//------------------------------//
// Equus: Heading Home 
// Story: Demon Slayer: The Strange Demon 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

As they walked through the portal Pinkamena really had no idea what to expect this time around, as in the past she had an idea of what might happen due to studying what the Demons were capable of and what her companions or friends could do in any situation, but now she was going in blind. On the other side of it she found Ponyville, just like how she remembered it from all her time in Pinkie's Mindscape, and she was happy to lay eyes on it for the first time in a long time, with her own eyes and not the eyes of her former other self. What she wasn't expecting to find were a number of odd archways off to the right, in the large clearing beyond the town, all of which looking like something that didn't exist on this world, as some were far more elegant than what she was expecting to see, all made of materials she was sure were foreign to Equus. Each one also had a power source attached to them, likely allowing one to use them to move to another part of this world, or even to another world when she considered what she had learned from Discord earlier, and she could see that the figure was just ignoring the surroundings, while Tanjiro and the others were taken aback by everything.

She knew why they were surprised, as this was their first time seeing such a peaceful world, especially after meeting her and traveling with her for some time, but even then she knew that it was no longer the same as what she remembered, due to a significant change she wasn't expecting to find.

"What in the world is that?" Tanjiro asked, referring to a couple of humanoid creatures that had hooves like Pinkie, more cloven in nature, though each one had curved horns that were either pointed at the sky, shaped like a rams, or curved in some manner, and while one had blue skin another had crimson red with eerie green markings.

"Residents from Azeroth, a planet that two of the displaced went to." Discord replied, though as soon as they were all on the other side of the portal he closed it, likely to make sure no one else followed them from the world Pinkamena went to, before he glanced at the pair in question, "The blue one is a Draenei... a shaman, to be exact, due to her hammer and the lightning shield around one of her hands... and the red one is an Eredar, a mage who once joined the demonic Legion with most of her kind... they aren't enemies!"

Discord had to say that because he and Pinkamena noticed that the trio were reaching for their blades, as they heard the word 'demon' and started to act, though Tanjiro and the others stopped before they could do anything drastic, which she was grateful for since she didn't want a fight to break out because of their actions.

"Heh, sorry." Tanjiro said, as out of the three of them he was the only one who would say something like that, since they knew Zenitsu would likely remain silent on the matter, or focus on something else, while Inosuke sulked over not being able to fight a Demon that was right in front of them, "You said 'demonic' and we responded immediately... guess we're still on edge after what happened in the Infinity Castle, and seeing the battle with Muzan."

"Thank you for showing some restraint." Pinkamena stated, though at the same time she nodded to the pair of strangers, where the Eredar raised an eyebrow for a moment, as if imagining that she had seen her somewhere, or maybe it was due to whoever had been sent to 'Azeroth', but she focused on something else for a moment, "Let me guess: this 'Legion' has been beaten by some of the displaced?"

"Yes, Spitfire and Rainbow to be exact... though to be fair it's more Rainbow's fault." a voice replied, a female one, where Pinkamena glanced off to their right and found a lean female dragon, whose scales were blue, she stood roughly as tall as she did, and she was dressed in what looked like the armor of a warrior, though the Eredar flinched for a moment before realizing that the figure in question wasn't present, causing the pair to depart, "You'll get used to it... most of the demons who have joined our forces are afraid of Rainbow, as they're afraid that she'll eat their souls, especially after everything all of them encountered during their war against her and Spitfire."

"Ember? Is that you?" Pinkamena inquired, as she knew Pinkie had encountered the Dragon Lord several times before she and Spike suddenly disappeared, something that only made her wonder if they had actually been displaced, as Ember was far more warrior-like than what she remembered her being.

"Yeah, it's me... though if you're surprised by my changes, just wait till you meet Spike." the dragon, Ember, answered, to which she glanced at Pinkamena's companions for a moment and noticed that they had blades, making her wonder what sort of skills they had, or at least that was what Pinkamena suspected she might be thinking about, "In fact, he sent me to see who Discord had brought back this time, and warned me that you wouldn't be the Pinkie I remembered... now I see what he meant."

