One Week After the Cutie Mark Kidnapping

“I can't believe this bullshit!” I shouted out to the heart of the Everfree, which, in typical forest fashion, said nothing. “First, I get distracted dealing with the CMC and that little undead bitch gets away, leaving me to search this God forsaken shit hole of a forest for her! Then, every single Displaced in this fucked up Multiverse wants my help dealing with their problems! And are they appreciative that I took the time away from my very important marehunt to help them, fuck no! 'That was too harsh' they whine or 'you're just a psychopath' they claim. Well fuck them! They can choke on a bag of dicks for all I care, see if I come the next time they call. Oh, and if getting insulted by those in the same shitty place as you wasn't enough, I've had to spend the rest of my time here dodging fucking guard patrols!” I couldn't take it anymore and punched a tree so hard that it fell over creating a giant cloud of dust and an unholy amount of noise.

“Great! Just fucking great!” I shout in irritation at myself, “I just have to go and call every asshole roaming around out here to my exact location!” If I had been wearing a hat I’d have thrown it on the ground at this point and started stomping on it to elevate my frustrations, but as usual, nothing wants to go my way.

“I could really use a smoke right now,” I sigh as I get my anger back under control and start making my way towards Ponyville, “I wonder if Perfect Count can hook an unlucky brother up?”

“Well, well,” came a female voice from nowhere. It was familiar but I just couldn't place it, “it's not every day that a demon gives up its followers while not begging for its life.” Keeping my head on a swivel I still couldn't find the source of that voice. It had to be coming from somewhere close by if the they could hear me so clearly.

“You should just give up now and let us slay you without a fight,” this time it came from behind me. I don't know how they got there but they were.

'Wait, us?' I thought to myself. This could only be one group if there was more than one, the Demon Hunters, and I did not like what my odds were in this sitution. They had the drop on me, so running was out of the question as I'd just run into some kind of trap most likely, and I couldn't fight them head on as I really didn't have a solid idea about their abilities apart from the blessed weapons. I had a pretty good guess as to their numbers after they tried to stop me in Canterlot, but Trixie's presence in the group was still a mystery to me. Why a showmare would be taking time off from the road to work with the military is beyond me, guess it was time to find out.

“Hey Trixie,” I shout out while still keeping up my guard for any signs of my opponents. “What's a washed up, second rate performer like you doing with a bunch of military types anyhow?” The way I saw it, if I could get her mad by wounding her pride she'd break cover and force the rest out to cover her ass.

“Do they know you're all talk and action?” movement in a nearby bush caught my attention and I spun to face the source and locked eyes on the spot where she must have been hiding.

“You know what? I take that back, they must keep you around for a different sort of action, if you know what I mean.” I guess she did because I got hit in the back of the head with a bolt of pure energy. Well, I say pure, truth be told it felt way too familiar, as in laced with almost the same demonic energy that powers my boney ass. Quickly turning I locked eyes with the offended mare as she tossed her mane back and gave me a raised eyebrow and a smirk to end all smirks.

“Apparently you don't know who it is that you are dealing with,” she says still giving me that smirk and sounding way too calm given the circumstances, “you face the Great and Powerful Trixie and with the skills Trixie has received from working with these “military types,” as you put it, Trixie is more than a match for the likes of a fool like you.” With that she gives her mane quick flip with a hoof.

“Really? You sure about that?” I counter.

“Absolutely sure,” she says with more confidence than I would have liked.

“Then think fast!” I shout sending a knife spinning for her flank. It wasn't a kill shot but it would take her out of the fight. Or at least I thought it would, I really wasn't expecting the blade to go through her and imbed itself in a nearby tree and another bolt from behind to slam into my back in response.

“Guess I should have known that was illusion,” I mumble to myself. That's when I feel it, a tug on my shoulder. I'm not sure what it is but I throw myself in the opposite direction as the ground where I was standing explodes into the air. Looking back at where I was standing I see none other than Hammerstrike himself staring back at me with the head of his namesake buried in the dirt. That had been way too close for comfort; I can't believe I almost fell for that trick. I don't have time to dwell on that fact as I start to hear a whistling sound headed through the forest and it's gradually getting louder.

“Come on guys, you really don't have to do this,” I say as I unshoulder my chain and warp it into a sword, I didn't want to hurt them but I'd be damned again if I wasn't going to defend myself. All the while that whistle was getting closer.

“Have to, no,” responded Hammerstrike as he hefted his hammer back onto a shoulder, “Want to, you bet your boney ass.” The look he was giving me was one of total calm and confidence, to say I was a nervous would be the understatement of a lifetime.

“Why? I've never done anything to you and, as you can tell from my escape from Canterlot that you were a part of, I really don't want to hurt anypony. So can't we just let this go?” I say looking to make a quick exit as that whistling sound came ever closer.

“Not really. You're dangerous and a liar, just like any other demon. You say you don't want to hurt anypony but... we both know that's complete bullshit.”

“You sure about that? What about those fillies I saved last week? If it wasn't for me they'd be zombie chow by now.”

“I'll take that as a one off good deed, nothing worth worrying over.” This wasn't good, he wasn't going to back down and as far as I know I was trapped like a rat since I hadn't seen hide or hair of his team.

