//------------------------------// // Chapter 1 - The Order Of Things // Story: Demonic Dues // by Seamserb //------------------------------// A thousand years ago, when the world was still whole, the twin Alicorn sisters Celestia and Luna ruled. Under their prosperous light, all life thrived, pony-kind and all others.  However, one particular night, Luna, feeling resentment at how pony-kind seemed to prefer the light of Celestia instead of hers, performed a horrible ritual. She seeked to tap into the Ether, the plane of magic itself, and siphon its energies.  This ritual went awry, drawing the attention of the ire of Celestia herself, but Luna was too corrupted by the power she seeked to pilfer, inadvertently birthing forth the first Demons from the Ether.  Celestia managed to seal away the horrors and rescue her sister from the Ether’s grasp, but it cost her own life.  Luna, heartbroken, vanished as well, even in her ponies' most dire time of need. But the sealing was not perfect. Slowly but surely, the Ether began to creep back into the world, and along with it came once more the Demonic tides of— Thunk. Twilight stops reading her book, glancing at a small wooden timer on the table in front of her.   Break time's over. The scribe puts her book into her satchel bag before neatly pushing her chair in. She leaves the scriptorium, heading back towards the archives. As she walks through the halls, she glances up and out the stone windows, towards the crimson sky. The sun shrines a brilliant red, as always. Although, the anti-gargoyle wiring and armored pegasi patrollers do hamper the sight, somewhat. Eventually, she reaches the archives. The unicorn notices an aisle with some out-of-order books, and quickly gets to sorting them. Although most ponies probably wouldn’t enjoy such a menial job and life like this, simply shuffling books around, Twilight is perfectly content. She knows she serves a small but important purpose within The Order— "AHHHHH!!!" There’s a piercing shriek in the next room over, followed by a bang. Twilight immediately looks over the direction with shock, but hesitates. Should she get help??? If there’s something or somepony dangerous over there, then there’s no way she could handle it… Against better judgment, she runs to the room. Her eyes widen at the grizzly sight. A pony lays splayed out across the floor, face down… Atop a giant pile of books! A few of the shelves on a nearby bookshelf look like they fell out, making a huge mess! Twilight immediately runs next to the pony and pile, with a mixture of concern and annoyance. “Minuette! What happened???” She asks.  The fallen unicorn picks her head up, rubbing her temple slightly. Her blue coat somewhat frazzled. “I was trying to put a book on one of the top shelves, but I missed my footing on the ladder and a bunch of the aisles fell down!” She exclaims. Twilight groans. “We need to sort this before we get in trouble!” she says, hastily picking up and putting the shelves back into place, before putting some books in their correct orders.  Minuette slowly gets to her hooves, somewhat embarrassed, before helping the other unicorn.  As Twilight puts the books away, she tries to not actually look at them too much. Scribes like herself aren’t supposed to actually read the various tomes and books that their Monastery has, only sort and catalog them. The information in these could prove very dangerous in the wrong hands, and leave them more susceptible to Demonic influence.  Although, she can’t help but peek a few words here and there. One that sticks out in particular to her is “Vessel”.  She tries to focus on the task at hand, as the two continue to hurriedly putting books back. “Come on! We can’t let anypony—” “See what such a mess you’ve made?” A smug voice says. Minuette and Twilight’s eyes go wide and they immediately freeze, slowly turning over to the source of the voice. Senior Scribe Starlight.  She casually strolls next to the two lower scribes, simply looking them up and down with semi-squinted eyes, and a smirk.  “I knew you two were subpar, but this is a whole new level!” She says.  “Hey, Starlight. Care to help?” Twilight asks, completely unphased. “Oh sure. Make me clean up your mess during my break. The senior responds. “Actually it was my mess, so—” Starlight holds a hoof to Minuettes face without even looking at her. Minuette slinks down and away. “But sure. I’ll ‘help’. ” Starlight chides. Her horn glows a light blue. All of the remaining books are quickly and accurately put back into their respective spots with little effort. The act completely mugs what Twilight and Minuette could do with their magic combined. Minuette feels the burn, but Twilight looks relieved. “Thanks, Starlight.” She says with a smile. Starlight’s smugness smirk becomes a frown, not getting the reaction she wanted. “Bah! You can stonewall me all you want, but it won’t pay off. Especially not today!”  