Equestria Legio

by Teal

Chapter 3

The legionnaires quickly got into action and closed their ranks to form a strong shield wall the moment they heard the horn cry out. It was a force of habit by now, and one that cannot be ignored or complained about. Ever since they entered this forest of death, the sound of horns were often followed by either a volley of missiles or a charge from the barbaric tribes.

Forming up behind the lead cohort, Maximus pointed and shouted, as he ordered his men to form a square formation. The horn may have been sounded from the front, but there was no way of telling for certain if there weren't any barbarci mobs lying in wait on the flanks.

Getting the legion ready, Maximus did his best to give out commands in the thick fog. In the air, his shouts were accompanied by the gruffer orders made by Centurions and file closers, as they got their units together and moved them to where they should be.

As the good legionnaires they were, the men managed to form up properly without too much confusion, the drill having already been planted into their minds and countless practiced by their bodies that it allowed them to move even in the most awful of conditions. Centurion Agrippa had once told him that the men could practically change from one formation to another in their sleep, and Maximus didn’t doubt him for a second.

It was essential for any legion to have their men well-drilled and trained. To be able to hold the line in a fight, a unit must be able to form the line itself, without any gaps or weaknesses. Any holes could mean the end of the whole formation itself. That was why legionnaires were thought to move as one, with the whole unit keeping together no matter what, so that no portion of their line could be exposed. Because of this, unit cohesion and organization was always top priority in the drills, second only to the skills of fighting.

It was the mastery of these important aspects of fighting that made the Roman war machine so powerful, and it was their ability to have men capable of perfecting suck skills that made the legions the best fighting force ever created.

However, as the legionnaires of the 50th huddled together behind their scutums, they didn’t feel that they were the best at all. The Germanic tribes managed to get the better of them, and an arrogant and overconfident march into an uncharted forest led them to the horrors they were in now.

Now, doing their best to see beyond the fog, staying quiet so that they could listen for any sound of footsteps or war cries, the legionnaires waited nervously for the imminent attack.

But none came.

The moments went by, and Maximus felt beads of sweat run down his face as he anxiously waited for the barbarians to come out screaming, charging against their ranks in a blood thirsty desire to eliminate every last Roman.

But as they waited and waited, no attack came at them.

“Sir, I would like to report.” A legionnaire said, as he stood next to Maxmimus, who was still alert and waiting for an attack to come.

“Yes?”

“Centurion Agrippa reports the sound of fighting to his front, sir.”

To his front? Now that was odd to hear, and for a moment, Maximus was confused.

But as the legionnaires kept silent, allowing the sounds of their environment to be blown upon him, he soon heard the wound of metal clashing, which was joined by the call of the horn they had heard earlier. Maximus may not have been as seasoned and experienced as the centurions, but the past few days of fighting in the forest has taught him well enough what the sound of a battle was. The faint, but distinct, sound of metal meeting metal could just be heard in the distance, and Maximus had to nod slightly and agree that there was a distant battle indeed going on. But instead of confirming things, this just made him more confused.

Who was doing that fighitng?

As far as he knew, they were the lead legion in the army’s marching column. So who in the world managed to get in front of them and become the next target of the barbarians?

Was it possible that in the confusion of battle, the blindness brought upon the fog, and the random and winding path, that a unit from behind them managed to overtake them and stumble upon a barbarian ambush?

Although not impossible, it seemed unlikely, since all the various legions, and their cohorts, were just doing their best to follow one another. No group of Romans would have overtook them without stumbling upon them first. He also doubted that they strayed out of the path and marched along the sides, since the marshy and forested landscape on their flanks would slow them down, bringing them farther into the rear than the front.

So if it weren’t Romans, then who then? Who else was in this forest to be unlucky enough and get into a fight?

Maybe it was the barbarian tribes themselves? In this thick fog where you can barely see a thing a few feet in front of you, it was quite possible that one mob of barbarians mistook another mob as Romans.

There really was no way of telling, unless they went there themselves to see what was happening.

As Maximus wondered who was out there fighting, Praefectus Castrorum Publius Epidus came towards him.

“Sir.” He began. “I don’t know if my old ears are failing me, but I think I hear the faint sound of a fight in front of us.”

Maximus grunted at this. Epidus had been at the rear of the tattered legion’s column, keeping watch and maintaining discipline to the cohorts there. He was one of the farthest person from the sound, and yet he easily heard it, as if it was a shout directly in his ear. The tribunus sometimes had to wonder if veterans like him were blessed by Mars himself to have superhuman abilities that placed them a tier above their comrades.

