The walk to Fluttershys friend’s house was a long one. It was for Flurry, at least. The whole walk there, Iatril and Fluttershy talked constantly about the different aspects of nature, their preferences in animals and climate, and how others treated said animals and climates. This isn’t to say that Flurry despised nature; quite the contrary. However, listening to a discussion about nature with Iatril was never a favorite of his. Iatril has a tendency to be overzealous about nature and, if her view is challenged, will debate for hours about it. Luckily, Fluttershy shares many of her view points, especially the desire to help animals in need and the sheer beauty of nature, something Flurry is quite grateful for.

They arrive at the hollowed out tree serving as the home of Fluttershy’s friend and the element of magic, Twilight Sparkle. Fluttershy knocks on the door and is soon greeted by a small, purple and green lizard-like creature.

“Hey, Fluttershy.” Says the creature. “Who’re your friends?”

“Hello, Spike.” Fluttershy says to the small reptile. “This is Iatril and this is Flurry. They’re visiting Ponyville and I’m showing them around town. Is Twilight here?”

“Yeah, she’s in the other room reading. Come on in.” Spike steps back, allowing us space to move into the room.

All around were rows and rows of books on the walls; in this room alone, there must be several hundred. Through a doorway, Flurry can see even more books organized on the walls. Never before had Flurry seen so much literature in one place. The most he’s actually seen was in the castle Aselith was in, but he’s heard that Dante’s own private collection was even greater than that. Dante has never said how large his collection was, but Flurry is sure it’s not so large as to fill this whole building.

“Twilight, we have guests!” Spike called into the adjoining room.

“Be right there!” Called a voice back.

Out from the room came a lilac unicorn with a blue mane with two colored stripes, one pink and one purple. On her hide is a pink star with smaller white stars surrounding it. She looks over to the doorway to see her guests.

“Well, hello Fluttershy. What brings you here? And who are they?” The lilac unicorn asks.

“Hello, Twilight. This is Iatril and Flurry. I’m showing them around Ponyville and I thought I would introduce them to you.”

Twilight looked at both Iatril and Flurry and nodded at both of them.

“It’s nice to meet you.” She says cheerfully.

“The pleasure is ours.” Iatril responds.

Flurry, instead of meeting Twilights gaze, was now transfixed on the reptile, who was putting books back onto the shelves. Twilight takes notice of this and tries to get Flurry’s attention.

“Is there something wrong?” She asks with curiosity.

Flurry snaps out of his trance and looks back at Twilight.

“Sorry.” He says quickly. “It’s just…is he a dragon?”

“Yep! And, he’s my number one assistant. Right, Spike?” She calls to the dragon behind her.

“You bet Twilight!” He replies back.

Flurry looks between them both, a bit bewildered.

“How…strange. I did not think dragons would be this close with ponies.”

“Dragons and ponies usually aren’t. I hatched Spike from an egg as a test to enter the school for gifted unicorns when I was a filly. Ever since, Spike has been like a little brother to me.”

“That’s…interesting.”

“Why don’t I brew some tea and we can all chat for a while?” Twilight asks, turning towards the kitchen.

“I’ll help you set up.” Fluttershy adds, following Twilight, and leaving Flurry and Iatril standing near the door.

Flurry looks down at Iatril and whispers, “I think Dante should have stayed. He would have appreciated the irony of a dragon among the peaceful.”

“That may be so,” Iatril replies in kind, “but one of us needed to search for Aselith. I’m sure Dante would find his efforts to be more important than this.”

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

“MONSTER!” A cry echoes throughout a corridor of the royal palace. Four guard ponies armed with lances face down a creature that looks as if it was spat out from hell itself. The creature is amorphous, shifting its pinkish body around like a liquid as it floats in the air. All across its body are eyes and mouths with sharpened teeth, constantly babbling nonsensical noises as it approaches the guards. As the creature approaches, the guards continuously back away, afraid of what horrors this thing is capable of. In an instant, the creature lunges forward in the air towards the guards with a roar, causing them to break formation and run away, yelling down the halls.

