Legion of Mars

"Uuuuugh.......by Jupiter's fucking cock...." Moaned Felix as his eyes opened, before being ravished by a bright light. "Fuck off, Sol!" He said as he held out as he held his head in his hands, his head pulsating more than an ox dancing on top of his head. He shook off the feeling and tried to stand up, only for him to slide back down on the ground. "Fuck." He murmured as he tried to focus his eyes on the world around him.

He was in an alleyway of some sort, though calling it an alleyway was an oversimplification. It was much cleaner than he remembers it, which was strange considering they were in some backwater shithole near Germania. The smell of shit and garbage hit him, and other things he was familiar with if he was in a brothel. He had to cover his nose just to keep the smell out.

The memory from the night before hit him like a runaway cart. He remembers his legion stopping in front of Colonia Augusta Treverorum, and trying to sneak away to get himself a drink if possible. Before he could even walk out of the camp, another person bumped into him. He saw a young blonde-haired Roman soldier that might have passed for a Celtic if anything. He tried to quickly apology to him, but Felix had already lifted the small man from the ground. He had a short temper, something that was not lost to him. He tried to control his anger sometimes, but he would just let his rage take over.

He was considered a big man in his legion, reaching up to most of his comrades in some cases. He was also built with muscles all around, a trait from his hard days of being in a blacksmith before he joined the legion. To him, the Celt weighted nothing to him than a bag of burly. Before he could even start to beat the living shit out of him, his centurion intervened and told him to put him down. be treating that Celtic looking motherfucker, he decided to head to the nearest tavern to get himself drunk and fuck a whore if possible.

He can't remember anything else, but he was pretty sure that he passed out in the tavern.

"Fucking bar keeper threw me out." He kept murmuring as he started to stumble his way out of this alleyway. "I'll give him a piece of my fucking mind and a sword up his fucking arse." He heard some screams of pleasure from inside one of the buildings.

Emerging from the dark alleyway, he rubbed his eyes when brightness suddenly hit him. It was somewhere around noon as he could tell from the brightness hitting him. "Fuck you too, Sol." He said through gritted teeth. After blinking a couple of times, he was met with a confusing and arousing site.

He knew he hadn't been drinking that much last night, and he knew that he didn't move to another city while drunk. The white and purple stone city he witnessed was much larger than he could imagine, with buildings that reached up into the skies like they are mocking the gods themselves. The streets were fairly clean for the most part, its pristine white surface almost glistening in the sunlight. There were rows of trees in the middle of the street that seemed to well kept for the most part. The city streets were clean, with no sign of dirt or grime like some big cities in the Rome Empire, even Rome itself. Most of the buildings had spires that reached out to the heavens.

The most strange thing to top it all off, was the occupants.

Humanoid creatures with animalistic features were strolling along the paths as if they are going to their day to day lives. There were horse-like creatures walking alongside what he assumed was some sort of deer humanoid creatures. What was also strange was that their coat fo fur had different colors, ranging from pink to blue to whatever else. Their plate-like eyes seemed to be focusing on the path before them, while some pasted by looking at him like they never saw a Roman in their lives. The deer creatures only had brown fur on them, so he couldn't tell which one is which if he was trying to remember names.

"Just where the fuck am I?" He mumbled as he looked at the scene before him. He shook his head. "This has to be some sort of dream." He looked around the city and spotted some celebration going on in the street next to him. There was a banner that had the words "Liberation Day Festival" on it. "If this is a dream, they better have some fucking wine." With that, he started to head to whatever tavern he could find in this large city. The occupants were giving him strange looks, but he ignored their stares and continued on his journey to get drunk again.

Hopefully, he'll wake up from this strange dream.

