Volcanic

Chapters

2: A failure to communicate
3: Burning Bridges... and Apple Farms.
4: It's Dangerous To Go Alone
4: The Filler
5: Rise of Grahl
1: Well, that escalated quickly.

2: A failure to communicate

Well, this is interesting. So, this is what others go through when getting teleported to wherever, I suppose. Although, I don't really know where I am... Mostly, because all I could see is black... Which was really weird, because I was awake, I think. But on the upside, I could feel, at least... but I felt hot, really hot, like the inside of a furnace... that's definitely unusual. So, as I saw nothing else to do, I tried waking up. I couldn't move my arms or my head at first, but I soon felt a sudden jerk, and heard a deep, metallic groan from my neck, which indicated I was still wearing my armor... though it felt... heavier, than I remember. Yet, at the same time, it felt more maneuverable, and easier to wear... in fact, it was so skin-tight, I couldn't feel my skin... wait...

I felt that something wasn't right, because I couldn't see, or move, and I felt like I was in an awkward position, like I'd fallen asleep standing up. So, I tried opening my eyes, but I couldn't, so I tried again, and I felt my body get hotter and hotter. Then, before I knew it, I could see... but my vision was tinted slightly red, and I was in a library for some reason. What the hell, I don't even remember being NEAR a library! And why were the books so small!? So, with my vision restored (more or less), I finally managed to wiggle my head free, seeing the armor was stuck, then I freed my arms, and moved my legs, causing a minor vibration to be felt, and a couple books fell off their shelves. Okay, maybe the armor was heavier than I thought...

So, finally, after getting myself freed, I stretched my arms, since they felt a bit stiff, and looked around, seeing nothing but books, shelves, little furniture and ponies... Wait, Little furniture and ponies!? What manner of insane hell have I stumbled into!? Well, I couldn't just stand there like an idiot, because these little things just kept looking at me, eyes wide with terror. And I can't blame them, either: When I tried to speak and identify myself, what came out of my 'mouth' terrified ME, too!

"GROOOOOOOOOOAR!!!" Pinkie Pie nearly flew backwards at the force of the massive thing's roar, as it suddenly jerked to life, its open, empty chest cavity bursting into flames as it thrust its limbs away from itself, freed at last from whatever pit of Tartarus it crawled out of. The noise, which alone had thrown the pink pony aside like a doll, also awoke Twilight and Spike, who briefly opened their eyes before almost fainting again.

"Huh..? Wha..? What's going on heeeaaAAAAGH!?!?!?!" Twilight screamed as she laid eyes on the massive, armored demon that now stood in the center of her living room, just as it finished its incoherent roar.

"T-Twilight!? W-what is THAT!?" Spike asked hastily, and Twilight only shook her head, only able to feel terror of the thing she'd just summoned.

"I... I don't know! It was supposed to be a little demon!" Twilight cried, as the massive, walking pile of fiery metal turned its eyeless gaze to them, scrutinizing them with an air of fire and baleful, irrepressible hatred. It then cocked its head to the side curiously, as if in thought of something. "Probably all the different ways it can kill us!" Twilight thought to herself, and suddenly, Spike spoke up, catching everyone's attention:

"Uh, Twilight, I don't know if you noticed, but THAT is NOT little! I am little! That thing is not!" The drakeling observed, and suddenly, as Twilight and her assistant trembled in terror of the metal abomination, Pinkie popped up between them and the demon, a bucket of water in her hooves.

"Stand back, guys! I have the solution! YAAAAH!!!!" Pinkie screamed, and she charged the giant metal demon, who seemed to actually flinch at this, and threw the filled buckets of water, bucket, water and all, at the thing. Unfortunately, the water simply evaporated upon contact with the demon's flames, and all present company stood there awkwardly, eyeing each other warily. Finally, Pinkie broke the silence yet again.

"Uh... That was supposed to be a bit more dramatic." She said, and the demon raised its hands menacingly, and began stomping forward, eager to end the three before it, and Twilight, unsure of how to deal with this situation, inevitably panicked.

"We're going to die!!!" Twilight screamed, and Pinkie tried to back away from the giant, molten demon, but soon was backed into a wall, causing the gigantic demon to stop and stand, arms still up, and still roaring angrily.

"T-Twilight? When exactly is Celestia going to get here?" Spike timidly asked, as the three huddled together in a corner, futilely attempting to escape the demon as it stalked eerily toward them, hands outstretched. And soon, as was their fears, it was finally upon them, ready to end their miserable existences in a swath of molten metal and fire.

"Not soon enough to save us!" Twilight finally screamed, and soon, she found herself sweating from the beast's incredible heat as it neared, and she awaited the end with bated breath... that is, until the door slammed open.

Okay, what the fuck just happened!? One second, I tried to speak something, and the next second, this fucking horrible, groaning bellow comes from my mouth, if it even can be called that! I can't move it any way, and all it did was make that noise, and drip a little lava. Yes, you heard me: lava. My whole body is now MADE OF METAL, and I'm THIS close to freaking out! First, little tiny ponies from a cartoon, and now I'm not just dressed as the Smelter Demon: I AM the Smelter Demon! My hands have the signature three claws, my torso is open and on fire, and I can only make noises that sound like a dying cow that's trapped in a metal box! Of all the things to happen to me, like, EVER, this is by far the worst. So, anyway, I tried to talk, like I said, but that roar came out instead, and then the little ponies are now looking even MORE scared of me, even the powerful-looking purple one in the center, the one with the horn and wings. In fact, she's more scared of me than the others, it seems. In fact, I could hear her screaming... something. Honestly, I didn't know what the little pony-thing is saying; it's like she's speaking some other language.

But, I don't dwell on that, so, my first method of diplomacy failed, I then resorted to my phase two: I put my hands up submissively, and try to surrender. However, during this, I forgot that I can't talk, and I don't know what these things are saying, so I walked forward, arms up, and still groaning and roaring like the freaking Last Giant, despite the fact that I learned that I couldn't talk to them. Needless to say, they panicked, and the pink one ran off, the purple one backed away, and the purple lizard joined her as they backed into a corner. Then, just as I get the sense to back away, I hear a tiny battle-cry, and I look down to see the pink one has returned with a little bucket of water...I think. Wait, water? Were these things... trying to KILL me!? As the little pink one charges, I instinctively flinch as she throws her weapon at me, bucket and all, but then, still flinching, I see the bucket not even touch me before melting against my metal skin, and the water immediately evaporates, almost comically. Nevertheless, the attack failed, and the ponies still seem scared of me. So, what can I do? Well, I then get another oh-so brilliant idea in my clearly-melted brain: I tried to talk to the now-stunned pink pony again, and try and make her stop being a nuisance, but as I reached for her, the pony backed up quickly, and she bounded over to her friends, who proceed to back into a corner, obviously terrified of me.

Well, I did spontaneously burst into this little library, and I AM a giant, fiery demon, so, in an attempt to alleviate the situation, I got the message that I'm unwanted, and I slowly walked towards the little entrance door, hands still up, and still facing them with my body, to show them I meant no harm. I must have gotten a little too close to them during, though, because at that point, one of them screamed something, and then as I tried to make a break for the door (the door was too small, but it was the only way I could go: the books blocked everywhere else), the door slammed open, flooding the room with bright, white light. Then, I saw the last thing I ever expected to in my life: A tall, white-colored pony, with horns and wings like the purple one, and her ethereal, rainbow-like mane flowing in some invisible breeze. To anyone else, she would have probably looked very, very imposing. But to me? To me, she looked like one of those little girl's toys. Then, as I try to move backward, the slightly-bigger little pony-thing then shouts something at me, and lowers her head, pointing her horn at me, which then, of course, starts to glow.

Hoo boy, this was gonna be rough. But still, I have to defend myself somehow... and I have no idea how yet.

Twilight began to panic as she backed into her corner with Spike and Pinkie, and the three soon found themselves very, very close to the gargantuan, ferrous demon, as it made its way to them, and then... to the door? But before it could exit, or do whatever it was doing, the door suddenly slammed open, and the room was instantly flooded with light, and the demon began to back away, more out of shock than repulsion, though, from what Twilight could tell. But soon, she didn't even pay attention to the demon, for no sooner had the door opened, than the one person Twilight knew could save them stepped in, and the three cheered in unison at the recognition of their savior: Their savior, who happened to be no less... than Celestia.

"Celestia! Gosh, are we glad to see you!" Pinkie spouted first, and Celestia looked over at the three, giving them a light smile.

"Hello, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Spike. I see your "presentation" went well, little princess-to-be?" Celestia asked playfully, and Twilight blushed slightly in embarrassment, then replied slowly.

"Eh... yes, kind of... I kinda ran into a little problem along the way..." Twilight said, shuffling her hooves, and Celestia laughed softly and kind-heartedly, before retaining a stern face toward the demon who dared threaten her former student and her friends. She noticed it first in the room: it DID take up the whole room, after all. Plus, it was on fire, that was more than enough to give it away as some kind of demon from Tartarus... though, in all honesty, Celestia had never seen a demon like this before. It looked like a giant, malformed minotaur, horns included, but it had a crater for a face, like someone had hammered it in. Still, though it looked evil, the monster made no immediate moves, and stood deathly still, scrutinizing the princess with a baleful, but curious, stare. Finally, after a moment of silence, the princess made her move, and proceeded to take a step toward the beast, and she called it out in her mighty royal Canterlot Voice, hoping that the demon would hear her and obey.

