Conflict
The Everfree forest was may things; dark, dangerous, mysterious, and untamed just to name a few.
But it was never silent.
Throughout the ages, in peaceful times and in war, the creatures dwelling in the dark forest had always made their presence known, whether it was the growls of timberwolves fighting over prey or an ursa minor leaving the forest to find new territory in the mountains, there was always noise. The locals even used the noise to determine when exotic foods were in season and when it was safe to cross through the forest or, more importantly, not. But now the entire forest had gone quiet, the creatures all hid, scared of the intruder that now lurked in the dark thickets. Any living thing that even felt the presence of the intruder ran and hid, watching as it passed them by, letting them live. The silence was finally broken as a low growl echoed throughout one particular clearing nestled deep within the forest, where not even the light of Celestia's sun pierced through the dense canopy. One solo growl became a quartet as glowing green eyes glared at the intruder.
The intruder turned towards the noise and was met with pairs of glowing green eyes glaring towards him "foolish beasts," could be heard coming from the intruder, as he held up a spherical object with curved horns jutting out of the sides "do you not realize who you stand before?" at this the feral growls changed to pained yelps and distorted wails "You serve me now," the intruder smiled, knowing what to do with his new slaves "there is a dragon whelp in this forest, find him and bring me his head, do what you wish with the rest of him." he commanded to the writhing forest all around him.
And then once again there was silence.
Twilight couldn't believe it.
Before her stood two human-like beings that one of which protested were not human. The being in question had spiky black hair, pointed ears, and red dagger shaped irises surrounded by the white sclera were locked squarely on her in an unflinching gaze. He was clothed in what appeared to be a white dress shirt under an unbuttoned black tuxedo coat, both of which curved in a vague heart shape on the upper half of the suit revealing a part of his chest and...'is that a giant button in his chest!?' button aside (for now) he appeared to be wearing white dress gloves on each hand. He also wore a tattered and torn cape which was black on the outside and a deep crimson on the inside. What struck her as odd about the cape was when he flared it during his speech it changed shape, becoming twice as long and removing any trace of wear leaving the cape looking more like a pointed wing until it reverted back to its ragged self. Even now, as it's bearer looks poised to strike, the cape is flowing in a non-existent wind with pieces flying off and disintegrating into the air but not diminishing even slightly.
Moving on, while the sorter of the two looked at her with barely controlled fury, his slightly taller accomplice simply stared at the unfolding scene with a cold, calculating glare. His skin was noticeably more tan compared to the pale skin of the other and his eyes were a deep amber and compared to what she saw on the other side of the portal looked like normal human eyes. His silvery hair was a wild and unkempt mess, reaching down well past his shoulders and even looking like it went down past his legs, it wasn't until his irate partner pointed out that it was a very bushy tail that she thought it was that long. Speaking of, this one also wore gloves on his hands but unlike the white dress gloves, these were black, fingerless, and made out of something she really hoped she was wrong about. Along with the gloves he had on an open red and black jacket revealing the center of his chest, with black pants and a metal plated belt, all of which looked to be made of similar materials as the gloves. the bandages wrapped around his neck and a bag slung across his body were some of the lest things about his appearance Twilight noticed.
'That penguin was right, they are demons.' Twilight thought, and almost instantly everything else the penguin said about them came rushing back. 'They probably are after him, and they really could be planning to invade Equestria.' her magic was already gathering, ready to blast either of the demons if they make any hostile actions 'I can't let that happen, I...I have to stop them here, or at least push them back to wherever they came from long enough to warn the princess'.
"Um...Twilight?" a small voice coming from behind twilight asked tentatively, breaking her out of her thoughts and even making her tense up at how something snuck up behind her...at least until her brain had been able to process whose voice that was.
Her response to the potential distraction was a simple, albeit very annoyed "What is it Spike."
"I know we agreed to listen to that penguins plan to stall the demons but does that mean we have to fight them?" Spike asked as he cautiously eyed the demons down below. And while Twilight looked like she was ready for a battle she didn't want to fight, Spike looked at the demons expressions and was instantly unnerved at what he saw. The taller silver one looked calm but there was this malicious vibe he was giving off that suggested he had no problem ending their lives should he need to. The shorter black clothed demon was worse. He was already angry and there was something that reminded Spike of Rainbow Dash with how he spoke earlier, an unsettling thought should he decide to fight Twilight and him "I don't know what it is about those two, but they scare me, I don't think fighting them is a good idea."
"Well what do you suggest we do?" Twilight huffed. If they were serious about invading then fighting them would be impossible to avoid. "We still need to buy time and I don't think just staring them down is going to work."
"First off: calm down, you're starting to have one of your panic attacks," Spike said. Despite being scared of the two in front of them he was trying to be both supportive and firm to Twilight...even if he was secretly telling himself the same thing "Do your breathing exercises, I'll keep an eye on them in case they try anything funny."
