//------------------------------// // Steel Barreled Sword // Story: Fuel the Eternal Flame | A DOOM MLP Crossover // by NotAnEditor //------------------------------// He could feel it. In his bones. In his heart, in his soul, in his flesh, in his brain, in his cells. Every bit of himself was filled to the brim with that feeling. Every ounce of his existence, all that he could remember, all that he could feel. The incessant feeling of searing hatred. He laid there in his armor still, glaring up at the faint engravings of his symbol. The Slayer’s Mark. It was unlit, signifying that it would remain closed. Only when the rage-filled red lit up within the curves of it that he would be set free. But that day would not come, not from what the Slayer knew. All he could do was sit there agonizingly. Days? Weeks? Months? Years? Centuries? He could not tell exactly while locked within his sarcophagus. It had felt like a lot of time however, that being one of the only things to muse over for him. In the later times of him sitting within, he began counting the seconds, trying to mark minutes and hours out to get a grasp of it. If the Slayer really was forced to guess, he would place his time in this sacred box to be around seven years. Others may find that long but from his perspective he was used to it. If he had lived thousands of centuries within his last sarcophagus, he could handle a couple centuries of this. Although then he had some sort of hope sitting there in that pitch black box. A hope that he could one day break free and wreck absolute havoc upon his enemies once more. The crunch of their bones, the tearing of their muscles, the screams of their agony. To make them suffer. All of them. That hope that one fateful day he could return to that chaos. That mind blurring, focus demanding, thought-blanketing battle. Another broken limb or another pain-filled screech from his enemies to disrupt his deep train of thought that would so inevitably arrive at its destination. He could feel that train chug along faster and faster now that his only way to halt it was gone. He had won, he had saved the world once more. The Slayer had stopped the demons from destroying Earth, well that Earth. The pride in his victory was a certain help but it was no way as close to battling his foes properly. Now there would be no demons to battle, not an ounce of distraction from his eternal existence and mind-tearing suffering. He looked down at his gauntlets, a rare moment of movement from the down-trodden demon killer. Even his armor’s fists were crumpled and cracked. Looking back up, he could see the hundreds, thousands of imprints of his punches. He growled with anger, gnashing his teeth as he prepared a skyscraper-tumbling punch. The blow cascaded into the top of the container, shaking violently but remaining steadfast, only an indent of his fist marking where he punched. The Doom Slayer took one long breath before resting his hand back down. There was no use in escaping, he already knew that, but something brewing inside him had always told him to keep on trying to break free. He shakingly rested his hand beside him, trying his hardest to hold back his thoughts. Each stab at the eons-old memories being blocked by the comforting thought of ripping his enemies in half. However it was all beginning to fade at the memories he held more dear. It all crept around him as he closed his tortured eyes. A field. Green. A light, eye-pleasing green. A green of natural foliage, uncorrupted and uninterrupted by the sight of disgusting demonkin. A warm breeze trailed across his hair and exposed skin. That feeling of skin on his own body was so unfamiliar now, for as long as he could remember it had been left mostly numb by hell-forged armors and UAC-built helmets. The hair he ran his uncalloused hands through was blonde and smooth. It was a heavy opposition to the tough, unkept and darkened hair that topped his head. He couldn’t feel blood on his body, or viscera, or bones, or organs. It was just himself in that field and the innocent civilian jeans and t-shirt he wore. The Slayer didn’t want to believe that this time of his life ever existed. He wanted his existence to just be reduced to this loop of battle, pain and war. But there he was in his memory in which he viewed like a dream. Believing something like this ever existed to him would distract him from his conquests, make him wish for a better life. It would always bring him down, make him ask questions about why he was still doing any of this. He could feel shade cast onto him, looking down on the surrounding grass to find shadow with light peeking between the leafy blockages. The sound of a bird-chirping above him made the man look up. He felt a strange feeling form across his mouth as he stared up into the tree, staring at a tiny nest of twigs and sticks, a cute little bluebird building it up. As the unfamiliar form drew across his face, he pressed a hand to his lips to see exactly what it was. His mouth curved upwards slightly, up into a satisfied and happy smile. A smile. Not one of maniacal insanity or weapon-viewing gaze. Not in response to some cruelty, or some empty threat from his enemy. A genuine grin at something he enjoyed the sight of. As he stared up at the lush, beautiful oak tree above him that the innocent bluebird took shelter within, he heard a voice. Unfamiliar but more notable than anything he had experienced. It wasn't some hell priest taunting him, an arch-demon begging for mercy, a noble king demanding he slaughter more of their enemies. It was a simple, calm and petite voice, high-pitched and womanly. “Flynn.” The lady stated somebody’s name. A name that he refused to recognize, but still answered to.  