Chapters Chapter 1.) Demons Are Born
Frustrated, Dante searched all ends of the room for that aggravating white face of the Jester. Unfortunately, the column of light to return to the room he was previously in has already appeared, meaning that there was only one soul in the room; his own.
"Hope he can pay for those." Dante made one final remark before entering the beam of light.
The devil hunter relaxed as the brilliant beam enveloped him, and the world began to spin around him. Deep down, he wished these wormhole trips didn't have to make him so dizzy. He considered maybe he just wouldn't go through them anymore.
After a moment, Dante's feet had hold of solid ground. He was back at the beginning of Temen-Ni-Gru; the very gargantuan structure that contained the key to the Demon World. Dante's twin, Vergil, was attempting to break the seal and gain the power that previously belonged to their father; Sparda, the King of Demons.
When Temen-Ni-Gru first came out of the ground several blocks away from his shop, Dante just wanted to go because he 'didn't wanna miss the party.' He was most likely referring to the massive amount of demons that would surely erupt from the disturbance of Temen-Ni-Gru. At the time, he was unaware that Vergil was planning to do so much more than just throw a welcoming party for his younger brother.
Disgusted, Dante looked up toward the sky in a failed attempt to see the peak of Temen-Ni-Gru. "Aww, man... And I must've went up a hundred floors!" He threw his vision to the ground, kicked a pebble of what used to be a building, and shrugged. After a very brief moment, he picked his head up and started walking again.
"Damn that clown..."
"Whew!" The clown said to himself as he walked through an altar of Temen-Ni-Gru. "That was awful close! Good thing that noise happened when it did! Daahahahahahaha!!"
As he carelessly strode to the top of the tower, he nearly forgot about the silver and black handguns he stole earlier. The Jester pulled them out from his coat and observed closer. They were obviously custom perfected for maximum performance. Their balance was perfect, their accuracy was better than 100%, and they seemed to fire forever, as if the clips were endless.
But Jester only frowned. "What possible use do I have for these!?" He thought for a moment, then gave up. "Oh, well!!"
With that, he flung Ebony and Ivory off the sides of the small bridge. As they fell into the abyss, the clown continued laughing and kept walking, not even looking back.
Vergil was at wait at the top of the demon tower. His 'assistant,' Arkham, went somewhere into the tower earlier and has been gone for a little over half an hour now. He didn't mind the privacy and quiet, but he still pondered if he had gotten into any trouble.
Amongst the wind at his ridiculously high altitude, Vergil could barely make out the faint footsteps coming from the other side of the tower. His hand steady on Yamato - the katana that Sparda passed down before his death - Vergil stayed where he stood, ready to slice the intruder in two.
Somewhat to his relief, the foot steps belonged to Arkham. Vergil returned his signature Devil Blade to it's previous position as the assistant with the writhing face approached his side.
"You're late."
At this, Arkham smirked. "Oh, really? Whoops. Guess I lost track of time."
Vergil averted his gaze to the demon, but only out of the corner of his eye. "And what's the delay? You said you'd be right back."
"Ah, I was merely adoring the magnificence of this marvelous structure; Temen-Ni-Gru, the border of the gateway from the Human World... to the Demon World. Two millennia ago, the angry souls who revered evil constructed this brilliant edifice. Soon, the gate to the Demon World will be open, and this structure can finally fulfill its role for which it was intended after two millennia of confinement."
Vergil unsheathed his sword at pointed it at Arkham's chest. "Don't play me for a fool, Arkham. I know you were horsing around with Dante. Otherwise," he brought Yamato closer to the demon's face, "you wouldn't have that cut on your nose."
Shocked, Arkham lifted a hand to his nose. "Aww, that's too bad. I was hoping that would go away before I got here. Well, no matter."
Vergil gave a very small smile and withdrew his blade from Arkham's face, but didn't sheathe it. "Did he have it?"
Vergil was referring to an amulet that Dante wore around his neck. When they were born, both children were separated and kept away from each other. Shortly before their human mother died, they each received an amulet that were meant to be given to the heir of Sparda. Since there were twins, the amulet was split down the middle so that they both received a necklace. Little did Dante know, that the amulet can be reconnected and serve as one of many keys to Hell. And Vergil needed it if he wanted to inherit his father's power.
Arkham grinned. "Of course. He's taking good care of it. After all, it is the only momento he has from the mother you both lost..."
Vergil lifted the amulet from his chest and peered into the red diamond. "Yet he isn't aware of its true intentions..."
WHAM !!!
Two ponies lay unconscious in the darkest depths of the Everfree Forest. Actually, 'unconscious' may not be the right word for it. These two ponies have never had souls before. Nor were they always living beings in Equestria.
There was a black-coated one. This one had four light-brown boots on, and its mane and tail were short and white; much like Dante and Vergil. On its flank was the name, "Ebony."
And the other pony was silver. As Ebony, this one also had light-brown boots on, and also same was the style and color of the mane and tail. However, apparently etched into this pony's flank was "Ivory."
As once lifeless, soulless objects, it will be some time before the shock can trigger the devils in these monster ponies. For now, they lay, dormant; but they will spring forth once they learn how.
How to live as Equine Devils.
How to live as Ebony and Ivory.
Chapter 2.) What Happens... Happens
Author's Note: For those of you who like my story but are unaware of what material is being crossed over, this is Devil May Cry . Three. I've never played anything but three, so I don't really have any other knowledge prior to Devil May Cry 3 .
With that out of the way, please enjoy!
Dante stood before the massive front entrance of Temen-Ni-Gru for a moment. It happened not too long ago, but he recalled the first time he's actually had fun in over a year or so was just in that room. His devil hunting ways, he was glad to see, had not gotten rusty.
What was just in the main entrance used to be one of several guardians of Temen-Ni-Gru. It was a three-headed dog named Ceberus that controlled the power of ice, hence why the room was named the 'Ice Guardian's Chamber.' It talked big, but it was less than a match for Dante. Once it was defeated, Ceberus surrendered and offered his soul to the devil hunter. When he accepted, Ceberus withdrew his life force (which destroyed him) and gave it to Dante, which, in his grasp, materialized into a three-way nunchaku infused with icy powers.
He pulled out the nunchaku and looked at it. "Hmph. Nice little gadget. Might sell well at the pawn shop." Dante snickered and started walking again. Putting up Ceberus's soul as he walked, he fluffed out the bottom of his coat.
He would've entered the Ice Guardian's Chamber, but the door began do glow with the red souls that prevent any living to proceed. Surprised, Dante smiled and turned to look back down the once peaceful 13th Avenue. To his fortune, a posse of demons came out from behind the destroyed ruins of business buildings and pedestrian apartments.
"Oh hey! Some guests! Good. I was startin' to get kinda lonely." Dante waved toward the angry souls, enraging them and making their approach faster.
Almost reflexive, Dante went to draw Ebony and Ivory, but was sort of thrown off that he couldn't feel the handles of his custon weapons. He grunted. He swore under his breath that the clown was going to Hell for this. Oh wait, too late.
So, Dante shrugged and drew Rebellion, the broadsword also passed down by Sparda. Rebellion was nearly as tall as Dante, with a skull etched into the hilt, and souls of millions of dead went into making the blade, making Rebellion not only amazingly strong, but several times more powerful against demons. Plus Rebellion was Dante's most balanced and familiar Devil Weapon.
"Okay! Come get some!"
With Vergil in a deep state of meditation, Arkham just sat back and scrolled through a red book he happened upon while in the depths of Temen-Ni-Gru. Something about the tower was nagging at the human-turned-demon, however. It was as if there was a familiar presence somewhere within the tower. Something he knew very well.
Vergil opened his eyes. "Arkham."
The assistant looked up from his book and turned his head toward the Dark Slayer. "Yes?"
"We have an uninvited 'guest.' "
Arkham looked up to the blood-red sky in thought. He knew what that presence was, and the way the demon half of his face festered when he thought it proved it. It was a soul that was thirsty for revenge on him for killing his own wife to become a demon. This soul was very similar to his wife.
"Indeed. I have felt it as well," Arkham eventually replied. "It's a human... ... A woman." Vergil turned to face him, which meant he was onto how he knew of such probablilities. In somewhat of a panic, he continued, "Let's see if I can't 'persuade' her to leave us alone..."
Without a reply from Vergil, Arkham began to walk toward the passageway that led from the top of the tower to the next highest floor. Even he himself did not know exactly how tall Temen-Ni-Gru actually was. Slightly disappointed, Vergil turned to face off the edge of the tower, looking down on the destruction the summoning of Temen-Ni-Gru caused earlier.
Twilight Sparkle. One of the most talented unicorns in modern-day Equestria. Earlier today, Zecora sent her a message regarding a new herb she stumbled upon within the depths of the Everfree Forest. She wanted help identifying it, and what better pony to ask than the princess's most gifted student?
