Of Humans & Demons

13 June 1019, Equestria

The time had come for Demonkind to finally reveal themselves to the world of Terra, in hopes that its people would be amazed to learn that Demons, dark, ethereal beings hailing from another dimension, had come to live peacefully among them, to offer their knowledge, their ways of science, technology, and culture. In doing so, they believed that the humans would embrace this new, otherworldly race and form one of the most vital unions the Universe had ever known.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of Humanity thought the complete opposite.

Their revelation, which they had waited for so long to do, was met with nothing short of fear, rage and panic. The humans were instead convinced that the Demons were a coming force of evil and that they were fools for trusting them in the first place. Brandishing their weapons, they quickly began driving the Demons, even those who desired only peace between the 2 races, straight from their cities to the villages where they lived. Thus, The Great Demon Purge had begun.

Human soldiers tried their hardest to slaughter as many Demons as possible. Yet, the Demons’ souls remained intact, flying back to the Blood Pits in the Underworld to respawn in new bodies so they could continue to live.

When the humans tried to capture their souls after cutting their bodies down, they would simply blast their way out of the unenchanted vessels built to contain them. With Humanity’s growing desperation to purge the Demons from their realm, their methods only worsened as The Purge progressed.

They began capturing Demons alive, torturing them for information on how their souls functioned, before cutting their souls from their bodies and placing them in magically shielded capsules they developed from the new information they forced from their captives. They pried as many details as they could from their victims, and none went unaccounted for.

When storing Demon souls soon became a hassle with the limited space they had, the humans tried to devise a way to destroy them permanently. Their answer: “Demon Slayers”, which were shortswords that were incredibly complex and expensive to make, but they believed the effort involved was worth the cause. The warriors chosen to wield the 5000 Slayers they managed to make were christened “Demon Hunters”, who would serve at the frontlines to drive the Demons off the face of Terra once and for all.

Men, women, children, and anyone who shaped like a Demon perished at the hands of those barbaric Hunters, who cheered as they brutally cut them down. One thing was evident in the Hunters’ mission to end The Purge: No prisoners, no trophies.

Lovers, spouses, parents and children of the Demons who died in The Purge cried out in grief and rage as they fled the Hunters. Others madly charged at those who slew their family and friends, deciding that they’d rather die with their loved ones than face an eternal life without them, in either a suicidal act of revenge against the Hunters or holding the lines just to buy a few more minutes for the remaining Demons to escape to safety.

With their lives now at stake, the surviving Demons from several small settlements across Terra took refuge in the still-standing Demon villages in Equestria. Every last household then went on high alert for invading Human forces, reporting back anything suspicious they may have seen during their time outside.

Shortly after, the Demons agreed that they would need to travel in pairs, with at least one adult accompanying the children at all times outside their homes, and not go out after nightfall unless necessary.

One fateful night, the Demon scouts returned to warn the Demon populace that the Hunters were coming for their last remaining villages, fully prepared to chase them off the face of their precious nation for good. With nowhere left to hide, they had to choose between 2 options: Flee to either remote, uncharted lands where humans have little to no chance of finding them or back to The Underworld, far beyond their dimensional reach.

4 June 1021, 2015hrs, Drake Household, Demon Village, Western Equestria

Spike Drake hurriedly gathered whatever valuables he could carry and stuffed them into his bag. A pair of purple wings folded flat against his back, and his tail swished erratically behind him as he rushed back and forth in his room. The boy had rummaged through every last drawer as fast as his scaly purple hands could move. He took clothes, stationery, money, and anything he might need to survive after he and his family escaped the Demon Hunters.

He was, after all, a young Half-Dragon, Half-Incubus Demon who had lived for a few years undercover alongside his family and fellow Demons across the planet Terra, mostly in Equestria, its largest country. As far as he knew, none of them had done anything malicious enough to earn the ire of humans from the neighbouring civilisations. If anything, they genuinely enjoyed interacting with humans. They shared stories, laughed, feasted, drank, explored, played games together, and were even on the verge of falling in love.

So where did it all go so wrong?

Spike had grown increasingly paranoid over the past few months as The Purged continued to claim more lives every day. Over the few times he left the house during such madness, he had been terrified that a Hunter could jump him at any moment, even with the company of at least one of his parents. He would peek around corners and keep his back glued to the wall while darting his eyes back and forth so that he didn’t leave his blind spots open for too long. It was taxing, yes, but at least it was safe.

The recent news from the scouts of the invasion continued to ring in Spike’s head as he finished packing. He had to prop himself against his bed with his arm to stop himself from collapsing from shock and grief as his head spun from how the reputation of his people had gone south in just under 2 years.

While Demonkind did have several monstrous individuals, was that fact alone enough to warrant prejudice from them? Were they monsters for wielding Dark Magic? Were they monsters simply for looking the part? The young Demon was so busy struggling to fathom the reason for Humanity’s sudden turn against them that he failed to notice that someone had entered his room.

“Spike?”

Spike jumped and yelped as he spun around towards the one who called his name. Panting heavily from being startled, he looked up to see that the one who had just walked in on him was his father, Spurn Drake.

At 195cm, he was a lean, muscular Dragon Demon who towered high over his son, with spiky, dark purple hair that swept back over his head and a pair of long, wavy horns that ended in a point. His large, scaly wings were a slightly lighter shade of purple than his hair, with reddish-orange membranes lining them.

His forearms and hands were covered with the same purple scales as his wing digits, while his fingers ended in sharp claws that could gash flesh if desired. Though covered by a simple pair of long pants and shoes, his legs and feet were scaly and clawed, just like his arms.

To complete his draconic appearance, Spurn had a long, muscular tail that trailed out over the back of his pants, with purple scales and reddish-orange spines that ran over the top along its length before ending in a matching spaded tip, which resembled a flame.

