Doomed Secrets

by darkstar64

First published 31st of January, 2013

I have to avoid them if I wish to keep knowledge of the cartoon a secret. I don't know what they'd do if they ever found out...

I appeared in Equestria one day, somehow transforming into my OC as well. Not wanting to risk the mane six discovering they're fictional characters in a fictional world, I've been avoiding Ponyville and spent my time trying to find a way home. Now that I accidentally ended up in Ponyville, I'll have to work harder than ever to keep my secret under wraps. But you can't keep secrets forever, and it's a lot harder to deal with when you're being plagued with nightmarish visions...

Self-insert, swearing, eventually crosses over with Doom 3, mild gore in later chapters.

Chapter 1: Darkstar

I nearly lost my balance as the train engine started, shaking all the cars in the process. We slowly pulled away from the station, and I stared outside the window observing the nasty weather outside. Vanhoover shared it's real-world counterpart's heavy rainfall. I was only visiting the city because I wanted to see how similar it was to Vancouver back on Earth. It was the closest thing in Equestria resembling home, and home is where I wanted to be right now.

Around two and a half months ago, I woke up in Equestria. I knew straight away where I was because I had somehow transformed into my OC. A pegasus stallion, sporting Vinyl Scratch's mane style, which was white with a black streak going down the middle. My huge, adorable orange eyes stood out from my black coat, matching the orange pentagram on my flank. No, I'm not a satanist or anything, it's actually the Doom 3 pentagram. I only chose it because it's one of my favorite videogames and it just looked cool. I never really had a special talent in mind when I chose it.

Now, I didn't even think it was logically possible to go to Equestria. It was fictional fantasy world after all. Sure, bronies will sometimes fantasize about living there, but a fantasy is all it should have been. There was no warning of my arrival, or any kind of supernatural event leading me here. The last thing I remember before waking up in a grassy field was going to bed the night before. For all I know, I could be dreaming the whole scenario.

Maybe I'm actually in a hospital bed and this is just a coma. How long before they pull the plug on me?

No, I shouldn't be scaring myself with my own thoughts. Fear wasn't going to get me home. All I want is to see my family again and finish school. I want to browse the internet and finish another playthrough of Ocarina of Time. I want to eat greasy fast food and artery clogging meat. God, did I ever miss meat. The first thing I'm going to do when I get back is make a McDonalds run. I could live with the pony diet, but it wasn't the same. Eating flower petals is just weird.

Not seeking permanent residence in Equestria, I've been painstakingly searching for any information that can lead me to a portal home, or at least create one. Local libraries didn't have the information I needed, and I was willing to bet that one library did have it. Too bad I wasn't stupid enough to actually go there.

My other problem here is the main characters of the cartoon. Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Twilight Sparkle. They were public enemy number one. The thought crossed my mind that I should ask Twilight for help, but it was probably the most idiotic idea ever. How could I tell them what my problem was without sounding crazy, and without revealing that they're fictional characters? I remembered how Twilight overreacted in Lesson Zero, and I sure as Hell wasn't going to witness her breakdown over being an animated horsey.

My only other option was Princess Celestia. If it was as simple as walking into the castle and demanding an audience with her, I'd probably be home already. No way the guards would let an unknown civilian have a private audience with their leader.

With no one to help me, I was on my own. I could of just gone to the Golden Oaks library and read a few books without talking to Twilight, but I knew that the second I stepped foot into Ponyville, I'd have Pinkie Pie all over my ass. I don't need a crazy party and several ponies trying to befriend me, especially in my stressed state of mind.

So I've been spending the last two and a half months travelling, looking for any possible way to get back to Earth. I've been supporting myself by doing cheap labor at local farms and businesses, but my constant travelling was eating all my bits. That's why I had to sneak onto the train when the conductor wasn't looking. I never saw him check tickets on the show, so I was sure I'd get away with it. I needed my money for food anyways.

I was still staring outside when the door to the train car suddenly opened. My ears met the sound of the familiar voice I had been avoiding ever since I first arrived here.

"Excuse me, but can my friend and I sit here? Every other car is full." Twilight Sparkle asked.

Oh shit, what the Hell was she doing in Vanhoover? The shock froze me in place, and I could feel my heartbeat accelerating. I knew I'd make her feel uncomfortable if I kept staring, so I finally said something.

"Uh... sure. Knock yourself out." I answered.

"Oh, thank you so much!" she smiled. "Come on Rarity, this nice stallion is letting us sit with him!"

Oh god, not her. Anypony but her.

"Well, it's about time a gentlecolt offered a lady a seat!" stated Rarity as she trotted inside. "If you ask me, proper etiquette is lacking in today's society!"

She sounded like a prissy little bitch. I always hated her snobby attitude and high regard for upper-class society. Sure, she could have her heart-warming moments on the show, but she would always be my least favorite pony.

"Again, thank you so much!" said Twilight as she sat down. "I'm surprised the train is so full today! Completely unexpected considering the weather outside."

"Despite the nasty weather conditions, is was very kind of you Twilight to accompany me on my fashion tour." Rarity replied. So that's why they were up here. Stupid Rarity and her fashion bullshit.

"That's what friends are for!" Twilight stated. "I'll just be glad when we get back to Ponyville."

Wait, this train was going to Ponyville? Guess I'm not getting off at the next stop.

"Oh forgive me sir, but I believe we didn't introduce ourselves." said Rarity. "I'm Rarity, fashionista extraordinaire and the Element of Generosity."

I want to hit you really hard.

"And I'm Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia and the Element of Magic."

Like I really needed the introductions.

"Charmed." I replied, then returned to gazing out the window. I honestly didn't care if I was being rude, if anything it would drive them away from befriending me. Twilight didn't seem to catch it.

"And you are?"

Oh for fuck sake, can't you just talk with your friend while I attempt to ignore that fact that two fictional characters are sitting right across from me?

"...Darkstar."

"Well, the pleasure is all mine Darkstar." Rarity replied. "Most stallions are-"

"Excuse me for interrupting, but what's with your cutie mark?" Twilight blurted out.

I caught her gaze staring down at my flank, studying my cutie mark. She didn't seem to know what a pentagram was, as she was eyeing it with curiosity.

"What's wrong with it?" I replied.

"I've never seen a cutie mark like that before! A star within a circle is a really interesting design! And the orange color gives it the appearance of flames." I noticed she was turning her head sideways to get a better look at it. "What does it represent?"

Shit. No one has ever asked me before. I never had a talent in mind when I picked it.

"Well, cutie marks tend to represent a pony's special talent, so I guess it represents that." I answered. I was always such a little smart-ass.

"Well, I know that. But what's your special talent? I'm curious as to what that symbol means. I might actually have a book somewhere here..."

Twilight's horn illuminated in a purple aura and she began to rummage through her saddlebag, tossing out various books onto her seat. Yes, it was definitely the same Twilight from the show.

"Please forgive my friend Darkstar, sometimes she can get a little lost in her studies." said Rarity. Twilight didn't seem to hear her as she was flipping through the pages of each book.

"Don't worry about it." I told her. Lucky for me I dodged a bullet there. Hopefully Twilight wouldn't find anything and leave me alone. I continued looking out the window and let my eyelids swallow my vision, slowly drifting off into sleep.

-/-

"Next stop Ponyville! Next stop, Ponyville!"

My eyes shot open. I looked up out the window and saw a small mountain village getting closer. This was going to be my first time in Ponyville, and hopefully my last. I brought my foreleg up to my face and started rubbing my eyes, trying to wake myself up.

"Oh, you're finally awake!"

I looked over at Twilight, who was shoving the last of her books back into her saddlebag. Did she really spend the entire trip reading all her books?

"I guess I dozed off." I replied.

"I wasn't able to find anything relating to the symbol on your cutie mark, but if we went to the library in town we could find it!" she suggested.

"As much fun as that sounds Twilight, this isn't my stop. I'm afraid our train ride together is coming to an end." I said. Finally, I could ditch these ponies and keep looking for a way home.

The door to the train car opened up and the conductor walked in.

"Tickets please."

"Here's mine." Rarity levitated her ticket with her magic and the conductor punched a hole in it.

"And here's mine." said Twilight as she did the same. The conductor then turned to me.

"Your ticket sir?"

"...Fuck."

Author's Notes:

My attempt at a HIE story. I wanted to do something a little different from the others, seeing as the main character wants to go home despite being a brony himself. Please let me know of any ways I can improve my writing so I may improve on the story.

Chapter 2: Damn it, I Made Friends

The unicorn conductor forcefully threw me out of the train with his magic, making me land on my back. A wave of pain throttled up my spine as it made contact with the station platform.

"And here's your stuff!"

My saddlebag dropped down, smashing right into my stomach, leaving me gasping for air. I could hear the conductor lecture me between breaths.

"Don't you even think about sneaking onto our trains again! Next time you won't be so lucky!"

I managed to roll over back onto my hooves and attempted to stand up. My chest was sore and my back was probably bruised. Good thing I had a coat to hide it. I was struggling to put my saddlebag back on when two unicorns approached me.

"I can't believe you tried to ride the train without paying!" Twilight scolded me.

"What kind of ruffian is too cheap to pay the fare?" said Rarity, with a look of disgust on her face.

"Funny. A couple of hours ago I was the nice gentlecolt that gave you two ladies a seat." I replied, not caring about their anger. "And besides, I wasn't arrested or anything, they just gave me a warning."

"What made you think it was all right to sneak onto the train like that?" Twilight continued. "The Railway wouldn't have a business if everypony rode for free!"

"All the other ponies on the train paid, so I'm sure their business will be fine. They kicked me off before my destination anyways, so it's not like my trip cost a full ticket."

"But what you did was wrong!"

"That may be, but I'm not feeling guilty over it. There was no harm done in the end, so why does it matter?"

"You are unbelievable, you know that?" Twilight yelled.

"Would I be unbelievable if I said the sky was blue?" I replied with a smirk.

"...Nevermind." said Twilight. "You are believably the most irritating stallion I've ever met!"

"Well, I'm glad I'm at the top of your most irritating stallions you've ever met list. Let me know if somepony else tops it so I can claim the title again."

"You...YOU... EEERRRGGH! Let's go Rarity." said Twilight, admitting defeat. She turned her back on me and trotted away with Rarity, who glanced back to give me a death stare. I just stared back and smiled, waving my foreleg goodbye. I realize I have a less than pleasant attitude when it comes to talking with people, but I wasn't going to take that egghead's crap just because I didn't pay for a ticket.

"ALL ABOARD!"

Looks like the train was about to leave the station. Staying in Ponyville wasn't my best option right now, so I decided to sneak back on the train. I just couldn't hang around inside, so I'd probably chill on the caboose or ride on the top of a car. After I made sure no ponies were looking, I extended my wings and hovered myself onto the caboose.

Only to be blown backwards back onto the station platform, again landing on my back.

"Ow... what the fu-"

"Ha! Trying to sneak on again are ya?" the conductor laughed from the caboose as the train pulled away. "I placed a magical charm around the train to keep you from sneaking on! Come back when you've bought a ticket! Hahaha!"

"Oh, you fucking asshole!" I yelled back. Great, now I was stranded in Ponyville. I picked myself back up a second time, being careful not to work my back to hard.

"I'm going to get you back one day." I thought to myself. I really needed to sit down, so I occupied an empty bench. Unlike anywhere on Earth, these benches didn't have bird shit or gum stuck on them. I laid down on my side and stretched out, feeling a few slightly painful cricks in my back. The next train was probably going to be a while, and I didn't feel like walking or flying. As much fun as flying is, it can wear you out pretty fast. The higher the altitude, the less oxygen there is to breathe. So unless it was extremely necessary, I walked everywhere I went. I didn't have enough food to last another hitchhike, so the train was my only option.

"I could just stay in Ponyville for a while. Maybe Applejack needs some work done in the farm and I can earn a few bits."

Ha! Like I was dumb enough to stay in Ponyville. After my fun with Twilight, her other friends wouldn't think very highly of me. Maybe Pinkie Pie would give me a chance, considering she likes to be friends with everypony. She gave Gilda a chance didn't she? Like I said before, I really didn't need that pink ball of cotton candy trying to befriend me and plan parties. I mean, just look at her casually trotting towards the station... OH SHIT!

Why is she going towards the station? Doesn't she work at Sugarcube Corner during the day? Her damn Pinkie Sense must have given me away. Not wanting to deal with the pink pony of death, I decided to take the easy way out and fly up into the clouds. In this case, flying wasn't just necessary, it was essential for survival. I gently lowered myself onto a small cloud above the station platform and waited.

Pinkie Pie wasn't trotting anymore. She was bouncing. I could hear her hooves bouncing off the ground like springs, just like in the show. I poked my head through the bottom of the cloud, and saw her standing on the platform. She appeared to be confused, as she was turning around constantly as if she were looking for something.

Or somepony.

Suddenly, she froze. I wanted to move, but I had to make sure she couldn't find me. I noticed her tail was shaking, but she wasn't controlling it. It was more so like a twitch... oh please no.

"AAAAAAAH LOOK OUT!"

I felt something heavy smash into the back of my head, the force sending me through the cloud and down towards the platform below. I had my eyes open long enough to see Pinkie gasp in fear and move before I gave a hug to the wooden platform. I hugged it so hard that I burst through the wooden beams and splattered underneath the platform.

"Fuck... my... life..." I winced as I tried to stand myself back up for the THIRD time.

"H-Hey! You all right down there?" A familiar voice asked. I knew who it was, and I was willing to bet that it was her that crashed into me.

"Yeah, I'm fine, no thanks to you!" I replied, rubbing my sore body.

"Here! Grab my hoof, I'll pull you up!" I saw a blue foreleg reach the light illuminating from the top of the platform. I extended my own hoof and grabbed hers (which was surprisingly easy for a creature without fingers.) and was hoisted back onto the platform.

Someone owes me money. Of course it was Rainbow Dash who had to collide with me. I'm not even in Ponyville for ten minutes and I've encountered just over half of the mane six.

"Yeah, sorry about hitting you there. I was just practicing one of my awesome new moves for the Wonderbolts!" stated Rainbow, who seemed to care more about her futile dream rather than the fact that she nearly killed me.

"Yeah, sure." I replied weakly. Good God, it felt like my brain was bouncing on a trampoline.

"Hahaha! You sure got him good Dashie!" stated another voice I didn't want to hear. "I knew something was up when my tail went all twitch-a-twitch! And then when I looked up, I saw him falling from the sky! Just some complete stranger who..."

Pinkie Pie froze for a second, then suddenly zoomed into town. Yes, I said zoomed. There exists no other word I can describe to what I just saw. I knew damn well what she was up too, and I was hoping I could get out of town before I was forced to partake in it.

"Don't mind Pinkie Pie, she can get a little crazy sometimes." stated Rainbow. "So... uh... I didn't catch your name."

"Darkstar." I replied. She was pretty good at catching me the first time.

"I'm Rainbow Dash, the most AWESOMEST flyer in all of Ponyville! So Darkstar, what brings you to Ponyville?" she asked while doing somersaults in the air.

"Well, I had a little problem on the train and was waiting for the next one."

"You were waiting for a train? Then why were you up in the clouds?" Rainbow stopped her flying and eyed me curiously.

"Uh... I just find resting on a cloud more relaxing than a wooden bench. Much softer." I lied.

"Can't argue with that!" Dash agreed. "So what was your big problem on the train? Didn't one like, just leave the station?"

Please stop talking to me. Why did I have to sneak onto that exact train?

"Well, sometimes the conductors have, uh, problems."

"Problems?" Rainbow Dash moved a little closer to me. "What kind of problems?"

"Well, they seem to dislike it when you sneak onto the train without purchasing a ticket."

The blue pegasus stared at me for second, then fell to the ground bursting in laughter.

"Hahaha! You actually tried to ride without paying? That is so awesome!" she squealed.

"Hey, I don't need the lecture from you to- wait, what?" I replied, confused.

