//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 - And so his journey begins (unedited) // Story: End of The Line // by WUBZ-_-Vinyl //------------------------------// Somewhere in the Everfree The pains of searing blood came and went quickly as Nero stepped off his pedestal. His heavy boots crashed against the ground and he took a very wobbly step forward, legs buckling as he quickly started getting used to feeling sensations once again. The crisp cool air tickled his lungs and he felt a wave of joy wash over him. There was something that he had to do first and he wasn't going to let the opportunity pass by. He took a really deep breath and clenched his devil bringer into a tight fist. "CELESTIIIIIAAAAAAA!" Nero screamed as loud as he could, his voice bounced off hundreds of trees and made several birds flee from their nests in fear and fly away fast. "Whoo! That felt great!", Twisting his neck rewarded him with several crackles and pops causing him to let out a small groan of relief as his joints loosen up. "Now that that's out of the way, where to go next?" Unfortunately Nero had no idea which way to go due to his inner compass being out of commission for so many years. Peering in several directions revealed several small pathways leading to many unknown places. Nero began pacing back and forth, hair gently blowing in the light breeze. He inspected the many dirt paths with doubtful eyes. He didn't like the looks of many of them, which had dead trees, jagged rocks and vine traps ready to snatch you up at a moments notice. While Nero was approaching a road, he was too lost in contemplation that he didn't notice his devil arm blinking bright blue. Once his boots came up to the path, they stopped just before a thin wall of vines could grab onto his ankles. "This way child..." A ghostly voice whispered in his ear. "This way? You mean the way with the creepy ass vines looking to snatch any poor soul dumb enough to cross?" Nero muttered to himself and looked at his devil arm with the corner of his eye, noticing that it blinked twice in confirmation. Nero sighed and shook his head as he put his left hand on the grip of his sword. "I hope you're right about this, now you better not screw me over strange voice. I need to get out of this forest and get those elements that guy mentioned. You're with me on this right?" His arm didn't blink but somewhere deep within himself, Nero couldn't help but feel that this strange voice in his head was a part of him. Oh well, couldn't dwell on that now. He needs to get of out this forest. And so he started walking, a few steps in something told him to duck and so he did. Good thing too because a vine swung above him hard enough to knock the wind out of somebody. Nero continued forward while keeping a close eye out. After dodging more weird vines, Nero came across a rickety looking bridge. Wood rotting out and the rope holding the wood planks together were barely holding them in place. Stepping closer to the edge, the bridge gave a menacing creak as if it knew someone was about to cross. Nero look to the other side and could see the dirt path continuing further into the forest through the trees and bushes. He gave a sigh and lightly tapped a wooden plank with a hard boot, this caused the wood to splinter and break into hundreds of wooden chips right before his very eyes just before they fell into the black abyss underneath him. "Well this isn't going to work", The man shook his head and leaned back against the tree beside him. He could feel his irritation rising with each passing second. "How the hell do I cross this thing?!" Idea after idea went down the drain and after the tree he had been leaning against started cracking under his weight, Nero finally had enough. "Fuck Celestia, fuck Equestria, fuck this world, fuck this FOREST AND FUCK THIS TREE!!!" He ended with a devastating right hook to the tree, completely uprooting it and smashing it into huge chunks and tiny pieces. The tree fell over the side and hit the ground with heavy thuds and light plaps. The young devil gave a shit eating grin. "Nero you are a genius." *Huff Huff* "When did this get so heavy? Whew shit... I don't remember it being hard" Nero set down his DIY bridge down as carefully as he could so he wouldn't break it. The bridge was made out of a combination of tree trunks, branches and vines all tied together to make one long continuous single person bridge. "Now a little bit more to the left annnnnd..... got it!" He aligned it perfectly so both sides had several feet of tree left over, allowing for an easily crossing. "And now for the easy part... crossing this thing...." Nero muttered to himself, trying to build himself the confidence to cross it. He took a deep breath and placed one boot onto the makeshift bridge, he could hear the wood whine as his weight was placed upon it but other than that nothing happened. And so Nero took careful steps as he worked his way across the gap, taking extra steps to avoid the branches and other obstacles in his way. Once Nero reached about the halfway mark he could tell something was amiss. He stood dead still and listened. "Something isn't quite right about this." After a few more creaks and groans, nothing else happened. Nero began walking once more and the vines around him started snapping three at a time. He could feel his heart racing and his face dripping with sweat. Nero was never afraid of heights before but after spending so much time in stone, he forgot what it was like to truly FEEL; And he knew damn well that he wasn't going to die before he got his revenge. "Ah shit! time to go!" Putting caution on the backburner, Nero began sprinting as fast as he could. Pushing his legs into overdrive as he could feel his balance being tested by the logs which were being pulled out from underneath him at a rapid pace. Nero's legs began to burn with intensity as he pushed into the logs hard, he could see the cliff edge just ahead of him approaching fast. 15 feet away... 10... 5... and then he jumped. The hunter landed on the grass, head downward and his arms spread out slightly. Suddenly he could feel a huge force pull him backwards and sending him skidding off the edge. His hands reach out desperately grabbing anything he could find. His fingers find purchase against a piece of vine. Nero's breaths turn slightly panicked as he could hear the loud thuds of his bridge hitting the bottom of the canyon. He felt a large amount of pressure in his leg so he looked down and silently swore. "Damnit..." Stuck to his leg was a wad of vine with a huge chunk of wood attached to it. It had to have been at least 400 pounds give or take. He knew that he needed to get untangled soon or else he would be in big trouble. Nero slowly released his arm from the vine and wrapped it around his demon arm multiple times so he could still support himself as he started working on freeing himself from his trap. Gritting his teeth, Nero started to untangle multiple vines that clustered together around his leg but not quite being able to untie them all. "Come on just get off me damnit!" Nero was almost able to get another knot untied but before he was able to, he heard a loud crack and could feel the vine in his devil hand start to give way. "Not good, hurry up come on!" His fingers fiddled with the vines one last time before he felt himself start getting pulled down and quick. Seeing that he had no time left as indicated by