FIGHT LIKE HELL, FIGHT LIKE DOOM MARINES!

Ch.25: Within a different Spectrum of Reality...

(Bryan/Doom Marine, Canterlot Castle, two weeks after Manehattan...)

“Well, that escalated quickly.” Vincent commented as he drunk some whiskey that Pally gave him. A flask with an endless supply of the stuff.

After that whole Ministry thing, we had to stick around for yet another conference. Telling the public what happened in the attack. At this point, we’ll be dealing with more than Cocoon’s Changeling Hive. I’m just glad we won’t have to deal with Hellspawns, but, I kinda miss killing the fuckers, in a weird, messed up sort of way.

Anyway, after telling the press that, we went on about placing some of our forces in Manehattan. For the most part, they agreed, save for some who voiced their concerns about the idea, while they also understand the reason for us doing so. This was basically the second time Manehattan was attacked, but by an unknown force.

Visilia’s father, King Hydrax, decided to amp up the troops we’ll be getting. Two hundred of our Night Sentinels will be sent our way now for each day, standing about five thousand strong.

On the bright side, the children in Canterlot, the Crystal Empire, Ponyville and Manehattan seem to like the Night Sentinel.

“Yeah, well, at least they’ll feel a little safer. For now.” I stated.

“Still though, whoever they are, and wherever they come from, they know about us.” Visilia reminded us. “Then that means they may have one of the last two Doom Marines.”

“Our thoughts exactly. Hopefully VEGA and that can salvage the data.” I said with a sigh. “How is Tia’s training coming along?”

“Pretty good, though she tends to use her magic out of habit sometimes.” Visi told me. “Although, what are we going to do with the Royal Guard? They’ll need to be trained themselves, along with some upgrades, as well. Especially since we might, or will be, fighting against those with firearms.”

“She’s not wrong.” Vincent sighed. “Looks like we’ll need to buff up the Royal Guard’s training.” He stated.

“Right.” I said as we all nodded in agreement, before the doors opened up.

“My Lords, my Princess.” Krimzon said as he came inside the room. “A message from Princess Sparkle.” He told us, handing us a scroll.

Visi took it and opened it up, reading it. “She’s back in Ponyville, but she wants to spend some time with you.” She told me.

“Really?” I asked in confusion. “Doesn’t she have any work to do?”

“She’s finished for now, on break and wanted to see if you’re available. Oh, and she doesn’t mind if I and/or your brothers were there.” She answered.

“I’ll stay behind and work on buffing the Royal Guard’s training up.” Vincent said, getting up from his seat and walking out. “Go visit the girl, she’s yours to take care of.” He chuckled as he left.

“Yeah...one of many.” I muttered, still feeling apprehensive about that topic.

“You’ve been working hard. I, along with everyone else, would say you need a break.” Visilia told me. “Besides, this is the perfect opportunity for you to at least bond with the poor girl.”

“Yeah.” I sighed deeply. “Alright, let’s head down there.” I said as Visilia, Kevin, Krimzon and I left the castle.

Walking through the city, the snobby Noble pricks were going about their business, though they shot us glares as we passed by them. They kept their mouths shut, so as to not give me a reason to kill them, even though it was tempting to punch their faces in. As for the Royal Guard, they were working alongside our Night Sentinels and Chrysalis’ Changelings, keeping the peace and enforcing the Law.

The Changelings were living in those Crystal Caverns underneath the castle, within the mountain, making it their new home.

Making it to the train station, Visi and Krimzon paid for our tickets, as we waited for the train to arrive. Which wasn’t very long, as it came in and we hopped on board. Once everyone was on, the doors closed and the train started moving. Nothing much happened during the trip, everyone minding their own business while staying away from us. Was it out of fear, or respect of personal space? I can’t tell, and I really didn’t give a damn.

Soon enough we arrived at Ponyville, pulling into the town’s station. We saw Twilight waiting there, as we got off and made our way to her. She looked nervous.

“Hello Berserker.” She said to me.

“Hey.” I replied with a nod. “Is everything alright?”

“... No.” She sighed, her head hung low. “I didn’t really think this through. I don’t even know what you even like.”

“Was this... Suppose to be a date?” I inquired.

“Not exactly... I don’t know anymore.” She whined, resting her head on my chest. “Can we go back to my castle?”