Rainbow finally took a breath so she could reply. "Oh, come on! Nopony here ever likes to live dangerously! Did you actually get caught?"

Wow, I rode on the train for free. Such a rush to live dangerously. Watch out guys, we're dealing with a badass over here.

"Yes." I answered.

"Oh my gosh, that is just too funny!" Rainbow chuckled. "First you sneak onto the train, and then you stand up after getting smashed by the awesomest, most coolest flyer in all of Ponyville! You must be one tough stallion!"

"Yeah, I better be tough after all the bullshit I've had to deal with today..." I mumbled to myself.

"What was that?" Rainbow asked, lifting an ear to hear me.

"...Nothing. Anyways, do you know when the next train arrives?" I asked.

"Wait, what?" Rainbow replied wide-eyed. "You can't just NOT stay in Ponyville for a while! You only just got here!"

"Well, as interesting as Ponyville sounds, I really have places I need to be." I lied, hoping she would drop it and leave me alone at the station.

"The next train won't be here for hours! Come on, I'll show you around!"

"Now look, I really have to- HEY!"

Rainbow had flown behind me and grabbed me by the shoulders, lifting me into the air and started to drag me into town. It reminded me of that scene in May the Best Pet Win when Fluttershy did the same thing to Rainbow Dash before they sung a duet.

I wasn't interesting in breaking out into song, and I sure as Hell wasn't interested in going into town. Yet I knew Rainbow Dash was persistent and wasn't going to let me loiter around at the train station.

"You know Rainbow Dash, I can fly by myself. I do have wings." I stated.

"Oh yeah, sorry!" she replied before dropping me. At least I landed on my hooves this time and not my back.

"Okay, Rainbow Dash, I appreciate that you want to show me around, but I reall-"

I was suddenly face to face with death itself. Nothing scares your soul into hiding like glaring into the eyes of Pinkie Pie. I had no idea how she got here so fast, and I wasn't going to question the unquestionable. She probably already had the party set up and was going to trick me into attending it.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie! What's your name? I remember you from the Train Station when Rainbow Dash smashed right into you and blasted you right into the platform! Good thing my tail was a twitchin' or you would have fell right on top of me! You know what? I feel really bad that you got smashed by Dashie and got kicked off the train for not having a ticket, so how about I treat you to a cupcake at Sugarcube Corner? My treat!"

Oh no. No no no no no. I was NOT going to that party. I'd rather face the fires of Hell than attend Pinkie's stupid party.

"Woah, slow down girl. I'm actually not that hungry right now. And how did you know I got kicked off the train?"

"Oh silly, Twilight was telling me earlier about that rude stallion that didn't pay for a train ticket and started annoying her when she tried to lecture you about it!"

"Wait, what? They're back?" said Rainbow, surprised.

"Hey, she was being the rude one! I wasn't going to put up with her bickering!" I defended.

"Wait, you were on the same train as Twilight? AND Rarity?" asked Rainbow. "Boy, do I feel sorry for you."

"Well, I managed to shut her up and she walked away. You know, it was actually pretty funny seeing her get angry." I stated.

"Well, she did look really frustrated when I saw her!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie. "I was over at the library welcoming her back to Ponyville and she was going through her books that were full of all these strange looking symbols, and I asked what was bothering her and she told me about the little Mr. Meany Pants at the Train Station, so I-"

"Wait, strange looking symbols?" I interrupted. "She's not still trying to find out what my cutie mark means, is she?"

"I know! Isn't it funny? She doesn't even know what a pentagram is!" Pinkie laughed.

I just stared back at her, eyes wide with shock, and maybe fear. How does Pinkie Pie know about a satanic symbol? I'm pretty sure they kept religion out of the cartoon, but then again, this is Pinkie Pie we're talking about.

"Wait, what's a pentagram?" Rainbow asked, confused.

"It's the little orange symbol on Mr. Meany Pants' flank!" stated Pinkie Pie, who pointed her hoof towards my cutie mark.

"Woah, cool cutie mark!" said Dash, finally noticing it. "What does it represent?"

Why was everyone so damn interested in my ass tattoo? Serves me right for bringing it up.

"My name is Darkstar, for your information. And just how do you know what a pentagram is?" I asked, trying avoid any chat about my special talent.

"I know what many things are!" Pinkie answered. "I also know six-hundred and forty-seven different cupcake recipes! You should really come to Sugarcube Corner and try one of them! I'll help you decide! Only thirty-nine of the recipes have macaroni in them!"

She was avoiding my question, and still trying to convince me to go to her party. Could I really get away without attending it? Pinkie Pie didn't let Cranky stop her, and I was probably wasn't an exception. Even when Rainbow Dash tried to avoid her, she still managed to catch up with her in the most bizarre places. Crazy bitch would chase me to the borders of Equestria if it meant attending her party.

Then again, a Pinkie Pie party would supply free food, and I actually was pretty hungry. The only food I've eaten in the last twenty-four hours was cheap soup from a concession stand in Vanhoover. Also, it would provide another opportunity to mess with Twilight Sparkle. And if I got along with Applejack, I could probably work on her farm and make a few bits. Now if only Applejack didn't have her ability to detect lying. I'd have to be extra careful around her.

"All right, fine. Let's go try a cupcake." I replied, ignoring the voice in my head that was saying, "YOU STUPID FUCK! YOU SPENT TWO MONTHS AVOIDING THEM AND NOW YOU'RE GOING THROUGH WITH IT? WHAT THE FUCK DUDE!"

"Sounds good to me!" stated Rainbow Dash, who thankfully forgot about my cutie mark.

"Yay! Sounds like fun! I like making new friends! Come on, I'll lead the way!" Pinkie Pie smiled, happily bouncing off towards town.

"You know Darkstar, you're a pretty cool colt!" stated Rainbow. "Only the coolest of ponies get to be my friends! Now let's go get those cupcakes!"

"Wait, friends?" I said to myself as Rainbow caught up with Pinkie Pie. "Wait, macaroni cupcakes?"

Author's Notes:

Trying to write longer chapters. When there's an update, I want there to be enough to satisfy the readers. I'm glad everyone is enjoying this so far, and I might consider adding a comedy tag, even though it wasn't intended for it.

Chapter 3: Apologies

I had spent two and a half months avoiding this place. I went out of my way to avoid Ponyville and the Elements of Harmony. And yet, somehow, I was walking through town with two of them. They both had this insane idea that I wanted to be friends with them, but in reality I just wanted run as far away as I could. I was ignoring every sense of self-control in my brain just so I could have another meal and kill time before the next train.

As we were walking towards Sugarcube Corner, I took the time to study the village and see how closely it resembled the show. If anything, it looked better than it did on the show. You can see the little details in everything instead of flat colors, such as splinters in wood or chips in cement. It was amazing how well everything resembled the show, especially the ponies themselves. They looked exactly like their cartoon counterparts, but it was even better in three dimensions. In a way they had the appearance of well-made plush toys, but it was a thin fur coat instead of fabric, you could see every strand of hair in their manes, and the eyes were just beautiful. The bright colors of their irises and their shining pupils were perfect details, delivering an unreal sense of beauty. It was nothing a painting or a videogame could re-create.

I recognized some of the ponies from the show. I saw Big Macintosh pulling a cart full of apples towards the town square, most likely to be sold at a stand somewhere. A pony I assumed to be either Cloudchaser or Flitter flew right over our heads, I didn't know which one it was. I constantly get those two mixed up.

I couldn't help but snicker as we passed the library. I knew that a very pissed off Twilight is in there, having no choice but to think about me as she attempts to figure out what my cutie mark means.

"What's so funny?" Rainbow asked.

"Nothing, nothing. How much longer until we get there?" I replied.

"We're almost there!" Pinkie Pie answered as she bounced up and down. "Don't you worry Darky! We'll have you eating delicious cupcakes in no time!"

"DON'T call me that."

Darky. Sounds too close to dorky, which is what I thought of that nickname. It pissed me off to see Pinkie Pie so happy about everything. While she was living in her pleasant little world, I was living in a dark void of stress, anger, and fear. I was stressed because I was still trapped in Equestria, I was angry because I let myself walk into Ponyville, and I was afraid of accidentally letting my secret slip.

I can just imagine the reactions now. The mane six probably won't be able to handle knowing that they're fictional characters, nothing more but animation layers, scripted dialogue, and voice actors. They could go into shock, lash out in a violent psychotic rage, or maybe even slip into depression. The only pony that would be able to handle it would be Pinkie Pie, who would just love to know she has a fanbase and thousands of complete strangers that love her.

And if they do find out, don't mention anything about the cloppers.

My thoughts were interrupted as we came across the giant gingerbread house known as Sugarcube Corner. To everyone else it was a pastry bakery if you had a sweet tooth. To me it was a prison, where I'd be trapped along with my annoying pony inmates.

"After you Darky!" offered Pinkie as we approached the front door.

"I said don't call me that." I stated. I stood in front of the door and took a deep breath. This was it. Party time. I gritted my teeth, and pushed the door open.

"Wow, what a surprise!" I yelled out loud into the restaurant.

I was greeted by the stares of confused diners, who were eating away at their pastries. Mrs. Cake was staring at me from the till like I was crazy, along with the customer she was helping. It took me a second to realize that there was no party and I just made a total ass of myself.

"Oh.. but... I thought..." I mumbled as a red haze flooded my cheeks.

"What surprise Darky?" Pinkie Pie asked. "We were only just getting you a special cupcake!"

"Well, uh, you see, it was, um, nice of you to open the door for me Pinkie." I muttered. "Normally there aren't nice ponies that let me in the door first, so yeah, it surprised me." I felt like a fucking retard.

"Aw, thank you Darky!" Pinkie smiled. "More ponies need to be nice, especially to my friends!"

"Uh huh, friends." I replied. "And stop calling me that!"

Rainbow Dash let out a little snicker behind me.

"Shut up!"

I can't believe I embarrassed myself like that. Why didn't Pinkie Pie throw a party for me? It just seemed completely out of character for her. The three of us walked up towards the counter, where I was scanning the vast selection of cupcakes on display.

"Hi Mrs. Cake! How are the twins today?" Pinkie asked.

"It took us a couple hours, but we finally got them to fall asleep!" the fat bitch replied. "You don't work today Pinkie, so what brings you here?"

"I was just grabbing my new bestest friend Darky-"

"DARKSTAR."

"-Darky here a special cupcake because Rainbow Dash completely smashed him through the train station platform!"

"Is that so?" Mrs. Cake replied as she gave an evil glare towards Rainbow Dash.

"Hey, it was an accident!" blurted Rainbow. "I didn't mean to hit him! He just got in my way, that's all!"

"I was standing still on a cloud, in plain sight." I responded. "You hit me from above."

"Don't help her!" she exclaimed. "It's just that I messed up one of my signature moves for the Wonderbolts!"

"That's not all that's messed up..." I mumbled.

"What was that?" replied Rainbow, again lifting her ear to hear me.

"Nothing, don't worry about it. So where's this special cupcake I was promised?"

"Right here!" shouted Pinkie Pie, suddenly popping up from behind the counter, holding a cupcake. It was covered with orange icing, underneath what appeared to be a glob of white icing and a cherry. The pastry underneath I could tell was chocolate, wrapped neatly inside a cupcake wrapper.

"Wow, that actually looks pretty good!" I stated, taking the cupcake from her without saying thanks. I lifted it towards my mouth and bit down, finally getting a taste of Pinkie Pie's famous cupcakes. The pastry was warm and moist, probably baked fresh not too long ago. The icing hit the roof of my mouth, exploding into a mass gathering of flavor. The slimy-like food baked inside the pastry was... wait, what?

Slimy stuff in my cupcake? Were there worms in my cupcake? I quickly spat it out all over the ground, then took a peek inside the part of the cupcake I hadn't eaten yet. A piece of macaroni fell out of the pastry. Seriously?

"Aw, why did you spit it out?" Pinkie asked with a frown. "Did you not like my cupcake?"

"You put macaroni in it?!" I exclaimed. "I thought you were kidding about the macaroni!"

"Nope! Like I said, thirty-nine recipes contain various amounts of macaroni! There's also hot mustard, relish, sesame seeds, peanut butter, corn, hay,-"

"I get it Pinkie. I get it. Can I just have a regular cupcake? You know, the one that's just a pastry with icing on top?" I asked.

"Aw, you're no fun!" she pouted as she grabbed me a normal cupcake. This one was the same chocolate pastry as before, but... oh my god. Blue icing and a decorative cloud and lightning bolt on top. I swear if Rainbow Dash wasn't right beside me, I would of believed this cupcake to have a certain secret ingredient. Lucky for me, that wasn't the case.

I half expected Pinkie to pull a prank on me with this cupcake, but to my surprise it was just your ordinary cupcake. I'm sorry, did I say ordinary? I meant FUCKING DELICIOUS. I don't know how Pinkie Pie manages to achieve putting ponies in a euphoric state from sugary desserts, but I didn't care. I wolfed that cupcake down to every last bite.

"Wow, that was surprisingly good." I said out loud, smacking my lips.

"Of course it's good!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash as she ate her own cupcake. "Everypony loves Pinkie's cupcakes!"

"I love it when my baking makes ponies smile!" Pinkie beamed. "I always make the best pastries for my best friends!"

I was about to object being best friends with Pinkie when I heard the door open behind us. The little bell above the entryway caught our attention, and I caught sight of Twilight Sparkle and Applejack walking inside. Oh for the love of fuck, not the Element of Honesty. I could not afford to lie right now.

"...and then he just started being all smart with me, not caring that he just broke the law... YOU!" Twilight exclaimed, finally noticing me.

"Who, me?" I replied, playing innocent.

"Yes, you! What are you even doing here? I thought you were just passing trough Ponyville!"

"Wait, is this that stallion you were talkin' about Twilight?" Applejack asked, southern accent and all.

"Yes Applejack, that's him!"

"Oh, are you still upset about that?" I whined. "I don't see how it can upset you, it didn't effect you in any way. It's not like you were blamed for it."

"EERGH! You see Applejack? He does this every time I talk to him!"

"Now look partner." Applejack said to me sternly. "It may not effect Twilight in anyway but it sure as hay effects the Railway Company because they're losin' business. They provide comfortable sittin' rooms and food services, and you outta respect that!"

Wow, did not expect that from her. At all. She may be a southern girl but she sure as Hell knew her shit. As cliche as it sounds, she appeared to be very traditional.

"Hey, don't be so hard on him AJ!" Rainbow rushed to my rescue. "It's not THAT bad, I'm sure he had a good reason to sneak onto the train."

"Rainbow Dash! Good reasons or not, what he did was immoral!" Applejack responded. "And what are you doin' defending him for?"

"Because he's my friend!" Rainbow attempted to stare down at AJ. "You got a problem with that?"

"Well, maybe I do!" Applejack stared back. "You shouldn't be hanging around with troublemakers like him!"

"Oh, will you two just shut the fuck up?!" I exclaimed. Rainbow and Applejack both turned to look at me, eyes wide with shock. "I get it, sneaking onto trains is bad. I got the lecture from the conductor, I got the lecture from Twilight, and I certainly don't need the lecture from you. It's in the past, get over it, and stop fighting inside a public bakery."

"Excuse me?" Applejack stated. "What makes you think you can use such vulgar languag-"

"And another thing!" I interrupted. "You don't even know me, yet you're making such harsh judgments about me! I only snuck on the train in the first place so I'd have enough money to eat later! Is that not a good enough reason? Should I have starved myself just because paying is the right thing to do?"

Applejack was backing away from me now, completely shocked at my outburst. I noticed Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Pinkie Pie were equally shocked too.

"I..I.." AJ tried to speak, but I wouldn't let her.

"And what, I'm not allowed to be friends with other ponies because of my, "BAD" behavior? I come in here to eat a cupcake Pinkie Pie offered me and then you show up and start making nasty assumptions about me! I don't need to take you or Twilight's crap!"

