//------------------------------//
// Come Join the Murder 
// Story: A Demon In Ponyville 
// by Terciel1249 
//------------------------------//

A Demon in Ponyville
Ch. 15: Come Join the Murder
Edited By: hunterman3

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to MLP. All other characters are mine.

I’m falling…
Falling trough darkness…

Twilight couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. There was nothing but darkness all around her. Twilight fell through nothingness, unable to see her friends. Time slowly slipped by, feeling like hours have passed as Twilight fell through this cold unforgiving darkness.

From nothingness, Twilight’s senses were suddenly assaulted by howling winds and high pitched screaming.

Twilight and the rest of her friends collided painfully together before they fell head over hooves through a smooth tunnel of dark granite. Each of the ponies tumbled down the smooth rock surface. The Mane 6 continued to slide deeper and deeper into the dark rock. Twilight caught glimpses of open shafts of air spilling light into the dark tunnel.

“Whee!” Pinkie Pie screamed, enjoying the natural rock formation like an overly large slide.

But all things could not last.

The narrow gape the Mane 6 traveled down opened into a wide alcove. “Omph!” Rainbow Dash felt the air escape her lungs as five full grown mares drove her into the hard ground. 

Fluttershy was fortunate enough to be on top of the pile. With wide fear filled eyes, Fluttershy looked at the surrounding walls. Black mineral surrounded her from all four sides. The hard rock flowed like water, creating a seamless flow of shiny black rock. Soft lights spilled from the few holes high above her head. 

“Get off!” Rainbow Dash forcibly pushed all of her friends off of her.

Pinkie Pie picked herself from the ground, looking around. I wonder where Matthew is? Pinkie turned to the left, finding the pale pony lying on his back inside a small tunnel. His white tail leisurely swished back and forth. Oh. There he is.

Dark Matthew looked lazily at the mares. A small smirk played across his white muzzle. “Enjoy the trip?”

Rainbow Dash felt her blood reach the boiling. The overconfident smirk, those cruel empty eyes bearing down on them were uncalled for and unwanted. But it was the tone that Dark Matthew used. It was the air of absolute superiority. That he alone stood at the top of the mountain. Rainbow Dash rushed Dark Matthew, leaving a rainbow trail in her wake.

Rainbow Dash was right there. Her hoof was inches away from Dark Matthew’s face before the stallion moved. With a blurred motion, Dark Matthew’s left hoof caught Rainbow Dash’s fast approaching hoof.

Rainbow’s cyan eyes looked at Dark Matthew’s hoof in surprise. She was going at full speed and he caught it. Turning her gaze to Dark Matthew’s face, she felt her anger rise further. Dark Matthew wore a rather bored expression. “Is that the best you got?”

Rainbow drove her second hoof into Dark Matthew’s muzzle. 

Rainbow Dash felt all the anger leave her at the result of her hasty action. 

Even with all the force she could muster, Dark Matthew didn’t even budge. Her cyan hoof was pressed as hard as she could against the white stallion’s cheek and he did even appear fazed. Dark Matthew huffed in annoyance, “Pathetic.” With a flip of his hoof, Dark Matthew slammed Rainbow Dash into the floor.

Rainbow Dash collided with the granite floor with such force, small fissures spread from where her body contacted. All of Rainbow’s friends moved to her side. Several hooves picked up the dazed Pegasus. Rainbow Dash woozily stood up. Her vision swam, but she remained upright. 

Dark Matthew looked at the ruffled Pegasus with an un-amused gaze, “You alright? Do I need to get you a band-aid?”

All eyes turned to Dark Matthew filling the air with the Mane 6’s anger. It was Fluttershy who moved first. “How dare you!” Fluttershy shrieked at the top of her lungs. To see this pony insult her friends was bad enough, but to have the audacity to physically harm her. That was too much for the timid Pegasus to take and Fluttershy’s anger reached the surface. With so much burning fire in her veins, Fluttershy did the only thing she could do. Use the Stare.

Dark Matthew was surprised when Fluttershy flew up to him, staring at him directly in the eyes. “What are you-”  Dark Matthew began to say. But something held his tongue.

Those large eyes bore into Dark Matthew. Dark Matthew’s vision slowly filled with Fluttershy’s angry eyes. They were unlike anything Dark Matthew had felt before. The emotional impact of these eyes was incredible. Dark Matthew felt something stir within him. A wave of guilt flooded his brain. He felt the overwhelming compulsion to apologize, to beg for the yellow Pegasus for her forgiveness.

“Thanks Fluttershy,” Twilight smiled, seeing the snarky grin of Dark Matthew finally disappear. Twilight turned her attention back to Rainbow Dash. “Are you alright?” Rarity and Pinkie Pie stood next to their friend with worried looks.

