Right Being in the Wrong Place
The earth shook underhoof, a muted wave of impact that made pebbles leap and trees quake. Twilight Sparkle almost stumbled as Tirek’s roar of triumph tore through the woods around her, scattering leaves and ruffling her feathers against her back. Her body still felt weak after having her magic—as well as that of three other alicorns—ripped from her. Everything felt muted, sluggish, like the color had been washed out of the world. Moving was difficult. Running was almost impossible.
But she couldn’t stop. She couldn’t give up now. She could feel the weight of the amulet Discord had given her bouncing against her chest. It was the final piece, she was sure of it. The final key to open the sealed, crystalline chest that had taunted her and her friends for almost a year.
My friends … She risked a glance back as the ground shook again, a primal roar of fury echoing through the woods. Each of her friends was running along behind her—even Rainbow Dash, who normally would have been flying. Each of them looked ragged, drained, their sides heaving with exertion, their bodies shaking.
She knew she didn’t look any better. She could feel her breath coming in ragged gasps, feel the slick of sweat making its way down her sides, feel the telltale quiver in her wingfeathers that said she was exhausted. In any ordinary circumstance, she would have called all of them—including herself—to a halt immediately to wait for a doctor to treat them for magic exhaustion.
Then another titanic hoof struck the ground some distance behind them, the impact enough to almost throw all of them to the ground in a pile of limbs, and she redoubled her efforts.
We can’t stop now! she thought as the group ran on. We have to get to the chest! All of us! There had to be something in it that could defeat Tirek, something that could stop him. Otherwise why would the Tree of Harmony give it to them in return for the Elements?
There has to be a point to it, right? she thought as she spotted the cave entrance ahead. Otherwise why would a strange, magical tree bother?
She burst free of the forest, brush scraping along her sides, and galloped toward the cave. Another roar echoed after her as she sped through the entryway, followed by a deafening rumble that almost made it sound as if the earth itself was being overturned.
Maybe it is, she thought as she caught sight of the Tree of Harmony, its crystalline surface still emitting a gentle, soothing glow despite the chaos outside the cave. When Tirek and I fought, we leveled hills. With all the power he has now …
She skidded to a halt before the chest, still sitting where she and her friends had left it. Her legs were shaking beneath her, quivering and crying out for rest, but she couldn’t give it to them. Not yet.
“Everyone make it?” she asked, turning as the rest of her friends came to a stop. All of them looked almost as exhausted as she felt—even Applejack, who normally wouldn’t have been winded.
“Barely,” came a sardonic reply as Discord bent all the way over, his hands on his knees. He opened his mouth again, only to frown and then hold up one talon. “Can’t … breathe …” he said. “Can’t do magic … Is this what it’s like to be mortal?”
“Hey, it’s not that bad,” Spike said as he came to a stop. The little dragon was barely out of breath. “I’m doing all right, and I’ve got just as many legs as you.”
Discord fixed him with a glare, though there wasn’t much heart in it. “Well when you’ve had the power to reshape reality at a whim, we can compare notes, all right?”
From outside there was another roar, followed by a deafening series of cracks. Fluttershy shot a worried look at the entrance of the cave. “Those poor animals …”
Twilight shook her head. Spike, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and Discord. That’s everyone! “Come on!” she said, waving a hoof towards the chest.
“Do you think it’ll work, Twi?” Applejack asked as Twilight stepped towards the chest and held out the amulet.
If it doesn’t, Twilight thought, we might all be doomed. “It’s going to work,” she said as she pushed the amulet up against the empty keyhole. The other five were already filled, each with a key that had come from one of her friends’ adventures. It has to—
With a sudden quiver that she knew hadn’t come from her, the amulet leapt forward, spun, and then with a flash of light, changed into a golden key before sliding into the waiting lock. Her heart skipped a beat as the newly-formed key came to rest. It worked! It sat like all the others, motionless. But why isn’t it—? Of course! She turned to look at her friends.
“Together!” she said, looking at each of them in turn. “I think we have to do this together!” Each of them nodded and then took up a position near their keys, Spike and Discord looking on. Each of their eyes locked, and then, as one, they reached out and turned the keys with a simultaneous chorus of clicks.
We’re doing it! She couldn’t help but feel a surge of excitement swell within her as the chest let out a heavy thunk, the petal-like lid glowing. We’re opening a hyper-dimensional, multi-spatial artifact! One with infinitely repeating manifold intersections! At least, I think we are! Despite almost a year of study, many of the chest’s higher properties had remained as much of a mystery to her as Pinkie sense, despite her best attempts. There simply wasn’t enough math for her to explain how it worked, though it obviously did.
No, she thought as the lid began to open, her friends letting out an appreciative “Oooh!” as dazzlingly bright light burst forth from it. Not did work ... Does!
Except something felt … off. The light was moving now, and even in her magic-starved state she could feel the tendrils of power it was letting off as it rose into the air above the chest. She could see the world starting to fold in on itself, one place becoming two as space and time folded, reshaping like a paper sculpture.
“Uh … Twilight?” Rainbow asked as the glowing, twisting, mess in the air began to grow. Beneath it, the chest was starting to shake, a low drone filling the air. “Is it supposed to be doing that?”
“I don’t …” Twilight began as the itching sensation in her horn grew more pronounced. The distortion in the air was still growing, painful to look at now the way it folded and twisted around itself. “I knew the chest likely contained a multifold spatial distortion of some kind, but—”
“What?”
“It’s bigger on the inside, dear,” Rarity said, though she wore a nervous look on her face as well. “Though it feels a little … rough.” The distortion was still growing, multiplying before their very eyes, the droning noise swelling with it. “I must say I rather expected ... Well, more rainbows for a start.”
The droning was rising in pitch now, at once both deep and piercing, and Twilight folded her ears back as the now-reddish folds seemed to swell once more. The chest was vibrating so quickly its multisided surfaces were almost a blur, shaking as if it would come apart.
