Into the Friendshipby AmanDashChaptersThe BeginningThe Everfree ForestPonyville, part IMeanwhile, at the Legion of DoomMeanwhile, in CanterlotThe Beginning"THIS IS NOT THE END! IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!!!" You hear Olivia's harsh voice piercing your ears. You are about to kill her, but you don't even have the time to do the first move when she activates the mobile Argent Accumulator she has with her. She disappears, and a new horde of demons swarm you. Well, more demons mean only more dead to you. You have already done questioning why there were always power-ups placed at scenes of present and future massacres. Why they are there is not important to you. What is important right now that you use them wisely. Rip and tear. Until it is done. You take out the first two Revenants with the Rocket Launcher with Lock-on Burst and the Gauss Cannon. Suddenly, two more Revenants and some Imps spawn. You take care of one of them then quickly switch to your Combat Shotgun. You hit the Imp charging its fireball dead on its body with an Explosive Shot, sending its neighbor to a staggering state. You quickly finish it with an other shot and move to the fourth Revenant, but a Hell Razer gets into your way. Quickly pulling off your Super Shotgun, you close the distance and blast it away, firing both barrels with one trigger pull. Meanwhile, the remaining Revenant has taken into the air targeting you and is ready to unleash its barrage of deadly missiles. You will have none of it. Swiftly strafing to the right, you hit him on the head with a shot from the Gauss Cannon, forcing him to land just in front of you. You quickly follow up with a single rocket, than a point-blank blast from the Super Shotgun. You hear the facility voice stating "Warning. Category three dimensional event in 10, 9..." As the countdown finishes, swarms of heavy monsters spawn, hellbent on eliminating you. You grab the Quad Damage just in time to blast the Mancubus clumsily walking towards you with a single blast of your Super Shotgun, then you shoot an other one in the head with the Gauss Cannon, finishing it for good. Looking around, you catch an Imp charging its fireball. You take care of it with your Heavy Assault Rifle, when you get knocked violently from the side, sending you flying for a short two meters. Without thinking, you immediately recognize that there is only one enemy that hits like that: the Hell Knight. You quickly move back to where you were a moment before, just under the Hell Knight who was already trying to stomp on you by an enormous leap attack. The ground violently shakes with its landing. Noticing its failure to hit you, it turns towards you fast, but not fast enough. By the time it could land an other attack, you have already pulled out your Chainsaw and are on it, cutting it in half. You notice an other Hell Knight further away which you kill with a burst of rockets. The facility voice rings again: "Warning. Category 4 dimensional event in 10, 9..." You grab the Invulnerability preparing for the worst, just a fraction of a second before an Imp scores a direct hit on you. You turn to kill it only to see that a Mancubus has blocked your direct line of sight to it. Meanwhile, the Quad Damage power-up wears off. Running towards your new target, you fire a burst of rockets into it, then hit it with an Explosive shot, then with the Gauss Cannon, then you blast it point-blank with your Super Shotgun, only to find that it still doesn't go down, but at least it has suffered enough damage to make it stagger. Unable to defend itself, you rip off its exposed heart and stuff it down its throat, making its stomach explode. As the Mancubus dies for good, the countdown reaches zero. A tremendous shockwave consumes the whole Tower. Unable to escape, you get blinded by white light and feel a pulling sensation, then your mind goes blank... ...You open up your eyes, see the world from where you stand... and instantly regret it. This is NOT Mars. Nor appears to be Hell, which would be more expected. Just what has Olivia done? She may have sent you to an entirely different realm. You are in the depths of what seems to be a forest, but the whole scenery is just cartoonish. The plants, the flowers, the trees, even the glimpses of the sky you manage to catch through the rich foliage. Just when you think you can't get more confused, a strange voice starts to speak. [INCOMING VOICE COMM] Discord "Hello. I am Discord, the sentient intelligence assigned to Equestria. I will be your guide through your journey in this world. I am as surprised of your appearance here as you are, but don't worry, your old pal Discord is here. First you must fight your way out of the Everfree Forest. Then you must reach Ponyville and make friends with the ponies you meet on your way there. Once you have made friends with the residents of Ponyville, you can meet the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I believe that with the power of the Bearers and the Princesses combined, you will be able to get back to your world." Confused, you scan the display of your helmet for information in hopes of clearing, or at least, alleviating some of the mystery. Get Back to Mars Eliminate Manticore Threat Mission Challenges: Friendship Expert - Befriend a Griffon Knee Deep In The Mare - Dance a tango with an Alicorn Princess My Tooth Is Sweeter - Beat Pinkie Pie in an eating contest Field Drones: None Elite Guards: None Argent Cells: [>o<] Rune Trials: None Secrets: ? ? ? ? The Everfree ForestAs you take in your surroundings, you notice a small path in the forest. Taking a look around, you see that one direction leads to a lighter area, while you don't notice any change looking the other direction. You decide to head towards the light, in hopes of getting out of the forest and perhaps find something, anything of use. Barely after five minutes of walking, you hear the noise from the bushes on your left, and upon closer inspection, predatory steps trying to sneak upon you with the grace of a running Hell Knight. You begin to wonder how on Earth those animals can get anything to eat. There. Just for a moment, you see something resembling the head of a lion appearing for a fraction of a second, unsuspectingly sneaking closer to you. Unbothered, you continue walking whilst readying your Super Shotgun. Finally, the beast, which appears to be a sort of lion-scorpion hybrid with its head barely at your chest height, reaches the distance what it assumes to be close enough to catch you, only to recoil in shock as instead of the expected fleeing attempt, you suddenly face it, Shotgun in hand. Not wanting to waste ammunition, you hit it in the head with a quick melee attack, forcing it to stagger. You deliver two skull-crushing punches to its head, ending it, when you hear a roar akin to a lion. Still not near as powerful as the roar of a Pinky, though. You notice a second, bigger one leaping at you with bestial fury, only to be stopped with an other melee attack and to be killed by a violent twist of its head. Finally, after taking in your surroundings and finding no further threats, you call out your Codex entry in hopes of finding out what these things are. Manticore Manticores are native predators of the Everfree Forest feasting on anything they manage to catch. While having much more physical strength than a pony, they are still relatively weak compared to demons, just slightly above the threat level of an Unwilling or a Possessed. They can run fast, but have little health and their swiping and clawing attacks do small to moderate damage. Can be dangerous in huge packs, but they don't pose a threat if they are alone. Closing the Data log entry, you notice a small white bunny poking out its head from one of the nearby bushes. Damn it looks adorable. You suddenly remember to Daisy. Not wanting to startle it, you dismiss your weapon back to the pocket dimension with the others and crouch down. Unlike Daisy, this rabbit is much smaller and white. It eyes the dead Manticores with weariness, then suddenly runs to you and hops onto your open palm. You affectionately caress its head while you look it over for possible injuries. Luckily, you find none. It appears to be a male. You deposit the bunny on the ground with care. He looks at you and appears to do a cute "Follow me" motion with his tiny paws. You check on your current objective to see if it is the right thing to do. Follow the white rabbit The bunny starts to run to the clear side on the path with a moderate speed, occasionally stopping to look and hear around so you can easily catch up with him. After a few minutes of running, you both stop as you hear some noise akin to the clopping of hooves and a faint feminine voice in the distance. The bunny doesn't seem to hear it yet, but after being blessed by the Seraphim, and decades spent fighting the forces of Hell, you not only gained enhanced senses but learned to use them to their fullest extent. The bunny starts to run a short distance again with you in tow. The two of you stop again. This time, you don't hear any hoofsteps, but the same feminine voice calls out, much clearer and a tiny bit louder than before, calling out "Angel". Not sure what is heading towards you, you grab up the bunny in your palm and scan the path and the forest in the general direction of the voice. There is a slight turn fifty meters ahead of you, so you don't have a direct line of sight to the source of the voice yet. Preparing for the worst, you pull out your Super Shotgun and start to sneak silently. As you reach the turn, you hear the voice call out again, this time much closer. This time, the bunny hears it also and wants to get out of your palm. You quickly and carefully let him go. Maybe Angel is his name and his owner has come in search of him. You dismiss your Super Shotgun for the Pistol in case if the source of the voice still turns out to be a threat, but you are 90% sure it won't be. The bunny runs with a speed unexpected from a cute creature with such tiny legs, but now, instead of running after him, you walk at an even pace, weapon at the ready, when you suddenly see it. At a distance of roughly 50 meters, somewhat three meters above the ground, a fragile looking, small winged pony with yellow coat, pink mane, tail and unnaturally huge turquoise eyes is hovering in the air, scanning the forest. You dismiss the Pistol to the pocket dimension and watch intently as the little rabbit runs to the pony, while the latter, upon seeing her pet, gracefully lands and picks him up while starting to scold him. "Why have you run to the Everfree Forest again? It is as dangerous by day as it is by night! You could have fallen prey to the Timberwolves, or Manticore, or a Hydra, or Celestia knows what else." *cute bunny noises* "What do you mean by hornless Minotaur? And how could you be sure it saved you out of kindness and not because it wanted to eat you itself?" *cute bunny noises* "What! Oh