Fuel the Eternal Flame | A DOOM MLP Crossover

by NotAnEditor

Rating: teen
Tags: Human, Main 6, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Death, Alternate Universe, Other, Original Character, Apple Bloom, Cutie Mark Crusaders, Horror, Adventure, Violence, Crossover
Length: 166358

Eons ago, in the trades of Nekravol, the great Khan Maykr sold away large stocks of worlds and planets that were once under their jurisdiction to the Dark Lord of Hell. Amongst these worlds being the peaceful land of Equestria.

(The epic cover art was drawn by Mutter Butter! Thanks to them!
https://www.fimfiction.net/user/297066/Mutter_Butter)

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Eons ago, in the trades of Nekravol, the great Khan Maykr sold away large stocks of worlds and planets that were once under their jurisdiction to the Dark Lord of Hell. Amongst these worlds being the peaceful land of Equestria. The Dark Lord saw the powerful magic that inhabited this equine ruled land and decided that rather to invade immediately, it would be wiser to save it in an emergency where he was no longer in power.

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Equestria, a land where almost nopony experiences grievances, pain or agony. Literal sunshine and rainbows. However with new revelations about this world, it's inhabitants may experience a drastic shift in their hopeful home.

Ever since a weird red substance was discovered by Applebloom, peculiar things have been occuring around Ponyville. Frightful creatures, odd diseases and strange events. All much more frequent than usual. Could this amount to something much more substantial for our equine friends?

Wall of Cool People That Made Mission Music

Strely (Mission 1. DOOM MUSIC)

GeoffPlaysGuitar (Mission 2. Outlander)

Nizro (Mission 3. Ruins of Jekkad)

Christer Wibert (Mission 3. Fear No Evil)

Repulsive (Heart Over the I Icarus)

Strely(again) (Mission 4. Ultimate Devastation)

Dead Wasteland (Mission T2. The Evil)

Christer Wibert (Mission 5. Datamancer)

Dead Wasteland (Mission T3. Sinister House)

Davester2296 (Mission 6. Extradimensional Beings)

Dead Wasteland (Mission T4. The Milky Way Galaxy)

Ios (Mission T4. i cant say goodbye)

(Supposed to happen between the end of Season 6 and the start of Season 7 and after the end of The Ancient Gods 2, the last DLC of DOOM Eternal. If you are here for the action, Cordial Affairs and all the Mission chapters might be what you are looking for.)

Published 2022-01-19 07:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2023-05-25 03:38:25 UTC

Codex/Page 122

Translation from 'Ligra Equitores' (Book of Equus)

Before the Sentinel Civil Wars, when interaction between the Argenta and Equestria was at its peak, a partnership of a unicorn mage and a Sentinel mechanist worked together to combine the magic of this world and the technology of the Sentinels. This combo produced fantastical weaponry and machines. Archless Slipgates, Ballistas, multiple warship designs and much more. However, the duo's most crowning achievement was most definitely the Embeddation Process Device.

The EPD was a machine designed to imbue a pony subject with the strength and ability of a Night Sentinel. This would be scaled by the addition of increasing magical potential of the subject as well. However, the process of doing so was unsightly and cruel. Once this device was showcased to the representatives of Equestria, Princess Luna and Celestia viewed it unequestrian.

They considered their home a land of peace, and there was no need to see their people turned into brutal warriors. Especially after witnessing the process that changed the pony into that of a fighter. The device remained in the Ivotahnn outpost, just east of a city named Baltimare, soon to be abandoned once the Sentinels left Equestria altogether.

Apple-Lava

Applejack stood under one of the many apple trees, preparing her hips before finally bucking into it with force comparable to a truck. Every apple fell off of the tree, giving the country mare a giddy sense of satisfaction.

The day was going great for Applejack. The pony always loved Apple Bucking Day, I mean it was in her namesake. Especially after the day, when she could admire her own work. Food always tastes better when you’ve worked for it.

She began going about, picking up the dropped apples and storing them away in one of her buckets. The day couldn’t be better, well besides the strange absence of Applebloom. By now the filly definitely would’ve headed up to her for assistance for something she was simply too young to do.

As she picked up another stray apple, the hatted pony realized that she was long overdue to go check up on her little sister. Especially when she had the side closest to the Everfree.

Nuzzling the now filled bucket closer to the tree, she began turning and starting towards Applebloom’s side of the orchard. The way over wasn’t too long, just a couple of minutes going between the farm’s large trees. The surrounding branches were mostly empty thanks to Applejack’s hard work; she couldn’t help but look at the filled buckets right next to the trees with admiration.

Eventually she began finding the full barrels she recalled Applebloom kicking down, as well as plenty of unbucked trees. As she glanced at all the trees, she managed to follow the dirt path all the way to the section closest to the Everfree Forest. She couldn’t help but glance into the woods with a bit of worry, wondering if the filly had gotten lost in there.

“I hope not.” she replied to the brief thought.

She looked on at the line of trees, seeing the trail of barrels suddenly stop.

“Weird...” Applejack commented, glancing around the general area for her little sister

Looking down at the ground, she spotted depressed portions of the grass in the shape of small hooves. The tracks continued on in the direction of the farmhouse, apparently coming from the Everfree. Applejack decided to follow the hoofprints back, keeping an eye out for the filly.

As she came closer to her house, it was apparent that that was where the prints must have led. Applejack began ignoring the tracks, continuing towards the country home. Once the orange mare finally made it there, she saw the little filly standing in front of something on the porch, looking down at whatever it was with a smile. She gave a confused look as to why her sibling wasn’t out there working on getting more apples.

“Applebloom?” Applejack raised her voice so her little sister could hear her as she advanced on the home.

As the country mare came closer it was more apparent what she was looking at. A bucket, filled with a red, glowing sort of liquid.

Applebloom looked back. “Oh, Applejack! Come on, check it out.” she called over, signaling over with a hoof.

Applejack gave a quizzical look before trotting over to the barrel as well. Her hooves clopped on the wooden stairs as she went up to the porch, moving next to her little sister to look down at the contents of the barrel.

What sat in the barrel was strange. It was filled with a buzzing liquid, maroon sizzling in it. It smelt of death to the mare, making her withdraw her head a little in disgust.

“What… Is that?” she queried Applebloom, staring at the mysterious substance.

“Somethin’ I found in the Everfree. It's delicious! I was gonna show Big Mac when he gets back here. Granny is sleepin’ right now so she can’t try it just yet.” Applebloom explained swiftly before gently sliding it in front of Applejack with a wide smile. “Try it!”

Applejack lowered her head again to smell it just to be sure, the smell of a corpse still radiating from it. “Eh, ya said ya found it in the Everfree Forest?”

Her little sister nodded. “Mhm! I followed some critter with weird green lights on it. Led me to a whole pool of the stuff!” she said excitedly. “I think it could make us a good amount of bits.”

“Really?” she looked down at the repulsive liquid.

“Oh!” Applebloom looked towards the orchard, seeing Big Mac coming out of the trees. “Big Mac! Come check this out!” she urged.

Big Mac came over swiftly, enjoying the nearby smell. “Ehyup?”

“I found somethin’ cool out in the Everfree. Look!” Applebloom nodded to the bucket.

The large stallion made his way onto the porch, looking down at the red fluid with wide eyes. Basking in its aura for a moment, he looked back up at Applebloom. “May I?”

Applebloom nodded in response as Big Mac began lapping at the bucket, relishing its incredible taste. By the time he drew his head away, he gave a surprised look to the younger sibling.

“Seems like Big Mac likes it.” Applebloom pointed out with a smile. “You wanna try it?” she asked her.

Applejack considered it for a moment, keeping concerned green eyes on the stuff. “Eh… No thanks, Applebloom.”

Applebloom shrugged aside her rejection of the strange liquid. “Ya think we could give it around during cider season?” she asked.

She continued giving the bucket an estranged look, tilting her hat a bit out of her vision. “Ya might have ta check in with Granny Smith for that.”

Her little sister nodded. “Alrighty! I’ll go get her.” she trotted off into the house excitedly in search of the elder.

A moment or two passed before the filly and the old light green mare came out. “What's this about some tasty lava stuff?” Granny Smith asked as she walked out onto the porch. It wasn’t until the smell hit her that she realized. “By Celestia!” she looked down into the bucket. “What is that stuff?”

Applebloom beamed up at her. “It's somethin’ I found in the Everfree. I’m thinkin’ about callin’ it… apple-lava. Or somethin’.”

“Apple-lava? It sure looks like lava.” Granny Smith dipped her light green muzzle into the bucket, sipping only a bit. She quickly lifted her head, eyes wide. “My oh my! Applebloom, this thang’s the greatest stuff I ever tried!”

“I knew ya’d like it!” Applebloom replied to her granny’s approval. “I was thinkin’ we could sell it with the cider!”

“Of course! Big Mac.” Granny Smith looked at her grandson with invigorated energy. “Go out with Applebloom and get more of the apple-lava stuff. Applejack, you keep working on buckin’ more apple trees.” the old green mare pointed a hoof at the ponies as she addressed them.

Applebloom and Big Mac nodded, the siblings trotting away back to the Everfree. Applejack looked on as the two walked away before looking back at Granny Smith.

“Say, Granny. Are ya sure this apple-lava stuff is a good idea?” the country mare asked.

“Fer sure!” Granny said. She seemed very energetic from the stuff. She picked up the bucket, starting inside the farmhouse. “No doubt about it.” Granny spoke around the handle of the bucket.

Applejack still couldn’t shake the off feeling the stuff gave her, the farmhouse door closing behind her granny. It was a feeling of ominous dread from the strange fluid. Not just from smelling it, but just from looking at it as well.

Something was definitely off with that stuff…

~

The sun had begun setting after a long day of work, darkness shrouding the farmland. Applejack moved the last bucket of apples into the barn, the giant amount of apples nearing mountainous sizes. She looked up at it with pride. “I think I got the whole farm ta day!” She exclaimed.

As she stood in the barn, a dreadful smell emanated from the corner, gripping the mare’s attention. The buckets of apple-lava crowded in the corner, glowing through the darkness of the candlelit barn.

Loud scratching went off from the entrance, Applebloom headbutting another bucket of the stuff along the ground. Following behind her was Big Mac, a couple of filled barrels atop his back. The same dreadful feeling filled her at the sight of the substance. How in Celestia’s name do they handle that?

“Heya, Applejack.” Applebloom waved once the bucket was in place. “How’d the apples go?”

Drawing her eyes from the buckets of fluid, she smiled in return. “G-Great! I got all the trees in the orchard.”

“That's awesome!” Applebloom replied as her brother set the last few buckets down. “Me and Big Mac got a bunch of that Apple-Lava stuff.”

Applejack nodded, an estranged look returning to her face. “Yup, ya sure did.”

Big Mac gave a worried look to Applejack. “Ya okay?”

The country mare shook away the gaze, nodding her head. “Yup! Just, I was wonderin’, what if that stuff ain’t good for y’all?” she questioned.

“How would it be bad for us? It’d taste too good to hurt us.” Applebloom responded.

“Ain’t there tons of stuff that makes ya feel good, but actually hurts ya?” Applejack said.

Both Applebloom and Big Mac took a moment to ponder, Applebloom setting a hoof on her chin. “Not… Any that I can recall.” the filly answered, Big Mac giving a nod of agreement.

“What’cha mean? There’s dozens! Like… Like…” the examples slipped from her mind. She knew there was a fair amount, however all of the ones she could recall were hardly close to Equestria, let alone Sweet Apple Acres. “Well, they ain’t exactly close. But what’s stoppin’ dangerous stuff like this from appearin’ in the Everfree?”

She shrugged “It hasn’t happened before, why would it happen now?” Applebloom questioned.

Applejack glared at the glowing buckets. “I’m not exactly sure…” she drawled. “Somethin’ about them apple-lava stuff…”

“What about them?” Applebloom questioned.

The mare took a deep breath. “I dunno, just superstition I suppose.”

Big Mac had already left the barn, hooves thunking on the wood as he made his way out and towards the farmstead. “Well, I’ll start headin’ inside. It’s gettin’ pretty dark and I d-don’t quite like the darkness.” Applebloom spoke, a bit of nervousness coursing through her tone.

Applejack snickered a little, nodding to her little sister. “Go right on ahead.”

Applebloom trotted out of the barn rather quickly before the spooky aura of it all caught up to her.

Once the filly was gone, Applejack looked left and right to see if there was any other pony nearby. Sighting no one, she looked back at the collection of barrels. The country mare started towards them, glancing at an ajar saddlebag hung on an old, broken coat hanger.

A single glass vial sat, partially exposed from the shelter of the bag. An idea crept in her head. It wouldn’t hurt to show this to Twilight, would it? she stepped closer to it, taking the vial out of the saddlebag with her mouth.

Once it was in a good position, she gripped the glass part of the vial to hold it in place while she bit down on it’s cork. Putting a little effort in, she removed the cork with a Pop! Looking down at the hoof-held vial, she started towards the buckets.

Applejack looked downward into the bucket, staring down at the glowing red substance, ominously humming and sparkling with electricity. Feeling a chill strike down her spine, she slowly brought down the vial, feeling the ticklish feeling of the fluid as she drew the vial through.

Once it was fully filled, she put the cork back on the vial. She sighed a little. “There.”

“Are ya comin’ inside, Applejack?!” she heard Applebloom shout outside the barn. The mare jumped a little in surprise.

“Eh, yeah! Be there soon!” Applejack replied, setting the vial back in the saddlebag and starting back out into the rural night.

Hunted

It was late in the day, the sun shambling it’s way down towards the horizon ever so slowly. Closer towards the Everfree sat a cozy little cottage, shade assaulting it heavily thanks to the surrounding trees now blocking the sun from the home.

A small creek flowed below a conveniently placed land bridge, a path built on it leading straight up to the front door of the foliage roofed cabin. Multiple chirps shot from the settling bird houses, dozens of them mounted on the tiny trees that surrounded the cottage.

“Alright, every creature!” a hushed, yet optimistic voice spoke within the small house. The interior of the home had a comfortable atmosphere, the lighting giving it a warm, yellowish tone over the green floorboards.

“It’s time for bed!” a yellow coated, pink maned pegasus stated, trailing behind an otter or two on her wings. Fluttershy was her name, reflecting the pink colored butterflies upon her flank. “Come along now, everybody.” she looked at a trio of small birds, flapping about and playing at the other side of the cottage.

She hovered over, shooing them along to a couple of birdhouses. “Come on you three, enough playing! We all need to get some rest for tonight.” Fluttershy urged along with her hooves, the trio eventually arriving at their respective birdhouses.

The pegasus looked around her home, seeing all her little pets all in place for the night. She nodded happily. “All of you have a fantastic rest!” she hoped for them, going over to the light switch and flicking it down, the lights all collectively turning off. The multitude of critters and creatures chirped simultaneously, giving the mare a good night.

She smiled cheerfully at them, closing her teal eyes happily before turning and heading upstairs. Fluttershy yawned tiredly, moving a hoof over her mouth as she made her way to the bed. A purple tone shined into the bedroom through the room’s large windows, the moonlight casting a violet shadow across the place.

She stretched out a little before placing herself gently onto her bed, tucking under the covers and shutting her eyes. The pony attempted to drift peacefully into unconsciousness, one of her little ears flicking as she shuffled about under the sheets.

As she was just about to fall asleep, a loose thought drifted into her mind. You forgot Mr. Lizard… She immediately jumped up. “Mr. Lizard!” the pony had forgotten to feed her pet komodo dragon for the night, not even to mention actually tucking him in.

She clambered out of bed, rushing down the flight of stairs, stopping mid dash to make her way down much slower to not wake up her animal friends. The floorboards creaked under her light hoovesteps, going over to the front door and creaking it open with a free hoof.

Fluttershy silently thanked Celestia for none of the animals waking through their recent slumber. She crossed to the outdoors, rounding to the back of her house and to the dual basement doors embedded into the ground behind her cottage.

She let out a yawn before gripping the rope attached to one of the doors, opening it and making her way downstairs. There were a dozen or so freezers in her basement, right next to multitudes of animal food bags sitting in the cobblestone dungeon.

She went over to one of the magically powered freezers, the words 'Mr. Lizard' sticky-noted onto it. Fluttershy wrapped a hoof on the handle, pulling it open half-hazardly and reaching her head into the frigid environment.

Her coat pricked from the cold, the pegasus gripping a bag of raw meat in her jaws before taking it out. She turned, starting away. As she did so she lightly kicked the freezer door shut while it flanked her.

The mare climbed her way out of the basement, the pegasus turning and gently closing the basement doors. She yawned extremely lightly around her bag, trying not to drop it as she headed over to the surrounding woods.

She made her way in the trees, weaving between the branches and bushes in the direction of Mr. Lizard's cave. It was not long before she reached a clearing in the forest, a small cave within an elevated bit of land. Mr Lizard's sunbathing rock sat in front of it. Empty.

Fluttershy went over to the entrance of the crevice, placing the bag down. "I'm sorry about forgetting to feed you, Mr. Lizard." she apologized.

There was no usual hiss of reply from the cave as Fluttershy lifted the slab of meat from the sack.

"Mr. Lizard?.." she questioned, placing the meat in front of the cave, lowering her head into the cave. "Mr. Lizard?" she queried once more.

The only thing that came to reply was her own echo, one of the pony's ears flicking to the noise. Fluttershy gave a confused look, lifting her head from the cave. With a quizzical look, her real eyes gazed across the rocky hill, looking for any sign of her animal friend.

Her vision stopped, spotting something peculiar on the stones of his home. A strange, green liquid. It dripped off the side of the hill gently with a particular glow. Fluttershy gave the stuff a weird look, moving her muzzle near the gunk to give it a sniff. She immediately withdrew her head from the stuff, it giving a particular scent of death to the mare.

She looked at it wide-eyed, only recognizing the scent from perished animals and… Friends. Fear grew in Fluttershy as she gazed around the clearing for the komodo dragon. “M-Mister Lizard?” she called with a hint of terror in her tone.

A loud rustling from the surrounding trees made the pony jump, her ears perking as she gazed around frantically. “M-Mister Lizard?” she repeated, those two words being the only thing the worried pony could call out through her worry.

The movement in the bushes continued for a while, however at some point whatever caused it had found a point to halt. Somehow the silence only brought more fear to Fluttershy, the mare taking a step or two back suspiciously.

Mr. Lizard could be lost! M-Maybe he needs help? She planted a hoof, slowly moving forward towards where the rustling came from. The pegasus made her way slowly to the bushes, wings open, ready to dash away at any major jolt of fear.

She could just make out more of the green gunk trailing into the disheveled series of bushes. “I-I’m coming! P-P-Please don’t be scared, Mr. Lizard.” Fluttershy stuttered before moving a hoof to set aside the foliage.

The pony took a long breath, steeling herself before rustling into the undergrowth. She could feel a cold feeling trailing her coat as she made her way through, however the darkness and shade of her surroundings made it difficult to tell what her yellow fur had been stained with.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Lizard, I’m co-” she stopped mid-sentence as she vacated the undergrowth, looking in front of her with wide eyes, her jaw dropping in horror.

There, in front of the mare stood a tall wooden pike. A good feet or two taller than herself. Fluttershy didn’t even have to see what was at the top of it as she stared down at it’s base. Dark, runny blood pooled around a series of flesh-stripped bones at the base of the stick. A sickly dark maroon tone tainted the fluid as it traveled down from the top of the spike to the ground.

The pony couldn’t help but start hyperventilating at the sight of the objects, her curiosity overwhelming her fear as her eyes slowly climbed the pike. There, on top of the wooden stick was mounted the head of Mr. Lizard. His cold, dead eyes stared directly at her, piercing straight into her soul. Grief pierced into her through the fear, the possibilities of this being her fault swiftly arriving to her head.

A shrill, horrified mumble arrived to her voice as she stuttered her pet’s name. She had dealt with her animal friends dying before, but this was certainly different. This spike couldn’t have been placed there naturally. The slice along Mr. Lizard’s neck could hardly be considered a cut, more like a series of horrifying tears along his scales. As if something had simply gripped her friend’s head and torn it off completely.

W-What could have done this? It certainly had to be intelligent to be able to build such an effigy. But why would any creature do this? Fluttershy deeply hoped it wasn’t a pony that had done it. She highly doubted a creature like her would even have the capacity to commit such cruelties.

One of her ears slowly raised as she heard heavy breathing just to her left, one that sounded of a dying animal. The sound of chitinous flesh conflicting with each muscle filled her frozen ears. She let out a shrill whimper at a sight in the corner of her eye. A large green claw extending from the bushes. No doubt a sort of hand. It was much bigger than her head and the claws were tipped with glowing green highlights.

She couldn’t help but stare at the claw in complete utter horror, her teal eyes wide as they ever had been. Fight or flight rushed straight through her mind as she stared at it with terror, trying to break her muscles from this stunned loop.

The hand suddenly slammed right into the ground next to her front hoof, throwing leaves up from the grass. She screeched, turning and attempting to dash away from the creature. The deathly and raspy breathing quickened as she made her attempts at escape.

Just as she was about to reach the bushes from earlier, she felt a piercing claw wrap around her lower hind leg. A supernatural strength manipulated her as she was lifted into the air by the grip. Her screech grew into a continuous wailing, tears beginning to stream at the feeling of the creature’s claws still around her leg.

Fluttershy squirmed rapidly, pushing past the growing pangs in her lower leg to try to avoid the creature. The hand lifted her higher above the ground, by a good two feet. Her belly was facing right towards the creature, and lowering her head to face it was the last thing she wanted to do.

She simply kept her streaming eyes towards the grass, not wanting to look at the monster. However, after a while of doing so, she felt the burning grow to monstrous extents, making her gasp in pain, her weak head naturally looking more downward, technically upward towards the monster.

She once more froze at the sight of the beast. It was tall. As tall as a bear. Taller most likely. The bipedal creature’s skin was covered in armor-like chitin and had a sickly green tone to it all. Her breathing hastened as she gazed further up the monster.

It was muscular, extremely powerful looking, despite the way it breathed through gasps and gurgles of futile attempts at oxygen. Chitin was sectioned off from it’s pectorals and it’s abdomen, the two armor pieces giving different colors. One of a green and the other, more central color of a sickly brown which retained just a hint of it’s primary color. Finally, across its torso lay a large scar shaped in an ‘X’.

Her teal eyes continued with curiosity and horror, finally meeting the face of the monster. In front of the angry protrusions of keratin on it’s hunched over back sat it’s small, nimble head. It’s lower jaw was split down the middle into two mandibles, green ooze dripping off it’s saw-like teeth. It tilted it’s head frequently, the mandibles twitching and opening spontaneously, as if it was preparing to bite straight into the mare.

Fluttershy began mumbling incoherent ramblings as her eyes stared straight at the triage of oracles in the beast’s head. Three, tiny, glowing green eyes. Beady, not a trace of soul in them. However, the more she stared into them the more fear she felt. Complete, total dread filled her heart. It was like all the suffering, pain and terror Mr. Lizard had gone through, all being glared straight back into Fluttershy as the two beings gazed into each other’s souls. Well, at least one of their souls.

“N-Nonononono… Celestia, no! P-Please let me go, let me go now…” She mumbled frantically as she was left at the mercy of the thing, the grip around her ankle growing with that same strange burning feeling. She could feel herself twitch as her leg was pierced further.

She swore she could see a sadistic smile crack across the thing’s broken mouth as it lifted it’s free claw, preparing an attack. It let out a loud, croaky roar, stretching it’s uncomfortable to look at mouth threateningly. Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut, wishing this thing wouldn’t be the last thing she saw as it prepared a devastating attack for the pony.

Help From a Friend

Boisterous knocking sounded upon the door’s of Princess Twilight’s lavish chamber. The lavender pony stirred under the bed’s purple sheets, head hiding under them as she tried to subconsciously block the noise.

“Twilight?! Twilight?” Applejack shouted from the other side of the door. “Are ya in there?”

Twilight groan was muffled underneath the bed sheets, the purple pony slipping her head out from under them, looking over at the double doors to her room with a mixture of annoyance and confusion. She glanced over at the glass balcony doors, moonlight beaming into her room through them.

A sparkle ignited, the blankets lighting with her aura as they were tossed aside, the mare climbing out of the comfy bed and clopping over to the doors. With a deep sigh, she twisted the door knob with a hoof and opened the doors to be greeted by her saddlebag-equipped, farm living friend.

“Good mornin’, Twilight.” Applejack greeted, an aura of urgency surrounding her.

Twilight gave a disgruntled look, glancing outside the opaque balcony doors once more before back at her. “It’s four in the morning, Applejack!” she whisper-shouted.

She nodded. “Yep, in the mornin’.”

Twilight’s agitated look grew. “Please tell me it’s something important.”

“It is, I promise.” Applejack swore, digging a hoof into her saddlebag.

The book-worm blinked sleepiness away as she watched her friend bring out a vial of burning red liquid, glowing in the dark brightly. “A… Glow stick?” she mistook in her sleep-deprived condition.

The stetson adorning mare shook her head. “No, Twi. It’s a vial! Of red… Whatever it is.”

The allure of mystery drug the alicorn out of her stupored condition. “And, what makes this… Important?” she took the vial out of the hoof of Applejack, giving it a studious look.

Applejack sighed. “That’s the thing, I’m not all too sure actually.” she replied, giving a similar look to the vial.

A yellow strike of electricity struck through the glowing substance, sizzling as it dissipated into the dark crimson of the liquid.

“It looks like some type of… magma?” Twilight commented, holding it up to herself with a hoof before engulfing it in aura to be levitated with her. “What’s wrong with it?”

Applejack began explaining. “Yesterday was Apple Buckin’ Day, right? Things we’re goin’ good but, Applebloom came home with this weird stuff she called apple-lava.” she began. Her friend started deeper into her bedroom as she began inspecting it further, floating it around with a thoughtful look.

“I haven’t seen something like this before… but I’m not sure that it would hurt anypony.” she stated.

“That’s not it though.” Applejack began. “Like, the rest of the Apple Family loved it. Like, they literally can’t get enough of the stuff! But to me it smells like… death!” she came up with the comparison.

Twilight popped the cork off with her magic, lowering it below her muzzle to give the substance a whiff. She immediately retched from the scent. “How in Celestia’s name could anyone drink that?” the mare gave it a disgusted look.

“That’s what I’ve been sayin’!” she adjusted her hat slightly.

The lavender pony nodded, turning back to her friend. “I’ll have it checked out today. Just give me some rest.” she said. It didn’t seem too important, however tomorrow the Princess of Friendship had approximately nothing on her to-do-list. Busying herself with simple research couldn’t be too stressful. Plus, she was helping a friend!

Applejack nodded. “Alrighty! Thanks, Twi.”

With a yawn, the Princess nodded. “Anytime.” Twilight turned, starting back into her bedroom, closing the vial and the double doors behind her.

Applejack felt a momentary release of stress as Twilight returned to bed, her friend turning and starting off for home. She had a long day of apple cider making tomorrow.

~

Twilight clopped her way down the flight of stairs, vial in aura. She made her way through the castle’s halls, making her way to the library slowly. She had finally woken up since Applejack interrupted her rest.

The mare dug through her memory for the location of the library, trying to decipher which double door led into it. She held the vial distant from herself, the scent growing past the bottle now that it had been opened recently.

She made her way to one, placing a hoof on it and pushing it open. Inside was the kitchen, Twilight giving an annoyed look. “I really need to make signs for these rooms.” she let the door swing closed as she continued searching, finally stopping at a familiar pair of double doors. A sense of muscle memory came back, her turning to see her path.

“Yup, library.” she opened one of the doors with a hoof as she made her way into the highly equipped book collection. Her intent was to search through her shelves for any talk about a warm, drinkable, lava-ey substance. Perhaps she could correlate the two liquids and chalk it up to acquired taste.

She levitated the vial onto one of the standard, wooden tables. The bottle landed softly, Twilight looking across the shelves thoughtfully. “Where to start?.. where to start?..” The princess moved a hoof to her chin.

Guide to Basic Magic? No. Raising a Young Dragon and Other Tips? Nope. Beginner’s Guide to the Chemicals of Equestria? Maybe? Her purple eyes stopped upon a segment of the shelves, spotting a book that could actually work. Exotic Magical Substances and other Objects of Equestria. Yes, please!

Twilight engulfed the book in her magical aura, floating it down to the table the vial was on. She placed it beside the substance, going over and sitting in front of the table as she opened the large book.

The unicorn gazed through the book’s catalog, searching for ‘Liquids.’ Page 177. she began flipping through the pages, continuing the hunt once she found the page. Disappointment filled her with every page of useless information that she skimmed and flipped past.

The doors of the library swung open, a tired Spike yawning as he walked in. He lifted his tiny arms into a stretch, stopping his stroll to do so before continuing on. “Good morning Twilight.” he greeted with a small wave of his hand.

“Oh, hey Spike.” she spoke, turning a page thoughtfully.

“Whatcha reading?” the young dragon questioned.

Twilight Sparkle sighed. “This morning Applejack told me to check out whatever this stuff is.” she kept her eyes on the book. “Apparently everypony thinks it’s super good, but when I smelled it it smelled like-”

“So that’s what smells so good in here!” Spike happily stood onto the table, picking up the vial. He gave it a sharp sniff, reveling in it’s scent. “This is literally the best thing I’ve ever smelled!”

The mare gave her dragon pal a confused look. “It... doesn’t smell bad?” Twilight recalled Spike not having too mature of a palette.

Spike shook his head, smiling down at Twilight. “It’s fantastic!”

Twilight engulfed the glass in her magic, bringing it over to herself once more and removing the cork. She moved it under her muzzle, immediately moving her head away and coughing in disgust. “W-What does it smell like to you?” Her eyes watered from the scent of death.

The dragon formed a thoughtful look. “Hm… If I had to compare it to anything, it’d have to smell like Rarity’s perfume! Oh… How wonderful she smells.” he gave a lovestruck look.

Twilight gave an annoyed grimace to the dragon, popping the cork back into the vial and placing it on the table. The pony flipped a page over, continuing her search.

"Can I try it?" Spike asked as he picked the bottle back up again, removing the cork and putting the substance in front of him. As it crackled in front of the dragon, something about it just made him… stare at it. The kind of look he'd give when Rarity gave him a small peck on the cheek for thanks, or when he’d spot a large bucket of gems.

The pleasantly surprised look remained on his face for a while as Twilight leaned deeper towards the book. She stopped, seeing that her little brother figure was completely enamored by the liquid.

“Err, Spike?” she tilted her head at him.

The dragon continued staring, slowly moving the vial closer to himself.

“Spike!”

Spike jumped out of his stupor, looking about wildly before spotting Twilight once more. “Oh! Sorry, Twi. This stuff just smells so delicious.”

She gave him a suspicious look, slowly nodding. “All…right, just don’t try to drink it. We can’t be sure if it’s safe or not.” the princess warned.

The dragon rolled his eyes. “Oh, come on Twilight! How could something that smells this good be dangerous?”

“Didn’t I tell you not to drink mysterious glowing fluids? For all you know it could melt you from the inside out or something.” she rolled her lavender colored eyes.

He let out a disappointed sigh, putting the cork back into the vial and placing it on the table disappointingly. “Whatever you say, Twilight. Can I at least help you find out what it is though?”

She shrugged. “Sure.”

The dragon walked off, going to one of the bookshelves and searching through the collection for a book that could contain what the substance is about.

The two would search book after book of chemicals and other similar materials to the mysterious stuff. They read on and on throughout the noon, scrounging up just about nothing beside a pile of useless, totally unhelpful books on a nearby table. It was most definitely taking forever.

Twilight Sparkle slammed their most recent book shut, groaning loudly in annoyance. “Oh, Celestia!” she rubbed her temples. “What is this stuff?!” the princess questioned as she held up the vial. Spike was also growing impatient, the temptations of the ‘apple-lava’ growing on him.

“Maybe nopony’s discovered it before.” Spike suggested with a shrug.

Twilight rolled her eyes. “That would be impossible, Spike. If a filly like Applebloom could stumble across it, then I’m sure at least somepony else would have documented it by now.” she sighed, letting her head rest on the table. “What to do…”

Spike thought for a moment, before snapping his scaly fingers. “What about Zecora? She’s the one that would know about this kinda stuff.”

The pony nodded. “Perhaps.” she stood up, wrapping the vial in her magic, starting out of the room.

“Can I come?” Spike asked, following her sisterly figure. Although, the main reason he really wanted to follow was the substance.

Twilight shrugged. “Why not?” she looked down at her dragon friend. “Just, try not to drink any of the apple-lava.” the mare said as she moved her head forward, continuing down the halls of the castle.

Spike groaned. “Oh, come on Twi! I’ve been holding myself back from drinking that stuff for ages!” he reached a pair of baby hands towards the vial. “Can’t I get a sip?”

The princess lifted the glass higher. “No, Spike. Like I said, we can’t be sure if this is harmful or not.”

“Well, Applejack said that her family drank it. If they were hurt by it then she would’ve told us about it by now!” he explained his point, still reaching for the still too high vial.

Twilight glanced down at the dragon with an annoyed look, accidentally lowering the vial thanks to her averting of focus. “And? We need to be sure of what this stuff i-”

Spike jumped up just high enough, smacking the vial straight out of Twilight’s magical grasp, however failing to actually grip it. The vial flew through the air, crashing straight into one of the blank dark purple and gold lined banners, splattering it with red crackling juices.

Twilight Sparkle groaned. “Spike!” He looked down at the dragon in a scolding manner.

“What?”

“You broke the vial!” The alicorn scolded, her strawy tail lashing in annoyance.

“Oh.” Spike looked up at the stained banner. “That’s not my fault!” he argued.

“You literally knocked it out of my aura.” Twilight argued back, the sibling feud beginning.

“You were the one holding it up! If you let me have it then I would’ve just had a tiny sip.” Spike came back.

Twilight huffed. “You would have drunk all of the apple-lava!”

“We could get more.” Spike pointed out.

Twilight began “That's not the poi-”

Ssssssss

The banner that Spike had broken the vial on was sissling loudly throughout the hall, catching the two’s attention. Red glowed from it, a messy, wide horizontal line forming near the top, a long scar of another column cut through, reaching down the banner like a blade slicing through bone. The hilt of said line sizzled in at the bottom, both sides of the crossguard curving high up.

It was loosely comparable to that imagery, evoking that of a sword piercing bone. Four unfamiliar characters soon sizzled in around the center logo in a square formation, glowing just as brightly and angrily red.

It glared back at them forebodingly, the glowing maroon color of it giving a scary and aggressive feeling to the two. She had seen magic like this, but something about it was much more off-putting, similar to the apple-lava that now covered the banner.

“That's… ominous.” Spike commented on the symbol.

Twilight nodded in agreement, focusing on the characters surrounding it. It reminded her of old ponish, specifically in the shapes of the characters. Although, she couldn’t find any meaning in them. Perhaps she needed to brush up on the language. Alternatively it could also be a much older term, more anonymous to the current studies of it.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep rumble from the blank wall beside it. The purple walls began parting, opening to a dark unlit room. Twilight gave the new opening a confused look, stepping over to it. “What in Celestia's name?” Spike joined beside her.

“It looks like a hidden room.” the dragon stated the obvious.

Twilight nodded in response, eyes squinting to get a better look in the room. “That seems about right.” just after the sentence, empty wall-mounted torches on the sides of the room fwooshed alive, blue flames igniting within.

It was a long room, the walls made of a gray combination of stone bricks and metal. The pony looked on as the blue fires illuminated a large opened gate at the end of the hall, two metal statues of wolves guarding it valiantly.

“Woah! This place looks so cool!” He exclaimed, rushing in on his little legs.

Twilight followed with an uncertain look. “This room's architecture is… strange, it's like Canterlot but way less colorful.”

“Look at these! They look like aliens.” Spike commented, pointing at a statue on the side of the hall. It was a strange creature, supposedly bipedal with a ball floating between its hands, outstretched to the heavens. It was skinny yet towering, the beings face only containing a mouth with a smooth surface where it’s eyes should be.

“Eh, that is certainly cool, Spike.” Twilight stated, glancing back to the other side of the hall to see a similar statue of the being. Looking back, she could see more of those strange old ponish characters. Most were ineligible to her, but a couple stood out. ‘Energy’, ‘Peace’, ‘Spear’, ‘Holy’, ‘Light’ and finally ‘The world.’ The words around the being all read, not particularly in that order.

“Huh...” Twilight commented, keeping that off look as she followed Spike to the wolf-guarded gate.

Spike ran past the wolves standing guard, entering a circular room with more of the wolf statues at the walls, all staring at a pedestal with a bowl filled in ash. There was an unlit torch within.

“Strange.” Twilight commented, looking at the torch in the fireplace.

“Pretty awesome too!” Spike ran to the surrounding wolves, inspecting the statues curiously, booping one of their metallic snouts.

The alicorn gripped the torch in her magic, the handle lighting in her aura. She tilted her head to the side, drawing the torch closer. Wood and metal, a traditional ceremonial torch.

While she inspected it, she felt a certain energy be drawn into the object. A portion of her aura turned a glowing light blue, the energy advancing through hers into the torch head. A blue flame ignited in the flameholder. It was similar to the fires in the surrounding lights.

Twilight jumped a bit at the withdrawal of magic. She hadn't had willed her aura to do so. A faint, hushed voice echoed in her mind. "...deliver us…" the light, feminine sounding voice pleaded.

Her ears perked, looking over at Spike. "Spike? Did you say something?" the princess checked.

Spike was still inspecting the neat statues surrounding the pedestal, a calm smile on his face. "Nope!" he answered.

Twilight nodded unsuredly, looking back at the fire holder. She took a shaky breath. Fortune favors the bold? Right? the mare asked herself, lowering the flame slowly.

The fireplace was immediately brought to life, blue fire crackling in front of her. It burst to flame very swiftly, The fires slowly forming a hole in the middle, the fireplace metal sliding open slowly.

"Woah! What did you do?" Spike came over, gawking at the cool flame.

"I lit it." she answered simply as they felt the ground below them rumble. Slowly, an alien-like cube began floating from the hole in the middle of the fire, rising above it magically with an ominous droning noise.

The hushed voice returned as it hovered above the flames. "We are many." it was much more audible, the voice layered with a multitude of others all speaking in synchronized crypticness. "We are one." it continued, beginning to float gently in front of Twilight, the three glowing lights on the front flickering slightly. "We are the-" it echoed inside the princess' head, before cutting off and collapsing to the hard stone ground with a loud Dink!

Twilight quickly withdrew her head, keeping that estranged and curious look on the powerless magical object. Spike joined her, giving the cube a weird look as well. "Did you hear that?" Twilight asked her dragon friend.

"Hear what?" Spike queried.

A Warning

“So… You’re telling me the cube can talk?” Spike gave his pony-sister a confused look.

“Yes!” Twilight paced in front of the same table they had kept the apple-lava, the weird box thing now taking its place. “It kept on saying ‘we’ and how it was…one of many, or something! Celestia knows what that means.”

Spike’s confused look turned to worry. “It was what?” the baby dragon asked.

“Then it stopped talking when it hit the ground.” she went up to the cube, prodding it with a hoof. “It had some kind of magic in it while it talked, it was glowing a little…” Twilight kept on prodding the thing before she lifted it up with her magic to get a better inspection of it. She could sense a heavy magic within the object. Certainly different to most pony magic but magic nonetheless.

“Erm, sure thing, Twi!” Twilight’s sudden curiosity over this cube was bothering him a bit.

Twilight sighed. “But why did it only speak to me? You obviously didn’t seem to hear it.” she rubbed a hoof to her chin as she floated the cube about.

Spike was edging to the doors of the library, knowing how ‘well’ Twilight’s experiments with objects she did not fully understand went. “Maybe it… Doesn’t like dragons?”

Twilight scoffed. “Yeah right, I don’t even think a sentient cube locked in there for so long had ever met a dragon.” she gazed behind her to look for Spike. “Spike?” the alicorn asked in response to his absence, dropping the cube on the table.

The library doors were slowly falling shut, supposedly from when Spike had exited. She neighed disappointingly. “Thanks, Spike.” The mare spoke sarcastically, lighting the doors with her magic to close them fully.

“Okay.” She turned to it. “So, err, box pony? Can you talk to me, please?” Twilight poked it. Nothing changed about the box, it simply remained in place.

Her ears lowered in disappointment at the metal cube. Well, it wasn’t exactly a cube. It looked as if a metallic cube was sliced in-between, a flesh shaped, unrecognizable ritual looking object crammed between the two equally divided sectors of the cube. It looked relatively comparable to one at least, and was honestly the easiest way to describe its appearance.

As she inspected the cube further, an idea drifted to her mind. “Perhaps if I empowered it slightly…” she muttered to herself, her horn glowing with magic as she prepared a transmissive blast of energy.

Her magical aura transmitted through her horn, charging into the cube. It lit and crackled with energy, charging with the alicorn’s magic.The eye-like lights on the ritual portion of the cube slowly began flickering on, humming brightly. It sluggishly rose, garbled voices and words sounding off into her mind as it began activating.

Twilight watched with excitement, enthralled by it’s process as she halted her magical infusement. Finally, the artifact flashed brightly, making the princess squeeze her eyes shut at the bright light. She raised a hoof in front of her eyes, attempting to block the rays emitting from the object.

She slowly lowered the hoof, squinting her eyes open as the brightness faded. Twilight looked up at the floating box. “You have awoken us.” the multi-layered voice announced in a near whisper.

“Eh-Hello, box-cube-pony-thingy?” she greeted the ancient artifact nervously, ears flattening as the possibilities of it’s dangers we’re finally realized.

The cube ‘looked’ down at her. “What are you?” it questioned assertively.

“A pony?” she answered simply.

The cube floated about, circling the mare as it inspected her. “Equus Unicus, we see.” it floated up after stating the alicorn’s species.

“Eh, yes. Err, What are you exactly?” the princess echoed it’s question.

“We are many. We are one.” they insisted.

She nodded to them slowly. “One of many…” Twilight muttered to herself, pondering what that could mean. One thing that contained many beings? Most likely.

”Your world is in danger, young princess.” they informed, rising above the table, looking down at her.

“Danger?” Twilight asked, ears perking. “Danger of what?”

The cube hummed lightly in the air. “Beasts of unimaginable strength. Magics you mortals would have near no comprehension of.” they warned. “Hide, run, fight. There is no way to retaliate. Your people’s new way of life shall be of eternal agony.”

The mare’s curious look grew further. “What?”

The artifact hung in the air gently, not replying. They had no further words to add to their warning. It wasn’t the first time they gave out such a grave prediction.

“W-What do you mean?” the mare asked. “Is there a way to stop it?”

“No.” they replied. “There was one. However, that was eons ago. And the world h̷̼̒͋̒͌e̴͔̮͈̻͘͠ wished to save was lost.”

“He?..” the doors behind her rushed open, the cube dropping on the table swiftly.

“Pinkie and Rarity are here.” Spike informed casually as Twilight tore her gaze from the now table-bound artifact.

She turned to the dragon. “Why?” she asked.

“They said something about Fluttershy being hurt. She’s in the hospital.” Spike said with a slight bit of worry for the pegasus.

“Fluttershy’s hurt?” Twilight took a step forward. “What happened to her?”

Spike shrugged. “That's what they're wondering too.”

Twilight Sparkle sighed, hovering the object into a nearby saddlebag and cramming it within. She closed it, hovering the bag up and onto the alicorn’s back. Just as I was getting something out of it… Them? She neighed the dilemma off as she followed after Spike.

The duo of magical creatures made their way through the halls of the Castle of Friendship, making their way down the dazzling, decoration-filled stairs and into the first floor, where the Table of Friendship resided.

Rarity was sitting calmly at her chair of the table, filing her hoof with a magic-engulfed nail file- hoof file? Whatever, I’m not that good with these goddamn horse words.

Pinkie on the other hand was looking around the room sporadically, her usual choice of action while waiting for somepony to greet her. She stopped suddenly and gasped at the sight of the alicorn and her dragon-helper as they made their way down the royal stairway. “There you are Twilight!” She squealed joyfully, zipping to her friend and wrapping her in a quick hug.

“Hey, Pinkie?” Twilight greeted with an awkward grin as she was skwooshed by the hard hold.

“Me and Rarity were thinking you were doing all weird like the others!” The extravagant pink pony exclaimed as she withdrew from her hug.

Twilight tilted her head, ear perking. “All the others?”

Rarity “Mhm”’ed as she filed her hoof, eyes still on the leg. “Rainbow Dash and Applejack are doing Celestia knows what! Dash keeps on going on about how her house got destroyed by some meteor-”

“Meteor?!” The alicorn asked in surprise.

“You bet!” Pinkie rejoined the conversation. “When we went to Applejack, she kept on going on and on about some red-apple-stuff that sounds pretty nasty, but the rest of her family seems to like it! I should give it a try sometime!” She gasped. “What if I use it in my next cupcake recipe?-”

“And what about Fluttershy?” Twilight stopped the excitable earth pony’s tangent.

Rarity looked over. “Oh! Did Spikey-wikey not tell you? She’s in the hospital.”

The Princess of Friendship nodded. “He did, but what actually happened to her? You know, specifically?”

“An animal attacked her.” Pinkie briefed.

“Animal? Attacking Fluttershy?” Twilight Sparkle was surprised. “That's… That sounds unbelievable! How?” worry met her tone.

Rarity sighed. “Perhaps she had forgotten to feed one of her bears. It must have been so traumatic for the poor thing!” She put a hoof to her head dramatically.

“It was actually a Komodo Dragon! Or so the nurses told us.” Pinkie bounced in front of the alicorn.

Twilight shook her head. “What in Celestia’s name is going on with everypony?” She asked as she started towards the exit doors of her castle.

“Crazy stuff!” Pinkie joined her swiftly, the two leaving behind Spike who was currently swooning over Rarity, as per usual.

The snobbish unicorn hopped out of her chair, going after her two friend’s lead. “Come along, Spikey-wikey!” She called, shaking the young dragon out of his stupor.

“Eh-yes, Rarity!” He followed the group too, making his way as soon as possible on his baby legs.

Blank Flank

[Author’s Note]

(Apologies for breaking the once a week chapter schedule. I had to focus on other things. Now I think everything should be alright. Sorry for leaving off on a bit of a cliffhanger. Enjoy, and feel free to hate me for the chapter name. I know, I’m evil.)

“I assume you all are here to see Fluttershy?” Nurse Redheart asked the trio of ponies, and a dragon.

“Yes, please.” Twilight answered as Pinkie Pie hopped around the waiting room, peeping over the shoulder of a stallion attempting to read a magazine from an emplaced shelf. He looked at the mare like she was crazy as she bounced from place to place, trying to scout the construction magazine.

“Oh, well she’s just this way!” The white nurse-pony led from behind her counter, going into a hallway which had numbered doors lining the walls.

Pinkie Pie ended up swiping the magazine from the stallion as she realized Rarity and Twilight were on their way. “Thanks, mister!” She shouted as she followed her friends.

The pink earth pony landed right next to Spike, somehow walking bipedally as she read. The four followed the white mare down the hallway, her looking around at the different doors. Twilight followed the nurse pony’s gaze worryingly as they encroached upon their location.

Pinkie Pie giggled a bit at the page she was reading. ‘Lightning fast construction, quicker than a blitz!’ An advertisement for a construction business showed on the page. “What even is a blitz?”

The magazine suddenly lit with a light blue aura before floating away. “Pay attention, Pinkie! We’ve got to make sure Fluttershy is alright!” Rarity had her head craned to the pink mare. “Now, do you have that ‘get well soon’ card?”

Pinkie nodded with a goofy smile, pulling an envelope from seemingly out of nowhere. “Yuppers! And the ‘get well soon’ gift-basket, and the ‘get well soon’ balloons!” She began pulling them straight from apparently the void essence. “A ‘get well soon’ cupcakes! Even a ‘get well soon’ muffin!” She held all these things somehow. “Oh, and let's not forget the pair of ‘get well soon’ cutie marks! Just in case she lost her first two.” She smiled innocently, holding up a pair of ‘get well soon’ stickers just the size of a pony’s markings.

The fancy unicorn nodded with closed eyes. “Good, good work Pinkie Pie.” She stated, opening her eyes to find that all the stuff she had pulled from nowhere seemingly had vanished. She had grown used to these kinds of time and space defying shenanigans.

“Here we are!” Nurse Redheart announced to the group, stopping in front of room 222.

Twilight looked up at the wooden door, taking a deep breath of the sterile hospital air. “Lets hope she isn’t hurt too bad.” She muttered, engulfing the door knob in front of her with her magic. Her ears twitched nervously as she mentally twisted the handle, hoofing her way inside with her friends.

“H-hey…” Fluttershy weakly muttered the greeting, coughing a small bit. A strange green substance hung on her lip afterwards.

“F-Fluttershy?” Twilight stammered a bit at the sight of her friend in such a poor condition. She laid on the hospital bed, pelt faded slightly in illness. There was a doctor and nurse at the bedside. Both unicorns. The nurse had gauze in her aura’s grip, dabbing on the pegasus’ lower body gently while the doctor pony held a clipboard up, checking stuff off on occasion.

Rarity gasped, coming to the bedside next to the nurse. “Fluttershy! You look… horrendous!” Pinkie Pie slowly joined her, refraining from her over-excited personality for just a moment.

Fluttershy snickered a small bit. “J-Just a little.” She had trouble getting her words out.

Spike went up to a nearby stool, hopping up to sit down and looking at his pegasus
friend with a worried expression as his alicorn friend went over to the doctor. “Hey, doctor?..” She looked at his nametag. “Haysworth?”

Doctor Haysworth glanced over at Twilight Sparkle. He was a light brown stallion with a pair of spectacles on. He had a white blaze down his head and muzzle. Twilight could just make out a couple white speckles on his sides and assumedly his back, below the doctor coat. The clothing covered his cutie mark however.

“Yes?” He replied with a mature voice, averting his eyes back to the clipboard.

Pinkie Pie brought out the tray of ‘get well soon’ cupcakes for her friend. “I got you these cupcakes!” She kept her voice low, assuming the mare was pretty sensitive in her current state.

“Oh, thank you.” Her voice was way more hushed than usual as she took one from the tray, munching into it slowly.

Twilight looked away from her other friends as they continued talking to Fluttershy. “What’s wrong with Fluttershy?” She asked, looking at Haysworth.

The doctor gave a stressed sigh. “We don’t know.” The stallion answered.

“Don’t know?” Twilight tilted her head.

Fluttershy laughed a small bit to her worrying friends. “It’s a-alright! Don’t worry, f-f-friends… It's just a lizard bite…” She mumbled, eyes growing heavy before she rapidly blinked them awake again.

Doctor Haysworth looked away from Fluttershy and back at Twilight Sparkle. “Look at the bed sheets next to her flank.” He whispered, the princess allocating her look down to the bunk.

From below the blanket Fluttershy was tucked under, a sickly green color stained the white covers underneath. The alicorn looked at the disgusting color in slight horror, more of the green stuff trailing down and off the bed. Twilight lit a corner of the blanket with her magic, lifting it slightly to see the source of it.

Fluttershy’s leg was heavily wounded, covered in bandages and gauze which were completely doused in blood and a similar green color. It all made up for a disgusting light brown from the colors mixing. One wound was on her ankle and the other was where her cutie mark should be. She gasped, letting the blanket drop.

The other two mares, too focused on their conversation, failed to realize what the nurse was doing on the other side, dabbing away the leaking green substance from the wound actively.

“What… Is that?” Twilight whispered to the doctor.

The pony doctor sighed, lowering the clipboard to his side. “Follow me.” He said, starting out of the room and to the door.

Twilight glanced at her friend sadly before following Haysworth outside.

“Okay, so what in Celestia’s name is going on with her?” Twilight questioned as soon as the door shut behind the two.

“We’re not sure, but we know it isn’t any natural illness we’ve come across before.” He floated the clipboard in front of the princess, several pictures of Fluttershy’s sides with several drawn on question marks surrounding the disgusting depictions of the wounds.

Twilight gave a disgruntled look at the injury. Especially the ones on her sides, the large gashes and scars overlapping her cutie mark. It was practically unseeable now. “What… Lizard could have done this?”

The doctor shook his head. “That’s the thing… If she was bit by a Komodo Dragon like she said, the poison would have killed her two nights ago. No, this was certainly from something more intelligent.”

“Well, ponies don’t have claws!” Twilight rushed to point out.

“I didn’t say it was a pony.” The doctor replied. “At first we thought it was a dragon. But, when we got the substance tests on the green stuff, the only thing our ponies in the lab could gather was that it was similar to Swamp Fever.” He shrugged. “But if she had something like that, then the yellow markings certainly would have appeared by now…” Haysworth pondered to himself.

“Is there any way we could help?” She put a hoof to her chin. “I know that the Flash Bee Honey cures stuff like it. Perhaps we just need to find th-”

The doctor shook his head. “We’ve already tried that. Zecora has been supplying us with the honey after the two discovered it.” He sighed. “We tried, but nothing worked.” Haysworth repeated.

Twilight was filled with worry over her friend. “Is it… Lethal?”

“That's the thing.” Haysworth began. “We have no idea what it exactly is. However, judging by the frequent c-”

“Fluttershy!” Pinkie Pie shouted from inside, dreadfully serious.

Twilight’s ears perked up, rushing into the room. The pegasus was convulsing on the bed, shivering and shaking in apparent distress. The mare gasped in agony, trying to halt the sudden pain and movements forced throughout her body.

“Fluttershy?! What's going on!” Twilight asked as the pegasus writhed.

The doctor sighed, looking at the nurse with a not-so-concerned look. It seemed like it had been happening frequently.

“Fluttershy! Calm down, darling!” Rarity held her shoulders in her hooves, trying to stop her from shaking.

Slowly, ever so slightly, the pegasus calmed down. The shaking slowed, calming down to a halt as her eyes slowly closed, the pony delving into unconsciousness.

Rarity let go as her friend stopped, worryingly stepping away. She looked down at her friend’s heavily injured side. “By Celestia…” She muttered at the sight of the disgusting wound.

Haysworth leaned towards Twilight Sparkle. “She’s been experiencing frequent convulsions since she was checked in.” He whispered.

Twilight sighed. “How in Celestia’s name are we going to fix this?”

The doctor thought a bit. “I’m not sure there is a way… Then again, perhaps Zecora would have some kind of idea.” He suggested.

“Of course, Zecora would know all about this kind of stuff.” Twilight responded, nodding slowly.

Doctor Haysworth nodded as well. “Yes, once-if the zebra finds you a cure, bring it back to me and we’ll hopefully have your friend back in shape.”

“Zecora?!” Pinkie jumped into the conversation. “I haven’t talked to her in a while! I wonder how she’s doing? She must be having tons of fun doing witch-doctor stuff! Being a witch-doctor sounds fun.”

“I’m sure we can find something from Zecora.” Twilight assured Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

Rarity smiled. “Zecora is a very bright pony. I’m sure she knows exactly what to do!”

Twilight turned to the bed bound pegasus. “I promise, we’ll come back with something in no time, Fluttershy.” She reassured her unconscious friend before starting out, Pinkie bouncing behind her and Rarity elegantly following. Spike looked up from the magazine, realizing they had left before rushing after them.

~

Spike brushed a piece of foliage out of his way sluggishly. The humid swamp air clung to him, making the dragon slightly sluggish through the heat filled air. “Are we almost there?” He asked with a groan

The Everfree Forest was surrounded by a musty heat. Dark green bushes and leaves surrounded them, the canopy blocking most of Celestia’s holy light. Various animals chirped, filling the air with sounds of livelihood, one of the only comforting things about the Everfree.

“Nearly.” Twilight replied, easily walking through the short bushes that were just the height of the baby dragon.

“I wonder what Zecora has been up to lately?” Rarity pondered out loud over the ripe forest’s nature.

Pinkie smiled. “Maybe she’s making some cakes for us!”

“Pinkie, darling. I’m not sure Zecora exactly specializes in… Baking.” The posh mare to her right replied.

“Everypony bakes once in a while!” She pointed out. “Who knows?” The pink jokester stated as Twilight levitated a large leaf out of their view, advancing through the swampland.

“Hey! We’re almost there.” Twilight smiled at the sight of her tree emplaced home.

Spike scampered up beside her. “Yeah, you’re right!” He exclaimed, continuing on towards the home.

The four encroached on Zecora’s home, Pinkie in particular bouncing to the front of the group and knocking on the wooden door. “Hello! Zecora?! Are you home!” She shouted in an unreasonably loud fashion. “We have another one of those mystery disease thingies you know about!”

The door suddenly opened, the zebra standing before the group. “What brings you four all the way to my door?” She rhymed questioningly, Twilight shimmying her way to the front past Rarity.

“Our friend’s in trouble. She’s sick with… We don’t know.” Twilight confessed.

Zecora nodded wisely. “I see you have come to me for the usual.” She turned, heading in. “Would you mind telling me what has happened to this individual?”

Twilight followed in first, Spike joining next to her and the last two mares filing in from behind. The aroma of several herbs, spices and candles filled the nostrils of the four, pleasant and tangy. Pinkie Pie immediately began inspecting the various masks, gourds and other relics lining the literal tree house. Giggling if they looked silly.

Rarity took a strong attraction to the surrounding masks along the wall, a specific one hanging on the wall with the shape of a toucan’s head. Three blue stripes fell along the mask’s ‘beak’ and a couple of fancy feathers sprouted from the top of it. It looked particularly used.

The princess looked about as well, although much more focused on the task at hand. “Well, Fluttershy recently got checked into the Ponyville hospital. She says she got attacked by an animal but she’s… You know, Fluttershy.”

Zecora made her way to her cauldron, gripping the spoon inside of the orange liquid and began stirring it. “This better not be phony.” She started around the spoon. “I’ve been getting strange reports from everypony.” The last time the zebra had met with Fluttershy, the animals she interacted with weren’t very affected by the pegasus’ creature-friendly charm.

Twilight shook her head. “We feel like it was something else. It…” She had trouble recalling her friend’s grievous wounds. “It scratched off her cutie marks right off.” She explained.

The witch-doctor’s eyes widened slightly at the explanation, remaining focused on her cauldron however to let the princess continue.

“All her scars had this weird green puss stuff coming from them. Like, leaking from them.”

“By Celestia! It smelled like death.” Rarity added.

Zecora thought for a moment, lifting her head from the cauldron. “Would you all have happened to see what had injured her? I may know a particular cure.”

The alicorn shook her head. “No idea.”

The zebra grew an uncertain look, going to a nearby window and looking outside. “I may know how to aid your friend. However, the thing that had caused it must be brought to its end.” She began. “A treacherous beast, mightier than myth. You must end it in a battle that is swift.”

“End? Like, kill?” Twilight tilted her head.

Zecora nodded. “Slay the beast, before you become it’s next feast. The being is very lethal, the destruction of it’s strikes are maximal.” She explained in her rhymes.

“And where do we find this thing exactly?” Spike asked.

“These very woods. Be careful when hunting it, if it catches you off-guard, you will be killed in all likelihood.” The zebra explained ominously.

Twilight awkwardly laughed. “That’s, hehe, comforting?”

Zecora nodded gently, going over to the portions of the tree’s walls that extended out into sort of tables. Between the potions and candles sat an object wrapped in old red and dreary gold cloth. She picked it up gently, going over to Twilight. “Keep this artifact with you. It has aided me in battling a few.” She offered it mystically.

Twilight Sparkle looked down at it, engulfing it in her magic and levitating it with her. “Thank you, Zecora. We’ll find… Whatever the thing is soon. Do we really have to kill it?” The princess asked, hopeful for an alternative.

Zecora shook her head. “That is the only way. I know them from ancient books, but I’ve only begun to see them yesterday.”

The alicorn hadn’t killed anything before. “What if it has… A family? Friends?” She asked hesitantly.

The zebra expected this kind of reaction. “They are not like us. It cannot make friends, and it’s thirst for blood is a clear must.”

Twilight gave a slightly unnerved look, opening her mouth to begin a sentence only to get cut off by the rhyming witch-doctor.

“Well, you four better be off! The creature will be getting no less tough.” Zecora bid them.

The alicorn hesitantly nodded, turning and walking out with her group in tow.

Once the four were out, Rarity began. “That was cryptic.” She commented as they returned to the outside swampland.

“Spooky, even!” Pinkie agreed.

Twilight nodded, looking down at the object Zecora had given her. She slowly removed the red cloth covering it, staring down at a stone tablet. There, in the middle of it stood the exact same symbol she had seen in her castle, where she had found the cube. It glared angrily at her.

Gotcha!

“Mr. Monster thing!” Pinkie shouted throughout the forest obnoxiously. “Mr. Monster thing?!” she looked over at a nearby tree, spotting a large claw mark with green, glowing ooze dripping from it. “I really like your tree art-”

“Pinkie Pie! Stop shouting!” Twilight scolded in a harsh whisper. “For all we know it could be stalking us right now!” she shoved a bundle of bushes out of her way, leading the group through the swamp-like land.

Spike joined the conversation, pointing a small finger to Twilight. “Twilight, I think you’re being a bit too worried about all of this monster stuff.” he began. “Zecora has always been the type of pony to over mystify things.”

“I do believe that she’s a zebra, Spikey.” Rarity commented.

“Yeah, she’s the type of zebra to over mystify things.” the dragon corrected himself.

Twilight nodded, leading the group further along. “Occasionally,” she agreed at first. “But this time was different, she would hardly ever mention death outright. Something's off.”

As the unicorn made her way about, she felt a small rumble from her saddlebag. “Stay weary, princess. The È̷̢̨v̷͕̝̓ỉ̶̻ḻ̶͙̎ ̷͍̈́̂may be around any corner.” the mass of voices muttered in her mind. Her eyes grew wide, turning to see if anypony had just heard the object.

Spike was still looking at his pony-sister while Rarity and Pinkie were chatting about what kind of monster they could be battling. “Oh! Perhaps we’ll be fighting Diamond Dogs! I’d love to steal their gems again.” Rarity grinned mischievously.

“They cannot hear us.” they whispered in Twilight’s mind.

A thoughtful look formed on her face, looking forward again and beginning to mutter apparently to herself. “They can still hear me.” she pointed out, nearly forgetting the object’s insistence of the use of plurals to refer to itself.

“No, us.” it emphasized.

Twilight began to notice how confusing this was, slowly understanding. “Oh, alright?"

"You may need assistance battling i̶t̷, princess." It began. "Once you feel you are in danger, use us.” They informed.

Her ears folded back in annoyance at its crypticness. "Use you? And what do you mean by “it?”-"

Pinkie butted in. "Who are ya talkin' to?"

The alicorn's ears folded back in surprise. "Eh, nopony!" she answered.

"Twilight." she said in a scolding manner. "Are you going coo-coo again?"

Twilight scoffed. "That was a couple moons ago! You went pretty coo-coo too." she defended, pointing an accusing hoof.

"At least I didn't hurt anypony." she defended.

"At least I didn't pretend to have a party with stuffed animals like a foal-"

"What is that atrocious smell?!" Rarity announced, interrupting the feud.

Pinkie Pie sniffed the air, Twilight joining her. The party-pony "Blegh!"'d after a moment of inhaling the smell.

The scent of death hit the alicorn's nostrils, just like with the 'apple-lava.'

"I don't know what you all are talking about." Spike gave a small shrug. "It smells fantastic out here!"

Twilight gave the dragon a completely confuzzled look before stopping suddenly. She gazed through the areas between the leaves of the heavy foliage, a glowing red light catching her eye.

"What is that?" Rarity queried, leaning aside from Twilight.

Twilight set aside several bushes, opening to a clearing. In the middle sat a sizzling, crackling pool of the lava-like substance. Something about it gave an ominous feeling to the three mares, Spike pushing past them excitedly.

"Don't mind if I do!" he said happily as he rushed to the pool, arms outstretched.

Rarity started after him. "Spike! I'm not sure you should drink that!" she suggested as the baby dragon got on his knees in front of the pool.

Spike snickered. "Why would it be bad for me?" he brushed it off.

Spike? Ignoring Rarity? she averted a suspicious look to the pool. She could hardly imagine such a thing happening. "Maybe you shouldn't?" Twilight suggested.

"Nah, I'm fine." he replied, dipping his head and beginning to drink desperately. As if it was the first thing he had ever drank in a week.

Rarity gave Spike a weird look as he gulped the disgusting fluid.

"If we were you, we wouldn't let him drink that." they rumbled from her saddlebag.

Twilight headed their advice, engulfing Spike in her magical aura, hovering the still sipping dragon away from the pool.

Her dragon-brother opened his eyes, looking around for a moment as he realized the stuff was gone. "Twilight!" he groaned.

"How could you even drink that?!" the white unicorn scoffed dramatically. "It just smells reprehensible!" she withdrew a hoof further from the pool, Twilight hovering Spike nearer to the group, back into the shady foliage.

Pinkie Pie nodded quickly in agreement. "I wouldn't even drink it for a joke! And I'd drink anything to make somepony laugh!" she exclaimed.

Spike crossed his arms grumpily within his pony-sister’s magical grasp. “Nothing that tastes that good could be bad for you!” he retorted. “I’ve never even tasted anything like it! Never smelled something like it either.”

The alicorn tilted her head as she looked at him. “What about some of the apple-lava back home?”

“What’s apple-lava?” he asked curiously.

Twilight gave him a concerned look. “You don’t remember that? It was just today.”

Spike returned a confused look before he squinted his eyes at the underbrush behind the ponies, spotting something in the foliage. His eyes suddenly widened, pointing at the bushes. "RARITY, WATCH OUT!" he shouted with a scared look.

"Hm?" Rarity turned, the other ponies looking behind her. She gasped in horror, staring up at an ominous figure, three growing green dots across its head. There was a light green x across its chest. "AAAAHH!" she screeched, jumping away just before the beast slammed a large hand into the grass, narrowly missing the posh unicorn.

A much lighter green trailed from the grass as the monster drew the claw from it, swiping once more at Rarity. The mare jumped back again before turning to dash off. The lanky creature gripped the unicorn’s finely stroked tail just before she could sprint off, the mare yelping from the tug. “SOMEPONY DO SOMETHING!” her screeches pierced the air as she was grabbed, the monster letting out a gurgly growl at the pony, mandibles stretching.

Spike had been dropped by Twilight a couple seconds ago, the alicorn letting out a small shout in surprise. “Twilight! Use that tablet thing!” he urged.

The alicorn shookily nodded, already having the saddlebag opened. She floated the tablet out, flying it towards the monster, straining to remain calm as her magic sputtered slightly. As it floated out, the alicorn could notice the familiar insignia now glowing a bright red rather than being lightly etched into it.

The tall beast’s grip slipped slightly at the sight of the tablet, Rarity tearing away from its large claws. Of course, the hands still took away a good couple of hairs from her tail on the way out.

“Stop hurting my friend!” Twilight shouted at it as the tablet was presented to it, its three beady eyes growing wide at the sight of it. It stepped back for a moment, screeching in horror. Just as the alicorn drew it nearer, a bright green flash went off where the creature was, the flash lowering to reveal that the creature had vanished.

Rarity gasped for air, panic filling her veins. She turned back to where the monster used to be. “Wh-where did it go?!”

The rest of the group looked about frantically. “I’m not sure!” Twilight replied.

“Pinkie, behind you!” Spike pointed in alarm. Twilight Sparkle looked over swiftly, noticing a small green flame sizzling mid-air behind the party-pony.

Pinkie glanced behind her. “What? It’s just a fi-” the beast suddenly fwooshed back into this plane, taking the flame’s place before swiftly gripping the mare’s jaws with either hand.

Terror struck her usually joyful eyes as she was lifted to her hind legs forcefully, the monster putting her in a position to completely rip the pony’s mouth apart. She yelled through the thing’s long claws, her mouth’s lining scarring and beginning to bleed. Pinkie muffled through the blood as the thing attempted to murder her.

“Pinkie!” Rarity shouted in a ghastly fashion, a cracking noise coming from the pony’s jaw as the beast took its sweet time, hoping the pony was relishing in the agony.

“Use us.” the cube urged rather stoically for the occasion.

“Use?! What does that me-?”

The cube hovered out of the saddlebag swiftly, a loud SHINK shooting out. Several sharp circles of blades and pointy ritualistic looking objects spread from the cube. It hummed ominously as the weapons orbited around them. “Sorry, it is a force of habit.” it apologized for the delay.

It flung towards the monster, the rotating blades just barely missing the party-pony and slicing straight through the thing. It chopped off the head of the tall creature, the blood fountaining from the beast’s neck. The horrifying head toppled off, the body slumping and falling to the ground, bringing Pinkie down with it.

Rarity let out a horrified gasp, watching the gore with extremely wide eyes before putting a hoof to her head and collapsing into a faint.

Twilight’s eyes widened at the sight of the kill. It was so… Quick. She could hardly capture her barings as the cube slowly returned, its circulating blades covered in green and red viscera. The blades retreated back into itself before slowly hovering into her bag.

Pinkie was lying on the ground next to the bleeding corpse of the thing, it’s hands still in her mouth. She mumbled and muffled around it, seemingly no serious harm to her as she tried to remove the hands.

Twilight rushed over. “Pinkie! Are you okay?” she gasped in worry for her friend, engulfing the beast’s limp hands with her magic and slowly setting them away from Pinkie’s mouth.

“Never been better” she pushed past the pure agony writhing through her mouth and jaw muscles, managing to cover it over with her usual cheerful self.

“Are you sure?” she gave a confused look.

She coughed a bit of blood from her mouth, crimson dribbling down her chin. “Some cotton balls would be nice! Oh! Those taste good.” she grinned sweetly, only giving the group an uneasy feeling.

“That is… Erm, interesting, Pinkie. Just get away from that thing, alright?” Twilight pleaded, urging her party-loving friend along as she stepped away from the corpse of the monster.

She nodded joyfully. “Okie-Dokey-Lokey!” the pink earth pony made her way next to her unconscious friend

Twilight went up to it as Pinkie walked off, nudging the corpse of the still bleeding monster. It had tried to kill one of her bestest friends, but something about the way its severed green and red bleeding head stared up with those fading lights for eyes made her feel bad for it.

“Rarity, are you alright?” The young dragon asked, poking the unconscious unicorn not too far from Twilight and the corpse.

The studious alicorn had never seen such a being like it. I guess the most comparable thing would be a dragon? But it has no wings and it’s too spindly. Plus, the beast would be scaly, this thing has large patches of bug-like armor and exoskeleton. At least she guessed it was an exoskeleton.

Rarity clambered to consciousness as Twilight mused to herself, blinking the tiredness away from her mind as she slowly sat up. “I-I think so, Spike.” she offered a hoof to the clearly tinier dragon, essentially pretending to be brought up by him. The unicorn made sure to keep her vision averted from the dead body.

Twilight had also never heard of a creature able to teleport like that, aside from ponies and other blatantly magical creatures. However there was no sight of a horn. A being this tall? With such sharp claws, tough natural armor and poison? It had to be some kind of apex predator. A creature that had intentionally evolved to kill. Its horrifying appearance didn’t make it a much friendlier sight either.

She shook her head gently. “I… Haven’t seen anything like it.” Twilight mumbled to herself as she gazed across the grass in front of where the thing’s head would be, painted in it’s blood.

Pinkie Pie jumped in front of Twilight’s gaze. “Thanks for the save, Twi! If you hadn’t used that cube then I would’ve been dead meat! Literally!” she giggled.

Spike gave the party pony an estranged look. “How in Celestia’s name could you be so ha-”

“Classified information!” she bounced in front of her, blood dribbling down her chin. She stepped away before starting off back in the direction they came. “Let’s get back to the hospital. Fluttershy definitely should be better now!”

Twilight gave an uneasy look, before beginning to follow. “I need to give this tablet back to Zecora anyways.”

Good as New

The four had arrived once more at the Ponyville hospital. Twilight opened the glass doors with her magic, keeping it agape for her friends as they made their way into the sterile smelling environment of the hospital's waiting room.

The ponies that were in there earlier had gone, now replaced with new patients. A pregnant mare with a stallion beside her, a filly with a hurt arm, a very sneezy magenta pony and the exception, the same light yellow stallion looking at construction magazines absent-mindedly. He had been waiting there a long while.

As the four made their way ahead, Pinkie swiped the magazine from him, earning an annoyed groan from the pony before he shrugged it away and grabbed another one. Pinkie’s mouth hurt like Celestia knows what, but she still could push through the pain for a simple gag or two.

“Mis Magamimes mis mool!” Pinkie spook through her swollen mouth wounds, blood still making its way down her chin.

Rarity glanced over with a worried look as Twilight spoke to the nurse. Light yellow with a baby blue and white colored mane, the mare was Nurse Snowheart.

“Oh, hey you four!" She waved a hoof smally. "Back to see Flutte- Oh, dear.” she looked at Pinkie worryingly.

Rarity sighed dramatically. “It was horrible! While we were looking for a cure, Pinkie was ravaged by some kind of… animal!”

The nurse shook her head sympathetically. “What a shame. Though, they don't seem too grave.” Nurse Snowheart started towards the double doors of the hospital's halls. “Some cotton balls should be fine. Stitches at most.”

“Myay! Smitchmes!” Pinkie cheered, reeling in pain internally.

How in Celestia’s name does she do that? Twilight questioned as the party pony was led away by Snowheart into the halls, the doors swinging. Now it was just Twilight, Rarity and Spike.

“My my, what shall we do now, Twilight?” the posh pony looked over at her friend.

She shrugged. “I suppose now, we wait.” The alicorn stated, turning and clopping towards one of the comfy waiting chairs in the lounge and lowering her saddle bag next to the seat.

“I suppose you’re right. If what we did really helped Fluttershy, then she should be coming out of those doors at any minute.” Rarity agreed as she sat next to the princess, grabbing a fashion magazine from a well placed rack.

Twilight let out a long sigh, enlightening her horn and floating a book on magic out of her saddle bag. A large book about ancient Equestrian artifacts. Her horn grew brighter as she more specifically manipulated the object, furling through dozens of pages, ensuring she would land on where she had last left off.

She shuffled about into a more comfortable position, slipping into a studious mode. There is bound to be something about this artifact here. Twilight thought to herself, thinking that she had skimmed through it too swiftly back in her library. This was her oldest book in her collection, at least the oldest in Modern Ponish. She was efficient in Old Ponish, however reading enough of it for extended periods would often boggle her brain in the end.

“We doubt there is.“ a multitude of voices spoke in her mind, making the mare jump before realizing who it was.

Wait, you can hear my thoughts? the princess queried.

“Yes.” the voice replied.

Twilight grew a deadpan face. This whole time I’ve been making myself look crazy to everypony, while I could’ve just been thinking to you? she thought in an annoyed tone.

“Yes.” They repeated with a lack of sympathy in its tone.

The Princess of Friendship rolled her eyes, flipping through a couple more pages. Why wouldn’t I be able to find you in here? she asked.

“We are old. Ancient. Pre-history, one could consider.“ it explained, her saddlebag rumbling with every reverb filled word it informed Twilight with. “We were sealed in your home countless decades ago, before your castle was fully entombed beneath the earth.“

I see… Twilight replied. The castle had to have been above ground at some point. How else would the crystal building be decorated and furnished so naturally? Before Spike interrupted us, you talked about beasts that would end Equestria.

“Is that what this land is called?” they realized. “Yes, I was.”

She grew a determined look. And that monster we fought… Was that one of them?

“Most definitely.” The cube answered. “It’s form and physical shape was unfamiliar, however, the energy and magic it gave, it’s behavior. All trademarks of Ţ̵̅̓͒h̵͙̆͊e̸̟̾̀ ̷͔̙͝ͅȆ̷̠̼̲ṽ̴̤͚̏͝i̷͈̻̳̊̌ļ̶̛̣̠͍̂̇” they crackled at the end of their sentence, the telepathic link once more breaking slightly thanks to the simple reference.

It was a little uncanny from what the alicorn knew about telepathic speech. Often, if a being or group of enough magical or physical strength was mentioned through telepathy, the links would start breaking slightly. Like Discord, King Sombra or Tirek. Around that range.

A strange look grew on the alicorn’s face. I see. The Evil. She dug back to earlier today when it explained ‘The Evil.’ It was a rather mystical title for such a thing, however it got the point across. Twilight partially wished that they would stop being so cryptic. You mentioned someone. A ‘he’ that was able to fight back against ‘The Evil.’

“H̵̬͖͈͕͂͘į̴̛̟͉͙́̿̊m̵̤̬̺͆…” it began. Twilight certainly would have to study the strange telepathic interactions with this artifact. She mentally noted the keywords when talking about certain topics. “H̴̛͉͓̼͍̊e̴̞͒ is most certainly gone. No being could have kept on going from where I last saw ẖ̶̣̼̲̝̫̿͂̇̀̚i̷̗͇͊̕͝m̸̤̄̾͆͘.”

If there is any chance that he is still… alive, how might I find him? Twilight queried desperately. She didn’t want to take any chances, if she didn’t listen to this cube and Equestria did fall under siege by other things like that monster, it would be her fault.

The Praeleanthor sighed. “Perhaps. I have last seen him many millennia ago, however if any being would know his whereabouts, it would be-”

Rarity gasped. “By Celestia!” the white unicorn exclaimed. “Twilight, you must witness this horrible excuse of a dress!” she shoved the magazine page in front of the princess’ face.

Twilight looked within the page, a mare posed all poshly in a puffy brown and pink dress. Admittedly, it did look pretty tacky, although much more important matters were at hand. “That’s-err, interesting, Rarity. But I need to focus.” the alicorn stated.

“Oh! Well, I do apologize dear.” she replied, withdrawing the magazine.

“No proble-” just before Twilight could continue her talk with the cube, the hospital doors swung open, a weak yet much healthier looking Fluttershy shambling out. She actively tore out pieces of medical equipment that was linked to her, the fluid of the IV spilling out.

“I’m sorry! Sorry!” she exclaimed as she scooched past several nurses and doctors.

“Fluttershy! Come back here!” Nurse Redheart shouted down the hospital hall, galloping after her.

Her condition was definitely better than before. The patches of gauze over her cutie marks and lower leg lacked the leaking of any green fluid, and it seemed like the wounds had begun the healing process by now. “I promise! I feel much better.” there was a clear look of worry on the mare’s face.

"Fluttershy! The wounds haven't fully healed." the nurse shouted as the pegasus limped on into the waiting room. The nurse gave up once she was in there, neighing in annoyance.

She stopped momentarily, looking at the group in surprise. "Oh, hey…" Fluttershy waved a hoof nervously at her friends.

"Fluttershy!" Rarity went up to her. "Are you okay? How do you feel? You certainly look less ghastly than before."

"I'm feeling much better." the shy pegasus mumbled something incomprehensible even to the keen eared ponies.

"What?" Twilight asked, joining beside Rarity.

"I-I am feeling a lot better now, thank you." Fluttershy repeated louder, starting towards the hospital exit with a shamble. "Ow…" she muttered lightly in pain.

Her alicorn friend followed. "What's the rush for?"

"M-My animal friends." she answered, stopping in her tracks as her voice contorted with worry. "I've been gone for a while, they must be so lonely!" the pegasus came up with.

Twilight gave her a stranger look. "But, you have gone weeks without visiting them before." she pointed out. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?"

She stepped a little closer to her friends. "What's really the matter, dear?" Rarity questioned.

Fluttershy drew a long breath before beginning to speak. "I had a… horrible nightmare." the pegasus confessed. "And I'm not sure anypony wants to hear it…"

Rarity walked in front of her friend, placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder, gaining a sympathetic look. "You can tell us, we are your friends dear!" she encouraged.

The pegasus shakingly nodded, closing her eyes before opening her mouth to tell the three about what she had dreamt about…

~̵̨̰͝

Fluttershy winced in a familiar, yet much more conscious agony. Her back stung with pain, right at the base of where her wings were. An extreme heat surrounded her, like standing next to lava. As she slowly opened her eyes, she realized that she was in fact surrounded by the hot substance on all sides but one.

She seemed to be on a collapsed bridge over the magma, the broken area behind her leading to even more of it. Her hide on her legs were sizzled, burnt gravely with several blisters surrounding a length of chains. They were so hot that they burnt a bright yellow as they were tightly fastened around each limb. They were practically melting with her flesh.

The wingless pegasus was quick to notice more ponies behind her, bedraggled and hopeless looks in their eyes as they dragged on the same chain she was molded to. Their manes and coats were faded and torn, several wounds across their bodies. Every pegasus had two bloody torn holes in their hide where their wings would've proudly stood. Every unicorn’s horn was either broken off or completely torn out. The earth ponies were lucky.

They were all chained together, like prisoners as the line was pushed forward. Two beasts covered their sides, taller than most standard buildings in their bipedal stance with hard chitinous skin over horrifyingly large muscles. Between their natural armor, lava flowed, like life force. Above their chilling faces was a duo of large horns, blood dripping from them.

Over the groans and moans of pain surrounding her, Fluttershy could hear the distant cries and screeches of agony far ahead. A ginormous castle stood far in front of them, spiraling into the orange and red, rune-filled sky with a tall tower.

In front of the dark stone fortress stuck out a multitude of spikes. Mounted on them were corpses, heads, wings and horns of many different ponies. The bodies lacked color, their magical essence and blood completely drained.

There was not a single color nearby that wasn’t black, red, orange or brown. Only the still alive ponies around her provided a more colorful palette, however faded their coats may be.

Fluttershy was speechless, letting out small whimpers of pain every now and then as she froze, stopping thanks to the lead mare. “W-We… We can’t keep going…” She squeaked stubbornly, out of breath. One of the monsters looked at her, its large lethal claws covered in a coat of viscera “Why… Why can’t you just kill us here?” the hornless unicorn leading the line pleaded. She was absolutely hopeless.

The animal-loving pegasus’ breathing hastened at the sight of one of the beasts grinning a gnarled smile. The lead mare was only three or so ponies ahead. “I-...” Fluttershy tried to speak, but all that came out was the single letter and a pain filled croak.

“My sister…” the lead mare sobbed a small bit, looking down at the viscera covered chains in front of her. “Just, let me join her…” she closed her eyes fatefully as the other monster joined its sibling at the front, grinning gleefully down at her.

“Thistlebloom! Please, this isn’t the only way!” A stallion not too far behind in the line shouted, Fluttershy not able to get a good angle on him from her position. “M-Maybe we can survive this?” He pondered hopefully.

Thistlebloom, or so she was referred to, shook her head as she looked back at the line. “I… I can’t keep on going…”

“Don’t! Ple-” the stallion's pleading was interrupted as Fluttershy felt a sharp tug of the chains, the baby blue unicorn at the front being lifted up.

The whole line staggered forward as the lead pony screeched. “No! No, I-I changed my mind!” One of the beasts was holding her up by her two hind legs, the other licking its lips as it stared at her with two soulless, beady, white eyes. “Ple-AAHHHH!” her screeching echoed in chorus with the ones inside the fortress as the thing began stretching her two hind legs apart from each other horizontally.

It wasn’t long before the group heard a horrifying crack from the mare’s legs as they were torn away from each other, blood spraying out from the numerous broken and destroyed arteries and veins. Crimson speckled the group of pony’s already beaten faces, the rest of the mare's body collapsing to the ground leglessly. She had either died instantly or fallen unconscious from the pain.

The beast gently casted the mare’s right leg into its mouth, chomping the hot metal off with a couple of sparks. Fluttershy looked on in horror as its brother on the left picked up the upper half of the unicorn’s body, taking a large bite out of her head and upper torso before tearing the bone, flesh and blood away.

Fluttershy could audibly hear retching from some of the ponies around her, if not that then sobs of fear and terror. The pegasus heard screaming and pleading from where the stallion who had begged for Thistleblooms life stood.

Once the beasts quickly consumed their victim, one of them gripped a lead part of the chain and lightly tugged the ponies ahead, all of them staggering forward from the immense pull. At least immense to them.

Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut, breaking from her traumatized state as she felt a tear roll down her face from all the pain and suffering she was both witnessing and going through. Her legs moved without her even noticing. She had been doing it for so long now that it was second nature. By the time she opened her eyes she could hear a loud, ominous creaking ahead, the line was just in front of the dark castle.

The rune decorated, nearly unbreakable front door slowly swinged apart with a shrill screech. Once the door opened, the screams and shouts of the dying grew ever louder. It hurt her ears as they were dragged closer towards the courtyard.

She couldn’t tear her eyes away as she saw just what was ahead. A large, deep dark pit surrounded by burning embers, the flames opening to allow the line to be led in front of it. The pain ridden cries and shrill yells of unbearable agony filled her ears. It was all the pegasus could hear as she hesitantly looked down.

Her eyes somehow found a way to grow wider at the sight of what was inside. The walls of the pit was a cage filled with still living ponies, limbs and body parts desperately reaching out between the bars in anguish. At the sight of the group, the hundreds of trapped ponies screeched and screamed for help.

“HELP US! SAVE US!” They all shouted in synchronicity, the group of horrified ponies at the top feeling the ground shake from the pleads. At the bottom of the pit was a lake of blood, several dead bodies floating at the surface of it with looks of pure horror.

Fluttershy gulped, tears beginning to roll her eyes as she blinked. “No… P-Please, Celestia no…” she sobbed between her words as the beasts pulled the chains closer towards the edge, the lead stallion who was now also crying, slipping a hoof off the ledge. “Wh-what did we do..?” She managed to let out, looking at the beasts.

One monster moved a hand behind the lead unicorn, shoving the pony off the edge remorselessly. Fluttershy slipped. “NO!” She felt herself be dragged forward by gravity as the next pony in line also fell off, leaving her at the lead. “NO! NO, PLEASE! YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THI-” She screamed in terror as she was dragged off and into the pit, Fluttershy falling with the rest of her chainmates down the hole.

She only had a moment or two for her tear filled eyes to look at the bottom as it arrived closer and closer…

~̷́͜

Fluttershy had abridged the tale for the three, keeping out much of the more disturbing parts. At the end of the story, she was holding back tears of fear. Twilight had a shocked look, Rarity a disgusted one.

Spike looked up from the comic book he had been reading. He occasionally glanced up to listen to Fluttershy further, but for the most part he hadn't heard much of it. “That sounds terrible, Fluttershy!” Spike sympathized

“But, there’s no need to fear, sweetie. It was just a dream!” she comforted. “Ponies have bad dreams all the time! Especially when they are sick.”

Twilight nodded in agreement, shaking the surprise away. “Maybe whatever you had was affecting your dreams?” The alicorn suggested.

Fluttershy nodded slowly. “Maybe, but… It all just felt so real.”

“All dreams like that do, darling.” Rarity said, starting out of the hospital doors. Twilight followed, nudging Fluttershy along with one of her wings.

"We'll walk you home, alright?" Twilight stated.

"O-oh, thank you." the pegasus thanked.

Twilight stopped, turning to Spike. "Make sure Pinkie is okay, we'll come back after we bring Fluttershy to her cottage."

The drake nodded with a small salute. "Sure thing, Twi!"

Spike separated from the trio of mares who were on the track back to Fluttershy's house.

Running from Evil

It was a nice day for Pinkie Pie. The sun was shining, her jaw hurt slightly less and with Mister and Mrs. Cake gone to deliver some pies, the rambunctious earth pony was left to her own devices.

She had recently returned from an all night party she threw for one of the dozens of residents of Ponyville, drowsiness slugging through her veins as she attempted to stay awake for the rest of the day. Well, internally at least. The mare looked attentive as ever as she sat upon one of the many chairs in the store, reading the newspaper. It wasn’t often she did so but ever since her injury she wanted to stay a little more inactive when other ponies weren’t around.

“Several ponies gone missing across Ponyville and other Equestrian cities. Cause unknown.” she read. Missing ponies? Pinkie continued reading on.

Occasionally the mare would set a hoof upon her mouth, massaging her wounded jaw lightly. It had healed to a manageable amount, however it still hurt to speak and on occasion the discomforting noise of the joints resetting in and out of place as she chewed or talked would fill her ears.

She neighed in a bored fashion, closing the newspaper. She needed some activity to take up her time and stave sleep away. Why didn't she drift off already? That question hadn’t arrived to the party pony as she pondered on what could be done. She rested her head on her hoof philosophically.

I could go bake, but there won’t be anypony to make something for and in all honesty, my jaw still hurts like all Tarturus. Pinkie mentally crossed that activity off her list. Plan a couple parties? Eh, not feelin’ it right now. I’m partied out at the moment, plus, I don’t think there’s one that should be coming up this week…

Finally, a realization that made her smack herself with her own hoof reached her. “Pound and Carrot Cake!” she had completely forgotten about the twins when she entered Sugar Cube Corner.

She stumbled out of the pink wooden chair, clopping her way to the stairs of Sugar Cube Corner and quickly making her way up. Mr and Mrs. Cake literally told me last night before the party! The earth pony scolded herself as her hoofs clunked up the wooden stairs, turning and looking about the upstairs hallway of Sugar Cube Corner. Four doors lined each side of the hall, the ones on the left belonging to Pinkie and the furthest down the hall belonging to the Cakes.

The furthest door on the right belonged to the twins, Pinkie swiftly making her way over and pushing the door open. She slowly gazed across the grayish-blue colored walls, looking around on the ground for the duo.

Her eyes widened at the absence of them, walking closer into the doorway to search for the younglings. There was a bit of a mess on the floor, stuffed animals, letter cubes and multitudes of toys covering it all.

“Pound Cake?” she called with a worried look on her face. Her hooves clopping in closer into the room replied to nothing, not a babble from the two cribs. “Pumpkin Cake?” she asked for a reply once more, arriving close enough to look into the holding places of the fillies. Empty.

Her look of uncertainty faded into a worried frown. Where in Equestria did they go?! Pinkie Pie’s floofy hair deflated slightly in worry as she frantically looked about the room, setting aside several toys and dolls, throwing cubes aside in search of them.

She rushed over to the closet. “Pumpkin Cake?!” Pinkie exclaimed once more, “Pound Cake?!” the party pony slid both of the closet doors to their ends, looking within. She had to squint to look around the closet, the toys that were usually within were now missing and of course, were all across the floor of the room.

However one wee detail made the pink mare double take. There, on the wall of the closet was a particularly gnarled claw mark, slicing through the wood jaggedly. Pinkie Pie took a step or two back from the closet, the look of worry curving into fear as she recognized the cuts.

Pinkie Pie had recognized the markings from a week ago, when her and her friends were searching for that monster. However, this marking was different. The glowing green substance was absent, a magical residue hanging in the surrounding air.

Magic has an aura of course, but often when something magical occurs or a magical being stays around long enough, they emit a sort of residue in the air. It could leave a scent, a taste, even a noise. Pinkie Pie always noticed Twilight’s residue to taste like grapes, or Rarity’s to smell like hoof polish. This magical residue however, gave a much more different impression.

It was a very faded scent, so whatever was here must’ve been here an hour or two ago. It smelled of smoke. An unpleasant scent of fiery, overcooked pastries. She turned, starting around the room in search of the scent, sniffing intensely as she followed it out of the nursery.

The floorboards creaked as she returned to the main hall, moving her head slightly to the right away from the stairs to make sure the smell wasn’t going in that direction. No, it’s downstairs. Her tone had gone serious as she creeped down the staircase.

She rounded away from the stairs, following the scent in the opposite direction from the kitchen, leading back towards where they stored the flour. That fact brought the most minor bit of relief to Pinkie’s heart, flour being one of the things that often cheered the twins up the most. Maybe that’s just what Pumpkin Cake’s magic smells like?

The moment of hope was shot down as the scent led past the several pantries, leading towards the ominous basement door. Her hooves clunked as she positioned herself in front of the ending point of the smell.

Pinkie Pie rarely ever came down to the basement. Often Sugarcube Corner had everything they needed for baking in the pantries and the basement door was so far back in the store that she hardly ever even glanced at it.

It was so old, it still used the severely dated plank lock system to hold the door shut, two small bars on the door to hold a plank in place, the wood in question on the ground next to it. However, now that she looked at the wooden entrance, chills ran down her spine.

More claw marks skewed themselves across the wooden door. They slashed in all directions, left, right, down, up. It was the sign of many fierce blows that remained on the door. The scent of burnt pastries exfoliated further into a revolting trace of rotten berries, assaulting her nose in a piercing stench.

Swallowing her fear, she lifted a shaky hoof to the basement door. She pushed it forward, the door’s creaks echoing down the stairway of the basement. Pinkie Pie retched just as she finished opening the door.

The scent of rotten fruit was now replaced with the scent of putrid flesh, heavy and thick in the air. She turned, taking a deep breath from the fresh air of the first floor of Sugarcube Corner before descending into the basement.

“Down here.” a baby-ish voice filled her mind. “Help us!” it urged as she made her way down.

“H-Hello?” she asked, still descending the closed off basement stairway. “Who is that?” Pinkie Pie asked over the creaks of floorboards.

“It is us, Pinkie Pie.” The voices stated ominously as she arrived ever closer to the bottom. “Poundcake and Pumpkin Cake.” the dual pair of voices ebbed with suspicious intentions.

Pinkie Pie hardly trusted the voices. The twins could hardly form basic speech beyond some babbles and maybe a loosely spoken word. “You aren’t them.” she said with a determined tone. “Who’s talking to m-” her eyes widened at the sight she viewed at the bottom of the stairs.

Foreign whispers, hums and hymns hung throughout the air as she stared wide-eyed. Blood caked the walls and ceiling of Sugarcube Corner, the sickly drip of crimson from the ceiling breaking the chilling silence on occasion.

There, at the other end of the basement stood a horrific effigy. A mound of viscera stood, fleshy, red, pulsating. Vines of gore twirled up and entangled into a statue of torment. The light scream echoed the air as she stared at the amalgamation of blood and gore. Gnarled teeth formed from the remnants of numerous missing ponies, culminating into a disturbing mouth of stained keratin, holding up a hazy, red portal like effect. A yellow-ish orange organ pumped at the bottom left corner of the statue, pulsating with Celestia knows what. One final portion that caught Pinkie's eye was a large clump of mane hanging off of the effigy colored in a minty hue.

Pinkie Pie’s eyes were wide as they ever were, pupils shrinking to a miniscule size. “Come on, Pinkie. Everypony is having a blast!” The morbid voice mocked her often cheer ridden tone.

As she sat there, frozen, she heard the sound of sizzling behind her, the fwooshing sound of teleportation following afterwards. A familiar labored breathing croaked behind her. Her hair lowered into the moody style as it gasped behind her. “̸̢̓̉J̵̛̙͎͙͌̒ų̴̱̿̐̈s̴̰͙̔t̴͖̯͎̑̊ ̵̛̦̅̒ẖ̵̲̼̓ȍ̸̘̠̩̀̕l̵̞̚͘d̴̘͋̈́͠ ̵͓̳̌s̸͔͊͌͊ͅt̷̪͕̉̓í̷̠̟̏l̷̡̟̠͛͒l̸̢̻͈̇.̵̦̗̞̒”̴̥͖̒́̀

The party pony panicked at the corrupted voice, jumping on her hooves and rushing up the stairs. She stumbled many times as the loud footsteps of whatever was following her clamped down just behind.

It had felt like a solid minute before the mare felt herself reach the top. She swiftly spun around, catching a quick glimpse of the monster that was following her. It was like the beast that attacked her in the Everfree, but purple in palette. It must’ve been a different breed of the same beast.

Pinkie slammed the door as hard as she could, holding it shut with her hooves as she picked the board up with her mouth, setting it in place. Once done, she took a moment or two to catch her breath, still leaning on the door.

…BANG!

The mare collapsed backwards with a shout, scrambling away as the door cracked with another attack from the monster. The wood splintered from the other side as the beast slammed at it once more. After one more attack, silence filled the air.

Pinkie was winded, mainly from panic as she held her eyes upon the door. Her heart drummed and thumped in her chest, echoing in her ears as she watched the door, not a single thump from it.

Just before she could catch her breath, her eyes widened at the sight of a small purple flame forming in the air in front of her. The tall beast fwooshed into existence, the mare screaming in surprise as she jumped up and began running off, b-lining it to the front door of the bakery.

Her hooves slammed down at the hard wood floor of her workplace, the party pony sprinting as fast as she could, trying not to trip over her own hooves as she made her way to the front door. She pushed past her limit, gasping desperately for oxygen as she scrambled across the counter of the store.

Before she could reach a hoof out to the knob, she felt a claw scratch the hide upon her nape, feeling her hooves lift from the ground. She panickaly scrambled for the floor as she was lifted several feet from her usual height.

She screamed wildly as she was lifted up effortlessly by the monster, it’s triage of glowing purple eyes glaring at her before drawing her back and hurling the pony out the door. The front door of Sugarcube Corner flung open as Pinkie Pie rolled out, several “Ow!”s coming from her as she landed with a small skid.

The hunched-back monster made its way out, the movements ape-like as it prowled up to her. Once it was close enough, it opened its mandibles in a throaty gurgle, reaching a stretched claw to her face slowly.

She shut her eyes tightly, preparing herself for the monster to claw at her mercilessly. A squeak of horror emanated from her as she waited for the end… However, that never arrived. Only the strange taste of grape in the back of her mouth.

Pinkie flung her eyes open, seeing a purple aura holding the monster’s claw away from her head strongly. The monster looked down at it’s hand in curiosity, before looking over to the right and roaring at the culprit.

The earth pony followed it’s gaze, seeing Twilight there just at the right moment, focusing extremely hard on holding back the resistances of that horrid thing. “Twilight!” she exclaimed in joy as she noticed several other residents of Ponyville arriving nearby to see the situation occur.

“What in Celestia’s name is that?!” a stallion exclaimed, looking at the monster with a weirded out stare.

A mare joined the confusion. “That isn’t the thing that hurt Fluttershy, is it?” news had traveled swiftly across the small town.

“Monster!” a colt shouted simply.

The beast looked around rapidly at the surrounding crowd. It was a monster that chose to hunt in the shadows, it’s instincts guiding it to carefully select it’s prey at the right moments. This was no time to snare its prey with so many of her allies nearby. It growled in a dissatisfied manner, before disappearing into a small burst of purple flame, before that too sizzled into thin air.

“Pinkie Pie!” she heard Twilight shout as her friend galloped over. “Pinkie Pie, are you alright?!” the Princess of Friendship exclaimed the question.

Pinkie Pie sat up a little, setting a hoof to her back and rubbing it a little. It took a moment or two for her to shake off the adrenaline to speak. “Y-Yeah, I’m okie dokie lokie! Ow, splinters.” she made a small comedic show of her pain to assure her friend that she was fine, forcing a bit of a smile.

Twilight’s worried look lessened, helping her friend up to her hooves via levitation, brushing off some splinters on her friend’s back once she was up. “What happened?” she asked.

“Just another one of those monsters! You know, the usual.” she laughed, shaking away the adrenaline, her hair poofing back up.

Twilight nodded, a serious look growing despite her friends attempts at humor. “This is getting serious.” she gave Sugarcube Corner a concerned look. “I’m going to call the royal guard.”

“Royal guard?” Pinkie gave her friend a tilted look, not wanting this to get serious. “I don’t think we need all that, Twi.”

The alicorn shook her head. “No, if we let this go on, ponies are going to get hurt.”

The party pony gave her work place and home a worried look, taking note of the crowd giving a worried look to them as well. “Oh…”

“Come on, we need to get away from here.” Twilight led the pony away in a quick manner.

The earth pony gave a hesitant look to her friend, before following off. She wasn’t sure how she would explain what had just happened to her. More importantly, what happened to the twin foals.

CMC Meeting!

It was late in the afternoon, the day lowering before the dodgy treehouse, sitting proudly in the large branches of an apple tree. Within, a duo of fillies sat impatiently. The orange pegasus, Scootaloo, sitting lazily upside down on a bean bag with a comic book in hoof. Meanwhile her friend Sweetie Belle was humming a nice tune, gently pacing about the room with a disgruntled look.

The day had stretched on long enough for the two young ponies. The two were waiting for their missing club member, Applebloom. The sun had just begun to set, and they didn’t want to miss out on this meeting.

Finally the young unicorn spoke up. “Where in Equestria is Applebloom?” The filly questioned aloud.

Scootaloo kept on reading, hardly noticing the exclamation.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle shouted to her friend.

She jumped a little, looking up from her book. “Oh, what?”

“Where’s Applebloom?” she repeated “It’s been a whole hour since the meeting ‘started’ and she’s not even here. She lives right next to the treehouse for crying out loud!” Sweetie Belle huffed.

Scootaloo gave a thoughtful look. “That is weird.” she hadn’t been keeping track of time, just staving off boredom with the comic. “But doesn’t she have the apple stuff to do as well?”

The white filly shook her head. “That was yesterday.” she pointed out.

“Huh.” Scootaloo went, still upside down on the beanbag. “I wonder what’s up with her?”

The distinct thonking sound of somepony making their way up to the treehouse went off, the two fillies perking their ears in the direction of the noises. “That might be her!” Sweetie Belle said with a twinge of excitement, trotting over to the front door.

The sound of hoofsteps made their way up to the treehouse, Sweetie Belle gripping the door knob with her weird flex-grip muscle hoof. She opened the door quickly, revealing an ill looking Applebloom standing before her. Her usually bright yellow coat was slightly faded and her trademark red bow was absent from her hair.

It was all topped off with the weak smile she had to greet her friends. “Heya, everypony!” she greeted with an over excited tone, very unfitting for her current visible condition.

Her two friends glanced at each other momentarily, before Sweetie Belle began to speak up. “Erm, hey, Applebloom?” she waved with a worried look.

“Hey!” she greeted once more, picking up a bucket with a strangely intoxicating scent coming from it.

Scootaloo slowly walked over. “What’s that smell?” she asked, looking at the bucket.

“Oh, this?” Applebloom asked as she placed it in the center of the room. “It’s somethin’ new we’ve been working up at Sweet Apple Acres. Apple-lava we call it.” she grinned braggadociously.

The pegasus looked down at the bucket. "Mmm! Can I have some?" Scootaloo asked with a smile, refraining from dipping her head in just yet.

"Ya bet!" the country filly nodded to the bucket.

Scootaloo swiftly doused her muzzle into the liquid, taking a couple of hardy laps before lifting her head with a clearly satisfied smile. “Wow! Where did you find this stuff?”

“It’s a secret.” the tired looking Applebloom replied as her friend continued drinking it.

