The Old Kingdom

by Hekkar

Rating: teen
Tags: Princess Luna, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Comedy, Other, Adventure, Princess Celestia, Alternate Universe, Main 6
Length: 12668

Tartarus is a prison within the realm of Equestria. Unbeknownst to many though, it holds a secret deep within it's walls.

Tartarus. Normally referred to as 'the prison with the really bad beings' or 'Cerberus's home'. What these ponies don't know is that deep within Tartarus sits a kingdom ruled by a male alicorn that lives as a 'Ruler of the Damned' as titles go. This alicorn was a stallion who kept eyes over the prisoners and of course of all evil itself within his walls. Every now and then, the ruler of the kingdom would come out, inspect the prisons and so forth, hell even speak with the prisoners.

The ruler of this kingdom is known as Prince Infernum, the son of Helvette, otherwise known as 'The Immortal Judge'. The problem was Helvette may of been known as Immortal, but even that came to an end when he vanished, leaving only a note of him 'dancing with eternal flames now'. As time went on, Prince Infernum has acquired many names from his power and kingdom such as 'Wielder of the Black Flame' 'Son of The Immortal Judge' 'Ruler of The Damned' 'The Eternal Jailer'

Unfortunately, the latest escape of Tirek didn't go unnoticed as he had to deal with the problems to arise. One such problem is the constant checkup letters sent to the princesses of the wards and prisoners. All of it was slowly going into routine that Infernum got used to.... that was until two of his residents went to check up on the prisoners and encountered six mares who had entered Tartarus to do a personal checkup on Tirek and a mistake had occurred.

What fallout will come of this? Will a long hidden secret be unfurled that the Princesses kept? Will their mere appearance cause problems in the future? Only time will tell.

Published 2014-10-29 14:20:03 UTC
Last updated 2015-01-13 07:10:22 UTC

Prologue: A Small Memory (Edited)

Author's Note

"Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment."

Buddha

Any questions on memory will be explained in later chapters, just have patience.

Also small note. When referring to term 'outcasts' that includes any species. Still edited the part of residents to clarify more about 'outcasts.

Prologue: A Small Memory (Edited)

Upon a field of battle, old armor and weapons lay scattered about like relics of a forgotten time as the path of war led to a large fortress of darkness. Upon this path stands a warrior of justice, the last of his people to stop the evil that has fallen upon his pony brothers and sisters as he was dressed in armor of steel and silver. Within his magic grasp was a simple sword, but one that served him well over the years of battle and servitude to justice and freedom of his ponies. As he trots down the path, he stops before the obsidian like gates as he calls out "Queen of Darkness! Thy reign of tyranny has gone on for long enough! Below in yonder town, many ponies strive off hunger and disease to survive from your treachery! I, Infernum the Righteous, will put an end to thy wickedness!" he calls out.

Infernum was a great stallion of a fiery red-orange mane and tail all adorned on a golden yellow body with green eyes as he stands outside the gates. As he stands his ground, a evil laugh is heard above him as he looks up and sees the Queen of Darkness descend to him in a robe of black. She looks at him with piercing blue eyes as she smiles "Little foal. Why must thee stand against what is to come? Why can't thee accept thine fate as a worker?" she asks as she smiles evilly. Her black wings and horn shine under the dying sun as the hero speaks no words, but charges to defeat her. Before he even got close, he was hit with a large torrent of water as he is knocked onto his back and bopped on the muzzle with her own sword. He looks up as she smiles "I win" she declares.

The truth was the battlefield didn't have armor or weapons or even relics of any sort. All it had was nice, luscious, green grass and a dirt path as the area around it was a nice garden. The swords were actually mere wooden swords and the castle was a collection of books and boxes painted black. The stallion's armor was just some cloth he put together, same as the 'Darkness Queen's' robe. As the stallion looks up at the Queen, he pouts cutely "That wasn't vewy nice Woona" he says. The final truth is that the stallion and Queen were actually just a couple of fillies playing pretend outside as their respective parents were in boring meetings.

The young colt called Infernum was actually a young Alicorn named Prince Infernum. He was a young colt with fur black as night, but with a small horn and wings that were different from regular Pegasi wings. His head was a light hue of red-orange and his tail is short to only cover his flank and nothing more. On his flank was also his cutie mark, a pair of hammers infront of a large flame. As he sits up, water drips off his head as he spits water out as he looks over at her 'spell'. In reality, all Luna did was pour water on him like a water spell as she smiles and hugs him with her forehooves. He smiles a bit "But I fowgive you" he says as he hugs back. As he lets go, he gets back on all fours as he is the same height as her.

His friend next to him was a slightly dark blue coated filly with also small wings and a horn. On her head was a small black crown that sat behind her horn, but also on her light blue hair. On her flank was a black splotch with a white crescent moon on it. She was Princess Luna, a once shy friend upon first meeting, yet afterwards became a fun friend of the stallion. As he and her walked side by side through the garden, he gets a mischievous smirk and shakes himself dry while also drenching Luna. She squeaks in surprise as he looks at her smiling, yet with her pouting and growling a bit.

Inside the castle, a tall white coated, crimson haired alicorn was doing paperwork with the help of a male alicorn as they look up, hearing a rumble outside. As the two got up and walked over, they could hear yelling of Luna "I WILL DESTROY THEE!" she yells followed by male laughing.

As they opened the door, they see Infernum running and laughing as he is followed by a dripping wet Luna. The female alicorn sighs "Again?" she says softly as she looks at the male. The male alicorn is the same height as her, as a adult alicorn with a coat as red as her hair and with a mane and tail of ethereal orange and yellow colors. The mane and tail moved and flickered like fire as his eyes were a light shade of grey. His name was Helvette, a alicorn who ruled a kingdom within the world of Equus that was designed like a prison for the most evil of spirits and ponies. From his power and kingdom, many of the nobles called him 'The Immortal Judge'.

He chuckles at this "Yes Faust, it's happening again. It's still quite nice to see them getting along despite kingdom differences. She would make him a wonderful wife one day" he jokes as that got a sharp headslap from Faust's wing. He rubs his head "I was half joking.... besides, what other pony have you seen make my son laugh like that?" he asks as he was right.

When they had first came to the world above, Infernum was shy of everypony around him. Noble, commoner, it didn't matter, he was shy of everypony, but then again so was another alicorn. The first meeting was of Helvette and Infernum meeting the three alicorns of Canterlot only three months ago. While the two adult alicorns talked, Infernum went exploring as this kingdom was quite impressive from others. It was of marble and tile, but also shined like the sun as he followed the halls. Before long, he felt himself run into something soft as he looked up and saw he had run into a white fur alicorn with a sun on her flank. She turned and smiled as she leaned down to eye level "Hello little one" she says. As Infernum looked at her, he looks away and tries to hide his head under his wing, but no luck as she giggles softly "It's alright little one. No need to be shy" she says.

He carefully looks up as he sees this young alicorn was a bit taller, like a older sister with a slightly bigger horn and wings. Her hair was a light pink color and a slightly big golden crown on her head with a purple gem in it. As he looks at her, she smiles and motions for him to follow "My name is Celestia and welcome to my home. I can show you around um..."