Spurn raised his hands apologetically as he looked down into his son’s emerald green eyes with his reddish-orange pair. “Whoa, easy there, son! I’m not a Hunter!” he assured. “I just wanted to check if you were ready to go. Everyone else is waiting. I tried calling you from downstairs, but you didn’t answer.”

Spike looked down at the floor, slightly ashamed that he got distracted. “S-Sorry, Dad,” he replied. “I was just...thinking, that’s all.”

Given their current situation, Spurn knew what Spike was talking about. He knelt and pulled his 9-year-old son into a hug, assuring him that even in these dark times, he would be there for him. After breaking the hug, Spurn looked at Spike again with a small smile. “Don’t worry, kid. We can talk about it downstairs,” he said, ruffling his emerald green hair.

Spike nodded as he returned to his bag and slung it behind him. Afterwards, he gave his old bedroom one last sad look before stepping out for good.

Both father and son quickly made their way downstairs, where Spike’s mother and stepmother were waiting with their valuables packed in their bags.

His mother, Barbara Drake, was 10cm shorter than Spurn. As a Half-Dragon, Half-Succubus, she was a stunning beauty to behold. Like her son, she had emerald-green eyes to complement her oval face. Her flowing, waist-length, dark forest green hair appeared to glimmer in the light. 2 horns on each side of her head bowed diagonally upwards and back over her finned ears.

Her wings, which had dark green scales, were folded against her back, complete with bright green membranes between the digits. Her legs and tail were covered in matching scales, though her hands appeared utterly human. Her slender fingers ended in nails that could extend for attacking. Attached to the end of her tail was a flame-shaped spade tip like her husband.

The tan-coloured tunic she was wearing wrapped snugly around her enormous, round 170cm breasts and hourglass waist. Barbara’s dark brown skirt, which had a hole in the back for her tail to protrude, fanned out around her sensually wide hips and reached the top of her ankles. She wore brown shoes to match her skirt.

To her right stood Spike’s stepmother and Spurn’s 2nd wife, Pyra Drake, a Plasma Dragon. As tall as Barbara, she had yellowish-orange eyes, round 170cm breasts, and an equally sexy figure like her fellow wife, albeit with slightly more muscle. Her dark azure hair was much shorter, reaching the middle of her neck, and curled with yellowish-orange highlights.

Pyra’s 2 horns were shaped like long, swept-back lightning bolts and sat just above her ears. In addition, her wings, arms, legs and tail all had dark azure scales to match her hair. The membranes on her wings and the spines on her tail were both bright orange, with her tail ending in a lightning-shaped spade.

She wore the same outfit as Barbara, except her tunic was light blue, and her skirt and shoes were a darker shade of blue.

They immediately became concerned for their son when they saw Spike’s forlorn expression. “Spike, are you alright?” Barbara asked.

Spike looked up at his mother, tears welling up in his eyes. “I-I’m fine. It’s j-just...why?” he asked. “Why are the humans attacking us like this? Why are we monsters now? We haven’t done anything to deserve their wrath!”

Barbara ran over to embrace her son as he wept over the unrelenting violence that the Demon Hunters had so wrongly wrought upon them. Pyra joined in a second later to help comfort their son. None of them knew why Humanity so readily turned on them at the sight of their actual forms. To their best understanding, it was customary for anyone to fear the unnatural, but more importantly, they must learn to understand it, embrace it, control it, and even use it to benefit their people.

However, much of Humanity chose not to take such steps. In this age, it was a terrifying time to be anything but human. Paranoia, superstition, xenophobia, and prejudice ruled the mentality of Humanity as they knew it, all while Demonkind suffered for it.

“We don’t know, sweetie,” Barbara replied as she held Spike closer, her sweet, motherly voice calming him down. “But I can say that even now, humans don’t fully understand us. Dark Magic is in our blood, and we are capable of both great and terrible things when we wield it. If handled properly, we could do so much to help us all move forward towards a bright future.” Her face fell as she spoke further. “I just wish they had given us a chance.”

“She’s right,” Pyra added as she looked down lovingly at her stepson. “As much as I hate that it happened, they chose fear over reason and have stuck with it ever since.” she snarled silently at the last part. As a pure-blooded Dragon, she had a fiery temper that even the Demons who knew her feared. In addition, she had grown a burning hatred against the Hunters who mercilessly slaughtered her fellow Demons.

She couldn’t express how badly she wanted to cut them into bloody ribbons to avenge those who died by their hand, but at the same time, she knew that Demon spells, at least at their current level, were ineffective against their weapons and armour. Ultimately, she reluctantly agreed they had a better chance of escaping the Hunters.

Pyra turned to the growing commotion outside to see their neighbours rapidly exiting their houses. “We’re running out of time,” she told her family. “Come, we need to meet up with the Dazzles.”

Exchanging nods, the Drakes picked up their bags and ran out the door towards the courtyard.

2020hrs, Demon Village Courtyard

The streets surrounding the courtyard were dimly lit by oil lamps lining the sides of the walkways, the light from the flames flickering gently as the lamps swayed in the breeze. The last houses surrounding the courtyard emptied as the residents began escaping from the coming forces.

In the centre of the courtyard stood the Dazzles, a family of 5, waiting for the Drakes to arrive.

Casanova Dazzle, the family's patriarch, stood at 190cm, slightly shorter than his long-time friend Spurn. His short, unkempt dark purple hair had turquoise green highlights across his head and above his medium purple eyes.

On the sides of his head stood a pair of horns that pointed diagonally forward and up. Behind him were a pair of leathery wings and a tail with a heart-shaped spade tip to match the purple in his hair. His fingers ended in short nails, which could grow into talons as long as his forearms did when needed. His figure was lean like Spurn’s but more slender.

