Chapter 3

“Uuuuuuhhhhhh”

I groan in pain since my whole body feels like I was stuffed in a punching bag and used as practice for hours. I sluggishly opened my eyes and saw it was night time so I must’ve been out for a couple hours. For a moment, I thought everything that happened to me was nothing but a dream and I’m now awake after successfully drinking myself to sleep and I’m suffering from a massive hangover.

I slowly sit myself up and rub my eyes with my hands, only for some reason they feel a little warmer than usual. I look at my hands and see strange tribal like markings on the top and bottom of my hands making me raise my eyebrows. As I roll up my right sleeve I see the markings run up my arm and when I roll up my other sleeve I’m met with the same results.

In a panic I toss off my jacket and my shirt so I can get a proper look at both my arms, but I am not liking what I see. Both my arms were completely covered in tribal tattoo like markings. To be honest I’ve kinda always wanted a tattoo but not an entire fucking sleeve, on both my arms no less!

“What the fuck?! I don’t remember getting tattoos! I must’ve been more hammered than I thought…” I grumble.

“Actually you didn’t drink as much as you thought, but it’s a good thing I prevented you from drinking anymore.”

“THE FUCK?!” I shout. I look around for the voice I heard but I see nothing around me.

“If you’re going to act like this for the duration of your mission then you’ll make me second guess myself for choosing you as my Hand,” the voice said making me instantly realize who it was.

“L-Lucifer…?” I mutter.

“I suppose I’ll have to get used to the fact that you’re one of the slow ones…” Lucifer sighs.

“How?” I ask while looking around.

“Seriously? You already forgot what happened after you ate the fruit?” he asks. I think about what happened before I passed out and I go wide eyed as it all starts to come back to me.

“Oh jeez,” I said clutching my head, “it wasn’t a dream after all…”

“Well of course it wasn’t, Dimitri. Everything up to this point was real and everything you’ve been told was the truth. I’m the Devil, remember? I never lie to anyone and can’t even if I tried.” Lucifer reminds me, “Now would you be so kind as to pick yourself up already? I don’t wish to continue seeing my Hand sit in the middle of the road like a fool…” I stand up and gaze upon my arms again and trace my fingers along the tribal markings. They don’t feel like tattoos, more like they feel like deep burn scars. Though once I think that I’m reminded on how I got them making me growl in frustration.

“That fucking hurt like a motherfucker, you asshole!” I shout, “What’s with these markings on my arms? I didn’t ask for tattoos!”

“You do realize that if you weren’t my Hand I’d kill you right here and now? I let it slide when you grabbed me before but if you keep mouthing off you’ll be punished for speaking against your new master and lord…” Lucifer warns making me nervous and shut up instantly.

“Now as for the markings along your arms, they’re what proves that you’re my personal agent of Hell. To put it simply, they’re The Brands of The Devil’s Hand.” He explains.

“Brands? Explains why it hurt like my arms were on fire…” I grumble while rubbing my arms.

“Yes well anyway, as my Hand you have complete access to all of my abilities so you may face Dainn and any of his followers properly. However even though you can use my power, it is up to you to hone them and make yourself stronger.”

“Wait, you’re saying I have to train myself or something?” I ask.

“Obviously, did you honestly think I’d give you all of my power from the get go and be done with it? That’s not how this works, Dimitri, and you should keep that in mind. Just because you’re my Hand doesn’t mean I’m going to hold your hand every step of the way, even if our souls are permanently linked. You have to earn special privileges like that because the title is just a name if you don’t have any worthy deeds to back it up.” Lucifer lectures me.

“I guess that makes sense, but I don’t even know how to use your powers.” I counter. Lucifer is silent for a moment and then sighs.

“I suppose that’s correct, I didn’t exactly leave an instruction manual on how to properly use my power. One moment please.”

I wait patiently for a few minutes and decide to put my shirt and jacket back on since they were still on the ground. As soon as I put my jacket on I get the same pulse of energy throughout my body as before but it’s less painful this time. Suddenly, waves of images flow through my mind and stop almost instantly making my head throb a bit.

