An army of strange creatures attacks Equestria, heralding a war to come.
The Anziek - a race feared by the multiverse - have invaded an Equestrian reality once again, determined to kill everything. These life-ending crusaders will stop at nothing.
Can they be stopped who will stop them what could stop them?
Co-author status is given to Summer Script for his amazing editorial and additions to this fic. Thanks man.
Also this is a multi writer fic meaning sometimes events will be shared with another fic or characters brought in by the characters owners which should explain how weird chapter two ends up
“Stand fast men we hold the line here don’t let them through we have to hold the evacuation portal for as long as we can!”
Shouts princess Luna using the royal canterlot voice as a brutal melee is undergoing all around them as a race of reptiles attacks them.
I pay no heed to there fight as I barge though a large group of the reptiles grabbing a large one by the head in a stone claw slamming it into others of its kind before ripping its head off and laughing manically as one of there machines shoots me with flames I stride over to it on fire throwing balls of flame at anything I see.
Before one with a club crackaling with energy and shield on its arm charges at me I meet it’s charge head on roaring like a dragon as I pass under its shadow and appear behind it ripping a claw into its back before cursing.
Fuck fuck fuck I’m stuck in it’s back.
I try to pull my arm free when I suddenly feel sharp claws and teeth piercing my body I yet out a yell of pain and manage to free my arm swinging my elbow into ones face before flapping my wings outwards throwing the other one off me as electricity crackles off my body vaporising my blood as it flows from my wounds grabbing them both by the faces I fry there brains before a large club sends me flying into the defensive ring bleeding I try to stand only to cough blood as my lungs was punctured.
“Celestia damnit that hurt!”
I say as a loud cracking sound is heard as I cough up more blood my ribs resetting painfully before I grab a vial on my side and drink it as a black burned hand roughly yanks me to my feet as I see a slightly burned and bloodstained form of shining armour.
What the fuck were you thinking, Red!? You set the entire north side on fire, and you nearly hit Starlight with a fireball! Again!"
"Not my fault, Captain!" Red protested, still wearing his trademark maniacal grin. "Not all of my 'roommates' are cooperating right now!"
"That's no excuse! Now get them in line, and help me drive off this squadron!"
"Alright! Alright! Geez, you're pushy!"
"We're fighting a war!"
"Whatever!" Red sighed, rolling his eyes and leaping back into the fray. You hear that, Torchy? My Captain wants you to 'get in line'!
My name is not Torchy!
I don't know, bro! 'Torchy' is a pretty good name for you!
You shut up!
Would both of you shut up!? I am trying to heal Red's wounds over here!
"Thanks for that, Gramps!" Red chuckled, ripping through another enemy like it were butter. "I do enjoy my ribs being healthy!"
You shut up too! Your recklessness is doing me no favors!
"Yeah, yeah! Just keep healing me, and we'll be fine," Red grumbled, grunting as he slayed yet another foe before Luna grabbed him.
“Redsopine! Get to the west side and help my sister!” she commanded, shoving Red in the indicated direction. “She’s being bombarded with magic, and the lines about to break!” she screamed as she jumped back into fray herself.
“On it, Moonie!” I shouted back, darting forward. Hey, guys! Pick me up, would ya!?
Must I? Ignis wondered dryly.
Just do it, brother, Gelu said, already channeling her power into Red.
Fine.
I roar in pain as a pair of mismatched wings one a scarlet, dragon’s wing, and the other an icy, indigo angel’s wing ripped though my back , I quickly took to the sky, heading west and discovering that the line was indeed breaking from the assault.
“Woo-hoo! We’re gonna have some fun tonight!” I roared, cackling wildly.
Ohhh, no. I know that laugh… Terra remarked, torn between exhaustion and anger.
Guys, murmured the soft voice of Umbra. I feel something strange…
Is it annoyance? Ignis asked. Because that’s what I’m feeling.
Red, be careful, Gelu urged tentatively. There’s far too many of them for us to—
“Would you all be quiet!” I grunted, immediately feeling their annoyance burn in the back of my mind. “I got this! Now, Icy? I’m gonna need a flash freeze and a wall afterward! You can do that, right?”
Her name is Gelu! Ignis shot back. Show my sister some respect, punk!
“Or what?”
Or we’ll leave you! he threatened furiously. Don’t forget we’re only helping you to keep them away from our home!
Flying over the warring army, I rolled his eyes and muttered, “Fine. Miss Gelu? Can you please give me a flash freeze and ice wall?”
Obviously, she assured after quietly thanking her brother for his words. Are you ready?
“Do it!” I commanded after dodging another barrage of attacks.
Instantly, my eyes shifted into Gelu’s deep sapphire blue, and My body inhaled sharply, feeling my whole body glaze over in frost as I let Gelu take control. After a split second, Gelu let out a bellowing roar and unleashed a tsunami of wintry air over the opposing forces, encasing everything in a veritable ocean of ice.
With a twitch of my hand, I summoned a pillar of ice beneath me and roosted upon it, panting harshly as my eyes returned to normal.
“Whoa!” I gasped, retracting his wings and shuddering. “That was cool!”
I could practically feel his roommates facepalm at my terrible pun.
Guys, seriously! Umbra spoke up once more. There is a power here!
“Yeah, it’s called us!” I boasted, leaping off the ice pillar and making a dash through the ice. “Now, Ignis? You mind thawing my comrades?”
A trivial feat! he proclaimed proudly, casting his power through Red and doing as requested.
“Thanks, Hottie! Now, where-oh-where could Sunbutt be?” I pondered barely paying attention around me, as I was looking in every direction for the Princess. “She’s so gonna owe us for this—”
My body moved of Gelu’s accord and threw up a hand, erecting a wall of ice to deflect another barrage of shots.
Pay attention to your surroundings, Red, she warned. This war is not over just because you have us.
“Thanks, Icy!” I said, regaining control once more and darting around the wall to lay waste to my attempted attacker. I did so with ease, but I hastily turned around and fled when a fresh batch of reptile mages clambered over their frozen allies and beelined toward him.
“Geez, how many of these things are there!?” I squealed as he took the skies once again.
Enough to overrun this world, Terra answered, sounding more tired than Red had ever heard him. Enough to overrun them all.
“Gramps? You okay?” I asked, feeling both Ignis and Gelu appraise the elder demon as well.
…Just find Celestia. We cannot afford for either her or her sister to fall.
“On it!”
I quickly flapped his wings harder, scanning the area for the Princess while dodging all enemy fire as best as I could. After a few minutes of frantic searching later, I found Celestia dueling against a reptile monster nearly four times her size.
“Ha-ha! We got ‘er, boys!” I declared, quickly flying closer to the duo.
Terra, is that what I think it is!? Gelu cried out fearfully.
Terra said something that my mortal mind couldn’t comprehend, and Umbra interjected, I tried to warn you all!
Red! Pull back! Pull back! Terra insisted. We cannot fight that thing!
“What!? No!” I shrieked, shrugging off Terra’s attempts to control his body. “It’s a biggie, so what!? I’ve got this!”
Yes! Yes, we do! Ignis agreed, channeling his powers into me my hair turning into flames as smoke escapes my mouth.
Ignis! Do not encourage him; you know that thing will do to—
We are not cowards, sister! I refuse to flee from that abomination again!
“See!? Hottie knows what’s up!” I said, laughing triumphantly as I tucked in my wings and dived toward the Princess.
No, no, nooo! Terra screamed, trying and failing once more to enslave his host.
“Curse you, you infernal abomination!” Celestia screeched, sending her foe skidding backward with a massive blast of magic. “You will not harm my subjects!”
The armored monster simply roared and reeled upward, preparing to bring its strange weapon down upon her skull.
Before Celestia could react, I body slammed into her and pushed both of us out of the way of the monster’s attack hearing and feeling the shockwave of its blow behind us.
Okay, we saved the Princess! Now, get us out of here! Gelu ordered.
Hold on, Icy! I grunted, checking over Celestia. “Heya, Sunbutt!” I greeted her casually. “How ya doing?”
“Redsopine!?” Celestia squealed, eyes widening. “What are you doing here!? Why did you four let him come here!?” she bellowed angrily.
“Do you think we want to be here!” Terra’s voice replied from my mouth. Afterward, I rubbed my muzzle and grunted, “Hey, no! No, bad elemental demon! No more voice changes!”
Ignoring Red’s annoyed protest, Celestia grabbed him and shook him frantically, urging, “You need to get out of here, Red!”
“No! We need to stay and fight!” both I and Ignis roared.
Ignis, do you not remember what happened last time we—
I remember well, sister!
“No, Red!” Celestia barked with both terror and fury brimming in her voice. “You need to get out of here! NOW!”
Before I could argue, the monster returned and loomed over them both, speaking in an unintelligible dialect.
“I’m gonna take that as an insult!” I fired back before jumping toward the beast and punching its chest.
The beast screamed in pain as an explosion of fire erupted from my jab, sending it flying back once again. Cackling as I quickly pounced upon the creature once again, ignoring Celestia’s warning cries.
“Ignis! Mind giving me a boom?”
Gladly!
Ignis, no! Terra argued despite it being far too late.
My entire body was engulfed in a ball of cerulean flames that quickly expanded outward, in a blinding flash.
Once it was over, I stumbled off the smoking, blackened corpse and fell to the ground, panting. “Woo!” I weakly laughed. “That’s what I call a ‘boom’! Way to go, Hottie!”
You know? For once, I’m not gonna reprimand you for not referring to me by my true name, Ignis said, chuckling proudly. Just this once though; don’t do it again,he immediately added.
“We’ll see, Ignis; we’ll see,” I joked back.
Celestia slowly lowered her half-broken shield and beheld the sight of Red’s tired form and the slowly rising monster behind him.
“REDSOPINE!” she screamed, running toward him.
What have you done…? Terra mumbled in a low growl.
“What do you mean by—GAH!” I screeched as a something large and heavy punctured clean through my chest. My body was then lifted into the air and turned toward the monster so as to meet is glowering eyes.
It huffed a huge cloud of steam directly into my face.
I was too busy drowning on my own blood to make any sort of quip.
A large explosion of golden light erupted from the creature’s shoulder, causing it to hiss in anger as it flung me away from itself.
I felt my slide across the ground until I slammed into one of the previously frozen reptiles, stopping abruptly and painfully.
“G-Guys… Help,” I weakly begged.
Umbra, get us out of here! Terra ordered, frantically weaving Red’s muscles back together.
I can’t! He’s too damaged!
Gelu, can you preserve him!?
At this stage I’d just cause more damage! she shrieked, working with Terra to at least try and save their host’s body. Why did you encourage him, Ignis!
Ignis said nothing.
“G-Guys… Celestia…” I muttered, coughing up a thick glob of blood.
As if on cue, the Princess let out a soul-piercing scream, and her body was sent flying far past Red and his demons’ senses.
The monster slowly stomped into my line of view and shifted its gaze o into my own.
“Gramps…?”
The beast slowly raises its strange weapon and aimed it squarely at the gaping hole in my chest. The device then began humming with a strange, otherworldly power.
Close your eyes, Red, Terra responded, closing Red’s eyes for him.
The next thing I knew was a loud bang and everything fading to black.
Unknown void. Time passed since Equestria fell: Three days.
A moment later, I coughed and sputtered out droplets of blackened blood while my wounds slowly, and painfully healed.
Soon, the glow spread along my neck and vocal cords, allowing me to finally let out the tortured scream I had been unable to release a minute prior. This went on for several minutes before the pain in my body finally numbed, allowing me to stop screaming and simply breathe heavily.
“What… What happened?” I quietly asked aloud.
Silence.
“Guys, are you there? What happened?” I asked again, rubbing my burning chest feeling a trio of large scars.
You died, Red.
I closed his eyes for a second and opened them again, finding that all four of my partners stood around me in flickering images of their true forms.
“Wow! We’re showing ourselves today, eh?” I chuckled, coughing afterward. “Been a while since I’ve seen you guys in all your eldritch abomination-ness! Heh-heh.”
None of them looked remotely pleased by his joke.
“Okay, okay! No more jokes,” I said, shifting into a slightly more comfortable position. “C’mon, guys, what happened. Where is everyone? Where is Equis?”
Gelu shot a glare at her brother and demanded, Well, brother? Care to answer his question?
Ignis merely snarled at his sister.
She snarled back.
Stop, Terra coldly ordered.
Ignis and Gelu instantly froze, glancing anxiously at their elder before looking away quietly.
Red? Terra continued once the interruption was done. You died.
“Ya said that, Gramps. But where’s Equis? The Princesses? Everyone!?”
Gone.
“What do you mean ‘gone’!?”
Your home is gone, Terra coldly confided. Some managed to escape, but they’re scattered right now. We know not the fate of the Princesses.
“O-Okay?” I gulped nervously and asked, “But— But where are we?”
Terra looked to the fourth of his fellows and stepped aside to grant them the space.
Umbra stepped forward and answered, You are currently in the void between life and death.
“Wait, seriously!?”
Umbra nodded.
I looked to Terra and asked, “You said you couldn’t bring me back to life!”
Are you seriously questioning this right now!? Ignis roared as fire flared across his visage. You’re dead, and you’re asking how we’re bringing you back!?
“Hey, I’m grateful I’m not dead!” I stressed. “I’m just wondering how you guys did it.”
You truly think our abilities so mundane, Gelu began, a note of condescension slipping into her voice. That we cannot usurp such petty boundaries as that of life and death?
“Wow…! I really am overpowered!” I declared, laughing happily. “Cool!”
This is no laughing matter, Red, Terra bellowed furiously.