the vine in his hand becoming more loose and thin, "Screw this", Nero shoved his human hand into the right side of his trench coat. His fingers firmly grasped his gun and he pulled it out of its holster, quickly aimed it at the knot and squeezed the trigger. *BANG BANG* The vines had no chance against the Double Barrel Revolver (Which he calls Blue Rose) as it zipped through them and struck the log below, completely obliterating it into a thousand pieces. Chuckling, Nero grit his teeth and pulled himself back up to the ground safely. Rolling onto his back and with his gun still in his hand, Nero stared emotionlessly up at the stars. The tickle of laughter in his belly overcame the hunter as he laid there, he began laughing quietly at first but then it turned into an uproar of bellows. "That... of all things that could have happened... and I almost got taken out by a tree?? heheheheheh" He wiped the oncoming tears away from him eyes with the back of his hand before sitting up and lazily hugging his knees, gun hanging over his devil arm as he sat there. Nero sat there for the longest time listening to the sounds of crickets and the hooting of owls and other various creatures of the night before getting himself together mentally and physically. "Alright, party's over. Now it's time to get out of here and move on, find some water or something. I might even find a town if im lucky. Spend the night at an inn." He spoke aloud to himself. Picking himself off the ground, Nero brushed the dirt and stray pieces of leaves off of his coat and hair; He then began walking alongside the path once again. Continuing his journey. Slash Nero had long since unsheathed his Sword (Which he had named Red Queen) and slashed his way through the endless maze of vines with a frown upon his brow. "These... Ching Damn... Crunk Vines! Need to just FUCK... Crash OFF!" He swings his sword at a diagonal downword slash against a thick wall of vines. "How long do I have to Fucking SMASH HIT THIS THING??!!" Nero takes several steps back and revs his sword up to level 1 exceed. Lunging forward, he let's out a little war cry and slashes his flaming blade at a perfect horizontal angle while spinning his body, sending a wall of huge flame across the vines. His sword tip lightly dragging across the ground afterwards. Fire and wood don't mix well, and the once proud wall of vines turn into ash in a matter of seconds. Since the start of his so called 'quest' Nero hadn't encountered any lights or any strange creatures so needless to say, He was surprised to discover a whole new area once the flames died down. "Well no where else but forward I guess." And just like that, Nero felt as if he was looking at a new world around him. There was nothing but flowers of various colors, such as pink, blue, red, yellow and purple. Straight ahead of him was a small unimpressive round pond but Nero didn't mind. Nero squinted his eyes and places his hand over his forehead trying to reduce the harsh glare of the sun. "Arrrrgh, damn sun. Wait, is it daytime already? How in the world?" Nero asked totally confused before shaking his head. "No, you're in a pony world where the sun and moon are in control of ponies. Let's NOT question this or else I'll get a migraine." He shakes his head and walks over to the pond, staring at a pair of small green butterflies flying around and playing around the daisies. Once he reached the edge of the grass, Nero slowly sank to his knees and stared deep into the water. His eyes traced across his own Face and Hair . Looking down at himself he saw the Outfit he wore on the day of his imprisonment. Nero noticed his Devil Bringer blinking softly. Clenching his fist tightly, he closed his eyes and his thoughts became clouded with one person. "Kyrie... I miss you so much..." Nero could hear her voice deep within his heart. "I love you Nero", Her auburn hair blew in the breeze as her brown eyes leeched onto his. Her smile turned infectious and Nero felt a smile spreading to his face. "This is where I belong, with you Kyrie. I will get to you no matter how long it takes. I promise." The white dressed lady let out a little sad smile and held his devil hand with her own human hand, his normal blue coloring turns a light yellow. She brought his hand to her chest and held it with both hands lovingly as she opened her mouth once more. "Nero, never forget to do the right thing. My heart will always be with you." And so she slowly started to disappear. Panic gripped him tightly in it's cold dead grasp. "Kyrie please! Don't go..." Nero pathetically reached out for her even as his hand passed through her. "Never forget who you are Nero, be the hero I fell in love with all those years ago. You will see me again when it is your time, but for now you must make a choice. And I know you will choose what's best for you Nero, Stay strong my love, I love you." Nero hardly registered her words before she left completely, leaving him alone in his thoughts once again. Tears of sadness poured out from him and fell into the water. "Why... Why must you be taken from me? Again?" His breath quickened and he could feel his heart racing faster and faster. "I can't do this, I can't do this without you Kyrie. You made my life worth living, you made me into the best version of myself that I could've been. How can I live without the one thing that made my life worth it? How can I live with myself? All alone?" He dug himself a deep hole for the depression and sadness and he laid in it wholeheartedly. The world around Nero was crumbling and at the moment he couldn't give a damn, He just wanted his fiancé back. Nero sobbed hard and hugged his knees, at least he would have if he hadn't of noticed something poking his palm. Opening his eyes, he unclenched his fist and was met with a bittersweet sight. It was the Necklace that he had given her as a birthday gift. A gift that sent thoughts of a time long since past right into his brain. I'm outta here, this church is putting me to sleep. Credo, protect Kyrie... I got this. Credo's dead too... Kyrie go! Get outta here! Don't leave... You know God, I've always wondered why you gave me this arm. But now I know. Heh, who woulda thought? it's for the demons... Who packs a sword like that if you're not even gonna use it?! Heh, Dante... I hope he's alright wherever he is... *snap* Nero's eyes burst open, he placed his hand on his sword and very slowly stood up. The hunters eyes swooped across the area, swiftly inspecting for any sudden movements or sounds. *crack* He tilted his head to the side and looked around behind himself as he could feel eyes on him. Nero made is way over to an open grassy area, making sure to stay extra quiet just in case there was something that didn't like him closeby. *growl* The blue devil stared at a nearby bush that was trembling, leaves falling to the ground as it thrashed about. He kept his hand on the grip of his sword as he got prepared for a fight. To his surprise however, what came out of the bush wasn't a scary creature. Instead it was just a bunny rabbit. He sighed and dropped his hand to his side. "Okay stranger things have happened but still, a freaking rabbit? Are you kidding me? I'm pretty sure that growl didn't come from it but it's gone away.... apparently. Weird." The hunter turned around and began to walk back to his original spot, but before he could take a single step; a loud snarling sound came closer and closer. The young