Escaping Tartarus

Chapters

Prologue
Judged
A bat wing is grown
Waking up with white hair

Prologue

Tartarus.

Some call it hell, but only those inside truly knew what it was. They had been condemned to rot away in Tartarus for all of eternity because they were deemed too dangerous to live with the ponies by Celestia and Luna after Discord was overthrown. They were locked inside because they were diffrent, and anything diffrent was wrong.

They were the victims, they were locked away for following their instincts. The so called rulers of Equestria preached harmony, but they were the ones who had destroyed that harmony.

They claimed that Chaos wasn't harmony, but Chaos is change, and without change, you can't make the world a better place. Harmony is a balance of Order and Chaos. If they couldn't understand that, then they had no right to rule anything.

They had no right to claim Equestria as theirs. Discord had ruled Equestria first, they were the Tyrants, not Discord.

Only those inside knew Tartarus for what it truely was; a land of pain and sorrow from which there was no escape, where creatures of all sizes suffered in agony. No light shown within this dark land, the water was poison, infecting anything that drank it, changing them.

Every creature in Tartarus had their own designated territory, except one. This one creature was vastly diffrent from everything else, it didn't belong, and it was the only one that was untouchable. No creature would touch it without it's consent.

This creature could show the others the world outside of Tartars, and as such it could walk anywhere it wanted. Any being that touched it was swiftly taught a lesson by the others.

This creature was a being of technology, trapped within a land dominated by magic.

At the moment, this creature was watching as long overdue insanity was brought down upon Equestria by the Embodiment of Chaos, Discord.

The last time she had seen Discord was when he was overthrown, the day she was locked in this hellhole.

Like many of those trapped within Tartarus she was immortal, a side effect of living around Discord's magic for so long.

Every creature in Tartarus was gathered around her to watch the rightful ruler of Equestria get beaten once again. They had suspected he would be, but they still trudged away in saddness.

That's when it happened.

The window in reality through which they watched the world outside Tartarus, one of her abilities, began to ripple, the distortion a sonicboom in a land without sound.

Her plan was complete, Discord's chaos magic had provided the energy she needed to create a portal to the outside world.

The creatures of Tartarus had been waiting over a thousand years for this moment. They cheered as she stepped through the portal, she would come back for them, they knew she would.

She stumbled out on the otherside of her portal, wincing in pain as her feet landed were scraped up by the trees branches that littered the forest floor.

She grinned, placing her hands on the trunk of a nearby tree to catch herself, she was free at last!

Taking a deep breath she let go of the tree. The gravity here was much stronger then in Tartarus, she would have to rest until she was used to it.

Laying down on the ground she brought her knees up to her bare chest and started shivering violently, finally feeling the impact of the cold wind on her naked body.

Her clothes hadn't survived the trip to Tartarus, luckily there was no need for them, you couldn't feel hot or cold in the eternal prison. But now that she was back in Equestria this was no longer the case. She wouldn't die from the tempatures, another sideffect of overexposure to Discord's chaos magic, but she would without a doubt suffer until she could find some.

Gritting her teeth against the pain she forced herself to stand up. Most creatures that lived on Equis were quadrupeds, but she wasn't, she was a biped.

She would have to be careful if she wanted to free Discord, the mere sight of her would no doubt raise alarm, which would hinder her progress towards freeing the creatures of Tartarus significantly.

Walking forwards, struggling with the effort to stay upright, she traveled through the forest. Slowly at first, but quickly picking up speed once her body started to warm up.

It seemed luck was on her side, the trees begining to thin out after around ten minutes, she wouldn't last long against the predators of the Everfree forest once darkness fell in an hour or so. She was powerful enough to kill anything in the forest, of that she had no doubt. But the powers bestowed upon her by Discord's magic required her absolute concentration, which would be almost impossible to achive if she couldn't see anything.

She was sprinting by now, her chest heaving up and down, desperate to draw in the oxygen she needed to continue running.

Slowing down as she neared the edge of the forest, she hid behind a tree. She peeked out to see a town, quickly pulling back when voices reached her ears.

