SPQR

Chapter 8

Sweet Apple Acres, Ponyville

Gaius gripped the pommel of his gladius tightly, as he often did before battle. In barely a whisper he offered a prayer to Mars, to give him the strength to overcome his foes and to protect the innocent from harm. The Roman gnashed his teeth, thinking of how to best deal with a foe that had the ability of flight. While it was true that some men would hunt birds with a bow, he had never learned how. The only projectile weapon he was even remotely adept with was the pilum, which he lacked at the moment. This also reminded him that he was missing his shield. At some point he’d have to ask Lyra if there were any blacksmiths in town to rectify his situation.

The griffon’s wings would need to be disabled or at the very least, he needed to keep the creature close to the ground. But how would he go about doing that? Gaius looked around and remembered they were in an orchard. The trees of course! They would help him corner the hybrid. Birds could hop from branch to branch and would not be encumbered by them, but the griffon was far larger. Surely the branches and leaves would encumber his ability to take off. All Gaius had to do was make sure he stayed near the trees and avoid any open space. With a few flaps and feline-like pounce, the griffon positioned himself in a fighting stance.

Sigs licked the outside of his beak. “So you use ein Kurzschwert hmm? I can’t say I’m surprised. Those stubby fingers of yours could barely rip apart a piece of fruit, let alone rend flesh. Allow me to show how a true predator hunts!”

The griffon’s hind legs released like a coiled spring, as he lunged at Gaius with his extended talons. Gaius sidestepped in an attempt to doge the attack and managed to avoid any serious injury but a few seconds later he felt a stinging sensation along his left arm. The cut wasn’t very deep because he had only been grazed; however it was still too close for comfort in Gaius’s opinion. The griffon lunged at him again, but this time he was ready. He slid underneath Sigs and delivered a solid kick to the hybrid’s genitals. The griffon was so shocked that he ended up slamming himself, head-first into the trunk of a nearby apple tree.

Gaius smirked. “You forgot about my stubby feet.”

The griffon picked himself up and staggered a bit before regaining his composure. With a primal screech he flew at full speed, delivering a kick of his own to Gaius’s chest. The roman was knocked back a few feet, subsequently losing the grip on his gladius as well. While chainmail was good for deterring slash wounds, it did little to cushion against blunt force impacts. However, that didn’t mean Gaius wasn’t used to such trauma. He didn’t know where his gladius went, so he thought it best to lure the griffon to him and make it appear as if he was helpless. Once the griffon got close enough, he would attack with bare fists to disable the creature and then look for his gladius.

Sigs sauntered over to Gaius’s “helpless” form. “You certainly know how to fight dirty affenmensch! But such is the nature of weak creatures. They hide under layers of armor to protect their feeble bodies and resort to cowardly tactics, in order to achieve victory. I shall enjoy skinning you.”

Without warning Gaius slammed his elbow right into the griffon’s beak. Sigs screamed in pain and surprise as Gaius grabbed him by the neck and pinned him to the ground. The centurion was strong, but only by human standards. A griffon, on the other hand, had the muscle mass equivalent to that of a lion on earth. Once Sigs regained his composure he delivered a brutal head-butt, sending the human into a nearby tree trunk.

While Gaius was certainly dazed, he still had enough wherewithal to realize that his gladius was lying next to the tree. With the sword firmly in hand, he looked around to find his foe. Gaius swore under his breath, desperately searing for his winged foe but the griffon was nowhere to be found. When he heard a little filly scream at the top of her lungs, his blood froze.

Sigs had managed to fly all the way over to the barn, where the rest of the ponies were hiding. In his claws was none other than Apple Bloom, desperately trying to escape the griffon’s grasp. As soon as Gaius came charging at him with his sword, Sigs merely took off and landed on top of the barn waggling one of his talons.

“Ah ah, I wouldn’t be so hasty if I were you. If my concentration were to be interrupted for even a split second, I might accidently slit the poor Mädchen’s throat. You don’t want to get blood all over that beautiful yellow coat of hers, would you?”

