See first chapter for disclaimers.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Thanks to Storyseeker for beta-reading this. As usual, if you have any comments or preferences, please don't be shy. RandR.

PREVIOUSLY: My Little Pony: FIM

Hero?

They were small ugly things that apparently had a fondness for fermented apple juice. They were also vicious and gave off a nauseating smell. Worst of all, in Xander's humble opinion, the things were squishy when he kicked or punched them. After his first experience with this particular property of the small grey sort of humanoids, he made a point of only touching them with his sword.

Faith was having the same problem, and the dark-haired slayer was giving vent to a continuous stream of complaints about how disgusting they were to fight. Xander was somewhat impressed that her diatribe didn't slow down her efforts to exterminate them. He was hard pressed to keep ahead of their attacks and not get surrounded, but Faith managed to insult them, dodge or parry their weapons, and slash or stab them without missing a beat.

She made a point of kicking some of them into the river they'd appeared next to, loudly remarking on their need for a bath.

The latest portal had dumped them into an apple orchard where the things were running amok. The enemy seemed to come in two varieties. Most of the small grey-skinned bipeds were armed with swords, some of which were nearly as large as the creatures wielding them, making them a bit clumsy.

Three of the creatures, however, had magic staffs and used them to fling exploding fireballs at the two demon hunters. Their aim was awful, but avoiding them quickly got annoying. Xander made a point of getting close enough to at least destroy the staffs and preferably kill the users.

There was a pier jutting out into the river where the crates of fermented apple juice were stacked. Some of the crates had been broken open, and empty bottles lay scattered about.

Based on the smell coming off of them, those bottles had been emptied down the throats of their attackers. When pressed too hard, Xander took a chance to grab a bottle and smash it over the head of one of the gibbering little beasts.

This tactic met with mixed results, but the tide did turn in their favor. Roughly fifteen minutes after appearing in the orchard, the small grey things were either dead or fleeing.

The last of them were disappearing into the underbrush when two people arrived with drawn weapons. A young black woman led the way, armed with an oak staff. A white teenaged boy was right on her heels. Both stopped and stared at the retreating creatures and then at Xander and Faith.

"Who are you?" the woman demanded with an accent that reminded Xander of Kendra. "'Dis was our quest."

"Then you should have gotten here sooner," Xander shrugged, wiping his sword on the grass. "We just happened along and got attacked."

"Quest?" Faith asked, eyeing the two curiously. She glanced at Xander. "Did we wander into a D&D dimension?"

Her partner shrugged; then turned back to the locals. "Don't know anything about a quest. This is just our typical luck. We were cutting cross country and walked into this mess." He gestured at the ruined crates and bottles as well as the ruined creatures.

The locals traded unreadable looks, and after a moment, the woman shrugged. "Well, farm boy," she sighed. "I guess we'll have to find out who the better hero is some other time. Maybe the guild will have something more interesting for us." She touched an odd looking medallion and vanished in a swirl of light. With a polite nod to the two hunters, the young man did the same.

"What was that about?" Faith asked.

"No clue," Xander shook his head, "but our ride is here." He pointed toward the newly formed portal. "Come on," he said tiredly. "I hope our next stop requires us to sleep for a week."