//------------------------------// // Good as New // Story: Fuel the Eternal Flame | A DOOM MLP Crossover // by NotAnEditor //------------------------------// The four had arrived once more at the Ponyville hospital. Twilight opened the glass doors with her magic, keeping it agape for her friends as they made their way into the sterile smelling environment of the hospital's waiting room.  The ponies that were in there earlier had gone, now replaced with new patients. A pregnant mare with a stallion beside her, a filly with a hurt arm, a very sneezy magenta pony and the exception, the same light yellow stallion looking at construction magazines absent-mindedly. He had been waiting there a long while. As the four made their way ahead, Pinkie swiped the magazine from him, earning an annoyed groan from the pony before he shrugged it away and grabbed another one. Pinkie’s mouth hurt like Celestia knows what, but she still could push through the pain for a simple gag or two. “Mis Magamimes mis mool!” Pinkie spook through her swollen mouth wounds, blood still making its way down her chin. Rarity glanced over with a worried look as Twilight spoke to the nurse. Light yellow with a baby blue and white colored mane, the mare was Nurse Snowheart.  “Oh, hey you four!" She waved a hoof smally. "Back to see Flutte- Oh, dear.” she looked at Pinkie worryingly. Rarity sighed dramatically. “It was horrible! While we were looking for a cure, Pinkie was ravaged by some kind of… animal!” The nurse shook her head sympathetically. “What a shame. Though, they don't seem too grave.” Nurse Snowheart started towards the double doors of the hospital's halls. “Some cotton balls should be fine. Stitches at most.” “Myay! Smitchmes!” Pinkie cheered, reeling in pain internally. How in Celestia’s name does she do that? Twilight questioned as the party pony was led away by Snowheart into the halls, the doors swinging. Now it was just Twilight, Rarity and Spike. “My my, what shall we do now, Twilight?” the posh pony looked over at her friend. She shrugged. “I suppose now, we wait.” The alicorn stated, turning and clopping towards one of the comfy waiting chairs in the lounge and lowering her saddle bag next to the seat. “I suppose you’re right. If what we did really helped Fluttershy, then she should be coming out of those doors at any minute.” Rarity agreed as she sat next to the princess, grabbing a fashion magazine from a well placed rack. Twilight let out a long sigh, enlightening her horn and floating a book on magic out of her saddle bag. A large book about ancient Equestrian artifacts. Her horn grew brighter as she more specifically manipulated the object, furling through dozens of pages, ensuring she would land on where she had last left off. She shuffled about into a more comfortable position, slipping into a studious mode. There is bound to be something about this artifact here. Twilight thought to herself, thinking that she had skimmed through it too swiftly back in her library. This was her oldest book in her collection, at least the oldest in Modern Ponish. She was efficient in Old Ponish, however reading enough of it for extended periods would often boggle her brain in the end. “We doubt there is.“ a multitude of voices spoke in her mind, making the mare jump before realizing who it was.  Wait, you can hear my thoughts? the princess queried. “Yes.” the voice replied. Twilight grew a deadpan face. This whole time I’ve been making myself look crazy to everypony, while I could’ve just been thinking to you? she thought in an annoyed tone. “Yes.” They repeated with a lack of sympathy in its tone. The Princess of Friendship rolled her eyes, flipping through a couple more pages. Why wouldn’t I be able to find you in here? she asked. “We are old. Ancient. Pre-history, one could consider.“ it explained, her saddlebag rumbling with every reverb filled word it informed Twilight with. “We were sealed in your home countless decades ago, before your castle was fully entombed beneath the earth.“ I see… Twilight replied. The castle had to have been above ground at some point. How else would the crystal building be decorated and furnished so naturally? Before Spike interrupted us, you talked about beasts that would end Equestria. “Is that what this land is called?” they realized. “Yes, I was.” She grew a determined look. And that monster we fought… Was that one of them? “Most definitely.” The cube answered. “It’s form and physical shape was unfamiliar, however, the energy and magic it gave, it’s behavior. All trademarks of Ţ̵̅̓͒h̵͙̆͊e̸̟̾̀ ̷͔̙͝ͅȆ̷̠̼̲ṽ̴̤͚̏͝i̷͈̻̳̊̌ļ̶̛̣̠͍̂̇” they crackled at the end of their sentence, the telepathic link once more breaking slightly thanks to the simple reference.  