Twilight emerged from the portal in front of a large cavern opening. Celestia, Luna, and Discord were already waiting for her, while the Slayer was already walking inside.

Just before the portal closed behind her, a small drone flew out and hovered in front of the group. "I will be remotely piloting this drone to provide limited assistance," VEGA said from it.

"Just how much technology was hidden in that ship?" Luna asked.

"A full inventory was completed shortly after I was reactivated. However, I am unable to perform a full scan until power is fully restored."

"I think that was- Nevermind," Celestia said. She looked at The Slayer, who was now quite far into the cave. "We should get moving if we wish to keep up."

The others nodded and they hurried over to him. VEGA's drone flew alongside them. The Slayer gave it a glance when they arrived, but didn't pay it a second look.

"Because this is a natural Hell portal, closing it off will take more work than usual," VEGA said. "When The Slayer has finished his end of the work, you need to use your magic to complete the seal from your side."

"Oh, is that all?" Discord said. "And here I thought closing off access to an entirely hostile dimension would be more complicated."

VEGA didn't respond to the quip.

Discord pouted. "Oh, robots are no fun. They never get sarcasm."

"I understood the attempt at humor, Discord, I simply saw no need to acknowledge it."

"...oh."

"Enough talking," Luna said while unsheathing her sword. "Expect resistance soon."

The darkness of the cave was slowly replaced with the violent orange glow of Hell. The gates that were normally guarded by Cerberus were wide open, and the guard dog was nowhere to be seen.

The Slayer strode directly into the Tartarus gates and beelined toward a single idle imp. It barely had the time to screech before The Slayer tried out his new arm blade on it. He stabbed it through the abdomen, then pulled it up, leaving the demon's top half to flop apart on the ground.

The Slayer inspected the blade and retracted it. He seemed quite pleased with the results.

He didn't get to sit in satisfaction for long, because soon after a horde of demons of all shapes and sizes hissed and screeched from deeper within Hell. They crawled out from just about every pit and crevice in view, with a few simply teleporting in with a flash of red lightning.

The Slayer made sure his shotgun was loaded, then jumped into the fray. VEGA's drone followed above him, likely to provide combat support.

Celestia winced at the display of violence, while Discord went wide-eyed. Twilight and Luna were numb to the carnage by now, so they instead looked around them.

"So that's what he's like in action," Discord said. "Pretty glad I never pissed him off, then."

"Come," Luna said, "we should look for a way to close their access to Equestria while he distracts them."

Everyone nodded in agreement and searched the area, trying to ignore the deafening slaughter not too far away from them. A few stray demons tried to attack the group, but they were easily dispatched by Celestia and Luna's swords.

Meanwhile, Twilight kept intermittently pulsing magic from her horn, trying to look for any sort of weak point in the connection between worlds. Unfortunately, it was as if the very air in Hell was charged with magic. It would no doubt be helpful if one of them had to cast a strenuous spell, but it made locating a way to sever the realms impossible.

The others had reached the same conclusion, judging by their disappointed faces.

"Do you think it's like it was at Manehattan?" Twilight asked Luna.

"It is possible," Luna said. "However, in a realm such as this, a pillar of flesh could very easily blend in."

"Our big green friend is getting farther away," Discord reported, hovering above them. "It might be in our best interests to turn back so we don't get too far."

"That would be wise," Celestia said. "Come, Twilight."

"Oh, but my guests just got here."

Everyone whirled around, blades and magic at the ready, and were met by a bipedal figure, similar to The Slayer in stature, but without any armor save for an ornate crown and clutching a staff. However, his glowing red eyes betrayed his demonic nature, as well as his sickly gray skin.

"Who are you?" Luna demanded. "Tell us at once!"

"I'm afraid you don't get to ask questions here," the figure said. He chanted something under his breath and tapped his staff on the ground, and suddenly the four of them were engulfed in red lightning. They all screamed in pain and fell to the ground, along with the princesses' weapons.

"So arrogant, thinking you can free The Slayer, bring him right back into Hell, and still get to ask questions." The demon smiled cruelly. "Especially you, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight grit her teeth and looked at the figure.

"You know, what's going to happen to your world is your own fault. If only you accepted our offer and kept The Slayer contained, no more souls would have to be collected." He chuckled. "Well, now you get to suffer for your mistake firsthand."

The lightning intensified, and everyone screamed again. Even still, Twilight found it in herself to glare at the demon and say, "He... will stop... you!"

