Sunset in the gods

by red-sun

Act II – Fallen Gods – Chapter 8

MORE THAN NINE HUNDRED YEARS AGO

SECOND DEMONIC INCURSION.

In the middle of a city in ruins you could see a countless amount of corpses of both humans, gods and demons. And in one of the buildings that were barely intact, a demon wearing bone and skin armor slit the throat of a god and threw his corpse along with others that were accumulated.

"I guess it was another flop." Aria Blaze said as she wiped the blood off her knife and she gazed at the ruined city whose name she never bothered to learn. "I hate when she has a reason."

"Oh really? Because I love having the reason." Said a goddess with an arrogant smile calmly approaching Aria.

"What are you doing here Adagio? Why aren't you with the other gods celebrating the victory?" Aria asked with little encouragement.

“I want to ask you the same thing, you, your clan and the rest of the demons are still here, why? At the moment I dissuaded the great gods from taking over other zones and Sonata was barely able to dissuade the aura masters that they have to regroup first.” Says Adagio.

"Oh really? Sonata managed to convince them? The same Sonata that can't convince a stone to stay still? ”

"Yeah". Adagio said as he showed a flat look. Then the two sisters laugh together for a while, happy about the reunion.

After finishing laughing Aria speaks. “Before he died, the supreme king had already given the order to return to Tartarus, but a good number of demons did not want to leave until they recovered Nightmare's corpse. Me and my clan are protecting the rear so that it does not attack the group that is taking the body. Aria sighs. “That idiot king thought that attacking in the middle of a human war would give us the upper hand.”

“Do you want to recover the body? In that case I'm not surprised, I could see All Master's fight against Nightmare, it's supposed to be an ancient demonic beast, its corpse itself has great value but why are you helping them?"

“For nothing in particular but…”. Aria thinks for a while. "I guess some demons will owe me a favor later."

"Who knew that a few decades in Tartarus would make you smarter?" Adagio ignored Aria's scowl. "Did you know that Sonata earned the right to open her own aura school?" Says Adagio trying to change the subject.

---

PRESENT

"Could you repeat what you said?" Sunset asks the demon.

"You are the one Nightmare has chosen as the next bearer." Rarity answers.

“I figured Nightmare was the reason you wanted to talk to me because Discord explained that to me. but why? I know that Nightmare was an ancient demon beast and that the soul was in an armor for a while, but I also knew that that armor was destroyed.”

"You're right, the armor was destroyed and a large part of the Nightmare's soul was dissipated, but the Nightmare's soul is still calling you." The demon sighs. "Let's walk for a while." Sunset and Rarity walk around the camp and Rarity watches the scenery. "The surface of this place is so charming, it reminds me why we demons keep fighting."

Sunset wanted to ask why she said that but she didn't want to change the subject. "So are you going to explain it to me?"

"Sorry dear, let me explain." Rarity unsheaths the sword that she had at her waist. “Unlike humans and gods, all demons have a special gift. Tell me, what do you see in this sword?

Sunset stares at the sword, it looked like any longsword, it had a fancy hilt and looked well cared for. But then she noticed something small, like when she felt the aura of materialization despite not being able to see it or when she saw a divine power for the first time. "The sword is alive." She whispered trying to hide her shocked expression.

“Excellent observation”. Rarity said. “This sword is my 'Spirit Weapon'. As you know, the gods have their divine powers, humans have the aura of matecialization and demons have 'Spiritual Weapons'. Rarity begins to make some movements with the sword demonstrating her ability. "Have you heard the saying, that the sword is an extension of your body?" Before Sunset can reply, Rarity throws the sword away and the weapon burrows into the top of a tree. "For demons it's something a little deeper." Rarity lifts the scabbard of her sword and the sword detaches from the tree and returns directly to the scabbard. “Although we demons are in good physical condition, that is not enough to fight against the gods. When we pick up a weapon we have the ability to infuse a fraction of our souls, that makes our weapons more powerful and also gives us some abilities.”

"But what does it have to do with Nightmare?"

"Now I'll explain. During the Second Demon Raid the Supreme King of that era somehow convinced Nightmare to participate as well. That war lasted for seven years, and to stop Nightmare the All Master had to intervene directly. When Nightmare died, many demons fought to recover Nightmare's corpse." Rarity picked the fruit from a tree and looked at it as if it were a great treasure. "In Tartarus there is always a shortage of food, sometimes the famine comes to such an extent that we resort to cannibalism."

Sunset was a bit surprised at first but she remembered when Grandpa Gruff told her stories of the old griffin wars and how sometimes they would go so far as to eat their dead companions.

“The name of the first demon that ate Nightmare's flesh and blood has been lost a long time ago but many who ate it became great warriors and for some reason the corpse still continues to regenerate even though it has no life essence left, but not all the demons that eat it survive."

"I guessed it, power given away always comes with a flaw."

"I wouldn't say it's a defect, actually it's a precaution." Rarity noticed Sunset's curiosity. "Actually it's simple, only the weak can be blessed with power, if a demon that is already powerful itself eats Nightmare's body then it dies."

"You too committee?"