“But—”
Silence! he screamed, causing me to flinch back and hush instantly. Terra then gestured to the empty void surrounding them, and explained, Redsopine? Life and death exist in a balance. What we are doing right now is disrupting that balance. And that disruption will have consequences, he ended sternly.
And we all know how little the fool cares for consequences, Gelu remarked coldly.
“Hey! I care about consequences!”
Only when they harm you, all four of them countered.
This power is one none of us are meant to tamper with, Terra resumed. Umbra should not have invoked it, he said, glaring at the youngest of the four.
I saved us! Umbra protested.
Hence why I have yet to properly reprimand you, Terra grumbled. But if you are expecting me to thank you, give that up. I shall not do so.
Umbra rolled his eyes.
Could we perhaps put this all aside and get to the resurrection part? Ignis requested restlessly. I’d very much prefer returning to the land of the living.
Why? So you can get us sent back here again by encouraging Red’s recklessness!?Gelu snapped.
I am a warrior! he roared proudly. I will not back down from a foe!
And as is often quoted: Pride cometh before the fall, Terra shot back, causing Ignis to flinch away in shame. And just look how far we fell.
No one said anything.
“Sooo,” I eventually spoke up. “Long story short: I died; you’re resurrecting me; and you’re mad about it? Okay, anything else?”
We’re not resurrecting you just yet, Redsopine, Terra said somberly. He then turned to Umbra and commanded, Tell him what must be done first.
Umbra hesitated for a second before explaining, To retrieve a life from the grasp of death… Another life must be given in exchange.
Must you say it so solemnly? Ignis inquired irritably. Red is a soldier; he understands the necessity of sacrifice.
And his answer is ‘yes.’ Terra stated, having already read Red’s mind. Is it not?
“Well, I do have a war to fight!” I responded, standing up and glaring at Terra. “So, yeah! Bring me back!”
You are not the least bit concerned with who we’ll have to slay to bring you back,Gelu noted neutrally. Hmm. And I thought I was the cold one.
I’m more annoyed that he cares more about bringing himself back as opposed to us! Ignis grumbled.
“Wait! You guys are coming back with me!?”
Of course we are, you dumbass! Gelu growled, flicking him in his eye. Your recklessness may have gotten us killed, but you’re still our best chance to beat the Anziek!
Gelu is correct, Umbra sighed. Those things are going to destroy countless worlds, not just yours. If we don’t go back soon, they’ll destroy everything.
“Alright! Then let’s go!” I barked impatiently. “Come on!”
They all shared a silent glance.
“What?”
Red, Terra began hesitantly. You are dead. If we bring you back to life; someone else must die. Do you truly accept this?
“Yes!”
You fully accept the consequences of this choice?
“Yes!”
You fully agree that it is the correct choice to force another person to suffer the consequences of your reckless actions? To die so that you may live to die another day? This is what you wish?
“How many times do I have to say, ‘yes’!?” I replied determined and ready to accept the consequences of my choice.
Silence.
We should have chosen Celestia when we had the chance, Gelu stated bluntly. At least she would hesitate. If only for a moment.
Do you even care about who will die for you!? Ignis asked, thoroughly disgusted by Red’s nonchalance. A good soldier cares for his fellow men!
“Yeah, and I need to get back!” I argued calmly. After a moment, I blinked in realization and asked, “Wait… Are you saying that it has to be someone on my side that dies!? You can’t just make it one of those lizard things!?”
Silence again.
“Oh.”
I’m afraid that the death will be entirely random, Terra clarified, earning a confused look from his contemporaries. We cannot choose who dies.
Um? Terra, why are you—
With a mere glance, Terra silenced Ignis. He then returned his attention to Red and added, Whoever will die for you has no say in the matter. The moment you return, your exact injuries will be inflicted upon them, but they will die. They shall not get the same choice you are receiving now. They will suffer the same pain, misery, and horror that you did.
I rubbed his chest and swallowed, muttering, “Oh, boy… That, uh, that ain’t groovy.”
It could be one of the Anziek, Terra stated, nodding. But it could very well be one of your fellows. One of the innocents you swore to protect. It could very well be a child!
“No!” I shouted, shaking my head fervently. “I don’t care about whatever dumb rules you guys are talking about; you cannot let a kid die for me!”
We have no say in the matter, Terra repeated, earning yet another nervous glance from the others. Only you do. So? That said, do you still accept the consequences of this decision?
I chewed my tongue in thought before nodding solemnly my choice made. “Yes. Let’s go back!”
Terra sighed and looked to Gelu and Ignis. They nodded, so he looked to Umbra who nodded as well.
Alright then, he said quietly.
Suddenly a light expanded from them all and coalesced around me, bringing me into the air.
But I’m afraid returning to your home will not be so simple! Terra ominously declared.
“Wait, what!?” I cried out in a panic.
Umbra, you know where to go I assume?
Yep!
“What are you guys doing!? Where are we going!?”
You got us a killed once before, Redsopine, Gelu criticized icily.
And as much as I hate it, we need help, Ignis grumbled, huffing out a stream of fire.
Help only he can provide, Umbra chimed in, carving a seam of light into the walls of the void.
Find your fellow travelers, Terra commanded as my protesting form slowly passed into the light. They will help you. Look for their tokens!
My eyes flung open as i gasped for painful breathes, coughing slightly afterward. I then groaned and pushed myself back to a standing position and looked around.
An entire city stretched around me on all sides, and strange beings rushed around without giving me so much as a glance.
“W-What?” I muttered, looking around in amazement. “Guys, what did you!? What’s going on!?”
No response.
“Augh! The silent treatment!? Are you seri—Ugh!” I grunted, falling back to the ground after someone collided into me. “H-Hey!”
“‘Hey’ yourself, asshole!” she fired back. “Stop standing around blocking the way I got to get to the arena! The fight’s about the start,” she growled, marching toward said arena.
“Hey, wait! Hold on!” I called out, quickly giving chase.
I chased after the girl through the metropolitan city, but I quickly stumbled as an unendurable weakness flooded my limbs. “Damn it,” I cursed, holding my stomach and leaning against a nearby wall for support. “What’s going on? Where the hell am I!?”
When my roommates didn’t respond, I rolled my eyes and looked around the environment, taking in the loud, bustling crowds scurrying to-and-fro, the horrid, gut-wrenching stench of gas and blood lingering in the air, and the hundreds of skyscrapers looming above me from every direction.
“Seriously? You guys couldn’t teleport me out of harm’s way, but you can land me here?” I sneered, grunting as another phantom pain shot across my body. I pat around the areas where I had been injured and discovered they were fully healed, if still sore. “Well, at least I’m alive.”
“If we bring you back to life; someone else must die,” I remembered being told.
Chewing my tongue I punch the wall in frustration. “Damn it. Just… Damn it!” I swore. then I shake my head, telling myself, “Don’t focus on that, Redsopine. Don’t focus on that. Not yet…”
I then spotted something out of the corner of his eye, and turned to it, beholding an advertisement poster for a towering, dark coliseum.
“Short on bits?” i read. “Need to pay the bills? Then come fight in the Coliseum. Fortune favors the strong and bold; while only death awaits the weak and timid.” Beneath the words was a strange symbol that i hadn’t seen before but suspected was an insignia of some kind.
“Heh, sounds like fun,” i instinctively commented. A short surge of pain ran down my spine, and i added, “O-Okay! Maybe next time. Oh, geez… I need to lie down,” I murmur , slumping to the ground with a tormented grunt.
Not one second later, something smacked me in the face while someone screamed, “Git out of here!”
I immediately dodged another swing and lowered into a combative stance, shouting, “Who the hell do you think you’re dealing with!?” then looking in shock when i found my attacker to be just a random, disheveled, old guy.
“Who the hell do you think you’re dealing with!?” he shot back, waving his broom threateningly. “This is mah property; Ah don’t need no stinkin’ low-life campin’ out here! AGAIN! Now git!”
“Alright, alright!” i groan, quickly stepping back and getting swept into the crowd. “Wonderful. I sit down for two seconds, and already I’m getting yelled at for squatting. Fantastic.”
Awhile I continued slowly following the traffic of the crowd, i frown and realized, That does bring up the problem of what I’m gonna do now though. I don’t even know where I am, let alone what to do next!
“Hey,” i say, nudging the person next to me and getting a hostile look from a boy wearing dirty, torn clothing. “There a good hotel around here?”
“Not many,” the kid answered, appraising Red warily. “And there all expensive.”
“Uhhh…? How expensive?”
“The cheapest ones would cost the price over a thousand bits per night,” he stated bluntly. “Now, if you will excuse me, I’m late for the sign-up.”
“Sign-up for what? I wondered, quickly following after him. “The arena I saw a poster for?”
“‘Saw a poster for’?” the kid repeated, perplexed. “What? Don’t you know about…?” He blinked. “Wait, where are you from?”
“Not from around here, I can tell you that much,” i admitted, hearing a vexed sigh in the depths of my mind.
The kid looked me over once more before sighing. “I’m gonna regret this,” he mumbled under his breath. “Hey, look? If you’re looking for the arena, just follow me. I’m guessing you’re going to sign up as well, right?”
“Er, yes!” I say, nodding as the boy led him forward. “Yes, I am.”
“Red!” Terra groaned weakly.
Hold on, Gramps; I’m doing a thing! “So, kiddo? Got a name?”
“Cador,” he said, holding out his hand. After i shook it, Cador added, “What about you? What’s your name?”
“I’m Redsopine, but you can just call me Red.”
“Okay… If you don’t mind me asking, what exactly are you?” he questioned, keeping his tone polite if still a little uncertain. “We’re used to seeing strange creatures in Vedras City, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen your kind before.”
“I’m a Pegasus!” I brag, parting my cloak a tad so as to show his wings off proudly. “I just keep these beautiful bad boys under my cloak. Less likely to bump into people that way,” i explain, winking. “So? What’s the story behind this arena thing? And why are you signing up for it? You look a little young to be a fighter…”
The boy hesitated before elaborating, “I’m not. But… I really need the prize money.”
“Got bills to pay, huh?” i speculated, wincing sympathetically.
“Well, that. And, uh…” Cador glared at him for a moment, debating whether to tell the truth or not. However, since he sensed no malice from me whatsoever, he ultimately divulged, “I need medicine for my little sister. She’s…ill.”
i blink and looked away. “Oh. Yeah, I get that,” he mumbled, trying not to dwell too much on his own familial situation. “But still, kid… An arena? Have you even held a knife before? You know, other than to cut up your food?” I reflexively joked.
“Not… Not really,” he confirmed morosely. “Th-Thankfully, there’s a clause that states that even if a fighter dies, their family receives compensation!” Cador said, smiling shakily. “So it— It doesn’t matter if I win or lose! Sh-She’ll be okay! She’ll be okay…” he repeated more to himself than to Red.
i placed my hand on Cador’s shoulder and smiled gently. “Hey, maybe we could sign up as a duo team?” he suggested. “That way you have someone watching your back so you win your first fight. I might not look it, but I’ve been in a war and walked away from it alive.” Barely. Though he doesn’t need to know that I died first.
i blink. “Er, fair point,” i conceded sheepishly. Yep, I’m definitely not in good, ole Equestria, the land of friendship, anymore. “Still, kid, you sure you want to go fight to death in some dumb arena? By yourself?” I emphasise , causing Cador to wince uncertainly. “Especially if your sister’s life depends on it?”
Rather than back down at that last statement, Cador seemed emboldened by it. “Yeah, my sister’s life does depend on it! And how am I supposed to trust that you won’t just kill me and steal the prize?”
“Cador—”
“For all I know, you’re some crazy con artist who thought I was an easy mark!” he accused, stepping even further away from me. “And I ain’t falling for that again!”
“Okay, okay!” i yelped, holding his hands up in surrender. “Yeah, I’m total stranger; I get it. No worries.” Okay, this kid ain’t gonna want my help, but I don’t want him to die, so what do I do?
“Let him die?”
Ignoring Ignis, i added, “I swear I’m not trying to con you or anything; I’m just really lost, and you were the first dude I met that didn’t whack with me a broom. Figured I’d help you out since you really don’t look like you’d do well in an arena.”
“Uh-huh,” Cador groaned, clearly not believing him. “Sure. Anyway, if you want to go to the arena yourself, it’s right up ahead. Don’t annoy the guards or leave the city after dark,” he advised, turning away.
“U-Uh, wait up!” i called out, quickening his pace to keep up with the fleeing Cador. “What’s wrong with leaving the city at night?”
Cador glanced back and answered, “Because of the monsters, duh.”
“Ooh, monsters, huh? What kind of monsters?” I inquired, smirking.
After a moment, Cador rolled his eyes and, against his better judgment, began explaining, “Well, first of all, there’s the dune worms. And then there’s—”
As Cador continued speaking, Ignis whined tiredly, “Ordinarily, I would love the chance to vanquish whatever monsters stalk this land, but can we not do that right now?”
“Wasn’t planning on it, Iggy,” i wordlessly responded back, keeping my annoyance from showing on my face.
“And yet you’re considering this damn arena idea!?” Gelu screamed. “You literally just died, and already you’re endeavoring to get yourself killed again!?”
“Well, hey, if it annoys you lot…”
“Red, please,” Terra spoke up, sounding even more gravelly than he normally did. “Resurrecting you took a considerable amount of power; we are not ready for battle.”
“I swear, if you’re going to that stupid arena all to get my sister killed again…!” Ignis growled, sending a wave of heat through Red’s lungs.
Barely not collapsing to the ground from Ignis’ brief assault, i shot back, “I’m not! You guys are in my head; can’t you tell I was only considering it to help this kid out?”