"Infewnum."

"Infewnum?"

"No. Infernum" he sounds out while also forcing his cheeks to sound out the words. Celestia nods and motions for him to follow as he does since she seems like a nice pony. As the two walked down the hall, they had ran into a small Luna who was trying to get cookies from a plate on a table.

Celestia walked over and helped her down "No Luna. No cookies for thee till after dinner" she says. Luna looks up and sees Infernum as she hides behind Celestia's leg. Celestia helps bring her out "Now don't be shy Luna. Thee stallion is a friend" she says as the two look away from eachother. It was a awkward minute of silence till Luna spoke up "Hello..."

"Hi..."

"We are called Woona"

"Woona?"

"No, her name is Luna" Celestia says as Luna cutely pouts from her mispronunciation. The three simply talked for that day and more to come.

Back to the chase, Infernum is laughing as he runs from Luna who glares at him and is chasing him. As they went through the twisting and turning corridors as he tried to lose her. It would of been easy to lose her, if he was a bit faster and found a way to distract her. All these thoughts though stopped when he and Luna both slammed into something soft as it was Celestia. She looks down and smiles "Another game of chase I see?" she simply asks as they nod. Celestia gives a mischievous smirk "Well then. Why don't I join you? First one to catch Infernum wins?" she asks stating the condition of the game.

Before a agreement is met, Infernum had already taken off as he is laughing at how much fun he is having as he looks back at his pursuers. Yet as fun as it was, it wasn't all real to him. Before long, the hallways and ponies started to blur as everything went dark to the young alicorn prince.

His eyes opened slowly as he laid in his bed as he looks up at the polished black ceiling of his room. Another memory, nothing more. More and more memories of a time when he was just a Prince and not the King of his father's kingdom. As the Alicorn prince got onto his hoofs, he looks over to his nearby mirror to see himself looking back. It wasn't the young alicorn prince as in his memories, but a older one and with noticeable changes. For one, he was between the height of Celestia and Luna in terms of Alicorn size. A few more changes were, of course, his wings and horn grew as well as his wings were of a black frame and grey wing skin, all in the appearance of bat wings. His horn was black and pointed as it adorned his head along with a large two color mane of crimson red hair and the fiery red-orange as before, yet now it held a crown. The crown was one his father made for him, a crown of silver with a black gem in the center of it, circular in form and of ten spikes, the center spike a good five inches long with the two spikes flanking it at four inches. The remaining seven were three inches long.

His coat had also gone through a change as well as it had become darker as well to show his cutie mark as well. His tail had grown as well and looked split into three parts. The top and bottom part were red like his hair, but the middle was red-orange. As he goes and walks over to the window, he looks outside and sees the large rock wall with the massive black doors used to separate his kingdom from the prisoners in Tartarus. The door was hidden behind a illusion spell to make it look like a rock wall to anypony who enters that isn't a prisoner.... which is practically no pony except those who live there.

As his gaze shifted to the small town, he could see all of his kingdom's residents walking about their daily routines. His residents were ponies who considered themselves 'outcasts', ponies who wouldn't be accepted by the others up above. Then again if a pony was grey and green with a mask on that looked like a pony skull, but with a mane and tail of blue burning fire then not many would. To put it simply, all his residents were once outcasts, mismatch ponies, demonic ponies, undead ponies, even griffons and minotaurs who needed a place to live. Infernum is the king of this kingdom and of course followed the open gate policy on Underworld residents that his father had made years ago. As he shakes himself from his thoughts, he looks around his room which only consisted of a table, a few bookshelves and of course his bed. The room was made of walls of black stone, same as the ceiling, yet the floor was made of crimson tile.

He walks over to one of the bookshelves as he looks around for something particular as he spot it. With his magic, a aura of red and orange comes around the object as he looks at it closely. It was a old picture, one of him and the Princesses as children as he sighs "The past cannot change. Only the future" he thinks as he puts it back on the bookshelf. A loud knock is heard as his chamber door opens to a large unicorn walking in. He could tell it was a unicorn only from the horn that stood out from it's cloak that covered it's body.

As the unicorn bows "Forgive me my lord, but it is almost time to check on the prisoners" the unicorn explains.

Her voice was soft and calming as he nods "Thank you Shadow Core" he says. Shadow Core was his personal advisor, but also one of the few who did not fear him for his position and power. He walks over and leaves the room with Shadow Core as the two go to check on the prisoners. Ever since the escape of Tirek, he had to made backup plans incase such a thing happened again and he had to oversee their completion.... then again, after the new punishment was placed, he was sure that Tirek wouldn't try to escape again.

Unbeknownst to him though... six little mares had the same idea of checking on him.

Chapter 1: The Plan

Author's Note

"Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there.

John P. Kotter

Chapter 1: The Plan

It had only been two months since Tirek was defeated and Twilight was named the Princess of Friendship along with her friends there to help her. Yet, a small part of her mind tells her it would not last, that he would try again and succeed. So in order to protect her friends and fellow ponies she devised a plan to ensure he would not return. She sent a message out to all her friends to come to the castle at once for a important meeting as the lavender alicorn gets the room tidy up for a important meeting while she ensures her dragon assistant, Spike, doesn't laze about.... or send a accidental love letter to Rarity. Twilight ensures she is cleaned up of her horn, wings, her tri-color mane and tail and her coat before she gets the room ready.

As the room was near spotless, she smiles at her work before a dust cloud flies in and messes up her mane and floor. She blows some of the hair out of her face as she groans "Rainbow Dash! I just cleaned this up!" she says as she looks at her pegasi friend.

Rainbow chuckles nervously "Sorry about that Twilight. I came over as fast as I could" she says. She was a light blue mare with a rainbow mane and tail with some red-purple eyes. She lands in her seat after flying around and blowing the dirt out of the room. As she did, a cry is heard outside of outrage.

Outside, a mare of white walks in as she is covered in dirt as she glares at a weak smiling Rainbow Dash. She sighs "Honestly darling, look before you do something" she says as she had a saddlebag on her back. She had a curled and higher class style looking hair that was blue-violet, but one problem was that it looked unkempt due to the dirt. Her horn lights up as she pulls out some hair/coat care products and starts to clean herself up as she made her way to the bathroom.

Rainbow looks over at Twilight "So I heard you got a plan for ensuring Tirek not returning. Mind filling me in?"

"Sorry Rainbow. I like for everypony to be here when I explain this because everypony will have a part to play in order to make sure nothing goes wrong" Twilight explains. As she does so, Rarity returns with her coat has a shine to it again as she takes her seat. Right on cue, Spike walks in with tea and food and is already smitten with Rarity as he floats over to her. The two exchange a hug as Spike has to return to organizing the library, as was his task before coming to the room.