devil hardly had any time to react but thanks to his sharp reflexes and skills, Nero was able to roll to the side as the creature leapt at him. Wind blowing against his hair as he quickly stood back up with his hand tightly gripping his sword. Staring into the bright green eyes of this creature, the creature stared back with murderous intent as it began to slowly circle around him while leaning low to the ground. Growling viciously. Nero tilted his head and his hand went back to his side. "A wolf? And it's made out of... wood? What the hell is this mutt doing here? Eh, perhaps it just wants to find its owner." Deciding he has been silent long enough, the devil smirked. "Well I wasn't expecting to meet any pets today, no autographs please. I'm already dirty and I don't want to smell like a wet dog ball sack on top of the other disgusting stuff." The wolf snarled loudly and exposed its teeth, which ironically were just very jagged and pointy pieces of wood. Definitely can give you the hurt if you aren't careful. Nero saw this as an opportunity to push wolfs patience further. He clicked his tongue mockingly. "Now that isn't very polite. What would your mother think if she knew how bad you were? You look like the retarded love child of Whitney Wisconsin and a wolf, but only if the wolf had third degree burns all over his body and likes to eat his own shit." And the response was exactly what he had hopes for. The enraged wolf howled as his teeth glistened with thick and sticky yellow tree sap. The wolf lunged for the hunter again, fully intending on biting this humans throat out and turning him into lunch. It's efforts were in vain however as Nero was much faster. Pulling his gun out in a flash, Nero aimed it at the wolves head and squeezed the trigger without hesitation. *BANG BANG* two loud gunshots were heard throughout the forest, scaring off whatever little amount of furry friends that could have been hiding somewhere. It never stood a chance as the gunshots pushed it's body away as it exploded into hundreds if not thousands of splinters and leaving behind an empty hollowed out wooden husk. Nero held the barrel up to his lips and gently blew away the smoke coming out of it before spinning it around in his hand and putting it back in it's holster like a kickass gunslinger. Turning to his right, he walked away feeling a small pit in his stomach growing weary. "I got a bad feeling about this..." He took a couple dozen steps before stopping once again after hearing many growls. Nero turned around and faced the noise, only to find himself surrounded by 10 or more of the same creatures. In the back, he could see the one he obliterated only seconds ago re build itself and crawled it's way over to the rest of the pack. Heavy boots thumped against the ground softly as Nero began to back up, only stopping once his back impacted with a thick tree. His attackers slowly inching way toward their prey. The hunter slowly reached for his sword hung over his left shoulder and firmly grasps it, gives it a few revs until it reaches exceed level 1. His devil bringer starts thrumming with blue energy. "Hmmmft, well you know what they say about wood", Nero clenches his special arm into a tight fist. Power climbing steady. "You can't get rid of wood unless you beat it!" He spreads his fingers out wide, creating an orb of raw power that steadily flows across his arm like a burning flame. Nero's gloved left hand groans as he tightens his grip around his sword. "Come and get it you mutts!" Queue the epic battle track. Nero stood there waiting for one of them to make the first move. The wolf to his right leaped towards him, claws unsheathed and teeth bared. "Wrong move fuckface!" Nero's lips curved into a dark smile as he waits for the perfect moment. The wolf is almost on top of him when he decides to make his move. Nero thrusts his sword upwards at a straight vertical angle, striking the wolf and sending it into the air. And he himself along with it, he does a sort of backflip leap as the fire sears into the wood before adding a few simple but powerful lower to upper diagonal sword swings. Revving the engine once again, Nero finishes the enemy off with a quick and strong Roulette spin. Pieces of the wolf hit the ground, or at least what was left of them and the hunter continued his carnage. His devil arm glows and another more translucent ghostly arm appeared above his. The ghostly arm shoots out, grabbing the wolf in the back and pulling it close to the hunter. Nero revs his engine to exceed level 2, pulls his left foot back and swings Red Queen sideways before doubling the attack with a fiery upward vertical slash. "How's this?!" He yells as he splits the wolf into 4 uneven parts. His sword Causing a loud Clang as the metal smashes against the ground. The wolves started to get smart and start attacking in groups. Three wolves lunged at him, two high and one low. Nero had the solution to that. Revving his sword to level one, Nero threw himself forward and sliced horizontally while spinning with a complete 360. Sending deadly fire to the wolves. "Hyah!" Just before the third wolf could bite him, Nero kicked it really hard, hard enough to tear off it's front limbs. It gave little whimpers of pain but not for long. Jumping up to the wooden freak, Nero took his devil bringer and grabbed onto it's torso with ease. "Slam dunk!" The hunter raised his arm as high as he could and threw the wolf so hard that it shattered a couple others around it. He took his sword and revved it to level 3 exceed and pointed the blade towards the ground, immediately Slamming into the remains of the corpse and sending a small explosion towards a couple others and burning them, "Burn!" Nero shouted. He got so caught up in his slaughter that Nero didn't realize that the party was almost over until there were 4 wolves left. Not wanting to disappoint, Nero ran in the other direction; knowing that the wolves would follow. "heh heh, let's see how you like this." Opening up his revolver, Nero stylishly reloads his gun without stopping his sprint. He puts the gun back in its place and takes his sword off his shoulder; Revving it up to exceed level 2, Nero jumps high into the air and bends his body so that his feet are touching the metal of his sword like a surfboard, "Let's get airborne!" His left hand started glowing blue. Nero's devil arm extends towards a thick branch and he throws himself toward it with wolves in tow. He throws his legs forward and does a full swing around the tree before landing on the branch with a flip. Nero could see the wolves snarling and growling as they leapt at him. Time seemed to slow into a snails pace, colors turning dull gray and black as he was crouched upon the branch. Confusion crept across his face as Nero looked perplexedly at them. "What's going on?" He waves his flashing blue hand in front of his face a few times, noting that time didn't seem to affect him as it does the others. During his short moment of confusion, Nero looked down at his devil bringer only to see it blinking repeatedly as if it were on some sort of timer. "Too slow..." The voice echoed softly. The confusion was short lived for Nero as his eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh I see", He smirked and tilted his head to the left and right, his neck gave several crackles and pops. "power to control time. Very useful." His arm started blinking faster now and time began moving