Those still left in the castle looked at one another. The aura surrounding Betruger's voice was gone, 30 of their fellow ponies having been teleported to who knows where. Among those left behind was Fluttershy, who did not consider herself enough of a fighter, and Big Mac, who felt one of the Apple siblings should stay just in case something happened. Granny Smith was too feeble to take care of Applebloom on her own.
The earth and pegasi ponies pleaded with the unicorns to signal those who had been teleported, or to contact Betruger, but none knew how. They waited anxiously.
Meanwhile, the shapes atop the hills swayed back and forth in mesmerizing motion, growing slightly bigger as seconds passed. The 30 ponies huddled, finally able to discern the shapes as monsters. There were Imps, zombie Commandos, Hell Knights, Mancubuses, Revenants, Archviles, and a Cyberdemon.
Twilight signaled her team to get ready to attack, but a humanoid figure teleported out of thin air, slowly descending until it landed in front of the. “Hello, all.” said the doctor, in an almost fatherly tone. “I welcome you to our little challenge.”
“Get ready for your flank to be kicked, Betruger!” said Twilight.
“Oh, so impatient, Princess.” said Betruger, “You remind me of myself, weeks ago. But I've steadily grown more confident. I have no fears of you or your silly little army, now that my goal is nearly complete.”
Dash pressed forward, in front of Twilight. “And what goal is that?"
“To finally rule over Hell.”
“You can't be serious.” said Applejack.
A pillar of green and purple haze shot from the ground around the doctor's feet. Another appeared next to the ponies, revealing Betruger inside. “You heard what I said. Romero and his Icon pal made fools of themselves. But not I. I've prepared for you all a test of endurance.”
“We'll get plenty of rest after beating ya'll to the grave!” said Applejack.
“Who said anyone will die?” said Betruger. The ponies gave confused glances. The doctor laughed. “You see, none of you fighting here will actually get hurt, though you'll feel pain.”
“Then, what exactly is the point?” said Applejack.
Betruger grinned. “The point,” he said, “is to see if you can defeat me before a certain filly is turned into mincemeat, for real." A projection appeared across the sky, showing a tired Scootaloo playing Doom 3, the letter from Hell sitting next to her. Beyond the busted down door roamed hundreds of sentry bots.
“Sc-Scoo-” Dash and friends could barely get out the words.
“Yes,” said Betruger, “I've mislead the little filly into believing she's on a mission. The IoS made a few codes to try and finish me off, but I've prepared my own.” Betruger drew a familiar paper out of his pocket. “Here,” he said, tossing the paper to Twilight. It was the letter sent to Dash.
Twilight tried responding, but was interrupted.
“You can only guess what those bots will do once my last code is put in,” said Betruger. He cackled, starting a chain reaction of laughter from his army. “What say we begin?”
The ponies barely had time to think before the Cyberdemon sent a rocket into the middle of the crowd. The blast sent ponies flying onto their sides, those closest to the impact having their skin burnt inside their armor. Instead of fighting, Twilight quickly went to the aid of those effected. Betruger's army began spreading out, most of them teleporting elsewhere. “See if you can find me.” said Betruger before, he, too, vanished.
Those injured moaned in pain. Some, like Rarity, could not even stand up. “Go, fight.” she said.
“No,” said Twilight, “we need to heal you first.”
“First look behind you.”
Twilight turned to see a group of Imps leaping forwards. A group of earth ponies held spears and shields at the ready, but discovered that piercing the Imps skins was difficult. Some of the spears even broke off, leaving the ponies defenseless.
Twilight shouted for the ponies to move away. They did their best to scatter, though some were occupied with Imps holding them down. Twilight shot quick magic beams from her horn. Rather than take the creatures down, it merely seemed to annoy them. A few began throwing fireballs. She dodged two and then tripped. A lanky figure with a shield stepped in front of her just in time to stop a third fireball.
“Discord!?” Twilight stood back up. “Where have you bee-”
“No time.” he said, “The important thing is that you do the healing spell, now.”
