Gorrog stood up, surging towards a knot of Equestrian soldiers, desperately trying to hold their ground against his demons. He watched as a Demon disemboweled a pony with a bite to the stomach, blood and gore trailing from its maw.
“Charge, for Hell my brethren, we shall feast upon their souls!”
He grabbed a pony and broke its back over his knee like a stick, and conjured a fireball, igniting the corpse and tossing it into the formation in front of him.
He kicked a soldier in the chest staving in her chest ad leaped onto her broken body. He bite through the neck of the closest soldier and broke another leg with a punch. He stood up and shook the blood and viscera out of his eyes. He felt the energy building up in a unicorn’s horn as he walked towards her.
Staring down upon the soldier he noticed, her armor was more ornate than most of the officers he had seen.
He was knocked off his feet by the blast and smashed through a pile of corpses. He tore off the various body parts on top of him and roared, his rage spurring on the surrounding demons.
Gorrog conjured a fireball in his palm and hurled it at the unicorn. She promptly took flight to avoid it, causing him momentary confusion as he realized he was fighting one of the princesses. She flew at him, wrapped in a pinkish aura, which deflected a plasma ball from another Hell Knight. He started running towards her hands curled into fists.
She ducked underneath his outstretched arms and stabbed him through the edge of his chest and out his back, her horn burning his insides. Gorrog grabbed her by the midsection and pulled her out of his chest, twisting a turning in his grasp. He squeezed her in his hands, until he felt her disappear into a puff of smoke and appearing several yards away.
“Gorrog, unlike every other monster or enemy I’ve fought you are the only one I won’t regret killing.”
“I’d like to see you try, Princess, you are soft and weak from a thousand years of peace, and yet you challenge the veteran of one hundred years of war.”
Her eyes hardened and her horn glowed again, and he felt the raw power in her. Briefly considering his option he choose to strike first and hard.
The pentagram that adorned his helmet glowed, as the true one beneath it did, and he choose Hell Time. He watched as time slowed around him, taking ten times longer to see things happen. He flexed his fists and charged the alicorn, fireball in hand.
His charge was cut short by sudden flash of light and the world grew still.
He shook his head the light around him flickering, until he saw a massive, roaring fire. Lava poured down through in a small stream near him, and in the distance he saw a massive black fortress rising out of the ground.
“Is this Hell” he asked to no one in particular.
“Gorrog, this is a glimpse into your mind, here I am the strong one.”
He whirled around, his anger spiking as he saw the blue Alicorn facing him, dark and terrible. He grunted and walked towards her, his bulk towering over her, his bulging massive body casting a dark shadow on her, and he swore he saw fear flash across her eyes.
“Gorrog, as much as I hate you, I pity the wretch you are, even if you were to win, what it does get you, another Hell, pathetic, especially considering how the old one is out for your blood.”
“How do you know this, princess, how do you know of the endless struggle I have fought since Hell blessed me, I was chosen by Hell to lead the charge and yet I was betrayed by the Vargary and have endeavored to destroy them with one hundred years of war. You think the losses on your side are high, imagine that over one hundred years on a far larger scale, and yet I survived wounds that would drive you insane from the pain. Ponder this Princess, than tell me which one of us truly holds the power here!”
She seemed taken aback by his sudden outpouring, yet he still saw the hate in her eyes, he knew it very well and underneath it he saw the anger and loss, he also had seen them many a time and was the embodiment of the former.
He roared and charged her his claws outstretched.
They clashed next to the stream, her hoofs meeting his hands and the both pushed against each other, her rear legs starting to sink into the ash, they were locked in this embrace as each tried to overpower the other, Gorrog with raw brute force and Luna with magic aiding her.
He kicked her across the plain, careening into a small rocky hill. He ran towards her intent on ending her life and returning to the battle and to crush the other princess underneath his foot. He felt a sudden cold fall upon him, striking him even in his Hell, where he never had to fear such a thing.
“Gorrog, nothing can save you, you’ve lost this war, yet you fight on raging against the inevitable.”
He looked behind him seeing her, floating several feet above him and the rage that sustained him for all these years burst forth once again and the landscape around him flickered and he saw the battlefield resume its command of his vision.
Gorrog looked around for his fellow demons and to his surprise he saw that he was surrounded by ponies, the front line had moved on pushing into his horde.
He opened his fist and conjured a fireball, pouring his rage into it watching as it changed becoming white and crackling like lightning. He stared at it incredulously, this was new, only one other demon had such power and that demon was long dead. It was a sign that Hell had not lost faith in him, but still demanded that he slaughter in its name.
He threw it at the ring of soldiers, and a slight smile formed on his face as he saw it explode, shocking several into seizures, he was disappointed by the results but having limited options at his disposal, simply charged them, the ground shaking underneath his step.