just a teensy bit faster. The wooden canines getting closer and closer. "Unfortunately won't last long though..." As soon as he said those words, the color came back and time started flowing normally once more. His left hand burst with a second wave of blue flame. "Figures" He scoffed. Just when the wolves came into contact, He sprung into action. Pulling his devil bringer back, Nero threw it forwards. Smashing his fist into the wolves face and sending it back to the ground in pieces in slow motion. He then followed it with a powerful sword slash. Nero launched himself off the branch and into the air vertically. Because of his demonic blood or whatever, the rules of gravity don't exactly work the same with him as it does others. He learned that lesson when he was a child, Nero was bullied as a boy because he was different. The first few times really got to him and made him cry, he didn't know his real mother so of course it would hurt him if others talked about her. Eventually though Nero began to get stronger and with that strength came practice. That practice turned into discovery and mastery and because of that, he could now destroy these wolves as if they were nothing without even a second thought. His body floated in the air for a moment before scooching backwards with hand on sword, "HA!" Nero thrusted himself forward and slashed horizontally. A huge streak of flame burst from the weapon as it made contact with the timberwolves, instantly incinerating them into ash. A loud howl pierced through the chilly air and Nero could sense the presence of many more wolves, at least two dozen or more. The short distraction gave a timberwolf some courage, and so he lept at the hunter. He was inches away from the jugular with teeth bared, desperate to take a bite out of his throat. Said wolf gave a yelp of surprise as it found itself stuck in place, a translucent blue wall didn't flicker in the slightest when the beast wiggled and thrashed, it couldn't do anything to get out of his grasp, even biting didn't do anything but that didn't stop it from trying. A seal of blue magic appears underneath Nero as he jumped higher into the air with a front flip, taking the creature with him in his deadly grip with his devil bringer. Nero and gravity didn't always get along so he decided to help out a little. He began doing several frontflips as he started descending to the ground, each flip going faster and faster. His devil arm glowing increasingly more bright as he tightened his grip. The creature howled in agony as various parts of his wooden frame started splintering and splitting apart just from the sheer pressure of the arm. "EeeeeeeeeYAAAAAAAAAAAA!", the ground was approaching at a rapid pace, Nero tucked his legs in to his chest. Gave a couple more flips, then spread his legs wide as he harnessed his demon power. He pulled his bringer back and gave an angry shout while the whimpers increased. Nero did one final flip before smashing the beast into the dirt, HARD. Causing the dry dirt to explode into the air around him, concealing his form and giving him a fresh dirt coating. "SLAM DUNK!!!" The beast gave one last yelp of terror before it couldn't make anymore sound. Shards of bark scattered throughout the area, even impaling many trees in its unpredictable path. The wolves of wood growled aggressively and they lowered themselves closer to the ground as they skulked forward slowly. Once the dustcloud settled, a few wolves barked in confusion while most of them continued sniveling and growling as they scouted. This confusion sparked fear into some of the more rational minded wolves as they could see that their prey was missing, as if he had never been there. While they started their search, a lone pup wondered away from the group. If they split up and searched for the human then maybe they would have a chance? Wrong. *Whistle* "Over here boy!" The wolf didn't have enough time to attack or even lift a paw, his head moved ever so slightly to the left and a thick and long shard of wood came flying through the air searching for it's target. It was found once it came into contact with the beasts green eye and went straight through its brain, killing it instantly. The body gave a dull thud as it hit the soft ground. Nero stepped out from behind the tree and went over to the corpse before stopping next to it, knowing that no doubt the rest would arrive shortly. His theory was proven correct as he heard the pitter patter of paws against crushed grass, and could hear the growls getting closer. Soon enough, Nero saw pairs of green eyes peeking from all around him, faces becoming more defined as they approached. Nero's devil bringer started glowing small but steady blue flames as he made a claw motion with his fingers. Placing his glowing glove onto his sword pommel, he gave a sharp smirk, showing some teeth as his eyes turn slightly brighter with a glint of insanity. He raised his arm and gave several back and forth gestures with his hand, "Come on!" he taunted. They took the bait hook-line and sinker. Nero gave a small grunt while his boots were crunching against twigs and leaves with every step he took. During his little battle, one of the wolves must have been lucky because they chomped down on his arm pretty good, not enough to draw blood but enough to grab his attention. Another wolf tried that with his demonic arm but that didn't go so well as you might have assumed. Step after step he took, wandering around aimlessly along a dirt path, looking for any sign out of the forest. He could feel himself growing increasingly irritated as he vaulted over another dead trunk. "This is bullshit!" His face contorted with rage as he grit his teeth. "I hate being rusty... Not good enough!!" He stopped as he heard some branches snapping behind him, placed his hand on his gun and jumped. Nero backflipped and performed a few spins before pulling his gun from the holster and firing double shots at the thing that tried attacking him, Turns out that it was just a lousy timberwolf trying to finish the job. Both shots hit the pup in its neck and Nero landed back on his feet, spun his revolver before putting it back in it's holster and crossed his arms while staring at the wolf that was panting in pain. He waited a few seconds before the beast stopped breathing and fell onto its side, deceased. Nero raised his eyebrow and tilted his head slightly as he stared at the body, expecting something to happen. When nothing happened for a few moments however, he scoffed. "Hmmpt, talk about anticlimactic. What a snore." He began his trek down the dirt path only to turn his head slightly as he heard an explosion ring. Nero smirked, "Now that's more like it. Maybe that will make them think twice before crossing me." his face shifted from cockiness to deep thought as he pondered the idea. He shrugged his arms and uncrossed them before shaking his head. "Nah, I don't think that's happening, they are too stupid to know any better. Dumbass dogs." The demon hunter kept along the path, boots crunching rock and dirt alike as he kept one foot in front of the other. Now there were many things that he didn't expect to see today, signs were definitely one of them. He approached the wooden board with unease, eyes inspecting the letters carved into the wood. It might have taken minute for him to read it due to his... condition. Reading cursive isn't as easy as it used to be for him but he was able to make out what the sign read. "Ponyville?" He inquired as he saw the arrow pointing east. "Huh, well that is....weird." Nero looked around with suspicion, as if something could come out and attack him at any moment. When nothing happened however, that made him feel even more weird. "Hmm well I guess, this way then?" He pointed ahead of himself and shook his head, "why the fuck am I talking to myself again? Oh yeah! because I'm crazy and if I keep doing this then I'm going to need two therapists. One for me and one for my therapist...". Nero sighed, "Just... shut the fuck up and let's keep moving yeah?" he willed himself to keep his mouth shut as he continued forward. Nero must have been walking for at least 3 hours now, his legs were hurting. His arms were burning and his feet were killing him, but that didn't stop him. The hunter was beyond famished, his throat felt like sandpaper and he could feel his organs squeezing and aching. "Gotta.... find... water..." He breathed out dryly and started dry heaving as the dust from the ground hit the back of his throat. "Stupid f-ack!