"Ok...ok," with Spikes reassurances Twilight closed her eyes and took multiple deep breaths as one of her hooves mirrored the in an out flow of her breathing. With the rapid drumming of her heart calming down to a more normal pulse, Twilight opened her eyes and dispelled the magic gathering in her horn. While her guard wasn't down by any stretch of the imagination, she felt that she was not going to attack at the slightest noise and after returning her attention to the two demons noticing that the taller, more feral looking one had a surprised look on his face. While curious, Twilight decided to ignore that train of thought in favor of Spikes idea "alright what did you have in mind?"
"Well let's try and get some information from them, you said that penguin might not be telling the whole truth so maybe these guys will know something." he suggested.
Twilight thought about it for a moment 'play twenty questions with them huh...that could work. Still...' "it's a good idea Spike but, do you really think they'll tell us anything?"
Spike replied confidently "hey it's worth a shot right? We're stalling for time remember, even if they're lying to us we're still keeping them here."
'Should they try to attack I can simply teleport us out of danger, but if they decide to talk then we might get some really valuable information...' weighing her options, Twilight thought of what each possible scenario could be as well as the possible countermeasures she could take to, at the very least, warn Celestia of the impending attack. "Alright Spike, but if things get dangerous we're teleporting out of here, ok." Twilight responded, giving her assistant a quick smirk. Finally with a plan in mind, she took on more deep breath and carefully started her descent to the ground a fair distance away to hopefully give her some time in case either of them decided to try a surprise attack.
Fenrich just stood there dumbfounded.
In the air above him was the horned pegasus still watching him and his lord, and on her back was a tiny purple dragon riding her like humans would...minus the saddle or reins. How he missed noticing the young dragon until now or even that this world had dragons was somewhat surprising but not entirely relevant to what was going on. He even decided that it was simply because of it's small size and purple scale coloring acting as a makeshift camouflage that he missed noticing the young reptile. What did turn him speechless was not only could this dragon talk, made apparent by the horned pegasus turning her attention towards it multiple times and even responded to whatever had been said, but that it was able to wrest said pegasus out of her rather sudden hysteria. 'Perhaps there is a way out of this where we get some useful information,' he mused 'I'd better take the initiative before my lord decides to make the first move.' regaining his stoic composure as he watched the now two beast welcoming committee land. With one last quick breath Fenrich stepped forward and placed a hand between his lord and the gems of information standing before them "My lord, a moment if you please."
"What is it Fenrich," Valvatorez replied, still focusing on the horned pegasus even with his servant's hand obstructing his view ever so slightly "If this is about ignoring what she said then I don't want to hear it."
"Perish the thought my lord," Fenrich defended ' in fact I feel the same way, my lord'. Lowering his voice so that only lord Valvatorez could hear what he said and even turning his head away in the off-chance their guest could read lips Fenrich whispered "I merely wanted to ask the horned pegasus over there some questions, and gather some information beforehand. It seems like she came into contact with Sombra, and perhaps would be willing to tell us where he's going if I can properly persuade her."
With a quick glance to Fenrich, Valvatorez relaxed from his fighting stance to contemplate what was just said to him. Getting a lead on where the rouge prinny went was a very tempting thought. If all went well, the locals could even deliver Sombra on a silver platter with a bow on his head and be back in Hades before the deaths caught wind of this fiasco. But being called human, even by something ignorant about demons made his blood boil, no doubt Fenrich felt the same way. Being part of the werewolf clan he resented his diluted human blood more than any demon Valvatorez had ever met, and yet...
"Alright Fenrich, go ahead and ask your questions until you are satisfied," the vampire lord answered simply "I will let what has already been said slide...for now anyway." at the last part his voice darkened and his eyes narrowed to a subtle glare that all but said what would happen should these questions prove fruitless, if not outright rectifying the insult.
And with a simple bow Fenrich replied "I assure you I will get some useful information from this, simply be patient for just a little while."
"Very well" Valvatorez sighed deciding to simply cross his arms, stand there, and watch what was about to happen transpire.
"Thank you, all is for my lord." With those final words to his master Fenrich began waking towards the two who, were waiting rather patiently away from the castle ruins. Satisfied he was within earshot of both the dragon and the beast it was riding on Fenrich started his delicate search for information "Hey horse! There's something about what you said I want to ask about."
"I'm not a horse you know, I'm a pony."
"Sorry, did you say something pot."
The now-proclaimed pony currently wore a look of surprise, courtesy of Fenrichs thinly veiled insult. And while the surprise was quickly replaced with a glowered look of frustration and embarrassment, the meaning wasn't lost. Reluctantly, and with frustration clearly evident in her voice, she answered "what is it."
Satisfied with his verbal knife twist Fenrich decided it was time to do what he does best regarding misinformed fools standing in his and his lords way; tear apart their misguided conviction and make them lose the will to fight. Standing tall he rested both of his hands on his belt to try and intimidate his audience "There is no point in denying that we indeed are demons and we are in fact after that prinny, the 'penguin thing' you mentioned, nor is there a point in denying that you met with him," he stated in an even growl "but what I don't understand is what possessed you to think that we would invade this 'Equestria' you mentioned when this is the first time we even heard of that place," at this Fenrich lowered his stance nearly to the point of being eye level with the pony, which made the now malicious glare and venomous tone in his voice have all the more impact "so tell me; assuming that where we are right now is Equestria, why do you think we would want to invade here?" already he could see a response forming in the pony's mind, and with a good idea of what it was going to be he decided to beat her to it "And before you answer know this: that prinny you met was also a demon, so anything you say about us as a species will include him as well." it seemed to be effective at stopping her train of thought, although the smirk she gave for a moment was unexpected even if it didn't really matter.