Something’s wrong, Twilight thought, reaching out with her horn and summoning what little sensitivity for magic she had regained since being drained. This isn’t what it’s supposed to do. She could feel something wrong about the way the chest had opened. It was like one of the numbers had been changed, part of the equation rewritten. Space and time weren’t just folding, they were folding wrong. She took a step back, a look of alarm crossing her face.
Something’s gone wrong, she thought as reality continued to unspool above them. And none of us can stop it!
Then, with a sudden flash, the surge of light snapped in on itself, the world unfolding and falling back into place. It formed around … something … in the air, a silhouette of a large figure that looked almost like a minotaur but not quite, and then with a rush, exploded outward. Twilight let out a cry of surprise as raw, untamed magic swept over her, electrifying her body and sending tingles crawling down her spine. Around her she heard her friends cry out as well as the blinding wave crashed over them, and then it was gone.
And with a heavy, metal thud, the thing that had come out of the chest—or out of the opening the chest had made, Twilight wasn’t really sure—landed on the ground on two armored feet.
It’s … She paused. Actually, I’m not sure what it is. It looked almost like a minotaur, or maybe an adolescent dragon, but the proportions were all wrong. It was thicker, for one, with stockier legs. Or maybe it is a minotaur? she wondered as she ran her eyes over the flat, green surface of the armor it wore. I can’t see any part of it because of what it’s wearing.
What it was wearing, however, looked battered and worn. Lighter patches across the creature’s chest and arms looked similar to the signs of damage she’d seen on her brother’s armor after training, only deeper, and more—she couldn’t quite find the right word for it, but then it came to her: brutal.
Those are claw marks, she thought, her eyes darting from one part of the armor to another. And that looks like it was melted at one point. And that … Her eyes slid upward, past the strange weapon that looked too much like a minotaur firearm to be a coincidence, past the strange, glowing runes carved into the armored shoulders that seemed to pulse with an almost angry light, and settled on the helm that concealed the creature’s head. She almost see her reflection in the helmet’s glass, but just past that, shrouded in some sort of tint that had to be deliberate, she could just make out the creature’s pale, fleshy face, and—
She almost stepped back as the creature’s eyes locked with hers, burning with rage and anger. Then, even as she opened her mouth to cry out, the look softened, the animosity fading away like smoke before a flame.
But the fire persisted; burning, hot and angry. She could see it in the creature’s face, see it in its stance as it straightened, its strange weapon falling to as near a relaxed a position as she felt it could possibly be.
“Twilight?” She wasn’t sure who had spoken. The voice had been faint. Alarmed. Maybe it had been Spike. Or Applejack. She didn’t dare look away. The creature, whatever it was, held its gaze with hers, studying her with an intensity she hadn’t felt since she’d met her mentor—but harsher, less refined.
Whatever it was, it was ancient. Aged. Battle-worn in a way she’d never heard of. And very, very angry. She opened her mouth, unsure of what she would say even as she moved to speak. Should I welcome it? Caution it? Let it know that it has nothing to fear from us? She wasn’t sure, but even as she tore her eyes away from the creature’s, her decision was made for her.
Pinkie Pie bounded forward. “Hi there!”
* * *
Rage. Rage and fury consumed him. He’d been betrayed. Hayden had used him. Used him to stop the demonic invasion of his world and then once further, to take the crucible as his own.
And use it.
Such use could only end in evil. Nothing good came of Hell. Nothing good came of that which drew on its power. Evil beget only more evil.
There was only one way to deal with the followers of Hell: To refuse them. And if that wasn’t enough, to end them. And yet Hayden had ignored the signs before him, greed and human frailty filling him with the desire for power. Hayden had taken the crucible, then flung his pawn through dimensions, through time and space. Back to Hell.
Or so he had thought. The world had warped around him, vanishing in a flash of light, and he’d prepared himself for the inevitable. For the pulsing rivers of blood and dead, empty skies that he’d known for so long. For the endless war to engage again, countless demons falling at his feet, until he found a way back to Hayden, the betrayer.
But it hadn’t happened. The world had stabilized around him, the shift over, and he’d fallen to the ground, but when he’d looked up, no dying, putrid, rotted existence had met his eyes. No strange, archaic runes of evil influence and corruption. Instead, he saw …
A pony? He narrowed his eyes, glaring down at the purple creature in front of him. No, he thought as he saw the horn. Unicorn. Then his eyes took in the wings, and he scowled. What sort of trick—?
It’s eyes locked with his, and he paused.
There was fear, there, yes, but there was something more buried beneath it, deep behind the surface. Peace. Tranquility. Contentment.
Joy.
He paused, his muscles twitching as they stared one another down. This was ... This was …
It—No, he realized, she—is not evil. Nor your foe. She was scared, yes, fearful even. But she was not evil. Nor was she an illusion meant to ensnare his mind. There was a look to her eyes, a spirit behind them that evil could never replicate. A wellness of the mind and soul that was visible without word or deed.
No, he thought, relaxing somewhat. She is not your enemy.
And yet she was scared, and not just of him. He knew that fear.
No, something else terrified her. Something … dangerous.
All of it flew through his mind in an instant, and he broke eye contact even as her mouth opened, turning to the other colored figures in the corner of his vision. Perhaps—
“Hi!”
Another pony was in front of him, moving so fast he almost hadn’t seen it. It—no, she again—was pink. Blindingly pink. Happily pink. Bouncingly pink—though he wasn’t even sure there had been such a word before now.
“My name’s Pinkie Pie! What’s yours?” The pink pony didn’t wait for him to respond—not that he would have—but continued almost immediately. “Won’t say, huh? Or maybe you can’t say? Ooooh! I’m good with guessing! Hugo! No … Angry! Angry-guy! You look like an angry guy. Maybe grumpy?” She was bouncing around him now, and he took the moment to take a quick look around the rest of the room. “Gloomy guy? Doom and Gloom Guy?” Her face brightened. “Oooh, I know, how about Doom—”
“Pinkie!” The purple one spoke at last, her wings spreading out on either side of her. A show of annoyance maybe. And the name. He almost chuckled.