Pinkamena raised her eyebrow for a moment as she glanced between Ember and Discord, finding that they knew what was up with Spike and didn't want to tell her anything, causing her to wonder what was going on right now before nodding her head, allowing Ember to guide them to wherever the others were waiting. While they walked Ember asked about their blades, since they seemed interesting to her, and Pinkamena explained things to her, allowing her to understand that all of them were forged to suit the members of the Demon Slayers Corps, even if many started with a common design, since the lower ranks needed to prove themselves before getting a custom weapon. She went into explaining the arts that she and her friends utilized to help them defeat the Demons of the world she had been sent to, though Ember interrupted her for a moment and told her to save the long explanation for later, as Spike was going to want to hear everything, which only made her interested in what might have happened to Spike. Of course Inosuke declared that he wanted to fight her at some point, as Ember seemed like a skilled warrior and he wanted to test her skills for himself, causing her to chuckle for a moment before accepting his challenge, which told Pinkamena that she had definitely changed.

Ponyville was still a location where every race came together in harmony, just like she remembered it, but she found that all sorts of races had come to their world, as there were individuals who had pointed ears, Elves according to Ember, a couple of them were half the size of an adult Human, as in Dwarves, and even small Gnomes and Goblins. In addition to that she and her friends found a few more races, the hulking green skinned Orcs, bovine creatures called Tauren, beings with tusks in their mouths known as Trolls, and even a few others that caused Pinkamena to raise her eyebrow for a moment. It seemed as if the races of Azeroth had all sorts of occupations, as there were warriors, priests, paladins, warlocks, druids, and a few others, including demon hunters, which were Blood Elves and Night Elves who took Fel energy into their bodies to become more demonic, allowing them to hunt the forces of the Legion. As she nodded her head Pinkamena found a group of small fox people walking around Ponyville, roughly the size of the Goblins that were talking to their friends, called the Vulpera, and near them was a somewhat taller figure with serpent features, a Sethrak, where Ember told them that the two races used to dislike each other and the displaced fixed that in no time, so now they were friends.

As Pinkamena took in the sights, and accepted what Spitfire and Rainbow had done, she discovered that their destination was the crystal castle that Twilight called home, though it appeared that they were heading to the chamber that the large crystalline table was located in. What she discovered was that the area had been changed somewhat, as the chairs had been either moved or returned to their crystalline state, there were books and scrolls all over the place, including quills, ink pots, and parchment for writing, and there was a whiteboard with names written on it. She assumed that the names were those of the displaced, which she confirmed once she noticed her name on it, though after looking at it for a time she could see that whoever had been working on it put a lot of time and effort into making it as accurate as they could, in fact it seemed like something Twilight would do. In fact that was who Pinkamena was expecting to find in front of it, but who she found was a surprise, as it was a lean purple scaled dragon that stood as tall as Ember did, though unlike Ember he, as Pinkamena was sure it was a male dragon, wore a mage's robe and had a wizard hat resting on a nearby stand.

The spring green coloration on the underside of his tail told her exactly who she was seeing, though at the same time, even with her eyes showing her the truth, Pinkamena now understood what Ember meant, this was Spike, but he radiated magical energy that far surpassed whatever he had the last time Pinkie had seen him.

"Spike?!" Pinkamena asked, something that caused the figure to turn towards her, confirming that it was, in fact, the dragon in question, though Ember's words rang true, the air around him was different and he carried himself differently than she was used to seeing from her old place in Pinkie's Mindscape.

"Pinkamena, it's good to finally meet you... you're wearing a mask of some kind, which has bonded with the power that you unlocked during your adventure," Spike replied, where Pinkamena paused for a moment, as he quickly figured out that she wasn't Pinkie and that she was her own individual now, while at the same time figuring out what happened to her mask, all in the span of a couple of seconds, which no one else had figured out yet, "How interesting, seeing your power up close like this... you can switch between two forms, by applying and removing the enchanted mask, right?"

