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ponyponypuddingandpie · 4 years

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No Longer Equine

There were, and are, a lot of monsters in Equestria. A lot of monsters in the surrounding countries as well. Most of them are dealt with by the Royal Guard and militia set up by the various villages and towns within Equestria. It’s generally not very well handled. Bounty Hunters aren’t seen in a favourable light by most ponies, given their ‘lovey dovey non-violent’ stand on the world.

Aura Surge was not like the rest of them. Born of Romany parents, and brought up as such, learning of the dangers the world faced, the danger these monsters posed.to the population. And, as a result of seeing ponies hurt by them, promised himself he’d face them some day. To help ponies, make sure nobody ever got hurt if he could stop it again. Which was why he was in Canterlot at the moment.

Out of his element, out of his own environment and surrounded by ponies who looked down on him, Aura had taken a job to find a serial killer that was rumoured to be a monster. Bite marks, bodies drained of magic, it was a horrible look. So, he took to finding them. But he had to admit, after almost a week of searching, a week of tracking... he had to admit, he was concerned.

And now, in his hotel room, looking over everything, he’d opened up an old book from his mother. Filled as it was with old stories and legends. And one of them in particular stood out to him. Succubus.

Legend tells of a race of beings that are able to hide amongst the pony population in order to feed upon the magic inherent within all of ponykind, capable of draining them dry, not to mention their true forms, equipped with both a pair of sharp horns and a mouth full of fangs capable of tearing off limbs...

Aura sighed, heavily, and shut the book. His scarred body told tales of many close encounters, and dangerous fights. Clearly he was no stranger to danger. But this... this was a much more potentially dangerous fight than he had been prepared for. If this was true. He’d been fighting monsters for years. Decades. And he had never seen a Succubus. But it fit. It all fit. Teeth marks. Drained of magic. Killed in secret. They were meant to be banished to Tartarus. Where the hell did they come from then? How did they escape? If it’s even real.

A quiet frown. He’d read the book. He couldn’t figure out any other possible monster. But if he could prove this wasn’t a succubus, he could rationalise that this wasn’t a monster. It’d been proven recently unicorns could drain magic from others. It wouldn’t be too difficult to fake fangs with magic after all. It’d take... well, theoretically, if it was anything like Changeling magic, he could probably manage to see through, at least partially, the transformation with a true sight spell...

With a deep breath, Aura sighed quietly. He wasn’t after changelings. He wasn’t after anything. Just hoping to prove that his fears weren’t actually worth listening to.

He could only hope.

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The day was overcast. Apparently, rain was scheduled for the day by the Canterlot weather service. But that hadn’t stopped the many, many ponies who had decided that yes, they were going to step out and do things today. It wasn’t raining yet, but it would relatively soon. And out and about with them, with the crowd parting for him with a weird mix of respect and fear, strode Aura Surge. With his magic building before, after a pause, he cast his spell. Now, alteration style magics, weren’t really Aura’s style. But he’d learned long ago that True Sight was a very important spell. And as he looked around, he was taken aback once more by the magic he saw around. Unicorns were magic filled beings, ever more so than even their cousins. And looking around, he grimaced, increasing his more intimidating appearance. This was going to hurt his eyes after a while. And the worst part was he knew he couldn’t turn it down from eleven.

I don’t know if it’s an illusion, or proper transformation. It’s not recorded. I have to know if this will work.

So, as he took a deep breath, steeling himself for the waves of magical light he was about to put himself through, Aura stepped off, and headed towards the most popular area of Canterlot. The Canterlot Marketplace.

Walking through Canterlot, and barely having to worry about bumping into ponies was... well, it was gratifying in a way. If the clearly ‘noble’ ponies weren’t looking at him like he was trash, it’d be better, but... In any case, he tried to look at as much as he possibly could. It was difficult. There was a tonne to see around the Canterlot Marketplace. And it was hard for Aura to focus on the job. Especially when passing jewellery stands, of which he was quite fond of. After almost an hour, he was close to giving up when.

What in the name of..?

He paused, looking quickly. He’d caught something in a flash. Something bright, and not normal. With a frown, Aura started pushing through the crowd, looking for the source of the bright light he’d seen just a moment ago. Still pushing, he felt the first drop of rain hit his muzzle. Rain. Great. It wasn’t the first time he’d been caught in the rain... but he had to be sure that this was just a powerful unicorn. He had to be sure.

