Fuel the Eternal Flame | A DOOM MLP Crossover

by NotAnEditor

CMC Meeting!

It was late in the afternoon, the day lowering before the dodgy treehouse, sitting proudly in the large branches of an apple tree. Within, a duo of fillies sat impatiently. The orange pegasus, Scootaloo, sitting lazily upside down on a bean bag with a comic book in hoof. Meanwhile her friend Sweetie Belle was humming a nice tune, gently pacing about the room with a disgruntled look.

The day had stretched on long enough for the two young ponies. The two were waiting for their missing club member, Applebloom. The sun had just begun to set, and they didn’t want to miss out on this meeting.

Finally the young unicorn spoke up. “Where in Equestria is Applebloom?” The filly questioned aloud.

Scootaloo kept on reading, hardly noticing the exclamation.

“Scootaloo!” Sweetie Belle shouted to her friend.

She jumped a little, looking up from her book. “Oh, what?”

“Where’s Applebloom?” she repeated “It’s been a whole hour since the meeting ‘started’ and she’s not even here. She lives right next to the treehouse for crying out loud!” Sweetie Belle huffed.

Scootaloo gave a thoughtful look. “That is weird.” she hadn’t been keeping track of time, just staving off boredom with the comic. “But doesn’t she have the apple stuff to do as well?”

The white filly shook her head. “That was yesterday.” she pointed out.

“Huh.” Scootaloo went, still upside down on the beanbag. “I wonder what’s up with her?”

The distinct thonking sound of somepony making their way up to the treehouse went off, the two fillies perking their ears in the direction of the noises. “That might be her!” Sweetie Belle said with a twinge of excitement, trotting over to the front door.

The sound of hoofsteps made their way up to the treehouse, Sweetie Belle gripping the door knob with her weird flex-grip muscle hoof. She opened the door quickly, revealing an ill looking Applebloom standing before her. Her usually bright yellow coat was slightly faded and her trademark red bow was absent from her hair.

It was all topped off with the weak smile she had to greet her friends. “Heya, everypony!” she greeted with an over excited tone, very unfitting for her current visible condition.

Her two friends glanced at each other momentarily, before Sweetie Belle began to speak up. “Erm, hey, Applebloom?” she waved with a worried look.

“Hey!” she greeted once more, picking up a bucket with a strangely intoxicating scent coming from it.

Scootaloo slowly walked over. “What’s that smell?” she asked, looking at the bucket.

“Oh, this?” Applebloom asked as she placed it in the center of the room. “It’s somethin’ new we’ve been working up at Sweet Apple Acres. Apple-lava we call it.” she grinned braggadociously.

The pegasus looked down at the bucket. "Mmm! Can I have some?" Scootaloo asked with a smile, refraining from dipping her head in just yet.

"Ya bet!" the country filly nodded to the bucket.

Scootaloo swiftly doused her muzzle into the liquid, taking a couple of hardy laps before lifting her head with a clearly satisfied smile. “Wow! Where did you find this stuff?”

“It’s a secret.” the tired looking Applebloom replied as her friend continued drinking it.

Sweetie Belle was giving her friends strange looks. The unicorn remembered being told by Rarity not to trust strange substances, especially if they seemed that tasty on the outside. The filly had learned a thing or two from one too many pieces of candy during Nightmare Night.

“Ya want some, Sweetie Belle?” the earth pony asked her friend.

The white colored unicorn shook her head. “No thanks.”

“Awe, come on Sweetie!” Sweetie Belle could just catch her friend performing a sudden twitching motion, her smile growing a small bit. “Ya gotta at least try it.” The disheveled Applebloom moved closer to her.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “N-No thanks.” she stammered a bit as her friend arrived uncomfortably close.

“You’ve gotta try it!” Scootaloo stepped away from the bucket, turning to her friend as well. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever tasted!”

Still keeping an unsure look, Sweetie responded “Are you guys alright?” her trust was waning on the stuff.