"I... that's right." Pinkamena said, as she wasn't too sure how to reply to that comment, because Spike was far different from what she remembered him being, in fact he seemed more like a scholar or magic user at this point in time, though since he had figured out part of her routine she raised her hand and touched her face, causing her power to be sealed in the mask, allowing Spike and Ember to see her original form as she pulled it off, "This is the form I took on when I landed in the world I was sent to... for the most part, anyway, as I gained the sharpened teeth and crimson eyes after a run in with the Demon King Muzan, who declared me a failure and left me to burn under the sun's light. Of course that failed since I was able to adapt to the demonic transformation, not to mention that I gained the power to walk in the sunlight... what I mean is that the Demons of Tanjiro's world can only come out at night, or used to since I'm the only one left... and the bit of power you witnessed just now is my Blood Demon Art, Chaos World, which allows me to bend reality to my will."

"Many of our superiors thought she was using that to move around during the day, until she showed them the truth and shocked them." Tanjiro remarked, as that was the truth of the matter, based on what Pinkamena had told him, though at the same time he and the others noticed that Spike was making notes on what they were saying, no doubt to ask them all sorts of questions later on.

"Fascinating. I have so many questions about the world you were sent to, I even have a journal prepared for everything I might learn from you." Spike stated, where Pinkamena found that he was speaking the truth, as he pulled out a journal a few seconds later and discovered that it had a marking that matched the symbol of Chaos World on it, which only made her wonder if he did this for each of the displaced that came back, "I also find it interesting that you were sent to a world where you would be forced to fight demons for the safety of the entire world, even if they are different from the ones that Spitfire and Rainbow had to fi..."

For a single moment Pinkamena wondered why Spike would cut himself off, though in the next she felt it, reality itself was shuddering as the ground beneath them shook, something that caused the dragons to rush outside and she followed not a second later, causing Discord and the others to move as well. What they discovered was a number of cracks forming in the sky and air around Ponyville, as if the sky was made of glass and was in the middle of breaking, and sure enough they witnessed something that was incredibly alarming, the crack above the Everfree Forest burst open with fragmented pieces of reality pausing some distance away from the cracks. When Pinkamena focused on the massive crack she found that it showed them something amazing, an advanced city that looked like it was under siege, with two displaced standing by an odd feline creature, one that was a unicorn and another that Spike identified as a kirin. There were also a large number of metallic beings moving around the area they were staring at, even though she had no idea what in the world they were, but she was able to tell that some sort of climatic battle was taking place and that reality seemed to be breaking around the pair and their enemies.

As Pinkamena focused on the massive tear in reality, for that was what it was, she noticed something else, several of the smaller cracks were breaking open as well, no doubt revealing what some of the other displaced were going through right now, and she was proven right as she peered through one of them. She spotted a buff humanoid creature that, with a quick glance, one might assume was a displaced unicorn, but when Pinkamena focused on him she discovered the truth, he had two curved horns, one on both sides of his head, much like the centaur known as Tirek. In addition to that she was able to see that the figure's hair and tail were flames, as if he had taken on the power of the sun or something, and while he had a grin on his face she could see that he had a gauntlet on one hand, with six different colored stones attached to it, why she had no idea. He even had an army of knights, giants, and even dragons in front of him, as it looked like he was in the middle of conquering part of the world he had been sent to, enforcing his rule over everything that was on the planet in question, and if he was Tirek, and Pinkamena knew he had to be, it was only a matter of time until he set his sights on Equus once more.

She found another crack that showed an entirely different world, one that had blue grass and green water, meaning it was far different from any of the other ones that she and the others had seen so far, since Pinkamena could see that Spike and Ember were surprised by it's sudden appearance. On the planet she found someone who looked a lot like Twilight Sparkle, in fact she was sure of that because Spike recognized her, meaning he either encountered the other one, Sci Twi she was called, or their Twilight was missing and this is what happened to her. What she could tell was that Twilight was part of an army of some kind, as there were some alien creatures, a fat pink one with spikes on his arms and a lean green one who wore a tiara on his head, who wore armor that was close to what she was wearing, a chest piece with shoulder protectors, or at least Pinkamena assumed that was what she was seeing. In addition to that there was a short white alien who had a few purple gemstones in his body, or at least they looked like gemstones, which were placed in his chest, his shoulders, his ankles, and even his head, meaning it had to be part of his body and not some addition.