He tore the head off the first pony he made contact with, breaking the links of his chainmail like paper. Using his immense strength he picked up two soldiers and crushed their rip cages his fists. Their intestinal tracks shot out of their mouths and rears.
He slammed his clenched fists down onto a pony’s body, covering her fellows in her viscera. Turning to unicorn, he took her and lit her aflame, hurling her burning body into a group of soldiers, her screams hurt his ears as like most burning victims she screamed very loudly. He watched as the Hellfire consumed her body, flickering as her body charred and her screams slowly subsided and her skin blackened and her eye balls ran down her face. He could smell the brunt flesh, rising all around him as similar things happened and both sides were bloodied.
Gorrog then proceeded to rip the femur out of pony’s leg and rammed it through the unfortunate pony. He twisted it and felt her heart burst, blood pouring onto his hands. He could see the faces of the Maggots and Imps fighting like caged animals, trying to force an opening for him. He watched as the Guardian tore a path effortlessly through the ponies smashing through their pitiful defenses. He smiled; the battle was easy, until he saw them. A group of six ponies radiating light from object affixed to their bodies and a sudden blast transfixed the field.
He saw the Guardian of Hell, the embodiment of Hell’s vast strength turn to granite. He gaped, never before had something like this had happened before, and yet he saw it the Guardian frozen mid-swing, its mouth a gape as it recoiled in shock.
“Pull back, Pull back.” He felt the chill of fear again. He saw the group of ponies slowly descend and he took their colors and type to memory, swearing vengeance for his defeat. He ran after his troops slamming through the few remaining ponies who thought it a good idea to stand in front him.
He had to get his army back to the Hell Hole; they had taken too many casualties in this campaign and he had good reason to believe that they would soon assault his fortress.
Gorrog, ran after his troops, but paused roughly one hundred yards from the Guardian of Hell.
“I will return for you”
Gorrog conjured another of the flaming, ethereal skulls and threw it at the Guardian; it sped towards the Guardian and embedded itself into the large horn atop its back. Satisfied that he had done his duty, Gorrog assumed lead of the retreat guard.
An entire division was charging them, ponies being pushed forwards y the sheer weight of those behind them. He looked around him and was taken aback by how few demons were left alive, of the forty thousand who had fought here only a quarter or less were alive. Of the other side he could only see mounds of corpses and yet the ponies charged at the, nearly three for every demon left alive.
He braced himself as the ponies closed the gap, beside him; Hell Knights and Demons followed his example and covered their fellows retreat. He punched an over eager pony who literally slammed into him, breaking his neck and tripping the pony behind him. He felt a shield collide with him and several thumps against it; he felt the ground the ground slip under his feet as the raw force against him pushed him back. He looked the right and saw the other demons in similar situations as a wall of shields pushed against them. He pulled back his arm and tossed a fireball over the wall of shields, giving him only slight respite as they quickly resumed their blind frenzy to push them back.
“Push them back soldiers not an inch of ground.”
He saw the dragon shouting orders to the ponies and scanning the battleground for something. He lowered his claw and Gorrog heard the unmistakable sound of arrows. He saw a few demons burn away but the barrage was ineffective as the majority were behind the shields of the ponies who were attempting to push them back and overwhelm the rear guard.
Behind him he heard the thunder of hundreds of ponies charging past them and turning to surround them. Looking at the dragon, he nodded and renewed his effort to push back the press of ponies around him. The sound of demons being summoned alerted him to reinforcements. Silently thanking the Arch-Viles he took a step back and tackled through the knot of ponies, crushing the hind legs of a pair underneath his body. Standing up Gorrog punched downwards and smashed the ribcage of one of them.
“Fall Back my brethren, we cannot hold”
They fought a path into the open territory and started running towards to main army until only Gorrog his, remaining guard and twenty other Hell Knights stood against the ponies. Straining himself Gorrog called upon Hell’s raw power, using his heart as the channel, from which his strength came, and projected raw fear, out and upon the ranks of ponies who were engaging them.
It was only a half measure as soon afterwards the flow of power stopped and he couldn’t give it the lasting power he needed to give them enough time to slip away. So in a stunning display of the speed a Hell Knight was capable of Gorrog and his companions fled after the rest of the demons.
Turing, he saw many of the ponies stopping and grasping their chests as fatigue took them behind them, stood the three princesses watching him withdraw. They had bought the other demons roughly one hour, so they had a lot of distance to close. After crossing a few of the hills on the steppe, they relaxed their pace, for they had a long ways to go before they would before they rejoined the army.
He would have to prepare the defenses of his citadel, as the assault on it would be coming soon and what had damaged his connection to Hell, might also be there as well, skulking in the shadows.