Twilight was entering the forest now. Regardless of how many times she may ever need to enter this dark place, she always gets on edge when she does. Things never go nicely in this forest. Ironically, the second time she had, she had accused Zecora of placing a curse on them. One time, she was turned to stone by a cockatrice and rescued thanks to Fluttershy's brave efforts. Another time, she had a little run-in with a hydra that scared the living magic out of her. Recently, she went to seal off a place within called 'Mirror Pond,' since Pinkie Pie was mischevious enough to believe that having more Pinkie means more fun. Point is, this forest tends to make even the bravest ponies shudder. And Zecora's hut was in a ways, and according to the letter, the herb was even deeper...
"Relax, Twilight," the violet pony thought out loud, "Nothing's gonna happen to you. You've been in here several times before."
So she thought.
a frightful moment of walking occured before Zecora's hut became visible to Twilight. Relieved, she let out a long breath and prepared to knock on the door.
But she didn't. Because she didn't need to. Zecora was already in wait for her inside her home, and she had noticed her through a window.
The zebra started the conversation. "Ah, Twilight, so nice to see you, as you know. The incident at hoof has confused me so."
"Well, that's why I'm here!" Twilight replied in an upbeat tone. Twilight always enjoyed being useful. "I've brought several wild survival guides and plenty of herbal dictionaries. We WILL identify your mystery!"
"Actually, Twilight..." Zecora dropped her ears, "I'm ashamed to agree -- Lying to you was wrong of me."
Twilight tilted her head. "You did what now?"
Zecora moved out of the way of the door so Twilight could see into the house. Creepy as usual, she thought. All the traditional masks and the fancy ingredients appear pretty much untouched. It looks almost exactly the same as when she peared through the window with a 'curse' so long ago.
But as she entered the hut, something nagged at Twilight Sparkle. It was almost as if somepony else was in the room, other than Zecora and herself...
And she confirmed it when she saw the silver and the black unicorns laying near lifeless next to the fireplace.
The demons grew nearer to Dante, and he only watched as they made movements the devil hunter could see coming miles away. With Rebellion in a defensive position, Dante smirked and began to walk toward the hoard as well.
A demon cloaked in red was the first to strike. It dashed into a horizontal swing that it thought was certain to cut the intruder in half. But Dante was waiting for just that. With a quick step, the devil hunter hopped in the air and landed on the scythe of the enemy, flipping off of it, forcing the blade down to the ground and it's owner thrown off balance. Its head was then pierced with Dante's signature weapon, strewing demon blood across a few faces of the others.
Anticipating Dante's trajectory, several other demons began to swing their scythes at the spawn of Sparda. However, Dante was coming out of a front flip. At his current velocity, he was gonna smash his head into the concrete. Dante knew it wouldn't hurt, but he still didn't wanna look like an idiot.
So, during the flip, Dante drew a double-barrel shotgun he snagged from a bar not too long ago, and shot it down onto the blades that all met at once at where he would've landed. With the recoil of the shotgun giving him more forward turbulence, Dante prepared a hammer slam on the demons with the body still completely stuck on Rebellion. The ground then shook as three evil souls melted away into the wind, leaving behind a few stones of red demon blood that could be infused into Rebellion and other similar Devil Arms to make them more powerful.
Dante was on the other end of the crowd, sword stuck in the street away from the enemy. With a quick flick of his legs, he propelled himself upward and kicked an ugly demon face in the moment. Now, with Rebellion out of the road, Dante followed up with a sweep of the demons' legs. The majority of those who were struck by the blade immediately fell, but those who weren't so fazed by it moved forward to strike again at the devil hunter.
Dante let go of Rebellion so it would cut through the ones still standing and fly out of range of the demons, and pulled out Ceberus all in one fluid motion. Holding two ends of the nunchaku, the icy weapon whipped through the black bones of the enemies, stalling their advance, giving the devil hunter more opportunity to look stylish. Too bad there wasn't an audience.
Letting go of one of the nunchaku so that two would now slash through his foes, Dante caught the head of one unfortunate soul and entangled it within the chains of Ceberus. It was then launched at the other demons thanks to a quick flick of his wrist. During the spin, Dante completely let go of Ceberus, but caught his left index finger within the loop that connected the three nunchaku, and also threw two shotgun shells in the air as if it were completely natural. Refocusing on the ring, Dante thrusted his arm through the hoop and spun it around his wrist, shooting icy burns at any of the impatient souls who dared get to close to the windmill-type movement of the nunchaku.
Stepping back, Dante opened the barrels of his shotgun, and let the two cartridges he threw up just a second earlier fall into their appropriate locations in the firearm. As soon as the barrels closed, Dante rolled forward into the crowd of demons; toward where he threw Rebellion not five seconds ago. Jumping out of the roll, Dante once again used the shotgun to propell himself forward in the air while the buckshots rained upon the ugly skeletal faces of his enemies. He threw Rebellion further than he wanted to, unfortunately, but it didn't faze Dante's style in the least.
"Woohoo!" Dante yelled as his feet met with the ground. All in one amazing motion, the young devil hunter sweeped up the hilt of Rebellion and aimed down its blade toward the demons struggling to get up. "C'mon, boys! Don't want the show to end yet!" Dante clapped his hands together, as if calling a dog.
Shink!
He gasped. Dante looked down to see the blade of a scythe sticking straight out of his chest. Sudden spilling of some of his blood re-energized the demons still laying on the street, dashing over to where Dante was and all putting their weapons through him nearly at the same time.
"Damn," Dante said in a frustrated tone. He looked back at the face of the first demon to pierce him.
"And I was on a roll! Man, you guys aren't fun anymore..."
"Where did you find them!?"
Zecora ducked her head out of the volume Twilight was yelling at her in. "The story is quite simple, so just let me speak; and then I shall give you the answers you seek."
Twilight was growing jumpy at the fact that she was a potential witness to two dying ponies, but she managed to control herself for Zecora. "Okay."
Zecora sighed and recollected. "...Just this morning, I sent out to go look for some herbs only found in a deep part of the woods. What I found instead, were the black and silver pony, who appear to be named 'Ebony' and 'Ivory.' "
Twilight nodded as she took it all in. "Are they alive? It would be a miracle if they were. I mean, who knows what's out there in the forest?"
Zecora also nodded. "I agree, they cut it close; but they are still breathing. What's odd is that their hearts don't seem to be beating."
"What!?" the purple pony gasped out of disbelief. "How is that even possible!? You can't live without proper blood circulation! It's just impossible!"
Without waiting for a response from Zecora, Twilight Sparkle went over to observe for herself. Indeed, their chests were steadily ascending and descending, but Twilight could hear no heartbeat as she pressed her ear up against them. Stumped, the pony stepped away from the black and silver ones laying next to the fireplace.
It was then that Zecora spoke. "How this stuff works, I can't really say. What attacked them must've left them this way."
Twilight shook her head to the two unconscious ponies. "What are they? Zombies?"
Zecora laughed. "Twilight, you know that assumption is absurd. Zombies are just fiction, from what I've heard."
"Then how do you explain --"
She was interrupted by a cough from behind her. Startled, she slowly, very slowly, turned her head to look where the noise came from. She jumped back when she saw the puddle of blood that was on the floor and all over the silver and black coats of Ebony and Ivory. They were both awake now.
What surprises the pony and the zebra further, is that when they stirred, the blood dissolved back into them .
Ivory was the first to stand on all fours, very closely followed by Ebony. When they were steady, they looked at each other with vacant expressions. Puzzled, Twilight Sparkle gathered the courage to check their chests again.
She shook her head. "Their hearts aren't beating... ... ... They just... aren't... ... ..."
Chapter 4.) Pull The Trigger
Dante sighed. These demons really don't know how to put on a good show, he thought, and began to shake his head and laugh. Then, with a swift kick from behind, Dante was able to launch the party pooper into the air. However, the demon never let go of his weapon, so everybody that still held on to Dante went up with him.
He landed on his back, breaking the handle of the scythe and forcing the rest of the blade clean through him. Bouncing up, Dante kicked the blade into the foreskull of a fortunate soul, strewing demon blood in the faces of his comrades. During those two seconds, Dante refocused down the blade of Rebellion once more; only this time with a whole bunch of swords and scythes sticking in him.
The devil hunter grunted. "Man, all these hilts keep getting in my face!!"
For some reason, the demons left him alone as Dante broke off handle after handle of the weapons, however leaving the blades trapped within his body. Once he could see clearly, he scratched his hair and laughed.
"Okay, guys. Round two."
The newly awakened ponies had their vision fixed on one another, as if they were stuck in that position. Neither one of them moved a muscle. In her curiousity, Twilight checked their chests once more to see whether their hearts had begun to properly pump life into them.
