Author's Notes:

Here is the final part for this crossover, and I would like to give my thanks to PileRow666 for helping with the two new characters. It's been fun working with Neo.

And as always, thanks for reading.

FIGHT LIKE HELL, FIGHT LIKE DOOM MARINES!

Ch.22: The Complexity of Love. Part 3.

([Third person] Crystal Empire, night time…)

“So, any reason why you came here, of all places, Mr. Doom Marine?” Golden Light asked, as she pours tea for her and Silver Terra. Ever since the Liberation of The Crystal Empire, and all that has happened before it, things have been looking up for her and Silver. They have been seeing each other for some time now, and have decided to move in with one another.

Was it out of fear, or for the sake of love? They never knew the answer, but they will make the most of this new forged bond between them.

As for Bryan, he was sitting on one of the couches, while the two sat on the other. He had his helmet off, where they can see his face. “Just to ask you guys something completely stupid, that should have never come to past. As much as I like the idea, it's nothing more but wishful thinking, a fantasy.” He answered her. Ever since he left to go into the frozen wastelands, he couldn't really find much to express his anger out on, not even a single pack of Frostwolves. So he just ended up walking about until he got bored and came back later on.

“Oh really? Are you sure about that?” Silver Terra asked him, as Golden sits next to him.

“Indefinitely. Here's the stupid part, it's about Love.” He said to them, which gained them some confused looks. “You see, I’m actually in a relationship. But with how long I have been fighting, the many lives I’ve killed, battles I’ve won and lost, it just erased the very concept of Love.”

Golden Light gasped at this. “Oh my! That does sound like a horrible way to forget!”

“OK, let me tell you this; that is stupid, but not without reason. You have a long way to remember it, that's for sure. But what is this about wishful thinking, a fantasy you said?” Silver Terra questioned, getting this conversation moving along.

“Right. Unfortunately, there are others that have come to have feelings for me, as well. They already know I’m in a relationship, but their feelings won't relent. They can't stop loving me.” Bryan said with a sigh. “And here's the kicker; it's Cadence, Twilight, and Chrysalis. They are the ones who love me.” When he said that, both Golden Light and Silver Terra were very shocked by this, but they were also sporting blushes on their faces as well.

Bryan groaned at this. “See the issue that I’m in right now?”

“... So, what did they tell you?” Golden asked me.

“What they dreamt about…”

“Which was?” Silver prompted him, getting a thump from Golden and a stern glare.

“I’m pretty sure you can guess.” Bryan stated dryly. “I really don't want to go into much detail, but let's just say that they want to start a family with me. But like I said, I’m already with someone else.” Bryan sighed. “Besides, I was born a human, growing up on the ideals and beliefs of what it was built around on. Then again, I’m more inhuman now, holding onto something I can no longer go about. Even so… I don’t know what to do...”

Back at the castle, Cadence, Chrysalis, Twilight, and her family, were having a private dinner, to discuss some things. They were in Night Light and Velvet's room.

“Girls, can we ask you something?” Velvet asked them.

“What is it mum?” Twilight inquired.

“It's about your feelings towards Bryan. Now, we aren't telling you not to, but…” Velvet started.

“We’re worried about you girls, and him.” Night Light finished.

This left them in confusion. “I’m sorry, but, why are you worried about us and Bryan?” Chrysalis asked him.

“Well, it's about your feelings towards him, and how he thinks and sees. If anything, with him, it's his Intellect vs his Instincts. Especially when it comes to Love, in general.” Night Light explained to them. “Now, he may not say it, because he might have been caught up in the moment. But he might feel apprehensive about it, and he won't tell you.”

Chrysalis sighed before saying. “I thought so, but he's good at hiding it. Although, when we said we were pregnant, he would react in excitement, but that's the only time I could feel his emotions. Besides his anger and hatred.”

“So, will we become a burden on him?” Twilight asked in worry.

“I hope not. The last thing I want to do is cause panic within his ability to be something more than what he is.” Cadence said in concern.

“Give him time. Bryan still needs to sort himself out, and I can see it in him.” Night Light suggested.

“I do worry about how he goes to one battle after another. You would think he become a different being. Well, perhaps he did…” Velvet stated.

