bet he already could. I’m surprised this Steel Horn guy is even putting up a fight by now. He hasn’t touched a single legionary, and the general killed a dozen bulls by himself. Who the buck can do something like that? Who goes out of their way to pick a fight with that guy?”

The zebra mare noticed a small glint, the signal her partner was ready. She pressed her blowgun to her lips.

The pegasus shuddered again.

“I’m just glad General Bright is on our side. I’d surrender in a second if I had to f-”

The mare collapsed without a word, her fellow following a second behind. The guards at the gate cried out in alarm, but the zebra mare was already darting forward. She dove into the wagon and started cutting away Stone Horn’s binds with her knife. She heard hooves clatter as her fellow stood on the wagon, his blowgun ready with another dart in case the guards grew too close before they finished.

As soon as his hands were free, Stone Horn ripped away his gag, his eyes blazing with fury.

“Give me a weapon. I will kill them all, then return with their precious princess over my shoulder.”

The zebra mare shot him a vicious glare as she cut the binds on his hooves.

“You lost badly to the human and even now cost lives. I free you to end the battle in the warchief’s favor. You will follow or you will die. I care not which.”

She finished sawing through his binds and hopped down. The younger zebra sheathed his blowgun and immediately dove into the brush, quickly vanishing. The guards grew near, still shouting, demanding they stop. Stone Horn stood and snorted, his muscles bulging as he stared the ponies down. His beady eyes then fell to the unconscious pair, still tied to the wagon, before finally resting on her.

“We can take them.”

The mare snorted and turned away, trotting into the brush.

“That is not my mission, nor were you. Die if you’d like, I am returning to the battle.”

With that she took off at a sprint, leaving the bull to his fate. Within a few strides she heard the obnoxious crashing of a bull through the brush in pursuit, and she smiled.

*****

Elias gritted his teeth, his fingers still clenched around the armor of one of his fallen legionaries. The testudo had barely moved. The ponies were already struggling to maintain the cohesion of the formation, and he was quickly coming to the realization that he had a choice before him. They were weighed down and cluttered by the bodies of the fallen, if he ordered them abandoned, they could easily keep formation and withdraw, perhaps driving the zebras away in time to re-rescue his ponies. That was only a maybe, however. What was certain was the fact that the minotaurs continued to advance, and the zebras were evidently quick learners. They’d learned his Latin command for ‘open’ and were saving their darts for his attempts to slow the minotaur advance. The stallion in his hand had been a victim of three darts after he had ordered an opening in the shield wall.

Then there was the issue of exhaustion. Stone Horn’s failed ambush had kept many of his ponies up, as had his… punishment, of Lionheart. Combined with heavy armor, and now a tight formation that made them sweat and hold up heavy shields, his legionaries were growing tired. Soon enough they would be too tired to fight, and then the minotaurs would trample over them without a thought. He didn’t see a way out though, could only pray that the zebras ran out of ammo, the minotaurs out of courage, or that Storm Chaser had managed to summon reinforcements.

A horn call sounded, and the minotaurs halted their advance, still bellowing jeers and insults, taunting the bottled up ponies. Elias panted, his eyes forward, even as he offered steadying words.

“We’ve killed more of their kind in a month then they’ve killed ponies in a century, don’t let schoolyard insults shake you.” He spat into the dirt. “Centurion Granite is on his way. They won’t be so arrogant when we put them on their knees.”

He blinked away a bead of sweat as the jeering came to a stop. Steel Horn’s helmeted head pushed through to the front of the minotaur’s line, and Elias felt a touch of satisfaction at the hasty bandage gracing the bull’s shoulder. He quickly smacked his pride out of the way as the minotaur spoke.

“I offer my apologies, General Bright, and I again extend my offer as a token of regret! It is not my way to fight hidden in the shadows, but you make me desperate. I will not sacrifice my wife and son, but I am not a dishonorable warrior!” He thumped a hand on his chest. “I am Warchief Steel Horn of the Stone Crusher tribe and you have my word not a single hair on your ponies, or your princess’s head shall be harmed! Take a weeks worth of food into Saraj, take your wounded warriors as well, just leave the princess with me, and I shall see her to her sister. Of this you have my word as a warrior!”

Silence reigned. Elias could feel the eyes of the ponies around him focused squarely on his back. His eyes were elsewhere however, even as his mind worked for some kind of clever reply, some faint afterthought about the historical impact his words could have doing its best to cut through his anger and frustration. A stone skipped down the side of the delve, and a flash of silver glinted above, gone before it could truly be noticed. Elias felt his mouth twitch, and he grinned, his mind briefly recalling Lionheart’s recent escape from justice. Steel Horn and his zebra allies would not be so fortunate.

