Descent

by IAreBrony

Rating: mature
Tags: Twilight Sparkle, Anthro, Discord, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Alternate Universe, Romance, Original Character, Rainbow Dash, Princess Celestia, Sex
Length: 16023

A look into the darker lore of Equestria, namely a theme crossover of the Dante Alighieri's annular theological idea of the "Nine Circles of Hell".

Warning: Contains anthropomorphism and potentially ideologically sensitive material. And lots of some lots of shipping.

Discord, The Reformed 'Most Evil Monster in Equestria', has become terrifyingly absent as of late. Normally, this would simply be indicative of him taking a vocational detour - meaning he was off terrorizing some poor city somewhere - but, as sworn by his own mouth, he is "done with that life". This brings to Princess Celestia a horrible foreboding sense that there is something much larger at work here. For, even though Discord is, or was, evil, are not there more devious things lurking in the dark? More malevolent things?

Unable to leave her post as co-regent of Earth's most peaceful nation, she beckons on her trusted disciple once more. The safe return of her newest assistant lies solely in the capable hands of Twilight Sparkle and company, which is not something Celestia would hand out lightly. Only trouble is: there are dark whispers among the kingdom, whispers of the return of a great evil. If such an evil were strong enough to corrupt Discord, would not a mortal pony be little more than putty in its claws?

Published 2013-08-10 03:40:03 UTC
Last updated 2013-10-11 23:38:44 UTC

Overworld

The day that Princess Twilight Sparkle walked into the palace of her former mentor was filled with both a rigid sense of excitement and terror. Rarely did Princess Celestia call on her protege with such haste and urgency, which warranted Twilight and her five companions to come racing to Canterlot to offer their assistance. As they walked as a group toward the great Canterlot Royal Palace, Twilight's tension was practically palpable. She had an awful feeling that this day was about to rain on her parade, and she didn't mean that in the sense that it was actually raining on the particular afternoon. While most of her closest friends remained unphased by their companion's fear - Rarity pining over the wondrous towers and gardens of the capitol, Applejack and Fluttershy calmly discussing the latest happenings in and around the famous Sweet Apple Acres, and Pinkie Pie being, well, Pinkie Pie - the one Twilight knew she could always rely on was matching her nervous gait, eyeing the princess out of the corner of her magenta eye.

Rainbow Dash, the bearer of the Element of Loyalty, could sense her friend's stress and was itching to break down, grab her, and haul her off to calm down. Unfortunately for Rainbow Dash, that wasn't something she was supposed to do, according to Twilight Sparkle herself. Without taking her eyes off of the unicorn, Dash's mind wandered back to her memory of that discussion.

"Oh, come on, Twilight, it's no big deal! We have to tell 'em sooner or later, so why not while we're all together in Canterlot?" Rainbow Dash had pleaded, though to no avail. Her partner's face broke into a frustrated frown as she shook her head dejectedly.

"Dash, you know how I feel about that. If Princess Celestia is sending us out on a vital mission, we can't afford to emotionally compromise anypony beforehand. We need everypony functioning at peak efficiency to ensure that we don't let the Princess, or Equestria, down," Twilight explained for what felt like the dozenth time. Rainbow Dash growled in anger and tossed her callused hands into the air.

"You sound like a businesspony, Twi! 'Peak efficiency'? What the hoof is that? This isn't some plan you can postpone forever, y'know," Dash grumbled. "This isn't one of those things you can plan because --"

"Yes, I know, 'you can't plan love'," the other mare interrupted, mentally kicking herself for ever using that phrase in the first place.

"This isn't about them; this isn't about you or me; it's about us. You mean the world to me, Twi, and it kills me to think that I'm the only one who will ever know it. I wanna shout it from the tallest mountain, over every town, even at every little foal," Dash said to Twilight, who smiled sweetly at the thought of her girlfriend's romantic side. Still, her smile quickly fell as she looked reality in the eyes again.

"We're going to wait, and that's that."

As Rainbow Dash faded back into reality, she took notice of the fact that she had been staring at Twilight for far too long for the mare not to notice. The unicorn was now staring back at her, eyebrow inquisitively cocked. Dash gave a nervous laugh and whipped her face away to hide the growing blush. While subtlety was not exactly her strong suit, such a blatant move was just plain embarrassing for Dash. Still, she had nothing on her partner, who was willing to go so far as to risk reaching over and giving Rainbow's hand a gentle and loving squeeze. As much as Dash worried about giving them away, she couldn't help but indulge in the loving contact. They continued to walk in silence, the ticking of the rain speaking far louder than any of the six could at that moment. Soon enough, their silence broke as they reached the grand palace doors with which they were so familiar. The guards in front of them were unusually silent, even for palace guards. Normally, they would offer up some form of greeting to their Princess, but they neither spoke nor moved their pikes.

Breaking the treasured contact with Rainbow, Twilight Sparkle strode up toward the doors and flashed the stallions a friendly smile. "Afternoon, boys," she said, to which they responded with a rather unkind silence. Pouting, she tried a more direct approach. "Mind moving so the girls and I can get out of this awful rain?" She asked, which resulted in them only gripping their weapons tighter.

"Nopony enters nor exits the palace without written consent from her Majesty, Princess Celestia, and/or her Majesty, Princess Luna," the taller one on the left stated without batting an eye. Behind Twilight, Rarity scoffed in disbelief and shoved the princess out of the way.

"Do you have any idea who you're speaking to? See the wings and the horn?" Rarity questioned, poking a finger at the guard's armored chest. Though she couldn't see, Twilight was following her cue by unfurling her lavender wings from her back and pointing a thin finger to the horn poking out of her hair. Still, the guard didn't flinch for a single second. Instead, he tilted his head down until he was staring the white mare in front of him firmly in the eye.

"Nopony enters or exits without her Majesty's consent," he grumbled coldly, his brown eyes boring into Rarity's fiercely. Quite intimidated, she shrank back into her cluster of friends, hiding behind Applejack's more muscular, toned body. The guard immediately went back to staring blankly forward, awaiting one of the mares to make a mistake. Twilight Sparkle pouted in disappointment, holding a hand out gingerly to hold her secret girlfriend back.

"Don't worry girls, I've got this," she said, flashing the guard a cheeky smile. Twilight began concentrating as intensely as she could manage in the disruptive rain, and the air began to crackle around them. It made their coats stand on end as Twilight felt the space around them resisting her disruption. As she felt it give way, a purplish-pink bubble began to envelope the six of them causing the guards, the doors, and the entire palace to vanish from sight. The next second, they were standing in the middle of the throne room, encircled by a black scorch mark on the elegant carpet. The guards behind them raced forward, pikes poised to run anypony through to took one false step. The mares were practically surrounded with deadly intent. They held their breath in fear. Even Rainbow Dash seemed to forget her wings for that moment.

"Stop!" Celestia commanded from her throne, shattering the guards' focus. "Release them at once!". The guards withdrew their pole-arms and resumed their positions around the room as Celestia strode toward the girls. Though the six friends were not short by any means, the Princess towered over them. She stood even taller than the guards, who were fully-grown stallions. Her frustrated face broke into a more passive visage of peacefulness. She wore her same characteristic smile as she approached them and placed a graceful hand on Twilight's arm.

"Twilight Sparkle. It has been far too long," Celestia said affectionately. Twilight was about to pull away for the customary bow just as her former mentor pulled her in for a smothering hug. Twilight found herself so caught off-guard that she hardly took notice of the fact that Celestia's breasts were, in fact, smothering her. As the Princess's iron grip released, Twilight managed to pry herself away, gasping for air. For once, it was Celestia's turn to blush bashfully.

"Forgive me, I've missed your friendship letters since you became a princess as well, so it's quite nice to see you in person for once," she confessed, to which Twilight smiled shyly and rubbed the back of her neck, stepping back slightly.

"It's wonderful to see you to, Princess," she said in a friendly tone, "But that couldn't be why you called us here so urgently, could it?". Celestia's face fell and she stared at the carpet, not sure where to begin. Pacing, she made her way toward the center of the throne room, waving her hand dismissively. On that cue, the dozen or so guards lined up and marched their way out, leaving the seven of them alone in the massive room. Spinning on a heel, Celestia met Twilight's eyes and swallowed.

"Discord has gone missing," the Princess stated.

"We knew this day was coming! We should never have trusted him! Where did her go, Princess? We'll take care of that liar," Twilight said determinedly. Celestia shook her head in response.

"Discord is not 'off the leash', as I like to call it. No, I mean missing missing. I can't even sense his power in all of Equestria," she explained. Twilight's brow furrowed, as well as that of her friends. Stepping forward, Rainbow Dash cocked an eyebrow at her Princess.

"So, what, he's been draconequus-napped? No offense, your Majesty, but he's not exactly somepony you can keep under wraps," Dash asked skeptically. Again, Celestia swallowed nervously and began pacing again.

"No, Rainbow Dash, I'm afraid you're right. He's not easily controlled, which is why I had to enlist the assistance of someone a bit more like Discord than you or I," she said, casting her gaze toward the shadows beside the throne platform. Out of it, they watched the shadows manifest a black shape, growing up and out, taking on a texture slowly. The blackness broke and a being came swaggering toward them. His coat was a dark grey and he was wearing a completely white suit, cane and top hat included. The buttons on his uniform were rimmed with a cold black and an off-white color in the center. On his hands were many silver rings, boasting large jewels each. They could practically hear Rarity salivating a the sight of them. The hem of his pants stopped several inches too high, revealing a receded fetlock-line.