It was a little uncanny from what the alicorn knew about telepathic speech. Often, if a being or group of enough magical or physical strength was mentioned through telepathy, the links would start breaking slightly. Like Discord, King Sombra or Tirek. Around that range. A strange look grew on the alicorn’s face. I see. The Evil. She dug back to earlier today when it explained ‘The Evil.’ It was a rather mystical title for such a thing, however it got the point across. Twilight partially wished that they would stop being so cryptic. You mentioned someone. A ‘he’ that was able to fight back against ‘The Evil.’ “H̵̬͖͈͕͂͘į̴̛̟͉͙́̿̊m̵̤̬̺͆…” it began. Twilight certainly would have to study the strange telepathic interactions with this artifact. She mentally noted the keywords when talking about certain topics. “H̴̛͉͓̼͍̊e̴̞͒ is most certainly gone. No being could have kept on going from where I last saw ẖ̶̣̼̲̝̫̿͂̇̀̚i̷̗͇͊̕͝m̸̤̄̾͆͘.” If there is any chance that he is still… alive, how might I find him? Twilight queried desperately. She didn’t want to take any chances, if she didn’t listen to this cube and Equestria did fall under siege by other things like that monster, it would be her fault. The Praeleanthor sighed. “Perhaps. I have last seen him many millennia ago, however if any being would know his whereabouts, it would be-” Rarity gasped. “By Celestia!” the white unicorn exclaimed. “Twilight, you must witness this horrible excuse of a dress!” she shoved the magazine page in front of the princess’ face. Twilight looked within the page, a mare posed all poshly in a puffy brown and pink dress. Admittedly, it did look pretty tacky, although much more important matters were at hand. “That’s-err, interesting, Rarity. But I need to focus.” the alicorn stated. “Oh! Well, I do apologize dear.” she replied, withdrawing the magazine. “No proble-” just before Twilight could continue her talk with the cube, the hospital doors swung open, a weak yet much healthier looking Fluttershy shambling out. She actively tore out pieces of medical equipment that was linked to her, the fluid of the IV spilling out.  “I’m sorry! Sorry!” she exclaimed as she scooched past several nurses and doctors. “Fluttershy! Come back here!” Nurse Redheart shouted down the hospital hall, galloping after her. Her condition was definitely better than before. The patches of gauze over her cutie marks and lower leg lacked the leaking of any green fluid, and it seemed like the wounds had begun the healing process by now. “I promise! I feel much better.” there was a clear look of worry on the mare’s face.            "Fluttershy! The wounds haven't fully healed." the nurse shouted as the pegasus limped on into the waiting room. The nurse gave up once she was in there, neighing in annoyance.             She stopped momentarily, looking at the group in surprise. "Oh, hey…" Fluttershy waved a hoof nervously at her friends.              "Fluttershy!" Rarity went up to her. "Are you okay? How do you feel? You certainly look less ghastly than before."             "I'm feeling much better." the shy pegasus mumbled something incomprehensible even to the keen eared ponies.              "What?" Twilight asked, joining beside Rarity.             "I-I am feeling a lot better now, thank you." Fluttershy repeated louder, starting towards the hospital exit with a shamble. "Ow…" she muttered lightly in pain.             Her alicorn friend followed. "What's the rush for?"             "M-My animal friends." she answered, stopping in her tracks as her voice contorted with worry. "I've been gone for a while, they must be so lonely!" the pegasus came up with.             Twilight gave her a stranger look. "But, you have gone weeks without visiting them before." she pointed out. "What's wrong, Fluttershy?"             She stepped a little closer to her friends. "What's really the matter, dear?" Rarity questioned.              Fluttershy drew a long breath before beginning to speak. "I had a… horrible nightmare." the pegasus confessed. "And I'm not sure anypony wants to hear it…"              Rarity walked in front of her friend, placing a hoof on her friend's shoulder, gaining a sympathetic look. "You can tell us, we are your friends dear!" she encouraged.              