//------------------------------// // 2: A failure to communicate // Story: Volcanic // by Uberdeathninja //------------------------------// Well, this is interesting. So, this is what others go through when getting teleported to wherever, I suppose. Although, I don't really know where I am... Mostly, because all I could see is black... Which was really weird, because I was awake, I think. But on the upside, I could feel, at least... but I felt hot, really hot, like the inside of a furnace... that's definitely unusual. So, as I saw nothing else to do, I tried waking up. I couldn't move my arms or my head at first, but I soon felt a sudden jerk, and heard a deep, metallic groan from my neck, which indicated I was still wearing my armor... though it felt... heavier, than I remember. Yet, at the same time, it felt more maneuverable, and easier to wear... in fact, it was so skin-tight, I couldn't feel my skin... wait... I felt that something wasn't right, because I couldn't see, or move, and I felt like I was in an awkward position, like I'd fallen asleep standing up. So, I tried opening my eyes, but I couldn't, so I tried again, and I felt my body get hotter and hotter. Then, before I knew it, I could see... but my vision was tinted slightly red, and I was in a library for some reason. What the hell, I don't even remember being NEAR a library! And why were the books so small!? So, with my vision restored (more or less), I finally managed to wiggle my head free, seeing the armor was stuck, then I freed my arms, and moved my legs, causing a minor vibration to be felt, and a couple books fell off their shelves. Okay, maybe the armor was heavier than I thought... So, finally, after getting myself freed, I stretched my arms, since they felt a bit stiff, and looked around, seeing nothing but books, shelves, little furniture and ponies... Wait, Little furniture and ponies!? What manner of insane hell have I stumbled into!? Well, I couldn't just stand there like an idiot, because these little things just kept looking at me, eyes wide with terror. And I can't blame them, either: When I tried to speak and identify myself, what came out of my 'mouth' terrified ME, too! "GROOOOOOOOOOAR!!!" Pinkie Pie nearly flew backwards at the force of the massive thing's roar, as it suddenly jerked to life, its open, empty chest cavity bursting into flames as it thrust its limbs away from itself, freed at last from whatever pit of Tartarus it crawled out of. The noise, which alone had thrown the pink pony aside like a doll, also awoke Twilight and Spike, who briefly opened their eyes before almost fainting again. "Huh..? Wha..? What's going on heeeaaAAAAGH!?!?!?!" Twilight screamed as she laid eyes on the massive, armored demon that now stood in the center of her living room, just as it finished its incoherent roar. "T-Twilight!? W-what is THAT!?" Spike asked hastily, and Twilight only shook her head, only able to feel terror of the thing she'd just summoned. "I... I don't know! It was supposed to be a little demon!" Twilight cried, as the massive, walking pile of fiery metal turned its eyeless gaze to them, scrutinizing them with an air of fire and baleful, irrepressible hatred. It then cocked its head to the side curiously, as if in thought of something. "Probably all the different ways it can kill us!" Twilight thought to herself, and suddenly, Spike spoke up, catching everyone's attention: "Uh, Twilight, I don't know if you noticed, but THAT is NOT little! I am little! That thing is not!" The drakeling observed, and suddenly, as Twilight and her assistant trembled in terror of the metal abomination, Pinkie popped up between them and the demon, a bucket of water in her hooves. "Stand back, guys! I have the solution! YAAAAH!!!!" Pinkie screamed, and she charged the giant metal demon, who seemed to actually flinch at this, and threw the filled buckets of water, bucket, water and all, at the thing. Unfortunately, the water simply evaporated upon contact with the demon's flames, and all present company stood there awkwardly, eyeing each other warily. Finally, Pinkie broke the silence yet again. "Uh... That was supposed to be a bit more dramatic." She said, and the demon raised its hands menacingly, and began stomping forward, eager to end the three before it, and Twilight, unsure of how to deal with this situation, inevitably panicked. "We're going to die!!!" Twilight screamed, and Pinkie tried to back away from the giant, molten demon, but soon was backed into a wall, causing the gigantic demon to stop and stand, arms still up, and still roaring angrily. "T-Twilight? When exactly is Celestia going to get here?" Spike timidly asked, as the three huddled together in a corner, futilely attempting to escape the demon as it stalked eerily toward them, hands outstretched. And soon, as was their fears, it was finally upon them, ready to end their miserable existences in a swath of molten metal and fire. "Not soon enough to save us!" Twilight finally screamed, and soon, she found herself sweating from the beast's incredible heat as it neared, and she awaited the end with bated breath... that is, until the door slammed open. Okay, what the fuck just happened!? One second, I tried to speak something, and the next second, this fucking horrible, groaning bellow comes from my mouth, if it even can be called that! I can't move it any way, and all it