‘Hah! This is great! I haven’t had this much fun in ages! Some guards, though. They may act tough, but the second some strange creature comes floating along, they run away and hide. I swear, this same exact trick has only worked one other time for me, but I used it on kobolds. Those tiny lizardmen really couldn’t put up a fight anyway, so they’re excused. But four good sized ponies armed with lances, a concept I won’t even begin to question, are turned away by an abomination the same size as them.’

Dante floats down the hallway, looking for more ponies to terrify.

‘Actually, I should probably stop screwing around like this. I mean, if I want to even think of asking this nation for help, it would be much more beneficial if I was NOT caught like this. I’ve already scared about twenty ponies total, so I think—oh look! More ponies!’

Around the corner were a group of nine ponies; one was in the front of two rows of four. The front pony has a multi-hued blue mane and a white coat, donning a more illustrious golden armor than the other soldiers. Atop his head stood a helmet with a tassel out the back and a hole in the front for his horn. On his hide was a dark blue shield with a pink star in the middle, covering most of the shield. He wore a stern expression on his face.

‘Ooh, another tough guy. Let’s just see how tough you are.’

Dante charges at the group, shape twisting, yells coming from each of his mouths. Before he reaches the ponies, he slams into a wall of pink force. All around him is a sphere made of this force. He pushes against the sphere, only to be pushed back, leaving no indication of change on the sphere.

‘Heh. Well played.’

The pony with the blue mane turns to one of the guards to his right. “Inform the princesses that the creature has been detained.”

The guard salutes his ranking officer. “Yes Captain Armor.” He turns and gallops down the hallway.

All the eyes of Dante’s form look upon the white pony.

“Armor? As in ‘Captain Shining Armor’? I’ve heard of you. Heh, what are the odds?” He says, each word from a different mouth.

All the ponies in the hall look aghast at the creature that is Dante; all but Shining Armor.

“So,” says the unafraid captain, “you can talk.”

“Of course.” Dante responds with a laugh. “And so can you. I can see there is much we can learn from each other through communication. You can release me now.”

“I don’t think so. You broke into the palace and attacked the guards! Why would you think I would just let you go?”

“Well, for starters, I didn’t attack any guards. Guards don’t flee in the face of the unknown like those ponies did. Regardless, I have attacked no one.”

“Be that as it may, I will still not release you.”

“But Shining!” Dante morphs his form into that of the pony before him, bare of armor. “I’m you! Why would you do this to me? To yourself?”

“A changeling!”

“A what, now?” Dante asked, genuinely confused.

“Don’t play dumb with me, changeling! What is Chrysalis up to?”

“Who? So many names to keep track of, so little caring. I’m not even a changeling.”

“Oh, of course you aren’t. You only changed forms right in front of me. Now talk!”

“Well, you know what you know, and I know what I know. And, guess what, I know I’m not a changeling. I’m about 98% sure of that.”

“You can be as sure of that as you want, you still aren’t getting out of there.”

“Well now,” He says, quickly disappearing from the sphere and reappearing right in front of Shining. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that.”

Shining quickly shoots a ray of energy at his doppelganger, only to have it dodge the strike and start floating in the air above him.

“Well, this has been fun. We should play this game again sometime soon. You know, I chase the guards, you catch me, it’ll be great fun! But, for now, I must retire.” And with that, Dante disappears from sight.

Shining Armor frantically looks around the hallway for any sign of him. “Quick, fan out! Maybe we can still catch him!”

All the guards in the hall run either way down the hall, turning corners and disappearing behind them. Shining Armor himself gallops full speed down a corridor. Once all the guards have left, Dante starts floating lazily down the hall, towards the window, invisible.

‘Silly ponies.’

