> My Little Pony: Flank Deep in the Dead
>  by gasmaskangel
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> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

My Little Pony: Flank Deep in the Dead

Prologue
In a timeless place beyond physical space something terrible stirred. He was a glorious abomination, an artist of malevolence and cruelty surpassing the dreams of serial killers and dictators.
As he stirred back into wakefulness, the Prince of Darkness surveyed his realm and found it dull. There was nothing new or fresh here. The screams of damned mortals just didn't excite anymore. The pleasure of ripping flesh and snapping bones paled when you knew your victim had already experienced these torments a hundred thousand times before.
He idly reached down to an imp that was deboning some priest for the trillionth time and pulled one of the spiky brown creature’s arms out of its socket and waited for its piggy screams to fade away.
The act brought no satisfaction.
The Prince sagged back into his titanic throne and let out a rumbling sigh that reverberated throughout the bowels of hell. “What we need” he said as he plucked another screaming holy man up from the teaming masses “is some fresh blood around here.” He punctuated the end of the sentence by crushing the man’s pelvis between his thumb and forefinger before tossing the shrieking form into one of the massive hell fire braziers by his throne.
Something near his foot coughed. It was the being known only as the Spider Mastermind, the queen of the arachnotrons. Those had been a real stroke of genius on the Prince’s part. A gigantic, cynical, sadistic brain that moved about on a heavily armored cybernetic spider body, and the Mastermind was greater than all of them combined in terms of sociopathic cruelty and calculating manipulation.
The Mastermind peered up at her master with icy blue eyes and permitted herself a small amount of satisfaction for correctly predicting the Prince’s attitude upon waking. She hissed “My Lord, I may have a solution to your boredom.”
There was a noise like the feeling of a glass of water being drunk and the Prince stood on eye level with the Mastermind, barely a fraction of former size.
“Well, what is this solution? And please, keep in mind the price for wasting my time woman.”
The Mastermind was smart enough not to be coy or beat around the bush, not with the Prince. He had a terrible habit of drowning demons that did that in a sea of flaming hot feces for a millennium or two.
“A new world my Lord, one that is disgustingly innocent and poorly guarded.”
The Prince strode over to the Master mind and lovingly stroked the quivering membrane over her massive brain, trailing it down to tiny skull like face at the front, where he thrust one of his black nailed thumbs into Mastermind’s eye. “I do believe that I warned you about not wasting my time dear” he purred as the Mastermind squealed in agony “there are no other worlds, and even if there were we cannot come unbidden. Now, give me a reason not to put out both of your eyes.”
“A weakness! YWH-“ the Prince twisted the thumb in the Mastermind’s eye socket and forced her to the ground “Forgive me Master!” she squealed “I did not mean to speak that name, I swear to you by my power and all the souls in my realm that we can take this world! They broke the barrier themselves!”
The Prince paused, his handsome brow furrowing in thought. “If what you say is true, then why has this realm not yet been ravaged? Why did I not awake to the screams of its people?”
The Mastermind hesitated; she had been dreading this question. It was one of those where even a being like her could not predict the Prince’s response. She was not given time to deliberate, as the Prince twisted his thumb again and dragged her to her feet, her metal forelegs scrabbling at the air. “I ordered them not to my lord! Please forgive me, I sought only to save the conquest for you!”
Relief came as the Prince pulled his thumb out of the ruined socket. “More likely you thought to increase your standing still more. I know that you covet Beelzebub’s realm my dear. If I find this world to my liking, you shall be rewarded, but please do not think to deceive me.” He popped his ichor covered thumb into his mouth and sucked it clean. “I am the Author of All Lies after all, now see to the preparations for our invasion, and make it swift, or I shall see what else I can fit into your eye socket.”
The Spider Mastermind bowed, an awkward motion on an arachnid body and began to scuttle off to fulfill his orders.
The Prince returned to his full height and sat back on his throne. He had a feeling this was going to be fun.
***

Rarity snarled in frustration, and bit back a cutting comment about silly old ponies that couldn't make up their minds about what sort of dress they wanted, and then said it anyways since she was alone in her workshop, and then promptly felt bad about it.
She had begun this dress a week ago, a special request from Granny Smith for a something fancy yet practical to wear out to the Ponyville senior citizens annual springtime brunch, an event for respectable old mares to gossip, eat tiny sandwiches and show one another pictures of their grandchildren.
Rarity was a soft touch when it came to ponies who didn't have much of a net income[1], and so had agreed to make the dress at a significant discount. She had reluctantly come to the conclusion that this was a mistake. Even at cost, which in her heart Rarity knew she wouldn't have charged the old mare anyways, the dress would be a loss for her. She’d had to delay three other jobs to get this one done.
The problem was that when she got about three quarters of the way done with any current incarnation of the dress Granny Smith would come in and decide that it wasn't quite what she wanted after all. First it had been too frilly, then it had been too showy, then it hadn't been quite showy enough, and last time it had been a color that Granny Smith associated with some “good for nothing Stallion who..” Rarity shuddered. There were some things that you never wanted to hear an old mare describe in detail and she suspected that it would take her years to forget the part about the eels.
The worst part of it all was that right now her friends were away in Canterlot, quite likely bored out of their skulls by the day to day workings of the administrations. They’d all decided to go and support Twilight as she learned her new duties as a princess[2], but Rarity knew her obligations and so had delayed the trip to finish the dress.
On the plus side, since they were all, Twilight included, going to return to Ponyville at the end of the month, that meant that Rarity would have less of a chance to run into Prince Blueblood and thus would be less likely to commit treason by tossing the pompous swine off of a balcony. Rarity was a generous soul and was willing to assume the best about everypony, but even she had her limits.
Two hours later Granny Smith was looking at the dress, a simple yet fetching red number trimmed with lace, while humming and rubbing her chin with her hoof as Rarity stood to one side with a nervous smile on her face, and the pink horned rimmed glasses she wore when she needed to study small details perched on the end of her muzzle.
The old green mare finally sat back and said “well I suppose it will do” and as Rarity let out a massive sigh of relief “you don’t think it will look a bit forward do you deary?”
Rarity had to stop for a moment to remind herself that dressmakers shouldn't throttle customers, or strangle them with the tape measure.
Before she could continue, Granny Smith began debating with herself again “then again at my time of life I suppose I can use all the help I can get…” Rarity felt like screaming, and in fact was about to go find herself a nice paper bag to hyperventilate into when Granny Smith said “I’ll take it! Now we agreed on a hundred bits yes?”
Back when this whole mess had begun yes, and by all rights Rarity should have charged at least three times that for all the hassle that had gone into the dress, but well the Apples were her friends and they didn't make enough to go in for extravagance that often, and the dress really would look fantastic on the old girl[3]. “Yes, 100 bits Granny.”
“Nonsense my girl” Granny Smith said, hobbling her way over to Rarity and putting a foreleg over her shoulder as she fished around in the battered old saddle bag she wore “you did a fine job, and I know I ain't the easiest of ponies to work with, you deserve a more than 100 bits for this.”
Rarity smiled and was about to say “Oh no my dear, don’t worry about it” when Granny pulled a small bag that clinked with money from the saddle bag with her toothless mouth and proffered it to Rarity who picked it up with her telekinesis. “I put 25 extra bits in there for your trouble!” the old mare practically cackled.
Rarity felt unbalanced. It was more than she’d expected yes, but still less than even the cost of wasted fabric on the dresses previous incarnations. “You… you really shouldn't have” she said in a slightly confused voice.
“Nonsense my dear! Now don’t you go spending all that on drink and loose stallions. I’d better get going now, got a brunch to get ready for.” And with that the old mare practically skipped out, grabbing the dress in her teeth (an act which caused Rarity to wince) on her way.
A lot of emotions ran through Rarities mind just then, relief that the ordeal was finally done, anger at the frustration and wasted time, outrage at the pittance she’d been paid, and a part of her screaming about how granny had been dragging the beautiful red dress along the ground.
Rarity let out a truly massive sigh and caught sight of herself in the mirror. She looked frightful, her dark purple mane, usually lovingly curled and coiffed was crumpled and hung slightly limp against side of her neck, bags under her bright blue eyes, even her coat normally pure white looked slightly grey and dull.
In spite of herself Rarity felt a smile come on. Tomorrow morning she’d be on the train to Canterlot and would spend a lovely time in high society, and more importantly with her best friends, but for now she’d have herself a lovely hot bath and get some well deserved rest.
***

The next morning she sat happily on the train as it pulled out of the station, pouring over her copy of Twerp’s Peerage[4], and making plans to educate Twilight about all of the various rules of etiquette that she’d need to know as a princess (the other girls, while having many, many fine qualities to recommend them, were not overly concerned with things like table manners, and Twilight herself had a strictly utilitarian view of pretty much all social rules).
Several hours later, having finished the entry on Sir Twaddlesforth XXVI[5] the smell of smoke tore rarity away from her book.
She looked up just in time to see the ball of green fire heading for the car in front of her, and began screaming a second before a massive explosion derailed the train.
It is a narrative convention that when a terrible catastrophe happens, a character’s perception of time slows down. This is not what happened for Rarity. In her case everything seemed to go faster than was natural, and yet her mind’s eye took in every detail. From the sickening feeling of weightlessness, to the blossom of fiery green energy that exploded out from the car ahead of her, to the defeaning WUMP sound of the explosion. She could remember the way all of the windows shattered inwards, and could practically count the number of shards of glass large enough to be dangerous.
She felt herself slam hard into the roof of the car, and heard the sickening crack as the earth pony sitting in front of her slammed her head at an unfortunate angle. She knew the car rolled exactly eight times as it flew off of the track and over the rocky ground.
Finally the car came to a stop roughly the right side up, and a concussed Rarity stared out the window in uncomprehending horror. She could see Canterlot from here.
It was burning.




[1] The Apple family at first seems quite wealthy in terms of gross income, however their farm, Sweet Apple Acres, is best described as a money sink what with the cost of repairing the barn which gets destroyed at least three times a year, the lack of homeowners insurance due to their proximity to the dreaded Everfree Forest, and the fact they only make money six months out of the year during the apple harvest, the zap apple harvest, and cider sales which usually last only a week before their supply of non alcoholic cider runs out (their profits on alcoholic cider and skumble are year round, but tend to be minimal as most ponies can make a single jug last all year provided they aren't named Berry Punch or Twilight Sparkle). The end result is that despite the bulk of Ponyville’s economy depending on them they have very little spending money at the end of the year.
[2] In most societies the duties of a princess are to look pretty and get married for political reasons, however Equestrian custom held that held that rulers should never take a title that indicated absolute power. This leads to a lot of confusion in outsiders as there are no less than 18 princesses and 27 princes, only 7 of which wield any actual political power. Looking for the alicorns is a fairly reliable way of spotting the ones that are actually useful to know, but even then most of them are just in charge of things like the International Kitten Census or the Ministry of Incredibly Pointless Things.
[3] It is a useful insight into Rarities character that she didn't view herself as a dressmaker so much as an artist whose work just happened to need a living person to be displayed properly.
[4] The definitive guide to Canterlot nobility, written by Alistair Twerp, a unicorn General and by all accounts a hard drinking fighting stallion who kept extensive notes on the nobility of the land mostly out of a sense of extreme paranoia.
[5] May of the entries in Twerps peerage are quite short, consisting of a variation on the phrase “jumped up little arrogant ponce” if Twerp never felt the urge to get to know them better.
> Enter the Unicorn
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Chapter One: Enter the Unicorn

                   Rarity’s attention was finally torn away from the horrific sight of Canterlot in flames by a loud banging sound and the feeling of something too fast to be seen zipping past her face. She ducked down as more explosions sounded. Ponies screamed and she heard something outside the car roaring, a crazed, gravelly sound that she felt more than heard.
                   More of the unknown projectiles tore through the feeble cover the train car offered and Rarity desperately scrambled towards the windows on the opposite side of the car on her belly. To her horror she saw a spray of blood across the floor, and then a Pegasus who had been serving ponies their meals. There was a massive hole in his side and his breathing was labored and had an unpleasant liquid quality.
                   Rarity wanted to scream, but her terror strangled it in her throat. The poor stallion was staring madly at her, his eyes pleading. Blood was leaking out of the corner of his mouth. Rarity reached out for him, touching his hoof., trying to say that she was here for him and he wouldn’t die alone when the creature climbed through the window.
                   It was horrific. A huge, ape like creature with pale skin and a short cropped green mane. It was dressed in brown armor and carrying some sort of metal rod in one of its massive fists. It seized the dying stallion’s tail in its free hand and stared down at Rarity with a pair of eyes that were nothing but a pair of burning orange coal in inky black pits. Its mouth unhinged like a snake and it droned out “I’ll swallow your soul!”
                   Now, time really did seem to stand still. Rarity stared at the thing, the monster, the murderer. It had come here, participated in an attack that had probably killed dozens of ponies and now the demonic thing was threatening her. It’s eyes burned with a hate and malevolence that she had never before seen and something strange happened in that moment. Rarity’s fear turned into anger. The scream that had been strangled by her terror turned into a shout of primal fury and reflexes she had long suppressed awakened in her.
                   She leapt, extending one of her rear legs as she jumped at the creature, forming a position that martial artist might recognize as a well executed flying crane strike. The blow struck the thing right in its repulsive, hateful mouth and she felt its teeth come loose and its jaw shatter with the strike. The thing staggered back, blood spewing from the ruined wreck of a mouth. “You dare?! You dare to come here, hurt my people, threaten my soul?! You monstrous cad!”
                   She moved forward like a hurricane striking with all four of her limbs in intricate combinations. She felt bones snap and flash break under her blows, a roundhouse kick knocked out one of the beast’s eyes and swift blow to the monster’s throat collapsed it trachea and it’s grunts turned to gurgles as it struggled to breath.
                   This should have killed it, but to Rarity’s horror the thing didn't stop. It kept swinging at her or trying to aim that metal rod at her. Finally, she snatched the rod out of its hands with her telekinesis and promptly slammed it into the side of its head. Repeatedly.
                   Finally the thing sprawled on the floor and tried to crawl away from her. Rarity was about smash its skull in, the rage that filled her demanding blood, when three more of them pulled themselves through the shattered windows and opened fire with those metal rods of theirs. The tings spat fire and the world around Rarity seemed to explode in tiny increments, the one she’d been fighting jerked and twitched as the shots tore it apart, its hand exploded into a pile of blood and gristle, organs spilled out onto the ground, and its skull exploded out across the ground.
                   The poor young Pegasus also jerked and twitched as the weapon fire tore into him, and Rarity screamed inside. Also outside.
                   She dodged and weaved, the shots going wild and lunged at the nearest one, jamming her short but sharp horn into its thigh and shaking it to the side, tearing a massive gash that gushed blood in its muscle and sending the monster bellowing to the floor.  As she did this she slammed the heavy end of the monster’s weapon into a second one’s groin hard enough that it made a crunching noise using her telekinesis, and followed it up by jabbing the barrel end into the third’s face as hard as her power could allow. “You wretched murderous brutes!” she screamed, all righteous indignation. One of them was able to snatch at her mane, but Rarity twisted around and planted all of her body weight concentrated in a single hoof onto the creatures knee, buckling it with a sickening crunch.
                   The three were down, more or less, one of them was now struggling back to its feet, but more of them were pouring in. Horrified, Rarity realized they were executing the living ponies as they went. She leapt at the monster that had staggered back to its feet and wrapped her forelegs around its throat and threw her weigh forcing it back towards the window away from the monsters advance.
                   The strange weapons roared and Rarity felt a cold sting across her flank as one of the round punched through her improvised meat shield. The worst case scenario happened then. The window she was aiming for turned out to be intact.
                   First there was the sharp cracking pain of impact, then the cold slicing pain of glass shards ripping through her coat as she pulled herself and the monster through. They hit the ground in a tangled, bloody mess and before the confusion could kill her she seized the monster by the throat again and threw her weight back and forth until she heard the sound of bone splintering. The thing’s weapon lay nearby, and she seized it with her mind and tried to run, only to double over in pain. A fresh burst of weapon fire spurred her on.
                   Rarity ran blind into the forest, tripping over roots and rocks as she went, the pain in her back and leg almost unbearable, blood streaming down her coat. She ran until she could no longer hear the sound of gunfire, slowed to a limping trot and then collapsed onto the ground. She would have cried if she hadn't dropped down in unconsciousness.
***

                   Bezzro’Max strode through the carnage. He was quite pleased, the former humans made excellent shock troops. The pathetic creatures of this world could actually fight them it seemed, just not very well.
                   Twelve of them had been badly wounded, eight killed, and still none of these ponies had escaped. One, a mare with a torn off wing was trying to crawl away as she sobbed gently. Bezzro’Max took his time crushing her beneath his hoof.
                   One of his lieutenants, a cacodemon, floated down and waited patiently for the sounds of whimpering and cracking bone to die away. The creature always looked like it was grinning anyways, but it always enjoyed the sound of some pathetic creature trying to come to grips with its slow painful death.
                   “You report?” Bezzro’Max drawled as he looked for his next victim.
                   The cacodemon spoke in an unpleasant watery voice. “One of the creatures escape Ser, it killed one of the maggots and fled into the forest.”
                   The hell knight grinned. “Let it run, I know what’s in those woods.”
                   The cacodemon chuckled, a truly unpleasant sound. “What shall we do next ser? I understand the village this transport came form is only a day’s march away.”
                   The hell knight arched an eyebrow “where did you get that information?”
                   “One of the ponies was most cooperative, and also delicious. The place is called Ponyville I believe.”
                   Bezzro’Max glanced around, his minions were dragging the soft, pathetic creatures from the wreckage of their train. Many were still alive, most of them were screaming. “There is no rush” he said “bring me a young one, and tell the imps to take their time.”
***

                   The kick caught Rarity on the chin, forcing her back across the concrete floor. It had been a desperation tactic from her opponent, a tan earth pony mare, her gi spattered with her blood and one eye swollen shut, had really needed the respite from Rarities assault.
                   Rarity and the mare watched each other in silence for a moment. Rarity wondered what the girl’s reason for being here was. Was it the money like Rarity? Or was it pride? Honor? To prove herself for some lover or relative? In all of her fights no one had ever stopped and conveniently given a monologue about their motivation, she sort of wished that they would.
***

                   Rarity stirred back into wakefulness, her entire body wracked with cold, sharp pain from the cuts on her back, and a larger burning pain from her hip where the projectile from the monster’s strange weapons had grazed her.
                   Something had awoken her, something grunting and growling.
                   She forced herself to her hooves, shaking as she rose. She caught a glimpse of it, and for a moment thought of the various monsters from the Everfree Forest. Manticores, hydras, timber wolves and worse things stalked that place. She was a long way from the Everfree now, and she suddenly wished she’d paid attention to all of Twilight’s chatter about obscure monsters.
                   This thing had been pink and fleshy.
                   Ponies are by and large a resilient species. They can take an astounding amount of physical abuse and as a rule tend to heal quickly. Thus Rarity was able to get moving despite the blood pouring down her back.
                   Canterlot was burning. She’d seen it just before all this horrible mess had happened. What if there are more of those, those things there she thought. What if… images of atrocities flashed into her mind. She saw her friends, the strong and self reliant Apple Jack, the brash Rainbow Dash, the sweet Fluttershy, the happy Pinkie Pie and awkward, intelligent Twilight Sparkle falling into the monster’s hands and shook her head to chase away the thoughts. Surely the Princesses would be able to hold off the invaders. True Celestia had been defeated by Chrysalis, and had sent her and her friends to the crystal empire to deal with Sombra, and had been utterly absent for the fight against Discord and nopony quite agreed on where she had been when Nightmare Moon had returned, but surely she had the power to stop these things?
                   Rarity steeled her nerves. She had to get to Canterlot, whatever was in her way. Her friends would need her.
                   Rarity actually made it a few steps before a new thought hit her. What about Ponyville? What about her sister? Rarity shut down the thought of the monsters getting Sweetie Belle in their clutches, because there is only so much horror the pony mind is prepared to contemplate. Should she go back? That would mean heading back towards the beasts that had ambushed the train, but Rarity knew she couldn't live with herself if she allowed these fiends to get Sweetie.
 