Disappointed, Twilight was on the verge of tears. "They still aren't beating..."
Zecora's jaw dropped to the floor. It took her a moment before she could gather it and say, "What caused that ailment, I do not know. The situation only confuses me so."
"I-I just don't get it... It's not ponyly possible..."
Twilight shook her head multiple times, delving deeper into a state of confusion herself. Then, shutting her eyelids tight, she turned and shot her vision toward the black and silver ponies once again, "Say something! Anything! Just, please...!"
At this, Ebony turned his head toward the lavender pony, just as a drop of salt water trickled down her cheek. Twilight gave a small smile in hope, but his blank expression didn't change.
He began to turn his head back toward Ivory when Twilight erupted, "Ebony, SAY SOMETHING!! "
The black pony gasped. Ivory also flinched from the sudden volume. Twilight now had the attention of the demon souls. However, no language was ever formed from either of their mouths.
The black pony looked back at Ivory for just a moment, before he coughed up more blood. This time, poor Twilight was in the line of fire; not directly, but it did splatter off the ground and streak her midnight blue mane and face.
"Eww! It's all chunky!" Twilight must've bounced back a hundred feet.
Ebony cleared his throat. A few seconds passed as his silver eyes were now fixed on the demon blood on the floor. Then, he placed his forehoof in it, effectively cleaning every bit of the dark red substance. He then chuckled and said, "That's better."
Both Twilight Sparkle and Zecora gasped in unison. Ebony spoke! They weren't mutes after all! Twilight quickly decided she should start a conversation, the right way. "Are you okay?"
The black pony looked up. "What do you mean 'am I okay?' I'm surrounded by... By... ... Uhh, something... and Ivory! And me!! What happened to us!?"
Twilight made a face that suggested she didn't make out a single word he said. "Umm, I don't think I understand.... Did you say you don't know what we are?"
"Yes. I've never seen anything like this -- Well, actually, I've never seen anything, ever ."
Twilight raised her eyebrows in disbelief. "Wait, you're blind!?"
Ebony sighed. "No, that's not quite what I meant... I was trying to say I -- Well, I've never really... ... ... 'lived.' Ever. And neither did Ivory here..."
"How do you 'not live?'"
Ebony thought hard about this question. It was hard to put in words how to describe his 'life' to somepony who's got no idea what he was talking about. Eventually, he said, "Well, I couldn't see or hear anything... Before now, anyway... The only things I really remember are that we had a master. His name was, umm... ... It was... ... ..."
Ivory looked at Ebony with her black eyes and smiled very vaguely. "Ebony?"
The black pony whirled around. "Yes, Dante!"
He froze. To the best of his knowledge, Dante was not in the room. Ivory just wanted to get his attention, it seemed. Confused, Twilight asked, "What did you say?"
His jaw ajar in disbelief, Ebony turned back to Twilight. "That's what Dante called me! Ebony! Ebony and Ivory!!" He smiled and looked back at his silver partner, then back to Twilight. "Do you know where he is!?"
Twilight withdrew her head a bit. "Whoa... What was his name? 'Dante?' "
"Yes, we belong to him; Ivory and I."
Ivory had her colorless, black eyes fixed on Ebony, and her jaw was partially open. When Ebony turned to notice, he smiled and tapped her forehoof with his own. "We..."
Ivory cut him off. "Weapons."
"Yes. We were... 'weapons.' I remember now. Yes, we were... "
"Guns."
Twilight and Zecora again gasped in sync at the word. After a moment of silence, the zebra finally spoke, "Let me get this straight, black and silver one; you're saying you two both used to be guns?"
Ebony made eye contact with Zecora. "Yes. We were guns. Handguns. And Dante did something to make us... shoot metal."
Trying to remember the sensation of pulling the trigger, Ebony closed his eyes and attempted to picture what Dante did in order to make them fire. During his thought, his horn began to glow a very pale shade of yellow. The aura got brighter and brighter until eventually, some kind of explosion was heard below Ebony's hooves.
Ebony raised his hoof and obvserved it. He was wearing light-brown boots, but there was a hole on the bottom of the hoofwear. So, he took it off, figuring there was no point in wearing a shoe with a hole in it.
But upon closer observation, there was also a hole in his hoof.
Chapter 5.) Blood Relations
It had only been a minute earlier had Dante been completely surrounded by demon spawn. They were foolish enough, however, to leave Dante in possession of all their weapons, making the game the devil hunter was playing so much more of a bore. He was easily able to kill off the accursed souls and break the seal on the Ice Guardian's Chamber.
Dante shrugged and yanked out the last blade stuck in his left arm. He cast it aside as he walked through the gigantic entrance to Temen-Ni-Gru. Upon entering, Dante quickly got a huge blast of icy wind shot at his whole being.
"Whoo!" he stretched as his exposed limbs and chest developed goosebumps, "Forgot about that part. Ehh, I won't be in here very long anyway."
Dante nonchalantly strolled through the room and opened the enormous double doors leading into the next room; the Tower of Echoes. This room was the 'clock tower' part of the room, as all the gears constantly made sounds as if they were giant clocks ticking away at time. Dante personally found it annoying, especially since he knew it would speed up once he inserted the Astronomical Board; the key to the stars.
Dante looked up through the many pathways leading up several stories, and pondered which door he passed through last to get to where he was. It didn't really have any significance to know, since he had to be here anyway; just be nice to know. He guessed it was the green door as he ascended through the passageways up to the top of the room.
"I hate walking..." Dante muttered as he scaled the room. "If only there was a faster way to get up there, I might be able to get to the party on time!"
"A storm is approaching..."
Arkham muttered to himself as he walked through several different rooms looking for the soul that was looking for him. The presence was getting closer every step he took. His demon half of his face festered more and more, as the smell of familiar blood had made his boil.
He turned a corner in a hallway, and the first thing his eyes focused on was the barrel of a handgun. Slightly surprised, Arkham looked down to see the face of the person he already knew was there.
"Hey, father."
Arkham smiled. "Now now, Mary. Is this any way to greet your father?"
"You're not my father. My father died years ago. You're a monster that took his place!"
"Hmmhmmhmm... You hurt my feelings, Mary... That's not very nice..."
The lady pulled back the chamber on her handgun, bringing the first bullet from the clip into the barrel. This was her chance. She could take revenge for her mother now. Her index finger was squuezing the trigger, but there was something nagging at her, keeping her finger from pressing firmly enough.
Arkham frowned. "...Are you going to kill me, Mary? Or can you bring yourself to kill your own father?"
Mary threw her vision away from her father's face and closed her eyes. A single tear was shed as her finger finally ignited the spark inside the handgun, launching the bullet. She expected to hear the explosion of Arkham's brains, but what she heard instead was a very loud digging sound. She looked up, and found her father was no longer there. Shocked, she searched the whole room, but Arkham was nowhere to be found.
However, a reverberation of his voice was heard. "You disappoint me, Mary..."
Twilight Sparkle and Zecora both jumped from the explosion that originated from Ebony's forehoof. Their faces were completely covered in fear, for these two ponies are still very dangerous.
Ebony observed his right forehoof and noticed the metal ring. "Did Dante do it like that?" He looked where his hoof was on the floor and noticed a charred hole in the wooden floor. Curious, Ebony looked around the room.
Then he saw the open window, and knew that that was his target. Lifting his right forehoof, Ebony pointed his sole toward the gap in the open glass. He then began to think of Dante again, causing his horn to once again glow with a pale yellow aura. Once the aura got bright enough, the explosive sound once again shot through each pony's ears. A burst of energy shot out from the metal ring, and moved nearly as fast as light out the open window.
Ecstatic, Ebony softly said, "I'm still a weapon..."
As Twilight picked herself up, she decided it was Ivory's turn. "Then that means... If you can do it, then shouldn't Ivory be able to do it as well?"
Ebony looked back at Ivory. "Take off your fore boots."
She did so, and observed her soles. She also had a metal ring in her hoof, but unlike Ebony, it was in her left forehoof instead of the right.
*copy and paste Ebony shooting, but replace all 'Ebony' and respective pronouns with 'Ivory's*
"Amazing..." is the only word that Twilight's lips could form.
"We really should start looking for Dante now," Ebony said to the lavender pony. "Thank you for all your help."
Twilight nodded. "Sure! Sorry I couldn't be more help about Dante's whereabouts..."
"Don't worry, we'll find him."
As he said this, Ebony and Ivory started for the door. Once out, Ivory took a quick glance back at Twilight, her face full of worry. She then closed the door behind her.
Zecora was first to talk. "I worry about those two. Who knows what trouble they could get into."
"Me, too," Twilight sighed. "with those guns in their hooves, they could do anything..."
