//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Beware the demon next door // Story: Equestrian Paradox: "Worlds at war" // by An Sturmmann //------------------------------// "My family fought in the Reconquista, you know?" The lone, female voice was the only friendly sound that could be heard all around the cramped cage, Twilight was tied, chained down, it was an awful position where she couldn't even move enough to deal with the constant itch on her nose, or do something about the rat smelling her hoof, the only thing she could move, was her mouth "My people spent un milenio fighting to recover what was rightfully ours... and now here I am, chained to a wall, speaking with someone I don't know, about past glories, you know, typical stuff" "I... I'm sorry, the what?" Twilight could barely speak back, in part due to her current weakness, but mostly due to the chains holding her muzzle, just giving her barely any space to answer "La Reconquista, you know, that time the Grifoñoles beated the shit out of the Camels, three hundred years ago if I'm not mistaken, we Hipogriffs take great pride in our foremothers determination to take back a land that was ours" "I... see" Twilight was curious, however, she really couldn't give herself the chance to speak too much, her jaw hurt, it hurt too much, the chains hurting her lower jaw as if they were cutting it, her newfound jail partner was very aware of this and taking that response as a 'continue' she decided to speak a bit more "I guess you don't really know about what I'm speaking about, am I right?" Twilight nodded, just a bit, and the hippogriff let out a sigh as she jerked a bit, unlike Twilight who was pretty much chained to the floor while inside the cage, her newfound companion was chained to the wall, in a cross position, allowing her to at least move a bit more than Twilight, and also use her beak to get rid of lices once in a while. "Bueno, supongo que sería un milagro que me entiendas en Grifoñol, ¿no?" Asked the mare causing Twilight to be confused, she tried to understand and yet only some words made a bit of sense to her "I... Suppose too?" "Yup, as I suspected, I still can't speak my proper languague... shit" She groaned before a deep voice could be heard from the other side of the wall, it was slow, calm, but with a certain hint of sadness and boredom alike "Poor stallion..." Twilight said as her eyes wandered toward the walls, her ears moving to hear better, noticing this the hippogrif swallowed saliva and shooked her head, before speaking in a hushed, somewhat scared tone, all the while looking at Twilight straight into the eyes. "Do not fall for that demon 's trick, 'El diablo carnivoro' its a bloodthirsty monster that used to hunt down beasts twice his size with nothing but his clawless minotaur-like hands and small stone knife, that thing is the reason why me and my squad were sent to the Filliyi islands, the governor in the forever loyal island got a letter pleading for help, and that thing managed to outsmart several hunting parties, mine included, no matter how many good mares were sent after him, he was stronger, faster, and only bullets seemed to startle him, but in the time it took to aim and shoot, that thing could throw rocks with enough strenght and accuracy to kill someone" The hippogrif tone was grim, dead serious, looking at Twilight with a clear intention of getting all of her attention, even her lower claws twitched a bit, her voice was a bit faster and clearer, but held respect and fear alike for the thing she was talking about. "I saw it myself, me and several good mares, around forty, were sent to protect one of the venerable birds of the island, one wich the natives believed to be angels, and, as someone who had the chance to meet one, it was clearly an animal, yes, but also, it was clear it was holy, for no animal could be as beautiful and gentle as one of those... during the night, the bird went to the river to drink water, no matter how hard we tried to get it to drink from a bucket, or even golden cups, everypony went to protect it, while we left an smaller party to protect the nest, in just a few minutes the whole island suffered an earthquake, alongside it, a thick cloud formed all over the place, it was hard to see even your own claws, after an hour we found the bird again... but the eggs were nowhere to be seen... "D...don't tell me that..." "Yes... that thing got them during the whole event, we eventually found him, cooking the eggs, using a cursed cauldron inside the ruins he seemed to call home, the smell... by the goddess, the smell was the best one I ever smelled, the salty aroma... it was as if the very own gates of heaven were open before me, with an angel called for me to join the ranks of the saints, a beautiful long mane, colty clawless but soft looking claws, predatory but masculine eyes, and the best smelling food I ever had the chance to smell, however, it was clear that "El diablo carnivoro" seemed to think otherwise, he was cooking a wild boar, thankfully, not sapient, but still, it was eating something that resembled a sapient being, I was in front of a meat eater, not like me or any good hipogriff who only eat fish or insects, it ate red meat, just like the first sinner" The hipogriff quickly turned the conversation into a more religious light shaking a bit as she could barely keep herself composed. "I... I... I'm sorry, did you say that it smelled salty?" Twilight answered, before quickly starting an onslaught of questions, even if her jaw hurt, she needed answers "How can something eat salty food like if it is nothing?, How can something smart feed on unborn creatures?, How can something sapient eat red meat in first place?!" "It's a demon, a devil, made to tempt mares with those long muscular legs and deep pitched voice, the worst type of demon, an Incubbus, only steel can bring down one of those creatures down, and even then, killing them is almost impossible, unless you aim to the head or the heart with a blessed silver bullet, that creature will just keep fighting, I ran away, while my captain