Chapter 10: The Second Wave

There was a decent bit of time before Grifforia launched their second wave of fighters. Gilda stood behind her army waiting in anticipation. She knew what was next for this war. Grifforia was going to send out what they referred to as brute griffons. These ones were much larger and more powerful than most griffons. Compared to most griffons they were like Big Macintosh compared to the average pony. It might have seemed like a risky move to send pegasi to go up against them but Gilda knew that the brute griffons were rather slow. She knew that the pegasi of Ponyville would be more than a match for them.

"Ya think we can win this G?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"We won't know till it's over Dash." Gilda replied honestly. She was not going to jinx it by getting overconfident. While she knew what the next few waves were Gilda didn't know much about Grifforia's secret weapon was. She also knew that the griffons that they were fighting weren't pushovers like the infantry had been. Defeating the next three waves of enemies would be difficult and the weapon was still haunting Gilda's mind.

"There they are!" Lightning Dust yelled as she pointed to a mass of griffons in the distance.

Gilda looked and sure enough Lightning Dust was right. The brute griffons were making their way towards them. Gilda looked at her lieutenant and nodded.

"Get ready." she told him. "These guys are gonna be tough."

Grayback's pegasus nodded and he gave his orders to his soldiers. Every single pegasus was ready for the fight that was waiting for them. All of them took to the sky and were prepared to strike at any moment. The army of muscular griffons charged towards them and they were soon met by Ponyville's pegasi army. The flying ponies dive bombed the powerful griffons and then the second phase of the fight began.

The brute griffons truly lived up to their name as they pummeled their opponents. The pegasi were fast but they weren't the strongest of ponies. A good punch or two from those griffons would take them down. However the flying ponies refused to give up. Ponyville and all of Equestria was relying on them. They were determined to win this battle for the safety of ponies everywhere.

"Don't hold back." the pegasus lieutenant shouted. "We are not going down without a fight!"

"No mercy!" the griffon commander shouted. "Show those mules we mean business!"

The pegasi and griffons charged towards each other once again. Ponyville's army had been angered by the insult that had been directed at them. That griffon had called them mules. That was one of the most hurtful thing that they had ever heard in their lives. This lit a fire inside of them and pushed them to take their opponents down. The pegasi had found new strength from their determination. The griffons were powerful but the pegasi used their far superior speed and agility to dodge past them and strike quickly. The muscular half lion half eagle creatures fell one after the other.

"That's it!" the pegasus shouted to his troops. "Show these guys what they're messing with! We'll see who the mules are when this is all over!"

His team responded and kept on fighting. They were going to take their enemies down. The griffons kept falling and the pegasus lieutenant met the griffon commander and the duo engaged in a fierce battle. The griffon was heavily armored but that slowed him down even more than usual. The pegasus leader used a variety of tactics to take his enemy down. The griffon couldn't keep up and eventually he called his troops off.

"Back off!" he shouted. "Let's see how they handle the special ops."

The brute griffons fled from the area and retreated back to wherever they had come from. Fluttershy and her team of healers did what they could for the wounded pegasi. None of them had taken any serious injury thanks to their ability to dodge past most of the more devastating hits that the griffons tried to land on them. Rainbow Dash looked very pleased by how the war was going.

"Can ya believe it G?" she asked excitedly. "We're mopping the floor with them!"

"Don't party yet Dash." Gilda said seriously. "We're not in the clear till they give up."

"Come on G." Lightning Dust said. "We've got them running scared. They're not gonna stand a chance against us."

Gilda stayed silent and tried not to get overconfident. While the battle was going extremely well Gilda knew that it was far from over. There was still another wave of soldiers, the Boulder Barrage, and the secret weapon to go before there was any chance of the war ending. Gilda was also dreading the inevitable conflict between herself and her parents. From the moment that she learned that they were the leaders of this war, Gilda knew that she would have to fight against her parents. The brown and white griffon knew that such a battle was going to happen and she would have to prepare herself for when it came.