The Battle of Saddle Lake

The combined Chaos and Equestrian army mobilized before the sun rises. They marched around the lake and took the most concealed, but fastest route in order to reach their destination. General Grogar leads the army at the front, with Sorcerer Meadowbrook in the center with his mages. General Grogar didn't trust the Equestrian rebels and had Lord Cookie in the rear as reserves. During the march, the Chaos army were marching at a rapid pace while the rebels were struggling to keep up. A Chaos messenger from the rear rode ahead to report the situation to General Grogar.

"General, Lord Cookie requests that we reduce our speed," said the messenger.

General Grogar stopped his horse by the side of the road, "What do you mean?"

"The rebels are falling behind by twenty yards. By the time we reach the battlefield, they think that they might be more than a hundred yards away and exhausted."

General Grogar looked towards the rear. All he saw were his army who were marching together.

"Tell Lord Cookie that if he can't catch with us, then it is his fault for not preparing his army," said General Grogar. "We have no time to waste, we must be within range of their encampment by at least noon."

"Yes general," the messenger immediately road back to the rear.

In the Equestrian encampment, Lord Clover was out of his tent, observing the view of the lake. He noticed that birds were flying away from the western side of the lake and heading south. Lord Clover called for a messenger to instruct his scouts to scout the other side of the lake.

The Chaos coalition were nearly half the distance from their destination. From a small hill, covered by trees and bushes, a small Equestrian scout team saw the Chaos marching and the Equestrian rebels in the rear. They quickly counted the numbers and recognized the banners, then rode back to Lord Clover.

"What!" Lord Clover shouted.

Lord Clover was by the command table with King Heart seating on it. He was looking at the map and noticed that Lord Clover did not expect such a daring strategy for King Discord to make.

"Get me Lord Stygian right away," the king ordered.

"Yes your majesty," the scout left the tent to find Lord Stygian.

Within a few moments, Lord Stygian with his officers rode up the hill. They entered the tent and saw King Discord and Lord Clover, discussing the defense of their encampment.

"What happened?" Lord Stygian asked.

"General Grogar, Sorcerer Meadowbrook and Lord Cookie leads an army of about five thousand men strong to flank us in the rear," Lord Clove answered. "Gather the men who are already ready and march to meet the opposing force. General Grogar would risk his safety for speed. His army would most likely be tired by the time they meet you."

"Yes my lord," said Lord Stygian. He and the rest of the officers immediately left the tent. Lord Stygian instructed his officers to find anyone ready for battle and to immediately march around the lake.

"We must defend our position. As soon as the enemy attacked, King Discord will attack at the same time," said King Heart.

"I'll lead the left flank. Prince Armor will take the center and General Hurricane will take the right," Lord Clover added. He immediately left without a word and rode down the hill to alert the others.

The entire camp was in an uproar to the news of the Chaos trying to attack them from the rear. Most of the front line troops weren't ready as they were still resting from their previous battle. The crusaders wanted to volunteer, but Lord Clover immediately sent them a message to set up a defensive line in case King Discord decides to attack. General Hurrican's forces were mostly unprepared and spent most of their time wearing their armor and gathering their troops. Lord Stygian noticed that most of the reserves were ready, and decided to gather most of them to march with him right away. His officers in the meantime were asking for volunteers from the other's.

"You are going with them?" Princess Twilight asked, walking with her husband.

"I volunteered my company. We barely saw much combat yesterday and we're the only ones in the center who have mustered our arms," Sir Pansy replied as he was wearing his armor while walking.

A young soldier brought Sir Pansy his horse, and the young knight immediately mounted his ride. He looked down at his wife who's eyes were worried for his safety.

"Don't worry," said Sir Pansy. "I'll make it back before the sun sets."

Sir Pansy and his company immediately march with the other volunteers. General Grogar was aware that their position has been spotted and quickly ordered his entire army to take defensive positions on top of a slope by a small clear field. He noticed that most of his men were tired and mainly ordered for them to assemble in their ranks, disregarding the Chaos army procedures to built palisades and trenches for quick defenses. He had Lord Cookie and the rebels by the far right, near some trees on a steep hill. Sorcerer Meadowbrook volunteered for his company to take the center and the vanguard to take the blunt of the attack, seeing that the entire Chaos army was tired from the march. General Grogar had his infantry defend the side by the lake, but has his cavalry by the road to flank the enemy.

Lord Stygian arrived on the field a few hours after noon. He immediately positioned his troops. He sent his reserves to his left flank with the majority of his cavalry. Sir Pansy along with a small royal team led by Sir Fluttershy with the other volunteers made the center of the army. Lord Stygian led the right flank by the lake with mostly his infantry and personal guards. Lord Stygian called for most of the messengers downhill.

