It was 9 A.D. 3 of Rome’s heralded legions were ambushed and completely wiped out in the Teutoburg Forest in Germania. Their leader, Publius Quinctilius Varus, committed suicide when he heard of the ambush. Most legionnaires were killed in the ambush while others tried to escape. However, all except a few were recaptured by the barbarians. Unknown to the Romans, a certain senior centurion serving in the Eighteenth Legion has managed to escape both the clutches of death and the barbarians...
“Keep your guard up, soldiers.”
That was the last thing he said before THEY attacked.
The Germanic troops surged forward down the two hills, moving as a single mass. They shouted war cries that struck fear into the hearts of their enemy. Their rage was almost radiating off of them. Their faces were contorted in a mixture of excitement in anticipation of the incoming battle and anger at these foreign invaders, who had desecrated their homeland, suppressed their native religion and took away their freedom. Their swords glistened in the sparse sunlight, demanding that they be fed blood.
The Roman army was utterly terrified. They were in between the two advancing forces and were not in battle formation. The wagons containing their families hindered their movement. They were trapped.
When the barbarians revealed themselves, Marcus Caelius got ready for battle. Unlike the other legionnaires who were complacent and distracted, he always kept his guard up. He knew from experience that ambushes would often be set up in forested areas like these and so had fully armed himself in case. Turns out that he was right about the ambush. He left his family at home; they were a liability if war broke out.
The one-sided battle commenced.
As the first barbarian came charging at him, he brought up his shield and rammed it forward into the enemy's torso. The force from the ram caused the barbarian to fall. Marcus plunged his sword into his heart while he was still struggling to get up.
Another barbarian, having seen his comrade's death at the hands of the centurion, charged straight at him. He skillfully sidestepped the still charging barbarian and stabbed him in the back. The barbarian fell, the light in his eyes having been snuffed out long before he hit the ground.
The ground embraced the fallen with the sound of crunched leaves. Time was running out for the lone centurion. His men were disorganised and were now fleeing the battle in complete disarray. They were cut down by the enemy’s missiles with ease. The avenues of escape were sealed. It was no longer a battle, but a massacre. Death came from all sides. Hundreds fell by the minute...
Marcus was slowly getting pushed back. He may be battle-hardened and have superior training, but he was close to getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of barbarians.
They pushed forward relentlessly, the hunger for his blood increasing for every of their kinsmen who fell by his sword.
Occupied with keeping the enemy at bay, Marcus did not see the enemy cavalry headed towards his position from behind him. He did not take note of them until a horse let out a neigh and raised it’s hooves into the air. He turned around to deal with the new threat, but what he saw shocked him.
Arminius, their ally, was riding the horse. He had betrayed them and led them into an ambush.
Marcus opened his mouth to say something, but it was too late. The horse’s hooves crashed down on top of him. He blacked out.
Marcus awoke. The air was still and cold. The trees swayed to and fro, a tranquil sight compared to the destruction the barbarians had left in their wake. The silence of death hung in the air, only broken by his heavy breathing.
He scanned his surroundings cautiously, keeping an eye out for any returning forces. After lying prone for a few minutes with a strange tingling sensation around his body, he deduced that none of those barbarians were coming back.
He checked himself for wounds, but found none except a large dent on his helmet where the horse had hit him.
Thank the gods it’s hooves only hit my helmet. If not... he shuddered at the thought.
Then came another thought.
Arminius, that double-crossing filthy bastard. If I ever meet him, I’ll personally see to it that he would be tortured for the rest of his pathetic life.
Marcus said prayers for his comrades who had fallen in battle. Their lives had been given to a cause greater than themselves and their sacrifice will not be forgotten.
Barbarians. Oh, how he hated them. Their strange shouting and screaming in battle made it hard to concentrate in close quarters, not to mention scaring the s*** out of unconditioned, newly recruited legionnaires. To add to the Romans' negative image of them, their strange religion sometimes involved human sacrifice. Even when some submitted to Roman authority, he suspected they were just waiting for the opportune time to revolt while their backs were turned in order to regain control of their lands.
