“We’re on top of them! Charge!”
As the space between the two formations closed down to mere feet, the unicorns in the fore halted, opening spaces in their formation, and the earth ponies behind them charged out to meet their foe. Fierce gryphon warriors screamed battle-cries and surged forward, discarding their crossbows in favor of claw-gauntlets and close combat weapons. The gryphon skirmishers pushed out to the sides, loosing crossbow bolts into the exposed sides of the formation, but the unicorns were maneuvering already to cover the flanks with their shields. Glorious Dawn deflected away another crossbow bolt before dropping his shield into one edge, slamming it into the dirt so it stuck, providing him with some cover from the flanking skirmishers.
Ahead, Roam led the charge into the gryphon formation, screaming wildly as he lowered his spear and dodged to the side, avoiding a slashing claw blade as he thrust forward into the front ranks of the gryphons. His spear tip skittered off the top edge of a gryphon’s breastplate, sliding up to bury itself in the warrior’s face. The rest of the earth ponies slammed into the formation with him, their charge giving them the force needed to punch through gryphon breastplates and armor. The front rank of gryphons found themselves skewered and stabbed, shattered by the ferocity of the initial charge.
The second rank of Gryphon warriors rushed forward, taking advantage of the momentary shift as the ponies found their spears stuck in screaming gryphons, and counter-attacked, leaping ferociously into the pony formation’s first and second rank, slashing with their wicked claws and weapons, biting and stabbing with beaks, and raking with their powerful back legs. The melee began in earnest as pony soldiers faced down ferocious gryphon soldiers. The structured front ranks of the formations broke down into swirling pockets of combat, though the rear lines of both groups held stoically, only pushing forward when opportunity presented itself.
Red Roam released his spear, leaving it embedded in his gurgling opponent, and grabbed his sabre, drawing it from his sheath just in time to face a pouncing gryphon warrior. Curved claw-blades clashed against his chainmail hauberk, the force of the blow staggering him to the left. He side-stepped away from a second slash and faced his opponent, turning slowly, his sabre held in his teeth. He felt movement to his rear and lashed out with his rear legs, his steel horseshoes shattering the beak of a gryphon behind him as it moved too close. The gryphon warrior ahead lunged just as Roam’s back legs touched down. Roam reared up, deflecting the first jabs and slashes with his sword and armored forelegs, lashing out and scoring a glancing hit with one bladed front horseshoe. The gryphon hissed, “Bastard!” as blood ran down the side of his face, a long cut across his brow.
Around Red Roam, ponies and gryphons fought ferociously. The gryphons were whirling dervishes, all speed and finesse, their attacks leaving brutal cuts and gashes. The ponies were slow and methodical, powerful and sturdy, fighting defensively unless opportunities presented themselves. Most ponies fought shoulder-to-shoulder with their fellows, covering one-another’s flanks as they battled, while the gryphons tended to engage singly. The earth ponies, however, were biding their time, for their battle hinged on the unicorns to their flanks engaging once the gryphon skirmishers were eliminated.
On the flanks, Glorious Dawn and his cohort of unicorns ducked behind their shields as the gryphon skirmishers took pot-shots at them with their deadly crossbows. Bolts thudded into the shields, and occasionally into pony flesh. Glorious Dawn leapt out from between two shields, spotting a reloading gryphon. His horn flashed and a pulse of arcane energy lanced out, hitting the gryphon in his armored side. The gryphon’s armor suddenly glowed red-hot, and he screamed as his feathers beneath his breastplate caught fire, combusting from contact with the superheated metal. The gryphon dropped to the ground as he burned alive inside his own armor, and Glorious Dawn leapt back. “How many are left?” he screamed over the din of battle, trying to ignore the piteous cries of his roasting enemy.
“Eight, sir!” called another unicorn.
