A long time ago, shortly after Discord’s petrification.
The Humans, the last creation of Discord, were invented to be the ultimate predators. They'd high adaptability, strength that easily overwhelmed earth ponies, agility to rival that of a pegasus, as well as extensive amounts of magical resistance. The ponies lived in fear of the Humans, believing them to be soulless creations. However, the Humans, unwilling to harm their pony neighbors, only wished to live in peace. The Humans during this time created a plethora of inventions, including many tools, clocks, etc. However, conflicts stemming from fear often erupted between ponies and humans.
In a human village on the outskirts of the Everfree forest, where Ponyville is now located, lived a great hunter. He had a beautiful wife, and a son who looked up to him.
The Huntsman favored his bow for long range combat, and daggers for close encounters. Whenever he goes on a hunt, his prey is doomed to die.
He had even won some fighting tournaments, as no other human could beat his great strength and agility. However, wishing to live a simple life, he declined the offer to be the chief of the village.
One morning, he prepared his equipment for a hunt, getting ready for the arduous task ahead. He donned a dark green cloak with a hood hanging low over his face, hiding his short black hair. In his sleeves he prepared his daggers with a convenient mechanism such that he could access them quickly. He grabbed his bow, as well as a quiver containing eight arrows.
He strode towards the forbidding foliage marking the edge of the Everfree Forest alone, as he found the presence of others distracting. He stalked through the dark woods, wary of his surroundings. He brushed passed a fern, careful not to break any of the multitudes of twigs that he observed on the ground. Upon hearing the snap of a branch being crushed by a great weight, he dove behind a nearby tree. He peered around the edge of the tree, smiling at his luck. He had found his next target: a full grown manticore.
The manticore sniffed the air, also looking for prey to hunt. Huntsman took his bow and pulled one arrow out of his quiver. His crystal blue eyes narrowed as he drew back his bow, targeting the manticore's hungry eyes, and with an exhale he released the arrow. The arrow found its mark, and the manticore roared in pain, searching angrily with its remaining eye for where the arrow came from.
The Huntsman quickly climbed the tree next to him, and within mere seconds he was on the top. He gazed down at the furious manticore, looking for another opportunity to bring the final blow. Blood gushed from the manticore’s ruined eye, making it impossible to see. The smell of its own blood flooded its nostrils; the only thing the manticore could think about was to slay the one who did this to him.
Huntsman leaped down from the tree and ran straight towards the manticore. The manticore lifted his massive right paw to strike down the one who dared approach it, but Huntsman was too fast. He lunged under the arm of the manticore, coming to rest under the manticore’s chin. The Huntsman punched upwards with all his might, and as he did so, the dagger erupted forward and drilled into the head of the manticore. Blood splattered everywhere as the manticore stumbled backward. It was dead before it hit the ground.
Now satisfied with his hunt, the Huntsman moved to obtain any trophies and meat he could get from the lifeless body.
The manticore’s body spasmed, catching the Huntsman by surprise. The poison-tipped tail raked across his right arm, pumping him full of the deadly toxin. He stumbled back, poison already beginning to take affect. The Huntsman collapsed against the tree he had recently used for cover, ignoring the bark rubbing painfully against his head. He began to sweat and shiver as thoughts raced through his head. “I can’t die like this! What a shame for my family and what will they do when I’m done I can’t let this happened!”
At this moment, a gigantic centaur materialized in front of him. The huntsman vaguely observed black fur, mane and beard, blood-red skin, giant bullhorns upon the figure’s head, and glowing yellow eyes sunken into the centaur's face.
“Great hunter,” the centaur purred,” I’m here to offer you a chance to live a life without the worry of disease, poison, and the passage of time. The only way you would be able to die is from... unnatural circumstances. Just think, you can return to your family and friends and live a beautiful life. The one thing I want in return is for you to fight for me when I need you. Do you accept my offer?”
“...Yes...” Huntsman answered with a weak voice.
“So it will be .” said the centaur with a wicked grin.
A black fog surrounded Huntsman, and he can feel the poison being drawn from his body as his mind became clearer.
“Now that you’re under my command, you will call me Lord Tirek! For now, you can return to your family.” His grin grew more malicious as he disappeared in a puff of black smoke.
The Huntsman got a gut wrenching feeling and sprinted home, throwing stealth to the wind as he hurried to his family.
He burst out of the forest, only to stop at the edge of the Everfree. He gazed in horror at his village, his home... burnt to the ground, bodies strewn across the smoldering earth. His heart skipped a beat as his made his way home.
The Huntsman walked in shocked silence toward the debris that had once been his home. He saw his son lying lifelessly upon the ground, blood oozing from hundreds of wounds, his lifeless eyes staring with shock at his father. He sobbed back tears as he heard a cry come from the ruins. With hope rising in his chest, he tossed the rubble out of the way, tossing a beam behind him, only to catch his breathe as he looked at his wife, whose entire lower body had been crushed, lying in a pool of her own blood.
