All is Fair in Love and War
Chapter 1: The Creation and The Test.
All is Fair in Love and War
Chapter 1: The Creation and The Test.
Celestia sat at her desk staring at the ungodly, no pun intended, amount of reports that were coming in from her soldiers fighting off the groups of griffons that had been attacking her borders recently. Report after report of mortality counts came in, telling of the countless lives that had been wasted in the battle. She let out a heavy sigh filled with sorrow for the stallions that had fallen to the griffons.
And to think the griffons attacked right after the Nightmare Moon incident. That was simply adding insult to injury, but Celestia had to give them one thing. It was cunning. But this war wasn’t going to last in the least. At least not for the griffons. They were going to continue attacking until they had no soldiers left. She needed help at this moment, and nopony else was willing to help them. The minotaurs didn’t want to lose what little they had in a gamble of the war, the dragons simply refused to be in any matter that was associated with ponies, griffons, minotaurs, or even diamond dogs.
She was losing this war with every battle the griffons brought and she knew it. Normally, she would have a better chance of winning any manner of conflict, but when Nightmare Moon declared herself as the new ruler, her entire guard followed her without a single protest. Naturally, when she was defeated, the army disbanded and became nothing more than a large group of knights with no leader, making them scatter and refuse to even tell the world about who they fought for, fearing the hatred that would brew against them.
Celestia let out a depressed sigh as she looked out the window of her office’s room to see her country in a moment of bliss, even though she knew that the country was anything but peaceful at the moment. She needed something to help her ponies in this time of war. Her ponies weren’t the kind to fight, even when they are threatened. Taking in a deep breath, she stood up from her desk chair and walked out of the stuffy room she had spent more than her fair share of time in.
She needed to seek out help and no one would heed her call. One pony though, was tirelessly working on some secret project. Most know him as a crazed stallion or the quiet magician. Celestia knows him as Starswirl the Bearded. He was a bit eccentric, and possibly insane, but he meant well in most regards. Not to mention he was extremely meticulous about everything he came in contact with due to his medical condition of severe OCD.
She found herself standing in front of a tall door, only a inch or so taller than her and that was tall compared to most ponies. She let out a small sigh and knocked on the door. There was a loud clattering for a moment before the door cracked open slightly, only enough so that a red eye was glancing through the space between the door and the doorway. It looked up at Celestia and slightly widened.
“Wha’ do you want?” A deep and somewhat raspy voice asked.
“It’s me, Starswirl. You said you had something to show me a few days ago?” Celestia said gently.
“Oh yes, all this war and blood and guts is making me confused. I mean, really... I’m seldomly keeping track of time nowadays.” Starswirl said, before letting Celestia in. The princess gave a small nod of thanks and entered the room, immediately being engulfed in darkness. She let out a small annoyed snort before letting her horn light up slightly causing Starswirl to hiss and made her stop her magic.
“No! No magical light here! You are going to wake him up! … Or her. Haven’t figured that part out yet.” Starswirl said quickly. I merely remained quiet and raised an eyebrow in the dark before Starswirl light a small dim candle and gestured for me to follow, ignoring my questioning look.
“Starswirl, what is this project and who is ‘Him or her’?” Celestia asked as she was careful to avoid the stacks of books, papers, and journals littered around the room in Starswirl’s usual organized chaos.
“It will all be revealed all too soon my dear, and believe me. This...” Starswirl began, before stopping. “Have I fed it today? …. Dear Celestia I hope so. Wonder what would happen if-...”
The sound of something thrashing about against metal and stone along with the sound of something snarling angrily was heard while Starswirl let out an annoyed sigh. Celestia had a concerned look plastered across her features as she attempted to figure out what the old unicorn was up too. Was he keeping a griffon in custody without anypony knowing to get information out of him? Or was he possibly using the griffon for spy work as a mindless puppet? Hopefully it would be neither.
“Now you are probably wondering what that noise was! … It was a Scout... I think from the Griffon army. He’s.... Getting eaten... I think... Not sure, but I want to check it out.... Then again lest I be eaten myself.” Starswirl somewhat explained.
“What do you mean ‘Getting eaten’?” Celestia questioned with a small scowl.
“What does it sound like my friend? Getting his entrails ripped out of him and eaten in front of his very own eyes! Oooh! How exciting!” Starswirl said clapping his hands together for a moment as he walked to the end of the room and pulled back a curtain to show a poorly lit room. He walked straight in, a large smile on his face and a almost noticeable skip in his step. Celestia let out a hesitant sigh as she looked into the room before taking a reluctant step in.