Lucius glanced at another tree that had another terrifying expression on it. This time its mouth was wide open, as if ready to swallow him whole as soon as he looked away. He lost count of how many trees he came across with the same sculpture as the one he saw. He knew that deep down that it was some ploy by the tribes to scare off the invading armies. It wasn't the last time he would see it. All around him were trees that mirrored the faces of monsters, almost like they were ready to come alive and eat his legion whole. He knew that the carvings weren't natural in any way and that some tribe had etched in the carvings to scare intruders off. This wasn't unnatural for the tribes to do that. Back when he was stationed in Thrace, his unit was ordered to cross the Danube river and into Dacia to destroy a nearby Dacian tribe that was relentlessly raiding several small towns along the river. Despite some ambushes and hit-and-run tactics that the Dacians were known for, his legion arrived at the village and started to burn it to the ground. They slaughtered the men and carried the women and children off with them to serve as slaves for future generations. While he was in the village, he came across a clear opening outside of the village that had several big trees that stood out from the rest. From the look of it, it looked like they were there for a very long time. There were faces of bearded men on each of these trees, with an altar and some plates of fruits and bread as an offered to their god.

This was a long time ago, and he was pretty sure that the carvings he encountered weren't as scary as the ones here in this forest. It also didn't help that the trees were starting to get on his nerves.

'Keep it together, Lucius.' He thought to himself as this mare walked along the dirt path that laid before them. 'You've been through worse than this.' The trip was silent, except for the marching of the Roman soldiers and their axillary companies in tow, their armor and weapons clinging against one another as well as the clopping of the Equities accompany way in the back. The legion left the large forest spot some time ago. It took longer to get everything fitted into the baggage wagon with the lack of slaves helping them. The supplies were secured and guarded by a contingent of guards pulled from the Sixth Cohort. Their supplies were mostly intact, but they were running low on food, and Governor Borius promise of a requisition had never come. By his calculations, they would still have enough food for two weeks, assuming they ration it properly to the rest of the legion. There might be animals in the forest that they could hunt for food.

He didn't know if there are any animals in this forest, and he had a sense that he doesn't want to find out.

At first, they hesitated to follow Lucius out of whatever fresh Hades they landed in. He encouraged his men a little and told them that he would find a way out. This wasn't far from the case. In actuality, he didn't know where or in what way he was going. It seemed like the forest would go on forever at this rate. It was out of luck that one of the scouts found a dirt path an hour earlier. That is what he has been following for the last hour. At least, he thought it was an hour ago. It was hard to tell with the forest being darker the farther he went.

He guessed was that either someone has been to this forest soo many times before, or that someone else lives here. He didn't know which way to go, so he had to rely on his instincts to take them.

His mare continued to bit the bridle that was in her mouth while her ears swiveled left and right. He patted her on the sides. "It's ok, Julianus." He whispered to her ear. "You've been in strange places before. Everything is going to be alright."

Julianus reared her head as if acknowledging him.

"This forest is as dark as a fucking Egyptos arse." Validus commented as he rode right next to him. Egyptos were the nickname of the Egyptian people that were part of the Empire. "I can barely see ten meters in front of me." He was both wrong and right in a way. While the sun did light the forest up allowing them to see, it was still dark as Hades down here. He was pretty sure that he was blind at first. "This forest is giving me the fucking creeps."

"Can't argue with that." He said as he looked from tree line to tree line, scanning the forest itself like it could grab him at any second. He had this strange feeling that he and his legion are being watched.........closely. This feeling had only increased every moment that went by. He had dealt with ambushes before, as the Picts would occasionally do to his legion from time to time. While they would go around Hadrian's Wall to plunder and raid before disappearing back to their side, some would want revenge on the Romans for invading their land so long ago. As such, there were times where he and his legion would face an ambush every now and again by the invading Picts or rouge tribes that turned to banditry. The legion would win these battle, but not without its fair share of casualties. Before he was called to the frontier of the Empire, the British frontier was relatively quiet for the most part. No Pictish raids anywhere and banditry was at an all-time low. He almost thought that he would get a break for once. However, the gods would eventually fuck him over in the arse. "We can't turn back now. We have to see where this path takes us."