“There we are, now you’re more than prepared. FYI, this will be the last I personally assist you with anything else from here on,” Lucifer said.

“You know, you really gotta stop doing that or at least warn me the next time you do something like it,” I grumble while rubbing my head, “What’d you do to me anyway”

“Well if you must know, I gave you a bit more of my insight so you can have the knowledge necessary to use my power properly. I even took the liberty of including some advanced hand to hand combat techniques on top of the ones you already know so I’d be grateful if I were you, boy,” He sternly tells me.

“Gee thanks…” I said while rolling my eyes, “so how exactly do we start training-“

BOOM

I’m abruptly brought out of my thoughts when I hear a large explosion in the distance. I snap my head towards the noise and see a large purple sphere fade in and out of sight and a large city its covering.

“Oh dear, it appears we may have let the little fact that Canterlot is still in danger slip our minds. And by the looks of it, it appears Shining Armor’s shield is on the brink of total collapse,” Lucifer tells me.

“Oh shit, what the hell do we do?! We’ll never make it in time!” I panic.

“Calm down, Dimitri. If you focus on your newfound knowledge I provided for you, you’ll find a very useful skill and power that will get you to Canterlot just before the shield collapses,” Lucifer said.

“Wait, I thought you said I should contact you until after I saved the city?” I said.

“Does it really matter? You were taking your sweet ass time in dream land and didn’t know what was up or down. If anything it’s on you for making me speak up before when I I told you to speak to me. Besides, you’d still be in the dark on how to use my power anyway so I’m still not at fault. Now hop to it! Canterlot won’t hold out for much longer!” Lucifer orders.

I roll my eyes in annoyance but I again panic a little more after I hear another explosion in the distance but quickly calm myself and focus on Lucifer’s insight. An image of me flying through the air completely engulfed in flames fills my mind and I start to focus more on that power. The brands on my arms start to glow through my jacket in a bright red color. Flames start to seep out of my sleeves and pants and soon my entire body is on fire, yet I don’t feel any pain. It’s as if I’m made of fire myself and the flames are one with me.

I then start to feel a very dark emotion run through my mind and soul, like I’m angry and itching to unleash it on my enemies. I smile darkly and the flames only intensify as the ground beneath me starts to get singed. The images of the Caribou and their sick deeds come flashing back though my mind which only makes my thirst for blood grow and I lower my flame covered body. I exhale causing black smoke to escape my mouth and the flames start to affect my hair making it look completely on fire. Wanting to do this in style I pull out my ear buds I brought with me along with my phone and they both were also surprisingly on fire but still were in working condition despite being in flames. I put my ear buds in and scroll through my playlist for a song to be prepared to play once I arrive at Canterlot and put my phone back in my pocket.

Once all preparations are completed, I jump into the air and blast my flames behind me shooting me across the air at high speeds towards the city. As I’m flying through the air, I start to chuckle, which turns into a laugh, and then turns into manic bellows of laughter as I near my destination.

“READY OR NOT, CARIBOU!!! THE DEVIL’S HAND COMES FOR YOUR SOULS!!!” I shout through my laughter.

I don’t know what’s gotten into me but I could care less. I feel great! I thirst for blood and carnage and I’ll be sure to give them a welcoming they’ll never forget!

The Princess of Equestria, Princess of the Sun, Celestia, Princess of the Moon, Luna, and Princess of Love and former Princess of the Crystal Empire, Cadence and her daughter Flurry Heart who she was carrying in her arms and sleeping, along with the Elements of Harmony, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and the Princess of Friendship Twilight Sparkle were all standing in the throne room surrounding their friend and sworn protector, Shining Armor. Shining was breathing very heavily due to the magic strain in his horn and was on his knees with his arms raised up as he was trying so desperately to keep the shield from collapsing and allowing the Caribou to storm Canterlot.

Before the Caribou arrived at Canterlot, Celestia and Luna had all the citizens escape to many underground bunkers throughout the city to hide away in case the Caribou broke through. The last thing they needed was was to watch what sick deeds they had already done to the rest of the worlds female population with their own eyes to their own citizens.

