"Corporal bring around that cannon!"
"I need Ammo!"
"Here they come!"
"Reload! Reload!"
"RIGHT SIDE RIGHT SIDE!"
"Incoming!"
"For the Crown!"
"Medic we've got wounded!"
"Bring up that twenty five pounder!!"
"Watch it!"
"Sir, Fire orders?!"
"Sir, Fire. Orders."
"SIR!"
"They've broken the Lines!"
Within moments, the land around Flowing River was clouded in Gun smoke and death.
The vast grasslands of the Frontier had been inhabited by Settlers for almost a decade. They lived, dotted in small communities, like crumbs on a contrasting tablecloth. What land had once been believed to be uninhabited, was surprisingly found to be teeming with life. Wild animals roamed here, unhindered by the likes of progress. Where nothing had lived, where nothing should live, life carried on. Within the mighty plains lived many folk, cow punchers, outlaws, farmers, ranchers, young and restless. This environment was hostile, a common cold could kill you if you weren't careful. That is, if the wildlife and natives didn't kill you first.
Lieutenant Tail Wind looked out over the small hill. His Light Blue coat contrasted the blood soaked grass. Around him scattered was the bodies of the formerly living. His friends and comrades had fought well... But not well enough. They had successfully repelled the assault after three hours of brutal fighting. It had taken over 530 Ponies to defend this outpost, but only a handful would survive to see it in the next day's light. An entire Cavalry Division wiped out by Bison, armed only with spears and arrows. Or so the Cavalry had been told. Their Native scout had told them of the tribes that had inhabited this region had begun to unite into a confederacy to eliminate the frontiers-Ponies who had taken up settlement near by. They had scrambled the Second as soon as possible, trekking them thousands of kilometres from Canterlot out to the frontier. This was to be the first glorious Victory for the Second since they were commissioned as a Unit. It had been too late when they arrived to save the settlement, it's inhabitants had been slaughtered.
"Lieutenant Wind?"
It hadn't taken much time to dig in and fortify a base.
"Lieutenant Wind?"
It had taken almost as much time to build as it had taken for them to attack.
"Lieutenant...?"
Almost as much time as it had taken for them to-
"Lieutenant!"
Tail wind looked up from where he sat in the blood covered grass on the Hill.
"Finally. Lieutenant, sir, we've begun taking a head count and supply check..."
"Why are you coming to me with this whirl wind? Go tell the Major, he'll know what to do." Tail wind retorted, standing up and walking away. It wasn't very professional or military like to delegate to a senior officer something a junior officer should be able to handle, but the major had survived thousands of skirmishes during the griffin wars, he surely wouldn't be as shell shocked after seeing the majority of the Second Cavalry massacred.
"Because sir, the Major is dead."
"What?!"
"The Major, he's dead. The entire senior command is dead Sir! You are the next senior most officer sir!" Whirl wind shouted, fluttering his wings in anguish. For as long as Tail Wind had been posted with the Second, Corporal Whirl Wind had always been a easily excitable Pony. Often times a little too much.
"You are bluffing! Where is Captain Spear Tip? Or Captains Honey cut and Hawk eye?"
"Gone or dead." a voice said from behind them. Whirl Wind and Tail Wind spun around to eye the new member of the conversation.
"Sergeant Night fall. For the love of her Majesty, if you sneak up on me again, I will personally shoot you." Tail wind scolded at the Unicorn Sergeant.
"That doesn't solve the problem Lieutenant." the Sergeant reached behind him and withdrew several small coin sized discs, "Commanding Officer, Executive Officer, Deputy Commander, all of them are dead. You can check the tags if you don't believe me, but it doesn't change the fact that they're still dead."
Night Fall levitated the discs over to Tail Wind, each little metal disc was covered in dried blood, soaking into the engraving of each commanders name, absorbing into the metal and activating the Spells inside, adding the names to a deceased file within the Head quarters in Canterlot. The Discs also had another funny function when they came in contact with blood, they became removable from the wearer, and would glow bright colours in an effort to draw attention to them. Tail Wind quickly shuffled through the Discs, confirming his worst fears.
"You have the Command, sir." Night Fall stated, Saluting, "What are your Orders?"
Tail wind choked on the breath in his lungs. He had never been given command before, this was his first posting, he hadn't even been in combat outside of his training at the Military Academy.
"I... I don't know..." he whimpered.
"Sir, we need orders, they could be regrouping and attack us again in the night!" Night Fall sharply stated, Tail wind just sputtered, stumbling over a response.
"I-I-I-I-I Uh, Um... Uh..."
"For Faust sakes Tail wind, are you a bloody officer in the Royal Cavalry or are you a school filly! We. Need. Orders." Night Fall said, growing closer to his face.