He rose from the formation and drew his flagged pilum. “I’d rather have your head!” He flung the javelin and grimaced as it thudded into the minotaur shield wall. He knew they’d get their appropriate punishment momentarily, however. “Legionaries, box them in. Kill them!”

Gray Granite and his force of legionaries and auxiliaries appeared as if from nowhere on the cliff-sides, and in a collective motion peppered the minotaurs with javelins. The bulls cried out in pain, and several collapsed. Steel Horn and a few of his warriors were quick enough to raise their shields, however, and with a few sharp bellows, their shield wall reformed. A cheer rose from the legionaries at his back, and the testudo fell apart as the exhausted ponies let their shields fall. Elias whistled, waving his hand to grab Granite’s attention.

“Keep pushing them back! We’ll join you shortly.”

As the earth pony nodded and repeated the command, Elias turned and pointed toward two of his legionaries. “Start pulling the wounded out, one of you run to camp to fetch a wagon. The rest of you, form up, get some water if you can. We’re ending this n-”

He found himself face down, blood streaming down his face and into his eyes. A sharp pain filled his back, concentrated around a circle on his left shoulder blade. Alarmed cries filtered through the ringing in his ears as he gasped for air. One hand milled at the back of his neck, trying to drag the helmet from his head so that he could see, hear, breathe. The other sat trapped in his shield, twisting his arm at an awkward angle that made the circle on his left shoulder-blade agonizing.

He bellowed in pain as somebody kicked the… was that a javelin in his shoulder blade? Elias grit his teeth and glanced back, feeling his fury match his pain as he noticed a familiar flag on the pilum.

“My own… fucking… pilum…” He noticed a colorful body falling into the delve out of the corner of his eye, but his brain couldn’t focus on anything other than the javelin in his back. “This… is why they’re… supposed to break...”

As he tried to shift his right hand around to grab at the pilum, he heard fresh insults flowing from the minotaurs.

“Thought I’d give it back human! Gimme a second and I’ll give you another one!”

“Up! Get the general on his feet!”

“They’re still on the cliffs! We need to withdraw!”

“Testudo! Form the testudo ag-”

Elias grunted as something fell on top of him. He tried crawling forward, but heard another cry and grunted as another body toppled on top of the first. His free hand finally managed to rip his helmet off, and he took in a gulp of air as he shoved it away.

“He’s here!”

Hooves seized his hand and started pulling. Elias cried out in pain as the movement jostled the javelin, but the ponies managed to drag him clear of the fallen bodies and into a freshly struggling testudo. Without asking or preparing him, one of the ponies yanked the javelin free, causing him to cry out again. Hooves pressed bandages into the wound and bound it tight. Elias winced as a hoof very nearly stomped on his nose as something heavy landed atop the shields of his legionaries. Panicked cries spilled through the formation of ponies as they called out asking for orders. Some wanted to open the shields to let the object fall, others wanted to leave it up there and snapped at those around them to brace. One of the stallions who had dragged him into the testudo tried to yank him up, his eyes wide and his voice hoarse.

“General, we need orders! I don’t know whats happening but the minotaurs are advancing again and something is on the cliffs.”

Elias blinked, trying to see through the throbbing pain his shoulder.

“Granite?” he slurred, staggering to his feet. His left arm hung limply at his side, while his right still held his gladius. He wiped sweat from his face, turning to try and peer out of the testudo.

“I don’t know. I think his reinforcements were up there, but darts started coming in again, and something keeps dropping on us.”

Through a crack Elias noticed several new bodies on the ground. Some were clad in silver, while others were painted in mud and debris, their black stripes identifying them as zebras. A panicked shout found another of the striped ponies flung into the delve, hitting the stone wall with a sickening crunch. He hit the pile of bodies forming and moaned, clutching at his foreleg.

“What about Storm Chaser? Where’s he?”

“I don’t know, he never returned to our formation,” the stallion answered. “General, what should we do? We can’t pull any more wounded ponies with us. I think we should continue backing out, get back to the castra to regroup.”

Elias’ nose curled at that suggestion, but perhaps it was the pain, or the exhaustion, but his pride and fury were dampened enough for him to nod.

“K-keep the testudo tight. Grab as many ponies as possible… give me one.”

