Devastation was all they knew as their homes, crops and defences burned. Ponies, Gryphons and dragons alike suffered at the hands, claws and tentacles of the behemoths standing over the blaze. They all ran, the species mingling in the chaotic mess. Friends were indiscernible in the masses of victims trying to escape the destruction.
Some of them fell, grabbed from underfoot, talon and hoof by limbs erupting from the ground. Demons had found their way to the surface and had rendered all sense of security little more than a benign fantasy to all the frightened creatures out there. Eden was a city, but not just any city. It was erected as a sign of peace between the numerous species that walked this world. There was no single ruler, but a representative from each race. They'd taken the time to learn from one another, live with each other and they'd become friends, ensuring the peace between them. But something managed to find a wedge and drive it between them. Each representative had been murdered, and each race blamed the others. With the mass of negative energy directed to one spot, Eden had become a gateway to and from Tartarus.
The demons that had surfaced were monstrous. They acted on impulse, showing no hesitation or remorse in killing who or whatever was in their line of sight. No-one was safe either in the air or on the ground.
Two ponies, barely able to walk tried as best they could to fly away. Their wings weren't developed enough and their magic was poor. The older of the two, an alabaster Alicorn saw her younger sister collapse in defeat. The filly turned back to regroup with her dark coloured sister.
"Come on Luna, we have to run! the young filly said, her lily pink mane matting against her neck. The younger sister began to cry over the noise, her voice projecting louder than the screams of the ponies around them.
"I can't Celest! I can't run anymore. I want mommy!" she cried. Celest looked around for any sign that demons were aproaching. Fortunately there were none. As Luna began to wail at the top of her voice, Celest decided that she would not abandon her. Tucking herself next to Luna, the pair of alicorn fillies embraced each other, just waiting to be picked off. Both were surprised when they found themselves picked up instead. Celest looked up to see a green dragoness running for her life She'd taken the time to grab her and her sister in the chaos.
Terrain was not one for fear. She'd grown up in an environment that even dragons would call difficult to live in. Instead of running for fear of her life, she ran for the sake of survival itself. She knew she wanted to live and she knew how to do it. As she ran towards the edge of the forest where she would be able to evade the enemy easier than she would among a crowd, she heard a child simply crying. Terrain didn't think herself the maternal type. In fact she rather believed that she was actually a male dragon in a female body. While in that mindset, she couldn't just leave a child alone to fend against these demons. She altered her course slightly to grab her while running. As the source of the noise came into view, she noticed that there were two children, and that they were ponies.
Terrain cared little for the politics of the different races. She didn't even care about the supposed murders staged by the other representatives of the other races. As such, she didn't think twice about grabbing the two ponies under her arms. She couldn't scold them for not moving. She understood children were more susceptible to their fears than most and ponies were the most peaceful out of all the races.
"It's alright, you're safe now. I got you." she called out to them over the screaming around them. Terrain tightened her grip on the two fillies as she jumped over a dead body. She didn't care what species the body was; A corpse was a corpse. The ponies said nothing as the darker of the two huddled into her while the white one just stared at her in what Terrain assumed was surprise.
A growl alerted Terrain to the knowledge that she'd been spotted. She growled back and spread her wings. Crouching in motion, she kicked away from the ground and flapped her wings once, shooting forward at twice her running speed. Unfortunately, she didn't get far as something roughy her size slammed down on her back, grounding her. With a pained gasp, she lost her grip on the fillies and they rolled a few feet away. She saw them quickly huddle together using what adrenaline they'd mustered and begin shaking as they looked towards what was on her. She heard an almost reptilian hissing before a hand grabbed her shoulder and threw her around onto her back. An extremely disfigured creature resembling a dragon, missing the side of its face and a wing knelt over her, its face inches from her own. Now Terrain was scared.
She punched it in the face, breaking what teeth it had. The demon just spat the teeth out and sharper ones grew in its place. The demon slammed its arms down onto Terrain's, pinning her on her back. Its chest suddenly opened and something akin to a mouth emerged. Terrain tried to fight free from the entrapment, but she was helpless. In a last ditch effort, she tried to blast the demon with fire, but the flames just moved towards the second mouth, sucked in like a vacuum. As the demon began to groan, Terrain felt her own stomach begin to ache as if her organs were being pulled towards the front. She felt sick. As she looked down, she saw a green mist coming from her abdomen. it was being sucked into the second mouth like her flame. Terrain began to grow weak and fade out of consciousness.
It wasn't until she was on the verge of closing her eyes entirely that her strength returned in a single burst. She snapped her eyes open to find a large thick blade had impaled the demon above her at an angle that just narrowly missed her. It was then that she noticed a strange blue light descending from the dark clouds above.