After a while of more talking, they finished their dinner and supper, and they decided to hit the hay. Giving their goodnights to each other, the girls went off to Cadence’s bedchamber and laid within the King-sized bed together. From there, they closed their eyes to sleep, and awoken in the same dream, with the Lunar Princess there. They were all on top of a hill, overlooking a field of grass, with a picnic set up.

Looking towards Luna, who was blushing, Cadence asked her. “Luna, how was your day? Did you see Kevin and Palutena?”

Luna nodded her head. “Yes, I have. But, well, things happened back in Canterlot. It's… Complicated. I’ll explain later, right now though…” She paused and pointed behind them, some ways down the hill.

That was when they all heard little children chatting among themselves.

“C’mon! We can do it, this time!”

“We have been planning this out, more thoroughly than usual.”

“Yeah, well, we haven't been getting anywhere with how we’ve been doing things!”

“Whatever, egghead! Let's get this rolling already!”

Curious, they went to see what was happening, and they were surprised to see the five children sitting around some sort of magical orb, hovering off the ground, projecting something to them. But from the look of these little ones, their distinct appearances leaves no room for doubt; those are their children. And from that certain Doom Slayers mark on their left cheeks, they knew who the father is, which made them all blush intensely.

“So, I’m guessing we know which child belongs to who?” Cadence asked.

Chrysalis nodded her head. “Yes, very easily. That little Changeling is my son, and he looks like his father.” She stated proudly.

“Those two Alicorn girls are mine and Cadences. They actually take after us, if not only more so.” Twilight said as she and Cadence smiled at that.

That is, until they turned to Luna, and pouted at her in jealousy. “Then that means the last two are your twins, aren't they, Luna?” Chrysalis questioned, as the twins were both a boy and a girl.

Luna gave a sheepish smile. “Heh, yes. That they are mine. Guess I got the lucky strike with the father…”

Speaking of which, they saw something fly past them from above. Looking up towards the sky, they saw their lover high up, as the Wolf/Dragon Hybrid, being chased down by some transparent creature.

All four of them were confused, until they heard Luna’s twin son spoke. “HA! I got you in my sights, old man!”

His twin sister giggled and rested her head on top of his. “I don't know~ Daddy could be leading you into another trap~” The girl sang.

Her twin brother scoffed defiantly at that claim of hers. “Yeah, right! Alright, bro, let her rip!” He said to his Changeling brother.

“About time!” He replied.

Out on the field, another ghostly-looking creature came up from its hiding spot and started using spells on Bryan, but these weren't meant to hurt or anything, just tag him. Of course, he flew through the flak, while the one pursuing him stopped and went around the flak. As for Bryan, he was breezing through it without trouble, not minding it one bit.

That was when his pursuer appeared in front of him and launched homing spells on him. Grinning, he flew straight into the thick of the flak, where the homing spells kept track of and followed him through it.

“Whoa, hey, what's dad doing?” The twin son asked.

“I’m not sure, but I got a bad feeling about this.” His Changeling brother replied.

As for Bryan, while he was flying through the flak, not only was he thinning out the homing spells trailing him, but he was also flying straight towards his Changeling son’s avatar. As he passed through the thick of it, only three homing spells were left, and Bryan made a hasty beeline towards the avatar on the ground. Once there, he got behind it, kicked it into the homing spells, and took the fall meant for Bryan.

“Aw, man…” The little Changeling groaned. “Great, he actually knows...again.”

“That's not fair!” The twin brother shouted.

“I told you so~” His twin sister stated. Grunting, he went back to pursuing Bryan.

Suddenly Palutena appeared next to Luna, confused for a second, but growled in exasperation, when she spotted Bryan, “why am I being dragged into this dream as well?” As soon as the question left her lips a dream version of herself appeared in her anthro alicorn form, “oh, that's why.” She huffed as her dream doppleganger was mobbed by the foals, “Aunt Pally!” they cried in excitement, Palutena fell to one knee clutching her chest.

“hnng, the adorableness is too much!”

The girls looked puzzled by her arrival, “Palutena, not that I'm not pleased to see you again but didn't you go home?” Luna asked.