A few minutes pass as more hoovesteps are heard from the hallway, two sets to be exact along with the sounds of a spring bouncing. The mares look towards the door to see the remaining three enter of a orange, blonde mane and tail, Stetson wearing Earth pony named Applejack followed by a bouncing pink, cotton candy mane style mare named Pinkie Pie and a creamy yellow pegasi who seems a bit timid of the meeting named Fluttershy. The mares all had one thing in common and that was the necklaces they had on. What these necklaces symbolized was of their connection to the Elements of Harmony, a ancient power that was once wielded by the Princesses Celestia and Luna.

It did not take long for the six to find the appropriate seats, since each one had their element on it. As everypony took their seat, Twilight looks at everypony with a smile as she clears her throat "I wish to thank you all for coming here for this important meeting."

"Of course Twilight! Your our bestest, most superific, most awesomest friend that any pony could ask for!" Pinkie says wrapping the lavender alicorn in a tight hug. Twilight returns the hug as Pinkie smiles "Still, we need to make this quick because Mr. and Mrs. Cake need me to watch the twins before they leave in a couple of hours" she says as she bounces back to her seat.

Twilight nods as he clears her throat "As I was saying before, thank you all for coming. As I am sure we all still remember Tirek's return a few months ago, I have been planning a few plans to ensure that this time Tirek stays where he belongs and won't hurt another pony" she explains. As her horn lights up, a pink aura envelops a board as a whistling is heard.

To the left of Twilight's throne, the mare known as Applejack gets her attention "As much as I like to help in this plan here Twi, how do we know this will work? Ya gotta admit a few of your spells haven't exactly panned out for the better"

"Name one spell Applejack" Twilight says with a smile on her face still.

Applejack looks at her with a deadpan look "That there 'Want It Need It' spell?" she asks. Twilight stops as she shrinks a bit remembering that little 'episode' as she calls it now of her freakout over a friendship report. Applejack nods "I just like ta make sure this one will work. I am sure I can speak for all of us when I say we all got ponies to look out for, including friends and family" she says.

Everypony and Spike nod as Twilight looks over "I understand your fear Applejack, trust me I know, which is why we need to do this. If it does work, then we can rest easy of one problem out of the way" she says. She pulls out a large board as she flips it over to show a step-by-step plan of her idea. As she looks towards everypony she starts "Alright, the first part is simple really. We gather the Elements of Harmony and get together whatever we can find to help us reach our goal of Tirek's prison. Second part is meeting at the gates of Tartarus and heading inside to find Tirek for the real part of the plan to come into action" she says. As she flips the page, she shows a image of Tirek in his prison and with the Elements around him as the Elements are all lit up.

As she sees confused looked on everypony "The final part is simple. We will need to activate the Elements so that I can create some runes on the prison in order to ensure he is stuck there, unable to get out and cause more havoc. I know it won't be a easy journey, but we must do this, not for ourselves, but for our friends of Ponyville and all of Equus" she says in a serious voice.

The mare to the right of her throne, Rainbow Dash, flies up all excited as she grins "Buck yeah! Knock out another threat to the world, just like with Nightmare Moon and Discord!" she says all pumped up as she grins. Twilight had a small smile on her face knowing the answer of at least one of her friends.

Applejack looks over at Twilight "I'll admit, this plan doesn't sound all that good Twi.... but I'll come along and give ya a helping hoof sugarcube" she says as she stands and walks over to Twilight before giving her a firm hug with her forehooves.

Pinkie is positively bouncing "I'm coming as well Twilight! I always help my friends!" she says with that grin that any pony could swear she was born with.

Rarity smiles "Well I did have some design orders to do" she says as Twilight's ears start to drop a bit of one of her friends not helping "But one thing I had learned the hard way darling is that friends and family come first over fashion" she says. Twilight's ears perk right back up as she smiles.

The last one to speak is Fluttershy as she looks away shyly. As she does so, she looks down "W-Well... I could come along and help with Cerberus. He must get very lonely down there with no friends around" she says.

Twilight walks over and pats her back "Don't worry Fluttershy, just relax and know we will be there for you" she says. She nuzzles Twilight's neck as they all get into a hug.

Spike looks over "Hey, I can help too. I can provide a distraction" he says as Twilight smiles.

She walks over and rubs Spike's head "I know you can Spike, but I need you here to inform the Princesses if... this goes wrong" she says. Spike looks down and is about to say something as Rarity gives him a hug and whispers something in his ear. He smiles and nods as Twilight looks at everypony as they all smile and nod "Alright everypony, head back home and gather whatever you can get. We head to Tartarus tonight" she explains as they all leave.

Within the realm of Tartarus, one of the Underworld Guards, who had a body of toxic green color, eyes of piercing grey, and a twisted horn like a corkscrew as he groans. It was his turn for having to be in charge of 'The Walks', a task everypony but Infernum dreaded to have since it involved walking Infernum's pet... or at least, the oldest pet. As he leaves the kingdom, he walks up and finds the creature asleep at the gate as it looked like a three headed bulldog, but with a puddle of slobber underneath him. He walks up and softly pokes the creature as it doesn't respond. He does the only rational thing and pokes it again, but harder as that got the middle head up. As the dog creature looks down, the guard holds up a giant leash as that made the creature's eyes go wide.

Before he could react, the dog was barking and running around happily as the guard whistles and makes him calm down. Cerberus is a really kind and calm dog when in Tartarus, yet only towards those of the kingdom. The downside was "No... No.... No!" the guard yells as Cerberus gives him a very long and wet lick as that left him drenched in slobber. The guard groans as he puts the leash on him "Come on Cerberus.... let's go for a walk" he says as he mutters of him drenched in slobber.

As he goes to walk him through the deeper reaches of Tartarus, the gates of Tartarus open as the Mane Six walk in and seem confused with a simple question on all their minds. Where's Cerberus?

Chapter 2: A Few Trials

The gates of Tartarus. The very gates created by both the blood, sweat, and hard work of ponies both physically and magically and used to keep the almighty evils separate from the rest of Equus. Beyond these gates stood the prisons, simple stone pillars with magic nullifying runes and some in cages, all guarded by a three headed dog named Cerberus. The problem here is Cerberus is gone and the gates have been opened yet again. Seriously, at this point why even have the gates if just about anypony can open the gates at this point?

Within the gates, six little ponies stand beyond the gates as they look around and only find the imprint in the floor of the massive dog, but also the dried pool of slobber from when it was sleeping. They look back and see the gates close with a loud bang, causing the creamy mare to jump and land on her rainbow mare friend. As they look around, the lavender alicorn Twilight looks around "Alright girls. Now where is Cerberus?" she asks as they don't see him anywhere.

Applejack looks around "Ah to hay with that Twi. We ain't got to deal with that hound so lets head on in and find Tirek so we can get outta here. I rather not be here any longer then I think we need ta be" she says. Indeed that was the feeling many would get when they enter Tartarus, yet the problem there was once somepony enters they never leave.... well if they are condemned to Tartarus or dead. If living then they were free to come and go as they please it seems. As the six mares walk down the path, they see the full view of Tartarus from the spot where Cerberus once laid.

