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Loving a Unicorn

Breeding a Future

Chapter Eight

Written by Arian Mabe

"Mares and stallions, fillies and colts," Caderyn began, his magically booming voice echoing through the trees and over the twitching ears of every unicorn in the herd. "We are gathered here today to celebrate a momentous occasion: the joining of Christian and Celeste in marriage."

The herd cheered and stamped, whinnying to add their voice to the cacophony as Celeste and Christian stood before an ancient oak tree - one far older than the one under which Christian had proposed to Celeste. The branches stretched far overhead, reaching for heavens that would forever remain beyond its grasp. And yet the tree would remain as the ants on its bark made use of it during their short span of time present in the world. It was its own ecosystem and the perfect place for a wedding to take place - in Christian's humble opinion, of course.

Celeste had been suitably adorned for the wedding in an unusual blend of what Christian could only call lingerie and jewellery that drew attention to the curves and musculature of her figure. Off-white stockings - only coloured such to offset her coat - draped up all four of her sleek legs, connected by imitation suspender straps to a white harness speckled with gold notes that ran from her withers to her hindquarters. The harness dipped and rose with the muscle of her body, clearly designed precisely to fit her form, and she wore a form of undergarments that both perplexed Christian and irrevocably drew his eye.

In all her times of wearing jewellery, Christian had never seen her wear something that covered her marehood yet enhanced it so divinely. Material that shone like the finest silk and trembled like the thinnest lace - imbued with magic, no doubt - cupped her udders, connected with similar straps to the harness so that they could be removed quickly. Her marehood, on the other hand, was covered by the sheerest sliver of satin he could have imagined, the outline of her sex clearly visible through the fabric. The mare fluttered her eyelashes at him, angling her rump towards her stallion to give him a better view of the light but darkening spot of moisture on the lingerie. Her cunny winked and flexed through the fabric and Christian whinnied, upper lip quivering and lifting to sift through her scent.

Licking his lips, Christian tried not to stare as Celeste took full advantage of his position in not yet being able to mount her, marehood winking over and over again as the watching unicorns snickered. The stallion tossed his head, upper lip flapping comically as he sought to rein in his frustration. His teeth and lips could make short work of those little straps, freeing her multiple udders for his attention. His cock plumped out his sheath and he nickered as he dropped, shaft soft beneath his stomach. He had been told that what he and Celeste wore would enhance their virility for the wedding ceremony but had too many butterflies in his stomach to care.

Shifting his hooves uncomfortably, he tried not to think about the royal gold adornments he bore, draped over his withers and down around his neck to end in a heavy, gold emblem. Gold cuffs, linked around each fetlock, tapped his hooves when he moved and the fillies had braided golden thread into his mane and tail so that the hair shimmered every time he moved, giving the impression that he had been draped in the golden glow of magic itself. Finally, to complete the ensemble, a line of gold links ran down his back from the circlet around the base of his neck to his tail, where it looped under his dock and kept it proudly raised. Although he felt a little too much on show, he couldn't have said that his tail wouldn't have been proudly flagged anyway when he had such a beautiful mare in front of him, waiting to take his hoof in marriage.

The setting sun teased the treetops crimson and Caderyn set a glow radiating out several feet from his horn to call the cheering herd back to attention.

"Christian has done a good many deeds for the herd during the course of his otherwise short time with us. Many of the mares are now pregnant - from his efforts and those of our other, few, stallions in the herd." He exchanged a wink and sly look with Moirin. "Even I have done my part for the herd and a little bird has told me that I am also expecting foals."

The herd squealed and stamped, shouting congratulations until Caderyn cleared his throat, voice rising above the uproar to redirect back to the event at hand.

"It is remarkable how Christian's transformation and magic has strengthened the herd, his love for Celeste and faith in the survival of unicorn-kind unshakeable at its very core. It has changed not only the life of my daughter but the life of our herd. Christian's faith and discovery has ensured that we do indeed have a life and a future to continue with. We shall forever be grateful and indebted to his kindness and willingness to assist our kind. Christian has become one of us, one of the herd, and I anticipate many great feats from this stallion. He has begun his life with us as he means to go on."

Caderyn smiled and inclined his head respectfully towards Christian.

"Now, it is my great pleasure to unite my daughter and her stallion in marriage. The ceremony shall now commence!"