                   Behind the bedraggled, bloodied and bruised white unicorn the beast crept, it’s tiny piggy eyes glowing red and drool streaming from its gaping maw. The creature understood few things, as the prince had considered brains an unimportant detail when shaping the brutes. Their main urge was to eat, but even their unfillable gullets had to be satisfied eventually. This brute had enjoyed a large meal recently, and had eventually killed the manticore cub when it accidentally spilled too much blood, so now it was looking for something new to play with.
                   It leapt with a terrible grunting roar, savoring the thought of pain to come.
                    
                   Frozen with indecision Rarity felt an old memory stir up in her mind. Her old master, Black Belt.
                   It would have amazed her friends that the delicate and lady like Rarity had been the student of somepony like Black Belt, a crusty, eternally drunk old stallion, but Rarity knew that was mostly an act, a lesson she had taken to heart.
                   “The easiest way to win a fight” he’d said in between swigs from the massive jug he carried everywhere “is to never have a fight. Convince everypony that you are harmless and you will always be able to pick your battles, to make the first strike, the one they never see coming…” and after this had rambled off on one of his slightly mad rants about the purity of bodily essence.
                   It was a different conversation that came to her mind. As part of her training he’d asked her what she would do if faced with a decision to save one pony or many, had gone through six or seven different scenarios with her to. At the time Rarity hadn’t known what to say, hadn’t known what to do. Then he’d whapped her on the back of skull and said “that’s the worst answer cupcake!” though he’d softened his tone a bit when he saw the tears welling in her young eyes. He’d looked away from her and stared out at the field where they trained “the worst thing you could ever do is nothing. You have to make the choice or everypony dies. So make the choice.”
                   A nightmarish roar sounded out behind her and Rarity spun, adrenal glands pushing a fresh load into her blood, and saw a repulsive bipedal creature, seemingly a lump of raw pink flesh, it’s massive frog like mouth dripping with blood and a pair of bull like horns protruding from the side of its head.
                   The unicorn juked left and as the creature snapped down at her rolled to the right, sending fresh agony up from her leg. She balanced on three legs and lashed out with all of her muscle and weight with her unwounded leg into the side of the pink monster’s knee, and was rewarded with an unpleasant clicking sound.
                   The thing scrabbled away with a howl of agony, before turning and glaring at her with murderous red eyes.
                   Rarity planted all four of her legs, snorted and pawed the ground, making as if to charge the beast. Again it fell into her trap as it bolted towards her, thinking to overwhelm its smaller prey through sheer weight, and this time Rarity seized both of its horns in her telekinetic grip and slammed them downward with all of her might towards the ground.
                   She felt cold and numb. She was shaking. Rarity couldn’t keep this game going forever and she knew it. The thing was already recovering from its fall, and the only thing Rarity had managed to do was make it favor one leg.
                   Something caught her eye, the strange weapon the ape-like monster had used. She’d dragged it with her when she’d fled the slaughter, and now…
            	Well it did resemble a crossbow. You just pointed the business end at something and pulled the trigger yes?
            Silently she pulled the weapon towards her, never taking her eyes off of the monster.
            	The thing leapt, Rarity swung the weapon up, there was a sickening crunch, and a deafening bang and most of the back of the monster’s skull exploded. The weapon’s barrel had been right in the monster’s path and it had been jammed right into one of the thing’s horrible red eyes.
                Rarity knew this because now the dead thing was collapsed on top of her, blood falling from the ruined socket, splattering onto her face and purple mane.
                Making horrified, disgusted noise, Rarity slowly extricated herself from beneath the demon’s carcass. She deplored violence, and now, now she’d killed. She’d killed again.
                “The worst thing to do is nothing” her master’s words echoed in her head again. Rarity made her decision.
                 She was going to save everypony.
> The Great Train Massacre
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 2: The Great Train Massacre

                   The thoughts of a former human are hard to understand under the best of circumstances. These wretched creatures were souls locked in undead, regenerating bodies that had been tormented far beyond the breaking point of any sane mind. Most when they finally broke, just sort of caved in on themselves, a spiritual catatonia that left them still and pliant, unwilling to move or think. At this time the demons usually just tossed the carcass onto a pit and pulled a leg off or an organ out if they wanted a quick snack, but sometimes the souls broke in more useful ways.
                   The bald, shotgun carrying human standing on the edge of the forest, unloading shells towards the Pegasus to make it crawl towards a patch of nasty looking thorns had every emotion but hate burned out of him. It choked his throat like bile, all he wanted was to make things suffer, preferably demons, but that wasn’t possible, so the soft creatures here would have to do. Everything was a hot buzzing haze of hate and bloodlust, so when another one of the creatures, it’s purple mane matted to her body with blood and tangled with sticks and leaves emerged, the former human took no note of the assault rifle hovering near by her.
 
                   Rarity took one look at the scene before her, the burning train, the ponies strung up, mutilated or tossed into burning piles while still alive. The horrible bald headed ape firing at a pale green Pegasus mare who’s right wing had been torn off and rear legs reduced to ruins of broken bones and torn flesh. She snarled in righteous fury and pointed her stolen weapon directly at the ape thing’s face and pulled the trigger.
                   The former human’s head exploded in a shower of gore as the bullets tore through it, blood pumping from the stump in great gushing spurts.
                   More of the things turned, there were perhaps two dozen of them. Some were brown and covered in bony spikes, but most resembled the creature she had just slain, hollow eyed hairless apes in armor and carrying those strange weapons. There were two others, one a massive thing with nut brown skin, goat legs and horns, the other a floating red orb with a massive toothy maw and a single blue eye.
                   The massive, goat legged one was seated on an over turned passenger car like it was a park bench. It smiled. “Oh good, some spirit at last” it rumbled and idly gestured towards her with a single clawed hand “do not kill her, but make sure she screams prettily for me.”
                   Rarity charged before the monsters did, nimbly ducking beneath the legs of one of the ape things, and aiming her weapon at its back squeezing out three shots that punched through its flimsy green armor like tissue paper. She bolted to the side as one of the brown spiky ones leapt towards her with a pig like squeal and slammed the butt of the weapon into its jaw. The thing went over backwards spewing blood and broken teeth, but two more of the apes were already staggering towards her with a deceptively fast shamble, one holding down on the trigger trying to heard her towards the other which had some kind of wicked looking knife in its hand. The knife went flying as Rarity fired at it, most of the shots going wide but at least one hitting the hand and blowing most it off.
                   Rarity launched herself in a flying tackle with a battle cry of “take this you uncouth brutes!” and smashed the barrel of her weapon into the thing’s face and pulled the trigger.
                   There was a click and nothing happened. Rarity stared at the weapon uncomprehending for a second, and then something planted a nasty kick into her ribs and sent her sprawling.
                   It was one of the ape things, and it leveled the weapon at Rarity, the barrel looking like a tunnel as it aimed first at her head and then down towards her foreleg. Rarity rolled away just as it fired, and leapt forward as it pulled back on some kind of slide on the weapon, she lashed out with a snap kick into the creatures instep and felt bone break beneath her hoof, sending the thing down where a quick strike to the throat crushed its windpipe, and she snatched up its weapon with her mind, barely dodging a sudden fireball and a slash from one of the brown spiny creatures which she parried by placing the barrel of her new weapon right by the thing’s knee and pulling the trigger.
                   This weapon bucked more than the last one had, even steadied with telekinesis it nearly flew from her grip. She remembered what the former owner of the weapon had done and pulled back on the grip beneath the barrel, making a satisfying click clack sound and spitting out a cartridge. Rarity made a mental note that should she survive this little gamble of hers, to study these weapons more closely.
                   For now she blasted another ape, this one unclothed, and armed with a wicked looking hatchet in the chest, and bashed the screeching monster she’d kneecapped in the head as hard as she could with one of her good legs. She repeated this until there was an ugly cracking sound and the beast went still.
                   Blood sprayed and she felt a smack in her fore leg, which collapsed under her spilling Rarity to the ground. She barely rolled out of the way as one of the brown creatures made a swipe at her neck and unloaded another shot that went wide.
                   “How dull” the voice came from the brown, goat legged monster “honestly if this is the best your species can offer I can’t say you’re going to be much fun” the creature grinned down at her “though you are tight enough to at least be pleasurable.”
                   Several response offered themselves up to Rarity. Had this been just some jerk she would have risen handily to the occasion, naming all of his faults and insulting his dress sense[1] however this did not seem germane at the time. Also, she was extremely angry, in the same sense that a bundle of dynamite is extremely explosive. She elected to pull back on the pump again, and shoot the monster right in front of her, then charge the goat legged one while screaming.
                   “I think you annoyed it ser” said the floating one.
                   The goat legged monster yawned “deal with it Calthoshek, she bores me now.”
                   The thing swooped down directly into Rarities path, she fired the weapon at it, and then the thing flinched, snarled and spat out a crackling ball of blue energy that caught Rarity right in the chest.
                   The blast bowled her over backwards, and Rarity shrieked in agony. When she was barely more than a filly she’d broken a leg quite badly during her martial arts training.  This new pain was a thousand times worse, it felt like her nerve endings had been flayed open.
                   She hit the ground in a heap, and dimly she fell back into blackness.
***

                   Rarity reeled at the blows the earth pony mare was raining down upon her, trying desperately to regain the advantage. A sharp, stabbing pain in her side told her that at least one of the ribs was cracked, maybe broken. She couldn’t see out of one eye because of the blood leaking from the cut just below her mane.
***

                   The unicorn was trying to rise again. How was it still alive?! The cacodemon thought. He had blasted the wretched beast at least four times, and each time it had tried to get up again. By now its organs should have liquefied and its large blue eyes burst.
                   Then its head snapped up and Calthoshek looked into its clear blue eyes and for the first time in thousands of years felt fear.
***

                   The kick was beautiful and graceful, describing a perfect arc from the ground to her opponent, all of the things that had first drawn a young Rarity to martial arts. A choreographer would have sold his soul to direct just one such kick in a life time of arranging fight scenes in martial arts films.
                   Everything was perfectly clear, everypony in the stadium held their breath in awe, and it was later suggested that  Rarity’s opponent, Sapphire Stone, failed to defend against the kick precisely because it was such a magnificent attack.
                   For the rest of her life, Rarity cursed herself that Sapphire hadn't defended.

                   The blow connected to the side of the earth pony’s neck with a terrible crack, the shock of impact travelling up Rarities leg and in that instant she knew that she had won.
***

                   The cacodemon let out blast after blast at the unicorn to no avail. Every soul present, demon or pony watched in awe.
                   Rarity was catching every blast in a telekinetic grip, the magic radiating from the orbs sending waves of shocking pain down her horn and making her teeth vibrate as she bit down and ground them together.
                   She was on three legs now, and forcing her badly wounded hind leg up, trying to make it take the weight. Twilight would have done better she knew, the purple unicorn, now alicorn had amazing versatility with her magic, however Rarity had always prided herself on her more delicate spell work. It took a lot of skill to sew with telekinesis, about as much as it took to force the five-
                   The cacodemon fired off another blast at her.
                   -make that six balls of malevolent magic into a single massive orb, and then into a lance of magic power that blasted across the field.
                   Calthoshek barely dodged the lance which set the grass on fire and liquefied the arm off of a former human which shrieked in agony and was subsequently crushed by one of the Hell Knight’s massive hooves when it staggered to close to it.
                   The cacodemon stared at the white unicorn in horror. That should not have been possible, nor should the fact the lance of magic made two abrupt 90 degree turns and struck Calthoshek in the back.
                   The red, orb like cyclopean demon glowed briefly white and blue, tried to scream, and then exploded, raining chunks of blubbery blue gore on the ground and ruined train cars, and sprayed blood in every direction.
                   Bezzro’Max dropped down to the ground with an elephantine bellow and reared up to his full fifteen feet of height. “KILL HER! RAPE HER! TEACH THIS WHELP WHAT IT MEANS TO DEFY A TRUE LORD OF HELL!”
                    
                   Butterscotch Stripe trembled in his hiding place. He’d survived, hidden in one of the sleep compartments, but unable to escape as every time he had glanced up from his hiding place he’d seen the monsters still there, still chasing down and butchering ponies.
                   There’d been a mass of explosions, screams roars and howls a few moments ago. Apparently somepony was fighting back outside, by Tartarus it sounded like a whole platoon of Celestia’s heavy guard was outside, but only after the enormous goat legged demon had issued its furious command had he dared to take a glance out.
                   He couldn't spot the pony at first, she blended in too well with gore, but he saw her as one of the armored ape like creature went down after a masterful kick from the unicorn mare shattered its skull.
                   She was drenched in blood from head to hoof, and her blue eyes blazed with a fury the likes of which he’d never seen before. Her mane and tail were a tangled mess, plastered to her body with gore, and as she ripped the arms from the sockets of one of the brown spiny creatures with her telekinetic grip Butterscotch Stripe thought she was the most beautiful mare he’d ever seen in his life.
                   Years later he would achieve a controversial fame with his painting “Venus upon the Battlefield” which was generally considered to be in bad taste, yet proved quite popular with colts of a certain age and mindset, and put a shortage upon the world supply of red paint.
 
                   Bezzro’Max hurled a fistful of green hellfire at the unicorn who yanked a former human in front of it. He howled in fury as she dodged around the burning corpse and charged him, a pair of shotguns held in her telekinetic grasp.
                   She blasted his minions as she approached him, and a small rational part of Bezzro’Max’s brain realized that he was rapidly running out of minions, only a handful of imps remaining, and even as he hurled another blast, which again she dodged, that handful was reduced still further as one imp now found a hole in its chest as she fired the shotgun into it at point blank range, pumped another shell into the chamber and decapitated the creature with the next shot.
                   Another imp died as she slammed the now empty shotgun into its chest with enough force to impale it to the side of the luggage car.
                   This little bitch was going to suffer, oh yes. Bezzro’Max would spit her upon his cock and burn her limbs off with hell fire. He’d break her horn off and sodomize her with it, and then when she squirmed in agony and begged for death he’d make her watch while he skinned everything she’d ever loved alive.
                   He reached her in a single leap and tried to catch her, but she dodged his grasping hands and delivered a scything kick into the inside of his knee, tumbling Bezzro’Max to the ground. He heard the shotgun roar again and the last of his imps gurgled pathetically.
                    
                   Rarity whirled around as the last of this brute, this beast’s minions went down chocking on its shredded organs. There was no thought in her mind, just fury. This hadn’t been her plan. Rarity had wanted to get the monsters attention, to draw them away from Ponyville, but the combination of taunts, agony and the sight of dozens of innocent ponies dying or being tortured had erased that plan. These monsters had to die.
                   She fired wildly into the massive form of the collapsed beast. It’s knee exploded in a shower of blood and bone, a pothole formed in its thing, and its voice jumped several octaves as it shrieked in agony.
 
                   The horrible little cunt had just shot him in the balls. Bezzro’Max howled out in agony, and kicked out wildly with both legs, one of them caught the pony and sent her flying.
                   Bezzro’Max tried to stand and collapsed. His legs somehow hurt worse than his destroyed genitals, and he flailed wildly at the ground, digging up divots of earth. Every tiny movement brought him fresh agony, and one overwhelming though came to him. This couldn’t be happening.
 ***
 
                   It was all over. Rarity stood panting in the arena, the referee holding her forehoof in the air and announcing that she had won with a stunning and decisive blow. The cash prize of eighty thousand bits was hers, and the crowd was going wild.
                   Rarity should have been happy. With the money she could pay off her parent’s mortgage and finally chase down her dream of being the greatest fashionista in all of Equestria. She could bring the world beauty and style the likes of which it had never seen.
                   She should have been happy, but she wasn’t. Sapphire Stone wasn’t moving. The movement in her chest had slowed to a stop.
                   In the end Sapphire Stone’s death had been ruled accidental, a terrible tragedy, Rarity was completely innocent. That didn’t stop the nightmares though.
                   Ultimately, Rarity hadn’t spent any of the prize money on her dream. It was tainted in her eyes. Rarity had tried to track down the earth ponies family, but never had found anyone. As it was she had been the only pony at the funeral. She’d paid for it, listened to the minister’s hollow words and after she’d left she burned her gi in the fireplace. Rarity had vowed to never raise her hooves against another living thing again.
 ***

                   Butterscotch Stripe laid his ear down against the mare’s side. He could hear her heart beat, and she was breathing. A small collection of surviving ponies, most bloody and wounded were staring at the fallen demon which had finally bled out as he’d moved about free ponies from their shackles.
                   There had been 89 ponies on that train. Twelve still lived, and four of them looked like they were going to drop dead at any moment.
                   Terror, sorrow and angered all warred for domination of Butterscotch’s heart, and right now he really wanted to cry.
                   The unicorn mare stirred then, letting out a short sharp gasp.
                   “Don’t move miss!” he looked over his shoulder and shouted at the survivors “she’s alive everypony!”
                   A white earth pony mare with a red cross shaped cutie mark approached, limping on one leg which looked badly lacerated.
                   Rarity stared, and then comprehension dawned “Nurse Redheart?” she whispered, her voice sounding cracked slightly.
        “Yes dear, don’t move” she put a hoof on Rarity’s side as she moved to get up “you took quite a few nasty blows there.”
        “How many-” Rarity started, her eyes going wide, and trying to rise again.
        Nurse Redheart applied light pressure to make Rarity lie back down “no Ms Rarity, don’t think about that right now. You can’t help them, I can barely keep these ponies standing as it is.”
        “But” Rarity said, forcing herself up, which shocked Nurse Redheart who actually leaned in trying to keep her from damaging herself more “I have to get to Canterlot. Those... those things, I don’t think they’re much farther along than this. Get back to ponyville. They need to know about these things.”
        Redheart cut her off “half of these ponies can barely stand and you want them to march to Ponyville?!”
        “Of course I don’t!” Rarity became aware of the volume of her voice, and made to soften it. “I just don’t see any other options” she cast a glance towards the forest “and I don’t think its safe here. There was something out there, another monster. It almost killed me.”
        That made every pony pause. 
        Rarity pointed at a pair of unicorns who looked relatively unharmed, one had an eye gouged out and crudely bandaged with some torn linen, and the other had bloody claw marks dragged across her cutie mark. “You and you gather up some of their weapons, point the hollow end at any monsters you see and squeeze the trigger, they run out of shots after awhile, so take some spares.”
        Nurse Redheart nodded at this “anypony else who can walk or fly gather up some sheets for bandages and litters, we’re leaving now.”
        An earth pony raised his hoof timidly, too her horror, rarity saw that his foreleg was severely burned, the flesh blackened and charred “Excuse me Miss, are you coming with us?”
        The hopeful look in his eyes made Rarity feel like a cad for what she said next “No, I’m sorry. I have to head to Canterlot.”
        The earth pony turned his eyes towards the view of the distant city. Everypony present stared at Rarity like she was insane. Maybe I am Rarity thought.
        “Are you sure Miss?” this came from a yellow and apparently unharmed earth pony.
        “My friends are there” she said. “I have to help them.”
        Reaching out with her mind, she lifted one of the odd pump weapons “I promise that I’ll do whatever I can to keep those beasts off of your trail” the unspoken meaning being that she would give them a more important target.
        Two hours later the two relatively intact unicorns pulled guard on the forest line, while nurse Redheart saw to getting the wounded bandaged up, including Rarity.
        Before they parted the nurse voiced the thought Rarity had been trying to avoid, specifically “How in the name of Celestia are you still standing?” as she bandaged the rather nasty wound on Rarity’s hind leg. 
        “Healthy living” Rarity replied absently, while internally worrying that the wounds would leave some very unpleasant scars.
        As she walked along the train tracks the ponies all stared at her until she was out of sight. Several of them had known her from ponyville, and she’d always struck them as a bit prissy, but now... now they would always make it a point to be very polite to Rarity.