The legionary stared blankly at him.

“What?”

Elias sheathed Feather and turned away from the minotaurs.

“I can carry a pony. I’ll run out of the delve with one of our wounded, then come back and get another. Drag as many as you can back, and as soon as you’re clear, form a wider wall at the delve entrance. Hopefully Centurion Granite will be waiting with some ponies to help us push these cows back so we can recover everypony else. Once we’ve got all our wounded, we can regroup and finish this.”

The stallion’s fur seemed to flatten slightly, and he nodded.

“Yes, General. Who-”

Elias gave him a nod and squeezed backward through the formation, grabbing an unconscious mare by the collar and dragging her with him. He’d swing her onto his shoulder once he was clear.

“Keep my ponies together legionnaire. One step at a time.”

The brown earth pony gave him a shaky nod, then looked forward. As Elias made his way through the tightly packed group of ponies, he heard the stallion bellow; “One step back!”

*****

Granite bucked a zebra back into the brush, shaking his leg a few times. He’d been lucky so far. Four darts had hit him, but only one had managed to pierce his armor. He’d been able to rip the dart free from his hind leg quickly though, so while the limb was numb, it was still functional.

“Legionaries regroup! Rally to me!”

The call barely provoked a result. He’d split his ponies to sweep both sides of the delve, but had found none of the ambushers Storm Chaser had warned them of. A wave from the pegasus on the opposite side had told him they’d found much the same. So with a pair of legionaries watching their rear, he’d ordered his ponies to the cliff and at General Bright’s orders had peppered the minotaurs with pila.

Then his ponies started dropping silently.

The auxiliaries were the worst hit with their lighter armor, but all of his ponies had been quick to respond, charging blindly into the brush. The zebras, perhaps stunned at the foolhardy charge, had been unprepared, and while some even still remained hidden, firing their darts at the dueling combatants, the rest were forced into hoof-to-hoof, where heavy armor shined.

His ponies on the opposite side were not so fortunate. He’d watched several pitch over the side of the delve, and saw more silver on the ground than camouflaged stripes. He bared his teeth as Storm Chaser took to the air.

“Withdraw!” the pegasus called. “Reform with General Bright!”

What few ponies Storm Chaser had left broke from their engagements and fled, the zebras, bloodied and exhausted, letting out a cheer. Granite snorted as their eyes looked across toward him and his ponies, who were slowly tightening around him, their opponents chased off or lying in the dirt.

All eyes snapped forward as an auxiliary sprinted free of the brush, only to collapse as a trio of darts cut through the weak points in her armor.

“Shields up!” Granite snapped.

What legionaries still had their shields formed a tight wall, forcing the rest of his ponies to pack together, doing their best not to step on one another. The brush shifted again and a dozen zebras strode forth, spears and blowguns ready in their hooves. A mare at the lead narrowed her orange eyes, staring at Granite.

“Surrender pony. My chieftain wants you alive. He will understand if I deliver a corpse and said you fought.”

Granite bared his teeth at the mare, trying to think. What would Elias do? His tail flicked, thinking about all the times he’d watched the human fight.

“Well,” he mumbled, “there’s really only one thing to do.” He looked to his ponies and gave them a nod. They seemed to silently understand his plan, and their shields started to lower. “Mares and gentlecolts, it’s been an honor.”

Taking a deep breath, he and several of his legionaries let out war cries, with the rest of his ponies following suit after recovering from the brief jolt. Granite couldn’t quite tell if the zebras looked surprised as he led the charge racing forward.

*****

Elias laid his cargo outside the delve, giving the unconscious mare a pat before trudging back toward the fight. One of his legionaries limped free of the delve, dragging another wounded legionary with his teeth. The stallion dragged the legionary to rest beside the one Elias had dropped off before falling to his haunches beside her, panting and staring at the ground.

“J-just need a second,” the stallion gasped. “H-hooves feel like jelly.”

Elias gave his legionary a nod and turned back toward the sounds of battle. Before he could re-enter the delve, a pony came crashing through the brush on the left side of the delve, his face covered in blood, an eye missing, and the other wide with panic. The stallion didn’t say a thing, just continued bolting back toward the castra. Elias didn’t try to stop him, just gritted his teeth as he tried rolling his left shoulder. He was going to need it momentarily if the stream of ponies fleeing the side of the delve was any indication.

