//------------------------------// // Demonic Explanations // Story: Equestrian Wars // by Saacsa //------------------------------// They all nodded and we proceeded out of the doors with Luna leading the way. "So... Flynn, is it?" Rarity inquired. Flynn looked it her with a questioning eyebrow raised and nodded slowly, "What are we looking at in terms of brutality from these creatures?" She asked. Flynn's face darkened as he looked back down his horrid memory lane. "The worst. These creatures will tear someone in two without hesitation, and by god they have the strength to. They will massacre families, rip apart parents in front of their kids and vice versa. They wouldn't dare even consider their own lives and would even sacrifice others of their kind to ensure the missions' completion." Flynn said grimly. All of the ponies looked worried now, except Celestia. Her stoney gaze never faltered. But mine did. My face cracked under that fact. Not literally, but metaphorically "What, exactly, is their mission?" Dinky spoke up. "To kill and destroy everyone and everything that they lay their beady, little eyes on." Flynn spat. Even Celestia's poker face had cracked on that one. I was a little worried is the point. Okay, really worried. The rest of the, thankfully short, trip was spent in silence. When we breached the door that led outside, we had to blink away the blinding morning sunlight. I heard a few ponies gasp before my eyes finally adjusted to the hundreds of ponies gathered below our balcony. "We thank thee for doing what we have asked." Luna's voice rang at half the volume from before, which was still a bit to loud for me, but then again, she was addressing hundreds of ponies. "Why is Jack human again?" A voice rang out. But that wasn't the end. A massive chorus of questions were asked in a very short amount of time. "Yeah, and who is the other human?" "What's going on?" "What's wrong?" "Yeah, I thought we had won the war?" "Is Chrysalias back?" "No." Luna said immediately following that question and silencing them all. "We all have dealt with that pest accordingly." She said, lowering her voice. "All of your questions will be answered in time. But for now, I am afraid our work as soldiers is far from done." Worried murmurs and fear filled glances said it all. "We have been informed of a new threat. One worse than the Changeling horde." "What?!" A random mare couldn't stop the question from coming out in a startled gasp. "What could possibly be worse than them?" She asked. "Creatures that inflict a fate worse than death, then kill you without a second thought." Luna said grimly. The ponies started shifting nervously. And fearfully, if I might add. "But do not worry, these creatures are not immortal! They can, and will be, slain!" She shouted. The ponies below seemed to calm a little, though not much. "We have a day to prepare for their arrival. I'll have the information on what we are fighting in the database for everypony to see within the hour." The crowd dispersed immediately and Luna turned around briskly and led us back through the door. "I'm impressed, Lulu." Celestia smirked, causing her sister to blush lightly. "About?" Luna asked, remaining composed despite Celestia's compliment. "You've taken these ponies to your heart and they have done the same with you." Celestia said, her smirk widening to a soft smile. "I'm proud." "Ten years is a long time. Especially when you are fighting for your life everyday. I earned these ponies respect and love through war and death. It's nothing to be proud of, my sister." Luna said darkly. "You may have earned their respect through war tactics and keeping them alive, but love is a different thing. Where is Cadence anyway?" Celestia said, changing the subject. "Gone." Was Luna's simple reply. "What? How?" Celestia asked, her smile instantly shattering. "When you were killed, Chrysalias and her Changelings obliterated the Crystal Empire. It's now just a snow covered crater embedded with gems and bones... Not even one of us could survive something like that..." Luna trailed off with a tear snaking down her face. She quickly shook it off. "Oh my..." Celestia said and looked down sadly. The central room soon came into view, allowing me to, happily, change the subject. "So, Luna. How do you plan to get what we are fighting into the database if Flynn here is the only one who has any record of fighting them?" I pointed out the elephant in the room. "Remember how I showed you what happened to Celestia?" She asked. "Clearly." I confirmed. "I can use the same spell on Flynn, but I'll have to reconfigure the spell matrix a little." She said as we entered the massive room. "Why not use the same spell from the Discord incident?" Twilight spoke up. "I can only use that if I have their memories inside my mind. And I know next to nothing about Flynn." She said and sat down with everypony following in suit. "Speaking of which, after this little session, I expect a small biography." She said. "Yeah. Sure. You guys deserve to know me if I am to be fighting beside you." He said nonchalantly. "Good. Now. Let's begin." She said and leaned her horn to his forehead. A small, teal shock-wave spread over his body, then retracted back into Luna's horn with a small pop. She frowned deeply and then walked over to the massive map. She touched her horn to a small input hole and transferred some more of her teal aura into it. A few, mostly human, things replaced the image of the map. There was a normal human, except it was covered in blood and didn't have a head. There was another human, except this one was on fire and looked like his skin was stretched as far as it could go across his bones. Then there was a fat one that had half of his intestines hanging out. There was one with a chainsaw and was extremely bulky. The last was an image of a human with sunken eyes that had a suit of armor very