As the unicorn murmurs dropped into a respectful silence, only broken by the shuffling of hooves that couldn't be kept still, one voice pierced their peace. Caderyn stiffened but did not look up as a screech shattered their clearing, trees rustling as a large creature blundered through, wings and claws scraping over branches that deserved a gentler touch. Christian called magic to his grasp and leapt to Celeste's side, already throwing a shield over her as the mare eyed him incredulously as if wondering why he thought she was not able to do it herself.

"Your wedding is a sham!"

The stallion snorted and pawed the ground, mussing up his formerly pristine hooves. His 'attendance' was hardly unexpected, although they had hoped against hope that an unwelcome visitor would not show his face again.

Sharptalon clung to the branches of the oak tree and the unicorns gasped, Caderyn reaching for his magic before the gryphon had even flapped his wings to take flight. Christian shook his head, standing protectively before the king, and tracked the gryphon's flight with his eyes as the avian circled the clearing, the oak tree at its centre.

"We are not afraid of you, Sharptalon," Celeste called out, her voice strong and clear. "Show us your worst and we shall send you squalling with your tail between your legs. There is nothing for us to fear from you."

The gryphon cackled, specks in the sky plummeting towards them and quickly taking shape as other gryphons. Christian nodded to the watching unicorns, his eyes grazing the gaze of every mare he had bred. They knew he needed them. His cock throbbed in memory but there was no time for that. Karin braced herself, horn rippling with white flames. Although she was dressed in a similar manner to Celeste, only without the gold accents - which were for the unicorn 'bride' alone - her attire would not hinder her movements and there was a fire in her eyes that he had seen that night in the gryphon stronghold. She needed no one to protect her.

Hurling themselves to the ground, the attacking gryphons - clad in all colours from tan to the most brilliant shades reminiscent of precious gems - screamed a battle cry that shook the ground beneath their hooves. Sharptalon launched himself airborne and lunged for Celeste, eyes fixed on his target with a beast's intensity. She was his - his for the kill! His beak gaped, a black, cavernous yawn of death, and he screeched like a banshee. The unicorn leapt sideways from behind Christian's cruder shield, twisted and slammed her horn into the side of his head, barely missing his snap. He twisted in midair, sparing himself a crass strike that would have otherwise knocked him out cold, and hissed viciously.

"Say goodbye to your mate, princess," he snarled, claws already reaching for her again. "It will be the last you ever see of him. You will watch him die."

"I hardly believe that will come to be, monster."

They both turned in time to see Karin slam her back hooves neatly into Sharptalon's gut, sending him flying backwards, head over paws, through the air. The gryphon squalled like a hatchling and righted himself with difficult, shaking his head back and forth as if caught by a dizzy spell.

While the gryphon recovered, Karin joined Celeste at Christian's side. Facing down his enemy, the stallion snorted and drew light into his horn as if pulling it from the environment in his near vicinity. He built up the force until his legs trembled with the strength it took to hold it, a grunt breaking his lips. The gryphon squawked and flapped, circling for another attack. Too late, the gryphon realised what he was doing and scrabbled to escape, wings beating madly as if he had suddenly forgotten how to fly. Christian tipped his head back as the tip of his horn glowed red-hot with pure, white light, teeth clenched and jaw aching. Sweat soaked his coat but he didn't care. He'd do it all again and more for his herd and his mate. Mates.

He only hoped he'd have enough energy left over for the mating ceremony.

Christian drew his magic in close and hurled it out with as much force as he could muster. There was no way Sharptalon could get away in time. Although the gryphon flapped madly, there was little height to be gained, and the full force of the blast smacked him in the small of his back. He flew head over paws, fighting and failing to right himself with one wing hanging at a deadly angle. He screeched and cried as he plummeted to the ground, landing in the midst of the unicorns who quickly surrounded him, horns lowered. The gryphons diving above pulled up and circled, keening as they awaited further instructions from their leader.

Christian took a deep breath, Celeste and Karin weaving their magic together, eyes narrowed in concentration. The filly's tongue stuck out from the side of her mouth and he chuckled, though tried to be more interested in what they were doing than admiring her in such a dire situations. Strands of magic, shimmering so that they were impossible to pin down in any one place, flickered in and out of one another, floating over the crowd. Its purpose soon became evident as it dropped over Sharptalon, effectively sealing him within a magical cage.