“Good enough, we can mop them up after we’ve dealt with the main group! A few of you, stay on the flanks, keep the—” Glorious Dawn’s voice faltered as a crossbow bolt buried itself in the throat of a unicorn to his left, blood spraying across his front, but he swallowed hard and spoke louder, “—keep the pressure on those skirmishers! Unicorns, advance!”
The unicorns pushed into the fighting, leaving a few of their fellows behind to defend their flanks. Spells flashed, reaching across the battlefield as each unicorn utilized their own brand of combat-casting to their advantage. Gryphons found their legs entangled by rapidly-growing weeds, blinded by dazzling lights, or simply burnt, electrocuted, and frozen by those with battle-mage training.
Red Roam was hard pressed, fighting on the defensive as his opponent pushed him back a few steps with a ferocious assault, claw gauntlets raking and slicing, bruising him beneath his armor and leaving cuts where the chainmail was pierced. He grunted, clenching his teeth hard as he deflected a series of strikes, before he spun about, his rear legs lashing out in a powerful kick that shattered the clawed fingers of his opponent. The gryphon howled, stepping back and looking in horror at his mangled hand. Roam faced his opponent and pressed the attack.
The gryphon grew panicked, giving ground as Roam slashed, half of his hits now finding purchase as the gryphon’s mangled digits became a liability, slowing him down. Roam’s curved sabre suddenly found purchase in a joint between the gryphon’s breastplate and shoulder, and Roam drove the point of his weapon in hard, feeling the tip pierce padding and grind into flesh and bone. Roam pushed inward as the gryphon warrior gripped one taloned hand into his muzzle, trying to push him away, the claws digging into his nose and slashing hard. Roam was forced to pull his weapon back, but the damage had been done. The gryphon staggered as blood gushed from his armpit, soaking his side, his beak hanging open and panting. Roam spun about and delivered a solid buck to the gryphon’s chest, sending him sprawling into the dirt, mortally wounded.
Roam fell back, another pony from one of the ranks behind him moving up to engage a gryphon, and sneezed out blood, wiping one hoof across his nose and hissing in pain as the gashes across his muzzle burned in response to his prodding. He finally raised his gaze, looking to the melee as the unicorns and earth ponies pressed the attack, the advantage now on the side of the Equestrian forces.
The gryphons lost ground, their rear ranks falling back as their unit began to lose cohesion. Golden Dawn found himself standing shoulder-to-shoulder with a fellow battle-mage, their combined magics decimating any gryphon to come near. Golden Dawn’s superheating magic was used to deadly effect as he loosed it on Gryphon weapons and armor at critical moments. Gryphon warriors found themselves forced to discard clawed gauntlets and blades before they melted and fused to their boiling flesh, giving the ponies they were fighting the edge they needed to strike mortal blows. As the mages redoubled their efforts, the gryphons finally broke, the whole formation falling apart as they made a run for the north and the safety of their secondary lines. The ponies pursued, stabbing retreating gryphons in the back and running them down, causing more casualties to their enemies in their desperation to flee.
Golden Dawn drew himself up, focusing a spell that caused his voice to boom loudly over the din of the fight. “Hold the advance! Fall back!”
The ponies giving chase halted, retreating back to their own formation, allowing the remaining gryphons to escape.
Glorious Dawn surveyed the battlefield as his ponies returned and began the grim work of mopping up their dying or wounded opponents and caring for their own casualties. Many wounded or crippled gryphons refused to give up, fighting to the bitter end, though a few still heeded the calls to surrender; many were too badly injured to fight. The din of battle was replaced by a more awful sound: the dying and injured, crying and sobbing.
Glorious Dawn exhaled slowly as the adrenaline began to ebb, and he signaled to a nearby unicorn. “Signal for the healers. This fight is won.”
The unicorn raced to the rear of the formation, disappearing in the crowd. Golden Dawn sat down slowly, gritting his teeth as he made a weak effort to wipe the blood off his tabard, then gave a resigned grunt. He lifted his head as a dancing flurry of lights appeared over his soldier’s heads, regarding the display without emotion.