Of Demonic Firepower

Falling.

Falling.

Dante could remember only falling for a while now. His mind was in a trance. He knew meeting with his older brother would be fun, but he never thought Vergil would bring it upon himself to end their game so early.

Dante was pissed. However, his recent assault has left his muscles completely uncooperative. He couldn't move his limbs at all. They would only dangle up towards the sky as he fell. Fell to who knows where.

Dante could feel something about to explode within him. It was like this big well that was about to shoot up this enormous geyser of boiling blood. The after-effect was the anger Dante felt now, and he only got hotter and hotter as he fell.

It was a boring day. Nothing went as well as anypony really wanted it to, and Ebony and Ivory were no different. For hours they were looking, searching for any sign of any hint that may point them in the direction of their past owner; Dante.

Zecora offered to help them further. Twilight was going to, but she said she had a feeling somepony wanted her back in Ponyville. So, Ebony and Ivory were left in the zebra's care.

Naturally, the first place they looked was the Everfree Forest. Zecora guided them back to where she had found them, yet nopony could find any clues to another pony's intrusion upon this location. But neither of the mysterious devil ponies wanted to believe this. They never dropped the possibility that Dante may have been nearby.

Zecora, having business at her home, said to the black and silver pony, "Ebony and Ivory, I commend your bravery. Unfortunately, this is far enough for me."

For a moment, Zecora's words were left unacknowledged, but Ebony eventually looked in her direction, "Yeah, no problem. We got this. You can go on home now."

Zecora nodded. "Find Dante, I hope you do. But alas, I must leave you." She turned and made her way back the way she came.

Ebony waved until the zebra disappeared from vision. "Thanks for the help, Zecora."

Once she was gone, Ivory sighed heavily and looked at Ebony. "You think we should trust them? They don't seem like any other demons..."

Ebony turned. "I don't know, Ivory. Maybe they're devils like we just found out, or maybe they're something completely different."

"Well, I don't trust them."

"Well, I still don't know. I mean, they went out of their way to help two complete strangers, so either they immediately knew we were different, or they were just nice."

Ivory snorted. "Devils can have silver tongues, you know."

"Indeed."

With the discussion dying off, Ebony and Ivory continue to examine the area around the location of their arrival. Ebony had found a small cave nearby, and they both decided to set up home in the hole in the rock. It had a clear view of the site, and should Dante ever return to this location, they would surely see them.

They had gotten settled in to the cave when Ivory spoke, "Ebony, I just thought of something..."

"And what's that, Ivory?"

"What if..." her black eyes pierced unto Ebony's silver pair, "What if we don't find him?"

Quickly growing uncomfortable with the topic, Ebony said, "Now, now, don't talk like that. You know Dante. If there's a way to find us, he will."

"I know, but..."

Ebony put his hoof on Ivory's shoulder. "Don't even think about it. It's not worth it."

It took her a moment before she could nod and reply, "Okay."

Ebony smiled. "Sorry. It's just, I have a good feeling about this place."

"However," Ivory continued, "if Dante doesn't show up here, then where do you think we should go?"

"...Well, I guess if need be, we can always look into this 'Ponyville' that the purple pony spoke of..."

"You wanna do that now?"

"I said if need be. Let's just wait here for a while..."

Ebony laid down on the cave's cold ground, and Ivory followed closely. Hence that point on they waited.

Quickly, minutes became hours, and Ivory was growing impatient. It didn't take long for the silver pony to shout, "How much longer do we have to stay here!? Why can't we go out there and look for him!?"

Ebony sighed and stood up. "You know what? You're right. Let's go."

"Wait, really?"

"Yes, now get up."

Ivory bounced into a standing position instantaneously. "Woohoo! Let's go!"

Confused, Ebony asked, "And why are you so anxious to go?"

"Because sitting around here all day is boring. I need to do something. Something fun. Something entertaining."

"A party?"

"You read my mind, Ebony."

After that, Ebony and Ivory set out for Ponyville in search of some fun. They had a ways to go, unknown to them, yet they were ready for anything. For they had something - an ability - nopony else had.

WHAM!!!

The body of Dante crashed down onto the grassy clearing in the Everfree Forest, shoving Rebellion deeper through him on impact. However, at this point, the impalement didn't faze him at all. He was feeling stronger now, and he was easily able to draw out Rebellion as if it were a twig.

Dante slowly picked himself up and looked around. Everything was pulsing out at him. The trees, the rocks, the leaves, Rebellion, everything. The only sound Dante could make out was the beating of his half-blood heart. He felt like he was going to pass out from dizziness. His entire body was burning, as if it wasn't meant to be there, yet the demon in him resisted the destruction, causing crazy amounts of pain like he'd never felt before.

However, he was still angry at Vergil. He clutched his head with his hands, and tried to fight the urge to explode. But everything still pulsated, his heart beated faster and louder...

Eventually, he let it all out once he violently threw his head back and stared into the canopy. "RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!"

Dante had never experienced this kind of energy before. He felt, though only for a brief period of time, as if he were invincible. As though nothing could possibly stop him. It felt good, but he was too weak to maintain this new form for very long. Eventually, the magic exploded off of him in multiple demon rings, and he collapsed on the grass.