“You invited me here, along with the others. You’re kind of leading us at this point.” I told her.

“Okay.” She sighed before taking a hold of my hand and walking us back to her place.

Everyone that we walked past looked towards us in bewilderment, not sure on what to make of it. While the Night Sentinels stationed here only gave a quick glance, before continuing on with their duties. In all honesty, this whole thing felt pretty awkward. Fuck me, I guess Twi and I are both hopeless in this romance thing. Go figure.

Anyway, we made it to her crystal tree castle, walking inside with some more Night Sentinels guarding it. This is basically where they sleep and such, since it’s big enough to house them and the necessities they need.

Twilight lead us into her room, the Royal Bedchamber, as she jumped onto her bed and buried her head into the pillows, sighing deeply and loudly, which was muffled.

“Twi...” I started, taking off my helmet and sitting on her bed. “What’s wrong?”

Sighing once more, she turned around to face me. “I’m sorry, Bryan. I think I just wasted both of our time.”

“What makes you think that?”

“I didn’t even come up with a plan for this occasion. I thought that maybe we could have a picnic, but I wasn’t sure if that was your thing, or if it ever was.” She answered. “Not to mention, my friends are all busy, so I couldn’t invite them either. And from the look of things, I guess Vincent was busy, too.”

“Something like that, yeah.” I nodded. “How are the twins holding up?”

“Fine, for the most part.” She told me, before something lit up in her mind. How do I know this? Well, she made a face that indicates an idea. “Say, I don’t suppose you’re interested in comic books?”

“What sort of comic books are we talking about?” I asked her.

“Superheroes.” She simply answered. “Apparently, there’s a new addition that recently came out. It’s suppose to be an alternative universe to the original.”

“Oh? And what is this comic series called?” I asked her with interest.

“The Power Ponies.” She answered.

“I should’ve saw that one coming.” I sighed.

“Oh c’mon, it isn’t that bad.” She scoffed at me.

“Yeah, but that’s because you’re a Pony. And it’s a comic book based around Pony heroes and villains.” I retorted.

“Whatever.” She waved me off. “Anyway, this alternative universe was inspired by you Doom Marines. I’m not sure what it entails, but to quote on what the author and that say; ’Heroes fall from grace, as Villains dominate unopposed. But Hope remains still, within the hands of the Last and the Lost.’ That’s basically it.”

“It’s a Dystopian World, where the Villains now rule it all. Most of the Heroes have died, and only one, or a few that remains.” I commented, which surprised Twilight. “What? It’s not that hard to figure out. But it could be interpreted in a number of ways.”

“Well, okay, yeah. But what about ‘The Lost’ part?”

“Something from the past, thought lost, but still draws breath. The real question is; where?” I told her.

Before she could say anything, the Dragon Twins came rushing into her room, with wide, razor fang-filled grins plastered on their faces. Although, it was clear why, as Spike held the comic book.

“Twilight, Bryan, guys! It’s here! The first addition to a spin-off comic series!” He said in fervour excitement, showing us the comic. The front of the cover told you what you were about to dive into: a futuristic, grimdark Dystopia. It was called The Dark Apocalyptus. “Awesome, right!? It starts of in Canterlot, which has gone through a lot of changes, with Mane-iac as the dictating ruler. Here we have four new characters infiltrating the fortress, trying to do something, but instead, stumble upon...” Lifting up a finger, he points it towards me. “You!”

“... Well, that explains a lot. Especially the name of the first chapter.” I pointed out, seeing it saying, “No Pity. No Remorse. No Fear.”

Barbs shivered a little when a said that, but not out of fear. “Definitely something you would say.”

“I get the feeling GW is gonna sue somebody through the Warp.” I said sarcastically, but it left the Equestrian and Dragons confused. “I’ll tell you lot later. Although, Spike, Barbs, did you look at the age restrictions?” I asked them, pointing towards it. “You two need to be eighteen or over that to read it.”

“Oh man, c’mon!” Oh no, now they’re gonna start begging us. “We may be underage by a year, but you guys are here!”

“Whoa, hey!” I held a hand up. “I know you guys want to read it, but I can guess what that book entails! I’m not sure if we should even let you!”

“Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease~!” Barbs pleaded, trying to use those puppy eyes. This only annoyed me.