He moved his head to look in the direction of the voice, seeing some humanoid shape. It was blurry and unrecognizable, as if his mind was unable to even acknowledge the mere thought of whoever she was. As muffled sentences and cheerful, yet garbled giggles came from the unrecognizable form, that same blur began wrapping itself around everything surrounding the Slayer. The memory crumbled and dissipated around him, his eyes returning to the sight of pure darkness. He could feel his heart well up in pain as he returned to the dreaded sarcophagus. His heart clambered and clawed back for the memory but the Doom Slayer’s mind would not let it. He wanted, no, needed to forget all of that now. Just as he began closing his eyes to cast the memory further down, a glimmering sizzle broke his thought. Looking up, he saw the corners of his symbol light with crimson.  That grin formed across his face, the smile only some sicko maniac could produce. The redness burned and scorned across his symbol as he felt the enchantments and curses placed on the sarcophagus lift. The timing couldn’t be more immaculate to the demon purger. The Doom Slayer could hardly believe that it was happening as he heard a commanding voice speak in the back of his mind. “And you will crush our enemies.” The deep, noble voice began. “And cast down those who lead us astray… Rip and tear! Until it is done.” The Slayer felt the sarcophagus shake as the top was lifted, floating up and crashing into the nearby ground. The ever-present, heavenly choir of Ingmore Sanctum filled the helmetless Slayer’s ears. He rose slowly out of his entrapment, stepping to his boots and looking around the white, heavenly landscape of Ingmore Sanctum. Like the surface of the moon, yet more bright and holy. ~ Princess Luna felt herself shake a little in anxiousness at the sight of the Great Slayer. He was clad in a new, unfamiliar armor from what she had seen in legend. He was a tall and burly creature, bipedal and reaching far above her in height. The Slayer casted a quick glance at a giant metallic suit in one of the corners of the sanctum. It was red, black and menacing, crumpled down horribly and beaten. In one of its hands sat a deactivated energy sword and where the head would've sat a skull of a skeleton remained. She couldn’t help but assume that it was one of his former enemies. He immediately glared over at Princess Luna with a fury of a thousand suns, a robotic noise coming from one of his shoulders as a curious machine rose and looked around rapidly from his shoulder. The Equipment Launcher immediately locked onto the threat that Princess Luna could’ve provided, a small flame threateningly lit in front of the section of it reserved for the Flame Belch. His face was ghastly and fear-striking, pale and strong with jaw bones jutting out. The being looked like he hadn’t genuinely smiled in years as it scowled at the princess, waiting for some movement from her as he stepped down from the casket. A blade swiftly unsheathed from the Slayers left forearm, a weapon of unimaginable sharpness. She looked around anxiously for a moment, searching for some way to show that she was no threat to the Great Slayer. As his footsteps slowly found their way towards the princess, she quickly spotted a helmet sitting not too far away on the ground. It matched the green and brown color of his armor, his mark painted across the top of it just above the visor. Thinking fast, she picked up the helmet in her magic, lowering herself into a bow as she lifted the armor piece in front of her. It faced the Doom Slayer in the dark blue magic, the warrior king giving a confused look to the unfamiliar creature. The steel retracted into its device, shoulder-cannon falling back behind his shoulder as he slowly made his way towards her in a much less aggressive manner. Once Luna felt the shaking of the ground below his powerful boots, he stopped, looking down at the bowing alicorn. The Slayer reached down, his strength tearing his helmet out of the powerful princess’ magic. He lifted it over his head, sliding it down over his head. Luna could hear a mechanical hiss as the new set of armor connected to the rest. She watched the alien creature view portions of his visor. She could just make out small colorful lights of what she assumed to be Sentinel HUD within the helmet. He reached to his back, feeling for the handle of what looked like a staff. However, from Luna’s studies of Sentinel weapons, she could tell it was something much more special. The unignited energy hammer was locked to his backplate with a mechanism most sentinel armors used. Princess Luna stared up at the warrior with wide eyes, hoping for some manner of speech or voice to come from the human. Nothing came out, just that permanent glare. She swallowed nervously, rising from her bow and putting together a formal stance. “Hello, Great Slayer.” Princess Luna greeted. He glared back. “W-well…” she cleared her throat, recognizing his lack of speech. “You have been called to aid our people.” Princess Luna began. “I do believe you have quite the quarrel with the demons, yes?” She could see the Slayer’s angry and suspicious look turn to interest, eyebrows furrowing together rather than downwards. “My sister and I believe that we are in danger from them.” she explained briefly. “We may