//------------------------------// // The Hunt Ch. 7 // Story: Neophyte // by Blitzer Sparks //------------------------------// "Why you running? I'm only gonna stab you till you die imposter!" Keith shouted at the black figure that was slowly getting farther and farther away from him "Match I need some night vision" Keith said "... Sorry Sir night vision is Frost's jurisdiction" Match said "Well fu..." Keith's sentence was cut short as he slammed into a tree "...ck... Well then at least give me thermal, I'll track it from the sky" Keith ordered "Yes Sir" Match then activated thermal as Keith shot off into the sky "Target acquired moving north from current position" Keith shot off in said direction "You know Match you don't have to call me sir" Keith said "I know but I feel as though I am obligated since you have gave Frost and I a newfound home with you. Also I owe you this much because before this so many people hated Frost. When you gave her a home, and a name nobody gave her a second glance, hence the reason she calls you master, and I, Sir" Match said with a happy tone "3 thing Match. 1. There were enough syllables to give me a headache. 2. I'm glad you can share that with me and it means as much to me as it does to you. 3. Brace for impact "IGNITE" this is gonna be a ruff landing" Keith's sword appeared in his right hand. Keith then brought the sword to his left side and sheathed it. Despite the lack of a sheath one formed on his side. Keith them spread out both arms and bomb dived/tackle the black figure. The said black figure upon further inspection due to the dive tackle turned out to be an exact copy of him. Finally both Keith tumbled to the near "Who are you!?" Keith asked sliding to a stop "Well it seem I have no choice now, I am Clone, Mirror Clone, a changeling, and an underlining of the one you know as Boss, and you can call me Mirror" "If you work for Boss then I'm gonna make it my sole goal to make you both pay for hurting the ones I care about" Keith unsheathed his sword and the sheath disappeared "and I know just were to start" Keith lunged forward with an overhead swing ready to cleave his opponent in half "Now now Keith don't be so hasty" Mirror then faded into shadows out of the way and faded back in behind Keith. Before Keith had time to respond Mirror slammed his elbow into Keith's back. Keith tumbled to the ground "Lucky shot" Keith rolled and pushed off the grounding onto his feet. Mirror simply stood there. Keith rushed in for another stab, and before Mirror could fade away Keith hurled a fireball at Mirror's face. Mirror was caught off guard, and was struck directly in the face with a flaming inferno. Mirror stumbled back due to his new body durability it didn't hurt to much, but what came next did. Keith rushed in and delivered a clean cut on Mirror from his right shoulder to his left hip. Mirror's body started to dissolve into a black pony with insect wings, fangs, white eyes, a horn, with holes in the horn and legs, and a white cloth thing wrapped around its torso "You'll pay for that" Mirror said in a buzzy tone. His wings started too buzz as he floated into the air "you'll pay, WITH YOUR LIFE!" Mirror held out his right hoof "LIFE STEEL!" Mirror shouted, a black lightning bolt shot down from the sky. The lightning bolt then made contact with Mirror's hoof and formed into a scythe. The pole of the scythe was pure black with a strange black mist coming off of it, making it seem as though it was made of shadows, and the blade was arced so even if you block the blade it still may hit you. Not only that but the blade was serrated. "Match you thinking what I'm thinking?" Keith asked "You make it sound like I'm not, let take that weapon for ourselves, Sir" Match said obviously sharing a love for weapons Keith rushed Mirror, sword in hand going in for a horizontal cut on Mirror. Mirror did a flip over Keith and left a clean vertical cut on Keith's back. Keith fell to the floor as blood poured from his back "ouch that really hurt" Keith said as he picked himself up and dusted himself off. "How are you not dead?" Mirror asked "This scythe has a highly deadly poison in it that should kill you in seconds" "What? Me die? Because of a mere flesh wound Ha Ha Ha very funny now if you don't mind I'm gonna kill you now" Keith then vanished into thin air and reappeared behind Mirror. Keith brought his sword down on Mirror's back only to have it bounce off the strange white cloth around his torso. Mirror swung his scythe around his body cutting Keith across his chest again. Keith responded with a kick to Mirror's head sending him flying into a tree and cracking it. Mirror flew up brought the scythe over his head only to bring it down where Keith was. Keith was lucky and rolled out of the way just in time and countered with a fireball aim for Mirror. Mirror staggered back only for him to point the scythe at Keith and fire a black lightning bolt from the scythe. The lightning bolt hit Keith square in the chest, he was sent back flying. It didn't help how he was crashing through multiple trees. Finally Keith came to a stop, he stood up and observed himself, he was battered and bruised, he had multiple cuts on him, even more if you count his dizziness causing him to hallucinate. "Sir are you all right?" Match asked "Yup just peach..." Keith coughed up some blood and fell to the floor, as he looked up he noticed a black figure walking slowly torwards him, and said figure had a nasty looking scythe. "Hey Match if I don't make it out of this alive..." "Don't say such lies Sir, you have loved ones to go back too, and I am not about to, no I