Crossing the Bridge

For those who'd like pictures: (Dante) (Coppa) (Moe ) (Sam)

A small candle flickered as the aged man flipped another page of the reports sitting on his desk. Stroking his beard, he looked down at the four pictures of his personal students smiling as he read over their progress. A small knock at the wooden door brought his attention from the report and he slowly rose from his chair.

“Come in”

“You called for us sir?” a voice came as the student walked in followed by his three classmates. The voice belonged to the young Dante who stood at the front of the small group. His mouth was set in a line as his crimson coloured eyes stared at the man in front of him. The flickering light danced off his pale skin and white hair giving him the appearance of a spirit while the pair of horns that stuck out from his head gave testament to his Diablon heritage. Wrapped around his neck was an old and tattered scarf that matched the colour of his eyes and contrasted with the blue and white colours of his school uniform. Before Feinman could speak, he was interrupted by a voice from coming from behind Dante. This time it was Coppa the dwarf who broke the silence while scratching one of his furred ears.

“Sir, if this is about the accident. I’m sorry. I didn't know that magnite was that reactive to water.”

Feinman chuckled to himself as the dwarf who squirmed as Feinman walked up to him. Coppa’s body still had patches of singed fur after he had caused an explosion by throwing a brick of the enhanced metal into the school swimming pool as a joke. The resulting explosion had tossed the dwarf across the school campus where he ironically crash-landed in the infirmary. The goggles that sat on his head thankfully kept him from being blinded. Feinman had yet to punish him but Coppa’s classmates, it seemed, had already done the honours. The elf next to him only rolled his eyes as he moved a strand of his blond hair from his face.

“Maybe if you would actually think for a change then we wouldn’t be standing here.” He said as Coppa shot him a look of annoyance. Feinman rubbed the bridge of his nose before he tried to defuse the upcoming argument between the two.

“Moe, please let me explain before you jump to conclusion.” Feinman said as he sat back down at his desk. Coppa shoulders relaxed as he let out a sigh of relief while Moe remained still. “I’ve asked for you four because I have received reports of an unknown magical surge in a nearby labyrinth. I feel I can trust my four personal students to go and investigate this anomaly. Dante shall lead this investigation with Sam acting as the second in command. Sam are you up to the task?”

Sam’s ears twitched as his name was called, he silently nodded as his tail swayed back and forth. Feinman only smiled at the grey haired Felpier who crossed his arms. Sam was the quiet one of the group and Feinman had often found him sitting alone in silence during the break between classes. Whether Sam was silent by accident or choice Feinman was unsure, no one had ever heard the boy speak and it seemed he preferred it that way.

“Good, you three go back and prepare for the task, I wish to speak to Dante privately.”

“Yes sir,” Coppa and Moe said in unison while Sam bowed and followed them out the door closing it behind them. Feinman waited a minute before turning to the fidgeting Dante who still stood in the centre of the room.

“You can relax Dante, I only wish to talk.”

“Sorry sir.”

“Please stop calling me sir. I’m no longer a knight.”

“Sorry, it’s a force of habit.”

“Of course Dante. It’s fine,” Feinman said with a wave of his hand. He stared at the report in front of him before taking a breath. “I have seen that you have been avoiding the other students and distancing yourself from friends. Is this about the accident?”

Feinman watched as Dante’s expression grew sombre and his mouth was set into a grim line. “Sir, I’m trying to get a better understanding of why my magic behaves like this and these voices. I don’t want to hurt anybody else.”

“Dante it’s been five months, what happened wasn’t your fault. Not even I could have done anything.”

“Which is why I need to gain control over my powers, I can’t let it happen again. Besides, the other students are afraid of my kind, so why should I care about making friends with them? I have the others already.”

“It’s been years since the Red Queen was defeated Dante. You are nothing like those Diablons, you have the capacity to change others opinions about your kind. Alienating yourself is not going to help anybody get over their fears.”

“I know, but I prefer a smaller crowd. May I go and prepare myself before we have to leave?”

Feinman sighed, knowing there was no point in arguing any further. “All right, but you and I shall continue this when you get back. Also I have a gift for you.”

“A gift?” Dante said confused. Feinman only smiled as he directed the teenager’s attention to the long object wrapped with a piece of cloth leaning on his bookshelf. “Thank you, but what is the occasion?”

“No occasion, I just thought you might like it,” Feinman said as he saw the confused expression on his student. Feinman, in all aspects, was like a surrogate father to Dante. He had taken him in after he had found the boy climbing through the window of a school library at the age of six on one of his journeys. During the initial confrontation, the boy surprised the veteran warrior with a tiny fireball to the face. It had been easy enough to deflect but had still impressed the man enough to take the orphan under his wing. Dante had grown quickly under the tutelage of Feinman, and soon began to show much promise in the fields of magical theory and practice. The boy had even created a number of unique spells that would later come at a darker price.