Leaving his side, Celeste walked calmly up to the cage and peered through the 'netting' at the gryphon inside. Sharptalon flapped and seethed, snapping at the barrier and leaping back as it stung his beak, smoke curling up from the blackened tip.

"Sharptalon, you shall atone for your crimes and shall harm no more. No more shall you bring destruction to our land." She half-reared, emotion getting the better of her for a fleeting moment. "For all your threats...all that you have striven to carry out. No more. Not all gryphons think as you do. If they will not bring you to justice, we shall ensure you reside in guarded confinement for the remainder of your natural life."

"Oh, princess," he crooned, fluffing out his feathers the best he could with one wing drooping on the grass. "You still can't bring yourself to kill me? You have me trapped. Do you not see that? All it would take is one little spell to dispatch me forever. Don't you want that? Or is that not the unicorn way?"

Celeste's horn shot off silver sparks, expression stony.

"I see your tongue is as silver as ever but that shall not aid you here." Celeste's ears flicked back. "I had hoped to bring peace between us. I still hope for a resolution we may all be proud of."

"Peace shall never be had!" The mad gryphon screeched, flapping one wing and sending feathers flying. "My flock!"

Throwing his head back, he screamed - the sound somewhere between a screech that an eagle would unleash in threat and a lion's feisty roar. It reverberated through the clearing and the gryphons turned their beady eyes on the unicorns as one. They dropped like stones, gaining speed rapidly in a full flock reckless dive. Unicorns panicked and shot off magical blasts at random, using their magic to hurl any projectiles they may at the gryphon in hopes of knocking them out of the air. It was a valiant effort on the spur of the moment but in vain for the gryphons kept coming regardless of how many of their comrades were felled.

"Together!" Karin leapt to the front of the line, magic streaming from her horn. "Together we may push them back. Hold!"

He galloped to Karin's side, linking his magic with the filly's to mimick what she had done to create the cage for Sharptalon. This one, however, had to be much larger to keep the gryphons at bay. With every unicorn that joined her spell, the net became a little larger, sometimes only marginally so when the unicorns with less magical strength - for the time being - did what they could. The mares bred by Christian proved by far the strongest and sweat darkened their coats as they forced every last drop of magic they had to give into the force of the herd, directed by Karin. The filly stood at their head, the force of all the magic whipping her mane off her neck, with her horn held defiantly high.

The net swelled with the herd's combined power, Caderyn and Moirin adding their years of accumulated magic to the cause. Covering the entire unicorn herd, it sealed its edges into the ground, encasing them in a protective 'bubble' that could not be penetrated despite the 'gaps' in its defence. Sparks crackled and fizzled between wisps of the net and the gryphons pulled up, snarling and hissing as they clipped the barrier. Singed feathers drifted to the grass and Karin shook another off her head, a muscle twitching in her jaw.

Although Sharptalon screamed increasingly hoarse orders, nothing the gryphons did seemed to get them any closer to the herd. Several flew away with blackened paws and talons after attempting to brave the barrier and their cries of pain were more than enough to ward back others. They poked and prodded the barrier, jerking away from the stinging magic when they found no weakness in its defence, magic leaping between threads to keep all protected.

Karin reared, striking out, the herd joining her in victory that some could have called premature but sustained their spirits, breath laboured from the energy it took to maintain the protective shield. Prancing, Karin shrieked her defiance at the head of the herd even as her legs shook, knees ever so faintly trembling. Only Christian saw. Her pride for the herd was infectious. Christian bared his teeth in a feral, equine grin of triumph and spun on the spot, kicking out at nothing in particular just for the sheer hell of it. Magic snapped off his horn like a bowstring drawn too tightly and seared into the net, making it larger. Swelling, it thrust the gryphons back and back and back, becoming an attack and no longer a defence.

Circling above the shield, the gryphons hesitated, looking from comrade to comrade as if hoping that another would have some better idea of what they should be doing. But no answer was forthcoming. Sharptalon screeched.

"Fools!" He screamed, striking his cage and promptly flying back into the opposite side from the resulting shock. "Imbeciles! I shall have you for betraying your leader - me! Betraying me! - if you do not fight! Fight, you cowards! Are you gryphons or hatchlings cowering in the nest! Take them! Free me! Let us strike back at the unicorns together and take what is rightfully ours and what was ours all along!"

