Humans of Equestria: The Severius-Equestrian War

by ClassyGeneral

Rating: mature
Tags: Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Human, Thriller, Drama, Original Character, Other, Adventure
Length: 13974

Humanity and the Equines share a history together that can be declared a story for the ages... but it begins with not peace or harmony, not much of the love and compassion that propsers today... No, back in the ancient times... there was only war...

The land of Equestria has now been declared as its own sovereign country. The Crystal empire sits to the north, the land of the Changelings to the south and many more unexplored lands await. Though the fogs of chaos set in to disrupt the newly awakened harmony. War against an unknown threat is imminent, and the ponies must be ready. All of this sets up perfectly for one race that will steal the show and effect history forever. Humanity will act soon...

Published 2014-01-19 18:20:04 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-13 16:42:39 UTC

Chapter 1: Living Legends

Living Legends

Humans…

A species that prides itself upon controlling the world in every way possible…

Whether it is technology, culture, economics, or warfare…

Humans…

A species that is made to be the apex predator…

Humans hunt by chasing their prey until they simply give up and die…

Humans are able to eat most of what they find, keeping them in the hunt…

The human body simply eats itself if food is not found…

Humans…

Humans walk upright, giving them extreme efficiency when travelling great distances…

Humans sweat, keeping their bodies cooler so they can continue with their objectives in survival…

Humans have small amounts of body hair, allowing them to radiate their body heat, meaning extreme environments won’t stop them…

Humans…

Fighting against them may prove futile…

Their bodies can take a large beating and lose almost half of their blood… and still survive…

Humans…

They are intelligent, persistent, ever enduring, and fully determined…

Humans are intolerant of resistance…

Anyone or anything that stands in their way will be eliminated one way or another…

Humans…

The most feared, revered, and powerful species the Equestria has ever known…

3000 years before Discord…

The country of Equestria lies in a time of harmony.  The three leaders of the tribe have set aside their differences and now unite to form a growing empire.  The Earth ponies continue their work on the land. Pegasi guide their patterns of weather, using it to better effect the outcome of the crops.  The unicorns now use their magic in any way possible to aid their new comrades in their tasks.

Though, a new race has arisen in the tribe, a race of ponies that have all of the traits that a pony can have.  They can dash about in the big blue skies, tend to the earth’s crops, and bend the land to their will with magic.  This new race is titled… the Alicorns.

The leaders of the tribe that have discovered the comradeship which forms their country today have been rewarded in the ability to become an alicorn.  Other ponies have become alicorns as well, creating almost an entire hierarchy for the race.  All of them complete different tasks to guide the ponies in their live, whether it be controlling the sun, and moon, or guiding the flow of the water in the streams.

The united tribes have taken to worshipping the alicorns, feeling as if they were enlightened beyond their own understanding in the ways of life.

The kingdom continued in peace for decades to come… But such harmony must be interrupted to make way for an equalizer of… chaos.

In the southern desert lands of Equestria a clan of strange creatures arose, using volatile magic to alter reality into whatever situation they truly wanted.  The ponies have taken to calling them the draconequess clan.

Short-tempered peace continued between the two species, until the draconequess clan started to expand northward, into the lands of Equestria.  They began to mishap with the Earth ponies, for they had no real way of escape, this slowed the overall process of the crops, which in turn could lead to ponies starving even with the help of the other races.

The alicorns began to force the draconequess clan away, leaving them without anything to play with.  The draconequess clan then decided to simply fight back… with force.  The alicorns replied continuing to protect their citizens at all costs.

The war mainly raged on the southern border of Equestria, but what neither side knew was that the real threat lied to the northwest…

Large cities stood tall over the land, putting the ponies’ tiny villages to utter shame.  The buildings made out of white painted stone with red roofs upon them.  Giant cobbled streets ran inside and between all of the cities, giving them a better infrastructure than the ponies.  One city contained a brilliantly large palace, a large port nest to the sea, and even a coliseum for sporting events.

The people of these cities were none other than human beings themselves.  Thousands upon thousands of them populated these cities, wearing robes, tunics, and a portion of them wearing armor.

This was the territory of the Severius Empire.

The Latin-speaking country laid claim to the area and was unchallenged in the process of taking it.

The Severians knew of the other races that fought about in the country south of them.  They found the ponies to be completely inferior, proven by the fact that ponies were extremely underdeveloped.  They saw the alicorns as the only race that could prove a challenge to them on the planet, and even then they wasted their time with the ponies.

The Severians felt that all of the grand land to the south had been mismanaged by the ponies… and they looked to right that wrong.

The ponies and alicorns have had rumors of a powerful species lurking in the northwest; some have even said they have seen them.

They have taken to placing a name upon them as the “hind walkers” Tales of humans have spread about, depicting them as creatures of power and control.  The ponies soon began to fear the creatures they found fictional.  Now they crafted stories of ponies going to their giant cities and never returning to their homeland.

Though, these stories would prove true, even for an alicorn…

A forest overlooks the northwestern lands of Equestria; the forest sits upon a large hill near Smokey Mountain.  The forest sits in the full bloom of spring, birds chirp in the trees, deer prance about, the occasional raccoon, fox or even a bear would come about through the forest.

Standing on top of the hill was a tall male alicorn.  The alicorn was named Clash, Prince Clash to be exact.  He originally was but an earth pony before his transformation, due to him defending his village against even the largest and smallest of threats.  His coat was a dark red, along with a mane of dark grey, and eyes a fiery hue of orange.  His cutie mark, which was a long broadsword, displayed his abilities in combat.

Clash was sent to truly assess the existence of the humans, and if they were a true threat.  If they were then he was to attempt talks of peace, rather than war.

Clash unfurled his wings and ascended into the air, quickly hovering above the tree line.  Clash looked out over the entire land, finding strange formation in the distance.  Clash guides himself towards it in the air.  As Clash nears the formation it begins to reveal details to him, along with many more of the same formation.

Clash ascends further into the air overlooking the giant city that was now in his view; he was now able to see the streets and the city’s inhabitants.

Clash was at a loss of words now realizing that he has discovered the human race that so many legends have arisen from.  He remembers stories from his childhood, being told that humans are terrifying creatures of destruction.  Clash was indeed struck with fear as the possibilities played about in his head, but he pushed on to complete his objective.

Clash dived down through the air, in the direction of a square in the town, filled with market stalls, and human merchants buying and selling goods.  Clash aimed for an open area in the square and landed onto the ground with a large stamp when his hooves made contact.

Clash then stood to his full height as was in shock to find that he only reached eye-level with the creatures.  The humans in the area gasped at the sight of the alicorn and some even ran away from him.

Other began to run and yell in their language to each other, confusing the alicorn.

“Auxilio!  Auxilio!”  One of them males yelled, sprinting away with a basket of spices.

“Et custodes!”  A woman yelled, carrying a child away from the square.

“Confuto!”  Two armored humans yell as they stand defiantly in front of the alicorn.  The guards are armed with large scutum shields, made of wood, and edged along with metal.  The shield displayed symbols of their empire.  The soldiers were also armed with a gladius in their other hand.

The two soldiers shielded themselves with the shield and readied with the gladius if the alicorn was to attack.

Clash quickly realized how threatening he appeared and quickly placed his wings against his body and improved his posture to diminish any aggression in his appearance.

Even faster more soldiers appeared to surround him with their own shields and blades to use, creating a full circle around Clash.

“Don’t be afraid!”  Clash called out.  “I don’t mean any harm!”

The soldiers replied by all simultaneously bashing their shields with the blades, startling the alicorn slightly.

“Tempero!”  A loud voice called out.

Two of the soldiers stepped out of the way as a soldier with heavier armor appeared in the ranks and stepped in front of the alicorn.

The centurion wore a cape along with his armor, and a large plume upon his head.  He wielded a long spatha sword and the same shield as the other troops.

The centurion kept his shield and sword down as to not appear as aggressive as the legionnaires.

“Dic negotio, equine.”  The centurion stated to Clash.

Clash returned a strange look at the centurion.  He had never heard this language before, and was confounded by it.

“I speak English; I don’t understand you, sir.”  Clash apologized.

The centurion looked down and cleared his throat slightly before continuing and looking back at the alicorn.

“Then you shall understand me, equine.”  The centurion stated in a rude tone.

“It doesn’t seem that I have much choice.”  Clash stated, looking about at the legionnaires around him.

“Hmm, you are an alicorn.”  The Centurion eyes his wings and horn.

“Indeed, and you are a… human.”  Clash stated, still in surprise of this situation.

“That truly doesn’t matter at this time.  You are in a land which doesn’t belong to you.”  The centurion pointed his spatha at the alicorn.

“I come in peace, to pull a legend into reality for my country.”  Clash bowed his head to the human.