"Indeed, those ponies do pose a threat. Especially for that purpose they were once meant."
"Yes, Zecora. The fact that they USED to be guns is also a dangerous fact. They could be cold-blooded killers deep down. And if they're that bad, then I don't even want to think about this Dante they're looking for..."
Chapter 6.) Duel Of Devils
Nearly an hour has passed since Dante was sent back to the beginning of Temen-Ni-Gru. Fortunately, the beginning wasn't very far, so Dante didn't lose much time. If anything, he may have gained some.
Regardless, Dante was nearly at the top. He could feel Vergil's presence get closer and closer by the step. It disturbed the young hunter for some reason, and it made his half-blood itch for a fight. It has been a whole year since Dante last saw Vergil, and the memories of which aren't very pleasent, to say the least. He had a couple things to say to his older brother...
"It'll be nice to see you again, Vergil." Dante smirked inside.
Dante was passing through a suspension millions of meters up from the ground. Or at least, it definitely seemed like it, for he could see the many city lights of the... well, city. Directly below him, however, seemed like an endless abyss of darkness. Should he fall off, there was no turning back. Thank the architects of Temen-Ni-Gru that the walkway wasn't very narrow.
As Dante came up on the door leading to the roof, he felt a huge presence of a demon behind it. It could only be one person; Vergil. Smiling, Dante drew his right leg back, then struck the door, throwing the large opening off its hinges and off the edge of the roof, to tumble and turn as it fell the immeasureable distance to the streets below.
Very shortly afterward, Dante quickly drew Rebellion, for the other demon had been unfazed by the incident with the door. "Hello, brother. It's been a while."
Vergil smiled. "Indeed, Dante. It's been nearly a year or so since I last saw you."
Dante shook his head. "Man, you sure know how to throw a party, don't you? I mean, no decor, no games, no drinks, no chicks --"
"Forgive me, brother. I was so carried away in thought of meeting you, I guess I forgot all about the preparations."
"Whatever you say, Vergil," Dante looked at the reflection of himself off of Rebellion's blade, then shot a glare into Vergil's eyes. "So, I'm here now; wanna get the real party started?"
Vergil chuckled as his right palm found the hilt of Yamato. "Indeed. Let's... 'party.' "
Dante brought Rebellion in front of him in a defensive position and sidestepped to his left. Vergil only stepped onto the overhang along with his brother. Both sons of Sparda proceeded nearly into the center of the bridge, above the city. Above the abyss.
It wasn't until Vergil drew Yamato from its sheath that Dante lunged forward to attack. Quickly, Vergil deflected to his left, but was slightly caught off guard by the roundhouse Dante threw immediately afterward, but not to the extent that he was hit by it. Once steady, Vergil went for an upward attack of his own.
Dante, not having put his boot down yet, stomped the katana into the stonework below him. He then jumped off of it, preparing for a hammer slash against Vergil's throat. He was unsuccessful, as Vergil ducked out of it. However, Vergil did catch sight of a tuft of white hair as he ascended for an uppercut.
Dante met knuckle-to-knuckle with Vergil halfway. They exchanged smirks as Dante caught sight of Vergil switching his grip on Yamato. They broke away from each other's clutches just soon enough that Dante only got a small slice across his stomach from Vergil.
Dante, somewhat enraged, lunged forward again, this time with Rebellion in a thrusting position. This, too, Vergil deflected, and afterward, exchanged blow after blow of the Devil Blades.
After a short moment, Vergil jumped out. "Nice to know you haven't gotten rusty, Dante."
Dante smirked again. "Ditto."
Afterward, Dante pulled out the shotgun. Vergil, already prepared, windmilled his blade once so that he not only caught all of the buckshot, but neatly organized them on the tip of Yamato. Vergil then spinned into a horizontal slash, which sent the buckshot right back at Dante.
Dante, being more of a brute, swung Rebellion and hoped for the best. One, two, three, four -- He was okay. He heard five chinks at his blade, which meant he got them all. He exhaled and stared into the face of Vergil, with a faint glimmer in his eyes. No, Dante was not crying. Rather, something was igniting within him.
Vergil caught sight of this. "You are only now discovering your hidden power?"
Confused, Dante replied, "Don't bet on it."
"Pfft!" Vergil looked away for a moment, before lunging himself at his younger brother. Dante, having been stumped by Vergil's words, was caught off guard and impaled by Yamato.
"Hmph," Vergil's eyes glared unto Dante's as his life force painted the floor. "Why haven't you embraced your power, brother!?"
"Because I'm not a monster," Dante said, voice trembling, "like my father..."
"It is the key to revealing who you really are inside! Your lust for power, your desire for strength -- Don't you agree these feelings would make life... 'fun' ?"
Without waiting for an answer, Vergil kicked Dante's body off of his demon katana. More blood splattered as the young Devil Hunter's being hit the floor. He was stunned for the moment. Dante could only watch as Vergil approached his side and knelt down.
"I need this," Vergil said as his palm enveloped the amulet around Dante's neck.
Still unable to move, Dante could only squirm in place. He could only manage to mutter, "No..."
"It doesn't look like you're in any position to stop me, brother." Vergil said as he ripped the amulet from its bearer, and placed his other hand upon the blade of Rebellion. As he picked it up, the blade immediately began to draw blood, but the Dark Slayer never flinched. He could barely feel it. Once it was completely in his possession, Vergil fixed his grip on the hilt of the weapon, and began to walk away.
Dante was utterly powerless. He still could not move. Angry to no extent against his brother taking two of his closest possessions, Dante tried his hardest to get up and attack him, before he got too far away. The aggravation getting to him, he found himself slowly rising upward.
However, Vergil was more attentive than Dante gave him credit for. His demon brother quickly spun around and stuck Dante to the ground with his own weapon; Rebellion.
Vergil shook his head. "You disappoint me, Dante..."
Dante, with all his rage, was finally able to shoot his being up to confront Vergil. His fist met Vergil's sword midway, but it didn't faze him. He was too angry to feel pain right now.
Amazed, Vergil smiled. "Ahh, so there is a devil in you, after all..."
Dante was attempting to reach for Vergil's face and slam it into the ground, but Yamato was proving to be a bit of an obstacle. It was inching into Dante's arm further and further, every time he jerked. Eventually, Vergil was able to throw his weight all to one side and launch Dante into the air. The older brother only watched as his younger plunged into the black abyss, with Rebellion still stuck in his gut.
"Pitiful," Vergil stared into the darkness with angry eyes. He then turned back for the door - or where the door would be - to the roof. "Well, at least I have what I need now..."
Chapter 7.) A Devil Hunter Among Ponies
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.
Chapter 8.) I'm Not A Monster
Two hours later...
"... ... Hoh..."
Dante shifted. After two hours of recovering his energy, he was finally able to move again. He grunted, and pushed on the ground next to his chest with his hands. He then stepped one leg under him, and pushed upward steadily.
Once Dante was on both legs, he observed the immediate area. "Hmm... And when did I take a train to La-La Land?" He noted that nearly everything looked like it was out of some children's picture book. Confused, he found where he lobbed Rebellion earlier, picked it up, and pushed it into its appropriate position on Dante's back.
"I remember fighting with Vergil... I remember him launching me off the bridge... Falling into the dark pit... When the hell did I get in Toon World? Is Hell a freaking fantasy land or something?"
Then, out of further curiousity, Dante looked up. But, he didn't quite see what he was hoping for. What he saw was a light blue sky; and what he was hoping for was an endless abyss.
Dante shrugged and stepped forth. Then he took another. And another. And another. His steady pace carried him to the nearest trail he saw out of this clearing in this forest.
"Wonder if there're any demons here..."
Ebony stumbled out of Sugar Cube Corners with a mild case of the hiccups. He had a couple too many food items and drank just a bit too much juice. His chest and face met the ground simultaneously.
Ivory, who was a little less entertained with the party, followed Ebony outside, and froze when she saw his hind legs were pointing right at her. She quickly closed her eyes and turned her head away. "Uhh, Ebony, you know there's some things I could've gone without seeing for the day? That was one of them."
Ebony only now removed his face from the dirt. "Huh?"
"Never mind," Ivory said and stepped over in front of him, "now stand up before you embarress yourself in front of some stranger."
Ebony returned to his previous standing position, however still unsure of what she meant by 'embarress yourself.' "Well, I guess I enjoyed myself, didn't I?"
Ivory snorted. "Talk about an understatement."
"So we had some fun. Whadaya wanna do now?"
"Umm... Let's go back to that cave. I'm getting kinda tired, actually. I think it's about time we called it a day. Plus you need to burn all those calories you just got."
Ebony scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
They had gotten about ten feet away from the door, when some rediculously fast movement from behind them shouted, "Aww, are you guys goin' home now? Your welcome party isn't over!"
