Siege of Equitol

The students shot him surprised looks. A young mare, the same one that cured his nosebleed raised her hoof. "Sir, there is no such place as Equitol. Furthermore, there were never any serious military operations in Equestria. Ever." She said with a smug face. Pumpkin smiled patronizingly. "My dear filly, have I ever said that it happened in Equestria?" He asked and raised his head.
"Oh, no, my dear colts and fillies, Equitol existed way, way back. Even before the hearth's warming day treaty was declared. Equitol was a town waaaay back, in the pre-Equestrian era." he said, and watched the slightly annoyed (Understandably, no adolescent likes to be referred to as a colt or filly.) but nevertheless intrigued looks the students gave him.

He smiled smugly and started talking. "Now, this has happened even before the unification of ponies by subspecies, when every pony town was its own state that lived by its own rules and government types. It was not unusual for one of the sub-species to claim dominance in a town, but among all of them, one town stood out of the crowd: Equitol.

"Now, this town was something special, because every pony was equal. Pegasi, unicorns and Earth ponies were considered kin, and even though some possessed natural talents that others didn't, they lived in harmony. They were ruled by the so called 'council of six', that consisted of pairs of each subspecies. It was also customary that one of the pair be male, and the other to be female. They were wise and benevolent rulers most of the time, and the rare disagreements were quickly resolved.

"But, due to its strategically valuable position, Equitol was seen as an asset for any empire to have, and that provoked Equitol's defense force to be one of the best, rivaling even the mighty Pegasta. The main reason why it was so effective was that it combined all of the three subspecies' advantages equally, instead of just relying on one. They had magical cannons, infantry and Pegasi air superiority, and those things, coupled with some of the strongest and highest walls and magical barriers the world has ever seen, made Equitol an impenetrable fortress, thought to be unconquerable by any army that roamed the land. This, of course made it an attractive challenge for Pegasta, because we all know that Pegasi can't resist a challenge.

"So, when Pegasta began its rise to power, Equitol was one of its primary targets. Hey sent three cloud fortress' worth of troops-" Pumpkin was interrupted by an earth pony student vigorously holding his hoof in the air. "Speak up." he said.

The earth pony lowered his hoof. "You mentioned Cloud Fortresses and magical cannons. What are those?" he asked.

"An Excellent question." Pumpkin said. "Cloud fortresses are kind of like Pegasi Cloud cities, only smaller, faster and intended for military purposes. They are rumored to have hail cannon that can propel a pony-sized piece of hail at incredible speeds." The student raised hi eyebrow suspiciously. "Rumored to?"

"Well, Cloud fortresses aren't really around a lot anymore, but it is rumored that the Canterlot guard has some left in reserve. The princesses refuse to comment or give ay details about them." Pumpkin explained. "Anyway, a Cloud Fortress can house up to 20 000 troops and 5000 crew. And as for Magical cannons: they are long, thin metallic tubes, about two ponies' length. They use a complex arrangement of gems to magnify offensive spells to incredible sizes. Ponies of Equitol had several.

"Now, where were we? Ahh, yes. Pegasta sent 60 000 troops to lay siege on Equitol. Equitol's scouts spotted them, and alerted the town in time. The military had been mobilized; about 40 000 bucks and mares were stationed at the walls when the defensive barrier went up. Equitol had enough stored food to last over a year, and they hoped that the Pegasi would get bored long before that ever happened.

"When the Cloud Fortresses were near enough to start firing on the protective field, ponies of Equitol were safely inside, with military Unicorns fortifying the field and readying the magical cannons, the earth pony soldiers ready to defend any ground based cracks and Pegasi to defend the air-based ones. The stage was set, and everyone waited for Pegasta to make its move.

"Now, before I go on with the story, I will tell you something about Pegasta. Pegasta was a cloud city that evolved into quite an empire. The families had as many foals as possible, and the colts were drafted, while the mares took over weather control over the territories that Pegasta conquered. Their army was the cream of all armies, trained since their young days to be ruthless and effective both in air based combat and ground based one. They had the best equipment possible, and have actually gained quite a reputation for it. Warriors, who have proven themselves in combat, wore beautiful gold bracelets on their fore hooves, and it is told that they received one for every ten ponies they killed.

"But, as they conquered more and more lands, they had more and more of the 'puny' earth ponies and Pegasi. In order to keep them in check, and prevent revolts, they took entire villages' worth of earth ponies and unicorns. They made a habit of cutting off the unicorns' horns in order to make them less powerful. Now, these 'dirt crawler' armies as they were called were the complete opposite of their airborne brothers in arms. They were given no weapon or training at all, and were kept in the worst sanitary conditions in order to deteriorate them from ponies to a lower, beastly level. They fought like mobs, no organization at all, but they were dangerous in numbers. Their Pegasi overlords supported infighting in order to make an organized revolt much less likely. They were sent after the primary strike force, and usually arrived a couple of days later. When a city was conquered, they were unleashed upon it, and they murdered, raped and pillaged it until nothing but charred remains of a city were left. The Pegasi made the stories even more grotesque, and promised that any town that shall join them peacefully shall not have to suffer the attack of Dirt Crawlers.