Sweetie Belle was giving her friends strange looks. The unicorn remembered being told by Rarity not to trust strange substances, especially if they seemed that tasty on the outside. The filly had learned a thing or two from one too many pieces of candy during Nightmare Night.

“Ya want some, Sweetie Belle?” the earth pony asked her friend.

The white colored unicorn shook her head. “No thanks.”

“Awe, come on Sweetie!” Sweetie Belle could just catch her friend performing a sudden twitching motion, her smile growing a small bit. “Ya gotta at least try it.” The disheveled Applebloom moved closer to her.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “N-No thanks.” she stammered a bit as her friend arrived uncomfortably close.

“You’ve gotta try it!” Scootaloo stepped away from the bucket, turning to her friend as well. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted!”

Still keeping an unsure look, Sweetie responded “Are you guys alright?” her trust was waning on the stuff.

“Never better!” Applebloom replied, backing up to a manageable distance. “So, what was today’s meeting about again?”

"You called the meeting today." Sweetie pointed out.

"Did I?" she placed a hoof to her chin thoughtfully, staring up at the ceiling in an attempt at recalling just earlier today. "Oh yeah! The new colt at school." she blatantly misremembered.

Now even Scootaloo was giving the country pony a confused look. "What new colt? I thought you said it was about the old ceiling board." The pegasus pointed at a particular portion of the ceiling, water dripping down from the blackened, paintless portion of wood.

"Oh… yeah." she snickered, rubbing the back of her neck.

“You know where the tools are, right? Could you get them really quick?” the unicorn asked.

“Ya bet!” Applebloom turned, hoofing her way out of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse and down the steps.

Silence crowded the room once she left, Sweetie Belle looking over at her remaining friend. “What do you think is up with her?”

Scootaloo shrugged, dipping her head back in the bucket before lifting her head back up. “I dunno. But this apple-lava stuff is kind of cool. You should give it a taste.” she once more insisted.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No thanks.” she answered Scootaloo, getting a little uncomfortable by how much they were insisting she drink it. “Are you sure there isn’t anything off with that stuff?”

She shrugged. “I dunno.” clopping went off from the roof of the treehouse, the sound of creaking boards going off as the old and moldy wood was torn away.

Applebloom looked down at the two through the new hole in the roof, a hammer in mouth with the nail-removing side at the business end. “Hey, Sweetie Belle, could you get one of the spare planks from the base of the tree?” she asked around the handle of the tool. There had always been a collection of spare wood at the base of the treehouse, waiting to be used for replacements and general upkeep.

Sweetie Belle nodded to the horrendously exhausted looking filly, holding back an estranged look before turning and going over to the front door, pushing it open with a free hoof as she headed out.

Down the stairs the young unicorn went, rounding about once she touched the grass of Sweet Apple Acres and towards the tree. Under it lie a pile of wood, a lot of the planks meant for the often degrading ceiling.

She picked the plank which the filly assumed would be the right size up with her light green aura, floating it beside her with a small bit of effort. A lot less effort if she were to pick it up herself though.

Sweetie Belle looked up at the roof of the place, hearing Applebloom and Scootaloo conversing. “Hey! Applebloom! I’m going to float this board up there, alright?”

“Got ya!” the country filly replied as Sweetie Belle closed her eyes in concentration, commanding the board to the roof. Slowly it began levitating, making its way up and towards where she heard Applebloom.

After a moment or two of focus, the young drawl filled the air. “Got it!” Applebloom said, the sound of hammering soon going off.

Sweetie Belle smiled a bit at her ability with levitation. “Good!” she headed back to the stairs of the clubhouse, going up and inside. She looked up, witnessing the new plank being hammered in.

“Say, Sweetie Belle. You wanna go check out where Applebloom gets that apple-lava stuff?” Scootaloo asked her friend over the nails being hit.

“Erm, are we sure we want to know where it’s from?” she asked, looking into the bucket. The attractive aroma engulfed her, growing second thoughts on whether to actually try it or not. Maybe just a sip?.. No, just look at it, Sweetie Belle. It looks evil! It’s making all your friends act weird. she convinced herself.

Scootaloo shrugged. “It sounds like a pretty cool trip to me. Plus, we don’t have much else to do for the meeting.” she added.

The front door of the clubhouse creaked open, the bedraggled Applebloom returning. “I’m back.” she waved a hoof.

“Hey! We were just thinking about asking you where you found that apple-lava stuff.” Scootaloo replied.

“I can show y’all.” Applebloom told them, turning and heading outside once again.

“Come on! Let’s go, Sweetie Belle.” the young pegasus urged, following her earth pony friend.

“Eh, wait up!” she galloped ahead as she was left behind by her two other friends, not having enough time to ponder if they should actually go or not.

The three made their way out of the treehouse, Scootaloo excited about seeing where her friend found such sweet stuff. “So, where did you find it anyways?” she asked as they rushed between the sparsely planted apple trees.

“Out in the Everfree. Not too deep within.” Applebloom explained briefly, yawning a small bit as they took a turn towards the dark forest.

Sweetie Belle skidded to a stop, looking ahead. “Th-The Everfree F-forest?”

Her two other friends halted as well, turning to the white-coated filly. “What's the matter?” Applebloom asked.

“Th-th-Isn’t the Everfree dangerous?” the unicorn stammered, looking up at the woodland, shivering.

Scootaloo snickered. “Aw, come on! Get some adventure in ya Sweetie Belle!” the brave pegasus encouraged.

“It’s just a five minute walk. Five or seven.” Applebloom encouraged.

Sweetie Belle swallowed her fear, closing her eyes to gather her courage before starting towards the fence separating the woods from the farm. She jumped up a small bit, setting her two hooves on the top of the short wood fence before clambering over it.

The white-coated filly looked up at the tall and ominously thick canopy once more, before glancing back to her farm-living friend as she also climbed over. “You know where it is, Applebloom. You lead the way.”

The other pony nodded in response, starting into the woods as Scootaloo joined the two, crunching the fallen leaves under hoof as she followed her friend. It took a moment or two more of Sweetie Belle steeling herself before continuing after her friends, letting the dark canopy of the dangerous forest engulf her in shadow.

~

If this was ‘five or seven’ minutes, then Sweetie Belle was clinically insane. It had felt like thirty by now, and the tangy overly sweet smell that had been taunting and urging Sweetie Belle along was really getting on her nerves. It smelled exactly like that apple-lava stuff Applebloom had shown her earlier. She was honestly surprised how she could smell it all the way from here.

With an annoyed look plastered on her face, she glanced over at Scootaloo, who still kept an adventurous smile. Of course she of all ponies would still be excited about this journey through the musky, mucky, muddy reaches of the Everfree. She always insisted for the group to go only to get turned down by both her and Applebloom.

Although, by now the pegasus surely would’ve calmed down, right? By her speedster and daring nature, this glorified hike should’ve put her to sleep by now. “Hm…” was all Sweetie Belle chalked up to the matter.

Looking over to Applebloom, her look showed a particular ecstaticness to her face. As if it were her birthday or something, and she had just gotten another one of her currently absent manebows.

Her trot was occasionally interrupted by a small twitch, although to Sweetie Belle’s excuse-making, currently hopeful mind she just brought the conclusion to an issue with her vision. After all, her view bobbing up and down from walking for so long could be messing with her perspective in such miniscule ways.

The three shuffled past a couple bushes, breaking into sunlight that beamed through a much appreciated clearing in the woods. “Are we close?” Scootaloo asked with an excited look, bringing her head down from a long inhalation of the oncoming scent.

“Yup!” Applebloom replied, heading to a longer bunch of underbrush. She crossed the clearing as Sweetie Belle looked about the peaceful area. There were tons of butterflies flapping around a dead tree centering the area, bunches of mushrooms and flowers growing around the base of the thing.

As she looked at it a moment longer before her two friends entered the underbrush, she realized a small couple of leaves growing on the branches of the wet, soggy-wooded tree. She was about to open her mouth to question it to herself before a shrill shriek of surprise filled the air from the bushes in front of her.

“AH! What is that?!” Scootaloo shouted after the sound of the clinking of bones.

She turned swiftly, wading through the nearby bushes before stumbling out on the other side, twigs and branches snagging her coat a little. As she came out of the other side, she felt something block her hoof and make her trip a couple hooves ahead.

“It’s… A skeleton.” Applebloom pointed out the obvious as Sweetie Belle rose to her hooves, turning and clopping over with a curious intent.

“What in Celestia’s name?” she questioned as the three came up to it.

There, surrounded by tall, overgrown grass was a skeleton of some foreign creature, completely picked clean. Tissue residue hung on the bones of whatever it used to be, signaling a relatively recent consumption of the body. Although, the herbivorous, young and innocent fillies wouldn’t exactly know what a recently picked clean skeleton would even look like. Yet alone one of such a shape.

From what they could make out, it seemed to be a tall, spindly creature. Long hands, long claws and a threatening size. Any leftover blood had been grown over by the surrounding grasses.

“Erm, Applebloom? This feels like a bad sign, maybe we should head back?”

“Nonsense! We’re already here!” Applebloom responded, making Sweetie Belle turn back to the direction of the succulent scent.

There in front of them sat the large pond of red juice, sparkling and crackling with energy as it sat in its depression of the earth. The indescribably sweet smell drifted towards her, almost carrying the young pony towards the pond. Without hardly thinking, the pegasus and unicorn drifted closely to the liquid, looking down with thirsty looks.

“It looks so… Cool.” Scootaloo described, looking down into the gnarly energy.

“Y-yeah. And…” she paused for a moment, before shaking her head from the stupor. “W-what am I doing? This stuff looks evil!” Sweetie Belle realized. “Scootaloo, I’m not sure we should drink this.”

The other filly snickered. “We? Sure, you can miss out.” she dipped her head towards it.

Behind the two, Applebloom slowly encroached upon them, her smile twisting wider as they argued over it.

Sweetie Belle gripped her friend's mane in a magical grasp, moving her head away from it. “I’m serious! This stuff is dangerous! I can feel it like… tugging on us?” she tried to describe.

The pegasus rolled her eyes as their earth pony friend stood behind and between them, waiting for just the right time. “It’s just some juice! What could be wrong with it?”

“Uh, it’s from someplace we don’t know! The Everfree is super dangerous!” the unicorn pointed out.

Scootaloo shrugged. “Eh, I just think you need to take a chill pill or two.” She pointed out.

“Chill pill? I swear, Scoots, something is wrong with this stuff. It looks like something straight out of one of your comics! It could be eating your face off, or taking over your mind, or something!” Sweetie exclaimed.

Scootaloo scoffed. “Mind control? Really? What red juice just randomly mind-controls ponies?”

“Precisely.” Applebloom agreed in an ominous tone.

Sweetie Belle closed her eyes triumphantly. “See? Applebloom agr-” The earth pony rammed straight into the two with immense force from behind, more than what could be expected from a filly.

The apple-lava engulfed the two ponies, surrounding them in a soothingly warm water, like a hot tub. Although, the crackles and shots of energy burned their eyes as they opened them while submerged.

Before the two could exit the strange substance, they felt a mighty force drive them back down to the bottom of the lake. The two friends gurgled in surprise beneath the water, air bubbles escaping as they looked back up at the culprit.

Above the two, Applebloom stood, both front legs holding the duo down beneath the water. She had a crooked grin, maniacal in nature as she held them to the pond-floor with an unusual and unbreakable strength.

It was not Applebloom who was keeping the two beneath the surface. It was somepony else… Something else. It growled monstrously as the filly-shaped thing kept them beneath the water, the two pleading and shouting beneath the water.

Dozens of bubbles of air bursted from their mouth as they quickly realized that this was no game. “Applebloom! Stop! This isn’t funny. Let us out!” Sweetie Belle attempted to screech at her friend as she felt the oxygen exit her lungs, only gurgles escaping her mouth in the liquid.

Scootaloo attempted to join her friend’s pleading, stopping at the unrealized inhalation of the stuff, beginning to drown in the substance. Nopony heard the two screaming as their dearest friend continued drowning them.

The three fillies that exited the Everfree forest were no longer the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Snatch and Grab

There was nothing like a warm spring morning for the pink colored mare. Daisy strolled happily on one of the paths at the edge of Ponyville, basking in the cozy sun as she clopped her way down the stone roads of her hometown.

Swaying back and forth in the green-maned mare’s jaws was a bucket of gardening supplies she had purchased from a local shop. The cream of the crop fertilizer bag sat in the bucket gently, several other seed packs and trowels alongside it.

She grinned, the garden-loving mare knew that these plants had to become the best in Ponyville. Her, Rose and Lily Valley challenged each other to a garden off. Everypony would marvel at her lawn compared to them, that was her objective. The three were good friends but very competitive when it came to their flowers.

Suddenly, the mare saw a flash of orange fly past her, the bucket disappearing from her jaw. “Hey!” she jumped, turning to where the flash went. A filly pegasus flew off, her dark purple mane and tail flowing in the wind as she flew off to the distant woods.

A pair of hooves rushed over to her. “Quick! Get that pegasus!” Applebloom exclaimed, Daisy recognizing her.

“Applebloom?! Did that filly steal something from you too?” Daisy asked the young earth pony. She jolted back a little, being off-put by the appearance of the young earth pony. The white in her eyes were filled with red, bloodshot veins, her hair was messy and all over the place with several loose strands and her coat was faded of color ever so slightly.

“Yuh! Come on!” Applebloom grabbed her hoof swiftly, leading her off towards the distant woods the pegasus rushed into with an incredible strength for her age.

“AH! Hold on!” Daisy demanded as she was dragged off into the woods. “Slow down!” she shouted, bushes rushing past her.

The strange looking filly glanced back at her “We’ve gotta catch up to her!”

“These woods aren’t safe!” the mare exclaimed, shouting as she suddenly felt a large root block her path. Her hoof slipped from the young earth pony’s, the green-maned mare tripping and falling straight onto her face.

Her ears rang as she opened her eyes slowly, vision doubling as she looked around at her surroundings. She could make out three small figures surrounding her, staring down at Daisy. As she managed to muster enough strength to witness the three, she immediately recognized them. The Cutie Mark Crusaders.

They all had this desperate, bloodshot look on their faces just like Applebloom had before. In the center of the three stood the pegasus of the group, Scootaloo. A sly smile grew across her muzzle as she held the bucket in her jaws. Daisy could swear she saw a threatening zap of red electricity flash across her purple eyes.

“W-What are you three fillies doi-” a painful aura surrounded her head, magical electricity swirling as Sweetie Belle prepared a spell. Suddenly, everything zapped to darkness.

~

“How’d ya do that, Sweetie Belle? I thought you didn’t really study magic.” Applebloom asked, going over to the unconscious mare.

The filly rolled her eyes rudely. “Not like you’d understand how to do it.” she insulted as Applebloom nudged the now sleeping pony. All three fillies looked just as dreadful as Applebloom.

“Don’t think you’re so high and mighty, unicorn!” random spurts of aggression had grown apparent in the trio since the two had been introduced to the excess amount of apple-lava.

“Unicorn? Oh, don’t bring stuff like this up in front of an unfortunate earth po-”

“Quiet!” Applebloom demanded from her fellow fillies. “We’ve gotta get Daisy to the pool.” she informed the two.

Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes, huffing some furious air out before coming over to help drag the full-grown pony with her friend. Their enhanced strength certainly helped as they swiftly dragged the mare across the forest floor. Her green mane collected crunched up leaves and twigs as they were dragged along.

Scootalloo joined, assisting them by grabbing one of Daisy’s front hooves to help move her. “I can’t believe she actually fell for that!” Scootaloo laughed.

“She ran right into our hooves.” Applebloom agreed with a maniacal grin.

“Somepony’s a little attached to her gardening supplies!” Sweetie Belle swung the bucket in her mouth. It was easy to speak around the thin metal handle.

Applebloom snickered. “Well, of course she is! Her name is literally Daisy.”

“Don’t tell me what's obvious, earth pony.” she infighted with her friend.

Applebloom huffed angrily. “Whatever ya say, horn-face!”

The three broke through a large swath of foliage, dragging the mare along towards the pool of apple-lava that sat in the familiar clearing.

“Bring her over there.” Applebloom demanded, letting go of the hoof and moving closer to the lava.

The remaining two dragged the mare with ease to the pool, drifting her across the grass and floating her across the body of liquid. The apple-lava sizzled and crackled around Daisy. Rather violently, the two shoved the pony deep in the pool. The adult pony jolted to consciousness from the stimulating effect of the substance, eyes flying wide and open.

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo grinned evilly as they held her beneath, witnessing bubbles of air floating from her mouth and burst at the top, a horrified look staring up at them. Daisy couldn’t believe it, staring up at the two fillies she knew from the small town in horror as they drowned her in the strange stuff. She tried to shout, simply wasting air as she felt the burning substance enter her mouth.

A soothing feeling consumed her as it did, comforting her soul. The tight feeling in her chest released and it felt as if she could breath as freely within the water as she could in the air. It all entered in and out her lungs as smooth as oxygen. The energy stopped burning her squinted eyes and felt like they were healing them.

The two fillies watched as a much more calm feeling engulfed the pony’s eyes, lids half-closed as they released their hooves from her. They could see the vessels within her eyes congesting with blood, seeing her pelt’s color fade as they lifted her out of the water.

“I see.” Daisy said simply, her voice much more soulless than before. “I understand.”

Applebloom greeted Daisy with a nod, the small filly having to stare up at her. “Good”

Scootaloo tilted her head. “Well, what now?”

The country filly read the mare up and down“She’ll have to be judged.”

The orange pegasus flicked an ear questioningly. “Judged?”

“Yes.” Applebloom’s accent had lessened in depth now that she mentioned the beast. She tried to speak in the most refined tone she could

“By who?” Sweetie Belle questioned.

The earth pony didn’t need to reply as a rustling shook from the forest. The two fillies jumped a little, turning towards the source. Daisy stood still as a stick, staring off into space like a zombie. Out of the bush slinked out the familiar form of the green monster, although it must’ve been a different race of the beast, its chitin-like armor taking on a purple hue.

It crossed through the undergrowth, stepping over the skeletal remains of its ally, hardly giving a glance to them. It paced somewhere between a run and a stride, large hands weighing its arms down as it moved towards Applebloom.

The beast towered over her, snarling something from its mandibles. Applebloom’s face remained stoic as her friends felt a wave of fear roll over them, something inside them commanding them to respect the monster.

“We have claimed another.” she declared. “What are we going to do with her?”

It inspected the adult pony intuitively, the green-maned mare standing as still as a statue. It raked its claws slowly across Daisy’s side, no marks presenting themselves as it did. It ran its ginormous claw across the grass colored mane as well before leaning in and sniffing her pink fur.

Seeing the pony fit, the monster wrapped a strong claw slowly around the back of her neck, the zombie-like Daisy going limp. Like a kitten when its mother bit on its scruff. A flash of purple light brightened the clearing before dissipating to reveal that the mare and the beast had vanished to Celestia knows where.

Once the monster was gone, the commanding respect dissipated from within the other two fillies, them looking to their leader. “What in Celestia’s name was that?!” Scootaloo queried

“The monster.” Applebloom answered. “I think it made the apple-lava stuff.” Her accent returned.

“And why does it need ponies?” Sweetie Belle queried.

Their pegasus friend jumped in as well. “Yeah! And why didn’t it take us?”

Applebloom rubbed the back of her head. “Well, thang is the only reason it didn’t take you two after I show’d y’all the apple-lava is ‘cause I had to bargain with it a little.” she explained

“Why would it want us?” the curious unicorn queried.

The earth pony shrugged. “As sure as you are.” she looked around the clearing. “Welp, our sisters’ll be expectin’ us home in thirty minutes or so, we should get going.” Applebloom turned, trotting off. “See y’all!”

The other two fillies nodded a goodbye as well, turning and heading their separate ways back to their homes.

Spawned Fear

“Dear Princess Celestia

I’m sure you’ve gotten my letters on the whole Fluttershy situation, consider this one a sort of follow up. Have you been noticing strange things happening lately? I know that it’s a pretty broad question, but I’ve begun to notice a couple of things. About Spike, my friends, Ponyville in general!

I’m going to start with the obvious, all the missing pony reports across Equestria. I’ve been researching newspapers and data from all around the place, and there are dozens across Ponyville, Broncolyn, Manehattan, Canterlot and tons of other cities!

This isn’t even mentioning the ‘apple-lava’ stuff, or so that’s what everypony is calling it. It’s this red colored, electricity filled liquid that everypony says tastes good. Well, except for me, Applejack, Rarity and Pinkie Pie. Spike loves it and Applejack has been talking about how it’s been making her sister act all weird, whatever she means by that.

Anyways, the main reason I’m writing this letter is about what happened to Pinkie Pie earlier today. Pinkie was attacked by another one of those things that hurt Fluttershy. She didn’t get as injured, thankfully, but still. We can’t just have all these creatures going around attacking ponies!

I’m telling you this in hopes that you lend a group of royal guards here at Ponyville, to help stop any more of these attacks. The last I saw one was at Sugarcube Corner, that would be a good place to start.

Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle, Princess of Friendship”

~

The letter was folded neatly by a pair of glove-covered hooves, being tucked into one of the rubberized pockets of a yellow colored hazmat suit. The royal guard pony was adorned in hazardous material wear, along with the rest of his group.

The four of them all stood outside of Sugarcube Corner, looking up at the cake-themed building. Several ponies of the town would stop to give the four an estranged look, before shrugging it away at the sight of the royal guard logo on the shoulders of their suits.

It was cutting edge technology for Equestria. An outfit to halt any poisons, magic or potions that could affect the wearer, as long as the seal was correctly maintained. The four guards were mostly indistinguishable in the outfits, the only thing differentiating them were simple numbers where their right cutie marks would be.

The one leading them, and the one who had just finished re-reading the letter adorned the number 1 on his side. The rubbery material overlaid a horn pointing from the stallion’s head. 1 glanced at the rest of his squad, before taking a deep breath of his decontaminated air and heading towards the front door.

The group entered in a single file line, spreading out across the first floor and looking the place up and down, searching for any signs of contamination. It was clear that this group had done this before as they shoved aside cakes, pastries, chairs, closets, tables. The once eerily calm and desolate bakery was filled with the scavenging of royal guards.

After not too long of the group searching and clearing the first floor, they finally came across the basement door. The pony who had found it, one with the body shape of a mare and the number 2 covering where her cutie mark would be, drew a hoof over the scratch marks. The smallest bits of her suit expanded on the sides of her torso, giving the shape of wings beneath the outfit.

She looked over at 1 who was inspecting a shelf of ingredients. 2 waved a hoof over, signaling for him to come along. The leader made his way to his partner, looking up at the claw marks all across it. A angy, disgusting scent emanated downstairs, however it was undetectable in the hazmat suits.

1 arrived alongside his hazmat-adorning ally, inspecting the scratches and scars of it. He looked over at 3 and 4, still searching in the main store area of the building. The two, feeling their leader stare at them, adjusted over to him. 1 pointed his hoof to the stairs, signaling the duo to head up them as him and 2 cleared out the basement.

Once they creaked their way up, 1 looked at 2, getting an affirmative nod from her before opening the basement door with a free hoof. The first thing they caught sight of was the many scratch marks all across the closed staircase down into it. 2 could just barely make out a bit of crimson leaking towards the beginning of the steps. She tapped her leader’s shoulder, pointing at it, 1 nodding in response before slowly making his way down the stairs.

2 followed, them peeking around the corner of the staircase as they slowly descended. They could both hear the subtle sound of dripping as The viscera of the basement became more and more apparent. The duo finally dropped down to a final stair to see the horrific display.

Even the two royal guards, specifically trained to witness this kind of stuff, gave a disgusted look. Most normal ponies would freeze in fear at the effigy of viscera, a reddish orange portal floating above it with the tiniest whispers being carried from it’s breeze and blood dripping from the basement ceiling.

1 could’ve sworn that he saw the skeletonized and rotting faces of several ponies in the highest, curved crescent like portion of the statue right below the portal. Other bones and body parts that could only belong to a pony.

1 looked over at his partner, signaling her with a hoof to check to the right for any more contaminants before they began work on the nest of flesh, him taking the remaining, large and dark left corner of the room.

A shelf of very old baking materials sat there, unused for a long while with a heavy layer of dust on it with some thick cobwebs. No other contaminants were apparent there. 1 turned back around, seeing 2 heading to the effigy, him soon joining her.

The lead took a deep breath, before lifting a hoof and prodding the mass, a disturbing squelch coming from the bloody meat. He looked over at 2, signaling a circle above him with his hoof. They couldn’t communicate with each other in the suits, so hoof signals were a necessity.

His partner nodded, taking a notepad and quill out before 1 turned and headed back up the stairs, opening the basement door to see 3 and 4 standing in front, just about ready to report their findings. 3 was a rather short pony, an unicorn horn pointing through his suit. 4 was sort of the opposite, big and brawdy in shape with no visible horns or wings.

4 moved his hoof in the shape of an ‘X’, symbolizing that nothing had been found. 1 nodded, circling his hoof in the air once more. The other two nodded in return, turning and heading outside of the bakery.

Once the two exited, 1 remained on the first floor of Sugarcube Corner. He reached a hoof into his suit’s pocket and took out a notepad, a quill joining it. The unicorn fumbled with it a little, not really used to solely using his hands to manipulate objects. It was impossible for an unicorn to utilize their magic while in a hazard suit, the properties of it simply blocks it from affecting anything outside of it.

Finally, he sat on the ground and began writing notes about the place. “Location is clear of active threats. Reports of Specimen #6 appear to be dated. We know their hunting strategies so in all likelihood it had abandoned its nest once it was spotted. We found no sight of the missing foals and the only trace of any pony in here is the effigy downstairs.” He wrote.

‘Effigy’ was the term that these units had decided upon. Once they had begun coming across more and more of them, they recognized the patterns of the monsters. Often where the specimens prowled, the effigies were nested up somewhere. Their knowledge of them was miniscule, although they did know two things.

One, it was clearly some form of nesting grounds, and two, it was made of pony. The
samples they’ve extracted from the effigies have shown that the flesh it was made of very much used to be a form of equine. Ponies, in all likelihood.

“We can only assume that the missing ponies in Ponyville were used in the creation of the nest. Visible pony skeleton could be seen across it’s crescent into the portal. We’ll be quarantining the building. Request for more royal guards to keep an eye on the building and make sure nopony gains access within it in the future. Make sure they get orders to not enter either. Me and my team will further analyze the effigy.” He finished writing, closing his notepad shut and slipping the quill and pad combo into his pocket once more, right next to Princess Twilight Sparkle’s letter.

He started outside, deciding to help his fellow guardsman as they rolled out the quarantine material they had brought with them on their carriage. 3 and 4 were already rolling out a large mat of yellow quarantine plastic, several biohazard logos all across it.

It would be a long day of wrapping the place up like a dangerous, bright yellow Christmas present, but they all know if they didn’t, much more ponies could be put into danger.

Cider Season

It was early in the morning, the barely risen sun providing a grayish-blue tone over the entrance path to Sweet Apple Acres. Big Mac had moved the apple cider stand out last night, Applejack now helping her big brother move along all the large barrels of cider. The duo had worked up a fine stack slightly behind and beside the stand. This season had been fruitful, with many of the apples obtained being of very ideal condition.

Applejack wiped an early sweat from her brow as she set down the second to last barrel, Big Mac placing one atop it to form a neat stack of the liquid filled drums. “That looks to be the last of ‘em.” the earth pony stated proudly.

“Ehyup.” Big Mac agreed, turning and heading back to the barn. “I’mma help Applebloom.” He stated in his deep yet restrained voice.

“Alrighty.” she replied, giving a curious look over to the neighboring stand. It opposed the cider stand’s sleak, carved wood design. It was simplistic, sporting a deep red paint and tackily nailed together planks.

The filly sat there, strangely staring off into nothingness as she waited patiently. Her eyes were bloodshot and wide open over dark circles.

Applejack brushed away the uneasiness she felt at the sight of her little sister as Big Mac helped place a barrel of apple-lava on the counter of the stand, a tap at the bottom of it. It took a lot of effort for the stallion to resist drinking in the fluid.

The country mare couldn’t help but correlate the two as she looked away from them, awaiting for ponies to arrive. She jumped a little at the sight of a pink, party themed tent right bam first in front of the cider stand. Applejack recognized the tent almost immediately.

“Pinkie Pie?” she questioned.

The front of the tent unzipped, a couple of balloons adjusting the flap of the tent open as they floated out. The pink muzzle of a familiar mare poked out. “Heya, Applejack!” she greeted, fully slivering her head out.

“Err, heya?” Applejack glanced up at the sky to try to assume what time it was. The sky had brightened ever so slightly, but it was definitely no time that the average pony would have awoken. “Dang, ain’t ya prepared for Cider Season?”

“Everytime!” Pinkie Pie did a little salute with her hoof, retreating her head back inside the tent and zipping the front back up.

As Applejack prepared for Granny Smith to awaken and come by, she leaned the elbows of her forelegs upon the counter of the stand, resting her head upon them and yawning a little. Often the Apple family would awake earlier than usual on the beginning day of Cider Season, mainly to get everything setup swiftly. More so around 4am to ensure everything is set by the time everypony arrives in line.

At this time, while awaiting for Granny Smith to come around, Applejack would find herself napping, to ensure she had enough energy for the rest of the day. So, the farm pony found herself drifting off in her hooves.

However, after a while of resting her eyes, she blinked awake to the sound of grass rustling a good distance in front of her. There stood the other two Cutie Mark Crusaders, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, sluggishly stumbling their way over to Applebloom’s stand.

The two looked just as worn as Applebloom. Their eyes were heavily bloodshot, their hair seemed shorter and less colorful and their coats seemed very light and faded. The two appeared very zombie-like.

“We’re here.” Sweetie Belle told her friend as Big Mac came back from the barn with another barrel of the apple-lava, placing it behind the stand.

“Hey, ya two. Could y’all help me out and grab some barrels from the barn?” Applebloom asked her friends.

The two nodded slowly, before heading off to the pink colored barn in the distance. Applejack sighed, closing her eyes in wait for Cider Season to commence.

A good hour had passed of waiting by now, the sun rising in the sky to start the morning. Many more ponies arrived at Applebloom’s stand than the apple cider one. It was strange to Applejack, everypony always loved the apple cider! But now they were all in that other line, ready to shell out some bits for that disgusting red stuff!

Applejack neighed in an annoyed fashion, looking across the apple cider line. If she had to guess, it had to only have been a good couple dozen ponies. Maybe thirty or so compared to the line that stretched all the way down the path of Sweet Apple Acres at her little sibling’s stand. Each pony in that line stood with a smile, waiting for Applejack to announce the beginning of apple-cider season.

“My my! It looks like that apple-lava stuffs a big hit for all ‘em ponies!” Granny Smith exclaimed from behind, looking at the long line that the Cutie Mark Crusaders would have to manage.

Applejack felt an ember of jealousy within her. “Yep.” was all she replied with at first. “When do ya think we should begin?” she finished.

“Whenever yer ready.” The elder pony replied, hoofing the megaphone to her granddaughter.

Applejack took it, inhaling a deep breath before shouting, “Everypony!” The numerous small, candy-colored horses in the lines looked towards the country mare. “Cider Season is now officially open!” Her voice echoed out of the megaphone. She immediately saw Pinkie Pie bounce out of the tent, bags of coins in her muzzle, enough for a good dozen.

The country mare poured a cup for her, sliding it towards her friend. She took it, drinking it swiftly, reveling in its flavor. “Thanks, Applejack! 12 more, please?”

“Ya bet!” She replied, pouring more mugs for Pinkie.

The party pony grabbed all of them once she was done, balancing them in her forelegs as she somehow managed to walk off bipedally. The next pony came up, asking for two mugs as she placed some bits on the counter.

Applejack nodded in reply, filling a mug before sliding it to the pony before she turned and walked off. She entered a sort of rhythmatic loop as she did so, occasionally glancing towards her little sister’s stand.

Applebloom handled the bits, Sweetie Belle handled pouring the mugs with her magic and Scootaloo helped move around the barrels of the stuff. The tremendous line stacked much longer than the apple cider one, each pony happily taking a mug of the stuff before immediately asking for more. Already, bags of bits were beginning to form at the stand.

Each pony that drank it froze up a little in shock at how fantastic the taste was, mane’s sticking up a tad from the jolts within it. It can’t be that good. Applejack thought.

~

“Are you sure we can’t just get the apple-lava?” Spike pleaded beside Twilight Sparkle. “It was so delicious when I tried it!”

Twilight groaned, looking down at the baby dragon. “No, Spike! We are still not sure that stuff is safe.” Well, Twilight was 100% positive that it was bad for him. The artifact that still sat in the saddlebag across her back informed her so, and the wretched stench sure didn’t aid its case.

“But, everypony else is drinking it! It looks like they love it!” He pointed at the hundred pony long line, an annoyed look growing on his face.

The book loving alicorn sighed. “Well, I’m sure the apple cider will be just as good.” She tried to give a small, convincing smile.

Spike shook his head. “It doesn’t even taste remotely the same! Apple-lava is just on a whole different level!” he flailed his arms out.

“Do you see how long that line is, Spike? It’d take centuries before you’d get it!” Twilight pointed out, displaying the line with a hoof. “We’re lucky so little ponies are going for apple cider this season. We might actually be able to get a good amount this time!”

“Well, Twilight.” Rarity interjected, standing behind the two in line the whole time. “If he really wants some, I think we should let him! Even if it smells horrid to us.” she defended, advancing in the line.

Twilight squinted back at Rarity with an annoyed look, before turning back to Spike. “Just, stay h-” she stopped, looking at the sight of Spike running down the line towards the end to grab himself some apple-lava. “Nevermind…”

“Why is everypony so googly-eyed about that stuff anyways?” Rainbow Dash asked, her standing and waiting in front of them. There were dark circles under her eyes and she yawned a bit after the sentence.

“I’m not exactly sure.” Twilight replied. “But I know it’s not good.”

“How?” the cyan pegasus questioned.

The princess of friendship glanced back at her saddlebag, thinking back to the relic. “Err, just a feeling.” if they knew that she could hear the “Decapitation Square” as Spike had so lovingly titled it, they’d probably think she was crazy.

Rainbow Dash nodded slowly. “Same here, I guess.” she thought back to earlier in the morning, rubbing her eyes sleepily. “I came across Scootaloo a couple days ago and she was all weird-acting. Like some robot.” she furrowed her brow as the line advanced

Rarity thought back for a moment as well. “Hm, when I saw Sweetie Belle this morning, she was rather similar. She couldn’t get a wink of sleep and when I tried to talk to her, all she’d talk about was the apple-lava!”

The rainbow-maned pegasus looked over at her with a relatable feeling. “That’s what she was talking about too!”

Twilight gave a thoughtful look, absorbing the information and piecing stuff together. “Maybe apple-lava is messing with them in some way?”

“But how? I’ve only ever heard Applejack talk about it. How would they have gotten their hooves on it?” The sleepy pegasus queried.

Rarity spoke up. “Last night Sweetie Belle told me that they were having a meeting. Maybe they had some there?” she queried, shuffling up to follow the advancing line.

As they speculated, Twilight watched as Lyra and Bon Bon passed them, walking home with an entire barrel of the stuff next to the line. She felt the scent of it wafe over them as they made their way down, Twilight forming a disgusted face.

“My, Rainbow Dash, why do you look so… dreadful, darling?” Rarity questioned her friend as soon as the barrel passed, suddenly changing the topic to something much less pressing.

Rainbow Dash tilted her head. “Hm? Oh, well since the whole ‘House got destroyed by a giant meteor’ thing happened, I picked up another job and-” she yawned loudly. “It’s been a little hard to triple-shift.”

Twilight looked over at her friends’ brief conversation, then back at the wretched barrel that had just passed them. She sighed, deciding to keep the question for the artifact.

“Could we focus on the matter at hoof?” The alicorn pleaded with her two friends.

Rainbow tilted her head. “What was it about again?”

Rarity piped up. “Oh! The apple-lava.” she recalled, moving up with the line.

“Yes, now-are they working at the stand?” Twilight asked with a confuzzled look, staring at the red apple-lava stand just ahead.

The three could just make out the Cutie Mark Crusaders working with the apple-lava, moving barrels, producing mugs of, handling bits. They were the ones hoofing out the stuff to all these ponies.

“They look ghastly!” Rarity exclaimed, looking at the three fillies.

Rainbow Dash nodded in agreement. “It’s 100% the apple-lava.”

“But how do we get them away from that stuff?” Twilight asked as they moved up.

“Three mugs, please.” Rainbow said to Applejack, the country mare nodding and sliding forward a trio of cups. The pegasus placed the appropriate amount of bits, taking them with a smile. “You know, even if this apple-lava stuff seems to be all evil and mind-controlling, at least I can get my apple cider because of it.” she commented.

“Oh, Applejack! Do we have some time to talk?” Twilight asked, moving in front of Rainbow. She doubted the apple-themed pony could thanks to the line, but it was worth asking.

“Yup.” the country mare nodded.

Twilight tilted her head slightly, ear flicking. “Really?”

“Yup, don’t got much of a line right now anyways.” she gave a disappointed look to the “line” behind them. The only pony behind Rarity was Fluttershy, who had been remaining silent the whole time, them not noticing her at all. Bandages and patches still covered her flanks from the attack but they were no longer bleeding the green puss.

“H-Hey everypony.” She waved shyly as eyes sat on the only member of the ‘line.’

Applejack sighed. “Everypony’s all crazy for that apple-lava my sister and them are workin’ up.”

Twilight thought for a moment, looking across her four friends. “Wait, Fluttershy, have you tried the apple-lava yet?”

Fluttershy shook her head, shaking a bit at the thought of it. “It smells horrifying! I wouldn’t even want to touch it.”

“And, would anypony know where Pinkie Pie is?” the bookworm asked everypony.

Applejack shrugged. “Last I saw her she was heading to the back of the line for apple-lava. I guess she wants to try it.”

“Bleugh!” Pinkie exclaimed, walking away from the end of the apple-lava line. “Eugh! That is the worst thing I’ve tasted in my life!” the party pony stated, walking away from the line, dropping a mug of what was apple-lava on the ground. “How could anypony drink that?!” she hadn’t even noticed her friends still at the other stand.

“Hey, Pinkie!” Applejack called, the pink mare rearing her head to them.

“Oh, hey everypony!” she waved, bouncing towards the rest of her friends, waving still.

“What’s up, Pinkie?” Rainbow greeted, offering a hoof for her to bump.

Pinkie Pie returned it. “Not much! I was just trying out how the apple-lava stuff is. Tastes pretty yucky. Smells bad too.” she glanced back at the line.

Twilight was holding a hoof to her chin, deep in thought as her friends caught up with each other. Everypony else besides the Elements appears to love the stuff. Not us though…

“E̴̺̿l̵̢̐ḙ̵́m̶̤̊e̶̡̕n̷͈̽t̴̫̄s̴̲̀?” The cube rumbled within Twilight’s saddlebag.

The alicorn jumped a little, looking around for a moment before realizing that it was the relic resting in her bag. Oh, it’s you.

“Yes.” they answered, before continuing. “What are these E̴̺̿l̵̢̐ḙ̵́m̶̤̊e̶̡̕n̷͈̽t̴̫̄s̴̲̀you speak of?” it asked, hearing the magical force with the title of them.

Twilight thought for a moment, thinking of some way to explain it to them. They are the most powerful objects in Equestria. The Elements of Harmony. Me and my friends are the only ponies that can really control them. Apparently we’re compatible in some… way? It’s complicated.

It gave a thoughtful “Hmmm…” Before continuing, “So, you are telling me some strange authority thought it would be wise to leave the most powerful objects in your world to you six? Beings barely past beyond two decades of age?”

Twilight nodded, blushing a bit in embarrassment. You know, now that you put it like that it does sound a little stupid. Say, would you know anything about if that apple-lava can mess with pony’s memories?

“I haven’t heard of it. Although, I wouldn’t be surprised. It is known to manipulate beings to its will.” The cube answered, its telepathic connection cutting as Twilight lurched back, spotting a pink hoof going back and forth in front of her eyes.

“Twilight? Are you alright? Hey! Snap out of it.” she urged.

The bookworm blinked, bringing herself to the occasion. “Oh, sorry, I just got caught up in my thoughts.” she looked at her friends, ruffling her mane in embarrassment.

“What were ya thinkin’ about?” Applejack queried.

She sighed before answering. “Everypony else besides us loves that apple-lava stuff. Maybe it’s correlated with the Elements in some way?” Twilight suggested.

Rarity thought for a moment. “That would make sense, but what would the apple-lava have to do with the Elements?”

“Maybe it’s some kind of corruptin’ thang? Applebloom’s been acting strange ever since she laid her eyes on that stuff!” she suggested. “Her hairs been fallin’ out and she’s been forgetting her bow constantly! Not ta mention her coat losing its color.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “That would explain why Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle are like that too!”

“We need to do something.” she watched as all her friends slowly nodded in agreement. “Applejack and I will bring some of that stuff to Zecora. She’s the only pony I know that could know anything about it.” she looked at the orange cowpony. “Go get your hooves on a sample, Applejack.”

The country mare nodded, turning and galloping swiftly to the barn.

“What about us?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“You and Fluttershy will fly around the Everfree Forest. Keep an eye out for any more pools of that stuff and make sure no pony drinks from them. The same goes for you, Rarity and Pinkie.” Twilight pointed to the two, before gesturing to the ground. “Both of you stay here and make sure no more of this apple-lava sells. Got it?”

“Okie-dokie-lokie!” Pinkie saluted.

Applejack quickly galloped back to everypony, vial of the fluid in jaws. “Got it!” she mumbled around the sample.

“Alright, everypony ready?” Twilight lifted a hoof to the center of her friends, them forming a sort of circle.

“Yep!”

“You bet!”

“Ready as ever!”

“S-Sure…”

“Of course I am, darling!”

They all said, lifting hooves to Twilight’s.

“Alright, everypony split in three, one… two… three!” all six spread out, heading to their selected objectives.

Coming to Fruition

“I really hope Zecora knows what this stuff is.” Applejack hoped, wading over several patches of tall foliage.

Twilight nodded in agreement. “I’d hate to come all this way looking for her just to have her tell us that it’s just some weird looking juice.” She sighed, listening to the vial of apple-lava clink in her saddle bag in a pocket next to the artifact.

The country mare shrugged. “I’d prefer that over anythin’. Hopefully were just being ultra-paranoid about some weird lookin’ juice.”

“That’d be fortunate.” she sighed. “But it’s surely important to find out if we’re right.” Twilight explained. “I’d consider this a little more simpler than what I had Pinkie and Rarity do.”

Applejack chuckled at the thought. “Celestia knows what they’re up to. Judging by how crazy them ponies were for that stuff, Pinkie must be doing cartwheels all across Sweet Apple Acres to keep them away.”

The alicorn giggled. “Yeah, and Rarity is probably pretending to be some five star taste tester.” she predicted.

The stetson adorning mare laughed. “If she’d be able to bring herself to drink that stuff!”

Twilight shoved away some bushes for her friend, letting her pass before following through the shady forest further. As the two walked through the mucky woods, the familiar greenish glow of Zecora’s literal tree house made itself apparent ahead.

“Here we are.” Twilight informed her friend as they made their way to the witch doctor’s hut.

The princess went up to the front door, setting a wave of knocks on the loggy entrance. “Zecora?” she called as she knocked.

The rustling of leaves, and bird calls were all that replied to the knocking. “Zecora? Ya home?!” Applejack joined the calling.

More silence. Twilight lifted her hoof to knock one more time, preparing to hit the door before it swung open. The alicorn jumped a little at the sight of the mask staring at her, blue stripes across a beak like-nose of the bird shaped face covering revealed by the newly open door.

“What seemed to have happened, to bring you two towards my humble cabin?” The zebra questioned behind the mask.

Twilight took a moment to cast her gaze upon the torso of the mask-wearing equine. “Oh, Zecora.” she took a breath, spotting the stripes across her body. “Why are you in that?”

Zecora reached up to the mask, taking it off with her hooves. “I was going to obtain more flash bee honey. It is a very easy way to make much more money.” she rhymed. “Now, tell me the issue only, I’m sure I could help everypony.” the zebra turned, heading further into her tree home.

The duo followed her within. “Well, we came here to ask you about a certain liquid thing? I can’t exactly tell what it is, but it's weird and we think you’d know what it is.” Twilight began, Zecora going to one of the tables of her hut to work on some sort of concoction.

“My sister found this stuff she calls apple-lava.” Applejack took the sample out of her friend's bag, displaying the vial. “It’s all red and lightning-y. Everypony loves it, but my sister, ever since she began drinking the stuff she hasn’t been the same!” Applejack explained, worry filling her tone.

The witch-doctor froze at the explanation, turning to the liquid with a concerned look. “And, would you two have happened to give it a drink?” she lifted it out of Applejack’s hoof, eyebrows furrowing.

“Not in a million years! Us and the other four couldn’t even stand its smell.” Applejack explained.

The zebra turned to them. “Good, you all should be safe, I think.” she stated, finishing the rhyme from the last sentence.

Twilight tilted her head curiously. “Safe? So, you’re telling us that it’s dangerous?”

Zecora nodded. “Yes it is, your sister however,” she looked at Applejack. “Maybe involved in a much dire crisis.” she rhymed with the alicorn

“Crisis?” Applejack questioned.

“In all likelihood. And so are most of the ponies who had drunk it, at least, they should.” the wise zebra turned, walking over to a window of her hut and placing the vial on a table

Twilight thought for a moment. “I-Is there anyway we could fix this?” The alicorn stepped forward with a determined look. “Anyway we could stop somepony from being… “changed” by it?”

“Changed is a word I would very much use indeed. In due time, they may be persuaded into numerous devilish deeds.” She glanced at a bookshelf over hers. “Take that book, second shelf, colored blue. That is where the answers to your questions may be due.”

Twilight looked over, spotting the faded blue book sitting on the spooky looking shelf. It was labeless on the side, the alicorn illuminating the novel with her magic. She floated it over, the cover of it lacking words.

On the cover of the book stood a robe adorning creature. It bore resemblance to the statues in that hidden room back in the Castle of Friendship. The alien creature adorned a long, flowing priest robe, hands folded into each sleeve wisely.

“What is this?” Twilight asked, placing it on a log shaped table before beginning to flip through.

“Read through the book and you will see the truth to your history.” she informed. “Now quick, return to the acres. I will follow you there once I create an elixir to prevent you all from meeting your makers.” Zecora said ominously, grabbing an assortment of ingredients before throwing them in the center pot.

Twilight’s purple eyes skimmed swiftly through the book, slowly widening with every page read. The letters and words certainly signified old ponish, or at least some variety of it. Notes were written around each paragraph, trying to sum the words in a more modern tongue. Twilight could just make out most of the words thankfully.

She floated it in front of her, reading further into the tales informed by the tattered, old book. “W-What is this? It must be some form of… historical fiction! There’s no way in Celestia’s name that this stuff could be true!” she exclaimed as she read further.

“It was passed down generations of my family, whether physically or orally.” she uncorked the vial, pouring the fluid into the pot, boiling from the lit fire beneath it. It sizzled and crackled as it landed in the liquid of the pot, lightning shooting across it. “It’s truths may be questionable, although to me it’s made a lot of strange things seem more believable.” she explained. “My ancestors named it the Codex.”

The alicorn side-eyed her friend, slightly levitating the book to her to showcase to her friend what the current page presented.

“You must keep the contents of it hidden.” Zecora began just in time. “To those of higher authority, this book is forbidden.”

Twilight floated the book back to herself, keeping it away to ensure that Applejack didn’t catch the glimpse she had just hoped to give to her. “I-I understand.” The princess nodded.

“Now, go. Before something dangerous undergoes.” The zebra looked up from her cauldron at the two, nodding them up to get moving.

Applejack turned, heading out. Twilight took a moment longer to read before quickly joining her friend. As the two exited, Zecora gave them a worried look, knowing what may happen soon. She blinked away her dread, shifting to a determined stare as she focused on mixing her new concoction.

~

Fluttershy winced in pain, feeling the wind disrupt the wounds of her sides. She flew slowly over the Everfree alongside Rainbow Dash, looking across the canopy for any signs of reddish glows or anything else of the sorts.

The injuries had healed across her body, at least to a point where bandaging was not necessary, however her hide was still raw and soft and stung. The physical pain associated with the injury wasn’t the only issue.

That triad of eyes, glowing angry green, deep into her soul. The two mandibles, crackling wide open as if ready to bite her head clean off, the long, gnarled claws dripping with ooze. She could feel herself hold back a heave just from the thought of that monster. It could hardly leave her mind.

The same could be said about her dreams. The more gruesome and violent ones she had seen while under the influence of that monster’s poison had continued.

Ginormous horned beasts with blades of flame extending from their wrists, visions of her friends in zombie-like states, faded pelts and emotionless faces. They only moaned traces of their voices as they shambled at her, attempting to strike at her with their hooves and lunge for chunky bites.

More noble looking monsters joined the barbaric ranks as well. Still bipedal, wearing what appeared to be armor and wielding weapons with blades of fire. Those ones spoke to her. Their voices were deep and striking, their eyes glowed bright orange and their faces, at least from what she could see under their helmets and masks, were skeletal and rotting.

What they had said to her exactly had slipped from her mind but what she knew for sure was that they wouldn’t stop asking her about something. Over and over again, with unimaginable force within their deep and crackly voices. She couldn’t help but shiver at the thought. Though, at least in the land of the waking, the only thing bringing those beasts back to her was her own thoughts and memory.

She had tried to talk to others about it, although most of the time she’d hold herself back. By Celestia, I haven’t even said thanks to Twilight... nor the other three. A stroke of guilt was brought to her. Fluttershy had been much more reluctant to converse lately. Even to her closest friends, like she hadn’t even known them. She was surprised that she let out more than a peep to them back at the cider line.

This also could be attributed to her complete hermitization. She felt way too hesitant to make the trip to Ponyville from her cottage, every peek into the woods reminding her of what that thing did to both her and Mr. Lizard.

She had begun neglecting her animals a tad as well, frequently forgetting to feed them. Especially those outside. For most of the days she’d sit in bed under the covers hoping nothing would come and attack her, even during the day.

Then there was Discord. Fluttershy would call to him frequently in her cottage at night, alone and afraid to sleep. However, the mystical Draconequus was absent. Unresponsive. She would assume that he’s busy but everytime after that incident that she did call for him, the God of Chaos wouldn’t arrive.

Fluttershy frowned at the thought, eyes deep in thought as she hovered over the Everfree forest. “Fluttershy!” She heard her friend, Rainbow Dash call. “What are you looking at?!”

The nature-loving pegasus jumped, looking over at her friend with wide eyes. “O-Oh! Oh,
was I spacing out again?” She blushed in embarrassment, smiling nervously.

“Yeah! I know it’s been a tough past week for you, Fluttershy, but we need to focus.” Rainbow Dash said.

“Eh-alright, Rainbow.” Fluttershy’s ears folded back as her friend huffed.

A bit of guilt struck Rainbow over the miniscule lash out. It seemed to have hurt, judging by the other pegasus’ reaction. “Just, listen, Fluttershy. I’m sorry for getting annoyed there, but I’m just worried.” she began. “I’ve hardly seen you since you came out of that hospital and I haven’t been sure that you were alright for a while. I haven’t seen you around Ponyville at all! Is everything okay?”

Fluttershy nodded smally. “I-I’m okay.” she lied, looking for something to change the topic. Her ears perked at the sight of a glowing red under the trees. “There!” she pointed a hoof down to the pool of apple-lava.

Rainbow looked down as well, spotting the pool. “Let’s go check it out!” she grinned, ready for adventure as she flew down towards it.

Fluttershy followed her friend down the canopy, making sure to flutter between a pair of bush like treetops to get below the thick forest. There sat a severely drained pool of the stuff, lacking the fluid thanks to the recent utilization of its contents by the Apple family. Where much of the energy like substance used to sit were crackles and streaks of red lightning going across the mucky dirt.

Rainbow and Fluttershy landed next to the lowered pool. “The apple-lava’s all sunken in.” The rainbow maned pegasus pointed out, taking a step or two towards it. She moved a hoof to one of the shooting shocks that remained from the mud.

Once she made contact with it, she immediately withdrew the hoof, eyes wide. “OW!” She jumped back, shaking her hoof, a bit of the red lightning dispersing across the cyan hide. “Ugh, note to self, don’t touch the apple-lava.” She set her hoof on the ground, backing away from the pit.

She glanced back at Fluttershy, the yellow pegasus not saying anything.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Well, it looks like Applejack’s family drained everything. Most of everything.” she stomped her hoof on the ground to get rid of the electric feeling within it. “So, should we go look for anymore?” the daredevil asked. “I kind of feel like there’d only be one, ya know? Kind of makes no sense that no pony would have found these things before now if there was.” she explained

“Eh… Rainbow Dash?” The shy pony called for her friend’s attention, eyes fixed on something above the canopy of the Everfree.

“Wha-What in Equestria is that?!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, looking in the direction that her pal was staring in.

There, just being made out above the trees could be seen a dome made of some magical light blue aura. It was strikingly similar to that magical protection spell Shining Armor had casted at his and Princess Cadence’s wedding. Well, Rainbow Dash had simply recalled it as “the weird protective bubble thingy.”

It was off in the distance, assumedly surrounding some sort of location. “We’ve gotta go check that out!” Rainbow exclaimed, dashing into the air.

“A-Are you sure about that, Rainbow? T-Twilight told us to-...” She gave up on trying to stop her once Rainbow Dash flew above the canopy, not paying an ounce of attention to her point. Most likely do to Fluttershy’s lack of volume in her tone.

The yellow pegasus glanced at the pool before taking flight and following her friend.

“We don’t know if th-that’s dangerous or not!” Fluttershy pointed out, flying alongside her friend.

“It’s worth checking out.” The cyan pegasus pointed out, squinting her pinkish-red eyes ahead. “I think it’s around that old castle place.” The pony realized, spotting it below the tinted blue dome. There, in a large field that broke from the Everfree, stood the dilapidated and destroyed former home of their royalty. The protective barrier surrounded it strong and steadfast.

“Why in Celestia would that magic dome thing be there?” Rainbow asked as they flew towards it.

Fluttershy shook a little. “M-Maybe it’s best if we d-d-don’t investigate?” she suggested.

“Aw, come on, Fluttershy! Live a little.” the daring mare flew her way over the old rope bridge that led across the chasm to the castle, landing in front of the dome and onto the path that would usually lead to the front entrance.

The shy pony landed beside Rainbow, ears pinned back. “P-Please don’t tell me y-you’re going to try to g-g-go in there.” her cyan pupils were small in fear.

Rainbow Dash shrugged, making her way to the bright blue aura. “What’s the worst that could happen? I’ll just reach a hoof in.” she lifted a hoof nonchalantly as she advanced closer to the dome. The closer she got, the more a light, heavenly sounding noise beamed from the aura.

Eventually she got to a distance that was close enough to reach a hoof from. The pegasus gently moved it closer and closer towards it, the bottom part of her leg being engulfed by a tingly feeling, both warm and cold. It made her mane frill up a little as she planted the hoof further through, beginning to walk into the other side of the dome. It seemed to have accepted her.

Her entire body was washed over with that same feeling until she made it to the other side. It felt rather normal inside the dome as she looked across the castle.

Rainbow Dash looked down at her hooves, then back at herself, making sure she was okay. The pegasus then turned around, looking back at Fluttershy who was now much less scared of going in there.

“Come on in!” Rainbow Dash urged.

It appeared that Fluttershy caught the message, closing her eyes and clenching her teeth as she reached a hoof in. Once it was slightly within the dome, she flung her eyes open, giving her limb a weird look as it edged closer to the inside ground.

Fluttershy gasped a little at the feeling before she staggered the rest of the way through, shivering a little. “Th-that felt… weird.” the pegasus stated.

“It’s safe here though.” Rainbow Dash said, looking across the castle, listening to the gentle hum of the magical barrier’s aura. “A little peaceful, ya know?”

Her friend nodded, staring across it as well. “...We should tell Twilight.”

Rainbow Dash nodded back. “Yeah, I like that idea.” The two turned, making their way out of the barrier and taking flight, heading back towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Shadow of a Distant Fire

Applejack lifted a pair of branches for Twilight Sparkle, the alicorn still holding the Codex within her magic, reading thoroughly. They had returned to the acres however they were on the opposite side from the stands, leaving the duo to wander among the apple trees for a while.

“Ya seem pretty invested in that book.” Applejack commented. “Mind telling me what it's about?” she took a moment to think of the word. “A synopsi or whatever it’s called?”

The bookworm glanced from the pages to her friend. “Do you mean “synopsis?””

Twilight sighed. “I’m sorry, Applejack. But I promised Zecora to keep it a secret. Plus, I’m not sure you’d accept some of the stuff this book says.” she added.

“What do ya mean?” The country mare queried.

The princess sighed. “I’m afraid I can’t say.” she ran a hoof through her mane. “Just, don’t worry about it.” the book-loving alicorn replied as the long line of apple-lava enjoyers became visible.

As they got closer, the two could see quite the display. A familiar pink pony, bouncing, twirling, jumping all around the stand. She would pull off many fantastical tricks, the crowd clapping their hooves for her as she hit the ground, picking up one of the many apple-lava barrels, beginning to juggle them all with amazing strength.

As the two got closer, it was clear that it was Pinkie Pie, entertaining the whole crowd before she accidentally dropped all three barrels, then dropping and breaking open, the fluid spilling out. It was debatable if it was an accident or not.

The cheers and entertained faces of the line dropped immediately, angry frowns and grimaces filling the crowd, before booing erupted at the party pony.

“O-Oh, O-Oh, but I can do this!” Pinkie began doing a stupid chicken dance. The crowd didn’t let up, jeering further for the party pony. She eventually stopped, frowning before chicken-dancing off to someplace else.

“One mug of apple-lava ple-” the stallion at the front of the line was about to say to Applebloom, before being shoved aside by a white unicorn with a suit-like attire on and professional glasses, her hair green and white.

“Step aside, my fine stallion.” the second she opened her mouth Twilight and Applejack could recognize the held back accent of Rarity, the unicorn in a wig and a suit. “I simply must have a jab at one of the finest beverages of all Equestria!” she placed a hoof eloquently to her chest.

The at first furious stallion backed off, recognizing the mare’s prestige and letting her cut the entire line. The pony behind him could be heard huffing something before Rarity continued.

“I am Platinum Column. One of the most refined taste testers in all of Equestria!” she stepped towards the stand. “I have heard great things about you fillies.”

“I’m sure ya have.” the off-looking Applebloom replied. “That’ll be five bits please.” she reached a hoof out.

Rarity dropped a couple in her hand, waiting for Scootaloo to robotically pour her a mug. Once finished, the fancy shmancy mare gripped the drink in her magic and steeled herself. She glanced at Pinkie Pie, giving the white unicorn a disgusted look before just catching Twilight and Applejack, returning from their journey.

Twilight had lowered the book that was in her magic, crossing a hoof across her throat with a disgusted look, signaling her not to drink the liquid.

“W-Well…” Rarity glanced around nervously, a bead of sweat forming down her face.

A broncolyn sounding stallion spoke up from a couple spots back in the line. “Hurry it up!”

The unicorn took a deep breath, before laughing anxiously. “Down the hatch, a-as they say!” she said right before lifting her head and dripping a small portion of the contents of the mug down her throat. Rarity immediately writhed in disgust, dropping the mug and going between hooves. “UGH!” she retched. “This is the worst thing I’ve ever tasted!”

The statement shook the impressionable ponies behind her, them muttering about if the drink was overhyped or not. “I shall take my leave from this stand! Such wretched drinks should be delivered to nopony!” Rarity went off, holding off the urge to vomit.

Once she was out of basic hearing range of the group, Applejack spoke up, heading towards the unicorn. “Good work, Rarity! You got a lot of ‘em ponies second guessing themselves.”

The mare grew green in the face. “I-I’m not sure it was worth it! I think I need to find a bush!” she rushed to the nearest patch of foliage, dipping her head in it and letting out disgusting retching noises.

Although Rarity was often overdramatic, the other three could definitely understand her reaction to the drink. Applejack sighed. “Well that warded them off for now, I’m just hoping Applebloom doesn’t do anythin’ to change their minds.” she stared at her little sister, who was grumbling and groaning, trying to convince them how good it was.

Spike walked away from the line, sighing. “Just as I thought it was getting good.” he looked at the three. “Oh, hey guys! Where’s Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy?” he greeted with a wave of his scaly hand.

“Off flying over the Everfree! Something about finding the fancy red stuff that may or may not be a mysterious, mind-controlling and ultimately world endi-.” an orange hoof covered Pinkie Pie’s mouth.

“They’re just goin’ on a casual fly about.” The country mare technically didn’t lie, just withheld a bit of information or two.

“Ah, alright.” Spike replied, looking at the alicorn he assisted.

Twilight Sparkle was extremely tense as she read, ears perked, eyes wide. She made sure to clench her jaw shut as she read, making the shock she was feeling apparent. This can’t be real! It makes sense, but it can’t! God-like beings creating magic? Hyper intelligent bipedal creatures giving us sentience by bestowing the magic upon us? Impossible! Magic just… always existed. that was unlikely, something simply always existing was often not true. The only thing she applied it to was… well magic itself.

And these world eating armies. Brutal and violent monsters, fighting from a dimension “beyond time and space itself”? All of this sounds like something from one of Spike’s comic books!

“It seems to add up.” the artifact in her saddlebag agreed. “Fits everything I know.”

You know this?! she looked back at her bag. Why haven’t you told me then?!

“I thought you wouldn’t have been able to handle it.” they stated blatantly. “I mean, it appears you are having issues now.”

Twilight sighed. You prove a point. she flipped a page.

“Watcha think she’s reading about?” Spike asked after having poked her in one of her legs multiple times. “Seems pretty… immersive.” he found the word.

Applejack shrugged. “Wouldn’t tell me.”

Pinkie raised her hand in excitement. Wait, no. I meant hoof. God, writing in this horse-speak gets really annoying. “Oh! Can I guess?!”

“Eh, sure?” Applejack responded.

“I have two guesses actually!” she began. “My first is: The ultimate culmination of our world’s deepest and darkest secrets all wrapped up in one mind-boggling, reality-morphing book.” Pinkie took a deep breath. “Or… The Really Hungry Caterpillar!”

Applejack nodded. “Yep, I bet it’s the latter.” the mare stated sarcastically.

“Twilight!” The familiar voice of Rainbow shouted from up above, finally breaking the alicorn from her book-born stupor. “Twilight!”

The two pegasi flew down, landing next to the princess as she neatly placed a bookmarking spell in the pages of the Codex, putting it in the other pouch of her saddlebag. “Hey, what’s the matter?” Twilight asked them.

“So, you know that castle in the middle of the Everfree forest? All big, dilapidated and spooky?” The daredevil mare queried.

Twilight nodded a couple times. “Yeah, yeah. The Castle of the Two Sisters. What about it?”

“Well, me and Fluttershy were going around looking for the pools of that apple-lava stuff, then all the sudden we saw this giant blue dome!” Rainbow sat on her haunches, making a circle with both of her hooves to form the mental image. “And it surrounded the castle, like the spell your brother cast back at Cadence’s wedding.”

Twilight tilted her head, one of her ears flicking. “Really?” the alicorn hated this new aspect to the mystery.

“Yeah! Really!” Rainbow responded.

The alicorn nodded. “W-Well, we’ll have to investigate that. But right after we put a stop to this app-”

“That is not a good sign.” The cube rumbled within her bag.

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, panic surging.

The artifact rumbled further. “That castle is ancient, I know its design and faculties. If enough of that e̴͔̪͐͠n̸̫̩͠ȩ̵͚̑r̶͈͂̋g̶̺̮̎̽y̶̭̠̽ is detected in this realm, it will cast a protective barrier to keep ț̵͈̏͋ḥ̴̈́ë̵̺͖m̴͚͇̏͐ out.”

Rainbow tilted her head as well. “What else would I me-”

“Energy? Them? Who in Celestia’s name is them?” Twilight questioned, her surge of panic and confusion turning into frustration.

Her friends all gave the alicorn worried looks as she apparently grew frustrated with her saddlebag.

“I just got done reading this crazy, world-defying book telling me all this stuff! And when I want answers all you give me is some obscure, half-answer that makes no sense! Who the hay are they!” Twilight exploded.

The artifact sighed, trying to avoid an answer. “The Ẹ̵͍̽̀v̴͉͗͜i̴̩͐̕͜-̸͗̓ͅ-̸̜͆̈́”

“Oh!” The alicorn exasperated. “Oh! The Evil! Well, would you mind telling me what it is Mr. Talking Cube?!”

“I-”

“You what?! Ya going to tell me some fancy pants work around? Some stupid cryptic phrase all garbled up from magical disconnections?! Oh! You know what I bet you are?! I bet you’re just some fake messed up trick from Discord. Discord, Discord, Discord. No wonder Fluttershy hasn’t seen him in weeks! He’s been busy conjuring up some cool looking juice to make the six of us all paranoid thinking that it’s rotting everyone’s brain and turning us into zombies!” Twilight took in one, long, deep breath after the complete rant she just laid out before the cube. “It wouldn’t be his first time screwing us over for his own sick kicks!”

They only had one five word long response to it. “You will find out soon.”

She stopped. “Wh-What do you mean?” Twilight asked/

She suddenly felt a hoof rest on her shoulder. “Erm, Twi? Are you okay?”

The princess broke out of her conversation with the thing, looking at her with a paranoid look. She swallowed nervously, realizing that she had said almost all of that outloud. “E-Ehm… Y-Yeah! Yeah! I’m fine… Fine…” Twilight responded the same way she always did when lying.

“Ya sure? It seemed like you were having a pretty heated conversation with… err your saddlebag.” Applejack said.

Twilight Sparkle looked across her five friends, all giving her particularly concerned and worried looks.

Rarity made her way back, eyes weary from getting the stuff out of her system. “W-What all happened while I was gone?” her wig was gone and she had taken off her suit.

Pinkie smiled. “Oh! Not much, Twilight was just going insane.”

The princess shook her head horizontally at the accusation. “I am not going insane!”

“Then who were ya talkin’ to?” Applejack questioned.

Twilight frowned, deciding to tell the truth. “The cube!” she took it out of her saddlebag with her magic. “It talks! Telepathically. It’s some ancient magical artifact! The only issue is that all its warnings are so cryptic that they don’t make any sense!” the princess floated it in front of her to display.

Rainbow and Fluttershy glanced at each other with a complete “yeah, this fillies gone crazy” sort of look.

“It’s saying some Evil is coming! But it won’t say what Evil it is exactly!” Twilight exclaimed. “Spike, you were there when we found it in that hidden room at the Castle of Friendship!?”

Spike nodded slowly. “But… I didn’t hear it talk.” the dragon thought back for a moment.

She looked to her friends that had followed her through the Everfree to help Fluttershy. “Pinkie, Rarity. You all saw what it did to that thing!”

Rarity cleared her throat. “Erm, darling, even if that thing does talk to you, and only you, are you sure it’d actually be that friendly?”

Pinkie Pie nodded in agreement. “Yeah, it seemed pretty dangerous back there.”

“I-I would believe that it can t-t-talk… if it can fly around and… attack then, it might?” Fluttershy defended her friend.

Rainbow Dash sighed, moving and resting a hoof on her friend’s shoulder. “Listen, Twi, I think you just need a nap or something. You don’t really seem too stable right now…”

Twilight backed off from her hoof. “I am perfectly stable!” she exclaimed. “You all are just accusing me of being crazy for no reason!” her purple hoof gestured to all of them. She glared towards the artifact that floated in her magic. “You know what, Mr. Cubey?! How about you talk to my friends, huh?! All of them?! Say something to enlighten the-”

Suddenly, something struck through everypony around her. Twilight as well. Like a lightning cracking through a tree, or a calm river stream rushing down a mountain into a cascading fall. A feeling that broke all order, one that rippled through each and everyone of their hearts and shook them to their core.

It felt like balance had been broken in this world. Like the atmosphere was split by some monstrous force. It was an urge in each and everypony’s essence that informed all of them of one single fact.

“We are in the shadow of a distant f̸͙͘ǐ̴͓r̸̘̓ë̷̺́.”

Then, there was a hum.

Cordial Affairs

The first thing to break them from their stupor of that dreadful feeling was the sudden screech of their friend, Fluttershy. She shouted in horror, dropping off her hooves and scrambling away. Her scream was so loud and high-pitched that it drowned out the loud hum.

“Fluttershy!” Rarity jumped by. “Fluttershy, calm down! Stop screaming so loud!” The unicorn urged.

Rainbow Dash joined in once the screaming didn’t stop. “What’s wrong! What are you screaming about!”

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” She continued screeching at whatever she had seen, pupils shrinking in horror.

Rainbow Dash took a deep breath, before smacking the pegasus across the face. “What are you screaming about?!”

Fluttershy stared wide eyed behind her, breathing heavily and lifting a hoof to point towards the humming sound. There, not too far from the end of the remaining line sat a crimson red portal, whirling and humming with energy. She had seen it before in her dreams many times, often leading to horrific sights.

It floated above the trail to the stands as well as the Apple family, fences guarding the trees from it. Her screaming had distracted everypony from the anomaly, all of them now staring. Several ponies in the line began muttering between each other, asking several questions once they did notice the vortex.

Twilight swallowed her confusion down, looking at the line. “Everypony calm down, I’m going to check it out.” she said to the line, now contorting into a group of ponies rounding around the stands. She took a deep breath, setting her saddlebag down to let her wings free.

The humming of the portal only got louder as she advanced closer and closer, a dreadful feeling filling her as she stared deeper into the dark maroon center. She could feel her mind imagining any monstrosity to stomp out of there. One of those things that hurt Pinkie and Fluttershy? Or maybe something completely different. Whatever it was, she knew it wasn’t good.

However, when she looked back at the dozens of scared eyes staring at her, she couldn’t help but feel that if anypony were to find out, it’d have to be her. After all, being an alicorn princess, she was probably the most powerful pony among them.

She forged the bravest look she could muster as she finally set her hooves firm in front of the portal, a couple of hooves away from the entrance.

THUD

The mare felt the ground tremble just slightly below her, as she saw a metallic boot of some creature take one small step through the portal, ruffling the grass below it.

THUD

Another boot joined it, the strong metallic material that made its armor forming several ridges of plates up its shin as more was exposed.

THUD

The ground trembled as the first foot moved forward once again, no other boots joining it as the rest of the body made its way out. Monstrous skulls made up the thing’s kneepads, interrupting the armor plating and ridges on the shin to showcase the remains of a horrific beast, now used to protect this one from newer enemies.

THUD

A cloth of faded runes and letters flowed between and around the legs of the monster, going up and below the torso plating of the demon. He was bipedal, clearly. A rune of old ponish became apparent on the creature’s belt. The definition of it forming in Twilight’s mind. To stop? To exit?.. No, to end.

THUD

The armor extended across his torso and down his arms, a bandolier of skulls across the chestplate with another rune being mostly covered by it. His left arm had a standard metal shoulder pad, black with gold prestigious lining around it. Similar to the rest of the armor.

The section between his shoulder pad and gauntlet revealed pale, almost blue flesh to the outside world, scarred and battered, yet large, strong and muscly. On the gauntlet of the beast’s arm was a skull, the lower jaw replaced with what seemed to be some type of double blade. Or more so a sharp double sided hook, serrated at the ends.

THUD

His right arm was fully covered in the black and gold armor, the shoulder pad breaking up into a sharp, boney spike. The armor on his right arm ended down at his gauntlet, an extra layer of padding around the wrist to keep it safe.

THUD

Finally, was the head. At first it was covered by a large cylindrically shaped helmet, a curved slit around where the eyes would look through glowing with angry red energy. Like a more futuristic crusader helmet, if Twilight even knew what that looked like.

However, now that he was fully out of the portal, the helmet ridged itself, folding around and back from around the thing's head and below his tall horns.

THUD

One final thud shaked the land as he glared down at Princess Twilight Sparkle. The monster’s two glowing orange eyes staring from right above the dead, rotting face of whatever he was.

The pages of the Codex informed her of what it is however. She knew, and everything it had said seemed to be correct now. A human. A Night Sentinel corrupted, who had betrayed those that used to rule this world for the options that Hell provided them. A Sentinel warrior turned demon.

Or what the Codex referred to them as: marauders. Powerful, high-ranking demons. Skilled in the arts of combat.

He took one long and deep breath of the Equestrian air, taking in the pureness of his surroundings before opening his lipless jaws to speak.

“Princess Twilight Sparkle.” The deep yet gnarled voice broke Twilight’s attentive study of the monster. “I have arrived from my realm for some…” he reached for the weapon to his back, taking it out from some sort of mechanism in the backplate meant to lock it in place.

She assumed it to be some sort of waraxe at first judging by the two sharp tips pointing in opposite directions at the end of the weapon, however her thoughts were changed when it ignited with some magical force.

Dual saw-like edges emerged from either “blade” of the sword, spinning in place with a rumble, ready to tear through its next victim. Like a chainsaw. A red chainsaw energy blade. “Cordial affairs.” He grinned down at her with a lipless smile.

“C-C-...” She swallowed, regaining her composure. “Cordial affairs. Y-Yes.” Twilight was taken aback with the coarseness of its voice.

The demon pointed far behind her. “I am here for your people.” he casted a bony, long-nailed hand to the huddle of ponies down at the stands. “As well as your home.” he explained, cutting to the chase.

She closed her eyes, taking a deep breath to gather herself before responding. “You may not have them.” a determined look grew over her face.

“Oh, really? Now, who is going to stop me?” He looked across the field for a contender, purposefully ignoring Twilight, attempting to rub in his thoughts on her apparent combat effectiveness.

“Me.” She stood up to the demon.

A grin creaked across his face. “Great!” the monster casted his yellow eyes down upon her. “On the other side of that portal stands twelve-thousand of the mightiest beings that existence has come to know.” He twirled the energy sword in his hand, beginning to pace in front of the portal. “Now, my little pony.” he began demeaningly, chuckling away the idiotic term they used for their species. “I’ve struck quite a deal with them to organize a one on one battle.”

Her eyes grew angry, brows turning downward. “What do you mean?”

“You see, your culture has always fascinated me.” he began. “Peace, love, kindness. Friendship.” The other-worldly warrior glared at her friends far behind her. “However, I’ve seen some of your people battle before, and I am curious to see how you magical equine duel.”

“What happens if you win?” Twilight asked.

The creature nodded. “Well, you and a handful of your people may leave your homes peacefully, and we will conquer this place you call home.”

“And if I win?”

“Then the invasion will commence elsewhere, far from this kingdom.” he answered.

The book-smart mare pondered for a moment. “And if I pick no option?”

“Then the invasion will start here no matter what.” the thing stated simply. “Choose wisely.”

Twilight looked back at all her friends in worry, knowing she would have to take the offer and fight. They all had either worried or terrified looks, not hearing their conversation from so far away.

The monster followed her gaze, looking back at all the candy colored equine. “Oh, and don’t even think about using your precious friends.” it warned. “So, what is it, princess?” he tapped his foot on the ground impatiently.

It’s worth a shot… she decided, coming up with an alternative method. “P-Perhaps there is a more peaceful optio-”

“Peace?” the monster cackled. “Peace is as far from my nature as a king to his serf.” The helmet rapidly encroached around his face, forming around his horns and over his head once more. “Dual, fight, battle.” He urged, voice crackling under a crackling radio-like effect from under the helmet. “Cast aside your pretentious moralities.”

“Fine.” Twilight replied, attempting to keep her cool. “W-We can fight.” she could feel a smile creak from below her enemy’s helmet. Before she could get into a proper battle stance, a flash of red energy flew by the princess’ face, a shocking feeling shaking through her bones after the strike landed into the ground, the rotating blades slicing through the Equestrian earth.

The alicorn jumped away, taking flight on her wings to avoid another attack from him. “That caught your attention!” Maniacal joy was heard in his voice as he lifted the blade back in front of himself, preparing for another attack.

Twilight gave an angered look at the sudden attack. She lifted her head up, charging a magic blast to beam him with. It fired through the air, the pink charge crackling towards the demon. He lifted the blade, blocking the energy with his own red magical blade, only flinching a little from the knockback.

Seeing the ineffectiveness of the attack, she reared back further on her wings, charging yet another. The beast began advancing towards her, keeping his energy chainsaw sword at the ready. Another pinkish beam was deflected by him, followed by another, hardly breaking his advancement towards her.

The alicorn still had an issue double tasking her flying and magic use, so her retreats from the melee oriented foe were slow. As more of her lightly charged beams proved themselves worthless, she took one final charge backwards and began warming up a mighty blast.

She clenched her eyes shut as her horn glimmered brightly, glowing in a reddish-pink aura as she prepared to unleash a blow that would surely break one of his blocks. She took a deep breath, before unleashing the wave of energy at her enemy.

The princess could feel a good portion of her stamina drain as it was sent shooting through the air. The only downside to distanced magical attacks is their speed. The relatively slow moving beam was easy to block for the trained fighter. However the pure force of it made him grit his teeth, sliding him backwards.

The turf beneath his metallic boots gave way, dirt flying from the ground as he blocked the ginormous wave of energy. However, once the beam was finished, he still stood, sword raised.

Twilight had begun breathing heavily, the blast of energy leaving her with the feeling she’d get after a long run. Still capable of further fighting, but she felt the urge to rest. “Need a break already, princess?” He cackled, the sound of metal dislodging emanating from the monster’s left gauntlet, the double ended hook slowly creeping down to his hand.

Twilight watched as he sheathed his sword on his back, gripping the chain just under the hook and pulling it out of his gauntlet the rest of the way. A loud clunk went off as it fully extended, the beast beginning to wrap it around his wrist, keeping a comfortable length of it to grip in his left hand.

While he prepared, the princess came up with a smart idea. Perhaps I could manipulate him with my telekinesis? Slam him against the ground, maybe? She began her attempt, thinking about her enemy floating into the air.

She witnessed a bit of her light pink aura consume the demonkin for just a moment, before dissipating. Twilight could feel her magic suddenly be blocked. “Attempting to use telekinesis?” he asked in a demeaning fashion. “Lets just say my armor isn’t just for protection from physical attacks.” the magically-resistant armor emanated a null and void essence, meant to dissipate any attempts on magical influence.

Beams worked however, since they were less literal magic and more fiery lasers produced by it. Like gunpowder in a bullet, the powder sends the bullet off but the bullet is a separate type of thing from the powder.

Before Twilight could decipher the anti-magic, her foe hurled the hook in her general direction, the princess jumping with wide eyes at the arriving weapon before dodging it. The hook’s serrated edges skimmed her, scratching up a portion of her upper foreleg before launching past and behind her.

Once she dodged the attack, she quickly began looking around her vicinity for some sort of alternative to her attempts at magical manipulation. Her eyes were immediately drawn to a nearby apple tree growing along the path of the trail, lifting it with her magic and attempting to tear it from the ground.

Just as she felt it about to break loose, she heard the shout of one of her friends. “Twilight! Look out!” The posh voice shouted, the alicorn turning to see the chains of the hook rushing back at her like a boomerang.

The demon had yanked the chain back towards him, pulling it in the direction where Twilight hovered. The chains of the hook wrapped around her, ensnaring her and stopping the use of her wings.

Twilight landed with an “Oof!” The wind was knocked out of her for the moment, the tightening chains around the princess not aiding in her attempts for air.

As she just started to writhe in the chains, her enemy turned to the nearby apple tree she had attempted to yank from the ground. The tall other-worldly fighter made his way over to it, tearing the tree straight out of the earth.

He very much could have gone to the poor pony and chopped her to bits right there, however that would be too easy for him. Seeing your ever-so-powerful ruler crushed by your enemy with nothing but a chain and tree would certainly be demoralizing to the populations of this world.

He made his way back to the struggling alicorn, balancing the tree on one of his shoulders with ease. Twilight looked up in horror as he lifted the timber over his head, leaves rustling loudly as it began hurdling down towards her.

Wood splintered and cracked as he slammed it repeatedly into where the princess had laid, branches, sticks and timber flying away as the end of the tree was eventually reduced to tan, splintered bark.

Cries of worry and fear came from the stands as the crowd watched the brutal overkill of these tree attacks. Finally, when the demon felt the tree was no longer worth using, he tossed it aside, excited to see the crippled and mangled corpse of the princess of friendship.

He was immediately disappointed once he was greeted by a pink bubble shield surrounding the caster. Twilight laid inside safely with both eyes closed, teeth gritted in hopes that the shield was casted in time. The chain that wrapped around her still resided in the bubble through one small hole just barely formed around it.

The beast growled in annoyance at this revelation. Twilight peeked an eye open, looking around to see that she was thankfully safe. The chain unwrapped from around her, tearing out of the bubble as the demonic warrior let it retract back to his hand.

The bubble suddenly exploded with magic, launching the monster several feet backwards and onto his back. Before he could get back up, he witnessed the alicorn fly out of the smoke the explosion had made, flying at him rapidly before driving straight into him. The grass and ground tore and broke as the beast was dug further and further through the earth.

She shoved him straight through the fence around the trail to the home of Applejack, the wood breaking in two to make way for them. Her hooves pushed him further and further, deeper and deeper into the ground until she finally lost traction and slowed down between the trees of Sweet Apple Acres.

The marauder glared up at Twilight as she lifted her horn up, glimmering with energy. The demon had dropped his energy blade from the attack, unable to block it. He simply glared as she put all the force that she could muster into the attack.

The hole the demon sat in erupted in a pink light. The blast lasted for what felt like minutes as she did her best to ensure that her foe wouldn’t return from the attack. She felt herself tremble as she exerted more and more energy into the hole that the marauder laid in.

When the wave of pink was gone, the alicorn shakingly opened her eyes to see the hole had dug much deeper and the marauder missing. …Did… Did I just vaporize him? she pondered to herself. The hole was very deep, Twilight unable to see where it ended.

She breathed heavily, shaking on her legs as she looked down the chasm. That attack had taken a lot out of her. The princess turned, limping off in hopes of meeting back with her friends and telling them that it had been dealt with.

Twilight couldn’t help but find a bit of humor in the situation. Such a cocky “demon” killed by her, the Codex had definitely said more about these marauders than thi-

The sound of dirt breaking and being torn apart made her turn around. There, rising from the earth was the marauder, covered in earth. His determined armor had held steadfast and protected him, dented slightly in some areas. He clambered and climbed out of the ground ominously.

Her eyes widened at the sight of him, the already weakened alicorn reaching for a nearby tree with what remained of her magic. Panic fueled her as she tore out the timber, lifting it into the air before hurling it at the demon.

He was already advancing closer to her as she lifted it, beginning to back up as the tree flung at him. He launched his hook at the flying tree, the chains wrapping around it before he tossed it in a different direction before it could hit him.

She backed off further, refraining from her wings thanks to the nerve-racking situation. She had forgotten she even had wings from the demon's threatening presence. Twilight magically lifted another apple tree from the earth, hurling at him like it was the last thing she’d ever do.

The demon didn’t even bother with catching it, balling a fist up and cracking a good portion of the tree into a collection of splinters and chunks of wood, making way for his advancement on his enemy.

Her mouth gaped at the display of strength, ripping another tree and throwing it again at him during her retreat. The marauder didn’t even bother with acknowledging the existence of the hurtling apple tree, simply walking right through it as it snapped in half over his form. The demon continued advancing with ground shaking steps.

It walked fast, gaining on the panicking alicorn. Before she could even attempt to take flight, the marauder prepared his fist, slamming it from below Twilight’s chin. She felt her hooves leave the ground as she was punched in the air, the marauder throwing his meathook straight at the alicorn before she could even start falling.

The serrated edges of the blade dug straight into feather and flesh, crunching into her wing and landing a secure pulling point. He gripped the closest link on the chain, pulling her back down and launching her into the ground. She landed with extreme agony, the ground denting as she hit it.

She lied there, pain writhing through her form. She felt as if her lungs were crushed, all the air forced out of them. Blood dripped from her mangled and torn wing, several broken bones within them and a painful hook dug in. Her nose bled and her hearing rang. As Twilight blinked open her violet eyes she could see double of everything.

Twilight watched tiredly as the demon made his way to her, following his chain to the source. He kneeled next to her broken and bent wing, tearing the meathook out of it. He wiped the blood off of both prongs onto his gauntlet, wielding it in his right as he stood up.

“So, princess. Do you give up? Tap out? Do it!” joy dripped from his tone. “Give up!” his voice grew savage, excited for his new victory.

She could hardly bring herself to speak through the pain. “I-... I…” Twilight attempted to speak through her gasps of air.

“You what?” It questioned, placing his hook in position to pierce right through her throat.

Suddenly, a group of gallops could be heard coming from the trail the two were fighting at earlier. “Twilight! Twilight! Are ya okay?!” The alicorn’s ears flicked, a hopeful look growing on her beaten face at the sound of her friend’s voice.

She looked over to see her five friends, rushing over to see if she was okay. She could audibly hear Fluttershy gasp at the sight of the demon, Rainbow urging her along as they confronted the marauder.

The demon stood up, looking over. “I thought we agreed to keep the fight between us.”

Twilight managed to catch her breath enough to speak. “I-I did…” She attempted to clamber to her hooves, failing and falling to the ground.

The marauder grumbled, retracting his hook back into his gauntlet before gripping a strong hand around the mare’s nape. He lifted her with ease, holding her in a way that would keep her from choking. He stood before the other five, revealing the beaten princess to all of them.

They all gasped seeing their friend so battered and beaten. Both wings crooked and bent in the wrong ways, a deep cut on one of her forelegs and blood pouring down from below her mane. It was incredible how she was still alive. Well, it would be if she wasn’t an alicorn.

“Twilight!” Rarity shouted with a horrified tone.

“By Celestia! Are ya alright, Twi?!” Applejack asked, not really expecting an answer from her.

Fluttershy remained silently fearful thanks to the demon in front of her, the horrors she had seen them do were inconceivable. Pinkie had nothing cheerful to add to the situation, a worried look plastered over her face. Finally, Rainbow Dash stood at the head of the group, Twilight’s saddlebag on back and a determined look across her face.

“Hm, let me guess.” it growled. “You all will find fancy crystals and banish me with the power of “friendship” he rolled his eyes. “Well, I will have you know that the second I see an attack being charged, I will unleash evils across this land that not one of you could comprehend.” the demon warned, before a more joking tone formed. “Well, except you Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy’s eyes widened. The animal-loving pegasus took a smell step backwards, hiding behind Rainbow Dash a little. “H-How does he know my name?!” she exclaimed in a hushed voice.

Rainbow barged in between the momentary conversation. “Stop the monologuing, you monster-thingy! Let go of our friend!” she stomped a hoof down.

The princess of friendship winced. “P-Please… Everypony… I-I can beat him!”

“Let her go, now!” the rainbow-maned pony didn’t heed Twilight’s statement. She closed her eyes thoughtfully, commanding something inwardly.

The demon couldn’t help but enjoy the theatrics. Friendship and loyalty was a truly rare feat to be seen in this line of work. So pitiful. He thought, beginning to open his mouth to speak.

Just as he was about to talk however, his attentive ears picked up the sound of air whirling and sharp metal shining a couple of meters to his left. He quickly glared in that direction, catching a momentary sight of the ‘Decapitation Square.’

He immediately lifted a hand up, blocking the attack of the ancient object. The demon gripped his hand around the blades and circles of the artifact, gritting and growling his teeth as he blocked the sneaky blow.

He could feel the weapons around it slicing and viciously cutting through the palm of his gauntlet and digging right into his rotten flesh. As he stopped the attack, he had dropped Twilight Sparkle in his shakes of pain.

The demon held it as tightly as he could, crushing the spinning metals in hope that it would stop them. He began roaring in pain as the flesh and armor of his hand was practically torn to shreds by the object. Finally, one more metallic crunch went off before it completely stopped, the demon breathing heavily and casting it to the ground.

“The Praeleanthor. S-Soul Cube.” he growled at the object. The demonic warrior was lucky to have heard it before it struck him. He glared at his armorless palm, the interior red flesh and bone exposed to the open air. He was shaking with adrenaline. He glared up at the five. “You idiotic equine have no idea what you have unleashed upon your world.” his tone grew into excitement.

Fear further struck Fluttershy at that sentence. She knew what was coming. The beasts, the monsters, the torture. She watched with shaking hooves as the demon looked towards Ponyville, lifting his battered and torn hand up in the direction of the quarantined Sugarcube Corner. The nearest dimensional rift between his home and Equestria.

His hand slowly rose, as if he was summoning something. Suddenly, the six could see a large chunk of wood fly over the trees of Sweet Apple Acres. The sound of a building being demolished broke through the air as they all looked towards the source.

There, rising out of what used to stand Sugar Cube Corner, was a giant beast, finding its footing in the middle of Ponyville. It rose to the height of a skyscraper. Its flesh was dark gray and looked very coarse. Its limbs were long and its face had these soulless yellow eyes. Two enormous horns the size of houses erupted from the sides of its head.

All across its body were smaller monsters. Snake-like demons with robotic tails scurried up and down the titan’s limbs. Groups of horrific demons sat on its shoulders, towering amongst them being the ones Fluttershy had seen in her dreams. The ones that stood on two legs and had blood of magma. They seemed to be using it as some form of transportation

The smaller ones around it looked just as deadly. Fluttershy swore she could see more of the green monsters that had attacked her before crowding up there with the other brown, black, gray and red beasts.

The pegasus began hyperventilating at such a sight, eyes wide in more horror than she had ever experienced. Those visions, the nightmares, they were all coming true. They were real!

The marauder smiled up at the titan. “Now, I’d recommend you all begin rounding your “friends” together while you can.” he went over to the energetic chainsaw blade stuck in the ground, dropped earlier in the battle. “I have a legion to command.” the demon deactivated his chainsaw sword before walking into the trees and towards his mighty titan.

Codex/Story of Equestria I

Author's Note

(This chapter is what I’ll be referring to as Codex Chapters. It's similar to how the Codexes are used in the DOOM games. Basically a bunch of short exposition and explanation. I’ll also include Codexes about new demons when they appear in the story. If you’re interested in the main plot and extreme demon murder and don’t really care too much for exposition and backstory, then feel free to skip these.)

Codex/Story of Equestria I

Translation from 'Ligra Equitores' (Book of Equus)

In the days before ponykind spoke, the land of Equestria was but an off-stray planet in a distant solar system. Ponies were simple, wandering equine. They had no sentience and had no trace of magic coursing through their veins. They wandered the fields of what would become Equestria grazing on grass in herds.

However all of that changed once an alien race landed on the planet, aiming to capitalize on the untapped resources and unconquered lands. They called themselves the Sentinels, and with their journey they brought with them Wraith magic. A special energy that could do limitless things when harnessed correctly. Heal the hurt, imbuing beings with great power, transporting objects and beings across time and space.

It was a wondrous energy, and as the Sentinels built and grew across the planet, spreading the magic, it began affecting the wild-life of the land. By the time they set up several kingdoms and cities, they had finally found a name for their new settlement. Equestria, a kingdom of equine. In fact, there were so many horses across this world that they had begun using them in their agriculture. Whether that be using them to draw carriage, transportation or even as food.

But once the wraith energies began growing in the horses, they became more and more sentient over the decades. By the time that magic was completely a part of their biology, they had gained the ability to speak and communicate.

Once they had begun representing their sentience to the Sentinels, they were integrated into the culture. It was uncomfortable to include a race of equine into the Sentinel colonies, however it was feasible. They picked up upon the Sentinel language and began evolving several different subspecies. Unicorn, Earth Pony, Pegasus and Alicorn. Two of them being fully capable of controlling wraith energies beyond what any Sentinel could imagine.

Although they were powerful with magic, their inane morality held them back from any form of ritualistic or war-faring combat. These non-traditional beliefs and cultural structures did not fit well into the Sentinel’s idea of battle, so little to no ponies traveled outside of Equestria, fearing the Sentinel’s fierce and battle-hungry culture.

Two representatives of the ponies were chosen. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. These two rare alicorns were powerful in the ways of magic and were willful and strong enough to ensure that they would protect their species properly.

However, back on the Sentinel home world a vicious Civil War brewed, causing the Sentinel race to extract from Equestria and reroute troops and population back to Argent D’nur for the war effort. They left Equestria in the hooves of the two royal sisters, occasionally visiting the two for cordial affairs.

One day though, they never returned. They had one last meeting and then the Sentinel kingdom was lost to Equestria. Over the ages, the immortal princesses’ began covering up their history from their subjects, fearing that their world’s origins completely went against everything the ponies now stood for.

Since then, no pony had heard of their originating culture. The Sentinel architecture and language still lived on in the ponies however most of their original values have been lost to time.

OH CELESTIA!

That was the one thing that managed to race through Fluttershy’s head, the pleads and swears to her royalty. OH CELESTIA! OH CELESTIA! OH CELESTIA! She clutched her eyes shut from the legion of monsters, crumbling to the ground.

She held her hooves over her head, hitting her gnoggin to try to wake herself from this nightmare. Some sort of salvation. This had to be some bout of horrible nightmares! The tan colored pegasus tried to convince herself, her hoof knocking on her gnoggin.

However, the distant screeches of the demons still echoed from her home. Screams of ponies filled the air around her. Chaos began reigning and all Fluttershy could bring herself to do was sit there and feel the tears stream down her cheeks.

Why, Luna? Why am I cursed with these nightmares? This had been her strategy for the past week of those terrible dreams. Just don’t go along with it and hide in a ball of terrified whimpers and tears.

As Fluttershy sobbed, she heard a strong voice break through the air as panic swirled across the Sweet Apple Acres. “Everypony, stop panicking!” she shouted, taking flight and repeating the same command at the other ponyville residents.

“Everypony just calm the hay down!” the screams of terror slowed to small cries as the stampeding ponies halted for a moment.

Fluttershy stopped, peeking her head up and lowering her hooves back to the ground. Rainbow Dash flew above everypony else. “I know now may seem like a time to panic, but we can’t let go of our self-control! I have a plan!” she announced.

“What is it?!” One of the ponies in the crowd exclaimed to her.

“Me and Fluttershy flew around the Everfree Forest earlier and spotted a crazy weird orb thing! It covered the castle, I-I think it can protect us!” Rainbow informed the crowd, pointing to a distant light blue glow deep in the Everfree.

“You think?!” A speculative male voice broke from the crowd, nasally and nerdy. “What if we go there and those things can just walk right through?!”

“A-And what about everypony still in town? What happens to them? We need to help them!” A mare replied.

Rainbow Dash looked back at her town sadly. “I’m not sure we can…” the demons in the distance wrecked havoc upon Ponyville. Even from Applejack’s farm they could hear the screeches of terror and pain.

“But we have to focus on ourselves, while we still can save us!” Rainbow Dash tried to convince them.

A small filly weaseled her way between the crowd, making her way to the front. “That sounds awfully selfish, Rainbow!” Applebloom replied. “Why would we leave behind our friends and family just like that?! Just ‘cause some fancy dancy rainbow pegasus tells us to?”

The crowd actually gave that statement a good thought. They mumbled thoughtfully to the comment Applebloom formed.

Applejack spoke up. “Applebloom, ya can’t just run in there! Did ya see what just one did to Twilight?!”

“Sure! But they can’t take all of us at once.” the little sister countered.

“They?!” the country mare replied. “There are more of them attacking Ponyville now than
its entire population! Look!” she pointed a hoof to the town being ravaged.

Fluttershy internally begged for the townsfolk to follow them to the castle, however as the two Apple sisters argued, the tan pegasus could just make out the former white’s in the pony’s eyes as bloodshot. Almost the entire crowd was that way, the veins in their eyes congested with blood. The pegasus knew they were too far gone to be convinced otherwise, the apple-lava… her friends couldn’t do anything about it.

“It’s worth a try ta save ‘em instead of runnin’ away!” Applebloom replied.

“Sis, don’t you dare! Ya could die!” worry filled her voice. “Celestia knows what's in store for ya back there!”

Rainbow Dash cut in. “Listen, everypony! You’ve got to listen! You’ll die out there!” as she warned them, a large portion of the ponies began walking off towards Ponyville. “Wait! Hey!”

They all grumbled about how idiotic the six where as they walked off toward’s the legion who had yet to sweep across Sweet Apple Acres. A good dozen or so ponies remained though, the ones who were too late to get any apple-lava in their system as well as the last two Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Applejack rushed after the group. “Applebloom! Applebloom, please get back here! What in the hay are ya doing?! APPLEBLOOM!” she screamed for her little sister as she walked off. Just through the crowd, she could also spot Big Mac and Granny Smith. “Granny?! Macintosh?! NO!” Applejack broke into full gallop after them as they marched to their doom.

The country mare shouted and screamed for her loving family as they went off to the town. “BY CELESTIA’S NAME, GET THE HAY BACK HE-”

Rainbow rushed after her, hooking her hoofs under Applejack’s arms and lifting her away from the crowd, not wanting her friend to be taken in the swarm towards the demons. “Applejack! Calm down!”

“Let me go! I need to stop them! I need to talk with them! They can’t leave, they can’t die!” her shout tore through the air. “I’ll buck your head off, Dash!”

“If you go there with them, you’ll die too!” Rainbow exclaimed. “They’re already convinced!” she grunted in effort, holding back the earth pony.

Applejack tried to shake out of her grasp, Rainbow holding on too hard for her to escape. “Let go! NOW!”

Rainbow Dash thonked her hoof across her friend’s head suddenly, her hat falling to the ground. Applejack took a sharp breath, rubbing her hatless head. “I-...” she took a deep breath. “I needed that.” she admitted

“Good.” Rainbow Dash settled Applejack to the ground. “J-Just everypony stay calm.” she repeated as Applejack dusted herself off dejectedly, picking her hat off the ground and setting it on her head. “Do me a favor real quick, run the remaining ponies down on the plan. I need to check on the rest of us.” she told Applejack, glancing over at the last few residents willing to follow them. Six or so ponies.

Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Octavia, Carrot Top, Dr. Whooves, Nurse Redheart and White Lightning. Most of them had refrained from consuming the apple-lava.

The earth pony nodded, a dark yet determined look in her eyes as she started towards the ponies that had decided to follow them. “Got ya.” she told Dash.

Looking across Rainbow’s five other friends, she noticed that the ponies were very downtrodden, Twilight in a more literal fashion. The first mare that caught her attention was Rarity who was holding the horribly disfigured alicorn. The saddlebag Rainbow dropped early still sat beside the incapacitated princess.

The unicorn looked down at her friend in worry and disgust, blood dripping onto her pristine pelt. “I-I don’t know how that monster beat her!” she gently set a hoof next to her throat, feeling for a pulse. “She’s still alive… but I don’t know for how much longer.” she didn’t seem to be talking to anypony in particular.

“Rarity? Are you alright?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she looked up at the pegasus. “I-I… I-...” she couldn’t speak a word.

“Sh-she’ll be okay, I promise.” she placed a hoof on the white unicorn’s shoulder. “We just need to get her to somepony who could help her.” Rainbow looked left and right, stopping over at the small handful of ponies that were joining them to the castle. “Applejack, do we have anypony that’d know how to help Twilight?” she asked.

Applejack was mid-sentence with a mare adorning a white coat color. “I think I got one! I was just talkin’ to her.”

Nurse Redheart leaned past Applejack. She lacked her nurse cap thanks to being off-duty. She trotted over to Twilight, inspecting her injuries. “I recommend performing on her once we get to safety.”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Yeah, we all need to start heading towards the castle. Right everypony?” she asked, turning to her friends to see Fluttershy having a complete meltdown and Pinkie staring off at her friends as they traveled away. “Pinkie!”

Pinkie Pie jumped to attention, turning around to Rainbow with hesitation. “What?”

“We’ve got to get moving soon, who knows what could happen when those things get over here!” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

A sad look grew on Pinkie’s face, taking one final glimpse at all the friends in her town, convinced that she might not ever see them again. “Everypony get moving! We don’t have much time!” Rainbow exclaimed as Applejack took front towards the Everfree, in the direction that led to a distant glow that they could just make out through the dark forest.

As Rainbow Dash made sure nopony was left behind before following the group, she looked over at her fellow pegasus. She almost missed her earlier, not seeing her while she was curled up in a ball not too far away, whimpering and crying between the occasional hits on her head.

“Fluttershy?” She flew over. “Are you okay?! Flutts?” Rainbow Dash shoved the shy pegasus’ shoulder, trying to gently break her out of it. Her sobs only grew. “We need to get moving! We can’t have you as dead weight!” she bit Fluttershy’s strawy tail, trying to drag her.

She grunted, trying to drag the pony along the ground as she cried. “Come on!”

“I don’t want to! I can’t deal with any of this!” Fluttershy exclaimed.

Rainbow Dash huffed, letting her tail go and clopping in front of her. “What do you mean?!”

“Th-this is just like my nightmares…all of it!” she finally looked up from the ground, eyes puffy and tears rolling down her face. “Princess Luna was warning me! They weren’t dreams, Rainbow! They were visions! And it's my fault that I told nopony sooner!” she cried. “I-I should just sit here and wait for it to come…”

Rainbow Dash didn’t want to know what she meant, formulating an encouraging speech. “If you come with us, then there won’t be any living nightmare! What about all the animals?” she gripped Fluttershy’s hoof, trying to pull her along. “What will they do withou-”

“Pegasus, crouch!” a multi-layered voice echoed in her mind.

Rainbow looked up in front of her, jumping in fear before ducking out of the way. Furious wings dove past her, flying up behind the two pegasi. The rainbow pony turned to look at the culprit, spotting a horrific being.

It had pink, tight and grimey looking flesh. It was large yet spindly, hovering in the air on two wings extending from the biped’s back. Its face had two angry eyes glowing orange, a mandible mouth below an absent nose. Finally, one of the most notable features about it besides flight was its arms. Where its hands should be were metallic blades that must’ve been driven down into its limbs. If she hadn’t ducked, the mare would very much be lacking a head.

The gargoyle growled at Rainbow Dash, swooping once more to try to slice at the pegasus. Rainbow dodged once more, turning to Fluttershy. She rammed her body into the pegasus towards the forest. “RUN!” she commanded, the mare being broken from her ball of terror and looking back at Rainbow in shock.

