Dark Rites

by Sporkbacon

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Shortly after, Sophie left us to go prepare some lunch. I rubbed away the sleepiness from my eyes and started to yawn. Ivy was still in a half-daze, still somewhat exhausted from this morning's endeavor. Don't get me wrong, I was tired as well, but I had gotten used to battling monsters on a daily basis; so I guess she just wasn't as hardy as I was. "I hope that changes," I thought to myself as I hopped off the bed and started to stretch. Noticing the shift in weight, Ivy sat up, wiped her eyes, and yawned, "Hey, Shpell. What's going on?"

I put on my glasses and told her, "Sophie is making us lunch. I figure we could hang out for a little while longer, if that's okay." "Oh, yeah. It's perfect." She said, stretching. "I'm starved, what's for lunch?" she asked. "Dunno, let's find out." I commented. Ivy burst through the door and found her way back to the kitchen, shouting, "Sophiiiiiie! I'm hungryyyyyy!" Sighing, I trotted over to the kitchen table and sat in one of the wooden chairs, next to Ivy. "Sophie is a great cook, I hope you're ready for a treat." I told her.

"Years of practice, my dears." Sophie explained, as she displayed some of her culinary skills. First, she threw some fruit behind her, then started to juggle them with her wings. Then, she grabbed a knife, threw a banana in front of her, and sliced it. As soon as she finished the previous fruit, she had another in the air, ready to be prepared by her skilled hooves. When there was a large pile of chopped fruit, she prepared a glaze composed mainly of milk and honey and started to mix it in a saucepan on the stove. Soon after, the oven dinged and a heavenly aroma of baking bread wafted out of it.

She poured the glaze over the mixture of sweet morsels and started spinning it, to coat the pieces evenly. After the bowl was done spinning, she brought it to the table. She acquired a new knife and started cutting the freshly-baked bread. The last slice of the bread was made and she brought over as well. Afterwards, she made her way to the fridge and gathered up a few dressings and a bowl of lettuce.

"Alright, fillies! Let's eat!" Sophie shouted, as she brought out some plates and silverware. Sophie and I watched as Ivy took her first experimental bite out of the bowl of mixed fruit. "MMMM!" Ivy exclaimed. "This is amazing! I wish I could cook as good as you." She continued, with a tone of wonder. "Glad you like it." Sophie beamed, bowing her head and closing her eyes. It was time to get my own food. Using telekinesis, I grasped a few slices of bread and a hooffull of the fruit salad, then placed them onto my plate.

"So, Ivy," Sophie started. "What do you do?" Ivy swallowed, then said "I run the apothecary on the other side of town. It is kind of slow, with ponies not usually needing potions for much, other than just for surface wounds or love potions. My potions range all the way from healing cuts and bruises to mixtures that turn your fur into a different color. I'm closed on Saturdays so I can gather reagents for potions as well as experiment with new combinations." Ivy explained, then took a bite of bread.

Sophie raised an eyebrow. "I see." she said around a mouthful of apple, strawberry, and several other juicy fruits. I wondered if she was thinking what I was thinking. Seeing the opportunity, I decided to make my move. "Hey, Ivy? I have a proposition for you." "Yeah?" she asked, turning to face me. "What if you made potions for us instead of working at that potion shop?" She paused mid-bite. "Ummm... I guess so. I wasn't having very good business lately, anyway. I can still experiment with random plants, right?" Ivy questioned. "Of course, why wouldn't you be able to? I was just asking if you wanted to travel with us and help us kill demons." I informed her, with a hint of wonder creeping into my voice.

Sophie did a facehoof. "What? Demons exist!? I thought they were just myth and legend! You're crazy!" Ivy screamed, horrified. My aunt's voice whispered through my thoughts, "Regular ponies don't know about the demonic influence around here. They just think some are regular animals. Careful what you say." "Oops," I thought at the voice. Blinking away the mind-link, I looked over at her. Her expression was serene as she continued eating, not even giving away that we had just had a telepathic talk. "Wait, you're serious, aren't you? You think there are actually demons roaming about?" she accused. "Yeah, I'm sure. They just disguise themselves and hang out only in the Nether-Plane and in some caves. Their force is massing and my family and I are gathering to put a stop to it. We could really use a constant supply of morale-boosting potions." I almost pleaded. I may or may not have fluttered my eyelids to guilt her more.