“Yeah I’m fine,” Rainbow Dash muttered as she took a seat on the cold ground. Rolling her shoulders and giving her wings an experimental flap, Rainbow Dash felt relief to find everything worked properly.

“Um girls?” Applejack’s voice quivered.

Turning towards Applejack, Fluttershy and Dark Matthew, Twilight felt her heart sink. Fluttershy was slowly backing away from Dark Matthew. His dark eyes burned with a different kind of light this time. Instead of joy or amusement, these eyes burned with hatred.

Fluttershy felt herself sinking into those crimson eyes and dark irises. The ‘Stare’ was considered one of Equestria’s greatest weapons. As a master of the Stare, Fluttershy’s ironclad will would be put against the pony or animal on the receiving end. The two minds would be placed into a form of mental combat. Emotions and sometimes even memories could slide across the mental link. 

Fluttershy felt something horribly wrong as she plunged deep into Dark Matthew’s eyes. There, inside those golden-red orbs, Fluttershy become overwhelmed by sheer force of emotions flooding between the two ponies. Fluttershy’s consciousness became swept inside Dark Matthew’s emotions.

Applejack watched as Fluttershy coward in front of the stallion.

Through those eyes, Fluttershy learned what Dark Matthew was. He wasn’t evil. He wasn’t a heartless abomination. He was instinct, the purest of emotions. Love, hate, fear or even pain was nothing compare to this pure animal instinct. In the pure black emptiness of existence, emotion that should burn hot was now icy cold. Inside, Fluttershy felt a rage so deep it would not burn. It was reptilian in nature. And nothing could be done to change it. 

This was Matthew’s greatest asset and his most terrible burden. To life every day with this unbearable feeling that drove him to levels he would not consider possible. To drive him further away from the warm light of day and into utter black.

Applejack was at Fluttershy’s side, catching the Pegasus into the crook of her forelegs. Fluttershy shivered inside Applejack’s embrace, her eyes were filled with absolute loss. Never had she felt this kind of emotion. Applejack looked wide eyed at Fluttershy, “Fluttershy?”

“H-h-he’s not real,” Fluttershy whispered to no one in particular. 

“What are you talking about?” Applejack asked.

“So cold,” Fluttershy continued to shake, holding herself tight. She appeared to be on the verge of tears, the corner of her eyes turning a light red. “Y-y-you,” Fluttershy turned to face Dark Matthew’s pale form, “How can he deal with you? The cold? The emtiness?”

Dark Matthew took a moment to think of his answer. “Because I kept him alive,” Matthew finally answered, “If it wasn’t for me, Matthew would be dead since the first day I came into existence. Who do you think kept him alive while he was overrun by monsters? Who kept him alive when death was staring him in the eyes? When his stomach was torn open and intestines open for some blood hungry sycophant to chew on?”

Dark Matthew took a deep breath, steadying himself. “But it was not always like this,” the pale pony sighed. “Matthew couldn’t hear my voice clearly. He could not give into what I had to offer.” Dark Matthew’s golden eyes looked into Fluttershy’s, “You’d have to ask him. I can only speculate how he does it.”

The dank and cold cave walls disappeared. In its place, the six ponies found themselves staring at a very unusual scene. The serine, quiet office yielded both Matthew and Derek sitting patiently in front of the worn mahogany desk of Captain Lara. Her name was embezzled in a bronze plaque, shining in the fluorescent light bulb. Behind her was a pale bookcase filled with a few award certificates and one or two books. Behind the desk, Lara looked at the two teens with an empty expression.

Matthew and Derek were not in the best of conditions. Both fifteen year olds were battered and bruised. Derek held an icepack to a large black lump on his forehead. Matthew cradled his left arm close to his chest with his wrist bound tightly in a bright white caste. Dark bags sat under both boys’ eyes. Their shirts and pants were equally battered like their bodies, several holes littering the tan fabric.

“What happened?” was the first words out of Lara’s mouth.

Matthew and Derek looked at each other, Derek nodded grudgingly. “After we got to Phoenix, we were put on the train carrying the package.” Derek took a long sigh, “The trip started out okay… The engineers were kinda dicks.”

Lara raised an eyebrow, not amused by Derek’s vocabulary.

“They were…” Derek began, but Matthew finished, “NERDS.”

Lara turned to Matthew, Matthew continued, “They would not shut up about nano-machines and exo-suits. My god they need to get laid, bad!”

“What do you mean?” Lara asked, her expression turning too surprised at the news of nano-machines.

“They were talking about some kinda project the commander was working on,” Matthew closed his eyes trying to remember the details. “I think they mentioned something about his sooooooooon-”

“Trevor,” Derek added, noticing Matthew strain trying to remember the name.

“Right,” Matthew nodded. “Any who, these guys would not shut up! For like seven day-”

“Two,” Derek inserted into Matthew’s monologue.

“It felt like seven!”