-ucking shit! I.... I have to be close by now right??" Nero questioned with what little sanity he had left as he trudged along. His question was short answered as he noticed a brightness patch up ahead, he slowly got closer and once he did, needless to say he was flabbergasted. It's as if the whole world just flipped upside down on top of him, everything was brighter, full of color. Birds were chirping, butterflies fluttering, clouds in the deep blue sky blowing in the breeze. The sun beamed its harsh laser light on him, causing him to hold his hand up to his eyes so that he could adjust to everything without giving him a bigger migraine. "Well I guess that answers that question then... damn it's bright out he- wait, is that? Is that what I think it is?" Nero's eyes brushed across the landscape, taking note of the town in the far distance and the castle hanging on the side of a mountain that was even further away. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the castle with pure hatred, "Celestia...." He spat out with disdain. Thoughts of extreme morbid and dark things soon swam over his brain, so much so that he didn't notice where he was until- SMACK. Something smacked him in the face! "What the-? Hey! What the.... Hell?" Nero looked down and saw a rainbow trout wave its tail fin at him before blowing a raspberry and diving back down into the water with a small splash. Looking around, he could see that he was near a large body of what appeared to be clean, unfiltered water. Nero's questioning ceased as soon as he saw that, his only concern now was getting as much of that deliciousness inside of him as soon as possible. He sat on his knees bent over and scooping up water by the handful, he gave several long gulps each time he raised his cupped hands up to his mouth. The cold beverage soothing his dry throat and easing the stress on his organs. After drinking to his hearts content and washing most of the various twigs, dirt and grime out of his hair; Nero stood back up and gave a deep breath of fresh air. He sighed contently as the wisp cool air tickled his lungs. "Now THIS I like", The hunter said with a slight smile but that disappeared once his stomach decided to make itself known. Grooooowl "Of course....", Nero sighed. "I have to find food for you now you prick". He grumbled. And so he began lazily walking down the dirt road on it's shoulder, shade from the large oak trees offered the hunter protection from the blaring sun. Nero didn't have to walk very far, not 10 minutes since his recharge before he noticed something large and green. The hunter kept his pace without pause, and so he got closer. The smell of fresh lilies, daisy's and other sweet things filled his lungs with a peaceful warmth while his eyes were registering what exactly he was looking at. There were birdhouses and nests everywhere with colors ranging from red, to yellow, blue and everything in between. Purples and pinks danced across his field of view, causing him to pause in place in front of the House Said house seemed to be half house and half tree with a single story foundation. The architecture and everything seemed sturdy and warm at first glance. Dozens of animals and all sorts of critters bounced, slithered, hopped and walked around joyously. Seemingly undeterred from the hunters presence, and so they ignored him. Birds chirping away, Cats jumping around in the semi-tall grass. Bees buzzed around the multitude of flowers surrounding the yard, some of them regarded Nero with curious looks. He must not have seemed interesting to them because they went back to their activities without sparing a second glance. Nero just shrugged and pushed his strange feelings down with a shake of his head. "It would appear that nobody is home..." The voice whispered. The hunter looked down at his pulsing blue arm and made a tight fist. "I guess, but who knows? A crazy sea serpent could be living there for all I know at this point, even as ridiculous as that sounds." His gaze went back to the cottage. "Then perhaps you should go inside and look around." It said. "What are you nuts? Hell no I'm not going in there! What do you think I am? An idiot?" Nero asked sarcastically with a scoff. "Yes, because you know these pathetic worms don't stand a chance against you and you know that Nero." The voice responded with a colder and more controlled tone, much to the hunters ire. "Hey! Just because I'm practically untouchable here doesn't mean that I can start going around being a dumbass, I'm trying to be smart here you know." He gave an irritated sigh as he started considering going inside, occupied or not. There was silence for only a moment before it was broken by the voice again. "Why don't you start doing that then?" Nero's face turned red with anger and his eyes beamed murderously down at the arm. He opened his mouth to speak but was quickly interrupted again. He heard what sounded like a sigh but he couldn't really tell due to how pissed off he was. "You can start by keeping your mouth closed, wouldn't want any unnecessary attention put upon ourselves do we? You may very likely find Sustenance within. " Taking his advice, Nero didn't make a sound but he did however grit his teeth before slowly calming down. "That's what I thought..." Nero could feel the arrogance radiating from the voice in droves. Nero wasn't in the mood to deal with this jackass in his mind so he tuned him out as much as possible, which to be fair wasn't that difficult considering the voice never spoke many words in the first place. The hunter in blue took steady steps toward the small brown door, making sure to avoid the various holes and wet spots in the ground as he made his way to the entrance. Putting his ear against the door, Nero was met with an eerie silence. He frowned. "Nobody home? This is too good to be true." He then noticed the small lit up window to his right and quickly shuffled towards it before peeking in, his hands in the form of makeshift binoculars pressed up against the glass. From this position, Nero could make out a small dining area, kitchen as well as a few chairs and rugs. He squinted his eyes slightly to help adjust to the brightly lit interior only to let a predatory grin spread across his face as he eyed his prize. "Jackpot..." the window was in the perfect spot for him, he could see the fridge which no doubt had MANY goodies for him to snack on. This thought prompted another beastly growl from his famished stomach. Grooooowl "Oh shut up you pansy, you'll get to eat soon." He grumbled as he pulled away from the window. Nero crossed his arms and gave a little hum as he contemplated what to do. From what he knew, he had three options. 