dear! It killed two Manticores? With its bare claws? Oh My Celestia! Quick, hop on my back, we will never make it out of the forest alive if it catches us!" *cute bunny noises* "What do you mean he is harmless? Angel! Angeeeel! Where are you going?" Suddenly you noticed Angel running towards you and stopping right in front of you. You crouched down and he leapt up onto your palm. Finally, the winged pony, who seemed to be his owner, and by some weird reason, could speak English, ran after him and noticed you standing there as well. Her wings popped out and she screamed in fright with unexpected volume. She stared into your eyes with the fear of an abandoned Imp, but unlike with the latter, you couldn't detect even the slightest malice behind that fear. You didn't want to hurt her, but you understood why she was afraid of you. Even without weapons, you were decked out in the menacing Praetor Suit, and despite your will, you could clearly see that her fright only intensified upon seeing your eyes behind the visor. Not to mention, you were easily twice as tall as her, with she barely reaching at your waist level with her head. They say the eyes are the mirror of the soul. In her eyes, you could see innocence, kindness, and right now, fear, while, despite your best intentions, she probably saw the millennia-long torment, hatred and bloodlust unparalelled by even the fiercest demons of Hell behind the mask of calm. You crouched down in front of her and extended your palm with Angel sitting snugly on it back to her. You cast a meaningful glance at the little rabbit then back to her wanting to say that she should look out for him much better and not letting him getting into danger. Suddenly, the fear was replaced by shame as she took Angel and she drooped her ears back. She looked up at you with teary eyes and finally spoke with a voice barely above a whisper. "Thank you for saving him. My name is Fluttershy. What's your name?" "My deepest apologies for scaring you Fluttershy. I am Flynn Taggart, but you can call me Doomguy." Ponyville, part IYou walk with Fluttershy out of the Everfree Forest without a word. Finally, her curiosity overpowers her shyness and she asks you a question. "Flynn? Do you live in the Everfree Forest?" "No." "Then where are you from, and how did you end up in the Everfree Forest?" "I am from Planet Earth. I was trying to save the humans on Mars from a demonic invasion, but one of my enemies created a portal to Hell and another portal to here and I ended up here. Can you tell me where am I exactly?" "Um... Planet Earth? I have never heard of an other planet. Are you an alien?" "Yes. And I don't know where I am." "This is Planet Equis, the land of Equestria. I didn't even know there were other habitable planets beside Equis." "Great. Just fucking great. Of all the places I could have ended up, it had to be a realm completely unknown. Someone is gonna pay for this." "Um... Flynn? You don't want to become a bully and harm others, do you?" "No, I won't become a bully, but those who took everything from me will sorely regret it." "What happened to you? I.. Um. I'm sorry to bother you, but why are you so full of hatred? I saw how kind you can be with animals." "It is a long story. To be short, my home planet was invaded by demons and everyone I loved got killed or even worse, some got turned into low-ranking demons or slaves for higher demons or condemned to eternal torment. My friends, my family, my fellow soldiers in the army and even my pet rabbit. I was too weak to save them, but I am strong enough to avenge the death of them! Or to put an end to their endless misery... But right now, I don't fight solely out of vengeance." Suddenly you felt two forelegs hugging your legs. You felt a bit awkward as Fluttershy's head was right at your crotch but returned the hug nevertheless. Meanwhile, Fluttershy started sobbing. "I... I'm so sorry for you. I... I... I can't even imagine anypony being able to deeds such horrible. Invading, killing and eternal torment? Even the fiercest invaders in Equestria only wanted control and power, not the death and destruction of others. They should be banished to Tartarus for their crimes!" Suddenly, your face of hatred and sorrow lights up with eagerness, though Fluttershy couldn't see it behind the helmet. If you could somehow get into Hell, you could slaughter your way out of there and get back to Mars. "You... have access to Tartarus? As of... Hell?" "I don't know... I have never heard of this Hell... That's how you name Tartarus?" "That depends on what are you referring to by Tartarus." "Tartarus is where the evil are imprisoned and guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed dog. Our rulers, the Princesses, Celestia, Luna and Twilight can banish others there." "Well. It doesn't sound like Hell, but it is worth a try. Can you bring me to your rulers? If they can place me there, I will be in their debt." "Wait... You intend to GET THERE? OF YOUR OWN WILL? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" "If your rulers put the evil there, there are high chances that at least some of them has knowledge of Hell. The forces of Hell, the demons absorbed my world. Now they are threatening an other human realm with invasion. I MUST stop them. I won't let Earth fall, I won't let an entire planet absorbed by Hell and its inhabitants slaughtered or worse. Help me... please?" Upon hearing your plea for help, Fluttershy looked at you with surprise, as if she found it unimaginable, that a battle-hardened warrior who presumably has killed many before can ask so gently. Truth is, you could ask gently, at least those who were willing to help you. Of course, there were many who only bent to force they couldn't oppose to, the demons being the primary example of that. "Um... Twilight, the Princess of Friendship is my good friend, and her special talent is magic. I will send her a message so we can meet her as soon as possible, I'm sure she knows much more about demons and other worlds than me. But if it is okay with you, could you tell me what is this Hell exactly? And what are humans? I mean, I don't want to be a burden, but these are things I have never heard of, and I'd like to understand." "Humans are my species. I am... I was a human once. I have enhanced abilities bestowed upon me by the Seraphim, and apparently I age and tire considerably less than an average human, but I am still mortal. My physical form hasn't changed. As for what Hell is... Hell is the domain of the evil and the dark entities and forces of the universe. The less you know about it, the less anybody know about it, the safer for all of your planet. It is the knowledge of Hell that led to the fall of my home... and the knowledge of Hell led to the current invasion on Mars, which puts the fate of Earth in jeopardy as well." As both of you tried to get a grasp on the world of each other, you got out of the forest and noticed a quaint little town. The view was dominated by a huge, cartoonish crystal palace with lovely colors, but most houses seemed small. Suddenly, you notice something pink charging towards you from a big distance. You get pretty surprised, but you are by no means unprepared. This world was clearly not overtaken by Hell (and hopefully, never will be), then what is up with the Pinky charging towards you? You immediately tensed up and called forth your trusty Super Shotgun and stood attentively, ready to jump... Only to dismiss it when the supposed Pinky got close enough for you to see that it was indeed much smaller than they usually are, and it looked like a pony. She moved also much faster and more agile than Pinkies. She wore the biggest smile on her face you have ever seen, and by looking at her, she was the very definition of happiness, joy and laughter. Just when you thought she would crash right into you, she suddenly stopped in front of you. "HI, I'm Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you can call me Pinkie Pie, and you are a new pony in Ponyville, and GAAAAAASP You are an alien! Wiiiii! I can throw my first Welcome to Equestria party to an alien! I can play games, listen to music, eat cupcakes, dance and prank other ponies with a being of an other world! Oh. Ooopsie, my bad, hi Fluttershy and Angel! Anyway, What's your name, where are you come from, Oh let me guess, you are one of those Humans Lyra keeps talking about, and they turn out to be real! Who would have thought it! I must invite her too! And the girls, and the Princesses, and Maud, and everypony in Ponyville!" "Um... Pinkie?" "Let me guess, you are... Moody? No, Doomy? Ha! I got it! Doomguy! You are Doomguy, because you look moody, and you are a guy!" "My real name is Flynn Taggart, but you can call me Doomguy." "Doomguy! I like it! Anyway, your Welcome to Equestria party will take place at Sugarcube Corner at 8pm! We have exactly 6 hours and 57 minutes to the beginning! Don't be late. Until then, byyyyee!" Suddenly you are embraced with a pair of pink forelegs, and you see the cheerful pony dash off. You begin to smile. Fond memories begin to resurface... Your little sister. You were 10, and she was 7, and you helped your mother bake a special cake for her... her favorite. She was always cheerful, always full with merriness and positive energy... Your hands curl up into fists as the happy memory is overlapped by the tragic one. That fateful day... she was 15 by then... the fall of Argent d'Nur. You are shaken out of your reminiscence by the timid yellow pony still next to you. "Um... Flynn? This is where I live. I know it's not too spacious and all but if you don't have any better idea, I'm more than happy to accomodate you until the party starts. I mean, if that's fine with you." You didn't want to hurt the frail pony, but you had a demonic invasion to stop by any means, the sooner the better. You thought out how to carefully word what you wanted to say. "Sorry, Fluttershy, I'm afraid I can't. By all means, you are very kind, but I need to stop the invasion on Mars. I must return there as soon as possible. The fate of others may be sealed if I stay here longer than necessary." "B-but... You can't just skip a Pinkie Pie party! Not here, not in Equestria. M-Maybe your easiest way out is attending her party. Look on the bright side, you meet everypony who can help you! My friends, the Element Bearers, the Princesses... I know Pinkie intends it to be a regular Welcome to Equestria party, but think of it as a summit where you can discuss your cause with us." You are taken aback by the reasoning of this pony. Of course! By attending the party, a lot of Equestrians would learn the presence of an alien, which would warrant enough sensation to draw the attention of the actual rulers, present or not, and with their help... you can continue your mission. "Thank you Fluttershy. You have no idea how much you have helped me already. But I have no intention of taking up your precious time until the beginning of