He flies above the castle, shifts his form back to normal, and looks down into the courtyard to see the guards scrambling to find the intruder and set up guarding locations.

‘Seems so chaotic…I like it. I should spread chaos more often. Hell, I hardly need to do anything really. All I did was scare a few guards and disappear from sight, and this spectacle before me is the fruit of my labor. All without any consequence whatso—’

His thought is interrupted as a bolt of magic zips by him, nearly hitting his head. Dante looks behind him to see two unicorns with their horns aglow and pointed right at him. Looking down at himself, he can see a partly transparent pair of pants and his cloak through said pants.

‘Know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away, and know when to run. As much as I’d love to start blasting things with magic, I did make a promise. I think I can hold onto that promise for now, so it looks like it’s time to run…err, fly.’

Dante quickly soars through the air, narrowly dodging magic and arrows alike. A volley of arrow is launched into the air, several piercing into his arm as he avoids the others. Just in front of him, another pink barrier springs into existence. This time, Dante simply teleports himself away from the castle, arriving on the rooftop of the donut vendor. He promptly pulls the arrows out of his arm to inspect the wounds, only to have them seal up instantly.

‘Heh. Demon powers are the best powers.’ He looks over at the castle to see the pegasi guards flying in the sky, searching for him. ‘Well, that probably wasn’t my brightest moment. Still though, they found me, which is more than I can say about other guards I’ve snuck past before. I should probably keep a low profile for a while; let them calm down on their search. Besides, I feel as though there was something else I was supposed to be doing. Hmmm…right! Donuts!’

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

“…and that’s how I earned my cutie mark.” Twilight said, finishing her tale. The group had moved to the room Twilight was reading in previously, sitting around a small table with a few cushions on the ground to lay on.

Flurry looked at her, mildly impressed. Iatril, however, stared wide-eyed upon hearing this awesome display of magic.

“That’s amazing!” She said in awe. “Are you a goddess?”

Twilight blushes a little before responding. “Oh no, I’m not that strong. That only happened because I lost control of my magic.”

“But to display such power when you’re so young! No wonder you’re the element of magic!”

“Well, thank you! How about you two then? How did you get your cutie marks?”

“Um…” Iatril starts. ‘I never thought of this! Fluttershy told me yesterday about hers, so why didn’t I think of something!?’ She looks over at Flurry, only to receive a shrug for a response. ‘Okay, quickly. Think of something, Iatril. Something that made me who I am. Something…or someone…’ She looks back at Twilight and Fluttershy.

“I got my cutie mark thanks to Flurry here.” Flurry looks at Iatril questioningly before leaving well enough alone. “You see, when I was young…I never knew my parents. I was left at an orphanage, basically. The ones in charge there became my family…for a time. But, they weren’t a very good family. They didn’t want me around, and once I saw it, it became obvious. One day, I met Flurry. We…got into an argument over something, I can’t even remember what it was about now, but it ended with him giving me some advice. To this day, I can hear his words ringing in my ears. He told me to stop caring for those who don’t even pretend to care for me and to blaze my own trail in life. After that day, I left for the nearest forest to start doing what I really wanted to do: care for nature. Years later, I met Flurry again, and we’ve been travelling together ever since.”

“Oh wow.” Fluttershy says, holding her hooves over her mouth. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“Ah, don’t worry. It’s all in the past.”

“Did you ever find your parents?” Twilight asked.

“Well, yes, I did. I, uh, found their grave.”

“Oh my.” Twilight says.

“Like I said, don’t worry. I think I already knew that’s how I would end up finding them, so it wasn’t that bad when it happened.”

Regardless of her reassurance, the room still fell into silence. That is, right until Raven decided to let out a caw and draw everyone’s attention to him and Flurry, who was looking rather annoyed at the bird at this point.

“So Flurry,” Twilight begins, “how did you get your cutie mark? I’ve never seen anything quite like it before.”

“Oh…uh…” Flurry says, stumbling over his words.