"Listen here, demon! You do not belong here! Return to the depths of Tartarus from whence you came, or be forced back there by us! You have been warned!" Celestia shouted, but the demon only stood there, scrutinizing her, even tilting its head slightly, as if not understanding her. But as it gazed, Celestia noticed how imposing it was, even compared to any other demons she faced, even Discord. This thing, whatever it was, was not of this realm: it looked far too serious and twisted. And, with its eyeless stare, it began to make Celestia herself feel a bit insecure as the demon towered over her, not afraid of her at all, barely even acknowledging her as a power. But still, Celestia did not waver, and when the demon did nothing still, she called the demon out again, lowering her head to prepare a banishing spell.

"You have been warned, demon! You will now be forcibly exorcised!" Celestia said, but before she could unleash her spell, the massive demon stirred to life, and reached for her with a massive, clawed hand. And then, before Celestia could dodge, the demon picked her up, and held her to its face, startling her and cancelling the spell. Celestia, now officially flustered, kicked and struggled to get free of the giant demon's grasp, but to no avail, as it seemed to have no intention of releasing her, and instead continued to scrutinize the princess of the sun with its usual aloof stare.

"Celestia!" Twilight cried, and she tried casting a spell at the monstrous pile of metal, Causing it to stagger, and release Celestia. Due to her unpreparedness at the sudden release, though, Celestia was unable to catch herself as she fell to the ground, and she managed to roll out of the way as the demon brought it's boot down, almost squashing her like a bug. Then, holding where Twilight shot it in the chest, the giant, fiery demon roared in what sounded like anger, but was so twisted, it barely registered as a possibe emotion, and after regaining its balance, the demon tilted forward, and stormed past Twilight and the others, crashing through the entry way and taking the door and most of the wall with it. Finally, the demon gone, Twilight rushed over to her former mentor, desperately praying for her safety.

"Celestia, are you alright?" Twilight asked, but upon inspection, Celestia did not look alright. She had major burns on her sides where the demon gripped her, and seemed to be in serious pain. But nonetheless, Celestia still smiled, and gave her reply.

"Yes, I'm fine, Twilight... I've certainly suffered worse than this." Celestia said, attempting to stand, and eventually succeeding. But still, Twilight gave her a suspicious look, and turned her gaze to the giant, burning hole in her wall where the demon fled, and to all her now-immolated books, vastly dismayed by their loss.

"That thing... it ruined my library..." Twilight trailed off as she looked at the destruction the demon caused, and Celestia's smile finally faltered, and her gaze became serious as screams sounded from outside, indicating that the demon her former student had summoned was now making even more trouble... Trouble that she likely had to solve.

"Twilight, we will take care of your home later. Right now, I have to deal with that monster before it..." Celestia couldn't finish her sentence, for when she tried to move, her burns became agitated, and she soon flinched in pain, almost falling again. Before she could, though, Twilight managed to catch her, and Celestia was eased onto a seat, still wincing at her new scars.

"No, Celestia, I'll go after it. I brought it into this world, now I have to take it out. Pinkie, keep an eye on Celestia, I'll go end this nightmare before it starts." Twilight commanded, and Pinkie Pie promptly saluted, straitening her pose, but still smiling that giant, ever-present smile.

"Okey dokey, lokey!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, and Celestia tried to protest, but before she could, Twilight was out the door, ready for battle.

It was... weird. This had to be a dream. So, here I am in little pony world, and that's weird, and everything's so tiny, even this royal-looking pony before me, and that tore it. This had to be a dream or something, because this doesn't just happen to people. I'm probably unconscious, in a coma, or something, and this was a fever dream. But... I had to be sure. I mean, I just had to. So, while the little white pony, barely bigger than my hand, barked something at me in its odd tongue, I reached for it slowly, and then snatched it up, hoping to get a better look at it. But then it screams, and I notice black smoke coming off of where I held her (I assume it's a her, anyway). So, I try to quickly release her, as I realized that I was hurting her, but before I can, I feel a sharp, bursting pain hit my chest (whatever's left of it, anyway), and I quickly let the tiny pony go, roaring in pain, and I move to regain my balance as I stagger, and I finally fall back on my feet. So, I finally decided I'd had enough of this, because A: That hurt, and B: This shit is fucked up, and I'm out of here.

So, in response to that most painful attack, I tilt my head down, ignoring the tiny, annoying ponies, and charge at the wall, smashing it into little bitty pieces, and I ran like hell out into the street, hoping to escape whatever hell I just landed in. What did that little bitch even hit me with? I remember that the Smelter Demon was only vulnerable to two things: Lightning spear, and... Magic. Oh, no, no no... These things had MAGIC!? Oh, hell to the fuck that. I wanted to escape this tiny village, but before I could, I tripped over a fountain and landed flat on my face, smashing a cart with my right hand as I tried to put it out in front of me. I heard screams, but I didn't bother looking for who was causing the ruckus, I just wanted to get the hell out of here... wherever "here" was. So, I pick myself up, and continue running. If one has magic, chances are that they ALL have magic, and I do NOT want to be surrounded by that kind of crowd. So, I continued my charging sprint, and after a while of running, I saw the edge of the town, and internally smiled like a motherfucker, because I was finally free!

So, I saw the town edge, and I ran, but no sooner than I sped up, than another voice shouted at me, causing me to look back. Sure enough, there was the purple one, and she did NOT look happy. So, I quickened my pace, throwing all my weight forward in one final sprint, and I didn't pay attention, but I think I hit something. I heard a loud *pang* as something small hit the front of my armor as I ran, but I didn't see it, nor did I care, until I looked back, to see that the purple one had stopped chasing me, and was now looking over a small, blue figure. Like I said, I didn't care, so I eased my sprint, seeing no reason to be so fast, but I still kept running, and I didn't stop.

Like I said, I wanted to be as far away from this place as possible, even if I had to run to the other side of the world. But still, something bugged me, even as I ran, head down and charging: what the hell just happened?

Twilight chased the creature as fast as she could down the street, and through the town, but the demon seemed hell-bent on getting away from her at any cost, and in its bid for escape, it even tripped over the fountain, obliterating it, and smashed a cart of produce as it fell. Twilight tried to catch up to it at that point, hoping that the fall would give her a chance to finally capture the thing, but as soon as the metal demon saw her, it got right back up, and broke into another run. And just like that, Twilight lost her distance on the demon as it charged blindly through the town, flames and destruction trailing behind it. Clearly, this demon was afraid of her... but why? It was more than five times her size, and could easily have crushed her earlier... so why didn't it? However, before she could find the answer to that question, almost too suddenly, she noticed that the monster she'd summoned was now heading out of town, where it could possibly do whatever it wanted, to whoever it wanted. Even worse, Twilight soon saw Rainbow Dash, drifting around carelessly on a low-hanging cloud, right in the demon's path!

So, without another thought, Twilight gasped, and shouted at the monster;

"Stop! Now!" Twilight cried, but neither Rainbow Dash nor the demon seemed to hear her, and with horror, Twilight watched as the demon hit her friend like a freight train, throwing her aside with his bulk, and it just kept on running, even after Twilight had stopped, and made her way to her friend, who she desperately hoped was alive.

"Oh no, oh no... Rainbow, are you okay!?" Twilight asked frantically as she approached her downed friend, and was surprised and relieved when the cyan pegasus groaned, and got back up, rubbing her head.

"Owwww... Twilight..? What the heck just hit me? It felt like a meteor up and ran into me!" Rainbow Dash complained, and Twilight sighed, and began to explain her situation as best she could, without losing her confused friend.

"Listen, Rainbow, that thing that hit you was a demon, and I need you to get the others so we can catch it and send it back to Tartarus." Twilight explained hastily, but Rainbow Dash merely looked at her, a confused expression on her face, and blinked once before retorting.

"What? A demon? Twilight, where in Equestria did a DEMON come from? Did Cerberus take a break again?" Rainbow Dash asked, but Twilight only shook her head, and pressed her plea.

"That doesn't matter right now! I need you to go and get the others now, before it destroys more stuff!" Twilight pleaded, and Rainbow Dash finally got up, albeit reluctantly, and seemed about to take off, when suddenly, a massive, metallic roar sounded from further away, getting the two's attention immediately, seeing as where the roar came from.

"Wait... isn't that coming from... Applejack's place?" Rainbow Dash noted, her mood becoming bleaker and grimmer as the realization struck both her and Twilight, and without another word, both of them flew off at top speed toward the apple farm, to see if the demon had struck there. As they sped off, though, their fears became confirmed as a column of smoke began to appear near the farm's location, and it was growing.

"Oh, no... this isn't good..." Twilight began, out of earshot of Rainbow Dash, and she then began to pray for her friend's safety... for whatever her prayers were worth.

Author's Note

Back, baby!

Sorry for the crappy chapter, though, I'm not feeling creative or tenacious today. Sorry.

3: Burning Bridges... and Apple Farms.

Andrew's POV

I ran as far as I could... and now, I can't run any more. I need to rest.

