//------------------------------// // Coming Back To Civilisation // Story: Devil May Cry: A New Battlefield // by Lazy_ //------------------------------// "Woah..." Dante and the gang looked onward at the scene before them. In front of them there laid a large and flat field, almost completely covered with grass as some patches had been burnt away by fires. And in the middle of it all rested the corpse of a creature barely recognisable to the four demon hunters. The large and torn apart body of Berial lay peacefully in the center of the field, completely juxtaposed to the usual state of fiery rage that he had. His arms were sliced into pieces with parts of his hard skin being tossed around all over the place. And most intriguingly, there was barely anything left of his head as it had been blasted apart. There was a rather large hole in either side which sourced a river of dried magma, forming black obsidian puddles at the exit wounds. "Hang on there, baby! I'm coming for you!" Dante ran up to the body in excitement, each step bringing him closer to the dead beast. He got closer... and closer... He could almost taste the polished blade and smell the residue of the countless souls it had taken. He was so close to getting back his beloved sword back from Berial's chest, a sword that... ...Wasn't there. "W-what?" He stammered. Anger started to well up in the corners of his mind as he started to pace from left to right. "How could this happen?" He raised his palms to the sky for dramatic effect. "Why!?" He cried out. "...Why have you forsaken me!?" Nero, Lady and Trish looked at each other, neither of them having a clue about what was un-folding before them. "Now I have to go into ponyland to get my lovely little sword back!" Dante started to up the ferocity of his pacing. He stayed like this for a few moments and all three of the remaining demon hunters just looked on in a mixture of bewilderment, amazement and sheer confusion at what the famously un-breakable devil hunter was doing. "This is total crap! I can't believe I'm in this situation, roaming a world filled with pastel coloured ponies so that I can get my sword back!" Any serious concerns that the trio had developed for Dante in the last minute or so dropped quickly. "Dante..." Nero started in a curious tone. "Yeah?" The red clad man answered angrily. "You're nearly 30 years old, you've fought to the death with your own brother and nearly died, you've been to hell and back in every meaning of the phrase and you're scared of a few colourful miniature horses?" Dante's pouting stopped dead. Going from angry and apprehensive to seriously cocky. He jumped straight from his knees to his feet and turned around to face Nero, coat trails floating to the side as they tried to catch up with his movements. "Me?" He pointed to himself. "I'm not afraid of this 'Equestria' place!" He walked towards Nero, arms outstretched and laughing. "I'm just afraid for my sanity, that's all. Demons I can deal with but this stuff is so damn ridiculous that It;s almost absurd, even in comparison to the demons!" "Well you're just going to have to bare with it." Nero said with a smile. "Because we can't have the colourful ponies thinking you're a total pussy now, can we?" "Fine, lets just get all this over and done with so we can go home. Now where's this settlement you were speaking of?" Trish and Lady face-palmed at Dante's pessimistic attitude. Nero looked around at the scenery. Mountains visible in the distance and green rolling hills stretching around ahead and to both sides. Behind him was the forest, left over smoke stacks still dissipating as they had not yet cleared. Ahead of him was the hill he landed on before Fluttershy picked him up. So if his memory served him correctly... "...The place I talked about is not far over the hill there. In fact, you can see a big orchard once you get to the top." Dante then turned around and started walking in the proposed direction. Nero and Trish ran after him, leaving Lady behind. "H-hey, wait up!" Lady shouted after him and walked on to catch up. "Why is it always me?" The large golden doors to the throne room in Canterlot stood closed, as the regal sisters approached them with thier tired and beaten guard force following behind them. The sisters could hear them complaining to each other about the mission, and if more of 'Those things' would ever show up again any time soon. Celestia was still wondering about the sword that currently resided in a make shift sheath at her side. The black handle with a spiky gothic pommel sticking out just enough for her to be able to see it. She had come to the conclusion that it was probably the property of one of the demon hunters that Twilight had mentioned. These 'primates' needed to be located if they had any knowledge on the demon they had slain, and if they could help defend Equestria from any more of them, if there was any more. As for the