Gaius lowered his gladius. “Leave her out of this! She has nothing to do with your bounty.”

“Perhaps not, but I don’t ever play fair. I’m a mercenary not some law abiding soldier. Honor is overrated in my opinion and rarely does it leave me with a full coin purse.”

Meanwhile, Big Mac struggled to keep AJ restrained as she tried to attack the griffon. “LET ME AT ‘EM! I’ll teach that lousy piece o’ bird shit not to mess with mah sister. You hear that! You’re lucky mah brother is here or I’d break every little bone in your scrawny hide and then fillet you alive!”

Sigs petted Apple Bloom. “It’s so touching to see family that cares for each other. Too bad my own childhood consisted of beatings from my worthless alcoholic father. Ah but do not fret, I made sure he suffered a painful death. There’s nothing like being buried up to your neck in sand and left to die in the hot, unforgiving desert. I often wonder. Did the vultures devour his carcass? HA! The irony of a bird of prey being devoured by a BIRD OF PREY! Hahahaha!”

AJ’s hot tears stained the ground. “You’re nothin’ but a monster.”

“But a monster that survives, dear fräulein. You have one last chance ponies, give me the changeling or the filly dies. You have thirty seconds to decide. Choose wisely.”

Gaius threw his gladius into the ground, growling in frustration. He had underestimated the depths of depravity Sigs was willing to go, to achieve his goals. Now he was equal parts conflicted and angry. Two lives were in the balance: Both Chrysalis and Apple Bloom. On the one hand he felt that it was wrong to let this monster capture Chrysalis, even if she had a tumultuous past. She deserved a second chance, just like anyone else. Then there was Apple Bloom. She was only a filly, an innocent that had her whole life ahead of her. He couldn’t live with himself if he lost another child…one was enough. Before he could contemplate any further, a little black unicorn filly stepped out of the barn.

“Release the filly and I will subject myself to your custody.”

Sigs grinned. “An intelligent decision on your part. My patron will be very pleased to see your carcass at his hooves. Although…there is one other matter I must attend to.”

Sigs rummaged through one of the many pockets of his jacket and fished out a long tube, along with two feathered darts. He inserted them both into the tube and fired a dart at Chrysalis’s neck. Immediately, the world around her began to swirl and her body felt as though it were made of stone. She stumbled forward, shoving her muzzle straight into the dirt. The changeling frantically tried to summon her magic but her horn only fizzled. She could still feel her mouth but when she spoke, a small strand of saliva oozed down her neck.

“W-what….have….y-you done…t-to me?”

“I have merely incapacitated you for the moment. The dart I fired into your neck is made from the ground roots of the Tongo Tree. It is a type of tree native to Zebrica and is a powerful paralyzing agent. But the most curious thing about is that it also seems to restrict the flow of magic, particularly in unicorns. It works just as well on changelings.”

“Do…you…intended…to…k-kill me?”

Sigs landed next to Chrysalis. “No, my employer specifically wanted you alive for some reason. A far more difficult task but not impossible. As to what he wants to do with you…well that’s anyone’s guess.”

“Fine…but…let…the filly…g-go.”

“Oh yes, how rude of me! You may have her back if…YOU CAN CATCH HER!”

Sigs threw Apple Bloom against a nearby tree. The impact was strong enough to break one of her legs, as evident by her heavy sobs. Applejack galloped towards Apple Bloom as fast as her hooves could carry her, while Gaius grabbed his gladius and charged at the griffon. Gaius rammed Sigs into a tree, which broke one of his wings with a sickening snap. While the hybrid was momentarily stunned by the pain, Gaius plunged his sword straight into the meat of the griffon’s shoulder. In response, Sigs jammed his remaining dart into Gaius’s leg and gave the human a quick punch to the chest for good measure.

Gaius, like Chrysalis, began to feel the poison’s effects almost immediately. But the one thing that he had going for that Chrysalis didn’t was the sheer amount of adrenaline coursing through his veins. This served to only slow the poison’s effects, but it was enough to keep him on his feet.