“Never better!” Applebloom replied, backing up to a manageable distance. “So, what was today’s meeting about again?”

"You called the meeting today." Sweetie pointed out.

"Did I?" she placed a hoof to her chin thoughtfully, staring up at the ceiling in an attempt at recalling just earlier today. "Oh yeah! The new colt at school." she blatantly misremembered.

Now even Scootaloo was giving the country pony a confused look. "What new colt? I thought you said it was about the old ceiling board." The pegasus pointed at a particular portion of the ceiling, water dripping down from the blackened, paintless portion of wood.

"Oh… yeah." she snickered, rubbing the back of her neck.

“You know where the tools are, right? Could you get them really quick?” the unicorn asked.

“Ya bet!” Applebloom turned, hoofing her way out of the Cutie Mark Crusaders Clubhouse and down the steps.

Silence crowded the room once she left, Sweetie Belle looking over at her remaining friend. “What do you think is up with her?”

Scootaloo shrugged, dipping her head back in the bucket before lifting her head back up. “I dunno. But this apple-lava stuff is kind of cool. You should give it a taste.” she once more insisted.

Sweetie Belle shook her head. “No thanks.” she answered Scootaloo, getting a little uncomfortable by how much they were insisting she drink it. “Are you sure there isn’t anything off with that stuff?”

She shrugged. “I dunno.” clopping went off from the roof of the treehouse, the sound of creaking boards going off as the old and moldy wood was torn away.

Applebloom looked down at the two through the new hole in the roof, a hammer in mouth with the nail-removing side at the business end. “Hey, Sweetie Belle, could you get one of the spare planks from the base of the tree?” she asked around the handle of the tool. There had always been a collection of spare wood at the base of the treehouse, waiting to be used for replacements and general upkeep.

Sweetie Belle nodded to the horrendously exhausted looking filly, holding back an estranged look before turning and going over to the front door, pushing it open with a free hoof as she headed out.

Down the stairs the young unicorn went, rounding about once she touched the grass of Sweet Apple Acres and towards the tree. Under it lie a pile of wood, a lot of the planks meant for the often degrading ceiling.

She picked the plank which the filly assumed would be the right size up with her light green aura, floating it beside her with a small bit of effort. A lot less effort if she were to pick it up herself though.

Sweetie Belle looked up at the roof of the place, hearing Applebloom and Scootaloo conversing. “Hey! Applebloom! I’m going to float this board up there, alright?”

“Got ya!” the country filly replied as Sweetie Belle closed her eyes in concentration, commanding the board to the roof. Slowly it began levitating, making its way up and towards where she heard Applebloom.

After a moment or two of focus, the young drawl filled the air. “Got it!” Applebloom said, the sound of hammering soon going off.

Sweetie Belle smiled a bit at her ability with levitation. “Good!” she headed back to the stairs of the clubhouse, going up and inside. She looked up, witnessing the new plank being hammered in.

“Say, Sweetie Belle. You wanna go check out where Applebloom gets that apple-lava stuff?” Scootaloo asked her friend over the nails being hit.

“Erm, are we sure we want to know where it’s from?” she asked, looking into the bucket. The attractive aroma engulfed her, growing second thoughts on whether to actually try it or not. Maybe just a sip?.. No, just look at it, Sweetie Belle. It looks evil! It’s making all your friends act weird. she convinced herself.

Scootaloo shrugged. “It sounds like a pretty cool trip to me. Plus, we don’t have much else to do for the meeting.” she added.

The front door of the clubhouse creaked open, the bedraggled Applebloom returning. “I’m back.” she waved a hoof.

“Hey! We were just thinking about asking you where you found that apple-lava stuff.” Scootaloo replied.

“I can show y’all.” Applebloom told them, turning and heading outside once again.

“Come on! Let’s go, Sweetie Belle.” the young pegasus urged, following her earth pony friend.

