//------------------------------// // The Battle of The Everfree // Story: Before the Night // by Nugget27 //------------------------------// The Evactuation of Everfree City was a swift one, apparently the nobles were perfectly happy to move when I told them all that they’d get brutally murdered if they didn’t. No, I didn’t threaten them, that’s just what’s gonna happen if they stick around. The simply fact of the matter is that this griffin tribe wants to catch these hands, and if they managed to stave off getting their asses kicked in, then those rich, racist pricks will probably get murdered, robbed, and raped. Not in that order, but griffins could be absolute freaks and want to do that in that order. “So Blaze, are you willing to at least help kill some birdcats?” I asked as I sat next to the line of ponies being moved to the mines as my plan lined out. Luckily, thanks to Everfree being in a valley, for the most part, most of my plan was done for me; there was really only one way for the Griffins to come from, as the city was mostly surrounded by mountains, forests, and had a huge ass field between those obstacles should the dumbfuck birdcats come from those directions anyways. If they do, I’ve got fireworks and a couple angry and stressed out alicorns to work with. Blaze simply snorted. “Some griffins tried to hunt and skin me alive, Ostri. If they attempt to do the same to me, or attempt to hurt you,” Blaze growled. “Kitsunes prefer to be friendly, fluffy and cute, as you put it, but we are more than capable of killing somebody through magic or sheer physical might should we need to, Ostri. On top of that, I believe you know what spite is, correct?” I nodded. “Kitsunes can feel that, and probably feel it ten times stronger than you can. Vengeance is also something my kind are very familiar with, and will go to great lengths for it.” “Like how you tickled the ever living shit out of me for tickling you for thirty seconds?” “...Okay, I was mostly having fun; it had been so long since I’ve had a friend, and I was trying something new. Is it not my job, as your pet, to make you smile and feel loved?” “You do a good job at that, Blaze,” I rubbed up against her. “But when this battle starts, we’ll be sitting in front of the castle. Your shield can handle arrows right?” “Nothing shy of a minotaur pounding on it will break my shield, Ostri. And even then, you can hide behind me if need be; I am mostly magical in nature, so it’s less likely that anything can kill me. My kind requires… more magical means to be killed. I can feel pain, but I would rather feel that than have my favorite pony murdered because he wanted to defend his home, his new lover, and Celestia.” “Hey now, Celestia actually kinda respects me now because of the strategy I lined out for this skirmish,” the last of the nobles filed into the mountain and it was sealed off with a magical barrier. Anything not a pony will be stuck outside, so as long as people watch their stupid as hell children, they’ll all be safe in there. “Though I also don’t want my favorite ball of fluff to feel pain. So just use that shield of yours; then when this is all done, we can cuddle in front of the fireplace with Luna while me and Luna plan out our first date.” “That is an excellent idea. And thus why I chose to follow you!” “Are you done making love to that stupid fox? We’ve got a battle to prepare for!” Starswirl hit me over the head with a cane. “Heavens, and Celestia put her trust in your plans and not any mine, or the Captain’s plan? You know, ponies who take this seriously?” I back hoofed Starswirl in the face, I swear I could see a tooth fly out of his mouth when I did that, and simply sat there. “Listen old man, I know I’m not the most experienced person. But I also know that lining up in front of an enemy that outguns you is a fucking retarded idea. And that’s what you and the captain were planning on having us to do because it’s honorable or whatever. My people, the race I derived from, don’t play like that. We learnt that that’s a stupid way to fight a long fucking time ago; smaller countries could stand up to the literal strongest military on the planet back at home, and kick that military’s ass by using the tactics I described. “Traps, ambushes, killing the people in charge. That, that is how humanity fights. We don’t give a shit about honor; getting out of a battle alive is more important than chivalry. In an outright duel, you or the captain, or any guard for that matter, would kick my ass. I don’t even know how to fly, let alone walk without nearly tripping every now and then, but if you give me time to plan, I have so many strategies just from my race’s history of fighting to kick your ass through means of using my brain and not ‘oh, I’m so well trained!’