Devil May Cry © Capcom

No Need for Tack

Jason M. Lee

With one last swing, the Fury finally died under DSD as Nero pirouetted to take care of the Riot behind his back via a fully charged shot courtesy of Blue Rose. With a tired sigh, Dante released his sword into red sparks. Basic job on clearing out a leftover nest, late at night. "Man, I'm gettin' old."

Half-truth. Despite his human half, he could already feel his demonic powers recharging him again. It wasn't quite a Green Orb or a Vital Star, but better than having to Trigger.

Nero let out a slight snort of amusement as he made sure that there weren't any more demons in the area. "Yeah, so you say."

Just as Dante ran a hand through his hair to let off a retort, a soft sound in the distance caught his attention. "Huh?"

"'Huh,' what?"

This time, the huffing definitely wasn't coming from him. Walking further through the trees, the older hunter followed the sounds with Nero trailing after him until it became slightly more familiar. Soon, a small meadow peeked through the trunks.

Dark blue and what looked like blue flames flickered in between the gaps.

"Hey... is that..."

Breaking out into the now small glen, two enormous horses that were definitely demonic nosed each other before one bent down to drink from the small spring, while the other one nuzzled the neck. From what little Nero could remember of his equestrian lessons Credo had tried to pound into him, these easily towered over the draft horses he had occasionally seen that would sometimes pull the farmers' wares from the fields or the ores that the miners brought to the blacksmiths - at least twice his or Dante's height if measuring to their withers. Instead of normal coarse hair, their mane was predominantly like a flickering blue fire, their body's "hair" more of a strange mix of leather and scutes, while their reptilian-like tails covered in the same blue flames sent wisps flying as they flicked it about. The hooves were also wreathed in the blue embers, eyes glowing brightly in the slight gloom of the branches.

Ice blue eyes widened. "No way... Holy shit...!"

Nero raised an eyebrow at his uncle, wondering why the two equines had the older hunter's attention. "Dante, what are you looking at exactly?"

"Destroyinator!" A loud whoop, and Dante was soon running up towards the horses, both now noticing him. "Big Boy! Ol' boy, it's me!"

Normally, the younger part-devil wouldn't be that worried about the older man, but after being separated for several months, Nero couldn't quite shake off that unease of being left behind again. Cautiously, he followed after Dante, still keeping his senses out for any possible attacks. (Part of him was trying not to snicker at the apparent name, recognizing it sounded like something his uncle would think up.)

"Holy shit, it is both of you!" Dante was all but Tricking through the grass and forest debris, knowing that he had their full attention as their ears were flicked towards him. "Come here! Destroyinator, it's me! Dante!"

The horse on his right had a certain pattern on its nose that even though it seemed to had warped, it was still familiar, and for a brief moment, the horse jerked his head before tossing his "mane" and prancing on the spot before galloping forward with a loud and distorted neigh. Just as Nero thought it was going to barrel over the older hunter, it stopped and shoved his muzzle into his uncle's chest with a soft whinny. Dante laughed as the enormous nostrils sniffed his hair before nuzzling him, pushing about as if searching for something while accepting the rubbing from calloused fingers. The other horse approached slightly more cautiously, as wary as Nero was stepping closer.

"Hey, uh, Dante?" He had never seen his uncle this exuberant before, except when sparing with Vergil or getting into an "exciting" fight. "What the hell are you doing?"

Dante didn't stop grinning, nor did he stop rubbing the enormous muzzle as the horse was now lightly nickering. "Our father gave us Geryon colts when we were kids. Vergil and I would ride them all over the place, even though it drove Mother up the wall half the time!"

For a moment, his grin turned into a melancholic smile as Destroyinator continued nuzzling his left hand while its herd mate sniffed his right.

"Sparda, dear."

"...yes, milady?"

"Do explain yourself on our sons' newest... pets."

"Ah... they are Timesteeds. A very rare breed of demonic equines. I found these two wandering about by themselves without a herd or their progenitor."

"'Timesteeds,' as in - Dante, don't walk behind them, you're liable to get kicked - capable of manipulating time."

"...yes, milady."

"Where they can - Vergil, keep your palm flat with your fingers straight so you're less likely to get bitten - either slow down or speed up time, if properly trained."

"...yes, milday."

"Please, may we keep them, Mother?"

"Yeah! They're awesome, Mother!"

"...you'll be responsible on teaching the boys all the proper care and upkeep of them. Any resulting damages will be also handled by you, dear."

"...understood, milday."

"You're the best, Mother!"

"Thank you, Mother."

"I haven't seen them since I was about eight years old," he spoke softly, bittersweet memories of happier times drifting in. In spite of her reservations, Eva had been smiling as she watched her sons ride their colts throughout the yard, laughing under the sun as Sparda kept a watchful eye for any unexpected time mishaps.

Nero looked suspiciously at both equines. His experience with demonic creatures had been limited to ugly lizards with sharp edges for scales or practically teleporting about the place with their ridiculous speed, Blitzes, blood-sucking ants, artificial hellhounds, bats that both spat out fire and exploded, Frosts, and ice-casting goats. "Alright... but how do you know these aren't just random demon horses?"

Dante grinned widely again, lifting up his right hand to the other stallion as if to give a scratch. "I'd know Destoryinator anywhere! He's also got this cool pattern on his nose that I haven't seen on any other Geryon, even the one that gave me Quicksilver! And besides..."

The smell of blood filled the air as teeth bit down his entire forearm.

"...Moeru always bites me."

It took Nero a moment to search through what limited foreign vocabulary he had picked up before he finally translated the name, prompting him to slap a palm into his face. "Of course my old man would name his demon time horse 'Burn.'"

Even through the pain, Dante couldn't help but continue grinning. "Wait till Verge finds out!"

A/N: So, uh, inspired by creepyscritches' Tumblr art posts AU of Dante and Vergil getting Geryon colts when they were kids, and a comic of Dante and Nero encountering the same adult Geryon stallions post DMC5.

Tack is obviously horse tack, the equipment used on horses such as stirrups, bridles, saddles, bits, harnesses, and so forth.

The tallest horse in recorded history was a Shire horse named Sampson, later renamed Mammoth, at 86.5 inches (220 cm) from ground to his withers (the ridge between their shoulder blades) from 1846. Geryon in-game in DMC3 looks about to be twice Dante's height, and being generous that Dante was almost 190 cm (74.8 inches) tall in 3, Geryon would've been nearly 380 cm (149.6 inches) tall, if not more so because, hey, demonic horses.