“Stop!” A voice calls out right as Dante was about to swing down. Turning slowly, he sees the source of the voice: a pink alicorn at the entrance of the room. She has a guard on either side of her and was looking at him with a stern expression.

“Another alicorn?” He asks no one in particular. “Jeez, how many of you fuckers are there? I thought there were just two! Fuck this! I’m just going to level the whole damn city.”

“There’s no need for that!” The pink alicorn says quickly. “I’m the only other alicorn, and I have no intention of fighting you.”

“…Really?” Dante asks, looking over the newly arrived alicorn. “You sure?”

The pink alicorn responds with a nod.

“Huh. Well, damn. I was all ready to fight again.” He pauses, looking over at the table with his possessions on it. “Well, if we aren’t going to fight, and you don’t want me to kill Celestia, then I might as well get my stuff together. What do you want, anyways?” He asks, floating over to the table and landing behind it, facing the pink alicorn.

“I’m here to find out what you want, and to see if we can resolve this conflict.” She says, stepping closer to the throne.

“A diplomat? You’re a little late to the party here.” He dons his cloak and headband, letting his shadowy wings seep through the cloak, and starts claiming his rings. “Well, I’m still pissed at Celestia, so why don’t you just do your thing? See if you can’t put me in a better mood.”

“Very well. I am Princess Mi Amore Cadenza, current head ambassador of Equestria. You may call me ‘Cadence,’ if you wish. How should I refer to you?”

“I am Dante, former grand leader of the City of Magic, warlock of the wild and damned, and high priest of The Bringer of Entropy. ‘Dante’ will suffice.” Dante finishes with his rings and dons his three amulets. Placing his bracers back on his arms and the needle in his belt, he’s fully equipped again.

“What is it you wish…to…” Cadence trails off, coming up to the throne with her escort in tow. Next to the table, she sees the limp form of Shining Armor.

Dante notices her hesitation and sees what she’s looking at.

“Someone you know?” He asks.

“My husband.” She says, barely maintaining her composure. “Is he…”

“He’s alive. I can fix him with one spell, but I’m going to hold off on that. I get the feeling he’ll only get in the way here.”

“Thank goodness.” She lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding. “Now, what is it you wish to obtain here?”

“Ah, the list of demands.” He walks back over to the throne, reaching towards his discarded scabbard as he does so. The scabbard swiftly floats over to him and he sheaths his sword, tying it back to his waste.

“Well,” He starts again, sitting down on the throne, “I’ve tried coming up with some ideas, but nothing has really stuck out to me. I already ordered for my eye, my underling’s safe passage here, and some food. Ah, speak of the devil.”

As if on cue, a pegasus mare appeared at the entrance with a plate full of fruit on her back. She looked in cautiously before entering.

“I…I have the f-fruit you requested, sir.” She stutters as she walks closer to the throne.

“Hmmm. I don’t recall asking you for the fruit.” Dante says, scratching his goatee with his hand. The mare looks as if she just had the blood drained from her. “I’m kidding.” Dante laughs. “I don’t care what that guard is doing or why he sent you instead. Just bring it over.”

The pegasus quickly comes over to the throne and sets the plate down. She then turns to leave.

“Hold it.” Dante says, picking up an orange. He looks it over for a moment before continuing. “Where’s the poison?”

“Th-the what?” The pegasus asks, shrinking back.

“You know, poison? That stuff you can put in food to kill people? I don’t sense any on this.”

Cadence, seeing that Dante is trying scare the young pegasus, chimes in. “Poison use isn’t a part of the Equestrian military’s discipline. We wouldn’t use it.”

“Seriously?” Dante asks doubtingly. “There’s being honorable, and then there’s being stupid. Then again, I don’t always do the smart thing. You’re dismissed.”

The pegasus gallops quickly out of the room. Not a moment after, the guard Dante sent to retrieve his eye returned with said eye in its container, hovering in the guard’s telekinetic grip.

“Wow. Did you guys time yourselves to exit and enter like this?”

Ignoring him, the guard continued forward until he reached the throne. He set the container down and stepped next to the other guards with Cadence, getting in formation. Dante levitated the container in front of him and smashed open one of the sides with his fist. The wounds closed instantly, and the eye crawled onto his hand, up his arm, and into his empty socket. Blinking a few times, his golden eyes were aligned.

“Much better.” He says with a chuckle. “Hey, Celestia. Do I still look like a monster?”

Celestia just ignores him. She doesn’t even look in his direction. She just continues laying on the ground.