.” I grabbed Starswirl by the beard. “If you wanna die, go ahead, stand in the middle of a goddamn field in front of the griffin army with whoever else is retarded enough to join you. I’ll be alive by the end of the day after blowing their asses to shit after they murder the shit out of you.” I let go of his beard. “I already don’t fuckin’ like you, so I won’t save your ass if an arrow hits you in the head.” Starswirl simply massaged his beard(how he did that without fingers is beyond me) while he stumbled off, grumbling about how I have no respect for my superiors… Beng Luna’s consort put me at a higher chain of command than him or the Captain. Said captain walked up. “Honestly, I may not agree with your barbaric means of fighting, but for the griffins, I believe we don’t have a choice. One griffin is worth three of my stallions, but if we ambush them as they walk through the streets of Everfree, we can kill them before they become a threat. Kill their captain first if we can, correct?” “Captain, general, it doesn't matter. If it looks like the fucker’s in charge, put that fucker six feet in the ground,” the captain blinked. “That meant kill him.” The captain nodded. “Now I may have come up with the battle plans, but I know you know your guys and their strengths better than I do. So arrange them as you see fit; I know I don’t know shit about how you guys operate, so I’m gonna leave that to you.” “That is a wise choice sir. You already have my respect; you’re letting me do my job in leading my troops, and you already did your part in the planning.” “And you listen to reason,” I stuck a hoof out. “Hope to see you after the battle, lad. I’d love to hangout with you in a bar, and some of your men, after this is over. You sound like a pony I’m down to hold a conversation with.” The Captain smirked. “Name’s Captain Armor, or Armor Breaker when I’m off duty. I already know yours, Bald Ostrich, correct?” I nodded. “Call me ‘Bald’ and I will gut you though. I don’t know why I chose that name when I first came. I just thought of something flightless and went with it.” The captain smirked. “Now let’s go fuck somebody’s shit up; preferably somebody that wants to cause bodily harm to Princess Celestia and my marefriend, eh?” “...You’re fighting?” “My plan involves me sitting in front of the gates with fireworks. If need be, I’ve got a knife and Blaze, and Blaze is fucking tough, look at her,” I poked her. “She may not seem like much, but while we’re just play wrestling, she kicks my ass every fucking time. What’s under that fluff is magic and raw muscle. She can kill a griffin or ten.” “I’ve killed twenty before, Ostri. I will be more than able to back you up should you need it.” “...Holy shit, Blaze. You didn’t tell me you were a fuckin’ god.” “I’m not a male, so the term would be goddess, and even then, I am not. When you’re immortal, you learn how to fight pretty well.” Blaze nuzzled me. “I just go easy on you because I don’t want to actually hurt you.” Armor Breaker just stared at my fox. “...I need to find more of you things and see if you’d be willing to be partnered with my guards.” “Just beware; you might run into a Kumiho instead of a Kitsune. Trust me, you will regret mistaking a Kumiho for a Kitsune, and pay for it with a kidney, a lung, or just a slow painful death.” “Now I want a pet Kumiho,” I hummed as the city got closer and closer. “...You are an idiot.” “No, I am a human. There are some people who’d keep tigers in because they think they look cute or beautiful, or something. I don’t fucking know.” “I’m not letting you near a Kumiho,” Blaze sighed.  “And I won’t either, sir. You, as Luna’s consort, means your life has political value in it. We can’t lose you just yet.” I stopped as a thought hit me. “Okay so, I remember this from something in my world. If you stick one guy in a single building, it’s riskier, but if you have him alternate between windows he’s shooting out of, it might make the griffins think there’s more than one guy in that house. If the officers are killed immediately, that could be something we can try out.” The captain simply smirked. “And that sir, is why you have my respect. Strategies like that will revolutionize how Equestria defends itself.” And so, the day of reckoning had begun, a scout came back saying the griffins were coming, and everyone very quickly got into position. Blaze helped me get the fireworks set up, Celestia chose to remain in the castle, while Luna went to the outskirts of where we were gonna funnel the griffins into, in a building with the captain of Luna’s personal guard that I only just now learnt about. Apparently Luna and Celestia had their own battalions of guards, Lunar and Solar respectively. Everyone was in position, Captain Armor was in a building closest to the castle to keep an eye on me and his Princess. I was sitting out front of the gates with fireworks, a torch for Blaze, and Blaze herself, sitting down behind me, her tails