"Yes..." Tail wind paused, what would the Major have done? "You want orders, heres your orders, assemble whatever forces that are alive, tend to those that are wounded, gather ammunition or weapons or whatever you can find, start taking the tags from the deceased, and find me the Stallion in charge of Communications!"
Tail wind barked out his orders, and Night Fall was more then happy to comply. As Night and Whirl Wind rushed off to spread the new orders, Tail returned to watching the dead. Smoke Rose from burning Cannon Emplacements, billowing up into the sky in long curving tendrils. It wasn't until then that he noticed amongst the sea of blood soaked blue cavalry uniforms, were swathes of Buffalo, as dead as the Ponies beside them. Within the silence of death and crackling of burning equipment, were the moans of the dying.
Tail wind hadn't been sure in the slightest if anypony from the front had fully survived. He still doubted the fact that he managed to survive. Yet, before him near what remained of the Unit's temporary Head quarters, stood 13 Ponies: 4 Pegasi, 3 Unicorns and Six Earth ponies. No two ponies were from the same occupation. The job roles they had taken before the battle had ranged from Chef, to Postmare, to company clerk. They were a scraggly bunch, but they were all that remained of the once mighty Second Cavalry.
"I'm not going to lie, you are literally all our last line of defence. Everypony else you marched out here with, is now dead. Wounded are being tended to my the outfits Unicorn surgeon, however, it doesn't look good. As you may or may not know, I have been given Command of the Unit until I'm relieved or I die, whichever one hopefully comes first." Tail wind eyed each one of the Ponies up. He had faint memories of what their names were or where they had been during the battle. "My Second in command is Night Fall. My understanding is that you all got taskings from him, so what do you all have to report?"
The Mare on the far Left of the line spoke up first, Tail wind grasped at straws for a name.
"We have several thousand rounds of Ammunition, two cannons, two hundred serviceable side arms, three hundred Rifles, eight spears, forty seven cutlasses, three bows, fifty seven arrows, and eight barrels of gun powder left in munitions storage, Sir!" The mare replied.
"Awesome, we have enough weapons to outfit a small nation, shame we only have a small hamlet of ponies. Also, don't say sir, we left that military formality behind the minute the Second Cavalry got butchered. Also, what is your name miss?" Tail wind rambled, painfully attempting some humour.
"Corporal Star fire, sir- I mean, Tail wind." The Unicorn mare replied.
Tail wind gestured towards several other ponies in line beside her, "And how many of you were with her for that?" Several raised their hoof. "Uh... Good job? alrighty, what else do we have to report?"
Night Fall stepped forward
"Three slightly wounded," Night gestured to three bandaged Ponies in the line up, "eight mortally wounded, remainder deceased."
Tail wind bit his lip and hung his head. "Did you find the Communications Unicorn?" He spoke rather quietly.
"No, but Star Fire is capable of performing the spells if we need it," He replied in a hushed tone.
"Alrighty then. Anypony else have more depressing news to report?" Tail wind asked, sitting down in the worn dust outside of the HQ Tent.
"The Buffalo appear to be holding off... We should be safe for tonight." Someone spoke from the line, a Pegasus with bright yellow fur.
Tail Wind heaved a sigh of relief. "Well, our first order of business is to send a message out to the nearest authorities as soon as possible. If we don't report in within at least two weeks the Crown is bound to notice we've gone missing, I think at least that's what we were doing... Regardless, there has to be another regiment, or something out here for us to contact, we need help as soon as possible. Tonight, we'll be rotating shifts for guard duty, for what is left of the day, let's refortify as much as we can, those Savages may still press an attack."
With his orders distributed and the task at hand understood, the Ponies set off to work. Within hours they'd have made a makeshift wall around what little tents and equipment had survived the fight.
Unbeknownst to the Cavalry Ponies as they worked, they were closely watched. As the wind picked up, and the sun began to fall, none of the survivors of the Second noticed the small group of Bison and pony who moved slowly across the ground towards the deceased body of the Major.
Removing ever so carefully a folded document marked:
THIS MATERIAL IS CLASSIFIED.
FOR THE EYES OF COMMAND STAFF ONLY
BY ISSUE OF:
PRINCESS OF THE SUN, HER MAJESTY CELESTIA
DO NOT DISTRIBUTE.
MISSION MATERIAL IS TOP SECRET,
CLASSIFICATION 1 1 ALFA
The brave souls of the Second Royal Equestrian Light Cavalry would never know that no pony would notice they failed to check in, because no pony knew they were gone. Thousands of miles away the Killed In Action Folder for the Second was removed from it's Headquarters, and placed amongst the mess of paperwork on the Sun Princess's desk.
That Night, not a single member of the Light Cavalry would sleep. The noises of Coyotes carried on the wind.
