Thy Pony Flesh Consumed

by sevenofeleven

Rating: teen
Tags: Gore, Violence, Dark, Death, Lyra, Thriller, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Bon-Bon, Horror
Length: 12534

Lyra ends up meeting humans on a Martian base that's overrun by demons.

Lyra Heartstrings always wanted to meet humans, too bad she gets her chance on a doomed martian base that's slowly becoming an outpost of Hell.

Published 2019-06-03 13:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2019-06-17 12:31:35 UTC

Chapter One - Go directly to Mars!

Thy Pony Flesh Consumed
Chapter 1- Go directly to Mars!

Again, I tried to lift the dark clouds in my head. Wished that there were pegasi for that. It was the dreams, really, nightmares. I've dreamed of humans, mythical creatures before in such detail, but these dreams were darker and worse. The stink of blood, burnt metal and malicious laughter sent me sitting bolt upright with a scream dying on my lips.

“Lyra? Lyra!” Bon Bon peered at me.

I nodded and rolled the dice. Moved my old timey iron to the Chance square.

The gray and rainy skies outside mirrored my mood perfectly. Wasn't doing that well playing Monopony either. Bon Bon was going to bankrupt me real soon. Two hundred bits is not enough to survive on. She had most of the properties. It was a minefield waiting for an unwary hoof.

Bon Bon smiled.

I picked up the card. It said, “GO DIRECTLY TO HELL! YOUR SOUL WILL BURN IN AGONY FOREVER!” I saw a human with one dead-white eye and the other one blazed such hatred and fury. Wanted to put up both fore hooves to block out the sight. Flames and strange creatures moved behind him...

“Lyra!”

I looked at the card again. Saw old Mr. Bitsbags being hauled off to jail by a royal guard. When does this game end? Need to go upstairs and think. I gave my money to Bon Bon, and bowed. “You win, I surrender.”

Bon Bon's ears and tail drooped. “I had hoped that you would break out of whatever mood you're in and just play. What's eating you?”

I had another vision.

A waking dream or something of two humans. A fat human was gnawing away at the guts of a dead human lying on a blood slick floor. I guess it heard something, and the first one got up. Then the one with the hole in its guts got up...

Was back with Bon Bon. She had a concerned look on her face. “Lyra, what's wrong?”

Then I heard the voices. Sounded like two people were chanting.

MANNULUS fili mi MANNULUS,
Quod de amicitia?

What are they saying? Who are these people?

MANNULUS fili mi MANNULUS
Magicae est amicitia?

Sounded like just two, but why did their voices sound like they were vibrating?

(Meus parvos equus)
Miror ego qualis est amicitia esse potest.

The room started to dim out and fade. I was going to lose her!

(Meus parvos equus)
Usque ad magica, mecum omnes vos participatur...

“Bon Bon help!” But it was too late...

Woke up on a cold metal grate. Could smell the coppery stink of blood. Eww.. Considering my nightmares, I was sure it was human. Some humans were talking. For some reason, my body felt like a block of lead. Couldn't move anything.

“Oh my god! It worked!” A male voice exclaimed.

“What? No Twilight Sparkle? She's the Princess of Magic! We need power to protect us from him, not a weird background pony, Rodger,” A woman replied.

“I know Mel, but I don't know what happened,” Rodger said.

I tried to get up, but my body refused. Figured I had to try harder.

A cold familiar voice intervened. “I see what you've been doing with the precious knowledge I've given you. I'm impressed that you have brought something not of Hell, but from Imagination. Give me your research notes and the creature and I'll consider being lenient.”

Rodger squeaked, “No.”

“Don't be an ass, Rodger, give him what he wants!” Mel said.

I'm not a weird background pony, whatever that means. How did these humans know of Twilight? Some feeling returned to my body. Needed that to at least look around, and maybe get away.

“No, what?” The cold voice asked.

This was the same voice I heard in my nightmares. Want to be back home with Bon Bon.

“No, Dr. Betrüger, I won't help you spread damnation and darkness upon Mars or Earth.” Rodger said.

He sounded so heroic, and so dead.

Dr. Betrüger laughed. I wanted to cover my ears. It was the same horrible sound I heard in my nightmares.

“So, Rodger Simmons, you finally grew a spine. Too late for that now. Cóntere collum,” Betrüger said.

I heard a loud snap! A body fell to the ground.

“Stop! What are you doing! Stop that, Melissa Saperstein, at once!”

Melissa laughed, so brave and so helpless. “I've deleted all of our research data, Dr. Betrüger.”

There was a loud bang. Sounded like a firecracker went off.

“Now, you can't get the data back from the destroyed drive. I don't think you have enough pull from your Hell bosses to restore hardware,” Melissa said with a defiant tone.

I liked Melissa, even though I couldn't see her. Wondered what would happen to me.

“Foolish stupid woman. Should've used that bullet on yourself. You've doomed that poor creature to a slow starving death since it can't leave the summoning circle. For you, on the other hand, I have something special ready.”

I heard Betrüger turn around, and walk out the door.

What? I can't get out of the summoning circle? Wait, what’s that? Finally, I could move a leg. Got up slowly. Looked around. I was in the middle of some sort of blood circle filled with strange symbols. Eww! What sort of person would do this? Humans could do magic? Well, I guess so. Then I saw the guttering candles. They had the faces of the Mane Six on them. How did the humans know about them, or me?

“Pony, Lyra, look at me. Please,” Melissa begged.

I turned around just as the lights dimmed to a red glow, and a voice whispered. Saw a white-skinned woman with a dark-brown hair and eyes. Those were sunken in like she hadn't had a good night’s sleep in a long while. Just like me. She wore a white lab coat.

A creature appeared behind Melissa. What a horrible-looking thing. Instead of two eyes, it had two horizontal rows of four eyes in its head. Below that, was a thin and lanky brown body with long arms ending with hands ending with shiny black claws.

She turned around, and cursed. “Oh shit, an imp!”

The imp shrieked, and clawed at Melissa. She didn’t have a chance to defend herself. Its claws were a blur. Couldn’t see what it was doing to her while gobbets of bloody flesh flew. Had to look away. The sound of razor sharp claws tearing through soft flesh made my stomach churn. I trotted up to the edge of the circle. Tried to come to Mel's aid, but something invisible blocked me. It was like being behind a glass wall, except you can see glass. This was totally transparent.

Melissa slumped to the floor.

The imp turned its gaze on me and shrieked. A red glow appeared in its claws, and it threw a fireball at me! Oh no! What am I going to do? Did what I could. Cringed.

The fireball hit the edge of the circle with a poof, and faded away. The imp threw another fireball at me, and the same thing happened.

So Dr. Betrüger was right. I was going to die of either starvation or dehydration. Being clawed to death wasn't exactly much better.

The imp seemed confused. It walked up to the summoning circle. I thought it would try to touch the circle, but it just turned and walked out of the room. Heard the door close behind it.

Why? Why am I here? I sat down and waited for death. Then I heard a sound. It was like something was dragging itself across the ground. Stood up and looked.

Melissa dragged herself to the edge of the summoning circle. She rubbed at the edge until the clotted blood was gone.

Watched what she did with bated breath. Will this break the summoning circle, and could I escape? Maybe she was alright, or I could help her out?

