Demon's Tears: The Unseen War

Around the world, there’s stories of angels and demons. Ethereal creatures locked in a neverending war for supremacy - light against dark, order against chaos, good against evil. Each day they push against each other, determined to overthrow their rivals in their unsolvable stalemate. But, if there are so many ponies who have heard of such creatures, so many different cultures, species and folk who have passed down tales from their fathers and fathers generations before, of this unseen war between yin and yang, then why is it that nopony ever sees them? Surely if so many cultures describe the same thing, then surely they must have all seen the same thing?

The truth is that they are hidden, living amongst us as normal ponies, griffons, even animals. Hiding in plain sight. Watching us. Judging us. Waiting for their chance to strike, and taking the first opportunity they get to drag one of us into their world for some fun. Or perhaps some are taking a break from the war and the fighting, maybe even avoiding it. Living life, as ponies do. Experiencing good times and bad times, as ponies do. Falling in love, getting wed, and having kids, as ponies do. But they know that they and their offspring can’t run forever…

“Get out, and stay out!”

“What? I was just warming up! The real party’s yet to start!”

The doors of a seedy Canterlot nightclub flew open, and a tan Unicorn pony was thrown out of the doors into the rain-covered streets outside. “Don’t ever come back here again!” Came a voice from inside as the door slammed shut, the brief window of light slicing through the dark closing abruptly.
The Unicorn, meanwhile, was not in the least bit perturbed. He simply stood up, dusted himself off and allowed himself a smirk and a snide chuckle, remarking “Another club that couldn’t handle me.”

This Unicorn’s tan skin almost clashed a bit with his pure white, ever so slightly bedraggled mane and his red leather coat hiding his body which were quickly absorbing the torrent of rainwater that was bearing down upon him. He was of average build for a pony of his age and size, but his looks were deceiving, as the massive gangs of ponies who’d thought it would be a good idea to pick a fight with him after he beat them seven times straight in poker had been very quick to find out. This pony’s name was Dante - such unique names were usually found amongst the high class of Equestria and beyond, but suffice to say, Dante was nothing of the sort. His was a lifestyle of carefree laziness - he’d spent the last few years of his life spending his cash on alcohol, salt and pizza, and for some time now he’d been living in an old shop, which he had yet to find a name for.

He was quite happy to live his life how he wanted, taking part-time jobs to pass the time between slaughtering whichever demon he was called upon to exorcise. That was his business - he killed demons, spirits, paranormal entities of most sorts for a living. Unorthodox to say the least, considering the majority of ponies didn’t even believe in demons, but hey, it was a way to make money that was actually fun. Dante just couldn’t see himself sitting in an office for days, writing down the same things over and over. He needed that little bit of spice in his life, be it demonic entities to kill or just a dash more of the “special sauce” on his jalapeño and spicy mushroom pizza. Whatever kept him going, he was fine with.

Dante turned on his hoof and winced slightly as a few spots of rain tricked over a hitherto-unnoticed cut under his eye. The shock of pain, however, was quickly overwritten by his confident smirk once again. “Another one, huh…” the Unicorn mused, starting to make his way back to his shop. It wasn’t too far from here - in his mind, walking meant more cash to spend on pizza and less he’d have to spend on transport. These were not the typical Canterlot streets you’d see in everyday life, or the ones you’d perhaps visit when on holiday. These were the rougher, unseen parts of Canterlot, the back alleys and dingy passageways where you were just as likely to get stabbed, or see somepony get stabbed, as you were to buy bread and milk in the mornings. Dante knew this well, but easily found comfort in the fact that, if he were to be attacked for whatever reason, he could quite easily subdue a fair number of the common thugs who lived around here without even trying. If you looked at it the right way, most of the “thugs” were just kids with flick knives who fancied themselves gangsters. He’d sent at least one of them running home to Mommy without even attacking him.

A few newspapers blew around Dante’s hooves, all of which had a similar headline: “Terror cell strikes again!” “More terror attacks in Manehattan” and “Who are they, and why do they keep blowing us up?” were just three of them. Dante sighed as he glanced at the headines. A particular terrorist cell had been, well, terrorising various parts of the country, claiming such outlandish things like “the time of equinity is at an end” and “the uprising is coming”. Dante passed this off, like many sane ponies would have, as crazy delusions of grandeur that only the most gullible and insane or individuals would buy into - and for good reason. In the last few years these guys had attacked various major locations, for no reason other than, apparently, the fact that they could. Well, Dante thought to himself, Gotta get your kicks in some way or another.