His legs and hooves were completely bare from halfway down the calf all the way to the tip of his hooves, though it wasn't exactly as though you could tell. Just after the top of his hooves, they radiated some sort of black energy, which snaked its way around his black-skinned legs and faded as it reached the suit. As he strode across the carpet, his hoofsteps left behind slowly-fading marks that seemed to burn into the rug. He stopped himself a single foot from Twilight and looked up a her. His irises were a scarlet red, but the rest of his eyes were black as the shadow that birthed him. Looking her up and down, the stallion broke into a welcoming grin that revealed overly-elongated teeth that all narrowed to points. It looked as though he was sporting a mouth full of canine teeth.

Faster than Twilight's eyes could move, he seized her hand and lifted it. She trembled slightly in fear as he lowered his face toward her hand. He stopped an inch from it and paused. To Twilight the pause seemed to last an eternity. Then, he kissed her hand and released it. Stunned, Twilight left her hand hanging in the air, shaking slightly. Breaking into a grin again, he stepped back and looked around at all of them.

"Evening, all! I see why Dissy decided to stick around these parts after all," he said, casting a wink in Celestia's direction, who then scowled as if she had been insulted. "Treachery's the name, and stabbing backs is my game!". Twilight looked from Treachery, who was now making some grandiose gesture for his reveal, to Princess Celestia, who was intentionally averting her eyes.

"Princess, how is this. . . Thing going to help us find Discord?" She asked, glancing back at Treachery. He simply smiled and vanished.

"Because I know where he went," came a chilling whisper from just next to her ear. Twilight whipped around so quickly that she nearly fell down. Treachery was standing there, hands on his hips, grinning that same terrifying grin. He then vanished and reappeared behind Rarity, who was on the far left of their group.

He proceeded to run a hand, which now looked more like a claw, through her carefully-tended hair as he smiled. Rarity yelped in surprise and spun to find her face mere inches away from his own. "You must be Rarity. I've heard great things about you, sweetheart," he said in a hushed tone that caused Rarity to blush. In a blink, he had vanished in a wisp of that same black smoke and appeared behind Applejack.

He ran his claws gently along Applejack's sides, thrilling over each muscle. She spun around just in time to stop his hands from reaching her rather well-sized breasts. She crossed her arms in anger and glared at him, to which he smiled a thin, cheeky smile and leaned in close to her face.

"I love my mares built," he hissed, giving her his best bedroom eyes. She scowled at his advances and a small business card appeared in his hand. "Give me a call if you ever want a crazy time," he told her with a wink. When she didn't make a move to take the card, his smile fell and he vanished.

"Lovingly busty, this one," he said from behind Fluttershy, who leaped several inches into the air in surprise. Upon realizing his comment about her chest, she promptly covered herself up, even though she was already wearing a thick turtleneck. Treachery laughed a shrill, barking laugh before vanishing and manifesting on the ceiling, along with Pinkie Pie, who was spending less time freaking out than she was admiring being upside-down.

"This one's off the deep end of the crazy scale," he said, stroking a thin goatee he sported, eyeing her as though making a diagnosis. Throwing his hand into the air happily, he exclaimed, "I love it! You and Dissy must have a chipper time together!". Pinkie just giggled and he transported them both back onto the floor. Spinning around to see who was left, he found himself face-to-face with Rainbow Dash's coldest glare. He studied her face for a second before breaking into a grin that seemed to split to the sides of his head.

"Rainbow Dash. Element of Loyalty. Oh, how I've wanted to meet you, dearie," he hissed, black smoke escaping his clenched teeth. "You and I were made for each other, y'know? I'm the tic to your tac, the yang to your yin, the Hell to your Heaven." Dash scowled at him with such disgust, Twilight thought she might punch him.

"We're nothing alike, you and me," she spat at him ferociously, which earned her a wide grin.

"Precisely my point. We're so far apart on the scale we're practically the same person," he said, turning and strutting away arrogantly. Treachery turned to look at Celestia and said, "I do so hope she chooses that one."

Confused, Twilight Sparkle looked at the Princess and leaned her head to one side. "What's he mean? Who's choosing who? For what?" She berated Celestia with questions, and the Princess raised her hands in defense.

"Let me explain," she pleaded, which quickly quieted the mare. "As I told you, Discord is missing. In my urgency to find him, I summoned Treachery to assist me."

"You summoned him?! This- this- thing --"

"Demon," Treachery interjected without looking up from his claws.

"Demons! Why would you ever need to summon a demon?" Twilight implored.

"I needed Treachery because he was able to confirm my fears. Discord isn't missing, he has indeed been draconequus-napped, as you so kindly put it, Rainbow Dash. There are monsters out there far worse than Discord, I'm afraid, and far more clever than I. Treachery knows how to find Discord because he is being held captive in Treachery's home," Celestia explained, which earned her six confused looks.

"Let me spell it out for you," Treachery said coldly, no hint of a smile coming to his face. He appeared inches from each of their face as he spoke, "There's a place out there where the dark lives when the light is about. It's the place where all of your worst fears are born and dwell. It's a place as old as time itself. It's a place where no mortal has ever tread alive. Any guesses?" He asked, stopping in front of Twilight, his black pupils glowing with a powerful hate and fear. Realization dawned on the princess as she thought of a place filled with hate and fear.

"Hell," Twilight answered, her voice hardly more than a whisper. Treachery grinned once more and clapped in excitement.

"Wonderful! Tell her what she's won, Celly," he laughed.

"I cannot up and leave my post here, as you know, and neither can Luna. We need somepony just as capable and reliable. We need you, Twilight," Celestia explained. Twilight took several steps back in horror.

"You need me to do what exactly?"

"I wish there was another way, Twilight, but there isn't. We don't have the strength to send a battalion of guards into Hell, and I'm afraid none of them are strong enough to withstand the mental trials it puts ponies through. The stallion you see upon my throne right now - he was once like you. Hell corrupts you and turns you into the stuff of nightmares. That, my little ponies, is where Discord was born," the Princess told her protege, her eyes falling. "He was once a friend. Long ago, he was a normal stallion, but he was lost to his crueler side. And that, Twilight, is why I must send you into Hell to retrieve him. Last time, he came back ten times as evil and a thousand times more powerful. If we let this go, the consequences could be nigh on unimaginable."

Twilight's knees started to shake and she started to collapse just as Rainbow Dash rushed to her side and held her up. Twilight gave her girlfriend a weak smile of thanks before looking back to Celestia. "Y- you're going to send me into Hell by myself and hope I can make it back out with Discord in tow?". At that, Treachery cackled from across the room.

"Oh heavens, no, dear! You'll be taking a companion with you on your journey, and, of course, I'll be going with you," he said, wiggling his eyebrows at Twilight.

"I have to go with him? He's a demon! He'll betray me as soon as we leave here," Twilight exclaimed, practically frantic by now.

"Try as I might, sweetcheeks, I ain't going nowhere," Treachery said, hopping up from the throne and walking over. He spread his arms and rolled his hands back. Faint, shimmering gold thread seemed to bind about his wrists and link them together. "Long as you say I'm bound, I'm bound. If I ever wanna be free of these things, I need you alive."

Twilight relaxed slightly, asking Celestia, "So the girls and I are supposed to follow Treachery through Hell? That sounds too simple."

"Unfortunately, no. I cannot open a portal directly to Hell, only Treachery can do that, and only enough for two ponies to go through. Since he can normally come and go from Hell as he pleases, that means you have to choose one other pony to go with you. Be sure it's somepony strong of both body and will, for Hell is like nothing any of us have experienced before," Celestia explained. She could see the fear in Twilight's eyes growing, but could think of no way to pacify it. "Take tonight to make your decision and prepare yourself. I will wake you before dawn." Twilight nodded and exhaled a pent-up breath as she walked toward the door.

She barely took notice of Rainbow Dash still helping her along until the mare, without any subtlety, slid her hand down around her waist and pulled her a bit closer. Even if it meant giving Treachery what he wanted, Twilight already knew who she wanted to accompany her to Hell. If there was one strong-willed pony Twilight knew she could always count on, Rainbow Dash would be it. She just hoped that Dash was as strong-willed as she needed her to be. . .

Last Night On Earth

Twilight found herself staring upward at the stained-glass mural far overhead. It depicted the sun and the moon together, each split down the center and though they were two halves of the same coin. To Celestia and Luna, perhaps it was something much more personal than that, but who was Twilight to say. As the alicorn rolled onto herself, she took in the beautiful marble columns that supported the high ceiling and noticed how they lacked any kind of mark or blemish. They matched the same marble that made up the floor, the same white with intermittent streaks of black and grey. As she lost herself in the milky surface of the marble, she began to think about the coming trial. It was unlike anything she had ever faced, and she didn't even have her friends there to help guide her. She was quite thankful that she was able to bring Dash with her, but something about the six of them together makes Twilight feel invincible, like there's nothing that can get in their way.

And she still wasn't sure how she felt about Treachery. He oozed evil like an open sore and his name spoke volumes about his character. Something told Twilight that they don't give names like Discord and Treachery to those who don't earn them. Even if he was bound, what stopped in from attempting to strand them in Hell or even lead them to their doom? If he could be bound, isn't it possible that he could just a easily be unbound? The more she pondered, the further the panic set in. It seized her heart like a cold fist and she felt as though she couldn't breathe. Thankfully, a knock at the door broke her free of the clutches of her own mind. Gracefully sliding out of bed, Twilight made her way across the room to the large wooden doors, her hooves clicking on the floor as she walked. Cautiously, she opened the door an inch and it promptly swung wide open.

Steadying herself, Twilight shook her head in confusion as she closed the door once more. When she turned around, she found Rainbow Dash lying in the middle of her bed, staring back at her.

"Dash, what're you doing here? Celestia said she'd be waking us before dawn, and I've never seen you up before noon," Twilight said, pretending to be annoyed but actually thrilled that Dash had shown up at all.