Ivy looked skeptical. She pushed away her plate and crossed her forelegs together in a pout. "I'm going to need some proof then. Take me to this..."Nether-Plane", or whatever." she stated, making an air quote gesture at "Nether-Plane". I looked up to Sophie, my expression asking permission. "I guess," Sophie sighed, exhaling hard. "I take it you fillies are done then?" "Yup, I am. I want to show Ivy the realm of the demons." I intoned, as I gathered up the dishes and set them in the sink. Still pouting, Ivy snorted. "Well, how are we going to get there?" She chided. "I have these pieces of paper that will send myself and any other object or pony that I focus on, there and back. Kind of like a round trip ticket to hell." I stated, nonchalantly.

"Let's do this." Ivy challenged. "If you say so," I said as I telekinetically gripped a book out of my saddlebag, which was on the counter, and tore a page out. "You coming Sophie?" I asked. "We could use your expertise if we encounter some crazy creatures." "Nah," Sophie declined. "I got some stuff to do around the house and I'm pretty sure my little Spellflash can take care of herself." Nodding, I said, "Alright. See you in a bit, then." I turned to face my new companion, "Anything you want to take with you?" I asked, as I hovered my saddlebag onto my back and fastened the buckles. "Sure, in case we encounter some monsters." She said sarcastically. Ivy trotted to the other room and returned with her own saddlebag. It was emblazoned with her cutie mark. "Ready." she said, yawning. I focused on the page, Ivy, and myself and we were torn out of the Equestria-Plane and sent hurtling into the pit of hell fire.

We appeared in mid-air about four feet off the ground and landed with a thump and a grunt from both of us. Both of us sat there rubbing our heads as we observed our surroundings. "Nice job, you put us in mid air." Ivy said angrily. "Well, it's not my fault that the pap-" I said before Ivy shoved a hoof in my mouth to silence me. I looked up at her face and saw that her eyes were wide with terror. Slowly, I turned around and faced a demon that I haven't seen before.

They were obsidian black, just like any other demon, but they had small heads with long antennae and huge claws that were about the size of me. There were three of these demon bugs staring right at us with large multi-sectional eyes. Insect-like wings flicked as their heads swiveled to look at us more closely. With long, thin legs and a thick exoskeleton, these demons are definitely different from any other abomination I've encountered so far. The skin of these bugs are like impenetrable plate armor, a natural protection against any piercing weapon. As they studied us, a thick green substance oozed out of their mouths, dripping onto the floor, which seared little puddles into the ground. We were definitely on the menu.

With a cinematic flash in my mind, I saw the "Encyclopedia of Demonic Creatures" appear in my head. Pages flipped until it settled on a rough sketch of one of the fiends I was looking at. It appeared in an attack stance with it's arms raised above it's head, slightly glowing with energy, as if it was being directly super charged with magical power. On the next page, opposite the drawing, was a description of them. Apparently they were referred to as, "Void-Scythes". It can be easily inferred by their claws how they acquired their nicknames.

Along with the description, there was a section about strengths and weaknesses. It read, Strengths: Ability to mutate to adapt to various types of environments. Ability to jump long distances using their wings. Ability to shoot spores from it's shoulders which paralyze and confuse their targets. Highly resistant to most magic. Minor regeneration. Weaknesses: Crushing damage. Relatively slow. Cold is a deterrent. "Well, that's helpful." I thought sarcastically.

My eyes snapped open and suddenly I was face to face with the Void-Scythes again. "Uhhh...Spell, I hope you have a plan." Ivy said through fearful breaths. "Kind of," I told her. "Do you have any sort of potion that is like acid or anything that is cold to the touch?" Reluctantly, she pulled out a flask of an ice blue colored fluid. The container had fingers of frost stretching and snaking up the sides of it. While she was digging the potion out of her saddlebags, I was preparing a spell circle to help spread the wealth. I took it from her in a telekinetic grasp and flung it at the demons, through my spell circle. The circle was inlaid with the words, "Circle", "Split", and "Fog". As the vial of liquid touched the circle, it replicated and spun at an increased velocity towards the demons. Once it hit them, a harsh wintry fog was laid over them, slowing them greatly.

