Foe Hie Odyssey

True iridescence led us back to the rafts and we crossed back into the sewers.  We left him there and proceeded with our mission to find the Aquila.  The Fell Pony took point and we quietly walked through the sewers.  It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dark.  In the darkness the arched ceiling and ancient brickwork of the sewers looked like a crypt.

After a few minutes of travel there was the sound of footsteps ahead of us.  We activated our stealthbucks and took to the shadows.  A trio of talon gryphons passed us.  Haywire who I knew stood next to me sucked in her breath when she saw the emblem on their armor, but didn’t attack or run.  Thankfully the gryphons didn’t hear her for at that moment a shell struck somewhere nearby.  The gryphons panicked scampered down the tunnel as fast as they dared.

We uncloaked long enough for the Fell Pony to pass a rope between us so that we would be connected and then we were off again.  After a little walking we reached a ladder that wasn’t blocked by the debris of a broken building and ascended from the depths and into the war torn night.

Invisible we crept past the teams disarming IEDs.  It looked like they had almost finished their work.  We passed a behemoth of a machine rolling over the rubble.  It was vaguely animal shaped with four treads and a massive double barreled turret.  Its slanted armor looked to be nearly a meter thick.  By some mischance though, the street beneath the massive tank had completely collapsed under its weight.  Now a group of legionnaires was rushing to fill in the gap with whatever they could.  Here were a team of zebras dragging with ropes a rusted pony wagon and here a team dragging behind them the side of a ruined building.

We silently walked around the legionnaires now each connected by a rope that the Fell Pony had brought with him.  We followed a pair of legionnaires bearing away their wounded companion.  His chest had been torn asunder from a frag grenade and now he lay barely breathing upon an impromptu stretcher born between them.  The trio approached a low hill dotted here and there with legionnaires and sounded by a deep spike filled ditch.  On either side of the hill we could see the vague silhouettes of twin batteries of artillery.  A door opened in the side of the hill and I realized that it wasn’t a hill at all but rather some kind of fort.

We snuck in behind the pair and we followed them into their camp.  We walked steadily forward passed neat rows of tents knowing that our goal lay at the heart of the enemy camp.  We passed many injured legionnaires some of whom were even missing limbs.  I could hear shouting and crying or worst of all quiet voices delivering painful news.  One legionnaire was wandering about as if in a daze and one his fellows came over to help the zebra.  This new zebra had a partially burnt mane and hard scarred features.  Despite wearing the same armor as everypony else in the camp minus the helmet this zebra seemed to project an air of authority. “Go back to your bunk Immunis, you’ve earned your rest.” Said the second zebra his voice gruff, but gentle, the kind of gentle sounding voice that can only be reached by the truest and deepest compassion for ones fellow pony.

The one called Immunis just shook his head and I saw that half his face had been shredded.  He seemed as if not to see the other zebra as he said, “I need to go back to the front.” He walked in the direction of the forest before retching.

His companion ran over to him and held him while his body convulsed.  “You can’t fight in your condition.  Rest now, the gryphon said that you would live.”

“Should go to see the medics.” slurred the legionnaire, “can’t be resting back here while others are dying.  Psycho or jet.  That will fix me.”

“The medics are all dead.” said the other legionnaire quietly, “the enemy has been picking them off for days now.  Last one died in the assault you were in.  Do you remember the assault?”

The other legionnaire nodded sluggishly, “My face hurts.  My head.”

“We’ve had to rely on the gryphon’s medic for the past four days now.  I’ve been told that you’ve been slipping in and out of consciousness for about a day now.”

I didn’t hear the first legionnaire’s response, because they were now too far away.  Their voices were being drowned out by other similar conversations.

At last we came to the center of the camp and beheld a circle of concrete with a small rundown office building and a badly burnt and dented mobile home.  In front of the building was an attack helicopter.  There were bullet holes up and down the vehicle and the cockpit window was broken.  One of the rudders looked to be slightly warped.  No doubt this helicopter had seen some action, but to my amazement it appeared from the outside to still be fully functional.