“You don’t even know him!” Gelu snarled, irate. “You only met him a minute ago!”
“And he’s a kid with a sick sister, marching off to some random death arena that even you guys are scared of going to,” Red countered.
“We are not ‘scared’!” Ignis protested, his tone dripping with his classic indignation. “We are weakened. And that boy and his sister are mortals; who cares if they die?”
“Me,” i answer, clenching my fists in sheer fury.
“And that makes you an idiot, like all mortals.”
“You want to talk about idiots? Fine! Let’s talk about how you assholes randomly plopped us here without even bothering to explain why,” Red rebuked. “Forgive me for trying to get some information and having a bit of empathy for children.”
“You want information? Here's some information: We have guards following us,” Gelu pointed out. “Did you notice that, fool?”
“Wait, what? What guards?”i think, casting my gaze around as discreetly as possible until he eventually spotted the group Gelu referred to. “Oh. Those guards,” i groan, knowing that with my luck, they were absolutely targeting me specifically.
“Seriously, Terra,” Ignis mewled to the elder demon. “Why couldn't it have been Luna that we got stuck with? Or Sombra? Or even that hole-riddled bug-face! Even she would have been a better choice!”
“She’d also have listened to you even less than I do,” i say.
“…I hate that you’re right.”
I smirk victoriously at having shut Ignis up, but his smirk merely confused the blissfully unaware Cador. “Uh, why are you smiling?” he asked. “Even the guards are terrified of the Cerberi—those things can rip you into pieces in just one strike!” he exclaimed, paling at the thought.
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I know,” i quickly course-corrected. “Sounds like a fun challenge.”
“RED!” Terra, Ignis, and Gelu all bellowed in outrage as Cador gaped in shock.
“Of course, I’m no match for things like that myself, but I can dream, right?” I added, grinning widely in false cockiness.
While my demons all breathed a collective sigh of relief, Cador snorted. “You’re pretty funny for a con artist,” he snarked. Cador then returned his gaze forward and stopped upon seeing that their destination finally lay before them. “Oh, we’re here…” he mumbled, gulping at the massive arena stretching into the smoggy skies above.
I also stared at the structure in amazement, hearing the roar of the crowd echo to him from within the tower’s no-doubt cavernous depths. “Wow. Just, wow! This place is pretty impressive, not gonna lie,” i comment as me and Cador both approached the entrance. “I’m actually a bit exci—”
Without warning, Ignis forcefully seized control of my body and twisted to the left, narrowly avoiding the spiked wooden club that had been moving straight for my neck.
The wielder of the club took another shot at me only for my body bend back so far that a loud crack emitted from my spine. “I’m so feeling that in the morning.” He attempted yet another flurry of attacks, but my body swiftly stumbled away, swaying and contorting however it needed in order to dodge the onslaught.
Eventually, my body was guided a fair distance away from the attacker and stopped, still hunched over backward. I then snapped back into a standing position, complete with yet another pop from my vertebrae, “yup definitely feeling that” and ignis glared down the attackers through slit, scarlet eyes.
His main attacker stood still, clenching the club and awaiting a counterattack; half a dozen other men flanked him, carrying all manner of varying weapons yet bearing the exact same style of armor.
Cador and the rest of the surrounding crowd had frozen, gawking at the event that was unfolding before them, but quite a number of others had the common sense to shuffle off before the fight truly began.
Ignis’ eyes swept over each of their stalkers-turned-attackers before cracking a tiny grin. “Ahh, how I love it when fools such as yourselves have a death wish. Makes it far more fun for me when I grant it,” he growled through my now-fanged mouth.
“HA!” barked one of the flanking guards. “Bold words from trash such as you! It is you who must surely have the death wish, escaping and attacking our guards!”
“Wh-What are you talking about?” Cador squealed out, practically petrifying when the guards’ eyes turned to him. “Y-Y-You were the ones who a-attacked him.”
“Oh? Garnered yourself an accomplish, have you?” another guard supposed, gripping his sword tightly. “In that case, it appears we have a double bounty.”
“W-Wait, what!?” Cador shrieked. “I don’t even know him!”
“Mhmm, sure. Whether or not you’re an escaped slave yourself or a conspirator in this freak’s escape… It matters not,” the club wielder declared bluntly. “Surrender or perish.”
“‘Slave’? But that means…” Cador slowly backed away from Red, trembling in fear as he realized, “R-Red, you’re…? That— That’s why the guard are after you; you’re a slave!?”
My face contorted into a furious scowl as Ignis replied, “I am no one’s slave… And Red’s not here right now, so leave a message, mortal,” he concluded, not sparing so much as a glance at Cador. In the blink of an eye, my body darted forward and twisted unnaturally around ignis enemy’s defensive strike before delivering one of his own.
The group’s apparent leader fell, howling in torment and cradling the smoldering lump where his left leg had been not one second prior. He then abruptly silenced once his neck also became nothing more than a blackened expanse of burnt flesh.
Screams rang out immediately, and the already thinning crowd dispersed completely, leaving the utterly dumbfounded guards to stare in shock at their fallen comrade and the creature that had done the deed.
“Sooo?” Ignis began, licking the blood from his glowing, sizzling claw. “Who’s next?”
The guard that had first mocked Ignis made a break for it, but before he could get far, he was easily blown away by way of a fireball.
“Next, please!” Ignis sang in sadistic delight.
One of the other guards rose to Ignis’ challenge, raising his spear and thrusting it forward, but Ignis simply spun out of its way and swept out his newly created wing, slamming the fool through a nearby shop’s window.
“Ack!” Ignis yelped, faltering as his wing crumbled away into smoke.
Noticing this, the other guards swiftly pounced.
As Ignis went about fighting them off despite his weakened state, Red’s voice emerged in their shared mental din. “Ignis, what are you doing!?” he asked, outraged.
“Having fun,” he nonchalantly answered, clawing out one of the guard’s eyes and kicking them to the ground. Ignis then flinched back as a sword managed to break through and cut open his cheek. “See? Fun.”
“Brother, don’t you dare let us die! Not like him!” Gelu screamed, aiming her animosity squarely at Red’s consciousness.
“I don’t plan on it, Sister,” he replied lazily, backclawing away another guard before jabbing his claw through their rib cage and pulling two of them out. “I’m no careless, mortal whelp. Much less one who picks a fight with everyone he comes across.”
“It’s not my fault you guys dumped us in a world where non-humans are a slave class!” Red countered. “Now, give me back my body!” he demanded, forcing his will back into his flesh.
“When I get done,” Ignis whined, fighting off Red as he slit the throat of yet another soldier. “I’m still playing with the fools.”
“And for the record, it’s not like we knew where you’d end up either,” Gelu remarked, helping her brother stay in control. “We were a little busy resurrecting your ass since you were stupid enough to get us killed.”
“Ignis! Gelu! Cease this at once!” Terra commanded, overwriting all of their wills and seizing control of Red’s body himself. “We cannot afford to be fighting in our current—”
“Screw you, geezer!” Ignis roared, reasserting dominion of the body. Clouds of ash began spilling out from his fallen victims and billowed toward him, seemingly merging into his flesh. “I haven’t had a proper meal in ages, and I. Am. Famished,” he growled, smiling hungrily at the remaining stragglers.
Before any of the others could either protest or encourage Ignis’ intentions, a startled scream drew their attention back to Cador. “Let go of me!” the kid shouted, struggling fruitlessly to escape the final guard’s grip. “You stupid jerk, let go of—” Cador abruptly hushed and stilled once he felt the guard’s sword rest against his neck.
“S-St— St-Stand down!” the guard stammered, shivering violently. When Ignis didn’t move, he gulped and commanded with greater courage, “Stand down now, beast! Or the kid dies,” he threatened, pressing his blade even further into Cador’s neck
Ignis straightened up, eyeing the guard with a neutral expression before cocking his head ever so slightly to the side. “Do you honestly think I care?” he questioned, genuinely confused.
“Ignis…!” Red warned.
Cador whimpered weakly, but his terror was nothing compared to the guard’s. “This— This child s-said he was innocent. That he— That he didn’t know you. Surely, you do not wish for me to kill him!? S-Surely, you— You don’t want to bear the guilt for this innocent child’s death…?” he ended, fearing the answer.
“IGNIS!” Red shrieked, mentally clawing his was back into control.
Ignis blinked and took a step forward. “Again, I ask: Do you honestly think I care?”
The guard’s pants darkened.
“Brother, stand down,” Gelu ordered, not bothering to stop Red’s attempt to regain control this time. “There’s no need for the child to die.”
“It’s a mortal, Sister; it was going to die anyway.”
“And if you let it die, Red will be even more reckless with our powers out of spite,”she pointed out.
“You’re damn right, I will!”
“And, Ignis,” Gelu continued, ignoring Red. “…I don’t wish to die again.”
Ignis took a deep breath and let out a small cloud of smoke. “Tch, fine. Is this what you want, Redsopine?” he asked, snapping his claws.
“Who the hell are you talk—” The guard’s voice suddenly cut off as rivers of magma began leaking out of his neck and mouth. A moment later, the guard fell the ground, lifeless and headless.
Cador fell to his knees, frantically feeling around his neck only to nearly vomit upon discovering the guard had indeed drawn blood.
While Cador processed his injury, Ignis ultimately relinquished Red’s body back to its proper owner who promptly collapsed to the ground as well, coughing out thick streams of blood, bile, and sulfur. “Never do that again, Iggy,” he sneered, wincing at the fiery pain coursing through his lungs. “That hurt like fucking hell!”
“Good,” Ignis said with utmost glee. “And don’t call me, ‘Iggy.’”
Red just rolled his eyes and panted for a little while longer. Once he had finally regained his breath, he stood up and called out, “Hey, Cador? You okay, kid?”
Cador looked up and shirked away from him. “What— What are you!?”
Red never got a chance to answer since at that precise moment, an earth-shaking boom thundered throughout the air, following swiftly by a tremor.
“What the hell was that!?” Red cried out, rubbing his ears and turning to see what appeared to be a crack floating in midair and crackling with unknown magical energy. “Aughhh, what now!?” he whined wearily.
“What’s happening; what is that thing!?” screamed one random pedestrian elsewhere in the street.
“Help! Guards! It’s a monster!” squealed yet another.
After that last one, Red tuned the rest out and glared at the anomaly, inquiring, “Uh, guys? What are you doing?”
“This isn’t us, Red,” Terra said, equally bewildered as Red. “We’ve nothing to do with that.”
“Well, if it’s not you then…?” Red froze and swore, “Aw, shit! Is it the Anziek?”
“Oh no. No-no-no,” Gelu muttered to herself. “No, not again…”
“Gelu?” Ignis murmured, concerned.
“The magic feels familiar,” Terra commented, sensing the power pouring off of the crack. “But something about it is odd. It’s almost as if—”
What was it that Terra found odd was left unsaid as the crack then exploded outward into several translucent fragments of solidified magic. Red then grit his teeth and braced himself against the overwhelming force that flowed forth from the fracture, gazing deep into the abyss that lied beyond it.
“What the hell is going on now!?” Ignis roared. “What is— What… Is…?” Ignis fell silent—as did the rest of the world—at what happened next.
From beyond the strange, dark void staggered a man. His white, button-down dress shirt and freshly pressed black pants stood in stark contrast to the dirty, fraying lab coat that clung to his shoulders like a makeshift cloak. A pair of heavy, custom-made combat boots thudded against the ground, sending tremors through it with every dusty, uneven step the man took as he hobbled forward.
Behind the man, the crack snapped shut, but once it had, the man looked up. Lines of age decorated his expressionless face, yet his eyes shone with a blazing youth that communicated both absolute vigor and something…else. Those eyes then locked onto Red.
The sound of his demons’ heartbeats pounded in Red’s ear alongside his own as he waited with baited breath for the man to make his next move. And, not one minute later, he did.
“Cheater.”
Perplexed, Red looked around. All of the pedestrians had long since fled, so aside from himself, only the guards’ corpses and Cador, frozen in shock, remained.
“Cheater!”
Red snapped his gaze back to the man, freezing in shock himself when he found him a scant inch away form his face. Swiftly leaping back, Red shouted, “Who the fuck are you!?”
The man didn’t answer, and instead, his mouth slowly split into a maddened grin. “And here I thought we were having a fair fight, but now I see that you’re nothing more than a dirty cheater. Even back then, you cheated!” He suddenly heaved backward and let out a deafening, maniacal laugh. “Cheater, cheater; cheater! Ah-hah-haha-hahahahaaa!”
“Guys, who the hell is this freak?” Red wordlessly asked them.
“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough, cheater!” the man answered on their behalf, returning his wicked gaze back to Red. “Or you would. But, of course, if you’re cheating life and death…? Then it’s only fair I do as well!” he shrieked, his eye twitching wildly as clouds of unknown magic began crawling along his body.
“Red, run!” Terra commanded. “His power is—”
“Too much for you to handle, eh, Gramps?” the man cut Terra off verbally. “Maybe you should fix that; have you tried interpersonal therapy? I think that’d do wonders for your teamwork,” he suggested with a shrug. “Shame you won’t get the chance to do that since you’re about to—”
Another loud boom echoed through the world, startling the man silent and drawing both of their attentions to a new, smaller crack that had suddenly formed. The second afterward, a massive, scarlet fireball emerged through it, darting straight for the man who briefly melted into a puddle of gunk to dodge it before reforming back into his original form.
“Whoopsie-daisy! I somehow had completely forgotten that you could do that,” the man admitted casually. “Whelp! I guess there’s only thing to do.”
An invisible force dragged Red straight toward the man who wasted no time clamping his calloused hands around his throat.