It took her a few moments to realise that the light was actually fire. Blue fire had fallen from the sky. It landed only a yard away from her and the cowering fillies who had gathered around her side. She subconsciously held them close as she kicked the impaled demon away.
The three looked at the smokey area the blue flame had left behind. Something was inside the smoke. Terrain quickly noticed that everyone, even the demons had stopped what they were doing, be it running or pursuing, to look at the newcomer from the sky.
Two orbs of yellow glowed through the thick of the smoke, daring any-one to come closer.
"IT'S AN ANGEL, RETREAT!!!" one of the larger demons boomed. The demons dropped what they were doing and hightailed it in all directions out of the city. As they began their retreat, the 'Angel' stepped out of the smoke. All Terrain could see was more smoke shaped like a Dragon, but it had no wings. The smoke dragon gave out an ear piercing screech that proceeded to double the speed at which the demons retreated.
The 'Angel' stood alone surrounded by curious dragons, gryphons, ponies and various other races. It made neither sound nor motion. Terrain and the two fillies approached, daring to chance being struck by their would-be saviour. The smoke disappeared like a fading aura and the Angel fell to its knees. Terrain spotted the form of a dragon skull before it shattered into pieces. The creature was unlike anything the citizens of Avalon had seen before. His face lacked any fur or scales, save the patch of bleached blonde hair at the top of his head, above his eyes and in the middle of his chin. He was clad in black armour. While its appearance startled everyone else, Terrain noticed something even more puzzling. Its wings had been ripped from it's back, leaving blood to trickle out from its shoulder blades.
The angel awoke feeling less pained than he remembered being. He instantly felt himself laying on a bed, a warm one. He was wrapped in a cocoon made from the bed cover. Despite what had happened to him, he felt pretty close to comfortable. Regardless of this revelation, he tried to sit up, but stopped as he felt the skin on his back pulling. He went back down and thought for a moment; someone had stitched up his wounds.
He looked around the room he was in and spotted a pair of Alicorn fillies sitting together, staring at him with curiosity and fear. He just stared right back. The younger of the two fillies got off the seat they were on and left the room while the other remained where she was, staring at him with more curiosity than fear. As neither one spoke, the Angel returned to examining the room. It was large with marble floors, stone walls and a stone roof with wooden supports. Marble pillars stood at each corner of the room. All of this was consistent of a Royal Castle. The room he was in wasn't a medical bay, but seemed to be a makeshift one.
The darker Alicorn emerged a few moments later and left the door open. A dragon entered, tall, slim and green. Her horns were white and the underside of her wings were an earthy brown colour. Unlike most dragons, this one wore clothing; that is to say she sported a brown cloak around herself.
"You're awake." she said, stating the obvious. The Angel remained where he was, looking at the dragon as she sat on the bedside.
"Yeah." he replied, though he knew it wasn't a question. Terrain noticed his voice sounded kindly, much like an Angels were supposed to be. She also noticed his right eye was closed, seemingly by default.
"My name's Terrain, what's yours?" she asked, trying to mimic the kindly presence.
"Mar, Mar Grimm." he replied, again as kind as he sounded before. Terrain had difficulty believing that she saw what she did when he landed.
"You're an Angel, aren't you?" she asked. Mar nodded, then seemed to consider his answer.
"Well, I was." he replied. That response told Terrain what she'd suspected from the beginning. He was fallen. She nodded in understanding at this new information.
"Well, fallen or not, it's nice to meet you, Mar Grimm. Say, that last name; is that in any way tied to the Grim Reaper?"
Mar smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm him, or I was. The term we use is Angel of Death, it's more formal and the big guys are all about formality." he said, trying to sit up again. Terrain helped him, placing a hand around the small of his back and pushed. As Mar managed to sit up, he leaned back against the wall, the cool stone doing wonders for his burning wounds. He groaned with satisfaction at this.
"Thanks. Getting your wings ripped from your body hurts like nothing else." he said, rubbing his shoulder.
"I can't imagine. Care to tell me how and why you fell?" she enquired.
"Not really." he replied, his expression passive. Mar then turned to look at the two alicorns. "So what's their story?"
"Nobody's sure. They haven't spoken at all, not even to each other. I think they're in shock. Either way, they scream whenever someone tries to touch them. I'm the exception to this and I think you might be too, seeing as how they haven't left this room." she replied. Mar considered that story and held out his hand to them. The two fillies hurried off the chair and jumped up onto the bed, burying themselves between him and Terrain. Both Angel and Dragon raised their brow at the action. "Seems you've become a hero in their eyes." she commented.