Twilight looks confused. “What’s happening today?” She asks. Starlight puts a hoof to her mouth, feigning unintention.  “Oops! I’ve said too much... Doesn’t matter though, since it won’t pertain to either of you anyways!" With a magical flick of the door, she takes her leave, snickering. Minuette looks at Twilight, somewhat bewildered. "How do you manage to stay so calm? You know she's messing with us, right?" Twilight shrugs. "I know. I just don't like it get to me." Minuette huffs. "I wish I was able to ignore it half as well as you do." "You get used to it." Twilight replies. She puts a hoof to her temple. "I do wonder, though. What was she talking about right before she left? Something about 'today'?" The blue unicorn rolls her eyes. “She’s just talking about that Delta-Level Demon Hunter visiting here in the Evening.” Twilight lights up, surprised. “Delta-level??? That’s huge! The highest I've ever seen before is an Epsilon!” she exclaims. Minuette raises an eyebrow. “That’s only one level lower than Delta, Twilight.”  “Yes, I know, but still! The differences are exponential, Minuette!”  She pauses. “Wait, how come you know about this and I don’t? Did I miss something?” Twilight asks. “All of Monastery Light has known about it for a while! Have you not talked to anypony else recently?”  Twilight looks down somewhat, clearly a bit embarrassed. Minuette’s eyes widen.  “Uh! I mean… I had my last shift with Starlight, and that’s all she would talk about. She kept rambling about how she was going to be the ‘chosen one’ and ‘be free’ from here.” The blue unicorn clarifies. Twilight looks somewhat confused. “What? ‘Chosen one’? ‘Be free’? Is she crazy?”  Minuette shakes her head. “Apparently, whenever a Demon Hunter reaches Delta level, they’re assigned a personal scribe to record and recount their events and hunts, for both morale and documentation reasons. And obviously, that scribe has to come from somewhere, and leave their Monastery." Twilight thinks for a few seconds, before the realization hits her, eyes widening. “Are you saying that one of us is going to be picked?!” She asks. “Uh… yes? I mean, that’s why they’re coming here—” Twilight puts both hooves onto Minuette, with a crazed look.  “This is terrible! What if you get chosen? What if I get chosen?!” She exclaims, fearfully. Minuette gently pushes her away. “Is there a problem I’m not seeing, here?” She asks, a bit confused. “Yes! A big problem! We’re going to have to leave the safety of the Monastery and go… deal with all the Demons and stuff on the outside!” “Twilight, the job is following somepony around who actually does all of that stuff. It’s not like you’re going to be swordfighting monsters or something. And besides, Starlight is probably the one going to be picked, as much as I hate to admit. She’s the senior, and also the most magically attuned out of the three of us.” Minuette calmly explains. Twilight’s still freaking out a little, but calms down somewhat at hearing Minuettes logical explanation.  Surely the senior scribe would be the one picked, right? She tries to turn back to the book-shelf to shake off her thoughts, forgetting that Starlight put them all back. “Oh. Right. Starlight re-sorted them all already.” She says. “Does this mean our shift is done?” Minuette asks. “I… guess? I mean—” “I’m gonna head out right now, I’m sure we’ll be fine, considering the arrival today! See ya, Twilight!” Minuette says, quickly leaving. Twilight frowns. She wanted to keep working to take her mind somewhere else… She just sighs as she looks at the perfectly sorted aisles. Twilight, Minuette, and a few other more novice members of the Monastery watch the main gate from a distance, anticipating The Hunter’s arrival. There’s somewhat of a small crowd of ponies assembled down at the gate as well. “Where the heck is he??? They said noon, right?” Snips exclaims, having to climb onto a railing to get a better view. “Patience, man. For all we know, he could be killing Demons right now!” Snails says. Minuette face-palms. “Unless the Demon was right outside the Monastery, I severely doubt that.”  “Bunless da demon was wight outside— bahaha!” Snips mocks. Snails laughs with him.  Minuette squints. “How does it feel knowing neither of you will be chosen to accompany them?” She jeers. Honestly, she doesn’t care about being picked that much, but she knows they do.  Snips and Snails groan.  “I don’t know why they’d want some lame scribes like you guys! Clearly, they should have some future hunters like us!” Snips says, striking a dramatic pose.  Minuette rolls her eyes. “Yes, because you’re the spitting image of physical ability.” she says, sarcastically.  