did was make that noise, and drip a little lava. Yes, you heard me: lava. My whole body is now MADE OF METAL, and I'm THIS close to freaking out! First, little tiny ponies from a cartoon, and now I'm not just dressed as the Smelter Demon: I AM the Smelter Demon! My hands have the signature three claws, my torso is open and on fire, and I can only make noises that sound like a dying cow that's trapped in a metal box! Of all the things to happen to me, like, EVER, this is by far the worst. So, anyway, I tried to talk, like I said, but that roar came out instead, and then the little ponies are now looking even MORE scared of me, even the powerful-looking purple one in the center, the one with the horn and wings. In fact, she's more scared of me than the others, it seems. In fact, I could hear her screaming... something. Honestly, I didn't know what the little pony-thing is saying; it's like she's speaking some other language. But, I don't dwell on that, so, my first method of diplomacy failed, I then resorted to my phase two: I put my hands up submissively, and try to surrender. However, during this, I forgot that I can't talk, and I don't know what these things are saying, so I walked forward, arms up, and still groaning and roaring like the freaking Last Giant, despite the fact that I learned that I couldn't talk to them. Needless to say, they panicked, and the pink one ran off, the purple one backed away, and the purple lizard joined her as they backed into a corner. Then, just as I get the sense to back away, I hear a tiny battle-cry, and I look down to see the pink one has returned with a little bucket of water...I think. Wait, water? Were these things... trying to KILL me!? As the little pink one charges, I instinctively flinch as she throws her weapon at me, bucket and all, but then, still flinching, I see the bucket not even touch me before melting against my metal skin, and the water immediately evaporates, almost comically. Nevertheless, the attack failed, and the ponies still seem scared of me. So, what can I do? Well, I then get another oh-so brilliant idea in my clearly-melted brain: I tried to talk to the now-stunned pink pony again, and try and make her stop being a nuisance, but as I reached for her, the pony backed up quickly, and she bounded over to her friends, who proceed to back into a corner, obviously terrified of me. Well, I did spontaneously burst into this little library, and I AM a giant, fiery demon, so, in an attempt to alleviate the situation, I got the message that I'm unwanted, and I slowly walked towards the little entrance door, hands still up, and still facing them with my body, to show them I meant no harm. I must have gotten a little too close to them during, though, because at that point, one of them screamed something, and then as I tried to make a break for the door (the door was too small, but it was the only way I could go: the books blocked everywhere else), the door slammed open, flooding the room with bright, white light. Then, I saw the last thing I ever expected to in my life: A tall, white-colored pony, with horns and wings like the purple one, and her ethereal, rainbow-like mane flowing in some invisible breeze. To anyone else, she would have probably looked very, very imposing. But to me? To me, she looked like one of those little girl's toys. Then, as I try to move backward, the slightly-bigger little pony-thing then shouts something at me, and lowers her head, pointing her horn at me, which then, of course, starts to glow. Hoo boy, this was gonna be rough. But still, I have to defend myself somehow... and I have no idea how yet. Twilight began to panic as she backed into her corner with Spike and Pinkie, and the three soon found themselves very, very close to the gargantuan, ferrous demon, as it made its way to them, and then... to the door? But before it could exit, or do whatever it was doing, the door suddenly slammed open, and the room was instantly flooded with light, and the demon began to back away, more out of shock than repulsion, though, from what Twilight could tell. But soon, she didn't even pay attention to the demon, for no sooner had the door opened, than the one person Twilight knew could save them stepped in, and the three cheered in unison at the recognition of their savior: Their savior, who happened to be no less... than Celestia. "Celestia! Gosh, are we glad to see you!" Pinkie spouted first, and Celestia looked over at the three, giving them a light smile. "Hello, Pinkie Pie, Twilight, Spike. I see your "presentation" went well, little princess-to-be?" Celestia asked playfully, and Twilight blushed slightly in embarrassment, then replied slowly. "Eh... yes, kind of... I kinda ran into a little problem along the way..." Twilight said, shuffling her hooves, and Celestia laughed softly and kind-heartedly, before retaining a stern face toward the demon who dared threaten her former student and her friends. She noticed it first in the room: it DID take up the whole room, after all. Plus, it was on fire, that was more than enough to give it away as some kind of demon from Tartarus... though, in all honesty, Celestia had never seen a demon like this before. It looked like a giant, malformed minotaur, horns included, but it had a crater for a face, like someone had hammered it in. Still, though it looked evil, the monster made no immediate