“If a thing loves,
it is infinite.”

It had been… A day or so? He couldn’t quite keep track of the time through the sun like his old reality as he had found out upon seeing the light level suddenly change. He had questions for the Princess when she returned after leaving him for a few minutes.

“Oh, you don’t know? Rather peculiar.” She had pursed her lips in thought as soon as his question was processed, humming. “It’s my… Well, special talent is the best way to describe it. It says so right there.”

Her wing had lifted to give him a good look at the image on her flank. A sun sat there, truthfully telling him little to nothing about it but regardless interested him in its importance.

“I control the sun, and my sister controls the moon. Speaking of, it’s about time she should be coming to get caught up on affairs…” She turned towards the door again, looking to him for a moment. “That includes you, of course. Come.”

And that had led him to meet the other half of the ruling monarchy, Princess Luna, which had gone about as different from Celestia as one would expect without it turning into a fight.

“Hello, dear sister. Sleep well?” Celestia had welcomed her with a cup of tea, offering it to her with her magic as she, rather unsuited for the image of a royal, grumped and grabbed the cup, drinking it in one go before setting it down.

“About as well as one would expect, thine sister.” She seemed exhausted, almost… Guilty, looking even smaller than she already was compared to her sister, before taking a breath and looking back up.

Right at him.

The following silence would qualify as deafening if he wasn’t used to it.

“Sister… One does not wish to come off as rude, but what is thine creature sitting beside you?” Her eyes trailed his tattoo, eyes narrowing slightly. “And thy energy… It is not of thine light nor our dark.”

Celestia let out a small sigh, standing up with a gentle smile.

“He is of no danger as of now, Luna. This is V, our guest, following some… Interesting developments.” She turned back to him, nodding. “V, introduce yourself.”

With a polite nod, he stepped forward, offering a hand for her to shake on instinct.

“Greetings, dear princess. Forgive my disruption, but your sister here has been rather understanding of my circumstances. I hope we’ll understand each other.” He smiled. Time to flex his poetry. “Some are born to sweet delight, some are born to endless night. Which one do you preside?”

The princess blinked, taking a second, before smiling a small bit, though not a happy one. Immediately he could tell he set something off within her, but it was too late to rescind the quote.

“Ah... Quite powerful words.” She was polite about it at least. “One is… Charmed, truly. Was that from a work of literature?” Offering an out, it seemed. One that he took with haste.

“Indeed. William Blake, though I doubt you know the name.” He reached into his coat, showing off his prized possession with a smile. “I do apologize if I upset you, but I don’t get the opportunity to speak prose casually often.”

Griffon snorted, deciding now was the time to materialise on his shoulder, much to his still-weak body’s annoyance.

“More like ya don’t stop quoting that book. Didn’t you ever learn it’s bad to lie?” Another snicker, before he yelped as V reached up to gently cuff him on the head.

“Quiet.”

Luna fell silent again, eyes widening at the sight of Griffon, before narrowing them again.

“Thou… Thou has a demon.” Her horn started to spark before Celestia quickly put it to rest by placing a hoof on her shoulder. “S-Sister, that’s-”

She just smiled, shaking her head.

“I know, Luna. I don’t trust him either, but I do trust V. At least, more than him. He’s given us his word that he won’t hurt anypony. Won’t you, Griffon?” Much like her sister, her eyes hardened at the bird, daring him to say otherwise.

Of course, Griffon didn’t voice any complaint.

“Yeah, sure. Believe it or not, not every demon’s a soul suckin’ monster. Only most of them.” He shook his feathers a bit. “Besides, V’s my charge, I ain’t gonna abandon him.”

“Hm.” V just smiled, staring at the princesses knowingly. “Once again, forgive his brashness. He’s got… Quite a mouth on him.”

“And that’s why you love me.” Another snicker met with V closing his beak forcefully. “Gah-Mmph!”

Giggles came from the pair, Celestia much louder than Luna, who was more subdued, before they composed themselves once again.

“Right, now that introductions are out of the way…” She turned to Luna, smiling. “I won’t keep you from your duties, dear sister. Please don’t hesitate to wake me if you need help.”

With nothing more than a nod, Luna turned away from the pair, presumably off to do her duties as asked.

As soon as she left though… Celestia turned to her, eyes downcast.

