Chapter 1

I Did Not Die…

“NO!”

Lucifer screamed in defiance, defeat, and anger as the fists of his prison body were jammed into the ice of Judecca. The frozen tears of Cocytus crept up his forearms, covering them up to the massive elbows. The swarm of absolved souls swept across his body and to the center of the demonic circle before him, crashing with a relieved cry into the cool blue hemisphere at its middle.

For a time, Dante did nothing but look up to the enemy of all that is good in the universe. Lucifer could only stare at his new shackles in disbelief.

A lone man stood before the treacherous, trapped beast. He had once been living, and was no longer. He was destined to die, but had not yet done so. Dante stood at the epicenter of the demonic circle and the portal in the middle of it. He said nothing, and did not even glance at Lucifer as the Devil glared daggers down at him. He gripped the scythe and cross in his hands.

The blue floor flashed white…and Dante knew no more…

Only then did the Devil’s expression crack. Though he lay in the vile mire of defeat, though he was once again trapped within the frozen prison, the deepest pit, of the Cocytus, he felt no frustration.

Oh, he was indeed angry, but he was also patient. He had been trapped at the bottom of Hell since time immemorial. He also knew where Dante had gone…and it was not to Paradise.

Satan smiled. Perhaps he would have to wait another few thousand years to be free, but he would soon have his revenge. Lucifer had been denied…and there was Hell to pay for that…

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Everfree Forest was thickening. The zebra could feel it.

It was the middle of the day, and yet the canopy blocked the sun. It seemed as though the trees themselves glowered at her, and not a single animal could be heard. Something was here…something that did not belong.

Zecora kept a calm face, calling upon all of her meditative training. Inside, however, she was perilously close to losing control. The feeling of darkness, of thickening, and of not belonging, was all too familiar…terrifyingly familiar.

The robed mare kept walking. Just a few more herbs…just a few more herbs…just a few more…and then she could get home…just a few-

Her head snapped to one side, glowing eyes narrowing in the general direction of a bush. Was that?...No, she was seeing things. There was nothing there. It couldn’t be…

Rustle.

She stopped, freezing at once with wide eyes. No foliage had moved, but the sound was unmistakable…something was here.

To heck with those herbs! Time to go home…now!

The zebra turned and walked at a brisk pace, valiantly fighting the panic that attempted to take over.

Another rustle.

Her pace increased as sweat began to bead on her brow. This was not good…not good at all. It couldn’t be, could it? Not here, not now, not after so long!

A branch snapped.

Zecora would have broken off into a galloping run if not for the fact that the sound was emitted from the bush right in front of her. The zebra’s knees began to tremble. A figure rose from the bush, beginning to step into the clearing.

“No,” the zebra whispered, taking a step back.

The thing was tall, at least twice her height. Metal covered its shoulders, head, and legs, while cloths wrapped its arms and dangled below its wrists. Its head could not be seen in the darkness, but Zecora’s eyes were focused solely on the object it held.

It was a blade. The hilt looked to be made from a dragon’s spine, while a skull adorned the flat of the curved, serrated, wickedly sharp blade.

“Kuondoka, pepo!” the zebra shouted, absolutely terrified. She turned tail and took off at a full sprint, not caring that she dropped the basket of rare herbs in the process.

Her heart pounded and tears burned in her eyes. How? How could it be happening again? Why was this happening? She had turned her back years ago! Why did it keep coming back to haunt her!?

Meanwhile, Dante stared at the rapidly retreating bundle of robes that had just shouted at him and turned tail with a look of utter confusion. The thing obviously wasn’t a demon. In fact, up until it yelled at him and ran away, he thought it was some kind of horse…

He gave a shrug and looked up at his surroundings. There was no point in running after it, especially in a forest like this. Who knows what lurked h-

A sound pierced the human’s ears. It was faint, coming from very far away. No normal human could have heard the sound at such a distance...but Dante was no normal human. He had heard the sound plenty of times before.