The pegasus shakingly nodded, closing her eyes before opening her mouth to tell the three about what she had dreamt about… ~̵̨̰͝ Fluttershy winced in a familiar, yet much more conscious agony. Her back stung with pain, right at the base of where her wings were. An extreme heat surrounded her, like standing next to lava. As she slowly opened her eyes, she realized that she was in fact surrounded by the hot substance on all sides but one.  She seemed to be on a collapsed bridge over the magma, the broken area behind her leading to even more of it. Her hide on her legs were sizzled, burnt gravely with several blisters surrounding a length of chains. They were so hot that they burnt a bright yellow as they were tightly fastened around each limb. They were practically melting with her flesh. The wingless pegasus was quick to notice more ponies behind her, bedraggled and hopeless looks in their eyes as they dragged on the same chain she was molded to. Their manes and coats were faded and torn, several wounds across their bodies. Every pegasus had two bloody torn holes in their hide where their wings would've proudly stood. Every unicorn’s horn was either broken off or completely torn out. The earth ponies were lucky. They were all chained together, like prisoners as the line was pushed forward. Two beasts covered their sides, taller than most standard buildings in their bipedal stance with hard chitinous skin over horrifyingly large muscles. Between their natural armor, lava flowed, like life force. Above their chilling faces was a duo of large horns, blood dripping from them.  Over the groans and moans of pain surrounding her, Fluttershy could hear the distant cries and screeches of agony far ahead. A ginormous castle stood far in front of them, spiraling into the orange and red, rune-filled sky with a tall tower. In front of the dark stone fortress stuck out a multitude of spikes. Mounted on them were corpses, heads, wings and horns of many different ponies. The bodies lacked color, their magical essence and blood completely drained.  There was not a single color nearby that wasn’t black, red, orange or brown. Only the still alive ponies around her provided a more colorful palette, however faded their coats may be. Fluttershy was speechless, letting out small whimpers of pain every now and then as she froze, stopping thanks to the lead mare. “W-We… We can’t keep going…” She squeaked stubbornly, out of breath. One of the monsters looked at her, its large lethal claws covered in a coat of viscera  “Why… Why can’t you just kill us here?” the hornless unicorn leading the line pleaded. She was absolutely hopeless. The animal-loving pegasus’ breathing hastened at the sight of one of the beasts grinning a gnarled smile. The lead mare was only three or so ponies ahead. “I-...” Fluttershy tried to speak, but all that came out was the single letter and a pain filled croak. “My sister…” the lead mare sobbed a small bit, looking down at the viscera covered chains in front of her. “Just, let me join her…” she closed her eyes fatefully as the other monster joined its sibling at the front, grinning gleefully down at her. “Thistlebloom! Please, this isn’t the only way!” A stallion not too far behind in the line shouted, Fluttershy not able to get a good angle on him from her position. “M-Maybe we can survive this?” He pondered hopefully. Thistlebloom, or so she was referred to, shook her head as she looked back at the line. “I… I can’t keep on going…” “Don’t! Ple-” the stallion's pleading was interrupted as Fluttershy felt a sharp tug of the chains, the baby blue unicorn at the front being lifted up.  The whole line staggered forward as the lead pony screeched. “No! No, I-I changed my mind!” One of the beasts was holding her up by her two hind legs, the other licking its lips as it stared at her with two soulless, beady, white eyes. “Ple-AAHHHH!” her screeching echoed in chorus with the ones inside the fortress as the thing began stretching her two hind legs apart from each other horizontally. It wasn’t long before the group heard a horrifying crack from the mare’s legs as they were torn away from each other, blood spraying out from the numerous broken and destroyed arteries and veins. Crimson speckled the group of pony’s already beaten faces, the rest of the mare's body collapsing to the ground leglessly. She had either died instantly or fallen unconscious from the pain. The beast gently casted the mare’s right leg into its mouth, chomping the hot metal off with a couple of sparks. Fluttershy looked on in horror as its brother on the left picked up the upper half of the unicorn’s body, taking a large bite out of her head and upper torso before tearing the bone, flesh and blood away.  