I finished my rant and glared into Applejack's eyes. I may have been defending my unwanted friendship between Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, but that was only because I was trying to get Applejack off my ass. I could tell she was hurt, the way her eyes were looking. Everypony else in the restaurant just stared at us in an uncomfortable silence, waiting for something to happen. It was Appljeack that finally broke the tension.

"You're right. It was rude of me to make assumptions about you." She hung her hat down over her face, attempting to hide her regret. "I still don't approve of what you did, but I guess you did what you had to do. I'm sorry."

My frustration towards her quickly melted away, replaced by a different emotion. Guilt. I had wanted to make her feel bad, but now I felt bad myself because of it. I had a good reason to be completely pissed at her, but I shouldn't have to be a total dickhead just because I wanted nothing to do with her or her friends. Not only that, but we caused a scene inside a bakery and created an awkward situation for the both of us. Pinkie Pie did invite me here, and there really was no reason to turn her workplace into a courtroom battle.

"I'm sorry too. Not just to you, but to Twilight as well. Swearing and shouting wasn't probably the best way to deal with this, and I guess I was just extremely annoying to Twilight. Also, I should have acted a little more mature since I was invited here. I'm sorry to you too Pinkie Pie."

Applejack lifted her hat a little, and I saw a smile form on her muzzle. I noticed Twilight and Rainbow Dash were smiling too, which told me that all was forgiven. And then there was Pinkie Pie, who was somehow shooting fountains of tears as held a tissue at her face.

"I accept your apology." Applejack replied.

"I accept it too." said Twilight.

"Sniff.... WHY MUST MY FRIENDS BE SO HEARTWARMING?" Pinkie cried. "I ACCEPT YOUR APOLOGY TOO DARKY.... sniff."

"And I accept yours." I told Applejack. "I'm Darkstar by the way, NOT Darky." I clarified as I glared at Pinkie.

"Applejack, proud owner of Sweet Apple Acres!" she proudly stated, shaking my foreleg.

"Hey, wait a minute." said Rainbow Dash. "If you didn't have enough bits for the train, why were at the station waiting for the next one anyways?"

Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie Pie, and Twilight all turned toward me. You just couldn't shut your mouth, could you Rainbow Dash?

"ACTUALLY, I've decided to stay in Ponyville for a while until I can acquire more funds." I lied, hoping Applejack wouldn't pick up on it. Wait, that meant I would have to stay in Ponyville or... fuck.

"Oh really?" Applejack responded. "You sure you weren't just going sneak back on?"

"Hey, even if I wanted to, the conductor charmed the train so I couldn't get on anyways!" I clarified.

"I don't remember the conductor doing anything like that..." stated Twilight. You can shut up too egghead.

"He did it when he was throwing me off onto the platform." I replied. "Now we can just stop talking about trains already? I've had enough talk of locomotive transportation for one day."

"No sense talkin' about it now." said Applejack. "So, if you have limited funds, where do you plan on staying?"

"Well, I'm sure I can find a decent bench or some bridge to sleep under. I don't mind, really."

"WHAT?!" exclaimed Rainbow Dash. "You can't just sleep outside! You should TOTALLY stay at my place!" she offered.

"Are you sure you don't want him there for other reasons Rainbow Dash?" asked Applejack. "I mean, you two would be ALONE for the night."

Woah, what the fuck? I already knew that this was a more adult world compared to the cartoon, but i did not swing that way. I may be in the body of a pony, but I was still a human mentally. I was not going to have sex with a pony.

"Wha.. what?" Rainbow Dash said as a red haze flooded her cheeks. I heard Pinkie Pie giggle from behind the counter, and saw Twilight shift uncomfortably. "NO! I mean, it's not like he's unattractive or anything, I just think awesome friends shouldn't sleep outside this time of the year!"

"So you admit he's cute?" Applejack smiled. Pinkie was giggling harder and I was blushing myself.

"Well, I.." Rainbow tried to speak.

"Okay, I think that's quite enough." I butted in. "I'm fine with staying at Rainbow's place, but I'll be sleeping on the couch." I stated, making sure she knew I wasn't interested in that way.

"There, then it's settled!" said Rainbow. "Darkstar will be staying at my place!"

I wasn't worried about Rainbow Dash coming on to me, even if she was like that. I was just happy that I'd be sleeping in an actual house for once and not a under a bridge or a train car. Not only that, I could probably get free meals out of her too. Okay, that would be taking advantage of her hospitality, but I gotta eat, right?

"C'mon Darkstar, I'll show you where I live so you can drop your stuff off!" Rainbow stated as we both made our way outside. Finally, I couldn't wait to get away from those awkward stares the ponies inside gave us.

"Goodbye Darky!" said Pinkie Pie. "Wear protection!"

"IT'S DARKSTAR!" I screamed back. "AND SHUT UP!"

Author's Notes:

Don't worry, there won't be any shipping in this story. Only one more pony to meet, and I saved the best pony for last!

Chapter 4: Visions

The only view I ever got of Rainbow Dash's home from the cartoon was from the outside. I honestly don't get how she could own a mansion of a house when she didn't do shit all day. Maybe clouds were cheaper to build with since they occur naturally. But then again, nothing ever happens naturally in Equestria. They create rainbows in a factory for fuck sake!

I always wondered if pegasi living in the clouds had to worry about theft due to the light material their homes were made out of. As it turns out, they get unicorn contractors to charm the outside of the house to prevent other pegasi from entering and keep earth ponies from passing through. This also explained why their furniture and other belongings didn't end up crushing unsuspecting ponies below.

"Well, here we are! Home sweet home!" Rainbow announced, fluffing away a door of vapor to reveal the inside.

Knowing Rainbow Dash was probably the laziest pony alive, I wasn't expecting her house to be well-kept. I was surprised however, when I walked inside and it looked very decent. The only things scattered around were some Wonderbolts merchandise and a couple of books, some of which were Daring Doo. I had actually gotten a chance to read the first book during my first week in Equestria, and I didn't see what all the fuss was about. It wasn't a bad book, but the target audience of young foals made it an easy read. It was certainly no Harry Potter, a series I'm sure Twilight would love.

Aside from the crap on the floor, the inside of a cloud structure was amazing. Natural light from the sun easily beamed through the clouds, giving the inside a stunning natural appearance. The clouds reflected back a yellow tint, which would probably adjust as the sun sets and rises. I could just imagine how it would look during the early blue sky or the gloomy orange sunset. The ceiling was fitted with lights though, I assumed which were used during evenings. This had to be one of the coolest houses I had ever been in.

"So yeah, this is my living room." stated Dash as she attempted to pick up everything and straighten out the floor. "The couch over there is where you'll be sleeping." she pointed to a noticeable lump sticking out the floor, which was shaped into a sofa. I never minded sleeping on a couch back home, and a couch made out of clouds would be like sleeping on... well, guess I can't compare clouds to anything, can I?

"I'll just set my stuff on the couch, if that's all right." I stated as I heaved my saddlebag onto the sofa. When it landed on the cloudy cushion, it sunk down a little before slowly rising back up. I was actually excited to sleep tonight.

"What did you bring with you anyways?" Rainbow asked, curious.

"Just some bits, a couple of books I'm reading, and some soap for when I have to clean myself." I answered.

"...That's it?"

"That's all I need."

"Uh-huh. So anyways.. WATCH OUT!" Rainbow shouted quite suddenly.

I turned my head around quickly, only to see a giant green blob flying towards my face. I didn't react fast enough and was headbutted to the floor.

"...Why does this shit always happen to me?" I said out loud as I pulled myself back up. "I'm surprised I haven't gotten a concussion yet."

"Sorry!" said Rainbow Dash. "I forgot to tell you about Tank, my pet tortoise!"

I looked down at the blob laying next to me. That little shit had that propeller thingy strapped on it's shell, and it was struggling to get back up. The whole thing was just sad to watch.

"Because flying tortoises are a common occurrence." I replied, rubbing my head gently.

"It's pretty cool, isn't it?" Rainbow boasted. "Little fella looked so awesome when he saved my life about a year ago! That's why I made him my pet!"

"He didn't look so awesome when he nearly tore my head off with that propeller. Isn't that a hazard or something?" I asked.

"Don't worry, Tank hasn't hurt anyone with it so far!"

"That's reassuring. So what are we supposed to do all day?" I asked.

"Well, I was going to the library later. Not that I'm an egghead or anything, it's just that Twilight was holding the new Daring Doo for me."

That's right, the new Daring Doo book came out a couple days ago. I didn't know anything about it until I saw ponies lining up outside a bookstore back in Vanhoover. Most of them weren't even foals. I wondered if they had Daring Doo conventions where they would cosplay and ask the author stupid questions.

But I didn't want to go because of that. This would make a good opportunity to harass Twilight some more. I wasn't going to be an asshole this time, I would just tease her. Also, I'd finally get to see Spike for the first time, and I haven't seen a dragon yet since I got here.

"I'm up for it." I replied. "I need to see the rest of town anyways."

It didn't take long for the both of us to reach the library. From Rainbow's home, it was easy to spot from our vantage point. Dash was obviously faster than me, and probably had more stamina too. I wasn't very athletic back home, but all my walking the past few weeks was more than likely to make up for that. I wasn't that bad of a flyer, but you still had to support your own weight with wings. It's more demanding than everyone thinks it is.

I was also able to get a better look at the library. I quickly noticed the beehive hanging from a branch too my right, causing me to shiver. I hate bees. I was deathly afraid of them, despite the fact I had no allergies to their venom. The thought of giant, flying insects that can swarm together and sting you scares me. I ignored the hive and made my way to the door, forgetting about the ladies first rule and left Dash behind me.

Strange, everything was dark when I opened the door. I couldn't see anything. The sound of the door smashing closed behind me made me jump, and the room was flooded with a dark red light.

My vision blurred as a red haze surrounded me, revealing the twisted archive in front of me. A dark liquid began to seep through the walls, leaving a messy trail behind as they flowed to the floor. My heart responded by pounding against my rib cage, demanding more oxygen. I couldn't control my breathing anymore and started to hyperventilate, the motions making my chest heavy. Everything in and around the room began to suck me in, drawing me deeper into the crimson fog. My fur was moist from sweat as I felt my body starting get warmer. My throat began to dry up as the heat pounded against my skin. It felt like I was on fire! I tried to scream, but no voice would escape my lips. Instead, I began to hear other voices slowly leeching into my ears.

"SaVe Us..."

"ThEy ToOk My BaBy..."

"YoUr SoUl Will BuRn iN Hell..."

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"SURPRISE!"

Suddenly, the red haze disappeared and the voices along with it. My vision reverted back into clarity and I came back into reality. The library returned to it's normal state, only it was filled with ponies instead of blood. In my state of shock, I scanned the room and saw a banner taped across the ceiling.

"Welcome to Ponyville!"

"Wow Darky! You sure were surprised! Just look at you sweat! You weren't expecting that were ya?" Pinkie Pie blurted as jumped in front of me. I was still in shock after watching the blood disappear back into the walls, and I was still sweating from the heat that had almost roasted my body.

"Oh my gosh, I have never seen a pony more surprised!" stated Rainbow Dash, who had flown in from behind. "Did you see the way he jumped when I closed the door behind him? Just look at him, it's like he's scared or something!"

"Wh... what?" I croaked, my throat still feeling dry. "Oh, yeah. Just wasn't expecting that... at all... you sure got me Pinkie... and my name isn't Darky..."

"What the fuck just happened?" I thought to myself.

"Now, LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED!" Pinkie screamed, pulling her party cannon out of nowhere and blasting everypony in the room with a storm of confetti.

"H-Hey Pinkie, you know where I can get a drink?" I slowly asked, my throat burning from the pain.

"Of course silly!" she answered. "There's a punch bowl right over there! And if you look over there, we have pin the tail on the pony, and over here we have-"

"T-Thanks, that'll do Pinkie." I stated as I galloped towards the punch bowl, nearly knocking some ponies over.

I didn't bother filling up a glass as I grabbed the bowl with my hooves and poured the refreshing liquid down my throat. The cool sensation eased the pain and relaxed my body as drips missed my mouth and began to soak down my fur. Feeling better, I dropped the bowl back down, letting out an orgasmic sounding "Ahhhhhh," as a fresh chilling sensation travelled throughout my body.

"Gosh, you sure were thirsty, weren't you?" Twilight asked, suddenly appearing from nowhere.

"Yeah, I guess. Is it hot in here? It feels a little hot in here." I replied as I tried to catch my breath after so many gulps.

"Are you all right? You're sweating like a pig." Twilight stated. "Pinkie's surprise didn't startle you too much, did it?"

"Uh, no, not really. Damn, why is it so hot in here?"

"You're feeling a little warm? It's not that bad in here. Are you sure you're not coming down with a fever?" suggested Twilight, concerned.

"No, I was feeling fine this morning. Maybe I need to step outside for a bit and cool down." I said as I quickly turned towards the door, only to walk into another pony.

The pain that throbbed in my head was more intense than usual, probably from all the brain trauma I've been receiving today. With all my luck, I'd be a vegetable the day after tomorrow.

I stared down at the pony I collided with, only to have the most intense rush of guilt I had ever felt in my life. I forgot about the heat I was feeling as I stared wide-eyed at the pegasus in front of me. Yellow coat, pink mane, butterflies for a cutie mark, I had just smashed into the best pony. I couldn't help but feel sad as I stared into Fluttershy's adorable eyes.

"Oh, um.. I'm sorry! I should have been been more careful, and...um...eep!" she squealed, almost making my heart melt. Hell, it was already half way there after that weird shit from earlier.

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry!" I quickly apologized. "I had turned around too quickly, and I didn't mean to walk into you!" I was fine with being an ass to Twilight Sparkle but Fluttershy would not get that treatment from me. Never.

"Oh.. don't worry about it." she replied, hiding her face behind her mane. "It... it was probably my fault anyways..."

"I assure you it was my fault! Please don't blame yourself, I was the one not watching where he was going."

"Um.. okay... if you say so." she mumbled. Holy mother of a fuck, she was so fucking adorable. She was cute on the show, but seeing a Fluttershy in reality was a completely different experience. I resisted the urge to hug her, which was harder than you think.

"Yeah, again, I'm sorry for running into you! I was just going outside to get some fresh air. It was nice meeting you, um?"

"um, I'm Fluttershy..."

"Excuse me?"

"My, my name is Fluttershy.."

Ugh, I didn't have time to deal with this when I already knew her name anyways.

"Flut... Fluttershy, did you say?" I replied, pretending I had heard her over the party. "My name is Darkstar. Again, I am so sorry for what happened earlier!"

I carefully trotted around her, her gaze avoiding mine. I wasted no time opening the door and got outside, letting the cool spring air blanket my body. I stood still for a second, then followed by ralphing into a nearby bush. What was with that crazy blood shit earlier? What was it the voices were talking about? Something about my soul? Despite how creeped out I was, I felt as if something was familiar about those voices.

"Hey Darkstar? You feeling all right?" called Rainbow as she stuck her head out a window. "You don't look so good."

"I'm fine Rainbow Dash, really." I lied. "I guess I just drank too much punch and my stomach couldn't handle it."

"Well, then get your flank back in here!" she ordered. "You're missing the party! There ain't no party like a Pinkie Pie party!"

She was right, no doubt about it. After all, the party was meant for me wasn't it? I could use some fun after that extremely vivid vision. Thinking about it wasn't going to make me feel better, and avoiding these ponies now would give them a bad impression of me. I decided I might as well stick through with it until I can get out of this town and find a way home. I spat out a few chunks from my mouth and made my way back inside.

-/-

"Woohee, that was such an awesome party!" stated Rainbow Dash as she fell back onto the floor of her home. "I don't think I'll be eating cake for a week!"

"Did she really have to put coconut in it?" I said out loud. "What kind of idiot puts coconut on a cake? It's disgusting." My only exception for coconut was Nanaimo Bars, and Equestria didn't seem to have any. If I could remember how to make them, I'd give Pinkie Pie the recipe.