Palutena shrugged. “No clue. One moment I'm laying my head down in my world, next to my fiancé Celestia expecting a very kinky sex dream involving her and My Luna. Now I am here.”

“Celestia's your fiancé!? Wait why Luna as well!?” The group who didn't already know shouted. To which Palutena just shrugged again.

“well if you must know, My first time with Celestia was quite abrupt because I was in heat at the time and Luna accidentally walked in on us while Celestia was mounting me and she “volunteered” to help. It was three long weeks of fun, though Luna got away after a week, I wasn't so lucky and 'Tia got me pregnant in the process.” Palutena sighed wistfully.

“Three weeks!?” They all exclaimed in surprise. While Luna was looking down and covering her face in embarrassment.

“Tell me about it, apparently my heat lasts that long because I'm a goddess of light or was before I gained my new aspects.” Palutena replied.

“But why would Celestia be mounting you?” Twilight asked while she was thinking she missed Cadance's deadpan.

“Well, atleast in my world, she is a futanari or hermaphrodite for the more scientific name. How else do you think she got me knocked up?” Palutena asked rhetorically with a lecherous grin.

Chrysalis put her hand up like a school filly. “Yes, Chrissy?” Palutena asked

“Why am I feeling a connection of love between you, me, Cadance, Luna and Twilight?”

“Well in my world, Lulu is my sister in law, Twilight is my adopted daughter and Cadance is my niece in law and while it may or may not be the case here as well, but my Lulu and Twilight are also dating each other. As for your involvement it's complex, my world has two versions of you, one that belonged there and I haven't met yet and one from another that was exiled from her equestria, and I transformed her so she wouldn't need to hide or feed off emotions. She serves as my priestess as repentance and is currently dating my Captain, Rainbow Dash,” Palutena explained and noted with great interest that Twilight's wings flared as she blushed.

“Got something you want to talk about, Twilight?” Palutena asked coyly, which was cut of by two other pairs of wings flaring. They were all looking behind me, so while I was frowning, I turned around and saw another dream had taken over. Oh so that is where my dream went. Dream doppelgangers of Palutena, Luna, Celestia, Cadance and Twilight. And then Bryan walked in.

“Dear Faust no! Not him, okay, which of you mares are corrupting this dream with your Bryan lust?” Palutena demanded.

Another mare teleports in and it's Chrysalis. Palutena turned to the real Chrysalis and saw that she was blushing green, and trying to avoid eye contact with her.

They heard the sound of someone conjuring, followed by a crack of a riding crop, “Oh Palutena! Whip me I’ve been a bad mare.” Came the crooning voice of Chrysalis, causing Palutena to raise an eyebrow.

Chrysalis tried to hide behind her mane and turn her face away as far as she could, while Palutena gave her a “really!?” She exclaimed.

Suddenly, they heard a clapping sound, and things were set back to normal. Confused, they looked behind and saw Guardian standing there. “Well, that was unexpected.” She said as she looks towards Palutena and gave a small bow. “Greetings, Lady Palutena. I’m the Guardian of this dimension, sorry I couldn't be there for you, I was busy talking to The Chaos Gods.”

“What happened? Also, why did Khorne drop an anvil on me?” Palutena asked her.

“Well, they're not going to invade, nor convert anyone here. They were just curious about the Doom Marines. Khorne especially. When Sombra showed himself, Khorne sent one of his Demons to assist Bryan in defeating him.” Guardian explained. “Also, he just doesn't like you in general, even if you agreed to be their sister.” She added.

Before Palutena could offer a retort, the children gathered around her. “Auntie, can you help us? We can’t tag dad, and he keeps flipping our plans on our heads!” Twilight’s daughter begged her.

“Aww~ You’re so cute when you do that.” Palutena cooed as she pats her niece’s head. “But I don't know, it might be considered cheating, and you know how much me and your father hates cheating.” She stated to her.

That was when Luna’s twin daughter spoke up. “Guys, daddy’s waiting for us.” Pointing up, they all saw him hovering there, smiling down at them as he waved.

Waving back, Palutena ushered them. “Alright, let's go, get back in the game.” With that said, they all went back, save for the little Changeling. “What's wrong?”

