Equestria's Ray of Hope

by The_Darker_Fonts

Sweep

A week and a half had gone by with no change. Or at least, that was what Ray would report to Twilight. Many, many things had occurred in the past week and a half, but all of the details he needed to know, the minute cogs and gears that kept his war machine moving, would take too long to explain to Twilight. The young man had already realized that the coming full moon would be hard pressed for enough time to debrief the Princess of Equestria on every major detail of this past month, let alone all of the minor ones.

A medic corp had been formed from injured and permanently debilitated Fallen, about twenty strong. As Zecora had predicted, it had only taken the rest of the week for the injured to recover enough to be on the battlefield. With the medic corps already being trained adequately to deal with the inevitable influx of injured soldiers to come from the battle that was being established, the Fallen were in a better position to rebound from their casualties quicker. If they were lucky, they could implement field medics as well to save lives on the field of battle while also not risking the zebra.

The minotaurs had repositioned slightly three days ago, but given they had only moved a half a mile closer than they had previously been positioned, there was no true reason to report it. Not that the move was pointless, but it certainly wasn’t worth the time explaining to Twilight why the minotaurs had moved and how it changed nothing. The beasts had repositioned to be in a tighter area, requiring far less scouts to establish a line of sight while condensing the army to make it that much harder to attack. While the Fallen hadn’t been able to scout too closely to the hill the new encampment was on thanks to the tightened perimeter, they guessed it was also a position that allowed the minotaur army to suddenly spring into action.

Attempts to breach the perimeter or even move around the army to see what was behind it had all ended with the scouts being chased off, though thankfully none had been injured or killed. Concerning though it was that the enemy position had tightened significantly, the Fallen’s goal had remained not to attack the minotaur army. Pelios’ plan of baiting the enemy out with divisions of the infantry had been refined and tweaked since its conception. More solid and infallible than ever, the generals had spent all of the past two days briefing their soldiers on their parts in the plan, and now the army was ready to move.

Ray had ordered the scouts to loosen the perimeter, intentionally allowing the minotaurs to see the movements and mobilization of the Fallen once again. By loosening, of course, he meant staging a failed ambush that killed most of the minotaur scouts but left enough alive to report back. He worried that the minotaur generals, whoever or wherever they were, wouldn’t see through the ruse, though given the past two clashes with the minotaurs, intelligence seemed to be their lesser trait. Still, as a precaution, he had tightened the perimeter again to ensure in their minds that the Fallen had slipped up in their hurried mobilization.

It was noon by the time the infantry actually began to move out, Pelios heading the army this time while Ray and Yarem held the center and Skalos covered their rear flank. There wasn’t much planning needed this time, in fact, the morning’s debriefing was cut short for lack of issues to resolve. The Fallen had learned while from the first time they moved out from camp and now repeated maneuver with agile lethality. The Matriarch and her spiderlings were taking the long way around the east end of the Big Face and out to the southern hills where they would ambush the minotaurs. Thankfully, the Matriarch would only need to hear the order from any one of the generals to strike instead of relying upon a messenger.

As the infantry marched out now, Ray striding through the midst of Yarem’s infantry, there was a severe contrast to the army’s attitude from the last time. This time, instead of the jovial and loud chatter that the soldiers had shared, there was a grim, determined silence. The Fallen had come face-to-face with their dead now, the casualties they suffered, though small, a sobering and endearing reminder of what risk they were taking. Ray knew they weren’t silent out of fear or anger, but rather determination and demand. They weren’t marching into the unknown this time, their fate uncertain and what they faced shrouded in the fog of war. This time, they were marching with their gaze fixated not on the minotaurs they would face, but on the victory they would achieve.

This time, the Fallen were marching to victory.

They held their heads up proud because they knew they would not lose this battle, but remained silent, acknowledging that they would return in lesser numbers than before. A harmonious balance of expectation and reality. Ray had managed to discipline himself in it by now, Garish’s death in the greatest victory in Equestria’s history proving to him that, inevitably, the road to ending this conflict in their favor would require the blood of those who paved it. He wasn’t at peace with that concept, not by a long shot, but at the very least he would no longer blame himself for each and every death on the battlefield. Just whether they were justified or not.