“Names would be rather courteous at this time.  I am Centurion Gregorios Democratis.”  The human bowed his head back at the alicorn.

“I am Prince Clash of Equestria.”   Clash then bowed as well to the centurion.

The two reverted back to standing.

Gregorios turned around and stated something to the legionaries and immediately one broke off and headed in the direction of the palace.  Gregorios then turned around to see the alicorn.

“We will see just how peaceful this can be.”  The Centurion states, while still wielding his sword in an aggressive tone.

The two continued talking to each other for a decent amount of time.  Each of them sharing about their race, and opinions on each other’s species.  Clash thought that it was going well and that peace could be found on the northern front for his country.  Gregorios thought that this was going to end badly.  Humans already hated the ponies and Clash did not know of this.  The two still talked until the legionnaire from earlier returned holding a piece of parchment and quickly handing it to Gregorios before resuming his position in the formation.

Gregorios read the paper and let out a heavy sigh once he finished.  He tossed the parchment away and then readied his sword.

“It seems that peace shall not happen on this day.”  Gregorios seriously stated waving his hand to the legionnaires who then began to close the circle.  “If it means any consolation, I think you and I would have been great friends.”

“What do you mean?!”  Clash yells as the troops get even closer.

“Our countries will meet on a battlefield rather than a peace table.”  Gregorios then begins to close in.  “Now, you shall be the first of many.”  He then lunged forward with his sword.

The sword struck down at Clash, who hopped to the side, but still took the hit to his leg.  Clash then immediately launched himself into the air.

“Mitto tuus pilas!”  The centurion yelled.  The legionnaires replied by bringing out their long pilas and immediately lobbing them at the flying alicorn.  The pilas quickly strike, ripping apart Clash’s magical shield, and then two of them piercing into a wing, another one then slammed right into his side.  Clash then is forced back onto the ground in an ugly landing, landing on his bad wing, forcing the pila further into his side.

Clash immediately howled in pain, but quickly pushed himself up, using magic to rip the pilas out of him.  Clash then looked at the oncoming charge of legionnaires, led by Gregorios.  Clash tried to bring up a ward, but was instantly interrupted by an arrow striking him in his good wing.  An archer on a nearby rooftop then cheered as he hit his mark on the alicorn.

Clash now found himself drained of energy, and unable to stand anymore.

Gregorios then sprinted ahead of his legionnaires in order to have the first strike on the alicorn.  Gregorios stabbed his sword straight into the front-left leg of Clash, sending some blood out of him, and another loud cry.

Gregorios quickly ripped out the sword and raised a fist to stop all of his troops.

Clash slowly looked up at Gregorios with pain clearly in his eyes.  Gregorios looked back and shook his head.

“I hope the rest of your country puts up a better fight.”  He then raised his right foot above the alicorns head.

“Cornelius, nos sunt victoriae!”  He calls out to his troops and they return stating the same.

Gregorios then stomps his boot upon the alicorns head, letting a loud crunch ring out.

The Severius-Equestrian war had begun…

Chapter 2: Chandleridge

End of an Heir

Though the Severius Empire has declared war on Equestria, the alicorns had no true idea of the events that set it into motion.

Emperor Duilius has now set many different operations in order to fully militarize the country.  Taxes have been raised to pay for expenses and the army is now being expanded.

Duilius wished to send a message to the alicorns, showing them they are not invincible.  Gregorios and a small detachment of his century have already placed heavy injuries onto Prince Clash.  Rather than keep him as a hostage the Emperor sends Gregorios and his century to ‘demonstrate’ the future of the alicorns.

Gregorios now leads his century to the pony capital of Chandleridge… and they expect a fight from what they’re about to do.

In the time of midnight, the century of three-hundred men march to the beat of multiple war drums.  Gregorios is at the front of the formation and at the rear a large catapult is pushed along the rode by common laborers from their city.  Behind the catapult was a group of soldiers dragging net and inside the net Prince Clash.  He attempts to struggle free but repeatedly fails.

Soon the city comes into sight looking quite pathetic compared to the Severius city.  Small stone huts line across the dirt roads with ponies going about in their struggles for survival.

Gregorios stops the march upon seeing a stone palace in the distance.  The stone palace sits with no real amazing traits, but a large balcony that leads into the throne room.

“Promptus ad catapultam!”  He yells to his century.

The lines of legionnaires behind him disperse to the sides to create new smaller lines as the catapult is pushed up to the front.  The wooden catapult lurches to a stop and the workers begin to prepare it to fire.

“Adduc principem!”  Gregorios then walks to the area behind the catapult as the prince is dragged up to him.

“No, what does that mean?”  Clash asks in fear.

“It means you’re about to fly.”  Gregorios answers as he takes his helmet off and hands it to a laborer.

“Are you letting me go?”  The prince asks desperately as his face lights up in hope.

“More or less…”  The centurion answers again, now turning around to look at the alicorn, revealing his full face.  Clash looks up to see the human’s short black hair, along with hazel colored eyes.

“Well… how am I going to fly with my wings injured?”  He asks, attempting to flaps his wings, but to no avail.

“We have a way.  Aliquam ipsum.”  He commands to the legionnaires dragging the prince.  The immediately pick up the alicorn and seamlessly place him into the basket of the catapult.

Clash looks about quickly realizing the situation.  “No, y-you can’t!”

“I don’t see why you resist.  You’re going home.”  The centurion pointed to show the palace in the distance.  “Your mother and father will be there and it will all be fine.”

“Don’t you dare talk about my family, hindwalker!”  He spits at the centurion.

“Why not?  Clover the Clever and Commander Hurricane would love to know that their son is all right.  Or if he’s dead.”  Gregorios then readied his sword to cut the tension line below the basket.

“How do you know?”  The alicorn’s eyes widened at the human.

“Ponies aren’t exactly the most self-conscious of races.  We know a lot more about you then you know of us.”  He then cut one of the strands from the rope creating a loud snapping sound.

Clash struggled about in the basket, unable to move out of it.  “Please!  Let me live!  We can make peace here!”

“Desperation leads to many empty promises, prince.”  Another strand snapped.  “Personally, I don’t know what your parents were thinking.  Sending their heir into foreign lands with no abilities for defense, and he can barely use his only advantages over us.  How pitiful.”  The next snap lurched the basket slightly upward by a couple of centimeters.

“Please stop!”  Clash yelled out through tears coming into his eyes.

Only one strand remained on the rope, straining about, in the process of already ripping.

“I’ll let fate decide here.”  Gregorios then slid his sword back into its holster and took a step back.  “It seems a little less violent.”  He stated plainly now watching the alicorn squirm about. Gregorios then took a scroll from one of the commoners and approached the basket yet again.

He shoved the scroll onto the alicorns back and held it as a commoner applied tree sap to glue it on.

Gregorios then stepped back away and continued to watch.

Suddenly with one final snap the basket flew forward and launched the alicorn into the air.

Queen Clover sat on her throne in thought.  Her green mane shimmered along with her white coat, creating a small glow in the room.

She looked over to the empty throne besides her belonging to her husband, King Hurricane.

A sigh escaped her breath as she then looked to the balcony leading into the throne room.  The area in which Hurricane would always enter and they would be reunited again, but today he remains on tour in the southern lands against the draconequess clan.  Today she was alone, her son, Prince Clash going on some task for Star-Swirled the Bearded.

She was worried due to her son being gone for almost a full day, but he knew how to handle himself… right?

Clover then stood up and began to walk through her empty throne room.  Only accompanied by two guards next to her throne who continued to stand still as she passed by.  She came to a stop as she walked out onto the balcony, leaning onto the railing with her hooves.

She looked up at the sky to see the midnight sky graced by thousands upon millions of stars in the sky.  The night sky always did put a smile upon her face, even during the times of the wendigo blizzards.

She looked across the land to see something that confounded her.  Something was moving across the sky at an alarming speed.  Screaming from a familiar voice met Clover’s ears.

Clover cast a spell to illuminate the area in a green shade of light revealing Prince Clash flying through the air.

“Clash?!”  She yelled in surprise.

Clash immediately slammed onto the balcony, sounds of cracking bones filled the throne room as Clash bounced and then began to slide across the floor, coming to a stop in the center of the room.

The two guards quickly dashed over to the prince as Clover teleported next to him.  Clover gasped upon seeing her son with heavy injuries upon him, heavy cuts on his side have been reopened bleeding extensively.  Heavy gashes on his head from the landing in the room also bled slightly.

The guards attempted to heal him with magic, only to find that the injuries were too great and Clash has already lost too much blood.

“Clash, you’re going to be okay, just keep looking at me, alright?”  Clover stated desperately looking down at her son.