Dash smiled and pulled Twilight onto the bed next to her, holding her close. "Well, if we're going to go to Hell, who knows when we'll make it back. Or even if we make it back! I just figured why waste our last night on Earth sleeping alone?". Dash then followed the rhetorical with a tender kiss on Twilight's neck. Reflexively, Twilight's head rolled back as she let out a nearly inaudible moan of pleasure. She gave her partner a playful shove to separate them.

"Dash, we both need our sleep if we're going to survive tomorrow," Twilight squeaked in between moans as Rainbow Dash kissed up and down her lavender neck.

"Who can sleep at a time like this? I don't know about you, but I think I need to take my mind off of the fact that we're going to Hell," Dash whispered, her mouth still close enough to Twilight to breathe hot breath after hot breath on the mare's neck. Twilight had to admit, even if she wasn't in this position, she doubted she'd be able to fall asleep when she had nearly just had a panic attack just from thinking about Hell. Grabbing Dash by the hair closest to her scalp and pulling her head back, Twilight looked her girlfriend in the eye.

"If we're going to Hell, we might as well earn it," whispered the alicorn, her voice sultry with anticipation.

Warning: Anthro F/F Clop Incoming, Skip to following red line to avoid

Dash smiled and leaned forward, pressing her lips to Twilight's. They both felt the same electric, nervous tingling they felt every time they kissed, and they both adored it. Twilight pressed her lips harder into Dash's reveling in how soft they felt against her own. Slowly, her tongue slid into her lover's mouth. She soon felt Dash's do the same as they began their elegant, romantic dance. Twilight could taste Dash's sweet, sweet saliva and it sent her mind swimming. It tasted like honey, but somehow spicier. Twilight reluctantly pulled her tongue back as Rainbow Dash's receded and her pale blue lips kissed Twilight's jawline tenderly. Inhaling sharply, Twilight tossed her head back, exposing her neck again.

Dash slowly made her way down Twilight's neck, making sure not to miss a single vertical inch as she descended. Twilight nibbled on her lip to hold back pleasured moans, and Dash quickly made it to the neck of her shirt. Twilight made to remove the garment that now felt far too constricting, but Dash was apparently too impatient for that. The pegasus ripped straight through the front of the shirt, starting from the top. Normally, Twilight would have been surprised by this, but she didn't have the strength of will to stop her lover now. Rainbow Dash grinned as she realized the hard part of convincing her girlfriend was already over with.

Rainbow's soft tongue trailed a line down Twilight's sternum, stopping as it reached the mare's black lace bra. Again too impatient to struggle, Dash bit down on the small metal ring that held the two sides of the underwear together in the center and pulled her head back fiercely. They heard stitches popping and knew that, somewhere, Rarity was rolling in her sleep, but neither of them cared much. Twilight suddenly felt a cool breeze meet the more tender parts of her chest and she fought her natural instinct to cover herself up.

Dash swallowed anxiously as she hopped over to straddle Twilight around the thighs. In front of her lay her beautiful girlfriend, whose generous breasts lay exposed. Arching her back severely, she leaned down until her face was back where it was before. Dash went to trailing her tongue around Twilight's stomach for a moment before ascending to her breasts. Slowly, she circled around the left, spiraling inward toward Twilight's petite, erect nipples. Dash proceeded to run her tongue all the way around Twilight's nipple before taking a playful, but gentle, nip at it that elicited a sharp gasp from the mare. The pegasus smirked cockily as she lowered her head until she was able to suck lightly on that same nipple while sliding her other hand up Twilight's side to continue groping her right breast.

"Oh, Dashie. . . Mmm," Twilight moaned, her breath becoming increasingly ragged. Her own hands descended and began grasping at Rainbow Dash's colorful hair. She had to get her pants off soon or they'd be ruined. As if reading her mind, Dash pulled away from her lover's chest and descended, looking up at Twilight's graceful features. Quickly unbuttoning the front of Twilight's khakis, Dash grabbed them by the sides and pulled downward as she slid toward the end of the bed and off of Twilight's legs. Soon, all that was left a pair of light blue panties that Rainbow Dash had picked out all by herself, just for Twilight. Dash actually had to resist the urge to swoon over the fact that Twilight was wearing them, despite them being two sizes too small. While Twilight knew Dash was no genius, she sure did get a stern talking-to about undershooting Twilight's rear by so much.

Licking her lips as Twilight looked down to meet the blue mare's eyes, Dash looked down between Twilight's legs. Her panties were soaked from side to side, a sight that made Dash smile. Instead of starting immediately, she slid her lower half off the end of the end and lowered her face toward her girlfriend's loins. Instinctively, Twilight's legs spread wider to give Dash more room. The pegasus responded by gingerly running her fingers along the middle of the underwear, causing Twilight to squeak with tension. Carefully, Dash lowered her mouth to Twilight's soaked panties and began running her tongue along right where she knew Twilight's clitoris was. Twilight saw stars and had to grind her teeth to keep from crying out in surprise.

Dash pulled her mouth away, licking her lips. "Say it," she whispered. Twilight bit her lip and cinched her eyes closed tightly.

"J- just f- fucking do it. . . Please," Twilight begged quietly. Having been given the word, Dash hooked her fingers into the top of Twilight's underwear and slid them off, pulling the alicorn toward the edge of the bed in the process. In front of Dash, Twilight's marehood was already drenched and just asking to be loved. Lowering her nose toward it, Dash took a deep breath of Twilight's sweet scent as she flicked her tongue out to run it along Twilight's lips. The resounding gasp for air told Dash that Twilight was pretty sensitive already. She pushed her face as far in as it could go and began trailing her tongue along Twilight's inner walls. To Dash, they taste like heaven on Earth. Twilight started to buck her hips just at the contact, so Dash wrapped one hand around her upper thigh to ensure that she couldn't pull away. The other hand snaked its way around the other the other thigh and the thumb went to playing with Twilight's swollen clit. Her breath was coming in shudders by now, so Dash knew Twilight had to be getting close.

Breaking into her arsenal of knowledge about Twilight's body, Dash kicked it up a notch. Twisting her tongue to the left and hooking it as far that way as possible while still moving it back and forth cause the lavender mare to begin bucking again.

"Da- Dashie, I'm gonna cu- Gonna cu- Ahhh!" Twilight cried, simultaneously tossing her head back and leaning forward to grasp at Dash's hair once more to hold her in. Her legs locked around her lover, though Dash cared little. All she cared about was the flood of delicious nectar that cascaded into her mouth. Slowly, as she finished cleaning up, Twilight released her grip on Dash and flopped back onto the bed, panting. Pulling herself up, Rainbow Dash settled herself beside the tired mare who rolled her head to the side to gaze lovingly at the pegasus.

"You never cease to amaze me, Dashie," Twilight panted, using the rarely-uttered pet name that she had stolen from Pinkie Pie some time ago. Dash responded by leaning forward and planting a kiss squarely on Twilight's mouth. Twilight made a grossed-out face as Dash pulled her face away.

"Is that what I taste like? Ugh, I'm so sorry you have to put up with it," Twilight apologized while blushing. Dash pulled her in closer and kissed her tenderly again.

"I love it," she said before rolling onto her back and looking up at the mural with Twilight.

**************************************End Clop************************************

The two of them lie in relative silence, aside from Twilight's heavy breathing. The silence carried for some time before Dash cocked her head to the side, knocking into Twilight's.

"You think Celestia and Luna ever go at it? I mean, I know they're sisters, but for a while there, it was just the two of them," Dash asked, which earned her a disturbed look from Twilight.

"What, you don't think that either of them could just call up whoever they wanted and land in the middle of a menage a. . . What's French for twelve? Anyway, I doubt it," Twilight explained, to which Rainbow Dash nodded an agreement. Quickly, she sat up and cracked her neck, which caused Twilight to flinch. "I really wish you would stop doing that. I know it keeps you limber, but that sound of it is just disgusting."

Dash laughed and stood up, walking toward the balcony. "I'm gonna go ahead and stretch my wings, they're a little cramped after that bit of exercise," she said with a wink before hopping up on the railing and doing a swan dive off the edge. In the past, Twilight would have worried, but she had spent long enough watching Rainbow Dash to know that a dive like that was something the expert could pull of in her sleep.

As the air rushed past Rainbow Dash, she pondered how travelling with her sworn enemy would be. On one hand, he seemed like a fairly likable pony. For a demon, that is. But they were polar opposites. It would be like trying to get two magnets labeled North to touch each other. She was pondering this as she coasted her way back up to the other side of the mural Twilight was watching. For some reason she couldn't explain, she just felt more comfortable knowing that her girlfriend was seconds away. While she sat and watched the storm clouds from hours previous slide over the mountains and away from the moon, a faint crackle and sizzle told her she was no longer alone.

Coming to a halt beside her, but refusing to sit down with her was Treachery, whose hands were folded behind his back. His formal garb of before was gone, replaced with a tattered black tunic, held together with white pins. The sleeves appeared to have been sawed off instead of cut off, and below the tunic sat a ragged pair a dark grey jeans that stopped exactly where the suit legs had stopped. Now, his top hat was gone, revealing his long black hair pushed back tightly on the left and loosely on the right. A few wisps of it still escaped his ear and curled about his forehead. His ear were - well, pierced would have been putting it kindly, as the needles seemed to have just recently been pushed through his flesh. No hint of a smile broke his face, he just watched the clouds roil in the distance.

"What are you here for, Treachery?" Rainbow Dash spat, and Treachery made no move to respond at first, as though he didn't even hear her.

"I'm perfectly aware how you feel about me, Rainbow Dash. Frankly, I don't trust me either, but I have no choice," he said calmly without moving anything but his face. Dash scoffed and looked toward the mountains as well.