Then, I felt that tug again, this time from my right just out of my peripheral vision. I spun into it and raised my blade only to get a fountain of sparks and the sound of metal on metal as its edge met the edge of a pair of wing blades worn by a red Pegasus, Storm Kicker. I followed her movements as she rolled in midair to land a few feet away from me and almost realized my mistake too late, that in doing so I took my eyes off of Hammerstike and almost didn't duck his swing in time as it whizzed over my head. Taking advantage of my new lowed position I struck out with a vicious back kick trying to at least knock him away for a moment only for my foot to hit empty air, guess he's quicker on his hooves than I gave him credit for. In response Cloud Kicker shot forward like lightning to try and strike me while I was distracted and in a bad position, I managed to parry with my sword and push off against her to right myself. It wasn't much help as Hammerstike was on my again before I really had time to recover and I found myself barely dodging a series of rapid swings of his obviously blessed war hammer, his final strike found purchase on large oak tree... which shattered into splinters and I made a note to not come in contact with that thing. As a follow up I found Storm Kicker back in my face as I desperately tried to block every one of her rapid, precision strikes. I was barely able to keep up before the unthinkable happened, her last strike cut cleanly through my sword and her blade cut deep into my upper arm.

The pain was excruciating, I can't believe that I hadn't thought about those wing blades of her's being blessed. Here I was thinking that Hammerstrike was the only one smart enough to not bring a knife to a gun fight, and it was all just arrogant dumbassery on my part and now my right arm was hanging as uselessly like a limp dick. This wasn't going to end well unless I was able to run away but to do that I'd need to make an opening that I wasn't sure that I could make. As I was mulling my next move over in my head, while Hammerstrike and Storm Kicker just starred me down, I felt another tug this time from behind me. Spinning around and swinging with a new sword in my left hand only to be met with... nothing. This wasn't right, every time I'd felt that tug I'd followed my instincts and went with it, so why was it wrong this time?

“What the fu- aaauuuggghhh!” I screamed as my back burst into a pain that can only be described as someone cutting my skin away, covering me in pissed off fire ants, and then replacing the skin. Reaching behind me with my one good arm I could just barely feel the hilt of a dagger that was buried in that spot on your back that you just can't reach with the tips of my fingers and, with that, a stunning realization. They had played me like a fool since the beginning, Trixie wasn't the distraction, Hammerstrike and Storm Kicker were the distraction and the tug I had been feeling this whole time was Trixie screwing with me as they maneuvered me into position for their other two unicorns to strike from the shadows. Turning back to the duo of attackers I see that they had been joined by Quick Strike and Backstab, just like I had thought.

“You think you're so smart,” I growled through the near unbearable pain in my back and arm, “but you're really a bunch of blind fools, just like Celestia.”

“And what makes you think that?” questioned Hammerstike with a level of nonchalance that chapped my ass to no end.

“Because I'm not you're real enemy,” I had to keep him talking, Trixie was now the only thing between myself and freedom and I was pretty sure I could get passed her if only my healing factor could kick in enough to counter act the blessing on their weapons. “There is something far worse than me gaining power across Equestria, right under the noses of the Princesses.”

“Go on.” At least he was listening so there was still hope that I could get out of this alive.

“An all-consuming darkness is coming. I can see it every time I concentrate on my Sin Sense, and it's only been growing ever since I got free.”

“And why should I trust anything you say?”

“Because I'm not really as bad as Celestia thinks. I'm just an agent for justice, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Hahahaha! I've heard some crazy Big Fish stories in my day from monsters like you but this is a first, you actually believe you're the hero here. Hahahaha! Let's end this.” I didn't even have time to respond before I was tagged by yet another arcane blast, which was quickly followed up with a lightning fast slash across my chest staggering me and sinking any hopes I had for escape. The final blow came from a massive hammer blow to my knees that drove me to the ground as my now shattered legs could no longer support my weight.

Rolling over from my place on the ground, and driving the pair of daggers deeper into my back, I was able to see the Demon Hunters as they took up position standing over me. My body was unable to respond any more, let alone fight back, as I starred up at the canopy of the Everfree through the near blinding pain. I could easily see the looks of smug triumph on their faces as they looked down on my battered form. Well, all except for Storm Kicker, she seemed to look upon me with mix of both sympathy and uncertainty. I didn't have long to dwell on it though as Hammerstrike spoke up.

“For supposedly the greatest threat in Equestria's history,” he said, casting glances at Storm Kicker, “you went down far too easily. I guess arrogance and dumb luck really doesn't make up for skill and planning.”

“Yeah. Well you all can all go fuck yourselves.” I growl. The last thing I saw, before the darkness took me, was my own reflection on the highly polished face of a massive war hammer.

Author's Notes:

I know this chapter is a bit short and that the last few chapters have all been action heavy, but I promise you'll get a breather in the chapter.

As always: questions, comments, and criticism down in the comments are greatly appreciated.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtGj8axHGAk&feature=youtu.be

A special thank to wlam for the comments that led to some of the ideas in this chapter. And before you ask, no, his comments were not directed at you