“Go!” Rainbow Dash shoved her friend again as she stared up at the gargoyle as well. Fluttershy yelped as it swooped again, turning tail and running for the Everfree.

Rainbow Dash flew out of the way again, looking over at the saddlebag that used to sit next to the now gone Twilight, who had been dragged into the Everfree. She rushed over to it, grabbing it with a hoof and letting it rest on one of her shoulders.

“Thank you, pegasus.”the voice was crackly and staticy thanks to its crushed form. “You need to make it to the castle, it is the only safe place nearby.” the light blue bubble was visible from Rainbow’s height, guarding the castle.

“Wh-Who said that?!” she looked around. “Was that the murder cube?!’” panic filled her voice.

“Yes, but you may call me the Praeleantho- behind you!” it alerted her again.

Rainbow strafed hard to the left, hearing a swoosh of a blade slice just beside her head. “AH!” she exclaimed, the gargoyle keeping pace with Rainbow.

Another attack swooshed at her, the pony wincing as she felt a bad cut slice through her hip. “OW!” she bucked behind her, feeling the blind attack connect.

The gargoyle flew back a little from the hit, staggering its flight before continuing the chase.

Rainbow Dash looked back at it with terror. “What should I do?!” she shouted to the artifact. “Can’t you fight it or something?!”

“No.” it replied.

“Why?!” she dodged another attack.

“I do not have enough power. You must slay a demon for me to reach full faculties.” they informed the rainbow-maned mare rather calmly.

“Slay a demon?!” she glanced back at the encroaching gargoyle. “That thing?!”

“Yes.” the cube instructed. “The gargoyle species of demon is a brittle one, I believe a powerful shove to the earth will kill it.”

“I-I never killed anything before! AH!” Rainbow Dash screamed at the feeling of a blade raking across her side. Blood seeped on her pelt.

“You will have to now.”

Rainbow Dash converted the sharp slash to a source of anger, glaring her violet eyes at the gargoyle. Its boney body looked weak yet it seemed so much bigger. She flew as fast as she could at the monster, pointing her hooves in front of her to slam them into the thing’s torso.

The demon was quick to dodge, landing another, much lighter cut on her side. Rainbow shouted in pain, keeping focused and flying higher in the air. An attack from above would be harder for the demon to dodge.

Once she reached up high, she turned and began plummeting to the ground, using her wings to propel her faster towards the Gargoyle.

She felt her hooves connect with the demon’s front, the two propelling deep down into the forest. Rainbow heard the scared screeches of the demon as it was launched towards the ground, feeling several quick and frantic scratches being done to her as she pushed it further down.

Soon Rainbow pushed the demon through and beneath the canopy, snapping a branch or two with the speed that she pushed it at. The ground upheaved around her as she finally slammed the demon into the forest floor. A meaty crack sounded off once it was pushed into the leafy ground, blood shooting from the demon’s chest and onto her hooves.

The pegasus took several long and drawn out breaths, looking down at what she had done. There were two spots on its chest that were indented from her hooves, several ribs crushed. She didn’t hear any breathing from the monster, just a blank, glowing stare that looked up to the heavens.

Blood covered the forest floor around the body, the bloody metal blades on its arm shimmering in the light. Blood dripped from the several slash wounds it landed on Rainbow, the pain making her wince.

“It's not dead.” the artifact informed. “Its eyes, they still glow.” they informed the innocent pony. “It’s only paralyzed.”

Blood pooled around the corpse as she looked down at it with horror. “What should I do?” her voice was shrill, nearly a whisper as those glowing eyes glared at her.

“Stomp it to death.” the artifact commanded. “Until its eyes go dim. Your hooves make rather good natural weapons.” its crackling, hushed voice encouraged, a hungry tone growing in their voices.

"I can't just do that!" she exclaimed. "It can't fight back now, it isn't a threat!"

"It is up to you, however I wager that in a few moments it will rise once more and continue harassing your friends." it explained. "It could kill them. It has no consciousness, it has no morals, all it knows is death, suffering and pain."

Rainbow began shakingly lifting a hoof above the head of the demon. “What would it do to them if it got back up?”

“It will slaughter your friends for its mere enjoyment. Torture them mercilisely. You have no other logical choice.” it sounded less like a suggestion from the artifact and more like a necessity. “Think about what it could do to Scootaloo.”

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, taking a deep breath as she imagined what the monster could do to the filly. She reared up, slamming both of her front hooves as hard as possible into the demon’s head. The mare did it repeatedly, multiple times. The meaty cracks and painful to hear snaps echoed through the woods as blood splattered even more across her cyan coat.

Eventually, after the flurry of loud and disgusting attacks, she slowly peaked an eye open to see the face of the demon. No light shined from its eyes, lifeless and grey.

"Good." a much more restored voice rumbled from the saddlebag, its strength returning thanks to the death of the demon.

Rainbow Dash looked down at the mangled corpse in horror. Had she done that? Had she just killed something? Actually murdered, like, with her own two hooves? Rainbow let the sound of blood dripping from them hang around for a moment. I did… she took a deep breath, shaking her head before flying off towards the Castle of Two Sisters. She had to focus on helping her friends.

The pegasus tried to wipe the image of the bloody demon from her mind as mucky blood still caked the lower parts of her coat. She kept an acute eye for her friends as she flew towards the bubble, keeping a close eye beneath the canopy. They must've made it a ways out. Hay, they could be at the castle already! She pondered.

On her way towards the sky blue spell, she felt the worry heighten to fear as she heard a screech through the woods. She didn’t take a moment before she dashed towards the source, looking between the branches, leaves and canopy for the noise.

Almost immediately she spotted the exodus running as fast as they could, a smaller more ravenous pony chasing them on wing. As she arrived closer and closer, before she could even tell herself to slow down, she noticed the assaulting pony behind them. An insane looking Scootaloo.

The rainbow mare found herself accidentally crashing into the raging Scootaloo, forcing her small body to the ground and holding it in place by her limbs. Her eyes widened into sorrow at the sight of who she had attacked. “Scootaloo! I-I’m sorry, I didn’t kno-”

“Th-That isn’t Scootaloo, Dash!” she heard the horrified cry of Fluttershy exclaim.

Rainbow Dash was about to give a questioning reply before noticing the now blood-devoured eye-whites of Scootaloo. She bit and gnashed savagely at the air, saliva spewing at the face of the more mature pegasus.

All she could do was stare at the poor, struggling filly. A word couldn’t be spoken from her mouth as she felt the surprisingly strong movements under her hooves. The mare didn’t have an ounce of idea what to do with her. What even happened to her? Was it the apple-lava? Either way, Rainbow couldn’t think of a way to help her. Although, a suggestion did manage to find itself echoing in her mind.

“You know what to do.” the loosely adorned saddlebag rumbled hungrily. Her eyes drew to her blood cyan hooves.

The consideration crossed her mind once, immediately shaking her head. “No! I-I can’t! She’s my friend, I love her!” the horrific vision of her hooves stomping through the skull of Scootaloo flashed for just a moment before she shook the thought away.

“You cannot hold her down forever. You must do something.” it pointed out.

“Well, that something can’t be killing her!” she argued.

The Soul Cube pondered slowly. “Hmm, would any friend of yours know a teleportation spell?”

Rainbow Dash looked up from the ground bound pegasus, staring at the group of ponies mostly consisting of earth ponies and pegasi. Even the two or three unicorns among the crowd weren’t really magic users. The only pony in question would be Twilight but… she could be in better shape.

“Not exactly.” Rainbow Dash responded.

Pinkie Pie rose from the group. “Erm, Rainbow? Who are you talking to?”

“It doesn’t matter!” she exclaimed. “Just, start going towards the shield, I have a plan!” Rainbow shouted at them to make sure they could hear her command.

Applejack nodded. “Got it, just don’t hurt Scoots, alright?” worry filled her tone.

Rainbow Dash nodded solemnly, looking back down at the filly with a sorry look. “Just get them to safety.”

The apple-themed earth pony and the rest of the group gave a small moment of worry before turning, and heading to safety with a brisk trot.

Rainbow Dash stared at the orange filly with a solemn look, using a good amount of her strength to hold her down. “S-Scootaloo?” she asked after a moment of silence. “Scoots, can you hear me in there?”

The violent thrashing didn’t halt.

“Come on, pal! I know you’re in there, right?” her woods shook.

The large teeth of the filly gnashed at her savagely.

Rainbow felt her eyes water. “C-Come on, we can go riding around on your scooter!”

The pony’s purple hair thrashed around.

The older pegasus frowned, blinking the water from her eyes. She’d have to move on. If Twilight’s right, there isn’t any bringing her back. Her heart heaved with sadness as she looked over to the glowing blue between the trees.

She could just make out the silhouettes of her friends within the bubble. Rainbow took a deep breath. “Please hold still.” Rainbow Dash told Scootaloo. She took a moment of hesitation before jumping off of her and flying as fast as she could away from the filly.

She dodged multiple trees, rounding left and right to avoid getting hit by them until she finally felt herself burst through the shields of the Castle of the Two Sisters. A heavenly hum surrounded her for just a moment as she blasted through the walls of the protective field, skidding on the ground and turning swiftly to see outside the bubble.

Rainbow Dash stared out, seeing a lack of the orange filly. She hadn’t followed her.

Steel Barreled Sword

He could feel it.

In his bones. In his heart, in his soul, in his flesh, in his brain, in his cells. Every bit of himself was filled to the brim with that feeling. Every ounce of his existence, all that he could remember, all that he could feel. The incessant feeling of searing hatred.

He laid there in his armor still, glaring up at the faint engravings of his symbol. The Slayer’s Mark. It was unlit, signifying that it would remain closed. Only when the rage-filled red lit up within the curves of it that he would be set free. But that day would not come, not from what the Slayer knew.

All he could do was sit there agonizingly. Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Centuries? He could not tell exactly while locked within his sarcophagus. It had felt like a lot of time however, that being one of the only things to muse over for him. In the later times of him sitting within, he began counting the seconds, trying to mark minutes and hours out to get a grasp of it.

If the Slayer really was forced to guess, he would place his time in this sacred box to be around seven years. Others may find that long but from his perspective he was used to it. If he had lived thousands of centuries within his last sarcophagus, he could handle a couple centuries of this.

Although then he had some sort of hope sitting there in that pitch black box. A hope that he could one day break free and wreck absolute havoc upon his enemies once more. The crunch of their bones, the tearing of their muscles, the screams of their agony. To make them suffer. All of them.

That hope that one fateful day he could return to that chaos. That mind blurring, focus demanding, thought-blanketing battle. Another broken limb or another pain-filled screech from his enemies to disrupt his deep train of thought that would so inevitably arrive at its destination.

He could feel that train chug along faster and faster now that his only way to halt it was gone. He had won, he had saved the world once more. The Slayer had stopped the demons from destroying Earth, well that Earth. The pride in his victory was a certain help but it was no way as close to battling his foes properly.

Now there would be no demons to battle, not an ounce of distraction from his eternal existence and mind-tearing suffering. He looked down at his gauntlets, a rare moment of movement from the down-trodden demon killer. Even his armor’s fists were crumpled and cracked. Looking back up, he could see the hundreds, thousands of imprints of his punches.

He growled with anger, gnashing his teeth as he prepared a skyscraper-tumbling punch. The blow cascaded into the top of the container, shaking violently but remaining steadfast, only an indent of his fist marking where he punched.

The Doom Slayer took one long breath before resting his hand back down. There was no use in escaping, he already knew that, but something brewing inside him had always told him to keep on trying to break free.

He shakingly rested his hand beside him, trying his hardest to hold back his thoughts. Each stab at the eons-old memories being blocked by the comforting thought of ripping his enemies in half. However it was all beginning to fade at the memories he held more dear. It all crept around him as he closed his tortured eyes.

A field. Green. A light, eye-pleasing green. A green of natural foliage, uncorrupted and uninterrupted by the sight of disgusting demonkin. A warm breeze trailed across his hair and exposed skin. That feeling of skin on his own body was so unfamiliar now, for as long as he could remember it had been left mostly numb by hell-forged armors and UAC-built helmets.

The hair he ran his uncalloused hands through was blonde and smooth. It was a heavy opposition to the tough, unkept and darkened hair that topped his head. He couldn’t feel blood on his body, or viscera, or bones, or organs. It was just himself in that field and the innocent civilian jeans and t-shirt he wore.

The Slayer didn’t want to believe that this time of his life ever existed. He wanted his existence to just be reduced to this loop of battle, pain and war. But there he was in his memory in which he viewed like a dream. Believing something like this ever existed to him would distract him from his conquests, make him wish for a better life. It would always bring him down, make him ask questions about why he was still doing any of this.

He could feel shade cast onto him, looking down on the surrounding grass to find shadow with light peeking between the leafy blockages. The sound of a bird-chirping above him made the man look up.

He felt a strange feeling form across his mouth as he stared up into the tree, staring at a tiny nest of twigs and sticks, a cute little bluebird building it up. As the unfamiliar form drew across his face, he pressed a hand to his lips to see exactly what it was. His mouth curved upwards slightly, up into a satisfied and happy smile.

A smile.

Not one of maniacal insanity or weapon-viewing gaze. Not in response to some cruelty, or some empty threat from his enemy. A genuine grin at something he enjoyed the sight of.

As he stared up at the lush, beautiful oak tree above him that the innocent bluebird took shelter within, he heard a voice. Unfamiliar but more notable than anything he had experienced. It wasn't some hell priest taunting him, an arch-demon begging for mercy, a noble king demanding he slaughter more of their enemies. It was a simple, calm and petite voice, high-pitched and womanly.

“Flynn.” The lady stated somebody’s name. A name that he refused to recognize, but still answered to.

He moved his head to look in the direction of the voice, seeing some humanoid shape. It was blurry and unrecognizable, as if his mind was unable to even acknowledge the mere thought of whoever she was.

As muffled sentences and cheerful, yet garbled giggles came from the unrecognizable form, that same blur began wrapping itself around everything surrounding the Slayer. The memory crumbled and dissipated around him, his eyes returning to the sight of pure darkness. He could feel his heart well up in pain as he returned to the dreaded sarcophagus. His heart clambered and clawed back for the memory but the Doom Slayer’s mind would not let it. He wanted, no, needed to forget all of that now.

Just as he began closing his eyes to cast the memory further down, a glimmering sizzle broke his thought. Looking up, he saw the corners of his symbol light with crimson.

That grin formed across his face, the smile only some sicko maniac could produce. The redness burned and scorned across his symbol as he felt the enchantments and curses placed on the sarcophagus lift. The timing couldn’t be more immaculate to the demon purger. The Doom Slayer could hardly believe that it was happening as he heard a commanding voice speak in the back of his mind.

“And you will crush our enemies.” The deep, noble voice began. “And cast down those who lead us astray… Rip and tear! Until it is done.”

The Slayer felt the sarcophagus shake as the top was lifted, floating up and crashing into the nearby ground. The ever-present, heavenly choir of Ingmore Sanctum filled the helmetless Slayer’s ears.

He rose slowly out of his entrapment, stepping to his boots and looking around the white, heavenly landscape of Ingmore Sanctum. Like the surface of the moon, yet more bright and holy.

~

Princess Luna felt herself shake a little in anxiousness at the sight of the Great Slayer. He was clad in a new, unfamiliar armor from what she had seen in legend. He was a tall and burly creature, bipedal and reaching far above her in height.

The Slayer casted a quick glance at a giant metallic suit in one of the corners of the sanctum. It was red, black and menacing, crumpled down horribly and beaten. In one of its hands sat a deactivated energy sword and where the head would've sat a skull of a skeleton remained. She couldn’t help but assume that it was one of his former enemies.

He immediately glared over at Princess Luna with a fury of a thousand suns, a robotic noise coming from one of his shoulders as a curious machine rose and looked around rapidly from his shoulder. The Equipment Launcher immediately locked onto the threat that Princess Luna could’ve provided, a small flame threateningly lit in front of the section of it reserved for the Flame Belch.

His face was ghastly and fear-striking, pale and strong with jaw bones jutting out. The being looked like he hadn’t genuinely smiled in years as it scowled at the princess, waiting for some movement from her as he stepped down from the casket.

A blade swiftly unsheathed from the Slayers left forearm, a weapon of unimaginable sharpness. She looked around anxiously for a moment, searching for some way to show that she was no threat to the Great Slayer.

As his footsteps slowly found their way towards the princess, she quickly spotted a helmet sitting not too far away on the ground. It matched the green and brown color of his armor, his mark painted across the top of it just above the visor.

Thinking fast, she picked up the helmet in her magic, lowering herself into a bow as she lifted the armor piece in front of her. It faced the Doom Slayer in the dark blue magic, the warrior king giving a confused look to the unfamiliar creature.

The steel retracted into its device, shoulder-cannon falling back behind his shoulder as he slowly made his way towards her in a much less aggressive manner. Once Luna felt the shaking of the ground below his powerful boots, he stopped, looking down at the bowing alicorn.

The Slayer reached down, his strength tearing his helmet out of the powerful princess’ magic. He lifted it over his head, sliding it down over his head. Luna could hear a mechanical hiss as the new set of armor connected to the rest.

She watched the alien creature view portions of his visor. She could just make out small colorful lights of what she assumed to be Sentinel HUD within the helmet.

He reached to his back, feeling for the handle of what looked like a staff. However, from Luna’s studies of Sentinel weapons, she could tell it was something much more special. The unignited energy hammer was locked to his backplate with a mechanism most sentinel armors used.

Princess Luna stared up at the warrior with wide eyes, hoping for some manner of speech or voice to come from the human. Nothing came out, just that permanent glare. She swallowed nervously, rising from her bow and putting together a formal stance.

“Hello, Great Slayer.” Princess Luna greeted.

He glared back.

“W-well…” she cleared her throat, recognizing his lack of speech. “You have been called to aid our people.” Princess Luna began. “I do believe you have quite the quarrel with the demons, yes?”

She could see the Slayer’s angry and suspicious look turn to interest, eyebrows furrowing together rather than downwards.

“My sister and I believe that we are in danger from them.” she explained briefly. “We may need your services.”

It appeared the Slayer hardly needed another word of explanation as he looked towards her way into the sanctum. A large, swirling dark blue portal stood a couple of meters away from the shrine the Slayer was entombed upon.

Princess Luna watched as the Slayer made his way towards the vortex, taking a dual barreled weapon from his hip-mount and gripping it strongly in one hand. The princess clopped after the warrior king, not wanting to let him go off without her supervision.

~

The Doom Slayer and his new associate rose from the hidden basement, the secret elevator rising behind the throne and stopping once they made it to the throne room floor. His near ever-present scowl casted across the throne room. Making his way past the throne with heavy boot-steps, he looked all across the pink and white colored hall.

The architecture reminded him of Sentinel Prime, but much more vibrant. Something about it felt a little bit more comforting than the dark and cold gray castles of that old world. Princess Luna followed him, keeping a close eye so that he would not do anything uncalled for.

Thankfully, no royal guard ponies guarded the throne room. It would be hard to explain the arrival of such an alien creature to them. Although, their absence left a curious thought to Luna of where they may have gone.

The Slayer made his way to one of the stained windows, crossing over the red carpet running down the throne room and leaving behind very noticeable and strongly emplaced bootprints from the heavy warrior. His movements spoke to all the witnesses of what he was about. His arms hardly swayed with each step, his chest was kept out broad and his footsteps rumbled the ground just slightly, his pace just a mile or two ahead of average walking speed.

He looked left and right across at the art pieces, gathering in this unfamiliar world’s culture. He had to admit, these horse-like creatures were a little confusing to be around. Horses that spoke? It was not the strangest thing he had seen, but still strange.

The stained windows showed many images of the moon and sun. The Slayer continued down the throne room, keeping his eyes on them. He would glance occasionally on more depictions of other winged and horned horses, assuming a royal correlation to the subspecies.

Princess Luna cleared her throat. “Erm, Great Slayer? If what I believe is occurring is actually happening, I do believe that we need to establish a form of long distance communication.”

The Slayer gathered all he could about this strange culture, noting the frequent depictions of magic usage. It seemed to be a specialty of the race. He hardly paid attention to what the princess explained as he eyed a portion of stained glass that showcased six smaller horses all uniting to apparently battle Princess Luna.

Before the princess of the night continued her sentence, she noticed the Slayer stopping and slowly glaring back at the pony, giving a questioning look. The mechanical object on his left shoulder rose with a whir as well, the cannon aiming right at her cautiously, like a second head. She held back a shiver, looking up at what he had sighted before forming an explanation.

“Oh, that? That depicted a time when I was evil, erm, corrupted as you would call it. However the magic of the Elements of Harmony has restored me to my natural state.” she explained, hoping that would suffice for him.

The Doom Slayer stared a moment longer, before nodding slowly and continuing on, his equipment launcher retracting back behind him with several mechanical whirrs.

Luna took a relieving breath as the hyper-lethal being continued gandering at the depictions of her culture. “We will need to establish long distance connections. I do believe that I could use my magic intandem with your Praetor Suit, however its current counter-magical system seems to block me out.”

He kept his eye on the murals, not paying too much attention.

“May I request that you whitelist my attempts to access your suit’s communication systems?” Princess Luna requested.

He nodded slowly, head kept away from her. Behind his visor, the Slayer witnessed a message. “REQUESTED WHITELIST OF COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS FROM: PRINCESS LUNA” his HUD read. The Doom Slayer approved the request, the message dissipating from his vision.

With that he stopped and looked at the Princess, waiting for her to say something to ensure the connection was correct.

“Can you hear me properly, Great Slayer?” she queried, voice speaking from both outside and inside his helmet.

The Slayer gave an affirmative nod, before halting as he spotted a particular series of windows on the other side of the hall. They all depicted different pictures of a powerful being. The several windows meant to chronicle a tall, multi-featured species displayed on that wall of the throne room. It was shaped like an asian dragon, however its body was covered in goat-like fluff and its limbs were from several mis-matched species. Like a stuffed animal repaired with a multitude of alternative toys. His angered stare expanded into a much more profound glare. The being was familiar to the Doom Slayer.

Princess Luna gave an unsettled look. “Great Slayer?”

His head turned to look behind him.

“We must find my sister. A week has passed thanks to the slipgate’s travel time. I must learn what happened while I was gone.” she explained.

He huffed the window away, turning and walking towards the door on the other side of the throne room. Princess Luna followed after the Slayer.

Codex/Slayer's Arsenal

Author's Note

(You will notice that I made the choice to have the weapon’s first letter of their name be capitilized in-text. This is not a mistake but a way to better highlight what’s going on. The same is done with the demons. Portions of these weapon descriptions are taken from the in-game Codexes. Credit to the dudes at ID for making this awesome lore as well as the fellas from the DOOM Wiki that document it. This chapter is meant for those who have never played the modern DOOM games and are unfamiliar with the current weaponry the Slayer was equipped with during the events of DOOM Eternal and its two DLCs.)

Codex/Slayer's Arsenal

The Praetor Suit’s inventory system is home to many a weapon, large and small. A true swiss army knife of demon purgery. In an explanation of his armory, we will begin with the weapons he considers his main tools and keeps them fully formed and holstered to his armor.

Equipment Launcher
Custom-built to fit the Doom Slayer's Praetor Suit, this shoulder-mounted ordnance system is modified to serve a variety of combat roles. Designed as a universal munitions platform, the Equipment Launcher is capable of altering its armament configuration with the press of a switch, activated by a reflex sensor located on the interior of the Praetor Suit's gauntlet.

In its Flame Belch configuration, the launcher spits out a gout of fire exceeding 1000C, setting even the sturdiest demons aflame. While in its Grenade Launcher configuration, the Launcher fires a traditional UAC-model frag explosive, a projectile-based payload not dissimilar to that of the Ice Bomb, wherein the Launcher fires an EYE-C40 gas canister to flash-freeze nearby targets.

The launcher is equipped with an AI designed to target and notify the Slayer of surrounding enemies. When activated it whirrs and turns in search of threats and is capable of locking onto foes the Slayer wouldn’t notice. Many viewers of the Slayer see it as a mechanical second head, especially to those unfamiliar with humanity.

The Doomblade
A weapon forged with the most swift lethalness in mind, the Doom Blade’s Hell Steel blade is kept so sharp that it is capable of bisecting living cells at a microscopic level. It can slice through several layers of demon bone, flesh and muscle with ease.

The natural armor of the demons would counter the weapon if not for the Slayer’s brutal amount of strength. It is mounted on the Slayer’s left gauntlet and functions via a neurological link, meaning the Slayer simply has to think of the blade extending or retracting for it to do so.

Lucifer’s Bane (Super Shotgun)
The Super Shotgun, or as the denizens of Hell refer to it as, Lucifer’s Bane, is a dual barreled shotgun that fires both shells at once. The ammo it fires is a staggering 6 gauge shell enchanted and engraved by Sentinel Priests to tear through demons like no other weapon can.

A Meathook has been mounted below the barrel in a bayonet like position. The Slayer uses it to easier traverse the battlefield, get closer to his enemies or simply as a secondary blade when ammo gets low. When extended from the weapon, it burns with intense heat enough to scorch the mightiest demons. He keeps this weapon sheathed on his hip, where the armor plating locks it into place.

Hell Breaker (Sentinel Hammer)
Hell Breaker was bestowed to the Doom Slayer by a ghostly projection of Commander Valen near the World Spear of Argent D’nur. It is an energy based warhammer capable of slamming demons into a mess of flesh. Its energies are developed to stun any foes it doesn’t destroy. It remains locked to the Praetor suit’s backplate until removed, the Slayer either using it to slam into demons to kill them instantly or slam into the ground and stun all enemies in the area.

Inventorial Systems
The Slayer’s ginormous arsenal cannot physically be carried by the man, even with his strength it would greatly lower his combat effectiveness. When the Wretch developed the Praetor suit, he implemented a grand piece of technology.

When he wields a non-biological item that has been tagged to his inventory, he can break it down to the weapon’s molecules and store it at a much smaller size. This does not work for biological items however and the tagging system for objects that are not familiar to his usual arsenal often take extended periods to be properly scanned and stored.

Combat Shotgun
Despite a wealth of armament options for the modern combat specialist, this trusty workhorse remains a firm favorite among operatives. When matched against super-heated plasmoids or gauss driven projectiles, the ballistic impact of the Combat Shotgun holds its own. The simplicity of the design ensures the weapon is extremely quick and reliable, yet the vast array of ammunition types make it versatile and flexible. Colloquially known as the "Crowd Appeaser", a locked and loaded Combat Shotgun will pacify even the most riotous of assailants.

Its primary fire is frequently under-used however its weapon mods are where the weapon shines. The Combat Shotgun has two mods, Full Auto which provides a rotary barrel that blasts multiple rounds while providing ammo after each kill, and the Sticky Bomb mod which blasts an that sticks to the surfaces of objects and demons. Both are modifications of the original upper receiver that is designed to be swiftly swapped between the two.

Heavy Machine Gun
A common complaint among users of this punch-packing conventional weapon is the weight, as most of the component parts are forged in Tungstronium, a proprietary alloy developed to withstand the enormous stresses imparted by the optional exploding dart ammunition. However, the additional weight makes the Heavy Cannon an ideal sniper rifle, as swaying and tremors are mitigated by the massive bulk. Trigger management is of the highest priority when using this weapon, as self-inflicted gunshot wounds are common thanks to its no-pull reflex trigger system.

The Slayer almost never utilizes the Micro Missiles mod however the Precision Bolt is where this weapon truly stands. It can be selected by swapping the fire mode of the weapon after the mod has been applied. When fired, it blasts a group of six 7.62x51 rounds towards its target. The addition of a scope enables further precision.

Plasma Rifle
Designed by the UAC's military-tech division, the Plasma Rifle is the standard in energy-based weaponry. Firing a superheated plasma in rapid-short burst intervals, the Plasma Rifle is capable of overloading energy-based shielding and liquefying enemy combatants.

It is a capable tool in close quarters combat and its two mods aid even more in that. The Microwave Beam is the Slayer’s most utilized mod, locking onto enemies and stunning them with a beam of plasma. It is very effective as an offhand weapon while the Slayer attacks the stunned target.

The Heat Blast modification is capable of storing heat built up from the firing of the Plasma Rifle. When full, it fires a blast of plasma heat to everything in front of the weapon. This is handy for staggering an enemy demon and destroying all of their potential armaments.

Paingiver (Rocket Launcher)
Forged from the metal smelting pits of the Golgothan enclave, the Paingiver is a weapon of pure malice devised for a singular purpose - to enact suffering upon the weak. A tool of insidious intent, it was not by mortal design that the Paingiver was conceived. The Cultist engineers of Golgotha, as acolytes of the unholy and all-powerful will of the Hell Priest Ranak, were bestowed its vision, scribes to Ranak's dark premonition.

With great clarity did the Paingiver reveal itself to the shared consciousness of the Golgothan acolytes, and with fervor and religious zealotry did they set themselves towards its manifestation, toiling without rest until the Paingiver was created.

The Paingiver has been equipped with two different mods to increase its destructive capabilities. The Lock-On mod, the Doom Slayer’s primary configuration, locks onto a target and blasts a triad of rockets towards the enemy. The secondary configuration is the Proximity Blast mod, a mod that explodes the rockets of the Paingiver on proximity of an enemy for a stunning radius of shrapnel.

M220 Chaingun
The M220 Chaingun is a 7.62x51 mm AE six-barrel autocannon built for infantry deployment. Weighing over 80 lbs, the M220 was conceived as a standard issue weapon for ARC mech-soldiers fitted with exo-armor, mechanized suits capable of supporting a heavier payload. The AE cartridge uses a special electromagnetic casing designed specifically for the M220's rail system, which increases projectile velocity and reduces overheating.

The Slayer exclusively utilizes the Mobile Turret mod for the weapon. This mod gives it a total of twelve barrels to blast rounds through and a terrifyingly loud noise when shooting. The Energy Shield remains highly underutilized thanks to it being lame and overpowered and dumb

Ballista
The weapon of choice for Sentinel marksmen. It is said in Sentinel battle lore that a single battalion of archers defended the walled city of Illkana for ten days and ten nights, armed only with their Ballistas. A precise weapon, the Ballista fires a twin beam of superheated Argent, vaporizing its target on impact.

This weapon sustains two weapon mods. The Arbalist mod further enables precision, charging a sticky blast of timed explosive. It is extremely capable against aerial threats. The Destroyer Blade is the favorite of the two, charging a sweeping energetic blade that burns straight through most fodder and heavy demons with a wide range. It also provides a cool design to the weapon and an ominous noise when charging.

BFG-9000
The BFG-9000 remains the most powerful weapon ever designed by the UAC, releasing a projectile of pure boiling Argent Plasma. The sphere of superheated energy undulates as Argent tendrils lash out, drawn to nearby organic material and immediately producing a fatal explosion from within.

Princess Luna has requested the most minimal use of this weapon thanks to the potential of non-combatants on-field. It is permitted however in fights with little to no presence of innocents.

Codex/Demons I

Baron of Hell
UAC REPORT FILE: IIS5LW21 “It is clear that Barons are ferocious fighters with a bloodlust unparalleled by any other demon. Barons, larger and faster than their lesser brothers, also possess the ability to generate Hell-energy fireballs which can be hurled at a target. In the doomed Project Lazarus Manned Expedition (MTC 2145/128) it is believed that most of the explorers were set upon by Barons of Hell, though the details are unclear.

Tablets, retrieved from the Great Steppe in the UAC Automated Survey of 2143, suggest that the Barons of Hell are the current Royal Guard of the unknown dark lord of the fourth age. While the nature of this entity is unknown, it must be presumed that as the Royal Guard's power has significantly increased, so too has the power of their master.”

After the defeat of the Dark Lord, the Baron of Hell has been rerouted to an alternative lead. A duo of archdemons that the lord of Hell considered worthy of leading a last-ditch force, now they lead the new armies and are served and commanded directly by these archdemons.

The non-Fireborne variants of the Baron are much more natural in appearance. a Baron takes the appearance of an incredibly muscular, goat legged demon with slightly tan legs that are digitigrade in structure and end in black hooves. The shoulders and chest of a Baron of Hell is covered by plate-like natural armor, and they possess a thick robust skull with horns that curve inwards. They possess two muscular arms that end four clawed-digits including an opposable thumb.

Baron of Hell (Fireborne)
The Fireborne Barons have evolved from the descendant clan of the Baron hell breed, and are indigenous to the caustic, scorched hellscapes bordering the Burning Abyss. A landscape of cragged spires forged from unbreakable Blackstone, tempered by the crashing waves of the magmatic tide, these sulfuric planes of Hell have long served as banishing grounds, a place of the exodus to which the damned are sentenced as their final destination.

The Fireborne Barons have evolved in this environment, sustaining themselves on the remnants of the damned, growing obsidian carapaces and in time becoming infused with the very incendiary matter of Hell itself.

A muscular, goat-legged demon with a muscular build resembling solid obsidian. The main difference between the Fireborne counterpart and the regular Baron is that its body has become grey with thin, glowing red cracks, giving it the appearance of recently-cooled magma. It also has a large fiery blade emitting from each forearm. When damaged in battle, its stony "skin" breaks away, revealing a skeleton engulfed in a bright, magma-like glow.

Blood Maykr (The Worst Things Ever in DOOM Ever, Seriously I Hate These Guys)
Maykr Angels, a devoted and distinguished higher caste within Urdak, were corrupted and mutated by the waking will of the Icon of Sin. Now branded by the Icon's wrath, Blood Maykrs move amongst the demons freely as hellfire courses through their veins. Retaining their staff and hurling them with thunderbolt force to harry their prey, the Blood Maykrs scour the dead skies of Urdak in unholy mockery of their former home.

In the exodus of demons commanded to invade Equestria, they serve the mysterious duo of archdemons that lead the charge. The Blood Maykr resembles its former Maykr self, except that its armor is now bright red, its helmet has large demonic horns, and its face is exposed as a result of the demonic corruption it has undergone.

Hell Knight
The Hell Knight, warrior beast among demons, has earned its place over the millennia in service of the eternal Archdemons. As imposed by the sovereign houses, Hell Knights have long served as barbaric enforcers of the Netherworld, impelling lesser demons by way of brutality.

Rare among demon-kind for its innate regard from primal orders of hierarchy, the Hell Knight exhibits adherence to the prevailing rule of its demonlord masters. Requiring little compulsion on behalf of its highborne masters, Hell Knights readily serve the Elder Hell-gods for the extent of their lifespans, reaping great satisfaction in the way of war and desecration.

Hell Knights are tall, muscular beasts with deathly gray, hard skin. They utilize their strong fists to strike its enemies savagely. They are swift and fast moving and strong enough to tear most beings limb from limb.

Imp
Scavengers of the underworld, Imps are among the most common of beasts found on the scorched surface of the Hellscape. Lesser demons of Hell, the Imp possesses limited intelligence, driven only by a hunter's impulse to seek out prey - a task for which the Imp is naturally suited due to its innate capacity for violence.

As a result of these attributes, the Imp makes for an ideal footsoldier and is oft deployed in the warring legions of Hell, easily manipulated and controlled by commanding highborne demons at the behest of the sovereign chapters. It is common for the Imp to appear at the frontline of an offensive attack, an expendable resource unleashed in great numbers to overcome and break through the enemy front.

Imps are ape-like, slim and skinny demons with brownish-red, chitinous skin. Their bug-like armor provides some sort of natural protection however firearms mostly bypass this issue. They have sharp claws at the ends of their hands that easily tear through most natural skin and their minor manipulation of Hell magic leaves them to cast hyper-lethal fireballs capable of burning a being with a singular touch.

Prowler
A creature of darkness, the Prowler hunts from the shadows, preferring stealth and concealment to open conflict. Imbued with parietal infravision, the Prowler is able to see that which is unseen to the naked eye. Known among the Sentinels as 'the Nightstalker', the Prowler's preternatural sense of sight makes it a lethal hunter, capable of tracking its prey even in the pitchest black of dark. Believed to be peripherally descendant to the lesser Imp brooding, the Prowler is rarely seen in groups, forsaking pack-hunting for the precision of the solitary pursuit.

Prowlers are believed to be descendants of the Imp breed, which would explain their similar hunched appearance, the spikes jutting out from their back, and overall body structure. However, they are notably larger and bulkier than Imps, and are a dull purple color as opposed to the Imps more brownish-orange shade. The Prowler also has three, closely-knit orange eyes and a tri-segmented jaw. Portions of the body are covered in jagged chitinous armor, and the hands end in four dagger-like claws including an opposable thumb.

In battle they are known for sneaking up behind its enemies and tricking them via teleporting behind their target. However, if the enemy is swift enough, they could detect the faint purple fire that appears right before they teleport back in and triangulate their tactics. They are simple to take out and often a singular shot from the Ballista will blast them away.

Titans
Titans (also known as The Ancients) are mighty beasts of Hell, far larger than regular classes of demons. They serve as beasts of burden for the more powerful demonic entities, and as giant combatants in the armies of Hell.

They are tall, completely ginormous demons reaching skyscraper height. They often are used to carry their smaller demon allies around and to strike fear into the enemies of Hell from their sheer size alone. They are often non-combatant however.

Whiplash
A scavenger of the Hellscape, the Whiplash creature was first discovered by UAC expedition teams in the black desert of the Sanctum Wastelands. These elusive, serpentine demons move with great speed and agility and trail along the grounds of the battlefield to easily dodge attacks. They are capable of striking from a great distance with retractable bladed whips concealed within their forearms.

This particular demon breed became an object of great interest to the UAC engineers on Earth, while attempts to capture live specimens of this nimble and unpredictable creature proved to be exceptionally dangerous. After successfully acquiring living specimens, researchers implanted cybernetic augmentations designed to enhance the Whiplash's innate strength and lethality.

Author's Note

(I apologize for two Codex chapters in a row. However, I feel it is necessary for those who are unfamiliar with DOOM kore and gameplay. I am releasing this Codex halfway through the week this time. I will release the chapter this weekend as always.

You will notice that every demon type name has its first letter in its name capitalized. I did this on purpose to emphasize the type of enemy that the Slayer would be fighting or what monster the ponies may be hiding from. The same has been done with the Slayer’s arsenal.

Every chapter new demons appear, I will make another codex chapter before it for those who are unfamiliar to the enemies of DOOM Eternal and don’t have their individual silhouette’s each memorized to a tee.

Credit to ID Software since a lot of these descriptions are taken straight from the in-game codex entries. Good work on them for making such gnarly lore. Special thanks to the guys at the Doom Wiki for inspiring and being the source of a lot of these descriptions.)

Mission 1. Canterlot Walls

Author's Note

(Mission chapters are quite different from other chapters in the story. They exclusively follow the Slayer and put demon murder in the forefront. They are also very long as well. If you are here for the demon murder, then this is the place. The Briefing section below is for readers who have decided to jump to the violence and need a refresher and once the combat begins a battle track will be linked to fit the action. It's up to you whether to listen to it while reading or not. If you do decide to listen to the track, make sure to put it on loop.)

Mission 1. Canterlot Walls

Briefing

Princess Luna has awoken you from your tomb and brought you to her kingdom. She has called upon the Slayer to defend her kingdom’s walls from the reorganized legions of Hell.

The Slayer could feel hundreds of eyes on him, giving fearful and confused looks. There he walked on the stone roads of Canterlot, arms strongly resting near his sides, Doom Blade unsheathed and his Equipment Launcher activated. It automatically locks onto the potential nearby threats of the surrounding ponies, the alien device striking fear into them.

He was unsure if these equine-like beings were a threat as he side-eyed them. Many peaked out the corners of windows, some stood frozen on the side of the street, most hid in the colorful and prestigious looking buildings of this pristine kingdom. It was clear that they assumed him to be some sort of monster.

The appearance of Princess Luna right next to him certainly didn’t help the inhabitants of Canterlot’s curiosity. After giving one mean glare to one of his associate’s subjects he casted his sights towards the sky, seeing the kingdom surrounded in a pink aura. He had seen something like this, a spell of protection Sentinel mages would cast on fortresses and cities.

He set his eyes back forward, still making his way to the front gates of this polis that his associate referred to as Canterlot. The gates had several ponies in front of it, arguing and confused about what was going on. On the walls above the doors stood another alicorn which the Doom Slayer assumed to be Luna’s ruling sister. She spoke with several much more armored and battle-ready equine.

“Are you sure you should have your weapons readied in such a way?” Luna asked. “It unnerves my subjects.”

The Slayer completely ignored her, continuing on with his weapons ready.

Princess Luna frowned. “Or do not.” she carried herself to her wings, deciding arguing about such a small detail would be useless. “Meet me atop the walls, I must speak with my sister.” Princess Luna flew off, heading towards her sister.

He watched her fly away, before continuing off towards what seemed to be a flight of stairs that led to the top of the wall. However, as he came closer he noticed two more of the equine species, both adorned in gold-colored armor with stiff manes pointing through their helmets.

The Doom Slayer eyed the spears that stood proudly, spotting the threat. The arguing civilian ponies had stopped a while ago at the sight of the Slayer behind them, pointing and muttering silently about the foreboding figure. When he was a couple meters away from the crowd, he simply glared at them before walking over to the nearby stairs.

The guards had also seen him, a similar estranged and partially scared look growing on their face as his loud bootsteps stomped ever closer. He made his way up the stairs, stopping in front of them and glaring down at the two much shorter beings.

His equipment launcher’s tip bursted to light in a tiny, yet ragingly hot flame that even the guards could feel so low below him. It robotically whirred to stare down at its direct target. They swallowed a little, shakingly lowering their steel-tipped spears in front of him into a defensive X.

He looked down at the X, gripping and easily tearing one of the spears out of the guard’s hand. The pony was stunned by the Slayer’s force, surprised at how strong he was. The Doom Slayer felt the spear in his one hand, tightening his grip before he felt a hard crack come from the handle of the weapon.

The Slayer opened his hand, letting the two now splintered and separated halves of the weapon fall out. The steel spear head clanked to the ground, the fearful yet determined look on the guard’s face giving way as the Slayer tore the other spear out of the remaining guard’s hoof and made his way up the stairs with it. The shoulder-mounted launcher turned behind him to keep its aim on its previous target.

He rose over the stairway, making his way to the ruling sisters with spear in hand. “You are sure that he will not harm our subjects, right?” Celestia queried.

“Yes. He has done almost nothing to our subjects so far… Well, besides walking in a threatening manner.” Luna answered.

Celestia jumped a little at the sound of the Slayer’s footsteps, looking over. “Oh, erm, greetings Great Slayer!” she said nervously, making her way towards him. “Would you like any complimentary pastries?” the princess nervously lifted a plate of donuts and cupcakes to him, hoping it would be enough to keep him from harming her kingdom.

The Slayer simply stared at her with an irritated look.

“Sister? The Slayer does not speak.” the moon princess pointed out. “Nor does he eat.”

“Oh! Um, I’m sorry.” Celestia set aside the platter. “Can he not talk or does he choose to remain silent?”

Princess Luna shrugged. “We are not too sure exactly.”

The Doom Slayer ignored the two, staring off down the mountain that Canterlot sat upon. Not too far down the hill, he could see a towering beast. A titan demon, standing tall before the kingdom with thousands of demons at its feet amassed in a horde.

Dozens of ape-like Imps crawled and ran around the feet of the titan, some resting on its shoulders and legs with the rest of their comrades. Strong, brute-ish gray Hell Knights also joined them, either riding their titanous ally or traveling on foot in the horde. On top of that, there were several Barons of Hell, both armored and unarmored for war in the horde. The magma-beasts flashed their wrist-mounted flame blades to ward their enemy.

Weaving and slithering between the standard infantry demons were the much more supportive Whiplashes and Carcasses. The snake-like, half mechanical bodies of the Whiplashes slithered up the titan’s limbs and danced through the horde while its clumsy, bloated ally corpse waddled around on its multi-limbed mechanical legs.

Finally, rounding it all out were several floating angels with armor that was crimson red and wings glowing bright yellow. Angels of deceit, Blood Maykrs. The Slayer’s fist clenched at the sight of such an aggravating and annoying enemy as the smaller, much more fodder-like Maykr Drones flew beside them.

As the Slayer analyzed the thousand enemy forces, Princess Celestia began to speak. “We do not know why they are here. However for the past month they have been preparing effigies and slaughtering innocent ponies for them. We assume they used them as some sort of portal ritual.” Celestia explained. “We need you t-”

He didn’t need to be taught his own work. The Doom Slayer jumped off of the wall, landing onto the grass with feet and a fist implanted into the ground, ready to once more battle his immortal foes. His HUD lit up with a small message at the top.

Regenerating combat effectiveness boosts…

Analyzing battle environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Battle track produced

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B00gEtuk0E&ab_channel=Strely

The music blared through his helmet as he rose to his feet, starting out of the remaining protective bubble that surrounded the kingdom. He easily tore through the bubble, taking his Super Shotgun from his hip-plate and opening the chamber just slightly to check it was properly loaded.

He stared at the duo of marked shells with a maniacal grin before closing it back up, turning his shotgun over to check his meathook. It SHINK!’d with a satisfying noise, the sharp hooks spreading to ready itself to latch onto an enemy target. He was dual-wielding the Super Shotgun and the rather primitive spear.

As he marched towards the assaulting front, he could hear shocked screeches of horror from the demons, sighting the foe they thought was defeated as he raised the spear he had taken out of the hooves of those ponies.

The demons could feel their enemy's frantic grin burn into their souls as he took one bound to break into full sprint towards the demons. Fireballs began flying through the air, being tossed and missing the Slayer for the most part.

A detachment of the horde charged headfirst, two Barons leading with a pack of Imps, three Hell Knights and a Blood Maykr. The false angel rose to the sky on its energetic wings, impenetrable armor shedding as she launched several spears down at her enemy.

The Slayer kept eyes on her, dashing beside a Baron of Hell flying through the air to slam both hands straight into him. Once the attack was safely dodged, he launched his meathook straight at the Blood Maykr, reeling himself in close enough to blast her head off.

He felt a burning spear slice through his side, the Slayer wincing in pain from the attack as the yellow energy sizzled at his armored flesh. Just before she could hurl another blazing yellow spear, his Super Shotgun blasted straight into her head, exploding into Maykr energies.

His feet implanted onto the still floating corpse, the Slayer jumping off the disguised demon and readying the spear. He landed straight onto a Hell Knight’s shoulders, crashing the hellborn’s body into the ground. The look of fear scorched its yellow eyes as the Slayer lifted the spear in a reverse grip, tip pointed to the demon’s face.

It lifted a muscular hand for just a moment in hope of mercy before the spear was jammed into its head with spine-breaking force, blood spewing out and body convulsing before he cranked the spear just one more time to make sure it was dead.

The Slayer suddenly felt a hand slam into his back, him flying forward and sliding onto the ground a couple meters away from the Hell Knight corpse. He rolled on the ground for just a moment or two before finding his footing and ending the series of slides on one of his knees.

There he glared at the culprit, a Baron of Hell charging towards him. The Slayer rushed to his feet, sprinting at the building sized enemy. He reared a ginormous punch, sentinel energy swirling in his left hand as he haymakered into his enemy as hard as possible. The demon slid back from the Blood Punch, its enemy switching his weapons to the Chaingun.

It unfolded into its four different barrels of the Mobile Turret mod, blaring and blasting dozens of gauss powered shells into the stunned Baron. His Equipment Launcher joined in the barrage, blasted a flurry of a thousand degree flames into the demon. Blood flew everywhere as the bullets tore every bit of skin, flesh and vein the giant demon offered. A grenade was occasionally lobbed, contributing to the legion of stunning blasts to the demon.

As he focused his fire on the Baron, he felt a rumbling of marches cascade towards him, the Slayer dashing backwards to avoid yet another mighty smack from the Baron’s sibling. He readjusted his focus, his shoulder-mounted launcher hurling a remaining grenade straight at the brother Baron.

It bursted into shrapnel, staggering the demon and leaving it open to even more gunfire. The Slayer advanced with every step, watching its armor-like skin crumble away from the weapon in satisfaction. Finally, once he was close enough, he lifted the Mobile Turret over to his side and slammed it straight across the Baron’s legs, sweeping it off its hooves as the Slayer put away his weapon.

Once his enemy was on the ground, he marched up on top of it and grabbed one of its horns like it was a misbehaving bovine. He twisted the horn, causing a roar of agony from his enemy before pulling with all his might to tear away the gnarled piece of keratin.

Before the demonkin could retaliate, the Slayer swiftly lifted it over his head before driving the horn into the demon’s face a multitude of times, crushing its head and covering himself in his enemy’s oozy black blood.

He lifted the horn from the Baron, dashing off of it just in case any other demons would attack him after the glory kill. He was correct in his assumption as he sighted two Hell Knights following over the Baron and after him.

Still holding the horn, he crashed the make-shift weapon into one of the brute’s sides, knocking it to the ground. With that attack, his Equipment Launcher lobbed a nade at the other Hell Knight to stagger it.

While its partner was gathering itself from the grenade blast, the Slayer dashed to the Hell Knight he had just hit. He slammed the horn two extra times into the demonkin’s horrific face, grinning to see its skull cracked and smashed into unrecognizable mush by the attack.

The Slayer quickly turned, assuming the dead demon’s ally would attack just then. He felt the Hell Knight slam his fist into the Baron’s horn, the attack being blocked. He saw the keratin crack before him, falling out and snapping in half from the airborne smash.

He threw the blunt end of the horn straight into the demon’s face and watched it crumble into many more pieces before readjusting the grip on the bit of remaining horn to jam straight into the Hell Knight’s stomach. The curvature of the object made the pointy end dig up and into the demon’s chest cavity, piercing straight through the hellish heart.

He let out a monstrous, yet satisfied growl as he saw his enemy’s life fade. He let the demon and the horn drop from his grip. Once that foe was dealt with, the group of Imps came just late enough to aid the now dead Hell Knight.

The Slayer launched a frag grenade at them, lighting the whole crowd ablaze. He watched with joy as the crowd of fodder bursted into demonic energies that could restore his suit’s faculties.

He spotted a remaining imp, stuck to the ground with a severe lack of legs after the blast of shrapnel, crawling desperately away. The Slayer brought his Chainsaw out from his inventory systems, revving it up and diving at the Imp.

The Doom Slayer dug the Chainsaw into the demon’s back, lifting his enemy up with the gnashing and growling chains. It roared in pain and agony as the relatively small demon was lifted for all to see from the demonic crowd. Its arms thrashed wildly and its screech pierced the air.

Eventually, the upper torso and head that remained of the demon stopped, its screams dying down and its thrashings halting. The Slayer lowered his chainsaw, stomping the corpse off of his weapon before glaring around viciously for any new enemies.

None charged after him, the demons remained reserved and fearful around the Titan. An idea formed in his mind. If he can take out the Titan, that would most likely make the demons retreat. Better yet, force the larger demon to crumble on its allies.

With this thought, he pulled out the largest weapon in his inventory. Almost as large as himself. The gigantic, titanous, soul-crushing and absolutely devastating, BFG-9000. Its ginormous blocky frame appeared in front of him, the Slayer wielding it with his mighty strength. Green lights shined brightly from the gray weapon’s corners and frame, glowing with the strongest energies in the universe.

The Slayer squeezed the trigger of the big flabbergasting gun. He watched as the weapons charged up with a futuristic noise, the claws over its receiver which contained a giant green orb extending out. A tube sat behind the orb, rearing back to let the energies charge further and further before a huge blast of green energy blew out from the cannon towards the horde.

Thousands of the demons exploded into viscera, the floating orb of devastating energy extended tracers across the large group of enemies. Many of them perished, exploding into several piles of gore and bone. However, the much heavier demons of the Barons and Blood Maykrs remained, simply stunned by the energy.

The Doom Slayer huffed a moment of air, glancing down at the now energyless weapon, no more ammo residing in its chamber nore his reserves.

“Great Slayer, I prefer you minimize the use of that weapon. It could’ve harmed my subjects in the area.” Princess Luna warned in a defensive tone.

He tucked the BFG away with an annoyed look, rushing towards the much smaller horde and towards the leg of the Titan, still unaffected by the BFG’s tendrils. He rushed passed and dodged several of the still stunned demons, weaving through the many of them and up to the feet of the much larger demon.

He jumped onto one of the Baron’s shoulders, using that to dash upwards and onto the Titan. He leapt off, unsheathing his Doomblade and jamming it in as hard as he could into the Titan demon’s leg, lifting his fist up to jam that in as well. He rammed his punch in, gripping onto a strong bit of flesh within its leg to get a good hold.

The Slayer was now on the Titan, glaring up on his enemy. Dozens of demons still remained on its tall shoulders, too far from the trail of destruction the BFG left. He cursed under his breath as he felt a burning hot fireball fly past him and into the demon leg, the Slayer having to climb up swiftly on the demon.

He tore out the Doomblade, lifting himself up and slicing it into another higher portion of the demon. He did the same with his fist, using the Doomblade to rear himself to a higher position and jamming his hand once more into the leg. It was like climbing with an ice pick, but much more gorey and with much more effective tools.

From this distance up the Titan, the demon’s accuracy with their fireballs were way off and the Blood Maykr’s spears almost missed completely. Although, more threats stood to oppose him.

“Great Slayer, what are you doing on the Titan’s leg?” Princess Luna questioned within his helmet, him staring up at a duo of Whiplashes slithering down to meet him there. “Do you wish for death?!”

He tore out his right hand, reaching to his hip-plate to detach his Super Shotgun and aim its hook at one of the snake-like demons. The Meathook cracked through the air, landing into the flesh of one of the demons. He tugged the shotgun to himself as hard as he could, tearing his Doomblade out of the Titan and launching himself up above the two snake monsters.

Mid-air, he stashed his Super Shotgun back to his hip and presented his Heavy Machine Gun. He scoped in swiftly, blasting at one of the demons before swapping to his Ballista swiftly and blasting the same one with a devastating wave of Sentinel energy all while still mid-air.

Once committing that attack, he jammed the Doomblade back into the titan before aiming his Ballista once more at the damaged and shaky looking Whiplash to finally completely blast off the demon’s upper-half with it.

“I understand that you cannot speak.” Princess Luna began, a bit of worry in her voice at his plans. The Slayer didn’t seem too bothered, swapping out his Ballista for his Combat Shotgun, waiting for the Whiplash’s partner to slither up at him. “But I wish for some sort of communication!”

The Slayer flashed the objective marker on his HUD, a message at the top left which Princess Luna could read. ‘Kill the Titan.’ “Oh, I did not notice the capabilities to see your HUD.” She realized as the Doom Slayer revved up the Full Auto mod on his Combat Shotgun, blasting waves of pellets into the approaching Whiplash.

The hammering of shotgun shells into it, made it recoil back, breaking up its smooth slithering motion and causing it to stagger and eventually fall off of the Titan demon. Once she had fallen off, he growled, continuing on with his climbing motion.

The Doom Slayer made his way up the skyscraper sized demonkin’s leg, passing up the demon’s hips and up to its stomach with little conflict, however as he arrived closer to the shoulders of the demon, he began witnessing the sight of several Imps be shoved off the edge and fall down past him.

He stopped for just a moment, realizing the demonkin’s strategy. The bigger Hell Knights and Barons, in their panic, began hurling their much smaller allies down at the Doom Slayer. The Imp’s screeched past the Slayer as he began climbing faster, trying to avoid getting hit by one of the ape-like creatures.

The meaty smacks and tears of his climbing method became rhythmic below the screams of the damned falling to their doom. It wouldn’t be long before the larger demons would gain better aim, he would have to be swift. Suddenly, once he made his way to the giant demon’s chest, he felt several painful claws and stabs at his back, a heavy weight clinging to him.

The Imp screeched in absolute genuine horror. It had just been betrayed by his allies and thrown off a thousand foot drop, just managing to cling onto one of the most deadly beings in the multiverse. The Doom Slayer glared back angrily at the Imp as it clawed as fast as it could at the Slayer’s almost unbreakable armor.

He threw one of his arms behind his head, gripping onto the Imps nape as hard as he could and hurled him up into the air. The Slayer quickly brought up his Super Shotgun and blasted his Meathook at the demon, using him as an anchor point to yank him up much farther ahead on the titan. Just for insult to injury, on his way up he shot his duo of shells into the Imp, blasting it into sizzling meat confetti.

The Doom Slayer flung through the air, landing right onto one of the demon’s shoulders in front of many Barons and Hell Knights. They all stared in terror, the Slayer unlocking his Super Shotgun’s chamber and injecting a duo of new shells into the smoking barrels.

Just as one of the Barons lunged at him, he launched his freeze bomb at it, six or so demons in the general radius being engulfed and trapped into the freezing gasses dispersed by the bomb. The Doom Slayer blasted the shells into his now frozen enemy.

He watched a bit of the flesh chip off from it as he reached to his back and brought out his Sentinel Hammer. The Doom Slayer rose high in the air, dropping it down as hard as he could onto the shoulder of the Titan. The air exploded with a wave of screaming sentinel energy, paralyzing most of the already frozen demons and damaging them further.

Before the demons could unfreeze, he quickly equipped his Heavy Machine Gun, cracking his Precision Bolt’s fire mode into one of the Fireborne Barons before switching off to his Rocket Launcher and shooting off an explosive fireball, comboing in a duo of frags.

He repeated the combo to the group of demons, watching a multitude of them crumble into ice shards from the extreme amounts of damage. Once the freezing effects wore off, only two Fireborn Barons, one regular Baron of Hell and a handful of Hell Knights remained to battle the Slayer.

The Slayer interrupted his weapon combo to bring his Super Shotgun, latching the Meathook to a Fireborne Baron of Hell and launching himself up and above his enemies. Now with the aerial advantage, he began raining down the hellfire of Rockets and 7.62x51 down into his enemies. The barrage led to two of the remaining Hell Knights to perish from the extreme amounts of shrapnel that had been launched into their strong bodies.

When he did start getting close to the ground, he switched the combo away to bring out Lucifer’s Bane yet again. He swiftly reloaded it, falling right onto one of the Baron’s of Hell. His weight and power made the large demon crash into the ground that was the Titan’s shoulder.

It stared up at him in terror, several portions of its face shredded and torn off to reveal the skull. The last thing it saw was the Slayer’s Mark engraved just below the two barrels.

The Baron’s face exploded from the shotgun blast, the Slayer quickly dodging a swipe he predicted from one of the attacking demons. He reloaded while turning to face the other Baron and its partner. He blasted his Super Shotgun into one, launching a Frag Grenade at it before charging a blood punch in one of his fists to interrupt an incoming attack from the other demon.

The Slayer suddenly felt the fist of a Hell Knight punch into his right arm, his grip loosening and failing on his Super Shotgun as it fell out of his hand and flew off the shoulder of the Titan.

He growled at the Hell Knight, landing a right hook into its face before jamming his large gauntlets into the demon’s chest, gripping around the interiors of the Hell Knight’s rib cage before tearing his two hands away from each other. Its chest cavity ripped open and out of its body, the Slayer quickly grabbing the demon’s jaw before moving its body to his left in front of the Fireborne Barons who had just regrouped from his attack.

They didn’t realize the Slayer’s quick moves, bisecting their ally demon with their fiery wrist blades. The demon crumbled from his hands, the Doom Slayer grabbing his freshly recharged Hammer from his back in preparation to duel the remaining demons.

A fiery Baron leapt forward to swipe a blade at him, the heavy attack easily read by the Slayer and dodged. Before his partner could come in to aid he slammed his hammer into the demon’s hand as punishment, a screech of sentinel energy tearing through the air with the swing.

Pinkish-red energy swirled and charged up its arm, paralyzing the demon’s limb and forcing it onto its knees. The Slayer swiftly lifted a hand off his hammer, clenching it into a fist to back hand the Baron’s face. It roared in pain from the attack before the Slayer moved his hand to its horn and with much of his might, threw the demon off the edge of the Titan.

It roared horrifically as it screamed its way down to the ground. The final Fireborne Baron of Hell stood back cautiously from the Slayer, taking one step back on its large hooves ever so slowly. The Doom Slayer growled monstrously at his remaining enemy as it began backing off towards the Titan’s head.

He started marching towards it, Hammer still in hand. The Baron of Hell kept its horrified look, still backing up as the Slayer rammed forward. A paralyzing strike coursed through its stomach as the Slayer drove his weapon into the demon’s torso.

The final demon screeched in pain, the Slayer holstering the Hammer to his back once more and unsheathing his Doomblade. He dashed behind it, climbing up and onto its back and gripping one of its horns. He lifted its head to an angle where he could get a good look at its neck, glaring straight into its savage eyes before quickly and repeatedly plunging his wrist-mounted blade into its corroded artery.

Lava-blood spewed onto his gauntlet as it crumpled to the floor, dead. It squirmed and roared, covering its draining neck with its giant hands. The demon plummeted to the ground, dead. He marched off of it’s back, still glaring at it as he made it to the head of the titan. The Slayer followed the same strategy he used to get up the rest of the giant demon’s body, clawing his way up the demon’s head. Titan demons weren’t exactly the smartest of the bunch, often enslaved and used for simple labor and transport.

It hardly noticed him as he scrambled up on top of the demon's head, between its titanic horns. Once in position, he lifted the weapon high and far over his head, standing over the weakest part of its head and preparing a devastating blow to end the demon.

The Hammer screeched down and into the demon’s head, streaks of electricity coursing from it down into the demon’s skull. Its body began growing trails and veins of lethal energy. He lifted the mighty hammer in the air once more, slamming it down again. Again, and again and again the hammer would roar in light red screams of staggering electricity.

The attacks became rhythmic until finally the Titan convulsed for a moment before it began toppling over, falling over and onto all of the remaining ground-based hordes who were either cowering under the demon or climbing up it. The Slayer sprinted up the demon’s head as it fell forward to its face. Just as he made it to the back of its head, it crashed into the ground, shaking Equestria for unknown miles.

Dust settled, electricity crackled in the air, fire burned around the demon. Through the dust however, one could see that the Slayer stood over the conquered Titan, the remains of its allies surrounding its corpse. The Doom Slayer looked around slowly for any more enemies. He spotted none. The Doom Slayer returned the energy-less staff to his back, dropping down from the head of the titanic demon to make his way back to Canterlot.

“It appears the legends weren’t an overestimation.” Luna spoke through his suits communication system, a pleasantly surprised tone in her voice.

The Slayer had no response. It was a usual Tuesday as he felt the many scratches, burns, and bludgeons finally catch up to his senses thanks to the dying down adrenaline.

His ears perked at the sound of pained screams. An agonized Imp was still alive, legs pinned under a portion of the Titan and small bits of flesh missing from the demon. Within its arms, it clutched onto a hidden object. It was large and appeared that it held on to it close and tight.

It looked at the Slayer, screams turning from pain to horror as it began to further hide the object. Its shouts turned to begs in some demonic language before the Slayer, giving no mercy, crushed its skull in with a metallically armored boot. Falling from the arms of the Imp was Lucifer’s Bane.

He grinned like a goddamn maniac as he collected his lost weapon, holstering it to his side before continuing off from the slain legion and back to the large city.

No Rest For The Living

Twilight Sparkle awoke to pure, unbridled pain. Every inch of her neurons struck with the same stinging feeling. Every muscle felt sore and torn, every bone felt shattered in billions of atomically tiny pieces, each hair on her coat felt as if it was violently ripped out before half-hazardously being sewn back into her hide.

Her mind had given up on trying to resemble a feeling that was her body. To her, it felt like her head was attached to some amorphous blob, weak and wobbly. Just numb enough to keep her from screaming in pain but just so unbearable that she couldn't keep herself from the occasional groan.

The purple pony was so engulfed by it, that her mind could hardly jump to the realization that she was finally conscious again. She looked around the stone gray walls and colorful tapestries in a fit of confusion. Where am I? Her hazy thoughts pondered, wincing as she lifted a hoof to stare at the bandaged limb. Why does everything hurt so much?

Her thoughts were broken by an ear-shattering shriek. A harsh EEEEEEEEEEEEEE echoed in her mind as she witnessed her vision slowly double, her hooves splitting into another hazy copy to her eyes.

Twilight placed a hoof to her head, rubbing her sore ear. She felt her muzzle twitch painfully, a feeling that gave the pony the sensation that her snout was just hanging on by a thread. At the echoing of her concussion, she gave up her struggles to acknowledge her surroundings, collapsing on the old and springy bed under a blanket of violet colors.

She didn’t want to think about it, the nearest thought felt as if it took ages to form and stung every nerve in her head. Twilight slowly let her eyelids fall before her vision, letting sleep consume her…

“TWILIGHT!” a voice shouted, forcing the confused alicorn back to the waking world. She stared, wide-eyed at a bright pink pony who had shouted her name. It seemed familiar, the frizzly hair, the worried yet hopeful look, the cheery way she tried to reassure the other candy-colored blobs in the background. She just couldn’t place her hoof on it…

Memories were a funny thing in this state. They were certainly there, but a layer of fog hung over it, just like most things in her mind. It felt like it would consume massive amounts of strength to pull away the visage of mist from them, strength she didn’t have.

Comprehension was a distant thought to the mare in her concussed state, and all she could do was observe the strange beings muttering incoherent words she couldn’t understand.

Still, that multi-colored group that was so visible against the dark gray backdrop sparked some sort of thought in her mind. She felt safe here, safe around them. Safe enough to not crawl out of her bed at least.

In the comfort of the familiar figures, she felt herself finally drift back off to the dreamscape, searching for rest among the pain. Maybe when she woke back up again, Twilight could explain to whoever they were what was going on?

~

Everypony gave their now unconscious friend a disappointed look. Four ponies in total stood in the room, excluding Twilight. Pinkie Pie at the bedside, Nurse Redheart nearby the bed keeping observation on the heavily injured alicorn, Rarity, and Fluttershy.

Pinkie’s eye’s lowered a little, however the awakening of their friend brought hope into the pink mare. “Well, everypony! This is better than nothing.” She turned to the group, earth pony perking up. “At least she woke up, even if it was just for a moment!”

Fluttershy sat on the ground, shaking in worry. “T-That doesn’t mean all too much! I’ve had animal friends who got hurt really bad before wake up only to end up-”

The white unicorn stepped up. “Calm down, Fluttershy dear! This is a much better homage to have her wake up then stay unconscious her whole recovery.”

Before the yellow pegasus could speak up to express more of her worries, the nurse interrupted. “Rarity has a point.” she soothed, feeling at Twilight’s neck for her steady pulse. “Her body has been recovering well so far, but her awakening signifies a mental recovery, especially just a week after the cause of it.”

“Exxx-actly!” Pinkie Pie agreed. “We have nothing to worry about! At this pace, by the end of next week she’d be good as new!”

Before the party pony could get her hopes too high, Nurse Redheart started her correction. “More like by the end of the month.” she gave the crooked and horribly cut wing an unsure look. “Unless alicorns have quicker recovery processes, it will still take a while for her to get back to full faculty.”

Silence echoed throughout the room as they stared at the gravely injured alicorn in solace. Pinkie Pie smiled smally. “Well, I have a get better soon party I need to plan for Twilight! Could you help, Rarity?”

The unicorn nodded. “Why, I’d love to, Pinkie!”

The pink earth pony’s smile widened. “Great!” She hopped out of the room, Rarity following behind her. Fluttershy watched the two leave, that same sad and worried look constantly plastered over her face.

Once they were out, Nurse Redheart spoke out. “Fluttershy?”

The yellow pegasus looked over. “Mhm?” she hummed.

“Could you watch Twilight for me? I need a break, some fresh air in the garden.” the nurse stated. “If anything seems wrong, come and tell me.”

The pegasus nodded smally as the nurse removed her cap and started out towards her break, leaving Fluttershy alone in the room with the hurt alicorn. Alone with her cavernous thoughts.

Fluttershy felt that somehow, all this was partially her fault. The monsters, the wounds across her friends, having to hideout in this dinky castle. Perhaps if she told everypony about those dreams, no, visions she had experienced, then maybe they wouldn’t be here? Maybe the princesses would have done something?

Her deep, thoughtful eyes shadowed over as she took a couple steps toward her friend. And what about Discord? That was a big question haunting her mind since the incident. Where was this god-like being to help them? Please, Discord. Where are you? We need you now more than ever! She urged to the ceiling.

A particular anger surged in her, her thoughts converting into speech. “Where are you Discord? D-Do you need me to say it outloud?! I thought this was why you even agreed to help Equestria! To stop something like this!” Her ears pinned to her head as she seethed. “Why don’t you say anything?! Are you even a good friend if you let all your friends suffer through this?!”

Her angered voice echoed through the room, waiting for some kind of response. However, soon silence consumed her heated exclamations. Unsatisfied hate sludged on her face, before it hung back to sadness.

Her hooves echoed in the small, old room as she turned and hoofed off. Fluttershy reached a hoof to the doorknob, ready to leave. She couldn’t bear seeing Twilight in this state, ready to request another pony to watch over her. However, just before she could, a voice spoke up.

“I’m not sure you understand.” the voice echoed from a corner in the room. It very clearly resembled Discord’s, the usual tricky nature to his speech absent, replaced with one that sounded rather dire. He remained out of vision however, just speaking to his pegasus friend.

Fluttershy’s ear flicked at the sound of him. “Discord? Are you there?”

She felt her fur bristle at the feeling of a talon gripping the ankle of her back left hoof. Fluttershy felt herself fall to the ground, being dragged away. Fear struck her as she turned to see the source, the fear turning to confusion as she saw his friend’s talon arm receding back into a chaotic purple and black vortex.

Fluttershy didn’t resist as she let her friend drag her into his homely realm. She felt the warm, tingly sense fly over her as she was drawn through, many beautiful, randomized colors flashing before her vision before she blinked them away.

“I’m terribly sorry for the sudden transport, Fluttershy.” Discord apologized as she looked about the homely cabin he called home. The strange architecture, mis-matching colors and randomly placed plants really fit the draconequus' theme.

“Why couldn’t you tell me at the castle?” Fluttershy asked, getting up to her hooves.

The chaos god scratched the back of his head nervously. “About that, I’m not sure I can even go into Equestria anymore. Even interact with it! Just talking to you like that and pulling you into my dimension would have alerted them.” he explained.

“Alerted them?” Fluttershy asked. “Who’s them?” she hoped it didn’t have to do with the monsters.

Discord sighed, setting a hand to his goatee, crossing an arm below it as he went to one of the windows. He stared, uneasy into the chaos dimension he called home. “I… I’m not sure how to say this.” he began.

“Oh, Discord. You know that you can tell me anything.” the shock of meeting this friend had overwritten some of the trauma of seeing her home destroyed. Talking to Discord almost made her forget about it.

He took a deep breath. It wasn’t exactly like him to be so serious. “You know those strange creatures? The things you’ve been seeing in your dreams and the things that attacked Ponyville?” he began.

Fluttershy’s eyes widened a little. “Yes?”

“I-I know them.” Discord confessed. “They are… old colleagues of mine.”

“C-Colleagues? Discord, what are you saying? Those monsters are nothing like you.” Fluttershy assured.

Discord shook his head seriously. “No, Fluttershy. I worked with them!"
he shook his head, the memories of all that the demons had done rushing back. The things he had to do. “And I’m in major trouble.”

“How? They can’t possibly get you in here.” Fluttershy looked through his home. “Nopony could.”

“And that's exactly why I haven’t been speaking with you.” Discord explained. “The more interdimensional trickery and chaos magic I perform the higher the odds will be that they track me down!” he was majorly stressed, pupils dilated in fear.

“And that’s why you never helped us out?” there was a small bit of hope in Fluttershy that her friend could swoop in and fix all of this. However that was crushed now knowing that he too was afraid of these demons. “Why would they do anything to you? You said that you used to work with them, right?”

“Used too!” Discord emphasized. “Long ago I used to dwell with them in their dreadfully boring caverns and caves. They’d throw me some poor chum who disobeyed the local archdemon and told me to take care of him.” he recalled the many memories of him casting countless spells of chaos magic on his fellow demonkin, torturing and punishing them as well as he knew.

Fluttershy listened closely as he spoke, the draconequus walking over to one of his large sofas and laying down. “I’d do that for a millenia. A solid millenia before it really got old.” he explained. “So boring that the next couple decades felt like more millenia’s! So, I heard this news. Simple rumor and word of mouth.” he flapped a talon to his story.

He considered utilizing his chaos magic to visually describe the explanations, then he recalled the more gruesome details and decided it would be best to be kept at words.

“They explained how some man. Like, a human, not some ever-powerful demon, was prowling the surfaces of hell!” he laughed. “Could you believe that? A human, taking on demons within hell itself?” Discord looked at Fluttershy, a confused look on her face. She didn’t exactly know what a human was.

Discord sighed. “I forgot, you don’t know what a human is. Whatever, just imagine them as smart hairless apes. As smart as a pony but without the magic.” he explained briefly, Fluttershy giggling a little at the thought of a hairless ape with a big head. A lot of his tales were nonsensical like this.

“Next thing I know, my name gets spread around the nine circles and the major bigshots of Hell ask me if I’m interested in invasion work.” he shook his head. “I almost refused. I wish I did! Even if I worked with those monsters that doesn’t mean that I was one. For most beings beside demons I wouldn’t dare go beyond intense mental stress.” Discord looked disappointed in himself. “But this was beyond simple tricks and traps. I would’ve said no, but then they explained to me the things that the hairless ape would do to me if I hid out in Hell.”

“Would you mind if I ask just what that is?” Fluttershy queried.

Discord stared at the pegasus. She’s too innocent. “It’s not important. Just something really bad.”

“So, I was set to command a strong legion of demons on the western hemisphere on some place called Earth.” he continued. “It's one of the places where humans live.” Discord added. “You don’t want to see what I had them do.” he shivered regretfully. “Especially the rabbits, ugh!”

Fluttershy decided to keep what the demons did to the local rabbit populations unquestioned.

“It was all going smoothly. The humans were on the back leg and most of them were already in Hell fit for the transfer.” Discord said. “Until we had reports of that same human. A mortal that just crossed between Hell and Earth like they were two different rooms in a house.”

“He was a massively savage beast! More so than the demons in my horde. He’d blast his boomsticks at the demons, tearing them in half with his bare hands and with chainsaws! It was like watching lamb to the slaughter when I commanded my demons through the human cities when he was around.”

As Discord explained more and more, a small distaste for her friend began forming. Had Discord commanded the same fate Equestria was facing now to another world? “Imps, Hell Knights, human zombies, Mancubi, my own Barons! Nothing would work against him! He’d just kill them all. It was totally unfair.” he spoke about it like it was some game of chess.

“Do you know what an Archvile is, Flutts?” Discord didn’t take note of her angry look. “I locked that man in a maze of twenty or so Archviles and he made it out in fifteen minutes!” the draconequus shook his head. “After that he went and killed the head honcho of the invasion and I was lucky enough to be sent back to my usual job. Even if it was dreadfully boring.”

“Another millenia passed of doing that, where I had to pester and annoy beings that could hardly comprehend speech.” he scoffed. “Where’s the fun in making beings ‘suffer’ when they’ve known suffering their whole life!”

The mis-matched chaos god continued to explain his story. “I heard news that even thousands of years after my army got demolished, that that human was still alive! In Hell pulling the same stuff he had done so long ago. I said to myself that I had to meet this fellow! I'd been wanting to blow the whole Hell place and leave. And hey, he was doing my job so much better! So I tracked this human down, threw him some extra-cool armor and weapons to beat up my former colleagues and I headed off for Equestria. You know the rest of the story by now.” Discord finished.

“I.. think that’s everything. Oh, do you want to hear what Hell calls me now?” he asked.

Fluttershy tilted her head. “Sure?”

“The Wretch That Shall Not Be Named!” He formed a mock, overly deep voice. “HA! Isn’t that so dreadfully ominous?” Discord laughed.

“So, if the demons find out that you’re here, what will they do to you?” Fluttershy questioned.

“Kill me.” he answered. “Or worse, use my magic against everypony.” Discord sighed. “If I’m in Equestria for too long and they find me, I don’t know what they’ll make me do.”

The pegasus expelled her disappointment in a hardy sigh, feeling sorry for her friend. She had to forgive him for what he did so long ago. If she could forgive him for what she knows he did, she could forgive him for the millenia old deed.

“Look, I’m sorry Fluttershy.” he returned to sincereness. “I would love to help you and your friends with this situation but I fear that if I do then the demons could take over my mind and do Celestia knows what to Equestria with my powers.” he pointed out. “It would be far worse than cotton candy clouds and chocolate rain.

Fluttershy nodded. “Don’t worry, I understand.”

“You do?” Discord replied.

“Yes.” she responded, looking about his home for a moment or two. “How about some tea?” Fluttershy tried to swap the topic to something less stressful. She really needed some calm time. “While I’m here.”

Discord nodded, a smile forming. “Of course!” he got out of the sofa, starting towards the kitchen.

“Oh, a-and do me a favor. Please make sure you have your eye on Twilight.” she asked of Discord.

Discord nodded. “Don’t worry, Flutts. I’ve been watching over you and your friends since this whole thing kicked off.” she assured.

A bit of that statement warmed the pegasus. Even if something terrible did occur, the odds of the Draconequus coming to save her was high. Even if Equestria was being plunged into doom, at least Discord and her could spend some quality time together. Chaos realm or not.

The Soul Cube

Rainbow Dash’s wings felt uncomfortable under the weight of Twilight’s saddlebag. Even after she dropped most of the books inside there, the Soul Cube and the Codex were fairly heavy. Her hooves ruffled through the dark green grass that surrounded the abandoned castle, her tracing at the edge of the shielding that ringed the castle.

She kept her violet eyes set to the thick canopy of the Everfree. It was her and Applejack’s responsibility to keep the place safe and ensure the shield could actually halt the monsters.

As she kicked a pebble along the grass, a voice spoke up in her mind. Multi-layered and sounding to be from multiple entities. “Hello.”

“Don’t talk to me.” Rainbow wasn’t in the mood to speak with the Soul Cube. The whole encouraging her to murder Scootaloo thing wasn’t exactly getting her on her good side.

“I have a proposition.” It continued.

The blue pegasus huffed. “I’m keeping an eye on this bag for Twilight, not to listen to you bug me about your “cryptic teachings” or whatever.”

“I promise, pegasus. It could help your friend.” The Soul Cube rumbled.

“I have a name you know.” she responded angrily.

“I often refrain from stating your true titles.” It confessed. “They often come off as… puerile.” It found the word.

Rainbow Dash shook her head in confusion. “Puerile? What in Celestia’s name does that mean?”

“It means that all your names sound silly.” The Soul Cube answered straight-forwardly. “Being around those referred to as Itlaknus the Demolisher for long enough really overshadows the name of Rainbow Dash. “

The mare opened her mouth to retort, before realizing that yeah, Itlaknus the Demolisher was a pretty dope name. “Eh, that name's like, twenty precent cooler.” she admitted.

“Enough small talk.” It began. “With your help, I believe that I could heal Princess Twilight Sparkle.”

“How?” the pegasus queried, walking along the grass calmly.

“Well, pegasus. I deem myself the Soul Cube for a reason.” the bag Rainbow held’s top folded up as the cube hummed its way out of the bag, floating in front of the blue colored pony. “Do you have any wounds or ailments?”

She gave a thoughtful look, “Well, even with the bandages Nurse Redheart gave me, the slash that flying thing hit me with is still giving me trouble.” Rainbow scratched the bandages lightly with a wing.

Before she could complain further about the injury, the itchiness of the slightly swollen wound halted. In fact, all pain from that area stopped. Rainbow gave a curious look back to her hip, applying very light pressure to the bandages. No searing pain replied, feeling good as new.

She gave a concerned look to her hip. “W-What happened?”

“I healed you.” they responded.

“What?” Rainbow asked, still patrolling the shielding orb.

“I converted the energy I absorbed from your killing of the gargoyle into you to reseal your wounds.” the Soul Cube explained, floating towards her bandaged hip and extending one of its orbiting blades. “See?” It took care with removing the bandages as they sliced the many wound dressings away to reveal a perfectly intact hide. Good as new.

Rainbow Dash watched as the bandages fell away. “You can do that?!” she queried, surprised as the artifact’s whirling blade retreated back into itself.

The object hummed as it floated in front of her. “I can.”

“Well, why haven’t you done it with Twilight yet?” she asked the obvious question.

The Soul Cube floated about to look at the abandoned castle, particularly the window into the room the princess rested in. “I do not have enough energy to fully heal her.” it explained. “Healing physical ailments is a menial task, however with mental injuries such as her’s I would need more energy from the Ē̷̛͇̦v̷̮̅į̴̫̃̏l̶͕̏͛.”

“And I assume you get that energy from killing them?” Rainbow Dash asked.

“No.” they turned back to her. “Killing the Ē̷̛͇̦v̷̮̅į̴̫̃̏l̶͕̏͛ does not replenish my supply of energy. Attacking requires their energy as well, so one of the only ways for me to truly replenish it is to be near a demon that is slain without my abilities.” it explained as the mare wandered the defended area.

“Could you shorten that for me?” she requested, ear flicking in confusion.

“The only way for me to get energy from them is if someone else kills it.” the Praeleanthor briefed her. “I would need you or something else to slay them in order to help your friend.”

Rainbow shook her head. “I am not killing another one of those things!” her wings furled out. “Don’t get me wrong, I do enjoy beating up the occasional bad guy, but killing just isn’t my style. It's just wrong!”

The Soul Cube found these people strange. How could you not want to kill these unforgivable beasts?! “Didn’t you see them hurt your friend? They have done nothing but bad to you. They destroyed your home! Why would you not want to kill them?” the pacifism of these equines was crazy.

“I don’t want to kill anypony.” she responded. “Nopony deserves death!”

It hovered in front of her in annoyance. “They aren’t ponies! They are monsters, evil worse than anything you could imagine!”

“And?”

“And if you kill them, it will help save your friend!” it argued. “The more they are around the more ponies will get hurt. They do nothing good for your people. They are here to purge this land of all of you!” it sounded like there was something personal between them and the demons. “You already killed one. What’s a couple more?”

Rainbow Dash gave the argument a thoughtful look, opening her mouth to begin to reply before a sudden voice called for the pegasus farther down the shield.

“Rainbow Dash!” the voice of one of the ponies they brought to the abandoned castle, White Lightning, spoke out for her. The mare hovered in the air, calling for the fellow pegasus.

The Soul Cube shut to silence, humming back into the bag as Rainbow rushed over to the white colored pony. She was a couple dozen yards down the shield, calling for the de facto leader of the group,

She galloped over, White Lightning calling for her a couple more times with a scared look. “Rainbow, could you get a look at this?” she flapped in the air. Her voice was high-pitched and a little girly, but still with a shy tone. Her mane was a light blue while her coat was a clear white and her eye color matched her tidy and fluffy mane-cut.

“Look at what?” Rainbow asked her.

The white-coated pony pointed outside the blue-tinted shield shakingly, Rainbow averting her violet eyes to where she signaled. She revolted a little at the sight of what was beyond the barrier.

A demon that was small by other standards stood beyond the shield. It was a good hoof or two taller than the ponies that stared at it. It was brown and redd with an ape-like pose. Its limbs were skinny yet muscular and ended in black at its claw-tipped hands and feet. It glared through two burning yellow eyes with a savage, toothy mouth below them. Pieces of keratin jutted from its back like spikes, dripping with fresh blood like the rest of the monster.

“What in Celestia’s name is that?” she had caught a glimpse of such a beast on the large titan that erupted in Ponyville however it was extremely far. Now she saw it up close, glaring at them furiously.

“Imp.” Soul Cube informed in her mind as White Lightning prepared her answer.

White Lightning glanced at Rainbow. “I-I’m not sure. It’s obviously one of t-those monsters from Ponyville.” she stuttered a little in fear. “But I’m not sure it can get in or not.”

Curiously, Rainbow moved a hoof closer to the shield, trying to see if it’d go after her. White Lightning watched on fearfully, hoping it wouldn’t pierce through the bubble with a mean slice.

The demon did just that, launching a large hand into the shield to attempt a grasp on Rainbow’s hoof. With her quick reaction timing, the daredevil pegasus tore her hand away just before it could grab her.

It suddenly screeched in pain upon entering the bubble, the hand being forced to stay within the bubble by its clinging energies. The two pegasi watched with disturbed looks as they witnessed the monster's arm sizzle away, the protective barrier attacking the limb as more of its flesh turned to ash.

The dust crumpled to the ground in front of them, sizzling away the meat of the arm and leaving the bone. The skeletal structure of the hand also began burning up, the dust floating away from the rest of the limb and leaving the imp with a missing forearm.

It shrieked in pain, tearing the handless arm away from the barrier in fear. The bubble that surrounded the castle was certainly effective against these monsters. “By Celestia!” White Lightning flew backwards, away from the injured monster as it whimpered. “W-What just happened to it?!”

Rainbow Dash gave a moment of thought, furrowing her brow. “I think it was the shield?”

“I-It just dissolves those monsters?!” she asked in horror.

“Yeah, I think…” Rainbow nudged the dust pile, giving it a disturbed look.

“This is a great opportunity.” the Soul Cube spoke up.

For what? Rainbow Dash thought back.

“Kill it! I can have more energy and you can heal your friend.” they told her.

White Lightning spoke up. “What should we do about it?” the Imp miraculously survived the dissolving of its hand, huffing great hisses of air in excruciating pain.

She looked at the survivor. “I’ll handle it, just continue your patrols. If anything else like this shows up, tell me.”

The fellow pegasus nodded, understanding. “Yes ma’am!” she turned, continuing off.

Once she was out of hearing range, the blue coated pegasus looked back at the demon. “So, how am I supposed to… you know?” she didn’t seem too sure about it.

“So I see you finally came around.” the Soul Cube replied. “You are a fast flier, yes?”

Rainbow scoffed. “The fastest there ever was!” she puffed her chest out.

“Great.” it began. “I believe if you are quick enough, you could fly behind it and kick it inside the shield.”

The pegasus stared at the wounded monster. “Are you sure?” she felt a tad sorry for it.

“Yes, for the sake of your friend.” they replied.

Rainbow gave a sigh, closing her eyes for a moment. “Fine.” the pegasus set a determined look over her eyes. “For Twilight.” she set the saddlebag off of her wings, letting it fall to the ground before she dashed out of the shield, rounding about and bucking the monster straight into the energy.

She felt her hooves buckle in pain once she did, the demon falling into the barrier and dissolving with numerous shouts and screeches. She quickly flew back into the shield, falling to the ground and stretching her hind legs. “Ow! They’ve got tough backs.” Rainbow hissed in pain. As the demon dissolved to dust. Its screams stopped so fast she hardly noticed them.

Rainbow watched as a blue energy force flowed from the dust, going into the nearby saddlebag on the ground. The Soul Cube absorbed the soul of the demon, the energy of it sprawling around the artifact. “Is that enough?” she limped over.

“Maybe.” it replied. “With this, we might be able to help the princess.”

Rainbow Dash couldn’t help to form a bit of a smile. “Good as new?”

“Potentially. I may need more time for the Hell energies to properly convert to your type of magic to heal Twilight” they answered, not too sure.

She shrugged. “Well, make sure ya tell me when you're done with whatever you mean.”

“H-Hello?” A meek voice asked behind the pegasus.

The mare’s ears perk, turning behind her quickly as the Soul Cube plummeted to the ground. “What?! Huh? Who said that?”

“Hi….” Fluttershy waved coyly.

“Oh, Fluttershy!” she blushed in embarrassment, rubbing her rainbow colored mane. “What are you doing here?”

She glanced at the deactivated Soul Cube for a moment. It was obvious that the artifact was more than just some box now. “Applejack said to go talk to you. We don’t have that much actual good food, b-besides grass of course. She was wondering since you are the fastest flier here if you could go on a scavenge run.” The yellow pegasus explained.

Rainbow felt a pint of excitement jolt through her. “Sure! no problem.” sure these monster thingies were all evil and stuff, but she’d be lying if bolting past them and dodging their numerous attacks wasn’t just slightly thrilling.

“Great.” Fluttershy nodded in response. “Applejack was thinking you could go out tomorrow. The other scouts have been seeing less of those t-th-things around lately.”

The pegasus bounced between hooves. “I can’t wait to zoom past those monsters! I’ll be back with food in no time.”

Fluttershy nodded again. “Good, err, j-just try not to get hurt out there. Please.” she pleaded.

“Don’t worry. You won’t find a scratch on me when I come back!” she claimed, all cocky, setting a hoof to her chest.

The coy pony smiled. “Great.” she turned, heading off.

Rainbow waved. “Scavenging it is!” she cheered once Fluttershy was gone. “I’ve been feeling cramped, swooping through the Everfree, time to get back to familiar territory!” She continued the patrol around the perimeter of the shield.

“You must be careful.” it informed the cheerful pegasus. “If I fall in the hands of the Ē̷̛͇̦v̷̮̅į̴̫̃̏l̶͕̏͛, they will gain a massive advantage.”

“Oh, chill out. I’ll leave you here.” Rainbow responded. “If anything wrong happens to me, then you can stay here to heal Twi.”

“Wise choice.” the Soul Cube replied. “Just be careful.”

She smiled confidently. “Will do! Careful is my middle name.”

Codex/Demons II

Armored Baron
Once patrolling the walls of Immora, now they demolish the cities of Equestria with their powerful armor. One devastating strike from their cursed morning-star obliterates both body and soul. Even the Maykrs fear these creations of demon and machine, for the carnage it may cause is both relentless and unquenchable.

The Armored Baron is a Baron of Hell encased in blue cybernetic armor, similar to a Cyber-Mancubus. The armor's most notable features include a single slit-like yellow lens on the front of the helmet, similar to the eye of a Maykr Angel or Seraphim, and a large red flail at the end of the right arm. The Armored Baron can launch its morning-star like device for a long-ranged melee attack.

Both the original variant of the Baron of Hell as well as its Fireborne cousin may adorne the Immoran armor. Under the legions of the mysterious archdemons, they adorn a maroon and black armor that honors the pallette the Dark Lord’s armor adorned before his death.

Cyber Mancubus
The Cyber Mancubus will behave in a similar manner to its unmodified variant, lobbing powerful projectiles at the Slayer from long distances. Unlike the regular Mancubus, the Cyber Mancubus' attacks will leave behind an acidic puddle that will damage anything entering it until they dissipate.

Up close, the Cyber Mancubus will pound the ground and dump a large puddle of acid around it, dealing massive damage if the Slayer is unable to get away quickly enough. Unlike the regular Mancubus, its cannons are no longer a weak point, and its attacks cannot be weakened/disabled.

The Cyber Mancubus' most notable feature is its armor, which reduces damage from all weapons until it has been removed. This armor can be removed either by continuous fire from the Slayers arsenal or instantly removed with a Blood Punch, which will also deal significant damage to the demon.

Dread Knight
A variation of the Hell Knight breed, the Dread Knight has been modified and hardwired for aggression. Armed with exo-prosthesis powering energy-blade augments, the Dread Knight is the lethal result of UAC Cultist engineering, the model copied and redesigned now to better fit with Immoran technology.

Epinephrine regulators modulate the Dread Knight with an unbroken flow of rage-addled adrenaline, while its endorphin receptors have been synchronized to respond with the use of its arm-mounted blades. With each kill, the Dread Knight is injected with a flood of artificial dopamine. As a result of its augmentation, the Dread Knight is driven by a biochemically engineered state of pure, unbroken rage - suffering for which respite can only be found in the act of the kill

Mancubus
The Mancubus, hulking behemoth of the demon world, bears notable differences from those of its kind first encountered by the UAC expedition team on Mars. Unlike its brethren which wore a naturally occurring armored carapace, this variation shows clear signs of pre-existing man-made modifications. Armor-plating augmentation to its exterior and a sophisticated arm-mounted weapon system indicate a clear intent to upgrade and weaponize the fighting capacity of the Mancubus, whose heavy stature and resilience make it a formidable threat in battle.

The Mancubus is a tank, able to dish out absurd amounts of damage and take it too. From a long distance, the Mancubus shoots powerful flame balls from its cannons while slowly moving towards the Slayer. At medium to close ranges, it will use dual flamethrowers to rapidly damage the Slayer. These flame-throwers have a surprisingly long reach, so caution should be exerted until they are disabled. When face-to-face with the Slayer, the Mancubus will fire its cannons directly into the ground, surrounding itself with a puddle of napalm that will deal absurd amounts of damage if the Doom Slayer remains for too long.

Fortunately, the Mancubus' attacks can be largely mitigated by destroying its arm cannons. Destroying the cannons will completely eliminate the Mancubus' flamethrowers and make its fireball attack much weaker. Outside of the weak-point, the Mancubus can be put down with constant fire from your weapons, as its large frame and slow movement speed make hitting it easier than most demons.

Pinky
As Hell emerged on Earth the Pinky began to appear on terrestrial soil in great numbers, rapidly becoming the bane of existence to ARC military fortifications. Utilizing its armored frontal carapace, the Pinky is able to penetrate defensive encampments, breaking through walled defenses and using its ramming ability to upturn and immobilize armored vehicles.

ARC deployments, dependent on their ability to hold the line against encroaching forces of Hell, could be disrupted and even overtaken by a single Pinky, were it able to penetrate and break through their defensive matrix. allowing a greater demon influx to pour in after it. The ARC rapidly prioritized the target status of the Pinky, issuing high-range bombardment to prevent the Pinky from gaining proximity.

The strategy with the Pinky is to reach behind it to where the unarmored tail of the demon resides. Its rear is where almost all of its vital organs and arteries are located. Flanking it is easier said than done, for if you do and it is not staggered then it may scamper around to cover itself and to land a quick chomp on its flanking foe.

Revenant
The Revenant program, a bio-weapon experiment utilizing re-animated necrotic human tissue, was believed to have been destroyed with the collapse of the UAC facility on Mars. However, the emergence of the Cultist enclaves on Earth, former UAC deviations now under Hell's direct control, have begun work on a second wave of production of the Revenant program.

While much of the platform's existing weapon payload is preserved as originally designed, the cyber-neural programming has undergone modification. Patterned signals are wired to the host's frontal cortex, which in turn stimulate a state of frenzied, unrestrained bloodlust. While these signals are active, the host is incapable of thinking or feeling anything but a singular compulsion to inflict death and violence on the living.

This demon is a tall, boney demon of former human form. Its chest and torso is mounted with a device that is capable of aiming and firing two shoulder cannons at the target the Revenant desires. It is a rather spooky Revenant that enjoys screeching its head off.

The Revenant is capable of using its shoulder cannons to lock-on to the Doom Slayer and send a devastating barrage towards him. However, the Slayer’s dash ability is capable of easily countering the lock and the cannons of the Revenant are easily fired away with most precision weaponry.

Unwillings (Equestrian)
When a pony of any kind is exposed to enough argent energy, they eventually become an Unwilling. Their minds are corrupted and overcome with the whispers and callings of Hell. They grow taller, hit harder, and are a whole lot more dumb. Now they wander the damned Equestrian planes in search of mercy from this tormented fate of dull coats and insane, deranged minds.

Mission 2. Ponyville Part 1

Briefing

A small town not too far from Canterlot has become overrun with demonic forces. With this town as a vital stronghold for the demons, it would make continuous assaults on the capital of Equestria dead simple. Princess Luna requests of you to eradicate the demonic presence of this town.

The Doom Slayer’s footsteps left massive imprints in the grass as he made his path towards the town that the alicorn had directed him. The Slayer was reduced to strolling along the grasslands of this exotic world, looking across the pretty and vibrant colors of Equestria. This world hardly had any slipgate points that he could plant vortexes too, meaning walking was one of his only options.

The land he trekked through was filled with bright green grass, naturally grown with happily colored flowers, reeds yellow as the sun which had begun to set in the sky that slowly turned a warming pink.

He enjoyed the colors of this world, reminding him much of the less corrupted portions of Argent D’nur, vibrant and bright from the sentinel energies within the land. That was probably the same here, he could feel the wraith magic in the earth.

The only thing that broke the illusion of this peaceful paradise was the sky in the distance. Dark, ominous clouds swirled around his objective. They were struck with red and lighting exchanged across the fluffy tufts.

He was a good five hundred meters from his objective according to the marker the princess had planted on his HUD. The Slayer felt the weight of his Super Shotgun as he stared at the thin line of trees that separated him from the town.

His shoulder cannon reared around, looking about the area swiftly for any closeby enemies to target its Frag Grenades upon. It whirred robotically, the small flame tipping it hissing in wait for a flame blast upon an enemy demon.

“Ponyville is the closest demonic origin point to Canterlot. There are many sources of invasion and dozens of other gore nests, however if we allow the one here to thrive, then the continuous assaults on Canterlot would be easier than ever for our enemy.” Princess Luna informed.

He made his way closer to the treeline, opening his weapon wheel to insure that every weapon was in place and at full ammo. He could feel the Sentinel Hammer swirling with energy on his back.

Analyzing combat environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Battle track produced

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B93B4YGsaC4&ab_channel=Geoffplaysguitar-Topic

The Slayer moved a group of branches aside, walking towards one of the edges of the town he had been assigned too. A shady maroon was cast across the town from the angry red clouds above.

The town itself seemed comparable to that of most villages under Sentinel culture. Bleach white wood made up the walls of multiple houses with darker, stronger wooden frames. The roofs were covered in simple thatch and the windows were all stained a particular purplish-pink tone.

Suddenly, the shoulder cannon jumped to attention, locking onto a batch of enemies just ahead. The Slayer averted his vision to the large group of demonkin. Just ahead was a horde of equine stumbling about and groaning mindlessly. Their formerly colorful coats now stood faded, hanging loosely off them.

Princess Luna unmuted her connection to comment. “Is this what the demons do to ponies? Turn them into slogging beasts unable of freewill?” there was a heavy presence of sympathy in her voice.

The large group of zombified ponies looked over at the Slayer, groaning. Looking a little closer, he noticed some Imps weaving through the crowd.

“Interesting. It is rather sad to know that these were once my subjects.” Princess Luna sighed as the Doom Slayer dashed towards the large group. “D-Do with them as you wish, just make it quick.” she urged.

He launched a bout of flame towards the demons, the ponies burning up. The Equipment Launcher proceeded to blast forth a frag grenade, the shrapnel flying through the crowd and eviscerating most of them.

An Imp launched itself, just dodging the explosion. It landed in front of the Slayer, gripping his left wrist. He kicked the small demon away, unsheathing his Doomblade and bisecting the fodder.

Hearing another approach, he swapped grips on his Super Shotgun and aimed in the direction that he heard the pitter patters of the Imp’s feet. He dug his hand around the demon’s throat, it screeched in both horror and pain before he chucked it in the air and blasted it into flying meat confetti with his Super Shotgun. With a lot of the crowd cleared he could see more demons that were unlike the surrounding Zombies.

Stomping through the horde was a Hell Knight encroaching to brutalize the Slayer. His HUD flashed with ‘MISSILES TARGETING’ suddenly. The Slayer instinctually dashed back from the lock-on of two rather distant Revenants. Tall demons resembling a humanoid skeleton with two large missile launching turrets on their shoulders.

Thinking quickly, the Slayer began charging for the Hell Knight, jumping up and over several Unwillings. He started using them like stepping stones toward the enemy. As he did, he brought out his Heavy Machine Gun, locking the aim of its Precision Bolt to one of the cannons of the Revenants and cracking through one with an ear-piercing shot.

The distant roar of one of the Revenant’s could be heard as he shot off the remaining turret on the one he first targeted. As he rushed over the horde, he set his Machine Gun back into his inventory, once more setting his firing hand on the handle of his Super Shotgun.

He took a particularly large bound off of one zombie, reaching into the air above the Hell Knight and stomping downwards into the demon’s shoulders. He set the dual barrels right between the eyes of the demon before blasting its head away, pulp remaining on the stone ground.

With the horde of Unwillings behind him, he didn’t even cast a glance as his shoulder cannon reared around mechanically and repeated the fire and frag combo it had done earlier, removing the remaining close-by threats.

Once more noticing the warning message at the bottom of his HUD, he dashed out of the way of several lock-on missiles meant for him. Glaring over, he saw the other Revenant screeching at him.

The Slayer bounded furiously towards the remaining demon, pointing his shotgun’s Meathook at his enemy before blasting it towards the monster. It sunk into the mechanical core of it, the Slayer reeling himself towards the now stunned Revenant.

Once close enough, he let his fist leave the handle of his double barrel and charged it with a hardy batch of Sentinel energy. His gripped gauntlet tore into the mechanical torso of the skeletal demon, going right through it and out the otherside.

It screamed out in its death, the Slayer gripping a handlebar on the demon’s chassis to stabilize the extraction of his fist from the torso. Dark crimson blood dripped from his knuckles as he stepped away from his dead enemy.

Just before he could switch targets, the Slayer felt an intense hit in his back. The force driving him off his feet and rolling onto the ground. He dropped his weapon, scrambling to his knees to look up at just what had charged into him.

A raging Pinky glared back. The dog-like, armored demon skidded a hoof on the ground to prepare another charge towards the Slayer. Thinking swiftly, he rolled out of the way of the enemy’s attack. He heard the ground shake behind him as he turned to see the stunned Pinky, shaking its head from ramming it straight into one of the houses of Ponyville.

It had crashed through the front, slowly gathering itself in the living rooms of the house. He picked up his Super Shotgun and sprinted towards the demon, jumping on top of it and forcing it to the ground. He gripped the top jaw of the demon, squeezing the bottom jaw.

With his unimaginable might he ripped the Pinky’s mouth way farther than it should’ve gone, tearing its mouth apart. It screamed in pain, blood spewing from its maw and into its lungs as it drowned from just how much fluid spewed down its throat.

As he stepped away from the Pinky, the Slayer felt a pair of eyes on him. Watching. They were wide, and fearful, sitting in the corner of the abandoned living room that surrounded him. The blood covered, armor clad man slowly looked over to the location, seeing the bright and colorful coat of the town's inhabitant. The bright, vanilla colored fur of the pony was clear in the shady room.

Sweetie Drops stood deathly still, hoping the alien figure wouldn’t lay harm to her. The Slayer did the same, just staring to see if she would do anything in return. His Equipment Launcher whirred over to look back at the giant hole in the wall the Pinky caved in, the Slayer following the gaze of what looked like his second head.