“Kill you now,” he completed, beaming euphorically.
Red spontaneously combusted, burning the entire front torso of the man and leaving it as nothing more than a charred husk. Terrifyingly, Red still couldn’t escape the man’s grasp, and the flames eventually died down. “Still too… Weak…”Ignis wheezed.
“Yes, you are, Iggy,” the burnt corpse concurred. In mere seconds, the charred, melted flesh peeled away to reveal brand new flesh, entirely devoid of injury. “You are weak.”
“Red!” Cador screamed, charging at the man with his dagger. Unfortunately, his rescue attempt was futile as the man simply took his other arm, reached out, and grabbed Cador’s neck as well.
“N-No! Let go of him!” Red demanded, clenching the arm holding him and sending waves of cold through it in an attempt to freeze it solid. Sadly, it didn’t work.
“You’re all so weak,” the man observed with an unnervingly cold detachment. “Ugh, the Lord will be the only challenge left for me at this point.”
As if in response, another wave of fire blasted out through the second crack, sweeping over all three of them yet leaving Red and Cador entirely untouched. Their assailant, however, struggled to weather the new assault and ultimately, thankfully fell to it, tumbling away into the turbulent inferno.
Red took the chance to gasp for air and rub his—thanks to Terra—freshly healed neck. “You okay?” he asked Cador in a panicked voice.
Cador gave no response as he was too busy coughing his guts out.
Yeah, that figures. Okay, what the fuck is going on!? Red wondered, watching the fiery torrent continue to wash over the battleground.
“Ignis, is that… Your fire?” Gelu asked uncertainly.
“No. No, I-I’m not doing this.”
“Then who—”
An ear-splitting screech echoed through the world, fighting back against the flaming typhoon until the lunatic was visible once more. “Well, fine then! Round Two, it is!” he shouted into the fire. “But first…?”
With an insane cackle, he swept his hand in Red and Cador’s direction, and the entire ground split open to reveal a pitch black void of nothingness.
“HAVE FUN, BOYS!” he yelled, whipping his hand toward them again.
What seemed like a line of solid air wrapped around both Red and Cador and pulled their screaming forms into the air before flinging them back into the massive fissure in reality.
The last thing Red heard as he and Cador tumbled through the portal’s jaws of darkness was the maddened laughter of the crazed, crooked man and the terrified screams of both Cador and his demons.
The last thing he saw, however, was their savior bursting through the flames and sending the man flying away with a blast of diamonds and stone. And once it was over, for the briefest of seconds, Red found himself looking at a nearly identical duplicate of none other than himself.
“What the hell?” Red whispered, seeing his doppelganger mutter something but not quite making it out. Unfortunately, he had no time to ponder the sheer insanity of his present since once he slipped past the edge of the crack, his whole body slammed into some form of barrier.
One last round of thunder and shattering later, and Red fell fully into the darkness, flying past images and concepts his mind couldn’t dare comprehend until he finally stopped moving by way of falling, not so gently, flat on his back.
Can this day get any weirder or worse? Red questioned, coughing out another spurt of blood and blearily looking up to see the silhouette of a woman towering above him. His body then swiftly succumbed to the pain, and he passed out with an exhausted groan.
Red just rolled his eyes and panted for a little while longer. Once he had finally regained his breath, he stood up and called out, “Hey, Cador? You okay, kid?”
Cador looked up and shirked away from him. “What— What are you!?”
Red never got a chance to answer since at that precise moment, an earth-shaking boom thundered throughout the air, following swiftly by a tremor.
“What the hell was that!?” Red cried out, rubbing his ears and turning to see what appeared to be a crack floating in midair and crackling with unknown magical energy. “Aughhh, what now!?” he whined wearily.
“What’s happening; what is that thing!?” screamed one random pedestrian elsewhere in the street.
“Help! Guards! It’s a monster!” squealed yet another.
After that last one, Red tuned the rest out and glared at the anomaly, inquiring, “Uh, guys? What are you doing?”
“This isn’t us, Red,” Terra said, equally bewildered as Red. “We’ve nothing to do with that.”
“Well, if it’s not you then…?” Red froze and swore, “Aw, shit! Is it the Anziek?”
“Oh no. No-no-no,” Gelu muttered to herself. “No, not again…”
“Gelu?” Ignis murmured, concerned.
“The magic feels familiar,” Terra commented, sensing the power pouring off of the crack. “But something about it is odd. It’s almost as if—”
What was it that Terra found odd was left unsaid as the crack then exploded outward into several translucent fragments of solidified magic. Red then grit his teeth and braced himself against the overwhelming force that flowed forth from the fracture, gazing deep into the abyss that lied beyond it.
“What the hell is going on now!?” Ignis roared. “What is— What… Is…?” Ignis fell silent—as did the rest of the world—at what happened next.
From beyond the strange, dark void staggered a man. His white, button-down dress shirt and freshly pressed black pants stood in stark contrast to the dirty, fraying lab coat that clung to his shoulders like a makeshift cloak. A pair of heavy, custom-made combat boots thudded against the ground, sending tremors through it with every dusty, uneven step the man took as he hobbled forward.
Behind the man, the crack snapped shut, but once it had, the man looked up. Lines of age decorated his expressionless face, yet his eyes shone with a blazing youth that communicated both absolute vigor and something…else. Those eyes then locked onto Red.
The sound of his demons’ heartbeats pounded in Red’s ear alongside his own as he waited with baited breath for the man to make his next move. And, not one minute later, he did.
“Cheater.”
Perplexed, Red looked around. All of the pedestrians had long since fled, so aside from himself, only the guards’ corpses and Cador, frozen in shock, remained.
“Cheater!”
Red snapped his gaze back to the man, freezing in shock himself when he found him a scant inch away form his face. Swiftly leaping back, Red shouted, “Who the fuck are you!?”
The man didn’t answer, and instead, his mouth slowly split into a maddened grin. “And here I thought we were having a fair fight, but now I see that you’re nothing more than a dirty cheater. Even back then, you cheated!” He suddenly heaved backward and let out a deafening, maniacal laugh. “Cheater, cheater; cheater! Ah-hah-haha-hahahahaaa!”
“Guys, who the hell is this freak?” Red wordlessly asked them.
“Oh, you’ll find out soon enough, cheater!” the man answered on their behalf, returning his wicked gaze back to Red. “Or you would. But, of course, if you’re cheating life and death…? Then it’s only fair I do as well!” he shrieked, his eye twitching wildly as clouds of unknown magic began crawling along his body.
“Red, run!” Terra commanded. “His power is—”
“Too much for you to handle, eh, Gramps?” the man cut Terra off verbally. “Maybe you should fix that; have you tried interpersonal therapy? I think that’d do wonders for your teamwork,” he suggested with a shrug. “Shame you won’t get the chance to do that since you’re about to—”
Another loud boom echoed through the world, startling the man silent and drawing both of their attentions to a new, smaller crack that had suddenly formed. The second afterward, a massive, scarlet fireball emerged through it, darting straight for the man who briefly melted into a puddle of gunk to dodge it before reforming back into his original form.
“Whoopsie-daisy! I somehow had completely forgotten that you could do that,” the man admitted casually. “Whelp! I guess there’s only thing to do.”
An invisible force dragged Red straight toward the man who wasted no time clamping his calloused hands around his throat.
“Kill you now,” he completed, beaming euphorically.
Red spontaneously combusted, burning the entire front torso of the man and leaving it as nothing more than a charred husk. Terrifyingly, Red still couldn’t escape the man’s grasp, and the flames eventually died down. “Still too… Weak…”Ignis wheezed.
“Yes, you are, Iggy,” the burnt corpse concurred. In mere seconds, the charred, melted flesh peeled away to reveal brand new flesh, entirely devoid of injury. “You are weak.”
“Red!” Cador screamed, charging at the man with his dagger. Unfortunately, his rescue attempt was futile as the man simply took his other arm, reached out, and grabbed Cador’s neck as well.
“N-No! Let go of him!” Red demanded, clenching the arm holding him and sending waves of cold through it in an attempt to freeze it solid. Sadly, it didn’t work.
“You’re all so weak,” the man observed with an unnervingly cold detachment. “Ugh, the Lord will be the only challenge left for me at this point.”
As if in response, another wave of fire blasted out through the second crack, sweeping over all three of them yet leaving Red and Cador entirely untouched. Their assailant, however, struggled to weather the new assault and ultimately, thankfully fell to it, tumbling away into the turbulent inferno.
Red took the chance to gasp for air and rub his—thanks to Terra—freshly healed neck. “You okay?” he asked Cador in a panicked voice.
Cador gave no response as he was too busy coughing his guts out.
Yeah, that figures. Okay, what the fuck is going on!? Red wondered, watching the fiery torrent continue to wash over the battleground.
“Ignis, is that… Your fire?” Gelu asked uncertainly.
“No. No, I-I’m not doing this.”
“Then who—”
An ear-splitting screech echoed through the world, fighting back against the flaming typhoon until the lunatic was visible once more. “Well, fine then! Round Two, it is!” he shouted into the fire. “But first…?”
With an insane cackle, he swept his hand in Red and Cador’s direction, and the entire ground split open to reveal a pitch black void of nothingness.
“HAVE FUN, BOYS!” he yelled, whipping his hand toward them again.
What seemed like a line of solid air wrapped around both Red and Cador and pulled their screaming forms into the air before flinging them back into the massive fissure in reality.
The last thing Red heard as he and Cador tumbled through the portal’s jaws of darkness was the maddened laughter of the crazed, crooked man and the terrified screams of both Cador and his demons.
The last thing he saw, however, was their savior bursting through the flames and sending the man flying away with a blast of diamonds and stone. And once it was over, for the briefest of seconds, Red found himself looking at a nearly identical duplicate of none other than himself.
“What the hell?” Red whispered, seeing his doppelganger mutter something but not quite making it out. Unfortunately, he had no time to ponder the sheer insanity of his present since once he slipped past the edge of the crack, his whole body slammed into some form of barrier.
One last round of thunder and shattering later, and Red fell fully into the darkness, flying past images and concepts his mind couldn’t dare comprehend until he finally stopped moving by way of falling, not so gently, flat on his back.
Can this day get any weirder or worse? Red questioned, coughing out another spurt of blood and blearily looking up to see the silhouette of a woman towering above him. His body then swiftly succumbed to the pain, and he passed out with an exhausted groan.
I groaned as I slowly came to, my head pounding and ears ringing. Rubbing my forehead in a feeble attempt to stave off the headache, I slurred to myself, “How much did I drink last night?” I then glance at my hand and find it covered in traces of blood. “Probably a lot,” I surmised.
With a strained groan, I pushed myself off the ground in spite of my aching body’s protests. I then properly surveyed my surroundings and grimaced at the dark, unending expanse of gnarled vines and twisted trees that greeted me from all sides. “Okay, why am I in the Everfree?”
My ears perked at a sudden noise from behind me, and I instantly turned to face down whatever hungry manticore dared think it could have pounced me. Instead, I’m merely greeted with a woman whose dark armor reflected the warm glow of the billowing campfire before her, and sitting beside her was…
“Cador?” I groggily mumbled.
Cador glanced up, saw me, and darted over, crying, “Red!”
“Oh, good,” the woman spoke up, staying seated and keeping her eyes on the fire and the hunk of food cooking within its embers. “You’re awake.”
“No shit,” I moaned, attempting to take a step closer only to stumble to my knees.
“Whoa-whoa-whoa! Careful!” Cador exclaimed, pulling me back to my hooves. “You shielded me when we fell; you really shouldn’t move. E-Eris said you might even have a concussion.”
“That so, huh?” I said, wincing in pain and fighting off a sudden wave of dizziness. “Greeeaaat…” “Guys? You there?” I silently questioned.
“Yep,” answered the ever chipper Umbra. “I’m here, see?”
In the corner of my eye, I spotted something wave to me from within the shadows of the forest.
“Yep. I see ya. You okay, Shadow-Cat?”
“Mhmm. I had to sleep after we resurrected you, but I’m awake now. Er, obviously,”he added, chuckling softly. “The others told me about what happened.”
“Including the part with the weird, lab coat guy and the portal hopping?”
“Yep.”
“Aw, shit! That did happen?” I groaned, muttering my thanks to Cador who helped support my weight and walked me toward the campfire.
“Yes, it did,” Gelu confirmed with an exasperated sigh. “And you are concussed, but Terra’s working on that as we speak.”
“Still? How long have I been out?”
“You’ve been unconscious for nearly two hours,” she revealed bluntly.
“Wait, what? But it’s just a concussion; that usually only takes you guys a few seconds to fix.
“You haven’t eaten anything since before our last battle, and we’re all still too weak to readily heal you with our magics,” Umbra explained.
“If anything, you should be grateful that Terra had just enough power left to mend your spine,” Gelu noted. “It was the first thing that broke when you protected that mortal.”
“Really because I’m pretty sure Iggy broke it at least three times contorting my body like a rag doll anyway better mine than the kid’s.”
“See, that’s the kind of thinking that makes me really, really wish we had gotten stuck inside Sombra,” Ignis interjected angrily. “Not only would he have not gotten us killed, but he wouldn’t have risked himself for that pathetic weakling! Perhaps we should start looking for a better host,” he suggested, equally sarcastic as he was serious.
“Can’t wait five minutes before insulting me, can ya, Iggy?” I wondered, finally collapsing by the campfire with a tired sigh. “And you wonder why I respect your sister more than you.”
While Gelu snorted, her brother expressed his fury through the campfire, flaring it skyward in a glorious plume of smoke that looked suspiciously like an upward pointing claw.