"Darling, are you positive that Princess Celestia said the distortion was in this area?"

She froze at the mention of that dreaded name. She had made it this far already, she refused to let all her efforts be for naught.

Closing her eyes she pictured the spot where Discord was trapped in stone within her minds eye. Teleporting such a long distance would tire her out, sure, but she didn't have any other option at the moment.

Her eyes and mouth flew open, a grey light streaming out, a high pitched screech alerting anything nearby as to where she was. Her body began to collapse in on itself, much like when a black hole is created, and she vanished, leaving a small hole in reality that would no doubt keep the ponies busy for a day or two.

Her name was Eris, and she would bring Discord back no matter the cost.

Author's Note

I'd appreciate it if someone could give me the URL to a picture of a Humanized Eris (so I can add the story pic to the story on my iPad). I've got a couple paragraphs of the first chapter done. :D

Not much else to say.

Judged

Eris stumbled out of the hole in reality, that was the problem with the way she teleported, it wasn't even an actual teleport. The closest thing to teleporting that she could achieve was to bend the space around her, allowing her to connect two points, creating a hole in reality.

It was sort of like a portal, but it required a massive output of energy and was much more complex; which was why Eris never used it unless she had no other choice.

Another problem with it was how it allowed her enemies to easily track her. It would take a while, but Eris was positive that the ponies would figure out what exactly she had done and where she was. Eris would have to work quickly if she wanted no interference.

Eris looked around for Discord's statue, quickly and quietly moving towards it when she spotted it.

She gazed up in awe at the Spirit of Chaos, Eris had always admired him, but she had never been this close to him before. Clasping her hands together she started the spell that would set him free, her hands glowing as her magic spread through them.

"Don't move a muscle."

Eris froze, her eyes stopped tracing his body and her hands stopped glowing as the spell was broken. That voice could only belong to one pony, she was going to be thrown back in Tartarus.

Eris slowly turned around, her hands catching her on Discord's statue as she moved backwards in fear, tears silently dripping down her face as she gazed upon Princess Celestia.

"Did you honestly think you could free Discord? Did you really think that I wouldn't be able to track you through your magic?"

Eris swallowed a whimper, she didn't want to go back to Tartarus, she didn't want to suffer any longer.

Celestia's horn began to glow, lighting up Eris's face and revealing her tears to the princess.

Celestia's glare softened slightly, and Eris immediately began thinking of a way to get out of here with Discord's statue.

"How interesting..."

Time froze for Eris as Discord's voice resonated within her skull, sending her into a comatose like state. Eris knew that Discord could see and hear what was going on around him, but she had no idea that he was capable of speech while trapped in stone.

'Help me!' Eris screamed within her mind.

"Hmm...Very well, I guess I will indulge you, but everything comes at price..."

"Just do it!"

"You asked for it..." Discord's voice made Eris shiver with an unknown emotion.

Eris woke up as Discord left her mind. She looked around, trying to determine where Celestia had taken her. She was mostly likely in a guest room at the castle, no doubt locked inside by a magical force field.

Eris slowly pushed herself out of the bed she had been placed in, landing on the floor with a yelp.

Pushing herself back to her feet, Eris looked herself over. She was surprised to find that she was wearing clothes, it made her feel somewhat more at ease knowing that Celestia had at least learned how to treat a guest correctly, even if said guest was a prisoner. She would not, however, allow Celestia to lull her into a false sense of security, Eris would be watching her every move.

Eris walked towards the bathroom, which was so conveniently built into the room itself, and began to fix her hair.

She had never had to brush her hair in Tartarus, for the wind never blew there. So she was still unused to having to mess with her hair.

Once her hair looked satisfactory Eris walked back into the bedroom and stood in front of the door, mentally debating with herself whether or not she should try opening it.

As she reached for the doorknob the door suddenly swung outward, lucky for her, she would have been knocked on her ass if it had opened inward.

There in the doorway stood one of Celestia's many royal guards; his face a blank slate waiting to be filled with emotion.

"You will follow me to the throne room."