need your services.” It appeared the Slayer hardly needed another word of explanation as he looked towards her way into the sanctum. A large, swirling dark blue portal stood a couple of meters away from the shrine the Slayer was entombed upon. Princess Luna watched as the Slayer made his way towards the vortex, taking a dual barreled weapon from his hip-mount and gripping it strongly in one hand. The princess clopped after the warrior king, not wanting to let him go off without her supervision. ~ The Doom Slayer and his new associate rose from the hidden basement, the secret elevator rising behind the throne and stopping once they made it to the throne room floor. His near ever-present scowl casted across the throne room. Making his way past the throne with heavy boot-steps, he looked all across the pink and white colored hall. The architecture reminded him of Sentinel Prime, but much more vibrant. Something about it felt a little bit more comforting than the dark and cold gray castles of that old world. Princess Luna followed him, keeping a close eye so that he would not do anything uncalled for. Thankfully, no royal guard ponies guarded the throne room. It would be hard to explain the arrival of such an alien creature to them. Although, their absence left a curious thought to Luna of where they may have gone. The Slayer made his way to one of the stained windows, crossing over the red carpet running down the throne room and leaving behind very noticeable and strongly emplaced bootprints from the heavy warrior. His movements spoke to all the witnesses of what he was about. His arms hardly swayed with each step, his chest was kept out broad and his footsteps rumbled the ground just slightly, his pace just a mile or two ahead of average walking speed. He looked left and right across at the art pieces, gathering in this unfamiliar world’s culture. He had to admit, these horse-like creatures were a little confusing to be around. Horses that spoke? It was not the strangest thing he had seen, but still strange. The stained windows showed many images of the moon and sun. The Slayer continued down the throne room, keeping his eyes on them. He would glance occasionally on more depictions of other winged and horned horses, assuming a royal correlation to the subspecies. Princess Luna cleared her throat. “Erm, Great Slayer? If what I believe is occurring is actually happening, I do believe that we need to establish a form of long distance communication.” The Slayer gathered all he could about this strange culture, noting the frequent depictions of magic usage. It seemed to be a specialty of the race. He hardly paid attention to what the princess explained as he eyed a portion of stained glass that showcased six smaller horses all uniting to apparently battle Princess Luna. Before the princess of the night continued her sentence, she noticed the Slayer stopping and slowly glaring back at the pony, giving a questioning look. The mechanical object on his left shoulder rose with a whir as well, the cannon aiming right at her cautiously, like a second head. She held back a shiver, looking up at what he had sighted before forming an explanation. “Oh, that? That depicted a time when I was evil, erm, corrupted as you would call it. However the magic of the Elements of Harmony has restored me to my natural state.” she explained, hoping that would suffice for him. The Doom Slayer stared a moment longer, before nodding slowly and continuing on, his equipment launcher retracting back behind him with several mechanical whirrs. Luna took a relieving breath as the hyper-lethal being continued gandering at the depictions of her culture. “We will need to establish long distance connections. I do believe that I could use my magic intandem with your Praetor Suit, however its current counter-magical system seems to block me out.” He kept his eye on the murals, not paying too much attention. “May I request that you whitelist my attempts to access your suit’s communication systems?” Princess Luna requested. He nodded slowly, head kept away from her. Behind his visor, the Slayer witnessed a message. “REQUESTED WHITELIST OF COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS FROM: PRINCESS LUNA” his HUD read. The Doom Slayer approved the request, the message dissipating from his vision. With that he stopped and looked at the Princess, waiting for her to say something to ensure the connection was correct. “Can you hear me properly, Great Slayer?” she queried, voice speaking from both outside and inside his helmet. The Slayer gave an affirmative nod, before halting as he spotted a particular series of windows on the other side of the hall. They all depicted different pictures of a powerful being. The several windows meant to chronicle a tall, multi-featured species displayed on that wall of the throne room. It was shaped like an asian dragon, however its body was covered in goat-like fluff and its limbs were from several mis-matched species. Like a stuffed animal repaired with a multitude of alternative toys. His angered stare expanded into a much more profound glare. The being was familiar to the Doom Slayer. Princess Luna gave an unsettled look. “Great Slayer?” His head turned to look behind him. “We must find my sister. A week has passed thanks to the slipgate’s travel time. I must learn what happened while I was gone.” she explained. He huffed the window away, turning and walking towards the door on the other side of the throne room. Princess Luna followed after the Slayer.