The 300 Ponies

by AppleBucker22

Chapter 3: The Gates of Paradise

Night fell, and the ponyville warriors went to sleep. After the sight they saw, they needed it. Those pony corpses mark the Remnant cruelty, a sign that they will not be stopped. At least, that is what they think.

While all the soldiers sleep, only Leonidas watches to the distance. He doesn’t know what to expect. Remnant armies number to a million, and he is unsure if his 300 will fit the ticket.

Dawn rises, and the soldiers set out.

“My lord! We’re being followed!” The scout approached Leonidas.

In the distance, the soldiers saw that hunchback figure, the one they saw back in ponyville. It had a familiar shield, resembling ponyville armor.

“It’s been following us since Ponyville” General Artemis spoke up

“Let’s leave it for now, the Gates of Paradise are not far away.”

“Yes m’lord.”

The soldiers marched, the same figure, still stalking them. They neared the Gates of Paradise.

They stopped on a cliff to rest, and night soon fell.

The soldiers looked over the cliff, what once was the beautiful sea of Equestria, now is filled with thousands of Remnant ships. They were like a plague, once beginning to spread, they would not stop.

A storm is brewing...

The god of thunder, lashes out on the Remnant ships. A sort of welcome, from the coast of Equestria.

The soldiers cheer, overcome by the sight of Remnant ships crashing into the rocky coast, and thousand on ponies falling off the deck. Only one keeps his Ponyville glow. Our king Leonidas.

The rain, raged on. The ponies camped in for the night, knowing that they had a big day ahead of them. Tomorrow is the first wave of the Remnant forces.

As dawn closes in, Astinos, and the Arcadian leader look over the cliff on the Remnant camp.

Thousands of lights, flickering, tents, as far as the eye can see.

“Gods, I didn’t know there was going to be so many!” The Arcadian leader said, looking towards Astinos with a worried face.

“Why, you gone chicken Arcadian?” Astinos grinned at him

“Are you mad?! Look at all of them! How can we possibly hold them off?!”

Astinos just gave him a chuckle and proceeded on to Leonidas

“Astinos!” ,Leonidas spoke up, “Is there any way that the Remnants can get behind us?”

“I wouldn’t know My Lor--”

Right then, the hunchback pony walked out of the shadow. His face was weary, and his back misshapen. He was wearing Ponyville crimson and a spear.

“My lord! There is a small goat path that would lead right to your flank! I suggest you send men out there while you still can!” The hunchback spoke up

“Stay down beast, or I will cut you down where you stand!” Astinos pulled his sword

“I ordered no such thing.” Saying that Leonidas grabbed Astinos’ sword.

“What is your name?”

“I am Ephialtes sir. A child of Ponyville. My mother’s love forced my parents to flee, lest I be rejected. My father was a soldier, but when he fled he became a farmer. He still taught me how to fight, and how to handle a spear!”

Saying that, Ephialtes raised his spear, and swung around it. His spear cut through the air with such ferocity. Leonidas was impressed.

“That is a great swing.”

“I will kill many Remnants sir!”

Leonidas observed the hunchback pony, came up to him and asked him:

“Raise your shield up as high as you can...”

Ephialtes looked at Leonidas with curiosity for some time, but eventually he gave up and raised his shield. It reached up barely to his neck.

“You see Ephialtes, in our Phalanx formation, our goal is to protect the person next to us with our shield. The way you raise your shield, it would weaken the Phalanx, and we’d all fall. I’m sorry. Not all of us are meant to be soldiers.. You can still tend to the dead and bring over water..”

Ephialtes face turned sad, he began to shed tears

“No, no you can’t...”

“I’m sorry, but we cannot use you.” Saying that, Leonidas went down to ready his troops.

Ephialtes stood at the top of the cliff for some time, watching the dawn rising. Finally he got up. Looked at his shield and spear..

He raised them up, and tossed them down the cliff.

“MOTHER! FATHER! YOU WERE WRONG!!!!!!!”

“YOU WERE WRONG LEONIDAS! YOU WERE WRONG!!”

Several minutes later

Several soldiers gathered around the ancient Equestrian wall, which was used to protect Equestria in times of the ancients.

Several miles later you could see a giant chair, lifted by several slave ponies, and a dark pony commanding them with a whip.

“FORWARD YOU LAZY BUMS!” He smacked his whip on the slaves.

The dark pony turned around, and saw the piked heads of the Remnant scouts.