the party. I'm gonna head out for a walk. Gathering information. Taking in my surroundings. Maybe find a quicker way home." You notice that she starts to get worried. "Don't worry, I won't harm anypony." "N- It's not that. There are some ponies of Ponyville who are always suspicious and even mean to newcomers, especially new species. I don't want you to get bad experience or bad memories. At least let me accompany you... please?" You check on your current objective, which states: Make friends with the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony 2/6 As it turns out, both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are apparently Element Bearers. Though you wondered how "listening to one minute long to a pony and giving one answer" is considered as making friends, but after all, Pinkie Pie DID invite you to a party. Something what friends do. This just makes the mission easier. "I don't want to be a bother either. If you have other things to do, please don't let me hold you back of it, I will take care of myself." "Oh. You mean no problem. I only have our weekly chat and spa session planned with my friend Rarity, until then, I am free to go, and I'd like to introduce you to her anyway." "Okay, then lead the way." You start to walk towards the town which you assume to be Ponyville, which is positively buzzing with merriness and the light chatter of the inhabitants, until you hear a shrill voice cry. "The horror! The horror! Another monster from the Everfree! Ponyville is doomed!" You notice a pony with pink coat and blond mane run away in panic, along with two others: one with a pale yellow coat and red rose colored mane and one with a pale magenta coat and a lime mane. Fluttershy just eyes the three panicky mares with a hint of... condescension? You never thought the timid butter colored pony capable of it, but she just sighed and made a dismissal motion with her foreleg. "I swear to the Sisters, these three haven't learned a thing in the past nine years. Reacting to all change by panic and running. Thank Celestia most of us have figured it out and don't fall for their panic." You didn't want to remind her that when she first saw you, she screamed like a Lost Soul on fire, and that maybe, they were right in some case, since you were a dangerous alien. Just not dangerous to them. As you continue your way towards the town square, you see a rich looking mare in a fancy dress with a diamond tiara on her head looking at you with curiosity. Yeah, you kind of stand out with your bipedal stature, your height, your predatory look and decked out in the Praetor Suit in this little town of colorful ponies. Suddenly, a mint green unicorn with a light green/white mane stops before you and stares at you with awe. "A Human! It's... I have never thought I would meet one in Ponyville, but they are real! Hi! I am Lyra Heartstrings. What's your name?" "Hello, Lyra. I am Flynn Taggart." "Even your name is human-like! Tell me, what are you doing here in Ponyville?" "I accidentally got teleported here. I'm trying to get back to the human realm." "The human realm? With more humans? Can you take me with you?" "I'm trying to get back there because the humanity of Earth is facing a demonic invasion, while one of our other planets, Mars is already raided by the demons. In other words, a war, and I don't intend to bring any pony into a war zone. You ponies are too kind, too innocent to taste the misery of death and destruction. I'm sorry." "So you are a soldier then? I love human soldiers, so loyal, so fierce, so brave, so... brutal, when it is needed. The Equestrian military should really learn a thing or two from you!" Yeah, they could... - you thought - but they shouldn't. "Anyways, what do you plan to do this evening?" "We are taking a tour of the town. Maybe make new friends, calm the rumors, alleviate the tension, but first and foremost, find the means to get me back to Mars." "Fluttershy? Can I accompany the two of you?" "Um... Sure, I guess. Just... please... be gentle? I mean, not too prying, not too brash? Keeping your inner fanmare in control?" "Splendid! And where are we going now? I know! I know! How about get back to my house and watch My Big Human?" "Actually, we were heading towards Carousel Boutique to meet Rarity, if that's not much trouble for you." "Really? Taking the first human to appear in Equestria to HER? When he could spend time with ME, somepony who has actual knowledge of humans instead?" "I'm sorry. I don't want any trouble, but I just happen to have our weekly spa session today with Rarity... But I didn't say you would not be welcome, you can join us." "Of course you would say that. But sadly, I don't like that mare. It is either me or her, and seeing that there is a Human here, he would be better off with me, than with her." "That's for me to decide. I don't know what you may know about humans, Lyra, neither do I know what's your problem with Fluttershy's friend, but Fluttershy has been showing me nothing but kindness and good heart so far. Any friend of hers is a friend of mine. So, do you wish to join us, or not?" "Oh my gosh, I can't wait to introduce you to Twilight, she would be overjoyed to hear an alien from a different world speak like that. As if you were not even an alien, but a pony at heart." Somehow, you had reservations about that. "Fine, I'll come. But don't expect me to be best friends with Rarity too soon. So anyway, what are your impressions of Ponyville so far? Are you interested in settling down? Do you already have eyes for somepony?" "LYRA! You PROMISED!" To your surprise, the pony yelling with such volume was none other than Fluttershy. You were very grateful for at least having some seconds of quiet. The three of you headed out towards Rarity's home. Meanwhile, you checked on your Codex for possible new entries. You were relieved to find a new one about your current location, Ponyville. Ponyville I Ponyville, originally a quiet little town is one of the few towns in Equestria to have a roughly balanced population between the three basic pony races: unicorns, pegasi and Earth ponies. Each race possesses one special trait that makes them unique. Unicorns have the inherent, natural ability to use magic via their horns, pegasi have the ability to fly with their wings and control Equestrian weather, while Earth ponies have a natural connection to the physical entity of Planet Equis, which can be shown via enhanced physical strength and/or hoof and mouth dexterity far superior to unicorns and pegasi. These three races complement each other perfectly. Settlements with balanced ratios of races have the strongest aura of harmony. Over the years, the aura of harmony surrounding Ponyville has evolved to be second only to Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Friendship magic, a magical substance which strengthens the special talents of a pony if a friend is accompanying them, has also reached very high levels and has been increasing steadily throughout the last nine years. The only unbalance Ponyville appears to have is general gender ratio, the latest census indicates a 73 to 27 percentage of mare/stallion ratio. To overcome this natural unbalance, most stallions tend to live with more than one mare, generally two or three, but even so, the rare occurrence of gay stallions further disrupts the ratio, making Ponyville occasionally overwhelming for single stallions. You close the data log entry with the satisfaction of understanding. Finally you understand how you haven't stumble upon a stallion yet while having interactions with several mares. [INCOMING VOICE COMM] Discord "Congratulations my good pal Doom Slayer! You have made friends with two Element Bearers already! Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, and Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter! Your path, the habits of my dear friend Fluttershy and the current time indicate that you are heading towards the third Element Bearer. You will meet the remaining three, and of course, little old me personally at Pinkie's party. I am currently briefing in Tia of your presence, she doesn't take it too well. I have only one humble request to you, please watch out for Fluttershy until I get back. She is my closest friend. Toodles!" Author's Note I should really learn not to use Author's Notes as copy/paste area for formatting. Sorry for all readers who have seen trash here and got confused. Also, Ponyville scene will be split into 2 parts because one does not simply describe a Pinkie party as part of a chapter. Meanwhile, at the Legion of DoomAuthor's Note Sorry guys, I gut stuck a bit on the Slayer in Equestria line, but I want to make sure that the story lives, and I don't want to let down anyone who has started to read this story. I wanted to write a Meanwhile in Hell part anyway. Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom The Council of Barons have been debating violently for the last half hour already. Gordrak, known for his brute force has already conjured a fireball and was ready to throw it at Karumpos, who was eyeing the former with such contempt that even the others could feel it, even if it was not directed to them. The debate was about whether they should attack the Doom Slayer in Equestria or not. Gordrak stated that with the element of surprise and with enough force, they could overpower the Slayer on a foreign territory while his defenses were down, or at least, not so high up. Karumpos reminded him that the Slayer's defenses were never down, and it would be wiser to take on the Slayer in Hell, where they had the field advantage as well as nigh infinite numbers. They have been running in circles already, repeatedly shouting the same sentences over and over. "Listen here you coward, I don't care about your excuses. Clearly you just want to pull yourself out of fight, and IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!" - roared Gordrak. Karumpos was not lazy to answer, with so much cold cruelty in his voice that every lesser demon who heard him felt a shiver running down their spines. "You are wasting Hell's resources. We can NOT take on the Slayer on a terrain we don't even know! Hell, he may even find allies in the inhabitants making it impossible to even reach him, not to mention kill him. If you want to go, that's on you. I will report your failure and obsession to waste military force to the Dark Lords." "And I will report you for cowardice. You know what is the punishment for it. Do not test my patience, unless, of course, you want to face the Hell Guards." All of the other Barons tensed up at the mention of the Hell Guards. It has been a traditional punishment since eons founded by the ancient Archviles. If an Archvile proved to be unworthy of his position as field commander of the forces of Hell, he was sentenced to face the two Hell Guards alone in the Arena. Though the Archviles have long retreated to a secret region of the Hellscape unknown by most