fire, it had left nearly a quarter of the Everfree burnt down, and the more talented biologists among the group of guards predicted higher Timber-wolf and Manticore density in the remaining areas. As well as increased competition over the habit between the two main predators of that zone. They also suggested shifting trading routes a little further away from the Everfree as these creature may get more desperate for food and begin preying on caravans more often. As a result, Celestia planned on re-setting trading routes between Equestria and the country of Great Griffon, who's only trading port with Equestria was a shipping dock on the other side of the forest. "It seems that our guard have also decreased in vitality as well as numbers, too." Luna whispered to her elder sister. "These stallions look like they've just finished a skirmish." "We have not had real large scale conflict in a millennium, Lu'. It's no surprise the fitness quality has dropped over the years." Celestia replied simply. "However if things such as this are going to start happening again, then we may have to give the royal guard a bit of a nudge to get the message across." "What about the Changeling invasion, then. Was that not a sufficient 'wake up call', so to speak?" Luna queried to the larger mare. Celestia just sighed and drooped her head a little. "It was a significant breach to our land's security and it still slightly worries me now. However I believe that if another invasion of the sort was ever launched again, we would be able to rat out Chrysalis' plans before she could hatch them." Celestia watched the sergeant move in front of them and open the door with his magic. As the great doors parted, Celestia finished the thought. "Still, I wonder what could have prompted her to take such an action against us?" "Maybe we will find out some time in the future..." Luna replied as she glanced at Celestia and back to the increasing amount of throne room appearing behind the opening doors. "...However, these matters will have to wait." Eventually they were able to see the entire of the chamber as the doors were completely open, revealing everything inside. The red and gold carpet lead from the doors to the throne, and was lined by stallions at arms on either side. Their spears leaning to meet in the center at an acute angle. The white marble was a clean change from the hills on the edge of the Everfree. Speaking of which, the fire that had started due to Berial's 'leakage' had soon dispersed after his death. What had happened to extinguish the fires was unknown, though they speculated that the flames ferocity may have been directly linked with the demon's life force. However, scout reports indicate that some of the earlier flames had died down too quickly and presented an anomaly to the rule. Maybe it was the work of the demon hunters? They did not know. However what they did know, was that they desperately need to check the treasury and Blue Blood's quarters for any missing gold or valuable items. Currently, Blue Blood was sat on the Equestrian throne awaiting the arrival of the two rightful rulers. He was slouched over lazily, almost appearing asleep as he gave a large yawn. Celestia frowned. "Blue Blood!" She yelled at him from across the room. The white stallion immediately jumped to his hooves looking a little shocked. He put on a sheepish smile and chuckled. "Aunt Celestia, aunt Luna, so glad you got back safely." He shouted back happily. Luna grimaced at the mention of being called an aunt. "You are not my family, Blue Blood. Keep calling me your 'aunt' and I'll make sure to it that you never have any family either." Luna said angrily. "That's enough, Luna." Celestia raised a hoof to stop her commenting further. "I trust you kept our kingdom in good order while we were gone?" She and her sister started walking forwards, leaving their spent guard behind to be debriefed. "Oh yes, actually I'd say I did pretty well." He boasted, leaning back into the throne a little. "How well you did is not yours to comment on, your subjects are the ones to judge. Besides, you were in power for a grand total of 4 and a half hours. I doubt you could that badly within the time given." Luna explained to him. "I knew that." He said sheepishly as his gaze wandered over to the sword attached to her armour. "Anyways Princess Celestia, your new sword is..." He saw the strangely shaped skull with it's burning red eyes and the incredible notched blade. "... Interesting." "It's not mine." Celestia stated. "Then who's is it?" The solar deity sighed in frustration. "Do I have to explain everything about my affairs to you?" She asked wearily. Blue Blood didn't answer, only sticking up his snout with a 'Hmph'. "Anyway, move!" She wafted her hoof as a gesture to get him to shift away from her throne, which he did quickly, so she could return to her gold and silver chair. Blue Blood then walked away from the