“Classy, Iggy,” I whispered, shaking my head in exasperation. “Love you too, ya bastard. Now, stop doing that before the other two ask questions none of us want to answer.”
Ignis grumbled his usual grumblings about not needing to listen to my mortal ass, but I tuned it out and observed my campfire buddies.
Cador was still eyeing the now-peacefully crackling fire apprehensively, but the woman simply stared blankly at it as if she hadn’t even noticed Ignis’ gesture. However, once she realized I was looking at her, she finally turned and met my eye.
The instant she did, I heard Ignis’ growling in my ear and a sweltering heat building in my wings. “Yo, Ignis? Do you mind?”
Though he said nothing, the heat quickly dissipated, so I finally began addressing the stranger, “So did I fall out of the sky or what?” I asked.
“You did,” she answered.
“Her voice is annoying,” Ignis snarled with noticeably more venom than usual.
“Right. Thanks for keeping the kid safe while I was passed out,” I said, gesturing to Cador.
“Who cares about that stupid mortal!?”
“No problem,” the woman assured, nodding quietly. “Are you okay? You don’t seem to be too injured despite your fall,” she observed.
“I’m a quick healer,” I bragged, winking.
“No, you are not; it’s our power that heals you!”
“Yes, Ignis, I know that,” I commented, really wanting him to shut up.
“And I really want you to die, but we can’t always get what we want, can we?” he responded.
After suppressing an eye-roll, I inquired, “Are you Eris then?”
“I am,” she confirmed. “You?”
“Redsopine, but you can just call me ‘Red,’” I answered, extending a hand.
After a moment’s hesitation, she extended hers as well, but the moment her fingers brushed against mine, my hand combusted. I yelped and swiftly retracted it, willing the fire away.
“Sorry about that,” I apologized to her, smiling awkwardly. In my mind, however, I practically screeched, “What the hell, Ignis!?”
“She’s a filthy mortal; she has no right to touch us!” he argued.
“It was just a handshake, dude! It’s not like I was making a move or something, you asshole!”
“She’s lucky you weren’t; I’d have immolated her.”
I wanted nothing more than to scream at him verbally, but I didn’t. I simply bit my tongue and acted like Ignis didn’t just promise to kill everyone I ever try to date.
Sweet Celestia, I miss being free…
“Yes, we miss it too,” Gelu said, her tone dripping with spite.
“Sorry,” I apologized to Eris again. “My powers are a bit wonky even at the best of times, so…?”
“They’re our powers!”
Eris blinked owlishly for a second before saying, “You don’t have to hide them, you know.”
Uh-oh. “Um, what do you mean?” I inquired, shooting a brief glance at a confused Cador.
She glanced at the boy as well, blinking in realization. “Oh. I… See,” she emphasized with the subtlety of a wrecking ball. “Nevermind then.”
“Oh, yeah. Guys, I think she knows you’re here.”
“What!? But how!?” Umbra squealed.
“Well, if a certain crazy dragon monster didn’t keep yelling at me!” I snapped.
“For getting us all killed, consider yelling at you a mercy,” Ignis sneered.
“It’s not just that,” Gelu cut in. “Now that we’re near her, I can feel there’s something off about this woman. I can’t explain it, but it’s like she’s…? Missing something,” she concluded, not at all satisfied with her observation. “Hold on, I’ll see if Terra knows what this aura is.”
The moment her presence faded, Ignis resumed snarling even louder than before. Although, since the little bitch has always been growly around strangers, I decided to ignore him.
“Excuse me!?”
“If you don’t mind,” Eris interjected, reacquiring my attention. “I’d like to know more about what happened to you. The young one, Cador, told me that he and you were attacked…?” she ended, raising an eyebrow.
“Uh-huh,” Cador confirmed, nodding as he sat opposite the both of us. “W-We were on our way to the coliseum, and then the guards attacked us. And— And then this weird, er, thing!” he went with. “Appeared. And a monster came out of it and attacked us too!”
Eris looked at me quizzically.
“It was a portal,” I clarified. “Not sure what kind, and I couldn’t see through it.”
“And the monster it heralded?”
“Some nutjob in a lab coat. Dude almost killed us, ranted about me being a cheater—whatever that means—and then created another portal and threw us through it,” I elaborated with a dramatic flourish.
“Why did he do that if he aimed to kill you?”
“Another portal formed and whoever came out of it saved our skin.”
“Did you happen to see them?”
Me. It was me. “No,” I lied.
We both then glanced at Cador, but he merely shook his head.
Eris hummed contemplatively and returned her gaze to the fire.
Meanwhile, I sorted through my own memories of what happened, focusing on one particular image. “Hey, guys? That dude that saved us? Was that me, or was I just seeing things?”
“I wasn’t conscious, so I don’t know,” Umbra said somberly. I felt his presence shift a little, and he followed up with, “Whoa, that does look like you.”
“The others didn’t say anything to you?”
“Not about this.”
I sighed. “Well, considering how I can’t trust my own memories half of the time, I guess I can’t expect you guys to trust ‘em either. Then again? You were awake, Ignis,” I pointed out. “Did you see?”
“Through your pathetic, mortal eyes? I could scarcely see a thing,” he grumbled.
“Unless I’m trying to shake hands with a stranger, and then you freak out and make me explode on them,” I shot back.
Umbra tried valiantly to hide his mirth but ultimately failed. Ignis, on the other hand, didn’t pay me any mind at all. In fact, from what I could sense, he was keeping his focus squarely on Eris.
Before I could ask Ignis what he was so enamored by, Eris resumed speaking. “You said your assailant threw you through a portal, correct?” she questioned.
“Yep.”
“And you, Cador, you spoke of a coliseum?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Hmm. Alright, let me ask you both this: Do you know where you are? What land you’re in?”
“Equestria?” I guessed.
“Correct,” Eris confirmed.
“Wait, what?” Cador said, scratching his head in confusion. “Where are we? I-I’ve never heard of Equestria before.”
“It’s my home, kiddo,” I clarified.
“I assumed as much,” Eris said, pointing at my muzzle. “Although, I doubt this Equestria is your Equestria.”
The second her words registered, I moaned and held my face in my hands. “I dimension hopped again!? Oh, come on! Can’t it ever be a normal teleportation portal for once!?”
“I take it that crossing worlds is not uncommon for you?” she supposed.
“I wish it were.”
“Dimension… Hopped…?” Cador nervously repeated. “W-What does that mean?”
“It means your attacker ripped open a hole in time and space and carelessly tossed you through it,” Eris explained bluntly. “This world you’re in right now? It’s not yours. Not just the location, mind you. The entire. World.”
Cador swayed a little, but after giving his head a small shake he protested, “But that’s impossible! Wh-What are you saying? That there’s really other worlds?”
“Correct.”
“Why are we concerned with this?” Ignis growled.
“But I-I can’t— H-How could that— My sister; I— Wh-What am I supposed to do!? I-I-I need to get back!” Cador screamed, starting to hyperventilate. “My sister needs me!”
“I don’t care; cease your whining, mortal!”
“Cador, it’s okay,” I comforted. “We’ll get you back, no problem.”
“How!? I-I-I don’t even know where we are, o-or how we got here!”
“Also, uh, Red?” Umbra spoke up. “We’re still too weak to make portals ourselves, so we’re stuck here too.”
“Yes, and we’re weakened thanks to you!” Ignis shrieked. “Because you got us killed, you reckless bastard!”
“Ignis—”
“Shut up, Umbra!”
“It doesn’t matter how,” I deflected, attempting to ease Cador’s woes. “We’ll find a way to get you back to your sister; hell, we’ll find a way to help your sister while we’re here!” I promised. “How does that sound?”
Cador was utterly floored by that declaration, muttering, “Y-You will?”
“Yep.”
“Wh-Why?”
“Eh, I like helping people,” I said, shrugging casually. “And I promise that I will help you.”
For one glorious second, Cador looked genuinely relieved. Unfortunately…
“You shouldn’t make promises you may not be able to keep,” Eris advised tactlessly.
And with that, my attempts to mollify Cador are annulled, and he immediately started shivering as tears welled up in his eyes again.
“And now the whelp is crying! Pathetic!”
“Ignis, shut up,” I instinctively barked at him, not remotely ready to deal with the asshole’s attitude anymore today. “Look, Cador, I—”
My voice suddenly cut out as an intense burning ate away at the pits of my stomach before weaving throughout my intestines. I hastily slapped my hands against my mouth and desperately tried to fight back Ignis, but small tongues of flame reached up through my throat and licked at my hands, making me collapse to the ground in agony.
Eris and Cador both realized something was wrong, and while the latter jumped away in fear and confusion, the former drew her sword and stared me down warily.
“R-Red?” Cador mumbled, grimacing in shock.
By no means was this the first time that Ignis—or any of my roommates for that matter—had screwed with me like this in front of complete strangers, but this wasthe first time they did it in front of a child. And if it weren’t for the fact that Ignis had complete control of my body right now, I’d have made my displeasure very, veryclear.
Luckily, a second later, Gelu’s presence returned alongside Terra’s.
“Ignis, what are you doing!?” Terra cried out, attempting to suppress the fire demon’s assault but to no avail. “Why are you hurting, Red!?”
“Because we’re stuck with this bastard!” Ignis roared madly. “And all he cares about this stupid wench and mortal!”
“Ignis,” Gelu began, her tone remaining as neutral as ever. “As much I enjoy seeing you torture the fool, we are in no condition to heal him afterward.”
“Don’t worry, Gelu,” he pleaded, practically radiating sadistic glee. “I’ll only hurt him a little! You can surely take this, can’t you, Redsopine?”
Following his question, my right arm burned as if dipped in lava, yet barely a bead of sweat was visible among my fur. Much to my relief, the sensation soon faded thanks to Umbra.
“Ignis, why are you doing this?” he asked, his voice calm-yet-concerned.
“Because I want to; stop fighting me!”
Umbra didn’t, and in fact, he was immediately aided by Terra who commanded, “Ignis, stop. This is no time to throw a tantrum. We all agreed to work together, and if we are to vanquish the Anziek—”
“Oh, would you just shut the hell up already!” Ignis bellowed, startling the elder demon into silence. “You do not get to order me around like some twisted, little puppet!”
“I never said I did,” Terra replied, more confused than he was affronted.
“And yet you act like it! Every day it's the same shit! ‘Oh, don't hurt the mortal, Ignis!’” Ignis continued in a mocking tone. “‘Give him all of your power and let him abuse you and your sister as if you were mere pets!’”
With Ignis’ attention drawn away from torturing me, Umbra managed to finish easing my pain uninhibited. “Thanks, Shadow-Cat,” I whispered to him once he had finished.
“You’re welcome,” Umbra whispered back, his ghostly visage winking kindly before fading away into the shadows once more.
“Red?” Eris began hesitantly, sheathing her sword. “Are you alright?”
I wiped at my mouth and took several gulps of air, barely suppressing the urge to vomit. Afterward, I slowly nodded, affirming, “Yep.”
Meanwhile, Ignis’ booming screams had only grown louder. “—We’re trapped for the rest of eternity in this stupid, suicidal fool, and you don’t even care!”
After letting out a tired groan, Terra countered, “Ignis, I’ve told you time and again that we will work on freeing ourselves later.”
“Why shouldn’t we be free now!? We would never have died if we were the ones in control!”
“He has a point,” Gelu weighed in. “You insist that we act friendly toward the mortal every second of every day, and yet never pester him to return the gesture.”
“You know, if you wanted me to start being nicer to you two, then maybe you should stop torturing me for every mild inconvenience.”
“Red, you’re not helping!” Terra barked.
“You call getting us killed a ‘mild inconvenience’!?” Gelu shrieked, furious.
“We’re sick of your double standard, Terra!” Ignis snarled, ignoring me entirely. “You think that just because your our elder that you’re somehow wiser, better; superior!? No… You know nothing of us!”
“Ignis—”
“We are not your pets!” Ignis cut him off with a hostile growl. “You do not own me. You do not control me! I am not! Your! Puppet!” he ended, irate.
While I tried to massage away the headache the demons’ arguing was giving me, Cador turned to Eris and worriedly asked, “Is he okay?”
Eris met Cador’s eye for a brief second before walking over to me, looking me over with a faint frown. “Are you sure I shouldn’t be concerned?” she inquired, reaching a hand out.
“Heh. I wouldn’t bother,” I grunted dismissively. “I don’t. I barely even know what their deal is half of the time,” I added, taking the offered hand.
The moment our hands touched, everything went silent, and all I couldnext perceive was a white-hot, all-consuming pain. I writhed in pain and release a tormented screech, but it went completely unheard by anyone and anything in the pitch black void I found myself within.
“Do not touch us!” a loud, ear-grating voice screamed, seemingly from my own mouth. “Filthy vermin! How dare you touch our flesh!”
“—Treat your host better, Fire Demon,” noted the quiet, emotionless voice of Eris. All is silent for a moment before “—No idea my touch was so horrendous,” echoed to me as well.
“Every mortal's touch is horrendous! But yours is especially infuriating,” the previous voice replied, and this time, I recognized it.
It was Ignis.
The moment I realized that, awareness flooded my mind and senses, worsening the pain tenfold but allowing me to finally begin clawing my way out of the pits of my own subconscious.
“I wonder why…?” Eris’ voice echoed once again, and from her tone, I could tell she realized arguing with Ignis was pointless. “I shall refrain from touching you again. Is that agreeable?”
A wave of sheer, unadulterated fury flooded my entire being, but I push through and break back into the waking world with a cry of determination.
“Red, you’re awake!” Umbra yelped in surprise, turning his senses onto my presence.
“Oh, swell,” Gelu snarked.