“Sorry, pony, ” she wheezed before she exhaled. Blood oozed from her mouth.

When the summoning circle faded away, I felt magic. It was dark, heavy and cold. For a moment, I thought about staying here, but I would need food and water. Humans must have that somewhere.

Took another look at Melissa, maybe I could ask some questions. She was deathly still. My first time seeing a dead body. Not a fun first.

Checked out Rodger. Wished I didn't. His head was at a strange angle to his body. Yeah, he was dead too. I finally get to meet real humans, and they end up dying horribly. Poor things.

For a moment, I didn't know what to do. How am I going to see my precious Bon Bon or my friends again? Wanted to wake up, but I knew this was real. Too bad. Even though I didn't really want to, I looked around again.

There was a six-pointed star drawn with blood on top of two circles. Why didn't the human ritual get them instead of me?

An answer rose out of the depths of my mind. No! Don't know why, but I didn't want to deal with the memories now. There was a scary imp creature walking around outside, and I needed to be ready if it returned. Again, I looked around for food or water. Humans have to eat and drink, right?

To the left and right of me were two desks with chairs. Of course, everything was human-sized. Too tall! Used my telekinesis to open the drawers of the desk to my right. Small books and other things were inside, but no food. Got on my hind hooves to check out the table.

A voice in my mind whispered,”Check the logs on the datapad. It's on the desk.” What? Who? How did I know what a 'datapad' looked like? Thought a bit. Yep, I knew what it was. A flat device with rounded edges.

My stomach growled, so I did that. Don't know how I did it, but I got to the audio logs.
I bet this has to do with the strange memories I didn't have time to check out. Tapped on the first entry.

Melissa's voice filled the room.

“Well, this is it. We're going to do something against that one-eyed leering bastard. Why doesn't he wear a patch? Anyway, it wasn't like this in the beginning. We were chasing down secrets, and the thrill of the hunt was upon us. Damn, sound like one of those crappy fanfiction writers. Why we didn't realize what we were doing? After the base became a playground and buffet for demons, it was clear something needed to be done.

“So we decided to call for help. We were atheists, so Heaven was out, even though there was always the thought that the opposite of what we unleashed here exists. It was Rodger who came up with the idea that focused will could open other ways to other places. He suggested that if Hell existed, maybe Equestria did too. Ugh, my luck or misfortune to have a closet brony as a coworker. Found out later that there were more of us than I thought.

What if we tried to summon other cartoon characters? Would they be more helpful than a bunch of pastel colored ponies? Would Shazam or Captain Marvel or even Dr. Strange been more helpful? How did I know about those ancient comics? From Rodger, of course. I was never into any of that. He even came up the the structure of the ritual.

It would've been all musty old words and stupid gestures, but Dr. Betrüger's will made the difference. Oh yeah, let's not forget the strange alien artifacts and the aliens who opened a gateway to Hell.

So we studied the demon-lover doc's writings. Heck, he wanted disciples to help him keep things organized. Changed his notes around so we could do a pony summoning ritual. Maybe the power of Harmony would be enough to destroy the demons coming into the base or at least give us a place to escape to. If I had more faith, I could’ve gone to Equestria. Considering what I've seen in my dreams, being a quadruped for life was the beast case scenario. Damn. Gotta quit it with the freakin puns. Thanks Rodger.
Hope the ritual works.”

Didn't want to hear more about her. Again, I wondered how these creatures knew about Equestria. Checked the other desk. Yep, there was a datapad. My back was starting to twinge, so I used my telekinesis to carry the pad to the floor. Had to go back on all fours. Again, I opened the first log entry.

Rodger's voice filled the room.

“Damn, even when she hasn't had any sleep, I still find Mel's sunken in eyes attractive.
“Okay, Rod, let's get this done. Why did we pick ponies instead of angels? Well, I don't believe in God. Though my nightmares and all that I've seen say there is a Hell. We only have one shot and I'd rather not waste it on an angel that could reject us. Maybe? If focused will is capable of opening the way, we could get help from other beings. Also we didn't really have any blessed items, though maybe Martian Buddy could have some. They seem to have everything. Found out some guy in IT was a closet brony, so I got the candles from him. Hope he's still alive though I doubt it. Getting the blood was a pain. Had hoped Mel would sweet-talk the doc for some pints, but she has the soft skills of a frozen sledgehammer. I had to do that. Had to smile a lot, and bat my eyes like some whore. Felt sick afterward, but managed not to puke over everything. It was worth it, we got the blood. “We mixed in some of our own too. Hope all of the sacrifice works out. Ponyville or anywhere other than Hell, here we come! Don't care if I end up being an earth pony mare. It's better than dying here.”

Wonder what would happen if humans were to just appear in Ponyville? Have to think about that later because I need some food and water.

Checked Rodger's desk and found chocolate cupcakes wrapped in some shiny transparent substance. Had to use my telekinesis to rip it open. They were a bit too sweet, but better than nothing. Hope Rodger has some milk or water. Didn't find any ice-cold milk, just a bottle of water. It was warm and flat, but better than nothing. Oh yeah, I'm eating healthy. If Bon Bon saw me eating junk food— Oh, I wish I was back with her again...

One last task. I had to find out why I'm here, and deal with the scary thoughts. Let's do the brave thing and hide under the desk with a chair in front of me so that if that imp comes back, it won't see me. Need to face my fears.

You know, I’d rather have played a million games of Monopony with Bon Bon than be here.
Bring on the fun!

Um, how do I do this? Oh yeah, relax, think of playing the harp. Yeah. Could feel my breaths slow down as I moved my fore hooves across an imaginary harp.

Flash!

What?

...

..

.

There was another flash, instead of forcing it to stay, I just sat there and let it happen.

I was in a meadow with short grass. It went on for miles. Knew that if I started running, I would just be a minty-green blur. Everything would just haze around me and I could just gallop faster and faster and not get tired. Back in Equestria, well, that's a different story. I took another step.

A voice caught my attention. “No, not yet. You have a destiny.”

I turned around and saw a pony that was made of light. Bright warm light. It's like if someone made a pony out of a rainbow, but left out the details, so all you saw were bright glows.

“Who are you?” I asked. Wanted to start running. Why? Don't know there was this desire crawling up into me from my hooves.

“I'm the First Messenger, Thalh'kikar, Son of the Just and Merciful, Oonte.”

“Who? Can I run first and then can we talk?”

“No. If you run, you will just become energy, and you won't fulfill your destiny,” Thalh'kikar said.

I felt energized like I drank several bottles of Red Mule. My hooves were almost vibrating with the desire to be off. Gotta run.

I'll call him T because I'm not sure how to say it. Talh? Thalhki? Um, no.

He moved up to me and touched my horn. For a moment there were a lot of whispers, and I felt like I knew more things. Wanted to explore my new memories then T started talking, and they faded away.

“I've chosen you to help the humans. Their greed and ignorance has unleashed a terrible evil that threatens to consume them. Two humans have created a way to summon aid. Alas, their ritual would've failed without my interference. I've given you knowledge that you'll need for the travail that's ahead for you. Help the human soldier fight the darkness, and you can return back to your world with nopony knowing you were gone,” T said.

“What? Travail? Travail means bad stuff. Lots of painful difficult work. Oh no!” Then I was back under the desk with the dust and dark magic. After being in that wonderful place, the air felt even worse like I was carrying saddlebags full of lead bars.