"You too by the looks of it." he motioned to the darker of the two who had begun rubbing her head against Terrain's thigh.
"It's strange that they've taken a liking to me. I'm not really into kids." she said.
"Neither am I. But you can always trust those like us to not be overly possessive. I think that might play a part in their trust in us." he said, patting the alabaster pony's head ever so gently. Terrain tried to do the same, being careful not to accidentally claw the filly.
"It's a shame we can't find names for these two." Terrain commented.
"Celest and Luna, daughters of Gaia." said Mar. Terrain looked at him in total confusion. "I'm the Angel of Death, remember? I see the names of the living above their heads when I want to." he added for clarification. Terrain didn't even want to enter that conversation.
"Can I get you anything?" she offered. Mar thought for a minute before answering.
"Some water would be great." he replied. Terrain nodded and patted his leg under the covers. "Thanks." he added as she got up to get him his water.
As Terrain went to get Mar his water, she spotted a few others running, namely a Pony, Dragon and a Gryphon. Curious, she followed them. She didn't expect to see what she did. A small group of demons had infiltrated the defences everyone had placed up, and were holding hostages.
"Alright, here's how it's gonna work. We're gonna take six of you. Anyone complains, we take you in addition. Understood?" declared the lead demon. He was a tall red creature with long arms, clawed fingers and a face like a Timberwolf without the timber or the fur. He had scars all over his body.
"How dare you! You have no right to take any of us." a pony called out.
"This isn't about rights and privelages. We do what we want simply because we're stronger. It's the nature of the food chain. You're number one, bucko." the leader said. One of the lesser demons approached and nabbed the pony before he could escape.
Terrain took this moment to grab the sword that she believed belonged to Mar. She'd hidden it in her room which wasn't far from the location everyone had gathered in. She opened her door and closed it quickly and quietly. The room was pretty simple. She didn't like hoarding useless trinkets like most. She spotted the sword by her bedside. Why she chose to put it there of all places, she wasn't sure. It would have made more sense to put it near Mar himself, but she couldn't seem to part with it.
As she returned to the group, she noticed that the demons had chosen five already. "You won't leave here alive, we've got the Angel here." one of the ponies called out. The leader began to laugh as if the mention of Mar was a mere joke.
"That Angel failed to hunt and kill a single demon the night he showed up. I'm willing to bet he's no more than a trainee. And believe me, I've had my fair share of encounters with them. As you can imagine, I've been victorious every time." he said, tracing over some of his scars. Terrain then noticed one of the demon going for the last pony that had spoken out. She chose that time to act. Without thinking, she drew Mar's sword and swung it down. The demon had just grabbed onto the pony before it began to scream in pain. its arms had been sliced off and the stubs began to burn. The creature withdrew back into the group it had entered with. All eyes were on Terrain who took an aggressive stance.
"If that's how the food chain works, I'm going to put myself above you." she threatened. The red demon just grinned.
"Mmm, yes please." he said, wiggling his hips. Terrain growled and charged him blindly. She went for a swing but missed. The demon was too fast He whipped around Terrain and grabbed her arms, pulling them back. Terrain dropped the sword and was forced to arch back as the demon brought his knee to the small of her back and pushed forward.
"What do you think boys? Is she breeding material?" the demon asked as Terrain's brown cloak slid out of the way to reveal her figure. The other demons just chuckled gleefully. Terrain was embarrassed, but ultimately pissed off. She struggled against the demon, but that just made the others wolf-whistle as her movements aroused them.
"That's funny, I didn't think Demons had standards." a voice cut through the laughter of the other demons. Everyone stopped to look at the owner of the voice. Even Terrain, who recognised the voice stopped. "That was some nice swordplay, Terrain, but you could do with some practice." the voice said again. The Angel, Mar Grimm stood before the leader of the demons, his torso bandaged revealing to his enemies that he was in a weakened state.
"Mar, what are you doing? You're in no condition to move, let alone stand up to demons." Terrain argued.
"Mar? You're him? The Mar Grimm? Oh my friend, you're a Legend even in Tartarus. There are a lot of big faces that want you dead." the leader said, abandoning Terrain and turning to him. The demon noticed the sword Terrain had used and picked it up.
"There are even bigger heads in Heaven that want me dead these days. In turn, I want them dead, I'd even become a demon in order to make that happen." he said. Terrain wondered if that had anything to do with his falling.
"I see. Well I'm afraid I can't let you live, you see my bosses have put out a bounty on your head. I intend to collect now that you're within my sight and clearly weakened." the leader declared. Mar just shrugged and raised his hand as if to pose a question.
"You're resolved to collect a bounty, I'm resolved to make Heaven fall. I wonder who's resolve is stronger?"