After a moment of thinking and even consulting the dragon on her back the pony finally replied "I don't know why exactly you would be invading, but that doesn't mean you don't have a reason, it simply means that I didn't hear about it from the prinny when I had the chance."
"And what exactly did you hear?"
"Why should I tell you?" the pony replied, trying to give Fenrich her most intimidating glare she could muster. It wasn't much really. In fact were the situation were different Fenrich would have found the sight of a purple winged pegasus half his size with a star themed tattoo on her flank trying to look imposing with a dragon whelp on her withers amusing, and would have even shown her what a truly intimidating gaze was. Instead the only reaction he gave, whether it was noticed or not, was a slight eye twitch as the pony continued "I know your just fishing for clues about where that prinny is, so unless you give me some information as well I'm not going to say another word."
While Fenrich had expected some resistance to his questioning, he didn't expect it to be so soon. His defense being his opponent looking like she was meant to entertain children rather than hold a serious discussion about anything other than friendship and rainbows. Gently shaking his head, deciding not to think anymore on the subject "alright, then how about this; a question for a question, an answer for an answer," he replied in a calm, even tone. In his mind he was already making subtle changes to his plan 'let's see if her naïveté earlier was just for show' he thought. It was time to throw her a bone "and since you answered one of my questions already, I'll answer one of yours now, deal?"
"Deal," the pony replied. "first off; how many of you are here searching for that prinny?"
'A number count? Perhaps my previous assumption was correct.' Fenrich mused. He considered a head count a rather unreliable piece of information coming from an enemy, especially when it involved covert operations. Any two-bit con artist could say they have ten men and show they have ten men but really have hundreds waiting in the shadows, ready to strike. Still, he had to put some stock into his words which meant telling the truth, part it anyways "there are a total of six demons in our party searching for that prinny, the two that stand before you and four other prinnies inside the ruins."
"Hey, how do we know your not lying to us by giving us a wrong count?" the dragon interjected.
'Speaking of con artists...' Fenrich thought, already knowing what he was going to say next "how do you know the prinny you already met wasn't lying to you either?" at this the dragon merely shrunk back behind his rides neck "In any case blindly believing a demon's words is not a wise course of action. That's why I believe showing you would be better than telling," at this he turned around towards the castle ruins, took a deep breath, and yelled at the top of his lungs "ALL PRINNIES FRONT AND CENTER!"
It took less than a minute for four small blue penguins half the size of the werewolf who called them to come running through the entrance of the ruins. One by one the prinnies lined up in front of Fenrich raising a flipper in salute. And once all four were standing at attention they answered with their squeaky voice in unison "prinny squad reporting for duty dood."
Fenrich smirked at the response time of the prinnies, noting the look of exhaustion and heavy breathing done by three of them even while standing at attention, it meant that they were working. "Prinnies are trained as sevants, disobeying orders has serious repercussions. If their master gives them an order no matter how impossible it sounds, they follow it, no questions asked." he stated to the pony, who looked rather surprised seeing the four identical demons. "Perhaps a demonstration is in order," Fenrich said, breaking the pony out of whatever trance she caught herself up in and refocusing it on the matter at hand "prinnies! pirouette while reciting the alphabet backwards," they did "juggle knives while standing on a lit bomb," they did...until the bomb exploded anyways "now turn that tree over there into a life-sized replica of my lord in three minutes." at this all of the prinnies eyes gleamed as they held up the knives they had been juggling and ran towards the tree in question wildly swinging away at the poor sapling for three straight minutes. Once the sawdust had cleared the tree was gone and in its place was a wooden facsimile of Valvatorez standing with one of his arms outstretched and the other rested at his hip. While the quality wasn't the greatest, there was no doubt to who it was modeled after "If anymore prinnies under our service had heard that call they too would come running regardless of what situation they found themselves in." With his show and tell over, Fenrich dismissed the four prinnies, who went back into the castle to continue their previous orders "Satisfied? Good now about my latest question."
"I'm curious about what that prinny said as well," Valvatorez added. "can you repeat what he said, word for word if possible?"
The sudden outburst from the former tyrant surprised everyone there, more the pony and dragon but not even Fenrich was unaffected. Still the two seemed to lighten up, even just a little. Picking her words carefully the pony started "well it, he signaled us down by screaming 'help, I'm being chases by demons'..." as her explanation carried on, and with the dragon adding remarks every so often Fenrich had concluded that wherever Sombra was now, even if he was hearing everything, the two in front of him didn't know. Valvatorez on the other hand simply listened, his expression changing from initial curiosity to apprehension and finally, as she finished her recount of events, frustration "aside from that he said where you would be and that you were intent on invading Equestria using him as ammunition."