[1]It has been asked why a species that is naked by habit and custom would ever develop a fashion industry, or even insults related to said fashion industry. The truth is that the entire obsession amongst ponies regarding fashion was begun by Princess Luna roughly fifteen hundred years ago, largely because both princesses were of the opinion that the nobility needed more reasons to fight amongst themselves. 

> Nothing Left but the Famous Last Stands
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 3: Nothing left but the famous last stands

        “Hold the line ponies! Don’t give the curs an inch!” Fancy Pants’ shouted as his cutlass decapitated one of the spiky brown monsters. Beside him Fluer De Lis lept and slid her rapier into the great green eye of one of the floating red beasts.
        The demons had come pouring in as great shrieking hoard, welling up out of the ground from beneath Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns. They had slaughtered and raped without discretion, and in the first few hours of the attack had claimed the lives of hundreds of ponies.
        Surprise had served the demons well. The only place in Canterlot with any kind of organized defense left was the Castle, and aside from those who had made it to the safety of its walls the population was on its own.
        Ponies however were a very tough species when cornered.
        General Twerp slammed into one of the pink, fleshy demons and began to flail about, the bladed armor favored by earth ponies tearing an arm from its socket and disemboweling the creature. He snarled and bucked a second one with skull shattering force.
        “We can’t hold this spot much longer!” the muscular earth pony General shouted. 
        Fluer De Lis gave a snort as she slashed open the throat of a shrieking ape creature and said in a Fancy[1] accent “Then we will make them pay for every inch that they claim!”
        Fancy Pants’ felt his lips lift in a defiant snarl at the words from his warrior mare. She looked so beautiful splattered in blood. He felt the old rush again, back from out of the past. It was an age of death or glory where you thanked the princesses for every breath and knew the only way to survive was to throw yourself into battle with more mindless ferocity that your foes.
        Something spidery chanting in a language that made the ears bleed fell beneath his cutlass, its head sailing off in an arc as viscous green fluid spurted from its neck, and another of the brown creatures was cut off at the knees, and was swiftly executed by Twerp with a brutal stomp to its skull.
***
        Across the city the Wonderbolts led a chaotic blitz against the enemy. They easily dodged around the brutal blazing blue bolts fired off by the red orb like beasts, smashed through the rear of enemy lines and carried stranded and wounded ponies back to the castle. The sight was one that would bring tears of admiration to the eye of the most skilled fighter ace, and at the forefront of every charge was a rainbow maned pegasus who was rapidly becoming a priority target for the demons.
        Rainbow Dash dropped into a dive and abruptly swerved ninety degrees to the right turning her momentum into a brutal kick that snapped the neck of an enormous goat legged demon and sent him toppling from the minaret he had scaled.
        A hail of gunfire greeted her, and the self proclaimed fastest Pegasus alive weaved a cat’s cradle of rainbow afterimages as she dodged nearly every shot.
        Spitfire, a pegasus mare with a yellow coat and a mane and tail like an open flame took the opening and rushed down, punching and kicking in every direction, scattering the demons and forcing them to shoot wildly into a melee.
        Soarin flew beside Rainbow Dash and saw more blood streaming across her coat. He had to admit that he was impressed. He’d seen ponies live through some nasty wounds, usually as a result of a training mishap, but this was the first time he’d seen anypony live through being impaled twice. The mare barely seemed to notice the new wound which had clipped her shoulder.
        “There’s a big cluster of civilians over at donut Joes!” he shouted to be heard over the sounds of battle.
        Rainbow turned her head to him, trying to focus on him with her remaining eye and nodded before flying towards the shop as the few surviving wonderbolts joined up behind her, spitfire joining up a moment later.
        How the hay am I still alive?! the Pegasus thought as she swooped low, using the rooftops for cover from ground troops.
        One of the monsters had nailed her to the ground with a spear it had wrested from a guard pony, and after a brief moment passed out she’d gotten up again. It was freaky, useful but freaky.
        Almost any other pony would have taken the Wonderbolts up on the offer to be flown back to the castle and left in the infirmary, but not Rainbow Dash. She’d actually fought them when they’d tried to force her to.
        She would have found it difficult to put into words, but something bone deep in Rainbow snarled and rebelled at the idea of giving in. She’d die before that, die before she left anypony behind to face this monster, and she sure as hell wasn’t about to leave her idols to fight this battle alone.
        Besides, Pinkie was somewhere out there, and Rainbow Dash never abandoned her friends.
        Donut Joe’s shop was in sight now, getting pounded by explosive projectiles from almost a dozen armored skeleton things. The wonderbolts fanned out, and swooped in low behind the beasts, the blades affixed to their limbs held out.
        Soarin struck first, neatly bisecting one of the things which let out an unearthly scream as it toppled over, followed by Rainbow Dash and Spitfire.
        Spitfire bore one to the ground and in a flurry of limbs and cursing tore the monster to shreds, and two other wonderbolts zoomed into the fray.
        The beast Rainbow Dash was going for whirled on her with an unearthly shriek that was cut off as she sliced with her hoof blades at it, cracking the naked skull like an egg.
        She glanced up from her kill and let out a scream of primal fury. A bunch of bulky pink things had torn through the shops barricade and were choking the entrance. Several had turned to face the new comers and were already charging with their bull like horns lowered.
        Dash and Spitfire both dove into the melee. The first of the beasts went down after a roundhouse kick from Spitfire split its belly open and another fell after dash drove one of her blades into the top of its skull.
        Behind them Saorin nimbly dodged around some of the skeletal thing’s rocket fire, launching into an uppercut that shattered the jaw and split the skull, but another one of the things fired and he was tossed to the ground by the explosions, his ear ringing and pain radiating from his side.
***
        Applejack forced herself to her hooves. She couldn’t die now, she wouldn’t let these monsters kill her so easily.
        She sprinted forward and launched herself up into the face of the massive pink goat legged thing, ignoring the green fire that was charring her back as she did so. She slammed a hoof into its nose which resulted in a gratifying feeling of bone breaking and flesh tearing. The thing screamed as she latched onto its eye with her teeth and launched herself backwards when ichor filled her mouth.
        The dark orange earth pony twisted in the air and landed on the back of a smaller pink demon, and folded her forelegs over its horns, twisting its head this way and that, causing it to bite and gore its allies.
        As she wrangled the bucking, shrieking beast she scanned the horde of monsters around her. 
        The things were starting to break through the guards ranks now, soon they’d pile into the courtyard. Applejack saw a massively built pegasus, his gilded armor and white coat streaked with blood go down beneath one of the spiky brown creatures, and another was decapitated by an ape creature with a hatchet.
        They were all going to die.
        It was Celestia’s own truth, nopony was going to get out of Canterlot alive. Yes they killed scores of the monsters, but their numbers seemed endless.
        One of the monsters, blinded by rage lashed out at and killed her improvised mount and Applejack dismounted with another savage kick into the melee.
        So she’d die. So what? Everypony had to die one day, and if she could do it while standing on her hooves against the forces of darkness then she’d at least be able to go into the next life with her head held high.
        Applejack just wished she could see her friends one last time before it happened, to hear prissy Rarity panic over getting her hooves dirty in that cute way of hers, to share a mug of cider with Rainbow Dash, to hear Pinky break into song for no explicable reason, to see Fluttershy give one of her rare smiles. As she whirled on a new monster and bucked it over the side of a balcony she thought about her family.
        It was a horrifying realization that she’d never see them again, that she’d never know what Apple Bloom’s cutie mark would be.
        She bucked and kicked and bit the attackers, a whirling ball of painful blunt death. Then, just as a demon forced her to the ground and Applejack drew in breath for a last defiant word a massive comet of purple energy slammed into the monster’s chest and a wave of energy blasted out from it, tossing demons and ponies to the ground.
        Standing alone in the center the ring of fallen, terrified demons was Twilight Sparkle. Her face was contorted in a snarl, and her eyes glowed with a pure white light.
        “Nobody hurts my friends!” she shouted, punctuating each word with a blast of magic.
        Monsters scrambled over themselves to get away from her as the blasts of purple magic tore through their ranks, severing limbs and punching massive holes through their torsos. At least one was reduced to nothing but a blackened skeleton.
        Applejack lay in a daze, not quite believing that the awkward, excitable alicorn she’d come to know in Ponyville was capable of vaporizing demons left and right. 
        Twilight’s attack had bought the defenders some breathing space, and Applejack felt hooves trying to get her back up. As she struggled up and waved off the ponies helping her up, there was a crackle in the air that made her coat stand on end as a wall of transparent purple energy formed in a bubble over the courtyard.
        Before she could really gather her wits Twilight was beside her and the orange earth pony couldn’t help but notice that Twilight looked exhausted. She had deep circles under bloodshot eyes, and she seemed to sag slightly.
        She realized Twilight was talking to her “Applejack! Applejack, can you hear me?”
        Applejack nodded “I hear ya Twi.” She rapidly shook her head in an attempt to clear it. “That was some fancy magic ya’ll pulled off, and none too soon I reckon.”
Twilight paid no notice to the complement. “Do you know where the rest of the girls are AJ? Are... are they all still alive?”
Apple Jack hesitated, the look in Twilight’s eyes was a heartbreaking mix of hope and dread. Applejack swallowed.
“I’m sorry sugarcube, I just don’t know. I saw Fluttershy in the castle, I think she was helping the wounded, and I saw Dash take off with the wonderbolts, but I don’t know where they are now.”
As Twilight’s face fell, Applejack felt like a heel. She wished she had some comfort to offer, but there wasn’t any.
Twilight’s voice was soft “What about Pinkie Pie and Rarity?”
“Rarity was outside the city, so I think she’s gonna be ok. As for Pinkie...”
She paused searching for words. “Pinkie was out in the city Twi. I don’t think she made it.”
Twilight was quiet for a long time, then she looked back up at Applejack, her face streaked with tears. “I have to go Applejack. The Princess needs my help to stop this at its source.”
A cold, ugly feeling began in Applejack’s gut. “What ain’t ya tellin me Twi?”
“We can’t find Discord” Twilight shifted uncomfortably as she said it “and the princesses are under some kind of magical attack, they can’t use magic, not without a lot of pain.”
Applejack sighed. “This is gonna get a whole lot worse isn’t it Twi? Tell me the truth now.”
They’d attracted an audience. The surviving guards were all standing around the two mares, paying rapt attention. Twilight looked from Applejack, blood caking the side of her face, to the mauled and mutilated guards behind her. “I don’t... I don’t think we’re going to win AJ.”
Applejack nodded solemnly as Twilight took wing again and flew up towards the castle. She bit back on her rage. There had been no small part of her that held out hope that the princesses would have had something in store, or that they could count on the supposedly reformed Discord, but no such luck.
She turned and looked at the guards behind her. “Y'all heard her. Ain’t no reason for you to stay here, maybe if you’re quick and lucky you can get out of the city. Me? I’m stayin right here.”
None of them left. They used the time Twilight had bought them to take up better positions, and Applejack was fitted with the heavy bladed guards on her hooves that were the earth pony’s favored weapon.
As the force field fell and the monsters resumed their advance, Apple Jack snarled and charged. Her last thought before all conscious thought was burned from her mind by the melee was Like hay I’m gonna make it easy for them!
***