"Yes, me and my sister went on the journey and ate the meat and drank the Nightmare's blood to..."

"My sister even brought plates, forks, knives, and a pair of fancy glasses to drink the blood!" It says a little demon girl who has the same skin tone as Rarity and her hair was long with light pink and pale purple carvings.

“Sweetie Belle!! What did I tell you about interrupting conversations?! And of course I would bring those things! We are not savages that we have to eat using our hands!”

"Although what you are telling me is interesting, you still haven't explained why they were looking for me."

"I'm sorry about that, now I'll explain. During the fall of Equestria, all living demons that have eaten Nightmare's flesh felt the soul of the beast roaring in pain. Later we learned that All Master fought against the bearer of Nightmare. None knew that the soul still existed. Then we all left our respective clans and came together to create a new clan made up of only demons that have consumed Nightmare's body." Rarity sighs after explaining everything to Sunset. "Now we are looking for the surviving soul and your Sunset Shimmer can guide us."

"Discord told me that Nightmare's soul is calling me, but I want you to understand that I'm not going to go looking for him yet, also I don't know what to do with the soul when I find him."

"What you do with the soul is your decision, Nightmare chose you and we are not going to contradict the decision he made, the job of our clan is only to guarantee your safety until you claim the soul."

---

“How long are they going to stay?” Gloriosa asks Discord while they are both drinking alcohol sitting by a campfire.

"I don't know". Discord replied, taking a drink from his bottle.

"Humans have been in the camp for almost a year now but we haven't had any problems with them, even the children are having fun." Glorious with a warm smile she watches the children both gods and humans play while Scootaloo rides a diamond dog. "When I see this sometimes I forget the problems of the world."

"It's scenes like this that are worth fighting for." Discord says while also smiling.

“Discord, the fallen gods were founded so that the gods who escaped from the sacred land could have a calm and peaceful life, not to overthrow the council of the gods or All Master. But you brought humans and now you bring demons our ancestral enemies into our home, even some in the camp are talking about another demonic incursion. Humans won't be able to survive because there are almost no aura masters left because of the purge."

"Don't worry, the demons won't invade the humans this time." Discord replied.

"This time? Discord... what did you do?" Gloriosa asked with a concerned expression.

"I did what I thought was necessary for everyone to have a future." Discord noted that Gloriosa wanted a more specific answer. "After All Master withdrew from Canterlot I headed straight for Tartarus to meet with Ahuizotl to discuss future plans, but Starlight Glimmer had an army ready for a raid."

"But Cerberus guards the door."

“And she already had a plan to kill him, she would lose the life of many demons but they would still manage to kill the beast and it would march to the human lands. I offered him a better plan, I told him that there is a way to subdue Cerberus without anyone dying and I also offered him a better objective".

“A better target? From what I know what the demons want is to settle in the human lands, the reason why the council of the gods protects the humans and allowed the masters of the aura is so that they don't stop the extraction of carnelian, thanks to cerberus that the demons could be contained, the Council of the gods could approve the purge. But what would be a better target?”. asks the goddess.

"Sacred Land".

“Discord, do you realize what you just said? The only times the sacred land had conflicts were during the era of the Old Gods over five thousand years ago and in the Tidal Wave War and that was over one hundred and fifty years ago. And finally, do you know how to get there? I must remind you that the only safe way is in the floating castles, trying to reach it by sea is suicide unless you know which direction to take”.

"When the day ends, those problems may already be solved, but only if they accept." Discord replied.

"They?" Gloriosa thought for a bit until she realized it. "Wallflower and Fluttershy."

"I'm not going to force them, it will be their own decisions."

“And if they refuse?”

"The same will happen but the number of deaths will be higher."

“And how will they get to the sacred island? You know very well that it is almost impossible to go by sea because of the supernatural mist that surrounds the island and even if they arrive, the entrance is guarded by The Hundred Defenders”.

“Now there is someone who can guide us to the island... to be precise, there are two people who can guide us. And about The Hundred Defenders... that is an obstacle that cannot be avoided, but don't worry, I know what their weakness is”.

“Timber told me that you erased the vision you've had saved all these years. Are you sure of that decision?

"Yes, I decided that I am no longer going to let those visions decide more for me."

“And about the demons? Can you trust them?

"I know that I can trust Aria and Starlight Glimmer."

"And why are you so sure of that?"

“Aria, she needs to get to the sacred ground for her own personal reasons and she knows she can't do it alone. And The Supreme Queen has a strong desire for demons to live on the surface but…” Gloriosa notices Discord's look of sadness and guilt. "She also has a deep hatred for the advice of the gods."

---

AWAY FROM THE CAMP

"This way, Master Tiara." Says a twelve year old girl while she is crouched looking at the ground. She wore thick-framed glasses and leather clothing.

"How many times do I have to tell you not to call me Master? Listen Silver Spoon, you're my friend, not my servant and not my bodyguard, besides, I've been able to take care of myself for weeks now”. The girl says as she materializes a chakram in her hand.

"I understand. But we've already gone too far, are you sure you want to continue?"

"Yes, I'm not going to stop until I find the slave responsible for all the insidete that happened a year ago."