Leaning in, glaring at the Slayer, towered another Hell Knight. The Doom Slayer glared back at it, unlocking the hook from his Super Shotgun. The demon charged at him, the Slayer sliding under a mean haymaker it prepared before quickly jumping on its back, gripping the meathook and jamming it repeatedly in the back of the neck.

It screamed, trying to tear him off as he stabbed it more and more, riding it’s back. Blood flew everywhere until finally, with both hands he drove a final stab of the flaming prongs through its nape and out the front of its throat. The Hell Knight crumbled to the floor, the Slayer tearing the meathook out one more time before letting it reattach to its base point on his Super Shotgun.

He felt his strength replenish after the brutal slaying of the demon. The Doom Slayer gave one last glance at the pony in the corner. It whimpered in terror as it hid, hoping that the unintentional glare of the Slayer hadn’t noticed her.

He simply turned, locking his Super Shotgun into place on his hip mechanism. The Slayer marched out slowly, heading back to the large group of dead fodder, Revenants, Imps and other demons. As he did, he made sure to equip his Ballista. The heavy weapon was held strong in his grasp, right on the large top handle and left on a secondary handle to heave the rest of the large energetic cannon.

The Slayer simply walked past all of them, towards a road that led deeper into the town. Multiple buildings and alleys marked left and right, his Equipment Launcher whirring all around in search of its next target once more.

Strolling zombies slugged along the sidewalks, glancing at the Doom Slayer for only a moment before continuing on. Like regular Zombies, their pony variants were rather passive, so he didn’t do much outright unless they’d be a nuisance in combat or he required a boost in health or ammo.

Speaking of which. The Slayer reviewed the weapon wheel for his ammo counts. They could use a pick-me-up. He stopped in front of a lone Unwilling. It was frail and old looking, a faded light green tinge on the elder. He half-hazardously tossed the heaving ordnance weapon at the small framed pony.

It stumbled backwards, falling to the ground with a mindless groan. The Slayer pulled out his chainsaw, pulling the starting handle with a strong yank as it lit to rumbling life. He plunged the rotating blades into the former-pony’s stomach, revving the blade up through the chest cavity. The Unwilling only responded with soulless groans as blood splattered all across the road.

Finally, after a while of the pony squirming on the ground and the threatening chainsaw roaring, it fell limp lifelessly. The Slayer tore the chainsaw out, feeling the pain of the demon be converted into refilling ammunition.

Princess Luna spoke up. “I understand that my former subjects are no longer who they once were, but I request that you utilize more restraint with how you deal with them.” an annoyed tone entered her voice.

The Slayer lifted the no longer revving chainsaw, sending it to his inventory before making his way to the Ballista he had tossed to disrupt the Zombie. He appeared to care very little about Luna’s input.

‘TARGET IDENTIFIED’ his HUD exclaimed as his second head stared into one of the alleys between the many buildings. He quickly picked his Ballista up, spotting a Mancubus standing in a challenging manner with a legion of Imps trailing behind and climbing over it.

The Mancubus demon was a tusked, horrific mass of fat and flesh in a bipedal, humanoid form. It was augmented with hell cannons on either arm meant for blasting hellfire and fireballs at its enemies.

‘ADDITIONAL TARGETS DETECTED’ The Slayer followed where his launcher aimed, glaring at the alley on the other side of the road. The flaming wrist blades of a Baron of Hell burned in the shadows as it marched out, ready to battle.

The Mancubus aimed its cannons at the Slayer, blasting a duo of fireballs as a horde of Imps encroached on him. He dashed out of the way of the hellfire, blasting the Ballista into one cannon and rotating off to his Heavy Machine Gun to shoot away the remaining one.

The large demon staggered as its smaller allies charged forth towards the Slayer. With the batch of fodder, he simply cast out a bout of flames before dispatching them with a Blood Punch.

Finally, he pulled out his Rocket Launcher, locking it onto the Mancubus before firing away the volley of fireballs. They bursted around the hulking demon, exploding into many bone shards, organs and gore.

Once the shrapnel settled, he could feel the ground rumbling as the Baron of Hell approached behind him. Before it could get a swipe in, the Equipment Launcher spun behind him swiftly and shot out an Ice Bomb at the tall demon.

It was engulfed in freezing gasses, forming into a statue of ice. The Slayer quickly brought out his Chaingun in exchange for his HMG as he turned around. He unfurled the numerous barrels of the minigun, the weapon roaring strongly as it shed away the ice consumed flesh and chitin of the Baron.

BBBBBBBBRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

The entire town was filled with the Mobile Turret’s quaking noises. It drowned anything that it came in contact with, even the music blaring from the Slayer’s helmet. Eventually, it clicked with a lack of ammunition, the Slayer storing it back in as the Baron broke from its icy prison.

It staggered to the cobblestone path in the middle of the road, stunned from the fury of damage. Its full front was now an exposed, blood-magma-engulfed skeleton. The Slayer rushed towards the struggling demon, giving it a whooping punch to the face. The Baron fell to its back, holding its lava-covered face as the Slayer climbed onto its chest, reaping punch after punch over its bone-exposing head.

Crk! Crack! Kck! Schk! Brutal, chunky noises broke out after each hit with his powerful gauntlets. It was a brutal beatdown, the flowing hot magma staining his fists as he refused to let up until the roaring demon perished.

The Fireborne Baron of Hell suddenly felt the agonizing punches halt, opening its savage glowing white eyes to see the Doom Slayer gripping both of his hands together. Finally, the demon purger gave a giant slam of both of his balled hands into the demon’s head, magma flying everywhere and the skull collapsing in on itself.

He lifted his fists from the demon, breathing heavily. The Slayer stepped off, moving away from the body. He slid Lucifer’s Bane out of its locking mechanism and glared at the remaining demon. There, frozen in horror at the sight of such a brutal takedown of the Baron stood a Dread Knight. An offshoot of the Hell Knight, bred and augmented for maximum killing efficiency.

Dual energy blades shimmered from each mechanical hand of the monster, its entire upper head fully augmented to a mechanical variant for both defense of the brain and to increase the demon’s perception of its environment. This cybernetic Hell Knight however appeared to be malfunctioning, too filled with fear to react to the demon killer.

Before it could manage its terror, the Slayer dashed right in front of the demon, impaling his Doomblade into the monster’s chest, tearing it upwards to reveal the gaping ribcage. It screamed, hands raising to the air as the Slayer gripped its beating heart that sat right between the lungs of the beast.

Blood spewed as he squeezed the alien heart, tearing it off the arteries. The demon crumbled to the ground, gasping for air and setting its large hands against its chest in a vain attempt to halt the pain.

The Doom Slayer stood, glaring around for any enemies. He stared into the surrounding alleys, seeing only the minimal threat of ponies overtaken by Hell. He was about to move on, before spotting a bright-colored pelt near a trash bin, a light gray pony leaning slightly out to stare at the Slayer in horror with a pair of strangely positioned amber eyes.

He looked at her, eyes locked before squeezing the still beating heart he held with all his might. The organ swiftly burst into viscera in his hands, covering his visor in the blood of his enemy. The pony jumped in terror before returning behind the trash can as quickly as she could.

“Must you strike such fear in my subjects?” Princess Luna asked as the Slayer continued his way down the street, making sure to step over the Dread Knight’s corpse disrespectfully. He could see what could be a decorative fountain not too far down the road, positioned in the center of town nearby many abandoned market stands. Among them were many zombies, limping about.

The Doom Slayer wiped the dark blood from his visor as Luna continued. “Down the street you will encounter the town center. From there, you can get rid of the rest of these demons as well as their source.”

He equipped his Super Shotgun, stopping as he felt an energetic feeling scourge through his body. The feeling that would indicate the opening towards a high level demonic presence. He looked up, staring at a swirling red vortex, ripe to drop a super heavy demon right above.

The Slayer swiftly dashed out of the way of the portal, a giant beast landing right where he stood. It resembled a Baron of Hell, however it was heavily armored in a layer of magically enchanted armor.

The armor was blood red and mechanical and swirling with protective spells the Dark Lord himself casted. Where its right hand should be sat a morning star, ready to be charged and launched at the Slayer like a speeding bullet.

The Armored Baron stepped forward, swiping its large mechanical morning star at its enemy. The Doom Slayer backed away, equipping his Heavy Machine Gun. As the large demon made the attack, he heard the sound of a distant jet before a large, mechanical voice spoke out.

“SLAYER IDENTIFIED.” The voice boomed as a Doom Hunter floated out of one of the alleys to aid the Armored Baron.

Doom Hunters were more machine than demon. Its legs were gone and replaced with a floating sled, several rockets and explosive weapons mounted to it. The portion that was demon had a double bladed chainsaw take up the space where its left hand would be and the Paingiver Rocket Launcher mounted to its right hand.

An energetic plasma shield engulfed the tan colored demon flesh and a cyclopsian robot eye sat just above its face. The Slayer glared as the ‘MISSILES TARGETING’ sign appeared in his HUD. His boots dashed back to avoid the lock-on, the Slayer rushing forward towards the Doom Hunter

He shot an Ice Bomb at the demon, Bood Punching it’s sled. SHING! He turned swiftly around, glaring at the Armored Baron as it prepared to launch its morning star with a green flash. He quickly aimed onto the morning star, blasting into it with his Precision Bolt. The maroon armor blasted away, the Baron staggering.

The Doom Slayer equipped Lucifer’s Bane, aiming the shotgun at the closer Doom Hunter’s sled. With that attack, the ice around the demon fizzled away. “CRITICAL DAMAGE!” It exclaimed, removing itself from the sled and floating on a couple of smaller jet boosters.

He turned away from the Doom Hunter, loading his Super Shotgun and aiming it straight at the face of the now armorless Baron of Hell, its angry red skin burning with hell energy. The Doom Slayer shot a horn off the demon, reloading it once more before shooting another Shotgun blast.

The Slayer heard the revving of a dual chainsaw behind him. He ducked, one of the saws just narrowly scraping his helmet. The demon murderer spun around, bringing out Paingiver and dashing away from the floating demon.

He enabled the lock-on mod, holding aim on the Doom Hunter. It chunked with the loading of a barrage of fireballs, launching the three. They exploded mercilessly on the exposed Doom Hunter’s torso.

Swusuwusuwususwu! The Doom Slayer heard the strange noise, glaring back at the Baron as its armor recharged back around its body. It roared, a mechanical tone to the demonic voice once the armor reformed.

The Doom Slayer dashed to the demon’s left side, unsheathing his Doomblade with a Shink! and slicing through its Chainsaw-wielding arm. It fell to the ground as its jets malfunctioned as with a small bit of effort, the Slayer heaved the Double-Bladed Chainsaw, gripping the revver and pulling it with building crushing strength.

It rumbled with great intensity as he tore it straight through the torso of the cybernetic enemy, carving a large hole in its chest as it roared agonizingly. Once the screams of the demon halted, he pulled the Chainsaw straight out of its previous user. The Slayer felt the spent reserves of his HMG and Chaingun replenish with the Dual-Chainsaw kill.

He tossed it away from the corpse, bringing out his freshly replenished Heavy Machine Gun. He held it in his right, equipping Hell Breaker in his left. The Slayer glared behind him at the approaching Armored Baron, predicting a charge of its morning star.

He dodged out of the way of the rushing demonic weapon, backing off further to prepare for the next move of his enemy. It swiped at the Doom Slayer, knocking its target back a little. He growled in pain from the sudden bludgeon of his side, keeping the barrel of his Machine Gun locked on the futurized medieval weapon.

His ears perked to the shining noise the demon made when charging its primary attack, the Doom Slayer quickly scoping on the green weapon before once again shooting through it and witnessing the armor dissipate.

Before it could grab its barings, the Slayer rushed forward and threw the Heavy Machine Gun as hard as he could into the demon's head. It stunned the monster for a moment as the Slayer prepped a mighty strike from his Sentinel Hammer.

EEEeeeeee-BOOOM

The already bloodied torso of the demon caved inwards on its organs, engulfing in Sentinel energies. The demon collapsed forward in front of the Doom Slayer. The sadistic demon purger grinned maniacally as he deactivated his energy-based weapon and equipped his Super Shotgun.

Wasting no time, he kicked the demon heads up and shoved the barrels of the shotgun into the Baron’s mouth, pulling the trigger tightly. The demon’s head exploded in bone and blood, the monster going limp.

The Slayer took a quick couple of breaths, gently dropping the demon head to unhinge the chamber of his Super Shotgun and watch the spent rounds eject. He injected the next duo of shells into the barrels, closing it up before he continued his way down the street towards the center of town.

Codex/Demons III

Archvile
Forged from Hellfire, the Archvile is feared among lesser demons for its innate ability to channel and manipulate the unholy powers of Hell magic. Descended from the eldest race of demons, the Arch-vile has long held a place within the ruling caste of high-born demon lords. Possessing superior intellect among the demon ranks, the Archvile's psycho and pyromancy powers make it a natural-born ruler of the savage and primitive beasts of Hell, capable of bending weak-minded underlings to serve its will. They are physically gifted as well, able to survive the most lethal of blows.

Cursed Prowler
A binding curse of necrotic poison drips from the claws of the Cursed Prowler like venom. Known in Hell to be one of the most treacherous forms of blood magic, only few have the teachings to conjure such sorcery. Yet, Prowlers from the deepest and darkest hell-pits have evolved to naturally produce such power from their fingertips. One swipe curdles the blood of their victim and drains them of their essence with each heartbeat. The only way to cease the curse is to cease the caster.

These demons are similar in form to its original counterpart however slightly larger in stature and colored in a noxious green. Poison actively drips from their claws and when they screech it spews from its mouth in spit.

Gargoyle
Unlike most demons, the gargoyle is said to be native to the world of Sentinel Prime, where they have plagued the Night Sentinels for centuries. They were well known for their ability to fly over the city's walls, taking any available opportunity to massacre a great number of people before returning to their native wastelands. It required vigilant and skillful marksmen to intercept them.

Hell has now adorned their front limbs with long slicing blades to replace their hands, using them greatly in swift hit and run assaults. On occasion they may take flight to launch a devastating barrage of acidic spit at its target mid-air.

Maegus
When a unicorn proficient in telekinesis is corrupted by Hell, they become mindless, stumbling drones. They are comparable to their Unwilling cousins, however they obtain one very obnoxious ability. The ability to jam and or disable your firearm. If one is kept near your proximity long enough, it will hold your weapon’s trigger, mechanism or even projectile in place with its magic and prevent you from firing.

Marauder
As civil war consumed Argent D'Nur, the Night Sentinels Guard was quartered by their faith. Torn between serving the Khan Maykr or revolting against that which they swore to protect. Those most disillusioned forswore their oath to the Sentinel royalty, abandoning their pact of allegiance made to the throne.

These hardened warriors joined the separatist group led by the exalted Priest class, allying themselves with the Maykrs and their devout acolytes in an attempted coup against the Sentinel royal house. Those Sentinel warriors who fell in battle, having sided with the Maykrs, were ultimately denied finality in death. Resurrected by the Divinity Machine of Maykr design, these fallen Sentinels were returned from the dead, transformed by Hell's power, and recreated with a singular purpose: to hunt the Slayer, now reborn as Knights in Hell's army.

Unlike other demons, the Marauder has a large variety in both appearance and weaponry. Some are standard with energetic axes, Super Shotguns, and impenetrable shields. Most of the time however, they may come in cybernetic forms, more prestigious armor, different colored clothing, Sentinel blades and hammers and many more variations in both dress and weapon.

However, they almost all fall under the same tactic when dealing with the Doom Slayer. Unlike most of its demonic allies, these former Sentinels block almost every attack dealt to them. The key is to wait for a strike to counter and then deal damage while it is stunned. The other option is getting up close and personal to bypass any blocks however it is a very dangerous strategy.

Tyrant
Demon Lords to the black soul pits of Babel, the Tyrants have long served as wardens and slavers of the infernal pits. Weaponized and cybernetically altered by the UAC, the Tyrants are tasked with overseeing the collection and extraction of sin-branded souls from the mortal world, their role in Hell ordained by the unholy sigil of the Elder Hell-gods. A sadistic master of lesser demons, the Tyrants are feared for their cruelty and malice.

These monsters are tall and giant. They are pinkish-tan in color and their bodies are absurdly durable. Certain limbs and sections of bodies were replaced with cybernetic enhancements and most commonly those include: a right arm replaced with a rocket cannon, an energetic source on the left wrist that extends a ginormous orange energy blade, a cybernetic right leg, and a portion of its face replaced with a robotic eye to easier identify targets. Between its big piggish face adorns two man-sized horns ready to pierce any nearby foe.

A Tyrant is a slow-moving powerhouse, extremely tough and able to dish out high damage, with its main weaknesses being slow turning speed and a large body that makes it an easy target. It shares some characteristics of the cybernetically enhanced Baalgar demon, or Cyberdemon as the UAC referred to it.

Mission 2. Ponyville Part 2

He wiped some demonic blood from his visor, cleaning it off lightly as the slightly stylized fountain made itself present in front of him. A large feminine stone pony stood at the top of the decoration, water supposed to be coming from her mouth. However, with the events of the demonic invasion, it wasn’t exactly in working order.

Several roads presented themselves in front of it, three paths with demons prowling and slogging between the streets. Small markets dotted around the town center where items were formerly. “The source of the invasion, an object you would refer to as a gore nest, would just be down the left road of the town. Destroy that, and your mission will be complete.” Princess Luna cut into his communications feed suddenly.

The Slayer however could detect the signs. They were waiting for him, the demons. It was an ambush for sure. He quickly heard a predictable fwoosh behind him of the Prowler's teleporting ability. He quickly spun around, gripping the neck of the demon and lifting it off the ground. Its mandibles stretched into a screech as the Equipment Launcher engulfed the demon in melting heat. The Slayer aimed his Super Shotgun at the legs of the demon, blasting the two into meat confetti.

A scorching heat cindered across his shoulder, burning demon in hand as he stared at the culprit. A Cacodemon floated a distance away, preparing a barrage of blue fireballs for him. He tanked another well aimed fireball, putting his shotgun to the section of burning armor that it landed upon.

As he encroached close enough, the floating meatball demon stretched its maw wide to take a chomp out of the absurdly strong human. Before the Caco could, the Slayer launched the upper body of the Prowler into its mouth, the demon choking on its ally.

A duo of Hell Knights led forward a brigade of Gargoyles, one of the brutish demons preparing a gnarly punch for the Doom Slayer. With quick wit, he dodged the strike along with several spots of acid from the surrounding flying fodder. Unsheathing his Doomblade, he cleanly sliced the hand off the Knight before aiming Lucifer's Bane straight into the demon's head and blasting it away with a pink mist. The Slayer felt a portion of the pain from the previous attacks retract as he did.

Its ally jumped into the air, slamming a fist into the ground with an innate shockwave. He blasted away from the impact, dropping his weapon as he reached the ground in a stunned manner. His enemy charged forth, prepping another big slam for the demon killer. Quickly, the Doom Slayer rolled away, equipping his Combat Shotgun. The Full Auto receiver mounted the weapon.

As his enemy recouped from the two heavy assaults, the Slayer charged at it, kicking one of its ankles with all of his might. The Hell Knight was sweeped off its hoof, its enemy stomping on his chest and blasting a multitude of clunking shots into the boney face of the demon.

Once the demon's head was dealt with, he felt a scorching ball of acid cinder into his side, metallic arm blades tearing at him from every direction. He was swarmed by the winged monsters, the Doom Slayer letting his Equipment Launcher fire a frag for the enemies. Shotgun blasts were distributed everywhere to the absolute horde of Gargoyles.

Finally, the grenade blasted off, eviscerating much of the small demons. To end the horde, he charged a fist with Sentinel energies before shooting it into a Blood Punch. The squadron of Gargoyles were engulfed in a flame belch before the fist blew all of them to a pile of sizzling gore.

Swiftly after the horde was demolished, he felt the ground sizzling and burning into his boots. He dashed out of the pool of melting green sludge, wincing painfully as he looked up at the Cybermancubus who slammed its green cannons together tauntingly. The fat demon was covered head to toe in dark green armor that effectively covered itself from most attacks.

The Slayer swapped away his Combat Shotgun for a more effective staggering tool. The demon roared, pitifully attempting a spare launch of burning green goo that completely whiffed the target. It was stunned by the barrage of gauss propelled Chaingun bullets, the Slayer arriving closer to propel an earth-shattering strike with his fist. The armor fell away, revealing the veiny green skin below.

Before the Cybermancubus could retaliate, a Doomblade was driven through the jaw of the demon. The Slayer uppercutted the sharp blade through the lower jaw and out the upper into his enemy's brain. Blood poured out of both holes profusely, him landing one final punch for insult and sending the demon’s head plummeting to the earth.

The floor rumbled after the corpse hit the ground. Soon, however, the Slayer realized that it was not the falling of the fat demon that produced the shaking. From a dark alley, several demonic stomps made their way out of the dark alleyway.

He glared at what presented itself into the town center. A large, giant demon roared, its pig-like skin glimmering in the light with several mechanical pipes and metallic plates lining portions of its body.

It had a robotic eye covering one portion of the face. Two large horns extended from its head and one leg and arm was replaced by a metallic version. The Slayer noticed another demon, riding on the shoulder of the Tyrant and gripping its horn for balance.

A Marauder stood on its shoulder, even more cybernetic in nature than the Cyberdemon. Dark black metal scorned over where its legs should be, two flaps on each side to seemingly cover inward mechanics of the cybernetic monster. Its lower torso was entirely replaced by wiry robotics, the left arm of the former Sentinel just as mechanical.

The only biological portion that was left of the thing was its upper torso, head and right arm, where it held a familiar one-handed war axe, its handle ignited with the yellow energetic head of the weapon.

Its lower face had a black shield over its mouth, one of its eyes being a glowing orange light for him to see out of that one too alongside his natural shimmering red one. Two horns way too large for the Marauder extended upward from its head. The demon had been repaired with the cream of the crop technologies Hell had to offer.

The Doom Slayer glared on as the Marauder hopped down from the taller demon, standing in the town center to return the glare

A scratchy voice started, absurdly deep and rumbly. It sounded as if the demon was speaking through a radio. “You are a slave to their beliefs.” it started. “You suffer in silence for a people you do not even know.” as it began, the Slayer picked up the lost Super Shotgun, unlocking the chamber of his weapon with expelled shells flying out.

It began pacing, walking past an abandoned market stand and scorching his axe through the cobblestone ground menacingly. “Why? The Sentinels had long abandoned these people and they have no association with the humans. You have no oath towards these equine.” It swung the axe up, readying it in his hand.

The Slayer injected two fresh new shells into the chamber. The Marauder seemed to understand the meaning of this as he two equipped his Super Shotgun from his hip. “You will suffer for my humiliation at the ARC Complex.” It stood in a ready position, beginning to charge forward. “Perish!”

The demon charged forth, its larger ally letting out a war-cry before pointing forth its arm cannon and preparing a barrage of missiles. A large laser extended from the arm-gun, pointing to where it’d aim. The Doom Slayer dodged out of the laser before the much smaller Marauder launched into the air and lifted the axe over its head.

The cybernetic Marauder blasted a shell at the Slayer, the pellets scorching on his shoulder armor as it slammed the axe towards him. Thinking quickly, he unsheathed his Doomblade and blocked the weapon. The blade clinked on the metal handle of the Hell axe before the Doom Slayer took the window to blast a shot into the mechanical knee of his past foe.

The Marauder stumbled back, the Slayer landing a gnarly right hook straight into the demon's face, finishing the combo with a knee to its chin to knock its head back up. With the knee, the Marauder lifted his bright yellow shield up to block any further attacks.

“AGH!” The Doom Slayer shouted in pain, feeling the unexpected barrage of dozens of missiles from the Tyrant.

The Tyrant roared in triumph with its ugly pig face, a large energy blade emitting from its arm before it jammed the weapon into the ground and lifted upwards. The blade flew across the ground, tracing after the Slayer.

Thinking swiftly, he launched the Meathook into the giant demon to fly over the tracking blade. The Slayer landed onto the giant demon’s head after a moment of air-time, swiftly loading a new pair of shells before blasting them away into the face of the Cyberdemon.

It roared in pain, swiping several energy blades at the Slayer in hopes of slicing him. They all missed, him being way too close to the monster for the attacks to hit. He fell off the demon's head and loaded another pair of shells. He punched as hard as possible into the robot leg of the Cyberdemon, exploding into sparks as the demon stumbled backward. Hearing quick footsteps, the Slayer lifted his Doomblade behind him to block another swipe from the flanking Marauder.

His Equipment Launcher shot a bout of flames into the demon’s face, forcing it to back away. The Slayer turned back to the Cyberdemon, dashing several dozen feet away from the enemy and bringing out Paingiver, locking onto it and propelling a triad of rockets its way.

The large demon remained weak on its feet, several pounds of flesh shot away to reveal bone and blood. It was stunned for a moment from the barrage of rockets, the Slayer moving in and shooting a Super Shotgun blast before quickly swapping his Precision Bolt out to fire into the giant demon. He loaded a next round of shells to shoot at the demon, stopping once the chamber clicked in readiness.

The cybernetic Marauder growled, patting the scorching flames from his mechanical parts. “Fight me, Slayer!” He roared, charging forward.

The Doom Slayer glared back at the Marauder, dodging out of the way of a shotgun shot before he dove with a quick swipe from his enemy’s axe. The Slayer felt the heat whirr past his body, him unlocking his Sentinel Hammer from his back and igniting it, Super Shotgun in right with Hammer on left. It ignited with blaring red electricity as the Marauder approached him, diving with a heavy strike.

Before it could land, the Slayer shot a duo of lead pellets into its face, before slamming Hellbreaker into the side of the Marauder. The demon screamed in pain, shaking as he was stunned by the sizzling Sentinel energies. The Doom Slayer reared the Hammer to his back, reloading and aiming his Super Shotgun right at the face of the demon.

Click! Lucifer’s Bane refused to fire. His ammo counter displayed a healthy fourteen shells at the bottom right however it didn’t blast the head off of the stunned demon. He inspected his weapon swiftly, a glimmering shine around the trigger catching his eye. A gold aura engulfed the trigger of his weapon, stopping its firing mechanism totally by holding it in place.

He quickly ducked, predicting the next energetic blade slice from the Cyberdemon behind him. “That is a unicorn's magic stopping your weapon from firing! Somepony is sabotaging you.” Luna informed him.

The Slayer dodged another barrage of missiles from the Tyrant, glancing behind him at a large portion of the town center, swarming with colorless ponies that flowed towards their target enemy. Noting the golden aura he saw around the trigger, he scanned the crowd for something similar.

BE-BE-BE-BE-BEEP!

As he did, the Slayer kept a portion of his focus dashing out of the way of incoming attacks, the combo of a laser and several rockets towards him breaking up a portion of his armor painfully, metal falling away from his shoulder as the green bar on his HUD dissipated.

Deciding to put distance from him and the larger demon, he shot a hook into one of the many Unwillings, using the leverage to torque himself above the crowd to not only get closer, but to get a better look at the source of his weapon malfunction.

The glimmering shine of gold shimmered from a particular unicorn zombie as it slogged with the rest. Its pelt was a very faded aquamarine with a cyan mane that was scorched with gray and was very loose in its roots.

He dashed through the air towards it. Once above the demon, he prepared a boot and slammed it right into the head of the Maegus. Surprisingly, it remained rather living, its head just barely clinging on.

The Slayer gripped the hinging jaw of the demon, lifting it up by the mouth. He wrapped his gauntlet around the former-unicorn’s horn, tearing it off in a reverse grip before slicing the sharp point of it across the jugular of the demon, blood pouring out.

Before the surrounding Unwilling could tear him apart, the AI in his Equipment Launcher ensured his safety with the blast of a frag to eviscerate much of the surrounding horde. As he turned to escape the herd, he saw the green shine of his previously stunned enemy leaping over the remaining crowd.

The mechanical Marauder fell towards the Slayer, axe lifted over head. The Doom Slayer, now with his weapon at full functionality, timed his shot to blast into the demon right before it landed.

“RAH!” It roared in pain, collapsing next to the Slayer, once more stunned.

Before it could gather itself, it felt a strong gauntlet crackle into a grip around its neck. The other dug into its horn. The Marauder growled in anger and pain. “N-NO! NOT AGAIN!” he managed to let out through the strong grip of the Slayer.

“I W-WILL RETURN, T-T-THEY WILL REBUIL-” Crchkow! The gnarly sound of its cervical spine being detached echoed through the center, the Slayer lifting the head of the robotic Marauder he had once more slain to the crowd of now horrified zombies.

Just as he felt enough fear was struck in his enemies, he tossed the head to the ground before stomping through it, the crackle of electricity echoing from the head.

Afterwards, he glared over at the remaining Tyrant in the alley, staring in horror. He torqued once more with his hook above the heap of zombies, trading out the Super Shotgun for Hellbreaker and landing the hammer straight into the ground to stun the Cyberdemon.

As the convulsing energies filled the monster, The Slayer equipped his Rocket Launcher and began sending legions of missiles at it. The sound of brutal explosions filled the air and echoed between the alleys. Shrapnel blew away and flew to only God knows where with several Bweeew!’s.

Finally, the large demon bursted into a pile of sizzling flesh and hot to the touch-steel. The Slayer slowly lowered the Rocket Launcher as everything around him settled, including the battle-music blaring in his helmet, which decelerated due to the lack of major enemies.

He looked around one last moment at the stray Zombies, slugging around on their four legs, hardly enough numbers of them to stop the Slayer. “You may find the source of the demonic outbreak not too far through the town, down this road to your left.” Princess Luna informed.

He adjusted his angry eyes up to the sky at the swirling cloud, surrounding a particular building down the path he advanced too. Well, formal building now. The rubble of a pastry themed building dotted around where the demonic clouds hinted towards. Several dozen demons of varying types guarding whatever was there. It would be quite the fight judging by what he scouted.

The Doom Slayer stashed away the Rocket Launcher into his inventory, equipping the legendary Super Shotgun and replacing the spent shells within. His boots rocked the earth beneath him as he marched on past the six or so mindless Unwillings, preparing to encounter the next batch of demons ahead.

Another horde of Unwilling slogged around the road, practically a wall of them blocking off the street to where he suspected the Gore Nest to reside. Striding aside and above them were several taller and purple Prowlers and a singular Armored Baron patrolling defensively.

If the Slayer looked farther down the street, he could see the towering frame of an Archvile, its alien head rounding proudly so far back from the frontline defense for the Gore Nest. Nearby the archdemon were a squadron of Imps and Hell Knights carrying paralyzed and screaming ponies before tossing them in the pit near where the Gore Nest resided.

A particular mare was forcefully tossed into the hole beside the Gore Nest, still screaming and shouting in hopes that this was all just some bad nightmare. Before the group of ponies could reside any longer, injured near the effigy of the flesh, the Archvile rose its hands to the heavens, its long fingers engulfing in magical flame and hell energy.

The screeches reached their crescendo as the magic surrounded and swarmed the multiple pony’s little bodies. Their pelts began fading from their candy-colored shade into the deathly grey apparent on many of the Unwillings the Slayer has encountered before.

Their screamings turned into mindless groans, their manes loosening as a flowing light blue essence was sent to the Gore Nest. The energy was absorbed by the portal-like structure on the top of the effigy, draining the ponies of their lives.

“It is as I feared.” Princess Luna sighed sadly. “They are harvesting the magic of my subjects. This is why I had called for you, Great Slayer. I knew you were the only one in this universe that could stop the invasion.”

The Doom Slayer stepped forward toward the horde of countless Unwillings. They swayed over, spotting him with a loud moan. He charged forward, cleaving through a good portion of the horde with a Blood Punch before launching his Meathook to an approaching Prowler to torque himself into the sky.

The large group of enemies lit with an angry orange glow, dozens of fireballs being launched at him. The Archvile had buffed its legion, making their projectiles and attacks act faster. The Slayer grunted in pain at the occasional purple fireball launched by the Prowlers patrolling the horde.

He dashed over the legion of demons, the high-tech morning star flying past the Doom Slayer’s body as he targeted the primary demon of worry. By now, the Archvile glared away from the gore nest, spotting the encroaching demon killer. He gave a perturbed look before lifting his two hands, projecting a bout of fire below where the Slayer landed.

“GAGH!” he exclaimed to the lapping embers on his boots, rushing out of the pool of flames after the tall demon. He holstered Lucifer’s Bane to his hipplate before equipping Hellbreaker with a furious charge.

The Archvile swiped a spell through the air, a wall of fire launching at him. He just narrowly dodged it, feeling a portion of it cinder one of his shoulder pads. It did it once more, the Slayer predicting it and dashing out of the way in his charge.

“RA-AH!” The horrified, rumbly screech of the high-ranking demon echoed as it lifted a singular hand out, either for a pitiful beg of mercy or to cast one last spell on the demon killer. No one would find out as the Slayer rammed the head of his hammer through the monster’s leg with all his might.

Anger scorched through him thanks to his annoyance at such a strong demon. There it lay behind him, its leg home-runned out of the town with the Slayer’s hammer. It cried in pain, dragging itself away from the Doom Slayer as he approached behind the demon.

Before it could clamber away, the Slayer forced the long handle of the drained Sentinel Hammer over the throat of the Archvile. He growled savagely, grunting in effort as he pulled as hard as he could with the handle, forcing pressure on the neck of the demon before he tilted it with all his might, the upper spine of the monster breaking into two with such force.

The buff it had provided the group of demons ahead faded as the Slayer stepped away from the super heavy demon. He rubbed his shoulder with a grunt as he watched the blue bar that signified his vitals refill from the glorious murder.

The demons stared at the man who had just slaughtered their leader in such fashion, fear struck even the Hell Knights that had carried the now turned ponies. A pen could be heard drop as the Slayer lifted his Hammer into a better grip, its energetic head whirring on the handle once more from the Glory Kill. It murmured gently, preparing to turn into a harsh screech upon a hit on one of its enemies.

Finally, the Armored Baron stepped forward, pushing a duo of horrified Prowlers alongside him to aid him in the fight against the Doom Slayer. The four Hell Knights that guarded the Gore Nest charged after the Slayer, one preparing a readied fist for him.

He ducked under that one, dropping his large melee weapon into a temporary left hand grip and pointing his Super Shotgun at its back to blast a duo of shells into it. The next dove at him with two balled fists, the Slayer holstering his signature weapon and blocking the attack strongly with his Doomblade. He kicked the medium sized demon away before the next charged forward as well.

The Slayer dodged the blow of it quickly, slashing through the demon’s leg brutally and completely chopping it away. It roared, falling to the ground as it bled out. The fourth jumped ahead to launch a kick straight into the Slayer’s helmet. Unfortunately, the Slayer countered into its leg with a Blood Punch, flying back with a now shattered limb. Before it could do much else, he slammed Hellbreaker into its torso and sent it flying off of its legs.

The second Hell Knight bursted behind him, prepping yet another predictable haymaker. The Slayer finally returned his hammer to a two-hand grip, deactivating the head to form it into a staff. He slammed the adamantium steel into the wrist of the demon with all his might. It shouted in agony, gripping its wrist and staggering back.

The Slayer swiped the staff under its legs, forcing it to drop to the ground. He lifted the pointy bottom end of the grip, preparing to jam it into one of the glowing eyes of the demon. Suddenly, the SCHING! Of an Armored Baron’s morning star interrupted the killing blow.

The Doom Slayer flung backward from the ball of death, a good portion of his vital display dissipated as he screamed in pain. “AGH!” He shouted again as a teleporting Prowler appeared behind him to slash a group of gnarly claws across his back mercilessly.

The handle of the Hammer fell from his grip. With a barbaric growl he snagged for the monster behind him, grabbing one of its straggly arms just before it could teleport away from him. He wrapped the other gauntlet around its neck before tearing away the arm of the demon and with grand speed digging the claw of it into its head savagely all while blaring a legion of flames from his Equipment Launcher.

He felt much of his energy restored and his armor replenished, hearing a mechanical warcry behind him. Seeing the fist of the Armored Baron encroaching quickly, he Blood Punched the hand to counter the attack. It staggered backwards, shaking its head from the blow as the Slayer brought out Lucifer’s Bane to reload it for the next group of enemies.

He saw the now duo of Hell Knights racing towards him. He blew some buckshot into one of them, Blood Punching the remainder of the demon away before blocking a serious blow from the other relatively uninjured brawler with his wrist-sword. The hand that tried to hit him sliced away at the molecule-dividing sharpness of the Doomblade.

It backed off, gripping its wrist as blood spewed from its arm. He grinned devilishly as he injected a new pair of shells into the chamber of Lucifer’s Bane. Fwooosh.He recognized that noise. He turned around and blasted his fresh buckshot into the Prowler. One of its legs shot away, the Slayer Blood Punching it into a flying mound of meat confetti.

He quickly reloaded, the Doom Slayer deciding to change up the pace a little and equipping his Ballista. It resolved in his hands almost magically as he aimed it at the Armored Baron which prepared another charging swipe. The Slayer dashed out of the way of the attack, its morning-star charging with hellishly green energy.

Once it was fully charged and just before it launched, he shot away the morning-star along with the rest of the demon’s armor. Just as it took a couple of staggered steps from its metallic protection, it was engulfed in the freezing gasses of the Slayer’s Ice Bomb.

He slammed a merciless Blood Punch into the frozen Baron before stepping back and shooting a double-barreled blast from the Ballista. Before it could unfreeze, the branches of the energetic crossbow-like weapon extended with an epic sound that resembled the cybernetic guitar riffs that blared ever so angrily from his helmet.

eeiiINNNN-DEH-EN-DEH-EN-DEH-UN

BWWEEEEEW!

The blade of red Sentinel Energy screeched through the streets of Ponyville. It swiped through the icy prison of the Baron, flinging through towards the dozens of fodder behind it. Imps, Unwillings, Prowlers, anything less powerful than a Hell Knight was completely bisected by the energetic blade that scorched at heats beyond the sun.

While the cybernetic Baron was still restrained in the ice, the Doom Slayer headed back to where he had been knocked back earlier, spotting the handle of Hellbreaker quickly. He put away his Ballista and knelt down to pick the Sentinel Hammer back up.

He ignited the hammer, the sound of the ice shards creaking and breaking through as the Baron was released catching the Slayer’s ear. He dashed back towards his enemy, fresh out of the freezing cold. Before it's armor could regenerate, he slammed the head straight into its torso.

It fell backwards onto the ground, the Slayer holstering the now energyless hammer to his back and loading his Super Shotgun for the killshot. Once he climbed on, he blasted the duo of shells straight through its head. Blood and gore spewed from the corpse as he stepped away, glaring down a duo of demons that had arrived a little too late to aid the Archvile-led legion.

A Cybermancubus jumped into the fray, a standard Baron of Hell joining beside it. They roared in an attempt to threaten their enemy. He simply reloaded his Super Shotgun before dodging a duo of burning sludge being launched from the Mancubus.

He jumped into the air, above the Cyber Mancubus before plunging down and Blood Punching away its armor. Its Baron ally smacked away the Slayer once he performed the attack.

He landed a good portion away. His Equipment Launcher shot a frag at the Baron, staggering it before he shot a blast of 8 gauge into the demon and Blood Punching into its powerful hide.

Suddenly, a sound made the Slayer’s heart skip a beat.

CRKAAAHHH-AH-AHH-AH!

The recognizable battle-screech of the Cursed Prowler echoed through the town. He dashed away from the battle-duo quickly, looking around furiously for the demon. He absent-mindedly lobbed another Frag Grenade at the Cybermancubus to keep it distracted with the shrapnel.

Finally he saw the green Prowler fizzle into place on the shoulder of the Baron of Hell. The larger demon tore a small bit of fragmentation from its arm before charging forth at the Doom Slayer. He had to dodge a fireball from the demon as it assaulted him, the Slayer Blood Punching it as it arrived.

However, soon he realized that getting too close was not a good idea as the Cursed Prowler tossed a wretched fireball down onto him. The Slayer’s vision swarmed with vicious green as he felt the toxins of the demon fill his blood-stream.

YOU ARE CURSED

He saw the warning blaring over his HUD, taking full priority as he witnessed the Cursed Prowler laugh upon the shoulder of the Baron. He tried to pull the trigger on his weapon, however he couldn’t bring his hands to do it. The toxins had freezed up a lot of his finger movements.

His vitals rapidly drained, furthermore as the Cyberdemon launched scorching green goo below his feet. The Slayer rushed out of the goo, unable to dash thanks to the toxin’s disabling abilities.

The Slayer growled in agony as he felt his blood turn to slush, glaring around for some sort of plan while he half-hazardly holstered Lucifer’s Bane, nearly missing the hip-plate. An idea hit him as he stared at a nearby, small building. It looked way too tiny for any Mancubus or Baron to slip into.

He rushed into the house as fast as he could, gripping the point where he had been hit by the toxic fireball on his right stomach. His health began dipping below the 90s as he looked for an ambush spot.

The small house presented a living room with a nice sofa, a kitchen nearby with an island sticking out with some old rotten food on it. It was lucky to not be as damaged as the other places in Ponyville.

The Slayer spotted a bookshelf next to the door, him rushing behind it in wait for the Prowler to trail him in. He watched his health drain, hearing the chatter, clicks and roars of argument from the demons outside on who should go in and chase the man.

A gasp of surprise emitted from the kitchen, the Slayer rotating to see the peaking head of a bright cyan pegasus. Her wings branched above the island that extended from the kitchen along with her rainbow-maned head. The Equipment Launcher joined his gaze, glitching in its movements rapidly.

She stared at the Slayer in both fear and some sort of sense of admiration, blood dripping off the demon murderer and a greenish glow in his eyes from the cursed effect of the Prowler. The Doom Slayer growled at her, trying to scare the pegasus into going back to cover.

An awe induced stare that mixed with unease remained across her violet eyes, too enamored by how awesome the demon murderer looked but also frozen by what he might do to her.

The gurgly growl of the Cursed Prowler stopped her stare as it crouched into the house, lowering its head to skulk through the home. Its eyes were immediately caught by the rainbow-maned pony, mandibles stretching into a roar.

The pegasus shrunk backwards behind the counter, shouting in terror as the green demon swiftly approached. “No! NO! STOP!” She shouted as the demon dove over the counter after the mare.

She jumped at the feeling of a cabinet behind her. Seeing the only way out was flight, she jumped to her wings and tried to fly past the Prowler, only to feel one of her ankles be gripped and her be thrown back to the ground.

The grounded pegasus gasped for air, whimpering as she turned and grabbed one of the handles of a cabinet to open it. She slid in there, trying to get as far as he could from the Prowler. After vaulting over the island, it began reveling in the innocent creature’s fear.

Its tooth-covered mandibles stretched into another terrifying screech as it stretched its long claws to the pony, preparing to grip its hand around one of the limbs and begin shredding her.

The pegasus closed her eyes, fear squirming through her entire essence as she prepared to be ripped into a pile of gore and be feasted upon by the monster, just as nearly her whole home town had gone through. “Just make it quick.” Was all she could hope for.

“EEEEKK!” the ear-splitting scream of the demon tore through her acute horse ears as the Slayer gripped a hand around the spindly monster’s neck. He threw it behind him and into the counter of the kitchen. Before it could retaliate, the Slayer gripped one of the Prowler’s mandibles and tore it away with all his might, repeatedly jamming it over and over again back into the demon’s eyes.

Green blood flew all over the kitchen as the strange creature brutalized the monster. The screaming would eventually fade but the sound of the Slayer stabbing the face of the demon so much remained. Jam after jam of gore and putrid mess flew about as the beast brutalized the green Prowler.

Finally, the squelching of bone and flesh halted once the Slayer finally dropped the sharp mandible. He felt the toxins within his blood-stream halt and the health bar of his HUD refilling to a healthy 130.

All the mare could do was stare as the strange alien walked away from the corpse without another glance, equipping a strange bar that was mounted on his back before it ignited into a magical hammer.

The Doom Slayer marched from the small home, glaring at the armorless Cybermancubus and the Baron of Hell. Before they could retaliate in any way, the Slayer jumped into the air and slammed the screaming hammer into the ground, floor rumbling like an earthquake and the demons screeching from the sharp stunning energies.

The Slayer slammed the remaining power within Hellbreaker into the Cybermancubus, it exploding from the pure force of the Sentinel Hammer as well as the Doom Slayer’s strength. He put away the out of power Hellbreaker and equipped Paingiver, shooting away a rocket into the Baron.

He locked a duo of barrages onto the stunned demon, the pure barrage of scorching explosions demolishing the giant monster into a mere pile of gore. Once the Baron’s corpse settled onto the blood-covered cobblestone path of Ponyville, no other demon stood to oppose the Slayer.

The Slayer made his way over to the pit where the bakery used to stand, Paingiver still in hand as he looked down at the ever growing mass of boney flesh. He clicked the small metallic button on his Rocket Launcher, the lock on aiming onto the Gore Nest before shooting the barrage into the effigy.

It bursted with an otherworldly scream, the clouds above losing its angry reddish-orange tint. The storm in the sky still remained however the maroon lightning halted.

Princess Luna’s logo appeared in his HUD. “I must say my thanks, Great Slayer. I’m sure this task is not easy.” she stated gratefully.

The Slayer simply nodded in response, turning and walking away from the demolished Gore Nest. Blood dripped from his gauntlets and arms, the blood not all quite his as he made his way down the streets of the destroyed Ponyville, Paingiver mounted on his right shoulder, Doomblade extended from his left gauntlet, prepared to battle anymore remaining demons in the small town.

Attention Canterlot!

“Attention Canterlot!” Celestia exclaimed from her castle, hundreds of ponies standing before her as she gave the speech. “I am sure all of you have had your attention on the current happenings in our home.” her white wings were stretched confidently and her head was raised high.

Worried words mumbled between the crowd as they listened to their royal leader. The crowd was like an exotic painting of hundreds of different dotted colors. Like a jar of many variantly painted candies.

“The roaming beasts outside the walls of our city as well as the loud noises you’ve heard.” she began. “And I know that you have witnessed one of our more alien allies. I’m here to assure all of you that it will all be okay.”

The small words halted. “Thanks to the noble Prince Shining Armor,” to her right, the unicorn advanced next to the alicorn, horn glowing brightly from the casting of Canterlot’s protective barrier.

The crowd cheered for him. “Thanks to him, Canterlot has been safe from our enemies.”

“What about the two-legged thing?!” a voice spoke up from the crowd.

“He is of no concern to us. In fact he is here to aid us.” Celestia began. “He may seem threatening on the outside however he is with us in our fight against the monsters.” she explained. “My sister has been working with the Great Slayer and commanding him to help us in our time of need.”

A much darker alicorn approached. “I believe I can take much of the questions from here, sister.” Princess Luna headed out next to her royal sister. “Any questions about our enemies as well as the Great Slayer I can answer.”

Princess Celestia held back an annoyed glare, only glancing at her slightly.

“What is this ‘Great Slayer’ exactly?” a nasally voice spoke up.

The moon-princess cleared her voice. “He is not of this world. An alien planet who has also been attacked by these monsters. He knows the enemy inside and out and will do anything to stop them from ravaging our home.”

“Does that mean aliens are real?” a blue colt spoke up, jumping between his parents. The mother and father ponies calmed him down, giving scolding looks.

Luna nodded, closing her eyes as she explained. “Indeed. Our enemies are of the same sorts too.” she opened her eyes. “As I command the Great Slayer, Equestria is being made safer every moment by our efforts and soon this issue shall be resolved.”

“What about our friends outside of Canterlot?” a yellow, red-maned mare adorning glasses raised her hoof speculatively.

“Their status is unknown. The Slayer has simply been clearing the fields of Equestria, where they most congregate. From what I know, they are safe.” Princess Luna lied convincingly to the group of subjects. “I am still receiving letters and messages from Ponyville, Cloudsdale, Broncolyn and many more.”

A loud sigh of relief fell over the crowd, before another question was raised. “This Great Slayer, how do we know that he’s trustworthy? What if he turns against us?”

That question caught Luna just a little off-guard. “Err, If he were to betray us, he would have no idea how to properly traverse and fight in Equestria.” she came up with. “And besides, there is no reason he should shift his focus from the monsters to ponies, they are the larger threat to both him, and his home.”

Silence hung over the crowd for a while, the sight of the fear-striking Slayer prowling down the roads of Canterlot in search of enemy ponies stuck in their minds.

Princess Celestia smiled awkwardly. “Any more questions?” she asked the crowd.

They didn’t respond.

“Then this concludes our announcement. Stay safe, everypony!” the sun princess wished them with a wave, turning and guiding her sister and the unicorn inside.

The three returned into the fantastically colored castle. A sigh broke from Shining Armor, the unicorn rubbing his head. “This is like the wedding all over again.”

“We have to thank you.” Celestia spoke. “You practically saved all of Equestria with this spell. Again.”

He nodded. “Yeah, yeah. It's not too much of an issue, the emergency portal between here and the Crystal Empire made the trip easy.” the unicorn gave a worried look to the ground.

“What seems to be the matter?” Luna queried the Royal Guard.

“It's just…” he looked up at the princesses. “Twilight, I haven’t heard a word from her.”

Celestia rested a hoof on his armored shoulder. “I’m sure that your sister is just fine.”

Shining Armor rolled his blue eyes. “Listen, princess, I know that all the messages and letters from Ponyville is bologna.”

The sun princess nodded, solemnly admitting it. “Your sister is a bright pony, and a princess. If anypony could handle her own against them, it’d be her.”

The unicorn frowned angrily. “And what if she can’t? You’re just going to sit back and leave her in danger? Not even going to check on your apprentice?”

Celestia sighed. “Look, Shining Armor, I understand how this can seem like a cowardly play, but I am thinking of the safety of all of Equestria here. Without me, we would be severely weakened.”

“Oh, so you’re saying that you’re more important than Twilight? Aren’t both of you princesses? Shouldn’t you at least be sending people out to search for her?” he argued.

“You know that every patrol we’ve sent was decimated by the demons.” she replied. “And the farthest ones hardly even made it to Ponyville.”

“And what if those demons return?” Shining Armor started. “The only reason they didn’t get into Canterlot was because of that robot ape thing. Who’s to say that now, without him, that maybe they’ll just break right through? They have a lot more than the Changelings had and they made it by.”

Princess Celestia gave her points a moment or two of thought. “...Y-You’ve had practice with it by now, y-your spell is much stronger!”

The unicorn shrugged. “I have, but with how many they had the first wave, Cele-you know that with that many of them they could walk through it like saran wrap!”

The alicorn stared at the floor, guilt filling her. She had been neglecting her subjects. Her kingdom was not just the city of Canterlot. Tens of thousands, even millions of ponies could be suffering under the demons and she was doing nothing.

“And Luna, what’s stopping you from looking into her dreams and stuff?” he asked.

Luna sighed, shaking her head. “I can’t view her dreams. Her sleep has been too heavy to facilitate dreams.”

He provided a furious look. “Maybe you all need to take more action.” the prince turned, heading off and out of the room that led to the balcony. “I have soldiers to command.” he said before leaving the doorway.

Once the room filled with silence, the two slowly looked at each other. Animosity was found more so in Celestia’s gaze.

Luna knew what her sister was about to say. “Celestia, you can’t leave Canterlot.”

A mix of guilt and self-loathing was felt by the sun princess. “I can’t neglect my subjects anymore.”

The fellow princess shook her head. “Sister, you are not neglecting them. If you were to go out and protect them, then who knows what could harm you!”

“Like what?” she challenged her. “I am one of the most powerful ponies in this land! What could kill me?”

Luna shook her head. “Celestia, for what the demons do, I think killing is a very minimal punishment of theirs.”

“I am the leader of my people! I should be out there stopping the enemy threat, not waiting for some mysterious ancient being to do it for us.” she replied. “I have seen the recordings from the Slayer’s helmet. The things they do against our people is disturbing! I can’t let it stand any longer.”

“Yes, but if you go out there you may join them!” Luna argued.

“What do you mean?” Celestia asked.

Princess Luna sighed, looking for a way to best describe it. “Demons don’t just kill their enemies. They corrupt them, turn them over to their own side and use their abilities to their gain! If you go out there, the likelihood of the demon’s corrupting you is high!”

“I can’t just hide here though.” she argued.

“If you don’t, then the demons will turn you against our ponies.” Luna pointed out. “Now, with both of us in power and the Slayer doing his work, we have a glimmer of hope. But if they get their hooves on you and use you against us, we stand no chance.”

Celestia rolled her eyes. “I am above the corruption of them.”

Luna shook her head. “Perhaps the lesser demons, but the archdemons, masters of Hell magic, do you think you would be able to overcome them?”

The white alicorn turned. “Maybe you have a point… but if the legion returns and we have no Slayer, what are we to do?”

Princess Luna also feared that prospect as her sister walked out of the room, going off to answer further questions. Maybe she was being too protective of her sister.

Hellish Perspective

THUD

THUD

THUD

Metallic boots stepped on the hard path that wound through the demonic base. The walls, floor and ceiling were made out of a high-tech, crimson colored metal. Glowing yellow lights shimmered on each side of the hall as the large Marauder made his way.

This was no ordinary Marauder. He was much larger than the usual human-heighted demon and adorned a lot more of a prestigious, skull-wrapped armor.

He marched through the facility, adorned with the most advanced technology Hell and its capital city of Immora could offer. It was some of the best devices and doo-hickeys in the universe, combining Hell magic and technology in perfect tandem.

Kronos marched towards a large door at the end of the hall. On his way, he would spot a duo of much shorter Immoran Troopers. They were simple, weak humans that adorned and carried high-tech Hell armor and weaponry. They were fragile yet useful fodder, especially in maintaining fortresses and mechanics.

The two seemed to be working on some wiring under a plate of the metal walls. As Kronos walked by, the two looked away to salute their passing superior. Once the archdemon had passed they returned to diligent work.

He continued down the hall, eyes set on that large door not too far down the hallway. Suddenly, his march was interrupted when he heard gnarly snaps and growls to his right. Kronos glared over at the noises of scrapping and demonic roars. He spotted two Imps battling with each other, tearing away at one another.

Kronos growled, rushing over and grabbing a hand into the mad wrestle match. He felt his armored hand grip meatily around the nape of one of the demons. The Marauder tore out one of them from the fray.

“Stop fighting!” He commanded, lifting the Imp by the back of his neck like a misbehaving chihuahua. Fear chilled through the brown monster as it roared sadly. “We do not make the same mistakes we made so long ago! Focus your energy on the Slayer, not your allies.” Kronos shouted before slamming the demon to the ground.

It wasn’t hard enough to kill it outright. If Kronos wished so, he could’ve slammed the demon to the ground and ended it instantly, however it was just enough to teach the thing a lesson.

As the monster roared in pain on the ground, Kronos continued off, finally making his way to the large red door. Green lights shimmered from edges on it to symbolize that it was unlocked.

The door divided in half, making way for Kronos into the large room. It was a control area for the fortress, a giant demon in the middle and a couple of Immoran Troopers at the front. The humans were working hard at wheels, buttons, TV screens and everything used to maintain the ship’s controls.

It seemed to be a command station, the window at the front showing dozens of clouds below, some of them breaking up to reveal the canopy of the Everfree forest and Ponyville. Slightly below the view was where several large, chitin armored tentacles swirled. The fortress was a giant battleship.

A Leviathan Cruiser, largest ship in Hell’s history with dozens of terrible cannons. It was half demon half machine. A demon carried the fortress that was controlled by a series of electronic shocks to its mind sent from the unholy citadel. Watching the tentacles swarm from the heavens struck fear in their enemies and it was just discreet enough to stealthily fly high above the clouds when at high enough altitudes.

Kronos made his way up to the tall Archvile that stood in the middle of the control room, observing the Troopers as they commanded the Leviathan. This tall, giant demon adorned armor similar to that that the Barons wore, however there was no apparent weak point.

Unlike most Archviles, jutting out of his giant head were two long demonic horns, uncommon for his race of demon yet present in this much larger-than average specimen. The demon did not audibly speak, trading words via telepathy.

Everything below his neck was covered in strong, crimson armor. The demon in the center turned. “Greetings, Kronos.” he greeted his shorter, fellow archdemon.

“Greetings, Incendium.” he replied. “You called for me?”

The armored Archvile nodded. “Indeed.” He stepped away from the stand he stood upon, making his way to Kronos. He stopped a couple feet away, a table rising from the ground of the ship between them. A crimson red holographic map of Equestria flashed onto it with a whir. “We must plan.”

“I assume this is about the complications the Slayer brings into our invasion?” Kronos had been frustrated for eons at the Doom Slayer. It seemed that any easy battle or win that Hell had in its grasp was snatched away the second he arrived. “The argent energy idea you had was genius. Too bad he had to ruin everything.”

Incendium nodded. “We must track him and plan accordingly.”

“This is aggravating.” Kronos growled. “This was a simple invasion, in and out. And with no Slayer, it should have been dead simple!”

Incendium shook his head. “Easy, Kronos. Easy. We can still counter this.”

“How? Did you not witness what was done to the Dark Lord?” His fiery temper flared.

“I did, I did.” The Archvile replied. “However our reports say that after Ponyville was purged by the Slayer, that he entered the large castle here.” He planted one of his giant fingers on a structure in one of the corners of Ponyville. The Castle of Friendship, as the ponies referred to it.

“And?” Kronos queried.

“And, that he has not noticed the protective barrier in the Everfree.” He moved his finger to the large, glowing bubble that surrounded some structure far into the swampy woods.

Kronos wasn’t much of a strategist. “And what does this bubble mean? That some pathetic survivors are hiding out from us?”

“No, even better. I am sure you remember why we are here.” He asked to make sure he wouldn’t have to explain it to his ally once more.

“To use the exotic magics of these lands to resurrect the Dark Lord. Yes, I do.” Kronos answered.

“And among those magics include the Elements.” Incendium explained.

“Elements?” The Marauder queried. “Elements of what sort?”

Incendium huffed a bout of humor. “Of Harmony. Or so our enemies refer to it that way. It is the most powerful magic in the land, possibly in the universe.”

“And why would that be in that bubble?” Kronos wished his fellow demon would just cut to the chase.

“My spy within the barrier describes that the Elements are hiding within.” he began. “You see, we cannot use the elements. Only six specially designated Equine can. It is exclusive to Equestrian magic.”

“And who might these ponies be?” Kronos queried. “I will have them captured in no time.”

“Do you recall your first battle? Against the princess?” Incendium asked.

A smile cracked across his face. “It was a truly glorious duel.”

“The pony you fought, she is one of the wielders.” Incendium informed. “She has five other friends, each one holding an aspect to the elements. If one is lost, the rest are useless to our goal.”

“And I presume they all hide within the barrier?” The Marauder guessed.

“Indeed. We need all six of them alive no matter what. If you bring fodder, keep them in check so their mindless brains don’t slaughter them.” Incendium explained. “We’ve almost had that occur a couple times.”

Kronos looked down at the shield on the map. “You are sending me out there I presume?”

“Indeed.” The Archvile rumbled telepathically to his ally. “I will send you profiles on all six. This is a capture mission. Do not harm our targets. According to the youngling I have under control, she says that the group is weak and demoralized.”

“Glorious.” Kronos smiled. “However, one issue.” he planted a decaying hand on the shield. “This is no ordinary protective barrier.”

Incendium gave a curious look. “Oh?”

“This is an advanced spell designed by a special Sentinel mage. I have not seen something like this since Illkana. Demons cannot bypass it. If they attempt, they will be dissolved instantly.” he explained, knowing the difference.

“Similar to the one they used when we attempted to invade Canterlot?” Incendium assumed.

Kronos shook his head. “That is different. It simply keeps demons out. With enough force, it could be broken into.”

Incendium nodded, understanding. “That knowledge would have been useful.” plots of invasion swarmed the demon’s mind thanks to the Slayer’s absence from Canterlot.

“I would need either a way to disable it, or a way to tempt them out.” Kronos messed with the chain of his wrist-mounted meathook a little in thought.

Incendium nodded. “I have just the contingency. I have the young one investigating the castle now, searching for a way to disable the shield. In the meantime, I believe I have found a way to bring them out. At least one.” the devilish grin of a being finding all his plans coming along grew across his large, alien-like head.

He turned, heading to a certain slot in the wall. As he approached, the hexagonal shelf hissed before slowly extending out from the crimson walls. It revealed a cage, small and uncomfy looking. Hiding within with wide, horrified green eyes was a young dragon. Purple scales and green spikes.

The dragon yipped in fear, backing to a corner of the cage as Kronos went next to it. “What does this have to do with the ponies?”

“D-Don’t hurt me!” the prisoner looked with fearful eyes.

Incendium spoke up. “This is the assistant of that princess you battled,” he began. “Spike is his name. This Princess of Friendship views him very dear to her.”

Kronos nodded, reaching a creepy finger in and poking the tiny creature. He winced. “How weak. It is strange how attached these equines get to menial things.”

”Yes. Now the plan is that you will go down and present “Spike” to the ones behind the shield. They will surely want to aid him.” Incindeum explained. “This is a capture mission, remember.”

Spike swallowed his fear, forming an angry look at the demon as it stared down at him. “Hey, big guy! If you think in any world that I’d let you use me to lure my friends out so you can torture them or whatever, then you’re wrong!”

Kronos laughed. “This one has some fight in him.”

“Mhm! And I’d rather die than give up my friends!” Spike stood defiantly, tiny fists balled, prepared to brawl the several foot taller demon.

“And who said you had a choice in the matter?” Incendium queried, lifting a hand to the floor of the cage.

Slowly, the metallic gray color began heating into yellow. Spike began jumping between feet, hissing in pain. “Ah! Ow! Why is it so hot!”

Incendium chuckled as the baby dragon danced above the burning metal. Kronos reached for the latch on the cage, opening the top and gripping him by one of his spikes. “Ah! Let go! Come on!” He began squirming, punching at his hand.

The demon hardly flinched, carrying the dragon like a misbehaving pup. “And with him will we bribe our targets here? With no resistance.”

Incendium nodded. “Yes, it must work on at least one. Capture them and bring the six back. Do not fail me.”

Kronos rolled his eyes. “More like do not fail us. You aren’t my superior, Incendium.”

“Fine. Then do not fail us.” Incendium turned, heading back to his command station and laying his giant, mechanics covered hands over the pads to guide the his legion. “Be waiting in the deployment chamber.”

“Let go you stupid monster! AGH!” He let out his mightiest punch on Kronos’ arm, hardly doing anything. “Come on!”

“And keep the young one in check.” Incendium commanded.

Kronos glared at Spike. “Calm down, little one!” He demanded, the dragon glaring up at him silently.

The demon carried Spike out of the command room with heavy boots stomping as per usual. The Immoran doors shut with a crunch behind the two as they left.

SURPRISE!!!

Rainbow Dash bursted through the Everfree forest, dodging several spiky bushes and long branches. She moved as fast as she could away from Ponyville with sweat staining and slightly darkening her brightly colored coat. The saddlebag on her back hung heavy, its weight tearing away from her as she flew so quickly.

Her heart beated at an exhilarating pace from her encounter in Ponyville. She had just managed to scrounge together what she needed but narrowly met her end thanks to one of those demons. A Prowler, so the Soul Cube referred to it as.

Her long ears rang loudly from the numerous screeches, explosions and gunfire she heard throughout the town. Rainbow Dash hadn’t understood the source of the explosions until she truly saw that robot android thingy do battle with the monsters. Its devices tore through hundreds with ear-splitting bangs.

She wasn’t sure what that big iron-clad beast was, but Rainbow couldn’t help but thank Celestia that it wasn’t after her. She had to admit, it did look rather cool. The design of the armor and that robot’s strong physique. At least what she guessed was a robot. The pony had never seen anything like it.

The way it stabbed out that thing’s eyes so brutally and continued fighting more of them with that laser hammer, she could only really describe it as awesome! And terrifying. It seemed like the alien didn’t particularly like the demons judging by how savagely he battled them.

The glimmer of blue peeped through the branches. The rainbow-mane mare slowed down a little, glancing back to see the lack of threats following after her. She landed on her hooves, taking a long draw of the air. It felt more stained than usual. Not clear and clean like the usual air produced from her home.

“I don’t know how I made it out of there!” she walked the rest of the way to the shield tiredly.

As she did, she investigated the contents of her saddlebag. Most of it was food and water, but some were portions of this party Pinkie was planning. Food and water wasn’t exactly a priority inside the barrier. The ponies could graze off the grass that grew around the castle and live off the fountain water within. Issue was, none of that exactly tasted appealing.

Grass had an absurdly earthy texture to it and it always left the mouth dry and arid. The water was passable in the castle but it still tasted of dirt and occasionally left a pony with a stomach ache.

“Thank Celestia…” she muttered, taking a notepad out and reading through. She had gotten a lot for Pinkie. Balloons, banners, markers, tape, scissors. A lot of party-setup stuff.

Rainbow Dash walked through the protective dome, shivering at the strange feeling that crawled all over her on entry. She noticed a pony at the front of the castle, looking curiously at the abandoned garden. It was Carrot Top. The orange earth pony jumped at the sound of arriving hooves, her looking over to the returning pegasus.

“Rainbow Dash! Are you alright? How did it go?” Carrot Top looked over.

The pegasus felt conflicted. The trip was extremely dangerous and frightening at times. She found herself hiding between alleys and within trash cans from those monsters. She had to avert her eyes from what a lot of them were doing to the former inhabitants of Ponyville.

One the other hoof, she felt as if it had been just a little cool. Surviving, running, flying and hiding from all those terrible monsters was rather rivetting. It was like something from one of her comic books. In fact, that was one of her strategies for making it through. ‘It's all just some over the top comic book, none of it was real.’ That's what she had told herself throughout the run.

She was just glad that she made it out of there relatively unscaved. Well, aside from one spot. The mare twitched her right hind leg, the fiery scratch of an Imp still scoring through her hide. “I’m a little banged up.” she admitted. “It was scary, a lot of it.”

“Scary? For you? It must’ve been really bad then.” Carrot Top stated. “Did you find anypony? Are they safe?”

Rainbow shook her head, sorrow filling her. That was another aspect, she couldn’t find a singular pony that wasn’t shooing her away from showcasing their hiding spot or ones that were… gone.

“Not exactly.” the pegasus stated. “How’s Twilight?”

Carrot Top’s ears lowered a little at the news. “Twilight’s been getting better, but she still hasn’t woken up.”

She nodded. “And everypony else?”

“Everypony’s been doing fine.” Carrot Top answered optimistically. “Fluttershy has been seeming more cheerful, Dr. Hooves is less worried about his work, White Lightning isn’t so down in the dumps about her flying friends and Applejack has been keeping herself occupied with the garden.” it was a feat unique to many Equestrians. The optimistic search of hope and joy in dark times.

Rainbow nodded. “That’s awesome to hear.” a small smile grew on the tired pony’s face.

“Well, go on right in! Nothing’s keeping you outside, right?” Carrot Top queried.

She shrugged. “Fair point, I could use a nap.” Rainbow Dash admitted, walking towards the doors of the castle and entering the suspiciously dark ballroom. Usually a pony would have placed a candle or two to liven up the place.

Rainbow immediately caught on. It was a surprise party for her. A sly grin grew across her muzzle. “Oh, wow! I wonder why it's so dark in here! Let me go try and use the light switch!” she went over to a nearby wall, reaching for the non-existent switch.

“SURPRISE!!!”

The room blasted with light, several dozen candles coming in view and lighting with magic. Everypony came from cracks and halls going into the room, Pinkie Pie running in front of her. "Welcome back, Dash!" she greeted. Beside her was Fluttershy, Rarity and Applejack, all happy to see Rainbow return.

“Hey.” She looked way too beat for a party right now. “I got the stuff on your list.” Rainbow opened her saddlebag to show the party supplies.

Pinkie bounced. “Yipee!” she viewed the contents, pulling out tons of the balloons, papers and tape. It was amazing how much Rainbow had crammed into one saddlebag.

“Thanks, Dash!” she took it all out, bouncing away to set it up.

Rainbow looked over at Rarity as she closed her half-on the saddlebag. “How’s Twilight?”

Rarity sighed dramatically. “By Celestia, she is rather dire still. Don’t worry yourself about her, dear. Enjoy the party! She will improve in due-time.

“I guess.” Rainbow replied.

Applejack stepped forward. “Rainbow, I know ya worried about her and all, but ya can’t do much for her now. We just gotta wait.”

She nodded a little. “Alright…”

“J-just try to enjoy the party. The cake Pinkie made is great.” Fluttershy smiled smally.

“Cake?” Rainbow looked around the room. Everypony was chatting, enjoying a cake Pinkie had somehow created in the castle. “How did she make that?” it was multi-layered and colored a bright pink.

Rarity shrugged. “Probably got the bakery here functioning again somehow. I don’t question her methods! The cake here is simply immaculate!”

“Hey! Rarity!” Pinkie exclaimed from the stairs, trying to set up some decorations. “Could you give me a hoof?!”

“Of course, darling!” Rarity turned, clopping away to aid her friend.

Once she was gone, Applejack faced Rainbow. “How was Ponyville?”

The pegasus closed her eyes, searching for the right words. “Not good.” she summed.

“Ain’t that specific? How not good?” Applejack asked for further detail.

Rainbow had to think of a way to put it. “Okay, so… this may not sound great.”

“Just tell me Rainbow. I have a feeling that I know how bad it is.” the country mare demanded.

The pegasus nodded. “Alright, so, thousands of evil monsters attacking all the ponies. They are like, even turning the ponies into other monsters. It's crazy! There was this big robot dude fighting the things with explosions and fire and other insane stuff.”

Applejack looked at her like she was crazy for a second, before accepting it as so. “I don’t think you’d lie. Is it really all that bad though?”

Dash nodded.

The apple-themed Earth pony sighed. “Any survivors?”

She shook her head negatively. “None that wanted to come with me. They all complained about me giving them away to the monsters.”

Applejack sighed. “Well, at least ya tried.” she seemed a little sad about the ordeal. “But good thang you made it back.”

“I almost didn’t.” Rainbow replied.

“Why?” the country mare queried.

Rainbow scratched the Imp claw mark on her leg. “One of those monsters got me. Well, two of them did. I just nearly made it out.”

“Well I’m glad you did.” she looked back at the punch table. “Maybe ya need some punch to clear your mind?”

Rainbow declined. “No thanks. I’m good.”

“Ya sure?”

“Yeah.” the pegasus responded.

Applejack shrugged. “Well, alright then.” she turned, looking back still. “Stay safe.” she stated before heading to the punch table. It appeared that Fluttershy had also left, the pegasus not noticing.

Rainbow Dash kicked the stone floor beneath her lightly. By now, the Soul Cube’s healing ability would have completed charging. It would be ready to use now, hopefully. She headed towards the stairs that led to Twilight’s room.

The pegasus started up the stairs of the castle, heading to the room Twilight was being cared for within. Rainbow Dash creaked the old door open, seeing her mangled alicorn friend lying in bed. Nurse Redheart stood at bedside, observing Twilight.

“How is she?” she asked the only pony here really medically qualified.

“Better. Not much better but just a little.” Redheart began. “Her wing is still broken and there appears to be a fracture in one of her legs. Some of the wounds are beginning to heal though and they aren’t infected. She hasn’t woken up but I’ve noticed movement in her sleep.” the mare explained.

Twilight shifted under the purple sheets with a small grumble. Rainbow Dash looked to the nightstand beside the bed, a cubic artifact lying there. The Soul Cube sat there, resting its powers gently.

“Could I have a moment with her?” Rainbow requested from the nurse.

Redheart nodded, putting her nurse cap up on a rack. “Of course! I’ve been waiting all day to join the party.” the earth pony exited the room, door swinging close as she went to join everypony else.

Rainbow Dash sighed, nudging the Soul Cube. “Come on, wake up dude.”

The artifact rumbled to life, yellow light filling portions of the artifact as it began floating. “You have returned.” It sounded impressed.

“Mhm.” she nodded.

The floating square jumped a little. “How?”

Rainbow shrugged confidently. “Ponyville has a lot of dark alleys to hide in. Those demons aren’t too great at finding ponies.” she shuttered a moment. “I-I could’ve lived without seeing those weird flesh mounds.”

“Gore nests?” the Soul Cube queried.

“Sure?” she wasn’t too sure of the official name for them. “How is your whole healing thing doing? Do you think you’re ready?”

The artifact thought for a moment. “Yeah.” they floated over to Twilight. “I’ve mostly healed more humanoid creatures so I’m not too used to quadrupeds. I think I could get a hang of it though…”

Rainbow sighed. “You better get the hang of it. Without Twilight, I don’t know how we’re getting out of this. She knows like, everything!”

The Soul Cube’s eye-like structures on it shut, blue energy surrounding it. Slowly, it began floating from them, flowing into the purple alicorn as wraith energy. Rainbow watched as the magic caused the fur of the pony to begin regrowing over the extreme wounds.

Rainbow Dash witnessed her broken leg be reset by the magic and her many scars from the fight resealing. Her friend progressively regenerated back to health thanks to the magic of the Soul Cube.

Eventually, the blue colored magic slowed its flow, the cube gently levitating onto the nightstand. “It is done.” it rested.

The pegasus overviewed Twilight. “S-She looks good as new! That’s awesome, cube-guy!”

“Yes.” they replied humbly. The artifact had done this many times before to numerous different creatures.

She stared down at the lavender pony. “So… when does she wake up?”

“You may wake her up now if you feel so inclined.” it stated.

Rainbow looked down cautiously, slowly moving her hoof towards her friend. She nudged the resting pony, a small movement in her wing flicking off. Rainbow jumped a little at the sight of her friend’s wing-flick.

“Twilight!” she shoved her harder, excitement filling her eyes.

A small groan came from the mare, her hooves shifting under the covers. She mumbled something incomprehensible as one hoof came to her head and ran through her mane.

Rainbow gave a final nudge. “Wake up, dude!”

Twilight’s eyes slowly rose open, the alicorn setting a hoof to her head and rubbing it. She carefully rose, sitting up straight. The alicorn could hardly see with her adjusted depth perception. The blows taken from that fight were so intense that the Soul Cube was unable to repair most of the mental injuries.

Her ears still rang and she felt sore all over. “Ugh…” she groaned, rubbing her head still as she set a hoof behind her on the bed to stabilize herself. “W-Where am I?” she slowly gazed across the room. “Some castle… old.”

“Twilight! You’re alive!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, taking flight in excitement.

The alicorn held her ears. “N-not too loud, Rainbow.” she whispered slowly, squinting her lights through the candle-lit room. Suddenly, it came rushing back to Twilight. “T-The demon! Where is it? Is everypony okay?!”

She pushed past the pain that was banging in her head, clambering out of the bed and taking off several bits of medical equipment. “I need to help Ponyville! M-My friends need me- AH!” she fell from the bed, landing on her chest with a grunt. The ringing in her ears increased at the impact

Rainbow helped her up. “Take it easy, Twi. You just came back from some nasty wounds.” she placed her on the bed. “You need some rest.”

The alicorn considered it for a moment, really feeling the aches in her joints and muscles from the fight with that demon. Last she could recall was pleading to her friends that she could fight the Marauder.

She stared at her blankets, realizing what had happened. “I-I lost…” she had failed her friends. “Oh Celestia! What am I going to do?! Where’s Spike! I need to make a-a schedule or something!”

Rainbow looked awkwardly. “Err… Twilight, Spike isn’t here.”

“What should I do first?!” she asked herself, looking about frantically. “Can I even do anything?!” the alicorn began pacing. “Celestia must be so disappointed in me.” her ears were extremely lowered.

The pegasus stared worryingly now.

Twilight rushed to the nightstand, swiping the codex with her magic. Aged pages flew with gusto as she skimmed for some way to set everything right. “Come on! Come on! Come on!” Twilight exclaimed. “Spike, write me a letter to Princess Celestia. ‘Dear Princess Celestia. I’ve just awoken from my-” upon hearing a complete lack of scribbling, or an affirmation from the young purple dragon, she turned to see his absence.

Rainbow kicked a hoof on the ground nervously. “Spike isn’t here anymore.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight rushed to the least stressful conclusion. “Oh, then go get him!”

“I can’t, Twi. The demons, they got him first.” she confessed.

“Then we need to save him! I’m an alicorn princess, I can fight the demons.” Twilight stumbled forward on her shaky hooves. She stretched her wings with a wince. It sizzled with pain, like her muscles were being roasted on an open fire. Twilight gasped in pain for a moment. “Don’t worry Spike, I-I’ll find you!”

Rainbow shook her head. “I think you need to take this slow, Twilight. You can’t just run head first into this!”

Twilight limped over to a nearby table where the pegasus had placed all the books that used to be in Twilight’s saddlebag. A dozen notepads and books sat upon the desk. She opened a book, beginning to write plans frantically.

She scribbled everything she knew about the demons swiftly. The types she had seen, the ones the Soul Cube had told her about, the weapons they use, everything. Knowledge was power and the more knowledge she could get on the demons the better.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Twilight, I think you need to take a break! Slow down a little, you know? The other four have a party going in the mainroom of the castle.”

Twilight looked up, surprised. “Four? You're saying Rarity and Applejack and everyone is still alive?” her ears lifted slightly, her stress shifting to optimism.

“Yeah! We’ve been held up in the Castle of the Two Sisters since the whole thing happened. You were beaten pretty bad by that knight dude.” the pegasus lifted a hoof from the floor as she explained. “Like, tons of broken bones.”

The alicorn tilted her head. “I-I don’t feel like I have broken bones? How long was I out?”

Rainbow guessed for a moment. “About three weeks?”

“Three weeks?!” Twilight seemed surprised. “But that isn’t nearly enough time for bones to heal!”

“I used the Soul Cube.” Rainbow replied.

“Greetings, princess.” It rumbled on the nightstand next to the bed, energy too used up to float at the moment.

“How?” the alicorn didn’t know how the artifact could’ve been used for healing.

The Praeleanthor spoke up. “I can reconfigure and reroute d̶̼̫͕̤̻̒̚e̷̢̨̞͌̀̉m̷̯͆͒͝o̶̘̐͜n̶̹͖̣̅̍ì̴̦̀̉͑c̴̰͈̥̜͂͑̅͒̆ energies absorbed from the souls of dead d̴͍̭̙̤̮͗̉͘͘ȩ̶̯͈̌̿̀̚͝m̷̨̨̰͚̒̎̓̈̆o̷̦̖̝̩̲̍n̸̜̱̺̈́͝ș̷̛̻̪̺̪́̽̓ into other beings to restore their life force.”

Rainbow gave a confused look, attempting to comprehend the large words before simplifying it. “It can heal you if it hurts demons.”

The lavender pony nodded. “I understand. Thanks, Soul Cube.”

The pegasus placed a hoof on the shoulder of Twilight. “Just lay back for a moment, Twilight. Enjoy the party or rest in your bed. You deserve it.”

Twilight Sparkle sighed. “And just ignore all my other friends?” she stretched out, feeling her aching muscles span.

Rainbow Dash shook her head. “No, Twilight, listen! Purposefully throwing yourself out there towards a legion of unstoppable monsters won’t do anything for your friends! It would be best to save your strength, you know? You can’t kick monster-butt when you’re all sore like this.”

Twilight looked at the ground for a moment. “You’ve got a good point.” she admitted.

“See? Now let's get you some punch.” Rainbow Dash started towards the ancient door, placing a hoof on it to move it open as she walked out.

Outside, downstairs in the main hall of the castle, there was a classic Pinkie Pie party. Although, there could’ve been more ponies. Balloons were plentiful with party streamers and confetti littering the ground. There were several hung up, DIY decorations plastered with exclamation of ‘PARTY!!!’ and other joyful statements.

In the center stood an impressive cake created by Pinkie Pie. The party pony had found a way to get the bakery in the castle functioning somehow and cooked that up. Pinkie truly worked in mysterious ways.

Twilight Sparkle looked across the limited attendance, only a good dozen ponies there. Guilt struck her. This is my fault… Everypony was smiling and enjoying the cake and punch, chatting away. However, the many scratches, unshowered coats and tired looking faces really hammered home that these ponies weren’t exactly living well.

Even in the fun party environment, the Princess of Friendship pitted the blame on herself. Her guilt ridden stare didn’t falter at the sight of the morale boosting party. Her mind couldn’t discover the positivity in the situation, especially with her failure to protect her own people so recently on her mind.

“Twilight?!” Nurse Redheart stopped, looking up with a glass of punch in hoof.

Twilight awkwardly lifted a hoof, waving. “...Hi?”

Redheart rushed up the stairs, staring right at her. “Y-You’re up! You're awake! And you can walk? And talk?! How?!” she asked, shocked.

The princess stared at her, not sure exactly how to respond.

Rainbow moved in front. “I found an artifact. In the castle. It managed to heal Twilight back to being all fine and dandy!” she half-lied, grinning wide to try to run the lie through. As her friend explained, Twilight grew a pleasant and convincing smile as well, nodding along with the claims.

Redheart awed. “Oooh. Of course only magic could bring a pony back to health like that. It must have been very powerful.” she eyed the alicorn carefully across her slightly faded and damaged looking coat. “Don’t work yourself too hard though. You still may be sore.”

“Yeah, I could feel a little better. But, I think a good walk couldn’t hurt.” Twilight explained.

The white earth pony nodded. “Just don’t overdo it.” she took a sip of punch before turning and clopping off back to the party.

Twilight returned to her frown as the nurse went off.

Rainbow Dash looked at her friend worryingly. She patted the shoulder of Twilight. “A slice of cake will help.” the pegasus nudged her down the steps.

Twilight put on a small smile to not worry the others. As she went down towards the large cake, her friends began surrounding her, filling in dozens of questions, searching for answers on their friend’s health and state. Rainbow Dash watched as Twilight followed along with her own claims, accepting hugs and showcasing a more genuine smile at the words of her loving friends.

A Particular Respect

“I do not believe I have ever given you my name, princess.” the demon realized, Spike still trying to break from the strong grasp.

“Please! Twilight!” he begged.

The demon simply ignored him. “My name is Kronos. I am an arch-demon of Hell and my purpose here is to preserve the Dark Realm’s dominion and bring your home to doom.” he gazed at her through the one shimmering horizontal red slit in his helmet.

“Let him go!” she demanded, stepping closer.

Kronos lifted a hand, wagging a finger condescendingly. “Don’t take a step closer. One wrong move and I’ll crush his spine like a twig.” he squeezed the neck of the dragon lightly, the young beast gagging for air. He glared at the bag on her back. “And don’t think for a second that the Soul Cube will work on me.” the hand he held Spike with was heavily damaged, bits of bone and muscle exposed with dozens of scars all over his palm from his last encounter with it.

Spike struggled in pain for a moment before the grip was loosened, him gasping for air. The poor dragon couldn’t muster the strength to speak much further.

Twilight glared, angry at his tortures of her assistant. “Why haven’t you just killed us yet?”

Kronos shook his head, snickering. “I would have done so a long time ago if that was my objective.” he took a deep breath. “No, your death is not what we require. What we do need is you and your friends. Alive.”

The alicorn stomped a hoof threateningly. “Why?”

“Because you six are the source of one of the most powerful magics in the universe. And the only way to harness it, is to capture all of you.” he explained. “So, I will kindly request.” Kronos looked up at the castle, lifting his voice so that those within it could hear him. “That all of you come out and surrender to the dominion of Hell!” Kronos looked down at Twilight, helmet vision slit glowing menacingly. “Or we will slaughter your little assistant and all your other friends in that castle.”

Her wings lowered a little, considering it. “And if I fight? What would happen to them?”

“They will be slaughtered mercilessly. And those we need will be tortured endlessly in our warship. All we require is for you to turn yourself in.”

Twilight stared at the ground in deep thought, before rumbling stomps stormed past her. Kronos had jumped away from the Possessed Baron, commanding it to enter the castle and gather the other five. She heard cries of terror and momentary shouts of challenge.

“Ha! You can’t catch me! I’m too fa- OW!” a huff came from Rainbow Dash as the unnaturally fast monster returned outside, the other five of her friends struggling within its unbreakable grasps.

Fluttershy had her eyes closed, muttering about something nopony could hear. Applejack was attempting to tear from the large demon’s hand, Rarity was struggling against it in a much more verbal form.

“Unhand me now! You're ruining my coat! Do you know how long I worked on this mane?!” The demon simply squeezed its hand tighter, the pony exclaiming in pain before halting her exclamations.

Pinkie Pie was hopeless, mane deflated and eyes sad. The one party she decided to throw to try to cheer everypony up had been demolished by the demons. A crashed party was one of the only things that truly depressed her.

Twilight looked over at the demon, both hands filled with her friends. “Let them go!” she exclaimed to Kronos, galloping towards the demon. She felt compelled to blast him away with her magic, however she realized that it would endanger Spike as well. She swooped towards her brotherly assistant, charging to grasp the dragon from Kronos.

The demon swiftly dodged, Twilight feeling a sharp jab straight into her already hurt head. “AGH!” she skidded on the ground behind him. Her ears rung sharply, head blistering with agony.

Spike coughed sharply. “Twilight! C-come on, get back up!” he tried to encourage, his speech being broken up by several deep breaths. “You got this!”

“Come along, princess! Save your assistant.” a maniacal grin cracked across the deathly face that hid below the valiant helmet.

A pink magic engulfed the dragon for a moment, before dissipating from the dispelling properties of the demon’s armor. Twilight looked up, anger in her violet eyes as her attempts at magic were halted. She growled, speedily flying after the dragon.

The experienced fighter was too quick, stepping out of the way once more. Dirt flew across the grass, Kronos laughing harder through his helmet’s speaker. “”How ironic! The Princess of Friendship, unable to save one of her closest allies.”

Fury flooded the alicorn’s mind as she unsteadily stood up, jittering the pain away in her head. Well, as much as she could remove.

“Twilight!” the sound of Fluttershy demanding for her attention echoed. “Please stop! Y-You’ll just get yourself hurt!”

Twilight struggled to her hooves. “I can’t, Fluttershy! I need to save Spike. And if they get their hooves on the elements, Celestia knows what they could do!” she glanced back at her saddlebag. Soul Cube, go after him! What are you doing?

Her bag rumbled. “We are not yet capable of being used with so little power. I’d require more demonic energies. We had used all of it repairing your wounds.”

Twilight huffed a cloud of furious air. Of course. She skidded her hoof across the grass angrily as she glared straight forward.

The alicorn’s fury cleared for a moment however, an idea striking her. She kept her face forward, in order not to ignite any suspicion in the enemy demon. You can still float, right?

“Yes? Why do you ask?” they queried.

Try to make your way to Canterlot, now. She explained. You will be safe there. The ponies there will need you more than here.

The Praeleanthor shook in her bag. “If we know where that place is.”

By now, her friends had begun arguments with the archdemon, Rainbow leading a flurry of taunts about his messed up hand and chipped armor. She bragged about Twilight’s ability in battle, despite the loss her friend endured.

“Northwest of here. On a mountain. It’s a giant castle, you can’t miss it.” she muttered as the demon was distracted. She squinted at the less aware grip of the Marauder, loose and half-hazard.

“I understand.” they replied, the latch of the saddlebag sliding open slowly and the Praeleanthor floating away gently, in the direction they had been told to head.

“Yeah?! Well, imagine what she could do if she could use her magic!” Rainbow Dash taunted. “She would’ve turned you into a chicken! HA! A demon chicken! Isn’t that funny Pinky-” she looked at her bummed out friend who clearly wasn’t paying attention to the conversation. “O-Oh.”

Just as Rainbow finished speaking, Kronos heard a sparkling crack shimmer behind him. He jumped, before feeling the dragon slip from his grip. “Augh!” Kronos exclaimed in surprise as he turned to see the alicorn teleporting away and sprinting as fast as she could. He growled, unlocking his wrist-mounted meathook.

Twilight Sparkle dashed as hard as she could, breathing with difficulty as she held the dragon in a magical hold. “S-Spike!” she floated him in front of her, managing to let out another sentence between heavy breaths. “Spike, please tell me you’re okay.” she was winded, placing the small dragon on her back to relieve her whittling strength.

She had already used a lot of her limited energy on teleporting away the relatively short distance, so a levitation spell would be risky, and dropping him would be far from impossible.

Spike’s eyes slowly opened, green ovals staring at her. He looked around, seeing the lack of demonic sights in the vicinity. He had hoped that if he closed his eyes long enough, that maybe the pain around him would disappear. “Twilight!” the young dragon beamed at the sight of the princess. “Y-You actually saved me! You did i-”

SChwowop! CHRK!

Twilight’s eyes widened at the sound of the meathook, feeling a sudden lightness arrive on her back. She glanced back in surprise, seeing the lack of the purple dragon. She stopped, skidding to turn and look where she suspected her assistant to be sent.

Her eyes shrunk at the sight of the heavily wounded baby dragon. She felt her heart compress at the sight of Spike’s small neck in the large hand of that dreadful demon. Shock filled her soul as she saw blood drizzle from the unresponsive Spike, a meathook driven into his back.

Kronos wrapped a hand around the hook, tearing it easily out of the back of the noble assistant, his body jolting from the force. Twilight couldn’t help but stand there frozen as the arch-demon allowed the meathook to slither back into the top of his gauntlet. A puddle of crimson was forming on the ground below the baby dragon, more blood than she could ever expect to drip from a creature that small.

A word was not spoken as the soul-tearing crack echoed through the clearing. It repeated in the ears of Twilight, ringing out in her slightly concussed mind. The baby dragon's neck was bent unnaturally by the savage squeeze of the demon’s hand.

He had slaughtered Spike like a pesky rat, tossing the corpse away. That young beast only amounted to Kronos as a bargaining chip. More accurately, a way to torture his enemy. He didn’t give a glance to the corpse as he looked to his allied Baron. “Send these worthless equine to the Hunter.” he commanded, starting towards the red beam of light.

“The H-Hunter?” Fluttershy worried as the protests of her many friends erupted.

Twilight couldn’t bear hearing them. All sound was shut around her as she stood there in shock. Until finally, rising from the shock was one feeling…

She could feel it.

In her bones. In her heart, in her soul, in her hide, in her brain, in her very cells. Every bit of herself was filled to the brim with that feeling. Every ounce of her existence, all that she could feel, all that she could recognize: A brimming hatred for the powerful demon that stood before her.

The smug grin that she could sense beamed from the monster. “I must admit, young princess. I have a particular respect for your courage.” Kronos turned, walking off as the Baron levitated up high above the clouds to the hellship through the red energy lift.

Before she could react any further, Kronos joined his ally as well. They were gone, and now it was just her. Her and this Celestia-forsaken land.

Codex/Demons IV

Arachnotron
These brain demons inhabit a metallic, spider-like body. The older UAC models now phased out and replaced with stronger Immoran metal. It is still equipped with a tall plasma turret on its back and grenade launchers on the side of its chassis. They provide a tough ranged role on the battlefield

Hell Paladin
When earth ponies of impressive strength are transfigured, they may form into a Hell Paladin. The argent energy stimulates growth in the pony’s body, bringing it to a greater and more muscular size. Along with this, the hind legs of the earth pony may be reallocated to a bipedal purpose, forming a horrific, two legged beast comparable to Hell Knights. They are much weaker, but have much more of a speed and numbers advantage. Be careful, they often hunt in large packs between 3 to 8.

Immoran Trooper
The former Immoran guard now travel across the savage lands of Jekkad, searching for home or seeking shelter with accepting demons. They were displaced by the Battle of Immora, most of them being slaughtered or held captive by the Sentinel legions who hold a strong grasp even now on Immora. Many of them joined the Arch-legion after the death of Davoth, swearing to bring their lord back.

In the arch-legion they serve as intelligent mechanics, shipmasters and fodder. Although they are highly ineffective against the Doom Slayer, their ability to communicate with the equine is vital in most patrol squads of demons.

They are commonly seen with two weapons, the standard issue Reaper rifle and the energetic Hell Pike. The Reaper rifle is a gun created from demonic, fleshy material with a Lost Soul embedded inside it to use as an energy source. It shoots blasts of red plasma balls at a rapid rate, similar to a sub-machine gun.

The Hell Pike is a long, ceremonial melee weapon. The top end is designed like a small two headed axe with a spear-end jutting out. The blades of the axe and spear are created by red Hell energy, capable of searing through steel and blocking weapon fire. At the bottom of the handle is a metal spike designed for stabbing if the business end ever runs out of power.

Spirit
Spirits are the deathly essence of slain Summoner demons, a rare caste within Hell. After falling by the Slayer's hand their hatred for him fuels their ghostly state, giving shape to their discorporate essence. Unable to affect the physical world in their new forms, Spirits exist as soul-devouring parasites and rely on others to wreak their violence. Flowing into the bodies of other demons, a Spirit fuses its own essence with that of its host, gifting it with strength and speed. Even after ejecting from a slain host, Spirits cannot be harmed by conventional firearms; only sustained and concentrated energy can affect their essence and grant them a second death.

Incendium
Incendium is an Archvile demon that leads the Dread Legion. In combat, he is a sly beast with more alternative and experimental strategies against the Slayer compared to their average strategies. He lays out devious traps and ambushes, like locking the Slayer in a cage of impenetrable hellfire to battle endless waves of demons. His creativity in battle is unmatched.

Mission 3. The Castle of Friendship

Briefing

Hearing the name of this stronghold, you can’t help but cackle slightly. As you wander the Hellward streets of the fittingly named Ponyville, you see more of the strange equine inhabitants eyeing you like a monster. But you’re no demon, you’re something worse. Princess Luna informs you of the lack of demonic presence within the castle but you don’t believe it’d stay that way. So you enter, ready for the hidden slipgate that may await you.

Analyzing potential combat environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Ambient track produced

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ax9QrY7QRsU

“You have arrived.” the regal voice of Princess Luna spoke through the Slayer’s helmet, the human stepping in front of his objective.

His blade was already unsheathed, shimmering in the colorfulness of Equestria with the tall tree-like castle towering above him. His Super Shotgun rested in his right hand as he marched towards it, opening the latch just slightly to confirm a fresh batch of shells were loaded within it.

The giant castle was constructed of blue and purple magical crystals in the shape of some ginormous tree. Between the branches sat the walls of a purple fortress with a tower peeking from it. Topping the center tower was a huge, shiny star-like crystal. Much like the rest of this world, it was brightly colored and shined in such a way that it reflected in his visor.

“Once more, I apologize for the lack of quick transportation. The closest vortex area is hidden deep in the Castle of Friendship." she explained. "It will be your only way to make it to the Argent Wells to halt the flow of the demon's energy into our world."

The Slayer snickered at the name of the fortress once more, continuing to its doors. He shoved the dual gates open with both hands, boots echoing on the purple carpeted floor. The violet was altered slightly by the presentation of blood from his metal soles. The walls were dark purple with windows occasionally dotting it and pillars of crystal appearing between walls every now and then.

The floor which presented itself was a throne room of sorts. One large throne sat in front of what looked like a planning table. Several other, much smaller seats resided around the table amounting to six other thrones. He assumed it to be a war room where knights and kings of this world plotted invasions or defensives.

"This is where my sister's protege resided. Another Princess known as Twilight Sparkle." Luna explained.

He moved towards the crystal table, setting a bloody gauntlet onto it. Suddenly, a hologram of Equestria appeared before him. Hundreds of logos spread across it. They were comparable to the strange tattoo-like marks that appeared on the hips of the sentient equine.

Luna's voice crackled in his helmet. "Ah yes, the Cutie Map."

The Slayer gave the internal speaker of his helmet a 'what-in-God's-name-did-you-just-say?' Look.

"This castle was where Princess Twilight and her best of friends solved friendship issues all over Equestria." she explained, solemn forming in her voice towards the end of her sentence. "Of course, more than just friendship problems are occurring now." the numerous marks that radiated from the hologram shined brightly.

The Slayer gave a small snort of humor, swiping left on the table to dismiss the hologram, smudging it further with crimson.

He turned back to the large door he entered through, two much smaller double doors residing left and right of it. Judging by the exterior, it had to lead to the upper floors. The Slayer started towards one of the small double doors.

“Keep weary for the Princess while you are searching for the slipgate. She still could be here.” Luna informed as he shoved the doors open. It indeed led to a tall stairway which crawled up the sides of the trunk. As the Slayer navigated the keep, he equipped his Super Shotgun, keeping right hand on the handle of Lucifer’s Bane while drawing his left across the crystal walls.

He knew castles like these contained secrets. Hidden stashes had kept him alive through the pre-immortality days and it certainly aided him to this day. Occasionally he would swap the hand he used to gander across the wall to the right wall, searching for any hidden buttons.

His searches were fruitless as he arrived at the more castle-like floors of this strange crystalline keep. He slammed open a trap-door, revealing the purple hallways of the castle. The trapdoor was within a long hall, in front of him being a diverging one leading towards what appeared to be some sort of balcony.

The Doom Slayer lifted his Super Shotgun, keeping his barrel directed in front of him in a readied stance. His Equipment Launcher was also on the search for targets, whirring towards the different angles of exposure to check for threats.

The halls echoed the robotic whirrs, stirring silently with inactivity. The Slayer thought it was quiet… too quiet. He advanced, slowly and methodically towards the balcony. “I’ve uploaded the floor plan of the castle to your automap systems. It is strange, a lot of your system’s language is configured to one that is not of Sentinel origin.” Luna spoke up.

The Slayer ignored her comment, opening the automap in a corner of his HUD. It was completely in English. The multi-layered building was presented, the areas he had already explored covered in his signature green. He was in the western section of the castle, full of various rooms. Luna had thankfully marked them.

The dining hall, kitchen, bathroom, an absurdly large pantry, storage room and a good dozen guest rooms lined the hall he had just passed. As he approached the dual glass doors to the pantry, Luna continued speaking. “I believe the library may be of interest to us. The princess was quite the bookworm indeed. If she was anywhere in the castle, it’d be there.”

He shoved open the dual doors, coming out onto the colorful balcony. Dozens of multi-shaded plants were placed in several plots. Flapping high above was a giant purple flag that hung above the balcony. This seemed like it would’ve been a perfect place for the princess to destress.

It also provided a good view of the dilapidated Ponyville. Some of the buildings sizzled and burned with hellfire, multiple were collapsed by missed rockets and stomping demons and the ones that still stood were heavily damaged and scratched. Dozens of blood puddles pooled on the streets along with enormous demon corpses.

The town was dead silent with little to no noise aside from the crackling of fire, not a sign of life. The sun was setting on the small, destroyed village and night was swiftly approaching. The sound of wind whistled through his helmet speakers for a moment before he turned and continued back into the castle.

As the Slayer cleared the numerous rooms of the fortress, darkness had shrouded the halls and to normal sight, it would’ve been too dark to see. However, the ruthless demon hunter’s eyes had grown used to the shady underbellies and void-like halls of the damned. Thousands of years within those lands refined his eye-sight, adapting an acute night-vision.

He marched out of another fruitless guest room. As his heavy shoes stomped out, he heard a peculiar noise be picked up from his helmet speakers. He looked to the stone wall he had just passed, walking back and placing another foot next to it.

The sound was familiar. The faintest echo of a footstep through a thick wall. He gave a thoughtful look for a moment, taking his left hand from the handguard of his Super Shotgun and drawing it over the wall. All the blood had dried now, so it hardly stained the stone. Indeed, he could feel a particular hollowness he couldn’t with the other walls.

His experience with secret hunting stuck with him for eons, following him to this dreadfully colorful land. The Slayer set his left back to his gun, preparing his right for a hard punch.

“What are thoust doi-” The wall rumbled, bricks flying away and dust being thrown in the air. The Slayer had punched a large hole in the wall. Behind it revealed a room with a short flight of stairs that led down to a couple meter long hall. The walls were a standard Sentinel gray with metal lining the stone.

When he placed a boot onto the stairs, light blue torches lit alive with wraith energies, revealing the room fully. Several embedded statues of the Maykrs and Wraiths lined the walls, alien-like holy figures to the Sentinels.

There, floating majestically in the magical grip of the pedestal hovered one of the only things that could bring a tear to the eye of such a masculine soldier. It was two tube-like structures, forged strongly with hellfire and adamantium steel. One end had a hole in it while the other appeared to have some sort of attaching structure.

He lowered his gun, staring at the object with as much physical emotion his body could produce. It wasn’t a lot. Slowly, he approached the device. The bottom of the tubes held a little plate designed to slide into and attach itself into something else, as did the top.

Luna watched on curiously as the Slayer slid away the meathook and let it dissolve into his inventory. With extreme care he lifted one barrel from the pedestal, gently sliding it onto the side of his left Super Shotgun barrel. Then, he tore the next from the levitating magic, inserting that on in until an orgasmic click echoed down the hall.

The Slayer thought these upgrades were long lost, its effectiveness questioned and methods abandoned. But there he was, wielding it in his gauntlets. Joy filled what remained of his shattered soul as he gently stared at the beauty of…

The Quadruple Barrel Super Shotgun.

His cause was just, his will was strong, and his gun had two too many barrels. He unlocked the chamber of this magnificent firearm, loading the two extra shells onto the side-mounted barrels which were miraculously connected to the gun’s receiver. It was a true miracle of firearm technology. The shells slid in satisfyingly as he threw the gun upwards to lock the loaded barrels back into place.

The Doom Slayer gave one long look to his new weapon, tilting it to the left, then the right before finally letting it rest in his hands. A wide smile was plastered on his face as he exited the room. Luna could not detect it under his helmet once he stepped back into the halls.

He started off, approaching the next room. It was the library that he was coming upon. Before the Doom Slayer was a couple feet in front of the door, he heard the sound of muffled stomps. It got closer, crashing through the ground in another hall opposite of the door. He turned, readying his shotgun.

The purple wall was blasted through, a Hell Knight-like demon tearing through. Before he could squeeze the trigger on his shotgun, he was charged into the wall. His body broke the stone behind him, the momentarily dazed Slayer viewing his enemy.

The demon was rather short, but wide with muscle mass. Its head was equine-like but its legs were broken and torn into a bipedal shape. Its hooves were slowly forming into what appeared to be a pair of terrifying, keratin-like hands, however it was half in the process. You could see the small excursions of hoof attempting to transform into digits. Its skin was now hard tan hide, with bits and tatters of colorful, faded coat drooping from it.

