A sudden tide of blood

A horrid scream followed by an ear shattering thud rang out. Myself and Umbri snapping to and falling out of bed, "What the fuck was that!?" I screamed, my ears ringing from the violent wake up. Daring rushed out of the side room and slammed into the wall, "Daring, Umbri, stay here!"

A horn sounded as I rushed into the hallway. I ran with a surge of ponies through the hall and into a large mustering hall. Jut and two others were shouting orders. After a few moments the crowd surged out towards the exit. I joined them, but was stopped at the door by a stallion with a bear's head as a hat, "You with me! Stick with me and fight hard!"

I looked over the stallion and nodded, "Aye sir! But what's going on!?" The bear headed one turned and charged out the door with me in tow, a scene of flying rocks, shining armor descending from the sky and the smell of blood overtook my senses. This was a war zone.

"Sixth legion came from the south, thought they could catch us unaware but we're always ready! My name is Holden by the way, I don't care who you are, bring me some heads and maybe I'll ask." Holden quickly lead me to a large group of ponies, most armed to the teeth, several others working in pairs to move equipment towards the walls. We quickly joined the group and clashed against a regiment of legion recruits that had landed inside the wall. Our numbers ranked maybe one hundred, theirs one fifty, "I hope you're ready to bleed child...take as many as you can, and be ready to meet the goddess."

I swallowed hard as we stared down our opponents. As we drew close we could see their fear, this regiment was young, perhaps even fresh out of training, "Retreat now and we may let you live!" The commander for the regiment screamed, his voice unsure and wavering.

Holden let out a loud groan, "They're trying to keep us from the real fight...giving us these weaklings to keep us preoccupied. Blue hair, can you deal with this?" He stared at me as he started off, "Twenty stay, the rest come with me, we find a real fight!"

"Wait! I don't-" Before I could argue I was flanked by twenty exceedingly brutish looking ponies.

One such stallion with a stripe of red painted across his head walked to my side, "What's wrong boy? This is ideal for a budding warrior, a place amongst the best, a force of petty fools and children, this will be a slaughter. Say the word boy."

I looked back at our enemies, their column was solid save a small chunk in the right flank, "The right...hit them on the right side." The stallion looked up and smiled his evil smile, "Well...go, charge!"

From behind one of the stallions blew several small charges with a horn and set the ponies around me free. I watched in awe as swords were taken into mouths, spears were lowered to sides, axes were thrown through the air. I cringed as I heard the impact of their charge, screams, bone crunching snaps, the sound of metal slamming together filled the air.

The formation collapsed immediately, their back broken and troops scattered from the weakened flank. Seeing an oppurtunity to catch some off guard I drew my axes and charged. As I hurled an axe into an unsuspecting boy I felt a surge of warmth through my body. Colors grew brighter, my vision hazed into a blur of colors, the smell of blood grew heavy in the air, a loud chant sounding from the growing massacre, "Blood!" They cheered, the recruits trampling each other to run from us. The legion was meant to be an unstoppable force, but these fools were nothing.

I skewered somepony's neck with my horn, driving him into his friends and tearing his neck wide open. A spray of blood spraying the surrounding soldiers. All I could hear now were screams, from my allies, from the enemy, from the civilians running about, some joining us in our slaughter, some running for cover.

So rapt was I that I lost myself, my body acting on its own. A violent display of a rabid beast filled my eyes. I hurled another axe into another's fight, freeing another able body and drawing yet more blood from the legion. The fray grew wild and I found myself surrounded by a group of hesitant legionaries. One braver sort charged me. He managed to roll me onto the ground before being pummeled to death by a passing mob. An older foal helped me up and with a smile, grabbed an axe from my bag and joined the fight. I was down to my final axe, this was it.

As the fights drew narrower, fighters linking up and forcing the last of the regiment against the wall, they began to scream for their lives. I forced my way through the crowd and halted the encroaching death, "Hold damn you, hold!" I stepped cautiously towards the cowering group, their numbers cut down from over one hundred to just thirty.

Once again the red stained stallion met my side, "Sir, your orders?"

I looked at the cowering group, "What would-" I shook myself hard to regain my composure, "Can we take them alive?"

The red stained one grimaced, "Not the glorious death they so demanded!" He shouted at the frightened huddle, "But I suppose a bit of mercy is honorable. Take them!" A horn sounded one with a high pitched toot, followed by a drawn out one that whinnied down. The civilian mob ran off to join some other fight while the eighteen remaining ponies left to me started disarming and clubbing the defeated group unconscious.

Once the group was sufficiently subdued two stayed behind to keep them there. After trophies were taken, weapons checked, wounds quickly bound, my sixteen formed back around me. I looked back at the scattered bodies behind us. I felt strong, I felt amazing. I ran towards a growing clash with my troops. A smaller group of tribesmen were pinned and defending to the last. With our unit freed up we charged into the assaulting enemy, catching their backs exposed and punching a hole straight through to the wounded ponies within.

As we fought I never found myself alone. As we helped the trapped group out, we split into two lines and started pushing the enemy formation apart, scattering them and dividing their strength. While better fighters than the last, our unity meant they couldn't push us apart. The red stained one to my right, knocking his skull into an enemy and shattering their nose, letting me drive an axe into their throat and ripping it open. Another nearly slicing my leg open found his sword ripped from his mouth and completely unarmed. He was quickly slain by a savage mare with a dirk. Such a small weapon, it took several horrible stabs to end the fighter.