Twilight did not hesitate. She began revving her healing magic while Discord and other ponies held the Imps at bay. The spell needed a minute to charge up for full effect, and was really only a temporary adrenaline booster and pain reliever. But it was the quickest option they had.
Meanwhile, Scootaloo was on the eighth code, which led to a forest map. Can't...stop She yawned without realizing it. If only I could take a five minute nap.
She would have given herself rest, if not for the racket of robots circling the shed. Each hour they seemed to increase in number, and the noise was overwhelming.
Pegasi flew high up to get an aerial view. They saw that the E! Zone's layout was almost like a game board. Some of the tiles drew upward into crude mountains and hills. A blocky river ran through the land east, and square patches of forest intersected randomly into the hexagonal tiles the ponies had teleported on.
Dash worked furiously. “Over that hill!” she shouted, pointing where those at ground level needed to move. Two Mancubuses shot at her and her companions. She evaded their shots, a pegasus behind her barely dodging a hit to her wing.
Those utilizing the healing spell felt woozy, and had trouble coordinating, but still put forth their best efforts. Rarity used a shield spell over and over against zombies, causing bullets to ricochet harmlessly. It did not work against Mancubui, though. Their attacks shattered the shield, one rocket careening between Rarity and those close by. It was not as harsh as the Cyberdemon's rocket, but it still burned.
Seeing this, Twilight was about to rev up another dose of healing, before getting struck with the most intense pain she ever felt. She landed hard onto her stomach, shotgun shrapnel imbedded in her side. Needing cover, she crawled into a nearby ditch.
Thoughts raced through her mind. Where has Discord gone? What's our goal? She thought of the first group of Imps. Though it took a lot work taking them down, they eventually fell into heaps, disappearing into nothingness like they did in Doom 3. Do all of the monsters need to be taken down before Betruger?
“Twilight!” shouted a familiar voice. Applejack crawled up to her.
“You're hurt, too?” the Princess asked.
“No,” said Applejack, “but it's best moving low. These monsters are taking a toll.”
“Tell me about it.” Twilight tried sitting up, but was held down.
“No moving,” said Applejack, “let me and Discord take control.”
Twilight was just about to ask, when Discord appeared next to her. She expected a snarky remark, or a costume. Instead, he held a white box in front of her. “Bandages?”
She looked at him warily, before taking the box without a word.
Rocket blasts sounded nearby. Dirt and mortar peppered the air. “Don't tell me Cybie's been let out.” said Applejack. She peeked over the edge, then rushed down. “Yeah, he's out!”
She nearly ran off, before picking Twilight up on one side.
The Princess winced.
Applejack shushed her, signaling Discord to help. He conjured a stretcher, and levitated Twilight onto it. They carried the Princess as far as they could. The Cyber's stomping grew closer. Everyone above them ran terrified.
Dash, seeing the situation from above, took action. She flew higher, keeping an eye on the Cyber. Not that it was needed, as it was big enough to see from space. “Here goes.” she said.
Careening down, she mustered as much speed as she could, gritting her teeth as rainbow power built up. In just seconds, she would be doing a Sonic Rainboom directly into the monster's face. Or so she thought.
The Cyber had seen her, and shot a rocket. Dash abruptly changed course, making a v-shaped turn straight into a Revenant. A Rainboom exploded from its insides, coating the earth (and Dash) in a shower of blood and bones. Miraculously, she was not hurt.
Shaking her head, Rainbow flew far out of the Cyber's sight, not an easy task with a skeletal arm stuck in her mane. Her attack was enough to impress not only Betruger, who watched from afar, but lesser monsters from his army. One Commando was so awestruck it failed to notice Pinkie sneaking up. She smashed a rock as hard as she could into the back of its head, knocking it down.
Betruger looked over the stats on his computer. Of his army, 9 were already dead. Fiddlesticks, he thought. He was getting anxious. Certainly the ponies wouldn't catch up? Shushing his thoughts, he calmed himself. The time was right.