        It was all over now, at least for this little skirmish. Only Rainbow Dash, Spitfire and Soarin had survived it. All three of them were utterly drenched in blood and gore.
        Rainbow Dash stood inside of Donut Joe’s shop now, and felt like she had swallowed a stone. The ponies that had taken refuge here had been slaughtered. Blood and viscera was splashed on every surface, some even dripping down from the ceiling. 
        Soarin stood stock still beside her, they’d seen the terrible things the monsters did to their victims, but this was the first time that they hadn’t been able to save anypony.
        Spitfire was the first to speak up. “We can’t do anything here. We should leave before more of those things show up.”
Dash wanted to scream, wanted to kick something, possibly Spitfire for just how cold she had sounded.
Then they heard something, a soft gasping sound, like somebody trying to muffle their sobs.
“Is somepony there?” Rainbow Dash inquired, desperation showing in her voice.
Everything was quiet for a moment then a small, soft voice, cracked from crying called out “Dashy?”
Pinkie Pie shuffled out from behind the smashed countertop where she had been hiding, limping badly as she went. Dash could see a deep, ugly wound on her hind leg, a curving slash right across her cutie mark, and Dash felt her teeth grind. It had to have been deliberate.
The rage which had been building inside Rainbow Dash from the moment these murderous things had emerged into her world and hurt her people boil over. They’d pay. They’d all pay. Every last one of these sadistic monster would die for this, even if she had to drag herself across the universe and back to do it. She’d grind their bones to powder, rip out their throats with her teeth, crush their skulls beneath her hooves rip and tear their guts out she’d-
Rainbow Dash was broken from her murderous reverie by the feeling of Pinkie putting her forelegs around her neck and felt the pink earth pony sobbing into her blood drenched rainbow mane.
Rainbow Dash returned the hug, and felt like crying herself.
“Dashy... I want to go home.” Pinkies voice was choked and soft, barely a whisper.
“We will Pinkie” Dash promised “We’re all going to go home and it will be like none of this ever happened.”
Spitfire coughed, and Rainbow Dash shot her a slightly murderous look. Spitfire averted her gaze guiltily, but still said “We should get back to the castle. We’re all wounded, we’re all exhausted, and its only a matter of time before more of those things show up.”
Dash almost lost her cool, almost told Spitfire how she didn’t know how she’d ever looked up to her, Dash almost demanded to know how Spitfire could be so cold about all of this, but the feeling of pinkies tears washing small tracts of blood and filth off of her mane and coat strangled the hate and bile in her throat.
Rainbow Dash nodded in acknowledgement and they left the bloody shop behind.
***
        Almost thirty years ago Fancy Pants had been Sergeant at Arms Fancy Pants, serving under Colonel Twerp. They had been on the border patrol, it being necessary along the borders of the splintered and constantly warring griffon nation states. In general it was a dull job, mostly stamping the passports of traders and trying to sort the inevitable spies out from the hordes of refugees that came streaming across the border every time some griffon princeling decided he was the hereditary ruler of his neighbors and thus invaded.
        He now recalled the first famous last stand he’d been involved in. He generally tried to suppress that memory. The griffon bandits, a deserter company from one of the mercenary armies, had been half starved and poorly armed, yet had refused all offers of surrender. They had pillaged and burned several settlements on both sides of the border, and would have pillaged and burned more if left unstopped.
        Fancy Pants still recalled the mad look in the eyes of a griffon crossbow soldier as it tried to bash in his head even as Fancy Pants ran it through.
        He gave a bitter little laugh as he felt his own deep, probably deadly wounds. When I get to Tartarus he thought I’m going to buy that griffon a drink.
        Twerp stood beside him, and somehow looked worse. Half of the stallions jaw was gone, and one eye swollen shut and choked with blood from a massive wound in his scalp. A dozen puckered holes marred his side, all leaking a steady stream of blood.
        None of this stopped the massive earth pony general from caving in the head of a demon four times his size.
        Fleur still fought as well, her mane and tail scorched and her body now scored with claw marks. With a flourish she sank her rapier up to the hilt in a monster’s eye socket as she kicked out at another attacker.
        Realizing he wasn’t pulling his weight, Fancy Pants dodged the green fireballs hurled by an enormous goat legged beast and whipped his cutlass across the beast’s hamstrings, then plunged it between the vertebrae when it fell howling to the ground.
        It was only a matter of time now, the three couldn’t hold out much longer.
        General Twerp went down first, the demons believing him the most dangerous target. At least his death looked to be instantaneous, a rocket fired by a fat, repulsive monster had hit him square in the chest, and after the explosion nothing was left above the hips.
        That monster fell soon after, Fancy Pants and Fleur De Lis carving open its horrible belly with their blades, but soon the two were forced flank to flank.
        “I believe this is the end my love!” Fancy Pants shouted over the din.
        “So it would seem dear!” she parried the claw strike of one monster and slid her blade into its ribcage with pinpoint precision “I have but one last request before the end.”
        “Name it!” Fancy Pants performed a neat dance with his blade, severing a demon’s head and showering them both in warm blood.
        “Do not allow these creatures the pleasure of finishing me!”
        For a long while there was nothing but the crash and din of the battle.
        “Fancy Pants?” Fleur said as she narrowly avoided the axe wielded by one monster.
        “Will you grant me the same requested?” He finally responded.
        “Of course my love!”
        Reaching deep inside, Fancy Pants called up his magic and sent out a shockwave that pushed back the horde for a moment.
        “Then let us go to eternity together!”
        The two unicorns kissed the sweetest kiss of their lives. As he melted into her, Fancy Pants felt a pinprick of cold pain in his chest. He looked down. Right through the heart, she always did have brilliant aim with that thing.
        As thought faded and the world went black he returned the kindness to his wife. They embraced, and fell into the darkness together.
***
        Fluttershy stood by a guard pony, and held his hoof in hers as the poor soul breathed his last. She’d done what she could to make his last few moments comfortable, even if all that had been was not letting him die alone.
        She released the hoof and pulled a white sheet up over the dead pegasus’s head.
        All around her the impromptu hospital was swarming with activity. Ponies in white robes and caps with red crosses on them rushed about, but they couldn’t do much more than bandage the wounded.
        Fluttershy felt so useless. She wasn’t a fighter, she knew that if she went out and tried to help Applejack or Rainbow Dash she’d just get in the way and probably get one of them killed. If these ponies had been bunnies or mice instead she might have been able to help them, but all that she could was bandage their wounds and stay by the side of the dying. 
        A new batch of ponies were being helped in. There was a pegasus with one wing torn off, an earth pony who with all of his legs broken, brought in by a pair of guards who had made a stretcher out of a curtain.
        Fluttershy and two other nurses bandaged the wounds, and brought the new comers over to an unoccupied section of floor.
        She hoped her friends were alright. They were all so tough and brave that they all had to be alive, and if she told herself that enough, then maybe eventually she would believe it.
        Nopony knew what had happened to the Princesses, all three had been up in Celestia’s chamber when the attack had begun, and when the guard had tried to reach it the ones at the front had died, torn to shreds by some kind of magical field that crackled with red energy.
        The guard who had brought this news had died twenty minutes ago, bled out from internal injuries.
        There was shouting just outside the room, and Fluttershy tensed, expecting at any moment the monsters to burst through and slaughter them all.
When the doors were opened, four ponies staggered in, two of them in blood splattered Wonderbolt uniforms.
All four of them were wounded, Fluttershy dimly recognized Spitfire, who had applied a rough bandage to a large wound on her side, and Soarin who, to Fluttershy’s and probably his horror, had lost most of his right foreleg. 
The other two was a pegasus covered from head to tail in blood and gore, one of her eyes gone, and her body covered in ugly scratches with two large puckered holes on her side, and a dark pink earth pony who’s mane and tail hung limply to the floor and whose flank was marred over with an ugly gouge right over her cutie mark. 
Recognition dawned, and Fluttershy had to strangle a horrified gasp. 
She rushed over to Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash.
“Girls you’re alive!” she embraced them both
Rainbow Dash gave a tired smile “it’ll take more than a few ugly monsters to kill me Shy.”
Her voice sounded weak, and the blood stained rainbow maned mare fell limp in her friend’s hooves. Pinkie helped Fluttershy get her out of the way, and as Fluttershy bandaged her friend, Pinkie told her what had happened.
The pink mare’s voice was flat and trembled as she spoke, recounting how she and perhaps a dozen other ponies had barricaded the donut shop after barely fighting off the first wave of monsters.
At first Pinkie had done what she could to keep spirits up, never an easy task when ponies were placed in such a tight, dangerous situation. She’d tried to laugh at the danger, but her enthusiasm had quickly died when a mare who’d barely made it in had torn into her. The mare had been acting out of grief, probably hadn’t meant all the horrible things she’d said to Pinkie. Her name had been Sunflower Sarsaparilla and she’d seen her husband and young colt torn to pieces in the initial assault.
None of the other ponies barricaded in Donut Joe’s had survived. The monsters had taken their time killing everypony inside, even as the Wonderbolts and Rainbow Dash had fought their way in the horrible things had refused to fight back, not while they still had weak and defenseless ponies to kill. Pinkie had barely escaped in the chaos, hiding under a smashed counter.
She’d found Donut Joe’s head staring at her, and she’d been forced to sit there, staring into the blank horror that was frozen on the mutilated face.
“I tried... I tried to be brave” the sad pink pony said.
Pinkie began to cry, slow and soft.
***
        Celestia’s chambers were ordinarily a pleasant place. They were large and airy, with huge windows to let in the light, and there always seemed to be a warm breeze flowing through the room.
        From her resting place Luna considered that is she lived through this, both she and her sister would likely never set hoof in the damned room again.
        It now felt stifling, like a cage too small for its occupant to turn around in, the black magic forcing them inside an ever shrinking circle, and both princesses knew that once the alien force reached them they would be powerless.
        They’d been able to brute force a hole into the spell earlier, allowing young Twilight Sparkle to slip out and aid in Canterlot’s defense, but in doing so they had allowed the dark magic to enter their minds for just a second.
        Luna had felt something burst in her head when that had happened, and now she lay on her side in a mound of pillows, trying not to think about the wetness leaking out of her ears, or the way even attempting to use magic made her taste blood.
        Celestia was if anything faring worse than Luna, keeping the dark magic from completely overwhelming them both, but at great cost. 
        Luna could see the blood streaming down her sister’s, from the noble mare’s ears, nose and eye sockets. Celestia’s eyes had burst after a while.
Black veins had begun to form on the white Alicorn’s horn, worming their way down like blood poisoning.
Luna felt an old and terrible emptiness return to her. She’d felt it when banished as Nightmare Moon, a sense of helplessness and hopelessness that drowned thought.
Its not fair the Princess of the Moon thought I didn’t even get a chance for redemption...
There was a noise like a crack of thunder and Celestia let out a scream. Fragments of bone rained and the noble princess of the sun collapsed, the stump of her horn gushing blood that stained the flowing pastel rainbow of her mane.
“Sister...” Luna whispered, she tried to rise, and felt her entire nervous system light itself on fire.
Somehow the dark blue Alicorn was able to drag herself over to her fallen sister who lay panting on the floor.
“Luna?” Celestia’s voice sounded broken, all the maternal calm that normally suffused it torn apart by the agony.
“I’m here sister.” Luna leaned her head against Celestia’s neck, and hoped that the contact would bring her some comfort.
“Did...” Celestia shuddered as she spoke. She felt so cold... “did Twilight escape?”
“Yes sister, the fate of Equestria lies with her now.”
“Canterlot will fall Luna.”
Luna said nothing. Forty thousand ponies lived in Canterlot, maybe a thousand of them had managed to escape the city.
Something was wrong. The dark magic had beaten them both, so why weren’t they dead yet? Luna could still feel it flowing through the room like a rancid oily liquid, but it wasn’t flowing towards them. It was pouring into a single spot in front of the windows.
“Luna?” Celestia sounded so weak now.
“I’m here sister. I won’t leave you.”
“We can’t let them have Canterlot. We can’t save it, but we won’t let them have it either. Do you understand?”
There was a weight in Luna’s stomach. “I understand sister.”
“I can’t... I can’t feel my magic anymore. I can’t do it.”
“Then I will.”
Luna reached out for her magic, pain lancing through her mind. She felt, grasped it and pushed aside the pain as well as she could even as the blood boiled in her veins.
The oily black magic clung to her thoughts as Luna prepared the last spell she would ever cast.
***
        Celestia’s school for gifted unicorns was not the large, impressive campus that most ponies pictured when they first head of it. It didn’t have to be, the prestige of the school was enough on its own, needing no ivy covered facade to convince one of its importance.
        Twilight remembered it as being a quiet place (barring the occasional magical explosion or twelve) where she had for the first time in her life felt as if she was truly where she belonged in the world. It had taught her the simple joy of learning, imparted upon her a love of knowledge for its own sake, and now it was a bloodbath.
        Twilight crouched down on the roof of a nearby building, trying to think invisible thoughts as demons swarmed out of the campus. It almost reminded her of an anthill, and maybe if she thought of it that way she could keep from screaming. 
        Somewhere in the bloodsoaked halls was the source of this invasion. All Twilight had to do was somehow sneak past the hoard.
        As it turned out, stealth would not be an option for Twilight.
***
        Down amidst the swarming masses of demonic beasts a former human howled out his fury. It wasn’t directed against anything in particular, he had the sort of directionless homicidal hatred that belongs to the truly broken and mad. All he knew was that he wanted the human next to him to die, and for the demon cracking the whip back in the pit to herd them up the burning path to this world to die, and for the small, soft creatures in this world, so happy and innocent to scream and suffer like he had.
        So when he had the rocket launcher forced into his hands and was told to run up and kill every living creature he encountered or he would spend a millenium being turned outside again he began itching for a chance to see blood not belonging to him for a change.
        So as soon as a target had presented itself the creature fired and Twilight leapt from the building in a panic.
***
        Twilight threw up a shield and jumped just before the projectile hit, a dome of energy that flared up bright purple as it absorbed the explosion and deflected shards of wood and stone.
        The shield flared up again and again as a hail of weapons fire and magical projectiles slammed into it again and again, the purple alicorn drew in her power and her will, then her eyes flaring white wrapped them around herself and drew a line of sight towards the monsters closest to the entrance. Her target in sight, she took a deep breath and then charged towards the crowd at roughly a thirty degree angle.
        She was really rather proud of the spell, it was simple tweak to the teleportation one she had mastered back when Nightmare Moon had reappeared. Technically it was much less efficient over the short distance than the doorway in space time she conjured up for the original spell, this was more analogous to taking a speeding train. She’d developed it at Celestia’s recommendation as it was considerably better at moving long distances.
        It also had other applications as Twilight had found when she’d accidentally leveled a fortunately uninhabited house in Ponyville as well as several nearby trees nearby when she’d first begun testing it.
        The effect on the demon directly targeted was that the enormous flabby brown creature more or less exploded as Twilight became pure energy for a half second, accelerated to an appreciable fraction of light speed and returned in a burst of pink white magic somewhere in the creature’s upper torso.
        Blood and gore rained down as a shock wave of magic radiated out bowling over everything standing in about a twenty foot radius.
        The next spell was tricky because Twilight was improvising on the fly. She closed her eyes and concentrated as the swarming demons in around her either pulled themselves to their feet or succumbed to infighting as friendly fire triggered a lot of barely restrained tempters and sadistic impulses.
        It was all heavy lifting, striving to worm her magic into position to lift several hundred thousand pounds, gather it all into herself and then release it all on a relatively small target.
        For a few seconds everything on the street outside the school was lifted up weightless, everything that is but a cylinder around Twilight where the demons suddenly found themselves subject to every bit of gravitational force that Twilight had syphoned.
        With the monsters behind her now a confused mess and mostly tearing into one another given their lack of other targets and the fact that most of them hadn’t seen Twilight till her explosive entry, she now only had to deal with the handful directly in front of her (and Celestia only knew how many more inside waiting to tear her limb from limb, but Twilight could burn that bridge when she came to it).
        Heat built in her horn as she tried to gather the power for her next strike while at the same time keeping a shield up to deflect the attacks from the handful  of remaining monsters and the dozen more she could see framed by the doorway of the  school.
        The heat built slowly, rising from a low unpleasant burn to white hot agony but Twilight gathered still more power even as bolts of green lightning, balls of fire, bullets and rockets smashed against the shield. She didn’t charge until she smelled smoke and  felt a sensation of pins and needles inside of her skull.
        As she charged she reshaped the shield before, changing it from a dome to a wedge of raw magical force. In the last instant before she made contact she poured all of the magic she had gathered into a burst of unnatural speed.
        The impact shattered bones and pulped flesh, Twilight had formed the wedge perfectly to match the height and width of the doors. Some of the demons outside would survive, but all  the one just inside the small entry wall were swept up and either ground against the wall, ceiling or floor, until Twilight hit the far wall and the impact crushed and ripped apart the few  demons that lived through the initial impact.
Twilight didn’t stop, a long drawn out fight looking for the source of this invasion while slogging through halls and classrooms choked with dead foals  was not a good idea she had decided.
She blasted through walls with a force that killed demons on the other side before they’d even had a chance to be crushed by the plow of energy she pushed before her. Chairs and desks snapped and were annihilated beneath the onslaught, corpses she didn’t have the strength to look at exploded into bloody pulp and in a few rooms the ceiling collapsed, dropping the room above onto the survivors of Twilight’s passage.
Sooner or later she would run out of magic or find what she was looking for. As luck would have it she did both.
The last wall gave way, not in a final climactic burst of flying splinters and magic, but with a dull crack. There was only a small fractured hole down towards the bottom as the magic faded. Twilight’s head felt like somepony had  scattered a small box of thumbtacks inside and then carefully rolled her brain around until it had an even coating.
Something wet dripped down her muzzle and a quick lick confirmed that she’d sprung a nasty nose bleed. There were no demons here in this hall, at least no living ones she realized as glanced at the pulped and mangled forms she’d been forcing ahead of her, but she could hear the bellows of rage and hate everywhere and knew that pursuit couldn’t be far behind. That was important for reasons she couldn’t quite remember and her head felt really dizzy now. Maybe she should just lay down and let whatever was causing that racket sort itself out.
Twilight shook her head. She couldn’t afford to think like that now. Escape was the important thing, she crouched down to the hole she’d knocked in the wall. It looked big enough for a pony to crawl through.
On the other side was what had been the school's auditorium. Twilight fondly recalled many lectures on magic that she’d attended here. Like the rest of the school it was a bloodsoaked mess now. Corpses lay everywhere, most horrifically mutilated and most .
Twilight turned her head and felt the urge to be sick. It was never a good thing to see a corpse, but the corpse of foals held a special revulsion to her.
The air in the room was a thick miasma of smoke and the stench of spilled gore. She slipped behind a pile of smashed chairs and glanced out. There were no demons here, just a great smashed hole in the center, just before the stage.
Twilight crept forward as slowly and silently as she could till finally she was at the edge of the hole and looked down. into the schools basement.
A fiery pit stared back at her, a great gaping wound in the earth. She could see forms writhing hypnotically in its depths, it took an effort of will on her part to force her gaze away from it.
When she finally managed to avert her eyes Twilight’s gaze fell onto its borders and she solved another mystery. Laying in a circle around the massive hole was Discord, most of him anyways. The draconequus’ head was missing, and his body gutted. A technicolor nightmare of blood had been sprayed from the body in every color imaginable.
Twilight was so engrossed in the horror, her mouth locked in a silent scream that she only barely saw the massive red hand emerge from the pit, and only barely had time to dodge out of the way as the most massive demon yet hauled itself out of the pit, towering over her with barely its waist out.
The thing glared down at Twilight, who gulped and prepared for battle.
***
        The Prince looked over his work and found it good, he hadn’t had this much fun in millenia. Taking a world was a lot like marriage he thought. There was the whirlwind romance of the first penetration, of taking what was yours by right well and truly. Soon though the honeymoon ended and though you were still quite happy with your bride the initial excitement was gone. You had your fun, casting the mortals into squalor and filth, peeling back their flesh and rearranging their organs in alphabetical order. Eventually though you’d notice how stretched out and tired the bride was until you were left with an old useless whore, broken and stained with sin and madly gibbering about how it would do anything so long as you stopped ripping out her fingernails.
        So you found a new bride. The old one could stick around, teach the new one how to weep and suffer properly and you know that eventually like all the marriages before it you’d get bored with this one as well.
        Best to live in the moment he decided, and withdrew his presence from the Royal bedroom where the dark Princess was gathering her strength. It would be interesting to see for what, he hoped it would be as entertaining as the humans setting off their nuclear weapons.
        For now though it was time for foreplay.
        The creeping miasma of black magic drew itself up a ways from Canterlot castle on the opposite side of the bridge leading up the place. 
        It really was a repulsively pleasant looking palace, all gleaming marble spires with truly awful accents of pink, purple and green. He’d have to do something about that.
He began to form himself as he observed the battle around him. So many choices, so many emotions. The fear and rage of the ponies, the mindless hate and hunger of his forces, the pain and despair of the wounded in the palace, it was thrilling.
He decided on a classical shape blended with the sensibilities of this world, and the darkness condensed itself, falling into a new shape. 
***
        The world dimmed as Applejack fought to dislodge one of her hoof blades from the face of a grotesque tentacled beast. She thought it was her wounds for a moment, she had lost a lot of blood recently, but then the world returned to its normal brightness.
        Something was wrong, there was a new scent in the air, something foul and unidentifiable. Demons were falling back or jumping off of the bridge if they couldn’t.
        Up above one of the pegasi guards called out “I see a pony on the other side!”
        Immediately he flew forward as Applejack called out “Wait!” and was ignored by the dozen or so guards who bolted forward to investigate or to press the advantage on the demon’s sudden retreat. There was something very wrong here, she could feel it on a bone deep level.
        When the pegasus was half way across a black, oily cloud jetted up and and surrounded him, he shrieked and a moment later plummeted down onto the bridge where he landed with an audible crunch, black fluid coated his body, and spurted and gurgled away from the corpse which was slowly collapsing into the sludge.
        Across the bridge a pony strode forth. He, and it was emphatically a he, impressively so even, had a jet black coat and mane with smoldering red eyes and a cocky, imperious look on his face.
        The guards did not let up the charge, the first one to meet the apparition wasn’t able to scream before his head met some sort of invisible mesh that sliced his skull into cubes an inch across. The next was hurled to the ground by an unseen force that slammed down onto and crushed his hips and legs.
        The horrifying black pony looked into Applejack’s eyes then, and a sickening grin split his lips.