How oddly … appropriate.
“Get back. Something went wrong when the chest opened. He might be dangerous.”
Chest? He looked down. There, resting just behind his legs, was a multi-sided container with a glowing lid.
“Silly Twilight, of course he’s dangerous!” the pink one replied, still bouncing around him. “He’s just not dangerous at us!”
Interesting. The pink one was more correct than she knew.
Number? he thought, looking up once more. He ran his eyes across the room, counting five of the small equines, plus a sixth hiding behind a nearby boulder, unaware of the soft, pink tuft of tail that was still visible. There were two more creatures in the … cave … as well: one a small, purple dragon that had an even more innocent look about it than the purple pony, and the other—
He almost raised his gun at the mishmash of of a creature that made up the eighth occupant of the cave, but halted the instinct at the last moment. As strange as the patchwork being looked, the bits where it came together didn’t look unnatural, but more organic. As if the creature was meant to be that way. Its eyes however …
They hurt. Deeply. There was an ocean of pain in the being’s eyes. Whatever it was, it was old, and it was in pain. The kind of pain that most buried deep in the soul, but on occasion, unearthed.
From the look on the creature’s face, it had very recently done such. It was not a threat.
“Curious,” the being said, one eye narrowing at him.
Another one of the ponies spoke. “What?”
“He’s not from around here,” the creature said.
“We can see that,” one of the ponies replied, tossing its—her—multicolored mane. “I mean look at it!”
“No,” the mismatched creature said. “I mean he’s from very far away. Very far. Take it from someone who’s messed with pan-dimensional portals before. Everything has a scent to it, and this one is from someplace quite far removed from anything of ours. You could almost so he’s from a whole ‘nother genre!”
“What?”
“Nevermind,” the creature said, waving his … hands? Talons? Paws? “Suffice it to say he’s a long way from home.”
“But what was he doing in the chest?” one of the ponies asked, this one wearing what looked like—No, was—a classic Stetson hat.
“He wasn’t in the chest, Applejack,” the mismatched being said. “He was simply … passing by.” The creature took a step forward and took a deep breath, as if smelling for something.
“Yes, I can smell it on him,” the creature continued. “He’s been all over the place. Different worlds, different ends of reality—”
“But how did he get here!” The purple one had spoken up again. “Why?”
The mismatched being shrugged. “Who knows? When you start bouncing around through universes, things get screwy. And believe me, I know screwy, so when I say it’s screwy, it really is. The chest was a multi-dimensional holding space. Maybe he just … bounced off of it as it opened?”
“But if that’s true,” the purple one said. “Then what are we supposed to do about Tirek?”
Something shook the cave, and as he watched, every single one of the creatures standing before him flinched.
Tirek. Was it a name? A beast? A calamity?
“How should I know?” the mismatched being replied. “For all I know, this was supposed to happen. I mean, look at him!”
All eyes once again moved in his direction.
“Yeah, he looks like a warrior to me,” the multi-colored pony said. “I mean, check out that armor. Maybe he’s good at fighting demons!”
His head snapped up, eyes fixing on the winged pony as she jumped backward in surprise.
“Rainbow!”
“What?” the multi-colored one asked. At least her name fit. “I didn’t do anything! All I said was—”
A roar shook the room, distant and guttural. Again the entire group flinched, but one by one they looked at him as he eyed the space outside the cave.
A demon? In a world so removed, could it mean the same thing? He turned towards the group and tilted his head in the direction of the sound.
“That’s Tirek,” the purple one said. “He’s a centaur. Well, was one. Now he’s a demon who steals—”
It was all he needed to hear. He turned and sprinted for the cave entrance, ignoring the cries of shock and surprise from behind him. The seraphim that had blessed him had made his duty clear.
Demons could not be allowed to live.
* * *
“Hey!” Twilight shouted as the strange biped shot out of the cave, moving much faster than she would have expected something on two legs to move. “Wait! You don’t know—!” She gave up, her voice falling. It was too late. The creature was gone. Apparently to do battle with Tirek. She looked back at the rest of the group.
“Is he insane?” she asked. “Or is that just how creatures from his world act? Does he even know what he’s getting into?”
To her surprise, Discord answered her. “I don’t think it matters to him, Twilight. One way or the other.”
The tone in his words surprised her. “What do you mean?” she asked.
“I recognized something in him,” Discord said, a strange look on his face. “We share something. Where I’ve buried mine with petty laughs … he’s burned his into rage.”
“What?”
Discord shook his head. “In other words, Twilight, you can’t stop him. But for that matter,” he said, a familiar grin coming to his face. “I got a good look at what he’s carrying in his multi-dimensional pockets, and I don’t think Tirek will be able to either. Shall we go enjoy the show?” He motioned towards the mouth of the cave.
“But what about the chest?” Twilight asked, turning to look for it. It was right where it had fallen, the petal-like lid still partially open, a faint light glowing from within it.
“Hmmm …” Discord bent close and looked at it, though he didn’t actually touch it. “I think you should bring that, too,” he said. “Something tells me it’s not quite done yet.”
“Why—? Oh! Of course!” Her face brightened. “If our visitor crashed into the chest’s spatial anchoring point just as we opened it, then what was actually inside it might still be there! It’s just interrupted!”
“Well, I was going to say because it would make a nice flowerpot,” Discord replied. “But that answer works as well. Now,” he said, looking around the cave. “Let’s hurry. Something’s telling me that we won’t want to miss this.”
* * *
He rushed out of the cave, the equines’ strange voices shouting in shock and surprise behind him. He ignored all of them. Something roared again, and a faint boom echoed through the air, followed by a rumble that shook the very ground beneath his feet. Behind it echoed the faint sounds of debris crashing to the earth in a crackle of rock and stone.
He felt another impact shake the ground as he sprinted out the entrance of the cave, into a wide, grey, stone canyon. Then another. And another.
There was no explosion preceding them, nor following. And the rhythm was too regular. Which left one likely conclusion.