demonkind, the Barons of Hell carried on their legacy. To day, the Hell Guards have remained undefeated. Still, Karumpos didn't allow fear gripping at his blackened heart. He stood proudly, defiantly even, eyeing Gordrak with unrestrained malice. "It is not cowardice, it is called tactics and strategy, something you clearly lack" - he stated evenly. "Samarra has pinpointed his location for us, we just have to wait for the portal to build, teleport in and KILL HIM! Of course, a coward like you is not worthy of the Slayer. You don't even deserve to be a called a Baron. You are nothing but a disgrace to all of the Barons of Hell." "Says the one taking advice from Summoners, because he is too stupid to figure out anything on his own. A Baron should NEVER listen to any demon below him, but you are clearly not sharp enough to be called one. Maybe you should stick to brawling and betting on Hell Knight matches, as you have always been doing. That's what you are for, not for commanding the armies of Hell. Only the Dark Lords of Hell can give us orders. And that coward Samarra, your Summoner friend, who does nothing but manipulating those fool enough to fall for it and sending others to their doom - well - she isn't one of them." Gordrak was already trembling with barely restrained rage. He took a menacing step towards Karumpos. "I will RIP YOU APART! IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE COURAGE TO FACE THE SLAYER, YOU WILL DIE AT MY CLAWS!" - he roared with unholy fury. "Bring it on, bitch." - Karumpos coldly stated, while stepping up right in the face of Gordrak. Suddenly, something hit the ground near them with such force that the ground shook, and the arguing Barons faltered from the force of the impact. It was Makaleel, the oldest of the Barons, who had leapt up in the air and landed near them with his impressive ground pound. He was one of the ancient ones who were alive before the Slayer's first massacre began - and the only one who had already faced the Slayer during his first rampage and survived. It was by accident though - they were fighting in a cave when suddenly the cave collapsed and the Slayer was cut away from him. "That's enough. We need every one of us to face the Slayer, be it here or elsewhere. If you two start killing each other, you are doing free labor for the Slayer." - he rumbled. "We will have a vote. There are nine of us present at this council. Majority wins. If the idea of Gordrak wins, we all must support him by all and any means in his mission. If he fails, he won't be given even an Imp for support." "Fine. Let's get this over with." - Gordrak grumbled. "So, who votes on opening the portal and attacking the Slayer in Equestria?" Suddenly, six claws were raised high in the air. "It is settled then. Gordrak wins six to three." "That's cheating!" - Karumpos seethed. "Gordrak and Kragoth raised both of their claws!" "It may have escaped your attention, Karumpos, but this is Hell. And Hell doesn't play fair. Hell uses lies, deception and is unfair in battle. The vote is concluded. We begin our attack as soon as the portal is opened. All Barons present must bring their full assorted army. If I find out that any of you left even as much as an Unwilling behind, I will personally make sure that the traitor faces the Hell Guards. Samarra, gather your Imps, Hell Knights and Hell Razers. You are coming with us. And Grishnakh? Don't you even dare to try hiding your Pinky." With this, the nine Barons of Hell present at the council started to scatter. Little did Gordrak, Makaleel and the two others who wanted to face the Slayer in Equestria know that they were bound to fail. For as they won the vote by deception, the remaining four silent Barons lined up behind Karumpos in unity. Karumpos and his allies made sure that those four who wanted to rush head first into the unknown like a Pinky, would face serious trouble in Hell... if they ever made it back. Meanwhile, in Canterlot"Discord, if you meant this as some sort of funny prank, I'm afraid I must disappoint you, I fail to see the fun part" - Celestia said evenly. "Moi? I would never do such a thing. I'm reformed! And what would Fluttershy say? Look, I know it is shocking. Can you even imagine what I felt first when I sensed the presence of him next to Fluttershy? But to my surprise, he didn't act violently, at least not to her and her pet rabbit. Yeah, he killed two Manticores, but those beasts wanted to eat Angel and attacked him also." "Anyway, wouldst thou care to enlighten us unworthy, oh mighty Savant of the Ancient, of this fearless warrior, the Destroyer of Worlds?" "My-my Twilight, very irony, so sarcasm. Wow! Two years pass and dear ol' Tia here will have nothing over you, I assure you. That's why I am here, to enlighten you, despite your and Tia's best efforts of sabotaging my attempts." "Then spill it already!" - Luna shouted impatiently. "Well well well, are you an impatient one. Centuries come, centuries go, little Luna still makes the show! Anyway, if and by any means, you let me tell what I know without unwanted interruptions, I would be more than happy to tell you about him." "We are listening. But if this IS a prank, you will be placed under the Guard's vigilant eyes for undefined time, even if we won't turn you to stone" - Celestia stated. "I wouldn't dare to joke with things threatening to destroy your empire of friendship and magic. It started a long time ago, in a galaxy... scratch that, in a different universe far far away. I don't know much about the creation and the beginning of Hell, but I have had my fair share of horrible experience with it. It all started 47633 years ago. Planet Equis was not inhabited by ponies at the time. I was bored, so I was wandering between different universes without a goal in mind. It was horrible, to be unfit to any of the universes, to not have any purpose, but still knowing about my immortality. That's when the whispers started. As a being of Chaos, naturally I thought that my personality had started to split up, and at first I found it even amusing. At least, after a long time, I finally had a buddy I could talk to. By the time I realized what had happened, it was already too late. That voice in my mind urged me to commit more and more harmful pranks to the living. Then on one fateful day, it urged me to provoke a war between the sharks and the dolphins on Aquatica, a magical planet consisting almost entirely of water. While I loved wreak chaos onto those silly creatures by changing the color of the water, or even messing with the currents, my original self detested the idea of causing a war. I tried to overpower the other personality, finally, in my desperation, I even tried to get rid of it, only to find out that I was unable to, since there had never been any other personality. As it turned out, my mind became corrupted by demonic forces which I couldn't match, not even with my innate Chaos magic. Eventually the corruption took over my mind, the war was started and the civilization of Aquatica was ruined. Then, serving my purpose for the demons in that realm, they hunted me down and painfully transformed me into what demonkind calls an Imp. Imp is a lowly position in the ranks of the unholy ones. I was forced to serve higher demons as well as to fight at the front lines while conquering other realms and absorbing them into Hell. For millennia I have survived. Made others sacrifice in the name of Hell's prosperity. I have fought, I have destroyed, I have killed, I have burned, I have been injured by enemies. Then he came. One of the worlds demonkind managed to absorb into Hell has unleashed the bane of their very existence. The invasion of Argent d'Nur. The birth of the Doom Slayer. It is grotesque, in a way. The very man who ripped my body apart with his bare hands gave me back what the demons had taken from me. After my demon body was killed, my essence was set free and I regained my freedom. That happened 3809 years ago. Upon my newfound freedom, I couldn't find the courage to face the man who gave me back my freedom. For once he had been a kind-hearted man, the loss of his loved ones and the invasion of his home planet turned him into the deadliest, most powerful, most merciless, most fearsome entity ever to set foot in the known multiverse. Even the mightiest and most dreaded demons feared his name. For as the demons were the Legions of Doom, he was given the name most feared in Hell by the demons themselves: the Doom Slayer. Unbeknownst to Equestrian history, I managed to break in to Hell a second time. Though this time, I was in control. I made sure I couldn't be spotted by demonkind. I couldn't interfere, but I could observe. To my surprise, Hell was sorely underpopulated at the time. Vast ranges of the Hellscape had been rid of any inhabitants, only blood and demon corpses left behind. During my wanderings, I have reached a region known by demonkind as Kadingir Sanctum. There, I found three enchanted stones and finally a cursed sarcophagus buried beneath the ruins of a huge temple. The sarcophagus was trembling with dark arcane magic. At that moment, I felt tiny and helpless against the powers lingering in the dark corners of the multiverse. The power of the enchantment was unparallelled by anything I have ever seen or sensed - even until now. Then I saw the mark on the sarcophagus. It was the mark of the Doom Slayer. Unbeknownst to demonkind, I have managed to extract the information contained within the mark by prodding it with Chaos magic. I recognized that the magical samples of the three stones were identical to the first part of the information stored within the mark - as if the whole story had been copied, then scattered through various parts of Hell, probably as a security measure to prevent loss of information. This is what I managed to uncover. The Princesses listened with rapt attention as a canvas of chaos magic formed into a sort of enchanted stone with a green symbol glowing menacingly on its surface. Suddenly, a voice more terrifying and deep than anything the Princesses have heard began to speak. The voice was horrible, instilling fear into all Princesses present. Princess Celestia, in the first time, was genuinely afraid. She hasn't felt this powerless even against monsters of ancient times, not even against Lord Tirek. Then suddenly realization struck her. The supposed owner of this menacing demonic voice was horrified of the very being that set foot in Equestria not an hour ago. As the voice went on, Celestia has come to the conclusion that whatever this monster would demand from her, she could hold no power to deny it. She just hoped that he would be pleased by being given the rule of Equestria to him, and he would spare her ponies. She felt, no, she KNEW that even the Elements of Harmony couldn't contain a being who has literally overpowered a whole universe on his own. Little did she know that the very same being had only one goal in his mind: leave Equestria behind and return to his world as soon as possible. Author's Note Yeah... as Discord said in the Ponyville chapter, Tia doesn't take it too well.