“Shiny please,” Cadence begs, “let me add more of my magic to yours so the shield can stay up! You can’t continue like this any longer! Your horn will break!”

“No…Cadence…!” Shining grunts, “You already…gave enough…of your magic…already to me, all of you did. There’s no time…and I can…still take…a few more of…their cannon fire. So please…use the…secret tunnel…in the throne room…and escape!”

“Absolutely not, Shining Armor!” Twilight yells through her tears as she hugs her brother, “There’s no way in Tartarus we’re going to leave you or anypony behind!”

“But Twilight…think of what…those damn Caribou…will do to you…and the others…if they get…their hands on you…!”

Twilight and the others flinch as they’re reminded what they had seen past the shield just outside of Canterlot. Caribou, traitor stallions, and other brainwashed males were mercilessly raping mares and other females for all of Canterlot to see. All the females had different colored collars on and while some had defiant expressions others unfortunately were in pure ecstasy of pleasure and some looked as if they couldn’t even think straight due to them being endlessly raped.

However that wasn’t even the worst part, the worst part is what they had done to the pegasi mares, or other winged creatures, and unicorn mares. Those with wings had their wings incased in boxes so they couldn’t fly away and the unicorns had their horns cut off to a stump on their foreheads. To make matters even more atrocious, the Caribou even branded their own mark on each females flanks. The brand was a pair of chains that over lapped each other signifying that each female was nothing but a slave for pleasure. Not only did the Caribou take away their freedom, they took away what made them special for their talents…

Twilight shakes her head as more tears stream down her face. Before she could protest anything else, Celestia placed a hand on her shoulder making her turn to her. Celestia can only frown sadly at her daughter like student and sighs.

“As much as it pains me to tell you this Twilight, Shining Armor is right.” she said making her and even Cadance gasp.

“What?! But Celestia how could you say that?! There must be something we can do we must-“
Twilight is cut off when Celestia embraces her in a hug.

“Please Twilight, I would give myself up if it meant to save what’s left of my kingdom but they want all of us as their trophies. I couldn’t bare the thought of losing you to them, not after what happened to Spike…” she whispers.

Twilight almost immediately breaks down crying after she heard her little dragon assistants name. Spike had gone the the Crystal Empire to deliver a package to Cadence and Shining Armor for Flurry Heart but the Caribou had invaded and no pony knew what happened to him. Shining said that he never saw Spike before or after they escaped which means he could be anywhere and it has plagued her mind ever since. Cadence then walks up to Shining who was now on one knee trying to keep up his magic and kneels in front of him.

“Shiny…I-“

She’s cut off when Shining lifts his head up and kisses her on the lips. She sighs in the kiss as tears of her own start to fall and he breaks away. Shining looks down at his daughter who’s still asleep since her mother casted a sleeping spell so she wouldn’t have to see the state of the city and her fathers strain.

“I know Cady…I know. Just make sure…she knows…what her daddy did tonight. I want her…to grow up happy…because I know…one day…this nightmare will end…and she’ll be…the proudest filly…of her daddy…in the world…” Shining says between breaths as he slowly reaches down and caresses his daughters mane.

Cadence’s tears start to flow uncontrollably as she uses one arm to hug her husband as tight she could. She so desperately wanted to stay by his side but knew they couldn’t stay. As she broke away and stood back up another large explosion rung throughout the throne room from outside causing Shining to scream in pain as sparks start to fly out from his horn. Outside, the shield flickered in and out of faze as smoke from a cannon ball hung in the air against the shield.

“I can’t…hold on…much longer…!” Shining yelled, “Go! All of you…now!”

Twilight wanted to give her brother one last hug but Applejack and Rainbow Dash grabbed her and followed Celestia and Luna while she screamed in protest. Just before they all left the throne room, a strange sound coming from outside the shield grasped their attention. It oddly sounded like laughter, but not just any normal sounding laughter. It sounded insane and dark and as it grew louder and closer, the feeling of dread and fear enveloped everypony in the room.