“Will you cut that shit out!” I growled, snapping her out of it and making them both back away, Spike dropping the book. “Alright, that does it! You two are not--!” Before I could finish, the book started to glow and I found myself getting sucked into it faster than you could say Fucknuggets! Nobody said that this damn thing was magical!

Unfortunately, I blacked out from the experience of being transported into the damn book, before waking up inside the fucking Tombstone. However, I started hearing voices and fighting from outside, circling around my Tomb. Two of them, strangely enough, sounded familiar.

“Don’t let them open that tomb!” Some random asshole called out. “Hurry up and kill them!”

Bitch, I don’t need help! Lifting my hands up to the lid, I pushed against it and popped it off, throwing it to the side. Of course, the fighting immediately stopped as I sat up and took a look around. There were the four supposedly heroes, wearing a combination of Splinter Cell, Metal Gear Solid, and Star Wars Republic Commando. At least, to me, some of them sort of resembles them, including the weapons.

As for the asshats who wanted me to remain sealed and locked away, they were wearing something akin to Imperial Guards, but completely different and not as advanced as I’d imagined. The Lasguns and Auto Rifles though, looked accurate.

“Quick! Kill it!” Oh, that motherfucker’s gonna die first.

Jumping up onto my feet, I quickly rushed over to the enemy Officer, grabbing him by the throat and punching his face right out of existence, before finishing off the rest of them. Although, after I was done sating my bloodlust, I realised a few things. One, I wasn’t wearing my helmet. And two, my armour looked different. For the most part, it was still the Praetor suit, but it seemed to have been upgraded, looking a little more bulkier, among other things. Not to mention that I was made taller than usual.

The coloration of it was red as the primary, and black as the secondary, with white highlighting to what I suspect are supposedly my battle scars.

Now onto the...accessaries. As you would probably expected, I looked like an Edge Lord. Ugh, you kids and your fucking terminologies. Honestly, I don’t think many people even respect the classics. Just because I have spikes along my arms and legs, doesn’t make me an Edge Lord, I just really like Metal and/or Heavy Metal. Okay, metaphorically ranting like an old man aside, I also had silver chains wrapped along my forearms, between my wrists and elbows, along with a tattered loincloth coloured in black, with the Doom Slayers’ mark on it, hanging off on my left side of my waist. I was also wearing a chained necklace, with the Iron Cross hanging from it, that had the Roman number engraved in the middle; VIII. If only they had added skulls to my armour, I’ll be set for the Dark Hero role...

“Don’t move.” I heard Twilight, from the sound of her voice, as I turned around to find all four of them aiming their guns at me.

“Or what?” I taunted. “You’ll shoot me?”

“Well, yeah, duh.” One of the others replied, a male. “I mean, from what Intel we’ve gathered, you’re the reason we’re in this mess.”

“... They took my helmet, didn’t they?” I asked them.

“Whether or not you were directly involved with the enemy’s plans, is debatable. However, given the from what we’ve seen of your combat prowess, you’re an unknown danger to anyone and everyone.” The other male stated in a factly manner. “Not to mention, since you were locked up, for whatever reason, doesn’t help your case.”

“Yeah, I figured as much, smartass.” I snorted, pushing through them as I walked towards the Home Base...only to find it in ruins. “Those dirty motherfuckers fucked up my Base.” I growled.

“Hey, uh, I thought we were supposed to shoot him if he moves?” The first male spoke up. “We...we kind of messed up by not keeping to our threats.”

“... She was right about you.” Twilight said, walking up behind me.

“Sorry, man, but that was just a test.” The second male told the first. “Boss Lady and I were sworn to secrecy, we actually know a little more about him.”

“Seriously?” His pal questioned, sounding a little hurt. “If so, then what’s his name?”

“Didn’t say, only that we know him as Berserker. That’s the codename he goes by, which is deprived from his title; The Bloody-handed Berserker.” The smart guy answered. “Other than that, he’s not gonna give two shits about who threatens him.”

“Are the Princesses alive?” I asked them, only to met with silences. “They’re dead?”

“... Princess Celestia is, yes.” Twilight answered in a shaky voice. “Things...have changed.” When she said that, I felt this heavy weight pulling me down to my knees. That was my guilt and failure, I know because I’ve been brought down by those feelings alone. Hell, this alternative universe, within a comic book series no less, just makes me feel like I fucked up big time.