1: Walk away. Not happening. 2: Sneak in, grab the food and dip. Or 3: Smash the window and grab as much as he could carry. And since he wasn't one for walking away or being sneaky, I think it's pretty self explanatory what he was going to do. "Hmm, now if only I had something to- Ah!" he spotted a medium sized rock that was almost the size of his hand and bent down to grab it. Standing back up with rock in hand, Nero tested its weight by tossing it lightly into the air and catching it. The rock gave a good resistance and fell back into his hand pretty quickly, it also had a bit of weight to it so it was good enough for him. "Oh yeah, this will do." Wrapping his fingers around its tough exterior, he heard a nearby bird give a chirp in protest but he hardly paid it any mind as he drew his arm back. The chirping intensified the longer he didn't listen and just as he was about to hurl that rock through the window the bird went on the attack. Said bird flew at him with it's bright red feathers and landed on his shoulder, its orange beak pecked him on his cheek a couple times before getting smacked off, the tweeting annoyance hit the dirt ground and was knocked unconscious. leaving a few feathers hovering in place before descending to the ground around it. The hunter paused his destructive actions and instead looked at the unconscious Cardinal with a raised brow. "what in the... really?" Nero blinked rapidly. "Am I dreaming? Did that just happen?" He looked around and shook his head as he decided that no, he wasn't dreaming and that red cardinal really did just try stopping him from his home vandalism. Getting back to the task at hand, Nero refocused his efforts on the window but he couldn't help but wonder why that avian tried to stop him. It's not like he could actually STOP the devil in blue, you would need to have a devil arm for that and even then it wasn't a guarantee. Not unless he was stabbed repeatedly in the face with the Rebellion or the Yamato and as far as Nero could tell, he didn't have either one. During his internal contemplations, Nero almost failed to notice the increased sounds of laughter emitting from the road just outside the cottage. Said laughter was accompanied by a scratchy yet happy reply, "Pinkie Pie, you are SOOOO random!" Nero's devil arm shot out towards one of the less than noticeable branches plastered on the roof and pulled himself towards it rapidly. The thick green shrubbery concealed him from any unwanted gazes while all he had to do was look in between the cracks without moving a muscle. Such feats were almost impossible for him, he had to stay perfectly still while the groaning branch sunk down and threatened to break under his weight. Luckily for him he was able to give himself the perfect ghillie suit as he waited for the voices to come near, and they did. Nero waited as he heard and saw the ponies and dragon? Yep definitely dragon gather around the front door right beneath him. "Well to be fair Rainbow Dash, if Pinkie Pie here wasn't as *ahem* random as you say. Then we would not have nearly as much laughter as we do now darling. Besides, she does tend to put smiles on our faces at the worst of times." An ivory white unicorn mare with sapphire blue eyes, perfectly curled amethyst mane & tail, and lastly three blue diamonds on her supple flank said with a posh accent. She gave this "Rainbow Dash" a smile too. "Eh, she's kinda cute. The makeup doesn't bother me, it's not too much. " Nero silently voiced his opinion as he carefully inspected each one of them. There were seven of them total, six of them were mares. Their races split between Pegasi, Earth Pony and Unicorn. The dragon was a male from what the devil hunter could tell, at least from his deeper voice. The rainbow headed mare had messy uncombed hair and tail with Magenta colored eyes, cyan blue fur all over with a rainbow lightning bolt affixed a cloud on her flank. This mare was also a Pegasus because of her wings (duh). Nero felt the cockiness in her and that made him feel... pissed. He was cocky himself but didn't like others who were. The hunter knew then and there that he wasn't a big fan of her at all. Next in line was an avalanche of pink. Everywhere on her body had pink on it except for her blue and yellow balloon on her flank and baby blue eyes. She had curly and puffy hair, same with her tail and she had neither horn nor wings. He didn't know what to think of her so he just pushed his thoughts of her into his "To be determined" section. After her was a buttercream Pegasus with light pink hair that went down slightly passed her knees. Her hair curled similarly to the white one except it was curled on both sides and her tail was so thick and long that it dragged against the ground behind her. She had three pink butterflies attached to her rump and a pair of wings at her sides and a pair of Aqua green doe eyes. Nero had to hold back the intense 'HNNNNG' that he was receiving from her. The pony after that was a blonde earth pony mare with bright green eyes, like an emerald. She had on a dull brown Stetson rested atop her golden threads, which were tied at certain points with red scrunchies. Same with her thick brushy tail. Her style of choice was a ponytail (no pun intended). She had three bright and red succulent apples in the same place as the other mares and, is that rope? Yep. There wasn't much else to say about her but he could tell that she wouldn't give him much cause for concern, she didn't seem the trouble maker type anyway from what he concluded. The cycle of familiarity vanished when Nero set his sights on the dragon, his emerald green eyes coupled with green spines went from the top of his head to the tip of his spearheaded tail. His purple scales and hard green underbelly screamed "harmless". He had a set of sharp claws that could easily shred trees as if they were nothing. Normally this would give the hunter slight concern but in this case it didn't due to the dragons size. More specifically the lack thereof as he only came up to a mare's upper leg. He would have to keep his eye on him... And then there was her, the last mare. She was different from what Nero could tell, I mean how couldn't he? She had both wings AND a horn as well as the same colored fur and eyes. Which were both lavender. Her mane was a bit different however, it was a mixture of three different colors. Midnight blue with streaks of darker amethyst and bubblegum pink lines spread from the tip of her mane to the end of her tail in a single straight line. This mare had a pink star with an even smaller white star underneath, followed by several tiny white stars around them slapped onto her flank. Her style was simple and straight to the point, her mane and tail were brushed neatly with her bangs hanging from her forehead while it was brushed to one side at the back of her neck. The tail was just straight. Nero might have been in stone for many hundreds of years and he might have gotten rusty, but he could not help but feel genuinely shocked at the power that was practically dripping from her. This mare had so much of it that the