Equestrians

Discord returned with Fluttershy as Twilight entered the room with Luna both were drinking coffee. Discord clicked his talons creating a coffee machine and snack table “Well let’s start, snacks and coffee refills are available.”

Fluttershy smiled as Discord was becoming a team player. He then started the projection.

Sunset

Sunset and the Slayer appear outside the tower, Samuel Hayden gets in contact with them “The Argent Tower is destroyed - the portal can no longer be closed from this side. The Hell Energy flows from a location in their world we call The Well. But you’ve returned - the only flesh and blood to have walked between dimensions.” He then laughed, “So there may be a way.” He then returned to his normal tone “Vega is trying to access Oliva’s files, if you can get to the nearest terminal we will provide you with information.

Sunset shrugged, “Information would be good.”

Sunset and Slayer headed towards the nearest terminal. After a bit of travel they find it, Samuel Hayden informs them “Oliva has an artefact in her private lab that we’ve been studying for years. I believe you can use it to find the answers you seek… it bears the Slayer’s mark.” Vega then granted Sunset and Slayer access, Samuel Hayden then gave them directions “ You can access her Lazarus facility from the North sector of the Advanced Research Complex, about 80 kilometres away.” Vega then powered up the Tram and told them where to locate the Security Station to gain access to the Tram. They then continued on slaying more demons.

They then found a Pinky Demon, Sunset grinned “It seems the portal is bringing many of our old friends out to play. Let’s get them.” The Slayer nodded as the pair dispatched it quickly and it’s cohort in short order. They then find a Pinky Demon had taken their security card and they needed to hunt it down, clearing out more demons to find the specific one that had the card. They eventually tracked down the demon and the dead guy with the keycard in his mouth.

They then clear out more demons before heading to the Tram. They board the Tram, Sunset frowned “Do you want to kill Samuel Hayden, he is helping but I still don’t like him much.”

Slayer shrugged “We’ll make that call when he stops being useful.”

Once they were almost there Samuel Hayden informed them “It’s time we meet in person, my office on the second floor of this facility.”

Slayer clenched his fists “Time for answers one way or the other.” They headed through the facility slaughtering more demons. They found their way to Dr Samuel Hayden’s room when Slayer’s suit began to seemingly malfunction.

Dr Samuel Hayden then appeared as the door opened “Do not be alarmed by the system update - it is a prototype of our interdimensional tether - a means for me to pull you back from Hell. I’m sorry for the jolt but I didn’t think you’d allow it’s installation voluntarily.” He then turned to Sunset “Sadly none of your equipment is compatible with this.”

Sunset frowned “I don’t trust you and that certainly is not helping.”

Dr Samuel Hayden nodded “Well let me formally introduce myself. I’m Dr Samuel Hayden. I have supplies in my office. This was please.” Sunset and Slayer followed him cautiously.

Samuel Hayden sat down at his table “The destruction of the Argent Tower is … devastating … but I am committed to helping close the portal. All of our work and understanding of their world is derived from inscriptions on a large stone artifact we pulled from Hell in the earliest days of the program - we call it the Helix Stone. It is our most closely guarded asset - Olivia was obsessed with it.”

Sunset frowned “Why did you trust her?”

Samuel Hayden let out a mechanical sigh “Not many are willing to work with such demonic energy, at least highly skilled personnel. We took who we could get early in the program's life. From the Helix Stone we learned how to manipulate Hell’s energy - bend it to our will - take advantage of their resources. It also led us to you. The Helix Stone showed us how to harness the power of the Well. I believe it will show you how to shut it down as well. For years Olivia kept the Helix in her private office in Lazarus Labs which is only accessible through a secure elevator from the Advanced Research Station across the chasm. ”

He then turned to the Slayer “Your affinity for guns is apparent - I’m confident you’ll find something useful there as well. The service elevator is at the end of the hall.”

Slayer nodded “Contact us should you discover anything.” Once they left Slayer frowned “I don’t trust him but let's get this demon invasion stopped then figure this out.” Sunset nodded as they headed out. They then proceeded to slay more demons on their way. They made their way into the weapons facility and slain more demons.

They then picked up the upper torso of a dead staff member.Sunset shrugged “What’s the bet we need him to open something.” Slayer shook his head as they left the room, they used his corpse to enter a room and then after a minor altercation with the security system the Slayer got his hand on the BFG 9000. Sunset grins “Now that is a weapon, let's blow up some demons.”

Slayer nodded as the two left the room which they then proceeded to slaughter more demons before heading up an Elevator. They did more demon hunting as they continued onwards before heading onwards, they were contacted by Samuel Hayden “Olivia activated the Hell wave from somewhere inside this facility, I did hope she could rise above their influence, I was wrong. She proved to be weaker than I thought she’d be.”

Sunset frowned “Demon's influence is quite strong, you being a cyborg might have protected you.” Sunset and Slayer continued onward clearing out demons as they did so. They then found their way to the Helix Stone. After unlocked they got vision of an ancient weapon they knew of as the Crucible.