As I began to slow my charge to a stop, I bent myself over to catch my breath, though I didn't need to; I couldn't breathe, either. this thing, this place... this had to be hell. I can't breathe, it's so hot, and my legs hurt, because I've been running so much. These ponies... they'll catch me soon, I just know it... but I can't let that happen. That purple one, she has to know where I am. So, getting back up, I try to run a little farther, but I suddenly stumble, and put my hands out to catch myself as I fall into what appears to be a field of some kind, full of tall-ish, thin strands of plant matter... wheat... it was wheat, I realized all too late, and as soon as I got myself to stand again, I noticed the field was now alight, almost impossibly fast.

"GRRRRRRAARRRRRR!!!" I roared, a failed attempt at saying 'Oh shit!!!', and I quickly put my feet up, and tried to stamp out the fires, hoping to avoid causing any more damage. But despite my best efforts, I couldn't help the fire, and in fact, my actions seemed to only make it worse. And as the flames raged on, I watched in horror as they engulfed the fields, then the fences surrounding the field, and then the trees, the smell of burning wood drifting into my senses, despite the fact I had no nose. It smelled... sweet. But despite the pleasant smell of burning wood, I quickly began to rack my brain for a way to stop this fire. This was someone's property, dammit! Searching for options, I tried to stop the fire by uprooting the blazing trees, but still, as if powered by my being there, the fires continued to spread rapidly, and despite my best efforts to stamp it out and separate the fuel from the fire, it still spread, slowly but surely. Soon, the whole hill was little more than a bonfire of epic proportions, and there I was, at the center, stunned by how bad of a firefighter I was. Then again, though, I was the Smelter Demon, after all. But at least the fire wasn't going any farther...

Suddenly, I heard the sound of flapping wings, and the uncomfortable tingle I felt only once before, at the library... they had finally found me, and I was in a pretty incriminating position. Oh, fuck me up the ass with a Channeler's Trident, why don't you?

"GRRRR?" I groaned, looking to where I heard the wings over the roaring flames, and then, there she was, that same purple, unnerving pony from the library, and she'd brought friends, four of them, to be precise. Suddenly, before I could even turn my body to face them, the purple leader barked something at one of her new minions, the cyan one, by the look of it, and the little winged, blue pony then sped off toward the distance, and toward a farm I didn't see there before, seeing as I was preoccupied with stopping my flames from burning down the whole countryside. But still, the remaining ponies surrounded me, and left me stunned there, unable to escape without hurting one of them. Honestly, I don't see how these guys saw themselves as a threat to me, but they still surrounded me with zeal and stoicism, leaving me feeling pretty bad about what I obviously had to do. But whatever happened next, I can only hope god would forgive me for it.

"GRRRRRMMMMMRRR..." I grumbled, trying to say 'forgive me', and I raised my fists up, preparing to fight any of the remaining four that tried to charge me, and desperately hoping that the four tiny, underpowered ponies would wise up and leave, before I incinerated one of them.

Twilight saw the smoke from all the way between the farm and Ponyville, and knew that the thing she summoned had to be there. And sure enough, as Rainbow Dash returned with three of the other elements; Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy, the five finally moved out, going as fast as their limbs would let them while still moving as a group, but quickly stopped as they saw the fields and trees and even the entire hill ablaze with a hellish inferno, the flames seething with enough heat to melt iron, and with enough intensity to make them seem almost alive... and very, very angry.

"Oh, this is bad..." Twilight whimpered as the five looked around for Applejack's farm, and soon, Rainbow Dash cut in, followed by the others:

"Twilight, what the heck did you summon?!" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Oh... Oh, I hope this doesn't reach the forest..." Fluttershy whimpered, and quickly, Twilight interjected, taking the situation back under her control.

" Enough! There's no time for worrying about that, We have to find Applejack and the demon! Rainbow, you go find the farm, the rest of you, come with-"

"GRRRRRRAARRRRRR!!!" Twilight was interrupted suddenly by a loud, terrible roar, one that shook all five of the ponies to their bones, and without another word or thought, the five rushed through the scorching flames of the burning fields toward the sound's source. Then, finally, atop the hill, the five mares stopped and stared, awestruck and terrified of what they saw: There, atop the hill, the very demon Twilight summoned stamped the ground and uprooted burning trees in a blind fit of rage-induced destruction, desecrating the remains of the fields and farmland with its anger. Suddenly, for a moment upon seeing the spectacle before her, Twilight was no longer afraid... She was PISSED.

"Twilight... are you okay..?" Rarity asked the trembling, purple alicorn, but at first, Twilight did not respond. Then, without warning, she turned to her friends, and issued her order.

"Alright, let's get up there! We're going to show this giant scrap heap what happens when you mess with Equestria!" an enraged Twilight shouted over the roaring flames, and oblivious to their heat, she and the other four charged up the hill, facing the demon, and Twilight landed upon the hill at last, gaining the Demon's attention, who then looked at the princess with a tilted head, and growled curiously at her.

"GRRRR?" the demon groaned, turning toward the five inquisitively, but Twilight didn't stop to read the monster's body language; the flames of the hill licked at her, heating her brain beyond safe levels. So, enraged and slightly confused, Twilight then turned to Rainbow Dash, and ordered her to find Applejack, or at least get everyone at the farm to safety.

"Rainbow, go find the farm, and get everyone there to safety, and find Applejack! Got it?" Twilight barked, and Rainbow Dash nodded, and flew off, speeding toward the farm. The demon, however, took no notice of the cyan pegasus, and instead focused even more on the remaining four ponies before it, raising its fists as it took up a defensive stance, finally preparing to combat the Elements of Harmony.

"GRRRRRMMMMMRRR..." the beast growled at the four, and the flames seemed to grow in intensity as the four circled it, though Twilight paid them no mind. Now, they finally had the demon right where they wanted him. Then, with almost no warning beforehand, the colossal demon charged Twilight Sparkle, and the fight... Began.
I looked around as the four ponies surrounded me on four corners, tightly so not to leave any openings, but far enough that I couldn't reach them from where I stood. So, with much thought and consideration, I weighed my options; I could easily crush all four of them at will, but they likely had magic, something I was now weak to, and honestly, I didn't want to hurt them, much less kill them; I'd invaded THEIR territory, and burned down THEIR farm. But still, I didn't want to die here, and had no choice to defend myself, by any means necessary, if I wanted to live. So, searching among my list of options, I finally picked out the purple one, likely their leader in lieu of the white one, and decided to single her out, thinking that if she fell, the others would flee. So, that said, I growled at the purple one once more, and stomped once to fake her out, but she didn't seem fazed. In fact, the poor thing seemed... out of it. Was she, perhaps, suffering from the flames in the form of heat stroke? I couldn't think on it, though, for when I regained my bearings, the pony then charged her horn, and cast a spell, which I spun to dodge.

So, seeing no other way, I gathered my strength, leaped into the air, and aimed myself at the dazed, princess-like pony, and as I landed, I threw my fist down, causing flames to erupt around it as I landed. Luckily for her, the pony had the bearings to dodge my attack, but before she could cast another spell, I pulled my fist back up, reared it back, and swiped my still-flaming hand at her, hoping to swat her aside and knock her out, but I overestimated my swing, and before the purple pony could dodge, my hand impacted her fully, throwing the pony aside, and she screamed as she sailed through the air, her whole right side alight with flame, and before I could even react, the princess struggled a bit to get up, but eventually did. Then, as if hell-bent on destroying me, the little pony leaped back, and charged her horn for another shot. Still, I avoided it narrowly, and charged the purple nuisance with all my force, and leaped at her in a kind of body slam. The purple pony dodged that attack, though, and before I could get up, my purple enemy jumped backward once more, trying to keep her distance from me. However, I knew how to deal with her type, and managed to stay one step ahead of her. As she charged her spell, I threw myself off the ground, staggered to my feet, and charged her one more time, seeing as the only way she could go was into the deadly flames.

Finally, she cast her missile, and despite the pain when it impacted my armor, I charged onward, and threw my right arm forward, hitting the purple winged unicorn squarely in the side. That seemed to do it then, because she then screamed in pain and shock as she flailed through the air, and landed on one of her friends, downing them both... and by the look of it, they had no intention of getting back up.

"Uh oh." I thought to myself, and as I looked back to the remaining two ponies, I saw that they'd already abandoned their posts, and had rushed over to aid their burned, unconscious friends, leaving me with my thoughts as the yellow one hoisted them onto her back. and they all took off, retreating from the fight to aid their friends. But despite this, I did not celebrate my victory. Instead, I looked to the carnage around me, and then to the farm, where I thankfully saw the cyan one emerge with several other ponies, including one with a cowboy hat, and I sighed a metallic sigh of relief. Today, aside from the purple one, no one was seriously hurt as far as I saw.

I then looked around once more, and without another word, I walked away, hoping to find some way to seclude myself until this all blew over... That is, assuming they didn't hunt me down, I mean.

The five mares surrounded Twilight Sparkle as she rested upon the bed at the hospital, all of them worried for their friend's health. Last they saw, she was fighting the massive demon of fire by herself, looking dazed from the fire's heat, as they all were. But Twilight, of all ponies, had the gall to stand inside the flames as she fought, but that was her downfall. Though the demon could have killed her, though, the five were shocked and happy to see that it did not, and Twilight yet lived, broken in many places, but still stable, and still recovering. The five looked to their resting friend, worried, but happy that she did not die. Still, they all agreed on one thing on this day; The demon had to pay.