"To our deaths, maybe." He heard Validus murmured under his breath.

He glared at Validus. "Unless the gods intervene, we are on our own for now." He shouldn't be mad at Valdius. There was nothing he could do to alleviate his fears and doubts. They were in a completely hostile territory with no sense of direction other than the path that was laid out before them. The most he can do is pray to Jupiter or Venus for safe passage and keep his legion from getting lost.

No one spoke for what felt like hours as the legion continued to march with their commander. The feeling from before hit Lucius like a Germanic beserker charging a walled city. He could sense that eyes were watching him and his legion. He couldn't see where they are or even know if they are there or not. He knew deep down that someone, or something, was watching their every move. For what purpose is unknown to him, but it didn't take a genius to guess. He knew that deep down, something was going to happen. The feeling of death hung at the very core of his mind, his conscious telling him that he was doom to fail. The unknown voices mocked him, telling him to run off the trail and into his death.

Perhaps that would be better than this mess he was in.......

He shook his head to get the thoughts out of his head. This forest was already trying to get to him. He needed something to distract himself. He turned to Valdius. "Its getting kind of gloomy right now." He said after a moment of silence. "Vladius, is there any songs that could help lighten the mood?" He thought that a good old song of Rome would help with his insanity, as well as lift the men's spirits a little bit.

He nodded. "Aye, I know a song that could lift the spirits. I think the legion knows it too." He started to clear his throat a couple of times and started to sing a song. He sang in Latin, the traditional language that all Romans know besides Greek. The entire legion fell suite, voicing out the lyrics as Validus sang them. Their voices matched the rhythm of their marching. The faces of the legionaries turned from depression and sadness to one of joy and duty.

Lucius smiled as he watched the smiles on their faces. He even joined in on the singing at one point. At this point, the whole forest could hear the legion as it marches triumphantly across the path. In a way, he wanted whoever was watching them to know that Rome would not submit to these foolish carvings. It was there forest, Rome's forest, and he wanted them to know that.

Tempest Storm looked at the strange army marching through the forest, chanting in a language that she never heard from before. She tried to remember where she saw those creatures before, as she once served the Strom King during his campaigns of conquest to expand his empire. So far, she couldn't even remember facing them in battle before.

When she heard that Color Scheme and Steel Heart found a legion of soldiers camped inside the Everfree Forest, she assumed that the caribou had found them. There weren't any other places to hide for their little resistance other than the most dangerous forest in Equestria. Sure, the forest was big and filled with dangerous creatures known to ponykind, making it ideal to hide there until they could come up with a plan to free Equestria. The caribou won't even dare to come inside the forest itself unless they want to be eaten alive. Now that their resistance is now growing after several daring attacks, she knew that King Dainn would take notice of their resistance and started to send an army to deal with them. Once Steel Heart and Color Scheme finished their explanation, she gathered whatever fight stallions and mares she could muster and went out to the forest to deal with them. Unfortunately, she could only muster at least thirteen militia to deal with the approaching army. It was small, but it will have to do.

She had managed to find the army thanks to them shouting in their foreign language. She crouched behind a bush as she saw the passing soldiers. The rest of the rebels were either hiding in the bushes or behind the trees, they're weapons already ready to strike them at any moment. Looking at them now, it was different than what she had expected. She had expected caribou walking along the path with one of the King's sons in tow. They were more organized than what she anticipated. She counted at least eight thousand soldiers marching along the path to Zecora's hut. They were well armored and better equipped than the caribou soldiers she would usually meet on the battlefield. The'yre faces look more mare-like but had no fur on them, leaving them with a pinkish white skin. They looked gruffer and harden than the regular stallion, she was guessing that they were stallions of the species. They carry long tower-like shields that seem too big for them to hold along. They also wielded small swords that look more like big knife cutters if anything. Some of their shields had embezzled symbols on them like an eagle or some other animal. Another group of those things were riding these pony-like creatures, their hooves kicking up small dust. They were larger than her and crawled on all fours like an animal. At least, she assumed it was crawling. Their eyes showed no intelligence or emotion, devoid of any feelings they once had. She shivered as she saw the blackness in their eyes. Every one of their companies had a single creature with a lion or wolves skin with a metal mask on carrying a banner. Some of their banners had an eagle sitting on a reed with its wings outstretched. The words 'SPQR' was written at the bottom of the eagle. Another set of banners had what looked like a griffin on all fours with one of its claws reaching out. On top of the griffon was the word 'Legio XV' while the bottom had the words 'Caledonia.' She never remembered ever traveling to a place called 'Caledonia' after being redeemed by Twilight Sparkle and swearing she would spread the magic of friendship.

