Fuel the Eternal Flame | A DOOM MLP Crossover

by NotAnEditor

Failure

The breeze blew heavy past the pink shield that engulfed the mountain positioned city. Standing on guard atop of the tall walls of the lavish white and gold city were a pair of stallions, watching the winds blast grass away. In the distance, far from the large polis was a huge batch of dark clouds with red lightning shooting between them. It came from the direction of Ponyville.

One guard sighed dejectedly, staring at the clouds. His coat was orange and he had a light blue mane. He was a pegasus wearing the standard golden armor with blue detailings on it. His mane was in a straight mohawk through his helmet. He held a fancy looking spear in his hoof valiantly.

“You good?” the deep voice of an older looking pony asked. Brown coat, black hair and eyes, unicorn horn and a similar set of gold colored armor.

The orange pegasus nodded slowly, still frowning.

The older royal guardspony shook his head. “You sure?”

Finally, the other guard decided to speak up. “W-Well, I’m just worried.”

He looked off in the direction his fellow guardspony stared at, deciphering where it could lead before going back to his co-worker. “About Ponyville?”

The orange pony “Mhm”’d in response. “M-My wife’s there.”

“Oh.” the older one muttered. “Well, I’m sure she’s fine. Luna said Ponyville got cleared of monsters a couple days ago.”

“Then why aren’t we taking it back?” he asked, annoyance in his tone. “If it’s so clear, why can’t we march in and just take it back?”

The brown-coated one shrugged with a solemn look. “I don’t think the princesses believe we could handle the monsters.”

“I could!” the younger pony declared. “If they laid a single hoof on Pleasant Stream, Celestia knows what I’d do to them.” he ran a hoof across the stone of their roofed post on the wall, facing the entrance of the kingdom.

“You know what they’d do if they found you, Sunrise?” this guard seemed much more experienced with their enemy.

Sunrise scoffed. “What? Sprinkle red magic on me?”

“I’m sure you've never met one, have you?” The older guard laughed, lifting a hoof and presenting his right foreleg. There was a long, ghastly scar stretching up and down the limb. It looked to be from some terrible beast. “A Prowler did that, well, what Luna calls them. They teleport around and stalk their prey in cities. I happened to be one of its prey.”

Sunrise stared at it in disturbance. Such grievous injuries were not commonly seen by the average pony.

“And those are the weaker ones,” he began. “One slash on that arm and I couldn’t stop bleedin’.”

A hopeless look developed on the other stallion’s face, looking at the ground for a moment in thought before returning up to stare across the mountain plain they were meant to be guarding.

He had to double take at what caught his eye. In the distance was a pony figure, purple colored with a horn jutting from her head and two long spread out wings. Sunrise pushed a hoof into the shoulder of the fellow guard. “Longtale, is that who I think it is?”

Longtale squinted his eyes, trying to get a better look at the mare. “By Celestia…” it was Twilight Sparkle, seething with pure rage.

The two stared at her for a while as the princess stomped her way forward, slowly getting closer. “What should we do? Call for the gates to open?”

The old unicorn shook his head. “It could be a trick…”

“How?” Sunrise queried, tilting his helmeted head.

“Have you seen those monsters’ magic? They could trick anypony.” Longtale replied.

The fellow guardspony nodded in agreement. “That is a fair point. Should we warn the princesses?”

The unicorn nodded. “Definitely.”

Sunrise turned, calling back to a guard on the ground in the interior of the wall. “Bring one of the princesses! Twilight may have returned, although it could be a trick.”

Several civilian ponies stopped their daily commutes near the wall, looking in surprise at the statement. Had they heard that right? Twilight Sparkle? Alive?

“Erm, repeat that, please?” a white coated and blue maned guardspony looked up.

Sunrise looked at the handful of civilian ponies looking with wide, hopeful eyes. He cleared his throat. “Princess Twilight has returned. But we can’t be sure it's her, it could be a trick from the monsters. We require the aid of a princess.”

The guard nodded. “I understand.” before taking flight on his wings and towards the royal castle of Canterlot.