"We have about three thousand men, but a third of our army consists of reserves and the our army structure is disorganized," said Lord Stygian. "I'll keep it simple. We'll take a defensive role, but I want the center to march at a slow pace. When the enemy reacts, the cavalry will swoop downhill to meet the enemy. I'll have my men hold my position, and that goes the same for the left."

The messengers wasted no time and delivered the orders to the highest ranking officers they could find. Sir Fluttershy accompanied Sir Pansy to guard him, remembering that he was the husband of Princess Twilight. Sir Pansy volunteered to take the vanguard as his unit had one of the most experience in battle from the previous day.

General Grogar clearly read the mind of his opponent. The strategy was simple and it was to attack the coalition from the top and make their way downhill, so the retreating troops would flee into the lake, hoping that they would take a significant amount of casualties from drowning. General Grogar wanted to avoid the scenario to happen, so he commanded the center to advance as well as the left.

A messenger from the left flank came to the center. A high ranking officer was given the command to advance his section at the enemy. Without hesitation, the Equestrian officer on his horse advanced his troops, including the royal guards surrounding Sir Pansy. Sir Fluttershy and his squadron of royal guards moved forward in front of Sir Pansy to protect him.

"What are you doing Sir Fluttershy?" Sir Pansy asked.

"Orders sir," Sir Fluttershy answered. "Princess Twilight wants us to protect you sir."

The center was marching at a steady pace. Sir Pansy looked at the officer leading them for a second. Suddenly a large fireball landed in front of him, sending him and his horse flying through the air. Sir Pansy looked at the enemy and saw dozens of fireballs being thrown at them.

"TORTOISE FORMATION!!!" Sir Fluttershy commanded.

The soldiers around the new royal guard rose their shields and came close together to shield themselves from the blast of the fireballs. But the power was too strong for the center. Soldiers were being thrown into the air, with their limbs coming off of them. Men were getting burned by their sizzling armor. The center was in chaos. The front half was broken, with the rear beginning to retreat. Several fireballs were launched at Sir Pansy's company, obliterating everyone in his unit. The tortoise formation was broken and the soldiers were spread out.

Sir Fluttershy and his squad were still protecting Sir Pansy, until a large fireball blasted in front of everyone, with the force sending all of them away from each other. Soon, the enemy center began to rapidly advance on the remnants of the Equestrian center. Lord Stygian wanted to rescue the center and decided to use his cavalry on the left to attack the Chaos center. A messenger hastily galloped to the cavalry and gave them the message to charge. Without relaying the orders to everyone else and without a proper formation, the cavalry advanced on the enemy.

Their formation was lose and gaps were in the their hurried makeshift wedge formation. The mages noticed the cavalry and launched magical orbs to slow their advance. The front of the cavalry formation was being attacked, reducing the movement of the rear. Cavalry troops were trampling on each other. It was chaos on the slopes of the battlefield. Soon, Chaos archers began to launch their arrows at the enemy, raining down at the trapped cavalrymen. Sorcerer Meadowbrook saw the trapped soldiers and commanded his center and the Chaos left flank to attack. General Grogar saw the rapid advance of his troops, and ordered the rest of his army to attack Lord Stygian who was shocked at his tactical failures.

Sir Pansy was in a small crater. His shield was broken with a hole in the middle, burning his forearm and his helmet was thrown away from the blast. He tried to get himself up, but felt a small shrapnel wound to the side of his armor. He observed the battlefield around him, and the front of the center were scattered with heavy casualties. Sir Pansy and his remaining men saw the young knight and ran to him.

"Sir Pansy!" said Sir Fluttershy, shaking the knight from the shock. "Are you alright?"

Sir Pansy couldn't hear nothing, but ringing for a moment. As soon as he saw the enemy charging at them, he snapped and looked for his company, "Where are my men?"

"We took heavy casualties sir, we must withdraw," Sir Fluttershy suggested.

"No time," Sir Pansy added. "Gather any available troops and have them form a shield wall."

Sir Fluttershy looked at Sir Pansy. His eyes stated that they have a duty to repel the flanking maneuver of the Chaos army, "Yes sir."

The Equestrians were gathering everyone who they could find that were left on the battlefield. Sir Pansy looked at the rest of the center. He could see that they were defending their position and wouldn't move.

"We don't have time," Sir Pansy said out loud to himself. "Fuck it!"

Sir Fluttershy has already gathered enough men to forma shield wall, until Sir Pansy told him to disregard his order and to form a square formation. Sir Fluttershy was confused on the tactic, as a square formation was only used against a cavalry charge, but didn't had time left to argue. The order was given to form a square around Sir Fluttershy, but there was barely time to do it properly and they formed the best they could. Soon, the Chaos soldiers at the front, surrounded the survivors, while the rear proceeds to advance at the Equestrian center. The middle of the battlefield was in chaos.