Ebony called back, "Yeah, sorry guys, but I think I've hit my limit. I'll catch up with you tomorrow!"
"Promise?"
"Uhh... Sure, promise."
"Pinkie-Pie-Promise?"
Ebony stared into the turquoise eyes from afar and let out a little laugh. "Sure, Pinkie. Whatever you say."
Pinkie Pie returned a smile and extended her right forehoof out the door. "Okey-dokey-lokey! See ya tomorrow!!"
Without waiting to give Ebony a chance to reply, Pinkie dashed into the building. Shrugging, Ebony turned once more to walk alongside Ivory and go back to their settlement in the Everfree Forest.
It took Dante a moment before he was out of the giant forest, but now he was. Along the way, he had encountered several different kinds of 'monsters,' but none of which he really considered to be demons. They didn't pose much of a threat to him; most of them were rather small and chickened out when they came in comtact with the devil hunter, but there was one monster that didn't. It reminded him much of his battle with Ceberus, for this monster also had multiple heads. However, Ceberus was much more fun and lasted much, MUCH longer. All Dante had to do was jab Rebellion toward one of its necks, and it panicked like a little child. Dante never touched the beast, but it still ran off as if it were a baby.
With every step, Dante found himself wondering more and more, "Where the hell am I? What is this place?" But, he was out of the forest, and a new obstacle awaits him. A town. Excitement got the better of him as his pace broke from a slow walk to a jog. He didn't know what to expect, but where there's a town, there's some kind of smart civilization. And Dante has only had run-ins with weird creatures thus far, and there was something about it that seemed familiar to him.
A short minute or so later, Dante was walking on the cartoon cobblestone roads of the town. All his weapons hidden under his coat, he cautiously entered the town, as making a bad first impression - he's learned over the years - on your first day tends to ruin your reputation.
But, as Dante observed, he didn't see anyone else here. at least, not humans anyway. There were a multitude of horses, though. Several unusually colored horses of various shapes, sizes, ages, and genders seemingly randomly did stuff in the streets.
And upon closer observation, it looked as though these horses were actually talking to one another. Not only that, but communicating in many ways that humans normally would. Hell, some of them appeared to be running business stands!
Dante could only stare from afar, unnoticed by the massive audience. "Sheesh! Talk about Toon World, eh? It kinda looks like somethin' you'd see off of My Little Pony or somethin'!" He took one last look on the town, then shrugged and turned around. "Screw it. I'm not about to go in there. Whatever shit I got high on before I came here sure seems to be workin, though."
Dante put his hands in his pockets and began to walk away from the town. Upon his return, he noticed a signpost that had several signs on it. Just for the heck of it, he decided to step over and read it.
"'Welcome to Ponyville!'" He placed a hand on his mouth to explode from laughter. "Are you for real!? Who the hell would name a town 'Ponyville!?' Oh my gosh, I gotta keep reading these..."
"And what's so funny about our guide post?"
The devil hunter looked back just enough to see a pink horse looking right back at him, with an odd look in her eye. That was the end of the line for Dante. "Whoa! Okay, are you the one that just said that!?"
"Yeah. Why?"
Dante facepalmed. "You know what? I give up. I'm leaving. This place is way too rediculous for me."
"But wait!"
The pink horse seemed to want to know more about Dante, but he didn't even look back as his pace again reached a run.
"Teh! Ponies..."
Dante shook his head as he walked away from the colorful cartoon town, seemingly called 'Ponyville.' As he walked, the pink pony from earlier continued to follow him. Several times the pony tried to start a conversation, and multiple times had it cut in front of him and cut him off, yet Dante just kept pushing it away and kept going. It was starting to piss him off, however, and he found himself tightening his grip on Rebellion.
Eventually, Dante yelled at the pink pony and slammed down on the cartoon dirt with the demon blade. "What the hell do you want from me!?"
"Whoo! That was close! Maybe if you had been just a bit faster with that --"
"Stop talking, before you make me."
The pink pony stood still, then raised its left hoof to pull an imaginary zipper across its lips. Sighing, Dante put Rebellion back on his shoulder. "What's so important, you need to keep nagging me about it?" However, the pony didn't say anything this time, but she shook her head. "Well!? What is it!?" Now, she pointed to her lips, signifying she couldn't talk because of the zipper shut tight.
Frustrated, Dante knelt over and pulled the imaginary zipper back across the pink pony's mouth. Instantly, it burst out, "Oh, it's nothing special; it's just ~~because I've never seen you before, ever ever before, I figured you've obviously never been to Ponyville before, so I thought that if you were new, then you must be lonely, and if you were lonely, then you must not have very many friends at all, so I wanted to inv~~--"
Dante managed to shut her face with his palm before his ears exploded. "Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!!! Pony, take a chill pill or somethin', will ya?" Slowly, Dante withdrew his hand from the pink pony's mouth, and for the moment she stood quiet. "Now, habla en ingles, per favor, and let's try this again..."
She looked in confusion for a short moment, due to the words foreign to her, but eventually took a deep inhale, then restated; "I said - or at least, I was gonna say - that I wanna throw a 'Welcome' party for you! Seeing as you're new to Ponyville, you don't mind... Do you?"
"A party?" Dante looked at the pink pony with exclamation in his eyes. He thought for a moment, then said; "Hmph. Why not? I don't really have anything better to do. I'm always good for a decent party, anyways."
"AL-RIGHTY, THEN!!!" she bounced up and down rather quickly. "The preparations will be set up in a matter of minutes!" After finishing that sentence, the pony dashed back toward the town, and shouted back to Dante, "See ya there!!"
Dante had his hand extended only for a moment, before he returned it to his side and sighed. "Hell of a goofy pony. Jeez, still can't believe I'm catching myself so calm like this. Wouldn't anybody else be flipping out by now?" He shrugged. "Ehh, she offered me a party. And let's face it; even if it is a pony, who am I to resist a party?" He put his hands in his pockets and started walking back to Ponyville.
Deep inside, Dante was actually kind of curious about these ponies. He wondered whether they were demons or if he was just in some really fucked up dream or whatever. If this was just another part of Temen-Ni-Gru, and the ponies were just more demons, then they were behaving oddly strange compared to others. He figured this 'party' will prove his suspicions about them for now.
"Girl didn't even tell me her name. I'll make mental note of that."
a couple minutes before...
"So, you just wanna go back home, Ivory?" Ebony said, still a little dizzy from nearly passing out from earlier.
"Yeah," the silver pony with black eyes replied, "but going straight home sounds kinda boring. Let's visit some more of this 'Ponyville' before we go. You know, become more acquainted with some of the people -- Erm, ponies."
"Oh, all right!" Ebony shook off the dizziness, then placed a hoof on his forehead to help him focus. "Well, where you wanna go first?"
"I would like to stop by Twilight Sparkle's home and, you know, pay her a visit, tell her thanks again..."
"Cool. Sounds good, let's do it."
Without further discussion, Ebony and Ivory took their own little tour of Ponyville, unofficially starting with Sugar Cube Corners, which they just left; officially starting at Golden Oaks Library, pretty much just around the corner, where a certain purple unicorn lived.
Eventually on their trip, the pink pony caught their attention once again, "Hey guys! Wanna join my next 'Welcome' party!?"
Disgusted, Ivory grunted. "Don't you think we would've had enough party for one day!?"
Pinkie Pie lowered her ears. "Does that mean you don't wanna come?"
"Well," Ebony stepped out of Ivory's protective grasp, "if it's a 'Welcome' party, Ivory -- Who do you think it could be?"
Pinkie jut in. "I didn't catch its name, but it was pretty mean and didn't seem like it was in a good mood."
"Wait!" Ivory started smiling. "Did you say it was an... 'it?' Does that mean that 'it' isn't a pony?"
"I dunno what it is, but I've never seen quite anything like it."
"Ivory," Ebony looked at Ivory with a suspicious glare in his silver eyes, "are you thinking... what I think you're thinking?"
"Well, that depends on what I think you think I'm thinking. Whadaya think I think you think I'm thinking?"
"I think you think I'm thinking you're thinking maybe this new 'something' may be..."
Ivory smiled wider.
Satisfied, Ebony turned to Pinkie. "We're there."
But Pinkie looked confused. "There where?"
Ebony raised his hoof. "At the party."
It took her a moment before she started giggling. "No, you sillies. You're in the streets of Ponyville. That's not where the party is being held; it's always held in Sugar Cube Corners."
Ebony raised an eyebrow, as if to say, 'what?' But Ivory began to talk for the demon stallion. "He meant, we WILL be there."
"O-o-o-oh, okay," Pinkie rolled her eyes. "Well, if you decide to come, it's over on Sugar Cube Corners." She then dashed away from the duo back from whence she came, and she shouted back to them, "See ya there!!"