Eris walked swiftly after him as he walked away without another word. She could have easily killed the guard with a well aimed kick to his throat, but ultimately she decided not to; she would obey as long as she felt she was safe.

Now Eris didn't see why Celestia kept the guards around, she was a god, nothing these foolish mortals could do could possibly injure her.

They walked along in silence, her silent footsteps in striking contrast to the sharp clap made when the guard's hooves met the polished marble floor.

After a couple of minutes had passed they arrived at what most ponies would think was a large door. To Eris, however, it was a normal sized door; she was as tall as Celestia.

The guard opened the door, gesturing with his spear for Eris to walk in first, which she obeyed, albeit probably much slower then he would have liked.

Eris took her time, scrutinizing the entire room as she slowly walked forwards. Celestia certainly had changed Discord's castle a lot since the last time she had seen it.

She finally reached Celestia's throne, almost jerking back in surprise when she saw Luna sitting beside her. The last time Eris had bothered to spy on Luna was when she was banished to the moon for throwing a temper tantrum.

The guard behind Eris growled at her and prodded her back with his spear, trying to get her to bow.

Spinning around faster then the guard could react, Eris snatched the spear out of his grip and snapped the weapon in half over her knee, tossing the two halves to the side. The guard backed up as she glared at him menacingly.

"I bow only before the Embodiment of Chaos, you would be wise to run away before I decide I've had enough and turn you into stone, just like your precious princesses did to Discord." Eris spat, clenching her fists in rage.

Once Celestia had gotten all the guards to leave the room, Eris turned back towards the princesses, her arms crossed in front of her chest and a frown on her face.

"Well, let's get this execution over with shall we?"

"WHAT?!"

If Eris was to say that she was surprised at the princesses reactions to her statement then she would be lying, she knew for a fact that they had stopped giving executions shortly before Luna turned into Nightmare moon.

Eris sighed in exasperation. "What, did you really think I would allow you to send me back to Tartarus? You never planned to let us free, we would be trapped in that hellhole for all of eternity. I'm sure Luna can sympathize with me, you locked her away on the moon for throwing a temper tantrum. Which was a direct result of you not showing her that your stupid little ponies cared for her night."

"How do you know about that?" Luna half asked half demanded.

Eris smirked. "Do you two really think being locked away or frozen in stone prevents us from seeing the world around us? Discord spoke in my mind when I touched his statue, and I used my powers to open a window so those of us trapped in Tartarus could watch you lot happily frolic around without a care in the world, while we were forced to watch, unable to die or fall asleep.

"Until I passed out by Discord's statue I had been without sleep for over two thousand years. I will not allow myself to feel that again, You will kill me right here, right now, or I will sacrifice myself to free Discord and my brethren in Tartarus."

Celestia and Luna stayed completely still and silent through Eris's monologue, they refused to kill her, but they also couldn't allow Discord to be set free.

All of a sudden Eris collapsed to the ground, holding her hands over her eyes and howling in agony.

"Did I forget to mention everything comes with a price? Nothing is free my darling, not even for my most loyal follower."

Eris lay there even after the stabbing pain in her eyes had passed. Her body convulsing weakly, her breath in short gasps, Eris welcomed the darkness with open arms.

A bat wing is grown

Eris woke up in darkness, a blindfold wrapped around her eyes. She moved her hand up, fully intending to rip the offensive fabric away, but was unable to move her hand more then a few inches before the clattering of chain on the cold stone floor and the pain in her wrist made her stop.

She was in a prison cell, that much was was obvious. Eris tried to use her magic to break the shackles, but the moment she did a sharp pain barreled it's way through her nerves and into her brain, where a migraine began to form.

Shifting into a more comfortable position, her hands resting on her knees, she waited in silence; going over the events before she passed out in her head.

She didn't have to wait for long before the sound of hooves on the floor alerted her to the presence of Princess Celestia.

"Feeling better I assume?"

Eris said nothing, did nothing, she refused to acknowledge Celestia. Not even a twitch or the slight tensing of muscles. It wasn't long before Celestia walked closer, placing something at her feet and messing with the chains.

"I've lengthened the chains so you can eat. Don't try to escape unless you want me to shorten them again."

