Archdemon of the displaced

by Megaphiles

Striking stakes

Gaismagorm awoke with the rising sun on the horizon. He lifted his head off the ground and stretched his arms, letting out a heavy yawn. Shaking his head to clear the lingering sleepiness, he tried to get his bearings.

He scratched the back of his head and pondered his recent dream. "Should I go to this 'Crystal Empire' to see if I can find a way to remember my home more clearly?" he mused to himself, sitting at the edge of a ruined castle and watching the sun rise. "I mean, I don’t miss that place... the taxes were through the roof, and the government was corrupt. But I still have some fond memories of it." He argued with himself, lost in thought.

He reminisced about his teenage years when his parents bought him a Nintendo Switch for his birthday. He didn’t get many games over the years, and life quickly spiraled into chaos. Student loans were terrifying, but at least he had Monster Hunter Rise and Sunbreak to escape into. The dragon with a pentagram-shaped jaw had solidified his love for the game, for his past, and for his family—even if they were now far apart.

Besides, he had nothing else to do. Traveling through the world to reach this “Antarctic” sounded like an adventure, even if the empire he dreamt of might not even exist.

With resolve, he started marching toward the horizon—only to realize he was standing on top of a mountain. “Oh, damn… I forgot about the mountain… HOW DO I GET DOWN?!” he shouted in frustration, causing the Qurio resting around him to scatter like pigeons startled by a predator or a annoying kid at the park.

He sighed, weighing his options. Then, it hit him: “I could just dig through it!”

With a deep breath, Gaismagorm began digging into the center of the mountain's peak. The ground trembled as rooms crumbled, pillars collapsed, and jagged edges of rock broke off. The mountain itself seemed to shake with each passing moment, sending tremors through the base. Changelings that hadn’t yet fled, hiding in their hive, were reduced to tears, huddled in fear of the destruction that was unfolding.

Gaismagorm dug deeper, creating a massive hole that ripped through the hive. The central structure finally gave way, crashing to the ground. The base split into four jagged, pointed rocks, like the remnants of an ancient beast’s ribcage.

As the cloud of dust settled, Gaismagorm stepped out of the wreckage, his figure bathed in the sinister red glow of his aura. The Qurio followed behind him as he made his way back along the path he had come, recalling the map with enough clarity to know he needed to pass by the cowboy-like town to reach the "Crystal Empire."

“Prepare your armies. Prepare your heroes, because the Archdemon is on his way,” he announced dramatically, his voice carrying over the winds.

---

Meanwhile, inside a bedchamber…

"Does it hurt when I touch it?" asked the doctor, gently prodding the large Qurio latched onto Celestia’s chest.

“Not exactly,” Celestia replied, her voice soft, “but I can feel it—as though you’re touching me and not the... thing.”

“I can’t believe I didn’t notice this sooner—the heavy breathing, the strange appetites, the way she stood still, staring into nothing for short periods,” Twilight said, her gaze fixed on the Qurio resting on the princess’s chest.

Applejack placed a hoof on her friend's back, offering comfort. "How could this even happen?" she asked, her voice filled with concern.

Then it clicked. "The chimera," Twilight murmured, remembering the swarm of Qurio that had poured out of it, overwhelming the princesses. “But why didn’t any of them attach to me?” Luna asked, her voice laced with confusion. Twilight paused, pondering the question.

“Maybe it’s a size thing,” Twilight speculated, "Celestia is the only pony big enough to host a Qurio."

"Actually, she has several of these things all over her," said the doctor, moving Celestia’s hoof and gently parting her fur to reveal small Qurio attached near her leg. "They’ve latched onto her talons, chest, and neck."

“What?!” Everyone gasped in unison.

“How didn’t I notice?” Celestia exclaimed. “I’m sure I would have spotted them while taking a bath.”

Fluttershy’s voice trembled as she looked at the tiny Qurio. "I-I think they’ve been reproducing," she murmured.

"But that doesn’t make sense,” Rarity interjected, shaking her head. “Celestia is nothing like the chimera. She’s not writhing in pain like that creature, and these parasites seem to be creating a pattern on her body—rather than randomly latching onto any spot. They even allow her to maintain her normal coloration."

“What if…” Fluttershy began hesitantly, "she’s a compatible host?" She looked at the others, but their confusion only grew. "I mean, the Qurio said Gaismagorm was their host. Perhaps they didn’t harm him because he was compatible. Maybe the chimera wasn’t, and that’s why the reaction was so different."

Twilight’s face hardened with resolve. "Compatible or not, we need to remove them before something bad happens."

"About that..." Rainbow Dash rubbed the back of her head sheepishly, "We haven’t really figured out how to get them off."

“We tried everything,” Pinkie Pie added, with a slightly exasperated expression. “We’ve applied pressure, slid a credit card under them, put ice on them, tried cutting, pulling, shaking, even burning… but these parasites just really want to stay on that buffet.”

Luna turned to the doctor, her expression a mixture of concern and determination. "Is there anything we can do, Doctor?"

The doctor sighed, taking a closer look at the fat, red-winged Qurio attached to Celestia’s chest. “We could try surgery, but given our lack of knowledge about these parasites, it will be a difficult process. I can’t guarantee it will work.”

"I’ll take the risk," Celestia said, surprising Luna. "Sister—"

“No, Luna,” Celestia interrupted, her voice firm. “I know it’s risky, but I can’t lie in bed while a crisis ravages our kingdom.” She met her sister’s gaze with a determined look, though her heart raced, unknowingly feeding the parasites with more of her blood.

Author's Note:

Gaismagorm has 3 games, one being monster hunter

Whoever guesses what the other two were gets a cookie (and a mention in the next chapter’s notes)

Comments

[Doctor_Den]

There are so many games on the Nintendo Switch. It's hard to guess. So I'll just point my finger at the sky. I'm betting that one of the games was some kind of "Zelda"

[llxAsimxll]

"I remember that it only appears in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak (2022) and the quests are 'Proof of Courage' and 'The Devil's Reincarnation'."

[Megaphiles]

12169775
i mean the thing is about guessing what games the human had in his Nintendo switch besides MHrise/sunbreka