By the time Starburst had walked back into the boutique, Rarity already had Mysteeri on quite a fancy red sofa with gold, curved legs. The witch looked, once again, quite confused by the situation, yet Rarity already had a bandage wrapped around her chest.
“I’ll be fine, I’m sure. Cracked ribs are nothing in comparison to some of the stuff that usually happens to me.” Mysteeri said, awkwardly moving her arm across the sofa.
Rarity shook her head “Look at you, darling, you are most certainly not going to be able to do what it is you need to do in that condition. Stay, relax, you two have probably been working yourselves to death!”
“It’s true…” Starburst admitted “Neither of us have had much time to relax ever since we got started on all this.”
As she finished talking, the rumble of thunder echoed in from the clouds above, followed by raindrops flicking against the window. Starburst sighed and lowered her head, ears folding down with the movement.
“But I guess we have no choice. No going out in that weather.”
“No way in hell am I going out in the rain, anyway.” Mysteeri said, a scowl forming on her lips as she slowly let herself lay further back into the sofa “My hair is a pain to dry…”
Rarity pulled up a pair of seats with her magic, gesturing for Starburst to sit on one “Please, make yourselves at home, darlings, I shall be back with some tea!” She trotted off upstairs, leaving Mysteeri and Starburst on their lonesome.
“Not gonna lie, I thought that damn thing was gonna punch a hole right through me.” Mysteeri said, placing a hand where its hoof had been “I should be back in action once the rain passes.”
Starburst hopped into her chair, giving Mysteeri a perplexed look “How? Cracked ribs take ages to heal, you probably won’t even be able to fight for the rest of your time here.”
“Hehehehargh…” Mysteeri’s chuckle was cut off by a twinge of pain from her chest “Ack, hey, I’m a witch, remember? Ones like me heal faster. I’ll be fine.”
Starburst shrugged “If you say so. And, about that, I heard that horse scream something.”
“You heard it, too?” Mysteeri’s ears perked up…quite literally. The movement instantly attracted Starburst’s gaze “What?”
“…Your ears.” She said, levitating a mirror over to the witch. The moment she looked back, however, Mysteeri had her arm atop her head, slowly moving it back to reveal a pair of deep black pony ears in the mirror, sprouting from within that huge mass of hair. She groaned and covered her eyes with her hand.
“What’s the matter?” Starburst asked “I know the transformation is happening faster than we thought, but…”
“I’m really embarrassed about my ears.” Mysteeri said, slowly lowering her hand “When I got into the contract that gave me the witch stuff, getting them meant I had to…exchange a body part. I chose to replace my ears with cat ears. Until I figured out how to fold them down, everyone was making fun of me.”
“Oh.” Starburst blinked “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t know. I guess that does explain the ability to turn into a cat, though…”
“No point hiding it now.” Mysteeri shook her head “Doesn’t look like I can get them back down anyway.”
“I’m baaack, darlings!” Rarity’s voice rung out as she came back down the stairs, levitating a tray that carried a kettle and a trio of tea cups and saucers on it “So then, your plan, Starburst, you didn’t get to finish explaining before we were interrupted.”
“Didn’t I?” Starburst questioned “Hm, guess I didn’t. Where were we?”
“You were asking if Rarity was going to lend us a hand dealing with the source of the creatures.” Mysteeri said as Rarity levitated a full cup of tea over to her “Cheers.” She said, gently taking it into her hands.
“Oh, right, I was.” Starburst smiled “So, um, yeah, Rarity, will you help us?”
“Why of course, darlings!” Rarity took a sip of her tea “I assure you, it’s the least I could do.”
Starburst pumped her hoof, grinning “That’s the last of them, then, thank you Rarity.”
“So, where will you quest take you next? Do tell.” Rarity said, placing her cup of tea back upon its saucer.
“To the Far Mountains.” Starburst said, gesturing to her side “Of course, I forgot to consider how we’re going to get there. I can’t get Mysteeri on the train easily.”
“If I had my bike, getting there would have been a breeze.” Mysteeri commented “She’s a beast.”