"Oh, you still ate it anyways." Rainbow replied. "And by the way, you suck at pin the tail on the pony!"

"Shut up!" I responded. "You spun me around too fast and I couldn't even walk straight!"

"Yeah, SURE." she teased, then quickly let out a yawn. "Gosh, That party completely wore me out! I think I'm gonna hit the hay."

That action must have been contagious, because I yawned too. It had gotten pretty dark after the party, and near concussions and dark visions really tire you out.

"Yeah, same here. It's been a long day." I replied.

"All right. Don't worry about Tank, he sleeps upstairs with me. And if you're up before me, do you think you could make a pot of coffee? Thanks."

You're fucking welcome bitch. Actually, coffee didn't sound too bad. And I never thought of Rainbow Dash being one to drink coffee. That's more something I'd see in Twilight or Applejack.

"Sure, no problem. You think Twilight will still be pissed about me dissing Daring Doo?" I asked, remembering that argument from the party.

"You just be glad I let you off so easily!" stated Rainbow. "Just because it's meant for foals doesn't mean it's uncool!"

I've heard that before about a certain TV show.

"Whatever. See you in the morning."

"Yeah, g'night Darkstar. Or should I say Darky?" she snickered.

"Ok. Goodnight Rainbow Crash." I replied with a smirk.

She said nothing as she flew upstairs to her bedroom.

Author's Notes:

Sorry if this chapter felt rushed. And I only skimmed through it, so forgive me if there's a couple spelling errors. Next chapter might take longer since second semester starts tomorrow.

Chapter 5: Into the Jet Stream

Rainbow's home was silent as she and Tank slept upstairs, with an occasional snore breaking the silence. The only other noise was my breathing, which I wouldn't be hearing if I could fall asleep. Despite laying down on a fucking cloud, I couldn't get any rest. It kept bothering me that I was still hanging around Ponyville when I knew damn well I shouldn't be.

I kept thinking about leaving, just ditching in the dead of night and move on to the next town. I knew I probably wouldn't survive the next journey, and if I did, I'd end up spending the rest of my money. I wouldn't be able to wait two weeks to get paid if I could get a job, which meant staying here was my only option now. Hopefully I could keep mooching off everypony until I could find some work. Summer Harvest was still a few months away, so I doubt Applejack would need any help just yet. What could I do in such a small town like Ponyville?

I lost my train of thought as I felt a drop of water hit me in the forehead, almost making me jump. I could feel the liquid slowly run down the side of my head, where I was able to reach it with my foreleg. Was there a leak in Rainbow Dash's house? It was made out of clouds after all. Maybe sometimes they precipitate and release moisture. I brought my hoof in front of my face, and using a beam of light reflecting off the moon, I was able to make out the dark liquid smeared onto my fur.

"Wait, this is... blood?" I whispered.

Curious, I shifted my head upwards to find the source of the blood. The entire ceiling above me had shifted into a crimson hue, suddenly releasing a downpour of red rain. I felt thick droplets of blood splatter onto my fur, making my skin itch. The whole living room flooded into a deep red haze, and I could feel myself getting sucked into the environment again. I could only stare in horror as the voices screeched into my ears once more.

"YoU'rE tiMe is RuNniNg oUt!"

"SuFferInG anD DeAtH, AwaItS YoU!"

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

The laughter was still ringing through my head as I felt the thick blood irritate my skin even more. I was frantically scratching my body in a panic, trying to numb the burning. My skin was burning! The boiling blood dug into my flesh, leaving a rancid stench of dead skin and... coffee?

I jolted upright from the couch, screaming in agony as the hot liquid pierced my skin like knives. By impulse, I was hovering in the air and shaking violently, trying to rid myself of the liquid.

"AAAA I'M BURNING! PLEASE, MAKE IT STOP!" I screamed.

"Augh! I'm so sorry! Just stop moving for a second, will ya?" a concerned voice replied.

I was suddenly showered down by another liquid, that was much lighter and cooler than before. The agonizing burning sensation melted away, leaving me soaking and panting for air. I looked up above me and saw Rainbow Dash bouncing on a storm cloud, emptying it's contents on top of me.

"I am so sorry!" she apologized. "I had woken up early and was bringing you a cup of coffee, but Tank crashed into me and made me spill it all over you!"

"W-What?" I replied. "Coffee? You mean it wasn't-"

"That wasn't cool Tank!" Rainbow scolded her tortoise. "I seriously need Twilight to take a look at your propeller before you hurt somepony!"

I gently lowered myself down onto the floor, scanning the living room. Instead of a downpour of blood, I saw drops of coffee trapped inside the clouds that made up the sofa and the flooring. I held a hoof to my chest as I realized it was just a dream.

"Holy fuck, that scared the shit out of me!" I exclaimed. "Like, fuck!"

In truth, I was still scared. That was the second time I was met with blood and disturbing voices, all while the room around me was collapsing into itself. I couldn't put my tongue on it, but something was definitely familiar about what I was experiencing. If it happened a second time, chances are I would still be around to see it a third time. The coffee acting as the blood was added realism to the vision, which had me wondering if these occurrences could cause further physical harm to me in the future. I really hoped I didn't have to experience one again.

"You all right?" Rainbow asked as she moved the empty storm cloud away. "It shouldn't be too bad, any burns should be hidden by your fur. Believe me, without fur I'd look like a wreck!"

"That was NOT an enjoyable wake-up call!" I replied, still trying to catch my breath. "Maybe... maybe I'll get my own coffee from now on..... fuck."

"Maybe that's for the best," Dash agreed. "At least until I can get Tank's propellers looked at."

(You see that Perception Filter, you see that? See what I did there? You're welcome. Okay, moving on. Read the comments if you have no idea what I'm talking about.)

A jumped in the air again as I heard knocking on the front door. Wait, how could you knock on clouds? What the fuck?

"Okay, you don't have to be so jumpy Darkstar!" stated Rainbow. "It's only somepony knocking at the door!"

She fluffed away the clouds again, and I saw who I believed to be Thunderlane looking worried.

"Rainbow Dash, we have a problem!" he exclaimed.

"Ugh, what is it this time Thunderlane?" Rainbow asked. "Did Ditzy Doo hurt herself again?"

"Actually, she did," Thunderlane answered. "And it was pretty serious this time! She had to go to the hospital!"

"Oh, for the love of Celestia! We're short enough on cloud busters as it is! There's no way we'll meet today's quota when we're short staffed!"

That's right, Rainbow Dash helped manage the weather in Ponyville. And I can now confirm they call her Ditzy Doo, not Derpy Hooves. Damn shame she hurt herself, but could it really be helped knowing her?

"Well, you gotta think of something Rainbow Dash! We have a thunderstorm to divert by tonight!"

"Ugh, even with my awesome speed there's no way we can divert that big of a storm! Aren't there any other pegasi that can fill in?"

Suddenly, Rainbow's annoyed expression turned into the one you get when you're struck with a brilliant idea. I had a really bad feeling.

"Darkstar! You need a job, right? We really need your help with this! I'll make it up to you!" she offered.

I had never done weather work before. All my previous work in Equestria was being a farm hand or taking out trash for a local business. My only experience with clouds was when I had first figured out to fly. I spent a good afternoon just messing around with the clouds, before the local weather team of the area told me to bugger off and stop ruining their work.

"Oh man, I don't know Rainbow. How can I trust myself with such a huge responsibility when I hardly have any experience?" I replied.

"Don't worry about it! I'll guide you through it! The ponies down south really need this thunderstorm! Besides, you're a pegasus! You've messed around with clouds before, haven't you?"

"Well, yeah. But this is an entire thunderstorm we're talking about here! Not just some small cluster of lone clouds!"

"We'll pay you double since you're under qualified!"

"Deal."

Okay, that probably wasn't the smartest move I made. But more money meant I could get out of here faster, even if it meant braving a storm where I'd risk being blown away and get struck by lightning. However, it would be a new experience for me and I desperately needed work now.

"So, when do we divert this storm?" I asked, yawning.

"Right now!" Rainbow exclaimed as she grabbed me by the hoof, dragging me outside of the house with her. I managed to lose her grasp and balance out on my own, attempting to keep up with her and Thunderlane.

"Geez, don't we even get breakfast first?" I yelled.

"No time!" Rainbow answered. "With little pegasi and me having to guide you, we'll need all the time we can get!"

Fair enough, but I was kinda hungry. We kept flying for a good ten minutes before I saw the storm forming in the distance. Right above the Everfree Forest. I knew right away what it was because of the creepy vibe it gave off. From my viewpoint, the branches of the trees were twisted in all sorts of odd angles. Despite the morning sun beaming down on the land, very little of it managed to break through the thick canopy of the forest. I felt a gust of wind collide with me as we neared the storm.

It reminded me of the storms I used to watch as a kid back when I lived in Alberta. An extremely large cumulonimbus cloud towered over us as it floated in the sky. The cloud itself was nearly pitch black, releasing a dark mist of rain into the Everfree. A couple of bright lightning strikes flashed into my eyes, accompanied by the sound of the roaring thunder. It made no sense that the thunder went off the same time as the lightning strikes, but I wasn't going to question a cartoon world.

"All right, listen up everypony!" Rainbow Dash ordered. I had noticed that a small group of pegasi had joined us in our flight. Cloudchaser, Flitter, Thunderlane, Airheart, Cloud Kicker, and Snowflake were all present. Holy shit, Snowflake was buff as fuck. I wondered how he could support himself in the air with those tiny ass wings.

"We short on weather ponies this month, due to complications in Cloudsdale. Something about the Rainbow Factory going haywire. Anyways, we have to double-time it if we're going to move this thunderstorm by tonight!"

"Tonight?" Airheart blurted. "How can we move this entire storm by tonight?" she asked, giving a concerned look to her co-workers.

"Simple, it'll be easy!" Dash replied, attempting to look confident. "The air conditions above the storm are creating a jet stream flowing southeast, which we can use to quickly transport the cloud piece by piece so it will miss Ponyville and work it's way to the desert."

Wow, that was actually pretty brilliant. Didn't jet streams have something to do with a warm front and a cold front? I couldn't remember, but like I said before, this was a cartoon world.

"But Rainbow Dash! Jet streams are extremely powerful tunnels of wind! Once we're in, we risk spreading bits of storm cloud all over Equestria!" Thunderlane stated.

"That's why we're going to partner up for this job!" Rainbow responded. "With two pegasi managing the cloud, we can easily maneuver our way out of the jet stream when the time comes. Everypony got that?"

Our weather friends didn't look so sure, but we all nodded anyways. At least with a partner, I wouldn't have to worry about screwing up too much, I hoped.

"Thunderlane and Snowflake! You two handle breaking down the interior of the cloud to ease the lightning and the harsh winds!"

"Got it!" Thunderlane flew off.

"YEEEAAAHH!" Snowflake screamed as he followed, disappearing into the cloud. I tried so hard not to laugh.

"Airheart and Cloudkicker, you two get started on breaking apart the exterior! Cloudchaser and Flitter will work together and send the separate masses of cloud into the jet stream! Darkstar and I will handle both! If we work fast enough, we can get this done by tonight, if we're lucky!" Rainbow commanded.

"No problem boss!"

"Piece of cake!"

"We'll do our best!"

"This cloud doesn't stand a chance boss!"

I watched as Cloudkicker and Airheart started to buck the massive storm system, sending the broken chunks of vapour up to Cloudchaser and Flitter. Once they were able to form a decent sized mass, they ascended upwards and I watched in surprise as the invisible jet stream caught them and sent them both blasting into the horizon.

"How are they going to get back?" I asked.

"Don't worry, there's usually an opposite stream that accompanies the original! They can ride it back! Oh! And you're going to need these!" Rainbow replied, handing me a pair of flying goggles. I wasted no time wrapping them around my head and adjusting the eyepieces.

"All set?" she asked.

"I guess."

"Awesome! Let's get this storm outta here!"

We descended into the thundercloud, which in return provided us with massive drops of rain and raging winds. I was struggling to hold my balance as the forces made my wings bend, but I kept pushing forward. Rainbow and I spotted a cell that had small chunks of hail forming in the center.

"Let's get this one! It'll make the process easier!" Rainbow ordered.

"All right!" I nervously replied.

We both lowered ourselves onto the cloud, attempting to hang on as the winds threatened to blow us away. Dash started bucking and beating down on the cloud, which sent the bits of hail out into the wind. A draft caught a small cluster and sent them right into me, each one painfully hitting me like air soft pellets.

"FFF- Damn it Dash!"

"Sorry! Just ignore it and help me smash the cloud already!"

I didn't waste time replying, and started imitating her bucking motions. I could feel the hail cloud separating from the rest of the storm, and it eventually broke off. The cloud got caught in the wind, and we almost fell off as the gale dragged the dark vapor deeper into the storm system.

"Okay, grab onto the cloud with your hooves and get ready to dash sideways when I say!" Rainbow stated.

I complied, clutching the soft surface with my hooves and awaited Rainbow's order.

"We're nearing a break in the storm! On three... two... one... DASH!"

Using all the energy I could provide with my wings, Dash and I burst out from the side of the cloud, holding a massive section of grey fluff and remaining hail pellets.

"Whew! Not bad for a novice! Now here comes the hard part!"

"Hard part?" I replied. "You mean being smashed by hail and getting thrown by fierce winds is the easy part?"

"That? Ha! We still have to send this through the jet stream, and we have to do it more than once! You're going to feel your legs ooze into your head in a second!"

"Oh, fuck me sideways..."

We both continued flying upwards, passing Airheart and Cloudkicker along the way. They had a good collection of little storm clouds building up, which was being tended to by Cloudchaser and Flitter. I saw no signs of Thunderlane and Snowflake, but I assumed they were still working inside the storm.

"I should probably warn you," spoke Dash. "You're gonna be glad you didn't eat anything this morning! Jet Streams are extremely fierce and should only be used by experienced flyers! Since you're working with somepony as awesome as me, I'm sure you'll be fine!"

"How are we supposed to stop ourselves?" I asked.

"Easy! Just grab onto the edge of the stream with your hoof the same time as me, and we'll pull ourselves out! And make sure you keep flying as you exit! Stopping too suddenly at those speeds does NOT feel good!"

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Nope! You ready for this?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"All right!" Rainbow screamed. "This is my favorite part! Hold on tight!"

My grip tightened on the cloud as we both bolted upwards. I braced myself as I anticipated the sudden acceleration that would take us to Celestia knows where. Without warning, I felt an unseen force take hold of my body and dragged both me and Rainbow Dash into the jet stream.

Everything went silent. In the next millisecond we were just blasting through a now visible tube of air, making my ears pop. My eyes began to fall backwards into their sockets, and I struggled to keep my mouth closed. My teeth held on to each other as the force made my blood rush. I tried shifting my head to look at Rainbow, but the incredible energy the jet stream created kept my head in place. My skull began to feel heavy and I was sure my back hooves went numb. It was becoming too much for me to handle, and I forced my foreleg to reach out against the air barrier. I struggled to keep hold of the cloud with one hoof, while forcing my other against astonishing winds. It finally connected with the wall, and I held on desperately, attempting to pull us both out back into the real world.

Rainbow Dash must have had enough too, because we suddenly broke free of the jet stream. Remembering what she told me, I kept my wings out and forced myself downwards. I maintained speed while making sure we didn't accidentally fall back into the jet stream. The blood quickly rushed back into my lower body, making me sick. I finally made it to an acceptable speed to slow down and express my thoughts on the experience.

"Holy shit... I'd rather be braving the storm than deal with that shit again!" I exclaimed, trying to catch me breath.

"Yeah, too bad we have to do that again... Hey, where's the cloud?" Rainbow replied, looking around in frustration.

"What?" I answered. I Looked back down at my left hoof, only too see it empty. "Fucking bullshit! I fucking lost it in the fucking jet stream! Fuck!"

