The Mist K. Tonic Cemetery covered several acres near the western edges of the city. A few suburban homes stood on the street leading to its tall, iron gates, now quiet and deserted as a distant bell chimed three in the morning.

Princess Luna stood at the lead, dressed in silvery armor that glittered in the moonlight from above. Flanking her on either side were a trio of royal guards in v-formation, strapped in full combat armor and brandishing weapons. Behind them trotted Phillip and Daring, each brandishing their holy weapons, and Lucifer and her demons.

Pale blue magic cast open the creaking gates, blatantly unlocked in anticipation of their arrival.

“The cemetery’s caretaker should be gone by now,” Luna said. “I shall march on Nightmare Moon myself, with my guards keeping whatever other abominations this Mirror Twin wishes to throw at me at bay.”

Lucifer nodded. “Judgement will go with you. It’ll be easier to send her back to the pit that way,” she said, looking at Phillip and Daring. “Justice and I will accompany you two in keeping her creations at bay to keep some weight off the guards. Hopefully, they’ll be as easy to dispatch as that suit in the precinct.”

“Hopefully,” Daring said, rolling her eyes.

“And you’ll have our backs, we have your word,” Phillip said, frowning at Lucifer.

“On my word.” Lucifer nodded. “Your death shall not come today, not on my watch.”

No one bore witness to the procession that stood at the hallowed grounds, save for a crimson figure on a house’s rooftop.

A chittering growl echoed in Beelzebub’s throat as she eyed up her targets. She had the element of surprise: a simple slice to their unarmored throats, and they would be dealt with. The mortals and the princess would be no match for the creations lurking inside – and the Nightmare deeper within.

Her eyes drifted to the cemetery, towards the Nightmare whose soul was a raging indigo speck within one of the mausoleums. It had occurred to her: what was the Old God’s fate once her employer got her way?

A familiar portrait of a changeling and her daughter flashed through her mind.

Growling, Beelzebub’s wings buzzed. As her eyes turned back to the group, Luna was already stepping through the gates with her guards and Judgement, leaving the other demons and the detectives exposed before they could enter. Now was her chance.

And so she made her choice.

She launched from the roof in a crimson blur, forehooves extended to pounce upon her intended prey.

Justice’s head turned to her as she plowed into her side like a freight train, sending the former High Prosecutor bouncing across the pavement and dislodging her draped coat and sunglasses.

“Justice!” Lucifer shouted, horn burning with crimson flames.

“Go!” Justice called, growling like an animal as she rolled to her hooves. “I got her!”

Phillip and Daring moved to the cemetery entrance, but their attention remained on Justice as her growling grew louder and louder.

They watched as crimson magic slowly did three things simultaneously. First, Justice’s curved horn disintegrated slowly in a crimson glow, only to be replaced by two more, one on either side of her head. Second, a pair of thick, leathery wings, more like a dragon’s than a bat’s, materialized on her back. Third, her tail hairs seemed to spiral together as if being spun like string, forming a long, thin black tail with a spade-like tip.

“Let’s go,” Phillip barked at Lucifer, running into the cemetery with Daring.

Lucifer cast one last look at Justice before running inside herself.

“Time for a rematch,” Beelzebub seethed, allowing hate to cloud her mind with thoughts of revenge. She hoped it would be convincing enough for her employer.

“Bring it, they don’t call me the ‘Flybreaker’ for nothing,” Justice growled, bearing now sharpened teeth. She drew one of her pistols and opened fire.

In a burst of crimson magic, an elytra-like shield formed in Beelzebub’s forehoof. She charged forward, letting the bullets ping off of the conjured shield as she lifted into the air. In another burst of magic, a sword vaguely resembling that of a Hercules beetle’s horn appeared in her other forehoof – and she brought it down on Justice’s head.

Justice ducked to the side, a breeze kissing her cheek, and she brought her gun up to fire at Beel at point blank range.

She was able to get one shot to graze chitin before the shield blocked the rest of her shots. Tossing the emptied gun aside, Justice ducked under a slashing blow and drew her other pistol.

Justice raised it to fire, only for a sweeping blow from the blade to send it flying off into the night. She just barely gripped the blade in her forehooves as it was brought down on her, demon strength meeting demon strength as Beel tried to force her to the ground.

“I’ve had a long time to think of how I’d exact my revenge on you, Justice,” Beelzebub snarled, a delighted grin on her face. “And oh, it will be sweet.”

“Too bad you’ll have to settle for disappointment,” Justice replied with a smirk.