Out from the overlook, all of Tartarus could be seen. From the dark blue rocks that casted shadows over the walls to the glowing lights in the rocky towers standing tall from the ground. The abyss was also giving off a weird light that made the rocks glow a light purple color as all was heard is the echo of groans from the prisoners. Twilight remembered the light's well from when she and her friends rescued the princesses as they were locations of where prisoners were kept. Now on a much broader and not so end-of-Equestria look, there were hundreds, thousands even of lights as they light up Tartarus like some kind of somber lighting for a goth pony. To each tower, a stone stairway lead to each tower that looked as if a simple bunny would make it crumble to the ground.

Twilight looks back to her friends "Let's go girls" she says as they all start to walk down the path. Rainbow though, was flying overhead as she tries to fly off the path and to the prisons faster, but didn't get far as the lights start to darken of the abyss and what shoots out are blasts of red and black blast out and seem to aim to try and take down Rainbow. In truth it was a defense mechanism to take down any flying criminals if they try to escape. As Rainbow Dash twisted and turned avoiding the blasts, the blasts themselves turned and started to follow her as she flies faster, yet they also increased in speed. As soon as Rainbow took a sharp right and ended up hitting a rock that knocked her to the ground, the blasts kept going straight and into the wall with a loud bang as no more blasts came.

The mares catch up with her as Fluttershy checks her for wounds and smiles "Don't worry, just a bump" she says.

Rainbow nods and stands on her hooves "Thanks Fluttershy" she says. She turns to Twilight who seems to be examining the abyss "What the hay was that Twi?" she asks.

The princess simply shakes her head "My best guess is it was a defense spell, specifically made to track and neutralize any flying prisoners. When you crashed, they lost your flying signal and just crashed... or at least that's my hypothesis" she says. She helps Rainbow up to her hooves as the six continue down the path as they find a winding path with multiple other paths, all leading to the stairways and of course the path they need is straight. That's the only path they took, straight, as they passed hundreds of towers full of prisoners. All of them look like they come from different years of Equestria, some even before Equestria even existed as they look... lost just by a look in their eyes.

As the mane six continue down the path, they find the cell where Tirek was kept, but it laid empty upon the tower. As they go wide eye and gallop around in a frantic search, Rarity spoke up "Where is he? Shouldn't that ruffian still be here?" she asks.

Pinkie just bounces around "Maybe he needed to use the little centaur's room" she says as she stops and looks to find some deep hoof prints. She whistles as the girls walk over and find a few sets of them as Twilight's eyes shine "Oh! Oh! You have a idea!" Pinkie says as if knowing the sign.

Twilight nods as her horn glows a deep pink color as some kind of pink dome comes around them and vanishes. What appears next are a couple of cloaked figures and Tirek in the prison cell, but they seem more like ghosts "It's called a Echo spell. It allows somepony to see events that happened in the past, but not too far into the past. At most it goes to about a month ago and I haven't fully mastered it yet so no audio" she explains. As the six watch, the two figures drag him out of the cell and make him walk down the steps as now glowing hoofprints are seen "Let's follow them girls!" she calls out as they follow their leader.

The time passed on as it felt like hours had passed, the mane six keep running as Rarity groans and whines "Are we there yet? I'm getting s-s-sweaty!" she whines as she keeps galloping with them. Soon all six stop as they stand before a large door that stands lock. As they look it over they see that it had two faces on it, but those faces were... different. One was smiling and the other was frowning, similar to the Equestrian heads of Threatre, both white with black eyes and a black smile, but one had a pair of wings over it's head and the other a horn.

As Twilight got closer she saw some odd scribbles over the door as she looked at them as if trying to decipher them. As she got closer, a loud, joyous laugh filled the air around them as one of the heads seems to chip away. Before long the 'Smiling head' bursts as out comes a pegasi who flies over and lands on a large, flat pillar as he wore a mask, the same smiling mask that once graced the door, but along with it he wore a large, white cloak as his white wings stood stiff as if stretching them out. On closer look, they also had black tip feathers as the pegasi laughs "So long has it been since anypony has come here!" the Pegasus says as it sounds masculine. He looks over "Brother! Come on out and meet our new friends!" he yells out.

Before long the other mask breaks and out comes in a black flash, a unicorn appears on the other pillar. It was obvious this one was a unicorn from his black horn with a white tip. The unicorn also had a mask with a frown from the door and a black robe. The unicorn looks over "More ponies for the trials? They won't last" the unicorn says sounding male as well and a bit... down or depressed.

The pegasi laughs as he looks at them "Oh brother. Always seeing the grim side of things.... then again, not many survive the first trial anyhow" he says with a unnerving laugh.

Rainbow flies up as she glares "What the hay you saying?!" she demands.

In a instant the smiling one is looking at Rainbow, muzzle to muzzle as all she sees is the black eyes of the mask "A pegasi who leaves a trail of rainbows and with a rainbow mane and tail? The world has changed so much in such a time!" he says with a laugh. He looks at them as he is back on the pillar as he does a bow "I humbly apologize guest, I have not introduce myself yet. I am called Comedic Sock, the stallion of all comedy within theatre!" he announces as he laughs. Whether that was true or not, well nopony is gonna question since this is Tartarus.

The unicorn looks at them "And I am Drama Buskin, the stallion of all tragedy within theatre" he says. He teleports down as Sock flies down and lands next to him. As the two look at them, Drama looks at them "Since you are new I will explain. These are the three trials of Tartarus" he says in a depressed tone still as he looks at them. He walks around them as his mask stays locked on their eyes "Since their are six of you, each one will take two of you and put you through a trial. If you pass, then you all pass. If even one fails, then you all fail" he explains.

Sock smiles and appears next to Pinkie as he smiles "And this trial is for you Pinkie Pie" he says.

She gasps and giggles "How did you know my name?"

"Simple! Out of all the ponies I have seen and heard, your the only one who keeps a smile no matter what the situation" Sock says as he smiles. He hops around imitating her bouncy nature "And of course that one song is so catchy!" he says as he starts to bounce around and hum Pinkie's song of smiling as they bounce in unison.

Next to Rarity, Buskin appears as he looks at her "And your as well Rarity. Never have I met such a overdramatic mare before. If your talent wasn't in fashion, I think you be the best in theatre drama" he says. He moves around her "You always put true feeling instead of forced like those other actors of the arts and all of that makes me feel..... a warmth"

"It's called happiness brother!" Sock calls out.

Twilight stomps her hoof "Enough!" she says making Sock and Pinkie stop in midair of the bounce. She groans "Look, let's get this trial done and move on" she says annoyed.

The brothers return to the gate "Such a party pooper. Seriously you need to get the regal rod out of your-"

"Comedic" Buskin says to him as Comedic sighs. Comedic motions the two mares up as he looks to Buskin and nods. He walks over and stops before them. He looks at them as he lowers his head "I apologize for any discomfort" he says. His horn glows as everypony is incased in a black dome. Only Rarity and Pinkie can see one another as the shadows start to move around. Before them, a grey outline comes out of the dark dome as what pops out shocks both of them. One of the creatures to come out looks like Rarity, but not so beautiful, like she was some kind of savage. The other creature to come out is Pinkie, but with flat hair and a expression of anger on her, both of which were a duller color then the real ones.