"RUN!" I shouted at Ivy. We both sprinted away from them, as fast as we could into the dense forest. Now that we were away from the demons, I could get a good look at our surroundings. It was a big forest of black trees with dark green leaves. Thick vines hung in random places from the top, where the sunlight would have shone through, had there been a sun. With the lack of a sun, there was only darkness and the sanguine light which shone off of the blood red moon. Behind us, there was harsh clicking and hissing noises. I guess they really didn't like cold, or that we were escaping, or both. As we maneuvered through the jungle, we heard them getting steadily closer.

Suddenly dark colored mist floated above us. "Don't let that touch you!" I told Ivy, "It will paralyze and confuse you." "Got it!" She said, as she retrieved a potion from her bags and tossed me a similarly colored vial. She began running a lot faster as the potion took effect. I gripped the potion in my telekinesis and knocked it back. Almost immediately, the elixir took effect, increasing my speed exponentially, as well as invigorating me somewhat. Eventually, I caught up with Ivy and we sprinted together. Casually, she dropped another potion onto the ground behind us and it shattered, causing the contents to spill out over the ground. The potion was filled with Venus-Fly-Trap seeds and accelerated growth hormones. Upon contact with the growth hormone, the plants immediately rooted and grew to an immense size, looking hungry. "With some luck, that will slow them down." Ivy panted, smiling.

Shortly after, we came across a good-sized clearing in the middle of the forest. "Get ready, we're going to fight them. That cold fog and those plants should have slowed them down long enough for us to get prepared." "Seriously? We're going to fight them?" Ivy asked skeptically. "Yep, just get ready with any potions you've got and we'll make our stand." I said with a commanding tone. I prepared a couple prison spell circles as traps and set them into the dark soil. Harsh clicking could be heard from close by. "Hurry, they're getting closer!" I told her. "Yeah, yeah, I got it." she reported, gulping another flask. About five or six empty glass bottles littered the floor around her. She was almost glowing with all the magical energy swirling around her.

Auras of blue, red, yellow, and purple swam across her body as she took a fighting stance; a potion of clear liquid in her left hoof and an elixir of red flame in her right. Both were uncorked and slightly colored steam rose from out of the necks of the containers they were in. She faced the opening of the jungle that we just came out of. Nodding, I faced the same opening with a defiant glare and a spell circle charged with ice and speed hovered horizontally in front of me, with my crossbow pointed straight at it, ready to fire.

There was a rustling in the trees, then one of the Void-Scythes leaped out and came really close to hitting one of my traps, but didn't get completely caught by it. One of it's legs had triggered the trap, immobilizing it. Without missing a beat, I flicked the trigger with my hoof and shot a bolt through my spell circle, enchanting it with ice and speed. The bolt raced through the air and struck the creature in the chest, and bounced off. Luckily, the icy slowing effect was still active and made the monster hesitate. Just then, I remembered that crushing damage is one of their weaknesses. If we can get through their thick hides, maybe we can get the killing blow. Focusing, I whispered a new word into my spell circle, "Crush". I loaded a new bolt into my crossbow, took aim, and fired into the center of the circle. As soon as the bolt went through, it tripled in thickness, and the arrowhead became like the end of a mace.

The frost-enchanted projectile flew into the monster at an extreme speed and crushed the exoskeleton of it's lower torso. Upon impact, the demon hissed and started gushing green liquid from the cracks in their armor as well as it's mouth. "Ivy, go!" I shouted, as I readied another bolt. Just after I said it, I saw twin potions flying through the air and splash onto the fiend's carapace. As the two liquids mixed, they started sizzling and sank into the cracks I had made in the armor. Slowly, the creature started to expand and large chunks started to fall off of it's body. Under the exoskeleton, bright red fleshy parts were exposed and slowly started to melt. Ivy's mixture was starting to take effect. Loudly, the creature hissed and clicked maniacally, as it slowly started to dissolve. A puddle of armor shards, green fluid, and left over liquid from Ivy's potions settled where the monstrosity had been just a few moments before.

Another screech from the jungle had echoed across the landscape. A second one had survived the cold and Ivy's plants. Though, this one was a little bit more scratched than the previous Void-Scythe. One of it's wings were shredded and parts of the carapace were shattered from the fly trap's bite marks. For our sake, I had hoped that he was the only other one had survived and that the third one of the group was not as lucky as it's brethren. Ivy hadn't had enough time to ready another potion to throw at the deformed creature and it leaped for her. Luckily for her, the demon hadn't accounted for it's shredded wing and flew slightly off course, allowing Ivy to drop and roll to avoid the attack. When it missed, claws sank into the ground, and the Void-Scythe had become stuck.