"Great, so you know I don't trust you as far as I can throw you."

This time Treachery chuckled and shook his head. "Oh I know all too well. Discord, he got a better deal than me. I mean, sure chaos can be a mother sometimes, but who wants to be pals with somepony who is sworn to betray them? I'm not exactly Mr. Popular in the Deep South," he explained and it was Dash's turn to laugh.

"If you're expecting sympathy from me, you're barking up the wrong tree, buddy," she grumbled. He responded with a snap of his fingers that had her standing in front of him.

"I don't want your sympathy, I want you to understand why," he said icily. He pulled on the pins on the front of his tunic, which fell out, tips covered in blood. Pulling the sides of the tunic apart, he revealed a line of strange symbols going down the center of his torso. They appeared to have been burned into his skin, as the fur was gone and the skin was raised in that aged-scar way. There were three tiny, bleeding holes where the pins had just been removed.

"It says 'And lo, he did betray his loved ones, forever damning him to sacrifice others as he did them'," he explained to her. "Celestia told you I was once a pony like you. She wasn't lying. When I was a stallion, far older than you or your friends, a stallion came to me. He said if I gave him my firstborn I would live forever. Without a second thought, I gave him my son, who was nearly a stallion by then. He looked at me again and told me if I gave him my second-born, I would have eternal wealth. In a heartbeat, I handed my daughter, a little filly of five, over to him. With a grin, he looked at me and said I could have whatever my heart desired. All I had to do. . . All I had to do was kill my wife," Treachery told Dash, meeting her eyes the whole time. The conviction and power with which he told this story showed her that it was a memory that was seared into his mind.

"I told him that I couldn't possibly do that, and he shook my hand and left, leaving with my children. I felt no more youthful and no wealthier. I went into my kitchen to find my wife cooking dinner. She was so happy at that moment, I felt even more disgusted. Not with myself, but with her. How dare she go so happily about her business while I wallow in misery? So, I walked up behind her. . . And I broke her neck," he said flinching at the words. "The man appeared instantly and grinned at me. He told me all I had to do now to receive my rewards was to kill myself. I looked around my house, at my son's empty workshop, my daughter's empty playpen, and my wife's broken, lifeless body. Without another word, I walked to the door and jumped out." With an agonized cringe, he unfurled wings that Dash didn't even know he had. Technically, he didn't have them anymore. They were charred, broken, sawed husks that stopped several feet short of how long normal wings would be.

"So you lived in a cloudhome," she stated. Treachery nodded an affirmation.

"The wind was so blinding, I couldn't open my eyes. I felt my skin burning and bleeding. My teeth grew cruel and sharp, and my wings were ripped from my back. When I opened my eyes, there were ponies all around me, strung up by hands, wings, hooves, whatever was closest to the hooks. I spun around in confusion and saw her. My wife, hanging by her hands, dangled in front of me. When I walked over toward her, she showed no sign of recognizing me. When I looked down, my blue coat was gone. I was the color of ash and I radiated hateful energy. In my new claw I held a wicked, bloody knife. When I looked back up to her, I saw terror in her eyes. . . And I smiled," he said sternly.

"This brand ensures that if there is a way I can betray others, I will. I tempt others into betrayal, as well. I've turned so many an innocent pony. I may have lived less than a century ago, but I'm old as time itself. I was there when my Lord was born of hate and darkness, as he betrayed the higher power he had been given," Treachery said in a monotone voice. Dash narrowed her eyes at him.

"Why tell me all of this? To make me despise you more?" She asked, eyeing him.

"Yes. Hate me with every fiber of your being because when the time comes, I want you to do the right thing," he said, grabbing her shirt and pulling her close to his face. "I want you to do the right thing - and kill me." He released her just as he vanished with a hiss of black smoke and she stumbled forward. Regaining her balance, she turned to look back toward the dark mountains. In the silence, she asked herself, Even if I hate him, will that be enough for me to kill somepony? This question buzzed around her head as she flew back into Twilight's room to find the princess passed out under the covers.

Pushing Treachery to the very back of her mind, Dash smiled sweetly and stripped off her clothes before climbing in beside Twilight. Her lover sleepily rolled over and hugged Rainbow Dash tight as they both drifted to sleep in each other's arms.

Limbo

When Twilight stepped out of the bathroom that adjoined to the palace with the towel rubbing the side of her head, held up by a simple levitation spell, as she stretched her back with her palms high to the ceiling. Her hot feet coming in contact with the cool marble felt incredible and left her with goosebumps. Normally, she would cover herself with the towel because of Spike and his rapidly growing adolescent drake body, but she knew he would be miles from there at this moment. The only other pony around was Rainbow Dash, who had seen Twilight naked possibly more times than the alicorn could count, and it wasn't as if she cared much anymore. Since she became closer with Dash, Twilight had actually gotten quite a bit more comfortable with her body.

Walking into her borrowed bedroom, she found her girlfriend sitting on the end of the large bed fixing her hair. The bed was flawlessly made, the pillows even fluffed. Twilight smiled and shook her head in fake disbelief.

"Well, would you look at that. Dashie's all grown up and can make her own bed," Twilight joked. As a response, she receive a well-fluffed pillow to the face. Dash's wing folded back onto her back as she continued to contain her hair. Finally getting all of the longer strands in one hand, she wrapped a hair-tie around it. On the left, her bangs hung down to just above her eye and steadily ascended until it met her hairline about two-thirds of the way across her forehead. The ponytail was a tight one that clearly said that Dash meant serious business. Her shirt was a brown, thick one that she had rolled the sleeves up on above her elbows. She was wearing black leather gloves that had already seen some real wear and tear. Below the waist, she was sporting rough brown pants that seemed to be made of some terribly uncomfortable material. The cut of them stopped just past the knee, exposing a leather strap connected to a sheath. Out of the sheath stuck the curved handle of a dagger.

Twilight raised an eyebrow, giving her partner a look that said 'Seriously?'. Dash followed her gaze to the weapon and sighed. "It's only a precaution, Twi. Who knows what we'll see down there? Better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it, right?" Dash quoted. Twilight nodded thoughtfully and turned toward her dresser. If Rainbow was going in dressed to kill, shouldn't she follow suit?

Half an hour later, the two of them walked out of her room and proceeded toward the throne room. This time the guards parted without a moment of hesitation, allowing the girls to toss the doors back and walk inside. Celestia stood off to one side, hardly taking notice of their arrival, and Treachery sat upon her throne wearing the same outfit Dash had seen him several hours ago. When he looked their way, he teleported himself across the room to a few feet from where they stood. When he reappeared, his outfit had changed drastically.

On each claw was a plated gauntlet that had the fingers melted off halfway down, exposing his wicked claws. On his chest, he wore a black metal breastplate under a black duster. The edge of the duster closest to the floor seemed to be smoldering slightly and it looked recently singed. On the hip of his torn jeans was a pair of sheathes, like larger versions of the one Dash was wearing, only the hilts that stuck out glowed along veins of pulsing red. Treachery caught her looking at them and drew one of the swords in the blink of an eye. It was razor sharp, slicing through the air like it was tangible, and it came to rest a few inches from Dash's nose before Treachery flicked it to the side and was holding on its side in his hands.

The blade was a dark grey that, as it got closer to the hilt, was enveloped in tendrils of black glass. The hilt appeared to be made of the same black glass aside from the lines of glowing red that looked and moved like magma.

"It's a demon blade," he told her. "Forged in Hell's Foundry, it's capable of killing anything we'll run into down there. The blade is made of metals only found deep in the Earth. The black is something called obsidian. Some know it as a naturally occurring rock that forms when lava super-cools. Others know it as dragon glass. In Hell, it's the crystallized embodiment of the tortured soul. Spires of it sprout out of the walls, floors, and ceilings on a moment's notice. And the lines of red are the blood of the demon who was sacrificed to forge the blade." He looked up from the weapon to Dash's face. It showed no hint of being amused or impressed.

"Huh. Is that all?" Dash asked bluntly, trying to sound nonchalant. Twilight elbowed her in the ribs and nodded intensely. Treachery spun the blade with a flourish and sunk it back into the sheath. He then began pacing around the duo, looking them up and down. Twilight had chosen to tie the hair behind her ears in a loose ponytail that was bound with a hairband around her neck, or thereabouts. She wore knee-high combat boots that she had always kept packed away for a rainy day. Above that she wore a pair of khaki short shorts and Treachery spotted a little bit of frilly cyan lace sticking up out off the side. She wore a crisp, clean pale lavender blouse above her belt, and it was nearly tucked into the shorts. She left the collar unbuttoned the the third button down, exposing a few inches below her clavicle. Attached to her belt was a tiny knife, not even half the size of the one Dash sported.

Stopping in front of them, he crossed his arms and looked from face to face. With a snap of his fingers, they felt their hips tilt to one side slightly and they looked down to see they were both now carrying demon blades. "Call them necessary precautions. I have no idea if He knows we're coming, but if he does, He'll make it even worse," he said, meeting their eyes for full effect.

"It's Hell. Does it get worse?"

Treachery scowled and looked at Dash as if she were an idiot. "Imagine every dark, evil thing you can think of. Not just monsters, not just demons; feelings, thoughts, all of it. That's where they're born. That's where He feeds them. If you think it doesn't get worse than a simple jaunt through Hell, you're dead wrong," he growled fiercely. For once, Dash actually had no reply to that. Looking to Twilight, he asked, "Any chance you know how to use a bow?".

Twilight held up her hand and wobbled it side to side. "My brother taught me how a long time ago, but I was never an expert," she admitted.