similar to the one my great, great grandson was wearing. Also, there was one thing that they all had in common. The label on the top said 'Zombie'. I shit you not. Flynn let out a sigh. "Those were the first things that I fought. Easy to take down, but pretty hard hitters, so don't get to close unless you have some damn good reflexes. Though, here, they will probably take the form of a pony." He said with nostalgia. And not the good kind. I hoped. "I'll pull up the next creature." Luna said and shook away the sight from her mind. But something told me it stayed there. A teal aura consumed the image and it disappeared, only to be replaced by a grotesque creature that everybody cringed at. It stood at the same height as a human and was the same shape, but scaly and grey. It had ten tiny eyes spread across its face and some horribly sharp looking teeth. It's hands... Well, more like claws, ended in sharp, eviscerating points. Above it, the word 'Imp' was scrawled across the screen. "Actually, this is the second creature I faced, in fact, I faced it the most. One good shotgun blast to the face usually did it in. Next." He said and waved his hand. Luna's magical aura enveloped the image and it disappeared, again to be replaced with another horrid creature. This one stood on all fours, had no eyes, robotic back legs, and a upper body that was much to large for its lower body. Its lips were peeled back, exposing its horridly jagged teeth. Above it, the name 'Pinky Demon' was written. "Third creature I faced in my mission. Very nasty. Super powerful and very durable. Not a fun thing to fight." Flynn said with a shake of his head. "Do these things get any less... Grotesque?" Rarity's disgusted voice sounded. "Sadly, no." Flynn responded. "In fact, they get worse." I could physically feel everypony in the room shudder. Luna's teal aura consumed the picture and replaced it with another. This creature had two heads and two long black tongues (one for each head). It's back was hunched and consisted of two large, tumor-like bloody stumps with retracting barbed bones protruding from them. The creature had five limbs instead of four. It was interesting to see that each hand had a different shape: one was nothing more than a flat stump, one is a pinching claw, and one is a simple human-styled hand. Across the top of it's nasty body, the word 'Maggot' was written. "You were right..." Rarity said sickly. "Easy kill, though a bit quick. Don't be fooled by its five limbs, it prefers to walk on two when it gets close. One shotgun blast should take care of it." Flynn said dismissively. "You seem very fond of that shotgun..." Twilight pointed out the obvious. "Well, yeah. Extremely effective and plenty of ammo scattered about. Who wouldn't love the thing?" He said rhetorically. "Next." Luna's aura made way for another hideous creature, this one was named 'Trite'. The Trite's resembled spiders, being an upside-down human-like head with several spider-like legs, albeit only six of them. They possessed a cluster of multiple spider-like eyes where the normal 2 human eyes should have been. "Those little bastards I wouldn't ever waste a shotgun shell on. They attack in swarms and are extremely vulnerable. One or two machine gun bursts should get rid of them." Flynn said strategically. Luna's aura consumed the picture and moved it, making way for another. "How many more are there?" Dinky asked in horror. "Eleven..." Luna said with disgust. The next picture was something new. It was a giant, floating head that was taupe in color, had a gaping maw that full of jagged teeth that had fire leaking between them, and has multiple green eyes, as well as some longer, thin tentacles hanging from the bottom of its body. Its brain was clearly visible on the top of its forehead also. Which was really creepy. Above it was scrawled 'Cacodemon'. "Those things was freaking awful! Always coming out of nowhere and spitting those damned fireballs at you." Flynn said, then rubbed the bridge of his nose. "A few well placed shotgun shells will take it down." He said and waved his hand to say next. The next image wasn't as vile, but it was still bad. The word anime kept coming to mind. The creature wore no shirt or armor, but did have a futuristic helmet of a style reminiscent of German Stahlhelme and a pair of camouflage army pants adorned. The creepy part was a huge tentacle replacing its right arm. The name for that one was 'Commando'. "Ahhh, these sucked. I know they look like zombies, but they have a slightly different origin. They had been human marines before their transformation into brutal super warriors by my old pal Dr. Betruger." The way he spat his name, I didn't need him to tell me that he hated that Betruger guy. "Anything through here takes about two shotgun shells to kill. So if I don't say anything about how to kill it, its because of that." He added. Luna threw another image up on the screen. It was a large, off-white colored humanoid demon, standing a head taller than a normal human even in a semi-crouched pose. Its elongated arms were both ended in bloody tumor-like bloated hands with huge, inward-retracted claws that fire swirled endlessly around. It was called the 'Arch-Vile'. "Horrible, nasty, ugly, douche bags! These things are really powerful and durable. They could take about ten of your soldiers on at once and top them all. It takes a shit ton of firepower to bring him down." Flynn informed. "So, big scary fire demon not good?" Rainbow Dash simply tried to confirm. "Pretty much." Flynn nodded. He then looked over to Luna and said, "Hey, Luna. You can skip the ones that are only in hell. I don't think that we'll be needing the information from them." "Why?" "Because the only reason I went in there last time was to get a super weapon." "Don't lie to me. You got dragged through that portal." Luna said. Flynn blushed a little. "Still got