“Uhh…Twi, are you sure this here spell y’all are doing is going to be safe?” Applejack’s concern was clearly plastered over her face.
Twilight Sparkle did not answer, her face set in grim determination. Her horn glowed a bright rose color, blinding those who so much as glanced at it. Starswirl the Bearded, father of Unicorn spell casting, had created this particular spell. It required a great deal of mana, but was very rewarding in its results. It was called a Trans-dimensional Teleportation Spell. It enabled a user to move objects to alternate dimensions, a prospect which excited Twilight vastly. She had, after all, always wanted to see other worlds. Science was indeed exciting.
This did not sit well with Twilight’s friends, however, who had foreboding feelings over how it would end up. Applejack was worried that they would be unable to return, and that she would be unable to support her family. Rarity was worried that the dimension would be completely comprised of mud, and would be inhabited by filthy savages. Rainbow Dash, was worried that the spell would somehow remove her wings, despite Twilights assurances that it would not. Pinkie Pie was concerned that she would appear in a world devoid of laughter. Fluttershy was too nervous to state what she was worried of. When she thought about it, Twilight was certain that Fluttershy would probably be afraid of any outcome.
Truthfully, she did not know what to expect. She was hoping for a world of knowledge and learning. She wanted a world where everyone loved reading, and science was universal. She wanted a paradise of mathematics and philosophy. In some ways, she was the least pessimistic of the group, despite the fact that this was her first time using the spell since finding it in the Starswirl the Bearded wing of the Canterlot archives. Any worries that plagued her were viciously suppressed. It was for science, and science was a good mistress.
Really, it hadn’t been hard to convince her friends to come with her. She had told them that there was an equal chance that they would end up in their own personal heavens. The want of a perfect world truly overrode any fears of hell or otherwise. Twilight made a mental note to use the same tactic in the future to convince her friends of anything.
“Alright, everypony ready?” She asked, turning back to face her friends.
Nods and silent confirmations greeted her. Good enough she supposed. Her instincts screamed that now was the time, and her horn flared up even brighter. The world took on a unreal, ethereal quality as her spells tore apart the fabric of reality. The rend appeared as a gash in the air. The group hesitated, and entered as one ready to face whatever danger there was together. They had no idea of the horrors that would face them that day.
They stood upon a hill. It was pleasant and grassy. The air was clean and fresh, unmarred. It seemed that they were in paradise for a moment, until they realized that the skies were overcast and grey. Looking around them, they found plains of grass. Their attention fixated on one plain in particular. Upon it were two vast armies. The armies were comprised of strange, bipedal creatures. One side wore blue, the other red. Banners fluttered in the breeze. The space between the army was muddy and drenched, like a bog. A multitude of weapons were clutched in tight…claws? The armies glared at each other from across the field. Both were flanked by deep, dark forests like those out of a horror story.
The girls glanced at each other, wondering what was going on. Why were these two armies facing off against each other? Why did it seem as those violence would soon break out? Did they not know the magic of friendship and the value of harmony, the sovereign rein of peace? They gulped at the unsheathed blades glinting in the half light.
The red army had planted stakes in front of itself, and was vastly outnumbered by the blue army. They stood in ragged lines behind the stakes, holding what appeared to be a variant of bow. Others carried spears, and stood between the rows of stakes, their spears glinting as they were braced against the ground. Behind them were bipedal creatures sitting upon what looked uncomfortably like ponies, only larger. Horses, then.
“How dare they?” Twilight gasped dramatically, “How could they use other creatures as slaves?” Silent agreement radiated from her companions.
“Yes, and what a horrid sense of fashion they have!” Rarity complained, “Why I could spruce them up just so!”
Frowns accompanied this statement.
The blue army outnumbered the red army by thousands. Swords and lances glinted in the sun, held by heavily armored soldiers mounted upon horses. They stood in organized rows, their shining helmets seeming to fix the red army with demonic glares. Heavy plate armor glittered in the sun. Others held spears, but were loosely organized, very few wore armor, having to settle with padded barding. Yet others held crossbows. These crossbows were different from the royal guard in that they required hands to use. The triggers were much more curved for efficiency among the bipedals. In truth, the girls were certain that the blue army would win. They had greater numbers and better armor, without the edge of exhaustion that seemed to crush the red army.
“The way ah see it, the red uns should surrender. They ain’t got no chance against them blue ones,” Applejack stated thoughtfully.
