//------------------------------// // Chapter 129 - The Demon Horde Pt:1 // Story: Terraria: Friendship Is Magic // by Pomp-Neigh //------------------------------// -TERRARIA, THE JUNGLE BIOME OUTSKIRTS- The three on one battle that was currently echoing across the large meadow, and scaring the land with their attacks in the process, continues to rage on as Tori, Shadow Thunder, and Linn battle against the traitorous demon in disguise. However, this would soon change as the denizens of Home Town and the duo of the jungle: Zecora and Gex, all made their way towards the battle. ………. Flying ahead of the other members of Home Town, Fluttershy hurriedly makes her way over to the battle and exclaims: “You monster! Give Twilight and Starlight back to us right now!” This causes the traitor to turn towards the yellow pegasus, not to mention the other denizens of Home Town, but pays for it dearly as Shadow Thunder conjures forth a large hand made entirely of shadows which grabs ‘The Guide’ and slams him into the earth back and forth, over and over again. ………. As Shadow Thunder attacks the imposter, the others from Home Town arrive and start to comment on the battle taking place before them: “You demon! Tori told us all about what you really are, and your plan!” Lucan The Merchant roars out. “What did you do with the real Tanner?!” Helena The Nurse inquires. “You big bad meanie! You’re even worse than Skeletron!” Candy The Party Girl exclaims. “Give us Twilight and Glim Glam, buster! Or I’ll shoot you with my party cannon! And it’s not filled with confetti this time!” Pinkie Pie exclaims as she pulls the aforementioned cannon out of her mane and takes aim. “Ritsu! Vinny! Ceeman! Tempest! Magius! Candy! Rarity! Pinkie Pie! You’re with me! We’re going to support them and take that traitor down!” Celebes The Dryad exclaims and starts to run towards the battle with the aforementioned individuals following after her. This leaves Steven, Lucan, Gorglock, Helena, Ross, Katelyn, and Livian on the side as they witness the scenario play out before them. However, The Nurse in particular exclaims: “I’ll be ready to heal anyone who’s injured in this fight, loves! Just come back to me when you need me!” In addition to some of the denizens of Home Town, both Gex and Zecora are also drawing near the battle as they too join the fray. ………. The demon in disguise was still being tossed around by Shadow Thunder’s dark appendage as he grits his teeth in annoyance and shouts with a red aura consuming his eyes: “Enough of this!” The imposter then turns into a moving ball of flame and escapes the grasp of the darkness comprised appendage. The ball of fire heads a short distance away as ‘Tanner’ reappears once more soon after. However, his eyes widen in shock when he finally takes notice of a certain zebra that unites with the rest of the group, along with Gex.  “Impossible! You should’ve been captured!” The disguised demon exclaims. “Thanks to my dear friend, Gex, I was spared from your mess. I know not of what has transpired, but from what I can see, you are a liar!” Zecora roars out in anger as she conjures forth her spear-like weapon from the battle with Cthorator: Sausage Maker. “Though I might not be gifted in magic, nor do I possess the gift of flight, you should never underestimate my physical might!” Everyone present gathers together and prepares to combat against the traitor in unison. What was once a three on one battle, was now escalated into twelve individuals who were going to fight in unison against the lone demon in disguise. However, despite the numbers advantage of his current foes, the traitor simply laughs maniacally as he then exclaims sarcastically: “Oh dear! It looks like good old Tanner has lost this fight!” “You’re not Tanner!” Rarity exclaims in response with a raised forehoof. “You’re nothing but a foul brute from The Underworld!” “Yeah! And in case you didn’t notice...” Ritsu comments as she then shifts into her werefox form. What was once a dark skinned kitsune female who stood about five feet; seven inches tall, was now a large bipedal fox-like entity whose height towered over anyone else present, at a whopping eight feet in stature, as the werefox shouts:  "You’re outnumbered! And fucked!” ‘Tanner’ simply laughs in response as he then starts to surround himself with a red aura. A pentagram forms on the ground all around him soon after, as he then says: “You just inspired me, Ritsu,” The disguised demon then raises both of his hands high into the air and exclaims: “Behold! For this isn’t even my final form!” ………. “Ooh ooh, I know this reference!” Both Pinkie Pie and Candy shouts in unison. “Pinkie!” “Candy!” The rest of the group shouts the party lovers' names in unison. This causes the duo to laugh sheepishly and respond in tandem: “Oops, sorry.” ………. The pentagram underneath ‘Tanner’ starts to glow with a vibrant red energy which also causes the weather to change in response. Red clouds start to gather high above; all while the local area seemed to take on a red veil. This almost reminded the group of The Blood Moon event with the atmosphere's current condition, but the biggest difference of course was that this was happening even though the late afternoon sun hadn't set just yet.  “What’s he doing?!” Magius The Wizard inquires in exclamation. “I don’t like this one damn bit.” Tempest The Bandit comments. “Tail-mane-body-twitching, my Pinkie Senses are going crazy!” Pinkie Pie exclaims as she twitches chaotically. “Me too! Everything is shaking and my eyes are twitching!” Candy The Party Girl exclaims as much like the pony, the party loving terrarian was chaotically spasming out of control. ………. The demon in disguise finally sheds its cloak of The Guide, and what remains was a red skinned entity with eyes filled entirely of fiery red aura. Horns also start to elongate from what was formerly ‘Tanner’s’ head; along with bat-like wings protruding out of the entity’s back. Most notably was the fact that the lower portion of the individual was similar to that of the forelimbs of a goat; almost satyr in appearance but instead of the upper portion of a human, it was instead, a red demon. “Tremble before me denizens of the surface world! For I am your doom: The Voodoo Demon!” The demon exclaims as the entity then raises its clawed hands high into the air. Suddenly, the pentagram that was positioned below The Voodoo Demon was doubled in size and what happens next causes everyone’s eyes to widen in shock.  “Let’s even the odds a bit,” The demon smirks. “Afterall, It’s not fair that there’s twelve of you, and only one of me.”  [RAAAAAAWR] [RAAAAAAWR] [NEEAWH] Various roars and growls of demonic nature were escaping from the pentagram, which sends chills down the spines of everyone else present. Then, a horde of demons from The Underworld are released upon the denizens of Home Town as they come flying and crawling out of the pentagram.  The group that stood before Tanner no longer had the numbers advantage as the new horde of demons were beginning to number in nearly fifty individuals, in just mere moments. What was most unsettling was that even more continued to flow from the makeshift link to The Underworld itself as all of the demons now floated above The Voodoo Demon. “Everyone! Prepare for combat!” Celebes The Dryad exclaims. “Time to fight some demons!” Tempest The Bandit roars out. “Candy, bring out the speakers and play that song.” Pinkie Pie comments with a wink. “I’m all over it, Pinkie!” Candy responds as she suddenly conjures forth a large speaker system from her inventory; much to the surprise of everyone else present who stares with both questioning and shocked expressions. Candy also brings forth a shotgun; in addition to two pairs of sunglasses. The Party Girl then tosses a pair of the eyewear to Pinkie Pie as the two wear them proudly in tandem.  Ceeman The Arms Dealer narrows his eyes in recognition as he says: “Wait a second… how did you- that’s my fucking shotgun! God damnit, Candy!” “Sorry, Ceeman! I’ll give it back later, K, thanks,” Candy responds as she then turns to her fellow party lover, pumps the shotgun, and asks: “You ready, Pinkie Pie?” “I’m always ready to party!” Pinkie Pie exclaims as she brings forth her energy based weapon: Blue Phaseblade. Incidentally, the song they chose for the speaker system finally starts to play as the group prepares to combat against the demonic forces. “Chaaaarge!” Celebes exclaims as the entire group runs and flies toward the horde of demons as they steel themselves for combat. “Kill them all! But leave one of the Equus lifeforms alive!” The Voodoo Demon declares as all of the demons he had summoned go forth with ravenous intentions. The battle of the large meadow on the outskirts of The Jungle Biome echoes throughout the land as both demons and the denizens of Home Town go to war with one another, with various scenarios playing out during the conflict: Flutterhy was currently using her physical might as she had empowered herself by calling upon the powers of a very particular type of slime: Lava Slime. Her body was engulfed in flames all while the pegasus’s wings would leave behind a small trail of lava. One of the demons tried to grab onto the yellow pegasus, only for her to bat the entity’s appendage aside, grab the demon with her left forehoof, and spin around before sending the entity hurling into the earth below. She then meteors down with her right hind leg extended below her and lands harshly on top of the demonic entity. Her leg practically pierces right through the demon and the earth below it as the entity dies in mere seconds, and turns into a pool of gore mixed with lava. ………. Linn raises her lance high into the air before slamming