The Hive Wars

The square was about to break, the Equestrian forces were disciplined and well armored, but the sheer weight of numbers was grinding down heavily upon the defenders. Ebon Hour fired off a quick succession of weak shield spells to the guards in the spear-line in front of him, they would only hold for one blow or so but it was an advantage none the less. Golden plate met reinforced leather and wood in a cacophony of blows, Deep Trench was doing his fair share demolishing any zebra that broke through the line with his reinforced steel shoes. By any calculation the bulwark was about to crumble, like a crack in a dam widening inch by inch the flood of zebra was slowly pushing it's force through the weak parts in the formation, and then; the world lit on fire.

A deluge of golden armored ponies crashed into the Zebra besiegers, in a spearhead formation that cleft the striped army into two bloody groups. A heavily armored earth pony led them, her golden armor ornamented with a flowing gold script that started at her hooves and curled upwards, resting at the crest of her helmet. "Nice work Captain," Ebon shouted as the charging force plowed past, "We were a hair's breath away from being killed to a mare but I'm glad you were able to make a flashy entrance."

Lemon Lynch swung her warhammer around in a shimmering arc, the reactive fire gems mounted on either side of the head activating and reducing a lunging changling to ash. "Indeed, it seems your penchant to devise suicidal plans is underlined with a small degree of strategy."

"I do what I can," he ducked under a charging changling and whirled Trottcam's razor upwards in an arc, slicing off one of the insect's segmented wings. With the arrival of the rest of the 2nd division troops and the devastating cavalry charge the zebra forces were routed, divulging into two uncoordinated groups. "I suppose we should capitalize on this momentum," remarked Ebon as he hurled a fireball at said one winged changling, immolating it with a heavy impact as the two masses collided.

"I sincerely doubt it will be as cavalier as you jest but...," Lemon Lynch paused to smash her reinforced helmet into the side of a zebra warrior, following up the attack with a chitin shattering blow with her warhammer.

Ebon raised an eyebrow, "Going to finish that thought?"

"I believe it speaks for itself," the sour yellow mare smirked as she waved a hoof to draw the attention of the rest of her squad. She nodded as Deep Trench gave chase to the remains of the main zebra column and gave several staccato orders to her lieutenants. "Sol formation, spread out and purge any survivors," the Sol formation was one of the numerous combat strategies that Princess Luna had reintegrated into the Equestrian military since her return. The sergeant or magi stood at the center of the formation, the heart of the sun, then a first concentric ring of 6 soldiers armed with pikes surrounded them, the killing rays, next a second concentric ring of 10 soldiers armed with a mix of longswords and shields circled the first, the blazing corona.

Ebon Hour had made sure the division was familiar with it before they re-engaged the enemy in any larger conflict, it was extremely useful for deterring stealth or flank attacks by the ever pernicious changelings. The two sol formations spun out into the village proper to catch any stragglers or infiltrators attempting to blend in with the remaining members of the tribe too young or old to fight.

As he watched the heavy cavalry re-form and pursue the fleeing column after their charge, something struck him as odd.
"Did this seem.....too easy?" Ebon queried to no pony in particular.

"What?...What do you mean?" responded Lemon Lynch as she pulled off her helmet and shook her curled brown mane free.

"I mean that it appears we just routed their garrison force with almost no effort, that doesn't strike you as odd?" Ebon replied before continuing, "Our division was almost annihilated by the Southern Hive's trickery back at the pillars of Dantium and now all of a sudden one clever envelopment has them broken and fleeing."

As Lemon Lynch contemplated this a great rumbling overtook the valley, starting as a lazy shaking and growing with every second until it peaked in a cacophony of earthy plates groaning in agony. "What in the name of Celestia's teats is that??" she shouted over the din.

"I imagine it's the aforementioned trickery," Ebon yelled, "Form up on me!" he shouted to the soldiers in the immediate vicinity that could hear him. As he frantically surveyed the state of the battlefield he noticed the only ponies not pursuing the routed Zebra forces or sweeping the distant village were his and Lemon's immediate command squads and a hoof full of others.

"This is dire, we are spread too thin to repel another wave, but from where will they strike?" Lemon Lynch all but hissed.

Her question was answered with thunderous certainty when the ground burst open in a legion of large holes, with bulbous grub-like creatures spilling out of them. They were each the size of a foal, with their translucent skin betraying the glowing sacs of volatile bile beneath.

As soon as they emerged the repulsive creatures curled themselves into balls and streamed, as tightly coordinated lines, into the tentative position occupied by the Equestion forces.

Ebon Hour barely had time to throw up a shielding dome-spell before the first creature detonated against it. The effort of so powerful a bulwark draining his vitality until one of the other magi in Lemon's retinue reimbursed his spent mana and added her own power to help him maintain the spell.

Through the azure haze of his sheild, he could see that Captain Deep Trench and the heavy cavalry were also beset by the changeling biological artillery, the pale green explosions the indicator of the cause.

"Praise the sun, and pass the mana potions," murmured Ebon as he reached into his robes for a faintly glowing blue vial.