They all looked towards the open balcony window and saw what was making this laughter come flying through the sky. It looked like a large fire ball but if one would look closely, they could see a silhouette of somepony or something completely covered in flames. The laughter only got more manic and louder and it seemed to grab the Caribou stockade’s attention as they stopped to look at what was flying towards the city. Only the fire ball wasn’t just flying to the city, it was headed straight for them. They only realized too late as the fire ball came crashing down in between the shield and the stockade with a thundering boom as flames shot into the sky like a large geyser from a crater the fire ball made on impact.

The mares back on the balcony watched as the geyser of flames continued to shoot up to the darkened sky and the laughter stopped. No pony said a word, the only noise heard was the sound of the seemingly endless geyser of flames. Back with the stockade, the Caribou dared not say a word as they watched the whole site in shock and fear. What seemed like agonizing minutes later, they hear the sound of foot steps crunching through the flames out of the crater.

A figure, looking like a demon completely covered in flames steps out of the pillar of fire and out in the open. Its face is barely shown because of the flames and its clothes are strange but also on fire. The figure looks around the stockade as the pillar of flames starts to dissipate behind it so the only thing that’s seen by all is it and it alone. The figure then starts to tremble, but not in fear. Soon everyone hears the figure chuckling and it breaks out into the same manic laughter everyone heard before which makes everyone around uneasy and a bit more fearful of whoever or whatever this stranger is.

All the mares back on the throne room balcony are all at a loss for words. None of them could even speak because of the shock and overwhelming fear coursing through them. It was bad enough that the Caribou were about to breach the shield but now a monster comes flying in out of no where with who knows what intentions. Soon the laughter stops again and the figure lowers its body a bit and lets out a low growl that all could hear and speaks in a dark and twisted tone for all to listen.

“You have all committed abominable sins against Equestria and the rest of these lands. Your sins shall not go unpunished for as long as my hatred towards you Caribou burns like the raging inferno enveloping my very being. My hatred burns also for the accursed King Dainn who has committed the worst sins imaginable, especially against my Dark Master. Brand these words in your minds and for those who wish to flee, do so now and send this message to your King.” The figure announces.

The figure raises his arms and flames shoot out from his palms as the flames start to form a large demonic like face. The face then speaks in a voice that would torment all who hear it.

I wave my arms downward after my proclamation and the flames blow to each side of me. I gaze upon my soon to be prey as I can see that most of the Caribou and traitor stallions are trembling in fear. I smirk as I take a step forward, but as I do so some of the males drop their weapons and flee for their lives with their tails literally between their legs. A couple of the Caribou in front manage to grow a pair and charge at me with their weapons. I stop walking and hold my hands out and make them look like hand guns.

“Hellfire gun”

Two embers fire from my fingers and straight through the Caribou’s chest right where their hearts were. All that was left were smoldering flesh holes and both Caribou fall down dead. The rest of the Caribou finally gain some nerve and decide to avenge their fallen comrades and I just smile manically as I quickly reach in my pocket an press the play button on my phone for the song I had prepared.

“LET THE CARNAGE BEGIN!!!” I bellow.

https://youtu.be/gKn2_x49NLU

I sprint towards the Caribou and engulf my hands and feet in flames. Three Caribou try to stab me with their spears but I jump over their attack and kick all their heads clean off causing blood to erupt from their headless bodies. I run through the horde of Caribou and traitor stallions and rip and tear through them all by punching holes through their guts or sending them flying through the air like broken rag dolls with powerful kicks. A group of Caribou take aim at me with bow and arrows and I grab a stallion and use him as a meat shielded as soon as the arrows are let loose. Once the arrows hit the stallion, he gurgles as an arrow seems to pierce his throat and he chokes on his blood. I lift his body above me and tear him in two as blood and guts shower me, only the blood just evaporates as it lands on me and his guts become chard chunks of flesh and crumble away.

More Caribou charge and attempt to slash me from in front and behind but I jump high in the air a reel my fists back and take a deep breath.

“GUM-GUM HELLFIRE GATLING!”