Samuel Hayden commented “The Crucible - that’s what she was looking for. Vega, did you get the coordinates?” Vega told them they have to rupture an Argent accumulator to get to Hell, Samuel Hayden then told them that he could use the tether to get the Slayer back.

Sunset shrugged “I’ll simply piggy back off his tether.” They then headed out to return to Hell once more, slaying demons as they did so.

They found their way into a room with a hologram recording of when Olivia activated the Hell Wave. Samuel Hayden’s voice came over the comms “I pulled the Slayer from that tomb in the Kadingir Sanctum for this reason, I knew she was weak, our work doesn’t come without risks and I released the Slayer from that prison to help mitigate those risks. I knew in the event of catastrophe, you’d be the only thing that could stop them.”

Sunset frowned “What about me?”

Samuel Hayden responded “Well, you were found earlier but there was no record of you. Given the durability of your containment only the Slayer could have freed you. It seems they were trying to hide your existence as anything more than novelty that would be ignored by everyone. You were dangerous enough that demons wanted to hide you based on your performance in the facility so far.”

Sunset grinned “Good, they know to fear me.” The duo continued onward slaying more demons. They headed through a portal entering an arena full of demons, Sunset and the Slayer then swept through demons with ease. They then found a door only to get a message from Samuel Hayden “You need to rip out the Argent Accumulator powering the Cyberdemon, destabilising the core will cause a rift to send you back to Hell. Once the Crucible is in your possession, we will pull you out.” Sunset and Slayer activate the door opened only for it to be fully opened by the upgraded Cyberdemon. Sunset punched it into the arena sending it flying, Sunset grinned “Let’s have some fun.”

Sunset and the Slayer got on either side of the Cyberdemon, Sunset punched it across the room only Slayer to hit it back. Sunset and Slayer began ping ponging the Cyberdemon between the two of them. They then rip out the core of the creature’s corpse which transported them to Hell, Sunset grinned “Well that went well.”

The creature then stood up revived by Hell’s energies only for Sunset to rip it’s head clean off allowing them to continue forward. Sunset and Slayer looked at the giant corpse in front of them, Sunset sighed “We haven’t fought anything as tough as that guy in a while.”

Slayer shrugged “It was made to kill us.” The pair continued on, jumping down the corpses’ throat slaying more demons inside. Sunset and Slayer continued making their way through the Titan’s corpse clearing out the demonic temple built inside it’s remains. They picked up a yellow skull and then after an easy to avoid trap continued on their demon slaying rampage. They then find the blue skulls and then kill a bunch more demons.

Sunset raised an eyebrow “These demons are predictable, very predictable.”

Slayer shrugged, “Well we have been fighting them a long time, they tend to do things the same way.” They continue onwards taking a portal to a new area after slaying more demons.

Equestrians

Luna looked at Discord “The Demons made that thing to kill them.”

Discord grinned “Yes but it wasn‘t enough. Not even close to enough. The Slayer alone could have destroyed that creature but the two of them made it look like a joke.”

Twilight wondered “I wonder if I could have handled all this?’

Discord shook his head “Sunset is an old school Equestrian in many ways, during the Griffon and Dragon Wars she would have quickly become a war hero of incredible renown. Sadly in the modern era or peace, ponies like her don’t really have a place. Becoming Celestia's student probably didn’t help, being cooped up in the castle while seeking glory.”

Fluttershy nodded “We don’t have much place for warriors outside of tournaments? We should host tournaments in Canterlot for great warriors to test their metal against each other.”

Luna grinned “Great idea, I’ll set it up when I return.”

Discord nodded “Well let’s get this done, so you can do that.”

Sunset

Sunset and the Slayer continued slaying their way through Hell. Sunset yawned “This is getting really boring, being overpowered sucks.”

Slayer nodded “Hopefully something put up a modicum of challenge.” Two two continue on picking up a yellow skull on their way before heading into another arena room to slay more demons. They then pick up a blue skull. After clearing out more demons and descending further they heard a demonic voice “They must not reach the Crucible.”

Sunset chuckled “How are you going to stop us!” They then look to see a giant skull, Sunset gave a thumbs up “That’s Icon of Sin, missed him. Maybe we can fight his entire body this time.” Slayer nodded as they continued slaying demons. Then they found a door which teleported them to an arena with a giant demon construct with a worm demon inside of it.

Sunset smirked as the shield formed around it, charged at the shield and each strike she delivered cracked the shield. When it attacked the shield dropped, soon it was felled as Sunset ripped the worm out and squashed it with her hooves “That was fun.”

Slayer nodded “Yes, haven’t seen that before, seems they have got some new tricks.” Two more of them materialised but without their shield they went down much faster, Sunset killed one while Slayer killed the other. They then acquired the Crucible.

Sunset smiled as several sentinel spirits materialised. “It is an honour, brothers.” The Slayer’s tether then activated, Sunset tethering to him as he was pulled back, her being pulled along with him.

When they returned Samuel Hayden's voice is heard “You have the Crucible and with it, the means to contain the power of the Well. We have a plan to send you there. VEGA will walk you through the process.”