Eris didn't how much time had passed when Celestia visited her again, and she didn't really care. Celestia would have to let her out eventually, when she saw that Eris wasn't eating.

"Why won't you just eat?" Celestia asked on her fourth visit. "You know you can't starve yourself to death, you're only making yourself suffer even more.

As usual, Eris didn't respond, she saw no reason to.

It was only on the 17th visit, after Eris had ripped the clothes that were put on her to keep her warm off, that Celestia removed the shackles. Eris didn't bother trying to escape, she just continued staring into the blindfold.

Eris felt something soft gently touch her chest and she dub her fingernails into her knees to keep from moving.

"Your ribs are showing...You're too stubborn Eris..."

Warm wings wrapped around her, lifting Eris up off the ground she sat motionless on.

Celestia telepoted to another part of the castle and placed her down on a comfy bed, forcing her to lay down.

Eris smirked and tried to talk before a coughing fit wracked her already pathetically weak body, blood dribbling between her lips and dripping onto the pillow her head rested on. "You're pathetic Celestia... You can't stand to see another living being suffer, it's-"

Eris's hands flew up to her head, one roughly gripping her shoulder blade while the other tore at the blindfold that covered her face, which Celestia took no time in removing for fear of Eris injuring herself again.

Eris's eyes were wide open, golden orbs with mismatched red pupils that stared across the room at something only she could see.

It scared Celestia.

In the end Celestia was forced to hold Eris still with her magic when the hand at her shoulder blade began tearing into her skin.

Once Eris had stopped trying to kill her shoulder blade, Celestia levitated Eris onto her back and carried the human into the room's bathroom. Celestia began to wash the blood off her back, she would need to clip Eris's fingernails soon to prevent this kind of event in the future. Celestia didn't know what was causing Eris to act this way, but she was determined to find out.

Celestia gasped as she saw the skin on Eris's shoulder blade, the one she had just cleaned off, began to ripple as if it had a mind of it's own, which was impossible, it was just skin.

Acting quickly when she saw Eris's fingers twitch, Celestia wrapped Eris once again in her magic, preventing the starving human from moving once again. She was just in time, for Eris began to scream as the rippling turned to bubbling.

Something purple erupted from within the bubbling skin, flinging blood all over Celestia's face.

Now Celestia wasn't squeemish, but she had to force herself not to throw up at the sight of the bat wing that was growing out of Eris's back. Celestia had never seen something like this before.

After placing Eris under a sleeping spell and once again cleaning the blood off her, Celestia spread a healing tonic that would decrease the time it took for Eris's wound to heal drastically. Celestia also bound the wing tightly to Eris's back so she wouldn't move it, and once she had placed Eris back into the bed, Celestia trotted back into the bathroom for a shower. The feeling of blood on her coat was revolting.