On this day alone, the demon they faced had wrecked Twilight's library and home, hurt Celestia, demolished half of Ponyville as it fled, burned down Applejack's whole farm, every tree, field and building they had, and K.O.ed their own friend, Twilight Sparkle. No words had been said on the subject, but none were needed. Even so, as the five left, their planning on how to exact vengeance on the foul demon began.

"So... what now?" Rainbow Dash asked solemnly, and everypony looked to each other, and even Pinky Pie had lost her usual joyous aura, replaced by one of sadness and uncertainty. Finally, after a brief pause, Applejack spoke up, giving voice to what the five now felt in that moment.

"Well, that there robot destroyed mah farm, mah home, an' just about killed our friend. I, for one, won't stand for it. Ah'm huntin' that varmint down, an' puttin' an end to all this nonsense! You all with me?" Applejack said, her speech instilling hope and a sense of vengeance in the other four's hearts, and with a unanimous 'YEAH!', the five all set off, eager to begin their journey, to hunt the demon that destroyed Applejack's farm, as well as half the town, and hurt their friend Twilight Sparkle.

However, next time they would meet, the demon would soon bare more than his bare fists at the five, but a weapon, one of untold, immense power, that may be the end of them when next they fight...

Author's Note

TO BE CONTINUED!!!

BUM BUM BUUUUUUUM!!!!

4: It's Dangerous To Go Alone

Andrew's PoV

I panted hard as I finally stopped running, despite my lack of lungs and need for breath, and it came out sounding just as horrifying as it always had since I got here. But at last, I was done running. I was so far away from that wretched place, they would never start looking for me here. The mountains loomed above me as I looked around to figure out where I was, and after a while, I didn't care. I was in a caldera, in a mountain range, in the ass-end of nowhere. Finally hidden and safe from anything this world could throw at me, I sat down at long last, and remained silent as tiredness crept over me for the first time since I arrived in this hellish land. It was so hot... and I ran for almost the whole day, non-stop, trying to escape from colorful, angry, foot-tall ponies that were trying to kill me for some reason. I wondered, suddenly, if they were really small, or if I was giant, being the Smelter demon and all? Well, I suppose it doesn't matter now. At last, I was safe. Tired, lonely, and scared witless, but safe. Finally, after I had gathered my fevered thoughts together, I looked around once more, and took in my surroundings, my new home, as far as I was concerned. If this is where all those other cosplayers go, then I was going to have to get used to this place, seeing as I had yet to hear of a single one ever returning, save one fellow, some kid named Chris, and he disappeared again just after reappearing and spouting something about being a god or something. So, seeing as I am a reasonable teenager, one of very, very few in my own world, I guessed that I'll just have to live with this. After all, it's not so bad. I don't need to breath, I'm never cold, and I probably don't need to eat, seeing as I don't...

"Grrrrmblmblrumble..."

...On second thought, it seems that even the mighty Smelter Demon needs to eat, seeing as my belly-flames just growled at me.

"Ugh, can't it wait, belly-flames? I'm trying to hide from homicidal ponies here." I try to reason with my disgruntled 'stomach', but another sharp, deep growl let's me know just what my flames thought of my well-being:

"GRRRRRRUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRMBLE...!!!" My flames growled again, their guttural way of saying 'We care not for your little agonies, mortal, now feed us!'. So, with a great, echoing sigh, I finally got up, causing a loud, resounding, metallic groan to echo throughout the caldera, and I began to look around for, well, I didn't know. I didn't know what Smelter Demons ate, maybe rocks? Metal? Lumber? So, having no idea what to do, or what I was looking for, I began to look around for something that caught my eye, assuming I had any, and soon managed to crawl my way out of the caldera, looking over the scenic landscape of the land before me.

"Well... guess I have to go back out there, or I'm going to die. Fuck my life." I mentally groaned, and I set out of the mountain range, but quickly stopped once I was past the caldera's rim: I wasn't setting foot out there without a way to defend myself. So, realizing my folly, I quickly slammed my palm into my face, and looked back at the caldera, and began to think, despite the insistent growlings of my stomach-flames. A caldera used to be a volcano, and I know that this was a caldera, though I can't quite place how I knew in the first place. Smelter-senses, perhaps? Anyway, as soon as I climbed back into the massive crater, I realized something quickly, noting the gasses coming from the fissures in the rock around me: This place was still active.

"Hah... how convenient. But how to get it to yield its liquid metal..." I thought intensely on the problem before me, and soon came up with a viable solution, one that seemed outlandish, but was just as viable as any other option at this point. Lifting one foot off the ground, I then braced myself, and thrust it into the stone ground below me, focusing all my willpower into that one, seismic stomp, and sure enough, I felt the ground below me quake and shudder, booming loudly as gas exploded outward from the already-present fissures, sending chunks of stone outward and upward, and despite my preparedness of anything that was to happen, I jumped and yelped, startled by what I had done. However, soon, the earth calmed down, and everything quickly fell silent again, save for the hissing of the steam and gas vents and the wind as it blew over the massive, forlorn crater. So, I soon calmed down as well, but seeing no further reaction from the inert volcano, I then decided to go one more round, before just turning around and finding something to eat by myself. So, bracing myself once more, I raised my massive, armored boot once more, and focused my willpower once more, and prepared to stomp down one more time.

"Alright... here goes..." I thought, preparing myself physically and mentally, and with a loud, angry roar, I brought my foot down on the stone earth below me one last time... and nearly fell over at the suddenness of the crater's reaction, at the stony ground as it cracked and shook violently beneath my feet, and I quickly fell flat on my ass as the ground churned and heaved up, explosions sounding as gas erupted from their crevasses, and fiery, glowing liquids spewed from the cracks in the ground, setting the gasses alight and swathing the whole caldera in flame. Finally, in a last, superior, earth-shaking tantrum, the whole ground below me exploded outward and upward, though I was not thrown anywhere, and was instead engulfed in the lava as it flooded the massive crater, and spilled out over the rim, flowing like glowing, deadly water into the rocky, barren valley below, incinerating any shrubbery in the way, and creating whole rivers of lava as I clung to the rim of the caldera after just breaking the lava's surface. So, I can swim in lava now... cool.

However, I had no time to celebrate my survival at the center of a volcanic eruption, for soon, my relief was struck down by overwhelming dread as I began to realize what I had done.

"Oh... oh, they'll see this eruption, won't they..?" I thought, and soon, I realized that, inevitably, the ponies would know of this, and follow me here in their hunt to end me where I stood. But, on the other hand, my hunger seemed to have vanished into thin air, as if fed by the sheer destruction caused by just whatever just what I had wrought by prematurely activating the volcano... or the burning shrubs, either one worked.

"So... I feed on destruction... God, this is just a swell thing to discover about one's self." I mentally sighed, not seeing any way to make peace with the ponies now that all the evidence has stacked to me being a monster that feeds on burning stuff. But still, nonetheless, I crawl out of the lava, will to survive still burning within me, and I get out of the pool, and quickly realize that I'm holding something I don't remember holding before. So, as soon as I get out of the lava lake, look to my right hand and see...

"A... sword..?" I think, almost out loud, as I look at the long, sharp object I now held, which seemed to me to be a long, singular piece of formerly-molten metal, though of what variety I could not say, and it looked like the sword the original Smelter Demon had, except... not very refined... or forged, for that matter. Looking closer at the deadly piece of metal in my hand, I noted that the massive sword lacked a hilt, and seemed to have been simply formed from flowing molten metal, instead of properly hammered and shaped. Still, despite the fact that my inner metallurgist cringed at the very thought of carrying around, let alone USING such a piece, it still weighed nicely in my hand, and honestly, it didn't look too bad a weapon; nice, sharp edge, even surface, and when I finally swung it as a test, the handle didn't snap in half. Plus, when I swung it, I could swear I saw flames coming off of it. This, in my professional opinion, had to be the coolest sword I'd ever seen. But, I had to wonder... where did it come from?

I thought about how on earth this lethal piece of metal ended up in my possession without my knowing, but ultimately, I decided that I didn't care. I had been plucked from my world, put in one full of little rainbow-pastel horses, and given the body of the infamous butthurt demon. This sword was just another incident that just happened to work in my favor. So, that said, I finally looked back to my now-flooded caldera, and began to climb further up the mountain, unaware, and ultimately uncaring, of just what kind of damage I had done by setting off that volcano. Now, I had a weapon, a hiding place, and time to think. That is, until I got hungry again. Still, I had to think of a way to either get home, or make life here a bit more bearable. Either way, the outcome required time and thought.

I only hope that my time doesn't run out too soon.

4: The Filler

The mane six wandered the plains for days after the fateful encounter that afternoon, and the hour was growing late, with no sign of the demon they sought anywhere. No footprints. No destruction. Just wide, open, roadless land, and a setting sun, courtesy of princess Luna, who'd agreed to do Celestia's more menial duties until she completely recovered. Soon, the five ponies grew tired of their fruitless search, and thought of turning around a quitting.

"Gah, it's hopeless! We can't even catch a clue as to that varmint's whereabouts!" Applejack whined, coupled by her Cyan friend, Rainbow Dash.

"Man, how can something that big hide so well? It's made of fire for crying out loud, where else could it go!?" Rainbow Dash complained.

"Well, no forests have burned down or anything..." Rarity noted, working her brain.

"Thank goodness for that..." Fluttershy sighed in relief, right before Rarity continued.

