ten times the door knock came

Ten times the door knock came.

Trixie was ready. This one was a solo job with Vinyl because Starlight was on her cutie map bullshit. So I suppose technically it was a two-mare job. Sue me.

Ten times the door knocked again.

“Hey Vinyl, is all this demon do? Knock ten times?”

“Yeah, and it’ll knock ten times on your skull if we’re not ready,” Vinyl said as she grasped her giant mallet woven with dragon fur. Bet you didn’t even know dragons had fur.

Trixie tightened her grasp on her own dragon fur mallet.

Ten times more the door knocked.

“So, uh, are we going to do something or—”

One time the door split open, looking for places to knock nine more times. Vinyl slid into position, parrying knock after knock until nine knocks were had. The amorphous bipedal monster steeled itself, ready to knock ten more times.

Trixie raised her mallet. One, two, three knocks before it jumped back. “So how do we defeat it?”

Vinyl shrugged before blocking four, five, and six knocks. “I dunno, tire it out, I guess.”

Seven, eight, nine, ten knocks. “I have a better idea. You distract it.”

Vinyl nodded before one, two three knocks came at her.

“Teleportation spell, go!”

Nothing happened before four, five, six, and seven knocks came. “What are you doing!?”

“This is my process!” Trixie inhaled. “Teleportation spell, go!”

Eight, nine and ten knocks came. “Well, it ain’t working!”

Trixie growled. “Teleportation spell, go!”

Knocks one through 8 almost overwhelmed Vinyl. Knock nine knocked her over.

“Teleportation spell, go!” and the monster was gone.

Vinyl balanced herself on her dragon fur mallet before hoisting herself up. “Nice! Where’d you teleport it?”

Trixie stared as her watch. “...four, five, six, seven…”

“No seriously where did it go?”

“..nine, ten.” And with ten the misshapen demon hit the ground, stunned from the fall. “Now grab the frog.”

Vinyl blinked, then shuffled towards the bag of weird shit Starlight left behind and pulled out a particularly swole frog. “Why’s it so swole? More importantly, why is it meowing?”

Trixie shook her head. “Never mind that, just shove it in the general area of the demon’s head.”

“Okie dokes.”

“Are you serious? Why would you combine the hallowed art of exorcism with such pedestrian—”

But no one cared what they said because they dissolved into a puff of smoke when the frog touched them.

Trixie exhaled. “Well, that got Knocktin out of here.”

Vinyl stared at the meowing frog in her magic grasp. “Why is Knocktin allergic to frogs?”

“Because, being bound to the slavish precepts of ten, they are afraid of freedom.”

“And frogs are representative of freedom?” Vinyl asked as she put the frog back in the bag.

Trixie shrugged. “That’s what Starlight told me.”

The door opened to reveal Twilight Sparkle, who forgot something. “The frog’s endless bounding represents the purest of freedoms,” she said as she walked through the scene, “I’ve been smelling brimstone more and more at my castle when visiting. Are you sure you mares aren’t doing anything to attract them?”

Trixie and Vinyl exchanged glances. “Well. they just show up and we exorcise them. Starlight says we’ll get to the bottom of it if we catch the right demon.

Twilight growled. “The right demon might kill you.” Twilight worked out a book from her saddlebag and floated it over to Trixie. “I found a book that could help.”

Trixie looked over the cover and leafed through the pages. “I can’t read a word of this.”

“Well, I was assuming Starlight could help when she’s back from her cutie mark adventure.”

“When is she supposed to be back?” Vinyl asked.

“Right about now!” Starlight said as she trotted in, extremely full of herself. “Guess who just brokered a treaty between the Yaks and the Wild Things?”

“That’s nice,” Trixie said as she shoved the book at Starlight., “now read this.”

Starlight looked it over. “I can’t.”

“What do you mean you can’t?”

“It’s written in the Secret Language of the Wise Old Changelings. Before the hordes.”

Trixie huffed. “Well, can you translate it?”

Starlight paced around, patting Twilight on the shoulder. “Thanks, Twi.”

“My pleasure. I’ll be off now,” Twilight said as she vamoosed.

“Don’t you need an Old Changeling/Modern Ponish dictionary?”

“We don’t have that,” Starlight said with a huff. “We have an Old Changeling/New Changeling book and a New Changeling/Modern Ponish book.”

“I’m out,” Trixie said. “I need to practice my act anywho.” Trixie left the scene.

“I gotta,” Vinyl said, “I gotta gig tomorrow and wanna brush up on my chords.”

“Fine,” Starlight said as she paced towards the library.

She floated towards the Languages section to find an Old Changeling/New Changeling dictionary.

Ten knocks came.

Starlight paused. “Oh crap they used the smoky jungle frog didn’t they—”

The door burst open before Starlight grasped Knocktin in her magic.

“I must warn you of our continued business.”

Starlight squeezed as hard as she could without killing the poor soul. “You have no business in my world, Knocktin. None of your kind do.”

“We have the most important of business here. To raise our dead to lay waste to your society. To make your dead our own and join them in the raucous slaughter of the mockery that is life. By the time we have completed our task, Equestria and all around it will be the plaything of the demons and devils who unfairly lurk below your kind.”

“Not on my watch.” Starlight forcibly compressed the demon’s body until it was a sphere, then blew the dust off of her well-worn book onto the demon. It screeched before it melted through the air into the ground, dispelled from this world.

Sighing, Starlight grasped another book from the shelf until she had all three. She settled her and her books down at a table and lay them across from each other, ready to do the arduous task of translating Twilight’s gift.