Pinkie giggles "What is this? Some kind of mirror trick like the Mirror Pool? Oh! I know, let's have them stare at a-" she stops as the other Pinkie bucks her in the chest sending her flying across the floor. Rarity looks over, just to get the same treatment to her flank as she slides next to Pinkie.

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Outside the dome, the remaining mares and the brothers watch as Twilight looks at Sock laughing. He feels the glare and looks over "The first trial my dear. For one to advance, one must defeat themselves and others" he says as that just made her confused. He just points his hoof back at the dome as they see Rarity getting into a yelling match with her other self and Pinkie simply asking questions to her evil self, but no real response except for the occasional growl of annoyance.

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Rarity scoffs "Well at least I don't look like something a Diamond Dog who just tossed some scraps together" she says insulting her otherself. The other Rarity growls "At least I'm not as blind as a bat when it comes to love!" she retorts.

Rarity gasps "I am not!"

"Oh yeah? Blueblood. Trenderhoof. You loved them, but one was a jerk and the other would never fall for you. Face it Rarity, you wouldn't know love if it hit you. In. The. Face!" she yells as she socks Rarity making her collide into Pinkie.

The other pinkie scoffs as she looks at her happy self "What's the point of parties if nopony ever remembers them? If nopony ever even thinks of them again till the next one comes or till they need to fake it" she says. She walks over to Pinkie "You should of stayed on that Rock farm where you belong. No pony wants a party anymore, it's full of greedy good for nothing ponies" she says. She raises a hoof, just to get blasted into the wall and turned to dust by magic blast. The other Rarity looks over and gets blasted by confetti as she turns to dust.

Pinkie looks at Rarity "It's almost like the Changeling fight, but they actually talk!" she says not seeming to be affected by the insults. Rarity however just nods a bit and hides her pain of what the other one said. She wouldn't know love since neither of those stallions loved her, yet something kept bugging her about love. All that stopped when she was shaken from her view by Pinkie. When she looks around, she sees that all of their friends are there and family, but they were duller in color as the other two before.

Before they even spoke, Rarity just blasted them with magic as Pinkie did the same with her cannon. Before long they were the only two left as the dome stood up still. As they look around, they look at eachother and are about to blast one another.

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Twilight looks at the brothers "Why are they still fighting?" she asks them.

Buskin looks over "This is the downside of fighting. You become skeptical of others, even your friends. You turn on one another and soon dispose of one another" he says. He sees Twilight about to blast him out of anger as he doesn't even flinch. She blasts off a beam as it goes right through him, like he was air and it hits the wall. He shakes his head "We are not that easy to dispose" he says as he keeps watching.

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The two stare each other down as they got ready to blast one another. Just then, a spark hits Rarity's head as she looks at Pinkie "If your the real Pinkie Pie, then tell me this. What did I give that sea serpent when we were helping Twilight find the Elements of Harmony?" she asks.

Pinkie smiles as she giggles "That easy silly! You gave him part of your tail to fix his moustache and let us cross the river on his back" she says as she hops around. The barrier drops as the brothers appear before them.

Comedic laughs a bit "Seems you two made it through easier then others" he says. He rubs his chin "Tell me... how did you do it?" he asks them.

Pinkie smiles "Silly pony, we fought ourselves months ago at Princess Cadence and Shining Armor's wedding against a bunch of Changelings!" she says happily.

Rarity smiles "That and well, true friends stick together" she says.

Drama sighs "At least you two did not betray one another like other ponies who came" he says. The two turn and seem to glow black and white as Drama seems to cry black tears and Comedic just laughs happily as they glow bright white and black as they become large masks on the door and open up to show a darkened pathway. The six mares walk through as the gates close behind them. Twilight and Rarity light up their horns and walk down the path as all they heard were the hoofsteps that echo.

As the group continued down the path following the echo prints, soon whispers were heard. They were soft and all ranged in emotion, yet the most prominent emotion in them was fear. All the whispers were fearful and like that of small foals as the pathway started to light up with green flames that led up to yet another door, but this one was of a black steel color and a creature before it. At a height, he stands as tall as Big Mac, but was a slight inch taller due to the sharp curve in his horns. As they got closer, they say the creature as it looked like a ram, but not as nice and fluffy as the ones Fluttershy tends to take care of.

It had eyes red as blood and a coat dark as shadows and four strong limbs attached to split hoofs. The parts of his body that were flesh were a dark flesh and with his face holding white hair of only white eyebrows and a beard. At the end of the beard were a couple of golden rings as if keeping it as a single beard. Around his neck was a small collar around his neck with three big bells on it as before seeing that, anypony would see his jagged teeth in his jaw. He stands at the top of some stairs as he is eating a hay bail. As the six walk up, they stop as they see he is eating as he stops as they look wide eye at him.

As his head turns, he seems to be drooling blood as he eats his hay in his mouth. He walks down the stairs as he looks at them "Who dares to stand before Ozymandias?! The Ram of Fear!" he says in a loud, booming voice. That voice rocked the halls as the mare's keep themselves steady... well all except for Fluttershy who bleated like a sheep and fell over on her back. Ozymandias looks at her confused "Uh.... does she do that often?" he asks as they try to wake her.

As he walks down the steps, Applejack and Rainbow try to wake Fluttershy up as he stands before them. His red eyes lock with Twilight's as he looks at her features of horn, wings, and crown. He seems a bit surprised "A princess? Here?" he says as he walks around her. His horns start to glow with a sickly blue color as he shakes his head "No, not a princess. A imposter" he says as Twilight's eye narrows "I mean no offense, but that is what He calls alicorns who are created and not born as such" he explains as so far only two are in that category.

Twilight looks at him "Look, arguments aside, we are looking for Tirek. Where is he?" she asks in a semi-commanding tone.

Ozymandias looks over at her "He is deeper, past the third trial. He was put there after his escape as punishment from Him" he says.

Twilight looks at the ram "Who is He?"

"That I cannot tell you as per His orders"

"Your not making sense here mister Ozymandias"

"I do as I please and right now, I need to do a trial" he says. He walks over and looks at a awoken Fluttershy and at Rainbow as his horns glow "This trial is for you two. The mare with a open heart, but is afraid of everything and the mare whose bravery blinds her to true horrors" he says as soon everything goes black for them. To the other mares, they just see all three in a trance with glowing blue eyes, but Ozymandias has glowing horns.

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Within this world the two were separated as multiple images appeared to each of them. For Rainbow, it was images not of just memories, but nightmares past. As she watches the images flash past her, whispers run through her mind and ears as she sees images from before. One of those images was of Cloudsdale falling to pieces as she scoffs "Going with Discord's tricks? Lame pal" she says as she smirks smugly.