Twilight just says nothing, looking at the gate with anxiety, tapping her hooves. Eventually, they hear a tell-tale loud horn, signaling the gate being opened. Earthen’s begin to turn winches and pull ropes, while soldiers position themselves both around the gate and in the air, just in case anything tries to rush in.  The gate creaks open enough for entry, and a figure walks in.  “Is that him?” Snips asks.  Minuettes eyes widen. “That’s not a him! That’s a her! Look!”  They look closer, seeing that the Delta-Rank Hunter is indeed a mare. The distance hampers their attempts somewhat, but they can make out some details.  She has an orange coat, yellow mane, and wears some sort of hat. Her face is one of pure stoicism, not showing any real emotion, besides possibly sadness. A sizable amount of her body is covered in armor and clothes, but from the small amount of her clearly visible, they see her body is scarred up, and rather muscular, as expected of both an Earthen and experienced Demon Hunter. Some of the other ponies chatter. “Ew! A girl!” Snips says. Twilight and Minuette look over with some disdain. “And why is she fat?” Snails chips in.  “That’s not fat, you idiots. That’s muscle, something you’re clearly unfamiliar with.” “Ohhhhhh!!!” The other ponies say. Snips and Snails grumble and look away from the diss. Twilight just continues to stare with a mixture of awe, but also fear. She can’t imagine having to accompany this pony around.  Something dawns on Twilight, though. “Hey, where is Starlight? Isn’t she supposed to be here with us?”  Before anypony else can answer, they see Starlight all the way at the gate already, quickly approaching the Hunter. They can’t hear what she says, but they visibly see her bow while closing her eyes. The Hunter barely stops to register her presence. “What a suck-up.” Minuette says, rolling her eyes. As the gate is closed behind her, Abbot Firelight, leader of the Monastery Light, approaches the Hunter and appears to exchange a few words. The two of them and some other followers proceed towards the building that the group is watching from. The Hunter glances up, her gaze meeting with Twilight's. The unicorn’s eyes widen, quickly shrinking away from the edge. Hopefully she doesn't recognize her later. Twilight thinks for a moment. Surely, they need to make like... arrangements and preparations or something? She should maybe have an hour or two before An older pony enters the chamber. “The scribes among you, please do make your way down to the Nave. The selection will begin soon.”  Minuette nods, and quickly begins to head there, while Twilight just stares blankly. It’s happening already?!?! Twilight, Minuette, and Starlight stand together, in that order. They’re in the center of the Nave, the most important room in all of Monastery Light.. The Monastery has really went all out with this, storing away all the pews, tables, and a lot of other decorations in order to give a more open and flat area for the process. All around the room, a large amount of Order ponies stare and watch the three. Abbot Firelight and the Hunter stand by side in front of the trio, almost inspecting them. Starlight looks as confident as ever, trying not to look obviously smug. Minuette just looks with a smile, prepared for whatever happens next.  Meanwhile, Twilight is trying to keep herself from completely breaking down. Not only from being stared upon by basically the entire Monastery, and also not just from the situation in general, but having to face Abbot Firelight and the Hunter directly. Up-close, the Hunter is even more imposing. She’s easily the largest mare Twilight has ever seen, bordering or even surpassing the average earthen soldier. She’s easily half a foot taller than Twilight, and even taller than the Abbot, a rather tall stallion himself. The Hunter scans her eyes over the three, one at a time.  Twilight’s mind races. How is this picked?! Does the Hunter choose? Does the Abbot choose? Do they have to agree? Is it random??? After some seemingly internal deliberation, the Hunter simply points a hoof. “That one.” She says with a strong voice. Twilight looks at where the hoof is directed at. Her. She can immediately feel her heart sink. There’s some murmurs from the spectators. Minuette looks surprised, and Firelight looks shocked. In particular, Starlight looks completely flabbergasted, jaw dropping. “A-are you sure you’re not mistaken? Starlight is the center one.” The Firelight whispers. It’s loud enough for the trio to hear, but not the spectators. “I’m sure.” The Hunter responds, simply. Firelight stammers a bit. “Surely you—” “I made my decision.” The Hunter says, a bit more sternly. Firelight gulps a little, backing off. Twilight barely has a reaction of her own, just frozen. Starlight’s is enough to make up for Twilight’s slack, though.  