Fluttershy could audibly hear retching from some of the ponies around her, if not that then sobs of fear and terror. The pegasus heard screaming and pleading from where the stallion who had begged for Thistleblooms life stood. Once the beasts quickly consumed their victim, one of them gripped a lead part of the chain and lightly tugged the ponies ahead, all of them staggering forward from the immense pull. At least immense to them. Fluttershy squeezed her eyes shut, breaking from her traumatized state as she felt a tear roll down her face from all the pain and suffering she was both witnessing and going through. Her legs moved without her even noticing. She had been doing it for so long now that it was second nature. By the time she opened her eyes she could hear a loud, ominous creaking ahead, the line was just in front of the dark castle. The rune decorated, nearly unbreakable front door slowly swinged apart with a shrill screech. Once the door opened, the screams and shouts of the dying grew ever louder. It hurt her ears as they were dragged closer towards the courtyard. She couldn’t tear her eyes away as she saw just what was ahead. A large, deep dark pit surrounded by burning embers, the flames opening to allow the line to be led in front of it. The pain ridden cries and shrill yells of unbearable agony filled her ears. It was all the pegasus could hear as she hesitantly looked down. Her eyes somehow found a way to grow wider at the sight of what was inside. The walls of the pit was a cage filled with still living ponies, limbs and body parts desperately reaching out between the bars in anguish. At the sight of the group, the hundreds of trapped ponies screeched and screamed for help. “HELP US! SAVE US!” They all shouted in synchronicity, the group of horrified ponies at the top feeling the ground shake from the pleads. At the bottom of the pit was a lake of blood, several dead bodies floating at the surface of it with looks of pure horror. Fluttershy gulped, tears beginning to roll her eyes as she blinked. “No… P-Please, Celestia no…” she sobbed between her words as the beasts pulled the chains closer towards the edge, the lead stallion who was now also crying, slipping a hoof off the ledge. “Wh-what did we do..?” She managed to let out, looking at the beasts. One monster moved a hand behind the lead unicorn, shoving the pony off the edge remorselessly. Fluttershy slipped. “NO!” She felt herself be dragged forward by gravity as the next pony in line also fell off, leaving her at the lead. “NO! NO, PLEASE! YOU DON’T HAVE TO DO THI-” She screamed in terror as she was dragged off and into the pit, Fluttershy falling with the rest of her chainmates down the hole. She only had a moment or two for her tear filled eyes to look at the bottom as it arrived closer and closer… ~̷́͜ Fluttershy had abridged the tale for the three, keeping out much of the more disturbing parts. At the end of the story, she was holding back tears of fear. Twilight had a shocked look, Rarity a disgusted one. Spike looked up from the comic book he had been reading. He occasionally glanced up to listen to Fluttershy further, but for the most part he hadn't heard much of it. “That sounds terrible, Fluttershy!” Spike sympathized  “But, there’s no need to fear, sweetie. It was just a dream!” she comforted. “Ponies have bad dreams all the time! Especially when they are sick.” Twilight nodded in agreement, shaking the surprise away. “Maybe whatever you had was affecting your dreams?” The alicorn suggested. Fluttershy nodded slowly. “Maybe, but… It all just felt so real.” “All dreams like that do, darling.” Rarity said, starting out of the hospital doors. Twilight followed, nudging Fluttershy along with one of her wings. "We'll walk you home, alright?" Twilight stated. "O-oh, thank you." the pegasus thanked. Twilight stopped, turning to Spike. "Make sure Pinkie is okay, we'll come back after we bring Fluttershy to her cottage." The drake nodded with a small salute. "Sure thing, Twi!" Spike separated from the trio of mares who were on the track back to Fluttershy's house.