Using a flap from her wings to give her some momentum, Justice kicked the blade at its guard, knocking it from Beel’s grasp. A swipe from the end of Justice’s tail smacked Beel across the face, enough of a distraction for Justice to grip the shield by its edges once upright. With another flap of her wings, she picked both shield and shield bearer up and slammed them to the ground.

She rolled to her hooves backwards as the changeling demon got to her hooves, holding up a forehoof to swat away the falling sword. Her horns ignited a brilliant red as she got into a fighting stance, one padded glove with the “HPJ” label facing Beelzebub.

Beel chuckled darkly, tossing aside the shield. Both it and the discarded sword vanished in bursts of crimson magic, replaced by a pair of scythes, styled like mantis forearms, in her forehooves.

“I’m going to shred you to ribbons!” Beelzebub shouted, charging forward.

“Less talking, more action,” Justice replied, smirking.

The first slice—angled towards Justice’s throat—was brushed aside by a parry, the opening filled with a jab to Beelzebub’s muzzle. What followed a similar dance as Justice maneuvered around or brushed aside hacks and slashes from Beel’s scythes, jabbing whenever an opening made itself available. All the while, her horns burned red.

With a final snarl, the battered Beelzebub slashed downward with both scythes. Justice stood on both hind legs, gripping Beel’s forehooves and stopping the scythes inches from her pale eyes.

Beel’s eyes flickered to Justice’s horns briefly before locking eyes with sightless ones. “Wasting magic?” she panted with a breathless chuckle. “You’re losing your touch, former High Prosecutor.”

“Oh, I don’t think so.” Justice smirk grew into a grin as a burst of light flashed from her horns.

Underneath their hooves, the magic Justice had been laying down glowed into existence – their hoof-to-scythe skirmish had formed a loose pentagram on the ground. Beel’s eyes widened with shock and horror.

“NO!” she roared as Justice forced her down, fighting against scrabbling limbs and flailing wings. Beel sunk through the pavement as if it were quicksand.

Justice cast one last look, and a soft smile, towards the cemetery.

“Go get ‘em, Lucy,” she said quietly.

With one last effort, she forced Beelzebub back into the pits of Hell, vanishing along with her. The pentagram flickered away seconds later, and Justice’s discarded items vanished away in crimson flashes.

The cemetery consisted of several intersecting cobblestone paths, sectioning off large swaths of graves, statues, and mausoleums. The scant trees throughout the grounds each had a stone bench under them.

“She’s dead ahead,” Judgement growled, glowing white eyes locked down the central path. “Should be in that mausoleum there.”

Just as she pointed it out, there came the crack of a rifle and an exclamation from one of the guards. Two others rushed to his side, brandishing their assault rifles. The rest took cover behind some of the tombstones, along with Phillip and Daring. Luna, Judgement, and Lucifer stood out in the open.

“That would be our welcoming committee,” Lucifer said bitterly. “Go on ahead with her, Judgement. We’ll dispatch them.”

Phillip eyed the guard who’d been hit, noting the bullet had glanced off his body armor rather than go through – the exclamation had been from surprise more than anything. The crumpled slug lay on the cobbled ground.

To his trained eye, it seemed to be a slug from a hunting rifle.

That’s when he heard the singing.

“O-Oh death… whoa-oh death… won’t you spare me over til another year?”

“The Poacher,” Daring and Phil said at the same time, looking at one another as the familiar voice rang over the cemetery.

“Let’s go,” Judgement hissed, crouching low as she and Luna pressed forward. Cautiously and with a sweep of their guns around the premises, the guards all followed after them.

Daring and Phil produced smoke bombs, tossing them over their tombstone cover and letting them detonate among the rows and rows of stone monuments. Crouching low and with weapons in hoof, they snuck between the graves.

Lucifer huffed. “Enough games.” In a flash of crimson magic, she transformed in a similar manner to Justice, flapping her wings and taking flight. She spotted her target behind a nearby tree: a stallion with a reddish-brown coat and dark green hair with a thin beard.

“They’re all her machines!” she called to Phillip and Daring. “Don’t hold back on them!”

“Wasn’t planning on it!” Daring called back.

The dead hitpony brought about his gun to fire on Lucifer, only for Phillip to spring up on him first with a swing of his club, catching the Poacher in the center of his chest. A roar of thunder accompanied the blow.

The Poacher’s rifle went flying into the night, and he into a nearby statue with a grunt. Phillip watched him carefully, then his eyes widened as the Poacher got to his hooves.