Feinman shook those thoughts from his head as he brought his gaze back to the shocked face of his student. Beneath the cloth was a staff and a sword. The staff, which Feinman had specifically ordered, had been crafted out of a combination of steel and magnite. It was slightly taller than Dante and was topped with what seemed to be an oversized spearhead. A simplistic piece that that Feinman thought suited the studious Diablon perfectly. He watched as Dante set the staff aside and drew the sword from its sheath. Unlike the staff, the sword was made of almost pure white steel that gleamed in the candlelight. In the centre of the guard sat a small sun with a clear, gleaming crystal. A sweet sound reverberated in the air as Dante twirled the blade that seemed to cut the very air itself. With a soft sound, the blade slid back into its scabbard as Dante admired the golden filigree that lined the handle.

“A wonderful piece, is it not?” Feinman said as he smiled at Dante’s expression. He looked at the sword as a multitude of memories trickled through his mind. Pushing thoughts of the past aside, he rose and slowly walked towards the door. “You’ll have all the time to admire them later; we shouldn’t keep your classmates waiting.”

“Okay,” Dante replied as he strode through the door with the rewrapped gifts in his hand. Feinman watched as his student walked down the hallway with a look of worry as he closed the door and sighed. He looked at the reports for what seemed like the thousandth time,silently praying for his students safety.

*****

“Twilight, are you sure this is gonna work?” Spike asked as he looked past the stack of books at the lavender unicorn who was scanning the pages of a book lying in front of her. A small frown lined her muzzle as she tried to make sense of the ancient words. “For all we know, nobody knows this spell exists!”

“Spike, think about what could be done if I can decipher this spell,” Twilight said as she looked at the small dragon with tired eyes. She looked back down to the black book in front of her. Turning the page, she groaned as she came upon even more ink-spattered pages filled with charts and diagrams. She had spent the entire week going through Starswirl the Bearded’s journal after discovering the beginning of a complicated teleport. Unfortunately, the pages detailing the rest of the spell either had fallen out or were unreadable. She had managed to salvage what little information was left, but most had been written down in ancient equish and needed to be deciphered.

For an entire week, Twilight had forsaken sleep and ate very little as she poured over the ancient pages with her magic. Her stomach groaned in pain as it begged for food but the mare ignored it's pleas. She had received the book in the mail from Celestia and had devoted most her time to learning everything she could from the old tome. What had caught her interest were the last two spells.

She had gone over the note written by Celestia about the final spell several times but had been sidetracked by a few pages that had fallen out of the book. They depicted some sort of teleportation spell that could be used on other items or ponies besides the caster. She had been testing out the spell for the past week, weaving every ounce of energy trying to replicate what little she knew. She had come close, but her magic would give out before she could complete it.

She stamped her hoof on the ground and let loose a small bit of magic from her horn in frustration, causing the book to flip over to another diagram. Twilight gasped as she recognised the Elements of Harmony surrounding what appeared to be a large circle, crossed with various lines each leading to smaller circle in which one of the elements sat.  Her frown melted away into a large smile as she turned to her assistant who had just gone into the kitchen after stacking the remaining books.

“Spike can you go get the elements while I go get the others?”

“Why?”

“I’ll explain everything when I get back,” Twilight said as she galloped past the stacks of books sending them flying all over the floor.

“Oh come on!” Spike shouted as he returned to the entrance to find his work undone. Grumbling he started picking up the scattered literature as he cast a small glance to the book that held the magical items.

*****

Dante scanned the dark passageway as he raised his new staff above his head. Muttering an incantation, a small orb of light shone from the head of his staff illuminating the dark passageway. They had been following the wispy trails of the magenta magic for the past hour. They had to stop a few times when the trail went dead only to reappear a few moments later. They had encountered relatively few monsters on the way down, only the occasional thunder bat or nasal digger actually dared to try to attack them. Feeling a light tap on his shoulder Dante turned to see Moe who turned away, blinded by the light.

“Dante can you please turn that down just a bit?” Moe said as he shielded his eyes. He lowered his hand as Dante slowed the amount of magic flowing into the staff causing the light to die down a bit.

“Sorry, I’m not exactly used to this staff yet.”

“You’ve totally got to let me take a look at that sword when we get back,” Coppa said excitedly as he looked at the weapon hanging from Dante’s side. If there was one thing Dante knew, it was never let the dwarf near anything that looked remotely expensive or contained a large amount of precious metal. “I can’t believe Feinman gave you his sword!”