shot it, I heard her beg for me to help her, just as I looked back and saw how that thing managed to duck behind the cauldron, avoiding even if just barely the blessed silver bullet, as my captain tried to recharge and begged me to cover her, I saw it take his knife, and charge straight at my liege, I saw how with a single swing he broke both, his knife and the wooden shield the natives gifted to my liege, then it held her by the throath, lifting her in the air like if she was but a new born chick, I saw it stand at the very least three times the height of a full grown Hippogrif and show small but sharp teeth, I ran, I ran as fast as I could, praying for protection, begging the angels to save me from the demon that the natives had awakened" The hippogrif began to tear up as she let out an small whine, looking down with a defeated face, her claws retracting, and her breathing becoming erratic. "It took several attempts to try to bring it down, it was smarter than us, he used the trees like if he was an ape of sorts, but also was more than ready to fight like a minotaur cow, only the gunpowder managed to scare him, but even then, you had one shot, only one, even if there were many mares with rifles, if you failed, you would end like my captain, alive, but with broken wings, the worst part, is that thing can talk, no matter how hard my captain tried to defeat it with prayers, it just told her to shut up, it told her to pack up and leave with us, he lied, saying that he knew the bird wasn't sapient, and also telling that he mostly ate fruits and fish, blaming the villagers for his diet, since they kept harrasing him whenever he tried to forrage, pure lies, for it was crystal clear that such creature, made to kill, to hunt, was a demon, for even us carnivores, would never eat red meat, we would rather starve than become mere animals" "B...but... there's... no way it can be a demon... magic exist, yes, but, demons don't, d...demons, at least in folkore... are a changelling invention, a way to scare ponies into submission, or, were Thestrals, bat ponies being victims of racism!" Twilight could only give her most logical answer, such a thing as a demon wasn't by any meaning logical, for there was no way that something like that could exist "There do are beings of dark, beings of night, but they cannot be demons, a demon must be something that is..." "Inherently evil?" The hippogrif spoke back and Twilight ears folded "Trust me, the villagers are far from innocent, they do are pagans who refuse to convert to the true faith, but, ever since the days of the empire that ruled all over the world, even before those days, there have been stories about demons, my ancesters fought the demonical feathered snakes in the new world, and their bloodthirsty priests, saving the natives from their oppressors, and ever since then, when we learned that in places where the one true faith isn't present, demons will materialize, be it in marely, or coltish form" Then, she gritted her teeth, as she spoke about those things, she seemed to despise the mere notion of these "demons", with a zealous faith, her claws retracting in a threathening manner while her teeth were bared she was angry now, no longer looking like a little scared chicken. "That incubus in the other room only fell down when he was poisoned with a potent mix of herbs, herbs that were poured into the river and enhcanced with native magic, that's how we captured him, and the direct reason those pesky pirates could defeat us, we lost several good mares in that island, not because he killed them, but because they were so scared they fled back to the island of the prince, flying all the way rather than going in a ship, we had only one frigate, with a chained but sleeping demon... the onslaught that came when he woke up in the middle of the fight, was horrible, one Griffon tried to rape him in his sleep, and with only one kick, her legs were broken, it took twenty griffons to chain him to a rock, and bring him here" "B...but... I... are you sure it isn't some sort of dragon?, Besides, the way it acted... it sounds as if he... supposing it is male, got attacked first, and only retaliated in reprisal, first with the villagers, then with your captain, later with the griffons, it doesn't sounds like he was the attacker in any of those" Twilight questioned, enduring just barely the pain in her mouth for speaking with the chain holding her down, however, the Griffon took a complicated look "Look equine, now I'm sure that your kind is yet to recieve the one true faith, however, i'm not the best one suited to teach, i'm a soldier after all, but what I can tell you, is that demons are tricky" "B...but... how?, he hunted a sacred animal, but, does that justify trying to shoot him? What if somewhere a tribe worships fishes as angels? would they had any right to kill you for eating fish?" Twilight replied but the mare, depite the clear doubt in her eyes denied with a sad look "As much as that is valid, there's still the fact that something so 'bull' looking as the minotaurs would say, despite being male, is way more dangerous than several trained soldiers, the natives saw him wrestle down carnivore cats, hunt down sacred birds, eat poisoned foods as if it was nothing, and eating enough fish to leave a pond that fed several generations completely lifeless..." "Hey, you two, you better shut up" The voice of the Griffon leader could be heard across the room, in the direction of the closed wood door "Unless ye want to eat shit!" "Boss! The demon is hungry!" Another voice could be heard, before a loud thud was heard alongside an scream "OH GODDESS, IT GOT JESSIE, IT WANTS TO EAT HER!" "Go, GO, YOU IDIOTS, USE THE ELECTRIC STAFF, PARALIZE THAT THING BEFORE IT CAN DO ANYTHING!" A loud scream was heard as a zapping sound flew around the place, a loud, deep roar of pain came soon after, before a crying griffon opened the door and entered the room with the two prisoners. "Y...you... you better tell us what does that thing eats! It almost ate me, and... and... it broke my wing, my fucking wing is broken!"