Into the Friendship

by AmanDash

The Everfree Forest

As you take in your surroundings, you notice a small path in the forest. Taking a look around, you see that one direction leads to a lighter area, while you don't notice any change looking the other direction. You decide to head towards the light, in hopes of getting out of the forest and perhaps find something, anything of use.

Barely after five minutes of walking, you hear the noise from the bushes on your left, and upon closer inspection, predatory steps trying to sneak upon you with the grace of a running Hell Knight. You begin to wonder how on Earth those animals can get anything to eat. There. Just for a moment, you see something resembling the head of a lion appearing for a fraction of a second, unsuspectingly sneaking closer to you. Unbothered, you continue walking whilst readying your Super Shotgun. Finally, the beast, which appears to be a sort of lion-scorpion hybrid with its head barely at your chest height, reaches the distance what it assumes to be close enough to catch you, only to recoil in shock as instead of the expected fleeing attempt, you suddenly face it, Shotgun in hand. Not wanting to waste ammunition, you hit it in the head with a quick melee attack, forcing it to stagger. You deliver two skull-crushing punches to its head, ending it, when you hear a roar akin to a lion. Still not near as powerful as the roar of a Pinky, though. You notice a second, bigger one leaping at you with bestial fury, only to be stopped with an other melee attack and to be killed by a violent twist of its head. Finally, after taking in your surroundings and finding no further threats, you call out your Codex entry in hopes of finding out what these things are.

Manticore
Manticores are native predators of the Everfree Forest feasting on anything they manage to catch. While having much more physical strength than a pony, they are still relatively weak compared to demons, just slightly above the threat level of an Unwilling or a Possessed. They can run fast, but have little health and their swiping and clawing attacks do small to moderate damage. Can be dangerous in huge packs, but they don't pose a threat if they are alone.

Closing the Data log entry, you notice a small white bunny poking out its head from one of the nearby bushes. Damn it looks adorable. You suddenly remember to Daisy. Not wanting to startle it, you dismiss your weapon back to the pocket dimension with the others and crouch down. Unlike Daisy, this rabbit is much smaller and white. It eyes the dead Manticores with weariness, then suddenly runs to you and hops onto your open palm. You affectionately caress its head while you look it over for possible injuries. Luckily, you find none. It appears to be a male. You deposit the bunny on the ground with care. He looks at you and appears to do a cute "Follow me" motion with his tiny paws. You check on your current objective to see if it is the right thing to do.

Follow the white rabbit

The bunny starts to run to the clear side on the path with a moderate speed, occasionally stopping to look and hear around so you can easily catch up with him. After a few minutes of running, you both stop as you hear some noise akin to the clopping of hooves and a faint feminine voice in the distance. The bunny doesn't seem to hear it yet, but after being blessed by the Seraphim, and decades spent fighting the forces of Hell, you not only gained enhanced senses but learned to use them to their fullest extent. The bunny starts to run a short distance again with you in tow. The two of you stop again. This time, you don't hear any hoofsteps, but the same feminine voice calls out, much clearer and a tiny bit louder than before, calling out "Angel". Not sure what is heading towards you, you grab up the bunny in your palm and scan the path and the forest in the general direction of the voice. There is a slight turn fifty meters ahead of you, so you don't have a direct line of sight to the source of the voice yet. Preparing for the worst, you pull out your Super Shotgun and start to sneak silently. As you reach the turn, you hear the voice call out again, this time much closer. This time, the bunny hears it also and wants to get out of your palm. You quickly and carefully let him go. Maybe Angel is his name and his owner has come in search of him. You dismiss your Super Shotgun for the Pistol in case if the source of the voice still turns out to be a threat, but you are 90% sure it won't be. The bunny runs with a speed unexpected from a cute creature with such tiny legs, but now, instead of running after him, you walk at an even pace, weapon at the ready, when you suddenly see it. At a distance of roughly 50 meters, somewhat three meters above the ground, a fragile looking, small winged pony with yellow coat, pink mane, tail and unnaturally huge turquoise eyes is hovering in the air, scanning the forest. You dismiss the Pistol to the pocket dimension and watch intently as the little rabbit runs to the pony, while the latter, upon seeing her pet, gracefully lands and picks him up while starting to scold him.

"Why have you run to the Everfree Forest again? It is as dangerous by day as it is by night! You could have fallen prey to the Timberwolves, or Manticore, or a Hydra, or Celestia knows what else."

*cute bunny noises*

"What do you mean by hornless Minotaur? And how could you be sure it saved you out of kindness and not because it wanted to eat you itself?"

*cute bunny noises*

"What! Oh dear! It killed two Manticores? With its bare claws? Oh My Celestia! Quick, hop on my back, we will never make it out of the forest alive if it catches us!"

*cute bunny noises*

"What do you mean he is harmless? Angel! Angeeeel! Where are you going?"

Suddenly you noticed Angel running towards you and stopping right in front of you. You crouched down and he leapt up onto your palm. Finally, the winged pony, who seemed to be his owner, and by some weird reason, could speak English, ran after him and noticed you standing there as well. Her wings popped out and she screamed in fright with unexpected volume. She stared into your eyes with the fear of an abandoned Imp, but unlike with the latter, you couldn't detect even the slightest malice behind that fear. You didn't want to hurt her, but you understood why she was afraid of you. Even without weapons, you were decked out in the menacing Praetor Suit, and despite your will, you could clearly see that her fright only intensified upon seeing your eyes behind the visor. Not to mention, you were easily twice as tall as her, with she barely reaching at your waist level with her head. They say the eyes are the mirror of the soul. In her eyes, you could see innocence, kindness, and right now, fear, while, despite your best intentions, she probably saw the millennia-long torment, hatred and bloodlust unparalelled by even the fiercest demons of Hell behind the mask of calm. You crouched down in front of her and extended your palm with Angel sitting snugly on it back to her. You cast a meaningful glance at the little rabbit then back to her wanting to say that she should look out for him much better and not letting him getting into danger. Suddenly, the fear was replaced by shame as she took Angel and she drooped her ears back. She looked up at you with teary eyes and finally spoke with a voice barely above a whisper.

"Thank you for saving him. My name is Fluttershy. What's your name?"

"My deepest apologies for scaring you Fluttershy. I am Flynn Taggart, but you can call me Doomguy."

Comments

[RealisticReactions420]

Honestly a very good fan fic and you should continue it I'm pretty sure this is the most enjoyable fic I read yet

[AmanDash]

I'm pretty sure most fanfics with Doomguy in it are very good :P Thank you for your kind words, I have 2 unfinished chapters, but there are a lot of details that should be worked out and I don't want to rush it.

[Slayer45jack]

https://youtu.be/U4lz8MN6MQA or Listen to Doom Crossing: Eternal Horizons (feat. Natalia Natchan) by Anime-Song on #SoundCloud
https://soundcloud.com/teerapat-chauhan/doom-crossing-eternal-horizons

[CrusadingDoomguy]

"My deepest apologies for scaring you Fluttershy. I am Flynn Taggart, but you can call me Doomguy."

I prefer William Blazkowicz.