“V… I’m afraid you’ll have to watch your words around her for the time being.” She closed her eyes for a moment in thought, before looking at him again. “Up until recently, she was… Cast out. I was forced to banish her to the moon for… Attempting to bring an endless night.”

Ah. That made the look make sense.

“My apologies.” He decided to pocket the book for the time being. He could read it before bed. “I don’t wish to strain any goodwill I have with you.” Griffon, deciding enough was enough, retreated into his tattoo form for the moment, leaving only the pair there.

“Please, don’t think I hold any animosity for a mistake. You simply didn’t know.” She smiled gently, assuringly. “I simply wanted to make sure you didn’t make the mistake again.”

He nodded, accepting that.

“Then by all means… Don’t let me keep you awake.” He made to step aside, before a hoof was raised.

“Before I do…” They stood in silence for a few seconds, before humming. “Maybe she’s running late?”

Just as she was about to accept whatever happened, a flash appeared in front of her, eliciting a smile.

“Ah, there we are.” Without another word, she unfurled a scroll and began to read. V couldn’t deny his interest as he stepped up beside her Celestia letting him as he began to read in turn.

It was… Well, it was a report, definitely, a sort of mini academic note one would send to their tutor to let them know how their studies were progressing, but the subject matter was rather peculiar.

“... Friendship report?” He turned to face the Princess, brow cocking. “That seems like a peculiar subject matter.” Not that he could say anything else wasn’t strange about himself, of course. At least he learned the name of said student, Twilight Sparkle. He made a point to note that down in his head.

“It’s important for my student to learn the magic of friendship.” With that rather vague response, she closed the scroll, keeping it in her magic for the moment. “Perhaps you could take up the study, Griffon?”

All that answered her was a chortle.

“Well, I won’t question your student’s choice in subject matter, then.” He ran a hand through his hair idly as he turned to the door. “I’ll be taking my leave for the night.”

“Good night, V.” Celestia began humming a tune as she began her walk. “I shall see you with Twilight tomorrow morning.”

Tomorrow was going to be an interesting day.

Fire. Dark clouds. Horrid noises coming from the distance, and only getting closer.

Vergil was scared. He didn’t know where to go, what to do, where Mom was, anything. He just wanted to go home.

Yet, he couldn’t. He was too scared to move from the spring rider, practically trembling. Where was Mom?

Something landed behind him, growling menacingly. He had to run. He had to.

His legs took off in a random direction, barely thinking until he wound up in the cemetery nearby. His head was filled with nothing but adrenaline-filled instinct.All he could think of was running, but he couldn’t any more. He’d cornered himself accidentally, and this wasn’t going to end well for him.

“I don’t wanna die…” His voice was quivering with terror, skin pale as bone. “Please…”

His eyes darted to home, only to feel his whole mind stop seeing the damage. It was burning. His home was burning.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the fire, feeling a burning in his chest as he saw it. It filled him with fear, but also… Rage.

A deep, primal rage settled in his stomach, fists clenching. This wasn’t right. None of them deserved this.

It only got more intense with every passing second, watching the demons close in on his home, and himself.

No.

Something clicked within him-

And everything went white.

He awoke silently, sunlight drifting in through the curtains beside him, the only tell of a nightmare being his clenched fists gripping the bedsheets tightly.

“Ah…” He took a slow breath, closing his eyes to calm himself down. Just a dream. Just a dream.

“Hey, V, you alright?” Griffon’s voice was low as he appeared beside him, keeping just enough distance not to startle him. “What was it this time?”

V, now somewhat collected, slowly sat up, only trembling slightly as he did. Still not at full strength, but a couple more nights of rest should do well for him.

“The day everything went wrong the first time.” He kept his voice even, curt, clipped. He was not in the mood to think about the past at the moment. “Are we keeping the princesses waiting?” He kicked his legs out to the side of the bed, leaning down to sort out his outfit.

“”Uh, no? I don’t think so anyway. Heard some of the guards muttering about the excitement of you bein’ here, but nothing else.” Griffon hopped up beside him, glancing up at V. “Seriously though, V, you ain’t gonna… Lapse again like you did to Dante, are ya?”

V just smiled, a hollow, sad facsimile of one, but a smile nonetheless.

“What is there to lapse into? There is no trace of Sparda or his legacy in this land.” He stood up slowly, grabbing his book as he did so. Could do with a bit of reading to properly calm his nerves. “The only thing left is a remnant of a broken man.”