The figure frowned. "Still so arrogant. I see The Slayer has rubbed off on you a bit. Well, we can-"

He suddenly looked up, and his eyes went wide. He brought up the staff and teleported away just before a bright blue beam tore through the space he once occupied.

The lightning holding them in place with pain persisted, however, and while it was less painful now, it still held them to the ground. The figure reappeared on top of a distant rock. The Slayer ran past them and once again took aim with his laser weapon.

"Slayer!" the figure growled out. "Take one more step towards me, and their souls are forfeit!"

For the first time since Twilight had seen him, The Slayer hesitated. He kept his weapon ready, but did not run forward, nor did he fire.

VEGA's drone flew in shortly after and inspected the immobilized ponies and chaos god. "He is using Argent energy to keep you all in place."

"Who... is he?" Celestia forced out. She tried to rise to her hooves, but yelped and fell back down as the lightning intensified for a moment.

"That is Deag Nilox, a Hell Priest. It would seem he is in charge of attacking Equestria."

Deag Nilox growled. "I have a proposition for you, Slayer!" he shouted. "This world will suit our needs just as well as Earth! If you allow us to take it, Earth will be spared its fate!"

The Slayer took one look at the imprisoned beings around him, then glared right back at Nilox. He put away his gun, but then cracked his knuckles.

Nilox scowled. "Then their death is on your hands!"

He banged his staff on the ground, and everyone screamed as the lightning intensified again.

The Slayer looked truly conflicted, which was very unusual for him.

Even through the pain, Twilight did her best to focus. She forced her eyes open and looked at Nilox. She just had to manage...!

With a scream and a sudden nosebleed, Twilight used her magic to levitate Nilox's staff. The force surprised him, and it was violently wrenched from his grasp, flying far into the Hellish abyss.

The lightning around everyone instantly dissipated, and The Slayer took off towards Nilox. However, he still did not pull out a weapon. It appeared he made one decision already.

VEGA's drone flew above the group and dispatched a light blue gas. As everyone breathed it in, they slowly felt better, until they could all stand up again.

Twilight wiped the blood off her muzzle and stood up. "What was that?"

"A nanobot cluster, intended to provide immediate healing from your injuries," VEGA explained. "Though your species is unlike any sentient life in my records, the fundamentals are still close enough to humans to assist."

Shortly before The Slayer could reach Nilox, the priest teleported away again.

"Wretched fools!" his voice echoed around them. "I have no more time to waste on you. My new pet shall deal with you now."

A massive red portal opened, and Cerberus jumped through. He was definitely bigger than Twilight remembered him, though, and each head was mutated into a far more demonic visage. All three heads roared, and The Slayer prepared his rocket launcher.

At the same time, other demons screeched from behind Twilight and the others, and they scrambled to get ready for combat.

"Should any of us help The Slayer?" Twilight asked.

"I think he can handle himself," Luna said. Before any more words could be said, she let out a battle cry and lunged at the nearest demon. Her sword impaled its head, and she quickly jumped to the next target.

Celestia's fighting style was much more defensive. She'd wait for a demon to attack her before she expertly avoided the blow and responded with her own lethal strike.

Discord, in the meantime, was much less concerned about the fight at first glance. He hovered a good distance above the main fight, lounging on thin air. Any fireballs heading towards him simply ricocheted away, as if they were a rubber ball. Any flying demons that got too close were instantly and inexplicably smashed back down to the ground by an assortment of random large objects.

Twilight stuck close to Celestia and fired blasts of magic at the demons. Her attacks were much less bloody than the others, but they still dropped hellspawn all the same. In the back of her mind, Twilight knew that she shouldn't feel this comfortable killing living things, but she pushed the thoughts aside for the moment. All of the bloodshed she had witnessed in the last several hours had hardened her nerves on the matter, though she still teleported out of the way the instant a demon got too close for comfort.

The horde thinned out slightly, so she took the time to look over at The Slayer. Cerberus's left head was an icy stump, and Twilight briefly wondered how The Slayer had already taken care of one of the heads. The center head breathed a massive stream of fire, while the other barked out lightning bolts. The Slayer dodged all of it with ease, running circles around the giant canine while peppering it with bullets.

It wasn't long before the last of the demons in their immediate area was killed, and Luna looked around the pile of bodies around them. "Sister, have you seen my sword?"

"I believe you threw it into one of the giant red floating demons," Celestia said. "I didn't see where it landed."