Celestia stepped out of the shower some fifteen odd minutes later, and after taking a moment to dry off her coat, trotted back over to Eris's bed. She would have to sleep with Eris tonight in order to make sure she didn't injure herself in her sleep. Climbing under the covers Celestia draped a wing over Eris's frail body and drifted off into a peaceful dreamless sleep.

~~~

"Heheeheheh.....You just wait Celestia, you just wait. Once my plan is complete we'll all be in for a big ole storm of CHAOS..."

Author's Note

I'm disappointed in all of you, I just went back and read over last chapter, and fixed a bunch of spelling mistakes that you people didn't tell me about... Not amused by this... :(

If you guys haven't noticed, I've been trying to bring out Celestia's caring and motherly side. How am I doing?

Waking up with white hair

Eris wasn't used to waking up feeling warm, so she was quite interested in what was wrapped around her. She only had vague memories of the previous night's events, most of which included pain in her shoulder blade and Celestia standing over top of her.

Groaning in annoyance as the sunlight struck her closed eyes, Eris rolled over and opened them to come face to face with a sleeping Celestia. Eris did the only thing her brain could think of in it's current half-asleep state. She screamed... Loud.

Celestia's eyes flew open and she instinctively wrapped her wing around Eris, pulling the human girl closer to her. Eris was not amused in the slightest and struggled to get away from the being that had locked her away in Tartarus for something as stupid as sending a pissed off Hydra into a town full of ponies.

On accident of course...

Eris's efforts were not entirely for naught however, for she did succeed in getting away from Celestia. Only to fall off the bed, right onto the bat wing located on her right shoulder blade that Celestia had wrapped so she couldn't move it the night before.

And boy did it hurt like Tartarus.

Celestia was off the bed and at Eris's side in an instant, using a fast acting healing spell to numb the pain. Celestia levitated Eris back onto the bed and waited for her to come out of shock. Once Eris was breathing normally again, Celestia removed the bandages she used to prevent Eris's new wing from moving and took a closer inspection of the wing then she had the previous night.

The bat wing was almost identical in every way to the wings Luna's Night Guards had, the only difference being the creature said wing was attached to. Celestia prodded the wing with her hoof curiously to discern if the wing was real or if it was simply an illusion, having been to tired to find out the previous night. It certainly felt real enough, but the way it connected to Eris's muscles like a parasite said otherwise. She would have to look into it further if she was going to find out the truth.

"You can let go now."

Celestia's heart skipped a beat. Eris shouldn't be able to move her mouth, let alone speak, with the numbing spell that Celestia had placed on her. Celestia carefully turned Eris back onto her back so they could speak while looking at one another. "Your hair..." Celestia gasped and brought a hoof to her mouth in shock.

Eris's eyes narrowed in confusion. "What about my hair?" Lifting a hand painstakingly slowly up to her face she grabbed a lock of her hair and brought it into her field of view.

"WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY HAIR!" Eris shrieked, and Celestia was forced to shake her head to get her ears to stop ringing. Where before Eris's hair had been brown, now it was white as snow with the very back being black.

"I didn't do anything to it, did you really need to scream directly in my ear?"

"YES!" Was the reply she got.

Celestia sighed and forced herself not to scream in frustration. Eris was really getting on her nerves, and if the human didn't stop soon she might rethink not sending the girl back into Tartarus. "If I had a guess as to who is causing your transformation I'd have to say it's probably Discord."

"What?" Eris shouted in disbelief. "My Master would never cause me grief!"

Celestia groaned. "Just think about it for a second will you? Not only have your eyes changed color to match his, a bat wing has grown out of your back, and your hair is even turning white except for the back, it seems to me he's turning you into a Draconequus."

"Hmm...Very well, I guess I will indulge you, but everything comes at price...

Discord's words rang around within her head. Eris' pupils dilated, her breaths came in short and fast bursts, and her body started shivering uncontrollably. "No no no." Eris muttered the chant countless times to herself as her arms clasped around her legs and she rocked herself back and forth on the bed, trying to convince herself that what Celestia was saying was wrong, that her Master wouldn't hurt her despite the proof laid out before her.

"Eris..." Celestia whispered softly. She had to force herself to not reach over and pull Eris into a hug. She couldn't stand to see a living creature in a state akin to the one Eris was in right now.

"You're wrong, you're wrong, you're wrong!" Eris shouted at Celestia before breaking down as sobs racked her starved body. Celestia put her thoughts aside as she gave in to her instincts and wrapped her wings around Eris. What Eris needed right now was a companion, and Celestia was all to happy to fill that role. They might have been mortal enemies not long before, but if you were to catch a glimpse of them now, you would say they were best friends. They weren't of course, but it certainly looked like it. What with Celestia comforting the poor human who just had all her world and beliefs shattered around her, it would be hard to see that they hated each other.

Celestia carefully let go as Eris calmed down. She was scared not only of her, but also for her. Here was one of Discord's own creations, and he was playing mental games and torturing her. Eris didn't deserve this, but it was what she got. Celestia swore that if she ever met Discord face to face again she would make sure he was punished. Severely.

Author's Note

Sorry for not updating this, but I just couldn't think of where I wanted to go once I reached the halfway point until today. But eh, better late then never. Am I right? hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, because it's the last you'll get until I'm finished with Running Away, which is my top priority right now.