“Can it, bitch!” I snapped.
Ignis had wasted no time mangling my body to his liking, and now, a solid half of my upper body was coated in a sheet of dark crimson scales, and my entire right arm had been replaced with a twisted, malformed dragon's claw; I could even feel the slight wiggling sensation of a wing growing inside my back. All of my original flesh had, of course, been discarded upon the ground as nothing more than blackened, melted gunk.
Ordinarily, Terra would have been vehemently protesting this, but considering that he was dead silent, he must have been suppressed just as I had been. Luckily, I’m awake again, meaning I can protest to my heart’s content. “Ignis, you son of a bitch! Give me back my fucking body!”
Ignis obviously didn’t listen to me; instead, he merelyglared balefully at Eris as if she weren’t simply sitting down and staring at him with disdain.
“‘Agreeable’?” he repeated via my now-fanged jaw. “What would be agreeable is if you were to die!”
Too late. Ignis had already launched himself forward. Only to be swatted away like a fly.
Ignis skidded against the ground for a second before righting himself and crouching on all-fours, snarling bestially. I then felt his power course through my other arm, but I quickly stop it and repeat, “Give me back! My fucking! BODY!”
Eris, meanwhile, shook her stinging wrist and muttered, “Ow. Your scales are durable, I’ll give you that.”
“Just wait till you feel my claws,” Ignis screeched, sending his power to my legs only for me stop him once again.
“Mhmm. Well, if it’s all the same to you, I’d really rather not fight,” Eris acknowledged, holding her hands behind her back and staring at Ignis coldly.
“And I’d rather you stand still and let me spill your guts out!” Ignis spat at her.
“Ignis, stop it!” Umbra cried out, trying to help me regain control. “You’re going too far; this isn’t what Terra would—”
“I don't care!” Ignis snapped, quashing Umbra's presence entirely and leaving me all alone to quell him.
“Red, please stop!” Cador started, rushing between Ignis and Eris. “She helped us; you can’t just— Y-You can’t just…” he trailed off, quivering under the intense hatred that radiated from Ignis’ draconic eyes.
No.
Ignis let out a startled yelp as my body seized up.
To my utter surprise, Gelu neither said nor did anything, whether to fight me or help her brother. Good thing too because I’m done dealing with both of their shit.
As Ignis struggled to resist my will, he huffed out one last cloud of fire and smoke, eyeing Eris with nothing but pure virulence.
Eris, on the other hand, realized what was going on and commented, “Seems your host is quite angry with you.”
“Shut up!”
“‘Host’?” Cador repeated, puzzled.
“That’s not your friend, Cador,” Eris said, keeping her gaze focused on Ignis. “It’s one of the demons within him.”
…
Cador passed out.
“Pathetic whelp,” Ignis sneered.
“‘Pathetic’?” Eris repeated, raising an eyebrow. “Being overwhelmed by having everything you’ve ever known and cared for be ripped away from you… You call that pathetic?”
“Weakness is pathetic!” he replied, struggling fruitlessly to drive me away again and failing miserably. “Being overwhelmed by anything is a weakness, so yes! It is pathetic!”
For the span of a heartbeat, I could feel yet another torrent of rage wash over me. It was blinding. All-encompassing. Endless…
It terrified me down to the pits of my soul, and Ignis must have sensed that for in the brief second I felt that aura, Ignis regained complete control, roaring at the top of our lungs as his draconic flesh rapidly burned away mine from the inside out.
Eris then closed her eyes and took a slow, steady breath.
As abruptly as it began, the feeling ended, and Ignis stopped. “W-What?” he muttered through my mouth, blinking in confusion.
Gelu was similarly dumbfounded by what had just happened, but before either of them could speak or move, I seized my chance.
Ignis shrieked in protest, but unfortunately for him, I had caught him entirely off-guard, so all he could do was desperately cling to my body and flail as, scale-by-scale, he was ejected from the pilot seat.
Realizing he wouldn’t be able to fight me off, Ignis turned his fiery gaze to Eris and roared, “If you had even the slightest hint of intelligence, you'd stay away from us! I know what you are! And I know what you carry!” He growled in pain as his claw began to evaporate away, revealing my burnt, bleeding arm. “You will not stop us! You will not stop me!”
Eris looked confused for a second before her face darkened. “So, you know about that, do you?” she asked darkly, standing and stepping away from the fire. “That must be why…” She sighed quietly and apologized, “I’m sorry, Redsopine. I did not mean to incur your demon’s wrath.”
I have no idea what meant, but I was a bit busy finishing Ignis off to care.
“Once you get control back, come visit me in this world’s Ponyville,” Eris urged, standing and stepping away from the fire. “I will help you get home, but evidently, I’m going to need to tell you some things before I do.”
And with that, Eris turned and walked away, disappearing into the thicket of the Everfree Forest.
The moment her presence faded, Ignis surrendered control, and I promptly collapsed to the ground in a writhing, twitching mess.
Umbra and Terra both immediately flared back to life, and the latter proceeded to heal me from Ignis' latest hissy fit. Gelu, meanwhile, regarded her taciturn brother with a mixture of confusion, fury and the slightest hint of disappointment.
“You should have fought harder, Brother,” she coldly criticized.
Ignis said nothing.
A minute or two later, I recovered enough to sit up and cough my guts out. “Ignis,” I wheezed. “Fuck. You.”
Ignis continued to say nothing, so I inquired, “Gramps, am I good to get up?”
“I wouldn’t exactly advise it, but—”
I got up anyway and weakly stumbled over to Cador who was still unconscious. I then knelt beside him and rubbed my hands together, stopping once I heard the telltale hum of my pegasus magic.
One tiny pulse of static later, Cador was shocked back into the waking word with a yelp. After fully regaining his senses, he met my eye and practically threw himself away from me, beholding me with nothing shy of terror.
And now for the awkward part. “Sorry you had to see that, kiddo,” I apologized meekly. “You okay?”
“No!” Cador screamed, voice cracking. “I don’t know what’s happening, where I am, or what I’m going to do! I-I just wanted to fight… I just wanted some stupid Bits for my sister; I didn’t want…” Cador curled up into a ball and started sobbing.
“H-Hey! Cador, look, I know everything is going haywire right now,” I acknowledged as gently as I could which I’m ashamed to admit wasn’t much. “But I really meant it when I promised I’d get you home and your sister fixed, okay? And I always keep my promises.”
“H-How am I supposed to believe you?” Cador whimpered. “I don’t even know who o-o-or what you are!”
I sighed and sat in the dirt myself. “Sometimes, I have a hard time knowing that too, kid.”
…
…
…
“What was that?” Cador eventually squeaked out. “Wh-Why did you try attacking Eris? She— She helped us, a-and you…”
I inhaled sharply and let it out softly. “Yeaaahhh, about that? That… Wasn’t exactly… Me.”
“She said that too,” he replied, wiping his eyes dry only for them to tear up once again. “That you were possessed or something.”
“How freaked out would you be if I told you she was right?”
“Wait, seriously!?” Cador squealed, scurrying even further away from me.
“Hey, you think this head got so thick and big from ego alone?” I joked, pointing to my own skull. “Heh-heh. I mean, it probably did, but my roommates don’t help.”
“Ugh, that’s a long story,” I groaned exaggeratedly, hiding an uncomfortable wince. “Let’s just say that I found a few, er, creatures. And after some magical hijinks, they all got stuck inside me. One of them—the asshole,” I snarled. “Had an issue with Eris and wanted to make sure we all knew it.”
“So, he… Mind-controlled you?”
And ripped every last cell of my body apart, twisting me into an unholy abomination and sending my mind spiraling into a haze of hellish torment. Instead of that, I opted to say, “Yeah, basically.”
Cador gulped.
A small stretch of silence passed between us, disturbed only by the creatures of the Everfree and subdued crackling of Eris’ fire. I then turned my gaze over to it, hoping to find the remains of whatever she was cooking in it, but finding it had been charred beyond salvation and scattered across the ground.
“Good going, Iggy. We’re low on magic, and you ruined the only good meal around for miles,” I growled.
“I see a perfectly good meal standing not two meters away from us,” Ignis growled back.
“Okay, that’s it!” Terra suddenly roared.
Ignis and Gelu’s auras both vanished with nary a cry of protest.
Terra let out a low, irritated sigh, and I subsequently coughed out a cloud of dust. “Sorry, Red,” he said, noticing that.
“Ain’t the first time you dirtied up my mouth; I doubt it’ll be the last,” I responded, knowing full-well he wouldn’t let it be the last. “But seriously, Gramps, what the absolute fuck is Ignis’ problem!?”
“Well, it’s not exactly a secret that he doesn’t like you,” he acknowledged.
“What? Ignis doesn’t like me? Get outta here; I had no idea!”
“You know what I mean, Red.” After a brief pause, Terra conceded, “That said, I expected him to refrain from harming you when we’re so weak. And I doubt you said anything to set him off…”
“Does it even matter if I say or do anything when it comes to him and his bitch sister?”
“Red, language.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Terra did indeed shut up, inciting Umbra to finally speak his own piece. “Gelu said that there was some kind of aura emanating from Eris. I-I couldn’t really sense it myself, but… Do you think it might have done something to Ignis?” he asked Terra.
I can’t tell if that’s Umbra simply being naive, or if he’s trying to find any way he can to excuse Ignis for violating my body and mind. Again. Either way, I’m left with a sour taste in my mouth that has nothing to do with blood, gore, or dirt.
Eventually, however, Terra softly began, “Our current forms are unaffected by all but the most ancient of magics. So, no, Umbra. I do not believe Ms. Eris had anything to do with Ignis’ outburst,” he proclaimed. “The only way she could was if she possessed a power equatable to our own.”
“And if she does?” Umbra inquired.
“…Then she is someone we’d be wise to not enrage.”
“Speaking of rage,” I began in my mind as I stood up. “C’mon, Cador. Let’s get out of this dumb forest,” I urged, extending him my right hand.
It was then that I noticed that over half of my arm was still covered in patches of half-formed, blood red dragon scales, and even my nails seemed longer and sharper than usual. Cador still took my hand regardless, but I still issued yet another round of silent curses Ignis’ way.
After helping Cador to his feet, I shifted my cloak to fully hide my mutated arm, guessing, “Food and sleep?”
“Food and sleep,” Terra and Umbra confirmed simultaneously.
“Great.” I gave Cador a comforting pat on his back and observed, “Seems this is the way back to town, and I think we’ve had enough surprises for one day. You?”
“I just want to go home,” he mewled, hanging his head low but proceeding forward anyway.
“Yeah. Yeah, me too, kid,” I whispered, shoving away images of my friends and family being torn apart by the Anziek without me. “Let’s go.”
We then walk side-by-side along the forest path.
Around a quarter of an hour later, we finally arrive at the forest’s edge, both of us bearing a few more mosquito bites than we’d prefer but otherwise unharmed.
I then out let out a long, low sigh and smile sadly at the sight of Ponyville. I know it’s not my Ponyville, and for all I know, this version won’t be nearly as accepting of my condition as my version is, but despite all that…?
“It’s good to be home,” I mumbled. I then started walking forward, relieved that this Ponyville has the same layout as mine. “C’mon, Cador. If there’s one place we need to head to, it’s the library.”
“I’d rather find a place to lay down and sleep,” came Cador’s reply.
I chuckled. “Lucky you. If the librarian is who I think it is, she’ll practically beg for the chance to rent you out the spare room.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I ain’t kidding, kiddo. Knowing her, she won’t even charge you Bits. Just be ready to answer a two hour long questionnaire or something when you meet her,” I warned slyly.
“Huh?”
I just smirked and continued walking, leading Cador past Fluttershy’s cottage and into Ponyville proper. A few minutes later, I smiled a little more genuinely to find this Ponyville managed to keep its Golden Oaks Library, and I hastened my steps. However, once we finally approached it, we stopped at the sound of voices coming out through the open windows.
“—Come on, Twilight, it’s not like I didn't tell you about the Displaced!” yelled one voice I recognized belonged to Eris.
“You said that Displaced came form Earth not from our own world!” retorted someone else that I’m certain was Twilight Sparkle.
“Because I didn't know! I mean, I know a lot about the Displaced but not everything,” Eris confessed with a huff.
“Are you kidding me!?”
“She always did hate consulting unreliable sources,” Terra commented.
“Seriously, Twilight,” Eris resumed. “They just showed up out of a tear in reality while I was making sure the Human Transmutation circle was destroyed. I’m not kidding—They literally fell out of the sky. How do I prepare for something like that; how would you prepare for something like that?”
“I’ll tell you how I would have prepared for something like that!”
Not wanting to wait ten hours for Twilight to finish talking, I hurriedly knocked on the tree house’s door, interrupting the conversation.
A cloud of magic surrounded the doorknob and unlocked it, and the caster then called out, “Come in.”
I took Twilight up on that offer and opened the door, casually strolling in and greeting, “Hey, we’re finally… Augh, son of a bitch,” I cursed, putting my hands up in surrender.
A large group of armed guards all directed their spears at me and Cador. I could tell from a glance that they’re only holding me and Cador up due to our strange appearances, but knowing that doesn’t do much to quell my irritation at having my life threatened for the dozenth time today.
Eris rolled her eyes at the guards, openly wondering, “So, how many demon incursions into the library is it now? Ten?”
Twilight silently glared at her before turning her attention to me and Cador. “Guards, at ease; they mean us no harm.Right?” she ended, shooting Eris a questioning look.
Eris nodded, so Twilight nodded to the guards, and after another moment of hesitation, they all holstered their weapons.
“Um, thanks?” I said, shutting the library door and making sure that Cador stayed behind me.