Dante looked at his classmates in the dim light as he turned to face them. Sam was positioned at the rear with his katana in hand. The blade suited the silent Felpier who scanned the passage with his dark eyes while his tail flicked whenever he caught an unfamiliar noise. The slender curved blade glinted in the light as Sam readjusted his grip on the black handle.

In front of Sam was Coppa, who had rested his giant axe over his shoulder to relieve some of the weight of the weapon from his tired muscles. His massive hand dwarfed the long handle as he walked slowly, avoiding the snaking trails of the strange magic.

Finally, Dante’s gaze rested on Moe who was busy testing the strength of his bowstring. Moe had constructed the small bow in their alchemy class the year before after a series of failed attempts that nearly destroyed the schools wood supply. It was painted in a mix of rich green and earth colours matching the elf’s emerald eyes. Moe had been using it since then, perfecting his skills until he could accurately hit a target at almost five hundred paces.

Somehow, the presence of his classmates assuaged some of the tension that Dante had felt when they had first picked up the trail. Something didn’t feel right to him, he couldn’t place his finger on it, but this magic seemed distinctly alien.

A sudden movement in the corner of his eye caused Dante to spin around and cut all magic that  was flowing to his staff, casting the passageway into darkness. The trails of magic seemed to grow brighter, casting a dim glow as they expanded in size. They followed the trail until the magic seemed to end at a dead end. Coppa stepped forward, pressed one of his ears to the wall, and gave a small knock with one of his furred digits. A hollow sound echoed in the wall and Coppa stepped back and nodded.

“It’s a false wall.” He said turning to his friends. Moe rolled his eyes while Dante examined the surrounding walls for a switch or stone out of place. Sam sat back as he scanned the passage behind them.

“I would never have guessed,” Moe deadpanned. The elf stepped forward and took out a torch striking it against the wall. The torch flickered at first before the end burst into flames. “I don’t suppose there’s a switch around here.”

“It’ll be nearby.” Dante said as Coppa stood there with his arms crossed.

“Guys I can handle this.” Coppa said, only for the two to ignore him as they searched. Grumbling, he turned to the wall and knocked on it again before pulling a pair of metal boots from his bag.

“I can’t find anything.” Moe said as he examined the crevices in the ancient walls. “Dante, have you found anything?”

“No, whoever built this hid the switch really well,” Dante replied before giving a small sigh as he stood up. “This is going to take some-“

A sudden crash and the sound of smashing rock broke the calm and silent atmosphere, cutting Dante off. All three classmates turned around with weapons drawn to see Coppa standing in the ruins of the wall dusting off his iron boots. He flashed them a grin as he pulled them off and deposited them back in his bag.

“Told you I had it covered,” he said as he jumped over the pile of rubble. “C’mon, times a wastin.”

“Doesn’t he ever think before he does something stupid?” Dante said as he stepped over the rocks. Moe shrugged as he climbed over a boulder followed by Sam.

“He wouldn’t be Coppa if he did,” Moe said with a small laugh. Dante smiled while Sam remained silent. They followed the trail until they found Coppa crouching by a small opening. Peering through it, the four of them gasped as they saw where the trailing magic ended.

The trails wound into a giant cavern held up by massive spears of stone. Each of the walls were honeycombed with massive caves, all facing towards the centre of the cavern where a massive stone pedestal had been erected. The trails of magic were concentrated in the centre of the monument and were surrounded by four figures who were busy chanting as the magic swirled in front of them. With a slow movement, one of the figures produced an orb and two small stones, then placed them underneath the swirling trails of magenta. The magic trails immediately clung to the orb as if it were a magnet before funnelling into the stones. The vortex shrank in size until it reappeared inside the floating orb still funnelling the magic into the strange items.

“Do you think we should maybe stop them?” Coppa said as he moved forward but was held back by Sam who pointed at one of the caverns where a hunched figure was busy eating a mess of mashed flesh. “Or maybe not. What should we do?”

“We go back to the academy and alert the security forces,” Dante replied as he peered over the edge. The spell that the four figures were using seemed to be drawing on an outside source of magic. Whatever they were doing, it would require a massive amount of time and effort. Just enough time for the everyone to alert Feinman and the security teams that were housed back in Particus. Sam and Moe both nodded and moved back towards the passage entrance. Dante gave Coppa a little nudge to start following, but the Dwarf pointed back towards the figures. Dante looked to where the furred finger was pointing to see two bodies tied to one of the pillars guarded by two horned demons.