“Lordling, it would appear some of our scouts have returned with important news,” Yarem stated. Ray followed his pointed hoof out towards a hillside to their northeast, where two small tails of dust were being kicked up by rushing scouts. Because of the size and intent of today’s operation, every single scout was deployed, mostly for the protection of and obscuring the archers. These two coming their way immediately would be the only two scouts that were operating to watch the enemy’s known position, their current encampment. Two other pairs scouted straight ahead and their flank.

“Indeed,” Ray muttered. Instead of being a foreboding, or even curious, sign, the two returning scouts were exactly as intended. Though their swiftness probably meant vital information needed to be shared, it also meant that the enemy was beginning to take the bait. “I’ll see to it and inform you of anything that may present problems. Have a messenger for Pelios and one for Skalos prepared to dash, just in case.”

“Of course,” the general replied tightly, watching as the human began to take quick strides out of formation and to the side of the marching army.

Glancing at the army, he was able to, for the first time, see the entirety of it. When he had headed the march almost two weeks ago, he was incapable of seeing the full stretch of the army. Now, positioned in the middle of it, looking from left to right, he could see all of the almost seventeen thousand soldiers, aided by a slight incline of the hill they were marching along. It was only with this broad look that he was reminded of how small his force was. In every war he remembered from Earth’s history, over seventeen thousand people died. Now he was attempting to quell a force exponentially larger than his own. Before the Battle of the Big Face, as Kraven called it, he had thought it brinking on impossible.

With a smirk, he crossed his arms and stopped walking, waiting patiently for the scouts’ arrival. The army looked in perfect shape from the way it marched uniformly and purposefully. Projections of casualties for this battle placed the number at around four hundred dead, a figure that Ray agreed with. But, because of their last battle’s immense success, he no longer thought of those numbers as losing numbers. They were intentionally baiting the enemy with a much smaller portion of their army, and it was likely some parts of it would be caught and scattered fighting would break out. However, four hundred dead would still place their total losses at below eight hundred in the first six months of war.

That had been an unpredictably positive outcome, as he, Twilight, the generals, and every Fallen in the army had presumed this war would be a blitz through the enemy’s nation, a bloody rip and tear of the minotaurs. A thousand casualties had been assumed from landing alone, but ultimately, only forty-two soldiers had died. Unbelievable, but considered luck thanks to the sparse landing area and split minotaurs. This second battle, however, had proved to be something far more unique. Both armies had seen each other and were aware of the other’s potential to attack. Once again, the element of surprise had secured victory at the Battle of the Big Face, but beyond that, the Fallen had only suffered a third of their lowest projected casualties.

They knew their strength now, and it was alleviating to finally be able to throw it around. Those four months of utter stalemate were paying off as finally they were once again on the warpath, and if this battle went their way, they could presumably steamroll past the golden hills and into minotaur heartland. However, those thoughts would have to wait until a victory was secured.

“General Ray, sir,” the male scout saluted as he came to attention, several paces ahead of his comrade. The stallion was surprisingly in control of his breath, allowing him to jump straight to the point. “The minotaurs just received reinforcement, around five or six thousand in number. They have moved a very small piece of their army forward, perhaps as a buffer, to the hillside in front of the hill they’re mobilized on. It numbers around one thousand.”

The young man blinked at the stallion, reading past the attentiveness of the stallion to see his panic. The news was troubling, or at least, numerically so. The enemy had received reinforcements about fifty percent of their strength, making them once again equal to or slightly larger than the Fallen army. Raising his hand slowly to his face, he covered his mouth as he rubbed his upper lip, deep in thought.

They hadn’t seen anything even hinting to reinforcements, and suddenly they had arrived right as their operation was beginning. Mentally, he reached in the back of his mind, attempting to feel for any semblance of the Spectre. Nothing. Still, he couldn’t help but feel that the vengeful shadow was somehow attempting to sabotage him and the Fallen. He was banished, but perhaps his reach was still present in the minds and actions of the minotaurs. It was a theory that was steadily becoming more and more grounded the more he thought about it.