She steps forward, clearly angry. “Father, is this serious? She—” Firelight immediately puts a hoof up, snapping to face her. “Silence.” He hushes, sternly. Starlight immediately slinks back to her spot. She shoots a glare at Twilight, and then at the Hunter. The Hunter meets her stare, facial expression not changing whatsoever. She then turns back to Firelight.  “Alright. Take us to your Captain.” Twilight, the Hunter, Abbot Firelight, and the Captain Hammerhead sit around a table within a private room of the Monastery Light's Chapter Hall. Twilight and the Hunter sit on one side, and the Abbot and Captain sit on the other. It’s obviously very awkward for Twilight, who’s upper half barely sits above the table's level. Not to mention, she’s still in shock. Hammerhead Mccolt, commander of the Monasteries' fighting forces, looks at the Hunter with a bit of confusion. “Er… just for clarity, you picked her to be your personal scribe?”  He doesn’t ask the question with disdain, more like genuine confusion. The Hunter nods without saying a word, leaning back in her chair somewhat. Captain Hammerhead and Abbot Firelight share a brief glance, before looking back at the two others. “Okay then. Suppose we need to finalize it then.”  He pulls out a small ink-pad and document, sliding it in front of both ponies.  “Please stamp this with your hooves, it will officialize the selection.”  The Hunter looks at it with some brief disdain, before stamping her hoof into the ink with an audible thump, creaking the table somewhat.  The noise snaps Twilight out of her trance, eyes re-focusing on the room around her. The Hunter proceeds to roughly presses her hoof onto the paper, creating a deep blotch with small dots around it in a mess.  Twilight looks down at the paper herself, barely paying attention, but enough to know what she’s supposed to do, but also what stamping it will do. What option does she have? Can she refuse it? Is it possible to run away??? Her thoughts are interrupted by the Hunter snorting, and flicking her own head slightly. Wrap it up. Twilight quickly dips her hoof onto the pad, before gently and tidily pressing onto the paper, something she’s rather experienced at due to her work as a scribe.  The contrast between the large, deep, and messy print next to the small and fine one is almost comedic. The Hunter sneers. Hammerhead takes the paper away, the large blue stallion clearing his throat. “Alright. Scribe Twilight Sparkle, and Demon Hunter…”  He pauses, looking towards the Hunter, expecting her to say her name. She simply stares back at him without changing her expression whatsoever. “Demon Hunter. I’ll just say Demon Hunter. You are now bonded by order, law, and Celestia herself. Inseparable through whatever trials and tribulations that may face you in your futures.”  The words strangle Twilight like she owes them money. Inseparable.  “Insoupable, yeah. Got it. Besides the scribe stuff, mind tellin’ me why you summoned me here?” The Hunter asks.  Hammerhead looks around, as if to make sure there’s no prying eyes or ears around.  “We believe there’s a Devourer terrorizing the outskirts of Monastery Light. It’s been praying on exploration and scouting squads, we assume somewhere around five or six victims to date.” The Hunter’s stoicism streak breaks, being replaced with one of anger and shock. “You waited until NOW to call me?! Depending on where that darn thing started, the Anima it’s fed on could have propelled’ it to either Epsilon or Delta level!”  Hammerhead and Firelight look ashamed. “We… didn’t want to request help. We believed we could handle—” Firelight is cut off. The Hunter stands up, slamming her hooves on the table. There's some small cracking noises. “You believed wrong. Because now we’re dealin’ with something much worse than a simple Devourer! Hunters exist to be called upon, not to be the clean-up for when your mess' gets too big to handle!” She growls.  Firelight and Hammerhead both shy away from her.  Twilight just stares forward, blankly.  Anima? Devourer?  She’s gone from being forbidden learning even moderate Demon terms to apparently being in a situation that requires utmost secrecy due to the direness. She can't even imagine attempting to ask what those words mean right now. Hammerhead regains his bearings somewhat, clearing his throat. “We’ve narrowed down its feeding patterns and grounds, however. It prefers to attack groups of two to four, which should make you two viable targets.” He says. The Hunter sits back in her chair with a creak. “Great. You made a fed Devourer and now I have to play bait with a helpless Scribe?” She scoffs. Firelight and Hammerhead slowly nod.  