"Easy on the language there Darkstar!" yelled Rainbow. "Sometimes they get away! We shouldn't have tried to ship a cloud that size on your first time anyways."

"Yeah, but I'm still pissed about losing it! Where were we going to put it anyways?" I asked.

"You see that empty field at the base of the mountain over there?" Rainbow pointed at the distance.

I looked over where she was pointing, catching the cluster of storm clouds that Flitter and Cloudchaser were working on not far from us. I was also able to get a good look at the new environment we were in. Further in the distance I could see the border of the nearly barren field and the desert, with a couple of sand dunes in the distance. I checked behind us to see how far Ponyville was, only it couldn't be seen. I was impressed at the speed on the streams, and I only wished I had known about them sooner. It would have made travelling Equestria easier. The only problem was it could rip my insides apart, and I could end up anywhere if I wasn't careful.

"Yeah, I see it. We're gonna have to go travel back now?"

"I'm afraid so. Don't worry, once you've traveled it enough times it gets easier to deal with it."

"I wonder what would happen if you did a Sonic Rainboom in one of those! That would be fucking epic to see!"

"Yeah, it would!" Rainbow agreed. "Wait, how did you know about my special technique?" she questioned.

Damn, I had to be careful to not slip up knowledge like that! At least it was Rainbow Dash and not Applejack, so lying would be easy.

"Oh, um, some ponies were talking about it last night at the party and that I just HAD to see one for myself, being new to Ponyville and all."

"Yeah, I guess when I'm that awesome, word tends to spread around!" she replied, buying my lie. "And I'll keep that idea in mind! I would call it, the "Sonic Slipstream"! No, it would need to have rainbow in it somewhere. Oh, I got it! How about, the-"

"Dash, as much as I think it's a pretty cool idea, we should probably get back and finish tearing apart that storm." I suggested.

"Uh, yeah! That's right! Grab my hoof and we'll ride the stream back together!"

She grabbed my hoof quite hard, and forced us both upwards towards the second jet stream. I was still feeling woozy after exiting the first, and I wasn't sure if I'd still be able to work after the second one. Nevertheless, I braced myself for the second shift in gravity.

We connected into the jet stream, with dead silence hitting us once again. The sickness returned, along with the numbness my hooves were feeling. I was starting to lose my grip on Rainbow Dash, and she seemed to notice as I felt her hoof pushing itself onto mine.

I used every last reserve of energy on my body to keep a grasp on the blue pegasus beside me, only to have her hoof slip away. I watched in horror as she sped past me, struggling to grasp onto the barrier beside her.

"No! Rainbow Dash!"

A voice started to break the silence. The familiar dark whisperings began to creep into the crevices of my mind again.

"No, not now! Not during the jet stream! Dash, help me!"

I lost all feeling to my body, unable to reject the voices now screaming inside my head. The pressurized air barriers around me started to darken into a red haze, throwing me into another horrifying vision.

"Don't waste your time making friends with these ponies! Soon, their souls will be mine, and you'll burn in Hell for eternity!"

That voice! I recognized that voice! It was hard to remember who was speaking to me, considering my brain was half mush by now. I was too distracted to think about it as the red air barrier surrounding me shifted into masses of slimy appendages. I was now traversing through a tunnel of bloody tentacles, sending me screaming into a realm of complete darkness.

"Amazing things will happen here soon Darkstar. You just wait..."

Author's Notes:

That was a fun chapter to write! And the longest one yet! I wanted Darkstar to work with Rainbow Dash, since most OCs end up working with Pinkie Pie or Applejack. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, and I plan to have the next one up over the weekend.

Chapter 666: And Hell Followed

The winding tunnel of gore tossed me into the ground, my limbs smashing into the hard rock below. I rolled over a couple times, biting my teeth as I took the blows. My body ached as I struggled to pull myself up, mixing in with the sickening feeling it was already dealing with after travelling through the jet stream.

My knees screamed in agony as they straightened out, forcing gasps of pain out of my throat. I was sweating horribly from the tremendous heat surrounding me. Damn it, why was it so fucking hot?

I finally managed to open my eyes slowly. As my eyes rendered the scene in front of me, I realized I wasn't in Equestria anymore. Gone was the green fields and blue skies, replaced by dark rock and a lake of lava around me. A gargantuan horned skull was half-emerged in the magma, it's mouth agape, as if it were screaming. The lava spewed out massive chunks of flame, splattering around the rocky shore it ended at.

I forgot about my physical pain as a wave of terror consumed me, forcing my eyes wide open as I stared at the horrifying world I found myself in. The dark surface beneath me led towards a staircase, chipped and worn from age. Parts of the stairway were missing, with bricks scattered around the area. I could see a green light emerging from the top of the staircase, shining brightly through the stone ceiling above me. It attracted me like a moth to the flame, the green pillar of light standing out from the Hellish red that made up the twisted cavern.

A screeching voice slammed into my head, releasing waves of pain within my skull.

"This is the Hell that awaits you and your pony friends! Soon, the Elements of Harmony will be dead, and I will bring this Hell to Equestria!"

I looked around me, trying to find the source of the voice. I couldn't help but tear up as a raging fear took me over. I didn't want to be here, I didn't want voices screaming at me. I started to gallop towards the pillar of light, crying as I climbed the aged staircase. The colossal tower of the glowing light stood in front of me, the beams travelling upwards. I breathed heavily as I studied it, sensing something familiar about my scenario. Everything was recognizable to me, yet I couldn't figure out what it was. With no other options, I walked into the pillar of light, hoping to find salvation.

The beams pulled me in, and I could feel an invisible force tugging at my body. I screamed in unholy agony as I felt my entire body being pulled apart and re-arranged into another location.

I was suddenly falling down into an bottomless hole of red haze, unable to save myself. Metal bars appeared from nowhere and enclosed me, with a circular floor closing the bottom. I was trapped inside a cage, and I struggled against the bars with my hooves, hoping to push them away. Agonizing voices yelled out from the haze, sounding as if they were screams of pain or hopeless crying. I screamed out in fear myself as I begged for mercy.

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?" I cried out. "I JUST WANT TO FUCKING GO HOME!"

"There is no escape for you, my little pony! You will never be able to return home, and your soul will burn in Hell forever!"

My floating prison gave away, and I was again falling down screaming and crying into the dark abyss below.

"AHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!"

-/-

I jolted awake from the bed, gasping heavily as I involuntarily clutched my chest with my hoof. My heart was racing, keeping in motion with the beeping beside me. Noticing the sounds, I stretched my head to my left to see a heart monitor beeping away. Still sweaty from the horrible heat, I noticed I was half covered in a blanket. I threw it off me, attempting to cool myself down. I studied the room I was in, realizing that I was inside a hospital.

"Holy shit... just another dream.." I told myself. "No, that's happened too often to be a dream. Someone or something is definitely fucking with me."

There was a bedside table on my right, decorated with get-well cards. There was also a giant mass of pink flowers and balloons, each one having text scribbled out on it.

Get Well Soon Darky!

A roar of thunder made me jump, almost knocking me out of the bed. My eyes met with the window, and I saw dark storm clouds releasing a massive downpour of rain.

"Shit. Guess we didn't get that storm cleared up in time." I stated. My ears perked up as I heard voices from outside the door in front of me.

"What were you thinking Rainbow, forcing an inexperienced flyer into something as dangerous as a jet stream?" a voice bickered, which I recognized as Twilight's. "You could have gotten him killed! He's lucky to have even survived!"

"Hey, what about me?" a voice replied, obviously Rainbow's. Good to know she made it out okay. "I was thrown out of the jet stream too! And if it weren't for my fast reflexes, I wouldn't have caught him midair!"

"Still, what you did was irresponsible! As a weather manager, you should know not to to put inexperienced ponies into that kind of situation!"

The door to my room burst open, and both Twilight and Rainbow Dash continued their heated argument as they trotted inside.

"Darkstar agreed to it anyways! It was pretty cool of him to brave a jet stream and handle a storm cloud at the same time! He knew there would be risks!"

"Ugh! Don't you realize the danger you put yourselves through? You have no idea what- Oh! You're awake!" Twilight stated, finally noticing me.

"What? Oh, finally!" Rainbow blurted in excitement as she flew right next to me. "You completely missed it! After we got separated inside the jet stream, I was able to pull myself out, and then I saw you getting blasted right out of the wind tunnel! It seemed like the extreme pressure knocked you out, since you weren't trying to fly, and I made a speedy dash and caught you right as you were falling! Pretty cool, huh?"

"Yeah," I replied, not having the slightest clue what she had said to me. "Awesome..."

"Hey, you're not looking so good." Rainbow stated, noticing my wide eyes and sweat-soaked coat.

"Who, me? Oh... I'm fine, really." I said, not making the effort to look back at her. And then, using what little fluids were left inside of me, hurled off the side of the bed opposite of Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, gross!" Dash blurted, backing away.

"Ew, ew, ew!" Twilight yelled, backing even further away.

My throat burned as stomach acids settled in my mouth. I spat out whatever drips were left, leaving me with an empty feeling inside.

"I.. I'm going to get the nurse!" Twilight stated as she ran out the door.

"Geez Darkstar, I never got that sick after being in a jet stream!" said Rainbow Dash. "You look like you've seen a Manticore or something."

"I am never doing that again." I told her through my burning throat. "I still expect to be paid for that."

"Don't worry about it, I got you covered! We weren't able to finish up with the storm, but we did get most of it down south. It should be enough for now."

A nurse came running into the room, followed by a custodian pony with a mop for a cutie mark. Wouldn't that be fucking disappointing? Realizing your destiny is to clean up the bodily fluids of ponies? He didn't seem to mind though as he wiped away my mess from the floor.

The nurse began to examine me, feeling my forehead and analyzing the clipboard hanging of the end of my bed. She turned to me and started asking me questions.

"Do you have any medical history we should know about?" she questioned.

"No."

"Have you ingested anything potentially dangerous within the last twenty-four hours?"

"Does a macaroni cupcake count?" I joked.

"I don't think that applies here. One more thing. Are you experiencing any mental or psychological episodes?"

"Wha- NO!" I quickly lied, not wanting to inform them of my haunting nightmares. I didn't need them to think I was crazy, and being locked up inside an Equestrian loony bin wouldn't get me home any faster. It was something I could solve by myself. "Are you done yet? Can I leave now?"

"Are you sure you don't need to lay down for another day?" the nurse asked. "You look awfully pale."

"I'M FINE. If I have any actual problems, I'll come right back. In the meantime, I'm checking out." I stated, forcing myself out of the bed. I felt my empty stomach drop down with me, releasing a gurgle in protest. "And then getting myself a decent meal."

"All right, I'll just need you to sign some forms and we can let you go."

"Finally!"

The stupid bitch of a nurse finally left the room, leaving me with Twilight and Rainbow.

"Darkstar, are you really certain you should be moving around after what happened?" Twilight asked, concerned.

"Like I said earlier, I'm fine. Okay. Perfecto. Healthy. I WANT TO LEAVE. I'm not staying inside a hospital when I don't need to."

"Yeah, laying down all day in the hospital is so boring!" Rainbow agreed. "At least you were able to leave right away!"

"If I remember correctly Rainbow Dash, you spent that time reading Daring Doo and hiding it from us because you were ashamed to be doing such an 'egghead' thing," Twilight corrected. "And then you didn't want to leave the hospital because you wanted to finish the book, and-"

"OKAY. That's enough out of you!" said Rainbow Dash as she shoved her hoof into Twilight's mouth, silencing her. "And I agree with you! Let's go find a place to eat after we get your forms signed!"

Speak of the Devil, the nurse trotted right back inside after that. She held another clipboard in her mouth, telling me where to sign. Using the quill they provided, I messily scribbled my signature onto the paper.

"All right, you're all set to leave Darkstar," the nurse stated. "Funny thing though, I tried to look up your file but I couldn't find it."

"Huh?" I replied. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, we usually perform background checks on new patients, seeing if they have any medical history. However, we were unable to find any paperwork in your name, not even a birth certificate." she answered.

You know what? Fuck you. If I wasn't already sweating, my nervousness might have given me away. I had to think of something that would get me out of this. If I didn't have any identification, I could be an illegal citizen. Not wanting to risk being jailed or thrown out of Equestria, I had to say the first thing that came to mind.

"Huh, that's um, odd. Maybe my files were misplaced. I don't why any pony would lose such important documents, but sometimes these things happen." I quickly replied, holding back a nervous smile.

"Well, something like this to happen is unacceptable. Either way, we've created a temporary file for you until we can uncover your documents."

"Oh... okay. Um, make sure you do find them right away, I don't need strangers looking at my information." Yes! She bought it! Again, my lies saved the day.

"Yeah yeah yeah, they're just pieces of paper. Now let's eat!" Rainbow stated impatiently, forcing both me and Twilight outside.

-/-

She sat quietly, analyzing the latest weather report from Ponyville. Due to complications involving two of the workers, the entire storm was not broken down and moved to the south. An extra storm would be needed to generate enough rainfall for the ponies down in the desert, and luckily Cloudsdale could provide the clouds despite the strange happenings at the Rainbow Factory.

Princess Celestia shuffled the report away, continuing her daily review of recent events. It was her job to make sure everything was running smooth across her country, and to keep it organized and safe. She was busy looking at another report when the door to her royal chamber blasted open from an aura of blue magic.

"Forgive me my sister," Princess Luna apologized. "But I have important information that requires your immediate attention!"

"What bothers you my little sister?" Celestia asked, tucking her stack of reports away. "It's not often you come barging into my chamber without knocking, especially when I'm busy reviewing the current state of Equestria."

Luna's horn lit up, and another wave of blue magic forced the door shut behind her. "Again, I apologize for entering your chamber without notice, but this is far too important for you to wait."

Celestia's eyebrow lifted up in curiosity as she tried to make sense of her younger sister's attitude.

"It's about the dreams of a pony I've been witnessing." Luna stated.

"Lulu, you see the dreams of everypony in Equestria! Why should this one be any different?" Celestia asked.

"Please don't call me that." Luna replied. "And the reason these dreams are different is because this pony bears the mark of evil on his flank."

"The mark of evil?" Celestia said wide-eyed, her tone becoming serious. "Surely you don't mean-"

"Yes my sister. The pentagram. His cutie mark represents the unholy symbol."

"His dreams! What did you see?" Celestia questioned, her eyes shaking with fear.

"Things I thought I would never have to see again." Luna answered, shuddering at the thought. "There was blood, and his voice started speaking to him."

"This pony heard the voice of him? That's not possible Luna. We defeated him many years ago, when we first discovered the Elements of Harmony."

"I heard his voice myself sister. He threatened death to the current bearers of the Elements and swears he'll return Equestria into a state of Hell it once was."

"The only way he can still be alive is if the seal is weakening. As long as Twilight's friendship with the other bearers remains strong, we shouldn't have to worry about him escaping."

"What about the pony himself? Using my magic, I was able to confirm his location from the moon."

"And?"

"He's in Ponyville, where we left the Elements after reforming Discord."

"No... No!" Celestia shouted. "This pony's presence must be weakening the seal! Not only that, but this stallion you speak of must also have knowledge of the demons. That's impossible because no pony alive today remembers the invasion. What's his name?"

"His name is Darkstar, my sister." Luna answered. "And if he truly is weakening the seal, we must leave immediately and apprehend him to avoid another catastrophe."

"I agree. Prepare the royal chariot for departure. We must warn Twilight and her friends. I just hope we aren't too late..."

"You and me both sister..."

Author's Notes:

I'm not satisfied with this chapter. No matter how much I re-typed the hospital scene, I just didn't like the way it turned out. So I just finished what I had and worked on the more important parts of the story. Sorry for a shorter chapter, but future chapters will be longer. I'm hoping for a chapter with 6,666 words.
And for those of you who didn't get it, the name of this chapter is the name of a level from the first DooM Game.