She and the strange unicorn walked down the room a bit until they found themselves in front of a cage, which disturbingly held a large pool of blood and streaks of the pool going into the shadows of the cage. A small growl emitted from the back of the cage, sending shivers up the alicorn’s spine. Never in her life has she heard a sound that sounded so stoic and menacing at the same time.
“Oh dear... It appears he or she made quite the mess with the poor lad.” Starswirl said with a small frown as he found small tufts of fur on the ground.
“What is he or she, Starswirl!?” Celestia demanded before something let out a loud and terrifying roar and a creature slammed against the bars. It was unlike anything Celestia had ever seen in her lifetime. The creature was completely hairless, aside from a small mop of a mane on it’s head, and was at least a foot shorter than Starswirl standing at around six feet tall. It was wearing a simple cloth around it’s waist and it’s physique was that of a stallion, seeing as the muscles that were blatantly obvious across it’s body. This wasn’t what scared Celestia. What she feared wasn’t the bloodied hands or the blood stained teeth it had, but the look in it’s eyes. The look of rage, sorrow, and blood lust. Simply wanting to kill something as if it would make whatever was angering it go away.
“Yeah...I think thats a he... Want to look under his cloth? You know.... Just to make sure?” Starswirl asked with glee.
“Wh... What is that thing!?” Celestia shrieked as the creature smashed itself against the bars again, making they bend ever so slightly.
“Oh but my sweet dear Celestia.... That thing, is going to save ponykind. That pool of blood didn’t simply appear you know.” Starswirl said pointing down at the pool of blood. “That is what is left of that griffon scout.”
Celestia’s usual slightly pink coat turned green around her cheeks and she let out a sound of gagging for a moment before glaring at Starswirl. “How is this monster going to save us!? It is going to kill us all before we even could use of it, if we use it!” She hissed.
“Oh, oh! I took the liberty to name it! It’s Man! ….. Kind.... or uh... Something, just bare with me. It will stick I promise!” Starswirl said completely ignoring her question.
“How did you even find this creature?” Celestia asked as she looked over the now somewhat calm being that was hanging it’s arms out of the cage and simply glaring at her with it’s soulless eyes.
Starswirl just looked up at her before smiling. “I didn’t find it! I spliced it together!” He exclaimed happily. “It took a lot of work. Getting all the right pieces of DNA and putting them together. I must say it was quite the pain.”
“You spliced it!? With what?” Celestia almost shouted. Starswirl simply tapped his chin before snapping his fingers and walking over to a table that rested next to the cage. He rummaged around on the desk, muttering things to himself before pulling out a bundle of notes and bringing them back over to Celestia.
“We are losing this war, correct?” He began making Celestia cringe slightly. “That’s what I thought. And so you know, a war is no place for kindness, that is why ponies are and never will be fit for it. So I took the liberty of creating the perfect soldier. Or killing machine as it were.”
“Do you know how wrong this is?! And that you even spliced it with other creatures...!!” Celestia said. “T-This... This abomination... Should not be allowed to live!”
“I thought that too, until he showed something.” Starswirl said looking at the creature. “He is not only the perfect killer, but... He is obedient and loyal.”
“But what if he suddenly develops free will, and turns on us?” Celestia asked.
“Celestia, if it holds a heartbeat, it can be killed now listen before you interrupt.” Starswirl said as he began to pace down the cage’s length. “I took several things from all the races. Griffons, I took their bloodthirsty nature and ability to ingest both plants and meat alike.”
He demonstrated this by walking back to his desk and tossing a carrot and then a rabbit into the cage which the creature glady withdrew from glaring at Celestia to have another meal. Celestia could only watch as it tore into the rabbit along with devouring the carrot.
“Diamond dogs, I took their cunning nature and canines for obvious reasons. Minotaurs, I took their strength and brutality, along with their naturally muscular physique.” He gestured to the creature’s body. “Dragons, I took their magical resistance and gave it a extra punch.”
He quickly turned to the creature and threw a bolt of magic into it’s side causing it to grunt in pain for a moment before rubbing it’s side with hand and shrugging it off. “And finally... To answer your question. Ponies. I took a little bit from all the races. The earth ponies natural resistance to pain and damage. Pegasi for their lightweight nature, and cold resistant abilities. And Unicorns also for their magic resistance and also their ability to sense magical presences nearby.” He said before closing the book. “And that is also the reason neither of us are being torn apart right now. He can smell that we are ponies, and that being the prominent part of his makeup, he will try to not attack any pony kind. In fact, he should even help out ponies.”