"So, back to our story. The hail and lightning cannons opened fire upon the magical field. It took the blows rather well, only getting cracked by the first volley. The minor cracks could be repaired by the military unicorns, but the spell had to be recast for the larger ones. The only unicorns that were powerful enough to recast it were in the Council of Six, and they were a married couple. They used their undying love for each other to help them cast it."

There was a D'awww clearly audible from the female part of the class. Pumpkin took this unexpected break to clear his throat.

"Anyway, the barrage did not decrease in strength, but the field, if renewed every now and then, could take it without suffering holes, big enough for a pony to fly through. This, of course angered the Pegasi, who immediately sent for two more Cloud Fortresses. They arrived in four days, along with the Dirt Crawlers.

"Now, this was a terrifying sight. A sea of depraved wretches that would stop at nothing to get what they wanted, accompanied by two more Cloud fortresses, chock full of troops. The battle became One-sided, to say the least. Over 100 000 Pegasi warriors, and an estimated 300 000 Dirt Crawlers on one side, versus the 40 000 active soldiers on the other. The best thin the ponies of Equitol could do is reinforce the field even more, and pray to whatever gods they prayed to that the enemy would not get through the field.

"As the next day dawned, the five Cloud Fortresses opened fire. They tried to focus on the same point, and they created a gap big enough for ten ponies to fly through. The Equitol unicorns immediately proceeded to cover he hole with a thin layer of shield, just enough to keep the enemy out for enough time for the spell to be recast. The Pegasta Pegasi reached the hole before it could be covered, and engaged in vicious combat with the Equitolian Pegasi. They were forced to retreat, as they suffered heavy losses, and the hole was barely big enough for them to escape. The shield was recast, and the hole disappeared entirely.

"Pegasta ponies decided to go for a different approach. They decided to send the Dirt Crawlers to 'knock on the shield' while they would weaken it by firing hail and lightning at it. This way, if there was a breach, the Dirt Crawlers would flood inside the shield en masse and would proceed to breach the gates of Equitol that were, along with the wall inside the shield. Then, they could severely weaken the defending forces, and then, they could make another hole and try to defeat them.

"It wasn't a very smart plan, but it was certainly much more effective than deploying a rather limited and valuable Pegasus strike force. So they did it. The Dirt Crawlers hit the shield day and night, causing it to crack faster than it could be renewed. It took them almost a week of constant assault with hail and hooves, but eventually a hole large enough was made, and a lot of Dirt Crawlers got in before it was patched up and subsequently renewed. The Dirt Crawlers quickly made their way to the gates. But, in front o the gates stood Commander Tower Shield and her company of 500 bucks and mares. The ponies on the walls started throwing rocks and casting spells at the horde of Dirt Crawlers down below. Commander Tower Shield pulled out her sword and charged. The battle was long and bloody, but thanks to the Equitolian organization and equipment, they emerged victorious, but at a terrifying price. Out of the original 501 soldiers, only 42 survived. None of the estimated 3000 Dirt Crawlers survived.

"The Pegasi were upset cause none of their plans worked out. So they said: 'They wan this to be a war of attrition? fine!', and the rooted themselves to the spot, the Dirt Crawlers still 'knocking' and the Cloud Fortresses still firing.

"The ponies of Equitol decided to pull a risky move, and opened small holes in their shield to fire their magical cannons through. Their primary targets were the Cloud fortresses. But, the small holes made the shield more vulnerable, and often Pegasta Pegasi warriors got through and engaged in vicious combat with the defending Pegasi.

"It was a battle of attrition, with neither side gaining any advantage. The ponies of Equitol grew more and more exhausted. It was in the sixth month of combat that the Equitolians struck a blow against their enemy. They shot at a Cloud Fortress with a heat ray, and hit the main weight-bearing cloud, vaporizing it. Then they shot at it some more, crippling it even further. It started coming down, and it fell right on the Dirt Crawlers that were camped nearby. Now, the clouds themselves wouldn't do any damage, except maybe knocking down some tents. What did cause damage, however, was the hail stored and produced to be fired upon Equitol's shield. The Dirt Crawlers quickly used the chaos and death around them to settle some old scores and to loot something while they were at it. The infighting began, and in the end, Pegasi were forced to stop it. The final death toll was an estimated 50 000 Dirt Crawlers and about 21 Pegasi Warriors."

Pumpkin was interrupted by the bell announcing the end of class and some much needed recess. "See you after the recess." Pumpkin said to the students that were already galloping out of the classroom.