Of Demonic Firepower

Amongst the top of Temen-Ni-Gru, Vergil looked down to the destruction the tower had caused. Although he knew he had earlier not disposed of his brother, he couldn't feel his presence. He had a bad feeling about that abyss. Not that he really cared about whether Dante lived or not, but knowing he was gone wouldn't be very much fun for him, even if he did fulfill his dream and receive Sparda's old power.

Sighing, Vergil digs into his coat pocket and pulls out Dante's half of the amulet. The ritual was so close to being ready. This amulet, along with his, would serve as one of the many keys to the Underworld. What was keeping him from collecting the last of the keys?

Frustrated with his hesitation, the Dark Slayer spins and begins walking down the tower. His grip on his brother's half of the emblem had tightened without his knowledge, and the key stressed under the pressure. Regardless, Vergil kept walking. He only lessened his squeeze on the amulet when he was on the walkway over the abyss.

Curious of his brother once more, Vergil takes a quick look down into the darkness. His eyes failed to detect anything, nor still could he sense Dante. The Dark Slayer grit his teeth and looked at his brother's amulet again. Then, he seriously considered if Dante was still down there, or if he was really gone...

Then it occurred to him: What if the key only works while he is alive? What if Vergil still needs Dante for the ritual to take place?

Vergil shifted uncomfortably at the thought. He put the amulet back into his pocket, pushed his hair back, then, in his dark manner, said, "You're more use to me alive and available, Dante."

And with that, Vergil plunged into the abyss.

"Hurry up!"

Dante grunted as he did his best to keep up with the two weapons, who already had a huge lead on him. Ponyville was visible in the distance, and it was plain to see that evil had already corrupted it. Buildings were toppled over, screaming could vaguely be heard, and fire was starting to blaze over the town.

Nearly three minutes passed before the trio found themselves upon the cobblestone roads of the town. The amount of demons on the streets was like seeing something from Resident Evil; crawling with zombies. Dante chuckled for a brief moment until he found himself among the horde of malevolent entities; from where he quickly began to slice and dice.

As usual, Ebony and Ivory sat back and took up the role of sharpshooters, firing from tens of meters away. Despite this relatively far distance, they still managed to make all their shots count. Dante, who normally gave a fuck when it came to demon hunting, couldn't care less this time, however; there were demons out the ass, and losing a few to his gunpony companions didn't faze him this time.

Amongst the fighting, Dante could see pools of red scattered throughout the streets. This was disturbing to him for only one reason... He knew that demon blood didn't 'pool.' He sighed, for he was already too late to save everyone. Then, channeling his hatred through Rebellion, Dante cut the air, launching a huge horizontal energy wave cruising through multiple demons, decapitating them all and turning them into blood fountains until they disentegrated into ancient dust.

Dante moved on through the streets and turned a corner, where he saw a brilliant magenta force field on the far side of the road in the middle of an intersection. He wasn't entirely sure who or what was providing the force field, but it was no demon work that he'd ever seen, and that was enough for him. Then he saw the brightly colored faces within the borders, when he finally understood. Instantly, Dante ducked down and dashed forward, preparing for another monster horizontal slash against the horde of demons gathering around it. There were easily another thirty just there alone.

Dante's pony companions were closing the distance as well. Shortly after he had started slashing again, sure as shit, there they are again, knocking off the dead heads one by one. At least they can hold their own, Dante thought.

With a mighty jump, Dante launched himself over the crowd. While he ascended, he whipped out Cerberus and began to spin on his way down. The revolving nunchuks of Cerberus battered its way through the horde quickly, as Dante propelled it forward with a little help from his shotgun. Some of his demon power alligned the spray of the buckshot into colliding with Cerberus; pushing it forward, keeping it afloat, windmilling faster all at once. Dante could hear the muffled cries of terror coming from the other end of the force field. Or maybe they were cheers of triumph?

Either way, the horde was completely depleted now, at least around the force field. Dante took this time to take a brief breather, though he wasn't entirely sure if he needed it.

"That was amazing!!" a voice rang out from the force field. Dante turned his head to reply, but "Uhh..." was all Dante was prepared to say. The pony that called out to him looked to be some shade of blue, though through the magenta force field, it wasn't very clear. It DID have a multi-colored mane and tail, however.

"Twilight! Open the field for a second: Let's get these guys in here!"

Shortly afterwards, the magic briefly opened, welcoming Dante, Ebony, and Ivory. The ponies went right in, yet Dante was hesitant. "Well, what are you waiting for!?" the pony waved toward him to come in, "Come in!"

"Is everybody here?" Dante looked through the wall at all the terrified ponies. "Are these all the survivors? This is where you guys are taking refuge?"

"Yes! Now come on before more of them show up!!!"

"Wait!" Dante suddenly remembered. "That one pony! She's still out there!"

The pony smiled but still tilted her head. "Another pony?"

"Yeah, that yellow one with the pink hair."

She gasped. "Oh, you mean Fl--"

"Close the barrier!" Dante said. "I'll be right back! I need to gather her and bring her here!"

"I'll go with you! She's a friend of mine!"

"Rainbow? Is that man coming in or not?" the purple pony from the party materialized behind the blue one.

"Umm... no, he's going to go get Fluttershy..."

"Then what am I doing, holding this barrier open for him?" No sooner had she finished when the hole in the force field closed. "Dante! Get Fluttershy and come right back!"

"I'm on it." Dante replied, then quickly spun and returned the way he came. As he was leaving, he could vaguely hear the rainbow pony thumping against the force field.