“Hmm, that is quite the conundrum.” Rarity put a hoof to her chin, then glanced over to the paper she had jotted down Mysteeri’s measurements on “Say, Mysteeri, darling, about what I said when you two first arrived…”
Some time later…
Mysteeri stood across from the mirror, now covered in a deep black trenchcoat, a black cloak covering her upper body with what could be closely described as thick trousers and boots on her transfigured legs. Her hair had been tied back to the best of both Starburst and Rarity’s ability, an angular hat atop her head with a mouth covering obscuring everything on Mysteeri’s face but her eyes.
“A centaur look would have been possible if Starburst were just a little taller, but then people may think Tirek came back.” Rarity said as she gave Mysteeri one final look “But! If we can’t disguise you, we can at least cover up as much of you as possible!”
“It’s lovely, Rarity.” Mysteeri said, pulling down the face covering to reveal an honest smile “Thank you.”
“And we can just…have this?” Starburst asked, levitating a purse beside her “Are you sure?”
“Darlings, you’re trying to save the world, are you not? Besides, I owed you for saving my beautiful boutique from that flaming fiend!” Rarity smiled to Starburst, flicking her mane back “They don’t call me the element of generosity for nothing, you know.”
“What time is it?” Mysteeri asked, looking over her shoulder.
Starburst glanced to Rarity’s grandfather clock “Quarter past four. We should have enough time for the magna crystals.”
“Oh, you didn’t mention you were going to retrieve some of those!” Rarity’s eyes lit up like diamonds “I hate to be a bother, but you wouldn’t mind bringing me back some, would you?”
Mysteeri shrugged “I don’t see why not.”
Beams of light shone into the boutique as the dark clouds finally parted, revealing the rain coated land outside which glimmered in the bright sunlight “Gorgeous as always, Celestia.” Rarity smiled.
Starburst gave Rarity a brief look, her smile shrinking ever so slightly at the mention of the princess. She cleared her throat yet again “Well, I think it’s best we get going, then, don’t want to miss the train.” She bowed her head to Rarity “Thank you for your hospitality, Miss Rarity.”
“Oh, any time, darling, any time.” She waved the duo farewell as they headed out the door, Mysteeri pulling the cover back over her face.
Friendship Express Station, 10 minutes later…
A few ponies glanced to the strange, pitch black clothed…thing sitting on the bench next to Starburst, its upper body hidden underneath an equally dark cloak, shade obscuring its face.
“I think it’s working.” Starburst whispered, “We’re getting a few looks but no one seems alarmed.”
“Surprising.” Mysteeri shrugged “I love it, but you’d think a few more people would be creeped out enough by it.”
The sound of a crying filly fixed that concern.
“Never mind.” Mysteeri said, closing her eyes. The two of them continued to wait in silence among the talkative crowd on the station, which eventually got Mysteeri to open her eyes again “They’re way too talkative here. Back home everyone actually keeps quiet when waiting for the train.”
“That’s ponies for you.” Starburst shrugged.
The sound of a whistle blew over the station, followed shortly after by quite the colourful steam engine pulling into the station, a bright fluorescent pink. Mysteeri chuckled at the engine “You’d get tooth rot just looking at some of the stuff here, I swear.” She slapped her thigh as she stood up, Starburst hopping off the bench with her.
Once aboard, Mysteeri was quick to find the spot closest to the corner and returned to the exact same sitting position she had on the bench, barely even reacting to the train lurching forward as it began its journey. Starburst looked her up and down once again “So, what’s with sitting like that?”
Mysteeri looked to her unicorn companion “It’s my, eh…inconspicuous pose, I guess.” She shrugged “Of course it normally doesn’t look like this.” She gestured to her legs and their inability to bend “But it’s my best way of not being noticed.”
“Huh.” Starburst hummed. Once Mysteeri turned her head back to face forward, she slowly slipped into a poor mimic of the position herself, completely unaware of Mysteeri’s golden eye hidden in the shade her hat produced staring right back at her.
Silence fell on the two again until the train entered a tunnel, plunging the carriage into darkness.
“So, these magna crystals.” Mysteeri began “You know where to find them, right?”
“Yep.” Starburst’s nod went unseen in the darkness “It’s just a small way up a mountain near where we’re getting off. The one we’re going for is a huge deposit of the stuff.”