“Mother… the humans.”

“What?”

“The humans… are coming.”  Clash then released a large cough of blood as his head dropped back onto the floor, lifeless.

“Clash?!  Clash?!”  Clover yelled, shaking her son’s body, attempting to get a response out of him.

“My queen, he is gone.”  One of the guards states solemnly.

“No… It can’t be.”  Clover felt the sadness take her as she stared at her son.  She closed her eyes tightly as tears began to roll out.

She opens her eyes again to notice the piece of parchment between his wings.  Clover rips it off of her son’s coat, cringing upon the sound of it ripping off with the tree sap.  She opened up the scroll and began to read out loud.

To Queen Clover,

Your son, Prince Clash, has treaded upon our lands without our permission.  As you can see, we have punished him to the fullest extent of our law system.

Your species controls the mainland of this continent and you have done a terrible job of managing it.  We look about to find small villages, unworthy of this great land, and then we find your people, unfit to survive much longer.

We shall redeem this land; pull it into a new era of prosperity and progress.

And we will drag you and your people into it with force if necessary.

Spitefully,

The Latin Severius Empire or, as your species whispers about us, ‘Hindwalkers’

Queen clover felt many emotions tide over her once she finished reading.  Anger, for the species that has forsaken her son, fear, for a new enemy that has managed to kill an alicorn, and insulted to called unfit to survive.  Over all of those she instead felt sadness for her son, who had only become an alicorn only a few weeks ago.

The fact that the son of her and Commander Hurricane was but an Earth Pony astonished them.  They have yet to fully understand biology and how it affects breeding.  His job was just to defend a village in the north and he effectively did it after fighting off many creatures in his short time there.  He became enlightened in the arts of combat, his father was proud and his mother supported him.

Now, Prince Clash was dead, the heir to the throne is now gone and the people will surely be angered.

“Guards!”  Clover commands, and the two salute too her upon the call.

“Gather the garrison; we are hunting down whoever did this.”  She states in a strong tone.

The two guards nodded and head off out of the throne room.

The human soldiers sat upon the hill in a shield wall formation facing the city.  Gregorios stood to the side of the formation watching the city, waiting for any signs of movement.

His wait was rewarded when he saw a cloud of dust moving about in the center of the town.  He waited a while longer to find an entire garrison of troops exiting the city, kicking up the clouds of dust as the moved.

“Vestibulum!”  The centurion called out and the troops instantly stood ready behind their shields as the garrison approached.

The garrison was mainly composed of unicorns and Earth Ponies in light hide armor instead of the steel humans used.  Armed with spears and small sword the infantry looked completely inferior to century of human troops.  The only true force that warranted attention were the Pegasi flying above the formation, armed with bows, and spears.

The bows look to be extremely simple in design, not capable of applying enough force to truly pierce armor, but can still annoy a legionnaire.

“Et tandem lineam!”  Gregorios instead calls for a line formation and the century instantly replied taking their shields and heading into a line formation.

The troops are more mobile in the line, and they can cover each other far easier.  The first line is made of one-hundred-fifty legionnaires and the line farther back was the same.  The reserve line can take on troops only if necessary, but the Pegasi can prove to be a problem.

The centurion headed back to a resupply station for the troops.  Unused gladuis sat about on stands, scutums also, and pilas sat in holders.

Gregorios would simply take care of the Pegasi himself, he picked up an extra pila and then made his way back to the front with the soldiers.

The century of troops then waited as the unorganized mass of troops came to a stop about twenty meters in front of their shields.

The Pegasi hovered above them readying to fire their bows with looks of fear on their faces.  All of them had true looks of either uncertainty as they looked at the legionnaires in front of them.  All that they saw was a line of shields with legs below them and no other details shown.

Clover descended to the front of the formation with two Pegasi hovering next to her as guards.

Clover locked eyes with the centurion and it felt as if the land had stopped moving due to the tension.  Feeling as if he should explain himself, Gregorios broke the silence.

“Beautiful night, isn’t it Queen Clover?”  He asked in a genuine tone.

Clover instead grits her teeth in anger at the centurion.

“I guess we should explain ourselves, because it seems that your troops have seen a ghost.”  He gestures to the frightened pony soldiers.

Clover looked about at her troops and then turned her attention ahead to fine the wall of shields as the only sight.  She gulped in nervousness due to the fact that the humans seemed advanced in their military by leaps and bounds.

“We are humans or the ‘Hindwalkers’ you’ve taken to call us in your stories of lore.  Now, I take it you read the message so eloquently delivered by your son?”  Gregorios cracked a small smile after delivering that line.

“Yes, and I would like you to know that we wish you no harm.”  Clover remains determined.

The centurion instead chuckles.  “Putat sunt a facie terroris!”  He calls out to his troops and they return laughs to the ponies.

The ponies remain dumbfounded at the ancient language spoken between the humans as the laughing dies down in all of them.

“Queen Clover, you would love it to be like that, wouldn’t you?”  He asks.

“It is like that, human!”  She yells in anger back at the centurion.

“That’s what I was looking for.”  He states in a satisfied tone.  He then bashes his shield with his gladuis, creating a loud bashing sound.  He continued this as the rest of the humans joined in the bashing creating a synchronized beat.  The war drums then began to beat loudly behind them.

“We outnumber you, humans!  Our powers of magic will see us through!”  She yells as she takes a defensive stance, readying for the inevitable melee.

“We will see where your magic gets you when you armies are crushed, your cities burned, your head on a stake, and your people enslaved!”  Gregorios yelled before pointing his sword to the ponies.

“Praecipe!”  He screams out to the world.

The first line of the legionnaire’s then dash down the hill, yelling their own war cries.

Now, the blood will flow…

Chapter 3: New Belligerents

The Battle of Chandleridge

The legionnaires sprinted down the hill straight towards the ponies.  As the humans closed the distance some of the ponies turned around and began to run away in fear.  Others gripped tightly onto their weapons, hoping for a miracle.  Queen Clover instead readied herself by charging up a blast of magic.

The humans, oblivious to the glowing on Clover’s horn, continued the charge to the ponies quickly closing the distance.

Clover then released a full beam of clover shaded magic at the line of troops.  The legionnaires quickly stopped their dash and brought up their shields to absorb the blast.  The beam slammed against their shields, shoving the troopers back.  The troopers held their ground shoving against the blast of magic, drawing lines in the ground with their feet from being pushed back.  Clover continued pouring more energy into the blast shoving the troops back even more.  Some of the human’s troops in the center of the line, absorbing the majority of the blast, started to feel their shields cracking from the power.  Clover was encouraged by the cracking and other unicorns began to contribute to the blast, helping their queen.

Gregorios widened his eyes in surprise at the use of magic against his century.  He traced the beams of magic back to find the queen as the true source of their power.  He instantly wielded his pila and quickly aimed at the queen.  It would have to travel over twenty meters to reach its target and Gregorios lobbed the pila as hard as his body would allow.

The pila cut its way through the air traveling at an alarming rate.  The pila then began its quick descent towards the queen as she remained focused on directing the flow of magic, not noticing the pila heading towards her.  The pile came to a stop piercing straight into Clover’s front-right foreleg.

Clover let out a cry of pain, interrupting her focus on the beam of magic and causing the spell to abruptly stop, burning the horns of all the unicorns in sync with the spell.  The unicorns all fell down in pain along with their queen and tried to recuperate.

“My Queen!”  Two pegasi soldiers yelled as they immediately dived down to assist her.  The two troops then helped her back to the rear of the formation as some of the ponies dropped back to protect their queen.

The humans quickly reset their formation and resumed their charge to the ponies.

The legionnaires slammed into the ponies using their shields and size to crush the ponies, wiping out the first line of them almost instantly.

The pegasi up above then hurled back behind the line of human troops and began to harass their exposed backs with arrows.  The arrows weren’t piercing the armor, but they were able to cause bruising underneath.

Gregorios prepared another pila and then threw it in the direction of the pegasi.  The pila pierced straight through the sternum of a pegasus.  The pony instantly dropped onto the ground letting out a scream of pain.

The other pegasi glanced at their fallen comrade only to find another pila cut through the air and pierce the wing of another pegasus, knocking him to the ground as well.

The pegasi looked back to find Gregorios ready to lob another pila.  The pegasi immediately flee upon the sight of the human, flying back to the city instead of staying in the fight.

The brutal melee continues with humans stabbing down upon the ponies, quickly executing them, and ponies pulling humans out of formation and quickly ganging up on them, knocking them down and pounding upon their heads with their hooves.  The humans at the most either received concussions or broken bones, their armor protected them through the beatings, and the ponies on the other hand, were being easily slashed through by the gladuis of each human.