Ebony had his forehoof extended for a short period of time before he set it down on the cobblestone once again. "That is one goofball of a pony."
"You said it," Ivory nodded. "Should we go?"
"Yeah, let's go."
Without further discussion, Ebony and Ivory walked in sync over to Sugar Cube Corners.
Chapter 10.) Dante's Awakening
From where he stood, Dante looked up at the top of the building. It had various candies, cakes, and other sweets in its design, from which Dante made the following assumption;
"Hmph. Looks like this is gonna be more of a kid's party than a 'party.'"
Concealing his weapons behind his coat, Dante walked into Sugar Cube Corners, where he almost immediately bacame deaf from sudden exposure to several pops, whistles, and other party-like sounds, not to mention the seemingly hundred voices who said in sync, "SURPRISE!!!"
Dante quickly felt pushed back from the force put behind the sound wave, but his feet stayed exactly where they were. Once his head wasn't ringing from one side of the world to the other, he said, "Well, I'm... not used to that..."
Several ponies quickly begun to laugh, whether at him or with him, Dante could not tell. However, after a moment, the pink pony made her reappearance. "Welcome to Ponyville!!"
Dante slowly nodded. "Uhh... Thanks." He started to walk further into the party floors, but he recalled not having the pony's name. "Wait a minute! Miss, I never got your name."
The pink pony followed him with his eyes. "I'm Pinkie Pie! Welcome to Ponyville!!"
Awkwardly, Dante slowly nodded, then spun on one heel and turned to the rest of the room once again, from which he could see the many games the other ponies were playing, the drinks, the cakes -- All of it. Nothing at all what he expected. Perhaps he had his hopes too high.
But then he recalled the fact that he was in a fantasy world directed to seven-year-old girls. He felt stupid as he thought he should've seen something stupid coming.
One pony got him out of his facepalm with a question. "Excuse me, umm, whoever you are. What are you? Who are you?"
It took Dante a short moment to analyze that this pony was purple with a midnight blue mane and tail with a pink highlight running down each. Feeling like a smartass, Dante answered, "What's it to you?"
The pony looked up at him. "What?"
"Oh, never mind," he said as he knelt down to come to eye level with the purple pony. "So tell me something first, Ms. Pony. If you don't know what I am, then that means I'm the first of my kind you've ever seen, am I right?"
"Yes, it is, now would--"
"Okay, that's odd," Dante thought aloud to himself. "I seem to vaguely recall there being people in the My Little Pony show. So if there aren't any people here, then either this is counterfeit, or it's just My Little Pony without the people..."
The purple pony cut him off from his thinking. "Excuse me? I'm not your little pony. I'm nopony's little pony, for that matter."
"Hmm?" Dante looked down from his thought. "Oh no, I'm just thinking aloud to myself. Don't pay me any mind. Now where were we?"
"I asked for your name, and your species."
"My species? What, you've never seen a human before?"
The pony stepped back a few steps, as she seemed to sense a hostile tension emanating from Dante. "Uhh... No, I haven't..."
"Well, I'm a human. But don't get used to it," he said, as he tightened the glove on his left hand with his right, "cuz I don't intend on staying here for very long."
The pony still only hosted a confused posture. "... ... ... Okay... ... So, what's your name?"
Dante raised his eyebrows, realizing there was fun to have in a seven-year-old-girl-show after all. "Well, if you suddenly bumped into me on the streets and saw me like this, then what would you think my name was?"
The look on the purple pony's face was priceless, as she just kept getting more confused. "What would I...?"
Dante motioned with his hands for the pony to continue. "Call me if you had never met me before?"
"Umm... Well, your hair style looks a lot like Ebony's and Ivory's, so maybe I'd call you... Amber?"
Disgusted, Dante blurted, "AMBER !?!? Gahhahahahahahahaha -- Wait, what?"
"Wait, what, what?"
"Did you say something about my two handguns?"
The pony gasped and stepped back further. "Ebony and Ivory! So, YOU must be Dante!"
Now it was Dante's turn to be confused. "Wait, they... 'told' you about me?"
"Yeah. They're ponies now. They say they vaguely remember being handled by their master, who went by the name of Dante..."
"So, Ebony and Ivory were transformed into..." Dante shook his head and clasped his hands around it. "No, that's pushing it a little too far."
"What is?"
"My guns! You're saying they're ponies now!?"
"Hey, if they were important to you as handguns, then I'm sorry. That was then, and this is now, and right now, they're ponies."
Dante exhaled very slowly, yet very angrily. "Okay, so where can I find Ebony and Ivory?"
"They're right over there," the purple pony pointed with her right forehoof. "Go talk to them. They don't talk much, but they should open up to you."
Following her hoof to two ponies next to the wall - a black male with silver eyes, and a silver female with black eyes - Dante started approaching the duo. Upon getting close enough, Dante began to feel the presence of an actual demon, or maybe more. The signal was weak, but it was there.
Kneeling down so he could speak with them on eye level, he looked at the black pony. "Ebony?"
He remained silent, but turned his flank to show Dante the name etched into his thigh. Upon reading the word 'Ebony,' the devil hunter brought his palm to his forehead once more, in what he called 'embarressment.' Now, turning his vision to the silver, his further fears were confirmed when her flank read 'Ivory.'
Shaking his head, Dante held out his hand. "Nice to meet you, Ebony and Ivory."
The ponies only looked at each other, then Ebony spoke, "Nice to meet you, too, sir."
"Oh, it's not quite like that, you two. We've always known each other, though not necessarily in this world."
"And what does that mean?"
Dante smiled and fluffed his hair. "Hmmhmm... My name is Dante."
View Online
Chapter 11.) Demon Souls In Equestria (finished)
"My name is Dante."
At the first moment, Ebony and Ivory did not react. However, give her a second or so, and Ivory said, "You're Dante?"
"Yep."
Ebony turned his head away from Dante's fixed stare. "We've been looking for you since we got here."
"I bet," Dante nodded. "I've been looking for you over in my realm as well. Kinda pisses me off that that damn clown would drop you down the abyss like Vergil did me."
"You were dropped down an abyss?"
"Yep. And apparently, this is where it leads. Hmph. Some 'abyss.'"
Dante backed away for a short moment. With his back turned, Ebony and Ivory exchange questionable looks. The demon presence was emanating from the two ponies, Dante finally pieced together, which means they have souls, as do other demons.
Dante pondered upon this topic for a moment. He looked back on his adventure thus far. Earlier, Ceberus, the guard dog, gave up his soul so that Dante may use it to continue his quest. And Agni and Rudra, two twin blades of fire and wind, he had to 'tame' before he could use them. Determining with this minimal information, he feared, in order for Ebony and Ivory to transform back into guns, he would have to kill them.
But if they were always demons, and Dante always contained their souls as handguns, then maybe they were always ponies, too. He cringed from the thought.
Ivory saw him jump. "What's wrong?"
Brought out of his train of thought, Dante turned, "Wha? Oh, it's, uhh... It's nothing. Just a little noise in the back." He pointed to the table that contained the majority of the food, which didn't contain as much food as it did a pink pony.
"Oh," Ivory rolled her eyes. "Yeah, she's pretty random."
Dante broke a small sweat. "So," he said, "do either of you have any plans for the rest of the day?"
Ebony and Ivory looked at each other once more, then back to Dante. Ebony said, "I don't think so. Why? What's up?"
"Oh, it's no big deal. It's just I don't have a house or anything. I was hopin' maybe I could temporarily sleep over or somethin'."
"Oh, that's no problem. If you don't mind sleeping in a cave..."
"Trust me," Dante fluffed the front of his hair, "I've had worse."
On the way home, Ebony and Ivory caught up with Dante. They told him about everything they remember from being in Ponyville, and how they got here. During this conversation, Dante learned a little more about this realm.
Apparently, this forest they were venturing into, and where all three souls were summoned into this world, was known as the 'Everfree.' He figured this was a good start; at least he knew where to return back to his realm. It still stumped him, however, whether this place was part of Temen-Ni-Gru or not. At one point, he even considered calling it 'Hell,' since he fell to get here.
"How much farther?" Dante said in a tone between a call and a shout, to the two ponies that had kept moving while he slowed down in his train of thought.
"Actually," Ebony turned his head to see Dante, "we're here!"
The young Devil Hunter raised an eyebrow as he took a glance to observe his surroundings, with his right hand in its pocket, his left on the hilt of the holstered Rebellion. Everything looked exactly the same; nothing but trees in pretty much every direction, a few with odd faces etched into them, most likely to unwit some passer-by with nerves of puddy. The only thing that really stood out, besides the cave, was the patch of dirt almost directly in the center of the clearing. Now, this wouldn't normally spike any attention from the man; actually, it was the color of it - crusty orange around the edges, yet a darker shade of beige that appeared to splatter around the skinny slit that went straight through the middle of it.