Some of the ponies managed to halt their panicked flight when they spotted him, and they ran over, a half dozen muzzles asking for orders or making suggestions in a flurry of words his ears couldn’t parse as anything other than nonsense. A familiar blue pegasus twirled from the brush and landed at his side, barking an order for silence before looking to Elias.

“I thought we chased them off,” Storm Chaser said “but the zebras returned in force and are hitting us hard. They might still be in pursuit, I don’t know. I highly recommend a withdrawal. We’re only losing ponies the longer we stay.”

“Form a line, watch the left side,” Elias barked at the legionaries around him. “Legionaries in front, auxiliaries behind. Spread out what ammunition you still have, but give priority to the auxiliaries.”

There were hardly enough ponies to form a coherent shield wall, no more than a dozen, most of whom were wounded in one way or another, but the orders were enough to quell some of their panic, and they fell in, watching the brush nervously. To Storm Chaser, he said;

“Where was Centurion Granite last?”

Storm Chaser nodded to the right side of the delve.

“We split his reinforcements up both sides. Last I saw, his ponies were still fighting, but if there were as many zebras as we were fighting, he’s in trouble.” He grimaced, looking at the shaky line of ponies watching the left. “We need more ponies though. We go charging off without protecting our rear, we’re going to be surrounded.”

“With you gone from the left, I can’t imagine my ponies in the center are doing any better than I left them. I have one of the legionaries drawing them back though. We…” His face twitched, his chest aching slightly, even as he said the words. “We might just have to withdraw and hope Granite can find his way back to the castra in time for a counter attack. We weren’t pulling all of our wounded when I left, I’m supposed to go back for more to lighten the load… but we have too many fallen ponies to fight effectively.”

Storm Chaser spat in the dirt. “Let’s go then. Two of us means more wounded pulled out, and if we’re quick, we might be able to rescue Granite.”

Elias nodded. He pointed to a legionary at random, his mind hazy on her name.

“Hold this point, send a runner in after us if you start getting overwhelmed. We’re going to try to pull more wounded out.”

The mare nodded, and Elias and Storm Chaser moved into the delve. They reached the back of the legionary formation just as they took a step back. The ponies at the rear bared their teeth at the pair, but recognition held them back from attacking.

“Give us the wounded!”

A silver clad body rolled over the right side of the delve and slammed into the formation of shields before the pair of ponies could react. Under the fresh weight, the exhausted ponies fell apart, the armored body slipping to the ground and taking several ponies with him. The pair of ponies that had been protecting the rear stumbled into Storm Chaser and Elias as they were pushed out of the formation. The ponies again tried to raise their shields, darts hammering into the gap from their left. Elias had nothing to throw at the zebras, his shield and spare pila lost when he’d taken the javelin in his shoulder. So he spat harsh words, hoping to draw fire while his ponies scooped up their shields and formed the testudo once more.

The brown earth pony perhaps panicked, perhaps simply not knowing the middle of testudo was falling apart, made the mistake of calling for a step back. The ponies near the front obeyed, and they dragged their shields backward. Their hinds legs kicked and trampled at their fallen comrades, and cries of pain and confusion rippled through the formation, its cohesion falling apart as the ponies struggled in the tightly packed delve.

“Form up!” Elias snapped, dragging a stallion to his feet. The legionary stumbled into the stallion beside him

As the testudo fell apart and more gaps formed, Elias could see the minotaurs nearing the middle of the delve, still approaching slowly and carefully. One of the bulls in the shield wall let out an enthusiastic roar and he raced forward, smelling opportunity, even as Steel Horn let out a bellow calling him back. He cast about for a javelin, but among the stumbling ponies, there was nothing that wasn’t already broken by their stomping hooves. He instead pointed a finger at the charging bull as he stomped over a trio of bodies.

“Kill him!”

The legionaries at the front of the formation tried raising their shields, but darts dropped any pony that was trying to maintain the defense. The ponies in the center of the formation were so tightly packed that some couldn’t move, crying out that they were being crushed. A legionary mare managed to poke out of the panic with a pila in her hooves. A dart struck her neck, while another skipped across her helmet. She collapsed without a sound, and the bull grew closer. Storm Chaser took a few steps back from the panic, then took to the air.

“I’ve got him, sound a retreat.”

Elias snarled at the pegasus as he skipped into the air, but he could still recognize the sense in Storm Chaser’s words. It would only be until they were out of the delve. It was quickly becoming a killing box for the wrong side, and that he wouldn’t tolerate.

He grabbed a legionary by the tail and yanked him backward. The stallion yelped but stayed on his hooves as Elias shouted in his face.