Footsteps. Or hoofsteps, perhaps, given what the one pony had said. Once a centaur …
But now a demon. There was a stone stairway cut into the side of the canyon, and he rushed up it, his long strides passing over the tiny steps in leaps and bounds. He hefted his shotgun, feeling the comforting weight of the composites as he neared the top. The UAC of Hayden’s dimension, for all their faults, had made excellent weapons.
The top of the stairway was near now. He pushed himself into a leap, the jets in his armored boots firing as he launched himself up over the edge of the canyon. Hopefully this demon would prove easy to find, as well as—
He landed, his train of thought vanishing in a wisp of smoke as the cause of the roars and stomps he’d both heard and felt came into view.
It was massive. Larger, even, than the Titan of Hell he’d slain so long ago. Two mighty horns rose far into the air above its head, curving outward and then back in, a monstrous sphere of energy of some kind contained between them above a shock of white hair. Dark bolts of something arced up and down each long, bony length, faint crackles sounding in their passage.
Below that, the back of the creature’s head terminated in a thick neck that sat atop a pair of the broadest shoulders he’d ever seen, so wide a ship could have been balanced across them. Thick, heavy, red arms swung down at the beast’s sides, hands the size of houses dangling well above the tree-tops. A black lower body, horse-like with its four legs, seemed almost comically small by comparison, despite the fact that a single one of the hooves was large enough that the monster was casually kicking trees out of its way.
Tirek, he thought as he watched the creature stride away, each step carrying it across the forest with ease. He couldn’t see the demon’s face—assuming it had one—but he could hear its mocking laughter, a dark roar of mirth that seemed to shake the very sky.
It was large, certainly, and unlike anything he’d seen before. But that didn’t matter. It was clearly a threat to the people of this world. He would destroy it, or die trying.
“Wait!”
It was one of the ponies—the purple one—shouting at him from partway up the stairs. The rest of the strange sapient’s posse were running after her, though they all, save the small purple one, seemed both positively drained and terrified.
“Don’t!” the pony shouted as he looked at her. “Tirek. He’s—”
He turned and sprinted away from the edge of the canyon. Her tone implied that she feared for his safety. It was a wasted sentiment. He was doing what he was meant to.
He narrowed his eyes on the distant demon as he ran, catching glimpses of him through the forest canopy. He saw light to his side and turned, heading towards it, and a moment later burst forth into a clearing that stretched across the forest like an open wound. Trees were burned and charred, torn from the ground in a winding line.
He tracked it with his eyes. It led right to Tirek. As he watched, the sphere between the demon’s horns began to glow, and a beam of orange, sickly energy arced out from the creature and cut into the forest before it, both launching trees into the sky and setting them ablaze.
Interesting, he thought as he leapt over a fallen trunk, his pace barely slowing as he rushed after the creature. He eyed the orb as it settled once more. Is that where it draws its power from? If so, it was a tempting target.
Strange how so many demons draw the eye to their weakest point, he thought as he jumped over what looked to have once been a sedate creek. But as high as that is …
There was no way he would be able to reach it. The monster was simply too tall. Too large. Worse, he seemed to be getting smaller. Not because he was, but because—
I can’t keep up. He slowed as he watched the beast continue to stride away. He came to a halt, his feet kicking up bare earth from the ground. There was only one simple explanation.
I need it to come to me.
He swept his hands back, slapping the shotgun against his back and feeling the familiar momentary sense of nothingness to his hands as the gun vanished, only to be replaced by the solid weight of his heavy assault rifle. He brought the gun up and aimed it at the distant demon’s back. There was a click as a protrusion on the side of the weapon slid upwards, and a moment later the gun kicked against his arm, a barrage of micro-rockets spiraling through the air. He watched, waiting, as one by one they detonated well short of coming into contact with the demon’s large, horse-like hindquarters.
They’d run out of fuel. The range had been too far. But …
There. The demon was stopping, its head lifting up as the echoing chain of cracks caused by the detonating warheads swept across the landscape. It paused, then turned, bringing a narrow, red face into view that looked too small in comparison to the rest of its body. Burning yellow pupils stared out of eyes so black they looked like they were absorbing all light, darting back and forth as they searched for the source of the noise. There was no fear in the creature’s expression, no hint of discomfort. Only an eager curiosity, a familiar thirst for power and the hint of violence.
Ego. He hefted the rifle once more, his hands swapping out the micro-missile launcher for a tactical scope and sliding it into place with a satisfying click. The demon was already beginning to look disinterested, turning away.
He sighted in the rifle, centering the crosshairs on one of the demon’s eyes, and fired, the rifle letting our several sharp, barking cracks.
A shriek of rage echoed across the forest as all three rounds punched right into the demon’s eye.
There, he thought with a sense of satisfaction as the beast rocked back, clutching one meaty hand to the side of its face. You can’t miss me now. He tightened his grip on the rifle in anticipation, the composites creaking beneath his fingers. Tirek’s hand pulled away, a look of utter rage on its face. The eye didn’t appear to be damaged, but there was no mistaking the look of anger expressed the bared teeth, nor the howl of anger as the beast’s searching eyes found him. Then, with a thunderous impact that shook the earth beneath his feet, the demon began charging forward.
Right into a barrage of micro-rockets.
A titanic roar of rage shook the forest as the demon swatted at the explosions, but there was no pain in its voice. Only annoyance. The explosions might have been insect stings for all they bothered the giant creature.
But bother it they did, and while Tirek was swatting the explosions aside, he could move. Movement was the key to fighting demons. Constant movement.
He kept the barrage up as he leapt to the side, stopping only just before he darted into the forest once more. He was small, and the trees would conceal his position until he fired, while the demon didn’t have the same luxury.
Tirek shouted again as the barrage of missiles ended, a bellow that shook the treetops. A glimpse of the demon through the treetops showed that, as he had feared, the micro-missiles hadn’t left any noticeable marks. The demon’s hide was too tough. He scowled. More firepower was needed.