~

Twilight stared up at the top of the walls, the bubble keeping her out of the kingdom. Her eyebrows were drawn down into rage and determination. Her usually well-kept purple coat was matted and covered in both blood and mud, making it more of a poison purple than the usual violet.

Numerous scars and scratches contaminated her coat, from both demon encounters and the sharp brambles and scraping dirt of the wilderness. The saddlebag sat heavily on her back, swaying in the wind with the weight of the Codex. It was heavily torn and damaged. The journey home was not an enjoyable one.

There was an obnoxious scratching echoing through her mind. Krckc… krkkkrc… krrkrkrkr…. Eeeeeeeee… that same sequence of noises repeating, like hooves against a chalk-board. It only increased her anger at the princesses for abandoning her and the elements. Her friends and Spike…

She watched as a shimmering, flowing mane rose over the wall, Celestia climbing up the stairs and looking down at Twilight with an excited look. It quickly shifted to surprise and horror at the state she was in. “T-Twilight?” two guards stood next to her, sharing a similar but less exaggerated expression.

Her apprentice gave a dark stare back, huffing out a puff of hot air.

“Twilight, are you okay?” Celestia stared the fellow alicorn up and down, inspecting her for any signs of corruption. Her furious eyes were the usual dark purple, glaring. Her fur held no sign of gray either. It was Twilight for sure.

“Celestia…” she growled monstrously, advancing towards the bubble that separated her from the kingdom. They too hid under a similar shield as their short-winded hideout. Probably from the same source that the old castle had, there was no way Shining Armor could’ve made it here from the Crystal Empire alive.

The princess looked around in a concerned manner. “Where are the other five?”

Twilight felt a twinge of anger course through her. Of course she wouldn’t even think about Spike. All she replied with was the same hard glare.

“Oh…” Celestia assumed the worst. “Well, you must join us. I can tell you’re angry, but without you, Equestria may be left in ruins!” she flew down off the wall, going out of the shield and stopping a couple meters from Twilight. She looked down at her protege with sympathetic eyes. “I know what losing people feels like, Twilight. I’ve lost a lot over my millennias of life.”

Twilight’s rageful stare lowered to the ground for a moment, before looking back up with a bit more of an understanding look. Her gaze quickly turned into surprise at the sight of a certain figure within the shield. Standing on the wall was her brother, horn lit with rosy magic.

Her guard fell, eyes wide as she took a step forward. “S-Shining Armor?”

Celestia looked at the unicorn, then back at Twilight. “Yes, he is fine and alive.”

The fellow alicorn’s ears were high now. “But how would he have even gotten here without being attacked? The Crystal Empire is so far away.”

“That is a question for my sister.” Celestia nodded gently, a welcoming smile forming on her face. “Come, staying out here for too long is dangerous.” she started towards the shield.

Twilight gave a glance behind to the cliffs she had woven through, before agreeing and following after the Sun Princess.

The large gates to the lavish city slowly swung open, revealing a legion of pony citizens, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the Princess of Friendship. They all gasped at the sight of Twilight, looking at her dreadful, dirty and scar-ridden appearance. It was scary seeing a princess like this, with a bit of a broken look in her eyes.

“Move along!” Her brother commanded, walking down the steps of the wall’s stairs, two royal guardponies going with him as he stood to the side of the two princesses. “We must assess Princess Twilight Sparkle for any injuries at the castle, and we cannot do that with everypony blocking her path.” Shining Armor exclaimed with authority.

The crowd of Canterlot citizens made way for the group, Shining Armor leading them through. Once they made it by, and the only real presence of ponies were mumbles from the markets and houses lining the white brick roads, Shining Armor dropped the authoritative tone as they journeyed to the main castle.

~

“Have you heard any voices or any compulsions by an unknown force?” the nurse pony asked Twilight.

The alicorn shook her head no, an annoyed look plastered over her face. She was in her gorgeous Canterlot room. The nice purple and lavender hues sitting gently on Twilight’s eyes. Several portions of her body had been bandaged up with some scars sewn together.

The windows let in the pink-tinted sunlight as she sat on the comfortable bed. Way better than any eons old mattress she rested on in the Castle of the Two Sisters.

“Have you come in direct contact with any monsters in the last few hours?”

