Pandemonia, the Sunken Citadel

Fluttershy had only one reason to venture into the dark, anarchic mass of wood known as the Everfree Forest. And even then, she sought to find an alternative that could keep her away for as long as possible. But there were some plants that could only be acquired from Zecora, the only sane resident of the chaotic woods. Only the rhythmic shaman could procure the healing herb of Kingsfoil in a usable condition, a plant used in a lot of her poultices  and unguents and always in great demand.

This was the only reason why Ponyville’s animal specialist would even think about walking through the dirt roads, letting malicious eyes leer at her all the way. It was hard to keep a calm expression on her face as her nostrils were filled with the stench of decaying meat. Her morale soon crumbled, letting her legs break into a run. With each vicious roar her steps quickened, up to the point where she had to think hard so as to not trip over her green skirt.

“Why did I  have to do this alone?” she asked herself, knowing the answer perfectly. It was because everyone else was too busy to help her. If only she had waited for a day she would have been able to ask Rainbow Dash to keep her company. But that was not the case. Right now she probably had a conga line of chimeras, cockatrices, timber wolves and other carnivorous monstrosities lining up to tear her apart.

Her senses were oversaturated with panic the second a large explosion roared in the distance, shaking her off her feet. “What was that?” she asked herself. “Was it a geyser?” she paused at the ridiculous notion. She knew very well that there were no geysers in this forest. Another explosion rang across the field then, she heard a sound she had hoped never to hear so close to her: gunfire. The bellows of war echoed across, each round sounding closer to her than the last.

Fueled by fear, Fluttershy broke into a run without care for whatever could be hiding in the shadows. She was forced to stop the second a large mass of green fell down and blocked her path. She froze in place, her senses starting to collapse due to the oversaturation of panic in her system. Standing in front of her was the charred corpse of an ogre. The next thing she remembered was her own scream. It wasn’t voluntary, but it was loud enough that it sent birds out of their nests.

She clasped her hands over her mouth almost immediately, but she knew it was too late. Where there was one ogre there were dozens nearby, specially if it was killed in a fight. And in response to her fears, a pair of bulky ogres crashed through the trees. Their glowing yellow eyes began staring at her, growling like a pair of rabid timberwolves. They raised their rusted axes, taking a lumbering step each as they tried to approach her.

“Oi!” one of them asked with a gruff voice. “Wai’s dis ‘umie no’ fightin’? Fink hee’s no’ a killa?” this achieved a swift pommeling from his teammate’s axe.

“You’z a zoggin’ git you iz.” it retorted. “Oll ‘umies is made fer fightin’!” it turned its eyes back to her, nearly burrowing its eyes inside its massive brow. “I’z gonna rip yer shiny teef an’ get a shoota!” It roared incoherently and charged. Fluttershy had barely a second to dodge the axe swung downward. She jumped back, letting the next attack pass harmlessly in front of her.  She began dancing around the attacks, changing her footing every few seconds to avoid getting axed. “Stay still ya runt!” the ogre protested. “I’z wanna kill ya  roit kwik!”

Fluttershy stared, legs now frozen in place as the green mass of muscle raised its weapon to end her. She curled down into a ball and squeezed her eyes shut. The next thing she heard was a sound like the crackle of thunder, then the quacking tremor as something heavy fell. She opened her eyes and widened them at the sight. Both ogres were dead, their necks were now charred stumps of an oversized body.

A human figure appeared from behind the carnage, wielding a bayoneted rifle. A black metal breastplate, caked with fresh blood, hung over a cream trenchcoat.

The head was covered by a black steel helm, attached to a canvas gasmask with glowing blue eyes.

“Are you alright ma’am?“ the soldier asked, his male voice a bit garbled by a spearker on his neck. He asked again, this time shaking her violently. “Ma’am! I need you to respond!” But the shock was still too great for her. This forced the soldier to slap her face, which turned out to be the fastest cure. “Equestria to Traveller!” he screamed. “Are you alright?”

“Uh… Yes, I’m fine.” she replied, shaking her head. “I’m sorry. I was just.. I…”

“Ma’am, are you aware that you’re in the middle of a war zone?” she shook her head. “Well then, let me be the first to welcome you to hell. Now, if you’ll follow me, I’d like to guide you out of here.” he said with a welcoming hand. She gladly took it, feeling the warm leather wrap around her palm. “Good.”

Their run through the forest was calmer than she’d expect, and it wasn’t until they arrived at a large clearing that they saw the green brutes again. The ogres lumbered forward, cutting off their escape route. Out of the dozen monsters, two carried metal objects glued together with duct tape and sheer ignorance of physics that resembled guns, the rest carried a variety of melee weapons covered in patches of rust.

“Would you jackasses mind getting out of the way? Twelve isn’t really worth my time.”

“Oi! Iz dat Two Sluggas?” one of the ogres asked, raising an inquiring eyebrow. “Eh, ‘oo cares. Kill ‘im!” it roared, hefting its slug-throwing weapon to bear.

“Get down!” the soldier barked, shoving Fluttershy to the floor, just before her ears were filled by the deafening roar of the two guns. The world around her slowed down to a crawl. She saw hundreds of bullets rip past her, some striking against the soldier. She could see as the bolts of iron bent and contracted as they crashed against an orange barrier on his body. The soldier toppled over, letting the sheer power of the bullets slam him to the ground, bringing his rifle to bear and unleashing a storm of blue magical bullets.

Fluttershy could do little but listen to the ogre’s wails as chunks of muscle disintegrated from the green masses. A gunner lost its head, splattering blood and gore to the trees behind him. The body toppled to the floor and let the gun run wild. Twenty shots sprayed from the primitive gun, showering the nearby humanoids with more bullets.

Two ogres died as the bullets tore their chests open, but doing nothing to sway the morale of the beasts. They charged, howling loudly as they raised their weapons and fired their weapons. Fluttershy rolled away, feeling as the bullets attempted to graze her skin. The soldier followed suit, dodging and weaving through the axe strikes aimed at him. He occasionally fired a bullet at the grey-skins, renewing the stench of blood on the fight.

In a fit of rage, the bulkiest ogre swung its axe to the ground. The strike sent dirt flying into the air and shook the ground more than she thought was possible. The soldier charged forward and slammed his knee  against its chin. The ogre bellowed in rage, smashing the nearest comrade’s head into a fine red mist.

Fluttershy turned around only to find three more ogres, all wearing rusted armor and bearing axes, sprayed with a fresh coat of blood. She screamed in panic as an axe flew over her head and chopped the tree behind her. “I’z want ‘er shiny teef!” one of them roared as it ran. She hopped back, letting another strike miss her.

The soldier charged to her and fired three rounds, all of which bounced off the iron plating. She couldn’t hear anything he said, but she could guess he was swearing. He pulled out a metallic pinecone from his belt and tossed it, all while yelling “Grenade!” Fluttershy’s instincts dove her away from the object.

Fluttershy only felt the earthquake that followed. It was violent, and a little too powerful to have been caused by something the size of a hand grenade. She opened her eye to see the ground sink into an abyss. Large chunks of grass began to fall from view, sometimes taking the ogres with them.

She screamed again, her eyes frantically trying to find the soldier, and sprinted away. She bumped into one of the armored ogres and felt as the abyss swallowed her.