“No, Epidus, your ears are still fine.” Maximus finally said. “Agrippa had just reported the sound of battle being heard far to his front. Who it is, only the gods know.”

Epidus nodded then glanced towards the front. Maximus wondered if he was also blessed enough to see through the fog, but after a frustrated shake of the head from the Praefectus Castrorum, he knew that it wasn’t the case.

“Probably a quarter of an hour's march from us.” Epidus concluded.

“You think we should go towards it?” Maximus questioned.

Epidus shrugged. “If you ask me, sir, I think its better than aimlessly wandering the forest. At least the sound is a point of reference we can follow, and maybe use to get out of this forest.”

Maximus nodded, agreeing with his sound logic.

“Who do you think it might be out there fighting?” He then asked.

“Probably the damn barbarians.” Epidus said, and through the fog, he managed to see a hint of a grin on the veteran’s face. “One group must have stumbled against the other and thought that whoever was in front of then was us. I tell you now, sir, those barbarians may own and know ever part of this forest, but even they can’t see properly in this fog. If they can’t see, then they can’t find their landmarks and properly navigate. I can bet you now that they’re more likely to run into fellow barbarians before running into us. And up ahead, I believe that’s what exactly happened there. And if that indeed is the case, and we managed to get there while they’re still confused, then we can get some revenge for what they did to us.”

Thinking about it for a moment, Maximus nodded, trusting the Praefectus Castrorum’s words. If there was anyone in the legion who has seen it all, then it would be him. Although his rank’s duties entitled him as a master of the camp, an officer in charge of erecting the structures and maintaining the order and safety of the legion’s marching camp, the man was nonetheless very knowledgeable when it came to military affairs, whether it was strategy or tactics.

Men like Epidus had risen from the ranks, with years of personal experience guiding his remarks and opinions. It was this man’s advice that a legionary commander would normally trust, and the words of Epidus were ones that Maximus would always trust.

“Very well, I guess it can’t hurt us more if we go and investigate.If you’re right on what you think is happening there, then we will indeed get our revenge..” Maximus said, a smile on his face. However, a frown soon took its place. “But what if it's an ambush? Maybe it's a lure to draw as in.”

“An ambush here, there, or in any other part of this damn forest aren’t different from one another. As long as we’re in here, we’re guaranteed to be ambushed, sir.” Epidus said. “What matters is that we’re ready for an ambush. We must always be swift in forming our line the moment an attack comes. So, in the event this is a kure to an ambush, I’ll make sure we’re ready, sir. I’ll keep the men on their guards, and make sure we’ll be ready for any attack.”

Maximus nodded.

“Very well, Epidus. Alright, let’s get this column marching again. We’re heading for that sound.”

---

It didn’t take long for them to get real close to the source of the sound. Like Epidus said, it was a fifteen minute march towards the place.

Moving closer to the front, his level of curiosity high and at its peak, Maximus strode next to Agrippa, as the centurion’s 8th Cohort led the way and scouted for the legion.

As they moved forward, with the continuous sound of the fight still continuing, Maximus started to notice that the world in front of him was looking more and more clear. Soon enough, he was able to see farther than he did before, as his surroundings began to show itself, as the fog seemingly began to drift away.

Thankful for this, and feeling his excitement rise as their destination drew closer, Maximus looked around, examining their surroundings and checking if the fight was already within sight.

That was when he noticed something strange.

The trees around them, although as dense and as thick as the ones before, were now leafless. This was odd, since all the trees they passed by earlier were thick in leaves and flourishing. These, however, were as bare as trees in winter.

The thought of winter made him realize something else. It was colder now.

The sudden change in temperature wasn’t small, nor was it gradual. One moment their environment was cool, but not freezing, the next it was frosty, the stinging pain of the cold being all too obvious when a sudden breeze came upon him.

But out of all of these strange occusings, it was the last one that finally made him halt on his tracks. There was now a light layer of snow on the ground.

Looking down, and stomping his caligae on the ground, the soft layer of cold snow gave way, and as he lifted his foot, the march of the caligae and its hobnails was left imprinted.

Knowing the time of the year, the tribunus was certain that they were nowhere near winter. Yet, beneath their feet was snow. This wasn’t right.

What kind of strange area of this cursed forest have they walked into?