“We’ve got to help them,” Coppa said as he moved to jump down to the floor below. Dante grabbed the dwarf by the collar and spun him around. Coppa gave Dante an annoyed look. “You can’t tell me that you’re just going to let them be sacrifices for some demonic ritual.”

“We don’t know if this is what it is.”

“Don’t be an idiot! Look at them. Black robes, strange magic, weird curvy knife thing.” Dante peered past the angry dwarf to see that one of the figures had indeed pulled a strange knife and was moving slowly to the struggling captives. “This entire setup practically screams weird demonic magic.”

Dante looked back and saw Sam and Moe waiting for his plan. He looked back to the scene below them and sighed. If they turned back now, the two prisoners would surely die and it would possibly bolster the speed at which the spell was being conjured. If they intervened, there was the likely possibility that they would be slaughtered by whatever creatures the four hooded figures had summoned to guard them. Dante rubbed the bridge of his nose as he stood up and looked at each of his friends. Surely their combined skills would be more than enough?

“Fine, we go down and grab the two and then get out of there.”

“And the four others?” Moe asked as he stepped forward.

“Don’t attack them if you don’t have to. We don’t know what they’re capable of.”

“Okay,” Coppa and Moe said in unison while Sam nodded his head. Dante nodded back to them and took a step off the ledge, dropping down to the floor below, quickly followed by everyone else.

*****

“Twilight, I know you needed us, but this is cutting into my napping time!” Rainbow Dash complained as she fidgeted inside the circle drawn around her.

“It will only take a moment Rainbow!” Twilight said from her own circle. She looked towards each of her friends as they patiently waited. The circle had grown to cover almost the entire floor of the library. Each of the mares sat in their respective circles with the familiar gold necklaces of the Elements of Harmony sitting around their necks. Twilight closed her eyes and felt the crown on her head start to vibrate, her magic coursing through it. She could feel wave after wave of magic pulsate towards the five other elements and to the circle. A gasp came from each of the mares as Twilight attached strings of magic between each of the circles.

“Oh, lookie lookie!” Pinkie’s voice exclaimed as she bounced inside the circle. “They’re all glowy now!”

Twilight opened one of her eyes to see that the lines of the of the outer circles had begun to glow. The connecting lines also began to slowly turn blue and emit a faint glow as they neared the centre of the massive chalk circle. The six covered their eyes as the light grew more intense until there was a sudden flash before the room was illuminated by a soft glow.

An orb floated in the centre of the room, glowing as it drew energy from the six elements. Every few moments it would switch colours to mirror one of the six. From the top of the orb, a large tendril of energy seemed to float off into the sky before it straightened as if something were pulling on it. Twilight gazed into the arcane energy swirling before her as more tendrils began to appear each attaching to the elements. She felt another tug as more energy was siphoned from her body towards the orb. Gravity seemed to root each of the mares to the floor as they struggled to remain upright. Fluttershy was on the ground shaking as a pink tendril moved from her necklace and began to draw energy from her body. Pinkie’s hair had lost its poof and drooped as her legs shook. Applejack and Rarity panted as the tendrils sapped their energy causing them to collapse on the floor.

“Is this supposed to be happening?” Rainbow dash yelled as a wind began to whip in the library, sending pages and books flying. The screams of Fluttershy echoed as the magic raged and spun out of control.

“I don’t know!” Twilight gasped as she fell to the ground. She tried to cut off the flow of magic, but an invisible force seemed to keep her from stopping the spell as it ravaged her friends. “I can’t stop it! Someone help!”

******

Dante’s ears picked up a cry as he cut down another demon. He avoided the spray of its blackened blood as he cast a bolt of electricity that dropped another one as it tried to stab Moe with a rusty sword. He scanned the area for Sam and Coppa as a demon fell in front of him with two arrows sprouting from its chest.

He found Sam fending off a group of the humanoid demons who lunged at him with broken spears and old swords. With a flick of his katana, Sam decapitated the first as he dodged the clumsy spear thrust.  A few more stumbled forward with their weapons raised but were quickly dispatched by Sam’s fluid movements. Few could match Sam when it came to his speed and dexterity. The felpier had spent years training and the growing pile of bodies that surrounded him reflected the mastery of his physical condition.

A roar broke Dante’s attention and he turned to see a group of the weak demons soar through the air. Coppa stood amidst a sea of black as he swung his giant axe viciously. It passed through the skinny demons as it completed its arc, throwing severed body parts in all directions. Coppa panted as he eyed the rest of the group that was cautiously approaching him. They stopped as he emitted a harsh growl and dashed at them with his axe raised. Unlike Sam, Coppa was naturally gifted when it came to strength but would often lose himself in the heat of battle. He was never as fast as Sam or Moe, but made up for it in brute strength. His usually calm and joking demeanor was replaced with something more animalistic as his axe smashed into another unfortunate enemy.