"So... if it's not near anything flammable, maybe it's in the mountains?" Rarity concluded, posing concern for the remaining four mares, first to speak up being Applejack.

"The mountains? But there's nothin' up there but rocks, cliffs, and an old, dead volcano. Why'd it want to go where it can't even burn anything?" Applejack asked, allowing Pinkie Pie to pipe up, and give her answer.

"Ooh! Ooh! Maybe, like, the demon knows about the volcano, and is trying to blow it up, and then build a metal castle on it, guarded by metal samurai and stuff!" Pinkie blabbered, but the others just looked at her, dumbstruck.

"Uh, Pinkie? That's an... interesting... thought, but I highly doubt that this thing, as vile as it is, has such a far-reaching plan in mind." Rarity stated, before Rainbow Dash butted in.

"Yeah, I'm with Rarity here, Pinkie. It may be dangerous, but isn't SMART. Besides, that volcano's been dead for a thousand years, it's not just gonna blow up because a monster's up there. There's, like, science and junk that goes into this stuff." Rainbow declared.

"But we use magic to control the weather. Why not tectonics?" Pinkie Pie wondered, scratching her chin with a hoof.

"Well, Pinkie, darling, I don't think that magic exists ye-" Rarity tried to finish her explanation to Pinkie, but a sudden, earth-shattering explosion quickly cut her short, causing them all to look back to the mountains in shock, a terrible sight awaiting them as they did: the tallest mountain, the former volcano of unknown name, was currently exploding, sending pillars of smoke and ash and fire into the sky as glowing streams cascaded down it's sides. None spoke as the spectacle took place, but they all finally knew, for certain, that they were going that way.

I sat for what seemed like hours at the rim of the Volcano, pondering to myself. Silently I sat, a statue of metal and flames, overlooking the destruction I had wrought below. Rivers of lava flowed around me, seeping into the valley below. Shrubs were burning. Gasses igniting. I... was literally looking at Hell itself, and at the rate this was going, I was going to be here for quite some time. That, coupled with the fact that those pesky ponies were probably on their way here, thanks to the eruption I caused. So, so much for hiding here forever.

"Well... This is splendid..." I thought to myself. "Of all the things to happen... Trapped here. Alone. Miserable. Gah, what a way to end today, huh, magic sword?" I finished my thoughts with a glance to my blade, conjured from this volcano out of stray molten metals. However, the sword just sat there, aloof and silent. God, what I wouldn't give for some company... some semblance of companionship in this horrid, alien world. Without thinking, I found myself picking up a strange , half-molten stone, carving my name into it with a stray chunk of soapstone, and tossing it into the valley below, where it was carried out of sight by the surging lava below. Why? Well, maybe I just wanted to leave a mark, to show the world I was here, and that I wasn't a monster. Maybe I was just bored. Who knows? Heh, maybe it'll actually work, and someone from another world will find me. Only time will tell, I guess. Finally, after a moment of pensive thought, the sky quickly became dark, stars filling the void above, and I gazed at them, drifting into some semblance of sleep.

Huh... I wonder...

...Do Smelter Demons dream?

The five ponies peered up at the range of mountains above as they neared the valley, the volcano towering over them intimidatingly, made even more so by the stark contrast of night sky and flowing, glowing lava. Like something out of a fairy tale, almost. Still, the five continued their trek, silent and (mostly) undeterred, hoping to get near enough to set up camp, and inevitably face the molten demon hiding above in the morning. However, unrest brewed within them, growing as they neared the citadel of the demon's power. To prematurely detonate a volcano... it was unheard of! No demon could just up and do that, none from THIS world, anyway. Still, the five little ponies settled quietly in a spot at the base of the mountains, out of the way of the lava floes, and decided to make camp. Tonight, the five would rest, preparing to finally take down the monster that resided at the top of the mountain. And so, to do that, they would rest, peacefully, but ultimately unaware someone, or rather, several someones, making their way up the mountain, just out of sight, and out of mind.

The engraved stone, which mysteriously never reached the bottom of the lava rivers... the enshrouded newcomers to the mountain, intentions unclear... And the final fight to come tomorrow, the outcome uncertain... Oh yes, Tomorrow was going to be a big day, for Andrew, For the Mane Six, Maybe even for all of Equestria itself, For now, unbeknownst to any of them, Changes were happening in this world, and none of them, no matter their outcome, were going to arrive peacefully at all. And poor Andrew... might just be the key to bringing them.

TO BE CONTINUED

Author's Note

Sorry for the shortest chapter in human history, But I just wanted to clear some loose ends up before the REAL story arc takes place, one of drama, suspense, and action! Oh, god, the action! Can you imagine it!? All of Equestria's gonna GEEEEEETTTTTT DUNKED ON!!!!!

So, anywho, I conclude this Chapter with the knowledge that, if any of you villains (or, in a less like case, HEROES,) need a big bad Smelter Demon to aid you on your quest, Andrew is now unlocked, and available for raids, last stands, birthday parties, you name it! So, that said, I pass to you the knowledge that, though this chapter is cut short, Know that Many, many more, far longer chapters await in the future, and I hope you don't go hollow waiting for them. Stay beautiful, Heathens!

5: Rise of Grahl

The Five ponies at the base of the Smoldering mountain awoke early upon the morning light that next day, though it was suffice to say doing so wasn't difficult; none of them slept soundly at all. The hissing of active gasses and the popping of lava bubbles filled the air and reminded them of their goal: to find the Smelter Demon, the one who caused so much damage in on day, and combat it. Most of the five were confident, sure that they could pull another victory out of thin air, like most other times they'd done this. But one remained uncertain.

Fluttershy quivered as she looked up the mountain, more uncertain than she'd ever been. Normally, she knew, She and her friends fought monsters, wild animals, and even the occasional supervillain, almost on a regular basis. But she knew, they were alive, just knowable, earthly things with mundane thoughts, dreams, and emotions. But what she knew, and her friends seemed to ignore, was that this... DEMON, it did not live. It did not breathe. Hell, she suspected that it did not feel. To her, the Demon simply existed, eternal and aloof from the workings of the world, a world she loved and cared for, and the demon only ravaged and destroyed in its wake. Fluttershy knew this, and it terrified her. Her friends seemed confident, and they had every right to be. They could challenge and defeat ANYTHING this wonderful world could throw at them. But they overlooked one fact; this demon... was not from this world. However, before she could turn back, Sheer terror gripping her very soul, the others took note, and expressed their concern.

"Hey, Flutters, what's up? you look like you're gonna throw up." Rainbow Dash asked the shaking, pale Pegasus.

"O-oh, it's... it's nothing..." Fluttershy said, putting on her bravest face. Needless to say, her endeavor fooled no one.

"Come on Fluttershy, what's eatin' ya? You look paler than th' moon in a blizzard. You can tell us!" Applejack tried to console Fluttershy, but to no avail. She still shook, pale as ever and still deathly afraid of the unnatural beast atop the mountain.

"It... It's really fine..." She uttered out, before being interrupted once more.

"Yeah, come on, tell us! Is it the fact that the monster up there is giant and evil and totally almost killed two princesses and Applejack's whole family in a single, fiery swoop?" Pinkie Pie blabbered, turning the shuddering Pegasus even paler than before, before being interjested by their last member, Rarity.

"Oh, be silent, Pinkie Pie, you're needlessly terrifying her. Listen, Fluttershy, it's okay if you want to talk about this, or even if you don't want to fight the demon. We are your friends, we understand." Rarity's speech received several 'yeah's, but not from one, that of course being Fluttershy. And upon the end of the applause, she stopped, halfway to the top, where the arena awaited them, causing the others to hold in turn.

"No..." Fluttlershy muttered, barely audible above the hissing gasses and bubbling lava, which seemed to lower in volume around them, as if anticipating, and in fact reveling in, her next choice words.

"Ah'm sorry, what was that, Flutters?" Applejack asked, oblivious to the newfound pressure surrounding the party.

"N-no... NO YOU DON'T!"

Fluttershy panted as she let loose her outburst, startling the other four ponies as she cried out, hoping someone, anyone, would listen to her. Alas, her friends heard her, but before they could question the motive for their friend's angry cries, she continued, answering her friends questions before they left their mouths.

"You... DON'T understand! You CAN'T understand! We always fight giant monsters and thwart evil villains, but they were BORN here! They BELONG to this world! We UNDERSTAND them! But that THING isn't from here! Not from Ponyville, not from the moon, not even from Tartarus!" Fluttershy spouted, the rocks hissing in delight around her at the yellow pony's swelling, bubbling anger.

"Now you hold on there Fluttershy, you don't know that..." Rainbow Dash tried to intervene, but this mountain, the pressure around the group, it was too much, and it was affecting Fluttershy, as could be seen by her next outburst.

"No, I DO know that! I know things from this world! I know that the things that live here, no matter HOW dark, have HEARTS and FEELINGS and SOULS! THAT thing, on top of that mountain, has NONE of those! It's not natural! It's not even FROM here! And... we won't know how to stop it. I don't even think we CAN." Fluttershy drifted off, her gaze meeting the rugged ground beneath her, and the others merely stared, finally comprehending what they were about to do... and realizing that Fluttershy was right. Without Twilight, they were only a few ponies, going against a behemoth, made of fire and metal, who took out said princess/friend, as well as the princess of the sun herself. Sure, it hadn't killed them... but it may not have even humored the thought before. It merely swung it's boundless, unnatural strength around, and simply won both encounters they had with it. Fluttershy, they realized, halfway between them and the waiting demon, was right. They weren't just outmatched; these five small, fleshy ponies hadn't a PRAYER against that thing, and they had let their zeal blind them from that truth.