Speechless, and trying to comprehend the strange occurings, Maximus halted the legion and tried to get a bearing of the things around them. There was something really wrong with their environment they were in now, and he wasn’t willing to march his force into the unknown.

“Germania certainly is a strange place.” Agrippa said, as he gazed at the winter-like place they now found themselves in. “Or is it just this forest?”

Sighing, Maximus shook his head. “The more we march into the forest, the more it feels like a world found in the myths and legends.”

“Yes, sir, I can’t argue with that.” Agrippa said, before gazing far out into the distance and suddenly grinning. “Although, it seems like our time in this cursed forest is about to end soon, sir. Look!”

Glancing towards where the centurion was pointing at, Maximus soon joined his cheerful mood, as a feeling of joy suddenly burst inside of him. He didn’t believe he had felt so relieved and happy ever before in his life.

Just a few yards away, right in the distance, was what looked like the edge of the forest. From what Maximus could see from his position, the trees began to thin out there and reveal an open field. Although the field itself was also covered in snow, the benefits of finally being out of the forest was something that brought good news to the endless bad luck they had been having.

A field would be a better place to fight in, where maneuvering was easier, and there would be no trees that could be used by the enemy for concealment. Here, the legion could move in and fight the way there were supposed to. There would be no more trickery and difficulty of ambushes here.

A cheer soon came from around them, as the legionaries of the 8th Cohort saw Maximus and Agrippa had seen. Relief filled their voices, as salvations seemed to have been found at last.

Indeed, Maximus believed that their salvation was indeed here. In such a place, the barbarians would not dare attack them, as the legion’s full strength and power could be deployed in such an area.

A fight here would almost always be a guaranteed win for them.

That was when Maximus remembered about the noise of battle, the one that was near and loud now. They still had to check that out, and deal with any enemies who they might find there.

But for now, he was just relieved to see that wherever they were going, it was at least safe, knowing it had a field where the legion could fight the way they should. He could tell that the men were thinking the same thing, based om the cheerful and hopeful looks on their faces.

The strange occurrences they noticed in this place seemed to have been shoved to the side and replaced by the thought of finally finding safety. Let them all wonder about such things later, when they were safe and out of the deadly forest.

“Alright, let’s march them out.” Maximus finally said. “The sooner we can get out of the forest means the sooner we could be safe to plan our next step. Remember, we still have those fellows causing all that noise to deal with.”

With that, the 8th Cohort advanced towards the edge of the forest, followed by the other cohorts, who quickly cheered once they saw that they were finally getting out.

But as Maximus and Agrippa led the way, they quickly saw something that turned their hearts upside down.

Standing at the edge of the forest, and gazing out at the wide open snowy field they now had in front of them, the two were shocked to a strange sight ahead in the distance.

What they had expected were poorly organized, poorly armed, and barely armored barbarians. But what they saw were soldiers marching in rhythm, fully covered in armor, and carrying long and deadly pikes.

---

“Thou Princess commands thee to push thy foe back!” Luna shouted, her voice echoing in the air as she stood in the middle of the fray. With her magic, she swung her broadsword against a charging clump of crystal earth ponies, slashing the life off of them and tossing their bodies to the ground.

“You heard the Princess, not one step back!” Shouted Dusk Hunter, before grabbing the grip of his sword and pulling it out of the neck of his victim. The ever loyal Luna Guard officer had stuck by Luna’s side throughout the entire engagement, ready to take and give out her orders, while at the same time covering the Princess’ throughout the fight, keeping an eye on anypony that might have slipped her sight.

Not that there were many, or any at all, that managed to get past the alicorn’s hawk-like eyes. Left and right, she targeted pony to pony, lashing out her power against them, as they remained helpless against the wrath of the powerful goddess. This was the strength of an alicorn, one unmatched by any fighter from any race.

With swings of her sword, burst of powerful magical rays, and the spawning of magical barriers against enemy charges, Luna managed to bear enough power to allow her syntagma of Lunar Guards to successfully hold against ten squadrons of cavalry. In the ensuing fight, they had managed to push the Dark Hoof Cavalry back, driving a V shaped wedge within their lines.

Committed to the fight and still believing that they had advantage in numbers, the Dark hoof Cavalry continued the fight, refusing to fall back or regroup while engaged by such a small force. This, Luna knew, was a mistake, since their clumped up formation gave her perfect targets for her signature magical attack ray. They were fools to continue the fight.