And as the crowd started thinning, it became easier to see. So much so, that he found the bright light. And it was very bright. It was coming from a slender mare, about his height, if a little shorter, with a flower of some kind for a cutie mark. Aura had never been great with flora. he knew the basics of herbology but not much more. And, as the rain began to fall, she’d paused. And, ignoring the quickly scattering ponies around her, the mare looked at the sky, closed her eyes, and smiled. Smiled as the rain poured down upon her. Aura, standing about thirty meters behind her, frowned. He’d never met a pony with magic this bright. Or diverse. It seemed every colour of the rainbow. A touch of fear chased down his spine, and he tweaked his True Sight spell just a little. Then a little more. Something was showing wrong. Something wasn’t right. for a split second, there was a pair of horns on her head. It was only a moment, and Aura couldn’t be sure he actually saw them.

After standing for two minutes in the rain, the mare began to move again, her bedraggled coat now the colour of wet sand, stood up and began walking again. And this time, Aura Surge followed her. Staying a good twenty meters behind her at all times. But, given where they were going... When she turned down an alleyway, he frowned. He’d been found out. Possibly since he’d even started following her. That meant she’d picked him out as her next target. But... He took a deep breath, quietly cancelling his True Sight spell. He was going to need all the power he could spare for this coming fight. This...

This was going to be rough.

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It was still raining. His mane was plastered to his neck, his scalp. And his tail hung heavily over his rump. As he walked down the alley, he saw his target, who had turned around and was regarding him, eyes narrowed, hostile.

“What do you want?” It demanded, “Why are you following me? Answer me!”

Aura’s eyes narrowed in return. It looked like a mare. Spoke like a mare. This was a very convincing disguise. Had he not been using True Sight, he probably would have missed it entirely. In fact, he probably would have thought its’ disguise was quite beautiful. He had it trapped now though. And it had trapped itself.

“I know what you are, Succubus.”

It was, honestly, a gamble. He had no real evidence to prove it. No evidence. Except the stricken look that swept over its face as she realised what he said.

“You’re crazy!” Was its answer, “There’s no such thing as a Succubus!”

“Stop lying to me. I see you for what you are,” He replied, his horn sparking with magic, “I’m a hunter of monsters, Succubus. Don’t worry. I promise to attend your Pomana.”

The shock vanished from its face, replaced with a calm, cool anger. Her horn started glowing in return. And, as he watched, its form changed. The horn was replaced by a pair of long, slender horns growing from its forehead, curving back over its head slightly, its mane grew longer. The tuft of hair at the end of its slender tail was replaced with what looked like a blade, a pair of fangs grew out of its mouth, over the bottom lip. But perhaps what caught Aura’s eye the most?

The eyes. The sclera had turned yellow, and it now had pink irises, and slit pupils. A grimace took to his face. It was a succubus.

“A monster slayer. Here to slay the monster then?” It growled angrily, “Come and try it then.”

Both horns sparked and, in a brilliant burst of power that Aura just barely managed to dodge, a bolt of pink burst against the ground behind him, leaving a blackened mark on the pavement. Surprised, but not one to be beaten, Aura brought his own magic to bear against his foe. Or would have, had he not had to use it a split second later to block another magical blast.

These bolts aren’t random. They’re targeted, and controlled. This creature isn’t firing randomly. It’s testing me.

Another bolt of energy, but this time Aura dodged, and started to rush his prey. He regretted, for a moment, having to leave his knives at the hotel. They’d have come in handy here. Another dodge of another bolt of magic, and he reached close enough.

“Where are you looking?”

His eyes went wide as his sense of danger kicked in and he summoned a new forcefield to his left, looking over at it as a tendril of power resembling lightning slammed into it. But it was lacking. Weak.

Devious bitch!

He looked back at it just in time to catch a pair of hooves to his nose, sending him staggering back several steps, reeling from the surprising strength of the buck, then leapt back several more steps to avoid its barrage of magical missiles and energy arcs. Already tired of this fight, and not willing to give up so easily, Aura brought his magic to bear once again and, finally, managed to summon up a pair of magical shields, one on either side of the target, and slammed them together. The Succubus squealed in shock and pain and Aura took a moment to catch his breath.