Twilight would probably feel offended if the Hunter wasn’t completely right. “It would probably be more effective if you had a scribe who was more… magically gifted.” Firelight says, just low enough to not be a whisper. The Hunter glares at him, clearly understanding the implication. “We’ll give you two any resources you need, but you’ll have to do it on your own.” Hammerhead chimes in, trying to appease and defuse the Hunter. The Hunter scoffs. “Wouldn’t have asked it’ any other way.” She says, clearly unamused. “Give me a map, sharpen my sword, and I’ll be out of it.” She unsheathes and drops a large sword onto the table, with a large clunk. Hammerhead and Firelight both eye it nervously. Back at the main gate, Twilight and The Hunter wait for it to be drawn open once more. The Hunter taps a hoof, simply waiting, while Twilight looks incredibly afraid. From a distance, she can see Minuette, Snips, and Snails watching back at her, just like she did earlier. Minuette waves her goodbye. Starlight is nowhere to be found, but maybe that’s for the best right now. Eventually, the gate is pulled open, an unfamiliar and cool air hitting the unicorn. The Hunter immediately walks off towards the outside, not even telling Twilight to follow, but the unicorn hastily catches up. After the two exit, the gate isclosed behind them with a mighty thud. Twilight looks at the new world around her… And..! It’s nothing. Nothing special. The immediate outside of Monastery Light is some kind of rocky mound, elevated over a clear position, but the outskirts aren't like what Twilight expected whatsoever. She sees forests, hills, outcroppings, clearings… it’s just... normal. She expected fire and brimstone itself to be raining down or something, Demons immediately waiting to pounce. But it’s not that. Now she truly doesn’t know what she’s getting into. “Come on.” The Hunter says, beginning to head down a path. Twilight follows. The Hunter brings out a small scroll, tossing it behind her head. Twilight barely manages to catch it. She pulls it open, seeing some kind of drawing. “You’re the scribe. Read the map.” The Hunter says, still not turning around. Twilight squints at the map. Firelight Monastery is listed at its center, with various environments around it. There’s various symbols, lines, and other markings, but she doesn’t understand what they mean.  “Uh… I dont—”  The Hunter quickly snatches it away from her, giving the unicorn a bit of a startle. The Hunter glances at it for a few seconds, before immediately knowing what to do.  “We’ll be headin’ west, and then turning north until we reach the crest’ of the Outskirts, then loop back around on the other side.”  “Okay…” Twilight says. She’s basically a passenger right now. After about an hour of travel, Twilight feels like they should've been attacked long ago, but The Hunter knows better.  Hunts are about endurance. Unfortunately, that is something Twilight sorely lacks. She’s already beginning to get tired, her gait becoming shaky and unsteady. Meanwhile, The Hunter doesn’t look like she’s broken a single sweat, even with carrying the heavier equipment.  “Can… can we stop somewhere to… rest…?” Twilight pants.  “No can' do. The longer we wait, the worse this becomes.” The Hunter says, continuing to walk. Twilight takes a deep breath and tries to keep up. After about twenty or thirty more minutes, she can’t take it anymore. She collapses on the ground, exhausted.  The Hunter hearing the ‘thump’, pauses. She turns around with an unamused look, and approaches the unicorn.  “L-look… just give me like a… ten minute brea— wuh—!”  The Hunter lifts her into the air with one hoof, tossing the unicorn onto her back and continuing to walk like nothing happened. “Like I said. We can’t waste time.” Is all she bothers to say.  “A… are you sure… about this?” She asks. “Please. My armor probably weighs more than you do.”  Twilight feels a mixture of embarrassment and shame, but is honestly too tired to protest or try to get back on her hooves. She simply collapses against the earthen’s back. Twilight is shaken awake, or more specifically, tossed. The Hunter simply leaned to a side, letting Twilight roll off into the dirt below. “We’ll set up camp here for the night.”  The unicorn slowly picks her head up, spitting out some dirt. She processes the words. The night?! Not only does that mean this psycho wants to stay out here throughout the night, but… Twilight looks up, seeing that it’s been long enough for the Moon to begin rising.  How long was she out??? The Hunter is already rolling out Equestrias smallest sleeping mat. Not even a pillow or blanket.  Thankfully, Twilight had time to pack those for herself, but she's still having to effectively sleep on bare ground. “Do you really just sleep like that?” Twilight asks, gesturing to the Hunters' lackluster sleeping arrangement. The Hunter barely glances at her.  “Yeah.” She says, disinterestedly.  