"Are you certain that's what he said?" he asked, a hint of desperation in his voice "you're not paraphrasing anywhere? Not once did you hear the word 'dood' come out of his mouth?" the pony and dragon shared a confused look before shaking their head in unison "I can't believe this." Valvatorez said, clutching his forehead as ire once again welled up inside him ready to explode.
"What? was it something we said?" the dragon asked.
"More like something you didn't say, and I would step back a little if I were you." Fenrich replied quickly, following his own advice as he watched the horned pegasus comply with his suggestion before his masters tirade had a chance to scare them away.
And with the ferocity of a volcano, Valvatorez began "Even after everything he's done he still insists on piling more charges against himself!" as he said each word to no one in particular he eventually turned towards the group of three stomping on the ground hard enough to make it shake, pointing a raised index finger at the group as he yelled "Prinny Rule number one: You shall always include the word 'dood' in every line you say!" with enough conviction to move nations.
Recovering from his lords ultimatum and now knowing that these two may not even know where Sombra is headed, Fenrich had decided that this back and forth routine had gone on for long enough "yes well, lengthening rap sheet aside it is clear that there was nothing in what he said that would even remotely suggest us demons would be attempting to invade this land," he said in his calm low tone "furthermore it seems as if you two were tricked into aiding in the escape of a dangerous criminal."
"Wait, that penguin was a criminal!?" the two replied in unison, both now having matching pairs of wide eyes and slack jawed looks on their face. After roughly thirty seconds, which felt more like minutes to the astonished locals, they tried to shake back their composure before pressing for more information...with mixed success "b-but how...what-" the pony was able to eventually say.
"Allow me," Fenrich interrupted as he reached into the satchel that hung to his side, pulling out one of the small stacks of papers and showing them to the pony and dragon duo "here is a report on the damage caused by our target, I'll even give you the honor and read what it says aloud to you." he stated, clearing his throat to begin reading. As he looked down at the report he noticed that it was glowing a faint translucent purple, raising an eyebrow he looked towards the first possible explanation.
"I'll read it myself, thank you." the pony said regaining more of her composure as she did some sort of breathing exercise. With her horn glowing the same color as before she and Fenrich watched as the report floated towards her at a leisurely pace stopping at face level and remaining in mid air wrapped in the purple aura. As she read the report Fenrich took mental notes of the glowing horn on her forehead, the paper that was magically floating in the air, and that her horn glowed the same way when she was more...aggressive. With something to inquire about later he merely waited for the magical horned Pegasus to finish reading his report and watched as her expression changed from curiosity, to satisfaction, then concern, and finally absolute seriousness.
While it was good that she understood at least part of what that infernal prinny was responsible for, it was imperative for Fenrich to make sure she knew the full extent of his crimes. With one last sigh, Fenrich started walking slowly, with his hands holding his metal plated belt, towards the pony and his report, to figuratively hold her hand-er...hoof one more time, before tossing her into the wolves' den "perhaps I should give you a brief summary since you seem unfamiliar with some of our terminology," he said in a demeanor, drawing the attention of both pony and dragon as he continued on, his voice becoming more aggressive, more feral "he has destroyed billions worth in important machinery the we require on a day-to-day basis, ruined hundreds of pieces of weapons, armor, and foodstuffs we need to survive," now standing within arms length, grasping at his report "he is also responsible for critically wounding important members of our staff including guards, convicts, merchants, and even one of our gatekeepers!" holding his report and looking down at the two like a wolf glaring at an unruly pup, with a snarl to match "I have no more time to waste on this so here is my final question; Do you know where he is headed or not?"
The pony's response was not immediate nor was it without breaks "I-I can't answer that! I'd just be giving you what you want!"
"That's exactly the point," Fenrich replied mercilessly, not letting either of them regain their composure. The fact that they hesitated about answering his latest question and not even outright denying him in the end proved they were on the fence. The pony and dragon now looking equally rattled now, and he intended to keep it that way. His strategy was coming to an end and now it was time for the coup dé grace "the longer he's here in your world the greater the chance of all hell breaking loose, because we didn't catch him in time, because you let him get away and made his trail grow cold."
The pony's legs were shaking. Her head swiveled rapidly seemingly trying to look at everything while taking nothing in. Fenrich could easily tell she was mentally weighing her options. Should the fugitive Sombra's story be true, she would be condemning an innocent soul to a horrific death and ushering in a demonic invasion whereas if she believed the demons standing in front of her, a dangerous criminal had escaped into this world and she is stopping the group trying to catch him. Fenrich knew that the pony was trying desperately to find some counter-point she could present against him, he had seen this many times before and knew that one of two conclusions were about to happen. Either the pony and dragon would abandon this farce of an interrogation and outright attack them where he and his lord would easily subdue the two or she would relent and lead them straight to where Sombra should've been.
Either way Fenrich had won, and whether or not everyone here accepted it yet, they knew it.