will not let you die yet" "What are you say..." Keith was cut off due to the fact he felt a strange surge go through him "THROUGH FIRES, AS DANGEROUS AS A DEMON ITSELF, I CALL UPON THY WINGED GUARDIAN OF FLAMES, THE ONE OF ETERNAL YOUTH, PHOENIX!!!" Keith chanted In the middle of this Mirror stopped and waited for the right moment to strike, that moment was now. Mirror rushed forward ready to slice Keith in half only to be blasted back by an inferno that erupted from where Keith had been, but upon further inspection of the flaming pillar Keith stood in the center of it. Keith's sword has vanished and what replaced it was two claw gauntlets, a pair of talon'd boots that molded to the feet, flaming eyes, and two grand flaming wings made of fire "Mirror, I have something worth living for and you will not stop me from returning to them, today you fall" as Keith spoke the words were clear as day itself but they all also cut like a dagger from the sharpness of his words, it sent a shiver down Mirror's spine. Keith dashed forward and slashed at Mirror, Mirror only had enough time to raise his scythe to block. Mirror tried to put distance between him and Keith. Unfortunately for Mirror, Keith dashed forward and closed the distance between them and delivered a powerful kick to Mirror's side. Mirror couldn't block in time so all he could do was brace himself, Mirror took the kick. Not only did it hurt like hell but it left crack all over his natural armor. Keith was relentless, he vanished with blinding speed, and reappeared over Mirror to deliver a powerful drop kick on Mirror's head. Mirror did not see this coming. -------off in the distance------- Twilight with the help off Frost had put out the fire, not to long after Twilight, Zecora, and Frost felt the earth rumble, then a flaming pillar exploded into the sky, not too long after the pillar disappeared, the. A few seconds the flaming puller was replaced by a large pillar of dust "Something has happened to them I need to get to them" Frost said then took off forwards the explosion -------back with Keith------- Keith stood over Mirror who was barley conscious. "I hope you ready to die Mirror" Keith picked up Mirror by the throat and squeezed, Mirror's scythe had been discarded off to the side not to long ago. Finally Mirror had passed out due to the pain and lack of air. Keith tossed Mirror to the side, walked over to Mirror's scythe and picked it up. Suddenly Keith was onslaught by the shadows and darkness "YOU HAVE DEFEATED MY WIELDER TAKE ME AS YOU OWN, YOU MAY NOW CALL UPON ME AT ANY GIVEN MOMENT" "The fuck, who are you" "I am the spirit that resides in the weapon, but you may call me Dusk" "Okay Dusk it's an honor to have a new addition to the family" "No, it's a honor to be here with you, Master" "Damn it not another one" "What?" "Nothing but what do we do about him?" Keith asked "Do what about who?" Frost asked then looked to the changeling then back to Keith who was wearing red gauntlets, talon'd boots, flaming wings, and wielding a rather nasty looking scythe "Master what's going on here?" "I think it will be better if I show you Match, Dusk" as Keith finished his sentence the weapons he was holding/wearing vanished, and two mist seeped from Keith a red one and a black one, which made Frost curious. The red Mist formed into Match, while the black mist started to form the outline of a pony, when the mist dissipated Match came and landed on Keith's shoulder while a black unicorn mare without a cutie mark, and a flowing mane that was formed by the shadows themselves. "Hello everyone I am Dusk, I'm a shadowling" Dusk said in a soft tone "This is Match the Phoenix, and this is Frost the Windago, these two are not only my pets but my most trusted friends" "Hello" Match spoke "Hey" Frost said but just glared at Dusk "Well Dusk is it okay if I ask you a few questions?" "Of course Master" "Do you know anything about where Boss is or anything related to him?" "I'm afraid not Master but can I tell you something that I haven't had the chance to tell anyone else?" "Of course, your part of the family now" "See that scum over there" she pointed to Mirror "please don't kill him despite his actions I still owe him a favor, a life for a life if you might say that" I understand but when he wakes up I'm gonna. Eat the ever living shit outta him for trying to fuck up my life" "Actually he did, Luna is with her sister crying her heart out, Precise Shot is mourning but doing guard duty at the palace, and Rarity is at her house crying her head off, all because of what he has done" "How do you know all this?" "I control the shadows, in fact I can see all three of them right now, honestly it's a bit heartbreaking" "Dusk with your powers can a teleport through the shadows?" "Yes you can also control the shadows to make them bend to your will, the scythe that you now have is indestructible the serrated blade has been drenched in poison strong enough to kill a manticore in mere seconds. Also you can become a shadow yourself anytime you wish" "Well that's pretty cool but I have a problem that needs to get solved soon so lets go" Keith said urgently. Match, Frost, and Dusk all nodded, then they formed into there respective mist and flowed into Keith "Dusk how do I teleport through shadows?" "You step into a shadow like you normally would and then imagine where you wish to go" "Alright let's try this" Keith walked under a shadow of a a tree and imagined Rarity's parlor "One more thing and I probably should have mentioned this only you, Frost, and Match can hear me" "What" was all Keith could say before he vanished into the shadows