“Regroup outside the delve! Move, move!”

The stallion gave him a panicked nod before bolting. Without his shield, or any of his other weapons. Elias cursed, almost calling the stallion back. He bore a snarl as grabbed the next legionary.

“Regroup outside the delve, carry a shield or the wounded. Move!”

The stallion nodded and he grabbed hold of a fallen mare, dragging her backward. He heard a gurgle of pain, glancing forward to find Storm Chaser slitting the throat of the charging bull before flapping back into the air, dodging a spear thrown at him. As the pegasus made his escape, Elias continued.

He went from pony to pony as darts continued to rain down and the minotaurs continued to approach, closing the distance far too quickly. As the delve was cleared of wounded and equipment, however, his ponies started to get to their hooves, again raising their shields and sheltering those too wounded or too panicked to act. What was the odd pony running back became more orderly, with pairs shielding the wounded as they pulled out of the delve. Soon all that was left was the front row of shields, and several ponies abandoned beyond their line. Elias scooped up a discarded shield and held it over his head, crouching behind his retreating line of ponies as he stared out, trying to figure out how to snatch back his legionaries.

The minotaurs continued to inch forward, their beady eyes focused squarely on him and his remaining ponies. Above, he saw striped mohawks bob and weave, shifting about as they tried to fill him with darts. Hot breath filled his ear as Storm Chaser’s muzzle panted.

“We’re clear to withdraw General.”

Elias pointed a finger to his legionaries, lying motionless in the mud.

“Not yet. We’ve still got wounded, and I’ll be damned if the cows make me leave them behind.” His eyes flicked around to his ponies, making a quick count. “Six is enough, we all have shields and steel armor. The darts mean nothing, I just need a spear and I can keep the bulls back while you grab the wounded.”

“General, we can’t, I’m sorry. Maybe one, but only maybe, and you’re risking five, as well as yourself to get them.”

Elias bared his teeth, butting heads with the large cobalt pegasus.

“You think I care? Each one of my legionaries-”

“Is expendable compared to you,” Storm Chaser snarled back. “You think the rest will fight if they see you as a strung up, bloodied mess? Congratulations General, you’re invaluable, now let’s get back with the others and re-group. Those ponies knew what they signed up for, and there is no way we’re getting them back right now without losing more.”

A rain of darts pattered against the shield wall, and the bulls again called out.

“Come on out human! Where is that famed ferocity, where is your courage? I’ve heard so much about the great minotaur slayer, and I am so disappointed!”

A round of laughter filtered through the minotaurs ranks, and Elias felt his face twitch as they stomped over the first legionnaire, his steel clad body disappearing beneath their marching hooves. He flexed his shoulder, grimacing as pain lanced through his chest. As he started to draw his sword, the mare to his right gasped and collapsed forward, a feather sprouting from her neck. Elias and Storm Chaser turned, their shields stopping the next two darts from biting into their rears. A pair of mud covered zebras glared at the pair, their dartguns at the ready. The one on the left bared her teeth.

“Surrender General Bright. This fight is over. We will kill you if we have to.”

Elias grinned, pulling out his gladius and poking it over his shield.

“You fast enough to get to the one on the left?”

Storm Chaser growled softly.

“They’re on the cliffs too.”

Peeking out from beneath his helmet rim, Elias found four more zebras atop the right side of the cliffs. The ponies at his back pressed against him, one of them swearing.

“General, the bulls aren’t stopping.”

Elias bared his teeth, tensing his muscles as he shifted, getting ready to race forward.

“Do you think I’m afraid of death?” he spat at the zebra mare. Their eyes met, and he slowly shook his head. “I’m not afraid of the empty black waiting for me, but if you try and bar my path, I promise I will cut you in two. You’d better pray you haven’t disappointed your gods recently.”

His eyes flicked as the zebra on the mare’s right shifted nervously. His foot shifted as he targeted the weak link.

“Move!”

Elias and Storm Chaser sprang forward, closing the distance to the zebras as quickly as they could. The zebra on the right flinched at the sudden assault, and Elias managed to lash out with his gladius, marring the stallion’s eyes. He fell to the mud screaming in pain and clutching at his face. A wheeze to Elias’ left made the human turn. Storm Chaser crumpled into a heap at the zebra mare’s hooves, a trio of dart poking through his armor.