“I’m out. Father turned our own tactics against us, again.” He answered his aunt with a pout. “It's like he knows…”

“This is your father, of course he would know.” Palutena said as she grabbed him and sat with Cadence and the others. “You do know he has been fighting for most of his life, right?”

He nodded. “Yes. But you would think he’d be tired of it.”

“I know, but it's who he is.” Palutena said as the match got back under way. “Anyway, did anything happened while I was away?” She asked the girls, while the little Changeling was busy listening to some music his father got for him and his siblings.

During that time, the girls explained what has transpired, which surprised her. “Wow, that is something. Wait, where is Bryan right now?” Palutena asked them.

“We don't know, and I’m starting to suspect that he and his brothers are going to be doing this a lot.” Chrysalis answered her.

Palutena sighed. “Yes, I suppose so. He probably just needs some time to himself, to think or calm down. Sometimes stallions just need to cool down. A tip for you ladies, when a stallion walks away from an argument, do not pursue them, do not stop them, they do it to avoid doing or saying something they will regret. If they do just let him cool off.” Palutena advised them.

Palutena sat down on a piano stool in front of a grand piano that appeared from nowhere, “so do you girls want to talk about your feelings for Bryan?” she asked as she began to play a tune, and everypony got a glass of whisky in their hands with Palutena’s laying on the grand piano.

“Well…” Twilight started, rubbing her neck, until she felt something that wasn't suppose to be there. “Wait, what is that?” She asked the others.

When they came to see, Cadence, Luna and Chrysalis let out gasped and checked each other, finding the same bite marks on the left side of their necks. Which only means one thing…

“Oh my~” Palutena said with a sly grin. “Looks like my brother really is part Dragon, after all.” As she said that, all four of the girls blushed furiously.

“Y-You mean, we’re his Hoard Mates? Or is it Pack Mates?” Twilight asked her.

Palutena lets out a giggle. “Aww, my dear, you look so adorable!” She teased Twilight. “Either way, no matter how you look at it, he is yours, as you are his.” Palutena answered her.

“Aww, c’mon!” The twin son shouted as Bryan finish off his combat avatar.

“Sorry bro, but you’re out of the game. Leave it to the professionals.” His other sister stated, as the last two combat avatars appeared and charged at their father, who was still grinning all the while.

“That smug bastard.” Palutena commented with a smile of her own.

“He seems more happy like this; continue on fighting, but in a more fun way.” Luna stated, as they see him fool around with his two daughter's combat avatars, who can't land a single hit on him. “Just look at him, he really is having more fun, especially with his own children.” She smiled happily at that thought.

“Oh, if only he was sleeping right now, we could bring him here and show him how much of a great father he actually is, no matter how much of a dream this is.” Cadence said.

“Unfortunately, he’s not sleeping. As a matter of fact, he won't let himself sleep.”
Guardian stated.

Palutena facepalmed herself. “That idiot.”

“This wouldn't be the first time, and it won't be the last.”

“He is going to burnout, I don't care how much of a badass you pretend to be, only the gods and some immortals can pull that kind of thing off, as sleep is more a luxury rather than a need.” Palutena sighed as Luna nodded in agreement.

After some time, Bryan won the match, with his children groaning in defeat. “Seriously, why can’t we win against him?” Luna’s twin son whined.

“This is the third time we lost to him.” Twilight’s daughter said.

Flying down to the group, Bryan landed with a smile. “Sorry guys, better luck next time.” He said as he turned to Palutena. “Hey, Pally. What brings you here, visiting sis?”

Palutena replied with a smile of her own. “Hey, bro. Thought I might pop in and see what's happening.” As she said that, she and the others realises the many battle scars along his arms. No doubt even throughout his body as well.

Realising what they were staring at, Bryan sighed. “Guys, c’mon, The…..Wars are over. Although, I wish we didn't become fucking Gods at the very end.” He grumbled that last part, showing sheer disdain of it.

“Oh godhood isn't so bad is it?” Palutena asked.

“Pally, you know how much I hate it. It's so fucking overrated. The only reason I’ve not resigned my Godhood is because you, the bros, Khorne, Khaine, and any other God-like bitch and asshole convinced me. Annoyingly enough.” Bryan told her, which she sighed at this.