“FORWARD!”

The giant chair reached the wall, the smell of dead bodies crawled up the dark pony’s nostrils.

“What is this....?” The dark pony asked

“This is the wall of Equestria, good sir. It was used in the times of the ancients to fend off barbarians like you...”

“Barbarians?! How dare you--”

The dark pony then saw the corpses of the Remnant scouts, buried deep within the wall.
“You see, this wall has protected us with the rocks, from the bosom of Mother Equestria herself. Unfortunately we ran out of rocks, and we had to use some of your men, to patch things up.”

Saying that, Astinos pulled out his sword.

“You dare, insult the god-king this way? You Ponyville scum deserve whatever comes your way!”

The dark pony readied his whip, ready to strike at the ponyville soldiers...

Astinos jumped with his sword, and in the split second, cut off the arm of the slavemaster.

The dark pony laughed, and spoke up

“You think, you barbarians can defeat us? The mighty Remnant army? Hahahahaha, you amuse me in my last moments... Be afraid! Hahaha... Be very afraid! For a thousand nations, of the Remnant empire, descend upon you!”

“I’ve had enough of you” Astinos pulled out his sword, and cut off the dark pony’s head.

BACK AT THE GATES

“Are the men ready?”

“Yes my lord, all ready to die for you.”

“What of the goat path?”

“We sent a battalion to investigate.”

“Pray to the gods they don’t find out, or we are all dead.”

Suddenly the earth quaked, and the soldiers felt distress

“Earthquake” Artemis said

“No, battle formations!” Saying that, Leonidas put on his helmet, and stood at the beginning of the Phalanx

As they looked at the horizon they saw an army of massive proportions. A million soldiers marching, to destroy the 300.

A dark pony in a chariot came up in front of the line and spoke to the Ponyville spartans.

“Ponyville Spartans! Lay down your weapons and the God-King will have mercy on you!”

There was no response from the Ponyville warriors. Well, not entirely true. Several seconds later, a spear came flying up. The dark pony looked at his fate.

The spear plunged through his heart, and the dark pony had the time to say only one word.

“Attack....”

“SOUND THE ATTACK!!”

The trumpet raged, and the soldiers charged at the 300.

Leonidas spoke to his troops:

“PONYVILLE SPARTANS! THIS IS WHAT WE FIGHT FOR! THIS IS WHAT WE LIVE FOR!”

“GIVE THEM NOTHING!! BUT TAKE FROM THEM.... EVERYTHING!!!!”

The ponies clashed their shields, the 300 being pushed back by the second. They are strong and do not let up.

A thousand more ponies comes marching up to the 300, pushing the Ponyville Spartans further back.

After some time, Leonidas shouted:

“SPARTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANS! PUUUUUSH!”

The Spartans gave it their all, pushing the Remnant ponies back to the coast. The sound of hooves clashing against the ground and the sounds of shields, clashing against shields.

“SPARTANS! BREAK!”

The Spartans broke their formation, letting loose with all the rage inside them. Slashing, and stabbing. Stabbing, and slashing...

Remnant numbers dwindled, Leonidas stood out in front of the crowd, cutting the soldiers down.

Soon all that remained was a handful of Remnant soldiers.

“They look thirsty, my king!” General Artemis spoke up
“Then let’s give them something to drink, eh?”

The spartans went back to their Phalanx formations and slowly marched towards the end of the cliff, where the Remnant soldiers stood.

“No, no please don’t!” The remnant soldiers all shouted

That did not stop them. They continued on moving, when finally Leonidas jumped on his hind legs and bucked the Remnant warriors into the ocean below.

The Spartans felt proud. This was the best action they saw in years.

“Everyone, round up the dead and---”

Before Leonidas could finish, a million arrows fired off from the cliffs. Remnant archers.

“Everypony! Tuck and Cover!”

The ponies kneeled, with their shields above their heads.

“Remnant cowards! Can’t fight if their lives depended on it so they send archers to do their work!”

The arrow shower passed and the Spartans began collecting the dead and burning their bodies.

“Spartans! Get some rest! Tomorrow is a new day and it brings new troubles!”

“This.. is just the beginning...”

Comments

[AppleBucker22]

Chapter is up, hope everyone likes it!

[Desert Storm]

Me GUSTA mucho, I'm glad my buddy recommended you (I can't remember who it was, but if you know, tell him I said thanks)