Derek took control over the narrative, “Besides the annoying guys and Matthew nearly throwing himself out the window every twenty minutes, nothing major happened until we reached the state boarder.” Derek and Matthew looked off into the distance, remembering what had occurred on that high speed silver bullet called a train. From inside the dinning cart, the fifteen engineers looked worriedly out the same window. Their pale skin almost matched their bright white buttoned up shirts with slick pants.

Applejack watched the office conversation switch, the faces of Derek and Matthew pressed heavily against the screen. Tall mountains, colored in vibrant tans, browns and reds sped past the window. “What is that?” Derek asked, pointing towards something moving across the landscape towards the railroad tracks.

Hundreds of thousands of sleek black bodies rushed across the uneven surface. The sun’s light reflected off their black chitin armor. Thin and agile, these beings had long slender arms, elongated heads and a mouth without lips that revealed some very sharp teeth. Behind each insect like body, a thin tail trailed behind them featuring a slender stabbing too.

“I don’t know,” Matthew said, “But I think Ripley Scott’s gonna sue somebody.”

Both Matthew and Derek jerked to the roof, all eyes turning to the sound of loud crashing. Matthew’s and Derek’s eyes followed as the sound of scrapping filled the cabins. Derek and Matthew instantly recognized it as the unmistakable sound of something walking across the compartment’s metal roof.

Matthew and Derek jumped to their feet, heading to the back of the compartment and towards the large gap between this and the next car.

“What are you doing?” some scared and frightened voiced yelled from across the room.

“Haven’t you seen Mission Impossible,” Derek shouted over his shoulder, “I’m gonna go fight whoever it is on the roof.”

“That’s stupid,” another voice, this time female called after them as they reached the door. “The wind speed alone could send you flying-”

“Don’t care,” Derek shouted, following closely behind Matthew, “Being awesome here.”

“Really?” Matthew shouted at Derek as he grabbed the rungs outside the cart. High powered winds whipped around the sharp corners, catching Matthew in his eyes.

“Hey man, I’ve always wanted to be Ethan Hunt,” Derek said as Matthew pulled himself towards the roof.

The instant Matthew’s head went above the edge of the cart he was hit with a wall of air. Matthew’s eyes watered, his ear became filled with the loud roaring. Blinking rapidly, Matthew focused on the single solitary figure towards the front of the compartment. Standing at six and a half feet, the demon looked like the cross between a man and Alien from Alien. His limbs were outlined with a glossy black exoskeleton. The natural made armor was slick and wavered under the sun’s light. From the demon’s back, two wing covers could be seen reaching out from each side to create an upside down V. The face was difficult to see. The elongated head rising at a slight angle into the air cast a shadow over his exposed mouth and sharp grey teeth. Even though he couldn’t see any eyes, Matthew felt the creature watching him, studying him.

Matthew stood shakily on the slick roof, the howling wind pushing against him with every step he took. Derek followed, standing to his right. Both of their eyes narrowed at the monstrosity standing calmly at the far end of the metal cart. This figure was more humanoid, standing with a straight back as opposed to the hunched appearance of its predecessor with four talon tipped fingers and feet. The elongated head was lifted higher, fanning out to create a wide crown. Matthew and Derek could not see any eyes on his face, but they could feel it looking straight at them. The long winding tail slid across the smooth metal, its sharp dagger like tip reflecting dangerously in the light. 

“Why hello there,” Advena, keeper of the Horde said to the two. His voice felt slimy, like a snake slowly sliding across the air with his sharp teeth flashing. 

Twilight caught sight of something inside the open mouth. It appear like a second mouth was inside, But that’s just ridiculous Twilight shrugged the idea off. 

Matthew and Derek halted five feet away from Advena watching him carefully for any movement. “Now before we get started,” Advena’s slimy voice slid from his mouth, “how about you two introduce yourselves. My name is Advena. It’s nice to meet you.”

“What?!” Matthew and Derek screamed, holding their hands to their ears for all they could hear was the howling wind.

“I said MY NAME IS ADVENA! AND YOUR’S ARE?”

“What?” Matthew yelled before turning to Derek. “Did he say something?”

“Did you say something?” Derek asked catching sight of Matthew looking at him.

With an annoyed sigh, Advena motioned to the two with his long slim fingers. The three quickly moved closer, huddling against the wind’s constant fury. “That’s better, now my name’s Advena. It’s nice to meet you,” the insect like demon said.

“I’m Matthew.”

“And I’m Derek.”

“Good, good,” Advena said. “Now would you boys mind stepping off this train so I can destroy it?”

Derek and Matthew exchanged a very confused look. “No I don’t think we can do that,” Derek answered, “We kinda got to look after this stuff.”

“Do you even know what’s in this train?”

“Nano-machines,” Matthew offered.

“And some other stuff.”