The Beginning"THIS IS NOT THE END! IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!!!" You hear Olivia's harsh voice piercing your ears. You are about to kill her, but you don't even have the time to do the first move when she activates the mobile Argent Accumulator she has with her. She disappears, and a new horde of demons swarm you. Well, more demons mean only more dead to you. You have already done questioning why there were always power-ups placed at scenes of present and future massacres. Why they are there is not important to you. What is important right now that you use them wisely. Rip and tear. Until it is done. You take out the first two Revenants with the Rocket Launcher with Lock-on Burst and the Gauss Cannon. Suddenly, two more Revenants and some Imps spawn. You take care of one of them then quickly switch to your Combat Shotgun. You hit the Imp charging its fireball dead on its body with an Explosive Shot, sending its neighbor to a staggering state. You quickly finish it with an other shot and move to the fourth Revenant, but a Hell Razer gets into your way. Quickly pulling off your Super Shotgun, you close the distance and blast it away, firing both barrels with one trigger pull. Meanwhile, the remaining Revenant has taken into the air targeting you and is ready to unleash its barrage of deadly missiles. You will have none of it. Swiftly strafing to the right, you hit him on the head with a shot from the Gauss Cannon, forcing him to land just in front of you. You quickly follow up with a single rocket, than a point-blank blast from the Super Shotgun. You hear the facility voice stating "Warning. Category three dimensional event in 10, 9..." As the countdown finishes, swarms of heavy monsters spawn, hellbent on eliminating you. You grab the Quad Damage just in time to blast the Mancubus clumsily walking towards you with a single blast of your Super Shotgun, then you shoot an other one in the head with the Gauss Cannon, finishing it for good. Looking around, you catch an Imp charging its fireball. You take care of it with your Heavy Assault Rifle, when you get knocked violently from the side, sending you flying for a short two meters. Without thinking, you immediately recognize that there is only one enemy that hits like that: the Hell Knight. You quickly move back to where you were a moment before, just under the Hell Knight who was already trying to stomp on you by an enormous leap attack. The ground violently shakes with its landing. Noticing its failure to hit you, it turns towards you fast, but not fast enough. By the time it could land an other attack, you have already pulled out your Chainsaw and are on it, cutting it in half. You notice an other Hell Knight further away which you kill with a burst of rockets. The facility voice rings again: "Warning. Category 4 dimensional event in 10, 9..." You grab the Invulnerability preparing for the worst, just a fraction of a second before an Imp scores a direct hit on you. You turn to kill it only to see that a Mancubus has blocked your direct line of sight to it. Meanwhile, the Quad Damage power-up wears off. Running towards your new target, you fire a burst of rockets into it, then hit it with an Explosive shot, then with the Gauss Cannon, then you blast it point-blank with your Super Shotgun, only to find that it still doesn't go down, but at least it has suffered enough damage to make it stagger. Unable to defend itself, you rip off its exposed heart and stuff it down its throat, making its stomach explode. As the Mancubus dies for good, the countdown reaches zero. A tremendous shockwave consumes the whole Tower. Unable to escape, you get blinded by white light and feel a pulling sensation, then your mind goes blank... ...You open up your eyes, see the world from where you stand... and instantly regret it. This is NOT Mars. Nor appears to be Hell, which would be more expected. Just what has Olivia done? She may have sent you to an entirely different realm. You are in the depths of what seems to be a forest, but the whole scenery is just cartoonish. The plants, the flowers, the trees, even the glimpses of the sky you manage to catch through the rich foliage. Just when you think you can't get more confused, a strange voice starts to speak. [INCOMING VOICE COMM] Discord "Hello. I am Discord, the sentient intelligence assigned to Equestria. I will be your guide through your journey in this world. I am as surprised of your appearance here as you are, but don't worry, your old pal Discord is here. First you must fight your way out of the Everfree Forest. Then you must reach Ponyville and make friends with the ponies you meet on your way there. Once you have made friends with the residents of Ponyville, you can meet the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony. I believe that with the power of the Bearers and the Princesses combined, you will be able to get back to your world." Confused, you scan the display of your helmet for information in hopes of clearing, or at least, alleviating some of the mystery. Get Back to Mars Eliminate Manticore Threat Mission Challenges: Friendship Expert - Befriend a Griffon Knee Deep In The Mare - Dance a tango with an Alicorn Princess My Tooth Is Sweeter - Beat Pinkie Pie in an eating contest Field Drones: None Elite Guards: None Argent Cells: [>o<] Rune Trials: None Secrets: ? ? ? ?
The Everfree ForestAs you take in your surroundings, you notice a small path in the forest. Taking a look around, you see that one direction leads to a lighter area, while you don't notice any change looking the other direction. You decide to head towards the light, in hopes of getting out of the forest and perhaps find something, anything of use. Barely after five minutes of walking, you hear the noise from the bushes on your left, and upon closer inspection, predatory steps trying to sneak upon you with the grace of a running Hell Knight. You begin to wonder how on Earth those animals can get anything to eat. There. Just for a moment, you see something resembling the head of a lion appearing for a fraction of a second, unsuspectingly sneaking closer to you. Unbothered, you continue walking whilst readying your Super Shotgun. Finally, the beast, which appears to be a sort of lion-scorpion hybrid with its head barely at your chest height, reaches the distance what it assumes to be close enough to catch you, only to recoil in shock as instead of the expected fleeing attempt, you suddenly face it, Shotgun in hand. Not wanting to waste ammunition, you hit it in the head with a quick melee attack, forcing it to stagger. You deliver two skull-crushing punches to its head, ending it, when you hear a roar akin to a lion. Still not near as powerful as the roar of a Pinky, though. You notice a second, bigger one leaping at you with bestial fury, only to be stopped with an other melee attack and to be killed by a violent twist of its head. Finally, after taking in your surroundings and finding no further threats, you call out your Codex entry in hopes of finding out what these things are. Manticore Manticores are native predators of the Everfree Forest feasting on anything they manage to catch. While having much more physical strength than a pony, they are still relatively weak compared to demons, just slightly above the threat level of an Unwilling or a Possessed. They can run fast, but have little health and their swiping and clawing attacks do small to moderate damage. Can be dangerous in huge packs, but they don't pose a threat if they are alone. Closing the Data log entry, you notice a small white bunny poking out its head from one of the nearby bushes. Damn it looks adorable. You suddenly remember to Daisy. Not wanting to startle it, you dismiss your weapon back to the pocket dimension with the others and crouch down. Unlike Daisy, this rabbit is much smaller and white. It eyes the dead Manticores with weariness, then suddenly runs to you and hops onto your open palm. You affectionately caress its head while you look it over for possible injuries. Luckily, you find none. It appears to be a male. You deposit the bunny on the ground with care. He looks at you and appears to do a cute "Follow me" motion with his tiny paws. You check on your current objective to see if it is the right thing to do. Follow the white rabbit The bunny starts to run to the clear side on the path with a moderate speed, occasionally stopping to look and hear around so you can easily catch up with him. After a few minutes of running, you both stop as you hear some noise akin to the clopping of hooves and a faint feminine voice in the distance. The bunny doesn't seem to hear it yet, but after being blessed by the Seraphim, and decades spent fighting the forces of Hell, you not only gained enhanced senses but learned to use them to their fullest extent. The bunny starts to run a short distance again with you in tow. The two of you stop again. This time, you don't hear any hoofsteps, but the same feminine voice calls out, much clearer and a tiny bit louder than before, calling out "Angel". Not sure what is heading towards you, you grab up the bunny in your palm and scan the path and the forest in the general direction of the voice. There is a slight turn fifty meters ahead of you, so you don't have a direct line of sight to the source of the voice yet. Preparing for the worst, you pull out your Super Shotgun and start to sneak silently. As you reach the turn, you hear the voice call out again, this time much closer. This time, the bunny hears it also and wants to get out of your palm. You quickly and carefully let him go. Maybe Angel is his name and his owner has come in search of him. You dismiss your Super Shotgun for the Pistol in case if the source of the voice still turns out to be a threat, but you are 90% sure it won't be. The bunny runs with a speed unexpected from a cute creature with such tiny legs, but now, instead of running after him, you walk at an even pace, weapon at the ready, when you suddenly see it. At a distance of roughly 50 meters, somewhat three meters above the ground, a fragile looking, small winged pony with yellow coat, pink mane, tail and unnaturally huge turquoise eyes is hovering in the air, scanning the forest. You dismiss the Pistol to the pocket dimension and watch intently as the little rabbit runs to the pony, while the latter, upon seeing her pet, gracefully lands and picks him up while starting to scold him. "Why have you run to the Everfree Forest again? It is as dangerous by day as it is by night! You could have fallen prey to the Timberwolves, or Manticore, or a Hydra, or Celestia knows what else." *cute bunny noises* "What do you mean by hornless Minotaur? And how could you be sure it saved you out of kindness and not because it wanted to eat you itself?" *cute bunny