The battle looked extremely lopsided without the pegasi support and with the unicorns still recovering from the fruitless magic skirmish.

Queen Clover rose back up onto her hooves to find her troops being slaughtered in a terrifyingly efficient pattern of blocking and slashing or jabbing from the short swords of the humans.

Clover is still rocked from the exchange of magic and begins to lose her balance while standing.  She shakes her head about in order to keep herself up in the fight, but she instead began to feel dizziness in her mind.  She began to hear the screams of the unicorns as they were easily overtaken by the humans in the carnage.  The Earth ponies could only put up a small fight before being torn apart by the heavy human infantry.  The pegasi support was nowhere to be found except for her two guards that remained.  Clover continued to gather her strength on the ground as the humans continued cutting through the ponies.

By now the humans have adjusted to the ponies’ scheme of scattered formation and have locked themselves in a shield wall to make sure none of them get singled out.

Gregorios now joined his legionnaires by taking the position in the center and having the second line of his century come to reinforce the rear.

Now with the inspiration from their centurion the legionnaires pushed forward even faster, systematically blocking and slicing at the ponies.  As the ponies continued taking casualties, more of them began to route from the battle.  Soon the only remaining resistance was the Queen and her own two pegasi guards.

The humans quickly encircled them readying their shields and swords for any final surprises.

Queen Clover slowly rose up and looked about to find her entire garrison wiped out.  She then looked over to find Gregorios casually walking towards her in the circle of legionnaires.

Gregorios stopped when the pegasi guards readied their spears at him.

The chuckle of the centurion frightened the three surviving ponies.  He even laid his sword and shield down onto the ground.

“It seems that you have lost today.”  He explained in a kind tone.

No response came from the ponies as they remained in their desperate positions.

“Now, if you admit defeat and surrender your city, I assure you the benefits for your country will be great.”  He coined a smile at the end of the offer as he removed his helmet.

Clover looked down in thought before replying.  “What ‘benefits’ would we be receiving?”  She asks, hiding the fear in her voice.

Gregorios’ smile grew even greater now that she has accepted the possibility of defeat.  “Well…”  He clasped his hands together.  “You become folded into our empire.  You will use our currency; our emperor will be able to rule without resistance from you, your people will be treated fairly, and you won’t have to make any of those important decisions anymore.  Though I will tell you this, you will help us to take the rest of your people so they take the same route as you.  All of this if you just admit your defeat and bow before our glorious emperor.”

Clover could read Gregorios’ offer easily, the rhetoric he used made it sound like the ponies were getting the good side of the deal.

“No.”  Clover simply states in reply.  “We will not admit defeat.”  She quickly stood up to her full height.  “We will not bow to your emperor either!”

The smile faded from the centurion who then sighed before picking his shield and sword back up.

“Then we’ll do this the hard way.”  He then began to walk towards the princess, readying his sword for attack.

The pegasi guards quickly dashed at Gregorios who simply raised his shield to block their spears.  The pegasi were knocked back from the force and he then began to make his move.  He thrusts his sword into the long neck of one of them, quickly ripping the sword back out as the pegasus hits the ground squirming about.  He then shoulder-charged forward, leading with his shield right into the other guard, knocking him down onto the ground with a crack sounding from the impact.  Gregorios then approached the pegasus on the ground and thrust his sword straight into the left wing on the equine.  The pegasus screamed in reply and Gregorios remained holding the sword, turning his head to look into Clover’s eyes.

“Submit.”  He states calmly as the pegasus continues squirming and groaning in pain.

Clover looked down at her guard and then reverted back at the human.  “No.”

Gregorios twisted the sword in the guard’s wing, creating a sickening sound of flesh straining about with the feathers.

“He doesn’t have long Clover.  Leaving here with one life is better than none.”

“No.”

Another scream sounds as Gregorios stabs his sword in the right wing of the pegasus.  Another shout of pain rings through the guard as he tries to keep his breaths steady.

“All I’m asking for is a simple ‘yes’ Clover.”

Clover looked down at the guards face to find him with tears of pain streaming from his eyes.  The Queen’s expression softened as she felt nothing but utter pity for the guard.  She then checked back at the centurion.

“No.”  Her voice lost most of its authority.

Gregorios smiled, seeing that he was close to breaking her.  Now, he twisted the sword about in the wing, releasing a significantly weaker scream from the guard as the blood soon encircled him on the ground.

Clover then looked down into the eyes of the guard and mouthed the words ‘I’m sorry’ to him.  Small tears brimmed upon her eyes as she struggled to say the word.

“No.”  Her voice failed her, sounding weak and faltered in tone.

Gregorios then looked between the guard and Queen.  To him this began to feel wrong, his duty was to get them to submit no matter what, but this was simply inhumane.  He knew there was no turning back now and he must complete the work of the emperor.  He immediately ripped the sword out of the guard’s wing and quickly stabbed into his torso, ending his suffering.

“You face against odds that wouldn’t favor you in any conditions, yet you cling on to your cause.  That is... something rather human.”  He pulled the sword out and rose up.

“Admirable trait, but here it is deplorable.”  He stepped towards the queen, raising his sword to strike…

In a flash of green, blinding all of the humans, Clover teleported to another location, evading her end.

The centurion recovered to find the alicorn gone.  He shook his head in disbelief, unknowing of the spell just cast.

“Nuntiare debemus imperator.”  Gregorios states to his troops as they recover.  “Nunc celebramus uictoria!”

“Victoria!”  The century shouts in reply, followed by cheers for the victory.

The victory in Chandleridge marks a turning point in not only Equestria, but the entire world.  Every decision made after this point, will matter greatly to all who live in this ancient world.

And they were only getting started…

Chapter 4: New Prospects

March of a Century

Gregorios and the century marched through the main street of Chandleridge, unopposed by the pony populace, who cowered in fear at any place they could reach, homes, wooden crates, anything would do.

The thoughts that transferred through Gregorios’ mind boggled him.  He has been trained to only look upon his soldiers with care, and the rest with contempt.  Despite that and his experience in warfare -crushing plebian rebels- he felt bad when fighting against those pony soldiers.  They were outmatched in all categories, ill-prepared, and unloyal, but against all of that, they still fought against the century with courage.  If it was up to him, there would be peace here, but he doesn’t decide that, only how to execute his orders.

The main street looks almost entirely decrepit, if you could call it a street that is.  Dirt instead of cobble paved the road that the century marched on with small obsolete huts built on the sides of the street.  Some of the huts were made of stone, others of wood, but they all held their small families inside of them.  Troughs sat about filled with clean water carried from the rivers and streams nearby, each with buckets for families to take for drinking water.

The unmodernized town was certainly a change for the Severians.  They were used to giant, proud buildings, aqueducts towering over them, clean cobbled roads under their sandals.  What as even stranger were the ponies hiding about.  The century is used to being taunted, yelled at, booed, or cheered and adored when marching on a street.  Instead of those normal reactions, the ponies hid in fear from them.  It confused them slightly, they thought the ponies would revolt and resist the occupation.

Ahead of the century’s path a pair of Earth Ponies stood on the side of the road, looking about desperately for something valuable to them.  The continued to frantically look about as the Century continued the march, coming close to being in front of the pony couple.

“Mother!”  A small and frightened voice called from the opposite side of the rode.

Gregorios halted the century’s march and turned to find the source of the sound.  A small pony stood looking towards the ponies across the road; a young filly now halted the entire march in her search for her parents.

“Slate!  Just stay there, we’ll be right there!”  The father yelled to her daughter from across the road.

The filly, instead of listening dashed across the road, passed the first legionnaire on her side of the road.  Some of the legionnaires dashed forward, gladuis’ pointed at the filly.

“No, please!”  The mother and father shouted while dashing forward into the road.

The father was immediately bashed by a legionnaire’s shield, and the mother, shoved back by another legionnaire’s free hand.

Gregorios maintained his attention on the young fill, unaware of her parents on the other side of the road.

“Mihi, Equine!”  The legionnaire screamed before stabbing his sword down into the stallion’s head, and then ripping it back out.  The legionnaire then dashed over to thrust the sword into the mare’s chest.

The mare let out a scream from the pain of the gladius piercing through her skin.  She began to hyperventilate as she looked up at the legionnaire, being looked down upon by a terrifying expression of hate and anger.  The mare then looked to her daughter as her legs started to buckle and her eyes brimmed with tears.

The filly looked on with her mouth, hung open in shock.  Gregorios also turned around to find the situation as well, with him widening his own eyes in surprise, before looking down at the filly, now tearing up on her own.  He turned his attention back to find the mare placing a hoof onto the blade to steady herself as she attempted to speak.

“I… love you.”  The mare’s body slumped over, letting her limbs fall numbly onto the ground.