“Dante, watch out!” Moe shouted as he drew his bowstring back. Dante barely had any time to duck as the arrow sailed through the air before coming to rest in a nearby demon’s head. Dante took a breath as he looked towards Moe who drew his long knives and cut down another dreg. Every movement seemed expertly coordinated and deadly as the massive amount of low class demons were whittled down by each swipe of his blade or shot from his bow. Dante felt relieved to have such powerful companions as he drew on his own magical reserves and unleashed a wall of flame, incinerating the last of the summoned demons.

“It matters not if you destroy our servant’s child!” The deep voice of the lead figure resounded as he stepped down from the pedestal. “However, you and your companions have impressed me, and for that I offer you a chance to leave this place alive.”

“With those weaklings your friend threw at us, I don’t think we’ll need the offer,” Coppa said as he pointed to the second figure standing at the stairs.

“How dare you insult my children!” The figure shouted as the hood fell away to reveal the head of a white haired elf. “Dagon, I wish to put an end to that unappreciative dwarf!”

“Fine Ravenn, just be quick about it!” Dagon said as he removed his own hood to reveal an aged Diablon with lank purple hair that fell across his face. Dante backed up as a sudden chill crept up his spine as Dagon waved his hand. A sudden blast of magic sent the four flying in different directions as a large magic circle opened up in the middle of the cavern. A large bulbous hand grasped at the sides of the circle as the monster within pulled itself out. Coppa swore as he saw the monster rise to its full height.

“A Bullywug! This is just perfect!”

Dante readied a bolt of electricity as the Bullywug croaked and raised one of the cleavers in its bulbous hands. The monster was at least thirteen feet tall and covered in pitted green skin that oozed a slimy substance, poisoning the ground below it. Its small, beady eyes darted around as it stared at the four students. Its large tongue shot out of its mouth and sped towards Moe who darted out of the way as the tongue wrapped around the pillar behind him. The Bullywug croaked as it constricted its tongue and crushed the massive stone pillar.

Dante felt an invisible hand grab him and found himself flying through the air towards the pedestal. He stopped just before he hit the ground and felt the invisible force release him as he dropped to the ground. His attempt to stand was halted as Dagon pressed a foot onto his back. Dante struggled as Dagon pinned him to the ground. He felt a hand grab his neck and felt himself lifted as he was turned to face Dagon.

“Interesting, you have a peculiar magical force in you,” Dagon said as he looked at the struggling student choking in his hand. Dante’s vision began to darken as his lungs screamed for air that was blocked by Dagon’s iron grip. “Yet you suppress your true power. Why is that? Is it because of your friends?”

Dante was turned around as he was forced to look at the scene below. His classmates were busy frantically avoiding the gargantuan monster’s clumsy strikes. The Bullywug’s loose skin was covered with a multitude of small cuts that oozed black blood. Coppa barely avoided a blow as he rolled out of the path of the monster’s blade. Moe was busy unleashing a flurry of arrows that bounced of the monster’s back while Sam attempted to hamstring one of the pudgy legs. “Or is it because you fear your true nature as a Diablon? Why do you refuse to let your inner desires take over?”

Dante found the ground rush to meet him as the iron grip left his neck. He gasped for air as he picked his sword up and swung it behind him. Dagon easily avoided the blow and twisted Dante’s arm behind him. He cried out in pain as one of Dagon’s fingers, coated in a deep purple miasma, made contact with his head. Dante’s legs weakened as he felt every fibre of his being revealed to his opponent. His greatest triumphs, fears, and regrets were all laid bare as Dagon accessed the deepest recesses of his mind. Dagon smiled as he attempted to breach the final barrier separating him from Dante’s darkest memory.

“NO!” Dante shouted as his last mental barrier broke and he felt a strange power surge from within his core. The connection was interrupted as a black aura seemed to explode from nowhere, sending Dagon flying back. The two other figures that had been standing idly were thrown back as black tendrils slammed into them. Dante felt his consciousness fade as the tendrils snaked across the orb, crushing it as they tried to access the built up energy. A large flash blinded him as he felt his limp body being pulled towards the vortex of energy escaping from the broken orb as a searing pain came from his chest. He heard shouts of anger and fear, closely followed by the cries of his companions as he finally lost consciousness and watched his life flashed before his eyes.

“Sleep child, soon all will be right again,” a voice cackled as the darkness washed over him.