“Eh, wait up!” she galloped ahead as she was left behind by her two other friends, not having enough time to ponder if they should actually go or not.

The three made their way out of the treehouse, Scootaloo excited about seeing where her friend found such sweet stuff. “So, where did you find it anyways?” she asked as they rushed between the sparsely planted apple trees.

“Out in the Everfree. Not too deep within.” Applebloom explained briefly, yawning a small bit as they took a turn towards the dark forest.

Sweetie Belle skidded to a stop, looking ahead. “Th-The Everfree F-forest?”

Her two other friends halted as well, turning to the white-coated filly. “What's the matter?” Applebloom asked.

“Th-th-Isn’t the Everfree dangerous?” the unicorn stammered, looking up at the woodland, shivering.

Scootaloo snickered. “Aw, come on! Get some adventure in ya Sweetie Belle!” the brave pegasus encouraged.

“It’s just a five minute walk. Five or seven.” Applebloom encouraged.

Sweetie Belle swallowed her fear, closing her eyes to gather her courage before starting towards the fence separating the woods from the farm. She jumped up a small bit, setting her two hooves on the top of the short wood fence before clambering over it.

The white-coated filly looked up at the tall and ominously thick canopy once more, before glancing back to her farm-living friend as she also climbed over. “You know where it is, Applebloom. You lead the way.”

The other pony nodded in response, starting into the woods as Scootaloo joined the two, crunching the fallen leaves under hoof as she followed her friend. It took a moment or two more of Sweetie Belle steeling herself before continuing after her friends, letting the dark canopy of the dangerous forest engulf her in shadow.

~

If this was ‘five or seven’ minutes, then Sweetie Belle was clinically insane. It had felt like thirty by now, and the tangy overly sweet smell that had been taunting and urging Sweetie Belle along was really getting on her nerves. It smelled exactly like that apple-lava stuff Applebloom had shown her earlier. She was honestly surprised how she could smell it all the way from here.

With an annoyed look plastered on her face, she glanced over at Scootaloo, who still kept an adventurous smile. Of course she of all ponies would still be excited about this journey through the musky, mucky, muddy reaches of the Everfree. She always insisted for the group to go only to get turned down by both her and Applebloom.

Although, by now the pegasus surely would’ve calmed down, right? By her speedster and daring nature, this glorified hike should’ve put her to sleep by now. “Hm…” was all Sweetie Belle chalked up to the matter.

Looking over to Applebloom, her look showed a particular ecstaticness to her face. As if it were her birthday or something, and she had just gotten another one of her currently absent manebows.

Her trot was occasionally interrupted by a small twitch, although to Sweetie Belle’s excuse-making, currently hopeful mind she just brought the conclusion to an issue with her vision. After all, her view bobbing up and down from walking for so long could be messing with her perspective in such miniscule ways.

The three shuffled past a couple bushes, breaking into sunlight that beamed through a much appreciated clearing in the woods. “Are we close?” Scootaloo asked with an excited look, bringing her head down from a long inhalation of the oncoming scent.

“Yup!” Applebloom replied, heading to a longer bunch of underbrush. She crossed the clearing as Sweetie Belle looked about the peaceful area. There were tons of butterflies flapping around a dead tree centering the area, bunches of mushrooms and flowers growing around the base of the thing.

As she looked at it a moment longer before her two friends entered the underbrush, she realized a small couple of leaves growing on the branches of the wet, soggy-wooded tree. She was about to open her mouth to question it to herself before a shrill shriek of surprise filled the air from the bushes in front of her.

“AH! What is that?!” Scootaloo shouted after the sound of the clinking of bones.

She turned swiftly, wading through the nearby bushes before stumbling out on the other side, twigs and branches snagging her coat a little. As she came out of the other side, she felt something block her hoof and make her trip a couple hooves ahead.

“It’s… A skeleton.” Applebloom pointed out the obvious as Sweetie Belle rose to her hooves, turning and clopping over with a curious intent.