The one thing she noticed was that they were marching in perfect formation, with two lines separating each other while another line of infantry wearing only red tunics were occupying the center. They were carrying small shields that had javelins on the outside of their shields and were carrying one javelin in each hand. Even if they were to ambush them, the infantry would block their path while their javelin counterparts would throw them at the group. She also saw a group of what looked like creatures with beards on their faces. They looked poorly equipped than those other creatures, with some having no armor at all. They didn't sing with the soldiers but she saw the fire in their eyes as they marched. They looked deadlier even without armor on, and more intimidating.

It seems that they are well prepared for anything.

"See, I told you we are boned." Color Scheme whispered to Tempest. "Actually, more than boned. We're super boned." He only to receive a slap on the head by Steel Heart. "What? It's true."

"Shut up, Color." She hissed. "If we want advice as to how bone we are, I'll take a changeling out to a nice dinner with a knife at its throat." She then turned to her. "So, what's the plan here? We gonna ambush them?"

Tempest looked at the soldiers one last time. She could order an ambush on the forces marching up the path, try to destroy them before they reach the resistance camp. However, she only brought a small force with her, which meant they have no number in which to attack them. Even if she did order an attack, they seemed to be well equipped for anything that would come they're way.

Finally, she came to a decision. "We'll follow them. Color Scheme, go down the line and tell the rest of the ponies to quietly follow them."

Color Scheme looked at her as if she lost a horn, and he wasn't completely off with that assumption. "Are you insane?!?!" He nearly yelled. "You want to follow them so they could kill us when they-" He almost gave away their position if it wasn't for the hand she put in his mouth to shut up. He muffled something like an apology to her. She removed her hand from his mouth. "Sorry." He said.

"I know the risks we are taking, but look at them." She pointed at the legion of soldiers marching past them. "Those don't look like Dainn's thugs to me. I could be wrong, but maybe we could negotiate with them somehow." It was a stupid idea to begin with. No, it was more than stupid, it was plain idiotic. She knew there was no way that she would be able to talk to them without getting killed or captured and raped. However, there was something about those soldiers that didn't sit right with her. She expected a band of disorganized barbarians, not a full legion of professional soldiers. Besides, it appears they aren't lead by one of King Dainn's sons or one of his famous generals.

"By doing what?" Steel Heart said as she examined the legion. "It's not like we could just ask their commander to surrender."

"I think we can find a way." She said as she looked at the row of troops. At the side of one of the companies, she spotted what she assumed was their commander. He wore a helmet that had a red mane on top of it unlike the rest of the creatures. He looked much older than the other creatures, yet he saw in its face that it saw more battles than anyone else.

With a motion of her hand, she ordered her troops to follow the army. She hoped to Celestia or whatever god was watching their sorry rumps that what she had planned would work.

Lucius cupped both hands together and dunked them in the water. He lifted them up and directed it towards his dried mouth and throat. He felt the surprisingly cool water rushing down his throat. He almost resisted the urge to dunk his head in the river right now. It was tempting at first, but he had a stronger will than that.