"...Hate you" a voice says softly. Rainbow spins around and finds Scootaloo looking at her as Scootaloo speaks again "I hate you. You leave me behind to run off with your friends and leave me to worry if your ever coming back! What happens if you don't come back huh? What about your fans and ponies who care about you?!" she yells. This was one thing that she secretly feared more then anything else, losing Scoots. In all honesty, the little pegasi had grown on the daredevil mare so much, she was like a little sister to Rainbow. As Rainbow tried to get closer, Scoots backed away as she runs away into the darkness. The whispers got louder saying "You lost her", "...never get her back", "You ruined everything", as the voices kept speaking this words to her, she slowly curled up as the shadows start to come over her. Her memories keep playing before her, but one thing stood out from them. None of them were good memories, only bad ones.

She stands up as she bushes the shadows off of her "No. Not everything is ruined and I will get her back. Sure every pony hits a rough patch every now and again, but that's all they are. What makes them better is if you got friends to help you past them and smooth out the patches. Sure I'm sure Scoots feels that way, but that's why I go out and do the whole hero thing, to protect her and Ponyville" she says as the shadows around her start to fade.

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As the real world came to view, she turns and sees Fluttershy shaking like crazy, still in a trance with a ever standing Ozymandias. She looks over at the group "So it was more like a dream?" she asks as they nod.

She looks over and sees Ozymandias wearing a party hat as Pinkie giggles "I thought it make him look less scary" she says innocently. The mares now wait for their shy friend to conquer her fear. Now any pony would think it impossible, but she stood up to a dragon, a minotaur, and of course even reformed a evil spirit of Chaos, so her friends know she has more strength then anypony realize. Problem was, she could really use it right now.

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For the young Fluttershy, her fears were like a tsunami crashing down on her. Every little fear came over her and wrapped around her like a cocoon of darkness. Ponies watching her, animals being disappointed and dying or unable to be helped, unable to help her friends, losing her friends, everything that she feared from dreams, thoughts, and real life was there. She laid there on the floor, shivering like a leaf as tears ran down her eyes. A low laugh is heard "So you are the element of Kindness, yet you can't even stand on your own? How have they been able to put up with such a coward?" the voice asks.

Fluttershy just shakes as she closes her eyes, trying to wish everything away, like some kind of dream, a awful, fearful dream. As she tries to do so, she hears the memories of when she faced Iron Will, that dragon on the mountain and even Discord as she remembers how she overcame those fears. She found a strength in her, a strength of kindness, but also of helping her friends as she slowly rises "It- it's true I can't stand on my own, but that's why I'm not here alone" she says. Some of the memories shift and turn as they turn into her friends and animals she took care of in her life "I am here with my friends and with my friends, anything can be done" she says. She looks back at the memories "These memories will stay with me for a long time, but from them I learn of how to deal with these memories, to gain strength, but not for myself, but to help other ponies" she says with a smile. With that said and done the memories fade as the darkness recedes.

The mares hug one another as Ozymandias looks at them and groans "Oh I'm getting too old for this" he says. He walks up the stairs as they follow and Fluttershy stops him. She offers a hoof as he raises his own.

She smiles "Maybe one day I can help you relax and feel young. I have given a few sheep a massage to help them relax after birth or getting old" she says as she doesn't look into his eyes.

He looks down at her "Despite all I have done, you still help this old ram?" he asks. He chuckles as he turns to the gate "You certainly are a strange creature you ponies" he says. His horns glow as with a loud clang, the doors shift open and the next path opens. Fluttershy walks to Ozymandias and hugs him with her forehooves as the mares gallop down the path, wanting to get the trials over with. The doors close as the ram sits down before the door and resumes eating the hay bail.

This pathway was definitely weirder from the last ones. The pathway was not of stone, but of lime green tiles and actually had walls. The walls were covered in question marks as the question part was made up of phrases and riddles that glowed green as well, but a more disturbing part was of the dot beneath the question were jars full of a glowing green fluid. Applejack walked up to one of the jars and turned it around as it had a label on it 'Contained here is _____ 's brain', but it was empty. As the group continued down the pathway, the path got darker, but the riddles and phrases all remained alight in green, but soon some of the jars showed brains in them.

As they reached the next chamber, it was quite a interesting sight. Around the room, tables laid with blades near them, jars littered the shelves and of course the large door stands in the back with a large question mark over it. Before they could even move, the floor started to shift as a large glass box rises with glowing green liquid in it. A pony stands on top of the box as he looked a bit... weird. The pony stands on his hind legs as adorning his back is a dark green coat with a neon green question mark on it with smaller question marks scattered on the coat. His pants were pretty much the same way as his coat, but led to black slippers on his hooves. On top of his light brown mane was a green hat with a purple strap around it as he turns on one hoof and shows his front. His eyes were a light green color as he had a green horn on his head as well. Under the coat was a white shirt, purple collar to his suit and a purple tie with a question mark on it. In one hoof, he spins around a cane like object with a question mark on it as he smiles.

He looks down at the mane six through his rectangular, light blue lensed glasses as he taps his cane and two lines appear on the box. As Twilight looks at them, she seems confused "Riddle me this, riddle me that?" she asks. The stallion simply nods as he taps his cane and only Twilight and Applejack stand before him. The others are strapped to tables with swords to their necks.

Before any pony could say a thing, he smiles "Welcome to the last trial little ponies. This is not a skill of connection, but of wit. Before you two are your friends, ready to meet the eternal end, but I can stop them. The only thing you both must do is beat me at my game" he says. He sits on the box as he taps the lines to show his game.

Applejack looks up with a glare "Just who the hay are you anyway?!" she yells as he chuckles.

He stands on his hindhooves and tips his hat "You may call me Enigma. My father was quite on the money about my name. Shame he never saw how far I go with it" he says. He goes down to his hooves as he looks at them "Shall we begin?" he asks.

Twilight steps forward as she looks at him "What are the rules?" she asks.

Enigma smiles "The only rule is this. Answer all three riddles and they will live. Miss one, and off goes the head" he says. He looks to Applejack "Also... only one may answer at a time. Starting with you cowpony" he says. He smiles as he twirls his cane.

Applejack smirks "I'm ready for it!" she says with a grin.

He chuckles "Very well.

Riddle me this:

You can have me but cannot hold me,

Gain me and quickly lose me,

If treated with care I can be great,

And if betrayed I will break,

What am I?" he asks with a smile.

Applejack stands there with a confused look on her face as she tries to ponder this "I have ya, but I can't hold ya. Yer quickly gain and lost and will break if betrayed" she says as she thinks about it. She closes her eyes to think as Twilight and Enigma look at her, waiting. She thinks more about it as a thought comes to her head of when Discord tricked her into thinking telling her friends the truth could end their friendship. She smirks as she looks at him "It's trust. Easily gained and lost, but also broken from betrayal of it" she says.

Enigma smiles as his horn glows and the swords move off the necks and instead point to the ponies "Well that is one down. Two more to go" he says. He keeps his look on Applejack as he smiles "I have a special one for Twilight and for that you get the second one" he says. He breathes in and smiles

"Riddle me this:

I fly, yet I have no wings,

I cry, yet I have no eyes,

Darkness follows me,

Lower light I never see.

What am I?" he asks with his signature smile again.