“…So then why is it still there?” Starburst could hear Mysteeri shuffle into a different position as she spoke “Surely someone would have gotten their hands on a huge chunk of these crystals already.”
“Oh, ah, yeah, well, about that…” Starburst chuckled “We maaaaayyy have to fight something.”
“…Fine.” Mysteeri huffed “Chest still hurts but I have a style I can use. What is it?”
“A demon.” Starburst responded. She jumped when she heard Mysteeri’s hand slam against the wall, the train leaving the tunnel revealing Mysteeri’s posture looked…excited?
“A demon?” She asked. Yeah, she was definitely excited “What kind? Is it special? Does it have element?”
“I-I-I don’t know.” Starburst stammered as Mysteeri realised her sudden break in character, retracting back into a more relaxed posture “It’s called Deimos. And besides the fact it’s big, that’s all I know about it.”
Mysteeri smirked underneath her face covering. A stray demon in this world? Her heart raced at the mere idea.
Once again silence fell on the two for the remainder of the journey, which only broke when Starburst let out an excited “We’re here!” As the train left another tunnel some time later.
Mysteeri propped her hat up to see the rising moon nestled between two mountains just out the window, soon obscured by a wall as the train pulled into the station. With a grunt, she stood up and followed Starburst out, getting a few odd looks from passing ponies as they left the station, being met with a simple small village.
“Is this all there is?” Mysteeri asked. The village was like what you’d expect from one in the mountains, the streets illuminated by the warm orange glows from inside “It’s…quite pleasant, really, but I can see everything from here.”
“Apparently the tracks and station are still here from when the Far Mountains used to be much more lived in.” Starburst explained as the two began walking “Of course after Discord came in and turned the world upside down for a spell, much of the village was lost in the chaos. No one knows where it went, not even Discord.”
“Damn.” Mysteeri said, crossing her arms as a chill blew through the air.
“People come and go from here for the view like that.” Starburst gestured with her hoof to the moon between the mountains “Plus food is hard to grow, so the residents will need a way to the outside world.” Her horn illuminated again as she pulled her own red cloak’s hood up “So, Deimos…” She looked around, humming to herself before spotting an opening a couple dozen feet up from the village “He should be in there!”
“Hang on, if there’s a demon in there,” Mysteeri stepped toward the opening “How come this village is still standing?”
Starburst had no answer for that, rubbing her chin before responding with an earnest “I really don’t know.”
Mysteeri shook her head “Well, unless he’s way too big to get out, we can only hope he’s been asleep.”
Gravel crackled and popped under their hooves as they walked up the mountainside path, with the howl of the wind blowing cold air through the mountain range, even Mysteeri couldn’t help but shiver. She looked down to the village and grumbled, barely keeping her hat from flying off as a particularly strong gust of wind hit them.
“I really should have brought my thicker coat!” Starburst yelled above the wind “Brr…” She shook once it passed “At least we’ll be protected from the wind in there.” She lit up her horn with a white glow as they entered the cavern, the light instantly revealing dozens upon dozens of small, glimmering orange crystals embedded in the rocks, illuminating the cave with an almost spectral yet warm glow.
“Wow…” Starburst gasped at the sight “This is incredible.”
“Yeah.” Mysteeri nodded, lowering her face covering “Never seen something quite like this.”
“Ah!” Starburst’s face lit up “There! The deposit!”
Across the cavern lit up a full wall of nothing but one giant crystal, to which Mysteeri whistled at the sight “Now this is definitely something else!”
As the two approached, a pair of red eyes lit up in the darkness behind them, a low growl rumbling from within the unseen creature.
“So then, how are we going to get ourselves some of this action?” Mysteeri put her hands on her hips, only for her ears to twitch. In an instant, she had Starburst in her grip, leaping out of the way of something that slammed into their prior position not a moment later.
Landing with a slight stumble, Mysteeri glared at their unseen attacker.
An unsightly beast reared up to a staggering height, the smell of ashes filling the air as it stomped towards them with strange, distorted hooves. Its skin was a sickly grey yet looked as solid as armour, adorned with veins of flowing magma. On its face were a pair of evil red eyes and rows of sharp teeth, with huge horns on either side of its head.