We quickly scanned the mobile home, but found only a few items of interest.  There was an ornate helmet that the Fell Pony discretely took.  On a bookshelf we found several books labeled Strategematicon, The Art of War, a copy of Julius Caesar’s Commentaries on the Gallic War, a small guidebook titled Legionary the Roman Soldier’s (Unofficial) Manual, and lastly a book titled Fifty Shades of the Legion with a cover depicting a hogtied legionnaire beside a leather clad mare with a centurion’s crest.  This last one we found underneath a metal cot with a burnt mattress.   Sable Grace discreetly placed each of the books into her saddlebags.  As if as an afterthought she offered me the Fifty Shades book, but I politely declined having no interest in a book that appeared to be about tying ponies up.

We raided the refrigerator and found only radigator meat and a half-eaten box of cram.  In a small chest that Haywire unlocked we found a pile of small silver coins.  Haywire whispered into my ear the name of the coins, “Denarii” as Sable Grace silently levitated the coins into a saddlebag.

“We’ll split the loot later.” whispered the alicorn her voice as gentle as the headwaters of some great river, “It looks like the Aquila isn’t here.  It must be in that building outside.”

I raided a suitcase with a purple cape and purple toga.  I placed the entire suitcase onto my baldric.  On our way out the door I took a forest green travelling cloak from a hat peg by the door.  I clasped it about my throat and headed out the door.  With any luck it would keep me warm on these cold winter nights.  I almost considered stealing the blanket as well, but decided that the poor sod we were robbing didn’t deserve to be left without even the simplest of comforts.

As I emerged from the mobile home I saw the legionnaire I had seen earlier galloping into the office building followed closely by another zebra with a horizontal half-moon crest on his helmet.   The other zebra legionnaire with the damaged face had likely gone back to rest.  Whatever the case, we followed behind the legionnaire with the odd crest and entered through the revolving door just as the two zebras were leaving it.  The two of them took a turn to the left and we followed.

The zebras trotted into a small office.  “Take that blasted thing off.” growled the zebra we’d seen earlier.

“This?” asked the officer indicating his helmet’s crest.

“Of course that!” shouted the first zebra as he threw over his shoulder the baldrics of a pair of sheathed swords.  Quietly he said, “Those savages have snipers shooting anyone above the rank of decanus.  I don’t want you to become a target so just take that damn thing off.”

Without another word the officer took his helmet off revealing youthful features and he ripped the crest from its socket before placing the helmet back onto his head.  He set the crest into his saddle bags before carefully shoving rolled up maps and letters into another section.  The other zebra only nodded and turned to leave.

We followed the two as they galloped through the building and led us back to the entrance.  As they stepped out through the revolving doors Haywire and the Fell Pony tried in vain to get Sable and I to budge, but something happening outside kept us captivated.  I let go of the rope and it fell to the ground.  I stepped into the revolving door and barely got out without sending it spinning again.  As if in a trance I stepped out into the dark night.

A blinding light forced me to avert my eyes as I heard an impossibly quiet whistle of propeller blades.  Half a dozen gryphons also walked up from deeper within the camp.  Another seven flew in a V shape from the direction of the besieged city.  From the former group stepped Omega his forearms and coat stained in blood although it appeared that he had tried to at the very least wash his talons.  He wore no armor but I dared not start shooting now when he was surrounded by his fellows and within my enemy’s camp.  If that wasn’t enough of a reason I still couldn’t look towards the source of the bright light.

The light slowly descended and I was able to make out the silhouette of what looked like the misbegotten offspring of a flying car and a tank.  A curved door with a rounded window like a porthole swung outward and a pony in a suit of silver and aqua blue armor stepped out.  In his armor he stood as tall as Sable Grace and a pony head taller than the tallest zebra around.  The armor was like no other armor that I could recall seeing before.  It completely covered the pony’s body in thick overlapping curved metal plates.  There was a built in automatic magical energy pistol on the ponies armored forehoof.  The shoulders of the pony were covered by massive domes of intricately carved metal with a diameter of about two feet. When the pony moved his legs it made the sound of servos turning and light glowed from blue magical energy crystals set throughout the suit and especially from crystals set within the headpiece.  This headgear looked almost like a gothic knight’s helm, although it appeared to have two filters set into the sides of the muzzle piece and had two wedged shaped, glass covered slits that covered the eyes which glowed blue staring lifelessly forward.   On the ponies flank as well as between his eyes were three copies of what I assumed to be this pony’s cutie mark, a ring of stars set around an Erlenmeyer flask.