‘Come on, Flurry’ Iatril thought. ‘Just make something up. It’s not that hard, just think of something. Anything!’

Like an unspoken prayer being answered, a knock at the door brought the attention away from Flurry.

“I got it.” Spike says, standing up and walking to the other room. “Hi Rarity!” Spike says excitedly upon opening the door.

“Hello Spikey.” A feminine voice replies. “Is Twilight around, dearie?”

“In here!” Twilight calls out to the voice.

Through the doorway, a very white, very dazzling unicorn steps forward. Her mane is a deep purple with curls in a strange, if not beautiful, way. “Darling, have you heard the news? It seems…oh, hello there.” She says, looking at Iatril and Flurry. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you had guests over already.”

“That’s fine, Rarity. We were just getting to know each other over some tea. Care to join us?” Twilight asks, holding her tea in the air with her magic.

“I’d love to darling. I don’t believe I’ve had the pleasure of meeting you two before.” She replies, trotting over to the cushions next to Flurry.

“I am Iatril, and this is my friend Flurry. It’s nice to meet you, Rarity.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” She says, batting her eyes at Flurry. “So, when did you two move to Ponyville?”

“Oh, we haven’t moved here. We’re just passing through. We came here through the ‘Everfree Forest,’ I believe it was called.” The looks on Rarity’s, Twilight’s, and Spikes faces all showed the same fear as the others. “Why is that always the reaction? Is the forest truly that bad?”

“Well…” Rarity says, reluctantly. “It is a very unnatural place. But, and I don’t mean to spoil the mood here, Rainbow Dash found a dead manticore near the edge of the forest yesterday afternoon. She said it looked like it had its life just taken out of it, since she didn’t see any wounds on it. And, hearing you came from the forest, well…”

All eyes in the room were on Iatril and Flurry, the fear on their faces clearly visible. ‘Oh, no. No, no, no, no!’ Iatril thought. ‘How could I have forgotten this! Dante, why couldn’t you have hidden the body or something!? Oh, Fluttershy. Please don’t look at me like I’m a monster. Please don’t—’

“I did that.”

The attention quickly shifted over to Flurry.

“I was waiting in the forest for Iatril to return when that beast came upon me. Of course, I had to act in defense for my own protection. I also understand the implications of ending the life of any creature. I apologize if my actions have upset any of you.” He explains, finishing with a bow of his head.

‘Wow. When did he learn to lie like that?’

“Oh…of course! I would never imply a stallion such as yourself would ever do such a thing without good reason. Of course you needed to defend yourself” Rarity replies quickly.

“Killing is still wrong.” Fluttershy says just above a whisper.

“Indeed it is, and I shall take care in the future to avoid circumstance where such force is even an option.” Flurry says with yet another stroke of genius.

‘I really should start worshipping whichever deity that keeps helping us out of these situations. Or start thanking Dante for lying so much around Flurry.’

“I am sorry if I ruined the atmosphere of the room here. Gossip can be a terrible thing at times.” Rarity apologizes again.

“Hey everypony.” Spike says, walking into the room. “You know what will cheer everypony up? A trip to Sugarcube Corner!”

“Spike,” Twilight says, “I don’t see how—”

“But Twilight! You know how good Pinkie Pie is at cheering ponies up. It’s almost surprising how good she is at it.” Spike says, making sweeping motions with his claws.

“I still…oh! Yeah, you’re right. Maybe we should go over there.” Twilight says, perking up a bit.

“I do believe a change in scenery would help.” Rarity says, standing and heading over to the door.

‘Far be it from me to pass up a perfectly good excuse to avoid a topic.’ Iatril sighs in relief, following Rarity’s lead. Pretty soon, the whole group is exiting the library and to Sugarcube Corner. ‘Come to think of it, given that there are no guards around, things being killed is probably very rare around here. So, it stands to reason that when it does happen, the ponies here would get more anxious about it. But then, why did they let it go so easily? Perhaps it is best not to dwell on it.’