His answer came when the pony fell to her haunches, hung her head down, and with her eyes closed weakly muttered "alright...I do."
"Twilight..." was all Spike could say as he tried to comfort his friend, although his attempts were in vain. Her world had shrunk down to everything below her, her dragon assistant, the two demons, where she was, none of that registered. Twilight was beaten, no matter what she tried the silver-haired demon always had a response and still managed to keep her from getting any concrete information aside from the fact that the penguin creature was called a prinny and that it was, in fact, a demon.
"Can you at least promise that once we get there you won't hurt anypony...and that when we meet him you'll let me talk to him before taking him away?" Twilight asked meekly, her stance not changing from the despondent slouch she had when she uttered that singular word of defeat. She simply stood where she was with half-open eyes staring at the ground in front of her as she waited for an answer, even if she knew what that answer would be. They were demons after all, something like sentimentality was probably a dumb joke to them anyway. She soon had her answer when the silver-haired demon replied in the same harsh tone as before.
"Of course not, why would you even thin-"
"Sure, I don't see why not."
"...Huh...?" was she hearing things? Did...did the demon she managed to inadvertently offend actually agree to let her speak with the prinny and also to not hurt anypony in ponyville? Or was this just some sort of cruel trick he was playing on her as payback? She chanced a glance up to see the red-caped demon standing beside his comrade, who had a face of what could only be described as utter shock, staring at her not with an evil smirk on his face, but instead a serious gaze 'is that...understanding in his eyes?'
"My lord, you can't be serious!"
"I don't see why your making such a big deal about this Fenrich," he replied, keeping that calm gaze as he turned to face the other demon before returning to Twilight "we both know who is in the right in this scenario and once we have him we will be leaving soon after correct? any questions unanswered would just come back to haunt her, and us."
Twilight could hear the one who was called 'Fenrich' let out a low growl before finishing with a long sigh "if that is what you decided then there is no point in trying to change your mind, all is for my lord."
"Good," at this the red-caped demon walked up to Twilight, putting both her and Spike on guard as he knelt down and... outstretched his hand? "now then pony, what is your name?"
Caught off guard by the sudden question. unlike the ones she had been previously answering this one was focused on her instead of the prinny Twilight had to take a moment before she could answer but was able to muster up the courage to do so as she tentatively grabbed the offered hand "it's Twilight, Twilight Sparkle."
"Very well Twilight Sparkle," the demon said, helping her up before taking a few steps back. And with the same cape flare he did when they had first met, the demon made what could only be described as a declaration to the world "I promise you that before we apprehend our prinny you may ask him any and all questions that you have until you are satisfied AND that nobody here will be hurt by any demon under my command!"
"But...how do I know you're not lying?" it was a valid question she thought. There was really no physical evidence to support the demons words, no previous encounters with him, no actions to compare with, nothing.
The demon responded to the question by pinching the bridge of his nose and with an exasperated sigh replied "if I've said this once I've said it a thousand times, I am a proud and noble demon and as such I shall NEVER go back on my word!"
And that's when it clicked. Throughout this entire confrontation, whenever he spoke, there was always this something in his words, something that she had seen in Rainbow Dash and Applejack; pride. Whenever this demon got angry it was because she had inadvertently insulted him or when he found out the prinny wasn't following a rule. When his friend and her were speaking he interrupted only once to make sure the prinny was following the rules, and was infuriated when he found out he wasn't. Twilight could now see the demon was straightforward and proud of that fact. With a faint smile Twilight quietly responded "thank you..."
With a smirk the demon started moving towards the Everfree forest, signaling to the rest of the group to follow him "well then, let's get moving!"
The trek through the Everfree forest was proving to be one of the more unnerving experiences Twilight and Spike have ever gone through. Beside the duo was the black caped demon matching their pace, casually looking around taking in the scenery and a few steps behind them was 'Fenrich', keeping a steady gaze on Twilight and the aforementioned demon. And while traveling with demons through the Everfree as well as the why behind it kept her on edge it was the absolute lack of noise coming from the forest that worried her the most. It had been like this for the last hour, and with still no clue as to what was causing the forest creatures to act so timidly, there was little she could do about it. Unable to stand the deafening silence anymore Twilight turned to the black caped demon "can I ask you something mister...um..."
The demon looked towards Twilight with a stare of patient curiosity trying to figure out what she was trying to say, or what was stopping her from saying it. Realization dawned on him as he slapped his forehead with his gloved hand "that's right, we haven't introduced ourselves," the demon chuckled behind his facepalm. He then removed his hand from his face and gestured to himself "my name is Valvatorez, prinny instructor of Hades..." after his brief introduction Valvatorez then shifted his hand away "and he is my loyal servant Fenrich." who only replied with a quick bow before returning to his duty of keeping an eye on his lord.
"Valvatorez and Fenrich..." Twilight muttered, getting used to the foreign names "Valvatorez what exactly is a prinny? I mean they must be really important if they have their own teachers and can do...that," grimacing at the thought of the report she looked over. While the weapons lost was more of a positive in her mind, innocents being hurt and food being wasted on that massive a scale made her stomach turn. Deciding to get back on topic she continued "but can you tell me what makes them special, compared to other demons anyway?"