Sigs clutched his injured shoulder. “You certainly are a persistent little bastard, I’ll give you that. However, it won’t be long until the Tongo root starts to affect your body. Then and only then, will I kill you.”

“You coward…”

“Again, what’s with everyone being obsessed with honor? I am injured and you are a strong and skilled opponent. It would be suicide for me to attack you as I am. Don’t despair though; at least your precious ponies are still alive.”

With on final burst of fury, Gaius plunged his gladius into the griffon’s neck. Sigs’s eyes widened in surprise as he let out a final, gurgling croak. As soon as body hit the ground, Gaius picked up his sword once more and began to savagely mutilate the corpse. The ponies watched in horror as their human friend worked himself into a frenzy, coating himself and the grass in blood. Gaius screamed at the top of lungs as he slashed the desecrated corpse one final time. After that, the poison guided him into sweet, unconscious bliss.

Arretium, The Roman Empire

Gaius awoke to the smell of lilacs and the feel a midsummer’s gentle breeze. He rose out of bed and slipped on a white tunic and began to pour himself a goblet of wine. As he was enjoying his wine, he heard the sound of the sheets rustling behind him. Gaius smiled when he felt his wife’s arms wrap around his chest.

“Ah good morning Florentia, I trust you slept well?”

“Mhmm and you knew I would too. Especially after all the things we did last night.”

Gaius gave her a quick peck on the cheek. “I do what I can.”

“Well I guess I better put something on before Alcmene walks in on us.”

“Do you really have to? I was beginning to enjoy the view…”

“We’ll have plenty of time for that tonight. Today is when she starts her tutoring; you know how important that is.”

“Oh right, I nearly forgot about that. Sorry.”

“It’s alright; I know you’ve been busy training recruits for the new campaign.”

Gaius rubbed the back of his neck. “Yes and they’re all going to excellent legionnaires but…it always saddens me knowing that some of them will die. I can’t imagine what you two would go through if something happened to me.”

Florentia took his and gripped it tightly. “Don’t think that way my love. Even if you die out there, in the frontier, you have provided us a bounty to live off of. You are a wonderful husband and a loving father and I will always carry that in my heart, even if you are no longer with me.”

“Thank you Florentia I…”

Gaius was interrupted when a six year old girl padded her way across the tile floor. He knelt to one knee and wrapped the girl in a bone crushing hug.

“Papa!”

“How’s my little sunflower doing?”

“Good. Did you know that I start my tutoring today?”

Gaius chuckled. “Yes, your mother told me. I hear that your teacher is all the way from Athens. You should consider yourself lucky; Athens has some of the brightest minds in the world.”

“Papa…are you going away again? I remember the last time you left and Momma got really sad. I don’t want you to leave, ‘cause I get really sad too.”

“Alcmene, I know it makes the both of you sad but it’s my duty. When the emperor calls, I must answer.”

Alcmene crossed her arms. “I don’t care about duty…or whatever that is. I just want you here, with us!”

“Think of it this way: I’m a big, strong, soldier that protects you right?”

“Umm…yeah.”

“Well I get to be a big, strong, soldier to everybody else in the empire too. Don’t you want everyone else to be safe too?”

“Yeah, I guess that’s not so bad. But promise me you’ll come back soon?”

Gaius patted her head. “I’ll try my best sunflower. Now why don’t you scamper off to the kitchen and get some breakfast. You can’t study on an empty stomach, after all.”

Once Alcmene went into the kitchen, Gaius turned his back to his wife. She was sitting on the bed gently brushing her long, curly brown hair. He went to place his hand on her shoulder and noticed that her skin was hotter than coals in a fire. It was very strange because her skin didn’t appear abnormal whatsoever. All of the sudden, the entire room began to feel like he was inside an oven.

Gaius looked around frantically to find to source of his discomfort but everything in the villa seemed normal. That is, until everything began to catch on fire. Within seconds the entire villa was engulfed in a hellacious inferno that threatened to burn everyone alive. He turned to his wife to grab her arm and found that her entire body was consumed by flames. She merely turned around and stared at him with horrible, semi-molten eyes.