He didn't know how long they had been on the path in the forest. Hours maybe. Time seemed to be irrelevant while in this cursed forest. He almost lost time track of time himself while his legion marched. They stopped singing a long time ago, letting the unwavering fear of silence take over once again. He didn't enjoy during the long walk, as his mind would remind him that he was still being watched by powers unknown.

Just as he was taking another sip of water, a scout he sent out a while ago said that he found a river up ahead. This was good news to him and the legion, as it would allow them to recuperate for a moment and for him to think of what to do next.

It didn't take long for them to reach the river the scout mentioned. The forest itself seemed to part out of the way for them just as they reached the river itself.

Lucius had to cover his eyes at the blindness of the sun, something that he was sorely missing during his travels. By the look of the sun, it seemed to be mid-noon. The river itself seemed beautiful to behold itself. The bright sun seemed to reflect off of the crystal clear water. He could actually see some fish in the water, trying to swim up with the current of the river. He could see a couple of deer on the other side of the river grazing on the grass that was there. There were few rocks on the river that seemed to have moss on them, the waters hitting them. He spotted a bear on the other side of the river, its head near the river as it tried to catch a fish. What was strange was that the deer didn't seem to mind a towering predator near them, like it was a part of its herd.

In short, it was beautiful to behold. It was as if they entered a sanctuary for the gods themselves.

While it was a comfort to be out of the forest for once, he knew that they couldn't stay here for much longer than necessary. He ordered his troops to rest here a moment while he orders a scout to see if there was any way across the river. After about ten minutes of waiting around, the scout returned with his findings. There was a way to get around the river, but that would require another three or four hours of backtracking into the forest. Looking back to his legion, he could see that they were all tired of all of the marching that they were doing. Plus, he didn't want the legion to go back into the forest again, including himself. Albinus suggested that they would send some hardy young men into the forest to collect some wood to make a bridge to cross the river. The engineers said that it wasn't a bad idea, but to make a large bridge to cross the river would be a tremendous task. They said it would take up to three or four days to complete the task. They have enough rope to tie the bridges together, but Lucius feared that the weight of their armor and supplies could cause the bridge to collapse in of itself. Lucius tried to weight his options. On one had, they don't have enough supplies to last them a week at most, which meant that by the time the bridge would be complete, the legion would be out of food. The forest was bountiful for them to hunt on, but he had a strange feeling that not all of the creatures in this forest are pushovers. He didn't want to go back into the forest itself.

He decided he needed to find somewhere quiet to think about the actions they need to take He ordered his legion to unpack and rest for a while.

While the legion was setting up camp, he went down a little further outside the camp to help him think. Albinus and Valdius both voiced how he needs protection and suggested that Oriana would accompany him. He had refused her protection at first and told them that he wouldn't be very far from the camp. He wanted to tell them that if something were to happen, he would call out for help if need be. However, he could see a flaw in his plans. The enemy could sneak up upon him and cut his throat out, or take him hostage. So he agreed to bring Oriana with him just in case something does happen.

He could still feel her gaze fixed on him. She was hiding behind a pair of bushes behind him not far away. The sun itself was one half of the way down, indicating that noon had somewhat pasted for some time. To him, it didn't matter in the slightest. He could already hear the trees being torn down near him to be used. He had already sent some soldiers to guard the woodcutters while they did their business. It was probably just him thinking nonsense, but he didn't like the forest one bit. He thought that the forest was cursed the moment he and his legion appeared mysteriously not too long ago. He didn't like his own woodcutters being out their alone when something was lurking beyond the forest.

He shook his head as he opened up his rucksack and started to lower it to the stream, filling it up with fresh water. The water is soon surprised clean that he could actually see his tired and weathered face reflecting on the water. Even in his mid-forties, he still looked like he hadn't aged a bit. His semi-black hair had some grey at the sides of his head, along with a few strays of grey hair on top. There were some wrinkles on his face, but not enough for him or anyone else to notice. His simmering brown eyes reflected on the clean water. He had a long scar that came down from his forehead to his left cheek, a gift from a Germanic beserker that nearly killed him with his ax.