"It'll have to do," Treachery said just before snapping his fingers again. Suddenly, her arms felt somewhat constricted around the armpit and she felt something pressing against her back. Reaching back and pulling, she found she was now holding a bow made of bone enveloped in obsidian. The bowstring was black as night and when Twilight pulled it back, a spectral red arrow appeared on it.

"Heartpierce. Most famous bow in the entire arsenal. Once used by War to quell the demon uprising and maintain the balance," he told her as she marveled at the magical arrow that sat knocked in front of her.

Pulling her gaze away she blinked at him. "War. As in-"

"Yes, the Horsepony. The legendary riders of the Apocalypse who can manifest themselves as both perfectly humanoid and perfectly animal to ride themselves into the End War," he stated, clearly bored of explaining the Four Horsepony again. He turned to Dash who crossed her arms and frowned at him. He snapped his fingers once more and she felt leather straps tie up under her arms. Lifting them, she saw an ivory-colored pistol grip on the left and an obsidian one of the right. Pulling them out, she found them to be simple six-shooters made of the same metal as the demon blades. On the grip of each was a strange rune.

"Mercy and Redemption. No bullets, no problem. They fit ten shots each at a time and refill themselves quickly over time. Sounds impossible, right? Well, not when you're firing condensed souls," he said with a smile. "They, too, belonged to a Horsepony. The one called Strife, the youngest brother. They were lost to him eons ago, and we had them all along." Impulsively, Rainbow Dash pointed one squarely at Treachery's face. For a moment, his smile dropped and he looked her dead in the eye. In his deep black eyes, she saw something. She saw a stallion. A lonely stallion, weeping, begging for her to pull the trigger. The memory of their talk hours ago rushed back to her and she realized that now was not his time to die. She jammed the revolvers back into the holsters and went back to staring at him with her arms crossed.

"Well, now that we're nice and armed to the teeth, what do you say we make our exi-"

"And just where the hay to y'all think yer goin'!"

Behind them, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity all strode in through the open doors. All but Rarity looked angry to be there. Rarity was too busy giving Treachery the bedroom eyes. "Y'all were about to hightail it outta here without so much as a goodbye? That's just cold, girls," Applejack scolded, being painfully honest with them.

"Girls, listen. I just didn't want to disturb you by waking you. It's early and you all should get some sleep. We'll be right back, I promise," Twilight swore with a tender smile. Treachery cleared his throat to catch their attention.

"Actually, I can't promise that. You see, time moves differently in Hell. Sometimes it moves slowly, sometimes it moves quickly, hell, sometimes it even moves backward! All I'm saying is that if - IF - we make it out alive, we might show up tomorrow, a week from now, maybe even a year. Just pray we don't show up before we leave or else we'll all die in a blast of incredible, universe imploding light. Although, if we make it through the portal, I guess that means we didn't come back into our own timelines. . .". Treachery seemed to lose focus for a second as he stared into the air and pondered this.

"Anyway, I'm sure we'll be fine and we'll bring Discor-" Treachery hopped out from behind her and clapped his hands together.

"Well, alright-y then! Let's get a few things out of the way before we cruise on outta here, all right?". He looked to the four mares and smiled. "You all seem like wonderful gals and I'll try not to get your friends here killed or maimed or mutilated or tortured or bludgeoned or strangled or. . . Nevermind," he said waving a hand dismissively. Catching Rarity's tempestuous gaze, he rolled his eyes. "Rarity, honey, unless somebody wants to loan me their body you can just can it. I'm not in the business anymore," he said, putting air quotes around "the business" before reaching down to his waist. Before any of them knew what was happening, Treachery had dropped his pants. Where his genitals would have been was a burned, cauterized wound marking just what he mean by 'not in the business'. Fluttershy fainted and Rarity gasped in horror as he reached for his pants.

Turning, he grabbed Twilight and Rainbow Dash's arms before turning around again. "Oh, and these two," he said, nodding to the two mares next to himself, "have been fucking like rabbits right under your noses. Ciao!". Leaving all the mares, including Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and even Princess Celestia aghast at what he just said, Treachery pulled his two travelling companions forward and felt that same cold rush of air he felt whenever the shadows took him. Looking side to side, he grinned, shouting to them over the oncoming torrent of swirling shadows, "Hold on tight, dearies! It's gonna be one Hell of a ride!"

Half an hour later, the two of them walked out of her room and proceeded toward the throne room. This time the guards parted without a moment of hesitation, allowing the girls to toss the doors back and walk inside. Celestia stood off to one side, hardly taking notice of their arrival, and Treachery sat upon her throne wearing the same outfit Dash had seen him several hours ago. When he looked their way, he teleported himself across the room to a few feet from where they stood. When he reappeared, his outfit had changed drastically.

On each claw was a plated gauntlet that had the fingers melted off halfway down, exposing his wicked claws. On his chest, he wore a black metal breastplate under a black duster. The edge of the duster closest to the floor seemed to be smoldering slightly and it looked recently singed. On the hip of his torn jeans was a pair of sheathes, like larger versions of the one Dash was wearing, only the hilts that stuck out glowed along veins of pulsing red. Treachery caught her looking at them and drew one of the swords in the blink of an eye. It was razor sharp, slicing through the air like it was tangible, and it came to rest a few inches from Dash's nose before Treachery flicked it to the side and was holding on its side in his hands.

The blade was a dark grey that, as it got closer to the hilt, was enveloped in tendrils of black glass. The hilt appeared to be made of the same black glass aside from the lines of glowing red that looked and moved like magma.

"It's a demon blade," he told her. "Forged in Hell's Foundry, it's capable of killing anything we'll run into down there. The blade is made of metals only found deep in the Earth. The black is something called obsidian. Some know it as a naturally occurring rock that forms when lava super-cools. Others know it as dragon glass. In Hell, it's the crystallized embodiment of the tortured soul. Spires of it sprout out of the walls, floors, and ceilings on a moment's notice. And the lines of red are the blood of the demon who was sacrificed to forge the blade." He looked up from the weapon to Dash's face. It showed no hint of being amused or impressed.

"Huh. Is that all?" Dash asked bluntly, trying to sound nonchalant. Twilight elbowed her in the ribs and nodded intensely. Treachery spun the blade with a flourish and sunk it back into the sheath. He then began pacing around the duo, looking them up and down. Twilight had chosen to tie the hair behind her ears in a loose ponytail that was bound with a hairband around her neck, or thereabouts. She wore knee-high combat boots that she had always kept packed away for a rainy day. Above that she wore a pair of khaki short shorts and Treachery spotted a little bit of frilly cyan lace sticking up out off the side. She wore a crisp, clean pale lavender blouse above her belt, and it was nearly tucked into the shorts. She left the collar unbuttoned the the third button down, exposing a few inches below her clavicle. Attached to her belt was a tiny knife, not even half the size of the one Dash sported.

Stopping in front of them, he crossed his arms and looked from face to face. With a snap of his fingers, they felt their hips tilt to one side slightly and they looked down to see they were both now carrying demon blades. "Call them necessary precautions. I have no idea if He knows we're coming, but if he does, He'll make it even worse," he said, meeting their eyes for full effect.

"It's Hell. Does it get worse?"

Treachery scowled and looked at Dash as if she were an idiot. "Imagine every dark, evil thing you can think of. Not just monsters, not just demons; feelings, thoughts, all of it. That's where they're born. That's where He feeds them. If you think it doesn't get worse than a simple jaunt through Hell, you're dead wrong," he growled fiercely. For once, Dash actually had no reply to that. Looking to Twilight, he asked, "Any chance you know how to use a bow?".

Twilight held up her hand and wobbled it side to side. "My brother taught me how a long time ago, but I was never an expert," she admitted.

"It'll have to do," Treachery said just before snapping his fingers again. Suddenly, her arms felt somewhat constricted around the armpit and she felt something pressing against her back. Reaching back and pulling, she found she was now holding a bow made of bone enveloped in obsidian. The bowstring was black as night and when Twilight pulled it back, a spectral red arrow appeared on it.

"Heartpierce. Most famous bow in the entire arsenal. Once used by War to quell the demon uprising and maintain the balance," he told her as she marveled at the magical arrow that sat knocked in front of her.

Pulling her gaze away she blinked at him. "War. As in-"

"Yes, the Horsepony. The legendary riders of the Apocalypse who can manifest themselves as both perfectly humanoid and perfectly animal to ride themselves into the End War," he stated, clearly bored of explaining the Four Horsepony again. He turned to Dash who crossed her arms and frowned at him. He snapped his fingers once more and she felt leather straps tie up under her arms. Lifting them, she saw an ivory-colored pistol grip on the left and an obsidian one of the right. Pulling them out, she found them to be simple six-shooters made of the same metal as the demon blades. On the grip of each was a strange rune.

"Mercy and Redemption. No bullets, no problem. They fit ten shots each at a time and refill themselves quickly over time. Sounds impossible, right? Well, not when you're firing condensed souls," he said with a smile. "They, too, belonged to a Horsepony. The one called Strife, the youngest brother. They were lost to him eons ago, and we had them all along." Impulsively, Rainbow Dash pointed one squarely at Treachery's face. For a moment, his smile dropped and he looked her dead in the eye. In his deep black eyes, she saw something. She saw a stallion. A lonely stallion, weeping, begging for her to pull the trigger. The memory of their talk hours ago rushed back to her and she realized that now was not his time to die. She jammed the revolvers back into the holsters and went back to staring at him with her arms crossed.

"Well, now that we're nice and armed to the teeth, what do you say we make our exi-"

"And just where the hay to y'all think yer goin'!"

Behind them, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Rarity all strode in through the open doors. All but Rarity looked angry to be there. Rarity was too busy giving Treachery the bedroom eyes. "Y'all were about to hightail it outta here without so much as a goodbye? That's just cold, girls," Applejack scolded, being painfully honest with them.