To his left side was his beautiful wife, the Siren, Allegro Dazzle. Her long, wavy, 2-toned hair, which changed between light blue and orange and had yellow and dark blue stripes running the entire length, cascaded around her bright strawberry eyes and finned ears down over her shapely rear. She wore an ocean blue dress that hugged her 174cm breasts and child-bearing hips before ending above her ankles. She stood as tall as Barbara and Pyra as she leaned against her husband’s shoulder as they waited for the Drakes’ arrival.

In front of the couple were their three daughters, Adagio, Aria Blaze and Sonata Dusk Dazzle.

Adagio Dazzle, aged 11, was the eldest of the sisters. She had her mother’s eyes and curly, waist-length orange hair with yellow highlights, which she wore in a low ponytail behind her. She wore a violet silk dress over herself to contrast her hair.

Aria Blaze Dazzle, aged 10, was the middle sister and the spitting image of her father. Her hair was dark purple with turquoise green highlights like Casanova's, albeit more like stripes that ran the length of her hair, which ended behind her upper back. She wore the same turquoise-green silk dress as her sisters.

Finally, rounding out the sisters’ trio was Sonata Dusk Dazzle, aged 9, the youngest sister in the family. Like Adagio, she also shared her mother’s eyes and waist-length light blue hair, which had the same dark blue highlights and ended in 2 braids that hung down her sides. Her dress was magenta in colour.

While Adagio paced rapidly on the spot as the wait continued, Sonata clung to her mother’s side, her eyes wandering frantically to catch any sign of the Drakes. The Hunters were bound to arrive soon, but the family ran out of time. If the Drakes arrived late, the attack would commence before they could escape, or the Dazzles would have to flee without them. Casanova didn’t know which was worse.

“Mom?” Sonata asked as she looked up at her mother. “Where are Aunt and Uncle Drake? They’re coming to meet us before we leave, right? Will Spike be with them?” She was clearly growing more concerned for the Drakes with each second that passed, most of all her friend, Spike. She and her sisters had always looked forward to playing with Spike whenever his parents were out working or when they invited the Drake family to dinner.

They all had a pleasing high time chasing each other around the house during a game of Tag (As long as they promised not to break or burn anything in the process) or when they were trying to search for him when it was his turn to hide during Hide-and-Seek. Aria hated to admit it, but he became exceptionally good at that game. He would constantly change hiding places when the sisters weren’t looking in his direction or when he was seeking, sniffing out their hiding spots thanks to his keen sense of smell.

Allegro smiled reassuringly at her youngest daughter. “Of course, we’re meeting them, sweetie. And yes, Spike is coming as well.”

Just after she finished, Casanova’s ears twitched at the sound of footsteps coming their way. He turned and smiled in relief at the sight of the Drakes running to the meeting point. “Spurn! You sure took your time to arrive!” he said as they shared a brotherly embrace.

“Sorry about that,” Spurn replied. “My son had a brief breakdown over our situation. We had to take a moment to console him.”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Spike said as he wiped the last tears away. “I’ll get over it, eventually.”

“We’ll discuss that later,” said Casanova. “Right now, if everyone’s ready, we’ll make for the canyon. We can shake the Hunters off there.”

Just as the 2 families nodded, a Demon from further down the street yelled, “LOOK OUT! THEY’RE COMING!” as he pointed to the east end of the village.

Once they turned their heads, the next thing they saw made their blood run cold. A massive sea of blazing torches swept like a tsunami over the crest in the distance. Within it, hundreds of Hunters ran alongside the torchbearers, backed by archers and catapults, as they charged, brandishing their treasured “Demon Slayers” while sounding their battle cries for the death of the Demons.

“Go, go, GO!!!” yelled Casanova, and both families promptly began to run. Seconds later, the humans launched their first volley. The archers and catapults fired flaming projectiles, raining them down in a deadly hailstorm on the village and destroying the houses before the remnants went ablaze. Screams of terror from the evacuating Demons rang throughout the village as they scrambled westwards to safety. The catapults’ volley crushed several Demons, their souls fortunately escaping and speeding back to the nearest gate to The Underworld.

As the group approached the West border of the village, Spurn looked back briefly to see a massive fireball coming down on top of them. Before he could raise his arm to shield them, another Dragon Demon flew in from the side and punched it off-course. The flaming sphere crashed into the ground about 15m away from both families.

“Thanks!” he spoke to the Demon who saved them.

“Don’t mention it, now go! We’ll slow them down as much as we can!” the Dragon yelled back before he joined a few more Demons to fight off the Hunters.

The Drakes and Dazzles quickly crossed the village’s western border, not wanting to waste any more time. For the next several minutes, the few Demons who stayed to defend against the Hunters fought back as hard as they could but were soon overwhelmed by the Hunters’ protection against their Dark Magic, their sheer numbers, and their crazed determination as their souls were unceremoniously shattered to oblivion by their Demon Slayers.

2030hrs, Near Canyon Entrance

“Why can’t we just fly to a safer place?” asked Spike as they ran. “We can outrun the humans faster that way!”

“We can’t, Spike!” Spurn answered firmly. “For 2 reasons: First, 4 of us can’t fly,” he nodded towards Allegro, Adagio, Aria and Sonata. “And second, they have arrows and catapults! Even if we could carry the others, we’d be easy targets in the air! Yes, flying would be faster, but we’ll have nothing to cover us, and they have the means to take us down from the ground!”

Spike immediately kicked himself for not thinking they could have been shot down by the humans since there was no cover in the air. His father was right; they needed better cover against projectiles so the Hunters couldn’t swarm them all at once, especially with the bulky enchanted armour they wore for protection against Demon magic.