pristinely fanned out behind her, idly wagging as we awaited for the griffins to come in. Of course, she already had a shield ready. Now was time for action. “Aight, so this is really only gonna work one way, Blaze, and I left this out of the plan for a good reason. I’m gonna go out there and act as bait to get the griffins onto Main Street; we never blocked up the other entrances to the city.” “Ostri… are you stupid?” “Yes and yes. If I die, coolio, at least I will die doing my job.” “If you die, I will bring you from the grave just to kill you again for being an idiot…” Blaze sighed. “I suppose I will not stop you; I’ve a feeling you would try to do it even if I told you not to, or literally held you down.” Blaze licked my cheek. “Good luck, Ostri. It was fun being your pet.” “You say that like I’m gonna die.” “If you don’t die, then I’ll still be your pet, but I am going to sit on you for being so fucking stupid.” I chuckled before trotting out from the shield and up main street. For some odd reason, nobody really stopped me, just an occasional Solar or Lunar Guard would poke their head out a window and their eyes would widen in shock. Eventually I made it to the edge of town after taking a back alley; Luna would one hundred percent stop me if she knew what I was doing. And then came around to find a pretty big group of griffins. I wouldn’t call it an army, but it was enough to probably take on the guards we had at our disposal. “Pony! Are you a fool? You bring nothing but yourself. Where are the Princesses? We demand their heads!” The captain stepped, he was wearing a big, stupid captain hat.  “I say we have a duel. If I win, you die, and your army turns around and nobody else dies. If I lose, you can kill me and the Princesses are yours!” I shouted back. “Or are you too much of a chicken to wanna fight a scrawny, little pegasus? Hmm? You stupid bitch!” That did the trick. The captain stepped forward, brandishing nothing but the amount of scars he’s probably accumulated across the years of his life. He stopped until we were snout and beak. He stood about a head taller than I did, but was still shorter than Luna. I’ve seen, first hand(hoof?), how fucking jacked Luna is despite her pretty thin build. Luna would fucking deck this guy and probably rip his dick off. “No weapons, no wings, just your hooves and my claws-” I shoved a knife in his chest, not in his heart, but just in his shoulder to try and cripple him. I immediately booked it as the general shouted orders to ‘kill that stupid horse’. I would probably laugh at how dumb these fuckers were, but I was also trying not to get hit with arrows. I ran down Main Street, running, ducking and weaving, somehow none of these fuckers knew how to lead a shot, because I was somehow completely unscathed. Of course I felt something hit me, but adrenaline was keeping my ass from falling over. The sounds of screams made me glance behind me. As griffins ran through the streets, spells, arrows, spears, anything and everything that could be lethal, shot out at them as they tried to catch up with me. Suddenly the arrows stopped flying my way as they tried to figure out where the hell the random attacks were coming from. I tripped and rolled until I found myself laying under a bubble shield. “Ostri, you are bleeding. You have a fucking arrow in your hindleg, lay down and do not move. Once Luna or Celestia come out and meet you, they will probably end up at least patching the wound…” I slowly turned to my hindleg. Yeah, that’s an arrow in my ass. I didn’t feel it yet, but I feel like I will be screaming my lungs out in an hour or two, or whenever I run out of adrenaline. “Light the fireworks, Blaze.” Blaze, without hesitation, moved the fire from the torch to the fireworks and they all shot off, one after another, needless to say, the bloodbath was over. Every single griffin was dead, wounded, or… No, fuck it, they were all simply fucking dead. The only one standing was their leader, the one I stabbed in the shoulder. Luna was holding him down, leering at him, and then looked at me with a ‘we are going to talk later’ look. Celestia soon strolled out of the castle’s gates, removing the arrow from my thigh, and quickly healed the wound. “That was very reckless, Ostri,” Celestia sounded like she was about to scold me. And she did. “Did you not think while planning that?” She asked sternly. “My sister has never been happier before you started dating her, and then you go and almost get yourself killed? I saw an arrow sail past your head. I almost watched you die before my eyes. Ostri-” “I needed the plan to work. I got the plan to work. I don’t give a shit if I died as a martyr, Celestia, I wanted everyone to know that this country doesn’t fuck around when it comes to defence. And if dying while leading the enemy into a trap is what it takes, then I will take that opportunity