it down upon the earth below. This sends forth a pulse of light mixed with yellow energy which instantly burns away all of the demons who surrounded her as she exclaims: “By my lance’s holy light of Excalibur, I cast you back into the abyss, demons!” Suddenly, more demons joined the fray against the pink haired terrarian but were met instead by a freight train-like force which burned them away on impact. A white horse was glowing with holy light as its armor glowed with a golden aura. If one were to look at the equine with a quick glance, they might have mistaken it for Princess Celestia herself, without a pair of wings and a horn. This was of course Linn’s trusty steed and companion: Ves. The white horse then trots over to Linn as she places a hand onto Ves’s face and says: “Good girl.” ………. Tori was currently zipping through the hordes of demons as the kenku wielded a very particular bow: Zombie Slayer’s Tactical Bow.  The arrows that were let loose by this weapon were very unique as they enabled Tori to fire them at multiple foes without needing to aim all too much, or with little effort. The kenku simply needed to aim the bow in the demon horde’s general direction before letting loose arrows that tactfully made their way towards the bow wielder’s targets. As if the arrows had a mind of their own, each projectile would evade the strikes of each and every demon that tried to destroy the arrows, and successfully made contact with their demonic targets. ………. Shadow Thunder flew through the skies and left a trail of darkness in the stallion’s wake. However, the shadows he left behind began to morph and mold into clones of himself as they in turn began to contend with the horde of demons.  Suddenly, the dark pegasus was cut off by a large ball of hellfire that came from down below as a very particular demon was revealed to be the one responsible. Unlike most of the other demons, this one’s lower body was quadrupedal in nature, unlike the bipedal makeup of most of the other demons. The entity also lacked a pair of wings but did possess a long and thrashing tail with a scorpion-like claw at the end of it. It was also, easily, the largest demon present. “Did I disturb your little spree, pony?” The demon inquires all while Shadow Thunder lands on the earth and stands before the quadrupedal demon. “Go back to The Underworld, demon!” Shadow thunder roars out. The demon simply laughs in response before it takes on a devilish smile and says: “You’ll be the second pony I get to torture today! But unlike the last one, I get to kill you! And I get to do it in my true form!”  Shadow thunder’s eyes widened in response as he took notice of the words ‘Second pony’. The dark stallion growls in anger as he comments: “Second pony?! Are you talking about, Starlight?!”  “Bahahahaha! So you know that pathetic unicorn? Her screams were quite lovely when I dangled her before me, but she was lucky. I wasn’t allowed to kill her, and I was in my repressed form. But now, I-” The demon's words were cut off as a sudden pillar of darkness consumes Shadow Thunder’s form and fires up into the skies. Black bolts of energy were also being let loose by the pillar before a loud roar echoes out from where Shadow Thunder once stood: “Raaaaaaawr!”  The pillar of darkness suddenly becomes reabsorbed into a new dark equine entity. A large pony of shadows now stood before the demon with wings protruding outward and a curved horn sparkling with black energy. The large entity growls before saying: “You tortured, Starlight… you’re mine!”  The two behemoths run towards each other as they then clash into a struggle of physical might, which also lets loose a small shockwave. ………. Both Pinkie Pie and Candy The Party Girl stood back to back as they contended against the demons that surrounded the party loving duo. Candy would shred demons to pieces upon letting loose her shotgun blasts all while Pinkie Pie sliced through them while commenting: “Doom Slayer should try using a Lightsaber, it’s so much fun!” Candy giggles in response, while also blasting away a few more demons in the process, as she then deepens her voice and says: “In the first age… In the first battle… there was Candy and Pinkie Pie!”  “And those who tasted the bite of their cupcakes, named them… The Doom-Party Planners!” Pinkie Pie comments in a deep voice as she blinds a demon with multiple cupcakes before slicing its head off with her Blue Phaseblade. ………. “FUS RO DAH!” Gex exclaims as the lihzhard blows away a flock of demons who were floating over Helena The Nurse with a spell of unrelenting force. ………. In her werefox form, Ritsu tore away at her demonic foes as she slams them into the earth, rips them apart with her physical might, and shreds them to pieces with her claws before letting loose a triumphant roar that echoes throughout the battlefield. To be continued in Part: 2