The legionnaire pulled his gladius back out and spit down onto the body.

“Congue equitum.”  The legionnaire then turned back to the rest of the century, which in turn looked towards Gregorios as he grit his teeth in anger.

“Dirty horse?”  Gregorios asked, seething with anger.  “Dirty horse?!”

The young filly huddled herself into a ball, crying quietly to herself as Gregorios yelled at the murderous legionnaire.  He began to yell in Latin, pointing and stomping onto the ground in rage.  Two other legionnaires took the one soldier by his arms and held him firmly, knocking away his shield and sword.

“Et comminuit testam, et sacramentum! Agemus cum postea!”  The legionnaires then dragged their comrade off as he pleaded his cause desperately.

The rest of the century kept their gaze on their centurion as he looked upon the two dead Earth Ponies on the dirt road, their blood forming a small puddle around the two bodies.

He shook his head in a disapproving matter.  Two civilians were now killed under his command and in front of their own child no less.  Gregorios waved his hand and two more troops quickly pulled the bodies to the side of the road.

“Lorem sepulchrum habet.”  He commanded for the couple to have a proper burial… for what respect it may give.

He then turned his attention to the filly and crouched down, still much taller than her.  He slowly placed his onto her head, uttering a gasp out of her as she retreated into herself more.

“It’s alright.”  He softly stated, pulling his hand back to give her room.  “I mean no harm, unlike the other.”

The filly slowly cracked open one of her eyes to look at the centurion before uncurling herself slightly.

Gregorios finally had time to look at the further details of the filly.  Her coat, a dark shade of blue, a dark silver mane resembling the hue of slate, and her eyes were a shade of amber, standing out from her otherwise dark colored body.  Her mane and tail remained unkempt and poor, possibly due to her family being poor... and Earth Ponies.

“Here, do you have anywhere to go, any… relatives, friends, maybe?”

Instead of replying she averted her gaze from the centurion and remained locked onto the ground below.

Gregorios let out a sigh and looked back to his century.  His legionnaires returned sympathetic looks to him, some even nodding in approval, as if knowing what he was about to do.  He turned back and looked down at the filly.

“Alright, come along then, I’ll find you somewhere… or at least someone.”  He then carefully scooped the filly up into his arms, cradling her to be hidden behind his large shield, to avoid the sight of other ponies.

“Etiam in itinere!”  He shouted out and the century quickly resumed the march.

“What is your name?”  Gregorios quickly asked.

The filly remained silent for a small time, possibly still surprised at the human's actions.

“Slate… my name is slate.”  She states quietly, rather wary of the wooden shield blocking her sight from the road so she can only look up at the centurion.

“Well, Slate, my name is Gregorios.  Gregorios Democratis.”  He glanced down to see Slate looking back up, her easing her expression slightly.

“Gre… gori?”  What type of strange name is that?”  She asked, intrigued at his long and complex name compared to hers.

He responded with a chuckle.  “And Slate isn’t strange?”

“At least my name makes sense.  My mane is a shade of slate.”  She giggled slightly, calming the centurion.

They continued on quietly, with the steady sound of the legionnaires steps giving a steady pace for them listen to… at least until Slate spoke again.

“Greg... orios?”  She correctly stated his name for a first.

“Yes, Slate?”  He returned, keeping his eyes ahead on the road.

She remained silent, attempting to form her words properly.

“Are my parents…?”

“Yes… yes they are.”  He already prepared for the question.

“Why?  Why would this happen?”

Gregorios sighed before starting to explain.  He wasn’t exactly the spiritual type, but it seems as the only valid explanation.

“There are some humans who have certain beliefs with our gods.  One of those is about how we can’t use magic… at least now.  In the beginnings of our empire, it is said that our kings and queens could wield magic.  Harvest entire crops by themselves, stop rebellions before they even happen, and even free the old and sick from the maws of death.  Now, all of this is nice, except for where it gets bad.  It is thought that those abilities were stolen from our people, by a spirit.  A spirit of tricks and evil, and he brought our magic and spread it about the world, to watch our empire fall to our own magic.  Now, it gets worse, it is said that this spirit was one of a pony… one of your alicorns to be exact.”

Gregorios then looked down to find Slate paying vivid attention to his words, which he then looked back at the road as he spoke.

“He gave most of the magic to the ponies, making them more prosperous than us for a time.  There was famine that year, and many… didn’t make it.  It is said, that our empire almost collapsed that year as well.  Now there is a large group of humans that have such spite for the pony form that they can only feel contempt for them, even if they don’t use magic.  It now appears some of them have made it into the military… and he went off on your parents disrupting the march.”

He looked back down at the filly as she continued looking at him in intrigue.

“I’m sorry about all of this, and still that may not even be accurate explanation of the tale, because it most definitely isn’t a justification for your parent’s… passing.”

Slate then curled herself up as she felt the pain of the loss again.  Gregorios then pulled her in for a soft hug, surprising her and eliciting a gasp.

“Why are you… being nice?”  Slate asks, returning the hug.

“No creature, human or pony should have to go through that pain.  You’re a child as well.  It is unacceptable in any morality.”  He saw the palace only a small distance away, revealing an end to the long march.

“For who did it, what will happen to him?”  Slate asks, wanting more information.

“He has broken our sacramentum for killing of the innocent.  He is to be whipped in front of the century by me, and then discharged.”  He stated in a serious tone, before looking back down at the filly.  “Come along, young one, our stop is here.”

Overlooking the city of Chandleridge, a mountain stood tall, giving a good view of the town’s main road.  A small path ascended up the mountain to its summit and on the summit stood a unicorn.

He wore a large, decorative blue cloak, sparkled with various constellations and bells, giving it a regal look, and his large wizard-like hat gave the same vibe.  His coat was a shade of grey, and a long white beard hangs from his chin, along with his old white hair under his hat.  His green eyes scanned across the small town, taking in the current situation.

This is the great wizard known as Star Swirled the Bearded.

“Hmm, maybe there is hope for this after all…”  He stated, looking at the centurion carrying the Earth Pony filly.

Chapter 5: The Battle of Unicorn Range

Night of Solace

The Severius Empire grew in strength to the north, the people rallying after word of the events at Chandleridge reached their roads.  Thousands more volunteered into the army, creating a massive reserve for the Empire’s use.  The emperor ordered an entire legion to march to Chandleridge, which will now act as the new staging area for the remainder of the conflict.

The Severians then expand their borders, establishing small settlements along a new road leading to Chandleridge, connecting the frontier to the capital of Severnium.

Gregorios and his century waited for further orders, as he began to manage the city for a short time, creating new reforms and modernizing the ponies to properly fold into the Empire.

He was also attempting to find a home for Slate, proving difficult due to the standardized poverty of the population.  No Unicorn or Pegasus wanted her and the Earth ponies couldn’t afford another mouth to feed.  Gregorios has now taken it upon himself to find her a new home, or if he had to… adopt her.

He felt it was his fault for the loss of her parents, but there were no standardized rules for adopting one of a different species.  Until told otherwise, he would raise her as his own… or at least that’s what he had planned.

Gregorios stayed inside of his tent, rather than the city.  He enjoyed the peace for him to keep himself sharp in intellect during his free time.

Inside his pitch white tent a rather simple design was laid out.  A table, two chairs, on it many different plans and books, holders for his armor and equipment and a small bed, all of this sat inside of tent.  All of the items were easy to pack and move if the time came.

He sat in his chair next to the table, wearing a red tunic while reading a book from a different land, the title ‘The Art of War’ translated from Latin.  He received the book as a souvenir some years ago at the port in Severnium; he was told it was from across the seas, which he didn’t take seriously.  No one has been able to get there and come back, but apparently that old merchant did.

The old merchant told of a land where they spoke a complex language that put Latin to shame, but the biggest difference was over there, horses were large and not quite intelligent.  They don’t speak either, which intrigued Gregorios.  The humans apparently rode upon them to travel great distances, and formed great bonds between rider and steed.

It was also said that the land went on farther, but the old man could not make the journey due to the dangers ahead.

The book told of tactics in warfare, ones that seemed rather strange to Gregorios, but from a grand look, they made sense.

Slate sat across the table from him, playing about with two legionnaire figurines on the battle map.  She pushed them back in forth as if they fought each other through… ramming.

Gregorios looked up from his book to see Slate giggling about with the figures.  It put a smile on his face to see her at least entertained rather than glum and saddened.

“Are you having fun?”  He asked in a playful tone.

Slate almost knocked over the figures from being startled at his voice.  She immediately straightened out and placed the figures back on the map.

“No--I wasn’t doing anything!”  She abruptly stated, in almost a scared tone.

He set his book down and gave her a concerned look.  “Slate, are you okay?”

