War Divides Us

by huffman8

To the Victors

To the Victors

A young pegasus stood on the roof of a building in the residential area of the City of New Whinny, watching as the pegasi soldiers routed out the few remaining earth pony guards. The attack went just as expected. Through surprise, aerial superiority, and overwhelming firepower the Legion had managed to take the city in just a few hours, with minimal casualties. His Century had only lost 3 ponies from his century during the entire battle. The pegasus was soon brought out of his reflection of the sound of a another pegasus landing behind him.

“Centurion Hurricane! I bring you a message from Legate Typhoon.” said the messenger pony holding out a scroll for Hurricane to take.

“Thank you soldier.” Hurricane took the scroll and began to read its contents. As he read, his face quickly changed from a look of impassiveness to one of giddy excitement.

“Centurion?” asked the messenger, his voice filled with concern.

“Tell Legate Typhoon that I accept the promotion to senior Centurion. I will assume command of the Cohort immediately and will carry out his orders to the best of my ability. I will not let the Legate down.”

“Yes sir!” Hurricane turned away as the messenger left to deliver his acknowledgment.

“Optio Pansy! Front and center!” yelled Hurricane, summoning his second in command from the roof of a nearby building.

“Yes sir?” the timid pegasus asked as she landed in front of her superior, giving him a hasty salute. Hurricane looked at her for a few long moments, saying nothing. Just as she was starting to get concerned, the corners of Hurricane’s face turned upward into the largest grin she had ever seen on him. “Are you ok, sir?”

“I’m better than ok, Pansy! I just got promoted! I’m in charge of the ENTIRE COHORT!”

“C-Congratulations sir.”

“I know! It’s great!”

“But doesn’t that mean that Centurion Thunder Storm is dead?”

“Huh? Oh right, that. It doesn’t matter. All that does matter is that I’m moving up in this army. I am going to be a Dux soon enough. In the meantime, I’m going to rub this promotion into Storm Bolt’s face!”

“I know you will sir,” sighed Pansy. She knew that this was a big promotion for Hurricane, but it was also just like him to brag about it excessively. She just knew that he was going to flaunt it every chance he got. Hoping to end her superior’s ravings, Pansy asked, “Did Legate Typhoon give you any orders as well?”

Calming down, Hurricane regained a serious look on his face and replied, “Yes, my Cohort is to prevent the civilian population from fleeing the city.”

“Uh, why sir?”

“We invaded the lands of these barbaric dirt ponies in order to increase our dwindling food rations. If we can’t increase the tribute they give us to produce the weather, then we will subjugate them and make them pay higher “taxes” to us. Does that make sense Opito?”

“Yes sir, it does…. Although don’t you think that’s a little extreme?”

“I don’t see why it would be. After all, as long as they pay their taxes, they have the protection of the Empire’s Legions,” replied Hurricane while he summoned over a nearby messenger pony. “Not only that, but they don’t even have to change anything about their way of life. You know how much we are hooves off when it comes to the affairs of the lands we conquer.”

“That’s right sir. But still…”

“Enough. We can continue this discussion later. For now we still have orders to carry out.” Turning his attention away from Pansy, he addressed the waiting messenger pony. “Write down these orders and deliver them to the other Centurions of the cohort. Are you ready to begin?”

“Yes sir.” acknowledged the pony readying the paper and quill.

“Start Message: This is Centurion Hurricane. I have just been assigned to fulfill the role of the late Centurion Thunder Storm. As such I will now carry out his assigned duties. We have been ordered to surround the city and prevent any more of the civilians from fleeing the area. Centurion Storm Bolt is to take his century and deploy four clicks to the north of the city. Centurion Cyclone shall take the east, and the century of the late Centurion Thunder Storm shall take up positions to the west. My century shall cover the southern part of the city. Centurion Storm Chaser’s century shall take up positions in the clouds above the city and will assist the other centuries as needed.

“All centuries are to blockade the roads in their area. We are not to kill any civilians if at all possible, but our legionaries are allowed to use lethal force if they come under attack.” Pausing to collect his thoughts, Hurricane added, “I expect bi-hourly reports on the situation. I also need to be informed of who has taken Thunder Storm’s place. Signed, Centurion Hurricane of the Pegasi Stratocracy.” He once again paused as he waited for the messenger to finish writing the letter.

“Will there be anything else sir?” asked the messenger.

“No,” replied Hurricane, “But deliver those orders with grate haste. Time is of the essence.”

“Right away sir!” As the messenger took off, Hurricane turned back to Pansy.

“Prepare the Century,” he ordered. “We are leaving in ten minutes.”

Pansy acknowledged the order and took off, leaving Hurricane alone with his thoughts. He once again gazed out over the city and spoke aloud, “Soon, the pegasi will have all that they deserve, and neither the mud ponies nor those self-righteous unicorns will be able to stop us.” Flapping his wings, he took to the air, a smirk still plastered on his face. “And the best thing is,” he added, “that I am going to ride this wave all the way to the top.”

Comments

[huffman8]

Next Chapter is here (finally)!
The Pegasi here are loosely based off of the late Roman Republic, early Roman Empire. Next chapter is going back to the earth ponies. I have no idea when it's going to be done.