“No, no. Sorry about that,” Twilight apologized. “I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle,” she announced, giving her head a slight bow. “Are you Mr. Redsopine and Mr. Cador?”
“Yep,” I confirmed while Cador simply nodded his head numbly, staring fearfully at the nearby guards.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Twilight chirped, smiling warmly. “I’ve heard you two have had a rather, er, problematic day?”
“That’s putting it mildly.”
“Yes, well…? My teacher, Princess Celestia, is the ruler of all of Equestria. She’ll be arriving soon, but in the meantime? Can you tell me more about who you are, what happened to you, and how you came to be in our land?”
“Depends on whether or not you’re ready for an overly complicated story spanning several different universes and involving multiple eldritch demons,” I dryly replied.
“‘Universes’?” she echoed. “Plural?”
“Universes. Plural,” I confirmed.
“And demons too? Of the eldritch variety?”
“Mhmm.”
Twilight stood there for a solid minute, obviously holding in a long, excited squee. After succeeding at that, she turned around and said, “Let me go get us all some cocoa.”
“Mind if I raid your fridge in the meantime?” I asked, following her into the kitchen. “I’m famished.”
“Uh-huh, uh-huh! Sure, whatever you need,” she said, not paying the slightest bit of attention as her horn flared to life and summoned all manner of quills, scrolls, and books.
“Thanks!”Ignis said nothing.
A minute or two later, I recovered enough to sit up and cough my guts out. “Ignis,” I wheezed. “Fuck. You.”
Ignis continued to say nothing, so I inquired, “Gramps, am I good to get up?”
“I wouldn’t exactly advise it, but—”
I got up anyway and weakly stumbled over to Cador who was still unconscious. I then knelt beside him and rubbed my hands together, stopping once I heard the telltale hum of my pegasus magic.
One tiny pulse of static later, Cador was shocked back into the waking word with a yelp. After fully regaining his senses, he met my eye and practically threw himself away from me, beholding me with nothing shy of terror.
And now for the awkward part. “Sorry you had to see that, kiddo,” I apologized meekly. “You okay?”
“No!” Cador screamed, voice cracking. “I don’t know what’s happening, where I am, or what I’m going to do! I-I just wanted to fight… I just wanted some stupid Bits for my sister; I didn’t want…” Cador curled up into a ball and started sobbing.
“H-Hey! Cador, look, I know everything is going haywire right now,” I acknowledged as gently as I could which I’m ashamed to admit wasn’t much. “But I really meant it when I promised I’d get you home and your sister fixed, okay? And I always keep my promises.”
“H-How am I supposed to believe you?” Cador whimpered. “I don’t even know who o-o-or what you are!”
I sighed and sat in the dirt myself. “Sometimes, I have a hard time knowing that too, kid.”
…
…
…
“What was that?” Cador eventually squeaked out. “Wh-Why did you try attacking Eris? She— She helped us, a-and you…”
I inhaled sharply and let it out softly. “Yeaaahhh, about that? That… Wasn’t exactly… Me.”
“She said that too,” he replied, wiping his eyes dry only for them to tear up once again. “That you were possessed or something.”
“How freaked out would you be if I told you she was right?”
“Wait, seriously!?” Cador squealed, scurrying even further away from me.
“Hey, you think this head got so thick and big from ego alone?” I joked, pointing to my own skull. “Heh-heh. I mean, it probably did, but my roommates don’t help.”
“Ugh, that’s a long story,” I groaned exaggeratedly, hiding an uncomfortable wince. “Let’s just say that I found a few, er, creatures. And after some magical hijinks, they all got stuck inside me. One of them—the asshole,” I snarled. “Had an issue with Eris and wanted to make sure we all knew it.”
“So, he… Mind-controlled you?”
And ripped every last cell of my body apart, twisting me into an unholy abomination and sending my mind spiraling into a haze of hellish torment. Instead of that, I opted to say, “Yeah, basically.”
Cador gulped.
A small stretch of silence passed between us, disturbed only by the creatures of the Everfree and subdued crackling of Eris’ fire. I then turned my gaze over to it, hoping to find the remains of whatever she was cooking in it, but finding it had been charred beyond salvation and scattered across the ground.
“Good going, Iggy. We’re low on magic, and you ruined the only good meal around for miles,” I growled.
“I see a perfectly good meal standing not two meters away from us,” Ignis growled back.
“Okay, that’s it!” Terra suddenly roared.
Ignis and Gelu’s auras both vanished with nary a cry of protest.
Terra let out a low, irritated sigh, and I subsequently coughed out a cloud of dust. “Sorry, Red,” he said, noticing that.
“Ain’t the first time you dirtied up my mouth; I doubt it’ll be the last,” I responded, knowing full-well he wouldn’t let it be the last. “But seriously, Gramps, what the absolute fuck is Ignis’ problem!?”
“Well, it’s not exactly a secret that he doesn’t like you,” he acknowledged.
“What? Ignis doesn’t like me? Get outta here; I had no idea!”
“You know what I mean, Red.” After a brief pause, Terra conceded, “That said, I expected him to refrain from harming you when we’re so weak. And I doubt you said anything to set him off…”
“Does it even matter if I say or do anything when it comes to him and his bitch sister?”
“Red, language.”
“Oh, shut up.”
Terra did indeed shut up, inciting Umbra to finally speak his own piece. “Gelu said that there was some kind of aura emanating from Eris. I-I couldn’t really sense it myself, but… Do you think it might have done something to Ignis?” he asked Terra.
I can’t tell if that’s Umbra simply being naive, or if he’s trying to find any way he can to excuse Ignis for violating my body and mind. Again. Either way, I’m left with a sour taste in my mouth that has nothing to do with blood, gore, or dirt.
Eventually, however, Terra softly began, “Our current forms are unaffected by all but the most ancient of magics. So, no, Umbra. I do not believe Ms. Eris had anything to do with Ignis’ outburst,” he proclaimed. “The only way she could was if she possessed a power equatable to our own.”
“And if she does?” Umbra inquired.
“…Then she is someone we’d be wise to not enrage.”
“Speaking of rage,” I began in my mind as I stood up. “C’mon, Cador. Let’s get out of this dumb forest,” I urged, extending him my right hand.
It was then that I noticed that over half of my arm was still covered in patches of half-formed, blood red dragon scales, and even my nails seemed longer and sharper than usual. Cador still took my hand regardless, but I still issued yet another round of silent curses Ignis’ way.
After helping Cador to his feet, I shifted my cloak to fully hide my mutated arm, guessing, “Food and sleep?”
“Food and sleep,” Terra and Umbra confirmed simultaneously.
“Great.” I gave Cador a comforting pat on his back and observed, “Seems this is the way back to town, and I think we’ve had enough surprises for one day. You?”
“I just want to go home,” he mewled, hanging his head low but proceeding forward anyway.
“Yeah. Yeah, me too, kid,” I whispered, shoving away images of my friends and family being torn apart by the Anziek without me. “Let’s go.”
We then walk side-by-side along the forest path.
Around a quarter of an hour later, we finally arrive at the forest’s edge, both of us bearing a few more mosquito bites than we’d prefer but otherwise unharmed.
I then out let out a long, low sigh and smile sadly at the sight of Ponyville. I know it’s not my Ponyville, and for all I know, this version won’t be nearly as accepting of my condition as my version is, but despite all that…?
“It’s good to be home,” I mumbled. I then started walking forward, relieved that this Ponyville has the same layout as mine. “C’mon, Cador. If there’s one place we need to head to, it’s the library.”
“I’d rather find a place to lay down and sleep,” came Cador’s reply.
I chuckled. “Lucky you. If the librarian is who I think it is, she’ll practically beg for the chance to rent you out the spare room.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I ain’t kidding, kiddo. Knowing her, she won’t even charge you Bits. Just be ready to answer a two hour long questionnaire or something when you meet her,” I warned slyly.
“Huh?”
I just smirked and continued walking, leading Cador past Fluttershy’s cottage and into Ponyville proper. A few minutes later, I smiled a little more genuinely to find this Ponyville managed to keep its Golden Oaks Library, and I hastened my steps. However, once we finally approached it, we stopped at the sound of voices coming out through the open windows.
“—Come on, Twilight, it’s not like I didn't tell you about the Displaced!” yelled one voice I recognized belonged to Eris.
“You said that Displaced came form Earth not from our own world!” retorted someone else that I’m certain was Twilight Sparkle.
“Because I didn't know! I mean, I know a lot about the Displaced but not everything,” Eris confessed with a huff.
“Are you kidding me!?”
“She always did hate consulting unreliable sources,” Terra commented.
“Seriously, Twilight,” Eris resumed. “They just showed up out of a tear in reality while I was making sure the Human Transmutation circle was destroyed. I’m not kidding—They literally fell out of the sky. How do I prepare for something like that; how would you prepare for something like that?”
“I’ll tell you how I would have prepared for something like that!”
Not wanting to wait ten hours for Twilight to finish talking, I hurriedly knocked on the tree house’s door, interrupting the conversation.
A cloud of magic surrounded the doorknob and unlocked it, and the caster then called out, “Come in.”
I took Twilight up on that offer and opened the door
Unfortunately, as soon as I stepped through the library, a bright flash surrounded me. Once it was over, I rubbed my eyes and opened them to find myself trapped in a jail cell and several dumbfounded guards staring at me, slack-jawed. They didn't stay that way for long, however, and they swiftly drew their weapons and leveled at them straight at my head.
“Augh, son of a bitch,” I cursed, putting my hands up in surrender. Just how many times is my life going to be threatened today?
“Well now how many demon incursions into the library is it now ten busy month since the princesses Protégée moved in now just sit there while the princess arrives to judge your fate.”
Sighing as I sit down in the cell and leaning back against the wall only to be shocked. "Well, fuck." I said with a groan.
I move and sit in the center of my cell completely board out of my mind till i felt his stomach gurgle. "Fuck." I say with a groan as i look over auto where the guards are ignoring me. “Hey, any chance I can get something to eat?" I asked. "I mean within the past two days I’ve fought in a war, died and was brought back to life, thrown through a dimensional rift, got a concussion, had my arm screwed up by a uncooperative roommate and now I’m jail doing nothing.” he said grumpily. "The least you all could do is get me some food." The Guards watching me didn't respond however as i was about to speak again the one at the desk doing paper work looked up and directly at me.
“Never heard that story before but to answer your request for food, the answer is no. just sit there and wait this won’t take longer then a few minutes for the Princess to show up and judge your fate.”
“Less then that captain should we begin now or do you need his name?” A voice asks as princess Celestia walks in.
I grin, watching Celestia step into view and come to a stop across from me, just outside the cell. “Hey, Sunny-Buns. You should ease up on the cake,” I tease.
“Why you— How dare you talk to the Princess like that!” the guard accompanying her yells in anger.
Celestia merely sighs and orders, “Leave him be. If he’s speaking so rudely, it’s obvious he’s not the one in control. Is he?” she asks me, thinking she was asking one of my roommates.
Still smirking, I raise an eyebrow in contrast to her narrowed ones. After a moment though, I just roll my eyes and explain, “See? That’s where your wrong, Sunny-Buns. I am in control; I just don’t care for authority that’s not myPrincess.”
That gets a blink out of Celestia which soon turns to an expression of some mix between amusement and exasperation. I can’t help but take it as a personal win that I can draw that same expression out of any Celestia I meet, not just my own.
“Then I suppose that makes you a rather rude pony,” she finally comments, her tone growing steely.
“I get that a lot.”
“Mhmm. And pray tell, why should I believe you’re that body’s true soul as opposed to one of the parasites I sense within you?” she questions, sneering disbelievingly. “I know your kind, Demons, and I most certainly know better than to expect honesty of you.”
“You wound us, Princess,” Gelu answers, and I recoil slightly, coughing at the icy fog creeping out of both my nose and mouth.
“You know, you guys aren’t helping when you do shit like that!” I snap.
“You’re really not,” Celestia concurs. “I would recommend not hurting my subject anymore than you already have, lest you know my ire.”
Both Ignis and Gelu are about to respond, but Terra swiftly stops them, urging, “Don’t rise, you two! This isn’t our Celestia; she doesn’t know us!”
“And so we should excuse her pathetic attempt at threatening us!?” Ignis roars.
“I’m saying we must earn her trust first, and that can’t happen if you two do nothing but harm Red!”
“Speaking through him does not hurt him,” Gelu argues.
“Yes, it does. Every time,” I deadpan.
“Is, uh, he talking to himself?” one of the other guards asks Celestia.
“No, he’s talking to them,” she explains, frowning. “Are they threatening you, my little pony?” she asks me. “I can help you; I only need to know what magic binds you to them.”
For a brief second, Ignis, Gelu, and Terra all freeze up, fearing I’ll actually answer that. Naturally, they’re a little surprised when I groan, “Okay, Princess, look… I’m not your little pony, alright? And the idiots I’ve got swimming around in my head are just that: Idiots.”
I can’t tell if it was Ignis or Gelu who made me bang my head against the prison bars after that, but I brush it off as usual, rubbing my head slightly and saying, “See? Idiots. I die; they die, but they still like making me bang my head against things.”
“I take it such abuse is a regular occurrence then?” she responds in the same warm, motherly tone my Celestia uses. It peeves me off as much as it calms me down.
“Oh, you’ve no idea,” I sneer. “I’d be happy to give you the full backstory behind how I ended up with them in my head all the time, but, uh? I don’t really have the patience for that,” I admit, chuckling. “And neither do they. We barely have the patience for this,” I grumble, lightly rapping my hand against the bars. “So, as much as I hate not whining about how screwed up my life is, could we hurry this along? I’ve got places to be, friends to save; wars to fight… You know. The usual.”