He walked over to the cage and stuck his hand through the bars, making Celestia gasp before the creature walked over and grabbed his hand and gently shook it. Starswirl let go of the creature’s hand, it doing the same, and turned to Celestia. “It may be a killer, but it still has enough of a mind to know who is good and who is evil.” He finished as he wiped the blood off of his hand and onto his robe.
“... But... Even if... We use this, ‘Man’ as you call it. Its just one of him... It can’t possibly stop a whole army.” Celestia said, shaking her head.
“This may be. But we don’t even know if he can fight against a single enemy. That is why I asked you here. I would like you to have a guard train him with a blade and bow, then release him against an enemy. If he dies, I will drop my research. If he lives however...”
“He stays alive.” Celestia said.
“And we create more of them.” Starswirl said with a serious tone.
“More? … How in the possible.... How?” Celestia asked with a disbelieving tone.
“Leave that to me. Do we have a deal?” Starswirl asked holding out his hand. Celestia looked at his hand for a moment, giving a small reluctant sigh. She was out of options, and even if it seemed cruel to create a being to fight a war they didn’t even know of or even worse the ones this abomination was released on, she had no other choice. She let out one last sigh and grabbed his hand.
“You have a deal.”
*#*
Only a week later, the ‘Man’ had been trained with a blade, bow, and even a spear. He was equipped with set of chainmail, refitted to fit his unnatural height. To be honest, Celestia couldn’t find a different between him or a pony while he was clothed in the armor and given a fullhelm, other than him missing a muzzle. Starswirl walked into the room and the armored man looked at him with a confused expression.
“I see he is ready for his test.” Starswirl said with a small smile. “Fast learner. One more thing to add to his list.”
“Yes. He is.” Celestia said with a small sigh. She was reluctant about this in more way than one. To make matters even worse, she almost found herself hoping this man would fight well so that her ponies wouldn’t get killed or maimed anymore. Starswirl nodded and walked to the man before crouching down a bit.
“Alright, Man. I need you to listen closely.” He began as the man nodded his metal covered head. “We are going to send you against some bad griffons. And I mean they are bad. They want to kill everypony they see.” This made the man growl in anger. “And I want you to show them exactly what you think about that, alright?”
The man nodded vigorously as Starswirl levitated several items of weaponry to the man, whom took them and proceeded to place them onto his body. The sword around his hip, the bow and quiver across his back, a shield for his left arm, and finally a spear for his right hand. The man nodded and gave a loud enthusiastic snarl as Starswirl smiled. He turned to Celestia and gave a small smile.
“I believe it’s time to reveal our little project to the griffons.” He said stoically.
*#*
The carriage stopped at an outpost near the Everfree forest where several attacks had taken place. The soldiers that stood around the encampment were tired, beaten, and weary from the attacks, seeing as there was only around ten of them left. But when they saw the carriage fly down to the ground, and outstep the completely armor covered man, Starswirl, and Celestia, whom was wearing a cloak to keep her identity unknown to any scouts, they immediately perked up.
“Hello Pr-” A grunt began before Starswirl slapped him.
“Do not give her away you bloody fool!” He hissed as the stallion rubbed his cheek and whimpered slightly. The stallion only nodded before looking at the new soldier that stood next to Celestia. He was covered from neck to foot in chainmail and faux leather, aside from the plate metal gloves and full helm, holding a spear and a shield with the royal seal upon it.
“No disrespect sir, but if you are giving us reinforcements, one stallion is not going to cut it.” Another guard said as he stood up in his battered armor. Starswirl only smiled and shook his head.
“Do not worry. If things go according to plan, this single stallion should be enough to wipe out an entire squad of griffons on his own.” He said with a smug smile. The stallions all looked at each other before laughing. They know the griffon’s bloodlust filled nature and how they fought. This single soldier wouldn’t even be able to take on one.
“That pipsqueak is going to take on an entire squad?! That is a joke, right!?” One of the other grunts cackled out. Their laughter was for not sadly as the sound of armor clanking was heard. All of the soldiers stopped their laughter and gathered up their weapons, the three archers left taking up their bows and the seven infantry picking up their swords and shields. Starswirl took in a breath of hope and turned to Celestia and Man. He walked over and nodded to the short creature, making it grunt in confirmation. Starswirl made them both disappear with a little magic, along with giving them a protective bubble, and let his creation begin his test.
