Surprise Visit
Celestia was the first one to break the awkward silence. "Well, it seems that we've run into… complications, Scarlet. Hello, Twilight. What a… pleasant surprise," she said with a soft smile.
"I can't say that I'd planned to see you like this, either, princess," Twilight replied. "The whole thing's just a little sudden."
Scarlet made her way into the conversation with a clap. "Um, this is nice and all, greetings and stuff, but Celly, can you just erase her memory already?"
"I'm afraid I can't do that this time, Scarlet," the princess answered.
Twilight raised her eyebrow at Scarlet. "Celly? Just how well do you know each other?"
She just sighed at Celestia, ignoring Twilight. "C'mon, this is no time to be stubborn. I have my schedule to keep, and you have yours. In case you forgot, Canterlot's not the only town occupied at the moment."
"Sorry, but Twilight's a very powerful arcanist. Even if I did erase her memory with a spell, she would notice something was wrong and undo the enchantment," Celestia explained to Scarlet.
Scarlet threw her hands up. "Well, great. We've got a witness. And I just did, like, a whole goodbye speech for nothing!"
Celestia responded with a condescending gaze. "Maybe you should have been more careful. I've never been seen since this whole thing began. You on the other hand, have been caught off guard four times already."
"Yeah, well maybe if I hadn't been busy doing all the work, I wouldn't have been caught so often!" Scarlet snapped back.
"Excuse me? I have a country to run. And besides, I've been doing my fair share of the job," Celestia objected.
"This night's raid was in Canterlot. Your own city. They've been here for more than a week!" Scarlet countered
Twilight had been witnessing the volley go on for as long as she could, her eyeballs switching back and forth as if she was watching a match of tennis. Finally, she put her foot down. "Enough!" The loud yell got Scarlet and Celestia's attention. Twilight faced the stranger and her mentor. "Does anyone want to explain to me, exactly, what is going on?"
Celestia struggled to find the right words. "Scarlet and I have an… arrangement."
Scarlet cut in. "I work directly for her, as Equestria's private demon slayer."
Twilight spoke with confusion. "Demon slayer? But those don't even exist in Equestria. For that matter, they don't exist anywhere within the Harmonia continent. They're sealed up in Tartarus. In fact, I've never even seen a demon before in my life. Exotic creatures, sure, but demons?"
Scarlet gave her usual smug grin. "Well, I'm just that good."
Princess Celestia started to explain. "You're right, Twilight. The demons and creatures of the underworld are supposed to be locked up in Tartarus, and they have been, for thousands of years. But with Discord's rampage a few years back, the gate has weakened, and now they get out every once in awhile."
"And I send them back," Scarlet ended off. "The hard way."
"Scarlet showed up around then, with no memory of her past. The Gate must have tampered with her mind somehow," the princess told her. "I found her when I went to investigate the scene; she was single handedly fighting an entire horde of shadow baels with that weapon of hers. What's more impressive, she was actually winning."
Twilight shuddered at the thought of the black, red-eyed giant spiders she had read about in Monsters in Mythology Volume II. It was still hard to believe that they existed inside the borders of Equestria. Scarlet continued from there. "She and I subdued the outbreak together, and after getting to know each other over a cup of tea, we got to the conclusion that I had no memories, money, or a place to stay, she offered work for me as a travelling hunter."
"So is that where you and Princess Luna were at the time of Discord's outbreak?" Twilight asked.
"Yes," Princess Celestia answered. "Although Discord was a formidable opponent, he was simply playing around with a little chaos. Our main priorities went towards the vile beasts who wanted to hurt and kill the citizens."
"Well, this certainly would explain a lot of things, like why Princess Luna was absent at the time of the changeling invasion, or why neither of you wanted to deal with King Sombra at the time." Twilight pondered.
Scowling, the princess recalled certain unwanted memories. "While that may have been true for Sombra, the rumors are correct in saying that my sister slept through the changeling invasion."
"What? But that's impossible, Princess Luna would never abandon Equestria like-" She was cut off by Celestia's raised hand.
"Trust me, Twilight. Luna has the best intentions, but she sleeps like a rock, that one. I doubt an explosion next to her could wake her up when she's sound asleep." Celestia sighed. "The demons were supposed to be one of Equestria's best kept secrets, but things have been getting out of hand. We've even tried reforming Discord to help subdue the breach in the gate, but even he can only do so much against an entire world. Lately, there have been a drastic increase of invaders, for some unknown cause."
"And on top of all that, now we have two witnesses to worry about," Scarlet finished off.
Twilight raised her right hand to her heart, giving a concerned look. "I had no idea… phew, but don't worry. Princess Celestia, Scarlet, your secret is safe with me," Twilight said confidently.