Before the Hell Paladin could’ve lifted its hooves into a stomp, the Equipment Launcher spewed thousand degree flames into the face of the demon. It staggered back, fire consuming it as the demon attempted to wipe it all away.

Its torso was shot through by the wall of lead the Quad Shotgun provided. The demon collapsed to the floor, incapacitated as the shot-through torso revealed a bloody and cracked spine. The Slayer cackled for a second, looking down at his new weapon. Sure it chewed through ammo, but it was very satisfying to use.

On the floor, the dying demon wailed and whillied, holding its torso in pain. Tears of agony poured down its face as torment consumed it. This too provided to the Slayer’s cruel grin as he slowly approached it.

Princess Luna could feel herself cringe as the Doom Slayer watched the demon squirm on the ground for the remainder of the beast's fading life. Its neighs of affliction were comparable to that of a normal pony. After another few seconds, she couldn’t bear it. “M-May you please put it down?”

The Slayer considered it for a moment. He lifted a boot as the wide-eyes of the horse-demon stared up at him. His stomp broke through the demon’s skull with a hard crack before he lifted his foot up to stomp down once more just to be sure. He twisted the boot into the brain-matter to ensure the kill.

The moon princess swallowed nervously before continuing. “The library is just to your right.”

The Slayer glanced at the larger doors. It seemed rather important. “If you see a purple alicorn, do not, I repeat, do not harm her.” she warned as the Doom Slayer loaded the next four shells into the chamber of his new weapon modification. Once finished, he set his gauntlets on the twin doors, shoving them open.

He advanced in steadily, keeping barrels pointed ahead. The shady library was a dark purple, crystal support sprouting between the large, book-filled shelves embedded in the violet walls. It was a very cozy room, several tables with multiple chairs at them.

The demon hunter prowled through the room, clearing it. He noted a soft area of the area, a burgundy carpet with red cushioned chairs atop it along with a comfortable looking sofa. As he glanced at the setup, he heard a magical swoosh come towards him.

A table crumbled over his armor, his green armor meter on his HUD chipping down. He glared behind him, pointing his Shotgun towards the culprit. Standing before him on the other side of the library stood a lavender colored alicorn, horn extending high and wings expanded out. Fury burned from her violet eyes as she lifted several other tables into the air, preparing to hurl them at the suspected demon.

Slung to her back was some sort of saddlebag containing a large and heavy ancient book.

The Slayer barely squeezed the trigger. His gun blasted no pellets and his trigger failed to move back. He lifted to view the gun curiously. Of course. The trigger was once more jammed by the magic of the pony. He holstered the weapon, readying his fists.

Another table crashed into the Slayer. He flinched, the alicorn rushing towards and through a broken window above the tall shelves.

He watched her fly away, tearing out a splinter that got between the cracks of his armor out from his shoulder. “Ngh…” He grunted in mild pain.

“So she lives. I’ll inform my guards to keep an eye out for her.” she informed, writing something down. “Remain focused on the primary objective.”

The Slayer gandered around the library, looking through the bookshelves. He knew secrets hidden by both demon, human and Sentinel all too well. The good old book-switch trick was a common trope.

He lifted a finger to a book for a moment, beginning to test one and see if it would reveal some hidden hall or room, until he realized a much more efficient tactic. Forming with a blue light in the Doom Slayer’s hands was the large frame of the Mobile Turret, the Slayer backing off before unfurling all twelve barrels to maximize fire.

The room lit with blue muzzle flash, bullets ripping through dozens of books. The gunfire could probably have been heard from hundreds of feet away. He couldn’t help but smile maliciously as he destroyed the dozens of books within the library.

“Why in Celestia’s name are you doing such a thing?!” Luna attempted to shout over the ear-splitting gunfire the M220 Chaingun provided with the addition of 11 more barrels. Even if the Slayer could hear, he wouldn’t have responded as dozens of the books flew away from the shelves or were eviscerated into shreds.

At some point, the gunfire was as if a light had been flicked on in the room. Piles of bullets surrounded him as he began rotating to get all the shelves under fire. The room’s floors were either covered with blown through pages, destroyed book covers or steaming ejected cartridges.

Eventually, his bullets covered a book that stood steadfast, simply retracting into the wall. Once the Slayer noticed it, he stopped firing away. As it slid in, a large click echoed through the room, past the slowing down barrels and the clinking bullet shells on the ground.

Once the barrels clicked back into regular place, he refolded the gun into its normal form before tossing it away, his inventory systems catching the object and dissolving it into one of his waist packs. He re-equipped his Super Shotgun as the bookshelf creaked, crystal and dust sprinkling around it as it shook heavily. The ground rumbled as the shelf lowered slowly.

The Doom Slayer prepared his shotgun as the wall descended to reveal a large, dark hall. Once the shelf fully inserted into the ground, a bright, shimmering light glowed from far within. There, a dark blue portal glowed brightly with light, illuminating the entire hall. Before he could step a boot forward, a mechanical noise echoed down the hall.

Rey-roo! Rey-roo! Rey-roo!

He could’ve recognized it anywhere, the robotic workings of the legs of the signature spider demon. The Arachnotron. Another pair of eight robot legs began working down the halls too, at least judging by his ears. Much later he could hear the more obscure stomps of a Baron. He readied his weapon as two Arachnatrons edged around the corner of the dual doors, looking in curiously before freezing up at the sight of the Doom Slayer.

It appeared that they were not prepared for him as a Fireborne Baron of Hell followed behind them, blue energy swirling within the demon. It was possessed and empowered by a Spirit.

Analyzing combat environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Battle track produced

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjaZpEa5Ytc&ab_channel=ChristerWibert

He fired his four shells away at the three demons, plasma shots raining on him from the Arachnotrons. A speedy Baron hurled a flaming fireball at him that the Slayer narrowly dodged. He fiddled a bit, shoving the next pair of shells into the chamber.

The next shot was fired once more into the right Arachnotron, the demon stumbling away and trying to gather itself. Before it could reach back to the battle, the Slayer hopped into the air and crushed into the brain of the demon-spider. He lifted his Doomblade into position, jamming it into the head of the Arachnotron.

It roared as blood spewed. He tore the blade out, before the feeling of a large fireblade slamming into his back interrupted him. He was hurled across the room, the force of the Possessed Baron knocking him into a bookshelf. The Slayer shouted in pain, relentless plasma firing continuing to rain on him from the remaining cyborg.

Plasma burned and sizzled through his armor as he rose to his feet, loading another round of shells before holstering his gun and equipping the glorious Paingiver. He dashed to the left, out of the way of a right swipe from the quick moving Baron.

As he locked his barrage on the monster, it leaned back, clinging its hands together to prepare another fireball. It hurled the ball of hellfire at the man, missing as legions of rocket trinities hammered into it. The will of the Spirit kept it from flinching however.

The Slayer dashed away from a fiery blade slash of the Fireborne Baron, quickly switching to his Machine Gun to blast away the turret of the Arachnotron with the Precision Bolt. It roared as its main source of long-ranged weaponry was destroyed.

Once the turret was out of question, he selected his Plasma Rifle, using the Microwave Beam mod to stun the Possessed Baron for a moment before hotswapping to his Rocket Launcher to blast it away. The combo was presented, the Microwave Beam stunning the demon just long enough for him to get a rocket in with his other weapon before stunning it again.

The Baron was stun-locked, only barely advancing towards the Slayer as it was stunned and rocketed over and over again. The mold of lava-rock chitin was being chipped away, revealing magma flesh underneath dark exterior.

He paid close attention to the health of the Baron, the Microwave Beam’s connection to it presenting its life-force in his HUD. Just as he saw the beam nearly be full and the demon be ready for the finishing blow, he felt his feet leave the ground with immense force.

The Slayer once more crashed into the bookshelves, losing grasp on the Paingiver He quickly gathered himself, leaving the Rocket Launcher behind as he saw the approaching Baron sprint unrelentlessly to him. He only casted a glance at his health and armor bars, noticing how truly desperate he was for health, all the way down to 73.

He rolled out of the way of another flame blade before being back-handed by the large demon. He only stumbled backwards, lifting his Super Shotgun to blast away into it. The unsatisfying click of his gun went off, the Slayer finding the trigger unable to be moved. He was getting very annoyed at this new demon.

The Doom Slayer blasted a bout of his Flame Belch at the Baron, dashing away further and throwing a couple of grenades. He had to play defensively with this low of life in him. While managing and dodging the attacks of the Baron, he spotted the arriving enemies from the door. Trying their best to approach him was a legion of six Hell Paladins, all in a bull-like charge to bash into him with their equine heads.

Sitting far back behind them was a Maegus, the mindless unicorn standing there sluggishly. Saying that the Slayer hated the Maegus was an understatement as he dodged another blow from the powerfully quick demon.

The obvious realization hit him however, Hammers don’t have triggers. He equipped the Sentinel Hammer in one hand, his Doomblade shooting out with a nice SCHLINK! With one hand he rammed the head of the Hammer straight into the side of the Baron, letting the pink energies do their work as he swiftly drew his wrist-mounted sword across the neck of it.

The head flew off, magma blood spewing from the neck hole as he thankfully helt his health restore to a comfortable 200. He watched the Spirit float away out the castle, not wanting to risk a fight with the Slayer. The Doom Slayer felt his head move painfully as a large hoof was smacked into his helmet. He saw a crack slice into his visor, armor faculties dropping low.

He glared viciously up at the Hell Paladin before dodging the next strike it was trying to propose. The Slayer rounded behind the demon, seeing the five other brethren of the brand new monster. He growled, jumping into the air and gripping the handle of the Hammer with both hands.

The signature scream of the Sentinel Hammer echoed through the relatively small room before it was plunged into the ground. A large crack was formed into the library floor and several of the wooden boards were broken to reveal crystal underneath it.

The powerful Sentinel energy crawled through the floorboards, trailing towards the Hell Paladins and remaining Arachnotron who had been attempting and failing to strike the Slayer with its mechanical legs. The demons roared in shocking pain, lifting heads to the sky in a symphony of suffering, totally stunned.

Once the Slayer reached the ground, he truly began the brawl. He stuck the energy-less Hammer to his back, Using his now free right hand to rear a mighty right hook and slam it with all of his force into the head of the closest Hell Paladin.

He witnessed the spine of the demon crack out of place, force applied to the head leading it far out of the torso. The head went flying as the Slayer spun around to lead a multitude of punches into the torso of another Hell Paladin behind him.

All the demon could do was barely watch as its body was being eviscerated by an unending series of furious blows and gnarly slices. Fists hammered on the body, then the head, the cracks of bone breaks and muscle tears roared through the air as he unleashed fury on the demon.

Finally, to finish the job, the Slayer kicked the bottom hoof of the bipedal pony demon, launching it off its feet. Before the former Earth pony could reach the ground, its head was bashed through with one final punch.

The Slayer tore his arm from the confines of the demon’s skull and brain matter, spinning to slice his Doomblade where a Hell Paladin was attempting to sneak a weak hit in. The arm of the demon was sliced clean off, artery breaking and blood fountaining from the limb.

The Doom Slayer landed a bone-breaking punch into the rib-cage of the Hell Paladin before he grabbed the neck of the demon. Using his strength, he lifted the monster off the ground and squeezed with all of his might. It’s neck contorted in an unhealthy manner, a gnarly snap echoing through the room.

As he mercilessly slaughtered the three, his Equipment Launcher was putting in work as well. It had spun behind him, stunning the other Hell Paladins with a couple of frag grenades and another bout of flame.

Finally, once the kill was over and the Slayer decided his next target, the shoulder-mounted AI stunned the three with a bone-chilling Ice Bomb, the demons now stuck in place. He growled with barbaric rage as he looked over to the Maegus, horn shining across the room.

The glow was a bright magenta and its pelt was a faded azure. The demon was miniscule compared to the Slayer, stringy light blue hair barely hanging on by a thread. The Slayer rushed to it, gripping the horn as hard as possible before tearing it away from its head with relative ease. He lifted his Quad Shotgun, the magic dissipating from the trigger as he blasted its head into viscera.

The body fell to the ground unceremoniously, the Slayer jamming another four or so shells into the chamber of his newly upgraded Super Shotgun. He turned, beginning to dash towards the unfreezing Hell Paladins.

Just before they broke from their icy prisons, the Slayer snuck in a shot on the far right one, watching it explode into frozen shards. The one in the middle shattered through the ice, being met with a fine how-do-you-do from Lucifer’s Bane after a swift reload by the Doom Slayer.

It staggered back, the Slayer quickly swapping to his Ballista to land the near finishing blow on the Hell Paladin. The demonic equine fell on its back, roaring in pain. As it was stuck on the ground, the Slayer traded his Ballista for his Rotary Combat Shotgun as he looked at his rather low shell count in his HUD.

The Equipment Launcher fended off the third Hell Knight with several frags as the Slayer approached the grounded demon. He slammed a boot into its chest, pumping a good couple of rounds into the horrified pony’s head. He watched his blasts of shells shred the head of the monster, skull fragments flying all over. His ammo count ticked up a couple shells with the Full Auto mod kill.

Once more he swapped to his new toy, having to load the next round of shells before spinning and shooting through the final Hell Paladin. It shouted in pain as it was launched back a couple feet, body knocking into the wall painfully.

It was stuck to the wall for a while, finding difficulty in reaching back to its hooves with its blown out legs. The Slayer ominously approached the Hell Paladin, gently and methodically loading individual shells into the chamber of the upgraded Super Shotgun.

The Hell Paladin possessed a strong red coat and a pair of horrified sap green eyes. It hoped for a moment that maybe the demon purger would make it quick and finish it off with a single Super Shotgun blast. However, this was not the way of the Slayer.

He holstered his freshly loaded Super Shotgun on his hip-plate, the quad barrel steaming heavily. The Hell Paladin watched as the lightning-speed punch was drilled into the demon’s head, forcing it back to stare at the wall.

The Doom Slayer gripped the head of the Hell Paladin, slamming the pony-like head into the wall. Agony exploded in the mind of the demon, before it was exemplified further as the Slayer dug his gauntlets meatily into the back of the demon, gripping the cervical spine and tearing it out of the body with all his might.

The Slayer lifted the ponified head, glaring at the fading light in its eyes before tossing it to the ground disrespectfully. Once the spine clattered to the ground, he gandered around the library. There was no sign of demonic presence. He turned, heading back towards the portal-containing hidden room.

His footsteps echoed over the magical hum the vortex produced. He equipped his Hammer from his back, preparing for combat as he advanced through the hall. “Go quickly, before more demons appear!” Luna encouraged.

Just as the Slayer was about to enter the slipgate, it began flickering in and out. It was heavily unstable. He began charging towards it, rushing with the glorious Hellbreaker in hand. Just before he could swish through the slipgate, it dissipated, the Slayer grinding to a halt. The suddenness of his stop made his shoes slide, him tripping up and falling to his back.

He grunted for a moment as he stood back up, grumbling the faintest breath. Slipgates did not collapse like that naturally, even aged ones. This one appeared to be just as old as the one that resided in his Fortress of Doom.

The Slayer spun around at the sound of crackling fire. On the ground sat a demonic pentagram being burnt into the gray brick floor with hellfire. He readied his energetic Warhammer, watching as a large figure slowly rose from the circle.

Two hands the size of the average man lifted through the portal, a large, helmeted and horned head rising from the pentagram. Fire scorched and danced from the finger-tips and palms of the digits. The Archvile ascended through, crimson armor locked across the giant alien form, comparable to the fortifying blue metal the Armored Barons adorn. It wore a facemask shaped like the front of a human skull forged from silver.

Cra-ckow!

The Slayer blasted a shot towards the demon's head, the bullet being halted by the armor and the demon hardly flinching. He growled, one-handing his Precision Bolt with his Hammer in the other hand. He tossed the gun away, it dissolving back into his inventory.

His head tingled for a moment. UNAUTHORIZED BREACH DETECTED. His helmet read.

"Who is th-" Luna's voice fizzled into a crackling fire.

"Good evening, Slayer." The voice was breaking and cracking, the words being transported via telepathy while his helmet's comm system attempted to kick the demon out.

He growled, unsheathing his Doomblade and rushing the armored Archvile. His Hammer was readied in his right, Doomblade charging towards it. The demon began performing special hand movements, gracefully flowing through the air. Two lines were moved downwards, burning with fire magic before being circled and spiraled into two closed fists. Suddenly, he forced his hands forwards, flames rising from the ground all across the room in front of him.

SWASCHOOM

"AGH!" The Slayer flung back, getting thrown away by the impassable wall of fire. It stretched all across the room and up to the ceiling. Hellbreaker fell from his grip, deactivating before he got to his knee. His shoulder was burning brightly with hellfire. He patted the flame away, grunting in pain.

His health was low, clinging at 63 with no armor. "I respect your fervor. I have seen and heard great things about you. I am sure you appreciated my legion you encountered in the Holt."

The Slayer despised that area with all his immortal life.

"I witnessed what was done to my master. But, I have trained my whole life to battle you. You caught Davoth off guard. Such cowardice." He lifted both of his hands, looking at the ceiling as the fiery forms of Immoran Troopers began appearing around him. "But we are prepared this time, leading a legion more powerful than you have ever faced. And now, you shall perish!"

The summoning spell was casted, dozens of Immoran Troopers trapped with the Doom Slayer along with a duo of Arachnotrons. The Immoran soldiers trembled as they began shooting their hell-weapons at the Slayer. Powerful Hell magic swirled through them as they launched their firepower at their enemy.

As the plasma flew past him, he ran towards his Hammer, sliding before swiping it off the ground and leaping into the air. The couple of Troopers that surrounded him exploded into armor and sizzling gore, the ones nearby were flung off their feet from the force of the blow. The nearby Arachnotron was stunned by it as well.

His armor was covered in viscera once he hit the floor. His Hammer's head retracted into the handle as he stashed it away on his back. He spun to the unstunned spider demon, shooting its laser cannon off of its back with the Ballista before swapping away to his HMG and cracking through the turret on the frozen spider monster. He holstered, lifting up his Doomblade in preparation for CQC.

He launched a nade to his left and right to both sides of the room. Several more Troopers were slain by the explosion. Blood flew through the air as he jumped off a corpse of an armored soldier, propelling himself on top of an Arachnotron. He growled as he jammed the blade repeatedly into the monster, spewing flames into it with his Launcher. The occasional weak plasma round chipped his health, but it was quickly repaired by the health and armor gained from the slaying of the beast.

Once its robotic legs went limp and body crashed to the ground, he jumped off and leapt onto an Immoran Trooper. He slammed him to the ground, forcing a Doomblade through the humanoid’s torso before gripping his head and tearing it away from his body.

The remaining group of Troopers, which amounted to seven, stared in horror as the Slayer slowly stood with a helmeted head in hand. The Slayer presented himself there, waiting before finally the group turned and bolted through the demonic wall, being let out by their archdemon lord.

The Archvile lifted his hands, summoning further and more powerful demons. Two Cybermancubi and three Dreadknights. One of them was possessed. As his enemy developed the spell, the Slayer rushed behind the slipgate, looking behind it in search for a way to fix it. There were hundreds of cords digging below the ground, those among them that caught his eye being a section split apart, glowing bright orange from flames.

Recalling his knowledge on slipgates, he’d remember that almost all the cords were designed to transfer Sentinel energies into it to activate and power the vortex.

“I may be able to repair it while you battle.” Princess Luna stated over the comms as the demons slowly summoned into the arena. The branches of the circular structure lit with a dark blue aura, magic emanating from it intensely. “It will take a moment to introduce a proper charge from s-such a distance. However I may manage it.”

The Slayer turned at the deep roar of a Cybermancubus, buffed and full of empowering energies from the Archvile. His Launcher shot an Icebomb at the nearby demon, freezing it as well as the smaller Dread Knight. He ran up, Blood Punching the armor away from the Cybermancubus and blasting it away into tiny ice chips with his beautiful new weapon modification.

He had to move his head out of the way to dodge an absurdly quick projectile, produced from the blades of a Dread Knight. The Slayer found trouble keeping up with the dexterity of these buffed demons.

Before the ice could break or crack, he dashed off and sent a volley of rockets with a quick switch of the Paingiver to the frozen Dread Knight, joining its fatter ally in death. His Equipment Launcher lobbed a nade to an absurdly fast approaching Dread Knight from behind, staggering it as the Slayer spun and sliced the arm of the Dread Knight away from its shoulder with the Doomblade.

Blood spewed like a fountain as the Slayer loaded his next four shells to shoot into the monster, however the slowness of the process caused him to be attacked while reloading. A fellow Dread Knight sliced through the shoulder pad of the Doom Slayer, a burning slice sizzling on the armor piece with roasting flesh beneath. The one-armed Dread Knight had been spared for the moment.

He dashed away from the Dread Knight, jamming the last shell into the Super Shotgun before swapping off to his Chaingun. He launched a fury of gauss-powered bullets, piercing through the demon’s hard flesh and bone. It tripped and staggered as it rushed at the Slayer before collapsing to the ground.

The Doom Slayer rushed up and jammed his foot through the head of the ground-residing monster. He felt his boot land through the skull, touching the roasting acids of the radioactive goo burning through the sole. He glared at the culprit, the extra Cybermancubus sticking out of the fight and sitting in a corner to bother the Slayer from afar. His shots were fast as ever thanks to the aid of the Archvile buff.

That wouldn’t last long as an explosion of shrapnel stunned the monster, the Slayer jumping high into the air and blasting through the armor with a heavily charged Blood Punch. He landed his shoes into the shoulders of the giant demon, boots tearing into the muscle of the monster.

He stood on the demon, the thousands of kilometer per hour bullets tearing through the skin, flesh, muscle and bone of the monster. Eventually, the Cybermancubus’ skull was torn away by the armada of speedy rounds.

Once the demon died, he felt a strong hand wrap around his ankle, him being thrown away by the Dread Knight and hitting the ground hard, dropping his Chaingun. The Knight mercilessly rushed at him, blue essence swirling around the demon as it attempted a stab at the back-laying Slayer.

He rolled out of the way of the empowered demon, cracking a punch into the arm of the monster as it attempted to tear its energy blade from the ground. As it struggled, he brought out his Super Shotgun and shot his quad of shells into its torso. It hardly flinched, glaring with eyes that swirled with foreign light blue.

The Slayer deflected the other roaring energy blade with his own Doomblade, slamming the Super Shotgun into the demon before rolling away from under it. He holstered Lucifer’s Bane, standing up and equipping his Ballista. He hopped onto the back of the Possessed Dread Knight, forcing it to the ground with his weight.

It roared in pain as energy began shocking and shooting through the arches of the giant weapon. The limbs widened, the chains growing in tandem as it hauled an extreme energy.

eeiiINNNN-DEH-EN-DEH-EN-DEH-UN

The satisfying roars of his weapon was music to his ear before he launched the Destroyer Blade through the neck of the Possessed Dread Knight, decapitating it cleanly. Once he was done with that demon, the alien form of a Spirit emerged from its corpse.

He hotswapped to his Plasma Rifle, preparing the Microwave Beam and unleashing it upon the spiritual demon. It began shrieking in agony as it was frozen in place. He watched the bar slowly tick up with every second as the screams began climaxing. Finally, it bursted into bright blue energy, swirling through the air and ending into the ground.

“The portal is almost finished, Great Slayer! In a couple of seconds it should activa-”

The Slayer’s connection to Princess Luna was cut as he felt spine-tingling energy scourging through his form. Mainly from his back and through the center of his chest. The Slayer gasped, taking a half-breath as he stared at the wound.

The attack was too quick and the demon too fast for him to have reacted to the energy sword being driven through his torso. He was lifted off the ground for a moment, seeing his health reach a horrid 10. His armor was gone as the Dread Knight knocked the Slayer off his blade in front of the slowly activating portal.

He coughed, seeing blood paint the interior of his chipped visor. Even more crimson was pouring from the gaping hole in his chest as he sat up a little to confront his enemy. The Slayer clenched the shaky fist his Doomblade was mounted near, grabbing the Ballista with his right hand as he heard the buffed Dread Knight approaching.

He saw the absurdly fast, one handed demon approach. It lifted its energetic sword over its head and drove it down to finish the Slayer. Before it could, he timed his slice just at the right moment to cut clean through the arm, the demon’s remaining limb flying off with the energy blade.

Before it could react and further, he finished it with a weakly aimed Ballista shot. The demon exploded into viscera from the beam. The Slayer growled between pained breaths, setting a hand to stop the bleeding of the wound. He could feel it seal only slightly from the kill, but he was still hemorrhaging profusely.

He heard a voice crackle over his broken voice comms, a lot of the circuiting damaged from the critical hit. “I̷̻̯̔t̷̛͔͝-̵̧̗̥̆̏i̴̢̹̾-̵͕̆̐̃o̷̧̠͔͘” the HUD flashed Luna’s face as he turned to the swirling portal, lit with dark blue magic.

The armored Archvile glared at the Doom Slayer. “We will meet again, Slayer.” It said, drained from spells as he climbed to his feet slowly, the Ballista scraping the floor as he dragged it towards the portal.

He wheezed a little as he quickly hauled himself into the portal, transporting to the location. The demon grumbled angrily as the slipgate closed itself, decasting his remaining spells. One of the remaining Troops returned to the Archvile’s side.

“Track his whereabouts. Tell every bit of my legion to keep an eye out for him, Equestria or Hell.” he commanded.

A slimly built Immoran Trooper nodded, bringing up a device on her left gauntlet and tapping it. “Yes sir.” A hologram was brought up, the humanoid speaking in. “Keep all eyes out for the Doom Slayer himself. Equestria or Hell. He has just used a slipgate and is gravely injured.”

Cold Grounds

The night sky used to be so beautifully colorful. A rest-inducing haze of pleasant purple, like calming lavender flowers. However now it was absent, a swarm of clouds forming amarda’s below the hellishly crimson heavens. They would light up on occasion with bright orange cracks of Hell energy, casting brightness on the ground below.

Twilight Sparkle watched as a large portal flushed open in the dark sky, a ginormous hellship in the shape of an upside down cross with some sort of demonic rune in the middle glowing with yellow.

“RAGGH!” a demonic roar screamed from above, the strong flaps of wings dashing over the canopy. A giant dragon, at least compared to Equestrian standards flapped past. Its wings glowed crimson, its underbelly and a portion of its wings a hellish red. The rest of its body was a ghastly dark blue.

The alicorn could spot a rider on its back, a knightly looking demon with a long energy spear mounted on his back. She ducked her head under one of the dark bushes further, just peeking out a little to see it pass by the opening of the old forest’s thick canopy.

Twilight was completely unsure of where she was anymore. Mud clung to her coat like nothing else and the occasional buzz sound whizzed by her ears. Black brown and a twinge of green was all that surrounded her. She had been traveling the whole day towards Canterlot from the Everfree.

The alicorn crouched behind the brambles, her horn lighting up for a moment. In her mind, like a bird knowing where south was, she could feel the direction Canterlot resided. The spell fed the information to her with every use, it was rather handy when lost minimal energy.

The saddlebag on her back rested heavily, the alicorn finally figuring a way to slip her wings through the cracks to properly fly with it on. The Codex resided within the pockets of it.

Her hooves hardly left a crunch as a determined look spread across her face, weaving between trees, bushes, brambles and shrubs around an opening in the thick woodlands. She dropped to her belly at the sound of leaves rattling, monstrous breathing as what she guessed was an Imp.

The demon looked across the small clearing with its hunched over posture, methodically placing each hoof-like foot and stalking over the pasture. It passed unaware of the stealthy alicorn before reaching the other side of the clearing and entering the treeline.

Once she was sure it was gone she continued on with her sneaky journey. On the way to another tree, she felt an extreme pain jam throughout her mind. “Nnng!” Twilight held the pain back, trying not to get too loud for the demon-filled forest to hear her. Her ears rang extremely for a passing moment, dissipating once she leaned on the next tree.

She stopped, breathing heavily as she set a free-hoof on a tree. Twilight wished that she was capable of using her more advanced spells. More importantly, she wished her teleportation ability was much easier to use.

Twilight’s spell required her to see the location she wished to snap off to. There was an exception of placing a magical marker at a certain location to teleport back to. Even if she had casted one in Canterlot, it long would’ve faded away, its half-life lasting around a week at most.

The princess shook her head angrily, prowling off to the next series of bushes, dividing the leaves with her pink telekinetic aura. The bushes crowded around her once more, providing exemplary cover from the hunting monsters. However, feeling the plants scratch and rub against her coat and fur was extremely uncomfortable.

She stared up at the crimson-skied canopy for only a moment. Flying was certainly no option, if she was caught up there death was certain. So she kept to these dismal, thick woods.

The mare plunged a hoof into a puddle, feeling it muck up her pelt near the hoof. She lifted it, looking down at the mud. It too, like the clouds above, crackled with the hellish energy. She could see a blurry refraction in the small puddle of charged liquid. The full moon-night shimmered light upon it, the alicorn looking in to see herself.

Her eyes were sunken in, her mane was unkempt and filled with leaves and twigs. There were several scrapes and scratches on her hide thanks to the many twigs and occasional dots in the coat from bug bites. Her purple eyes were filled with a gritty yet guilty look.

She unfurled her wings, staring at them in the water. She glared at them, then the horn, both with hateful looks. Twilight hated this. All of this. The bushes, the dirty mud, the stink of this forest, the ominous clouds above, the looming hellships, the patrolling demons, the saddlebag slamming up and down on her back with weight. But most out of all of those, she couldn’t help but be repulsed by her own presence.

Some Princess of Friendship she was, hiding in these woods like a wounded rat. Calling herself a princess was a joke. Especially one of friendship. The puddle suddenly splashed with a droplet of water, more red energy joining in. The alicorn lifted her head to see the source of the water. The reddish clouds sprinkled water from the heavens, soaking into Twilight’s pelt.

Of course. Twilight thought sadly, ears lowered as the downpour weighed them down. The stench of apple-lava perfumed the air, disgusting and retched. She pondered why she hadn't been affected by the Hellish liquid.

Thunk Thunk Thunk!

Her ears perked, a duo of hoofsteps catching her attention. She spun around, jumping in surprise as she saw what exactly was rushing her. It was a pony judging by its horrifying face, however its stance told a different story.

It stood on two hooves, legs contorted and broken along with its spine to accommodate such a position. Scraps of white pelt hung from the former earth pony, gnashing teeth slobbering all around. Its hooves had gold gauntlets over them, a similarly colored royal guard helmet atop the head. It dove in to crash a punch in with one of its fore-hooves.

Moving fast, Twilight ducked. She turned tail and ran, gasping in horror. WHAT IN CELESTIA’S NAME WAS THAT?! She lacked the necessary oxygen to exclaim the statement out loud properly.

She leaped over a tall field of brambles, looking up at an even taller, unpassable one. Twilight could hear the former royal guard-pony chase after her as she took flight, deciding to fly over but remain below the canopy.

The alicorn turned to look down at the disfigured pony. “I-Is that… a pony?”

It gnashed, slobber flying from its rabid muzzle as it leaped for the flying alicorn, failing in its attempts. Twilight stared at in terror and intrigue. What had happened to it?

She knew Hell could corrupt the minds of those intertwined in it, but this was much farther than anything the Codex had informed her on. As she reflected on the monster, she felt her mane frizzle at the touch of something from above.

Hooves clamped around her forelegs strongly. “Cloud Chaser?!” she exclaimed in surprise. Thunder roared as the red sprinkles accelerated into cascading rains.

The faded persian blue pelt of the frizzy-maned pegasus was nearing gray. Her crazy hairstyle was hanging off her head unnaturally low and her eyes were dead and soulless. Her wings flapped through the air. She reared her head back, ready to dive her big horse teeth into the neck of Twilight.

She closed her eyes, wrapping the pegasus’ hooves in telekinesis to release herself. Twilight fell through the air for a moment, landing and scrambling to her hooves before desperately fleeing. As she leaped over a bout of bushes, she was halted mid-air in her chase.

Twilight’s body hung upside down, one of her rear hooves being held up by a telepathic spell. “No!” She exclaimed, looking as a zombified unicorn shuffled out of a bout of bushes, horn glowing a bright pink. Her saddlebag barely clung, Twilight hoping the Codex would remain within.

She suddenly gasped, realizing who it was. The unicorn’s faded yellow pelt as well as the red and purple mane struck her as familiar, but the crooked taped together glasses that barely hung on her rotting muzzle sent the suspicion home.

The zombie-like Moondancer held Twilight suspended in the air. “Moondancer! No, not you!” horror shrilled from her voice.

The Maegus gave little care as it advanced slowly. She could hear the tearings of bushes far behind the unicorn, gnashing of vicious teeth from the royal Hell Paladin she had just been pursued by.

Thinking swiftly, she turned and looked back, closing her eyes and preparing the teleportation spell. The alicorn blinked from the telekinetic hold, reappearing a couple meters away and bolting off on her wings, saddle-bag bouncing up and down.

She heard heavy hooves in hot-pursuit of the mare, the vicious growls of the earth pony echoing through the trees. She needed to find a hiding spot if she had any hopes to survive. Her head spun left and right, gazing and desperately searching for some area to hide.

A couple clearings away she could see a distant, dislodged and fallen tree with a large hole where the stump once proudly stood. That would be perfect. The princess shut her eyes desperately, letting her horn shine with another teleportation spell.

Twilight Sparkle yelped in pain as her casting was interrupted, a hoof gripping tightly on her tail. She winced, squinting her eyes in effort as she tried to fly away from the grasp. It was too strong however, the Hell Paladin gripping tightly.

Twilight, knowing she couldn’t overpower the demon, clenched her eyes shut in an attempt to recast it.

She opened her eyes, the stress and noise of the moment gone. The alicorn hid in the dark shade of the fallen tree’s stump-hole. Twilight looked around cautiously, heavy breaths coming from the mare.

Finally, as the alicorn settled, shoulders lowering and head slumping, she felt the stress choke her up. Tears began forming in the purple eyes of the pony, sniffles erupting over the sound of the downpour of hell-energy filled rain.

She lowered into a lying position, tears rolling and staining her cheek fur. All her friends were gone, dead or worse. She was lost and was possibly many miles from either her new or old home and she was being hunted by a legion of monsters.

For all she knew, her friends and people were being driven to extinction. No spell could possibly fix this, especially now. The odds of her rescuing all her friends from that massive ship was minimal. Especially for the skull-splitting headaches she would experience frequently. If three of the weaker demons has nearly caught her, what could she do against a legion of them?

She decided then that she wouldn’t be able to make it to Canterlot tonight. The trek would be too dangerous, and Celestia knows what would occur to a pony if they reside in that dreadful rain for too long. If she was found and captured, then so be it.

Her sob-full breakdown continued as she felt a particular lopsided feeling in the weight of her saddlebag. She looked to see the Codex fall out of the biggest pocket in the book-bag. She reached a hoof over, flipping the book open to the back of the cover.

Hidden within were two photos. One of her and Spike at a young age. The baby dragon was sitting on her back, hands raised in joy as the filly version of herself smiled back at him. The alicorn lifted the photo with her magic to get a closer look. She sniffled at the sight of the image, tears still slogging as she grinned at the memory.

The other one joined the first in her aura, being placed beside it. It was her and her friends. She was in the middle, Applejack to her left and Rarity to her right. Flying idley above the unicorn was Rainbow Dash with a victorious hoof in the air. In front of Rarity meekly lay the smiling Fluttershy, Spike next to her. Finally, Pinkie Pie was on the far right of the picture, hoof around Applejack’s shoulder.

At some point, the vision of the photos began fading from her vision, tears engulfing her eyes too far as she gently placed them back into the book. She lifted a hoof, wiping the waterworks away.

Once the blurry fog of the tears dissipated, she noticed a particular number scratched into the solid back cover. The lines were cut in by a multitude of sharp blades, making up this message. “Pg. 122.”

Adrian's Pen

“You know how unfamiliar this technology is to me, Immoran.” Kronos rumbled through his decaying jaw.

He walked down the crimson and fleshy halls of the Hellship. The walls were curved just slightly, on occasion murals of Davoth, the Dark Lord, were inscribed and molded into them. However they were often interrupted by the interlocked flesh of the beast that carried it all. This particular hall, their creator watched down at them each step of the way. Every two meters or so both sides of the hall showcased their unholy leader.

Beside the superbly powerful Marauder stood a much shorter soldier. He appeared human by his form, a brown undersuit and plates of finely forged, smooth yet strong and warm Hell metal. Held in his hand was a tall metal handle, a small red energy spear-tip at the top. He used it as a cane as he walked with the arch-demon.

His helmet shaped around a man’s head nicely, brown vents where his mouth would be. Above that was a dark circle in the helmet, a camera used to visualize surroundings. There was a halo-like crest that surrounded the top of the armor piece, a symbol of protection. He had a steady and refined march. A gait that emphasized prestige and high caste as he moved nobily with his weapon.

His voice was deep and gravely through the helmet’s speaker. “I do not mean disrespect, sir. But I have a name.”

“And that may be?” Kronos questioned.

The Demonic Trooper looked up from his advancement at his superior. “My parents called me Matthias.”

The demon nodded, respecting the soldier. Even if the Troopers were weak, he held great respect for their intelligence and battle-strategy. Although, the Slayer does mow through them like twigs to a wood chipper. If Davoth deemed them worthy of his personal guard, then the arch-demon would treat them in such a way as well.

“I am unfamiliar with allies that utilize names. The culture of Immora has always fascinated me.” Kronos admitted.

Matthias looked forward. “So has the culture of fellow demons outside of my home’s walls,” he replied. “Even if the rest of Jekkad is mostly a wasteland of mindless monsters.”

The two halted in front of the large red door, a sign above it reading “Holding Chambers” in Jekkadean runes. The door made up the entire width and height of the hall, a large glowing symbol on a sphere-like structure in the middle of it which stated the word “Locked.” This notion was further supported by the red lights shimmering in the seams of the door.

The Demonic Trooper made his way to the switch, a metallic structure positioned near the door. It was a panel elevated from the ground, a button in the shape of the same sphere in the gate. The same “Locked” symbol was shining off of the button. There were three other runes surrounding it on the panel, forming a quadrilateral.

The Trooper placed a hand on the panel, watching the light shimmer green on the door and it quickly divide to reveal the contents behind it.

The room stretched down, pods of glowing orange lining the sides. Almost all of them were empty besides the dark orange liquid. The Trooper and Marauder marched down the room.

“And what are these devices exactly, Matthias?” Kronos set a bony hand on one of the pods, stopping his march. It felt as if the structure’s external platings were extremely heated, however there was a dividing chill at the center where the liquid resided.

Matthias stopped beside him. “They are stasis pods.” he began. “It's common throughout the bowels of Immora, where outliers and prisoners of the populations are held captive.”

The Marauder stepped away, continuing down the hall. “And they will keep our new guests cozy for their stay? Until we find the sixth, of course.” he said cozy in a joking manner.

“They are.” the trooper replied, keeping pace with his commanding officer.

“Where?” he had not seen what his lower in rank officers had done after returning to the ship, immediately going to view his Archvillian partner’s live-feed.

The stomping of the spear handle halted once more in front of a batch of pods. Five of them were occupied, floating within on either side of the room. The colorful crew he had captured all rested gently within the fluids of the capsules. Respirator masks resided on their muzzles with dozens of lines of tubing flowing from it to the back of the pod. Their manes floated through the liquid, unkempt like weeds in the ocean.

Even more mechanical veins extended from the forelegs of the ponies. Their colorful coats were discolored from the orange material, well, besides the already orange-coated one. Monitors stood in front of the pods, displaying vitals, life signs and brain activity of the equine.

Kronos walked closer to one of the monitors, the pod containing the resting orange pony. A floating stetson hovered through the pod near her head. ‘Inmate Code: AJ-415 | Inmate Name: Applejack | Vitals: Stable, Sedated | Mental Activity: Minor, NREM-3 Occurring.’ Beneath these statuses showcased heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, respiratory rate, body temperature and much more information.

“NREM-3?” Kronos questioned.

The Trooper nodded. “The deepest form of sleep.”

Kronos glanced at him with an understanding look in his orange eyes before back at the accessory the earth pony was acquainted with. “Who provided this equine with her silly hat?” there was an air of annoyance in his question.

“An Imp.” the demonic soldier informed. “We had this hat she called her ‘stetson’ removed before injecting her within the capsule.” he sighed, shaking his head at his fellow demon’s incompetence. “She had begun shouting and yelling for it. The pony sounded rather miserable without it. The Imp took pity, and after she was sealed, it snuck in and returned the bit of fashion.”

He huffed, going to the next prisoner. “I want top security in this division, make sure nothing like that occurs again.” Kronos demanded. “This Imp’s intentions could have been more detrimental than simply returning a piece of cloth.”

In the neighboring pod resided the pink one, hair heavy and low within the liquids of the capsule. ‘Inmate Code: PP-217 | Inmate Name: Pinkamena Diane Pie | Vitals: Stable, Sedated (WARNING: SEDATION REQUIREMENTS BEYOND AVERAGE CAPACITY OF STASIS POD) | Mental Activity: REM-Sleep Occuring | Dream Imagery Available.’ a button stood below the words that read ‘View’ in a virtual demonic rune.

Kronos lifted a finger to the warning. “I do not believe this is common.”

“Lift your foot, sir.” he nodded downward to the floor

The demon looked down to see his large boot compressing down on a piece of piping that led and connected to the pink mare’s pod. He lifted his foot away, seeing it attached to an empty pod on the other side of the room, the source of the further sleep-inducers.

Matthias returned his gaze to the resting equine. “She requires a remarkable amount of sedation to be kept at rest. How she manages to facilitate dreams through all the narcotics amazes me.”

“Peculiar,” he commented, the warning sign on the monitor disappearing. “And this dream imagery, what is it?”

“It allows you to view the dreams being facilitated by the equine. Here, let me show you.” he tapped the button on the screen.

A video feed of Pinkie Pie joyfully bounding across magical fields, plants and trees made of sweets surrounding her. Cotton candy dotted the sky and the sun glowed like a lemon drop. It was some of the most girly stuff the arch-demon had seen in his entire life.

“Turn it off.” Kronos demanded in disgust, the Trooper complying and tapping an x-button at the top right of the feed.

The demon looked over at the next pod, where a light yellow pegasus rested. He glanced at her wings. “Hm, the orange and pink ones must be inferior subspecies.”

Matthias nodded. “Yes, so we believe. Although, when the equine of the wingless and hornless variety are exposed to argent, they produce interesting results.”

Kronos moved over in front of the pegasus, still listening. “I know very little of Incendium’s experiments.”

“Well they are making great progress. The Maegi has provided effective support against the Slayer. The look under his visor when his guns are jammed is rather entertaining.” the Trooper had minimal experience in battle against the Doom Slayer.

“His fists may be powerful, however his weapons keep him in the safety of range.” Kronos explained. “He is not invulnerable when enduring melee.”

Matthias nodded. “Precisely. On top of that, an even more exotic mutation has formed. The Troopers have been calling them Hell Paladins.” he recalled the off-putting stature of such a demon. “These wingless and hornless equine morph and contort into a bipedal, muscular form comparable to our Hell Knights. However they commonly roam in much larger packs with much closer bonds.”

“And what of the pegasi?” he queried.

“Tengu. Named after a long dead race of demon.” the demonic soldier began. “Primarily seen from pegasi who know flying like no one else. It is a simple evolution of the Unwilling, flying mindlessly through the air. Not too effective against the Slayer, for he has hardly noticed them yet.”

Kronos nodded, reading the monitor of the third pony. ‘Inmate Code: FS-989 | Inmate Name: Fluttershy | Vitals: Stable, Sedated | Mental Activity: Extreme REM-Sleep Occuring (Unusual Amounts for Sedation Level) | Dream Imagery Available.’ he gave an intrigued look at the monitor.

“What appears to be the issue, sir?” Matthias queried, reading the screen. “That is strange.” he commented.

Kronos tapped the view rune, preparing to witness another girly dream.

~

Fluttershy laughed as the draconequus somehow poured the tea. The teapot was held upside down in the eagle talon, no tea pouring out before it was tilted right-side up to release the hot drink. The water flowed toward the ceiling before flowing downward and into the porcelain cup.

The two sat at a table happily on the ceiling of Discord’s house, other furniture joining at the top as well. It was an entertaining sight to see for the pegasus. “I’m glad you let me over for lunch today, Discord.” she grabbed a tea cup with a hoof, lifting the drink to her lips and sipping.

The mis-matched chaos being nodded. “It's no problem, Fluttershy.” he sipped his tea. "It's always a joy to have you over!"

She lowered her cup. "Thank you. It was a really slow day at my cottage." Fluttershy pondered for a moment. "I think that would be a good thing though. That means not a lot of animals are sick or hurt."

"How could they be when they have such a good pony-pal as you?" Discord slurped from his drink.

The pegasus blushed from the compliment. "Th-thank you…"

Discord knew all this was to Fluttershy was a dream, but he was glad he could be there for her. Even if she was captured by his former colleagues. Just a little peace for his friend would at least help her a tad, right?

A ding suddenly rang through the room, Discord’s head perking up. "Oh!" he jumped out of his seat, going towards the kitchen. "The strawberry bread is done baking!" the draconequus lifted his hands in excited, balled up claws. "I'll be right back."

Fluttershy simply nodded, drinking tea as her friend headed into the kitchen.

Discord’s tall frame walked over to the oven, the usually bipedal creature reaching the ground with his arms to place himself closer in height with the oven. He grabbed a mitt off the bar, slipping it over his lion paw.

He clutched his eagle talon around the oven handle and pulled it down, revealing the beautifully baked bread. He slid the tray of four loaves out, placing it on the top of the stove.

The draconequus smiled at the result of the baking, standing to his back two feet before turning and heading to the fridge. Mid-step he stood completely frozen. A scorching chill wriggled through his lengthy spine. His claws stretched out in surprise. He slowly craned his long-necked head at a nearby window, feeling a pair of evil eyes glaring into him. He knew that feeling, anyone could have.

It was that glare that constantly followed him so long ago at a missed opportunity of torture. It was the guilt he felt when his old friends cheered him on in his commanding role. The fear that consumed him when he did not follow a brutal order

The stare felt familiar and fear striking, yet he could not see the source. The window was empty. He spun his head to look at the rest of the windows, curious furthermore at what could be spying on him through this conjured dream.

Discord took a moment to realize the most likely occurrence. Doubt quickly flooded her mind. “N-No not here. Please not here!” he whispered to himself, panic flooding him.

He should have considered the consequences of so sneakily visiting Fluttershy! The demons were brutish, but far from simple! But he could not just cut the dream so short. He peaked his long neck to the living room, spying on his friend a moment before slipping back.

As Discord pondered his course of action, the stress and shakiness of his hands caused them to lose grip on the tray, the metal clanging to the floor and spreading the strawberry bread all across the floor. His eyes widened in surprise, his shakiness increasing as the sweet voice of his best friend spoke up.

He clenched his talon, wondering what to say, imagining what the demons would do now they found her dreams, what they’d do to him. His mind filled with stress like water to a bathtub before with a final, quick thought, he snapped his fingers.

~

‘| Mental Activity: NREM-1 Sleep Occuring | Dreamless |’ The monitor read now. Kronos smiled down wickedly at the screen as the dream ended, knowing exactly who he had discovered. “The Wretch.”

Matthias tapped a button on the side, a panel at the top left of the screen showing ‘Dream Imagery Data saved.’ “Do you wish for me to record any further dreams?” he asked.

Kronos nodded. “It seems we have found our key to our longest and most cowardly enemy. I do not think the resurrection of Davoth will be our only victory here.” he smiled, placing his hands behind his back as he walked away.

Heart Over the I

Princess Luna sat in front of the war table, a blank face drawing across her head. Her body was slumped on the cold metal throne, marked with a crescent moon. Her magical twilight mane was low on her neck rather than flowing and her pupils small with stress.

The war table's system of holograms had disconnected from the Slayer's suit faculties. The last thing she could command him to do was enter the slipgate. It appeared some vital portion of his armor was severed by the vicious stab the empowered Dread Knight had performed on him.

Now, whether the Great Slayer still clung to life or had perished at the hands of that terrible arch-demon was up in the air for her.

The alicorn lowered her head, closing her eyes and wincing in an attempt to reconnect her magic to the Praetor Suit. Her horn lit with inky blue for a moment before sparkling in failure. "Ngh…" She groaned, resting her muzzle on the war table gently.

The room echoed with every noise made, magic swirling in its walls and the gray metal reflecting the more colorful pony. "Great Slayer, please refrain from the proposition of death."

She suddenly sparked with an idea. She may not be able to connect to his suit, but what if he could connect to his mind? Her head lifted with the thought. If the Slayer is capable of dreaming, and is dreaming now, perhaps I could form some sort of connection of command?

With a long breath, she steeled herself. Luna would require much intense magical ability for her to access the Slayer’s possible dream. Even if it did exist, he could be too far from Equestria for her to even access it. Her horn lit with dark blue magic, her eyes closing tightly as she rested back on the throne.

In mere moments she found herself in the dreamscape. Purple and black twilight swirled past her, several visages and glances into the dreams of her ponies. She kept her eyes averted from them. The dreamscape functioned as a hub of dreams, and where she was now were most of the visions the ponies in Canterlot were experiencing.

As she flew among the visions, they thinned out heavily. By the time her wings flapped outside of the range of Canterlot, she could only see a dream every hundred meters or so. This brought sadness to the heart of Luna as she passed a horrifying demonic nightmare a pony was viewing. How many more dreams could she not see due to the Hell energy? She halted her flight to turn and attempted to enter, but had to stop herself. Without the Slayer, nightmares will not be the ponies’ only issue.

After a long while of empty flight, she halted herself. If his dreams were here, they would have to be at the very edges of the dreamscape. The alicorn recognized this, her horn lighting with dark blue magic before she flashed to the outer rim of the realm.

Out here, the land was much darker and way less bright. She could hardly see, requiring a bright glow from her horn. It lit with lumination, the princess squinting through the area. She could just make out a shade of green among the darkness. Green was not a common color here, sparking confusion in the alicorn.

Princess Luna began flying towards it, head tilted. She lifted a fancy gauntleted hoof to the portal cautiously. Once she made contact with it, she descended into the vision.

~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuvCGojKkpQ&ab_channel=Repulsive-Topic

He stared at a pair of beady, dark brown eyes. Cute and curious as it stared up at the largely-built man. All around him was comforting bright whites, reflecting the shimmering and buzzing lights from above. Several other pet containers stood on the same shelf the rabbit was held in, and the occasional child walked by him.

“Daisy.” He felt his heart skip a beat at the sound of the wise, feminine voice. She sounded determined and dead set on the name, as if it was on her mind this entire time. He wasn’t sure whether the beat-skip was from fear or interest.

He just stared at the rabbit, not having enough courage to reply to the lady. He had been crouching in front of the cage for a finer view.

She cleared her throat. “Flynn?”

He finally reared. The desert khaki cargo pants and dark green T-shirt wearing man looked up at her. She was beautiful, every bit about her. The hair that flowed like a golden sea, the eyes that pierced like a starry night, the small smile that warmed his heart and consumed every inch of his soul with comfort. The feeling though, it felt dull, surreal.

“Why Daisy?” He suddenly felt himself ask.

She nodded as the man rose from his squat, towering around a foot taller. “It's a funny story.” she scratched her shoulder, wedding ring glimmering on her finger.

The large man nodded slowly, asking her to tell silently. He was not the talking type.

The young woman, nearly the same age as the man, began telling the tale. “My grandma. You don’t know her, she died when I was around fourteen.” she recalled. “She owned a giant rabbit farm, loved them all to death.”

“And I guess the rabbit-lover gene continued?” he glanced at her shirt, presenting a picture of asweet little bunny surrounded by beautiful reeds.

She dug her hands in her jean pockets, shrugging. “Who knows? Maybe it’d continue with Roman.” the wife joked back. “We’ll see when he gets her.”

He smiled slightly at the thought of his young, six year old son wielding the cute animal. That certainly would’ve gone up on the living room wall, frame and all. The vision melted away as an unfamiliar voice spoke.

It was the nasally voice of an employee, some scrawny looking teen. "Do you guys want the rabbit?” he asked.

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Bring her to the front desk, please." the nerdy employee turned and headed to the counter just down the aisle.

The man grabbed the handle on top of the cage, lifting it easily with his strong arms. The rabbit shifted in the cage as he carried her over with a single hand, setting the pen on the counter once he and his wife had arrived.

Flynn dug into his pocket, taking out a solid three twenties. As he offered them to the worker, he felt a gentle hand stop him.

"I'll pay." the blonde stated, placing a fifty and a ten. "I promised grams that I would buy her grandson a rabbit. Not let my husband buy it for me." her tone was light as a cloud. He returned the twenties to his wallet, the wall of a man simply smiling at the statement.

The teen produced shot papers and other documents for the rabbit, an empty slot where the 'Pet's name' portion sat. His wife took the pen, writing Daisy on the slot with pretty cursive and a fancy heart above the i.

~

The Doom Slayer awoke, feeling the cautious touch of an Imp’s claw. Vengeful fervor swarmed in his soul, fury drowning his eyes as he brutally jammed his Doomblade through the curious Imp’s mouth, slaughtering it viciously. It roared, then coughed, before letting out a final gurgle as the Slayer tore out his Blade, jumping to his feet.

Two demons stared at the Slayer in mortified surprise, a Hell Knight and a Gargoyle. He immediately met the Gargoyle with a blistering Flame Belch, the Equipment Launcher turreting to the left to bomb the Hell Knight.

He shot the winged demon in half with his Quad-Shotgun, armor repairing and resealing on his shoulders. Afterwards he met the Hell Knight with a staggering kick before he crushed his fist through the head of the large demon. He seethed with wrath as he stood from the viscera, growling with rage as he stared at his current surroundings, jamming a batch of shells into his Shotgun's chamber.

The new locale of the Argent Wells welcomed the Slayer. It was an eerie woodland, the metallic circle of a Slipgate point under his boots. Dark black bark stretched across the trees. It extended above the red energy filled clouds, so no one could truly tell. Piercing through the blueish-purple clouds was a giant beam of Hell energy in the distance shooting into the sky. The Argent Well.

Hell electricity crackled between the trees, driving through the trunks and into the dark soil of the lifeless forest floor. The giant trees occasionally were marked by sharp, spike-like branches. He could see pony-bodies speared onto them, blood pouring from the still groaning and living Unwillings. He recalled his past conquests in the realm. It was the Corpse Forests of Apollyon.

His armor and health were at a healthy 63 armor and 149 health.

"Great Slayer? Great Slayer, come in!" Luna's profile image appeared in his HUD.

He didn’t reply, only marching off, strong hands spasming with anger. Luna could watch him move, seething with anger as he stomped off to find another batch of demons to utterly brutalize. The urge to kill was strong in his essence, he needed to rip those things in half.

An Old Ally

“By Davoth, Incendium. You go off to confront the Doom Slayer himself, and now you are running some kind errand for no reason?” Kronos’ red hologram spoke, refracting from the wrist of the Archvile’s gauntlet.

Incendium was surrounded by a powerful squadron of demons. A behemoth Cyberdemon marched right to the armored Archvile. To the left valiantly strode a possessed Baron, standard with red flesh and glowing green eyes. Sitting on the back of that demon were several Imps, Gargoyles, pony Unwillings and two Maegi.

The Tyrant was similarly equipped with a multitude of riding demons. Most of which were Immoran Troopers taking a seat on the shoulders of it counting up to seven. Around its legs and arms coiled four Whiplashes, all of which were imbued with swirling Spirit energies.

On top of this roaring arena, were the several dozen reserves awaiting summoning from the spells of the Archvile. Incendium began rumbling from his silver skull-faced mask. “Like I said before, Kronos. We are a partnership.”

The Marauder rolled his glowing eyes. “Yes, this is what I am saying. How are we partners when we are working on completely different goals.” he replied. “And how come I must be on pony watching duty while you go do… whatever you are doing.”

The squadron of monsters were marching down a long legion of stairs that extended down into a sickly green and brown valley. It was an excruciatingly dry environment, reminiscent of a savannah. Multiple exotic stones jutted up into strange shapes with nearby oak and moss trees.

His eyes were set on the large metallic doors of their destination embedded into the rockface, an ancient sigil of locking placed on it. Incendium was thankful for the nearby slipgate point.

“We work towards the same goal, however we need to divide our efforts,” he began. “It is like I said, my focus is on the Slayer. Yours, the Elements. If the Slayer remains, then the Dark Lord only knows what he could do to halt the Dread Legion.” the Archvile looked at the fellow demons that surrounded him.

Kronos shook his head. “And what exactly does this Tartarus place have to do with stopping the Slayer?”

“Hm, well Kronos.” he said, metal boots and demonic stomps rumbling across the steps. Any form of wildlife that could run immediately evacuated as they passed. Legions of birds and squirrels, not even the disgusting flies would make their presence near these wretched beasts. “Have you ever heard of King Vorak?”

The hologram nodded. “Old ruler of the Evokan Plains? He was slain eons ago by the Doom Slayer, massacred with the rest of his kingdom.”

“Yes.” Incendium replied, reaching the bottom of the stair steps. The gates to Tartarus were a couple meters out. “He had a son, you know, a powerful caster such as I.”

“Tirek?” Kronos realized. “But I thought he and his brother had disappeared for years. Unless…”

“Not commonly known throughout Hell, Tirek traveled with his brother, Scorpan into Equestria.” the Archvile explained. “They defied the demands of Davoth to hold onto the world until the time came. They invaded early and failed. Tirek was captured and sent here.”

The Marauder scoffed. “And how would a pitiful demonic noble that can’t even handle these ponies be capable of withstanding the Doom Slayer himself?”

“You underestimate our equine foes,” he pointed out. “When coordinated and united, they are quite a threat.” the demon set two large feet in front of the doors, looking it up and down. Tons of bright red swirling lines and sigils marked the dark metal, a section at the bottom dedicated to whatever device was designed to open the door.

“He managed to battle them far under full power and nearly come out on top.” He lifted a giant hand at the gates, letting his fiery magic engulf it.

“I suppose another ally could not hurt. Keep him in check, Incendium. He could be reckless or worse, disloyal.” Kronos warned. He looked outside the range of the hologram at the sound of a demonic voice speaking. “I must go. Stay safe, brother.”

Incendium nodded. “You as well.” he replied before the feed was cut away. The demon turned, hands folded behind his back while looking at his squadron. He particularly gazed toward the Immoran Troopers riding on the shoulders of the Tyrant.

“The beasts here are highly dangerous. Beings capable of turning you to stone with a glance.” his burning stare singed into the souls of the simple human-like demons. “We need a volunteer to enter and scout our immediate entry point.”

The Troopers all immediately glared at John. John sat at the edge of the Tyrant’s left shoulder, napping with his Reaper gun resting on his lap with obnoxious snores. Everyone hated John. No one liked John.

The nearest Trooper grabbed his shoulder pad, tossing him off of the tall beast. “AH!” John exclaimed as he landed, grunting in pain as he rose to his feet. He lifted his Hell-Pike, pointing it at the opened door.

“John.” the powerful demon spoke down to the man. “Connect your helmet’s feed to my HUD.” he offered a hand.

John tapped it’s hand lightly, a zap of red electricity being shared between the gauntlets before a camera of his view appeared small at the top right of Incendium’s HUD. “Are you connected?” the Trooper asked.

Incendium nodded his large, alien-like head before the Immoran turned and marched shakingly towards the door. He entered the giant prison. It was rather bright, large and giant with tons of hills containing individual cages of monsters. Jagged cliffs dotted around which held several captive beasts.

Every cliff had a rocky path towards it and a magical light meant for containing the cage. Different, strange creatures resided in the prisons. A weird combination of a bee and a bear, a combined goat and tiger with the head of each and a couple of manticores.

John looked over at a cage that contained a hybrid chicken and dragon. The head and legs of a chicken but the torso and wings of scaley wyvern. “Hey, look at this little guy.” John lowered his staff, taking a knee in front of the imprisoned cockatrice and lifting a hand to it.

“I wouldn’t recommend that, Trooper.” Incendium cleared his throat as the gauntlet reached for the bars.

“Why?” John replied, looking out the doors to his squad.

The Archvile looked in disappointment. “We are not sure what it could do.”

The demon-following man shrugged. “Eh, to heaven with it.” He reached his hand in, the protective magical barrier surrounding the cage breaking and giving in to the armored glove. It began getting consumed by stone, the human’s eyes widening in terror. “AH!”

John turned, tearing his hand out from the cage and began shaking it. He dropped his Hell Pike, beginning to punch his rapidly stone-ifying hand. It cracked slightly as he tried to break free from it while it crawled up his arm.

The group of Immorans on the Tyrants shoulder were in hysterics at their squadmate’s peril. “AH! AHAH! AH! HELP ME!” he was running around like a maniac.

Finally, with a cracking hook, the stone fell away. He flexed his fingers, sighing in relief. “Thank Davo-”

John immediately got plowed by a towering, three headed beast. Armor snapped and cracked as he screamed in pain.

His shouts ended fast, the beast cracking open his metallic suit like a lobster and demolishing the fleshy interior. His squadmates were still cackling, harder now. Living in Hell your entire life didn’t teach the finest of morals.

Incendium groaned, shaking his head before turning to the Tyrant. He glared at the four Possessed Whiplashes. “Attack.” he commanded.

The snake-like monsters slithered off the limbs of the Cyberdemon, snaking off towards the door. Their bodies stealthed across the ground stealthily and quickly with blue Spirit energy trailing behind. The three snuck up on the over-sized dog, the tri-headed beast hardly noticing over the sound of cracking armor and bone.

It barked in alarm, feeling the beasts climb up it as the demons unlatched their chain-whips and pulled it around the monster’s necks before it could react any further. It began barking and shrieking, choking on the sharp chains the demons corded around the throats of the beast.

The fourth and final Whiplash stopped in front of the monster, throwing the bladed ends of her chains straight at the throats of the dog, blood spewing out as they were removed. With extremely lethal swiftness, Cerberus’ life drained with numerous whimpers and gallons of blood pouring from his neck.

The slaying of the hound was quick and relatively clean, considering the more brutal deaths bestowed by the Dread Legion. The Spirits that possessed the demons made them way faster than any amount they could muster without them.

It collapsed to the ground with a final roar, Tartarus rumbling with the force of the giant dog. The squad of Whiplashes unlatched from the beast, slithering back. The Archvile, Tyrant, Baron and the dozen other riding demons joined by their sides.

“Where to now, boss?” A Trooper queried as the Archvile gandered across the cliffy landscape of the ginormous prison. The entire mountain must have been hollowed out to make room here.

At one of the tall cliffs, with ridges surrounding the edges and a rocky path leading to it, sat a giant cage which held a familiar form to the Archvile. He started towards the path, placing his hands behind his back as his fiery footsteps crackled through the echoey prison.

Flame lapped behind his footsteps while the other infernal beasts followed up the ancient stairs to the plateau. The long slope felt as if it took ages to embark over, until finally, the arch-demon stopped at the top.

The Baron adorning fodder on its shoulder flanked the Archvile, the Whiplash wearing and Trooper-carrying Cyberdemon joined near the pink goat-like demon as well. They all stared down at the sight within the cage, black bars sealing it in and a magical spell circling around it, meant to cancel any attempts at magic.

A centaur demon laid within the ginormous cage. Its horse-half was covered in dark, aging fur while his humanoid top half was colored a faded red with a weak form and even thinner arms. Two pathetic horns extruded through his head. He slowly turned, beginning to speak. “I understand you ponies wish to mock me, but I will not comply. I have no interest in fr-” his eyes froze at the sight of the demonic group before him.

“D-Demons?” the centaur looked around. Relief overwhelmed him, but fear slowly trickled down. “Wait. Don’t tell me you are here to punish me. I-I didn’t know Equestria was a forbidden realm at fi-”

“That is of no matter now, Tirek.” Incendium’s infernal voice growled. “Our invasion has already commenced.”

His eyes lit with recognition at the sight of the significantly tall Archvile. “Incendium? Is that you? I-If the invasion has commenced, then that must mean…”

“Davoth has been killed at the hands of the Doom Slayer. And this is why we need you, Tirek.” he explained, his giant hands crackling with flame.

Tirek stood to his hooves slowly. “Really?” he asked, moving closer to grip his hands around the bars. “So, you have come to free me?!” his tone dripped with excitement.

The fellow arch-demon nodded his large, helmeted head. “And I believe this form you currently take wouldn’t be ideal for combat either.”

Tirek cackled. “It would not be so.”

You could hear a confident snicker come from the demon before he lifted his hands high in the air, preparing a spell. Red, demonic energy began swirling around Tirek, his size expanding. His spindly horse end grew into a large, mighty stallion three ponies tall. The demon’s torso bulked out from the previous weak form, muscles growing out and hardening to density of steel.

As his height increased, he began tearing out of the cage. His horns grew exponentially high, widening and turning in a position where they would be right beside each other at the tips, a magical sphere of magic forming between the two. His eyes burned red and orange, looking at his significantly large and strong hands with a wide smile.

He threw his arms out, tearing through the adamantium cage with minimal might. “HAHA! Just like old times, friend!” Tirek exclaimed with a booming voice, examining his more powerful form.

Incendium stepped forward, laughing along slightly. The two lifted arms, clasping each other's hands in a handshake. “It’s been too long!” the Archvile agreed, calling back to their times in the arch-realms, training in combat and Hell spells together.

The two released, Incendium turning and walking past the members of his legion. Tirek joined beside him. “Now tell me, how has Hell been without me?”

Incendium smirked behind his ghastly mask. “A little more hectic with the Slayer business. Now the Night Sentinels have a hold on Immora.”

“How in Davoth’s name did they manage a foothold there? Let alone get over the walls?” Tirek questioned.

“The Doom Slayer, of course.” He huffed, his super heavy demons trailing behind them down the stairs.

“Slayer?” Tirek tilted his horned head. “Back when I was still down there, he was just the pesky Marine.”

The Archvile scoffed. “Trust me, you are lucky to have skipped that age.”

Tirek looked down into the clearing in front of Tartarus’ entrance, Cerberus slain with blood pooling around the beast. He smirked at the sight. “Now tell me, what exactly have I been released for? I know you and your selfishness wouldn’t have gotten me out of here in the good of your heart.” he teased in a friendly fashion.

“All will be explained once we return to the Athergarrian Hunter.” the demon replied, dust falling from the ceiling of the tall prison.

The large squad of demons stepped over Cerberus’ corpse, hardly giving a glance as they rode off and out of the gates. Once they exited out into the open, the doors slowly swung shut behind them, crashing and shaking once they made contact before clicking with a rumbling lock.

Failure

The breeze blew heavy past the pink shield that engulfed the mountain positioned city. Standing on guard atop of the tall walls of the lavish white and gold city were a pair of stallions, watching the winds blast grass away. In the distance, far from the large polis was a huge batch of dark clouds with red lightning shooting between them. It came from the direction of Ponyville.

One guard sighed dejectedly, staring at the clouds. His coat was orange and he had a light blue mane. He was a pegasus wearing the standard golden armor with blue detailings on it. His mane was in a straight mohawk through his helmet. He held a fancy looking spear in his hoof valiantly.

“You good?” the deep voice of an older looking pony asked. Brown coat, black hair and eyes, unicorn horn and a similar set of gold colored armor.

The orange pegasus nodded slowly, still frowning.

The older royal guardspony shook his head. “You sure?”

Finally, the other guard decided to speak up. “W-Well, I’m just worried.”

He looked off in the direction his fellow guardspony stared at, deciphering where it could lead before going back to his co-worker. “About Ponyville?”

The orange pony “Mhm”’d in response. “M-My wife’s there.”

“Oh.” the older one muttered. “Well, I’m sure she’s fine. Luna said Ponyville got cleared of monsters a couple days ago.”

“Then why aren’t we taking it back?” he asked, annoyance in his tone. “If it’s so clear, why can’t we march in and just take it back?”

The brown-coated one shrugged with a solemn look. “I don’t think the princesses believe we could handle the monsters.”

“I could!” the younger pony declared. “If they laid a single hoof on Pleasant Stream, Celestia knows what I’d do to them.” he ran a hoof across the stone of their roofed post on the wall, facing the entrance of the kingdom.

“You know what they’d do if they found you, Sunrise?” this guard seemed much more experienced with their enemy.

Sunrise scoffed. “What? Sprinkle red magic on me?”

“I’m sure you've never met one, have you?” The older guard laughed, lifting a hoof and presenting his right foreleg. There was a long, ghastly scar stretching up and down the limb. It looked to be from some terrible beast. “A Prowler did that, well, what Luna calls them. They teleport around and stalk their prey in cities. I happened to be one of its prey.”

Sunrise stared at it in disturbance. Such grievous injuries were not commonly seen by the average pony.

“And those are the weaker ones,” he began. “One slash on that arm and I couldn’t stop bleedin’.”

A hopeless look developed on the other stallion’s face, looking at the ground for a moment in thought before returning up to stare across the mountain plain they were meant to be guarding.

He had to double take at what caught his eye. In the distance was a pony figure, purple colored with a horn jutting from her head and two long spread out wings. Sunrise pushed a hoof into the shoulder of the fellow guard. “Longtale, is that who I think it is?”

Longtale squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at the mare. “By Celestia…” it was Twilight Sparkle, seething with pure rage.

The two stared at her for a while as the princess stomped her way forward, slowly getting closer. “What should we do? Call for the gates to open?”

The old unicorn shook his head. “It could be a trick…”

“How?” Sunrise queried, tilting his helmeted head.

“Have you seen those monsters’ magic? They could trick anypony.” Longtale replied.

The fellow guardspony nodded in agreement. “That is a fair point. Should we warn the princesses?”

The unicorn nodded. “Definitely.”

Sunrise turned, calling back to a guard on the ground in the interior of the wall. “Bring one of the princesses! Twilight may have returned, although it could be a trick.”

Several civilian ponies stopped their daily commutes near the wall, looking in surprise at the statement. Had they heard that right? Twilight Sparkle? Alive?

“Erm, repeat that, please?” a white coated and blue maned guardspony looked up.

Sunrise looked at the handful of civilian ponies looking with wide, hopeful eyes. He cleared his throat. “Princess Twilight has returned. But we can’t be sure it's her, it could be a trick from the monsters. We require the aid of a princess.”

The guard nodded. “I understand.” before taking flight on his wings and towards the royal castle of Canterlot.

~

Twilight stared up at the top of the walls, the bubble keeping her out of the kingdom. Her eyebrows were drawn down into rage and determination. Her usually well-kept purple coat was matted and covered in both blood and mud, making it more of a poison purple than the usual violet.

Numerous scars and scratches contaminated her coat, from both demon encounters and the sharp brambles and scraping dirt of the wilderness. The saddlebag sat heavily on her back, swaying in the wind with the weight of the Codex. It was heavily torn and damaged. The journey home was not an enjoyable one.

There was an obnoxious scratching echoing through her mind. Krckc… krkkkrc… krrkrkrkr…. Eeeeeeeee… that same sequence of noises repeating, like hooves against a chalk-board. It only increased her anger at the princesses for abandoning her and the elements. Her friends and Spike…

She watched as a shimmering, flowing mane rose over the wall, Celestia climbing up the stairs and looking down at Twilight with an excited look. It quickly shifted to surprise and horror at the state she was in. “T-Twilight?” two guards stood next to her, sharing a similar but less exaggerated expression.

Her apprentice gave a dark stare back, huffing out a puff of hot air.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Celestia stared the fellow alicorn up and down, inspecting her for any signs of corruption. Her furious eyes were the usual dark purple, glaring. Her fur held no sign of gray either. It was Twilight for sure.

“Celestia…” she growled monstrously, advancing towards the bubble that separated her from the kingdom. They too hid under a similar shield as their short-winded hideout. Probably from the same source that the old castle had, there was no way Shining Armor could’ve made it here from the Crystal Empire alive.

The princess looked around in a concerned manner. “Where are the other five?”

Twilight felt a twinge of anger course through her. Of course she wouldn’t even think about Spike. All she replied with was the same hard glare.

“Oh…” Celestia assumed the worst. “Well, you must join us. I can tell you’re angry, but without you, Equestria may be left in ruins!” she flew down off the wall, going out of the shield and stopping a couple meters from Twilight. She looked down at her protege with sympathetic eyes. “I know what losing people feels like, Twilight. I’ve lost a lot over my millennias of life.”

Twilight’s rageful stare lowered to the ground for a moment, before looking back up with a bit more of an understanding look. Her gaze quickly turned into surprise at the sight of a certain figure within the shield. Standing on the wall was her brother, horn lit with rosy magic.

Her guard fell, eyes wide as she took a step forward. “S-Shining Armor?”

Celestia looked at the unicorn, then back at Twilight. “Yes, he is fine and alive.”

The fellow alicorn’s ears were high now. “But how would he have even gotten here without being attacked? The Crystal Empire is so far away.”

“That is a question for my sister.” Celestia nodded gently, a welcoming smile forming on her face. “Come, staying out here for too long is dangerous.” she started towards the shield.

Twilight gave a glance behind to the cliffs she had woven through, before agreeing and following after the Sun Princess.

The large gates to the lavish city slowly swung open, revealing a legion of pony citizens, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Princess of Friendship. They all gasped at the sight of Twilight, looking at her dreadful, dirty and scar-ridden appearance. It was scary seeing a princess like this, with a bit of a broken look in her eyes.

“Move along!” Her brother commanded, walking down the steps of the wall’s stairs, two royal guardponies going with him as he stood to the side of the two princesses. “We must assess Princess Twilight Sparkle for any injuries at the castle, and we cannot do that with everypony blocking her path.” Shining Armor exclaimed with authority.

The crowd of Canterlot citizens made way for the group, Shining Armor leading them through. Once they made it by, and the only real presence of ponies were mumbles from the markets and houses lining the white brick roads, Shining Armor dropped the authoritative tone as they journeyed to the main castle.

~

“Have you heard any voices or any compulsions by an unknown force?” the nurse pony asked Twilight.

The alicorn shook her head no, an annoyed look plastered over her face. She was in her gorgeous Canterlot room. The nice purple and lavender hues sitting gently on Twilight’s eyes. Several portions of her body had been bandaged up with some scars sewn together.

The windows let in the pink-tinted sunlight as she sat on the comfortable bed. Way better than any eons old mattress she rested on in the Castle of the Two Sisters.

“Have you come in direct contact with any monsters in the last few hours?”

She recalled yesterday, the attacks from those things… It didn't matter, that was much longer ago than a few hours. “No.” Twilight replied.

“Have you come into any contact with them?” the nurse questioned next.

“Yes.” she responded.

The unicorn nurse nodded, writing something down on a nearby notepad with a pen, engulfing it in her magic. “Well, I believe those are all the questions. I’ll be going now.” the unicorn stood up, walking towards the door and gently pushed it open with a free hoof, notepad in the other hoof as she went out. The door fell gently.

Once the nurse was gone, Twilight plummeted back into her bed, cozying up into the sheets and shutting her eyes for some sort of rest in the comfy bed. It felt like laying on a cloud compared to the cold dirt she had to rest on for the past few days.

Her hooves splayed across the mattress in a long stretch, the soft mattress sinking down from her weight. She hardly bothered to place the covers over her bandaged form. Before she allowed sleep to devour her, she was awoken by the sound of a pair of hoofsteps. She opened her eyes, sitting up.

“Did I wake you up?” Celestia asked, worried.

Twilight blinked exhaustion away from her eyes. “No.” there was a hint of annoyance to her tone.

Princess Celestia looked around the room for a moment, attempting to find the right words to begin the conversation. She felt as if asking if she was okay would simply bother her further, seeing that dozens of other ponies had already asked that same question. “Do you need anything?”

The fellow princess gave a moment of thought, glancing down at her aching stomach. She had been ignoring the pangs thanks to the exhaustion of her journey and injury overtaking it. “Food.” Twilight felt too exhausted, whether physically or mentally to form more complex sentences.

“I could make you pancakes.” Celestia suggested with a kind smile.

Twilight nodded in bed, tired beyond belief.

“Okay.” she turned, beginning to head out. She stopped for a moment, rearing her head to her apprentice. “Erm, I do have a question, if you feel comfortable about answering it of course.”

The alicorn knew the question was coming.

Celestia swallowed nervously. “W-Would you tell me where the rest of them went? Your friends, I mean.” if they were dead, so were the chances Equestria had against this threat. "Rainbow Dash, Rarity, all of them."

Twilight shut her eyes. She recalled the horrifying noise of her friend’s screeches as they were grasped by the giant hands of that huge monster, being carried to the terrible half-technology half-octopus hellship.

“Gone.” that was the first word that came to her mind.

Celestia shuttered with surprise. “Like… gone gone?”

Twilight shook her head. “Gone.” her desert-dry throat could hardly form that word as dread and grief tsunami’d at the thought of her last time seeing her friends… and her noble assistant.

“So they’re alive?” Celestia’s eyes flung in hope. “Where?”

Twilight moved her head to look at the princess just slightly. “In a hell warship.” she cleared her throat painfully. “They were captured…” she still felt a pang of anger at her lack of worry for Spike, but she was too tired to let it consume her like before.

“But they are alive, right?!” optimism flew through the alicorn like nothing else.

Twilight nodded.

Celestia’s wings fluttered. “This is great news! Thank you, Twilight. I need to tell Luna!” she turned, trotting joyfully out of the room.

Once the door shut, silence finally filled the room. Her ears rang just slightly as she laid back, shifting in the bed onto her side. Her tired eyes now faced the window, covered with curtains that blew freely with gentle air. She sighed, deciding to grab the curtains with her small amount of magic to roll them out of the way of the window.

She looked across the prestigious kingdom, tons of ponies roaming the streets she could see from where her bedroom resided. Twilight couldn’t help but feel guilty at the sight. All the ponies down there had counted on her and her friends to save them. They had before, against Nightmare Moon, King Sombra, Discord, Tirek, Chrysalis, anything… but they, no, she had failed them.

Twilight Sparkle had failed her friends

her people

her brother

her mother

her father

her assistant

her mentor

her city

her kingdom

her home

her hopes

her dreams

her efforts

her world

Twilight’s ears perked at a telepathic multi-layered voice echo in her mind. “We sympathize.”

Codex/The Dread Legion

ARC DATA ENTRY 401 - THE ARCH-LEGION
INFORMATION GATHERED FROM COMMUNICATIONS WITH SENTINEL POPULATIONS

Before the commencing of the Immoran siege, the Dark Lord spoke privately to his two finest warriors. Arch-demons under the names Kronos and Incendium. A Marauder and Archvile respectively.

Incendium has been responsible for the capture as well as holding of Urdak. His strategies performed in the Holt was admired by Davoth, as they were more effective against the Slayer than anything else before. His powerful spells also aided his qualifications. He is an intelligent demon who strategizes and commands very well.

All across his body he adorns beastly armor made with powerful Immoran technology. In combat, he wears a facemask as well to strike fear in his enemies, a silver demonic face with long horns piercing out. (Imagine the DLC 2 UN reward skin, but on an Archvile.)

Kronos, a former Sentinel noble meant to inherit the Warrior King throne of Taras Nabad whose position was overtaken by the Doom Slayer himself. He wears black and gold armor and utilizes a wrist mounted Meathook as well as a Chainsaw Energy Sword that is effective at both cutting and blocking.

Often he is found monologuing before a large battle. He has a strict code of honor embedded in him from his days past of Night Sentinel nobility. On occasion, he may even spare his enemy if he feels as though they fought honorably enough. Although in active combat, he is a very ruthless and powerful being.

Davoth commanded the two to form the Dread Legion, the primary invading force to be sent to Equestria if the duel between him and the Slayer would leave the Dark Lord slain. It was the backup plan, and if it were to fail, then the dominion of Hell would surely be cast into oblivion, starving from the lack of worlds to consume.

He set aside a large portion of his armies to the two arch-demons to command. Hundreds of warships were sent as well with a couple Titans just in case they would need it. The Dread Legion slipped away from the battle of Immora with hardly any of the Night Sentinels noticing.

For years they built themselves up further in the darkest parts of Jekkad, moving argent wells to more hidden locations and rising armies much closer to their destination. The invasion would’ve been easy, however now with the Slayer’s presence, it may not be as easy as they’d expect.

Mission 4. The Corpse Forest

Analyzing combat environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Battle track produced

https://youtu.be/2FL451dcuoQ

Briefing

Your fists shake with rage as you stomp your way through the woods, eviscerating any demon that approaches. You must locate the Argent Wells, the main source of Hell energy that is being sent into Equestria. Crushing these will dampen the invading forces' transportation, supplies and reinforcements.

An Imp leaped down from a pony-holding branch, only to be gripped around the neck and thrown into a field of hell-electricity striking between the tall trees of the Corpse Forest.

The Imp roared in shocking agony while the Doom Slayer viciously gripped the jaw of an approaching Revenant. He tore it away, grabbing its neck and spewing an army of flames down its throat with his Shoulder Cannon. He then threw it to the ground and decapitated it with his Doomblade savagely.

He dove under a slash of a Hellborne Baron’s fireblade, grabbing its hoof and throwing it through a nearby Hell-tree. It roared in agony as the tall, electric filled tree shocked it to death. The Slayer roared in rage.

Suddenly, cutting off his path was a towering Tyrant. This was lightwork to the furious Slayer as he dodged a wave of missiles and slid up to its shins. With all the might of his tower-crushing fist he blasted the mechanical right leg of the Cyberdemon off it’s knee, before slamming another and cracking away it's right leg.

Blood fountained from a horribly torn artery as the Slayer landed a final punch into the Tyrant’s pig-like face, knocking it several hundred feet away from the man. Its spine was broken, jutting into the corroded artery and slicing it. The blood fountain of the Super Heavy Demon was slaughtered as the Slayer looked at his shaking fist.

They slowly stilled, the hyper-lethal hands unfurling into gun-ready gauntlets. He steadied his breath as he felt the more furious breaths leave himself. He brought out his glorious Quad-Barrel, continuing down the woodland path. The dark blue and sickly green leaves and grass of the forest remained eerily still as his bloody boots left a legion’s worth of footprints behind him.

Far ahead, above the trees he could see a tall tower of demonic red energy shooting into the sky, going into the swirling clouds. That had to be the well. He swiftly spun behind him, bisecting a sneaky Prowler with a quadruple blast of shells. Predicting their teleports was like muscle-memory to him. Easier than pie when he wasn’t focused on twenty thousand other demons.

“That must be the source of the wells. Locate them and find some way to destroy it.” Luna explained.

Finding a way to destroy things was the Slayer’s specialty. He jammed half his barrels with new ammo, before loading the next pair and clicking the shotgun shut.

His grieving for his magnificent weapon was interrupted by a huge stomp behind him. The Slayer spun, readying Lucifer’s Bane. A demon, recovering from his landing, rose from a valiant knee.

It had the body shape resembling a Sentinel, however it was armored in devilish steel. He wore a dark underarmour beneath the maroon and burgundy metal commonly seen across the Dread Legion. It completely covered the entirety of his body. The underarmor of his limbs were composed of strong chainmail, revealing bits of rotting flesh beneath. His helmet had three horns, two curving four inches up and a middle when standing straight high.

The trio of horns descended into a brow-shape of the helmet, a curved eye-slit in the shape of a wide, tempered glare that glowed with fiery orange. Covering his mouth and nose was a face covering shaped like a demonic scowl. Topping the threatening look off was the sash of tiny skulls attached to his waist-belt and the large demonic skulls on each shoulder pad.

The feature that most caught the Slayer’s attention was his enemy’s weaponry. A duo of a unique weapon he had not seen before. Two hell-revolvers. The handles were slanted with carved designs of ancient runes and demonic forms. Triggers the length of fingers followed the handle’s curve before going up into the similarly engraved receiver.

The barrels extended into the shape of serpents tattooed with satanic runes. To top the gnarly weapons’ appearances off, the iron sights were made purely of the horns of slain demons. Hellfire flagged and waved from the tip of the barrel, ready to be blasted along with the firearm’s hot lead.

The Doom Slayer could notice the sight of a good gun, nodding a small bit in appreciation of the well-maintained side-pieces. He took further note of a sash of what looked to be vials, filled with some substance he believed to be of demonic origin.

“The Corpse Forest isn’t big enough for the two of us, Slayer.” the stoic Marauder stated, pointing his dual revolvers at him. His voice was gravely, like the trickle of whiskey down a hill.

The Slayer turned his head to see a crackling pool of orange appearing several feet behind him. An Archvile rose from the ground, hands raised in an electric spell. The demon appeared to be shaped like a standard Archvile, but its coloring seemed to be adapted from the Corpse Forest. With dark blue, chitinous flesh and red electricity dancing between its long fingers and eyes. Once he was fully in this plane, he lowered his huge hands to growl at the demon killer.

The Marauder snickered. “Or should I say three of us?” it shot the first duo of bullets at the Slayer’s head, cocking the hammer of the weapons.

The Slayer immediately dashed out of the way of the blasts, another wave coming by as he sprinted to the Archvile. He grabbed his Sentinel Hammer, leaping to the air and slamming it to the ground near the tall demon.

The stunned beast groaned as the Slayer sliced the leg of the vile beast. He let it drop to the floor before pumping the quad of shells into its face. He successfully killed it before it could summon or buff any fellow demonkin.

Before he could gaze back at the Marauder, his vision exploded in a flash of white. The Slayer’s ears rang heavily, his perception reduced to a useless amount. He began seeing double as the white faded. He felt a huge smack to the face, the Slayer being pistol-whipped before his helmet managed to block a close-quarters hell-shot. His armor dissipated swiftly.

Thankfully, before the demon could fire his other revolver, the Doom Slayer’s Shoulder Cannon picked up on the situation and shot an Ice Bomb. The shards surrounded the firearm oriented Marauder, the demon not completely frozen yet still stunned and slowed by the crystals he tried desperately to remove.

The Slayer used this opportunity to bring out his Combat Shotgun to get a multitude of shotgun blasts in. Chuk-chuk-chuk-chuk-chuk. The barrels rotated and shot hot lead into the armored Marauder’s face. It advanced slowly, shivering and shaking and tearing away ice from his form. His armor seemed to be resistant to the effects of the Ice Bomb.

An idea crossed his mind. If he was resistant against the Ice Bomb, how would he fair against the Flame Belch? The Slayer thought quickly as he witnessed the demon remove another orange vial from the sash on his chest.

He dashed back several meters, ears ringing at the sight of a much less intense, but certainly noticeable explosion of brightness. The demon attempted another shot from his revolver, which clinked against the Slayer’s armor with a graze.

Assuming the Doom Slayer had been stunned, the Marauder arrived closer to blast a cap into his knee. The Slayer grasped his gun’s firey barrel, lifting his barrel up before legioning a bout of flame into his face.

The demon roared in agony, the Slayer grabbing his neck and forcing him into the ground. The Doom Slayer stashed away his Combat Shotgun, readying a brutal fist to punch the helmet in.

His attempt was thwarted by a blast into his face from the Marauder’s other handcannon. “AGH!” The Doom Slayer stumbled back, eye clenched shut. A giant hole was cracked into his helmet’s visor.

The Marauder coughed a tad as the Slayer viewed him through his singular eye. It raised a gun to the Slayer, shooting before he dashed out of the way of the bullet. He quickly swapped to his Rocket Launcher, locking a group of missiles onto the demon before launching them away.

They collided with the Marauder, explosions surrounding the demon before the next group he sent continued the legion of detonations. Another merciless round passed before the Marauder finally dashed away from the attacks, seeking safety behind a tree.

"You thought it would be that easy to slay an Archvile?" a fiery cackle echoed in his mind. He quickly swapped to Lucifer’s Bane at the sound of the voice.

Before he could spin around and blast the two pounds of hot lead into the shins of the demon behind him, he felt the three fingers wrap around his torso and neck. The Slayer shook furiously at the pure shocking pain as his suit systems were overflowed with the energy. He unsheathed his Doomblade swinging wildly behind him in hopes of breaking free.

With a meaty slice, the Doom Slayer felt himself reach the ground once more. He picked up his Super Shotgun and stood up to face the Archvile. Before he could turn to face the electric demon, his view was met with a rushing Marauder. It was a second one, different from the revolver wielding monster.

Its armor was an off-white, blood staining it in multiple locations. The design of his uniform was more reminiscent of the crusader faction of armor among the Sentinel ranks, with a rectangular helmet, blocky armor and a single red glowing eye slit on his face. He charged the Slayer with a bright red energetic spear readied, slit flashing bright green.

Rather than meeting the steel of its enemy’s armor, he met the wall of lead blowing through his armor. It staggered back as the Doom Slayer exploded a grenade in its face, scratching its helmet. A Ballista blast tore through the plating on his chest before a Precision Bolt shot a shoulder pad off the demon's arm.

The Doom Slayer attempted to fit in another attack for the combo, only for it to be blocked by the tip of his foe’s energy spear. He heard a monstrous roar from above, spotting a demonic dragon swoop downward, flapping near the retreating Marauder. It leaped onto the back of the beast, guiding it to fly above the trees to rest.

He clutched his stomach, a long strike melted through his multi-layered plating. Sparks crackled around the torn armor. His eye was still gone and his health showed below 50 on his HUD with no armor to speak of. He glanced at his two foes, the Marauder still hiding behind the tree and the Archvile wailing at the loss of his hand. Electrified blood poured from the missing limb.

"I recommend finding a source of health, Great Slayer." Luna advised.

The Slayer, thinking quickly, gazed upward to the numerous branches of the Corpse Forest. Stuck onto the splintered wood, and still living were about a dozen Unwillings on one batch of arms. He double-jumped to the bark, climbing with the Doomblade aiding as a sort of ice pick.

It took a solid thirty seconds of booster assisted climbing before he reached the top of the unnaturally tall tree. He landed on the wide limbs, the sound of groans from the zombified ponies echoing through the woods. He rushed to the closest one on the tree-limb. It was a white stallion unicorn with a stringy batch of blue hair and a strong build. It was impaled with a huge wood branch spike driving through its torso.

He grabbed the former-pony’s head, tearing it away with relative ease. His health climbed to 78. The Slayer rushed to a pair of other ponies, too dead-looking and grayed out to decipher their appearance beyond a husk. He lit the two demons ablaze with his Flame Belch, before chopping away the head of one pony and cracking away the head of the other one.

It ticked to 94, then 115. His armor crawled up gently to a nice 46. He glared at the next arm, taking a mighty leap and landing onto it. It shook violently with his weight as he slaughtered each pony impaled there brutally. As he did, he began feeling his vision restore, the eye he lost reforming into its socket.

The Slayer breathed softly once his health returned, resting at a nice 200 with 77 armor to spare. While he stood on the branch, he loaded the next batch of shells into his Super Shotgun, readying himself for the next portion of battle.

“RRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” the Slayer turned to the demonic dragon, the once-Sentinel riding on its back with the long energy spear in hand. It was lifted in a reverse grip to be launched at the enemy.

He glared, lifting his Super Shotgun and firing away the wall of lead. The demonic dragon tanked most of it, in reply the Sentinel-rider launched a furious spear-throw at the branch he was standing upon.

The Slayer stared at the energy-weapon that was embedded into the base of the giant tree-arm. Suddenly, the giant branch shifted, the Slayer stumbling a little before he began tumbling down with the broken wood.

His mind rushed as to what he could do. Glancing downward, he spotted a section of the woods absolutely consumed by demonic electricity. An idea suddenly crossed his mind. He extracted the quad-barrel attachment on his Super Shotgun, slamming on the standard double barrel with the Meathook below it.

The Doom Slayer aimed it upwards, launching the weapon’s sharp prongs into the demonic beast above. He felt the air rushing past him halt for a moment as the Meathook stopped his fall, before it rapidly reeled the demon killer upwards towards the dragon.

The dragon was roaring furiously, trying to tear the charring hook from its chest. The only thing that removed it was the Slayer, as it retracted quickly back under the barrel of the Super Shotgun. He was flung a couple meters above the dragon and Marauder-like demon. It stood atop the beast, commanding it where to go while being attached to it by a very long harness.

It stared up at him before the Slayer landed on the back of the dragon, lifting his Super Shotgun’s barrel to him. The Lancer blocked the shot quickly with his large spearhead, The Slayer reloading as the demon charged with the weapon.

The Doom Slayer dodged the strike, demonic energy whizzing past him as he blasted the lead into the side of the demon. It staggered, the Slayer unhooking his Meathook and gripping its prongs tightly.

He ran up behind the Lancer, wrapping the chains around his neck and pulling tightly. The demon was strangled brutally, gripping and grabbing for the chains. Everytime it could grab it, the Slayer leaned left or right to shift the positions of them vastly, making its grip inadequate.

“AGH! HUH! GHACK!” It struggled, getting a decent grasp of the chains and tearing them away for a moment to exclaim something. “S-STOP!”

A wicked, horrifying grin cracked across the Slayer’s battle-hardened face as he saw life drain from the movements of the demon. Luna swore she could hear the crazed mutterings of approval at the sight of the dying Lancer.

Before the Lancer blinked his last gaze, the Slayer felt gravity shift on the dragon. He felt himself fall from it, still remaining attached by the Meathook wrapped around the throat of the harnessed Lancer. He moved his head up, seeing the ground and spotting that electric Archvile alongside the gun-Marauder. The two were watching the fight. The Marauder had swirling electricity around him, buffed by the arch-demon beside him.

He quickly re-antiquated his chain positioning, keeping it around the neck of the demon. Its dragon roared in worry as its master was slowly fading on its back. Once more it spun right-ways up, flinging the Slayer across its back with his Meathook retracting under the barrel of his Super Shotgun.

The Lancer struggled near the tail-end of his beast, gasping for air desperately as he clenched his neck. The Doom Slayer prepared his charge at the head-end of the beast. He attempted a rushing step forward, only for his foot to never reach the ground. The Slayer looked at his boots, seeing the first stride mid-air still.

The Lancer’s dragon was gripping the Slayer in its jaws, rearing its head for a moment before launching him off its back. The Slayer quickly spun to fire his Meathook, the prongs stopping short from the dragon. He felt himself go into freefall, several dozen meters above.

He looked down at the ground he was rapidly approaching. Down at the forest floor stood the electric Archvile as well as the gun-wielding Marauder. He holstered his Super Shotgun, preparing one of his fists.

The Slayer crashed into the ground, crushing one of his gauntlets through the gun-Marauder. His arm was stuck in the torso of the demon, blood surrounding it. The Marauder was killed on the impact of the near ton man falling from so high up. The Doom Slayer lifted the monster to face the electric Archvile.

The Marauder’s back shielded the Slayer from a legion of assaulting electricity from the hands of the Archvile. As it attempted to shock him, he removed one of the demonic revolvers. He cocked the hammer, blasting a fiery shot through the knee of the tall demon.

He chambered another bullet, aiming the next shot at the collapsing demon's face. Once it was on the ground, bleeding its electric blood, he tore his metal boot through the large demon's head. The caved in head of the beast let out one little spark before finally ceasing back to normal liquid.

The Slayer grabbed the corpse of the demon still stuck on his fist. Meaty tears echoed through the woods. With a grunt, he finally tore the heavily armored gunslinger off of his arm. He leaned down, picking up the other revolver off the demon's dead body. He inspected the Dual Hell Revolvers. Hellvolvers.

He unlocked the chamber of the weapons, flicking the cartridge out to review the ammo. They were rather large pistol bullets, most likely propelled by the souls of the damned.

"RRAAAAAAAAH!" The roar of the demonic beast bounced from the tall arms of the Corpse Forest. The Slayer glared at the Lancer, before lifting both Hellvolvers and beginning to propel a volley of burning rounds.

The demonic knight riding the back of it lifted a long energy javelin, launching a spear at the Slayer. He dashed out of the way of the weapon, seeing it stick to the ground before combusting into a huge explosion of lethal electricity. The Slayer lifted a gun to shield himself from the blast, continuing to fire with the other Revolver.

The Hell-beast blasted a wall of flame in front of him as it passed, the Slayer dashing back before equipping and aiming his Super Shotgun in the direction of the dragon. He fired his Meathook, slicing and holding into the side of the Lancer’s steed. The Doom Slayer propelled after the demon.

Once he arrived close enough, he yanked his Shotgun to leap over and onto the back of the beast again. He set a Hellvolver into his inventory, aiming the remaining one and his Super Shotgun at the Lancer. Before the Night Sentinel could turn to confront him, a powerful Super Shotgun blast ripped into his armor, another shot from the Hellvolver joined it.

The Lancer missed a shot from a thrown javelin, the Slayer swapping away his Super Shotgun for Hellbreaker. He brutally slammed the Hammer into the head of the Lancer, the helmet flying away and leading the demon’s body headless. The Slayer kicked the demon off the back of the dragon, watching it fall down to the forest floor with its head.

The Doom Slayer unignited Hellbreaker, sliding the long hilt of the weapon back into his backplate lock. He holstered the Hellvolver on his left hand on his left hip plate, grabbing the reins of the Hell beast.

Out of fear, the dragon obeyed the Slayer’s guidance. He commanded the monster to fly far towards the energy beam that extended into the cloudy sky. Wind tore past his blood-covered armor as the dragon batted its wings, taking a swift flight to journey far to the beam.

~

The Slayer looked off the edge of the dragon’s back, spotting the Gore Nest that sourced the Argent energy being sent to Equestria. Patrolling it were several demons. From here he could spot a Baron, two Mancubi and what looked to be a few Revenants. The Slayer cracked his knuckles, removing the Shotgun and Hellvolver from his sides.

He leapt off the dragon, landing his boots into a Revenant. He blasted a hole straight through the head of the demon with his Hellvolver, the Slayer spinning to launch a Super Shotgun shot into the Mancubus before Blood Punching one of its cannon arms off.

It roared in pain while the Slayer unlatched the chamber of his Super Shotgun, setting it near his hip to let his inventory reload while he shot another Hellvolver shot to the face of a Revenant that was attempting to launch a legion of lock on rockets.

It made the demon stagger as he shot another Shotgun blast into the face of the Mancubus. The huge beast lowered its weapons, stunned. The Slayer holstered both guns, grabbing the huge cannon on the arm of the Mancubus and contorting its aim up to the beast's head. It charged with a glorious shot before blasting its owner's head off.

Blood covered the visor of the Doom Slayer. Once the glory kill was completed on the Mancubus, he turned to finish off the Revenant he had staggered earlier. He leg sweeped the bony limb of the demon, digging his giant gauntlet down the throat of the beast. He gripped its tongue, tearing it up and out of the Revenant’s mouth.

He lifted it high, for all to see before crushing it with his hand, even more crimson dousing the gauntlets. Once the Revenant was done for he jammed a pair of shells into the chamber of his Super Shotgun before turning right around at the sound of a Baron approaching.

The Slayer lifted his unsheathed Doomblade, blocking the swipe of the Fireborne Baron’s blade. He pointed the dual barrels at its knee, shooting the bone out before swapping away to his Ballista and cracking a double energy blast into its torso. His Doomblade SChk’d back into its wrist-sheath so he could better continue the combo.

The beast staggered back, a Grenade stunning it again before a Blood Punch joined the string of faltering attacks. The Slayer dashed away to be safe from any retaliation, equipping Paingiver and locking on a trinity of rockets. They bursted and blasted through its natural chitin armor, before another set of explosions joined the first.

It roared agonizingly through every attack, blood and broken chitin flying everywhere before the Slayer finally tackled the beast to the ground. He packed away his Rocket Launcher, laying down an absurd beatdown on the beast. Lava-blood practically caked his armor with each hit, every merciless punch echoing gruesome smashes that interrupted the horrified screams of the Baron.

The Slayer growled viciously, seeing the beast fail to yield from life. Growing impatient, he drove both his hands sideways into the neck of the monster. He roared in effort as he tore the head off the demon. He let out a gravely huff, picking the head up by its horn. He stood up, presenting it to the empty clearing.

No other demons opposed him. With a long breath, he dropped the head of the Baron, equipping his Super Shotgun from off his hip and loading a new pair of shells. His feet rumbled the floor as he climbed up the stairs to the Gore Nest, the Hell energy towering far above him into a portal that led to Equestria.

“We must be swift, Slayer. The demons must be routing forces to your location.” Luna informed him.

He went up to the mass of pony-sourced gore, gripping his Shotgun’s handguard with his left and rearing his right fist back into a punch. The Slayer tore into the fleshy heart of the writhing mass.

His hand plunged deep, tearing out the heart with a fountain of blood. The spire flickered repeatedly, before dying out when the demonic screeches deafened the area. The mound of guts exploded after a moment or two, the Slayer returning his iconic gun back to its familiar position in both hands.

“That should make the demon’s access to reinforcements more difficult. Great work, Slayer.” Luna spoke thankfully.

As he stood in front of the remains of the gore nest, he heard tons of portals open behind him. He took a couple steps to turn, seeing the absolute legion begin entering. A huge Titan tore through a giant red vortex, thousands of heavy demons and fodder coming along with it. The amount that presented themselves was nearly uncountable.

He growled, lifting his Super Shotgun. The only way out was through.

What Kind of Princess?

Red dust rained down from the air, a wave of hellish energy explosions hurdling across the red streets. Citizens of bipedal form and strangely gold skin hid in their homes, peaking their rotund heads over windows to see the assault before immediately ducking back down from the following eruption of crackling red.

The primitive city was built mostly from tan mud-hut adobe's on the desert-like red plains. It was a sprawling village of homes decorated with rugs and mysterious religious symbols.

Walking out of the dust, traveling down the width of the street was a large group of stoic-faced creatures, all the same species however with notable variations in their face-shapes. Long dreads flowed down their hooded heads, their hands folded into each sleeve of their burgundy robes, the same shade as their planet's earth.

The dozen priests walked the path in their sandals, balls of enemy energy narrowly missing them. The shortest of the twelve, all the way on the left was visibly shivering. "Hell has arrived, and our finest mages and warriors have all perished." she muttered, hiding her fear in the shade of the hood. "What are we to do?"

One of the male priests, marching with great stillness replied. "Priest Artikan has a plan, do not worry yourself." he barely flinched at another explosion. "Trust the higher ones."

The younger priest took a long breath, steadying herself as they ascended ancient steps up an old cliff, encroaching on a huge temple built upon pillars centuries old. The stone was formed from pure maroon.