“... Who did it?” I asked coldly.

“A crazy mare that can move her mane around at will, Mane-iac. She somehow devised a toxic that could kill Alicorns, even though it was very limited in terms of knowledge, resources and development.” She explained before taking in deep and controlled breaths. “I’ll tell you about it later. Right now, we need to get you out of Canterlot.”

“Not without my helmet and weapons.” I told her as I moved over to the alternative passage, opening it up after I closed the route from the Throne room off.

“No disrespect, sir, but it’s impossible to retrieve your helmet. They have it locked up tight in the castle’s R&D facility.” Smart guy informed me. “They have Mechs and Super Soldiers guarding it.”

“We’ll see about that.” I said as I led the younglings through, collecting my things and continuing onward. “Just lead me to that facility, I’ll deal with the rat fuckers.”

“If you insist.” He sighed as we came up to a empty hallway, which wasn’t marble white anymore, now made of obsidian, with purple carpets. I guess the castle went through some changes as well. “This doesn’t look good.”

“No shit.” I muttered, whipping out my Chaingun out, with the Mobile Turret mod on. Slowly walking out into the open, I checked both ends of the hall, until I ended up looking outside through the windows. “Fuck me...” I said as I walked up to see Canterlot looking a lot more bigger. It’s practically the size of an Imperium’s Hive City. I’m not even kidding, either.

“As I said, things have changed. And not for the better.” Twilight reminded me. “Come on, Research and Development is this way.” She told me as I catch up with them.

So far, we haven’t ran into anyone, which is odd. From the sound of the short description of this Mane-iac, she should have sent her armies after us, the castle on high alert and whatnot. But no, we have yet to run into any sort of problem. However, it would seem she had predicted that, in the event I should be let loose on the waking world, I would get my helmet back, because she placed a lot of assholes between us and the facility. The Super Soldiers looked like advanced models from the Wolfenstein series, while the mechs they were talking about were those fast moving recon walkers from The Clone Wars series.

At least it wasn’t the model from the Warhammer 40K, the ones the Imperial Guard use. I could probably take them out, but I’m not sure if these four handle that sort of situation. Not to mention, my tactics might as well be considered suicide to them.

“Well, that complicates things.” Smart guy stated. “You sure you can handle all of that?”

“Yeah, but it’s going to complicate things further.” I answered, switching my current gun to the BFG. “And leave a bigger mess behind.” Moving out from cover, I charged up my shot and fired, seeing it going straight towards the crowd of enemies, watched them get destroyed completely, along with taking out a part of the castle. But hey, at least the R&D facility was still there, and I blew the doors open. Also made a bit of mess inside the place. Security my ass.

With all of that out of the way, I rushed inside and started searching through the place, as the alarms went off, while the other four went through and took as much Intel as they could. Moving in deeper, I saw vector tanks with more augmented super soldiers inside them, in stasis. That was when I came across a room with my helmet in it, wires hooked into it and extracting information from it. Although, I get the feeling that these pricks may have added a tracking device to it, in case my helmet was taken.

“Hmm...” I hummed as I went over to a terminal and started looking into whatever the fuck they’ve done to it. My suspicions were correct about the tracking device being tagged on my helmet, and in a place that’ll fry it. I tried to turn it off, but it wouldn’t work, I needed the security clearance...something their ‘Empress Mane-iac’ has. “... Fuck.”

“Well, well, well...what have we here?” A voice rang out on the comms, the terminal’s screens turning static before revealing who I assume is Mane-iac. “Oh, if it isn’t the Doom Slayer himself. Had a nice nap?”

“Fuck you.” I replied to her.

“Aww, don’t be like that darling. I mean, you’re the sole reason for all of this technology to flourish. But I will admit, trying to find a middle ground for magic and science was absolute tedious work, it almost driven our scientists and mages insane. Nevertheless, they’ve finally managed to bridge the gap between the two, and so came a new age.” She explained to me, as if to say I should be thanking her and feel proud. What a cunt. “Really, you should feel honoured.”

“That’s a joke. Especially since you want me dead.” I retorted. “Not to mention, you tagged my helmet.”