He sighed as he looked down at his reflection, thinking that somehow it would come alive to consul him. He then thought about what to do next. It was obvious that this expedition into Germanic territory was doomed from the start, there was no doubt about it. Why the Senate sent him in with a small army is anyone's guess. Then again, he had made a name for himself during his time in the East against the various Sassanid raiders and other hill tribes that didn't submit to Roman rule. The Senate was probably scared that he would overthrow them, which was impossible because he didn't have as much influence in Rome.

He shook those thoughts out of his head. Sure, he had made a name for himself in the East, but he was hardly ever an opponent to the Senate. His family, while well respected in Rome, isn't as big as the Claudian or the Julii, and pose no threat to the Senate. Besides, he was loyal to Rome and Emperor Nero. Mostly.

The last time he was at Rome, the Senate was at odds with Nero and his......."taxes" on the middle class. There was even talk of a rebellion by some governor in Gaul. What was his name again? Galba.

The best thing they could do right now is to try and stay alive and get out of the woods alive. If they get out of the forest alive, that is.

He then felt a sharp end of a knife held against his throat and a presence lingering above him. "I didn't think it would be this easy to get you." A feminine voice said in perfect Latin. He was caught completely by surprise by this sudden ambush, as he was musing over things concerning his own legion. "Don't even think about calling for help, if you know what's good for you. Now, drop your weapon. Slowly."

He did as he was told, untying the belt that held his Gladius and laid it at the ground slowly. "Looks kind of short for a sword." The female commented. He noted that the woman had a commanding voice in her tone, leading him to believe that she must have commanded an army before in her life.

"The Gladius is short, but it can pack one hell of a punch against an armored foe." He said calmly, trying to stall for time. He wondered why Oriana hadn't done anything yet. Perhaps she didn't want to risk shooting at the women in fear of retaliation. "May I inquire on how your speaking Latin?" From his knowledge, he was pretty sure that the Germans would never learn Latin, unless it was a tribe that traded with Rome.

"Latin? I don't know this 'Latin' you speak of. I'm speaking in Equuish, and so are you." Equuish? Is that what the Germans call their own language? He mentally scoffed at the name. It was silly, to begin with. Why would they name a language out of their own horses?

"Let's say that we both speak the same language, and will leave it at that." He said. He noted that the hand gripping the sword almost felt......fuzzy. It was probably his imagination. "So, are you going to slit my throat now, or are we going to keep talking like a bunch of Jewish hagglers?"

"I just have one question for you." She said as he felt the blades touching his throat a bit more. "Do you work for King Dainn or his sons?"

That question caught him off guard. She was expecting her to ask what his legion was doing here before slitting his throat. Why was this woman asking if he was working for 'Dainn'? Who is King Dainn for that matter? Have the Germans finally stopped squabbling over each other and united under a king? If so, could Rome be in danger?

He shivered when he thought of the Germans breaking through the empire. Still, he had more pressing concerns to deal with. "I do not know who this 'King Dainn' is." He answered back honestly. He didn't want to think that the Germans would be united by a king. If so, they could have rampaged against Rome years ago.

"Then what are you doing here?" She answered in a menacing voice. "Answer me or your army is going to find you by the end of the river." She answered this by pulling the knife close to his throat. He winced when he felt a small pain at the blades, and the smell of blood touching the blade.

He wanted to scream for Oriana to take the shot, but he knew it would never work. If Oriana hadn't fired yet, then that means she would either be dead or wait for a chance to shoot the assailant. A small part of his brain wanted to defy her, to tell her that he would not answer any of her questions and that he would rather die than give information to a barbarian. However, he feels like he has no choice in the matter. "We were sent by the Senate to quell a tribe that has been raiding the frontier provinces of the Empire." He answered honestly, trying to think of a way to escape the grasp of the woman holding the knife. "We stopped at a city to gather supplies for my Legion. The next thing we know, we arrived mysteriously in this forest." Perhaps he could headbutt her with the back of his head. It could catch her off guard and disorient her, giving him enough time to grab his weapon and cut her down. However, he didn't know if she was alone or not. For all he knew, there were two other guards with her watching him. If he made a move, they could quickly cut him down before he even had a chance to defend himself. "There, I told you everything. Now, what are you going to do?"