Chapter 7: Two Different Worlds, One Reality

"... and eventually Star Swirl the Bearded fell ill, but was still able to finish his final book of advanced magic just minutes before he passed." said Twilight, who had been rambling on about Star Swirl for the past twenty minutes.

We had taken a booth at some local diner just outside the hospital, where I assume the staff come for their coffee breaks. Rainbow Dash was literally banging her head on the table with boredom as Twilight continued to lecture me on some dead unicorn. I just kept phasing in and out, focusing on my eggs and hashbrowns I had ordered. That, and the strange nightmares I've been having.

I know I've heard that voice before. Where is it from?

I stuffed another glob of food into my mouth, delighted to have some real nutrients in my body for once. I was starting to figure that my hallucinations were just from a lack of a proper diet, and maybe eating healthier would cure it. After all, I had only eaten soup and a stupid macaroni cupcake before.

"...after which they found a secret spell scroll in his study!" Twilight continued. "Of course, the magic was too advanced for regular unicorns at the time and was locked in the Star Swirl the Bearded wing of the castle, and-"

"Uuuuuuugggghhhhhh!" Rainbow moaned in protest with her head on the table. "I said I was sorry Twilight! Do you really have to punish me like this?"

Twilight gazed back at Rainbow, looking offended. "I'm not punishing you Rainbow Dash, I'm teaching you something. Sorry if it hurts to learn something new once in awhile."

"Can't we talk about something else?" Rainbow suggested. "C'mon Darkstar, help me out here!"

I looked down at the pegasus, her eyes pleading for a way out.

"Do you want to talk about Star Swirl the Bearded?" I joked.

"NO."

"Yes." Twilight answered, annoyed that she wasn't finished with her conversation.

"Well good, because I don't either." I stated. "Sorry Twilight, two against one. And damn, these eggs are pretty good."

Twilight gave me a death stare. I laughed silently as I drank my apple juice.

"Twilight!"

The door to the diner had burst open, setting off the dingley bells at the top of the frame. Yes, I call them dingley bells. That's what they are. Standing in the entrance was Spike, attempting to catch his breath as if he'd been running. Probably was. He was always running around somewhere in the show. I remember meeting him at the party the other day.

Seeing a real Spike was something else. Like the ponies, it was like looking at a well-made plush doll, except his eyes were real, his scales where shiney, and you could easily see his muscle movements underneath his skin. He appeared to be more like a two-legged lizard than an actual dragon, but technically they're a related species. I guess.

Spike, after getting some oxygen, quickly rushed over to our booth and somehow pulled a scroll out from behind him. What the Hell, did he have pockets in his skin or something? I wasn't expecting details from the show like that to make it here.

"I've been looking all over for you!" Spike spoke. "I just got this letter from Princess Celestia!"

"A letter from the Princess?" Twilight beamed, her eyes doubling in cuteness. Using her magic, she snatched the scroll from Spike's claws. "I wonder what she's written for me!"

"Well, open it and find out!" Rainbow suggested.

The purple aura surrounding the scroll shifted, allowing the paper to unroll itself in the air. As Twilight began to read the words silently, I just minded myself as I finished off my apple juice.

When I looked back down, Twilight was staring at me. The look she was giving me felt rather... intimidating. It was like her gaze was threatening me. I raised a brow in confusion, before she slowly went back to reading the scroll.

What's up with her?

I checked to see if Rainbow Dash or Spike had noticed Twilight's stare, but her face was hidden by the scroll from their angle. Suddenly, the scroll rolled itself back up, and Twilight had magically placed several bits on the counter to pay for our meal.

"Well, it appears the Princess needs me to... um... read up on something in the library." she stated, quickly shuffling Rainbow Dash out from the booth. "We should get going, don't want to keep the Princess waiting!"

Rainbow and I stared at each other in confusion, wondering why Twilight was in such a hurry to get out of here.

"Hey Twilight, what did the letter say exactly?" Rainbow asked as we followed her out of the diner, with Spike trailing behind us.

"Oh, the letter?" Twilight responded, strangely keeping the same tone in her voice. "Princess Celestia just simply needs me to do something for her at the library. I can let you read the new Daring Doo Rainbow Dash."

"Meh, already did." said Rainbow. "The one before it was better. I liked the chapter with the scorpions though."

"Good, good."

Something was noticeably off about Twilight Sparkle. I knew from the show she couldn't keep a secret well, and her sudden change in behaviour was a dead giveway. Something in that letter from the Princess must have hit one of her nerves. The way she talked, the way she seemed to be hurrying towards the library, the way she stared at me in the diner...

Aw crap.

I didn't notice it until we were inside the library. Something in that letter must have been about me. That wasn't an ordinary stare she had given me, that was a Fluttershy stare. Okay, you know what I mean, but it was probably close to one anyways.

"All right, we're here now!" blurted Rainbow Dash. "Why did we have to come along anyways?"

"Because..." Twilight replied. "Because of HIM!"

A sudden burst of purple magic shot out of Twilight's horn and smashed against my throat, sending me flying into the wall behind me. I felt small electric tingles circle around my neck, creating an artificial rope that was fusing with the wall. As I tried to pull away, the magic gripped against my windpipe and threatened to choke me.

"Twilight!" Rainbow yelled as she flew to my aid. "What in the hay are you doing?"

"Stay away from him Rainbow Dash!" Twilight warned. "He's evil! Princess Celestia told me everything in that letter!"

"What?" replied Rainbow, surprised. "No way!"

Oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit oh shit. How, just HOW did the Princess know about me? And what's this crap about me being evil? All I know was that I was being held hostage in a library, scared to death I might have to reveal everything. The cartoon, the fans... oh god, not the cloppers!

"Okay, seriously Twilight!" I pleaded, trying to get my voice out. "I haven't done anything! Let me go!"

"Not until Princess Celestia and Princess Luna arrive!" stated the crazed unicorn. "The description of the pony in the letter matches you perfectly! The mane, your orange eyes, your cutie mark!"

"Wait..." I froze. "What does it say about my cutie mark?"

"Who cares?" Rainbow blurted. "It's all stupid! C'mon Twilight, you know him! There's no way Darkstar can be evil!"

"Princess Celestia will be the judge of that!" said Twilight. There was no convincing her. She had more loyalty to the Princess than Rainbow Dash did.

There was a knock on the library door. The four of us inside stared at it, all knowing who was on the other side. My heart stopped.

I didn't want it to be this way.

"Spike, answer the door." Twilight ordered. Spike stalled at first, unsure of what to do in the situation. He kept staring at my hopeless face and Twilight's.

"Spike, ANSWER THE DOOR."

Spike gulped before slowly making his way towards the door. I winced as he opened it.

Two extremely tall and extremely powerful alicorns trotted into the library, their gaze instantly fixated upon me. In my peripheral vision, I saw Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity walk in behind them, but my gaze was matching with Celestia's. My heart was pounding. It was beating harder than it did during my visions. The two Princesses did not seem pleased to see me, their facial expressions blank. I'm fucked.

"Rainbow Dash." Princess Celestia spoke. "I'll have to ask you move away from Darkstar."

"Why should I?" Rainbow defended. "He hasn't done anything wrong!"

"Just move away Rainbow." I said.

"What?" she responded to me.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be." I whispered to her. "Just let us talk for a few minutes and hopefully we can clear this up."

Her saddened face stared at me for a second, before nodding and slowly backing away. Celestia did not move her eyes away from mine.

"Darkstar." she spoke, her voice hitting me like nails. "Do you know why we're here?"

"Not really." I replied nervously. "I'd kinda like to know myself since I'm magically bound to a wall."

"You sure about that?" Celestia approached me. "I think you do know."

I gulped as she stood in front of me, lowering her head towards mine. Rainbow Dash and the others watched curiously, all eager to know what I was hiding.

"I think you should inform me why I'm being accused of being evil," I retorted. "I haven't done anything."

"Not yet, you haven't. My sister here, Princess Luna, holds the duty of studying our citizen's dreams. We did not like what she found in yours."

Oh fuck me sideways, I forgot she could do that! I haven't dreamt about the cartoon or the fanbase have I? My only recent dreams were my hellish nightmares, and... wait.

"Wait... you've been able to see the nightmares I've been having?" I asked Princess Luna, my eyes wide with fear. She ignored me as Celestia continued.

"Not only that, but we can clearly see that your cutie mark is a pentagram," the sun Princess stated. "A symbol that represents evil in it's purist form."

"You, you know what a pentagram is?" I asked as the mane six gasped together in shock.

"Evil in it's purist form?" Applejack asked out loud.

"Here's here because of the Elements of Harmony!" Twilight shouted. "He knows that if he can get rid of them, he can use his evil freely without us using them to defend Equestria!"

"Is... is this true Darkstar?" Rainbow asked me. "I took you in when you needed a place to crash..."

"No! it's not true!" I screamed, defending myself. "And just how is it that you two princesses happen to know what my cutie mark is?"

"Because..." Celestia started. "Because it was the symbol that represented the deadly creatures who invaded Equestria centuries ago."

"D-Deadly creatures?"

"Demons."

Demons. Pentagram. But it wasn't just any pentagram, this was the pentagram from Doom 3. A video game. Completely unrelated to My Little Pony in any way. No, there was no way Celestia was talking about the same demons from that game.

"That-That's impossible!" I shouted.

"Wait, I don't remember reading any Equestrian history about an invasion..." said Twilight, confused.

"It happened so long ago, when Equestria was very young my student." Celestia explained. "We left it out of our history to forget the bloodshed caused by the dark creatures. Many ponies were slaughtered defending the land. The demons originated from another realm known as Hell."

Please be the biblical Hell, not the Doom 3 Hell.

"It had started when Star Swirl the Bearded began to study how a teleportation spell worked. He wanted to know how you dissapeared from one location and ended up in another. He discovered that the spell transports you through another dimension, in extreme speeds to make the teleportation appear flawless."

"Another dimension?" asked Twilight.

"Yes my student. Star Swirl was eventually able to access the alternate realm, which we came to know as Hell. Upon his arrival, Star Swirl was corrupted by the dark magic that flows freely throughout the realm. With his new abilities, he summoned an army of the dark creatures, demons, to attack Equestria."

"Oh my..." Fluttershy gasped. "How awful."

"But, Star Swirl the Bearded was a highly respected unicorn!" Twilight objected. "He helped pave the way for a new era of magic and further expanded our knowledge of our world!"

"While true it was Twilight that Star Swirl was extremely gifted in magic, Hell's corruption turned him into a monster. We were able to defeat him with Elements of Harmony and seal him in Hell, along with his demon army. In order to restore his former glory, we claimed that he had died of a strange illness. As for the ponies who survived the war, we used powerful magic to erase their memories of the event. Such disaster shall not be remembered."

I could only stare at the ground, completely shocked at Celestia's words. Even the teleportation story mixed in with Doom 3's story. The realization was slowly hitting me. Not only had my love for My Little Pony had been created around me, but my love for a video game had been brought here too. A game about killing demons with chainsaws and shotguns. It sounded like the plot for a cheesy FanFiction, (See what I did there?) and was now a horrifying reality. I had, unknowingly, been the cause of an ancient war resulting in the deaths of innocent ponies. All because I had been sent to Equestria somehow.

"...No."

"And that's why we're concerned about Darkstar here," Celestia continued. "The magical seal keeping Hell hidden from Equestria is being weakened by his presence."

"This can't be happening." I spoke, realizing the truth. "My visions... that voice..."

Dr. Malcolm Betruger from Doom 3. I knew I recongized his voice! But... Celestia only mentioned... wait, that cant be Star Swirl's voice, can it?

Without warning, the entire library darkened, despite it being sunny outside. I began to recongize the same feeling from my visions, but the sudden change in the enviroment didn't go unnoticed by the others. The room shifted into a red haze, slowly distorting into the distance. Horrific laughing pierced into our ears, the same laugh I remembered from before.

"It's been over a thousand years," Star Swirl the Bearded's demonic voice greeted. "Your Hell awaits you..."

Author's Notes:

DUN DUN DUUUN! There, I finally got around to updating. And now I explained some stuff in this chapter, with some plot twists.

Chapter 8: The Shores of Hell

The library was visibly shaking as Star Swirl's demonic laughing echoed throughout the archive. The hellish haze surrounding us continued to distort the world around ourselves. This wasn't another vision, this was a horrifying reality.

"Star Swirl!" Princess Celestia called out. "We've already caught your minion here! It's over!"

"Minion?" Star Swirl's voice growled. "Darkstar is nothing more than a pawn. I needed somepony with a connection to Hell to weaken the seal, and he played his part perfectly. It took him months to reach Ponyville, and when he did I knew I was ready to begin."

"You son of a bitch!" I screamed.

"You won't attack Equestria again!" Twilight shouted. "As long as we have the Elements of Harmony, you'll never be able harm another pony!"

"Which brings me to the next step of my plan." Star Swirl replied. "Thanks to our mutual friend Darkstar here, the seal containing me has been considerably weakened. You don't need to worry about the Elements of Harmony anymore."

There was a shatter of glass as the container holding the Elements of Harmony themselves shattered open. Dark, magical fire enveloped the powerful jewelry, floating each element into the air. Within seconds, the fires burnt away the elements, taking them away like Spike's flames would send a letter.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing?" Twilight objected as she tried to save the elements.

"The seal may not be broken entirely but I still hold some power. I have the Elements of Harmony in Hell now, and soon, the magical seal will shatter, and I will send my demon army upon Equestria once more!"

Suddenly, I began to feel my body being pulled away. The magical grasp around my throat broke as the red haze morphed into a swirling tunnel of gore. I screamed as I was launched through the portal to Hell, with the mane six screaming behind me.

"Welcome to Hell, my little ponies! Hahahaha!"

---///---

Just like my experience in the jet stream, the winding tunnel of bloody appendages smashed me down onto the rocky surface of the evil realm. My body rolled over a couple time before stopping, allowing me to take in the pain searing through my legs. I forced myself up slowly, checking to make sure nothing was broken.

I was bruised, and completely scared shitless, but other than that I was fine. I was finally able to get a better look at my surroundings. The environment was exactly like the beginning of the Hell stage in Doom 3. I was surrounded by an underground lake of magma, the heat already searing my fur. In front of me were two demonic statues, providing the entryway to a broken staircase.

"This can't be happening to me..." I cried, tears rolling down my face. "Why is this happening to me?"

A pair of hooves smashed into my side, pinning me down to the ground. I looked up and saw Rainbow Dash glaring menacingly at me, her anger piercing me in the eyes like daggers.

"You have a LOT of explaining to do!" she scolded me, puffing smoke out of her nostrils.

"Rainbow Dash!" I heard Twilight Sparkle call out. She appeared in view behind Rainbow Dash, along with the rest of the main six.

"Where are the elements?" Rainbow interrogated. "I know you know something about this realm! Spit it out!" she yelled as she slammed me against the ground repeatedly.

"I don't know where they are!" I answered. "I had no idea this was going to happen, I swear!"

"Then what's with the pentagram thingy for your cutie mark? Huh?" she pointed at my flank. "You knew what it was! Star Swirl mentioned you by name! Why are you doing this? Just what in Equestria are you?"

I gritted my teeth, trying to resist spilling out the secrets I held. It was futile now, considering the position I found myself in. I had to tell them the truth now, whether I liked or not. I just hoped I could escape without mentioning the show.

"Look, Rainbow Dash." I spoke softly. "I never used to be a pony."

"So you're a demon then? I knew it!"

"No! Just listen to me." I continued. "I'm not a demon either. I'm from another world, not Hell or Equestria. I was a human, the dominant species of that world."

Rainbow Dash, along with her friends, listened to me with curiosity.

"About three months ago, I was somehow transported to Equestria, and turned into a pony. I have no idea how I got here or how I'm going to get back home."

"What about the demons?" Twilight asked, stepping beside Rainbow Dash. "We know you're connected with them because you have a pentagram for a cutie mark!"

"I'm getting to that. This is going to sound completely weird but I assure you it's the absolute truth."