Griffon had nothing to say about that, simply deciding to slip back onto V. That bird reminded him far too much of Dante sometimes.

Once his wares were sorted out, he made for the door, slowly pushing it open. Time to meet this Twilight Sparkle.

When he got to the royal dining room, he wasn’t expecting more than Celestia, maybe Luna as well, having there meals, or failing that, no one at all. He could have slept in, or maybe they had their meals at different time than normal, but it didn’t matter either way.

As soon as he stepped inside the room, with his two guard escorts stopping at the door, the new faces at the table caught his eye. He supposed the pony was Miss Sparkle, but the other one appeared to be some sort of lizard... He turned his focus to the sole princess in the room, nodding to Celestia as he stepped closer, taking a seat just across from this… Twilight, who evidently hadn’t noticed him until he appeared in front of her.

“Ah-Ohmygosh!” Immediately, she sprung to life from where she had been sitting, horn lighting up as she conjured up some kind of paper and quill, rapidly scribbling down some kind of note as she looked him up and down.

He glanced at the Princess, quirking a brow as she quietly giggled at her student. Someone was rather excited, though he supposed he couldn’t blame her.

“Ahem, Twilight, dear.” As soon as she spoke, Miss Sparkle froze, laughing sheepishly as she set down the paper, before composing herself.

“Sorry, I got a little carried away there, heh.” She coughed into her hoof, before smiling at him brightly. “My name is Twilight Sparkle. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mister..?”

He smiled. He couldn’t help playing up the mystique again, truly, so he reached for his poems, flipping towards the same quote he used a month ago.

“I have no name, I am but two days old…” He frowned mentally. Didn’t quite work as well now that it wasn’t as accurate, but it caught her off guard at least. “Just kidding. You can call me V.”

“Ohhhh-kay, V, great to meet you.” Her smile felt a little forced, noting down something again out of what appeared as instinct before she caught herself. “Aheh, sorry again. Is that… Your real name? Do our species just name yourselves after… letters?”

He winked.

“Well, that’s for you to find out. It’s not fun if all the answers are laid out for you, after all.” With a snap of paper, his book closed as he pocketed it. “I assume your princess has caught you up to speed with myself, then?” He turned to said princess, nodding politely.

“As a matter of fact, I was in the middle of it when you came in. Perhaps you can chip in with the explanations now that you’re here?” She smiled gently, lifting her teacup as she took a sip. “It’s no better to hear the details than from the source, after all.”

“I suppose you’re correct.” He leaned back into his chair, looking to the last sat at the table. “I don’t suppose you could introduce yourself before we get to it, though?”

He hadn’t expected to be called to the stand, so to speak, as he sat there blinking in surprise before collecting his thoughts.

“Ah, I’m Spike, Twilight’s number one assistant.” He seemed rather proud of that, closing his eyes and putting a hand to his chest, before hopping up on the table and pointing a claw at him. “And I’ve got my eye on you, mister. No one messes with Twilight on my watch!”

He could feel Griffon’s mischief coming before he felt the pull of his energy, appearing right in front of the dragon with a cackle.

“Ahahaha, look at this little pipsqueak, thinking he can intimidate anyone, hahaha!” Spike yelped, leaping back in shock as he mocked the little lizard. “Hey, V, you know anything this lizard can beat?”

“I’m a DRAGON!” Regaining his confidence, got into the familiar’s face as he glared daggers into his eyes. “And get that through your head, birdbrain-” Before he could continue, he was dragged back by Miss Sparkle’s magic, Griffon only getting a second to gloat before V called him back again.

“Alright, Spike, calm down.” Twilight only looked somewhat disturbed by Griffon’s appearance, at least. She must have been told about him, then, otherwise he’d probably have gotten that horn pointed at him. “There’s no need to antagonise anyone. Even if that bird was… Rude.”

“Forgive him. He’s rather… Loudmouthed.” He could feel the squawk of indignation, but he ignored it. “Now, where were we? You wanted the full story?”

The good thing about having to go through the story again was being able to keep control of the narrative, and he was none too thankful for that. The pair in front of him listened to every detail, only occasionally speaking up to ask a question or two about details from either himself or the princess, before letting him talk once more.

If he could pat himself on the back, he was a rather good storyteller, judging from the expressions of the pair. His obsession with poetry had its benefits.

Before long though, they were caught up to speed, and that left them with the next step of things.