Dante took his mind off the oddball antics of the terrorists and continued down the street, keeping an eye out for anypony who might try and hold him up. Or just stab him for no reason. Or both, or worse, both and then some, whatever “and then some” might have meant in this situation, which was something that Dante definitely did not want to know. Though it didn't really matter, since they probably wouldn't even get to the stabbing part with him. On his walk back to the shop, he drifted into a seedy-looking pizza joint, pretty much on instinct. A dirty bell tinkled as the door swung open, attracting the attention of a white mare with a darkish blonde mane wearing an orange cap behind the counter, who looked up and started to smile at her next customer before noticing just who that next customer was and sighing.

"Hey, Dante." She greeted Dante with a hint of tiredness as she returned to scribbling down calculations, solving that week's newspaper puzzles. This particular mare went by the name of Vanilla, and it was quite clear there was someplace that she'd rather have been. She’d been working here for a long time, initially just as a fringe job until she got a proper one, but amidst the lack of jobs and lack of need for able mathematicians, she’d been stuck here for a long time - and she knew Dante very well.
“Gurrrrd evening, Nilly!” Dante replied, hopping onto a stool and resting his back hooves on the counter. “Miss me whilst I was gone?”
“Believe me, if there’s anypony I want to miss, it’s you.” Vanilla replied, keying through a pizza order. The same pizza Dante always ordered.
“Owee, the rose has grown some thorns!” was Dante’s reply to her scathing putdown. She seemed to write new ones every time they met…
“They’ve always been there, just you didn’t pay enough attention to see ‘em. Usual pizza’s coming through.”
“You know what, one of these days I’m gonna order a totally different one, just to tick you off~”
“You don’t wanna see me ticked off.”
“Heh, if this isn’t your ticked off mood I can’t wait to see it~”

Vanilla simply grumbled, turning around to fetch Dante’s 12th pizza this week. To be honest, Dante represented 50% of Vanilla’s business - for that she would normally be thankful, but she’d prefer it if he wasn’t such an smartass...
Dante, meanwhile, simply twiddled his hooves, yawning and leaning back on his stool. “Phew… Is it hot in here or is that just you?”
“Fuck you, Dante.”, Vanilla replied, half-sarcastically.
“Heh, I know I would~”
“Oh, shut it, you smartass~!”
“Hey, if there’s anypony in here with a smart ass, it’s you.” Dante referred to Vanilla’s Cutie Mark, which seemed to be the mathematical symbols for plus, minus, divide and Pi on a keyring.
Vanilla breathed heavily, turning around to face the tan, white-maned pony who was presently dirtying her counter-top with his wet, muddy hooves. “Dante, my shift’s almost over, Can you hold off on the smartassery for just a second?”
“Well, if that’s what you want, you only had to ask instead of firing insults at me.” For once, Dante was not actually trying to be a smartass when saying this. Vanilla, on the other hand, interpreted it as such still.
“Please. I’ve had a long day and I need some sleep.”
“I wasn’t even trying there…”

Vanilla shoved his pizza onto the counter, holding a hoof out for the cash, which Dante was happy to deposit onto the counter top. Hopping down, the cocky Unicorn bowed sarcastically to Vanilla before leaving the shop, pizza in tow, much to Vanilla’s relief. Her life was already stressful enough without Dante winding her up most every day. How that pony managed to demolish so many pizzas in a week and stay in shape was totally beyond her. She herself may have been a nerd, but at least she was a nerd who knew when to stop comfort eating and start going to the gym. Hanging her cap on a hook next to the back door, she grabbed her things and left the shop, locking the door behind her. Having the late shift meant that she often ended up being the only one in the shop until the place closed, and also meant that she was most often completely pooped whenever Dante bounded through her door.

Dante had one thing that she didn’t however, and that was confidence. Every time she walked home from the joint, she was on edge. She hated this place, and in all honesty if she could have found a better job and moved out of here she would have at the drop of a hat. There was always the chance that some gangster could jump out of an alley and demand money - it had happened to her once, and she’d lost all the cash she had on her, all 10 bits of it. She’d since taken to not taking cash with her to work, instead just opting to stay in the shop and use the single free pizza per day she was allowed to serve as her dinner. The fewer trips out she had to make, the better. Even now, she couldn’t shake the feeling that somepony was watching her...