“My dear,” she managed to say, spraying specks of blood upon her husband’s face with every syllable,” I’m so happy to see you one last time...”
“Sweet heart, what happened here?” he asked with a quivering voice.
“The ponies... attacked us... It happened so fast... Everyone died... everyone... except you...Promise... Promise me... you will carry the pride... of our village...”
“Yes, my beloved one, I promise.” He hugged his now-lifeless wife, releasing the torrent of tears he had been holding back.
The next day, he burned all the corpses, as was tradition, and in the center of the village he planted a tree, which served as a monument for all people who died. He prayed to the deities that the tree would never die or be destroyed.
Tirek appeared in a puff of smoke and announced,“ You have my condolences for your loss, but I have your first mission. Are you ready?”
The Huntsman turned to Tirek, tears of anger flowing down his face.
“Yes, Lord Tirek. Tell me whom I must kill.”
Author's Note
Special thanks to my proofreader phlamingsoul
“Yes m’lord, tell me whom I must kill.”
Tirek smirked at the anger that was clearly present in Huntsman’s words.
“Excellent. Follow me to my castle so that I may give you your equipment.” Tirek then snapped his fingers, creating a blood red portal a few feet in front of them and went through. Huntsman briefly hesitated before stepping through as well.
He emerged on the other side of the portal atop a cliff. A bridge was strung across a seemingly bottomless pit that separated the cliff from the jagged, black mountain on the other side. The Huntsman couldn’t help but gaze in awe at the very large black castle perched on the mountainside, much like Canterlot now. Yellow clouds were drifting slowly around the mountain through the blood red sky.
“Welcome, Huntsman, to Tartarus,” Tirek boomed, sweeping an arm across the horizon, “that is Mitternachtsschloss, my home and kingdom!
Huntsman took a few minutes to look around. “Well. The castle, Mitternachtsschloss was it, is awe inspiring yet intimidating. The rest of Tartarus however, is a little bit of a let down.” With that, Huntsman began walking across the stone bridge.
“What?! A let down?!” Tirek started walking across behind him.
“Well, humans have imagined Tartarus to have more, you know, fire and lava. More hellish. I don’t see any anywhere. It is also no where near as hot as I’d imagined it to be.” …
“Tartarus is split up into several districts. Lavan’s district is all about fire and lava, go pay him a visit if that’s what you’re looking for. Personally, the fire is far too bright and hot and I absolutely despise it.”
Tirek stood proud, as he awaited Huntsman to finish taking in what was around him. After a brief time, the two began their journey across the bridge and towards the castle’s door.
“So, what equipment do you have in mind? I mean, I’ve killed with my bare hands before,”
“Yes and that in itself is impressive. However, you may have strong muscles but if you were to punch something solid with your full strength, every bone in your arm and hand will shatter. Also, being resistant to magic means you cannot use magic yourself and there will be times where you will need it. Ah, here we are. This is where you will be sleeping.”
Tirek stopped in front of a single door that was not any different from the other doors.. Opening the door revealed a decent sized room, also black. On the left side of the room near the corner is a double wide bed with black sheets. On the far end of the room is a double door that leads out to a balcony. In the far right corner sat a desk and chair with a door leading to a bathroom. To the right of the bathroom was a large wardrobe.
“In this wardrobe are the basic things you will take with you on every assignment. First, gloves made of the pelt of a Nemean Lion. Almost nothing can get through and pierce your skin. It has also been enchanted so that you can use your full strength in your punches and not break any bones. Next, an enchanted cloak that will hide you in plain sight from anypony that is not specifically looking for by making you seem unimportant, so try not to draw attention to yourself.”
“Now for your weapons. A bow made from the wood of Yggdrasill. It is embedded with a rune that will activate the runes in each of the 3 different arrows. The arrow with an ice aspect has blue fletching, fire aspect has red fletching, explosive aspect has grey fletching, and your normal arrows have green fletching. I only have so many so use them wisely. Lastly is the dagger and short sword. Both are made of adamantine*, nearly impossible to break and equally resistant to magic. There is nothing that they won’t cut through short of a solid stone wall. I will wait out in the hallway while you get changed and acquainted with your gear.”
With that, Tirek stepped out into the hall leaving Huntsman alone in the room. Deciding not to keep his master waiting, Huntsman quickly donned the cloak and weapons after moving his hidden blades from his old cloak. He got a good look at himself in the full-body mirror hanging on the left door of the wardrobe. The black cloak fit his form well and and matched his dark grey trousers. If he were to hide in the shadows, he would be practically invisible. After making sure his hidden daggers were in fact hidden, Huntsman made his way into the hall.