“... And that’s why I assume you’re here.” He paused momentarily, letting her finish her notes, before continuing. “I need your help to find my other familiars. They won’t be of any danger unless provoked, but I’m afraid they’ll be rather… Vulnerable without me.”

Unfortunately, the danger part was a lie, but having your only means of defense be targeted for being a danger to the locals wasn’t on his wishlist.

The princess nodded, standing up from her seat.

“I shall leave you two to talk. I’m afraid I must get started on my duties, but the library is free to you as always, dear Twilight.” She smiled at her, leaning down to nuzzle her, before turning around. “And V, if you need anything, don’t be afraid to ask. I’m happy to assist.”

“There will be no need.” He waved a hand casually. “I’m sure Miss Sparkle can help me enough.” Said Miss Sparkle blushed a little at the praise, before lifting her notes and pocketing them in the satchel she had brought.

“Then let’s get started. No time to waste!”

Following that, the three remaining started their trek to the library. He wasn’t sure how it’d help, exactly, but she seemed adamant that it was the way to go for the moment. She seemed rather… Focused, he supposed. It reminded him of himself. His whole self, not this half of him.

Though his focus was much more destructive.

“Say, V…” She slowed her trot down to keep pace with him, looking up with a raised brow. “If you don’t mind me asking… What exactly are your familiars? All I know is that they’re bound to you.”

Griffon, who had taken flight now that he wasn’t being forcefully constrained to V, cackled at her, flying low to meet her gaze.

“Take a guess, Sparky. Your princesses got it on the first try, and you seem like the nerdy type to know that shit, heheheh.” V wished he had his cane at the moment, instead sighing and grabbing him by hand. “Hey, what’s the big idea, Paper Boy?!”

“Apologies again.” She didn’t look nearly as startled as last time, at least.

“Don’t worry, I was told about how… Brash, he was.” She flashed an understanding smile at him, before looking at the bird in V’s grip, squabbling and squirming in anger. “Hm… That magic energy coming from him isn’t exactly good, is it?”

“No kidding…” Spike kept his distance from the pair, glaring at Griffon suspiciously. “I swear, Twilight, he’s gonna claw our eyes out or something.”

V smiled, letting Griffon go after a warning look, before looking at the dragon.

“Aren’t you supposed to be assisting Twilight in learning about friendship? That doesn’t seem rather inviting.” Spike, to his credit, looked rather abashed at that, rubbing a claw behind his neck as his gaze was drawn to the floor. “Not that the suspicion is unwarranted, of course. You are talking about a demon.”

“... A WHAT?!” Twilight leapt back, barely stopping herself from blasting a spell at the bird, judging from the sparks of her horn. “V, what do you mean he’s a demon?! Demons are dangerous! He’s dangerous!”

Griffon snorted, perching on V’s shoulder.

“Yeah, yeah, just be glad I’m not as bad as some other demons. Seriously, some of ‘em are vicious. Stupid, though.” He leaned down, preening at his wing idly. “Anyway, V, you sure you wanna be revealing that all willy nilly?”

“Were you not just goading her on to guess?” Griffon opened his beak, before closing it again, having nothing to say. “That’s what I thought. Besides… She’s an ally. I’m not about to proclaim it to the world, now.”

“Right…” Twilight stepped back towards the pair, keeping Spike behind her as she did. “Well, so long as he doesn’t hurt anypony, it’s fine. Just, make sure that doesn’t happen, please?”

He nodded, looking pointedly at his familiar.

“That won’t happen, Miss Sparkle. He’s loyal to me, and I wish no harm to you. Though we must make haste in finding my other companions, before they grow weaker.”

The air felt thick with tension after that.

Three hours of searching the library, and nothing to show for it. He had a feeling that’d be the case, but a silver lining was easy access to the history of this civilisation. That became his focus of the time there once it became clear he wouldn’t find anything useful in the pages of the books.

Twilight, though… She was running herself ragged, concerning the librarian even more than his presence.

“Uh, Miss Twilight, are you-”

“Yes, I am, don’t worry about me!”

That wasn’t the voice of someone calm. He closed the book about the history of Canterlot, setting it down where he was sitting as he stood up. It was best to see how she was progressing in her search.

And to temper her expectations a bit.

