The stench of rotting meat, drying blood was heavy in the summer air mixed with the moans of the dying. Strewn across what was once fertile farmland were thousands of dead ponies; unicorns, earth ponies, and a few pegasus ponies, along with the wreckage of artillery and the odd chariot. Most were garbed in the colors of houses Moon and Stars and Earthborn, a few Stormwing warriors lay scattered about though in much smaller numbers.
The battle had been particularly nasty, House Earthborn had attempted a northern push towards Canterlot with a force of some forty thousand. They had skirted the edges of the now ever expanding Everfree forest, crossed the river without incident only to run head first into an army from house Moon and Stars numbering about twenty three thousand. How that army had gotten there or why did not matter to house Earthborn, there were unicorns to dehorn and decapitate. Being house Earthborn they set right to it with ample fire power and lots and lots of infantry.
Moon and Stars seemed to be just as confused by the presence of house Earthborns forces but responded in kind by promptly sending in the first wave of cannon fodder, I mean slave warriors, I mean soldiers! Once said first wave was tuned into smoking corpses they sent in the actual soldiers in the form of their Legionnaires and Knights. Really just another day at the office for house Moon and stars.
They had clashed over the field all morning as the summer sun rose higher and higher making everyone hot and tired. Some had collapsed from heat stroke, cooking in their heavy armor. House Earthborns heavy armored turned against them in the heat and cannon barrels cracked and warped. House Moon and Stars was fairing no better, their knights also being worn out quickly in the intense heat. Some of their mages had the brilliant idea of using fire to try and cook the enemy faster only to end up roasting some of their own soldiers in the process. Seeing as how most of the firendly fire ended up hitting Slave warriors the mages and their commanders really didn't care.
Then from the north Stormwing had come in, eight thousand pegasus ponies moving quickly on the wing and another two thousand ground guard a foot and in chariots. They caught both armies in the flank and with a well placed charge shattered both armies. The fighting had turned into a chaotic rout for Moon and Stars and Earthborn. Siege engines were destroyed, hostile pegasus ponies belonging to the two houses were slaughtered, and many more ponies simply ran for it as fast as their legs could carry them.
A few of the bolder or more foalish, mostly of house Earthborn, had attempted to rally their fellows and organize a proper retreat, or make a stand to buy time for others. Those who made these stands formed squares or rings of defenders, firing and thrusting up at any pegasus of Stormwing who came near. These had given Stormwing a harder time of it, and many of their hoplites fell slain. It went on like this for hours as Stormwing surrounded and, in the end, broke most of these up and slaughtered or scattered the enemy, or the Ground guard brought in a balista and started skewering every poor pony they could on four foot long iron tipped bolts.
It was late in the afternoon before the fighting came to a proper close. Stormwing's forces were still hunting down a few of the fleeing foes but most had withdrawn back to their staging area. House Moon and Stars had easily lost more than seven thousand troops while Earthborn had paid a much dearer toll, easily over ten thousand. Stormwing by contrast had lost only a few hundred, such was the effectiveness of the rout.
Now however came the time to pick over the dead and the dying before Stormwing could return to the field and collect the dead themselves. A few mares in white were picking through the bodies for survivors from any side, local healers and such who would tend to the wounded regardless of origin. Others however were looking for other things among the dead.
Wintercoat, an Earth pony with a gray white coat, was among the looters. There were dozens of them who had followed one army or another seeking easy loot and plunder. They picked over the dead for anything of value; gems, bits, jewelry. Anything they found might fetch a fair price in the markets of Manehattan.
As he pried a gem stone from the armor of a slain Knight of Celestia however he heard a trumpeting horn. Stormwing's out flyers were returning from their hunt. Not wanting to find himself short a head he and the rest turned and fled into the nearby trees. Each one had a saddle bag full of swag and loot to give them all a few comfortable nights in the district of delights, something they all looked forward to after to many nights in a drainage ditch.
No one would know just how Stormwing had learned about both armies presence. No one would know why both Moon and Stars and Earthborns marching paths were the same. No one would know that the agents of house Whitegold had feed false intelligence to both house Moon and Stars and house Earthborn. No one would know how they had planned the marching routes specifically so that both armies would threaten Stormwing's territory. No one would know that this whole venture had been to weaken both Moon and Stars and Eartborn, forcing them to accept painful trading deals with house Whitegold to recover from their losses. The only one who would know, or be allowed to know, exactly what had happened was siting on her throne in the fortress city of Manehattan. Her crystalitis afflicted coat crackling as she steeples her hooves and smiled.
"Just as planned," Lady Rarity said with a small smirk on her face.
Author's Note
If people like this I might make on for each house like this.