noises* "What! Oh dear! It killed two Manticores? With its bare claws? Oh My Celestia! Quick, hop on my back, we will never make it out of the forest alive if it catches us!" *cute bunny noises* "What do you mean he is harmless? Angel! Angeeeel! Where are you going?" Suddenly you noticed Angel running towards you and stopping right in front of you. You crouched down and he leapt up onto your palm. Finally, the winged pony, who seemed to be his owner, and by some weird reason, could speak English, ran after him and noticed you standing there as well. Her wings popped out and she screamed in fright with unexpected volume. She stared into your eyes with the fear of an abandoned Imp, but unlike with the latter, you couldn't detect even the slightest malice behind that fear. You didn't want to hurt her, but you understood why she was afraid of you. Even without weapons, you were decked out in the menacing Praetor Suit, and despite your will, you could clearly see that her fright only intensified upon seeing your eyes behind the visor. Not to mention, you were easily twice as tall as her, with she barely reaching at your waist level with her head. They say the eyes are the mirror of the soul. In her eyes, you could see innocence, kindness, and right now, fear, while, despite your best intentions, she probably saw the millennia-long torment, hatred and bloodlust unparalelled by even the fiercest demons of Hell behind the mask of calm. You crouched down in front of her and extended your palm with Angel sitting snugly on it back to her. You cast a meaningful glance at the little rabbit then back to her wanting to say that she should look out for him much better and not letting him getting into danger. Suddenly, the fear was replaced by shame as she took Angel and she drooped her ears back. She looked up at you with teary eyes and finally spoke with a voice barely above a whisper. "Thank you for saving him. My name is Fluttershy. What's your name?" "My deepest apologies for scaring you Fluttershy. I am Flynn Taggart, but you can call me Doomguy."
Ponyville, part IYou walk with Fluttershy out of the Everfree Forest without a word. Finally, her curiosity overpowers her shyness and she asks you a question. "Flynn? Do you live in the Everfree Forest?" "No." "Then where are you from, and how did you end up in the Everfree Forest?" "I am from Planet Earth. I was trying to save the humans on Mars from a demonic invasion, but one of my enemies created a portal to Hell and another portal to here and I ended up here. Can you tell me where am I exactly?" "Um... Planet Earth? I have never heard of an other planet. Are you an alien?" "Yes. And I don't know where I am." "This is Planet Equis, the land of Equestria. I didn't even know there were other habitable planets beside Equis." "Great. Just fucking great. Of all the places I could have ended up, it had to be a realm completely unknown. Someone is gonna pay for this." "Um... Flynn? You don't want to become a bully and harm others, do you?" "No, I won't become a bully, but those who took everything from me will sorely regret it." "What happened to you? I.. Um. I'm sorry to bother you, but why are you so full of hatred? I saw how kind you can be with animals." "It is a long story. To be short, my home planet was invaded by demons and everyone I loved got killed or even worse, some got turned into low-ranking demons or slaves for higher demons or condemned to eternal torment. My friends, my family, my fellow soldiers in the army and even my pet rabbit. I was too weak to save them, but I am strong enough to avenge the death of them! Or to put an end to their endless misery... But right now, I don't fight solely out of vengeance." Suddenly you felt two forelegs hugging your legs. You felt a bit awkward as Fluttershy's head was right at your crotch but returned the hug nevertheless. Meanwhile, Fluttershy started sobbing. "I... I'm so sorry for you. I... I... I can't even imagine anypony being able to deeds such horrible. Invading, killing and eternal torment? Even the fiercest invaders in Equestria only wanted control and power, not the death and destruction of others. They should be banished to Tartarus for their crimes!" Suddenly, your face of hatred and sorrow lights up with eagerness, though Fluttershy couldn't see it behind the helmet. If you could somehow get into Hell, you could slaughter your way out of there and get back to Mars. "You... have access to Tartarus? As of... Hell?" "I don't know... I have never heard of this Hell... That's how you name Tartarus?" "That depends on what are you referring to by Tartarus." "Tartarus is where the evil are imprisoned and guarded by Cerberus, the three-headed dog. Our rulers, the Princesses, Celestia, Luna and Twilight can banish others there." "Well. It doesn't sound like Hell, but it is worth a try. Can you bring me to your rulers? If they can place me there, I will be in their debt." "Wait... You intend to GET THERE? OF YOUR OWN WILL? WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU?" "If your rulers put the evil there, there are high chances that at least some of them has knowledge of Hell. The forces of Hell, the demons absorbed my world. Now they are threatening an other human realm with invasion. I MUST stop them. I won't let Earth fall, I won't let an entire planet absorbed by Hell and its inhabitants slaughtered or worse. Help me... please?" Upon hearing your plea for help, Fluttershy looked at you with surprise, as if she found it unimaginable, that a battle-hardened warrior who presumably has killed many before can ask so gently. Truth is, you could ask gently, at least those who were willing to help you. Of course, there were many who only bent to force they couldn't oppose to, the demons being the primary example of that. "Um... Twilight, the Princess of Friendship is my good friend, and her special talent is magic. I will send her a message so we can meet her as soon as possible, I'm sure she knows much more about demons and other worlds than me. But if it is okay with you, could you tell me what is this Hell exactly? And what are humans? I mean, I don't want to be a burden, but these are things I have never heard of, and I'd like to understand." "Humans are my species. I am... I was a human once. I have enhanced abilities bestowed upon me by the Seraphim, and apparently I age and tire considerably less than an average human, but I am still mortal. My physical form hasn't changed. As for what Hell is... Hell is the domain of the evil and the dark entities and forces of the universe. The less you know about it, the less anybody know about it, the safer for all of your planet. It is the knowledge of Hell that led to the fall of my home... and the knowledge of Hell led to the current invasion on Mars, which puts the fate of Earth in jeopardy as well." As both of you tried to get a grasp on the world of each other, you got out of the forest and noticed a quaint little town. The view was dominated by a huge, cartoonish crystal palace with lovely colors, but most houses seemed small. Suddenly, you notice something pink charging towards you from a big distance. You get pretty surprised, but you are by no means unprepared. This world was clearly not overtaken by Hell (and hopefully, never will be), then what is up with the Pinky charging towards you? You immediately tensed up and called forth your trusty Super Shotgun and stood attentively, ready to jump... Only to dismiss it when the supposed Pinky got close enough for you to see that it was indeed much smaller than they usually are, and it looked like a pony. She moved also much faster and more agile than Pinkies. She wore the biggest smile on her face you have ever seen, and by looking at her, she was the very definition of happiness, joy and laughter. Just when you thought she would crash right into you, she suddenly stopped in front of you. "HI, I'm Pinkamena Diane Pie, but you can call me Pinkie Pie, and you are a new pony in Ponyville, and GAAAAAASP You are an alien! Wiiiii! I can throw my first Welcome to Equestria party to an alien! I can play games, listen to music, eat cupcakes, dance and prank other ponies with a being of an other world! Oh. Ooopsie, my bad, hi Fluttershy and Angel! Anyway, What's your name, where are you come from, Oh let me guess, you are one of those Humans Lyra keeps talking about, and they turn out to be real! Who would have thought it! I must invite her too! And the girls, and the Princesses, and Maud, and everypony in Ponyville!" "Um... Pinkie?" "Let me guess, you are... Moody? No, Doomy? Ha! I got it! Doomguy! You are Doomguy, because you look moody, and you are a guy!" "My real name is Flynn Taggart, but you can call me Doomguy." "Doomguy! I like it! Anyway, your Welcome to Equestria party will take place at Sugarcube Corner at 8pm! We have exactly 6 hours and 57 minutes to the beginning! Don't be late. Until then, byyyyee!" Suddenly you are embraced with a pair of pink forelegs, and you see the cheerful pony dash off. You begin to smile. Fond memories begin to resurface... Your little sister. You were 10, and she was 7, and you helped your mother bake a special cake for her... her favorite. She was always cheerful, always full with merriness and positive energy... Your hands curl up into fists as the happy memory is overlapped by the tragic one. That fateful day... she was 15 by then... the fall of Argent d'Nur. You are shaken out of your reminiscence by the timid yellow pony still next to you. "Um... Flynn? This is where I live. I know it's not too spacious and all but if you don't have any better idea, I'm more than happy to accomodate you until the party starts. I mean, if that's fine with you." You didn't want to hurt the frail pony, but you had a demonic invasion to stop by any means, the sooner the better. You thought out how to carefully word what you wanted to say. "Sorry, Fluttershy, I'm afraid I can't. By all means, you are very kind, but I need to stop the invasion on Mars. I must return there as soon as possible. The fate of others may be sealed if I stay here longer than necessary." "B-but... You can't just skip a Pinkie Pie party! Not here, not in Equestria. M-Maybe your easiest way out is attending her party. Look on the bright side, you meet everypony who can help you! My friends, the Element Bearers, the Princesses... I know Pinkie intends it to be a regular Welcome to Equestria party, but think of it as a summit where you can discuss your cause with us." You are taken aback by the reasoning of this pony. Of course! By attending the party, a lot of Equestrians would learn the presence of an alien, which would warrant enough sensation to draw the attention of the actual rulers, present or not, and with their help... you can continue your mission. "Thank you Fluttershy. You have no idea how much you have helped me already. But I have no intention of taking up your precious time until the beginning of the party. I'm gonna head out