“Look! Up ahead!” Pyra called out, pointing toward a massive rocky cliff, in the centre of which was a crevice that parted the 2 adjacent rock faces. “We can shake the humans off further in that canyon!”

Without hesitation, they entered the canyon and began weaving their way through the narrow path. The parallel walls of solid rock loomed over them as they ventured deeper. At some points, the path twisted and turned, sometimes narrowing so far that the families had to run in single file through those tight sections while both pairs of parents made sure to keep their children between them throughout.

2039hrs, Canyon Fork

Minutes later, the space between the walls began to open up further as the families reached a fork in the canyon. The left path descended deeper into the ground, while the right appeared to ascend higher.

If the Drakes and Dazzles were being honest, this was uncharted land, yet it never occurred to anyone to explore this part of Equestria’s landscape, mainly because they did not have any reason to. One could guess there was too much to do in Equestria’s cities before The Purge to explore the continent’s western edge.

“If there’s any chance of finding an exit from this canyon, I’d say going right is our best bet,” Casanova remarked. “Once we lose the humans and get out, we’ll find a safe area to camp where they are unlikely to look for us.”

“Even so,” Spurn countered. “We don’t know how far ahead we are. For all we know, more human forces could be looking for us from other directions- GET DOWN!!!” he shouted in the last part. The rest of the group did as told while he raised his hands just in time to conjure a magic shield to block an incoming volley of arrows. When they looked up to whence the volley came from, they saw five archers standing over them from the top of the canyon walls. One of them turned around to call his fellow soldiers.

“LADS, WE’VE FOUND MORE DEMONS! 9 OF THEM, DOWN IN THE CANYON!”

It was just as Spurn feared. They may have been ahead of the Hunters who invaded their village, but more Human forces had found them. They were most likely units who had come from invading the neighbouring Demon villages and were now searching for stragglers.

The families then heard roars of delight from the nearby Hunters, who quickly began closing in on their position. Just as the archers turned back to fire another volley, Pyra raised her hands in their direction, her face riddled with fury, and fired massive arcs of lightning from her fingers, brutally electrocuting the archers and shattering their bows in the process. Once the intense crackling had ceased, their charred corpses reeled over and fell to the canyon floor.

A few seconds later, several ropes were thrown down the walls, and the Hunters quickly began rappeling their way into the canyon. “Children, get behind us!” Barbara ordered. As the children scrambled into position, all four parents took defensive stances as the wave of Hunters bore down on them.

“PURGE THE DEMONS!” the first Hunter cried as he leapt into the air. His Slayer was held high over his head, determined to cleave Spurn in twain.

Unfazed, Spurn channelled his magic into his right fist and punched the Hunter square in the chest once he was close enough. If not for his armour enchantments, the Hunter would have died instantly, but it couldn’t absorb the resulting force as the impact sent him flying several metres back and slamming him into a rock, cracking it and knocking him out.

2 more hunters jumped Casanova at once. He blocked a strike from one of them, swiftly twisting his sword out of his grip as he kicked the second one who came from his side in the gut. In 2 swift motions, he sliced both of their heads clean off, blood spraying from the stumps of their necks as their now headless bodies collapsed. Picking up the other Demon Slayer, he tossed it to Spurn, who then proceeded to dodge another hunter’s attacks before slicing his throat as soon as he left himself open and flinging his corpse away.

Allegro used a sonic scream to stun another group of Hunters, who fell to their knees, hands clasped over their ears as they tried to block the noise. Immediately after, she, Barbara and Pyra charged in to finish them off. Allegro grabbed one by the head and twisted it hard, snapping his neck with a loud “Crack!” before picking up his sword and stabbing another square in the throat.

Barbara knocked 3 Hunters together against the rock face and pinned them against it with a concentrated column of fire. The Hunters screamed as they were cooked to death inside their armour within seconds. When their screams stopped, Barbara released them, letting their bodies slump to the ground, white smoke rising from the gaps in their armour plating. She turned around and extended her talons before brutally slashing the throats of 8 more Hunters who lunged at her in quick succession. They all collapsed in a heap as fresh blood sprayed from their wounds.

Pyra blocked an incoming strike from the Hunter in front of her, holding his wrist firmly in place as she delivered a heavy punch to his elbow, breaking his arm at the joint. As he screamed in agony, Pyra then kneed him as hard as she could in the balls through his crotch plate, his scream reducing to a wheeze as she did so. She then grabbed him by the waist with her tail, spinning around and flinging him at breakneck speed into the approaching Hunters, bowling several of them over.

Despite their efforts to hold them off, more Hunters kept taking the place of every individual they subdued. As more and more descended into the canyon and charged the families, they were soon forced back against the wall separating the fork, erecting a shield to block their attempts to hack through it. As Allegro strained to hold up her end of the shield, she glanced up at the surrounding rock faces. Seeing no other way out, she took a deep breath and unleashed another sonic scream, more potent than the last.

The Hunters, swarming them, immediately covered their ears to block out the din Allegro produced. Even the Dazzles and Drakes had to cover theirs as well. As Allegro’s scream rang through the canyon, the walls surrounding the fork cracked until they began to collapse above the families and the Hunters when she finally stopped.

“EVERYONE OUT OF THE WAY!!!” Allegro yelled as she grabbed Sonata and Adagio, while Casanova grabbed Aria, and both of the Dazzle parents proceeded to dash clear of the falling rocks. Barbara grabbed Spike as she, Spurn and Pyra dashed out of the way in another direction. Unfortunately, several Hunters, still dazed from Allegro’s scream, couldn’t react in time and were crushed under the rocks tumbling down from above. The other Hunters, who weren’t within range, scrambled back to evade the rockslide.

Amid the chaos, both the Drakes and the Dazzles became separated from each other.