“This is… certainly an important change in the enemy’s numbers,” Ray finally stated, still covering his mouth with a hand. The change in numbers didn’t affect the plan, at least, not when thinking about it right now. In fact, with their numbers reinforced, perhaps the minotaurs would be more prone to charging and overextending themselves. After all, even though they now had more soldiers than before, it was barely more than the Fallen’s. The previous battle had been against more enemies, given at split times. Still, this would be a final gauge in how the Fallen fared in an even battle.

“Tactics will not fundamentally change,” he finally declared. Thinking for just a moment, he added, “I don’t care how long it takes, but safely wrap around the back of the minotaur’s and shoot outwards from in the direction you think the reinforcements came from. There has to be some evidence to where the minotaurs got their numbers from so quickly.”

“Yes sir,” the scouts replied in unison before beginning to walk off. As soon as their backs were turned, Ray let his mind race with the information he had, honing in on one specific and strange nugget. The minotaurs had moved a force of about one thousand soldiers in front of their mobilizing army, a soft buffer to slow down a head-on attack. Swiftly moving through the ranks to catch up to Yarem, he found the general in minutes and quickly explained, “The minotaurs have repositioned slightly and been reinforced by around five thousand soldiers.”

“Concerning,” the stallion grumbled, eyeing the captains around them who now stared in anticipation. Usually, Ray would pull the general aside for such tactical and important information, but he wanted these captains to see firsthand his confidence in them.

“Hardly,” Ray replied, letting a smug smirk escape. “Tell me, general, if you saw a force half your size approaching your larger, reinforced army, would you restrain yourself from attempting to capitalize on their foolishness?”

“Ah, I see,” a similarly smug and understanding gleam in Yarem’s eye as he too smiled. “I, personally, wouldn’t hesitate to strike at them for getting so boldly close. After all, I want to avenge my destroyed comrades.”

“Precisely,” Ray agreed through the soft chuckles of a few captains. “Have your messengers spread the word that the enemy's numbers have changed, but our plans have not.”

“Of course, sir,” Yarem answered, gesturing for the messengers. Once he had given them their orders and sent them on their way, he turned back to Ray.

“I have a special operation in mind for us, Yarem,” the young man revealed, gesturing for him and the captains to step aside and allow the army to march onward. Crouching down to be more level with the Fallen around him, he explained “There is a force of some one thousand minotaurs that front the enemy position, and as it so happens, seem to be placed to bait us into attacking. Now, this is far from a good idea, but what if we took soldiers from this infantry division and swept them out and across the enemy lines, removing those numbers from action and practically tugging the minotaurs into a chase?”

The general frowned for a moment in thought, staring intently at the ground. It was a bold, borderline foolish proposal. In practical warfare, it would probably be considered straight up idiotic, however, given their entire plan was already relying upon the enemy charging at them and chasing them into the ambush, it was perfect. Yarem seemed to come to that conclusion as well as a smile once again spread across his transparent face.

“We would cut down a small number of enemies and enrage the rest into a foolhardy chase to their demise,” he answered, earning some stomps and chuckles from the surrounding captains.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” Ray grinned, looking around at the captains. “Go and prepare your soldiers for a swift charge. I only want the fourth and fifth wave soldiers in this charge, however, about two thousand soldiers. Yarem, once the messengers return, have them tell Pelios and Skalos about our move.”

“They’re going to be jealous that we draw first blood,” Yarem scoffed, as he and the others began to move back into formation.

“They’ll have their time, but today is ours,” Ray replied, grinning as he clapped a hand on the general’s back.

Author's Note:

A bit of a small chapter, but it's the most I'm able to push out right now. Busy schedule and lack of motivation, unfortunately. As always, questions, comments, and concerns welcome and wanted.

Comments

[Bronyshot2020]

.... something seems off

[The_Darker_Fonts]

11661339
Hmmm....