One of the blue cavalry pointed towards the red soldiers with his blade. At his command, hundreds of soldiers charged forwards on their horses. A massive wave of flesh and steel that caused the earth to tremble as if under the wrath of some angry god. As one, the red archers drew their bows and fired. The girls flinched as tens of thousands of arrows rose into the air, bathing the field in shadow. They fell like rain, sparing none caught in their path. Several horsemen recoiled as arrows punched through them, sending blood spraying wildly. The girls eyes widened at the agonized screaming that came carried upon the wind. Arrows struck horses, sending them falling to the ground. The horsemen were thrown, hitting the mud and sinking. They struggled violently, to no avail as the drowned in the thick brown mire, armor meant to protect leading merely to demise. Arrows punched through gorgets, punching to the other side in expulsions of gore. The mud changed from dark brown to a befouled crimson color.
The horsemen that had made it to the red lines fell in quick succession. Several of them ran into the stakes, which were punched through the horses. The cavalry were thrown from the horses into the lines of soldiers beyond, where they were dragged behind the line of battle. Others were viciously yanked from their horses by a multitude of hands, screaming as knives brutally punched through the weak points in their amour. Others were run through as the rode into the spear wall, blood dripping from the spears in a torrent. The mares had to hold back sickness as they saw several horsemen decapitated or disemboweled by the zealous red soldiers. They had never seen such violence in their lives.
The remainder of the first wave pulled back, only to be shot down from behind. Corpses lay strewn across the muddy fields. Bodies hung from stakes, heads were strewn about almost manically. Intestines and innards spilled out across the field of death. Fluttershy cowered behind her friends, unwilling to see the carnage before her. Twilight stared in slack jawed horror at the violence that had occurred. Rainbow Dash and Applejack were blinking in horror at what they had seen. Pinkie’s mane had deflated. Rarity had fainted.
Truthfully, they all knew of wars. The Nightmare Wars of a thousand years past had brought about a horrendously bloody toll, as it degenerated into a war of attrition. The wars of Discord had been brutal and chaotic. The Crystal Expansions had been short but violent as the deluded King Sombra had attempted to slay all before him. But this was the first time they had witnessed an actual confrontation between armies. Here, death was a reality, and more often than not, brutally painful.
A second wave of cavalry charged the red soldiers, with similarly bloody results. Several more waves were sent forward, and the flaws in the blue tactics became painfully obvious. They were relying on numbers to carry the day. Like the girls, they had assumed that superior numbers and armament would gain them victory. They were wrong, and they paid the price in the blood of their soldiers.
Bodies lay strewn on top of each other, opened to the air. There were arrows through eyes, through jugulars, through hearts and chests. Blood flowed now like a river, and the ground was unrecognizable as mud. Rather, it looked like a raw wound, opened with a blade upon the flesh of a dying man. It glistened crimson in the foul light. The scent of copper and offal wafted on the breeze, causing the mares to gag.
Among the blue prisoners, though, dissension was breaking forth. They had weapons. They could attack the reds from the rear. Twilight saw an attack coming. Evidently, so did the commander of the army dressed in red. He gestured to the blue soldiers and made a slicing motion with his finger. Twilight squeezed her eyes shut as she realized what was coming. Red soldiers drew daggers and knives, and fell upon the prisoners, stabbing and slashing. Heads were pulled back so that throats could be slit. Other took blades through their throats, blood spurting wildly, and misting in the air. Blades were driven through hearts, the soldiers whose hearts were pierced falling limply to the earth, mouths twisted in silent screams. The prisoners were slaughtered, and the red soldiers returned to their positions.
The coldblooded nature of the killing made Twilight fell like weeping.
The blue soldiers, though they still outnumbered the red soldiers vastly, wisely chose to retreat. Victory was beyond their grasp against such an entrenched enemy. They slowly trudged from the field of battle, as dogs that have been castigated by a master. Cheers broke out among the red soldier’s ranks, weary though they were. Victory was clear. Red casualties were far less than the those the blues had suffered. The battle was done.
It was here that Rainbow Dash uttered four words: “War is not cool.”
Five hundred and ninety-eight years later, and a continent away, an author strenuously disagreed with her.
Author's Note
Please feel free to comment. This story was really just done to see if I am any good at writing about Medieval warfare. Your opinion is welcome.
Addendum: Edited 12/12/2014 to fix spelling errors.