“Moving on.” He continues. “What I want the most right now is information. Some information you will have, and some you won’t; I understand this and won’t hold it against you for not knowing something. In exchange for this information, the amulet my associate is here to collect, and a pardon for said associate, I will release Celestia and Luna. I, of course, will not answer for my crimes, as I have just beaten two of the most powerful beings in your kingdom. You are free to pursue me, if you wish, but I will be far less merciful. Of course, I have a separate proposal after this exchange, so that may be belayed. How does that sound?”

“Who is this ‘associate’ you speak of?”

“His name’s Shade Strider.”

“Did somepony call my name?”

From the doorway, the gray pegasus walked into the room with a pair of pegasi guards at either side of him. “Well, I suppose it would be ‘someone,’ wouldn’t it?”

“Ah, Shade. Good to see you here. Did the guards give you any trouble?” Dante asks his new companion.

“Nope. They were very professional in escorting me here.” Moving closer to the throne, Shade examines the remnants of the battle. “Wow, you really are this powerful. I was starting to think you were just really crazy.”

“Can’t it be both?” Dante questions him. “So, Shade Strider, meet Princess Mi Amore Cadenza. Princess, meet Mr. 70,000 bit bounty.”

“This is your associate?” Cadence asks, pointing a hoof at Shade. “The most wanted thief in Equestria is working for you?!”

“Maybe. Depends on if he agrees to it.”

“You expect me to just grant him a pardon for all that he’s done?!”

“Yeah.” Dante responds calmly. “Look, I’m not a professional gambler, but I’m pretty sure the guy who’s holding all the cards gets to make the rules. Now, what’s more important: one thief, or the lives of your fellow princesses?”

The expression on Cadence’s face was beyond angry. “Very well.”

Dante gives a toothy smile and stands from the throne. “Off with thee, Sir Shade. Fetch thine new trinket and returneth to my side post haste!” He hollers, waving Shade off.

“Yes sir, Captain Crazy!” Shade salutes, turning around and heading back out the room with the guards in tow.

“My apologies, Princess. I seem to be getting easily distracted.” Dante says, sitting back down. “I swear they planned to enter like this.”

“What is the information you seek?” Cadence asks, regaining her composure.

“First off, I want to know more about the creatures present in these lands. I’ve heard of changelings and griffons, and I’ve seen firsthand manticores and timberwolves.”

“We can give you a book about the animals and creatures here, assuming you can read our language.”

“Not a problem. I would also like some books on the history of griffons and changelings, if you have them.”

“Griffons, yes. Changelings, no. If you know about them, I assume you know about the changeling invasion in Canterlot a few months ago. While we don’t have any history books about them, our researchers have put together a dossier about them. You can have a copy of that. May I ask why you need these things?”

“Just in case my second proposal to everyone here is rejected. Now, I have two more things I want to know. These are more of observations than simple explanations.”

“What are they?” Cadence asks.

“First, I want to see the stone statue of Discord.”

“Absolutely not!” Celestial yells from her position on the floor.

“Nice of you to join the conversation.” Dante says smugly. “Why not?”

“Your mere presence may be enough to free him from his prison!” Celestia yells again, attempting to stand.

“My presence? Are we back on the whole ‘evil, chaotic monster’ thing?”

“I won’t allow you to free him!” Celestia says, standing tall and facing Dante.

“Relax. I’m not going to…okay, I might free him, but only if I’m absolutely sure I can control him.”

“You can’t control him! Nopony can!”

“Which brings me to my second observational action I wish to take: I want to see the Elements of Harmony.”

“I won’t allow that either!” Celestia lowers her stance.

“Celestia, don’t—”

“Come now, Celestia.” Dante says, arrogance oozing from his voice. “I’ve already beaten you once, and you were at your best then. Besides, the situation is out of your hooves now.”

“What do you mean?” She asks, not changing her stance.

“I mean we just have to wait until Twilight’s friends arrive with them.”

The looks on all the princess’s faces were that of shock and confusion.

“What? You didn’t think I didn’t know about that? Oh sure, I don’t know the exact details, but I’ve often found such details to be irrelevant. Consider this: a powerful creature attacked and defeated two of the most powerful beings in this kingdom, who happen to be the rulers themselves. What, then, would be the next step of this kingdom? To call upon the most powerful magic they have. In this case, the Elements of Harmony. They will be brought to me and I won’t have to lift a finger. So, we’re all just going to sit back, relax, and wait for their arrival.”