Time slowed as Elias’ eyes flicked all about. Dart guns pointed toward him, their owners loading in fresh darts and taking a collective breath. The zebra mare was similarly turning toward him, her teeth clenched tight around the hilt of a curved kukri. Elias’ right foot instinctively moved back, pressing flat against the wall as he prepared to launch himself at the mare. Using her as a hostage, that’s how he got his ponies out of the damned hole he’d gotten them into. He raised his shield, ready to ram the mare into the stone behind her. His eyes blinked and he moved forward, able to cross the delve in two strides.

Just as he pushed off, however, the sounds of a mare shouting in alarm touched his ears, and Elias glanced to his left. His remaining legionaries were scattered as a monster of a bull rammed through their line, his head lowered and his crimson eyes focused on the marred red of his scutum. Elias tried to stop, to turn and brace, but in a rush, time seemed to resume.

Elias found that it wasn’t the impact of the bull that really hurt. No, his armor took the worst of that. What hurt was his head slamming into the ground as the bull slammed into him, driving him, as well as all of his momentum, straight into the mud covered stone beneath him. If he’d had his helmet before, it was certainly long gone now, blackness filled with stars consuming his vision as his hair struggled to cushion the impact. His sword hand didn’t need the help his brain, however, and it struck up. A roar rattled his head and warmth covered his front. Something stomped on his wrist, then another something kicked his jaw, sending blood pattering up the delve walls.

“For Equestria!”

Elias screwed his eyes shut as the sunlight was suddenly turned back on. Blinking up at the tree cover, he leaned up, gasping in pain as he tried to roll onto his side. A silver clad hoof stomped the mud next to his hand, splattering him as the pony launched forward. Another was not a miss, and he groaned as he was kicked in the back of the head. Nausea filled him, and he turned over, spitting and gagging into the mud as his empty stomach tried to empty itself further. As he heaved, hooves seized his armor and dragged him forward.

“I’ve got him! Retreat, retreat!”

Elias shook his head, his thoughts mired in fog, but retreat? No… No retreat. They had to win. He… he couldn’t lose…

His next thought was to shield his eyes as he was laid in the back of a cart. The sun was bright, and he rolled, gripping the side and peering over as ponies were laid beside him. A line of silver stood strong, watching the empty entrance of the delve. Nothing came out, but looking around, he found a good number of ponies, their teeth bared, their weapons at the ready as they protected the wounded. He clutched at his head, blinking away as much of the pain as he could, and his eye focused on one earth pony that drew closer.

“Lay down General,” Gray Granite said softly, resting a hoof on Elias’ hand. “We’re pulling back to the castra, and we’re going to get everypony patched up. I managed to pull everyone out of the delve, even Captain Storm Chaser.”

Elias screwed his eyes shut and shook his head, his words slurring as he clung to the side of the cart as if it was a piece of life saving driftwood in a vast ocean of fog.

“W- ‘bout the ponies deeper?”

Granite looked toward the delve, slowly shaking his head.

“I’m sorry General, but there’s no way they’re-”

Elias’ fingers wrapped around his armor and yanked him so that they were nose to nose.

“Go. Get. Them.” He growled as blood streamed from his nose. “Go. N-nobody gets left-” He coughed, wheezing for breath as Granite continued to shake his head, his hoof gently touching Elias’ shoulder.

“Lay down General, there’s nothing more we can do right now. I’ll pull the legionaries back and get everyone healed up, then we’ll go out again and get-”

“Now!” Elias spat. “N-now you coward. I- I’ll…” He bared his teeth, barely able to meet the earth pony’s eyes. “Go get my ponies. I’d go for you.”

“General, I…”

Fire burned in Elias’ chest and he bared his bloodstained teeth.

“I’ll do it.” He pushed Granite away and he tried rolling free of the cart. He hit the ground and immediately gasped as his lungs tightened. Ponies cried out in alarm as he writhed wordlessly, fighting and clawing for air. He managed to draw in one breath as they again laid him in the back of the cart, and Granite was again beside him, patting the side.

“Go! Make sure Doc Scalpel treats General Bright immediately!”

The cart rattled as the ponies pulling it started moving. As it pulled away, Elias stared into Granite’s eyes, his hand reaching out as his vision blackened to nothing.

*****

Gray Granite watched the cart rattle away, the wound stained his fur red aching as he watched the badly wounded ponies bounce over every stray rock. One of his legionaries trotted up beside him, matching his watching gaze.

“Should we follow, Centurion?”