2044hrs, Canyon Fork, Drakes’ Side

As the dust settled, the Drakes saw the aftermath of Allegro’s last attack: A massive heap of rocks that had broken off from the walls, from which there were now large chunks missing, with a few of the Hunters’ limbs sticking out from between them, blood dripping out and pooling at the foot of the pile.

The entire family was stunned by the resulting death that Allegro had brought to the Hunters, but it didn’t last long. They were soon broken out of their shock when the bloodthirsty cries from the Hunters resumed a few seconds later. The remaining Hunters from the initial wave began climbing over the rubble, determined to avenge their fallen comrades as more ropes descended around the Demon family.

“Keep moving!” Spurn yelled as he saw one of the Hunters fire a flare, the small, flaming orb turning the night sky red. “They just called for reinforcements!”

“But what about the others!? We can’t leave them behind! They need us!!!” Spike protested.

“We can’t help them if we’re all dead, son!” Pyra argued back as they continued running, dragging Spike along.

Spike continued to run with them reluctantly but not without regretfully looking back at where they and the Dazzles were separated. At that moment, he could only pray that they would all get out alive.

After 2 more minutes of trying to outrun the Hunters through the narrow chasm, they arrived at a rock arch that hung over the path ahead. The archway was roughly 3 metres high, with enough room for Spurn, Barbara and Pyra to run underneath without bumping their heads. Above the archway was about 10 metres of solid rock that had yet to crumble with time. While Spurn could smash through thick layers of rock with his enhanced strength, he couldn’t do the same now without the risk of bringing the arch down on top of them.

Unfortunately for the Drakes, this arch made the perfect trap for the Human reinforcements to exploit. The arriving archers showered the far side of the arch with arrows, forcing the Drakes to stop under the arch and allowing more Hunters to rappel to the canyon floor ahead of them while the Hunters who pursued them from behind drew closer.

With nowhere to run and no room to fly over the humans, Spurn raised his hands to form an energy shield around himself and his family to hold the Hunters at bay for as long as possible. The hunters’ enchanted blades rang like bells as they hacked away at the shield from both sides with everything they had. The Drake family could see their faces contorting with rage and lust to spill Demon blood, their voices crying out in determination to end their existence on Terra.

“Come on! We’re almost through! Just a little more, and those Demon scum will be DEAD!”

“You all can take the big one! Leave his whores to me!”

“No, kill the little rat first! I want to see the looks on their faces before they join him!”

Barbara pushed a now terrified Spike behind her at that last remark, her eyes blazing with righteous fury. An equally livid Pyra stood by her side, ready to defend their son with their lives if necessary. If they couldn’t survive the Purge, they could at least make sure Spike got his chance to live out his life.

Before either of them could do anything, Spurn called out, “Barbara! Pyra!”

Both wives turned to face Spurn. He was visibly straining to hold the shield up as cracks slowly began to form from the Hunters’ persistent hacking. He shakily held out his left hand, his right still holding the shield. “Take my ring,” he said, his wedding ring glowing with his aura as he telekinetically shoved it into Barbara’s hand.

Barbara was confused about why her husband would hand her his wedding ring seemingly out of nowhere, let alone when their lives were at stake. “Goodbye, my loves,” Spurn followed up. “Take care of our son, and know that I love you both.” The cracks in the shield widened as the Hunters were breaking through. “And Spike?” he turned to his son, who answered, “Y-Yes, Dad?” His voice trembled, clearly dreading the next few moments. Spurn smiled, shedding a single tear as he spoke his final words:

“Make me proud.”

“Spurn, WAIT-!!!” Barbara pleaded. Before she could finish, Spurn aimed his left hand at the ground beneath his wives and son and conjured a magic circle that caused the 3 of them to disappear in a bright orange flash. A split second later, his shield finally gave way, shattering like glass as the Hunters rushed him like rabid dogs, hacking and slashing away at his body, but Spurn didn’t care. He had teleported his family to a distant, random location, far away from these savages. Now that they were safe, he could die in peace.

Finally, one of the Hunters stabbed him straight through the heart, black lightning crackling through the wound, followed by a bright flash of energy that burst from his eyes and mouth as the Demon Slayer shattered his soul, ending him permanently.

2049hrs, Mountainside, Unknown Location

As soon as the flash subsided, Barbara, Pyra and Spike stiffened when a sudden cold wind brushed over their skin. Thankfully, as Dragons, they had enough natural body heat to shield them against the winter. Their heads darted around to find Spurn had teleported them all to the side of a mountain in the North, overlooking the burning remains of their village and the canyon they traversed.

Seconds later, as the shock from being teleported began to die down, Barbara and Pyra’s eyes widened in horror as they felt the side of their necks turn cold. Once Spike turned around to face his mothers, he froze when he saw their necks. “Moms...y-your marks!”

The mate marks were visible on their necks, a Dragon’s head and wing surrounded by a simple magic circle. Both of these were given to them by Spurn. This mark signified their bond to their husband and the love they shared, lowered their sexual inhibitions, increased their sensitivity and formed a neural connection between husband, wife and sister-wife. These attributes increased pleasure significantly during lovemaking sessions, allowing all lovers to feel closer than ever before.

While fellow Demons could sense each other’s aurae within close range, a mate mark allowed those who bear it to feel their lovers’ aurae from anywhere at any time, regardless of distance. As long as the one who marked them continued to live, the mate marks would always remain aglow with their aura.

Now, the marks that Barbara and Pyra wore, which usually glowed a faint reddish-orange with Spurn’s aura, had turned black and cold, a surefire sign of their husband’s death.

“Dad...h-he’s not…” Spike tried to ask, unable to bring himself to finish the question. While Barbara tried to choke back her sobs, Pyra slowly turned to her stepson, tears welling up in her eyes, and managed a single nod, confirming his fear.