As half the formation fled, our second line joined the first and pushed them into another fight. A growing mass of death formed in front of me until finally the last were killed and I was met with a bloody earth pony with a frightful look in her eye. She nearly charged me, unsure of my side until the red stained one took my flank once again, "All those who can still fight, form up!" He screamed.

The group we had saved, and the group we had forced the enemy into quickly reformed into two units. A mare with a shaved head and half an ear walked over to me, "Right, you're the one givin' us the blood sport." She quickly headbutted me, sending me back a pace, "Ha! Tough, fer such a little twat ain't yah'."

I shook my head and quickly banished the slight pain, "Enough, do you know where we should go?"

Half ear looked out along the battle, "You an yers' go n' find da chief. Get sum ordas out here."

I nodded and looked to my group. With the injured taking a breather we were still sitting at about fifty ponies ready to fight. I looked around and saw an extremely large group fighting near a tall building, "Sir?" The red one asked me.

I stared at the fight. I could see a heavily armored group landing and marching slowly towards the fight, "Those, get those before they can turn around!" the horn sang out again, letting the group know my orders and lurching the whole loose formation towards the flank of the slow moving group.

"Get between their armor and shred them!" One pony screamed, charging the group. We slammed into their side, causing their formation to buckle, but still they fought hard. Little by little we were whittled down, as were they. As the fight slowly turned against us, most of my troops wounded or fled, another horn sounded from our left. A huge throng of ponies swept away the rest of the heavily armed ones, turning them into paste under the stampede.

I had taken a few cuts and bruises, one of the heavy ones managed to stab my side. As I limped after the horde I was grabbed by the chief, "Boy, be calm!" He held me back as the red painted one stood with us, "Take command, clean up this rabble and restore order!" The red one nodded and ran off, yelling at what was my group and leading them.

"Chief...we, I saw them-"

He shook me hard, "Get a hold of yourself, I saw what you did, bought us time and got pretty well done in too. Holden!"

Holden ran over, "Aye sir?"

"Take the boy back to the great hall, let him hang the banner." I was tossed over to Holden and quickly pulled away from the fight, "Ya did good lad, now take a breather and let us clean up our mess!"

I quickly found myself crossing the bloodied streets. Several townsponies helping the injured or finishing the wounded enemies. "By the goddess boy I tell you to deal with a bunch of recruits and ya go and knock out a bunch of veterans. It's like you're trying to find your honored death."

I muttered wildly as I was dragged back into the building I had started in. little by little I was lead up a tower until finally we met the top. A lookout post, several horns, and a large banner sat around the tower floor, "You!" One of the lookouts charged over. She looked me over and kissed me, forcing me back against the wall. It was dispassionate, brief, and horridly confusing, "White coat blue mane, you're a lunatic! A brilliant lunatic!" She quickly bit my ear and dragged me towards the edge of the tower, "See that!" She pointed out a group of ponies being led about in chains, another pile of bodies quickly growing, a strange path of bodies carved out in a street, "You bloody punched through and butchered their flank!" She pulled me against her chest, "You're an amazing madman!" She kissed the top of my head and laughed hard, "Look at that! You can see where ya went!" She traced a hoof along a path of bodies leading to the wall. From the wall they went east, where a small line separated two graveyards. From there along a large open area the metallic soldiers we had nearly died to were being finished.

"I don't understand!" I yelled.

"What's to understand!? Ya fuckin' killed em! Ya chopped em up, ya hacked em ta bits, ya-"

"Enough!" Holden shouted, "Set our the banner, they've lost this one."

The mare quickly threw me away, "Sorry sir," She grabbed the banner and hooked it before tossing it over the short wall, "Congratulations..." She mumbled at me before ducking away.

Holden quickly stared her down and walked me down the steps and back to my room, "Skane." He said, pushing me into my room, "They'll be chanting it at the feast tonight!" He laughed as he wandered off.

"Skane!?" Umbri quickly grabbed me by the shoulders and shook me, "Skane, by the goddess you're covered in blood, what the-" I cut her off by driving my tongue into her mouth. She put up a bit of a fight before letting me take over. I could see Daring peek out of the side room before ducking back inside. Good to know all I need to do to earn some privacy is go to war.

I finally pulled back, leaving Umbri gasping, "Bed, now." I stated with the same authority I used in the field. She quickly scrambled away and jumped into the bed, flicking her tail to the side and presenting herself.

Daring strolled meekly in before I could reach the bed, "See...now that looks like a stallion." She laughed as she pushed me back, from my spent mate, "Seriously though, calm down."

I snorted angrily, "I will en-" I was cut off by a deep hug.

"Don't get ahead of yourself kid...I know that feeling. An adrenalin rush is a heck of a thing, but you need to calm down."

I pushed Daring back, holding her at length, "Daring I feel strong, I feel so strong, so alive!" She gave me a funny looking smile, "Daring?"

"You remind me of me...back when I started adventuring. You're in for a heck of a life kid." She hugged me again. My state slowly lowering, colors fading, brain clearing. I slowly calmed down. As I did I felt a deep depression surge over me. I was quickly led to the bed, my mate expecting another go, only to be left wanting. I felt tired, dead, everything felt low and horrible.

Umbri quickly held me against her stomach as Daring wandered off, "Daring what's wrong with him!?" Umbri screamed, "Daring!?"

Daring popped back into view, "He's just coming down. He'll be back to normal in a little bit. Once he's up again we should clean him up." Daring pulled my eye open, "The low is never fun, is it?"

"Fuck you..." I mumbled out before passing out for the exertion.