She sighed, shaking her head at this. “I knew this wasn’t going to work, and I was so hoping you would side with us. Then again, you are a very dangerous man, and trying to keep you on a tight leash isn’t going to cut it. No matter, because you and your rebel friends won’t be making it out of Canterlot alive!” She finished with a crazed laughter, the terminal shutting down as I heard a firefight going on.

“Fuck it. I’ll get the damn clearance from her.” I stated, walking over to retrieve my helmet. I can’t exactly wear it, yet, so I had it hanging on the left side of my hip. Making my way back, all four of them were at the door, shooting back at the enemy set up out in the hallway.

Regrouping with them, I asked Twilight, “How bad is it?”

“Looking pretty bad. The whole place is on our doorstep.” She answered, as I poked my head out to take a look, only to quickly retreat as machine gun fire kept us pinned. “Yeah, there’s no way for us to get pass that.”

“We can’t leave yet, not without paying that bitch a visit.” I told them, which made them look at me like I’ve lost my mind. “Well, you little pricks can, but I can’t. The moment I do, they’ll track us down since they tagged my helmet. I can’t remove it without that damn thing short circuiting it.” I explained to them.

“Then leave it!” Barbs suggested and I glared down at her. She didn’t like it and glared back at me. “What!? You think I’m easily in-!” I didn’t let her finish that sentence, as I punched her in the face.

“Fuck you, cunt!” I growled, pulling my sword out from my back. “You know what? Fuck all of you! If you don’t wanna help, fine! I’ll go by myself!” I stated before I ran out there and charged into the fray.

Enemy firepower was all pointed towards me, as I ran straight through it. Their bullets and lasers hitting and bouncing off of my armour, causing minor damage as it held. Once I made over to their line, I started wreaking havoc, slaughtering them with my blade. Slicing through their armour and weapons as they tried to defend themselves against me, some even charged at me with bayonets. Soon enough though, enemy reinforcements arrived, their Super Soldiers carrying heavy weapons that were basically made to destroy Tanks.

Right now I was in a pretty bad spot, so I rushed towards them and kill them off quickly. Although, I soon realised that they were equipped with thruster packs on their backs, as two of them came charging at with the help of those. Shoulder charging me, I was sent tumbling backwards onto the ground, so I tried to get back up. But they decided to start shooting at me while I was on the ground, so I had to roll away from where they were aiming at. Caused a few dents in my armour when they did land a hit on me, making me trip up whenever I try to get up.

They weren’t satisfied killing me with guns, so they got personal and grabbed a hold of me. I really thought they were gonna rip me in half, or tear my limbs off one by one. But no, they just pinned me up against a wall and started punching the ever living shit out of me. I was losing conscious at that point, as I really thought I was gonna die here...as a failure...who couldn’t even redeem himself, or set this fucking right.

“... No pity...” I muttered under my breath, as I felt my rage rising.

“No... Remorse...” I growled, even through the beating I was receiving, I managed to stop another punch coming towards, crushing the offending fist.

“No...” Clutching my right fist, I punched the Super Soldier’s head clean off, before picking the body up and ripping it in half. “FEAR!!!” I roared out, my Berserk Power-up active as I started punching my way through these useless, genetic abominations.

“I’ll kill every last one of you fucker! Cleanse this world of your filth with your blood! Burn all of the sins you’ve committed away!” I declared, retrieving my sword as they started firing again, only I was harder to hit this time, dodging and weaving through their shots as I closed the gap between us. “TIME FOR A PURGING, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

“Fall back!” One of them started shouting as the normal soldiers ran for it, while the Super Soldiers tried to hold me off.

“He’s not stopping!” Another screamed as I carved my way through their disgusting mutants.

“We’re all going to die-!” One yelled out before I killed him. And so I hunted down the cowards who ran from battle, these so called warriors who were supposed to be trained for war and prepared to die.

But it doesn’t matter, either way, I’m going to kill them. During the carnage, I left behind many dead. Filling these darkened halls with their discarded body parts and internal organs, painting the floors and walls in blood. Some had tried to kill me, even though it wasn’t enough, as they shared the same fate as those I’ve killed before. Not even their Walkers could stand against me, as I went for the legs before killing the pilots.