Like an ignited machine gun, I rain rapid fire punches down on my foes as my arms also stretch at retract after each rapid strike. My flame coated fists beat dozens of Caribou and traitor stallions into submission until there’s nothing but a huge pile of battered flesh and bone. I continue my onslaught and twist my body around so my attack can crush more enemies. Once I’m satisfied with my blood count, I retract my arms and land on the ground, until I feel something go through my stomach. I look down and see a sword piercing me from behind but I don’t really feel pain since my body is still mostly made of fire but I still feel the blade causing me to grunt a bit. I turn around and look over my shoulder and see a brainwashed stallion look at me with absolute fear and I see there’s a few more brainwashed males behind him with equally fearful looks.

“You have nerve for attacking me from behind, but I suppose I can’t blame you since you can’t help but follow their orders,” I tell him. I cancel the fire in my hand and quickly spin around and back hand him and strike the others in the head knocking them out. I hope I’m making the right decision by sparing them. I may be in the middle of my bloodlust but I have enough of my reason to spare those under the Caribou’s control.

I turn around and see more of the stockade charge at me and I see behind them some Caribou prepare the cannons the brought with them aim at me. Just as the song hits the ending chorus, I raise my right fist behind me and my left opened hand in front of me and take one last minute glance to make sure there aren’t any brainwashed males in front of me so I don’t kill any of them. Thankfully they all seem to have stayed away from the main fight and I smile as my fist charges up and I thrust my fist forward.

“HELLFIRE FIST!!!”

A massive blast of fire erupts from my arm and incinerates all in front of me. The blast cuts right through the large group of enemies and destroys the cannons along with the Caribou manning them. The blast lasts a few more seconds and slowly dissipates and there’s nothing left but a large trail of death and burnt Caribou and traitor stallion corpses. I stand back up and exhale and smoke leaves my mouth as the flames on my body shrink into small candle like flames.

I look behind me and see that all that’s left are the brainwashed stallions along with the enslaved mares. Guess they were in charge of guarding them while the rest were left to fight me. There seems to be a few dozen of them left and there’s only a few Caribou left alive. I smirk and sprint over to the group of brainwashed males and twist my body while raising my right leg.

“Gum-Gum Hell Whip!”

My leg stretches and my foot connects with each and every one of their heads knocking them to the ground as I spin around and plant my foot on the ground and the song comes to an end. Like the others, they’re just knocked unconscious and I hope I can help break their brainwashing. The mares are all too stunned in both fear and shock and there’s even some who managed to faint due to my overwhelming presence. I pay them no mind since they’re not the main priority right now. All that’s left now are the few Caribou who are huddling together and trembling in horror at the mere sight of me.

With the small flames still covering my body, I calmly walk over to the few stallions who can’t seem to move due to the fear on their faces and bodies. I stop just a few inches from them and I look down at them with a glare that could crack glass.

“Do you know why you lot are still sucking air?” I ask in a cold tone. They shake their heads slowly without ever breaking eye contact with me.

“You lot are still alive because you still need to join the others who were smart enough to flee and send Dainn my message. You will tell him everything I have said and describe to him in explicit detail what I have done to your comrades. You will also tell him and any other male you come across what has happened here along with my message,” I instruct them. I then lean down until I’m staring inches away from them.

“You will also tell Dainn a personal message from me. Tell him The Devil’s Hand comes personally for his soul. There is no crack or crevice where he can hide where I won’t find him. He sealed his fate when he decided to play God and has doomed him and his race to a lifetime of death and destruction. You will tell him this word for word, understand?” I ask. They both nod vigorously and I lean back up and they scramble to their feet and walk away, but I don’t want them to just walk.

“RUN!!!”I scream at them.

They immediately start sprinting as fast as they could away from me to who knows where, but if they know any better they’ll deliver my message if they know what’s good for them. I sigh and relax and the flames dissipate from my body. I turn back around and see that the rest of the mares have all passed out from overexposure along with the rest of the unconscious stallions I knocked out.

“Lucifer?” I ask out loud, no response.