“Precisely,” Advena tried to reason with the two young men. “But do you know what these machines are intended for?” Matthew and Derek shook their head no. “From the small amount of intelligence I received, it looks like a commander Hunterman has a very interesting project. A project that he intends to replace you and the other’s of your kind.”

Matthew and Derek shared a final look. With a single nod from Derek, Matthew head butted Advena. Advena took a surprised step backwards. The curved talons on his feet dug through the metal to maintain his balance on the moving surface.

“What happened then?”

“We got our asses kicked.”

Derek rushed Advena, his glowing white claws slashing at Advena’s black armored body. Advena caught both of Derek’s strikes. Advena kicked Derek in the chest, sending him skidding across the smooth roof.

Matthew threw a ball of darkness at Advena. Advena held out his hand, waiting for the ball to collide with it. The explosion rocked the train. Passengers screamed as they were forced to cling helpless to their seats. Matthew drove headfirst into the smoke in an attempt to catch Advena off guard. 

What he didn’t expect was passing through the black cloud without hitting anything. “What?”

Bam!

The solid tail cracked across Matthew’s back. Matthew flew towards the edge at high speed. Matthew barely caught the edge of the cart with his left hand. 

How bad was it?

“Brutal,” Matthew responded, showing his broken arm to Captain Lara.


The fight continued to progress. Advena didn’t even break a sweat as Matthew and Derek used every form of attack they could think of. Even a few feints were no use against this superior opponent. Advena had even gone so far as to smash Derek’s face into the metal so forcefully it left a very familiar imprint in it.

Advena picked Derek up by the scruff of his neck. Advena twisted his wrist, forcing Derek to look into Advena’s expressionless face. “Sorry, did that hurt?” Advena asked with an amused tone looking at Derek’s bloodied face. Looking down at the metal, Advena chuckled darkly, “I must admit. That turned out better than I thought.” Advena readied his left hand, his talons pointed straight at Derek’s chest. “Now my friend, it’s time to end this.”

Derek spluttered an answer sending flecks of red fluid onto Advena’s sleek armor.

Before Advena could deliver the killing blow, Matthew rushed forward with his left hand ready to punch the humanoid insect in the back of the head. 

Advena nimbly moved his head to the side, Matthew’s fist missing it by a few inches. Dropping Derek, Advena grabbed Matthew’s wrist and pulled down, hard. 

Applejack, Twilight and Rainbow Dash winced at the sound of cracking bone. Rarity and Fluttershy fainted at the sight of Matthew’s bone’s piercing out his skin. Matthew’s blood and screams filled the air. Dropping to his knees, Matthew cradled his broken arm. 

The young man looked up at Advena. If the demon had lips, Matthew was sure they would resemble a twisted smile. 

“How did you two escape?”

“We got lucky.” 

Applejack watched as Advena readied to strike Matthew down. Applejack’s eyes wondered past the black figure. To her surprise, a single woman pulled herself over the edge of the cart. In her hands was one of the most terrifying machines Applejack had ever seen. Sporting a rocket launcher with three barrels, the brave engineer took aim and fired her payload. 

The resulting explosion tore half the roof off and shattered almost every window on the train. Thankfully, Matthew and Derek managed to grab onto the side of the cart as they were thrown through the air. Matthew’s body bashed against the cart two carts down. The violent jostling of his arm nearly caused Matthew to black out. 

Matthew held on tightly to the cold metal with his right hand. Matthew’s eyes looked up, or towards the direction of the first car, and released a very relieved sigh at the missing sight of Advena. 

“Mat!” Derek yelled over the fierce wind, slowly approaching Matthew. Matthew waved with his uninjured arm, “Yo.” With a mighty heave, Derek lifted Matthew to his feet. Matthew looked around at the dented, torn and smoldering metal of the remaining rooftops. From the holes, Matthew could barely make out the pale faces of the engineers. The fear in their eyes filled the compartments. 

“Hey Derek?”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s not do this again, like ever. Agree?”

“Yep.”

As Matthew and Derek finished their story, Lara chose to remain in her seat with her fingers interlaced in front of her. The pair waited patiently for the captain to say something. What she said was quite the surprise for both Matthew and Derek. “You both did a good job,” Lara finally said.

Derek and Matthew were caught right out of nowhere with that response. Derek and Matthew share a very confused look. When they turned back to Lara, Matthew asked, “Really?”

“Yes,” Lara nodded. Lara decided to carry on, “With this new development, I think you two deserve a break. Take the next couple of days off. The higher-ups and myself have got in contact with a potential ally, but we’re still working on the details.”

Derek and Matthew starred at Lara blankly. “So you’re giving us a day off?” Derek asked with awe.

“Yes.”

“Who are you and what have you done with Captain Lara?”

“Shut up and get out of my office,” Lara snapped, dropping back into her usual hard manner.