And just like that, his rocket launcher was in his hands, replacing the HAR as he brought the sights up and engaged the lock-on. For a moment the system hesitated at being presented with such a titanic bulk, and he shook the launcher, teeth gritting in frustration. Then there was a faint beep, and he let the missiles fly.
This time the demon’s roar was one of surprise, though still not pain. He was already running even before the wave of heat and light swept over the forest where he’d just been, trunks turning to ash behind him. The force of the explosion tore him from the ground, and he tumbled through the air, smashing through branches with all the subtlety of a runaway train.
Even so, he landed on his feet, the launcher already locking on once more. He fired again, barely feeling the kick of the projectiles against his shoulder over the pounding of his heart. Keep moving. The trio of rockets detonated in a chain of cracks as the demon swept them from the sky with one hand. And then, to his surprise, it laughed.
“What new trick is this?” it asked. Its voice was deep. Rumbling. And utterly complacent in its power. “Is this your doing, Princess Twilight? Some new, vain attempt to keep me from my reign?”
Rockets hadn’t worked. He needed something bigger. Something faster. He reached around his back.
“It won’t work,” Tirek said, scowling as he looked down at the forest, his fists at his sides, the strange orb of energy between his horns pulsing like some sort of demonic heart. “I have all of your magic. All of it! You have nothing!”
You’re wrong, he thought as he brought up the Gauss Cannon, the weapon’s twin prongs folding out as it settled into siege mode. A deep hum began resonating up his arms as he pointed the weapon’s aperture directly between the demon’s horns. I have this.
With an angry hum, the cannon fired, energized metal flechettes ripping forth at such high speeds that they drew a solid blue line between the gun and their target: the glowing orb between Tirek’s horns.
This time the demon’s shriek was in pain, its head snapping back as the flechettes exploded. A brilliant, white flash echoed across the landscape as the orb pulsed, raw energy crackling across its surface and leaking out into the sky.
“What?” The demon held one hand up to the side of its horns as energy continued to spew out of the orb. Already the cracks across the strange surface were sealing, blackened arcs of some other form of power closing each one, but the damage was done. The energy that escaped was spreading across the sky like a low-hanging cloud, emitting a faint, white, pulsing glow. And as it rose—
No. He blinked in surprise. The cloud wasn’t rising. The demon was shrinking, trees that had once risen only to his knees moving further upwards by the second. The momentum stopped, the demon looking down at his hands in horror as it realized what was happening, but the difference was noticeable.
“No!” it shouted, turning its head skyward. Its jaw opened, chest expanding as if it were taking a deep breath, and the cloud that had been dispersing across the sky began to funnel back into the creature’s mouth.
I see, he thought as Tirek’s body began to swell again. It’s an energy vampire. And some of it is in that orb. What little had escaped was already almost completely gone, reabsorbed as the demon returned to its original size. I need to hit the orb. And hard.
He tightened his hold on the Gauss Cannon. But to do that, he thought. I’ll need to get closer. And keep him from reabsorbing what he’s lost.
He began to sprint across the forest floor, arms pumping at his sides, a grim smile on his face.
He had just to tool for the job.
* * *
“What did that?” Twilight asked, her jaw hanging open. In the sky, the last of Tirek’s stolen magic faded from view, once more absorbed by the towering centaur.
“If I had to guess,” Discord said, one hand on his chin. “It probably had something to do with those little extradimensional pockets I felt following our friend around.”
“How?”
“My dear Twilight,” Discord said, looking down at her. “You don’t think somepony—or somebody, really—who dresses like that isn’t going to walk around armed?”
“Well, no,” she admitted as Tirek turned his attention to the forest once more, eyes brimming with anger. “But that didn’t look like any gun I’ve ever seen. That was like a spell.”
“Yeah, well his armor didn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen either, Twilight,” Rainbow said.
“I would hope not!” Rarity added in. There was a pause as everyone waited for the other horseshoe to drop, and then it hit. “It looked absolutely dreadful.”
Drained or not, Rarity was still Rarity.
“That aside,” Twilight said, fighting a shiver as Tirek’s searching eyes passed over their location. He was getting closer, taking hesitant steps into the forest, but not so close she felt the need to dart back down the staircase behind them just yet. “I almost hope our ‘friend’ doesn’t try that again.”
“And why not?” Applejack asked. “Looked to me like it worked. It hurt Tirek something good, and he needs it.”
“Yes, it did,” Twilight replied, glancing back at the farmpony. “But you don’t have a horn. Mine was tingling like crazy when Tirek lost all that magic. It wasn’t just loose, it was raw. Untamed.”
“So?” Rainbow asked.
“So,” Discord cut in. “It’s unrestrained. Off its leash. Having no focus. No center. No reason.”
“Like you?” Rainbow gave the chaos demigod a flat look, and he shook his head.
“No,” he said, his voice devoid of any sense of humor. “Not anything like me. My magic may run contrary to the way things are, but it’s still at my beck and call.” He snapped his talons. “Or at least it was, back when I had some.”
“What Discord is trying to say,” Twilight said, looking back at her friends. “Is that it’s raw magic. No form, and no function. Pure energy that will latch onto whatever it finds and do who knows what?”
“Oooh! Like cotton-candy-clouds-with-chocolate-milk-rain who knows what?”
“No, Pinkie,” she said as she turned to look back at the sky where the magic had just been. She couldn’t feel it anymore, but she could still see the way the clouds had swirled and churned around where the magic had been set free. “More like burn-and-destroy-everything in an out-of-control storm of raw magic. If that happens again—”
Whatever she was about to say was lost as a titanic burst of green light shot out of the forest and, with a dull roar so loud she felt her bones shake, crashed into Tirek’s head and detonated.
* * *
The BFG hissed in his hands as the blast of pure, reactive argent energy slammed into the demon’s head and broke apart. Green tendrils of ethereal plasma arced across the beast’s body, ripping into flesh and bathing its skull in luminous fire. Tirek screamed, a primal bellow of pure agony as the BFG blast rippled across his body, but that wasn’t what the purpose behind the shot had been.