“What in Celestia’s name?” she questioned as the three came up to it.

There, surrounded by tall, overgrown grass was a skeleton of some foreign creature, completely picked clean. Tissue residue hung on the bones of whatever it used to be, signaling a relatively recent consumption of the body. Although, the herbivorous, young and innocent fillies wouldn’t exactly know what a recently picked clean skeleton would even look like. Yet alone one of such a shape.

From what they could make out, it seemed to be a tall, spindly creature. Long hands, long claws and a threatening size. Any leftover blood had been grown over by the surrounding grasses.

“Erm, Applebloom? This feels like a bad sign, maybe we should head back?”

“Nonsense! We’re already here!” Applebloom responded, making Sweetie Belle turn back to the direction of the succulent scent.

There in front of them sat the large pond of red juice, sparkling and crackling with energy as it sat in its depression of the earth. The indescribably sweet smell drifted towards her, almost carrying the young pony towards the pond. Without hardly thinking, the pegasus and unicorn drifted closely to the liquid, looking down with thirsty looks.

“It looks so… Cool.” Scootaloo described, looking down into the gnarly energy.

“Y-yeah. And…” she paused for a moment, before shaking her head from the stupor. “W-what am I doing? This stuff looks evil!” Sweetie Belle realized. “Scootaloo, I’m not sure we should drink this.”

The other filly snickered. “We? Sure, you can miss out.” she dipped her head towards it.

Behind the two, Applebloom slowly encroached upon them, her smile twisting wider as they argued over it.

Sweetie Belle gripped her friend's mane in a magical grasp, moving her head away from it. “I’m serious! This stuff is dangerous! I can feel it like… tugging on us?” she tried to describe.

The pegasus rolled her eyes as their earth pony friend stood behind and between them, waiting for just the right time. “It’s just some juice! What could be wrong with it?”

“Uh, it’s from someplace we don’t know! The Everfree is super dangerous!” the unicorn pointed out.

Scootaloo shrugged. “Eh, I just think you need to take a chill pill or two.” She pointed out.

“Chill pill? I swear, Scoots, something is wrong with this stuff. It looks like something straight out of one of your comics! It could be eating your face off, or taking over your mind, or something!” Sweetie exclaimed.

Scootaloo scoffed. “Mind control? Really? What red juice just randomly mind-controls ponies?”

“Precisely.” Applebloom agreed in an ominous tone.

Sweetie Belle closed her eyes triumphantly. “See? Applebloom agr-” The earth pony rammed straight into the two with immense force from behind, more than what could be expected from a filly.

The apple-lava engulfed the two ponies, surrounding them in a soothingly warm water, like a hot tub. Although, the crackles and shots of energy burned their eyes as they opened them while submerged.

Before the two could exit the strange substance, they felt a mighty force drive them back down to the bottom of the lake. The two friends gurgled in surprise beneath the water, air bubbles escaping as they looked back up at the culprit.

Above the two, Applebloom stood, both front legs holding the duo down beneath the water. She had a crooked grin, maniacal in nature as she held them to the pond-floor with an unusual and unbreakable strength.

It was not Applebloom who was keeping the two beneath the surface. It was somepony else… Something else. It growled monstrously as the filly-shaped thing kept them beneath the water, the two pleading and shouting beneath the water.

Dozens of bubbles of air bursted from their mouth as they quickly realized that this was no game. “Applebloom! Stop! This isn’t funny. Let us out!” Sweetie Belle attempted to screech at her friend as she felt the oxygen exit her lungs, only gurgles escaping her mouth in the liquid.

Scootaloo attempted to join her friend’s pleading, stopping at the unrealized inhalation of the stuff, beginning to drown in the substance. Nopony heard the two screaming as their dearest friend continued drowning them.

The three fillies that exited the Everfree forest were no longer the Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Comments

[JcPlaty022]

....damn.

[TundraicMagnus]

Ayo