He looked like the Poacher – as he had died. His eyes seemed pale and lifeless, and the thick gash was across his throat, caked with dried blood. But he was very much alive and moving, now brandishing a large hunting knife.

“Not going to work on me, detective,” the Poacher sneered.

“Phil!” Daring leaped over a tombstone to assist – only to stop short of a jet of flame that would have immolated her. It left a blackened line of singed grass in front of her, as if daring her to cross it.

A hacking, wheezing laugh accompanied a female earth pony as she stepped into view, struggling to adjust for the weight of the fuel tanks on her back. The Scorcher’s head still resembled a skull, yellowed teeth bared at the detective. Her turnout coat still had bloodstains on it, but there were new holes and burn marks. Pieces of scorched wood stuck from her collar.

She levelled her gauntlets at Daring, a soft blue flame licking at the end of each. “I’ll roast you first, then that bastard Finder. He’s going to pay for what he did to me!” she snarled, licking her dry lips.

“Oh, go burn in Hell!”

The Scorcher looked up, raising her gauntlets at the swooping demon approaching her. Streams of orange flame shot outward – a futile attempt. Lucifer inhaled before shooting out her own jet of flames from her mouth like a dragon, blood red in color.

It dwarfed Charcoal’s attempt at flamethrowers and completely engulfed the Scorcher, whose howls of pain were promptly cut off as her shadowy form disintegrated in the epicenter of the inferno.

Daring shielded her eyes before something pulled her backwards. A roar and a wave of heat washed over her as the Scorcher’s fuel tank erupted. As Daring lowered her forehooves, she saw the only remnants of the Scorcher was a blackened, smoldering stain.

She glanced upward to find Lucifer carrying her back to the path. “Thanks, that was a close one,” she said, slipping from Lucifer’s grasp and taking to the air.

Lucifer nodded. “Don’t mention it, but we need to be on our guard. There are others out—”

A piercing screech erupted from above them and a large, dark blob slammed into Lucifer, sending her crashing to the ground. Daring caught the glint of something shiny and had the wherewithal to flap out of harm’s way as a blade’s slash whistled past her.

The shadowy form of a black griffon filled her vision as a disguised metal skull met hers, sending her towards the ground in a daze. A quick flap of her wings prevented her from suffering the same fate as Lucifer, her vision swimming as the shadowy form shot towards her.

Phillip, meanwhile, had one foreleg around the Poacher’s neck, plunging the swiped blade into the faux pony’s chest and gut – sparks erupted from each wound as if they were gushes of blood. As the Poacher finally went limp, Phillip’s eyes raised to the skies.

Roaring screeched as he angled his blades towards the stunned Daring. His midsection was stapled together haphazardly, dried blood caking the thorough wound like glue.

“Daring! Watch out!” he cried.

Lucifer, meanwhile, snarled. As she picked herself up off the ground, her red eyes glowed as she glowered. “Oh, you are going to suffer when I cram you back in Hell!” she hissed, raising her head up and spitting out a single crimson fireball.

Roaring had caught up to Daring, two sabers at the ready to make mincemeat out of her. Lucifer’s fireballs melted the left talon completely, with Roaring let out a startled screech at the sudden loss.

With a mighty flap and a buffet of wind, Lucifer took flight again. Her barbed tail curled around the falling blade’s handle, just as Daring shook off her daze. With grit teeth, she snapped her whip, wrapping it around the griffon’s neck.

A lightning bolt rained down from the heavens, charging the whip’s coil with dancing white electricity. With a weak squawk, Roaring plummeted to the ground, the whip fortunately loosening before his bulk dragged Daring with him.

He crashed to the ground in front of Phillip. The faux griffon made a feeble attempt to get up, but the harsh landing of hoofs and a quiet metal shink stopped him in his tracks. Lucifer, standing next to him, glanced coldly over her shoulder at him as his head fell off and his body went limp.

“Thanks,” Daring huffed.

“There’s at least two more,” Lucifer replied, her eyes scanning the tombstones. Her eyes widened and she dropped the sword held in her tail in favor of grabbing Phillip around his midsection with the appendage.

She yanked him out of the way as a screeching white mass of griffon shot past where he had been standing. Whitestone landed, sliding to a halt as she turned to face them. Bleeding stab wounds covered her chest, her eyes still tainted red.

“You’re gonna pay!” she shouted, charging forward with a flap of her wings, talons at the ready.