There. Cracks were appearing all across the orangish energy orb, sickening wounds etched by argent. White light burst forth from each crack, streaming into the sky and away from the demon.
“No!” That shot had done it. Tirek was shrinking once again, but much, much more rapidly now. No longer did it tower above the trees, though it was still taller than them. Even as its rapid loss began to slow, it was clear that it was less than half the size it had been. And if it was half the size it had been …
The demon reached skyward as the last of the cracks sealed, opening its jaws and preparing to suck back the swirling mass above it—only to stagger to the side as a rocket slammed into the side of its head with enough force to snap its jaw shut.
“You!” The demon whirled, its eyes searching. It found him almost immediately—after all, the firing of the BFG had done much to strip the surrounding forest of its cover. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Left a job half done, he thought as he switched the rocket launcher back to his HAR. He began to run towards the demon, his feet pounding against the dirt, a clear statement of intent.
And with a roar, the demon charged as well, barreling toward him like a wall of angry, hate-filled flesh.
* * *
“Oh no nonononono …” Twilight said, her ears folding back against her head as she looked up at the swirling mass of raw magic energy. “This is bad. This is very, very, very bad.”
“Actually, darling,” Rarity cut in. Her own eyes were fixed on her horn, which—like Twilight’s—was vibrating like a tuning fork under the storm of ambient magic swelling above them. “That may not be enough verys.”
This is bad. This is so bad. She could feel the feathers on her wings starting to twitch as the magic that had been loosed by the attack swelled across the sky above them. Already it was starting to arc, bolts of pure energy streaking back and forth across a view that, if not for its turbulent, raw nature, would have almost been pleasant the way it was glowing.
“Can’t you just—you know—suck it up?” Rainbow asked, waving a hoof at the sky.
“Are you kidding?” Twilight asked, her eyes wide. “This isn’t like when Celestia and Luna gave me their magic. That was controlled; this isn’t! I can’t absorb it!”
“Well … uh … What about him?” Rainbow pointed at Discord.
“No thank you,” Discord said. “I like my molecules where they are, not simultaneously exploding at the speed of light.” Off in the distance Tirek roared as he collided the strange traveler, explosions sounding all around them. More magic was streaming up into the sky now. Whatever their visitor was doing, it was working. Except that it would probably kill them all.
“Well we’ve got to do something! I may not be an egghead, but I do know weather,” Rainbow said. “And that?” She pointed up at the growing storm of magic as it continued to swirl above them, rumbling. “That’s not good. For a non-magic storm.”
“I … I …” She could feel her heart fluttering in her chest in a panic. Chest. Chest!
“The chest!” she said, twisting her head to look at the small, crystalline container. It was right where Spike had dropped it on the grass. “The chest! We have to open it!”
“But it didn’t work.”
“Oh please,” Discord said, cutting the group off. “What multidimensional storage device doesn’t have problems when its zorth coordinates get splatooned into by a wayward traveler? Even the TARDIS has trouble dealing with that, and it knows/knew how to deal with stowaways.” He paused as seven sets of eyes stared at him in confusion. “What?”
“Never mind,” Twilight said, shaking her head. “Discord’s … right. I think. But it’s already partway open. If we could give it a nudge …” She looked around the group. “Okay, we’re going to need every bit of magic we can muster to make this work or—” There was a loud crack as a bolt of pure magic energy shot through the air above them.
“Well, that molecule thing Discord said sounds about right,” she finished. “That means Rarity, I need you standing by your key. Discord, I want you behind me. You’re good with magic, as crazy as that may be, and you might spot something I’ll miss.”
“What about us?” Twilight almost missed Fluttershy’s voice over the rising howl of wind. The storm was still growing, and starting to circle ominously. “We don’t have any magic, now.”
“Are you kidding?” Twilight said, almost laughing. “Of course you do. We’re friends! And friendship. Is. Magic! So get your hooves on those keys, and let’s open this case!” Another crack echoed through the air, from the distant fight or the from the storm overhead, she couldn’t tell. She swallowed as she reached out with her horn, probing for the enchantment laid over the chest with what little magic she could muster. With luck, now that it had already been unlocked, she would just need to give it a little kick. And if she couldn’t …
Her mane whipped in the wind, flipping around her face as overhead the storm rumbled once more. If she couldn’t, there was no telling how much devastation the storm would cause.
* * *
“Arrrgh!”
To move was life. To stop was death. Another beam cut through through the rock where he had just been, carving through stone and dirt with equal ease and sending shuddered detonations through the ground. He countered by firing again, glowing plasma spitting from the front of his rifle and detonating across the demon’s body. It roared in frustration once more. One of its hands dipped low and came up with part of a tree trunk. It hurled the log at him, and he was forced to change directions lest the mass of wood crush him against the ground.
“You worm! Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” Tirek thundered as he charged towards him. He chose to make his reply known in a barrage of bullets, his chaingun spinning up to high speed and spitting incendiary death downrange. Tirek roared again as the shots splintered off of his body. Several of them hit the demon’s orb, again cracking it and sending more energy sliding towards the maelstrom in the sky. And again, Tirek seemed to shrink just slightly. Both the demon and the orb were only a third of their original size now.
“I will kill you before you kill us all!”
He dodged another blast of energy, his heart pounding in his chest as the beam scythed through the ground he’d been behind. Their battle was tearing the landscape apart. Eventually nothing would be left but a charred crater.
He turned to see the demon charging, howling as it rushed right at him. He backpedaled, only to catch himself at the last second as a beam cut across the earth behind him. He was trapped.
Then Tirek’s swinging fist hit him like a wall, and for a moment, all he could see was alternating glimpses of the earth and sky as he spun through the air.
Then he hit, and for a moment saw nothing at all.
“Hmmph,” the demon said.
He pulled himself out of the trench his body had dug, pushing himself up, but it was too late. The demon was upon him. It was still large enough that its hand could wrap around his body.