The twelve shuffled within, darkness surrounding them. Several statues of alien creatures lined the walls, shining even in the dark from the embedded crystals and gems on their carved robes.

On a pedestal in the middle of the room, which slowly lit with golden light was an artifact floating gently. It was a cube of sorts, multi-sided with tons of holy engravings and runes across it. There were eye-like vessels, unlit.

The center priest stepped forth, in front of the artifact. “Brothers, sisters.” Artikan began. “Our planet is under siege by these horrid beasts, and our defenses have all failed.” he held his hands out. “However, with this we may save our world.” it presented the cubical artifact.

The rest of the group stepped forward beside him, holding hands in a chain.

“The Praeleanthor will save our race, but we must give up our souls to power it.” the head priest lowered his head, beginning to mutter ancient chants and hymns. The artifact slowly began splitting apart, circulating blades exposing and circusing about as they all chanted simultaneously.

Golden light slowly began shining from their bodies, snaking and worming over to the cube-shape, injecting into the circular core of it where the eye was embedded. After a moment of the souls being consumed by the shape, the eye finally hummed loudly with activation, beaming with gold energy.

The dozen priests collapsed to the floor, their bodies lifeless and cold. Soon, the Praeeanthor floated away from its podium, out to the exit of the temple. Millions of screeches, roars, explosions and slices could be heard, before suddenly the vision was brought to an end with an eruption of red energy, the temple collapsing down.

~

“We tried our best, killed hundreds, thousands. But in the end we were buried with the city and our people.” it rumbled on the windowsill to the alicorn as she recovered from the vision.

Twilight looked at her blankets sadly. “A-And the same will happen to Equestria…” her voice was cracky and unstable.

“Your home has a real chance however.” they began. “We had no king, no queen, no warriors, not a legion.” its yellow lights flashed with every word. “But you, Princess, you can still save this world.”

She shook her head, ears low. “If I can’t even save my friends from those things, how can I save the entirety of Equestria?”

“Because you must. And with my aid, we can do it together.” it replied.

Twilight opened her mouth to shoot down their hope, before sighting her saddlebag placed just under the window. The Codex resided within, along with the 122nd page. She focused her magic with a grunt, wrapping her aura around the saddlebag and dragging it up and onto the bed. On occasion, her magic would flicker, however it just managed to bring it to her.

She flipped to the page, bookmarked by the polaroid of her and Spike. Twilight glanced at the picture for a moment before reading through the chapter. A location, she needed to find the location. Her eyes skimmed through the page, searching desperately for a name or some kind of pointer.

Finally she found it. Reading left and right in the page to make sure it truly was the spot. Her muzzle turned up into a smile. Maybe there was hope… Ivotahnn, an old Sentinel outpost just east of Baltimare. It felt as though her ears could reach the sky as she shut the book, deciding when and how she should take the jou-

“Oh.” Twilight felt her spirit shrink, the alicorn wincing in pain the complex conclusion took on her concussed brain. East of Baltimare was nothing, nothing but the Celestial Sea and Griffinstone after that. For all she knew it had sunk into the deep water eons ago.

She heard a knock at the door of her room, the alicorn’s ears picking up as she looked over curiously. Twilight coughed a bit before speaking up. “Come in.”

Princess Luna slowly opened the door, worried. She had not seen the extent of the Princess of Friendship’s injuries. “Twilight?” she held back a gasp once the door fully opened, seeing the heavily bandaged alicorn.

Twilight shuffled in the comfy bed next to the Codex, failing to form proper words to reply in her current state.

“Are you okay? What all had happened out there?” she closed the door behind her, Luna’s soothing and regal voice filling the room.

“It’s…” she winced at the attempts of memory. “It's a long story.”

The Princess of the Moon sighed. “Listen, Twilight.” she walked by the bed. “I am so thrown with joy that you are alive. However, I need to know everything. Anything about the demons you know. And especially where your friends and Spike went.”

Twilight’s eyes lit up at the mention of the young dragon. “I-Its… Spike died.” she clenched her hooves.

“What happened?” Luna queried, taken aback in surprise.

“Killed, by Kronos.” she felt fury flame in her soul at the name. “A demon, he’s the one leading the invasion.”

Luna murmured at the presentation of another demon leading the Dread Legion. “What did he look like?”

Twilight had trouble finding a description for the monster. “He had a lot of armor, a hook and some sort of magic chainsaw sword.” she set a hoof to her head. “It’s difficult to remember all the details.”

A Marauder. Princess Luna assumed from the description. “And the other five?”

“C-Captured.” she forced out.

Her eyes widened at the statement. Luna did not expect this. They were planning on doing something with the elements. Or else they would have slain the other five mercilessly. “Those monsters, where did they take them?”

“On some floating ship with tentacles attached to it, it was huge and red.” she explained. “Almost as large as Canterlot itself.”

The Princess turned. She needed to tell the Slayer this immediately. “Thank you for your time, Twilight.”

As Luna walked out, a question tore at Twilight, almost forcing her to ask it. “L-Luna.” she stammered a bit. “I have a question.”

The alicorn stopped, turning. “Yes?” her ears perked as she realized just what book sat in bed with the purple princess.

“How much do you really know about what’s going on? I-Is there any hope for us?” she questioned warily.

Luna looked at the spotless ground for a moment. “There is hope, even if dim.” she moved closer. “Canterlot still stands. Even if the Elements are captured, they still live. I have made allies with a powerful friend, capable of unimaginable feats against those monsters.”

Twilight held a tatter of belief that they may make it through thanks to Luna’s statements. “I was… I was wondering about something. Zecora gave me this book talking about the demons, ancient history and these Night Sentinels and… I don’t know if this is real or not. You and Celestia are mentioned in it a lot and it's all written in old Ponish.”

The alicorn gave a moment of thought. Should she tell Twilight the truth? She shook her head. She deserves it at this point. “Yes.”

Twilight swallowed, the revelation surprising her only a little. She always had a small doubt it was false, but her confirmation changed everything. “The book mentions something called the Embedding Process. Something to make a pony stronger, to fight the demons.”

Luna froze at that name. The Embedding Process. She could still remember the screams of ponies that endured it and their states afterwards. “No.”

“Uh, what?” Twilight tilted her ringing head.

The alicorn shook her head. “You will not find that dreadful machine.”

“But Luna! You don’t understand.” she lifted her hooves before herself. “I-I can’t just sit here in this bubble, hiding. That can’t be my life, waiting for something to get better!” Twilight explained desperately. “I’m tired of it. How am I supposed to sit here when everypony suffers outside of Canterlot?”

“You must, for the safety of our kingdom and yours-”

Twilight’s eyebrows furrowed. “No, I can’t! What kind of Princess of Friendship am I, if I can’t even save my own friends?”

Luna clenched her muzzle shut at that statement. Silence filled the room for a moment. “You don’t understand a thing about that machine.”

“I don’t care what it does to me. I will save my friends.” she declared in a determined fashion.

Luna lowered her head. “I cannot force you to stay, however if you truly worry for the fate of Equestria, you would. If the demons find you, it is over.”

“Then they won’t.” Twilight replied.

With that, Luna turned and headed out of the room.

Ringing was brought to Twilight’s ears as the bedroom settled from the conversation. Twilight laid back down on the bed. Even if she now knew where it was, how in Celestia’s name would she get there? She hardly even felt like she could walk now, how would she be able to trek all the way from Canterlot to the Celestial Sea?

“A slipgate, perhaps?” the Praeleanthor rumbled in her head.

“Slipgate?” The alicorn queried.

The cube lit with every word spoken atop the windowsill. “A vortex. From my knowledge, every vital location in Equestria has one somewhere. I would be surprised if Canterlot did not.”

Twilight looked at the door Luna had just left out of. She drew a long breath, getting out of bed.

“What are you doing?” the Soul Cube asked as the injured pony began limping to the door.

“If anyone would know, it’d be Luna.” she declared willfully. The injured pony began following Luna out the door, peeking her head out to see her going down a hall and to a flight of stairs.

She winced at another pang of her head before opening the door fully once Luna had exited the hall.

“Don’t forget us.” the Praeleanthor reminded.

Twilight looked at it, remembering the last time she went without the artifact. She groaned, grabbing her saddlebag and cramming the Codex and Soul Cube into it before heading out.

She trotted to the stairway, leaning to see Luna making her way down to the throne room. Once more, after the princess was gone she trailed her. She looked to see where the alicorn was heading, if she was going anywhere of importance anyway.

Twilight knew Luna wouldn’t let her get an inch to that portal, but if she was able to find it and find some way to activate it, she could locate the device and save all her friends. Save Equestria itself.

She watched as the Princess of the Night set her hoof on a button behind the throne room, before the floor descended like an elevator leading to Celestia knows where. That has to be it! She waited for the floor to return before starting after.

The purple alicorn stepped behind the throne room, looking for the thing Luna had pressed. The search was elementary, Twilight easily finding the green light. She gently pushed her hoof into it, feeling the floor beneath her rumble. She looked down, seeing where it led.

Once the elevator reached its destination in the ancient hall, she could hear echoing down it simulating sounds of gunshots, demonic roars and explosions. They did not sound like they took place in the room, however it didn’t make the ghastly appearance of the hallway anymore approachable.

It looked similar to the room she had found the Soul Cube in, dark gray metal all over the place with statues of religious-looking alien creatures. Blue torches were mounted on either side of the hall to light her way. Thankfully, the noises seemed to mask the sound of her movements as she snuck as best she could towards the alicorn.

“There it is. A slipgate.” the Soul Cube stated, Twilight spotting the metallic arches in front of the large war-table Luna stood in front of.

As she got closer, she could make out a holographic display on the table, showing what looked like a view of horrifying gore and viscera. The pony kept her sight away from the counter, hiding behind one of the large statues in the hall before the circular room where the table and the princess resided.

It doesn’t look like it’s on. Twilight pointed out.

The Soul Cube rumbled in her bag. “It requires a power source to be activated. The older models, at least. You will need to use your magic.”

She gave a moment of thought. And how do I make it take me where I want to go?

“Just think about where you wish to be, and it will select a slipgate close enough to your destination.” it explained.

Twilight’s form shivered at the suggestion. She had to use her magic. In this state, it’d be like trying to walk straight through a brick wall. It felt like her horn was a huge slab at the tip of her head, weighing her down and blocking any efforts of the supernatural.

But she had to do it. She must push through that wall. Somehow, some way. The princess clutched her eyes shut, sitting down as her horn began sparkling slightly. She imagined in her mind, herself before a large brick wall in front of her.

Her imaginary self reached a hoof to it, setting the limb on the cold brick. She pushed forward, feeling it remain on the surface. Twilight set her hoof back to the black floor, void surrounding every inch of whatever this place was besides the obstacle in front of her.

She thought of her friends, her home. Their smiles and small snickers when she’d read too much, or greet them with a waving hoof. The warm, almost cloudless days of Ponyville. The comforting castle she resided in everyday. Memories comforting like a warm s’more or hot cocoa.

When she would help Applejack at Sweet Apple Acres, the smile on her freckled muzzle when she’d lift dozens of apples right off the trees with her magic. Twilight returned the hoof onto the wall, visions of her friends surrounding her as she began applying pressure.

The cocky grin Rainbow Dash flashed when she would beat her mercilessly in a race through the sky. The cheers of victory from her as Twilight seeked rest on a cloud, dazed.

That joyful smile that beamed from Pinkie Pie when she would come by to aid with a comically large cake too big for any magicless mare to guide out of Sugarcube Corner.

A giddy laugh of excitement from the pristinely-coated Rarity, enjoying the sight of her nerdy alicorn friend dressed so posh in a fine dress at the Boutique. She grunted a little as she pushed further into the slabs.

The gentle simper of Fluttershy as she let Twilight stroke her hoof across the back of a cute beaver. Dozens of wholesome beasts around her, greeting with chitters and yaps.

The many memories of Spike. Coming out of that egg, serving her those books way too large for his body, dining on crystals like nothing else, crushing over Rarity in a typically boyish way. Her foreleg began shaking as she forced ahead, lifting her left foreleg to join in the pressure.

“Nnngh!” Twilight had gone through so much so far, however she was going to fix it. All of it.

The bricks cracked slightly at her memory-induced anger.

It didn’t matter how many walls of demonic steel hid her best friends from her, she wouldn’t let anything stop her.

Her limbs were shaking furiously as she felt her muscles burn hot from the exertions.

Not any towering demon or pesty beast. Not a king or a queen. Not a legion of savage horrors. Not Kronos. Nothing would stop her now.

It felt as if her hoofs would grind into dust as she began imagining the locality of the EPD. Whether above or below water. It did not matter. She would find a way in there, to become stronger, for them.

She should have been there for them, all of them. Instead she watched, and pitifully tried, and assumed that just because she was some princess that she would be stronger. Twilight had failed them, all of them. Every single subject under her rule.

It felt as though all the bones lining her legs began cracking, every muscle tearing. It did not matter to her though. Dust began shivering from the wall as it was shaken by her efforts.

Twilight deserved any pain coming her way, every ounce of agony. It didn’t matter the pain or the torture, just that she was making those things suffer too. She hated them so much. Every ounce, every fiber, every bit of soul, everything in her desired the end of those things and the safety of her people.

It didn’t matter how. Hoof or spell, blade or spear, fall or crush, mud or water, slice or stab, rip or tear. She would do anything to save them.

The sound of crumbling tore through her mind, the wall collapsing at her hoofs. Her eyes shot open, the alicorn breathing heavily as she gazed at the violet colored vortex within the room Luna resided in.

She was sweating profusely as the aura faded from her horn. Her eyelids felt heavy and her brain felt like two pencils had been jammed into it from either ear. Twilight felt weak and tired, physically at least. Mentally, she was more alive than the most vibrant of rainforests.

Luna stared at the vortex in confusion. “Strange, I did not power the slipgate…” she turned to find the source, jumping back at the sight of the injured princess rushing the swirling purple.

Before she could exclaim a word to stop the princess, Twilight had disappeared into the open portal.

Mission T1. The Princess of Friendship Part 1

The chilling water pressured on Twilight as she was spat out of the slipgate’s vortex. The cold blue was all that surrounded her. The alicorn turned, looking to see the large sanctum the gate was mounted upon. She held her breath, looking around in panic. She partially expected the Ivotahnn outpost to be underwater, noticing the origin of the outpost being in the Celestia Sea.

However, she had no idea how to enter it. There was no apparent entrance and for all she knew, she was stuck down there. She grunted, clenching her eyes as she attempted to exude her magic. She knew a water-breathing spell, although she worried her body would be too weary to cast it.

Bubbles flew from her muzzle, a desperate look as her horn sparkled, zipped and zapped. She couldn’t concentrate with the pressure of the sea weighing down on her. Looking up, she could hardly see Celestia’s dim sun burning high over the water. She had to be dozens of meters below the surface!

She began waving her hooves desperately, hoping to swim to the air far above. Soul Cube! Help! Twilight internally pleaded as her arms heavily swam through the water. Weakness pulsed in her limbs as it felt like ages to the surface.

Twilight was confused as she felt a strong tug come from her saddlebag. WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! She swam against the pulls of the Praeleanthor as it began dragging her down.

“You will drown trying to swim to the surface.” it replied as she felt her chest tighten from lack of air.

And I’ll drown being dragged further to the ocean floor! She responded, suffering from the pangs in her chest.

Her vision began darkening as the Soul Cube led her towards the palace, glowing in the saddlebag before a magical metallic door slowly lifted on the front of the outpost. As she was being dragged in, darkness greeted all her senses.

~

Twilight awoke, spewing water from her muzzle. She coughed viciously, croaking as she expelled all the liquid from her lungs. She took a long and relieving breath, a million lives returning to her as she looked around where the princess had awoken.

She was in the outpost now, drained of water. The alicorn turned her head, still coughing to see her entry point. The metal gate was open, revealing the sea’s floor. The water’s flow was halted by a blue magical essence, the source arriving from a bright blue crystal.

Twilight followed the trail of the aura that flowed up to the powered machine that laid in the center of the room. A platform cut out of a large crystalline formation with several stone and ancient metal arches reaching down, pylons jutting out with magical energy pulsating from it. The power crystal was attached to it from above.

Tons of old ponish runes sprawled across the walls of this ancient temple. Most of all, the many electrified arches were covered in text that repeated synonymous words. ‘Power’, ‘Strength’, ‘Ability’, ‘Speed’, ‘Efficiency.’ Tons of words under that sort of meaning.

This was it, she was standing before the only way to save Equestria, and her friends. The EPD. It was as described on the one-hundred and twenty-second page. Even with the horrors that were mentioned in the passages she read, the determined princess gave no heed. If this was her only way, she would endure it.

“This is what you have been searching for.” the Soul Cube stated. “Salvation. For your home and friends.” it spoke from the dropped saddlebag nearby.

Twilight shakingly rose to her hooves. A silent and determined look was plastered on her face. She was tired of running from the monsters.

“Step on the platform, and the rest will do its work.” it said earnestly. “I wish you luck, princess.”

The Princess of Friendship took a deep breath, closing her eyes. For them… she took several steps forward, opening her eyes as she climbed up and onto the platform. She stopped there, waiting for the device to begin its process.

She stepped back a moment at the sign of a panel slowly rising from the floor. The screen lit brightly with light blue font, a message appearing in old ponish. ‘Proceed with the process?’ she translated to herself after a moment. There was a green and red option on the screen, her assuming green was positive.

Hesitantly, seeing no other form of input, she placed a hoof on the yes button. ‘Are you sure?’ it queried.

Twilight clicked the green button once more.

She winced as she felt a shock travel up her front right hoof, shivering with pain as the electricity visibly shot up her limb. Twilight gasped as the flow rode through her foreleg and up to her head, stunning her for a moment.

Suddenly, a metal arm grasped around her neck. It was loose enough to breathe but tight enough to not break from. Her eyes shrunk in fear as she felt chains latch around her hooves, another one swooping down and taking a hold of her horn. She felt it tingle with jolts of energy that deactivated any of her attempts at magic.

She struggled for a moment, before a voice spoke from the panel with the text. “Please remain still. Testing sequences will commence in 3… 2… 1…”

Twilight twisted her eyes to reach her peripheral vision. She saw a tube extend from the ceiling, a trio of wires flowing down to her. On her left the same was present, advancing to the alicorn’s ears. She began wriggling as the wires approached her body. It was no use however, her head was made to hold still by the clasping hand.

The alicorn grunted in pain as she felt the metal drive through her ears, blood seeping out of them as she felt her eyes grow heavy. The pain began fading as her mind began pulsing with strange magic.

Her eyes flung open to a devilish looking sanctum, the surroundings off-putting her. There were bloody hooks swinging all around the barely lit room, the only true source of light being the occasional blood red torch in the large room. Crimson doused the floor and at the center of it all was a pedestal with a switch atop, marked with a skull.

Any other details of the demonic place were unviewable thanks to the darkness. She concentrated for a moment, her horn glowing alight with magic. The dull concussion in her mind that was present earlier had vanished, and with the light purple light she could see the details much further. She looked down at herself, inspecting her body. It had been fully healed, repaired from all the scars and damage.

The room was constructed from demonic brick, faces of horrid Hell races marking the walls repeatedly. Blood dripped and plocked the floor below, sizzling as it settled. Twilight’s dark gaze viewed the upper section of the wall, word’s catching her eyes. She froze at the sight of the names.

‘Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Starlight Glimmer, Shining Armor, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadence…’ the wall read the names of all her friends, peers, mentors, everyone she knew. They were marked and glowed with purple, reflecting her horn-light.

They were all depending on her… if she did not make it through whatever this was to become more powerful, then all these names would be forgotten. Cast to the void to never be remembered or recalled. Just fuel to these hateful animals.

She had to do this, whatever the task, she could not bear to see anymore of her loved ones be maimed by the demons. Twilight could no longer let it stand. It was her job, her purpose to save her friends at all cost.

With a long breath, she looked to the pedestal in the center of the dank room. On top of it sat a skull-tipped switch. Fear struck the mare only a minute once she arrived close, spotting the message beneath the switch.

‘Begin Trial’

Twilight took a long, focusing breath as she wrapped a strong hoof around the lever and yanked it as far right, from the direction it was stuck in before, as she could. An ear piercing scrape echoed through the room. With that, a gentle ticking commenced.

The alicorn jumped at the sound of magic behind her. She spun around, seeing a red portal humming its presence before her. Twilight Sparkle stepped back a moment, before what jumped out startled her a moment.

It was hardly a second as the Imp charged out of the portal, full speed. She felt the clawed hand of the monster scrape her neck, lifting her from the ground and preparing a handful of stabbing claws to be driven right into her stomach.

Before that could be done, she concentrated on a position a couple of meters to the left, flashing brightly before reappearing just there. The demon glanced around in confusion before spotting the alicorn, gasping for breath for the moment while preparing her next attack.

The fiery scratches on her neck sizzled with spare Hellfire as the Imp prepped yet another flaming attack. A flame ball was propelled at the purple alicorn, her just managing to duck out the way and advance to the relatively large demon. Catching her breath, she charged the beast on her wings.

She slammed it into the brick wall. It screeched in pain, beginning to claw at her forelegs. The still flying alicorn grunted and growled in the agony of the attacks before tossing it to the ground and driving both hooves into the monster’s skull. It cracked brutally, blood spewing everywhere.

She swallowed a moment, staring at the disgusting sight of the demolished skull with the cavities plunged between her powerful hooves. It didn’t squeak or crackle, lying still as the head bled.

Just as she was about to remove her hoofs, it grabbed her foreleg and drove a claw into her chest. She stared in horror as its hand easily drove through her hide, tearing the skin away and revealing her own bone and flesh.

“AH!” Twilight slammed her hooves again into the beast, lifting them once more and down. She hammered her hooves into the beast until it truly went limp. The remains of its head were a pool of crimson and bone.

She held back a gag at the horrid sight. However, she couldn’t dwell upon the gore for too long, the furious flapping of wings flanking her. She spun around, ducking under the wind of a swinging blade.

A Gargoyle greeted her with a roar, spitting a puddle of acid at her hooves. She danced out of the way of it, hissing in pain before being crushed to the ground with the weight of the flying demon’s body. She lay, winded on the floor, lungs searching for air as the Gargoyle landed on its hooved feet.

It advanced slowly, lifting one of its blade-arms down to the pony. Before it could swipe for the pony’s neck to finish her, Twilight lifted her left forearm to block the strike. She screamed in writhing torture as her hoof was sliced away, blood fountaining out of her artery. The hyper-aggressive demon gave no mercy, lifting its arm and slamming it down onto her head.

She gasped awake, back in the device she was connected to. She could feel the wires writhing in her ears, touching her mind. It was off-putting and chilling, but not too agonizing.

‘First test concluded.’ the panel read. ‘Analyzing results… 3% combat efficiency. Cause? Attacks are too slow and weak.’

Her forelegs were brought up into an uncomfortable position that made Twilight exclaim. The robotic hands held the legs in position far from the body, moving slightly down the limb to present the hooves.

“W-What is it doing?!” Twilight exclaimed.

“I warned you, Princess. The process is agonizing.”

The alicorn opened her mouth to reply, stopping at the mechanical whirrs of the machine that held her in its grasp. She saw several tubes connected to sharp needles flow down towards her, jabbing the pony all across the body. A glimmering dark purple energy sludged down, glowing bright. When entering her body, it felt like a million sun rays warming her.

She felt her body become more powerful, muscles strengthened. But soon her ears perked at the noise of roaring buzzsaws, descending on the only part that wasn’t connected to the tubes. Her hooves. She began screaming in terror. Twilight’s wails echoed through the room as they lowered halfway down her forelegs, tearing through her flesh and hide with intensity.

Blood and fur flew everywhere as Twilight’s eyes shut. She shouted for help from Celestia, begging her mentor for some sort of help with the pain. It was like her legs were the earth and the saws were a giant excavation team as they clacked onto her own bone.

Her blood caked her upper forelimb’s fur, painting it completely. It felt like the pain would never end, her sobs of suffering slowing. But finally, the spine-chilling crack of her hooves crashing into the stone floor below echoed through the room, detached.

She looked at her hoofless limbs, the pain still burning like the pits of Tartarus. Her tear filled eyes lifted to the sound of sparks and crackling, watching as the machine lifted a platform before her. A melted metal seeped down onto the slab of magic crystal, the metal arm above moving perfectly to drip the stuff into all the right spots.

Miraculously, as whatever it was creating was formed, the lower bits slowly began cooling off into solid steel. It created a plate of the formerly melted material, another robotic arm lifting it away to another table to assemble the item.

As it worked, the suffering alicorn realized what they were creating. A hoof shaped piece of metal with a little slit at the wrist of it.

War Table

The war room of the Athergarrian Hunter was large, tall for the huge demons that often entered it. The flesh of the Hunter beast that hauled the ship crawled between the cracks in walls, yellow and red demonic lights lining the crimson metal. Two Immoran Troopers stood on either side of the doors, energetic spears in hands.

The door’s red lights that lined its seams switched to green, the Troopers turning to the right and standing to attention. The entrance split open, making way for the demonic trio. The huge centaur demon, Tirek walked between the much shorter Kronos and the nearly as tall Incendium.

They approached the huge black and red table in the center of the room. There were three thrones made of the same Hell metal that the table was produced from. Two were diagonal to the table while one was at the front of it.

Incendium took a seat at the head chair, Tirek on the right and Kronos on the left. “Now, we shall begin. We have decided that in only 6 hours we will commence our final invasion of Canterlot. And it will be final.” the Archvile began. “It will be difficult to supply a force against the Slayer with the lack of argent wells. The only way to introduce further demons into Equestria now is a complex spell only I, and the most experienced Archviles could attempt. Now is the time, while the Slayer is being held off in Hell by near infinite legions."

Kronos stared at the centaur demon in confusion as his friend explained. “Incendium, before we start our planning, I do not believe you have properly introduced me to… whoever he is.”

“How could you not know me? Have my feats not been spread through Hell?” Tirek growled, pride hurt.

“Ease yourself.” Incendium began. “Kronos has been a relatively recent addition to the infernal armies.”

Tirek nodded, fury subsiding.

“Tirek is an old friend of mine. Long ago, he escaped Hell to invade Equestria for his own taking with his brother. He would have taken it, if not for his brother’s betrayal.” The Archvile explained.

Kronos snickered. “So you’re telling me we’ve decided to put this disloyal, impatient demon who could hardly handle those little ponies, on our council? With us? Hand-picked by the Dark Lord himself?” he couldn't help but laugh. “Maybe we wouldn’t have had to rescue him if he wasn’t so impatient in invading this world.”

“You underestimate those ponies too much.” Tirek angrily slammed his hand on the table. “They are way more powerful than they appear.”

“Kronos, if any demon knows about these equine, it is Tirek. Even if he was beaten by them, he would only improve our army’s efficiency and our strategy.” Incendium stood, crossing his arms.

“Hm.” Kronos grunted, unlatching his meathook and pulling it from the wrist device. He fiddled with the chain absent-mindedly as the other two arch-demons continued.

“It is especially dangerous now that they have the Marine with them.” Tirek added.

“Even more, now that he is the Slayer.” Incendium nodded. “We are only one step away from concluding our objective of resurrecting Davoth. And that step is Twilight Sparkle.”

Tirek grinned. “She is my nemesis. I assume you all are trying to consume the elements for yourself as well.” he began. “Well, it is much more difficult than you’d think. Especially with that pesky alicorn.”

Kronos pulled out a rag, beginning to run it along the bloody chains of his meathook. “She was light-work.” the Marauder stated casually.

Tirek glared an annoyed look at the fellow demon.

Incendium shook his head. “She was caught off-guard. I’m sure in Tirek’s current state, he could battle her no issue now.”

“Excuses.” Kronos’ speculation about his strength was strong.

The centaur demon glared a moment, preparing the wording on his plan. “If I know anything about Twilight, then I know she is planning something. If not, enacting it now.”

Incendium gave a confused look. “I am not sure how Twilight Sparkle could be using any plan to significantly change the odds in her favor.” he said. “We have almost all cities under control, the only bastions for the ponies is Canterlot, which will soon fall, Cloudsdale and the Crystal Empire.”

“And even then, combat is far from their expertise.” the Marauder agreed.

Tirek thought for a moment. “They are keeping their ace.” he realized. “Have any of you seen anything about a draconequus?”

Incendium grumbled. “Yes, Discord. We have seen him in one of the pony’s dreams.”

Kronos growled. “And the Wretch was no figment. He was enjoying a pleasant time with the pony via spell. Filthy traitor.”

“As long as he is alive, he is a threat. His magic is very powerful, even able to penetrate your armors if they are not familiar with Hell magic as Discord is.” Tirek informed.

“That is where you’re wrong.” Incendium responded. “My magic is far superior than his abilities. Every elite soldier in this army is adorned with armor enchanted by me to stop any Equestrian or Hell magic.” he said proudly. “I learned the spell from the Dark Lord himself.”

“And your fodder?” Tirek questioned.

The Archvile shook his head. “They are not worthy of armor. Too savage to adorn them most of the time.”

Tirek nodded. “Then bring a batch of elite demons. Ones we can spare. Our supply is limited. Do you two know of anyway into the chaos realm?”

Incendium shook his head negatively. “I will have my best mages on it however.”

Kronos spoke up. “Tomorrow we will confront Canterlot. They will stand no chance.” the commander gazed at Tirek. “You will lead the army. Incendium remains on the ground among Tirek’s ranks. I will remain aboard our ships.” he gazed at Incendium.

“Too cowardly to battle in the frontline?” Tirek challenged.

Kronos glared, setting a hand on the table assertively. “I know what these ponies think, and especially what the Slayer plans,” he began. “The Hellwalker will find some way to break into our ship once he breaks through our stalling forces. If anyone would be capable of confronting him, it would be I. Incendium, if you hear my reports of the Slayer, join me in battle. Two will surely overwhelm him.”

“I would be shocked if he could handle our combined powers. Tirek, you are a strong commander. Keep our ground force’s ruthless.” the arch-demon stood. “Does everybody understand?”

Tirek nodded with a huff at Kronos. "Should we not have a contingency?”

“Contingency?” Incendium queried. “We would not need one, they are already on their back leg.”

The marauder thought a moment, before nodding begrudgingly. “Never underestimate your enemy. No matter the point.” it was heavily emphasized in his strategy lessons before he was demonized. “Especially now, with our limited force.”

Incendium thought a moment, before folding his huge hands on the table. “Yes, a contingency plan would be smart. We would lose nothing but time coming up with it.”

Tirek grinned as the demon pondered his already thought-out idea. It had been concocted in the depths of Tartarus as he waited for freedom. “I am sure you all are well aware of the ancient device. The Unmaker.”

The other two arch-demons froze at the name of the dreadful weapon, glancing at each other nervously.

“Tirek, the Unmaker, it is too risky to utilize.” Incendium replied, tapping his fiery fingers on the war table nervously.

Kronos stood, letting his meathook retract back into his gauntlet. “It has not been used correctly in eons. The last time it was touched, the Slayer slaughtered hundreds of thousands. And that is without the knowledge of its true purpose.”

Incendium shook his head. “To even think of using it would be foolish. If it is activated, the remaining piece of the Elements will perish and we will have no way to resurrect Davoth!” it appeared the plan was so terrible and wretched as to shock the duo of archdemons themselves.

The centaur-demon laughed. “Calm yourselves! I do not plan on truly activating it.” he cackled cruelly. “It will be a token. A threat, and the only choice Twilight Sparkle has to preserve her race is come to us.”

As Tirek explained, Kronos sat back down. It was worth consideration.

The heavily armored Archvile still disliked the plan. “How would the pitiful alicorn even know what the Unmaker does?”

Kronos pondered the plan a moment, gauntlet to his decaying face in thought. “The Praeleanthor will tell her. That bundle of sharp souls knows too much for their own good.”

Incendium still appeared worried. “I still think it is too risky.”

The Marauder leaned to his friend. “If there is an event where they make a comeback,
somehow, some way. Then this will put them in the dirt.”

“Grmm… I will ponder upon it until the time comes.” Incendium responded.

“Grand.” Kronos began. “Any further word?”

The other two demons remained silent.

“Then prepare yourselves.” Kronos stated. “For the glory of battle awaits us. Tirek, visit the armorer. He has a set waiting for you.”

The new coming leader stood affirmatively, the group dispersing from the room.

~

“Y-You lost Twilight?” her sister’s voice was shrill and cracking for her apprentice.

“She ran.” Luna’s tone was low and emotional, similarly scared for the fellow princess.

Princess Celestia turned to the window that displayed the shielded Canterlot from her personal room. “Where would Twilight even run to?”

The fellow alicorn pondered, thinking of what the fellow said before she left. She froze.

Celestia observed her nervousness. “Are you alright, sister?”

“The Embedding Device.” she realized, muttering.

The white alicorn froze at the name. “Sister, what do you mean?”

“She spoke about going.” Luna informed. “I spoke with her after she returned and was placed in her room.” the alicorn looked at the ground in worry. “She talked about saving her friends from the demons.”

Celestia’s heart felt like it was under tons of weights, pounds of worry. She felt her throat go dry at the thought of Twilight out there with the demons once more. Especially in the dreadful location of the Embedding Process Device. Her spine shivered. The “gift” the Sentinels had given them, attempting to inspire war into her people.

“No… not to Twilight.” Celestia’s usual cheery demeanor was demolished by the news.

Luna’s head lowered as well, thinking back to the terrible experiments of the EPD. The limbs torn away, the minds contorted, the terrible whirring of mechanical arms. The ponies that left that Sentinel outpost did not return the same as before.

“It is just like her to sacrifice everything for her friends.” Luna realized.

Celestia looked back up to her sister. “What can we do?”

The shorter alicorn frowned. “All we can do is wait, and hope she hasn't changed too much. P-Perhaps she will remember Canterlot.”

Celestia cleared her throat, changing the subject. “And the Slayer. How is he doing?”

Luna’s shoulders raised. “He has completed his destruction of the argent wells. You can already see the skies clearing.”

The white princess gazed out of a window, seeing the usually black and dreary clouds now slightly more gray with a lack of the alien red sparks. “So he is doing good?”

“Indeed.” Luna responded. "He is being held up from his return by many demons, but he may arrive in due time."

A glimmer of hope shimmered in Celestia. “Do we have any reports from the Crystal Empire? What about Starlight Glimmer?”

Her sister sighed. “Communication has been lost with her since the beginning of the invasion.”

“Should we send the Great Slayer to check on the Crystal Empire?” Celestia suggested.

Luna denied, shaking her head. “We require him here. With the demon’s knowledge that he is not in Equestria, now would be their best time to invade.”

Her optimism crushed further at the reminder of Canterlot being assaulted. Celestia’s mind pondered on the screams of her people, many of whose families were destroyed by swarming monsters. Millions of her citizens were decimated by the monsters that were coming to the capital next, and all she had done was sit and let her sister command. The words that Twilight spoke of her lack in action weighed on her shoulders heavily.

“I’m going to fight them.” she decided after a long look at the pristine floor and a nervous swallow.

Luna would have protested, warning her sister how unwise and unsafe it would be. But the little sister knew she would not give in. They had this conversation before. “Sister, I know your mind is set. But know, one wrong move could doom your kingdom.”

A determined, on-set look grew in her eyes. “Then I will make all the right moves."

Mission T1. The Princess of Friendship Part 2

Twilight awoke yet again in the same demonic room. The agony of the procedure still haunted her, but what she stared down at made her realize the purpose of the machine.

Both her hooves were replaced with similarly shaped metallic nubs. Lines across the sheets and hard welds connected the device together. Glowing purple energy flowed in sections of light on the prosthetic. She focused her magic only a moment, her horn not glowing at all when she saw an energy blade schwoom out of the metal hoof.

She could feel the dangerous heat of it from a couple centimeters away, crackling with violet. Her other replacement hoof could do the same, her commanding it to jut out as well. Her weapons hummed with intense magic, ready to be utilized.

She looked to the upper walls, staring at all the names which surrounded her. If she was going to save them, she would have to properly pass the trial. Seeing as she couldn’t walk with her Hoof-Blades activated, she hovered on her wings, flying towards the skull-tipped switch and pulling it.

Twilight, recalling the positions of the first two demons, spun around and dashed at the spawning Imp. Just as it jumped out of the portal, she jammed her right Hoof-Blade through the chest of the monster, slamming it into the wall. She forced the second Hoof-Blade through the beast’s face, its head contorting and it croaking in death.

She removed the blades like a knife through butter, before ducking under the sweeping blade of an approaching Gargoyle. Twilight flew away from the beast, charging her horn to blast a wave of assaulting magic at the demon.

It roared in agony, lighting ablaze with light pink flame. It was stunned, scampering around on the ground and waving its wings. Before it could gather itself, she flapped over and swiped the Hoof-Blade through the monster’s neck, lobbing the head off with ease. Its fading screams didn’t bother her a bit, her mind stuck on the pained hollers of her people that they caused.

She looked around with a furious look, wings still batting the air angrily. Four portals surrounded her, two more Gargoyles and two more Imps clambering out in the corners of the arena. Twilight flew out of the way of a quickly encroaching fireball, dodging a gunk of acidic spit from a Gargoyle.

Twilight flew towards one of the Gargoyles with fervor, grabbing the neck of the demon and lifting it off the ground with her. Whatever the device had done had increased her strength drastically as she tossed the much larger being across the room. It collided with an Imp, the two beasts screeching as they barged into the wall with their back.

Before they could get back up, she charged a railing energy blast. She warmed up enough force in the beam to collateral straight through the two lined up demons, blasting the small head off the Gargoyle and shooting through the heart of the Imp. They wailed one last screech of agony before Twilight flew furiously after the two remaining fodder.

At first the energy beam was a light pink, her usual aura color. But the more hot and piercing it grew, it shifted into a blazing dark purple that matched the intense energy she had been injected with earlier.

She propelled another piercing beam through the chest of the remaining Gargoyle, the demon stumbling back. Her blasts were much more powerful now thanks to the new, strange magic flowing through her veins. Before it felt more blunt, but now they sliced through enemies like some sort of cannon.

It looked down at the hole in its chest, its heart pumping furiously. The rib cage was blown through before the demon collapsed to the floor dead.

Twilight shouted in pain at the feeling of an intense weight bearing on her. She fell to the ground, feeling a patch of feathers and flesh be removed from one of her wings before she bucked off the sneaky Imp and blasted it with a lighter bout of energy.

She felt the exposed hide burn with the hellfire tipped clawmark as she rose to her hooves and sliced the throat of the staggering Imp. Twilight attempted to take flight, finding it unbalanced and too painful with her immobilized wing.

The alicorn felt ill at the sound of the walls around her lowering. The building shook as the brick crumbled to reveal the noise of more roaring beasts and snarling monsters. Her ears reared at the sight of a screaming Pinky that presented itself ahead of the crumbled walls.

It charged furiously, the demon twice her size as it trampled her down before she could even react. The last thing she saw was her limbs tearing away from her body, ribs being crushed in and the sight of liters of blood flying from her.

She awoke with a start, feeling the restricting robotic arms of the EPD. The panel in front of her read in her mind again with its echoing, monotone voice.

“Results acquired. Processing… faster wing speed required.” it explained.

Twilight reared her head to look at another pair of metallic arms clamping tightly around the base of her wings. She clenched her teeth, feeling her stomach churn at the sound of roaring buzzsaws. She turned her head away from them, sending the alicorn defining limbs a silent farewell before she squirmed in the suffering induced by the wing deducting blades.

She shut her eyes, tears leaking as Twilight held back any screams of pain. Her metal hooves shook violently and the occasional gasp or quick scream echoed through the room. Eventually, she heard the thuds of her feathery wings crashing into the ground.

The princess grunted, sobbing a tear or two as the platforms where the new replacements would be created were raised. The melted metal formed sections of the new wings, being set on another table on her left where the advanced replacements would be built.

She shut her eyes, searching for rest. All the pain had brought wear to her consciousness. She let her head go limp, closing her eyes gently as the arms welded and soldered the technology together.

Twilight’s eyes flung open. The piercing jabs of needles being stuck into the base of where her wings used to be. The device implanted tiny neurological connectors, before lifting the new wings off the table. They were made of many different layers of gray steel, hunked together with unlit lights on the ends of the metal wings. At the backof the prosthetics were a pair of jet-like devices.

She turned to watch as the arms placed the wings into the bases, the prongs on them digging into her bone and flesh. She watched the dim feather-lights glow a bright purple with similar energy as her Hoof-Blades. Twilight shifted the metal, moving just like her old, natural wings. The alicorn flapped them gently, the metal folding between creases gently.

"New wings set. Neurological sync confirmed. Preparing trial number three."

With a blink, she awoke back in the hellish realm. She turned, flexing her wings. Twilight’s back was still cursed with the pain of the operation, but the new glowing pair shimmered wonderfully. The princess felt a wave of disturbance at her thoughts of death to the demons with this new device. Was this the Equestrian way? She looked back down at the ground to her new hooves. Would Celestia want this?

She shook her head, fury filling her mind at the reminder of her friends. If she doesn't do this, no pony would survive, not even Celestia. A growl rose from her throat as she imagined the horrors being committed on her friend and people.

Twilight could imagine innocent Fluttershy being ripped to shreds by Imps. Pinkie Pie getting her tongue sliced away by a Gargoyle. Rainbow Dash getting her wings torn off by the strong arms of a Hell Knight. Rarity's gorgeous coat melted away, the pony turning into a dragging Zombie. The sight of Applejack being immobilized, legs snapping from terrible torture devices. All these visions and imaginated nightmares held echoing screams of her friends.

But one she didn't need to imagine glowed in her mind like an ever-present lightbulb. It was all still so fresh. The gruesome crack from Spike's tiny body, the cruel glare of Kronos. It repeated in her mind every moment, her conscience refusing to let her forget. She lifted her metal hoof, the purple energy blade shooting out.

Twilight consumed the switch in her aura, pulling it. She immediately spun, hovering on her flying metal, grabbing the teleporting Imp by the throat. The horrified scream was music to her, before she plunged the energy dagger into the beast's chest, throwing it to the ground and blasting its head off with a beam.

She predicted the approaching Gargoyle. Twilight unsheathed her other blade, charging at the demon with all the speed her wings could fly. She cleared the large room in a little over a second, impaling the Gargoyle into the wall. One blade was stuck in its mouth right between the mandibles, the other right through its heart.

Twilight watched blood pour from the demon's body with cruelty, a psychotic laugh between her breaths before letting the body drop to the ground. She watched as the other four demons, two Imps and two Gargoyles, jumped into the arena, flinging fireballs and acidic spit right at the still alicorn.

One of the demon's exclaimed in surprise as it was teleported, the Gargoyle flashing in front of Twilight. It was lifted off the ground, hoof around its neck as she hovered on wings. The powerful energy that the EPD injected into her provided unusual levels of strength. The many projectiles burned and melted the chitin of the Gargoyle. With a satisfied grunt of the maneuver succeeding, she plunged an energy dagger through its chest and hurled it at the closest Imp.

The Imp fell to the ground from the weight of the fellow demon's corpse. As it was stuck on the ground, Twilight flew as quick she could to slam her hooves through its head. Its scream was cut off. She lifted a gray hoof, watching the blood drip off of it for only a moment.

She felt a fireball suddenly scorch her flank, Twilight screaming in scornful pain. The alicorn flew to the center of the room, spotting the Imp culprit.

She shot the Imp's head away with a purple magic shot, turning and decapitating the Gargoyle that was trying to sneak up on her. Hearing their wings was trivial. Twilight caught her breath, preparing for the next wave of demons. The alicorn made sure to keep above the ground, knowing what demons greeted her.

Twilight chuffed with amusement as the four Pinkies that crushed her all rammed straight into each other’s faces. She lifted her Hoof-Blades directing her flight path downward. The pony drilled down into the back of one of the beasts. It roared in pain, collapsing to the ground as Twilight flew back up, covered in blood after diving into the guts of a demon. She spat out the viscera, shaking her head in disgust before refocusing on the three remaining stunned Pinkies.

Her horn whooped with power, unleashing a wave of magic through the tail of another Pinky, blood exploding out. In her idle flight, an intense heat blasted her fur, scorching down her hide.

She blocked the next ball of violet flame with her energy dagger. Twilight saw a familiar beast below. A duo of those purple, Imp-like demons that had attacked Fluttershy prepared another heap of fireballs. Anger roared in her chest, fizzing like a shaken soda. Prowlers, the Codex called them.

The two formerly stunned Pinkies looked up at her, trying their best to leap with their heavy and clumsy bodies. They could never reach the alicorn. Their hops were pointless. She flew out of the way of two more fireballs, the Prowlers disappearing in a cloud of purple flame.

She dispatched the two Pinkies, flying onto the back of one, stabbing it to death. The other attempted to charge her while she was atop the dead beast. Before it could make contact with the alicorn, a portal opened, the exit appearing on the horizontal side of the room. It ran out, its purely straight charge continuing. Another purple vortex appeared, teleporting it to another area of the arena, before the Pinky continued into yet another.

Twilight repeatedly sent it through dozens of portals, its velocity accelerating faster and faster. Its screaming war cry turned from rage to terror as it realized it couldn't stop running. Finally, she planted the final portal right in front of the wall. The demon crashed into it, the ground shaking. Its body was torn and demolished from the absurd speed it had met the wall at. Blood crackled out of the Pinky's crushed corpse, its own natural armor dug into its brain matter.

The alicorn heard the Prowler poof behind her, raking its gnarly claws down her back. Twilight threw her wing, screaming in agony. No further attacks occurred, the dead body of the Prowler falling to the floor. She turned, curious how it had been killed. Then she glanced at the blood dripping from her wing. The sharp limbs could slice nearly as well as her blades.

She ducked under a flame ball meant for her, glaring at the demon with the fury of a hundred stars. It was about to sculk away, but it was gripped in her magic, being lifted off its feet. Twilight slowly walked towards the last demon, her loud clanking hooves echoing through the room. She watched as the immobile demon roared in fear, trying to break free. It wailed like a foal.

She lowered her horn to it, a wall of magic blades appearing in front of the Prowler. Just like this demon had done to Fluttershy, it would be met with thousands of lethal cuts. Blood rained from the demon as the sharp magic was sent forth, agonizing roars filling the room that made Twilight’s ears twitch with satisfaction.

It felt like ages had passed as the legion of magic slices continued. Twilight felt a moment of disgust as she realized that, for a second, she was beginning to enjoy its screams. The beast roaring in agony was beginning to soothe her of guilt.

When the blades cleared, all that remained in her magical grasp was the skeleton of the Prowler. Twilight dropped it, bones clanging to the ground. Her legs wobbled, the pony collapsing to the ground with weakness. Her horn burned, sizzling and steaming with use. She gasped for breath on the floor, slowly climbing to her hooves.

The pony had several patches of fur burnt away, the hide beneath burned away to reveal flesh. A heavily bleeding scratch sat on her back and she was covered in sizzling demon blood. When she finally stood, she saw the walls of the arena fall away, revealing a demonic wasteland outside. It was dark brown and red, giant skeletons dotting the desolate place.

The alicorn sighed, worried that she'd not have enough magic to finish the trial. She had wasted much of it on the last two encounters. Twilight flew cautiously out the room. She kept her eyes widened for any demons. She swiftly spotted a green, pony-sized ball of hurdling flame. Twilight dodged it, flying around and spotting the Baron of Hell that confronted her.

Twilight dashed past it, slicing a duo of her wing and Hoof-Blade through its shoulder. The Baron tried to grab the Alicorn as she passed by, missing her. Twilight dodged more attempts of grabbing and launched fireballs. The alicorn dodged each attack, getting cuts and slices in. She was like a fly to the huge demon. It wasn't so effective, but on occasion the Baron groaned in pain from the minor cuts.

A plan formed in her mind as she made another cutting dash, rushing back towards one of the beast's legs. She diced through one of the ankles of the Baron, blood spewing onto the hellish ground. Now behind it, she charged into its back, forcing it to the ash and bone covered floor. Twilight lifted a hoof, driving the energy blade through its nape. She saw the burning energy cut through its spine with ease, the demon going limp with a pathetic roar.

"AAAAAAAAHHH!" Twilight jumped at the screech as it rapidly approached. She was knocked off her hooves as the Lost Soul tore into her flank, bone fragments causing numerous bleeds. The fire burned at her cutie mark, sizzling the emblem away.

She was tossed away off the Baron. The purple pony laid on the ground, too weak to stand. Twilight gently lifted her head, heavy with weakness. She stared at her lack of cutie mark on her left flank, the star actively burning out, the colored fur wisping into smoke. Her wings and blades flickered as she looked up at the culprit. It shocked her when the huge, round demon that had struck her presented itself so near.

Her friends flashed in her mind again as the Pain Elemental gaped its mouth to devour Twilight. Her weak breaths for air quickened, anger seeping through each exhale. Rage clouded her mind as she lifted her wings, the jet boosters activating. A growl busted through her lips, like a parasite through flesh. It sounded like a million centipedes crawling up her throat. Pure, visceral hatred seeped out before she propelled into the mouth of the monster.

Before it could even attempt to swallow her, she jetted through the back of the Pain Elemental, drilling through flesh and bone with her blades and wings. Twilight dove out the back of the dead demon, soaring high above the field in search of more threats. Looking below, she spotted a Mancubus gawking at the brutal murder of its ally. Before it could even trace Twilight, she propelled downward, blades first. She dove straight through the head of the demon, blood spewing as she flew back out the top of the demon.

Twilight was now covered in more blood than fur as she glared viciously at the remaining monster. A tall Cyberdemon, pointing its cannon straight at her. Lethal lasers whirred toward the alicorn before launching legions of missiles. The alicorn landed on the arm of the monster. It stared at her a moment with brutish confusion before she drove a dagger through the arm cannon of the Tyrant.

Sparks flew as the energy blades drove through the wire and metal of the missile launcher. She twisted her blade, aiming the arm-mounted weapon right at its face. It screamed in effort, Twilight gnashing her teeth to fight against its strength. Her enhanced energies which changed her aura's color bright purple boosted her force, but the main drive was the rage that fueled her.

The Cyberdemon attempted to wave its other arm at Twilight, each time the hand got zapped by the remaining spells her low energy could produce. A great pain but no major damage from the small purple beams. The cannon charged beneath her hooves. The alicorn could feel the weapon pulse as rockets were loaded. The wave of lasers burnt away patches of flesh from its face. The roars of the demon filled the clearing as its head was blown away by a gang of rockets.

The self-killing Cyberdemon collapsed to the ground, Twilight taking flight as it quaked the arena. Slowly, she settled to the floor. Twilight scanned across the clearing. The corpses of the large enemies surrounded her, and the only noise that accompanied the buffeting wind was the sound of blood and viscera dripping from the princess’ fur. The trial was over.

Her breathing slowed gently, the alicorn slowly got off her hooves. She laid down, staring at the sky. Her anger gently steadied, transforming to solemn. Tears gently drifted down her cheeks, washing away the blood that stood in its wake.

She woke back up to the waking world with wet eyes still. Twilight hoped this was the last one as the buzzsaw noise descended upon her head, directing right to her horn.

~

The pony that was released from the machine was now sealed in a cold, metallic suit of unimaginably strong armor. Her friendly violet fur was welded shut within the confines of the emotionless armor. The gray colored, monochrome suit was only punctuated with a dark purple glow shimmering between cracks.

The metal hugged each body part to near perfection, nimble and light yet difficult to pierce. The only object that poked from the sleek form of the metal were tubes of the purple magic that now replaced her much brighter violet. Her tail was absent, and all that remained of her mane were steel frills folding up from the nape, edged with the same lethal magic.

She stretched her wings, now replaced with the metal pair tipped with the same slicing energy, jets readied at the back of them. Her peaceful and fluffy wings were now sails of murder. The empty space where her horn resided filled with a holographic variant, glowing in magical brightness even more intense than her organic one would shine.

Finally, the soulless and emotionless helmet flickered with light. The only sign of a facial feature on the armored pony’s head being a visor for the alicorn to gaze through, glowing much like the rest of her armor in more dark purple. The rigidly shaped helmet gazed down at her mechanical hoof, lifting it to activate her Hoof-Blade, a shard of shimmering magic extended from the wrist of her hoof.

The only indication that it was Twilight Sparkle in the high-tech suit was the stamped copy of her Cutie Mark residing on her hip, where it would be under the suit. Though, even the colorful emblem was flaky and worn on the gray metal. The ink that was utilized on it must have been aged greatly.

She gazed at the HUD displayed in her visor. A blue bar sat at the bottom left with a green one above it. The number 150 was plastered over the blue, 100 over the green. The words “health” and “armor” in upper case sat to the left of them. 100 armor, 150 health. At the bottom right sat a violet bar, the word magic neighboring it. It was filled completely. The HUD was thankfully translated to modern Ponish.

“Are you ready, Princess?” the Praeleanthor queried.

She lifted the Blade near her helmet, gazing at it slowly before finally speaking up. “Yes.”

A Most Critical Defense

Princess Celestia slid her golden armor over her head, her horn gliding through the hole in the helmet. She grabbed the chestplate in her shiny magic, floating it around her and fitting it across her body. She had to fiddle with her wings to get them through the holes of the gold-plated steel.

She lifted four gauntlets from her closet, slipping them on each hoof one by one. She was in her pristinely white room, preparing for battle with a fiery determination in her eyes. Reports from the wall recently stated sightings of a strange floating red ship above the clouds near Canterlot early that morning.

It was blatant who it was. She tightened the straps on the gauntlets, flaring her horn for a spell just a moment. A nearby apple was engrossed by magic, before bursting into fruit flesh. Celestia took one deep breath, staring at the remains all over the wall and table.

She tried her best to imagine it as viscera, but felt she grow sick at the concept of an enemy exploding in such a way. She would have to forget that spell. The alicorn turned before exiting her room.

The world never felt more quiet as she clomped down the halls. Even with the loud echoes of her clanking metal hooves, the dreadful emptiness that roamed the castle’s halls was all that filled her head. When she passed a legion of valiant guards or gallant sentries she could still feel this lonely hole within.

She felt her confidence be sapped as her hooves clanged down the footsteps to the main throne room, gazing at her and her sister’s throne. Her head then moved to look at the many colored windows, telling dozens of tales of their culture and history. Even as she stared at what she would go out to battle for, she could feel the ravenous bug eating in her mind, consuming and sapping each ounce of confidence and replacing it with fear.

Celestia would have to push past this. She started out her huge double doors, going down the next hall of windows. She tried to overlay the anxiety that convulsed in her mind with her battle spells. Mentally, the alicorn flipped through her internal bank, digging for the most useful magic.

She memorized her most powerful laser beam spell. Celestia pondered over her teleportation spell, her magic shields and explosive spells. The alicorn exited the next door to the exterior of her castle. Standing valiantly next to the door was Shining Armor, waiting for his princess.

“Are you ready, your majesty?” the leader of the royal guard asked, a tone of worry embedded in the question.

She pondered a moment, before replying with a nice nod. “Yes.” of course, the gentleness was a front. If she could show all her emotions in this moment, she would be shaking profusely.

The two hardly exchanged words as the royalty roamed down the long and pristine streets of Canterlot. Hundreds of eyes gazed at the battle-ready princess which they almost never saw in the armor.

It felt like hardly any time had passed before the alicorn found herself before the front gates of Canterlot, ascending the stairs to approach the top of the kingdom’s defensive walls. Two guards stood at the platform above the gates, where Celestia arose and stood upon.

“Status on the enemy ship?” Shining Armor queried.

One of the guards spoke up. “It’s been floating above since we noticed them at sunrise.” she reported.

Shining Armor nodded. “What is the plan, Princess Celestia?”

Celestia took a long breath, steeling herself. She gently shut her eyes from the large field before her, ready to be met with carnage from the enemy. When she inhaled fully, she opened her eyes to exhale in a determined fashion.

“We cannot rely on the Slayer’s aid currently. If they send troops soon, I will fend them off. Inform every guard on the fort to focus upon defending the barrier while I lay waste to their forces.” she commanded.

“Yes ma’am.” Shining Armor saluted, heading off to inform the many other forces.

Celestia stared at the earth below the hellship, waiting for the fighting force to arrive. She flinched slightly, seeing a bright red light beam down to the ground, presenting a familiar form. She had to double take at the sight of what presented itself before her.

It was Tirek. She should’ve known the centaur had something to do with these demons. They seemed too similar to not be connected. Appearing beside the fully powered centaur was a more alien looking monster, adorning monstrous, scary armor. It was just as tall as Tirek but was bipedal as well with two huge fiery hands.

She felt as if her heart was tipped forward by a weight too heavy for it to hold as she witnessed the legions begin to warp in behind them. Short Imps, winged Gargoyles, savage Barons adorned in hellish red armor, a team of Marauders releasing war cries as they appeared next to a duo of standard Archviles. Celestia almost felt sick witnessing more pony-like monsters joining the wave. Horribly contorted Hell Paladins, flying zombified pegasi, and limping Maegus.

The princess shook her head, trying her best to hold together for battle. Focus, Celestia. Everypony is counting on you.

“Open the gates.” Celestia commanded one of the guards, the pony heading to a crank. The alicorn started down the stairs, standing before the huge doors.

She heard it creak open, revealing the battlefield that Celestia would have to survive upon. One hoof was set before another until she found herself outside the walls of her kingdom, the doors shutting behind her. It was only a couple more hoofsteps before she was found in front of the pink magic that defended the walls so valiantly. There she stood, before a legion of beasts, monsters and strong demons. All ready to tear her to shreds.

"Celestia! It's been so long." the centaur shouted over the gap between her and the Dread Legion.

He adorned hard crimson armor. The strong red plates rested on his shoulders, shimmering yellow in-between the creases of the metal. The armor continued across his upper, humanoid torso defensively. Supporting the chestplate was more protection across Tirek's more equine body parts.

The alicorn prepared a spell, quickly stomping as she utilized a casted weapon spell. A bright orange and yellow weapon floated above her shoulder, the spear radiating with the energy of the sun. She could hardly recall when the Helios Javelin was last used. She lowered the bottom end to the ground, crossing it over her chest defensively as she stood before her kingdom’s bubble shield.

He set his hands behind his back, folding them together confidently. "Last time we met I learned a valuable lesson. I was defeated not by strength, but numbers." Tirek snorted with humor. "Friendship, as you would call it." Tirek sneered with the current irony. "Now, I am with many friends, and you are to be defeated by us."

Princess Celestia did not reply to the statement. She had no response, her mind stuck on the first spell to utilize. It would be a protective barrier. She knew the first thing that would occur after the assault was commanded was a legion of projectiles.

She saw the armored bipedal demon lean towards Tirek, informing him of some too far to hear statement. "Yes." Tirek responded, before lifting a strong finger to the princess. "Pike the alicorn on her own horn!" he directed loudly.

A bright yellow shield-shaped wall appeared in front of Celestia immediately, halting the green, yellow and red burning fireballs. She felt a burning scratch rake on her side, looking to the right at a tall purple beast. The monster snarled, mandibles unfurling. The alicorn blasted it away with an energy blast, launching her sun spear into the monster.

It crackled with heat, slamming through the flesh and bone into the Prowler. The weapon felt like the heat of the sun ravaging straight through the beast's chest, radiating merciless flames so hot it felt as if it sliced through its body like a knife through butter.

The Prowler faded on the ground, perishing swiftly from the sun-matching weapon. Her horn flickered in shine, reappearing beside her head. She spun quickly to look away from the corpse, just noticing a flanking Imp attempting to grasp her. She drove the spear through its chest, the blood sizzling and cauterizing before it was thrown off the weapon.

Seeing more fodder attempting to route around the shield wall, she began propelling dozens of cruel beams to slay the fodder on the right and driving quick jabs to hold away the assaulting line on the left.

With every crumbling figure, she clenched her teeth harder. Every kill was another spark of cringe. It felt dirty, wrong to be slaying so many creatures, demonic or not. She felt her mind ache after much longer energy shots. Deciding now would be the best time, she casted a duo of walls in flame, burning the fodder attempting to catch her and encasing her defense.

Celestia heard a ferocious roar, rippling with mechanical effects. The energy shield cascaded, crumbling down by the force of an Armored Baron. Before she could react, its morning star arm shimmered green and cracking into her gold plated armor. She felt her hooves leave the ground, being flung into the wall of the pink shield. Celestia bounced off it, balancing mid-air on her wings.

She winced in pain, agony coursing under the dented plate. Celestia wobbled a bit in flight, gathering herself before dodging another attempt of attack from the Armored Baron. The morning star scraped the metal of her armor before she casted another spell. On her left gauntlet appeared a circular shield, the alicorn blocking away a stray fireball.

The alicorn launched her spear into the Armored Baron, seeing her spear melt the outer layer of the demon's armor but not pierce. Half-mindedly she hurled yellow beams to suppress the many savage Imps and Prowlers, flying in all directions to quickly avoid the projectiles. Celestia recalled the Helios Javelin, ears perking as she noted the green glow from the demon, exposing flesh beneath the armor before launching the weapon.

She dodged it easily on her swift wings, wincing a moment as a fireball scraped her flank. Celestia spun around and beamed the Imp culprit with a lethal charge. The alicorn suddenly gasped with pain, feeling a cut be sliced across her wing. She fluttered back, looking at the Gargoyle that continued its charge. She put a swift end to it with a launch of the Helios Javelin, the beast collapsing to the sea of demons trying to crawl their way up to Celestia.

Celestia gazed up at the bubble shield, looking at the many flying creatures trying to crack and break through the barrier. The alicorn breathed heavily, gasping for a piece of air before propelling herself towards the protective magic, stabbing and swiping the pesky Gargoyles away. She dodged the starving maw of an assaulting Cacodemon, jamming the spear through the roof of its mouth and kicking it away with a hoof.

Suddenly, she was slammed into the shield wall, looking up to see a savage pegasus snapping at her. She gasped in fear, terrified. Celestia swallowed, she couldn’t bear to fight back against her own people. She tried to shove it away, hooves pushing at it desperately. Suddenly, as the monster began fighting back and injuring the princess, she subconsciously drove the spear through the demon’s head.

Horror ranked through her, her breathing hastening with adrenaline as the corpse of the fellow pony fell several dozen feet to the ground. Celestia flew idly, gazing as the corpse fell to the crowd of ground-forces.

The alicorn’s frozen state was interrupted by the feeling of a blistering heat surrounding her. The pony was being grasped by magical flames, drawn towards the same bipedal creature that stood next to Tirek. Celestia struggled in the hold, trying her best to find some way to break out. She looked in shock when she noticed Tirek charging up an energy blast, ready to put an end to her.

While he prepared, Celestia charged Helios’ Javelin into one of the armored hands of the Archvile. It growled in pain, armor tearing away as she commanded the spear to mercilessly jab at the source of the spell as swiftly as possible.

Last second, just as the lethally charged energy blasted in her direction, she tore from the fiery binds. Celestia dodged the beam, resummoning her weapon right next to her. Tirek beamed a lighter charge towards the pony, the princess deflecting it away with her magical shield.

She lifted her horn high, summoning many copies of her spear, propelling them towards the two leader demons. An army of sharp, scorching javelins ready to crash and demolish the duo. She threw her horn down, directing them all to charge into the duo as she absent-mindedly strafed around the many projectiles.

Celestia watched with annoyance as the spears were blocked by a large firewall summoned by the Archvile. She gritted her teeth in annoyance, before exhaling in torment as she felt a sizzling plasma scorch through her fur and bone. She felt the disturbing pain of one of her wings being detached by a flinging energy ax.

The princess felt her wings disable, the alicorn plummeting to the ground. She felt the air in her lungs squeeze out of her as she was slammed to the grassy, stomped out floor. Her shield deactivated with the break of concentration, her javelin falling beside her.

Her attempts to scramble to her hooves were thwarted as she felt a cold gauntlet wrap around her throat. Celestia felt herself be lifted off the ground, a fiery glare from the eyes of a Marauder. Its throwing ax rested in his other grip as it held the princess.

A million thoughts raced through Celestia’s head as she sourced the strength to try to tear free from the grasp. Was this the end? For her and her kingdom? Has she gone so far to meet her end just outside the walls of her home?

She began tearing up, both from the feeling of her airway being choked off with every squirm for freedom and from her emotions. She couldn’t, she couldn’t give it all up! She needed to fight harder.

“N-No! Gkh, No…” she growled determinedly through the demon's grasp. She shut her eyes, engulfing herself in a teleportation spell.

Just as she felt hope dim back in, and her strength return, she felt a strong hand brutally grip her horn, zapping the power away. She would’ve screamed if she was not being choked so mercilessly after her horn was torn away by another devious Marauder.

Hardy laughter badgered at her emotions as she struggled. “Let her go!” The cackling Tirek commanded, the Armored Baron dropping the alicorn.

Celestia dropped to the ground, gasping for air desperately, unable to scream from her hornless head due to the lack of oxygen. All she could do was tear up in torture as the legions of demons leaned over her.

The princess felt shame draw over her as she slowly felt herself fade, unconsciousness beginning to take over as blood pooled from the injury she had received on her back. She had failed…

As she shut her eyes, she could barely hear words be spoken between the two leader demons, congratulating the Marauder duo. The alicorn hardly responded as she felt the warmth of flame slowly surround her, tendrils of welcoming red fire begin to overtake her.

Mission T2.Walls of Dead

Ropes of flames consumed Princess Celestia, the many guards along the walls of Canterlot watching as their fair ruler was eaten up by the fiery earth beneath. Her bloody, wingless and slumped over form slowly sunk, being grasped by devilish hands into a flaming portal beneath.

The Archvile had its arms lifted, hands filled with scorching dances of a spell. The ruler of Equestria was being devoured by the burning portal, her unconscious head soon being the only thing that rose above it all.

Incendium cackled evilly, watching his foe begin to corrupt. He grinned wickedly behind the skull-resembling helmet before it heard the repeating swooshes of sharp metal in the distance. A moment of confusion shifted to trying to handle the spasm of pain that surged through Incendium’s hand.

He watched as his hand, which used to be coated in armor enchanted by the Dark Lord himself, was brutally detached by a pair of blades so swift and sharp that it took a second for the agony to arrive. He tried his best to stifle a demonic roar of pain, holding his handless limb that sprayed magma-like fluids.

Tirek backed off cautiously as he witnessed the Soul Cube swoop to another demon, the powerful Marauder who had dealt the blow to remove Celestia’s wings being decapitated after he attempted to block the attack with his dual throwing axes.

Many demons backed off, scared of being swiftly slain by the artifact. A pony swooped down in front of the portal of corruption. The armored equine shoved a hoof into the vortex, gripping around for a grasp on the heavily beaten Celestia. She tore the leg out, feeling the sizzling burns char through her armor and down to her hide.

Twilight watched desperately as Celestia sank into the flames. Feeling further anger well up in her. The alicorn tried to plunge her hoof back in once more, tearing it away in a wince. The fire was lethal. She watched helplessly as her idol’s ears sank in, disappearing. As a last ditch attempt, her replacement horn, a spear of glimmering dark purple energy glowed brighter than before. She tried to grasp through the flame with her spell.

She felt hope squirm in her heart as she saw the battered white coat of the ruler slowly be dragged from the grip of the portal. It pulled with immense strength, but her magic commanded more. She lifted her head, wincing in struggle. Even with her more powerful horn, and almost pure magic flowing through her veins, she could barely contend with this hellish spell.

Just as she felt the other spell’s grip loosen, her armor was blasted with a furious blow, bursting a dent into it. A gasp, which turned to a rageful growl erupted from her muzzle as she saw Celestia fall under the fire again.

“Shut the vortex, Incendium!” she heard Tirek's command.

Just then, the fiery portal collapsed, sealing Celestia away into the depths of Hell. She stared at where the spell used to reside, ear twitching as she failed to muster a reaction to another tragedy. She simply turned, fury burning in all corners of her soul as she looked at Tirek.

The Soul Cube returned by Twilight’s side as the alicorn slowly stood up, swallowing her grief. It was just one more pony she would have to avenge. She glared around at the surrounding demons, them slowly seeing that the Soul Cube had stopped its assault.

“I require a recharge, princess.” the Praeleanthor stated, returning to her side as she picked up a nearby rock, nearly a pebble with its small size.

She witnessed her HUD flare with a message as she readied for battle.

Analyzing combat environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Battle track produced

https://youtu.be/rywuRKmIHvc

Tirek sneered. “Twilight Sparkle.” he began as his tall demonic ally tried to fight through the pain, retreating slowly.

She turned to glare at him, furiously staring through the visor of her high-tech helmet. One of her armored ears twitched fervidly with rage.

“I see you’ve acquired a uniform for battle. Let’s see how it fares against my legion-” his speech was interrupted by a rock being thrown at his hooves.

He gave a confused stare as the stone pulsated with magical hearts. “Why is it-”

Suddenly, the lower ranking demons of the legion rushed towards the stone, Twilight flying into the air above the stampede as the many Imps, Gargoyles, Prowlers and more weak-minded fodder scrambled for it. A brutal scrap began amongst her foes, gnawing and slashing for the stone, unintentionally landing multiple blows on Tirek.

The demon lord yowled in pain, trying to tear away the infighting monsters by the dozen. However more and more flooded in as they saw the stone. The multiple Barons, Archviles, Tyrants, Marauders, Dread Knights and Immorans stared in confusion, resistant due to their armors and rank.

Her HUD scoured the crowd, picking out the most vital foes to defeat first. It locked in on three Archviles among the crowd of higher ranked beasts. Twilight unsheathed her Hoof-Blades, using the boosts on her wings to propel herself as fast as she could towards one of the tall demons.

The sheer force of the armored alicorn took the Archvile off its feet. She plunged her two energy blades into the shoulders of the monster, it roaring in agony before it met a swift end with multiple brutal plunges of her horn through its throat.

She took flight just fast enough to dodge the waves of flames being propelled by the two remaining Archviles. Twilight flashed in magic, blinking behind the next enemy. She drove one of her blades through the back of the Archvile's neck. It screeched an alien agony, trying to reach behind it as she stabbed the blade profusely.

“Princess, behind you!” the Praeleanthor exclaimed.

Twilight propped a magical shield behind her just as a Marauder’s weapon was hurled at her. It diffused in the shield as she finished off the Archvile with a swing of her Hoof-Blades. She felt her muscles ache as they sliced clean through the spine of the demon.

“Use us.” the Soul Cube said.

Twilight spoke lightly as she weaved through the numerous projectiles being flung at her by the high-ranking demons. “Get the Archvile.” she commanded. She was thankful for the knowledge of demons she had thanks to the Codex.

The Soul Cube flung off, slicing up the targeted demon. As she dodged another fireball, she returned a brutal blast into the face of one of the Barons. While she did, she felt a large shadow descend on her. She looked up, gasping a moment as she saw a Baron diving to catch her.

The huge demon snatched her right out of the air, forcing her to the ground. Twilight screamed in angered pain, scratching and slicing into the hard, armored flesh of the Baron of Hell. It roared back, continuing to hold her down as a Marauder swiftly sprinted over. Its knightley blood red armor reflected its argent hammer’s glowing green light. It slammed the weapon down at the alicorn, Twilight catching at last moment right above her face with a magical spell.

With her levitation spell, she removed the hammer from its grasp with a wince of effort. She used it to slam the Baron away, the demon stumbling back. She flung the weapon into the Baron’s chest, double-tasking as she ducked under a punch from the Marauder. Twilight, while crouching, sliced its shin, blood seeping out.

Twilight felt a punch strike her helmet, her jabbing a Hoof-Blade back into the chestplate of the Marauder. She felt it make contact with the flesh, but not deep enough to deal any lethal damage. The Marauder shouted in agony, before going in to slam its fist into the alicorn once more. A tiny portal erupted where its fist would land, rerouting the punch straight into the armored demon’s helmet. It was dented as he stumbled back from his own attack.

Seeing its ally be stunned by the alicorn, a Tyrant aimed its cannon at Twilight, laser pointing right at the gray adorning pony. Missiles propelled out its arm speedily approaching her. Explosions ripped and tore through where Twilight stood, the noises loud enough for those in Canterlot to hear. The pig-faced demon looked in confusion as Twilight was gone once the smoke cleared of the blast.

Its Marauder ally was knocked off its feet by the blasts as the Cyberdemon looked down at its mechanical cannon arm, curious if it was really powerful enough to eviscerate a pony so terribly that she’d be gone with no trace she ever existed.

The thought was quickly denied as it heard a flash teleport behind it. Before it could slowly turn to look behind itself, it felt two magical chains wrap around both of the demon’s enormous horns. It roared in pain as the alicorn demanded the chains to be yanked down from behind. The monster was slowly bent backwards, back muscles snapping and breaking.

All while this occurred, the merciless slams of the Marauder’s stolen hammer didn’t let up on the Baron that had attacked her, eventually ending once the movements of the Baron ceased. The weapon fell from Twilight’s magical grasp.

With a brutal snap, the Cyberdemon’s spine was broken as it was broken into a lower case N shaped position by the merciless magical chains. Twilight couldn’t help but feel a sparkle of giddiness at the noise.

Twilight’s twitching ear perked a moment, hearing the calm voice of the Soul Cube. “We’ve kept it distracted as long as we could.” they stated as Twilight weaved through more projectiles on her new dexterous pair of wings.

She looked at the scarred Archvile, wounds which bursted with flame covering its body. Twilight expanded her wings, letting the engines launch her at full speed to the demon. She jammed her Hoof-Blades into it, damaging its head further and forcing it to the floor.

Before it could recoup on the ground, Twilight lifted her horn, slitting its throat brutally. She retreated her head to stare into the demon’s eyes as it painfully faded. She couldn’t help but feel a maniacal grin grow over her muzzle as it gasped for air, moving a hand to hold its throat.

She lifted a hoof in front of her, flexing it to extend the Blade before driving it straight into the demon’s eye, feeling all activity in the beast’s body cease. The flame-blood tore out beside the hoof-blade, the princesses inner turmoil dissipating like the magically dancing fires across the beast’s body.

As she savored the kill, it was interrupted by a breath removing pile-drive straight into the alicorn’s side. She felt her armor dent slightly, her rib-cage rattled and her breath sapped. Twilight rolled a dozen feet away from the culprit, coughing through the breathing vent on her helmet.

She rose to her hoof for a second, before they gave out, Twilight falling back down. She felt a duo of shadows overtake her. Twilight glanced up to see two energetic weapons being slammed down, a green short sword and a light blue colored battle axe.

On the left was a Marauder of acidic theming. It’s hefty looking armor oozed green acid between the cracks, long and stringy hair flowing out the back of the round helmet. Its battle buddy on the right adorned a more frosty outfit, thick armor with furs between the creases of metal and a long fluffy cape. Its face was adorned with a long beard on its decaying face with a light horned helmet atop its head.

Twilight swiftly deflected the attacks. Whirring her horn to fire a staggering blast at the two Marauders in front of her. The duo stumbled away from the purple blast the size of the average pony. Before they could recoup, the armored alicorn was already rushing one of the Marauders, cutting into the acidic green armor with a sizzling strike from her Hoof-Blade.

The demon backed away further, holding the damaged shoulder. Its ally attempted to rush Twilight from behind, being stopped as it crashed into a wall of crystal. The Marauder looked around in confusion, seeing the magical gem it was surrounded by. It growled, the ice-themed Marauder beginning to tear its axe into the thick material.

The acidic demon dived in with the duo of ooze-dripping short swords. Twilight dodged, going to her wings to weave between the attacks. She took flight, exploding a burst of energetic blasts. The Marauder blocked them, hurtling one of its weapons straight at Twilight’s head.

She felt pain rake across her face as the section of HUD over her left-side of vision was torn off by the weapon. Her eye pulsed with agony, but it remained as she looked through the new hole in her helmet. Twilight shook her head furiously, dashing at her enemy and grabbing its leg to sweep it out from under the demon.

Once it fell to the ground, Twilight spun on her wings to face it, commanding the Praeleanthor to her hoof. The Soul Cube floated gently above her gauntlet as the staggered demon got to its boots.

Her violet eye shimmered with hatred through the hole in her helmet. “Kill.” Twilight commanded, the Soul Cube flying forward with full charge from her previously slain demons.

She watched as the Soul Cube eviscerated the Marauder, armor clanging, bone cracking, flesh snapping. Eventually, all that was left was a bloody skeleton. She felt strength return to her body, the demon’s energy being siphoned through the Soul Cube to repair her many injuries. She felt the magic of the Soul Cube communicate to her armor, the demon’s soul energy sealing the dents and holes in it. Her health raised from the previously shown 91 all the way to 150, her armor maxing out as well.

Hearing the cracks of the spell-casted crystal behind her, she turned her attention to the Marauder. Her horn lit, Twilight drawing a sharp, striking X in the air. Her horn left a trail of purple energy, roasting with sharp magic that could pierce nearly anything.

Twilight shut her eyes in concentration as the Marauder broke out, grunting in effort as she unleashed the spell in all its might. Just as the demon left the Crystal Trap, it was barraged by the X slicing across its body, removing its limbs and slicing away into the monster’s body. It crumbled into a pile of fleshy remains from the merciless blast.

The alicorn breathed heavily, worn out from the spell and all the battle. She watched as Tirek and his ally fell back slightly, commanding more demons towards her path while the Archvile retreated back to the ship. Once Twilight caught her breath and the Immoran Troopers encroached even closer, she couldn’t help but smile cruely.

These monsters destroyed her home, friends and family. All while she could only watch. Now… she lifted her Hoof-Blade. She would make them regret it all.

She dove forward on her sharp, mechanical wings. Twilight spread them out wide enough to slice two of the armored humanoid’s heads off. The dozen in the group stopped once their heads landed. Before they could get a shot off, she teleported behind one and summoned a magical spear, driving straight through the man’s back.

They looked at her in shock, beginning to fire. However it was too light, Twilight dashing off at a speed their Reaper weapons could not keep up with. What they didn’t note was the magical spear flying off at a similar speed as the princess.

Two more Immorans were decapitated by the speedy Twilight, their bodies being impaled on the same spear the last foe was. She flew past another, slicing his throat before including him on the spear as well. Another demonic soldier was speared by Twilight’s Hoof Blades before being included on her flying weapon.

With their forces now cut to half the six began panicking. Some dropped their weapons, beginning to flee behind a wall of Mancubi. Three stood, slamming their arm cannons together in a challenge of battle. Coming between the gaps in their formation were a duo of Pinkies.

Twilight’s shishkebab of numerous demonic corpses was still propelled at ludicrous speeds as she took high into the sky to avoid the Pinkies and fireballs. She planted a swift portal in front of the magic javelin, having it appear beside the Mancubi to collateral two of them.

The force it was sent at killed the first in line, piercing and severally injuring the second. She drilled into the skull of that one to finish it off, hopping onto the shoulder of the next one over and slicing one of its tusks off in a sloppy slash, comboing a swift blast to the face to stun it.

She felt a hot fire blast into her armor, flinging the alicorn off its fellow Mancubi’s shoulder. Twilight rolled away, about to get back to her hoofs until she felt a brutal pair of jaws clamp onto her rear right hoof. She was shaken around in the gnashing teeth of one of the Pinkies.

She was thrown about like a ragdoll, before being flung out of its jaws thanks to a loose bite. Twilight felt herself land into a sizzling blade, crackling into her shoulder. She gasped in pain, before growling in fervor, blood boiling out of her teeth. Twilight grabbed the sneaky Dread Knight with her magic, tearing herself off the demon’s blade.

Time began to slow for Twilight as the agony screeched through her. 13 health appeared at the bottom left of her HUD, the symbol in the center warning her of her lack of vitality.

“Grr-AAAH! I’LL KILL YOU!” she felt herself scream as she swiftly spun to her wings, facing the Dread Knight. Her voice was an unhinged rumble that desired for murder.

She tore the beast from the ground with a telekinetic spell, holding it off its feet as it roared whilst trapped in place. Twilight put extra emphasis on the spell around the demon’s neck, twitching her head to the side before its neck was brutally snapped. She twitched her head upwards, the beast's body contorting brutally before the spine was detached monstrously.

Twilight spun to face the other charging Pinky, jamming the spine and head of her foe in the mouth of the monster. It tried to clamp down on the object in its mouth, thinking it was Twilight. However, in its effort to crush its foe in its jaw, it forced the vertically oriented object up through its maw and into its brain, killing it instantly.

“Kill.” she demanded from the Soul Cube, facing the distant Mancubus that had its tusk removed. The Soul Cube spun out its blades, rushing to the beast to end it as Twilight approached the other Pinky on her wings.

She shook away the pain as she landed on her hooves, hardly able to stand with her front left shoulder stabbed through and her back right hoof almost broken. The Pinky, believing she was down for a rest, roared a war cry before charging in. Last second, she teleported behind it, blasting a Lethal Energy Blast into its most vital section, the tail.

It bursted into numerous vital organs. The Pinky bled out and died on the ground, she felt her health be rejuvenated, watching the bar on her HUD tick to 131, 19 away from max. The stab wound resealed, same with her broken hoof. Armor joined over the wounds properly thanks to the Soul Cube’s magic.

With the remaining Mancubus, her horn glowed as she dodged two fireballs it shot. She drew the X she had before, launching it with a searing screech. It cut through the demon like a hot blade through butter.

The quadrisected beast collapsed back next to the skeleton Mancubus the Praeleanthor had created. Looking across the battlefield, no new wave met Twilight. The numerous demons stared wearily, knowing of their limited numbers on this plane. As she gazed, a horrible idea crossed her mind. She couldn’t help giggle eerily at the thought as she flew idly. Her horn glowed with an intense telekinetic spell.

First, it was the bodies of the Immoran Troopers that lifted, the spell the Dark Lord had casted now gone thanks to their demise and the deactivation of their suits with the death. Next was the Mancubi, floating away in front of the shiny shield casted by her brother. It wasn’t long before the Pinkies and the Barons began levitating into mass piles.

She stacked the first wave all together. A huge group of the three dead Marauders, three Archviles, the broke-back Cyberdemon and a Baron with a caved in chest. The large assortment that amassed right in front of the doors to Canterlot was nearly as tall as the wall itself.

Next, she began floating the huge pile of fodder away from the rock she had casted the Want It, Need It spell on. They flowed right behind the armored pony, the bloody hill sitting proudly to the left of the first.

Finally, the twisted princess rounded together the four Mancubi she had slain, the two Pinkies and one Dread Knight being placed to the right of the first. She gazed at the magic spear she had left in one of the Mancubi, tearing it out to look at the six Troopers.

Twilight levitated the spear back over to the two headless Immorans she had forgotten to shishkebab, stabbing them with their brethren before throwing the javelin back into the third group, driving it into the Dread Knight’s broken neck.

She flew gently atop the center pile, standing on the head of a Baron, a former guard of the Dark Lord. He stared at the reserved horde, waiting for their move.

The princess stomped her hoof, crushing the skull of an Archvile. “The more corpses you bring me, the more walls I make of your dead!” Twilight screamed, sounding nothing like her usually kind and innocent self. “I will rebuild my home from your vomiting, spewing viscera!”

The stamped on Cutie Mark she had on her armor was covered in blood, much like her legs and her face. Her violet eyes burned righteously, relishing the suffering and death below her hooves.

Twilight was no longer the friendly, overstressed bookworm that loved to make friends. The star that was Twilight had collapsed into a void. A black hole that desired to consume one thing, the blood of those who stole everything from her.

Codex/Twilight's Spell List

Princess Twilight Sparkle, now being equipped with upgrades to properly battle the legions of Hell, has recalled and studied numerous spells she could utilize to maximize her efficiency in combat. With injections of pure Sentinel Energy, Twilight now has a very distant limit on her ability of spell casting, making difficult and lethal spells more easy to pull off.

Although most spells can be cast frequently, some are limited to once a day use. These spells will be indicated with a purple color in the text, the description providing an amount it could be used. A few spells require a charge time. These charges require her to halt quick movements to prepare the spell. Some spells may also be blocked by powerful magic.

Enchanted armor may prove a difficulty for spells such as Body Shield, Want It Need It, Teleport Foe and Telekinesis Spells related to the contorting of an enchanted demon’s body. Enemies enchanted to counter magic will be referred to as Enchants in brief.

Animate Weapon

If Twilight encounters a gun, sword or other weapon, she may cast Animate Weapon to make it do the battling for her. It is limited to twice a day however.

Counter-Magic Blast

Twilight flies in the sky and uses all the magic she can manage to destroy any magic effects casted by the demons. Including the counter magic in the armor of Enchants. This also causes damage and can potentially slay much of the fodder surrounding her. The downside to this attack is the following weakness induced in her spells. She would need to rest her abilities a few moments before continuing to battle.

Crystal Trap

This spell surrounds a target in a very hard magic crystal to contain an enemy and trap them. This requires a moment of charging.

Energy Shot

A standard beam that Twilight has been utilizing non-lethally for years. However, the new introduction of the powerful Wraith magic increases the voltage of the attack to lethal extents. Now able to cleanly melt through the strongest metal without even a moment of charge. At a

higher charge, it may completely eviscerate limbs off of enemies. The higher charge requires Twilight to slow or be idle to prepare the attack.

Energy Slice

This spell once casted allows Twilight to "draw" a shape with magic and send it off to slice through enemies. It is very comparable to that of the Destroyer Blade under the Doom Slayer’s arsenal. It may be used only three times a day.

Forge Weapon

Twilight may cast an energetic spear, axe, sword or bow to use against the demons. It does not take much focus to use after casting and has about as much lethality to a standard steel variant. Only one may be cast at a time but it may be decast to make a new one.

Hoof-Blades

A pair of energy daggers that protrude from the princess' new cybernetic hooves. This slicing magic is hot enough to slice through steel, flesh and bone with ease and swiftness. They are most effective in close range and may be used to drill through enemies. Another use is blocking enemy attacks, whether solid or made of energy.

MURDER BEES

MAGIC MURDER BEES

Portal

Twilight casts two portals. These can be used to quickly change the position of something. This requires a charge to cast and any object that enters a portal exits out another.

Slicing Barrage

Twilight creates a legion of energetic blades to direct towards one target or a group. Death by a thousand merciless slices. It instantly kills any targeted demons, being able to target a maximum of one Super Heavy, two Heavy demons and ten Fodder.

Teleport

A simple spell that teleports the user to a desired location within a 50 meter distance. This spell may also be used on items and enemies. The exception being Enchants and objects way larger than Twilight.

Want It, Need It

A one time a day use spell, the Want It, Need It spell can be used on an object such as a rock to attract all enemies in the area that are not Enchants. They will battle viciously over the targeted object and end up killing each other. This spell can be chooses to only work for demonkin, to ensure nopony is afflicted.

Author's Note

Sorry for no chapter this or last weekend. Taking a break for Spring Break to let myself stock up on chapters to release. Expect a chapter on the 31st though.

Mission 5. The Athergarrian Hunter

Briefing

After purging Equestria from the demon’s main points of entry, you are called back to Canterlot to halt another attack from a much more mobilized force. An Athergarrian Hunter, hauling in some of the most powerful demons in its garrison. The Slayer must find his way into the ship and halt the offensive whilst whatever is stopping the demons from entering Canterlot does it’s job.

The Doom Slayer gripped angered gauntlets around the neck of one of the Imps among the horde, flinging it into the sky. He pointed Lucifer’s Bane at it, shooting the Meathook into the demon and propelling himself far into the sky above the horde of monsters.

The demon killer had been battling the unending horde of Hell for nearly six hours. They stopped at nothing to prevent him from approaching the Slipgate, even attempting to destroy the vortex’s gate. However, the blessed metals of the Night Sentinels were too powerful to be demolished by the demons.

Now, he had sliced through the hordes of Hell like a tempered blade through butter, only a minor gang remaining. He equipped Hellbreaker, lifting the hammer over his head before slamming it into the ground, flinging the numerous Gargoyles, Imps and Hell Knights away to remain stunned on the floor. Most of them perished on impact to the ground or turned to meat confetti from the energy blast of the melee weapon.

Once he was done, he holstered the Hammer to his back, approaching a Baron paralyzed by the energy of the Sentinel weapon. He jumped up a little, wrangling the monster’s head down before jamming his Doom Blade through the beast’s neck. He threw its head to the ground to let the monster bleed out as he used the blade to block an attempted surprise attack from a nearby Whiplash, one of its chain daggers clinging off his blade.

The Doom Slayer blocked the next one, equipping his Hellvolvers and blasting a duo of rounds into its face. Brains flew out of the demon’s skull, stunned before the third consecutive headshot laid the beast to rest.

He growled in pain as he felt a slamming hand of a Hell Knight crack into his back, the Slayer spinning around to fire a soul-propelled round in the monster’s torso. It flinched, before responding with a smack at his right gauntlet, flinging one of his Hellvolvers out of his hand. The Slayer clenched his now free right hand in fury, before hooking it in the face as hard he could.

He then hammered over its face, causing the Hell Knight to crumble to its knees. Before he could deal the finishing blow, the Slayer felt a fireball of an approaching Imp. The Slayer spun, unsheathing his Doomblade, which was on the same arm he held the remaining Hellvolver, before jamming the sharp steel into the abdomen of the small beast.

To add insult to injury, he shot his revolver through the monster’s stomach, a legion of organs blowing out with the huge round. He cocked the hammer of his weapon, spinning to blast the skull off the Hell Knight’s shoulders.

“SLAYER IDENTIFIED!” the mechanical roar of a Doom Hunter exclaimed as the Doom Slayer looked to see the remains of the force he was close to finishing off.

A single Doom Hunter stood between him and the portal. It charged him, swiping a chainsaw at him. Right before it could make contact with him, the Doom Hunter froze, consumed by the icey effects of the Ice Bomb. The Doom Slayer Blood Punched into the sled, dashing back to lock on with his Rocket Launcher. The volley of missiles erupted around the frozen beast, freeing it from the ice.

“CRITICAL DAMAGE!” it exclaimed, detaching from the sled to be met by another trio of rockets before it could even bring its shield up.

The Doom Slayer equipped his Plasma RIfle, beaming the shield away as he dodged the numerous rockets being propelled at him. Once the Doom Hunter’s shield was gone, he equipped his Super Shotgun and shot right into the face of the Hunter, staggering it.

He equipped his Mobile Turret, blasting a huge volley of gauss-propelled machine gun rounds at the demon's head, detaching it as it screamed in pure agony. The head flung off from the numerous bullets, the barrels muting and spinning to stillness. The Slayer holstered his Chaingun back into his Inventory Systems, going over to the fiery revolver on the ground several dozen feet away.

The Slayer picked up the weapon, clicking out the chamber and loading four more rounds into it. As he approached the pedestal the slipgate resided on, he holstered that one and began loading the second.

The Slayer holstered the second Revolver, looking into the portal that led him back to Canterlot. He took a step forward, leaving Hell once again.

The Doom Slayer walked into the eerily empty planning room of Princess Luna. He gazed across the pony-absent table. Usually, she would be at the desk watching through his helmet video. He stepped towards the table, hands strongly by his sides in balled fists.

His camera’s feed echoed as he stared at his own helmet video. The footage repeated endlessly as he stared at it, before turning away. It was strange, her absence from commentary. He growled, in all likelihood, that huge force of demons was meant to slow his return. The demons were plotting something.

He moved towards the elevator on the other side of the Sentinel-structured library/planning room/teleportation room. The Slayer set a hand on a panel next to the elevator, calling it down. He entered the platform once it slowly lowered, detecting his presence and raising back up.

The Slayer exited the castle, walking through the panicked streets full of the multi-colored equine. As he heard their calls of fear, hiding their loved ones in the numerous houses, the Doom Slayer felt an aura of familiarity. The invasions of Sentinel cities numerous centuries ago… the destruction of his home city, dozens of innocents lost.

He shook the memory away. Although he hardly swore an allegiance to these people, they were innocents being prowled on by the legions of Hell. He had difficulty to bear the sight of innocent creatures being slain by the demons.

Noticing the panic, he began rushing through the streets, weaving between panicked ponies to make it to the walls where he assumed the combat resided. It wasn’t long before he spotted the flowing dark blue mane of his associate. Princess Luna watched the battlefield as the Slayer continued up the stairs to the top of the wall.

The sounds of demonic suffering and torture were enough to remind him of his own escapades as he began surveying the battlefield. There appeared to be a quadruped form, moving swiftly on flapping wings, so quick it was almost a blur. The most he was certain about was the pile of corpses the quick thing was forming.

It would murder a demon brutally, like a Mancubus by aiming its cannon to its head with telekinesis to blow its own head off before it would teleport the corpse away to ever growing piles along the walls.

Luna turned, noticing the Doom Slayer as his feet rumbled the floor beneath him. “Oh, Great Slayer. I see you’ve returned.”

The Doom Slayer looked at her a moment, before gazing up at the huge behemoth Hell ship above. He gave a hard glare.

Before Luna could even inform him of the situation, he was already making his way to a nearby cannon mounted on the wall. Several guard ponies around it gave him confused and scared looks as the demon-murdering creature approached the barrel of the cannon.

“W-What are you doing?” Luna queried as the Doom Slayer climbed into the barrel. As she deciphered the Slayer’s thoughts, looking between the large Slayer-loaded weapon and the giant ship in the sky, she began to understand.

The confused and frightened royal guard jumped at the sound of Luna’s commanding voice. “Aim the cannon at the ship.” she commanded, the ponies beginning to work as the Slayer crawled deeper in.

Once the weapon was loaded by the trio of artillery-ponies, it was hoisted to be aimed high to land its projectile into the ship. The leader with a particularly stylish moustache saluted loyally once it was all setup

“Fire.” Luna commanded, confident the Slayer knew what he was doing.

Analyzing combat environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Battle track produced

https://youtu.be/dknNQEOxB0M

The Slayer bursted out of the cannon, speeding towards the ship at incredible speeds. He broke through the bubble shield surrounding Canterlot, rocketing at the strong metal of the ship. He slammed through the metal armor of the ship, shard landing all around him as he broke a huge hole through the wall and into the hellship.

“By Davoth!” he heard an Immoran exclaim, standing beside another man in his patrol. The Slayer brought out his Destroyer Blade as they began to run away, charging it up by one bit before blasting away a short but powerful horizontal line of destructive energy.

The two running humanoids were bisected, killed in an instant by the Ballista’s weapon mod. A Mancubus and Revenant blasted onto the T-shaped hall the Slayer had crashed into, roaring to prepare the battle.

Almost immediately he blasted the cannons off the Revenant’s shoulders with a swap between his Ballista and HMG, each sniping the weapons off. As the Revenant was stunned by the combo, he equipped the Paingiver and locked onto the Mancubus, launching his rockets before lowering the weapon in his left hand to bring out the Super Shotgun.

He launched the Meathook to approach the Mancubus closer, dealing a killing blow before sheathing his Shotgun, turning and Blood Punching the approaching Revenant’s torso off its legs. He clenched his bloody fist in front of his visor furiously as he tossed his Rocket Launcher into his inventory.

“WARNING: THE SLAYER HAS ENTERED THE FACILITY.” a feminine voice alerted across the ship.

He cracked his neck, equipping his Super Shotgun before continuing down the right hall. The Slayer needed to find a way to destroy this ship.

The room he entered was a huge area surrounding a giant bridge. The bridge had to go on for a hundred meters in front of the Slayer. Beneath the bridge was tons of flesh and organs lining the walls and ceiling. They shook, expanding and retracting. He was in the ship's lungs. The warship was composed half of a beast named the Athergarrian, the rest of cybernetic metals and technology.

He spun around at the sound of a Maykr's roar, seeing the spear aiming angel. The Slayer dodged backwards, out of the way of the landing javelin. The metal bridge sparkled around the landing point of the weapon.

The Slayer switched to his HMG, clicking the mod switch to activate the Precision Bolt firemode. As the Blood Maykr rose into the sky on her energy wings, the Doom Slayer squeezed his weapons trigger.

Click

He pulled the trigger, the bullet not firing. The Slayer already knew the source, turning to see a Maegus standing beside an Armored Baron.

He ducked under another flying spear, equipping his Hammer to see an absence of energy in the weapon. He growled in frustration, holstering it on his backplate. He rushed toward the Maegus, the Baron moving forward to protect it. The Slayer cracked a punch into its armor before grabbing its horn to lower the head and knee it in the head.

Before the Baron could respond, he felt a missed shot to its face from the Blood Maykr. The large demon stumbled back, spear stuck through its armor. The Slayer didn't hesitate, shoving the beast off the bridge. He turned and rushed to the Maegus, dodging the energy shots from the staff of the Blood Maykr behind him.

He grabbed the zombified unicorn by the neck as the Maykr readied to hurl its staff, energy armor falling away. The Slayer hurled the pony at the Maykr with such force that it tore into the exposed head of the angel-demon. The horn pierced right through the skull, it screeching before plummeting off the bridge.

The Slayer couldn't hold back a snicker at the realization that he just murdered a demon with an unicorn.

"What is happening? I've only just now arrived back in the war room." Princess Luna asked, the Slayer continuing down the bridge in the pace of his usual ruthless sprint.

The Doom Slayer was silent as he entered the next area of the warship. Long, thin hallways weaved around the ship. Numerous statues of the Dark Lord and other demonic leaders. The walls were a metallic crimson much like the structures of Immora. He equipped his Super Shotgun, dual wielding it with his Hellvolver. As he prowled the demonic halls.

"I assume you are attempting to destroy the ship. There has to be a fuel lodge or some other way of destruction." Luna spoke. "Check your map."

The Slayer opened the Map in his HUD, looking across the portions of the ship he explored. There was an objective marker right on an Automap station.

He would have to continue down the hall until the next left, go down and take the next right, then a left and finally it will be by the wall. The Slayer shut off his map, turning the next left.

Numerous roars echoed down the hall. Pale demons stood down the other end, white with stoney skin. Four Stone Imps readied for battle. Turning the corner behind them was a huge Cybermancubus, nearly the size of the hall.

The Doom Slayer dug into his inventory, forming the Chainsaw in his hand. He yanked the starter cord, the blades roaring viciously. A Stone Imp screeched, curling into a ball and surging at the Slayer. He swiped his Chainsaw through the approaching enemy, bisecting it before bringing it down on another assaulting Stimp. The blades clacked and clicked through the stone greedily, blood exploding from the head of the monster as he drove it through its skull.

The next Stimp successfully slammed into the Doom Slayer. He grunted in pain, lobbing a grenade from his Equipment Launcher. The frag exploded as he reached over and grabbed it by the neck brutally. It scratched its arm viciously as it felt its spinal cord crack and break as he put extra effort into his grasp.

He dashed out of the way of another pool of goo, his health rehealing while he broke the neck of the demon with one hand. The Slayer hurled the demon at the other Stone Imp once it attempted to charge another rolling attack. He quickly swapped to his Full Auto Shotgun, mowing the singular demon down before jumping onto the Cybermancubus’ shoulder to Blood Punch the armor off its body.

The Slayer dashed off, propelling dozens of shotgun shells into the face of the demon brutally. Once it was staggered, he unsheathed his Doomblade and uppercutted it into the roof of the green Mancubus’ mouth viciously. He growled in brutal satisfaction as he withdrew the Doomblade, unsheathing it again to wipe the blood onto his right gauntlet before sheathing it once more.

Seeing his close-quarters, he equipped his Super Shotgun, replacing the Meathook with a more directly powerful Quadruple Barrel mod. He loaded the two extra barrels before continuing off.

As he marched, the Slayer would encounter many-a-demon attempting to stop him. However only so many could find him in the chaos of the huge ship. An Imp would attempt to surprise him from around a corner, its head would be sent flying down the hall. A duo of Hell Paladins turn the corner to find the Doom Slayer? Bisected by the wall of lead produced by the glorious weapon.

A Whiplash screeching in horror at the sight of the Doom Slayer rushing her, stunning it with a vicious wave of flames, the demon murderer stealing its chains and decapitating her with its own weapon. It was lightwork for the Doom Slayer.

Finally, he reached the divot in a wall where the Automap resided. It was Immoran in design, crimson and black with glowing red projections of the area. He placed a hand on the glowing panel, downloading the data into his HUD.

“Hrrmm…” Princess Luna pondered, looking around the new information provided by the new data. “Found it.”

On his HUD, the Slayer saw a marker appear down the hall to the right. “I will be placing markers at every turn that lead to the fuel sources. Follow them, and you should be able to destroy this dreadful ship.”

He rushed through the halls, towards the next marker, turning to the left to follow the numerous markers. A Prowler teleported in front of him at some point, ready to attack. The Doom Slayer grabbed its throat before it could react, slamming it to the ground, setting a boot on its chest, and tearing its head off.

The Slayer hurled it at a charging Revenant, the demon screeching a war-cry before being interrupted by the head of its ally. The Doom Slayer equipped his Hellvolver, sniping a shoulder cannon off and bisecting the Revenant with a blast from his Quadruple Shotgun.

He marched off, dreadfully loud footsteps stomping through the ship. It wasn’t long before he encountered a huge door, a large hunk of steel with a glowing seam in between, shimmering with maroon energy. A button on an anciently designed pedestal stood just beside the door, the Doom Slayer lifted a gauntlet, preparing to press the button in.

Quickly he spun around, aiming his Super Shotgun with one hand behind him. Something was off… he sheathed his weapon back to his hip, lifting his hand once more.

A shocking surprise of an attack rippled through his spine as he felt the poisoning claw of a Cursed Prowler jam through his back. A warning bolded across the front of his HUD with a symbol of a withering away demon skull just above it.

YOU ARE CURSED!

His Equipment Launcher’s AI bursted the demon with flames before it could teleport away. The HUD enabled him to see the demon through the walls and halls of the ship, however it was very distant. He felt his fingers constrain, paralysis setting in as he felt the use of them diminish.

He clenched them in determined fists, he could use no weapons now. The Slayer would have to hunt the Prowler. Before he could stomp off, he heard a legion of strange sounds occurring from around the corner down the hall. Like a million stamps on paper, hundreds of clickings on demonic steel.

The Slayer felt the floor rumble beneath him. A legion of contorted bodies slamming down the hallway. Hundreds of contorted pegasi, their wings contorted to a third pair of legs, with one of their legs split into two smaller sets in the back.

The Equipment Launcher lobbed one final Ice Grenade at the pack before malfunctioning due to the disabling poison of the Prowler. The Slayer watched with slight dread as he saw his health tick down to a 100, no armor.