“Miss Sparkle?” With a hand to the bookshelf to stabilise his legs after being sat down for so long, he turned the corner, taking in the sight of an older pony looking between himself and the purple unicorn throwing books around to and from their shelves, skimming through them at a frightening speed, even for an avid reader like himself. “... Miss Sparkle, there’s no need to work yourself this much. I don’t think you’ll find what we’re looking for here.”

She stopped for only a moment, sighing and slumping as she did, before quickly putting the books that were still floating around her back where they belonged. Well, he assumed that at least.

“You’re right. I should have known, but I just thought…” She looked downright dejected, standing back up and walking towards him. “I just didn’t want to let you down after you put your hopes in me, that’s all.”

A puff of air left his nose as he smiled down at her.

“I mean no disrespect, Miss Sparkle, but I doubt you’d find anything about it in these walls. It’s good to read up on the history of this land, but I haven’t seen anything to do with… My familiars.” His eyes glanced to the librarian, before going back to Twilight. “Perhaps you have another location in mind?”

Her brows furrowed in thought as she tapped her chin.

“... Sorry. All I know are books, but… Maybe my friends could help?” Her eyes lit up, smile back in place. “Spike, would you mind writing to the girls for me?”

Said dragon, who up until now was catching breath, stood up straight, pulling a quill and paper.

“You got it, boss.” After taking a moment to clear her throat, Twilight began to relay her thoughts.

“Dear Applejack, when you get this letter, if you would be so kind as to get the rest of the girls to read this letter, I’d be very grateful.” She took a second, letting Spike catch up. “My trip to Canterlot has taken an interesting turn, and I need your help. I’m currently assisting a new visitor to Equestria find his friends who have appeared somewhere too, and I’m afraid I don’t know how to find them on my own. I’m not sure if he can come back with me, but when I do, I’d like to set up some kind of… Neighbourhood watch.”

Spike looked at her quizzically, but jotted it down anyway.

“In the meantime, would you please keep an eye out for anything unusual? Something like…” She paused, looking up at V. “Come to think of it, you never told me what your familiars looked like, did you?”

“No, I did not.” He contemplated telling her for a moment, before sighing internally. No point making it harder for himself. “Only because you trust your friends. Tell them to keep an eye out for a panther and… A towering construct.”

With but a head tilt, she nodded, gesturing to Spike to write what he said down.

Once that was sorted, all that was left was sending the letter. Contrary to what he thought, though…

FWOOSH

“... Did he just set it aflame?” He wasn’t caught off guard too often, but in this case, he wouldn’t blame himself for his reaction looking back. “That seems rather… Counterintuitive.”

“Oh, don’t worry. Spike’s flames are special.”

V had a lot to learn about this land, that was one certainty here.

Applejack had just gotten done with work for the morning when the letter appeared in front of her. Wasn’t often Spike sent her a letter…

Once she pulled off the seal, with a little bit of difficulty, she wasn’t used to the darn things, her eyes took in the words. As she read on, her brows furrowed a bit. Looked like this was gonna be a bit of a doozy for Ponyville until they found them.

She sped off down the path towards Ponyville. Lunch could wait a bit.

“Ah…”

It took a humiliating amount of time to gather the strength to walk again, but after a day, enough blood had been spilled to give him that boost he needed to retreat somewhere less open. Even a cave would do for the moment, as unwilling as he was to admit it. He was in no state to walk in the open, in case Dante was on the prowl looking for him.

With only a trickle of blood left from his healing chest wound in his wake, he trudged through the woods as quick as he could, reaching a clearing for him to look over.

“... That will do.”

A bit of smoke was coming from it, but it would do for the moment.

Despite his injuries, he was far stronger than he was a day ago, so crossing the forest and climbing the rock mountain was of little challenge to him. He didn’t like being so open, but luck seemed to be on his side for once. The only things to run into him were the wildlife, which served the great purpose of carrying him further along.

But a fraction of his former self, but he hadn’t sacrificed everything for nothing in return. Besides…

The blood here was just as vitalising as human blood. Much smaller, of course, but in time…

He’d usurp even his previous power.

Grooooooowl…

His fists clenched. Of course, this wouldn’t be an empty cave. No matter.

He wasn’t going to trudge through the dirt any more than he had to. He was a king, and nothing, no one, was going to best him again.

He would not lose ever again. Not to this beast, not to Dante, not to that mortal, not to his other half…

Not to anyone.

Author's Note

Took me a bit because life is life but hey the funny scoliosis man is making connections yahoo