It felt like an eternity had passed around them as Spike processed that answer. “No…” he shook his head in disbelief, angry tears pouring from his eyes. “...NO!!!” he turned to fly back to the canyon, determined to burn those Hunters to ash, only for both of his mothers to tackle him and hold him down with all of their might.

“LET ME GO!” he screamed, thrashing furiously within his mothers’ arms as he tried to wrench himself free, to no avail. “I’LL KILL THEM FOR WHAT THEY DID TO DAD!”

“You can’t! They’ll slaughter you!” Barbara argued through her tears.

“BUT THEY KILLED HIM!!!” Spike fired back, still thrashing against his mothers.

“WE KNOW!!!” Pyra countered, tears still streaming down her face. “Their armour and weapons are resistant to Demon magic! There’s nothing left we can do!”

Spike struggled against his mothers for the next several minutes, who did their best to stop him from doing something foolish. He kicked and screamed out for his father, cursing the Hunters with all his might, over and over again for several more minutes before finally collapsing from exhaustion and crying his heart out. As they grieved in the snow, the Moon slowly rose over the mountains, illuminating the surrounding land with dim light.

After what felt like hours, the Drakes slowly regained their composure as they looked again toward their ruined village; the last of the fires continued to burn into the night as hundreds of torches inched slowly across the land below. Undoubtedly, the Hunters had ended their chase for Demons and were returning home to celebrate yet another victory.

“Come, Spike,” Barbara said softly, her eyes still streaked with tear marks. “It’s not safe here anymore. We’ll need to find a new home as soon as possible.”

“B-But...Dad..” Spike tried to protest, worn out from his grief-stricken fit.

“He’s gone, kid,” Pyra replied, pulling him into a hug. “There’s nothing we can do for him anymore.” She looked him dead in the eyes with all the love she could muster. “What’s important now is that we get as far away from those wretched Hunters as possible, lest they spot us on this mountain if we stay any longer.”

Spike could only nod weakly at his stepmother’s words. As much as it broke his heart that they couldn’t avenge his father now, she was right. Spike took one last look at the remains of his former home before they all began their despondent trek through the mountains, uncertain of their future without Spurn.

2044hrs, Canyon Fork, Dazzles’Side

The Dazzles had also seen the flare go up as the Hunters who survived the collapse began climbing over the pile of rubble, more ropes cascading down the canyon walls as more Hunters prepared to join their allies.

“They’ll just keep coming!” Allegro yelled over the Hunters’ battle cries. “Run!” She grabbed Adagio and Sonata’s hands while Casanova strapped the sword he pulled from one of the Hunters to his back and grabbed Aria’s, and they began running further into the canyon.

“We can’t just leave the others!” Aria protested. “They’ll die!”

“Your aunts and uncle are stronger than you believe,” Casanova replied. “They’ll make it through, and so will Spike! Have faith in them!”

They continued to run and stay ahead of the Hunters as much as possible. As they did, the canyon around them grew ever more profound by the minute. 6 minutes later, their path led to what initially appeared to be a dead-end. They reached the top of the crest in front of the wall when they saw a large, gaping hole at the foot.

“A cave!” Adagio cried, hope slowly rising in her chest. “Maybe we can lose them in there!”

It was indeed a possibility. It didn’t appear to be a shallow pocket eroded into the rock but opened up much deeper into the ground below the cliff. If there was any hope of finding a ne2rk of caves beyond and, by extension, an exit, the Dazzles could use any potential narrow sections to outmanoeuvre the pack of Hunters now hot on their trail.

Without hesitation, the Dazzles raced straight through the cave entrance. All family members’ eyes glowed faintly in the pitch darkness as their vision illuminated the tunnel ahead of them. The floor gradually became more uneven from the rock formations the further they ran, their footsteps echoing throughout the cave. Sonata stumbled when she tripped on a stray rock she had failed to notice, but her mother caught her before she could fall on her face.

As they rounded the 3rd bend into the cave, they stopped as the tunnel ahead appeared to curve downwards into a large pool of water. The cave continued to extend deeper as they looked down into the pool. If anything, the cave didn’t end at that point. Unfortunately, for all they knew, the cave beyond was completely flooded.

The Dazzles turned briefly to see the light from the Hunters’ torches closing in fast from around the corner, their cries ringing through the cave. Allegro frantically raised her hands to her chest, open palms facing inward before a glowing light blue orb began to manifest between her hands as she prepared to cast a water-breathing spell on her husband.

However, before she could continue, Casanova stopped her as he removed his forearm bracelets and wedding ring, shoving them into her hands. “They’re too close!” he explained. “That water-breathing spell will take too long to complete! The rest of you, go!!! I’ll hold them off!”

“What!?” Allegro’s eyes widened in horror at Casanova’s last words, as did their daughters. “NO, YOU CAN’T!” she tried to argue. It was bad enough that they lost their home to the violence wrought by the humans. She wasn’t ready to lose her beloved husband as well.

Casanova ignored his wife’s plea, taking one last look at his family and saying, “Allegro, Adagio, Aria, Sonata...I love you all.”

With that, just after the Hunters rounded the corner and were within sight of them, Casanova fired an energy blast that knocked his wife and children into the water below and fired a second blast at the ceiling, which instantly shattered and collapsed to the floor. He ended up separated from his family, but they were also separated from the Hunters, deeper down in the flooded cave section where they couldn’t reach them.

After bracing themselves for the collapse, the Hunters looked around in the cloud of dust that now engulfed them for the Demons they were chasing. They saw only Casanova standing there when the dust settled before a completely barricaded tunnel.

One of the Hunters snorted. “You’d kill your whore and bastards just to keep them from us?” he sneered, pointing his blade accusingly at the Demon before them.

