Rōnin

Legionary Scutum of the thirteenth legion, First Cohort, Third Century was beginning to grow impatient. They had been marching through a heavy fog for three days across a mountainous terrain to get to the Equestrian forces fortified in a narrow pass in the mountains. The snow was thick and difficult to walk in, his feet kept warm by the fur lining in his sandals (Roman sandals) and the fur that grew on his feet naturally. He also had the fur padding beneath his Lorica Segmentata (Roman plate armor) Helped keep out the cold from his body, and the wool lining of his helm also helped with that. His own Scutum (The roman shield he was named after) served as a fine windbreaker.

Scutum, the legionary, was a rather large stallion even by northern standards. He was a full head and a half taller than his centurion, and about twice as thick, he was so large that they had to have a set of armor custom made for his proportions. His gladius was also a bit longer than most and his Scutum larger, so he was placed on the front lines. Scutum was so named because of his size, strength and the fact that is was near impossible to move him by force from any direction. He was greatly respected by his comrades for his strength, loyalty and bravery on the field. He was so respected that he had a big promotion in his near future, but first he had to help kill this last batch of Equestian soldiers.

The thirteenth had split into two groups, to go around the mountain and close in on the Equestrians from both sides. This would force them into a stand and virtually obliterate the entire Equestrian force. Any captured would be either A;crucified B;Impaled or C;taken for the gladiator contests in the capital city. They didn’t take slaves for work.

Scutum busied his thoughts as he marched, his mind eventually wandered to the now famous Samurai army Princess Luna had put together. He had heard that the samurai had taken to “Head-hunting”. Rumor was that the Samurai had this running competition between themselves, so that they could see who could collect the most heads. They apparently carried open topped sacks on their back so that they could quickly put a head in it after cutting it off. It was rather gruesome but also quite entertaining for both the legions and Samurai alike, as well as intimidating for the enemy, as their soldiers never knew if their head would be the next one added to a collection.

He grinned as he remembered an actual case of him being witness to such barbarism. He watched as a katana wielding samurai cut the head from an Equestrian soldier and when the head rolled around on the ground he stabbed it, then putting the blade over his shoulder and drew it across to push the head of into a sack on his back. Scutum wasn’t really bothered by it, but didn’t entirely like it either.

He was shaken from his thought when they reached the pass. Inside they saw a camp of Equestrian soldiers, rather large and clearly well equipped. And these weren’t the usual Equestrian soldiers, he couldn’t quite place the difference from that distance but he knew they weren’t the common rabble they usually faced.

He was still thinking when he heard a loud scream, and it sounded feminine. He looked to the place it came from and found several mares tied to posts in the center of the camp, several naked and in the middle of being raped. No one said anything, but the atmosphere around them seemed to raise a good twenty degrees. The legion, as was clear by the expressions and body language of those around him, was angry.

They were given the order to form their battle lines, and they were spotted. Both parties began to form lines, and that was when he saw the difference between these soldiers and the usual militia. These soldiers were uniform, they each carried large roundshields reinforced with iron, pikes of about eight meters long and what appeared to be Cowrinthian helms.

The line of Equestrians then did something that wasn’t unlike what their legions did. They locked shields and lowered their spears. The legion was suddenly faced by a wall of shields with a literal forest of spears protruding from it (Macedonian phalanx). The legion in response marched forward, and after they got close enough each legionary launched their pila and drew their gladius. The two clouds of throwing spears did a small number on the shield wall, but didn’t do too much damage. The legion continued to close in, and when they reached the end of the spears they began to move back and forth. Stabbing into their ranks was not one row but five rows of spearheads that began stabbing, only for the end to be a wall of shields that was near impenetrable from the front.

The legion suffered many losses, in exchenge for very few. Scutum had be caught on the arm by a spear once or twice and wasn’t too happy about it, he managed to make it to the line and began stabbing over the shields and managed to kill a few, but not enough to make a difference. That was when the second half of the legion arrived. They launched their pila and began to stab into the back of the Equestrian formation, which was quickly destroyed afterwards. Nearly a fourth of the legion was killed, and the legions general had much to think about after that.

One of the enemy soldiers survived and was crucified on the spot of the battle, his armor and weapons taken for inspection. His armor wasn’t unlike that of the lorica segmentata used by the legionaries, it was a leather breastplate that was treated and hardened with two leather plates to act as shoulder guards. His greaves and bracers were of iron and as was his helm. His shield was of thick wood with a hard leather covering and iron reinforcements for a rim and across the middle.

The legion moved to the middle of the enemy camp to where they found the mares. They were obviously frightened, and quite worried about what would come afterwards. They were cut loose and given some clothing, this included the armor from the enemy soldiers. This proved it, the Equestrians were sending convicted criminals and those with batpony ancestry up to the front for their “sentences”, which was clearly satisfying the Equestrian soldiers. They head about this from the fifth legion in the east, and were horrified to see that it wasn’t a one-time thing.

The mares stayed close to legionaries, as though afraid more Equestrians would show up and start defiling them again. Scutum was one such lucky legionary, a particularly attractive mare who was obviously one of the more used of the rest. She stayed with him, and he didn’t complain. She conversed with him a lot, and he was glad for the company.

“Where are you from miss...” He says.

“Breeze,” She tells him. “I’m Soft Breeze from Ponyvill. Where are you from?”

“I am from Maul,” He says, “A region in the northernmost reaches of the Bat-Clans territory. It’s so named because of the once violent way of life. When the legions came and brought order to the place the name no longer fit, because you weren’t getting mauled or doing any mauling. The legions brought public order, public health, accessible water, sanitation you name it, they did a lot for the ponies in the region. But the history is reflected in its inhabitants, we tend to be on the larger spectrum of things.”

“I can see that.” She says earning a light laugh from the legionary.

“It’s almost time for mess, I hope you have a strong stomach because that chow is nasty.” He says getting up and offering her a hand.

She giggles a little at his words and accepts his hand while standing. “It can’t be any nastier than what we were fed by those... Soldiers. At least this isn’t a bodily fluid you’re feeding us.”

This got his attention. “That’s what they gave you to eat?!”

“Yes sadly.” She says. “And we can’t thank you enough for getting us out of that.”

“I cant see why anyone would want to put someone through that.” He growls.

“Hey, we’re fine now aren’t we. And we have you to thank for that.” She says. “The past is in the past. Now lets get some food.”

He didn’t really want to let it go, but he pushed it aside for the time being. They walked into the mess tent and got themselves some quality legion slop, made from what he could only guess was a mixture of beans, protein powder, rat crap and mud. The stuff was disgusting but it was still nutritious, and it kept them going. He conversed with Soft Breeze a bit while they ate, and afterwards he got up and offered to see her to her tent.

“I don’t have one.” She says. “There wasn’t enough. I was hoping I could stay with you.”

He wasn’t sure how to answer, but he nodded and replied with, “Of course you can. My tent mate was killed in the battle so I would be lonely without the company.”

She smiled at him, then thanked him again and accompanied him into his tent. No shenanigans took place, only sleeping.