Derek and Matthew quickly made themselves scarce of the Captain’s presence. Outside, both boys slowly walked down the long grey hallway. Derek asked Matthew in a hushed whisper, “So what are we gonna do for our day off?”

“No clue.”

“We could go to the rec-room,” Derek offered helpfully.

“We have one of those?”

“Wait! Stop!” Twilight yelled at the dark form of Matthew.

The scene became nothing, returning the Mane six to the black twisting stone. Dark Matthew was bemused by her reaction, “But we were getting to the good part. Derek and I were about to discover the wonders of television for a second time in life.”

“What’s the point?”

“Pardon?” Dark Matthew asked, his sharp teeth glittering in the soft light.

“Why would you want to show us that?” Twilight approached Matthew, stomping her hooves into the rocky floor. “What point does it prove for us to see something as insignificant as watching television?”

“Well,” Dark Matthew drawled, “I thought it would be good to show you the softer side of Matthew. My entire life doesn’t revolve around fighting you know. I do have a personality, ya know.”

“Like what?” Rarity asked.

“I’m an a***ole. Isn’t it obvious?”

Twilight held a hoof to her head, veins pushing against her head with so much force they were visible against her purple fur. 

“But if you want to see something with a little more blood,” Dark Matthew said, enjoying every moment of Twilight’s pain. “I’ll be sure to abide.”

Rarity, Twilight and the rest of the ponies were about to protest when they found themselves in the back of a large wagon lined with dark green fabric to block out the sun. Matthew was left sitting towards the middle of one of the wooden benches lining the sides of the truck. Twilight noticed Matthew’s arm was still bound in a caste. Next to him were Derek, Shannon and Mari trying desperately to see out into the city around them. 

“What are they looking at?” Pinkie asked.

Before any of the ponies could out any details, the truck came to an abrupt halt. Leaving Matthew, Shannon and Mari crushed under Derek.

“Derek,” Shannon’s muffled voice reached out from the pile of limbs, “Would you be so kind as to get you gigantic black butt off of us?”

“Okay first of all, my butt is not gigantic. It’s proportionate to my size,” Derek snapped. “And second, you wish you could have this nice of an a**. So enjoy it while you can.”

After a small fistfight and lots of cursing, Matthew and his friends left the bed of the dull grey truck. All of the ponies gasped loudly at the sight before them.  Tall buildings reached into the sky, high above their heads. Fluttershy felt so very small, as if she were merely an ant before several stone titans. The stall building looked to be crumbling. Their walls worn cracked and covered in scorched marks.

“Welcome to Los Angeles!” Dark Matthew shouted with glee.

Pinkie Pie scanned the crowd of humans wandering about the streets. Outside of the few military personnel, including Captain Lara and Commander Huntsman, the citizen of Los Angeles were desperate to say the least. Women, children and men wore battered and ruined clothing. Business suites that were once pristine were now torn and covered in dirt. What shocked the ponies were there expressions. Each and every eye was sunken into their sockets. 

Los Angeles, one of few remaining cities still under human control, had seen better days. Its citizens were familiar with the constant strain of attack. The coastline, far off into the distant was filled with the empty shells of what use to be boats and ships. Rainbow Dash could make the distinct circle outlining the city’s major harbor. The large cargo vessels, many twisted, torn and full of holes, were used to create a makeshift barrier between this part of the city and the sea. Several smaller vessels littered the inside of the harbor. With the lost of a working economy, many citizens were forced to take to a seafaring life. 

Derek and Matthew followed the small crowd of hybrids through the street and into the main courtyard of a high rising building. The previous owner ‘Chase’ still had their logo still attached to the sign. 

Standing towards one end of the courtyard caught Rarity’s eye. Standing calmly next a dark cloaked figure was the most beautiful human she had ever seen. His dark tan skin appeared to glow with some strange light. His high, sharp brow complemented the sharp face. Dark black hair fell to each side of his face, almost to his shoulder. This angel, as Rarity would describe him, wore a traditional silver armor that a knight would wear. A solid chest piece, leggings, wrists guards and shiny boots completed the perfection this being had. Nothing was out of place. 

“Oh my,” Rarity muttered. 

The small group of humans slowly approached the two figures.

“Ah here we are,” the perfect human said. His voice was crisp and clear, sounding like a soft bell chiming in the air. Dark Matthew shivered at the person’s voice. He was too perfect. That perfect face, his voice, and his striking green eyes. That perfect smile with teeth to add that totally did not make Matthew or any other male in the audience jealous at the swooning teenage girls. 

“Greetings, children, my name is Gabriel.” The crowd before him grumbled a reply. “Now I’m sure you are all very excited about today’s special training.”

“Wait, training?” “Who said anything about training?” “I thought there’d be ice cream,” several people voiced their confusion. Matthew shared an amused look with his friends. Mari grumbled, “There had better be ice cream. Or someone’s going to die.” 