Then he felt it, and looked at her, eyes going wide. It was absorbing the magic making up his shields! The anger in its eyes as it glared at him, absorbing his magic made him reassess, and he dismissed the shields. If it meant it would get stronger if he attacked it with magic, this was going to be ever more a difficult fight. Once again, he regretted leaving his knives back in his hotel room.

Its tail whipped angrily, and it fired off a barrage of more bolts, forcing him to summon up a barrier before him and weather them. Each bolt was tougher to weather than the last, and, not wanting to waste his magic on nothing, he altered the shield, turning it into a triangular ram and rushing it yet again, planning on slamming his shoulder into it at the last second and, hopefully, knock it out.

It summoned up instead a beam of magic, slamming into the point of his ram, slowing him down as he charged anyway. He heard it yelling. This beam had to be draining its magic reserves. It was sure as hell draining his. And he was feeling the kick to his nose. But just before he could collide with it, suddenly it was gone. His eyes widened as he stumbled forward. He’d already dismissed the ram. Where had it gone?

“I am not. A monster.”

He spun around and saw it. Standing tall where he had once stood. He could see the magic swirling around it. Being absorbed by it. It was...

How is it doing that? Is it absorbing the magic in the air?

The magic came to a zenith between its horns, and desperately Aura threw up another barrier, but the power of the beam levelled at him broke it down like it was nothing. Unable to replenish his magic as it clearly was able to, Aura’s barrier finally failed him, and the beam slammed into his chest, sending him rolling head-over-hooves down the alley. He felt something in his foreleg break and he finally lost his composure and let out a yell of pain, before he felt himself slam into something. Somehow, he was still conscious. He could feel his chest burning. His nose bleeding, and his leg... he was pretty sure it was broken. probably in several places. And, with a cursory glance, he could see he was in a pile of trash.

Heh... typical city folk...

The sound of a hoof clopping on pavement in front of him caught his ear, and he looked up, battered, bruised and broken, at the victor of his fight. Standing over him, horns still lit with readied magic as it glared down at him.

“Well?” He asked, wincing at just the pain it took to speak, “Go on then. Finish it, like you did those others.”

It looked down at him, anger changing to horror.

“You think I am responsible for those reprehensible acts of violence?” It asked in shock, “That’s why you hunted me? That’s why you tried to kill me?”

“Monsters are forever a danger to equinekind,” Aura heard himself say, “You Succubi... you’re not even meant to exist. You’re a folktale. A bedtime story, meant to scare disobedient little foals. Magic thieving creatures of vicious intent. Go ahead. Do it.”

Shock and horror changed to anger, quivering in its eyes, and for a moment, her horns glowed brighter. Brighter. Aura closed his eyes. waiting for the end.

It never came.

“I am not a monster, Aura Surge the monster slayer,” he heard from above him, “Much like you, much like all ponies, there are good, and there are bad succubi. But none of us are monsters.”

Aura opened his eyes, though the edges of his vision were blurring, and looked at it. It looked... troubled. Still angry, no doubt. But...

“I have a name,” It continued, “A mother. A Father. I feel just like you do. I enjoy the rain on my coat, and the warmth of the sun. I have friends, just like the rest of you ponies do.”

Aura frowned. This... wasn’t going how he had expected when he lost that fight. At all. It was speaking. Intelligently. And... were those tears?

“I don’t know what my ancestors supposedly did,” It continued flatly, “To deserve banishment to Tartarus. And quite frankly, I’m not sure I’d believe they did it if I was told. But know this, Slayer of Monsters. My people have been banished, exiled, imprisoned for more than three thousand years. And, in my relatively short time here, I’ve discovered the majority of you don’t even know we ever existed.”

Aura could feel himself slipping, his vision darkening. The Succubus noticed this, and scowled.

“Hey, don’t you fall unconscious on me! Not when I’m talking to you, I’m not finished with you yet! HEY!”

The last thing Aura heard before losing consciousness was the Succubus’ voice, yelling ‘Don’t you dare!’ before his head hit the ground.

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He was moving. He knew that. He could feel it. Vaguely. His chest hurt. So did his leg. He nose. His whole body hurt, but those. Those more so. Just breathing hurt.

“Mph... Celestia dammit, why’d it have to be so far?”

That voice... it sounded so familiar. So familiar... Aura tried to move.

“Stop that! It’s hard enough to do this without you struggling.”

Still so familiar. He did however stop trying to move though. It hurt too much anyway. It hurt so badly...

“Fuck you’re heavy! What the hell do they feed you where you come fr-oops!”