Applejack thinks about this one with less time then it took for the other one as she chuckles "Why that's easy. Yer a cloud" she says.

With a slight twitch of his smile his magic makes the swords disappear "Very clever. Now for you princess is the final riddle and now the ultimate fate" he says. He stands on his hind legs as he smiles and looks at the princess

"Riddle me this:

I have billions of eyes, yet I live in darkness.

I have millions of ears, yet only four lobes.

I have no muscle, yet I rule two halves.

What am I?" he asks as he waits for the final answer.

Twilight's eyes get a sparkle as she answers in three seconds later "The brain" as she smiles. True to his word, Enigma's horn lights up as the friends are returned.

He hops off the box as he does a bow "A good show princess, but a warning I wish to give" he says.

Twilight looks at him "What warning is this?" she asks.

He gets down on his hooves and moves around the mane six as he smiles "The world of Tartarus is not as it seems young mares. Behind the walls here, eyes watch every step, move and turn. One thing I will say is that whatever you six wish to do here, then do it fast before He finds you" he says.

Rainbow groans "Who is He? Tell us!" she demands.

He waves a hoof at her "No can do rainbow mare. That's against the rules" he says. He disappears and reappears on the box as the floor opens and the box starts to lower "I will say though. I am quite interest to see how those minds can work out this predicament" he says as he vanishes and the door opens.

The mares all gallop through the doorway following the now very brightly glowing echo prints as they follow it down to the lower reaches of Tartarus where they found cages suspended over a pit of flickering green fire. Only three cages rested in this area as the prints led to one cage in the center. As they carefully ascended the stairs to this cage, what they saw in it was.... horrifying to say the least.

Unbeknownst to them though, they would soon meet some of the protectors of Tartarus.

Chapter 3: Call Of The Damned

Within the cage was Tirek, the weakened centaur who once tried to take over Equestria, but now he looked only a shell of his weakened self. Instead of the dark red skin he had, it was pitch white like a ghost. Instead of the horse lowerhalf he had, it looked more like a torture scene of it covered in scars, recent and old, deep and shallow, as if someone took time to meticulously place them on his body. His horns were a even more awful sight. They were jagged and looked to of been ripped apart by a monster leaving barely even stubs behind. His chest had even more scars on it, as if somepony literary played 'Operation' with his body.

As he turns and wobbled over to the cage, the mane six got a better look at his face as instead of black sclera and yellow iris, they were of dull grey sclera and white iris color... well at least one of his eyes. The other was covered in gauze as whatever happened to him, changed him. He stops at the bars as he looks at the ponies "More tricks.... just more tricks" he says sounding defeated and tired. The runes around his cage were a different color then the others as they shined a deep red color and radiated a stronger aura of magic then the other runes.

As Twilight looks at Tirek as she walks around, thinking this is some trick "What are you talking about?" she asks. She stops as they lock eyes, her purple eyes staring into his white ones.

His eyes go wide as he hoarsely chuckles "So you are not fake. Interesting from what I've had to deal with since my latest defeat" he says. He groans and falls onto his haunches on the cage with loud rattling of the chains around his hands.

Fluttershy was the next one to come up as she showed some amount of sadness for his condition "Who did this to you?" she asks.

The others were about to put in their opinion of him as he sighs heavily "A pony, but one who is a judge of all the evil in this world" he says. He looks up "This pony lives by many names, but one name only your Princesses know of-" his words stop as large shaking is felt as Tirek sighs "Great... they're coming" he says. When the mares turn around, they see Cerberus on a leash with a unicorn leading him as he stops. He looks and sees the six as he drops the leash.

The unicorn looks at Cerberus "Cerberus. Go and do the alarm howl. We have intruders." it says in a soft voice for the dog to hear. The dog nods and runs off as the unicorn ascends the stairs. The unicorn has a menacing look as its grey eyes look at the mares "You are in a restricted realm! Leave now or we will force you out!" the unicorn says. As it reached the top of the stairs, it was clear now of his look. He was a stallion with toxic green coat and his twisted, corkscrew horn. His armor was a more orange-yellow color with some markings over them, like runes or enchantments. His helmet was also orange-yellow, but along with orange-yellow greaves on his hooves, he also had a blade at his waist. Parts of his mane and tail were seen as they were black and dark green.

Twilight looks at him as she seems... disturbed by his appearance. She smiles though "We have a right to be here. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle and I am -"

"You are leaving now! Only two beings are called Princess and you are neither of them!" he says interrupting her. His horn glows green as he pulls the blade out, a black steel blade with a silver hilt as it looked like a scimitar "Now this is your final warning! Leave or I will use force!" he commands. He is about to charge as Rainbow swings down and knocks it out of his magic. He looks at her as he growls, just before he gets bucked down the stairs by Applejack.

Tirek looks over "Your making a grave mistake" he says. He was trying to warn them as a loud howl is heard echoing throughout Tartarus as he sighs and shakes his head "Too late" he says.
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Within the kingdom, Infernum was doing his paperwork of new rules and laws as he looks absolutely, positively, bored. He hated paperwork, just as much as his father did before. His father. His mind wanders as he gets off his haunches and goes to the picture as he sighs and looks at it. It was a picture of him as a young colt in a full black outfit with his father Helvette next to him. Next to them was a grave with the name Phantasia on it along with a small epitath.

Here lies Phantasia
Mother, Wife, Queen
May she watch over the outcasts of the kingdom with a open heart

As he takes the picture down he looks at it as he closes his draconian eyes as his mind becomes... foggy. Just as he feared. He puts it back on the table as he sighs "I-" his train of thought is stopped as he hears the howling of Cerberus, his pet.

As he turns to the door, a griffon walks in as he was in black and gold armor "My lord, we have intruders down in the Forbidden Prison Realm" he says. The griffon had the same features of a regular griffon with the lion body with head, wings, and talons of a eagle, but his wings and feathers were a charcoal grey color with sky blue tips. His eyes were a burning orange color and fur of white as he bows. His armor was similar to a guards, but on his back was a helmet with a black plume on it.

Infernum turns to see him as he walks over "Intruders? Here? Oh in all of Tartarus" he says as he facehooves himself. He sighs "Alright. Ghostcrest, I need you to find Brimstone and have her send more guards to that realm. No more then ten though, that should be enough" he says. He was real close to his kingdom's residents since many were either already dead, cursed, or simply given 'Helvette's gift' for service to the kingdom. The captains were such beings. As the griffon nods, he turns and leaves to find Brimstone as Infernum goes to a window. His tail swishes a bit as he looked.... displeased. Never during his rule as king has anypony tried to trespass in Tartarus. Whoever these intruders are would rue the day they decided to enter Tartarus.

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The guard blocks another blast as he is getting tired of this crap. He is getting blasted and losing magic as the alicorn keeps blasting at him. He may of been blessed with more magic then a regular unicorn, but this alicorn was like a volcano of magic to him, holding a lot more magic then he could muster. He was currently behind a large barrier of magic as it comes shattering from a final blast. He goes sliding as he looks at them panting "None... are allowed... here... except... for guards" he says inbetween pants. Before long, the gates open up as ten guards come galloping in with spears drawn and shields on their backs as they get infront of him "Sergeant Plague Horn! We will take it from here sir! You just get your strength back!" one of the guards says. Plague Horn just nods as the guards start to march forward to surround the mares.