        So this was it then? Applejack felt something oily and wicked slither across her soul, it whispered to her, hissing about her, about how she should get down on her knees before her new master and make herself of use to him, and perhaps, just perhaps her suffering would be less than the others.
        Fury blossomed in her chest and the sickly whispering force burned away. Unnoticed by the now enraged Applejack, the Prince staggered back as if he’d been struck. 
        “How dare you?” Applejack whispered “How dare you?!” her voice raising from a whisper to a shout.
        She charged, wounds and fear forgotten as a raw burning fury filled her. She know what this thing was but something in her told her it was not a pony, never had been and as she drew closer she could see the proof of it. The thing had six horns sprouting from its skull, and its mouth was filled with sharp fangs. It actually looked quite handsome in a diabolical way but Applejack could feel the lie that defined this creature. It was everything she was not, a lying beast masquerading as a living thing that held the right to walk beneath the living sky.
        The fluid that had leaked from the dead, now dissolved pegasus lept from the ground in sticky black tendrils as fresh flesh approached and as it struck at her coat the fluid burst into brilliant white flame the same color as the furious glow that came from her eyes.
        She met the Prince midway across the bridge and struck at him, the Prince ducking back with a serpentine motion.
        Applejack followed up with a second blow that was dodged, and a third. There was no planning to the assault, just raw fury.
***
        This was unexpected. When the humans had thought, nothing had answered their prayers, there was no holy force to defend mankind, but the terrible burning flame in this pony was the first thing he’d ever encountered that could be called divine. The Prince had always sort of wondered what it would be like to actually face a force that countered him.
        Turns out that he hated it. This little bitch would squirm for daring to bring this pathetic little display before him, he’d make a special place for her, and he finally let her die and pass into the general population of hell only when she renounced whatever god was feeding her this power.
        He casually struck out at her flank with a razor sharp tendril of will that should have split flesh to the bone but that cracked and burned against her instead. She actually caught him a blow across the face this time, a quick savage strike that knocked out a tooth and forced the Prince to stagger back.
        “You impudent little cunt.” His voice was utterly deadpan, and he decided to lower himself to physical attacks, slashing at her exposed throat with his horns, but the orange pony nimbly dodged back and countered with a viscous lunge that clipped one of his folded bat wings quite painfully.
        The Prince was angry now. Such defiance was not to be tolerated. There would be time enough to fuck the lesson into the little bitch later, but for now it was time to crush this insect and get back to his fun.
***
        Applejack snarled at the snake, the vermin, the rancid sadistic liar standing before her, mocking her and all the ponies who had died with its form.
        If she had been rational, she might have wondered why it was that this creature more than any of the other nightmarish things inspired her to hatred but as it stood she mostly just knew that she wanted it dead because...
        Because somethings should not be allowed to walk beneath the living sky came a cool calm voice within her. But you know you can’t win.
        The voice wasn’t hers, but Applejack didn’t care. It didn’t matter that she would lose in the end, you had to fight when things like this reared their ugly heads.
        Besides there was nowhere to run to.
        Again the world dimmed around her, and again she struck out, but the Prince caught her foreleg in his jaws and turned upon her a look so hateful that it cut right through her fury and chilled her soul. The corners of the demonic stallion’s mouth turned up and he bit down with a sickening crunch
        Applejack punched him with her free limb right in the eye, which caused the Prince to release her leg as he bellowed in fury and Applejack tackled him, hoping to force him over the edge.
        Just before she reached him through a sliver of brilliant pain ran through her body and she fell to the ground again in a pair of wet thuds.
***
        The Prince breathed hard as he looked down at the bisected pony, it had taken a lot of force to slice through that power that had wrapped around her, and it had hurt like the blazes whenever his magic made contact with that invisible fire.
        He took a moment to compose himself, first he should get the physical form back in a properly intimidating condition. He concentrated for a moment and-
        -nothing. There was no change, his jaw still hurt and his skull still thundered where she had struck him. The horrible little cunt had actually managed to hurt him, really hurt him.
        He whirled on her still form snarling out “what did you do to me you little whore?!” The pony just smiled weakly up at him, contempt in her eyes.
        The dam broke and the Prince charged her screaming in primal outrage, rearing up and stamping down on her still form with his massive hooves. Bone shattered and flesh tore beneath the assault, blood spraying across the bridge as he tore into her chest with his horrible fangs.
***
        Applejack didn’t fight or scream, there was no point to it. Besides she felt no pain, not even a section of leg was flayed open by magic and the Prince began tearing at the exposed nerves. All she felt was a warm numbness.
        The last thought to go through Applejack’s head before everything faded away was of her little sister. I’m sorry Apple Bloom.
***
        The Prince reared back and let out a howl of pure rage. The fucking cunt had gone and died. She’d died before he’d had a chance to give her a proper going over for the insolence of fighting back! How dare she, how dare any of these wretched little beasts defy him?!
        He’d find the bitch again in hell, whatever had protected her hadn’t been able to stop her soul being drawn down into the pit, and when he found her he’d drag her back and make her watch while he personally skinned everything she’d ever loved alive.
        Almost offhandedly he caught the boulder that had been catapulted towards him in a telekinetic grip. Deep breath. There couldn’t be that many more like her could there? He’s enjoy the rest of this attack, have some fun with the stupid cunt Princess up in the castle, then hunt down the orange bitch in hell and spend a few millennia teaching her humility.
        He turned and hurled the boulder back towards the castle, not particularly caring where he hit it.
        Yes, he’d take out a little bit of his aggression on the ponies in this castle, that should be fun.
***
        Twilight’s ears rang. She’d barely dodged that last attack, and the explosion had flung her halfway across the room. Now a sharp pain had begun in her side, and as the monstrosity leveled its mechanical arm at her again she spread her wings and nearly collapsed as agony flared up in one wing. She’d landed pretty heavily on it, and a cold poisonous dread began to creep into the young Princess.
        She bolted on hoof as the beast fired, a massive flaming projectile from a cybernetic arm blossomed into a great fiery explosion behind her. Twilight went sprawling across the floor, and as she twisted white hot pain exploded in wing as she landed on it. She let out a pained squeak as the thing’s laughter boomed out into the now burning auditorium, the volume shaking dust from the rafters and causing more than one of the expensive chandeliers to fall to the floor with shuddering crunch.
        A hand the size of a house reached down for her, and Twilight barely managed to scramble away in time from enormous black claws.
        Back on her hooves she scrambled for the far exit. Twilight couldn’t fight the thing, not like this, not with her magic drained to the dregs, not alone. How could anypony hope to fight something like this alone?
        Another deafening explosion tore through the room, this time the projectile passed over Twilight’s head entirely, at first she was just glad it missed, till it impacted the doors she’d been running for and collapsed her only exit into rubble.
        Twilight’s heart leapt into her throat. It can’t end like this she thought it can’t have all been for nothing.
        “Face me mortal.” The demon’s voice boomed across the room.
        Twilight turned slowly and faced the horrible grinning thing. Her voice came out in a whisper.
        “Why? Why are you doing this?”
        The demon reared its head back and laughed, and went on laughing for some time, it made Twilight’s blood boil and her teeth grind.
        “Why?! You ask me why we have come?” it crouched down till it was relatively on eye level with Twilight. “Because we can little beast. Because your screams are like music and your tears like wine. Because its fun.”
        “You...” her voice was choked and cracked by a rage she had never felt before “you monster.”
        This feeling of fury was definitely new  the analytical part of Twilight’s brain informed her. Even when her brother had failed to inform Twilight of his imminent wedding she hadn’t felt this angry. It was a little frightening.
        The demon finally took notice of the fact she wasn’t cowering in terror, but rather vibrating with rage. He sighed in anticipation. “And just what are you going to do little morsel? Fling you petty little magics at me? You have nothing left.”
        This cut through Twilight’s rage. What could she do? She had nothing left but that isn’t true Twilight.
        Where had that come from? It had felt like her own voice, but odd. Was there a way? Yes perhaps there was. Information sprang into her thoughts, there was a way to fight this thing, but it would require sacrifice. There is no power without sacrifice.
        “You fascinate me mortal.” the demon purred. “Surrender now, and I’ll let you be my pet.”
        Twilight’s eyes blazed. She glared up at the demon and drew in the very fabric of her own life as a knife of searing pain stabbed into her skull and something wet began pouring down her face. She hissed out “Never.” through clenched teeth.
The demon roared and slammed its cybernetic arm down towards Twilight and in the instant before the arm would have crushed her she vanished in a burst of purple white magic.
Not a second later Twilight materialized in something firm, sticky and suffocating, where she thrashed about in panic and rage. All around her was a thundering, shuddering noise of rushing fluid, and Twilight dug deep, once more seizing her own life force and hammering it into a new spell.
The demon’s head exploded above the jaw, raining a shower of bone fragments and brain matter down around it, blood gushing up in a macabre fountain from its neck.
Everything hung suspended for a moment, before the thing began to fall back into the pit that it had crawled from. Twilight followed, her consciousness fading under the strain from both her last desperate magic and the pain that battered at her from every side.
        As she fell she looked into the eye’s of Discord’s corpse. The Draconequus’ face was locked in an expression of agony and terror.
***
        There was no where left to run, which suited Rainbow Dash just fine. She collapsed on the floor as everypony still strong enough to stand shoved every stick of furniture they could find to barricade the door.
        Just minutes ago guards had come running, reporting some new monster which had broken through their defensive lines and was headed straight for them. They’d gathered up the wounded and run, in blind panic they had chosen the route poorly because now they were barricaded in large conference room with no exit.
        Now the question was how long would they be able to hold out? There were maybe a dozen ponies left fit to fight, and only a quarter of them had any kind of combat training.
        Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie huddled close to their fallen friend. Fluttershy knew that Rainbow Dash didn’t have much time left before her wounds took her. Honestly it was a mystery how the cyan pegasus had survived this long at all.
        Pinkie gently nuzzled Dash’s blood stained neck, and Fluttershy crouched low and spread a single comforting wing over her friends. The girls silently waited for the end.
        It  didn’t take long. Blows thudded against the chamber’s doors, accompanied by low growls and moans. Guards readied their weapons, ready to defend the civilians. From the other side of the door a voice like dark chocolate gone rotten said “out of the way.”
        The door and its barricade didn’t explode, everypony was sort of expecting that. It melted into a horrible twitching black sludge, and through it strode an ebony pony, his massive bat wings extended proudly, his satanic beauty marred by shiner somepony had managed to give him and his contemptuous sneer would have been more intimidating if he hadn’t been missing a couple of the long sharp fangs.
        One either side of the stranger stood a pair of guard ponies, all dead, but shambling and moaning instep with the black stallion nonetheless.
        “Allow me to introduce myself” the monster, and Fluttershy felt on a bone deep level that this was a monster, said “I am the Prince, of darkness, lies, suffering” he punctuated that last word with an unnervingly pleased sucking noise “and currently wrath.”
        He had reached one of the guards, who took a swing at him with a bladed hoof, the Prince seized the hoof in mid air, and suddenly the room was filled with the sound of screaming as the guard pony’s foreleg was torn out of its socket. 
        “You see” said the Prince, raising his voice to be heard over the maimed pony’s screams “some stupid little orange cunt has left me rather put out, and so I’m afraid that you’re all going to have to die screaming because of it.”
        To Fluttershy’s surprise she had risen to her hooves and was baring her teeth. This... this thing... this abomination. She hated it. Fluttershy had never hated anything before in her life! The concept of hate, it had always seemed so alien to the yellow pegasus, but just looking at this monstrosity that walked in the shape of a pony made her bile rise and her skin crawl. It was the antithesis to everything she was, a mockery of life itself and it had to die-
        “YOU BIG MEANIE!” Everypony stopped at that, even the undead guards looked surprised. All eyes turned to Pinkie Pie. She stood as well, her mane returned to its normal poofy state, although Fluttershy felt it looked... spikier than it had before.
        “Meanie.” Said the Prince, his voice utterly flat. “I must admit, I’ve never been called something so... childish before. I am going to enjoy watching you bleed.”
        A choking laughter came from the floor, and Fluttershy looked down at Rainbow Dash, her eye was open again, and she was trying to force herself upright. The rainbow maned pegasus spat a mouthful of blood out. “Bet I know who gave you that black eye loser.” She actually grinned mockingly at the Prince. “Its not like AJ to leave a job half finished.” She took a single step forward. “Lets finish it girls.”
        The Prince’s eyes flashed with rage. “Do not kill them.” he said to the undead guards “I have some lessons to teach them before they are allowed to die.”
         Everypony charged in that instance, and the room rapidly dissolved into chaos.
         The three remaining guard ponies attacked the Prince, blades slashing and hooves stomping, but none of their attacks seemed to connect. The Prince’s did unfortunately, he slashed throats with his horns, bit through tendons with his fangs and shattered bones with his sharp hooves, and yet for all that he was a whirling streak of painful death, none of guards fell or stopped attacking. Rainbow Dash slowly, painfully forced herself towards the fray, still with a mocking grin locked on her face as the Prince snarled in rage.
        The undead guards went for the civilians and wounded, only to find their way block by an enraged Pinkie Pie, who reared up on her hind legs, produced a pair of cymbals from Celestia knew where and clanged them on the first zombie ponies head, which was smashed to a gorry pulp and dropped the rest of the body to the ground. She whipped the cymbals at two more, each one expertly severing a head. “You want a fight?!” she shouted “Well you’ll get a fight! Pinkie Pie style!”
        Again from seemingly nowhere the dull pink pony produced a cannon. The first blast covered the advancing zombies with confetti and streamers. The second blast turned them into a fine red mist sprayed across the walls. The pink earth pony was everywhere, but as much as she chaotically reduced the undead to pieces, her damage did not compare to Fluttershy’s.
        Fluttershy stood confused for a moment when the battle started. She hated the Prince, a great freezing tide of loathing that didn’t drown out rational thought, it crystallized it. She looked at the undead guards. She didn’t hate them, how could she? They were just as much the horrible, loathsome beast’s victims as everyone else.
        Her eyes locked with one, and she could feel the pleading in its heart. It begged her for death.
        As if in a trance she approached one, and laid a comforting hoof on its shoulder. “Rest now” she said.
        And the dead guard did as she told him, slumping to the ground, finally at rest, at least temporarily. 
        “Fluttershy! Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash called out “get the wounded out of here, I’ll keep this creep busy!”
        So saying she leapt, and all of the guards that had been fighting the Prince, even as their guts were torn out and skulls beaten open promptly stepped back and fell to floor stone dead.
        The Prince was caught off guard, and was barely able to angle it so that the cyan pegasus impaled herself on his horns, three of them digging into her soft gut, and for a moment the Prince allowed himself a victorious smile as he felt warm blood spill out onto his face. The smile vanished when it became apparent that he now had seventy five pounds of extremely angry pegasus firmly attached to his head, and that this one was filled with the same holy fire as her friend on the bridge.
        Rainbow Dash kicked and punched at him, raining blows down upon the Prince, while he panicked and tried to throw her off. Every successful blow felt like he’d been struck with a branding iron, her back hooves which kicked at his chest raked along his flesh like they had talons, slashing open his velvet coat and solid muscle, spilling blood so dark it seemed to be black.
        Finally he threw the bitch to the ground and roared, only to find that his undead soldiers had fallen and most of his prey escaped. Then a hoof crashed into his ribs and he went tumbling over the fallen Rainbow Dash, bleating out a noise of genuine fear and confusion.
        He was fairly certain that the last attack had cracked a rib.
        Rainbow Dash looked up through blood clouded vision “You have to get up Dashy! You promised we’d go home!” Pinkie sounded like she was in tears.
        She shook her head. “I’m not gonna make it...”
        She felt a strong something soft brush against her, trying to lift her up, Fluttershy she thought “we’re leaving now Dash, we have to go before it gets any worse.”
        That made dash want to laugh. How could things possibly get worse?
        Something snarled and stomped, the Prince’s hoof hovered only an inch above her head. 
        Rainbow Dash had heard once that loss of oxygen to the brain from something like massive blood loss could cause hallucinations, and that struck her as the only possible explanation for what she was seeing. Fluttershy was using The Stare (it warranted the capital letters) on what she was pretty sure was pure evil.
        “Listen carefully” the shy yellow pegasus said, hate forming frost crystals on her words “we’re taking our friend, and leaving. If you try to stop us maybe you’ll win, maybe you’ll kill us all, but I swear that I will make it the most painful victory in your miserable life you horrible sadistic bully.”
        Strong forelegs wrapped under Rainbow Dash’s own, and Pinkie pulled her out of stomping range, her own face reflecting Dash’s disbelief.
        The Prince slowly lowered his hoof, and did his best to counter the Stare, he sent out waves of filth and degradation at the wretch yellow pony, sent her visions of torment and pain undreamed of. Her gaze never wavered. The Prince blinked.
        “I will hunt you down” he whispered “all of you. And when I have you-” Fluttershy didn’t let him finish the sentence. She slapped him across the jaw.
        “Pinkie?”
        “Yes Fluttershy?”
        “Do you have Rainbow Dash.”
        “Yes Fluttershy.”
        “Then we’re leaving. Now.”
        The two slowly backed out of the room, Fluttershy’s eyes never left the Prince’s own.
        When they were out of sight, he let out a shudder. That could not possibly have really happened.
        He resolved to end this as quickly as possible. These creatures were starting to get to him. He’d deal with those three properly later, much later after he’d figured out whatever was empowering the wretched things and strangled it with its own intestines.
***
        Luna could stand now, the dark magic that had so shackled her and her sister had gone.
        Celestia’s breathing was shallow and labored. The Princess of the sun didn’t have much time left now.
        The Demon was coming for them, something ancient and crackling with power and malevolence. The elements had hurt it, for a few brief moments Luna had hoped that the girls might actually have killed the monstrosity.
        The door to the chambers burst open in a hail of splintered wood and a lance of dark power shot through the air and slashed a bloody wound across her flank.
        Luna winced, the pain made her stumble for a moment, but still the power flowed into her. The Princess of the Night looked upon the filth.
        That was the only word for the creature, filth. Defilement and cruelty poured off of him, staining everything that they touched. Its face, that was shaped into a mockery of pony form, was contorted in rage.
        “So at last I find the pretty pony princesses that rule this putrid little land, I can’t say I’m impressed.”
        The living insult took a few steps closer. “Nothing to say? Not surprised. I expect you have some last terrible attack to unleash on me, they usually do.
        “Before you die dear, I’d like to tell you what I’m going to do to your little world. I’m going to kill it. And I shall go on killing it for millennia.” He savored the last word like sweet.
        “The suffering of your people shall be legendary, more so than that of any other world I’ve taken for the insults your subjects have offered me.” He physically struck Luna now. It didn’t erase the sting of that horrible yellow bitch’s slap, but it did feel good. Would have been better if she sprawled on the floor and whimpered, but they would have time enough to break the haughty little cunt.
        “Do you understand slut? Your world will die, screaming and raped, all because you are too weak to stop me.”
        Something unseen grasped him, and flung the Prince across the room, slamming him into a wall.
        Celestia rose to her feet.
        “Do not touch my sister filth.” She stared at him, her eyes nothing but bloody ruined pits, and yet she still locked her gaze on him. Blood flowed freely from her nose and ears, gushed from the stump of her horn in slow horrible spurts. Her nightmarish warm magic seized one of the Prince’s wings.
        “YOU DARE TO TOUCH ME WHORE?!” he shrieked, casting out his dark magic into the Princesses mind again “YOU WHO ARE AS AN INSECT?! YOU AND YOUR WRETCHED LITTLE SUBJECTS SHOULD BE ON YOUR KNEES BEFORE ME! YOU SHOULD-”
        One of the things that made Princess Celestia Princess Celestia was the fact that she could cut off a shouted rant without ever raising her voice.
        “Do not” she said, strengthening her mental grip around the Prince’s wing “touch” she began to twist “my” she began to pull as bone snapped “sister.” With the last word she tore the Prince’s wing from his body, spewing black blood across the wall.
        The pain gave the Prince the edge he needed, he found something in the Princess’s mind and tore. Celestia gave a gasp and shuddered to the floor as life finally fled her body. Tears streaked Luna’s face. I’ll see you soon sister she thought.
        The Prince gasped and staggered up. The pain was more than anything he’d ever experienced in his life. 
        Victory was in his grasp. He’d end this blue bitch and retire to hell where he could lick his wounds and plan his revenge.
        He snarled up at Luna and stalked towards her. “Any last words bitch?!”
        Luna opened her eyes and smiled, she spoke in the Royal Canterlot Voice.
        “BURN!”
***
        Pinkie and Fluttershy were sprinting, or at least running as fast as they could with a wounded Rainbow Dash on Pinkie’s back. One thing was certain, the palace had fallen and now was the time for all sensible ponies to get out while the getting was good.
        Fluttershy’s stare warded off any monsters that happened to cross their path. Most veering off on a different course, but in at least one notable case the demons just stood aside to let them pass.
        Tears ran freely down Pinkie’s face. All around them were dead ponies, many of them the wounded that had managed to escape while Dash had held off the being that had called itself a Prince.
        Eventually the girls made it to wide open courtyard, It was strewn with the bodies of ponies and demons, and overturned in one corner gilded chariot, enchanted to fly when pulled by a pegasus.
        The girls ran for it, and it was the work of a moment to get the harness fitted around Fluttershy. It would be slow going with only one pegasus, but no better options for getting out of Canterlot presented itself. Gingerly, Pinkie Pie laid Rainbow Dash down on the chariot’s floor and pressed an ear to the cyan pegasus’s chest. Her heartbeat was there, slow and weak, and the rise and fall of her chest was barely detectable, but she was still alive.
        The chariot jerked and began to move. Slowly it rose in the air, and Fluttershy finally allowed herself to cry. She wished that this would all be over, that she’d wake up any minute now in her cozy warm bed to Angel bunny thumping his foot against her head demanding his breakfast.
        Slowly they approached the border of Canterlot proper, nopony was willing to look down at the carnage below, the demons themselves too preoccupied with the slaughter to bother much about single chariot fleeing the battle, though one or two took lazy pot shots at it.
        Pinkie held Rainbow Dash close and murmured half coherent pleas for her to live.
        As the passed over the off pink wall that surrounded the city, now shattered and over run with a scrabbling, gibbering horde of demons, there was the sound of a great explosion, and the world was flooded with brilliant white light. Pinkie closed her eyes and screamed, Fluttershy felt a painful yank as the shockwave twisted and tossed the chariot before blacking out.
        The air opened up behind and beneath Pinkie Pie and as she fell for just a moment she saw a second sun in the air. She screamed again, and fell seemingly forever before there was a second explosion and she felt strong limbs wrap around her and push away from the earth below.