In that time, the creature had released some spores that slowly sank over my new friend. "NOOOOO!" I shouted, as I charged at the creature, with my swords out. Jumping, I located a spot in the armor that I could wedge my ruby blades into and shoved them in with all the force I could. The blades sank deep into the creature, causing bleeding from the wound, as well as causing another armor plate to fall to the ground. Swinging with all my might, I cleaved the demon in two, slashing outward with my blades, spraying green blood all over the ground. The top half of the demon fell to the ground and twitched, started hissing, and slowly slumped backwards.

I retracted my swords and looked upon Ivy. She was poisoned. The purple aura around her slowly faded and disappeared completely. She then got up and dusted herself off. "The purple swirl was a poison resistance potion, I used up the charge, so it ran out and evaporated." she explained. "That's handy," I cheered. "Ready to go home? Is that enough proof for you?" I said, smirking. "Of course, though I think I may need another bath," Ivy commented, disdainfully. Nodding, I surveyed the area. As soon as I was sure we were alone again, I brought out the faded sheet of paper and focused on it, myself, and Ivy once again to make our return trip home.

We shimmered into existence in the same place we left at and fell, yet again, several feet to the ground. "Spell, really? Really? Why do we have to fall onto the ground every time we go across Planes?" Ivy said, as we got up and dusted ourselves off. "Would you rather be embedded into the ground?" I asked. "Point taken." Ivy said, looking around. "Hello, my little ponies!" Sophie said, returning to the kitchen. "Come down stairs, I have something to teach you." Looking at each other and shrugging, we turned to the stairs and trotted down them. As we went down the stairs, Ivy's potions wore off; the swirling colors slowly shimmered and faded away.

Waving a foreleg, she gestured towards her forge. "Hey, Spell, Ivy. How did the trip to the Nether treat you?" "It was awful," Ivy started, "First, we faceplant into the ground and then we find some crazy bug things, then they started to chase us, then we fought them and we won." "My, my, my, that sounds fun." Sophie giggled. "Have you reconsidered accepting the invitation into our ranks?" "Well, you see, fighting those...things, made me feel empowered. I felt like I never have before. Owning a little shop in Manehatten is nice and all, but I never have to fight for my life. It was actually the most scared I've ever been in my entire life... But, it was fun. Scary, but fun." Ivy finished. "So..?" I coaxed, with a "go on" gesture. "Yes. I want to become a demon hunter." Ivy said proudly. "Wonderful!" Sophie said. "I'll have to make you your own armor. You can help if you want."

Sophie grabbed a needle, some black thread, a pair of scissors, and four tanned leather hides. "Here is all the supplies we will need to make your new armor. You're a battle alchemist, aren't you? Fight with potions?" Ivy nodded. "Alright, we can give you a bunch of pouches and slots to put your attack-based elixirs into. It should be a lot easier to access than reaching into your saddlebags for everything. Now, anything else I should know?" Ivy brought a hoof to her chin and thought for a few seconds. "How about potion injectors? Like, with the potions I drink to increase my accuracy and resistances?" It was now Sophie's turn to think. "That... Is actually a really good idea. I'll start drawing up the plans."

About thirty minutes later, Sophie had drawn on a blueprint all the necessary pieces she would need, where to cut, where to fold, and what stitches to use. During that time, she had also taken Ivy's measurements, so her armor would be a better fit and be customized to her own preferences. Shortly after showing us both her plans, she told me to smelt some metal for the injectors. Sophie gave me several chunks of iron ore and I brought them to the smelter. "There should be a mold underneath of it for iron struts. Make a few of them and make sure that they're hollow in the center. Also, make some potion casings as well. Again, underneath the smelter." Sophie explained. Cautiously, I heated up the smelter and set to work on carefully setting the molds in line so the molten iron would be easy to pour. Then, I dumped the ore into the hopper inside.