Was that it? A weird dream and some vague instruction to help a human? No, I want to go home!

For minutes, I guess, I stayed under the desk going through my memories to see if there was more. Nope, that was it.

Do I really want to go through this awful place? I'm no hero. Heck, even Fluttershy would laugh at me. No, she's too kind. I want to go back home now! On that thought, I sighed. Gotta get from under the desk and help the human.

Who knows what sort of awful things I would see? Then again cowering under a desk isn't going to get me closer to Bon Bon. Ugh. Maybe some scale exercises might calm me down? C-F-B, ah, I’m feeling better. Heart’s not thumping like a drum. E-D-C-G-F. Ahh, I feel calm. Things don’t seem as bad. I can handle this.

Demons, dead humans, disgusting blood everywhere.
I'm the pony with the imaginary harp.

Oh yeah, let's get it on!

Author's Note

Edited by:

https://www.fimfiction.net/user/135468/Karibela

And

https://www.fimfiction.net/user/6813/Dan+The+Man

If you were wondering, yeah, this story is heavily influenced by Doom 3.

Chapter Two- Workplace Misadventures

Thy Pony Flesh Consumed
Chapter 2- Workplace Misadventures.

I finally pulled myself from under the desk. Need to find a way back home. Walked up to the door then froze. What am I going to do with the imp? Challenge it to a game of Monopony?

Oh wait, I got my plot beat like a red-headed stepfoal the last time I played. Maybe imps suck at board games, and I could win? An image flashed in my mind of an imp toasting the game board with a fireball, and then knocking the table over. Sore demonic loser! All right, let's get this done. I took a step forward and the door opened.

Ahead was a white hallway, clean, aside from a big smear of blood on the floor. Ugh. Going to try not stepping in that. At least, there was no imp waiting for me. Near the end of the hall there were two rooms. Probably have to check them out for food and water.

I crept down the hallway, and wished I could cover my nose so I didn't have to smell the blood. The good news was the smear didn't end at the two rooms, it went on down the hall. Have some time to prepare before I find out what happened. Who knows what other horrors are in this place?

There were two doors on the opposite side of the hall. Maybe I shouldn’t try open them, but I’m nosy. Well, they ended up to be locked. All I got for my curiosity was beeps. Too bad. With a sign, I went down the hall.

It ended in a bunch of cubicles, and more cubicles past that, with the only difference being that they were in a darker area. The blood trail seemed to peter off in the flickering and flashing light zone. Hope that I don’t have to go there. My ears and tail drooped for a moment. I bet I have to go there for some reason. Great.

I won't bore you with all the details about the tables and desks I searched, or the bodies I had to walk over or had to push away. No time to respect the dead. Don't want to be one. No food. One desk had some fried potatoes, but it had a sour smell. Don't need more reasons to drink water. Damn. Where do the humans get their food and drink?

Passed by a room that had two machines with glowing ads for drinks and food. Yes, but the smeared blood on the windows kinda killed my appetite for a few moments. That said, a mare’s gotta eat or at least carry some food around for later. Shook off the eww moment, and walked inside.

A dead human lay on the floor. Looked like something chewed off the flesh on his face. Guess someone didn't have enough to pay? Yeah, let's not look at that too closely.

Let's look at the snax, um, snacks machine instead. I guess I should thank T for being able to read human text. There were all sorts of tasty goodies behind glass. Cupcakes, chocolate and ones with orange frosting, cookies and other sweets. Then there was the apple, all red and shiny. Alright, I'll go for the healthy alternative. Bon Bon would be proud.

Pressed the button underneath it for my prize. The machine beeped. A panel at the top said to swipe a datapad to pay. Great. I don't have one. Looked around, and the dead human didn't have one either. Bet it was on his desk somewhere. Remembered seeing some datapads lying around.

Left the snack room, and searched around the body littered cubicles for a datapad. It didn't take long to find one. Walked back with it in my telekinesis. Not putting that in my mouth. Who knows what the human that owned that device put their hands on? Since the scanner, or whatever, was too high and I wasn't in the mood to stand, I used my magic to wave the datapad over it.

There was a beep, and the apple in its wrapping fell into something with a clunk. I opened the flap in the machine, and finally got my prize. Tore off the wrapping and... What?

The lighting in the room shifted to red. The apple shriveled up like it was outside for several days. I dropped the disgusting thing on the floor. It split open and large white maggots appeared, and writhed before rotting away. The stink almost made me pass out.

Then the light was just like it was before, and I was staring at an apple. No, I don't want that. There was no awful stench, but I didn't want my scary snack. What if those maggots I saw earlier appeared inside my stomach? Not going to have things eat me up from inside. What did I experience? Swiped some more and got junk food. The shiny red apple stayed where it was. Wait. How am I going to carry this food around? When I get water, I'll need that too. I'll deal with that later. Thank goodness getting bottles of water caused no weird visions. Left my goodies in the room while I left to find something to carry my prizes. Gave the apple some room.

Found a box big enough for my goodies, and a bit later found a cart. Had to get close to the dark zone. Even worse than that was the realization that I had to go through it to continue on. Yay. Went back to the snacks room, got my stuff, put it in the box, and rode the cart out of there.

How did I get the cart to move? I used my telekinesis to push it. After a while, I will need to nap, but not now. Rolled to the edge of the dark zone where there was some light, but lots of flickering. If the flashes were a bit faster, maybe it would be like being at the club. Dance pony dance! Could use a bit of dancing fun.

Looked around and decided to hop off the cart. If something shows up, I can hide. Again, lots of tables and desks and chairs. And of course some dead humans. With a groan, one got up.

Never heard anything living sound like that. Several other moans followed that. I trotted over to the lit section, then turned around.

Several undead humans shambled out of the darkness after me. You guys want a nice shiny apple? The caked blood on their mouths told another story.

Quick! What do I know about zombies? Bon Bon used to tell me about episodes from the Trotting Dead comic. Oh yeah, destroy the brain. Where's Pinkie Pie and her crazy stories? Could use her now. All she had to do was to tell one, and the zombies will just lie down, and whatever is left of their brains will dribble out their noses like gray snot. She's not here. It's up to me.

Grabbed a chair and threw it using my telekinesis. Of course, it missed. Tried again and hit a zombie in the chest. Heard bones crunch, the zombie fell down... and then he got back up slowly.

Throwing chairs isn't working. Finally had to hold the chair, and just smack the zombies hard in the head until the chair or the zombie's head crunched. Smashed several heads with a chair until bits of brain and bone flew all over the place. The chair fell out of my flickering golden telekinetic spell.

Needed to rest a moment. Have to catch my breath... hope that's it for a while. Does this mean when I walk by any dead human, it might get up?

Not for the last time, I wished I was back home. Walked around a bit picking up some squarish metallic things. Maybe they will be useful later. Found some strange boxes with red pluses on them. Maybe they're for health? Wish I could find some for sanity. Definitely will need more of those. Picked up two. Probably could get more later. Got back to my cart and rolled on.

The next area was just a hallway with more rooms on both sides. The good news was that some of the rooms had windows so nothing could just jump out at me without me seeing it. Rolled up my cart to the edge of the hallway, then got off. Time to check the first room. Why? I needed more food and I'm nosy. There’s no one alive to tell me what's going on, so I guess I need to check out more datapads. Opened the door then the lights went out.