Celestia looked Dante straight in the eye. “What makes you so sure they’ll come straight here? How do you know they won’t run?”

“A meaningless suggestion.” Dante says, looking towards one of the tall windows in the hall. “They’re already on their way.”

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

Less than half an hour ago

The small cottage at the edge of the Everfree Forest has been relatively calm all morning. ‘Relatively’ being the key word, as animals would frequently come and go. But aside from the occasional critter scurrying around, the inside of the cottage was calm. Iatril was taking full advantage of this calmness.

Iatril lay in the bed Flurry had slept in the past two nights, a small book open before her. She read through the lines of the book, not making a sound.

‘Day 29,

The voices are growing worse. I’m hearing them right now, even though I’m awake. They encourage me to feast upon their brethren, to add more of them to myself and gain more power. There are still only seven inside me, as far as I can tell, and I’m going to keep it that way. I can’t imagine the mental fortitude required to hold more of them at bay. I have begun using the life forces of outsiders as a source of energy to help keep these voices at bay, but I know this isn’t a permanent solution; the energy will run out and I’ll have to ensnare more outsiders again. Thankfully, using outsiders as energy like this doesn’t fuse them to my soul, so I’m not experiencing more feedback because of it. I still have not told my lover about my experimenting. She has been growing more suspicious, but I feel that telling her will only cause her to worry. Hopefully, I’ll discover a permanent way to subdue these outsiders soon.’

Skipping a few pages, Iatril reads on.

‘Day 55,

I’m losing more and more of myself by the day. Just yesterday, my lover came back from the war front to report something to me. I didn’t even recognize her until she told me her name. I’ve been losing other parts of my memory as well. I can’t remember the name of the village I was born in, the name of my mother, and others, just to name a few. I remember factual things, like the weak points of creatures and geographical landmarks, so it appears only personal memories are disappearing. I’m also blanking out at various points in the day. I’ll be eating a meal or reviewing troop disposition, and then I’ll be walking around the city. I don’t know where I’m headed each time I venture outside. I’m really scared.’

A few more pages are skipped.

‘Day 103,

How could I have done this? My home is in shambles. The City of Magic is in flames. Everyone here is dead. And worst of all—’

“Iatril?”

“Gah!” Iatril jumped, slamming the book closed before falling from the bed. On her back, she could see Fluttershy in the doorway, looking concerned. “Oh, Fluttershy. Hi. What’s up?” She asks before rolling over and getting on her hooves.

“I was just checking to see if you were hungry. You haven’t eaten yet, have you?” Fluttershy asks, stepping into the room.

“Oh, I ate one of my berries this morning. I’ll be good for a few hours. Thanks though.”

“No problem.” Fluttershy looks over at the bed. “Um, if you don’t mind me asking, what were you—”

“I’d rather not talk about it right now, if that’s okay.” Iatril interrupts. She sets one of her hooves on the book. A second later, it disappears from sight. “So, what plans do you have for today?”

“Oh, I was just going to go out to the market for a few things.”

“Mind if I come with you?”

“Not at all.”

The two go downstairs and head out the front door towards Ponyville. After walking for no more than a minute, they’re stopped by Rainbow Dash.

“Fluttershy!” She yells, flying down to the ground in front of them. “We’ve got an emergency!”

“What is it?” Fluttershy asks.

“Twilight needs us in Canterlot to use the Elements of Harmony! Come on!” She starts pulling Fluttershy, leading her towards Ponyville.

“Wait!” Iatril calls out. “What’s going on?”

“I don’t know!” Rainbow calls back. “Twilight just said she needed us in Canterlot!”

“How do you plan on getting there?” Iatril asks, trailing after them.

“We’ll take a train there.” Rainbow responds, no longer pulling Fluttershy, as they are both flying towards Ponyville. Iatril takes to the air as well. After flying for a few minutes, the group of pegasi arrive at the train station. There, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike are waiting.

“We’re here!” Rainbow calls out to her friends.

“We’ve got another problem, RB.” Apple jack says as Rainbow lands.

“What’s that? We’re all here.”

“The next train isn’t gonna arrive for at least two hours.”

“What!? Why not?”

“I spoke with the station manager.” Rarity spoke up. “He said the train that was supposed to be coming in broke down. This couldn’t have happened at a worse time!”

“Ugh! Let’s just hoof it there.”

“Dear, that would take just as long as waiting for the next train, if not longer.”

“Well we can’t just wait around!” Rainbow threw her hooves in the air. “We have to do something!”