Following that another crack burst open, revealing a pair of individuals that looked like Octavia and Pinkie, something that caused Pinkamena to glance back at Discord for a moment, who shrugged and indicated that it couldn't be her, who were in a world made of blocks that they could mine and place however they wanted.

She spotted a few more off cracks to her left, finding that the first one showed a world where a young girl, who looked like Princess Celestia, save for her hair being one color and not her multiple colors, who seemed to be hanging out with a few humans who were around the same age. One of them was a dark green haired boy who seemed to have one of his arms in a cast, like he had done something to bust it before this point in time, while another one had spiky blond hair that had an anger problem, as he seemed to be shouting at the other boy. From what she could tell this one seemed to be a world of powers, as there was a lady with a giantification power, the blond boy made explosions with his hands, a girl who had a skill that allowed her to manipulate gravity, a girl with a frog's posture and tongue, and a few others. That world seemed to be an interesting one, something that made Pinkamena wonder if Celestia retained her solar powers, which would make her one of the best fighters of that world, or if she awakened something else to help her out.

The second one showed a shadowy figure that reminded her of King Sombra, who was floating behind a male adult who had lightning dancing around his hands and arms, though the city they were in seemed more modern than what she was used to seeing in Tanjiro's world and also had some weird people who had powers, like an old man who seemed to be able to move things with his mind.

After that she found two more cracks, the last of the major ones, where both seemed to be showing them the same figure, an amber unicorn who reminded her of Twilight, meaning they had to be Sunset Shimmer, though both seemed to be in totally different worlds. Her reasoning for that was because one seemed to be on a ship in the middle of the ocean, or sea since she had no idea, with someone who was wearing a straw hat, another who had three swords and short green hair, a guy in a suit of some kind who seemed to be a chef, since he was carrying food, and a girl with orange hair that seemed to be the navigator. It appeared that they were exploring the seas of the world that that version of Sunset had been sent to, which included flashes of a ship that served as a restaurant, a port town which she felt was more of a tourist spot since it held something people were attracted to, and even a diagonal mountain path of some kind. In addition to that she found that there were navy ships, Pinkamena was able to figure that out because they had the word 'Navy' written on their sails, and pirate ships, due to the jolly rogers that were on them, and Sunset happened to be on a pirate ship.

As she considered that, however, her eyes showed her the dark nature of the other Sunset's world, as it seemed like she was a force of darkness fighting beside the undead, fighting those who happened to be in her way while she caused parts of the ground to decay, especially with those slain being raised into undeath in due time.

"The dimensional damage is getting worse... reality might be torn asunder before the demons attack us." Spike stated, all while he noted down the worlds they were seeing, as they weren't like the images he and the others had seen so far, even Ember agreed with that, despite the fact that Spike hadn't asked anything, before he spotted something else.

Pinkamena noticed it as well, there was another version of Sunset that suddenly appeared in one of the cracks, one who wore the attire of a god of some kind, where she frowned for a moment before being consumed by a flash of light that caused all of them to divert their eyes, though once the light was gone she noticed that the cracks had sealed themselves while they were distracted.

"We had better check on the Tree... those cracks cause all sorts of harm to it, and Equus herself." Ember remarked, though it was easy to tell that she was worried as well, even though everyone else seemed to be relaxing after witnessing that odd event in the sky, meaning there might be more to this than she and Spike were telling them.

Pinkamena had no idea what was going on right now, but she was willing to following the pair to the Tree of Harmony, as it might give them some answers on what was going on and help them figure out what in the world they needed to do to prepare for what the future held for them, and she was looking forward to whatever they might learn next.