He summoned the Vile next to him. “Take care of the purple alicorn princess and the fast blue one.” The Archvile nodded, moving quickly down the cliff.
By then, Twilight had used the healing spell on herself. She was better off than those effected by rockets, but could still feel twinges of pain in her side. She decided flying was not her best option.
“We have to find Betruger,” she said.
“His army is too much in the way.”
“Never mind the little guys like Imps,” said Twilight, “we can't afford to lose Scootaloo. We'll just need to distract them.”
The few ponies around her agreed.
Discord marched up, dressed in army gear. He gave an exaggerated salute. “Yes, Princess! At once, Princess!”
Twilight rolled her eyes. “Can't you be serious for one moment?”
Discord snapped his fingers, and was instantly back in his regular form. “Oh, c'mon. I'm just lightening the mood.”
Twilight grunted, then turned pale. She knocked Discord to the ground. Beams of fire flew over them. “Not an Archvile!” said Discord. The lanky demon gave back a terrible laugh.
Discord conjured a riot shield and armor. “You won't injure us, punk.” he said. The Archvile sent flames above Discord's head, which boomeranged to his back. Discord yelped. Twilight used an extinguishing spell to put out the flames.
“Just run!” she said. Discord dared not disobey. Twilight conjured a shield barrier. The Archie's flames smashed against it, slowly pushing it inwards. It began cracking around the edges. Twilight let go of the spell and ran for cover, the tip of her tail getting singed. She prepared to shoot it with a magic blast the moment it got in sight.
Zoop! Zoop!
“What are those noises?” asked one of the townsfolk. Twilight's expression was not comforting.
The group peeked around the rock edge. The Archvile was summoning Hell Knight after Hell Knight after Hell Knight!
The Princess spoke an expletive that made even Discord blush.
A group of pegasi, observing the Archie's shenanigans from afar, decided to swoop in and put an end to it's rituals. The Vile shot fire into the air, hitting one of the pegasi stallions directly on. He fell, his wings lit up. Twilight immediately summoned a protective aura around him and pulled him to safety. Hell Knights followed after them.
The other pegasuses dodged the Vile's attacks and swung around for good kicks to its head. The Vile was surprised at their strength. But it was not enough. It grabbed one of them by the abdomen and slammed her to the ground. Just as a Hell Knight was about to stomp on the poor mare, chaingun fire erupted. Bullets perforated the Archie's head like Swiss Cheese. It crumpled to the ground.
The interruption distracted the Knights long enough for Discord to teleport the mare to safety. Twilight looked behind and saw Pinkie holding a chaingun, a smirk across her face. She giggled. “Looks like I have a talent for carrying musical instruments and guns.”
The stallion with burnt wings pleaded for aid. Pinkie immediately rushed to his side and helped Twilight transport him, just as the ground began shaking. The Cyber was getting close. The ponies best bet was circling around the range of hills to not face it head on.
Rainbow, meanwhile, washed herself as best she could in the river. Actual guts and bone were infinitely ickier than confetti slime. She also needed to bring back her aerodynamics. Gore was only going to slow her down.
Luckily for Scootaloo, the ongoing noise grew so persistent it had a vacuum effect. Replacing initial annoyance, the noise was now like static. She almost fell asleep several times. But her determination to save Equestria kept her going.
If only I didn't keep dying at this stupid map she thought. She had been stuck on the ninth code, which led to a level titled “Real Consequences”, for over an hour.
Betruger took note of this from his monitor, hiding in a cave not far from the battles below. He wrung his hands, nearly slamming his fist on his desk several times. Enough of this he thought. He grabbed the keyboard and started hacking away, taking control of Scootaloo's character in game. The filly was too sleep deprived to even understand.
I'm getting better she thought. She was suddenly blasting through the map at record speed, taking shortcuts and secret passages she never even knew existed. I'm flying through this!
Finally the map was over. Betruger gave a sigh of relief, letting Scootaloo once again take control. It took her several tries putting the tenth code in correctly, but she managed it. Little did she know she was one away from a horrific trap.