He sighed, glancing back toward the delve. It had largely fallen silent after his party had rescued Elias and Storm Chaser. The zebras had either ran out of ammunition or had been ordered to conserve it, and the minotaurs had been ordered to withdraw after he’d dove down and decapitated the large bull. They were either retreating, or were still waiting, shield high, for more legionaries to walk into the death trap. The zebras were probably doing the same. He’d killed or wounded many, but there seemed to be yet more hiding, always hiding, just out of sight. Any legionaries in the delve were either dead or had been captured. There was no hope of saving them. He knew that.

He glanced back toward the cart just as it rattled out of view. His chest ached in a way that hurt far more than any wound. He thought he’d done well, had kept his ponies together, had rescued yet more with a brazen charge for the history books. Still Elias called him a coward. He knew the human was in pain, knew that he’d been hit in the head, his helmet gone and a thick knot of red hair missing from the side of his head, replaced with a mess of blood. No doubt he was suffering from a severe concussion. These things he knew, but still the human’s words hurt, and what was more, he knew they were genuine.

‘I’d go for you.’

That was what made Granite hesitate. Elias would. He’d stop at nothing, would throw himself into the fray again and again to save his ponies, his friends. All he was really asking for was for Granite to do the same, even if the same was suicidal.

A tap on his shoulder brought him back to his legionaries, and the stallion at his side looked worriedly into his eyes.

“Centurion?”

Granite straightened, looking at his ponies.

“General Bright told me that we still have ponies in the delve. He wants them back, as do I. We are legionaries. We do not leave our friends behind. I will be going to get them.” The legionaries shuffled around him, but he pressed on, his volume raising. “I know this is dangerous, more so than what you signed up for. I will not make it an order, but I am going, and will gladly accept the company of anypony who will join me.”

The ponies looked to each other, a few short whispers filling the air. One by one they straightened, meeting his eyes and giving him slow nods. Granite let out a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding, and he nodded.

“Alright. No shields in the front row. We attack fast and hard, hopefully faster than the zebras can jump out. If we see anypony, we grab them, testudo up, and run back to the castra.”

He drew his gladius, shouting through clenched teeth.

“For the legion!”

“and for Equestria!”

*****

“Brave fools,” Steel Horn muttered as a wave of silver charged around the corner and into the straight part of the delve. His shield wall stood firm, the minotaurs waiting with spears in hand as the ponies drew nearer. He glanced up at the cliffs and nodded to Khari. The zebra’s teeth shined as his blowgunners, already lying in position, picked out targets amongst the charging ponies. A ferocious war cry sounded from the ponies, lead by the earth pony at the head of the charge, his gray fur already marred with blood.

“He must be dead,” the bull beside Steel Horn muttered. “The human wouldn’t do this.”

“Perhaps, perhaps he’s gone mad with the shame of defeat.” Steel Horn signaled with his hand, letting the missiles fly at the ponies. Their charge shattered and died as they dropped, tripping and falling over one another. “It doesn’t matter. We withdraw and drink to our victory. This day is ours.”

He turned away as his bulls let out a cheer.

*****

Elias winced as he waved away the bright light shining in his face. Sounds vaguely filled his ears with noise, but nothing distinct as he sat up, faintly noticing the bandages wrapped tight around his shoulder. A unicorn he recognized sprinted to his side, hooves touch his chest, trying to guide him down, even as words tried to tell him to rest. He needed to find someone though… He knew the earth pony had been hurt, had noticed blood on his armor…

He scanned the wounded lay about the tent, not finding the one pony he was looking for. His words still slurred, he looked toward Scalpel and asked;

“Where’s Granite?”

Author's Note:

Sorry that it's been so long since the last chapter. Life comes at you fast it seems. As some repayment, enjoy some TCP art!

Comments

[Ralanost]

Fuck, I hope Granite and the others will be alright. Not sure how Elias can turn this around. This was a huge loss. Lost a lot of ponies and Stone Horn. Not to mention the additional injuries he's had to suffer. Damn chapter was brutal, and not in the way I was hoping.

[dar88]

Oh boy if Ellas wasn't pisst before he going to raging when he finds out what happened one thing for sure elias is going to make sure there be no bulls left after this war is over

[Prince Jules Moonshade]

Always nice to see a new chapter, kill and maim those fucks more brutally.

[satais]

Cows are damn hypocrites who have no honor yet they happily preach about it to give them moral high ground. Cowards the lot of them.

[Drathus]

Love the art and the story! Great stuff!

[Bossypants]

Those Zebras seem to have levelled the playing field. I am now very curious how Elias will come out on top now…

[DoctorWhoooves]

“Where’s Granite?”