The circular centers of the domed shoulder pieces extended themselves out and I saw what looked like two more automatic magical energy pistols and the glowing lights of two cameras.  The built in turrets swiveled about using some kind of triple beamed purple laser targeting system to search for targets.  I ducked behind the centurion and the beams passed by without touching me.  Finding no targets the pair of turrets hid themselves.  Another turret lifted up the plates of armor covering the half cylinder of the ponies back.  This turret was armed with a high powered sniper rifle and looked frighteningly similar to the magical energy weapon that the raider sniper had been using.  It spun about as well, this time looking towards the sky.  When it had finished its survey it returned to its place in the armor.  “All clear” said the armored pony in a voice that seemed to reverberate.  He moved aside allowing his companion to exit the vehicle.

The armored pony’s companion stepped out and appeared to be almost completely identical to the first armored pony except that this pony had a different and vaguely familiar cutie mark a Vial of bubbling chemicals crossed with a hammer beneath a unicorn’s skull.  I remembered even comparing it to a jolly roger at some far earlier point in time.  Then it hit me.  She was the mare from the security footage I had found in Canterlot.  I stood dumbfounded as Omega and the legionnaire that I had been following walked forward and each of them shook hooves.

While my body was frozen, my mind was on fire.  What were these ponies doing here?  Were they in league with the legion?  Why did they come?  Who is this mare with the skull mark?  Why did she abduct me?  What was she doing to me?  Could I kill her now?  Could I get revenge for all that I had suffered now?  I reached for my pistol.  I had seen magical energy pistols reduce a pony to a pile of goo.  If I could get in enough shots before the others brought me down…

There was a commotion to the side that got all of our attention.  A zebra was chasing the legionnaire I had seen earlier.  While he did gallop unsteadily, he no longer stumbled, and he ran in a mostly straight line.  The side of his face was still disfigured by the explosion but even with only one eye he now seemed more alert than most ponies I had met.  “Stop that zebra.” called the pony chasing the disfigured zebra.

It was a waste of breath however because the injured zebra came to a halt next to his companion from earlier.  The zebra officer who had been accompanying the zebra with the two swords stepped forwards, “Immunis, I thought that you had sustained injuries too severe for you to report for active duty.  Was that a lie?  Speak or you will be flogged.”

The zebra with the two swords stepped forwards as well putting a hoof onto the shoulder of the officer, “Peace Centurion Pisces.”  He turned his full attention to the Immunis before him and the pony running up behind him, “Immunis Scipio, I believe that I ordered you to return to your tent.  Do you mind telling me why you are risking your life running around like this?” the zebra’s rough voice seemed to bleed kindness.  At the sound of this zebra’s voice the two armored ponies and many of the gryphons stopped their own conversations and came over to watch the confrontation.

The zebra who I now knew was called Scipio responded to the zebra by nodding his head eagerly and speaking faster than I could understand.  The rough voiced zebra raised a hoof, “You’re saying that, after I told you to get some rest, you instead ran off and got yourself high on a hoofful of combat drugs?”  Scipio nodded even faster this time.  I smiled as I thought jokingly about how if Scipio kept this up he would probably break his neck.

The zebra leader turned his gaze from Scipio to Omega.  “Omega, did you give my legionnaire a potentially lethal dose of combat drugs?” Gone was that quality of kindness.  The zebra’s voice was now dangerously low and he put extra emphasis on the word lethal as if it were a not so subtle threat.

Omega just looked tired as he said, “I didn’t do anything.  And he didn’t steal from me neither.  Hell we’ve been outa combat drugs for the past two days.” The gryphon wiped sweat off his forehead not seeming to care that the rag he was using was covered in blood.   It left a scarlet strip across his face where it touched him.