"You mean this sword?" Discord asked, pulling it out of a top hat with a flourish. Luna simply levitated it back into her sheathe, unamused.

The Slayer jumped on Cerberus's back and used his arm blade to stay in place. He pulled out his shotgun with his other arm and fired both barrels into the lightning-spewing head, causing it to fly apart into sparking pieces of meat. The lone remaining head howled and bucked The Slayer off.

"Told you he had it handled," Discord said, floating next to Twilight.

Celestia walked to the other side of her. "Then we should resume looking for a way to sever our worlds."

"That will be unnecessary," VEGA cut in. "Scans indicate that Deag Nilox was using Cerberus as the main catalyst for widening the rift between Equestria and Hell. When Cerberus is dead, the connection will return to the strength it had before the invasion."

"And then we can seal it for good," Twilight said. "Right?"

Celestia sighed. "It will take a great deal of magic from all of us, and we will lose a reliable way to seal especially dangerous villains away, but..." She looked at the bodies around her. "...that would be better than the alternative."

The Slayer fired a barrage of rockets at Cerberus, and blew off one of its legs. This appeared to metaphorically take the fight out of it, and it simply lay on the ground while The Slayer approached slowly.

"We may want to get behind something," Discord said, pulling out a barrel of umbrellas. "I get the feeling we're in the splash zone."

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "At this distance?"

Twilight and Luna knew better, so they accepted an umbrella from Discord.

The Slayer reached Cerberus's remaining head. He pulled out he massive weapon he used in Manehattan, jammed it into the beast's mouth, and pulled the trigger.

The weapon caused a bright green glow in Cerberus's head, before the entire creature exploded into a green-sparking pile of gore. Luna, Discord, and Twilight deployed their umbrellas. Celestia was unfortunately the only one to get drenched in quite a lot of blood.

She just stared ahead, unamused, and cast a cleaning spell on herself. "Oh. I see."

With no more demons in the area, The Slayer walked over to the others.

"The portal is now returning to its previous size," VEGA reported. "Demonic activity in the area has also decreased significantly."

"Then we shall begin sealing the entrance to Tartarus," Luna said. She took flight back to the entrance, Celestia close behind. Discord lingered for a bit, then snapped his fingers and popped back with them. However, Twilight remained for a bit, watching the being that helped save their world.

The Slayer, meanwhile, simply looked at the drone.

"Deag Nilox's location is currently unknown. Judging by what he said earlier, he has likely returned to assist with the demonic invasion of Earth. The Sentinel ship has been recharged enough to bring you back and then teleport the ship into Earth's orbit."

The Slayer nodded.

"Opening the portal now."

A large blue portal opened in thin air, exactly like the one VEGA had opened for them before. The Slayer turned around to walk into it, but Twilight raised a hoof.

"Wait, Slayer!"

The Slayer stopped, and turned slightly to look at her.

She bowed her head. "Thank you. For everything."

He nodded, and walked through the portal.

Twilight thought that VEGA's drone would follow him through immediately, but first it went to Twilight and dropped an object on the ground. It looked like a blue piece of glass surrounded by a gray frame.

"After Equestria is disconnected from Hell, please read this in private," VEGA explained. "I was told to deliver it to you."

"Wait, what?" Twilight picked the object up in her magic. "What is-?"

The drone ignored her and flew back through the portal. It closed shortly after.

Twilight looked at the object, dumbfounded. What was it, and why did VEGA want her to read it? And why in private?

"Twilight!"

Celestia's voice snapped her out of her thoughts, and she hastily put a cloak spell on the object before tucking it into her mane. "Coming!"

She flew back to the gate of Tartarus. After some preparation, she fired up her horn along with Celestia and Luna and focused all their magic on the gate. Discord also lent his own magic, but looked nonchalant about it.

After a moment, the gate closed, followed by the earth itself moving to seal the cavern. The four of them slowly backed out of the cave, followed by the rising ground. Every so often, a seal appeared on the ground beneath them, only to join the growing barrier between them and Hell.

Once they were back in the open, one last seal appeared and the cave shut itself completely. All three ponies powered down their horns and let out a deep breath, while Discord stretched.

"So... it's over?" Twilight asked.

Celestia nodded. "I pray that it is."

They returned to Ponyville quickly, but not before confirming that the ship underneath the castle in the Everfree was no longer there. Sure enough, there was no trace of any live demons left in the land, either. The bodies of those that were slain remained, though, and they knew that they'd have their hooves full for a while with cleanup, to say nothing of the trauma of all their citizens that survived.