Derek, Matthew and Shannon decided to make some distance between them and Mari for their own personnel safety.

“My name is Gabriel-“

“You get that from the Bible?!” Derek yelled, already seeing were this was going.

“I was in the bible,” Gabriel pointed out.

“Oh so you were in the Bible?” Derek responded with sarcasm. “Next your gonna tell me you’re an angel?”

“I am.”

“You tripping!”

“No I’m not.”

“Prove it,” Shannon yelled.

“Why?” Gabriel asked.

“Because none of us will believe you otherwise,” Matthew pointed out.

“Fine,” Gabriel grumbled to himself. Lifting his hands to his side, Gabriel summoned his wings. A white light filled the courtyard with what could only be described as holy light.

After a few minutes Matthew yelled, “Shut it off. I can’t see!”

Gabriel lowered his arms, the light he was expelling diming into nothing. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way,” Gabriel turned to the various commanders and leaders waiting patiently on the edge of the courtyard, keeping their distance from large crowd of hybrids. “Distinguished leaders, my colleague and I have various methods we will be using today to better equip these young fighters for future conflicts.”

Gabriel took in the faces before his, young inexperienced children looking at him with the greatest amount of distrust possible. His smile faltered, he could see the desperation in their eyes. “While I take the majority of the group, I will need a certain individual.” Gabriel’s mysterious friend decided to move, revealing long yellow fingers. Like crow’s feet, these appendages came equipped with sharp white talons that glistened in the light. One of these fingers pointed straight into the crowd. All eyes followed the pointing claw until they rested on Matthew. “Will Matthew William O’Conner please come forward?”

Matthew looked to the cloaked figure, then to Gabriel and then back to the dark hood. With only a second to think, Matthew did the only rational thing left to him. “Matthew’s right here,” Matthew said, pointing to Derek. Blame it on the black kid. 

Derek swatted him on the back of the head, “Shut the hell up and get up there.”

“No.”

“Fine, then I’ll make ya!”

Gabriel’s eyes widened after all of Matthew’s friends threw him bodily to the front of the group. Before the scene could continue, Dark Matthew had to address the amount of soft giggling he was hearing from the six mares. “And what is so funny?”

“Your name,” Pinkie Pie smiled widely.

“And what’s wrong with my name?” Dark Matthew snorted. 

“Was Irish McIrish already taken?”

Unfortunately none of the ponies could answer. They merrily continued to giggle at the flustered Matthew. To be honest, none of them could really understand why they were laughing. It started with Rainbow Dash but then soon spread to the rest of them. Inside, they felt the tension they had been feeling tighten more and more. This was their breaking point. With so much anger and hatred filling the air, the carefree ponies had difficulty processing the events around them. The air was intoxicating. It only took an unusual name to reveal to them how close may be to losing it.

Equestria is such a nice place, Dark Matthew thought to himself. To create beings like this, it’s better than Disneyland.

Dark Matthew snorted at the idea. Instead he focused on the scene, showing his human counterpart being pulled by the cloaked figure’s talons down the adjacent hallway. “So where are we going?” Matthew asked, wincing at the pressure the thin hand was exerting on his wrist.

“Here,” the cloaked figure said, taking a drastic left turn and into an empty room. Inside were a few broken chairs and tables. What surprised Matthew was the floating door of thick rusting metal outlined in similar rivets. 

“Yeah,” Matthew slowly tried to back away, “I’m not going in there.”

“Yes you are,” The cloaked figure said, taking Matthew by the back of his neck. Without any effort, the cloaked figure threw Matthew into the door. Matthew’s screaming face approached the cold metal at breakneck speeds. Closing his eyes and shielding his head with his arms, Matthew braced himself for the inevitable impact.

Twilight watched as Matthew’s head and body passed through the metal portal like water. Sunlight was instantly cut off; leaving Twilight and her friends at the base of the cavern they had previously been occupying.  

“Wow,” Rarity sarcastically sneered, “You really have a limited pallet when it comes to scenery.”

“Shut up,” snapped Dark Matthew.

Before the fashionista could retort, the room began to reverberate with angry cursing. “Ow…” “Oooh!” “Son of a-“ “Mother-“ “God-“ “Piss-“ “Fuuu-“

Mathew’s human body flew from one of the many channels and into the opposing wall. Grumbling, Matthew picked himself looking at the cavern surrounding him. Turning to the left, Matthew jumped back in shock at cloaked figure appearing out of nowhere. “Whoa, what the hell man?”

The figure chuckled, his voice rising and falling in the chamber. “Now before we begin,” the figure said, “I think we should get acquainted. My name is Raven.” Slowly, the cloaked figure raised his crusting yellow talons towards his hood. Pulling back the hood revealed the true face of Gabriel’s companies.