"Girls, listen. I just didn't want to disturb you by waking you. It's early and you all should get some sleep. We'll be right back, I promise," Twilight swore with a tender smile. Treachery cleared his throat to catch their attention.

"Actually, I can't promise that. You see, time moves differently in Hell. Sometimes it moves slowly, sometimes it moves quickly, hell, sometimes it even moves backward! All I'm saying is that if - IF - we make it out alive, we might show up tomorrow, a week from now, maybe even a year. Just pray we don't show up before we leave or else we'll all die in a blast of incredible, universe imploding light. Although, if we make it through the portal, I guess that means we didn't come back into our own timelines. . .". Treachery seemed to lose focus for a second as he stared into the air and pondered this.

"Anyway, I'm sure we'll be fine and we'll bring Discor-" Treachery hopped out from behind her and clapped his hands together.

"Well, alright-y then! Let's get a few things out of the way before we cruise on outta here, all right?". He looked to the four mares and smiled. "You all seem like wonderful gals and I'll try not to get your friends here killed or maimed or mutilated or tortured or bludgeoned or strangled or. . . Nevermind," he said waving a hand dismissively. Catching Rarity's tempestuous gaze, he rolled his eyes. "Rarity, honey, unless somebody wants to loan me their body you can just can it. I'm not in the business anymore," he said, putting air quotes around "the business" before reaching down to his waist. Before any of them knew what was happening, Treachery had dropped his pants. Where his genitals would have been was a burned, cauterized wound marking just what he mean by 'not in the business'. Fluttershy fainted and Rarity gasped in horror as he reached for his pants.

Turning, he grabbed Twilight and Rainbow Dash's arms before turning around again. "Oh, and these two," he said, nodding to the two mares next to himself, "have been fucking like rabbits right under your noses. Ciao!". Leaving all the mares, including Rainbow Dash, Twilight Sparkle, and even Princess Celestia aghast at what he just said, Treachery pulled his two travelling companions forward and felt that same cold rush of air he felt whenever the shadows took him. Looking side to side, he grinned, shouting to them over the oncoming torrent of swirling shadows, "Hold on tight, dearies! It's gonna be one Hell of a ride!"

As the buffeting hurricane of warped shadows faded, a disturbing scene developed around the three of them. Ancient, broken stone made up several different walkways that seemed to converge and divide all around, some of them ending in shattered bricks that hang suspended in space. Although gravity seemed to act fine on them, it seemed that the bricks were free from its binding. Along the sides of the walkways were small pyres of flickering purple flame that seemed like a more focused version of the color overhead. The pyres appeared to be lit inside hollowed out skulls, raised a few feet off the walkway by the skull’s spine. Instead of a sky of earth and darkness like Twilight Sparkle ad Rainbow Dash had expected, there was a faded lavender sky that seemed more like a dense, suffocating fog.

“Home sweet home,” Treachery muttered under his breath, which came out in small puffs of water vapor. Rainbow started toward him angrily.

“What the hell, Treachery! That was supposed to wait until we got ba-“ She was silenced by Treachery whipping around, claw raised to her throat.

“Would you be quiet!” He hissed in a raised whisper. “If we’re here, He may very well already know we’re here. . .” He went about looking down the paths that led off into the distance before the choking fog enveloped them. A deep, menacing laugh from behind the three of them made all of them freeze in place.

“How quaint. Betrayed by the Betrayer. Should have seen that coming, really,” came a deep, cold voice. Slowly, the girls turned while Treachery stood stock still. Before them was an enormous figure in a heavy black cloak. In the end of a muzzle protruded, and it was jet black with a slew of scars blemishing the skin. As the girls’ eyes grew wide, the lips curled back to reveal silver teeth tipped with red.

“Welcome, Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash. This,” he said, opening his arms to the world around them, “is Hell. Well, at least a small part of it.” His head twitched slightly upward, indicating he was looking at Treachery now. “Come now, Treachery. Don’t leave your father without due respect in front of prestigious guests.” As if compelled by some powerful force, Treachery turned in place and knelt before the massive figure.

“Father, I-“

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” the figure asked, grinning cruelly. Treachery shuddered and tensed.

“Girls, this is my father. He has many names and many titles. Lord of Lies, Prince of Darkness, the Fallen One. . . Lucifer. Among us, he chooses to be called by his roles. Corruption. Malice. Malevolence,” Treachery grumbled out, the words seeming to be placed in his mouth more than said.

Malevolence extended a warped claw of bone toward Twilight. Darkness, like the smoke the plagued Treachery’s legs, swirled like angry serpents. Twilight made to shake his hand before Treachery cut in.

“No!” Twilight pulled her hand back quickly and Malevolence’s smile fell. Treachery was forced to his knees again and he coughed once, spitting up blood onto the stones. Malevolence cleared his throat and smiled at Twilight again.

“Well, I hope you enjoy your stay here. With any luck on my part, it’ll be a long one,” he hissed before he vanished, the force of his disappearance cracking the blocks in a wide radius around him. Treachery groaned and collapsed onto the ground, causing Twilight to rush to his side.

“What did he mean about this only being a small part of Hell? How big can it be?” Dash asked, not making any movement to help the demon. Twilight grabbed him under the arms and helped pull him to his feet.

“Thanks, dear,” he told Twilight, then looked to Rainbow. “Hell is massive, actually. There are nine circles dividing the Fallen One’s domain. Limbo, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Anger, Heresy, Violence, Fraud, and His domain. Each circle contains different kinds of the unholy. Right now, we’re in the highest circle, Limbo. Souls here wander for all eternity, all desperately in search of the light. The lucky ones make it to the Judge and are sentenced to a lower level, but that’s where the luck ends. Everything below this level is pure torture, specifically designed to break the sinners,” he explained, and the mares paled further with every word he spoke. “I tried taking us all the way to Fraud. I should have known Father was onto us as soon as we landed in Limbo. . .”

Twilight patted his arm tenderly. “There was no way you could have expected that. Now why do you keep calling Lucifer your dad? Surely you two can’t really be related if the legends of him are true,” she asked curiously. Treachery grimaced visibly.

“True, Father and I have no blood relation, but all demons are borne of his seed. The one true seed of Corruption. It was planted in me the moment I shook his hand years ago,” he said, looking at them both. Dash recalled his tale and how he had unwittingly given in to Corruption just to wish the Devil away. Twilight remembered how vehemently Treachery tried to stop her from shaking his father’s hand and realized that if she had, their quest would have been doomed from the start. She pulled away and covered her mouth.

“You- you saved me. . . You knew if I touched him, I’d be corrupted just like you were,” Twilight gasped. Treachery nodded in confirmation and in that moment, Dash was actually relieved to have the demon with them. Then, the next thing Treachery said stole that relief right out from under her feet. He tilted his face upward and sniffed deeply several times before his eyes went wide with fear.

“He alerted them. We have to go. Now!” He shouted, racing off toward the fog. Startled, the girls were frozen for a moment before they focused and got to running after the demon. As soon as they caught up, Dash looked at him in between watching her footing.

“Who did he alert? Who is there to run from here?”

“The Wardens. They’re the Overseers of the Damned. There are no demons from Limbo, so the Overseers are long-tortured souls from Limbo who are given the opportunity to keep the souls from Limbo in line. They’re forged straight into their armor in Hell’s Foundry, so there’s no body to kill. The only way to stop them is to destroy the armor,” Treachery said between taking twisting turns rapidly. “Worst of all, they’re not confined to Limbo once they’re ordered to a task. They can travel to any circle, but they have to travel up and down them like we do. And to top it all off, they love the taste of demon. . .” As if on cue there was a piercing shriek cutting through the fog. It sounded like metal being forcibly torn apart, but somehow still alive. Its message, however, was clear. They were closing in.

“Treachery, how do we even know where to go? You said souls wander for all eternity, how could we possibly fare any better?” Twilight asked and Treachery finally smiled.

“Because I live here, remember? Plus, I made my way to the Judge many years ago and served my sentence in Greed,” he explained, darting off on another turn. Twilight barely made the turn and she was starting to struggle for air.

She doesn’t have the endurance Treachery and I do, Dash realized as she looked back at her girlfriend. As she was looking back at Twilight, she heard an awful crunching noise in front of them. When she looked, Treachery was at least a hundred feet ahead of them and the ground was breaking apart between the demon and the two of them. The gap was now about three feet wide. Dash smirked and sprinted toward it, throwing herself over it with a dive, willing her wings out to help her glide. Instead, they remained tucked against her sides and she fell onto the brick pathway chest first. My wings don’t work here! Dash started to panic just as she noticed Twilight nearing the gap. Her stride was rough and weak.

“She’s not gonna make it,” Dash said under her breath as her heart caught in her throat. Rolling to her feet, Dash leapt toward the growing crevice just as Twilight jumped. Throwing the upper half of her body over the edge, she grabbed the alicorn’s wrist and held tight. She didn’t have the strength to pull them both up with her remaining hand, so she clutched Twilight desperately.

“My magic and wings don’t work here, Dash!” She cried, clearly struggling not to look down.

“I know, mine don’t either! It’s gonna be okay, Twi! I won’t let go!” Dash cried, her eyes pricking with tears. Twilight’s welled up and began to run down the sides as she managed a weak smile.

“Dashie, let go! Somepony needs to keep up with Treachery and we can’t both make it!” Dash’s mouth opened to argue, but she was too stunned for words to come out.

I can’t lose her. Not here. Not yet, Dash told herself as Twilight’s wrist started to slide. Dash gulped, but her throat was too dry to swallow. The air seemed to grow heavy and tense as they stared into each other’s eyes. Then, it began to crackle. They both looked around, confused, just as a black orb swallowed them. When they could see again, they were looking up at Treachery, who was bleeding profusely from his wrists. Looking around, they found mangled scraps of metal all around.