“I can take you there.” All eyes were on Iatril. “If I really push myself, I can have you there in about twenty minutes, I think.”

“How can you do that?” Rainbow asks, though rather loudly.

“I just can, but not right here. We need to go back to Fluttershy’s first.”

“Why?”

“Please, let’s just go. I’ll explain when we get there.”

“I don’t see how—”

“Do you have any better ideas?” Rainbow said nothing. “Then come on!” Iatril flies off, leaving the group to follow.

They fly and run back to the cottage, going around it to the back. There, Flurry was sitting on the ground, talking with Raven.

“Flurry! Raven!” Iatril calls out. “We’ve got problems!”

“What is it?” Flurry asks, turning to see the group. Upon seeing Rarity, he quickly gets up and turns around. “What’s she doing here?”

“Don’t worry about that.” Iatril says, landing in front of Flurry. “There’s an emergency in Canterlot.”

“So what?” Flurry asks.

“‘So what?’ They need to use the Elements of Harmony! Don’t you know what that means?”

“No.” Flurry says plainly. “I’m not a wizard, Iatril. You’re going to need to explain this to me.”

“That means someone really powerful is there!” Iatril shouts at him.

Flurry seemed to get it. “Do you think…”

“I don’t know. I hope not, but it might be.”

“Hey!” Rainbow yells at the two of them. “What are you two talking about?”

Iatril turns to face the group. “I haven’t been honest with you all. We’re here to find and defeat someone from our world. I think whatever is happening in Canterlot is because of him.”

The group, besides Fluttershy, stares at her blankly.

“Wow AJ, you were right. There is something weird about her. She’s crazy!” Rainbow exclaims, landing on the ground.

“I’m serious!” Iatril yells back. “Just…just watch.” She nods to Flurry, who rolls his eyes in response. Flurry speaks in the tongue of giants. In mere moments, his form grow slightly, taking the shape of a large, white wolf. Iatril then speaks in her druidic tongue. Her legs become longer as she stands on her hind legs. Her front legs turn back into arms, her hair becomes braided again, her green fur disappears, and her clothes sprout from her body. She is back to her old, elven self.

The group of ponies take a few steps back, with the exception of Fluttershy again, and Pinkie Pie.

“What the hay are you!?” Applejack says first.

“Are you a changeling!? Rarity asks next.

“Oh cool! So that’s what you look like!” Pinkie says, devoid of any fear.

“W-What do you mean?” Iatril asks the pink pony. “How did you know I wasn’t a pony?”

“Oh, that’s easy! My Pinkie Sense told me so.”

“But…no, I’m not even going to try.” Iatril shakes her head. She then turns her attention back to the group as a whole. “I am an elf. As you can see, Flurry is a wolf. And Raven…is just a raven.”

“Hey!” He yells, flapping his wings and then landing on Iatril’s shoulder. “I’m a magical, talking raven, thank you very much.”

“Hush.” Iatril says. “I can take you all to Canterlot by flying you there.”

“There’s no way we’ll let you take us there!” Rainbow points her hoof at Iatril.

“You don’t have that many options. Weren’t you just complaining about needing to get there fast?”

“Yeah, but that’s not—”

“It’s okay, Rainbow.” Fluttershy chimes in. “We can trust her.”

“You don’t know that, Fluttershy!”

“Yes I do. She’s my friend.”

“She could have just been trying to earn your trust!”

“Just like a friend would.” Fluttershy says calmly.

“Look.” Iatril breaks in. “I get it. I lied to you. I know you have a reason to not trust me. But, if what’s happening in Canterlot is truly happening, then we need to get there as fast as possible. We can talk about this later, but we need to get there now!”

Fluttershy looks right at Rainbow, pleading for her to agree. Rainbow looks at her friends for an answer; they all seem pretty uneasy.

“Well, I reckon we don’t have much choice here.” Applejack concedes.

“Ugh, fine!” Rainbow relents. “But I’ll be watching you!”

“So, how are we going to get there?” Spike asks.

“Whoa there, partner. I don’t think Twi would appreciate us bringing you. It’s gonna be dangerous.”

“It’s fine.” Iatril speaks up, earning a look from Applejack. “I’ll protect him.” Applejack looked as if she were going to protest, but thought better of it. “Now,” Iatril continued, “please stand back.”