After they returned to Twilight's castle, and she had a heartfelt reunion with her friends, Celestia and Luna went back to Canterlot, to begin the rebuilding effort there. Discord stuck around, mainly to talk to Fluttershy about everything that happened.

Soon, Twilight's friends slowly left, to do their part to rebuild Ponyville. Twilight was going to help too, of course, but everyone was happy to let her rest for a while given everything that she went through.

Once she was in her bedroom and alone, she undid the cloak spell on the object VEGA gave her and held it in her hooves. He said to read it, but it was just a clear piece of blue glass, from the look of it. Clearly, it was some sort of futuristic tech, just like the rest of that ship was, Twilight just had to figure out how to activate it.

She scanned it with her magic, and got no result. She tried to look at it closer, but there was still no result. It wasn't until she tapped the surface of the glass with a hoof that it began glowing, and text appeared on the glass. After confirming that she could use her hoof to scroll and reveal more, Twilight studied what the artificial intelligence wanted her to see so badly.

Twilight Sparkle, if you are reading this, then The Slayer was successful in helping you close off Hell's access to your world, and VEGA was able to deliver this message discretely.

I am sure you have several questions right now. VEGA contacted me shortly after he was reactivated, and I gave him this message to deliver to you after the situation was explained.

I am Doctor Samuel Hayden, former head of the Union Aerospace Corporation on Mars. I was the one who sent The Slayer to your world, but only because I needed to in order to ensure that my plans would not be affected by his... actions.

I know you've seen how he operates. How he feels about Hell and its demons, how he fights. All you need to know about that is that I'm the one who made him that way, long ago, and he is vital to my plans here. I admit, I did not expect him to be trapped by your princesses for so long, but his return will still fit into what I am going to do.

And yes, that means I am the one who talked to you about denying the demons. There is much more to the story you do not know, but you do not need to know any more.

Twilight Sparkle, as you already know, your world is not alone in the multiverse. However, your world, as it stands, plays no part in our plan for all of Creation. Your encounter with Hell was an unfortunate one, but it is still good to know that you were able to survive it.

Tell no one else about this message. I am telling all of this to you because I know that you will understand. When my plan is complete, and The Father is returned, every realm will be safe from the demons, including yours.

That will be all. Destroy this device once you are done reading it. After five hours, it will corrupt itself, and be unreadable to anyone.

Twilight sat in her room and kept reading and re-reading the message until the message corrupted, just like it said it would. When it did, she looked up to see that it was already night time.

She numbly walked onto her balcony and looked up at the stars.

That... was a lot to take in. Especially after everything that happened.

Something was going on that could affect "all of Creation" and Equestria didn't even factor into it. Everything that happened here was incidental. Even though they had survived Hell, nothing would have changed on a cosmic scale if they hadn't.

Still... The Slayer didn't throw Equestria away for the sake of his own world. He didn't even sacrifice the lives of others to secure Equestria's safety. Underneath all the anger and hatred, there was a genuinely kind heart.

Wherever The Slayer was now, whatever he was doing... Twilight hoped that he'd save every other world he came into, just like he did for hers.

The Slayer took a rest for the first time in millennia. The ship had to reboot after the teleportation from Equestria, so he could do nothing but wait for VEGA to come back online to activate the portal so he could start saving Earth.

Through the ship's viewport in front of him, he could see rivers of lava and smoke streaking the planet. It made his blood boil, but he couldn't do anything about it yet.

To pass the time, he went through his suit's recordings of his time in Equestria. While flipping through, he stopped on one particular moment.

When he was playing with the yellow pony's rabbit.

He wanted to smile, but a memory turned it into a scowl. He saved an image of the rabbit from the recording and put it in a folder along with the only other photo he had saved on the suit.

It was an image of him holding a picture. The picture was of a fuzzy brown rabbit looking at the camera.

The Slayer clenched his fist while looking at the two images. He dismissed the displays and looked back at the ruined Earth.

He knew why he fought, and why he'd never stop fighting.

And no one will get in his way.

Author's Note

Well, I finally finished it, long after I promised I would.

And, just like I said in my blog post, this will be the last batch of words I ever write for Fimfiction. It's been a great ride, with its own ups and downs, but it's time I move on. I won't disappear completely from the site, but I am definitely done writing here.

Hope you all had just as much fun reading as I did writing. So long, and thanks for all the horses.