image of a dam cracking entered his mind, water dripping immensely. the thought made him shiver. He could practically hear the dripping "If she has this much power NOW then she must have a whole lot more stored away in that.... horn of hers or something." He could see that she was sweet and innocent, but that she was also a very formidable foe. One that made him feel a little queasy to his stomach. "She's the one I really need to keep my eye on, I can't have her split me apart from my atoms which to be fair would probably be accurate. This mare seems very booksmart and I'm not in the mood to deal with nerd right now." Nero placed these mental notes in the back of his head for safe keeping later as the mares and dragon were chatting amongst themselves. "Yeah Rarity I know, you don't have to tell me something I already know." Rainbow rolled her eyes while putting some sunglasses on. Rarities smile sours slightly at that and she gives a little "Hmmmpt" before turning away and crossing her hooves while sticking her nose up in the air, "Why I never... How rude". She mutters. With her good hearing, Rainbow heard what she said and added fuel to the flame. "Pfft, whatever." She shrugged nonchalant. Spike looked at his friends knowing that they clearly didn't appreciate Rainbows brash behavior and that they didn't like it. However as soon as he saw the look on Applejacks face, he knew that a fight may very well be a possibility and despite how he detested it, he could understand the reasoning behind it. Instead, AJ let out a deep exhale through her nostrils and look Rainbow in the eyes right through the glasses. "Now now Rainbow, there's no need to be rash. Rarity was just trying to make a lighthearted conversation here, she didn't mean to make you upset for whatever reason you have. Now what I think you should do is apologize to her, it's the right thing to do." The orange mare ended with a southern twang and a warm smile. The cyan coated mare rose into the air with a single flap of her wings and flew towards the orange mare, pressing her snout into hers while glaring daggers at her. "Oh yeah? Well what are you AJ huh? Her lover?! And what if I don't stop! You gonna make me redneck?" "Girls..." a whisper soft voice squeaked out as she hid in her mane. "Oho this is getting good! I wish I had my popcorn, Damn..." Rarity visibly blanched at the thought of that, however there was a slight tinge of red on her cheeks that she couldn't shake off, "O-Oh dear..." Applejack however was a different story. Pushing her snout against the pegasus, she narrowed her eyes dangerously and spoke in a low tone. "I ain't her lover girlie but if you know what's good for you then I suggest you stop these shenanigans. And if you call me a redneck again, I'll whoop your sorry flank blue and purple all the way back to Appleoosa so don't you test me you hear?!" She practically growled, teeth bared and ready to rip her apart if need be. "Girls? Pl-please don't fight.." the normally happy and bubbly Pinkie cried out. Rainbow was itching for a fight and that was all invitation that she needed, "Ha! As if you could compete with ME Applejack! You're a riot if you think you can tango with this mare." She gives the other mare a few little jabs in the chest with her hoof. "Now I suggest you get out of my way and go back to your farm before I give you the taste of pain, real bad." Rainbow smirks. Applejack wanted to hit her so badly it wasn't even funny. Thankfully she restrained herself just barely and took a step back away from the mare. Much to Rainbows mirth. She chuckled, "Yeah that's right, walk back to your brother" turning around she tilted her head in mock thought. "Or is that your lover? I forgot which one it was~" and with a flick of her tail, the brown Stetson flipped off the country mare's head and onto the ground. Everyone in the group stood frozen still with looks of horror on their faces at what was just said, even Nero himself felt a bit stunned. "Holy shit... that was a bit too far there. I would NOT want to be Blondie right now." An orange hoof tapped the cyan mare on the shoulder, prompting her to turn around. Which she did with an annoyed look on her face. "What do you want Ap-?!" KRAAACK! Hoof met face, bone met bone as AJ hit rainbow so hard that her jaw became dislocated and blood sprayed out from the corner of her mouth. she got knocked to the ground where AJ became a beast and tackled rainbow. She managed to get one or two more punches in before rainbow started giving her own. Soon enough both parties tumbled around on the ground. Cursing, punching, and even biting each other. "Actually you know what? I take that back, that punch was EPIC!" The fight barely lasted a minute in all reality but for them it felt like years. They could do nothing but shout at the two to stop, which they didn't. It was only until a magenta bubble formed around them and pulled them apart that they would stop tearing at each other's throats. "Girls! That is ENOUGH!!!!!!" The lavender eyed mare hovered both of them in the air just a few feet away from where she was. She gave both of them reprimanding glares. "I am only going to say this once so listen well the both of you", Twilight said while trying not to yell at them. "Both of you should be ashamed of yourselves for acting like little fillies. BOTH of you have little sisters and you wouldn't want them to learn of such barbaric things, Catch my drift?" Both mares nodded in shame before she continued her impromptu lecture. "Now while we may not always get along, there is NO need to resort to violence towards ANYPONY", her eyes glared at Applejack, who gulped nervously. "We all have our off days, that is just a normal thing. But we do NOT call each other names or degrade one another REGARDLESS of the circumstances." Her eyes burned into Rainbows with smoldering fury, all RD could do was stare paralyzed by fear at her supposed best friends behavior. "Now what I want you both to do is say you're sorry to one another and really mean it, then we can move on and not have to worry about something like this happen again. Applejack, you first." She turned to AJ who was still hanging shamefully in the air. The farm mare closed her eyes and sighed deeply before opening them and turned towards the brash Pegasus not 2 feet from her. "Rainbow Dash, I am mighty sorry for hitting you. I should not have done that, you just made me so mad that I couldn't contain it. I still consider you a good friend despite what just went down. Will you forgive me partner?" She tittered softly. Twilight seemed pleased with her choice of words as she gave a nod. She turned to the other culprit, her eyes burning a hole through the prismatic mare's skull. "And now you Rainbow Dash." Rainbows eyes zipped back and forth a few times and she began sweating nervously, but then she hung limp in the air and sighed loudly before looking back up at her earth pony friend. "I'm sorry too Applejack, I shouldn't have ensta- insta?" She tried a few more times before being politely corrected by Twilight, "Thanks, Instigated. I should never have said any of those things to you or anypony else. I was just feeling so... angry! I went too far and... I-im sorry. I forgive you AJ." A few tears pooled in the corner of her eyes before slowly streaming down her fuzzy cheeks. "D-do you forgive m-m-me?" Rainbow inquired sadly with a sorrow look. Applejack smiled and went to hug her but