Valvatorez pondered the request for a moment before returning Twilights gaze "very well then," he decided. In truth he was getting tired of the silence as well, greatly preferring the camaraderie of allies traveling to the silence of an army on the march. Clearing his throat he began his explanation "prinnies are the dead souls of humans that have lived sinful or worthless lives...although that will probably need to be updated thanks to recent events..." he made a mental note to check up on that when he returned to the netherworld "anyway, they are considered the lowest and weakest of demons in the netherworld being employed by other demon lords and even the angels as servants. And while netherresearchers have yet to discover an exact reason, prinnies will explode violently when thrown. Furthermore almost all new souls will start out as a private prinny, the blue ones you saw with us."
Twilight took in all the info that was being presented to her. Prinnies were human sinners souls, they are employed as servants, they explode when thrown, and that they were the weakest of demons. While most of it seemed unbelievable, hearing it from the mouth of a demon gave it a little more credibility. Still there was one hole in explanation so far "what about the black one?"
"The black one is most likely a special case. If a soul is powerful enough, a prinny will be created with a different colored hide or some sort of other slight mutation. I only know of a few other cases of this happening," starting to count the other times on his hand, he continued "lets see...there was a witch that took her own life, scarring her son in the process, a defender of earth who committed many atrocities in the name of justice, and one rather persistent judge who held the most malice toward humans in the entire world." he chuckled as nostalgia flooded him at the thought of the last case. "As a prinny their goal in their new life is to work hard to pay off their sins and be reincarnated."
"Reincarnated? How?"
"The red moon? What's that?" Spike added.
"Exactly what it sounds like young dragon," Valvatorez answered, now matching his pace to the dragon riding on Twilights back "every couple of years the moon in the Netherworld changes color to that of deep red, and the light it gives off is very special to prinnies." after seeing the confused looks exchanged by Twilight and the dragon Valvatorez surmised that they probably never even seen the aptly named 'blood moon' "Once a prinny has paid off its sins they learn when and where the next red moon will take place, once they arrive at the site, the light from the moon cleanses their souls of the sins they committed and the memories they had in their previous life, and death shepherds the souls back to the human world, where they may once again be born into the world.
"Like a second chance..." Twilight murmured, her mind thinking back to Princess Luna, Discord, Sunset Shimmer, and even Trixie. Her reminiscing was cut short when a loud, aggravated growl snapped her back to reality and essentially killing the mood. With an irritated huff, Twilight turned her head back to glare at the culprit who was returning her glare with a look more of curiosity 'sorry, Fenrich, it's not my fault so many ponies I met wanted to turn their...life...around?'
Fenrich wasn't the one growling.
As the growling seemed to intensify, four pairs of green eyes started to glow in the forest surrounding them. One by one the lupine creatures that seemed to be made of the forest itself started emerging from the thick underbrush and converged on the path in front of them, effectively barring their way.
"Timberwolves!" Spike screamed.
"Timberwolves? not exactly an original name." Fenrich chided.
"I take it they're not friendly?"
"Definitely not!" Twilight replied hastily "We need to get out of here now." she said, now looking for an alternate route the four of them could take.
"That won't be necessary." Valvatorez stated calmly, walking to the front of the group transitioning into his fighting stance.
"We'll handle this," Fenrich added as he casually walked to the side of his lord, stretching his arms before messing with the device on his wrist "I've been wanting to get some exercise since we got here." he said as he too entered a combat stance similar to his lord.
"But it would be two against one, you're at a disadvantage." Twilight pointed out.
"And with you and the dragon we'd be even, but that's not the point." Valvatorez countered "The point is, as our guide we cannot risk you getting hurt or worse and forcing us to wander around this jungle unaided. Besides we're used to far worse odds back in the-" Valvatorez was cut off when one of the timberwolves decided to pounce and make quick work of the unsuspecting demon.
It was at the apex of the jump that it discovered that was a very bad idea. At that moment a sharpened set of nails dug into the left side of its face and effortlessly sent it flying into some rocks submerged in a nearby bog "how dare you interrupt my lord!" Fenrich seethed, now falling back towards the ground "I hope your ready to be turned into kindling." the moment his feet touched the ground he dashed towards the lupine shaped target and before it could even react Fenrich delivered a swift right jab followed by a left uppercut and finished by clutching his hands together and delivering a devastating hammer blow, shattering the timberwolf into splinters against the submerged rocks.
Valvatorez only smirked as he watched Fenrich utterly destroy one of the timberwolves, and turned that smirk towards Twilight who had her mouth hanging open from watching the spectacle unfold. Turning his attention back to the three remaining timberwolves he started closing the gap between them. And using his right hand he reached into the red part of his cape and pulled out the Regal Darkness. Brandishing his weapon he called out to the wolves in equal parts excitement and haughtiness "I'll be your opponent!" and with his free hand gestured to the wolves to attack any time now. The timberwolves didn't hesitate as all three started charging towards Valvatorez.