Shortly after starting up the heat, the iron inside the basin started to melt and slowly glow red-hot. Gently, I grasped the bowl of molten metal and poured it into the molds in front of me. Meanwhile, Ivy and Sophie were stitching pockets, pouches, and straps into the armor and making sure she was still able to maneuver inside it. After the metal was set, I brought the molds to a trough of water, steam rising from the metal on contact. I shielded my eyes from the hot steam until it stopped, then I brought the iron struts and the potion holders onto the anvil, waiting for Sophie's expertise rather than me randomly smacking it with the hammer. Moments later, Sophie set to work forging and shaping the struts into the correct shape of her plans, then expertly fused them together with the potion holders.

After a while, she had produced two potion injectors and sewed them into the chest piece. After making a few adjustments, she had Ivy try it on. Ivy shrugged it on, the needles from the potion injectors sticking into her, making her let out a soft squeal of pain. She moved around experimentally, running, jumping and waggling her legs to measure the maneuverability that it gave. "Nice," She said. "Though, I do have one problem with it, my cutie mark is hidden." she pointed out. Sophie had purposefully left large pockets around the flanks of the armor. Large enough to put a good sized health potion emblem on each side.

Carefully, Sophie sewed the potions into the leather and bit off the extra string. Sophie gestured to a nearby mirror, causing Ivy to sprint over to it, to look at herself in her new armor. "I absolutely love it! Thank you so much!" Smiling, Sophie said, "No problem. I would have never thought of the potion injectors. That was clever." I brought a hoof to my chin, thinking for a moment, then remarked, "Now that you're standing in the mirror, I do see that you need to stock up on some potions. Let's go to your store and see how you look fully equipped. What do you say?" "Good plan. Plus, you never know when you're going to encounter some demons, right?" Ivy winked.

"We'll be back soon, Sophie. Right on time for dinner. Okay?" I told my aunt. "Sure thing. You fillies have fun!" Sophie called. But, we were already gone into the night time crowds. As we made our way to Ivy's shop, we passed by a few other stores that I wouldn't mind checking out. There was a library I wanted to look at, as well as a store that sold various flavors of ice cream. We would have to stop by that one on the way back from Ivy's store.

"...Aaaaand, we're here!" Ivy informed me, stopping in front of a building with a large green potion on the front of it. Inside, I could see rows of labeled mixtures, ingredients, and tables with burners and tubes, used for brewing potions. Reaching under her flank pocket was a key ring with only one key. She took it in her teeth and twisted the key in the lock, causing the door to open with a soft click. There were candles and lanterns scattered across the room, which definitely needed to be lit to see at this hour. I called upon my magic and carefully lit the wicks, casting a warm glow onto the rows of potions.

"Thanks." Ivy said, as she took off her armor to stock herself up with potions. She carefully placed some into her side pouches, some into the latches at the front, and others into the middle straps until her whole chest piece had a vial in every slot. Next, she trotted over to a shelf of ingredients and placed some into a different pocket. Before she closed the pouch, she hesitated, then grabbed a few herbs and a tuft of cloud and gave them to me. "Do me a favor and brew these together, please?" "Sure," I said, "What potion will this make?" Ivy turned away from me and headed towards the stairs, which led to the living quarters. "It's a potion to enchant the armor to make it lighter. If I'm going to wear all of those potions, I'm going to need the actual armor to be as light as possible, while still retaining the protection it gives." I nodded, and proceeded to an alchemy station.

I dropped the cloud into one of the vials over a burner. Next, I crushed up the herbs together and added them in with some water. When I turned on the burner, the fluid swam through the network of tubes into an adjacent bottle, filling it almost to the brim. Deciding it was good, I took it off the setting and turned the burner off. A few minutes later, Ivy came down the stairs holding a leaf colored bag, adorned with embossed vines, plants, and flowers. She took the potion from me and slowly coated her armor in the fluid. Briefly, the armor shimmered, then returned to it's original color, but this time a slightly lighter shade of brown mixed with a bit of pink.

Ivy adorned her armor, hefted the saddlebag over her shoulder, then asked, "Shall we head back?" "Sure thing," I said. "Also, is that ice cream place that we passed any go-" Sophie's voice interrupted my thoughts as I heard her say, "Spell, come quick. Blood Diamond Dog pack in field. Hurry!" I snapped back to reality, and said, "Scratch that, more Blood Dogs are about to attack Manehatten!" I hastily concluded. "Well, there goes the promise of ice cream." Ivy sighed, as we sprinted out of the door to meet up with Sophie.

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GOLD!!!!

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OINK!!!!