Who Needs Harmony?: An MLP Empire Quest

The story of the lifting of the siege of The City of Wingbard is a story filled with many parts. For now we will talk about the arrival of King Golden-Feather and his army and its impact on the city defenders.

By the time the forces of Griffornia had arrived the city had been under siege for months. While at the beginning of the war the defenders were bolstered by the presence of the whole of Wingbardy's military and the announcement of Griffornia's declaration of war in support of Wingbardy helped. It would test the people of the city like nothing they have faced since the last attack by Discord's crazed minions decades ago.

Over the long months many began to lose hope. The brutal attacks carried out by the scum in Brochard's employ both enraged and dismayed the citizen of the city. It enraged them that these monsters would be allowed free reign to do as they please with the promise of a pardon. But, it also dismayed them that they could do nothing stop them.

As more time passed many began to fear that the city would fall before the reinforcements would arrive. There were many arguments on what actions to take in response to this possibility. The warhawks believed that the only way to safe the city was to launch a sally in order to force a breakout. The doves argued that only surrendering would save them now. While the remaining unaligned factions still believed that Griffornia would come in time.

The Doves were shamed into silence with a simple order to look to the army outside the walls. A surrender would save no one. The murderers, rapists and thieves that make up a large part of the army would sack and burn the city. They would receive no punishment for any action taken and would get their fill. The warhawk were told to stand down that launching a attack would simply cost them the lives of their precious soldiers for no gains. The unaligned faction was informed that waiting could only last for so long.

In the end a compromise of the warhawks and unaligned was decided upon. The outer areas of the city would be evacuated into the center of the city. The area would them be made impassable as possible with the intent to funnel forces into ambushes and traps. This would be used to bleed the army of Brochard by making him send in forces when a "weakness" was discovered. Once the force was taken care of the "weakness" would be reinforced. So long as the enemy was not allowed to get to far the Wingbardians could create the illusion of weakening more than the really were. This would buy them time so the Griffornians could come to their aid. Another plan drawn up was that when the forces of King Golden-Feather arrived and engaged Brochard then and only then would a sally be authorized. Brochard would never suspect the "crippled" Wingbardians to have the strength left to challenge his army after all the "successful" assaults that had been performed. This would catch the armies of Brochard between the anvil of Wingbardians eager for vengeance and blood, and the Griffornians hammer.

The plan was mostly successful. While many enemies were able to be ambushed and killed this only lasted for so long. Eventually Brochard stopped sending in troops to exploit "weakness" in the defenses. Whether this was because he realized what was happening, ran out of disposable pawns, or was saving his troops for a coming battle was unknow. The casualties for the Wingbardians were luckily light with only a few fatalities and some permanent injuries. Most the the wounded were able to recover and they had extracted more than a fair trade in blood. Few if any troops that assaulted the city survived the encounters with its defenders.

Even with the time gained from such actions the people still grew restless and scared. The Duke did all he could to keep the people calm and content. In this he was mostly successful due to the trust he had gained from years of faithful and wise rulership. When after months of the ongoing siege in the dead of night a messenger arrived without being detected. One of Griffornia's vaulted operatives had arrived with a report for the Duke and his forces. The army of Griffornia were only a few days away. This lifted the spirits of all the Duke's inner circle. When the numbers and composition of the army was given there was gasp of shock. No one expected that the army would be able to grow so large in such a short time. The army on the way to relieve them numbered at 18,000 and armed with some of the best weapons and armor available for massed troops. When asked how much was the King taxing to pay for the army they were once more stupefied. The King had not increased the tax rate at all. Instead he had looked to strengthen his people through vast economic endeavors and infrastructure improvements. This allowed greater wealth to be gained without draining his people of their livelihoods. The operative was sent with a report on the current status of Wingbard's forces and people along with the plans to attack Brochard when Griffornia engaged them in battle.

A few days later after spreading the news to the commanders of the defenders. All forces still left standing inside the city made themselves ready for the coming battle.They were ready to claim their pound of flesh from the monsters that dared to attack them and break the peace that had being gained from the disappearance of Discord. On the morning with the sun to their backs the army of King Garrick arrived. Resplendent in their steel armor and weapons, and at the head of this army like a champion of old stood the Queen herself magnificent and imposing in her armor. Next to her stood the impressive but overshadowed by his wife the King himself. Together they lead the attack upon Brochard and his ilk. The move was slow at first with their siege weapons being used to destroy the opposing siege instrument that Brochard had employed. Once those had been destroyed the army made its move fully committing and charging into the fray. Brochard was fully engrossed in his rival King's attack that he forgot about the city to his back. From the gate came all that remained of the Wingbardy military along with plenty of new recruits from the city. They smashed into the rear of Brochard's camps and cut off his retreat. There was only two options left for this battle death or surrender. It would fall to Brochard to make his choice.


@Questor Here is my contribution for the coming battle.

As you can see I have this written out most to try and get people to vote for [] Plan: Between Hammer and Hard Place since the city counter attack is meant to be the anvil to our hammer.