He didn't even need to unholster Rebellion to know that that's exactly how the stab in the Earth was formed.
"Sweet!" Dante took his hand off of his blade and walked up to observe the lip of the cave.
Ivory raised a hoof. "Well, I guess make yourself at home."
Dante chuckled and shrugged off the invitation. He then proceeded to enter the cave...
When something grabbed his attention.
As faint as the devil presence was that resided within his two pony handguns, he noticed something about the essence spike. In a matter a milliseconds, he had whirled around, his sights protruding down the edges of Rebellion. And, as he expected, the disgusted souls had followed him into this realm.
"Thank God," Dante whipped his head back, as to launch the bangs out of his eyes. "You realize you guys actually saved me, right?"
The evil excuses for lives merely stared at him as he exited the cave. Once Dante was in the open, he observed the whereabouts of his two equine friends, both of whom had their flanks pressed against either side of the entrance, forehooves poised and ready to assault. Dante smirked as he turned his attention yet again to the ugly demons and said, "Yeah, you saved me from a world of absolute boredom!"
At that, Dante ducked down and dashed forward. With a mighty kick off the ground, Rebellion ripped through its first victim as both it and Dante propelled through the air. His prey released a quick gurgle before it exploded into a mess of chunky demon blood at its base.
As Dante was rocketing forward, his right foot found the face of another demon. The young Devil Hunter, agile as he was, thrusted his body weight forward, slamming the brains - or what would be the brains - of this foe deep into the dirt. Behind him, he could hear his fellow weapons going to work on the evil entities. Under his breath, he sighed out of relief they were still useful, and threw the hand containing Rebellion behind him, driving the blade steadfast into the tough grounds.
Then, Dante pushed off the ground once more, flipping over his signature blade and landing on the opposite side. He then completely let go of Rebellion and kicked it into his audience of evil, impaling at least three souls in the process. Dante smirked again as the twin blades seemingly materialized from the inside of his duster.
Ripping each blade out with opposite limbs, Dante shot his wrists out, releasing a quick discharge of flame and gust toward his prey. Then, with several flicks of his wrists, Dante continued to slash imaginary blades of fire and wind toward the uglies. It was slightly boring, sitting there and picking them off, but it was better than them never being there at all. Plus, he kinda wanted to let Ebony and Ivory snag a few kills, so he was trying his best to be a gentleman about it, regardless of whether you could actually have manners when it comes to killing or not.
After a very short minute of slaying the dark monsters, Dante, Ebony, and Ivory had the last one cornered against a tree. If devils could cry, this one would have a soggy second-grave awaiting him. Dante stepped back, nodding to both Ebony and Ivory, offering them the 'victory' kill. At once, both their horns began to radiate their pale yellow auras. Then, not two seconds later, one single thunderous noise echoed through the Everfree Forest, slowly followed by the painful gurgle of a soul dying in its afterlife.
Author's Note
Very sorry to keep you all waiting on this chapter. But, thankfully, I am finally out of my writer's block, and I have a relatively good idea as to where I'll take this story. Thank you for your patience, and please continue enjoying Of Demonic Firepower!
Chapter 12.) A New Threat
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.
Chapter 13.) Demonic Raid On Ponyville
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.
View Online
I wish I could keep writing, but my bronyism is dying
When I first started this story, I wanted to see it through to the finish. I still do: I still know the plot I had in mind, even. It's just that, with the end of Season Three, my brony passion has been dwindling. This is probably the first time I've even signed on to Fimfiction within a MONTH...
Chapter 14.) Is This What I Live For?
Thud!
Enter the Dark Slayer. With a faint grunt, Vergil hammered upon the ground, causing thick layers of crust to jut slightly upwards around him. He kneeled in that position for just a moment, regaining his senses, for he knew he was uncoordinated from the absurdly long fall. He stood up as slowly as he dared, making sure his balance was reliable.
Once he was completely reassured, he took a second to take in his surroundings. What he saw left him even more confused. He wasn't exactly sure what to expect from a dark abyss, but this sure wasn't it. Anything but brightly-colored, inconsistent... Vergil wanted to call it "background," but it was right in front of him. He could interact with it all. Nothing seemed real, but his senses screamed otherwise.
It was like being in a kid's coloring book or something.
"Where am I?" Vergil asked nobody in particular, "What is this place?"
Vergil shook his head briefly, attempting to clear it just a bit more. Shortly after, his unhuman sense started to kick in. The Devil. Bringing his grip to Yamato, Vergil immediately swung around, tracing a very vague trail of demons. His eyes locked on the patch of dirt now in front of him. It was different from the other patches, both in thickness and color value. There was also a stab going clean through the middle of said patch. Seeing this, Vergil remembered how he had kicked Dante off the edge of the bridge, and it all made sense.
"Dante."
He threw his vision behind him once more. It wasn't beaten, but there was a visible path going through the shrubs and trees, into the murky darkness of the forest. Vergil smirked as he took his first step forward.
Something was bothering him, however. Amongst the demon scent, Vergil picked up more than just Dante. It got him curious as to whether or not those clumsy demons would actually jump down into the abyss purposefully, or if there are demons down here in general. Regardless, he treaded carefully as he braced himself for any possible demon encounters along the way...
"Damn it!" Dante yelled as another wave of demons appeared in front of him, "I'm wasting time! These demons are SO persistent when you DON'T need them to be!"
It's been 10 minutes since Dante was dismissed at the magic barrier. At the rate they got here in the first place, Dante should've been at Fluttershy's already. But, wave after wave, the underworldly pests stood in his way! Dante felt as he had earlier with Jester: The same thing over and over was starting to sit in his stomach, and he really needed to burn some calories right now.
"I hate to cut the party short, fellas," Dante said to no particular demon by itself, "but I'm running a little late! And I'm NOT gonna keep my fare waiting because there's a whole bunch of traffic jams in my way!"
Quickly, Dante pulled out the twin blades, Agni & Rudra, and jumped into a dash. Every demon that stood in his way was either burned to a crisp or whipped apart by the air. As he sliced, he recalled the battle he had with these swords. Agni & Rudra were two more guardians of Temen-Ni-Gru, who blocked Dante's path forward. They were more skilled than Cerberus, but then again they weren't dogs, either. In fact, they were their own swords! Their heads are at the bottom of the hilt of each blade. It was a little tricky, but Dante defeated their bodies and took their blades as spoils of victory, but mostly because they requested it of him.
Agni is the blade of fire, and Rudra the blade of wind. And together, with Dante's guidance, they shot dancing flames and bullets of air at their enemies. Thus, he continued a steady advance unto the crowd of demons, killing every one he could. Quickly growing bored, Dante allowed Agni & Rudra to power up to their max and spiraled into the sky. Then, looking back, he dragged the two blades together and swung them apart, unleashing a fierce, fiery whirlwind of destruction upon the infested streets below.
When his feet met the ground, the was not one demon in sight.
Dante continued forward.
The trail led Vergil out of the forest. Despite still in persuit of Dante, the Dark Slayer couldn't help but feel that things were proceeding too smoothly. There wasn't a single demon anywhere. There may have been a couple weird-looking animals who initially threatened him, but turned tail and ran when Yamato threatened back.
Then suddenly...
Vergil furrowed his brow and observed around him. There was another essence somewhere nearby, and it was relatively fresh.
"A new trail."
Letting Yamato relax from his grip, Vergil strayed off his current path and got on the new one.
The one that led to a colorful cottage.
Fluttershy's house wasn't too far away now. Dante only had to turn one more corner, and...
"Fuck!"
Dante's Devil sense quickly went haywire! It wasn't like usual: The waves of the weaklings he had cleaned up altogether didn't come close to scraping the strength of this signal. Putting the back of his hand to his head, Dante tried to narrow the signal...
"Wait, there's more than one!?"
No sooner had he finished the sentence did three Hell Vanguards materialize around him.
The Vanguards of Hell are very much unlike common demons. They are about two times bigger than them, and they also carry scythes made of pure darkness. Hell Vanguards can be very quick and very powerful. However, even these three Vanguards didn't match Dante. The young Devil Hunter knew he could defeat them all, but something was nagging at him...
"Three?" Dante looked confused. "There's only three? But I could swear I felt four -"
He cut himself off. Something relatively close just spiked. A Devil. Not just a demon. A Devil .
Completely disregarding his new guests, Dante bolted in the direction of the Devil.
In the direction of Fluttershy's cottage.
Chapter 15.) Scared Stiff
It was right in front of him. Vergil was about to get answers. The trail goes right into the house. He was just about to place his palm upon the doorknob...
When his head perked up.