Just then, he felt the poison clear. The Slayer gazed back down at his health bar as the numerous Arachnids began to thaw. A solid dark blue bar froze the poison. A heavily breathing, tired sounding Luna spoke.

“I-It worked. I countered the Prowlers poison, but it will only work for a short time, and I fear the ability of your rapid healing.” Luna informed the Slayer.

The Doom Slayer nodded affirmatively, thanking her in his silent way as he felt the faculties of his suit return. Just then, the Arachnids broke from their icey prisons. The Doom Slayer readied both fists, now charged with Blood Punches before tearing through the crowd with two devastating hooks. That still left another crowd of twenty to assault the Slayer.

He equipped his Plasma Rifle, swapping the mod to Heat Blast and began to burn through the hordes with the extremely hot projectiles. As he tried to shoot all the quick moving enemies, they began swarming him, climbing all across his armor and stomping and biting between the cracks in his suit.

He tore them off with one hand, still mowing down others with his Plasma Rifle. The hallway was a lightshow of energetic fire as the plasma sizzled through the demonic hide of the former equine. The Slayer growled in pain as more swarmed him, many dents in his armor.

Finally, a grenade recharged in his Equipment Launcher, the Doom Slayer sending out a Frag to eviscerate the group of Arachnids. They all exploded from the shrapnel, the remainder now dead. Blood dripped and trickled off the ceiling from the amount eviscerated from plasma and explosions. Most of them were now just meat confetti around the hall.

Princess Luna felt ill from the event, the contorted and corrupted bodies of her people now nothing but dripping sinew and flesh.

The Slayer witnessed not an inch of his health rise in his HUD. No physical relief was brought to him from the slaying of the demons. The weakened demon hunter took a long, injured breath before planting his hand on the button.

The door opened, the Slayer stepping in cautiously, equipping his Sentinel Hammer in his left while holding his Super Shotgun in his right. Huge vats of Hell energy sparkled and electrocuted, mounted on the walls of the giant room. In the center of it all was a strange demon the Slayer had not seen before.

It was skeletal, with very loose skin hanging off the bone, melting into the metal underneath. Its snouted head resembled that of a pony, its equine ears molding down into its head. A horn towering from the mass of baggy flesh and bones.

A disturbed tone dug into Luna’s voice as she spoke up. “I-Is that a pony?”

The metallic clang of two pairs of covered hooves slammed down beside the Sapling. A pair of Armored Barons landed from a higher level. He looked up to see a bridge that went over the huge chasm that was the fuel room. The two roared as a glow emanated from the strange pony demon’s horn.

A yellow defensive bubble formed around the equine monster, before expanding to surpass the two Barons. Whilst inside the perimeter of the bubble, energy surrounded the demons, buffing their speed and strength whilst inside the shield.

“You would h-have to slay the Sapling.” she stated, with a stutter of sympathy for her former subject.

The Slayer slowly lifted a gun, firing at the shield. It didn’t falter, remaining strong. He lowered the Shotgun to jam a new squad of shells within its barrel, ducking under a launched morning star and rushing towards the shield to enter it.

The other Baron joined in attacking range, the Slayer sliding under the attack and through the shield. While still sliding, he sweeped a leg out from under one of the Barons with his Hammer. As he got to his feet, he shot at the Sapling. Sadly, the lead didn’t pierce a secondary shield that it had around itself.

The Slayer groaned, equipping his Plasma Rifle and mowing down the armor of the floor-bound Baron. Its armor was cracked off by the burning heat whilst getting up, allowing the Slayer to finish it off with two vicious blows using the Sentinel Hammer. One to the leg, completely slamming it off, and the other straight into the head, that too flying away.

He staggered forward, feeling the full weight of a haymaker from the enemy Baron behind him. The Slayer fell to his chest, flipping over to his back to block the next attack with his Hammer. The huge monster growled robotically before it was kicked back by the strength of the Slayer.

As he got to his feet, he holstered his Hammer to the backplate and once more pumped the hundreds of plasma rounds through the armor of the beast. He swiftly broke it with a fully charged Heat Blast. With that, he swapped to his Super Shotgun, fired his four shells and quickly moved to use his Rocket Launcher. He locked on, firing the trio of rockets before firing a fourth for good measure. To finish it off, he forced a blast from his Ballista and charged a gnashing Destroyer Blade.

eeiiINNNN-DEH-EN-DEH-EN-DEH-UN

BWWEEEEEW!

The wave of slicing energy bisected the Baron, leaving the remaining enemy to be the Sapling. He walked over, unsheathed his Doom Blade with a satisfying sching and decapitated it. Luna couldn’t help but flinch as the melting pony slumped in its mass of flesh and bone.

“G-Good. Now we must destroy the fuel tanks.” as the Doom Slayer walked over, he felt the ship rumble beneath his feet, ominous creaking emanating from the walls and a distorted gurgly cry coming from the carrier body of the ship. “The quicker the better.” Luna added.

As he stepped forward, he heard the gravelly voice of a Marauder speak.

“Long time no see, Great Slayer.” a taunting voice spoke behind him.

The Slayer glared behind his injured shoulder, glaring back at the sight of the huger than average Marauder. The growl of a chainsaw blade crackled, electricity sparking from the Hell energy.

It was Kronos. One of the leaders of the Dread Legion, and an old associate of the Slayer’s. He turned to face him fully. The former Night Sentinel, meant for the throne of Warrior King presented himself. It was going to be him to win the throne, if not for the display of the Slayer’s abilities in Taras Nabad so long ago.

Kronos still held this grudge. “I’ve been waiting eons for this duel.” he let his Meathook gently sink from his gauntlet, slowly circling the Slayer like a cougar to its prey.

The Slayer remained in his position. His body only moved from his heavy, angered breaths. His armor was severely dented, a crack in his visor and a hole in the back of the suit where the Baron had cracked a ruthless punch earlier. His health had not raised at all, now resting at an uncomfortable 70. He was not confident in the fight with this Marauder.

He was larger than most Marauders, but if one thing was constant in the Slayer’s journey was that size didn’t matter. Except with guns. His eyebrows raised in realization.

As the ego-filled Marauder continued his annoying speech, the Doom Slayer checked his inventory. The BFG-9000, one round. It was overkill, but this Marauder was no risk he’d be wishing to take.

“That throne was meant for me, Great Slayer! You tore it from my grasp.” he scoffed. “Just an outlander with a hint of luck, jumping spots in line for the Divinity Machine because the Seraphim was depsera-AGH!” a quadruple barrel shot bursted into the armor of the Marauder, stunning him before the Slayer equipped the BFG. The weapon, double the size of the Doom Slayer, was point-blank fired at the Marauder.

The sugar-coatless attack propelled the Marauder out of the room, blood exploding from his surprisingly still intact body. The only thing missing was a loose horn now resting on the floor. The Slayer couldn’t help but cackle viciously as he lay unconscious outside of the room in the hallway. He clicked a button next to the door, sealing Kronos away.

He turned, returning his BFG to his inventorial systems and equipping his Chaingun. He unfurled the numerous barrels, mowing down the fuel tanks surrounding the room.

VRROOOOOOOOOOM

The noise of the Chaingun’s continuous fire sounded more like a vacuum cleaner than a gun firing individual bullets at a quick rate. It was not long before all six fuel tanks were demolished in the room.

“WARNING! WARNING! SHIP FUEL LEVELS CRITICAL, DESTRUCTION OF SHIP IMMINENT, EMERGENCY WARP PROTOCOLS INITIATING!” the elevator-voice spoke loudly over the intercom. The Slayer noticed several plates beginning to fall off the inside of the beast, its armor falling away as the monster began roaring in agony from the lack of “fuel.”

Suddenly, he felt the poison of the Prowler return. His health began to drain. 70, 60, 50, 40. He coughed up green blood onto the interior of his helmet visor, his breathing beginning to grow difficult once more. The warning that he was cursed returned as Luna’s spell wore away.

“Oh no, Great Slayer, are you okay?” she asked hesitantly, trying to get the spell to function again.”Come on, work.” she grunted, trying to cast the spell to cure him. However it refused to work. She was missing the components she had used before.

As the Slayer crumbled to the ground, weakness consuming him as his health ticked to 10, he felt his vision blur and darken.

Mission T3. To Freedom

Twilight finished her final pile, the last inch of the shield’s exterior laced with a seven feet tall fence of death. She cut the throat of an Imp, flinging it onto the corpse pile. Blood puddled and dripped around the wall.

The alicorn felt immense satisfaction from the proper defense. She slowly turned to the bloody battlefield, now empty. Tirek must have retreated. She gazed up at the ship, the flying beast beginning to move away from the kingdom. They were running.

She flexed her metal wings, the jets propelling her off towards the Hunter. Wind buffeted past her faceplate, exposed eye stinging a little before she bursted through the wall of the Aggertharean Hunter. She landed on her hooves in a hallway, in front of her stood a squad of Immoran Troopers, alerted.

Analyzing combat environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Battle track produced

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xb9N-YYrZes

Quickly she dashed to one of the four, jamming her Hoof-Blade through his helmet before facing another gun-aiming foe and casting Energy Slice. She drew a shimmering violet X, releasing it as she blocked an energy ball shot by the Trooper.

The Immoran was knocked back into the wall, unconscious. The armor barely saved it. Another round of plasma was shot at the alicorn, Twilight flashing out of sight before appearing behind the demon. She swiped a blade across the back of its neck, decapitating the Trooper.

The last demon aimed his weapon shakingly. It didn’t seem to fire, frozen. Twilight descended off of her wings, metallic hooves clacking on the steel below. She could detect the fear in it, the demon trembling backwards, tripping and dropping its weapon. Despite it being a feet or two taller than the pony, it still cowered before the alicorn.

She unsheathed her Hoof-Blades, before diving at the helmet and stomping its head in brutally. More gruesome crimson was plastered across her gray armor as the gruesome cracks of skull and metal busting in echoed down the hall.

CRK-CRACK-SCHRK-KKR

Eventually, she removed her hooves from the remains of the helmet, sparkling with blood-covered electronics. She felt a sadistic grin wreath across her muzzle at the kill. Twilight swayed her head to the unconscious demon on the wall, an idea forming.

As she walked over, she heard the gentle floating of the Soul Cube fly through the hole in the ship. “Greetings, princess.”

Twilight didn’t reply, giving the wall-bound Immoran a thoughtful look.

“What are you doing?” the Soul Cube rumbled with speech.

She grabbed the base of the helmet, lifting it away. “Interrogating.” Twilight replied simply, tearing the helmet away forcefully.

Beneath the helmet was the face of a human. A creature unfamiliar to the alicorn. His skin was a dark tan, the young looking soldier looking far less ghastly than most of the demons she had encountered. He had strawy dark hair with a couple scars on his gently resting face. Whilst she inspected the beast, the Soul Cube began absorbing the souls of the enemies she had slain.

The more she looked at the demon, the more she felt bad. These creatures felt different from the others. Her eyes trailed down to the fleshy weapon it wielded in one of its open hands. She touched it with a hoof, pushing it away.

“How do you plan on awakening it?” the Soul Cube now floated in front of the Trooper.

“I’m not sure.” she muttered with a low voice. Twilight knew knocking him with her hoof wouldn’t get him out of unconsciousness any faster.

She unsheathed her Hoof-Blade, lowering a blunt side down onto its hand. The armor began sizzling, and after a moment, it awoke to scream in pain. Quickly, she put a hoof over its mouth, the demon struggling with a horrified look in its eye. The muffled words it shouted were incoherent.

“Where are you holding my friends?” Twilight growled. Her horn lit, floating the Reaper gun the demon was wielding to aim at him. “Tell me, now.”

Its brown eyes averted to the gun, quaking furiously. “The-the horses?”

“Who else?” Twilight asked with frustration.

“I promised Kronos! I-I promised I wouldn’t tell anybody outside of the ship.” his armor clanged together as he began shaking.

Twilight looked at the Praeleanthor. The floating cube nodded, before Twilight signaled to the Immoran with a movement of her head. The razors within the cube expanded out, beginning to rotate at incredible speeds as it slowly drifted towards its neck. The sharp artifact would hover closer and closer, preparing to slice through arteries and vertebrae like butter.

The Immoran closed its eyes as the sound of the Soul Cube filled its ears dreadfully. Finally, it broke through in a fearful scream. “I-I’LL TELL YOU!”

Just before hitting the soft-looking flesh of its neck, the Soul Cube halted. The dread of the ancient steel cooling on his throat was all the demon could focus on before the Soul Cube retracted its blades. The concept of his soul being consumed by the Praeleanthor was too ominous for even the most loyal demons to sit through.

“Then talk.” Twilight urged, gun still pointed at his head.

He caught his breath for a moment, before beginning to speak. “My memory shall not be perfect, but I believe it is down the hall, to the left, take the next right, stay forward until you r-reach the fourth left, and finally one more right and you will be there.”

The murderous alicorn seemed satisfied for the moment as her body eased away.

The Trooper lifted a hand toward his neck.

Quickly, Twilight put one of her Hoof-Blades near his throat cautiously. “Be very wise on what you’re about to do.”

“I-I’m getting a key.” He gulped nervously, fumbling around with a necklace that went under the plates of his crimson armor not so differently shaded from the ship. He pulled out a strangely shaped artifact the size of her hoof that glowed bright yellow.

Twilight consumed it in a telekinesis spell, ready to walk away from the demon without another word. Slowly, as she took a couple steps back from her enemy, excitement began fizzing up in her like cider in a cup. It was true. Here friends truly were alive! The doubts in her head were getting speared similarly to the legion of damned she had slain outside her former home’s walls.

She turned, a small walk beginning to turn into a hopeful hop as she followed the instructions the Immoran gave her. Twilight dropped the Reaper gun that once belonged to the Trooper, trotting off with a new-found hope.

Until she heard the agonized screams of the demon behind her. Desperate cries of agony from the cause of an unbearable torture. She spun around, looking at the blazing Immoran wailing on the floor. She had no sympathy for her enemy, but last she checked none of them seemed to spontaneously combust like that.

“Tirek believed you would have a plan.” The voice came from no audible source. The psychotic speech rumbled in her mind with a burning flame, a scorching migraine forming in her head. She began scouting around for the source, finding no demon. “It was no surprise when you swooped down at me to sever one of my hands.”

With that statement, Twilight began to understand who it was speaking. “Although I cannot weed you out personally, I do know of someone who may.” it punctuated the sentence with a cackling laugh of heat, before continuing. “Or rather, somepony.”

Twilight’s ears perked to height. Flame burst from behind her, the pony spinning back around to see an inferno on the floor, sort of acting as a vortex as a familiar shape rose from the ground. Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help but gasp at who arrived. “I believe you two have met before. But not quite like this.”

Rising from the flames was a pony she knew well. An alicorn much like herself, but now different. It was Princess Celestia, in the gold battle armor she had adorned last she had seen her, holding the demons off from home. However, she was way more different. The most striking variation being her eyes. The whites of her eyes were now entirely consumed by darkness, amber cat-like pupils within the darkness gazing at her with a lust for power.

Her mane, no longer the welcoming tri-color of magic, was now pure hellfire. Flowing and crackling like the sun on her head. Her tail was similar in consistency, burning righteously. Twilight could feel the fiery mane from the several meters away she stood.

“Meet Daybreaker.” the Archvile cackled as the corrupted Celestia lowered on her hooves, preparing for flight.

"Greetings, apprentice." her voice spoke in a verbose tone, rather than the more casual and friendly vocabulary she often used. She projected a flaming spear and shield from her horn. That was not Celestia.

Twilight propelled away from her as fast as she could manage, flying swiftly around a corner down to the next hall on the left.

"Next right." The Soul Cube guided.

As she turned the corner, she felt a heating fire lap around her hind leg. She was torn to the ground by a hand made of Daybreakers magic. Twilight tried to tear out as Daybreaker began gaining on her. She was slicing the magic grip, the Soul Cube joining in to assist.

Daybreaker slammed on top of Twilight, her front hooves forcing the armored princess to the ground. "You may have your fancy little armor, but your mentor has a lot more to teach you!" She sent her javelin towards Twilight's head, the alicorn moving it out the way.

The Soul Cube grinded its blades in the face of the powerfully hell-princess, numerous bloody scars appearing on her muzzle. With her focus destroyed, Twilight broke free of the now disintegrating hand. She flew off, taking a right as the Soul Cube followed along.

"Her hide is too strong to pierce!" they exclaimed. "Fourth right." The alicorn turned just as guided.

Upon turning the corner, she rammed right into the back of an unsuspecting Arachnotron. It turned slightly, confused. "I don't have time for you!" Twilight exclaimed, focusing her magic a moment to encase the enemy in a Crystal Trap.

She flew past it, making the next right to find a large door. Above it was a pair of words spelt in demonic language. She would have to hope these were the correct chambers. Twilight quickly gazed at a panel to the right of the gate, lifting the key in front of it. The panel shimmered green, opening the door for her.

Twilight rushed in, turning to the panel in the interior and flashing the key to lock it. Just as Daybreaker turned the corner to find the door, she was locked out. Twilight took a quick breath of relief, being interrupted by a huge bang slamming into the door, the metal denting.

“You can’t run forever, apprentice!” Daybreaker screamed in rage from the otherside.

Twilight turned, looking around at the numerous pods. “Is this where they are?”

“It appears like it.” the Soul Cube responded in their usual ghastly way. It floated between the many pods, gazing into the windows.

Twilight joined, putting some pep in her flight as she inspected each window of the pods. The orange glow within each of them was absent of any forms, until finally she was shocked to see the face of Rarity. She felt her ears raise, joy overflowing her soul as she inspected the other futuristic cells.

They were alive! Safe and alive. It looks as if the demons had not laid a finger on any of them. The floating multi-color manes of her friends gently levitated in the strange liquid they were resting in, breathing masks around their muzzles. The question of why the demons did not harm them would grace her mind if not for the happiness bursting within her chest.

She hopped onto Rarity’s pod, lifting a hoof and smashing it through the glass with her newly optimized strength. After the glass was shattered, she quickly lifted the unconscious unicorn from the cell using her magic, removing the mask and the numerous needles from her body.

As the metal clangs of Daybreaker rung through the room, the door remained steadfast. Twilight took a quick glance at the gate holding her off, before staring back down at Rarity on the floor. She walked near her, setting a hoof gently on her eyelid and lifting it to get her awake.

Rarity blinked, muttering something about her beauty sleep.

Twilight snickered. It didn’t seem like her personality had changed much. She did the act again, causing Rarity to blink once more and speak far clearer.

“I’ll make you breakfast in… five minutes, Sweetie Belle. M’kay?” her posh voice stated half-consciously.

Twilight considered giving a light smack, only to shoot the idea down. She could break her neck with a hard enough knock to the head. She looked at her cybernetic hoof for a moment with somberness.

A gasp of breath expelled not too far behind her, as Rainbow Dash removed her mask, climbing out of the pod the Soul Cube had just sliced the glass off of. Twilight turned to watch the pegasi escape the pod, much more conscious than Rarity.

Rainbow Dash looked around, confusion and fuzziness filling her mind. Where was she? Why was she covered in orange gunk? She froze as she gazed over to Twilight, the armor adorning alicorn looking threatening in the emotionless, maroon dripping suit. “W-Who are you?” she began taking steps back.

Twilight closed her eyes, mentally commanding her armor to remove her helmet. The layers of metal that made up the mask folded back, revealing the short purple fur of Twilight Sparkle.

The confusion grew in her stare, before falling into excitement. “Twilight? Twilight! I-Its you!” Rainbow laughed in her realization. She took numerous hoof-steps forward. “I thought you died!”

“I thought the same for you.” her stoic and mellow voice responded.

Rainbow Dash looked at her armor. The cool metal wings! The epic magic horn! Twilight’s new, flattened out mohawk manecut! “You look awesome!” the soggy pegasus commented.

“Thanks.” she responded, the Soul Cube floating beside her.

“I can’t believe you saved us! Where did you get the armor?” Rainbow asked. “The red’s really cool!” it appeared she assumed her suit’s red color was its own paint, and not from drilling through the insides of numerous demons.

Twilight looked at the ground with a mellow stare. “I’d rather not say.”

Rainbow gave a concerned look for her friend. “Are you alright?” the attention to the question was interrupted by the huge dent blasted into the door to the Holding Chambers. “What was that?” she lifted her head in worry.

“A demon we don’t want to mess with.” she replied sternly. “Get the others up, we don’t have much time.” Twilight said, heading to the pod belonging to Applejack.

Twilight lifted her out with her magic, Rainbow Dash heading to Fluttershy’s tank and removing the fellow pegasus. Rainbow set the pegasus on the floor, giving a light smack to her face whilst Twilight tried to find a way to awake the heavy sleeping earth pony.

Fluttershy screeched in surprise as she woke up, sitting up and setting a forehoof on the ground behind her. Rainbow Dash had to cover her ears in fear that she would begin screaming, but Fluttershy simply laid there, hand to heart breathing heavily. Fluttershy didn’t say anything as Rainbow Dash took a couple steps back.

“Are you okay?” Rainbow asked.

“I-I… I met Discord again.” That was all Fluttershy could say.

Before any questions could be asked, Twilight awoke Applejack with a light yank on her ear. “Ow! Twi, next time ya wake me up try not yankin’ mah e- Twi-light?...” it appeared the memory of them getting captured was not fresh for Applejack.

The scarred alicorn stood before her. A healed over gash next to her right eye from the battle outside Canterlot’s wall interrupted her purple fur. A bit of a smile was beginning to form across her muzzle as more of her friends awoke. “Welcome back.”

As the memory’s began reforming for Applejack, she slowly began to realize that Twilight was the sole survivor of their capture. “You saved us? You came back and actually saved us! How? Them monsters are so strong!”

“I’ll explain later.” she walked towards Pinkie’s chamber. “Soul Cube, do us a favor and make an exit.”

The Soul Cube drifted towards the end of the hall, its circulating blades beginning to razor along the wall, making an oval shape for them to escape through.

“Go get Rarity up-” Twilight dodged back as Pinkie jumped out of the interior of her holding jail, removing the face mask. She stood on her hind-legs, stretching with a huge yawn.

Pinkie looked around, hopping down onto her four legs. “Good morning demonic hellship! Oh, I like your new style, Twilight!” she stated, stepping close to her. “Thanks for saving us.”

Twilight couldn’t help but exert a small laugh at her goofy friend. Suddenly, a cold voice echoed throughout the ship, warning all residents of the impending event.

“WARNING! WARNING! SHIP FUEL LEVELS CRITICAL, DESTRUCTION OF SHIP IMMINENT, EMERGENCY WARP PROTOCOLS INITIATING!”

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Applejack said. “Pinkie, help Rarity on my back. We ain’t got time to wake her up!”

Pinkie Pie walked over in a hurry to aid her friend. Eventually, the metal plate the Soul Cube was cutting through was finally razored away, a hole leading to the outside.

Suddenly, the demon Twilight told them about finally burst through. Everypony stared at the entrance as the monster that presented itself was no horrid beast, but an alicorn everypony in Equestria looked up to.

“C-Celestia?” the hopelessness that scourged Fluttershy’s heart was opened further as Daybreaker presented herself to the six.

“Greetings, Elements.” she grinned monstrously, jagged teeth lining her muzzle. “Davoth calls for your service.”

“Everypony get the hay out of here!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

The six turned, rushing as fast as they could out. Twilight stayed a moment longer for Dash to hurl herself out of the ship, not wanting an unarmored pony to be the last one on. When all left, Daybreaker was still rushing at the other alicorn.

The helmetless Twilight stared at her former mentor with a look of hopelessness, before turning and hopping out of the hellship.

0000

https://youtu.be/DvZXfrmpVWU

It was the smell of cake and childish joy that awoke Flynn from his moment of blank staring. It was not rare to catch the veteran gazing at a wall for a while, either deep in memory or thought. It was the latter this time, as his heart felt heavy and his mind fuzzy with sorrow. He felt the invisible grip of sadness choke his throat as he looked down at a young child.

He had to be no more than 7 years old. The kid had wavy yellow lochs, the same blonde as his own. His eyes were an intriguing blue, with an admiring gaze that the father could not remove from his mind. Flynn was standing in the middle of the room, a pile of confetti in his hand that he was cleaning up.

The living room of the house had dirty tan carpet flooring with walls of cheap wood. There were several pretty landscape paintings he could recall his wife gracefully painting. Despite the technology of the times, plasma weapons, advanced space-suits, Mars colonies and teleportation portals, much of the world’s population was restricted to technology over 30 years old. Simple CRTVs and dim buzzing lights.

The large TV was still playing, showing a demo of a new game his son got for his birthday. It was a sequel to the last game, about a cool blue cartoon animal that goes fast. It caught his attention a moment as the many bright flashing colors and quick movements bursted across the cheap TV.

“Dad, sometimes I wonder what you’re thinking in that big head.” the kid smiled gleefully.

Flynn looked back down at him, several feet taller than the young boy. “It's nothing that should worry you.” he assured in a forcefully optimistic fashion.

He felt his son hug his leg with all his strength. “I’m just glad you’re back!”

Flynn patted his small head. “Yeah.” a sad smile formed across his face. “How did you like your birthday party?”

“It was super fun, like, giga-ultra fun!” he bounced a bit, before releasing from his leg. “The cake was fantastic, Josh finally gave me the cool game he’s been showing me and you got to make it here! I think that was the best part.”

Not finding a better summary for his thoughts, he simply responded: “Thanks.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see the window to the living room, the sun beginning to set. His heart sank in tandem with the celestial body. The day was coming to a close already.

“Honey.” the saddened tone of his wife spoke, entering the room. “Could you get ̷̴͚͈͕̳͎̪̳͍͚̮̱̦̱̀͐̇͌͋͝w̸̳̖͎̣̜̣͕͇̣̎ͮ̈ͦͦ̐̒̉͗͆̈́̌̓̔̆̍͛͛͠7̵̳̺̣̘̘̩͕̱̬̖̀́ͨͥ̒̿̃ͧ̔͑͛̐͌͜͡ͅu̘͎̮͔̬̥̖̪̖̬̼ͅ͏̛̛̏ͤͩ͋̌ͯ͋͊ͮ̿ͣͦ̿ͪ̂͗ͧ͊͟g̴͉͙̖̜̖͏̴́̽́̋͂͑̓͒̒́ͧ̊̇̅͜’s super secret cool present?” she asked Flynn, also trying to seem cheerful.

The kid began to look through their attempts to veil sadness. “Mom, are you okay?”

“Yes. Yes, I am. Just, can we have a word?” the mother requested, shooing her husband to get the present from the truck with the back of her hand.

As his wife informed his son about his dad’s inability to visit, Flynn exited the house and walked towards the cheap and old jeep that the family could barely afford. He moved to the back, clicking the lever to reveal the caged bunny. Its curious brown face looked at him with dark eyes.

Flynn stared back with a similar gaze, the two locking eyes for a while. There was a wordless exchange between the man restrained to service, and the bunny currently locked in the cage, ready to be set free to a new, loving family.

The distant car-beeps of the suburbia and beating hot sun surrounded them as Flynn hopelessly stared, his soul conflicted on envy or respect for the rabbit. It was up to this fluffy little animal to take up the empty hearts of his wife and son whilst he was gone for a full decade. Once he returned, his son would be nearly out of highschool, driving, beginning to be an adult.

A childhood he’d miss due to what the corrupt country he served titled justice. Stopping the fire on innocent civilians his superior officer commanded, with a brutal punch to said officer’s face. It wasn’t fair. He felt rage cluster in his heart for just a moment, before he diffused it with the thought of his son, 10 years in the future. A generic looking teen with a skateboard and some rock band on his shirt, trying to be cool despite his pet bunny he was holding in his arms at the local skate park.

Flynn snickered, grabbing the cage’s handle and carrying it out of the vehicle’s back. The large man walked back into the house, hearing the soothing words of his wife trying to coax his son out of his room.

“Come oǹ̶̪̼̟͈̲̲͒̄̿̒ͭ̈́̈̽ͩͯ n̜̳̰͉̮̗̲͎̥̤̘͈̻͖̮̖̹҉͏̃͛̅͑ͯ̑̐̓͐̈̍͛ͨ̏̏͆̌̚j̨̳̳̩̟͓̭͓͓̺̪̗͚͍͇͎̝͇͂̔̚͡ͅ2̷̧̰͎̱̯̯̬͇̰̗̯͍̬̬̩͇ͭͦ͌̋ͭͩ͂̿̈̌!͚̙̗̙͔͇̖̺̯͙҉̛́̑̏̐̂̅̓̓ͭͪ͑͑ͭ͊͌ͧ̒͡͠ẃ̷͇̬̤̯͚̯ͫ̓ͨ̃͝a̴̳͕͎̝̜͓̠̱̥̰̠̤̖͖̼̱ͬͬ̇̍͑ͮͮ̑̓̓̚}̠̬̳͚̭̹̮̻͚̞́̓̌̐̿͒̃̽ͦͫ͝v̴̨̡̳̤̩̰̤͖̜͍̖̙́̇ͯ̓̂ͤ̈̑ͨ̃́͞à̛̪̜̪̼̰̯̱͚̹̰̄ͤͦ͌ͭͥ͆͗̐̏̉̅͛ͩ͛͢͡ẃ̹̱̟҉́͏̶́̋̉̐h̨̛͍̫̯̠̪̰̣͖̟̗̝̖̜͓̪̺͊̅̿ͫ̿̎̿̇ͯ̑̎̈́͋͂̐͛̿͡͞ͅͅk!” she exclaimed worryingly, squatting outside the door.

A tear-ridden reply was exclaimed through the door. “If dad was just gonna b-be here for a day, why’d he come at all?!”

Flynn came over, his heart torn at hearing his child so sorrowful. “Is it worse than not seeing him for 10 years?”

“Do you know how l-long 10 years is?!” he sniffled. “I’d rather wait when I can see him forever!”

Flynn walked forward, lightly jostling the door knob to his bedroom. His wife looked over, smiling, before speaking once more to the kid. “We’ve got the present!”

“No! I know dads out there. I-I don’t want to see him… come back in ten years!” he sobbed.

Flynn opened his mouth, ready to speak his son’s name. “̨͔̮̠̟̣̝͉̰̮͉̞̖̯͓̹̱͚̜́͞҉̈́͗ͦ̐4͖̗̖̮̖͎̯͙̪̖̠͔̻̤͓͏̷̷ͫ̑ͬ͐̾͐ͣ̉ͥ͛̈́̍ͯ͂̂̚̚͜͝3̴̛̛͕̯͔̫̩̭̗͖̙̤̺̻̼́͗̊̋̏́͛̑͗̎̾ͣͪ̍ͧ̚͜q̵̨̠̭͙͍̫͙̜̱̜̯̫̖̬̖͈̳̬̞́̽̇̎̾͒̍͘͞≠̨͈͎̤̗̖͍͓̝̭̻̝͋̉̀̎͜0̷̰͉̰̭̠̺̼̹̩̘̦̺̳̭̤̙̣͏͆͂͑ͦͣ̿̽ͫ̒-̴̨͎̺͇̝̬͂̌ͭ̐̀̃ͥ͊ͤ̍̒͘͢͝a̧̠̬̘̹̲̫̼̤̓̇ͬͬͣ̄͂͘͞͠v̵̡̨͎̲̯̫̤̰̝̙̮͎̼̣̩̲͖́̑̒̑̆̍̃̀ͫ͗ͣ̊ͧ̉ͦ̚͢ͅͅq, please come out. I-I know I’ll be gone for a long time… but, you’ll want this gift. I promise.” he said. “Please.”

The sobbing stopped for a moment. Flynn opened the cage the rabbit sat in, gently taking Daisy out and holding her in one arm. He heard the click of the door unlocking, opening to reveal his son, face red and wet from crying.

A gentle and soothing smile curved along Flynn’s face as he took a knee to be at his level. ̢̛̣̱̣͚͚̭͙͙̬̟͛̇ͧ̄ẓ̘̝҉̓ͪ̽̿̂ͬz̸̷̟͇͖͉̤̰͔͇̳̺̳͙̪̼̰̰͚̭͑̌͊͊ͨͣz̹̞͎̟̖̜̰̟͔̦̜̬̬ͅͅͅ͏ͥͭ̌̉̍̚͡x͈̤͉̣̺̻̘͇̦̰͚͚̄ͪ̅͑͂͑̃͑̚͡b̡̥̙͙̙̘̗̳́̎ͥ̈ͦ͒̇̉ͣ̉ͦ̓̾ͩ̃̈́ͦ̈ͯ̚f̷̵͙̞͍̯̘̘̰̥̻̉̓͐ͫ͝u̸̧̜̟͇̫̰̞̩̬͇̣̲͖̦͕̯̪͋́̈́ͬ̓ͭ̎͛ͬ̅ͥ͜͜͟q̸̢̛̦͓̹͈͓̱̜̖̟̫̀̌́͗ͧ̾ͫ̉̄͛̇͂̋͌̽̒͝͠ͅj̡̛̥̣̱̺̗̟͎̼͓͔̝̀ͫͨ̅ͯ̃͝ͅp̦͙̮͈̞̟̮͍͉̩̺̠͚̤͖ͅ͏̨ͭ̈̊̅̇̆̇̓̓̓ͯ̈́̑ͯ͗̾͂ͮo looked at his dad, then at the bunny rabbit. His face lit up a tad. Flynn held it up right in front of the boy’s face. “This is Daisy. W-While I’m gone, she will take care of you. Protect you from the bad guys. You know?” he began sniffling himself, feeling tears form in his own eyes.

His son gently took the rabbit, holding it from under the arms, before squeezing it in a hug. It squeaked cutely, before the child brought his father and mother in on the hug. The four embraced tightly, before they would eventually have to become three. Tears were streaming down Flynn’s face, knowing that he would have to leave in only a couple minutes.

~

He knew something was wrong when he stepped out of the Hell portal back to Earth. The marine welded a Plasma Rifle in his hand, his green armor covered in the blood of the slain Spider Mastermind. The ominous red clouds hanging high above the distant city. He was back in the suburbs of his family’s town, the faraway skyscrapers lit ablaze in flame.

His emotion flung from the steely determination to get back home and ensure the safety of his family to worry as the signs began all pointing that they may not be so safe. The space marine looked at the destroyed houses along the streets, some ablaze with fire, some completely caved in.

He felt rage fill him as he watched a Caco float past the road, jumping as it noticed the human. Before it could even get a fireball off, the space marine was already mowing it down with the powerful barrages of the Plasma Rifle. It bursted and tore the flesh of the monster, crumpling it to a pile of gore.

The marine stomped over its remains in a disrespecting manner. He looked at the addresses of each house, keeping one number in my. 777. He felt his heart rush at the sight of 772. 773… 774… 775… 776…

The rushed stomps of his boots came to a halt abruptly. Blood pooled and poured on the embering grass from a long metal pole. Numerous demonic runes were ingrained in the pike’s steel, holding up the head of something that provoked only one emotion in the man. It was beyond anger. It was beyond any of the rage he felt in the space stations back on the moons of Mars.

It was a whole new cocktail of fervor. An empty, soulless emotion. As if all hope, joy and excitement had evaporated from his heart. A vacuum was plunged into whatever bank of emotions the marine contained and sucked them all away. All purpose in life slipped out in that one, single moment as he gazed at the blood dripping head of Daisy.

Its cute face was now turned up in terror, expression probably made before its death. Laying beside the pike were two headless figures, missing the faces that would make most people notice who they were. But the Slayer didn’t need a head to tell. One corpse was an adult female, the other a young male child.

Despite the alien, unnatural rage that consumed him from the inside out, the marine stood there, gazing through his helmet’s cracked visor. Slowly, his stillness formed into shaking, uncontrolled vibrations as he lifted his hands and tore off his helmet. He tossed it to the ground, unnaturally gently for the anger that made him so furious he could barely hold still.

He dropped his Plasma Rifle, looking in the formerly gentle and soothing feminine hands of one of the bodies, now pale and covered in blood. He stepped forwards, toward the object, lifting the item from her grip with gentle care. Once it was released, it was shivering with the rest of his body.

The marine unlatched the chamber, forcing a duo of shells into it and flicking the barrels up. This would be his machine. Of death, destruction, mayhem and chaos. They will fear this weapon. They will cower at the mere sight of its shortened barrel. The merciless blasts of the firearm would leave nothing alive in its wake, and he would make sure the same stands for himself.

There, standing in front of the destroyed inferno of his home and family, he had decided it all. The warpath of eons. The endless rage of vengeance. The merciless crusade against those who had caused this. He would never stop. No matter how slow his heart beats, no matter how many cuts are carved into his frame, no matter how much blood fountains from his should-be corpse, no matter how little flesh is left on his body, no matter how few limbs he has, no matter what.

The marine turned, walking down ruined suburbia, beginning his path of perpetual torment.

~

The Doom Slayer awoke from the dark memory with rage, stuck under a huge plate of armor formerly attached to the Hellship. He was gravely injured, his helmet’s visor too demolished to even read the HUD. He grunted, pushing the huge metal sheet off of him, laying back on the ground with a pained groan as he stared at the cloudy heavens.

All around him it felt chillingly cold. He could feel the piercing, shiver-inducing winds buffeting into his helmet with the now glassless visor. Yet, he still lay there, among the crackling fire and wreckage of the Athergarrian Hunter, numerous destroyed demonic corpses surrounding him.

There was no health or armor to absorb. He knew there were no demons that survived the brutal crash, at least not near him. His cursed status had long faded, the Prowler probably dead now.

Dead… they were dead… They were. As the lightly falling snow speckled his face, the Slayer coughed. He slowly rose to his feet with extreme shakiness. Once he stood, he clenched his gauntlets in determination, the cold leather-covered fingers making contact with the burnt-through hole in the palm of his gloves.

He seemed to be in a deserted landscape, covered completely in snow. Aside from the occasional red flame from the wreckage, it was all completely frozen and flat tundra. It appeared the Hunter had teleported far from the original battlefield, however that didn’t save it from the internal destruction.

The Slayer knew that by now, the princess would have spoken to him. Luna had been silent however. He gave a weak shrug, assuming that the suit was too damaged before limping off. A stinging pain pulsated from a shard of glass stabbed into his shin, deep through his armor.

He continued limping, walking away painfully from the crash site of the Athergarrian Hunter. Blood seemed to fizzle through every slit in his armor, his bloodshot eyes weak as he shambled off. His mind tried its best to stay away from his visions. The sight of his son and wife, Daisy, who he had given to his son, what he had promised…

This is Daisy. W-While I’m gone, she will take care of you. Protect you from bad guys. You know?

The Slayer felt himself gag as he limped. That statement carried inane amounts of dread. She didn’t, he lied. Mislead his child to death. The thought of what his son thought as Daisy was slain before his very eyes by the demons, the belief that his father was wrong. A liar. It was a pain worse than any demon Hell could supply.

Those three sentences squeezed every inch of his heart. He tried to forget them, as best as he could. The only semblance of this memory was the unforgettable sight of Daisy’s head on that pike, but even then it was dug down severely. He regretted it, leaving his family behind. He should’ve stayed there, died with his child and wife in hands. It was the ultimate, final sin in his eyes, leaving them for dead.

Each crunch of his boots in the snow felt like a stab in his soul, a sign that he was still alive. He could hardly bear living with the memory of that. The vengeance he had enacted on his enemies, it was almost done. After they were defeated, and he was left alive after the battle, what would he do?

He was worse than the demons. Whilst those monsters kill the innocent with full knowledge, he had let his family die without even knowing of it. It felt like hours as he still continued on, unsure of why he kept going.

It was like some coding in his mind. Perhaps the soul or body. He could not stop the legs as much as he tried. The life of slaying had always kept him dashing to outrun his past, to leave all of it behind and drown it in fountains of blood, but it finally caught up. By now, he was so far from the ship’s wreckage, he couldn’t even see it anymore.

A snowstorm had begun, huge winds blowing past his helmet and snow building up in his helmet. His helmets usually cozy temperature management system was destroyed, baring the Antarctic colds best he could as his mind waged war on itself with weapons of guilt and distraught.

The heart over the I, the sweet smile of his wife under the warm spring tree on their honeymoon, the tearfully short reunion with his family. It all flashed, more memories creeping in. The battle of determined vengeance and hopeless guilt waged on as the trail of boot-interrupted snow continued. The rage was gone, just cool, depressive anger. The ethereal pit that was his soul waked and yawned for satisfaction. More blood and viscera after only a couple of hours walking.

The vacuum of noise was all that conjoined his thoughts, barely interrupting them. In fact, it felt as if the sonic winds only carried the arena quicker like leaves on the blowing air. Suddenly, he felt his boots stop.

He fell to his knees at the memory that approached his mind, the corrupted name he tried to forget so hard. The kneepads of his armor broke through the snow as the Slayer gazed up to the clouds above. His hands rested gently on his knees, palm to the skies as if being shocked by the electricity of the realization.

“Issac…” he said. The words were deep out of his mouth as he hopelessly stared upward.

Then the Slayer collapsed into the blankety snow, letting exhaustion overtake him.

Together

“AAAAHHAAHAAAAAA!” Pinkie screamed in excitement as the six plummeted to the earth.

The shrill, terror filled screechings of the non-flying ponies filled the air. Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had long taken flight, catching Pinkie Pie and Applejack.

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Rarity screeched in horror as she approached the ground.

The dramatic unicorn was swiftly caught by Twilight, the alicorn lowering to gently place down her friend. She was still screaming as she was set down, eyes closed and unaware that her hooves had been placed to the earth. Twilight gave her a confused look, tapping her shoulder lightly to let her know they had landed.

Rarity stopped, peeping one eye open and slowly lifting the other. She was safe! She was saved! Rarity grinned, then smiled, then laughed. As she laughed, she was beginning to tear up, before she tackled Twilight with a hug. “Y-You saved us!”

Her warm, white furred legs wrapped around the chilling metal armor Twilight adorned. Twilight did not return the hug, scared for a moment. What if she accidentally hurt Rarity? Suddenly, she felt another pair of hooves wrap around her, Fluttershy silently hugging her hero. She could hear the small, silent sobs of the pegasus.

Pinkie Pie smiled goofily, bouncing over and giving a thankful hug as well. Applejack tilted her hat slightly, before entering the group hug. Rainbow Dash, with a smile of how cool Twilight had become, joined as well.

The five hugged her happily. As they surrounded Twilight, the alicorn was beginning to cry. Tears welled up in her eyes, joy watering her eyeballs. She did it. She saved her friends, and even if she couldn’t save Equestria, at least the princess was capable of bringing her friends back from the clutches of Hell itself.

The six were a pile of pure happy thankfulness. They were alive, they were free, they were together. A solid minute passed of laughing, crying and smiling, Twilight lost in tears in the center of the large hug.

“The ship.” the Praeleanthor said, interrupting the joyful event.

Rainbow and Applejack looked over, nudging everypony else to gaze at the hellship. Numerous bright red fires plumed from the ship’s hull, its flight path lowering and the tentacles of the beast which carried the deck becoming limp. After a while of it collapsing, its thruster began whirring, a huge red portal forming in front of it.

After a moment of the jets on the back of it flaring up, it blasted through the portal, the vortex soon following suit and shutting. Once the ship had evaded Canterlot, the group cheered, Pinkie Pie exceptionally so.

Twilight wiped tears from her eyes with a hoof as the group slowly dispersed, celebrating the victory. Even Fluttershy was growing a smile after her sobbing, only to freeze in place as she noticed something far behind the other five.

Rarity looked over, a confused look as Fluttershy backed up in fear, wing feathers fluffing up. “Fluttershy, darling? What appears to be the matter?”

The shrunken pupils of the pony reflected the sight of numerous piles of dead bodies. Tons of demonic bodies contorted, demolished and chopped up. Lakes of blood flowing and fountaining to stain the grass below a twisted maroon. The gore would make any pony’s spine chatter.

Rarity looked to the wall of Canterlot with a ghastly gasp. The other four followed her stare, all following suit in the shock and surprise the unicorn displayed, with exception to Twilight.

The princess of friendship gazed across the carnage she had produced like it was nothing out of the ordinary. After a moment of them noticing the tiny grin in Twilight’s mostly straight mouth, they began growing worried. Maybe Twilight hadn’t been so sane since they last met.

“Erm, Twi, did ya do all of… this?” Applejack queried as one of the piles solely composed of Imps twitched due to a corpse’s arm.

“Yes.” she replied, starting towards the front gates. “Join me. It's not safe out here.” Twilight informed happily. Although, it was more sapped than her usually jolly tone. Much of her voice had been sapped of emotion, now much less optimistic than before they were taken.

The five dreaded having to trudge past the wall of bodies. They could smell the corpses from dozens of meters away. “Is there a way around?” Rainbow asked with equal fear for her lavender friend.

“Only a way through.”

Had Twilight become so lethal, she had dispatched an entire army with a single hoof? It was a lot more than some brushing up on old combat spells. The questions would have to wait though, as Twilight led them through a crack in the corpses, the Soul Cube joining her side. Fluttershy covered her eyes and nose with one of her wings, Rarity unable to remove her eyes from the bloody masses yet still holding a hoof over her muzzle in disgust. Even Pinkie couldn’t bear a grin around the mayhem.

Twilight took one step to the door, the gates flinging open suddenly. "Who goes there?!" The booming voice of Luna challenged as the gates opened. She was in a battle stance horn pointed defensively. It was loaded with a powerful beam.

However, as Luna inspected the six further, she realized who they were. Paranoia subsided to surprise as her pose weakened, head rising high with perked ears. "T-Twilight Sparkle? Pinkie Pie? Applejack… all of you? You are alive?"

"Yuppers!" The pink earth pony answered.

"But who saved you? How did you escape the grasp of the demons?" Luna kept her eyes on Twilight. "Do not tell me you went through the process."

The armored Twilight nodded. "I had to."

Luna gave an uneasy look. "So you were responsible for the effigies outside? Where is my sister?"

The six all gave each other uneasy looks, Twilight looking at the ground.

The moon princess swallowed painfully. "Oh…"

~

The two alicorns were speaking in another room as the five ponies got settled in. It was a large bedroom consisting of five or so beds, each colored similarly to the six friends. There was a tiny purple and green cushion sitting right next to Twilight’s bed on the ground. They all collectively gave a solemn look at it at some point.

All of them were silent as they got their beds orchestrated. Rarity was in the bathroom connected to the bedroom, brushing her mane. It was an easy way for the unicorn to relieve stress. Finally, after a while of the deafening silence, Applejack spoke up.

“Doesn’t anypony else think somethang is up with Twilight?” she asked, taking a seat on the couch and adjusting her hat.

Fluttershy nodded. The pegasus was sitting, reserved and defensive. “I-I think s-somethings up with her… thinking your best friends are dead can’t be good for anypony.”

“Well, we were alive.” Rainbow Dash pointed out.

“Still, she watched Spike die.” the other pegasus replied.

Rarity spoke from the bathroom’s opened door. “I don’t believe any sane pony would make whatever wall she forged.” she shivered at the thought of it. “All that blood… by Celestia, it was retched!”

Rainbow Dash nodded. “I do like my fair bit of bad guy fighting, but what Twilight did, it was more of a massacre than a fight.” she shivered a little.

Applejack nodded, before recalling the ruler. “Speaking of Celestia, what do ya thank happened to her?"

"Corrupted." Fluttershy answered, sure.

"What'd ya say, Sugarcube?" Applejack flicked an ear, as if swatting to capture what she said.

Fluttershy cleared her throat nervously to speak up. "I said she was corrupted."

"Like what happened to the CMC." Pinkie realized. She was just as anxious as the rest of the group.

Rarity stopped doing her makeup for a second, Rainbow's wings fluffed up and Applejack blinked longingly. The white unicorn’s expression twisted into one of distaste and anger as she returned to her mascara.

"It looked like Celestia’s version of Nightmare Moon." Fluttershy added. "It was so unlike her."

"So the demons are in control of Celestia now?" Rainbow Dash asked.

“Maybe.” Fluttershy replied, looking down at the blankets on the bed for a moment.

Applejack double-taked, a thought coming to her mind. “What about Discord? I thought Celestia reformed him just in case something like this would’ve happened again.”

The other earth pony nodded in agreement. “Yeah! What’s up with that?”

Fluttershy’s fur rose at the sound of the chaos being’s name. Well, demon, now that she knew. Her thoughts on Discord were heavily conflicted. “He can’t.” she muttered.

“Why?” Pinkie asked.

“He could’ve stopped this whole thing before it even started.” Rainbow Dash added. Although she didn’t want to say it, she wondered if Scootaloo would still be here if it wasn’t for the draconequus’ absence.

“You all don’t understand…” Fluttershy had an issue trying to find a way to put it. How Discord was actually one of the demons.

Rarity began walking out of the bathroom, make-up all done. There was a particular anger in her stare as she sat on the purple and white sheets of the bed that neighbored Fluttershy. “Don’t understand what?” her angered voice was as striking as lightning.

“I can’t say-”

“Tell us what we don’t understand, Fluttershy.” Rarity stung, sitting lavishly on the bed.

“...” she sat at the bed nervously.

Rarity continued. “I believe I understand that Equestria as we know it is gone!” the pegasus shrunk with the statement. “Everything we know is gone! Ponyville was destroyed by the monsters, our sisters were taken by them and… and killed! And now the only true bastion for any of us to live comfortably is attacked every single day. How are we to live like that, Fluttershy?”

“I don’t-”

“What do you know?!” Rarity bursted. “You don’t know anything!”

Fluttershy remained quiet, even though she knew more about this invasion more than anypony else in the room.

The white unicorn’s furious face was scrunched with anger. “You have done nothing but feel bad for yourself for this entire month of Tartarus! I’ve done all I could to help our group. Decorating and looking my best every single day to cheer everypony up! What have you done?!” she shouted.

As Rarity exploded at her friend, Applejack began inching over. “Ey, Rarity? Don’t ya think you’re going a little too hard on her?”

“I don’t think so at all!” Rarity shook her head, her pompous mane flinging left and right. “While our sisters were being manipulated by those ghastly beasts, instead of having Discord save them, the two were enjoying tea on a nice summer evening!” her screams turned into a roar at the end of the sentence, everypony staring at the well-kept unicorn in fear.

Rarity breathed for air once her speech was finished. The shouting was stressful on her vocal cords. As silence stuffed the room, it was soon overlaid by the whimpers of Fluttershy. The pegasus sobbed, hooves to her head.

Her crying could make anypony worry as they watched the pathetic pony wallow in sorrow. The tears stained her cream colored pelt as she pondered over the numerous statements spouted at her viciously. Had Fluttershy done enough to help her friends? Was she truly selfish?

Rarity froze, pupils shrinking, as if realizing what she had done. Like she had stepped on a puppy’s tail. The fog of anger reduced from her gaze, seeing the consequences of her outburst.

“O-Oh, Fluttershy! I didn’t mean to make you cry.” she got off the bed, stepping closer to where the pegasus laid. “Fluttershy?”

The pegasus didn’t reply, lost in her tears.

Guilt rancored through Rarity, the unicorn looking at the other three ponies in the room. They gave disliking looks to Rarity, disgusted she could rage out like that on Fluttershy. Suddenly, the sound of the doors creaking open interrupted the moment.

The double doors to the large room were opened, revealing Princess Luna. “May all of you meet with Twilight and I?”

The four looked at each other, before stopping what they were doing and following Luna. Fluttershy was left alone in the room to sulk, the four feeling uncomfortable trying to break her from her sadness. The princess led them to the room over where Twilight and the ancient artifact spoke whilst waiting for their friends. Twilight looked at them for a moment.

“We have a plan.”

They Are Still Here

“If I didn’t have to make sure you weren’t getting yourself killed, I would have stayed as far away from that wreck as possible. Who knows what things are waiting for us?” Starlight Glimmer complained. She wore a large cloak similarly colored to her fur. She was still frigid, as was the pony that joined her.

Sunburst shook his head, the starry cloak’s hood over his head as well. “Look, Starlight. These are the direct orders of Princess Luna herself! She said that some special ‘weapon’ was onboard that ship before it exploded.”

They roamed the snowy wasteland that surrounded their home, the Crystal Empire. They had seen the hellship crash from within the city before a huge snow storm hit outside its walls. Now, with the weather more clear than before and adorning clothing for occasion, they march on their way to the crash-site.

“What sort of weapon is it anyway?” the mare asked, putting a hoof in front of her face to stop the snow getting in her eyes.

The orange unicorn shrugged, pushing his glasses up. “Luna said it was important to defend Canterlot throughout the invasion. She says without it, Equestria would have been thrown into more turmoil than ever.” he explained. “A bipedal creature with no fur that wears this advanced armor.”

Starlight gave an unsure response. “I still don’t think this is a good idea. Who knows exactly just how friendly this weapon is.”

“I’m not sure, Starlight. But what I know is that Luna gave us an order.” he explained. “Any contribution to what is happening to Canterlot is important, now more than ever!”

Starlight nodded lightly, continuing their walk.

“Hey…” Sunburst stopped, looking down at the snow.

A trail of what seemed to be some sort of foot prints sat below the unicorn. They were very light, most likely from being snowed over. Specks of blood dotted near the steps which extended far through the snowy landscape. It looked nothing like any sort of hoofstep, Certainly from some other kind of creature.

“What?” Starlight turned, having passed right over the admittedly difficult to see trail.

“A trail…” he inspected it.

The pale purple pony looked over. “Hoofsteps… of some kind.”

Sunburst nodded. “It obviously couldn’t be made by a pony.” he gave an investigative look, flipping his hood down and following where it led. It went northwest, just a couple degrees too far left to miss the Crystal Empire. Seeing where it came from, the source had to have come from the wreckage.

“Should we follow it?” Starlight queried, ear flicking under her hood. She put a hoof next to the steps, seeing that it was almost three times larger than her hoof.

“Definitely.” he declared. “If something from that crash is close to the Crystal Empire, then we’ve got to investigate!” Sunburst set a hoof down with a smile

“You sound so grandiose.” Starlight rolled her eyes.

Sunburst grinned. “I-I try!” he pushed the glasses up his muzzle.

The two embarked, seeing each bit of trail grow in depth. More blood joined the recent steps as well, showing more signs of the injury.

The two star-named unicorns began growing in worry as more red trailed on. Blood was not commonly seen to them, especially the gruesome amount they began spotting. Finally, as Sunburst kept his nose down on the trail, Starlight noticed a strange shape in the distance.

She stopped, her friend continuing on, blind to what she had noticed. “Sunburst!” she called.

The stallion turned. “What?”

Starlight pointed her hoof to the snow-covered object. “I think we found something!”

Sunburst looked ahead for once, blushing at his ignorance. “I-I would have found it eventually.”

Starlight walked to the object, hooves crunching the snow as she approached. From the distance, it looked like a blood covered green and brown hunk of metal. As she got closer however, she began noticing more organic features. A pair of two legs, arms and a head all under this futuristic looking technology. The two could detect an intense magical disruption from the set as well. It was face first in the snow, splayed out and covered in blood.

The other unicorn soon joined her, tilting his head in confusion. “What is that?”

As Sunburst asked the question, Starlight lifted a hoof, gently moving it to the bloody creature. Before it could touch, her hoof was engulfed in her friend's yellow aura, pulling it away. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Poking it. See if it’s alive?” Starlight replied.

“Oh, yeah, and get us all killed? For all we know, this could be one of the demons!” he exclaimed.

Starlight looked down at the body again. “I mean, it could. Although, the drawings and reports you show me about them don’t really look like that.”

Sunburst shook his head. “Then I must have not shown you what a Marauder looks like.” he scratched his orange goatee.

“Marauder?”

“Yeah. Bipedal, has energy weapons, wears armor.” he explained. “In fact, the staff on his back could be a weapon.”

On the backplate of the creature’s body sat a long staff with a block of steel at the end of it. It contained a strange old ponish rune that neither pony were familiar with, despite their knowledge on the language.

“Then what do we do?” Starlight asked.

“Bring him back to the castle, most likely.” Sunburst responded. “Keep security up and study the thing.”

Starlight gave an annoyed look. “And how could we do that without touching the thing at all?”

The orange unicorn gave a moment of thought. “Fair point.”

Starlight set a hoof on the shoulder of the thing, at least what she thought was the shoulder. With a grunt and a heave, she flipped him onto his back. The strange being’s helmet was shattered, multiple holes to view the thing’s face. They could read a sense of turmoil in the thing’s rest, the two noticing its nostrils and mouth moving to indicate its breathing.

“So it's alive, good. Or bad.”” Sunburst commented.

“Now, how are we getting it back home? It’s super heavy.” She stretched her leg, feeling sore after the force exerted just to flip it.

“Well, we’ll use magic of cou-” he was interrupted, watching his telekinesis spell dissipate on the steel of the creature’s armor. “Crud! Enchanted.”

~

There was a pair of voices near him. The Slayer ached with every pain he could imagine as he opened his eyes furiously. A rush of adrenaline filled him, the demon killer standing up swiftly and grabbing the neck of the source of the noise. He lifted the form up with fury, directing his weakly standing Equipment Launcher to prepare a Flame Belch to its face.

The Slayer unsheathed the Doomblade, putting it near the unknown creature’s face. As he lifted the foe upwards, his vision began clearing. He blinked away the combination of snow and tears to see a horrified expression stare back at him. He heard a desperate scream from behind him, innocent and scared as he was about to slit the throat of a pony. He quickly dropped him from his grasp.

The orange pony he held coughed, gasping for air as he was released. The pale purple unicorn went beside him, worry and fear in her voice. The Slayer’s blade retracted back into his gauntlet, Shoulder Cannon lowering as well.

“Sunburst! Are you alright?” she queried in a panic, checking him for any major injury beside the sore spot on his neck.

After a couple gasps longer, he steadied himself. “I’m fine…” he coughed, before gazing up at the monster before them in fear.

The other pony stared up at him as well.

The Doom Slayer simply stood there, looking back. He wasn’t sure what to do. He looked back at their hoof-trail. It had to have led somewhere, somewhere safe. Where he could get into contact with Luna again. The Slayer followed the tracks, not reacting any further to the fearful ponies.

The two watched him go away curiously. “Is he… friendly?” Sunburst asked, rubbing his throat. “He looks like how Luna described the w-weapon.”

“He didn’t hurt us…” she watched him limp off. “We should follow him.”

“He tried to kill me.” Sunburst stumbled to his hooves.

Starlight looked at him. “But he didn’t. And he certainly would’ve if he wanted to. If he was a demon, we would be long gone.” she pointed out.

It wasn’t long before the Slayer was out of hearing range of the two, keeping on the path. However, that would change once the two caught up.

“So, are you the weapon Luna was talking about?” Sunburst asked him.

The Slayer was silent, eyes focused ahead. His mind was crossing over the dream he had. The promise he had made and broken… he didn’t have time to listen to these ponies, he had to focus on getting back to Luna. Any further word was ignored by the Doom Slayer.

After not much time, they would approach a large blue barrier. It was just like the one around Canterlot, although differently colored. The Slayer limped through, holding his arm as he felt the weather around him alter to a much nicer day. The snow below his feet disappeared to reveal pleasant grass and the sky above was whimsically pleasant, barely a cloud in sight.

He took a moment to appreciate the much better weather before the bloody warrior continued on. He could hear the two ponies begin suggesting ways they could try to heal him, but he wasn’t listening. The Slayer felt the usual glare of the numerous, more crystalized looking ponies, not giving a glance back as he kept his eyes set on the tall white spire in the distance.

Much like the rest of the architecture in this city, the castle seemed to be constructed from crystal. Something about this city soothed him. The warm weather, the green grass, the feeling of hope and happiness in the air. The Slayer had not seen a peaceful place such as this in eons. The only apparent turmoil he could see was centered around him. That seemed like a constant in most situations.

The castle was shaped like the Eiffel Tower, with four structures supporting the pyramid-like castle in arches. At the base of each of the structures sat a door, supposedly to a stairway up.

The Slayer approached the huge castle, passing a pedestaled crystal shaped like a heart. He opened one of the large doors, scaling a flight of stairs. As he did, one of the two ponies talked again.

“Are you looking for Luna?” Sunburst asked.

The Slayer turned, giving attention finally. His mind was now more clear of the dream. He gave a quick nod.

The wizardly-dressed unicorn spoke again. “She isn’t here, but I know who can bring you to her! Princess Cadence is just up the stairs. From what I understand, she has a method of meeting her.”

He didn’t respond, continuing up the stairs and opening the door. What spread before him was a long throne room, numerous guards standing proudly beside windows out into the glorious kingdom. Down the hall sat a tall alicorn, not too differently shaped from Luna or Celestia. She was pink, with purple and gold streaked hair, possibly younger than the other two royals.

She seemed to be thinking carefully, head resting on hoof before she spotted the Doom Slayer. The blood-soaked man stood a moment before walking down the purple-red carpet, lining it with the imprint of maroon boot-bottoms.

“This is Princess Cadence, erm…” Starlight gazed at the princess for its name.

“Great Slayer.” the Princess stepped down the throne, bowing before him.

She stood back up, spine-chilling as she stared at the tense eyes of the Slayer. “Princess Luna had been hoping you would have returned by now. I will lead you to her!”

He was silent as Cadence led him out of the throne room, towards another door beside the stairway entrance that led into a long hall. “I’m sure you have met my two best royal unicorns. Starlight Glimmer and Sunburst.”

The halls were made of walls, floors and ceilings of glamorous crystal. It made a multitude of different eye-catching designs and never let up on the flair. The four seemed to be the only ones in the hall.

As Cadence led Luna’s weapon to the hidden slipgate of her castle, she began noticing an emotion in the cold gaze of the Slayer’s eyes. Through his cracked visor, she could detect guilt. The sad yet fortified gaze would keep ahead, as if scared to look back at something. Not a physical object or something tangible, an idea.

“Cadence!” A masculine voice spoke up, catching the princess’ attention.

It was a strong looking unicorn with stressed pale fur and a mane and tail produced from variously colored strands of blue. He wore a purple set of armor, a helmet being held to his body by his leg, which was quickly dropped to go move swiftly towards the princess. Something about the unicorn was familiar to the Slayer. He had seen him be commanded by Princess Luna.

The two embraced, Cadence lowering her head for the stallion to place his above hers. They then laughed joyfully, retracted each other’s heads back to gaze happily into one another’s eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Cadence asked, as if it was the most pleasant surprise of her life. “I thought you had to use your spell for Canterlot.”

The same expression was displayed from the white stallion. He snickered. “Well, Luna
gave me a break. She found something to keep a barrier going beside pony magic. All she needs me to do now is to command the guard.” he explained happily.

“It's always a lovely day when you go off-duty.” the two crossed horns with closed, satisfied eyes.

After a moment of the strange horn embrace, Shining Armor spoke up. “So, how is our little gal doing?”

“She’s doing alright, would you want to see her?” she asked.

His smile continued. “I would give everything in the world to.”

A million thoughts a minute swirled in the Slayer’s mind as they conversed and greeted each other. Constant reminders squirmed in his head like worms, writhing exceptionally quick due to the love-soaked conversation before him. His body felt as stiff as a board, his heart as sunk as a long dead ship. He had to turn, look away.

He kept his eyes away but the memories kept returning.

“I love you, honey.”

“Are you hurt? Do you need help?”

“You can tell me everything, sweetie.”

“Darling, would you get…”

“I love the way that looks on you.”

“I love that movie.”

“I love your smile.”

“I love your hair.”

“I love how you walk.”

“I love your voice!”

“I’d love to!”

“I love everything about you!”

“I love.”

“I love.”

“I love.”

“I love.”

“I love-”

“Great Slayer? Could we stop by Flurryheart’s room?”

The Doom Slayer stopped his shivering once the attention was shifted to him. He glanced behind his shoulder, giving a stark nod.

The room was a turn down another carpet-floored, crystal-walled hall. Once more the Slayer would keep his sorrowful gaze away from the couple beside him. He could also hear the two unicorns behind him discussing the current situation of the invasion. It was not long before they arrived at a beautiful, huge double door.

It was made of beautiful shards, a structure of a shimmering heart in the middle of the doors. Shining Armor opened the door with his magic, revealing the bedroom of the child. He did not expect Flurryheart to be a baby, rather a friend of sorts. He was wrong, laying blissfully in the bed was an adorable purple foal.

The Slayer stood next to the two unicorns at the entrance as the couple went to the bed, discussing over it how great their child was.

“She seems to be doing good!” Shining Armor commented proudly.

Cadence agreed. “Her behavior has been very pleasant, according to Sunburst! She’ll be perfect.”

The baby babbled gleefully as the father began scratching at her with a hoof lightly. “I’m sure she will go far.”

Eventually, the Slayer could not bear it. He turned, walking out of the entrance way and standing next to the doors. He couldn’t handle being reminded anymore. He wished there was a battle to fight, to distract his mind. But they were right here. It was the same love he missed out on. The hopes and dreams of his life had tracked him down, to taunt him on what he had lost.

He would stand there for a long while, giving the two time alone. Although it was only a good fifteen minutes of him standing there, it felt like an eternity. A game of cat and mouse with the loved ones of his past. He just wanted to forget them.

“Flynn.”

That name. God, his name. It made him jump, more than any roar a lethal demon could produce. When said out loud, in reality, heard to his very ear, it struck guilt. He slowly turned to look behind his shoulder at the princess.

“I’m ready to show you the portal.” she stated, hooves echoing on the smooth shards beneath.

How did she know his name?

A sympathetic look for the demon hunter grew on her face as the Slayer hesitantly followed. “Your family… your life wasn’t too different from mine, was it? Until you were separated.”

The Slayer clenched his fist furiously, fingers digging through the palms of his gauntlet. Although his mouth remained straight, his eyes were deep pits of regret.

Cadence stopped at a wall, pushing her hoof into a crystal brick. Suddenly, a bit of the wall to the left fell away to reveal a hidden passageway, walls constructed by unshaped gems. There was a rectangular frame formed from the magical gems, constructing a slipgate within its frame.

The alicorn looked at the Doom Slayer. “I can’t imagine what I would do if they took Flurry Heart and Shining Armor from me… but that’s why you're here, isn’t it?” she asked. “You aren’t here to just fight demons. You are here to protect us. Our families and friends, let us keep what you lost so long ago.

“Somewhere, deep inside you, you are still protecting your family, even while they are gone.” she lowered her head, horn glowing.

He felt the Sentinel Hammer be removed from his back. “They are gone, but in some way… they are still here. Through you.” the weapon floated in front of Cadence, before sparking with magic.

The glowing red energies were now shifted to a light pink color, sizzling and crackling with a newly charged power. Once the upgrade was finished, the Slayer took the weapon out of her magical grasp, sliding it into his backplate’s slot. Once it was placed, he saw his health slowly tick up, his wounds regenerating. He also felt his broken armor creep over his body.

With eyes staring deeper than any deep demonic pit he has scrounged, he nodded. As he approached the crystal gate, Cadence noticed him looking back.

“Thank you.”

He entered the portal, leaving the Crystal Empire to continue his mission.

Daybreaker

“What is this plan?” Rarity asked, taking a seat at the table.

Applejack smiled. “Are we finally gonna get rid of them demons?” She took a seat with the other four.

Luna joined them. “Something of the sorts, yes. However, we would need a certain somepony. Discord.”

“Discord? But that cowards been hiding out in his chaos dream world thing since all this started! He isn’t going to help us.” Rainbow Dash crossed her forelegs,with annoyance.

“He has his reasons.” Twilight assured. “He was afraid he would be corrupted, controlled. Like what happened to Celestia.”

“Y-Yes.” Luna agreed, stuttering in grief for her sister. “But now, with the demons on the backfoot, I don’t believe it will be hard for us to convince him.”

Pinkie gave a confused look. “What are we having him do?” the frizzy-maned earth pony asked, tilting her head.

“Well, consulting the ancient texts in the hidden room, I’ve discovered that Equestria hangs somewhere between the normal realm and Hell. It is in the clutches of Hell, being dragged in just barely so that it can peak into the curtains of the outside realm from Hell.” she explained. “It is being held in by an ancient spell casted by the former king of the demons. I believe chaos magic combined with the power of the elements could remove us from Hell and destroy every demon in Equestria.”

“Can we not just use the elements as is?” Rainbow Dash asked.

Twilight closed her eyes, beginning to explain. “Hell magic can only be countered by other Hell magic. That, or a spell equal in strength to the one casted by the Dark Lord so long ago.” she shrugged. “I don’t know what magic could hold a candle to something somepony named the Dark Lord could make.”

“Hell magic? But, Discord isn’t from there!” the pegasus pointed out with a confused flail of the hoof.

Princess Luna, standing at the end of the table, decided to reveal the truth about the draconequus. “He is from Hell. A demon of chaos, according to the old codexes.”

“Discords a demon?” Applejack asked. “Why ain’t he on their side then? Fluttershy?”

“Long ago he betrayed the demons, and now he is our ally. I don’t believe he could turn against us of his own will.” Luna replied.

“So the plan is to get rid of the demons with Discord’s help?” Rainbow Dash questioned, lifting an eyebrow. “That sounds easier than I expected.”

“Yes, the most difficult part-”

Everypony turned their head as they heard the door’s open widely. Standing before where the door once sat closed was the foreboding figure of a familiar somepony. Ferociously pale fur stretched over the tall frame of the flame-maned alicorn. The golden armor shimmered with the blood of innocents.

She sneered maliciously, lifting the guard she had slain with a bloody hoof. “You need better guards.” the corpse was thrown across the room, sliding before the table.

The pony’s eyes shrunk, all for Twilight. “S-Sister?” Luna, the closest to the corpse, lifted a hoof to prepare to step away.

Twilight hopped out of the chair to her hooves, the other four joining in alarm.

“Oh, are you looking for Celestia?” She cackled wickedly. “Well, I have quite the unfortunate news. That pitiful princess is out of the picture.”

Luna stepped away from the body. “N-No, that can’t be! This isn’t you. You are not supposed to be this!” horror rancored through the darker alicorn. “This should have ended with Nightmare Moon.”

“Hm, well…” the corrupted princess took several steps closer to her sister. “If our good friend Twilight has not introduced me yet, then you may call me Daybreaker!”

Luna’s look of fear halted, the princess blinking and opening her eyelids to reveal a determined glare. That was not her sister. Same as she was not Nightmare Moon.

“Now, sister.” she hissed through her cruel smile, her horn lighting to prepare a powerful blast of energy. “Hand over the six of them, or my friends at our old castle will reduce this world to ash in space.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked, before her high-tech helmet folded over her face.

Daybreaker gazed to the ceiling, raising her voice. “Incendium, please show our friends your scheme.”

“AH!” Rarity shrieked, feeling a twinge of fire in her hair as she spun to see a large hologram of the Archvile’s bust produced purely from flame.

The arch-demon cackled as Rarity patted the fire caught in her well-done hair away. “Greetings, ponies. I see you’ve met an old friend with a… new style.” his fiery gaze turned to Twilight. “Not too different from you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“What do you want?” Twilight scraped her hoof against the floor.

“To warn you.” he grinned maliciously. “You all have an hour to come to the Castle of the Two Sisters, before we annihilate your entire planet com-pletely.”

Pinkie Pie gave an angered look. “Uh-huh? Like you're strong enough ta do that! All bark, no bite.”

The holographic fire shifted to present a hovering artifact in its hand. It was a mass of pulsating flesh, bone circled around to form a barrel in front of the meat. A satanic pentagram was singed on the top of the receiver, a beam flowing through the barrel of bones, pulsating with power.

“May I introduce the Unmaker?” the Archvile grinned as the weapon hovered in his hand. “It is charging as we speak. In 45 minutes, it will be ready. It would only be one shot to the sky, and your beloved Equestria will fracture into a million pieces.” he clenched his free hand brutally.

“Yeah right!” Pinkie challenged. “You’re bluffing.”

He smirked. “We could also have Daybreaker command the sun to drift into your planet.”

Luna was frozen. The demons, of course they had it. The Unmaker, a weapon designed to completely eviscerate an entire terrestrial body if the demons found it unfit for consumption. She thought it was lost to the demons, forever. Hidden away deep in the undergrounds of Sentinel Prime once the Outlander, now the Slayer, was discovered with it.

“Bring the elements to me now. The six little ponies. Or your world will be torn to cinders.” With that, the Archvile’s spell stopped, the fire disappearing.

She looked down in thought. She had to do something. Luna knew she couldn’t give over the elements. Something way worse would occur than the destruction of her home if they were so adamant about it. However, if she didn’t perhaps their threats were real. She turned her head to look back at her sister. Either way, she would have to fight Daybreaker, or she would force Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy to be used to resurrect the Dark Lord.

Her horn lit a moment, slipping Twilight her plan via telepathy. I will hold Daybreaker off. Go to the Castle of the Two Sisters, stop them once and for all. Bring everypony except Fluttershy. She is the only able to convince Discord to aid us.

Although she couldn’t see Twilight’s expression under the helmet, she could see her give a light nod, unnoticeable to Daybreaker. After a moment longer of silence, the door began creaking, before slamming right into the princess, throwing her down the hall.

“Run! Everypony get to the castle as soon as possible! We’ve got to stop them.” Twilight exclaimed, running out the room and the hall that Daybreaker was not recuperating in.

As the two princesses dueled, the five rushed down the hall, bursting into the room they had left Fluttershy inside. Within the room, was nopony. Fluttershy was completely absent, all for but one note. Pinkie ran by, recognizing the hand-writing. “Heey! ‘Gone for tea?’ she must be with Discord-”

“Good.” Twilight responded, galloping out the room.

The five looked at each other before shrugging and chasing after. “Why good, Twi? Don’t we want all the help we can get?”

Twilight dipped her head, projecting a vortex far ahead of them to run through and to the entrance of the castle.

“Fluttershy’s the only one who could convince Discord to help us. If she gets him on our side, it will make this all the easi-” Clnk.

Twilight recoiled back as she ran head on into a heaping hunk of metal in the middle of the hallway. The Doom Slayer stood in front of her, coming out of the portal. His slipgate had to have been intercepted by the vortex so close to the one beneath the castle. The other four gasped. Mostly in surprise and fear, however Rainbow seemed rather excited. It was the thing that saved her at Ponyville.

“S-Slayer?” Twilight looked up. His armor had been repaired from before, his vision unreadable from behind the visor.

She had been informed by Luna about the demon killer, how he could aid them. In fact, it was one of the first things the alicorn asked about after reuniting with Twilight. The Doom Slayer simply stared back down, wordless. Her first encounter with the protector of Canterlot had been no different, except without the table throwing.

The Slayer saw the alicorn adorning a familiar set of Sentinel armor. An ally, the one who had slain the legion invading her home. She was a fellow killer of demons. Not too different from himself, here to defend what she loved.

In the moment of respect for each other, the two almost knew what had to be done.

The Doom Slayer lifted a strong hand to her height. In return, Twilight lifted a cybernetic hoof, clasping around his gauntlet with a strong grasp. The powerful hand gesture of respect was followed by a simple statement from Twilight.

“Let's go kill some demons.”

Setting Sun

Luna walked into the hall, watching as her sister stood up. Daybreaker cracked her neck, twisting it side to side to warm up. “That was cheap, sister.”

“You are not my sister.” the princess spread out on her four hooves, readying for a fight.

Daybreaker bursted to her wings, forelegs first towards Luna. She ducked under the attack, punishing with a powerful blast of dark blue energy. Luna flew backwards on her wings to dodge several swipes of burning hot flame. She dodged another cut, before flashing a teleport behind Daybreaker, firing another non-lethal burst.

The alicorn didn’t want to hurt her sister. She wished she could use the elements, free her from this affliction. But Equestria did not have enough time. They had to use as much time as they could to fight against those in the abandoned castle and seal away the demons once and for all.

Daybreaker growled, setting a hoof to the back of her neck where she was hit. “Fight me, sister! Your blows are weak on purpose!”

The fiery mare summoned a group of spears around her, sending them forth onto Luna. The numerous weapons hurled through the air, cracking into the wood and stone and melting them. Luna dodged many, just barely scraping past one, which caused a nasty singe on her right side.

She flew up, dodging another charge from her sister. Before Daybreaker could turn to go for another attack, she was met with a blinding flash of light. She covered her eyes from the extreme spell, feeling a tired feeling consume her as Luna tried her best to cast a sleeping spell on the corrupted princess.

Luna squinted, grunting as she tried her best to contain her via rest. However, it was to no avail as she quickly broke out. Luna had to dodge yet another swift flight at her. This time, the moon princess caught her in her telekinetic grasp at the last second. It dragged her to the nearest wall, slamming her into it brutally.

Once she was let up, Daybreaker glared at Luna angrily. “No more tricks, sister. Accept your death!” her horn charged furiously with lethal magic. It whirred deeply, before expelling a rapid-bunch of brutal blasts towards the dark blue pony. Luna had to rush behind a corner to avoid the deathly rays.

“You believe your people can be saved?” she laughed. “The ponies are weak, puny! They are not worthy enough in strength to live.”

The darker princess rounded a corner, hiding a moment, thinking about some way to stop Daybreaker from fighting. Was it possible to restrain her without hurting, or even killing Celestia? She felt herself fly off her hooves as she was shot with a charged blast from her enemy’s horn.

Luna had to just barely catch herself on her wings, keeping flight to dodge another blast. Daybreaker took flight, attempting to drive into her with her gold-adorning hooves. The moon-oriented pony dodged the attack, flying under her and spinning to face her enemy all while making their way through the halls of the castle..

The battle had now reached the throne room, much of the guard ponies leaving for their own safety, as commanded by Luna. “Celestia, stop this immediately!”

“As I said, I am no longer Celestia.” Daybreaker sneered.

Daybreaker suddenly felt a chain wrap around her right forehoof, another joining on her rear left hoof. The dark blue magic of her sister attempted to restrain her best Luna could, even wrapping around her horn to attempt to stunt her magical attempts. However, it was useless as Daybreaker tore free with a blast of sunlight.

They dueled viciously, dodging numerous blasts of light from one another. Luna did her best to weave and dodge between blasts of fire, returning less lethal moon-rays. “You know, you were not too different from me now.”

“Nightmare Moon? Don’t dare make me think of that time.” she puffed with anger, dodging another attack.

“Oh, I try to not think of it as well.” she glared. “Do you know how hard it was? Whilst you were gone?”

Luna didn’t reply, letting the alicorn speak.

“Trapping you on the moon was a thing I wish I didn’t have to do. But you were so selfish, power-hungry. So I had to banish you, leaving me alone for centuries!” her rabid tone seemed weighed with emotion as she recalled the times.

“That was not me, Celestia. As you now are not yourself.” Luna explained sympathetically.

There was a moment absence of fighting as the sisters stared for the duration before Daybreaker spoke up. “And for defying your sister, and leaving me tortured and alone so long, I will destroy our kingdom.”

“You’re not thinking right! The demons, they control you.” Luna attempted to persuade.

Daybreaker did not carry out the conversation, rushing Luna and grabbing her with her hooves. With all her might, she flung her sister through one of the stained windows. Luna winced in pain, catching herself on her wings. She looked at her side, seeing a large shard of glass wedged into her.

She watched as blood began seeping onto her coat, the alicorn landing on a nearby roof to gather herself as it began to hurt to fly. Luna encased the shard with her magic, attempting to yank it out before giving up on a tiny pull. Her pain was interrupted by the sound of Daybreaker landing not too far in front of her on the roof.

Daybreaker summoned a large group of fiery magic rays, propelling them at Luna. The fellow alicorn dodged all the attacks, holding back yelps of pain from the injury as it was disturbed from the flapping of wings.

Luna spun in the air to dodge another magic blast. Despite her sister’s lethal attempts to slay Luna, she still would not fight back. At least not to kill. This brought disappointment to the look of Daybreaker as she gazed at the distant sun, just barely beginning to set.

The corrupted princess smiled cockily. “Well, it appears even with your life under threat, you still avoid harming me.”

Luna waited for the next sneaky attack, bringing out her quick answer. “I will wait until the six return, then we may restore you. Just as you did for me.”

“Hm, well, I suppose to get you to fight, you will need a threat larger than one to yourself.” Celestia stated, horn lighting as she shut her eyes and lifted it up.

Luna saw the horn lift to the sun, it glowing in the flaming magic of Daybreaker before vanishing. Darkness covered Equestria for a couple of seconds, before a light brighter than anything Equestria had seen returned. The princess felt her hide sizzle and scorch with unbearable heat.

She looked up, gasping in surprise at what she saw. The sun was close, extremely close! The humongous celestial body hung over the castle menacingly.

“If you do not battle me, then all of Equestria will be lost.” Daybreaker declared.

Luna put a hoof over her face, feeling the heat burn her fur even through the shield. The alicorn realized, with dread, that she would have to end her sister for the fate of her home. She shut her eyes, charging a ridiculous beam of energy before unleashing it on Daybreaker.

Daybreaker did so as well. The hellfire of Daybreaker’s magic collided with the moody blue of Luna’s aura. The strength of each other’s spell would try to outdo each other, going left and right but never advancing any reasonable amount. This was changed once Luna growled through the pain of her glass-related injury, putting forth all her might into the spell.

The moody blue began overpowering the fire, pushing it back ever so slightly. Inch by inch Luna would gain ground, the two alicorn’s grunting in focus. Eventually, the slow strength of Luna’s power wore down the hellfire, exploding into Daybreaker.

The corrupted alicorn was sent off her hooves, slowly getting up to reveal her still fiery mane. “N-Nice-” she coughed. “Nice shot.” she stood, taking flight to attack Luna.

She was suddenly halted by a sleepy feeling overtaking her. She slowly set on her hooves, groggily closing her eyes as she slumped to the ground.

Luna gasped for breath, finishing her sleep spell. The alicorn limped over, setting her horn onto her sister’s head gently before it lit with her aura.

The princess opened her eyes, gasping into the mindscape of Celestia. It was a hellish cavern, brimstone and fire burning brutally with hundreds of pony skulls across the ground. The only source of light was the fire within the deep cave, no sign of life from the first glance Luna had gained.

Luna looked around frantically. “Celestia?! Celestia!”

It was not long before she saw her sister, the large pony curled up in a corner pathetically. Luna’s heart sapped with worry as she approached the quivering princess. “Sister?” she lifted a hoof gently.

“I failed them…” she claimed. “They are dead…”

Luna didn’t understand what to say as she saw her defeated sister in the corner. Slowly, the alicorn figured something. A way to inspire hope.

Luna gave a concerned look. “Sister, Canterlot has not met its end.”

“Huh?” she looked behind her. “But Luna, it has! There is no way Canterlot would have survived.” her white cheek-fur was stained with tears.

“That is where you are wrong.” Luna smiled, happy to finally see her royal sibling once more. “Twilight saved us, bought enough time for the Great Slayer.”

Celestia stared a moment, before more tears began to flow. “Th-then I did aid our people…”

“You did.” the comforting grin of Luna warmed the heart of the other princess.

The sun princess lowered her head. “It's unfortunate…”

Luna was taken aback by the statement. “H-How so?”

“It's… well, sister.” a sneer unlike herself crept on her face. “It is too bad that they are already doomed!”

Luna was torn from the dreamscape, a hoof around her neck as she was flown through the air, barreling toward the sun. She screamed in pain, her back-fur burning away as she was brought closer.

“Come along, sister! Do as you need!” Daybreaker taunted, flying towards the sun.

Luna struggled to break from the powerful grip of the demon, squirming around furiously. “No!” she stubbornly refused, tears forming as she failed to accept what had to be done.

“No?” that gruesome laugh disturbed Luna. “Then it will be the end for your people! Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Applejack. Thousands of your peasants!” her eyes were filled with demonic child-like glee. “All because you were too selfish to let one pony go!”

The more she spoke, the faster her tears faded into a determined stare. As the heat became more unbearable, she couldn’t handle it anymore. The threats, the loss of her sister she refused to accept, all the death. She… all she could do to defend herself in such a close range was lower her head and drive her horn into her sister.

CLkhshck…

She felt her horn gruesomely drive through the hide and bone of her sister. Luna gasped, terror filling her heart as she looked up. In the stress of the moment, she was not thinking right. Her brain was fuzzed and rushed. And now, sitting on her horn was the twitching body of her sister. The fire and flames of Daybreaker’s form slowly shifted away, the mane shifting to that which resembled Celestia. However, the magical mane faded, absence of the multi-color light.

The two plummeted through the air, Celestia falling away from her sister’s horn. Luna caught her sister in her forehooves quickly, turning to the close sun with sadness in her heart. She shut her eyes, casting a spell that could not be used whilst under the assaults of Daybreaker. The sun vanished, reappearing in its normal spot nearing the horizon.

She began gently hovering down into the gorgeous garden of the Canterlot castle with her sister in her forelegs. The setting sun was making way in the sky for the moon, stars dotting the sky peacefully as she returned to the ground.

Luna gently landed near a marble bench, laying the limp, fireless corpse of Daybreaker down. The hellish features began dissipating as the alicorn fizzled out of life. Celestia… as her sister died due to the large and deep wound in her chest, Luna nuzzled against her bigger sister sadly.

The only words she could bear before a mountain of rushing sobs, was a goodbye. “Goodnight, sister…”

Mission T4. Black Hole

Analyzing combat environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Battle track produced

https://youtu.be/w8Ghtqhisis

The blood soaked demon killers approached a pair of large double doors, aged symbols of the two princesses above them. Twilight could feel the demonic magic within the throne room. “They are here. I know it.” she could sense the aura of Kronos within, the energy releasing from his sword. It was difficult to forget the weapon.

The Slayer put a hand on the left door, Twilight putting a hoof on the right before they both opened the door at the same time. The destroyed and decrepit throne room had a torn up red rug, occasionally labeled with the sun and moon. Tapestries hung up across the area, depicting the two princesses nobley.

There were two thrones at the other end of the room, sitting on a raised platform just below two destroyed windows. The wall to the left and right of the absent glass was adorned with the sun and the moon, which was also above the respective thrones. Between the two was a pedestal of gore and bone, a device made of similar structure sitting and pointing to the heavens. The Unmaker sat ready, aiming for the sky to be utilized.What immediately caught Twilight’s eye was not the state of the room however, it was the inhabitant of Luna’s throne.

Sitting on Luna’s throne, beside the thrown over chair of Celestia, was Kronos. The Marauder sat casually, one arm on the armrest and the other holding his sword, which was set into the floor. His right gauntlet tacked the arm gently.

“I should have known it was you two to confront us.” he stood, wielding his sword for battle and letting his Meathook fall into his hand. “Did you think I died on that ship, Slayer?”

The Doom Slayer clenched his fist.

“Well, I’ll have you know that I’m not your average Marauder.” he unlatched the steel on his chestplate, opening it to reveal a humongous green-tinted dent in his flesh. “And from my knowledge, that was your last shot with that obscenely huge weapon, wasn’t it?”

Before he could speak anymore, Twilight bursted off, flying full speed toward the demon. Just as she was about to reach the throne the beast had casually stolen, she felt her face slam right into what felt to be a flaming wall.

The alicorn fell to the floor, standing up and shaking her head. She set a hoof near her horn painfully, looking up again. Walking from around the wall that sat behind the throne was Incendium, cackling. She saw his absent left hand as he stepped forward.

Twilight began noticing a wall formed around them from fire, a split blasting up to separate the Slayer and Twilight. “Your attack was rather unexpecting.” Incendium commented. “But, if we were any lesser demon, our head would’ve been lobbed off long ago.”

Incendium lifted his only hand, fire dancing within it as numerous forms of demons surrounded Twilight and the Doom Slayer. Around Twilight, a duo of Barons with a Blood Maykr were spawned. In the small arena she was confined to, it would be difficult to survive without her wings.

Once they were fully enacted, Twilight bursted into the sky. The Blood Maykr immediately rose to hurl her spears at the alicorn, only to get its head swiftly blasted away. Twilight zipped and flew under the fireballs of the two Barons, diving in close before being flung back into the sky with a double shot.

She cried in agony, her armor dissipating by 70. Twilight thought swiftly, casting a teleport spell and appearing behind one of the Barons. She drove her blades into its nape, feeling it go limp right before she was swept away by the other Baron of Hell’s fist. Now, with her armor heavily cracked and ineffective, she had to play it safe.

She blocked the fireball of the Baron quickly, dodging another fireball before sending a lethal blast to its hand. It winced, pulling its left hand back in pain before feeling its other one be chopped off by the Hoof-Blades. The Baron, stunned by the agony, felt its horn be torn off by the strength of the pony. The keratin head-piece was flipped, sharp end pointing at the demon before it was driven through its eye, killing the beast.

As she did, she witnessed a duo of Pinkies and a Cybermancubus being summoned. She immediately dove into the tail of one of the Pinkies, severing it before teleporting away as another charged at her with full speed.

She grabbed the Pinky in her telekinesis, turning it around as it mindlessly continued running. Once it was spun to face the Cyber Mancubus which was attempting and failing to hit Twilight, she released it to demolish the large armored demon.

The Cyber Mancubus and Pinky collided, exploding into gore and scrap metal. She smiled a little at the kill, before shouting in pain. She felt a Meathook drive into her side, Twilight being drawn to one of the fiery walls. A hand reached through and held the alicorn by the throat. “That was just the warm up, princess.” Kronos cackled before his Archvile ally summoned more.

Kronos threw her back into the fray of a good dozen fodder. She could feel the numerous claws and bangs against her, her health draining rapidly before she teleported out. Once she flew close to the Slayer’s wall, she felt her health rejuvenate slightly. As the Slayer murdered a Baron, he lifted his pink hammer to her to heal the fellow demon killer.

Once she saw her bars climb to max, she flew higher above the mayhem to keep count of the numerous demons. The alicorn lifted her horn after a moment of dodging fireballs, summoning a legion of bees to end the fodder. The magical purple dots swarmed the Imps and Gargoyles, tearing them apart viciously and ripping them to shreds with little effort. The agonizing and extremely loud shrieks of the surprised beasts were slightly amusing as they were slain by the buzzing swarm.

It felt like it would never end as another set of demons were summoned. She winced at the sight. It was a set of Hell Paladins, covered in the yellow confines from a melting unicorn, using its magic to shield the monsters as well as buff them. It was upsetting to see. Of course they would use her own kind against her. Regrettably, she swooped in, getting smacked out by a swift earth pony turned demon.

Twilight spun away, being grabbed by another double-buffed pony to be slammed into the ground. She felt her armor crack. Twilight gripped the hand-like hoof of the beast, tearing it away before she felt her head be crushed mercilessly by another mutated pony.

She cried in agony, producing a protective barrier around her to stop any more attacks. She warmed up a spell, creating a magic-made sword from her horn. Once the shield was broken, she took a huge swipe with the weapon, knocking back numerous Hell Paladins. She had to fight them. There was no bringing them back.

She decapitated one with her sword, Twilight swinging her Hoof-Blade at the neck of another Paladin to slice its throat. She used her boosters to dash away from a heavy blow warmed up by another pony-demon. As she commanded the sword to cause more damage, she summoned a feisty beam from her horn, bursting with magic as she unleashed it in one continuous burst.

The line of death wouldn’t let up, screeching with deathly magic as it reached to such an intensity that it began melting through the assaulting monsters. Soon, the horde of Hell Paladins were slain simply, the remaining Sapling being decapitated by her summoned sword.

“Princess.” a deep voice spoke in a teasing tone.

The alicorn turned, glaring at the source. It was Kronos, entering the arena through the flame wall. His boots thumped on the floor as he ignited his sword.

“You’ve grown in strength since last we met.” he cackled. “You are much more powerful than ever! I am afraid I may have to use Deathslicer this time.” Kronos inspected his blade.

Twilight, fuming with anger, struck at him with her floating magic sword, the blow being blocked by the Arch-demon. After the halted blow, she barraged him with a fury of swipes from her Hoof-Blades. All of which were blocked before she was bashed away with the blunt handle of the weapon.

Twilight staggered, gasping in pain as Kronos’ blade was torn into her shoulder pad. She retaliated by cutting the beast’s armored gauntlets mercilessly. He stuttered before uppercutting Twilight away and launching his Meathook at her.

Mid-flight, Twilight caught the weapon with her magic. She yanked the chain, pulling it up and lifting Kronos. As Twilight lifted him by the chain, she bursted at him, drilling with her blades. The attacks were quickly countered, Kronos slashing at the armored pony. Twilight spun away, hissing as a chunk of her helmet fell away to reveal her rage-filled gaze.

The concentration required to keep the telekinesis spell was broken, so was for her Forge Weapon spell as the sword disappeared. Kronos landed on his boots, cracking his neck left and right. “Not bad for a miniscule equine.”

“RRRAAH!” Twilight rushed the taunting demon, feeling her Hoof-Blades connect to the demon’s sword as she drilled relentlessly, trying to break through it.

“But you’re foolish to believe a dumb horse will stop the Dread Legion.” he grunted with effort as he threw Twilight away with a thrust of his blocking blade. “Even if I perish, we will still be victorious.”

Twilight narrowly dodged a launched meathook. As Kronos approached to deal a blow, the alicorn’s magic horn glowed brighter than usual. A swarm of purple dots with tiny wings expelled from her magic, rushing the demon. Kronos cackled. “Murder bees?”

Somehow, someway the demon was familiar with this sort of attack. He drew his sword through the approaching swarm, killing a number of them. The bees targeted the exposed bits of his armor, but even then the demon pushed through the scourging agonies of the swarm.

With him distracted, Twilight casted a spell to produce a chain from the ground, wrapping around the sword-wielding gauntlet of Kronos. He shouted in pain, unable to block the legion of Murder Bees as he twisted his fist in force from the strength of the purple energy chain. He groaned in agony as he placed the prongs of his Meathook into his left hand, using it to stab and cut at the binding magic. With a snap of immense force, his hand was freed to finish off the painful swarm.

With a huge slam of his energetic sword into the ground, the force blasted the bees away. “AGH!” he exclaimed, feeling the full brunt of Twilight’s jet boosted kick. He staggered back, hand leaving the floor-stabbing weapon.

Twilight, thinking fast, gripped the handle of the sword in a spell. It was torn out of the ground, swinging at Kronos. He dodged, crossing his gauntlets a moment to block another blow before weaving under a slice. Between blocks and dodges he tried to catch the handle, failing each time as her swings were too quick.

Twilight joined the attacks of Deathslicer with a large amount of her own attacks. With three blades swiping at him all at once, he couldn’t help but take a couple blows. Numerous plates and shieldings were cut away from him, like bark off a tree before he began feeling the cuts drilling into flesh. He kept on attempting to back off, only for the princess to teleport herself back in front of him in less than a second.

Swipe after forceful swipe passed before finally, Kronos felt a slab of magic flame cinder into his abdomen. He could feel himself paint the inside of his helmet with blood before he wound up a punch with all his might and hooked the pony right in the face, sending her across the arena.

He fell to the floor, coughing up a bit of blood as it seeped from his shanked abdomen. Twilight dropped his weapon, the demon quickly Meathooking it back into his grip whilst on one knee. He jammed the weapon into the ground, using it to stand up as he placed his arm to his stomach to stop the bleeding.

“I will not let you destroy my kingdom.” she declared, letting the bar of magic displayed in her HUD refill.

Kronos coughed painfully, before letting his helmet fall away. The metal receded behind his decaying head as he wiped the blood off his mouth. “Incendium! Hit me.” he called for his ally.

A zombified pony was summoned with a wisp of flame. Twilight watched as he chopped the head off the beast, catching the head mid-air before guzzling its blood like a goblet of wine before throwing it away like litter. She saw some of the wounds across his body reseal.

“I don’t believe you understand just how long the dominion of Hell has survived.” he stated. “It has been here since the beginning of existence. Nothing has halted its progress before the Doom Slayer, and still, nothing will stop it now. I won’t let some pony with attachment issues doom my pledged home.”

Twilight gave an annoyed growl. “Your home is built on thousands of dead civilizations. Ours is built on peace and prosperity! What have we done to you?”

Kronos let his Meathook slither into his hand, cackling darkly. “It seems you don’t understand, princess.” He wiped his blood stained mouth. “Your world has only been so peaceful because of Hell.”

Twilight stopped. “What do you mean?”

“Your home is only this way due to the intervention of the Dark Lord.” Kronos smiled cruelly. “The lack of wars, the miniscule amounts of conflict. by Davoth himself! you have spent the last few months prioritizing the stop of petty arguments as if it would end all civilization if they were not halted.”

Her head lifted in confusion.

“You think the Dark Lord would allow a realm he planned to consume to have the smallest chance of victory?” he asked. “No. The only things that kept you from pure peace and bliss were Discord, Tirek and the pesky Sentinels.”

Twilight silenced herself as she listened longer.

“Your planet is nothing but a one-way station back to the multiverse. And I’m sorry to say, but we have our ticket.” with that final word, his helmet returned over his head, prepared for battle.

Twilight attacked, sending a wave of lethal magic energy. It was blocked by the huge blade, Kronos blocking a thousand swings from the princess.

She backed away after every hit was stopped. The princess pondered what spell to utilize as she dodged a meathook. She warmed her horn, unleashing a series of magic cuts. The Slicing Barrage. She witnessed the utter wave of energy be blocked, some of them flocking towards the beast's legs and a bit of his exposed shoulder. However, it only seemed like it mostly struck armor.

"Stop with these pesky spells, alicorn." He growled in annoyance.

Twilight finally rushed him, slicing a blade straight into the beast. As she felt her Hoof-Blade slice through the adamantium steel, she smiled cruelly, her exposed eye in her face-plate dripping with satisfaction. The pupil shrunk as she realized where the blade hit. It was sticking right through the hand of Kronos.

The demon had caught the blow, holding the blade straight through his hand like nothing. Twilight lifted her other energy sword as fast as possible to target his chest. He caught her gauntlet, holding both in place before rearing his head back and head-butting the unicorn brutally.

Twilight screamed in writhing pain, holding her exposed eye as it bled furiously. It had been jabbed in by one of the exposed horns of Kronos. She lay on the floor, holding her eye in her hoof.

She attempted flight, falling to the ground with another pang so unbearable she could not handle focusing on anything else besides the eye. She glanced at the other arena her demon slaying ally fought in, seeing him being overwhelmed by a double possessed Tyrant duo. He could not move his attention to heal the alicorn without being killed by the two.

“I’ll hand it to you, princess.” Kronos’ boots marched like an eternity of death. “You were an effective sparring partner this time.” he winced, shaking his scratched up gauntlet. “Unfortunately, this was no sparring session.” his metal hand cracked around her throat,Twilight being lifted off her feet.

The furious glare did not waver from the alicorn’s face as she was held up.

“I will give you one small mercy.” he cackled. “A death similar to your ‘kin.’” Kronos mocked.

Twilight felt the fingers grip, muscles crackling with pressure as she felt her throat constrain through the armor. The metal shielding around her throat snapped, wires spewing out as her HUD began glitching.

"Kronos." the muffled voice of Tirek spoke from inside the demon's helmet.

"Yes?" he replied with a hint of agitation.

Tirek coughed. "Those pesky four r-rushed me and got in through the back. They had the Praeleanthor with them… it got me." he admitted with distressed breaths. Kronos could hear blood trickling in the background.

"Incendium!" Kronos looked at his ally, still out of the shield. “The Soul Cube!”

The Archvile looked from the Slayer's arena. "I heard. I can't use my arena or summon spells if I am to halt the Praeleanthor."

Kronos grimaced, before looking at the nearly beaten Alicorn. Then, he heard it. The dreadful swooshes of circulating blades echoed in his ears for only a moment before he dropped Twilight, dodging out of the way of the artifact. The Soul Cube had just barely missed the removal of Kronos' hand.

Before it could course correct, the artifact was surrounded completely by a ball of hell-fire. Incendium lifted his hand, the fire walls collapsing as the Soul Cube was halted.

The Doom Slayer finished the slitting of the last Tyrant’s throat, slaying the Spirit with his Plasma Rifle's Microwave Beam mod. The two demons gazed over, realizing the important target as he readied his Hammer to fight.

Twilight felt a pair of hooves lift her up gently whilst the screeching war-cries of the Sentinel Hammer raged on. She weakly looked up, eyes barely open as she saw the mane of Rainbow Dash. “Oh…” the pegasus seemed surprised by the grievous injury.

Twilight didn’t respond, writhing out of her grip and crawling herself towards the frozen Soul Cube. Maybe if she was just able to touch the Soul Cube, it could transfer life to her. As she slowly climbed to her hooves, Rainbow Dash came by her side. Rarity joined her as they supported their friend towards the ancient device.

“Come along, darling. You have a world to save.” Rarity encouraged, trying her best to avoid the ghastly sight of her friend’s eye.

As she was drawn towards the Soul Cube, she began seeing the yellow light that often flowed to a healing subject fly out, reaching out for her. The closer she got, the more it repaired her body. With the remaining energy in the sealed artifact, it was able to heal a lot of damage to her body, sealing her unusable eye.

It could not fix her armor or her removed ocular organ, but it did restore her strength to a state ready for battle. She walked out of the supporting shoulders of her friends, turning to gaze at them. “I thought I told you all to stay outside.”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Well, once the decapitation cube came around, we thought you would need it.”

Applejack joined. “And ya did.”

Twilight smiled a little, it being shown by the half of the helmet removed. “Well, you had good timing.” she turned, facing the two foes the Slayer was having issue holding off. “You two stay back, find some way to free the Soul Cube. I’ll finish this.”

She propelled off her wing's jet boosters, accelerating to Kronos who was currently blocking a swing from the Slayer’s Doomblade. The two demons were noticeably guarding the ghastly structure of the Unmaker.

Thinking fast, she blind-sided Kronos with an attempted Hoof-Blade to the chest, only for him to dash back to avoid the attack. Thankfully, the Doom Slayer blasted him with his Quad Shotgun, leaving room for Twilight to force him to the ground. She barely managed to drive a Hoof-Blade into his side before she was kicked off and met with an unrelenting strike from the Hellish sword.

She dodged it, boosting on her jets a moment before cutting a cleft into his injured side. Kronos shouted in pain, launching his Meathook at her whilst the Doom Slayer was distracted by the fire-casting Archvile.

She felt the hook jam into her armor, only for it to be torn out by Twilight’s hoof. She watched as he recalled his Meathook, holding it before hurling it at the Doom Slayer. Twilight thought it would be foolish, before she realized just what he was aiming for. He swiped the Hellvolver off The Slayer’s belt, catching it.