The ponies gasped in surprise in perfect sync with Matthew’s memory. Behind the shadow’s veiled revealed the pointed, black feathered face of Raven. Specks of light reflected off the pure darkness of Raven’s feathers, creating a smooth forehead and high brow. Raven’s beak glinted dangerously in the darkness. I shown sharp like a knife and looked more than capable of stripping the flesh from bones. What caught Matthew were the eyes. Those two golden eyes burned into Matthew. They spoke of knowledge, power, and things best left unknown. 

“Ah, much better,” Raven sighed with relief.

“W-what are you?” Matthew asked, his voice fluctuated to a higher pitched. The hair stood on the back of his neck. 

The ponies felt a deep presence in the air. This being was unlike the monstrosities they had experienced before. This one appeared to be both malice and curious, a dreadful combination in Matthew’s predicament.

“Oh come now, where is the fun if you don’t guess?”

“Demon?” Matthew spat, his right hand was ready with dark flames covering his entire fist.

“Yes,” Raven purred, the feathers around his neck fluffed out. Without the ability to use his beak to convey facial expressions, the great bird’s emotions would be displayed by his feathery plumage.

“So what do you want?” Matthew asked, his body vibrated in anticipation. Every cell was ready for action.

“Nothing much,” Raven said nonchalantly. “I am simply here to provide some assistance for humanity and the Angels.”

“And why would you want to do that?”

“Because,” Raven said slowly, “not all of the beings residing in hell want the Apocalypse.”

“What?” Matthew asked, the flames over his hand almost going out from the absurdity of Raven’s words. How could a demon not want the end of the world? Isn’t misery and suffering their goal?

“Of course it is,” Raven said.

“Did you just read my mind?”

“Yes,” the raven shrugged as if that was the most obvious answer in the world. “Unlike a majority of my fellow creatures of hell, my power does not reside in the physical aspect but the mental.”

“And that gives you permission to read my mind?” Matthew hissed through his clenched teeth.

“No, but I wanted to.” Raven watched Matthew, his eyes held the demon’s amusement. “The reason as to why I am helping you is to ensure the futures I have foreseen do not come to light.”

“Wait, you can see the future?” Matthew asked sarcastically. 

“Why yes as a matter of…”

“How many figures am I going to hold up?” Matthew quickly.

“Agh,” Raven groaned. “One.”

Matthew held out his hand, his middle finger rose. “Again.”

“One.” Matthew raised his other hand with the same finger raised.

“Again!”

“Two.”

Matthew had both of his hands out, with the same fingers present and accounted for. Before Matthew could continue his juvenile antics could continue, Raven suddenly appeared next to Matthew’s right ear. Grabbing Matthew’s ear sharply, the demonic bird snapped, “This is no time for games.” With a quick pull, Matthew was sent spinning into the ground. The younger man rose to his feet, rubbing his sore ear. “Now that we’re done with your idiocy, I will answer your questions.”

The Raven took a deep steadying breath, “Not all demons want the destruction of life.” Slowly, the creature began to circle Matthew. “Without light, the flow of energy would not continue,” before Matthew could interrupt, “You see, hell itself is a manifestation of all the negativity in life. Such as heaven is the accumulation of all things positive. Each soul must be judged to their respective afterlife.” The Raven smiled, “The torments of hell and the absolution of heaven is not the end of a soul’s journey. The afterlife purges the energy a soul has accumulated in life before they are returned to the physical world.”

“Is-“

“Yes, it’s just like reincarnation,” Raven said. “It’s the universe’s way of revitalizing itself. Look to nature if you need to, nothing is wasted. A dead body returns to the earth and revitalizes the soul to ensure plants can grow. The animals eat the plants for energy. The cycle continues.”

“The circle of life.”

“But for the soul,” Raven nodded.

“But what do you want from me?” Matthew asked. “I don’t think I need a lesson from the Lion King.”

“No. What you need is a complete different lesson.” Raven reached inside his robes, pulling out a simple cup. The sides were smooth, the cup reflecting the light of the wood it was carved from. To Matthew’s and the ponies’ surprise, Raven took one of his talons and ran the sharp tip over one of his wrists. Pure black liquid dripped into the wooden cup with a slow drip-drip-drip.

“What is he doing?” Twilight asked Dark Matthew. 

To her annoyance, Dark Matthew raised a hoof to his lips. “Sh. You’ll miss the best part.”

“What I want with you Matthew,” Raven pushed the chalice into Matthew’s hands, “is to help you.”

“What?” asked human Mathew and the ponies.

“Why would he want to do that?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“Because,” Raven began to pace, “You have a very limited future.” Matthew just stared at the oversized bird. “Seeing into the future is not as simple as you would think. Each individual future is unique. Some so similar they can hardly be told apart. Some are so vastly different they could hardly be related to the present I see them from. Each individual has a variety of futures. It’s a simple matter of the probability which future will become reality.”