The earthen turns away to gather some nearby trees to gather some wood for a fire, snapping off a few branches and making a small pile in the dirt. Twilight simply watches her, unsure of what she's supposed to do.  She uses one of the few spells she knows – Illuminate – to hopefully let the two of them see their surroundings better, creating a small cone of purplish light.  The Hunter gives her the side-eye. “Turn that damn thing off.” Twilight immediately does so, a bit surprised from the crassness.  The Hunter lifts a single hoof to the pile, holding it there for a second or two. Twilight wonders what she’s trying to do, but her question is quickly answered. A small jet of fire erupts from her hoof, easily lighting the wood on fire. Twilight looks shocked. “D-did you just use magic???”  The Hunter takes a seat, intentionally looking away from her. “No.”  She doesn’t elaborate further. The two sit in silence for some minutes, The Hunter making no attempt to talk with Twilight. Twilight tries to do it for her. “So… I don’t think I caught your name back at the Monastery, did I?”  “Nope.”  There’s another few moments of silence. “...so what is it?” Twilight probes. “Is it important?” The Hunter says, finally looking at her, but with a glare instead of any sort of reciprocation. Twilight gulps. “...yes?” She says. The Hunter thinks for a moment. “My name is S.O.” She says. Twilight lights up a little, feeling like she’s getting somewhere.  “Really? That’s an interesting name! Does it stand for something?”  “It does. Screw. Off.” The Hunter says, now fully turning away.  Twilight’s very quickly frowns, mainly out of disappointment, but also a little sadness. Those two emotions slowly begin to compound on each other, until a new one is in their stead. Anger. Anger at being taken away from something she enjoyed. Anger from being thrust into this situation without a choice. “What is your problem???” Twilight asks, with an annoyed tone.  The Hunter perks up somewhat, still not looking Twilight's way. “I don’t get it. Aren’t we supposed to be like… partners or something? You come to the Monastery, pick me instead of the other Scribes… and then what? You just ignore me forever? What do you want me to do?” With a surprising amount of speed, The Hunter turns around, and closes the gap between the two of them. She doesn’t even avoid the fire, walking straight through it.  Twilight naturally scampers back, but The Hunter grabs her by the mane.  “Let’s get one thing straight. I didn’t pick you. I picked a scribe. I was forced to get one of you useless shits’ against my will. I ‘picked you’ because you were the first one in the line. There's nothing else to it. That stupid paper may say we’re ‘partners’ or somethin’, but I don’t care. You’re nopony and nothing.” She leans in further. “You and I may both be in The Order… but don’t push it. There’s two more scribes back at Firelight, if something were to… happen to you.” She says, under her breath. She lets go of Twilight’s mane, ending with a shove. Twilight is thrown back, recoiling. Less from the blow, and more from that entire horrible lay-out and threat. She just slinks back, afraid. The Hunter looks around, now fired up. She growls, looking up at the moon now having begun to rise in the horizon.  She mutters something under her breath. The Hunter turns back to the still quivering Twilight, tossing something near her hooves. Some sort of dagger. "I’m goin’ to go search for something. Do not move.” She instructs. Before Twilight can even protest, The Hunter has already disappeared into the tree-line. Twilight scoots up to the fire, holding the dagger. The closest thing she’s ever held before was a kitchen knife, and that still made her a bit queasy. Now she’s holding this clearly worn and used dagger, huddling around a fire in the middle of a dark clearing.  Minutes pass. Still nothing. Her mind quickly begins to race with paranoia. What if the Hunter abandoned her??? She did threaten to kill her… or something similar. But if she really was going to do that, why would she leave Twilight to her own devices? What if she just didn't want to do the deed herself??? No... a pony like that would have no trouble killing something... right? Her panicked thoughts are interrupted by some nearby sounds. “Help! Help!”  It sounds like a distressed stallion. Twilight immediately gets to her hooves, looking at the direction. “Help! I’m st-stuck! Help!” he cries again. Twilight’s gaze flashes between the direction of the voice and her knife. The Hunter told her to stay here no matter what… But if that pony needs her help, and The Hunter truly did abandon her… Then somepony has to do it.  Steeling her will, she rushes towards the sound, dagger in-hand. She lights up the area around her using Illuminate.  Eventually, she comes across some sort of cliffside, hearing the voice very close. “Help! It’s here!” The voice says again. “Hello?! Where are you!” Twilight says, not being able to find the source.  “Help! Help!”  Twilight finally manages to pin down the voice's location, running nearby to some sort of ditch. She’s about to peer in, but… “Help! I’m st-stuck! Help!”  The voice calls again… with the exact same cadence and stutter as before.  “Help! It’s here! It’s here!” The voice says again. It’s beginning to sound more gurgly… Twilight begins to back away, picking up that something isn’t right. She feels the ground shake below her, and hears dirt and rocks being moved. The ditch visibly moves and vibrates. “It’s here! It’s here! It’s here! It’s hereeeee!” There’s a pause. Twilight doesn’t dare move. “IT’S HEREEEE!”  A worm-like creature bursts from the ground from the inside of the ditch, immediately locking onto Twilight.  It has four limbs like a pony, but each looks like it has too many joints, some of them having different amounts as the others. It doesn’t have a head, instead its torso simply extending upwards and out, with a giant row of sharp teeth and a multitude of beady eyes. It has the remnants of what could be described as some sort of ‘mane’, a few mangy pieces of hair on its ‘head’. It screeches loud enough to hurt Twilight’s ears. She screams in terror, sprinting away as fast as she can, as it crawls after her. In her fear, she dropped both the dagger and the Illuminate spell. In the darkness, it doesn’t take her long for her to take a wrong step, tripping over a rock and sprawling out.  She continues to crawl as the Demon chases her, eventually being pushed to the edge of the cliffside.  Twilight looks straight down, not being able to judge the distance of the fall. Even if it was short, this thing would have a much easier time surviving the fall than she would. She can only scream as the Demon reaches her, immediately grabbing her and lifting her up with its ‘forelegs’.  “HELLLPPPP!!!” Twilight cries.  “HELLLPPPP!!!” The Demon cries back, in her own voice. The Demon proceeds to begin to lower her into its mouth from above. Its many rows of teeth rotate violently and rapidly within its maw like a blender. Twilight shakes and thrashes, but she can’t budge it's grip by the smallest inch. Before her hindlegs touch the gaping maw, though… “HEY!”  Both the Demon and Twilight look over. The Hunter stands on a piece of the cliffside, a few meters away. Her sword is drawn. She glares straight at the Demon with an intensity even greater than she did during her lay-out of Twilight. “Let. Her. Go.” The Hunter says with a cold lethality.  Twilight looks at The Hunter like she’s crazy. Is she trying to talk to this monster?! Suddenly, Twilight hears some sort of... heaving? No… Laughter. The Demon is laughing. It proceeds to lift Twilight high in the air with one leg, safely taking her away from its maw, but now beginning to shake her like a bag of groceries. It stands more upright, pointing its head and body towards the sky, using its spindly hindlegs as a stable base. “Anima. She.” Each word is in a different voice. It makes a low rumbling noise. “Anima. YOU.” It makes a high pitched screech, the vibrations metaphorically and physically shaking Twilight to her core. The Hunter herself almost laughs. “Oh, you want me instead of her?”  “Anima. YOU. Anima.”  The Hunter nods a few times, puckering her bottom lip like she's being amicable. “Alright. How about this? Let her go, and I’ll make your death as painless as possible.”  “ARE YOU SERIOUSLY THREATNING IT RIGHT NOW?!” Twilight screams, still being dangled in the air. "Not a threat if I'm goin' to do it!" The Hunter retorts. The Demon laughs back. “She. Go?” Its spindly leg suddenly holds Twilight off the edge of the cliffside. She looks down with terror. The Hunter’s confidence is instantly replaced with one of horror. "NO!" The earthen yells. The Demon simply gives another laugh. “Go?” It lets go of Twilight. The unicorn screams as she plummets off the cliff. The Hunter bites her tongue, sheathing her sword and leaping off the cliff-side as fast as she can.  She rockets into Twilight, grabbing and curling around the unicorn in order to protect her. The two smack the ground hard, The Hunter first and Twilight atop her. Thankfully, the fall wasn’t as big as either expected, but they’re still dazed. As the Hunter lays on her back, looking up, her eyes widen when she sees a dark blotch in the moonlight rapidly get bigger and closer. She quickly tosses Twilight aside, causing the unicorn to skid onto the nearby dirt. The Hunter herself barely has time to get away, the Demon smashing onto the ground at the position she previously was, before immediately lunging towards the earthen. The Hunter reaches for her sword, but realizes it was thrown aside in the fall. She's about to dive to try and grab it, but the Demon tackles into her, sending the two sprawling away.  