***
Still miles away, Rarity ducked into the forest again. She was tired and hurt. Every moment she felt the urge to just collapse and let the blackness take her. Now was not the time to fight an unwinnable battle with a horde of monsters.
She stared towards her goal, Canterlot still so far off. Something was wrong, more so than the fact it was burning at any rate.
Then it happened, a blinding flash of light like a second sun. When she looked back, she couldn’t stop the gasp of horror.
Canterlot was gone.
***
        Pinkie Pie slowly came back to consciousness.  She tried to remember what had happened to her, and it all jumped on her at once.
        The pink pony leapt to her hooves and looked around with panic in her eyes. She and Fluttershy were laying in a small clearing. She ran over to Fluttershy and gently shook her. Fluttershy moaned and blinked, returning from the depths of her own black out.
        “Pinkie? Where-” Fluttershy’s own memory returned, and her eyes began to fill with tears.
        Pinkie hugged her friend close.
        When they parted they found Rainbow Dash nearby. She looked quite peaceful, laying down as if asleep. Her chest wasn’t moving.  Her heart wasn’t beating.
        Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy held each other close and cried softly, then abandoned all pretense and sobbed uncontrollably.
***
The Prince was in agony, but still he howled in elation.  His body was charred, the luxurious mane burned away, one leg nothing but a smoking molten stump but still he stood. The bitch had failed! He’d taken everything this world could throw at him, and he had beaten it all.
A horrible smile spread across his mutilated half blind face. He hoped the Princesses would enjoy hell. He certainly would enjoy them, and all those little bitches that had dared to strike him.
A worm of doubt had been planted though, what if there were more of them? What if they found and allied themselves with some of hell’s more troublesome prisoners? He snorted, banishing the unbecoming emotion from his mind.
What would it matter? He’d beaten them all before, and he’d survived having what he was pretty sure was a miniature sun dropped on him.
He strode across the plane of red hot glass that was all that remained of the ponies’ beautiful city. It was marred by a great glowing pit which was slowly widening.
The Prince kicked at the wretched beast that had been used to hold open the pit. The thing couldn’t really die, it existed beyond such certainties.
One of it’s yellow eyes opened, and Discord croaked out in a voice dripping with contempt. “Oh, you again. Go away you dull little beast.”
The Prince kicked again, and the bound spirit of chaos winced. “I need information creature. You will left out a lot when we first spoke.”
“Did I?” There was a spark of humor in the draconequus’ eyes. “Terribly sorry, normally I’m much more cooperative to boring little things that torture me for information, where are my manners today?”
The Prince thought he’d be more irritated by this, but smile crept across his face. This was exactly what he needed after all the awful stuff that had happened today. This was going to be fun.