Once I was certain that I had killed them all, I actually found myself standing in front of the Throne room’s doors. What’s unfortunate, though, was that my Berserk powers had ended.

“Oooh~ Such a marvellous monster you are. Congratulations, you have successfully massacred your way through these halls to reach this point. As a token of my appreciation, you get yours truly, all to yourself~” Mane-iac stated, sounding a little aroused by watching me killing all of those serving her will. She’s seriously one messed up bitch.

With that said, the doors slowly opened up, revealing...well her sitting upon a newly fashioned out throne, along with the room as well. Strange, there weren’t any guards with her. What’s her game?

“Come now, don’t be shy~” She cooed to me, beckoning me over to her with a single finger.

“I know you have a trap waiting for me.” I accused, pointing my sword at her.

“Aww~ But I want to see more! I want to test out something new against you, and see what sort of results it will bring out.” She stated with an insane smile. Probably one Vincent would kiss. Damn crazy bastard of a brother of mine. “Admit it, you live for this. The carnage, the mayhem, the combat! The adrenaline it brings with it! In the midst of battle, you strive to destroy any and all you come across, nevermind their reasons for being there! You lust for the blood of your prey, the chance to meet your equal and see who lives and dies!”

Okay, she’s getting into this way too much.

“Oh, fuck this.” I snarled, placing my sword away and pulling out my Rocket Launcher, firing off a few straight at the crazy bitch. Only for me to find out that she’s within a protective barrier.

“Hah! Come now, warrior, did you honestly think that it was going to be easy!?” She cackled.

“Yeah, because you don’t look like a smartass to me.” I retorted, making her almost trip up on herself.

“What the-!? Why you... GET HIM!” She growled her orders, as I saw...six new forms of Super Soldiers. These ones were taller than the ones I’d fought earlier, more armour on them, which were decorated, and they had actual jetpacks on their backs. The only thing they didn’t carry were heavy guns, choosing melee weapons to fight me with. One carrying two Axes, one a Warhammer, another a Halberd, a Flail, a Lance and a Scythe even.

Before I could do anything, I felt something wrap itself around my waist and pull me into the Throne room. The doors closing and locking behind me as I was alone, forced to face these monstrosities. “Tch! Dammit!” I tsk’ed as I grabbed my sword once more. I didn’t get the chance to see what pulled me through, but I suspected it was Mane-iac’s doing.

The first one was with the one dual-welding two Axes, and that was the first one to show how damn fast these ones were. I barely had any time to react, almost getting my head cleaved off by him. He was literally pushing me back. I was stuck on being defensive, trying to block his attacks. However, what I failed to realise was that he was keeping me focused on him, in order for the others to get the drop on me.

I was sent flying into a wall, getting hit by the Warhammer that’s bigger than my head, making me cough up some blood as I gasped for breath. Unfortunately, I wasn’t going to get a respite as the ones carrying the Lance and Halberd came charging me, both flanking me for the pincher movement. I barely dodged it at the last second, just ducking under them pointy sticks as they stabbed the wall instead.

Soon enough I saw the one with the Scythe charging down the middle, going for an uppercut to slice me in half. I rolled out of the way when that happened, but I rolled off to where the one holding the Halberd was, as he pulled his weapon out from the wall and started slamming the axe-bladed part of it down on me. So I took the chance and slipped out from between his legs, only to get a Flail to the face, knocking me back down on the floor.

Throughout most of that fight, I was getting my ass handed to me at every given turn. I barely managed to get the upper hand on these pricks, especially when they use their Jetpacks to try and ground pound my ass. My armour is pretty fucked up and I’m bleeding out here, only managing to survive out of luck. All while Mane-iac was just sitting there and watch, smiling at the onslaught I have to endure.

Just then, the one with the Warhammer decided to pull my feet out from under me, making me do a front flip before falling on my back. Before he could bring it down on me, I rolled towards him, kicking his legs as I made him stumble on his knees, kicking the arm holding his weapon, and then kicking him in the face, putting a dent in his helmet. Staggering backwards, I got up and shoulder charged him in the guts, making him fall as I got on top and stabbed him in the throat, cutting his head right off. Restoring some of my health and armour, just enough to keep going.