Slate let out a breath before returning to her normal positioning.  “Yes, I’m just--used to…”  Her voice trailed off.

Gregorios wanted to learn more, but it seemed that may not be healthy for her, instead he just nodded to her and smiled.  “It is fine.”  He quickly returned, getting a small smile from her in return.

The sound of the tent’s flap flipping open brought the centurion’s attention back forward, showing a legionnaire entering the tent.

The centurion and the troop exchanged a few words and the trooper was back out, followed by a horn call ringing out inside the camp.

“It is time to rest, Slate.”  He then stood up from his chair.

Slate then got off the large human-sized chair and got back onto her hooves.  “Where can I sleep?”  She asked him.

“Hmm, give me a moment.”  He walked over to his bed and was about to give her a pelt blanket to use, but remembered that the ponies don’t hunt.  It would probably be quite awkward and strange for her and might even scare her.  Instead he sighed and returned back to her.  The only other blankets he had, were the ones that made his small makeshift bed.  “I regretfully, don’t have a blanket for you.”

“Oh, that’s okay; I’m used to sleeping on the floor.”  She returned a smile to him.

He gave her a strange look, wondering just how poor her family was to not even have a bed for their only child.

“If you say so.”  He stated walking over to the table and extinguishing the candle, darkening the room.  He then carefully stepped over to his bed and placed himself underneath the blankets.

He looked over across the tent to find Slate lying on the ground, attempting to get comfortable, and shivering all the while due to the heat of the candle being extinguished.  He knew she wouldn’t be able to sleep properly, but he already asked and she refused… didn’t he?  He felt as if he should say something, but instead he just drifted off to sleep.

Slate continued to stay awake, trying her hardest to fall asleep, but she wasn’t able get comfortable on the floor, nor could she get warm with the night’s cool air drifting through the tent’s outer layers.  She didn’t wish to inconvenience the centurion, but she needed some help to sleep.  He told her he didn’t have any blankets though, so she couldn’t do that… she instead gulped nervously before approaching him in his makeshift bed.

She placed her hoof on his shoulder, carefully shaking him awake as he grumbled about before opening his eyes.

“Slate?  Why aren’t you asleep?”  He groggily asked, while wiping away at his eyes.

“I… can’t.”  She conceded.  “I can’t get comfortable.”

“Hmm, are you cold?”  He asked next.

“Yes…”  She shivered slightly at the mention of the word.

The two of them looked at each other for a moment before he conceded to her and moved over in his bed, creating a space for her.

“Come along, you should be comfortable here.”  He sighed out lifting the covers for her.

Slate quietly gasped, she only wanted to light a candle for warmth and security from the dark, but she accepted the offer.  Quickly and quietly climbed into the bed next to him, as he remained on his back, lying down, and she quickly became warm from the covers and his own radiating heat in the bed.

“Thank you.”  She replied, feeling better already.

“It is nothing, now please, get some rest.”  He then rested his head back onto his pillow to try and fall back asleep.

Later on a sudden swoop of wind pushed against the tent, shaking it slightly and sending the flaps about with the wind, bringing in another cold breeze.

Slate was startled by the wind and instinctively clung onto the human next to her, wrapping herself around his arm in an attempt to be protected from the wind.

Gregorios looked over to find her clinging on and released a sigh.  He wrapped her up with his arm, bringing her close to his body, sharing his temperature with her.  She felt quite cold, even with his tunic and her coat.

Slate snuggled in and remained asleep, as the centurion instead shook his head before returning to sleep himself.

It would be a long time for Ponies and Humans to truly understand each other, but it seems that this duo have began to pioneer a historical companionship.

Chapter 6: On the Hunt

The Polisians March

While Gregorios and Slate continue to solve their problems, and the Severius Empire pushed in, the ponies attempt to rally their forces to the south.  Commander Hurricane begins to pull the army back from the Draconequess front and position them to the Severian front.  The Draconequess clan holds itself steady, wary of the humans encroaching onto them.

What none of the current belligerents in the war know is another human civilization begins its own descent into the history books.

South of the very country of Equestria itself, the Polisian city-state has begun to mobilize itself.  The Polisian people spoke a different language than the other known humans of the time, Greek, originating from their territory in which they named Grecia.  Instead of being ruled by monarchs or emperors, the Polisian people elect their own rulers through a new process called democracy.

The Polisians began to push themselves to the north, hearing tales of a fertile land beyond the deserts; it would be quite profitable for them to take advantage of their position.

The Polisians marched onward with their glorious hoplites, into the dangers of the Equestrian Badlands, unknowing of the dangers, but all willing to find what is on the other side…

“Proó̱thi̱si̱!”  A voice called into the air, followed by a horn blowing loudly.

The thunderous sounds of marching troops overtook the silent desert as hundreds of Polisian hoplites marched onward.  Hoplites, armed with giant shields made of bronze, along with their bronze armor covering their torso, shins and forearms.  They also wore trademark helmets, also made of bronze.  Each of Hoplite’s shields bearing a symbol of a golden olive branch with a dark blue background, showing that they stand for peace and prosperity.

The Polisians aren’t known for a warlike culture; they mainly try to avoid war if possible, but can amass a strong army if required.  Now their large army marches across the badlands to the new world for them to colonize and utilize for their nation.

The hoplites all march in a line formation, three ranks deep at a steady pace.  At the front of the formation an officer led the march, wearing a large blue plume upon his helmet, and a bright blue cape.

Pelagius Theodoros, an older officer in the Polisian army.  Pelagius is known for his abilities to command from the front, a required ability when it comes to hoplite officers.  Though, he is not all for the military life of an officer, being away from his son -who still resides in Polisia with Pelagius’ sister Korinna-, is beginning to irritate him.

As the army continued to march through the sweltering badlands, many different rock formations dotted the otherwise empty desert.  Each of them a dark shade of red, contrasting with the dark yellow sand the makes up the ground.

Some of the rock formations are covered in holes, creating tunnels leading inside of them.  Inside these tunnels… something deadly lurks.  Inside one of the many tunnels a dark colored creature observes the humans marching outside.

The creature was a changeling…

The changeling survives with one of the older breeds of changelings; -the Cinereus or Grey breed due to them being a dark shade of grey compared to the other breeds- and has never seen these bipedal creatures before.

The changeling’s exoskeleton is a dark shade of grey with contrasted heavily with the changeling’s bright green eyes.  The insect-like wings of the changeling were also a bright shade of green, complementing its eyes as well.  The Cinereus breed is only capable of flying, meaning they have no horns for their magic, making them parasitic in their nature.

A hiss arose from the changeling as it began to back away from the entrance to the tunnel, before unfurling it wings, jumping into the air, and turning around to report to its queen.

Pelagius continued to lead his troops until a loud hiss sounded from a rock formation before them.

“Páf̱si̱!”  He calls out and the hoplites immediately halt.

One pair of green glowing eyes appears in one of the hole followed by another hiss.  Above them another pair appears, larger than the other with a look of aggression upon them.  Another hiss sounds this one significantly louder than the last.

Quickly more eyes appear in the remaining holes as various hisses and growls echo of the rocks.

The hoplites grip their shields and spears tightly as the feeling of danger creeps up onto them.  Pelagius backs up to his position in the formation creating the option of a phalanx if needed.

Suddenly with an insect-like screech, the changelings swarmed out of the rock formation.  Hundreds, if not thousands of changelings quickly dashed towards the formation, screeching and roaring all the way.

“Fálanga!”  Pelagius screams over the loud changelings and immediately the hoplites force themselves into a phalanx formation.  Pelagius takes his stance in the center, shield and spear ready with the other hoplites.

“Kratí̱ste!”  He yelled out and the hoplites held their shields firm, ready for the impact of the changelings.

BOOM!

The changelings slammed into the phalanx with a thunderous crack of kinetic energy.  The hoplites held strong, all of them pushing their weight forward in the phalanx in order to hold off the changelings.  Some changelings flew above the phalanx and attempted to flank around, surprising some of the hoplites.  The changelings swooped down and began to flash and cut up the hoplites.  Some of the hoplites were even dragged out of formation, screaming as the changelings tore them apart.

Quickly the hoplites retaliated by sectioning of that area of the phalanx and began to fight back with their spears, ripping the changelings out of the air and finishing them off on the ground below.

The changelings surrounded Pelagius’ phalanx, but the hoplites held strong with organization and discipline as their specialties.

Pelagius thrust his spear forward, piercing into a changeling’s chest, before ripping the spear back out and bashing forward with his shield.  The changeling was then knocked back to bleed out on the ground as it was trampled by its changeling brethren.

The hoplites continued to systematically wipe the changelings out before a loud screech sounded from the rock formation.  The changelings quickly perked up and disengaged the humans before scuttling back to their hive.