Lucifer grabbed the blade Phillip still held and threw it at her. It embedded itself into the griffon’s shoulder, but it didn’t slow her down. With a growl, Lucifer nearly bowled over Phillip and Daring as she launched herself at the pirate.

Whitestone’s eyes widened at the sudden bravery, but she didn’t get the chance to understand it. Lucifer reached out with her forehooves, slamming into the griffon’s shoulder and driving the knife in past the hilt. The impact countered the strength of Whitestone’s charge, with the demon pushing the griffon back along the cobbled pathway.

As they ground to a halt, Whitestone looked up at time to see blood red fire leaking out of Lucifer’s mouth. She barely had the chance to lift a talon as the full fury of Lucifer’s hellfire engulfed her head, burning it away in seconds.

Lucifer blew out a puff of smoke as she got off the machine’s corpse, dusting off her suit. “Alright!” she called into the cemetery. “You’re outnumbered! Let’s make this easier for all of us!”

She walked over to Phillip and Daring, and they all turned to a familiar snicker.

A pony with a light blue coat and silvery, almost gossamer-like hair stepped from behind a statue. Pale bluish-grey eyes, filled with anger and hate, rested behind a pair of gold-rimmed glasses. And even in a place like this, he was wearing a black suit and tie.

“Silvertongue,” Phillip grunted.

“Old acquaintance of yours?” Lucifer asked with an arched eyebrow.

“Hardly.” Daring’s voice dripped with venom. “Of course she’d bring you back.”

“And it looks like it’s the best for last,” Silvertongue mused. He flicked out one foreleg, producing a butterfly knife. “She’s given me so many interesting toys to kill you with.”

Daring grinned, snapping her whip at Silvertongue. His eyes widened as it curled around his neck – but no lightning appeared to strike him.

Instead, Daring took to the air, dragging Silvertongue with her. He gasped and tried to cut at the whip, but his first attempt at a hack caused a spark to shock the knife from his hoof. Daring began twirling the whip in a circle, parallel to the ground.

“Batter up, Phil!” she called.

Phillip smirked, gripping his waddy club like a baseball bat.

“Ooh, clever girl,” Lucifer said with a bemused smile.

Daring, with a grunt of effort, swung the whip at Phillip. It unwound around Silvertongue’s neck, sending him hurtling towards Phillip like a lopsided ball towards home.

Phillip put his back into the swing, relishing the surprised look in Silvertongue’s eyes a second time as the club connected with his midsection. A clap of thunder reverberated like a sonic boom, and the light blue blur that had been Charlie Silvertongue slammed into a tree at terminal velocity, breaking his new body in two at the waist.

“Homerun,” Lucifer remarked. “Needed to get that out of your systems?”

“You have no idea,” Daring huffed as she touched down next to Phillip.

“We should check on Luna and Judgement and see if they need any help. That should take care of the minions.” Lucifer glanced around the cemetery.

Daring and Phillip nodded, rushing with the demon towards the mausoleum.

As the fights began behind them, Luna, Judgement, and the former’s guards ran down the central path of the cemetery. The guards paused to do sweeps of the cemetery yard before falling back into line.

The mausoleum in question towered over them. Gargoyles guarded the four corners of the exterior, snarling down at anyone passing by. The front door was heavy iron, untarnished by time, with no evident way to open it.

“Guard the perimeter,” Luna said to the guards, her horn flaring with pale blue magic.

The guards each gave a salute, taking up positions with their rifles around the outside of the mausoleum. Judgement cracked her neck from side to side as Luna’s magic gripped the heavy iron door. It didn’t take much for it to give.

It roared more than it creaked open. A faint humming noise began to sound from the shadowy depths of the crypt. Luna’s horn lit brighter, illuminating the inside of the mausoleum as she and Judgement peered inside.

On a slightly raised platform stood a black, pony-like figure. It had a smooth, sharp horn and curved back wings, but seemed to lack a mane, tail, or any identifying features. Where the eyes should have been, the material of the body differed, as if it were made of glass.

“So, this is where thou lie, Nightmare Moon,” Luna said, her magic charging to strike. “Not for long!”

The humming grew louder, coming from within the pony’s chest. Pale blue eyes with slit pupils ignited on the blank pony, looking about before finally locking in on Luna and narrowing. A slight pink ring formed around the pale blue pupils, and the thing’s horn crackled to life with pale blue magic.

“Luna, look out—” Judgement’s warning came too late.