moves, and stood deathly still, scrutinizing the princess with a baleful, but curious, stare. Finally, after a moment of silence, the princess made her move, and proceeded to take a step toward the beast, and she called it out in her mighty royal Canterlot Voice, hoping that the demon would hear her and obey. "Listen here, demon! You do not belong here! Return to the depths of Tartarus from whence you came, or be forced back there by us! You have been warned!" Celestia shouted, but the demon only stood there, scrutinizing her, even tilting its head slightly, as if not understanding her. But as it gazed, Celestia noticed how imposing it was, even compared to any other demons she faced, even Discord. This thing, whatever it was, was not of this realm: it looked far too serious and twisted. And, with its eyeless stare, it began to make Celestia herself feel a bit insecure as the demon towered over her, not afraid of her at all, barely even acknowledging her as a power. But still, Celestia did not waver, and when the demon did nothing still, she called the demon out again, lowering her head to prepare a banishing spell. "You have been warned, demon! You will now be forcibly exorcised!" Celestia said, but before she could unleash her spell, the massive demon stirred to life, and reached for her with a massive, clawed hand. And then, before Celestia could dodge, the demon picked her up, and held her to its face, startling her and cancelling the spell. Celestia, now officially flustered, kicked and struggled to get free of the giant demon's grasp, but to no avail, as it seemed to have no intention of releasing her, and instead continued to scrutinize the princess of the sun with its usual aloof stare. "Celestia!" Twilight cried, and she tried casting a spell at the monstrous pile of metal, Causing it to stagger, and release Celestia. Due to her unpreparedness at the sudden release, though, Celestia was unable to catch herself as she fell to the ground, and she managed to roll out of the way as the demon brought it's boot down, almost squashing her like a bug. Then, holding where Twilight shot it in the chest, the giant, fiery demon roared in what sounded like anger, but was so twisted, it barely registered as a possibe emotion, and after regaining its balance, the demon tilted forward, and stormed past Twilight and the others, crashing through the entry way and taking the door and most of the wall with it. Finally, the demon gone, Twilight rushed over to her former mentor, desperately praying for her safety. "Celestia, are you alright?" Twilight asked, but upon inspection, Celestia did not look alright. She had major burns on her sides where the demon gripped her, and seemed to be in serious pain. But nonetheless, Celestia still smiled, and gave her reply. "Yes, I'm fine, Twilight... I've certainly suffered worse than this." Celestia said, attempting to stand, and eventually succeeding. But still, Twilight gave her a suspicious look, and turned her gaze to the giant, burning hole in her wall where the demon fled, and to all her now-immolated books, vastly dismayed by their loss. "That thing... it ruined my library..." Twilight trailed off as she looked at the destruction the demon caused, and Celestia's smile finally faltered, and her gaze became serious as screams sounded from outside, indicating that the demon her former student had summoned was now making even more trouble... Trouble that she likely had to solve. "Twilight, we will take care of your home later. Right now, I have to deal with that monster before it..." Celestia couldn't finish her sentence, for when she tried to move, her burns became agitated, and she soon flinched in pain, almost falling again. Before she could, though, Twilight managed to catch her, and Celestia was eased onto a seat, still wincing at her new scars. "No, Celestia, I'll go after it. I brought it into this world, now I have to take it out. Pinkie, keep an eye on Celestia, I'll go end this nightmare before it starts." Twilight commanded, and Pinkie Pie promptly saluted, straitening her pose, but still smiling that giant, ever-present smile. "Okey dokey, lokey!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed, and Celestia tried to protest, but before she could, Twilight was out the door, ready for battle. It was... weird. This had to be a dream. So, here I am in little pony world, and that's weird, and everything's so tiny, even this royal-looking pony before me, and that tore it. This had to be a dream or something, because this doesn't just happen to people. I'm probably unconscious, in a coma, or something, and this was a fever dream. But... I had to be sure. I mean, I just had to. So, while the little white pony, barely bigger than my hand, barked something at me in its odd tongue, I reached for it slowly, and then snatched it up, hoping to get a better look at it. But then it screams, and I notice black smoke coming off of where I held her (I assume it's a her, anyway). So, I try to quickly release her, as I realized that I was hurting her, but before I can, I feel a sharp, bursting pain hit my chest (whatever's left of it, anyway), and I quickly let the tiny pony go, roaring in pain, and I move to regain my balance as I stagger, and I finally fall back on my feet. So, I finally decided I'd had enough of this, because A: That hurt, and B: This shit is fucked up, and I'm