The zebra commander nodded before turning his attention to the zebra that had been chasing Scipio and who was now trying to slip away without being noticed.  “You there.  Yeah, you.   Look at me when I’m talking to you.  What’s your name legionnaire?”

The centurion stepped forward whispering something into the commander’s ear, “What is this?” cried the commander in a sudden fury.  He stalked towards the pony, “Sextus.  That is your name isn’t it?” the other zebra nodded cowering before the wrath of his superior.  The commanding zebra lifted up the other zebra by his armor and forced him into a standing position.  “Stand up straight.  Now I hear that you’re a pony who knows how to acquire certain things, is that true?”  Sextus hesitantly nodded.  The commander lifted Sextus bodily and threw him across the concrete.  The zebra skidded several feet before slumping.

The legion commander dangerously calm walked towards the downed zebra buck drawing one of his swords.  In a steady voice he said, “Milites Sextus, you have hoarded much needed medical supplies from the legion.  For this I have found you to be guilty of treason against Roam, her people, and her legions.  What say you to these charges against you?”

Sextus spat, “It doesn’t matter what I say, because you’re still going to kill me.”

“Sextus, I give you three options; you can run and you will be dragged back here by these lovely gryphongs.  If you choose this option you can bet that I’ll be the one nailing your hooves to the cross.” he smiled as if he were daring the pony to run.   The gryphons looked onto the scene with a hungry amusement as if they would enjoy the chase.  Omega just huffed and turned away.

Sextus silently stared at his commander.  “Your next option,” said the zebra as he halting threw the sword he held the last dozen feet between himself and Sextus, “is that you can fight your way out.  If you can kill me than you can go free.”

“I’ve seen you fight.  I’ve heard the stories.  Whatever I am, I am not an idiot.” he moved as if to kick the sword away, but the other zebra lifted a hoof.  Sextus automatically stopped kicking the sword and listened.

“Your third and final option is that you can die as a legionnaire of Roam.  You have disgraced yourself, so I give you the opportunity to die with honor.”

Sextus after a long moment’s thought lifted up the sword between his hooves and his hooves shaking attached it to his bracelet device.  “Thank you, sir.  I choose to die a soldier of Roam.” He said solemnly.  I expected him to charge off down towards the battle, but at the encouragement of his commander he set the hilt of the sword to the ground, “Legatus Marcus, it has been a pleasure to serve under you.” And then Sextus cast himself upon his sword.  It was not a quick death.  The sword missed the heart leaving Sextus slumped over the sword coughing up blood for half a minute.

Marcus looked on impassively until it was over then he came forwards and took the sword.  He wiped it clean on the body of the dead stallion.  “Place him with the other dead.”  He ordered a pair of legion soldiers who had been watching the spectacle.   He passed Scipio and then faster than the eye could see he grabbed the pony.  He moved his muzzle up to the legionnaire’s ear, “Do you think that this will be your last run?” Scipio opened his mouth to speak, but apparently thought better of it.  He nodded.  Marcus wrapped the pony in a hug.  He drew away and coughed as if embarrassed more by the public display of affection than by the death of Sextus. “We’d best be getting to our meeting.” He said to the assembled ponies and gryphons.

As Scipio turned to return to the battle Marcus whispered something into his ear.  Scipio solemnly nodded before rushing over to one of the gryphons.  He grabbed a pair of plasma grenades from the talon gryphon’s belt and then darted towards the battle.  The gryphon opened his beak, but Marcus called out loudly, “We should get going.”  The gryphon, taking the hint, grunted and with one last look over his shoulder marched with his fellows into the office building.

I heard a commotion from the offices behind me that made me turn.  Behind me I could hear Marcus saying to one of the armored ponies, “Just the guards having a little fun.  I wonder where they found a whorse in all this.” turning again I saw that he gestured in the direction of the besieged city.  I turned Marcus’s words over in my head for a moment.  The guards hadn’t been guarding the door and they hadn’t been guarding the office with all of the maps and plans.  That meant that according to True Iridescence’s description of the camp and the map he had shown the group these guards were either guarding some kind of religious idol or they were guarding the standards.  I muttered curses under my breath as I ran back to the revolving door and into the office building.