He felt himself fall. Intense, searing pain up his foreleg, and he blacked out again.

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It smelled... clean. And not in a good way. The sound of rhythmic beeping. Something rough on his back. His chest felt compressed. Aura opened his eyes slowly. And the first thing he saw was a white roof. Slowly, he blinked, and looked down at himself. His chest was wrapped in bandages. His foreleg wouldn’t move. Unsurprising, since it was wrapped in a cast. A slow look around showed him a beeping heart monitor, attached to his chest.

Am I... in a hospital?

“Ah, you’re awake! Good.”

The voice drew his attention, and he saw a nurse approaching him. A slow blink, “You were attacked last night in an alley. Do you remember anything about it?”

“I...” he paused, considering that with his slowly awakening brain, “How did I get here?”

“Oh, a nice mare brought you in,” She replied, looking over his chart, “A lovely mare. She told us she found you in the alley and brought you here! she didn’t stick around though, and you’ve been out since last night so...”

He frowned slowly, but nodded his acceptance. So. The succubus had brought him to the hospital. Instead of killing him.

That doesn’t fit with the Succubus stories. And they’re not meant to be... well, they’re not meant to cry. To feel emotions. And it... It? Should I call a being that seems sentient ‘it’?

His frown deepened. This was... This wasn’t anywhere near as simple as he thought it’d be. And it... she? Dammit, he didn’t know anymore.

Dammit Aura Surge, clearly she was female. And if she can show emotion like that, and talk like that. How can you say she is just a vicious creature drawn to killing and absorbing the magic of their prey? How can you call her that? Is that even real? Possible? Cyka Blyat, this is...

A sigh escaped him, and he looked up at the nurse, who looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.

“Thank you,” He said quietly, “For the treatment. I do appreciate it. Tell me, how long am I expected to be here, if I might ask?”

“Well,” The nurse answered, looking at the sheet, “You had three broken ribs, fairly severe burns on your chest, your foreleg was broken in two places and fractured in two others, and you have a fracture on your snout. So, my estimate, without having consulted your doctor? At least a week.”

“Okay...” He nodded slowly, “If you could please contact The Elegant Fetlock, and let them know where I am and to please not give my room away, I will pay for every day I am here the moment I return.” The nurse smiled and nodded, “Of course sir. I’ll arrange it for you.”

A quiet nod in thanks, and the nurse left, leaving Aura to his own thoughts. Leaving him to consider just what he was going to do when he got out. what he would do with this situation. And what he was going to do with this succubus, hidden away in Canterlot.

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The next time Aura Surge found the Succubus, it was broad daylight. And this time, without hesitating, he limped up to her on his three usable legs. It’d been a week since their battle, and Aura was still in a cast, with his chest bandaged tightly to keep his ribs in place. The Succubus, upon seeing him froze, eyes widening. It was broad daylight. In the middle of a crowd. He approached slowly, and sat down before her. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“What do you want?” She asked coldly, “Here to try again?”

He raised an eyebrow at her, and looked down at his physical condition, then back up at her.

“I’m fairly certain, if I tried like this,” He said in quiet amusement, “You would have little problem defeating me again. But no, I assure you, that is not why I am here.”

He lowered his head slowly, “I am here, instead, to apologise.”

“Apologise?” She asked, quiet confusion overwriting her suspicion, “You? Apologise?”

“Yes. I feel I owe you both an apology, and an explanation. As such, if you would be so graceful Shukar Raiyi, I would appreciate the opportunity to treat you to lunch, and your place of choice.”

A narrowing of eyes again, and the succubus regarded Aura Surge closely. Eventually, she sighed, “Fine. But you’re paying, and you’re buying dessert. And so you don’t keep calling me things I don’t understand, my name is Umbra.”

Aura nodded, “I will buy you dessert, and any drink and meal you so choose. And, as a reintroduction ma’am, My name is Aura Surge. We can speak more once we have a place to ourselves to eat.”

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//This piece was inspired by the relationship between my Bounty Hunter/Monster Hunter Romani pony Aura Surge and @modofpitchpatch‘s Succubus pony Umbra, and writing up how they met. Their relationship did NOT start up well, despite how well they get along now. I only hope that Vernille enjoys this piece, and I haven’t let her down with it.

#modofpitchpatch #Umbra #Succubuspony #Aura Surge #Canterlot #short piece #start of ship

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