One more question." She finally said. "Are you sure you don't work for King Dainn and his sons?" Who are you, and what are you?" She asked in a confused tone.

There was that name again. King Dainn. He must either be beloved or hated among these parts of Germania. "Like I told you before, I do not know who King Dainn is, and I don't even work for him."

"He must be lying." A small masculine voice rang out next to him. He was right. She did have guards behind her. "How can we be sure he's telling the truth?" He noted that the male had a hint of fear in his voice.

"I hate to agree with Color Scheme, but he's right." Lucis heard another female voice answer out. Lucius now knew why Oriana didn't take the shot at all: he was surrounded by hostiles. What confused him more was the name for the male next to him. Who named their own children Color Scheme? That sounded like a stupid name to behind with. "He could be lying." She didn't say anything for some time. Her grip around his throat lightened up a bit, and her dagger moving away from his throat a little, but still making contact with the skin. He half expected her to slit his throat by now. "We're going to take you back to our camp so we can get to the bottom of this."

"I'm afraid that I won't come with you to your camp." Lucius said calmly.

Before the intruders asked why, he heard a sound of an arrow launching from behind him. He then felt the intruder's hands moving away from his throat and heard a sword being sheathed, as well as a sound of steel clashing against steel indicating that the women had somehow blocked the blow with her sword. Wasting no time, he quickly grabbed his sword and turned around, grabbing the intruder and held his gladius upon her throat.

What he saw gave him pause to concern.

He must be far away from Germania or Rome that he originally thought. Three humanoid horse-like creatures, counting the one he was currently holding hostage, were standing before him. At first, he thought that they were Germanic savages hiding under their coats. They were inclined to do that before a raid or battle, probably something to do with their gods. Looking at them now, it doesn't seem like they were killed or anything. Their eyes were as wide as a dinner plate with some colors in their eyes. One of the horses human-like legs were shaking, obviously frightened of the turn of events. It's light blue eyes mirroring that of his squared face. It had a dark-blue coat that had some dirt and grime on it. It had a short mane and a short tail that had streaks of blue, red, purple, white, and yellow. Wings were sprouting out of his back, larger than any other bird he had seen in a while. Its armor seemed strange to him, but looked like it wasn't washed or repaired in a while. Another horse right next to him seemed to have some sort of warrior spirit as she glared at him. He knew it was a she due to the breast that were on her chest. She had what passed for armor like her counterpart, except her mid-drift was exposed for all to see. She had a gray charcoal coat with a black mane that was shortened at one point, passing for a man if need be. Her tail was black as well, but it had some dirt on it that wasn't washed in ages. Like her partner, she had some dirt and grime on her fur, while also smelling bad from his direction.

Looking at his captive, he could see that what he was holding was a mare as well. Her coat is a deep shade of violet red that seemed to compliment her looks. Her mane and tail were both a shade of red with her mane in a strange mohawk. He could see through the hair that there was a broken sub on her forehead. He thought he was seeing things for a second. Her blue eyes looked up to his brown eyes, glaring with defiance. He paid her no mind and pressed the blade closer. "One more step and she will meet her gods." Lucius said in a commanding voice. Oriana soon took to his left side, aiming her bow and arrow and one of the horses. They were relucent to do as he said at first as they looked at each other and then at the violent red mare. Both soon dropped their swords. "Good." he said. He then looked down at the mare he held. "Now," He announced to his captive, and to the two other horse creatures. "Perhaps you can tell me just who you people are, and just where in the gods name are we?"