Celestia blinks again. “Wars… To fight?” she echos.
I facepalm of my own accord—though I know for a fact the others did as well—and say, “Look, do you know Eris? That name ringing a bell?”
“It does.”
“Okay, good. She should be able to explain my situation. But since she’s not here yet, I'll just say I’m not from here.”
“From this world, you mean?”
I’m the one who blinks this time. “Uh? Yeah, basically. How’d you know?”
“Eris has informed us of several things,” she reveals calmly.
“Ah. That’s how.” I click to my tongue and tap my hoof. “Sooo…? About letting me out?”
“Out of the question!” a guard exclaims.
“At least,” Celestia continues, giving said guard an assuasive look, placating him. “Not until we know for sure you’re not lying. As I’ve mentioned, for all I know, you could be yet another demon merely pretending to be that pony.”
I groan.
“I’m guessing we’re not welcome here, huh?” Umbra’s voice suddenly pipes up, echoing throughout the room as the lights flicker for a moment.
Celestia and her guards all look about for the source of the sound; meanwhile, I hang my head, wincing in anticipation.
“What is— What is he doing!?” Ignis shouts, searching through our shared soul. Upon not finding the youngest of my roommates, he screams, “Where did he go!?”
“Do you intend to break out, Demons?” Celestia asks, glaring me down and reaching for the sword at her side.
“Yeah, uh, he’s already broken out,” I say, looking above her and snorting at what I see. “And is currently trying your crown on.”
After I say that, the guards look up and go wide-eyed at the sight of the shapeless, shadowy demon sitting atop their Princess’ head.
The aforementioned Princess, however, stills and cautiously reaches up toward her mane, feeling something ethereal flow around her hand before forming into a ball of soft, fluffy fur. A gentle purring reaches her ear as the fluffy mass rubs endearingly against her hoof. On instinct, she gives it a small scratch, and the purring fades briefly so a young voice can plead, “Ooh, can you keep doing that? It’s been too long since someone last gave me an ear scratch!”
“W-What in the world?” Celestia mutters, pulling the creature down from her head and holding him before her.
The Demon is an odd, cat-like creature with a pitch black coat, the odd streak of deep indigo and dark gray barely visible through the smokey shadows bleeding off of it, and though it is somewhat larger than an average adult feline, it is clearly still a kitten. Its eyes are a soft, shimmering gold—the same shade of the crown it had stolen and now wore—and the Demon gazes up at Celestia with a look of purest innocent, aided by its happy smile.
Umbra’s hiding his tusks, I notice. Guess that’d ruin the display.
“Hi! I’m Umbra!” he chirps, his tail swaying slightly. “How are you?”
“Um? Good?”
“That’s good. I’m good too; although, uh? Why is my host locked up, Princess?” he asks, feigning confusion. “Is my kind really not welcome here?”
“Err…?” Celestia hums, sharing a glance with her guards. They merely shrug back, at as much of a loss for words as she is, so Celestia returns her attention to Umbra and clarifies, “Unfortunately not, little one.”
“Awww, why not?” Umbra whines.
“Um, you are a demon, correct?” she checks.
“That’s what everycreature back homes calls us,” he answers, blinking. Umbra then puts on a pout and adds, “It kinda hurts sometimes, being called that. Demons are mean, but I’m not mean!”
“You lying, little…” Gelu snarls.
“Let him speak, Gelu,” Terra orders firmly. “He’s winning us some favor with this Celestia.”
“Do you honestly think I can’t see that?” she snaps back, offended.
“Well, I mean—” I try to begin but get cut off by her retorting, “Shut up!”Thankfully, she makes no attempt to force me to hurt myself again, so I breathe a little easier and focus on Celestia and Umbra once again.
“You’re not mean?” Celestia asks, narrowing her eyes at the fluffy, demonic kitten in her hands.
“Yeah!” Umbra assures. “I mean? I try not to be… I don’t like being mean,” he mumbles, glancing away.
“And yet you force your host to bang his head against the prison bars?” she accuses.
“That wasn’t me; that was Ignis!” Umbra explains, pouting again. “He’s the mean, scary one!”
Terra barely holds Ignis back from responding.
“If that’s the case…” Celestia begins warily. “Why are you traveling with him?”
“We kinda have to,” Umbra elaborates, giving his tail a frustrated flick. “Our homes are being invaded by a bunch of crazy monsters, so we have to work together to fight ‘em all back.” Umbra then blinks and as innocently as he can, asks, “Do you have to fight against crazy monsters too?”
Celestia glances away this time, confessing, “In a sense, yes.” She looks back at Umbra, searching him for even a hint of dishonesty or maliciousness and ultimately finds none in those bright, golden eyes of his. “I can’t tell you how often I’ve had to fight against demons, the undead, and all manner of other abominations… Or how many reports I receive detailing the deaths of my little ponies and the attacks we’re forced to endure almost every night.”
Umbra gasps, exclaiming, “That’s horrible! I’m so sorry you have to deal with all that stuff, Princess.”
The hardness in Celestia’s eyes doesn’t quite go away, but Umbra did wrangle a small smile out of her. “You need not apologize, little one; I know it is not your will that brings such hardships upon us.”
“Well, regardless, I’m still sorry,” he says. “And on behalf of all my kind, I apologize for all of the pain they’ve caused you and your ponies.”
Oh brother…! Ignis and I both groan upon noticing tears forming in Umbra’s eyes.
“And on behalf of my kind, thank you,” she says, her smile growing a touch brighter. Celestia then sighs, adding, “And I apologize as well for imprisoning your host, but surely you understand why we had to do such a thing, I hope?” she ends softly, gently petting Umbra on the head.
Umbra purrs in response, nuzzling her hand before conceding, “Yeah, we understand, Princess.”
“Eh, don’t worry about it, Sunny-Buns,” I finally speak up again. “Back home, most creatures were pretty terrified of me anyway, avoiding me for being what I am and all that junk. I get it.”
Celestia looks at me, finally coming to understand I truly am in control. “Still, I am sorry we had to imprison you as well. I’m sure once Ms. Eris arrives, she will be able to clarify things just as you said.”
“I hope so because I’m hungry,” I admit bluntly. “Seriously, would it kill anyone to give me a sandwich or a doughnut right now?”
Celestia looks at the guard closest to her left. He looks back, blushes, and whines, “Hey, don’t look at me; I haven’t restocked the fridge yet!”
“Well, best restock it fast then; I’m in real need of healing here,” I say, raising my burned and slightly scaled arm up and giving the guard a wave with it. “You want this looking normal, ya gotta get me some grub I can chow.”
The guard blinks. “Why?”
“‘Cause regeneration ain’t cheap, and thanks to my jerk of a roommate who caused this,” I snarl, flexing the razor sharp claws and savoring the guard’s subsequent gulp. “Some of my internal organs are looking pretty similar too. And, uh? It kinda hurts. Like? A lot.”
“Go,” Celestia commands, giving a nod to the guard in question and two others. They then nod back and bugger off to acquiesce my request. She then returns to petting Umbra, seemingly on instinct, and speaks to me again, “Ignis, was it? The one who hurt you?”
Well, he’s not the only one who hurts me, I choose not to say, glaring mentally at Gelu and Terra. “Bingo,” I say instead.
“Hmm,” she hums. She intends to say something more, but before she can the door opens again, and in strides Eris.
I feel a surge of heat well up in his insides from Ignis, one neither Gelu nor Terra bother themselves to cease.
Eris tosses her hair back over her shoulder and takes stock of the assembled guards, Celestia, and lastly, me. “Well, looks like you beat me here, Tia; how ya doing?” she asks, closing the distance between them and finally noticing Umbra still held in the Princess’ arms. Her eyes widen at the sight of the panther demon, shining for just a split second, but Umbra merely smiles innocently at her, even giving her a little wave of his paw.
“Fine,” she answers. “So, Celestia? If you don’t mind, could you let Red out?” she requests, gesturing to me. “He’s a Displaced, like me.”
“And as for the creatures inhabiting him?”
“Demons? Yes? What kind? Not sure, but definitely not the kind to go on a rampage without reason.” She coughs and deadpans, “You know? Like, say? Someone attacking him? Locking him up? Starving him…?” she ends, noticing my still malformed arm.
Celestia gives a slight cough and double-checks, “You’re sure they’re no threat to my subjects?”
“Not unless they make themselves a threat to him. And I trust you enough to ensure that won’t be the case,” Eris adds, allowing a small smile.
Celestia smiles herself and chuckles. “I thought as much from our conversation,” she says, glancing my way. “It’s good to know I truly can trust you. Also a bit refreshing to have a pony not bow and show only respect to me.” She titters again, but it soon devolves into a sigh, followed by a whispered, “I wish others would be so open.”
“Yeah, I know; I’m awesome, can you let me out now?” I ask impatiently.
Celestia nods, saying, “Of course. Guards?”
“You’re sure about this, Your Majesty?” the guard holding the key inquires.
“I am. This being is no threat, he's free to leave.”
“Even though he’s a demon host?” one of the other guards ask, eyeing Umbra with a look of concern.
Catching his gaze Celestia says, “Oh, hush. How could something this cute be evil?” she asks, holding up Umbra who played along by giving the guards his most adorable pout. “You’ve no need to fear, my ponies; nothing will happen while I am here.”
“While you’re here?” Eris inquires, raising an eyebrow.
Celestia nods. “Given the hour, I intend to stay the night at my student’s house.”
“Twilight will be happy to hear that,” Eris notes. “And panicked, considering she hasn’t prepared for you.”
“Yes, I’m aware,” Celestia grumbles.
“Ahem! Still imprisoned over here,” I whine.
Eris and Celestia both look at me, unamused, but the latter returns her gaze to her guards, assuring, “Eris, Twilight, and myself will all be in the vicinity, so if Mr. Red attempts anything, he will have to face all of us. And trust me, my friends…”
Umbra, who had spent most of the conversation nuzzling against Celestia and purring his heart out, suddenly stills and falls silent when Celestia’s grip tightened around him, not enough to hurt him, but the meaning obvious.
“I will not let any demons bring harm upon you this night,” Celestia vows, looking down at Umbra and giving the panicking cub an icy smile that rivaled even Gelu’s.
Umbra gulps
Snickering, I rebuke, “Told ya, Shadow-Cat; not everyone’s gonna fall for the ‘cuteness’ act.”
“It is not an act!” he shoots back. “I am cute!”
“That you are,” Celestia concurs, loosening her grip and going right back to petting him.
Though initially thrown off by the sudden change in attitude, Umbra quickly rolled with it, savoring her gentle touch and repaying it with yet another happy purr. He did, however, discreetly return her crown back to her head with a swish of his tail.
The guards, meanwhile, share one final look with each other, clearly still hesitant, but before too long, one of them—the one who had been doing the paperwork for this little event, sighs and accepts defeat. “Alright, guys; you heard the Princess. Release the demon host,” he orders, massaging a headache as he returns to completing his paperwork.
The key-bearing guard slowly steps toward my cell door, flinches at the little wave I give him, and finally inserts the key into the door, unlocking and opening it. “You’re free to go.”
“Aww, thanks, dude,” I say, booping his muzzle as I step out, a free—relatively speaking—pony once more. Stretching out my arms, I nod at the other guards, notice Umbra poking his tongue out at me, blow a raspberry back, and finally give Celestia and Eris my full attention. “So, where we headed now?”
“Back to the library,” Eris answers, doing her best to avoid eye contact with me. I wonder if that’s because she knows Ignis is currently trying to melt me from the inside-out so he can lunge for her? “I’ll explain more about the Displaced there.”
“And about my ticket home?” I inquire, raising an eyebrow.
“Obviously, that’ll be another thing we’ll discuss,” she assures. “Although, you should know returning won’t be quite as simple as you may think.”
“Always a damn catch…” I snarl under my breath, facepalming. “Anything else?”
“Eris?” Celestia interjects. “Is there any chance you know how to prevent his, er? ‘Roommates’ did you call them?” Without waiting for an answer, she requests, “Can you perhaps help Mr. Red control them?”
“CONTROL US!?” Gelu and Ignis shriek, and though I keep my jaw shut, the echoes of their fury ring clearly throughout that tiny room.
After shooing away the demons’ ambient rage, Eris rubbers her chin in thought and says, “I’ll see what I can do, Princess.”
“Wait, seriously?” I blurt out. “You know how I can keep these assholes from…?” I don’t finish that thought; my roommates, Terra included, won’t let me.
“So long as you’re willing to let me train your pathetic ass up before I send you on your way,” she begins, turning and walking back toward the door. “Then? Yes. I’ll help you keep them in check,” Eris promises, sparing me on last solemn glance before exiting the guard station.
Ignis rages, Gelu screams, Terra falls silent, and Umbra swallows nervously. “Uhh…?” he mumbles, gaining everyone’s attention. Umbra gulps again before flowing like water out from Celestia’s arms and back into my shadow, promptly rejoining his fellows in panicking about just what Eris could do.
It’s impossible to separate all of their voices from each other’s, let alone understand what they’re saying, but one thing is abundantly clear: They do notwant me talking to Eris.
I smile. “Whelp? Thanks for releasing me, Princess,” I say to her. “And thanks for not trying to kill me, guys,” I add to the remaining guards. “That was nice of ya’ll. … Bye,” I end unceremoniously, exiting the building as well, en route for the Golden Oaks Library.
“When the others return with his requested meal, please have them come to the library,” Celestia orders the guards who immediately salute and voice their understanding. She then swiftly follows me into the dark, chilly night.