Crap! Backed out of the room as fast as I could.

Something made a garbled sound, and there was a loud bang!

The lights came back on. I almost tripped over the cart before hiding in a cubicle.

Could hear footsteps walking toward me.

Peeked out.

There was a zombie carrying some sort of small black-metal weapon in its hand; guessed it was a weapon because the zombie kept waving it around. Picked up a chair and smacked the zombie in the head hard. It flew back, and hit the wall with a crunch, and lay still.

I saw the weapon fly off somewhere. Gotta get that. Might be useful. Went looking for the weapon while keeping one eye on the zombie. It didn't get back up. Good.

Checked out the weapon, it was L shaped with single hand-shaped grip on one end, and an opening on the other. Guess that's the business end. There was a curved part that looked like it moved back and forward. Picked up the weapon, could be useful for later.

Then the lights went out.

Must be an issue somewhere with them here. Waited for a few minutes for the lights came back on. Carried my new weapon back, and put it on the cart. It will be better than fussing with chairs. They're heavy, and I don't use my telekinesis that often. Twilight Sparkle could probably toss them all day, but I was getting tired. Back to work.

The first four rooms didn't have any food. The audio logs mentioned people having nightmares and hearing voices from things that weren't there. Why didn't they leave? Um, why can't I see outside? Where is this place? Just shrugged and rolled on.

The next place was another hallway with a room to my left that sounded like a strange turkey was living there. Do I really want to mess with that? What if it's a zombie turkey? I have a weapon, and if that fails, there's always a chair. I hope. Looked up and saw the cafeteria sign. Okay, it's a place with food.

Opened the door and went inside. Reluctantly. Thank goodness it was well lit, and body free. A machine in the corner was making the turkey noises. Wonder why humans need such a thing.

To my right, was a large machine with a handle on it that hummed. Past that was a counter. Beyond that, a bunch of white tables and chairs like a regular cafeteria that you would see in Equestria. Well, except that the chairs and tables were human sized.

Checked out the humming machine. Pulled the handle, and the cold stink that came out almost knocked me out. Just looking at the bottles and containers inside the machine gave me idea of its purpose. Humans used this to store their food. Guess when they died the food went bad. Closed the door and left the cafeteria.

The next area had some missing light panels in the ceiling. Wondered how the humans got them to work without lightning bugs. Was getting used to seeing random smears of blood on white walls and floors. Barely. Yeah, another bunch of rooms with flat panels on tables. More dead humans wearing lab coats slumped in their chairs or lay on the floor. I wondered if I was in some sort of lab area.

With a groan, scientist zombies got up, and stumbled toward me.

Sorry, but I refuse to donate my brain for study, or eating. It might have issues, but I need it!

This time I had a weapon in my telekinesis. Aimed it at the first zombie. Pulled the moving part, and the weapon made a loud bang then jerked back.

The zombie kept moving towards me.

Aimed the weapon again, this time more toward the zombie's head. Fired.

It just grunted, and kept moving toward me.

What? That was a shot to the head. Let me try again. The next shot worked, and the zombie slid to the floor.

Yess! But I can't be too cocky, more zombies were coming. Thank goodness they were in single file.

I stepped back, and shot the next two. This was getting too easy.

The zombie behind them didn't have a head to shoot. What? How am I going to kill this one? Aimed at the body and fired. It grunted. Wait? How can it grunt without a mouth? Do I really want to know? No. After a few more shots, it went down.

Look out weird human place! It's Lyra Zombie Killer.

I waited a few moments to see if they would get up. Nope. Put my weapon in the cart and rolled on.

The next area was a change from just rooms with a table and chairs. They had equipment inside them as well as some tables and chairs. Couldn't get in though. The door just beeped. So I traveled on.

Got to the end of the hall and there was a door and a sign that said, “Call lift.” Pressed the button and heard machinery whirring. Then the door opened and I went inside. Pressed the button for the “Maintenance Level.” It felt like the lift was moving down. It was kinda cool. Well, until the door opened.

No sir, I don't like this level. It was dimly lit and stunk of metal, chemicals, blood and an imp. Unseen machines whirred and hissed.

The imp peered at me.

I grabbed my weapon and aimed at its head. Yeah, I'm not scared of you mister brown ugly-face!

The weapon went click.

What? No! The weapon should've gone bang!

Pulled on the moving bit a few times. Only got clicks. Oh no! What happened to the bang? Why would humans have weapons that would just fail without warning?

The imp threw a fireball at me.

Could've cringed again, but I had no room to hide behind anything.

The fireball flew toward me. I could even see the smoky trail.

The lift's doors closed.

The fireball hit the doors with a poof.

Okay, I got some time to think. Well, I can't throw chairs, and my weapon stopped working. I'll, throw the weapon at it. Maybe I'm safe if I just keep the doors closed. Wait, what if the imp hits the call lift button? I can't stay here forever. After a few moments, I decided that I would throw the weapon at the imp as hard as I can.

Hit the open door.

The imp was still there.

I threw the gun. It hit the imp. I saw it stagger, but it didn't go down.

Damn.

Again, it summoned a fireball.

Use the shield of light. A voice in my head said.

Wait, I'm hearing voices in my head? No! Gotta focus on the imp. Then I just knew the spell and cast it. A golden haze filled my view. It was still transparent enough that I could see through it.
The fireball hit the shield, and it shattered into fading golden pieces.

Awww, why didn't it stay up? Well, at least the fireball was gone.

Use the spear of light.

Okay, voice in my head. I summoned a spear of light and threw it at the imp.

The spear flew through its gut.

The imp screamed, and faded away into blood red embers.

Yesss! I might be going nuts, but at least now I have some way of defending myself. Maybe the strain of this terrible place was too much, and my fragile sanity had fled.

Yeah, right. If I was nuts, I would've made a better fake reality than this. No, I'm not ready for Equestrian Acres. At least not now. Got my cart, and rolled my way into the Maintenance level.

After walking around for a while, and feeling my eyes closing without my say so, I decided that it was time for a nap. All I need is to find a nice pony sized bed. Yeah, right. How about a small vent instead?

Had to force my eyes open until I found an open vent with a grate nearby. I could crawl inside and cover the vent with the grate. Luxury, here I come! Ugh.

Left my handy cart nearby and hoped imps and zombies wouldn't steal it or my goodies. There was some room in this tight vent for me to sleep, and it wasn't totally dark. Well, it beats sleeping in the open where something could chew on me. Pulled the grate onto the vent, and curled up for a good nap. Wished I was back home again. My bed was much softer, and there wasn't the incessant hissing of steam somewhere.

Ugh, again, my nightmares were murky and fear filled. Kept hearing screaming, shooting and roaring. Reminded me when I got that double stack from Hayburger's. Bon Bon kept warning me that I needed to stay awake instead of rushing off to sleep. That went well. I miss her and home.

Time to open my eyes to the nightmare or daymare. Don't know what time it is. Listened to make sure nothing was waiting for me. Seemed like the area was clear. Pushed the grate away and went for my cart.

Rolled through the stinking, hissing and flaming maintenance level. Yeah, flames flew out of some pipes. Am quite sure that wasn't normal. What happened to this place?