"... So... what do we do now?" Pinkie Pie sullenly asked her friends, but none of them had an answer. That is, until Applejack, the current voice of reason, devined one from her own head.

"... We wait. We go back to Ponyville, and we wait." Applejack commanded, to the shock of her comrades.

"W-what! But we're right here, we came so far to find this guy! We can't just go back!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, though Applejack did not share her sentiments.

"We have to, Dash. Fluttershy's right, this thing is beyond us right now, Heck, it might always be. But the best shot we have is to go home, wait for Twilight and Celestia to recover, and fight this thing with clear heads and able bodies. It's not much, not against THAT... but it's all we got." Applejack said, stoicism and melancholy in her voice, and though it pained her, no, them ALL, they agreed, silently turning around, from halfway up the mountain, the rocks hissing amusedly from off the beaten path, mocking the five ponies as they fled, tails between their lags, from their master; the Mighty, Stoic, Heartless Smelter Demon.

Andy's POV

I woke slowly but surely as the sun rose over my head the next day, begging me to ponder why it even came. Five more minutes, damn you, Five more minutes!

"RRRRRRRRRRRR..." My metal body groaned as I lifted myself from my throne of rock and obsidian, courtesy of the volcano in front of me. However, as nice as the peaceful morning was, what with me not being attacked and all, I couldn't help the feeling that someone was watching me, leaving an uncomfortable tingle fixed upon my metal spine. However, I chose to ignore it, as most of my problems rose when I ever tried to attempt ANYTHING. So, I don't DO anything. I just get up, pick up my sword, and begin the arduous job of looking for any sign of those damned ponies. I scan the horizon several times, even look down the mountain, but I see nothing, and no one. Ah, such is the story of my life.

However, as I turned back to my throne, to wait out the next great moment in this misadventure, I was struck by that chill again, the sensation of hundreds of hidden eyes fixed upon my every move, waiting for something, though what it was they waited for evaded my knowledge. So, having given up on understanding this strange, arbitrary world, I gave in to the unseen gazes, and simply walked to my throne, and sat upon it, seeing no reason to work myself up. And then, as if finally satisfied with my decision, they emerged. From behind the rocks and boulders, came several hooded, robed figures, clad in red and black, marching almost in a uniform line from behind their hiding spots, though their shapes and forms beneath the weirdly ornate cloaks were anything but uniform. Some were hunched, some quadrupedal, some tall, some with tails poking from beneath their cloaks. However, even despite this sudden, unnerving occurrence, I felt no alarm, or any need to defend myself. This in itself was questionable, but I did not do so. Mayhaps it was that the Robed figures seemed to hold no weapons, either outside or within their robes, Giving me the impression they were but humble monks, on some manner of pilgrimage. Or maybe, I had simply given up on trying, and simply had let these strange people come close, with some strange, sick hope that they'd off me. Maybe then, I could go home and be rid of this nightmare. However, it was not so, for they moved not an inch as they stood before me, heads lowered as if in silent prayer.

I did not understand. I could not understand. These people just come up to me, like it was the most normal thing in the world, and they stare at me, like I'm some piece of modern art. I should feel threatened, or weirded out, or at least insulted, but I do not. I guess I'm just too tired. So, without another thought, I try to get up, to at least escape these wierdos, but before I can, I hear a voice from the crowd, light and feminine, and it, or rather SHE, speaks to me, and to my infinite surprise, in a tongue I never thought I would have the pleasure of hearing again.

"Please, O great one, Remain seated! Do not disrespect your humble guests so..." The voice chimed out, a pretty voice, youthful and light, and I sat, at her behest, whomever SHE was. Whoever it was, she spoke English, and that was enough to compel me to stay, for whatever reason they had for me.

"RRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGRRRrrrrrrrrrrrr..?" I groaned, though it didn't come out right. In fact, I don't even remember what it was I tried to say, I was probably just making noise to let them know I hadn't fallen back to sleep. Whatever it was though, it was obviously a question, and to my boundless surprise, the speaker from before replied, even coming forward to do so.

"I apologize, O great herald of flame, we did not mean to startle you... We thought you would be more welcoming of our presence, but it seems you are still in shock." The speaker said, emerging from the crowd, almost cinematically. She had her head raised to look at me, allowing me to identify her as a pony, like the ones that attacked me. But unlike them, she was light blue, with lovely, but unnaturally calm, indigo eyes, and she waltzed forward with a gait of reverence, but most of all, she...

"Yes, great fiery one, I, and my many cohorts, speak your native tongue, the old tongue, from long, long before." The pony said, interrupting my very thoughts. Had... Had I given something away? My body language, perhaps? Surely, she couldn't read my THOUGHTS...

"O great one, I can hear them just fine. Your thoughts, I mean." She said, lowering her head in apology. Even so, I was scared. Very scared. But still, I did not react, and tried to put off an air of superiority, like they thought I was, and tried to speak, or rather THINK, to the strange pony, if only to solidify my suspicions.

"Okay... you can hear my thoughts, then?" I thought, almost jokingly.

"Yes." She replied simply, almost playfully, like this was a game. This scared me, more than you could know, but I continued, not want to lose ground here, and maybe even get some answers, now that the opportunity presented itself. After all, I no longer had to 'talk' to communicate, and she could understand me! Finally! So, not wanting this rare opportunity to pass, I allowed myself to let loose a little, suspend my disbelief, and start getting the answers I so rightfully deserved.

"O... Okay... Okay. So, uh... you read minds. How's that work?" I ask, and at first the pony seems surprised, but that prevalent, almost unnerving, calm feeling returns to her quickly, and without a second to waste, she silently replies.

"My apologies, O great one, I forget you are from another world. Please, forgive my ignorance..." She thinks at me, and after a quick bow, she continues; "You see, here in this world, we have a force, one that prevails and saturates this planet, and that we denizens of the world can utilize, and manipulate to our will. You may call it... magic." She says, and I immediately, almost startlingly so, put the pieces together in my mind.

"And you're using this 'magic' right now to talk to me?" I ask, trying to state it, but I clearly lack the grasp of it to be so sure.

"If you mean to speak through your thoughts, then yes." She says, almost baiting my next question, upon my further analysis of the situation.

"Then... then how are you talking to me? In English, I mean?" I hastily ask, desiring the answer almost obsessively. And with a borderline eerie smile, one that was more amused than happy, she replied, sending a horrid chill down my metal spine.

"English... is that what it's called..? Hm. To answer your question, O great one, we know your tongue because we have trained in it's practice for many, many years, ever since your arrival was foretold." The pony said, causing me to tense, ever so slightly. I immediately checked my surroundings to see if anyone noticed, as in my concentration with the strange pony I'd forgotten the congregate had even existed. But thankfully, No one seemed the wiser, and I returned my attention to the pony, who, as if sensing my distress over the fact I was prophesied to be here, began to explain, almost autonomously.

"Yes, O great one, it was told you would arrive, and that in the other world, your name would be... Andrew." The pony continued, furthering my paranoia, though try as she might to relieve it.

"You... you knew of this..? Then... why the 'O great one' shtick? Why the reverence? You know who I was, Don't you!?" I ask mentally, my internal voice raising slightly in anger. However, she seemed unaffected by my mood, and continued to try and diffuse my rising discomfort.

"Please, O grea- I mean, Andrew. Trust me, I know what you were before. WHO you were. And believe me, I want nothing more than to help you return to that life. That is why I'm here... to help you." The pony said, her 'voice' now a soothing coo, in an attempt to calm me. And believe it or not, it was working. However, I still had questions, and was going to ask them, you better bet your ass.

"Oh... Okay... I believe you. So... then why the O great one thing?" I ask, trying to keep my questions simple, lest I ask too many at once.

"Weelll, That's because you're really the great one. You were summoned for a purpose, and your avatar was used to become your form, to aid you in that task. You are the great one, so that's why we call you 'O great one'." She says, and feeling no less fulfilled by that answer, I move on, hoping to glean more from this strange, mind-reading pony.

"Ok. So, I'm 'the great one', and you say I have a task before I go home. What IS that task?" I ask, almost dreading the answer.

"Simple. You are the embodiment of fire and destruction. It's only logical that your task is to change this world into a new one." The pony says, her unnatural calm prevailing through her words.

"Change... the world? Change it to what? How?" I ask, more confused than ever. But the pony only gives me a reassuring smile, and calms me down, cooing her reply, like a mother to a child.

"Please, Andrew, do not fret. Like I said, I only wish to help you get home, and as your servant, I will guide you, and help you however yo need." She says, calming me, and for once, I have no more questions. She says she wants to help me, and frankly, I believe her. Either that, or I have ceased caring anymore. It doesn't matter what I have to do, If it gets me to MY world, I'll do it. But... for now, one more question burns in my mind, one that itches and nags and, in the end, forces itself out of my mind, if only to ease the situation.

"Okay... But I have one last question for you, pony... What... is your name?" I ask, trying to sound as intimidating as possible, though I can't quite discern why. However, she merely smiles at me playfully, and poorly feigning awe and terror, she replies.