I had the mane six circled around me, all of them staring at me with anger and fear. Fluttershy kept looking around to see if anything was coming after us. Hell was no place for a pony like Fluttershy.

"Hell, the demons, this entire realm is from a fictional game in my world." I stated.

"Wha... a game?" Twilight questioned.

"What kind of a game is this?" Pinkie Pie asked. "It's not a very fun game Darky!"

"Let me finish. It's something like an interactive game, where you control a simulated character in a simulated environment. In this game, Doom, you played as a marine who had to save the world from a demon invasion. It was one of my favorite games. I always thought that the pentagram in the game was a cool looking symbol, and I guess it became my cutie mark when I arrived in Equestria. I wasn't expecting it to make the game a reality and morph into your world."

"So let me get this straight." Twilight started. "You're from another world and was a fan of some fictional game, and when you appeared here you're saying that somehow the game itself became a part of our world?"

"...Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."

Twilight hit me in the face.

"Ow!" I shouted, clutching my face with my free leg. "What the fu-"

"You completely tainted our world!" Twilight screamed at me. "You changed the course of history! Star Swirl the Bearded is a monster instead of a magical prodigy! And now another demon invasion is on the way!"

"Look Twilight, everyone." I sighed. "I had no control over this. I didn't know that any of this was going to happen."

"So what do we do now?" Rainbow asked.

"What?"

"There's always a way to win a game isn't there?" she continued. "You played the game! How do we win? How do we beat the demons?"

"Are you crazy?" I answered. "We don't have the weapons from the game or even the ability to use them! We can't defend ourselves!"

"There has to be a way!" said Applejack. "I reckon the Princesses didn't have the weapons back when the first invasion started and they were able to knock the hay outta' them."

"But they had the Elements of Harmony." I reminded her. "We don't, Star Swirl has them."

"...Then I guess we have to find them." stated Twilight.

"Yeah, good luck with that." I responded. "You'll only have to fight swarms of demons to get to them, and even then I bet Star Swirl has them guarded. It's suicide."

"We have to try!" Rarity exclaimed.

"Meany beard won't ruin my cupcakes!" Pinkie Pie yelled.

"I... I don't want my animals to die." stated Fluttershy quietly.

"There are other ponies back home that need us." Applejack said.

"The Princesses need us to do something." Twilight stated. "The seal protecting Equestria is weakening and we need to keep it closed before Star Swirl invades.

"We are all going to save Equestria!" Rainbow told me. "And you're the only one who knows about this place. We'll need your help."

This was stupid. In the game, you had shotguns, chainguns, and a big fucking gun to slaughter the demons. We had nothing. The demons are bigger than us and more powerful than we are. I couldn't help but feel that this would be the end for all of us, but even so they were still willing to fight. Despite how bad things were looking, the mane six weren't going to give up.

I sighed again. "All right, I'll do it. I can't guarantee we'll survive, but I'll help as much as possible. This isn't going to be easy. You are all most likely going to be injured, considering the power these demons have."

"What do we need to know about the demons?" Twilight asked.

"Some are slow, some are fast. Some can fly, others can teleport at will. Some of them can even throw fireballs at us. I'll be able to identify which ones are which."

"All right." said Rainbow, letting me out of her grasp. "Where do we go from here?"

"There." I pointed at the stop of the staircase, where a blue light had begun to emit to the top of the cavern.

The seven of us made our way towards the staircase, sweating from the heat of the magma around us. The staircase was cracked and broken, many sections of the steps missing altogether. We reached the top, where the blue light was beaming out of the floor and shooting upwards. I knew that once we went in, there was no turning back. I hesitated for a moment, breathing heavily in fear knowing what was waiting for us.

"What is this light?" Twilight asked. "It's beautiful."

"Sure, it looks pretty." I replied. "If I remember correctly, it will teleport us deeper into Hell, and there isn't anything pretty there."

"Let's just get this over with!" Rainbow stated. "It's the only way through!"

No one argued as we stepped into the beam of light. My fur began to tingle as the hidden force in the light took hold of us. Within seconds, the light began to drag us further into Hell.

The environment around us completely changed. We were no longer underground, instead a hellish sky replacing the cavern walls. Floating boulders slowly rotated in the far distance, above them a display of orange flares waving off into the distance. We found ourselves on a rocky surface, surrounded by an unfinished brick wall.

"I can feel it." said Twilight, who was looking off into the distance.

"What?"

"I can feel it, the dark magic." she stated, looking back at us. "Can you feel it too Rarity?"

"Yes.. yes I can!" Rarity exclaimed. "It's like there's no happiness, just darkness."

"I can sense it's extreme power. I can see now how easily it corrupted Star Swirl. We can't let this power take over, or-"

Our ears perked as the sound of demonic growl caught out attention. Looking over towards the source of the sound, we were greeted by our first demon. It stood on two legs, standing over six feet tall. It's body was protected by an exoskeleton, completely burnt by the fires of Hell. At the ends of its arms were extremely sharp claws, sharp enough to slice through a bone like butter. There were multiple eyes perched within its head, giving the creature perfect vision. It was the most common enemy in the game, one of the weakest. At least in the game you already had a shotgun by the time you fought one.

"Darkstar... what is that?" Rainbow asked with worry.

"It's a demon!" Fluttershy freaked, hiding behind her friend.

"It's an Imp!" I stated, readying for attack. "Watch out!"

"Watch out for what?" Twilight asked, but the Imp was already giving her an answer.

The Imp held out its right claw, where a ball of fire formed in its hand. It pulled back it's arm, and quickly launched the projectile towards us.

"Don't just stand there! Move!" I yelled, dodging the attack as the ball of flame collided on the ground beside me. The Imp was moving closer to us, and I saw Twilight ready her horn in retaliation. I hoped her magic would last, because Imps would be the least of our problems.

"Leave us alone!" Twilight screamed before releasing a purple projectile of magic towards the advancing Imp. The demon leaped to the side, landing on all fours as Twilight's magic missed it by a few inches. Taking advantage of it's position, the Imp pushed off the ground using its arms, extending them as it leaped towards the frightened unicorn.

"Twilight! Watch out!"

Before the Imp's claws could deliver a killing strike on Twilight, a rainbow streak collided with the demon, sending it tumbling over the edge of the rocky surface to its death.

"Is that the best you got?" Rainbow Dash taunted. "That wasn't so bad."

"That thing was just atrocious!" Rarity exclaimed. "That's what a demon looks like?"

"How in the hay can it throw fire like that?" Applejack asked. "That just ain't right."

"I hope there aren't any more..." Fluttershy whined. "They're scary..."

"Not fun at all!" Pinkie Pie stated. "I bet they don't even like chocolate cake!"

"It dodged my magic." said Twilight, still a little freaked. "It was extremely fast."

"Well, it's dead now." I said. "Let's keep going. The surface continues this way, where those floating platforms are."

Passing by the worn brick walls, the edge of the surface gave way to a series of rocky platforms suspended in the air. Between most of the gaps, orange, disfigured faces began to rise from the depths of Hell and float upwards. An ambient sound of painful moaning and crying escaped from the faces, sending a chill down my spine.

"This place is just disturbing." Rainbow stated. "I'd rather be lost in the Everfree Forest."

We jumped across the platforms, me checking for any sort of weapon from the game. I couldn't find so much as a pistol clip in the crumbling ruins. We made our way inside the unholy cavern, which was the entrance to some sort of hellish temple.

Hhhhhhiiiiiiiissssssss...

"Did you guys hear that?" I asked, my ears perked.

"I heard it too." replied Applejack. "Another demon?"

Right on cue, another Imp dropped from the ceiling right in front of us, landing on all fours. Knowing it would leap, I jumped out of it's way. The Imp growled as it missed, spawning another fireball in its claw. Applejack took advantage of the Imp's close proximity and proceeded to buck it from behind, only managing to nudge it forward and piss it off. The Imp turned its attention towards the farmer pony, throwing the ball of flame where she stood.

"Woah!"

Applejack didn't back away fast enough, and the edge of the flames manage to catch her forelegs. The pony screamed in agony as her flesh burned.

"Augh, it's burning me!"

Before the Imp could launch another fireball, a blast of purple magic connected with it's head. The demon's body launched in the air, screaming in pain before slowly burning to ash. I sighed in relief knowing the Imp was dead, but Applejack was hurt.

"Sweet Celestia, Applejack! Your legs!" Twilight screamed.

The fur had been singed off, leaving red burn marks on her skin. Applejack winced in pain as her wounds ached.

"Ow.. I'll be alright Sugarcube. I can still walk." she claimed.

"Better than being slashed open." I stated. "Let's keep going before-"

Thump

Thump

Thump

Thump

"-another demon arrives."

"Oh no!" Fluttershy wailed. "This one sounds bigger!"

"Brace yourselves."

THUMP

THUMP

THUMP

THUMP

Something I didn't want to see came around the corner and stopped in front of us. A four-legged, hairless monstrosity stared at us hungrily, the slime dripping out of it's mouth an obvious giveaway. Slime dripping from extremely long teeth, making a manticore look like a kitten. While it had two normal forelegs, it's back legs were purely mechanical. The demon roared at the sight of it's meal before charging at us.

"Great, a Pinky Demon."

Pinkie Pie stared at me funny as we prepared to attack.

Author's Notes:

Pinkie Pie, Pinky Demon. Know the difference, it could save your life.

Chapter 9: Kneeling in Blood

I was going a thousand thoughts a second as the pink monstrosity charged towards us. Pinky Demons were extremely strong, and I wasn't excited about possibly being crushed within its jaws. The ground shook violently as the demon pounded the ground with each thunderous stomp.

As I was getting ready to jump in the air and attempt to take the monster from above, a metal object smashed into my right side and knocked me over. I looked up and saw Pinkie Pie, lighting a fuse at the end of a blue metal tube. She had somehow managed to bring her fucking party cannon to Hell.

"There can only be one!" Pinkie shouted just before the cannon exploded. A massive blast of confetti shot forth from the barrel, colliding with the Pinky Demon in full force. The pressure lifted the demon of its feet and shot it backwards, growling in pain as it smashed into the ground. The demon's corpse burnt down to ash, leaving two mechanical joints and a pile of filth behind.

"Party cannon! Never leave home without it!" Pinkie smiled, pulling the cannon away from view and somehow making it disappear.

"Holy shit," I responded. "That was just awesome!"

"Pinkie... wha... how?" Twilight asked, puzzled by the effect of the fatal confetti.

"I don't wanna know." said Rainbow Dash. "Let's just keep moving."

No one argued as we continued deeper into the ruins, cautious of our surroundings. We gazed in horror upon the scenery, the hellish ruins decorated with the ancient blood of the ponies from the first invasion. Pony skeletons hung from the walls upside down by chains, the terror still screaming from the empty sockets of their eyes. The upper half of another skeleton was held on the floor by a wooden stake, a circle of melting candles surrounding it.

I brought my foreleg up from the floor in pain, failing to notice the burning hole in the ground. Small gaps and cracks in the ruined ground allowed heat and steam to rise, making the environment unbearable. Sweat poured like blood from my coat, and found myself panting a little in an attempt to cool down.

"This is just horrible..." Twilight stated, unable to look away from the skeletal remains of the ponies. "We can't let this happen again! All these poor ponies..."

"You know Darkstar? Your original kind or whatever is really messed up for creating something like this." said Rainbow Dash. "Even if it was just a game."

"It's based off a religion actually." I replied.

"A what?"

"A religion. A spiritual belief or something. Anyways, in this religion it's believed that if you live an evil life, you'll be sent here after death to suffer for eternity."

"What the... why would your species come up with something like that?" Twilight shrieked. "Good or evil, I wouldn't want somepony to suffer for, well, ever!"

"Well, some people believe in it. I for one, don't. I just think they made it up to scare people into worshipping their God." I replied. Yes, I am an atheist. The events weren't changing that though, since this was a videogame world after all.

"Like I said before Darkstar, your kind is completely messed up." repeated Rainbow Dash.

"Our actual history isn't exactly pleasant either." I replied. "But for now I just want to-"

ticktickticktickticktick

"What was that?" Fluttershy meeped, shaking down to the ground in fear.

"I didn't hear anything." said Rainbow Dash. "C'mon Fluttershy, don't scare yourself into hearing things! We need to-"

ticktickticktickticktick

"I can hear it too." said Applejack, her ears perking up at the sound. "Sounds like... footsteps or somethin'."

"Everyone stop moving for a second." I stated, all of us shifting to a standstill.

My ears lifted upwards, scanning the area for the mysterious sound. I cautiously studied the room we were in, looking for anything that might give away a trap or an ambush. The brick walls leading up the ceiling were worn with a considerable amount of age, with spider webs hanging down from the corners. Several markings were embedded into the bricks, some kind of hellish... wait, spider webs?

I felt something wet splatter onto my muzzle. Using my foreleg, I wiped the green substance off my nose, noticing it's thick consistency. I looked up.

Huargh!

A six legged monstrosity hanging from the ceiling above me unlatched itself from a web, falling straight towards me. As I jumped out of the way, I felt one of it's appendages cut into my back, just above my cutie mark. This somehow caused a reflex reaction in my back legs, bucking the demon right in its face.

"Nononononono," Rainbow Dash freaked. "I... hate... SPIDERS!"

"Ow... my ass.." I winced, feeling liquid run down my legs. "They're Trites if I remember correctly, and I believe they usually attack in swarms."

Just as I said that, more Trites began to lower down from the gaps between the bricks in the wall.

"What do we do, WHAT DO WE DO?" Fluttershy screamed, tears pouring down her face in fear.

"Run!" Twilight shouted.

A Trite leaped at me just as I moved away, my body breaking into a gallop with the others to escape the swarm of demonic insects. As we ran, I could hear the little ticktickticktick sound of their legs following us. My wound screamed at me as I ran, the motions keeping it open. I didn't care, just as long as I got away from those fucking Trites. We ran farther into the ruins of the demonic fortress, the hallway leading us into a rectangular shaped room. As we entered the area, the doorway leading back into the hallway began to close.

The ceiling of the entrance slowly shifted downwards, the Trites dashing to make it through the closing gap. One of the Trites attempted to clear the gap, only to be pinned underneath the lowering door. The demon screeched in pain as the door crushed it slowly, its body bursting open from the pressure. All that was left was a splatter of green matter and the demon's legs sticking out from the now sealed entrance.

"Shit... that was close." I stated, gasping for breaths.

"Darkstar, you're bleeding!" Twilight pointed out.

I looked over my shoulder to observe the damage. A deep slash a couple inches long had been etched onto my back and flank, dried blood smearing my coat. As the adrenaline from the chase wore off, the pain began to settle in.

"Ow, ow, ow, damn it all." I winced.

"Just relax, I know a little medical magic." said Twilight. "It will keep it closed for a few hours, just try not to move around too much."

I felt a magical aura radiate around my wound, and I gritted my teeth in agony as Twilight's magic began to close the cut. The ends of the skin pulled themselves toward each other, and I could feel the blood flow returning to normal.

"Ah, much better." I thanked, relieved that the pain was gone.

"Basic magic really," said Twilight. "Is everypony else all right?"

Everyone nodded, confirming they were all right. Aside from the slash in my ass and Applejack's burns, nothing extremely serious had happened to us yet.

"Girls... look at this." said Rainbow Dash.

"What is it?" Twilight replied, turning her head to where her friend was looking. "Oh my... sweet Celestia."

As I looked up on the brick wall beside us, my eyes widened as we witnessed another environmental phenomena from the game. A twisted sheet of bloody skin was bulging out of the wall, with the faces of dead ponies attempting to pull themselves out. Their expressions only showed fear and pain, screaming in silence at their own eternal agony. It was as if they were trapped behind the sheet of skin and were trying to push through, leaving a bloody mould of their own faces hanging out from the wall.

It was such a disturbing sight to see. None of us were really paying attention to our surroundings anymore. That's why we didn't see the Pinky Demon charging at us. It wasn't until Fluttershy screamed that we realized we were under attack.