Casanova simply smirked at that question. “No,” he answered. “I’m just making sure you can’t reach them. If you want to kill another Demon that badly, here I am. In fact...” he reached behind his back, dropped his bag and drew the Demon Slayer he stole earlier.

“I’ll take a few more of you with me.”

The Hunters charged him at once. One Hunter swiped at his neck, ready to behead him, but Casanova blocked his sword. He then followed up by slashing the Hunter’s throat, letting him fall to the ground as he choked on his own blood.

Another Hunter tried to land a strike, but Casanova caught his wrist with his free hand, swung him around and flung him back into his comrades, knocking a few of them over. He then turned to face 3 more Hunters as they all jumped him simultaneously. He slid under the middle one’s legs and over their back before spinning over and slicing all of their heads off in one swift motion.

One of the bigger Hunters caught Casanova in a blade lock just as he landed and shoved him against the wall. Seizing their chance, the rest of the Hunters swarmed over him and began to perform what they did best. One of them proceeded to disarm Casanova by slicing off his sword hand, letting it and the sword fall to the floor, while 2 more proceeded to carve his wings off.

Casanova screamed in agony as the Hunters hacked away at his limbs and body. Although Demons could very well regenerate lost body parts when given time, he had none left to spare as the Hunter who pinned him earlier finished the job by ramming his blade through his heart; his eyes and mouth flashed brightly with energy as his soul shattered, the shards fading away into thin air.

Allegro, Adagio, Aria, and Sonata had to change to their Siren tails to evade the collapsing rocks. They swam deeper into the flooded cave section as the rocks and dust rapidly blotted out the light from the Hunters’ torches until there was only complete darkness.

Allegro removed her bag and opened it, rummaging around until she felt a chain. She pulled out what appeared to be a simple necklace with a single colourless crystal attached to the front. Slipping it around her neck, she cupped the crystal and concentrated. Seconds later, the crystal began to emit bright, white light to illuminate the cave around them further.

As helpful as their night vision was, Demons could only maintain it for a limited time before their eyes began to strain, so to light their way around dark places for hours, or even days, they would rely on external sources of light, mainly in the form of tiny enchanted crystals that could emit light for several metres, as well as function underwater.

Looking at the pile of rocks that barricaded the tunnel behind them, Allegro saw Aria trying to break through the rubble to reach Casanova. She furiously punched and clawed away at the stones, her Demon strength cracking them like eggs. When Adagio saw more rocks about to fall on Aria from the force of her pounding, she immediately swam in and tackled her away before the rocks could crush her.

“Let me go!” Aria yelled, thrashing in her sister’s arms. “Dad’s still up there! We need to help him!!!”

“The cave will only collapse further if we try to dig through!” Adagio argued back. “Even if we succeed, there are still hundreds of Hunters against 5 of us!”

“But Dad’s trapped on the other side with them! He can’t fight them all by himself!”

“We’re still outnumbered either way!”

Sonata could only watch as her 2 big sisters argued over their father’s situation. He had started the collapse and barricaded the tunnel, saving his whole family but himself. When Sonata turned to ask her mother what they should do next, her eyes widened, and her heart sank as she saw the glowing turquoise green mate mark on her mother’s neck turn black. Allegro had taught her daughters about the significance of such a mark, that she was Casanova’s wife and his alone, and how it would glow for as long as he lived.

When Allegro felt the sudden cold on her neck, her eyes widened in horror as she felt her mark, for she knew that Casanova, her husband and the first man she ever fell in love with, had been slain by cowards over the mere superstition that Demons were evil.

Adagio and Aria were broken out of their argument when they heard their mother choking back sobs. When they turned to her, she had collapsed on her tail and was crying her heart out, her dam finally breaking under the weight of her grief.

“M-Mom...?” Aria asked, and upon seeing her mother’s now blackened mark, dreaded her following words.

“Y-Your father,” Allegro managed to answer between sobs. “He’s...d...d-dead..”

Aria’s eyes went wide at the last word. She couldn’t believe it. She didn’t want to believe it. As she slowly bowed her head, fighting back tears, her memories of her father flashed through her mind: All the games they played together, the bedtime stories he shared with them, the comfort he gave for the nightmares they had, all of which were the most vivid memories of Casanova.

Her hopes of her father watching her grow up, which was so close to becoming a reality, were completely and utterly shattered. Still locked in Adagio’s arms, unable to take anymore, Aria did the only thing she could think of:

She screamed.

Her heart-wrenching scream was so deafeningly loud that it shook the walls of the cave and echoed throughout the tunnels. Her father had died at the hands of those zealous humans, and for what? For the past few years, Demons had lived peacefully undercover beside humans, and now that they revealed themselves, they were unworthy of their love and respect. The pain was just too much to bear, and Adagio soon found herself crying with Aria.

Allegro swam over and embraced her daughters as tightly as she could, Sonata joining in. One could only imagine the tears streaming down their faces at the fact that they were underwater. Sobs rang out through the cave as the remaining Dazzle family grieved together for several minutes over Casanova’s loss, eventually crying themselves to sleep.

5 June, 0751hrs, Flooded Cave, Near Equestria’s West Coast

Sonata slowly stirred in her mother’s arms as she cracked open an eye. She woke up with a start, looking around at the cave's darkness. Allegro’s necklace still glowed with its pale light, illuminating her, Adagio’s and Aria’s faces as they slept. As Sonata looked back at the rock barricade, last night’s events began to replay: The Hunters were chasing them when they got separated from the Drakes, the cave collapsed, and the Hunters killed Casanova. It wasn’t long before she collapsed against her mother’s side and began to cry once again.

Having been roused by Sonata’s quiet sobs, they, too, began to wake up. It took a second for Allegro to register what was happening before she held her youngest daughter to her chest.