Focusing her magic into her amulet, her body begins to ripple with magic. Her form quickly grows, her body gaining brilliant, gold scales. Her hands and feet become clawed, her neck grows longer, and her whole body grows several times in size. As she stands on all fours, out of her back sprouts a pair of golden, fin-like wings, attached to her body from the nape of her neck down her newly formed tail. Two similar looking fins sprout from her neck, a pair of horns sprout from her head, pointed back, and a patch of whisker-like tendrils sprout from her face. In a matter of seconds, Iatril has taken the form a huge gold dragon.

“Climb on.” She says in a deep voice. Not missing a beat, Flurry climbs on, soon followed by Fluttershy. Raven had to shift himself so as not to fall off, and thus positioned himself right at the nape of Iatril’s long neck. Pinkie climbs on excitedly, mentioning something about a dragon ride. Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Spike just stare wide-eyed.

“Well? We need to get moving.” Iatril says impatiently. Rarity, Applejack, and Spike climb on quickly, but Rainbow Dash remains.

“I’ll just fly myself.” She says, taking to the air again.

“Suit yourself.” Iatril turns towards Canterlot and starts running. After she builds up a little speed, she takes to the air as well. Rainbow leads the way.

For the first few minutes, the trip was silent, besides the rush of wind around them. Applejack eventually breaks that silence.

“What do ya think is happenin’ in Canterlot, Iatril?” She shouts over the wind.

“If we’re lucky, this is just my friend acting up.” Iatril responds in kind.

“I thought Flurry here was your friend.”

“He is. Another friend of mine went to the capital to look for the guy we’re here to find. However, there’s the chance that what’s going on in Canterlot is the result of who we’re looking for. If that’s the case, I need to find Dante as soon as possible.”

“What about us?” Rainbow calls back. “We have the Elements of Harmony. Why do we need this ‘Dante’ guy?”

“…In case you don’t get the chance to use them. The one we’re searching for is very cautious in everything he does. If, for example, he knew you six had to be together to use the elements, well…five wouldn’t cut it, would it?”

The implication was more than enough of an answer for Rainbow, as she said nothing further. The rest of the trip was silent. As they came upon the castle, a voice entered Iatril’s mind.

“Iatril? What’s going on? Why are you coming to the capital?”

“Dante, are you the one causing trouble?”

“Um, no. I’ve been in jail since last night. Probably should have mentioned that, but I didn’t think it was that big of an issue.”

“That means Aselith is the one causing problems! Why are you in jail?!”

“Long story. Just get over to the dungeon quickly! We’ll deal with this after I’m out! It’s in the right wing of the castle, underground.”

“Okay, I’m almost there!”

“Hey, everyone, here’s the plan.” Iatril says over the wind. “I’ll let you down outside the castle. Then, Flurry, Raven, and I will search for our friend. You ponies do what you need to do, but be careful. Spike, you’ll come with me. I can’t allow a child into such a dangerous situation, regardless of race. Is this acceptable?” She was met with a resounding affirmation.

Iatril lands on the ground, just outside the gates of the castle. The ponies around the gates scatter, fleeing from the draconic form of Iatril. Immediately noticeable is the lack of guards around. After everyone got off of Iatril, she shifted back to her own form.

“Okay, here is where we part for now. Spike, get on Flurry. We’re going to be running there. Good luck to you all.” And with that, the group split. The five ponies ran right up to the main entrance, while Iatril’s group headed for the right side.

‘I’m coming, Dante.’

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

“You must be crazy if you think I’ll just allow this to happen!” Celestia yells at Dante. “I’ll—”

“Do nothing.” Dante finishes her proclamation. “You are in no position to do anything, Princess. Remember, the life of your captain hangs in the balance here.” Dante slowly float up and over to the unconscious Shining Armor. “Sure, he has no internal bleed, but with just a tiny knife wound—”

“DON’T YOU TOUCH HIM!” Cadence shouts, lighting her horn and aiming it at Dante.

“Easy, easy!” Dante says, holding his hands in front of himself. “I’m not going to do anything.” He slowly floats back over to the throne and sits upon it. Cadence lets go of her magic, but doesn’t remove her gaze from Dante. “My apologies. I sometimes forget how strong the bond of true love can be.”

“Hah!” Luna laughs from her prison. “As if a soulless monster like you would know anything about love!”

A blast from Dante’s fingertips to the cage was enough to scare her back a step.