Marcus was interrupted in his thoughts by a burning sensation on the lower part of his torso. When he looked down, he saw a sight that could give the barbarians a run for their money in terror.
A large number of fire ants were gathered around his limp body, biting at the exposed flesh not covered by his armor and clothing. Some managed to weasel their way in between the clothing and were biting at gods-know-what.
Anyone who was there at that moment would have gotten an earful of very colourful and descriptive language.
He refrained from screaming like a little girl and immediately got to work. He stood up quickly and dusted the ants off as best as he could. Some of the more stubborn ones had to be plucked off his skin. He also shook himself to free all the ants swarming in his clothing.
The pests scurried away from him to feast on the other corpses. He sighed in relief. He always had a phobia of insects, coming from his childhood where his toe had been bitten by a centipede. It took nearly a week for the wound to heal. If it came to being swarmed by insects or dying in a fire, he would choose the latter.
"Could this day get any worse?" he wondered.
As if it were answering his question, the boom of thunder broke the silence in the air. A thunderstorm was headed his way and he had to find shelter before it hit.
First, however, he picked up some weapons in order to defend himself and to hunt for food later. Marcus picked up an unbroken javelin, a bow and some arrows. He still had his sword and dagger though, so he didn’t pick up any of those. Suddenly, something unusual occurred.
A multi-coloured shaft of light pierced through the trees covering the edge of the forest, it’s brilliant light blinding his eyes momentarily. It lit up the forest, clearing away the darkness and gloom that loomed over the site of the battle.
He walked towards the light, shielding his eyes from the light with his hand. He stepped over the bodies littering the path. He didn't care where it would lead to, as long as it was away from the site of the battle. He had no intention of returning to Rome.
When he reached the edge of the forest, he stopped to take a good look at the source of the light.
A hole floated in mid-air with the multi-coloured light forming a border around it. Inside it, he could see a very strange-looking land, but of course he did not know it’s name.
Marcus offered prayers of thanks and anything else he could think of. The gods may have just offered him a path to another life, more peaceful than his current one. A chance to start over.
He stared into the portal for a while longer.
Are you sure you really want to do this? he asked himself.
Why not? He argued. Even if I return to Rome, they’ll probably crucify me for ‘cowardice’ and for losing the aquilae. I have nothing to lose if I enter it.
He took a step towards the portal.
Oh well, I might as well get over with it before I change my mind.
After taking a huge breath, he jumped into the portal with a wildly beating heart.
The light enveloped him and in seconds, all traces of him were gone from the world.
It was afternoon in the magical land of Equestria. Fluttershy was walking briskly back to her home near the Everfree Forest. She had just returned from another trip to Ponyville’s market to buy some food for her pets. As she walked along the long path to her home, her mind wandered off...
I do hope Angel finds these carrots delicious. It cost me a lot- ok, maybe not a lot but it was still a sizable amount of bits. I don’t think he would like to have the Stare used on him again, letting out a chuckle as she recalled the time he refused to eat a salad specially prepared for him. He stubbornly refused to eat the salad until she was forced to use her trademark Stare. The ironic thing was that he liked the food she bought for him in the first place.
As she neared her house, she sensed something was amiss. The animals were unusually quiet. The front door was ajar. Angel was nowhere to be seen.
Not long after, she arrived at her house’s doorstep. Not wanting to alarm the intruder in her house, she slightly opened the door to allow herself to peep into the house.
Nothing seemed out of place. All the objects were in their respective places. No signs of a confrontation could be seen anywhere. Just as she was about to sigh in relief, something caught her eye. Her eyes were drawn to a corner near the back of the house, where she could make out two shadows, one larger than a pony, and the other the size of a... bunny.
She gasped.
A strange creature had cornered her Angel Bunny, trying to EAT him.