"Well, O fiery great one... You can call me 'Camillia'. But to be fair, I can't just give you my name without asking yours in turn. What, O fiery bringer of change, do I call YOU?" She asks, and I'm caught off guard. She knows my real name, but clearly, she wants a different one. Hm, likely because 'Andrew' is a sucky name for a demon, I bet. So, after a quiet moment of thought, I think my answer, hoping it to be enough for the inquisitive pony at my feet.

"Well, Camilla... You can just call me... Grahl. Grahl... the Smelter Demon."

1: Well, that escalated quickly.

"Ergh... come on..." A boy said, sitting in his room, trying to fit the last piece onto his greatest masterpiece yet. It was almost complete, the object, but to the untrained eye, no one would even know what the twisted, metallic thing even was. It had boots, but that was all anyone could make of it, besides the pauldron he was fitting onto what appeared to be a two-piece chest piece that looked like some kind of toothy maw.

"Come on, just a little... There we go!" The teenager said with excitement, having finally fit the oddly-shaped shoulder plate onto the main body after several long, strenuous minutes. At last, it was complete... whatever "it" was. At first glance, it appeared to be a mess of horn-laden pieces of metal, but to the kid, who's name was Andrew, it was anything BUT a mess: It was a close, if not perfect, replica of the body of his second-favorite boss in all of Dark Souls 2: The Smelter Demon. Indeed, the plates put into a haphazard pile did seem to make up some kind of armor upon further inspection, but not anything conventional.

First, the helmet, if it could be called such a thing, was bulbous, with no discernible face or eye-holes, save for one large crater in the center of the "face", which allowed for at least some sight, and two gargantuan horns protruded from either side of the thing's head, making it heavy and awkward. The main body, which looked like a twisted face with a giant, toothy mouth and one eye, was pretty much useless, as the armor only covered the chest and groin, leaving the abdomen completely open to the elements, and the two were connected by a segmented spine-like structure, making it very hard to put on, much less move around in. Then, there were the bulky, unwieldy leggings, which, along with the gloves and pauldrons, were the only conventional part of the armor. The leggings, along with the gauntlets, were large, bulky pieces, with many plates, but the leggings had small joints, and they were really, really heavy, making it hard to walk in them, along with the long, clawed toes at the end of each boot.

But, despite the many flaws in design, it's creator, Andrew, loved his creation very much, for it was in no less the spitting image of the Smelter Demon's armor itself, and it was going to earn him first place at the con's costume contest, of which the grand prize would DEFINITELY help him recuperate from his financial losses while making his winning armor. But, that would be later.

"Now... let's see how you look! Wouldn't want the judges finding any flaws, would we?" Andrew said to himself, picking up his unwieldy armor set, and struggling to get into it, some parts more than others. His chest piece was the hardest, but he soon slid in through the bottom of the armor, and the rest was no problem for him, seeing how he was a rather thin boy, around 17 years of age, so his metabolism was in full swing, resulting in his thin, rather tall stature. Still, he made the armor fit, though his whole abdomen was exposed, resulting in mild discomfort for him, but he sucked it up. His body wasn't the definition of well-built, but it wasn't fat or too thin, either, so it was all fine in the end.

So, after getting the heavy suit of armor on, he took a quick look in the bathroom mirror to see the appearance himself, and to find any flaws. Needless to say, he found none, making him all the more proud he'd taken metalworking in high school. Naturally, he was a prodigy at such a thing, and his learning in the fine art seemed to have paid off. All he was missing was the sword to go with his set, but it didn't matter, anyway; He was so good at this anyway, that the guards might not even let him in for it being so effective as a weapon.

"Wow... I love myself, sometimes. Look at you, big bad Smelter Demon. Ai'ight, let's go crush some casuls. To the convention, away!" Andrew said at last, after a moment of speechlessness at his own abilities. Upon finishing his sentence, he thrust his fist into his open hand, resulting in a loud 'klang!', and he moved to walk out the door, eager to get to the con before the contest started. As soon as he left through the door, though, he could feel something going wrong as he thought about it. As he walked, the air around him began to feel thick, and gravity seemed to be getting stronger as he walked away from his house. Of course, this would not be so odd, considering his armor WAS kind of on the heavy side, except that, even when he stopped, the feeling didn't.

"So... it's going to be THAT kind of morning, huh?" Andrew said warily, and he tried to move again, but he began to panic immediately after: he couldn't feel his legs. In fact, he soon couldn't feel ANY part of him, and he quickly began to enter a state of fear he'd never felt before in his life. He'd heard rumors, well, more like the news, talking about cosplayers going missing under abrupt and still-unknown circumstances, never to return... and now, these odd circumstances... Could it be happening to him?! It couldn't be, not him! Not like this! Andrew tried to move, to scream, to do ANYTHING, but to no avail, alas. Soon, Andrew tried one last time to get loose of the force that held him, but failed, as expected, and he soon found himself drifting away, into what could be called sleep... if falling asleep included a deep sense of fear and panic akin to fleeing a murderer.

Meanwhile, Twilight's Home, Ponyville.

Twilight Sparkle, former protege to Celestia herself, was pacing about her library at this time, unsure what to do.

A threat was coming, she was sure. She'd only ever faced it a few times, but when the tide faced it's way toward her, she never had time to prepare before it struck, fiery and random, tearing at her home and sanity with a fury Tartarus hath no knowledge of. She always tried to prepare for it, tried to act, but sooner than she acted, it was already here. Twilight, obviously, was in a panic: She's taken no precautions, for she'd forgotten, and she was destined to pay for her lack of vision. Indeed, all seemed bleak now, for even though she was now an alicorn herself, she could not stop the coming tide, no more than she could stop the flow of time and space itself. Indeed, now, all was lost, and only one thing was responsible for such need for panic...

Celestia was coming to visit.

Celestia was normally busier than ever at this time, seeing that she was giving over her rule to Twilight, but she always held demonstrations at Twilight's house, to see if the newest princess was ready for the burden of her new power. And, every time, Twilight was caught off-guard, scraping every barrel in her mind to try and impress her former teacher, and usually succeeding, but leaving her stressed and worn-out every time. And this time, the stakes were higher than ever: Twilight had to summon a being from another realm of existence.

Such a feat would be normally deemed impossible by modern laws of magic to even CONSIDER such a thing, but Twilight knew it had been done before, she'd read old books on the matter concerning it, and Celestia seemed convinced it was the easiest thing in the world next to breathing, so Twilight had to at least try... or risk pain of horrible failure, or worse.

Currently, Twilight has gleaned all she can about summoning imps and spirits and the like, even odd entities called "phantoms", though she stopped summoning them very quickly after the first few left odd, glowing writings everywhere that she couldn't get rid of, no matter what she did, and the next few kept running around naked, slapping their rears with random weapons, mostly bows. But, reference aside, one thing still eluded Twilight Sparkle, risking her slimming chances and passing the presentation greatly:

What was she going to summon? As said, she wasn't going to summon another phantom ever again, and imps seemed too trivial, and tended to be really mouthy. Twilight, in order to pass her presentation, needed something new, something fresh, something awe-inspiring... But what could such a thing be? Twilight thought on this extensively, prodding every book in the room, and every nook and cranny in her brain, searching for the answer to this plight.

"Ugh, come on, think, think... I... I think... I got it!" Twilight cried out, struck with sudden inspiration. Perhaps spirits and imps were too trivial, but she was a princess, and she had the power to, at last, step it up a notch. Now, she was convinced, it was time to go to the next level of summoning: Demons. It was risky business with demons, Twilight knew this well: She could instantly recount all the stories she'd ever heard about ponies summoning demons, and the summoning going sour. Sometimes, they were passive, and simply made a snide remark about the summoner's weight or looks before vanishing, sometimes they stole something like a jewelry box or a left sock beforehoof, but it wasn't always that harmless with demons.

More often than not, horror stories are heard about a summoning gone wrong, and the demon usually destroys everything in it's wake, or devouring everything and everypony until it grows tired and leaves, or is forcibly exorcised. And sometimes, exorcism doesn't even work. Yes, Demons were a big leap from imps and spirits, who, at their worst, could set a curtain on fire, or break a few vases, but Twilight was sure of her abilities this time. She had time to practice, thankfully, before Celestia showed up, and she had the resources to make the summon work.

"Ah... I'll start with a small demon, something more malleable. Yeah, this'll help me pass for sure! Okay, let's do this..." Twilight muttered to herself as she gathered the books, putting them back on the shelves to give her room and prevent damage to them. Then, she began to gather supplies.

"Okay... I need some wormwood, got that... some sulfur and ash... Now I need salt." Twilight said, and she moved for the kitchen, when Spike came downstairs, clearly curious about what was going on with his friend, unaware of the danger the actions being taken as of now presented to him or to Twilight.

"Hey, what the heck is all this? Twilight, why is there a giant star of ash on the floor? Are you doing something stupid again?" Spike asked, worried for his friend and her "Mishaps" involving unknown experiments in magic, especially after the 'noodle incident' last week.

"Don't touch that, Spike! Listen, go back upstairs, I'll call you when it's over." Twilight called back from the kitchen, bringing in all the salt from her storage for the summoning ritual. Spike, upon hearing this, immediately heard his red alerts go off, and quickly took the initiative to save Twilight from herself, before the whole town gets covered in four feet of living, carnivorous pasta... again. Shuddering at the memory of the 'noodle incident', Spike quickly regained his senses, and intervened as Twilight came in with the salt.