“Again? Really? Well, at least you got us.” Guardian told him, but he scoffed it off.

“Yes, well you got your wish for the fighting to stop. Because of it your family and you can say you’ll never be lonely anymore.” Palutena said reassuringly.

“Pally, I’m the God of War, Ruin, Rage and Blood. Just because it's not happening here anymore, doesn't mean I can't feel it across the multiverse, and I can't shut it out.” Bryan explained to her, looking a little depressed about it.

“Sorry bro, I wish I could help but messing directly with aspects isn't something I can do. but hey atleast your not a walking contradiction. Chaos, Order, Light, Dark and Harmony what was i thinking?” Palutena groused.

Bryan groaned in annoyance. “Again? Goddammit, Pally. You and your Tia have enough children to pull out your hair. Hence the reason why I’m not hitting it with my ladies.”

“You know birds of a feather flock together, and you have your kids too.”
Palutena pointed out.

“Yeah, but at least they aren't trying to drive me insane anymore.” Bryan countered.

“I suppose, I don't know what happened, we raised them right fairly with discipline and right and wrong and now I got the equivalent of eight simple rules but instead of two daughters and a son. I got eighteen kids, three living with their mother Ava, the rest with me, ‘Tia, Crescent and Galaxy-eyes most are ponies but also got dragons as well.” Palutena sighed.

“Ava, huh? I still remember how annoyed she would get whenever I visit Slaanesh for some help.”

“She's a fertility goddess and was raped, and rape is Slaaneshs’ m.o., what do you expect?” Palutena snarked.

Bryan sighed at this. “I said I was sorry about doing that, none of us knew, nor did we want to know. The least she could have done was told us, but we also have rules regarding a Displaced past life…”

“I know you did,” Palutena placed a hand on his shoulder, “look let's get off this dreary topic, okay?” she suggested.

“Yeah, sure. Anyway, some of the bros are Off-World, going to explore the cosmos and colonise habitable planets. Or fighting a war on said planet.”

“How’s Vincent? He was looking pretty depressed last I talked to him. Did he get a marefriend yet? I know he said that even Hunter getting his own family hit him hard.” Palutena asked, concern entering her voice.

Bryan smiled at her. “Oh, sis, either you forget, or just a complete dumbass by natures design. But enough of that mopping attitude.”

“A little from column A, a little from column B, some from column gamma and a lot from column troll.” she smirked self deprecatingly.

He just shrugs at this response. “Whatever. Anyway, you don't need to worry, they got their own ladies and family. By the way how’s Pitt? Still getting used to being a different gender?” Bryan asked her.

“Yeah, it was a shock when she turned up as Pitt, she at least has her ex brother/new sister to help her get over it. It’ll take time,” Palutena explained.

“I still find that weird as fuck, and also saddening, too.” Bryan commented.

“Eh, at first it was weird and I ranted about it many times during my imprisonment, but I eventually found the joy of a relationship and fully embraced my new life and it's benefits,” Palutena chuckled while Chrysalis wiggled her eyebrows suggestively in response.

Bryan just glared at her for that. “Chrissy, no!” He stated firmly, which made Chrysalis flinch and looked away.

Palutena just gave Bryan a flat look. “Really, bro? You're still acting like such a Hardass, even after all these years?” She asked.

“I have rules for reasons, besides the children are our top priority, and they can keep her and their brother fed.” Bryan answered her.

“fair enough, if it's because of the kids.” Palutena sighed.

Before anymore could be said, Bryan got tackled by all Five of his children, which ran or flew away from him, blowing raspberries at him. Smirking, he quickly got up and looks towards them. “Oh, you woke the big bad dragon now, you little brat!” With that said, he chases after them, as they playfully scream and ran away from their father.

The rest laughed at the scene, save for Guardian, which Palutena found weird. “Hey, is something wrong?” She asked her.

“Tell me, did Runner really asked you to be their sister?” Guardian inquired. “If so, then you need to know what happened all those years ago.”

This surprised Palutena. “He did. Said that they needed it, especially Bryan and I accepted,” she responded solemnly but sincerely.