"FLUTTERSHY!" Rainbow screamed.

The Pinky Demon held Fluttershy in it's jaws, it's razor-sharp teeth embedding themselves into the yellow pegasi's chest. Her eyes were wide open in shock, trembling as blood began to seep out of her mouth and down her fur.

"NO!" Everyone screamed, including me. Rainbow Dash had already launched herself at the Demon, smashing it with her hoofs until it released Fluttershy with a thud as her body hit the ground.

Before the Pinky Demon could reach up and take a chunk out of Rainbow Dash, Twilight and Rarity had already shot out beams of magic at the drooling monstrosity. The Demon smashed against the wall, it's body dissolving into ash instantly.

"No, no, no, no, please Fluttershy, no..." Pleaded Rarity, who I saw kneeling beside her friend's body. She was still alive, breathing slowly. However, the deep tooth marks in her chest made us all realize she wasn't going to make it. We were already kneeling in her own blood.

Applejack didn't say a word, she only removed her hat and covered her face. Pinkie Pie's hair went flat, her smile faded away from existence. Twilight Sparkle only watched in shock as Rainbow Dash gently picked up her best friend and held her in her forelegs.

"It... it's gonna be okay Fluttershy." Rainbow lied to herself. "Just.... (sniff) hang on. Twilight... please, you know a spell right?"

Twilight couldn't answer her. She only stood with her mouth open.

"Twilight..." Rainbow cried. "Do something!"

"..."

"HELP ME!"

"There's nothing I can do..." Twilight revealed, closing her eyes to cry. "... Her wounds are too great..."

Rainbow Dash stared angrily at Twilight, slowly accepting the fact that her friend was dying and there was nothing she could do. She bent down and hugged Fluttershy, not caring about smearing her blue coat with her friend's blood.

"...This is your fault Darkstar..." Rainbow stated, no emotion in her voice.

I said nothing.

"If you hadn't of come here, none of this would have happened."

I hated to admit it, but she was right. Even though my appearance here was an accident, Fluttershy was slowly dying because I enjoyed a video game. I couldn't look anymore at any of them. I turned my back to them, unable to face them anymore. That's when I saw it.

On the other side of the brick wall, where a loose brick had fallen out, there was a blue sphere floating in it's place.

A Soulsphere!

I didn't have much time to waste. I quickly dashed over to Fluttershy's body and picked up her back legs.

"Rainbow, help me lift her up." I ordered.

"WHAT?" Rainbow screamed. "Just what do you think you're doing? Don't you dare touch her!"

"Rainbow Dash, just shut the fuck up and trust me here. You see that blue sphere behind you?"

"Yeah." she replied, noticing the ball. "So what? WHAT GOOD DOES THAT DO US NOW?"

"More good than you think." I answered. "Now you can either sit there and bitch at me or help me save Fluttershy. I'm doing this with or without your help."

Using all the strength I had, I began to lift Fluttershy off of the ground. I noticed that Rainbow Dash was helping me, making sure I didn't drop her by accident.

"This had better work!" Rainbow threatened.

Twilight and the others watched as we carried Fluttershy towards the Soulsphere, the ball's surface radiating a demonic face from inside. We were both hovering above the glowing sphere, and I purposely released my grip of Fluttershy.

"Wait, WHAT ARE YOU-!" Rainbow screamed in horror as she also lost her grip of the pegasus from the weight and watched as her bloody body collided with the sphere.

It had worked exactly like I thought it would. The sphere broke like an egg yolk, the blue liquid covering the pony's body. It began to pour into her wounds, and within seconds they began to close. A gasp for breath exploded from Fluttershy's mouth, and her blood began to return to her body.

I smiled as Fluttershy began to lift herself up, coughing up whatever blue liquid didn't heal her. Rainbow Dash and the others stared wide-eyed at their revived friend, happy to see she was alright but amazed at the power the Soulsphere possessed.

"Oh my goodness..." Fluttershy stuttered, attempting to balance on all fours. "I feel... funny. What happened?"

"Fluttershy... you're all right?" Rainbow asked, observing the other pegasus for any scars or signs of damage. There was nothing but fur.

"Um.. yeah. (cough) In fact I... feel really good." she replied.

Fluttershy gasped as Rainbow Dash pulled her in for a hug, crying into her mane,

"I... (sniff) I thought we lost you," she teared. "That demon bit you and you were hardly breathing..."

"Wha... what?" Fluttershy gasped in surprise. "I... I was hurt?"

"Yeah... but that doesn't matter," Rainbow rubbed her tears off her muzzle. "You're all right now..."

I lowered myself down to the ground, crying tears of joy. If that Soulsphere wasn't there, I didn't like to think of what would have happened. I noticed that the rest of Fluttershy's friends had smiles again, and Pinkie's hair poofed back to normal.

"Darkstar," Twilight called. "What was that thing?"

"It's called a Soulsphere," I replied. "In the game, it would completely heal your character to almost perfect health."

"Fascinating." Twilight said in awe. "It must have some amazing magical properties to be able to do that!"

"Darkstar..." said Rainbow, turning to me.

"Yeah?"

"...Thanks. I... I don't think I meant what I said earlier, but thanks for saving Fluttershy..."

"Darkstar saved me?" Fluttershy questioned.

"Yeah." confirmed Rainbow. "He knew that blue thingy would heal you."

The yellow pegasus broke herself from Rainbow's hug, hovering towards me. The shyness I remember seeing from the party wasn't in her eyes anymore, but instead the look of gratitude and respect. Before I knew it, she had thrown her forelegs around me and pulled me in for a hug.

Back home, as a brony, I always wanted a hug from Fluttershy. You guys missed out on the best hug ever.

"Thank you Darkstar," the pegasus obliged. "Thank you so much..."

I hugged her back, wanting to forget about the Hell hole we were trapped in. For the first time in months, I began to feel something. I warm, fuzzy feeling I hadn't felt in a long time. I was happy. I was glad to have met these ponies and helped them, even if it was leading to the apocalypse. I didn't want any more ponies to get hurt. I wasn't going to let it happen.

On one of the far ends of the room, the bricks in the wall began to float away into the ceiling, revealing a new path deeper into Hell. We all stared down the corridor, knowing what we had to do next.

"We have work to do." I stated. "Let's go frag some demons."

"What's a frag?" Twilight asked.

Author's Notes:

You seriously didn't think I was going to kill Fluttershy, were you? And if any of you have read the Doom novels, I did in fact steal the demon/soulsphere thing from the first book. I just had to, it was one of my favorite moments from the novel.

Chapter 10: Dead Simple

An overwhelming sense of confidence and a newly gained outlook on life kept the adrenaline pumping as the seven of us pushed forward into the depths of Hell. After having several more encounters with Imps and the occasional Trite, we had found ourselves standing in large, cavern like area with magma flowing down from the ceiling, creating a pool of molten rock at the bottom. To cross to the tunnel on the other side, we had to cross an aged bridge made out of bricks, supported by a single pillar.

"I'll go first." I stated. "Just want to make sure it's safe."

No one argued as I slowly trotted across the bridge. I looked around the room to see if anything would surprise us, bit it was just an empty cavern. I made it towards the other side, yelling back at the group that it was safe.

"Hey girls, the bridge is fine!" I yelled. "Let's keep moving!"

As the mane six began to cross, the room darkened. We trembled in fear on the bridge as demonic whispering flooded into our ears. Beside us, a display of orange lightning formed in the air above the lava pool. The center of the bolts flashed, and a demon teleported itself into the cavern.

Imagine a giant, floating pumpkin that's completely moldy with a set of razor sharp teeth and a pair of green slits for eyes. The Cacodemon hissed as a ball of electricity shot forth from it's mouth and sizzles towards me.

"Darkstar, watch out!" someone screamed, and I leaped back in time only to feel static electricity from the ball.

There was another orange flash of lightning, and a second Cacodemon appeared to attack the mane six. Another ball of electricity almost exploded onto the mane six, the static fizzing up Rarity's body and making her mane stick up.

"My mane!" Rarity screamed.

I couldn't see how the others were doing now, since the other Cacodemon had me backing in farther into the cavern. The Demon was getting closer, and I couldn't run off and leave the others behind.

"Darkstar!" Twilight called out. "What do we do?"

Just then, two more Cacodemons teleported into the area.

"Damn it! I'm thinking!" I yelled back, cautious of the demon in front of me. I continued to back away in fear, only to have my legs hit something. A quick glance behind me revealed a small black case with a red cross on it.

"A berserk pack? Oh, this is going to suck." I stated, quickly opening the box and picked up the syringe inside with my teeth. Inside was a red liquid, which I quickly injected into my bloodstream after stabbing my foreleg with the needle.

I felt the effects of the berserk pack immediately. My eyes went completely bloodshot, flooding my vision with a red haze. I was really pissed off at these fucking demons. I was fucking pissed about everything. These asshole, motherfucking demons were trying to kill me and my friends. I WASN'T GOING TO FUCKING TAKE IT ANYMORE.

My mind knew nothing but rage as the berserk pack took full effect. I no longer feared the Cacodemon, instead I glared at it with bloodlust. I let out an evil smirk as I lunged forward at the Cacodemon, beating the shit out of it with my hooves. The drug had increased my physical strength, and after a few beatings the Cacodemon exploded and collapsed into ash.

I wanted more blood. It wasn't enough. Three more floating demons that were full of guts excited me. The anticipation of watching their insides flurl around the cavern excited me.

"RIP AND TEAR!" I screamed, actually quoting the shitty Doom comic. "I'M GONNA FUCKING RIP EVERY NERVE OUT OF YOUR FUCKING SKULLS!"

I screamed in pure rage as I took flight towards one of the demons, using my own speed to smash it into the wall of the cavern. It deflated into ash, and my attention was already focused on the other two Cacodemons. I screamed in a demonic rage as launched myself at the demons, smashing them with my own forelegs. Every hit felt amazing, seeing the blood splatter out each time. I continued to beat down the last Cacodemon in the middle of the bridge, smashing my hooves down until all that was left was a pile of ash and blood.

"Darkstar!"

There was something else behind me. I turned around and screamed at what I thought was a demon, but I saw another pony instead. I had my foreleg raised to attack, but I stopped myself. The redness in my eyes began to fade away, and I felt my body calming down. I took in deep breaths as I realized I had my foreleg raised at Rainbow Dash. I collapsed onto the ground, breathing heavily as my heart pounded.

"Darkstar!" Rainbow Dash shouted. "Wha.. what did you do?"

I looked up at Rainbow and her friends. They were terrified. I had just gone berserk and brutally beaten four demons to death in front of them.

"That.." I started, breathing in after every word. "That was a berserk pack. It, (huff) puts you into a rage and increases your strength..."

"Are you alright?" Rainbow asked, concerned. "You don't look so good."

"Yeah..." I replied. "I'll be fine. Just a little shocked that I did that. Had to do something about those demons."

"You... you won't do that again, will you?" Twilight questioned. "It's just that, you almost hurt Rainbow Dash."

"Not unless I have to," I answered, picking myself up. "Sorry about the scare. Now let's keep moving."

I could tell the mane six were concerned about their safety around me. I could very easily allow Hell to corrupt me as it did Star Swirl, and help destroy Equestria. But I wasn't that heartless though. These ponies had done generous things for me even if I didn't appreciate it.

The wide-open cavern areas were getting thinner and thinner, and it wasn't long before we were travelling through cramped hallways inside hellish temples made of blood-stained bricks. I was starting to get concerned realizing we hadn't fought anything in a while.

"Maybe we're almost at Star Swirl?" Twilight suggested. "We've overcome many demons so far."

"Not likely," I replied. "There are still demons we haven't fought yet, and I'm not excited about our inevitable battles with them. This has been too easy so far."

"I sure hope you're wrong." stated Applejack.

The hallway came to an end, leading us into a perfectly square room. As we squeezed out of the cramped space, we realized that the room was a dead end.

"No, there has to be another way!" I exclaimed, checking the walls for any secret doors. "The path lead us right here!"

"Maybe we should head back?" Twilight suggested. "We may have missed something."

At that moment, there was a slight tremor as a deep, disgusting groaning sound emerged from the walls of the room.

Uuuuuurgh

"Oh no," I spoke, remembering the sick groaning sound. "This isn't good."

"Is it another demon!?" Fluttershy shrieked.

"Sounds like it has a cold!" Pinkie Pie noted.

"Um, pardon me everypony, but the floor is moving!" stated Rarity.

Looking down, we noticed that the floor of the room was descending like an elevator, gaining speed as it carried us deeper into the demonic dimension.

UUURRRGGH

"Darkstar, if there's anything you wanna tell us before this thing reaches the bottom, now would be a good time!" Applejack shouted.

"There's going to be more than one," I replied, making sure the others were listening. "They can't move very fast, but the projectiles they fire at us are. Just dodge their fireballs, and don't get too close."

The walls at our sides disappeared, revealing an even bigger room with a red fog floating above the ground. There were four rocky monoliths in the corner of each room, with wide-open holes at the base of each one. The floor came to a stop as we reached the bottom, and we braced ourselves for the battle. The ground shook more and more violently with each groan became closer.

"Here they come!"

At my left, a Mancubus emerged from the hole at one of the stone structures. Using the cannons that had been genetically engineered into both of it's arms, the demon was able to crawl itself onto the surface. It stood at about six to seven feet tall, resembling a hairless, overweight, anthropomorphic turkey. Pieces of flesh hung off it's mouth and dangled in front of it's slimy, folded chest, dripping blood down to it's elephant-like feet.

And at the three other crevices, three more of the disgusting Mancubi emerged with the intent to kill in their eyes.

I didn't really have to say run this time, by now it was mandatory for every new demon we encountered. Rainbow and I bolted up into the air as Twilight and Rarity used their magic to teleport them and the others out of the path of the incoming plasma balls the Mancubi shot at us from their arms.

While the fireballs exploded upon contacting each other in the center of the room, one of them missed and smashed into one of the demons. In painful rage, the Mancubus forgot about us and proceeded to begin firing shots at the other Mancubus that hit it.

"That's right!" I screamed in sudden realization. "You can make them fight each other!"

By now the two Mancubi were head to head, slowly killing each other with their own cannons.

"Girls, run in front of them! Make them hurt themselves!" I commanded.

One of the Mancubi fell and dissolved into ash, and the surviving demon turned it's attention back to us as we raced around the room. Balls of fire blasted into the walls behind us as we bolted past the other Mancubi.

As the demons became enraged at each other, it seemed they had completely forgotten about us and only focused on killing their brethren. We stood near one of the walls, watching in awe as the now final two demons beat each other to death with their organic arm cannons, eventually collapsing into each other before dissolving into ash.

"They can't even get along with each other," Twilight stated. "They couldn't even tell it was us making them hurt each other, and they were willing to harm one another over what to us would be an accident. These demons simply have no harmony with each other at all!"

"HIDEOUS!" Rarity screamed. "Those were the most HIDEOUS looking demons we've encountered yet!"

"Aw, I even made them soup for their colds!" Pinkie Pie stated as she tossed a bowl of noodle soup into a puddle of magma.

"But... wha?" I stuttered at Pinkie's behaviour, but shrugged it off.

We all turned around as the wall behind us began to crumble, the bricks falling apart as a new path emerged. As the dust cleared, we all caught sight of what lied ahead.

"Sweet Celestia...." Twilight stated with her mouth wide open.

"We... we have to go there?" Fluttershy asked in fear.

"It's the only way through." said Applejack.

"We've come this far, and we're so close!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.

I looked up at the spiraling path that lead up to the top of an underground mountain sitting on top of a lake of magma. A aura of hellish fire was shooting up from the top of the mountain, forming what appeared to be some sort of portal. And below this portal, their power being harvested to open the portal, were what appeared to be the Elements of Harmony.

Author's Notes:

Nope, this story is not dead! Not many chapters left, but will happen to Darkstar and the others? Just wait, questions will be answered soon!