the super weapon..." He mumbled. Luna moved to the next picture with a smirk on her face. The creature was a tall skeleton-like demon armed with a pair of shoulder-mounted missile launchers and the body below the collarbone was covered in a layer of almost transparent skin. It's eyes glowed an unearthly green color and it's armor resembled the marine's chest armor, but was colored red and had tubes and wires connecting with the shoulder-mounted launchers. "Ah. The Revenant." Flynn spoke the name atop the screen, "Not as bad as that Arch-Vile, but still pretty nasty. Those rockets will blow you apart." He said. The next picture was that of a fat, sluggish looking creature that stood about two heads taller than a normal human, and its bulk was about two to three times as wide. This monster was also more elephant seal-like or Cthulhu-like than any of the others, giving it a more vile look. Flynn physically shuddered at this creature, which was named the 'Mancubus'. "Not good at all. Worse than the Arch-Vile, in fact. It takes twice the firepower to take out and is twice as powerful. But there is an upside. It's twice as slow. Including its fiery balls of death." He said, "As long as you can move fast enough and don't get cornered, you can kill it quite easily." He concluded. The next picture was that of a human baby with insect-like wings, solid black eyes, and arms ending in monstrous, sharp claws. It had no legs, having instead the hind quarters of a fly. Because of the fact that it looked so much like a human infant, it made him one of the most unpleasant and emotionally disturbing creatures yet. At the top, it's name, 'Cherub', was scrawled. "Evil little bastard. Quite disturbing as well. That is what a human baby looks like, so here it should take the form of a filly or colt." He said, causing the ponies to cringe in horror. "Pick them off from afar. They aren't very durable, so it should be easy. Just don't let them get to close." He finished. The next one was a head-sized flying demon consisting of a human face mounted on a flying rocket engine contraption. Its jaws were torn apart to allow it to open its mouth wider than a normal human could and its teeth had mutated to long, pointy, needle-like teeth. It's name was the "Lost Soul". "This one was actually not to bad. They attack in packs like the Cherub and the Trite, but they fly like the Cacodemon. They are fairly weak, but sort of fast. You can punch the little bastards out of the air if you wanted." He chuckled. The next one was, thankfully, the last. But it was also the worst by Flynn's description. It was huge, very muscular, and heavy. A closer examination of its spine indicated that it had a massive skeleton. It had no visible nose and its ears resembled deformed human ears, fused to the sides of its head, which made them look almost like holes. Its obscure eyes were very small and black, located on the sides of the head just above the mouth. It was easily the largest creature shown. The thing was at least four feet taller than a human and two feet taller than the Mancubus. It was named the 'Hell Knight'. Flynn winced when the thing came up on the screen, clearly showing his fear of the creature. "Now, that, is a truly horrifying enemy. The son of a bitch nearly killed me multiple times. If it wasn't for one of them, I wouldn't have been sent to Hell nor have this baby." He said and rolled up a sleeve from a shirt under his armor. Under the sleeve was a massive, jagged scar that was red around the edges. "One of the bastards got to close to me." He explained. "Heavy fire power is highly recommended if you want to keep any of your troops alive." "That was the last one." Luna said and all of us sighed in relief, even Flynn. "Still want that 'small biography'?" He asked Luna cheekily. "No... I think we have all seen enough. And when I tapped into your memories, I saw everything anyways." The lunar princess said, a small green tint taking over, "Now, if you'll excuse me, nature calls." She said and rushed off to the bathroom. Her retching helped lighten the mood. "Anyone here feel like they can take these things?" Flynn asked the room. Rainbow Dash was the only one to speak up. "Every one of them!" She said confidently, "Except maybe that Hell Knight thing..." She muttered under her breath, though she would never admit it. I was lucky enough to hear it in the first place, and the only reason I did was because I was standing beside her. Flynn let out a light chuckle and smiled. "You ponies are going to be an interesting bunch to fight beside." He said, "I think I like it here." "See! I told you that they would grow on you!" I laughed "Or its that there are not demons throwing Fireballs at me every few seconds. At least, there won't be until tomorrow, anyways." He said. "I'm trying not to think about that." Rarity said. "Well at least you'll be comfortable in here instead of fighting those things on the battlefield!" Dinky accused. "Actually, those things can sort of teleport in. It's obvious when they do, but they aren't really keen on sneak attacks. They rely on brute force." Flynn said. Rarity's face contorted in more horror than before. "Wh-What?!" She asked in panic. "Do not worry, we will have armed guards protecting you." Celestia's voice cut in. Rarity sighed in relief. "Thank you, your majesty." She said. I had a feeling that we would need some guards as well, but didn't say anything. "Flynn, do you have any idea on how they will get here?" Celestia asked him. "Honestly? No. In my dimension, they came through an experimental portal that Betruger got the egg-head scientists to develop." That caused Rainbow to snicker and glance at Twilight. "That's a shame." The solar princess said. "Yeah, I wonder how Gengena will introduce them to this world..." I trailed off and let everypony in the room contemplate that with a retch or two in the background.