“Finally-!” I started before getting stabbed in the back. “Argh! Son of a-!!” Before I could finish that sentence, I got picked up in the air and slammed back on the floor. Looking up, that fucker with the Halberd came down on me, but I wasn’t going to give him the chance. Pulling out my Pistol, I started shooting at him, even though his armour protected him as I wasn’t really doing much damage, it provided a good enough distraction to throw him off.

Rolling out of the way, I got behind him and charged my shot, aiming for his jetpack. Firing, it exploded and covered him in flames, as he tried to put himself out, but I finished him off before he started annoying me again. Cutting his head off as well, and gaining more health and armour. Two down, four to go.

Of course, the prick with the Flail sent me through...a pillar? I didn’t even realise they installed these. Anyway, crashing through one brought it down, so I kinda opted to using it as a bat. Mustering up the strength, I lifted it up and swung at them, only for three of them to stop it, as the cuntbag with the Scythe sliced it in half, having the others throw their piece at me, knocking me back down.

“God-fucking-dammit!” I growled, getting pissed off with how they keep counteracting my attacks. Especially since cuntbag is always hovering in the air and only attacks if given the opportunity. “I’m gonna need to take him out.” I said, getting back up as I devised a plan.

Seeing as how high he was, I’m gonna need something to help me get at him. I can use the pillars to my advantage, but I’m not strong enough to break them and push them to fall towards him, not to mention my Berserk Power-up wasn’t fully recharged. So I’ll have the other three do it for me. With that in mind, I backed myself up against another pillar, waiting for them to strike. The first one was with the range, the Lancer taking some quick jabs at me, as I parried and dodged them, having him weaken the base of the pillar before moving out of the way, seeing the Flail coming in to strike at where I was standing, weakening the structure further.

Next came that asshole with the two Axes, going at it with me once more. I kept dodging and parrying his attacks, steering them clear away from my neck and face as most of it ended up hacking and slashing at the pillar. Soon cracks started showing and spreading around the base, as the Flail came at me from behind, duck as it almost did the trick of making it fall. Using the pommel end of my sword, I bashed it against the asshole’s plated face, stunning him for a bit before throwing him against the pillar, finally making it fall.

Cuntbag saw it falling his way as he just simply hovered off to the side, out of its way. What he didn’t count on was me running along it and getting the jump on him. Getting behind him, I held him in a headlock, as he tries to throw me off and break free of my grip. My armour protecting me from the heat generated from his jetpack, but it was slowly doing damage as I can feel it through the damn thing. So I broke his neck once I got a good enough grip to do so.

Although, we did land on top of the prick Flail, as I grabbed the huge Scythe and cleaved his head clean off, before shoving it in that asshole’s stomach, pinning him to a pillar. However, the one with the Lance stabbed me in my left shoulder, pushing me back as I held my ground and pulled it out. Seeing this though, he pulled back and threw me off balance, before he almost stabbed me in the eye. If I didn’t had a grip on it, I probably would’ve been dead if I didn’t move it away. So, I actually started to bend the tip away from me, before pushing it aside and charging him.

Only he hit me with the pommel end of his weapon, sidestepped me when I stumbled and used his broken Lance as I bat, whacking me in the back as I skidded across the floor.

“For Hell sakes...” I groaned, looking behind me to see him pick up the two Axes. Once he did, he came after me, as I looked off to the side and saw the Warhammer, picking that up and blocking the incoming attack.

I steered that prick off to the side as I got back up and tried to smash his head in, which almost worked if he didn’t dodge. So I tripped him up and finally killed the last one, crushing his entire chest cavity and splattering his face on the floor.

“Thank fuck!” I shouted, panting like Hell. But my victory was short-lived as I found myself getting swiped at all around me. Green tendrils smacking and hitting me within a flurry of attacks, even picking me up by the legs and throwing me all over the place. Soon enough it stopped as I saw Mane-iac walking towards me. Well, guess they weren’t kidding about her being able to control her mane like this.

“Well, I must admit, you’ve successfully both impressed and annoyed me. However, I’m still very grateful on how this all turned out. While they had failed to kill you, they still wounded you to the point of exhaustion.” She spatted, sounding very pissed off. “One last chance; submit and serve me, or die like the rest. And choose wisely.” She hissed, turning me upright as I looked at her scolding face. “Just know this, I will punish you for rebelling against me, if you choose to be with me.”