A wave of pale blue and pink magic rocketed past Luna, opening a swirling vortex. Luna had no sooner comprehended it than the machine had charged her, grabbing hold of her in a tackle. Luna tried to struggle against the metal grip, and by the time she had thought to teleport, she was through the portal.

“Luna!” Judgement leapt into the portal after her, just as it snapped shut. The guards who raced over found nothing but eddies of pale blue magic evaporating away.

Phillip, Daring, and Lucifer raced over a moment later, looking around for any sign of Luna and Judgement.

“Where the hell did they go?” Phil snapped.

Luna’s eyes slowly blinked open and she got to her hooves. Slowly, she took stock of her surroundings.

She was in a never-ending plain. Knee-high pale blue grass grew everywhere across the rolling hills. Above, stars, nebulae, and her distant celestial body in all of its full glory. The dreamscape’s most central plane.

Then a shadow appeared on the moon’s surface, almost looking like the side profile of a unicorn’s head. Luna’s eyes widened as she realized the shadowy substance was bleeding off of the moon and quickly rocketing towards her.

It slowly took shape as it approached. Reptilian wings spread from its side, and a vaguely pony-like form took shape between them. A nebulous mane and tail, not unlike her own, formed next, followed by a trio of glowing green eyes. Soon, the nightmarish entity was close enough for Luna to see it licking at its lips with a forked, serpentine tongue.

Luna raised a shield made of pale blue magic and took flight to charge the creature – Nightmare Moon in her most corporeal form.

The Old God melted into shadows around the barrier and reformed behind her. Before Luna could turn to shield herself, a beam of pale blue magic blasted her in the back of the head. She let out a cry, not of physical pain but mental anguish as nightmares flooded her mind. The very things she squashed and beat back every night assaulted her senses.

Her barrier flickered out and her wings went limp, causing her to plummet to the grassy field below.

“Yes, ancient one. We’ve worn her down, now don’t let up!” A distant voice rumbled from some rolling storm clouds in the distance, flashing with pink lightning within. “Her mind must be at its most vulnerable.”

With a sneering grin, the Nightmare touched down near Luna. Just as the alicorn was getting to her hooves, the Old God fired off another volley of nightmares into her skull. Monsters and terrors of unholy forms flashed before her mind. Luna grunted as she struggled to shield herself from the mental onslaught.

There was a sudden crackling roar as a jet of swirling white flames sliced in front of Nightmare Moon, creating a wall of fire between her and Luna. The Nightmare hissed, looking skyward, eyes narrowing at the sight of her jailor.

Judgement’s wings dwarfed her body, and her blackened horns curved outward and then inward. Her entire demeanor seemed more draconic than equine, right down to the baleful glare she leveled at the Old God.

“Not today!” she roared. “Back in your cage!”

Nightmare Moon roared back, her shadowy form taking to the sky to charge the High Prosecutor. Judgement’s horns flared with more white flames and she tucked her wings to dive at the Old God, the flames swirling around her like a comet.

The impact resounded like a cannon shot, with white flames engulfing the shadowy Nightmare as Judgement drove her to the ground. She shook off blasts of dark magic and the horrors it conjured up, long enough to plow Nightmare Moon into the ground.

Judgement flapped back over to Luna, who was still shaking off lingering nightmares and putting a proper barrier in place. “Are you alright?” she asked the alicorn.

“I will be better when the Old God is back in the pits of Tartarus,” Luna grunted back, horn flickering with magic.

Judgement nodded in agreement, looking around. “Where are we?”

“The dreamscape, the domain of dreams and nightmares – and it would seem Nightmare Moon’s liberator is indeed set on my mental degradation.” Luna narrowed her eyes towards the rolling storm clouds.

“Can you make a portal out of here and to the real world?” Judgement asked, eyes falling on the white flames she had left the Nightmare in.

“I’m not letting that thing out of here, or into anypony else’s mind,” Luna said firmly. “If this is where my last stand is to be, so be it.”

“I can take her back to the pit myself, but I’ll need a portal out of here,” Judgement said. She turned to Luna with a serious frown. “You can count on me.”

Luna scowled, studying Judgement for a moment before giving a curt nod. “Very well. Just give me a signal.”

There was a howling roar – Judgement turned in time for the Nightmare to plow into her, sending them both tumbling across the plain. Judgement hissed and snarled as the nightmares oppressed anew, and finally on one spin kicked Nightmare Moon off of her and into the air.