“I can’t believe he’s...gone,” Sonata said. “W-Why did he have to leave us??”

“Shhhh…” Allegro cooed as she ran her hand through Sonata’s blue locks. Casanova’s demise hurt her just as much as it hurt her daughters, but as their mother, she needed to be there for them, now more than ever. She had clarified that her children’s welfare must always come first, no matter the circumstances.

“I...I don’t know,” she answered honestly. “All I can say right now is that good and bad things can happen to anyone, no matter how much or how little they deserve it.” She looked at each of her daughters as she continued to speak. “Fate can be both merciful and cruel at the same time, for it gives many things to people and takes just as much away from them. As for us…” she looked back to the rock pile. “...we were just unfortunate enough to have your father taken away.”

“But why us?” Aria demanded. “What have we done to deserve losing Dad!?”

“That’s the point, sweetie,” Allegro replied sadly. “As I said, fate is cruel. Anyone can fall victim to it; it’s just a matter of who and when.” There was a pregnant pause before she reached for her bag and slung it over her back. “Come,” she said. “We can’t stay here forever. If there’s any hope of finding a way out, it’s that way.” She gestured further down the dark tunnel before she pulled her daughters towards her. “Stay close and let me know if you see any routes that may lead out of this cave. Do not wander off on your own.”

All 3 sisters nodded at their mother’s instructions. After looking at where they lost Casanova one last time, they began their journey through the flooded caves in search of an exit.

0900hrs, Flooded Caves

It had been over an hour since the Dazzles had begun searching for an exit through the winding tunnels that made up the cave ne2rk. As they swam slowly through the caves, with only Allegro’s enchanted necklace for light, the family had only found dead ends throughout the maze-like tunnels, their chances of escaping the caves growing slimmer by the minute.

Allegro would swim ahead whenever they approached a corner to peek around in case dangerous creatures lurked in the darkness. Thus far, all the family had heard throughout the journey was dead silence, and they had not seen any sign whatsoever of anyone or anything living in the caves. Even then, they couldn’t take any chances for their safety.

Eventually, they began feeling the water around them become cooler the further they swam, followed by a current and the faint smell of salt. “It smells like the ocean,” Adagio remarked. “We must be getting close!”

They were relieved when they saw that their tunnel was ascending to a large opening where the morning sunlight spilt through. Without hesitation, the Dazzles made a break for the exit, swimming upwards and breaking the water's surface in seconds. Ahead of them lay a vast, open ocean over the horizon, utterly untouched by Human activity. Turning around, they saw the cliff from which they emerged: A massive wall of rock about 120 metres high stretched along Equestria's West coast for kilometres on either end.

High above that was the harrowing sight of thick plumes of smoke billowing in the wind from inland westwards over the ocean, no doubt from the still-burning remains of the now-razed Demon villages that blotted the landscape. Then, the Dazzles all shared a moment of silence for the loss of their home, wishing that the humans had never been so quick to brand them as monsters upon their revelation.

Just as they had finished, Adagio felt something poke her twice in the side. Panicking, she looked around at the water, hoping it wasn’t a shark, when a light grey, beaked head poked out. Much to her relief, it just turned out to be a dolphin, as it looked on curiously at the 4 Sirens in front of it. “Hi there, friend,” Adagio greeted.

The dolphin then proceeded to lean forward and repeatedly peck her cheek to return the greeting. “H-Hey, stop that! It tickles!” Adagio giggled. Despite their grief, her sisters couldn’t help giggling quietly at the sight, their moods lifting ever so slightly. Even Allegro cracked a small smile at this display of affection.

Adagio managed to break away long enough to ask her next question. “We need to look for a beach to land on. Do you know where we can find one?”

Squeaking enthusiastically, the dolphin nodded before turning and swimming North alongside the cliff, the Dazzles following close behind. A few minutes of paddling later, the cliff beside them began to lower, smoothly descending into a large, sandy beach. The waves washed gently over the soft, light yellow sand, causing it to sparkle under the sunlight.

After pausing to thank their dolphin friend for helping them, they quickly changed their tails back to legs and walked ashore. As they emerged from the water, they felt their now-soaked dresses weighing them down. “Alright, girls. Hold still,” Allegro said as her hands began to glow pale blue. Slowly, she waved her hands up and down over her daughters’ dresses, drying them each completely in under a minute before performing the same spell on herself.

Once all of them were dry, Allegro continued to speak. “We’ll need to seek out another area to settle in, preferably somewhere unknown in Equestria, where the Hunters won’t find us, hopefully for a very long time.”

“But what about the Drakes?” Sonata asked. “What about Spike? Shouldn’t we look for them?” It was clear that she was still worried for the other family—they all were.

Allegro knelt at her daughter’s level. “We don’t know where they might have gone since we got separated or if they’re even alive anymore,” she replied sadly. “Even if we did try to search for them, the humans would be lying in wait to kill us. For all we know, we could lead the Hunters to our friends. The only thing we can do for them now is to pray that they have also evaded the Hunters.” She pulled Sonata into another hug. “Your father would want you to do the same.”

Sonata’s heart ached at the mention of her father, and so did her sisters’, but her mother was right. Casanova had told Aria the same thing in the canyon: that the Drakes were more formidable than they looked and could fight out of difficult situations when the circumstances called for it. It would take a lot to kill a Dragon, let alone 4 of them.

Returning the hug, Sonata then held on to her mother’s hand as they began their long trek back inland in search of a safer, more remote plot of land in Equestria to build their new home in the hopes of hiding from Human civilisation for as long as they could.

For now, they hoped that Humanity’s zealotry and xenophobia would wither with time so that they and their fellow Demons would be welcome back among them once more.