“Guess that’s Deimos.” Mysteeri said, releasing Starburst.
Deimos let out a bellow as it summoned blades of fire over its arms, snarling at the two intruders.
“I’ll handle this.” Mysteeri said, summoning Moonrise to her hand “Demons are my specialty.” She parted the cloak to reveal the trenchcoat underneath, bringing her face covering back up.
GREATER DEMON
DEIMOS
“…It would be best to let the witch handle this, yeah.” Starburst said, backing up slightly “I’ll help you out if I can.”
The beast roared with tremendous force, enough to send Mysteeri’s clothing billowing in the gust “Whew! Feisty, aren’tcha?” The witch raised her gun to the demon “Uncle Dante’s missing out.”
A cloud of dust was kicked into the air as Deimos slammed its fiery blades down onto Mysteeri, who turned to a black blur as she easily dodged to the side, responding with a powerful punch to the side of the demon’s face.
Deimos snarled as it stood back up, eyeing its opponent up. The two began to circle each other, the silence only penetrated by the sound of Mysteeri’s hooves hitting the stone, joined by the heavy steps of the demon.
They stopped for less than a second before both releasing a battle cry as they charged toward each other, Mysteeri bounding up to Deimos’ eye level with ease, crackling with purple energy.
Already the cavern rumbled as the two collided, flames being sent through the air as their impact sent both fighters flying. Mysteeri bounced off the floor before righting herself, digging her fingers into it as she slid to a halt. Deimos, however, broke into a mad sprint toward the witch the moment it regained its balance.
Loose crystals came raining down from the ceiling with each stomp of Deimos’ charge. Mysteeri was quick on the draw, a gunshot ringing out through the cavern with a brief flash of light. Deimos cried out and reeled back as magma poured from a newly formed hole in his chest.
Mysteeri smirked under her mask and broke into a dash of her own toward Deimos, once again shooting into the air and slamming her hoof down on the demon’s skull, sending it straight into the dirt.
Deimos was quick to right itself, screeching out as it charged for Mysteeri, only for a blue light to shoot out from the corner of its eye, to which the demon turned to see Starburst running alongside it, pelting him with small blue bolts of magic. With a mighty roar, Deimos turned on a dime and directed its rage toward the unicorn, the flaming blades it produced burning into a raging inferno.
Starburst slid to a stop herself, the starlit blue sword flashing up from her horn. Sparks of magic and fire shot out in all directions as flame met spell until Starburst yanked her head up, breaking through Deimos’ force. The sword vanished and she was just as soon surrounded by orbs of the same light blue, all of which hurtled towards Deimos, his orange glow being muted by the strong blue light the resulting explosions created.
“Not bad,” Mysteeri nodded “Not bad at all.”
Deimos’ crimson eyes glared through the smoke, the air wavering from the heat as it charged forward with another tremendous bellow. The duo were quick to dodge out of the way, Deimos immediately turning his enmity to the gunslinging witch.
“Come on.” Mysteeri gestured towards herself with her pistol.
Deimos slammed his fiery blades into the floor, swiping and slashing at Mysteeri only for the witch to seemingly turn to a black cloud with each dodge, chuckling to herself with each miss from the demon. Deimos screeched out again and slammed his fists into the floor, resulting in a huge pillar of fire erupting from within.
Mysteeri was launched out from it with a yelp, slamming into the walls of the cavern with a loud THWACK!
Lowering her face covering to reveal a spot of blood trickling from her mouth, the witch scowled as she got back up. Starburst was quick to act, pelting Deimos with a hail of magical bolts, only for the demon to turn its gaze on her. With a simple flash of its eyes, Starburst felt herself frozen in place, her mind screaming at her body to move yet she couldn’t get herself to budge an inch.
“H-How did you?” Starburst stammered only to be sent flying into the walls herself, her cloak getting snagged on a jutting out piece of rock, resulting in the unicorn being suspended in the air.
Deimos let out a low repeated growl, as if it were laughing to itself as it approached its impeded purple foe. Embers licked at Starburst’s coat as Deimos raised its blade next to her, the searing heat threatening to set her mane alight.