“Welcome back,” he panted heavily. His wrists stopped bleeding as the cuts began to close rapidly, and he smiled. “Don’t ever let Celestia tell you that black magic doesn’t have its strengths.” As Dash helped Twilight up, they both noticed a circle of blood around them. Presumably, that’s how Treachery had summoned them.

“What gives? Why save us?” Dash inquired, narrowing her eyes at the demon. He narrowed his eyes back and leaned in, whispering so only she could hear.

“Because you still have a promise to fulfill.” With that, he turned and walked away, brushing dust and dirt off his tunic. Twilight and Dash caught up to him and looked back at the shredded metal behind them.

“Were those-“

“Overseers. Yup. The fight drained me pretty bad, I only had enough juice left to save you two. Luckily, I think that’s all of them,” he said just as a guttural scream of agony roared behind them. They all turned in unison to see a massive figure standing on the other side of the gap that was now at least fifteen feet. It was silver with bronze colored embellishments, like the many spikes it had protruding from its joints. On its shoulders it had spikes that grew in size until they were at least eight inches near the neck of the armor. On top of the neck sat a large metal jawbone that adorned massive metal teeth. On a normal pony, the head would normally come out behind the jawbone, but this monster had no head. It just stood there, pole saw in hand, looking at them.

“Oh fuck. The squad leader. I thought I killed him along with the rest. . .” Treachery cursed, watching the beast. Dash scoffed and cocked an eyebrow.

“What’s the big deal? It’s trapped over there. If we keep moving, there’s no way he’ll find a way around to us in time,” she said, smirking. As though it heard her, the Overseer knelt down and lowered its head. Or, at least where the head would go. Then, with blinding speed, it launched into the air, rolling forward and landing on the other side of the fissure with enough impact to break apart some of the stones it landed on. Treachery cocked an eyebrow at Dash, who stared in disbelief. The Overseer, however, wasn’t stunned in the least and stood upright. This close, Twilight and Dash could see that he stood at least seven feet tall, if not a foot more. Tossing its head hole back, it shrieked angrily, forcing them to cover their ears. No sooner had it stopped than it came tearing toward them, pole saw lowered to run them through. Suddenly, Treachery behind it wielding a massive scythe. Swinging it downward, the sickle dug into the beast’s back and held it in place before Treachery pulled it free.

Furious now, the Overseer turned on Treachery and started swinging the pole saw at him. Treachery deflected each swipe in the scythe, but was slowly being pushed back toward the fissure. /Looking past the Overseer, he looked toward the mares.

“Anytime now, girls!” He shouted, deflecting another staggering blow from the Overseer. Snapping into action, Dash drew Mercy and Redemption and pointed them at the Overseer. Pulling the triggers, black bullets fired out of the barrels with tiny screams for every shot. She kept firing until the guns no longer fired anything and she looked at her target. It had stopped dead and was peppered with bullet holes. Dash grinned and blew off the ends of the guns before sliding them back into their holsters. No sooner had she than the Overseer straightened up and turned its jawbone toward her. Her grin fell and she pulled her demon blade free of its sheath, pointing the blade toward her enemy. Luckily, Treachery took this opportunity to swipe the pole saw out of its hand and sent it sailing into the abyss.

Another shriek from the Overseer told them is was beyond pissed now. It slammed its gauntlets into the stone and knelt on one knee. Confused, Treachery smoked behind them again.

“What is it doing?” Dash asked out of the corner of her mouth. Treachery shrugged in response just as the Overseer rose up. As it stood, bricks from the pathway came out, attached to its knuckles. They broke apart and reshaped themselves around the Overseer’s fists to form thick, clay-colored mauls where its massive fists used to be.

“Hmm. That’s new,” Treachery mused absently from behind the girls who were staring aghast at the re-armed Overseer. Without another thought, Twilight pulled Heartpierce from her back and took aim at the Overseer, who roared in its screeching metal way. She loosed the air and it hit straight in the center of the armor. The jawbone tilted down as if the Overseer were looking down at this new addition to its armor before looking back to Twilight and racing toward them. Not missing a beat, Rainbow Dash leapt in front her girlfriend and raised her weapon. The Overseer targeted this new threat and raised his own mauls in preparation to smash it to pieces. Thankfully, as it arrived, it took a too-wide stance as it swung its fists in a diagonal cross formation and Dash slid between its legs. On the other side, she rolled to the side just in time to avoid being pulverized by the Overseer’s maul. Where she had been laying there was an indent several inches deep in the stone.

Gripping the blade tight, she swung it toward her foe, slicing through his shin armor. Dash rolled backward and hopped to her feet in victory as she thought the Overseer would be more or less immobile now. Instead, it just stepped forward, leaving the severed section of armor behind and levitating on an unseen leg. Rainbow swore under her breath and ducked as a maul came swiping at where her chest had been. Unfortunately, she didn’t expect the other to come from the other side and watched, too late, as it swung toward her face. She prepared for the impact as she felt the maul crash to the ground next to her feet, arm and all. Looking up, she was Treachery standing behind the Overseer, his scythe dug into the pathway under where the Overseer’s shoulder guard had just been.

Furiously, it roared as it realized it was down to one weapon. Seizing the opportunity, Treachery flicked the sickle around the other side and cleaved the other arm clean off. Weaponless and stunned, the Overseer looked up at Dash. No smile broke her face as she brought the sword toward it at blinding speed. For a moment, the all stood still. Then, the Overseer’s neck guard and jawbone toppled from its body as it dropped to its knees. Solemnly walking over, Dash stood next to it before placing a boot on it and pushing the decapitated armor into the abyssal expanse below. Treachery just stared at its falling body as Dash walked over to Twilight and nearly got hugged to death.

“That’s hot,” said Treachery, still staring into the abyss. “Chicks who can fight are sexy.” When he turned, he saw Twilight and Rainbow kissing passionately. “And chicks who like chicks are even sexier.” Embarrassed that he notice, Twilight pulled away and blushed furiously.

“We, uhh, we should keep moving,” she stammered and Dash nodded an agreement. Treachery shrugged and took point as they walked again. The hollowed out skull pyres never became any less unnerving for the girls, but they were glad for them as the foggy sky began to darken. It slowly transitioned its way to become a dark purple all-consuming cloud and the pyres were their only source of light. As they continued to walk, they came across more and more worn, ragged looking ponies. Their faces were devoid of any excess flesh, leaving them looking gaunt and starving. Their clothes hung on them far too loosely and their posture was curved and broken, a show of how long they’d been searching. They were barely visible, more or less just grey, ethereal figures in the light that bloomed from the fires beside them. Treachery walked right through a few of them, but Dash and Twilight still felt compelled to step around.

“We’re getting close. That’s why there are so many more souls now, they can sense the Judge. They’re walking to their damnation, and they have no idea,” Treachery told the mares behind him as they eyed one trudging between themselves. “Just don’t touch them. The last time living flesh came into Limbo and touched one of the souls, well, that’s where Ghouls come from.” Twilight’s eyes grew wide and Dash looked at her. Knowing that Rainbow Dash spent far less time in the library studying books then Twilight’s bedroom, the alicorn filled her in.

“Ghouls are creatures that roam the Earth in search of corpses to consume. When they do, they take the form of the body and inherit all their memories as well. They’re just an old fairy tale to keep little foals from going outside at night,” Twilight explained with a smile. She sure did love giving lessons. Treachery coughed to get their attention.

“Except they’re all too real. They’re lost souls who got inside a body. They feel the blood, the emotions, and they yearn for life again so they kill and eat the body. Then, when they get to the Judge, he frees them from Hell because he only sees the flesh, not the corrupt soul inside,” he told them, and the girls looked back at the wandering soul, then back to their guide.

“If they can’t come in contact with living flesh, how come you can touch them?” Dash asked, eyebrow cocked. Treachery held out a hand and chanted something under his breath. With a puff of smoke, a black, slimy lump appeared on his palm. It twitched and leaked onto his hand as Twilight leaned in toward it.

“Is- is that. . .”

“Yep. That’s my heart. Make sense yet? I might be flesh, but I ain’t exactly living,” he said, rather cheerily despite holding his own still-beating heart in his palm. He closed his hand into a fist and the heart vanished, stopping him from crushing it. Twilight swallowed as the pyres became more constant. They were lined up on each side and the pathway slowly widened.

“We’re here,” Treachery growled, teeth bared. Holding out his hand, his scythe materialized in it and he firmly planted the end on the ground. Pyres lit all about, some even floating in the air or upside-down. There were hundreds of souls all milling about, trying to force their way toward the large center platform. Beside the platform were two massive columns connected to thick, iron chains. The chains linked down toward the center platform, attached to gruesome hooks that were dug into the flesh of some enormous beast. Its flesh was stretched, pulled, and beaten to a disturbing purple color. It had a massive head adorning a metal crown that hooked into the head. It leaked black blood down onto eye-less sockets that had stakes holding the lids apart. Just below the edge of the crown was a stump branded with a pentacle. Below the head was an amorphous body that only had long, thin arms protruding from the sides. These arms grabbed souls, stared at them without eyes, then cast them off the edge and into the abyss.

“Celestia’s mane. . . What is that?” Twilight asked, looking to Treachery.

“Here, he inherited the name Minos, but he was once like me. In fact, he was quite famous in life. I believe you know him quite well. Twilight Sparkle, meet the former Starswirl the Bearded,” the demon said, gesturing toward the creature on the pedestal.

Twilight gasped and covered her mouth. “No! How could that be the great Starswirl the Bearded?”