And in unison leapt over him.
Realizing he was not the target they were after, Valvatorez pivoted around and bolted towards the intended target: Twilight. With no time retaliate before the timberwolves plunged their fangs into the distracted mare he did the only thing he could, put himself in the way. Using the blade his sword for the middle wolf and the rest of his body for the other two, Valvatorez caught the three attacks. Suppressing the pain from having a set of wooden fangs in his left leg and right arm he glanced back at Twilight and the dragon, making sure they were ok, and while shocked at what was happening in front of them they seemed fine. Turning back towards the wolves barring down on him he stared into the middle ones glowing green eyes with a look of pure malice "I said I'll be your opponent." he seethed as he pushed back the one chewing on his sword, threw off the wolf on his arm into the first and kicking the third off him and into the newly formed wood pile.
While his clothes were now torn and being stained with his blood from the wounds he didn't care, clothes could be repaired and he knew a trick or two to heal his injuries. Seeing the timberwolves standing again and once again glaring at not him but the pony standing behind him, Valvatorez decided it was time to end this. Jamming the tip of his sword into the ground, he drew his cape around him enveloping himself in thick purple haze. As the haze thickened the form of Valvatorez melted into it and from the haze came legions of bats that all flew towards the three timberwolves, biting and clawing at them relentlessly even lifting them into the air through the sheer number of blows being dealt. The myriad bats then flew into small groups scattered above and below the three airborne wolves reforming the purple haze, only this time large fangs appeared from the fog, impaling the wolves within it's 'bite'. As the timberwolves fell to the ground in wooden heaps the purple haze appeared once again coalescing into one cloud by the Regal Darkness before dissipating to reveal Valvatorez, still in torn and bloodstained clothes but otherwise unharmed. Dusting off his hands and returning his sword into his cape as if it were a sheath, Valvatorez turned towards his onlookers smiling triumphantly "well, that takes care of that."
"It's not over yet! Look out!" Spike yelled.
Before he could respond Valvatorez was swatted away by a giant wooden paw, knocking him back behind Twilight and Spike and giving him a good taste of the dirt they were only recently walking on.
Fenrich watched as the once three now one giant timberwolf landed a back attack on his master "my lord!" as he moved to intervene he was stopped when a giant pair of jaws clamped down at the spot he would have been a second later "Dammit, what now!" following the jaws to whatever they were attached to he saw what appeared to be a crocodile that was roughly three time his size with stones attached seemingly at random across its body. Its hide was a dark green and protruding along its spine were rows of jagged rocks forming a rough line from headto tail. The hulking cragadile lumbered out from the murky water of the bog placing itself between the path and Fenrich, it's reptilian eye focused directly on the demon it had missed. Fenrich returned the glare with is own and prepared to unleash another triple strike "I don't have time for you, lizard!" to his surprise when he landed the first strike to the beasts jaw, the impact hurt him more than it hurt the his target. He had to back off when the cragdile snapped at him with its massive jaws in retaliation to his attack. Furious, Fenrich let out a howl and started dashing around the focus of his ire on his hands and feet, dealing light blows with every pass he made, becoming ever faster with each run. Time after time the cragadile turned to snap at the demon an each time all he ate was air as Fenrich continued attacking in his set pattern. Predicting where the demon was going to attack it hastily turned to face the next assault, ready to finally catch its opponent off guard.
But the demon was slightly faster.
By the time the cragadile had turned toward where Fenrich would attack form next, the demon in question was already in the air with a fist clenched tightly, magically infused with the wind he had generated running around and condensed into a violet ball radiating from his had. In one swift shot Fenrich brought his fist down between the cragadiles eyes, bone being shattered from the impact. Whose bones weren't made apparent until a moment later when the lumbering beast hit the earth out cold. Scoffing at the unconscious(or possibly dead) beast, Fenrich cracked his knuckles and began making his way back to the group.
Meanwhile, Valvatorez got up off the ground, spitting the dirt out of his mouth in the process and was turning back towards the giant timberwolf that was now barring down on Twilight and Spike "so they're able to fuse together after they're defeated, interesting..." the vampire once again drawing his sword from his cape and charging forward "but a cheap shot like that is nowhere near enough to beat me".
While Twilight was holding her own by blasting the giant timberwolf with beam after beam of magic, even if most of the shots were glancing blows, Valvatorez could see the wolf was gaining ground. Wasting no time he jumped over Twilight and Spike in between her barrages landing in front of them with the Regal Darkness ready to strike. Moments later, Valvatorez rushed forward unleashing a flurry of lightning fast swings across the giant timberwolfs body, finishing his onslaught directly behind the target. To Twilight and Spike it looked as if he had simply made one horizontal slice, but how the wolf was convulsing suggested there was more going on. They were proven right when the timberwolf tried to turn and meet the demon for another back attack only to find each of his legs were sliced cleanly in two toppling the massive beast under it's own weight causing vertical splits to appear across the length of it, including right behind the eyes. The timberwolf fell to the ground in now segmented pieces of lumber starting from the torso and head and quickly heading outward the green glow of the eyes fading from the 'face' piece, never coming back.