As they approached the delicious looking building, Rarity moved to one side next to the door. “After you two.” She said to Iatril and Flurry.

“Thank you.” Iatril happily replies. Upon opening the door many small, color bits of paper are thrown about right in front of her, followed by very loud ‘surprise’ yelled by everyone in the room, which was a good amount of ponies. Her view, however, was obscured by one particular pink pony standing right in front of her with her hooves in the air. The pink pony in question also had light green hoof barely an inch from her face.

“Wow, you really were surprised, huh?” The pink pony said, smiling away.

Iatril lowered her hoof back onto the ground. “Yes, very! Please don’t scare me like that! I almost hit you in your face!”

“Don’t be silly. That’s why I wasn’t any closer to the door.”

“Wait, you knew I would swing at you?”

“Yep! My Pinkie Sense told me so. Now come on in and enjoy you ‘Welcome to Ponyville’ party!” She said, pulling in Iatril by her hooves.

“Wait, your what?”

“Oh don’t worry about that. Now you and Flurry come and enjoy the party!”

“How…when…what?”

~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~ _ ~

“And have you found any trace of the creature?” Shining Armor asked.

“No sir. It seems to have just disappeared.” Said the guard pony. “If it’s still in Canterlot, it’s being very discrete about it.”

“Inform the city guard that I will be down shortly to assign patrol routes.”

“Yes Captain.” The guard salutes then gallops out of the throne room. As he leaves, another enters.

“Have you got the sketch of the creature?” Captain Armor asked the new guard.

“My apologies sir, there was not enough similar information from the guards who got a look at it. The only things in common were it wearing some sort of red cloak. It may have also been wearing some dark clothing, but we can’t discern if it was clothes or its skin. It also seems to have two sets of appendages, one near each end of its cloak.”

“That’s not much to go on. You are excused.” With a salute and a turn, the guard left the room. Shining then turned to the princess of the sun. “What do you think, Princess?”

Princess Celestia motioned to her two guards, who promptly moved to the end of the room and left through the large doorway, closing it behind themselves.

“I do not know. From the moment I first felt this presence in Equestria, I haven’t been able to find where it’s coming from. It feels as if it is all around us. Luna has had no better luck. If this creature is what’s causing this disturbance in the air, I can only imagine what its plans are. To be able to hide itself from both my sister and I is terrifying. Only Discord has ever been able to do this.”

“What do you recommend then?”

“If the guards do manage to track this being down, tell them not to engage it. Inform either Princess Luna or myself and we will deal with it.”

Shining Armor grew concerned. “Is it truly that bad?”

“If it has the power to hide itself from our sight I can only assume it has some other great power as well. I don’t want anypony to engage this creature. Is that understood, Captain?”

“Yes Princess!”

“Good. You are dismissed.”

As Shining Armor left and her guards re-entered, Celestia had nothing but worry on her mind.

‘Be safe, my little ponies.’

END CHAPTER

Author's Note

Well, either Dante can't handle sugar that well, or he's just an asshole. So here's the next chapter of my little story, out when I planned it to be no less. Not sure what else to say at this point. I did edit the previous chapters to indent at every paragraph (out of some strange desire and need to indent them) and I changed where a few paragraphs started; so nothing story-wise, just grammatical. I figured out a trick with Word so I wouldn't make those mistakes with the paragraphs again. I say this because I don't know if editing a chapter keeps the story under the "new chapters" part of anyone who favorited this story. (Incidentally, thank you to everyone who has marked this as a favorite or liked it. I'll keep up the good work so as not to disappoint.) So just in case it does, I apologize. (But I don't think it does, so....) Anyways, I'm rambling on. I'll try to have the next chapter up in about a week. Happy (belated) New Year!

By the way, the 'Know when to hold them' thing is lyrics from "The Gambler" by Kenny Rogers.