"Twilight, I know this is going to end up like last time! just wait for Celestia to get here first, so she can at least stop whatever comes out of that star, before we have a repeat of the noodle incident!" Spike declared, but Twilight seemingly did not listen, and she continued on, hell-bent on finishing what she started before Celestia came, for whatever reason.

"Spike, don't worry about it, all this stuff is to contain it. I'll just summon one quick, send it back, and then I'll know how to do it for the presentation. Don't worry, Spike, I can handle this." Twilight said, full of confidence in her abilities, though her assistant seemed to have an entirely different point of view. Still, even he realized that once Twilight set her mind to something, however convoluted, there was no dissuading her. So, albeit reluctantly, the little dragon sat at the top of the stairs, if only to keep watch on Twilight from the safest minimum distance possible. So, without further interruption, the ritual began, forty minutes before Celestia was due to arrive, and all was going well, as Twilight Sparkle predicted. Indeed, using the ritual, she could imagine the demon she wanted; something small, not very powerful, but still enough to help her pass this demonstration of her abilities to Celestia. And since nothing happened so far for a while, even Spike had gotten curious, and had gone downstairs to watch the spectacle take place.

Indeed, all was right so far, the calm, red glow of the star-shaped drawing in the center of the room signifying that nothing bad was happening, and all was calm... except for a creeping, eerie feeling, like when something bad's about to happen.

"Ugh... Hey Twilight, are you getting chills, too?" Spike asked, shuddering briefly at the aura of impending doom permeating the room. Immediately, Twilight snapped around, eyeing her assistant sternly.

"Not now, Spike! I need absolute concentration to make this work..." Twilight said, and she resumed to her work, unaware of the impending harbinger of demise slowly creeping up on the two, ready to pounce at any moment...

"Alright, almost got it... Just a little more..." Twilight said, all her attention focused on the drawing of ash surrounded by salt, adn completely drawn to it and it alone... when a sudden, pink face popped right in front of hers, and both her and Spike screamed at the intruder's appearance, leaping back several feet before sprawling to the floor, and looking to the sudden visitor, only to find... Pinkie Pie, much to the two's chagrin. And then, no sooner than she'd scared several hours off their lives, Pinky then began to blubber off ramblings, as was akin to her nature.

"Hya, guys! Watch'a doin'? Playing a game? I wanna play, I love creepy games! Why, just the other night, I played hide-and-seek by myself, and the doll almost found me, can you believe it?" Pinkie rambled, oblivious to not only the angry looks from her friends at her impudence, but also to the waiting disaster behind her, as she stood right in the middle of the pentagram, and was messing it up. But for now, nopony noticed that, and instead, all eyes were on Pinkie, and when she finally stopped blubbering, Twilight gave her a piece of her mind:

"Pinkie! What the heck are you doing here!? You're going to ruin my presentation!" Twilight exclaimed angrily, and Spike merely got behind the chair, noticing now what Pinkie was standing on.

"Oh, my Pinky senses were just going off, especially in my left eye and right ankles, meaning that someone was doing something demonic around here, so I decided to check on you!" Pinkie explained, continuing to mess up the pentagram by walking around ponderously, and at last, Spike found the courage to speak up about Pinkie's folly.

"Uh, guys..?" He started, but he was quickly interrupted by Twilight, who proceeded to chew out Pinkie Pie for her insolence.

"Not now, Spike! Pinkie, I appreciate the gesture, but you need to leave! I'm doing something very, very important here, and you're distracting me! I need you to go." Twilight scolded, but Pinkie's smile never faltered, and she then started jumping up and down on the ruined pentagram, further marring it and causing an angry, red energy to rise from it as it neared destruction. Clearly, the ritual did not call for a half-ton of stupid, and the new ingredient was not sitting well with it. Still, Spike noticed this, and tried to call the two again, but neither listened, once again.

"Oh, but why? I wanna know what you guys are doing! Please let me in on it? Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease..." Pinkie Pie ranted on and on, continuing to jump on the now-unrecognizable symbol on the ground, which, at this point, couldn't be destroyed any further, and Twilight tried to tell her to stop and leave as best she could, but pinkie wouldn't listen, and soon, the two were arguing pretty heatedly, which seemed to aggravate the mangled pentagram even more, as if it possibly could get any more fed up with the pink spaz's lunacy, and it soon began to flare streams of red energy, which somehow went unnoticed by Pinkie and Twilight, but not by spike, who had since given up on trying to break the two up and show them the real problem, and had resorted to hiding behind the table. Finally, as the now-completely-ruined-symbol-that-once-was-a-beautiful-pentagram's rage-o-meter went full into the ten thousands, about on par with a calm angry marine, it began to flare, sputter, throw sparks, and then, finally, it burst into rage-flames, causing spike to grow a pair, and finally call out once more during the lull in their argument, catching their attention at last:

"PINKIE, TWILIGHT, STOP FIGHTING AND LOOK AT THE DRAWING!!!" Spike practically screamed, and the two then stopped, shocked and confused looks on their faces, as they first looked to spike, who looked terrified out of his poor mind, and then, at last, to the floor, to the demolished, raging was-a-pentagram-at-some-point.

"P-Pinkie..." Twilight started, and, for once in her life, Pinkie was terrified for her life, as she stared at the symbol below her.

"Oops..." Pinkie started, but before she could jump off the exploding symbol, it did just that: exploded. It shot a beam of red, wrathful energy up into the ceiling, and Pinkie Pie was instantly pierced by the beam, shuddered, and before anything else happened, the world seemed to stop for Twilight, and she reached for Pinkie Pie, to grab and pull her to safety, but, before she could even do so much as touch her, time sped back up, and Spike only had time to duck as Pinkie instantly exploded into gory bits and fine pink mist (pardon the pun, we all know this is hard to accept at the moment.), and Twilight screamed and was launched backwards as chunks and stains that once were her friend coated her entire front half, and all that was left of the once-blubbering, but now very dead, pink pony was a column of fiery energy, which quickly expanded past the ruined symbol on the ground in radius.

Soon, the column engulfed most of the room, forcing a sobbing, terrified Twilight and equally-traumatized Spike to quickly retreat as far backward as possible, in hopes of escaping the opening portal of death. Thankfully, the now-giant column of death and red light stopped expanding soon enough, though the two were now backed against the wall, and just as they'd given up hope, the column exploded outward, pressing them further against the wall, but doing no further harm, save the fact that most of the room was now vaporized along with Pinkie Pie, as well as on fire, and in the center of the room, on the unaltered (but still marred) remains of the ruined symbol, stood a massive suit of twisted, demonic armor, reaching up to the ceiling.

The armor, as the two watched it, did nothing, merely standing in a pose like any suit of armor on display would be in, but with no sword. The suit itself, though, almost didn't need a weapon to kill, as it looked like whatever was supposed to dwell in it could level a city block with a single solid stomp. It had two massive horns upon it's head, a crater for a face, hoof-like boots, and a maw-like chest plate, as well as it stood on only two legs... and that was all Twilight cared to notice of the metal monstrosity.

Twilight, now finally calmed, stared at the armor that claimed her best friend, and just stared, unable to comprehend the emotions brewing and bubbling within her, threatening to blow her up from the inside out; anger, resentment, sadness, loss, all these things, but no appropriate outlet for them, so she remained silent, and stared at the armor, which almost seemed to mock her with a faceless, heartless stare of it's own. Finally, she couldn't keep it in anymore as she stood, and she let one tear fall, then another, and then, as if on que, a handkerchief was passed to her from the left of her, and Twilight quickly accepted it, blowing her nose, and then passing it back, uncaring of the taboo of that action.

"T-thanks, Spike." Twilight said, still staring at the colossal suit of demonic armor. However, as she said that, Twilight heard a noise to her right, looked, and she saw Spike sitting there, finally passed out. Then, shocked and confused, Twilight heard a playful giggle from where the handkerchief came from... and saw Pinkie Pie standing there, not a scratch on her.

"Oh, is MY name Spike now? What happened to the other Spike?" Pinkie Pie asked innocently, and Twilight herself slumped to the floor, unable to cope with the situation playing out before her. Finally, Pinkie offered Twilight a hoof, a cheerful expression on her face, and Twilight accepted it, still bewildered about the ordeal that just played out in a matter of seconds. Then, as she stood, Twilight finally found her voice, and questioned Pinkie Pie outright, right there:

"Wha..? B-but... How... did you...? I-I watched you... You BLEW UP! H-how are you h-here..!?" Twilight exclaimed, and Pinkie Pie only giggled, and poked Twilight on the nose with her right forehoof jokingly, and answered:

" Why, I got out, silly!" Pinkie Pie finally said, giggling, and Twilight finally slumped to the floor, unconscious. Pinkie Pie, though, was fully awake, and she was already up to the massive suit of armor before Twilight even hit the ground A curious expression on her face. So far, this thing, whatever it was, caused a LOT of damage as soon as it got here, and Pinkie Pie wanted answers, and she was about to pry them out of this giant chunk of metal... That is, until the thing woke up.

Author's Note

It's short, but here it is. Don't bother letting me know what you think: I already know you think it's pretty great.