The Old God only had a moment to right herself before she fled from another scorching beam of white fire. In bursts of pale blue magic, stony hands appeared from the ground and attempted to grasp the Nightmare to no avail – they were either squirmed out of or obliterated.

With a mighty flap of her wings, Judgement rocketed into the air after Nightmare Moon, extending her forehooves. From her gauntlets extended metal claws, which she angled at the Nightmare’s chest.

The shadowy form bobbed and weaved around the demon’s slashing attempts, and likewise Judgement pulled her head out of the way of the Nightmare’s attempts to ravage her mind.

Luna shut her eyes, digging her hooves into the dreamscape’s soil and digging into its very essence. The light of her horn grew brighter and brighter as she channeled the energy through her, before opening her eyes and casting forth her magic.

Nightmare Moon ducked away from one particularly savage slash, and was about to dodge another when pale blue magic encapsulated her entire form. The shadowy mass pulsed and writhed against the grip of magic, struggling to break it.

Judgement took the opportunity to plunge both claws into the Nightmare’s chest.

“NO!” Nightmare Moon roared, as white hot fire built up in Judgement’s mouth. Her gaze, one of abject horror, turned to Judgement – and her opening maw was the last thing Nightmare Moon’s new body saw.

A crackling blast of white fire obliterated the machine’s head under the nightmarish illusion of eldritch life. Faint, pink magic vainly tried to regenerate the lost head as the illusion flickered out, as it had for Charlotte, but more white fire fought it back.

“NOW!” Judgement called, diving to the ground, firmly gripping the burning, headless body.

Luna panted as she cast open a portal – it was too quick and too much of a strain to think of a specific destination, so she chose the graveyard.

Judgement blasted a beam of white fire through the portal, etching a glowing pentagram onto the cobblestone beyond, and vanished through the portal.

The gathered ponies and demon by the mausoleum stepped back when a swirling, pale blue vortex opened in the sky over the path leading up to the mausoleum. The guards raised their guns, and Phillip and Daring raised their weapons.

There came a whistling, screeching noise, like a bomb falling. A jet of white fire blasted from the portal – which was parallel with the ground and only five feet above it – igniting a glowing pentagram on the cobblestones.

A fiery blur shot out of the portal next, a tangle of black bodies and white flames. It disappeared as soon as it appeared, rocketing through the pentagram and ground as if the latter didn’t exist. The pentagram flashed one before fading away shortly after.

If one had listened closely, they could’ve heard a dire soul screeching “No!” the entirety of its descent.

Luna flapped through a second later, the portal closing after her. Her guards raced to check on her, especially at her stumbling landing, but she brushed them off.

“Your highness!” Phillip called. “Where’s Nightmare Moon?” He and Daring raced over next, followed closely by Lucifer.

“Back in the pits where she belongs,” Luna said, flashing a tired smile. Her eyes fell upon Lucifer. “Thank you, Lucifer. You and your demons have righted the balance of things.”

Lucifer breathed a sigh of relief. “Don’t mention it, and let us all pray that it doesn’t happen again,” she huffed. There were a murmur of agreements among the group.

“I’ll just be glad to get home and be done with this crazy, eldritch shit,” Daring sighed. “I need several drinks after tonight.”

“Seconded,” Phillip grunted.

“Rest easy, detectives – Nightmare Moon shall trouble you no more,” Luna said, nodding to them.

Nodding to the princess, Phillip and Daring turned to Lucifer, who flashed them a small smile.

“So,” she said. “Let’s not meet like this again, shall we?”

“Definitely,” Daring chuckled.

“Thank you for your help,” Phil said. “I trust our souls will be returned to us soon?”

Lucifer nodded. “Indeed.”

There was a flash of pink beneath Daring and Phillip’s hooves. They looked down in time to see a swirling pink vortex, vaguely triangular in shape.

“Oh shit—!” Daring was cut off as they fell through.

“No!” Lucifer leapt forward, hooves extended for them to grab.

And only swiped at empty air as they vanished through the portal, which snapped shut right behind them.

“Where did they go?” Luna demanded, racing over.

Lucifer’s eyes were wide in shock, fixated where the portal had been. “The Mirror Twin…” she muttered.

Author's Note

Oh damn it all. I thought we were done here.

And after such an extensive series of fights too. But hey, that’s why Justice is known as the “Awesome Demon.” And why Judgement is the High Prosecutor. Not to mention yours truly – I fancy myself quite the hellfire pyromancer.

And yes, the cemetery's name is a Lovecraft pun.

~L