“What’s wrong my love?”

Gaius stumbled to the floor with a scream of panic, only to see his wife continue to comb her nearly non-existent hair, as if nothing was wrong. He nearly broke into hysterical sobbing when he saw Alcmene come out of the kitchen, flashing him a toothy grin from her burning skull. Why was everything like this? Was this his punishment for not being there when they perished in that terrible fire? The blaze around him held no answers, as he sank to his knees and let the flames consume him.

Lyra’s apartment, Ponyville

Gaius awoke with a scream, finding himself drenched in sweat. At some point, somebody had put him in a bed and bandaged his left arm. He also noticed that he was completely naked underneath the bed sheets. The dream had felt so real and some small part of him had wished that he had finally gone to Elysium to reunite with his wife and child. But he was back in Equestria now, apparently alive…and not so well. He took in a deep breath to try and calm himself, only to realize how dry his throat was. As luck would have it, a very tired looking Chrysalis stood in the doorway levitating a glass of water.

“You really should drink this. It isn’t very healthy to stay dehydrated.”

Gaius greedily chugged the water. “What happened?”

“You passed out from the poison, much like I did. Although it took you far longer to recover from it. I suspect that is because you metabolized it faster than I did.”

“How long have I been out?”

Chrysalis rubbed her chin. “About two days, give or take a few hours.”

“T-that long!? By the gods. What of Apple Bloom, how is she?”

“She has a broken leg but is otherwise ok.”

Gaius breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that the little filly was ok. It still galled him that the mercenary had the nerve to treat her like she was nothing but a sack of trash. In the end, the griffon got his just desserts. Scum like him didn’t deserve to live.

“Where are all the other ponies?”

Chrysalis chuckled. “They’re probably all asleep, considering it’s the middle of the night. But you should probably thank that minty unicorn mare first, since she’s the one that bathed you and cleaned you up.”

“What about you? I know from our mind meld that you don’t need much sleep, but that doesn’t explain why you’re here.”

“Well I…wanted to thank you for saving my life. Nobody has ever cared about me like that before and…I-I feel as if I owe you some gratitude. If I had to stay here and look after you for another week, then I would’ve done it. So…ermm, thank you.”

“You’re welcome but there is no need to thank me. I was simply…”

Chrysalis placed the tip of her hoof on his mouth. “I don’t care. I’m going to be thankful and reward you, whether you like it or not. Just accept it, Gaius Septimus.”

“What exactly do you have in mind?”

“Oh I think you’ll like what I have to offer.”

Gaius looked in fascination as the changeling’s body was enveloped in green flames. As the flames dissipated, Chrysalis took on a completely new form. Before him stood a slender human female with shoulder length aquamarine hair. Her eyes were a deep emerald and her skin was a pale as the snow. To say that she was beautiful would have been like saying that Rome was a mere city. Chrysalis slowly climbed into the bed and positioned herself behind Gaius, pushing her soft breasts into his back while laying her head on his shoulder.

Gaius swallowed hard. “W-what are you doing?”

The queen giggled and drew lazy circles in his chest with her fingers. “I’m letting you fuck me. I thought that was obvious at this point. You haven’t had a female companion in some time right? I know you don’t want to lay those silly little ponies, so I’m offering you an alternative.”

“I mean, are you sure this is what you want? I’m not even a pony myself so…”

“Oh please! I’m a changeling. I’ve fucked far stranger creatures than you. It’s not as if I’ve restricted myself to being attracted to any single species. You might be some monkey creature but you’re not hard on the eyes…at least in my opinion.”

“That’s honestly…a bit surprising. I didn’t think you were attracted to me at all.”

Chrysalis kissed his neck. “Oh I wasn’t, at least not initially. But saving a mare’s life earns you quite a few points on the affection scale.”

“I’m not really sure how I feel about this.”

“You don’t have to feel anything about it. Just accept and enjoy. You get laid and I get some lust energy, everybody wins!”