“I don’t want to hear something like that from you, you hypocrite!” Dante yells, swiftly flying over to the cage. “I am not some beast, filled only with hate and destruction! Yes, I hurt people. Yes, I enjoy doing so. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to take any lip from someone who lost herself to her own selfishness! Even if hate was all I knew, at least I never lost control of my emotions! What I have to live with, deep in my soul, is something I must keep in constant check, less I be consumed by it. You, however, don’t have that problem. But you fear it. I heard how the Elements of Harmony freed you from the darkness of your soul, but I can see the fear. The fear that, deep down, that monster you became is still there.”

“Be quiet!” Luna yells at Dante, trying to move backwards, but having nowhere to go.

“Leave my sister alone!” Celestia yells, moving towards Dante but nearly falling on the ground as she did so. The quick movements of Cadence let her catch Celestia on her back, easing her down to the ground. The three guards get around Cadence and Celestia, forming a triangle.

“Whatever remnants of that thing are either gone or buried so deep that it’ll never be free, for I can see no presence of evil in you. You don’t care, though; you fear it anyways. Why? Because you, like me, know what your darker part is capable of, what it’s done, and what it plans to do.”

“Leave me be!”

“However, unlike me, you have nothing to fear, and that’s what sickens me about you! If I’m not careful, everyone I care about, everything around me, it will all be destroyed! Everything I’ve worked so hard for will amount to nothing, and you have the audacity to be afraid of your own shadow!”

“I’m the one who did those terrible things!” Luna cried out. “How do I know I won’t try that again!?”

“If you don’t know yourself, that’s your problem. You have all of eternity to figure yourself out. A piece of advice, from one tyrant to another: don’t dwell on the past, but don’t forget it either. If you become so fixated on one thought, it will consume you, body and soul.” He turns back towards Celestial, Cadence, and the empty throne, and heads towards them. “That’s when you become a real monster.”

“Creature!” A voice calls out, just as Dante reaches the throne. He turns to see Twilight Sparkle, along with her five friends from Ponyville, standing at the entrance of the throne room, all wearing fine pieces of jewelry. The expressions on their faces were quite serious.

“And so it begins again.” Dante says, facing the group completely. “I can only assume you’re here to stop me.”

“That’s right!” Twilight says, taking a step forward.

“Well, you’re off to a good start.” Dante says, taking a few steps forward. “You sure you’re all up to it?”

“We will make you answer for your crimes!”

“Funny, I recall saying the exact opposite to Cadence a few minutes ago.” Dante continues walking forward, just passing Luna. “I’ll have to keep my word, or my name isn’t Dante.”

“Dante?” Fluttershy says, looking him over. “But…you’re Iatril’s friend.”

“Who?” Twilight asks. The moment she turns her head towards Fluttershy, Dante sprints forward. He then teleports right in front of Twilight, grabs her tiara, and teleports back to where he just was before anyone could react. “Hey!” Twilight calls out to Dante, who is quickly floating backwards towards the throne.

“You should keep a better grip on your trinkets.” He says, sitting down on the throne.

“Give that back!” She yells, smashing one of her front hooves onto the floor.

“Let me think about that…no.” Dante says, twirling the tiara around his index finger. “Really now, who would do that? But hey, you’re young, you make mistakes.”

Lighting up her horn, Twilight wraps her magic around the tiara. As she tries to pull it towards her, Dante grabs onto it, keeping it with him. Twilight continues trying to pull it, but Dante holds firm. He then shoots a blast of eldritch energy at Twilight’s hooves, forcing her to step back and give up her attempts.

“You’re going to have to do better than that!” Dante mocks.

Twilight lights her horn again, this time teleporting. She ends up only a few yards forward, looking confused. She’s still a few yards away from where Luna is held and further still from Dante.

“That’s not going to work either. Don’t you have any other tricks? I would have thought the student of Celestia would be stronger, but I guess I was wrong.”

“Why don’t you give back my tiara?” Twilight called to him. “Then you’ll see how strong we are!”

“Tsk, tsk. I said you, not them. You see, having—ouch. OUCH!” Dante yells, dropping the tiara to the ground. Looking at his hand, he sees a very serious burn across his palm. He picks up the tiara with his other hand and fits it in his belt. “Damn good magic. Where was I? Oh, right. Having your friends fight with you doesn’t determine your own strength.”

“My friends make me strong!”

“Your friends, as a group, are strong. Individually, you are weak. Look here! I have taken away one trinket from you, and now you are powerless. You can’t even—” A blast from Twilight’s interrupts his spiel. He quickly blocks the blast with his uninjured hand, so as not to let it hit his face. A few more bolts of energy strike his hand before he uses his eldritch magic in his other. Right next to Twilight, a stone hand, a little bigger than her, grabs her.