They paid him little mind, wing beats slowing as they caught the updraft above the tree line and conserved their strength, several clustering together in midair as if to confer. Sharptalon shrieked and made sounds in what Christian could only assume was a language only gryphons understood. The stallion focused on supporting the shield even though the attacks had trailed off. He could not let up. What if they got by him?

Celeste, standing guard, shook her head sadly and peered down at the gryphon, moisture pricking at the corners of her eyes.

"The battle is already won, Sharptalon." Celeste frowned, pausing a moment to add a greater volume of her magic to the looming net. "Surrender now and no more of your kind will come to harm."

"Surrender is a filthy word, Celeste," he snarled. "I shall not surrender and shall take my leave when your body lies cold and dead in the ground."

He leapt back from the bars of his cage, eyes wide, as Christian suddenly snorted hotly into his face, only stopped from slamming bodily into the gryphon by the magical barrier. He ground his teeth together and pawed the ground, throwing up clots of earth. The gryphon cowered, body curved away from the raging stallion with fire in his eyes. Arching his back like a cat, he hissed viciously and swiped at empty air.

"If I had my way," the stallion said in a low, dangerous tone. "You would not live to see the close of this day for the threats you held over Celeste and the fear you have brought into our hearts. You were offered peace and rejected hope in favour of war - for what, I will never fathom. But the unicorns are kinder than I and have lived with more peaceful morals than I have for the majority of my life. It is only for the herd's kindness and peaceful will that you live."

He stared the gryphon down, hoof scraping a furrow through the dirt. He vaguely wished it was the gryphon's skull that his hoof was scraping through, cracking down and spilling brains. Then he could be sure that the beast would never hurt another, much less his mates. Christian eyed him, making sure his message had well and truly sunk in.

"Remember that, Sharptalon. For you will have many years to ponder your crimes."

Sharptalon ducked his beak between his forepaws, wings fluttering like a hatchling cornered by an angry parent. Christian half-reared and wove back and forth before the cage even as Celeste murmured soothing words to him. When he stopped, his horn let off trailing wisps of grey smoke as if releasing the burning anger in his gut. Christian inhaled slowly and deeply, calming himself. Celeste's scent tickled his nose.

"Never cross me or my mates ever again, Sharptalon. Or I will come for you. And you will regret the day you ever made threats against Celeste."

Turning his back on the stuttering gryphon, broken at the pinnacle, Christian braced his shoulders, head high. He nodded to Caderyn and Moirin, dipping his horn respectfully.

"He can rot in confinement until the end of his days. This fight is over."

Taking a deep breath, he fought back the swamping dizziness threatening to bear him down. There was one more thing to take care of. He lanced his magic into the net, turning it outward. To the watching unicorns awe, he turned the shield into a weapon, firing off rounds of magic in all directions to send the gryphons squalling furiously and crashing into one another in confusion. Shrieking, they scattered as easily as flies, dodging the spikes of magic with fear gleaming in their eyes. Christian could not say that it was undeserved for what they had put the herd through. More than one, struck square on, spiralled to the ground with a keening cry, either their wings or feathers damaged too badly to continue flying. The herd followed Christian's lead and joined in the attack, multi-coloured jabs of raw power flashing through the sky and scorching leaves from the trees.

The gryphons cawed and flapped and dodged and ducked but nothing they did, working alone, got them any closer to escape or attack. The cluster that had seemed to be conferring earlier called out to their brethren and could be heard, very faintly, to be urging them to come under their wing and retreat.

They had no care for the gryphon that had led them into such a mess. Sharptalon slumped to the ground, sides heaving for breath that he couldn't quite scrape into his lungs. Sorrow? Christian wasn't sure the barbarian could feel such a thing. It didn't matter.

Led by their strongest, the gryphons retreated with not a single look back that the unicorns could catch but it was only when they were far, far out of sight that they dropped the shield. Warily, they kept their magic within reach, cautious and wondering if the attack would continue. Karin exhaled, head dropping to relieve the strain in her neck. Christian nuzzled her withers and turned to Caderyn and Moirin just in time to see Sharptalon being escorted away by their strongest unicorns, Vale and a smoky grey mare that he had not yet had the pleasure to meet. No doubt he would be placed in solitary confinement until they deemed a time fit to deal with his future.

Nickering, Christian cast the unicorn king a questioning look, too tired to form words.

"There is no reason to delay the ceremony further," Caderyn murmured, a tired but relieved smile on his lips. "Please, my herd - gather around."