It was a scream.

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Bad idea…bad idea…really bad idea!

A yellow pegasus backed into the large, ominous tree behind her.

She knew now that going into Everfree Forest alone was a bad idea, but she knew the place like the back of her hoof, especially in the middle of the afternoon, though it might be different at night. She thought that the section of the Dark Woods she needed to cross would be small enough to-

The manticore gave a weird, braying roar that combined the voice of a sheep and a lion. Fluttershy’s scream seemed to have only angered the beast somehow. The pegasus shook from head to hoof, tears welling up in her eyes as she hoped valiantly for someone, anyone, to come.

Pssh. This far into Everfree? In the Dark Woods? No one was going t-

A pained yelp forced her eyes open. The manticore was in pain? How?

Her tear streaked eyes went wide as dinner plates as she saw the beast. It was reared up, with a wicked, evil-looking blade hooked on its throat. Standing on its back was a…thing. She had never seen anything like it! It held the obviously deadly weapon in two appendages not dissimilar to Spike’s, but covered with metal.

Harsh, and yet caring, eyes met Fluttershy’s.

“Close your eyes,” the thing commanded in a harsh voice that made the shy pony cringe.

“B-b-but…”

“Now!”

She obeyed. Her squint tightened painfully from the sound that she heard not a second later. Her shuddering gave way to knee-clicking quakes. The sound was just…horrible. Tearing, snapping, crunching, the thing’s grunts of effort, and, above all, the manticore’s withering scream and the sound of sloshing liquid.

Then it was silent.

Fluttershy was frightened. She knew what had probably transpired, but tried desperately not to think about it. She could not, however, stop the unadulterated fear of the creature to enter her mind. It had obviously killed the manticore in a way that was inconceivable to the poor pegasus’ innocent mind. If it was callous, and powerful, enough to do such a thing to the monster, just what did it have planned for her?

She skittered back at the sound of landing metal feet. The pegasus collapsed in a heap on the ground, shaking. Her breath hitched when she felt the cool touch of metal on her head.

“Peace,” a quiet, soothing voice said. “You are safe now.”

Fluttershy slowly opened her eyes. Her hair lifted out of the way as she looked up to the creature’s face.

The spiked crown and metal links around his head were fearsome, and his face alien, his expression stirred wonder in the pegasus’ mind.

His eyes were fierce and feral, the look of one ready to kill at a glance. Yet behind it was a hint of sorrow, of regret, of care, and above all…pure and utter sadness. But it was the concern on the surface that caught her attention. She had learned a long time ago to read eyes. She had to, since animals couldn’t talk to her.

She saw genuine concern in his eyes. He wouldn’t hurt her…couldn’t hurt her.

“You are unharmed?” he asked. The pegasus nodded, beginning to calm somewhat. The creature looked around, listening and watching. “We must leave this place before that monster’s pack finds us.”

Fluttershy gasped. That’s right! Manticores travelled in packs, and there’s no way this one’s brethren didn’t hear the struggle.

“Can you walk?” he said to her a little gruffly. The pegasus tried to stand, but she shook too much. She wasn’t meant to be this scared…

She uttered a startled squeak as two strong arms scooped her up, holding her up above the ground and to the creature’s chest, unwittingly pinning her wings. But then she halted her struggling after a moment, realizing what he just did.

“Do you know the way to the nearest settlement?” he asked. Fluttershy blushed a bit as she felt his chest rumble with each syllable. Looking up to him, she nodded and pointed with a hoof. She cringed as the being immediately sprinted in the indicated direction, metal clinking and clicking all over him as he ran.

Fluttershy looked up into his eyes again, barely visible since he was looking forward. She saw only one thing…determination.

The pegasus found herself relaxing in the creature’s arms, ignoring the sweeping of passing trees and the clink of metal. It was unexplainable, but for some reason, she felt…safe…

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A/N: Sorry about how short this first chapter is, but the others will be longer. That's a promise.