Muh heart…

[Emperor Draxgaroth]

I am not a dishonorable warrior!

BULL-FUCKING-SHIT..... you are leading an army of thieves, robbers, murderers, kidnappers, not to mention you are holding a city hostage, just you can blackmail the ponies into giving you one of their princesses as a hostage... YOU ARE THE LITERAL FUCKING INCARNATION OF DISHONORABLE!!!!!

[bkam]

Silence reigned. Elias could feel the eyes of the ponies around him focused squarely on his back. His eyes were elsewhere however, even as his mind worked for some kind of clever reply, some faint afterthought about the historical impact his words could have doing its best to cut through his anger and frustration. A stone skipped down the side of the delve, and a flash of silver glinted above, gone before it could truly be noticed. Elias felt his mouth twitch, and he grinned, his mind briefly recalling Lionheart’s recent escape from justice. Steel Horn and his zebra allies would not be so fortunate.

He rose from the formation and drew his flagged pilum. “I’d rather have your head!”

[Blueshadow_the_pony]

I both love it and hate it. I can't wait to read the next chapter sometime next fall

[Crit Magnet]

A hard read

[Emperor of Jurai]

Bah those Zebras hopefully get torn apart later on, they are way too cocky for ambush fixated warriors.

[DMDash71]

11703097
Overthink a cartoon much? Chill, dude.

[Maulet Paya]

I hate how all of this would have been prevented if Celestia and Luna had chosen literally ANY other way of transportation. You have flying cities , you can make a flying fortress 1000s meters in the air and transport them in luxury and safety. This is the only con of the entire fic , the rest is fantastic in my humble opinion

[SliverKnight]

Emotions sometimes when not cooled lead to bad decisions or this Happens Damn this Chapter was brutal plus his stubbornness to continue fighting when ultimately losing the advantage. Fuck, I hope Granite and his Legionaries are fine. here's hoping Blossom and her Legionaries are fine hopefully.

[Oofinator]

Damn. All caught up. Things are looking real rough for Elias and Co.

[ericson03]

Surely it can't get worse, right? :^)

[slykiller9136]

Man, when it rains it pours. Still one hell of a read.

[FridayPie]

The pegasus gave him a short nod, then started slipping backward in the formation. The minotaurs started moving forward under the commands of Steel Horn, and they moved quickly, taking two steps for every one the ponies took back. As his legionaries struggled to bear the barrage of darts, Elias cocked his arm back. The minotaurs had to be slowed, and the zebras couldn’t possibly fire forever. Once the darts stopped he could make an orderly withdrawal and figure out just what the hell had happened to his legionaries on the ridge of the delve. Then they’d counter-attack, make the zebras and minotaurs pay in blood for daring to disrupt his plan.

Ok, I'm confused, are they using pilums (javelins) or plumbata (battle darts)?

[FridayPie]

“My own… fucking… pilum…” He noticed a colorful body falling into the delve out of the corner of his eye, but his brain couldn’t focus on anything other than the javelin in his back. “This… is why they’re… supposed to break...”

Wait, someone botched pilum Q/A?

They are actually designed to bend and therefore disorent or trip the target. Still could be fixed after combat. Later Romans switched to combat darts (plumbata), which were less useful as a return weapon but recoverable.

[PinkDragonJr]

This whole chapter Elias was thinking like a soldier, not a general. hell ever since he left the main force for this forward action he has be thinking at best as a seargent. I suspect that this preasure has revealed what he truely is. he is a motivator, but he isn't a leader. as i said at best a seargent. this isnt going to improve until he gets his head right or is replaced.

[TheEighthDayofNight]

11778235
The legionaries are using pila while the zebras are using darts via blowguns

[pizzalike]

How dare you give me amazing fan art after an amazing and yet hurtful chapter ! > : [ { jk amazing chapter though can't wait !

[Silentwoodfire]

Those zebras are about to learn, why they should've stayed out of it

[Silentwoodfire]

11775242
You dare?

[Author26_12_1999]

Черт... Моя душа плачет от этой главы... Чертовый зебры! Пусть все зебры горят в аду.

[Thousand_Son_Sorcerer]

11774098
He is going to make Germanicus war of vengeance look like a school yard brawl. I can't wait to reed it!

[bronyclone1497]

What a great story so far I can’t wait for more!

[bronyclone1497]

Update soon?

[Blueshadow_the_pony]

11703097
Get Ratioed