“One too many times he tempted fate by dabbling in the dark arts and it damned him here. He’s little more than a husk here, so he doesn’t remember most of his legacy, unlike me. He’s chained to that pedestal for eternity, whereas I can come and go to Overworld. Even worse, he’s got a grudge against demons in his domain,” Treachery explained. Raising his scythe into the air, the demon drove the hilt into the rough stone, cracking it and sending out a thunderous clap. The awaiting souls picked up their heads slowly and peered at Treachery. Something like recognition flashed onto their faces one by one as they started fading into nothing. Soon enough the only soul left was the one left in Minos’s frail hand. Sniffing the air with the two thin nose-slits he had, Minos’s brow made as if to narrow his eyes only to be stopped by the metal spikes holding his sockets open.

Angrily, the beast crushed the soul in its hand, the soul roaring out in agony before turning to black sand that trickled out of the Judge’s hand. “Demon! How dare you tread in my domain! My Lord will hear of this,” boomed Minos, shaking a fist at Treachery. Calmly, Treachery raised his free hand to silence the Judge.

“Calm yourself, beast. The Fallen One knows perfectly well that I walk in your lands. Now, I suggest you allow myself to escort these living past you,” Treachery said, his voice harboring a threatening edge. Minos answered with a gruesome laugh that exposed gnarled, rotting fangs.

“Oh, and here I thought you’d been kind enough to bring me a snack. It has been oh so long since I had fresh meat. No matter, I will take it for myself as I cannot allow you to leave my domain, demon,” Minos grinned, this taut lips splitting.

“We’ve no quarrel with you, Minos. And besides,” Treachery said, his face becoming dark and grim as he narrowed his eyes, “That was hardly a request.” Minos’s grin fell and he went to clenching his massive, disfigured jaw.

“You will regret this, demon. I sentenced you once before, I shall have to sentence you once more for this betrayal,” Minos growled as Treachery laughed harshly.

“Fool! You can no more sentence me for betrayal than I! You speak to Treachery, Minos. I am the knife in your back, beast, and you have no control over me,” Treachery barked, his humor gone. This time, the Judge managed to narrow his sockets at the demon, driving the spikes in them further into the bone.

“Ah, yes. Treachery, the demon of a thousand lies, the whisper in your ear, the knife in your spine. . . The Fallen Emperor,” Minos laughed with a cruel grin. Treachery’s teeth ground together as he gripped his scythe ever tighter.

“This if your final warning, Judge. Open the portal, or I shall open your skull.” Minos responded by launching a claw at Treachery, who vaulted to the side. “So be it,” he hissed, spinning to the side and bringing the sickle down upon the Judge’s hand. The following roar of agony was deafening, forcing Twilight and Rainbow Dash to their knees.

“How dare you! The Kinslayer shall hear of this, whelp!” Minos cried as Treachery pulled his weapon free, leaping over the pinned hand.

“The Pale Rider knows perfectly well that I harness the power of Harvester, fool. In case you had forgotten, the Kinslayer and I are quite close,” he replied with malicious grin just as Minos’s other hand stretched forward and grasped for Treachery’s limbs. All it found was his scythe slicing right through the Judge’s middle finger, leaving the bleeding appendage on the floor. Filled with rage now, Minos swung both of his hands together on either side of Treachery. Dash and Twilight leapt to their hooves as I thought Treachery had been crushed. Slowly, though, Minos’s hands we being forced apart. Inside them, Treachery snarled in frustration and strain as the veins on this arms bulged grotesquely. Looking over his shoulder, he looked to the mares.

“Anytime now, girls!” He growled as his arms buckled a bit. He lifted his hooves up, spreading his legs in a split to help force the Judge’s mighty grip apart. Twilight snapped into action first, pulling Heartpierce free and taking aim at Minos. Calmly, she loosed an arrow which hit a lucky strike deep into the Judge’s eye socket. Fetid, black blood shot out of the wound and Minos had to struggle not to grasp at his face in agony. Dash sprinted forward and raised her blade, driving it through the back of Minos’s hand and nearly into Treachery’s face.

“Hey, hey, watch it there, Dashie!” Treachery barked, unknowingly calling Rainbow by her pet name. Blushing furiously, she drove it forward another inch until it touched the end of Treachery’s nose.

“Don’t call me Dashie,” she hissed angrily. Treachery put his hands up in a sign of defense, forgetting his position. Immediately, Minos’s hands came together, pushing the blade out and crushing Treachery further. Twilight gasped in surprise and pulled her sword out, swinging it at the back of the Judge’s hand. Minos pulled his hands apart to see only a black scorch mark inside them. He bellowed in rage as he looked all around for his enemy.

“Up here, you overgrown prune!” The three of them looked up to the left column where, perched atop its jagged, broken top, Treachery grinned, gripping a wicked-looking hook in one hand. With the snap of his fingers, strange rock music arose out of the nothing around them. It began with a few simple notes played out roughly on an electric guitar with a drum set playing along in the background. Treachery winked and leapt off his pedestal as the singing began.
“Clean shirt, new shoes-“

Treachery swung by the hook and chain down past Minos’s face, kicking aside the Judge’s massive, flailing hands.

“-I don’t know what I am gonna do-“

Releasing his grip with one hand, Treachery pulled his scythe free and drove it into Minos’s forehead as he swung the hook into the beast’s socket with the other hand.

“Silk suit, black tie-“

Letting the hook go, it dug into the Judge’s socket, pulling his head to the side as he bled further. His hands went up to grab Treachery, but he was nowhere to be found.

“I don’t need a reason why- y- y-“

Out of that nowhere he came swinging, plunging another hook into the Judge’s other socket.

“They come runnin’ just as fast as they can-“

Grabbing the scythe, planting his hooves on Minos’s brow, and pulling the glyphed blade free, Treachery did a graceful backflip off of the Judge’s face, turning in air and swinging as he did so.

“’Cause every girl crazy ‘bout a sharp dressed man!”

He landed with a pose, kneeling, scythe in one hand, arms back, and eyes closed. He broke into a cool smile just as Minos’s body collapsed behind him. The monster’s disfigured head was left suspended in the air, pulled on by the two opposing hooks. The mouth was frozen in a snarl of fury, as it would stay. Standing up, Treachery bowed toward Twilight, then to Dash.

“Thank you, thank you,” he said, grinning as usual. Twilight clapped as Dash folded her arms and nodded approvingly.

“Gotta hand it to you, Treachery. You sure know how to use that thing,” Dash commented, eyeing the cruel sickle that the demon brandished. His grin shrank to a humble smile as he pulled the weapon in front of his face, running a hand along the side of the blade.

“Yeah, Death and I go way back. Harvester is- Err, was- Mine. It was my gift to Death eons ago,” Treachery said, rubbing the blade like he was hugging a long-lost friend. Twilight cocked her head to the side, hair cascading along with it.

“What do you mean? You mean you were Death before Death was Death? Err, if that makes any sense,” Twilight mumbled curiously, clearly hesitant to ask questions about the Undertaker. Treachery shook his head.

“No, no. Harvester was forged by my hand. The glyphs along her blade were etched by my own hands and her strength borne of my own blood. See, you ponies in the Overworld never quite understood Death’s title,” he explained. “Death wasn’t always Death, though few know his birth name. You see, Death is one of a lost race called the Nephilim. They were borne of unholy creation. Unholier than demons. Their father, an angel. Their mother, Lucifer’s firstborn.”

“How could Lucifer have children that weren’t demons?” Twilight asked as Dash rolled her eyes.

“He didn’t. His firstborn was the first mortal her turned, forever marking him and causing his banishment from Heaven. So Lilith, the firstborn, and an angel mated and created the one called Absalom. He was the brother to all Nephilim, as they were born from his own flesh and bone. However, he was strong. Too strong. He realized their power and called for the Nephilim to band together to take Heaven as a kingdom for themselves to reside in. Most joined him gladly, but a select few saw things differently. These few were War, Strife, Fury, and Death; the Four Horseponies. The Council, a group of beings that were crafted by the same hands that made angels, told the Four that they had to slay the Nephilim before they marched on Heaven. While they all agreed, only Death would hold the burden. Death betrayed his brothers and sisters for the Council and their balance-“

“Which is where you came in,” Dash interrupted, which earned her a thumbs up.

“Exactly. His betrayal was one for the history books, so naturally I was there. The friendly soul I am, I gave Death the gift of a blade able to separate the Nephilims’ souls from their bodies. He accepted Harvester openly and ever since, he and the blade have been shown together since the dawn of time,” Treachery concluded, clapping his hands together in a gesture of closure. Dash nodded in feigned understanding while Twilight searched her pockets for a notepad to write all of this down. What stopped her was an ear-splitting shriek.

“Shit! I thought we’d lost them. . . No time to talk now, girls. Through the portal we go, just hop off the ledge behind Minos and we’ll be on our way,” Treachery said pointing to the decapitated body. Dash glared at him.

“Oh, we’re supposed to just jump off the edge and hope we land somewhere? That’s crazy!”

“You’ll just have to trust me. I can see the portal clearly, but it must not be visible to mortals,” he told them and Twilight hurried off toward the ledge as Rainbow Dash just stood and stared at him.

“I’d never trust you, you’re Treachery! You’d do anything to get us killed. We all know it, so I’m not going anywhere,” she said, planting her feet firmly. Treachery growled angrily and gritted his teeth. He could hear the metallic footsteps of the Overseers already. Tossing up a hand, he pulled on his magic again.

“GO!” He shouted and Dash found herself flung backward through the air, over the Judge’s body and into Twilight. The both went tumbling forward, rolling over the edge past the body and Dash felt herself start to fall. She went to scream, but never got to, seeing as her breath was knocked out of her not a second later.