They roll on the ground a few times, the Demon screeching straight into the Hunter’s face, sending her mane all over the place. Its maw spins like a cyclone as it attempts to get at her face, as The Hunter desperately tries to hold it's head back with her forehooves. Unfortunately, the body-weight of the Demon is working against her due to being below the monster. The Hunter yells back in fury as she tries to resist. Twilight gets back to her senses, eyes re-focusing and widening upon seeing The Hunter's predicament. The unicorn is completely lost on what to do. She thinks about the dagger the Hunter gave her, before realizing she lost it when the Demon first appeared. But then she sees something glowing in the moonlight nearby…  Her eyes widen further. She immediately sprints to grab The Hunter’s sword. It’s very heavy, with her being barely able to lift it at all, let alone swing the thing. But she won’t need to be able to swing it for this. Managing to push down all her rational thoughts and fears, she simply runs forward, sword in hoof. The Demon and The Hunter react at the last second, seeing Twilight rapidly approach in the corner of their eyes. SHANK! The Demon screams as Twilight runs through its side with The Hunter’s sword, plunging straight into its torso. The blade goes surprisingly deep. It swings at Twilight wildly with one of its legs. The unicorn manages to step away quick enough to avoid the first strike, but gets glanced immediately by the next one, sending her sprawling to the ground. The Demon continues striking wildly, now towards The Hunter, but the earthen is better prepared this time. The Hunter catches one of the Demon's arm with one hoof, before pulling on it hard and striking at one of its joints with her free hoof. The Demon screeches as its disproportionately spindly and thin leg gets broken.  The Demon shoots up, attempting to fall back down and crush The Hunter with its mass, but the Hunter manages to roll to the side of The Demon that her sword was embedded in. She points her body up, bucking at the still-lodged sword. The blade is forced upwards further, cleaving the Demon's torso a third of the way across. It screeches once more, blood now flowing from its mouth. Before the Demon even has time to try anything else, The Hunter is already back to her hooves. She grabs the sword with both forehooves and forcefully pulls it all the way around the Demon's torso, bisecting it into two nearly even halves. The Demon gives a shrill screech as it's sliced apart, before collapsing. It’s bottom half disintegrates almost instantly, but its top half still has some life in it.  The Hunter quickly cleaves its ‘face’ both vertically and horizontally, leaving its maw mouth looking like a paper fortune teller. “He… lp…” Is all the Demon can manage to gurgle. The voice sounds like Twilight's, but distorted and bloodied. After giving one final look of disgust, the Hunter simply points her hoof at the Demon's shish kabob'd face. The Demon's few remaining functional eyes briefly focus onto the hoof, before it's entire head is engulfed in a jet of flames, completely incinerated. After a few seconds, The Demon's remaining body disintegrates into nothingness, vanquished. The Hunter quickly goes to Twilight’s side. The unicorn twitches and spasms on the ground somewhat, although more likely from adrenaline or shock rather than her injuries, which are thankfully rather minor. Her eyes are dull and barely open. The Hunter puts her hooves on the unicorn, shaking her firmly.  Twilight’s eyes come back into focus, instinctively throwing a hoof into The Hunter's face. Shocked, the unicorn quickly raises her hooves to her own face. “Sorry!” She cries.  The Hunter recoils a little, but simply looks back like nothing happened. She extends out a hoof. Twilight thinks The Hunter is about to punch her or something, but she holds it there.  “Come on. Take it.” The earthen says, shaking her hoof a little. Twilight cautiously takes her hoof, The Hunter lifting her upright. The unicorn is somewhat confused. “W-Where’s the Demon?!” Twilight says, looking around rapidly. “Exorcized” The Hunter says, nonchalantly. She barely has time to feel relief, before she suddenly buckles to the ground, slumping over. The Hunter barely catches her. “Can… we just go back to... the Monastery?” Twilight mutters. The Hunter somewhat gently slings Twilight across her back. "Yes. We will go back right now. Our job is done." The Hunter says. Twilight coughs. “When... we get back there... I'm done. I’m quitting this whole thing when we get back… document be damned.” The Hunter has a somewhat sorrowful look. “I have bad news for ya'... Anypony who has had a large hand in slayin' a Demon of at least Epsilon-level will become—” Twilight blacks out.