“That didn’t take as long as I thought it would. Are you ready for your first assignment?”, Huntsman gave Tirek a nod as answer, “Very well, your first assignment is to rescue one of my best subordinates held captive by ponies. His name is Smooze and he is of great importance to me and my future plans. He is sealed away in a prison made of granite. The prison is protected by a magic shield and a few guards, should be pretty easy. You will free him and with this runestone, you can open a portal back to me. To activate, just hold it against your bow and a portal will be opened in front of you. Any question before I send you on your way?”
“Yes, why me? I mean, why am I being given an easy assignment? I’m not questioning your motives, just the reason for an assignment that doesn’t test my skills. Surely there must be something of a challenge you want me to do.”
“This is merely a test to prove to me that you’re loyal and obedient. I know your skills are far greater but one step after another.”
“Alright, fine. let’s get this over with, the faster the better!” With little patience for such an easy task and eager to get an assignment that would actually put his skills to the test, Huntsman began tapping his foot.
“I’ll teleport you near the prison. Its the best I can do due to your magical resistance.” Tirek held a hand over Huntsman and enveloped him with a red aura. Huntsman blinked and was now Standing in the Everfree forest. The sun was nearing the horizon now whereas it was only about half way towards noon when he returned to his village, his home. He quickly climbed a tree to have a look around and spotted a dim white glow in the distance towards the east. Deciding that was the best direction to head, he dropped down from the tree and jogged to his destination.
It didn’t take long for him to come to the edge of clearing with a dimly glowing white dome surrounding a cube shaped block of concrete. This must be the prison. Huntsman hid a thick bush on the edge of the clearing and watched the guards. He wasn’t kidding when he said this would be easy. There’s only two unicorn guards, and they look utterly bored. Time to relieve them of their orders and boredom
He notched an ice arrow and waited until the guards were on separate sides of the cube. Not a minute later and one of the guards’ head was a frozen block of ice. The guard was unable to alert the other guard and fell to the ground with a barely audible thump. One down, one to go. Huntsman notched a normal arrow and aimed for the throat of the other guard. The arrow found its mark and the guard went down with a gurgle as he drowned in his own blood.
With the guards taken care of, Huntsman stepped up to the barrier contemplating on how to deal with it. After a few minutes, he decides to see what would happen if he were to touch it. He removed a glove and put his hand to the barrier. Huntsman felt a slight warming in his hand as where he touched the shield quickly dissipated. Seeing this, he quickly began ripping at the shield. The shield could not sustain itself with such a large hole and failed.
With the barrier gone, the only obstacle remaining is the granite cube of a prison. There were no doors or windows to speak of meaning there was no way in or out. “Hmm. I don’t really want to punch this cube since I do need Smooze alive. I guess now is a good time to try out an explosive arrow.” After putting some distance between him and the granite cube, Huntsman notched an explosive arrow and aimed for the center of the cube. The arrow hit the cube and created a small, yet powerful explosion that put a few cracks in the wall. Some purple goop started oozing out of the crack and drip down the wall, forming a puddle at the base.
The puddle grew in size as the goop was now flowing out of the crack. The flow slowed down to a trickle after a minute and eventually stopped. A part of the puddle began to form what could be described as a face: 2 eyes and a mouth. The rest began molding into a body similar in shape to Huntsman.
“Finally! I am free!! I am free and this time, nothing will stop me! AHAHAHAH!” Smooze’s laughter sounded more like a thick potion bubbling in a cauldron.
“So, you are Smooze correct?”
“Maybe, who wants to know? And what are you? I’ve never seen anything like you before.”
“Lord Tirek sent me to retrieve you and I am what is called a human. Now, are you going to come along or am I gonna have to make you?”
“Smooze will go nowhere with you you freak of nature.”
“Freak of nature huh? Have you even looked at yourself?”
This appeared to have angered Smooze as it threw a glob of itself at Huntsman. Huntsman just stood there and took the hit in the chest with an audible splat, not quite sure what that was suppose to do. This seemed to have angered Smooze further as it roared in rage.
“WHAT! Nothing except dragons are immune to my smooze, well then I’ll fight you the old way.” his body towered over him but now Huntsman react fast enough to avoid the impact. The Smooze tried to bury him under his own body. Huntsman wanted to use his ice arrow to immobilize his opponent but he couldn’t stretch his bow while dodging. “There is one thing I can try to make it work hopefully.”
He took two ice arrows and slid them at his bow and as the Smooze came closer he stuck both arrows into the goo body.
“HA ha ha! Arrows don’t work at me, no weapons work on me! NOTHING CAN STOP THE SMOOZE!”
“Wait for it NOW!” The body of the Smooze started to freeze. “What-” that was all he could say before his entire body turned into an iceberg.
Huntsman pulled out the runestone for the teleportation and activated the same way as he activated the two ice arrows and opened a red portal opened with a loud boom. He tossed the Smooze iceberg through the portal and walked after him.
Author's Note
*Adamantine has, throughout ancient history, referred to anything that was made of a very hard material. Virgil describes Tartarus as having a screeching gate protected by columns of solid adamantine
And a big thanks to my new Editor flyingfox