The cavalry troops that were sent to provide support for the center, were attacked by the Chaos cavalry and were easily killed as they had no defense from their casualties. Sir Pansy and the troops around him, had a strong defense with everyone helping themselves to brace against the enemy. But the enemy numbers overwhelmed the few Equestrians who had many casualties. Those who were wounded were brought to the center to have their wounds treated. If they were able to walk, they were sent by Sir Pansy to plug in any weak spots along the perimeter. If they badly wounded, they were laid in the middle with their swords and shields to create a last stand.

On the right, beside the lake. Lord Stygian's flank was in shatters. He had no formations and no orders were being relayed. His guards surround him, protecting him against General Grogar's forces. The fighting began to spread to the lake, and soldiers were drowning each other. The water entered their armor, dragging them into the lake and preventing many others from floating.

At the very edge of the battlefield on the hill, the Equestrian reserves didn't know what to do, other than watch the battlefield. No messengers were being sent to them, and the officers were indecisive on what to do. The rebels were anxious to get into the fight.

"Our original orders were to support the attack, correct?" Lord Cookie asked.

"Yes my lord," a lieutenant answered.

Lord Cookie pulls out his sword, "Alright, the reserves won't expect us. Relay the orders to everyone. We'll charge the enemy."

The officers around him, smiled in happiness that they would be fighting. The rebels immediately formed an offensive formation and rapidly advanced on the Equestrian reserves. The reserves saw the enemy advancing on them and the officers and sergeant commanded their troops to form a spear wall, but many of the troops saw that the battle was a loss for the Equestrians and fled the battlefield. Nearly all the reserves broke formation and ran away. The rebels broke through their defense as if they were slicing bread, even attacking those who were retreating.

Meanwhile, the center was struggling to hold. The perimeter around Sir Pansy kept on getting smaller as more troops were getting wounded from exhaustion. It was mainly Sir Pansy's company and Sir Fluttershy's squad that were providing the back support of the defense.

"Sir Pansy," said Sir Fluttershy, helping Sir Pansy dragging a wounded man to the middle. "It's not too late. I can still gather a squadron of our best fighters and we can easily escape."

"What?!" Sir Pansy was shocked. "I will not leave my men behind."

Sir Fluttershy grabbed the arm of Sir Pansy, "Sir! Look around! It's hopeless, we're getting swamped."

Sir Pansy looked around and the perimeter was struggling to keep itself up. Chaos soldiers were breaching through the defense through gaps between the shields. Sir Pany's company sergeant grabbed Sir Pansy's arm.

"Get out of here sir. We'll hold them off," the sergeant recommended.

"Thank you sergeant," Sir Pansy looked at Sir Fluttershy. "Get thirty men with shields, and form a wedge. I'll be leading the charge."

"Yes sir," said Sir Fluttershy.

Sir Pansy along with able bodied soldiers formed their formation to escape. Once the perimeter was open, the men knew that the remaining troops would be overwhelmed through the gap they created. With a single order, Sir Pansy gave the order for the men to create a hole and the soldiers rushed their way to punch through the gap. The remaining men were almost able to close the hole, until the Chaos troops rushed through the gap and the entire Equestrian defense in the center fell.

Lord Stygian and his headquarters were being swamped. The guards told their lord to flee to the encampment, but the experienced commander was shocked on the turn of events.

"My lord!" an Equestrian officer grabbed the stirrup of Lord Stygian's horse. "Get out of here while you can!"

Lord Stygian was breathing heavily. He nodded his head and immediately fled with a squadron of riders behind him. The Equestrians soon turned tail and rain away, noticing that no officers were giving orders. The Chaos troops gave no quarter to the fleeing troops and cut them down as they ran. General Grogar saw the squadron of Lord Stygian and chased him on horseback on the road, along the river. His guards quickly caught up to the fleeing men and stopped them.

General Grogar saw Lord Stygian and jumped from his horse to tackle him. The two commanders rolled down a slope into the lake. Lord Stygian pushed of General Grogar and pulled out his sword. General Grogar pulled out his knife and rushed Lord Stygian, stabbing him in the leg, as the Equestrian commander failed to counterattack.

General Grogar pulled out the knife and walked away to gain distance, before pulling out his sword, "Lord Stygian. You disappoint me. I was hoping that you put up a fight."

General Grogar went in for the attack and was pushing Lord Stygian deeper into the lake. Lord Stygian's sword hand was cut, causing him to drop his sword. He then tripped on a rock and fell into the water. General Grogar threw away his sword and went on top Lord Stygian. General Grogar began to grab his neck, applying immense pressure on the Equestrian lord. His opponent was trembling, trying to shake him off. But within a few seconds, Lord Stygian slowly stopped moving as water begins to enter his body.

General Grogar removed his hands from his neck and stood. He looked around him and saw Equestrian soldiers trying to flee while being killed. He looked at the battlefield and could smell the sent of blood as it comes his direction. He tried looking for his sword and began returning to his horse.