Was rolling down the hall when I heard something hiss. Really? Snakes?
Looked behind me and saw something worse than a snake. Imagine an upside down human head, with spider like legs. Yeah, not liking the look of these things. Of course, it had to scuttle towards me.

Heard another hiss, and another one of these things decided to move in. Then to my surprise, they leaped at me...

The next moments, or hours, or years, were spent in agony. The damned things kept clawing at me, and I couldn't see what was turning me into a scratching post. Must have fell off my cart. Kept turning and kicking and screaming, until the slashing stopped.

It was over. And I felt like I was on fire. My skin burned with cuts and gashes. The floor was painted red, and a disgusting shade of yellow. Stumbled back to the tipped over cart, and fell on one of the health kits. This time it did something. Don't know what happened but the pain lessened. Went for the other one, and the pain went down more, but I still hurt. At least I was healthy enough to get out of this area.

If more of those spider head things show up, I won't survive another attack.

Kept on rolling though more slowly. Got to an open area with four metal pillars splashed with drying blood. Dead humans were strewn around like discarded toys. It didn't help that they had been torn limb from limb. Poor people. No one should die like that.

Passed a human who was missing his legs. A long weapon lay next to him while a pack lay some distance away. Then he groaned.

I cringed.

His eyes opened. “What? Another type of demon?”

My eyes narrowed. Really? “I'm not a demon, but I'm not from around here.”

The human laughed. “Yeah, no kidding and you don't know jack. Walking around with used medkits.”

Who's this Jack? Better ask this human for help.

“Do you need help?”

“No, it's too late unless you can heal me with your horn,” The human said, then laughed again.

What? Touch that bloody person with my horn? Eww. Yeah, healing could be done with a horn, but not quite that way. Well, I don't know how to do that anyway. Hope this wasn't the human I was supposed to help.

“Do you want me to find more medkits for you?” I said.

The human shook his head. “They won't fix this. Please stay with me until I go. Don't want to die alone.”

Poor human. “Yes, I'll stay with you,” I said. Tried to not look at the torn place where his legs were supposed to be.

The human took a shuddering gasp. It seemed like he sat up straighter. His eyes were clearer.

“Name's Gunnery Sergeant Avery Brooks,” Avery said.

I gaped at him. What's going on?

“Listen to me carefully, you horse-faced grunt! I've only got a little bit of time to shove some knowledge in your thick skull so pay attention!”

My eyes widened. What?

He reached at his side and pulled out a weapon.

It was the L shaped one I used before. It ran out of bang, and I threw it at an imp. Useless thing.

“This is a pistol. Bullets come out the barrel. Only aim it at something you wish to kill. That includes yourself,” Avery said then turned the pistol sideways. “Hit this to release the clip. It has twelve bullets. You run out, you get another clip and put it in this way. Don't worry, they're made to go in only one way, so don't force it.”

Damn, all I had to do was put more clips in the pistol instead of throwing it. Too bad I didn't know this earlier.

“Got it pony?” Avery said as he handed the gun to me.

“Name's Lyra and yeah, I got it,” I said and picked up the gun.

“Show me the clip,” Avery said.

I turned the gun sideways and hit the button. The clip slid out and I pushed it back in.

“Good. Now the shotgun.” He reached for the long weapon, but couldn't get it.

I pulled it closer to him.

Avery nodded then coughed. “This is a shotgun. Unlike the pistol which is good for far distances, the shotgun is much better at kissing distance. You can blow off a zombie's head with one shot. Imps take two or three shots. Don't let anything here get within kissing distance or you'll be sorry. Wished I had remembered that when I got married. Shotguns use shells. If I hear you say use bullets for shotguns, I'll come back and rip you a new one! Go in my pack quickly, and get a box of shells. It's the white box,” Avery said while blood oozed out of his mouth. He sucked the blood back in, and grimaced at the taste.

Damn, I better get those shells. Too bad I didn't know this info earlier. Walked over to his pack and looked inside. The shells were easy to find. Brought them out.

He took the shells and loaded them into the shotgun. “Put the shells in shiny-part last. This gun only holds eight. Always know how much ammo you have so you can reload when you want to, and not in the middle of a firefight. Again, close up or middle distance. One more thing.” He reached at his side and brought out a small black cylindrical object. Then he pressed a button. Light shone out one end. “Flashlight, you'll need one for sure here. Don't know who was the cheap bastard that ordered all of the old ass weapons with no flashlight mounts. Plenty of chainsaws, but no duct tape, believe me I looked. Having to choose between light and having a weapon at hand bites! Things are soo FUBAR here!

There are other weapons here on Mars Base, so keep your eyes peeled for them. How they work should be simple for you to figure out. The UAC has weapon research labs in this area. Snag all of the fancy guns you can get your hands, um hooves on, you'll need em.” Avery started coughing for a few moments. Blood started dribbling from his savaged lower half. He gasped, “Gren-” Then he exhaled and went limp.

“Gren what?” I asked, but it was too late.

He was dead.

I nodded. “Thank you.” The air in the area lightened up, and with a golden flash some saddlebags appeared next to me.

“Lyra Heartstrings, you must move faster. Abandon the cart, it will slow you down later. You don't have much time left. Find the marine in Delta Section three and help him reach the main portal to Hell. To get to Delta Labs two you must climb some ladders and get to an elevator to reach Teleport Testing. I've taught you spells like Light spear, Light shield. Air Bubble, Open Door and Float. Air bubble is a spell that allows you to travel through places where the air won't support you. The spell has a limited duration so hurry. Float will allow you to levitate up or down. Open door will allow you to open doors. Hurry, but be careful. When you help the human to the portal, I'll send you back home to Equestria,” T said.

Then the atmosphere went back to its leaden feeling again, and with that, T was gone.

Used my magic to pick up the goodies, I put them in my saddlebags. Put the bags on. Wow, they didn't feel heavy. There must be some sort of magic on them. Great. Carried the flashlight and shotgun.

Oh wait, one more thing. Had to stop and grab the weapons and ammo from Avery's teammates. It seemed kinda greedy, but I need the supplies more than they did. Loaded them up into my bags, and I started down the hallway.

After what seemed an hour found three medkits. Used two and kept one. Now, I felt normal.

Something roared in the distance.

I walked down some steps into some sort of room with some consoles and a door on the left.

The roaring got louder.

A large pink demon ran at me. It was bloody, but I could see the shiny parts on its mechanical legs flex. Who would give a demon mechanical legs?

Its jaws snapped like a metal trap, and I could see bits of flesh in them. Yuck. Floss dirtbag! Fired my shotgun at it while backing up. The first shot made it squeal, but it kept on coming and snapping. Fired again, and it screamed and burned away into nothing.

Whew! Reloaded my shotgun then looted the room. Some of the consoles had all sorts of text and moving things but I didn't have time to make sense of them.

Went through the door and down another hall.

Then the dim light changed to red. A familiar voice spoke.

“Having fun, my little pony? Everything here is mine. And when they bring me your mutilated corpse I'll use it to find your homeworld. Every pony there will die cursing your name. Your eventual death will doom your world. Ponder that with your tiny equine mind in the meager time you have left,” Dr. Betruger said.

There was a flash of light in front of me and an imp appeared.

