Of Demonic Firepower

Ebony and Ivory backed off of the pool of demon blood in sync. Once they caught their breath, Ebony turned to Dante and said, "That was..."

Dante cocked his head sideways and smiled. "Fun?"

"Actually, yeah, it was!"

"Well, get ready for another round."

Ivory picked her head up from her trance. "Wait, what? Another?"

Dante brought Rebellion behind him, but didn't sheathe it. "We're going back to Ponyville."

"Why?"

"If the demons are here, then everyone in the town is in danger. We need to go back and protect them."

Ebony and Ivory both nod, and take their place behind Dante as he leads them back out of the Everfree Forest. Deep down, all three knew that Dante was correct, because demons resonate a very strong sense of hatred. Ponyville is a very peaceful place, but the vibes they were picking up from its general direction seemed more malevolent than pure. Dante thought he couldn't care less about the residents of the town; he just wanted to get rid of those demons. So, he gradually picked up the pace, with Ebony and Ivory in tow.

After a short moment of travel, Dante found himself in the presence of a brightly-colored cottage. There WERE demons inside: He didn't need to open the door to confirm that. Together, Dante, Ebony, and Ivory paired up at the door. The two ponyguns prepped themselves for the first shot, and waited patiently for Dante to turn the knob...

'On three,' the Devil Hunter motioned to the ponies, holding out his hand and extending three fingers.

'One...'

'Two...'

He swung the door open, went prone, and pulled out a double-barrel shotgun. "Three!"

Quickly, gunshots echoed through the building, followed by several disgusted screams of anguish. Dante could wait there and shoot so Ebony and Ivory could nab some, but the demon blood within him was boiling, itching for a fight. Thus, Dante kicked off the ground and into the room, drawing Rebellion and holstering the shotgun all during the little frontflip that launched him forward.

One.

Already, Rebellion had gotten a fatal slash through an ugly undead, splattering the clumpy life force onto the nearby wall and table. That count was only bound to get higher, as he proceeded into the next room.

"This is what I live for!" Dante smirked in high-tone as Rebellion dug through the face of another demon.

Ebony and Ivory also proceeded into the room. Dante found it rather bothersome, actually, since they were both extremely accurate, taking valuable kills away from the Devil Hunter with every shot. It didn't really matter to him as much as the rather random bursts of energy were sometimes directly behind him. He isn't quite used to having a partner - or actually two - that back him with gunfire; Dante was more broken in to gunshots other than his being against him.

Four.

That's right. Only four kills for Dante. As quick as Dante and his two gunponies entered, the demons dissentegrated from the cottage's interior, leaving only one other soul in the room other than theirs. Putting away Rebellion, he slowly walks up to the petrified pony in the last room.

"Are you okay?" Dante held out his left hand.

In response, the panicking cream-coloured equine yeeped and dug deeper into her forearms.

"Hey," Dante knelt down on one knee, "it's okay. They're gone."

The pony still didn't move. Dante bit his lower lip, pondering on whether he should just leave or try to comfort the pony. Nearly ten seconds passed before he made his decision. His palm slowly inched closer and closer to the mare's pink mane; his plan was to brush the hair away so that she could see all was well. However, instead of calming down, the pony jumped back from Dante's hand and further into the corner of the kitchen.

"Hey!" Dante put his palms up in inhostility. "I'm trying to tell you everything's alright!"

The pony had landed on all fours, which meant that she could see Dante clear as day now, yet the intimidated equine continued to doubt.

Dante shook his head in frustration. "Fine. I'll just be off now. That's probably what you want, anyway, isn't it?"

Fluttershy's face finally picked up, letting herself visualize Dante for the first time. She quickly extended her forehoof. "Wait a second!"

Dante ignored her as he made his way to the door. If it weren't for Ivory jabbing him in the side of the knee, he would've disregarded the cream pony completely. "What do you want, Ivory?"

Ivory only glared at him with threatening black eyes, then nudged her head to the young horse without breaking eye contact with Dante.

The Devil Hunter exhaled as he turned. "Yes, ma'am?" he forced himself to say.

Fluttershy ducked her head. "Umm, I mean... You - you are free to go, but..."

Dante furrowed his brow. "But what?"

"Umm..." She couldn't look directly at him, so she blindly held up her forehoof. "I just... I'm... My..."

Dante smiled and walked back up to the cream-coloured mare, kneeling back down so that he was eye level with her. Then, as carefully as he could, Dante spoke in his most gentle voice. "You... want to say something?"

Fluttershy finally looked up from the floor so that they could both look into each other's souls. She slowly smiled and said, "I'm Fluttershy... Thank you for saving me..."

Dante averted his gaze from Fluttershy's eyes, widening his grin for only a second before replying, "Nice to meet you, Fluttershy. Now, are you gonna be okay from here?"

"Well," her voice went down several decibels, "I hope so."

"Here." Dante extended his arms out from his torso, in which the pony slowly fell into. As Dante held the scared equine, he could feel her breathing on his chest, warming up a small portion of his jacket. He looked down onto her mane, which was really starting to get in his face, and forced himself to blow loose strands of pink hair away from his nose as Fluttershy nuzzled deeper into his jacket.

Dante patted her back. "I gotta go. Ponyville's in trouble."

Fluttershy complied, picking herself off of Dante's chest and sitting back from the Devil Hunter as he stood up straight. She waved him farewell, but Dante had already turned and missed this gesture, quickly making his way out the door with his two pony companions.