Valvatorez watched from the corner of his eye the effect his attack had caused. Acknowledging that the forest was silent once again meaning that the last of the debris has hit the ground, he turned and walked towards the opposite side of the pile of wood, ending up between it and Twilight. When he found what appeared to be the timberwolfs face piece, he casually walked up to it and drew his sword back, ready for another strike "so, are we done here?" when no response was given from the now inert pile sticks and leaves, he once again returned the Regal Darkness to his sheath-like cape "Good." he said now turning his attention to his approaching werewolf servant.
"My lord are you alright?"
"I'm fine Fenrich, it was just a sneak attack, no harm done." Valvatorez reassured, as he continued dusting himself off. As he did so the damage to his clothes became more apparent. The right sleeve of his suit was torn apart at the elbow, revealing it and most of his arm, his left pant leg had a hole in it just under the white belt, he could also feel a draft on his back so there was probably some damage there too "Although I could use some new clothes."
"My sincerest apologies my lord...but I didn't pack a spare outfit, I assumed our stay here would be so quick that I didn't think it would be necessary." Fenrich replied with genuine anguish in his voice. He always hated feeling useless when it came to his lord Valvatorez despite being forgiven or reassured by his master for his failings.
"Is that so," Valvatorez said as he looked at the damaged parts of his clothing, thinking of a way to use what he had to repair the tears "well then we'll just have to hope wherever we're going has a means to fix my clothes. Perhaps we could ask Twilight if she knows a good tailor." at this the demons turned their attention to the sound of hoof steps quickly approaching them.
"Ah, speak of the devil."
Twilight stood before the two catching her breath due to everything she had experienced over the past few hours being expanded upon rather than any physical exhaustion. Eventually she was able to speak again, starting with sounding out letters and saying half words and quickly working her way up "you...wha...how did you do all of that!?" she finally managed to get out as she pointed her hoof at Fenrich "You channeled magic!" she stated to the werewolf, only to swivel her hoof to the other demon "And you transformed into a swarm of bats! And you BOTH moved faster than I could see at one point, and where did that sword come from!? How is what you just did even possible!?"
With a rather frustrated sigh Valvatorez decided he would be the one to address her questions "one of these days you WILL understand that we're demons, your worlds natural laws don't necessarily apply to us, that being said, as a vampire lord being able to transform into bats is the equivalent to being able to breathe, a natural instinct. As for my sword, I just store it in a pocket dimension connected through my cape, no big deal. Now then as for Fenrich channeling magic, all I can say is that every demon is capable of channeling magic through their bodies, in however manner they see fit should they train to do so, while some are better at it than others. As for how fast we are able to move; hardwork, determination, and TONS of experience."
"So...all demons can use magic, you're a vampire Valvatorez, and anyone could move that fast where you're from?" Spike innocently asked.
"To put it simply: yes." Fenrich replied deciding to keep things short and sweet "In fact we're at somewhat of a handicap in this world."
"Woah you guys are awesome!"
"Spike!" Twilight scolded earning a sheepish smile from her number one assistant "Still this does bring up some more questions I want to ask you."
"Might I suggest holding off on asking them until later," Fenrich said, his tone implying this was more of an order than a suggestion "I think it's become quite clear that this forest is not the ideal place for expository banter."
"Heheh...good point," Twilight sheepishly admitted. Deciding to see how much of the forest was left to walk through until they reach the tree line and the safe open road to Ponyville that follows, she flew straight up over the canopy until she could see their destination. Pleasantly surprised as well as slightly apprehensive about what she saw, Twilight returned to the group to share the news "Ponyville's just up ahead, let's hurry."
"Ponyville? You must be joking." Fenrich chided wincing at the thought 'there's no way a town would have a stupid name as Ponyville'.
"No...why?"
"Grr...it's nothing," the werewolf quickly replied 'apparently it is possible.' "let's just get to town and get this over with."
'So...those beasts failed,' the malicious voice coming from the small black peguin mused. Hidden deep in the Everfree forest the former king Sombra watched through an orb pulled from one of the many staves he took from the prison. Converting it into a scrying orb was a simple task and thanks to the crystal shards implanted into the timberwolves, controlling them was foals play 'no matter, with these...' reaching into the fanny pack first for the skull that radiated magic power, then for ten identical staves each with a jagged purple gem resting at the end as a centerpiece. With his warped dark magic Sombra tore the gems out of their sockets holding the gems in an aura that undulated and occasionally popped a sickly green and pitch black 'my reign will be absolute, but first...' tossing the staves themselves aside to focus on the gems, watching as the purple of the gems was slowly dyed a mixture of blacks, greens, and much darker purples 'I must take precautions against the demons, as well as that young alicorn.' at that an idea struck him, grinning at the prospect he went to work twisting the magic in the crystals until each of them radiated a sickly green and purple mist and sparked with black lightning 'Perhaps I should test out what these are truly capable of' he gleefully thought as he watched the corrupted gems blink out of his sight.