They continue forward when Vega explains “This is my primary operating facility. It is where I was created and where my core processing unit is maintained. It takes approximately 2.4 terawatts of power to sustain my operational capabilities, but it has been decided that we can use that power to send you through the portal. I will not survive the procedure and am unable to self-terminate … So I will walk you through the procedure.”

Sunset looked forlornly at Slayer. Vega continued “All interior and exterior facility doors have been secured. You will need to begin by finding a way in and disabling security systems.”

The two headed in, Sunset carelessly ripping the demons apart. Slayer frowned “You okay?”

Sunset gritted her teeth “I didn’t pay much attention to VEGA’s words but he might be dying today.”

Slayer frowned “He is an AI. He is not alive.”

Sunset shook her head “I can’t just ignore this, you will have to do the procedure. I can’t.” Slayer nodded as they continued on.

As they opened a hatch, VEGA explained further “My security systems operate on two separate neural networks that terminate in this maintenance facility. Each termination point is protected by an electrical field, but you should be able to survive the surge.”

Slayer pulled the first termination point and then after slaughtering more demons he did the same with the second. The Slayer then activated VEGA’s shutdown, VEGA told them “My vital operating systems are now vulnerable. I recommend destroying my coolant system first. This will accelerate the destabilisation process.” They then clear out the demons in the room before proceeding. They then cleared out more demons in the facility, Sunset was quiet as the slaughter continued.

Sunset and Salyer then found an elevator headed down to VEGA’s cooling centre. They entered the cooling centre where VEGA explained “You are looking at the only absolute zero cooling system ever constructed. It took years to perfect. Destroy each of the four coolant generators. Once they are no longer functional, my primary systems should begin to meltdown.”

Slayer destroyed one then Sunset proceeded to slaughter the demons while Slayer destroyed the four coolant generators. They then made their way to a ledge over a track, VEGA told them “The train below will take you to the entrance.” They jump on the train, VEGA stuttered “For you to access my core, the demonic threat must be removed from the room ahead.”

Sunset and the Slayer slaughtered the demons with ease. They then made their way to an elevator, as it began rising VEGA stuttered “I am losing memory capabilities…control of neural functions are…minimal.”

They then heard Samuel Hayden’s voice “Once VEGA’s core is destroyed the vacuum of energy will back through to Hell, we now have toe location set, to the Well’s location. Now use the Crucible to power it down and the portal here on Mars will be closed…permanently. They will not allow access to the Well without a fight, but that’s what you’re looking for, isn’t it?”

Sunset clenched her fists as the Slayer nodded. They arrive at the top to see VEGA’s core looked like a strange mechanical brain. Slayer then pulled out two cores that looked similar to Argent Cores. Sunset and Slayer approach the console, Slayer looks over the console before backing up VEGA and storing VEGA’s backup in his suit, Sunset smiling at him as he initiates the core’s destruction “Thanks for saving him.”

Slayer nodded as Samuel Hayden said “Thank you, VEGa.”

VEGA responded “I have many regrets Dr Hayden.”

The explosion then teleported Sunset and Slayer back into Hell. They then proceeded forward slaying demons. After making their way through they heard a demonic voice “Kill them.” They ignored it as they pressed on massacring more demons. They then used the crucible to draw out the power of a Wraith trapped by the Demons. They then continued on only to hear the demonic voice once again “They must not be allowed to free them.”

Sunset growled “You will not steal their power anymore!” They charged forward slaying all the demons around what seemed to be a demonic temple. They claim the power of the second Wraith. They headed forward slaying more demons. They then claimed the third Wraith’s power. They soon stumbled upon Olivia Pierce, Sunset blinked “She’s still alive?”

Olivia Pierce in a semi resigned voice tinged with anger “They promised sao much.” Then a bolt of demonic lightning struck her as she sunk into the demonic symbol beneath her before a Spiderdemon emerged from the ground. Sunset and Slayer charged the creature.and quickly brought it down. Slayer was tethered back with Sunset tethering to him to return.

Samuel Hayden explained “ You’ve won - it’s over. You two stopped the invasion and closed the portal. But it’s come at a price- Argent, VEGA. This entire operation. You see, I’ve watched you two work - come to understand your motivation. You two think the only way is to kill them all- leave nothing behind - and you may be right. But we can’t shut it all down. Without Argent Energy it will be worse. I don’t expect you to agree.”

He then took the Crucible “But with this we can continue our work. I am not the villain in this story. I do what I do because there is no choice. Our time is up. I can’t kill you - but I can’t have you standing in my way. Until we see each other again.” The Tether then teleported Sunset and Slayer to a different location.

Equestrians

Fluttershy frowned “Where did they end up?”

Discord crossed his arms “I’m not sure, what I do know is that they find their way to somewhere safe.”

Luna frowned, “That Samuel Hayden caused a lot of trouble.”

Twilight grimaced “Why do I get a feeling something really bad happened?”

Discord nodded “Yes the Demonic Invasion of Earth. You might want to take break before that one happens.”

Author's Note

This is the end of Doom 2016 portion of the story. There will be more coming.