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// Chapter 11: Into the breach 
// Story: Siege of the Crystal Empire 
// by Mystic Mind 
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(11: Into the breach)


As the ranged defenders spread themselves out, the rest of the army continued marching on, stopping a short distance away from the front gate. When it was understood that magic had a negligible effect on the Phantom Stallions, most of the unicorn soldiers had been re-assigned for support instead.
Each group of mages sat in a circle with their eyes closed, focusing every ounce of their power to reinforce the barrier, reducing the strain on Cadence and Shining Armour. With the gates locked down tight, the only safe way to transport the troops to and from the battlefield was through a portal, a combined variant of the typical unicorn teleportation spell. This was hardly the first time they had teleported ponies other than themselves, however Meteor could only speculate what kind of strain transporting so many ponies in one go would put on them.
Bringing the army to a halt, Emerald broke off from the lancers and removed his helmet to give his soldiers one final pep talk. “Okay everypony, listen up! You all should have been briefed on the battle plan, but no matter how much we think we may have the upper hoof, we must not get complacent. You are all some of the mightiest warriors the Crystal Empire has ever seen, taking blow after blow from these monsters, yet still returning the next day. So, no matter what stands in your way, we must make this our final stand! We must not stop until every last phantom is dead and the threat is extinguished! So, now that I have reminded you how incredible you all are, how about we beat those buckers back one last time, just to show them why they don't mess with us! What say you all?”
A war cry that was loud enough to deafen a dragon was all the conformation the Commander needed. Putting on his helm again, Emerald blew hard into the stationed battle horn, leading the Crystal Lancers to charge through the portal first, warping directly in front of the enemy masses. To his delight, the ghostly army had modified their organisation since the last battle, their numbers reduced to a degree that there was now a more even mix between Ice Troll barbarians and Phantom Stallions, with the hunched monstrosities scattered haphazardly in loose ranks around the ghosts.
A scar on the back of Emerald's neck flared up with pain, bringing back memories of his last encounter with Phantom Stallions. Gigantic chunks of ice whistling overhead reminded him that the skirmish he survived had not been a simple random act of violence; they were stealing resources in preparation for the war. Now it was time to deliver his retribution. Ahead of him, a double rank of Phantom Stallions stood as the first line of defence ahead of the trolls, their spiked gauntlets and glowing armoured horns standing in stark contrast to the primitive clubs and axes of their monstrous allies.
As the rest of the lancers emerged from the portal, they fell back into the wedge formation, relying on training regimens which had been passed down through generations of warriors since the Empire's founding. Forming the tip of the wedge, Emerald rammed his lance into the throat of a Phantom Stallion, the lumbering ghost too slow to dodge a full-speed charge from the veteran Cavalier. Emerald felt the impact recoil against him, but still he carried on, the phantom collapsing into a pile of empty armour at his hooves.
By the time the rear ranks of the Lancers reached their mark, the speed of which Emerald's Lancers had struck scattered the initial opposing ranks like snowflakes in the wind, with many trolls pushing their way past the Phantom Stallions to get in on the action.
Dropping his broken lance, Emerald skidded to a halt, rolling under the swing of a troll's club as his cavalry turned themselves around. Withdrawing his rapier and buckler, Emerald stabbed the underside of the blue beast's arm, forcing it to open its guard as it twitched in pain; a reaction which Emerald took advantage of, his next stab piercing straight through the heart. By now, all of the lancers had engaged on melee combat, shedding their broken armaments in favour of their heavy flanged maces and kite shields.
The Phantom Stallions were as resilient as ever, taking several blows to the front legs and head before openings presented themselves. The greatest number of casualties from the charge had been the trolls, their central front rank laying decimated as shards of splintered wood cut open arteries, staining the snow red with blood. Those on the front line that survived the initial charge soon met their end as well, their bones shattered under the impact of maces hewn and swung left and right.
Even with the front-line savages obliterated, there were plenty more trolls to replace the dead; striking back with equal fury, bellowing their ferocious roars as they swung around their war-axes over the heads of the Phantom Stallions with repeated, short, sharp strikes. With how random these attacks were, the Lancers found themselves forced to keep their shields raised as they pushed forwards, relying on parries and quick reflexes to counter attack. The few ponies unlucky enough to be caught by one of these attacks found themselves at the mercy of the troll's bloodlust, as even a glancing blow had enough force to knock them off their hooves and force their guard open, their thick hides doing little to prevent themselves being cut to pieces by their huge weapons.
Rolling under the sideways swing of a great axe, Emerald slashed his rapier at the tendons at the back of its leg, thrusting the weapon into the base of the troll's neck as it fell back towards him. Only after did he realise that the attack he had avoided cut deep into the neck of the pony behind him; the eyes of the Cavalier wide with shock as he met his grisly end. This gruesome sight only spurred Emerald on, smacking a Phantom Stallion on the side of the head with his buckler to get its attention. Even as the ghost pony began to reform, Emerald's expert strike had given him the opening he needed to thrust his sword through and shatter its crystal.
With all of the Cavaliers now engaged in combat, having split the opposing army in two, the Canterlot Guard made their move. Now that their full support was joining the battle, the cavalry finished off any invaders who broke rank before falling back to keep their formation intact, making way for the advancing phalanx. Half of the Lancers broke away and made a U-turn back to face the empire's walls, while the others stood firm, facing the enemy back to back with Canterlot Guard who proceeded to surround a broken section of the vulnerable army.
Emerald moved himself behind the interlocking shield wall of his fellow soldiers as they dug their hooves into the snow, using the strength of their formation to withstand the brunt of the Phantom Stallion's attack. The phantoms caught in their initial trap were a relative few, but with a proportionally larger chunk of the trolls caught between two pony forces, he could not see this support lasting long as they started to panic, with what little strategy they had before crumbling away, scoring no more than an odd lucky kill as they were cut down by the far-reaching pole-hammer heavy infantry.
Now that the allied pony forces were back together again, the true battle could now begin.