As the changelings retreat the hoplites hold their formation strong after the battering done to them.

Bodies of changelings and humans litter the surrounding area, broken spears lie on the ground along with dented shields and torn capes.  Once the changelings dissipate into their tunnels a deathly silence falls across the area.

“Anasyntachthoún! Prépei na fýgoume!”  Pelagius commands for the hoplites to regroup and exit the area quickly and the follow the command swiftly.

The hoplites uncover their dead and wounded and begin to carry them at the rear of the formation as the hoplites traverse the remainder of the desert.

“Akoumpí̱ste edó̱ gia tó̱ra.  Eímaste sto telef̱taío skélos.”  Pelagius called out for the army to rest as they entered a large canyon area.  The hoplites almost immediately collapsed onto the ground to rest from the marching in the desert climate.  Pelagius himself was exhausted from the marching and he was used to long marches.

As the hoplites continued to settle themselves around a voice echoes out nearby.

“Axio̱matikós Pelagius, vrí̱ka káti!”  One of the hoplites called out from a nearby tunnel entrance.

Pelagius headed over to the hoplite, followed by other interested hoplites.

Pelagius looked at the cave entrance with the one hoplite nearby, waving his arm to the officer, wanting him to come and see inside the tunnel.

The two of them peek inside of the tunnel to see that it split off into multiple directions, each of them glowing different colors.  Red, grey, yellow, and the final one being black.  The tunnel itself is lined with a green gel-like substance that leads down all of the colored tunnels.

“Ti eínai af̱tó?”  Pelagius asked out loud to anyone that could answer, but no one did.

The hoplites continued to look on in awe of the colors until another hoplite called out in a terrified tone.

“Axio̱matikós! Axio̱matikós!”

Pelagius quickly turned his attention away from the tunnel and ran back to the sound of the voice.  There he found another one of his hoplites pointing at something in the distance.  Pelagius looked over to find a bone-chilling site to even the bravest of soldiers…

On one of the high peaks of the canyon, looking down upon them was an enormous scaled creature.

The creature was a dragon…

Red fiery scales, giant wings, and two black eyes stared down upon the hoplites.

With a large roar coming from the other side of the canyon another dragon perched itself above them, this one being a shade of green.  Both of them bare their long teeth to the humans, as a sign of aggression.

The hoplites watched on as one of the dragons reared up into the air before letting a stream of fire combust from its mouth, showing the humans that they were not welcome in the territory.

“Metakíni̱si̱!  Párte to kálymma sto toúnel!”  Pelagius yelled out as he ran across the canyon to grab his spear and shield.

The hoplites followed his orders and grabbed their gear before heading into the cave that they discovered.

“Ti sas, axio̱matikós?!”  One of the hoplites yelled out over the commotion.

“Tha apospásei ta thi̱ría!  Tó̱ra pi̱gaínete!”  He called out to the troops that he shall distract the beasts for them to escape.

With that being said Pelagius charged forward with his shield raised as the red dragon flaps it wings and began to hover in the air above the canyon.  The dragon then inhaled before unleashing a hail of fire down onto Pelagius, heating up his shield, which blocked away most of the fire, the remaining flames only slightly searing his legs.

The green dragon landed onto the ground at the other side of the canyon, cutting of the route of escape and to charge at the remaining hoplites outside of the tunnel.  The dragon quickly swiped its claw across the area, sending the hoplites flying to hit the tunnel and the area above it with such force, that the rock above it begins to shatter and crumble.  The dragon continues to stomp about chasing the humans into the tunnel in which it fails to stop and ends up slamming into the rock causing them to fall down on top of the dragon and cover the tunnel entrance, trapping the hoplites inside.

The humans inside of the tunnel are knocked down from the impact of the dragon as the light immediately dissipates away, leaving only the multi-colored glows in the tunnel to illuminate them.

Pelagius continues his suicidal sprint, unaware of the condition of his hoplites.  The red dragon lands on the ground in front of him and he reacts by raising his shield to block him from the flames once again.  As the dragon remains focused on keeping the flames moving Pelagius ducks underneath the dragon and thrust his spear at the dragon’s underbelly.  The spear barely pierces into the dragon’s scales, not even scratching it.

“Dekára!”  He cusses as his spear almost shatters from the scales of the dragon.

The dragon halts his flames and looks down to try and find the human only to be met with Pelagius’ spear striking it in the eye.

The red dragon screeches in agony from the injury to his eye and quickly falls onto his side as Pelagius runs up to the dragon’s head.  Pelagius stopped at the dragon’s head and readied his xiphos short sword to strike.  If the spear was unable to puncture the dragon’s scales then the short sword definitely couldn’t.  Pelagius began to slash with large swipes of the sword on the dragons head, getting loud roars and screeches in response.

Pelagius then placed his sword back into its holster and grabbed onto his spear lodged in the dragon’s eye.  He began to attempt to rip the spear out with all of his strength as the dragon began to rile about on the ground, flailing its limbs in pain.

Suddenly the spear dislodges from the dragon’s eye, forcing Pelagius off balance and knocking him off of the dragon’s head onto his back.

Blood flowed out of the dragon’s eye as it flailed about on the ground in even more pain.

As Pelagius recovered and rose back up the green dragon released a roar from across the canyon at the officer.

The green dragon began to charge while firing out it flames while Pelagius immediately turned around to run, jumping over the limbs of the now motionless red dragon.

His cape began to catch on fire as he neared the exit of the giant canyon, seeing that the environment began to change into a temperate climate rather than a desert.  Trees began to come into view and rivers along with them.

Right before he exited the canyon Pelagius quickly pulled a one-eighty turn and raised his shield to block the full might of the dragon’s breath.  He stopped in his tracks… the dragon didn’t.

SLAM!

The dragon slammed into Pelagius, knocking him into the air backwards and the dragon slipped and fell over from being pushed off balance from the force.

Pelagius bounced multiple times on the ground, his armor taking a massive beating, right before slamming into a tree.

BAM!

He slowly slid down the tree as his armor rung and quickly slumped down with his back against the tree.

The first instance of the Polisian people coming into contact with Equestria and of human contact with two creatures that can match their dominance over the land.

An eventual turning point in the war…

Chapter 7: Unity

New Prospects

The hoplites of Polisia attempt to recover their expedition in the south as new events unravel in Equestria…

In Chandleridge a large amount of fresh troops have finally arrived, including units of velite skirmishers, more legionnaires, and units of ballista all being led by a legate to take control of the army.  Legate Varinius, known for his brutal treatment of his enemies, going as far as too kill their own children to keep them from acting out again.  Varinius is also the heir to the throne of Emperor Duilius, giving him the ability to get away with these cruel acts.

Gregorios readies his century for any new tasks that await them with the new troops from their homeland and for the new threats they may face in the coming hours…

The sun clings to the horizon on the gloomy summer day.  Gregorios stands in his tent, clad in his centurion armor with his gladius and shield leaning against one of the legs of his table.  He stands leaning over the table with his hands to support him.  He glances over to the right to find Slate still asleep on the small bed they shared the night before.  She was wrapped up in the covers with her head hanging slightly off of the bed.

He cracked a small smile before walking over to the side of the bed.  He carefully picked her head up in his hands and laid her back onto the soft pillow.  He then gently tucked her in to ensure comfort before returning himself back to the table.

He leaned back over to look down upon the item once again.

The item was but a ring...

A golden ring with words of great meaning inscribed upon them.

‘Democratis a nativitate usque ad mortem.’  These were the words inscribed upon the ring’s outer side.  Translated to English it states:  Democratis, from birth unto death.  The words carry the meaning of loyalty to his family and its long history, but this ring does not belong to Gregorios.

He released a long sigh before setting himself down upon his knees and closing his eyes with the ring before him.  His hands softly gripped onto the table’s edges as he sighed once more, this one louder than the last.

Slate slowly opened up her eyes from the sound of the sigh to find Gregorios kneeling before the ring upon the table.  Her eyes widened open in intrigue as he then began to speak, as if someone else was in the room.

“Petronius, frater meus. Et post duos annos dierum de poena manet. Biennium reliquistis me. Amice, socius meus magnus frater.”  His voice quieted down, almost in a sadder tone.  “Sacrificium fieret in tempore diei huius: quia mihi mater, pater.”  The centurion’s voice then began to fall farther, as he gripped the table harder.  “Tibi laus, tibi me ad tristitiam atque recolere. Viderunt te, et in viis tuis Spero me secutum superbis. Memini nostra tempora.”  A small tear streamed out of each of his eyes.

Slate watched still, with her jaw hung open at the centurion as he continued.