I sprinted up the stairs to the second level of the building and desperately searched for the source of the commotion.  It wasn’t hard because the sounds had grown much louder now.  I burst through the door to see the Fell Pony pinned to the wall behind the door by two of the legion spears.  They appeared to have been thrown and like an armor piercing bullet they went right through the Kevlar of the poor buck’s heavy barding.

Haywire lay on the floor next to him.  Her mechanical parts hung limply, but it looked like most of her organic parts were still working.  She had a black eye and a number of bruises across her body.  A legionnaire was sitting on her back and reaching for a whip at his belt.  Seeing this I found my scalpel had slipped into my hand and I drew a red line across the bastard’s neck.  Killing him however dispelled my invisibility and it would be a while before I could use it again.

Visible now, I entered the room seeing six legionnaires gathered around Sable.  I cast the scalpel into the leg of a zebra mare wearing a dogs head.  She turned in surprise from where she had been holding down one of the blue alicorn’s wings.  Sable was loudly moaning in pain and kicking wildly.  Her other freakishly large wing threw the ponies holding it to the ground, but the other four legionnaires kept hurting her.

One zebra that had been holding her head down didn’t seem to notice me and shouted, “Principissa Lupa, Nutrientibus mei nouse!”  I didn’t understand what he was saying and drew my pistol shooting him even as he lowered his bulk onto Sable Grace’s head.  The blast struck his shoulder and crying out he toppled off her.  The other legionnaires were now aware of their invisible herald of doom.

I ran forward with my machete in one hand and gun in the other.  I shot two of the ponies who were turning to face me, but missed a third one who was still holding down Sable’s rear legs.  I cut down the zebra mare wearing a dog’s head and shot one of the remaining ponies restraining Sable Grace.   It was then that I realized exactly what these legionnaires had been doing to her.  I now knew the kind of fun they were having, because of my careless mistake.

Sable Grace no longer restrained hurled the pony between her legs to the floor.  He was still inside her as she started to beat him to death.  She reared up and brought her hooves down upon his chest.  I heard his ribs crack, but he wasn’t dead yet.  She reared again, but his time brought her horn to bear and pinned him through the throat to the floorboards.  With an effort she ripped herself free of the floor boards and then of the parts of the stallion still attached to her.  Trembling she stumbled towards the corner of the room and curled into a ball.

I moved towards her but found myself turned to face an angry Haywire.  There were tears in her pony eye that she furiously wiped away with a hoof.  “Let me help her.” She whispered.  There was a crash from behind us.  “Go take the Aquila and go.  We’ll catch up.”

“No.  I’m not abandoning all of you for some stupid vaccines.” I said angry more at myself than at Haywire’s suggestion.  “Not again.” I whispered and now I was crying.  I wanted to hit something.  I wanted to hit myself most of all.  If I hadn’t gone off investigating then Sable wouldn’t have been raped.  If I hadn’t gone off investigating then I wouldn’t have seen that unicorn that had been experimenting on me.  I was torn between revenge and regret and I hated myself for it.

“I can hear ponies on the stairs.” said a deep voice behind us.  I turned to see the Fell Pony.  He had usually been secretive, but he seemed to have become talkative now that he was dying.  “Take their symbol of power.  They’ll follow you instead of coming for us.  Give them a good chase.”

I found the eagle.  It was attached to an extendable rod like a supersized radio antenna to whatever heathen gods these bastards prayed to.  Almost as an afterthought I grabbed the dog’s head helmet from the dead zebra mare.  After one final look to Sable Grace I stalked out of the room.  As I was passing the Fell Pony he held out his hoof stopping me.  I turned to him confused.  Trembling he took off a round medallion with the image of each of the three pony races on it running in in a circle and surrounded by flowing Celtic designs  that resembled waves or perhaps flower petals. “The symbol of Epona.” said the Fell Pony coughing.  “I do not want these bastards to get it.” He broke into a coughing fit, blood and saliva falling onto his barding.  We heard the sound of armor scraping against armor from nearby. “Run.” Wearing a dog’s head and an amulet to a horse goddess, while carrying a golden eagle on a stick, I ran like a hound out of hell.

End of Chapter 8