And that is the camp... what might I call you? Do you have a title?
Commander Deus watched with trepidation as she watched the Shamans of the Flowers watch the other Wildings train below. A small force of zebras were present as well, the Warlord trading with the ponies for poisons and weapons in exchange for pelts and other items.
Please, call me Rose
and me, Lily
and me, Daisy.
Very well, then, Rose, Lily, and Daisy. He sighed. What is your opinion of the camp?
They smiled. Considering that this forest is not in the middle of the Everfree, this camp is in decent condition, although I wonder why you have only limited your beastmasters to Timber Wolves...? While deadly, a trained enemy can handle them, and they focus on offensive maneuvers rather than defensive.
The shamblers have just been awakened by the Guardian Tree, and they have yet to reach us. We are not far enough into the forest for our shamans to summon ents, and we do not have the resources to control Hydras. Are even timber wolves not better than nothing?
The shamans remained silent and watched for a while. The sun had started to rise when they moved again. A faint rumble could be heard. Sound the battle call- our enemies are upon us.
Big Macintosh waited a whole week from sending out Sgt. Thunder's strike force before setting out with his forces to destroy the camp. In his attack, he divided his troops into two pieces- the smaller force attacking the southern side of the camp, while the larger force circumvented the camp and attacked from the other side. Their goal- the Guardian Tree. If it was burned, chopped down, or destroyed in any way, it would inhibit every one of the defenses of this section of the Everfree. That isn't to say they won't be an issue anymore- the troops would still have to be wary of the dangers. But they would not have directives from the guardian tree, and, therefore, be more... disorganized, for a lack of a better term.
Braeburn would lead the southern attacks, while Big Macintosh would lead the northern attack with Apple Bloom.
The first thing that the southern troops had to deal with were the natural defenses of the camp- most notably, the numerous Death Blossoms. While implanted into the ground, each had a large, red tulip-like flower at the end of the long stems. When the troops first entered the battleground, they thought they had entered a faeries' garden. Yet it quickly turned into a nightmare as the plants started snatching ponies. Two whole squads were destroyed before a squad of Firespitters and Captain Soulhammer razed a way through the plants. Casualties numbered twenty-seven- and that was before a single Wilding had been sighed, let alone fought. What a way to start.
Captain Soulhammer had over a decade of service to his name, earning his rank during the purge of the Cult from Colterado. Best known for the hammer he used as a close combat weapon, it was capable of smashing Juggernaut Armor into a flat plate of shield. Combine this with five other Juggernauts and in a suit of Juggernaut Armor himself, he was a formidable threat. And he knew that the only thing that was preventing him from getting eaten was the fact that he weighed about five hundred pounds with his armor and hammer.
As he charged forward into the thickets, he slammed his hammer into one of the plants, causing a burst of a green liquid and a screech to echo from the plant. Turning around, he slugged it into another so hard it uprooted the plant. His other Juggernauts took care of a third. He charged forward, his squad at his side...
And burst out of the garden.
He was aware of seeing a trio of cloaked ponies standing upon the guardian tree, about three hundred yards distant, before the Wildings struck. Swinging his hammer like a madmare, he single-hoofedly pulverized a squad with his hammer, their strong blows not a match for his Juggernaut armor. "Onwards!" He screamed, trampling another pony into a pile of flesh and gore under his massive bulk. Out of a nearby thicket came Braeburn, leading three squads of Apploosian Rangers. And he grinned.
But then... something felt... wrong...
"Cover!" He yelled, hitting the ground as a bolt of green energy zoomed over his head, impacting one of his squad-mates in the chest. A strangled gurgle emanated from behind him, and he flipped over to see...
THe Juggernaut was not on the ground, convusling as his skintone turned green. His body rooted into the ground, and his hooves split open into... flowers...?
"Holy Celestia..." he breathed. He murmured a prayer of forgiveness as he slammed his hammer into his chest, ending the odd sounds and spattering what appeared to be sap out of what used to be the pony's chest cavity. He then arced his hammer up behind him, the Wilding behind him being caught on the head. He heard a crunch and a thwump. He turned around, and didn't look at the pony he had just smited. He curved left towards the Rangers. five or six of them had already been killed by the Timber Wolves. Braeburn looked relieved.
"Where is Sable?" he yelled.
"Those ponies on the Guardian Tree are sorcerers! Whatever they hit him with, he's gone now!"
Braeburn gritted his teeth. "His death shall be avenged."
"Indeed."
"Now let's forge onwards! Ten bits to all of your Juggernauts if you beat us to the tree. Twenty if you beat Big Mac!"
"You're on!" He swung around, launching another Wilding from her feet and turning a Timber Wolf into a pile of sticks.
And so the bloodshed continued throughout the morning. It seemed for every Wilding that they cut down, another three they had to deal with. The ponies on the tree continued to blast away at the others, turning some into plants, others became piles of compost. And they continued to fight his way through the camp.
Something slammed into his side and he fell to the ground. Flipping over, he found himself face to face with a pony... yet it was unlike any pony he had ever seen. Her teeth were razor sharp, and dripping venom. She grinned as her scaly hide shone and streaked with blood. "Are you prepared to die today, pony?" She laughed before snapping at his face. The steel plate covering his face buckled but held. He grunted and threw him off, yet she recovered and darted around him with agility that he couldn't match. "Slowpoke," she laughed. He swung the hammer around and he heard it connect. Not too fast to dodge it, huh? He turned back to the battle. Then something clicked in his mind as he turned around, just in time to absorb a large blow from the pony. A dreadful wound covered its right side, but it slowly disappeared. She grinned. "Foolish pony."
He dueled with the pony creature for over five minutes before he managed to pin it down. "Foolish pony," he echoed her before bringing the hammer down three times- one shattering her chest, one to the neck, and, for good measure, a blow to the head. All that remained was a puddle of blood.
He shook his head and sighed. What these ponies had fallen to...
He growled as he turned- and found himself around, surrounded by Wildings that couldn't get through his armor. Remembering Sable, he growled and charged towards the tree, determined to at least destroy the shamans on top of the tree, trampling every pony in his way...