throne room, heading outside. "I'm going to check on my constituent." She said as he left the room, and Luna whispered; "You do that." Celestia walked up the steps, armour clinking and clanking as she went. All six of the steps coated by the wide red carpet with gold trim that was there both as a decoration and to stop the hooves of countless subjects making indents in the ancient and expensive floors. The carpet extended all the way from her throne to the door, and as she got to the top of the stairs she smiled at the site of her throne. Shiny and comfy, she had been sitting on that particular throne almost every day of her life for nearly a thousand years. She stepped up onto the throne and turned around to face the exit before sitting down and releasing a content and relaxed sigh. She really needed to exercise more, all of her royal duties had left her little time to work out and she was feeling the strain. However it was different to being old, at least in the context physical state. Because when it came to age, there literally was no older being in existence. Not one that she knew of, anyway. Luna turned to the side, facing one of the large double doors that was installed into the throne room to lead onto the west wing of the palace. She looked back at her sister with a smile. "I'm going to get out of this armour, sister. I shall return shortly as we have matters to discuss." She stated. Celestia looked back and giggled. "I won't be too far behind you." She joked. "It's been a long time since I have had to wear armour, and I hope it will be along time until I have to again." Luna nodded in agreement. Celestia had never been the one for planning wars and discussing tactics, she preferred the diplomatic Route. However if worst came to the worst, Luna would always step in and take the reigns, as she was far more versed in the ways of a warrior. As she watched her little sister leave the room to get changed, she remembered the last time she had worn the armour: The battle of Antlerin where she had led her forces of royal guard against the retreating caribou who were tartarus bent on annihilating every single last one of them, defending their leader at all costs. She thought back to the barren war torn streets, coated grey in the dust of powderised stone and mortar. The buildings had all been pulverised by large scale magical bombardment and artillery fire, most were decrepit and falling apart. A large part of ponies homes had been leveled, leaving large areas filled with nothing but dull rubble and the broken memories of those who lived there. She had to admire the caribou soldiers, who defended their capital city with their lives. Once they reached the borders of the city they dug in and refused to fall back. It took masses of cannon fire to soften the resistance enough for an assault, and when they did advance the battered and broken soldiers fought with great strength and passion. They truly believed in their leader and were prepared to die over giving in and surrendering. Too many lives were cut too short in those brutal years, and Celestia hoped to never repeat it, and make sure leaders like him never came about again. This had always troubled Celestia. She never coped very well with the 'great war', the sheer scale of the loss of life involved terrified her, that good bucks were willing to give up their families and even their lives to fight for a pointless cause even when all hope seemed lost scared her deep down to her very core. And what perplexed her more was the way her sister handled it. Luna was never really too greatly affected by the atrocities of war, handling it as just another one of her duties. Though Celestia could see it in her eyes, Luna had never been able to completely shrug off the things she had seen, and she was pretty sure her little sister kept count of how many she killed. Not because of sadism or competition, but because she wanted to remember just what she was doing, to never forget the blood shed by her and her decisions. As she was lost in her saddening memories, her eyes slowly wandered down until they arrived at the hilt of the strange sword attached to her armour. She stared at the handle for a second before grabbing it with her magic, trapping the grip in an amber glow as she pulled it free from the DIY sheath, being careful not to jab herself with the spiky pommel mounted at the back of the grip. The hand guards came into view, with it's morbid skull screaming a silent cry to the world. A set of ribs had been crafted under the skull and two bones came from the shoulders to form a protective guard. As it slid totally from the sheath, the full blade came into view. It was very wide near the base and it got slowly thinner until it reached the middle, where it got progressively wider again before reaching the tip which had a notch on both sides that lead to a sharp point that looked like it could be effectively used