I backed up and something hit me from behind. Oww! What tagged me? A fireball hit me too. That also hurt. Turned and looked behind me. Three zombies were behind me. Where did they come from? I didn't see them before. I dodged the next swipe from the zombie, and shot it in the head.

It blew apart into fleshy chunks.

Somehow, I dodged a swipe from an imp, and shot it.

It screamed and flamed away.

Sensed something near me, and sidestepped it. Shot whatever it was. Rolled under a swing from a zombie, and put it down with a shot. Got to see its brain fly. Now, it was just an imp left.

It threw another fireball, and crouched.

Oh no, you're not going to jump at me! Shot it in the head, and it burst into orange flames that faded to darkness.

The light went back to the normal dim color.

I saw where the zombies came from. It was some sort of alcove. Remembered seeing a metal wall here earlier. Damn, that's so cheap. Okay, wait, not okay. I’m in some serious pain. It made me stagger, but I checked out the alcove. There were two medkits and shotgun shells. I felt better after using the kits. Then I thought what sort of things I might find while on the way to the human. Don't feel so good now.

Reloaded my shotgun, and staggered down the hallway...Had to find that human, so I could go back home.

Chapter Three - No plan survives the enemy

Thy Pony Flesh Consumed
Chapter 3- Off to the portal.

I stared at the yellow-black striped ladder hanging against the metal wall. If I had hands, I could climb up, and get more goodies. Scavenging seemed to be the way to survive here. You can never have too much ammo or medkits.

Let's try out that Float spell. Aright, Lyra up! Nothing. My hooves stayed on the black-stained metal floor. Don't know what I was standing in or on, and didn't care. Not going to take a whiff either.

Let me try again, how about imagining that I was a balloon? Just got some more helium in me, and I was feeling lighter. Yeah, let's float up a bit. Feeling lighter. Looked down and my hooves were off the floor about an inch. Focused more on the lifty floaty feeling and was rewarded with the rungs slowly moving down past my head.

Hey, I got upstairs. Grabbed the flashlight, and looked around. Felt dark magic condense, and an imp appeared. Did the dodge dance, and sent it back. Found some weird jar looking things with blue tops. Wondered what sort of weapon they were used for. Put them in my pack anyway. Who knows, maybe I will find the weapon. Also found some armor, but I couldn't put in on. Put that in my saddlebags anyway. When I meet the human, he might need that.

Got back to the ladder, and briefly wondered how to get down. Have to float then slowly fall. Again used the balloon idea, and floated down. Well, almost. Heard something, and it broke my concentration, but I just landed a bit roughly.

It sounded like a screech, but it was different from the ones I heard earlier. Whee, a new horror to deal with. Crept down the hall slowly, looking for my new playmate.

Finally saw them.

Imagine a human skull, wreathed in flames and floating around. There was a group of four. One of them screeched again. It sounded awful, but at least I know they're there. Imagine walking along, and these things just dropped on you burning and screeching. Yeah, not fun.

Let's see if I can take them out with a shotgun.

Too late! One of them saw me, and shrieked. The other ones looked in my direction, and flew toward me.

Wait? They don't have lungs, so how are they able to make any noise? No time to puzzle that out, here they come!

Hit one with a shotgun blast, and it went up in flames. The other ones charged while I backed up.

Could feel the heat, and smell the farty stink coming off of them as they tried to burn, and bite.

My next shot took out two, and I backpedaled even faster.

Didn't do any good. The next one came up so close, I'm sure my eyebrows got singed when I blew it away.

Took some time to catch my breath and reload. Next to the spider heads, these were now my least favorite enemies. Gotta get back to it.

Was feeling pretty good. Once I find that special human and help him get to the main portal, I can go home. Just had to survive. There was light at the end of this horrible tunnel. Don't get me wrong, had a pretty good idea, I'll be spending time with a therapist, but maybe now wasn't the right time to worry about that. Let's find that human.

More hallways, but this one had a pillar of some sort of fleshy stuff that dribbled blood on its sides. Was quite sure this wasn't human architecture. The smell? Didn't try to. Hope I don't go to where this is commonplace. Crept past it to my next meeting with the next set of horrors. Keep it together Lyra, soon it will be over.

Was rushing a bit when I almost stumbled into an ambush. It was another room that had two doors. Didn't see any enemies, but I guess they were just hiding in the dark. Heard a garbled noise, and backed up.

Did that just in time as bullets struck the space I had been standing in. Who or whatever was shooting at me was using a weapon that seemed to spew bullets faster than a pistol. I could use that weapon. Backed up again, then cast a bullet shield just as a zombie came out of the room.

This one had some sort of helmet with a blood covered mask over its face. How could it see me through all that gore? No time to find out. Had to shoot back. Fired away with my shotgun.

When he fired back, my shield blocked most of the zombie’s shots, then shattered into golden fading pieces.

Damn. Got hit a few times before the zombie went down. Reloaded just in time before another zombie with a shotgun came into the hallway. Oww, those shots hurt. He moved in for the kill, and I got him in the head. Goodbye zombie.

Now, I was in bad shape. Waited a moment and got a medkit. Felt a bit better, but I still hurt. I crouched down, and slowly crawled into the room.

Another zombie fired away at me with a pistol. How many of these things are in here? Got behind a cabinet, while the zombie moved in to shoot me.

Waited until he was close enough, and put him down with a shotgun blast.

Crept around looking for more enemies. Didn't see any more. Looted the room. Found the fast shooting gun. Now it's mine. Picked up some pistol ammo too. No medkits though. Could've used one. Well, lets keep going.

Got into a few more shootouts, but I finally found more medkits. Walked down some stairs, and opened the door into another hallway. So many hallways.

Anyway, this one led to a room with large windows. Inside the room was all sorts of screens and one human sitting at a desk facing away from me. Walked up to the door, and knocked on it with my shotgun. Clunk, clunk. The human jumped.

I would've laughed, but considering what I've been through, I wasn't in the mood.

The dark haired, brown-eyed, pale-skinned human turned around slowly like he was afraid of what he was going to see. Then saw me, and his eyes widened.

Okay, what does that mean?

He got, up and opened the door. “The UAC has therapy horses?”

For a moment, I thought about being snarky, but then I thought about all of the craziness I've seen. No, a joke might not go over well. “No, my name is Lyra.”

“Lyra? You can talk? I’ve seen such horrible things. A talking horse is not out the ordinary here. Come in quickly before a demon comes,” The human said.

I stepped into the room. It stunk of fear.

“Has a human come by here recently? I have to help him get to the main portal,” I asked. Who knows how much time I had. Don't want to be too leisurely and screw up. Maybe I would be stuck here. No. Gotta think positively. Yeah, I will be stuck here.

The human reached toward me. I looked at his arm, then at his hand. He pulled it back while a sheepish looked crossed his face. “Sorry, I need to pet something to calm down.”

I just looked at him. No time for therapy for you when I probably needed some. Well, actually, a lot.

The human looked away then back at me. “Right, yeah. There was a marine that came by, and got the teleporter network working.”

I looked around. In front of the human was a bunch of screens with text on them. Off to my left was a door. “When did he come by?”

“About an hour ago. If you hurry, you might catch up to him,” The human said. He pointed to my left at the door. “Wait, little unicorn.”

“Yes,” I asked. Gotta get going.

“Are you going to bring help? I don't know how long I can manage here. Been checking video logs and seeing all sorts of terrible things. By the way, my name is Ben,” he said.