She recalled yesterday, the attacks from those things… It didn't matter, that was much longer ago than a few hours. “No.” Twilight replied.

“Have you come into any contact with them?” the nurse questioned next.

“Yes.” she responded.

The unicorn nurse nodded, writing something down on a nearby notepad with a pen, engulfing it in her magic. “Well, I believe those are all the questions. I’ll be going now.” the unicorn stood up, walking towards the door and gently pushed it open with a free hoof, notepad in the other hoof as she went out. The door fell gently.

Once the nurse was gone, Twilight plummeted back into her bed, cozying up into the sheets and shutting her eyes for some sort of rest in the comfy bed. It felt like laying on a cloud compared to the cold dirt she had to rest on for the past few days.

Her hooves splayed across the mattress in a long stretch, the soft mattress sinking down from her weight. She hardly bothered to place the covers over her bandaged form. Before she allowed sleep to devour her, she was awoken by the sound of a pair of hoofsteps. She opened her eyes, sitting up.

“Did I wake you up?” Celestia asked, worried.

Twilight blinked exhaustion away from her eyes. “No.” there was a hint of annoyance to her tone.

Princess Celestia looked around the room for a moment, attempting to find the right words to begin the conversation. She felt as if asking if she was okay would simply bother her further, seeing that dozens of other ponies had already asked that same question. “Do you need anything?”

The fellow princess gave a moment of thought, glancing down at her aching stomach. She had been ignoring the pangs thanks to the exhaustion of her journey and injury overtaking it. “Food.” Twilight felt too exhausted, whether physically or mentally to form more complex sentences.

“I could make you pancakes.” Celestia suggested with a kind smile.

Twilight nodded in bed, tired beyond belief.

“Okay.” she turned, beginning to head out. She stopped for a moment, rearing her head to her apprentice. “Erm, I do have a question, if you feel comfortable about answering it of course.”

The alicorn knew the question was coming.

Celestia swallowed nervously. “W-Would you tell me where the rest of them went? Your friends, I mean.” if they were dead, so were the chances Equestria had against this threat. "Rainbow Dash, Rarity, all of them."

Twilight shut her eyes. She recalled the horrifying noise of her friend’s screeches as they were grasped by the giant hands of that huge monster, being carried to the terrible half-technology half-octopus hellship.

“Gone.” that was the first word that came to her mind.

Celestia shuttered with surprise. “Like… gone gone?”

Twilight shook her head. “Gone.” her desert-dry throat could hardly form that word as dread and grief tsunami’d at the thought of her last time seeing her friends… and her noble assistant.

“So they’re alive?” Celestia’s eyes flung in hope. “Where?”

Twilight moved her head to look at the princess just slightly. “In a hell warship.” she cleared her throat painfully. “They were captured…” she still felt a pang of anger at her lack of worry for Spike, but she was too tired to let it consume her like before.

“But they are alive, right?!” optimism flew through the alicorn like nothing else.

Twilight nodded.

Celestia’s wings fluttered. “This is great news! Thank you, Twilight. I need to tell Luna!” she turned, trotting joyfully out of the room.

Once the door shut, silence finally filled the room. Her ears rang just slightly as she laid back, shifting in the bed onto her side. Her tired eyes now faced the window, covered with curtains that blew freely with gentle air. She sighed, deciding to grab the curtains with her small amount of magic to roll them out of the way of the window.

She looked across the prestigious kingdom, tons of ponies roaming the streets she could see from where her bedroom resided. Twilight couldn’t help but feel guilty at the sight. All the ponies down there had counted on her and her friends to save them. They had before, against Nightmare Moon, King Sombra, Discord, Tirek, Chrysalis, anything… but they, no, she had failed them.

Twilight Sparkle had failed her friends

her people

her brother

her mother

her father

her assistant

her mentor

her city

her kingdom

her home

her hopes

her dreams

her efforts

her world

Twilight’s ears perked at a telepathic multi-layered voice echo in her mind. “We sympathize.”

Comments

[Manr]

Hopefully Twilight can learn about the legendary doomslayer and hear about his story about him fighting the armies of hell and even the world hell itself