“Lucifer are you there?” I ask again, still no response. I get the feeling he’s listening to me but won’t answer unless I address him properly making me groan and pinch the bridge of my nose.

“Boss…are you there?” I ask with a sigh.

“Ah Dimitri, I see you have finished up?” he asks satisfied.

“Yes, I’m done…” I sigh, “So what now?”

“Hmm, well I suppose now you can either choose to introduce yourself to the Princess and Elements or you can wait until tomorrow. After all it’s now quite late at night and I’m guessing you’re a bit worn down from your battle? By the way, an excellent performance if I do say so myself.” Lucifer praises.

“Uh, thanks I guess,” I mumble while rubbing the back of my head.

I look back at the unconscious group of ponies and frown at their current state. I was about to ask Lucifer something else when I hear loud cracks from the shield. Almost all at once the shield breaks apart and fades away, leaving the city now completely defenseless. I look up at one of the tallest towers and see a group of familiar ponies I didn’t expect to see so soon.

The Princesses and Mane Six were all standing on the balcony and even though they were far away I could tell they were looking at me with wide eyes. I could also tell they were very fearful of me since I was starring back a them. I mean I couldn’t really blame them for being scared of me, especially after what they saw and probably heard from me.

“Boss, what do I do about Canterlot? If I leave the Caribou will probably come back with a greater force than before and I don’t think I can fight any more. Well I can, but I prefer to conserve my energy,” I ask Lucifer.

“A wise decision to choose to rest. And as for the city I have a solution, you’re already in a good position away from the city so simply place your left hand on the ground.” Lucifer instructs me.

I arch a brow at his request but oblige anyway. I kneel down and place my left hand on the ground and wait. A moment later, my hand glows red from underneath and lines with tribal like patterns appear and run across both sides of my hand on the ground. I watch as each side starts to circle around the city and a few moments later the glowing stops and I lift my hand. Right where my hand was is a red handprint with the same tribal pattern on my palm.

“Ok, what just happened?” I ask.

“Oh nothing really, I just used my own power to create an invisible barrier around Canterlot,” Lucifer answers.

“You can do that?” I ask.

“But of course. Besides it’d be a waste to have all your hard work be for not if the Caribou came and attacked again while you’re not here. Now they can’t get past my barrier without burning themselves alive when they step past the branded line,” he explains.

“But what about the others?”

“This barrier only affects those following Dainn. And if you’re worried about the brainwashed males there’s nothing we can do for them if they try to pass over as well since they’ll also be burnt to a crisp. You also needn’t worry about the stallions already inside the barrier. From what I can tell you knocked them out well enough that they’ll be out cold for a good long while and they won’t burst into flames since they’re already inside. The only thing you can do now is wait. At least now Canterlot is safe so you can rest easy,” Lucifer said.

“What about them?” I ask gesturing to the pile of sleeping ponies.

“Nothing we can do, I’m afraid. At least not at the moment since you still need to recover. Just write a note or something so the others can gather them up and we can return tomorrow to aid them properly,” Lucifer suggests.

I shrug my shoulders and walk to one of the unconscious stallions and reach into his pockets. Thankfully he had a small notebook and quill pen so I could write my note down. I didn’t have much to say so all I wrote was for them to help the mares with any medical aid and place the stallions in holding cells since it’s likely they’ll still be brainwashed when they wake up.

Satisfied, I stuck the note under the stallions hand so it wouldn’t fly away and stood up. I glanced back at the balcony and saw that the Princesses and Mane Six were no longer there. They were probably checking on Shining Armor since it looks like he used the last of his strength before assumedly passing out.

“You did good Shining, rest well,” I said with a smile. I turn and ignite my flames on my hands and feet and fly in the air away from Canterlot. I figured I’d go and sleep under a tree or something in the forest until morning so I flew towards what looked like Everfree Forest.

“Guess it’s like you said, Boss. Greatness from small beginnings,” I said as I flew.

“Indeed,” he agrees.

Author's Notes:

Took me all day and night to write this chapter. AND I LOVED EVERY MINUTE OF IT! Hope you all continue to enjoy new story!

~WurkyWilk has left the building…