“You’ve lost,” the demon said, grinning as it lifted him towards its face. “Now I will suck your magic dry and add it to my own, before I reclaim that which you’ve made me lose.” It pulled him closer, right up next to its ugly face. “And I will take great satisfaction in charring your bones—eh?”
With a motorized snarl, his chainsaw dug into the beast’s face, chewing through flesh with ease.
Tirek let out a howl of rage, and suddenly he was flying back as the demon flung him away. He didn’t go far, landing with the words IMPACT COMPENSATION flashing at the bottom of his HUD, his suit’s way of telling him that his bones would have broken if not for its interference.
He ignored them. Above him, the demon was screaming in rage as it pulled away a hand black with blood. He didn’t waste the opportunity, once again pulling out his Gauss Cannon and firing a single shot into the orb between the beast’s horns. It howled again as more of its precious magic was stripped away, shrinking it further.
“Kill you!” Blind with rage, it swung at him, firing multiple smaller beams from its horns in a spread. Flame wreathed its hands, and it began launching fireballs at him.
He almost smiled. An imp trick? He was winning.
He darted in close, baiting the monster. The jagged wound he’d left across its face had already healed, leaving only a slick of black blood, but how many times could it do so? And how deep a wound could it heal? The echoing cracks of the storm above them continued to build. He didn’t care. The storm looked somewhat natural compared to the beast in front of him.
The demon reared back, rising up on its hind legs before bringing both its forehooves down as it tried to crush him.
Mistake. They both slammed down against the ground next to him, and he whirled, chainsaw already snarling in his hands. Black blood sprayed across his armor as the teeth bit deep, sawing through muscle and tendon. The demon howled, leaping back and yanking the hoof away from the sawing teeth, but the damage was done. He’d sawn through most of the ankle, leaving the lower part of the demon’s leg hanging by only a small chunk of muscle. Useless.
The demon’s wounded leg gave out, and with a scream of pain, it collapsed on its knees.
* * *
“Whoa.” Rainbow said, her eyes wide as she watched the battle. “Did you see that?”
“Focus, Rainbow,” Twilight said as she nudged another part of the spell. Her horn ached, burning against her skull, but she had to push on. She could almost see it!
“Yeah, but—”
“Focus!” she said, fighting to urge to flip her mane out of her eyes. The rising storm would only bring it snapping back in moments anyway, and she didn’t have any magic to spare to put up a shield. What little she’d regained after her draining at Tirek’s hands was already sorely pressed by the task before it. “Discord, more towards—Yes! Focus on that part of the enchantment, right there!”
Above them, the storm crackled and spit white fire, growing ever larger.
* * *
Now.
He lifted the Gauss Cannon, watching as energy arced between its twin prongs, building up a titanic charge. Tirek’s wound was healing, and quickly. He needed to make the shot count.
He squeezed the trigger, and a thunderclap reached out to strike what was left of the orb between the demon’s horns.
It shattered.
“Nooooo!” Tirek’s howl of horror was almost torn away by the intensity of the storm bubbling above them as the last of the orb broke apart into clouds of white energy. A moment later, those too were gone, sucked away by the raging maelstrom.
The demon rose, its hoof healed once more. No longer did it tower above the trees. Now it was no taller than a baron of Hell. And from the look on its face, of a similar temperament.
He had nothing left in his Gauss Cannon. His rockets were gone. All that was left to him were his shotguns. His pistol.
And his fists.
The demon charged.
He slid under its first blow, firing his shotgun and scoring a hit on the beast’s arm as he passed. A kick from one of its hind legs caught him in the side, and he retaliated by lobbing a grenade at the ground beneath it. They circled, the demon spitting fire and flinging magic, him sending every shell he had back at it. Once or twice it tried to wrap his body in some sort of strange magic, but his suit refused to submit, the energy sliding off of him like water on an oiled surface.
One of them howled in rage. He wasn’t sure which.
* * *
“Uh … Twi …?” Applejack said, her voice shaking.
“Just a second.” Another crack echoed by overhead, and from the corner of her eyes she saw a nearby tree lift into the air, magic arcing across it. For a moment is seemed to swell with life … and then it crumbled to ash as it was overwhelmed, the energy dissipating back into storm overhead.
“I know, but it’s getting a lit-tle bit dangerous out here …”
“I know. Just a little bit more!” She could see the structure of the enchantment now, more complex than anything she’d ever imagined. But on the one side, a small cluster of energies that were out of place …
Another crack. She had to hurry. Someone shifted their hooves, and the spell faded.
“No! Don’t move!” The spellwork returned. “Just a little longer!” She was shouting now, trying to make herself heard over the roaring storm. If this doesn’t work … she thought. That storm has the power to move the sun, the moon, and who knows what else. If it reaches the point where it can’t hold itself together …
The resultant explosion would crack the crust of the planet. She’d already done the math. Estimated, really, but even that had terrified her, and she’d decided to skip doing it properly, or even double-checking.
That alone told her how terrified she was.
If this chest doesn’t have something that can solve this … she thought as she prodded the magic cluster. Then we’re all going to—Come on!
With a flash it gave, and she stumbled back as the top of the chest snapped open, glowing light spilling out. She had just enough time to gasp before something swept over her … and everything changed.
* * *
Bone cracked as his fist collided with the demon’s knee, and it crashed to the earth at last.
“No …” It said, lifting its hands in a daze as he approached. “No more …”
He ignored its begging and slugged it across the chin, snapping its head back. Then he wrapped his fingers around one of its horns, planting his foot on its face, and pulled. With a crack he barely heard over the tumultuous skies above them, the horn broke off.
“N—”
Wielding the broken horn like a club, he smashed the side of the demon’s face again and again, ignoring its protests. Blood spilled from cut flesh, splattered across his armor, and still he struck.
Finally, he stopped, looking down at his handiwork.
A feeble hand rose. “Please …” the demon slurred through blooded lips. “Please …”
A growl rose in his throat, an animal sound of rage. It had the audacity to beg for mercy.
There would be none. Not from him. He hefted the bloody horn once more, flipping it in his hand so that that point was forward.