“That was sneaky! Don’t do sneaky things!” Dante rubs his burned hands together.

“Let her go!” Rainbow Dash yells, zipping in the air straight towards Dante.

With a magic word and the thrust of his hands, waves of dark energy cascade around Rainbow, Twilight, and the other wielders of the Elements of Harmony. When Rainbow reaches Dante, she takes a swing at his head, but her movements seem sluggish. Dante is able to move one of his arms up to catch her swing, and he used his other to grab her other hoof as she tries to swing with that one instead.

“What…what did you do to me?” Rainbow breaths out quietly.

“Don’t worry.” Dante says, standing from the throne. “It’s nothing you’re not used to!” With a shout, he spins her around and throws her towards the group of ponies in front of him. She lands with a spin, on her stomach, in front of Fluttershy. “So, who’s next?”

“You. Big! JERK!” Fluttershy shouts, gradually getting louder. “Who do you think you are, hurting ponies like this? You should be ashamed of yourself!” She looks deep into Dante’s eyes, slowly walking towards him. “Just because you have this power doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want! I almost couldn’t believe what Iatril told me about you, but now I see that she was right!” Fluttershy got right in Dante’s face, flapping her wings to hover at his eye level. “You don’t hurt the princesses! You don’t hurt my friends! You don’t hurt ANYPONY! Got it!?”

“BACK OFF!” Dante yells, his voice devoid of any humor, filled only with hate. He swung one of his arms at Fluttershy, his hand filled with raw eldritch energy. Fluttershy’s stare breaks for a moment as she sees the attack coming, unable to react. Barely an inch before connecting with her head, his arm is stopped by his other arm, barely restraining it.

“You are lucky,” He says, his voice back to its previous pitch, “that a certain someone cares enough about you. Otherwise, your head would be rolling at my feet, or blown to pieces.” The energy dissipates from his charged hand as he walks around Fluttershy. “I don’t know exactly what she’s told you, but I have a tendency to not take prisoners. Look before you.” He says with a sweep of his arms. “The guards have been knocked out, one princess beaten, another locked away, and,” He points at Shining Armor, “the captain has a broken spine, yet he still lives.”

“My brother…is alive?” Twilight slowly speaks, still grabbed by the stone hand.

“Brother?” Dante looks between the two siblings. “I can’t say I see the resemblance, but you aren’t the only siblings I know of.” He gives quick glance at Rainbow before turning back to Twilight. The cyan pegasus didn’t seem to notice. “I should take this moment, however, to apologize to you in particular, Twilight Sparkle.” He walks over to where Twilight is, dismissing the stone hand.

“Apologize?!” Twilight yells, teetering to the side a little right after. “After everything you’ve done?! Why would I—”

“Please.” He says quickly, cutting her off. “Yesterday, I grabbed your horn without knowing the social taboos of such an action. And for that,” He bows before her, crossing an arm over his chest, “I am truly sorry.”

Twilight takes a few steps back. “Is this some sort of trick? Compared to everything else, grabbing my horn doesn’t really measure up.”

“It’s a big deal to me.” Dante says, straightening his posture. “I find such actions uncouth and unruly, not to mention detestable. Make no mistake, I have taken part in torture when I’ve found it a necessity, but I’ve never done anything like what I did to you in such an activity. When I’m truly sorry about something, I will make sure to not do the same action again. Be sure of that.”

“Yo, Dante!” Raven calls, flying into the room through the door.

“Jeez, is everyone meeting here or something? What is it?”

“Iatril’s on her way. She’s pretty pissed.”

“No shit, genius. How long until she gets here?”

“Beats me. Maybe thirty seconds, if you’re lucky.”

“Hmmm.” Dante looks around the room, observing all of the ponies around him. “Okay everyone, we’ll be postponing our discussion until a later time, as I am about to be in a great deal of pain.” He takes a few steps away from Twilight, standing a few feet from all the ponies in the room. “…wait for it…”

“DANTE!” Iatril’s voice rings throughout the room, albeit with reverberations. In through the doorway comes a huge, swirling, cloud-like body with whirlwind-like tendrils for arms. The cloud flies above Twilight and her friends and slams down onto Dante with one of its tendrils. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!”

Dante spits a bit of blood to his side. “Well, I was waiting for you to do something like this. Or, did you mean before just now?”

