Sing, O muse, of great Achilles and his wrath, which brought such woe on the soldiers of Equestria and Gryphonia alike.
Sing of mighty warriors who fell on the naked shore, whose unburied limbs devouring dogs and hungry manticores tore.
Sing of princes answering honor's call, of mortal beings defying gods and fate.
Recall for us the age of heroes, where combat marked the man.
Tell us of the age when single warriors with the strength of armies, stood firm and defied the will of deceitful gods.
Remind us, lest we forget, of the long cruel years when Equine and Gryphon blood mingled in the dry earth, in a war that tore the world asunder.
------chapter one-----the beast of equestria--------
The grey ocean waves beat against the hull as Celestia's sun peeked over the horizon. After a month at sea, they have finaly reached the sandy shores of gryphonia. Two figures stood at the bow, one a stallion known as Shining Armor, captain of the equestrian royal guard and clad in golden armor. His spear grasped in right forehoof as he turned to speak.
"Have they seen us yet?"
The other figure though, towered over the stallion by almost 3 feet, a human named Achilles. His eyes as grey as the stone of a heart he carried in his muscled chest. The human placed his helmet atop his blonde flowing hair as he answered.
"They have".
His voice deep, eyes to the cliffs above the sandy shores, spotting gryphon archers forming battle lines atop the black muddy hills.
Shining turned to the stallions behind him, adorned in the gold armor of the guards themselves.
"This is it! today is the day gryphon blood is spilled on their own soil!"
The guards drummed their shields with spears.
"They came to our home last year. And demanded tribute from us with the threat of war. To show that they were serious, ponyville was massacred."
Many guards hung their heads as they remember the cruel days of cleaning up bodies and trying to comfort the families.
"Today we repay the favor!"
The cheers and roars from the armed stallions was enough to rock the boat they sailed on.
Shining donned his blue crested golden helmet and turned towards their destination, only to see that the sky had darkened suddenly.
"Arrows!" he yelled as he brought his shield up.
Achilles raised his as well. Two guards were hit, one just above the collarbone, and another, in the eye.
The rain of razor sharp arrows finaly stopped, Shining brought his shield back down and looked towards the fast approaching shore.
Achilles also lowered his black shield, swiped his spear across the front, removing any arrows it had gathered and pointed it towards the gryphon soldiers that awaited on the beaches.
"Fear us soldiers of Gryphonia!"
The ship ran aground, the stallions lept from the ship and onto the sandy gryphon soil under waves of razor sharp arrows. Many were killed before they could raise their shields, but none turned back from fear.
Mighty achilles was the first to spill gryphon blood, flashing bronze spear into his enemy's gut! The poor soldiers innards spilled out and his beak hit the bloody sand as death closed around him.
Shining Armor was next, his deadly spear catching a gryphon soldier in the throat just under his sharpened beak, bronze protruding from the back of his head as his body went limp and his soul fled to the afterlife.
Achilles stood over the corpse of the dissemboweled soldier, Wrenching His spear out with a sickening noise. He turned to the Equestrian soldiers behind him.
"Follow me! and we will have our glorious vengance!" His words loud and powerful enough that the earth seemed to quake in their fury.
The equines, now filled with the fighting spirit of their human captain now charged the gryphon lines. Bones broke, Spears found their marks and corpses started to pile high.
Achilles had broken through the middle of the gryphon front and swiftly made his way to the line of archers that were harrasing his troops.
Arkon. The son of a proud gryphon noble noticed achilles charging the position and let loose an arrow at the rampaging human. Achilles simply raised his shield and fouled the gryphons attempt at an easy kill.
By now the other archers had taken notice of the fast approaching warrior. Arkon tried to nock another arrow but his life was cut short, Achilles had thrown his spear, catching Arkon in the eyesocket and ending his life instantly.
Without his spear Achilles drew his sword and charged into the line of archers. Like a violent storm he blew them down with quick and precise swings of his blade.
One gryphon got behind him and swung his shortsword, but Achilles brought his shield around with godly speed upon the poor souls head. A sickening crack as the gryph fell beak first into the sand, blood and snot pouring from his nose and ears.
Shining armor stood with the equine soldiers still fighting the gryphon front. The fight was now fair without the archers to pelt them with rain of razors.
"Soldiers!" he commanded.
"Push!" he ordered.
The equines all shoved their shields with all of their might, forcing the gryphon line to buckle and break. Shining armor jabbed his spear and caught a gryph in the groin, causing him to scream and wail like a dying cat.
The gryphons sounded a retreat. Their lines were broken and their archers slain, what victory could they achieve?
Screams cut short as they were speared and gored in the back by persuing equines were the only sounds now.
Upon the the highest ridge of sand, Achilles had decimated an entire squad of archers and was now heading for the georgeus marble statue of the gryphon queen that stood looking over the shore.
Four gryphon royal guards were waiting for him. Achilles swung his blade at the first gryphon, who dodged under the attack only to get kicked in the abdomen. Doubling over in pain he was stabbed in the back just above the shoulder blades by the human.
The three remaining gryphs were enraged yet trembling at the sight before them. A human warrior in gleaming gold and black armor, the blood of his enemies dripping off the cheekguard of his helmet.
Before they could react Achilles was already upon them. Slicing the first one across the eyes, taking the top half of his head as the blade cut through flesh and bone with a gruesome wet crack.
The second one charged with an overhand swing. Before he could complete the swing Achilles thrust his shield into his middle, flipping the gryphon over him. The gryphon landed hard on his back and recieved Achilles sword in his throat before he could stand.
The third royal guard gryph just stood there. His back to the marble statue as the human pulled the sword from his comrade's throat and turned to him.
The gryphon threw his arms away and begged for his life.
"Please oh mighty Achilles! Beast of equestria! Please spare me. Spare my family the grief, spare my children the life without a father!"
His plea was met with a sword in the gut. Achilles looked upon his dying form.
"No more pleas from you to me you dog!"
He lifted the sword, cutting higher into the gryphons body until he went limp. The beast of equestria kicked the gryphon off the blade and into the grand marble statue causing it to topple.
Shining armor looked to the fallen statue to see Achilles standing above it. Holding his sword in the air, issuing a challenge to all gryphons brave enough to face the rage of Achilles.