As magic started to build up in Twilight's horn, the guards see the shields as one of them yells out "Barrier Formation!" he yells out. The guards plant their spears in the ground as they pull out some large, rectangular shields that they form into a large wall. As the blast comes, the wall blocks the blast, even absorbing some of it as the attack ends. They separate and put the shields on their backs and remove the spears from the ground to form up. As they got closer though, the rainbow mare flies as a distraction, Pinkie pulls out her party cannon and blasts them with confetti that makes a few skid back a few inches, but continue on. The group of guards got closer and closer, yet still the attacks hardly did a thing to slow them down.

The formation broke when stalactites came down from Rainbow kicking them loose and shattered their formation to get blasted by magic and confetti blasts along with pillars of rock getting bucked at them. They take cover as they look to the gate, seeing about more reinforcements. They look back at Plague Horn "We'll hold these mares back! You get going!" one says.

Plague Horn shakes his head "Like Tartarus I will! I will stay and fight!" he says in a strict tone as he blasts his magic at Twilight. She blasts back as they get into a magic power struggle of who will win. Plague had a slight advantage with her worrying about her friends, but the problem still existed of her having more magic then a unicorn. He looks over "Private! Return to Him and inform him of this battle! I assume He will want to be here!" he orders. One of the younger ponies nods as he gallops out of the realm, back to the castle.

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At the castle, upon his throne, sat the king of the kingdom. Infernum sits on a throne of the darkest rocks found in the depths of Tartarus. Adorning the top of this throne was his cutie mark of a pair of hammers infront of a flame. The throne room was large and grand, just like any throne room, but only had one window. That one window was nearly a whole wall that overlooked the town below. The walls were like someone just took two cans of paint of crimson red and yellow-orange and just tossed it all over the wall. To a normal noble that lived in Canterlot, it would of looked like some foal just tossed paint on a wall.... problem was if they insulted that wall, he would of taken their horns and taught them fear. The truth was, the wall wasn't complete as he had a little ceremony for it. Each time a new foal came to town or was born, he let them pick out one of the colors and tossed it on the wall, just to help in making the wall. The rest of the wall was a dull grey color, leaving room for other young ones.

The rest of the throne room had a long red carpet to some black and silver doors with two large hammers on it. At the top of the throne room were a few chandeliers with red magic orbs to act as lighting. As the doors open, the private enters as he bows and pants. He looks up as Infernum seems curious "My lord.... guards failing.... six mares.... one a princess" he says. That made Infernum's eyes shoot wide.

As he breathes in, he yells out "WHAT?!" as that yell echoed throughout the castle, out the doors and through town, rocking it around as his hooves slam on the ground. His draconian eyes look towards Ghostcrest who gulps "You mind telling me why I was not informed of this?!" he asks angry.

Ghostcrest shakes his head "I-I didn't know my lord!" he says as the alicorn was right in his face, towering over the griffon as he looks into the captain's eye.

Infernum sighs as he makes a hoofmotion "Send the call of return.... I will deal with them myself" he says. No pony or creature would of argued with him as Ghostcrest told the private to send the message.

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As the fighting continues, the guards soon start to fall back as they leave the realm. Twilight smiles as she floats a bit "We did it girls! Now let's get the spells in place and leave!" she says. They all nod a bit tired as they go to Tirek's cage, but see him shivering. He seems to be muttering something as Twilight get's closer.

She listens in as he says "He's coming. He's coming he's coming he's coming!" he says as he seems to retreat to the farthest part of the cage. At the gates, a tall figure walks in as he is wearing a large cloak to hide all but his hooves and horn. He looks at them as the mares turn.

The figure keeps walking as he stops and looks at them "So you are the intruders? Five mares and a princess? A disappointment" he says in a deep voice. As Twilight starts to charge a blast, he vanishes into nothing and appears on the cage "Such a slow caster. No... your not a princess. Just a imposter of one" he says. As they turn back around, he looks at them "I will ask this once.... leave or perish" he says as the hood moves a bit to show his draconian eyes.

The first one to speak is Rainbow as she glares at him "Not a chance!" she says as she charges, just for her to get stopped in midair. He moves her as she hit the ground, leaving a small crater as they all stare wide-eyed at her. Rainbow gets up, unscatched "I do not harm the innocent. I will however destroy you if you do not leave now!" he orders.

Twilight glares hard at him "Who are you?!" she demands.

He raises a hoof and rips off his cloak. The only look the ponies had was shock as he stands on the cage, his bat wings extended large and wide, casting a shadow over them as he looked as menacing, nay, more menacing then Nightmare Moon herself. He hops down as he towers over them, nearly as tall as Celestia "I... am Prince Infernum, ruler of the realm of Tartarus. You are trespassing" he says as he looks at them. As his eyes wander each pony, they all had shaking knees, pinprick eyes, and two seemed to be backing away as he looks at the only one trying to be brave, Twilight Sparkle.

Her purple eyes look at him as his draconian eyes lock with hers. He looks at her as his was a angry glare "So.... your the new princess? Honestly your nothing like I had imagined.... your just a imposter of a princess, made from magic. A real prince or princess is born a alicorn" he says.

As the two exchange glares, she looks at him "You are a alicorn, but... different. Your more evil looking" she says. She stands ready to fight, horn glowing and wings stretched "We have a job to do Prince Infernum, let us pass" she says.

He shakes his head "I have everything under control here princess. Your services are not needed" he says. He looks at her eyes and sees the fire in her eyes as he sighs "Fine... if you want to try and do whatever your piss poor job is, then you are welcome to try... just remember. I will make you pay for invading my realm" he says as his horn glows red and orange and his wings spread out wide.

Before any of the mares could attack, a large blast of magic came out that knocked them all back into the gates as they felt the full blast of his magic as he stops and lets them fall. He walks over as he looks at them "Despite your power, you are but a foal in your knowledge of true magic princess. Such a pity it ends this way" he says. He stops as his horn glows even brighter as the mares close their eyes to not see the blast. He fires another blast of magic to finish it, but before it reaches them, spreads out like a fan and avoids hitting all the mares. As Twilight looks up, she sees a large barrier spell with the symbols of the sun and moon on them as the spell stops.

Infernum looks as the gates open for two alicorns to walk through, one white as a cloud and the other a dark blue coat, both with ethereal like manes and tails as his eyes narrow at them. The two stand before him as he was definitely taller then the dark blue alicorn, but still a inch under the white alicorn "So... we meet again after so long" Infernum says. He looks to the white mare "Celestia" he says before looking at the dark blue alicorn "Luna" he says.

This was a sight to truly behold. Three alicorns standing infront of the mane six, all rulers and older then any other being. All that could be said was that the way those three looked at eachother, it could be told that they had.... history so to speak.

Chapter 4: By Order of The Phantasia Kingdom.....

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.