What am I going to say to this guy? I have no idea what's going to happen. I decided to give him hope. “When I get back home, I'll send somepony.”

He laughed grimly, and pointed to the door to my left. I trotted to the door. Before I left, I heard him muttering to himself, ”I meet an unicorn on this dead world, and it tried to bullshit me. I'm so lucky.”

My heart bled for the poor guy. Had scanned that room for weapons, and found none. Unarmed, that guy had very little chance against what's outside his room. With difficulty, I tore my mind away from feeling sorry for Ben. Maybe I could get help. Maybe?

Went down some more stairs and crossed the room to some sort of dais with a screen that read, “Activate teleporter.” Hit it with some telekinesis, and my sight was filled with golden lines, and a whine that cycled up to earsplitting. Found myself flying through something that looked like the inside of guts. All shiny and bloody. Then the trip ended.

No sir, don't like that way of traveling, not at all. My stomach liked it even less. Took me too much time to convince it to keep my food down. It wasn't like I was going to get a lot later.

Looked around and wished I didn't. Smears of blood and bits of flesh littered the floor. How hungry would I have to be before I started eating... No, I won't go there, let’s find the human.

First, I reloaded my weapons just in case. Don't want to be backpedaling while reloading. After everything was reloaded I left the room, and crept slowly down another hall. Yeah, I know there's a time limit, but I'm not going to run headfirst into another ambush.

Too bad I had to move slowly. The scenery wasn't the best for gawking. Pillars of bone and seeping flesh adorned the walls while flames burned and crackled behind closed doors. And the smell, well, let's say that even a griffon would barf at the rich burnt-flesh stink. Just gotta keep going.

Once I find the human, I can go home. Walked into a room, and something sprayed stinking red gas over me while a voice said, “Decontamination Procedure started.” Then it was over, and there was another teleporter pad. Really? I swallowed hard, and hit the button.

Again the trip through the guts. Ewww... and then it was over. This time I kept my food down, and stepped off the dais.

Opened the door, and what a mess!

Flames burned while cables sparked, and ravaged flesh seeped blood on the walls. Had to crawl in between sparking cables and avoid the flames. Ugh, where is this guy? Got blocked by a mass of pinkish-white flesh that flowed. But there was a hole in the floor that I could climb into.

When I get back home, am going to take a nice bath for several days. Don't care if my fur falls out. It wasn't too bad, the under floor area was clean and filled with goodies like ammo and medkits. Put those in my saddlebags. Finally there was an opening above me. Stood still for a while to make sure something wasn't waiting. Yeah, right like an imp or worse won't just teleport in for fun.

Floated up into some sort of storage room. Boxes were on shelves, and the door was closed. Looted the area for anything I could use then I went for the door.

Ahead, it was the usual decor. Smears of blood, bodies and papers strewn all over the place. Don't worry Bon Bon, I will put my dirty clothes in the hamper. Well, when I wear clothes. Looked like five rooms were ahead of me. Time to check them all.

The first two just had datapads. I just put them in my saddlebags to read later. Was getting tired. Hope the human is nearby. Pushed myself to check the next room.

There he was. Lying in a too big pool of blood. At least, he had his legs not like poor Avery.

The human looked at me, and tried to reach for his shotgun, but it was too far and he was too weak.

This is bad, what if he dies? Don't want to stay here. Um, yeah that's kinda selfish, but there's not much I can do if he dies.

“Hey! Don't die! I have some medkits!” Pulled one out of my saddlebags. It was the big one with the large bottles. Placed it on the human.

Watched as the human looked a bit better. He weakly gasped,”More.”

I got the last big medkit out of my saddlebags and gave it to him. Guessed it did its thing, but the human just laid there. His eyes even closed. Was he dead?

With a gasp and jerk, he awoke.

“Are you alright?” I asked. Maybe this will be done soon, and I can go home.

The human looked at me. “After seeing what I've seen, a talking horse doesn't seem so far fetched.”

Talking horse? Feh! I'm a pony! “I'm here to help you get to the main portal. Are you ready to travel?” Let's get this show on the road!

The human laughed then reached over for his shotgun then he put it in his pack. “Yeah, gimme a sec. Gonna get a snack.” He reached into his pack, and pulled out a shiny red apple.

I backed up.

“What? Thought horses loved apples,” He said as he took a bite.

“I had a bad experience with an apple here, the room turned red and maggots appeared,” I said, trying to not step back again.

The human nodded. “This place. It makes you see things. I went into a bathroom and looked into the mirror, and saw myself among flames. And that was before I hit the toilet!” He glanced at me to see my reaction.

There wasn't one. I wanted to get going.

The human leaned toward me after he finished the apple. “Name's Brent Conway,” The he stuck out his hand.

“Lyra Heartstrings,” I said then bumped his hand with my left fore hoof. “How far is it to the main portal?”

“Not sure. I bet there will be demons to fight,” Brent said.

“No kidding. A bunch of imps or zombies probably,” I said with disdain.

Brent frowned. “You've not seen the demons I've met.”

I shook my head. What? More demon types? How many are there? “How many are there?”

Brent looked up. “Let's see, there are Revenants, demons that look like skeletons that shoot homing missiles.”

Ugh. I've seen a few skeletons, and didn't want to see any of those walking around with rocket launchers. Whatever those are. “Rocket launchers? Homing rockets?”

“Homing rockets will lock on to you position and try to hit you. Not good. Since they're rockets, the explosion can hurt you too even if the rocket doesn't hit you directly. Gimme a sec, got my own rocket launcher, but the rockets don't home.” Brent pulled a large weapon from his pack.

The cylindrical weapon just seemed too big for me to be lugging with my telekinesis. “Don't have that.”

“When we find the next one, it's yours. What's the next demon type? Oh yeah, the Mancubus. Big fat bastard, but with some sort of napalm launcher for hands. Got tentacles for a mouth,” Brent said then put his hand up to his mouth, and spread his fingers.

After that description, I decided that I had enough knowing about the other demon types. We're wasting time. Gotta go home soon. “You can tell me about the other demon types later.”

Brent nodded. “Yeah, sure. You'll probably see them too.” He reloaded his shotgun.

We headed down the hall slowly, eyes and ears alert for any noise. After a few more moments going down other hallways we made it to a teleporter pad.

One more time. My stomach lurched.

“I'll go first then you count to ten then hit the pad,” Brent said then strode forward.

I looked around to check out the area. Strange humming machines and blood smears on the walls and floor. Yep, can't wait to go home. Should find out where this place is though. Ten, I guess it's another gut ride. Hope my stomach keeps it together. Hit the button.

The new place was a winner. The way ahead was blocked by a mass of pink flesh with bones sticking out of it. Stunk like bloody murder. Can't wait to go home. Again.

Brent stood next to a doorway that had cables and flames. There was a small space to crawl into the next room. He pointed to the gap, and took off his pack. Brent pushed it into the next area, and followed.

I walked up to the gap and crawled into it. The flames came close to burning me, but I got past. Whee! When I was able to stand up, Brent put up his hand, and got his shotgun ready.

Could hear and smell an imp in the next room. Brent moved in.

The imp shrieked.