Twilight felt a shot straight to her helmet, ears ringing momentarily as she staggered back in shock. She barely had enough time to shake herself back in before she was hurled into the sky with an uppercut. She felt a wave of bullets unleash into her as she was flung mid-air. Kronos then threw the gun at the pony before sending his Meathook to force her back into the ground.

Acting fast, he rushed her and forced the blade into the floor where she once lay, only to see the alicorn was gone. He proceeded to feel an agonizing burn drive through his back, Kronos dropping to his hands and knees as he felt his body begin going limp. He fell forward, the singing blade that drove right through his spine being removed.

He fell to his chest, feeling the sudden disabling of his body in surprise. It wasn’t supposed to be like this! He tried his best to fight the pain, attempting his best to move his arms to lift himself up, trying to shift on his legs.

He heard the metal hooves click on the stone floor, his vision barely able to make-out his enemy’s legs. She stopped in front of him. Looking up, he could see her half-face glaring in viciousness and unrelenting fervor. A hate brighter than the most extravagant of nebulas. Twilight grabbed the demon by the throat, lifting him up as she flew upwards. He felt his immovable feet leave the floor as he was flown up.

“You will feel the pain my brother did.” Tears shedded from her eyes.

As Kronos felt the grip of the hoof squeeze in unnatural strength, his spine cracking further than before and the never-ending agony presented by the neck breaking pressure, he heard the satisfying schwoom of the Unmaker’s mechanism. He let the force of Twilight’s hoof break his neck, satisfied at a mission well done. He had served the Dark Lord well.

Twilight felt his head go limp in her hoof. However, she didn’t leave it at that. With the demon now dead and the anti-magic removed from it, she consumed the rest of its body in a telekinetic spell. With a gnarly snap she tore his head away, letting the rest of the corpse fall to the ground as she wielded Kronos’ skull. With a lengthy charge of her magic, she beamed into the head. The endless magic didn’t seem to halt as it burned directly into Kronos’ face, armor melting away, old flesh and bone turning to ash.

Once the beam stopped, she breathed heavily for air. She looked down at her hoof, empty of the head. She slowly lowered to the floor, sitting on the ground dejectedly. The thump of Incendium’s corpse interrupted her grief for just a moment, the Doom Slayer standing over the dead Archvile proudly.

Twilight sat, satisfied yet grief-struck about Spike. She had avenged him, but the truth was her little dragon assistant would never return again.

Her sorrows were only interrupted by a talon gripping her shoulder comfortably. Twilight opened her eye, staring up at the culprit. It was Discord, Fluttershy standing right beside him. She went forward soon after, encasing Twilight in the comfort of her fluffy wings. It was like a field of clouds surrounding her for just a couple of moments. It felt unusual on her cold armor.

Once Fluttershy backed away, the rest of the six began approaching. Discord began explaining his absence. “Sorry for the hold up, everypony! I wanted to make sure Mr. Mind Control there kicked the bucket.” he said, pointing at Incendium.

“Or he wanted some extra tea time with Fluttershy.” Pinkie Pie joked, whispering to Applejack who gave her an annoyed look.

“Now come along, everypony get in a circle. We have an anti-demonic ritual to perform!” Discord began pushing Fluttershy to a position near the middle of the room, doing the same with Twilight.

Everypony began forming the circle hurryingly, who knows what would happen if they wasted any more time. “Hurry! Hurry!” Discord urged, standing in the center of the shape.

Finally, once Pinkie Pie hopped into position, Discord reviewed them. “Good! Great, now…” he took out a napkin with a tea stain, the ancient ritual on the piece of paper.

Whilst Discord relayed the demonic language, Twilight turned to look at what the Doom Slayer was up to. He was currently inspecting the Unmaker, looking at the barrel that pulsated with an ancient power. The device was surrounded by a fiery wall, not too different from the one that made the double arena’s walls, or the Soul Cube’s prison. Twilight looked at the Soul Cube, seeing it sealed away still. The spells were remaining after the Archvile’s death.

She broke the circle, rushing to the Unmaker. Just before she could make it, it exploded with red. A laser beam extruded from the barrel, breaking through the ceiling and toward the sky. Everypony gasped in terror.

Rebooting audio systems…

Checking sound library…

Library corrupted…

Attempting creation of track…

??? Track produced

https://youtu.be/EpGC_3qZDOM

“W-we don’t have enough time for the ritual!” Discord exclaimed.

Twilight Sparkle looked at Discord. “Discord! How does the Unmaker work, tell me!”

“Well, first it shoots the laser in the sky, then it comes back down and back into the plant and cracks it like an egg.” Discord explained as the beam whirred with the intense demonic magic.

“So, w-we’re doomed?” Fluttershy asked.

Discord looked at the ground sadly. “Yes, I can’t intervene with ancient magic on that scale. It would only accelerate the process!”

“Then you don’t need magic.” Twilight realized. She knew what she had to do. Her eyes locked to the floor a moment, before back up to her friends.

Rarity gasped. “Twilight, don’t tell me you will do what I think you are thinking.”

Twilight turned. “One more thing… for my friends.” she said, looking at the Slayer for a moment. He nodded in understanding, standing back as the beam heading to the sky dissipated.

“W-Wait, Twilight.” Fluttershy stuttered. “M-Maybe there’s a different solution?”

“There isn’t enough time for different solutions.” she said, feeling the rumbling earth beneath shatter slightly due to the recoil of the Unmaker’s charged blast.

“Twi! Look, ya ain’t gotta go up there. Maybe the err… that guy could do it?” she signaled to the Slayer.

The alicorn began walking to the Unmaker’s pedestal. “The Slayer can’t fly.” she responded, staring up to the dark clouds.

Pinkie couldn’t form a response, just staring. No joke could compliment the moment.

She felt a hoof pull her back. “Twilight, look, dude! If you go up there, that thing will explode you! Totally! There is no coming back from that.”

“And if it reaches us, it’ll kill everyone.” Twilight replied.

Discord spoke up sadly. “Twilight is right… I’m afraid that stopping the beam mid-return would be the only way to stop it. I-I could stop it, but I'm the only one that could separate Equestria from Hell.”

The five all looked at each other solemnly.

Twilight turned fully to look at her five friends, all standing in concern for her. She sat down, wings shrinking behind her as she stretched out her forelegs. The grieving ponies all looked curiously a moment, before going forward in understanding.

The group hug formed, wrapping numerous hooves around each other. Specifically Twilight. Even through the hard, unforgiving steel of her armor she could feel her friend’s welcoming hug. As they sat there, combined in a huddle of multi-colored fur, Twilight pondered about the future without her.

Luna and Celestia would need a new prodigy, Starlight perhaps. Maybe she would overtake the Element of Magic after she was gone? She wondered about Pinkie Pie, seeing her bright and happy, throwing a party for everypony in Ponyville. Applejack would surely have an endlessly growing apple business. Rarity? Why, she would be a lavish dress designer as always, just more popular than ever.

Rainbow Dash would continue her path of being the best Wonderbolt in all of Equestria. She already knew Fluttershy would be happy at home, caring for her animal friends… if they were still alive. She felt the anxiousness and fear of the sacrifice melt in her friend’s arms. Twilight finally retracted, noticing the accepting looks on all the pony’s faces. With exception to Rainbow Dash.

Tears were staining her cheek fur, not ready to say goodbye just yet. Twilight moved up to her in specific, looking down at her hoof before offering it the pegasus. “Hoof-bump?” she smiled awkwardly.

Rainbow Dash’s tear filled expression slowly rose to a grin, punching her friend’s hoof lightly. “Hoof-bump.”

With the little time she had, she turned around, walking below the hole in the roof. Before she took off, she glanced back for one last look at her friends. There was one final wave from the Princess of Friendship, before she blasted off.

She flew through the hole in the roof that was blown out by the Unmaker. With all her effort, she dashed into the sky, seeing the red energy in the clouds slowly turn and rush back to the ground. From a distance, it was a tiny dot propelling to a stick of destruction. It almost screeched for the world’s end as it arrived closer and closer.

The alicorn shut her eyes, thinking deeply as she flew towards the world-shattering laser. The memories that flashed were of Ponyville. Her old dinky library, all her goofy friends she’d go on grand adventures with, her assistant Spike. She could remember that night, after the chaos of the first Grand Galloping Gala they went to. All of them enjoyed pastries at the donut shop, chatting it up.

As she felt the heat slowly encroach her, red brightening her vision through her shut eyelids, she realized that she did live up to her title. She did everything in her power to save her friends. Giving up her life not just for them, but all of Equestria as well.

Twilight faded in the massive beam, the pillar of red descending from the earth exploding into a bright flash. The color of her aura protected her home, bursting in dazzling stars like a supernova. The clouds were painted by the explosion of purple, the magic slowly drifting across the castle with gentleness.

Supernova

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QmPCrC7uXw

The six ponies rushed out a broken window in the throne room, looking to the sky in awe. The Doom Slayer and Discord rushed out, looking up as well. The sparkles and magic dust that drifted from the sky shimmered on the dark grass below the hooves of the ponies. The five stood there in silence, as the marker of their friend’s sacrifice drifted in the sky.

The Doom Slayer gazed at the heavens, before staring at the ground solemnly. She was a good fighter. The pony deserved a moment of remembrance. She truly had the spirit of a Night Sentinel, like many of the warriors who had perished near him so long ago. He hated to see another one like them go.

“Twilight…” Fluttershy muttered sadly.

Rarity put a hoof on her shoulder, attempting to comfort the pegasus.

The supernova of purple and white dust gently settled from the sky like snow. It was gorgeous, brighter than the sun in the sky. As they stood, the five couldn’t help but look back at the cherished memories…

Whilst they mourned, Discord looked at his former ally. “Greetings, Slayer.”

The Doom Slayer looked at him a moment, nodding a small greeting as if they hadn’t met again after the numerous eons since they parted paths.

Discord too looked solemn, staring back to the heavens. “She did it. She saved the world. Without her, we’d all be demon chow.” he took a quick glance at him. “With exception to you.”

The group stood there, watching for a long while. They took it all in. The suffering of the last few months had climaxed to this. The question lingered over them not too differently to the dust. What now?

The rather sincere Pinkie Pie was the one to answer the silent, yet shared query. “Let's go home.”

Applejack looked over with a perked ear. “What do ya mean by home?”

“Ponyville.” her lowered mane rested on her neck as she turned, leading the way back.

The walk back was strangely peaceful for the Everfree Forest. The dark woods were illuminated by the glowing dust. Discord and the Doom Slayer joined, the Slayer keeping his Hammer equipped as he followed by the rear with the Draconequus. No further words were exchanged as the dark, swampy forest was absent of any dangerous or exotic creatures, all of which were likely slain by the invasive demons

Fluttershy severely missed the chirping of birds that would pleasantly surround you in the more nice sectors of the woods. Now it was desolate and empty. The only noise was the trees rustling, hoof-steps and the energetic humming of the Sentinel Hammer.

It was a while’s walk before they reached the treeline. The heavily damaged and attacked Ponyville presented itself. The distant, wilted trees of Applejack’s farm covered the rolling fields surrounding the town. Tons of remains of slain demons littered the floor, killed by the professional that followed them.

Many thatch roofs on houses and a lot of walls had been burnt away or destroyed. Some collapsed into the house itself. As they started into their destroyed town, the sadness in the air didn’t seize. As they approached the center of the town, they began noticing forms exiting the buildings.

Many ponies left alleyways and hidden sections of the town to view the sky. The dust sparkled in their eyes as they felt hope writhe through them. Despite the destruction of the town, many of the ponies remained there, too attached to leave.

The dozen or so living ponies walked up to the five. “You did it! You saved Equestria, right? There aren’t any more monsters!” an excited yellow stallion exclaimed.

“Yeah!” a mare cheered.

As they stood before the fountain in the center of town, Fluttershy cleared her throat nervously. “Yes. We did. T-The demons aren’t an issue.” she gave a thankful look to the star-like formation in the sky.

“What about Ponyville, how will we fix it?” another asked.

“We wait for aid from the princesses.” Discord said. “I will let them know as soon as possible.”

More beaten and battered ponies began following the ones that showed up at the town center. Some were stuck with a heavy limp, some missing ears, manes, tails and other. Many had large scars, claw marks, bruises and other signs of damage. All these injured ponies amassed, before reaching around twenty in the clearing. Barely close to half a fraction of Ponyville’s population.

It was concerning for the five to see the residents of Ponyville be in such a worn state. Pinkie knew the names of every one of the residents, their apparent decayed form hitting the worst for the pink earth pony. She scrounged the crowd, looking for the Cakes, only to see them absent.

Applejack also saw not a sight of her family. Big Mac and Granny Apple were absent as well as Applebloom. Rainbow Dash and Rarity couldn’t help but scan the crowd as well. Their younger sisters were unable to be sighted. Their fleeting bit of hope was crushed like a pesky beetle.

And so the once peaceful population of Ponyville all stood there, unsure of what next. The disaster that they had survived left legions of collateral damage, and there would be no way to repair it all. However, all of those in the city center could feel a particular feeling of hope in the shimmering light above. It would be okay, and despite the recent bleakness of the times, they could move on for a brighter life.

Once the crowd dispersed, everypony in the group of five left the town center to attend their old homes. Fluttershy went to her barren cottage, eye glancing at the sky, as if a silent nod to her to fix it up and restore the beautiful creatures of nature to her now collapsed cottage.

Pinkie Pie found the standing, yet heavily demolished remains of Sugarcube Corner. She entered the pastry shaped building, looking across the interior of the building. The Cakes had to be around here surely! This was answered by a baby wail in the basement, small hushes of the parents to keep quiet before another baby joined the crying. Her mane immediately puffed up as she approached the basement door.

Applejack felt the most solemn on her return trip to her farm. The dead apple trees surrounded her ominously as she approached the empty farmhouse. Strangely, it was completely untouched by the invasion. Her hooves marched on the porch, before she lifted one to the knob and twisted it. The interior was warm, welcoming. Everything about her was built in this home.

She could almost feel the grief rip at her as she took each step, however joining that emotion was a sense of determination. Her family would wish for her to keep going, right? The same thing Twilight would want. To continue the business, in their name.

Rarity saw the ghastly destruction of her bouquet with a depressive tone. The remains of dresses were torn and scattered across the completely collapsed rubble. She had to sniffle and hold back tears as she removed the numerous dresses from the wreckage.

She felt her heart tremble as she found the dresses she had in the backroom, the least demolished from the building’s destruction. She picked up the outfits from the rubble, viewing each one. A nice green, flowery design for Fluttershy as she often enjoyed, A pristine rainbow-covered dress designed with flying in mind for Rainbow Dash, A pair of boots and an orange-yellow dress for Applejack. She could recall making the pink pastry themed outfit for Pinkie Pie as well. Then she got to Twilight’s, designed with the starry night sky in mind.

She frowned a moment, before smiling. Rarity lifted it up to the sky, looking at the dust in the clouds. “It would’ve looked great on you, Twilight.”

Rainbow Dash sat on her destroyed cloud castle longingly. All she could do was stare up at the heavens, thinking of some way to thank her friend. However, any string of words were insufficient. Rainbow had to simply bear with “Thanks, Twi…”

Dear Spike, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Applejack

I love all of you. If you’re reading this, and I survived my fight against the demons, then you should probably get rid of this letter. However, if I am dead, then please continue. When I was lost in those woods, running away from the arch-demon that killed Spike, I realized one thing. I was no Princess of Friendship. If I was, I would have given myself up to that monster and let you all live happily.

Sadly, I ran. I left my friends, those I swore to protect, to be at the mercy of evil. That night, I foreswore the title of Princess of Friendship. What kind of friend leaves their best friends behind like that? A bad one. I was a terrible friend for that. That night, I cried while hiding out in the Everfree Forest, thinking about all of you.

There, I decided I would stop at nothing to right my wrong. So I began. I found the Embeddation Machine and used it to allow myself to battle the demons. To become stronger. I protected Canterlot and invaded that Hellship. I rescued all of you, all my friends. Every smile from you all was like a ray of light, even if I didn’t look too friendly with my augmentations.

Now I’m about to finish this fight. If I make it, hopefully you won’t have to read this letter. By the time you would read it, I hope Ponyville is in a much better state than I left it. Maybe we could go to the Grand Galloping Gala and forget all of this happened! After they clean the dead body wall.

I guess I have one final question for you all. Was I a good friend? Did I save Equestria? I wouldn’t know. Just, I want all of you to have a nice life, promise me that! It’s what you deserve.

Sincerely, Princess Twilight Sparkle

[EPILOGUE] Lamentations of the Forgotten

The Doom Slayer walked down the throne room, his ignited love-enchanted hammer on his back as he gently made his way to the singular chair. Sitting there was Princess Luna on her singular throne. Celestia as well as her seating was absent.

Luna looked away from one of her guards. “I see that you have completed your duty here.” the princess stated. “Discord had told me about the events.”

He assumed the worst for Celestia in her absence.

Luna bowed her head a moment, closing her eyes. “Yes… Celestia was a… personal loss. But, Equestria must stay strong, and so must its leader. I must ask, Great Slayer. What now? The demons are trapped in Hell for eternity, with no access to any world. Even this one”

He knew exactly where. The Slayer looked behind him at the head of the hammer, reading the names of his loved ones longingly. He walked past the throne, turning behind it and pressing the correlating button to enter the hidden war room.

Luna got out of her chair, following the Slayer curiously as the elevator lowered. She watched as the Slayer walked toward the arches of the Slipgate, passing the table and coming in front of it as the vortex opened.

“Where, Slayer?” she didn’t expect an answer.

The Slayer suddenly stopped, clutching one of his fists. It was a moment of thought behind his helmet before his hand finally fell limp, no longer tense. “Home.”

Luna’s confusion turned to understanding. Satisfaction, maybe. The Slayer was going home after his long conquest, away from the sarcophagus, demons, wars, torment. He had done it. She felt a sense of pride for the demon killer as he left through the portal, it shutting off as the hero left.

~

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GfRLk9IPDUI&ab_channel=xiphares

In a park of one of the numerous abandoned and overgrown cities, a huge colony of cherry blossoms drifted peacefully. The ARC reconstruction division titled it the Peace Colony. The thousands of corpses of demons all fueled the natural repair of this heavily assaulted city, the gorgeous pink leaves drifting in the wind after it all.

Within this section of peace, a shrine had been built for their hero. Several paintings of the Doom Slayer’s conquest and legend leaned on replicas of his demon-ending weapons. Numerous thankful letters and messages strewn about the peaceful pink-covered grass. There were several photos of happy families, playing in this very park, alive, happy and free from the demons. On the back each had a letter for the Doom Slayer, if he were to read it.

A gentle creek weaved behind the shrine, full of the leaves. It gurgled relaxingly behind it, the chirping of doves joining it in the ambience. It wasn’t uncommon to spot the strolling deer pack or maybe a fox or two, sniffing at the shrine before going off casually.

Soon, the shrine gained a more authentic set of offerings. A chestplate of the Slayer was gently set down, before the shins, boots and other bits of adamantium armor were placed. Finally, the last to be set down was an authentic helmet of the demon killer. His mark was set proudly on the forehead of it. The large man that stood before the podium in a rather common undersuit found in this futuristic culture began putting away his firearms, unloading each with care before giving a gentle stroke and laying them down.

Lucifer’s Bane was unlatched, shells carefully removed before being placed in front of the armor. His Ballista had to have its chain racked a couple of times before the argent energy was diffused and it was safe to settle it. His Heavy Machine Gun simply needed a button pressed to remove the mag before the chamber was racked, ejecting the last cartridge.

The Rocket Launcher was trivial to empty, just a yank of the weapon’s ammo chamber was required before he stood it up against a mural of him battling a horde. It was the Plasma Rifle and the Chaingun that was set away next, the Rifle just needing a removal of the plasma battery and the Chaingun just needing a removal of the chains of ammo and a quad-racking of each chamber. The last gun to be set down was the Hellvolver he had collected in the Corpse Forest, settling it down.

Finally, he lifted the Sentinel Hammer from the ground, gazing at the many English words of his family and his feelings toward them. Love, care, heartfelt, sweet. With a gentle shutting of his eyes, he set the weapon down, deactivating it before leaning it against his helmet.

He stepped away, the heavily scarred man gazing at all the equipment he had put to their resting place in this serene landscape. His eyes shut, nostrils breathing in the clear air nicely. There was no oxygen filter, no air conditioning, no air affecting additives.

At that moment, all felt still. No demonic screeching, no hellish chants, no overly nice UAC PSAs. It felt like for once in his life the demon killer was not wielding a weapon. There was no bloodthirst for the monsters, no need for vengeance. He was at peace, the thoughts of his family drifting away with the cherry blossoms. Their love was constantly reminded to him by the live and well planet, which had been saved because of the wrath he bestowed upon the demons. In some way, the memory of their care fueled the saving of humanity.

“Who do you think he was?” a familiar voice spoke behind him.

He turned, seeing the Intern. The shorter guy walked up to stand behind him. The Slayer hadn’t seen him in 7 years, the once young scientist now much more mature. He had lost the glasses and had a bit of facial hair. “I used to work with him. It's what got me a job as administrator.” he said, nodding towards a large walled-in sector of the city, plastered in ARC logos. Numerous lights of civilization flickered within it.

“Even when the ARC was too scared to help him, I’d still believe his plans.” He snickered a little. “I haven’t exactly seen him in a while. Probably out killing demons somewhere.”

“...Probably.” He responded after his long moment of silence.

The Intern pocketed his hands, looking around the woods with a moment of silence. “Well, that was a nice little walk. Want to head back to the reconstruction outpost, Flynn? Get some drinks maybe.”

Flynn nodded, looking at his pal. “I could go for a drink.”

The two turned, walking towards the distant metal walls. Flynn didn’t turn to look back at the shrine. The only thing to greet the pile of thankful gifts was a blowing wind of pink blossoms, satisfied with the sacrifices of the one it was dedicated to.

Apple Buckin' Day

The sun shone brightly over the large range of trees, providing warm tender heat over the beautiful morning. Sparse clouds formed a variety of unique shapes above the colorful and cozy landscape.

Ripe red fruit grew from the ends of large collections of apple trees, basking in the warmth of the new morning. It seemed like the perfect day to harvest such a bounty of crisp produce.

Not too far away from the large orchard sat a large reddish pink farmhouse, a barn a reasonable distance away. Small gardens of alternative crops grew nearer to the farmhouse, corn and carrots being the most plentiful amongst the bunch.

It was Apple Bucking Day in Sweet Apple Acres, and the farmhouse was already busy with the Apple family already preparing for the day.

Applejack rushed throughout the house as Granny Smith was working on a stack of pancakes. “Big Mac!” The farm pony called to her bigger brother who had just come downstairs.

“Ehyup?” the red stallion asked, rubbing sleep out of his green eyes.

Applejack grabbed extra pancake mix for Granny Smith, turning back to him. “We woke up late! Terry just didn’t do his crow!” she informed.

Granny Smith snickered, remaining calm. “Did Applebloom not tell ya that ‘er and ‘er little friends brought him to Flutter… What’s her name again?”

“Fluttershy?” she groaned, looking at her grandmother from the pantry. “Great! Big Mac, did ya fix that broken wheelbarrow after yer delivery yesterday?”

Big Mac shook his head, yawning as he made his way to the table.

“Ya said you would do it!” Applejack turned from the pantry and at her brother with an annoyed look. “Now fer half of the day me and Applebloom gotta go about the orchard bucking up trees. And ya know she ain’t ta goo- APPLEBLOOM!” she shouted, just now realizing that the filly hadn’t woken up yet.

Applejack went over to one of the cabinets in the kitchen and clanged together a large wooden spoon and a pot both in her jaws. She then rushed up the farmhouse’s stairs, going to her little sister’s room and kicking the door open.

“Ugh… Not today-“ Before she could lazily complain, Applejack began banging the two cookware together loudly.

“AH! I’m awake! I’m awake!” The now fully conscious Applebloom stood up in her bed, eyes wide in surprise.

“Apple Buckin’ Day, Applebloom! Get up!” Her big sister stated as the light yellow-colored foal fixed the large red bow in her hair.

Applebloom jumped down from her bed, trotting out of her room quickly. “I get ya! I get ya!”

The young country filly quickly took a seat at the wooden dining room table, Applejack joining her next to Big Mac. Coming around the table slowly was Granny Smith, passing about the stacks of pancakes. Once she came around to Applejack, she began eating the flapjacks extremely fast, getting out of her chair once she was finished.

“Come on ya two! Those apples won’t buck themselves!” she hurried them along, rushing out of the house and towards the barn to get a couple of buckets.

Applebloom sighed, looking down at her pancakes. “I hardly even started on my first one.” she huffed, predicting that it would be a rough day.

~

The sun clambered its way through the sky, beating down upon the countryside of Ponyville. Applebloom trudged along wearily, a stack of small empty buckets in her jaws as she relished in the brief and occasional shade of the surrounding apple trees. It had been a couple of hours since she and Applejack had first started.

She went up to the nearest unbucked tree, placing her head down to rest the stacked buckets below a clump of branch-mounted apples. Letting out a small huff, the filly went over to the other side of the tree, mentally marking an ‘X’ where she would have to kick.

Letting her flank face the tree, she prepared herself before bucking the bark with a loud crack. Not all the ripe apples fell completely from the tree, however most managed to drop down. Many even managed to land conveniently in Applebloom’s bucket.

Looking up and behind her to see a collection of apples still hung upon the tree, she let out a heavy sigh and prepared herself for yet another buck. Crack! The tree crunched under the attack of swiftly moving hooves. Crrk! It went again, the last of the apples finally falling to the ground.

“Thank Celestia.” she appreciated, plopping each hoof in front of the other towards the bucket. On her way over she forced herself to reach down and pick up each of the other fallen apples, throwing them into the bucket with each pick.

It was tedious having to do this so many times. Especially when tired. It felt as if she could fall asleep while doing this. Once she placed the final apple in the bucket, she picked it up from the rest of the stack.

“How ya doing there!?” Applejack came out of nowhere, making her little sister jump and drop the bucket in surprise.

Applebloom looked over at her with an annoyed huffed, the brief shot of adrenaline wearing off. “Fine, just a lil’ sleepy.” she told her, picking up some of the apples that had fallen out of the dropped bucket. “You seem awful chipper.”

The mare smiled at her, balancing a multitude of buckets on her back strongly. “Its what happens when ya go ta sleep at a good time.”

“The Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting was postponed to eight! I had to be there.” Applebloom excused.

“Uh-huh. Anyways, Big Mac finished fixin’ up that wheelbarrow. In fact I think I see him just through the trees over there.” she squinted past the rows of bark and wood. “’Ey! Big Mac!” Applejack called over, waving a hoof in the air.

Wheels rustled through grass as the cart-strapped stallion made his way to the row of trees his diligently working sisters were at. “Eh-yup?”

“We got a load of buckets ready for ya!” Applejack shouted as Big Mac got closer.

He nodded in a simple response, stopping the cart right in front of the two conveniently.

Applejack trotted over, jumping to make each of the bucket’s land spectacularly in the cart side by side. Not a single apple spilled from one of the buckets. Meanwhile her little sister struggled with her singular bucket, pulling it up and nuzzling it onto the cart.

Applebloom caught her breath after the exertion of such an action, watching Big Mac trot away with the cart in his wake. She let out a small yawn, raising a hoof to her open muzzle.

“I can’t believe you can be so energetic right now.” the filly commented through her deep country accent.

Applejack shrugged, starting back to the barn for more buckets. “Its not too hard lil’ sis. Just gotta get in the mode.” she explained.

“’The mode?’ What does that even mean?” Applebloom asked, only to be ignored by her big sister as she continued off, humming the tune of some old country song.

Applebloom grumbled a little, going back to her bucket stack and picking it back up. She dragged it over to the closest tree, setting it down in a good position before once more kicking at it.

This would continue for what felt like ages for the small pony. The menial tasks being highlighted only by the sound of hoof impacting into bark and apples satisfyingly plunking to the ground. bucket of apples after bucket of apples passed as the trees grew progressively more barren.

Soreness had joined Applebloom’s muscles many moments ago, making her slump along slowly through the apple orchard. She dropped her stack of empty buckets from her jaws, letting them open wide in a large yawn.

Tiredness wore at Applebloom after bucking at the trees for hours on end. The blazing sun certainly didn’t help either. “Oh, Celestia.” she placed a hoof over her amber eyes as the sun beamed down into them. “Why do ya gotta always make the sun go right in my face?” she complained.

The sun remained defiantly, Applebloom grumbling at it before picking the buckets back up and putting it near another tree. She went to the other side of it, preparing her legs before kicking straight into it. CRK! The kick sounded, dropping all the apples from its branches.

She looked back and up into it, smiling a little when she noticed the lack of apples upon the tree’s arms. “Ha! I did it.” Positive energy flowed through the foal, trotting over and picking up the apples that had missed the bucket with a small smile.

Once that bucket was full, she continued on to the next tree. By now Applebloom had made her way to the side of Sweet Apple Acres that was closest to the treeline of the Everfree Forest.

Occasionally she would glance into the dark, scary woodland. The clusters of trees forming a ceiling over its menacing undergrowth. Thankfully, a simple wooden fence separated the orchard from the forest.

A small shiver went through her as she finally made it to the next tree, repeating what she had done with the last. Put the bucket under the leaves, buck the tree, pick up apples. Surprisingly enough, once more with her strength, or possibly luck, she had brought down all of the tree’s fruit.

Just as she was about to bend her head down to pick up one of the apples, a loud and distracting rustling started in the shrubbery of the nearby dark forest. She looked up from the apples, turning towards the Everfree with curiosity. A large series of bushes in the forest stood between a duo of trees, the undergrowth being the height of most ponies. A small glow just noticed by the filly had caught her eye.

She tilted her head curiously, stepping forward towards the fence and lowering it between the planks. Squinting her eyes, she saw three green dots in a close triangular formation, glowing brightly through the darkness of the shrubbery.

Chillingly deep rasping came from the bushes as whatever was in there stared back at the small pony. Applebloom’s eyes widened, stepping back a little. Seeing the filly become startled, whatever it was turned and rushed back deeper into the Everfree before disappearing completely. As it ran, a tall, slumped over silhouette could just be made out.

Wh-...What in Celestia’s name was that? Applebloom queried herself as the bushes continued to rustle. Despite the fear that the unknown creature embedded into the pony, she couldn’t help but feel a small curiosity temp her towards its path.

After seemingly endless moments of silence and a long confused look, she finally set her hooves on the fence and began clambering over it awkwardly. Several thonks of hooves went off as she attempted to vault the fence, finally pushing off of it with her hind legs and landing before the Everfree.

Applebloom looked up at the large forest, a shiver of fear going into her before deciding to continue on through. The filly shuffled through the bushes the creature was in, curiosity tugging her onto the path. Looking down, she saw noticeable prints from whatever that thing was. It seemed to have two small feet with three long raking claws extending from them.

Looking up from the tracks, she continued shoving past the foliage in chase of its path. Darkness slowly grew as the canopy of the Everfree grew thicker, mucky heat radiating through her as she continued on. Her ears remained perked in alarm just in case whatever she had encountered would show up once more.

Applebloom suddenly stopped at the sight of a rustling bush. By now the foliage had lessened into a more clear area, the shrub standing out strongly. She jumped in surprise as a little bunny rabbit sprinted out of the bush, rushing past the pony.

“AH!” she screamed with a little hop, the small thing scaring her badly. The filly breathed heavily from the encounter, gathering herself.

By now the fear encroaching on her told her to head back, it already felt as if she was getting lost. However, the more Applebloom realized her surroundings the more she noticed a tangy scent not too far ahead.

She sniffed the air quizzically, trying to find some comparison to the sweet smell. It reminded her of apple cider, but somehow even sweeter. Incomprehensibly sweet. Any sense of fear was washed away as she felt her hooves carry herself over. She had to check this out.

It was as if the source of the smell was right over the next pair of bushes. However, when she set them aside she saw nothing. With every hoof set forward the smell only got stronger and more attractive.

Applebloom slowly got frustrated with her little progress on the source of the smell. “Where in Celestia’s name is it?” she huffed, clambering through a group of brambles into yet another clearing.

One of her light yellow ears flicked in annoyance at the lack of anomaly. More grass and occasional bushes, tall swampy trees setting the areas apart. Yet the smell still drew her nearer. Finally, after clambering through countless piles of brambles and thorns, she felt as if it was just ahead of the next patch of foliage.

Clamping her jaws on a branch, she set it aside and slowly walked through. It was stronger than ever. There sitting in the middle of the clearing was a glowing red, sizzling pool of a lava-like substance.

The smell was irresistible as the filly stepped forward to it, a comforting heat radiating from the pool of crackling red. It looked as if scarlet electricity flowed through it, sizzling over the more darker maroon formed at the base of the substance.

Applebloom stopped in front of the pool, taking one more deep breath of its delicious smell before happily dipping her head down for a drink of the welcoming substance.

After one lap of the warm liquid, she looked up from it with wide eyes and ears perked. This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted in my life!

The pony thought to herself as she brought her head back down and continued to drink up. It felt as if it warmed every portion of her essence with a comforting hug, the small little crackles tickling her tongue with enjoyment. She absolutely loved it.

Lifting her head from it, a quick thought ran through her head. I gotta show the others! However, she realized that leading her friends into the Everfree forest, one of the most dangerous places around Ponyville, wasn't too smart.

Then again, following whatever that thing was all the way out here wasn’t too smart either, but look what came out of it! It was worth it. She declared, taking another small sip from the pool. The thought of surprising her family with this succulent liquid would be the best thing she could do. She looked around the clearing for any sort of container to hold the substance in.

She gave a disappointed look at the lack of anything to store this liquid, just about turning around before she noticed one of her wooden apple buckets right behind her. Applebloom opened her mouth, about to question the sudden appearance of the bucket. However the scent once more overrode any questioning.

The filly happily took the pail, dipping it into the pool of the strange fluid before taking it back out. Lifting the bucket of the delicious liquid, she turned and started back to the orchard, ready to show off what she had discovered.

A Dream House

Rainbow Dash’s Cloudominium stood proudly in the air, the several rainbows leaping and bouncing between the buildings to give it an added flair. It was truly a lavish home, just gnarly enough for it’s inhabitant.

The stone halls of the home were currently appreciating the momentary rest from the cyan pegasus’ shenanigans. She was off working her cloud patrol gig for the day. However, the time spent away from her couldn’t be too long. Rainbow’s Wonderbolt practice had been canceled today thanks to some strange occurrence in the sky city.

Still, the house settled peacefully while it could. The clouds drifting steadily, the foundations and fancy stone walls enjoying their still positions… BANG! The front doors crashed straight through, the home’s owner rushing in on wings.

“HA! I knew I could beat you!” Rainbow Dash boasted, crossing her arms as she levitated lightly in the air, speaking to somepony outside.

Twilight Sparkle scoffed as she flapped over to the front doors. “I wasn’t trying to beat you, Rainbow Dash.” She stated, hovering over the cloudy front lawn.

“Oh, come on! Have some competition in your life, Twi!” Her pegasus friend responded.

The alicorn sighed, slowly making her way onto the floor of her friend’s home, planting her hooves down and folding her wings. “I’m not a competitive type of pony.” She reminded.

Rainbow Dash joined her friend on the ground, standing up on her hind legs and leaning casually on a tiny table in the main hallway of her home. “Competitive, shomshemimive.” She replied, flopping a hoof down dismissively. “So, why are you here again?” The princess had informed her earlier as they raced, but of course the pegasus was too focused on the ‘competition.’

Twilight rolled her eyes before beginning to explain. “Spike and I just got a new shipment of old books from the Canterlot library.” The alicorn began. “Though, the actual library room is filled to the brim with the books we have now, so me and Spike were thinking we could set up some spare bookshe-”

“Boring!” Rainbow Dash complained, getting off the small panel end table.

The alicorn groaned. “Come on, Rainbow! I helped you with taking care of Tank while you were at Wonderbolt training!”

“And I’m still stressed out from that whole month! I have training off all week, so if you want me to help another time then sure.” She shrugged. “But I need a day or two off, Twi. It’s like 6pm anyways.” Rainbow turned, walking deeper into her house.

“So, could you help another time this week?” The purple pony asked.

Rainbow Dash made her way into her large living room, plenty of space for an active pegasus like her to fly about casually. There were several comfy chairs and sofas surrounding a mostly unused fireplace. She flopped onto the usual couch, the one who’s cushioning was made from cloud fluff. It puffed with her landing.

“Sure. Tomorrow, maybe.” She elevated her voice for the mare to hear, writhing on the couch, attempting to find the ‘sweet spot’ to lay on.

Twilight smiled. “Good, thanks Rainbow!” She said, turning and flying out of her friend’s home, the double doors lighting with magic and being closed.

“Finally.” Rainbow Dash slouched further into the couch, reaching over to a table next to it and taking up the latest adventures of Daring Do. “Time for some good old R and R.” She basked in her relaxation, a small grin forming as she began reading the novel.

‘“I’ll never give away the location of the Baalgar piece! It’s too dangerous in the hands of ponies like you!” Daring Do shouted at Dr. Caballeron, struggling on the vines entangling her limbs to the wall. “You could harm thousands!”

Caballeron laughed hardily. “Perhaps that is what I want?” He stated. “The world at my hoovetips, nothing to stop me!” The stallion leaned closer in on the adventuring mare. “A world without you.” The earth pony started to a nearby lever, lifting a hoof to it.

‘“We both know how this goes, Caballeron.” She began, glaring at him. “You’ll be sent to the local dungeon like the last twelve other times.”’

‘Dr. Caballeron laughed. “Well, you know what they say! Twelveth’s time the charm.” He pulled the lever swiftly, Daring Do feeling the ground below her qu-’ Her reading was cut off by the sight of a glowing red dot out of the corner of her eye.

Rainbow slowly moved her head towards the odd light, shining on the marble floor of her living room. She gave it a confused look. “What in Celestia?” She looked up at the glass ceiling of the room, then back down at the dot.

It seemed to have been shining in through there. She witnessed as the dot steadily grew larger, as if the source of it was slowly getting closer to her home. With a curious look, Rainbow Dash flew over to the dot, letting the book rest on her couch.

She curiously put a hoof in front of it, watching as it blocked a good amount of the dot’s ray, the red landing on her cyan hoof.

“Huh, weird.” The pegasus commented, waving the hoof back and forth over the dot to see what’d happen.

She left it on her hoof, giving it a strange look before shrugging and walking off. The mare had to relax today, worrying herself over some stupid dot is the last thing she has on her priorities. Rainbow made her way back to the sofa, jumping into the air and landing right into a comfortable position. She shimmied her way deeper into the couch, looking up at the ceiling in a critical fashion.

What to do… What to do… Rainbow thought to herself, forgetting the Daring Do book thanks to the momentary distraction. After a while of her staring at the ceiling, she sighed. “Looks like I gotta bring in the big guns.”

She rolled off the couch, wrapping a hoof around a handle for one of the coffee table drawers. The pegasus pulled the drawer open, reaching a hoof in and bringing out a little notepad within. ‘Things for the Rainbow Dash to do (when bored)’ the top of the page read, a list below it.

The first option read: ‘Fly around.’

Rainbow scoffed. “Already did that!”

The second option read: ‘Hang with friends.’

“Everyone’s busy.” She told no one. “I’m not going to model for another one of Rarity’s dresses!” She rolled her eyes.

The last one caught her eye. “Hang with Scootaloo? Hm… Why not!” She hopped off her bed, dropping the notepad on the table. She hadn’t spoken to Scootaloo in a good week or two. The pegasus took flight, preparing to live up to her namesake and dash out of her home, however once more the dot had caught her attention.

The dot had now grown to a full circle planted right in the middle of her living room. Rainbow let herself lower to the ground, going over to it. She raised her head up once she got to the red circle, squinting to the sky to see what the source of it could be.

There, high above in the clouds was a metallic sphere, progressively arriving closer and closer to the earth. It hurdled, fire surrounding it due to the recent breaking of the world’s atmosphere, heading straight for her home.

Rainbow Dash’s curious violet eyes widened into terror as the sound of the rocketing object filled her acute ears. “BY CELESTIA!” She shouted, rushing out of her living room in fear.

The rocketing noise grew louder as she flew swiftly out of her home’s front door, the sphere striking down straight through the side of her home. The pegasus rushed out, flapping her away to a safe distance before turning to her home.

The mare watched the object, the size of a decently shaped boulder, crash through and demolish half of her home. Her eyes remained wide as the sphere crumbled dozens of structures, walls, and rooms, attempting to find it’s way down closer to the source of gravity.

The sounds of destruction filled her ears as it continued, digging through the thick, cloudy ground of her house. A distraught look formed on her face at the sight of the demolition of her home, the asteroid-like object falling to Equestria’s earth, skidding onto the ground and digging into the land’s dirt with extreme impact.

The remaining portion of her house had trouble standing, the rainbow falls that used to fly between pools were now broken and disheveled, pouring off the remaining scorched cloud like blood from a perished animal. It was practically unlivable. As she looked on, the first thing that crossed her mind was her pet, Tank.

“Tank!” She shouted, rushing over to her house.

Rainbow swooped to the top room of the demolished home, her bedroom. Where Tank usually was. “Tank?!” She shouted as she rushed around, over her fluffy bed, under the drawers, between the nightstand. “Tank!” Half of the room had been removed by the strike.

“Ta-Oh! Tank!” She spotted the tortoise on his usual bed, hiding within his shell, teetering just off the edge of the destroyed floor. “Thank Celestia you’re okay!” Rainbow picked him up in her front legs, holding the shell tightly. Despite being in the arms of his beloved owner, he still remained in his shell, Tank not wanting to take his chances any further.

“I thought you’d be a goner!” She exclaimed, gently flying down to the grass below the Cloudominium. Thankfully, all that was below Rainbow’s home were rolling fields, mountains and the odd tree or two. It had a pretty good distance from Ponyville, so it’d seem that whatever had crashed into her house wouldn’t have harmed anypony else.

The mare gently set the tortoise down in the field. “Just, you stay here, ya got that? I need to check out whatever ruined our house.” She informed, turning to the large trail that carved through the Equestrian terrain, the object digging it’s way pretty far away thanks to its own momentum. The surrounding grass was heavily scorched by the object’s atmosphere induced flames, some small fires dying out on the surrounding plants.

Rainbow Dash steeled herself, patting her tortoise’s shell lightly before beginning to take off towards the ground-embedded sphere. Despite the distance between her and the large object, it didn’t take long for her to arrive at the object's vicinity, flying alongside the scar in the ground.

Just at the end, where the land cusped over the top part of the sphere, stood the fateful meteor-thing. Rainbow Dash had a bad feeling about this to say the least. She had read many times in fiction novels about aliens coming from meteorites and taking over Equestria. What if she would be like one of those farmers? Going over to a lodged asteroid and opening it only to find an alien waiting to eat her.

She held back a shiver as she reached the ground in front of the large object. It had to be four times the size of the mare. It was made of a shiny black metal material, several doo-hickeys and devices all on it. There was a satellite dish or two on the side Rainbow was facing, destroyed and broken solar panels on different angles of it. A metal plate was dislodged, revealing a collection of wires and otherworldly technology within. Rainbow Dash had never seen anything like it.

A bit of relief washed over her as she realized that it wasn’t some kind of alien containment pod or whatever, just some large device. She took a relieving breath, the feathers on her wings lowering.

Rainbow Dash walked up closer to the scorched sphere, prodding it lightly with a hoof to see what would happen. All that came in reply was a small dink of her hoof hitting metal. “What in Celestia?” She asked herself, moving her violet eyes up to the center of the object.

An alien language looked back at her, three simple letters sprawled across the device. The first letter was shaped like a simple triangle, minus the base line at the bottom. The last letter seemed to be a sort of curved shape, like a circle if it lacked the line on the right. The center letter was too complicated for the mare to describe as she dug in her mind for any meaning of these drawings.

Behind these letters sat a logo of a wireframe globe surrounded by three lines to form a protective triangle around it. Little to the knowledge of the brightly colored pony, the three letters on the device spelt out a simple abbreviation.

‘ARC’

Otherworldly Machinations

Rainbow Dash stressfully ran a sky blue hoof through her hair, watching the remains of her house in the sky. It was surrounded by several pegasus construction workers working hard on her home, building and working up on the artificial cloud foundation.

The mare had just managed to scrape together enough work hours to get enough bits for the construction of her house. Well, foreseeable construction. If she stuck to the schedule her and Twilight had formed together, then by the time construction was finished everything would be paid for.

“When is my delivery shift?” the daredevil asked her lavender colored friend who was just behind her.

Twilight held a calendar, notepad, notebook and the correct writing utensils for them all in her magical aura, a saddlebag sitting on her back. Since the cube had been found, she had hardly been seen without it.

“I think…” she looked between her calendar, notepad and book. “Eight. Four hours until then.”

“Thanks, Twilight.” Rainbow said. “For all this management stuff, I wouldn’t know what I’d do without ya.”

“No problem!” she replied. “It's what friends are for.” Twilight pondered for a moment, slipping her tools away into her saddlebag. “What exactly tore your house down?”

Rainbow Dash shrugged. “Some crazy meteor, me and Tank were lucky to survive it!”

“Ah. Alright.” she nodded.

The multi-color maned pony set a hoof to her chin. “Well… I’m not sure it was a meteor. Looked a little too weird, more metal-y than rocky.” she explained.

Twilight gave a confused look. “Could you show me?”

Rainbow nodded, pointing a hoof to a large upheaval in the earth a couple hundred meters away. “Over there.”

Twilight leaned towards it, squinting to get a better look.

“Come on.” Rainbow Dash led, flying her way over to the upheaval.

Twilight sighed, glancing back at her saddlebag, noting her inability to fly with it on. “Wait for me, Rainbow!” she began literally hoofing after the pegasus.

Rainbow smiled cockily as Twilight tried to catch up, hardly even reaching a speed that she considered fast. It was practically like jogging for the pegasus. “Why do you need that bag so bad?” she queried.

The lavender alicorn shook her head. “It has all your scheduling stuff.”

“And that weird murder cube thing?” Rainbow assumed.

“...Yes.” she admitted.

The blue pegasus rolled her eyes. “What’s up with you and that thing?”

“You wouldn’t understand.” she responded.

Her flying friend huffed in response. “Of course, why would I?” That mare is going to go crazy eventually.

Rainbow Dash suddenly witnessed an orange flash blaze past her, dashing backwards to avoid being hit by it. “What in Equestria?!”

She watched the fast moving orange blur fly back to her, landing in front of the flying pegasus. “Hey, Dash!” it was Scootaloo.

Her orange coat had a gray tint to it, her eyes looked crusty and ever so tired, her hair was very unkempt and loose. Despite all of that, there was an excited and sparkly look in her eyes.

Rainbow was about to open her mouth to talk with the little filly before she repulsed at the sight of her sore features. “Eugh, hey Scoots!” a disgusted face formed. “Did you get any sleep last night?”

Scootaloo didn’t seem to notice her repulsion to her appearance. “Best sleep I’ve had in forever! A full thirteen hours.”

“Thirteen hours?!” the pegasus exclaimed. “That’s way too much!”

Twilight tilted her head. “Don’t you nap all the time?”

“That’s napping after strenuous flying drills.” she pointed out. “I don’t stay in bed every night for thirteen hours straight!”

Scootaloo gave a confused look. “I thought the average was twelve.”

“It's eight, Scootaloo.” Twilight corrected.

“Whatever.” she shrugged it away. “So, what happened to your house, Rainbow?”

Rainbow Dash glanced at the destroyed cloud in the sky. “A meteor, you know, the usual.” she said. “I was just about to go show Twilight the big old rock that did it.”

“Ooo! Can I come?” Scootaloo jumped.

“Sure.” the older pegasus replied.

Twilight definitely had a bad feeling about the filly as she started back on the path Rainbow was leading her. “So, what did you mean by more ‘metal-y than rocky?’” she quoted.

“Well, it was metal with all these weird markings and shiny little screens poking out of it.” Rainbow attempted to describe. “It's hard to explain, you’ll see it.” she said as they approached the mound in the earth.

The trio clopped up to where the grass was crushed into the upheaved dirt, a trail leading right up to the object which had laid waste to Rainbow’s home. Twilight stepped over a couple pieces of electronics and steel, avoiding the alien pieces of technology as the three made it in front of the strange asteroid.

There was no way that it was a natural formation. The dirt stained grayish white object sat sideways in the earth, a couple of shimmering panels of blue color perfectly reflecting the sun’s shine that stuck up from the thing like shining branches. Some pieces of internal electronics zapped still from when it first crashed. This was no asteroid, it was some sort of advanced piece of alien technology. Something out of one of Spike’s comic books, a satellite, or whatever it was called.

Twilight stammered a little at the sight of it, excitement filling the alicorn. A-Alien technology?!

“I also saw these weird symbols on the front.” Rainbow Dash pointed a hoof to the acronym on the side that faced them. Several other little numbers and letters were marked in the corners and sides of the thing.

Scootaloo “Ooo!”’d at the text. “This must be some cool alien language!” she moved her straggled hair out of her vision.

Wide-eyed, Twilight Sparkle inched towards the front, trying to compare the symbols to anything she had seen before. She set a hoof on the cold metal of the front, noticing that around the three symbols were lines, screws in the corners of them. It appeared that this part of the strange asteroid was a part of some sort of panel.

“I can’t really compare it to anything I’ve seen before.” Twilight stated thoughtfully as she investigated it.

“I bet it's an alien spaceship!” Scootaloo wagered, her tone dripping with excitement. “Maybe if we open it we can fight a cool alien monster thing!”

Rainbow rolled her eyes. “There’s no way an alien monster thing could fit inside there. Not a big one, at least!”

The younger pegasus chuffed. “Yeah? You know an alien monster thingy doesn’t have to be big to be dangerous, right? It could be some mind-control alien virus!”

As the two bantered, a voice spoke in Twilight’s head. “This sounds familiar to me.” The artifact hummed within her saddlebag.

Really? Twilight replied. Can you try reading these symbols then?

“Well, I’d love to. If I could see it.” their vision was concealed inside the dark and shadowy saddlebag.

Oh, right. Twilight realized, looking back at the two pegasi who were still arguing. Hold on. She levitated the saddlebag open, carrying the cube out and towards the asteroid for them to see. A short moment passed of the artifact inspecting each portion of language, reading them all.

“It appears that most of these read out as production numbers.” they explained. “However I think the center symbols are an acronym. It reads out to something like…” it pondered on how to translate the letters to an understandable form for the pony. “ARC.”

ARC? She looked at the artifact curiously. What does that mean?

“I am not sure.” they replied. “It very much rings a bell however. You can stop levitating me, by the way.”

Oh, right, sorry. She blushed a little, almost forgetting that it could hover by itself.

The artifact floated in the air finely, looking at the panel. “I feel something in there.” it informed her.

Feel what?

“Something strong.” it began. “Like your magic, however much more powerful.”

Stronger than my magic? Twilight felt a hint of worry. What could be stronger than an alicorn’s magic?

“Stand back.” tons of blades shot out of the cube, swirling around them.

“Who just said that?” Rainbow Dash and Scootaloo gave confused looks, looking for whoever had given the warning.

“Stand back, please.” Twilight repeated what the very different sounding voice said.

Rainbow Dash nodded. “Ah, alright, you sounded different for a second. Erm, why is the cube in ‘attack mode?’” she asked, eyes wide.

Before that could be answered, it began slicing through the panel. Sparks flew as the air screeched with the blades crashing and gnashing through the metal. A glowing opening began forming as it cut along the edges of the panel.

“They are opening it.” Twilight informed.

Scootaloo gave a confused look. “They? Like, there's more than one of them?”

The lavender alicorn shook her head. “I’m not sure anymore.” she replied as the artifact did its thing.

Eventually the buzzing noise halted as the panel fell away, revealing a large interior of the asteroid. It was dark and shadowy, anything inside it unable to be seen. The cube retracted its orbiting blades, falling back beside its owner.

Rainbow Dash got in a defensive position, ready for some sort of opposition to slither its way out of it. As the three looked at the opening with an expecting look, a dark red shimmer ignited within. Another crackle shot off, and more maroon electricity shot through the darkness.

Suddenly, a red energy bursted to life in the center of the meteor. A rather unnerving object revealed itself in the blast of red light. There, floating in the center of the small room was a big bone-like object. It reminded Twilight of a hilt to some weapon, a corrupted and very disturbing hilt.

Its central handle was made from some spine, above it extended out three otherworldly skulls with long, gnarly teeth. Finally, at the bottom showed two pincer-like objects below a green-ish eye thing.

“Take it.” the artifact urged her.

“What? Why?” she looked at the floating cube.

Seeing how the cube apparently communicated with the princess, Rainbow considered the alicorn to be a lot less insane than what she first thought.

“It could mean life or death for your people. This thing is one of the only objects that could help you stop the Ë̵͇̙̹́́̕͜v̷̙̦͉̽͜i̵̱̞̍̃͜ľ̷̡̦̝͐.” It explained.

Twilight gave them a thoughtful look, hesitating for a moment. “A-Alright.” she moved a hoof towards the entrance.

“Wait, Twilight, how do you know it won't melt you or something if you touch it?” Rainbow asked.

“For all you know it could take over your mind! It looks super dangerous.” Scootaloo interjected.

At the suggestion from her friends, she thought back on it, pulling her hoof away. “I-maybe you two are right.” she turned back to the pegasi.

“Princess, you must understand, you need that artifact!” the cube floated in-between the two. “It is more important than you could possibly imagine!”

Twilight glanced back at the meteor, pretty confused on what to do.

Rainbow Dash sighed. “Listen, I’m not sure what that weird floaty thing is telling you to do, but I really don’t think you should go get that.” she explained. “When has using weird ancient artifacts that glow dark red ever turned out well for us?”

The alicorn looked down at the ground in thought. “You have a point.” she nodded.

The floating artifact sighed. “I cannot force you, princess.” they gently floated back down into Twilight’s saddlebag.

The mare turned, grabbing the panel with her magic and setting it back into place from when it was chopped out, hoping nopony else would come across.

“Hey, Rainbow!” the short bout of silence was interrupted by the orange filly. “Wanna go race? I bet I’ll be able to beat ya!” Scootaloo challenged.

“Oh, good luck, squirt! Whoever makes it to Fluttershy’s cottage first wins!” Rainbow replied. “Look, I’ll even give you a head start-” Scootaloo took flight, dashing off rather fast for her age.

“Wow! Isn’t she quick now?” Rainbow laughed proudly. “Keep an eye on my house while it's being built, Twi. I’ll be back soon.”

“Got it!” Twilight responded before Rainbow flew off. The speed that she accelerated at made Twilight’s mane blow in the wind, covering her face up. She blew the dark purple mane out of her face, neighing a small bit in annoyance.

She turned, giving the strange meteor one small glance before walking off back towards the construction site, going over to observe the construction for her friend.

Royal Musings

Another green fire bursted through the air, magically dispersing a rolled up scroll. It dropped onto a pile of many more similar messages. Purple wax stamps held them closed with the initials TS across it. Obviously standing for Twilight Sparkle.

A heavy sigh broke through the cozy, pinkish-purple colored room. Right next to the pile was a large purple cushion and golden pillow roll. Occupying the bed-like combination was Princess Celestia, laying stressfully as she set aside the letter she was already reading to look at the most recent one.

The princess of the sun seemed very concerned with the letters. Not only the quantity, but the contents of them as well. They informed her of what the ponies of ponyville referred to as apple-lava. Twilight would go on and on about how much everypony loved them except her and her other five friends.

The most worryingly written letter from her protege was on the topic of Apple Cider Season. However, she said that the main attraction would be the apple-lava. Everypony was so excited to try it.

The last portion of the most recent letter Twilight had sent was asking why she hadn’t been writing back, however the issue is that she was! Princess Celestia had written several letters in response, calling her to Canterlot for a meeting and attempting to communicate with her. She recalled repeatedly writing “DO NOT LET ANYPONY DRINK THE APPLE-LAVA” many times throughout them.

When she sent them though, there was not a single acknowledgement of her replies. She had pondered about coming to Ponyville to meet with Twilight directly, however all attempts were halted by the many arrangements she had to organize across Equestria.

She had to get together several special regiments of the royal guard out in these new Hazardous Containment Units. Luna had begun demanding them be sent out with all these reports of monsters and… strange grotesque fleshy masses. The guardsmen had begun referring to them as effigies.

Celestia wasn’t exactly sure what they were about, but from what she heard they were not good. Especially those tall, horrific monsters she was hearing about. Kidnapping and maiming innocent ponies. She was horrified to read about how two Elements of Harmony were attacked by two of the same beasts, so she agreed with Princess Luna, forming and sending them out.

Princess Celestia sighed. Everything is so crazy! she reflected the letters Twilight had sent her. As she furled up the most recent message, the sound of her bedroom door creaking open alerting the sun alicorn from her reading session.

“Sister.” Princess Luna greeted firmly as she creaked the door open with a hoof.

Celestia loomed her head behind her to greet her sibling. “Good evening, sister.” she waved a hoof, an unhappy look across her face. “What are you doing here?”

“Just checking on you.” Luna replied, coming into the room. The door closed behind her as she entered. “What is all of this?” the moon princess looked down at the pile of letters with a curious look.

“Letters from Twilight.” the alicorn sighed. “A lot of them.”

“What all are they about?” her regal sister queried, picking one up with her dark blue magic and beginning to read.

Celestia looked down at the ground. “Those monsters ponies have been spotting all across Equestria, some liquid she called apple-lava, and a floating cube artifact.”

Princess Luna froze up a little at the mention of apple-lava. “It is just as I feared.” she set a hoof to her chin as she read.

“What was that, Luna?” the sun princess asked.

“Nothing.” she replied, taking a seat next to her laying sister. “A drinkable, red electric liquid?” she guessed what the apple-lava looked like.

Celestia nodded. “Yes. The letters say that it's making ponies act strange."

Luna lowered the scroll and rolled it up. “Have you replied to her?”

“Yes. Although, it looks like they aren’t getting through.” the tall white alicorn responded.

“Perhaps it has something to do with Spike?” she suggested.

Celestia looked away from her sister, at her warm and cozy campfire. “I think so. The letters mentioned him drinking that substance.”

Princess Luna nodded in response with a somber, knowing look.

Her sister looked up at her. “Is everything okay?”

“Do…” she swallowed a little, fear growing from the suggestion. “Do you believe this has to do with our precursors?”

“Precursors?” the suggestion surprised Celestia. She hadn’t recalled them for a long while. "They have been gone for thousands of moons! There is no way they have anything to do with Equestria now.”

“Is that so?” Luna turned, walking towards a nearby window. “Follow, sister. I must show you something” she urged.

Celestia gave a curious look before rising to her hooves and following Luna. She stopped next to her sister, looking down across Canterlot. Multitudes of medieval, castle-like structures spread out in a labyrinth. Even the mountain way leading up was blocked by powerful brick walls. All bright white, purple and gold.

“Don’t you see it? Our architecture, our tapestries, our stained windows. Even the language we are speaking right now.” she explained as her sister looked across their home. It was so long ago since they had waved goodbye to the past rulers of Equestria.

Celestia sighed. “I see your point. However, what would this have to do with all the strange occurrences?”

“I will show you, sister. Come, follow further.” Luna knew much more about Equestria’s past than Celestia. Those memories were much more recent to her, and she was always way more fascinated with them. The recollection of their precursors was very faded to Celestia however. With immortality often comes forgetfulness of occurrences so long ago.

The princess of the night started out of Celestia’s reading room, heading down the stairs of the tower it resided in. Her sister followed closely. Luna had followed this path many times, leading her down into their throne room.

Celestia followed slowly, not understanding where she was being led once they passed their royal throne. She couldn’t help but glance up at the many stylized stained windows, thinking back to what her sister had told her recently.

Luna stopped, turning towards the back portion of the throne. There on the back sat a tall and long tapestry of the two sisters flying together, horns interlocked to share their magic. It was fairly standard.

“And you brought me here for what?” The sun princess looked around for something out of the ordinary.

“Not yet, sister.” Luna casted an aura around the tapestry, leaning it to the side to reveal a small panel on the back of the throne, gray and unlit as if there was supposed to be a light in it. She began charging a bit of energy from her horn, Celestia watching curiously as she shot the magic into the button.

It suddenly lit up, now green from the energy. She lifted her hoof, pressing into the bright button. Celestia’s ears perked, looking around as a small rumbling sounded around them. “Is that supposed to be happening?” she questioned as the ground below them began sinking.

“Yes, it is.” Luna responded.

The polished white floor below them began descending into the ground. As they sank deeper, the slot where the clean floor once stood was slid over with another hidden floor designed to cover the secret elevator once it descended far enough.

Once darkness consumed the elevating platform, Celestia lit her horn to see around. The surrounding walls that slowly exposed themselves was one large mural. What surrounded the two was a giant display of several bipedal beings in knightly armor, spears, swords and other weaponry of the sorts in their hands.

On the other side of the mural showcased a swarm of horrific monsters. Very comparable to what her containment units had so often come across. There were slight differences however. Some were smaller looking, more ape like. Other more brutish looking beasts with a tall, beefy build joined them. It was a very awesome battle between the knights and monsters.

Celestia looked around at them, not really too shocked. She knew what both creatures were up there. The knights, the precursors. Those that were here before them. They came from a different world, Argent D’nur.

They were strong and intelligent bipedal creatures. They shared a similar form of magic from their homeworld, a special type of energy. Wraith energy. They had left the ponies alone ages ago; however, the civilization disappeared without a trace once they had given them independence. They called themselves the Sentinels.

In the center of the mural between the demons and the Sentinel warriors stood one, standing on a pile of the monsters’ corpses. He was in unique armor, one that covered his face in a helmet with a cage-like design on the front. His left arm was covered in strong leather and metal plating with his torso armor broken open and exposed to reveal his muscly core.

In his right hand he wielded a long energy blade, curving into two sharp edges at its end powerful old ponish runes extending down the energetic sword. Celestia had remembered him. The second she saw the mural she gave her sister a worried look. The elevator stopped, the hidden room it led down to lighting up automatically.

Torches along the ghastly gray metal and stone walls lit brightly with the trademark color of most wraith energies. Light blue flames grew in wall-mounted torch holders across the large underground library. It was a circular room with one big crystalized table in the center. It was similar to the Cutie Map, several metallic chairs sat around the crystal table. At the side of the table that faced the elevator sat their two seats side-by-side.

As she looked around more and more at the hidden library and its shelves that were carved out of the metallic walls, it became more familiar. This was where they met the former kings and leaders of the Sentinels. Several other chairs were reserved for them as well which, in the foreseeable future, would be left unfilled.

Celestia moved into the room without following her sister, stopping beside their two seats. She could recall sitting here and staring around at the alien race. It was strange. They were honorable and noble yet barbaric and battle-hungry at the same time. Perhaps it was just the different leaders, although the sight of them consuming their meat-based meals would’ve made any young pony ruler gag.

Just across from the table at the arch of the circular room stood a circular formation made by two metallic arches. A slipgate, the main way that most Sentinels traveled. It would make a vortex and transport them to the other set destination.

“What have you brought me down here for, Luna?” The princess questioned, looking around the library and attempting to recall all the hazy memories. “Please do not tell me you are suggesting what I think you are.”

Luna had passed her sister, looking around at the many novels and books on the shelves. “I believe I am, sister.”

“But… We’ve lost connections with the Sentinels centuries ago!” Celestia stated. “Their culture is based around war and fighting! They are completely against what we stand for.” The white alicorn protested.

The princess of the night nodded, turning to her sister. “Yes, yes I know. But perhaps that is exactly why we need them.”

Celestia thought for a moment, looking back at the mural. Particularly the monsters to the right of the energy sword wielding leader. Demons…

“I have been cross-referencing texts. Searching for why we have lost them.” She floated a couple of books from the shelves, flipping to pages she had bookmarked before sliding them in front of Celestia’s chair.

The white alicorn went by, taking a seat on her chair, the back of it marked with her cutie mark. She began looking over them, reading about the enemies of the Sentinels.

“I believe they’ve been overtaken by the demons.” Luna said as her sister read on, fear growing in her eyes. “We must take action before the demons overtake us as well, sister.” the text agreed with Luna’s notion, speaking much of wars the Sentinels and demons took part in. According to the book, it was a rather one-sided fight.

“But the ponies, what if they find out?” Celestia asked.

Luna rested a hoof on her sister’s shoulder. “Would you rather let them learn the truth, or suffer under whatever these invaders have planned?”

The taller sister pondered thoughtfully, before sighing and agreeing internally. “...How would we even go about this? Even if we could transport an army, we cannot mobilize an entire legion just because of these small threats.” she pointed out. “You said that their civilization had been defeated by the demons anyways.”

The moon princess looked toward the mural back at the elevator. “Him.” she stared at the lethal looking figure standing on the stone. They both looked towards the depiction of him with a mixture of respect and fear. Celestia had met him long ago. It was the final meeting they had before their contacts with the Sentinels were lost.

Pained, tortured eyes that glared through the gnarled gate that was the front of his helmet. The ever-present, alert and alarmed scowl searched into every portion of her soul, not speaking a word. He had come with the king and commander, third in command of the Sentinel legion at the time, a very recent addition.

It was said once before that he spoke. However all it was were meaningless ramblings of demons as well as the mass slaughter of them. Although by the time they met, the broken and shattered soul refrained from a word of speech.

Luna knew the warrior much better, having read numerous texts on their culture and history. The Great Slayer, the Hellwalker, the Unchained Predator, the Beast and by his enemies: The Doom Slayer. Sentinel legend spoke of how waves of demonic hordes would be slain by his fervor.

“Luna, I don’t think you sho-”

“We must.” Princess Luna interrupted. “They are coming. On the horizon.” she looked back at her sister. “You wouldn’t believe the horrors I have seen in the dreams of our subjects. Unspeakable sights, disturbing torturings, the harvesting of souls.” her voice grew a tad shaky. “Something within those nightmares held me back. I could not interrupt them, I-I’m not even sure I was strong enough to do so.” she made a shaky sigh. “These terrible dreams are not reaping our ponies for no reason, Celestia.” a genuine look formed in her blue eyes.

Celestia closed her eyes, weighing her options. “...Fine. but I have to ask, where are you going to find this Great Slayer?”

Luna looked at a tapestry hanging down one of the walls, a couple of sentinel knights standing guard below their two cutie marks. A gift to symbolize peace between the two worlds. “The moon.” or so, that’s what the myth stated. “Where all mighty beings are contained. If he were anywhere, it’d be there.”

“Ingmore Sanctum.” Celestia muttered the more official name of that realm. Nightmare Moon was not banished literally to the moon. It was a name given to the realm of contained souls. Spheres containing the souls of gods and powerful demons alike.

“I shall search for him there.” she began. “If I do find him, we will return here. I will try my best to keep him in the hidden library if nothing has commenced once we’ve returned.”

The fellow princess sighed. “Just be careful Luna. We know very little about this 'Great Slayer.’”

“Do not worry, sister. I’ve studied enough to understand his motives.” she turned, clopping towards the slipgate at the other end of the library. “You must handle the moon for the week that I am gone. Transporting there is a long journey from other perspectives.”

Celestia nodded as Luna engulfed the slipgate arches with her magic, igniting the portal open. The vortex that shared the color of her aura swirled, waiting to swallow Luna towards her destination. “I will.” Celestia responded.

“I shall return before you know it.” Luna said, heading towards the portal. The alicorn faded into the vortex, sparks flying as she crossed.

Once her sister was gone, she turned and headed back to the elevator, spotting a similar button that was hidden behind the throne. She pressed it in with a hoof. The elevator slowly rose, returning her to the throne room.

Once she reached the top, she took a deep breath before starting for her throne. It was going to be a long week without the aid of her sister. However she'd have to keep a close eye on their kingdom. Just as she got comfortable in her throne, she heard loud clopping rushing down the hall on the other side of the throne room’s large doors. They suddenly burst open, revealing a panicked pegasus.

"Princess Celestia!" A dark blue stallion rushed in. He was lanky and skinny, wings across his back. Obvious candidate for the role of an emergency messenger.

"What is it?" she asked her subject as he desperately caught his breath. He had been running for a very long time, weakly making his way towards his princess. Worry grew in the white alicorn at the sight of his panic.

He dug swiftly through his saddlebag, clambering up to the throne. The pegasus took a scroll out, bowing before her before accidentally dropping it from his maw.

It rolled up towards the throne, Celestia lighting the scroll in her aura and lifting it to her gaze.

"P-P-Ponyville! Under attack… huge monsters!" he briefed, totally out of breath.

The princess continued reading, eyes expanding as more of the truth exposed itself. This can't be true. She thought. They are coming…

And Hell Followed

Rarity was amazed at what Pinkie Pie had done this time with the party. Despite the situation, she could see friends chatting, ponies smiling and delicious snacks glimmering by bright candle light. She even included some of the gorgeous tapestries that Rarity had repaired into the affair.

The unicorn spotted a group standing by the punch table. It consisted of three ponies, White Lightning, Dr. Hooves and Octavia. She headed by, deciding to join the conversation.

“So I said, ‘It’s not about where we are, it's about when we are’ and her mind was blown!” Dr. Hooves told the other two, them laughing at the tale. He stopped when he noticed Rarity come by. “Oh, hello Rarity! I see you’ve come to join us at the punch table.”

“Indeed.” Rarity replied with a nod. “I just thought it looked like a nice conversation.”

“Well it quite is. I was just telling everypony about the stuff me and Derpy get up to at times.” he explained, waving a hoof around. “Well, used to.” Hooves frowned a tad bit.

Rarity gave a comforting smile. “I am sure Derpy is doing just fine.” she patted his shoulder. “Let’s focus on having fun. Worrying won’t get us anywhere.”

Dr. Hooves smiled again. “You’re right.”

Octavia found herself looking at the tops of the walls where Rarity’s tapestries had been placed. “Your tapestries are just fantastic!” she complimented.

The posh unicorn nodded. “Thank you! I thought it would have helped to really liven up this dreadfully bare castle.”

“And give you a hobby or two to get your mind off of things.” Octavia stated.

Rarity was only a little glad someone else could understand. “Yes, that as well.”

“How’s your little sister?” White Lightning queried. “I’ve seen her around on occasion but I haven’t talked to her. You’ve gotta feel bad, she lost her best friends.” she sighed with sympathy.

Rarity looked around for her little sister, the short filly looking up at the large cake blankly. Her eyes were still bloodshot and tired looking however, and her coat was just as faded as ever. It was strange. “Perhaps I should go over to speak with her.” Rarity stated, watching her sister.

“That’s what I’d do.” Dr. Hooves replied.

The unicorn nodded, making her way over to the filly. “How are you feeling, Sweetie Belle?” the sanctuary of her surrounding friends fled as she approached her lone sister.

The young pony kept her eyes on the cake, staring emptily. Her cracked lips did not reply.

“Sweetie Belle?” she repeated.

The filly slowly swayed her head towards her bigger sister. “Oh. Hey, Rarity.” her loose and strawy mane hardly flowed, hanging dreadfully off her neck.

“Are you okay, darling?” Rarity looked at the disturbing sight of her sister. “You look rather… grey.”

“Mhm?” she replied groggily.

Rarity gave an uncomfortable look. “I-I said that you look rather grey.”

“Oh, yes.” Sweetie Belle didn’t really seem too caring about that fact. She turned her head back to the tall pastry.

Silence hung between the two. “...” Rarity inspected the cake her sister was eyeing closer, squinting her eyelids. She cleared her throat nervously and withdrew her head. “Erm, darling, would you like a slice?”

“Nah…” the filly responded.

The awkward stare Rarity drew remained as she slowly backed up. “Well, I will leave you to whatever you are doing!” she gave a nervous smile.

“Uh… huh…” the little unicorn replied.

Rarity slipped back to her group of friends. “There is certainly something wrong with her.” she stated worryingly. “What if she…” she began breathing heavily. “What if she drank the apple-lava?”

Dr. Hooves lifted… well, a hoof informatively. “Well, in my studies of the effects of the substance, it appe-” a white hoof was put over his mouth.

White Lightning, not wanting to make her friend so stressed, decided to comfort the posh pony. “Perhaps she just hasn’t been getting much sleep lately? Everyone’s been stressed and I’m sure your sister is no different.”

Rarity looked to the pegasus. “I hope so!” she shook her head, sitting down. “I don’t know what I would do if she was like one of those horrid things!” she repulsed in fear at the thought of the zombie-like appearances of the infected ponies.

The bow-tie adorning stallion gave a shrug as White Lightning placed her hoof back to the ground, not sure what would be the best option here.

“Perhaps I’ll keep an eye on her? If anything looks awry tomorrow, then I will ask Twilight or Applejack. I think they’ll figure something out.” Rarity explained.

“Maybe you should go talk to Twilight about it now?” Dr. Hooves said, lifting a hoof in suggestion.

Rarity looked at him thoughtfully. “...perhaps.” she glanced away from the group, looking around the place for Twilight. “But I don’t see her anywhere!”

“Maybe she’s in her room?” Octavia suggested.

Dr. Hooves nodded in agreement. “That seems right. I have not seen her since you and your friends went to talk to her about everything.” he smiled for the alicorn. “I’m glad she’s gotten better.”

“Yes. I do as well.” she responded, heading towards the stairs to meet with Twilight. “Thank you all.”

Twilight sat in the bed of her room, staring down at a book she had splayed on the mattress. It was the aged pages of the Codex she was reading through, wrapping her head around the old Ponish translations and absorbing more ancient information.

The bedroom was dreadfully dark, the windows covered with curtains to make light more absent. Books and pages were spread all across the floor along with her saddlebag that Rainbow Dash had returned. The only source of light was a dim horn-glow, being utilized to aid the princess’ vision in reading.

There has to be something here! Some kind of weakness to these demons to exploit, something to help my friends! What about Spike? Maybe there’s something that mentions dragons? Her mind flooded with guilt for her little dragon assistant.

She searched drastically for a page that could help her find Spike and save Ponyville. She had done so much for them before! If she had beaten Tirek and Chrysalis, and all those villains, she could do this as well. At least, that was what she hoped.

Her ears rose as she heard the sound of knocking from her room’s door. She looked over with wide eyes, another row of hooves knocking away. “Come in?” Twilight replied curiously.

The door creaked in to reveal Rarity. “Twilight?” light beamed from the much more illuminated central hall of the old castle.

Twilight squinted her eyes, vision still off even after physical recovery. “Eh-Could you close the door, Rarity?” she put a hoof in front of her eyes. “M-My eyes aren’t that great with lights right now.”

Rarity understood with a polite “Oh,” before walking in and closing the door behind her. “Are you feeling well, darling?”

The alicorn’s ear twitched at the sound of the ever so familiar question. Twilight’s ears relaxed once the door was closed and the darkness returned. “I am alright, Rarity. Just… my head still hurts.” she rubbed next to her horn.

Rarity walked closer to the bed. “That is good to hear. Not your head still hurting but, you understand.” she looked across the messy room. “By Celestia, this place really needs a clean up!”

Twilight watched as the unicorn went around her room, using her horn-light and sorting the pages and books across the place with her magic. “So, what did you come in here for?” she asked.

Rarity sighed. “It's Sweetie Belle. She looks sick.”

“How so?” Concern filled Twilight, closing the Codex.

“Her eyes are all red and her coat looks horrendously grey!” Rarity stated dramatically. Although, the drama was justified.

A rumble came from the nightstand near her bed. “I believe you understand what this means, Princess.” the Praeleanthor said ominously.

“She has just been very out of it lately! Like she isn’t all there.” Rarity continued. “Darling Sweetie Belle is never so deathly exhausted as she is now! Not on such a consistent basis.” she continued to discuss the many issues with her sister.

Maybe it's different this time? Twilight suggested, half thinking to the Soul Cube and half-listening to Rarity.

Twilight watched blades slowly rise from the cube, refraining from the loud SHINK noise thanks to its slow pace. “It is not. She is a risk to all those within this Castle. If you do not do anything about her, she will lead to all our deaths.”

“I am hoping that it is just her being stressed out about all the things? I don’t blame her! She’s lost a lot of ponies. Especially the Cutie Mark Crusaders. By Celestia! I feel so bad for her!” Rarity frowned sympathetically for the poor filly.

And what if she isn’t? What do you plan to do? Guillotine a foal hardly past ten moons? The alicorn queried in her mind, glaring at the slaughter-prone artifact.

“Yes.” it responded dryly.

The white-coated mare looked at her friend hopefully. “Don’t you have a spell for this perhaps? M-Maybe you could find out if she is actually… erm, what is the term?”

“Corrupted?” Twilight asked.

Rarity nodded. “Yes, corrupted. Would you happen to know a spell that could tell if she was?”

“N-”

“Yes you do.” the Soul Cube corrected.

What? The purple pony questioned.

The multitude of voices replied. “It is rather simple. An average detect magic spell could be used to decipher what type of magic is coming from the pony. If you detect a magic that resembles death, then they are corrupted.”

How do you know all that? She asked.

“Experience.” they summed.

Rarity stepped a hoof closer. “Do you?”

“Yes! Actually.” Twilight smiled in an anxious manner. “I will just need to see her directly.”

The unicorn gasped. “Really?! Thank Celestia! You are a real friend.”

Her nervous grin turned to a genuine one at the statement. “Where is Sweetie Belle, by the way?” she blinked multiple times, knowing she’d have to prepare herself for the bright lights in the main hall. She got up, grabbing the Soul Cube and shoving it into her saddlebag before putting it on.

Rarity headed for the door, opening it slightly. “Why, she was just near the cake! She’s bound to be in the ballroom somewhere-” her voice trailed away once she looked past the railings and down at the gathering.

Twilight put a hoof over her eyes, blinking frequently to get used to the blinding brightness. “What?” she winced.

Worry tugged at the unicorn’s heart as she stared at the party, the only foal being completely absent. “She isn’t here!”

~

“You must find it.” a dark voice demanded in the back of Sweetie Belle’s mind.

The filly trudged through the dungeons of the abandoned castle, hoofsteps echoing in the metallic gray underground. She dared not protest against the voice, its messages arriving with the feeling that it was being spoken from one of the most powerful beings she would know.

“Yes sir…” she muttered, zombie-like. The young unicorn found no strength to break from half-sleep, just following what the voice had said.

Her legs felt like they moved with thousands of weights tugging them down, but she felt that if she were to disobey, grave punishments would arrive.

The voice crackled with what sounded to be flame. Its speech was incendiary and sizzled through her mind. “There is a hidden room under here. Within, there must be a crystal with a magical blue.” it informed the pony.

Sweetie Belle nodded mindlessly, slogging about still.

“Do not just stumble! Worthless Unwilling.” it growled. “Press upon stones, bricks! Discover a source. Kronos is not a demon of patience. He is waiting on us now.”

The unicorn lowered her head to the ground, crushing her eyes shut as a burning agony sizzled through her mind. “NNGHHAAH!” the poor unicorn suffered, internally begging for the burning to stop. She slammed a hoof into the wall, beginning to limp along and gently interacting with the many bricks with as much force as she could muster.

“Hm. It appears they call you Unwillings for a reason.” the demon commented as the now obedient zombie followed its orders.

Eventually, with a rumbling slide, a stone brick was shoved in by the unicorn. Her dead eyes moved to a wall nearby. It split in half, sliding to either wall ever so slowly before revealing a room within. A heavenly light blue light seeped out.

“Sweetie Belle?” a posh voice echoed down the halls of the basement.

It growled. “Hurry, pesky Unwilling! Quicker.”

The unicorn limped in, putting some pep in her stumbles as she looked up at the shining light blue crystal which floated calmly above an ancient pedestal. It seemed to have been crudely chiseled from a much larger bit of gem, however it shimmered and shined with the refined magical energies within.

She jumped towards the pedestal with all the might she could muster. Despite the weak feeling within the foal, the crystal was knocked straight out of levitation by her hoof, flying towards the wall and cracking. The brightness flickered inside it weakly.

“Sweetie Belle?” the sound of a worried Twilight echoed down the halls, hoof-steps getting much closer.

“Stomp it out! They could repair it in this state.” the fiery voice encouraged.

The unicorn slogged by, rearing both hooves up and crushing the crystal with all she could muster. Even if she felt weak, her effects of strength were surprising, the gem crushing beneath both her hooves. The humming energy within fizzled away and the crystal dimmed to transparency.

“Good.” the voice fizzled out of her mind with one last burning crackle, before the sound of her sister’s voice bounced through the outside hall.

“What in Celestia’s name are you doing down here?” Rarity asked her sister.

Sweetie Belle’s white furred ears stood up swiftly. “Oh, Rarity.” she turned slowly. “Hey… sister.”

Twilight looked from the unicorn to the several shards of the magical crystal on the ground. “What was that?” she asked, worried.

“Nothing.” Was all she could find the strength to say.

“What was it?!” Twilight asked again, feeling like the young unicorn was hiding something.

Sweetie Belle breathed tiredly, legs cowering in weakness. “I-I don’t know.” she winced, before falling down with a grunt. Rarity rushed to her sister’s side worryingly.

“How could you not be sure?” Twilight asked angrily. “For all we know, that could be powering the shield around the castle!” she seemed a little panicked as well, assuming from the similar flickering color of the broken gem being the same hue of the bubble shield that surrounded the ancient castle.

Rarity looked at Twilight. “I’m sure she was just fooling around! I don’t think she meant any of i-”

“I-I had to.” Sweetie Belle claimed, resting on the cold ground with a regretful look.

Before the two ponies could ask what that meant, the sound of alarmed fear shook from above.

~

“The shield?! The shield, where is it!?” Carrot Top exclaimed in questioning, looking outside one of the large, formerly tinted windows which was now faded and near see-through once more.

Applejack looked outside in horror as well. “It just vanished!”

“How do we bring it back?!” Nurse Redheart spoke up.

All inhabitants of the Castle of Two Sisters crowded near the window, seeing the severe lack of light blue magic that formerly protected their home.

“Does anypony know where Twilight went?” White Lightning queried. “She’s the magic expert.”

Fluttershy swallowed, filled with anxiety. “I-I’m not sure?”

“I never realized that the sky was so red.” Dr. Hooves realized thoughtfully, staring at the gray and red clouds that were once discolored by the shield.

A door suddenly slammed open, echoing through the large fortress. Every pony reared their heads, two ponies coming out. Rarity had her head to the ground, sadness in her usually sparkling eyes.

Twilight looked determined, going over to the group. “Is anything wrong with the shield?” she assumed the color of the crystal and the color of the bubble meant that they were correlated.

Pinkie nodded. “Uh yeah.” her tone was nonchalant and broody. “It's gone!” she exclaimed, shifting her manner into one of alarm.

The alicorn's brow furrowed, the crowd splitting as the princess walked up right in front of the window, glaring out for any dangers. Twilight knew better. The corrupted Sweetie Belle was sent to do this, and she knew the demons wouldn’t hesitate for a sudden assault just after.

“W-W-What is it, Twilight?” Fluttershy questioned, horror shrilling her voice.

One of her ears twitched wildly, picking up a sound described within the details of the codex. A magical swoosh filling high above the air. A particular red stream flashed through the clouds in a blink.

She turned, heading off towards the doors. “Everypony stay inside.” Twilight mustered her courage, setting a final hoof in front of the double doors.

“What in tarnation are ya doin’, Twi?! You’re gonna get killed out there!” Applejack exclaimed in worry.

She reared her head to look behind her. Her group of remaining friends stared back. “I need to finish what I started.” Twilight shoved the dual doors open with her magic, walking across the dark green field. She squinted, raising a hoof to block the sun from her eyes for a moment. Her ears rang as she adjusted to the bright light of the outdoors, the weight of the Soul Cube in the saddlebag wearing on her back.

High in the sky, glowing crimson through the fluff was what appeared to be a giant Hell ship. Twilight mustered a determined look towards the massive floating vehicle. She watched as a red beam of light lowered to the ground swiftly. It reached the earth far ahead of the alicorn.

Twilight felt her heart race at the sight of a giant demon lowering in the gravitational pull of the red lift. Dropping down was a tall monster several ponies high. It's tough, hide-like skin was a sickly pink-ish red and its eyes sizzled with green. It’s body form was muscular with hoof-feet and two giant horns piercing into the sky from its head.

Blue energy swirled around the standard Baron of Hell, a Spirit empowering the demon with incomprehensible speed and durability. Her violet eyes adjusted to a notable figure that stood on its shoulder.

The ground shook as the giant demon stepped forward towards the princess, a familiar Marauder standing on the shoulder of the Baron. He hung on comfortably with a strong grip on his ally’s horn. “So we meet again, princess.” the archdemon greeted. His helmet armored his head strongly, distorting his voice just slightly through the grainy speaker.

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, mustering her courage before forcing a confident hoof forward and glaring up at him. “You are not getting to my friends!”

“Are you sure?” he replied, reaching a bony hand behind his back.

“Yes!”

The Marauder cackled hoarsely through his helmet speaker. “Perhaps this may change your mind?” His hand grabbed something, before he lifted from his belt the writhing form of her little dragon assistant.

Twilight froze up, her formally determined look dissipating as Spike was held by one of his green spikes. “Let me go!” he tried to break free of the grasp desperately, punching at the wrist and heavily scarred hand of the archdemon to no avail.

The alicorn couldn’t form a reaction as the writhing dragon spotted her. “T-Twilight! YES! Help me!” he pleaded.

She stood there, frozen, unsure of what to do about the young dragon being held hostage.

Codex/The Hellvolvers

Although not the official name, what the Doom Slayer has named the Hellvolvers are a duo of ruthless weapons of maximum destruction capable of piercing plates of steel several feet thick. The rounds are small, comparable to the size of a .44 Magnum round, however the material and propulsion of the skull-tipped bullets push its piercing capacity to an absurd extent.

The explosion that propels the rounds are ignited by a firing pin crafted from stolen heirlooms of past Hell lords, statues composed from the bone and cartilage of foolish sinners that created pacts with a long lost legion of arch-demons, believing the lying monsters would provide them true offers of happiness and selfish fulfillment.

The powder substance in the shell of each round is sourced from the ashes found in the Utyrkin’ian cremation grounds after the burning of the souls of said Hell lords. The Utrykin’ian cremation grounds is a realm where arch-demons command their lower kin to cremate their bodies to keep their essence alive longer among the eternal soot and ash. According to many religions in Hell, the spirits of the demons live on in their ashes to feel and live among the fires of the realm.

Although one would assume the flames are painful, the temperature that this realm sizzles at is actually warm and timid for most demonkin. In these flames, the only way for the residents of this Hell realm to experience true pain and discomfort is destruction of the ashes.

Now, with gunpowder made from the semblances of after-life living demon lords, the explosions produced from the ashes are extreme enough to melt any bullet-tip produced from standard steel, to fix this issue the adamantium strengthened bullet tips stay steadfast. Their skull shapes are meant to contain heat, and properly radiate it and burn the targets at an incredible rate upon landing.

The intricate processes of replicating ammo for this weapon is too complicated for the Praetor suit to redesign perfectly, however it is not uncommon to find the ammo kept as souvenirs among the more sentient demons. Rounds may be discovered on Immorans, Archviles and most commonly on Marauders.

The Architecture of the firearm itself is composed of vents, a chamber, the barrel and a large handle and trigger the size for most demons to pull. The many skulls dotting the pistol are meant to replicate, or speculatively are the remains of offspring from the previously mentioned Hell lords.

Mission 6. Altar of Pain

Briefing

“This is Daisy. While I’m gone, she will take care of you.”

The Doom Slayer sat in the woods, kneeling as he inspected the horde guarding the front of the castle. There had to be a good two hundred demons in front of the castle. He could spot the huge shield surrounding the horde, a Sapling somewhere within fueling the barrier. The Slayer also saw the slogging forms of Maegi and Unwillings between the numerous taller demons.

Imps, Gargoyles, Prowlers, even a Cursed Prowler. Them making the brunt of the force. There were ten Tyrants, six Barons with half of them armored, numerous Whiplashes latched around the limbs of said Tyrants, twenty or so Hell Paladins… it was a larger battle, but nothing he couldn’t handle.

The Slayer noticed a large chasm in the land between the treeline he hid in and the castle itself, an ancient bridge allowing passage. It looked old and dangerous to cross. A treacherous to ride, easy to be funneled into death. There had to be a different way.

He took the Sentinel Hammer off his back, igniting it and inspecting the healing head of the weapon. The old Sentinel runes that used to mark the eviscerating magic were now replaced with the names of his loved ones. Daisy, Isaac and his wife, Lilly. His fists clenched around the Hammer’s grip as he gazed at the English writings.

“Are you ready?” the voice of Twilight tore the Slayer from his thoughts, like a black void. He looked at the alicorn, nodding firmly. “Your weapons, they’re ranged, right?”

The Slayer reached into his inventory systems, holding up his Chaingun with one hand.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile at her idea. Her horn lit, consuming the weapon with sparkling magic before it floated out of the Doom Slayer’s hand. He watched curiously as the many barrels unfolded, them spinning as they propelled towards the enemy.

He watched as it flew over the many demons, ramming straight into the head of a Mageus and forcing it to the ground, breaking the beast's magical concentration before mowing it down whilst it was stuck to the ground. With that, it began rushing after the Saplings, shields dissipating throughout the arena.

With one more statement, the two were off to fight. “Use me to cross the chasm.” Twilight said, her helmet folding over her head.

Analyzing combat environment…

Loading audio systems…

Creating track…

Battle track produced

https://youtu.be/psifMJpjgKw8

The Doom Slayer wielded his Sentinel Hammer in his right hand as Twilight Sparkle casted a swarm of magical bees. She commanded them to swarm a legion of Revenants blasting a group of rockets at the two whilst their more powerful allies were distracted with the animated Chaingun. The unnatural, ear splitting roar of gauss-propelled gunfire filled the clearing the castle resided in.

Twilight took flight, the Doom Slayer jumping and grabbing one of her hooves to fly over the chasm. Once she was past it and over the enemy, the Doom Slayer released himself to fall in the middle of the arena, his Sentinel Hammer screeching mercilessly before bursting into the ground, stunning the surrounding enemies.

The foes in his area that were stunned were a Baron of Hell, one Tyrant, a duo of Hell Knights and a Mancubus. The fodder in the area had all been reduced to mush. He switched to his Super Shotgun, firing a quad shot into the Mancubus before finishing it off with a Blood Punch. After the attack, he switched to a Rocket Launcher, locking onto the Tyrant and sending three volleys to it before releasing a Ballista shot not a moment later.

Finally, to end the Tyrant he used a seemingly never ending barrage of shotgun shells from his Fully Automatic Combat Shotgun, the demon collapsing right onto the Baron who was about to be released from the stunning energy of Hellbreaker. The Slayer wasted no time in dashing to the demon’s neck and jamming his Doomblade through its jugular brutally.

Not a second past before he was dodging a Hell Knight, loading a squad of shells into his Quadruple Shotgun. He shot the demon’s torso off its legs, before feeling a brutal punch shatter into his side. He returned one to the other Hell Knight, decapitating it with a powerful fist and a snarl.

As chaos surrounded him, he felt a new purpose guide him. This wasn’t to cause maximum suffrage to his foes, or to avenge his people. It was to stop what had happened to him so long ago to occur to anyone else. Any creature capable of love would be consumed by these foes.

He blocked a stray attack from a Marauder, ducking under a barrage of missiles from a Tyrant and sliding beneath a fiery swipe from a Baron of Hell. He barely managed to block an electricity zapped blade launched by a Whiplash before he grabbed the demon by the neck and broke it with a swift clench of his hand.

The Slayer felt the damage he sustained from the Hell Knight’s punch replenish for a moment, before instantly being replaced by a Mancubus fireball straight to his chest. He quickly swapped to his Precision Bolt, sniping both of the cannons away.

He proceeded to dash closer, firing his Quadruple Shotgun before hopping on its shoulder and stabbing it to death with the Doomblade quickly. With the extra height, he jumped onto the shoulder of a Tyrant, occupied by the animate Chaingun that had mowed down a lot of the demonic force.

He tried to jam his Doomblade into the demon’s neck, however upon inserting the adamantium, cell-splitting wrist-sword into the beast’s throat, it remained alive. The beast tried its best to reach its shoulder with its stubby arms, failing to grab the human. He tried to tear the weapon out, failing as he gripped the demon’s horn, cracking its neck while the head was bent unnaturally.

Suddenly, a flash of teleportation magic erupted near it before the Tyrant was stabbed in the neck by Twilight. The beast held the stab wound opposite of the Slayer’s position as it clung to life on its hoof-like feet. Before it could collapse, Twilight teleported away, behind a Marauder. She flung the demon high in the air with immense force, catching it by surprise.

Seeing this, the Slayer rushed to swap his Super Shotgun’s mod to the Meathook. The fiery chain shanked into the former Sentinel, propelling the Slayer towards it. He blasted a Shotgun shot into the stunned demon before kicking away right into the dual piercing Hoof-Blades of Twilight Sparkle.

Even with that brutal execution, the Slayer added onto it by equipping his Sentinel Hammer. As he fell, he slammed the weapon’s head into the ground. The blow bursted straight through a poor Hell Paladin, flinging tons of its allies backwards onto the ground.

The Slayer wasted no time, ending four of the demon-turned ponies with multiple shots from his Super Shotgun, Ballista, Rocket Launcher and Heavy Machine Gun. His slaughter was only interrupted by a familiar noise shimmering from the weapon of an Armored Baron. The Slayer dashed out of the way of the Morning Star, equipping his HMG in preparation to snipe the arm-mounted device once it was ready again.

He dodged an attempted swipe before it locked on with its high-tech Morning Star once more. He sniped the weapon as it flashed green, eliminating the Super Heavy demon with one brutal slam from the Sentinel Hammer. It was flung back, crashing into the wall of the castle.

As the Slayer wielded his hammer triumphantly, he looked up to see Twilight being swarmed by multiple Tengu. The flying corrupted pegasi swarmed her, tearing at her armor and wings. The Doom Slayer lifted his Super Shotgun, firing his Meathook and swatting the hooked one out the sky with his Shotgun blast.

With the momentum, he landed on the back of another demon, hanging onto its back as his Shoulder Cannon ignited every flying demon in the air with burning flames. They plummeted back to the ground, scorching to death as they were finished with an unhelpful Frag Grenade the Slayer sent down for good measure.

Twilight looked over at the Doom Slayer a moment before he finished the Tengu he rode with a brutal snap, ripping its wings off. He fell to the earth, clearing his demon-filled landing area with an Ice Bomb-Frag Grenade combo. The large group of Hell Paladins and two Mancubi was cleared in a matter of multiple well-landed combos of his HMG and Rocket Launcher.

With the numerous demon-filled ice fragments flinging through the air, he spun quickly to catch a sneaky Prowler attempting to get a stab at him. Its arm was met with a dicing cut from the Doomblade before the Slayer ripped off the rest of the limb and shoved it down the beast’s throat. Its death was ensured by a headshot from his Precision Bolt.

He heard another flash of a Prowler sneaking behind him. The Slayer spun around, wrapping his powerful hand around the neck of the green demon. It gasped for air as he lifted it up in the air, mowing down an approaching Imp as Twilight swooped down to decapitate the Cursed Prowler.

The Slayer then threw the decapitated corpse at a Marauder who was closing in for the kill. It stunned the beast mid-swipe, the Slayer blasting a Flame Belch whilst he reloaded. He finished the combo with a well-timed shot from Lucifer’s Bane. The demon would have regained itself if not for the aid of the Chaingun flying by to put an end to the beast. It was torn to shreds by the highly propelled rounds launched from the animated weapon.

The Slayer, hearing the sching! Of another Armored Baron, spun to quickly blast off its Armor. It was dealt with quickly via a brutal and swift swipe with the Sentinel Hammer. After that kill, he returned the Hammer to his back and equipped his Ballista.

He witnessed numerous demons focus on the flying whirlwind of deadly magic that was Twilight, some more intent on the flying Chaingun. Before he let them notice the portion of the legion that targeted the Doom Slayer had perished, the crackling Sentinel energy from his Ballista roared.

eeiiINNNN-DEH-EN-DEH-EN-DEH-UN

A low-flying Cacodemon amongst the crowd could only barely glance behind him before gasping in terror at the sight of the Slayer’s charged weapon.

BWWEEEEEW!

The powerful electricity scourged through all the demons, slicing most in half and leaving the extremely damaged ones to be quickly killed by Twilight’s own Energy Slice. Finally, the only demon to remain from the slaughter was a singular Cyberdemon. The Slayer sprinted behind it, slicing its leg clean off. It roared, falling to its back before the Doom Slayer and Twilight brutally stabbed it with each other’s wrist-mounted blades. The Doom Slayer even chained in a couple Shotgun shots whilst his floating Chaingun bursted relentlessly into the Cyberdemon.

Once it was still, the two stood before the carnage. A moment or two passed of them observing, Twilight landing beside the Doom Slayer triumphantly. A lot of her armor was broken and he could see some burnt fur and chars beneath them. The Doom Slayer took his Hammer off his back, pointing it to Twilight.

The alicorn felt her armor and fur reheal, the pain dissipating. She lifted her head to him a moment. “Thanks.” before the two continued off towards the front doors.

The Chaingun collapsed behind them, the spell dissipating. He turned, picking up and admiring his loyal twelve-barreled gauss gatling gun. The Slayer put it back in his inventory before continuing beside Twilight towards the front gates of the castle.

They were locked, but getting in was trivial as Twilight used her Hoof-Blades to slice a rectangle out the wood to let them slip through. As she did, she spoke up to the Doom Slayer. “You know, I’m sorry for throwing that table at you.”

The Doom Slayer had almost forgotten that event. He shrugged it off before the two entered the large entrance room of the castle. There was an ancient carpet beneath their feet, leading two a stairway that split off up to the second floors. Above that was a huge set of paned windows behind a set of flags displaying the two sisters.

“I guarantee they are in the old throne room.” Twilight declared.

The Slayer flicked the chamber release on his Super Shotgun whilst holstering his Hammer, empty of energy after healing Twilight. He inputted the dual shells into the double barrels, readying himself. He knew that would not be all.

Twilight looked at the four gaping dark doorways that led to different sections, until deciding on one, pointing that way. Before they could continue on, the crashing of glass alerted the two. They gazed at the front of the room, watching a dragon explode through the front with a Marauder riding it. A Lancer.

The demon wore a rectangular helmet of red and gold, just like the rest of his armor. His helmet was cut in half, the left half shaped in a sort of cybernetic face. He had one horn from the still biological bit of his head, poking through his helmet, but none on the helmetless cyborg side.

Its half-templar, half-cyberdemon form rode the dragon confidently, a duo of Pain Elementals floating in beside him, a trio of Cacodemons after that. “I will not allow you two to deny the Dark Lord’s resurrection!” he declared. “You two will perish here and now!”

It removed a spear from the quiver of energetic javelins attached to the hellish dragon. “Die, by the name of the creator of all things! You will be unmade.”

Twilight and the Slayer looked at each other a moment, before nodding. They were not going to sugarcoat it.

The alicorn flew ahead, compressing her hooves together as she flew idle. Before it could aim his javelin, the Marauder was stunned by a blast of profound energy. The Counter-Magic Blast from the alicorn interrupted all the demon’s initial attacks, giving her room for her own.

Whilst that occurred, her human ally rushed the Pain Elemental on the right, dodging a chomp from a Cacodemon to Meathook himself onto the head of the frozen demon. As he did, Twilight joined him on the Pain Elemental opposite the room. The two both jammed their close-quarter weapons through the eyeballs of the floating demons simultaneously.

The Doom Slayer jumped from the Pain Elemental atop the dragon, Twilight flying above the Lancer as well. In a panic, the dragon-riding Marauder launched a spear at him, missing before feeling the full might of an upper-cut from the most despised being known to Hell. It was flung in the air from the attack, the Slayer grabbing him by the ankles last second.

Coming just in time, Twilight grabbed the cybernetic demon by the arms. The Slayer held its legs in place as Twilight activated the boosters on her wings, pulling the upper body as hard as she could. He screamed in pure agony before a painful snap cracked through the entrance hall.

The Lancer had been torn in half by the deadly combination of an eon-experienced demon slayer and a loyal Princess of Friendship. Twilight tossed the torso of the Lancer away, the Slayer throwing the legs off as he jumped off the dragon to deal with the Cacodemon. He equipped his Rocket Launcher, firing a legion of rockets at the Cacodemon before finishing it off with a Super Shotgun blast.

As the red circular monster fell, Twilight dealt with the demonic dragon. She weaved around pillars, firing energy blasts at the dragon to harass it and distract as the Doom Slayer disposed of the second and third Cacodemons.

He threw a Frag Grenade in the mouth of the closest one, equipping his Combat Shotgun and firing a brutal legion of shells at the farther Caco. Once it was finished off with a Flame Belch and Super Shotgun shot, he turned to the already stunned beast to drive his Doomblade into its back, digging a sharp tooth from its mouth to tear out and jam through its only eyeball.

With the death of the final Cacodemon, all there was left to worry about was the Lancer’s dragon as it chased Twilight. Thinking quickly, he locked onto the beast with his Lock-On Rocket Launcher, sending a volley before equipping his HMG and quick-scoping the foe.

It roared in pain, stopping its chase of Twilight a moment as the Slayer equipped Lucifer’s Bane to reel himself onto the beast. He landed right on the side of the neck, seeing Twilight rush the monster's head too. He waited a moment for her to join him on the other side as they decapitated the dragon with a synchronized swipe. With that finishing blow, he jumped off and landed on the floor with a huge thud, fist to the ground before he began to stand.

The Doom Slayer unlatched the barrels on his signature firearm, gently loading each individual shell. He laughed a little at the situation. A little horse was demolishing these demons. Once Twilight joined him, he flicked the gun’s barrels upward. He set the weapon on his shoulder satisfyingly, lifting his free hand and forming it in a fist to present to the alicorn.

Twilight took a moment to realize what he was requesting, before lifting her hoof. The two fist-bumped. Well, hoof-bumped? The Doom Slayer didn’t bother to ponder these sorts of questions as they continued to their final battle in the throne room of this abandoned castle. To decipher the fate of this world.