out of here. So, in response to that most painful attack, I tilt my head down, ignoring the tiny, annoying ponies, and charge at the wall, smashing it into little bitty pieces, and I ran like hell out into the street, hoping to escape whatever hell I just landed in. What did that little bitch even hit me with? I remember that the Smelter Demon was only vulnerable to two things: Lightning spear, and... Magic. Oh, no, no no... These things had MAGIC!? Oh, hell to the fuck that. I wanted to escape this tiny village, but before I could, I tripped over a fountain and landed flat on my face, smashing a cart with my right hand as I tried to put it out in front of me. I heard screams, but I didn't bother looking for who was causing the ruckus, I just wanted to get the hell out of here... wherever "here" was. So, I pick myself up, and continue running. If one has magic, chances are that they ALL have magic, and I do NOT want to be surrounded by that kind of crowd. So, I continued my charging sprint, and after a while of running, I saw the edge of the town, and internally smiled like a motherfucker, because I was finally free! So, I saw the town edge, and I ran, but no sooner than I sped up, than another voice shouted at me, causing me to look back. Sure enough, there was the purple one, and she did NOT look happy. So, I quickened my pace, throwing all my weight forward in one final sprint, and I didn't pay attention, but I think I hit something. I heard a loud *pang* as something small hit the front of my armor as I ran, but I didn't see it, nor did I care, until I looked back, to see that the purple one had stopped chasing me, and was now looking over a small, blue figure. Like I said, I didn't care, so I eased my sprint, seeing no reason to be so fast, but I still kept running, and I didn't stop. Like I said, I wanted to be as far away from this place as possible, even if I had to run to the other side of the world. But still, something bugged me, even as I ran, head down and charging: what the hell just happened? Twilight chased the creature as fast as she could down the street, and through the town, but the demon seemed hell-bent on getting away from her at any cost, and in its bid for escape, it even tripped over the fountain, obliterating it, and smashed a cart of produce as it fell. Twilight tried to catch up to it at that point, hoping that the fall would give her a chance to finally capture the thing, but as soon as the metal demon saw her, it got right back up, and broke into another run. And just like that, Twilight lost her distance on the demon as it charged blindly through the town, flames and destruction trailing behind it. Clearly, this demon was afraid of her... but why? It was more than five times her size, and could easily have crushed her earlier... so why didn't it? However, before she could find the answer to that question, almost too suddenly, she noticed that the monster she'd summoned was now heading out of town, where it could possibly do whatever it wanted, to whoever it wanted. Even worse, Twilight soon saw Rainbow Dash, drifting around carelessly on a low-hanging cloud, right in the demon's path! So, without another thought, Twilight gasped, and shouted at the monster; "Stop! Now!" Twilight cried, but neither Rainbow Dash nor the demon seemed to hear her, and with horror, Twilight watched as the demon hit her friend like a freight train, throwing her aside with his bulk, and it just kept on running, even after Twilight had stopped, and made her way to her friend, who she desperately hoped was alive. "Oh no, oh no... Rainbow, are you okay!?" Twilight asked frantically as she approached her downed friend, and was surprised and relieved when the cyan pegasus groaned, and got back up, rubbing her head. "Owwww... Twilight..? What the heck just hit me? It felt like a meteor up and ran into me!" Rainbow Dash complained, and Twilight sighed, and began to explain her situation as best she could, without losing her confused friend. "Listen, Rainbow, that thing that hit you was a demon, and I need you to get the others so we can catch it and send it back to Tartarus." Twilight explained hastily, but Rainbow Dash merely looked at her, a confused expression on her face, and blinked once before retorting. "What? A demon? Twilight, where in Equestria did a DEMON come from? Did Cerberus take a break again?" Rainbow Dash asked, but Twilight only shook her head, and pressed her plea. "That doesn't matter right now! I need you to go and get the others now, before it destroys more stuff!" Twilight pleaded, and Rainbow Dash finally got up, albeit reluctantly, and seemed about to take off, when suddenly, a massive, metallic roar sounded from further away, getting the two's attention immediately, seeing as where the roar came from. "Wait... isn't that coming from... Applejack's place?" Rainbow Dash noted, her mood becoming bleaker and grimmer as the realization struck both her and Twilight, and without another word, both of them flew off at top speed toward the apple farm, to see if the demon had struck there. As they sped off, though, their fears became confirmed as a column of smoke began to appear near the farm's location, and it was growing. "Oh, no... this isn't good..." Twilight began, out of earshot of Rainbow Dash, and she then began to pray for her friend's safety... for whatever her prayers were worth.