couldn't, so she looked at Twilight and gave a firm nod which she understood. She lowered them both back down and took away their bubbles. AJ went over to rainbow and hugged her deeply, "Of course I do partner, you're mah friend Dashie, Always." Rainbow gasps in response and allows a wobbly smile to spread on her face as she returns the hug while gently crying against the farm mare. sniff sniff "Pinkie? Why are you crying?" Twilight asked with worry for her pink friend. "I-It's just so BEAUTIFUL! BAHAHAHAHAAAAA!" Pinkie bawled helplessly around the ponies (and dragon) that she cared for the most. This led to Rarity tearing up, then Fluttershy. And before you know it, everyone was crying and hugging eachother. "Oh brother, please... Give me a freaking break honestly. This is too much for a man to take." Nero could practically FEEL his cringe radar going off at all the tears down below. Out of the group of seven, Spike began gagging and dry heaving rapidly much to the groups dismay. "Jeez Spike, it was only hugging. I know that I'm not sappy but SHEESH!" Rainbow shook her head. "Honestly Darling, if you didn't want a hug then you should have just said so Spikey." Rarity tutted at him and shook her head even as he lifted a finger to protest. Spikes cheeks were enlarged drastically as he kept trying to expulse the offending intruder. "Well now ain't that just like a boy, can't take a lick of sentiment and- Woah!" The farm girl ducked as a magical scroll zoomed right past her and landing on a patch of grass, no doubt it would have hit her if she didn't move. BEEEEELLLLCHH! Spike gave a few low burps into his fist before settling down, "Ugh, whew! Sorry ladies, that always just happens out of nowhere. Would be nice if I was given a warning beforehoof though." He muttered that last part to himself under his breath before his attention was brought to Twilight, who was currently holding the scroll in her magic. "What is it Twilight?" He asked curiously. The lavender alicorn inhaled deeply through her nose and exhaled from her mouth. "It's from Princess Celestia." Is all she said before breaking the sun seal and unraveling the piece of parchment. Her amethyst orbs dragged across each letter and syllable on the page in front of her. The expression on her face went from joyful mirth, to worry, then to anger and determination. She reread the page over and over just to see if it was her mind playing tricks with her, but alas it was no game. Her eyebrows furrowed as she lowered the page, she was completely quiet as she took a minute or two to get her thoughts straight. "Twilight? Are you alright dear? You're not catching a cold are you? You're not looking too well darling." The ivory mare queried with worry evidently spread across her features. Twilight noticed her friends looking at her similarly too and so she sighed while lowering her ears. "I think it's best if you read this girls." Twilight cleared her throat and began to read aloud. Dear Twilight Sparkle, I did not want to tell you this by letter. However I needed the other elements to read this as well. Make sure you are all in a private secluded area before you dare read the contents contained within this letter, for I trust nopony more than you, my Niece and my sister. We are under attack Twilight, from whom I am unsure but there is something I do know for certain. This is something far greater than my sister or I could have imagined. Ponykind is in serious danger and if we do not stop it, everypony, griffon, changeling, and crystal pony alike are doomed. This attack; no, this WAR is coming and it won't stop until there is no life left on Equus. I have my suspicions on a certain... creature that may be involved with this. And due to the severity of the situation, I think it is well within reason to assume that he has been freed from his stone prison. Before you ask, No it is not Discord Twilight. Although if I had to choose between both of them, I would free Discord in a heartbeat no hesitation. Please understand that I cannot write every detail down and that I, Princess Celestia of Equestria humbly request the elements and your presence here at Canterlot. Please make haste my dear friends, time is not on our side. Sincerely, Princess Celestia Co-ruler of Equestria And your friend. Various expressions of shock, horror and fear was on everyponies face, including Spike. It was clear that nopony was expecting something like this to happen. Everything was silent for a few moments before the questions started spewing. "Under attack?! Ugh, I just had my hooves polished!" "War is coming? To ponykind? But that's crazy! Who could be crazy enough to do something like that? Even I'M not that cocky." "She would rather free DISCORD over this thing whatever it is?! How do we know if this creature isn't some sort of brain eating monster!" The farm mare rolled her eyes around all crazy like. "OOH OOH! What if the scary creature like parties?! EEEEEEE!~ WHAT ABOUT CAKE?!!! I HAVE PLENTY OF THOSE!!" "PINKIE!!!!" the shouts of her friends snapped her out of it. "Hehe, sorry~" The pink mare blushed cutely. "W-well um... what i-if the creature was ni-nice?" The shy mare whispered while bashfully hiding her face in her mane. "HNNNG!" Nero's heart skipped a couple beats. "Ahem, now I don't want to be rude darling but I have to ask. What would make you think of something like that? Did you not read the letter as well Fluttershy dear? Whoever this creature is, is trouble. If Princess Celestia herself said that she would chose Discord over this being then clearly she must know what she is talking about when it comes to matters such as this." Rarity gracefully voiced her opinion while still curious to know the shy mare's reasoning. "W-we-well um..." Said mare was bashfully rolling her hoof tip along the dirt while not saying another word. "Oh god I think I'm having another HNNNG attack... please make it stop." Nero grabbed at his chest while clinching his teeth. Rainbow groaned and facehoofed, "Look, I get that talking is important and all but right now we can't. You heard the princess, "Time is not on our side." Clearly we need get over there like 20 minutes ago!" She flew around in small figure 8's at high speed and showing her impatience. "Whooowhee! Now that is something I can get behind! Let's head on over there and save Equestria like we've done plenty of times before, easy peasy apple squeezy!" AJ reared her hind legs back and gave a few quick bucks and a few jabs from her forehooves. The prismatic mare landed next to the blonde mare with a grin. "See? This mare gets it! Now who's with us?!" Rainbow pumped her hoof upwards with a little flap of her healthy wings. Twilight looked at her other friends and could see that despite the nervousness and slight hesitation. They had no objections whatsoever. She adjusted her posture and set her steely gaze upon the city hung high to the side of the mountain. Giving a little flap of her wings and a little spark from her pointy horn, the princess of magic smirked. "Okay girls, let's do this. For Equestria!!" the others gave their own cries in agreement as they galloped away from fluttershy's cottage. Nero heard and saw them sprinting towards the little bustling town that was ahead. "No doubt going to a train station." He thought as he leaped from his hiding place and into the air with devil arm at the ready. "Well now this is a surprise. And one that I like!" How interesting...