Wind dispersing from her body, Iatril lands and takes her own form, lifting Dante above her, holding him by his tunic. “I can’t believe you! I told you not to harm any of these ponies!”

“No,” Dante replies calmly, “you told me not to kill any of these ponies. And, as you can see, none of them are dead.”

“You know what I meant!”

“But that’s not what you said. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Now, put me down already.” Iatril slowly lowers him to the ground. “Good. Now, first order of business is—” A swift punch to his face cuts him off. Reeling back, Dante covers his nose, trying to realign it. “Okay, I had that coming, now—” Another punch, this time to his chest, cracking a few ribs. Before Dante can say anything else, Iatril delivers a final punch to his stomach, forcing him to kneel over in pain. “*cough* …Okay…I… *wheeze* …I deserved that.”

Iatril just looks down at him coldly. “You weren’t productive at all, were you?” She asks.

“Not *cough* not true.” Dante says, slowly rising.

“Oh?” Iatril crosses her arms. “What exactly have you done that’s productive?”

“Hey, Dante!” Shade calls, trotting into the room, holding a shiny pendent on his wing. “I found the amulet. Hey, did you hear the huge rush of wind a minute ago? That was…Rainbow?” He finishes, looking up from the pendant and over at the cyan pegasus.

“Shade?” Rainbow asks, looking over at her brother. She doesn’t look confused for long; only angry. “What are you doing here?”

“He’s with me.” Dante answers. “Well, maybe.”

Ignoring Dante, Shade runs right over to his sister. “Are you hurt? Did he do anything to you?”

“I’m fine!” Rainbow yells at him, swatting away his outstretched hoof. “Go be with your psycho!”

“Rainbow…”

“Not to interrupt your little meeting, but we are in the middle of something here.” Dante says, grabbing Shade’s attention. “By the way, she’ll be fine. She’s just a little tired. Now, go deliver the amulet. I’ll contact you later about our business arrangement.” Shade looks up at him before slowly trotting out of the room. “Be quick about it!” Dante calls after him.

“Unbelievable.” Iatril shakes her head. “You are truly unbelievable.”

“Well, I do lie a lot, I suppose.”

“This whole time, you’ve been messing around and hiring thieves!”

“Oh, and you’ve contributed so much to our plight. You’ve made few friends. I’ve just proven my worth to the rulers of this country!”

“You attacked the rulers of this country! You’ve battered one princess and locked the other in a cage!”

“Yeah, well, they pissed me off.”

“We need their help!”

“There are at least two other civilizations we can get aid from. I like them better and I haven’t even met them yet!”

“Gods, you never change! You toss aside everyone you think you don’t need when you desperately need them!”

“And you always try to befriend everyone, even when it’s pointless!”

“Brute!”

“Weakling!”

“Demon!”

“And proud of it!”

The two of them stare hard into each other, neither one wanting to break first. Iatril has her hands balled into fists, ready to strike him. Dante has his eldritch magic stored and ready in his hands. The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. Eventually, Dante lets out a breath and lets go of his magic.

“Whatever.” He says, walking right past her. “Since you’re here, go fix up everyone.”

“Where do you think you’re going?!” She yells at him.

“I’m going to take a nap!” He snaps back. “If I stay, we’ll just end up killing each other, and then where will we be, huh?!” He casts his spell, opening up an entrance to his mansion near the entrance of the throne room.

“Wait, what about the cage you made?”

“Fuck you, fuck the cage, and fuck the smug princess inside it!”

“Hey!” Twilight yells, getting in his way. “The element of magic!”

Dante quickly soars over her, landing in front of the portal.

“Shut up.” And with that, he disappears into the portal, closing it behind himself.

Iatril just stares at where the portal once stood, holding back her rage.

“Hey everypony.” Spike says, riding on top of Flurry as they enter the throne room. “What’d we miss?”

END CHAPTER

Author's Note

Hello once again! Here is the next chapter for y'all. If you ever had any doubts about it before, Dante is officially an asshole. I know this may come to a shock (not really) but it's for your own good that you know this.

For this chapter, I'm not going to do the Spell guessing game. (It was Waves of Exhaustion, by the way). I just figured it was too easy. Still waiting on the other two chapters (8 and 10) to be guessed at, but I'm sure someone will get around to that eventually...maybe.

Also, just a neat little thing my friend showed me, I took some Mary Sue test for Dante. Turns out, he IS a Mary Sue. (Unbelievable, I know) I should probably warn readers in the summary that this fic contains a Mary Sue.....nah

Next chapter in about a week, I think.