"You're still probably going to have to sign some sort of royal secrecy document that says you and your entire group of friends and family will be beheaded without trial if you ever spill the beans," Scarlet offered, earning a skeptical look from Twilight and Princess Celestia. "What, things don't work like that around here? Heh… sorry. Still haven't gotten used to politics and laws around here." Scarlet blushed, smiling meekly.
The princess turned to Twilight, looking at her encouragingly. "There will be no need for such drastic measures, Scarlet. I trust Twilight more than almost anyone." She smiled coyly. "In fact, I have a much better plan in mind."
Scarlet backed off, shaking her head and putting her palms in front of her. "O-ho-ho no you don't. I really don't like when you get that look in your eyes. Twilight, have you ever seen Celly get that look in her eyes? Horrible things happen when she smiles like that."
Right as the frantic girl was about to make a break for the door, Celestia caught her with her magic and dragged her in front of her, locking her own gaze with Scarlet's. She was really enjoying herself now. "How right you are, my dear Scarlet. But 'horrible' is such a negative term. Hmm, I prefer 'ingenious' instead."
Scarlet started to flail her arms and legs, shouting wildly. "Twilight, run! You can still make it! I'll keep her busy! Get out!"
Twilight paid her no heed, stepping up to the princess with curious poise. "What kind of 'ingenious' idea?"
Celestia faced her with a bright, cheery smile. "My faithful student, congratulations! You're getting a promotion! You and Spike will be working with Scarlet now, as apprentice demon slayers."
Twilight's tone was one of disbelief, while Scarlet deadpanned the same word simultaneously. "What?"
"Oh, it's simple, really. Twilight's a very powerful unicorn, and we have a growing problem on our hands. We could use all the help we could get, really.
Scarlet sputtered for words, with a sullen and annoying realization that everything Celestia had said hit the nail on the head. "I, I… You…"
Celestia gave one last devious smile, waving her hand back at Scarlet. "Ruling a country for over a thousand years teaches a girl to argue pretty well. Good luck with your new task, Twilight. Ta-ta!" Opening the door with her hands, a burst of magic sparked from her back, sprouting a pair of feathered white wings. Flapping them, she soared back to the heights of Canterlot castle, with the smug expression of victory painted on her face through the entire trip.
"You can't just say all that and leave, like- Arrgh!" Scarlet stomped. "I can't believe she did it again! I'm going to get that woman back if it's the last thing I do. Oh, you just wait and see, Celly. I'll come up with something."
Twilight looked at Scarlet, still confused from the sudden rush of events. "Uh… okay, what now?" she asked.
Scarlet sighed, looking to Twilight. "Pack your bags. You and dragon boy start training in two days."
On the eighth floor of the Canterlot hospital, the staff were panicking, running all over the place. A bearded man paced into the halls of the east wing, donning a pair of black rimmed spectacles and a medical white coat. "What in the name of Starswirl's beard is going on here?" he yelled angrily, drawing the attention of a few nearby nurses.
One of them came up to him with a frantic expression, huffing as she tried to get the right words out in the middle of all the commotion. "Doctor Bradley, it's the patient, in room 812, he's escaped."
"Explain yourself, woman. What do you mean, escaped?" the doctor asked, confused.
"He, he jumped out of the window, sir," stammered the nurse.
Doctor Bradley frowned at the nurse. "Nurse Rosemary, do you think this is funny?"
"Sir, I'm being perfectly serious here!" she replied. "I'm not lying. Over ten people saw it happen. After we injected the general anesthetic and began treatment, the patient woke up, grabbed his suit of armor on the floor, punched a hole in the window and just jumped out."
The doctor sighed, covering his face with his left palm. "Well, that's just fantastic, isn't it? Call the janitors and have them clean up the mess outside."
He turned around to leave, but nurse Rosemary stopped him, grabbing the side of his coat. She looked terrified. "No, sir. You don't understand. When I say escaped, I mean he escaped. After he hit the ground, he got back up and walked away like nothing was wrong."
Doctor Bradley frowned once more, taking off his glasses and placing them into his breast pocket. "That's impossible. I've inspected the patient myself. He's an earthbound. Even if he had been wearing that suit of armor along with three dozen protection spells on him, the impact would've killed him instantly. What's more, the man was carried in here with both Achilles tendons severed, five dislocated joints, broken bones scattered across his body, and eight holes in both his arms, not to mention all the blood loss. No magic can heal those kinds of injuries in anything less than three months. How would someone in that condition even manage to get up off a bed, much less do all the things he did?"
"That's exactly it, sir. We don't get it, either. When we were about to begin treatment, the nurses and doctors in the room noticed something was off. The injuries were confirmed seconds ago by medical professionals. The blood was still fresh. But underneath that blood, there was nothing."
"What do you mean, nothing?" the doctor asked, demanding answers.
Nurse Rosemary's eyes shrank as she recalled what had happened. "The injuries, sir. They've vanished into thin air. The man didn't have a single scratch on him."