[1]Fancy being a predominantly unicorn country renowned for its wine, cheese and snootiness, with a forgotten reputation for bloodthirsty rebellion at the drop of a hat.

> Long Hard Road into Hell
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Chapter 4: Long Hard Road into Hell

        Rarity scanned the area before her from the woodline. She was looking down into a small valley that the Friendship Express passed through on its way to Canterlot. There was a smattering of buildings down there, barely enough to be called a village really. Even from this distance she could make out the splashes of blood and the warped figures skulking about in the burned fields.
        She supposed she could try to skirt around the lip of the valley, keeping to the forest, but that was not a tactic she favored. She’d been ambushed by more of the pink animalistic things and a horrible, buzzing monstrosity that had almost done her in and had torn out a large chunk of her mane when she’d bolted into the woods after...
        Rarity swallowed hard. It felt like she had stone in her throat. She’d bolted into the woods after Canterlot had vanished, she refused to think the words “had been destroyed”, with her eyes clenched tightly shut.
        A nagging voice in the back of her head screamed they’re dead. They’re all dead. You’ll find nothing there Rarity. Your friends are all dead Rarity. You’ll never see them again until some horrible hellspawn tears you open. But she had shoved that voice down into the deep black vaults of her mind. At least thats what she told herself.
        Surely it couldn’t be as horrible as she thought. Celestia was close to, if not the most powerful being in Equestria. Surely she and Twilight had been able to save the girls? Teleport them to safety?
        So why keep going? said the hateful voice in her head If they’d retreat anywhere it would be to Ponyville. Run home! You should at least die with your sister. Unless the monsters are already at Ponyville. Unless Sweetie Belle already died screaming and wishing for her big sister to come and save her. Why are you such a failure Rarity? You. Can’t. Save. Anypony.
        It was then that Rarity noticed that she’d been chewing on her lip, and had infact bitten through the skin, she tasted blood.
        Rarity made her decision. She had to find out, really find out what happened to Canterlot and her friends. She also decided that she couldn’t waste the time it would take to make a circle around the valley, so she’d just have to go through, and an unfortunate byproduct of that was that she’d probably have to kill every single one of those murderous repulsive brutes, that she would have to stoop to unladylike behavior like breaking their bones and castrating the curs, then carving the names of the dead on their hideous, repulsive skin. She made the decision entirely from a practical perspective, and not from a soul crushing desire for revenge and to join her friends in death.
        She slipped out of the woods, darting over towards a large rock. No bellows of demonic glee or rage came. She’d have to be careful in her approach, head to the farmhouse first where hopefully she could claim a new weapon, one of the ones she’d come to think of as a big death stick for preference. Those tended not to leave much of the monster behind, especially fired from point blank rage into its hateful murdering skull. A dim, dying part of Rarity wondered if she was going insane.
        She ducked from the boulder to a fallen tree , to a tall patch of grass, to a pond.
        She slid into the mucky water without a sound, giving only the mildest signs of revulsion at the mud and filth. All things considered the muck wasn’t even close to the most disgusting thing that had been on her that day.
        Rarity held her breath for a moment before surfacing, glancing around for any nearby monsters, and locked her gaze with the still gaze of a young unicorn filly.
        She would have been about Sweetie Belle’s age. She even looked a bit like Rarity’s sister, so perhaps Rarity can be forgiven for letting out a small horrified scream.
        Rarity ducked back down, fighting the urge to vomit. The foal was nothing but a charred skeleton below the chest. There wasn’t even any blood, the heat from the hellfire had cauterized the wound.
        She felt it again. The fury that had come up from someplace deep inside when she’d seen that wretched ape tormenting a pegasus he had maimed back at the train wreck.
        It burned hot and pure and clean in her veins, she couldn’t put her rage into words, but f she could have she would have said there were somethings that should not be allowed to happen beneath the living sky.
        Rarity made no more attempt to be stealthy. She managed to avoid actively shouting out with outrage and bloodlust as she darted into the corn fields behind the farm.
        There was one of the ape creatures there, tall and pale with most of its lower jaw ripped away, it was pulling open a cow’s carcass with a baling hook and didn’t notice Rarity till she slammed into it from behind and bore the creature to the ground. She seized an ear between her teeth and wrenched her head to the side. The beast thrashed and gurgled beneath her, trying to right itself as she began rain blows down upon its head.
        Rarity felt the skull crack beneath her hooves but kept slamming her hooves into it, even as the head split open with a wet crunching noise, and the thing beneath her spasmed. She didn’t stop until she realized she was just pounding chunks of skull and brain into the earth.
        She looked up then, a red haze in her vision scanning around for her next target. Nothing between her and the barn where she heard the occasional staccato burst of death sticks firing.
        The bailing hook came up into her telekinetic grip, and she spat out the fallen monster’s ear before rushing towards the big red building.
        She crouched low just outside the doors, glancing inside. Three of the spiny brown beasts, two fighting over a dead pig, the other hunched over...
        Hunched over a dead stallion, and rutting. That one would go first she decided.
        There was also two of the ape creatures, these ones held death sticks and were firing them into the stalls where Rarity heard pigs squealing.
She crept in behind the rutting beast, and announced herself by swinging the baling hook up in between its legs into soft flesh and kept going until she hit bone.
The horrible beast screamed in agony as Rarity, with the sort of expert precision that can only come from years of experience trying to manipulate multiple tools of the seamstress’s trade at once when the pony she was making adjustments on squirmed and fidgeted and ripped the hook backwards sending blood gushing out onto the offal strewn hay of the barn before slamming it into the wretched things back and twisting it around till it slipped over the fiends spine. At the same time she leveled one the last of her big death sticks at the nearest creature that had previously been scuffling with its own kind for the dead pig and pulled the trigger, and Rarity felt a mad grin spread across her face as the top of its head exploded, spraying brain matter and fragments of skull across the room as blood fountained up out of the cratered skull.
The ape things whirled on her then firing their death sticks, a kind she’d never seen before, six gleaming steel barrels spinning and roaring as they sprayed their deadly fire at her. Rarity yanked back on the baling hook, pull the horrible rapist against her where it jerked and twitched as bullets tore into it.
Rarity pumped her big death stick, ejecting a spent shell and as she leveled it at one of the monstrous apes a part of she scolded herself for never stopping and taking a good look at the weapon with an aim to figuring out how it actually worked.
One of the monsters jerked as she fired, its weapon falling to the ground as the arm that held it was severed in bloody explosion. The remaining brown spiny beast was trying to flank her, so Rarity gave a telekinetic heave and hurled the corpse at the remaining ape, knocking it off balance for a moment.
Rarity rushed the ape as the thing behind her gave an angry squeal and leapt at her exposed back. She ducked between the ape’s legs, slamming the stock of her death stick into its kneecap.
        The horrible brown monster collided with the ape and the two went down struggling and tearing at eachother.
        Rarity had learned that the monsters did not like each other. More than once she’d ducked out of sight along the wood line, and watched as the monsters fought one another for the most trivial provocations. She’d actually exploited this once or twice, using a carefully hurled rock to set the members of one of their bands to infighting.
        The spiky brown thing tore into the ape with homicidal abandon, it had been looking to kill something, and now here was something that bled and struggled against it, it could deal with the bloody unicorn later.
        It tore open the ape creatures guts and began pulling lengths of intestine out to howls of pain, and bit into its skull silencing the creature.
        Rarity leveled the death stick at the monster’s head and pulled the trigger. The death stick gave an impotent click, and the brown monster lept.
        Rarity barely dodged away just in time, one of its claws slicing across her cheek and she brought the stock of her now useless death stick down onto the brute’s head so hard that the wood cracked, then shattered on the second blow, leaving a jagged shard that she rammed into the back of the stunned monster’s neck hard enough to pin the vile beast to the floor. She watched it scrabble at the hay and dirt, and listen to its gurgles for moment, her heart hammering in her chest, then took stock of the situation, listening closely for the sound of approaching monsters, she had made quite a lot of noise after all.
        As she listened she took in the state of the barn. It seemed that when the monsters had first attacked the people who lived here had herded the animals into the barn to keep them safe, apparently believing that they would be safe here. The demons had killed most of the animals, some of the pigs still thrashed and squealed as they bled out. The stallion had been, decapitated. Rarity felt the bile rise in her throat when she caught sight of the earth pony’s severed head. It had been forced down onto his own...
        No. Rarity refused to acknowledge the defilement. There were somethings no one should ever have to look at.
        Keeping her ears trained for the sounds of attack, and one eye on the door, Rarity began to investigate the spinning death sticks the two ape monsters had been using. These ones were bigger than any of the other’s she’d seen, at one end there was a trigger and a handle, and she noted a small glowing screen with 054 on it. Rarity considered the possibility that it was an ammunition counter of some kind. 
        Speaking of which, she noticed a belt of interconnected metal objects going from a slot on the side of the weapon down to a box supported under it.. They resembled nothing more so that fire works, except she couldn’t see a fuse.
        Rarity tinkered with the object for a bit, she twisted knobs and lifted levers until the thing clicked and the top of the weapon popped open a hinge down near the barrels and the glowing screen went black. 
        Five minutes later Rarity was fairly certain she’d worked out how the weapon worked. She’d linked the two partially expended belts together and now had them laying in a single box hooked up beneath the spinning death stick (she really had to find a better name for these things than that, it sounded distressingly phallic.) She  pulled back on a handle on the weapons side, which rotated a new barrel into position, and if she was right pulled the first bullet out of its links and readied it to fire.
        She crept out of the barn, her new weapon levitating on one side of her, and a pitchfork she’d found in the barn on the other.
        The rage had died down significantly, Rarity still wanted, oh how she wanted, to kill every last one of repulsive things, but now at least she was capable of thinking.
        The farm house was empty, at least of monsters. What they hadn’t been able to steal, eat or fuck they had smashed. The creatures had ransacked the ice box, then bashed it until it was a deformed chunk of crumpled metal and plastic leaking water on the floor. They had smashed the table and chairs to splinters and torn the doors off every cabinet and cupboard smashing or shredding the contents on the floor.
        Rarity picked her way carefully around the torn up kitchen. Filth she thought thats what these things are, they are filth down to the core. Rarity despised filth, she could tolerate tackiness or physical ugliness, the former being mostly a matter of personal taste and the other being an unfortunate state of nature that only the insufferably cruel would judge an individual for. Filth however was inexcusable. For Rarity there was a world of difference between being dirty which was an unfortunate side effect of both work and play, especially when she did things with the girls, and being filthy which was a sin.
        The question is came the small, hateful voice of doubt which one am I?
        Rarity found the owners in the basement. A family of four. They’d been burned alive. One of the charred bodies was clutching two tiny ones to its chest.
        Rarity felt herself getting angry again. Good. She preferred it that way. Everything hurt less when she was angry.
        No. The word slammed out into her head no I’m not going to do this anymore just because I’m angry. If I must fight I will do it for the right reasons, not for revenge. Where had these thoughts comes from? The rage in Rarity’s heart snarled and snapped at them, howling for blood and revenge, but something cold was waking up in her.
        Rarity knelt before the charred bodies. “I’m sorry that I couldn’t save you.”
        “Its not your fault miss” said the larger of the corpses “no one can plan for everything, let alone a demon invasion.”
        “I just wish I could have helped ponies.” Rarity hung her head in shame. They were just trying to make her feel better obviously, it was really rather kind of them to do so. “I got so caught up in the fight that I never thought to save anypony.”
        The corpse that had been trying to shelter the children put an ashen foreleg around Rarity’s shoulders “the world needs ponies who are willing to fight, love. Now more so than ever.”
        Rarity felt the tears come. Celestia help her she was so tired, and she was so useless. A stupid useless filly playing at saving the world and too much of coward to admit that her friends were all dead.
        She leaned into the corpse and hugged it back, not caring about the ashes that smeared her coat or the way blistered sking cracked open and spilled blood and pus across her. What did it matter? She was as filthy as these demons and No.
        No I am not. I did not kill these nice ponies. I did not invade another world in the name of bloodlust and plunder. I may be dirty, as Applejack says, dirtiness is often a side effect of hard work, but I am not filthy.
        Rarity looked up into the kindly, burst eyes of her dead acquaintances. “Thankyou all for your kind words, but I really must be going. I want to reach the other side of this valley before nightfall you.”
        The large one, he must have been the father seemed to frown, though Rarity supposed it could have just been some melted flesh sloughing off of the skull. “Doesn’t it seem like its been daylight for quite a long time miss?”
        Rarity froze in midstep. She felt a coldness in her veins that she didn’t want to face. Some part of her mind was screaming at her, but she refused to listen to the words. “Why,” she said, forcing a smile onto her face “whatever do you mean darling?”
        The burned corpse chose his words carefully. “I mean miss, doesn’t it seem to you like the sun stopped moving four hours ago when there was, let us say, an unknown incident at Canterlot?” he paused for a moment “almost as if the princesses were dead.”
        She badly wanted to vomit, she wanted to turn tail and flee this place, she wanted to throw herself into battle so she could die and not have to be alone with the blood and killing and monster, she wanted to run back to Ponyville and hide under the bed with her little sister until the end came, she wanted to run out and kill every last one of those wretched murdering beast, to bathe in their blood and guts, to make her name something to fear she wanted to Go to Canterlot. Find my friends. Find the Elements. See to it that justice is done.
        That was odd. Her head felt numb now, and she slowly turned to ask her new friends if they had felt that.
        There was just a pile of charred bodies in the center of the basement. Rarity hit the ground and the world went black.
***
Rarity dreamed of a soft place. It was warm and quiet and she didn’t hurt there. She felt a soft lump snuggle up against her side and looked down at the sleeping form of her sister, who was safe and sound, here in a quiet warm place where nopony was hurt. Rarity realized that she was resting her head on something firm and very comfortable, she looked down again and saw Applejack’s belly. Looking up she saw the farm pony leaning back with her forelegs folded over her chest and her battered old stetson pulled over her eye.
Everything was nice here. Nice and soft and warm. Rarity just wanted to lay her head back down and never get up again.
***
        Rarity woke up at the foot of the basement stairs and everything hurt. Dried blood covered her coat, and turned her once elegant mane into a collection ragged clumps. She forced herself to her hooves, feeling slightly drunk. How long had she been out. There was no way to tell. She climbed up the stares, pointedly not looking at the remains in the basement. She didn’t have much memory of what had happened before she’d passed out, but she had a feeling that she really didn’t want to look behind her.
        Upstairs it was still daylight, and quick glance out one of the windows showed that the sun hadn’t moved an inch. Rarity had never been a Filly Scout, and had no knowledge of how to tell the time from the position of various celestial bodies, but terrible thoughts started gibbering and clawing at the back of her mind again. It had been a bit after noon when this whole nightmare had started, but how much time had passed? Where had the sun been when she’d seen canterlot vanish?
        Before these thoughts could add up to something terrible a merciful distraction was provided, in the form of a savage howl that ran from a pitch so high it made Rarity wince in pain to down so low that she began to feel ill.
        The white unicorn ducked under the window she’d been staring out, propping up her pilfered spinning death stick as she glance out towards the center of the valley where the howl had come from. Nothing presented itself to her gaze.
        “CHILLLLLDDDRENNNNNN...” a voice boomed out making Rarity’s teeth rattle “CHILDRENNNNNN COME TO MEEEEEE... COME TO WITNESSSSSSSS THE PUNISHMENTTTTTTT... COME TO TASTE THE SUFFERINNNNNGGGG OF THE HERETICCCCCC...”
        Heretic? the word bounced around Rarity’s head. What could these monsters possibly call heresy? She bolted to the stairs and up to the second floor. In a surprisingly intact bedroom she found a window that still offered her some cover and willed herself to see the distant center of the valley clearly.
        She could make out little, just lots of figures running, scrambling and slithering towards the valleys center.
        This changed things. Rarity knew she could now easily skirt around all the monsters and continue her journey towards Canterlot, however something was nagging at her. “Heretic” had made her curious.
        Equestrian religion was unusually tolerant as religions go. They had no crusades or inquisitions, largely because their deities were also their physical rulers and tended to incinerate ponies who took an aggressive interpretation of their words, however one of the numerous issues that had shattered the Griffin Commonwealth into a dozen warring nation states was heresy, there could be something here that was at very least useful to know.
        Plus it meant she could kill more demons.
***
        