for a walk. Gathering information. Taking in my surroundings. Maybe find a quicker way home." You notice that she starts to get worried. "Don't worry, I won't harm anypony." "N- It's not that. There are some ponies of Ponyville who are always suspicious and even mean to newcomers, especially new species. I don't want you to get bad experience or bad memories. At least let me accompany you... please?" You check on your current objective, which states: Make friends with the Bearers of the Elements of Harmony 2/6 As it turns out, both Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie are apparently Element Bearers. Though you wondered how "listening to one minute long to a pony and giving one answer" is considered as making friends, but after all, Pinkie Pie DID invite you to a party. Something what friends do. This just makes the mission easier. "I don't want to be a bother either. If you have other things to do, please don't let me hold you back of it, I will take care of myself." "Oh. You mean no problem. I only have our weekly chat and spa session planned with my friend Rarity, until then, I am free to go, and I'd like to introduce you to her anyway." "Okay, then lead the way." You start to walk towards the town which you assume to be Ponyville, which is positively buzzing with merriness and the light chatter of the inhabitants, until you hear a shrill voice cry. "The horror! The horror! Another monster from the Everfree! Ponyville is doomed!" You notice a pony with pink coat and blond mane run away in panic, along with two others: one with a pale yellow coat and red rose colored mane and one with a pale magenta coat and a lime mane. Fluttershy just eyes the three panicky mares with a hint of... condescension? You never thought the timid butter colored pony capable of it, but she just sighed and made a dismissal motion with her foreleg. "I swear to the Sisters, these three haven't learned a thing in the past nine years. Reacting to all change by panic and running. Thank Celestia most of us have figured it out and don't fall for their panic." You didn't want to remind her that when she first saw you, she screamed like a Lost Soul on fire, and that maybe, they were right in some case, since you were a dangerous alien. Just not dangerous to them. As you continue your way towards the town square, you see a rich looking mare in a fancy dress with a diamond tiara on her head looking at you with curiosity. Yeah, you kind of stand out with your bipedal stature, your height, your predatory look and decked out in the Praetor Suit in this little town of colorful ponies. Suddenly, a mint green unicorn with a light green/white mane stops before you and stares at you with awe. "A Human! It's... I have never thought I would meet one in Ponyville, but they are real! Hi! I am Lyra Heartstrings. What's your name?" "Hello, Lyra. I am Flynn Taggart." "Even your name is human-like! Tell me, what are you doing here in Ponyville?" "I accidentally got teleported here. I'm trying to get back to the human realm." "The human realm? With more humans? Can you take me with you?" "I'm trying to get back there because the humanity of Earth is facing a demonic invasion, while one of our other planets, Mars is already raided by the demons. In other words, a war, and I don't intend to bring any pony into a war zone. You ponies are too kind, too innocent to taste the misery of death and destruction. I'm sorry." "So you are a soldier then? I love human soldiers, so loyal, so fierce, so brave, so... brutal, when it is needed. The Equestrian military should really learn a thing or two from you!" Yeah, they could... - you thought - but they shouldn't. "Anyways, what do you plan to do this evening?" "We are taking a tour of the town. Maybe make new friends, calm the rumors, alleviate the tension, but first and foremost, find the means to get me back to Mars." "Fluttershy? Can I accompany the two of you?" "Um... Sure, I guess. Just... please... be gentle? I mean, not too prying, not too brash? Keeping your inner fanmare in control?" "Splendid! And where are we going now? I know! I know! How about get back to my house and watch My Big Human?" "Actually, we were heading towards Carousel Boutique to meet Rarity, if that's not much trouble for you." "Really? Taking the first human to appear in Equestria to HER? When he could spend time with ME, somepony who has actual knowledge of humans instead?" "I'm sorry. I don't want any trouble, but I just happen to have our weekly spa session today with Rarity... But I didn't say you would not be welcome, you can join us." "Of course you would say that. But sadly, I don't like that mare. It is either me or her, and seeing that there is a Human here, he would be better off with me, than with her." "That's for me to decide. I don't know what you may know about humans, Lyra, neither do I know what's your problem with Fluttershy's friend, but Fluttershy has been showing me nothing but kindness and good heart so far. Any friend of hers is a friend of mine. So, do you wish to join us, or not?" "Oh my gosh, I can't wait to introduce you to Twilight, she would be overjoyed to hear an alien from a different world speak like that. As if you were not even an alien, but a pony at heart." Somehow, you had reservations about that. "Fine, I'll come. But don't expect me to be best friends with Rarity too soon. So anyway, what are your impressions of Ponyville so far? Are you interested in settling down? Do you already have eyes for somepony?" "LYRA! You PROMISED!" To your surprise, the pony yelling with such volume was none other than Fluttershy. You were very grateful for at least having some seconds of quiet. The three of you headed out towards Rarity's home. Meanwhile, you checked on your Codex for possible new entries. You were relieved to find a new one about your current location, Ponyville. Ponyville I Ponyville, originally a quiet little town is one of the few towns in Equestria to have a roughly balanced population between the three basic pony races: unicorns, pegasi and Earth ponies. Each race possesses one special trait that makes them unique. Unicorns have the inherent, natural ability to use magic via their horns, pegasi have the ability to fly with their wings and control Equestrian weather, while Earth ponies have a natural connection to the physical entity of Planet Equis, which can be shown via enhanced physical strength and/or hoof and mouth dexterity far superior to unicorns and pegasi. These three races complement each other perfectly. Settlements with balanced ratios of races have the strongest aura of harmony. Over the years, the aura of harmony surrounding Ponyville has evolved to be second only to Canterlot, the capital of Equestria. Friendship magic, a magical substance which strengthens the special talents of a pony if a friend is accompanying them, has also reached very high levels and has been increasing steadily throughout the last nine years. The only unbalance Ponyville appears to have is general gender ratio, the latest census indicates a 73 to 27 percentage of mare/stallion ratio. To overcome this natural unbalance, most stallions tend to live with more than one mare, generally two or three, but even so, the rare occurrence of gay stallions further disrupts the ratio, making Ponyville occasionally overwhelming for single stallions. You close the data log entry with the satisfaction of understanding. Finally you understand how you haven't stumble upon a stallion yet while having interactions with several mares. [INCOMING VOICE COMM] Discord "Congratulations my good pal Doom Slayer! You have made friends with two Element Bearers already! Fluttershy, the Element of Kindness, and Pinkie Pie, the Element of Laughter! Your path, the habits of my dear friend Fluttershy and the current time indicate that you are heading towards the third Element Bearer. You will meet the remaining three, and of course, little old me personally at Pinkie's party. I am currently briefing in Tia of your presence, she doesn't take it too well. I have only one humble request to you, please watch out for Fluttershy until I get back. She is my closest friend. Toodles!" Author's Note I should really learn not to use Author's Notes as copy/paste area for formatting. Sorry for all readers who have seen trash here and got confused. Also, Ponyville scene will be split into 2 parts because one does not simply describe a Pinkie party as part of a chapter.
Meanwhile, at the Legion of DoomAuthor's Note Sorry guys, I gut stuck a bit on the Slayer in Equestria line, but I want to make sure that the story lives, and I don't want to let down anyone who has started to read this story. I wanted to write a Meanwhile in Hell part anyway. Meanwhile, at the Legion of Doom The Council of Barons have been debating violently for the last half hour already. Gordrak, known for his brute force has already conjured a fireball and was ready to throw it at Karumpos, who was eyeing the former with such contempt that even the others could feel it, even if it was not directed to them. The debate was about whether they should attack the Doom Slayer in Equestria or not. Gordrak stated that with the element of surprise and with enough force, they could overpower the Slayer on a foreign territory while his defenses were down, or at least, not so high up. Karumpos reminded him that the Slayer's defenses were never down, and it would be wiser to take on the Slayer in Hell, where they had the field advantage as well as nigh infinite numbers. They have been running in circles already, repeatedly shouting the same sentences over and over. "Listen here you coward, I don't care about your excuses. Clearly you just want to pull yourself out of fight, and IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN!" - roared Gordrak. Karumpos was not lazy to answer, with so much cold cruelty in his voice that every lesser demon who heard him felt a shiver running down their spines. "You are wasting Hell's resources. We can NOT take on the Slayer on a terrain we don't even know! Hell, he may even find allies in the inhabitants making it impossible to even reach him, not to mention kill him. If you want to go, that's on you. I will report your failure and obsession to waste military force to the Dark Lords." "And I will report you for cowardice. You know what is the punishment for it. Do not test my patience, unless, of course, you want to face the Hell Guards." All of the other Barons tensed up at the mention of the Hell Guards. It has been a traditional punishment since eons founded by the ancient Archviles. If an Archvile proved to be unworthy of his position as field commander of the forces of Hell, he was sentenced to face the two Hell Guards alone in the Arena. Though the Archviles have long retreated to a secret region of the Hellscape unknown by most demonkind, the Barons of Hell carried on their legacy. To day, the Hell Guards have remained undefeated. Still, Karumpos