“Ah, man. I hate math.”

“Me too,” Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly. Twilight gritted her teeth, There’s nothing wrong with math.

“I know.” 

“Screw you, buddy!”

“But what I found interesting about you Matthew, is just how limited your future is.”

“Is that a bad thing?” Matthew asked hesitantly.

“For you yes,” Raven smiled. “Your future ends here.” The black bird motioned to the walls around him, “My future will continue from here, but yours has only two possibilities.”

Matthew waited for the demon to proceed. When he didn’t continue, Matthew asked, “Well, what are they?”

“You either live or die.”

Matthew took a moment, letting the news sink in. “Well that sucks.”

“For you, yes,” Raven commented with amusement. “But that leads us to our predicament. You have three options. First, you can forgo my test and training. You will die the instant you leave this place.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! What does that mean?”

“Oh, I forgot to mention it to Gabriel,” Raven seemed surprised for a moment. “There will be an attack on Los Angeles within the hour. I believe it would by either a titan or sea monster. Can’t remember who thou.”

“We’ve gotta warn them!” Matthew rushed to the side of the cavern, but Raven was there to grab him by the scruff of his neck and toss him backwards.

“Warning them will not save them!” Raven snapped. “You neither have the power nor the skill to save them! What can you do?!!” Matthew threw a quick punch. Raven caught the fist with one finger. With a simple flex of his hand, Matthew was sent flying into the wall. 

Matthew jumped to his feet, noticing the un-spilt chalice held in Raven’s thin fingers. With a roar, Matthew rushed Raven. Both of his fists flew through the air at lightning speed. Rainbow Dash watched the younger man try desperately to hit Raven. But none of Matthew’s attack even touched the bird. To add insult to injury, it appeared as if Raven was barely even moving. The aged demon appeared to be bored at Matthew’s fruitless attempts of an attack.

“Something’s wrong,” Rainbow Dash said slowly, watching Matthew get kicked in the gut. Rainbow Dash winced in pain at the sight of Matthew curled up on the ground.

“What do ya mean?” Applejack asked Rainbow.

“There’s just something wrong,” Rainbow Dash repeated, her brow furrowed in deep concentration. “The way he’s throwing his punches. They just seem… ya know… off?”

“I don’t follow,” Rarity said, listening to the cyan Pegasus. 

“This Matthew’s throwing his punches, just to throw them,” Rainbow Dash eyed Matthew slowly rising to his feet. His face was a deep red, anger etched deep in his face. “When Matthew fought earlier, there was meaning behind them. Here, it’s like he doesn’t even know how to properly fight.”

Applejack thought deeply for a moment. “Well of course, you can’t judge this Matthew based on the one we know.”

Rainbow Dash remained silent, knowing what she saw. It wasn’t just inexperience. There was something missing in Matthew’s eyes.

“Now that your little tantrum is finished, I will continue,” Raven took a deep steadying breath to calm his nerves. “The second option is to complete my test and pass.”

“What’s the third option?”

“You take my test and die.”

“You’re not giving me a whole lot options here,” Matthew spat, glaring at Raven.

“Now you’re going to say something about not giving a crap or you’re going to try and storm out,” Raven said without any amusement.

“Maybe.”

“So I will stop you by simply stating the truth of this situation.”

“And that would be?” Matthew asked.

“You know you can’t overpower me or fight me,” Raven slowly approached Matthew, stalking the shorter human. “So you can either take this willingly, or I can shove it down your throat. Your choice.”

Matthew took the cup being shoved in his hands. Matthew looked to the black liquid, then to Raven. His mind ran rapidly with so many thoughts. No matter the circumstances, there was no way Matthew could beat this guy or find his way out of- wherever this place was.

“So this will help me, help my friends?” Matthew asked slowly, a deep cold dread filling the pit of his stomach.

“Yes,” Raven’s feathery plumage pushed out, his interpretation of a smile. “If you pass, you will take the first steps to actual power. Not that child’s plaything you call fighting.”

Matthew swallowed his retort. With so few options, Matthew did the only thing he could. Bringing the cup to his lips, Matthew closed his eyes and downed the cup’s entire contents. 

Rarity fainted alongside Fluttershy. Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Twilight nearly lost their lunches while Pinkie Pie tilted her head in confusion. “I don’t think that’s very cultured,” Pinkie Pie commented at the sight of Matthew drinking the demon’s blood.

Throwing down the cup, Matthew looked like he was about to throw up by the amount of pain he was showing. Drops of dark liquid dripped from Matthew’s lips and chin. The liquid was so cold it burned down his throat and esophagus all the way to the stomach. It tasted like charcoal and sulfur. 

“What now?” Matthew managed to choke out.

The great raven leaned against the wall, his golden eyes staring intently at Matthew.

“Now, you die.”

“You son of a-“