Guardian hummed and held out her hand. “Place your hand on mine, and I will show you what they have all been through.”

Palutena, placed her hand in the Guardian's. From there, many memories flowed through her mind, as they were playing flashbacks. There wasn't much happiness found anywhere, only fear, pain, madness and suffering. Mistrust also played its dirty hand among the populace of ponies, as they saw her brothers as freaks, no matter how many times all Five of them saved their worthless lives, they'll just spit it right back at them with insults. Then came the memories where they have traveled to Tartarus, seeing the real big picture of the situation. Skipping ahead, it came to the final battle within Tartarus’s Capital City, where the Hell Portal originated from. There, she saw Bryan, lying prone on the floor, alone, as he crawled his way over to shut down the portal.

Unfortunately, even in his success, the Hell Portal stayed open, and there was no other way to stop it. That was when he saw Celestia and Luna’s mother, Queen Gaia, standing there. He was about to ask her how she got here, but she cut him off saying. “I’m so sorry.” With that, she flew up towards the portal, along with her husband, King Solaris, as they sacrificed themselves in order to close off the Hell Portal, dying in the process. If that wasn't bad enough, the Demonic Horde converge onto Bryan's location, where he stood alone. But even with this mass army pit against him, it did little to try and quell his rage, and with a mighty roar, he rushes against them all, with nothing but a sword. All for the sake of killing every last one of them. Over and over, he kept on on killing them, as they kept on coming at him, with no end in sight for either side. Even when a Hell Knight punches his helmet off, the arm it used to do so was ripped from it, with Bryan using his own teeth, as he also used them to rip out the Hell Knight’s throat. For hours this killing spree went on, as bodies kept piling up upon one another, creating a mountain full of corpses, with Bryan buried beneath it at the very end.

With a gasp, Palutena stopped seeing it as she takes a step back, shocked to what she just witnessed. She shook her head and gained an expression that was of steeled determination.

she walked over to Luna who was looking confused at Palutena's sudden change in disposition. Luna squeaked adorably as Palutena’s pair of impossibly strong arms, for their size and the lacking in the appearance of any muscle, wrapped around her. She found herself lifted off the ground into a tight embrace as her face was pressed into Palutena's generous bust.

“Um, Palutena, why are you hugging me? Not that it isn't pleasant.” Luna asked, Palutena just tightened her hold on her and Luna was sure that if Palutena wanted, she could crush her. But that didn't seem to be the reason why, and when Palutena brought her wings around her as if shielding her from something, but remained silent. That just further added to her confusion, “Guardian, why is Palutena doing this? What did you do?”

“I showed her what happened to your parents all those years ago, along with what happened before and after.” Guardian answered her.

Luna was silent for a moment, until she hugged Palutena and started to sniffle a little bit. “My mother and father...they left us a note, stating that we were in charge now...saying they won't be coming back. Tia blamed our Doom Marines, but she never voiced it...she just locked herself inside her room…”

Palutena's hug intensified when Luna mentioned Celestia blaming the Doom Marines, which struck Luna as odd especially as Palutena started humming what sounded like a Lullaby. It seemed to resonate some form of familiarity to Luna, but she couldn't place it. All she knows is that it was very calming and thoughtful.

“I’m so sorry you lost them, Lulu. It must have hit you hard.” Palutena whispered to her.

“Not as hard as Bryan and the others. Especially Bryan.” Luna whispered back.

“It’ll work out, don't worry. I’m not leaving any of my brothers hanging, I promise.” Palutena stated firmly.

“Thank you.” Luna said, expressing her gratitude. “I hope you do well with your pregnancy.”

“Same here.” Palutena said with a sigh, until they felt the dream starting to end. “Looks like you’re all about to wake up.”

“I guess so. Fare well, Palutena.” Luna said her goodbyes, along with the rest of the girls.

“Goodbye, and make sure Bryan gets some rest and relaxation with you girls. If I’m lucky, they might let me set up shop.” Palutena said with a smile, as a portal opens up and she walks through it. “Don’t worry girls, it’ll work out. Bryan, make sure you pay attention to your loved ones and family. We’re all here to help you…”