And now, he thought as he stepped forward. I will tear out your throat. He pulled the horn back.
A flash lit the sky, and he paused. It wasn’t anything like the flash that he had been seeing. It was multicolored … almost … soothing.
Something was happening back in the direction of the canyon where he’d arrived. A pillar of color was rising into the sky, sweeping away everything around it. Then, it exploded outward, color filling his entire world. He had time to let out a wordless scream of rage as his prey was swept away from him …
And then everything went white.
* * *
Everything was back the way it was supposed to be.
Well, Twilight reflected. Almost everything. Her library was gone, and there was a new castle, of all things, on the edge of Ponyville, but compared to what had almost happened … she wasn’t about to complain.
Somehow, the chest had set everything right. She could barely remember what it had been like. It had been similar to the power and strength she’d felt when under the influence of the Elements, but even moreso, though she really couldn’t describe how. All she knew was that it had given her and her friends a chance to fix everything. To put everything back the way it had been.
The magic storm? Swept away, the wild magic tamed and returned to its respective owners across Equestria. Celestia, Luna, and Cadence? Brought back from Tartarus, their magics their own once more. Even her own magic was back in place. And Tirek …
She frowned. Tirek had been sent back to Tartarus, his stolen magic stripped from him, his body returned to its original state. A faint shudder ran down her spine as she recalled the injuries she’d seen, the ones she’d healed. They had been brutal. Beyond what was necessary.
Maybe that was why the Tree of Harmony had done to their visitor what it had. Because Discord, of all creatures, had been right. That being had buried his sadness and loss … and left nothing behind but pure, violent rage.
He was broken, as powerful as he was. Lost, maybe.
She let out a sigh as she spotted Celestia’s chariot approaching, apparently locked in a little bit of a race with Luna’s. It still felt … wrong … to have let that be the end of it.
But then again, what would I suggest? she thought as she looked down at the crystalline balcony the Tree’s chest had unleashed. I don’t have the first idea about how to deal with somepony that far sunk into their own anguish except maybe what we did to Discord all those years ago, and even then, is that what he would deserve? He did try to help.
She shook her head as the chariots grew closer. Maybe she’d ask Celestia. Or Luna. Both of them would know better what to do.
Until then, she’d have to hope their visitor wouldn’t mind being where he was. Maybe someday, they could find a way to make him happy. Ease his suffering. Maybe even send him home.
Someday.
* * *
He leaned back, testing the shackles around his wrists as laughter echoed around him.
“Well, what do you know?” The raspy voice of his once mighty foe was little more than a whisper now, the shriveled demon hiding under a cloak that concealed all but the tip of its muzzle and the shackles it also wore around its wrists. “Turns out you’re no better than me. I was wondering when you’d wake up.”
He took a moment to look around at his surroundings. Dark, spiky stone towers rose around them, one of which they were at the peak of, lit by orange and blue light coming from somewhere below. He could hear faint bellows of noise; howls and shrieks echoing through the caverns.
He could also see the bars of the cage that he and the demon were locked in.
“It looks as though you and I are going to be cell-mates for a time,” the demon said, spreading his spindly fingers. “Confined to Tartarus together. Only fitting, I suppose, given what I’ve seen of you.”
Tartarus. Tartarus. The Greek world of the dead. Hades.
Another word for Hell.
“Maybe in time, you’ll come to hate this place as I have,” the demon continued. “Come to see mutual opportunity that can be shared by working together. There are countless horrors entombed down here, all wishing for release. Maybe next time, I won’t have all the fun.”
Beneath his helmet, he smiled. Then he flexed his arms, tugging against his shackles. They creaked once, and then with a scream of tearing metal, tore apart.
“Wait,” the demon said, its own shackles pulling taut as he strode toward it. “Think about what you’re doing! Where you are! This cage keeps them out! You can’t—”
Then there was a loud crack, and he let the demon’s body slump to the ground, its head at an unnatural angle. A few kicks was all he needed to dislodge one of the metal bars on his cage and step out.
He strode up to the edge of the tower and looked down, and saw hundreds, maybe thousands of eyes looking back up at him. Monstrous beasts of every shape and kind. Roars and howls echoed around him as they clawed at chains, dug at earth.
Some of them were free already, and they charged up the side of the tower at him. He lifted his shotgun, checked the chamber,, then ratcheted the forestock back. Twelve shells.
More than enough. He would find more. And if he ran out, he always had his fists.
He leapt down the side of the mountain toward the oncoming horde.
Smiling.
Author's Note
Yeah, I know what you're thinking. What in Tartarus is this?
The short? Something fun.
The long? Well ... as you might have guessed, last year I played through DOOM, and man was it a ride. An awesome ride. And then, somehow, I got this strange idea. I'm really not sure from where, to be honest. But somehow I saw a picture of Tirek or read a fanfic that mentioned him or something, and my brain got to bubbling. Cooking. Stewing. And this resulted.
Yeah, it's completely nuts, as far as my usual writings go. But almost ... cathartic, in a way. Writing about the Doomguy tearing Tirek a new one was a blast. But at the same time, hinting at the deeper wounds that make up the Doomguy (and Discord) was satisfying. Which in turn helped with my other soon to come story, Discord Day Care.
Anyway, this was a fun piece to throw together, as bizarre as it is. And yes, I say this acknowledging that I used to—well, still do—joke about Doom/MLP crossovers. Oh, and that wordcount was complete coincidence.
Now, one last note. I'll again confirm that this piece has no relation to any of my other stories. This isn't canon with the Dusk Guard (which you really should be reading) or anything else I've written. This marks the first lone, truly one-off fic I've written. No relations, no hints, at anything else I've put up or will put up. Well, maybe in terms of Discord's mind-set, but other than that.
Anyway, as usual, if you liked this story, go ahead and check out the rest of my stuff here on Fimfic. Plus my site, which has both my regular writing guides (one almost every Monday for over three years now) and links and samples of my published work as well.
Catch you on the flipside.