every time. This country has a nice, bright future ahead of it, and I want it to be known that it’s not taking shit from nobody…” I walked over to the general despite my leg not feeling super good, I wonder why. “Now what to do with you…?” I grinned. “Kill you? Torture and question you? Send you back to let you know that Equestria lets you exist and we can put an end to that at the drop of a hat?” “Y-you’re a monster! I thought ponies were of love and acceptance!” “You wanted to kill my girlfriend, her sister, and everyone in this city. You may threaten me all you want, but if you threaten the people I care about and made due on those threats…” I stuck my face in his, giving him a nice look into my soulless eyes. I made sure my voice was low so nobody but the griffin could hear me. “I will see to it that you are no longer capable of making such threats ever again. I will slaughter every, single, fucking one of you griffins. My brain is wired differently than everypony around here. If you cross me, I will go to the ends of the Earth to make you pay tenfold. Got it?” The captain actually pissed himself. “Aight, Luna, Celestia,” I stood up. “Do whatever to this guy.” I looked over at Captain Armor. “I believe we’re gonna have to clean this mess up, aren’t we?” He nodded. “Aight, I’ll help out where I can-” “No you are not mister, you and I are going to have a word about your actions today, and then you can help our guards clean the streets.” Luna grabbed me by the ear using her magic. “Tia, take care of our guest while I take care of Ostri.” I blinked and we were suddenly in Luna’s room. “Ostri, what the actual buck were you doing?” “I needed bait for the plan to work, Luna. I’m not putting somebody else’s life at risk for that when I’m perfectly capable of being the bait. All I had to do was piss off their captain, so I sucker punch-shanked him in the shoulder and had the whole army on my ass immediately. It was honestly not too bad, my leg only kinda hurts, and Everfree City still pristinely stands tall. Well, it is covered in ash and a bunch of dead griffins, but that’s beside the point-” “Ostri, do you not understand how your death would affect me? Just ignoring the fact that we are dating, you would’ve been my best friend, going into a group of griffins and actively angering them in order to get them into a trap. Where you might not have come back alive, and instead with an arrow in your heart! Just…” Luna buried her face in my shoulder. “If you plan on doing that again, please tell somepony!” Luna began to sob into my shoulder. “But please, please do not ever do that again! My heart couldn’t take it if you died!” “Hey Luna…” I nuzzled her. “Cheer up. What could’ve happened to me didn’t happen to me. It’s best not to dwell on it,” Luna started crying harder. “Oh c’mon, Luna, please stop crying…” I brought a hoof up under her chin and brought it up. We were now eye to eye. “You’re much, much prettier when you aren’t crying and it makes me feel like a piece of shit.” I kissed her on the lips. Her eyes widened, but she slowly closed them as she embraced it. When we drawled back, she wasn’t crying nearly as much. “We’re gonna go on a date tomorrow, and we’re going to have a good time, Luna. For now…” I nuzzled her. “Let’s just cuddle and relish in this little hiccup being over.” “Okay… and even if I don’t want to admit it, seeing you run like that was sexy… and when you got angry! Oh! I bet even Tia is jealous!” Luna clapped her hooves. “You are very sexy when you take charge, Ostri…” My wings poofed out. “Oh? Are you finally beginning to feel flustered when I compliment your appearance?” Luna giggled. “Oh now I can finally make you bury your face in my mane when I flirt with you!”  “Dammit! Now I’ll have to get these things folded up again, Luna!” I chuckled. “Seriously, next time, I will try and not run into danger. C’mon, we got a city to clean-” “You aren’t moving, mister. You are going to stay here and keep the weight off your leg. And yes, I know you want to go grab a drink with our soldiers, and you can go, but you are going to get some rest first. Then we are going to talk about the big, fancy award we’re going to give to you for your bravery and contribution to the battle while planning this out and while you were in action!” My eyes widened. “And you will become a noble.” “Oh great, I’m gonna join the entourage of stupid, rich people who can’t think straight to save their life!” I shrugged. “Will it be public?” “It’s going to be public and it will be the biggest ceremony we’ve held to date.” “Fuck you.” “Take me to dinner first-” I pounced on Luna. Yes, it did end in a very fun time in bed later. I was later told by Blaze that she could smell it from outside the room, and went to go bunk with Celestia for the night instead of hanging out with us. God, I am looking forward to that date tomorrow.