for jabbing. The sword was at least 40 inches long and was heavy enough to do some real damage when swung with enough force. A fact that she had proved when fighting Berial. The blade's metal glistened a bright silver that stood loud and proud against the black metal that made up the rest of the swords features, apart from the eyes which burned a bloody crimson. The sword was truly a terrifying work of art. For some reason she couldn't shake the feelings of a strange power being released by the blade, as if it had a soul of it's own. She held the sword up to the light shining through the large stained glass windows that adorned the walls and rotated it 180 degrees. The sword was identical on the other side, like most swords were, but as she moved her eyes further up the weapon she spotted an inscription on the base of the sword. Carved into the the metal of the blade was the word; "Rebellion..." Celestia read aloud ghostilly, like not all of her voice was there. Then there was a more powerful voice that sounded out against the quiet. "Tis' a magnificent object, eh sister?" Luna's voice asked from a while away. Celestia was broken from her mesmerizing trance and she lowered the sword to see her sister smiling at her, now free of her cumbersome battle armour. Celestia took a glance at Rebellion and then back at her sister. "Yes, I guess it is." She said glumly, memories of horrible battles still present in her mind. Luna raised and eyebrow at her sisters sudden dark tone. "Is something troubling you, Celestia?" She asked in a worried tone. Celestia sighed and then continued to admire Rebellion. "Just running over some old memories, that's all." She said as she reverted her gaze to the mare before her. "Memories of the war." "Art thou' still so bothered by that? After all these years?" Luna walked up the steps and came around to her big sister's side, draping a wing over her alabaster shoulders. "Why can't thou' just forget the whole ordeal and move on? Forgive the past, embrace the present." She smiled and nuzzled her elder sibling. Celestia pulled Luna in for a hug and embraced her for a moment. When they broke the hug, Luna leaned over to the sword and inspected it closely, just like Celestia did. "Tis' an interesting design. We- I think it would mainly be used for hacking all the way through an opponent, using the wider tip to inflict a large amount of damage. Though the notches seem to suggest it would rather be used for slashing, with the notches being used to tear the wound and make it impossible for it to heal properly. However the only curve on this blade is concave, and would not be suited for that. It does look quite the work of art, though." She then looked at the the guard and narrowed her eyes. "I've never seen a weapon like this before. And for some reason it feels... alive." She said as she ran her hoof along the smooth metal of the blade. "I have the same feeling, I think we should hoof this over to our mages. Have them work out what that is, and give them something to do for a while." She chuckled at the thought. "The students of the arcane rarely get anything interesting to work on nowadays." "I'm surprised they're even still around. Magic is becoming a rare subject for today's youth, your so called developing technology is starting to come about now." Luna said. "So it seems." Celestia said before pausing. "However do you agree?" Celestia looked at her little sister who was still running a hoof over the metal and inspecting the gothic designs. Hm? Oh, yes. Like you said." Luna blurted out abruptly and turned back to her sister with a sheepish smile. Celestia smiled warmly back and slid the sword back under her armour, rising to her hooves. Her large size gave her a large prescence in the room, as most ponies found it impossible to miss her due to her being so tall. But now there wasn't very many ponies around, so she went mostly unnoticed. "Anyway, I need to get myself out of this plating and relax for a bit. I'm sure a lot of ponies in high places will want to know whats going on and what will be changing." She started walking away into another wing of the castle and her sister followed happily. As they walked, Celestia felt her sister position herself up close and put her mouth near her ear. "I haven't forgotten about that guard." She whispered simply and Celestia whipped her head around with a glare that could make a pony drop dead. Luna grew a large grin and started to trot ahead. "And I'm sure the nobles would just love to hear about it!" She raised her voice loud enough for all the ponies nearby to hear, drawing a few heads. Celestia kept her glare and sped up into a trot to catch up with her sister. "Tell anypony about that and I'll tell the nobles about your fetishes! And I mean all of them!" She shouted back angrily. And the last anypony heard of Luna that day, was her loud, mischievous laughter ringing out through the castle.