Gritting his teeth and switching his grip back to his signature Demon Blade, Vergil turned to his right. There was a rather large power level emitting from that direction. However, upon a little closer deduction, Vergil could put beads on more than just one demon essence.
"There's..." Vergil narrowed his eyes and glared in the direction of the aura, "two, three... four... Four. Hmm."
One of them was significantly stronger than the other three, which immediately made Vergil make the mental assumption that it could perhaps be Dante. Therefore, he tried to focus in on the signal even more.
"It's too blurry," he said, shaking his head. Vergil was seriously debating going over there and investigating, but this house is where Dante's trail ends. Or at least, what with those four powers in the distance, that's all Vergil could clearly make out. Interference. The Dark Slayer was starting to grow impatient with himself. "One more time..."
Then, with all his concentration, Vergil forced his whole mind to focus upon the demon signal - to pinpoint the power levels. Grunting from exertion, Vergil could feel his demon blood boiling, resisting the urge to fight. It got so intense, in fact, that Vergil transformed for a brief moment before exhausting himself.
However, in the end - without a visual aid - Vergil couldn't identify it as Dante or as some greater Demon, such as one of the higher guardians of Temen-Ni-Gru. (why would they be down here???) He decided, at the very least, he would check it out as soon as he checked inside this cottage. Thus, the Dark Slayer spun to the door once more and reached his hand out to turn the knob...
"Fluttershy!"
Dante slammed the door open, nearly causing it to snap in two. He could sense the devil's presence inside, most likely about to lay Hell's wrath upon the poor cream pony. Without hesitating, Dante dashed into the next room, sword drawn: The Devil knew he was already there; after all, Dante DID scream out for Fluttershy...
And when Dante saw the source of the intense aura, he cursed to himself for not thinking of the possibility earlier.
"Well, well, well," Dante said sarcastically, "someone finally had to follow me here that I actually kinda like..."
Dante's rival snorted. "The feeling's mutual, brother."
"Why are you here, Vergil?"
"Why else?" the Devil clad in blue shrugged. "I've come for you."
Dante furrowed his brow. "Aww, what brotherly love... I'm so thrilled to have such a considerate sibling..."
"Don't make me hurt you, Dante." Vergil finally returned his hand to his katana, upon which Dante reacted by raising his own steel. "We've already had a grown-up conversation today, which ended with that very sword you hold in your hand now... stabbed through you. I won't hesitate to finish what I started if you leave me no other choice."
The Devil Hunter smirked and averted his gaze to that of the colourful pony huddled in the corner of the room. Her face was buried, but Dante had no question she was scared beyond anything she had ever experienced before. She needed to be safe prior to round two with Vergil. Then Dante recollected the Vanguards en route to this cottage as well, and knew there was only one thing he had to do...
"Let the pony go."
Upon hearing being referenced, Fluttershy pulled her face out of her hooves and observed the room through soaked eyes and puffy cheeks. She was relieved inside to finally see a familiar face out to save her. However, she was frightened still yet to an endless extent; and seeing Dante with that scary-looking metal stick did not help that much, but deep down she knew he would not harm her.
Vergil stared quizzically. "You mean the blob over there?"
Dante grunted. "Don't play dumb, Vergil. You were always the more mature one, remember? Best not ruin that reputation now."
"Says the younger twin who seems to have made a cute little pony girlfriend?"
"Let. Her. Go."
"Hmph," the Dark Slayer smiled. "Fine, then. You can have her."
Upon finishing his sentence, Vergil drew his hand from Yamato, shifted his gaze to Futtershy, and reached forward with his palm - to which the startled pony recoiled from. Dante lifted his blade higher in repliance, but Vergil was phased not. He continued to reach out for the pony...
But then he thought of something...
"C'mon, Vergil, stop being stupid."
"What? I'm giving you your friend back, like you asked."
"You're doing nothing but scaring her, and you know it."
"She has wings, Dante. I'm sure this isn't the first time she has been off the ground."
And with that, Vergil picked the pony up off the floor, though not with his physical self. It was obviously a form of magic which made her body begin to levitate further from the floor and closer to himself. Fluttershy panicked and squirmed frantically, looking for a means of escape from the Dark Slayer's telekinetic hold. "You know, I can make your body levitate if you let me. Hah!"
"Put her down, damn it!"
"Like I said, I'm giving her to you."
"You could've just scooted to the side and let her run away, but nooooo, you gotta do things your own twisted way, don't ya?"
Vergil shook his head. "You disappoint me, Dante."
"No!"
Dante quickly dropped his sword, out of finally realizing Vergil's thought process. The older twin launched Fluttershy's entire entity straight at his younger brother. Had Dante not lowered Rebellion in the fastest way he knew, the pony in his arms now would be impaled upon it. However, every action has its consequence... Dante had been pushed backward onto the floor when he caught the defenseless mare, leaving him not only wide open to an attack from his brother but temporarily without a method of countering him if he did.
Dante snapped his fingers.
Everything around him began to slow down in a silver-ish mist. With time now on his side, he sprang to his feet and retreated to another room with Fluttershy in tow. Quickly but carefully, he sat the ball of cartoony mass down, and returned to confront his brother. He had just enough time to retrieve his fallen blade, when the mist dematerialized and time returned to normal flow. Sensing an attack , Dante clumsily rolled out of the way.
"What??" Vergil was confused.
Dante pushed himself to his feet, and locked eyes with his older brother. "Now is not time, Vergil! This cottage will be un-"
He didn't even get to finish his sentence when the Vanguards materialized between the twins, obstructing their view. The Devil Hunter cursed while the Dark Slayer grunted and drew steel. Luckily for Dante, the Vanguards seemed more intent on cornering his older brother in the cubby room rather than attacking them both at once. While Vergil was occupied with his three opponents, his younger brother slipped away with the pony. Quick as his legs could let him, Dante sprinted for Ponyville. Once they arrive, he could drop Fluttershy off at Twilight's magic force field. Then, with no other tasks at hand, he would properly confront his rival and end the stupidity once and for all...
Prologue.) Shut The Hell Up!
And then there were none. Dante was reigning victor for yet another round of demon spawn. Slowly growing bored, the devil hunter wanted to end that stupid clown's games before things just got downright repetitive.
"Oh please, aren't there any other dishes you could serve me? The same one over and over starts to sit in my stomach, and I need to burn some calories..."
Jester was getting impatient as well. "Well done, dear boy! I guess I have no choice but to --"
He froze, for Ebony and Ivory were on either side of his head, ready to shoot two bullets that'll collide and explode in his thick skull. "But to let me go!? I'm kinda late for the party as it is!"
The clown muttered in panic. Several times had he escaped death, yet it looked like Dante wasn't shitting around this time. Enraged, Jester quickly did some sort of cyclone attack that knocked the two firearms out of the devil hunter's hands and away from him in either direction. But Dante played out of it just right, as his left arm reached around the back of his head while doing a 360 spin kick across that rambling clown's face, knocking him halfway across the room; nearly to where Ivory was on the floor. In those two seconds, Dante had drawn his signature sword and had it poised on Jester's nose, beginning to draw blood as the very point of the devil blade drew down the pale white skin.
Dante laughed. "Ehh, kinda looks to me that you need a good facial reconstruction anyway... "
"Okay!! Okay! Go on, leave this place! And go on to your loving brother's 'party!' " Jester replied.
Dante only dug the blade closer and deeper into the clown's ugly face. "Say one more thing about my brother. I dare you."
A click was heard in the other end of the room. With Dante distracted, the clown disappeared from the point of Rebellion, and had collected Ebony and Ivory within seconds. When Dante looked back down to see his prey was no longer there, he searched frantically around the room. With the Jester nowhere to be found, he shrugged and turned to where Ivory was knocked away earlier, but only delved deeper into a pit of confusion as he noticed the signature handgun was not there. Confused, the devil hunter threw his vision to the opposite end of the room, and confirmed his curiousity when he saw Ebony was also no longer in it's previous location.
"Damn you!" Dante yelled into the now empty room.
Of Demonic Firepower
By Blazing_Mane01
Author's Note: So Dante has a little bit of catching up to do before he confronts Vergil at the top of Temen-Ni-Gru, right? Unfortunately, I really don't feel like dragging that part out, as reading about what normally happens in Devil May Cry doesn't seem very exciting. So, I'm just gonna skip over all that, and start the next chapter with the brotherly battle!
Any suggestions, feel free to leave them in your comment below.
In the meantime, please enjoy these lyrics to 'Taste The Blood ', a.k.a. DMC3 Battle Theme One:
The flinch in your eyes calls your bluff
Feel free to die when you've had enough
Useless cause is breaking your back
Your life will end when you attack
Make your move, Make your stand,
To take me out, you must fight like a man
Time to figure, Time to sin
Taste the blood, Taste your fate,
Knees in the blood With your crying pleas