        “Fuck you.” The former human spat at his tormentors. He would never give in, no matter what they did to him. He had refused to break no matter the torture in hell, and he wouldn’t break here either.
        The wickedly barbed lash tore a line of fire across his naked back again, and he spat another “fuck you.” at hell knight holding the whip.
        He cast his fiery eyes across the crowd. There were the few surviving ponies in chains, many whimpering or staring at ground, all mutilated to some extent or another.
        He wondered who the first would be?
        After a dozen more lashes which split flesh and muscle down to the bone, and a dozen more “fuck you”s, the collector began undulating hideously, the front end of its green worm like body splitting open like a flower in bloom exposing the a grinning skull. “BRING FORTH THE FIRST”  its voice both boomed and whistled “LET THE HERETIC CHOOSE.”
        “Fuck you” the former human growled “I ain’t breaking now you cunt, not for you or your shitt sucking little cum dumpster of a Prince.”
        The Hell knight behind him casually reached forward, slid a finger into his mouth, and yanked back with, tearing open the former human’s cheek. Pain lanced through his head, but he and pain were old friends now. Turns out that there was only so much torture you could go through before it all started to seem the same.
        “You will speak with respect to high Collector Offarthrax you little shit, or you’ll spend a century in the rape pits.” It spoke with an almost bored tone of voice. Torturing humans was old hat for the demons, after the eternity in the timeless space of hell they’d done everything interesting to humanity and had driven all but a few thousand so mad they thought of themselves as demons. The Hell Knight badly wanted to take apart more of these ponies, the females screamed so prettily.
        The collector gestured out at random into the group of ponies that had been dragged before the makeshift gibbet, a slightly built one with a blue coat missing both of its ears. The former human took note of the mark on her flank, it was a teddy bear. He’d remember that. He’d remember all of them, and one day he vowed to himself that he would flay the shapes out of these demon’s skins, one day he would have his revenge. One day he would complete his mission.
        The barbed wire around his wrists snapped and he fell heavily to his knees.
        The pony was dragged up before him, shaking with fear and pain. “Please...” the creature moaned “Please have mercy, please... I’ll... I’ll do whatever you want just don’t hurt me any more.”
        The collector backhanded the creature with the flat side of the scythe like appendages it had instead of arms or legs. “SILENCE WHORE” the pony fell to ground, crying softly. “YOU MAY YET BE REDEEMED FOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLL” the collector piped “MAKE THIS WRETCH SUFFER, MAKE HER SQUIRM AND BEG FOR DEATH AND YOU MAY YET BE GIVEN REPRIEVE.”
        The former human looked from the small, softly crying creature to the collector, to the Hell Knight behind him, to the crowd of demons around him and back once more to the small, crying thing that had never done him any harm.
        The collector caught him with a scythe like limb as he leapt with murder in his burning eyes, knocking the former human back to the ground where he cursed and threatened the demons. The pony died by inches. The former human paid close attention. He wish he’d known her name, it would be nice to carve that onto the collector’s slimy hide as well.
        “FOOL” the collector rumbled “YOUR DEFIANCE ACCOMPLISHES NOTHING. YOUR MORALITY SERVES NOTHING. THERE IS NO INNOCENCE. THERE IS NO EVIL. THERE IS ONLY POWER.”
        “GOD DOES NOT CARE FOR YOU. GOD DOES NOT CARE FOR THESE WRETCHES. YOU ARE ABANDONED. YOUR ONLY HOPE IS THE MERCY OF THE POWERFUL, AND IF YOU WISH TO SEE IT, YOU WILL MAKE THESE BEASTS SUFFER.”
        The former human felt the barbed wire return, wrapping around his wrists and burrowing into his veins as it was conjured back into reality, pulling him up off of his feet.
        “FLAY AND SALT THE NERVES, THEN WE SHALL SELECT ANOTHER.”
***
        Rarity heard the screaming more than a mile away. It had been a pony, of that she was certain, which had bored through her skull and nearly made her bolt into an open gallop. Even now that the screams had stopped she found herself wanting to sprint towards the town, to actually save some ponies for a change.
        With a great effort of will she managed to keep her approach stealthy until she reached the small cluster of building in the center of the valley. She glanced around the corner of what used to be a post office on the edge of the cluster.
        She could see a crowd of demons all clustered around a gibbet. It was hard to make out anything going on from her position, she’d have to get to a higher position.
        Glancing about to be certain that she could make her move unseen, Rarity darted into the post office doors and almost slammed into one of the ape creatures. It made to shout, only for Rarity to launch herself up into a marvelously executed crane kick that she planted firmly in the creature’s esophagus. It tried to level it’s death stick at her as it choked and gurgled unheard by any but her and the unicorn gave a viscious stomp to the inside of its elbow that made a clicking noise and also forced its fingers open. Rarity finished the creature by driving the pitchfork directly into its skull at eye level.
        There had been no shots or gun fire, no sign that anything had seen her but the mare still jump, spinning around and aiming her own weapons at the door, her heart pounding in her chest as a horrible bestial roar sounded outside. It began as the simple pained exclamation of an animal, but soon Rarity could make out a torrent of profanity and snarled promises of violence. She counted the words “cock sucking sons of bitches” at least twelve times and seventeen variations on the word “fuck.”
        Carefully she found her way to a small stairwell that led up to the aviary that allowed pegasus mail ponies to deliver and pick up mail, and peaking over the small ledge she finally saw the situation in its entirety.
        The source of the shouted threats and obscenities was one of the ape like monsters, its hand strung up over its head and its legs bound together by some sort of wire. The thing was naked, and absolutely covered in wounds, some barely stitched shut, others ancient and ugly scars and still others fresh and bleeding.
        Two more of the ape like monsters stood to the left, one pulling open the flesh beneath the hanging creature’s shoulder with a pair of wicked looking hooks, the the other slathering handfuls of something white inside the wounds.
        “YOU MURDERING FUCKING COWARDS!” the creature shouted at his captors “YOU’RE ALL GODDAMN PATHETIC YOU HEAR ME?! I SWEAR TO EVERY FUCKING GOD IN THIS AND EVERY OTHER WORLD THAT I’LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF CHILD RAPING BASTARDS!”
         It was obviously in pain, Rarity could see that from the way it jerked and kicked as much as it could whenever a new wound was torn open and more white stuff crammed in, but more than anything else it seemed angry.
        In a single horrible moment Rarity felt an odd sort of kinship with the horrible creature.
        Her eye was drawn to the massive obscene thing at one end of the gibbet, squatting there and picking at a light blue corpse that Rarity wished she hadn’t seen.
        The thing resembled nothing so much as grotesque combination of a caterpillar and a flower, its top end occasionally opening like a blossom and emitting a high pitched piping whistle. Its two scythe like limbs were carefully and meticulously cleaning the flesh from the blue ponies skull.
        Finally the monster’s head opened fully and that booming, piping voiced rolled out “ENOUGH FOR NOW. HERETIC, CHOOSE AND SUBMIT.” The ape creature turned its head towards the worm and spat at it.
        The monstrosity paid no heed, and just gestured out into the crowd, one of the demons, a ghastly pale thing with two heads and five limbs dragged a pegasus filly onto the gibbet. Rarity’s breath caught in her throat. The barbed wire around the heretic’s hands and feet unwound itself, dropping the creature heavily to the wooden platform.
        “SUBMIT HERETIC. SUBMIT AND BE CLEANSED.”
        No. Rarity would not, could not allow this to happen. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what was going on here, and Rarity knew in her heart of hearts that she would stop this madness or die trying.
        She stood up and clenched the trigger. The barrels spun.
***
        The Heretic looked up at the collector and saw the glint of metal from the top of a nearby building, and more to the point he saw the creature wielding it. He grinned a nasty half grin and forced himself to his feet. The child these fucks want me to kill a child THESE fucking monsters want me to kill a CHILD whimpered, hiding its face and just hoping no more pain would come to it. The heretic could see the charred nubs where they’d burned off its wings. The litany of hate rose up anew in his mind, and old friend that froze the blood in his veins and turned his thoughts into ice.
        The heretic looked out at the crowd and in the days to follow he would always treasure this memory, treasure the perfect timing of his words. “You’re all going to burn for this.” and then the unicorn opened fire.
***
        It had taken Rarity a moment to figure out that the trigger did not fully depress and fire her newest death stick until it finished spinning up the six barrels, but afterwards? Rarity would never admit that she found anyform of violence fun, but it certainly was satisfying.
        She laid down a stream of fire on the horrible slug like thing and it burst open in a shower of gore and viscera that would have been disgusting had she not wanted it so badly, before guiding her fire up a ways to one of the ape like demons and another of the goat legged ones. The ape was cut off at the legs, blood spraying out in great gushing arcs as it dropped to the ground and flailed about, and the goat monster’s gut was chewed open by a single long sustained burst of fire. It tried and failed to keep its guts inside and Rarity barely had time to notice both this and the heretic scooping up the tiny foal in his arms and sprint for cover when the first in what turned out to be a series of rockets hit the roof, followed by a steady stream of gunfire from the amassed demons below, along with assorted balls of fire and magic.
***
        The Heretic kept the child close to his chest, trying to shield it from as much of the chaos as possible. He was good at this part, dodging and weaving his way through the chaos of battle was a skillset he’d developed early in his life and had only refined in death during his numerous attempts to escape or murder his tormentors, and this time it wasn’t even him they were shooting at! That was a new experience.
        The Heretic leapt through the broken window of what looked to have once been a general store, rolling his body to take the impact on his side. There was a lot of broken glass on the hardwood floor inside, but he’d felt worse in the eternity he’d spent in hell.
        The small child shook with fear in his arms and was scrabbling for escape. He gingerly put it down on a relatively clear patch of floor, where it promptly scrambled away and stared up at him with large, terror filled eyes.
        How long had it been since the Heretic had seen anything cute? What little memories he had left of life suggested that he hadn’t especially cared for soft or lovely things then, and trapped in the bowels of hell he’d finally come to appreciate them. His eyes fell upon the charred nubs where the tiny creatures wings had been and all thoughts of escape evaporated from his mind.
        “Hide.” He growled, and turned away.
        He strode out and saw the demons swarming the post office, a dim part of his mind wondered if the brave creature that had turned a chain gun on the Collector was still alive, but it didn’t matter ultimately. You couldn’t win against these beasts, the Heretic had fought his way to the Prince himself shed thousands of gallons of demon blood only to fall and find that every demon he’d slain had risen again in the pit and that all of humanity was now in the monster’s grip.
        There was no victory to be had here, but that didn’t mean he had to make it easy for the demons.
        He strode up behind a former human that was naked down to the waste, demonic sigils carved into its flesh and one arm warped into a tentacle that was firing a sawn off shotgun one handed at the post office, not caring what it hit and bellowing with fury. 
        Calmly, the Heretic looped one of his arms around the traitors neck and slammed his knee up into its back, bending it over and forcing it to drop the sawn off. He followed up with a punch that flattened the things nose and stunned it, the tentacle whipping around blindly.
        The heretic dropped the former human to the ground and picked up the dropped weapon, broke it open, saw that single shell was left unfired inside, snapped it shut and blew the fallen monsters skull into a fine red paste.
        He reached down and helped himself to the bandolier of shotgun shells around the thing’s torso, loaded two into the sawn off and turned back towards the mob. An imp had turned at the smell of fresh blood and opened its mouth to screech out a battle cry and the heretic happily unloaded both barrels into the demon’s gut.
        That got their attention. He gave them a grotesque smile and reloaded.
***
        Pain burned through Rarity but then that was appropriate, because she was currently on fire. She’d fallen from the roof as rockets, bullets and fire balls smashed it to pieces and landed heavily on the ground below. She rolled around, trying to extinguish herself, and pain exploded in her side. She’d definitely broken something in the fall.
        Fortunately it seemed that her foes were concentrating their fire on the post office still and she silently offered a prayer of thanks to whatever gods might be listening.
        The fire was out now, though she felt like it was still there. It took a lot to force herself back to her hoove, the pain in her side was excruciating.
        Rarity glanced around for her weapons, and found none. She considered the situation.
        She doubted she could run away, and this close to all of them even hiding long enough to escape seemed like an impossibility. The only option left was to face her death with dignity.
        She stepped around the corner of the building, one leg dragging uselessly and one of the pink, fleshy horned things lunged down at her. Acting on instinct rolled away and lashed out with a pinpoint strike of magic at the things beady black eye.
        The thing staggered away from her, roaring in pain at the eye that had been pushed out of its socket. An ape monster leveled its death stick at her prone form and Rarity seized the weapon in her magical grip, forcing it back still in the monsters grip and now firing blindly into the air  until it rested under the things chin and four shots blew great bloody holes out of the top of its skull.
        More of them came. Rarity felt a sudden sharp pain and then coldness as a shot blew through her side but what of it? She ripped the weapon out of the brutes hands and caught a fire ball one of the brown spiny monster had tossed towards her, then lobbed it back as she pulled the trigger on her recently stolen death stick.
        Maybe this wasn’t exactly facing death with dignity, but at least going down fighting would be a fitting tribute to her friends. Rarity drew some comfort from the knowledge that soon she’d see them again.
        She pulled the death stick in close, taking every target that presented itself. Demons of all shapes and sizes fell beneath her precisely placed shots, and it seemed odd that despite the sounds of battle so few were attacking her.
***
        Blood filled the Heretic’s mouth as he tore out an imps throat with his teeth. He fired an assault rifle over the brown monster’s shoulder, the blindfire mostly hitting the scenery, but he heard a few screams as bullets tore through demon flesh.
        The ponies had impressed him, they had all had the good sense to fear once their demonic captors had taken their attention from them. He would hate to accidentally take an innocent life.
        A pinkie demon that had flanked him managed to ram its horns into his back and the heretic howled with pain as he was thrown to the ground. He spun over and emptied the remainder of the assault rifle’s magazine into the abominations face, blood raining down upon him.
        He spun again as a broadsword wielded by a human skeleton in plate armor swung down towards his skull. He caught the blade on the rifle, and before the skeletal swordsman could draw back for another strike kicked at its knee sending it to the ground.
        The heretic seized the naked skull in his hands and drove it hard into the ground before taking up the broadsword and swinging it in an arc that split the skull of a former human and upgraded to a pump action shotgun.
        A plan was beginning to form in his mad, gibbering brain, he had to get to the pony that had helped him, if it was still alive, and considering that someone was occupying half of the attacking demons it must be.
        He spun and bashed the teeth out of an imps mouth, following it up with a load of cuk shot to the knee cap, ducked beneath a hell lords massive fist as the creature gave an elephantine bellow and rolled between the towering beasts legs and as he came up he swung the stock of his shotgun into the stomach of another former human. A point blank shotgun blast severed the hell lord’s spine and sent it screaming and thrashing to the ground.
        A rocket barely missed his head, which meant it hit the post office wall beside him. The Heretic and several demons all hit the ground in a series of heavy thumps. Shrapnel and splinters had torn open his face and blood streamed down into his eyes.
        For a long time  was nothing but screaming roars and gunfire, but slowly a new sound made itself heard, a single scream that was unique among the shouts, high and female, a primal roar of hate and fury. Wiping the blood from his eyes the heretic looked up and felt a genuine grin spread across his scarred face.
        The pony was utterly drenched in blood, her mane hanging down limp and plastered to her face and neck with gore, her face locked in a defiant snarl, and somehow the unicorn was triple wielding weapons that hovered about a foot in front of her. Two chain guns and a pump shotgun roared and cut down demons like wheat before a scythe.
        Looking towards the carnage he spotted a glint of metal in the distance, and then a burst of flame. No time to think then.
***
        A part of Rarity was laughing inside, and only partially from the maniacal giddiness that came with having this much firepower at her disposal. Mostly she was laughing at the fact she seemed to be winning. The demons fell before her in a grim blood soaked harvest, rib cages pummeled open, heads exploded, limbs severed and blood soaked into the earth. When one of her weapons ran dry she hurled it away and snatched another up from her fallen foes.
        So caught up was she in the mix of bloodlust, fury and hysterical laughter that she failed to watch her flanks, and thus she did not see the ape creature as it ran towards her, looped an arm around her waist and flung them both to the side where they tumbled and the monster landed on top, forcing the wounded and enraged pony to the ground.
There was an explosion somewhere behind her, but Rarity didn’t care, everything had been exploding recently, she thrashed herself around, she kicked and bit and finally through the thing off of her after bashing the back of her head into its malformed face.
The monster flew back, and Rarity would have finished it off there and then if a new hail of  attacks hadn’t interrupted. She dodged to the side, nearly collapsed when her weight came down on her wounded leg, and watched as the thing that had tackled her sprinted into the fray away from her.
The penny dropped then. So that is the Heretic then? She took a moment to gather her thoughts and magic as the monsters turned their fire upon him What exactly makes you a heretic I wonder? Is it just that you wouldn’t kill us? Or are you just refusing to kill us because of your heresy?
Rarity supposed that it didn’t matter. She’d heard that the enemy of her enemy was her friend, and while she liked to believe that friendship was more than just hating the same things in this case she was inclined to believe that the enemy of her enemy was useful.
The Heretic dodged and weaved, reached one of the brown spiky creatures and punched a hole through its chest.
Rarity blinked. Had it really just done that? Maybe she was hallucinating from bloodloss.
The Heretic charged then, using the thrashing monster as a shield, ignoring the claws that dugg furroughs in its chest and arms.
Rarity left her cover and ran to reclaim the weapons she’d dropped. She only managed to get one of the spinning ones up when a pair of the massive pink monstrosities charged her. She opened up with the weapon on the nearest one, the whine of spinning barrels turning into the roaring chatter of death that mulched the pink demon’s torso. Unfortunately the weapon ran dry right as the second demon closed in on Rarity. 
She swung the weapon like a club, smashing it into the side of the monster’s face with a satisfying crunch that sent it reeling to the side, and followed it up with multiple smashing blows to the top of its head till the skull caved in.
She found another weapon, one of the big death sticks, pumped its slide and ran towards the fray, nearly fell to the ground as pain carved its horrid sharp symphony across her nervous system, and began to hobble towards the battle, keeping to cover.
The Heretic had seized a new weapon that she couldn’t make out and fired it point blank into the skull of a brown monsters she couldn’t quite make out and was hurled to the ground by a crackling blue ball of energy, where he thrashed and screamed. More rained down towards him and Rarity followed their trajectory up towards a pair of the red orb monsters. 
***
        The heretic bit through his tongue. Even berserked as he was he couldn’t shut out the terrifying pain that the cacodemons inflicted with their blasts. It was a direct attack on the nervous system, intended to both paralyze the victim and leave them writhing in agony. Multiple blasts would eventually kill you, but in hell that just meant waking up later for more torments. If the Heretic had been capable of thinking rational thoughts he might have wondered what that would mean if he died here, but the closest approximation of his thoughts was a single unbroken scream of anguish.
        An imp grabbed at one of his kicking legs and was promptly knocked away. Dimly the Heretic was aware of the roar of a shotgun not too far away but that was shouted down when another blasted again caused him to spasm and kick as blood boiled in his veins.
***
        Rarity did not try to catch the blast this time, she didn’t think she could manage the strain. Rather, she just deflected them, which still hurt as they contacted and rolled off the raw stuff of her thoughts, but at least allowed her to keep firing. 
        A shot from her rapidly dwindling foes nicked her ear, and a fireball was barely dodged by flopping to the ground on her unwounded side, which still made her gasp in pain. She pulled the trigger and was rewarded with a hollow click, so she cast the weapon aside and forced herself to her hooves. She stood practically on top of the Heretic now, and both of the floating demons cast their attacks at her. She barely kept them from her flesh, holding them in a telekinetic grip that sent lances of fire through her brain. More blasts followed, and she caught each one. There was a sharp explosive thump to her side and she opened her eyes just enough to see the Heretic beside her smoke rising from his side and raising a weapon at the remaining demons.
        As he fired into the small bad that remained Rarity but everything she had into one last shot, and prayed that the strain wouldn’t kill her.
        Blinding blue white light filled the world around her and she felt something stab through skull, a lightning bolt made of ice. She turned her face upwards and let out the best roar of defiance she could.
        It wasn’t a blot of compressed pain and raw magic like she’d used last time, her mind was too fragmented by pain and exhaustion for that. The energy of the demon’s attacks was mixed with her own magic and flung out as an expanding dome over herself and the heretic, a slow motion explosion that expanded too fast for the demons nearest them to escape.
        She fell to the ground then, her vision a long way down a hazy red tunnel. Everything was so far away, she felt a distant, painful pressures as the heretic fell back onto her, then there was a sudden chatter of weapon fire and Rarity felt the ground give way and drifted down into the warm, inviting dark.
***
        The Heretic was impressed. These creatures didn’t look it but goddamn were they ever tough. Too bad it doesn’t matter for shit he thought as he lay back against the unicorn. The two of them were both too far gone to keep this fight going. Maybe this brave pony would be relatively lucky and die of her wounds before the demons got to her. After every “death” in hell you awoke regenerated and if you were strong and brave you could escape for a little while in hell, which is why they tried to avoid actually ever killing you. Of course once you the first time you died they had you forever.
        Only about a dozen of the demons and former humans remained, he and the pony had killed about forty of them, and of those that remained they were keeping their distance for now, terrified by the unicorn’s light show. They’d come howling for blood soon enough.
        Right on schedule, a grotesque two headed stalker demon shambled forward on its deformed tripod legs, spiked tongues slithering from its black toothed maw.
        The Heretic curled his fist and held up his middle finger. They’d never break him.
        A moment after he had fully presented the bird to the advancing stalker there was a shot and the monstrous thing spun, black blood spraying from a newly formed hole in its torso.
        After that first shot the dam broke, and the Heretic heard the chatter of gunfire and the zip of bullets over his head. The remaining monsters all fell in short order, taken by surprise once again.
        The Heretic lulled his head back and saw his rescuers, perhaps a dozen ponies, all unicorns with guns hovering before them firing upon the mob of monsters. It warmed the heart to see the peaceful villagers fighting back, it really did. 
        It all finished then, the gunfire dying away as ponies ran out of bullets or realized their foes weren’t getting any deader.
        The Heretic forced himself up to his feet, staggering and swaying, willing the symbiote curled around his heart to do its goddamn job already and start healing him. Hypothetically it could bring anyone back from anything, but in practice the miserable little spiny worm took its damn time about everything and nine times out of ten its hosts just bled out or fell into shock before things like lost limbs could be restored.
        One of the ponies was approaching them, a pegasus, it was a soft red shading to pink, and its mane and tail had been blonde, at least thats the color that showed in the few tufts of them left. The demons had been tearing the hair out by the root. It froze when he looked at it, panic in its eyes. The heretic put on his most reassuring smile and tried to sound friendly when he said “I’m not going to hurt you.”
***
        Sunset Clouds gaped in horror at the monstrosity before her. It was massive, bulging with misshapen muscles and grinning at her with the most terrible smile she’d ever seen. The green burning coals of its eyes didn’t help matters either, and its voice, by the princesses its voice had sounded like a firebreather trying to perform his art through a throat full of gravel.
        She swallowed as a unicorn stallion she’d never met before to day ran up beside her and leveled the alien weapon he’d stolen at the creature. “Stay back freak!”
        He’d probably meant it to sound tough, but his voice cracked on the last syllable and Sunset didn’t blame him. The thing was horrific.
        It through its head back and loosed a sad, insane laugh. Then its head suddenly snapped forward and it flexed the digits on its huge fleshy hands. 
“Better make the first shock a good one kid.”
Sunset stepped forward, placing herself between the stallion and the... the monster. The monster that had rescued her daughter.
She hadn’t wanted to look when the demons had dragged her Little Wing up onto their gibbet, but the monster that had spent the better part of an hour pulling out her mane and cutting into her flesh with its horrible barbed claws had forced her to look  up and whispered into her ears that after her daughter died it would put out her eyes so she’d be able to treasure the memory of her daughter squealing as the collector raped her to death.
Then that unicorn had blasted the wretched worm thing to pieces and the one they’d called Heretic had grabbed her up and run off before rejoining the fray.
She looked up into the burning green eyes and to her surprise the creature looked away and an expression of regret passed its face for a second.
“Where...” she faltered
The creature turned away from her and walked to the pile of bodies, all the dead monsters. “If you’re lookin’ for the kid I left her in that building over there” he said, extending an arm towards the general store “if she’s smart she hid and she’s alive.”
Little Wing was alive, she cuddle her mother and both took their time sobbing with relief, terror, loss and pain.
***
        The fear in the ponies eyes had been too much for the Heretic to take. It made sense he supposed, but it still hurt him. He’d fought to save these creatures fer Christ’s sake, and still they looked at him like he was a monster. Because you are a monster his mind hissed just because you ain’t as bad as you could be don’t mean you aren’t a damn monster.
        “Fuck you brain.” he muttered as he began to loot the dead. He’d need pants for starters, true the demons seemed to have invaded a planet of nudists, but he was damned if he was going to forget something as human as pants. Besides, he felt vulnerable with his undead ghoulies dangling in the breeze.
        The heretic selected one of the bigger former humans and proceeded to strip him, finding something else useful. He looked into the murky red depths of the syringe and then glanced back at the fallen unicorn.
***
        Rarity swam back into consciousness for only a dim moment, a sharp pinch on her neck, just under her jaw line, the image of the Heretic with something in its scarred hand, the other applying gentle pressure to her head. Something hot in her veins that made her itch.
        She dipped back down into the hell inside her head then, even as she clawed at the brief wakefulness, desperate not to see those horrible things anymore.
        They were all dead or worse. Rarity saw Sweetie belle being dragged limply on a choke chain, her large green eyes cut out with cruel imprecision that left her with only a pair of scarred empty sockets. Those empty pits turned towards Rarity and her sisters sweet voice, cracked and wracked with pain asked “why didn’t you save me?”
        The image changed, now Rarity stood in a scorched and ruined Sweet Apple Acres, and as hard as she thought she couldn’t help but look up to where Applejack hung from a barbed wire noose, a heavy stone tied to her tail and linked to piercings in her most vulnerable of spots. Hideously the orange earth pony still lived and writhed as her red blood fell to the ground below. Rarity screamed and tried to run to her friend, tried to lift her out of the noose with magic but she could do nothing but watch as her eyes forced her to see the way the wire cut into the esophagus making Applejack wheeze.
        “No please no”
        The whimper went unheeded and now Rarity stood rooted to the ground in Fluttershy’s cottage and she tried to force her eyes shut as the animals Fluttershy loved with all of her enormous heart tore into her flesh with sadistic glee. Rarity tried not to hear Fluttershy pleading. Tried not to hear the slapping of flesh as one then another of the forest creatures mounted her.
        They’re all dead Rarity. They’re all dead and you couldn’t save them.
        Rainbow Dash plummeted through the air, desperately flapping skeletonized wings as she fell, tears streaming from her eyes. The sickening crunch as the pegasus hit ground would haunt Rarity till her dying days.
        You couldn’t save them. You could never save them. You’re a weak, vain, petty snob. You’re going to die afraid and alone and when you are dragged screaming into hell to be used as our personal cum dumpster they’ll spit on you and curse the day they met you, you stupid little slut. You filthy little murderer. Yes you killed lots of demons because killing comes so easy to you doesn’t it? You just want to kill but you can’t kill hell Rarity! You can’t kill us! YOU’RE TOO WEAK YOU LITTLE FOOL!
        Twilight’s Library now, all the books reduced to ash. Spike gutted and hanging from the ceiling, mewling pathetically as something unseen batted at his dieing form like Opalescence playing her cat toys.
        Rarity’s gaze was drawn to the stairs. Something worse was up there.
        You think the Heretic will help you, you stupid little shit?
        She took a step towards the stairs, horror numbing her thoughts.
        The Heretic is weak! He thought to defy us as well. We made him watch as his world died. We ripped his soul apart. He will fall and you along with him. Do you think we care that you freed him?! Failure is his greatest torture, you may be allowed to share it after we’re bored with pulling your bones out while you shriek for mercy.
        Another step, Rarity tried desperately to stop. She didn’t want to go any closer to the stairs.
        YOU’RE GOING TO FAIL! YOUR WORLD WILL BURN AND EVERYTHING YOU’VE EVER LOVED WILL DIE SCREAMING!
        Another step.
        they lie pony. SILENCE! BE SILENT WHORE!
        Step. She was at the stairs now.
        they always lie.
        “who are you?” Rarities voice sounded a thousand miles away now.
        find me pony. find me in the pit.
        THE WHORE CANNOT SAVE YOU! SHE HAS NO POWER!
        Step.
        the heretic knows me but he has no faith. the princesses knew me of old. knew me and feared. discord knows me and has hope. know me pony, and i shall give you power undreamed of in your darkest dreams.
        Step. The top of the stairs now, a pool of blood. Twilight’s blood. She lay in the center of the room, spread eagled. Her breathing was slow and shallow, her horn snapped off at the base. The flesh of her abdomen and chest was peeled back, exposing an empty ribcage and a mass of tubes and veins leading to a dozen silver bowls around her. Each one contained an organ.
        kill them pony. kill them and rejoice in their blood. kill them and rejoice in your strength. do not believe their lies. they lie because they are weak. its time for you to wake up now.
        Rarity’s eyes snapped open. She lay where she had fallen, though someone had draped a blanket over her. She expected pain, but there was nothing but a small ache in her back as she stood up.
        The sun had not moved an inch since she’d passed out. The implications were inescapable, Celestia and Luna were gone. Rarity thought that she should have immediately fainted at the thought, or screamed or sobbed or something. All there was though was hollow ache in her heart. 
        Dimly she felt something’s gaze on her, and slowly turned around, not wanting to make any sudden moves that might trigger an attack and scanning the ground for something, anything she could use as a weapon. Her gaze came to rest on a large death stick, one of the ones you had to pump before firing, although this one had a shorter barrel.
        She left it alone for now, and fully faced her observer.
        The Heretic sat on the porch of one of the buildings, staring at her through his long, filthy brown mane, his mouth twisted into a horrifying rictus that Rarity eventually realized was meant to be a smile.
        Truly the creature was fascinating in its ugliness. This was the first real look she’d taken at the ape monsters. They didn’t have muzzles or fur, instead their smooth flesh simply collapsed in under the nose so that it stuck out like a beak. This creature’s lips were split by an ugly purple scar that ran up from its chin and over one of the black pits where eyes should have been and up into the hairline. The right cheek was torn away leaving Rarity with a clear view of its jaw and sharp, pointed teeth. They eyes themselves didn’t seem to exist anymore, instead there was a green flickering flame that held a slightly hypnotic quality.
        The rest of its body was no better to look at, pale flesh covered with scars over slabs of unsculpted muscle. It had wrapped bandages around both of its fists, each one large enough to cover Rarity’s head, and its left arm was completely wrapped in white bandages that were rapidly staining red. Its right arm was covered in some kind in tattoos, the only one she could make out at this distance being a sort of barrel with two knives crossed in front of it and the word “mountain” on a curved tab over it. Maybe it was the creature’s equivalent of a cutie mark?
        Rarity actually felt relieved when her gaze went lower and she saw that the horrifying beast was wearing pants.
        “Hello.”
        Rarity actually jumped back at this, and had to take a moment to process that the thing hadn’t gone for her throat. Its voice reminded her of Sombra, a low gravelly growl that set her coat to standing on end.
        She snatched up the weapon from the ground and leveled it at the creature who went as still as a statue.
        The Heretic and Rarity stared at each other for a moment. Wide blue eyes stared into flickering green flames. Somewhere in the distance a crow cawed.
        Rarity finally broke the silence “ah... hello.”
        The Heretic’s hand went to his pocket and rarity tensed, aiming down the sights of her weapon. The Heretic paused and smiled. Rarity wished he’d stop doing that.
He made sure his hands were visible and slowly drew out a red and white packet and withdrew from it a thin paper cylinder. He proffered the packet to Rarity. “Smoke?”
Rarity numbly shook her head.
“Smart,” said the Heretic “these things’ll kill you.”
He placed it in his mouth and lit it and Rarity finally understood what it was. A small cigar, unlike the enormous foul smelling things Applejack smoked in the summer to keep the flies off of her while doing field work.
Rarity smiled, she recalled a time when the earth pony mare had strolled into Carousel Boutique to get a quick repair on one of her scratchy horse hair tunics that she wore when clearing out growths of the thorny briars that came creeping out of the Everfree every summer. They’d had a row about that, and it had all somehow ended with them drinking some of Granny Smith’s special reserves in Applejack’s barn swapping stories about their younger siblings.
Not for the last time the Heretic wished he could remember more than brief flashes of his actual life. He might remember how to deal with crying people then.
As it was he sat aloof and smoked the cigarette. They showed up from time to time in hell, detritus from earth was always turning up in odd out of the way places there. He suspected some form of subtle psychological torture for the few human who remained sane enough to recall even tiny bits of time before they’d all be dragged screaming into the pit, or possibly demons just liked them. They certainly had liked some human things well enough, guns and torture devices mostly.
The unicorn finally got her emotions under control, at least enough to gasp out “what are you?”
The Heretic shifted. “I used to be something called a human. That doesn’t really matter anymore I suppose, we’re all dead anyways.”
Rarity glared at him.
“I can assure you that your species is not-”
He cut her off with a wave of his hand.
“We may be walking around and trying to kill you” he hazarded a guess “Miss, but none of us are alive. We’re walking corpses, every single one of us lost and damned.
But I suspect thats not really what you mean. You want to know why they call me heretic.”
That horrible grin returned to his face and he leered, the combined effect was enough to make Rarity take a step back and again raise the death stick.
“They call me Heretic because I never gave in. There are others who never did, but I was there till the last bitter moment when my world died, cursing and fighting. They call me Heretic because I will defy them even when they break my body and soul and leave both bleeding and violated on the ground. They call me Heretic because I am born mortal and even with the truth ripped open for me to see and divine the truth in its wriggling bleeding entrails I will not bow to any of them.”
He paused in his tirade, the mad leer and grin vanishing. He drew in on the cigarette and exhaled a cloud of blue smoke from the gaping hole in the side of his face.
“Most of all though they call me Heretic because its fun to burn the Heretic, to tear out his finger and toenails, rip out his throat and piss in his lungs.
They call me Heretic for the same reason they butchered the innocent here. Because they were stronger and hurting the weak is what they call fun.” He spat on the last word.
“Heretic might as well be my name now. I can’t remember my real one.”
The horrible manic grin returned. “So! I’ve introduced myself, your turn.”
Rarity stared at the horrible creature. It might be just possible that it hated the invaders more than she did. The level of spite and vitriol in its voice was almost impressive in a perverse sort of way. She was also fairly certain that it was completely mad.
“My name is Rarity. Ms. Rarity if you please.”
Heretic nodded. “A pleasure to meet you miss Rarity. My aren’t we fucking formal! Nothing like dying classy eh?”
“Now listen you brute, I have not fought my way through an army of... of demons just to be insulted for trying to display a little decorum!”
Heretic laughed. Rarity had heard more unpleasant sounds, but she wasn’t certain when.
“Good!” He shouted, his gravelly voice booming out and scaring a small flock of crows into flight “You can still get angry. I was worried that the psychotic berserker thing was a one time deal. You’re going to need that anger if you intend to keep fighting.”
“I intend” Rarity said, carefully articulating every word “to end this. I’m going to Canterlot and I’m going to find my friends, and then we are going to end this.”
“How exactly?” He was looking at her with an eyebrow raised, which made Rarity glad that she had not eaten anything recently. “Because I had some of the most powerful ordinance my species had ever made and I still died. And understand something, we’re not talking about something like that shotgun you’ve got there ‘Ms. Rarity’, I’m talking about the biggest fucking gun the world had ever seen. A weapon that tore apart entire armies of these demonic fucks.”
Rarity felt her face redden as he went on, which was hard to pick out because of all the blood. 
“It doesn’t matter how many you kill, they just wake up in hell with a headache, and because you’re still mortal the minute you die they’ll own your ass, just like they do mine and every other poor sod thats died since this whole mess began.”
Rarity felt her teeth grind in frustration and also tried very hard not to think about the last part of that sentence. “Well Mr. Heretic, if its all so hopeless then what was with that macho defiant talk a minute ago hm? I will also thankyou to watch your language when speaking to a lady.”
This was fun. The unicorn had amazing self control. Maybe she did have a way to defy Hell? The Heretic didn’t have room in his heart for hope, mostly because it was crowded out by hatred and spite but the idea of the Prince being well and truly denied, of snatching this world out of his grip was one worth thinking about. He filed it away for future reference. For now he had to keep pushing, see if she was willing to go the distance.
“Really? You’re a lady? Funny, you don’t often see ladies drenched in blood. And the point of that ‘macho defiant talk’ was fuck-”
She moved in a blur and struck the side of his face. Hard.
Heretic was slammed to the ground by the blow. The goddamn thing certainly knew how to fight.
“I did ask you to watch your language” Rarity said trying to cover up the shame of being so easily provoked with haughtiness “and I will have you know that being a lady does not mean allowing oneself to be slaughtered, nor does it mean allowing the innocent to be butchered, nor does it mean accepting mockery from some malformed ape so in love with its own masculine nihilism that it wastes the time of ponies attempting to resolve the situation, and most of all it does not mean abandoning my friends just because aforesaid misshapen ape predicts only failure.” The dream was a lie, she was certain of that now. Likely Celestia, Luna and all her friends were even now doing their best to beat back the demons at whatever event had caused Canterlot to disappear, and were desperately waiting for her to arrive and take up her element in the fight.
Then Rarity realized she had just punched a monster that had torn through the invaders like tissue paper, while naked and wounded. She couldn’t afford to show fear, but she began preparing mentally for the retaliatory response.
Instead Heretic climbed to his feet. “I take your point Ms. Rarity.” There was no sarcasm or contempt in his voice now.
He turned and looked down at her with something like admiration. “I have just one question though,” he raised his hands, palms out in a placating gesture “and please, I don’t mean this as another jab to anger you, what will you do if you can’t save your friends?”
A dozen emotions crossed Rarity’s heart and face then, hatred, anger, contempt, outrage, despair, and horror. She open and closed her mouth a few times, ready to hurl another outraged barb at the beast standing before her, but all of them felt empty.
What would she do? You know what you’ll do came a clear, calm voice in her head. This was different than all the others that had plagued her recently, it felt like it truly was hers.
“If I cannot save my friends” she said “then I will march into Hell itself and save them there and if I cannot do that then I will find this so called ‘Prince’ and I will personally kill him, and if I have to tear Hell apart to do so then so be it.”
She delivered it all flt, a simple indisputable statement of fact.
Heretic smiled. A much softer smile, it was still disturbing, but it evoked more pity than terror. “Then I will help you in whatever way I can Ms. Rarity.”
A sudden sense came over Rarity that whatever else she did, the next thing she said would be very, very important.
“Tell me...” her voice sounded far away to her own ears “who is the Predator Queen?”