didn't allow fear gripping at his blackened heart. He stood proudly, defiantly even, eyeing Gordrak with unrestrained malice. "It is not cowardice, it is called tactics and strategy, something you clearly lack" - he stated evenly. "Samarra has pinpointed his location for us, we just have to wait for the portal to build, teleport in and KILL HIM! Of course, a coward like you is not worthy of the Slayer. You don't even deserve to be a called a Baron. You are nothing but a disgrace to all of the Barons of Hell." "Says the one taking advice from Summoners, because he is too stupid to figure out anything on his own. A Baron should NEVER listen to any demon below him, but you are clearly not sharp enough to be called one. Maybe you should stick to brawling and betting on Hell Knight matches, as you have always been doing. That's what you are for, not for commanding the armies of Hell. Only the Dark Lords of Hell can give us orders. And that coward Samarra, your Summoner friend, who does nothing but manipulating those fool enough to fall for it and sending others to their doom - well - she isn't one of them." Gordrak was already trembling with barely restrained rage. He took a menacing step towards Karumpos. "I will RIP YOU APART! IF YOU DON'T HAVE THE COURAGE TO FACE THE SLAYER, YOU WILL DIE AT MY CLAWS!" - he roared with unholy fury. "Bring it on, bitch." - Karumpos coldly stated, while stepping up right in the face of Gordrak. Suddenly, something hit the ground near them with such force that the ground shook, and the arguing Barons faltered from the force of the impact. It was Makaleel, the oldest of the Barons, who had leapt up in the air and landed near them with his impressive ground pound. He was one of the ancient ones who were alive before the Slayer's first massacre began - and the only one who had already faced the Slayer during his first rampage and survived. It was by accident though - they were fighting in a cave when suddenly the cave collapsed and the Slayer was cut away from him. "That's enough. We need every one of us to face the Slayer, be it here or elsewhere. If you two start killing each other, you are doing free labor for the Slayer." - he rumbled. "We will have a vote. There are nine of us present at this council. Majority wins. If the idea of Gordrak wins, we all must support him by all and any means in his mission. If he fails, he won't be given even an Imp for support." "Fine. Let's get this over with." - Gordrak grumbled. "So, who votes on opening the portal and attacking the Slayer in Equestria?" Suddenly, six claws were raised high in the air. "It is settled then. Gordrak wins six to three." "That's cheating!" - Karumpos seethed. "Gordrak and Kragoth raised both of their claws!" "It may have escaped your attention, Karumpos, but this is Hell. And Hell doesn't play fair. Hell uses lies, deception and is unfair in battle. The vote is concluded. We begin our attack as soon as the portal is opened. All Barons present must bring their full assorted army. If I find out that any of you left even as much as an Unwilling behind, I will personally make sure that the traitor faces the Hell Guards. Samarra, gather your Imps, Hell Knights and Hell Razers. You are coming with us. And Grishnakh? Don't you even dare to try hiding your Pinky." With this, the nine Barons of Hell present at the council started to scatter. Little did Gordrak, Makaleel and the two others who wanted to face the Slayer in Equestria know that they were bound to fail. For as they won the vote by deception, the remaining four silent Barons lined up behind Karumpos in unity. Karumpos and his allies made sure that those four who wanted to rush head first into the unknown like a Pinky, would face serious trouble in Hell... if they ever made it back.
Meanwhile, in Canterlot"Discord, if you meant this as some sort of funny prank, I'm afraid I must disappoint you, I fail to see the fun part" - Celestia said evenly. "Moi? I would never do such a thing. I'm reformed! And what would Fluttershy say? Look, I know it is shocking. Can you even imagine what I felt first when I sensed the presence of him next to Fluttershy? But to my surprise, he didn't act violently, at least not to her and her pet rabbit. Yeah, he killed two Manticores, but those beasts wanted to eat Angel and attacked him also." "Anyway, wouldst thou care to enlighten us unworthy, oh mighty Savant of the Ancient, of this fearless warrior, the Destroyer of Worlds?" "My-my Twilight, very irony, so sarcasm. Wow! Two years pass and dear ol' Tia here will have nothing over you, I assure you. That's why I am here, to enlighten you, despite your and Tia's best efforts of sabotaging my attempts." "Then spill it already!" - Luna shouted impatiently. "Well well well, are you an impatient one. Centuries come, centuries go, little Luna still makes the show! Anyway, if and by any means, you let me tell what I know without unwanted interruptions, I would be more than happy to tell you about him." "We are listening. But if this IS a prank, you will be placed under the Guard's vigilant eyes for undefined time, even if we won't turn you to stone" - Celestia stated. "I wouldn't dare to joke with things threatening to destroy your empire of friendship and magic. It started a long time ago, in a galaxy... scratch that, in a different universe far far away. I don't know much about the creation and the beginning of Hell, but I have had my fair share of horrible experience with it. It all started 47633 years ago. Planet Equis was not inhabited by ponies at the time. I was bored, so I was wandering between different universes without a goal in mind. It was horrible, to be unfit to any of the universes, to not have any purpose, but still knowing about my immortality. That's when the whispers started. As a being of Chaos, naturally I thought that my personality had started to split up, and at first I found it even amusing. At least, after a long time, I finally had a buddy I could talk to. By the time I realized what had happened, it was already too late. That voice in my mind urged me to commit more and more harmful pranks to the living. Then on one fateful day, it urged me to provoke a war between the sharks and the dolphins on Aquatica, a magical planet consisting almost entirely of water. While I loved wreak chaos onto those silly creatures by changing the color of the water, or even messing with the currents, my original self detested the idea of causing a war. I tried to overpower the other personality, finally, in my desperation, I even tried to get rid of it, only to find out that I was unable to, since there had never been any other personality. As it turned out, my mind became corrupted by demonic forces which I couldn't match, not even with my innate Chaos magic. Eventually the corruption took over my mind, the war was started and the civilization of Aquatica was ruined. Then, serving my purpose for the demons in that realm, they hunted me down and painfully transformed me into what demonkind calls an Imp. Imp is a lowly position in the ranks of the unholy ones. I was forced to serve higher demons as well as to fight at the front lines while conquering other realms and absorbing them into Hell. For millennia I have survived. Made others sacrifice in the name of Hell's prosperity. I have fought, I have destroyed, I have killed, I have burned, I have been injured by enemies. Then he came. One of the worlds demonkind managed to absorb into Hell has unleashed the bane of their very existence. The invasion of Argent d'Nur. The birth of the Doom Slayer. It is grotesque, in a way. The very man who ripped my body apart with his bare hands gave me back what the demons had taken from me. After my demon body was killed, my essence was set free and I regained my freedom. That happened 3809 years ago. Upon my newfound freedom, I couldn't find the courage to face the man who gave me back my freedom. For once he had been a kind-hearted man, the loss of his loved ones and the invasion of his home planet turned him into the deadliest, most powerful, most merciless, most fearsome entity ever to set foot in the known multiverse. Even the mightiest and most dreaded demons feared his name. For as the demons were the Legions of Doom, he was given the name most feared in Hell by the demons themselves: the Doom Slayer. Unbeknownst to Equestrian history, I managed to break in to Hell a second time. Though this time, I was in control. I made sure I couldn't be spotted by demonkind. I couldn't interfere, but I could observe. To my surprise, Hell was sorely underpopulated at the time. Vast ranges of the Hellscape had been rid of any inhabitants, only blood and demon corpses left behind. During my wanderings, I have reached a region known by demonkind as Kadingir Sanctum. There, I found three enchanted stones and finally a cursed sarcophagus buried beneath the ruins of a huge temple. The sarcophagus was trembling with dark arcane magic. At that moment, I felt tiny and helpless against the powers lingering in the dark corners of the multiverse. The power of the enchantment was unparallelled by anything I have ever seen or sensed - even until now. Then I saw the mark on the sarcophagus. It was the mark of the Doom Slayer. Unbeknownst to demonkind, I have managed to extract the information contained within the mark by prodding it with Chaos magic. I recognized that the magical samples of the three stones were identical to the first part of the information stored within the mark - as if the whole story had been copied, then scattered through various parts of Hell, probably as a security measure to prevent loss of information. This is what I managed to uncover. The Princesses listened with rapt attention as a canvas of chaos magic formed into a sort of enchanted stone with a green symbol glowing menacingly on its surface. Suddenly, a voice more terrifying and deep than anything the Princesses have heard began to speak. The voice was horrible, instilling fear into all Princesses present. Princess Celestia, in the first time, was genuinely afraid. She hasn't felt this powerless even against monsters of ancient times, not even against Lord Tirek. Then suddenly realization struck her. The supposed owner of this menacing demonic voice was horrified of the very being that set foot in Equestria not an hour ago. As the voice went on, Celestia has come to the conclusion that whatever this monster would demand from her, she could hold no power to deny it. She just hoped that he would be pleased by being given the rule of Equestria to him, and he would spare her ponies. She felt, no, she KNEW that even the Elements of Harmony couldn't contain a being who has literally overpowered a whole universe on his own. Little did she know that the very same being had only one goal in his mind: leave Equestria behind and return to his world as soon as possible. Author's Note Yeah... as Discord said in the Ponyville chapter, Tia doesn't take it too well.