I got my shotgun ready, and moved into the room. It looked like a regular room, some consoles, a door to my left and an upper area above us. Probably have to look for stairs or a ladder. Didn't have time to look for goodies because I was in a fight though it seemed like it was going to be short.

Brent dodged a fireball and shot the imp. It flamed away.

Yeah, that was easy. I was ready to relax with golden flames appeared all round me. What? Started to smell something burning. No way! I'm too young to fry! Managed to run back to the narrow hallway I used to enter the room. Peeked around the wall.

Something skinny was standing above us raising its arms.

I heard Brent curse as I stepped back as flames started to engulf me again. Hot flashes aren't better the second time around. Focused on casting a spear of light then I peeked out, and fired it at the demon. Barely dodged a fireball.

Where did that imp come from? We just killed one. The gold flame demon hissed in pain.

Yeah. Peeked out again to fire another spear when there was a loud explosion, and a shotgun blast after that. I saw an imp flame away and Brent smiling.

“Got that summoner good with a rocket! Don't try that within melee distance though,” Brent said. “You okay? Look a little singed.”

I felt a little toasty, but I could carry on. “I'm okay, maybe we can find another medkit?”

We went through the door. Guess Brent was in a hurry too. At the end of the hall was a machine that Brent used to heal himself, but I had found a medkit in one of the rooms earlier.

I was feeling good. So close to going home. Figured that I could satisfy my curiosity. “Brent, what and where is this place? How come I don't see any beds?”

Brent stopped and looked around. “This is called Mars base. Mars is a dead world far away from Earth. That's where I'm from.”

“What is Earth like?” Now, I'm even more curious.

Brent sighed. “A bit greener and more crowded than here. Before I choke on my homesickness, let's answer your other question. All of the beds are on the other side of the base. I have never been there because they put me to work right when I arrived. Had to find a missing scientist. After I found him, things went south. So I have no idea how big my room is or if I have a room. Could just have a bed in a room with other marines. How did you get here, Lyra?”

Now, it was my turn to sigh. I finally get to meet humans in the flesh and two die and one has earned my dislike, maybe hatred. “Some humans summoned me for some reason. Dr. Betrüger killed one and sent an imp to kill the other one.”

Brent grimaced like the spit in his mouth turned vile and poisonous. “Betrüger, yeah, I'd like to... Um, let’s get going. Who knows, maybe he's listening.”

I looked around. Maybe we would run into him again, and I can kick him somewhere soft. Yeah. I smiled.

We continued down the hall, and reached the main portal.

There it was, glowing orange-white while filling the room with dark magic. All we had to do was walk up some stairs, and then into the portal. Not me! Brent. Then T will send me home. Can smell the bon bons from here.

Felt a change in the magic, and a human in a bulky white suit came through the portal. He looked at us. “What the hell? You're not-”

At that moment, a large demon came through the portal. It towered over the human. The horrible creature had a ram's skull for a head with curling horns. Below that was a pink and muscular body with arms bulging with muscles.

The human turned around, and started screaming. The demon picked him up, and threw him at the wall. Bones crunched, and the human was still. Then the demon started walking toward us.

The floor shook under its steps.

Brent looked at me. “You know what to do!” Then he picked a gun, and started firing. Bright blue balls of energy flew toward the demon.

Noticed that on top of his gun had one of those jars with the blue tops. No time to gawk at weapons. I cast a spear of light at the demon, and went to the fast shooter gun.

Then another demon similar to the first came through.

I'm going to go home soon so bring on some partymates so it's a going away party!

The large demon threw a green fireball at me.

I dodged, and kept firing until I ran behind a console to reload. Green fire hit the wall behind me, and I felt some of the heat. Oww! Cast a shield spell which shattered when the demon took a swipe at me. Damn, these demons are fast. Ran past the demon, and fired off another spear.

It grunted as the spear hit.

Did another spear but at the last moment, I broke it up so it would be a shredding spell.

The demon grunted again.

Good, I'm hurting them. My gun stopped firing. Oh no, and no time to reload. Switched to the shotgun, and let the demon get a blast to its ugly face. Might improve things. Nope, but the demon was moving slower.

Wondered how much ammo I had to take out this demon.

Was so busy fighting my demon, I couldn't see what Brent was doing.

“Lyra, duck and roll toward me!” Brent screamed.

Ducked and rolled while two fast things flew over me. The floor was wet and hard. I know I'll feel this tomorrow.

There were two loud explosions mixed with the sounds of demons dying.

Brent howled. “Yess!”

I got up slowly wanting a nice hot bath. Looked around and saw the area was demon free. “We got them?”

“Yes, we did! I guess it's time to say goodbye?”

I nodded. So so close.

A familiar voice dumped ice-cold water on our glee. “Saying goodbye is the least of your concerns. You will never find what you seek. The soul cube is deep in Hell. You'll find only pain and torment before you die. Then I'll have your souls.”

The portal blazed brighter, and we were sucked into it. Then we fell, and screamed...

When I awoke, I wished I was still sleeping. The air felt like a giant malevolent demon pony had its filth encrusted hooves on my back. Screaming and crying filled my ears, and I smelled things burning. Metal, people and worse. So close to going home, and now where was I?

Looked over at Brent. He just sat there.

Lyra, can you hear me?

What? The liar T now decides to talk to me?

I'm sorry Lyra, I didn't expect Betrüger's power to grow so fast.

Don't care, send me home!

I can't.

Wait? What? I did what you wanted me to do. Send me home!

I can't. This dark realm has such horrors that even I have to be wary of. They will surely interfere if I try to go there and carry you back.

What? Nooo! Looked out over the desolation. Red rivers of lava bubbled and gurgled near us. Junk was strewn across the black and pitted ground. Up ahead, a sickly green pillar of light glowed against a dead black sky. A few steps away from me were my trusty saddlebags, now a useless pile of cloth.

Take me back to the Mars base, I promise not to complain about smears of blood and dead bodies. Please.

If you can go back to the Mars base, I can send you home. I swear by the hooves of light of my mother.

Don't care about your mother's hooves. You better send me home!

No reply.

“Come on Lyra, we gotta go. Something awful might come after us here,” Brent said.

I looked up at Brent.

The dim light made him look sick like he was going to collapse any second. Didn't like how the darkness hid in the folds of his face like a lurking disease.

Nodded. “Okay.”

“Listen to me, Lyra. We gotta get that soul cube, and then if we find Betrüger, well, you wouldn't want me to have all of the fun?”

Betrüger. Dr. Betrüger. The one that threatened me and my world. If he was here, I...

Felt it. Deep down I knew this wasn't a good thing for me, but the coldness inside me grew. I had a chance to go home, and this disgusting human Betrüger took that away from me. Yeah, let's get him. Make him pay. The weight of the crushing pony faded away.

Brent managed to tie up the shredded remains of my saddlebags into some sort of sling. He put it around my neck, and flinched when he saw the hatred blazing from my eyes.

He looked down and back up at me. His eyes were blazing too.

We whispered one word together, Betrüger. It was like we whispered the name of our one true love. Well, now it was our one true hate.

Anything that stands in our way will be destroyed.

Brent found an extra shotgun, and gave it to me.

I reloaded it from the shells he gave me.

We set forth across the desecrated ground toward the pillar of light. Pain and suffering are coming for you, Betrüger, and your friends.

A grim smile adorned both of our faces.