There was a small clanking as he walked past all of the soldiers readying themselves behind their makeshift barricade and straight out into the open field, lined with corpses of both griffon and ponies that had fallen. The soldiers only watched in disbelief as he walked halfway to the forest and stopped with his spear held at the ready and his shield held up defensively.
The sound of clanking almost became unbearable for the soldiers behind the barricade until it all stopped. Usually they would have to wait another ten minutes before initiating a surprise attack. One of the guards peeked out from the corner of a overturned carriage and slightly gasped. The griffons were halted at the edge of the forest, only a good twenty of them were standing there, and were staring at the strange stout soldier the princess had brought. That was then a loud roar of laughter rang out through the air. The griffons were almost dying of laughter as they looked over the stout soldier, one even went as far as to walk out towards him alone to go slaughter him before the battle could even begin.
The soldiers watched in slight hope, and heavy dread, as the lumbering griffon drew the long sword that was placed on his hip. The stout soldier didn’t even seem phased in the least as the griffon walked slowly over to him. The griffon walked over and swatted the spear from the soldiers hand and raised the blade above his head, chuckling slightly.
The sound of metal and flesh being torn was heard as the blade fell to the ground, which was much expected. Only the soldier didn’t fall, but the griffon. With a short blade sticking out of his throat. A silence reigned over the battlefield as the soldier walked around the griffon’s corpse and grabbed hold of the blade and slowly, as if to deliberately let the sound of metal being scrapped against metal. Once it was withdrawn from the convulsing griffon, he flicked the blade to let the crimson fluid fly a few feet and sheathed the blade onto his hip. Finally, with a small vigor in his step, he walked over a few feet from the griffon and picked up his spear.
The eerie silence once again reigned over the battlefield before the soldier swiftly pulled his arm back and launched the spear at a terrifying speed. The head of the spear plunged through a griffon’s chest, but not stopping the spear as it went through the first griffon into the soldier behind him, pinning both of the bodies together. And that was it, the griffons let out feral battle cries and began to ran straight for the single soldier.
BG music
The thunderous sound of boots against the earth, sent shudders through the pony soldiers that were still hiding behind the barricade. The stout soldier merely drew his short sword again and readied his shield. As soon as the first griffon was within reach, he lunged forward and let the blade crunch the armor it impacted and tear through the inside of the griffon.
Another sickening sound of metal on metal was heard as the blade was taken from his chest and simply thrown into the next griffon's shield before he lowered his own shield and rammed the blade through into the griffon, pinning his body to his shield. As the griffons began to surround him, he slowly looked around, making sure to see exactly how many were trying to kill him. And as if time slowed for a brief moment, he ran to the nearest Griffon and practically jumped onto his chest, leaving a large dent which left the griffon hacking, and jumped into the air.
The man held out his shield high in the air before bringing it down onto a griffon’s neck letting a loud crack erupt from under the metal and chainmail. As the griffon fell to the ground, the man grabbed the blade from the dead griffon’s claws and lunged for the nearest griffon. Sadly, his chain killing was for naught as he found himself smashed to the right by the large square shield of the griffon warrior and flung across the field. He hit the ground and rolled a few times before finally stopping. His shield had been tossed from his arm, his chainmail was tattered and smashed from the impact of the gnarled shield and his helmet was dented from the fall.
He shakily began to stand as the fifteen griffons began to walk over to him. His arm was in a awkward position as he finally stood up. As the griffons began to close in on him, he grabbed his arm and jerked it forward letting the bones realign. Finally the griffons closed in on him and one grabbed him by his chainmail and lifted him to it’s face.
“Now let’s see this shorty who has some guts before we tear them out of him!” The griffon cackled as he stabbed the sword into the ground and grabbed onto the man’s helmet. As the griffon swiftly pulled it off, he gasped at the sight of what he was holding. The man had a few thin lines of blood trailing from his cheeks, forehead, and mouth. But one thing let a small, but noticeable, feeling of dread overcome the griffon’s thought’s just for a brief moment.
The creature he was holding in his talon was... Smiling. It wasn’t a wicked or insane smile. It was a smile of enjoyment, a smile that told the griffon he liked the feeling of a sword in his hand. He liked the feeling of blood covering his hands. He liked... Killing.
“Fryite? What are you waiting for!? Snap the abominations neck!” The griffon next to him said. The griffon only nodded before the man raised his fist and punched as hard as he could into the griffon’s throat. A loud crunch was heard as his trachea was broken. He let out a gasp as he felt the air stop in his throat. He instinctively let go of the man as he felt himself begin to suffocate.