“HEY!” Mysteeri screamed, back on her feet and sprinting toward the demon “I AIN’T DONE WITH YOU YET!”
Deimos turned around only to be met with Mysteeri’s hoof meeting its face, sending it crashing into the wall. Mysteeri landed on the demon’s shoulder, one hoof on Deimos’ head as she grabbed onto one of the beast’s colossal horns. Deimos broke free from the rocks, thrashing and clawing for Mysteeri only for a sickening CRUNCH to echo out as Mysteeri tore the horn clean in two, leaping off Deimos and smashing the rock that was hoisting Starburst up in one swift movement.
The two landed side by side, Mysteeri chuckling as she tossed the demon’s horn about, catching it with ease each time, an impressive sight for its size “Sorry to horn in, but I couldn’t let you cook my friend!”
Starburst’s face lit up at the witch calling her a friend, looking to the demon as her horn lit up once more “I think it’s about time to settle this.”
“That’s right.” Mysteeri chucked the horn over her shoulder “Come on!”
Deimos bellowed out once more as it charged for the two, Starburst responding with another barrage of blue magic. The demon tanked straight through them, glowing a menacing red with steam raising from its back. Mysteeri huffed and dashed forward herself, her black pistol rematerializing in her hand as she brought it up.
Another gunshot blasted out through the cavern, Deimos’ red glow vanishing as another hole opened up right by the previous one. Without a moment of hesitation, Mysteeri rammed her hand into the open wound, grabbing onto the first thing she could wrap her hand around and tore straight through Deimos’ chest, clutching a rib in her hand she left the demon with an gaping hole along its chest, blood erupting forth from within the beast.
Starburst stood mouth agape at the sight of the crimson liquid coating the floor, Mysteeri so casually flicking her cape to wipe it off her, dropping the rib like it was nothing. Deimos fell to its knees behind her, hand over its chest before falling face first into the floor, turning to flickers of light that faded away into the air…leaving a single glowing white light.
Mysteeri reached out behind her, the light floating into her hand before forming into a black katana, the sheath embellished with flaming inscriptions. The witch smirked, looking to the wall of crystal as she raised her face covering once more.
Starburst’s shock at the sight of all the blood went to shock at Mysteeri’s sudden attack on the wall, unsheathing the sword to reveal a brilliant blood orange blade, letting out numerous excited yells and howls as she broke chunk after chunk off the wall, spinning like a saw, slicing out huge chunks with single strikes and some parts even burst out without her doing anything, the unicorn was mind blown by the display.
Mysteeri finally landed alongside her, slowly sheathing the sword in front of her. With a flash of light as the blade disappeared, the entire wall of crystal collapsed behind them, scattering chunks and shards of all shapes throughout the cavern.
“…Where in Tartarus did that come from?” Starburst questioned, shaking her head to rid herself of the shock.
“Oh,” Mysteeri chuckled, the sword fading away in a purple light “Just some stuff I learned from someone…quite motivated.”
Starburst silently nodded, placing her saddlebags down “Well, come on, they aren’t going to collect themselves.”
Canterlot Castle, several hours earlier…
“Princess Celestia!” A guard pony announced as he approached the princess from behind, the alicorn of the sun enjoying a spot of tea on her balcony “I have urgent news!”
“Oh?” The princess put down her tea, turning her head to the guard “What is it?”
“Two of the guards stationed in Ponyville reported an attack from the comet creatures today. An extremely large, black demonic pony, to be specific. However, it was fought off.”
Celestia chuckled “That must have been a handful for them.”
“About that, your majesty, they weren’t actually able to break through the enormous crowd that had gathered there.”
Celestia tilted her head “Then who fought it off?”
“The Element of Generosity, Rarity,” The guard began “Along with another unicorn, however she wasn’t able to be identified.”
“I see…was there anyone else?” Celestia quizzed.
From inside the hall, Luna poked her head around the corner as she heard Celestia’s conversation.
“Yes, your majesty.” The guard nodded “They reported an extremely tall and slender black creature that walked on two legs.”
“Two legs…?” Luna whispered.
“Princess, I believe we have a lead on the offworlder.”
Luna’s pupils shrunk down to tiny dots as her whole body was frozen stiff at the words.