No matter how large the enemy’s numbers were, her power would be able to match them. It was foolish of them to think that they could win a battle against an alicorn, without any support from mages.

Arrogance has clouded their minds and corrupted them away from sound military thinking, Luna thought.

Then again, were they really fools?

Luna thought of this as she watched one of her Guards be stabbed by an enemy sword. Busy with the enemy in front of her, she had missed what was happening there and was too late in creating a barrier to protect him. She cursed herself, knowing that the Guard’s protection was in her hooves and she had failed him.

She cursed again, realizing that this was their twentieth casualty in the fifteen minutes in which the fight had been raging. Their line was beginning to thin down, and not even her powerful magic was enough to make up for all the losses.

Once more she wondered, where they fools to continue the attack or just cold hearted tacticians.

True, they would not be able to break the syntagma while she was there, but they were still able to nibble it down, all the while keeping them pinned. By keeping up the fight, and using their numbers to surround them and keep them engaged, the Dark Hoof Cavalry essentially made sure that they wouldn’t escape.

By keeping up the fight, they had essentially trapped Luna and her Guard, keeping them busy until their reinforcements arrived.

Frustrated at this realization, Luna lashed out at the next clump of foes in front of her, knocking them over with another wide swing of her sword. With them still having the number advantage, they could just keep on pressing more and more ponies forward, and despite the high casualties, there would be enough to keep them occupied till their reinforcements arrive.

Once more she was trapped, and she desperately needed to get them out of this.

Taking a quick glance towards the distance, she watched as the enemy reinforcements rushed forward their column, pikes held straight up, ready to point straight at them when the moment arrived. It won’t be long, he knew, and estimated that they could arrive and join the fray within the next fifteen minutes.

Shaking her head, she knew that her only hope now is that her own reinforcements would arrive in time. The only problem was, she didn’t know if there were reinforcements in the way.

Seeing her front was clear, Luna allowed herself a very quick glance towards the rear, checking the path they took to get to the front. Studying the road, she desperately tried to look for any sign of a marching force on their way towards them. There were none, and she couldn’t say that she was surprised.

The camp was many miles back, and the ill-trained force she had left there was led by officers who lacked imagination and initiative. Although she had been hopeful that one of the more promising senior officers would have noted her absence and sent a force to investigate her last whereabouts, the lack of a marching force right now was a sign that no such thing had occurred.

Sighing, she glanced once more to her front and cleared it off the enemies with a frustrated surge of magic that engulfed those that got in the ray’s path. Then, looking at the distant enemy reinforcements, she began thinking of ways to attack them, and chip away at their force, while they were still far away.

As she was doing so, a faint glisten of light flashed at her eyes, curiously attracting her attention. Wondering what this was, Luna followed the source of the light and realized it was coming from the forest that was on the west of the field, the same one she had noted earlier.

Concentrating her sharp eyes to this area, she tried to find the main source of the glistening sight. It was then that she saw them.

Marching in a long column, creatures in plated metal armor made their way out from the forest, spears and shields wielded, as they moved in the most professional of ways. With the faint sunlight penetrating the gloomy skies, the light bounced off of their armor and glistened all over, shining upon her and making their presence known.

At first, Luna had assumed that these were more reinforcements for the Crystal Ponies, thus another problem to add to her already growing pile. But noting their banner, and seeing what looked like a golden standard that held a bright red piece of cloth, she immediately realized that this was no banner that was used by the Crystal Empire.

So who were these newcomers entering the field?

---

It wasn’t just Princess Luna who noted the arrival of the creatures from the forest, as the commander of the marching column of reinforcements also caught the glistening light with his eye. For him, however, the silvery colored armor of these creatures seemed similar to the ones used by the Kingdom of Equestria’s Army. To him, he believed he knew well who was coming out of the forest.

Indeed, he was quite shocked and confused how the Equestrians managed to slip in a force from there without them noticing. But he didn’t think too much of that, saving it for a later time, when he reviewed his own tactics and strategy.

Right now, he knew his priority was to deal with this force, stop them from doing any harm, so that he can divert his main attention towards the trapped alicorn Princess and her syntagma.

Ordering his lighter troops and cavalry to continue their advance to reinforce the Dark Hoof Cavalry, he then detached his heavy infantry to move against the newcomers. Personally taking command, he led a taxeis of pike wielding heavy infantry against the force at the forest.

Comments

[Loki921]

Oh yeah its all coming together now

[Edguy0009]

Next chapter is where the fun begins.