“Heh heh...” I wheezed out. “Fat chance.” Before she could do anything, I lunged at her and bit down on her neck, taking a chunk out of her.

Shocked, her mane started flailing about, throwing me out the doorway, crashing through a window and falling down into the lower depths of the city as I blacked out once more.

“Ugh...my everything.” I groaned as I opened my eyes, seeing Twi, Visi, Kevin, Krimzon and the twins surrounding me. “Please tell me that I’m back?”

“You’re back.” Visi answered with a sigh of relief.

“Great.” I said with a grunt, Twilight helping me up.

“Oh my gosh, Bryan, are you alright!?” She asked in a panic, looking me over.

“I’m not sure. But that was a weird, yet interesting, experience.” I told her, picking myself up. “And I’m still not sure if you two should even be reading this stuff.” I pointed towards the twins.

“Actually, we all kinda did.” Barbs stated in a nervous tone.

“Explain.” I demanded.

“Well, you see, as soon as you got sucked into the comic book, things were already playing out. Twilight wanted to try and pull you out, but Visilia stopped her from doing anything rash.” Spike explained, as I looked towards Twilight.

“Really? You could have made things worse.” I said to her.

“I know, but I was worried.” She whined. “We saw the whole thing. It felt like I was forced to watch you die at some point. Heck, you were even thrown out of the castle and plummeting to your death, or something!”

“Alright, alright, I get it!” I stated, making her stop talking. “Look, I’m sorry, I really am. But you do know that I’m basically going to get dragged into fights most of the time.”

“And that qualifies as just being the norm for you!?” She shouted at me. “That’s not fair! That’s not even living!”

“Oh! You think!? I haven’t noticed, because I’m too busy trying to stay a-fucking-live and making sure the world continues to spin!” I argued back at her. “And really!? You think you’re having it rough!? Get in line, don’t talk to me about fairness! I’ve already seen my fair share on how brutally unfair life can be, and you’ve only gotten a taste of it!”

She was taken aback by this, her eyes tearing up as I just reminded her the death of her brother. Groaning, I turned away from her sadness as the others took the twins out of the room and left us alone. I tried thinking on how to salvage from this mess I’ve made.

“Goddammit.” I snarled, really wanting to punch something to death...namely something with my dumbass face on it. Because I was the cause for her to cry, I reminded her about my failure to save her brother! Just... Grrrrah! “FUCK!” I growled out, throwing my fist on a wall and ended up leaving a hole in it. “WHY THE FUCK CAN’T I DO ANYTHING RIGHT!?” I questioned, knowing that I wouldn’t get an answer.

“Bryan...please stop...” Twilight sniffled.

“HOW!?” I asked her. “HOW DO I EVEN STOP!? I can’t do the things normal people do anymore! I’m practically scarred by War and Death, from head to toe! I’ve seen things no one should ever have to witness! Done things and endured so many inhuman obstacles that no normal man could do! Pray to fucking God he doesn’t dream of it! I’m...” Taking a breather, I tried to calm myself down before I go flying off the rails again, sitting down on the bed.

“I’m no longer human anymore, Twi. Even though I still have my human features.” I said with a sigh. “But...I don’t feel human. I feel more like a Monster with a very bad temper.”

“... Maybe.” She whispered, walking over to me slowly before sitting down next to me. “But you’re my Monster that I have to take care of.” She said, taking a hold of my hand, even though I’m actually scared that I might end up crushing it.

“I’m so sorry, Twi. I’m a huge fucking mess that you’ll have to put up with. Especially since I’m stuck in my old ways.” I groaned, placing my other hand on my face.

“I... I know.”

“Do you?”

“... I can only hope that I can keep up with you. Maybe even prove you wrong on what you think about yourself.” She stated.

I wanted to scoff at that, but I caused her enough pain and worry for one day. So I just sighed and said nothing more.

Soon enough she leaned on my shoulder and asked. “You want to get something to eat?”

“... Sure.”

Author's Notes:

Hey guys, sorry about the wait. Had a bit of a writers block, so I was surfing through to see what could help me. Ended up reading some stories based around the Power Ponies’ universe and thought about creating an alternative possibility.

And this is what I came up with. Special thanks to Frost and his story, that helped me out.

And as always, thanks for reading.