The man let out an almost animalistic roar as he lunged at the next griffon closest to him and plant his fist into his head. He beat the griffon’s head in a few more times before leaping away as a sword was swung at him.
“Kill that thing! Just bucking kill it!” A griffon warrior shouted as they saw the man stop a few yards away from him, grinning wickedly and breathing heavily. They charged forward at him before he lunged forward as well, colliding with the nearest griffon and smashing his armored fist into the groin plating of his armor. He let out a high pitched screech of pain as he toppled over. “That little buck fights like a thief!”
“Where did he go!?” Another griffon shouted as they all began looking around. As they began to search, the griffon at the edge of the group let out a cry of terror before the sound of his helmet getting crunched was heard. They all looked to find him with a apple sized dent in his helmet and lying face first in the dirt.
Their numbers were dwindling faster than they had ever experienced when fighting ponies. But that was one thing that was beginning to terrify the small group. They weren’t fighting a pony.
Another cry was heard as they found one more of their soldier in arms, the one whom had been smashed in a very delicate area, with a gash across his throat and gurgling in agony as his blood flowed like a crimson river. They only had eleven soldiers left out of the twenty they began with. Before they knew it, all was silent. Then the sound of something clanking against metal was heard before one of their brothers in arms began to flail about, his arms waving wildly and his sword swinging like he was attempting to chop a thousand targets at once.
“Get it off of me! Get it off!” He pleaded as they found him with the man on his back, pulling on his chin as if he was going to tear his head off. One of the griffons let out a loud cry of anger and rushed forward with his great sword raised. He swung hard and fast. The sound of flesh being cut filled the air, and something did fall to the ground. But it wasn’t the man, but the head of the griffon.
The man was still on the shoulders of the headless griffon, the body beginning to sway back in forth. He let out a sinister growl before leaping onto the griffon holding the greatsword and jammed his thumbs into the eye sockets of the poor soldier, letting him scream in pain and fall backwards. The other griffons only watched in horror as another of their comrades fell to the man. For once in their military careers, they felt something that they never thought they’d ever feel.
They felt fear.
As the cries and pleads of mercy finally stopped, the man rose from the body of the griffon. He stood still a moment, his long black mane covering his expression. The remaining griffons were debating among themselves whether to take the chance to kill the insatiable beast or flee. That decision was reached as the man’s head turned to look at them. His eyes wide with bloodlust and a malicious grin that would reduce any soldier to tears.
They all simply turned and began to flee from the demonic creature, dropping their blades and shields so they could get away faster. Sadly, the straggler of group was left to become fodder as he found himself being forced to the unforgiving ground below with the monster on his back.
“Oh goddess, don’t let it kill me! Someone he-!!” His cries stopped before he found himself feeling the touch of teeth upon his neck. His compatriots stopped and only watched in pure, undiluted horror as the man ripped a chunk of flesh from their fellow soldiers neck. His eyes were wide with an unknown terror as he finally slipped into deaths embrace while the monstrosity on his back feasted on him. The remained group of griffons fled, a few vomiting before they follow suit.
As their armor’s clanking faded off into the distance, the man stopped chewing on the corpse of the griffon and stood up. He didn’t bother wiping the blood off his chin, or even having the decency to not lick his lips as he turned around. Starswirl simply ended his spell and took a deep breath, having not used that much magic in quite some time, before walking out towards the man.
The man saw him and began to walk over to him before stopping in front of him. Starswirl slowly raised a hand and gently placed it on his shoulder before smiling. “You did good.”
The man gave a small, bloodied tooth filled smile as he looked up at Starswirl. The unicorn patted him on the back and began to lead him over to the pony soldiers, all whom cowered away from the creature as he walked through their ranks.
“I believe...” Starswirl began as he looked at Celestia. “That I have some work to do.”
Celestia only stared at the man with a mixture of fear, awe, disgust, and... faith. This man, as it were, was able to take down most of a griffon warrior group and live. If this man was able to take down twelve griffons by himself. Celestia shuddered at the thought of what more could do. Nevertheless, she had made a agreement and she would never admit it. This was the only option.
‘May the gods above have mercy on the griffons.’ She thought as she entered the carraige with Starswirl and the man.
“I will have reinforcements sent to you, my loyal soldiers.” She told the remaining stallions, all who nodded and saluted. With that those last words spoken, the carriage took off into the sky and made it’s course back to the castle.
Author's Note
Good? Bad?
I know it needs work(Most likely tons of it)
This is mostly a theory that was being tossed around in my head and I thought it might make a good story so... Um...
Please be nice...