“Propinquitatis… amicitiae… Et… amore.”  His voice fell more as tears began to stream from his shielded closed eyes as he gripped the table harder.  “Quaeso, me ducere ante tempora, ut quondam in alio.”  His voice came back, almost in a proud sounding tone now as a smile came across his face.  “Ut quondam, ut magnus frater meus.”

His eyes slowly opened up as he releases his grip on the table, letting his arms fall to his sides.

Slate quickly slams her eyes shut to mimic her sleep in order to not disturb the centurion… and to figure out what has happened of course.

Gregorios stood back up and took the ring into his left hand, examining it before bringing it up to his lips to plant a small kiss on it, before placing it onto his right hand’s ring finger.  He then pulled his right hand into a fist and placing his left hand over it before raising it to his mouth to blow warm air into his fist.

He then wiped the wetness of the tears from his eyes before proceeding to turn his attention to Slate.

“Slate.”  He stated softly, cracking another smile at seeing her ‘asleep’.

Slate feigned her awakening by opening her eyes in a slow and clumsy manner, before rustling herself about with a legitimate yawn.

Gregorios then chuckled as Slate got out of the bed, stretching her legs out.

“Good morning, uh… Greg-or…”  She attempted to state his name properly.

“Gregorios, Slate.  It is pronounced Greg-or-e-o-s.  Gregorios.”  He responded with a smile.

“Gregorios.  Good morning, Gregorios!”  She stated with a triumphant smile.

“When I was being sent out here, I didn’t think I would have to teach a pony how to say my name.”  He remarked to her.

“Hey!  I don’t even know what your language is.”  She retorted with a blush of embarrassment.

“It is Latin.  Very complex compared to English when you learn both of them.”  Gregorios then reached down to pick up his shield in his left hand and then placing his gladius in its holster.

“So… what are you going to do today?”  Slate asked, beginning to be comfortable being in the presence of the centurion.

“Mainly preparing the troops to move about again, we might stay here for the occupation though.”  He stated while adjusting his helmet’s plume upon his head.

Slate’s expression fell at hearing this.  “So… you might leave?”

“Well, there is a chance.  Slate, do you really have nowhere to go?”  He asked, concerned for her.

“Well… without my parents… Nopony will take a little filly like me.”  She stated looking down at the ground.

Gregorios released a heavy sigh looking at her.  “Slate… if we do leave, would you like to come with me?”

Slate gasped and looked up at the human.  “You… you would do that?”

“There aren’t any rules against it… yet, anyway.”  He announced the last part quietly under his breath.

Her eyes widened up with a grin coming across her face.  Slate suddenly latched herself to his leg in a tight hug.  “Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!”

He reached down and pulled her off of his leg before setting her back down on the ground.  “Yes, well I need to get to work.  I assume you can navigate your way about the city?”  Slate nodded.  “Good, meet me back here when the sun reaches mid-day and we can see about all of this.”

“See you later, Gregorios!”  She excitedly yelled back as she ran outside of the tent.

He remained inside shaking his head at the thought of this working.  He looked down at the ring on his finger a nodded his head.

“This is what he would do.”  He states proudly before exiting the tent himself.

“I want this canyon covered stallions!  Get the clouds into position for the rainfall!  Come on stallions, we’re not letting them through here!”  A loud voice echoed off the walls of the tall grey canyon.

Pony soldiers dashed about the canyon, preparing it for a defense in the future.  Though, these are not ill-equipped soldiers, but the elite unit from the draconequess front, called to combat the human threat.  The soldiers were clad in proper iron armor, designed specifically for each race.

Pegasi wore lighter armor, covering their torso, head, and hooves to give them full control of their movement.  Pegasi were to act as shock infantry, leading charges with lances and swords in order to wipe out an enemy formation quickly.  Pegasi were also authorized to use their abilities with weather manipulation to change the tide of combat in their own favor.

Unicorns wore medium armor covering their torso, head, and hooves, like the pegasi, but heavier in order for them to fight better on the ground.  The unicorns were meant to act as skirmishers to fire their magic into enemy formations and hold off small attacks to cover for heavy infantry… the Earth ponies.

The Earth ponies are armed to the teeth with heavy armor covering their entire bodies.  Earth ponies are meant to act as the heavy infantry in the army, holding formations against enemies and taking a large beating in the process.

All of these soldiers are led by the legendary Commander Hurricane, who stands tall over the canyon.  Becoming the alicorn embodiment of war has made him quite powerful in his position as King of Equestria alongside Queen Clover, who remains back at the nearby village of Brinkburn.

The King’s alicorn body holds characteristics that make him the wielder of authority wherever he goes.  All of his features were hidden under his white armor, dark red coat, black mane and crimson red eyes.

His beloved has still not told him of the events that have made her so, nor does he know of his son’s whereabouts.  All he knows is that Chandleridge has fallen to a mighty foe that plans to continue until the ponies are wiped away from civilization, but he wasn’t going to let that happen… at least without a fight.

“Earth ponies, move the rocks into position, if they want to come through this canyon, then they better keep their heads up!”  Hurricane called out to a team of Earth ponies pushing boulders to the ledge of the canyon, in order to push them down to fall on troop formations below.

The stallions grunted with one final shove of effort as they rolled a boulder into position.

“Good work, now move the others!”

“Yes, commander!”

He nodded his head in approval and continued to look on as his pegasi troops placed their clouds into position above the canyon, now able to strike lightning down upon troops below.

Hurricane looked on and then nodded his head.

“Whoever this enemy is... they’re going to have a hard time.”

The ponies will need every advantage they can get to combat their new enemy…

Now the war has truly begun, both sides ready themselves for the further conflict to come...

Chapter 8: Folly of the Plains

History in the Making

Youtube Video

As the seasons begin to change in the land of Equestria, the war begins to take form in all of the minds of the parties involved… and even the ones who aren’t.

Legate Varinius will soon arrive in the city of Chandleridge to lead a large army further into pony territory.  His father, Emperor Duilius, furthers the war effort in Severnium, getting the people to rally behind the war effort.  More and more men apply for the army and the production of the empire heads into full swing.  Citizens gladly ration themselves off so more money can be used for the war… they hope for a quick and deadly strike to the hierarchy of the ponies, ending their nation as a whole.

Varinius hungers for his victory like the gluttonous emperor he wishes to be.  His father hopes that this time in command will give him a feel of responsibility for once in his life, yet the heir knows of his father’s intentions.  His father wishes to humble him, an insult to the young Varinius, if anything.

The young heir will remember this, but for now he will lead his father’s army… the way that he wants to.

Gregorios remembers serving under Varinius for a short time, finding his tactics brutal, yet ineffective in the long run.  It only gave the enemy more reason to fight which Gregorios did not want for the ponies.  Through all of this he fears for his “adoption” of Slate.  He himself may be executed on the spot and Slate may be treated brutally and left as an orphan due to her even trying to be involved with a human, a centurion at that.

Slate remains uneasy in her situation, knowing that she would be called out as a traitor by her own kind and without her parents to care for and protect her, she wouldn’t survive long.  For now she will cling to Gregorios as her caretaker, and hope a way out comes soon… but she may not even want that.

Commander Hurricane remains with his army at the large canyon of unicorn range, knowing that any army would have to move through the canyon or face a long around and possibly face the long winter before meeting their destination.  He hopes to cut off the human’s momentum and rally the ponies under one true banner to push back against the humans.  He wanted not to conquer them, merely hold them off while peace is ordained by his queen, Clover.

Clover remains with crushed morale from the loss of her heir.  She couldn’t face Hurricane about it; instead she shattered into tears over merely looking at him.  She has finally started to regain herself and is readying to talk to her husband about the incident.  This is now pushed far back as she now has to establish a peace deal with the draconequess clan in the south.

The Polisians remain ill-informed of the land to the north, unaware of their hoplite scouting army’s fate.  They instead band together, creating a new coalition with the other Greek speaking states.  They now begin to create a new foray into the Equestrian lands to the north while holding their southern borders from nomadic barbarian tribes.

In the northern lands of the Crystal Empire, they have reports of bipedal creatures moving about their borders.  Some attacking and even killing ponies.  The Crystal Empire begins to look into the problem, about to break isolationism in contact with a new species.

In the far eastern parts of Equestria, small farming towns are coming into contact with humans of different builds than the Severians.  Ones speaking different languages and one even speaking English.  An operation is now being funded to establish contact by the Pony monarchy.

Soon the leaves will be turning to new shades of wondrous color.

And every leaf will witness the war in full swing.

More blood will be spilled upon the once clear grounds of Equestria…

Bonds will be tested…

Alliances will be formed…

But only one will come out on top…

Total chaos or eternal peace?  Emperors or kings and queens?

Now we let the path of history runs its course with you as the one, true witness…